‘Ring of Honor’ Wrestling Review (Mar 12th 2021)

Welcome to this week’s Ring Of Honor review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have the show of shows…Rip Taylor With Naked Men! Rip Taylor: Oh my God! Naked men! Holy s—t! I’m gonna f—k these naked men! Me: Ummmmm…can’t we just talk wrestling? RT: …with naked men? Me: Come one. Let’s not make this about sex. RT: Why?! I want sex! Me: Oh my God. RT: Damon Wayans booty! Oh my God! Me: Let’s just get to the matches. RT: Anal! Me: ROH…now!

Match #1: Dak Draper def. Fred Yehi

The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:

Both of these competitors are immensely talented, but they’ve been headed in opposite directions lately. Draper has worked his way into being the No. 1 contender in the Pure division. Yehi, conversely, has been on the losing end in his last three matches in ROH and desperately needs a victory to get back into the rankings. “When you’re in a place such as Ring of Honor and you don’t win, your position within this company is questionable,” Yehi said. “If I don’t win, I don’t eat. Dak Draper, are you prepared to go toe to toe with a hungry ‘Savageweight?’” Even though Draper has been on a roll, he knows he needs to defeat Yehi to maintain his No. 1 ranking. “Dak Draper eats success, and that’s the difference between a guy like Dak Draper and a guy like Fred Yehi,” Draper said. “So Fred, if you think you can stand between ‘The Mile High Magnum’ and the thing that he loves most, which is success, then shame on you.”

The Score: 7 out of 10

• The Good: Yehi is something else. I always hear about how short wrestlers are a waste of time to book because they aren’t believable. When I see Yehi use his stomps, chops, hooks and locks to bring his opponents down to his level, I see all that’s needed to make his bout believable. Dak is getting a nice blend of Bobby Roode and Dolph Ziggler for his pro style at this point. When you get Yehi and Dak together, the result was rather encouraging action that didn’t falter.
• The Bad: Dak won. Dak is accomplished enough in the ring to warrant a victory over a far better and more established wrestler yet. Yehi was made to look like a chump just to get Dak over more than he’s ready for yet. It’s hard to watch a fighter demonstrate how to disassemble another competitor and still lose as if he never put any effort toward winning in the first place.
• The Verdict: This match was a matter of the wrong guy losing and the wrong guy winning. That being said, Dak will gain from this, but not nearly as much as Yehi would have from gaining the fall. Perhaps Yehi is not a member of the roster yet, but when you have one of the top free agents available, why wouldn’t you make better use of them than just feeding them to the flavor of the month?

Match #2: Tony Deppen def. Kenny King

The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:

Deppen came within an eyelash of defeating Dragon Lee for the ROH World Television Title at Final Battle in December, and now he’s looking to knock off King — a teammate of Lee’s in La Faccion Ingobernable — to work his way back into title contention. King is ranked No. 2 in the TV Title division; Deppen is ranked No. 4. “One match stands between me and a rematch with Dragon Lee, and I have to get through Kenny King, Dragon Lee’s friend,” Deppen said. “I don’t really know what to expect, because I know they’re going to be lurking around the sides. I know I’m going to have to watch my back. So I’m going to have to be on my ‘A’ game.” King enters the match riding a wave of momentum, so his confidence is at an all-time high (and that’s saying something). Two weeks ago, he and Lee won the ROH World Tag Team Title from Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham, and the week prior, King and Lee defeated 11-time former ROH World Tag Team Champions Jay and Mark Briscoe. “Tony Deppen … you think the internet done told you that you deserve a shot at the World Television Title? You think the internet done hyped you up to believe you have business with LFI?” King said. “Tony Deppen, LFI is a weapon. And if you are stupid enough to enter that ring, that is where you’ll get left in.”

The Score: 6 out of 10

• The Good: Deppen was right on target for what he should be doing in the ring. Deppen focused on bringing King to the ground and King…his pants were colorful. King played the part of the heel very well. Deppen played the man in peril very well and sold convincingly for the veteran King.
• The Bad: This was far more King’s match than Deppen’s, so you get King posturing his way to rest-holds the whole time. King has got to be ROH’s version of The Miz at this point. The Miz is good, but not great and Kenny King is the same way. Deppen was made to look like a sweaty geek the whole time. Who wants to see a sweaty geek luck his way to a victory? Deppen is normally an intense grappler, so the change here was disconcerting to say the least.
• The Verdict: On paper, this was interesting than in practice. King really has got to commit to a technique or his matches will continue to go nowhere. Is he a technician or an aerialist or a brawler or what? What is Kenny King? Tony Deppen is a grappler who is at his best when he has another grappler to do so with and all he had was King playing heel Face and heel will never be enough to make a match work…ever. You’ve got to have a system of how you fight in order to make a match entertaining. Sometimes, it feels like King wouldn’t be able to even finish a match if he didn’t have heel tactics to just steal the fall.

Match #3: (Main Event) Flamita def. Flip Gordon

The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:

It’s been over a year since Flamita and Gordon were opponents, but Flamita remembers it like it was yesterday. That’s because Gordon crossed the line with him, and Flamita has been waiting for his opportunity to exact revenge. After Gordon defeated Flamita at Honor Reigns Supreme in January 2020, he proceeded to rip off Flamita’s mask, which is the ultimate disrespect one can show a masked luchador. “I know you’re no longer that good boy that likes to fly. There is something dark within you now,” Flamita said through an interpreter. “But you know what? I have rough blood within me, too. This time I will show you that Flamita will always be better than you.” Gordon, who is owed a shot at the ROH World Title by virtue of winning a battle royal a year ago, appears more focused on that than his match against Flamita. When asked for his comments about facing Flamita, a surly Gordon replied: “You want me to talk about my match with Flamita, another singles match that’s not a world title shot like I deserve? … After I beat the hell out of Flamita, I better get my opportunity at the Ring of Honor World Championship.”

The Score: 7 out of 10

• The Good: Well, didn’t these guys just have a good time? This went from grappling to lucha to striking within the same breath. A great deal of this was as athletic as any thing I’ve seen in recent months. While this wasn’t high-octane action, it was always absolutely engaging. How can I not love Flamita forcing Flip to meld his aerial skills with his technical skills into a strong offense?
• The Bad: There were times that things just happened and brought the match to a halt instead of ramping-up the action to a fever pitch. Flamita and Flip also may have gotten a bit obsessed with just going from move to move instead of having a competitive wrestling match.
• The Verdict: With a focus on Flip removing Flamita’s mask and dishonoring the legacy of lucha libre in general, this was a spirited bout that saw Flamita prove his worth as an attraction.

Final Verdict: 7/10

This was show with a card that was excellent in practice. You have wrestling that delivered some-thing worth seeing even when it wasn’t as much as it could have been. Ring Of Honor continues to provide the right format and formula for wrestling shows. Now, Ring Of Honor just needs to add some fire to the pot to boil the damn ham and we can have some soup, I tell you what.