Sad to say but this will not be a full review of the show. To anyone who might have been looking forward to coverage of Ring of Honor’s live event last Saturday, I personally would like to apologize to the readers and fellow staff here at Pulse, and Ring of Honor management for not making the show on time.
There was a crazy rainstorm last Saturday and while doing a 80 mph on Route 24, my friend Michael and I nearly skidded almost right off the road. All dramatics aside, we were both left badly shaken and proceeded to the Inman Sports Club at a snail’s pace, not arriving until the start of the Hero/Albright match-up. Funny enough that as we walked in through the front door, I saw Cary at the front desk talking and remember how strange it was that he was there. Little did I know…
Anyway, what I’m going to do is review the four matches that I did catch. Having been to both Death Before Dishonor and Glory by Honor prior to this, I had been conditioned to some truly wonderful professional wrestling. Now compared to the two previously mentioned shows, what I saw came nowhere near close. However this show wasn’t trying to be a show of the year and as such Hero/Albright, Blade/Ruckus/Richards/Claudio/Hallowicked/Titus, Lynn/Black, LAX/Briscoes delivered some truly fine wrestling. Much better than the last Edison show I was at (Injustice).
Hero needs something more to connect with the audience. I think he has the potential to breakout and be incredibly vital to Ring of Honor but I can’t help but feel that he would be used a lot more properly in the hands of someone like Vince McMahon than Ring of Honor. However now with the booking change in complete effect, maybe Hero will be utilized to his complete and full potential.
The match between Albright/Pearce was pretty good with a lot of back and forth throwout. Hero’s elbows look deadly effective but only if he weren’t throwing so goddamn many of them. At a certain point they stop having that wow effect on the crowd and that’s pretty much what happened in Edison. Albright ended up getting the victory with the crowbar and Sweet & Sour pretty much kicked his ass until he fought free and demanded Steel Cage Warfare for New York City.
Next up was the Six Man Mayhem with Blade/Ruckus/Richards/Claudio/Hallowicked/Titus. The match brought out the laughter and fun in the crowd. Claudio got the most heat since his initial turn with the crowd “Hey”-ing him into a rage. He was tossing people like rag dolls and he looked like a genuine beast. His best, best showing in a long time. Richards and Hallowicked also both got large chants and even Titus had a chant breakdown. Good, genuinely fun stuff, even if things seemed a tad bit sloppy.
Jerry Lynn vs. Tyler Black was next, and in my opinion, was the best match of the night. The story told throughout the match curtailed by Tyler’s promo at the end simply ruled. Everyone who watches it on DVD will love what Tyler had to say and it finally made him look like he was worth his weight in gold. The match itself told a great story of young vs. new with the crowd solidly behind both guys. Between the “You Still Got it!” and “Next World Champ!” chants, the atmosphere was great.
The main event is no Machine Guns/Briscoes. In fact it was no Machine Guns/AotF. I blame mainly the Edison crowd because I was there at Respect Is Earned when ‘Cide said his goodbyes and this simply felt like it wasn’t the place to bring him back. But when you got to put asses in the seats, you’ve got to put asses in the seats. It’s a way of life. Either way, Ring of Honor needs a new goddamned New Jersey venue. The match itself was good nevertheless and had some pretty good heat. I’m actually happy that The Briscoes came out on top. Their flag colored trunks ruled and for the first time in a while, they actually looked like stars, mainly because they had an extremely clean cut look to them. I remember the Briscoes trying to nail the Shoot Star Press/Flying Legdrop combo on an earlier show a long time ago and Mark botched it because he slipped off the top rope. Well in Edison, they nailed it… and it was freakin’ beautiful. Just a synchronized blur of red, white, and blues flying through the air and crashing down onto LAX.
Well from what I saw, I’d say the show is definitely worth picking up. Along with the Dream Main Event and Black/Lynn, the show alone is worth watching for those two match-ups alone.
