Ring Of Honor TV – January 20, 2021: The Masked Fighting

Ring of Honor
Date: January 20, 2021
Location: UMBC Events Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

It’s time for things to pick back up again as we are now done with the post Final Battle lull and get on to something new. That is not a bad thing either, as Ring of Honor could use a bit of a boost. I’m not sure what we are going to be seeing going forward, but we could be in for some good stuff if they play their cards right with the talent currently available. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

We look at the endings to some of the bigger Final Battle matches (I still need to get to that someday).

Quinn McKay welcomes us to the show and we now have rankings for each singles title. You can only be ranked for one singles title at a time. Anyone in the top three can challenge for a title and if you want to go to a different division, you have to make a request of the Board of Directors (geez not Ring of Honor too with this corporate nonsense). Here are the rankings for the TV Title.

1. Rey Horus

2. Tony Deppen

3. Dak Draper

4. Kenny King

5. LSG

And the Pure Title rankings:

1. Tracy Williams

2. Flip Gordon

3. Josh Woods

4. Rhett Titus

5. Fred Yehi

Finally, Vincent and Matt Taven are banned from appearing in the same building due to the pure danger they cause.

Maria Kanellis tells us that the Experience is coming in January.

Rhett Titus talks about how good of a night Final Battle was for the Foundation. We live by a Code of Honor around here and Flip Gordon thinks the earth is flat. Titus is ready to stand up for Ring of Honor because that was disrespectful to everyone who paved the way for people like Gordon.

Flip Gordon says he didn’t shake Jonathan Gresham’s hand because he didn’t see much honor in him. Gordon is the #1 contender for the World Title so he’s slumming it in the Pure Rules division. Tonight he is going to beat Rhett Titus and it is going to put him in a lot of pain.

Flip Gordon vs. Rhett Titus

Pure Rules but there’s no handshake to start. Gordon takes it to the mat to crank on both arms to start but Titus reverses into a headscissors. Back up and it’s a test of strength as the feeling out process continues. Titus gets him to the mat but can’t break his bridge. Instead it’s off to an abdominal stretch, which is broken in a hurry. A takedown has Gordon down but he reaches over for the ropes and his first break. Back up and Titus catches him in a bearhug, followed by a surfboard.

The half crab sends Gordon to the ropes for a second time so Titus chops him down in the corner. Gordon finally knocks him down and hits a low superkick. The leg cranking ensues, sending Titus to the rope for a change. We take a break and come back with Titus hitting some running boots in the corner and grabbing the half crab again. Titus gets two off a bridging German suplex but gets caught with the Kinder Surprise to put him on the floor.

Gordon snaps off a suplex on the floor and another low superkick rocks Titus. Back in again and Titus slaps on another half crab, sending Gordon to the rope for the third time. Gordon hits another superkick but they go to the mat for a pinfall reversal sequence. Gordon finally pops him with a right hand, setting up the Stomp. The Flip Five is good for the pin on Titus at 14:47.

Rating: C. These matches are starting to lose a bit of their charm, but that might have been due to the people involved. You can only get so far with Gordon and Titus, who aren’t exactly the top of the card. Gordon may be #1 contender, but having him tone it down like this isn’t exactly something that is going to make me want to watch.

Post break, Gordon is told he has been suspended from the Pure Rules division due to that punch. Flip doesn’t mind as he’ll go into another division. Nice job of making the titles feel like they matter.

Rey Horus talks about growing up around wrestling and knowing a bunch of styles from around the world. Now he is coming for the TV Title.

TV Champion Dragon Lee promises to hurt Horus.

TV Title: Rey Horus vs. Dragon Lee

Lee is defending but Horus isn’t waiting around and takes him out with a big flip dive. They head inside with Horus hitting a tornado DDT for two and they’re right back to the floor. Lee is sent hard into the barricade but he’s fine enough to hit a running hurricanrana off of the apron. They slug it out outside but realize the count and dive in at the same time. Back from a break with another slugout until Lee charges into a Spanish Fly for two.

Horus shouts BRAINBUSTER so Lee escapes, probably because he was told to expect a BRAINBUSTER. Lee nails a chop in the corner but gets Spanish Flied right back into the corner. Back up and a sitout powerbomb gets two on Horus but Horus flips over his shoulders into a Canadian Destroyer for two of his own. The super victory roll is broken up and Lee hits a top rope double stomp to the back. A running knee retains the title at 11:16.

Rating: B-. It was good, though there is a certain standard you kind of grow to expect from these guys and it didn’t quite connect. What we got here was perfectly fine enough though as they did their big spots and you could have believed that Horus would take the title. Lee is a special talent when he is on his game, though it wasn’t quite that far here.

Post match Lee poses with the title on Horus.

Overall Rating: C. This felt like a filler show, even with the title match included. At least they had something with the main event, but there has been a spark missing from Ring of Honor for a good while. I know they only have so much material available, but the promo/match, promo/match format is wearing thing. It was a watchable show at best, as I don’t have much to get interested in most of the time around here these days.

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