Thought Zero – We are one week closer to Final Battle, so let’s see what the Ring of Honor folks can do with the go-home show.
1) We start the show with the Incredible Mr. Flippy, Lio Rush. He will be taking on Jonathan Gresham. Gresham is a little flippy-floppy as well, but I think he has a bit more mat-based.
2) Alex Shelley is a third announcer today for some reason, but I’ll take it. Steve Corino has the first grand hyperbole of the night as he describes Jonathan Gresham as a young Bryan Danielson. Whoa there, that’s a little bit much. Gresham showing a little bit of heel tendencies early on by “accidentally” backhanding Lio Rush during a supposed clean break in the corner. I like that, let’s see if he continues with that personality development.
3) The first half of this match was very fast. Like super fast. The Flash fast. Quicksilver fast. You get the point. It slowed down after a little while as Gresham started working on Rush’s athletic-taped arm. However, while Rush does pretty well with his selling at first, he forgets about it shortly after. The action picked up again at the end, with tons of reversals and counters and solid athleticism. Honestly, Gresham should have gone over here, but Rush takes it after multiple flippy “Rush Hour” moves and a big diving elbow.
4) Post-match, Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin come into the ring to congratulate both guys on their match and hype them both up to the crowd for a bit. Kevin Kelly sells it that it is great that the MCMGs are taking on a mentor role to these younger wrestlers, which ties in with their extended promo last week. My hope is this is all a set up for a turn. Heel Alex Shelley is much more fun than babyface Alex Shelley.
5) Here’s the heavy sell for the Adam Cole versus Kyle O’Reilly championship match at Final Battle. Long interview and video package tracing the history of Cole and O’Reilly up to the current fight for the title. One thing I must say about Kyle O’Reilly’s promo – he throws every possible analogy at the wall to see what sticks. Adam Cole poked the dragon. Adam Cole started a war he can’t win. Adam Cole created the violent artist. Kyle O’Reilly is a river who will overflow its banks and consume Adam Cole. Just say you are going to break every one of his limbs and be done with it. I need more Steve Blackman out of you, Kyle. I can not believe I just typed that.
6) Hey, that Delirious Thanksgiving Insanity ad. I liked it just as much as I did last week. Then they run down the Final Battle card. Cody Rhodes has apparently lost his last name and is just “Cody” on the chyron. Still not sure why they are sacrificing Jay Lethal for him, but what can I do? The 6-man tag final has a change. The Kingdom was supposed to be going against Kushida, Jay White, and ACH. Originally, ACH has taken the place of Lio Rush when he couldn’t wrestle. But now, Nigel McGuinness has just randomly inserted Lio Rush back into the team and kicked ACH aside. I guess the rumors of ACH being unhappy and leaving might have a bit of merit. The four-way for the TV title looks awesome with Marty Scurll versus Will Ospreay versus Dragon Lee versus Bobby Fish. This looks like a pretty good card on paper, let’s hope it lives up to it.
7) Main event time as The Addiction takes on Jay and Mark Briscoe. Kevin Kelly makes sure to remind us that The Briscoes will be challenging the Young Bucks for the Tag Team titles at Final Battle. That should be a fun batch of crazy.
8) The Addiction has been talking about their legacy. The Motor City Machine Guns have been talking about mentoring the young wrestlers. Colt Cabana and Dalton Castle have been discussing the merits of being popular. Kyle O’Reilly and Adam Cole’s feud has elements of envy and fear and betrayal. Did Ring of Honor hire Willie Shakespeare to write for them?
9) Hey, Jay Briscoe is growing his hair out again. It looks a little weird seeing him with hair.
10) As expected with these teams, a highly entertaining match which ended with a Dem Boys victory after a Froggy Bow by Mark Briscoe. Of note, The Addiction shook the hands of the Briscoes after the match. They are really trying some interesting stuff with Christopher Daniels’ character. I hope this isn’t just a drawn-out retirement angle. I mean, Daniels is only 87.
They end the show with Adam Cole talking about Kyle O’Reilly to give a final Final Battle push. I didn’t make this a thought, but Adam Cole does make an interesting point – he claims he will win because Kyle is happy and content with his life and career while he is never satisfied because he has to always be the best. Then he cribs Chris Jericho’s “best in the world at what I do line.” Then he makes some weird heroin analogy. You sort of went off the rails there, Adam. Should’ve left it at the Kyle is happy and content thing.
And we’re out. See you next week!
