Ring Of Honor TV – December 15, 2021: This Is The Show I’ll Miss
Ring Of Honor
Date: December 15, 2021
Location: UMBC Event Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman
We’re around Final Battle, with this show officially debuting before the show took place. At this point though, it isn’t like the date matters since there are only a few shows left in the first place. I’m not sure what to expect here, but odds are we’ll get some good wrestling to go with the rather limited storylines. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Opening recap.
Quinn McKay gives us the welcome and rundown.
Sledge vs. PCO
Falls Count Anywhere/no DQ, which is probably better than these two having a regular match. Before the match, Sledge teases attacking Brian Zane over (jokingly) calling him Steve. Business will be taken care of instead. PCO on the other hand shouts IT’S ALIVE. They slug it out with Sledge hitting a jumping back elbow to the face to take him down. It’s already time to put a trashcan on PCO’s head for a charge in the corner.
The fight heads to the floor (I’m surprised it took them this long) for the chop off until PCO Russian legsweeps him into the barricade. Commentary is nice enough to point out that the weapons were placed outside at the wrestlers’ requests, which is more than you usually get. A backdrop against a ladder gives Sledge two on the floor and we take a break.
Back with PCO hitting a top rope splash (after hitting a rope walk hurricanrana during the commercial) for two but the PCOsault hits raised knees. They chop it out on the floor again but this time PCO just yells at him and takes over again. A chair shot to the back lets PCO put him on a table for the big Swanton and the near fall (Caprice: “Why did he kick out of that?”).
Some chair shots to the head rock Sledge, giving us a “do not try this at home” graphic. Sledge puts him on the barricade for something like a spear down onto the concrete for his own two. Now it’s up to the stage for more chopping, setting up Sledge’s Detox DDT. PCO is back up so it’s another Detox DDT off the stage through a table (and apparently some pizza) to give Sledge the pin at 14:59.
Rating: B-. PCO was already leaving even before the shutdown so it makes a lot more sense to have Sledge go over. I know it doesn’t mean much in the short term, but at least they are trying to build someone up for the future. Sledge has been a good monster and having him beat someone like PCO means a little something. PCO was a solid addition to Ring of Honor, with perhaps the most improbably World Title run in modern history. It’s nice to see him get such a career renaissance, but you have to build up the future at some point.
Miranda Alize vs. Chelsea Green
The Allure is on commentary. Alize flips out of a wristlock to start and it’s an early standoff. A fireman’s carry takeover sets up an armbar on Green, which is broken up just as fast. Something like a running Hennig necksnap sends Alize outside so the chase is on in a bit more comedy than I was expecting. Alize sends her into the barricade a few times to take over and it’s a basement hurricanrana driver for two back inside.
We take a break and come back with Alize cranking on both arms until Green fights up for a Codebreaker. They slug it out from their knees until Green makes the clothesline comeback. A missile dropkick gives Green two and she grabs the half crab, only to have the Allure offer a distraction. Alize grabs a cutter into the Drive By for the pin at 9:54.
Rating: C. This was your normal women’s division match around here: technically fine, but not exactly the most interesting. There is only so much you can get with one cold match after another and that is what they had here. The Allure distracting Green doesn’t add much to it, and that left this as just another match in the division, as tends to be the case.
Eli Isom vs. EC3
Dalton Castle is on commentary. Before the match, EC3 talks about being free in more babbling that only he understands. Isom says he wants to prove to EC3 that honor is real in a pretty fired up promo. They go to the mat with EC3’s headlock countered into a headscissors without much effort.
Back up and Isom is powered into the corner but comes back with armdrags into an armbar. More armdrags out of the corner keep EC3 rocked but he breaks up a springboard to take over. Some forearms to the chest keep Isom in trouble as the Baby Chickens are here to kiss Castle’s hands. EC3 hits a hard whip into the corner and then does it again for a bonus. Isom needs a breather on the floor so EC3 follows him out for a hard kick to the ribs. Back in and that forward DDT plants Isom (still not sure how much that would hurt), setting up a powerbomb (that would hurt more) for no cover. Instead, EC3 hits another powerbomb and we take a break.
We come back with Isom forearming his way out of trouble, setting up an enziguri. Castle has to be held up as EC3 makes the comeback with a necksnap across the top. A dropkick sends EC3 outside again and there’s a moonsault to drop him again. Back in and a high crossbody gives Isom two but EC3 takes out the knee. An Angle Slam drops Isom so EC3 can crawl over to him for a chat. The knee is taken out again and it’s a double underhook faceplant to knock Isom silly. The Purpose makes Isom tap at 16:15.
Rating: B. This was a heck of a match and a tale of two of the more interesting people from the final year of Ring of Honor. Isom is one of those guys who has worked hard to get the fans behind him and you can tell that they see something in him. He never got that big win, but it felt like it was something you could see happen at any time. Then you have EC3, who looks great and can go in the ring, but I have no idea why this Control Your Narrative stuff is supposed to be interesting. That’s how wrestling works though, as annoying as it is.
Overall Rating: B+. Now that’s a good wrestling hour, with a pair of pretty awesome matches and a watchable women’s match in the middle. The lack of fans (or anything that matters) hurts it a lot though and that’s where Ring of Honor has fallen in recent months. The wrestling has been quite good, but you can only get so far when the stakes are non-existent. I’m not sure what the rest of their time is going to bring, but I’ll miss shows like this, because they’re very entertaining more often than not.
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