Ring of Honor
Date: May 19, 2021
Location: UMBC Events Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

Last week’s main event was a bit of a bizarre booking decision with Angelina Love and Mandy Leon cutting off the Cinderella story of Quinn McKay, which didn’t exactly leave a lot of good feelings. We’re coming up on I believe Best In The World though so it’s time to start setting some things up. Let’s get to it.

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

Ian Riccaboni welcomes us to the show and runs down the card. Quinn is back next week.

Battle Royal

PCO, Mike Bennett, Bateman, LSG, Danhausen, O’Shay Edwards, Brian Mooney, Joe Keys, Dante Caballero, Ken Dixon, Mark Briscoe, Eric Martin, World Famous CB, Sledge

This is between everyone who is currently unranked. The final two will have a singles match later, with the winner getting to choose to be ranked in the Pure or TV Title division. Dalton Castle is on commentary and only a handful get entrances. The factoids about PCO say that he last wrestled in a two winner battle royal in 1993 (!) and he is the only person in the match to participate in the World War 3 battle royal. He’s old you see.

Bateman jumps Bennett in the aisle and the camera keeps jumping back to their fight. Cue Dutch (Bateman’s monster friend) to run Bennett over and choke him out as the match is going on in the background somewhere. Bennett gets planted on the floor with a Boss Man Slam and is dragged towards the back (Castle: “You can’t just walk off with a human!”) but security breaks it up.

We take a break and come back with Dixon being baseball slided out. Matt Taven is carrying Bennett out, as Bateman and Dutch (the latter of whom might not have been in this in the first place) are gone too. Briscoe puts Mooney (formerly Ryan Nova, which is a better name) out and PCO gets rid of Martin. That gives us a PCO vs. Briscoe showdown but Danhausen breaks it up with a double chokeslam attempt….and is tossed. Hold on though as Danhausen has an El Generico mask and gets back in, earning himself another elimination.

PCO and Briscoe get to chop it out as they have long wanted to as Caballero is put out. CB goes up for no logical reason and is knocked out by Keys (in a bit of an upset), leaving Briscoe to slug it out with Edwards. Keys actually tosses Briscoe (in a very big upset), leaving Sledge to hammer it out with Edwards for a change. Edwards misses a charge and gets tossed out, leaving us with Sledge, PCO, Keys and LSG for an interesting final four.

PCO…well they call it malfunctioning and dives through the ropes onto absolutely no one. That’s through the ropes though so he comes back in and suplexes LSG into the corner. Now we get PCO vs. Sledge for the slugout and a chokeoff (Castle: “This is good! When one of them stops breathing, the other wins!”). PCO shoves him out but LSG and Keys run up from behind for the elimination and the win at 13:40.

Rating: C-. Not much of a battle royal (as we skipped the opening few minutes to watch the fight) as about a third of the people were dojo students, but I like the ending quite a bit. This is a way to jump start some runs in the company so this is about as good of an idea as they had. I’m not sure if the winners are going to go anywhere, but this is a good move and the right call.

PCO is annoyed and leaves as the winners shake hands.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Primal Fear vs. Shane Taylor Promotions

Shane Taylor Promotions (Taylor/Moses/Khan) are defending and Primal Fear is a trio who have been together for five years now. Before the match, Primal Fear say they want the titles and Taylor and company say they’re giving the new guys a chance. Moses and Matthew Omen start things off with the much bigger Moses shoving him down without much effort.

Some elbows to the face put Omen down and it’s off to Khan for a running backsplash. Adrian Soriano comes in and gets driven into the corner in a hurry. A slap to Shane’s face earns him a heck of a forearm as we take a break. Back with a headbutt sending Soriano into the corner but some double teaming lets Fear get Taylor into the corner. Gabriel Hodder comes in and stomps away with some choking mixed in for a bit of flavor. A belly to back suplex into a moonsault gives Hodder two but Shane blasts Soriano with a clothesline.

The hot tag brings in Moses to clean house and a clothesline sends Hodder outside. Khan’s gorilla press gutbuster drops Omen for two but it’s a backbreaker into a spear to give Soriano two. A step up flip dive takes Moses out on the floor but he’s fine enough to hit a fall away slam, sending Hodder over the barricade. Back in and a super Jackhammer (that’s a new one) hits Omen, setting up a 3D into a Downward Spiral (that’s a new one too) to give Moses the pin at 10:17.

Rating: C. I’m not sure what to think of Primal Fear, as they were three guys who worked well but there wasn’t anything that made them stand out. That being said, it kind of fits to have them as a unit instead of three individual people. The action was good enough and it was cool to see a pair of cool moves to wrap it up. I could go for more of Primal Fear too, which is a good result coming out of a match like this one.

Silas Young has been asked about why he turned on Josh Woods. Young is a successful star on his own so why did he take Woods under his wing? He taught Woods everything he knows about wrestling but then Woods blew him off. Everything has repercussions and this is his repercussion.

Josh Woods reluctantly sits down and is asked about Silas Young. After thinking for a good while, Woods walks off without saying anything.

Josh Woods vs. Silas Young

Young jumps Woods during the entrance and hammers away, including sending Woods hard into the barricade. Woods kicks a chair into Young’s face and we take a break. Back with the opening bell (well done) and Woods being sent throat first into the top rope. The slow beating begins with Young talking trash and hitting a stomp to the ribs off the ropes. Young says he is going to clothesline him and then clotheslines him, setting up a knee to the back.

We hit the chinlock with a bodyscissors for a bit before Woods blocks a suplex attempt. His back gives out though and Young runs Woods over again. A big boot drops Woods and we take a break. Back with Woods reversing an abdominal stretch into one of his own but Young is out in a hurry. Somehow Woods manages to pick him up with a suplex to drive him into the corner, setting up the running forearms.

A butterfly suplex gives Woods two and a bridging German suplex gets two. The Gorilla Lock is broken up so Young nails the anarchist suplex for two of his own. Woods is sent out to the apron and pulls Young out with him for the slugout. They trade forearms and trash talk until Woods throws him back inside for a wacky armbar. That’s fine with Young, who puts his feet on the ropes and pushes into a rollup for the pin at 12:06.

Rating: C+. Woods is a heck of a prospect and Young is the kind of a guy who can make anything work against anyone. The mentor vs. student story has worked for years and it was working well enough here too. This felt like an important showdown and that is the kind of thing any show can use.

Overall Rating: C+. What made this show work so well is that it felt like a mixture of multiple things. You had stuff for the future, a title match and a grudge match. It is the kind of show that feels like you’re getting to see something and that is what weekly TV is often missing. Good show here, with the format making up for some hit and miss action.

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Ring of Honor
Date: April 7, 2021
Location: UMBC Events Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

Things are in a bit of a shifting phase here as we are done with the 19^th Anniversary Show but I’m not sure if we are going to be seeing the fallout just yet. The taping cycle usually has a few weeks of lag but when everything is being taped in the same place at the same time, I’m not sure if that is going to be necessary. In other words, I have no idea what to expect here. Let’s get to it.

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

Quinn McKay gives her usual welcome.

We look at the end of Fred Yehi beating Wheeler Yuta to win last week’s Pure Rules gauntlet match.

Yehi is proud of his win and is in the business of breaking people.

Brian Johnson loves wrestling and hates Danhausen. The internet is ready for their third match because it is time to win the trilogy. He has a PhD in wrestling and it is time to take Danhausen to school. Johnson gets rather animated about how serious this is to him and isn’t having Danhausen disrespect him. It is Mecca vs. everyone.

Danhausen talks about how he beat Johnson at Final Battle but then Johnson cheated to beat him. He holds up a sack of money but it’s half empty because Johnson stole the win. Now it is time to do this again in a rubber match, though Danhausen has no idea what it has to do with rubber. No matter, because he’ll beat Brian Johnstone (yes Johnstone).

Danhausen vs. Brian Johnson

Mark Briscoe is on commentary. Danhausen is slimmed down to 300lbs (or at least he is billed as such) and is now twice as nice/thrice as evil. Johnson drives him into the corner to start and goes to the mat with a headscissors. That’s switched into some knees to Danhausen’s hammerlocked arm, followed by a running shoulder. Danhausen fights up but gets caught in a hot shot, followed by a Tower of London for two. A top rope clothesline stays on Danhausen’s neck and continues the complete dominance.

Some rollups give Danhausen two and a snap German suplex drops Johnson out of the corner. We take a break and come back with Danhausen not being able to hit the Good Night Hausen (GTS). Instead he goes with a slingshot bridging German suplex for two and a backdrop puts Johnson on the floor. A running hurricanrana off the apron drops Johnson again but he throws….something in Danhausen’s eyes.

Not that it matters as the Good Night Hausen connects but the referee gets bumped. That means there is no count on the cover so Johnson takes him down for a slingshot splash. The referee gets up and sees Johnson’s feet on the ropes and breaks up the count so they get back up again. Danhausen drives him into the corner but nearly crushes the referee, allowing Johnson to get in a low blow. Trust The Process finishes Danhausen at 9:23.

Rating: C. Danhausen is a weird case (to put it mildly) as his promos are awesome but he isn’t all that impressive once he actually gets in the ring. He’s completely fine, but when you get that kind of buildup, you need a bit more than what he gives you. Johnson has a lot more of an upside and should have won here though, and it isn’t like Danhausen is the kind of guy who loses a lot by getting pinned. Fine result, though it’s still a little weird seeing Danhausen wrestle.

Post match a limping Johnson says he’d done with the freak and the locker room is on notice. Johnson leaves, but shouts at Mark Briscoe a bit.

Jonathan Gresham is ready for the 500^th episode, where he will defend the Pure Title.

Jay Lethal is Jonathan Gresham’s friend but he is coming for the title in two weeks on the 500^th episode.

LSG wants to be in the TV Title division because that is where greatness comes from in this company. Years ago, he and Eli Isom had a match that was supposed to set them up as the future, but that was a long time ago. Now they are meeting again and Isom isn’t holding him back from climbing the TV Title rankings.

Eli Isom says he isn’t the same guy that LSG remembers. Isom can fly with the best of them and is willing to go through LSG to get where he wants to go. They are both one win away from being in contention for the TV Title and that win is going to him.

Eli Isom vs. LSG

They go to the mat to start and it’s an early standoff. A test of strength doesn’t go anywhere as they wind up on the mat again with LSG getting the better of a hammerlock. Back up and Isom armdrags him into an armbar but LSG sends him outside. LSG wins a chop off on the floor and another back inside, followed by a running forearm to the face for two.

A cravate holds Isom down and a running flip neckbreaker gets two more. Back up and Isom gets caught in a belly to back suplex to set up another cravate to slow things down again. Isom fights up and kicks away, meaning it’s time to slug it out from their knees. A release northern lights suplex sends LSG flying so he bails out to the floor for a breather. That means Isom can hit a springboard moonsault to the floor and then gets two off a bridging suplex back inside. LSG grabs a swinging faceplant to drop Isom and the St. Splosion gets two.

We take another break and come back with Isom catching him on top but getting knocked off again. LSG’s high crossbody connects but Isom rolls through into a Death Valley Driver for two more. Isom knocks him to the apron for a spear through the ropes, meaning it’s another slugout on the floor. The big dive lets Isom beat the count and they unload on each other back inside. Isom slips out of a Gory Stretch and grabs the Promise (a brainbuster) for the pin at 15:15.

Rating: B-. This is the kind of thing that Ring of Honor needs to do: pick someone and push them. I know Isom might not be the next star of the promotion and the main event guy, but he could be a somebody and that is what you can always use. Go with that and give him some wins, because it isn’t like they have anything else to lose at the moment.

Mark Briscoe is ready to face his brother Jay at the 500^th episode.

Jay Briscoe is ready to face his brother Mark at the 500^th episode.

Overall Rating: C+. It’s another stand alone episode and this time had a little bit better focus than last week’s. I liked the Pure Rules gauntlet from last time but giving Isom a long form win is a better way to go. The company still needs a lot of changes but the 500^th episode should be a good event in a few weeks. Ring of Honor is a completely watchable show and one of the easiest shows of the week, which is always a nice place to be.

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Ring of Honor
Date: February 17, 2021
Location: UMBC Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

I’m not sure what to expect from this show these days and I’m also not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. The show has been far from terrible but there is something about it that feels inconsistent. Sometimes you get a good show but at times you get a show that leaves me counting the minutes until it’s over. Let’s get to it.

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

The Foundation gives Wheeler Yuta and Fred Yehi a fired up promo about bringing honor back. Tonight they’re going to shake things up a bit by having parts of the Foundation on both sides of a six man. Everyone else leaves and Jay Lethal says he and Tracy Williams will start, which is cool with Williams, who reminds Jay what happened the last time they were in the ring together (Tracy won).

Opening sequence.

Quinn McKay runs down the card.

Tony Deppen talks about how important Final Battle was for him because he has a newborn to provide for every day. He beat LSG to get to his TV Title shot against Dragon Lee and now he is going to do it again. They took different paths to get here but Deppen has the momentum here.

LSG talks about his journey starting fifteen years ago and he isn’t letting the flavor of the month take him out of this company. He is here to hang with the best and he knows Deppen can’t beat him again. LSG is Ring of Honor, but what about Deppen?

LSG vs. Tony Deppen

Deppen is getting this match due to fan response (part of Ring of Honor trying to listen to the people more). Going to the mat doesn’t last long to start so they trade some quick rollups for a variety of results. They’re on the floor for the slugout in a hurry before they go back inside, with LSG’s O’Connor roll being kicked out to the apron. Deppen hits a triangle dropkick to the floor but LSG sends him hard into the barricade. Back in and LSG grabs a neck crank as we take a break.

We come back with LSG missing an elbow drop but nailing a knee to the jaw. Something like a Gory Stretch has Deppen in more trouble but he’s right back with some slaps to the face. A basement dropkick sends LSG into the corner and Deppen gets two off some running knees in the corner. They slap it out until LSG hits Rock In Bye Baby (spinning faceplant) into a springboard spinning forearm for two.

A dropkick through the ropes rocks Deppen again but Deppen sweeps the leg from the apron. Back in and a brainbuster into a running knee gets two on LSG but the top rope double stomp misses. Some rollups give Deppen two each but LSG grabs a Gory Stretch….and flips Deppen forward into a sitout powerbomb (cool) for the pin at 11:57. Ian Riccaboni names it the Event Horizon and Caprice likes it.

Rating: C+. The ending was the big deal here, but what mattered more was the fact that I wasn’t sure who was going to win until the end. You don’t get that kind of a feeling very often and I was surprised when LSG won. Granted that might have been because I hadn’t seen the finisher before and it was rather cool looking. Rather hart to believe that Deppen wasn’t helping with the flip, but it looked great.

The Briscoes are staring at each other with Mark being annoyed at Jay for going after EC3 instead of the Tag Team Titles. The whole thing is argued using a boat metaphor and….I think they make up?

Rush and Shane Taylor are ready for their World Title match in two weeks.

Jonathan Gresham/Tracy Williams/Fred Yehi vs. Jay Lethal/Wheeler Yuta/Rhett Titus

After an extended Code of Honor, Lethal and Williams start things off, as planned. The feeling out process begins until Williams takes him down into an armbar. They fight over half crabs with neither being able to get very far so Titus comes in to take Williams down. The mat grappling goes to another standoff so it’s off to Yehi. Titus gets wrestled to the mat and bails over to the ropes, meaning Yuta comes in for some arm battling of their own.

With that broken up, Gresham comes in and is taken to the mat by the leg. Gresham’s headscissors gets us to a standoff and Yuta’s armbar sends Gresham to the rope. It’s off to Lethal to face Gresham and they go straight to the mat as well. They spin around rather fast and that’s good for another standoff with commentary sounding out of breath. Lethal cartwheels out of a headlock and another one sets up a basement dropkick to Gresham.

Titus comes in to work on the arm and hands it back to Lethal. That doesn’t go so well for Titus as Lethal spears him down by mistake, allowing the hot tag to Yehi. A snap brainbuster gets two on Yuta, who has to go to the rope to break up the Koji Clutch. We take a break and come back with the Lethal Combination dropping Williams. Hail To The King gets two but Williams gets in a shot of his own for the double knockdown.

Gresham and Titus come in with Titus nailing a belly to belly for two. Gresham hands it back to Yehi, who is clotheslined into a jackknife rollup for two more. Everything breaks down and Lethal has to save Titus from the Koji Clutch. There’s the Lethal Injection to Gresham, who shoved Yehi out of the way since he isn’t legal. Titus dropkicks Yehi down for the pin at 17:47.

Rating: B. They had an idea here and then executed it, which is all you could want them to do. There was something nice about having a much more technically sound match and that is the kind of thing that could turn into a big feud with someone down the line. Mixing the lineups up a bit here helped too as you can only do the same kind of match so many times. Good storytelling and solid action so I’m rather pleased.

A lot of handshakes end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This would be on the higher end of their shows since the return and that is great to see. Both matches worked and while I still don’t need the minute and a half promos before the matches, they let some things build and had two good matches. Ring of Honor knows how to put together a good show but they need to work on their consistency. What we got here worked well and if they can even do most of this kind of thing again, they’re going to be in a great place.

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IMG Credit: Ring Of Honor Wrestling

Ring of Honor
Date: November 25, 2020
Location: UMBC Events Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

Believe it or not we are well on the way to Final Battle and I’m not sure how many matches have actually been set up for the show. Actually I’m not even sure how many matches have been teased for the show, which makes for a fairly important next few weeks. Hopefully they can get off to a good start here. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Quinn McKay welcomes us to the show and runs down the card.

Jay Briscoe wants the Tag Team Titles back but first he has to deal with EC3.

EC3 talks about how much he envies Jay Briscoe for sticking around here while he chased the bright lights. Now he wants to know if Briscoe believes in the code of honor and if he can control his narrative.

EC3 vs. Jay Briscoe

EC3 backs him into the corner to start and Jay isn’t interested in a handshake. Briscoe grabs a front facelock so EC3 slips out and hits an elbow. Hold on though as EC3 looks down at his hand so Briscoe stomps him down into the corner. Choking ensues…..for the DQ to give EC3 the win at 1:57. Well that’s not something you see much of these days.

Post match EC3 takes him down and hammers away as the fight is on hard. Security (in masks) make the save. EC3 gets away and drops to his knees, allowing Jay to try the Jay Driller. That’s broken up as well and Briscoe is ready for more.

Post break, Quinn McKay asks Jay Briscoe why he didn’t adhere to the Code Of Honor. Jay: “Why? Because F*** Y** that’s why!” McKay: “Succinct.”

Leon St. Giovanni, who you can call LSG, talks about being a baseball player his entire life before he saw Ring of Honor. It was all he wanted to do, especially when he saw Jay Lethal. For years, LSG was part of a tag team with Shaheem Ali and now he is on his own after a horrible 2019. People need to step up to him now and that includes Jay Lethal in their Pure Rules match. The boy who wanted to be Lethal is now the man who is going to beat him. Good line.

Jay Lethal talks about how the Pure Wrestling Title tournament taught us who the best man was and he can live with that. He was eliminated by Tracy Williams because Tracy was the better man that night. The Foundation is here to find the best and they want to reward those people. That is why Lethal requested this match because Samoa Joe did the same thing for him years ago. Now Lethal wants to pay it forward to LSG, but he’ll have to pay for the free gift.

Leon St. Giovanni vs. Jay Lethal

Pure Rules. Lethal headlocks him to the mat in a hurry and is broken up even faster as the feeling out process starts fast. LSG flips out of the hiptoss into the dropkick and it’s another standoff. Another headlock has LSG down before Lethal works on the arm for a bit. After pulling LSG away from the ropes (doesn’t count as a break), the threat of a Figure Four sends LSG to the ropes for the first break.

Back up and Lethal goes for the back, including taking him down into a waistlock. Another Figure Four attempt results in some back to back small packages for two each. LSG sends him outside for a dropkick through the ropes for a near countout before stomping away back inside. We take a break and come back with LSG holding a cravate. After a good bit of cranking, Lethal fights up and hits a Russian legsweep to send LSG to the apron. The triangle dropkick sets up a suicide dive but LSG doesn’t go off his feet.

Back in and LSG gets up before Hail to the King can launch. Instead it’s a reverse DDT for two on LSG, who is right back with a rolling clothesline for the same. LSG grabs a crucifix into the Crossface (WAY too popular a move these days) but Lethal slips out in a hurry. The Sharpshooter (see also the Crossface) goes on with LSG bridging back into a Muta Lock. Lethal grabs the rope and we’re out of time at 15:00. Lethal wins via split decision.

Rating: B-. LSG looked good here and this is the kind of a match that can give him a nice boost. I had forgotten he was part of the company so putting him out there against a star like Lethal is a pretty smart move. This was a good showcase for him and sometimes that’s all you need to do. Well maybe throw in a win every now and then too.

John Walters is coming back.

Video on Bateman vs. Matt Taven. Bateman isn’t impressed with Taven and is standing in his way to get to Vincent. That’s cool with Taven and we have a main event.

Matt Taven vs. Bateman

Taven chops away and hits a dropkick but the much bigger Bateman runs him over without much effort. The beating doesn’t last long as Taven comes back with a suplex and some right hands to the head. Bateman grabs a swinging neckbreaker and we take a break. Back with Taven hitting a lifting Downward Spiral to send Bateman outside. That means the Flight Of The Conqueror, though Taven comes up holding his leg. They head inside again where Taven misses the Aurora Borealis (frog splash), only to grab a rollup for the fast pin at 9:33.

Rating: C-. There is something amazing about how nothing Taven was as a heel and how much more interesting he is as a face. It is such a huge turnaround and in a good way as I can see the star power in him this time around. That dive alone looked great and now the showdown with Vincent should be set for Final Battle. I’m not sure how interesting the match is, but at least it has been set up properly.

Post match Bateman jumps Taven from behind and here’s Vincent to say Taven is a little too comfortable. Bateman knocks Taven out as Vincent talks about how embarrassing Taven is. There is no one in this building and yet Taven is still that desperate for attention. No matter how hard Taven tries, he will never get that kind of attention.

Vincent grabs Taven’s face and says his legacy will be nothing but a failure. He pulls out a dart and promises violence but the lights go out. Cue the returning Mike Bennett (Kanellis) for the save to clean house. A Kingdom reunion ends the show. Bennett didn’t do anything in WWE so if he can be a star here, good for him.

Overall Rating: C. The EC3 stuff isn’t doing anything for me, the Pure Rules match was good and the main event angle was fine enough. We’ll call the whole thing in the middle, but at least they are starting to set something up for Final Battle, even if nothing has been announced on TV as of yet. Watchable enough show though, as things are starting to get back to normal.

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