IMG Credit: Ring of Honor

Ring of Honor
Date: March 20, 2019
Location: RP Funding Center, Lakeland, Florida
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana

It’s time for things to get a little weird as we have the post-pay per view show taped before the pay per view, meaning we won’t be getting any kind of fallout. In other words, it’s going to be all about the wrestling and I’m not sure what that’s going to include. Hopefully they have something good here so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Shinobi Shadow Squad vs. Silas Young/Briscoes

Oh this is going to hurt. Eli Isom and Jay start things off with Eli actually taking over for all of two seconds off a front facelock. A kick to the ribs cuts him down though and it’s off to Mark as the announcers tease spoiling a pay per view that hasn’t happened yet in a clever enough chat. Cheeseburger comes in and gets clotheslined as we take a break.

Back with Young clotheslining Burger as well before handing it off to Mark for a camel clutch. A missed charge lets Burger roll away a few times and the hot tag brings in Isom to pick up the pace. White Noise gets two on Jay but it’s the Death Valley Driver into the Froggy Bow….for two? The strong pushing of Isom continues and gets even stronger as his brainbuster hits Jay for another near fall. The Briscoes are done with him and come back in for a High/Low into the Jay Driller for the pin at 9:14.

Rating: C-. The more I see of Isom, the more I like him. There’s no reason for him to be anything more than a jobber but he’s trying hard and getting a bit of a push as a bonus. That’s nice to see and the fact that he’s an average sized person and not Cheeseburger sized makes it better. There was no way the villains were losing here, but at least there was a nice moment or two.

Rhett Titus is ready to win the NWA National Championship from Willie Mack next week.

Joe Keys and Brian Johnson are in the ring and don’t like the ugly women here in Florida.

Joe Keys/Brian Johnson vs. The Bouncers

Keys wants a posedown with Bruiser, who starts a BEER chant instead. A test of strength lets Bruiser hit him in the face and an atomic drop has Keys in the corner. Another chop sends him crawling over to Johnson and the jobbers get Bruiser into the corner for a double stomping. A double slam gets one on Bruiser, who gets over to the corner for the tag to Milonas without any trouble. Everything breaks down and Closing Time finishes Joe at 5:19.

Rating: D. This was a mostly squashy squash and that’s not the most thrilling thing in the world. I’m still not wild on the Bouncers but at least they’re now just there for the fun matches instead of anything important. This was a fun match for the crowd and while the jobbers got in a little too much offense, this could have been worse.

Madison Rayne doesn’t like Thunder Rosa disrespecting the Women of Honor.

Willie Mack is defending his National Title in all fifty states and next week Florida will be state #5.

Madison Rayne vs. Thunder Rosa

Sumie Sakai and Holidead are the seconds and Rayne charges to the ring and starts hammering away. A running forearm has Rosa in more trouble but Rayne and Sakai have to drop Holidead, allowing Rosa to take over. Back in and a kick to the back has Rayne in trouble and we take a break. We come back with Rayne hitting an enziguri but getting pulled down into a chinlock instead. That goes nowhere so Rayne is up with a spear, followed by another enziguri for two. Rosa hits a Gory Bomb for her own near fall but the reverse DDT gives Rayne the pin at 9:15.

Rating: D+. I still don’t care much for the women’s division, but at least they’re putting out some fresh talent. It’s still not the most thrilling in the world and Rayne is leaving, though at least there’s someone new out there. Rosa and Holidead should be pushed stronger, even if there’s nothing they can do because the Women’s Title scene is kind of a mess.

Coast to Coast is back next week.

Rocky Romero vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Feeling out process to start with Sabre taking over on the arm as only he (and I mean that literally) can. Romero gets out with a dropkick to the floor but Sabre is back in to work on the leg. Make that the arm again as Sabre switches up in a hurry. Another dropkick gets Romero out of trouble again so this time Sabre goes after the neck as we take a break. Back with Sabre still toying with Romero and grabbing a crossarm choke.

Romero reverses into one of his own, followed by a tornado DDT for his first real offense. A springboard crossbody gives Romero two and there’s a kick to the face for a bonus. The forever lariats in the corner are countered into an STF but Sabre tries to make it a little too flashy and Romero makes it to the rope.

Sabre does his cocky kicks to the face so Romero takes him into the corner for a running knee to the ribs. A DDT gets two and Romero wins a slugout, followed by a running Sliced Bread for two more. The Sliced Bread in the corner is countered though and Sabre pulls him down into Hurrah! Another Year, Surely This One Will Be Better Than the Last; The Inexorable March of Progress Will Lead Us All To Happiness for the win at 13:44.

Rating: B-. Sabre is one of those once in a generation talents with some of the most incredible holds you’ll ever see. Romero….I don’t get it. I know he’s a much bigger deal in Japan but I don’t ever remember seeing him do anything better than average in the ring. Sabre’s insane stuff worked well here, but it was just a one off match for a special main event due to Sabre’s appearance.

Overall Rating: C-. These shows are the definition of hit or miss as you never know what you’re going to get. This was all about wrestling and it wasn’t very good for the most part, including some lame long form squashes and nothing that meant anything long term. It wasn’t terrible, but nothing that you needed to see whatsoever.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

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Ring of Honor
Date: December 20, 2017
Location: RP Funding Center, Lakeland, Florida
Commentators: Colt Cabana, Ian Riccaboni

We’re past Final Battle but we won’t be getting to the fallout from that for at least a few weeks. It’s hard to say what we might be getting tonight but there’s a good chance that we might be having a Best Of show or a bunch of matches taped from other shows. This could range anywhere from a waste of time to something entertaining so let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Addiction vs. Coast to Coast

They start fast with Daniels taking a double flipping faceplant as the announcers discuss Final Battle without actually mentioning any specifics in a nice touch. We settle down to Kazarian chopping Ali in the corner until it’s off to Daniels for some face raking of his own. Back from a break with more of the same, including Kazarian’s slingshot legdrop, followed by Daniels’ springboard moonsault.

Ali fights out of the corner and Angle Slams Daniels, finally allowing the hot tag off to LSG. A double front flip clothesline takes Addiction down and a springboard spinning forearm nails Daniels. Ali’s Downward Spiral plants him again but Kazarian breaks up Coast to Coast’s Coast to Coast. Daniels’ Backstabber into the Unprettier takes Ali down, only to have LSG springboard back in with a clothesline. The Best Meltzer Ever finishes LSG at 9:38.

Rating: C+. I like Coast to Coast but would it kill them to A, limiting the Meltzer stuff to one team and B, having a tag match that doesn’t turn into a wild brawl after a few minutes of actual tagging? That was how this stuff went in ECW and it was annoying there too. This is supposed to be the wrestling company and for some reason they can never go even a good chunk of a tag match without this stuff going haywire. It would be nice for a change.

Post match LSG says he’s tired of losing because they haven’t won a single major match in a year. Ali says they’re done if they lose their next match. LSG agrees.

Shane Taylor vs. Eli Isom

The massive Taylor shoves him around to start and hits one of the loudest chops I’ve heard in years. One heck of a clothesline sets up a right hand to knock Isom cold for the referee stoppage at 2:45. Now that’s how you get Taylor over as a killer. I always love the guy who is knocked out with his eyes open, unable to move but basically in shock from the impact. It’s a great visual.

The Young Bucks have brought their best friend for a six man tag. Marty Scurll comes in but they’re talking about Kenny Omega.

It’s time for Coleman’s Pulpit with special guest Brandi Rhodes. She plugs being on the cast of WAGS: Atlanta and Coleman compares her to Sapphire. Brandi is ready for the Women’s Title tournament, even though she hasn’t won any matches yet. She used to be a figure skater so she knows about competition. As usual, nothing worth seeing here. Well save for Brandi, who continues to be stunning.

The Elite vs. Best Friends/Rocky Romero

Now you know Omega is getting a superstar pop here. Matt and Romero get things started with Rocky not being able to hit Sliced Bread. It’s off to Omega vs. Chuckie with Kenny asking for silence during the handshake. Barretta jumps Omega from behind though, thankfully just definitely making the Elite the faces for once. The One Winged Angel is broken up and everything breaks down in a hurry. Elite cleans house (well duh) and it’s a triple dive so we can hit the pose.

Back from a break with the Bucks actually in trouble, including the Two Dog Night into a big hug. Matt gets in a springboard spinning cutter to drop Romero and the hot tag brings in Nick to clean house. A Swanton hits knees though and Barretta gets in a running knee. The Dude Buster is broken up and the hot tag brings in Omega for another big reaction. Back to back Snap Dragons have the bad guys (I think?) in trouble but a tornado DDT cuts Omega off.

The V Trigger is broken up but we hit the Superkick Party. Rocky superplexes Nick though and Barretta German superplexes Matt onto him in a moonsault. Barretta’s snap piledriver gets two on Omega and we take a second break. Back again with Omega hitting the V Trigger but Barretta piledrives him onto the apron. Nick German suplexes Barretta onto the apron, only to get caught with Sliced Bread onto the pile at ringside.

Back in and Romero cleans house with running shots in the corner, followed by a kick to Nick’s face. Omega misses a V Trigger and gets caught with something like a running reverse cutter. The Bucks are back up to clean house and Romero is caught in a Sharpshooter/Crossface combo (The Cease and Desist. It’s funny because it makes fun of WWE you see.).

Nick is thrown into them for a break though and it’s time for a triple slugout. Triple superkicks stagger the Friends but triple jumping knees into triple cradle piledrivers get two on the Elite. A super Dudebuster gets two on Nick but Omega breaks up a double Sliced Bread. Matt and Omega load up Tombstones with Nick dropkicking down onto the two of them. A One Winged Meltzer into the Cease and Desist (with a horrible Crossface) ends Romero at 20:53.

Rating: B+. If you can ignore all the pre-planned stuff, this was a heck of a fight with everyone moving at a very fast pace the whole way. They were beating the heck out of each other, but there’s one much more important thing: the Elite wrestled as faces, which takes away one of their biggest issues. It gets very tiresome watching the group wrestle as faces but being presented as heels, especially when they wrestle a face style. Let them do what feels natural and see how much better it works.

Overall Rating: B. The main event is almost half of the show so there’s only so much you can criticize around here. This is the kind of stand alone episode that is always going to work and there’s nothing wrong with that. We can get to the fresh stuff later on and as long as you have a big attraction like Omega or something big in general, things will be fine.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume VI: July – December 1999 in e-book or paperback. Check out the information here:

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Ring of Honor
Date: September 20, 2017
Location: Center Stage, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, BJ Whitmer

It’s the go home show for Death Before Dishonor and that could mean multiple things. One option is to have almost nothing about the pay per view and focus on almost anything else. On the other hand they might actually pay attention to the show and give us something important. Yeah I’m betting on the first too. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Hangman Page vs. Kenny King

Feeling out process to start with Page grabbing a headlock for little avail. King takes him down into one of his own though and things slow down. An armbar (with very little torque) has Page in more trouble before they head outside with Page being sent into the barricade. King hits a dive off the apron and we take an early break.

Back with Page grabbing a piledriver and sending Kenny into the barricade. Caprice Coleman sits in on commentary to announce that the Briscoe Brothers will be his guests next week. Page hammers away some more until a spinebuster gets King out of trouble. A big spinning kick to the face puts Page down but he avoids a slingshot dive and grabs a suplex on the floor. Back in and King sweeps the leg to set up a very weak Last Chancery. Since that’s easily broken up, King settles for the Royal Flush and the pin at 10:31.

Rating: C. King getting the win before his title shot on Friday is the right call, though it would have been nice if they actually mentioned the title match during this one. I’m a bit surprised they would have Page lose clean though as he’s someone they seem intent on pushing. If nothing else they put the Six Man Tag Team Titles on him to go with the most important and amazing team ever, which is quite the rub.

Marty Scurll vs. Rocky Romero

This is the result of the dreaded Twitter challenge. Romero tries a cross armbreaker less than five seconds in but Scurll is already into the ropes. Back up and Romero ducks a charge to send Marty outside, which of course means a suicide dive. Marty is right in on the arm though, snapping it across the top rope and stomping away. A hard stomp to the elbow keeps Romero in trouble and we take a break.

Back with Rocky getting superkicked to the floor, followed by a second one to keep Marty’s Bullet Club card. Something like a reverse Angle Slam gives Marty two but it’s too early for the chickenwing. Instead they hit some rollups for two each and it’s a stalemate. Rocky’s Sliced Bread #2 is countered into the chickenwing which is countered into a cross armbreaker.

That’s broken up as well and it’s a buckle bomb into the corner to snap Rocky’s head back. Rocky avoids the moonsault though and hits something like a Shining Wizard for two of his own. It’s back to the cross armbreaker but this time Marty gets his feet into the ropes. They run the ropes again until a heck of a clothesline drops Rocky, followed by the Bird of Prey (basically a flip into White Noise) for the pin at 9:39.

Rating: B-. Scrull’s in-ring work is getting better, which is a great sign considering how awesome his character stuff is. There’s only so much you can get out of the average matches so it’s cool that he’s getting to showcase his already established skills around here for a change. Romero was fine as well, but that’s pretty well known in the first place.

Here’s Cody to explain what happens when the undesirable becomes the undeniable. Now that he’s the best in the world, it’s time for this title to undergo a change. A lackey brings out a box as the announcers tell Cody to take the upcoming title defense more seriously. Cody drops to his knees and opens the box to reveal a big ring. The Ring of Honor you see. This would be more effective if he hadn’t shown off the ring in a backstage segment. From now on, the fans will be having to kiss his ring, though we go to a break before it happens.

Death Before Dishonor rundown with some quick promos.

The Motor City Machine Guns are ready to take their place as the top team in Ring of Honor.

Marty Scurll is ready to destroy Chuck Taylor in Taylor’s first singles match.

Briscoes vs. The Kingdom

It’s Vinny Marseglia/TK O’Ryan (no Matt Taven) for the team here and Bully Ray is on commentary. Jay and Vinny start things off but let’s look at the commentators instead of the match. Mark comes in for some forearms in the corner and it’s off to TK to take more of the same. A blind tag allows Vinny to come back in for a bicycle kick and the Briscoes are finally in some trouble. Multiple forms of stomping ensue and it’s off to TK for some biting. TK comes back in and makes sure to draw in Jay so the double teaming can take us to a break.

Back with Jay coming in off the hot tag for some hard clotheslines and a backdrop. The hangman’s neckbreaker gets two on O’Ryan and Mark has to kick a chair out of Marseglia’s hands. The referee won’t let Jay hit the Jay Driller onto the chair so the Brothers settle for a Razor’s Edge/neckbreaker combination (called a reverse 3D) instead.

Mark gets shoved off the top and it’s a reverse Twist of Fate into the Swanton (such plagiarism) for two more. O’Ryan grabs a ball bat and swings it in front of the referee, who doesn’t seem too upset by the whole situation. A Spin Cycle (another Hardys move) gets two on Mark with Jay making the save. Back up and the Jay Driller ends O’Ryan at 11:22.

Rating: B-. This was good, despite the pretty blatant Hardys stuff from the Kingdom. It helps a lot when you have the Briscoes out there as one of the best teams in the world at the moment and the best team this company has ever had. As a bonus this helped build up something for Friday’s six man match, which has the potential for a heck of a heel turn.

Overall Rating: C+. Solid enough show here, though the big problem continues to be the lack of Minoru Suzuki, who apparently can’t even do a promo or a video to help hype up the match. Knowing Ring of Honor they’ll give him the title anyway for the sake of adding prestige or something, because Heaven forbid we let the ROH wrestlers build up their company on their own. Good show this week.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Complete 2002 Monday Night Raw Reviews in either E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

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Ring of Honor
Date: June 24, 2015
Location: Ted Reeve Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Attendance: 1,500
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, King Corino, Nigel McGuinness

It’s the final week of the Global Wars cycle, meaning next week it’s back to the full on Ring of Honor crew for the first time in this series. Tonight we’re getting appearances from some major New Japan stars, which should lead to some interesting pairings with the Ring of Honor guys. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Roderick Strong vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Strong is on a roll at the moment and is known as Mr. ROH. Nakamura is a huge star in New Japan and has amazing charisma. I’ve always been a Strong fan and Nakamura is one of the few New Japan guys who lives up to the hype he receives. Nakamura takes him down by the arm to start but Strong reverses into a key lock of his own. Back up and Strong nails some dropkicks but can’t put on a bow and arrow hold.

An Angle Slam gets two on Nakamura but he kicks Strong in the head and starts with his signature knee strikes. Another knee puts Strong over the barricade and we take a break. Back with Strong winning a slugout but falling to the mat. Strong is back up with a torture rack into a backbreaker though (he’s been called the Messiah of the Backbreaker), sending Nakamura to the ropes before the Strong Hold (Boston crab) can be locked in.

Instead it’s Nakamura slamming him down but missing the running knee (Bryan took it from him) and taking a jumping knee to the face. A backbreaker onto the top turnbuckle gets two as I’m digging the psychology in this one. His move is a back hold so work on the back. Why is that so complicated? A big forearm drops Strong and a jumping knee from the middle rope knocks him silly.

Strong is up first and grabs the Strong Hold, sending Nakamura into the ropes for a break. They slug it out again with Strong taking Nakamura’s head off with a running boot (Sick Kick) but a suplex backbreaker (I told you he knew a lot of them) only gets two. The running knee gets one on Strong and Nakamura can’t believe it. Granted he usually gyrates around like that so it’s hard to tell how mad he is. Strong hits another knee but Nakamura just blasts him with a knee/kick to the face for the pin at 17:05.

Rating: B+. This was a hard hitting wrestling match here and that’s the kind of stuff that Ring of Honor is shooting for. Strong is a big star in ROH but Nakamura comes off like a natural performer, which makes him stand out anywhere he performs. This was a fun match that again lived up to its hype, which is what Nakamura does best.

Michael Elgin vs. Gedo

Gedo is a smaller guy who also books New Japan. Elgin is a big power guy who can do other things to back it up. Gedo goes to the eyes to start but walks into a fall away slam for two. Things are going slowly due to Elgin’s eye but he’s still easily able to suplex him back in, complete with a count of thirty from the fans. They weren’t second of course but wrestling fans aren’t the most patient people in the world.

Elgin’s spinning Swanton misses and Gedo kicks him in the face for two. There’s always something to be said about keeping it simple. Elgin gets tired of this defense stuff though and buckle bombs Gedo, followed by a helicopter bomb (Elgin Bomb, one of my favorites) for the pin at 4:48.

Rating: D+. Yeah this wasn’t clicking. Elgin needs someone with more speed to get a decent match out of him and Gedo is more of a cheater than anything else. It doesn’t help that Gedo is pushing 50 and is really there more for his name than anything else. Not horrible, but it’s good that they kept this short.

Roppongi Vice/Kazuchika Okada vs. AJ Styles/Young Bucks

This is Chaos vs. Bullet Club with Vice being a tag team of (Trent) Baretta (with its 19,000 spellings) and Rocky Romero. The Bucks (Nick and Matt Jackson) are the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions and Styles is IWGP Heavyweight Champion, making this champions vs. challengers. Styles and Okada get things going with AJ snapping off some armdrags before they trade victory rolls for two each. An early attempt at both finishers fails as well and it’s a standoff after a very fast start.

Off to Baretta vs. Nick for some missed superkicks before Matt and Rocky come in. The Bullet Club gets tired of waiting and cleans house with a single superkick. Yeah the Bucks REALLY like throwing superkicks. Baretta gets triple teamed but Romero comes in to break up a cover. The Bucks start their pretty slick double teaming before it’s off to Styles for a suplex into the corner. I like it when wrestlers do normal moves into different places. It’s simple yet still seems fresh, which is hard to do these days.

Back from a break with AJ taking Romero and Okada off the apron to prevent a tag, so Trent whips out a tornado DDT for the tag to Romero. Rocky cleans house by dropkicking AJ off the apron and hurricanranaing both Bucks at the same time. Matt nails a superkick to slow him down but Rocky pops off the ropes and hits a clothesline to put both guys down. Okada and Styles come in off another double tag with Okada taking over in a hurry. AJ comes back with his moonsault into a reverse DDT but Okada reverses into something like White Noise into a backbreaker.

Nick gets double teamed by Vice as everything breaks down. A Doomsday Device but with a running knee and on the floor, plants Nick but AJ plants Okada with Sunday Bloody Sunday (Prince Devitt’s old move, basically a one arm DDT brainbuster). Like so many Japanese stars, Okada isn’t interested in selling though and pops up with a tombstone. The Rainmaker (maybe the most overrated finisher I’ve ever seen. It’s a standing clothesline with theatrics) misses and Nick takes Okada to the floor with a tornado DDT which clearly didn’t connect.

Romero gets hung over the ropes for a swanton and More Bang For Your Buck (a quick series of dives) is broken up and Okada drops a top rope elbow on Nick. AJ’s springboard forearm (I love that move) takes Okada out again but Matt starts firing off even more superkicks, only to have Okada dropkick Styles down to break up the Clash on Romero.

All six slug it out and a triple superkick staggers Chaos. Okada again pops up and a double superkick/Pele combo and a spike piledriver into a flipping spike tombstone (the Meltzer Driver. Yes that Meltzer) puts him right back down, followed by a double superkick into a Styles Clash on Baretta for the pin at 17:25.

Rating: B. Here’s the thing: this match was not a very well done match. It was sloppy at times, the “fighting spirit” thing still comes off as a way to not have to sell, the flips are borderline meta, the move is actually called the Meltzer Driver, Kelly has to shout SUPERKICK every single time one connects, the tagging part was forgotten halfway through (and no that’s not an ROH thing. It annoys me when every company does it) and the fans cheering for the heels is always annoying because they’re cool heels instead of trying to do, like, heel stuff.

However, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t an incredibly entertaining match. This was fun throughout with everyone moving all over the place and having a great time out there. Yeah it’s a spot fest, but that normally means it’s entertaining. Styles continues to be on another planet since going to Japan and this was no exception. Really fun main event here, albeit with issues I’ll likely be insulted for pointing out.

Overall Rating: A-. This show was a really good example of balancing good wrestling and entertainment, but again, they have the problem of New Japan leaving next week. However, this was a good way to get the fans in the tent, which is going to keep them coming back later. In theory at least. This was definitely the best show they’ve put on so far, which is a very good sign after just a few weeks. Really fun hour here with all wrestling and no story, which can work every now and then.

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