21st Mar2019

‘Ring of Honor’ Wrestling Review (March 17th 2019)

by Nathan Favel

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Welcome to this week’s Ring Of Honor review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have some great wrestling on this card, so let’s see if Jordan Peele is gonna swap my body with a rabbit.

Match #1: The Briscoes and Silas Young defeated Shinobi Shadow Squad (Cheeseburger, Eli Isom and Ryan Nova)

The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:

Anyone expecting the Briscoes and Young to steamroll 3S quickly found out that wasn’t going to be the case. The underdogs gained an early advantage with quick tags and a stick-and-move approach. Eventually, the Briscoes and Young isolated Cheeseburger. After Cheeseburger tagged Isom, Isom entered the ring with a head of steam and hit a Death Valley Driver on Jay Briscoe for a near fall. After Jay Briscoe recovered, he hit a Death Valley Driver of his own on Isom, and Mark Briscoe followed with Froggy Bow. The cover seemed merely a formality, but, remarkably, Isom kicked out at two. Isom rallied and hit a Brainbuster on Jay Briscoe. In the end, the Briscoes hit Total Elimination on Isom and Jay Briscoe followed with Jay Driller for the win.

My Take: 3 out of 5 – This was a good match that was pretty thorough in establishing the winners as the better competitors, despite the SSS proving that they have some chops as a team. I can’t tell you that this was the most exciting match, even though it was exciting, nor can I call this amazing, despite that a few select parts of it were just that. This was a bout made to perform its task and not botch the mission along the way and it does that, but with a little bit of flair. Do you think I look excited when I write this? I am. I’d say you could go look up my picture on the internet to get a frame of reference, but you’d puke if you saw what I looked like. Have you ever seen a potato melt? Slap my face on that and you’re about there.

Match #2: The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser and Brian Milonas) defeated Brian Johnson and Joe Keys

The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:

Before the match, Johnson said he and Keys thought they were going to see sunny beaches and beautiful women in Florida, but instead they’re treated to “a bunch of busted-up broads and beer-sling bozos,” and they’re disgusted by it. The match was all Bouncers early on, but Johnson and Keys eventually isolated Bruiser. The Bouncers quickly regained the advantage and finished off Johnson after Milonas came off the top rope with a leg drop while Johnson was draped over Bruiser’s knee.

My Take: 1 out of 5 – This just didn’t work. It’s nothing against any of these guys, but some matches just don’t make it to the finish line and this was one of them.

Match #3: Madison Rayne (w/Sumie Sakai) defeated Thunder Rosa (w/Holidead)

The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:

Rayne, who has been attacked by Twisted Sisterz on multiple occasions, went on the offensive right from the opening bell. Rayne hit a baseball slide that took out Holidead, but Thunder Rosa made her pay for diverting her attention. Thunder Rosa jumped Rayne from behind and delivered a series of hard kicks to her spine. Rayne came back with a spear and an Enziguri for a near fall. Thunder Rosa answered with the Gory Special for a near fall. Thunder Rosa set up Rayne for a power slam, but Rayne slipped out and hit the Scorpion Death Drop for the victory.

My Take: 2.5 out of 5 – This was a bit too short for my taste, but I liked seeing Rayne get a victory. Rosa did just fine here, but Rayne felt like the big star here and that was because the latter has had more time to prove herself. Overall, this was a match of a few big moves, some nice holds and locks, but not too much outside of that.

Match #4: (Main Event) Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Rocky Romero

The following is courtesy of rohwrestling.com:

The two international stars battled to a stalemate for several minutes before Sabre eventually took control with an assortment of holds that tied up Romero. Romero rallied with a tornado DDT and two big running clotheslines into the corner. He then went for a knee strike, but Sabre caught him and transitioned into the STF. Romero made it to the ropes to force a break. With Sabre draped over the middle rope, Romero hit a springboard knee drop onto his back. Romero followed with Sliced Bread for a near fall. He went for the move again, but Sabre countered with an abdominal stretch. Sabre then locked on Hurrah, and Romero tapped out.

My Take: 4 out of 5 – This was a bravura exhibition of technical wizardry. Well, didn’t I just dive right in to the pool of pretention? Sabre and Romero fit each other like and old, tight glove. The wresting was everything that proper grappling should be, with smooth transitions from hold to hold and locks that could choke the life out of you. When the action switched to strikes, it felt natural, rather than forced, which is too typical of many modern matches. I could go on and on about this, but rest assured that this match is as good of a match as you’ll see anytime soon.

News Of The Night:

  1. Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham vs. Coast 2 Coast (LSG and Shaheem Ali) happens, next week.
  2. Champion) Willie Mack vs. Rhett Titus – NWA National Title Match happens, next week.

Final Verdict: 3.5/5

The main event was the star here, but the show itself was assembled well and made good sense all the way through.

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