Thought Zero – I’m hoping this episode of Ring of Honor serves as a palate cleanser after that sh*t sandwich of a WWE pay-per-view over the weekend. Let’s get started…
1) Before the opening credits, we get a promo from the Briscoes, Jay Lethal, and Bobby Fish. They will be taking on the Bullet Club in the main event. Decent enough promo with good intensity while saying a lot of nothing. But it still should be a fun main event.
2) Dalton Castle is at the announce desk with Ian Riccaboni. I guess he is serving a double purpose – announcing and scouting since he and the boys will challenge for the six man titles at the Anniversary show. You see, the first match is The Rebellion versus The Kingdom for the six-man titles. The Rebellion have a new hand signal, the hooking of their hands above their head. Why this represents rebellion, who knows.
3) The Kingdom is apparently calling their title run the “Purple Reign” tour. And for that, I shall hate them for all eternity. You don’t make a reference to the greatest musical genius of our times while you are a middling and indistinguishable group of guys in pleather jackets.
4) We start with Rhett Titus and TK O’Ryan unable to get anything going as they are basically mirror images, both men going for the same moves, cheats, etc. as the other. But Ian, I mentioned this last week, let the action speak for itself. You don’t need to say, “Oh look. These guys are like mirror images of each other doing all the same things.” We know that. We’re watching the show. Just let the talent tell their story. We continue the gag a bit as Titus tags in Caprice Coleman and O’Ryan tags in Vinnie Marseglia. Coleman and Marseglia do the same routine with both men going for kicks and even eye pokes at the same time. And Ian calls the mirror image thing again. Grr.
5) Oh, before Titus tagged out, it looked like he tweaked his knee a little. This is important, because when he tags back in, he blows out his knee and gets taken to the back. If this is a work, Titus is doing a pretty darn good job of selling it. So The Rebellion continue on 2-on-3, until Lio Rush comes down to help them. Why the referee would allow this to happen is beyond me. But Rush comes in and turns the tide for the Rebellion before turning on Kenny King and giving the victory to The Kingdom. Umm, shouldn’t one of those teams have been disqualified due to Rush’s interference? Anyway…
6) Jay White challenges Jay Briscoe to a match since they went to a time limit draw ast time. Meanwhile, Jay Briscoe says he forgot they only had fifteen minutes in their first match. Really? That’s pretty unprofessional, Mr. Briscoe. Briscoe then says that during his 2 year plus undefeated streak, he wasn’t wrestling top prospects. Oooo, burn. Then he calls Jay White dog food for some reason and the match is set for two weeks from now. Okay then.
7) The Top Prospect Tournament continues now and Bob Evans takes over color commentary duties. Coming out first is someone named Raphael King and he has a manager/valet/girlfriend/wife with him named Devyn Nicole. Since he has someone to second him, I am guessing he’s the favorite here. His opponent is “Kingpin” Brian Milonas. Milonas is, as far as I can tell, just a fat guy. They keep talking about King’s fraternity roots, but no one seems to care. King was able to hit a nice looking Rock Bottom, but the power of the fat is too much and Milonas wins with a dumb looking back splash.
8) Main event time as Jay and Mark Briscoe, Bobby Fish, and Jay Lethal take on Bullet Club members The Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes (sorry, it is just Cody now), and Adam Cole. Christopher Daniels is on color commentary now. I am getting tired of the rotating announcers. Just pick someone to be the main color commentator please. Bobby Fish is now “The Infamous” Bobby Fish. Not sure what makes him infamous, but okay. And Jay Lethal gets the last entrance (as it should be) and Ian calls him the Franchise and the Centerpiece of ROH. Good. That’s the way you should treat your star.
9) Early on, everyone is going after everyone. It is a slobberknocker of a donneybrook breaking out inside a Pier 9 brawl. Way too much action to call, everyone gets time to shine. One crazy spot sees Cody suplerplex Mark Briscoe off the top rope onto everyone on the floor. That was pretty impressive and cool-looking. Now everyone is just walking around because they are almost dead. Good time for a commercial, so we take one.
10) As Mark Briscoe plays Ricky Morton, Jay Lethal and Bobby Fish distract the referee during pin attempts, to keep Briscoe from getting pinned. I like when the faces do smart things in a match. A little later, Lethal misses a dive on Cody and hits Bobby Fish, but then superkicks Cody and nails Adam Cole with the Lethal Combination in the ring. But before Lethal can follow up, Bobby Fish turns into a hothead and starts shoving Jay Lethal about the accidental bump outside the ring. Lethal and Fish start brawling while the Briscoes try to break it up. The Briscoes decide to continue on their own, but the numbers take over and the Bullet Club comes away with the victory.
Not a bad go home show for the 15th Anniversary on March 10. I really hope they pull the trigger and give Christopher Daniels a run with the ROH title, even if it is short lived. He deserves it. Until next week…
