Ring of Honor television has been hit or miss lately – this was another miss for me. That’s unfortunate because it featured the end of the Top Prospect Tournament, which has arguably been the best part of ROH TV lately.
ROH has a real opportunity to be a bigger player in professional wrestling… thanks to the Sinclair Broadcast Group. In January, SBC announced an agreement to purchase the Tennis Channel for $350 million. This is huge news because ROH TV could be placed on this channel, and suddenly be available to most Americans with cable, DirecTV or Dish Network.
While the staging and lighting has been upgraded to significant levels, the glaring piece that is lacking now is the creative aspect. The head booker, Hunter Johnston (Delirious), is simply not getting the job done at a level that will allow Ring of Honor to escape their current niche market audience. Generally speaking, the booking continues to keep the same theme – random talent thrown together just to have a “good match,” with a noticeable lack of characters, episodic storytelling, or consistency. Bottom line, it’s time for a change at that position.
Kevin Kelly and Mr. Wrestling 3 are on commentary…
Top Prospect Tournament Finals
Lio Rush def. Brian Fury
This was a solid match, although it wasn’t the best match in the tournament – that still belongs to Lio Rush vs. Punisher Martinez.
They were given about ten minutes, with Fury playing the veteran heel that will do anything to win. Lio put on another great performance, and this was a huge career moment for him. He pinned Fury after a Rush Hour, and was crowned the winner of the Top Prospect Tournament. Cary Silkin and Nigel McGuinness came into the ring to present him with the trophy and congratulate him.
ROH would be very wise to sign Lio Rush to an exclusive contract sooner than later.
Moose def. Kongo
I’m still not sure what the point of this match was, other than the unique visual presentation. I certainly do not suggest watching this match while you eat because you will see a whole lot of loose and flabby skin, wiggle, jiggle, and hang. Moose should have squashed him immediately. Instead, it was semi-competitive and lasted about five minutes. The booking of Moose continues to be weak, even in victory.
Cedric Alexander w/ Veda Scott vs. Adam Page
Before the match could actually begin, BJ Whitmer attacked Adam Page. Cedric Alexander joined in on the attack, while Jonathan Gresham came out for the save. Page and Gresham cleaned house, and Page warned Whitmer that this isn’t over.
“Almighty” Christopher Daniels w/ Frankie Kazarian def. Dalton Castle w/ The Boys
Silas Young joined the commentary team for this match.
Apparently Christopher Daniels’ suspension is up… out of the blue and he’s wrestling again. This was a weak main event for TV. In fact, it was easily one of the worst in recent memory.
Dalton Castle’s character, however, continues to amaze. It should have been Dalton Castle winning the Television Championship from Roderick Strong, not a NJPW talent, but I digress.
Frankie Kazarian interfered, allowing Daniels to hit his Angel’s Wings finisher for the victory. Castle is another top ROH talent who hasn’t been booked very effectively. After the match, Young berated Castle, leading to Castle challenging him to a fight without honor, as the show went off the air.
Final Thoughts: One of the many great things about professional wrestling is that it’s highly subjective. It’s okay to have differing opinions – it doesn’t make your opinion right, nor mine. It just makes it different, and that’s perfectly okay.
This will be my last ROH TV review for Voices of Wrestling, likely much to the chagrin of The Young Bucks. Many wise people have said that timing is everything, and I think the timing is right. Instead of writing, I’ll be focusing my free time on my wrestling podcast going forward. I appreciate the opportunity I was given to continue writing for what is a very diverse audience. The ROH reviews will continue to deliver without me, and…
“Ob-la-di, ob-la-da life goes on bra
La-la how the life goes on”
