10 Thoughts on … Ring of Honor July 1, 2017 (Young Bucks, Jay Briscoe, ROH TV #1 Contender 4-Way Match)

10 Thoughts, Reviews, Top Story

Thought Zero – I fell into a burning Ring of Honor. I went down, down, down and the flames got more honorable. Yeah, the original song is better.

1) We start with the new ROH champion Cody Rhodes in the ring in a dapper suit. Before he can say much, the lights go out. When they come back on, Christopher Daniels is in the ring, also in a dapper suit. They start brawling, taking out referees, security, and more. Pretty intense brawl, but I am not sure why. Cody won the title fair and square, so why is Daniels “brawl-in-a-suit” mad?

2) The first match of the show is the winner of the 2017 Top Prospect tournament Josh “The Goods” Woods going up against Jay Briscoe. Still not sure why Woods called out Briscoe, but I can’t imagine this will end well for him. Briscoe appears to be pretty pissed off, as normal, including in a pre-match promo. Let’s see if Woods can look a little less sloppy this week.

3) Woods is acting quite cocky early on, trying to use his amateur and submission background to his advantage. Surprisingly, he does a pretty good job of frustrating Briscoe for a bit and then a hurricarana and a big boot sends Woods to the outside. Briscoe dives out after him to show him who’s boss and we cut to a commercial break.

4) Back to the match and Briscoe is still in control with some headbutts. Then back to the outside we go where Briscoe feeds off the crowd requests to fling Woods into various guardrails. Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana are discussing how Briscoe has been a little angrier than normal lately (which is quite angry normally), setting up for the eventual heel turn. Woods does hit a cool suplex which Cabana calls a Ferris Wheel suplex. A near fall for Woods off something quite sloppy. Briscoe rolls outside and is able to throw Woods into the ringpost to regain control. After a little more back and forth, Briscoe hits him with a huge clothesline for the victory.

5) We get a brief promo and video replay of Will Ferrara turning on Cheeseburger. I guess they are finally going to run with that storyline. It seems like they started it months ago and then dropped it without explanation for a while. Now they are bringing it back? Okay then, let’s see what they do with it.

6) Next match is Coast 2 Coast versus The Tempura Boys. I have not been super impressed with either of these teams, but let’s see what they have. Before the match begins, the Young Bucks come out to the ring and the smart money is on someone getting superkicked. The Jacksons insert themselves into the match and make it a triple threat, Texas tornado tag team title match.

7) After the Bucks start the match by looking completely dominant, the Tempura Boys hit a couple suplexes. That is followed by Coast 2 Coast hitting a couple crazy dives. Back from commercial break and the action is still fast and furious. Everyone gets to hit some moves which would look cool if they meant anything, but this is purely a spot-fest. After several overly choreographed moves, the Bucks get the victory and keep the titles.

8) The main event is a four-corners survival match between Mark Briscoe, Kenny King, Chris Sabin, and Beer City Bruiser. The winner of the match will get a shot at the ROH TV title. Briscoe is the only one who gets a televised entrance and a pre-taped promo about his dream of winning the TV title. He also talks about his wife and kids and needing the championship bonus as he swipes Heath Slater’s gimmick. That should make Mark Briscoe the definite favorite here.

9) This match is apparently being contested under lucha rules as well, which might have been nice to know before it started. Maybe a little more preparation and less commentary on the fly, guys. I should mention a couple cool moves pulled off. Mark Briscoe hit a huge moonsault off the top rope to the floor. Later, Bruiser hit a running cannonball on Sabin in the corner with Mark Briscoe on his back. They do the tower of doom superplex spot with Bruiser on top. And then everyone hits some fun dives onto everyone on the outside.

10) The finish comes when Mark Briscoe hits a Froggy Bow on Kenny King at the same time Bruiser hits a frog splash on Chris Sabin. Briscoe and Bruiser give up the pin attempts to fight each other so they don’t have to share the TV title opportunity. In the ensuing fight, Kenny King cuts off Bruiser with a spinning leg kick and then hits the Royal Flush and gets the pin.

 

Today’s show was pretty much a spot-fest extravaganza, but the main event delivered in spades. I have no problem with Kenny King having the TV title shot as he deserves to have a little singles success. Until next week…

Human. I think.