Ring Of Honor TV – February 3, 2021: They’ve Still Got It (In A Bad Way)

Ring of Honor
Date: February 3, 2021
Location: UMBC Events Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

I’m really not sure what to say around here as we keep going from week to week with not all that much really feeling like it changes. We don’t have a show to build towards and while we are probably going to have some good matches, odds are they’re going to come after the same format this show has used for months now. In other words, it’s going to be pretty good but not exactly inspiring. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Joe Keys talks about how hard it has been to get here and how hard he has worked in the Ring of Honor Dojo. Jonathan Gresham was his trainer, but he isn’t the first trainer he had. That trainer passed away and now Keys wishes he could tell his trainer that he’s getting a Pure Title shot. Now he’s going to get the title to get back at Gresham for what Gresham put him through.

Jonathan Gresham talks about how hard Final Battle was and Joe Keys isn’t ready for that. Keys has earned a title shot by winning a match against other Dojo students but now he is stepping up even higher. Tonight, Keys is going to learn that this isn’t the Dojo because he is up against the Foundation.

Now that we have your required two minute promos out of the way because we must have them before almost every match, we’re ready to go.

Pure Title: Jonathan Gresham vs. Joe Keys

Keys is challenging after winning a Dojo match, thereby making the rankings even less important than your run of the mill wrestling rankings. Gresham takes him to the mat with a headscissors to start and Keys can’t do much to power out. Eventually it means the first rope break and they’re back up. A waistlock has Gresham in trouble and Keys powers him over to the ropes, where Keys has to grab said rope to avoid falling. That’s good for a rope break and we take a break to keep pace with both guys.

Back with Keys winning a slugout so Gresham grabs the armdrags to put Keys in trouble again. A quick backbreaker gives Keys a breather, only to have Gresham crank on the arm again. Keys’ German suplex gets two and there’s another backbreaker to put Gresham down again. The Boston crab sends Gresham to the rope for the break, followed by a headbutt for a third and final rope break. Keys wins another slugout and gets two off a clothesline but misses a top rope headbutt. La Majistral gives Gresham two more and he rolls Keys down into a nasty hammerlock for the tap to retain at 12:41.

Rating: C+. Keys looked fine here and the teacher vs. student idea is always going to work. It helps that Keys got to show off a bit here before the only ending the match could have had. At the same time though, I’m not exactly thrilled with seeing Ring of Honor do their best New Japan impression with the Young Lions/students thing, even if they already had characters and personae before they came here.

Matt Taven comes up to Mike Bennett, who is getting his ankle fixed up. Bennett says he’ll be fine and needs this match tonight. Taven doesn’t seem convinced but goes along with it.

Danhausen…is confused about all the lights and cameras around him. He only cares about being rich and famous and wants to know where his blimp is, as he was promised one in his contract. If he swears, he gets thrown off the air and that means he can’t be rich and famous. Danhausen likes to kick people in the face, like Brian Johnson, who yells at internet people. There is no stopping Danhausen because Danhausen is not evil. This was one of those wacky characters but it was the kind that actually worked, which is not something you get to see very often. Not too bad here.

Brian Johnson talks about how he grew up loving wrestling, even if it meant taking your vitamins or drinking a beer. Now he loves real wrestlers and can’t stand someone who lives on his couch and thinks he’s funny. Danhausen is a joke and it took a bad referee to cost him their match at Ring of Honor. Everyone has overlooked him and that isn’t happening again….whenever this match takes place.

The Bouncers are ready to face the OGK (OG Kingdom) tonight. Things have changed since Mike Bennett left though and tonight, they are the first step on the Bouncers’ path to the Tag Team Titles.

Matt Taven and Mike Bennett are ready to get back to what worked, without having to think of Vincent and the Righteous.

OGK vs. Bouncers

Bennett and Milonas start things off and Bennett finds out that he can’t do things as usual against someone this big. The ankle flares up too, including as Milonas doesn’t move off a shoulder block. Taven comes in and loads up the dive but Bruiser stands in front of him for a good visual. We settle down to Taven getting caught in a side slam/dropkick combination. Taven manages an enziguri and brings Bennett back in, only to have Bruiser run him over.

Some double teaming manages to knock Milonas down though and Taven nails a superkick but Bennett’s ankle goes out again. The Bruiser goes after the ankle with some cranking on the mat, followed by Milonas sitting on him in the corner. We take a break and come back with Bennett getting over for the hot tag to Taven to pick up the pace. The Flight of the Conqueror takes out Milonas on the floor and Aurora Borealis hits Bruiser for two back inside.

Bruiser hits a Samoan drop and we cut to a shot of the video screen for some reason. With that out of the way, Milonas hits a Side Effect on Taven but Bennett is back in with a superkick. Bruiser is back up to run Taven over but the frog splash misses. Bennett catches Bruiser with a spear but falls to the floor. That leaves Taven to grab something like a Crossface to make Bruiser tap at 11:56.

Rating: C. I continue to be astounded at how much better Taven is as a face than the heel he was for years. Bennett still isn’t much more than a guy in trunks but he has already been treated as far more important here than he ever was in WWE. If this is what he wants to do then good for him, because there was little point to him being in WWE as far as career advancement went.

Post match the Bouncers are ready for the toast but here is the Righteous with Vincent saying Bruiser has no direction. Bennett was gone for five years and he’s right back like nothing ever changed. Or Milonas, who has been around for 18 years, and has been given nothing. Taven just bought a house but where is anything for the Bouncers? The Righteous leaves and Bruiser breaks a beer bottle over Taven’s head. A twisting DDT plants Bennett and Milonas is shocked to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. The ending helped the show a bit but the same problems continue around here: nothing to build towards and stories that move along at such a slow pace that they might as well not even be there. At the same time you have the same longer form promos, which work on some occasions but then there are people who have nothing to say and it shows pretty badly. The show isn’t terrible by any means but it’s often boring, which is a lot worse most of the time. That was slightly better this week, but they have a lot of things to fix.

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