[2022-07-23-ROH-Death Before Dishonor] Rush vs Dragon Lee

[corwo]

This match is deeply stupid. From the outset, Rush eggs Lee on, like a big brother would, but always makes sure Lee knows he's in control. Rush hits a fantastic topé con giro and heels it up, throwing Lee into the barricades repeatedly. Rush mocks Lee, slapping him around and stomping him in the corner. This leads to Lee's eventual comeback, where he places Rush on a table and lawndarts himself out of the ring onto Rush. Admittedly, that looked awesome.

Where the match starts to fall apart is when they start no-selling everything. I could buy it a few times, maybe as Rush and Lee not giving their sibling the satisfaction of having one-upped them, but it was constant. This ended up having the third superplex from the apron on the show, which would've been fine if it hadn't already happened, but didn't carry much weight after the previous two. Rush and Lee lay in their strikes on the apron, but it's just a ruse so they can no-sell more moves.

Rush eventually gets the better of Lee and sends him flying off the apron with a suplex. Unsurprisingly, Lee sells it for all of a second before hitting a hurricanrana off the apron. I understand the appeal of cool moves, but this is all getting to be exhausting. More tired tropes rear their ugly head, with a count-out tease leading to both competitors getting in the ring at 19. They kick out of each other's signature moves, and you know the deal by this point. Rush eventually gets the win with the Bull's Horns. While parts of it were enjoyable, I don't think this ever came together cohesively.

[Makai Club #1]

What it lacked for selling, it made up for big bumps and just generally being exciting. It had its lulls admittedly, but the barricade and table spots more than made up for it. Dragon Lee took massive bumps for both, even the table dive, for which he was the one doing the move. Rush acted like the big prick like an older brother should act in a fight and it was amazing. And him mouthing off at his Mum (??? Some blonde women) was also amazing. More of this Rush please. Dragon Lee got a big rub by kicking out of Rush’s corner dropkick as well. I thought this was really good. Easy match of the night up-to this point in the show. ***3/4
 

[EnviousStupid]

Very hard match to get into once they get to the comeback. A case of prioritizing spots over storytelling, and while that's not an inherent problem, I'm left disappointed having familiarized myself with these two over the past year or so. It's also jarring in hindsight with how heated Rush was on the outside early on, only for what felt like the entire second half of the match to be plagued with a plodding back-and-forth of big bumps with little weight given to all of them. The layout, along with the change in production, appeared more a Takeover match than anything from the past 20 years of Ring of Honor.

The tope onto Rush's dick was great though.