Csonka’s ROH Honor Rising Night One Review 2.19.16

Csonka’s ROH Honor Rising Night One Review 2.19.16

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Jushin Liger & Matt Sydal defeated Dalton Castle & Ryusuke Taguchi @ 8:20 via pin [**½]
– Delirious defeated Gedo @ 7:53 via pin [*]
– KUSHIDA defeated Kazarian @ 9:47 via submission [**½]
– Michael Elgin, Moose, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomoaki Honma defeated Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Yujiro Takahashi & Cody Hall @ 11:38 via pin [***]
– Kenny Omega, Matt & Nick Jackson defeated Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish & Katsuyori Shibata @ 10:16 via pin [***½]
– Jay & Mark Briscoe defeated Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows @ 8:23 via pin [***]
– Jay Lethal & Tetsuya Naito defeated Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI @ 12:56 via pin [**¾]
– ROH TV Title Match: Tomohiro Ishii defeated ROH TV Champion Roderick Strong @ 20:07 to become the NEW ROH TV Champion! [****]

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Jushin Liger & Matt Sydal defeated Dalton Castle & Ryusuke Taguchi: This felt like the regular, solid but unspectacular opening match you’d get on any NJPW show, minus the cool young lions. Taguchi doing his own version of Castle’s gimmick was fun, but then I remembered his offense is based off of his ass and I came back to Earth. Castle and Liger had some fun interaction, with a call back to the singles they had on ROH TV, including Liger posing with the Boys. Sydal hit the shooting star press on Castle and that as enough to pick up the win. This was both solid and unspectacular.

Delirious defeated Gedo: This battle of the bookers ended up being eight-minutes of grab ass and stalling. They had a decently fun little match last year, but this time it just felt like they were filling time and by the end of it, it was just a frustrating exercise in then trying to have fun, I guess. Delirious scored the win with a roll up, and we move on because there is nothing to see here.

KUSHIDA defeated Kazarian: I am not sure if Kaz was having an off night, or if he is finally slowing down, but this match was nowhere near as good as I had hoped. I felt they worked ok together, but the match really never got into a smooth flow or developed a rhythm. Kaz was a late replacement for Adam Cole (BAY BAY) but at age 38, he seems to be slowing more than Daniels, and is really best set for tag matches these days. KUSHIDA looked as if he had to hold back and slow things down here too much, which also hurt the match. KUSHIDA won with the hoverboard lock in a match that ended up being fine, but also a disappointment.

Michael Elgin, Moose, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomoaki Honma defeated Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Yujiro Takahashi & Cody Hall: Things finally picked up here as we had a good and fun eight-man tag match here. In a way it felt like the usual NJPW multi-man tag, but that’s not a complaint, because it had good action, the right guys pairing off at the right time, and just felt like a much better match than the other matches so far. Moose played well to the fans and was seemingly accepted well, he had a face off and some back and forth with Fale, which got the “oohs and ahhs” because they were big. Moose scored the win here, spearing Cody Hall, and giving him some momentum as he heads into the 14th anniversary show to face Okada. Also, Tama Tonga was a ton of fun as always, and I hope his partner will be someone fun as he looks to take over for Anderson and Gallows in the tag ranks.

Kenny Omega, Matt & Nick Jackson defeated Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish & Katsuyori Shibata: Shibata teaming with reDRagon felt a bit odd, but was also a cool teaming to face off with the Elite of the Bullet Club; it was a total clash of styles in the best way possible. The over the top sports entertainers vs. the MMA lads, and it worked and delivered the best match on the show to this point. The Bucks and reDRagon work so well together, and again did so here while Omega worked well with everyone and is really feeling like a star. I am so glad to see that because with Styles and Nakamura gone, he simply has to come off that way. Omega and Shibata came off as very interesting, and will likely be a major feud down the line. Omega scored the win with the one winged angle on O’Reilly, which was the right finish as they need to stay all in with Omega. Your enjoyment here all depends on how much you like the Bucks and Omega, as I can understand why some will not enjoy this all that much.

Jay & Mark Briscoe defeated Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows: Jay & Mark Briscoe picked up some more momentum as the defeated the former IWGP tag champions. The Briscoes have been solid as part of the six man champions, although I think that Mark has been more fun over all, working hard and really looking like he has something to prove. Anderson and Gallows put in another good effort on the way out. They kept it short; they got in and got out, and worked at a very friendly pace and I liked it. The froggy bow on Anderson finished things off. I’m going to miss New Japan Karl.

Jay Lethal & Tetsuya Naito defeated Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI @ 12:56 via pin: I didn’t realize it until today, but The House of Truth and Los Ingobernables joining forces were everything I needed in life. This was largely solid and improved as it went on, but wasn’t quite as good as the last few matches. Okada and Lethal has some very good exchanges, and it was very interesting to see the crowd take to Lethal and even cheer for him with some enthusiasm. Okada ate a shot from the Book of Teeth and Lethal scored the win with the Lethal Injection on YOSHI-HASHI. Naito then spent some time reading through the Book of Truth; this was completely fascinating heel unity and was enjoyable.

Tomohiro Ishii defeated ROH TV Champion Roderick Strong: I was looking forward to this match, hoping that Strong would recapture some of that early 2015 magic and deliver a great main event with Ishii. Now this wasn’t quite in the same league as the Ishii vs. Shibata matches, but it was a damn great main event with a surprising finish. The one thing I liked was that while they worked a physical and intense match, it didn’t feel like the usual Ishii match, and that’s a compliment because I love to see guys deliver great matches while working outside of their comfort zone. Strong got control after slamming Ishii to the apron, which played into Strong’s wheelhouse, working the back. They worked a great pace, and the action escalated well to the end very well with good near falls and the surprising finish when Ishii hit the brainbuster, and Strong was down for the three. Going into the main event I had hoped for a physical and competitive match, with a near fall or two that could make me buy that Ishii was going to win, But ROH and NJPW did one better and actually pulled off the title change. It’s nice to be surprised in a finish that everyone thought was a lock for Strong.

* End scene.

* Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

This was an overall good show, with a very good main event and a surprising finish. The show was enjoyable, and while nothing was must see, I hope that this is a start of a yearly series, similar to FantasticaMania.