Ring of Honor Wrestling

[Dylan Waco]

Just finished that Atlanta show and I thought it was very good, if not great. Before I talk about the matches themselves I've got a few general comments about the product.

 

Firstly, the commentary was generally good, and I've gotten to the point where I actually think Kevin Kelly is the best regular commentator in wrestling. I have been as critical of him as anyone in the past, but he's started to feel like the "voice" of ROH and he says little things that add to the matches, and almost never does anything to hurt them. I also thought Caprice Coleman was generally very good in the booth with him for the last few matches, though I did think he had some pretty embarrassing flubs too. Wrestling announcing is so terrible, that's it's not saying much to be the best of the field, but it has helped the tv recently, and it helped this show.

 

The hot crowd helped most of the show, though I think you could argue they hurt the main event a little bit. It almost felt like a lot of the people there came to see Styles, and/or were just waiting for the final fall brawl to break out between The Briscoes and Kingdom. A shame because I thought that was a tremendous match which I'll address in detail below.

 

Another thing that stood out as I was watching this was the number of black wrestlers on the show and the way they are generally depicted in the company. If Loss finds this too political I'll delete it, but there is something really absurd about the corporate liberal framework of the WWE and TNA giving us what they have given us over the years on this front, while the right wing media conglomerate-owned ROH has relatively inoffensive depictions of their black stars, who are a substantial percentage of the active roster, and fill a multitude of different slots on the card. Comparing the booking of Titus to the booking of Moose tells you a lot.

 

The one thing that keeps me from saying it's likely to end up a top show of the year contender for me is that it felt like a pretty self contained show baring the main event (again more later). You could even argue that some of the booking choices were not wise, though I think every finish on the show was at least defensible. Still this almost felt like a collection of novel matches with no real purpose, capped off with a blood feud main event, which makes for an incredibly fun show, but not necessarily a blow away great one.

 

The worst match on the show was the opener, which was five minutes long, perfectly fine and exactly what it was supposed to be. I liked Mike Posey's ridiculous Cheddar Bob tribute gimmick as it is an absurdity that I am subjected to on a semi-regular basis. In some ways this was the ideal opener as they did some cool stuff to pop the crowd, but didn't overstay their welcome and nothing they did couldn't easily be topped by the bigger stars to come.

 

The Hollis/Gresham match being interrupted by BJ Whitmer doing a terrible Ric Rude impression pissed me off at first, but to my surprise it actually turned into a really good little tag match. The match had pretty solid psychology, Page hit his big shooting star body block in a logical way, and I really liked the fact that they made Hollis and Greshem look great in losing, even as it was clear they weren't quite on the level of the regular ROH team. Greshem and Hollis deserve to be getting regular bookings. I will also say that if ROH is going to keep doing these Atlanta shows I'd like to see them book Kyle Matthews some time. Hollis is one of his best friends, and he's a hell of a worker who ALWAYS gets over regardless of opponent. Would like to see them bring in Slim J and Fred Yehi too, but Matthews is such an obvious choice that it annoys me when he's not on a show like this.

 

Sydal v. Delirious was pretty good, though I may not have liked it as much as others. It was helped a good deal by Kelly putting over their history against each other and just their backgrounds in general. I will say I thought they did a very good job integrating Delirious schtick match into the match without making things silly. I didn't care for the way some things were sold down the stretch, but it was still an engaging, well worked, different match.

 

I see a lot of people who I normally agree with really praising Strong v. O'Reilly. I liked the match. It was definitely good. But I also really wasn't surprised by this. Strong had a good year last year and has been good so far this year. O'Reilly has improved a ton since separating himself from Davey Richards to the point where he is now someone who's work I actively seek out on a regular basis. So I expected this would be good and it was good. The arm work from O'Reilly was sharp, intense and violent. Strong did a good job selling it throughout for the most part (far better than most would). I also liked Strong going for the big kill shots as a contrast to O'Reilly, at least in theory. That said I thought at best it was the fourth best match on the show, and that's largely because of the pacing. I have no problem with these guys working fast, athletic sequences, but it really felt like they were trying to shoehorn in rope running spots and strike exchanges when none were needed and it didn't really fit the story. Even still I would have been fine with this if they had let the arm work sink in at any point, but it almost felt like the arm work was a backdrop for the workrate spots rather than vice versa. It just seemed to me the match would have been better if Strong had been working underneath in a more clear fashion. As an aside, though I it arguably makes sense from the perspective of booking for the ppv, I don't really like the idea of O'Reilly jobbing clean to Strong at this point in each guys career, though that is really a minor hangup. I don't want to come across like I'm burying the match, because I thought it was good and would recommend people watch it. But I thought at best it was the fourth best match on the show, and could see it as low as sixth on the depth chart.

 

By contrast I was was really blown away by how much I liked Moose v. ACH. Part of it may be that my second favorite Gamecock ever was sitting ringside for Moose, and John Abraham actually added to the match in that role, but what's really enjoyable is just watching Moose develop. Moose has come a long, long way quick. He's far from great, but he's almost Rusev like in the sense that he feels like a big star in the making, he's been booked well, and he's clearly gaining confidence every time out. I also think this was the best ACH showing in a long, long time. Here they worked a smart Big Man v. Little Man match, where ACH's big spots meant something, and Moose's power was the neutralizer. It's a simple formula, but it's one that works when both guys understand that it's simple and don't try and over complicate it. I really enjoyed the fact that ACH failed when he went to the power well and Moose failed when he tried to go to the top rope. ACH's bumping probably put this match over the top, but Moose throws his shots with conviction, and the charisma of both guys jumps off the page when they are working. My biggest criticism here is that you could argue this match should never have even been booked as Moose had to win, and on paper ACH could have used a win coming into his ppv match v. AJ Styles, but this was done in such a way where I don't think ACH was really hurt by losing.

 

6 Man Mayhem was another match that was way better than I would have guessed if I was just looking at the match on paper. Don't get me wrong - it was basically a spotfest, and if you are looking for slow building, psych heavy stuff, this isn't it. That said each guy in this had a clear role and seemed to add something different. Ferrara was the opportunist rookie, happy to be there and trying to steal a win with surprise big spots. Hanson was the big babyface hoss. Lethal was working his role as cocky TV champion, quasi-ace even though this wasn't a title match. Cedric Alexander was the almost star, looking to get that big win that would finally get him over the hump. Ciampa was probably the least defined guy, but came across as the crowd favorite. In some ways the star of this was Michael Elgin of all people who's chickenshit heel act was a good way to set up certain spots, and added a bit of nuance and purpose to the bout. The announcing did a good job putting all of this over, and also covered for a bad Hanson botch down the stretch to the point where it didn't even hurt the match for me at all. I even liked this one for what it didn't do as it was loaded with crazy spots, but instead of delivering the tired Tower of Doom spot they teased it, which was a way better use of that overexposed bit. This was another one where I sort of felt like the wrong guy might have won though. I get why Hanson won as he is the guy getting the big push, but I don't like a champion who has been pushed the way Lethal has (i.e. arguing his belt is really the top belt in wrestling, not the World title) "losing" here, especially when it would have been exceptionally easy for him to steal a fall. Still that's a minor gripe.

 

Styles v. Fish was yet another good match. Not a top level Styles indie match from the last couple of years, but certainly another feather in his cap. Fish was good too, which isn't surprising as he can be really sharp when he wants to be. Match was the sort of slow developing match I generally lose my shit for, though I don't think this ever quite hit a second gear. That said I like how they used the time to develop something, and thought the pacing of this is what the pacing should have been in O'Reilly v. Strong. I would have liked the rib/back work on Styles to have been a bigger part of the match, but I don't think the lack of a full commitment to it really hurt the match. This also had a great, definitive finish, with the IWGP champion going over decisively, but in a fashion where you left thinking that Fish gave him his best in defeat.

 

As for The Briscoes v. Kingdom? As soon as I finish watching it I said on Twitter that I thought it had potential to be one of the most polarizing matches of the year and I think this thread is probably already evidence of that. On first watch I can't say it's my MOTY, but it's in contention. Part of this might be that I'm just a huge mark for The Brisoces (they are easily my favorite thing in wrestling right now), but I also thought it was a rare match with obvious, inherent flaws, that should have crippled it, but the parties involved managed to make it work. For example on paper 2/3 Falls matches like this almost always result in falls that feel rushed or end illogically. Here while the first two falls weren't particularly long they had time to breathe, the ended logically and definitively, and they were well worked. More than that I thought the double doomsday device in the opening fall made the matches finish feel even bigger than it already would have, and the finish of the second fall with spike piledriver through the table made Kingdom look like they were on the level of The Briscoes as brawlers coming into the final fall, while also giving Bennett a fall over the World champ. Another thing that normally should have fallen on it's face was Jay being able to come back to fight in the third fall after eating that piledriver, but I actually thought he put in a remarkably nuanced performance from that point forward. I have no clue if he was gassed, legitimately hurt, or was consciously doing it, but even though he was involved in the third fall, he never felt the same again in the match after taking that spot. I have seen countless matches where guys don't carry that sort of thing over when they move on to a new segment, so that really stood out to me. I wasn't enamored with Bennett's "bring it on!" stuff to Jay down the stretch, BUT I do like the idea of Bennett as a potential new challenger to Jay's title, and this match could have set that up with Bennett kicking out of Jay's big finish. All of this said, the real workhorse to this match was Mark Briscoe who's spots, risk taking, bumping, charisma and dynamism were incredible all throughout the first fall, and right through to the crazy dive and bump in the last fall. I wasn't bothered much by the lighting on the crowd brawling, because I watch so many scuzzy handhelds and low rent indies it was nothing I'm not already used to. In a way I thought it added to the match. I also didn't have much of problem with the lack of fall attempts on the floor that Tim pointed out. That's another thing where in theory I should be irked, but the idea of the match finishing clearly and noncontroversially in the middle of the ring - especially because it was so unexpected - feels bigger to me than finishing the match on the floor even if it technically could have ended there. To me a lot of how you see the match is dependent on how much you are invested in the respective acts, the feud and the possibilities that could come from the match. The Briscoes v. Kingdom feud has been my favorite U.S. wrestling feud of the last two years (low hurdle but still), so there was a lot I got out of this that others might not have, even if some of it may have been me reading into things that "weren't really there."

[KrisZ]

Great writeup Dylan.....I really need to watch this from a video perspective than a live one because it's always different to do that. Regarding with Tim said about the crowd heat....that place was loud when it needed to be and everyone in my area around ringside had their hands hurting from banging on the metal ROH signs on the railings.

[shoe]

I thought the crowd was great. The crowd came across as people there to enjoy the wrestling. Sometimes ROH crowds try to get themselves over . It didn't seem like that type of crowd.

[shoe]

Something I tweeted to Dylan was that both of us liked every match on the show. Yet I bet our match order from best to worst would be completely different. To me that says they're doing something right, and why wrestling can be so awesome .

[The Thread Killer]

ROH announced three super shows with New Japan Pro Wrestling in May of this year. The names of the NJPW talents appearing have not been released…

RING OF HONOR WRESTLING® AND NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING® TO PRESENT 3 SUPER SHOWS THIS MAY IN NORTH AMERICA

BOTH PHILADELPHIA AND TORONTO TO HOST THESE EVENTS

 

Ring of Honor Wrestling® (“ROH”) is happy to announce that we will once again partner with New Japan Pro-Wrestling® to present three must-see super shows for pro wrestling fans.

 

Details available at this time include the dates & locations of the three events. ROH & NJPW stars will be announced at a later date.

 

WAR OF THE WORLDS ’15 will be held Wednesday, May 13th, 2015 in Philadelphia at the 2300 Arena, formerly known worldwide as the ECW Arena. Tickets are on sale now for Ringside members now and go on sale to the general public Friday, February 27th @ 10am Est.

 

GLOBAL WARS ’15 will be held on Friday, May 15th and Saturday, May 16th, 2015 at the Ted Reeve Arena, located in Toronto, Ontario. Tickets are on sale now for both events.

 

The COO of ROH Joe Koff when asked about the events said: “We’re very excited to once again bring the stars of New Japan to our great fans. New Japan Pro-Wrestling is a fantastic partner with exceptional wrestlers and we always strive to give our fans an experience of a lifetime. With these three stacked events, showcasing the best wrestlers in the world, we will do just that.”

 

I am torn on this one.

 

I went to Global Wars in Toronto last year, and the experience I had was so bad, I swore off ever going to a live ROH show again, mostly due to the fact that the fans all around me were acting like a bunch of fucking morons.

 

On the flip side, I really like NJPW and how often do you get a chance to see them live, in such an intimate venue?

 

I think I'll wait to see how the card shapes up, but at this point, I think I'd wait to see if it is going to be on PPV or iPPV before going to the live show again, even though it is in my home town.

[The Thread Killer]

Hanson has improved in every way and is the template for what Moose can become but Moose will be even better because he has more athleticism.

 

 

How is his selling? That was my main bitch against him (and Moose too.) They both had a good look and solid offense but I thought both of them were weak when it came to selling.

 

EDIT: I should clarify...I don't mean no-selling. I can almost deal with that.

 

I mean both of them had a similar idea of selling offense from their opponent...

 

- stumble one step backward

- shake your head in confusion

- if REALLY selling, then wave your arms around like a windmill.

[KrisZ]

Moose is definitely improving on his selling....Hanson isn't bad but he could get better

[Grimmas]

I have tickets to both those shows in Toronto and am looking forward to them. Watching the tv now to catch up.

[bradhindsight]

I grabbed two tickets for War of the Worlds when they went on sale. Unfortunately, Joe isn't taking commitments after April so looks like he's out.

[Mad Dog]

I got the entire 2014 RoH TV on DVD and I'm starting to dig into that.

[stomperspc]

Moose is definitely improving on his selling....Hanson isn't bad but he could get better

 

I thought Moose looked the best he has looked in his match versus ACH. He is so much more comfortable in the ring than he was nine months ago. The drop kick that knocked ACH off the tope rope was tremendous. He's done a nice job combining his power stuff with the more athletic/agility stuff. If ROH can resign him (I think he was on a one year contract that is up in June) he should be the guy to take the title from Jay Briscoe.

[Mad Dog]

Knocked off about 5 weeks of 2014 TV. I'm enjoying it quite a bit as there's usually a match a week I like. Silas Young is great.

[Zoo Enthusiast]

Yeah, he is great.

[shoe]

I checked out the Dayton show after loving the Atlanta show, and liking the ppv a lot. Dayton didn't match up. It was a good show, but for people who thought it was at the level of the Atlanta show they're way off base. All things considered they don't have Styles or reDragon on the show you're bound to suffer some in the match quality of the show.

[Mad Dog]

I took one look at the Dayton card and didn't think it was worth spending money on.

[shoe]

I took one look at the Dayton card and didn't think it was worth spending money on.

 

 

I got my money's worth at 10.81. With that said it wasn't at the level of the Atlanta show or the PPV.

[Mad Dog]

Digging through RoH 2014 TV. It's a good episode when Silas Young or Romantic Touch show up.

 

The Ciampa/Lethal/Taven match. I watched to slit my wrists watching that. WTF happened to Jay Lethal when he left TNA?

[Mad Dog]

I'm about 2 months into the 2014 RoH TV. I'm enjoying it a lot for the most part but the shows are a very polarizing experience for me. I usually find about a match a week that I enjoy but I've fucking hated some of the stuff they've put on the shows. Ciampa/Lethal/Taven and Briscoes vs. Cole/Hardy vs. Elgin/Hero are two matches that I absolute despised. I think multi-man matches are just going to mean trouble on TV.

[bradhindsight]

but I've fucking hated some of the stuff they've put on the shows. Ciampa/Lethal/Taven and Briscoes vs. Cole/Hardy vs. Elgin/Hero are two matches that I absolute despised. I think multi-man matches are just going to mean trouble on TV.

 

That tag team triple threat sucked live too (it was taped at Wrestling Finest during Rumble weekend in Pittsburgh) fwiw.

[bradhindsight]

 

I took one look at the Dayton card and didn't think it was worth spending money on.

 

 

I got my money's worth at 10.81. With that said it wasn't at the level of the Atlanta show or the PPV.

 

 

Now that I'm past the 13th anniversary show, really looking forward to watching Atlanta.

 

The Baltimore lineup tomorrow is great - and should be three TV episodes (maybe two like in Philly)

[shoe]

Here are some little thoughts on the ROH 1/31/15 show from Dayton.

 

The Romantic Touch vs. Will Ferrara

 

This match had some good schtick. Romantic touch was good in the gimmick. The match went a little long and made me lose interest 2*

 

Michael Elgin vs. Chris Dickinson

 

I'm not an Elgin guy. I think he has a lot of bad instincts as a wrestler.Here it was 2 guys trying to beat the crap out of each other. Nothing to difficult to understand. 2 1/2 *

 

Matt Taven & Michael Bennett vs. Hanson & Tommaso CIampa

 

It started out as Ciampa and Bennett and morphed into the tag. The tag was a ton of fun. We get some really nice brawling. We get a southern tag, and then some more brawling. This bout was super charged. Maria was great 3 3/4*

 

 

Cheeseburger & Big Mac vs. Jay Lethal & J. Diesel

 

This was a blast. Just a basic southern tag. 2 3/4*

 

Aeroform vs. Jimmy Jacobs & BJ Whitmer

 

Whitmer as a bully is really the best use of him now. Aeroform was green, but have potential. Another match that dragged a bit. 2 1/4*

 

Alberto El Patron vs. Roderick Strong

 

This was my match of the night. This came across like a big time battle. Strong with the bloody nose. Patron almost killing himself on a tope'. This was just a hard fought battle that makes me proud to be a wrestling fan. Patron destroying the arm. Strong working the back. Great stuff. 4*

 

The Briscoes vs. Matt Sydal & ACH

 

This is a babyface match. So it can be tricky to work. Again the match went a little too long. Both teams looked good. Jay comes across as the real deal. ACH is such a fun babyface, as is Sydal. Mark was good here too. With the match getting time at times it seemed the story of the match suffered. 3 1/2*

 

 

Overall a fun show. It felt like it needed another match since some of the matches felt too long. Plus we had some angles to set up matches, and the Bennett/Ciampa non match. Clearly a lot going on. Not having a Styles or reDragon match changes the dynamic. So you put performers out there that are talented, but now need to go longer than they really should.

[Johnny Sorrow]

Jesus, did Del Rio tower over Strong? That's almost a size difference ala Del Rio vs Rey. I do want to see that match. I totally dig Alberto and was always a fan of Strong back in the Gen Next days when I was watching ROH.

[shoe]

He did, but it worked.

[bradhindsight]

I was going to ask you how that Strong/Alberto match was to see how it stacked up to his other matches - looks like it was clearly his best in ROH.

 

That Kingdom/Ciampa-Hanson tag is enticing.

[Stiva]

So, when did ROH really get good again on a week to week basis? Last Autumn or so? I'm going to dig out the TV and get caught up since my backlog is now almost manageable.