10 Thoughts on … Ring of Honor March 26, 2016 (Hirooki Goto versus Jay Lethal, Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Moose)

10 Thoughts, Top Story

Thought Zero – Wrestlemania is right around the corner, and I am sure everyone is being bombarded with WWE this and WWE that. So let’s take a brief moment and enjoy an hour of Ring of Honor television which will most likely not make you want to throw a brick through your television.

 

1) Four Corners Survival Match to begin – Roderick Strong versus Adam Page versus Moose versus Matt Sydal. This should be pretty darn fun and fast-paced. I like watching all four of these guys to varying degrees and I wish this match was for a number one contender spot for the Television title or something.

2) Moose gets higher on his dropkicks than guys half his size. Moose’s athleticism continues to be impressive no matter how many times I see him wrestle. And then he follows up with catching Matt Sydal outside the ring and powerbombing him on the ring apron. With this type of size, athleticism, and strength, I have no doubt Moose will be a huge superstar very soon.

3) Adam Page with a release dragon suplex on Sydal that looked damn dangerous. Sydal could have broken his neck there. Let’s not get too sloppy in there, Page. But as it appears that Page is going to win, out comes BJ Whitmer just to be a dick and distract Page. So, of course, Page eats the loss after a shooting star press from Sydal and a high knee from Strong. I probably would have chosen one of the others to win (while I like Roderick Strong in the ring, he is my least favorite of these four), it was an energetic and fun match to start the show.

4) Here comes Adam Cole to talk, I guess. It looks like he’s got his hair in a man-bun, which is really not a good look for anyone, especially for someone who is supposed to intimidating. Adam Cole says, “I’m the best. I am better than Kyle O’Reilly. I can beat Jay Lethal. Blah blah and blah.”

5) Here comes Matt Taven for a Kingdom reunion. But after Taven and Cole hug, Taven turns on Cole and runs him down. Then Taven dumps (?) Cole from the Kingdom, saying he will rebuild the Kingdom in his image and without Cole. OK? So does that mean Cole is a de facto babyface now? Or is Taven going to make the Kingdom babyfaces? Why does Taven have the authority in the Kingdom to say Cole isn’t a part of it? Why should we care about this when Taven has a possible career-ending knee injury (as being sold by Kevin Kelly on commentary)? I’m willing to see how this plays out, but it is not the best beginning to a storyline, in my mind.

6) Oh joy, it’s Cheeseburger. Weighing 145 pounds. Let that sink in for a moment. He’s taking on Foxx Vinyer, who I have never seen in my life. He looks like a mashup of the Warlord’s hair, Demolition’s facepaint, and the Ultimate Warrior’s boot tassles, but much, much less intimidating than that combination should be.

7) For some reason, the All Night Express charges out and destroys Foxx Vinyer. Then ANX grab a couple of microphones and try to convince Cheeseburger that the crowd doesn’t care about him. This is apparently to try and solidify their role as heels. Neither King or Titus are the best on the mic, which is evidenced by a weird little thing where Titus reads mean tweets about them. They do manage to call out the Young Bucks, the Briscoes, and War Machine before almost killing Cheeseburger (in a turn everyone saw coming).

8) The Briscoes and War Machine charge out to save Cheeseburger from being killed. After running off ANX, the Briscoes pick up the tag titles in the ring until War Machine turn around and snatch them away. They stand nose to nose to nose to nose and right there is really all the build for that particular title match you need.

9) Main event time with Hirooki Goto versus Jay Lethal. Thankfully, Taeler Hendrix is out with Truth Martini. They get the big-time introductions from Bobby Cruise before the match to sell the big-time feel of the match. The crowd is silent when Goto is on offense, which is a bit of a shame really. But Jay Lethal gets some very solid pops every time he hits a move. The crowd even pops for the Trutharooni, which is as strange as it sounds.

10) Goto takes over for a bit until some distractions from Hendrix and Martini lead to a superkick and Lethal Injection for Lethal’s victory. Goto did stomp on Hendrix’s fingers during the match, so big shame on him for hurting such a lovely creature. After the match though, Dovovan Dijak hits the ring with Prince Nana. He takes out Lethal and kicks Truth Martini. Not surprising, but it looks like Dijak will be next in line to lose to the Ring of Honor champion.

 

And that is where we leave Ring of Honor for this week. A new Fantasy Book is coming later this week, which will most likely focus on something WWE related, since Wrestlemania is on its way. Until next time…

Human. I think.