Ring of Honor – February 1st, 2017

Howdy!

I’m late with this one due to life and daughter stuff.

Tonight, Jay Lethal takes on Jay Briscoe for a spot in the Finals of the Decade of Excellence tournament!

Let’s watch some wrestling, shall we?

ROH TV – 2/1/17

Opening promo is from Adam Cole, bay-bay! We see highlights from Wrestle Kingdom 11, who says that fought for the ROH World title with hate, with malice, and they saw him, they saw HIM end the story of Kyle O’Reilly and become the first 3-time Ring of Honor World Champion! And break one heart in Nebraska.

We are TAPED from the Center Stage in Atlanta, Georgia! Your host is Kevin Kelly, as Nigel McGuinness and Steve Corino are outta here. And just to not improve my mood one single bit, we’re starting with the music of Cheeseburger! Oh boy! And he’s out with Will Ferrara, as we’re starting off with some triple threat tag action! The other teams are of the ‘already in the ring’ variety, as we’ve got the Tempura Boyz (Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu) and Coast to Coast (Leo St. Giovanni & Shaheem Ali) ready for action.

Cheeseburger & Will Ferrara vs The Tempura Boyz vs Coast to Coast

Code of Honor is followed, but the Boyz attack immediately afterwards, tossing Coast to Coast to the floor. Burger and Will turn the tide quickly as Ferrara pulls down the top rope to send Sho to the floor and they concentrate on Yohei. Will takes him to the corner, assisted splash by Cheeseburger is followed by Will lifting Burger up to hit the double knees on Yohei. LSG comes in now, and he’s met with a double kick and double whip to the corner from Will and Burger, Burger whips Will at LSG, LSG hits him with a back elbow and then alley-oops a charging Burger to the apron before dropping him to the floor with a forearm. Will charges in with a back elbow and goes for a fireman’s carry, but LSG gets out of that and sends Will into Ali, who goes to the gut with an elbow and then a nice uppercut from his knees to Ferrara. Sigh. I like Will. Seeing him saddled with Cheeseburger just makes me sad. LSG comes out of the corner with a jumping neckbreaker on Will and covers, Sho back in to break that up at two. He tries to fight them both at once and comes off the ropes, they attempt a double hiptoss, Sho slips out of that and runs them into each other, then takes down Ali with a dropkick as Yohei returns to the ring. Codebreaker by Yohei on LSG into a lungblower from Tanaka! 1, 2, Will breaks it up! The Boyz toss Will back to the floor, so he drags Yohei out for his insolence. Ali attacks Will from behind and the three of them battle it out as Burger slaps Sho in the chest and grabs a knucklelock in the ring, then goes up and dives onto everyone on the outside. Sho decides to fly, tope con hilo onto everyone! LSG goes up now and he walks the top rope (wow!) and hits a twisting dive from the middle of the rope that actually connects with at LEAST two of the wrestlers on the floor, although everyone is kind enough to flop on it anyway. And the Young Bucks have made their way to the top of the stage now to check this out, so we’ll take a moment to check out these fine ads!

We’re back with LSG beating up the Boyz in the ring, but he gets caught on a whip, Shatter Machine from the Tempura Boyz! The Young Bucks have joined us on commentary, by the way. 1, 2, Will back in to break it up! Double suplex attempt by the Boyz on Will, but Burger breaks it up and superkicks Sho. Yohei tries a slam, Burger gets out of that and ducks Yohei coming off the ropes, allowing Will to get a fireman’s carry into a slam that Burger finishes with a kneeling DDT as the Bucks say that whoever wins this match will be next to challenge (lose) for the ROH tag team titles! Burger covers, but Ali breaks it up at two. Burger with an uppercut to Ali and he signals for the palm strike, but Ali shoves him off directly into a bicycle kick from LSG, sending Burger into a reverse uranage from Ali. Running spear on Will in the corner from LSG, then Ali sets him on the top and hangs him in the Tree of Woe, they set up, double Coast to Coast dropkicks on Will! Hey, that’s their name! And it looked cool! Cover, 1, 2, Sho breaks it up! Yohei dumps LSG to the floor and they focus on Ali, as Sho grabs a waistlock, superkick by Yohei into a german suplex from Sho! Sho sets up Ali, package piledriver by Tanaka! “I had a friend who used to use that move!” 1, 2, 3! (The Tempura Boyz over Cheeseburger & Will Ferrara and Leo St. Giovanni & Shaheem Ali, pinfall, 6:02)

WORTH WATCHING? – Action-packed and never slowed down, they let this hang out there with tornado rules and the match was all the better for it. YES, this was perfectly acceptable wrestling. Not much of a story, but it absolutely breezed by and was a good showcase for each team. And Cheeseburger didn’t have nearly enough offense to fuck up the match, which is always a bonus. Nothing here if you want a thorough story, but if you just want a fast-moving tornado match, this is just fine for that.

Post-match, the Bucks head into the ring as the Boyz celebrate while the replays play. Matt tells us that they’ve had a special open challenge, but that was really just a way to get the Hardy Boys out here, but they’re not here tonight! So they decided on commentary to give a title shot to the winners of the match, so how about next week, it’s the Tempura Boyz vs the Young Bucks for the Ring of Honor world tag team titles! The Boyz are excited and they high-five each other…..and turn around into a double superkick from the Bucks! The Bucks ‘get rid of the trash’ by shoving the Boyz to the floor with their feet and introduce the brand-new, 3-time, ROH World Champion Adam Cole, bay-bay! Cole poses with the belt as Kelly tells us that the same men that were chasing Kyle O’Reilly (sigh) for that title are still in the running. No mention of Kyle getting a rematch because, well, you know.

“Who’s ready for storytime with Adam Cole, bay-bay?” Well, I can’t help but always be ready for that! Matt Jackson is also excited. He’s going to start this night off right: he is a GOD. He is a living, breathing legend! He is a history-maker, the 1st ever 3-time ROH World champion! That makes him different than the guys who are his ‘challengers’ – guys like Dalton Castle? He’s nothing more than a gimmick! Bobby Fish? Bobby, he already got rid of Kyle, he might as well get rid of the rest of reDRagon! Or what about the winner of the Decade of Excellence tournament? Well, he’s already beaten Jay Lethal and Jay Briscoe, so that doesn’t matter. What matters is that in 2017, the Bullet Club will continue to rule Ring of Honor and there’s nothing that anyone can do about it; Young Bucks, for the love of GOD, give him a Too Sweet! They kiss the cheeks of Adam as Kelly points out that Adam conspicuously omitted Christopher Daniels, who is already in the Finals of the Decade of Excellence tournament. That is weird, isn’t it?

Up next, Marty Scurll (YAY!) will defend the TV title against Juice Robinson! You know, a lot of people talk about how brave Cody Rhodes was for walking out on the WWE, and I agree that it was, but how about Juice? He didn’t have anywhere near the name cache that Cody did, but he walked away and went to NJPW, and he’s been doing great over there. He took an almost bigger risk than Rhodes did, and it’s worked out really well for him. Anyway, let’s take a look at this video package of Juice! That match is up next after these great ads!

We’re back to the music of Juice Robinson! We’ve been joined by Alex Shelley on commentary, which is cool, because Shelley is awesome at putting over the wrestlers and their work. The lights go out and we hear the BEST ENTRANCE THEME in wrestling (seriously, there’s no theme that encapsulates a worker more than Scurll’s ROH theme right now) and the Villain makes his way to the stage! He gets in the ring as the streamers fly and we get the big-time ring introductions. Crowd chants for Marty because they’re awesome.

“The Villain” Marty Scurll (c) vs Juice Robinson – Ring of Honor World TV title match

Juice offers the Code of Honor, but Scurll kicks his hand away. Excellent. Circle and a lockup, to the corner and Marty gives a clean break with some chicken wing flapping. God I love this man. Lockup again and Marty goes to the arm, wristlock by Scurll, Juice with a single-leg that Scurll turns into a bodyscissors on the mat. Scurll tries to get the arm across the face and Juice is back to his feet with a wristlock, Scurll rolls through that and reverses to a hammerlock, using that for a side headlock takeover that Robinson gets out of with a headscissors, and we have another stalemate. Marty applauds Juice for that one. Test of strength, but Scurll was faking and goes to the eyes, then fires a right hand, headlock by Marty, Juice shoots him off, shoulder by Marty doesn’t move Juice. Marty slaps him in the face and laughs at him, so Juice returns the favor by slapping Scurll off his feet. Suplex attempt by Juice, Scurll wiggles out and drops him to the mat with the arm, Juice rolls out to think it over, and Marty jumps to the apron and superkicks him from there on the floor! What else is super? Why, the following super ads!

We’re back with Juice on the top rope, diving headbutt! He got some serious air there. 1, 2, NO! Juice tries for a Tiger suplex, but Marty headbutts out of that and rolls him up for two. Scurll goes to the eyes of Juice, running kneelift to the face of Juice! Superkick to a kneeling Robinson! Scurll off the ropes, Juice catches him over the shoulders, double knee gutbuster by Juice! Robinson off the ropes, lariat! 1, 2, NO! Scurll fights back with chops and comes off the ropes, palm strike from Robinson. Juice off the ropes, Scurll fakes him out with a superkick and kicks him in the knee instead. Marty off the ropes, leg lariat by Juice. Robinson tries for a suplex again, Scurll reverses that into a brainbuster! Marty signals for the Chicken-wing, but takes too much time and Juice just hits him in the face with a right hand. Robinson hoists Marty up, powerbomb! Stacks him up for the pin, 1, 2, NO! Juice goes up now, but Scurll kicks him in the leg and Robinson crotches himself! Scurll goes up, superplex by Marty! Juice grabs the leg on the landing and rolls him into a cradle! 1, 2, NO! Superkick from Marty as soon as he gets back up drops Juice, who rolls out again. Scurll goes to the well again, jumping to the apron, but Juice catches the foot this time and trips him to the apron face first. The crowd chants for Juice now, and he goes for a cannonball to the barricade, Scurll moves! Marty tosses Juice back in, jumping piledriver from Scurll! He crosses the arms of Robinson Undertaker style, 1, 2, NO! Marty can’t believe it, but he sees the fingers of Juice and shushes the crowd, then breaks the fingers of Juice! O’Connor roll by Scurll, reversed by Juice, who grabs the ropes! 1, 2, Scurll kicks out! Marty charges Juice in the corner, Robinson gets the boot up. Juice goes for the Unprettier to finish, but Scurll catches him from behind and he’s got the back of Robinson! Crossface Chicken-wing! Juice taps! (Marty Scurll over Juice Robinson, submission, 8:51)

WORTH WATCHING? – This turned into a HELL of a match and an easy YES, you should check it out. Juice slowly winning over the crowd during his offense was great, as was Scurll using his heel tactics and preening to the audience at every opportunity. The pacing of the match was excellent, as they fought an actual back-and-forth style match, with each guy getting the advantage for brief periods but no long heat segments to rule out the possibility that either guy could win. Combine that with Robinson not having Scurll dazed enough when he went for his finisher, which requires that he give up the back for a brief second, and that being his downfall when Scurll was able to lock in the chickenwing, and the ending made total sense and worked. Good stuff.

Post-match, Scurll kisses the belt and gets a mic. “Ladies and Gentlemen, I am your undefeated, undisputed, Ring of Honor World Television champion!” HELL YEAH. He came to ROH for competition, but ever since his reign of wickedness has been struck upon this company, he doesn’t see any competition! So, if you’re backstage and you fancy your chances, consider this an open challenge – come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough!

Well, that doesn’t take very long, as Chris Sabin, Jay White, Jonathan Gresham, Lio Rush, & Donovan Dijak make their way to the stage. Marty holds up the belt as Kelly sends us to a video package for the Texas shows on February 3rd and 4th. Head to ROHwrestling.com for more info! And let’s find out more info about the products from these great ads!

We’re back with Kevin Kelly standing with the five men from the stage along with Alex Shelley. Sabin says that he finds it interesting that Marty ‘Skull’ comes out and says there’s no competition in ROH – so next week, since iron sharpens iron, they’ll fight it out in a 6-man match to determine a #1 contender to the TV title! Crowd approves, as do I for any reason to put Jonathan Gresham on TV.

Lethal and Briscoe cut promos for tonight’s main event, making the title seem like the most important thing in the world. Because it should be.

“Reach for the sky, boy!” And here we go! Jay Briscoe (what the actual FUCK is going on with that man’s hair?) makes his way to the ring as we hear a few more words from Briscoe, about him being 0-2 against Lethal, and how he’s going to shut his mouth and do his talking in the ring. And there’s the music of Jay Lethal! Lethal says that he’s done this song and dance before, and he’s beaten Jay Briscoe two times already; the 3rd time will be no different! Frankie Kazarian has made his way to commentary for this one. Crowd chants for both guys as they’re split down the middle.

Jay Briscoe vs Jay Lethal – Decade of Excellence Semi-Final

Code of Honor is followed. “Both these guys!” is the chant as they circle, then they just start chanting for “Jay!”. Cute. Lockup goes to the corner, Briscoe gives a clean break. Circle again, lockup to the corner, now Lethal gives the clean break. Waistlock by Lethal, reversal by Briscoe goes to the ropes as Adam Cole is out to check this out. So we’ll take a moment to check out these great ads!

We’re back as Cole has joined commentary. Briscoe controls with a wristlock, then a headlock. Cole starts talking about how the winner of the tournament is going to be either Lethal or Briscoe, and we’re just setting the table for Daniels here, aren’t we? Lethal shoots Briscoe off, shoulderblock by Briscoe knocks Lethal down, Lethal off the ropes, Briscoe with a ‘rana. Uppercut by Briscoe, again, Irish whip, they run the ropes and end up smacking heads with each other, Briscoe grabs Lethal and hits a Jaydriller! 1, 2, NO! Lethal rolls to the floor as Briscoe can’t believe that wasn’t it. Briscoe goes out after Lethal, has some words for Cole, and clobbers Lethal with an uppercut. Again! A third time! Lethal fires back, but Briscoe cuts that off with a headbutt. Briscoe back in and he runs the ropes, tope sends Lethal to the barricade! Meanwhile, Cole is dismissing Daniels on commentary: “Christopher Daniels has been in Ring of Honor what, 15 years? And he’s never been Ring of Honor World champion? I’m 27 and I’ve won the belt 3 times!” Back in the ring and Lethal tries to fight back, but Briscoe murders him with a lariat. 1, 2, no! Headbutt by Briscoe, Briscoe with a chinlock against the ropes, another headbutt by Briscoe, jumping kick by Briscoe and a belly-to-back suplex by Briscoe gets two. They’re doing a good job of selling the idea that Lethal hasn’t been able to recover from that Jaydriller to mount any serious offense. Briscoe with left hands to Lethal now, Briscoe off the ropes with a big kick to Lethal. Lethal fires rights to Briscoe to try to come back, but Briscoe boots him back down. Snapmare by Briscoe and we hit the chinlock. Let’s hit the following great ads instead!

We’re back with Lethal getting the first half of the Lethal Combination, but Briscoe blocks the other half and shoots Lethal off the ropes, Lethal ducks a clothesline and hits a cutter! Lethal is still holding his neck but gets to his feet, Lethal Combination hits! 1, 2, NO! Briscoe fires an uppercut and they slug it out, with Briscoe hitting a headbutt and going for the time bomb neckbreaker, but Lethal turns that into a backslide! 1, 2, no! Lethal back up, bicycle kick to Briscoe, enzuigiri to Briscoe! That gets two. Lethal goes up for the elbow, Briscoe crotches him on the top! Briscoe goes up, Lethal blocks the superplex and sends Briscoe to the mat. Lethal up again, Hail to the King…..no, Briscoe got his boots up, so Lethal comes down and instead turns it into a figure-four! Briscoe reaches for the ropes, makes it! Briscoe rolls to the apron, Lethal attempts to suplex him back in, Briscoe goes over the top and goes for a Jaydriller, Lethal escapes, Briscoe tries again, Lethal rolls Briscoe up for two. Lethal goes for the Lethal Injection, but Briscoe ducks and backdrops him over, then goes for a Jaydriller, Lethal backdrops out of that! Lethal off the ropes, Discus punch from Briscoe! Lethal is woozy, Briscoe with another lariat that turns Lethal inside-out! Briscoe covers, 1, 2, 3! Jay Briscoe advances to the Finals against Christopher Daniels! (Jay Briscoe over Jay Lethal, pinfall, 11:36)

WORTH WATCHING? – And we’re 3 for 3 on ROH TV this week! YES, this was a fine match in a good series between Lethal and Briscoe. The early Jaydriller not getting the pin but still knocking Lethal off his game for the rest of the match is a good story, and Lethal continuing to survive but not hit the Injection nor really be able to put together enough to put Briscoe in danger was good, as was the sequence where he kept countering the 2nd Driller, leaving himself open to a simple lariat to put away the weakened Lethal. Good story for the match that played off the history that the two of them had, and Lethal doesn’t look bad in defeat after surviving the first Jaydriller and just running out of gas thereafter.

Post-match, we see that the tournament graphic has been updated to send Jay Briscoe the Finals. Briscoe points at Cole at ringside, then shakes the hand of Lethal as Cole says that he’s going to be seeing Jay Briscoe at the 15th Anniversary. “Not so fast my friend. Not so fast.” says Kazarian, and we’re done with ROH TV for the week. Okay, Daniels HAS to win this now.

FINAL THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: ROH TV has actually been using the Decade of Excellence tournament really well over the last few weeks, creating a cohesive storyline to follow through the shows, and one of the benefits is that in doing so, most of the undercard has allowed a lot of the newer wrestlers to shine and get TV time. Scurll has had a few good defenses, guys like Jonathan Gresham have been on TV more and more, and that is what ROH needs to do with so many guys leaving – push the new guys up the card. Keep up the good work.

SIGN JONATHAN GRESHAM.

As always, thanks for reading this thing I wrote,

Rick Poehling
@MrSoze on Twitter