Nerdly » ‘Ring of Honor’ Wrestling (Nov 28th 2020)

07th Dec2020

‘Ring of Honor’ Wrestling (Nov 28th 2020)

by Nathan Favel

Welcome to this week’s Ring Of Honor review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have two big matches to get to, so shut up and read ya putz.

Match #1: Josh Woods def. Jay Lethal – Pure Rules Match

The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:

Lethal and Woods both won two matches in the ROH Pure Title Tournament before being eliminated in the block finals. Now they’ll face each other as they jockey for position in the Pure division. They’ve only met one other time in singles competition. Lethal defeated Woods in the Survival of the Fittest tournament three years ago. However, Woods is a much more seasoned competitor today than he was in 2017, the year he won the Top Prospect Tournament. Woods, who is one half of a successful tag team with Silas Young, established himself as a threat in singles competition by defeating accomplished veterans Kenny King and PJ Black in the Pure Title Tournament. A win over Lethal, “The Franchise of ROH,” would prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Woods has the goods to beat anyone in the company. Lethal is extra motivated to defeat Woods decisively after nearly being upset by LSG in a Pure Rules Match last week. The two-time former ROH World Champion escaped with a split-decision victory. Woods applied an armbar, and Lethal used his first of three allotted rope breaks a little more than three minutes into the match. Woods had a smile on his face, which promoted Lethal to ask him if he thinks this is funny. “I don’t think it’s funny,” Woods replied. “But you’re Jay Lethal and this is just sad.” That fired up Lethal, who attempted two forearms to the face, but Woods blocked both. Woods hit a t-bone suplex and then mounted Lethal and began throwing forearms to his face. Woods applied a triangle choke, but Lethal shifted his weight into a pinning combination and Woods released the hold. Lethal gained the advantage after a hip toss and cartwheel dropkick combination. He began targeting Woods’ lower back. Lethal applied a modified Camel Clutch, and Woods used his first rope break. Later, Lethal went for Hail to the King, but Woods caught him in a cross armbreaker. Lethal was able to stack up Woods for a two count, and Woods released the hold. Lethal went for Lethal Injection, but Woods caught him in a chokehold. Lethal again shifted his weight into a pinning combination and Woods released the hold. Woods applied an ankle lock, but Lethal slipped out and set up for the figure-four leglock. Woods countered with a spladle and Lethal was unable to kick out before the three count at the 14:03 mark. By pinning the two-time former ROH World Champion, Woods scored the biggest victory of his career. Lethal, meanwhile, has now lost two of his past three matches.

My Opinion: 4.3 out of 5 – This was damn good. Woods has improved vastly in the past year or so. Lethal was great here, but Woods was the star here. It wasn’t just that Woods showed his natural wrestling skills, but he showed how strong his performance abilities are now. Woods can sell like crazy now, which is the opposite of the calculated way that he wrestles. The best part about Woods here though is that he has become great at portraying a master of mind-games. Woods had area in the match where he took the time to tell Lethal he was just sad, which was too cool. The rookie showed-up the far more established star and that star sold every-thing that the rookie did. I loved this and the fact that Woods won has me over the moon.

Match #2: (Main Event) Brody King def. Shane Taylor

The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:

This first-time one-on-one meeting between King and Taylor isn’t officially a No. 1 contender’s match, but it undoubtedly will have significant bearing on the ROH World Title picture. Both behemoths have scored huge victories in recent weeks to strengthen their cases for a world title opportunity. King defeated former ROH World Champion Dalton Castle, and Taylor beat two-time former ROH World Television Champion Kenny King. Brody King and Taylor have similar styles, as they’re both heavy hitters with agility that belies their size. “I’d be lying if I say I didn’t see this coming,” Taylor said. “Me and Brody have been on a collision course since he got to Ring of Honor because we’re so similar. He’s coming off of one of the biggest wins of his career, beating a former world champion. But Brody, you’re stepping in the ring with Shane T., boy, the baddest champion you’ve ever seen boy.” Brody King and Taylor have only been in the ring with each other once, but it was noteworthy. In a Four Corner Survival Match for the ROH World Television Championship last year, Taylor pinned King to win the title in a bout that also included then-champion Jeff Cobb and Hirooki Goto. “Shane, you had a hell of a TV Title run, and that run started in a win over me in a four-way, but that was kind of a cheap win, wasn’t it?” King said. “Pro wrestling is all about receipts. And Shane, you’ve had one coming for a while.” King rocked Taylor with a big right hand to the chin that knocked Taylor through the ropes. King followed with a cannonball off the apron and then tossed Taylor into the barricade and rammed his head into the post. Taylor survived the onslaught and gained the advantage after hitting a draping DDT off the apron. Taylor threw King into the barricade and then knocked King through the barricade with a running knee strike. King barely beat the 20 count back into the ring. Taylor hit a spinebuster for a near fall. King came back with a Death Valley Driver into the corner. Taylor connected on a big clothesline for a near fall. King hit a Black Hole Slam for a near fall, and a piledriver for another two count. Taylor answered with a head butt and package piledriver for a near fall. King hit a German Suplex followed by a clothesline, but Taylor kicked out at one. King landed three more big clotheslines to score the pinfall victory at 12:37. With the win, King significantly strengthened his case to be the No. 1 contender for RUSH’s ROH World Championship. King has defeated former ROH World Champion Dalton Castle and former ROH World Television Champion Taylor in his past two matches.

My Opinion: 4 out of 5 – This was hard-hitting action from two dudes that are larger than life. Taylor looked excellent against a fabulous King, who seems poised to be a major singles star for Ring Of Honor in the upcoming year. King and Taylor were absent of non-sense here, which is always a plus. I’ve heard the term “hoss” a bunch of times by other reviewers and that term seems to be apt here. These guys could pack concrete into a duck’s ass-hole and…I lost that one. As much as I enjoyed Taylor’s aggression here, King’s well-rounded appeal is apparent from the start. There’s plenty of bone-crushing action here to get excited about, but the fact that the more immediately thrilling prospect of the two got the win was the best of all.