10 Thoughts on … Ring of Honor August 5, 2017 (Christopher Daniels versus Cody Rhodes, ROH World Heavyweight Championship)

10 Thoughts, Reviews, Top Story

Thought Zero – Well, I skipped my Fantasy Book column this week because I just had too much stuff happening in my non-professional wrestling world. Sorry about that. I will get back to it this week. But for now, we have a Ring of Honor event upon which to present ten thoughts.

1) We start with some clips to remind ourselves that Cody Rhodes is now the ROH World champion. Part of this includes Cody saying that the belt doesn’t belong to ROH anymore, it belongs to the Rhodes family. Personally, I look forward to Goldust defending that title on a future show.

2) We also have a bit more of a sit-down interview with Cody where he references the Money in the Bank ladder match where Damien Sandow turned on him without actually using the copyrighted words. He also calls himself a “sports entertainer,” which I am sure is sending WWE lawyers running to their desks to write up briefs.

3) Cody also talks about the 2 out of 3 falls match against Christopher Daniels coming up. He comments on people saying that he can’t beat Christopher Daniels again. He comments on people saying he can’t beat him twice in one night. Um… what? Literally, they just showed the clip of Cody challenging Daniels to a 2 out of 3 match. He’s the one that called the stipulation! Urgh…

4) And they wasted five good minutes with this setup, taking us straight into a commercial break. Tonight is the 2-out-of-3 falls rematch for the title, didn’t you know? What? This heavy hype of the match could have, and should have, come a week or two before, at least? Well, that kind of thinking is what makes someone successful in promotion. And most likely not employed by Ring of Honor.

5) And before we get to the match, we finally get to see the in-ring promo from Kazarian and Christopher Daniels where they turned heel three weeks ago according to the Ring of Honor timeline. Kazarian makes a bunch of good points and then gives the mic to Daniels. Daniels, after talking about WWE and Stardust and getting bleeped for legal reasons, continues berating the fans and getting bleeped a few times for FCC reasons. Solid promo work and again, see thought number 4. This could have really helped out a few weeks ago in selling the importance of this rematch.

6) By the way, we are fifteen minutes into this hour show and there has yet to be any in-ring action. This is not what I signed on for, Ring of Honor. And back from break do we get the main event? Oh no, of course not. Instead, we get Silas Young and Beer City Bruiser with their dumb sign to cut another promo against Jay Lethal. Young is trying hard to sell this, but it is hard to promote a blood feud with only one of the participants around. Plus, the sign is just dumb.

7) And as I type that, here comes Jay Lethal to exact some righteous vengeance. Silas tries to hit Lethal with the dumb sign (dude, it is cardboard!) and the sign is called a “stupid sign” by Ian Riccaboni! Woohoo! Lethal proceeds to pound on Bruiser in the corner with some mounted punches, and then hits a sweet flying backward elbow on Young as he charges in on him. Some chair shots send Bruiser to the outside and then Lethal starts laying into Young with about 154 chair shots to the ribs. This is the kind of fury and action you want out of a nasty feud, not a goofy sign. Lethal takes out some security and then hits a Lethal Injection just for fun. As cool as that little destruction was, I haven’t forgotten that we are half way through the show and have yet to see a match.

8) Yes, you are right, there are only a couple thoughts left to dedicate to this world title match. That doesn’t seem like much, that is true. There is a reason for that though. Cody bores me. I just don’t see his in-ring work to be anything more than a mid-level wrestler. My only hope is that his title reign doesn’t last that long. And as awesome as Daniels is, I still just can’t get worked up about Cody Rhodes in a main event role. In fact, in the Bullet Club itself, there are probably at least 4 or 5 more deserving wrestlers. Oh well, enough bitching. Onto the match.

9) The first fall begins with about 32 hours of stalling and taunting by both competitors. Once the action starts, we get a botched armdrag (I blame Cody), but then he comes back with a nice delayed gordbuster. That sends Daniels scampering to the outside where he jaws at a kid in a Dalton Castle t-shirt. They are pushing a separated shoulder storyline for Cody and that gives Daniels some control. After some back and forth, Todd Sinclair takes an unnecessary bump so the combatants can trade low blows. This allows Kazarian to bring out a chair and then Marty Scurll to come out and neutralize him. By the way, Scurll getting a nice pop when he comes out seems right. Cody then rolls up Daniels for a three count to go up 1-0. Odd, but okay.

10) Daniels then hits Rhodes with the chair before the bell could ring to start the second fall. That is actually a pretty smart move. And since it is a smart move, it is a heel move. That’s just the way pro wrestling works. Daniels then tries to take the second fall via count-out, but Cody gets back in at 19. Rhodes hits a desperation flatliner that changes the momentum some. Then we get the flip flop and fly as a little tribute to his dad. Daniels hits the Crossroads for 2, then an Angel Wings for 2. Why are they burying Daniels like this, having his finisher fail. It is only the second fall. Best Moonsault Ever misses and Cody hits the Crossroads for the second fall and the victory. Very weird booking. Is Daniels leaving the company and wanting to put over Rhodes? I was actually digging this new violently angry Christopher Daniels. I guess we will have to wait and see.

 

This was, literally, a one match show. It made Cody out to be a star, but at the expense of a legend like Daniels. Not sure how I feel about that. But next week, we get the anticipated Kenny King versus Kushida match for the ROH TV title! Until then…

 

Human. I think.