10 Thoughts on … Ring of Honor April 15, 2017 (Bobby Fish, Hanson, Colt Cabana, and Lio Rush versus Jay White, Silas Young, Hangman Page, and Jay Lethal)

10 Thoughts, Reviews, Top Story

Thought Zero – We have a Wild Card Match thing going on tonight. First there will be a randomly drawn 4 on 4 tag team match. Then, the winning team will face each other in a four corners match. The winner will receive a future World Title shot. Okay, that could be interesting if sort of aimless.

1) Today’s first match is Caprice Coleman versus Chris Sabin. Kenny King is outside with Coleman, but Alex Shelley is not. Apparently, Shelley was injured by The Rebellion and is out of action again. Caprice Coleman has been around for a while, but he is very underrated. He is funny, athletic, fluid in his movements, uses solid heel tactics, and he shows the intelligence of a veteran.

2) Lio Rush comes down to the ring now to act as Sabin’s second and get in Kenny King’s grill. Apparently he was upset that Coleman poked Sabin in the eye even though King never laid a finger on Sabin. The end comes when Rush kicks Coleman’s arms and Sabin rolled him up for the three count. Completely pointless opening match for which the crowd was dead throughout. The Rebellion and the “Search and Destroy” faction (MCMGs, Lio Rush, Jay White, etc.) are just treading water right now.

3) Next up, we have Will Ferrara and Cheeseburger taking on Rappongi Vice. Cute little segment at the beginning when Romero gives his furry robe to Kevin Kelly and Trent Baretta gives his leather/satinish jacket to Ian Riccaboni. The announvers take a moment to vamp with the wrestlers’ gear and it is obvious they are having a good time out there.

4) This tag match begins with some humor which is no surprise in a Cheeseburger match. Coming back from break, Cheeseburger is your lunch in peril. He is able to get a hot tag to Ferrara though, and Ferrara looks better than he has in years. Seriously, he looks like a minor league Austin Aries in there. And that is meant as a compliment. Burger and Ferrara get some momentum and a super close pinfall. We’re left with Berretta and Ferrara trading blows until RPG Vice pick up the victory with Cold Zero.

5) Ferrara and Cheeseburger are arguing with each other after the match. And you can’t blame Ferrara for being pissed. Cheeseburger got taken out and Ferrara lost to a double team move. Plus, Cheeseburger sucks.

6) Now is time for the eight-man wild card tag team match. Team one is Silas Young, Hangman Page, Jay White, and Jay Lethal. They appear to be fighting … a commercial break! Wow, this should be a great match, but I fully expect the commercial to win. We’re back and Team two showcases Colt Cabana, Lio Rush, Hanson, and Bobby Fish. Interesting teams.

7) Ian pushes the story that these teams were picked at random. It’s okay if we don’t believe that. We just want to see a good match. We start with Lio Rush and his friend Jay White. But first, Colt Cabana comes in, stands in front of Rush and ignores him as he decides he wants to start. Rush shoves him away, but before Cabana turnsback around to knock Rush’s block off, Hanson comes in and stands menacingly behind him which scares off Cabana.

8) Rush and White put on a little flippy floppy showcase which the crowd cheers. Then Silas Young reminds us why he is awesome and comes into the ring to mockingly clap for Rush and White. He irritates White into tagging him in, but before Young can get his hands on Rush, Hanson tags in blindly. Jay Lethal laughs in Young’s face a little too much so Young tags him in with a big chop. All four members of Lethal’s team start beating up each other, completely ignoring the concept of teamwork. Now Lethal is your former World Champion in peril. Young and Page use heel attacks from behind and Lethal scolds them. Page says screw that and tags himself in so he can beat down Fish.

9) Young and Page seem to be working as a team and have a big advantage now over Fish. Page offers to tag in Lethal and then short-arms him in a funny little moment. Lethal eventually tags himself in, but Young tags himself in immediately after. This dynamic goes on for a while, even through  commercial break. Bobby Fish eventually makes the hot tag to Hanson, who runs wild as he tends to do. Hanson squashes everyone then tags in Rush and slams him on Page. They reverse it next and Rush slams Hanson on Page. The crowd was loving that and it should have been the finish, but it got two. Now everyone is in the ring and Jay Lethal starts eating a ton of big moves. Now we get an extended series of signature moves.

10) Towards the end of the match, Lethal dives for a tag to Page, but Hangman just walks away. Kazarian starts whooping up on Page on the ramp and they fight backstage. Lio Rush comes in and hits some flippy stuff, but Jay Lethal hits a Lethal Injection and gets the three count. Apparently, the four corners match they promised will be held another time. That type of bait and switch just stinks.

 

Another good episode of ROH this week, with a crazy 8 man tag bringing the goods. The Fantasy Book takes a look at the current Ring of Honor stories this week, so check that out. Until then…

Human. I think.