Ring of Honor TV – April 11, 2018: TNA Would Think That’s Bad
IMG Credit: Ring of Honor Wrestling
Ring of Honor
Date: April 11, 2018
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana
It’s one of those weird shows as we’re past Supercard of Honor but still at least a little time away from the next batch of TV tapings. There’s a good chance we’ll be having some minor storyline advancement but for the sake of this show, odds are we’re going to be seeing some stand alone stories. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Opening sequence.
Punishment Martinez vs. Shane Taylor
This could be fun. The fans are behind Martinez and a knee to the ribs cuts him down on an early test of strength. Martinez slips out and jumps over Taylor (not bad) to set up the exchange of the shoulders. A big right hand seems to please Taylor but he ducks a few kicks to the head. Martinez’s crossbody has no effect and he can’t slam the bigger man so Taylor sends him outside. Taylor can’t hit a dive so we take a break.
Back with Shane hitting a Cannonball in the corner, followed by a running flip dive from the apron. Martinez Falcon Arrows him off the top though and a running elbow connects in the corner. South of Heaven is broken up and Taylor hits his own chokeslam. Now Martinez’s kicks work a bit better to send Taylor outside. You don’t have to ask Martinez twice to hit a big dive and Taylor is rocked. Back in and South of Heaven gives Martinez the pin at 9:14.
Rating: C-. Not bad here with Martinez getting the logical win. Taylor is good in an enforcer role, meaning he doesn’t need to win anything more than a squash or tag match. He’s designed to be beaten up by someone like Martinez, who can get a lot out of a win like this. Nothing too bad here and I’m liking Martinez more every time I see him.
It’s time for Coleman’s Pulpit with Jay Lethal as the guest. Lethal doesn’t like the show so he’s only giving Coleman two questions. Coleman asks about him losing the World Title so Jay goes into a rant about how Coleman is never going to be in the World Title scene so it doesn’t really matter. He’s beaten people Coleman is never going to be able to beat so let’s get on to the next question. Coleman brings up Lethal dating AJ Lee and gets cut off, sending Coleman into a fit of laughter. That’s enough for Lethal and he’s out. Good, because the Pulpit is terrible.
Kazarian is ready to face Hiromu Takahashi, who used to be their friend. He’s not a fan of Daryl and instead of being a time bomb, Kazarian is a gun that you can’t unload.
Jay Lethal vs. Caprice Coleman
They brawl on the floor to start with Lethal grabbing a suplex to take over. Some chops rock Coleman and they head inside….only to head right back to the floor. Lethal gets whipped into the barricade but he’s right back with chops. An enziguri staggers Coleman and they head inside with Lethal dropkicking him to the floor for the third time. A suicide dive takes us to a break as the stuff on the floor is getting really old.
Back with Coleman getting two off an STO and grabbing a chinlock. Lethal fights up but the Injection is countered into a cobra clutch of all things. Better than another chinlock at least. Back up and Lethal chops away even more before grabbing a torture rack. Not exactly what I would have expected and Coleman breaks out in short order. The Lethal Injection puts him away a few seconds later at 11:03.
Rating: D+. I wasn’t feeling this one and a lot of that was due to Lethal not exactly looking interesting. This was a lot of chopping and then the Lethal Injection. That being said, even an unmotivated Lethal is often better than most people around the promotion. It’s not a terrible match, but Coleman needs to go FAR away.
Videos on the downcoming Women’s of Honor Title Tournament semifinals. Why downcoming? Well they already happened (along with the finals), so they’re certainly not upcoming. This is the kind of stuff that makes Ring of Honor look minor league half the time.
Cody vs. Matt Taven vs. Christopher Daniels
Cody still has a bear with him, introduced as Bernard the Business Bear. They circle each other to start until Taven gets caught in an exchange of right hands. That’s enough to send him outside so Cody and Daniels can exchange shoulders. Taven comes back in with a dropkick but misses a charge to put all three outside. Daniels scores with an Arabian moonsault to take Cody out and Taven kicks Cody in the face for good measure.
Back in and Taven’s flip neckbreaker gets two on Cody but Daniels is back in with his usual. Taven sends Daniels outside for a big dive, which is followed by Cody’s own version. We take a break and come back with Cody getting the American Deathlock on Taven but the BME is good for the save. Taven and Daniels collide before trading cheating rollups for two each. Cody comes back in and sends Taven to the floor before hitting the Rise of the Terminator pose. Cross Rhodes hits Daniels but Taven hits a frog splash on Cody and steals the pin on Daniels at 9:35.
Rating: C+. They were working out here and the match worked well enough as a result. It’s amazing how much easier it is to put up with Taven when I don’t have to hear him talk. Oh and when there’s no Kingdom there with people I have no reason to care about. Cody not winning is a bit of a surprise but Taven gets more out of it than either of the other two would have.
A quick recap of Masters of the Craft takes us out.
Overall Rating: C. I wasn’t feeling this one and that package on the tournament matches which have already taken place was inexcusable. Like seriously, how in the world do you leave that in? Show something from Future of Honor or have a video ready on the new champion, but don’t air stuff hyping matches that have already happened. That’s TNA level stuff and there’s nothing positive about that. Not a bad show, but completely skippable in every way.
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