Ring of Honor
Date: March 24, 2021
Location: UMBC Events Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Caprice Coleman, Ian Riccaboni

It’s the go home show for the 19^th Anniversary Show but in this case, that might not mean very much. Since this show is on a bit of a weird taping cycle, we might not be seeing anything about the pay per view for a few weeks, which is always a bit of a weird way to go. The show could use some extra build though and maybe we can get that here. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Quinn McKay runs down the card.

Eli Isom has been with Ring of Honor for three years after a standout high school athletics career. Then he got hooked on wrestling with his mom….who died in a car wreck. He was ready to quit wrestling but his mom wouldn’t be happy with him. Then he met Will Ferrara and Cheeseburger to form the Shinobi Shadow Squad. Now he knows he can hang with anyone and wants the TV Title. He has not wrestled in a good bit here (I didn’t think he had) but he is ready for Rey Horus.

Rey Horus knows that Dragon Lee beat him but Lee is not better than him. The story will be different when they meet again, but now he needs to climb the rankings by beating Eli Isom. He knows that Eli Isom is the future, but he is the present.

Eli Isom vs. Rey Horus

They fight over wrist control to start and go to the mat for an exchange of near falls into a standoff. Back up and Horus chops away before knocking Isom to the floor. That means the big running flip dive connects on Isom and we take a break. Back with Isom not being able to complete a suplex with squats so Horus Spanish Flies him for two. That means some swearing on the kickout and it’s time for a slugout. Isom charges into a suplex into the corner for two but reverses a tornado DDT into the brainbuster….for the very surprising pin at 8:01.

Rating: C. I don’t get to say this very often but they absolutely got me here. I would not have bet on Horus taking a loss at all here, let alone a clean one, so well done with the big surprise. Isom is someone they pretty clearly wanted to push so giving him a win here is a good start. ROH needs someone to step up and Isom is every bit as good as any other option they have.

Respect is shown post match.

Someone wants to restore violence. I have no idea why I would believe this, but it’s going to be Tommy Dreamer isn’t it?

Matt Taven is ready to beat Vincent at the Anniversary Show.

EC3 wants Jay Briscoe to defend his island and control his narrative.

Jay Briscoe talks about how WWE has called he and his brother time after time with top level NXT deals but they have been turned down every time because they can make that much money landscaping. EC3 wants him to shake his hand but EC3 is going to have to earn it. If not, Jay is giving him a whipping.

La Faccion Ingobernable vs. Foundation

Eight man tag here and we have all kinds of time for this one. Amy Rose is on commentary and this is Rush/Kenny King/Bestia/Dragon Lee vs. Jay Lethal/Jonathan Gresham/Tracy Williams/Rhett Titus. Before the match, the Foundation promises to regain power at the Anniversary Show by winning the titles, because titles mean power. Makes enough sense.

Gresham and Lee start things off and the pace picks up in a hurry, only to be cut off by some double choking. Some spitting at Lethal brings in everyone at once and it’s a quickly broken up staredown. Lee flips Gresham off though and it’s off to Bestia to stomp Williams down. Williams is back up with some striking of his own but walks into a suplex. Bestia misses a backsplash though and bails out to the floor for a breather.

Lethal and Rush give us a World Title preview with Lethal making the mistake of slapping him in the face, earning a trip into the corner. That’s broken up and Lethal enziguris him to the floor, followed by a triangle dropkick to the floor. Another brawl is teased and we take a break. Back with King and Titus shoving each other in the All Night Express reunion (nice catch by commentary).

Titus grabs a hammerlock and won’t let go, no matter how much spinning Kenny tries. Some chops in the corner rock King but a poke to the eyes gets him out of trouble. A high crossbody gives Titus two so it’s back to Williams to work on the arm. Lethal is back in to do the same, followed by Gresham with the complicated arm cranking. Everything breaks down in a hurry though and it’s the big wild brawl around the arena.

We take another break and come back with Lethal getting beaten up four on one in the corner. Lethal gets knocked to the floor so Williams takes his place and is knocked down in a hurry as well. Ian: “His chest is as red as the Ring of Honor logo!” Rose: “It matches our gear!” Titus counters Lee’s superplex but gets pulled off the ropes to put him down again.

Gresham kicks his way out of the corner and then kicks his way over to Titus for the tag (that is some serious honor when all of La Faccion is in there at once). Everything breaks down again and it’s Lee slugging it out with Titus, setting off the parade of big shots to the face. Gresham hits a big flip dive through the ropes to take out a bunch of people, leaving Titus to take the Bestia Driver for the pin at 18:50.

Rating: B. This got time and built up all of the title matches well, though I was rather surprised at the champions winning, especially with one of the challenges taking the fall. That being said, this was a rather intense match and I was rather pleased that they didn’t throw it out with the big brawl. It’s a nice way to build up four title matches at once, which is a tricky thing to do but made a bit easier when those matches are faction vs. faction. Er, Faccion.

La Faccion poses and brags a lot.

As usual, we wrap it up with the pay per view card rundown, which makes sense. Jay Lethal gets in a quick promo about how he is going to set this company right and even throws in some Spanish for a bonus.

Overall Rating: B-. It is never easy to do a rapid fire built to a Ring of Honor pay per view because they have such a weird schedule. What we got here was good enough, but I’m not sure I could tell you who is getting a shot at which title. The show does look pretty good on paper and at this point, that is as good as anything else I could expect. Ring of Honor has gotten mostly back to normal since the pandemic, so hopefully everything winds up feeling like one of their better pay per views.

 

 

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

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Ring of Honor
Date: January 27, 2021
Location: UMBC Events Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

We continue to be on the way to whatever we are coming up on next around here, which seems to be a lot of television and little more. It should be interesting to see if things change that much with so many of their stars back, at least for the time being. That might be the case again this week so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Back at Final Battle, Shane Taylor Promotions turned down the Six Man Tag Team Titles because the Mexisquad was unable to attend the show due to Coronavirus issues. They’ll have a regular six man tag this week instead.

We look back at Dragon Lee retaining the TV Title last week.

Post match, Lee bragged about winning and said he wanted to know who was next. Brody King popped up to imply that he was.

Josh Woods talks about how it’s always one step forward and two steps back. He beat Jay Lethal and now he needs to beat Dalton Castle as well. They’re both decorated amateur wrestlers and Woods loves the sound of the challenge. All Woods wants is gold.

Dalton Castle gets a phone call but is nice enough to silence his phone. He knows his win/loss record hasn’t been great since he returned but he has been focused on things outside of wrestling. Josh Woods is a beast who is part neanderthal and part gorilla, but there isn’t much above the shoulders. Of course Castle can beat him and move up the rankings so he can go work on his greenhouse again. Woods is messing with a box full of bees with a bunch of holes.

Josh Woods vs. Dalton Castle

Pure Rules. Feeling out process to start with Woods chasing Castle out to the floor in a hurry. Back in and Woods takes him down over and over before slapping on the armbar. With that not going anywhere, Woods whips him hard into the corner and Castle’s ribs are banged up in a hurry. Castle is tied in the ropes and that means it’s time for some knees to the bad ribs.

Back up and Castle goes for the knees but Woods slams him down again with ease. Something close to an abdominal stretch sends Castle to the ropes for his first break and we take a break. We come back with Castle having sent Woods outside but Woods gets back in and they trade places off a backdrop. Castle is all ticked off though and sends Woods hard into the post. Back in and Castle hits a running knee for two but Woods knees him in the back, setting up a German suplex for two of his own. They slug it out with a minute to go but the Bang A Rang is countered into the Woods Lock for the tap at 14:28.

Rating: B-. There is always something great to see about wrestlers who have this kind of abilities on the mat going out there and doing their thing for so long. They had time here and it wound up being one of the better things they have done in a few weeks. Woods continues to be someone who should be ready to move up to the next level but for some reason it never happens. I’m not sure what is next for Castle, but the free fall continues.

Post match, Woods says he didn’t like the brawling and fighting because he shouldn’t need it.

The Foundation finds honor in Shane Taylor Promotions turning down the Six Man Tag Team Titles without winning a match. Actions without backing them up means nothing though and now the six man main event is on.

Shane Taylor talks about the Foundation wanting uniformity but knows they want to be Shane Taylor Promotions.

Shane Taylor Promotions vs. Foundation

It’s Shane Taylor/Soldiers of Savagery vs. Jay Lethal/Jonathan Gresham/Tracy Williams here. Khan throws Lethal around with ease to start and Lethal is going to have to think twice about this one. A headlock works a bit better for Lethal but a heck of a right hand puts him on the floor. The Foundation needs a breather on the floor before it’s off to Tracy (with the eternally bad shoulder) for an armbar over the ropes.

Shane powers out of that and knocks Williams’ block off with a right hand. Moses comes in to face the much smaller Gresham and powers him into the corner. A wheelbarrow headlock takeover gets Gresham out of trouble but Moses powers him away again. That means another Foundation meeting on the floor so Lethal tries his luck with Moses for a change. An arm snap over the top works this time and it’s Williams coming back in to Fujiwara the arm.

Gresham comes back in but his high crossbody is knocked out of the air with ease. Lethal cranks on the arm to more success and we take a break. Back with Williams tying the arm up and chopping away against the ropes. Moses runs him over though and the double tag brings in Khan to send Lethal outside, setting up a big slingshot dive. Back in and the Lethal Injection is easily blocked and Gresham muscles Khan up with a German suplex.

A middle rope missile dropkick sends Khan over for the tag to Taylor and it’s a package piledriver to Gresham. Everything breaks down and Williams has to fight off the SOS at the same time. Moses hits a running flip dive to take out Williams on the floor. Lethal nails Shane with a suicide dive for two so Gresham dives onto Khan. That leaves Lethal to try the Injection, which is muscled over into Greetings From 216 for the pin on Lethal at 12:08.

Rating: C+. This was all about making Shane look like a big deal as he heads into the World Title scene and it worked out rather well. What we got here was a heck of a performance as the Foundation were trying to find a weak spot in the monsters and then ultimately being destroyed by the raw power. It was a rather good performance from the Promotions and it’s not like anything can hurt Lethal at this point.

Shane and company celebrate to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. They had a good show here and that’s one of the things that they needed to do after a kind of slow return from the holidays. This was a pair of good matches which showcased some of the up and comers around here, which is what they always need to do. Rather nice show overall here and one of the better I can remember from them in the last bit.

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

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.