‘Ring of Honor’ Wrestling Review (Feb 3rd 2019)
Welcome to this week’s Ring of Honor review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have a great night of wrestling to get to, so let’s do so before Hugh Jackman sings.
Match #1: Tracy Williams beat David Finlay
The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:
IWGP U.S. Champion Juice Robinson, who is a close friend of Finlay, sat in on commentary. Williams controlled the pace early with his mat wrestling skills. He also showed that he can deliver high-impact moves, as he hit a single-arm DDT on the turnbuckle followed by a big clothesline for a near fall. Finlay came back with a Sambo backbreaker for a near fall and a devastating clothesline of his own for another two count. Williams answered with a Death Valley Driver for a near fall before finishing off Finlay with a piledriver. Williams and Finlay adhered to the Code of Honor before and after the match, which impressed Robinson.
My Take: 3.5 out of 5 – This was my kind of match. These guys kept it to the mat and went hold for hold in a great fight for honor. Finlay isn’t quite the competitor that his dad is, but he’s got plenty of personality and can wrestle quite well much of the time. Tracy is one of those people whose arrival feels like a long time coming when it comes to making it to national television, so it’s good to see that his first big Ring of Honor run is going well. This reminds me a lot of the Pure division that ROH had for a good while. A decade or so ago, the Pure Title was designed to give technical wrestling a corner of the world to call its own, just as Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling had done with the X-Division and its title. The matches wrestled for the Pure Title were excellent and were able to show the intellect of numerous athletes who had been grouped into ROH’s strong-style off-shoot. I bring this up because this match is a reminder of why that title was made and why a Pure title may be a good idea again, given how many wrestlers are competing in the X-Division/Strong-Style these days. Both of these guys have the potential to be big stars for Ring of Honor and it’s nice to see them get a fair amount of time to show every-body why that they are worth the time.
Match #2: Bandido beat Mark Haskins
The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:
Juice Robinson remained on commentary for the match. After an early stalemate, Haskins gained the advantage after hitting a suicide dive. Bandido answered with a twisting dive over the top rope onto Haskins on the floor. Back inside the ring, Bandido and Haskins began exchanging near falls. Bandido gained two counts off a pop-up cutter and West Knee; Haskins scored near falls off a Falcon Arrow and double stomp off the top rope. Bandido ended up hitting 21 Plex for the hard-fought victory. Robinson praised the efforts of both men.
My Take: 3.5 out of 5 – This was an excellent match that took the X-Division style and did it right. They started off with the right amount mat wrestling, just so they didn’t get ahead of them-selves. The crowd was into the whole thing from the start, with Bandido really getting the people to get behind him. Haskins looked great here and is miles ahead of where he was in TNA/Impact. These guys have a lot of chemistry with each other, which is another way of saying that they both know what they’re doing and didn’t make each other look like an @$$-hole to get to where they were going. I outta start writing a poor schmucks version of the encyclopedia and call it “Prick University’s Complete Volume of Knowledge For #!@&-Heads”. Over-all, this was a great example of how the Ring of Honor house style can be used to make a convincing match that doesn’t exceed the people’s ability to suspend disbelief.
Match #3: (Main Event) Silas Young beat Eli Isom – Ring of Honor World Television Title Tournament Contendership Finals Match
The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:
Young took control after body-slamming Isom on the floor and repeatedly bending the rules. Isom came back with a belly-to-belly suplex for a near fall, but Young regained the advantage and began taunting the youngster. That fired up Isom, who hit Emerald Flowsion for a near fall. Young came back with the Plunge for a near fall. Isom’s resilience began to frustrate the veteran. Young hit a superplex, but, amazingly, Isom kicked out at one. Isom used a backslide for a near fall, but Young answered with Misery for the win.
My Take: 3.5 out of 5 – This was the weakest of the three matches, but it was still worthy of a higher rating. Young was the boss in that match and it showed, as he guided Eli in the right direction (at least it seemed that way). Eli did well here, but Young deserved his chance to get back in the title picture and since that happened here, I’m happy with the match and its ending. If you’re looking for a good one with its feet firmly on the ground, then this grueling grapple-fest is the kind of bout you’re looking for.
News Of The Night:
- Nick Aldis will defend the NWA World Heavyweight Title against PJ Black, next week.
- Silas Young gets his TV Title shot in four weeks.
- Villain Enterprises wrestles, next week.
Final Verdict: 4.5/5
The wrestling was excellent and the show was devoid of any of the garbage that TV wrestling gets stuck with too often, so this one was an easy A to me. I don’t get to say this about every Ring of Honor show, but I hope that this is the sign of a good trend for 2019, so I can say it more often.
