Nerdly » ‘Ring of Honor’ Wrestling Review (Feb 24th 2019)

28th Feb2019

‘Ring of Honor’ Wrestling Review (Feb 24th 2019)

by Nathan Favel

Welcome to this week’s Ring Of Honor review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have a big main event to get to, so screw every-thing else. Yummy, yummy, yummy, here’s comes a caramel crème Bugs Bunny.

Match #1: Madison Rayne defeated Sumie Sakai and Jenny Rose in a Triple Threat Match

The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:

Rose used her power advantage to seize control. After hitting a double clothesline, Rose landed a Fisherman’s Suplex on Sakai, but Rayne broke up the pin. Rose hit a spinning sidewalk slam on Rayne for a near fall and followed with a big clothesline on Sakai for a two count. Rose then hit a Codebreaker and spear on Sakai, but Rayne once again made the save. Rayne hit a Ripcord Cutter on Rose and then the Rayne Check on Sakai for a near fall. Sakai came back with the TJ Neckbreaker on Rayne. After Rayne and Rose spilled to the outside, Sakai connected with a Missile Dropkick off the apron on both of them. Sakai threw Rayne back in the ring and scored a near fall. Sakai went for a back elbow, but Rayne ducked it and landed an inverted DDT for the victory.

My Take: 2.5 out of 5 – This felt like an exercise in stopping and starting before you could get anywhere, but it was solid overall. Rayne looked excellent and so did Sakai, but Rose looked a bit green in comparison. Green…stupid slang word. Rose tries hard, but she’s a bit clumsy in the offensive part of her wrestling. Not bad for an opener, but Rayne and Sakai would have been much better in a singles match.

Match #2: (Main Event) LifeBlood (IWGP U.S. Champion Juice Robinson, Bandido, Mark Haskins, David Finlay, and Tracy Williams) defeated ROH World Champion Jay Lethal, ROH World Television Champion Jeff Cobb, Dalton Castle, Flip Gordon and Jonathan Gresham in a 10-man tag match

The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:

Gresham and Williams engaged in a terrific display of technical wrestling that resulted in a stalemate. Then Gordon and Bandido thrilled the crowd with their agility, and they also proved to be evenly matched. Later, LifeBlood gained the advantage and isolated Gordon. Gordon hit a springboard Sling Blade on Finlay. Lethal and Haskins were tagged in, with Lethal immediately taking control. Eight of the competitors ended up on the floor, and Gordon took them all out with a step-up, springboard flip dive. Once everyone made it back to their feet, Bandido hit a corkscrew moonsault on them. After the action got back inside the ring, Castle went for Bang-a-Rang on Haskins, but Haskins reversed it into a sharpshooter. Castle tapped out. After the match was over, the Code of Honor was adhered to, as LifeBlood shook hands with Lethal, Cobb, Gordon and Gresham. Castle, however, had already headed to the back, obviously frustrated, as his recent losing streak continued.

My Take: 3.5 out of 5 – This was a long, tough match with a lot of action that was paced well and booked correctly. The idea here was that you could have a fierce, competitive match that didn’t turn into a grudge fight. Mixed Martial Arts has made its name off of the fighters always shaking hands afterward as a sign of the bond forged during the fight itself, so returning to the days of the Code Of Honor should not be such a bizarre thing to strive for. Actually, it took the pressure off of me as a spectator, since I didn’t have to get emotionally involved in what they were doing. The whole match was all about the journey and not the destination, since it was very easy to like the two teams. It’s become almost taboo in wrestling to have a match where no one is angry at each other, but here this match is and it is a success precisely because it was all about the spirit of competition, rather than revenge. Over-all, this block-buster of a main event got cut to the chase and delivered the kind of white-knuckle action that ROH once made its reputation from.

News Of The Night:

Dalton Castle is being booked to be frustrated at losing so much since his return. Castle might be getting turned heel, since he left before the wrestlers could shake each other’s hands.