IMG Credit: Ring Of Honor Wrestling

Ring of Honor
Date: February 5, 2020
Location: Center Stage, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Caprice Coleman, Ian Riccaboni
Hosts: Ian Riccaboni, Quinn McKay

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

Opening sequence.

We open with a recap of last week’s Six Man Tag Team Title change.

Quick preview from the hosts.

Joe Hendry and Dalton Castle have a meeting about how to solve their problems. The solution: win more matches. And get Dalton some better soup.

Master and Machine vs. Dalton Castle/Joe Hendry

Hendry takes Master down with an early wristlock but it’s back up so they both miss some kicks to the head. Master’s hurricanrana works well enough but he has to slip out of a fall away slam to send us to a break. Back with Castle vs. Machine with Castle wrestling him down and scoring with a suplex.

The chinlock doesn’t last long but Machine has to get out of a Bang A Rang attempt. Master puts him down and belly to back suplexes Master into a moonsault. A double stomp into an elbow gets two on Castle but it’s off to Hendry in a hurry. Hendry’s delayed vertical suplex connects for two and it’s already back to Castle for a chinlock. Make that a chinlock from Hendry, followed by a suplex from Castle.

Master gets in a kick to the head though and it’s Machine coming back in to pick up the pace. Castle and Hendry get beaten up, including a spinebuster to Castle and a spear to Hendry. The Skywalker Elbow gets two on Hendry but he’s right back up with a double fall away slam. Everything breaks down and Master is shoved into a Codebreaker, setting up the reverse Sling Blade for the pin at 10:45.

Rating: C+. This worked better than I was expecting as Master and Machine (not Master and Commander as I keep wanting to put) are a rather nice treat that I wasn’t expecting. Castle and Hendry are getting better but it took so long to get there that it doesn’t feel like it’s worth the time.

Video on Brian Johnson not wanting to listen to PJ Black but agreeing to team with him anyway.

Mark Haskins wants to go after the World Title but Tracy Williams doesn’t seem convinced.

Come to these shows!

Rhett Titus vs. Danhausen

Danhausen dances to start and gets taken down into an armbar for his efforts. Titus shrugs off a chokeslam attempt but he makes the mistake of swearing, which is NOT ok with Danhausen! I could go with this guy! He holds up a swear/teeth jar to Titus as we take a break. Back with a running dropkick putting Titus on the floor but a slingshot dive is countered into a northern lights suplex for two.

Titus hits a running boot in the corner and shouts about Kenny King, setting up a reverse over the shoulder backbreaker. A splash misses in the corner though and Danhausen hits a slingshot German suplex. That means he can pour the teeth on Titus’ face so Titus is right back with a dropkick (Ian: “Only Okada gets higher!” Yeah we’ve got the second best dropkick around! If you want to see the best, go watch that other show!”) for the pin at 7:39.

Dan Maff/Jeff Cobb vs. Briscoes vs. Lifeblood

The Bouncers are on commentary and we actually get some handshakes before the bell. Haskins kicks at Cobb’s legs to start before going with the tried and true jump on his back method. That goes as far as you would expect and we take a break. Back with Mark Briscoe slugging away at Cobb before handing it off to Williams for the same. Haskins works on Cobb’s arm with a bunch of stomps but Jay tags himself in to stomp away in the corner.

The Briscoes clothesline Cobb down but Williams tags himself in, much to Tracy’s annoyance. Jay does the same thing and it’s time for the big uppercuts. A slap to Haskins’ face counts as a tag and it’s Mark vs. Mark for the slugout. Cobb uses the distraction to run them over and it’s Maff coming in to clean house. Everything breaks down and we take another break.

Back with Maff sending people to the floor for a big dive. Cobb’s spinning belly to back suplex into Maff’s backsplash gets two on Williams with Haskins making the save. Lifeblood double teams Maff for their own two but it just wakes him up to chop away at everyone. A kick to the leg sets up an ankle lock to Maff with Haskins stomping away at the same time.

The Froggy Bow breaks it up and it’s time for the parade of people hitting each other in the face. Redneck Boogie gets two on Williams but he’s back up with a Death Valley Driver to Mark Briscoe. The Crossface goes on until Jay powerbombs Haskins onto them for the save. The Jay Driller finishes Haskins at 12:34.

Rating: B-. This is where the company excels and they did it again here. These guys had a very fast paced and entertaining match which is all you can ask for out of something like this. Lifeblood having issues could be interesting and Cobb/Maff are the monsters that you need to have around here. The Briscoes are themselves and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them back in the title picture again soon (mainly because they’re never out).

Overall Rating: C+. Pretty good overall here with the action being the focus of the show, which is where the company shines more often than not. They really aren’t great with the storyline stuff around here and other than a few things in the back, there wasn’t a major story in the whole show. It’s what makes things better around here and that was the case here. Not a great show, but far better than some of the stuff they’ve done over the last year.

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor

Ring of Honor
Date: January 15, 2020
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Caprice Coleman, Ian Riccaboni
Hosts: Ian Riccaboni, Quinn McKay

We’re back after last week’s less than inspired show. The biggest problem with last week was they didn’t make me all that interested in seeing what happened to a lot of these people. That being said, it’s not like there were a lot of people included last week. It didn’t feel like a fallout show and I don’t see that continuing this week. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

We look at Jonathan Gresham vs. Alex Shelley in a teacher vs. student match with Shelley winning. Tonight, it’s the rematch.

Quinn and Ian explain that Shelley beat Gresham in a teacher vs. student match and tonight it’s the rematch.

We get clips of Flip Gordon making Rey Horus tap out at Final Battle Fallout.

Brian Johnson still doesn’t want to study under PJ Black.

Crowbar vs. Eli Isom

Yes the WCW Crowbar and he has a woman and a large man with him. He doesn’t like the new generation so Isom says he’ll show what the new generation can do. Crowbar jumps him in the corner to start but gets suplexed out. Some shoulders give Crowbar one but Isom is right back up with a dropkick. The big man blocks the suicide dive though and the woman’s distraction lets Crowbar hit a running knee to the back. Crowbar hits a legdrop between the legs and we take a break.

Back with Crowbar sending him into the barricade and hitting a Vader Bomb off said barricade. They head inside again with Isom firing off some forearms and hitting a King Corbin Deep Six for the double knockdown. A bicycle kick knocks Crowbar off the apron and into the arms of the large man. That means a big suicide dive to take them both down as the fans are behind Isom again. Back in and Crowbar catches him on top with a super hurricanrana but walks into a hard clothesline. Isom brainbusters him for the pin at 9:34.

Rating: C-. The match was fine, but Crowbar??? Of all the people they could bring in for something like this, they picked Crowbar and let him have two people out there with him? It isn’t about the content, but rather the idea of having Crowbar around which makes ROH look low rent. Crowbar is the kind of guy who would be a midcard attraction on a low level indy show, not a company that is supposed to be one of the biggest in the country.

We look at Bully Ray chokeslamming Maria Manic through a table so we can get some ECW chants.

Ray talks about not liking Maria put Angelina Love through a table in his arena.

Cheeseburger/Ryan Nova vs. Soldiers of Savagery

Isom is still at ringside after the first match. It’s a brawl to start with Nova hitting a fast suicide dive on Khan. Moses gets kicked in the head but Khan pulls him down from the apron for a Rock Bottom. We settle down to Cheeseburger getting beaten up with forearms to the back and the chest, setting up the bearhug. Cheeseburger jawbreaks his way to freedom and it’s a diving tag to Nova so house can be cleaned. Nova kicks away and Cheeseburger gets in on it as well, only to have Moses hit a double clothesline to cut them down. A Snapshot finishes Nova at 5:06.

Rating: C. The Soldiers are a good enough team and ROH could use some monsters like them. That being said, they have barely been featured on TV since their debut and they don’t have anything resembling a story. The tag division could use a boost, but they’re not getting anywhere against heel champions at the moment. I’ll give them this though: they’ve made Cheeseburger watchable with the Squad stuff so well done.

We run down the Honor Reigns Supreme card.

Jonathan Gresham vs. Alex Shelley

Jay Lethal is here with Gresham. They fight over arm control to start and that’s an early standoff. Gresham spins him down and works on the leg on the mat but Shelley spins out for another standoff. Back up and Gresham misses a moonsault press as we take a break. We come back with Shelley Downward Spiraling him into the buckle to take over.

They run the ropes until Shelley’s leapfrog is pulled down by the leg with Shelley dropping a knee on said leg. A few rolls send us into a Figure Four on Shelley but he channels his inner Dunne and bends the fingers apart for the escape. Gresham takes him down by the knee again and we take a second break.

Back again with Gresham hitting a shinbreaker, only to have Shelley snap off an enziguri with the good leg. Shelley pulls himself up but loses a chop off, mainly thanks to another kick to the ribs. The same rollup that Shelley used to win the first match gets two and a superkick rocks Gresham again. They trade headlock takeovers into headscissors (kind of late in the match for that sequence) until Gresham stacks him up for the clean pin at 11:35.

Rating: C+. The technical stuff was good here but they didn’t do that well into going into the history between these two. It was treated like some big showdown match but instead it was just a nice, back and forth technical exchange. Gresham working the knee was fine, but there was very little to suggest that he was some new big time heel, especially one who had just won a title by cheating.

Post match Shelley shakes hands with the champs before leaving in peace to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. Better show overall this week but you would still have no idea that they are a month removed from their biggest show of 2019. Maybe that’s due to the change in bookers with Marty Scurll taking over and that’s one thing, but egads it’s rather annoying waiting around on something interesting to happen. Or at least for them to air the interesting thing that happened. Not a bad show this week, but another one you don’t need to see.

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

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

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

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

It’s a fun way to close out the decade, even if it seems a little familiar:

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

What else is going under the radar during the biggest week in eighteen years?

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/kbs-review-news-big-week-edition/

It was a rough night.So first of all, it looks like freaking Enzo and Cass are in ROH.  Both Voices of Wrestling and NorCal, who is at the show, seemed to think so.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/video-former-wwe-superstars-invade-ring-honor-madison-square-garden-start-near-riot/

Dang it man do they have to be there?  I know they get heat and they’re “real” (whatever that means) and they’ll get a great crowd reaction, but ROH is a workrate company and these two have the workrate of the Great Depression.  And they’re very annoying.  If anything is going to get me to stop watching ROH, it’s Enzo.

Then for something that actually was real.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/video-hart-attack-fan-jumps-bret-hart-hall-fame-current-wrestler-punches-face/

Never underestimate the power of (likely) drunk people.  A fan jumped the barricade at the Hall of Fame and attacked Bret Hart during his speech.  The roster immediately jumped up and took him down, with Dash Wilder getting in a heck of a right hand.  Hart was fine and finished the speech, but egads man how stupid can you be?

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor Wrestling

Ring of Honor
Date: March 6, 2019
Location: RP Funding Center, Lakeland, Florida
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana

Believe it or not, things have gotten very interesting in a hurry around here with a bunch of different things going on, most of which revolve around Jay Lethal and the World Title. Last week saw Lifeblood pick up a big win over Lethal’s collected team, meaning we’re probably coming up on something between Lifeblood and the unofficially named Plague. Let’s get to it.

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

TV Champion Jeff Cobb is ready to defend against Silas Young. He’ll even give Young a Tour of the Islands.

TV Title: Silas Young vs. Jeff Cobb

Young is challenging and it’s certainly getting straight to the point. Cobb drives him into the corner for an early power display before taking him down amateur style. Young is smart enough to get to the ropes and we take an early break. Back with the two of them shaking hands with Young talking about a handshake. Of course that means a shot to the throat as Cobb is in trouble for the first time.

Cobb shoves him away without much effort and hits a standing moonsault for two. They head outside with Cobb being sent into the barricade, which is about all that seems to work on him. Back in and some shoulders to the ribs keep Cobb in trouble with a missed dropkick making things even worse. Cobb gets low bridged to the apron for a springboard clothesline as it’s all Young at the moment.

We take another break and come back with Cobb fighting out of a chinlock as ROH follows the WWE’s playbook. Young makes the mistake of talking trash though as Cobb comes back with forearms to the head. The backbreaker/clothesline cuts Cobb off for two and the hanging swinging suplex gets the same. That’s enough for Cobb to get fired up with shoulders in the corner and Young is rocked. Cobb’s swinging belly to back suplex drops Young and rolling German suplexes make things even worse. Young is done and the Tour of the Islands retains the title at 17:41.

Rating: B. They’ve got something with Cobb, as he’s kind of the ROH version of Brock Lesnar with a little less aggression and more of a laid back attitude. Young gave Cobb everything he could but got overwhelmed in the end because Cobb is just that good. It was a good story and Cobb looks even better than usual, making this a nice step forward for him and the title reign.

We look at a clip of the Briscoes and Villain Enterprises getting in a fight at a show in Texas, setting up a Tag Team Title match at the 17^th Anniversary Show.

Matt Taven rants about Jay Lethal being a fake World Champion. Tonight, he’s issuing an open challenge for his own World Title.

We look at Shane Taylor attacking Cobb, earning himself a title shot at the Anniversary Show.

We look at Mayu Iwatani winning the Women’s Title from Kelly Klein. Rematch, Anniversary Show.

Vinny Marseglia vs. Rush

Fallout from the Kingdom attacking Rush recently. It’s a brawl to start with Rush kneeing him in the face and flipping over Marseglia for a splash in the corner. Marseglia takes him down and hammers away before taking things outside as we go to a break. Back with Rush being sent into the barricade a few times, followed by the removal of the floor mats. A suplex on the floor doesn’t work so they head inside with the suplex working just fine in there.

Rush is right back up with a kick to the ribs and they go outside again with Marseglia being sent into the barricade this time. A chair is teased but the referee actually does his job for once and breaks it up. Back in and Rush kicks him in the face before hitting the Tranquilo pose. Marseglia is right back with a double underhook backbreaker for two but Rush suplexes him into the corner. That means a hard running dropkick to the face and Marseglia is done at 10:53.

Rating: C+. This was all it needed to be with Rush looking like a star who can beat up an established name. I’m liking him more and more every time I see him either here or elsewhere and that’s a great sign. He comes off as a big deal and if they keep pushing him, they could have something special on their hands.

We look back at Kenny King stealing a pin from Marty Scurll in Miami. They meet at the Anniversary Show.

Here’s Matt Taven with the Kingdom for an open challenge for his title. Before the challenger comes out, Taven goes on a rant about how Lethal is cosplaying as him and bragging about holding the World Title. This is an open challenge to anyone but Jay Lethal.

Fake World Title: Matt Taven vs. Jonathan Gresham

Taven is defending and the Kingdom is ejected. The beatdown is on early on with Gresham in trouble until he crushes Taven’s finger between his feet. A running knee to the elbow sets up an Octopus Hold but here’s the Kingdom for the DQ at 1:31. I mean, they don’t do anything before the bell rings, which is rather prejudiced of the referee.

Post match the beatdown is on until Lethal comes in for the save. The numbers get the better of him as well and it’s table time, only to have Lifeblood run in for the real save. The Kingdom leaves and Mark Haskins finds the fake World Title. Haskins hands it to Lethal and the ax and baseball bat have been forgotten as well. Lethal uses said bat and ax to destroy the title as Taven swears revenge. Good segment, as long as it doesn’t get replaced by the real title.

Overall Rating: B. Another good show here as they’ve been avoiding the less interesting talent and stories. If you do that long enough, those stories go away and the good stuff becomes the norm. They’re on a roll right now and that’s a good time to have with less than a month away from the biggest show in the company’s history. Now keep it up after that, which is the hard part.

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:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

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

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

Since it’s Fastlane and WWE doesn’t care, here’s a bunch of stuff at once.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/kbs-review-news-fastlane-week-edition/

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor

Ring of Honor
Date: January 9, 2019
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana

I must be confused because it seems that we’re already back to regular shows, even though Final Battle was only a few weeks ago. Usually it’s the better part of a year so this is quite the nice treat. The big stories coming out of the show were Jay Lethal retaining the World Title and the Briscoes winning Ladder War to become ten time Tag Team Champions. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Ian is in the ring with four men who have earned World Title shots as of late: Chris Sabin (Proving Ground match), Flip Gordon (won the Sea of Honor tournament), Dalton Castle (contractually obligated rematch) and Marty Scurll (won the Survival of the Fittest tournament). Tonight it’s a four way with the winner getting a title shot at Honor Reigns Supreme on January 13. Ian introduces Lethal but gets Matt Taven instead.

Taven doesn’t see anyone worthy of getting a shot. It’s good to see Flip’s face again because his head has been buried in the Young Bucks’….yeah you get the idea. Is it 2012 again? That’s the only way Sabin could be relevant in the World Title picture. Marty Scurll must be sad because he’s not tall enough to ride the train to Jacksonville. That leaves him with Castle, who he beat at Final Battle. Go off and fake another injury already. This brings out Jay Lethal, with Taven spitting on the title. The fight is on with referees and agents having to break it up. Nice opening, with Taven FINALLY showing some personality.

Jeff Cobb vs. Luchasaurus

This is a Proving Ground match, meaning if Luchasaurus can win or go to the fifteen minute time limit, he gets a TV Title shot. Luchasaurus kicks him in the head at the bell for an early two and hits a spinning kick to the head for two more. That just earns him a spinning belly to back suplex, followed by Cobb putting him on the top for a dropkick. Luchasaurus kicks him again and hits a chokeslam as we take a break.

Back with Cobb hitting a running uppercut in the corner but walking into a superkick. A jumping kick to the side of the head drops Cobb again but Cobb catches him with a belly to belly superplex. Cobb muscles him up for a piledriver and the Tour of the Islands finishes Luchasaurus off at 6:56.

Rating: C+. There’s something to be said about a monster who can throw around another monster. That’s just not normal no matter how you spin it and that’s what happened here. It’s not a great match or anything, but it’s a fun spectacle and I’ll take that over a standard match most of the time.

Kelly Klein vs. Nikki Addams

Before the match, Kelly grabs the mic and says starting right now, every one on one match she’s in, will be a title match. Dang and I had “non-title again” all ready to go. Klein hits her in the face at the bell and gets crushed in the corner for her efforts. Addams misses a running boot in the corner though and it’s off to a cravate.

Back from a break with Addams backhanding Klein in the head and now the running boot connects for two. Addams takes too long going up top and gets pulled right back down, sending Klein into a fit. K Power is broken up so Kelly knees her in the face to retain at 4:44. Too short to rate but Addams didn’t look great.

Post match here’s Jenny Rose to say they have some unfinished business. They have a match on January 13 so it’s already a title match, but let’s make it a street fight. Klein says it’s on.

Beer City Bruiser is upset that Silas Young won’t talk to him. Brian Milonas says go talk to him in the locker room.

We look at Bully Ray, the Briscoes and Shane Taylor attacking the Elite after their final match. The whole thing is on Honor Club.

Video on Marty Scurll beating Christopher Daniels to end his ROH career at Final Battle.

Here’s Daniels in a suit for a chat. After a THANK YOU DANIELS chant, Daniels says Final Battle wasn’t a good night for SCU. The only thing left for him to do is say goodbye but he’s going to take the memories with him. The memories of the first main event against Low Ki and Bryan Danielson. Of that first World Title match going 60 minutes in 100 degree heat and every opponent who became his friends and brothers. Finally, the memories of becoming World Champion after all those years. He says goodbye but here’s Joe Koff to say thank you as well.

What Daniels did at Final Battle made Koff rethink things. Daniels defended Cary Silkin, who played such a huge role in ROH. That showed Koff that he did it for Ring of Honor and not himself. Therefore, here’s his new contract to continue wrestling around here. Daniels hugs him and holds up the contract but here’s Shane Taylor to jump Daniels from behind.

A dive takes Taylor down and the fight is on but Taylor throws him into the post. They head inside with Taylor kneeing him in the face and blasting him in the back with a chair. Greetings From 216 on the chair wrecks Daniels neck all over again and Taylor rips up the contract. I hope that’s not how Ring of Honor thinks contracts works.

Marty Scurll vs. Chris Sabin vs. Flip Gordon vs. Dalton Castle

One fall to a finish with the winner getting a shot on January 13 with Jay Lethal on commentary just in case Taven isn’t gone. Scurll bails straight to the floor to start and tries to get the fans clapping. Castle gets sent outside so it’s Sabin and Gordon trading some standing switches. That goes nowhere so they dive onto Castle and Scurll to keep the fans into things.

Back in and Sabin missile dropkicks Scurll right back out of the ring and Gordon nearly does the same thing to Castle. Gordon and Sabin don’t seem thrilled to fight each other so Castle cleans house and we take a break. Back with Castle throwing Gordon down again but getting kicked in the chest by Sabin. Marty is right back up to send Sabin outside for the apron superkick, only to get chopped by Gordon.

With Gordon being knocked down, we hit the quadruple submission. Since that’s completely ridiculous, the holds are all broken up and Sabin shoves Scurll off the top, setting up a triple high crossbody. A tornado DDT to Gordon lets Sabin kick the other two down at the same time but Castle is back up with a suplex. Gordon kicks Castle in the head and gets two off a running shooting star press. Sabin snaps off a hurricanrana but Gordon rolls through and scores with an enziguri. It doesn’t do a ton of damage though as Sabin is back up with kicks to Gordon and Scurll but he walks into the Bang a Rang to give Castle the clean pin at 9:04.

Rating: B-. It was a bit wild but that’s kind of the point here. You have to give all four of them title shots at some point and Castle is as good of a next challenger as anyone. It’s pretty clear that this is going to wind up being Taven taking the World Title from Lethal, which is about as uninteresting as you can get. Therefore, enjoy what you can get in the meantime because it’s going to go downhill pretty soon.

Post match Lethal comes in and shakes Castle’s hand to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Good show from top to bottom here with a combination of solid angles and matches. This felt like a good fallout show from Final Battle, which tends to take forever more often than not around here. At least we got a nice show here, even though there’s a lot that still needs to be done. More of this, and this company will get that much better.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor Wrestling

Ring of Honor
Date: November 21, 2018
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana

We’re still in Philadelphia and the big story coming out of last week was the return of Dalton Castle, who helped Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham defeat the Kingdom. Then he made it clear that he wanted the World Title, which means he’ll likely be facing either Lethal or Taven at the upcoming Final Battle. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Castle returning and looking at the title. Stop trying to steal my job.

Opening sequence.

Here are Castle and the Boys to get things going. Castle mentions that he was injured for over three months, but he didn’t go home and just sip mint juleps. He went home and sipped mint juleps but started putting in the world. Castle went to physical therapy and even went to Australia to kiss a kangaroo. Now though, his lone mission is to get back the World Title. He wants the champ, but gets Matt Taven instead. He’s the only man who can call himself the real World Champion. That makes Castle’s head spin so much that he has a seat on the Boys. Castle: “Go home Matt. You’re drunk. You’re like Myrtle Beach drunk.”

Taven accuses Castle of cracking underneath the pressure and bailing on the company so Castle calls him a tall, gangly, uncoordinated idiot. As long as Castle is around, someone like Taven will never be champion. Cue the Kingdom and the good guys are beaten down. The Kingdom gets a bunch of chairs and pile Castle on top of them followed by a TRIPLE CONCHAIRTO. That was really cool. Then I remembered that it’s the Kingdom and my interest lowered.

We look back at Christopher Daniels being beaten down last week. ROH is trying to find a suitable replacement for Daniels in the Tag Team Title match. You mean the Daniels who is part of a trio? Half of which is in the title match already?

We recap Hurricane Helms vs. Marty Scurll. They’ve split two matches and then a third match was thrown out when they both beat up the referee. Therefore Scurll, who won the Survival of the Fittest tournament this year, is getting a fourth match with the old comedy guy. Marty also stole his mask to make it personal.

Marty Scurll vs. Hurricane Helms

No DQ and Scurll has the mask. Hurricane is on the stage….or not actually as that’s Delirious. Instead Hurricane is behind Scurll and hits a chokeslam for two at the bell. They fight outside with Hurricane sitting him in a chair for a running clothesline. Back from a break with Hurricane in trouble and Marty pulling out some umbrellas. Ian: “This is definitely something Marty pre-orchestrated.” Why is commentary so dumb tonight?

Marty unloads with the umbrellas and throws in a little Singin in the Rain for fun. Some stomps to the fingers have Hurricane in trouble but he’s right back with a neckbreaker. Instead of following up though, he puts the mask on and now it’s time to be a hero. That means an umbrella being broken over the knee and a Downward Spiral gets two on Scurll. Hurricane throws in some chairs but since that takes forever, Marty is able to get in a few shots and set up four chairs. That takes way too long as well (a villain never learns) and Hurricane press slams him onto the chairs.

The Nightmare on Helm Street gets two and we take another break. Back again with Marty hitting an AA off the apron through the table….for two. Marty throws an umbrella down and grabs a bag from underneath the ring. That would be thumbtacks but Marty blocks a drop toehold onto the tacks. Instead Marty snaps Hurricane’s fingers….but gets chokeslammed onto them for two instead. The tacks in his back are censored for a nice touch. Marty is back up with a low blow and puts some tacks in Hurricane’s mouth for a superkick. Graduation onto the tacks finishes Hurricane at 15:32.

Rating: B-. It’s a good brawl, but there are two problems. First and foremost, it’s the fourth match between Hurricane and Marty Scurll, the latter of whom should be a main eventer. Why is he toiling with a guy best known for comedy? That’s the other problem: Hurricane feels REALLY out of place in this kind of a violent match. Hurricane isn’t a hardcore guy and while he did it well, it felt way out of place.

Brandi Rose talks about being out with an injury for a long time but now she’s back. Her clavicle is being held together by metal and screws but she’s cleared to wrestle again. I can appreciate her efforts, but is anyone really begging to see her back in the ring?

Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. So Cal Uncensored vs. Briscoes

The Briscoes are defending and, shockingly enough, Scorpio Sky is Kazarian’s partner. Nick and Sky start things off and we’ve got a special hashtag for this main event: WatchROHSecondHalfOfOurDoubleMainEventHereInPhiladelhiaTheCityOfBrotherlyLove. That’s actually on top of the screen, because ROHTagTeamTitles is too simple. Sky flips out of a wristlock and takes both Briscoes to the floor for a dive. Kazarian adds a slingshot hurricanrana to stagger Mark and it’s Jay being thrown back inside to deal with the Bucks.

Kazarian comes back in to add a slingshot dropkick to Jay and an assisted tornado DDT drops Mark for two. The champs take over on Kazarian though and the referee stops to check on him as the Briscoes pose. Mark isn’t done as he takes Kazarian outside and rams his head into the barricade a few times. Back in and the pummeling continues in the corner. A Backstabber finally puts Mark down but Jay is smart enough to kick Sky off the apron.

Back from a break with Kazarian German suplexing Mark in the direction of the turnbuckles, which is good enough for the hot tag to Matt. Everything breaks down and Mark gets dropkicked into the barricade. The Sharpshooter has Jay in trouble but Sky makes a save, even as Matt’s back was about to give out. Nick throws Sky into the air for a spear from Matt and it’s a superkick into the Swanton for two.

A hurricanrana sends Nick into the corner for a tag to Kazarian and it’s a dropkick/sitout powerbomb combination for a close two. Sky grabs a slingshot cutter on Mark and it’s off to stereo dragon sleepers. Nick and Jay make the save with superkicks, followed by another superkick to Jay. The hot tag brings in Nick, who knees the referee by mistake. That’s enough for Matt to start throwing chairs (used in three different segments tonight) but Kazarian saves Sky from taking one to the head.

The Jay Driller (more like Angel’s Wings actually) gets two on Kazarian with Sky making the save. Matt slugs away at both Briscoes but gets backbreakered onto the chair. The Doomsday Device is countered into a powerslam to pull Mark out of the air for another near fall (with the referee stopping early). Jay chairs Mark by mistake though and it’s a powerbomb/Backstabber combination to give Kazarian the pin and the titles at 14:27.

Rating: B-. As usual, ROH isn’t the best at the structured tag matches but they didn’t go too far with the false finishes to mess with things here. SCU winning made the most sense here and while the Bucks were just there to prevent a rematch from Death Before Dishonor, they were their usual entertaining selves and it’s not like they lose anything in defeat. Good match, though a little more actual tag wrestling would have been nice.

Daniels, in a neck brace, comes out to celebrate to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. While I’m not wild on some of the booking (the Kingdom, with Taven in general, isn’t interesting), the wrestling was good and this show flew by. There are times when this show feels like it’s taking forever but that wasn’t the case here. It’s a good show, and you can see where some of Final Battle is going. That’s good too, as the show is less than a month away.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: Ring Of Honor

Ring of Honor
Date: October 10, 2018
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, BJ Whitmer

We have to be getting close to the end of this taping cycle and therefore getting closer to everything that happened at Death Before Dishonor. Ignore the fact that we’re two days away from Glory By Honor, which is a major event in its own right. I’m not sure when things will be back to normal, but anytime soon would be nice. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Kingdom vs. Coast To Coast

Vinny Marseglia and TK O’Ryan for the Kingdom here. Marseglia throws LSG to the floor to start where he has to kick O’Ryan in the face. Back in and things speed up until O’Ryan grabs LSG’s foot, allowing Marseglia to take over. Ali comes in for a double suplex as the fans are behind the Kingdom here. Coast to Coast is right back with forearms to the jaw and an uppercut into a neckbreaker for two on Marseglia. A kick to the ribs cuts LSG down though and we take a break.

Back with LSG rolling over for the hot tag off to Ali as the pace picks up. It’s time to unleash the balloons (I guess he was really desperate for a thing.) and Marseglia pops one next to Ali’s head, setting up a powerslam for two. A spinebuster into a middle rope headbutt gets two and a double flapjack (always loved that) is good for the same. The neck crank keeps Ali down until he fights up and rolls over to LSG for the hot tag.

Everything breaks down and a spinning gutbuster into a running neckbreaker drops O’Ryan. Marseglia is right back up with some running forearms in the corner and LSG gets beaten up on the floor. Ali makes the save with a quick dive so Marseglia dives onto everyone at once. LSG flip dives onto everyone as well and it’s LSG rolling O’Ryan up for the pin at 12:34. Apparently neither of them were legal, but that’s never mattered much around here.

Rating: C+. Fun match here, though a bunch of the dives started to get annoying after awhile. The Kingdom being ripped off again isn’t the most thrilling story in the world either as they feel like they’ve been doing the same thing for months now. It was a fine enough match, though as usual a little too messy for my tastes.

Post match the Kingdom yells and beats up referees.

Clip of Marty Scurll beating the Hurricane via cheating six weeks ago.

Scurll is ready to beat up Hurricane again and vanquish him once and for all.

Hurricane Helms vs. Marty Scurll

The fans are WAY into Marty as we take a break. Back with Marty hitting a brainbuster for two and Hurricane shrugging off some chops. A Ghostbuster gives Marty two more and he knocks Marty to the floor, only to have his tornado DDT countered into a northern lights suplex. Back in and they slug it out until Hurricane gets two off his reverse Unprettier. A Rainmaker gives Marty two but the Chickenwing attempt is reversed into a whip into the post.

Marty is fine enough for a superplex into a near fall, followed by a superkick to the back of Hurricane’s head. The referee gets distracted so Marty can hit a low blow into the Eye of the Hurricane for two more. Marty’s chokeslam is reversed into the regular version but the Vertebreaker is countered. They go into a rollup exchange with Hurricane stacking him up for the pin at 12:22.

Rating: D. Are you kidding me? Scurll is one of the hottest names on the indy scene at the moment and he loses clean to the HURRICANE??? Seriously, this is the best thing that they can come up with for Scurll at the moment? I know he’s not the most popular guy in the world with some people, but there is no excusing him losing to a glorified comedy guy like Hurricane, who isn’t even a regular anymore. Yeah it’s leading to a blowoff match but that’s the point: this should have been a one off and nothing more.

We recap the two matches so far.

Will Ferrara is ready to finish Cheeseburger and put it behind him.

Video on Cheeseburger vs. Will Ferrara. They were a tag team over a year ago and had some issues, so now it’s a Fight Without Honor. A freaking year later. And now I get to watch Cheeseburger in a main event. I’m so happy.

Cheeseburger doesn’t care about Ferrara anymore and is going to the top, with or without him.

Cheeseburger vs. Will Ferrara

Anything goes and Ferrara tells Rhett Titus to stay in the back for this. They get aggressive to start and Cheeseburger hits a running forearm. It’s too early for the palm strike though and Ferrara bails to the floor, only to get taken down with a dive and more right hands. Back in and Ferrara whips him with a belt, which Whitmer describes as funny. I do tend to get enjoyment out of Cheeseburger being in pain.

Ferrara chokes with the belt so Cheeseburger suplexes his way to freedom. Now it’s time for Ferrara to get whipped and he crawls over to the ropes for a breather. That’s fine with Cheeseburger, who chokes with the belt to keep Ferrara in trouble. Ferrara gets to the floor and Cheeseburger drives the hand into the post to take over. Back from a break with Ferrara missing a chair shot to the hand but connecting with one to the back for two.

Cheeseburger superkicks the chair into Ferrara’s face and unloads on him in the corner, followed by a DDT onto the chair. It’s table time but here’s Titus to run Cheeseburger over from behind. Cheeseburger escapes a powerbomb through the table but here are Eli Isom and Ryan Nova to powerbomb Titus through the table. Ferrara has a chain but punches the chair, allowing Cheeseburger to chair him in the back, setting up the palm strike with a chain for the pin at 10:30.

Rating: D+. Good for them. Now maybe we can move on to a feud where Cheeseburger gets beaten up by someone bigger than him and told that he shouldn’t be in this business. Then someone will feel sorry for Cheeseburger because he just fights oh so hard and then Cheeseburger wins the blowoff match. BECAUSE THAT WOULD NEVER GET OLD AND REPETITIVE AT ANY TIME OVER THE LAST FOUR FREAKING YEARS RIGHT???

Overall Rating: F. Absolutely unacceptable here on almost every level. Aside from the perfectly acceptable first match, you have the freaking HURRICANE winning a match over a top level star (you know, the guy who was main eventing a major pay per view earlier this year for your World Title) and your other match, the main event of your show, is blowing off a Cheeseburger “feud” that was started sixteen months ago and has barely been mentioned since.

Ring of Honor has an hour of television a week and this is what they decide to use it on? With all of the other talent that they have, and they have a lot, this is the best they can do in an hour? You don’t have some other people you could run out there? Or do some promos to set up some matches later? Really? That wasn’t an option?

We’ve been stuck with the stand alone episodes for weeks and this is what you expect to make us want to tune in next week? This was a failure on every level (again, save for the opener) and I haven’t been this dumbfounded by a show in a long, long time. If Ring of Honor wants to be seen as a major promotion, they need to get far, far away from everything like this because it makes them look like they don’t now what they’re doing.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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