Ring of Honor
Date: February 17, 2021
Location: UMBC Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

I’m not sure what to expect from this show these days and I’m also not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. The show has been far from terrible but there is something about it that feels inconsistent. Sometimes you get a good show but at times you get a show that leaves me counting the minutes until it’s over. Let’s get to it.

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

The Foundation gives Wheeler Yuta and Fred Yehi a fired up promo about bringing honor back. Tonight they’re going to shake things up a bit by having parts of the Foundation on both sides of a six man. Everyone else leaves and Jay Lethal says he and Tracy Williams will start, which is cool with Williams, who reminds Jay what happened the last time they were in the ring together (Tracy won).

Opening sequence.

Quinn McKay runs down the card.

Tony Deppen talks about how important Final Battle was for him because he has a newborn to provide for every day. He beat LSG to get to his TV Title shot against Dragon Lee and now he is going to do it again. They took different paths to get here but Deppen has the momentum here.

LSG talks about his journey starting fifteen years ago and he isn’t letting the flavor of the month take him out of this company. He is here to hang with the best and he knows Deppen can’t beat him again. LSG is Ring of Honor, but what about Deppen?

LSG vs. Tony Deppen

Deppen is getting this match due to fan response (part of Ring of Honor trying to listen to the people more). Going to the mat doesn’t last long to start so they trade some quick rollups for a variety of results. They’re on the floor for the slugout in a hurry before they go back inside, with LSG’s O’Connor roll being kicked out to the apron. Deppen hits a triangle dropkick to the floor but LSG sends him hard into the barricade. Back in and LSG grabs a neck crank as we take a break.

We come back with LSG missing an elbow drop but nailing a knee to the jaw. Something like a Gory Stretch has Deppen in more trouble but he’s right back with some slaps to the face. A basement dropkick sends LSG into the corner and Deppen gets two off some running knees in the corner. They slap it out until LSG hits Rock In Bye Baby (spinning faceplant) into a springboard spinning forearm for two.

A dropkick through the ropes rocks Deppen again but Deppen sweeps the leg from the apron. Back in and a brainbuster into a running knee gets two on LSG but the top rope double stomp misses. Some rollups give Deppen two each but LSG grabs a Gory Stretch….and flips Deppen forward into a sitout powerbomb (cool) for the pin at 11:57. Ian Riccaboni names it the Event Horizon and Caprice likes it.

Rating: C+. The ending was the big deal here, but what mattered more was the fact that I wasn’t sure who was going to win until the end. You don’t get that kind of a feeling very often and I was surprised when LSG won. Granted that might have been because I hadn’t seen the finisher before and it was rather cool looking. Rather hart to believe that Deppen wasn’t helping with the flip, but it looked great.

The Briscoes are staring at each other with Mark being annoyed at Jay for going after EC3 instead of the Tag Team Titles. The whole thing is argued using a boat metaphor and….I think they make up?

Rush and Shane Taylor are ready for their World Title match in two weeks.

Jonathan Gresham/Tracy Williams/Fred Yehi vs. Jay Lethal/Wheeler Yuta/Rhett Titus

After an extended Code of Honor, Lethal and Williams start things off, as planned. The feeling out process begins until Williams takes him down into an armbar. They fight over half crabs with neither being able to get very far so Titus comes in to take Williams down. The mat grappling goes to another standoff so it’s off to Yehi. Titus gets wrestled to the mat and bails over to the ropes, meaning Yuta comes in for some arm battling of their own.

With that broken up, Gresham comes in and is taken to the mat by the leg. Gresham’s headscissors gets us to a standoff and Yuta’s armbar sends Gresham to the rope. It’s off to Lethal to face Gresham and they go straight to the mat as well. They spin around rather fast and that’s good for another standoff with commentary sounding out of breath. Lethal cartwheels out of a headlock and another one sets up a basement dropkick to Gresham.

Titus comes in to work on the arm and hands it back to Lethal. That doesn’t go so well for Titus as Lethal spears him down by mistake, allowing the hot tag to Yehi. A snap brainbuster gets two on Yuta, who has to go to the rope to break up the Koji Clutch. We take a break and come back with the Lethal Combination dropping Williams. Hail To The King gets two but Williams gets in a shot of his own for the double knockdown.

Gresham and Titus come in with Titus nailing a belly to belly for two. Gresham hands it back to Yehi, who is clotheslined into a jackknife rollup for two more. Everything breaks down and Lethal has to save Titus from the Koji Clutch. There’s the Lethal Injection to Gresham, who shoved Yehi out of the way since he isn’t legal. Titus dropkicks Yehi down for the pin at 17:47.

Rating: B. They had an idea here and then executed it, which is all you could want them to do. There was something nice about having a much more technically sound match and that is the kind of thing that could turn into a big feud with someone down the line. Mixing the lineups up a bit here helped too as you can only do the same kind of match so many times. Good storytelling and solid action so I’m rather pleased.

A lot of handshakes end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This would be on the higher end of their shows since the return and that is great to see. Both matches worked and while I still don’t need the minute and a half promos before the matches, they let some things build and had two good matches. Ring of Honor knows how to put together a good show but they need to work on their consistency. What we got here worked well and if they can even do most of this kind of thing again, they’re going to be in a great place.

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Ring of Honor
Date: February 10, 2021
Location: UMBC Event Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Caprice Coleman, Ian Riccaboni

After finally, and I do mean finally, getting to watch Final Battle, I’m curious about why the weekly TV show feels so weak by comparison. Maybe it’s all of the promos before the matches, but there is such a gap between the pay per view and the TV shows that it is pretty jarring. Hopefully they can make it better this time around. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Quinn McKay welcomes us to the show and runs down the card.

We look at the end of last week’s show where Beer City Bruiser listened to Vincent and attacked OGK, including breaking a beet bottle over Matt Taven’s head.

Bruiser said he was done being second. Brawler Milonas came in to yell at him but Bruiser didn’t want to hear it.

Tracy Williams talks about how the Foundation wants to give wrestlers a chance. They did that with Rhett Titus and now they are going to do it with Cheeseburger. Is he really suggesting that we haven’t seen enough of Cheeseburger over the years??? With that scary thought out of the way, Williams talks about how there are things that you can’t learn out of a book like Cheeseburger has done. Tonight, he’s learning in the ring.

Cheeseburger, now in a fur coat and dubbed The World Famous CB, talks about his path through wrestling to get where he is today. Being Cheeseburger is the best and worst thing to happen to him. It got him a long way, but it made him feel like a novelty and he’s more than that (no, not really, no). Now he is the rhythm and he’ll showcase what else he can do.

World Famous CB vs. Tracy Williams

Pure Rules. Williams takes him down by the arm to start but CB is back up with his own arm cranking. A headlock takeover puts Williams on the mat and CB bounces his way to freedom for a unique escape. We take a break and come back with CB armdragging him to the mat for a rollup and then climbing onto Williams’ back for a double arm crank. That’s enough to send Williams to the ropes for a break and he takes CB down into a chinlock.

The threat of a Crossface sends CB’s foot to the ropes for his first break. Williams grabs the arm and twists it around his own leg to keep the variety up. That doesn’t last long either and Williams’ missed charge sends him flying to the ropes. Back in and CB takes him down by the arm and rolls around into an armbar, sending Williams to the ropes again.

A standing armbar sends Williams right back to the ropes for the final break, which surprises commentary. An Angle Slam into a doctor bomb gets two on CB but he’s right back with a low superkick. Williams isn’t having any more of this though and grabs the piledriver for the pin at 13:05.

Rating: C. I can’t believe I’m saying this but they might have found something for Cheeseburger. He’s right when he says that the gimmick was a blessing and a curse, but the biggest problem was he had no story other than “he’s this small underdog.” That wasn’t the case here as it was a technical exchange with Cheeseburger hanging in there throughout. If you ignore the size stuff, you might be able to get something more out of him. Imagine that.

Honor is shown post match.

Brody King want revenge on La Faccion Ingobernable for costing him the World Title at Final Battle. Tonight, it’s an eight man tag.

Briscoes/PCO/Brody King vs. La Faccion Ingobernable/Flip Gordon

Amy Rose is on commentary, it’s Rush/Dragon Lee/Bestia (the latter of whom is making his ROH debut) for La Faccion and Gordon is replacing Kenny King who can’t be here for undisclosed reasons. King and the much smaller Lee start things off but Rush comes in before there is any contact. Bestia comes in sans contact as well….and let’s have two more tags so it’s Gordon vs. Mark for the opening lockup.

Briscoe powers him into the corner and it’s PCO coming in for a corner splash as La Faccion chills on the floor. Gordon is sent outside so La Faccion sends him right back in, with Rose denying that this has anything to do with Gordon’s upcoming World Title shot. Gordon’s sleeper on King is broken up with straight power and Gordon goes outside again. La Faccion throws him back in again and PCO drops a headbutt.

Gordon has to be tossed inside again as this is certainly a unique way to go. Back up and Gordon finally gets in a shot but Rush drops to the floor before the tag. Mark covers Gordon and that’s finally enough to bring in La Faccion for the brawl, because they want the winners’ share (makes sense). Everything breaks down and they all fight to the floor. Rush chairs King in the knee and an electrical cord shot to the knee makes it even worse.

We take a break and come back with a running basement dropkick sending King to the floor again. La Faccion switches over to triple teaming PCO, who chops his way to freedom in a hurry. A running powerslam plants Gordon but Bestia kicks Gordon out to the floor for the slugout with PCO. Jay takes PCO’s place for another slugout, with a discus forearm sending Bestia outside.

That means it’s King planting Lee with a Rock Bottom but Rush and Bestia pull King off the top. Jay and PCO take out Rush and Bestia with stereo suicide dives and Mark uses a chair for a step up flip dive onto La Faccion. Rush is laid on a table but PCO’s flip dive off the top (Rose: “No no no no no!”) only hits table. The referee finally throws it out at 13:12.

Rating: C+. Total brawl here and that’s what you would have expected from these guys. The Gordon stuff was an interesting and logical twist to the whole thing, though I’m not sure why you would have expected anything other than a big mess for the finish. This worked out well for what they were doing, but it feels like just another way to extend the story to….I’m not really sure what end at this point.

The brawl continues and we see the Foundation saying this isn’t Ring of Honor to end the show. I could go for a faction war.

Overall Rating: C. They did some nice things here but it still feels like they have nowhere to go with most of it. I’m sure we’ll get a pay per view announcement at some point but until then, it’s just a bunch of stuff to fill in an hour a week. I liked the main event and CB worked out well enough, assuming you don’t expect it to mean much of anything for a bit. Not a bad show, but it still feels like a lot of wheel spinning.

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Ring of Honor
Date: January 13, 2021

We’re still in the post Final Battle lull, meaning that it’s time for a Best Of show. That may seem a little strange given how little Ring of Honor has been around this year, but at least they do have some interesting options to choose from. If nothing else, another refresher on what the company can do is not a bad idea. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

From Free Enterprise.

Battle Royal

Beer City Bruiser, Brawler Milonas, Tracy Williams, Cheeseburger, Josh Woods, Brian Johnson, PJ Black, Silas Young, Blue Meanie, Rhett Titus, Maria Manic, Gangrel, Delirious, Eli Isom, Kenny King, Dragon Lee, Crowbar, Dak Draper, Danhausen, Leon St. Giovanni

The winner gets a future World Title shot and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a regular battle royal in ROH. Gangrel blows the liquid in King’s face during entrances and most of the people get in at the bell to start fast. We take a break at the ten second mark and come back, seemingly with nothing having changed, meaning Delirious is running around ringside and King is blindly throwing punches on the floor.

Gangrel suplexes Danhausen and Impales Johnson as I’m trying to wonder if they’re really considering him a big deal. Draper fights off another Impaler and backdrops Gangrel out to a chorus of booing. LSG goes up top to dive at Draper, who throws him out with ease. Draper backdrops out Isom and Crowbar with ease so, say it with me, Cheeseburger eliminates Draper a few seconds later.

With that required annoyance out of the way, the Bouncers start wrecking a lot of people. Meanie tries to get the Bouncers to dance….and they actually do it, only to have Johnson throw Meanie out. As Amy Rose comes out to get King to the back, the Bouncers beat up Johnson and toss him….only to the apron as PJ Black makes a save. As a result, Johnson throws Black out in a good old heel double crossing. Manic grabs Johnson low and gorilla presses him out as we take another break.

Back again with Maria throwing the Bouncers out at the same time but stopping to hug Danhausen. Young and Maria have a staredown with Silas dropping her but not quite being able to eliminate her. Cue Bully Ray to pull Maria out, allowing Young to celebrate. Ray chairs her in the back and adds a powerbomb through a table (apparently giving her a concussion).

Back in and Danhausen gives Delirious some teeth but then throws them at Delirious, setting up the elimination. Danhausen German suplexes Young but gets tossed out anyway, allowing Cheeseburger to hit a springboard crossbody. Young rolls through and they go to the apron but Woods makes the save. A clothesline eliminates Cheeseburger and we’re down to Williams, Lee, Young and Woods. Young puts Williams on the top so Tracy manages a DDT onto the top turnbuckle.

Woods jumps in front of a spinning forearm so Williams blasts him instead, leaving Young to return the save. Williams gets double teamed in the corner with a slingshot elbow, setting up the easy elimination. Young and Woods stomp Lee down in the corner but Lee sends Young to the apron. Woods kicks him out by mistake and gets tossed, only to have Kenny King run in. Lee survives an elimination attempt, unmasks as Flip Gordon, and dumps King for the win at 20:30.

Rating: C. This was an entertaining enough battle royal with a surprise ending. Gordon is a safe bet for a future title shot as he’ll get in a good match and there’s always the chance he might pull off an upset. There were enough stories going on in here and they advanced some stuff, so well done with the whole thing, especially for a battle royal.

Post break, Gordon says he’s coming for the title at Supercard of Honor.

From Gateway To Honor.

Ring of Honor World Title: Rush vs. PCO vs. Mark Haskins

PCO is defending. They start very fast with Rush knocking PCO and Haskins to the floor back to back. PCO comes back in for the power showdown and knocks Rush outside in a hurry. That means the big suicide dive but Haskins’ version is pulled out of the air for a chokeslam onto the apron. PCO’s big flip dive off the top only hits apron as Rush pulls Haskins out of the way.

We take a break and come back with Rush knocking PCO off of the apron and Haskins hitting a suicide dive. A top rope double stomp hits Rush for two and there’s a PK for the same on PCO. Back up and PCO cleans house with no real problem but Rush suplexes him into the corner.

PCO tackles Rush down but Haskins makes the save with another top rope double stomp. There’s a chokeslam from PCO to Haskins and the PCOsault connects….but Rush pulls the referee out. Cue NWA World Champion Nick Aldis to knock PCO silly with the World Title, allowing Rush to knock PCO into the corner. The Bull’s Horns gives Rush the title back at 10:22.

Rating: C+. I can always go for Haskins and Rush has all the star power you could ask for. You throw in PCO as the monster and the match was about as entertaining as it could have been. There is nothing wrong with having PCO get the title at Final Battle for the feel good moment and then lose it back here, though it’s almost frustrating to imagine where the ROH/NWA feud could have gone in the future.

From ROH TV, November 4.

Pure Title: Jonathan Gresham vs. Tracy Williams

For the vacant title. They shake hands to start and Williams towers over him. It’s straight to the grappling early on but neither can get a hiptoss. Instead they head outside for a staredown until Williams gets back in and holds the rope open for Gresham. Back in and Williams starts working on the arm but Gresham slips out and we take a break. We come back with no time having elapsed (sweet) and Gresham starting in on Williams’ arm to take over for the first time. Williams goes to the ropes to get a breather and then chops Gresham right back down.

A cravate of all things gives Williams two and Gresham has to go to the ropes as well. There’s a spear to Williams but he’s right back up with a clothesline in the corner. Gresham hits a suplex with Williams popping up again for another chop. A bridging German suplex gets two on Williams and a collision in the corner puts them both on the floor in a heap.

Back in and Williams gets two off a brainbuster, setting up the Crossface to stay on the neck/shoulder. That means a second rope break from Gresham, who is back with a bridging German suplex of his own. Gresham forearms him down for two more but he can’t get a Kimura in full. Williams is back up with a piledriver for two, with Gresham using the final rope break. They both need a breather and Gresham pulls him into the Octopus for the sudden tap at 14:37.

Rating: B. Well that was sudden. I was expecting this to go closer to half an hour and it didn’t even make it to fifteen minutes. That’s quite the out of nowhere ending but Gresham seemed to be the favorite to win the title from the beginning of the tournament so it’s hardly a bad idea. It was a setup for a match, but the lack of time brought it down from where it could have been.

Post match Jay Lethal comes out to celebrate and respect is shown to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. I can always go for a Best Of show as it almost guarantees some quality stuff. That was the case here as there were some good matches from the better wrestlers around the company. It’s time to get back to normal though and hopefully that is where we go next week, as there are some things that need to be done around here. Good stuff here, but it can only last for so long.

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Ring of Honor
Date: December 30, 2020
Location: UMBC Events Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

It’s time for a Christmas special with the annual Christmas Surprise tag team match. In other words, there will be two captains (the Briscoes in this case) and they will draw four names to make a random ten man tag. That’s better than having some random singles matches to fill in time until we get to the Final Battle fallout. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

It’s time to pick some names, so Jay Briscoe picks….well we’ll find out later.

Eric Martin and Ken Dixon are rookies from the ROH Dojo and while they don’t have a ton of experience. Martin likes to take it to people but seems a bit low key. Dixon on the other hand is a bit of a good old boy who likes the idea of getting paid for something that would usually get you arrested.

Dante Caballero and Joe Keys are from the MCW Training Center and they know Dixon from training. They started wrestling together but found out that they were in over their head. Jonathan Gresham helped them take away everything else and get back to basics. Tonight they’re here to prove that they belong.

Dante Caballero/Joe Keys vs. Eric Martin/Ken Dixon

They’re all in the basic black trunks because Ring of Honor REALLY wants to be New Japan. Caballero and Dixon go to the mat to start with Caballero getting two off a hammerlock into a crucifix. Martin comes in and it’s some double teaming to put Caballero in trouble in the corner. A quick escape allows the tag to Keys, who is dropkicked down in a hurry. Dixon shoulders Keys down for two and a hard whip into the corner sends us to a break. Back with Dixon coming in again and letting Keys make the tag.

Keys slams Martin down and dives over for the tag to Caballero to start the comeback. The Crossface is broken up by Dixon, who snaps off a powerslam for two on Caballero. The hot tag brings Keys back in and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker hits Dixon. There’s a Swan Dive to Dixon as well but it bangs Keys up at the same time. He’s fine enough to grab a half crab, which is broken up in a hurry too. Caballero comes back in with a spear though and a half crab makes Dixon tap at 12:14.

Rating: C. The match was your standard run of the mill low level tag match, but can we please drop the “we’ve stripped them of their identities deal?” I know it’s what New Japan does and ROH loves itself some New Japan, but these people have a history and Caballero was already in the Top Prospect Tournament with his full deal. It’s ok to do something of your own instead of copying someone else. Stop overthinking it.

Mark Briscoe doesn’t like that his older brother got first pick of the presents but he seems happy with his choices too.

Brian Johnson joins commentary and has Team Bozo shirts for Ian and Caprice.

Team Mark vs. Team Jay

Team Mark: Mark Briscoe, Beer City Bruiser, Dak Draper, Tracy Williams, Dalton Castle

Team Jay: Jay Briscoe, Flip Gordon, Brawler Milonas, John Walters, PCO

In a nice bonus, each wrestler’s stats are replaced with their Christmas wish list. I can always appreciate little touches like that as they show some thinking and effort. Walters and Williams go technical (stunning indeed) to start with Williams snapping off an armdrag for a standoff. Draper comes in and gets dropkicked by Gordon, who grabs a choke for a bonus. Milonas comes in and gets to face…..the Bruiser, as the Colossal Jostle is on. Bruiser gets knocked down but misses the legdrop, setting up the stereo crossbodies.

Castle, in a turtleneck, comes in to face PCO and I want these two in a buddy cop comedy. PCO doesn’t like being sent into the buckle as commentary brags about Jim Cornette’s endorsement. We take a break and come back with a fired up PCO saying bring it on. Castle thinks about it but hands it off to Mark instead. Jay comes in as well and it’s time to run the ropes. That doesn’t suit them though and the slugout is on, drawing in everyone else for more of the same.

Flip hits a big springboard flip dive onto Bruiser, followed by PCO diving onto just about everyone. Back in and Jay uppercuts Mark, followed by Walters getting two off an elbow to the face. PCO comes in to whip Mark into the corner but Mark elbows Walters down and hands it off to Bruiser as we take another break. Back again with Mark chopping at Walters as commentary wonders about a Briscoe Family Christmas. Ian: “Family matters to the Briscoes.” Johnson: “Family matters? Urkel wouldn’t even hang out with those two!” Ian: “Well Laura would.” And that’s why I smile at Ian Riccaboni’s commentary.

The nerve hold has Walters in trouble and a chokeslam into a cutter (cool) puts Walters down again. That makes everything break down and we hit the parade of secondary finishers. Walters triangle chokes Williams but Bruiser breaks it up with a frog splash. PCO runs Draper over and finishes with the PCOsault at 17:31.

Rating: B-. This was the usual fun, completely irrelevant and entertaining match that we always get out of the Christmas special. You don’t need to do anything more than have a laid back match here but there are enough people to set up some interesting matchups. It’s a fun tradition and they did well with it here so nice job.

Overall Rating: C+. It’s a Christmas special so it isn’t the kind of show you can complain about all that much. The main event was fun and the opener was fine (annoying visuals aside) and….well what else are you wanting on a show like this? They always take a break around Christmas and this was perfectly acceptable all around.

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:

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Ring of Honor
Date: December 9, 2020
Location: UMBC Events Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

The build towards Final Battle continues and it needs to hurry up as the show is in less than ten days. I’m not sure how much they can build towards the show but at least it seems like they have a lot of the ideas set up in advance. We seem to be getting Brody King challenging for the World Title, so hopefully they set up some more things here. Let’s get to it.

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

Quinn McKay welcomes us to the show and throws us to the end of Brody King beating Shane Taylor last week.

King says he’s coming for the World Title.

McKay throws us to Josh Woods beating Jay Lethal.

Woods is very fired up by his win.

Video on Vincent vs. Mike Bennett. Mike talks about how Vincent is insane, but Vincent wants to know why Bennett bailed on Matt Taven when he hurt his knee. Vincent was all Taven had left and they used to be friends. Now Bennett doesn’t recognize Vincent and it’s time to beat him up.

Vincent vs. Mike Bennett

Vincent starts with the mind games and drops to the floor at the bell. They switch places though and Vincent stomps him down in the corner to take over. The strike off goes to Bennett and a running forearm sends Vincent outside again. Bennett charges into an elbow though and gets dropped throat first across the top. A side suplex on the floor keeps Bennett down and we take a break.

Back with Bennett slapping him in the head over and over, setting up a superkick into a Death Valley Driver. Vincent sends him into the corner for some running elbows, only to get caught in an exploder suplex. A quick guillotine choke slows Bennett down until he drives Vincent into the corner. The spear is countered into the guillotine again so Bennett suplexes his way to freedom. Back up and they slug it out until Bennett scores with a clothesline. Now the spear connects but the piledriver is blocked. Vincent unloads on him in the corner…and the referee calls the DQ at 11:34.

Rating: C+. That’s a weird way to bring Bennett back to the ring but Vincent shouldn’t be losing before the big showdown at Final Battle. Vincent is a monster and Taven is the hero to fight him, so having him lose clean to a returning Bennett would be wrong. At the same time though, Bennett losing as soon as he gets back is a little weird too. Hopefully things get better, but Bennett turning on Taven wouldn’t shock me.

Post break the beating is still on, with Vincent saying he’s going to make it even worse for Taven. Cue Taven with a dive off the stage so the real fight can be on. Bennett gets up and here’s Bateman to keep up the brawl until referees break it up.

Video on Rhett Titus being overlooked but joining the Foundation. Titus: “I am the Foundation.”

Mark Briscoe has picked PCO as his partners for the Tag Team Title match. What an oddball team.

Tracy Williams didn’t win the Pure Title tournament but he was glad to get his chance against Jonathan Gresham. The Foundation is still about rebuilding this company though and now it is time to deal with some of the other veterans. That brings Williams to John Walters, who is a former Pure Champion returning to the company after ten years. Williams has fifteen minutes to beat him tonight and he’s ready to prove himself again.

John Walters explains who he is and talks about some of his bigger wins. He’s back because Pure Wrestling is back and doesn’t get how Williams says he wants to be like an old school Pure wrestler when Walters is right here. Williams isn’t ready for him.

John Walters vs. Tracy Williams

Pure Rules and Flip Gordon, who will be challenging Jonathan Gresham for the Pure Title, is on commentary. Walters headlocks him to start before they fight over wrist control. Williams takes him down into an armbar but it’s too early for any serious danger, as Walters bails to the ropes for the first time. With that not working, Williams switches to the knee as we take a break.

Back with Walters hammering away in the corner and taking out Williams’ knee. The dragon screw legwhip sets up the Sharpshooter, sending Williams straight to the ropes for his first break. A kneebar sends Walters to the ropes as well so it’s time for a slugout. Williams suplexes him down and now the Crossface has Walters in real trouble. The third rope break gets Walters out of trouble again but he goes back to the knee. Williams is fine with that as he does the same and the top rope DDT rocks Walters again. The piledriver finishes Walters at 11:41.

Rating: C. Well Walters is back after ten years, reminds people of who he is, and then loses in a fairly uneventful match. I’m not sure I need to see much more from Walters as there are several names around here who can do what he did but better, and they don’t need to be reintroduced. Maybe they owed him a shot due to the old vs. new show being canceled, but this wasn’t exactly eventful.

They shake hands post match.

We run down the Final Battle card to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. It really is kind of impressive that they are managing to set up a coherent Final Battle card this fast, as they have only had a few weeks outside of the Pure Title tournament. The show isn’t looking too bad all things considered, but there wasn’t much to see in the ring this week. They have one more show before the pay per view and it’s going to be a weird last push, but I have some slight optimism for a change.

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 Wrestling

Ring of Honor
Date: November 4, 2020
Location: UMBC Events Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

It’s title night as we finally get to crown a new Pure Champion. Jonathan Gresham meets Tracy Williams in the final, which should be a heck of a technical spectacle. That’s the point of the tournament so they couldn’t have picked a much better final. We also have our first non-tournament return match since the relaunch. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

The opening video looks at Williams’ and Gresham’s paths through the tournament to the final.

Quinn McKay previews the show, including the finals, something between Matt Taven and Vincent, and the six man tag.

We preview the six man tag, which is basically a recap of EC3’s limited time in the company.

Shane Taylor/Soldiers of Savagery vs. Briscoes/EC3

EC3, in slacks, powers Khan down twice in a row to start before hammering away with rights and lefts. The chase on the floor lets Khan stomp away back inside but EC3 shrugs it off and hands it off to Mark for a change. Some shots to the face in the corner have Khan in trouble but it’s back to Moses, who drives Khan into Mark in the corner. Mark doesn’t seem to mind and gets over to Jay for the hot tag as everything breaks down.

We take a break and come back with Shane punching Mark out to the floor and kneeing Jay down for two. The stomping ensues and Shane knocks EC3 off the apron, only to have Mark come in off the hot tag. Everything breaks down and Mark hits a corkscrew dive onto the Soldiers. Back in and the Froggy Bow misses Shane, who hits Greetings From 216 for the pin at 11:46.

Rating: C. Kind of a weird match as you would think that EC3 would get a pin to establish himself a bit around here. Other than that you didn’t have much one way or another here, as the Briscoes are great as always and Taylor was his usual self, but it was hardly a match that is going to stick with me. You would think they might use the chance to do something of note but not so much.

Video on Tracy Williams, who has come a long way to get to the tournament final. He’s ready for Gresham in the finals as they are going to build this company on pure wrestling.

Jonathan Gresham talks about getting a phone call from Williams about the Foundation. This company has lost its honor and it’s time to rebuild things. Gresham is ready to bring the title back to the Foundation no matter what.

Pure Title: Jonathan Gresham vs. Tracy Williams

For the vacant title. They shake hands to start and Williams towers over him. It’s straight to the grappling early on but neither can get a hiptoss. Instead they head outside for a staredown until Williams gets back in and holds the rope open for Gresham. Back in and Williams starts working on the arm but Gresham slips out and we take a break. We come back with no time having elapsed (sweet) and Gresham starting in on Williams’ arm to take over for the first time. Williams goes to the ropes to get a breather and then chops Gresham right back down.

A cravate of all things gives Williams two and Gresham has to go to the ropes as well. There’s a spear to Williams but he’s right back up with a clothesline in the corner. Gresham hits a suplex with Williams popping up again for another chop. A bridging German suplex gets two on Williams and a collision in the corner puts them both on the floor in a heap.

Back in and Williams gets two off a brainbuster, setting up the Crossface to stay on the neck/shoulder. That means a second rope break from Gresham, who is back with a bridging German suplex of his own. Gresham forearms him down for two more but he can’t get a Kimura in full. Williams is back up with a piledriver for two, with Gresham using the final rope break. They both need a breather and Gresham pulls him into the Octopus for the sudden tap at 14:37.

Rating: B. Well that was sudden. I was expecting this to go closer to half an hour and it didn’t even make it to fifteen minutes. That’s quite the out of nowhere ending but Gresham seemed to be the favorite to win the title from the beginning of the tournament so it’s hardly a bad idea. It was a setup for a match, but the lack of time brought it down from where it could have been.

Post match Jay Lethal comes out to celebrate and respect is shown to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This was a little disappointing but still good. The six man tag was nothing special and the title match was lacking a bit, but overall it’s a rather good show that doesn’t waste time. Ring of Honor is on fire at the moment, but I’m almost worried to see what they are going to do without the tournament or so many of their champions. What we have gotten over the last several weeks has worked though, so it might be a case of enjoy it while it lasts.

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 Wrestling

Ring of Honor
Date: October 28, 2020
Location: UMBC Events Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

It’s time to get some finalists for the Pure Title Tournament, which has been rather good so far. The wrestling has been top notch and that is the kind of thing that you can always go with on a show like this. I’m not sure what we are going to be seeing next week but odds are it’s going to have some good wrestling, just like this show. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of the tournament so far and the final four participants.

Opening sequence.

We look at Tracy Williams advancing to the semifinals by making Fred Yehi submit.

Williams doesn’t like that Jay Lethal doesn’t seem to know his name. Tonight, Williams isn’t just breathing down his neck because he’s going to bite off Lethal’s nose.

We look back at Josh Woods making PJ Black tap out to make it to the semifinals.

Silas Young says no, you shouldn’t be surprised that Woods won. Now where is Woods’ hug?

Video on Woods vs. Gresham, which is part of the same video on Woods and Gresham saying he’ll win.

Pure Title Tournament Semifinals: Jonathan Gresham vs. Josh Woods

This should be awesome. Gresham goes for the leg to start but Woods easily blocks the takedown attempt. That’s enough to send Gresham outside for a breather and he still can’t take the leg on the way back inside. Instead it’s Woods grabbing a gutwrench, sending Gresham to the ropes for the first break of the tournament. Woods takes him to the mat without much trouble and a frustrated Gresham bails to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Woods’ knee to the face being countered and Gresham dragon screwing said leg over the rope. Gresham goes to the top but Woods grabs him by the arm and suplexes him down, meaning Gresham has to use a second rope break when Woods picks the arm again. Woods rolls some gutwrench suplexes but his arm gives out, allowing Gresham to grab something close to an Octopus.

Gresham hammers away at the head ala Daniel Bryan until Woods Samoan drops him down for the break. With Gresham down on the mat, he still manages to twist Woods’ knee to bring him down (that was cool). Gresham grabs a small package but they roll around the ring until Woods finally gets two. Not that it matters as Gresham grabs a sunset flip for the pin at 12:00.

Rating: B-. The technical stuff was here but I was waiting to see them go further and kick it into a higher gear. What we got was good while it lasted but I was wanting more. That’s one thing in a regular match but we only have two matches left in the whole tournament. Still though, what we got here was rather good and Gresham in the finals is one of the best options that they could have had.

Matt Taven comes out for a match but here’s Vincent to jump him from behind and shout that it’s over. Taven is sent head first into the floor and back first into the barricade, allowing Vincent to set up a table. Vincent lays him on the table and whips out a rather big ladder. Some right hands leave Taven on the table and Vincent hits the Swanton off the ladder. Vincent makes sure to ask if Taven gets what he’s saying.

We look back at EC3 debuting last week and a six man tag being set up. EC3 tells Shane to grow up and Shane says he grew up harder than EC3 can ever go. The Briscoes have earned EC3’s respect because there is honor in what he has done. Taylor is ready with the Soldiers of Savagery, which could set up a good tag match.

Jay Lethal is ready to win the title but Tracy Williams is ready to show Lethal who Williams is.

Pure Title Tournament Semifinals: Jay Lethal vs. Tracy Williams

Feeling out process to start until it’s time to trade headlocks. Lethal takes him down by an armbar and can’t shake his way out of it to start. It’s broken up eventually though so Williams takes him down by the leg for a change. Lethal ties him up by the legs and arms at the same time (Coleman: “It’s the Indian Deathboard!”) but Williams is out in a hurry and grabs the leg. That’s enough to send Lethal over for his first rope break.

A rollup gives Williams two and Lethal has to use another rope break, which is quite the fast usage. Williams takes him down by the leg again but Lethal reverses, meaning Williams has to use one for a change. We take a break and come back with Williams grabbing a chinlock with a forearm across the face. That’s broken up as well so Williams knocks him down into the corner for a change. Lethal sends him out to the apron though and that means a triangle dropkick to the floor.

Lethal puts him on top but Williams grabs the super DDT onto the turnbuckle. A piledriver gives Williams two, with Lethal using his last rope break. The Crossface goes on but Lethal cutters his way to freedom. The Lethal Injection connects….for two as Williams uses his last rope break as well. They slowly get back up to slug it out until Lethal cranks his arm down to the mat. Hail To The King connects but the Lethal Injection is countered into a rear naked choke. Lethal gets over to the ropes and kicks off, only to get caught in the Crossface to give Williams the win at 19:29.

Rating: B+. This was the kind of match that you would expect from these guys and what we had here was a heck of a showdown. Williams getting the upset makes for an interesting story and I can go for the idea of someone as good as Williams getting the chance. If nothing else, it was nice to see him pulling Lethal into those submissions. Lethal was trying to mix up the submissions with his usual style and it worked out well, though Williams was just too much. Really good match here though.

Overall Rating: B. Another week and another rather awesome show from the tournament. You can’t go wrong with the matches of course, but it was great to have something thrown in there with the Taven vs. Vincent feud. I’m curious to see where things go once the tournament is over, but I’m going to miss it when it’s gone. Another rather good show here, which is hardly a surprise these days.

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 Wrestling

Ring of Honor
Date: October 21, 2020
Location: UMBC Events Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Caprice Coleman, Ian Riccaboni

We’re getting down to the final four this week and that’s both a good thing and a bad thing. On the one hand, it means we are going to be seeing something new coming in the next few weeks, but at the same time it means that we are going to be losing some of what has made this such a great show as of late. Hopefully they have something to balance it out. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Last week, Jay Lethal defeated David Finlay to advance.

Lethal is looking forward to facing Jonathan Gresham in the finals. Note that he’s only in the semifinals.

Last week, Jonathan Gresham defeated Matt Sydal to advance.

Jonathan Gresham is proud of his win and is ready to face someone in the next round. He talks about the professional wrestling freedom that comes with this tournament, which is kind of a strange metaphor.

We look back at Vincent talking about making enemies and getting jumped by Matt Taven.

We look back (they’re doing that a lot this week) at Fred Yehi beating Silas Young in the first round.

We look back at Tracy Williams defeating Rust Taylor to advance.

Pure Title Tournament Quarterfinals: Fred Yehi vs. Tracy Williams

These two were in Catch Point together in Evolve so there is a history between them. The stats are awesome here again, with a breakdown of Yehi’s strengths (escaped 83% of submissions) and weaknesses (only one takedown and move counter) from the first round. They do the Catch Point handshake to start and Yehi’s headlock takeover doesn’t get him anywhere.

We get a break in the corner before Yehi has to spin out of a hammerlock and go to the corner. Tracy tries to take him down but Yehi winds up on top for a quick two. Yehi uses a rope break to get out of a hammerlock and then uses a second a few moments later, which might not be the brightest move. Williams takes him down by the arm again but gets suplexed down as we take a break.

Back with Williams having to escape a leglock and winning a chop off without much effort. Williams kicks him in the back for two but Yehi is right back with a German suplex. He doesn’t let go but Williams blocks another suplex attempt. Instead Yehi stomps on the foot and kicks the leg out, setting up a quick Koji Clutch. That sends Williams to the rope, apparently for the second time.

They trade hold attempts on the mat with Yehi blocking a few Crossface attempts. A brainbuster rocks Yehi but he reverses a clothesline into the small package for two. That’s switched into the Koji Clutch to have Williams in more trouble and it’s the third rope break to get him out.

Back up and they slug it out until Williams forearms him hard into the corner. Williams still can’t get the Crossface so he settles for two off a piledriver instead, with Yehi using his own final rope break. Now the Crossface goes on but Yehi gets to his feet again. This time Yehi heads to the ropes so Williams slaps on the dragon sleeper in the ropes, but since that’s not a break, Yehi taps at 14:03.

Rating: B+. This is the kind of thing that the tournament was made for and it made for quite the back and forth showdown. Both guys are awesome at this style and the extra history helped them out a lot. I had a blast with this and the ending was creative, which is the kind of thing that you need to do in a tournament with special rules in every match. This was probably the best match of the tournament so far and they both looked awesome. I could go for more Yehi so points on finding a new star.

Here’s EC3 for a chat. He talks about how everyone has control over us throughout our lives, but is there honor in fighting back? EC3 talks about various people who have been here and says there have been honor in them. Is there honor in the people here today though? EC3 wants to find out by bringing total war here, because without pain and sacrifice, you have nothing. He wants to put the name of honor to the test so you have been warned. It’s better than his standard CONTROL YOUR NARRATIVE, which is something that sounds good but loses a lot of its impact when he says it over and over.

Post break, EC3 runs into Shane Taylor, who introduces himself because EC3 didn’t mention him. Taylor calls it his house but the Briscoes come up to get in his face. The Soldiers of Savagery want a six man against the Briscoes and EC3 so I think they’re set for later.

We look at Josh Woods defeating Kenny King and PJ Black defeating Tony Deppen to advance.

Pure Title Tournament Quarterfinals: PJ Black vs. Josh Woods

Silas Young is here with Woods and Brian Johnson is here with Black. They go to the mat to start and that’s not a good idea against Woods. An armbar has Black in trouble but he reverses into an ankle lock. That’s broken up as well and the grappling continues as they fight over arm control. Woods starts getting the better of things by staying over Black on the mat.

They get up with Black shoving him away for a standoff before taking Woods down in a headscissors. Woods keeps frustrating him and they break it up as we take a break. Back with things heading from the floor back inside, where Black has to use the rope to escape a sleeper. A kneebar sends Black into the rope again so he’s down to one break.

Woods grabs a front facelock and cranks on the arm some more until Black uses a Samoan drop to escape. It’s off to a cravate instead until Black rolls out and hits some quick middle rope elbows to the head. Black rolls into a reverse Boston crab while lifting Woods up to make it worse. That’s broken up as well so Black hits a running crossbody in the corner. Woods has had it though and pulls him into a grapevine ankle lock to make Black tap at 13:27.

Rating: B-. The ending was a relief in a way as I was worried that Woods would dominate for the entire match and then slip on a banana peel in the end. Woods is kind of perfect for this kind of tournament and seeing him against Gresham in the next round is kind of the perfect dream match. Good stuff here though, with the right ending.

Here are the updated brackets:

Jay Lethal

Tracy Williams

Jonathan Gresham

Josh Woods

Overall Rating: A-. This really has been the best show on TV in recent weeks and the tournament is starting to wind down. The good thing though is that they are setting up some other stuff for the future, because they are actually thinking. They started with the most basic stuff in the world and now they are slowly expanding, which is how things are supposed to go. Great show here, with the first match being a gem.

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 Wrestling

Ring Of Honor
Date: October 7, 2020
Location: UMBC Events Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Caprice Coleman, Ian Riccaboni

It’s time to wrap up the first round of the Pure Title Tournament and that is kind of a shame. The tournament has been rather nice so far and a lot of that is the back to basics approach. This is what I wanted when I heard AEW say they were going to treat wrestling like a sport and it is working so far, albeit in small doses. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a video saying “FOLLOW THE TREND”.

Opening sequence.

Video on the Pure Title Tournament.

We look at Fred Yehi beating Silas Young last week.

Yehi says he respects Young but now he’s ready for whoever he gets next week.

We look at Josh Woods beating Kenny King via judges’ decision last week.

Josh Woods is proud of his win but has to take back thoughts that Silas Young (his mentor) is lucky to not face him.

Rust Taylor talks about growing up in a very small town so he played sports for something to do. He loves all of the mechanics that come with grappling. After a bad period in his career, he was ready to quit but he kept going and got all the way here again. Taylor wants to face Tracy Williams at his best or it won’t mean anything.

Tracy Williams talks about how he grew up fighting with his friends and then went down to Philadelphia to learn to wrestle. Since then, he has become much more comfortable with his technical wrestler status and is ready for Taylor. Williams likes going after the neck and when he reaches his limit, the Hot Sauce comes out.

Pure Title Tournament First Round: Rust Taylor vs. Tracy Williams

They fight over some grappling to start with neither being able to get much of an advantage. Taylor starts working on the arm but Williams takes it to the mat and slips out. An armdrag into an armbar has Williams down again but he pops right back up for some strikes. Williams gets him to the mat to crank on the leg for a change before grabbing an STF. That’s enough to make Taylor use his first rope break so he takes Williams down and hammers the arm.

Williams is back up with a World’s Strongest Slam and we take a break. Back with Taylor kicking at the arm and pulling it into an armtrap armbar. Williams slips out and elbows at the ribs before it’s time to chop it out. A cross armbreaker sends Williams to the rope for the break and some more strikes give Taylor two, with Williams using another break. Taylor gets him down into a Rings of Saturn with the legs, meaning it’s the third rope break so Williams is completely out.

A seated armbar has Williams screaming again so he grabs the rope, but it means nothing this time. Instead he pulls Taylor outside for the big crash and they’re both down as time is running out. Taylor throws him back in and kicks away, earning himself a heck of a clothesline for two. Williams grabs a quick piledriver and slaps on the Crossface for the immediate tap at 14:25.

Rating: B. They surprised me a bit with the ending here as Taylor was winning throughout and then got beaten in a hurry in the end. It wasn’t so much that he got caught by someone more experienced, but rather Williams flipped a switch and won the thing. That’s not the most thrilling ending, but Taylor looked good here before losing to the better man. Really good technical stuff until then though and that’s what matters most.

Tony Deppen is ready to win the tournament because this is what he does. He was a punk rock skateboard kid and that means he didn’t have much in the way of a wrestling background. As a smaller guy, he looked up to people like Bryan Danielson and Kyle O’Reilly. Everything he learned about PJ Black, he learned on Wikipedia, but since he doesn’t have a Wikipedia, there is nothing to be learned about him. He is fighting for his child and he is never going to stay down.

PJ Black has been a wrestler for a long time and has trained with shamans and witch doctors. He talks about walking around barefoot in the woods because of the exchange of positive ions. Black talks about teaching Brian Johnson and wanting to teach him a thing or two. He doesn’t know much about Deppen but tonight he’ll show everyone what he can do with pure wrestling instead of just showing off his high flying.

Pure Title Tournament First Round: PJ Black vs. Tony Deppen

Black has Brian Johnson with him and grabs the wristlock to start. A headlock takeover puts Deppen down as well and there’s an armdrag into an armbar to do it again. Back up and Black hits a spinning kick to the face but Deppen’s STF attempt makes Black use his first rope break. Black rolls him down into a double arm crank but has to hit a clothesline to cut him off.

The arm cranking continues and there’s a stomp onto Deppen’s arm to make it worse. Black’s springboard is dropkicked out of the air though and we take a break. Back with Deppen sending him face first into the buckle for two but missing a top rope double stomp. Black kicks him in the head to put Deppen down but Deppen grabs the leg for an STF.

That means a second rope break and Black heads outside, only to get caught with the suicide dive. Back in and Deppen’s top rope double stomp gets two so Black grabs a cutter for two more. An over the shoulder powerbomb spun into a DDT gets an even closer two and Black is rather stunned. With nothing else working, Black hits a crucifix driver for the pin at 12:04.

Rating: C. I didn’t like this one as much as the opener but it was still fine enough. Deppen was tough and resilient but there was only so much of a reason to believe that he would be moving on here. The wrestling was fine enough, but the lack of drama hurt it, as did Black just hitting a few moves in a row for the win.

Here are the updated brackets:

Jay Lethal

David Finlay

Fred Yehi

Tracy Williams

Jonathan Gresham

Matt Sydal

Josh Woods

PJ Black

We get a CONTROL YOUR NARRATIVE (meaning EC3) video to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. Another entertaining hour and that’s the best thing you can say about a show a lot of the time. We’re down to eight in the tournament and I’m curious to see where they are going from here. You could see multiple people winning and hopefully we can get some rather good tournament matches. I’ve liked the first round and maybe we can see a few more good weeks.

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 Wrestling

Ring Of Honor
Date: September 2, 2020

We’re going with another of the up and comers around here with Tracy Williams. That could make for an interesting show as I’m not entirely familiar with his singles work. These things can be all over the place but Williams has done well enough in the limited amount of stuff that I have seen from him. Let’s get to it.

Video on Williams to start.

Williams, with his dog, talks about living in New York during the pandemic, but he misses wrestling a lot. We’ll go to a match to make him feel better, starting with Survival of the Fittest 2018.

Survival of the Fittest First Round: Tracy Williams vs. Jonathan Gresham

This is Williams’ ROH debut and he has a banged up shoulder. Williams charges at him to start but gets pulled to the mat as the technical work begins in a hurry. Gresham reverses into a headscissors on the mat but Williams switches over into a leg crank. That’s reverses into a crank on the leg until Williams takes him down to work on the knee. A rollup looks to set up a Crossface but Gresham reverses and they go into the corner.

They grapple against the ropes until Williams catches a boot to the ribs and chops away. Williams suplexes him down and we take a break. Back with Gresham not being able to hit a suplex and getting driven hard into the corner again. Gresham hits some chops of his own and muscles him over with a suplex for two. The Octopus is blocked and Williams goes up for a DDT onto the turnbuckle (cool) followed by a middle rope DDT for two.

Gresham’s hurricanrana is countered into a sunset flip for two and there’s a Death Valley Driver for the same. They trade the forearms for a good while until Williams hits a discus clothesline into a piledriver for two more. Gresham dropkicks him off the apron, followed by a high crossbody back inside, with Williams rolling through for the next near fall. Back up and Gresham gets in a shot to the shoulder and Octopuses him for the tap at 12:19.

Rating: B. Good stuff here as they didn’t stop for the entire match and it made for a very entertaining match. Williams is someone who can do some great things in the ring and Gresham is the kind of technical guy who can wrestle with anyone. I liked this a lot and hopefully Williams is around a lot longer and in some bigger spots.

Respect is shown post match.

Williams wanted to show catch as catch can on the big stage. Like this, from ROH TV, January 16, 2019.

Tracy Williams vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

They’re certainly starting fast. Williams is named Hot Sauce, which should tell you everything you need to know about him. I mean it doesn’t, but a nickname is supposed to do that. Sabre goes straight for the heavily taped shoulder but gets taken down into an armbar. That’s quickly broken with a nip up and it’s back to a cravate from Tracy before he stomps on Sabre’s ankles over and over.

Sabre can’t get up and Williams pulls on a leglock of his own. A rollup gives Williams two but Sabre gets hold on his head, which isn’t likely to go well. Sabre takes him down by the leg and spins the foot around, much to the fans’ cringing delight. Williams goes for a cross armbreaker but they get up for a standoff as we take a break. Back with Sabre starting in on the arm but Williams crushes his chest to put Sabre down. Sabre’s kicks to the chest set up another armbar, only to have Williams take him down with a suplex.

Williams scores with some forearms until Sabre takes him down into another leglock that probably has an awesome name. That’s reversed into a cross armbreaker on Sabre and then a Texas Cloverleaf. Sabre slips out and gets a small package for two, followed by a heck of a shot to Williams’ face.

at once for the tap at 12:33.

Rating: B-. It was quite the display of technical submission skills and hard strikes, but one of the reasons Sabre’s best matches work so well is having him face someone who wrestles a different style. Williams is very similar to Sabre and it took away some of the interest. What we got was good, but Sabre can do a lot more.

Post match Sabre says anything Jonathan Gresham can do, he can do better.

Williams talks about joining Lifeblood, but Bully Ray didn’t like it. That set up this, at State Of The Art.

Bully Ray comes to the ring and tells everyone to get out. He wants someone to come out and fight him and I think you know where this is going.

Bully Ray vs. Tracy Williams

Williams says he wants Ray to just go home so he’s accepting his challenge. And let’s make it anything goes. As luck would have it, Williams has brought a trashcan full of weapons so we’re ready to go. Ray kicks him low and accepts, meaning it’s the bell and then a break fifteen seconds later. Back with the beatdown on in full, including the punches in the corner.

Williams gets sent through the trashcan as Ray doesn’t seem to be taking this very seriously. A suplex gets two and Ray shouts at the referee for the count. Some release German suplexes let Ray shout about SUPLEX CITY but Williams gets in an armbar over the ropes. That’s broken up so Ray throws him through the trashcan again for the big crash and two.

Ray grabs a table and we take another break. Back again with Ray hitting a kendo stick shot and loading up the table, complete with some shouting at Honor Club fans. The stick goes onto Williams’ throat, which is enough to bring Williams back up with a testicular claw. Williams takes him up top but Ray shoves him over the table. Not that it matters as Williams grabs a crucifix for the fast pin at 8:17.

Rating: C-. This was playing completely against Williams’ strengths and I’m not sure why it would be included here. Is beating Ray really supposed to be that big of a deal? It seems like this is one of those required quests in Ring of Honor as every young wrestler has to face him in a violent match. At least Williams won though. That’s something, right?

Post match Ray shoves the referee down and goes after Williams again but here’s Mark Haskins for the save. Ray puts him through the table anyway and the fans seem to approve.

Williams talks about how his time here has felt like a failure but he’s coming for the Pure Title. He can be his own weapon in the tournament and he’ll showcase that in the tournament.

Overall Rating: C+. I really don’t get the ending to this show as they did a great job of making me think Bully Ray was a star, as he stood tall after Williams caught him with a fluke rollup. Other than that, Williams lost two matches and called his career in the company a failure. If this is the best that they had for Williams, who is incredibly talented, they really need to work on their Best Of skills.

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:

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