ROH 01/13/19 Honor Reigns Supreme Review
Carrabus Arena
Concord, North Carolina
Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana and Caprice Coleman were on commentary and welcomed everyone to the first ROH live show of the year.
Shinobi Shadow Squad (Cheeseburger, Ryan Nova & Eli Isom) vs. John Skylar, Josie Quinn, Corey Hollis
Skylar, Quinn and Hollis played the role of heels here and really got a chance to show off their offense here against a perfect trio of babyface underdog types in the form of Burger and pals. Caprice served the role as the expert on these southern stars and it worked very well, utilizing the three-man booth effectively here. 3S was able to come away with the victory here after hitting Oyasuminasai. Skylar, Hollis, and Quinn performed well and could possibly add depth to the six-man division.
Winner:Shinobi Shadow Squad
The Beer City Bruiser vs. Mark Haskins
Haskins started out trying to wrestle BCB but Bruiser demanded the two fight and not wrestle. Haskins agreed and took it to Bruiser but was felled quickly and gummed by Bruiser. As commentary sang the Facts of Life theme song Haskins created space and took BCB quickly locking on an armbar. BCB escaped using his strength to drive Haskins to the mat with a Samoan drop. Bruiser had control for a good portion of the match but Haskins was able to walk away with a victory after hitting a double stomp from the top rope. After the match, Bruiser grabbed some beers and toasted Haskins on the victory in what fans seemed to call the Toast of Honor.
Winner: Mark Haskins
Ring Of Haskins… #ROHHRS pic.twitter.com/dTTZxyvaIV
— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) January 14, 2019
Fin Juice (Juice Robinson David Finlay) vs. Best Friends (Trent Barreta & Chuckie T)
Crips tag action to start the match here by Fin Juice who took control early. Commentary announced that Fin Juice and Burger/Isom from 3S will be a part of the tag wars tournament happening next month in Texas. They also spoke about some of the news from the tapings, making reference to the Life Blood faction that was formed during the tapings. It’s nice to see that even a small snippet like that was shared, instead of acting like it did not happen because it won’t be on television for a few weeks. Fin Juice won after Finlay hit Air Raid Crash (a brainbuster onto a knee) on Chuckie T. This was a fun match between both teams. It was a fresh matchup with four talented guys and bodes well for the rest of the year for these four.
Winners: Fin Juice
Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana announced that ROH has partnered with VetTix.org, a company that helps get veterans tickets to sporting and other entertainment events.
“Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams vs. Flip Gordon
Once Ian and Colt were back at the commentary table Kenny King asked Coleman to step aside so that he could join. King started to get on Gordon, especially after Cabana announced that he would be tagging with Gordon during tag wars. Gordon seemed to tweek his knee and Todd Sinclair called the match. Williams seemed upset to win the way he did and he, some ringside officials and Colt Cabana helped Gordon to the back. King was furious with Riccaboni for insinuating that Gordon could be champion before him and wished him an unhappy Birthday. The injury seemed like it could be serious-King even quickly mentioned that despite not respecting Gordon, he hopes that Gordon is not seriously hurt. Either way, it’s unfortunate that this match never really got going and here’s hoping Gordon is not hurt as 2019 seems to be a year he’ll be making a big impact in ROH.
Winner: Tracy Williams
Proving Ground Match-ROH World 6-Man Tag Team Championship
The Kingdom(c) vs. Luchasaurus, Delirious & Shane “Hurricane” Helms
The Kingdom was largely in control for the majority of the match, aside from when Luchasaurus was given a chance to display his offense. Despite simultaneous Hurri-Slams by the Green Team, the Kingdom walked away victorious after O’Ryan and Marseglia hit House of A Thousand Horses on Delirious to pick up the win. The match served a way to have the Kingdom start off the year strong and give the newcomer Luchasaurus a chance to have a meaningful match on the card. As with many proving ground matches the challengers did not inspire much confidence that they would win here, so there was a lack of real suspense here, but the match was solid nonetheless.
Winners: The Kingdom
PJ Black vs. Bandido
This was an excellent match and a fantastic debut for Bandido. Black was a great sparring partner here-he played the role of the wily veteran, keeping Bandido grounded for a good portion of the beginning of the match, opting not to go aerial just yet. When he did, he made it count, hitting a springboard rana on Bandido while both were precariously on the ropes. There were some really fun sequences here and the match it worth checking out if you did not catch it. Black stopped Bandido from tossing him off the top rope but fell on the turnbuckle in the process and left himself open to Bandido going up once more and moonsaulting while holding Black in a slamming position.
Winner: Bandido
ROH World TV Proving Ground Match
Jeff Cobb(c) vs. Rhett Titus vs. Jonathan Gresham vs. Shane Taylor
Taylor grabbed a mic and announced that he was insulted that ROH would put him in a proving ground match-citing that he has nothing to prove. Taylor then ripped everyone in the ring a new one before he left in a huff and left the three remaining men a better chance of winning the match, but that was never really the case. This was a pretty one-sided affair, Both Gresham and Titus were able to string together some offense, but by and large, the story of the match was that neither man could really take Cobb down. The dominant champion won after hitting a Tour of the Islands on Titus. Post-match Silas Young meandered down to the ring and distracted Cobb, allowing Shane Taylor to blindsided Cobb with a Pearl harbor job, standing over the fallen champion while hoisting the television title in the air. A simple match
Winner: Jeff Cobb
WOH World Championship Street Fight
Kelly Klein (c) vs. Jenny Rose
This started out slow but really started to pick up. Klein was escorted to the ring by Camp Klein, four trainees that came down in support of her. As the match was NO DQ, these four naturally helped her throughout the match, setting up a table and serving as a distraction. Rose was able to position Klein on the table but when she jumped from the apron to the table it did not break. The two jostled a bit on the apron and Rose clamped on an ill-advised sleeper. Klein leaped on to the table with Rose serving to break her fall and the table in two. The crowd had been a bit quiet but at that point exploded into a fervor, seemingly pushing these two into the next gear. The story throughout was that Rose was pandering to the crowd too much and after superplexing Klein onto a pile of chairs she went to grab the ring bell. Rose once again played to the crowd a bit too long. One of the camp Kleiners jumped to the apron, giving Klein a chance to hoist Rose up and drive dump her onto the pile of chair with her finisher, K-Power. The two really took it to the limit here and got the crowd into it by the end.
Winner: Kelly Klein
Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, Brody King & PCO) vs. Silas Young & The Briscoes
This was a seriously wild. The match started off as a bit of a chop fest and was given some leeway by referee Paul Turner who let the men go at it and even set up a table without incident. The crowd was really into this and was specifically chanting for PCO by the end. PCO had two scary apron spots, once with a straightjacket slam to the apron and then Silas Young Canadian Destroyer. This was very different from what we normally see in ROH, especially with the apron spots. King really showed how versatile he is here and the team of Young and the Briscoes was a great trio for Villain Enterprises to make the first live show debut against. Villian Enterprises got Jay alone after Brody tossed Mark through a table. Scurll served as the man in charge, ordering everyone around. King eventually hit a Gonzo bomb and PCO capped it all off with a moonsault from the top rope.
Winners: Villain Enterprises
Nick Aldis came out to make an announcement about the Crocket Cup returning and that the winner will earn a title shot against the ROH World Tag team champions at the 17th Anniversary show.
ROH World Championship Match
Jay Lethal (c) vs. Dalton Castle
Aldis joined commentary for the match. Early narrative here revolved around Castle’s back brace. Lethal rammed Castle into the barricade and Castle sold struggling for the rest of the match with the injury. Lethal hit a very early Lethal Injection but was not able to go for a pin right away and only got a one count. Lethal stayed in control and methodically worked over Castle, who essentially had spurts of offense throughout the match. The psychology here was great, as Lethal respectfully took advantage of Castle’s weakness to defend his title. The match was the right length and everything worked to a larger goal in this one. A strong first main event for the year and it doesn’t quite feel like Castle will be away from the title picture for too long.
Final Reaction: B
A strong first show of the year from ROH in this new era, post the Bullet Club/ Elite. A ton of fresh new faces were given a chance to run out and do something tonight. Bandido and PCO seemed to be the most over of all the new faces, but guys like Williams and Brody King put in some good showings as well. The crowd was not as into everything here which is a real shame because the new talent really did well here. There was not a bad match on this card and a bit more reaction from the fans in attendance would have made this feel like a bigger show. That aside, tons of new talent and possibilities abound after this first show of the year and it will be interesting to see what develops in the next few weeks and months leading to the big G1 Supercard show.