Nerdly » ‘Ring of Honor’ Wrestling Review (Dec 2nd 2018) Review

05th Dec2018

‘Ring of Honor’ Wrestling Review (Dec 2nd 2018) Review

by Nathan Favel

Welcome to this week’s Ring of Honor review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have an orangutan, a chimpanzee and a jet-plane, but only one doesn’t fit with the other two. Any-way, it’s time to enjoy the story of the first caramel cod… I mean Halloween.

Match #1: Kenny King defeated Christopher Daniels

The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:

Before the match started, Kenny King got on the mic and said that with Daniels not having much time left in ROH, it will look good on his resume to hand the stalwart one of his last losses before he’s “booted out the door.” King’s disrespectful words fired up Daniels, who was all over King as soon as the bell rung. King briefly halted Daniels’ momentum after sweeping his leg while Daniels was on the apron, which sent Daniels crashing to the floor. Daniels came back with a Blue Thunder Bomb. King regained the advantage with a spinebuster. He went for a pin and grabbed the bottom rope for leverage, but the referee caught him. Later, Daniels hit a Uranage. While King was down, he kicked off the approaching Daniels, sending him into the referee. While the referee gathered himself, King delivered a low blow to Daniels and followed up with Royal Flush for yet another tainted victory.

My Take: 2.5 out of 5 – This had some nice moves and had a good pace, but it felt like a few steps below where a match between these two should be at this point in their careers. King was especially disappointing as he spent far too long preening to the crowd instead of transitioning from move to move like the professional that he has been before. Daniels did well here but was not able to perform to his normal level, due to the odd rhythm of the wrestling itself.

Match #2: Jeff Cobb defeated Josh Woods

The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:

Before the match began, “Hangman” Adam Page, who will challenge Cobb for his title at Final Battle, watched from the stage. Cobb and Woods grappled to a stalemate early in the bout before Cobb landed a big overhead suplex. Woods answered with a judo throw and an armbar, but Cobb deadlifted Woods and tossed him head-first into the turnbuckle. Woods attempted a springboard move off the middle rope, but Cobb caught him and hit Tour of the Islands to score another impressive victory.

My Take: 2.5 out of 5 – The wrestling itself had a great look to it, as it was all shooting, to be blunt. The action was not half as exciting as it should have been, but the technique was what made this match worth the time to watch.

Match #3: Adam Page defeated Facade

The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:

Like Page did, Jeff Cobb watched the match from the stage. Page took the early advantage and went on to hit a running Shooting Star Press off the apron. The “Elite” member followed with a fallaway slam in the ring into a bridge for a near fall. Facade would not go quietly, however. The innovative high-flyer hit a kip-up followed by a one-handed cartwheel and kick to the head. Showing his incredible balance, Facade walked the top rope, but when he came off, Page caught him with a boot to the face. Page then hit a fallaway slam off the middle rope. The resilient Facade answered with a spectacular springboard/450/double axe handle over the top rope onto Page on the floor. Page was reeling until he connected with a Buckshot Lariat. He then hit Rite of Passage for the win.

My Take: 2.5 out of 5 – This match moved very well and had some excellent action, but it felt like a sliver of what this bout should have been. Façade looked great here and gave the equally great Page lots to work with. I’d say that the length prevented this match from being any-thing but an abridged version of what they are both capable of, but at least it was impressive.

Match #4: (Main Event) SCU (Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky) defeated Guerrero Maya Jr. and Stuka Jr. – ROH World Tag Team Championship Match

The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:

Maya Jr. and Stuka Jr. gained the early advantage, but after Sky was tagged in, he ran wild on both of the masked CMLL stars. The challengers withstood the onslaught, however, and responded with their own flurry of offense. Stuka Jr. hit a moonsault off the top rope onto Kazarian on the floor, and Maya Jr. connected on a flipping suicide dive onto Sky. Back inside the ring, the champions rallied and went on to hit their Burning Heart finisher (Uranage/lung-blower combination) on Stuka Jr. for the win.

My Take: 2.5 out of 5 – The champions looked great while the challengers looked to have left their best days behind them. I hate saying things like that, but SCU was far and away the reason why this match got off the ground in the first place. There wasn’t any bad wrestling in this match, but Stuka and Maya definitely came across as on their last legs, as far as lucha libre is concerned. I’d be very interested in seeing both Stuka and Maya do what Dos Caras Jr. did when he became Alberto Del Rio, that being a move towards submission wrestling with some clinches and European holds to fill in the blanks. Over-all, the match had good logic and some solid action, but the expectations of one move after another were the wrong foundation to build off of.

News Of The Night:

Christopher Daniels will fight Marty Scurll for his ROH World Title Shot at Final Battle.
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal, Cody and Dalton Castle vs. ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Kingdom (Matt Taven, TK O’Ryan and Vinny Marseglia) in a non-title match happens next week.