Ring of Honor
Date: April 13, 2016
Location: Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Mr. Wrestling 3

It’s a very big show this week with the Tag Team Titles on the line, a major star from New Japan making an appearance and a Fight Without Honor for the first time ever on ROH TV. I know these staggered shows get annoying but they’ve actually got a big card here and that’s a rare sight on an hour long TV show. Let’s get to it.

Tag Team Titles: War Machine vs. Roppangi Vice

Vice (Trent Barreta and Rocky Romero) is challenging and knocks Hansen and Rowe off the apron before the bell. Rowe says ring the bell but gets beaten down in the corner to start. A standing moonsault doesn’t have much effect though and it’s Hansen back in for rights and lefts of his own. Romero is kicked out to the floor as Wrestling 3 tells stories of “joysting” (not jousting but joysting), whatever that is.

We take a break and come back with Hansen taking Rowe’s shotgun knees by mistake, followed by Romero kicking Rowe in the face. A quick Superman punch puts Romero down but Trent dropkicks both champs down to save his partner in a nice spot. Two double knees to the face drops Hansen but War Machine gets tired of these pests and lifts them up for powerbombs, only to slam the challengers into each other. That’s a new one. The Path of Resistance is broken up though as Romero hurricanranas Hansen down. A flip dive is countered into an apron bomb though and Fallout puts Romero away at 9:56.

Rating: C+. This was fine despite me not being a big fan of Barreta and Romero. There wasn’t much of a surprise here as they had been setting up the Briscoes challenging for the titles over the last few weeks but at least we had something other than a squash to get us there. Nice little match here.

Prince Nana brings out Donovan Dijak, in a Jay Lethal shirt, for something to say. Let’s get right to it with the envelopes: you’re not going to find out because you don’t need to know. Nana talks about how Dijak is enlightened while Donovan talks about being tired of spending the last year guarding Jay Lethal. This brings out Lethal for a brawl that security has to break up.

Dalton Castle says his goal is different again tonight because this time he wants to hurt Silas Young.

ACH vs. Kenny Omega

Omega, whose Intercontinental Title isn’t on the line here, is the head of the Bullet Club in New Japan and he has some awesome entrance music. Kenny is called the Cleaner so of course he comes out with a broom, along with the Young Bucks. As expected, the fans are almost entirely behind Omega.

Feeling out process to start with ACH doing all his flips as the announcers explain the latest issues in New Japan. An elbow to the head drops Omega and a dropkick puts him out on the floor. Naturally the numbers become an issue though as Omega distracts the referee, allowing a superkick to put ACH down. In a funny bit, Matt throws out a banana peel to offer an explanation.

We take a break (and get a promo from Adam Cole about how he created the Kingdom, meaning Matt Taven has no right to reform the team) and come back with ACH holding Omega in a headlock, only to be countered into what looked like a one man More Bang For Your Buck. That goes nowhere and ACH gets up a boot in the corner, followed by another kick to the face to put Omega on the floor.

The Jordan dive takes out the Bucks and Omega to a nice reaction as it’s not all Omega fans for a bit of a surprise. Back in and a top rope double stomp to the back gets two on Kenny and a brainbuster is good for the same. A 450 misses though and Omega gets in a hard knee to the ribs to take over. ACH comes back again and gets in a Stunner, giving us a Rock style sell job. The Midnight Star misses though and the One Winged Angel (electric chair into a forward piledriver) puts ACH away at 13:31.

Rating: B. I’m not a fan of ACH but this was pretty easily his best Ring of Honor match to date. I’ve heard a lot of great things about Omega over the last few months and he was definitely entertaining here but not quite as great as he’s been made out to be. I can go for ACH far more easily if he’s acting like a wrestler instead of a guy doing scripted out flips.

Dalton Castle vs. Silas Young

Fight Without Honor, basically meaning street fight. Castle has the Boys with him but they go to the back before he hits the ring. That’s the right idea for something like this. The fans are behind Castle as he clotheslines Silas to the floor while the streamers are still all over the ring. A suicide dive takes Young out again but Castle misses a running knee on the apron and gets shoved out to the floor. This hasn’t gotten violent yet but you can feel a different vibe.

Back up and Castle chops the post by mistake to give Young his first target. Castle tries another chop but fakes Young out and sends him into the barricade for a smart move. We take a break and come back with Young setting up a table on the floor to go with the ladder already in the ring. Neither of those are good enough for him though as he powerbombs Castle onto two open chairs instead.

A slingshot elbow gets two on Dalton and it’s time for some simple choking. For some reason Young lets him loose though and tries his slingshot moonsault but only hits ladder. They slug it out from their knees and then their feet with Castle getting the better of it until Young grabs a cutter for two. Misery gets the same so it’s time for a trashcan lid and some yelling on the mic.

Silas wishes the Boys were out here to see this beating so here they come, only to have one of them jump on Young’s back. That ticks Castle off all over again but he misses a running knee to send him outside. The Boys take a suicide dive to protect Dalton, who slides into the ring for a hurricanrana to send Young onto the floor again.

Back in and the Bang A Rang is countered so Dalton throws him over the top and down through the table for a YOU JUST KILLED HIM chant. Somehow that only gets two, followed by Silas hitting him low for the same. Not that it matters as the Bang A Rang onto the chairs gives Dalton the pin at 16:42.

Rating: B. This would have been a lot better if it had happened back in say……December. It was a good brawl and a very strong win for Castle but this story went on WAY too long to have the impact they were going for. I still like the feud and it’s a good blowoff match this could have been so much more if they had done it a long time ago.

Overall Rating: A-. A one hour show having two strong matches is about as easy of a layup as you’re going to get. This was the first time in a long time that a show felt like something big and a lot of that is due to how much time they spent building up Young vs. Castle. No they didn’t have amazing promos that made me want to see it, but just saying “it’s in three weeks” made me want to see where the match was going. You don’t get that in most promotions and it was a really nice change of pace which wound up working. Well done ROH, which isn’t something I’ve been able to say lately.

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Ring of Honor
Date: February 24, 2016
Location: Nashville Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee
Attendance: 675
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness

We’re getting closer to the finals of the Top Prospect Tournament and hopefully we’ll get some build on the World Title feud this week. However, it’s also the start of a new taping cycle which means that this is the last week that will be taking place before the Anniversary Show airs on Friday. Therefore, the next few shows will be stand alone so enjoy the continuity while it lasts. Let’s get to it.

There’s a new set and the production values have gone way up.

TV Title: Roderick Strong vs. Jonathan Gresham

Strong is defending. Before the match, Veda Scott comes out to offer Gresham a lot of money in exchange for giving his shot to Cedric Alexander and then leaving Ring of Honor forever. The request is quickly denied and that’s all for that story at the moment. Gresham takes the champ down by the arm to start but has to flip out of the Stronghold to give us a standoff. They trade chops (because of course) with Strong getting the better of it because Gresham is no Sting.

Gresham heads to the apron for a flip in, only to land on Strong’s knee for a backbreaker. We take a break and come back with Strong chopping even more and dropkicking Gresham out of the air. A running boot in the corner misses and Jonathan bends Strong’s fingers to break up a backbreaker. Gresham loads up what looks like the same thing Pentagon Jr. uses to break arms in Lucha Underground but goes after the fingers again.

It’s off to some more standard arm work with an armdrag and Octopus Stretch followed by…..an ankle lock. Yes an ankle lock after working on the fingers and the arm because people like Gresham think that makes you look smart and/or cool. Thankfully he’s back to the arm a few seconds later (making the ankle lock stuff look even dumber), only to have Strong knee him in the head to retain at 8:45.

Rating: C-. The match was watchable if you can ignore the ankle lock nonsense in the middle. Gresham is fine but he’s another wrestler who has no real character and is just out there doing moves. That’s going to get you over in a place like Ring of Honor but when half the roster fits that description, it’s really starting to get lost in the shuffle. On top of that, none of this matters because New Japan wrestler Tomohiro Ishii won the title because HAHA NEW JAPAN ROCKS, basically throwing the whole story out and resetting things less than a week before a pay per view.

Post match Bobby Fish comes out to steal the title, triggering a brawl.

Bob Evans/Tim Hughes vs. War Machine

Non-title. Rowe and Hughes get things going and Tim is thrown into the corner for an early tag to Evans. Bob’s amateur wrestling attempts go just as badly and it’s back to Hughes. The champs keep having fun with an exploder suplex and it’s off to Hanson. Rowe cartwheels away from Evans and a reverse powerbomb followed by Hanson’s top rope splash is good for the pin on Bob at 2:56. Total squash.

Post match the All Night Express comes out with weapons to say time is running out on the title reign. All the other teams look at War Machine and see tattooed power. Kenny King looks at them and sees some bearded thugs. They aren’t here to fight tonight because they have plans for War Machine on Friday.

Silas Young is out of patience for the Boys and can’t wait to crush them next week.

The Young Bucks say wrestling is very dirty so they need to bring in the Cleaner Kenny Omega. This Friday will be the world’s biggest superkick party.

We look back at Adam Page attacking BJ Whitmer last week.

BJ Whitmer vs. Chase Brown

Brown is named Cauliflower and he brings some out with him. Whitmer knocks him into the corner to start and there’s the exploder suplex for the pin on Brown at 56 seconds.

Whitmer gives him another exploder but here’s Steve Corino before Whitmer can say anything else. Instead, BJ wants Adam Page out here so Page sneaks in through the crowd with a clothesline and right hands until we take a break.

Dalton Castle has the Boys ready for next week.

Here’s Adam Cole for some Story Time. He’s finally getting his shot at the World Title at the Anniversary Show and you’re going to see Jay Lethal and Kyle O’Reilly trying to keep up with him. Adam promises that Kyle is never getting near the World Title and Lethal has never met anything like him. This brings out the House of Truth with Lethal talking about how Kyle has never been a champion so let’s leave the kid out of this.

On Friday in Las Vegas, Lethal is going to prove that the house always wins. As Nigel groans about needing security again, here comes Kyle O’Reilly to interrupt. They don’t even bother talking again and the fight is on. Cole lays Lethal out but walks into Kyle’s brainbuster. O’Reilly picks up the belt to a VERY quiet reaction as security arrives.

ACH/Alex Shelley vs. Briscoe Brothers

Mark and Jay have ODB with them for an unnecessary cameo. Christopher Daniels is on commentary. ACH and Mark get things going with a lockup until ACH nails a dropkick on both Briscoes. Mark comes back with a running clothesline before Jay comes in for some uppercuts and headbutts. It’s off to Shelley who sends Mark to the floor and a top rope ax handle puts Jay down.

We take another break and come back with Alex forearming Jay, allowing the tag off to ACH. Everything breaks down and the Briscoes are in trouble with ACH mostly hitting the Jordan onto Jay. Back in and a jumping cutter gets two on Mark with Jay making the save and cleaning house. Mark kicks Alex in the face but gets kicked in the corner. Daniels gets on the apron for a distraction and ACH misses the Midnight Star, allowing the Doomsday Device to put ACH away at 8:35.

Rating: D+. You knew the ending here as there was no way they were going to job the Briscoes before the match with Tanahashi and Elgin on Friday. On top of that, the Shelley and Pals vs. KRD feud is somehow still chasing its own tail and won’t end no matter how dull and uninteresting of a story it is. This was your usual “this team is on a roll” match and a lame ending to a very weak show.

Post match Kazarian and Sabin come in for the beatdown until security breaks it up.

An add for the Anniversary Show (read as NEW JAPAN IS AWESOME) takes us out.

Overall Rating: D. The more of these go home shows I see, the less interest I have in the ensuing pay per views. If there’s one thing Ring of Honor needs to do, it’s find a better way to build up their big shows. I really don’t know what the top match is on Friday (yes I know the World Title match is going on last) because the TV Title has been built up the best, Whitmer vs. Page is associated with the most personal feud, Tanahashi is treated as a bigger star than anyone in Ring of Honor and the World Title is the World Title but it’s lucky to get a mention every week.

This show didn’t do much for me either as you had a decent opener, two squashes, a talking segment which drew crickets and the average main event. I’m really not sure how this is supposed to make me want to buy a pay per view but I guess the powers of New Japan and its start showing up are supposed to be enough. Not a good go home show here and the pay per view is really not doing much for me either.

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Ring of Honor
Date: February 17, 2016
Location: Cabarrus Arena and Events Center, Concord, North Carolina
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness

The Anniversary pay per view is almost here and we’re also getting closer to the end of the first round of the Top Prospect Tournament. However, we’re also getting closer to the end of this taping cycle which means things have a tendency to start dragging. Ring of Honor isn’t the best at going week to week so there’s little connection between shows. That can make things hard to keep track of but hopefully it isn’t a major issue here. Let’s get to it.

Top Prospect Tournament First Round: Jason Kincaid vs. Lio Rush

Two smaller guys here with Kincaid looking like Erick Rowan minus about 100lbs (but with some hair) and with pictures of a woman and a skull on his thighs. Nigel thinks Lio is in the vein of ACH. Well at least they don’t look the same. Lio kicks at the leg to start but Kincaid heads to the apron for a slingshot flip neckbreaker. Off to a Gory Stretch on Rush, followed by something like a standing abdominal stretch (as in Lio isn’t twisted around) into a jawbreaker.

Kincaid takes off his shoulder pads vest (that helped) but Lio knocks him outside for a flip dive. Back in and something like a spinebuster into the corner has Lio in trouble, though he’s still able to head outside before Jason can go Coast to Coast. That’s fine with Jason as he does it anyway, actually hitting the Coast to Coast with Lio on the floor. He’s not done though as Kincaid dives through the ropes into a flip Diamond Cutter. Jason’s top rope double stomp misses though and Lio catches him in a standing C4 for the pin at 5:05.

Rating: C+. Best match of the tournament so far and I’m really hoping Kincaid gets another look after that performance. One important thing here was Kelly putting over Jason’s backstory as coming up from pure poverty to get where he is today. That helped set Kincaid apart and let us connect to him a bit, which is the best thing you can do here. Unfortunately ROH felt the need to add another generic high flier because they don’t have enough of them yet. I mean, Nigel said Rush is exactly like ACH, so why would they want to go with him when they already have ACH?

Will Ferrara/Caprice Coleman vs. Beer City Bruiser/Silas Young

Prince Nana is on commentary to continue this story which feels like it’s been going on for six months despite not actually going anywhere. Coleman and Young get things going with a slugout as Kelly asks Nana about going after Donovan Dijak. Nana says the pieces of the puzzle are all in the letter and that’s all Kelly needs to know. Coleman takes over but Ferrara tags himself in, much to his partner’s annoyance.

A rollup gets two for Will but he goes with a much more effective German suplex to send Silas into the corner, meaning it’s off to the much bigger Bruiser. For some reason Ferrara tries to slam the big man and gets crushed as he deserved after something that stupid. The villains take turns beating on Ferrara until Bruiser misses a charge and Coleman gets the lukewarm tag.

Everything breaks down and Bruiser tries a superplex on Coleman, only to have Ferrara run in for a powerbomb. The Sky Splitter is broken up but here come the Boys (so much for selling a big beatdown) for a distraction, allowing Ferrara to DDT Bruiser on the floor. Now the Sky Splitter is enough to put Young away at 6:10.

Rating: C. Not bad here but again I lost all interest in whatever Nana is doing months ago. If he wants to reform the Embassy or whatever then so be it but that’s just it: so be it already. Instead of just giving people envelopes and showing them the way or whatever, do something because a Ferrara/Coleman/whoever else he has stable isn’t exactly thrilling in the first place.

Here’s the Decade with something to say. Whitmer has been hearing Steve Corino promising to come here tonight and have someone deal with BJ. Corino has three friends in wrestling and most of them are gone from this company already. This brings out Corino, who doesn’t exactly seem ready to fight.

No one wants to hear Whitmer talking week after week (I don’t mind it) and now BJ thinks Corino is the one coming for him. That’s going to happen one day but it’s not just yet. Someone has come to Corino and offered to take Whitmer out…..and apparently it’s Adam Page. The brawl is quickly on and the fans have no issue cheering for Page as security comes in to break it up. This makes as much sense as anything else if Corino is too hurt to fight.

We run down the PPV card, including a video of All Night Express beating War Machine via DQ to set up their No DQ match. The triple threat main event gets a quick video as well.

Mark Briscoe vs. Tim Hughes

Hughes is small and very pale. Mark knocks him into the corner as you would expect from a star beating on a jobber in a squash match on the weekly TV show. A Russian legsweep gets two on Hughes but Tim comes back with a long sidewalk slam. That just earns him some Redneck Kung Fu and a fisherman’s buster, followed by the Froggy Bow for the pin on Hughes at 3:50.

Rating: D. This was what it was with Mark getting a squash that he really didn’t need. I’m not sure what they were going for here as Briscoe is ready for a big tag team showdown, so why give him something like this? Nothing to see here and on top of that it wasn’t even all that entertaining.

ACH/Matt Sydal vs. Young Bucks

The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles aren’t on the line here and for the sake of simplicity I’ll only refer to Matt Jackson as Matt. The handshakes take a while but thankfully they wait until after the break of the opening bell. Sydal slaps a belt out of Matt hand to start and it’s an early superkick party to send the non-champions to the floor but Sydal dives out to drop both Bucks.

Back in and ACH dives in, followed by a leg lariat and dropkick to Matt. A bit too much posing allows Nick to score with a superkick though and it’s time for a double superkick to send Sydal to the floor. The Bucks superkick an invisible ball into the crowd and we take a break. Back with Nick riding ACH’s arm and posing on the apron like a heel should, even though he’s a face here.

It’s time for more invisible basketball but ACH trips them up, allowing Sydal to come in off the hot tag. Everything breaks down and the slingshot X-Factor drops ACH and it’s yet another superkick party. More Bang For Your Buck is broken up but Sydal misses the Shooting Star, allowing Matt to hit another superkick. Nick’s Swanton is good for two but More Bang For Your Buck is countered again with some raised knees. Now the Shooting Star connects on Matt for the big upset win at 10:11.

Rating: C. I’m not wild on the teams here and I’m not sure how much I like champions losing clean, even if they’re champions in another promotion but there was something about that ending I did like. The Bucks’ offense was countered and Sydal/ACH get another win over them, which again I know because Kelly told us that at the start of the match. It sounded like a minor detail to start but knowing that helps the story they’re going for here. Again, well done and something so easy to do, which is what makes it so frustrating when most companies don’t do it.

Overall Rating: C. This was fine for the most part, but again they’re not exactly doing a great job of building up the pay per view. I know the World Title isn’t always the most important thing in Ring of Honor but they seem to go out of their way to not have Lethal out there. It’s nice for a change, but at times it becomes a bit annoying as whether Ring of Honor likes it or not, the World Title is going to be seen as the most important thing in the promotion. Still though, totally watchable show here, even with the midcard getting the focus.

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Ring of Honor
Date: January 20, 2016
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 600
Commentators: Mr. Wrestling III, Kevin Kelly

It’s the final night of the Philadelphia tapings with a Philadelphia Street Fight between the Young Bucks, the Kingdom and ReDRagon. If they give this match this time, it could be quite an entertaining match. We’re getting closer to the 14^th Anniversary Show for the next pay per view but nothing has been set up yet. Let’s get to it.

Addiction vs. Alex Shelley/ACH

This is more about building up Shelley vs. Sabin down the line. Kazarian takes Shelley into the corner to start but accidentally forearms Daniels off the apron for some good old fashioned heel miscommunication. Alex grabs a dragon sleeper but lets it go when Sabin gets on the apron for a distraction.

ACH dropkicks Kazarian down and it’s quickly off to Daniels who is taken down just as quickly. Everything breaks down for a bit and some fast double teaming puts ACH in trouble, including something like a Diamond Cutter onto Daniels’ knee as we take a break. Back with ACH rolling over for a hot tag so Shelley can speed things up.

A Downward Spiral sends Kazarian face first into the middle buckle but Daniels comes back in with a top rope stomp to the chest, only to allow the hot tag a few seconds later. Everything breaks down and Shelly kicks Daniels into a German suplex for two. Sabin shakes the ropes to break up the Midnight Star, setting up Celebrity Rehab to give Addiction the pin at 9:48.

Rating: C-. Shelley and ACH are firmly in that category of wrestlers that I just don’t care for. I get the idea behind both guys but they both seem to be going off more of a set pattern than wrestling naturally, which rarely works for me. Addiction is fine in the ring but I’d like to see them get more mic time as it’s definitely their strong suit.

Post match Addiction beats on Shelley even more until Daniels punches the referee, which brings out Nigel to suspend him indefinitely without pay.

Mark Briscoe vs. Adam Page

Page won’t shake hands to start because he’s a good heel. Some early Redneck Kung Fu doesn’t work but Adam misses the standing shooting star press. Mark kicks him into the corner and now the crane kick connects for Briscoe. A brainbuster gets two for Mark but he charges into a powerslam into the corner for two. The fans are all over Whitmer as the announcers talk about the Top Prospect Tournament.

Mark dropkicks Page to the floor and hits the running Blockbuster off the apron. They chop it out a bit until Page gets two off a jumping DDT (ala Dolph Ziggler). Mark sends him to the apron but can’t kick him out to the floor, allowing Page to slingshot in for a clothesline to take over. BJ Whitmer yells about Mr. Wrestling III being Steve Corino, only to have Briscoe come back with a fisherman’s buster and the Froggy Bow for the pin at 6:32.

Rating: D+. This whole match was a collection of spots. I didn’t see a single instance of psychology, trying to put something together or either guy doing anything other than his signature spots. It wasn’t bad or boring or anything, but could you at least work an arm or something instead of just doing the stuff you always do?

Post break, Whitmer tells Mr. Wrestling III to unmask and be a father to Colby Corino. Mr. Wrestling III gets in the ring and asks Whitmer if he has a question for him. Whitmer tries to reply but he can’t get a word out before the fans boo him out of the building. BJ says everyone knows that it’s Steve Corino under the mask but Mr. Wrestling III denies it again. He does know Corino however, and Corino knows someone that wants to take Whitmer out. However, instead of saying who that is, Mr. Wrestling III just tells the Decade to leave. Well that ended flat.

Silas Young comes out and calls what happened with the Boys at Final Battle a disappointment. Whether the fans believe it or not, the Boys appreciated learning how to mow his lawn and shovel his driveway. The Boys have one chance to do the right thing and learn to be men.

Young Bucks vs. ReDRagon vs. Kingdom

It’s Cole/Bennett for the Kingdom here and this is a street fight. The Bucks jump O’Reilly and Fish during the entrances and we’re starting fast. The injured Taven gets a double superkick, as does ring announcers Bobby Cruz. ReDRagon gets back in to work on the Bucks, only to have the Kingdom come in again to turn this into a wild brawl that is going to be almost impossible to keep track of.

Bennett punches Fish down and it’s Cole setting Matt in a chair in the middle of the ring. A running charge sets up a chinlock and even Kelly has to acknowledge that it’s a spot they’ve seen before. Kyle backdrops Nick on the floor for a thud before diving into a superkick. We take a break and come back with Cole in a shopping cart and being wheeled into a superkick.

The Bucks set up a table at ringside but it’s ReDRagon double teaming Matt inside. The Kingdom brings in a ladder (Mr. Wrestling III: “It’s amazing what you can find in south Philadelphia”) to take out ReDRagon and it’s Cole putting the ladder around his neck. That only allows ReDRagon to blast the ladder with chairs before setting the ladder on top of those chairs.

Bennett comes back in to spinebuster Kyle onto the steel but the Bucks powerbomb him (Bennett) through the ladder. A Swanton onto the ladder sets up More Bang For Your Buck but Cole pulls the referee out at two. Kevin Kelly accidentally eats a superkick and Mr. Wrestling III freaks out while still shouting SUPERKICK in a funny moment.

We take another break and come back with Cole hitting the Canadian Destroyer on Matt but walking into a superkick from Nick. Bennett takes Chasing the Dragon on the floor, leaving O’Reilly and Cole to fight in the aisle. That leaves Fish alone against the Bucks but he stops to spear Bennett through a table on the floor. A double superkick off the apron gives Fish the weakest table bump in history with Nick having to splash him the rest of the way through.

Back in and the Bucks put a party hat on Bennett for a superkick party, only to have Maria hit them both low for a save. This brings out AJ Styles to hit Bennett in the ribs with a chair before laying him out with Bloody Sunday. Maria gets a Meltzer Driver and the Indytaker into the Styles Clash puts Bennett away at 16:45.

Rating: B. Totally wild brawl here and a lot of fun at the same time. This wasn’t about anything more than carnage and that’s all they delivered the entire time. The piledriver to Maria was a good way to write her off TV and the Kingdom goes out in a great performance, especially considering it wasn’t their usual combination.

Overall Rating: C+. This is a one match show and there’s nothing wrong with that, especially when one match takes up so much of the hour. The only annoying thing here was the syndication schedule causing some issues as Mike and Maria debuted in TNA two weeks before this aired. Still though, the show was fun enough with the main event being a really good time.

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Ring of Honor
Date: December 16, 2015
Location: Tennessee State Fair Grounds, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

It’s the go home show for Final Battle but the complicated TV schedule would suggest that a lot of this isn’t going to be focused on the pay per view main events. That being said, Ring of Honor has been more than entertaining enough lately and I’ve been looking forward to these shows more and more lately. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Adam Cole vs. Corey Hollis

Unfortunately no Maria with Cole. The announcers don’t try to hide the fact that this is going to be a glorified squash. Cole stomps him down in the corner to start and does his signature pose. The AA onto the knee sends Hollis into the corner again and a Shining Wizard breaks up a comeback.

Hollis tries a springboard and is quickly knocked outside for his efforts. Back in and Cole misses a superkick and has his suplex countered into a Stunner of all things. Sean O’Haire’s Widowmaker (kind of a fireman’s carry into a spinebuster) but Cole stops him dead with a superkick. A brainbuster onto the knee gives Cole the pin at 4:29.

Rating: C-. This was much more entertaining than I was expecting as they kept it moving but also gave Hollis enough offense to keep this from being a total squash. Cole continues to be probably the most well rounded performer in ROH and that’s a good choice for a showcase match like this one.

Post match we get a quick Story Time with Adam Cole where Kyle O’Reilly is guaranteed to be destroyed.

The Young Bucks vs. the All Night Express vs. the Briscoes for the #1 contendership is confirmed for Final Battle.

War Machine vs. Washington Bullets

The Bullets are Jon and Trey Williams, who decide it’s a good idea to not shake hands with the big bearded monsters about to kill them. Hanson clotheslines both of them down and it’s off to Rowe to German suplex Trey. Path of Resistance sets up Fallout for the pin on Jon at 1:33. Total squash and War Machine looked awesome.

Here’s former referee Mike Posey as a rapper and a five person posse. The fans sound stunned as he “raps” about Dalton Castle at a level equal to PG-13 from the Nation of Domination days.

Dalton Castle vs. Mike Posey

Posey tries to jump Dalton before the bell and is easily suplexed for his efforts. Some headbutts have Posey in trouble and Dalton goes after the posse to kill some time. The distraction doesn’t work as Castle belly to bellys him out to the floor, setting up the Bang A Rang for the pin at 2:50.

Post match Castle describes himself as the Aurora Borealis of the ring and says he’s as majestic as they come. Castle: “Isn’t that right Planet Peacock?” He wants Silas Young out here right now but gets the Boys instead. It’s just a distraction though, allowing Young to sneak up behind Castle for a beating.

Here’s Jerry Lynn for a special appearance. He talks about everyone calling him as he went through a recent surgery and was overwhelmed by all the support. We quickly move on to the upcoming World Title match and Lynn can’t pick a winner. Lynn has traveled the roads with both guys and he sees it as totally even. Kelly directly asks him but here’s the House of Truth to interrupt.

Lethal accuses Lynn of being too old and out of touch so Jerry picks AJ. That’s enough for Jay so he takes off his shirt but Jerry says Jay beating him up would hurt Lethal’s parents. Lethal goes on a Flair style rant about how great he is and how much he’s done this year. He says he is professional wrestling and the House of Truth walks out. I’m not a big Lethal fan but he ran circles around the pretty bad Lynn out there.

Video on Moose vs. Michael Elgin.

Roppangi Vice vs. ACH/Matt Sydal

Alex Shelley is on commentary. Sydal and Romero get things going with Matt working on the arm. Romero lands on his feet out of a monkey flip but one shot to the face sends him crawling over to Trent. That means a double tag and Trent takes over with some chops. ACH flips around a lot and dropkicks Trent to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Sydal in a Romero Octopus hold. A regular headlock doesn’t work all that well and it’s a hot tag to ACH as things speed way up. Trent gets kicked in the face to put him on the floor, setting up the Jordan flip dive. Back in and a delayed German gets two on Romero but Vice comes back with a string of knees to ACH’s head for two. Standing Sliced Bread #2 drops Sydal but ACH kicks Romero in the face to put all four down.

Romero goes up to but gets kicked in the head, setting up a quick hurricanrana from Sydal. ACH takes Romero to the floor but Sydal’s shooting star hits Trent’s knees. Trent’s running knee gets two on Matt and all four are back in. Romero distracts Trent to break up his kneeling piledriver and Code Red (a sunset bomb) is enough to give Sydal the pin at 11:31.

Rating: C. This just isn’t my kind of match. They’re flying around a lot and hitting (moderately) big spots but there’s little flow to it and the ending is about who hits the last spot. I’m not a fan of this style though and this didn’t change my mind. It’s certainly not the worst but I almost never have any reaction to this style.

One more run down of the card ends the show.

Overall Rating: C-. I wasn’t feeling this one as much as it was almost all a big preview for next week’s major show but there was nothing that made me want to see Final Battle more. Lynn’s promo with Lethal was one sided and the wrestling ranged from squashes to nothing interesting. The card was almost entirely set up already though so this was just a bonus.

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Ring of Honor
Date: November 11, 2015
Location: Wings Stadium Annex, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

We’re on a new taping cycle now as we’ve hit Glory By Honor. These should be some better TV shows as most tapings with names tend to be. The big story continues to be the build towards Lethal’s next title defenses against Roderick Strong and AJ Styles, but we also have Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly likely about to be announced for Final Battle. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Cedric Alexander vs. ACH

Cedric has Veda Scott in his corner and that’s always a good way to open a show. ACH is coming up on the final match in his best of five series against Matt Sydal. Cedric isn’t interested in a handshake here so we have a feeling out process to start. A few kicks send Cedric to the ropes for a quick meeting with Veda and they trade flips over each other. ACH misses an enziguri and Cedric slams him head first into the mat.

Never one to sell for very long, ACH kicks him out to the floor but Veda blocks a dive, allowing Cedric to hit a running STO onto the apron as we take a break. Back with Alexander hitting some rolling suplexes and smiling a lot. It’s a bit too much smiling though as ACH grabs a downward spiral into the top turnbuckle. The same missed enziguri works a bit better this time as ACH bounces back with a kick to the jaw.

Cedric rolls to the floor but another Veda distraction blocks the dive. You know they’re getting in their dives on this show though as ACH hits that Jordan dive (Kelly: “Like a young Nigel McGuinness!”) of his. Back in and a German suplex gets two on Cedric and another kick to the head puts Alexander down again. The Dub Dub Stomp (egads the names in this place) misses and Cedric nails a running dropkick in the corner. He slips off the springboard though and ACH hits a superkick for indy darling move #1. It’s followed by indy darling move #2 with a brainbuster, followed by the Midnight Star to pin Cedric at 11:25.

Rating: C-. I know that’s something that’s going to get me yelled at but I really don’t like this kick and flip style. Alexander and Scott make a good pair, though it would be nice if he won something big after the feud with Moose. ACH on the other hand…..I just can’t get behind him. He’s the definition of a flippy guy (though to be fair they’re good flips) which makes for exciting matches, but they seem to be setting him up for something bigger. If that’s the case, he needs to change his style a bit.

Post match ACH says he’s going to beat Sydal.

After a break, Veda blames Nigel for the slip because of so much baby oil on the ropes.

Will Ferrara vs. Caprice Coleman

Before the match Caprice asks the fans to cheer for Ferrara but says he hasn’t taught him everything yet. They trade some armdrags with Ferrara getting control with some armbars. Caprice slams him back down but Will snaps the arm to stop him again. An STO (we get it: you played No Mercy) puts Ferrara into the turnbuckle for two and some knees to the chest keep him in trouble.

Ferrara comes back with a tornado DDT (I’m sick of that move) for two as Prince Nana comes out to watch. Back up and Will misses a charge into the post but Caprice doesn’t mind as he sends Ferrara’s shoulder into the steel again. A one arm camel clutch (the Judgment Seat) gives Caprice the win at 6:01.

Rating: C. This told a much better story as Coleman couldn’t hang with Ferrara as well as he thought he did so he cheated to win. Presumably this leads to a heel turn and a spot in the Embassy for Coleman, which is probably a good idea for him as the midcard veteran is only going to get him so far.

Nana gives Ferrara an envelope of his own post match.

It’s Storytime with Adam Cole where he gets to talk about whatever he wants. In this case it’s his issues with Kyle O’Reilly, even though everyone knows that Cole is the better man. After a clip of Cole pinning Kyle last week, we see him making Kyle tap back in 2012 in New York. Adam says that’s all the proof you need, but he’s not done until Kyle is out of ROH. Cole is far and away better than most of the roster on the mic.

Prince Nana says the envelopes contain the secrets to life. He is far from done in Ring of Honor.

We look back at the All Night Express (Kenny King and Rhett Titus) beating the Briscoe Brothers at All-Star Extravaganza.

All Night Express vs. Briscoe Brothers

Kenny and Mark get things going with Mark grabbing a headlock but taking a right hand to the jaw. It’s quickly off to Titus who walks into a belly to belly, allowing Jay to come in but he’s quickly taken down with a double shot to the face. Titus’ splash gets two and we’re already in the chinlock.

That goes nowhere so Jay comes back with a boot to the face, allowing for the hot tag (this early?) to Mark. Chops and a big flip dive have the Express in trouble and Titus gets stomped down in the corner. A quick Snake Eyes drops Mark but Jay is smart enough to break up the tag before Titus can go anywhere. Back from a quick break with Titus rolling over for the tag to speed things up.

Kenny cleans house and drops Jay off the apron to keep Mark in trouble. I love smart wrestling. King takes too much time posing though and walks into a forearm from Jay. The Doomsday Device to Titus is broken up but so is the One Night Stand. Jay’s suicide dive sends Titus into the barricade and Mark adds a Blockbuster off the apron to King. The Jay Driller and Froggy Bo put Titus away at 11:32.

Rating: B-. Much better than the other two matches here as they went with a tag formula of keeping it moving the whole time. The Express is a good team but the Briscoes are running into the problem that so many dominant acts have had to deal with over the years: what do you do when you’ve won everything? I know it’s been awhile but is winning another title going to mean much?

They shake hands to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. As usual Ring of Honor is a really easy forty five minutes to sit through as it comes and goes with a few good matches and some simple, well done stories. It helps so much that they have an hour on TV a week because it doesn’t have time to get weighed down. Unfortunately we might be coming up on another weird schedule due to Survival of the Fittest, but that’s one of the things you have to deal with in ROH. Still though, fun show this week as is becoming the norm.

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Ring of Honor
Date: October 14, 2015
Location: San Antonio Shrine Auditorium, San Antonio, Texas
Attendance: 600
Commentators: King Corino, Kevin Kelly

We’re FINALLY up to some fresh storyline material here with the fallout from All-Star Extravaganza which took place nearly a month ago. Jay Lethal retained both his titles at the pay per view but the TV Title is on the line tonight against Watanabe. There’s another pay per view next week so things have to pick up in a hurry. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

The commentary audio is notably lower this week as I can barely understand Kelly.

ACH vs. Matt Sydal

This is match #4 in a best of five series with ACH (from Texas, making him the crowd favorite) up 2-1. Kelly thinks winning match #3 bodes well for ACH. As usual, you can’t buy this kind of analysis. They shake hands to start but ACH holds up two fingers. The fans do a New Day style A-CH chant as they fight over a lockup to start. It’s time for some holds on the mat with neither guy being able to keep an advantage.

Sydal gets up and taunts ACH a bit which seems to get inside his head. ACH cartwheels out of a headscissors attempt and Sydal dropkicks him to the floor for a baseball slide. It’s time for the chops and therefore the WOO’s and therefore more audio issues. ACH grabs a headscissors of his own to take over, followed by a top rope double stomp to the back of the head (the Dum Dum Drop. Seriously?) for two. There isn’t much to say on a match like this as it’s just spot after spot with nothing in between.

We take a break and come back with ACH kicking Sydal in the face, only to dive into a nice spinwheel kick. Sydal gets two off something like Big Show’s Final Cut but ACH kicks him in the face again. A nice German suplex gets two on Matt, followed by a kick to the face (popular move) and a Cross Rhodes for another near fall.

Sydal rolls away from Midnight Star (450) and is booed as a result. Yeah somehow avoiding a finisher is a heel move. ACH takes him down again with a running shooting star dive to the floor but some jumping knees to the face look to set up the shooting star. It’s ACH up again though with a brainbuster but the Midnight Star hits knees. A reverse hurricanrana sets up the shooting star to give Sydal the pin and tie the series at 14:15.

Rating: C+. I get the idea here but I’m really not a fan of this kind of match. The ending told me everything I needed to know. When the 450 hit Sydal’s knees, Sydal did another big spot to set up the final big spot. They could have done the exact same ending with a cradle or something, but instead it’s all about the next big move. It makes the whole thing look like a big spot fest where they have no idea how to do anything else. That’s not good. Fun match, but very telling if you pay attention.

They hold up two fingers to each other for some gamesmanship but shake hands. Cue the Addiction and Chris Sabin to beat both guys down and clean house. Back from a break with the trio still in the ring with Kazarian yelling about how they weren’t defeated for their Tag Team Titles at All-Star Extravaganza.

It’s a good thing that they’re here in Texas because these people believe in justice. Not bathing or education, but certainly justice. Daniels doesn’t like the idea of a third man coming to the ring in a red mask and stealing Chris Sabin’s idea. They were never pinned or beaten and therefore they’re still the Tag Team Champions.

Daniels demands that the Kingdom comes out here and hand over the titles but it’s the All Night Express (Kenny King/Rhett Titus, who reunited at the pay per view) instead. King doesn’t want to hear about the Addiction’s complaints because the Express never lost their Tag Team Titles three years ago. They were only defeated by a bureaucracy and the Addiction can get some anytime.

Addiction vs. All Night Express is announced for next week.

Here are Silas Young and the Beer City Bruiser (a large man who carries a beer keg) with Dalton Castle’s boys, who Young won at All-Star Extravaganza. Silas yells at them for their ring attire and it’s time for a match.

Beer City Bruiser/Silas Young vs. The Boys

Bruiser runs both of them over in the corner and suplexes both Boys at the same time. They avoid a top rope splash though and the Boys try to ride Bruiser, only to be destroyed by Silas. Misery is enough to pin one of the Boys at 1:40.

Truth Martini and Jay Lethal talk about Watanabe learning English. Tonight he learns how to say Jay Lethal is the best wrestler in the world.

Inside ROH focuses on Adam Cole costing Kyle O’Reilly the World Title. ReDRagon promises revenge on Cole because he decided to chase the dragon. Cole’s reply says that he’s the next guy instead of Kyle. What Kyle is going to learn is that he’s just a lesser Adam Cole. Adam had the fire in his eyes here and blew away what ReDRagon said. That was good.

We’ll hear from the Kingdom next week.

TV Title: Watanabe vs. Jay Lethal

Lethal is defending but uses the handshake to get in a cheap shot to take over early. Watanabe charges into a boot in the corner and gets elbowed in the face a few times, only to charge into a slam for two. A nice backsplash gets two for Watanabe but Truth Martini trips him up, allowing Jay to nail three straight suicide dives. We take a break and come back with Lethal getting two off a suplex.

Off to the chinlock from the champion followed by some knees to the face. A kick to Watanabe’s face gets two and Lethal goes Kevin Owens by loading up something big and then putting on a chinlock. Watanabe fights back and whips Jay hard across the ring before toss him away with a German suplex. The Lethal Injection is blocked and a big clothesline gets two. Martin throws in the Book of Truth, allowing Lethal to kick Watanabe low. The Lethal Injection retains the title at 12:28.

Rating: C. I’m still waiting on a reason to care about Watanabe. This was a glorified squash with Lethal picking Watanabe apart and putting on a clinic instead of ever feeling like he was in jeopardy. The match wasn’t bad or anything but it really didn’t make me care about either guy.

The fans remind Lethal that AJ Styles is coming for the title to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. I wasn’t feeling this one as I’ve forgotten a lot of the stories they built up for weeks because of the awkward schedule. Lethal vs. Watanabe was nothing special and the best of five series match was a way to set up another match instead of meaning anything on its own. I’m not sure what they’re building towards here as they didn’t mention the pay per view and now have one week to talk about it. I guess after next week it’s time for more stand alone shows and probably more New Japan. Watchable and quick show this week but nothing that did anything for me.

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Ring of Honor
Date: September 23, 2015
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: King Corino, Kevin Kelly

This is one of those weird shows where the pay per view has taken place but there’s almost no way to talk about it because this episode was taped a month prior. Therefore, expect a lot of odd commentary where nothing is really revealed because the announcers don’t know the details yet. Let’s get to it.

Michael Elgin vs. Silas Young

We get right to it as the announcers say Young is dealing with the fallout from All-Star Extravaganza, despite a lack of any sort of details of what happened at the show. Young’s shoulders have no effect as the announcers talk about Elgin’s success in the G-1 Climax tournament in Japan. A big gorilla press puts Silas down and Elgin shows off with a long delayed vertical suplex for two.

Young gets creative with a DDT onto the apron and a slingshot double stomp (ow), sending us to a break. Back with Elgin missing a charge and something like an Irish Curse getting two for Silas. Michael comes back with big right hands (why overcomplicate things?) and a sitout Rock Bottom for two of his own. Elgin wins a slugout until Young kicks him in the face and hits his headstand into a springboard moonsault for two. That’s really not a very heelish move.

Michael kicks him in the face as well and scores with a discus lariat, followed by an apron superplex into a falcon’s arrow for two. Cool looking move there. Misery (TKO) puts Elgin on the floor and Silas pulls the padding back, only to get powerbombed into the barricade. Elgin is all ticked off and the Elgin Bomb is good for the pin at 11:28.

Rating: B-. This was a way to say that Elgin is back after his trip to Japan and it worked quite well in that regard. Young shouldn’t have lost after winning such a big match at All-Star Extravaganza but that’s part of the danger of taping shows this far in advance. Good opener here though and a fun match.

Adam Cole says his match with Shinsuke Nakamura is one of the best wrestlers in the world, but Cole is THE best in the world, which he’ll prove next week in Philadelphia. Simple, yet effective.

ACH vs. Caprice Coleman

Feeling out process to start as they fight over a wristlock and trade flips, capped off by Coleman getting no count off a dropkick. The announcers sell the idea that ACH is this generation’s Coleman as Caprice trips ACH and drops a leg for two. ACH comes back with a running kick to the face from the apron but his bottom rope clothesline is blocked.

Coleman grabs three rolling northern lights suplexes and we get a pretty awkward striking sequence, including a one inch punch from Coleman. It actually stops ACH from hitting his big dive and Caprice nails the Sky Splitter (top rope Rough Ryder) for two. ACH is still screwed up from the punch (Corino: “Holy Ox Baker!”) but he comes back with a quick brainbuster and the Midnight Star (450) for the pin at 6:52.

Rating: C. The one inch punch was a little awkward but at least ACH finally won something. They could make him something like the Kofi Kingston of this company but he needs to quit losing so much. Coleman is a good veteran who can make anyone look good and there’s some amazing value in that kind of a role player.

Post match Corino asks Coleman about the envelope that Prince Nana gave him a few weeks ago. There was money and a letter inside. Coleman took the money and read the letter over and over. At first it didn’t make sense but now he knows that Nana was right. Nothing more is explained.

Roppongi Vice/Kazuchika Okada vs. Briscoe Brothers/Hiroki Goto

Okada, part of Chaos with Vice, is IWGP Heavyweight Champions and Goto is the IWGP Intercontinental Champion. Well as of this taping at least. Jay and Okada get things going for what ROH would consider a dream match. They slug it out with Okada kicking Jay in the face to take over. Off to Rocky Romero (of Rocky Romero/Trent Baretta) who doesn’t do as well so here are Goto and Trent.

Hiroki scores with some shoulders before it’s off to Mark for shoulders of his own. Mark is fascinated by Trent’s headband and puts it on, setting up redneck kung fu and a dropkick. Vice starts some double teaming on Mark and Okada adds a slingshot hilo for two. All three members of Chaos rake Mark’s eyes until Mark grabs a Death Valley Driver on Okada. Goto comes in to fight Okada like he wants but he gets kicked in the face, setting up Okada’s top rope elbow.

The Rainmaker is countered into a backbreaker and we take a break. Back with Jay cleaning house before it’s off to Mark, who gets clotheslined in the corner to change control again. Jay comes back in with a powerbomb into a neckbreaker as everything breaks down. Mark counters the Rainmaker into a suplex but Romero kicks him in the face. Trent makes a blind tag but gets caught in a Doomsday Device from the apron to the floor.

Back in and the Froggy Bow gets a VERY close two on Trent but Okada comes back in with a tombstone. Goto breaks up the Rainmaker with a headbutt and everyone is down again. That’s enough for Jay as he blasts Trent in the face and scores with the Jay Driller for the pin at 14:05.

Rating: B. This was your usual fun six man New Japan match which is a great option to fill in the gaps on shows like this one. The Briscoes continue to look awesome as a team and would be a great addition to the already stacked tag division at this point. Okada vs. Goto was treated like a side story here, which is probably best considering they don’t work for this company.

Overall Rating: B+. This is one of the better shows the company has had on Destination America as everyone was on point and rolling this week with three good matches that served no real purpose other than filling in time. I’m not sure when we get to the next story driven shows but at least we had an entertaining show this week, which is all you can ask for here.

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Ring of Honor
Date: August 12, 2015
Location: William J. Myers Pavilion, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: King Corino, Kevin Kelly

It’s FINALLY a new batch of tapings as the show has moved from New York to Baltimore. The big story coming out of last week is the Tag Team Title situation as Future Shock reformed to take down the Addiction in a non-title match. This isn’t cool with Future Shock member Adam Cole’s stable the Kingdom, who will likely have something to say about this tonight. Let’s get to it.

Watanabe vs. ACH

Hey, it’s the guy that I still don’t get but keeps getting matches on TV because he’s Japanese and therefore must be awesome. They chop it out to start and Watanabe kneels down, telling ACH to chop him again. ACH obliges before kneeling down, only to have Watanabe’s chops work a bit better. Back up and ACH backflips to set up a dropkick as Corino runs down the Field of Honor card. Watanabe gets kicked to the floor and a running kick to the chest from the apron puts him down again.

We take a break and come back with ACH working on the arm but getting caught in a gordbuster. A backsplash (which is becoming too common of a move these days) sets up a chinlock on ACH. That goes as far as a chinlock can take you so ACH kicks him to the floor and hits a great looking flip dive over the top.

Back in and Watanabe’s fisherman’s buster is countered with a small package for two. They head outside again with ACH running up the pole to flip over, but he’s stupid enough to stand there and pose, allowing Watanabe to hit a wicked overhead German suplex on the floor. A fisherman’s buster gets two for Watanabe but ACH hits a brainbuster of his own, setting up the Midnight Star (450) for the pin at 9:42.

Rating: C. Well that happened. Seriously this had no impact on me whatsoever and was just nine minutes of wrestling with a commercial in the middle. Watanabe is as generic of a Japanese wrestler as I’ve ever seen and ACH can do flips. That doesn’t make me want to see either guy again as they feel like archetypes instead of characters.

ReDRagon is ready for the Kingdom tonight but imply they drink their own urine. Very simple, old school promo here, minus the last part that is.

From earlier in the day, ROH boss Nigel McGuinness was here to make some announcements. He heard the FIVE MORE MINUTES chants at Death Before Dishonor when Roderick Strong vs. Jay Lethal went to a sixth minute draw, but the only thing that would happen in five more minutes was a serious injury.

However, it’s clear that the people want to see more of these two, which means we’ll see it again at the August 21 TV tapings. The winner there will take the title to All-Star Extravaganza on September 18 to defend against Kyle O’Reilly. Also at All-Star Extravaganza, Bobby Fish will face the TV Champion, whoever that may be at that time.

Dalton Castle and the Boys (as opposed to Dem Boys) pitch merchandise. This guy just breathes charisma.

House of Truth vs. War Machine

It’s Diesel/Dijak for the House of Truth here with Lethal on commentary. The heels jump War Machine at the call for the Code of Honor but Hanson easily puts both of them on the top rope for some sledges to the corner. Lethal: “TRUTH! TELL HIM TO SLOW DOWN!” Some good old fashioned double team cheating lets Dijak kick Hanson in the face and Lethal is downright giddy.

Hanson stays down as long as a monster is going to against someone like Diesel and it’s quickly off to Rowe to clean house. Dijak throws Hanson down with a release suplex and Diesel adds a spear for two. War Machine’s Path of Resistance crushes Dijak and Hanson’s top rope splash makes it even worse. Lethal: “SLOW DOWN!!!” Fallout (a belly to back suplex/top rope guillotine legdrop) ends Diesel at 4:52. Oh and Hanson is facing Lethal for the TV Title in a few weeks. This match makes so much more sense all of a sudden.

Rating: C. I had fun with this as there’s always room for a Legion of Doom style team to destroy various people, especially someone as pesky as Diesel. Lethal was more entertaining on commentary than he was for years imitating people and I can kind of see the massive appeal he carries. Granted that’s likely to end as soon as I really don’t care for his matches.

Tim Hughes vs. Adam Page

This is the only match I can ever find listed for Hughes. Fans: “LET’S GO JOBBER!” The Rite of Passage ends Hughes in 24 seconds.

BJ Whitmer yells at ROH for giving Page such an easy opponent. Page calls out Jay Briscoe, much to Kelly’s shock. As luck would have it, Briscoe isn’t here. With that going nowhere, Whitmer yells at King Corino but Nigel comes out to say cut it out. The fans, ever bloodthirsty, say LET THEM FIGHT.

Back from a break with King Corino off commentary and Kelly going solo. We see a clip of Corino nearly killing Whitmer last week to show where this came from. I always appreciate stuff like that as not everyone saw the previous show, so let us know what’s going on.

Kingdom vs. ReDRagon

Kingdom has finally lost their IWGP Tag Team Titles. Adam Cole comes out to do commentary to a huge face reaction and Maria is freaked out. O’Reilly and Taven get things going with Kyle grabbing a headlock until Taven comes back with a great sunset flip for two. It’s off to Bennett vs. Fish as we have the standard double tag. Fish kicks Bennett in the chest before it’s back to Kyle for a nice double suplex. A slingshot hilo gets two for Fish and we take a break with Bennett getting low bridged to the floor.

Back with Kyle diving off the apron to take Bennett down and Fish swiveling his hips for reasons that aren’t clear. Maria offers a distraction (I wonder how she pulled that off) and Taven gets in a kick to the head to take over. Cole reiterates that he’s the only member of the Kingdom ready to hold the World Title as Bennett puts Kyle in a chinlock. Bennett’s Thesz press with punches and a middle finger elbow are a rather bizarre including so it’s off to Taven for some choking in the corner.

Kyle somehow grabs a leg bar for a breather and leg trips Taven down, setting up the hot tag to Bobby. Fish cleans house but Taven blocks the exploder suplex into the corner. The second attempt works a bit better though and Fish keeps cleaning house. Everything breaks down but Taven is able to escape Chasing the Dragon. There’s a choke to Bennett instead but he spins around for a running boot from Taven.

Matt’s high angle Swanton gets two on Fish and the wheelbarrow suplex gets the same for Kyle. O’Reilly eats a superkick and it’s time for everyone to kick with Taven kicking Kyle into the ropes for a superkick from Bennett. Hail Mary (spike piledriver) on the floor crushes Kyle again and Cole isn’t happy. Back in and Fish tries to go it alone but Taven kicks him in the face, setting up another Hail Mary for the pin at 14:04.

Rating: C+. This got a bit too insane for my tastes but they’re nailing the story at this point and I’m digging this more than almost anything else in ROH right now. Though to be fair, Maria has a lot to do with that. Good match here and you can see Cole’s full on face turn (he’s like 90% there already) on the horizon.

Post match the Kingdom loads up another Hail Mary but Cole comes in and says cool it, which Maria agrees with to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. I’m starting to get into the stories around here, though I’m still not wild on a lot of the wrestling stuff. The tag team situation is getting better every week as you can see where they’re going with things, which as usual is a positive. The Jay Lethal stuff can work for awhile but they can only carry this on so long before the midcard starts to suffer. Good show this week though and I’m hopeful going forward.

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Ring of Honor
Date: July 29, 2015
Location: Terminal 5, New York City, New York
Commentators: King Corino, Kevin Kelly

We’re now past Death Before Dishonor but TV has yet to catch up with the results. Last week was a special historical show as Ring of Honor hit two hundred episodes, leaving only an eight person tag for new wrestling. It should be interesting to see where things go tonight as we get closer to All Star Extravaganza. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Matt Taven/Michael Bennett vs. Corey Hollis/Jonathan Gresham

Taven and Bennett’s IWGP Tag Team Titles aren’t on the line. The jobbers (as named by the fans) get superkicked to start and Maria jumps in on commentary. Taven and Bennett destroy the guys on the floor with Bennett getting in a fan’s face as he chants LET’S GO JOBBERS. They settle down in the ring with Gresham getting in a few shots until Taven kicks him in the ribs, with Maria’s “see, I told you so” attitude being so perfect.

Gresham dives through the legs for a tag to Hollis, who comes in off a double missile dropkick. It doesn’t last long though as a superkick sends Hollis into a spear from Taven for two with Gresham making the save. Bennett is thrown into the ropes for a snap German suplex, only to have Taven springboard in with a kick to the face. They’re doing a good job here at the false hope spots. Hail Mary (Maria’s real name and a spike piledriver) ends Hollis at 4:27.

Rating: C-. Maria gets better every time she’s out there. The attitude of knowing she looks incredible and talking down to everyone with the bonus of believing she’s right while not sounding insulting is what Stephanie fails to be more often than not. It was also nice to let this have a few minutes instead of just having the champs crush them. Good little squash here.

Caprice Coleman vs. Bob Evans vs. Silas Young vs. Cheeseburger vs. Moose vs. Dalton Castle

Heel manager Prince Nana comes out for commentary to watch Moose, his protege, which hasn’t been mentioned since they debuted on Destination America. This is one fall to a finish and going to the floor is as good as a tag. The fans favor Castle before things get going. Castle and Moose start but Evans and Cheeseburger tag in before anything can happen.

Evans tags out to Silas out of the fear of Cheeseburger (a manly vegetarian perhaps?) as we’re still waiting on contact. Silas easily wins a test of strength on the tiny Cheeseburger but he rolls away and elbows Silas in the ribs to take over. As Kelly explains the Cheeseburger name (he needed to put on weight so he was told to eat cheeseburgers. That’s not a very good story), Silas throws Cheeseburger to the floor, meaning Coleman can come in legally and take a shoulder block.

We take a break and come back with Moose splashing Young in the corner. Coleman hurricanranas Young off the top but Evans shoves him out to the floor. More people are shoved out until it’s Castle and Silas left alone, only to have Castle take too much time strutting and get nailed in the back of the head (there’s no way I can say nailed from behind and not get a bunch of jokes).

Castle slaps on a chinlock (that’s a rare sight in ROH) but Dalton’s boys wave him back to his feet. A quick suplex puts Young down but Evans tags himself in, only to walk into a backdrop from Dalton. Off to Moose to clean house, including throwing Cheeseburger onto Evans, allowing Coleman to hit a flip dive onto both of them. Young breaks up a Moose dive (that could be awesome to see) but we do get Moose dropkicking Young off the top.

Now we get a flip dive from Moose (not a bad one either) and I’m really seeing the potential this guy has. Dalton breaks up a spear to Cheeseburger and it’s time for the parade of secondary finishers. Castle muscles Moose over in a delayed German suplex to freak out Prince Nana. Evans rolls up Moose and puts his feet on the ropes until Cheeseburger makes the save, leaving Moose to spear Evans down for the pin at 13:10.

Rating: C-. I wasn’t really feeling this one as it was just kind of a big mess with everyone fighting everyone for the sake of fighting everyone. Moose winning is the right idea as he could be a good monster down the line but the fans wanted to see Castle here. Unfortunately there was too much going on to really make sense of the match and it was too much at once. At least one of the right guys won though.

Here’s the Decade with something to say. BJ Whitmer talks about Colby Corino becoming a man right in front of the fans’ eyes, which means he has more heart than anyone in the locker room or even at ringside (with a sneer at King Corino). Whitmer praises Colby for how close he came to beating Moose and War Machine (he was squashed both times) and now sees him as his own son. BJ hopes that Colby sees him like the father he never had and tonight, Colby is getting a gift. Tonight, Colby gets to have a gauntlet match against four guys from the last tryout camp.

Colby’s four opponents combine to weigh over 1,800 pounds and that’s too much for King Corino. King gets in the ring and takes off his tie but Whitmer says this isn’t going to make up for abandoning his son. He abandoned Colby, so how long will it be before he abandons his wife and baby son? Nigel McGuinness has to come out and break up the fight as we go to another break.

I’m digging this feud as it’s built up very well, even though ROH hasn’t felt the need to say why Whitmer and Corino hate each other in the first place. Again: stop assuming we watch all of your shows and give us a thirty second recap. You know you’ve been on this new channel for like two months now, so a quick recap won’t kill you.

Back from a break with Nigel McGuinness on commentary in Corino’s place.

ACH vs. Bobby Fish

The fans are split here and Fish takes ACH down to the mat to start. ACH isn’t exactly on top of his game on the ground so he grabs a headlock to try to get back to his feet. An unnecessary cartwheel into a moonsault sets up a dropkick to put Fish down in the corner as we’re definitely seeing a contrast of styles. Bad News Barrett’s jump from the middle rope and swing around into a suplex gets two and Fish is sent to the floor where he avoids a dive as we take a break.

Back with ACH firing off some chops (for some lame WOOs) and it’s time to hit the kickoff, because what would ROH be without kicking at each other like it’s a kickboxing fight. ACH can’t follow up because of the work Fish did to his ribs during the break (nothing wrong with some basic psychology) and Fish drops him with a fall away slam. Kelly: “We invite you to order the replay of Death Before Dishonor on ROHwrestling.com! Well, order it after this match!” That was good for a chuckle.

Fish goes back to the ribs but ACH Matrixes back to avoid a cross body. That’s always a cool looking counter. Fish bails to the floor, allowing ACH to hit a sweet looking shooting star plancha. ACH hurts his knee coming back in off the top but is still able to kick Fish with the good leg for two. The 450 hits knees to bang up the ribs again and Fish goes to the two injured body parts. The Fish Hook knee bar has ACH in trouble but he bridges back into a rollup to make Fish break the hold. ACH gets kicked down on top though and a top rope falcon’s arrow gives Fish the pin at 12:55.

Rating: C+. I liked the match but it went on a bit too long. Also I would have liked the Fish Hook to make Fish tap as they spent the whole match building up the leg injury and then the submission hold is just another spot. ACH is good in the Kofi Kingston’s role of the high flier with almost no personality to speak of but you kind of knew he was going to lose here.

Overall Rating: C-. This could have been a lot worse but it’s one of those shows that ROH has to deal with: they’re after a pay per view but can’t spoil anything so we get these matches which could take place on any given night. It’s not bad, but it’s a total stand alone show with no long term consequences. Watchable enough, but nothing great.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of NXT Reviews: The Full Sail Years Volume I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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