Ring of Honor
Date: December 2, 2015
Location: Wings Stadium Annex, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly, Mark Briscoe

Final Battle is just around the corner and for the first time in a long time, Jay Lethal’s World Title really seems vulnerable. However, for some reason ROH seems much more interested in the tag team division, though that’s been some of the more interesting stuff they’ve been doing in recent weeks. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Adam Page vs. Will Ferrara

Page is still rightfully ticked off that he’s off Final Battle because of Whitmer and Corino being forced off the show as well. Will gets jumped from behind before the bell, which is totally dishonorable but the referee starts the match anyway. Page stomps him in the corner as Kelly runs down the Final Battle card instead of talking about the match. Back up and Page charges into a boot in the corner, only to come right back with a dropkick to send Ferrara out to the floor.

A bridging pumphandle suplex (that’s a new one) gets two for Page as Briscoe cheers for Ferrara. Will makes a quick comeback with a sunset bomb out of the corner for two. It’s time for a Decade meeting on the floor but Ferrara dives onto everyone. Colby offers a referee distraction and Whitmer throws in the crutch, only to have Ferrara intercept it and lay out Page for the big upset at 4:05.

Rating: C-. It’s cool to see the perennial jobber get a win like this though I’m still surprised that they’re going to leave the Decade off the big show after everything they’ve done in recent months. Corino being out changed what they had planned but there’s no one else that they could swap in there?

Post match Whitmer goes after Ferrara and the referee, drawing in Mark Briscoe for the save.

Here’s the Addiction to yell about how badly they’ve been mistreated around here. Daniels goes on a sexist rant against Maria who belongs in a kitchen or a nursery. Daniels: “YEAH I SAID IT!” Then they had a masked man run in which should have stopped the match immediately but it just kept going. Kazarian says if Ring of Honor wants to play checkers, the Addition will play chess……in New Japan Professional Wrestling. They’ll go win the Heavyweight Tag League and then come back to regain their World Tag Team Championships of the World.

Video on Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly which will be one heck of a grudge match at Final Battle.

Package on Brutal Bob Evans vs. Cheeseburger. WHY ARE THESE TWO STILL FIGHTING??? They were fighting like six months ago and they’re still at it. Evans broke Cheeseburger’s hand at this TV taping and they’ll be fighting again on the Final Battle pre-show in another grudge match. I’ll take that over them being on the main show.

We look back at Roderick Strong winning the TV Title last week.

Here’s the House of Truth (good night that’s a low cut dress on Hendrix) with something to say. Lethal says Strong FINALLY beat him last week after all the tries but Jay knows Strong couldn’t do it again. He’ll be TV Champion again soon enough anyway. That brings Lethal to AJ Styles, who Lethal came to for advice for most of their careers. It’s true that Styles was the best wrestler in the world for years, but that changed when Lethal became the undisputed ROH Champion.

Lethal is the only undisputed champion and now he wants Styles out here to say it to his face. This brings out AJ (who thankfully can walk here) to say that Lethal is right because of that belt around his waist. Jay losing the TV Title was the best thing that could have happened to him though because he needs to focus on AJ and AJ alone. They shake hands and stare each other down with Jay holding up the belt. Well done and very simple idea here.

It’s time for Storytime with Adam Cole which has become a highlight of these shows. Cole never saw this coming because even after he kicked Kyle with reality at All-Star Extravaganza, Kyle still didn’t get it. O’Reilly isn’t going to win the World Title as long as Cole is around because that’s just not how it works. Cole starts yelling that Kyle will never be champion because he’s not the man that Adam is. He’s going to make Kyle quit and leave ROH because he can’t handle the embarrassment of how bad things are going to get at Final Battle.

We run down the Final Battle card. I might have to watch that show.

Dalton Castle vs. Adam Cole

No Boys here and Castle is clearly not happy about it. Cole on the other hand has the whole Kingdom behind him. Kelly: “I think Cole’s greatest advantage, aside from being a former World Champion, is having three mates at ringside.” You can’t buy analysis like this people. Before we get going, cue the Boys to stand by Dalton’s side but Silas Young runs out to say not so fast. How nice is it to have stipulations adhered to?

Cole jumps Castle to start and Bennett trips Dalton to break up a comeback. Nigel: “Come on I’m right here!” Castle dives through the ropes to take out the Kingdom and Cole’s dive off the apron only earns him a suplex. The fans are way behind Dalton here but Cole shuts them up with a superkick. The Kingdom gets involved and it’s a quick DQ at 1:45.

Since the Kingdom has a Tag Team Title defense coming up, it would seem appropriate for their challengers to come out and make this a six man tag. The fans chant SIX MAN and that’s what they get, thanks to Nigel.

War Machine/Dalton Castle vs. Kingdom

The good guys take over on the floor to start with Hanson and Rowe destroying Bennett and Cole, leaving Dalton to….bite Taven’s stomach? They get inside for Rowe vs. Cole with the latter getting flipped all over the place off a clothesline. Taven and Bennett trip Rowe down and crotch him though, allowing the heels to take over. A dropkick from Taven gets two and a nice high cross body (Bennett: “TAVEN! FLY!”) connects for the same.

We take a break and come back with nothing having changed as Rowe is taken back into the heel corner. A missed dropkick allows Rowe to finally make the tag and it’s off to Hanson to clean house with knees to the chest. Cole and Castle come in with Dalton showing him how to do a missile dropkick. Taven comes back in and trades about ten Tombstone attempts with Castle until Dalton FINALLY plants him.

Rowe knees Taven and Bennett out to the floor so Hanson busts out a big top rope flip dive to drop everyone. Back in and the Path of Resistance sets up a middle rope splash for two on Cole as his partners make a save. Now it’s Hanson missing a suicide dive, allowing Cole to drop Castle with a brainbuster onto his knee for the pin at 12:00.

Rating: C+. This was your signature Ring of Honor main event with the tagging being forgotten by the end and letting it turn into a wild mess which was just coherent enough to keep track of it. You don’t want the Kingdom to lose here so having Castle take the fall was the best possible option. Good TV main event here.

The Kingdom poses to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. Another fun show here that did a good job of setting up Final Battle, which is looking like a strong card to close out the year. It really does impress me to see how far Ring of Honor has come in just a few months as I wasn’t wild on their first Destination America shows but I’m digging their product now that it’s off the national network. This was fun stuff and worked more than well enough.

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Ring of Honor
Date: September 2, 2015
Location: William J. Myers Pavilion, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: King Corino, Kevin Kelly

We’re coming up on All-Star Extravaganza where Lethal will again have to defend both of his titles in one night. That is of course assuming he makes it out of tonight’s TV Title defense against the powerhouse Hanson, who is one of the many people in line for a shot at one of the belts. Let’s get to it.

Adam Page vs. Jay Briscoe

Page has called Briscoe out for a few weeks for reasons that aren’t really clear. The announcers call Jay Briscoe a legend and one of the all time greats in Ring of Honor. If you’re talking just titles, Briscoe is pretty easily a mile ahead of anyone else and really is one of the best they’ve ever had. Page slaps him in the face instead of shaking hands. Jay actually offers another handshake and gets slapped one more time. Some left hands have Adam in trouble and he gets knocked to the floor for a suicide dive. Page’s young boy Colby Corino hits Jay in the back for the quick DQ at 1:45.

Page, who never took his vest off, throws a chair at Jay’s head and gives him the Rite of Passage on a pile of chairs. Mark Briscoe comes out for the save a few moments too late.

We recap Dalton Castle vs. Silas Young, which has evolved into a battle over Castle’s boys.

Castle will be silent no longer and is going to come crashing down on Silas Young like a thousand foot wave from the hand of Poseidon. The boys can be on the line, but if Castle wins, Young becomes one of Dalton’s boys. That makes things more interesting.

Cedric Alexander vs. Caprice Coleman

These two used to be partners. Before the match, Cedric sends manager Veda Scott to the back so Coleman gets in a verbal jab at her expense. The livid Cedric gets punched in the face and slammed into a rollup for one. Veda is still on the floor, which is certainly not a bad thing. She offers a quick distraction and Cedric kicks Coleman’s head off as we take a break.

Back with Cedric chopping his former mentor and cutting off a comeback. Coleman sends him outside for a hurricanrana before bringing Cedric back in for a second hurricanrana and a near fall. Cedric’s Michinoku Driver gets two so Veda slips him the wrench, only to have Stokely Carmichael (Moose’s manager) come out and drop Veda, allowing Moose to take the wrench away. The distraction lets Coleman come off the top with the Sky Splitter (Rough Ryder) for the pin at 8:08.

Rating: C-. I have no idea why I’m supposed to care about either of these guys. They’re both very stereotypical Ring of Honor guys: good enough hands in the ring but lacking presence and any reason for me to be interested in either of them. Veda is much more interesting than both of them, but that’s not really saying much.

Moose KO’s Cedric with the wrench. Prince Nana comes out and hands Coleman an envelope.

Brutal Bob Evans vs. Cheeseburger

This is one of those feuds that just won’t die. Evans swears at Cheeseburger to start so Cheeseburger ducks a chair shot and hits a flip dive off the barricade to start. They get inside and Evans begs off, only to send Cheeseburger into the corner. Evans pulls Cheeseburger up at two so he can keep up the beating. A shoulder block gets two for Bob but Cheesburger kicks away from the mat. Bob heads outside to load up a table but Cheeseburger smacks him off the apron and through the table instead, earning a countout.

Rating: D-. What a waste of time. They really hammered in the idea here and it’s not a very good one. These two have been feuding for months and I have no reason to care. Cheeseburger is smaller than Spike Dudley and comes off as a waste of time more than anything else. Total waste of time.

Jay Lethal promises to beat Hanson so badly tonight that Hanson’s dog is going to run away and Hanson is going to lose his house. I loved that line.

TV Title: Hanson vs. Jay Lethal

Lethal is defending and Bobby Fish, who will be facing the winner of this at All-Star Extravaganza, is on commentary. Hanson throws Lethal around to start and kicks his head off with a big boot. The champ’s chops have no effect so Truth Martini offers a distraction, allowing Lethal to dropkick him out to the floor. A suicide dive from the champ takes us to a break.

Back with Lethal snapping Hanson’s throat across the top rope by the beard and slapping on a chinlock. That goes nowhere so Hanson comes back with a nice gutwrench slam. A cartwheel into a clothesline gets two on Jay as the announcers talk about the grind of being a double champion. That’s how you tell stories on commentary instead of talking about England winning some competition in some sport that isn’t clearly defined.

Hanson’s Bronco Buster is countered with a raised boot, followed by Jay’s top rope elbow for two. Hanson tries his Lethal Injection and only kind of botches it, followed by a moonsault which hits Lethal’s knees. Fish brings up the obvious point: shouldn’t that hurt Letha’s legs? Two straight Lethal Injections (the Tajiri handspring into a Diamond Cutter. Doing it twice doesn’t make it any less stupid looking) retain Jay’s title at 11:27.

Rating: C-. Just ok here as it was mainly a quick challenge for Lethal to get out of the way. You have to let him win a match or two like this every now and then, especially when Lethal has a bunch of bigger matches coming up. I really liked the announcers talking about how Lethal is trying to do too much as that is the most logical place to take the story.

Lethal talks trash about ReDRagon so Fish gets on the apron and is quickly joined by Kyle O’Reilly (a future World Title contender). Roderick Strong comes out to stare Lethal down as well and the champ runs off to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. I’m having a really hard time caring about a lot of these stories. Lethal’s stuff is more about getting to the point where he collapses under the weight of everything he’s trying to do. That can make for a good long story but it’s not working for a one off week. The rest of the matches didn’t do much for me, save for the opener which set up something interesting down the line. These stories aren’t doing it for me, but I had a really good time with the Tag Team Title stuff, mainly because it was all self contained and I didn’t need to see a bunch of other shows to get the idea. Easily fixed, but not a great show.

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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.

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Ring of Honor
Date: June 17, 2015
Location: Ted Reeve Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Attendance: 1,500
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, King Corino

It’s week three of Global Wars and this show will feature the debuts of some major New Japan stars. The big story continues to be the battle of the Jays as Lethal and Briscoe get ready for their showdown at Best in the World 2015. There’s only one more week after this before we get to something fresh so let’s get to it.

We open with……the opening sequence. Makes sense.

Decade vs. War Machine

War Machine is Hanson/Ray Rowe, a pair of monsters who look like vikings with foot long beards. Decade is BJ Whitmer/Adam Page here. The fans tell Whitmer to shut up but he reminds them that the microphone is a lot louder than they are. Whitmer doesn’t think King Corino learned his lesson a few weeks back, so Colby Corino, who remember is 18 years old and might weigh 180lbs, is his replacement.

Rowe starts with Page, who immediately tags in Colby. Corino gets right in Rowe’s face and slaps him, setting up a tag to Hanson. Rowe tags out and a big side slam plants Colby down. Back to Rowe for a nice backbreaker into a gutbuster into a powerbomb on Colby. Rowe throws Colby over to Page but Page won’t tag. A belly to back suplex/guillotine legdrop finally ends Corino at 2:12. This was an angle instead of a match and I’m starting to get into this, even though I’m not entirely familiar with Corino vs. the Decade’s backstory.

Here’s Cedric Alexander, who has been on a losing streak lately after being billed as a breakout star last year. He has to start getting some wins, and he wants to start with the undefeated Moose. Here’s his chance.

Moose vs. Cedric Alexander

Moose has Stokely Hathaway and the very lovely Veda Scott. Cedric’s dropkick has little effect as the huge Moose slams him down but misses a splash. They head outside with Cedric escaping a slam and sending Moose into the post. Back in and Moose hits a nice dropkick of his own to put Alexander on the floor and us on a break. We come back with Cedric hitting a big dive to the floor, followed by a nice springboard tornado DDT for two.

That’s not cool with Moose who takes his head off with a hard clothesline, followed by some hard chops. Cedric comes right back with a bunch of dropkicks in the corner but Moose spears him down. Both guys are in trouble and Veda slips Moose a wrench. He isn’t interested in using it, so Cedric takes it away and blasts Moose in the head for the pin, giving Moose his first loss at 9:05.

Rating: D+. The match was back and forth but what in the world are they thinking with the booking? Moose is less than a week away from a #1 contenders three way on pay per view and you give him his first loss on the go home show? This is a very bad choice in booking and they really need to think these things out. I do not get this, but I’m assuming it leads to Veda leaving Moose.

Matt Sydal/ACH vs. Tetsuya Naito/Hiroshi Tanahashi

Sydal is formerly known as Evan Bourne, ACH is a high flier and Tanahashi is basically the John Cena of Japan. The Japanese guys won’t shake hands to start, in theory making them heels here, even though an ROH crowd isn’t going to boo a star like Tanahashi. Sydal and Tanahashi trade go behinds to start until Matt takes him down for a standing moonsault. A double tag brings in Naito and ACH with the fans being split. They take their time to start until Naito slugs him down in the corner to take over.

ACH avoids a clothesline and does some unnecessary flips before dropkicking Naito in the face. Tanahashi knees ACH in the back and throws him into the barricade as we take a break. Back with Tanahashi missing a middle rope swanton but still preventing a hot tag. We hit the chinlock from Naito as I’m struggling to find things to say here. There’s no real story here other than company vs. company and the announcers aren’t giving me any information about any of the four guys.

Naito sends him into the corner for a basement dropkick. ACH finally counters a hurricanrana and makes the hot tag to Sydal, who comes in to clean house. In a nice counter, Sydal loads up the standing moonsault but Tanahashi is waiting on him with a German suplex. ACH fires off a bunch of kicks to Tanahashi and a clothesline for two. A German suplex from ACH gets the same and he mocks Tanahashi’s air guitar. Tanahashi puts on his Texas cloverleaf but Naito tagged himself in. Granted the referee didn’t seem to notice, leaving ACH to have to grab a rope.

The New Japan guys break up Sydal’s Asai moonsault but ACH hits a big dive to take both of them down. Back in and ACH hits a kind of springboard downward spiral to Tanahashi, followed by Sydal’s shooting star for two. Now it’s ACH going up top for a 450 but Tanahashi seemingly got the knees up. A sling blade sets up the High Fly Flow (frog splash) to give Hiroshi the pin at 11:12.

Rating: C+. Fun match but it got a bit messy near the end. I still don’t get why they’re trying to make all the Japanese guys heels when they’re naturally faces for the most part, especially with fans like the ROH crowd. Still though, good enough match here and it got the crowd going like it was supposed to.

It’s time for the contract signing, as run by ROH match maker Nigel McGuinness. TV Champion Jay Lethal is up first with World Champion Jay Briscoe following him up. Briscoe is flanked by his brother Mark and for a pair of rednecks, I’m really not feeling shirts with Twitter handles on the front. Both guys sign up and McGuinness talks about how this is the biggest match in ROH history.

Lethal would love to flip the table and beat Briscoe down right now, but he’d rather have Briscoe at his best. Notice that Lethal repeats the date of the show instead of just saying “at Best in the World”. Briscoe promises to beat Lethal so bad that Lethal has to become Black Machismo again and those are fighting words. The belts are held up for a big jawing session to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. I’m looking forward to getting through this Global Wars stuff as it’s really taking away from the ongoing stories. Instead of a bunch of Ring of Honor stuff, we’re getting a meaningless series of matches which don’t make either promotion look better than the other. They did a good go home build to the title vs. title match though, which I liked a lot better than anything else on the series so far. Good episode, but I’m looking forward to the first regular ROH show.

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Ring of Honor
Date: June 3, 2015
Location: Ted Reeve Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Attendance: 1,500
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, King Corino

So this show just debuted on Destination America as a lead-in to Impact Wrestling. I’m not the biggest Ring of Honor fan in the world but I do have a passing knowledge of the promotion. I’m not sure how long I’m going to do this for but I’ll knock out the first few weeks of it at least. Let’s get to it.

Keep in mind that this isn’t supposed to be a special debut episode as it was taped before the Destination America deal was announced, meaning it’s hard to know what we’re getting here. However, apparently these matches are from the Global Wars two day event.

This show originally aired over the last weekend in May, depending on when your area gets the Sinclair syndicated feed.

The Briscoe Brothers (the best Mark and World Champion Jay) are ready for the House of Truth tonight and Mark Briscoe is about as psychotic as you can ask him to be, which gives you a good introduction to the promotion.

Opening sequence. Nothing out of the ordinary here.

The announcers talk about the Best In The World pay per view on June 19 with a main event of TV Champion Jay Lethal vs. World Champion Jay Briscoe in a title vs. title match.

Will Ferrara vs. Kushida

This is ROH vs. New Japan. One encouraging note here: we’re three minutes in and we know our main event tonight, the PPV main event and our opening match. That’s efficient stuff for an hour long show. Kushida kicks Ferrara down to start but Will comes back with a quick neckbreaker for two. Back up and Kushida fights out of a fireman’s carry before kicking Ferrara in the head.

Kushida bails to the floor and eats a suicide dive into a DDT for a nice crash. They head back in with Will nailing a running elbow in the corner but getting caught in a Fujiwara armbar. A big moonsault gets two on Ferrara and he slaps on a Kimura (apparently called the Hover Board Lock as Kushida is one half of the Time Splitters tag team. It’s a Back to the Future reference in case you have bad taste in movies) for the submission at 5:14.

Rating: C. Glorified squash here and a good way to get the fans used to the New Japan partnership, even though they won’t be around much longer after this show. The match was fine but it was clear that Ferrara was in way over his head. Not a bad match but there’s only so far you can go in a five minute match with one guy so far ahead of the other.

The Addiction (Kazarian and Christopher Daniels) say they’ll give Red Dragon a title shot next week and only next week.

Silas Young vs. Takaaki Watanabe

These two split after a tag match at Global Wars Night One. Young is billed as the Last Real Man in Professional Wrestling. They slug it out to start with Young elbowing out of a German suplex attempt. That’s fine with Watanabe as he plants Silas with a belly to back suplex. Now the German suplex connects and the fans are entirely behind Watanabe.

A superplex attempt doesn’t work so well though and Silas nails a middle rope clothesline for a delayed two. Back up and a running neckbreaker plants Young before a clothesline puts him on the floor. Another German on the floor knocks Silas silly but can only get two back inside. Young shrugs it off, grabs an airplane spin of all things and lays Watanabe out with a TKO for the pin at 6:20.

Rating: D+. Well that exists. There’s nothing else for me to say here as I have no idea why I’m supposed to care about either guy and the match was nothing interesting. Young has a decent enough character but, as is the case with almost every guy from New Japan, I have almost no reason to care about them. If the wrestling isn’t great, there isn’t much to see otherwise.

BJ Whitmer vs. Moose

Whitmer is part of the Decade, a stable of veterans, and has a young boy (basically a servant) named Colby Corino (son of commentator King (Steve) Corino). The undefeated Moose is a monster in the vein of Ahmed Johnson. Whitmer grabs the mic and says he knows he can destroy Moose, but he’ll let Colby do it instead. This is Colby’s in ring debut.

Colby Corino vs. Moose

Whitmer tells Colby, who looks like he’s about 14, to prove that he’s more of a man than his father ever was. Colby slaps the monster in the face to start and Moose takes him to the floor for a big swing, sending Colby back and forth into the barricade. A wicked powerbomb onto the apron sets up a powerbomb on the floor and Colby is somehow still alive. Back in and one foot on the chest gives Moose the pin at 2:44.

Jay Lethal freaks out over having to fight the Briscoes tonight but manager Truth Martini says don’t worry about it.

Donovan Dijak/J. Diesel vs. Briscoe Brothers

There are far too many people in this company named Jay. Dijak and Diesel are part of the House of Truth heel stable. Lethal sits in on commentary as Dijak drives Mark into the corner, only to eat a forearm to the face. Back up and Mark does the Karate Kit crane pose but both guys have kicks blocked, only to backflip out for a cool visual.

Off to Diesel who starts throwing punches (Golden Gloves background apparently) and Mark quickly tags out. Diesel beats up the World Champion as well, only to have Jay take J into the corner for a boot choke. Back to Mark for two off a Russian legsweep as Lethal mocks Jay’s custom World Title. The House of Truth takes Jay into the corner for a quickly broken up double team before it’s off to Mark for redneck kung fu (seriously).

Martini offers a distraction so Dijak can kick Mark off the top rope for two and we take a break. Back with Dijak catching Mark in midair and driving knees into the ribs for two. Off to Diesel for a fall away slam but Mark fights out of the corner and flips over for a tag to his brother. Jay cleans house and everything breaks down, setting up a Doomsday Device on Diesel for the pin at 11:18.

Rating: C+. Best match of the night by far, but at the end of the day you can only have so much interest in a prospect like Dijak and a glorified puncher in Diesel against the best tag team in company history. It was a fairly obvious ending but the Briscoes are good enough to make it work.

Post match Dijak hits something like a GTS (camera missed most of it) on Mark. Lethal comes in to go after Jay but eats the Jay Driller (double underhook piledriver) to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. Wellllllll……..this is a hard one to grade. To begin with, this wasn’t supposed to be a debut episode as the Destination America deal came up out of nowhere. The Global Wars shows are going to take a few weeks to get through before we get down to what should be considered the real debut. That being said, this isn’t the worst show ever but it’s really just kind of there. The wrestling was forgettable, the stories aren’t the most interesting (I’ve never cared about Jay Lethal. I just don’t get it) and this didn’t feel like anything interesting. I’ll keep watching for a few weeks but they’ll need to pick it up a bit.

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I didn’t take notes so my memory isn’t going to be perfect.  These are the mental notes I took and I’ll save the full breakdown for later.  Also I took about 20 pictures but the cord for the camera is about 750 miles away so you’ll have to wait on those.I got to the event about 40 minutes early and saw a VERY long line.  Thankfully it didn’t take long to get through.  I had general admission seating and could sit anywhere in the endzone of the arena.  The seats were looking straight at the entrance so I had a great view all night.  Not bad for about $32.  The arena was mostly full but the bigger side did have some empty seats at the top.

Almost as soon as I got through the door, I could see Jay Lethal standing at an autograph table.  There were I believe twelve people at the row of tables and autographs were $10 each.  Being the eternal cheap guy that I am, I opted for some quick handshakes with Kevin Steen, the Briscoes, Matt Hardy, and Maria Kanellis, who was rocking a little black dress.  She’s somehow even more gorgeous in person and seemed like a very nice person with a stunning smile.

I went inside and caught a few moments of the dark match which was a fourway won by Luke Hawx.  The other name I recognized was Mike Posey who used to be a referee.  There was also a masked man named Romantic Touch, who Wikipedia says is Rhett Titus under a mask.  I went to the concession stand before this was over and only saw about a minute of it.

Roderick Strong beat Cedric Alexander to open the show.  Strong is a guy I like to a degree so it was a nice touch.  The Decade (Strong’s heel stable, led by Jimmy Jacobs) is fine for an idea (We were here first and like the old ways better) and Jacobs isn’t bad as the boss.

The Decade called out Adrenaline Rush and Andrew Everett for a six man that saw ACH hit some awesome high spots.  The guy reminds me of Shelton Benjamin from the start of his singles push, which is a very big compliment.  Everett hit some great looking springboard shooting stars for two but Coleman got caught in a slam/neckbreaker combo from Decade for the pin.  ACH seemed to have hurt his knee.

Truth Martini (heel manager) vs. Matt Taven (former client) didn’t happen as Martini kicked him low and left.  Kevin Kelly was brought into the ring for this for no apparent reason.

Next up was RD Evans (Archibald Peck for you Chikara fans), a guy you might vaguely remember Ryback beating up on Smackdown a few months back.  Dude is freakishly tall.  Anyway he’s doing a Goldberg Streak gimmick but totally for laughs and the fans are way into him.  He got Silas Young to hit the referee with a belt before getting pinned, only to get the Dusty Finish for the DQ.  Not much to the match, but Evans’ valet Veda Scott is GORGEOUS.

And then no one remembered her because Maria came out with Mike Bennett for his match against Mark Brisco wearing a blue bikini.  Seriously there’s not much else to say about it and it stole most of my attention during the match (I have a thing for redheads.  What can I say?).  She knows how to be evil too as she was all scared and timid when Mike was in trouble but after the match when he was standing tall she was shaking her hips and had this awesome evil smile.  When she was on the apron and leaning into the ring you could see a cameraman filming her from behind which made me chuckle.  The match was a solid brawl with Mark looking insane.  Bennett wound up Pillmanizing MArk’s neck with another chair, setting up an Anaconda Vice for the win.  Remember that, because it becomes important later.

Intermission came, so I went outside and look to my left to see none other than Nigel McGuinness talking to fans.  Again just a handshake, though he was working the merchandise stand and offering his documentary autographed for $25.  I’ve heard it’s good in case you’re a fan of his.  Nigel seemed like a nice guy from what I could tell as he was handling money but still had time to shake my hand and smile.  Everyone seemed nice all night, though I only said hi to most people.

After the break a guy named Cheeseburger (seriously?  No actually because there’s nothing serious about a guy with that name) came out to throw t-shirts to the crowd but was interrupted by Matt Hardy.  Matt put over ROH (literally using those words) and praised Adam Cole (the Holy Spirit of wrestling, to go with Matt Hardy as the Jesus of wrestling.  Seriously).  This went on WAY longer than it needed to and of course ended with Cheeseburger taking the Twist of Fate.

ReDragon beat Forever Hooligans and two muscle guys with beards named Hanson and Raymond Rowe.  THis is one of those matches that is going to be praised by ROH fans but it was a glorified comedy match at times.  It wasn’t bad, but it highlighted a lot of the problems I have with ROH, which I’ll get into in the full review.  Match was energetic and fun at times but not a very high quality.

Next up was Jay Lethal vs. Tomasso Ciampa in a 2/3 falls match for Ciampa’s TV Title.  The crowd was starting to get restless at this point and you could see a lot of people messing with their phones.  I can’t say I blame them as the show was already running long and a 2/3 falls match sounded like death.  Not much to talk about here as Lethal used the Tajiri handspring into an elbow or cutter far too often and it got boring fast.  Lethal won the first fall and then the referee got bumped.  Truth Martini came out and threw Jay a knee brace which I think is part of Ciampa’s history.  A shot with that got two and after Ciampa Hulked Up, Lethal kicked him a lot and hit the Tajiri handspring into a cutter to win the title.  He joined the House of Truth after.

Kevin Steen and Michael Elgin (one of the few ROH guys I actually like) had a big old fight for a shot at the IWGP Title in May.  This was the old school heavyweight slugfest with both guys beating the tar out of each other.  It’s probably the best match of the night and a really solid brawl.  Elgin won by hitting Steen with Steen’s package piledriver.  They hugged after the match and Steen had to be helped out.

The main event was a ladder war (TLC) for the World Title.  Adam Cole was champion but Jay Briscoe has his own title since he was never defeated for the belt.  It was a very violent and brutal match with Jay getting busted open hardway and Matt Hardy, Mike Bennett and Mark Briscoe interfering.  Yeah remember earlier when MArk had his neck crushed by a chair?  He was fine 90 minutes later.  That’s the kind of thing that gets on my nerves in wrestling.  Why am I supposed to buy a big injury spot if it doesn’t even last two hours?  Back in the day that would be six months of TV but here it doesn’t even go until the end of the show.  That’s just not smart.  Anyway Jay fought very hard but the numbers were too much for him and Cole retained the title.  Most of the fans including myself bolted the second he got the belts down.

Overall the show was fun, but overstayed its welcome.  They needed to cut one of the matches (the opener would have been a great choice) and get this a little shorter.  Also one of the major problem with ROH showed through tonight: too many of the wrestlers have the same style and it gets really repetitive.  I lost count of the number of spin kicks to the face I saw tonight and it gets old after awhile.  That’s partially why Steen vs. Elgin was so well received: it was completely different from anything else all night and the fans were interested in seeing something different.

I liked the show, but it’s the same reaction I always get out of watching ROH: good stuff here and there, but not enough to make me watch more than a show here or there.

Full review coming later as I’m sure this is going to be online in like an hour.  If you find it on Dailymotion or something, let me know.