Ring Of Honor TV – December 16, 2020: When Scary People Unite
Ring of Honor
Date: December 16, 2020
Location: UMBC Events Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Caprice Coleman, Ian Riccaboni
It’s the go home show for Final Battle and that means it’s time to hammer everything in for good. The card has been a bit thrown together but that is to be expected given all of the circumstances with this year’s show. I’m curious to see how the final push goes, as Ring of Honor can be all over the place with these things. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Opening sequence.
Quinn McKay runs down the card and explains how the matches tie into Final Battle.
We look back at Matt Taven/Mike Bennett’s brawl with the Righteous last week.
Bennett is banged up but still manages to rant about Taven, and this isn’t over until the Kingdom says it is. Taven says the Original Kingdom is back and they’re coming for the Righteous.
The Bouncers talk about having a long legacy in wrestling because of their trainers (Harley Race and Killer Kowalski) and now it’s time to be serious. They’re not toasting losses anymore because it’s time to fight people and win matches. They want Mark Briscoe and PCO to hit them hard and get hit back harder, because they want the titles.
Mark Briscoe and PCO are ready to fight because they want the titles too. PCO even speaks, saying the Bouncers can rest in h***.
Bouncers vs. PCO/Mark Briscoe
Mark slugs it out with the Bruiser to start but gets knocked down by the big man. That’s fine with Mark, who bounces out of the corner with a shot to the face and hands it off to PCO. Milonas comes in and gets hit in the face a lot until he comes back with a huge running crossbody. A discus forearm sends Milonas to the floor for a suicide dive and Briscoe looks rather pleased. Briscoe adds the Blockbuster from the apron to drop Milonas again and we take a break.
Back with PCO missing the flip dive to the apron, allowing Milonas to hit a suplex on Briscoe. Bruiser comes in for the release Rock Bottom in the corner but the Vader Bomb misses. The hot tag brings in PCO to start cleaning house, including a front Russian legsweep for two. Briscoe uses a chair as a launchpad to flip dive onto Bruiser and MIlonas on the floor, followed by a kick to Bruiser’s head. The Froggy Bow misses but Briscoe suplexes Bruiser down anyway. PCO is back in with the PCOsault for the pin at 11:04.
Rating: C. I still like the Bouncers as they go out there and do their thing at a level you might not expect from them. This was a pretty fun power brawl and I had a better time with it than I would have expected. There is no reason for the Bouncers to work so well but for some reason they pull it off. Mark and PCO aren’t the greatest team ever, but for a thrown together combination, they’ll be fine.
Post break, Briscoe and PCO promise to win the titles.
Quick rundown of the Final Battle card, including a four way for a TV Title shot last that night, Brian Johnson vs. Danhausen for Danhausen’s contract, Fred Yehi/Wheeler Yuta vs. the Foundation in a Pure Rules tag match, plus everything already announced.
Flip Gordon talks about growing up in sports and then being competitive in the military. He started wrestling in 2015 and then signed with Ring of Honor two years later. Yes he’s a high flier but his background has always been in grappling so he’s ready to win the Pure Title. Josh Woods stood out in the Pure Title Tournament and he should be the perfect way to get back into the title hunt.
Josh Woods talks about how big it was to beat Jay Lethal last week but now he has to change his focus to Flip Gordon. Of course Gordon is talented and he’s ready to take advantage of the mistakes a high flier is going to make. Gordon may have an amateur background, but he can’t do the things Woods can do.
Josh Woods vs. Flip Gordon
Pure Rules. They go to the grappling to start and an ankle lock has Gordon bailing to the ropes less than forty seconds in. Back up and Gordon grabs a headlock but Woods reverses again as he keeps shrugging off anything Gordon does. Another Gordon headlock has a bit more success and a dropkick puts Gordon on the floor. There’s the dive and we take a break.
Back with Gordon cranking on both arms, followed by a running clothesline in the corner. A suplex gives Gordon two and we hit the neck crank. Woods pulls him down again and Gordon bails to the ropes for a second time. Back up and Woods scores with a running knee in the corner for two and a superplex puts both of them down. The slugout goes to Woods as he plants Gordon with a powerbomb, only to have Gordon pop back up with a kick to the head. A moonsault gives Gordon two and a gordbuster into a Stomp finishes Woods at 9:34.
Rating: C. The ending was a surprise as Woods seems perfect for this division but he loses to Gordon. It’s not some horrible decision but I didn’t quite see it coming, which could be a good thing. The Pure Rules stuff still works, though I’m not sure how long they have before the novelty wears off. Granted it’s hard to complain as the matches have been fine, so leaving the matches on the shows should be fine.
One more Final Battle rundown ends the show.
Overall Rating: C+. This show had one job: make me want to see Final Battle and given how many matches they threw on at the last minute, it worked out as well as it could have. Final Battle is going to be one of the most unique shows the company has ever put together and it’s a shame that they didn’t have the chance to set it up as usual. We could be in for a good show though, and this was a nice preview.
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