‘Ring of Honor’ Wrestling Review (Feb 23rd 2020)
Welcome to this week’s Ring Of Honor review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and 8MM is a wild movie. That has nothing to do with anything, but I like pizza rolls. Okay, this show is all matches from Free Enterprise, so if you hated that show, then this episode will really piss you off.
Match #1: Mark Haskins def. Alex Shelley
The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:
A back-and-forth battle between master technicians ended with Haskins forcing Shelley to submit to the Sharpshooter. Haskins looks to be at the absolute top of his game heading into his Triple Threat Match for the ROH World Title against champion PCO and RUSH at Gateway To Honor on Feb. 29 in St. Louis.
My Opinion: 3.7 out of 5 – This was…I don’t remember the old score I gave it. Did I rate it already? Aw hell…in any case, this was great stuff. It’s nice to see that technical wrestling is making its way back into the sport at large. I feel like Nicolas Cage in an elephant grave-yard. Wow, Maryanne! Look at all the tusks! The wrestling here was the kind of smart, clever action that is still missing from wrestling far too often. Haskins has really risen to the occasion in the past few months and so has Shelley. I’m speaking in fragments, but that’s just the name of the game right now. That’s the way this match makes me feel. 3.7? That’s a pretty good score. I guess I’m endorsing this for your viewing pleasure. That sounds like a porno line. Well, I am watching 8MM.
Match #2: The Righteous (Vincent and Bateman w/Chuckles and Vita Von Starr) def. Dalton Castle and Joe Hendry
The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:
After Hendry hit the Codebreaker on Vincent, Castle set up for the Denouement, but Chuckles grabbed Castle’s legs and pulled him out of the ring. Vincent took advantage of Hendry being momentarily distracted and hit Sliced Bread on him for the win.
My Opinion: 2.3 out of 5 – Once again, what a waste of Dalton Castle. There’s not much here to watch, but that seems to be what The Righteous is going to be known for.
Match #3: (Main Event) Flip Gordon def. Slex
The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:
Slex looked good in his ROH debut, but Gordon prevailed in a match that could’ve gone either way. The fast-paced contest ended with Gordon hitting the Flip 5 followed by a curb stomp for the victory.
My Opinion: 3.6 out of 5 – This was an excellent match to close the show with. These guys did a bit of everything and really meshed well. Slex has a lot of charisma for a guy who doesn’t appear to be a big personality. Flip has turned into a great talent that may not be destined for being the next Hulk Hogan, but you know where you stand with him and that means just as much as Hogan’s star-power. This was a thoroughly exciting match, because there were plenty of thrilling moves that came paired with sound, solid wrestling. That may not be the hallmark of WWE sports-entertainment gag, but pro wrestling in its own right, done well, is better than any flight of fancy that “character wrestling” can provide. Well, this was a twist in the case, wasn’t it? I was a fan of this and I hope this is where ROH goes with its matches this year.
Final Verdict: 3.5/5
This was a good show that actually had some damn wrestling on it. This may have been another recap show, but at least the majority of what was recapped was worth watching.
