‘Ring of Honor’ Wrestling Review (Nov 25th 2018)
Welcome to this week’s Ring of Honor review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have a confusing, chaotic and interesting show to cover, so let’s do so before Barbra Streisand shows up to give us therapy.
Match #1: The Boys versus The Kingdom (Matt Taven and TK O’Ryan) – Tag Team Match
My Take: Matt Taven requested a Handicap Match, so he got one.
Match #1: Matt Taven versus The Boys – Handicap Match
My Take: Matt Taven took out Boy #2, so it became a singles match.
Match #1: Matt Taven versus Boy #1
My Take: Boy #2 woke up and returned, so the match became and Handicap again.
Match #1: Matt Taven defeated The Boys – Handicap Match
The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:
Before the match, Taven said that The Kingdom will hurt The Boys just like they did Dalton Castle last week. Taven said it won’t even take two members of The Kingdom to do it, and he told O’Ryan take the night off and sit in on commentary during the match. After O’Ryan exited, Taven nailed one of The Boys with his “real” world title belt. With one Boy incapacitated outside the ring due to the belt shot, Taven overcame a brief flurry of offense from the other Boy and began to dominate. Eventually, both Boys were in the ring at the same time and were able to seize the advantage — until red balloons floated up from under the ring, that is. “The Horror King” Vinny Marseglia crawled out from under the ring and dragged one of The Boys off the apron and under the ring with him. Taven then hit Climax on the other Boy for the win.
My Take: .5 out of 5 – This thing was a mess to describe and a pain to watch. Why not just have a match that makes sense? They did some moves and slammed each other until Taven won the match. This whole debacle made me want to skip the Dalton Castle/Matt Taven match at Final Battle, so I would call this match a failure.
Match #2: Kelly Klein defeated Jenny Rose – The Final Spot In The Women Of Honor World Title Four Corner Survival Match At Final Battle
The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:
Not only was this a qualifying match, but it also was a grudge match. These two simply don’t like each other, and that was apparent from the outset. Klein and Rose were both ultra aggressive, as the fight took place both in and out of the ring. Klein gained the early advantage, but Rose halted her momentum with a jarring spear for a near fall. Klein came back with her new K-Power finisher (a fireman’s carry into a modified Michinoku Driver) for the victory.
My Take: 2.5 out of 5 – This was a slow, cumbersome match that had a lot of hard work that kept this thing going, even when it got rough. I like both of these fighters, but they have a long way to go before they become ready for what could be in their immediate future, that being the women’s world title. These athletes still remind me of people like Samoa Joe or Rhino, both of whom are great wrestlers to share skills with, so I hope they can reach that potential in time for Kelly or Jenny to get there. Over-all, this felt like another step towards these two women becoming the wrestlers they want to be, rather than the kind where they get to enjoy being the kind that want to be.
Match #3: (Main Event) The Briscoes versus The Young Bucks – #1 Contender’s Match For The Ring Of Honor World Tag Team Titles at Final Battle
The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:
With a spot in the ROH World Tag Team Title Match at Final Battle on the line, the two greatest tag teams in ROH history went after each other with reckless abandon right from the opening bell. The Young Bucks gained an early advantage with their innovative double-team moves, but the Briscoes eventually settled things down and isolated Matt Jackson. The Briscoes went on to hit a Razor’s Edge/cutter combination on Matt for a near fall. After Matt tagged in Nick Jackson, The Young Bucks took over, including hitting a Blockbuster/lung-blower combination on Mark Briscoe for a near fall. The match then degenerated into a slugfest between all four competitors. The Briscoes took a page out of The Young Bucks’ playbook by hitting simultaneous superkicks, but The Young Bucks answered with stereo superkicks of their own, and then a double superkick on Mark for a near fall.
The Young Bucks set up for the 5-Star Meltzer Driver on Mark, but Jay Briscoe distracted them by throwing a chair into the ring. Matt grabbed the chair as Jay entered the ring holding another chair. After a brief standoff, Jay threw his chair at Nick’s head while Matt threw his chair at Mark’s head. The referee had no choice but to disqualify both teams, and then he got knocked out by an inadvertent chair shot. All four competitors began brawling before security came in to separate them.
My Take: 3.5 out of 5 – This was another excellent match between the two of them. The Young Bucks could be on their way out of Ring of Honor pretty soon and if that is the case, these matches between the two teams will likely be all done, for the time being. I’ll miss these series of matches between The Young Bucks and The Briscoes when one or both of these teams leave wrestling in the future and I believe that time will favor this current incarnation of the ROH tag team division. Overall, this was good stuff that ended with a bad finish, but that led to a big announcement that gets covered in the News section.
News Of The Night:
- Jonathan Gresham will fight Zach Sabre Jr. in a battle of great technicians at Final Battle.
- At Final Battle, we will have a Ladder War Match between So-Cal Uncensored, The Young Bucks and The Briscoes.
- So Cal Uncensored (Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky) versus Guerrero Maya Jr. and Stuka Jr. for the ROH World Tag Team Titles happens next week.
- Jeff Cobb versus Josh Woods for the Ring Of Honor World Television Championship happens next week.
- Christopher Daniels versus Kenny King happens next week.
Final Verdict: 3.5/5
As bad as the opener was, the show itself took the lame card and made it fun to watch, in many cases because the Final Battle card was the priority, with the main event delivering one of the biggest announcements for Final Battle yet. I’m excited about Final Battle and I think it will do well, both creatively and financially, so I hope ROH keeps making great strides in building anticipation to it.
