10 Thoughts On … Ring Of Honor February 17, 2018 (Jay Lethal Versus Flip Gordon, Brandi Rhodes, Six-Man Title Match)

Reviews, Top Story

Thought Zero – I know everyone talks about NXT being the best hour of wrestling on TV each week. Technically though, NXT is on the WWE Network and not regular television broadcasting. I know, I know. I am not a millennial and the definition of TV is changing and all that. But I still challenge you to watch ROH for a few weeks and tell me whether you still think NXT is better. Nothing against NXT, but ROH has been on quite a roll with their weekly episodes lately.

  1. We start off with SoCal Uncensored and the Bullet Club give promos about the 6-man title match tonight. I am not sure it is worth noting, but Kazarian wasn’t in the promo for SCU. Probably more worth noting is that Adam Page is turning into Brian Pillman’s Loose Cannon character more and more, including giving an unhinged and angry promo. Good work from him.
  2. The first match of the night should be the main event. Because it involves Jay Lethal. It is Jay Lethal versus Flip Gordon! During Lethal’s entrance, he mentions that Lethal is a true superstar and min eventer, which is why it is so weird that he is opening the show. Um, I JUST said that, Cabana! But the use of the word “superstar”… should we read anything into that?
  3. We start off with some nice reversals and such. One cool one had Gordon try for an Oklahoma Roll and Lethal just collapse on him while Gordon was rolling through to get a two count. You see, that is just next level stuff, not just running through a moveset over and over again. Then Lethal goes for a cutter and Gordon does a handstand to counter that. The camera almost missed it, but they had a good angle for a replay. Tell me again why this isn’t the best wrestling on TV?
  4. Back from commercial and Gordon is in control, but he tries a corner dropkick too many times. Less than a minute later, Lethal gets sick of Gordon’s schtick and just levels him with a vicious forearm. Maybe they are turning Lethal slowly back into a heel. If so, they are doing a good and subtle job. Lethal makes an attempt for a pin after a particularly angry corner whip, including a grumpy cover where he drives his elbows and knees and hip and shoulders and everything into Gordon. Cabana astutely points that out. Then Lethal than hits a couple mean knees into the back and tries again.
  5. Gordon and Lethal take turns diving on each other outside the ring, a sequence ending with Gordon hitting a multi-twisting backflip to the floor to send the show into commercial. Back from commercial and the two men are just trading forearms in the middle of the ring. That leads to trading knife-edge chops instead. Lethal is looking more and more pissed. Gordon hits a springboard sling blade which was nice looking but somewhat contrived.
  6. The crowd chants “This is awesome,” and while that chant is overused, it is on the money here. Finish comes when Gordon tries some springboard move and slips off the second rope to the ground. Lethal picks him up and hits an overhead dragon suplex which looked wicked and then a Lethal Injection for the victory.
  7. Colt Cabana stops Lethal on the ramp back up the ramp to announce Jay Lethal versus Dalton Castle at the 16th Anniversary show in March. But Marty Scurll comes out to make his point that he still hasn’t had a title shot. Lethal points out that he deserves to be the number one contender because he’s beaten a whole host of people, including Scurll. Scurll then challenges Lethal to be his first title defense after he beats Dalton Castle for the belt. Okay then. that works for me. I guess the title reign of Dalton Castle is coming to a close.
  8. We get some promo work from Brandi Rhodes and Karen Q. They show clips of Brandi Rhodes winning a qualifying match, which Karen Q points out was Brandi’s first win in ROH. Now they go up against each other in the Women of Honor title tournament. Um, how come Brandi is allowed to be called a Rhodes and Cody is not? In all seriousness though, if they don’t have Karen Q just crush Rhodes here, it will make this tournament seem very weak. Karen Q is so much better than Brandi it isn’t even funny. But she is super short though. Not sure I realized how short she actually was. And we get a commercial break. In this match? The match is basically a prolonged squash for Karen Q, but she misses a frog splash and Brandi hits some soft chops. She does hit a sling blade though, which was pretty nice. Brandi then fakes an ankle injury and the ref stops Karen Q from attacking. This allows the cheap rollup from Brandi and she moves on. And the Women of Honor have sold out.
  9. Promo from Dalton Castle interrupted by Marty Scurll who is hedging his bets and putting in himself for #1 contender is Castle beats Lethal. Scurll reminds Castle he defeated him on his first day in ROH. Scurll is just on another level here and if this doesn’t end up with him holding the title, the booking is 1000% wrong.
  10. Main event is for the 6-man titles between SoCal Uncensored and the Bullet Club. The match is exactly what you would expect it to be with a lot of flying around by everyone. SCU win the belts after Scorpio Sky hits Matt Jackson with a belt, so that’s a surprise. But here is Bully Ray! Shouldn’t he be elsewhere, getting ready to be inducted into a Hall of Fame or something? It seems that he is not a General Manager or Authority Figure, but he is now an Enforcer to make sure the honor in the company is restored. That sure sounds like an authority figure to me. He restarts the match because he is now Dusty Rhodes or something, and the Bullet Club retain.

 

Very crappy ending to a really good show. Honestly, the last two matches had the wrong people going over and the reintroduction of a character that should be long gone. Great work from Marty Scurll and Jay Lethal though. Seriously, just copy and paste that last sentence every week. Until next week!

 

Human. I think.