10 Thoughts on … Ring of Honor May 27, 2017 (Cody Rhodes, Jay Lethal, Adam Cole, and More)

10 Thoughts, Reviews, Top Story

Thought Zero – This isn’t a Ring of Honor thought, but I finally got a chance to watch the Kenny Omega versus Kazuchika Okada from Wrestle Kingdom 11. I thought it started off a little slow. I get a feeling out process and all that, but still, the first ten minutes had me closing my eyes. Once they got on a roll though, it was big move, big pop, big collision after another. I liked that Omega worked a serious match and avoided his comedy antics. And this is the first time I have seen Okada work as the “big man” during a match. Both men looked incredible and the finish was solid. I am still a huge Okada fan and a big Omega fan, so this match was worth it. Seek it out if you haven’t already, like five months ago. One last thing, thank goodness Omega didn’t break Okada’s neck with that top rope Dragon Suplex. Yikes, that looked nasty. On to ROH…

1) We start with a clip from War of the Worlds where Adam Cole is fired from Bullet Club by Kenny Omega with help from the Young Bucks and Marty Scurll. I still wish Scurll wasn’t caught up in the Bullet Club stuff, as he doesn’t need it at all. But hopefully they won’t lessen his impact.

2) Here comes Young Bucks and Hangman Page to the ring. The crowd has already adopted a “Too Sweet / WhoopWhoop” chant seamlessly. Mark Jackson then introduces Scurll and he comes out to his original theme and video, so that is good. He is wearing a leather jacket, Bullet Club shirt, and jeans instead of his cool fur jacket and Plague mask, so that is not so good. The crowd is loving this and cheering all of it. They aren’t even pretending that the Bullet Club are heels right now.

3) The Villain calls for a “Tea Party with Marty,” but Adam Cole comes out instead and talks big. Hangman Pahe then threatens Cole and says that while the Bucks and Scurll might have run Cole out of Bullet Club, he will be the one who runs him out of Ring of Honor. And that will be a match at a future point. I applaud that decision, because it should give Page even more of a rub with Cole heading out the door. Probably the best way to keep building his star.

4) Speaking of star, the next match has Josh “The Goods” Woods versus David Starr. The only time I’ve seen Starr before is after the Top Prospect Tournament when he attacked Woods. Let’s see what he’s got. The crowd is pro-Starr and is booing everything Woods does right out of the gate.

5) Woods gets the victory after a knee bar forces Starr to tap out. Woods is so very green though. You can tell how much he is thinking in the ring. Nothing looks smooth enough because he’s not moving fast enough. He also can’t sell well at all yet. He totally no-sold a couple hard chops by Starr for one. He’s not big enough to pull that off. I see potential, but I feel bad that we are going to have to watch his awkwardness as he gets better.

6) Scary little promo from Punishment Martinez shows that he is not a babyface yet. He wants you to prepared to be punished. Trust me, it was done in a scary, movie monster type of way rather than any shade of gray way.

7) Now Silas Young and Beer City Bruiser come to the ring and Silas criticizes Jay Lethal for a bit. Lethal then comes out, limping a good deal to sell the attack from Young previously. Lethal challenges Young to come into the ring and wrestle him right now. Instead, Silas Young sends the Beer City Bruiser in take on Lethal. Normally, I would say that is a pretty smart move by Young, but given how Lethal is limping around out there, I might have just taken the match and continued to destroy that knee.

8) Lethal, because he is the best in Ring of Honor and possibly the world, puts on a really good match with Bruiser. Bruiser eventually goes to work on the knee and Lethal sells it like death. Colt Cabana and Silas Young do not seem to like each other very much on commentary, I might add. I wonder what that personal animosity is all about.

9) Later on, Lethal has things in hand on the outside but he turns away from Bruiser and lands a hard shot on Young at the commentary table. Young gets up and they start trading blows forcing a disqualification in the match. Young and Bruiser get use their power of numbers to take over and work on Lethal’s leg even more. Eventually, Bobby Fish comes out to make the save. A little late though, Fish. You’re making a habit of that. Maybe that’s why your partner O’Reilly left.

10) The main event is Frankie Kazarian versus Cody Rhodes. The crowd is very into Cody tonight as apparently the Bullet Club can do no wrong in this arena. Cody tries to say that he had Lethal pinned when Daniels pinned him at War of the Worlds, but it took a while to get there and it was a little hard to follow. You might want to stick to shorter and more direct promos. The long winded ones tend to wander aimlessly. Kazarian starts the match in total control and it is only after the commercial break when Cody has the advantage. Cody winds up winning a pretty good, but ultimately forgettable, TV match with the CrossRoads. Finally, I will mention that Kevin Kelly joined the announce team for this match. It was a welcome addition. You are missed, Mr. Kelly.

 

Another pretty good week of television for ROH. A little more talking than normal, but some pretty good ring work and some potential for some future storylines.

Human. I think.