‘Ring of Honor’ Wrestling Review (June 17th 2018)
Welcome to this week’s Ring of Honor review, which features a ten-man main event with the two of New Japan’s biggest factions. With Ian Riccaboni and Colt “I beat Chris Amann and who he works for in a court of law” Cabana on commentary, along with special guest Dalton Castle, I’m Nathan Favel, this is Ring of Honor and it’s time to get to the action.
Match #1: Chuckie T (Chuck Taylor) vs. Kenny King
Chuck Taylor, who was billed as Chuckie T despite being referred to as the former name by the announcers, was looking to make another deep mark into Ring of Honor by fighting the former ROH TV Champion Kenny King, who has been in need of another shot in the arm over the past few months, after losing said title. The crowd took to this from the start, with both fighters getting a great reaction before the bell was even rung. KK went for a hug, which I don’t seem to recall working very well as a grappling maneuver, but got a hand-shake instead, which probably isn’t much better. Once they got into some actual wrestling, KK worked over CT’s arm with constant twists and tugs that looked quite convincing. KK got a Side-Lock on CT and knocked him back down with a swift Shoulder-Tackle. After KK got a sudden Leap Frog, he ran into a Shoulder-Tackle from CT, but KK got an Arm-Drag on his opponent when he got back to his feet. Apparently, Chuckie T was so impressed that he chose to finally give Kenny King that hug. KK got a Wrist-Lock that was reversed into a Waist-Lock from CT. CT got caught in a hold by KK, but reversed it into a knock-out shot that put his opponent on the mat. CT missed a splash from the top-turnbuckle that gave a KK an opening to land a Spinning-Heel-Kick. Chuckie T was knocked to the outside and Kenny King celebrated by taking a selfie with a fan from the crowd. CT shot KK’s throat on the rope, which was sold quite well by the latter. After CT splashed KK on the outside, the former got the latter back in the ring and hit a Power-Bomb on him that kept KK down for a moment or so. KK, eventually, retaliated with a big move of his own and got a pitch-perfect Spine-Buster on CT that even Ron Simmons would be proud of. Playing up his logical desperation, CT worked an inside cradle for a two count. In the final moment of the fight, Chuckie T went for an Awful Waffle but got caught in an Atomic Drop from Kenny King, which led to King hitting his finisher, the Royal Flush, for the win.
Winner: Kenny King
Verdict: This was a pretty good match with solid action sequences that kept the fight going at a brisk pace. The odd character qualities of Kenny King are almost off-putting, but if they were honed a bit more and incorporated into the offense itself, they could be far more effective than they are now, rather than a distraction. Chuck Taylor is a great fit for Ring of Honor (or any wrestling league for that matter) and there’s no reason not to have some-thing important in place for him in the near future, especially when he gives performances like this.
Match #2: Shane Taylor vs. Josh Woods
The angle here is that Shane Taylor wants revenge for a loss he suffered against Josh Woods a few weeks ago (one which King Mo interjected in as well). Shane Taylor tossed Josh Woods into the barricade. Woods got Taylor in the ring and controlled him for a while until the beast called Shane Taylor got a knock-out shot for the win.
Winner: Shane Taylor
Verdict: A glorified squash match that made Shane Taylor look even more dangerous than usual. Taylor has a lot of upside to his wrestling ability and is a strong candidate for this dominant streak he’s been booked in as of late. I hope this is all leading to an eventual title shot for one of the best rising stars of the year, because he’s really been delivering for the past six months.
Match #3: Main Event – Los Ingornobles De Japon (EVIL, Sanada, Bushi, Hiromu Takahashi and Tetsuya Naito) vs. The Bullet Club (Cody Rhodes, Adam Page, Marty Scurll, Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson) w/ Bernard the Business Bear – Ten Man Tag Team Match
This was one of those matches that went too fast for its own good, but looked fantastic doing so. These two teams were constantly brawling, like when EVIL and Sanada duked it out with the Young Bucks (Nick Jackson and Matt Jackson), or when Cody Rhodes tried to strike out Tetsuya Naito, only to be humiliated by New Japan Pro Wrestling’s highest-drawing outlaw in Naito, who has become the Japanese equivalent of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in recent years. At one point, Bushi hit a Japanese Destroyer, which is just Petey Williams’s Canadian Destroyer but with soy sauce… wait, that might not be correct. Any-way, Adam Page got drawn away from the match by Punishment Martinez, who ran out and brawled with wrestling’s resident hang-man all the way to the back of the arena. Also, Hiromu used his stuffed toy cat, Daryl, to knock Cody Rhodes right on his ass, which is still not nearly as humiliating as any-thing that his brother, Dustin Rhodes/Goldust, has endured while being promoted and booked by Vince McMahon for the better part of twenty years (Oprah-dust, Tourette’s-dust, movie-critic-dust, safari-dust, etc.). Marty Scurll looked great here and seems to get more popular each and every week. Scurll wrestled every-body and meshed well with them all. Also, Bernard the Business Bear interfered in the match, which further serves as a reminder that Cody Rhodes needs to get out more, because he brought the damn thing out with him. I have no idea if there is an angle with the mascot or not, but I hope they are going to go some-where with this, because it’s not having much of an impact as of now. For the climax of the match, the Young Bucks hit the Meltzer Driver on Bushi, if I remember right, and got the pin.
Winners: The Bullet Club
Verdict: It was hard to keep up with the moves in this match, which is a great sight but makes it harder to get an impression of any-thing but chaos. However, every wrestler here felt like they were important. Having such a high profile New Japan fight available in America is a rarity that I wouldn’t mind having more often and I hope this main event leads to more exposure for the New Japan natives who keep gaining notoriety every-where they go.
News of the Night:
- The Briscoe Brothers cut a great promo that was modelled on what the Crist Brothers and Sami Callahan are doing as Ohio Versus Every-One in TNA/Impact Wrestling. This Briscoes gone-dark angle is really good and seems to have more depth than their previous heel runs.
- There seems to be a fight being teased between Shane Taylor and King Mo, which has an interesting appeal to it beyond the typical idea of wrestler and celebrity. It remains to be seen if King Mo can have the kind of matches that Matt Riddle, Ken Shamrock or even Ronda Rousey have had in professional wrestling.
Final Verdict: This was a solid night of action that keeps the momentum going for the build to Best in the World, which is in two weeks.
