10 Thoughts on … Ring of Honor November 11, 2017

10 Thoughts, Reviews, Top Story

Thought Zero – Just a quick note here, this 10 Thoughts column and my Fantasy Book column will be absent next week due to activities requiring me to be AFK for a bit. Both should be back the following week. Now, on to Ring of Honor.

  1. Ring of Honor is starting a World Television Contender series due to Mark Briscoe’s dislocated elbow. Apparently if you win one of the three single matches, you move into a four corner survival elimination match  with Kenny King for the TV title at Final Battle.
  2. The first match of the night and the first match of this series is Punishment Martinez versus Josh Woods. Woods seems to be growing out his hair and his beard to give himself a more unique look, but it isn’t working yet. Personally, I think changing his ring gear could help more.
  3. The crowd is still dead for Josh Woods. He gets no reaction no matter what he does. On the other side, Martinez, despite being the heel here, gets all kinds of reactions from the crowd, mostly positive. I think that is just because he’s awesome. In addition, Martinez has added a facial expression after one of his big athletic moves which basically says, “Did you see that? Do you really want to boo that?”
  4. They tried to give Woods a lot of offense here, but nothing seemed to connect with the crowd. Martinez wins with the South of Heaven chokeslam and moves on to Final Battle.
  5. Back from break and here is Jay Lethal in a plaid shirt to talk. I wish he were here to wrestle, but maybe he will be announcing he is leaving ROH and going to conquer WWE. Nope. He announces that he is coming full bore to get the ROH World Title. But Lethal is interrupted by The Villain, Marty Scurll. Okay, I am trying not to get too excited yet, but a feud between Scurll and Lethal?!?!
  6. Scurll says he came out not to fight because he actually likes Jay Lethal. He says that he came to Ring of Honor to face the best in the world, and that Jay Lethal is definitely one of the best. But not this Jay Lethal. He wanted to face the Jay Lethal that was ruthless and villainous. Lethal with a good line as he tells Scurll he did those villainous things because he wanted to and Scurll does them because he has to. He gets an “ooooo” out of the crowd with that one. Scurll continues to prod Lethal pointing out that he was almost unbeatable back then but not now. Scurll then shows off his own mic awesomeness by telling Lethal that if he doesn’t want to be that guy any more, he might as well “put that clown costume with the tassels back on because at least that shtick was entertaining. Dig it?!” Scurll then says Ring of Honor has allowed him to hand pick his opponent at Final Battle and he chooses Lethal. Lethal accepts and we have our first official match for Final Battle. And wow.
  7. Seriously, they just announced Marty Scurll versus Jay Lethal for Final Battle. I’m not dreaming, am I? This automatically makes Final Battle a must-see PPV.
  8. Now we are supposedly going to get Kenny King defending his ROH TV title against Mark Briscoe, against doctor’s orders. Jay Briscoe is out there with him as his manager and he has a towel hanging around his neck. It isn’t hard to see where this is headed. Colt Cabana mentions that this is idiotic due to Mark’s severely injured elbow. And after the match begins but before they lock up, Jay Briscoe throws in the towel. And Kenny King gets the victory. Mark is furious, but can’t do anything about it. Then Punishment Martinez comes out through the crowd to attack Kenny King. Then, from the back, Shane Taylor comes out. Then Jonathan Gresham comes out. Then Silas Young comes out. Then Cheeseburger comes out! It is a huge brawl in and around the ring. Finally King hits a huge plancha on the pile of wrestlers outside to send us to commercial.
  9. Main event is The Addiction versus Best Friends (Trent Beretta and Chuck Taylor). Before that though, we get a Coleman’s Pulpit with Shane Taylor. Coleman asks him point blank if he is a hit man. Taylor basically admits it. Coleman says with this being Ring of Honor, is that really honorable? Taylor says that doesn’t bother him, and what makes him tick is to make life better for his family, so he is basically for hire and willing to do anything to anyone if it helps him get his daughter out of the bad environment she is in now. Interesting that they are even trying to make a hitman seem honorable. This company is interesting to say the least.
  10. Chuck Taylor is way too goofy. And that makes Trent Beretta unbearably goofy. I would love to end these thoughts with that, but these four men put on a solid tag team match, as expected. The Kingdom came out to watch the match and the MCMGs are on commentary. Where is War Machine? Things of note, Kazarian hit an awesome looking spring over the top rope to the floor hurricanrana. I have no idea why the crowd pops for the potential hug between Taylor and Beretta. These teams are very evenly matched and the momentum goes back and forth. This match featured the second Falcon Arrow of the day that only got a 2 count. It is time to make that move a finisher again. Because otherwise, it just looks weak. Oh hey, there’s War Machine stopping Christopher Daniels from using a chair. And the Best Friends win to move on and get a title match in the future.

Not a thought here, but a reminder: Jay Lethal versus Mary Scurll at Final Battle!

Human. I think.