Csonka’s ROH Honor United: London Preview

WELCOME back to column time with Larry! Today, I am going to discuss and preview tonight’s ROH Honor United: London event. This is one of the many ROH events that will be steaming live on the Honor Club service this year, and again, some of the stars of NJPW are along for the ride. Feel free to make your picks in the comment section. Thanks for reading! It’s wrestling, we love it and will disagree. The only rules are “have a take, be respectful, and don’t be a dick.”

Kelly Klein vs. Tenille Dashwood: Kelly Klein’s nickname is the gatekeeper, and that’s really her ceiling. She’s far from, and is a perfectly solid performer, but despite being pushed as one of the division’s top stars, she’s done very little besides being a steady name for them. She’s a solid hand, reliable, but she’s not the star. Tenille Dashwood has been consistently outworking almost every woman on the roster with ease, she looks like a star, acts like a star, gets a reaction like a star and ROH needs to lock her up ASAP. I do think that this has a chance to be good, but Dashwood should win and they need to immediately realign the division and get the title off of Sakai. WINNER: Tenille Dashwood

Mark Haskins vs. Jay Briscoe: Both men are accomplished singles wrestlers, and this should be a good match as Haskins rarely disappoints and Briscoe has been on a roll during his heel run. This may be a sleeper match in terms of quality because I don’t think many will considerate more than just another mid-card match. Haskins won on last year’s tour (over Silas Young, why the hell isn’t he getting the title shot on this tour?) and should pick up a win here so that all of the UK talents aren’t complete losers on this tour. They should also bring him in for a TV taping while he’s in the US for the PROGRESS/EVOLVE shows to give him a title shot or at least have Young get some revenge. WINNER: Mark Haskins

Cody vs. Kenny King: You know, there’s this odd narrative that I completely dislike Cody. He had a great start to the year in and out of the ring; he character work has been great and he was delivering in the ring. He’s also a hell of a businessman. But when it comes to his in ring, he’s way too reliant on bringing the circus to town and relying on smoke and mirrors. It makes me actually not want to see his matches. I want this match to be good, and it has a chance to be good, but I’m sick of waiting for Cody to just go out and have a good match. He has the skill and by no means do I expect him to kill himself every time out, I just want some quality wrestling. I’m hoping for the best, but unfortunately, expecting the worst. Love him or hate him, Cody’s the star here, while King is just another guy these days. WINNER: Cody

Shane Taylor vs. Yano: Taylor will look to overpower and throw Yano around, while Yano will do everything in his sublime thievery handbook to out do the big man in search of a winning streak. There will be comedy, there will be shenanigans, and at the very least, there will be “attempted” low blows. This is really a match Taylor should win, Yano is amusing in small doses, and the crowds love him. Yes he’s popular, but this is exactly the kind of matches Taylor needs to and should be winning to gain some traction in the world of ROH. Unfortunately Lizard man is in control, and we all know how that works. I hope I am wrong… WINNER: Yano

Jay Lethal vs. Mark Briscoe: This one should be good. Lethal is the best and most consistent in ring performer ROH has, and I think it’s lost on many that despite is crazy redneck gimmick and antics that Mark Briscoe is a good wrestler. I think if you give these guys 12 to 15-minutes and let them do their thing that this will be a very good match with an invested crowd. Both are good, both are popular in different ways, and both know how to play to a crowd. With Mark being a tag guy these days as well as one half of the champions, I could see jay getting involved, but I really hope not. If it’s a straight up match, lethal should win in order to give him some momentum and allow him to keep his slot of importance on the card. Lethal is in an important spot, he’s a gatekeeper, a guy that help others get over, and also has such a name that he can be and is a main eventer when needed. Lethal should win here in a good match. WINNER: Jay Lethal

TV Champion Silas Young vs. SANADA vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Punishment Martinez: They changed this to a title match on Thursday with no build. In one corner, you have TV Champion Silas Young; it would be nice to see him get a clean win on a major show to look like a competent champion, but that hasn’t been lizard man’s style. Next is one-half of the IWGP tag team champions, SANADA. He’s obviously a good wrestler and athlete, but doesn’t need a singles win, he just needs to look good. Speaking of looking good, there is Hiroshi Tanahashi and his legendary hair. Tanahashi may as well be God, he can come in, play the hits and doesn’t have to win because he’ll still be Tanahashi; but there will be some pressure to have him win, even if it’s just out of respect. Finally, there is Punishment Martinez, or as many like to call him, “actually good Baron Corbin.” Martinez is a guy ROH likes a lot, and they have flirted with him as a main event guy, but haven’t had enough faith in him to pull the trigger. I’d be behind him getting a run with the TV Title and working into a nice long feud with Adam Page, which they have been working on. He should really take the win here, but you know, lizardman. WINNER: Champion Silas Young

Champions The Kingdom vs. SoCal Uncensored vs. Bullet Club (Page &The Bucks): Due to Dalton Castle’s injury issues, things changed on the War of the Worlds Tour, The Kingdom faced off with SoCal Uncensored and defeated them for the six-man titles. The title change felt more like an apology for the changes to the card that night and also as a short term to play into the Kingdom overcoming the “conspiracy” against them. The good news is that the three teams all work well together, so this has some real potential to deliver a banger, especially with the Bucks in the main event. They were the MVPs of the War of the Worlds Tour, but with that being said, I don’t see Bullet Club winning gold here. So it boils down to The Kingdom and SoCal Uncensored. I could see the title change, but feel that The Kingdom will retain in order to set up a rematch with SoCal Uncensored at the June PPV, where the title change will take place. This certainly has a chance to be a fun and wild match that steals the show. WINNER: SoCal Uncensored

ROH Champion Dalton Castle vs. EVIL: On the surface, these joint ROH/NJPW shows area great idea. They have helped up ROH’s profile, attendance, and profitability over the last few years. It’s a great business move for sure, but when it comes to delivering, we’ve started to fall into diminishing returns over the last 18 to 24 months. Most skipped out on the WOTW shows, because they didn’t care, and in their defense, they were given no reason to care. What once was a special thing has become the normal rather than the special occasion it used to be. They wait forever to announce matches, the big matches have all been done, and they book matches like this that are a complete dead end match with virtually no chance of a title change or any real drama around it due to that, especially so close to ROH’s next major PPV where they have Cody, Marty, & Taven all looking to challenge. Both guys are good, and under different circumstances this could be a very good to great match. But I fear that this will be like last year’s Cody vs. SANADA match (which was a shit show), with absolutely no heat or drama. I’m hoping for the best here, but unless things have changed and Castle is so injured that they HAVE to take the tile off of him and worked out something with NJPW, there will be no title change here.WINNER: Champion Dalton Castle

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“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”