Ring Of Honor
Date: November 3, 2021
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

It’s time for the Halloween edition, which did air on time in some of the markets so this isn’t that far out of place. I have no idea what to expect around here now that everything has changed, but that kind of fits how Ring of Honor has worked for years. I could go for some more of what they have been doing so this is kind of appropriate. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Opening sequence.

Quinn McKay gives us the welcome. She also gets to draw the names for the Trick Or Treat match…but we only hear EC3, with the rest of the picks in fast forward. Moderately intriguing, save for EC3 that is. She has her own match this week and needs a replacement, but it needs to be ANYONE but Brian Johnson.

Delirious runs down the card. Let’s say it’s a bit more nuanced.

Commentary is in costumes as well, with Ian as a Teletubby, Coleman as Don Cornelius from Soul Train and Maria Kanellis-Bennett as…a woman in a dress?

Max The Impaler/Miranda Alize vs. Rok-C/Quinn McKay

Amy Rose is here with Max. Rok-C doesn’t think much of Miranda but Quinn insists that neither are left alone with the monster that is Max. Alize swats away Rok-C’s offer of a handshake and Rok-C isn’t happy. McKay comes in to take it to the mat with Alize and we take an early break.

Back with Alize cranking on Rok-C’s arms as we get the always appreciated/quick recap of what happened during the break. That’s broken up in a hurry and it’s back to McKay, who cuts off the tag attempt and hits a powerslam. Alize gets over for the tag off to Max anyway though and it’s time to wreck people. With Rok-C and McKay down, Alize is willing to come back in, where McKay rolls her up for two. Max suplexes McKay and Rok-C at the same time and then plants McKay again. Alize comes in to steal the pin at 6:37.

Rating: C-. They went with a rather basic and simple match here, though it would have been nice to not see McKay lose again. That being said, it’s better than having Rok-C take a pin and it makes sense to push Max as the unstoppable monster. Not the best match, but it is something that made sense.

Demonic Flamita/O’Shay Edwards vs. Silas Young/Rey Horus vs. World Famous CB/EC3 vs. Flip Gordon/Matt Taven

This is under Lucha Rules and the winners get $10,000. This is something I can get behind: a match where it feels like the drawing was actually random, as it makes things more fun. CB and Young go technical to start, with CB managing an armdrag to take over to start. Some rollups give them two each and it’s a standoff, with Young looking impressed. Flamita and Horus come in, with Flamita running him over and dropping an elbow to the back.

Horus jumps onto Flamita’s shoulders and spins around into a headscissors out to the floor. That means Gordon can come in and strike away at Horus, whose running hurricanrana doesn’t quite work. EC3 comes in and gets a handshake from Flip, who he already knows. Gordon stops to pose at Taven and gets punched down by EC3. It’s off to Taven, who gets taken over by a headlock takeover. Back up and a dropkick puts EC3 on the floor and we take a break.

We come back with Edwards blocking Taven’s Climax and getting caught in a bearhug. Flamita comes in with a running kick to the face for two as Horus comes in. We get a quick Mexisquad reunion, which lasts all of ten seconds before Flamita jumps Horus. Gordon comes in but can’t hit the Kinder Surprise on Horus.

It’s off to EC3, who does have his Kinder Surprised as everything breaks down. We wind up with Flamita vs. EC3 for a rather odd pairing. The fireman’s carry spun onto the knee drops Flamita and Taven hits Edwards with the Flight of the Conqueror. Horus flip dives onto CB and Taven, setting up Gordon’s big running flip dive. Back in and Horus hits a 450 on CB but Young comes in and steals the pin at 11:41.

Rating: C+. This was fun and that’s all it needed to be. Throw a bunch of people out there and let them have an energetic match which didn’t mean anything. It didn’t matter who won, but rather having a good time in a different kind of match. This worked out rather well and the flipping/diving helped as usual.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Danhausen/PCO/Sledge vs. Shane Taylor Promotions

Danhausen and company are challenging and Danhausen thinks this is a good team to help him gain money and power. Khan and a scared looking Danhausen start things off, with Khan sending him flying. Moses comes in and actually gets taken down for a second, allowing Danhausen to hit a basement dropkick. Danhausen actually wants Shane, who isn’t having any of this being Irish whipped thing.

The chokeslam attempt just annoys Shane so he punches Danhausen in the face. Sledge comes in for the slugout with Shane instead, with Shane knocking him down as we take a break. Back with Sledge hitting a slingshot spear on Shane, allowing the hot tag to PCO to clean house. The referee gets bumped so PCO rips off a turnbuckle pad and sends Shane into the steel. Hold on though as PCO malfunctions again and falls outside.

That’s enough for Shane to take over on PCO, who comes out of the corner with a clothesline to Moses. The hot tag brings in Sledge, though Danhausen doesn’t seem pleased. Danhausen tags himself in and hits a running boot on Shane but gets run over by Khan. Everything breaks down and PCO gets knocked outside, setting up the assisted DDT to Danhausen. The Marcus Garvey Driver retains the titles at 8:33.

Rating: C. How could you not have Danhausen in this spot on a Halloween show? The Six Man Tag Team Titles don’t have much use around here, but they do a nice job of filling in a spot like this. The show needed a somewhat special main event so let Shane Taylor Promotions beat up someone smaller like Danhausen while having to deal with the bigger monsters. It was completely acceptable, with Danhausen continuing to be one of the most entertaining things about Ring of Honor today.

Post match Sledge jumps PCO and the brawl is on to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. I had fun and that’s exactly what they were shooting for with this show. Sometimes you need to just relax and have a good time, which is what they were trying to do here. The wrestling was fine enough and they had a lot of people on the show doing some different things. Nice job, as it’s good to enjoy this place while you can.

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Ring of Honor
Date: October 27, 2021
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

Well now everything has changed. Ring of Honor’s future suddenly looks WAY different and that is not the best news. I’m not sure what is going to happen with the company but it is clear that things are going to be wrapping up. Hopefully the final few shows are good, but this is very uncharted territory. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Vincent is checking himself in the mirror and has the rest of the Righteous say that “he” is going to love it.

Quinn McKay runs down the card, which is all based on Violence vs. Pure.

Rhett Titus vs. Tony Deppen

Both of them talk about how they want to show that their style is better. They go with the technical stuff on the mat as Deppen wants to show he can do this too. Titus grabs a test of strength and powers him to the mat without much effort but Deppen reverses into a leglock. That’s broken up and we take an early break, coming back with Titus putting on a headscissors. Deppen is out in a hurry with a backslide but Titus snaps off a butterfly suplex for two.

A knee to the ribs and a knee to the back of the head give Deppen two of his own before he ties up Titus’ arms. Some biting of the hand gets two on Titus and here is Homicide to get on the apron for no logical reason. Titus blocks a backsplash by raising the knees and we take a break. Back again with Titus being sent to the apron but managing a hard slingshot shoulder for two. Homicide grabs a chair for a distraction, causing Titus to miss a running boot in the corner.

Deppen kicks him to the floor and hits a suicide flip dive (a Homicide specialty), followed by a top rope double stomp for two back inside. Homicide is NOT happy with the kickout as they trade rollups for two each. Titus gets in a gutwrench suplex and some running boots in the corner, setting up an implant DDT for two more. There’s the half crab with a knee in the back but Homicide throws in the chair for the distraction. Said distraction lets Deppen hit Titus with the chair, setting up the running boot for the pin at 12:23.

Rating: C+. I liked this one as Titus has improved a bit with his new style. He looks smooth with the clean wrestling stuff and that is nice to see as he has rarely had anything that has stuck (often through no fault of his own). Deppen is a rather good heel too and they worked well together, with the cheating making sense for the faction with the numbers advantage here.

Post break, Titus wants to know where the Foundation was during that. Fair question.

Tony Deppen asks why Homicide wouldn’t help him. They’re from the places with no rules so why would they follow rules here?

Brody King/Chris Dickinson vs. Jonathan Gresham/Tracy Williams

Homicide and Jay Lethal are the seconds. Before the match, both teams say their way is better. The Foundation jump them from behind to start in a bit of a twist and the fight goes outside early. Dickinson beats on Gresham in the corner and hands it off to King to power him around. It’s right back to Dickinson, who tries to go after Gresham’s leg, which just does not seem that bright.

King is back in with a neck crank to grind Gresham down but he finally sends King into Dickinson. That’s enough for the hot tag off to Williams so the pace can pick way up. Dickinson kicks Williams in the face but Williams hits a running corner clothesline. We take a break and come back with Gresham getting the tag and chopping away at Dickinson. The Foundation takes turns stomping on Dickinson’s ankles but Gresham ducks right into a knee to the face (that looked GREAT) to knock him silly.

Gresham gets up a boot in the corner though and tweaks King’s leg, setting up the sleeper. The other two get in a brawl of their own though and then crash the hold for the save. We take another break and come back again with King Boston crabbing Williams as Dickinson gets Gresham in an STF. Both holds are broken up so Dickinson puts the STF on Williams. That’s reversed into a Crossface but Dickinson flips out of that as well and grabs a rear naked choke. King holds Gresham back as Williams passes out at 12:52.

Rating: B. This was quite a match, with both teams getting the chance to shine. Dickinson beating Williams with a clean hold was interesting and not something I would have seen coming. If nothing else, I would have bet on the Foundation to win here to even up the night, so well done on throwing in a surprise here.

Jay Lethal and Homicide are already here and since they’re scheduled for the main event, let’s go.

Jay Lethal vs. Homicide

Lethal has the Foundation head to the back while Violence Unlimited stays at ringside, which can’t possibly go badly. Lethal starts fast and knocks Homicide outside, setting up the triple suicide dives. Back up and Homicide shoulders him to the floor, setting up the big flip dive and they’re both down for a second.

They get back in for the slow motion slugout until Lethal misses a middle rope dropkick. For some reason a fork is placed in the turnbuckle but neither can go face first into it. Instead, Homicide chokes away but Lethal scores with a superkick. Cue Dutch of the Righteous to jump Tony Deppen as the Lethal Injection finishes Homicide at 5:37.

Rating: C. It was fun while it lasted but they were flying through everything here until the screwy finish. That would be the finish where another faction interfered in a match between factions, but at least they interfered after a fast paced match. Lethal vs. Homicide could be a good showdown if they were given the chance, but we only got something fun for a little while here.

The Righteous poses on the stage and applaud everyone to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Another pretty good show here, but it is kind of hard to get interested when this version of Ring of Honor is not going to be around much longer. There was a theme here, but this time, even moreso than usual, it was all about a few groups of wrestlers and that is not exactly the most interesting. I could go for something different, though I’m not sure if that is an option right now. Either way, at least it was a fun show with a theme.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Ring of Honor
Date: October 20, 2021
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

We’re still in the post Death Before Dishonor TV taping and that means we still have no crowd. I know Ring of Honor likes to do their marathon tapings but isn’t there some way we could get some fans in there for a change? It has made a world of difference for everyone else and the fans not being there makes Ring of Honor seem like a promotion from another universe. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Quinn McKay (hey she’s back) welcomes us to the show and gives us the preview.

Tag Team Titles: Soldiers of Savagery vs. Dragon Lee/Kenny King

Lee and King are defending. The fact that Lee is also the TV Champion and the Soldiers are part of the Six Man Tag Team Champions might make you think Ring of Honor needs to spread out its titles a bit more. The Soldiers jump them to start so the champs bail to the floor for an early breather. We settle down to Lee getting in Moses’ face for no effect. It’s the Soldiers being sent outside for a change and that means the champs get to hit the Tranquilo pose. Back in and Khan runs King over for two as we take a break.

We come back with Lee getting stomped down but King pulls Khan’s leg to break up a suplex. Back in and King pounds away on Khan for two, setting up a double basement dropkick to the back of the head. Moses gets drawn in, allowing the champs to kick away at Khan even more. A half crab sends Khan over to the ropes in a hurry but King puts it on again.

We take another break and come back again with Khan hitting a quick belly to back suplex. That’s enough for Moses to come in and clean house, including a powerbomb for two on Lee. King is back up with a clothesline to Khan and Lee counters a superplex into the Alberto double stomp on Moses. Cue Bestia del Ring as Khan kicks Lee down without much effort. The assisted elevated DDT plants Khan but Bestia has the referee. That’s enough of a distraction for King to rake Khan’s eyes and hit the Royal Flush. Lee adds the Incinerator to retain the titles at 12:53.

Rating: B-. These guys work well together and while having another stable is not the most exciting thing, it is nice to have some fresh names involved. Shane Taylor Promotions at least offers something new, even if that just made for another stable on a long list of them. The match was rather entertaining, though I’m kind of over all of these teams trading wins.

Next week: Violence vs. Pure, as the stables continue to take over the company.

World Famous CB/Joe Keys/Taylor Rust/Eli Isom vs. Foundation

The Foundation is Tracy Williams/Rhett Titus/Jonathan Gresham/Jay Lethal and their opponents were all at ringside for Lethal’s speech about the greatness of pure wrestling at Death Before Dishonor. Williams and Rust get things going and they take their time to start. They go with the technical rolling until Williams takes him into the corner for a double suplex from Titus.

Back up and Rust takes Titus into the corner so CB can hammer away. Titus is bleeding from the eye as CB reverses a headlock into one of his own. A shot to the eye and the Fuji Splash (which is a headbutt) gets two more on Titus and it’s Isom coming in for a waistlock. For some reason Isom lets him go though and Lethal comes in for a change. Lethal gets serious by taking the straps down but Isom dropkicks him anyway.

A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker drops Lethal and we take a break. Back with Lethal and Isom staring at each other until Gresham and Keys come in (meaning teacher vs. student). They waste no time in striking away until Keys kicks him in the back and drops him hard onto the top rope. Gresham is back with a running dropkick to send Keys outside and it’s off to Williams to work on the arm. The Foundation starts taking turns on the arm but Keys gets over for the tag to Rust to pick up the pace.

Rust can’t suplex Lethal out to the floor but he can throw Lethal out there, meaning the Foundation surrounds their partner. Back in and Lethal’s arm is worked over and we take a break. We come back with Lethal shrugging off Isom’s beating and hitting the Lethal Combination. The hot tag brings Williams back in to work on CB’s leg. Titus gives up the tag over to Rust though and the Perfect Circle connects, with Williams having to make the save.

A double tag brings in Lethal and Isom, with the latter hitting his own cutter. Everything breaks down and it’s Keys uppercutting Williams to little avail. Gresham comes in for an enziguri and German suplex but Keys plants Gresham for two. That’s enough from Keys, as Gresham pulls him into a kneebar for the tap at 17:50.

Rating: B. This was pretty awesome and that’s about all you could expect. The Foundation can work well with anyone and Ring of Honor has the kind of roster that can be tossed together into any combination for a solid match. Good stuff here and the Foundation continues to roll, which has been quite the fun part over the last several months.

Vincent, in a white robe and a crown, says he has been cleansed and is ready to win the World Title. Dig what he is saying?

Overall Rating: B. And that’s why Ring of Honor puts on a good show almost every week. This was a two match show and both matches worked very well. That’s about all you can ask for out of a wrestling show and this was more good stuff. I’m almost wondering if they have to run the stable stuff because they’re the only people around though, and that isn’t a good sign for the future.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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It’s better than what I originally had in mind.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/kbs-review-go-honor/

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/ring-honor-going-hiatus-wrestlers-released-contracts/

Yeah this isn’t looking good.  Basically they are going to go through the rest of the year with Final Battle on December 11 and then go on hiatus until April, when they will be back with a “new mission”.  That does not sound good and I would be surprised if they come back with anything resembling Ring of Honor.  They have had fans at maybe three shows in a year and a half, so things weren’t exactly rolling for a long time now.  The TV show is still good, but business hasn’t exactly seemed strong.  This may be it for Ring of Honor, and that is quite hte shame from a fan’s perspective.

Ring of Honor
Date: October 13, 2021
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Jay Briscoe, Mark Briscoe

It’s time to start the build towards Final Battle and I’m not sure what that is going to mean. Ring of Honor has a weird fascination with waiting as long as they can to announce a card and I’m not sure how much we’re going to be getting before this show. That being said, this show has been pretty great lately so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Here’s what’s coming tonight.

Soldiers of Savagery vs. Dalton Castle/Dak Draper

The Soldiers are ready to hurt people while Castle and Draper, with the Baby Chickens, promise to show how good they are. Castle wrestles Khan down to start and we actually get a clean break. The technical stuff doesn’t work for Khan so he shoulders Castle down with straight power. That works for Castle, who suplexes him down and hands it off to Draper, who gets caught by the arm. Moses comes in and knees Draper in the ribs so Khan can hit a running basement clothesline. It’s already back to Castle to run the Soldiers over and we take a break.

Back with Draper gutwrenching Khan and handing him off to Castle for the suplex in a nice power display. Hold on though as Castle needs to take a lap on the floor with the Baby Chickens, as tends to be his case. Draper gutwrench tosses Khan around, allowing Castle to grab the camera for a chat. Khan gets over to Moses for the hot tag though and it’s time to slug away. A backdrop puts Castle on the floor and Moses runs Draper over. Everything breaks down and it’s the elevated double DDT to finish Draper at 9:16.

Rating: C+. Draper is someone who could go somewhere with a little more tinkering, as his size and look will be good enough to get him somewhere. Castle is an established name and the Soldiers are your big monsters who can hurt people. They had an easy idea here and it worked well, so it was pretty much a layup that connected just fine.

Post match Kenny King and Dragon Lee come in to beat down the Soldiers, complete with a selfie. Moses gets up though and issues the challenge for the Tag Team Titles, complete with a promise for some complimentary body bags.

Willow vs. Miranda Alize vs. Angelina Love

The winner goes on to a #1 contenders match for a future Women’s Title match. Willow thinks this is like a Christmas present, Alize doesn’t know why she has to be in this match and Love brags about how awesome she is. Willow gets double teamed to start but fights her way to freedom, only to get knocked back into the corner. Both of them hit running splashes in the corner to crush Willow and we take a break.

Back with Willow fighting both of them off but getting sent to the floor for a crash. Love uses the distraction to grab a Code of Silence on Alize until Willow comes back in for the save. Willow sends them both outside for the split legged dropkick off the apron. That’s good for two on Alize back inside but she sends Willow back to the floor for a double suicide dive. Love comes back in and Botox Injections Alize to the floor, allowing Willow to grab a rollup pin at 8:32.

Rating: C. The action was slightly better than usual, but I’m still not exactly familiar with Willow or Alize. Love not being involved in the fall makes enough sense as she is the veteran star, but you’re only going to get so much out of something like this. The division needs to develop a lot more, and this is only slightly better than the tournament matches.

OGK vs. Rey Horus/Bandido

Both teams are fired up here. Horus and Bennett get things going with Horus working on the arm. Bennett manages to pull him down into a crucifix for a near fall though and things reset a bit. Bandido and Taven come in with Bennett dropkicking Bandido to the mat and us to a break. Back with Bandido charging into a superkick from Taven for a spear from Bennett, setting up a brainbuster for two.

It’s time to start working on Bandido’s leg with Taven crunching it and Bennett cranking away. An enziguri into the Purple Thunder Bomb gets two on Bandido and we hit the chinlock. Bennett hits a spinebuster but Taven misses a Lionsault, allowing the hot tag off to Horus. Everything breaks down and Bennett goes shoulder first into the post. The Spanish Fly plants Bennett and we take a break with OGK in trouble.

Back with Bandido limping but being fine enough to sweep Taven’s leg and hit a running shooting star press for two. Bennett makes the save though and the Hail Mary gets two on Bandido. Horus and Bennett get up for the big slugout but everyone hits something to another jaw for the four way knockdown. Back up and Taven hits Bandido with the Flight of the Conqueror but Bennett has to break up Horus’ Octopus. The Backpack Stunner/running kick to the face finishes Horus at 12:07.

Rating: B-. This was a pair of good teams having a nice match with some time. OGK winning makes sense as they didn’t pin the champ and still looked like they were in trouble throughout. Solid main event here, and that’s how it should have been for a one off match like this one.

Overall Rating: C+. We seem to be in the post pay per view stretch, meaning things have not quite reset just yet. Then again with no fans it can be kind of hard to tell, as Ring of Honor tends to have one stand alone show after another. That was the case again here, but at least this show was pretty good (again). Just….get fans back already. It really shouldn’t be that hard at this point, right?

Results
Soldiers of Savagery b. Dalton Castle/Dak Draper – Elevated double DDT to Draper
Willow b. Angelina Love and Miranda Alize – Rollup to Love
OGK b. Bandido/Rey Horus – Backpack Stunner/running boot to the face combination to Horus

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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It’s nice to get away every now and then.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/kbs-review-hey-look/

Ring of Honor
Date: October 6, 2021
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

I’m not sure what to expect from this show these days and that can be rather interesting. It’s never clear what you’re going to get and thankfully Ring of Honor knows how to give you the best out of everything they offer. If that can be the case again this week, we should be in for another fun show. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Violence Unlimited issues an open challenge for tonight. Danhausen comes in, realizes he’s in the wrong place, and leaves.

We get a preview, minus Quinn McKay.

Taylor Rust/Alex Zayne vs. Briscoes

Rust and Zayne talk about being ready to step up against the Briscoes as Zayne is on his way to the World Title. The Briscoes tell them to bring it and be made famous. Rust and Mark start things off with the latter not being able to get very far off of a leg dive attempt. A headlock takeover works better for Mark but Zayne is right back up with a modified abdominal stretch.

That’s broken up and Mark unloads with some chops into the corner. Jay unloads for a bit as well but it’s already back to Mark for two off a suplex. Jay’s front facelock keeps Rust in trouble but he fights up and gets over to Zayne for the tag. Everything breaks down and they head outside, with Jay sending Zayne hard into the barricade to put him in trouble for a change. Rust gets kicked in the face as well and they head back inside, where Zayne gets belly to belly suplexed for two. Jay adds a running kick to the face but Zayne flips out of a belly to back suplex.

The hot tag brings in Rust to clean house and a Rings of Saturn with the legs has Mark in more trouble. That’s broken up and everything breaks down again. Rust is knocked outside with the Briscoes following him, allowing Zayne to springboard moonsault onto both of them. Back in and a running flip super hurricanrana gets two on Mark but Rust has to escape the Jay Driller. Jay isn’t having that though and hits the Jay Driller, setting up the Froggy Bow to finish Mark at 10:54.

Rating: B-. They hit each other hard and Zayne/Rust did well in a match they had next to no chance to winning. Sometimes that is the kind of match you need to see on a show and it is always nice to see the Briscoes. Rather nice TV match here and Zayne is already a far bigger deal here than he ever was in WWE.

Danhausen recruits PCO, Sledge and Demonic Flamita to face Violence Unlimited.

Here is Rok-C for her first interview as Women’s Champion (and having her stand next to Brian Zane isn’t the best idea as he towers over her). She sounds rather nervous as she talks about how hard she has worked to get here. Now that she has proven she isn’t a cliché, she is ready to face anyone. The C in Rok-C used to stand for Confident but now it stands for Champion.

Cue the Allure to say this is their house and the C stands for…something they can’t say on TV. Cue Miranda Alize, Trish Adora, Willow and Allysin Kay, followed by Maria Kanellis Bennett. The boss makes a pair of triple threats with the winners meeting for the Final Battle Women’s Title shot. It was nice to not have everyone talk here, as the ending didn’t really require them to say anything.

During the break, Alize jumped Rok-C like a good villain should.

Violence Unlimited vs. Danhausen/Sledge/PCO/Demonic Flamita

Violence Unlimited doesn’t like PCO being involved. Homicide and Danhausen start things off with Danhausen’s waistlock confusing Homicide a bit. A cutter into a t-bone suplex rocks Homicide and he has to go to the ropes to escape an STF. Tony Deppen and Flamita come in with the latter hitting a hard shoulder. They trade some very fast covers before it’s a double nip up for a standoff.

Deppen’s basement dropkick gets two and it’s Dickinson coming in for an elbow to the mask. Flamita kicks his way out of trouble and brings Sledge in to suplex Dickinson in a nice power display. Dickinson is back with a middle rope dropkick to put Sledge in trouble and the chopping is on in the corner. A DDT gives Dickinson two and Homicide adds a knee to the back.

Sledge’s clothesline gives him a breather and he kicks Homicide into the corner, allowing the hot tag to PCO. That means a chop off with King, who gets powerbombed for two. King is right back up with a piledriver…and PCO malfunctions, causing him to go in the wrong corner and take King’s tag. PCO starts beating up his own partners and the PCOsault…kind of hits Sledge? The miss seems to wake PCO up and it’s Danhausen coming in to clean house. It’s time for the parade of secondary finishers, with PCO back to normal. Another PCOsault is broken up and King Ganso Bombs Sledge for the pin at 15:05.

Rating: C+. Fun enough here, though the PCO thing might make your head hurt a bit. That being said, this was never meant to be anything serious (matches involving Danhausen rarely are) so it’s hard to be that critical about something not making sense. Good enough main event for a show like this and the right team won.

Overall Rating: B-. Some nice action, a story for the new Women’s Champion and Danhausen make this an entertaining week. Ring of Honor never reinvents the wheel, but they do their thing well enough that it works out well most of the time. I liked the show and didn’t have anything that got on my nerves, so we’ll call this a nice show.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 60,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 6,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books.

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Death Before Dishonor 2021
Date: September 12, 2021
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

It’s back to pay per view and it’s actually out of Baltimore for a change. As tends to be the case in Ring of Honor, the show has not exactly been built up well, but the company has the ability to throw out a bunch of stuff and make it work. The main event is a four way elimination match for the World Title so let’s get to it.

In Memory of Daffney. That’s a nice touch.

Pre-Show: Honor Rumble

Fifteen man Royal Rumble with ninety second intervals and the winner gets a future World Title shot. Brian Johnson is in at #1 (and gets to talk about how amazing Philadelphia, his hometown, really is) and Brian Milonas is in at #2. The fans are behind Johnson, which has commentary very confused. The much bigger Milonas grabs a front facelock and takes him over to the ropes as he thinks this is a Pure Rules match. Johnson has to escape but it’s Beer City Bruiser in at #3 to put Johnson in real trouble.

A few shots in the corner don’t get Johnson very far as he charges into a side slam/running boot to the face combination. There’s a Vader Bomb elbow to crush Johnson as Danhausen is in at #4. Danhausen seems to curse (without swearing of course) Milonas, who accidentally gets crushed by Bruiser’s charge in the corner. A double chokeslam is countered into a double spinebuster to crush Danhausen as Caprice Coleman leaves commentary to be in at #5.

The Bouncers miss Coleman and crash into each other, leaving Coleman to kick Johnson in the face. Danhausen is confused about Coleman being in the ring but gets shut up by a cutter. Brian Zane joins commentary to replace Coleman, who knocks out Bruiser. Everyone gets together to toss Milonas as well as Sledge is in at #6. Johnson tosses Coleman as Sledge and Danhausen team up. A running boot sends Johnson through the ropes (not eliminated) and it’s PCO in at #7 (out of sixteen apparently, despite everything saying fifteen otherwise).

Johnson is knocked down again but Danhausen tries to break up PCO vs. Sledge. PJ Black is in at #8 as the ring is starting to fill up again. Black cleans a bit of house and joins forces with Johnson to clean some more house. Dak Draper (Zane’s pick) is in at #9 and it’s time for people to pair off. Silas Young is in at #10 but can’t quite get rid of Danhausen. Draper is sent to the apron but manages to backdrop Sledge out. Rey Horus is in at #11 and it’s time to pair off again. With nothing else happening, Dante Caballero comes in at #12 to clean house.

Johnson gets rid of Danhausen and the fans aren’t sure what to do. Everyone gets together to go after PCO, who knocks them all away….and eliminates himself. Flip Gordon, back in his old look, is in at #13 and tosses Young in a hurry. No one can get rid of anyone else and it’s Joe Keys in at #14. Keys and Caballero get together to go after Draper before fighting among themselves. Then they reunite to superkick Gordon and it’s World Famous CB in at #15.

Palm striking abounds and Draper gets rid of Keys and Caballero. The final entrant is Alex Zayne in at #16, giving us a final field of Johnson, Black, Draper, Horus, Gordon, CB and Zayne. We start fast with Zayne going after Draper but getting caught in the Mile High Muffler. That’s reversed into a hurricanrana though and Draper is out as Zayne is already rolling. Johnson Stun Guns Zayne, leaving Horus and CB to slug it out. Horus gets rid of CB but Johnson tosses him as well to clear out more of the ring.

That leaves us with Johnson, Black, Gordon and Zayne and the fans are VERY behind Zayne here. Gordon and Zayne superkick the other two down but neither can get very far by flipping the other. Johnson is back in to take the two of them down but spends too long going after Black, allowing Gordon to get in a quick elimination.

Black elbows Gordon and Zayne in the corner and everyone winds up on the same corner. That means a double hurricanrana from Zayne (egads) but Gordon is back up with the reverse Regal Roll to Black. The running shooting star press makes it worse but Gordon’s Kinder Surprise is countered into an elimination to get us down to two. Black gets a running charge at Zayne but crashes out to the floor to give Zayne the win at 32:07.

Rating: C+. They kept this moving well enough despite the long run time. Zayne returning and winning is fine, as he can have his title match at a one off event somewhere. The rest of the match was just kind of there, but it is always fun to see who is coming out of that curtain when the clock runs out.

Opening sequence.

The opening video focuses on the wrestlers coming into the building and how this is a historic venue. If the walls could talk, they would choose death before dishonor.

Dalton Castle vs. Eli Isom

Castle has the Dancing Boys with him but no Dak Draper, who is listed on his chiron (but winds up on commentary). An early takedown attempt doesn’t work for Castle as Isom strikes away and dropkicks him out to the floor. The Boys (or the Dancing Chickens, according to commentary) offer a distraction though and Castle gets in a cheap shot. Back in and Isom snaps off a suplex but gets dropkicked off the top and out to the floor. There’s a knee against the barricade and we hit a ten second chinlock back inside.

Castle throws him down with a suplex and gets two off a knee to the head. Isom slips out of another suplex though and scores with a running forearm in the corner. A Sidewinder slam gives Isom two and it’s time to slug it out. That means a trip to the floor, with Castle trying something like a 619 onto the apron into a hurricanrana to drop Isom (that wasn’t bad). Hold on though as Draper comes out to deal with the Dancing Chickens so Isom moonsaults onto all of them. Isom has to kick an invading Draper low, allowing Castle to hit the Bang A Rang for the pin at 9:38.

Rating: C. The more I see of Isom, the more I like him and the more over the top villainy we get from Castle, the better he is. It was a good choice for an opener as Castle is a big name around here. Isom got in some offense too and had to deal with the numbers game so this went pretty well for everyone.

Jake Atlas vs. Tyler Rust

They’re both newcomers and recently released from WWE. Commentary makes it clear they are fresh out of the company, which still feels weird to hear (though there is no reason to not mention it). Feeling out process to start with Atlas taking him to the mat and getting in a slap to the face. They trade arm cranking until Atlas grabs a crucifix for two.

Rust’s ankle lock sends Atlas bailing to the floor for a breather, only to get caught with the Shayna Baszler arm stomp back inside. Rust spins him around by the arm but Atlas comes back with a superkick. The chinlock goes on for a bit but Atlas’ arm gives out on a fireman’s carry attempt. Rust loads up the Perfect Circle (bulldog driver) before settling for the Rings of Saturn with his legs to make Atlas tap at 6:55.

Rating: D+. This was little more than a squash for Rust and it wasn’t exactly interesting either. Atlas didn’t do much here and the match was mainly Rust working on the arm until Atlas gave up. I get that this was supposed to be a showcase for both of them, but it felt like something that should have been a warmup for the live fans. Not long after this match, Atlas announced he was stepping away from wrestling, seemingly retiring. I mean….the match wasn’t THAT bad (and yes I know there was probably way more to it than that).

Violence Unlimited vs. Lee Moriarty/LSG/John Walters

It’s Tony Deppen/Homicide/Chris Dickinson for Violence Unlimited here. Moriarty has been on fire as of late and was signed by AEW less than a week before this show. The fans are VERY happy to see Deppen here, as he is the hometown boy. Homicide and Walters start things off with Walters grabbing a headlock to keep him down. Back up and Homicide tries an STF but gets pulled right back into the headlock. Dickinson comes in and gets caught by the arm, allowing LSG to come in and trade rollups.

LSG’s ankle lock is broken up so Deppen comes in to go technical with Moriarty (which seems like a bad idea). Deppen’s leapfrog is pulled out of the air and the abdominal stretch goes on. That’s broken up by Dickinson, who gets caught in an abdominal stretch as well. The rapid fire tags bring Walters and Homicide back in, with Walters tying up Homicide and Deppen in separate holds at the same time.

That’s broken up and it’s a double elbow to drop Walters for a change. Back up and Walters wins a slugout with Homicide, setting up a Backstabber. LSG comes back in to Stun Dickinson and Moriarty gets two off a sunset flip. Rocket By Baby knocks Dickinson silly but Deppen knees LSG in the face to cut him off. Moriarty is right back up with a suicide dive to Deppen and a springboard clothesline for two on Dickinson.

Everything breaks down and Walters ties up Dickinson and Homicide in a double Muta Lock. Deppen breaks that up but gets taken down by LSG as everyone is down again. Back up and Dickinson slugs it out with Moriarty but Homicide sends Moriarty outside. A big running flip dives takes down every non Violence member, leaving Dickinson to Death Valley Driver Moriarty for the pin at 10:57.

Rating: C+. Take a bunch of people and let them go nuts for a good while. It has worked before and it always will, even when you have a team who doesn’t have much of a change at winning. Moriarty and company were outmatched but still managed to hang in there, with Walters looking like a step above everyone else. Nice stuff here, even if it felt like a TV main event.

Post match the losers are left in the ring when the Foundation comes in. Jay Lethal praises all three of them, because they are the kind of guys who make the future bright. Lethal talks about people like Eli Isom and the upcoming new Women’s Champion. He puts over each member of the team on their own, even though Moriarty is leaving. Lethal talks about loving wrestlers like Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Samoa Joe and AJ Styles.

We’re still not done as Lethal talks about Reckless Youth and Alex Shelley. They all love professional wrestling, including Jonathan Gresham. Lethal doesn’t get why the Pure Rules division is considered exciting and new when it is what they all grew up on. the Pure Rules division comes out to applaud from the stage. Pretty awesome speech here, even if it came a bit out of nowhere.

OGK vs. Briscoes

It’s a brawl to start with Mark having to save Jay from the Climax. Things settle down to Taven taking Mark down but missing an elbow to the head. A discus forearm rocks Bennett and it’s time for some Briscoes double stomping in the corner. Mark adds a running forearm and it’s Jay coming in to chop Bennett down. Bennett gets in a shot to the face though and Taven comes in with a missile dropkick to the face. Jay sneaks in off a blind tag and scores with a running big boot as everything breaks down.

OGK loads up a Doomsday Device on the floor but Jay cuts Taven off in a fast save. Taven has to cut off the same thing and then moonsaults down onto Jay (and Bennett, while sticking the landing). Mark isn’t done and dives onto everyone, setting up a big boot for two on Taven back inside. Jay’s neckbreaker gets the same but Taven scores with a knee to the face. That means a seated armbar can keep Jay in trouble, at least until Mark comes in to clean house.

There’s a dropkick through the ropes to drop Taven and another does the same to Bennett. Back in and the Froggy Bow gives Mark two on Taven with Bennett making the save. A chair is thrown in but Bennett breaks up Redneck Boogie, which would have given Taven an extreme case of pain. Mark uses the chair for a springboard flip dive onto Bennett but Taven rolls Jay up for the pin at 13:21.

Rating: B. Ring of Honor knows how to do big tag team matches and the Briscoes are as good as anyone else going right now. That makes a win over them like this feel like such a big deal and OGK got something out of this. It was a hard hitting, back and forth match so well done on doing exactly what they should have done. I liked this and I’m not even a bit surprised.

We recap Josh Woods vs. Jonathan Gresham for the Pure Wrestling Title. Woods is an amateur wrestling champion and Gresham has been Pure Wrestling Champion for the better part of ever. This is a dream match in this kind of wrestling so it wasn’t hard to set up.

Pure Wrestling Title: Jonathan Gresham vs. Josh Woods

Woods is challenging. The fans are split to start and believe it or not, they start with some grappling. Woods takes him down by the arm but gets pulled into a test of strength, meaning it’s time to flip around with the hands interlocked. Back up and they fight over some grappling with neither being able to get anywhere. They go over to the ropes and we’ll call that a double rope break, which doesn’t sit well with either of them. Woods takes him down again and goes for the leg, which is broken up in a hurry.

Another try, this time with Woods going after the arm, is countered into a headscissors. Back up and Gresham scores with a kick to the arm but Woods is fine enough to suplex him out of the corner. They grapple into the ropes and the referee yells a lot over them not breaking. For some reason that isn’t another rope break so they trade armbars until they both go to the ropes again, which this time calls for their second break each. That means another standoff until they fight over a small package…until it’s a double pin at 11:46.

Yeah that’s not happening, as Gresham says we’re not done yet. The bell rings again and they slap it out until they go to the mat and grab each others’ legs. A roll to the ropes means they both use their third and final break. Gresham gets two off a sunset flip and a cradle but Woods pulls him into a sleeper with a bodyscissors. That’s broken up as well with a shot to the arm and a headscissors but Woods knees him in the face for a double knockdown.

Gresham goes right back to the arm and drives in elbows to the neck. They fight over an ankle lock until Woods grabs Rolling Chaos Theory for two as…..it looked liked Woods just dropped the cover. A slugout goes to Gresham with a bridging German suplex into an armbar. Woods reverses that as well into a Tombstone, which he flips backwards into a suplex to pin Gresham for the title at 20:01.

Rating: B-. I get the appeal of a match like this but I wasn’t feeling the mirroring each other deal. That doesn’t feel so much like a classic match as much as it feels like two people having a match they put together really intricately backstage and then performed it out here. Throw in the rope breaks being a little weird (especially with the referee not calling it every time) and this was only good when it could have been great. Gresham had to lose the title at some point and Woods gets a heck of a rub from the win too.

Respect is shown post match.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Shane Taylor Promotions vs. La Faccion Ingobernable

Shane Taylor/Soldiers of Savagery (with Ron Hunt/O’Shay Edwards) are defending for the Promotions against Dragon Lee/Kenny King/La Bestia del Ring, under Lucha Rules. Hold on though as King jumps Taylor with a chair, meaning Edwards will be taking his place. Khan takes Lee down to start and it’s already time for the slugout. That goes badly for Lee, who gets hammered down in the corner but Lee knocks him outside for a breather.

Moses comes in and kicks Lee in the face so it’s off to Bestia to drop Moses with a shoulder. That isn’t enough of a slugout so we’ll try Shane vs. King for a change. They trade hard shots to the jaw until Shane plants him with a spinebuster. Everything breaks down until Lee takes over on Khan in the corner. King adds a legdrop for two as the villains take over…for at least a few seconds as it’s back to Moses to really clean house.

Everything breaks down again and Lee knees Khan in the head for two with Shane making the save. King gets caught in the old MNM Snapshot but Bestia dives onto Shane. Lee hits a heck of a running dive onto Khan and King tries his own running corkscrew dive, which hits Lee by mistake. We settle back down to King spinebustering Moses and adding a springboard Blockbuster. Cue Shane to chair King in the head though and Moses gets the retaining pin at 11:33.

Rating: C+. This was your required faction war and, as usual, it was entertaining but not the most interesting. It feels like we have been doing these things for the better part of forever now and that gets repetitive in a hurry. The match was fun and Shane interfering made sense, but factions trading wins and losses over and over again gets a little old.

We recap the Women’s Title match between Rok-C and Miranda Alize. It’s a tournament final to crown the next inaugural champion so it’s back to back “we worked hard to get here” speeches.

Women’s Title: Miranda Alize vs. Rok-C

For the vacant title so we get the Big Match Intros. Feeling out process to start as they head to the mat, with Rok-C grabbing a headlock….and let’s look at commentary for a bit for some reason. Rok-C cranks on a hammerlock before switching over to the leg. That doesn’t last long either but Alize escapes the Fujiwara armbar, giving us a standoff. Rok-C flips out of a headscissors and takes a quick bow, followed by a cartwheel to escape again, meaning it’s another bow.

Alize pulls her out of the corner for a crash though, allowing her to chop away in another corner. Some running kicks in the corner rock Rok-C for two and we hit the chinlock (with Alize mocking some LET’S GO ROK-C chants). Back up and a hurricanrana gives Alize a slightly delayed two and it’s time for a double arm crank. Rok-C fights up and hits a middle rope Thesz press (with an actual press for a change).

Alize knees her down for two more, setting up a Go To Sleep for the same. A hanging DDT out of the corner gets another near fall and it’s off to something like a Crossface in the middle of the ring. The feet on the ropes get Rok-C out of trouble so they head outside with Rok-C hitting a suicide dive. Back up and Alize hits a running dropkick off the apron and another suicide dive leaves them both laying.

They dive in to beat the count and Rok-C wins a slugout, only to walk into a cutter. Rok-C is right back with a running shot to the face, leaving both of them down. The Crossface goes on again but this time Rok-C reverses into one of his own. That’s broken up as well so Alize hits back to back superkicks but Rok-C kicks her right back, setting up Code Red for the pin and the title at 18:15.

Rating: B. This started slowly but they did an amazing job of turning a match with virtually no story into a heck of a back and forth fight. I was into this by the end with the young prodigy getting the big win. Good stuff here and one of the better matches of the night. The division has a LONG way to go but at least they had a heck of a match to crown the first champion.

Maria Kanellis-Bennett presents Rok-C the title and her parents come in for the celebration.

We recap the main event. Bandido is World Champion, Demonic Flamita is his former stable mate, and Brody King/EC3 are top challengers. Go have a four way for the title.

Ring of Honor World Title: Bandido vs. Demonic Flamita vs. Brody King vs. EC3

Bandido is defending and this is under elimination rules (as it should be). They stare at each other for a bit until Flamita drops outside, leaving the other three to fight among themselves. Bandido is sent outside as well so EC3 hammers on King. A Cactus Clothesline puts them on the floor so Bandido and Flamita take their places to pick up the pace. Bandido spins around Flamita into a headscissors to the floor, setting up the big running flip dive. Bandido isn’t done so he hits a big dive onto EC3, only to keep going and land in the crowd.

We settle down to EC3 brainbustering Bandido and it’s off to the neck crank. Flamita breaks that up (because reasons) so EC3 clotheslines him down for a change. Bandido comes back in and gets suplexed for his efforts so King is back in as well. That earns him a powerbomb out of the corner and EC3 powerbombs Bandido onto King for a bonus. Flamita’s chair shot to EC3 has no effect so he takes it away and chairs Flamita….which is a DQ to eliminate EC3 at 8:57. IN A FOUR WAY??? Flamita thinks it’s brilliant, which I’ll take as it gets rid of EC3.

We get the big sad walk off from ECW, leaving Flamita and Bandido to reform Mexiblood to take King down. Unfortunately this means the return of the Floss Dance but King isn’t having any of this and punches both of them in the face. A Doomsday Canadian Destroyer takes King down but Bandido turns on Flamita (as he should) for a near fall. Flamita is then launched at King on the floor, leaving Bandido to moonsault onto both of them. King saves Bandido from the MuscleBuster and it’s the All Seeing Eye to finish Flamita at 13:47.

Bandido and King shake hands and then start the brawl in a hurry. King drives Bandido’s pile for two and then chops the heck out of him on top. That just earns King a top rope hurricanrana for two and the crucifix bomb is good for the same. A shooting star press gives Bandido one and King turns him inside out with a lariat. The Ganso Bomb is loaded up but Bandido rolls around about thirty seven times until la majistral retains the title at 17:12.

Rating: B-. The action was good, but the match felt rather tacked on and that’s not a good thing. I couldn’t begin to tell you why these three people were getting a title shot in a four way elimination match and that’s one of the places where Ring of Honor needs some work. They are very light in storylines (which is a fine direction to take), but it can make for some weird moments when people aren’t wrestling on TV for months at a time and are suddenly getting pay per view title shots. Bandido is still awesome, but this wasn’t the most thrilling main event.

Post match the Foundation comes out to congratulate Bandido, with Jonathan Gresham taking a long look at the title. Cue the Righteous to applaud as well, because stables are cool.

Overall Rating: B-. As much as I wasn’t thrilled with it coming into the show, the Women’s Title match should have headlined here. It really was a good match and felt like a big deal, which was not the case with the main event. There wasn’t anything truly bad on the entire show and I liked what I saw for the most part, but there was nothing on here, save for maybe the Women’s Title match, that I am going to remember in just a few days.

Ring of Honor is in a weird place at the moment, as they still have rather good TV, but there is nothing going on that would make me want to see what happens next. You know you’re going to get some solid action, but they haven’t had a hot story in years. The stable/faction wars are beyond stale and seeing two more of them coming out at the end made me roll my eyes more than anything else. Overall it’s a good show because of the wrestling itself, but some upgrades in the stories would be a very welcome change.

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Ring of Honor
Date: September 29, 2021
Location: UMBC Event Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

Last week was a rather unique show as everything was focused on the Pure Rules division. That worked for a one off, but I could go for something else this week. Hopefully that is the case, as it should be time for the fallout from Death Before Dishonor. You never know what you’re getting around here though so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Quinn McKay gives us the welcome and the rundown.

Brian Johnson is ready to take over the Pure Rules division. PJ Black comes up and says if he wins, Johnson has to shake his hands. Deal.

PJ Black vs. Brian Johnson

Pure Rules and Johnson says Black is the only non-bozo on the roster. He even handles his own entrance to save Bobby Cruise some time. Black, Johnson’s former mentor, says he didn’t teach Johnson everything. They go to the mat to start with Black working on the arm, setting up a front facelock. A headscissors has Johnson in more trouble and Black headlock takeovers him to make it worse. Back up and Black sweeps the legs, setting up a dropkick for a fast two.

That’s enough for Johnson to need a breather on the floor but he gets caught in another armbar back inside. The first rope break is used and Johnson gets kicked right back to the floor. Black hits a dive on the floor, followed by a top rope ax handle to the head back inside. There’s a high crossbody for two more on Johnson, who avoids a springboard as we take a break.

Back with Johnson hitting a knee to the ribs and spelling his nickname. Black scores with a backdrop into the rocking horse, but carries Johnson over to the ropes, which actually counts as Johnson’s second break. A belly to back suplex lets Black go up top but Johnson is up with a double clothesline for the double knockdown. Back up and the slug it out until Black throws him down by the beard (geez).

A kick to the face means Johnson has to use his final rope break, but he knocks Black into the corner. The referee almost gets bumped and the distraction lets Johnson get in a thumb to the eye. Black goes to the ropes so the referee tells the announcer that’s a break, allowing Johnson to punch Black in the face. The Process finishes Black at 10:58.

Rating: C. The ending was a little more complicated than it needed to be as the rope breaks are getting quite a bit of emphasis. The Pure Rules stuff is starting to take over a lot of television time, which can get a little annoying when there is so much that barely ever gets any focus. At least it is pretty good though, which matters quite a bit.

Post match Black says he isn’t happy with losing, but he shakes Johnson’s hand for a smart move.

Post break, Johnson doesn’t think much of Brian Zane, who is actually dumber than Quinn McKay. PJ Black comes back in to endorse Johnson again, which isn’t surprising.

Video on the women’s division.

Eli Isom loves to see Ryan Mooney showcase himself, but he isn’t winning.

Ryan Mooney is fired up about how much he loves Eli Isom, but Isom isn’t beating him.

We see the last few minutes of the Foundation vs. Violence Unlimited in an eight man tag at Glory By Honor. Looks like a heck of a match, with Jay Lethal pinning Tony Deppen with the Lethal Injection to give the Foundation the win.

Kenny King vs. Jay Lethal vs. Brody King vs. Shane Taylor

One fall to a finish, everyone gets a pre-match promo talking about how great they/their faction is, and Ring of Honor REALLY loves their faction stuff. Brody shoves Lethal down to start so Lethal starts pounding on the arm. That’s enough to send Brody into the corner, where Taylor tags himself in. Lethal gets powered into the corner and Taylor blasts him with a clothesline.

That means Lethal needs a new plan so he dragon screw legwhips Taylor into the corner, where Kenny can tag himself in. Lethal is sent into the corner for the third time, allowing Kenny to hit the cartwheel into the basement dropkick (ala Lethal’s trademark). Brody comes back in, drops Lethal with a right, and does the same to Kenny for good measure. Kenny is sat on top and chopped back into the ring, setting up Brody’s backsplash for two.

Back up and Kenny manages to kick him into the corner, setting up the Blockbuster for two of his own. Taylor grabs Kenny’s foot though and Brody hits a hard clothesline. It’s back to Taylor to slug it out with Brody, with Shane knocking him outside. Back in and Taylor catches Kenny in a hanging Stunner, followed by the Marcus Garvey Driver to Lethal. Somehow Kenny manages a Blue Thunder Bomb on Taylor, but Brody runs him over. Brody lariats Taylor for the pin at 12:54.

Rating: B-. They kept this moving, though it never quite felt like all four were involved at once. This was a lot of singles matches bunched together, which doesn’t make for the most thrilling stuff. I’m rather over the faction stuff, as it has been going on for a long time and doesn’t really go anywhere other than trading titles back and forth. Brody getting a World Title shot would not surprise me though, as Final Battle is starting to loom.

Brody and Taylor shake hands, but a singles match seems likely.

Overall Rating: C+. This did have a little bit better of a mixture, but there is only so much going on around here at the moment. We’re fresh off of a pay per view, but there are still very few storylines going on. That has long since been a problem in Ring of Honor and it can make for some dry stretches. It’s still rather good wrestling though and that is more than enough to keep me interested for a very long time going forward.

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