‘Ring of Honor’ Wrestling Review (June 3rd 2018)

Welcome back to the weekly Ring of Honor television review on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have a two match show tonight, with a major main event that could have some significant effects on the on the fortunes of more than one wrestling league. Without further ado, let’s get to the action!

Match #1: Karen Q vs. Tenille Dashwood – Women of Honor Match

At the sound of the opening bell, Karen Q and Tenille Dashwood, formerly the WWE’s “Emma”, engaged in a series of arm drags and wrist locks. Q began jaw-jacking to TD, pissing all over TD’s career. It’s nice to know who the heel actually is before the match ends and Q makes sure we get the message. In a flash, we get an excellent sequence of waist locks being countered, almost like clock-work. If memory serves, TD goes for a head-scissors, but that is reversed by Q, who sets the stage for a dominant streak that will engorge the bulk of the bout. Q, at this point, was really hitting her stride as the heel and even pulled off a bit of a strut, if I’m remembering right, although it could just be an impression my mind made because of her cocky swagger. TD, our crowd favorite, continues to get pummeled by the brutal fore-arm blows of Q. Q quarantined TD into the corner and kicked the hell out of her. Q got her out of the corner and let a barrage of knees and fists rain down on her prone back. Not one to take a chance, Q threw TD back into the corner and gave her a shoulder-jam right into the cold, steel turnbuckle. Karen Q was being made to look incredibly formidable here, with her offense appearing as devastating as any wrestler over the past few years. Looking for her end-game, Q attempts a Spring Roll, which is a variation of the Boston Crab. After struggling to sink the Spring Roll on her opponent, Q finds herself locked within the ropes, wrenched by TD’s take on the Tarantula, done about as well as Tajiri could do. Q quickly powers out of the Tarantula and regains control of the fight. Q inflicted more damage to her enemy, deflecting each desperate attack TD tried to mount with the fierce strikes she was firing off on the former WWE fighter. TD countered, finally, getting only a brief reprieve before Q trapped her in another Spring Roll. Q secured this second attempt of the Spring Roll, with some considerable time spent on selling the move, until Tenille Dashwood, her face painted in anguish, reached the ropes after a slog of a crawl and broke the grueling submission hold. After TD attempts to gain traction in the match, Q is able to counter back into a third Spring Roll, until TD performed a frantic roll-up off of Q’s vicious submission maneuver and gained the fall and the match.

Winner: Tenille Dashwood

Verdict: Considering this was a glorified squash match, I actually enjoyed this one. Karen Q was able to shine against a consummate athlete in Tenille Dashwood and displayed a heel character that might be able to give her an edge in her profession. This was a good match for continuing to prove women can work properly and this was a good match for Ring of Honor.

Match #2: Main Event: Silas Young (champion) vs Austin Aries – Ring of Honor World Television Championship Match

Right from the first bell, the crowd was with Austin Aries, who made his return to Ring of Honor with this match. Aries, after a lame WWE run, has recently conquered Impact Wrestling, regaining the TNA/Impact World Heavyweight Championship, not once but twice. Aries appears to not be exclusive with Impact, which is what has, likely, been the reason that this match can even begin to occur. The idea behind this match is that the champion, Silas Young, resents Aries for being granted an instant title shot, despite not wrestling for ROH for a few years. Young has made for an honorable heel, one who will only show respect to a competitor who can prove himself to be a “real man”, but it gives beating Young an extra caveat. As for the champion at the calm before the storm, Silas Young was already hard at work playing the best prick that he could, so it made it that much easier for Aries to have the crowd enraptured. These two grapplers went to the mat and went hold for hold. Aries then laid a slew of knee stomps to Young’s head which the former then morphed into a tight neck stretch on the latter. The combatants battled back to their feet and launched into a collar/elbow tie sequence that turns into Snapmere on Young. Aries goes wrist to head-lock on Young, who eventually countered Aries into a head-scissors. Young’s side-head-lock lead to a tackle on Aries. Aries battled back until he was able to get to the top rope and fire off a flying drop-kick for a two count. Aries threw Young pillar to post and landed an ear-clap to knock Young off the apron. Aries followed Young outside but a reversal allowed the latter to hurl the former into the barricade. Young choked Aries on the barricade, until the referee ended the attack from Young. When they got back in the ring, Young thrust Aries to the mat and sunk in a firm head-lock. Young transitioned from his head-lock and hit a back-breaker/clothes-line combo on Aries that lead to a two count. Young locked a Full-Nelson on Aries but the Impact World Heavyweight Champion shoots the ROH TV Champion out of the ring. Aries dove through the ropes and landed his mark on his opponent. Aries got Young back in the ring and went for a drop-kick in the corner but found it blocked by the latter. Young attempted Misery, but is blocked by his opponent. Aries and his corner drop-kick is countered, once again, by Young but, this time, into a rolling-slam. Young went for a pin but Aries is able to get a rope break. Aries took his chance and snuck in a roll-up but lost the pin. Aries went for the Last Chancery but Young broke the count after he reached the ropes. These two athletes started trading more big shots on each other. An errant Misery from Young knocked-out the referee. Aries finally hit his corner drop-kick to great acclaim. Beer City Bruiser tried to interfere on Silas Young’s behalf, but he was repelled by Kenny King, who ran out on Austin Aries account. King hit Young and gave Aries the chance for victory. Aries took his shot and, suddenly, Aries got the pin, the win and the title!

Winner: Austin Aries – the NEW Ring of Honor World Television Champion

As Austin Aries celebrated, the referees convened on the final moments of the match. The officals ruled that Kenny King’s actions resulted in a disqualification of Aries, which gave the match and the title to Silas Young.

Winner: Silas Young – the Ring of Honor World Television Champion

Verdict: This was a great main event that had bristling action and thrilling moments of suspense.

News of the Night:

1. Cody Rhodes and Marty Scurll had a heated moment at the top of the hour where Scurll taunted his Bullet Club leader ahead of the title match at “Best in the World”. It certainly seems like they’re pushing that the Bullet Club will turn on Cody rhose before the year is out.
2. An Adam Page/Punishment Martinez feud is being pushed, thanks to a vignette that featured about a month’s worth of animosity between the two.
3. Austin Aries has, apparently, gone heel, after he attacked Todd Sinclair for ruling his victory null and void. Aries then assaulted Kenny King, for costing him the title.
4. Jay Lethal was to make an announcement, but the melee after the main event ate up the rest of our television time.

Final Verdict: This was an excellent night, with a great main event. Hopefully, we get more of these inter-promotional fights between Impact and Ring of Honor.

Next Week: The Briscoes vs. Roppongi 3K – Ring of Honor World Tag Team Championship Match