Welcome to ROH Honorable Mention, Last Word on Sports’s look at the biggest news coming out of Ring of Honor.
‘Till Kingdom Come
Ring of Honor’s online viewing option finally rectified itself this week and not a moment too soon as the company has start to push newer stars. The most recent episode saw the last throes of the Kingdom, as a hobbled Taven came to the ring with his compatriots. With Ring of Honor’s television taping schedule being behind TNA’s Michael Bennet and Maria appeared in their penultimate show. Adam Cole has morphed from a contributing member to the de facto leader of the presumably soon to be dissolved group. The fallout from Final Battle saw Cole berate his squad mates for their lackluster performance and failure to wrest the title away from War Machine.
Promptly reDragon interjected and broke up the scolding that Cole was unleashing. Matchmaker Nigel McGuinness scheduled a main event match between the teams for next week’s episode emanating from Philadelphia, but before he could finish his sentence, the Young Bucks interjected and were eventually thrusted into a triple threat tag team street fight. This is a match that we’ve seen before, but with Bennett’s departure, the match takes on a different feel. It will be important for Cole to assert himself next week and ROH will be able to give Bennet and Kanellis the send-off they deserve. Inserting the Young Bucks, the IWGP junior heavyweight tag team champions brings a level of importance to this match that can catapult the Bucks into a consistent position on the card and hopefully into a new feud.
Despite their inclusion in the triple threat match, it seems that reDragon will be moving into singles competition as well, as evidenced by Bobby Fish’s interaction with the television champion Roderick Strong. reDragon’s backstage promo did not however add anything to the upcoming match. O’Reilly came to the ring like madman, only held back by the Kingdom’s security, but during the backstage promo he joked about his “broken home” background, revealing that a tree had crashed through his childhood home. Playing the part of silly face does nothing to add to his feud with Adam Cole. After the betrayal from his former Future Shock teammate, O’Reilly need to play the role of the infuriated combatant at all times. Hopefully as the build to the 14th anniversary show continues, a more focused and serious O’Reilly will emerge.
The Truth Hurts
As if that wasn’t enough to fill and hour that is usually based on wrestling alone, The House of Truth also received considerable air time after their match with the current tag tag team champions War Machine. The match was a squash, but if only to further Dijak’s split from the group. After the match Truth Martini insulted and ultimately slapped his former protege, goading Donovan into defending himself. Joey Daddiego saved Martini, setting up an eventually match between the two. Dijak would have benefitted from breaking away from the House of Truth by taking on its biggest star, Jay Lethal, but facing off against his tag partner will be the proving ground for the rising star, a former top prospect tournament winner.
Prince Nana Delivers More Mystery
The most interesting part of Dijak’s break is Prince’s Nana’s involvement. Nana has been handing out mysterious envelopes to ROH mid-card talent, including Will Ferrara and Caprice Coleman. The Embassy has not been a major force in ROH for sometime, but something seems to in the works. Nana has quietly appeared at the end of matches, staring at these prospects and alluding to the envelopes on commentary. This could give all three of these men the push that they need to get over with the crowd and become stars in their own right.
The Party Peacock Flies High
Lastly, in a four corner match, Dalton Castle, the party peacock, spread his wings and was able to come out on top against Jay Briscoe, Sydal and Moose. With the return of the boys and win over a former ROH champion in Jay Briscoe, albeit with a direct pinfall on Sydal, Castle is being established as a legitimate threat to the current title holders. As ROH often does, this will be a slow burn, allowing Castle’s rise and support to reach a fever pitch before he challenges for a title. With the influx of New Japan talent to come leading in the anniversary show, an episode such as this one is vitally important. Developing the home talent and establishing meaningful storylines will help the company cultivate more fans from week to week after its move to the Comet network.
