Ring of Honor Wrestling

With the Ring of Honor’s 2012 Best in the World pay-per-view coming up this weekend, it’s time to break down the company’s latest effort to put on an amazing show.

ROH continues to make all the right moves.

Best in the World is one of the deepest cards the company has ever seen, and the Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC could once again be witness to a wrestling revolution.

Move over ECW, this is ROH.

Where: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City

When: Sunday, June 24 at 5 p.m. ET

Live Stream: ROH’s iPPV Site

Fight Card

ROH World Championship—Kevin Steen (c) vs. Davey Richards

ROH World Tag Team Championship—Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin) vs. The All-Night Express (Rhett Titus & Kenny King)

Special Challenge Match—"The Belfast Bruiser" Fit Finlay vs. "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin w/ Truth Martini

Three-Way Elimination Match for the ROH World TV Championship—Roderick Strong (c) vs. Jay Lethal vs. "The Sicilian Psychopath" Tommaso Ciampa

"Die Hard" Eddie Edwards vs. "Notorious 187" Homicide

Grudge Tag Team Match—Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. the Guardians of Truth w/ Truth Martini

Hybrid Fighting Rules—Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reilly

Signed to Appear

“The Prodigy” Mike Bennett with Maria Kanellis

Steve Corino

What They’re Saying

Contender for breakout star of the year, Adam Cole, talks about walking out of Best in the World a winner:

Add an "MMA" stipulation all you want O'Reilly, this is still a pro wrestling match. And I'm still walking out the winner. #WatchROH

— Adam Cole (@AdamColePro) June 19, 2012

Popular radio show, Ring Rust Radio, talks about how this is ROH’s big chance to become a contender in the mainstream wrestling game:

There is no doubt that @RingofHonor can prove just how great they are with an amazing #BestintheWorld PPV. #ManUp bit.ly/KXP4s7

— RingRustRadio (@RingRustRadio) June 20, 2012

Main-Event Preview and Prediction

If you missed the main event of Border Wars or the story leading up to the event, you have missed out on one of the best storylines in all of wrestling.

With Kevin Steen bringing a certain wrestling entertainment aspect to ROH, he was met head-on by MMA-trained star and former champion Davey Richards. What followed was a classic match at Border Wars that saw Steen walk away victorious.

Now the title is on the line one more time, with Richards having only one chance at retaking the title before he is forced out of the title scene by Jim Cornette.

With Steen carrying so much momentum and leading the company down a whole new path, there is no way ROH pulls the belt off him already. Either way, expect everything both men have because that’s the only way they know how to wrestle.

Prediction: Kevin Steen retains

Undercard Match to Watch

Roderick Strong (c) vs. Jay Lethal vs. "The Sicilian Psychopath" Tommaso Ciampa

With three of the best workers in the world in the ring at the same time, this should be a wrestling fans dream. Add in the personal drama between Jay Lethal and Tommaso Ciampa, and this will be a wild bout.

Don’t forget current champion Roderick Strong, though.

Only the second triple-crown winner in ROH history, Strong has the chance to let the two contenders beat each other down before focusing his attention on one.

After a hard-fought match, I expect Strong to retain the strap and the battle between Lethal and Ciampa reaches its boiling point. This should be amazing.

Check back for more on the World Wrestling Entertainment as it comes, and visit Bleacher Report’s wrestling page to get your fill of WWE/TNA. For more wrestling talk, listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot topics you just can’t miss (some language NSFW).

Follow @Donald_Wood

Several weeks ago, Ring of Honor held their 10th  Anniversary Event pay-per-view.

The show was great, but the go-home episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling was terrible, failing to promote the next night’s show in even a rudimentary fashion.

This time, they mostly got it right. Ring of Honor did a nice job setting up Showdown in the Sun while still featuring two quality wrestling matches.

Programming Note: Friends, this will be my last ROH review for a while. It’s baseball season and with coaching duties piled atop my teaching duties, I don’t have the time or energy to spend several hours a week writing these reviews. I’ll keep watching ROH and I may toss some thoughts out there once in a while, but I’m out of the weekly review game until June.

Triple Threat Promo

This was a really weird week. Ring of Honor started their show with a promo and Monday’s Raw began with a wrestling match.

Jim Cornette brings all three participants in Friday night’s ROH Championship Triple Threat Match to the ring.

Cornette spends most of the time breaking up potential fights, which begs a question: Why would he bring three bitter rivals to the ring if he didn’t want them to fight? Do you think WWE has contract signings because it’s easier than signing them in the back?

In any case, Davey Richards says he can’t trust either of them, even going so far as to compare Eddie Edwards to the House of Truth.

Edwards is justifiably upset. I can’t be the only one confused about what Eddie Edwards did to deserve all this hatred.

Roderick Strong says that even if he loses, Michael Elgin will give Strong his Blind Destiny match Saturday afternoon. Elgin says, “That’s exactly-” before Jay Lethal interrupts.

Lethal calls people "buttmunches," which I assume began trending immediately afterwards.

To put the icing on the cake, Kevin Steen predictably calls everyone in the ring Cornette’s cronies and says he’s coming for the ROH Championship.

This was a decent segment, but it really would have benefitted from having some more time.

My prediction for Showdown in the Sun is that Richards retains, Strong and Edwards fall to the side, and Elgin refuses to give Strong his match, all of which sets up Steen to enter the ROH Championship picture.

Verdict: Thumbs Up

Best Moment: Jay, I love you. But, dude? Buttmunch? Come on.

Coleman & Alexander Defeated  World’s Greatest Tag Team

Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin keep proving that they are indeed the World’s Greatest Tag Team. Their arrogance in looking past Coleman and Alexander, even referring to this as a warm-up match, is one more piece of a great heel puzzle.

Like I’ve said before, I actively dislike the World’s Greatest Tag Team and they are my favorite tag team in wrestling history.

This was a phenomenal match featuring two incredible athletes and two incredible storytellers.

Cedric Alexander will always be the tag team partner in peril. No one is more exciting in this role than Alexander.

He takes a beating effectively, has a vast arsenal of “oh so close to tagging out” scenarios, and has a massive cache of moves that can escape the double-team. His athleticism could take him beyond the tag team division.

The match ends when the Briscoes drill Charlie Haas with a chair, allowing Coleman & Alexander to pick up the win.

The Briscoes/WGTT match is going to be brutal.

Verdict: Thumbs Up

Best Moment: Karma.

Inside ROH Quick Notes

-Lance Storm says that Ring of Honor is not a stepping stone for Mike Bennett to make Hollywood.

- Bennett says that Storm is jealous and hasn’t taken a crap in weeks.

- Maria is insanely attractive, but she is one of the worst actresses to appear in professional wrestling.

- The rest of the segment reviews Showdown in the Sun. Good to see them making a final push for the show.

Verdict: Thumbs Up

Worst Moment: Knowing that Storm will be gone after this weekend. 

Adam Cole Defeated Michael Elgin

Ring of Honor’s March Mayhem continues in the show’s main event. This was certainly the best match of the night, but it probably should have started the show.

The Cornette segment would have been a better ending, simply because it concerned Showdown in the Sun. There’s no sense building towards an event with an episode and then building past that event by the end of the show.

It’s not as egregious as the go-home show before their 10th Anniversary Event, but it still didn’t make a lot of sense.

Once again, we get Kyle O’Reilly on commentary. This time, he lays some tragedy on us.

In response to the loyalty contradiction I’ve written about frequently, he exploded. “Do you think I wanted to be with Cole?”

Deeply personal, deeply complex storytelling from O’Reilly.

The match itself was great, as one would expect.

Strong’s attempt at interference resulted in an enziguri to the head of Elgin, leading to a roll-up victory for Cole.

Strong’s lack of contrition over his failure only confirms my earlier thoughts. I think we are at the beginning of a Elgin face turn.

Verdict: Thumbs Up

Best Moment: Cole hitting a Springboard DDT, dropping Elgin right on the ring apron. 

Show Verdict: Thumbs Up

I am more excited for Showdown in the Sun than I am for WrestleMania. We’ll see which show delivers.

All photos courtesy of rohwrestling.com

Last week, Ring of Honor aired their penultimate episode on the path to Showdown in the Sun, scheduled to take place the evening of March 30 and the afternoon of March 31.

Despite featuring just two matches, ROH successfully raised the stakes and the tempo for the event.

Adam Cole def. Alex Silva

Adam Cole pinned Silva in a match that was short, but not particularly sweet. It was not that long, but it did seem like it.

In addition, we were treated to Kyle O’Reilly, who joined Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness on commentary.

Despite the match’s many shortcomings, it served its purpose, setting up O'Reilly and Cole at Showdown in the Sun.

O’Reilly is playing a fantastic heel right now. His character is complex and nuanced, defying normal heel categorization. Everything about him is slimy and sleazy, but he clearly believes that his moral compass is the only one pointing north.

I don’t know what to say about it, other than that I want him to get punched in the face every time he appears on television.

That’s the sign of an effective heel.

Verdict: Thumbs Up

Worst Moment: I know lots of indy fans rag on WWE, including myself from time to time. However, I hope everyone knows talent when they see it. This match made me realize why cocky, showoff heels bore me to death. It’s because Dolph Ziggler is that good. He is such a great showoff that he has completely ruined showing off for everyone else.

Kevin Steen Promo

The toughest character in professional wrestling to portray is that of the anti-establishment crusader. It seems simple, but it’s almost impossible to walk the line between nonchalance and invincibility.

These characters need to take their opposition seriously. That’s not to say that they cannot make fun of or insult the establishment, but they do need to treat it like a credible threat.

If not, we have a terrible story. After all, what use is a crusader if they are not challenging something more powerful than themselves? Their victory becomes a forgone, meaningless conclusion.

I think what I’m trying to say is that this is the part of the recap where I say that Kevin Steen is awesome.

He threads this needle, whereas his WWE cohorts Triple H and CM Punk drag their stories down by acting like they are the coolest kid in the room.

By the end of the segment, Jim Cornette tells us the Kevin Steen will wrestle El Generico at Showdown in the Sun.

Verdict: Thumbs Up

Worst Moment: Kevin Kelly has to get flashbacks every time he steps in the ring with Kevin Steen. Steen’s abuse of Kelly is oddly reminiscent of that of The Rock during Kelly’s stint in WWE. Given that The Rock couldn’t make it past “hermaphrodite,” I probably shouldn’t be surprised that he can’t muster more than implications of femininity and homosexuality these days. Has The Rock changed or did I just grow up?

Promo Time Quick Notes

-Cole has to be trolling us with his wardrobe. He knows where he is being interviewed, right? And there is no possible way he just happened to wear a shirt the EXACT same color as the ROH lockers.

-Lance Storm wants a match with Mike Bennett because Bennett doesn’t have a passion for wrestling. I know that Bennett’s victory is inevitable, but I am looking forward to this match anyway.

-Davey Richards says he’s been perfect since winning the ROH championship, conveniently forgetting that time several days ago when he was pinned by Cole.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YMPAH67f4o

-Briscoes Promo Checklist: Call opponents a term typically reserved for women? Check. Mention the chicken farm? Check. Mention being 7-time ROH tag team champions? Check. Assert that someone is leaving on a stretcher? Check. Remind opponents to “Man up?” Missing this week.

Verdict: Thumbs Up

Best Moment: I get the feeling Charlie Haas is auditioning for CSI: Miami every week. Haas loves his melodramatic shades removal.

Jay Lethal def. Roderick Strong

This was the first match in Ring of Honor’s March Mayhem tournament. Four singles matches determine the finalists, who will face off in a four-way elimination match to determine the winner of the $24,000 prize.

I can’t be the only person less than captivated by monetary prizes in a scripted sport, right?

Despite my inability to suspend belief, Lethal and Strong gave us an incredible match.

I love matches with catch-as-catch-can starts and slow builds. Two minutes of armbars and holds is just good storytelling. Establish that anyone can win and I can’t predict who will.

Congratulations. You have successfully created suspense.

Of course, this might only prove that I started watching wrestling during WWE’s Ruthless Aggression Era. Fifteen-minute televised matches between some combination of Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero, Brock Lesnar, Chris Jericho, William Regal, and (Name Redacted)? Don’t mind if I do.

Several false finishes kept me on the edge of my seat. I could have sworn Lethal was going to lose after Truth Martini’s distraction led to a second rope roll-up. I was even more certain after Michael Elgin came out to distract Lethal.

However, Lethal overcame the numbers game and picked up the win, continuing his climb to main-event status.

Verdict: Thumbs Up

Best Moment: Realizing that I was marking out for Lethal. This is a testament to Lethal and his incredible skills, as well as House of Truth for being convincing heels. 

Show Verdict: Thumbs Up

You can typically predict the quality of a ROH episode by the number of matches televised. Three matches means a good episode. Two means filler. This episode broke that mold, delivering solid action that succeeded in promoting their next pay-per-view. I am more excited for Showdown in the Sun than I have been for any ROH event.

All photos courtesy of rohwrestling.com

After a successful 10th Anniversary Event, Ring of Honor returned to television following a new set of tapings from the Du Burns Arena in Baltimore, MD.

Ring of Honor began their build for their next pay-per-view, Showdown in the Sun, a two-day show, spanning the evening of March 30th and the afternoon of March 31st.

The March 30th show will feature a Triple Threat Match for the ROH Championship between Davey Richards, Eddie Edwards, and Roderick Strong. Jim Cornette wanted to have a ROH Championship match for March 31st, hence Blind Destiny.

Blind Destiny plays off of the notion that no-one knows who will win the ROH Championship on Friday night. Three matches tonight would determine an opponent for each potential winner of Friday’s match. This week’s episode was successful in its overriding goal of setting up Blind Destiny. 

Jay Lethal Defeated Kenny King

This match was a classic example of what Nigel McGuinness called the “game of human chess.” Lethal and King traded moves and countermoves, reversals and near-misses.

The finish was indicative of the match as a whole.

Lethal tricked King by calling for the Lethal Injection, knowing King would hear it and try to counter it. Lethal scouted King’s counter and took advantage, eventually leading to a roll-up victory.

If Roderick Strong wins the ROH Championship Friday night, Jay Lethal will challenge him for it Saturday afternoon.

Verdict: Thumbs Up

Best Moment: Brains over brawn. If you think about it, these types of matches should happen every time wrestlers square off with an opponent they have previously wrestled.

They are professional wrestlers, right? Professionals reflect and take the time to learn from everything they do. It just makes sense.

Kevin Steen Defeated Adam Cole

The 10th Anniversary Event showed why Ring of Honor is better than WWE in some respects.

John Cena and Randy Orton take a lot of criticism. Their problem isn’t poor wrestling, especially in Orton’s case. It’s that you know it’s unlikely that either will lose. That predictability takes away from the enjoyment of their matches.

A week ago, I would have told you there was no way Kevin Steen loses this match, but after watching Adam Cole pin Davey Richards at an event named after Richards’ team, I’m not so sure.

ROH is like the NFL, in that there exists a certain parity. Parity is bad if it drags everyone down. However, Ring of Honor’s parity comes from building everyone up.

What a beautiful thing it is to watch a show where you never know what will happen next.

So far, we’ve only seen Kevin Steen in No Disqualification matches, which tend to rely on spots and extra violence to tell a story. Now I know that Steen can just plain wrestle. He and Adam Cole wrestled a good match and told a good story, without any unnecessary violence.

Steen pinned Cole after an F5. He was about to deliver a package piledriver to Cole before Eddie Edwards saved his tag team partner.

If Edwards wins the ROH Championship March 30th, Kevin Steen gets a shot at him the next day.

Verdict: Thumbs Up

Best Moment: Kevin Steen’s springboard moonsault from the corner. 

Promo Time - Quick Notes

-I had no idea that you can’t say “goddamned” on television.

-Wooden promos from Edwards and Strong. Neither of these guys can speak convincingly.

-Should Roderick Strong be publicly announcing his strategy three weeks before the match? That doesn’t seem particularly intelligent.

-Everything Mike Bennett said about Lance Storm was drowned out by his lime green shirt.

-Kyle O’Reilly can’t stop talking about Eddie Edwards. I love his obsession with the man that hurt his hero’s feelings.

-Two terrible Roderick Strong appearances? Khaaaaaaaaaaan!

Verdict: Thumbs Down

Best Moment: If there was an unnatural pause drinking game for Eddie Edwards promos, I would be hammered at the end of every episode. 

Michael Elgin Defeated Kyle O’Reilly

I think I can safely say that Michael Elgin is my favorite ROH wrestler. He is freakishly strong, but is athletic enough to keep up with smaller, quicker opponents. The guy seems incapable of having a bad match.

Elgin and O’Reilly put on a clinic. Both men showcased speed, athleticism, and wrestling ability. Powerhouse and underdog meshed beautifully.

Elgin pinned O’Reilly after some House of Truth interference and a spinning sit-out powerbomb, giving Elgin a ROH Championship match on Saturday if Richards retains on Friday night.

Verdict: Thumbs Up

Best Moment: Learning that Michael Elgin “doesn’t need much of a window to get opportunity going.” Thanks, Kev!

Real Best Moment: Nigel McGuinness debating Kyle O’Reilly’s strategy with Davey Richards. Nigel always does a wonderful job explaining strategy and moves, adding to the match’s story.

Show Verdict: Thumbs Up

This was a solid episode. It settled the Blind Destiny matchups while showcasing some excellent wresting, which of course remains the bread and butter of Ring of Honor.

All photos courtesy of rohwrestling.com

After last week’s perfect setup for the 10th Anniversary Event pay-per-view, I was worried that Ring of Honor would screw it up this week.

My fears were justified.

Tonight’s wrestling was good. The promos were good. However, this episode exposed at least one reason why Ring of Honor is still considered the Triple-A of American professional wrestling.

Mike Bennett defeated TJ Perkins

Surprisingly, we were treated to a couple of good promos before the match.

It seems like I always talk about how incredible Bennett is at portraying a heel. He was great before, but the addition of Maria Kanellis has put him over the top.

He has become almost transcendent in his cockiness. His gum-chewing is as obnoxious as ever. He now supplements that with sloppy make-out sessions with his Playboy model girlfriend.

I am both disgusted and jealous—and I think that’s the point.

It also seems like I always mention that his wrestling ability, although improving, only qualifies him for high school gyms and local armories. Huge props go to TJ Perkins for carrying an entertaining match.

Verdict: Thumbs Up 

Best Moment: Perkins: “[Brutal Bob] should be showing you 10 ways out of a ‘you can’t wrestle’ chant.” Yup. That’s a burn. 

 

Tommaso Ciampa defeated Guy Alexander

I have two questions.

First, “Guy Alexander"? Unless that’s his real name, that might be the worst ring name outside of WWE.

Second, where did Guy get a Danzig sound-alike that terrible for his entrance music?

We should have no questions regarding this match. Ciampa murdered him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a technical knockout in a regular match before, but Ciampa put Alexander down after a barrage of his running knee strikes in the corner.

If this was supposed to make me believe that Ciampa could beat Lethal, then this match was perfect.

Verdict: Thumbs Up 

Best Moment: That one punch Alexander managed to throw before his life insurance kicked in. 

Promo Time Quick Notes

-The sit-down format really worked for this segment.

-The Briscoes seemed at ease and didn’t feel the need to try and work up the crowd.

-I love the one time in every promo that Kevin Steen sort of slips into an Irish brogue.

-The dueling promos from the All Night Express and the Young Bucks played off of each others’ promos very effectively.

-This was the least irritated I’ve ever been listening to the Young Bucks speak.

Verdict: Thumbs Up 

Worst Moment: Promos building ROH’s next pay-per-view, Showdown in the Sun. One pay-per-view at a time, ROH. WWE doesn’t promote the Royal Rumble the SmackDown before Tables, Ladders and Chairs. That’s because doing so would be stupid. 

Eddie Edwards and Roderick Strong wrestle to a draw

Edwards and Strong get half an hour to determine the No. 1 Contender for the ROH Championship at Showdown in the Sun.

I have two problems with this.

First, it means Kevin Steen has a least another month to wait before getting into the ROH Championship picture. He deserves to be there now. Unless Steen is spending that month feuding with El Generico, it will not be worth seeing some combination of Richards, Edwards and Strong for the sixth straight month.

Second, it has nothing to do with TOMORROW NIGHT’S PAY-PER-VIEW! The main event of the final television episode before a pay-per-view needs to set up said pay-per-view.

It needs to put us on the edge of our seats. It needs to give us a reason to order the pay-per-view. This is so painfully obvious that I am getting a headache explaining it.

Anyways, the match itself was well-executed, despite a dead crowd at the end of a long television taping.

A dusty finish and a disagreement between two officials meant that Showdown in the Sun will feature a Triple Threat Match for the ROH Championship.

This is me pointing my finger in the air, making the “whoop-de-doo” motion.

Verdict: Thumbs Down 

Worst Moment: Adam Cole dresses worse than I do and it took me 26 years to figure out that argyle is a pattern and not a fabric. Short shorts? High socks? His gimmick is either “Richard Simmons” or “Lost German Tourist.” 

Show Verdict: Thumbs Down

As I said, the wrestling was good. The promos were good. However, only the Ciampa match had anything to do the next evening’s pay-per-view. I think every reader has been able to track my rising blood pressure throughout the episode. It’s just inexcusable. 

Next Week: New tapings, so no word. My 10th Anniversary Event review will be up over the weekend.

All photos courtesy of rohwrestling.com.

 One week away from Ring of Honor’s 10th Anniversary Event pay-per-view, we were treated to another episode taped at Baltimore’s Du Burns Arena, which I desperately want to rename the Boo-urns Arena.

Ring of Honor did a magnificent job of using an ROH Championship match as a vehicle to set everything in motion for Sunday.

The Young Bucks defeated Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander

Until the opening minutes of this show, I wasn’t sure what to think about Coleman & Alexander. They are very talented and have put on some great matches, but they’ve also never given me a reason to care.

Their partnership has never seemed to go beyond “Hey, here’s two guys that would make a good team.”

Not anymore. A singing promo? Sign me up. After enduring a month of the Young Bucks calling people “dorks” and Edwards and O’Reilly espousing manliness, I am totally behind a tag team featuring soul-infused, singing trash talk.

While the Young Bucks might not be very interesting, they are certainly exciting.

Both of these teams kept the throttle to the floor, never allowing the viewer to take a breath. That’s good, because any break would have allowed me to remember that there was no way the Young Bucks were losing this match.

After all, they are only a week away from challenging the Briscoes for the ROH Tag Team Championships at the 10th Anniversary Event.

It’s a tribute to both of these teams that I was on the edge of my seat.

Verdict: Thumbs Up
Best Moment: A sequence where both teams traded reversals, whipping and ducking each other from opposite corners. It was impossible to follow, but exhilarating to try. 

Embassy Ltd. Promo

This time, R.D. Evans didn’t even get a chance to interrupt Prince Nana. Tommaso Ciampa did it for him, following it up with a rather intense plea for Jay Lethal to win the ROH Championship tonight so that Ciampa can take it at the 10th Anniversary Event pay-per-view.

Ciampa is coming into his own, and it is frightening.

Verdict: Thumbs Up
Best Moment: The moment I realized that if someone told me that Ciampa has killed a man, I would accept it as truth in a heartbeat.

Promo Time Quick Notes

-I love the idea of “Big Man” being some mystical Briscoe elder that is frequently mentioned, but never seen. Unfortunately, research confirmed that we have already seen Papa Briscoe. I liked it better my way.

- Jimmy Jacobs’ “I’m going to defeat evil using the power of evil” speech probably would have gone better without the Bill Clinton lip bite and the Zoolander head tilt.

-Kevin Steen is still awesome. This time, he is pulling a reverse Steve Corino, trying to convince Jacobs to embrace the hate. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

-Rhett Titus is back, which means that my favorite ROH tag team will return to face the Wrestling's Tag Team at the 10th Anniversary Event.

-The key to a sidekick is making sure they are less interesting than the superhero. If Michael Elgin is Roderick Strong’s sidekick, ROH is failing this one miserably.

-Adam Cole is sporting the worst outfit in wrestling history. I have no words.  

Verdict: Thumbs Down
Worst Moment: The realization that I may never give a thumbs up to this segment. 

Davey Richards defeated Jay Lethal to retain the ROH Championship

Just like the opening match, we knew exactly how this one was going to end. That wasn’t the point, though. The real question was how we were going to get there.

Jay Lethal and Davey Richards are two of the promotion’s best technicians and they did not disappoint. I have criticized Richards in the past, but if he is limited to 15 or 20 minutes, he’s going to give you an incredible match.

Lethal and Richards performed their version of one of the greatest stories in wrestling.

There is one title. There are two men. Both are pushed to their limits in the pursuit of the championship.

An overbooked ending with a ringside brawl involving Kyle O’Reilly, Eddie Edwards, Adam Cole, and the House of Truth obscured the story’s conclusion, but not every story ends the way we wish.

It looked like Lethal was going to win the match before accidental interference led to his defeat. It will be interesting to see if any controversy arises in an already-crowded ROH Championship scene.

Verdict: Thumbs Up
Best Moment: Davey Richards hitting a superplex on Lethal, spinning up, hitting a Falcon Arrow, and locking in an armbar. All of this was done in one, sweeping motion. 

Show Verdict: Thumbs Up

This episode was a perfect lead-in to the 10th Anniversary Event pay-per-view. The challengers and champions looked strong and the peripheral players showed their hand. The only thing left to do is watch everything unfold Sunday.

Except not.

There is another television episode the night before the pay-per-view. It ruins both a perfect build to the Sunday’s pay-per-view and my plan to be totally caught up for Sunday.

Next Week: Eddie Edwards and Roderick Strong clash to become No. 1 Contender for the ROH Championship.

Also, Ring of Honor’s 10th Anniversary Event pay-per-view is Sunday, March 4. The announced matches on the card are listed below.

Davey Richards & Kyle O'Reilly vs. Eddie Edwards & Adam Cole
The Briscoes vs. The Young Bucks for the ROH Tag Team Championship
Jay Lethal vs. Tommaso Ciampa for the ROH Television Championship
Jimmy Jacobs vs. Kevin Steen in a No DQ Match
The Amazing Red & TJ Perkins vs. The House of Truth
Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team vs. The All Night Xpress
Homicide vs. Mike Bennett

All photos courtesy of rohwrestling.com

Just two weeks away from Ring of Honor’s 10th Anniversary Event pay-per-view, ROH delivered a placeholder episode.

Not much happened or was resolved, but Ring of Honor successfully continued to build for their upcoming show.

Kevin Steen defeated Andy Ridge

We knew Kevin Steen’s in-ring debut was this week. We knew Steen was going to win. The only unknown was the wrestler Steen would destroy.

Enter Andy “Right Leg” Ridge.

Wrestlers like Andy Ridge are wrestling’s unsung. They might not win particularly often, but they make their opponent look good. Every company needs an Andy Ridge.

The match ended like we all knew it would. After the match, Steen prepped Ridge for the Package Piledriver, but was saved by Steve Corino and Jimmy Jacobs, who challenged Steen to a future match.

It looks like Steen is in a holding pattern until Davey Richards clears Eddie Edwards out of the ROH Championship scene.

Verdict: Thumbs up.
Best moment: Kevin Steen’s fallaway slam into the barricade.

Team Ambition promo

Ritesofpatches Presents: How to become Patches’ most hated wrestler in Ring of Honor.

Step 1: Be a jealousy-prone third wheel to a popular tag team while wrestling in a team of your own.

Step 2: Develop a friend-crush on a member of the other tag team.

Step 3: Nark out the other member of the tag team and try to split them up.

Step 4: Keep filling your crush’s ears with words like “jealousy” and “loyalty.”

Step 5: Bolt from your tag team as soon as the opportunity presents itself.

Step 6: Try to keep a straight face as you talk about how much you want to kick your opponents’ heads in for their treachery and disloyalty.

Verdict: Thumbs up or thumbs down, as soon as I figure out if O’Reilly is doing this on purpose or if he is just terrible at anything that doesn’t involve kicking people in the head or getting kicked in the head.

Best/worst moment: Every second of Kyle O’Reilly. If I’m supposed to hate him, he’s the best. If I’m supposed to like him, he’s the worst. 

Eddie Edwards/Adam Cole defeated Mike Mondo/Matt Taven

In a surprising twist, Mondo and Taven upset Edwards and Cole, taking their place in the 10th Anniversary Event match against Richards and O’Reilly.

Just kidding. Edwards and Cole killed them, although it took much longer than it should have.

I would have liked to see this match go about three fewer minutes. There is no reason for Edwards and Cole to struggle against two guys who have one combined win and who can’t work together.

Verdict: Thumbs down.
Worst moment: What happened to the Bravados? I thought they were the resident-jobber tag team. If anything, they could have played the “experienced team vs. new team” card to make it interesting.

Promo Time Quick Notes

- Every time Roderick Strong opens his mouth, I understand why he was placed with Truth Martini.

- We can add “dorks” and “dweebs” to the list of insults professional wrestlers should never use. Thanks, Young Bucks.

- I am really looking forward to Lethal vs. Richards next week.

- Tommaso Ciampa is scary.

Verdict: Thumbs down.
Best moment: Embassy coming into its own. Setting aside the normal friction that seemed to previously exist, both Prince Nana and R.D. Evans were licking their lips in anticipation of Tommaso Ciampa bringing home a championship from the 10th Anniversary Event.

Mark Briscoe defeated Charlie Haas

This week’s show began by setting up the main event. After Charlie Haas’ challenge, the Briscoes’ slack-jawed yokeling, and Jim Cornette’s aneurysm, we had a Charlie Haas vs. Mark Briscoe main event with Jay Briscoe handcuffed to a turnbuckle.

The match itself was a fun combination of Mark Briscoe’s brawling and Charlie Haas’ technical wrestling. Mark won with a roll-up, but Charlie drilled him with a chair after the match.

Charlie Haas paid Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team’s fines before explaining, in true Bond villain fashion, that this was his plan all along.

Verdict: Thumbs up.
Best moment: Someone out-thinking the Briscoes. If they start every sentence with, “Well, we ain’t so smart, but,” then a Seton Hall graduate should probably be able to pull one over on them. 

Show verdict: Thumbs up.

There was a lot I didn’t like about this week’s show, but even if things weren’t perfectly executed, everything served a purpose and continued Ring of Honor down the path to their 10th anniversary Event pay-per-view.

Next week: Television Champion Jay Lethal takes on Davey Richards for the ROH World Championship

All photos courtesy of rohwrestling.com

Last week’s Ring of Honor was the worst in recent memory. An overemphasis on promos, accompanied by a match and half of poor wrestling ruined Kevin Steen’s return to ROH television. Thankfully, Ring of Honor more than made up for it with one of their best episodes yet. Two matches that would make a WWE main event jealous and another Kevin Steen sighting helped push ROH towards their 10^th Anniversary Event pay-per-view.

Eddie Edwards defeated Kyle O’Reilly

Last week, I voiced my concern about the changing focus of the rivalry between Eddie Edwards and Kyle O’Reilly. I hated that this rivalry was becoming about their manliness rather than their jealousy and mistrust.

However, the more I thought about it, the more sense it made.

They are fighting over the friendship of Davey Richards. That’s probably a little too sensitive for people who beat up others for a living, so their Declarations of Ultimate Manhood actually make a lot of sense.

The handshake at the start of the match highlighted the brilliance of the Code of Honor. There is so much that you can do with it. It’s a great way to make your faces look respectable and your heels arrogant and unsportsmanlike.

It can also showcase, as it did here, the tension between competitors. Both Edwards and O’Reilly adhere to the Code of Honor, but their inability to offer a crisp handshake shows how strained the relationship has become between these former teammates.

The match itself was one of the best on ROH television. It was a brutal back-and-forth affair that displayed the hatred between the two. They teased elements of Richards/Edwards, while selling the beating they were absorbing. And when they didn’t, the rage and adrenaline was apparent.

The involvement of Davey Richards only further complicated the emotional nature of the match. Edwards frequently said that he didn’t care who Richards picked, but the look on his face when Richards came out to encourage O’Reilly told another story.

Finally, Adam Cole’s realization of where O’Reilly’s heart truly lies sent this entire story over the edge.

This is awesome.

Verdict: Thumbs Up
Best Moment: Nigel McGuinness’ explanation of how relationships change from friend and equal to competition and target when someone becomes champion. This is wrestling commentary at its best, adding another layer of complexity to the story being told.
Other Best Moment: Random tin foil costume guy in the audience.

Matt Taven & Mike Mondo fought to a no contest

Mondo and Taven had a solid reversal match. More moves were avoided or reversed than hit their mark, but that’s probably what should happen if two wrestlers thoroughly research their opponents.

Then Kevin Steen came in and showed off his new piledriver-free finisher, the F5.

Even with only a minute or two with which to work, Steen showed why he’s the best thing in Ring of Honor.

I am often tempted to say that guys like Steen and Elgin should go to a bigger company, but WWE would probably just screw it up and give them a name like Kassius Ohno or something. Really? Aww, crap…

Verdict: Thumbs Up
Best Moment: Kevin Steen. He is a living, breathing best moment.
Worst Moment: It’s not that bad in the grand scheme of things, but Mike, you can’t out-showoff Dolph Ziggler. There can be no other showoff until Dolph is gone.

Promo Time Quick Notes

-I think this is a good format for a giant collection of people talking about different things.

-Someone tell Haas & Benjamin that calling people losers and making the “L” sign on their foreheads stopped being effective the moment they graduated from middle school.

-Cornette suspends Benjamin until he pays another fine for last week’s chairshot, proving that Benjamin telling Cornette to “sue him” was terrible speaking, not foreshadowing.

-Could the Briscoes be bothered to take the chew out of their mouths before they speak? I’ll never understand how the living, breathing embodiments of anti-intellectualism can be a face team, but #DemBoys pulled it off.

Verdict: Thumbs Down
Best Moment: One of the Briscoes listing Future Shock as a potential opponent. Do they watch their own show?

House of Truth Defeated the Briscoes for $5,000

Both teams placed a side bet of $5,000 on this match. Even if non-televised Ring of Honor events are just glorified house shows, it’s nice to see some consequences for what goes on during those shows.

This excellent match ended when Jay used a baseball bat to take out House of Truth after Truth Martini blinded Jay with some sort of powder.

I’m not really sure why I’m supposed to be cheering for the Briscoes. The only difference I can see between the Briscoes and Haas & Benjamin is the team literacy rate. There is such a thing as an anti-hero, but in truth, the Briscoes are just the lowest common denominator.

That said, there is nothing common about their wrestling. They have to be one of the best tag teams on the planet right now, and are leagues ahead of anything WWE or TNA has to offer at the moment. How they weren’t signed after their WWE tryout is beyond me.

Verdict: Thumbs Up
Best Moment: The $5,000 “checks,” which were just pieces of paper with the team’s name and “$5,000” written in marker.

Show Verdict: Thumbs Up
This is called bouncing back. ROH is pulling out all the stops as their 10^th Anniversary Event pay-per-view draws closer. A show of this quality can make a person forget about a bad one in a hurry.

Next Week: Kevin Steen makes his in-ring debut

All photos courtesy of rohwrestling.com