‘Ring of Honor’ Wrestling Review (Dec 9th 2018)
Welcome to this week’s Ring of Honor review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have the final card before Final Battle, so let’s see what we get out of it all before the big show arrives.
Match #1: Flip Gordon versus Silas Young – I Quit Match
The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:
Before the opening bell, Gordon — who will face Bully Ray in an I Quit Match at Final Battle on Dec. 14 — challenged Young to make it an I Quit Match. Young responded with a cheap shot to Gordon’s throat and then accepted the stipulation. Young stayed on the attack early, but Gordon rallied with a flurry of offense, including a springboard spear and a suicide dive. A fired-up Gordon then whipped Young into the guardrail, suplexed him on the floor and hit a moonsault off the top rope onto Young on the outside. Gordon set up a table in the corner of the ring, but Young nailed him with a chair to the face and continued to assault him with it. Young then grabbed a Singapore cane, but Gordon took it away from him. Just as Gordon was about to use the cane on Young, Bully Ray entered the ring behind Gordon’s back and began choking him with a chain. Young then speared Gordon through the table that was in the corner. No official decision was rendered.
My Take: 2.5 out of 5 – This match gets a good rating due to the fact it was wrestled quite well, despite one of those terrible endings that makes the whole sport look bad. I get that wrestling is fake, but do you have to lean in to fake every-time you want to stretch a feud beyond what people are willing to see? The finish for the fight came as a result of Bully Ray helping put Silas Young into a prone Flip Gordon for a table spot. After the table spot, the I Quit Match was ruled a No Contest. How can an I Quit Match end without some-one saying I Quit? I get that Delirious and the booking staff are pushing what they think is an authentic angle, but it blows a hole in the idea of a stipulation match delivering what was promised. If one of these hardcore matches, which are designed to have a definitive result, can end abruptly despite not meeting its own criteria, then how can you push it as a climactic match? Why should I believe that the Flip Gordon/Bully Ray I Quit Match for Final Battle will deliver a conclusive match when the stipulation itself has now been shown to be fallible? In other words, if you piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining while I’m looking right at you, then how the hell can I trust any-thing you say? I’m surprised I’m talking about this $#!@ outside of the WWE, but that’s the case right now. Apparently, Delirious learned nothing from either Jim Cornette, Adam Pearce or Gabe Saplonsky, which is a real shame. That being said, I hope that this booking decision was made by some-one else, because if Delirious is making mistakes like this, then what does that say about any-one that may be getting trained in this part of the sport by him? Also, I think I’ve used the question mark button on my key-board so much that it’s about to break. Over-all, this match was doing pretty well until the bad booking waltzed its way in.
Match #2: (Main Event) Jay Lethal, Cody Rhodes and Dalton Castle beat The Kingdom (Matt Taven, TK O’Ryan and Vinny Marseglia) – Six-Man Tag Match
The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:
The tension between Lethal and Cody was evident right from the start, but the unlikely trio of the two of them and Castle still were able to gain the early advantage. Cody had O’Ryan in position for Cross Rhodes, but Taven broke it up before Cody could execute the move. The Kingdom then took over by isolating Cody. Later, Taven brought two chairs into the ring and was about to use them on Lethal, but Castle prevented him from doing so. Castle and Taven brawled to the outside and fought all the way to the back. Lethal set up for Lethal Injection on O’Ryan, but Cody rolled up O’Ryan instead. An angry Lethal went to superkick Cody, but Cody ducked and Lethal nailed O’Ryan. Marseglia shoved Cody into Lethal, knocking Lethal out of the ring. After Lethal pulled Marseglia out of the ring, Cody hit Cross Rhodes on O’Ryan for the win.
My Take: 3.5 out of 5 – This was a good match that wasn’t quite as exciting as the rating makes it sound, but it was a smart match that did the trick, nonetheless. I wish that Matt Taven had won the fall for The Kingdom to build him up as a credible opponent to Dalton Castle for Final Battle, but this was not the night for smart booking, if the first match was any indication. If this is Cody Rhodes last ROH TV broadcast, then he went out on a high note as he both won the fall and was mostly the focal point here. Over-all, this was a fun main event that was worth the viewing.
News Of The Night:
- Christopher Daniels cut a great promo about his career being in jeopardy.
- A thrilling brawl with The Young Bucks, So-Cal Uncensored and The Briscoes occurred that gave us a taste of what their Ladder War will look like.
- Cody Rhodes promised to win the ROH World Title at the climax of the card.
Final Verdict: 3.5/5
The wrestling was excellent despite a few bad booking decisions and the show was designed to properly build toward Final Battle with a great video package after the matches were over, so this turned out pretty good.