IMG Credit: Ring Of Honor Wrestling

Ring Of Honor
Date: October 7, 2020
Location: UMBC Events Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Caprice Coleman, Ian Riccaboni

It’s time to wrap up the first round of the Pure Title Tournament and that is kind of a shame. The tournament has been rather nice so far and a lot of that is the back to basics approach. This is what I wanted when I heard AEW say they were going to treat wrestling like a sport and it is working so far, albeit in small doses. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a video saying “FOLLOW THE TREND”.

Opening sequence.

Video on the Pure Title Tournament.

We look at Fred Yehi beating Silas Young last week.

Yehi says he respects Young but now he’s ready for whoever he gets next week.

We look at Josh Woods beating Kenny King via judges’ decision last week.

Josh Woods is proud of his win but has to take back thoughts that Silas Young (his mentor) is lucky to not face him.

Rust Taylor talks about growing up in a very small town so he played sports for something to do. He loves all of the mechanics that come with grappling. After a bad period in his career, he was ready to quit but he kept going and got all the way here again. Taylor wants to face Tracy Williams at his best or it won’t mean anything.

Tracy Williams talks about how he grew up fighting with his friends and then went down to Philadelphia to learn to wrestle. Since then, he has become much more comfortable with his technical wrestler status and is ready for Taylor. Williams likes going after the neck and when he reaches his limit, the Hot Sauce comes out.

Pure Title Tournament First Round: Rust Taylor vs. Tracy Williams

They fight over some grappling to start with neither being able to get much of an advantage. Taylor starts working on the arm but Williams takes it to the mat and slips out. An armdrag into an armbar has Williams down again but he pops right back up for some strikes. Williams gets him to the mat to crank on the leg for a change before grabbing an STF. That’s enough to make Taylor use his first rope break so he takes Williams down and hammers the arm.

Williams is back up with a World’s Strongest Slam and we take a break. Back with Taylor kicking at the arm and pulling it into an armtrap armbar. Williams slips out and elbows at the ribs before it’s time to chop it out. A cross armbreaker sends Williams to the rope for the break and some more strikes give Taylor two, with Williams using another break. Taylor gets him down into a Rings of Saturn with the legs, meaning it’s the third rope break so Williams is completely out.

A seated armbar has Williams screaming again so he grabs the rope, but it means nothing this time. Instead he pulls Taylor outside for the big crash and they’re both down as time is running out. Taylor throws him back in and kicks away, earning himself a heck of a clothesline for two. Williams grabs a quick piledriver and slaps on the Crossface for the immediate tap at 14:25.

Rating: B. They surprised me a bit with the ending here as Taylor was winning throughout and then got beaten in a hurry in the end. It wasn’t so much that he got caught by someone more experienced, but rather Williams flipped a switch and won the thing. That’s not the most thrilling ending, but Taylor looked good here before losing to the better man. Really good technical stuff until then though and that’s what matters most.

Tony Deppen is ready to win the tournament because this is what he does. He was a punk rock skateboard kid and that means he didn’t have much in the way of a wrestling background. As a smaller guy, he looked up to people like Bryan Danielson and Kyle O’Reilly. Everything he learned about PJ Black, he learned on Wikipedia, but since he doesn’t have a Wikipedia, there is nothing to be learned about him. He is fighting for his child and he is never going to stay down.

PJ Black has been a wrestler for a long time and has trained with shamans and witch doctors. He talks about walking around barefoot in the woods because of the exchange of positive ions. Black talks about teaching Brian Johnson and wanting to teach him a thing or two. He doesn’t know much about Deppen but tonight he’ll show everyone what he can do with pure wrestling instead of just showing off his high flying.

Pure Title Tournament First Round: PJ Black vs. Tony Deppen

Black has Brian Johnson with him and grabs the wristlock to start. A headlock takeover puts Deppen down as well and there’s an armdrag into an armbar to do it again. Back up and Black hits a spinning kick to the face but Deppen’s STF attempt makes Black use his first rope break. Black rolls him down into a double arm crank but has to hit a clothesline to cut him off.

The arm cranking continues and there’s a stomp onto Deppen’s arm to make it worse. Black’s springboard is dropkicked out of the air though and we take a break. Back with Deppen sending him face first into the buckle for two but missing a top rope double stomp. Black kicks him in the head to put Deppen down but Deppen grabs the leg for an STF.

That means a second rope break and Black heads outside, only to get caught with the suicide dive. Back in and Deppen’s top rope double stomp gets two so Black grabs a cutter for two more. An over the shoulder powerbomb spun into a DDT gets an even closer two and Black is rather stunned. With nothing else working, Black hits a crucifix driver for the pin at 12:04.

Rating: C. I didn’t like this one as much as the opener but it was still fine enough. Deppen was tough and resilient but there was only so much of a reason to believe that he would be moving on here. The wrestling was fine enough, but the lack of drama hurt it, as did Black just hitting a few moves in a row for the win.

Here are the updated brackets:

Jay Lethal

David Finlay

Fred Yehi

Tracy Williams

Jonathan Gresham

Matt Sydal

Josh Woods

PJ Black

We get a CONTROL YOUR NARRATIVE (meaning EC3) video to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. Another entertaining hour and that’s the best thing you can say about a show a lot of the time. We’re down to eight in the tournament and I’m curious to see where they are going from here. You could see multiple people winning and hopefully we can get some rather good tournament matches. I’ve liked the first round and maybe we can see a few more good weeks.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor Wrestling

Ring of Honor
Date: July 8, 2020

It’s PJ Black week and that likely means a lot of multi-person matches from Honor Club shows, because there are all kinds of those to pick from. Black has been one of the veteran presences in the company for a long time now and I’m curious to see what they have from him here. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Black welcomes us to the show and talks about his love of extreme sports, mainly skydiving and BASE jumping. He reads and cooks a lot, while also trying to add in some more moves to his arsenal. Anyway, on to the matches.

From Honor For All 2019.

Silas Young vs. PJ Black

Josh Woods is here with Young. They go to the mat for the technical stuff to start with Young bailing outside in frustration. Back in and Black runs him over with a shoulder before they trade some rollups for two each. Black sweeps the leg and stomps on the back, only to get dropped with a shot to the face as we take a break. We come back with Black headscissoring him to the floor but Young spits at him. The chase is on and Young hits a clothesline, though Woods was tying his shoe instead of cheating as Young was hoping for.

Young gets two off a hard whip into the corner and we hit the chinlock. Black fights up and hits a kick to the face, followed by a top rope right hand to the head. The springboard clothesline gets two but Young knocks him outside. Woods still won’t cheat for him though, meaning Young has to send things back inside. The yelling at Woods allows Black to grab a small package for the pin at 8:49.

Rating: C. I was liking the technical side of things here for a change as that isn’t what you expect from a high flier like Black. Young not being able to get Woods to cheat for him was a nice story for the match and not something you see to often. I’m not sure I’d put this on a Best Of show, but it worked rather well for a one off.

From ROH TV, March 16, 2019.

Bandido vs. PJ Black

They grapple to the mat to start with Bandido going after the leg. Back up and it’s a standoff with Black shooting an invisible arrow at Bandido. A shoulder just makes Bandido nip up, followed by a handstand nip up to get in Black’s head. Black misses an elbow and Bandido freezes him with the finger gun. A dropkick puts Black on the floor but he’s right back in for a crucifix driver as we take a break.

We come back with Bandido kicking him in the head to block a dive, setting up a heck of a moonsault to the floor. The Cannonball hits the barricade though and it’s time to head back inside for a slugout. Back in and Black gets crotched on top but manages to roll through a super hurricanrana into a Styles Clash for his own near fall.

A pumphandle into a cutter (the Wellness Policy, because we have to take a shot at WWE every few shows) gives Black two but Bandido rolls over and deadlifting Black into a piledriver (Black’s head landed on Bandido’s leg as the whole thing looked messy). Back from another break with Black hitting a moonsault press for two but running into a Spanish Fly for two more.

Bandido charges into raised boots though and a top rope double stomp to a standing Bandido gets two. Black gets caught on top for a super Spanish Fly but the moonsault hits raised boots. A shot to the face rocks Black again though and the handspring bridging German suplex finishes Black at 15:21.

Rating: B-. So you remember when Black was evil and lost to Bandido? Well now he’s good and lost to Bandido again. The match was very back and forth and entertaining, but I’m not sure what the point of this was. Black’s change hasn’t made him any better but I guess he feels better about it? Uh, good for him then I guess.

Post match they shake hands because Lifeblood is good that way.

And now we wrap it up at the Global Wars Espectacular: Milwaukee.

PJ Black vs. Triton vs. Flip Gordon

Triton is from CMLL. Gordon bails to the floor to start and has a seat in a chair, leaving Triton to take him down and hit a basement dropkick. Black sweeps the leg and hits a jumping double stomp to the back, followed by a dive to take out Gordon. Triton dives onto both of them though and we take a break. Back with Black whipping Triton into the corner to monkey flip Gordon, who comes up holding his knee. That’s enough to send Gordon to the back with some assistance and we’re down to one on one.

They trade the dives over each other until it’s a double clothesline for the knockdown….and Gordon is right back in to stomp away. Nice job on the rather believable knee selling if nothing else. Triton is sent outside, leaving Black to get hit with a running clothesline in the corner for two. Back in and Triton gets caught with the springboard tornado DDT but Black brainbusters Gordon for two more. Black moonsaults onto both of them at once for two and we take another break.

We come back again with Black grabbing a Gory Stretch on Gordon and a Boston crab on Triton at the same time. That’s broken up so Gordon breaks up Black’s 450 with a hard crotching. Triton’s super Spanish Fly gets two on Gordon and a hurricanrana sends him outside. Black is sent outside with him and there’s the big dive to take Black and Gordon down at the same time.

Back in and Triton hits a Five Star onto both of them at once but Gordon rips off Triton’s mask. That means it’s chair time but here’s Tracy Williams to take it away from Gordon. Triton has his mask back but his moonsault hits Black’s feet. The Placebo Effect gives Black the pin on Triton at 12:44.

Rating: B-. The problem with this kind of match is there are only so many things you can do that haven’t been done before. How many times have you seen a multiman match where they’re all flying around and doing whatever they can to each other? It’s certainly entertaining and fun to watch, but they bleed together really hard and that was the case here. At least Black got the win though.

Black talks about mentoring Brian Johnson and he looks forward to seeing him grow into a World Champion. He’ll be back in the ring soon so stick around.

Overall Rating: C+. These things are starting to run out of steam as it felt like this was the leftover Black matches instead of anything you should go out of your way to see. At some point they’re going to run out of interesting people to talk about and while Black has a cool story, he isn’t going to be seen as anything more than a solid hand who can do some cool flips. I’m worried about what we might be seeing on these shows, as the good ones have been very good but then you get something like this, which was just there. Not bad and even pretty good at times, but don’t go out of your way for it.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor Wrestling

Ring of Honor
Date: June 24, 2020

We’re off to Bandido this time around and that is going to mean a lot of flips and dives all over the place. That sounds like an entertaining hour and these shows have done well in recent weeks. It’s a simple formula and with someone who can do the kind of things Bandido is capable of in the ring, we should be in for a good one. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Bandido welcomes us to the show and sends us to his first match, which was his debut with the company.

From ROH TV, February 6, 2019.

Mark Haskins vs. Bandido

Feeling out process to start with the aggressive Haskins grabbing a headlock but getting shoved up against the ropes. Bandido starts the flipping and it’s an early standoff. More flipping ensues but Haskins kicks him down and avoids a charge to the floor. That means a suicide dive to drop Bandido and we take a break.

Back with Haskins charging into a boot in the corner, setting up Bandido’s corkscrew crossbody. The big running flip dive takes Haskins down again and, amazingly enough, the fans are way into someone who can fly like this. Bandido gets two off a pop up cutter but gets kicked right back down. That just earns Haskins a superkick but they kick each other in the chest for another double knockdown, which the fans seem to appreciate.

They (the wrestlers, not the fans) slug it out until Haskins charges into a torture rack, with Bandido flipping him forward into something like a GTS for two. Haskins is right back up and spins him into a Sharpshooter (a fast one at that too) but Bandido is right next to the rope. A top rope double stomp gives Haskins two so Haskins goes back to the leg. That’s broken up in a hurry so Bandido knocks him against the ropes (619 position but standing instead of kneeling), flips forward and bounces off the ropes (ala the Tajiri handspring) for a snap German suplex and the pin at 12:12.

Rating: B+. Well that was insane. This was all about showcasing both guys and I had a great time watching it. Bandido really impressed me last year at various times and Haskins looked great as well, which is exactly what the point of this was supposed to be. I want to see these two do this more often and I’d buy a ticket to see it. Well done here, with exactly what they were shooting for.

From Masters of the Craft 2019.

Bandido vs. Caristico vs. Flip Gordon vs. PJ Black

One fall to a finish. They go with a four way test of strength to start until Caristico sends Gordon and Bandido outside. A springboard crossbody takes Black down and a running headscissors does it again. Bandido comes back in for a showdown with Caristico and the fans seem happy. They strike it out until an exchange of handspring backflips gives us a standoff.

Bandido headscissors him to the floor but Gordon comes back in before the dive can launch. Black springboards in to take them both down so Gordon is right back with a springboard dropkick to send Black outside. Caristico breaks up a handshake between Bandido and Gordon, only to get knocked outside. Bandido dives onto Black as Gordon does the same to Caristico. That leaves the divers to chop it out, miss dropkicks, and nip up to face off. The other two come back in as Bandido muscles Gordon to the top, only to have to slug it out with Caristico.

Gordon is double superplexed into a powerbomb to give Black two, followed by Black being put in the Tree of Woe. Bandido takes Gordon to the top, with Black sitting up to toss both of them down at once. We take a break and come back with a parade of flips and dives off the top for a parade of near falls (you knew that was coming). Black Gory Specials Caristico and Billy Goat’s Curses Bandido at the same time but quickly collapses under the weight.

Gordon and Black go outside with Bandido hitting a big dive, followed by Caristico hitting one of his own onto the three of them. Caristico takes a long time playing to the crowd before going to the barricade, only to be shoved into the crowd. Bandido and Black join them, as does Gordon with a crazy springboard flip dive from the ring into the stands.

That’s worthy of a big celebration (well earned) and it’s Caristico heading back inside for a Destroyer on Black. Bandido is back in as well with a super fall away slam superplex on Caristico with Black and Gordon making a save. Just because he can, Bandido 21 Plexes Black and Gordon at the same time to finish Gordon at 14:42.

Rating: B+. They did what they should have done here and had everyone fly all over the place and hit one crazy move after another. Bandido continues to look like a star and someone who has been doing this for fifteen years despite being in his early twenties. This was a blast and what you would expect from four guys like these people.

Bandido is VERY fired up over his win.

Bandido is proud of pinning Bully Ray in an eight man tag.

After a break, Bandido talks about gaining momentum until he got to face Jay Briscoe in a main event. That’s where we’re going to wrap it up, at Global Wars 2019.

Jay Briscoe vs. Bandido

Mark Briscoe and Mark Haskins are at ringside. They shake hands to start and Briscoe powers him into the corner without much effort. Bandido does it right back though as the mind games begin. A running headscissors has Bandido staggered but he flips into a standoff, complete with dancing finger guns. Bandido picks up the pace with a springboard wristdrag to the floor and there’s a big flip dive for a bonus. Back in and Jay superkicks him out of the air though and we take a break.

We come back with Jay hitting a Death Valley Driver for two and taking things outside for a whip into the barricade. There’s a running boot to the face to knock Bandido silly again, followed by another whip into the barricade. A suplex drops Bandido on the floor as Mark Briscoe joins commentary. That lasts all of ten seconds until Bandido dives back in to beat the twenty count. Jay charges into some boots in the corner and that means a corkscrew moonsault to take Jay down.

We take another break and come back with Bandido slipping out of the Jay Driller. They forearm it out and trade superkicks until Bandido hits a pop up cutter for no cover. Briscoe gets in a forearm and the Jay Driller connects for two. The fans are split as Bandido fights to his feet and grabs the moonsault fall away slam. Bandido can’t hit his own Jay Driller so Jay clotheslines the heck out of him for two more. Back up and Bandido says bring it and knees him in the face. The X Knee sets up the 21 Plex to finish Jay at 21:45.

Rating: B. These two beat the heck out of each other and Bandido got a heck of a rub here. Jay is the most successful star ROH has ever seen and a win over him is a big deal, as it was here. Bandido looks like a major star as a result of the win and that’s the point of a win like this. Very good, hard hitting match here as Bandido again looks talented beyond his years.

Some clips of Mexa Squad winning the Six Man Tag Team Titles to wrap us up.

Overall Rating: A. That’s about as entertaining as you are going to get for a one hour show and Bandido continues to be one of the most entertaining stars on the entire roster. This was a heck of a showcase for him and it seems that he should be a big star for a long time around here to come. Or until he signs with AEW or WWE, where someone as good as he is seems destined to go.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Ring Of Honor Wrestling

Ring of Honor
Date: May 20, 2020

The Best Of’s continue with Dalton Castle, who has had one of the more interesting careers in Ring of Honor. Castle is someone who should be little more than a comedy guy but has wound up becoming World Champion and a top star. You can’t deny his charisma and he could be worth another look. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Video on Castle.

Castle talks about how strange things have been in quarantine but he has been trying to see what kinds of exercises he can do, plus annoying his cats. He remembers winning the World Title at Final Battle 2017 and we see a few minutes of the match.

And now, Castle makes pizza! Seriously he just makes a pizza.

Castle talks about winning the title and then having a bull’s eye put on his back. That included a huge match at Supercard of Honor XII in New Orleans, where he came in with a broken back and then broke his finger early on.

Ring of Honor World Title: Marty Scurll vs. Dalton Castle

Castle is defending and has more Boys than usual. With NWA World Champion Nick Aldis in the crowd, Castle drives Marty into the corner to start. Marty’s right hand in the corner earns him a chest thrust and Scurll is already looking confused by Castle. An exchange of wristlocks gives us another standoff, which isn’t a good sign given that we’re already to nearly four hours with this show and the crowd is obviously tired.

Scurll flips him off so Marty reaches into his (own) trunks to pull out a middle finger. You don’t offer Marty your finger but Dalton punches his way to freedom before the finger is broken. Instead Marty grabs the golden umbrella but puts it in the corner, allowing Marty to grab a single leg. The chops it out from their backs before going to a standard punch out. Castle goes with the wrestling in the form of some gutwrench suplexes but Marty avoids a charge to send the champ into the post.

As the Boys FAN UP, Marty keeps Castle in trouble with some chops. It’s time to start stomping on the arm as this is definitely going long, no matter what makes sense on this show. Marty snaps the arm back ala Pentagon in Lucha Underground to not much success. That really should be a big deal but here’s it’s just a move. Shows what happens when you get a move over. Castle strikes away and elbows Marty in the face, followed by a simple beal to really get back into this.

Marty sends him outside but Castle grabs a German suplex through the ropes and drops him hard on the floor. Back in and Scurll kicks him in the head (because a GERMAN SUPLEX ON THE FLOOR isn’t a big move) but gets knocked back to the floor. A DDT plants Castle on the floor again (How long are they going to spend out there?) but he powers out of a tornado DDT. The Bang-a-Rang is reversed into a rollup so Castle knees him in the face instead.

The fans finally get into this with some dueling chants but calm back down when Castle can’t hit a gutwrench superplex to the floor. A superkick drops Castle on the floor again (erg) and Marty backdrops him onto the steps in the aisle for a VERY nasty looking bump. Back in again and the already damaged arm is sent into the buckle as the fans have already dropped their short lived interest.

The Ghostbuster gets two and they go outside AGAIN as the match is clearly being extended for the sake of being extended. Castle gets sent into the steps and in the melee, Aldis hands Marty some clippers so he can cut off a turnbuckle pad. A suplex drops Marty though and a deadlift German suplex gets two more.

Marty is back up with a superkick to the back of the head for two of his own….and now it’s time to stop as he looks underneath the ring for something specific. He can’t fine whatever it is so Dalton sends him into the barricade instead. Marty finally finds some powder, which is kicked back into his face. The blindness causes him to break the referee’s hand so there’s no count off the Bang-a-Rang. Well that’s a new way to do a familiar spot so well done.

With the referee on the floor, Marty gets in an umbrella shot for two. The Boys get beaten down and we need a new referee. A brainbuster gets a delayed two from a second referee so LET’S KEEP GOING! The threat of a chickenwing earns Marty another Peacock Pose but he grabs a loose chickenwing anyway. Castle reaches for the rope so Marty BREAKS THE FINGER and stomps away at the champ’s head. Back to back superkicks rock Castle but he pops up with the Bang-a-Rang to retain at 31:41.

The previous match went nearly forty minutes and this should have been cut down as a result. The wrestling was fine and Castle getting a win over a pretty strong name helps him a lot but egads the length just murdered this match. This might have worked better with fifteen minutes cut off on a less overloaded show but as it was, this didn’t work at all.

After losing the World Title, Castle had to take some time off but he came back and things were going ok. Then he lost to Rush in Madison Square Garden in about 16 seconds. There wasn’t much to remember about the match, but he was proud of his seven minute entrance.

There have been a lot of ups and downs during his time with ROH, but he’s always been fantastic. Now his role in Ring of Honor is looking more different than ever because now he has a tag partner. We see some clips of Castle with Joe Hendry and it’s time for our final match.

From Bound By Honor 2020.

Joe Hendry/Dalton Castle vs. PJ Black/Brian Johnson vs. Vincent/Bateman vs. Lifeblood

One fall to a finish. Hendry takes Black down by the wrist to start but Black flips over him into an armdrag. Williams comes in to work on Black’s leg but Black takes him down as well. Johnson gets the tag and is armdragged straight down, allowing Haskins to come in and stomp on the arm. Now it’s Castle’s chance to headlock Johnson, who sends Castle outside.

That’s too much for Castle, who comes back in and hits the Peacock Pose. It’s off to Hendry for the delayed vertical suplex, followed by Haskins getting in a few shots of his own. A blind tag lets Bateman come in though and we take a break. Back with Vincent rolling Haskins into the corner and getting two off a Side Effect. Haskins hits a backdrop so here’s Johnson to stomp away and keep Haskins in trouble.

he belly to back suplex doesn’t work though, meaning it’s a forearm each to Vincent and Bateman. While I’m trying to figure out why those don’t count as tags, Haskins tags Williams in to clean house. A Death Valley Driver plants Johnson so Bateman comes in. This Is A Kill is broken up as everything breaks down. Black hits the big corkscrew dive to the floor, leaving Williams to forearm Johnson for two.

Castle comes in for the suplexes until Williams dropkicks him down. Hendry hits a fall away slam on Black and Williams at the same time but lays down so Vincent can hit Redrum (that looked terrible). Haskins comes off the top with a double stomp to Vincent, leaving Castle to give Haskins the Bang A Rang. A Codebreaker from Hendry into a reverse Sling Blade from Castle is enough for the pin on Haskins at 11:37.

Rating: C+. This was the kind of match that is almost impossible to screw up and they didn’t come close here. They had all eight guys doing something in there at some point and that makes for an entertaining match. You can’t put together much of a story in there but it still works well enough to have a good time. Just go with what works, like they did here.

Castle doesn’t know what his future holds but it’s going to be fantastic. Then he eats pizza.

Overall Rating: C-. Castle is a hard one to put together as so much of his appeal is based on being over the top and eccentric. We got a lot more of that out of the parts at his house instead of his matches, which makes for a weird sit. The Scurll match came at the wrong time on the wrong show but the tag match was a lot more entertaining. Just a weird selection here, but Castle will always get your attention.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor Wrestling

Ring of Honor
Date: February 12, 2020
Location: Center Stage, Atlanta, Georgia/Cabarrus Arena, Concord, North Carolina
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman
Hosts: Ian Riccaboni, Quinn McKay

We’re back around here and that means there is likely to be something about the NWA Invasion. It might not be the most original story in the world but it’s something fresh and that’s EXACTLY what they have needed around here. Things have felt stale for a long time now and that isn’t going to be completely fixed with one story, but it’s a big upgrade. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

We open with a look at PCO vs. Rush involving a ton of interference, including NWA World Champion Nick Aldis, with the match ending in a no contest.

Ian and Quinn preview the show.

Clips of Flip Gordon beating Flamita at Honor Reigns Supreme. Flip stole the mask post match.

Brian Johnson isn’t interested in watching footage with PJ Black and leaves. Black says phase two is about to begin.

Here’s what’s coming up at various upcoming shows.

We go to Atlanta where Bully Ray ranted about dirt sheets promised Maria Manic was coming to fight him. Cue Maria, with Ray daring her to get on the apron and then in the ring. Maria looked scared but then got inside and speared Ray down. A table was loaded up but Angelina Love and Mandy Leon ran in to beat her down. Ray splashed Maria through the table to wrap it up.

Buy merch!

Brian Johnson/PJ Black vs. Bouncers

During their entrance, we hear the Bouncers asking why we have so many makeshift teams around here. Oh and buy their jersey. After some yelling over the t-shirts, Milonas shoves Black down and catches a crossbody without much effort. A slam plants Black again and a Pounce sends him into the corner. Johnson comes in and gets chopped down so Bruiser comes in to chop it out with Black.

Another chop puts Johnson in the corner and there’s another one to the back. Milonas’ falling splash crushes Johnson and we take a break. Back with Bruiser’s no teeth bite and an old Bushwhackers’ Battering Ram for two on Johnson. A cheap shot lets Johnson go to the apron where he slips off the ropes to the floor, gets back up and slips again, before finally hitting a spinning shoulder.

Thankfully he brings Black in for a chinlock so things can settle down a bit. Johnson grabs his own chinlock and throws his feet on the ropes, which is such a lost art these days. Black points out the cheating to the referee and comes in, only to get clotheslined by Bruiser. Milonas gets the hot tag and starts cleaning house, including a double crossbody to Johnson and Black. Closing Time is broken up but Johnson grabs a chair, with Black taking it away. Now it’s Closing Time to finish Johnson at 10:56.

Rating: D+. So yeah that happened. The Bouncers brought up a good point in their pre-match promo when they said that just because you team together doesn’t really make you a team. A lot of these new teams are just people doing stuff because they have nothing else to do. That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t exactly make the tag division look strong.

Post match Johnson walks away from Black.

Post break, Johnson rants but Black comes in to say you win with your mind and then your body. They do some breathing to calm down. Well Black does at least as Johnson walks away again.

La Faccion Ingobernable vs. Villain Enterprises

Rhett Titus is on commentary and that would be Rush/Dragon Lee/Kenny King (with Amy Rose) vs. PCO/Marty Scurll/Brody King. Lee takes Scurll down to start so Scurll spins around to grab a hammerlock. A shoulder puts Lee down but he nips up (off camera) to annoy Marty. La Majistral gives Marty two and we take an early break. Back with Brody shouldering Kenny down as King is becoming the new Jay around here.

Rush and PCO come in for the hoss fight with PCO planting him off a spinebuster. Everything breaks down and they fight to the floor with La Faccion taking over, including choking Scurll with a camera cord. PCO gets thrown inside so Lee can work on his leg, followed by Kenny striking away in the corner. Rush grabs a triangle choke over the ropes, followed by the running kick to the face.

We take another break and come back with PCO clotheslining his way out of trouble. Brody comes in with a bunch of running corner clotheslines and it’s Scurll sunset flipping Brody to German suplex Kenny for two. Everything breaks down again and Lee’s backsplash gets two on Brody. Lee and Brody strike it out until it’s Rush coming in to chop away and PCO and Brody at the same time.

That earns him a double chokeslam and La Faccion is sent outside. That means a double backdrop to send PCO onto all three of them, setting up the PCOsault for two on Rush with Lee making the save. We hit the parade of secondary finishers and everyone is down. The Villains take over on Kenny with Marty going after the fingers.

That earns him a kick to the head but Marty is fine enough to hit the Ghostbuster for two. Brody’s suicide dive takes out Lee and Rush, setting up the apron Swanton from PCO to Kenny. The chickenwing has Kenny in trouble but he flips out into a rollup for two. Marty and Lee go up top but the rest of the Faccion comes in for a double powerbomb/double stomp combination to finish Marty at 17:17.

Rating: B+. This is where the Villains shine and I could watch them do something like this every week. Their matches are always well laid out and make you feel like you’re watching organized chaos, albeit in a good way. La Faccion needed to win here as they’re still brand new and they got that win in an awesome match. Also: new booker takes the fall, which is a good sign.

Speaking of everything else, I’m having trouble remembering anything else going on in the company because everything feels like it’s just coming and going. The main event saved the show, but how many times can Villain Enterprises pull a rabbit out of their evil hats? You can only do something to get some attention going and the NWA Invasion, which wasn’t on this show other than a recap, is all they have in that area right now. Not a terrible show, but they have a lot of work to do.

Results

Bouncers b. Brian Johnson/PJ Black – Closing Time to Johnson

La Faccion Ingobernable b. Villain Enterprises – Double powerbomb/top rope double stomp combination to Scurll

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor

Ring of Honor
Date: January 22, 2020
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman, Brian Zane
Hosts: Ian Riccaboni, Quinn McKay

We’re still dealing with the Final Battle Fallout and that means things should be getting interesting around here sooner or later. The last few shows have done very little to get my interest up after the pay per view but maybe they can change things around here. I mean, I wouldn’t bet on it but stranger things have happened. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

We open with a look at Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham winning the Tag Team Titles at Final Battle.

The hosts welcome us to the show, which will be all about tag teams. Fair enough.

Bouncers vs. Dalton Castle/Joe Hendry

We get the Code of Honor to start before Milonas shoves Hendry down a few times. Back from a break with Castle coming in and promising to slam Bruiser. Castle can’t do much to him so Bruiser starts punching him and gets in the fake biting. The Bouncers go New Zealand with a Battering Ram but Hendry low bridges Milonas to the floor. Bruiser even goes all the way up and dives onto all three for the big crash and quite the earned reaction. Back in and Milonas’ falling splash gets two on Hendry but Bruiser misses his running hip attack in the corner.

That means Castle can come back in to suplex Bruiser (not bad) for two and Hendry adds a fall away slam (not badder). Castle doesn’t seem to like Hendry tagging himself back in so Bruiser can shove Hendry away, allowing the hot tag to Milonas. Everything breaks down but Castle saves Hendry from Last Call. That lasts for all of a few seconds before Castle is sent outside, leaving Hendry to take the Last Call for the pin at 9:07.

Rating: C. The Bouncers have become one of the most consistent acts around here and that’s one of the most bizarre things I ever could have imagined. I don’t get how that works but they’re getting something out of it. Castle and Hendry aren’t doing as much for me, but it hasn’t seemed like ROH has had anything planned for them for weeks now.

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Ian and Quinn preview the rest of the show.

Johnson tells Black to get out to start, which isn’t a nice way to talk to your new mentor. Black tags himself in anyway and the fans are rather behind him. Machine slams him down though and it’s Johnson tagging himself back in. Everything breaks down and Black kicks away at everyone until we take a break.

Back with Johnson holding Master in an abdominal stretch, though Johnson won’t let him grab the rope. Johnson’s middle rope splash gets two but Black kicks his feet off the ropes. The hot tag brings in Machine to clean house with an Oklahoma Stampede and a spear getting two on Johnson. Master’s top rope elbow gets the same but Black runs Machine over. A superkick to Master sets up a fist drop from Johnson for the pin at 5:53.

Brian Zane gives us his Top 5 Tag Teams in Ring of Honor history, which of course is topped by the Briscoes. Like it could have been anyone else.

2 Guys 1 Tag vs. Briscoes

For the #1 contendership and that would be Josh Woods/Silas Young. A long Rock Paper Scissors game means it’s Woods starting against Mark with the latter making the mistake of going amateur against the former NCAA Champion. It’s a spank to Mark and we take a break. Back with Young hammerlocking Mark and getting two off a shoulder.

Jay is sick of waiting though and comes in for a hard forearm each to Woods and Young to knock them both outside. That means Mark can hit a springboard flip dive and we settle down to Jay beating up Young. Jay charges into a raised boot though and a blind tag allows Woods to come in for a Saito suplex.

Another suplex into a slingshot hilo gets two and we take another break. Back again with Mark getting the hot tag to come in and clean house. The Rock Bottom suplex drops Woods and the brainbuster plants Young. Woods counters the Froggy Bow into a quickly broken cross armbreaker with Woods being sent into a middle rope boot to the face.

Redneck Boogie gets two on Woods and Mark kicks Young in the face again. Woods superplexes Mark off the top though and everyone is down for a bit. They get back up for the four way slugout with the Briscoes getting the better of things. The Doomsday Device is loaded up but here are Lethal and Gresham for a distraction so Woods can Rolling Chaos Theory Mark for the pin at 15:14.

Rating: B-. The interference at the end brought it back down just a bit because they were starting to rock at the end there. Woods and Young work well together and they could have a good title shot against Lethal and Gresham. It makes sense for the champs to be scared of the Briscoes but dang I was hoping for a clean upset win here. Still though, good stuff.

Overall Rating: C+. The main event bailed this one out in a pretty big way as the other two matches didn’t exactly blow anything away. It was fine to have a theme though and showcasing the tag division a bit is a good idea. If nothing else, it’s nice to see that they actually have a tag division, which isn’t something more companies can brag about these days.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor Wrestling

Ring of Honor
Date: December 11, 2019
Location: Stage AE, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman
Host: Ian Riccaboni

It’s the go home show for Final Battle and something tells me that isn’t going to matter all that much here. They’re far too late to make the show feel like the big deal that it’s supposed to be and I don’t think I’m being ridiculous to suggest that they likely don’t care much about this TV show anymore. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a look at PCO beating Marty Scurll to become #1 contender for Final Battle. This is one of only a handful of stories that has received any attention and we kind of get the concept already.

Video on Vincent vs. Matt Taven. Someone attacked their Kingdom teammate TK O’Ryan, with Marseglia eventually revealing himself as the villain. He turned on Taven and busted him open, setting up Final Battle. I believe this is the first time the Vinny Marseglia heel turn has been mentioned in any kind of detail on this show.

Video on Bully Ray vs. Mark Haskins, which is Ray bullying someone else in the exact same way he has ever since he turned heel in the first place. I would ask who thinks this is a good idea, but Ray as the booker tells you all you need to know.

We go to a live event where Haskins, with a table in the ring, calls out Ray. Cue Ray, but he won’t get in, as instead it’s Flip Gordon jumping Haskins from behind with a kendo stick. Ray pays Gordon off (because that feud is already forgotten) and puts Haskins through the table. Oh and he calls Haskins and his family trash, just to be extra nasty.

Dalton Castle finds Joe Hendry on a couch and they get into a discussion of being a big band. Castle gets confused and thinks they should be superheros. Uh, yeah.

Bateman vs. PJ Black

This is Bateman’s debut and Black isn’t on Final Battle. Black works on an armbar to start but gets reversed in a hurry. A forearm to the face puts Black in the corner but he comes right back out with his own shots to the face. Bateman gets knocked to the floor and hit with a slingshot dive as we take a break.

Back with Bateman faceplanting him and hitting a running kick to the face for two. Bateman sends him face first into the buckle as he certainly seems to have a target. Black hits a spinwheel kick but has to bail out of the Placebo Effect. The second attempt connects for two but Bateman slips out of what looked like a reverse DDT.

A headbutt sets up a Snow Plow for two on Black, who is right back with a kick to the face of his own. Black’s top rope hurricanrana into a moonsault gets two more, followed by a crucifix driver for the same. Black goes up but gets crotched, allowing Bateman to hit a Tombstone (This Is A Kill) for the pin at 10:52.

Rating: C. Bateman looked good here and it means someone to beat Black. The match wasn’t anything special but it was a good way to make Bateman look good in his debut. The company needs some fresh talent so maybe Bateman can mean something before he is signed somewhere else.

Joe Koff comes in to see Silas Young and Josh Woods. Josh has some interesting requests for his new contract, but they are all turned down. Koff leaves and Young talks about how they could be Tag Team Champions.

TV Title: Shane Taylor vs. Danhausen

Taylor is defending and this is Danhausen’s (has a painted face, talks strangely) TV debut as well. The Soldiers of Savagery are here with Shane as well, just in case this was in any doubt. Hold on though as Shane needs to talk about how awesome it is to be from Ohio and to list off the stats of his title reign. Danhausen confuses Taylor to start so Shane throws him down without much trouble. For some reason Danhausen tries a chokeslam before going with a slap to the face.

Taylor gets low bridged to the floor so Danhausen shouts before kicking him in the face. There’s a superkick from the apron but Taylor powerbomb him onto the apron. We take a break and come back with Dak Draper watching from the stage. Taylor hits him hard in the face but Danhausen grabs a tornado DDT for two. A running kick to the head gets the same but Taylor blasts him in the face. The package piledriver sets up Greetings From 205 to retain at 6:36.

Rating: C-. Danhausen is someone entertaining enough but at the same time he just got dropped on his head for the pin. It feels like a gimmick that has been done before and that isn’t the best result for a first match. Still though, he has charisma and the fans reacted to him, which is more than some people can say.

In the back, Shane says he doesn’t know who the thirteenth challenger is going to be but they’re unlucky to face him.

Dragon Lee gets the TV Title shot at Final Battle.

Video on the Briscoes vs. Jay Lethal/Jonathan Gresham, which has been covered in full on here more than once.

We run down Final Battle.

One more Rush vs. PCO video wraps us up.

Overall Rating: D+. I know it’s better than nothing but the build to this show has been so worthless and last minute that it was almost insulting. The exclusive matches were fine here but they felt like annoying detours that we had to get through before we could get back to the Final Battle hype. Final Battle still looks ok at best, mainly because PCO vs. Rush feels like a big house show main event. Could have been worse, but it’s just WAY too late to make a difference.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor

Ring of Honor
Date: December 4, 2019
Location: Express Live!, Columbus, Ohio
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman
Hosts: Ian Riccaboni, Quinn McKay

It’s time for the final push towards Final Battle but around here it would be nice to have things actually get going on the build towards the show. I’m still not sure why Ring of Honor isn’t interested in promoting their biggest show of the year with any kind of intensity but that is the case aside from one or two matches. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

We open with a look back at Jay Lethal turning heel, setting up the Lethal/Jonathan Gresham vs. Briscoes at Final Battle.

Ian and Quinn hype up the show, including an exclusive match.

Josh Woods tells Silas Young to hang on a second as he’s getting ready. Young doesn’t want to hear it.

Silas Young/Josh Woods vs. Soldiers of Savagery vs. Coast to Coast vs. Bouncers

Woods runs LSG over to start and gets two off a crucifix. LSG headlocks him to little avail so it’s Young coming in to work on the arm. That’s fine with LSG, who brings in Ali for some headlock takeovers. Milonas tags himself in though and sends Ali into the corner for a splash from Bruiser. A spinebuster gets two on Ali as commentary points out the lack of the Soldiers being in so far.

Bruiser is falsely accused of biting to NO reaction and we take a break. Back with the Sons working over the Bruiser in the corner but Moses’ Vader Bomb hits knees. Khan comes back in but misses a charge, allowing the hot tag minus the heat to Milonas. House is cleaned in a hurry using the power of weight moving somewhat fast, including a Samoan drop to Khan. The backwards splash gets two but it’s Coast to Coast coming in for the Complete Shot for two on Bruiser.

Woods’ running knee to the face gets two on LSG and it’s Woods having to fight off the Soldiers on his own. MNM’s old Snapshot hits Woods for two more but it’s Milonas diving off the apron to take out a bunch of people on the floor. LSG is back up and offers a head fake so Ali can flip dive onto the Solders and Milonas. A big dive from LSG takes even more people down but Woods superplexes Bruiser onto everyone else.

Back in and Woods hits Rolling Chaos Theory for two on Khan but Ali comes back in with a lifting Downward Spiral. Bruiser’s swinging DDT hits Moses but LSG is back in with a springboard spinning forearm. The Soldiers plant Bruiser with a double spinebuster but it’s Milonas cleaning house. Back up and Coast to Coast wrecks things, only to have LSG get sent into Woods’ jumping knee for the pin at 15:12.

Rating: C. It was fine but much longer than it needed to be. There were too many people involved here and the spots got no reaction. That’s part of the problem with having the Briscoes as such dominant champions: none of these four are going to be a threat to them, making this nothing more than filler. Woods and Young have a match at Final Battle, even if it wasn’t mentioned here. That being said, they needed to get a third of this show because….well what else were they going to do?

Wrestlers say Happy Thanksgiving.

Shane Taylor is ready to continue being the most dominant champion in Ring of Honor history. He’ll beat Dragon Lee at Final Battle so Lee and his brother Rush aren’t going to be champions at the same time.

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Video on Dalton Castle and Joe Hendry, who are doing better. They have a match at Final Battle, though their opponents (Woods and Young) aren’t important enough to mention.

Video on Rush.

Clips of the Allure beating Jenny Rose/Sumie Sakai in a No DQ match at Unauthorized. Post match Angelina Love bragged about winning (in a Hulk Hogan impression for some reason) when Maria Manic came in to say she was going to end Love at Final Battle.

Kenny King vs. Ultimo Guerrero vs. PJ Black vs. Eli Isom

King goes after Isom’s leg to start and it’s time for a wacky four man submission as we take an early break. Back with Guerrero running Isom over as the other two are down on the floor for a breather. King takes Isom’s place for a chop off and you just don’t do that to an older wrestler.

Isom is back in with a springboard missile dropkick to Isom before joining forces with Black on a double backdrop to Guerrero. Black and Isom hit the stereo suicide dives before they both miss kick to each others’ heads. Stereo crossbodies put them both down so King comes back in to stomp away. A spinning enziguri drops Black and it’s a reverse suplex into a Stunner (cool) to give King two on Isom. Guerrero gets his chance to clean some house before it’s Isom doing the same, including a middle rope moonsault to the floor.

We take a break and come back with King hitting a big dive off the stage and over the barricade to take everyone else down. Back in and Amy Rose breaks up Black’s superplex so he sits up to German superplex King and Isom at the same time. Guerrero runs King over but walks into the Air Raid Crash to give Isom two. Black breaks that up as well and hits a middle rope moonsault into a dropkick to the side of the head (cool) to finish Isom at 11:10.

Rating: C. Remember earlier when we had a four way tag match with a bunch of insanity? Well cut it in half here. Black winning is as good as anyone but King winning, as King is the only one with a match on the pay per view. The others could have been any warm bodies and that isn’t exactly inspiring stuff.

A bunch of Final Battle graphics wrap us up. It’s better than nothing.

Overall Rating: D. Another week and another bit of evidence that this company has no idea what they’re doing these days. Final Battle is being treated about the same as some Honor Club event in July and I don’t think they really care. When your highlight is a PJ Black match, it’s almost all the proof you need of how bad things have gotten around here. The show wasn’t horrible, but it was a big, big waste of time.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Ring Of Honor Wrestling

Ring of Honor
Date: October 16, 2019
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana, Caprice Coleman
Hosts: Ian Riccaboni, Quinn McKay

So we should be coming up on something interesting here as at least it should be time for the Death Before Dishonor fallout. It helps that TV isn’t your normal fallout so hopefully we can get something fresh a little faster around here. I’m not sure what to expect otherwise as I still need to get around to the pay per view, but it could make for some more interesting TV. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

We open with the end of Rush winning the World Title from Matt Taven at Death Before Dishonor.

Video on the Six Man Tag Team Title match at Death Before Dishonor Fallout, focusing on Dragon Lee. Kind of at least, as the hosts said it would be but it comes off as just a regular video on the match.

Jay Lethal is worried about facing PJ Black (injury replacement) in the #1 contenders tournament and complains about it to Jonathan Gresham. Didn’t they break up?

Video on Angelina Love cheating to win the Knockouts Title from Kelly Klein.

The announcers talk about the #1 contenders tournament.

Brian Zane from Wrestling With Wregret gives us the Top Five Things From Death Before Dishonor. I like Zane’s show so this is a nice little bonus.

PJ Black is ready to face Jay Lethal in the first round of the tournament. Always bet on Black.

Coast To Coast is coming for the Tag Team Titles.

Tracy Williams is ready for a No DQ match against Flip Gordon.

Coast To Coast vs. Silas Young/Josh Woods

Young and LSG start things off with Silas bouncing out of a wristlock and they roll around the ring with a small package getting several twos each. Woods comes in to kick LSG down so Ali comes in for some grappling, which is just fine with Woods of course. Ali gets taken into the corner for a series of running forearms from Young but he’s fine enough to take Woods into the corner.

Woods suplexes his way out of trouble and the hot tag brings in Young to clean house. The hanging swinging neckbreaker gets two on Ali and everything breaks down. The backbreaker/clothesline combination sets up Rolling Chaos Theory for two on LSG and it’s a toss into a cutter to finish Ali at 8:00.

Rating: C-. I’m actually getting into Woods and Young as a team, but I have no reason to believe that they’re going anywhere. This company has a bad tendency to build people up and then do nothing with them because the tier structure is so strong around here. Hopefully that changes, but until they get somewhere with some fresh talent, it isn’t going to matter.

Matt Taven wasn’t happy after losing the World Title.

We recap the first round of the #1 contenders tournament.

#1 Contenders Tournament First Round: PJ Black vs. Jay Lethal

Why they showed the result of this match in the previous recap isn’t clear. Jonathan Gresham is out with Lethal. They fight over arm control to start and roll into a standoff as the first gear continues. Black shoulders him down and gets one off a legsweep as the rapid fire takedowns send us into another standoff.

Lethal’s cartwheel into a basement dropkick has Black in trouble for the first time and Lethal stomps away in the corner. The Figure Four makes Black scream but he’s in the ropes in a hurry. Black grabs a reverse suplex into a dragon sleeper, followed by a double arm crank. The Rocking Horse hold keeps Lethal in trouble and we take a break.

Back with Black getting crotched on top, setting up a delayed superplex. They strike it out until Lethal dropkicks him to the floor for back to back suicide dives. The Lethal Combination sets up Hail to the King for two but Black pops up with a middle rope Spanish Fly for his own near fall. They fight on the top until Black knocks him down, only to miss the Placebo Effect (springboard 450). The Lethal Injection is blocked twice in a row so Lethal tries is a third time and connects for the pin at 15:42.

Rating: B-. Lethal is always good for a solid match and Black….dang I’m not sure what it is but there is just a little something off about him that takes away some of the impact he could have. His matches are usually fine if not good but there’s just something about him I can’t get behind. This was a rather nice main event, though the spoiler before the match didn’t help things.

Overall Rating: C. Perfectly acceptable show here, but that’s the problem: it’s just acceptable and not something you need to watch. Ring of Honor TV has become little more than an amped up Main Event, and that’s not a good place to be. What we got wasn’t bad, but it’s just nothing you need to watch. Get an Honor Club subscription if you really like the place, though if you have, there is no need to watch the TV show. That has been the case for a long time now and it’s getting to be annoying.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Ring Of Honor

Ring of Honor
Date: August 14, 2019
Location: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman
Hosts: Ian Riccaboni, Quinn McCay

It’s the new format around here and that is the best for everyone involved. The old style wasn’t working very well so cutting out the matches that aren’t interesting in the first place is a good move. Ring of Honor knows how to do the one match a show format and that is what we’ll be having going forward. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

We open with a recap of Flip Gordon turning down Lifeblood to join Villain Enterprises, which is probably a better move for him given how much Lifeblood has died over the last few months.

We get some highlights of Dragon Lee vs. Jonathan Gresham at Manhattan Mayhem, including a lot of chopping and Gresham cheating a bit. Lee won with a running knee to the face.

Lee says he’s here for competition and will take on the wrestling world with his brother.

Gresham says he listened to Jay Lethal and lost. So much for that.

The Shinobi Shadow Squad trains, after having thrown ninja stars at a picture of Villain Enterprises.

Karissa Rivera wants the Women’s Title. She’s bringing the fight and leaving it all in the ring. Maybe then she can go work on getting some more original material.

Rhett Titus talks about his history with Kenny King as the All Night Express but then King walked out, leaving Titus’ career going nowhere. Then King came back to get the team together again, to more limited success. That led to the Rebellion and egads that was a bad idea. Then Titus teamed up with Will Ferrara as the Dawgs and I’m starting to feel sorry for Titus being saddled with so many bad ideas. Shane Taylor beat him in the Proving Ground match and King yelled at him about losing his fire. Maybe King is right, but Titus’ biggest mistake was not hitting him in the face.

Soldiers of Savagery vs. Corey Hexx/Geddy Cahoon

Geddy Cahoon is so awful of a name that I don’t even feel sorry when the double chokeslam gets the pin at 45 seconds.

Clip of the Bouncers coming up short against the Briscoes for the Tag Team Titles.

Clip of the pretty awesome street fight from a few weeks back between Lifeblood and Villain Enterprises.

Lifeblood/Flip Gordon vs. Villain Enterprises

Scurll and Williams start things off with a grappling exchange (of course) with Williams grabbing a cravate. Some shoving triggers a standoff and it’s off to Bandido vs. Gordon to some rather enthusiastic reactions. That means a fast standoff so King comes in and, just to show off, runs up the corner into a multiple springboards armdrag to take Bandido down

As big as King is, he can still be superkicked, meaning it’s off to Scurll vs. Haskins with the latter working on the arm. Black comes in to do the same as Lifeblood starts taking turns. A slingshot stomp gives Black two and Williams drops a slingshot legdrop for two of his own. King has had it and comes in to clean house, including a big flip dive over the top. PCO gets backdropped over the top onto Haskins and Williams as we take a break.

Back with PCO hitting a Swanton for two on Williams, followed by a double chokeslam from the monsters. We settle down to Gordon stomping Williams in the corner but Scurll takes too much time talking, allowing Williams to grab a suplex. Bandido comes in….and catches PCO’s crossbody because THAT’S SOMETHING HE CAN DO. Bandido’s twisting moonsault takes out the Villains on the floor (Caprice: “I don’t think that’s a real move!”) but Scurll grabs a rollup for two.

Back from another break with Haskins getting the hot tag and striking away at King and PCO. The monsters are sent outside so Haskins hits back to back suicide dives, followed by Williams striking away at King. Everything breaks down and it’s PCO moonsaulting onto the pile outside. Bandido is up with a sunset bomb to take PCO from the apron to the floor, leaving King to Batista Bomb Haskins for two. Bandido is back in with the 21 Plex to King, setting up Black’s springboard 450 for the pin at 17:43.

Rating: B. These teams have chemistry together but at the same time, I’m not sure what to expect when Scurll’s ROH contract is up later this year. That’s the problem with so many promotions at the moment: AEW is taking away so much talent and I’m not sure what the rest of the team is going to do without him. At least we got a good match on the way there though and that’s always a nice thing to have.

Overall Rating: C+. The new format continues to work, though I’m not sure how it’s going to work when they have more than a pair of big shows to deal with at a time. As in how many videos can you air without showing many of the matches? The show is a lot easier to watch now though and the big main event makes it even better. With so much content out there, ROH needs to find a way to stand out and while this might not be exciting, it’s efficient, and that might be better.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6