Hall’s ROH TV Review 10.17.24

Ring Of Honor
Date: October 17, 2024
Location: Spokane Arena, Spokane, Washington
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

We’re in something of a new era around here as we are now seeing a classic match every week, which is a nice change of pace but also extends shows which are already running long. As usual there is very little going on around here when it comes to long form storytelling so it’s hard to guess what we’ll be seeing here. Let’s get to it.

In Memory Of Joe Koff, former company executive.

Opening sequence.

We run down the card.

We look at Mark Briscoe beating Chris Jericho at WrestleDream, but a ladder rematch is set for next week on Dynamite.

Briscoe promises to beat up Jericho anywhere he likes, even throwing in some Green Eggs And Hams style rhyming.

Spanish Announce Project vs. Ren Jones/Derek Dillinger

Angelico and Jones start things off with the former craning on a hammerlock. Jones reverses into one of his own but gets reversed just as fast. Back up and Jones works on the arm again, which is broken up again as well. Serpentico comes in to take Jones down, setting up a running hurricanrana out of the corner.

Jones hits a quick backbreaker so the fairly large Dillinger can come in for chops and a sidewalk slam for two. A jumping Downward Spiral gets Serpentico out of trouble and he avoids a moonsault to make things worse for Dillinger. It’s back to Angelico to pick things up, with an ankle lock making Jones tap at 7:19.

Rating: C. There was a lot of arm work in this to start and that wasn’t exactly making up for the fact that the Project took over seven minutes to beat these two. The Project hasn’t felt important around here for a long time and this didn’t do them any good, but I’m sure we’re seeing them get closer to the Tag Team Titles. Like every other team who ever wins a match.

Rachael Ellering wants a title but Harley Cameron interrupts and remembers where they are. Cameron took a long look in the mirror and realized she was very attractive. She wants a hug and Ellering seems confused by everything that just happened.

Yuka Sakazaki vs. Viva Van

Van actually takes her down to start and gives herself some applause, only for Sakazaki to grab a spinning rollup for two. Back up and Van slips off a springboard attempt, allowing Sakazaki to hit a running knee in the corner. A missile dropkick gets two on Van and a Blockbuster gets the same, with Van bridging up to escape. Van’s running spinwheel kick gets two and she grabs a rocking horse hold. Sakazaki is back with an arm trap spinning faceplant, setting up the Magic Girl Splash for the pin at 5:48.

Rating: C+. This was another Sakazki match and it’s about the same as everything you’ve sen from her before. In other words, she did her stuff well enough but odds are it’s going to be a few weeks before she’s back again, if not longer. It’s hard to get interested in her when she’s around so infrequently and when the only thing we hear about her is a list of titles she’s won in Japan, but that’s all she’s gotten for her time in AEW/ROH.

New TV Champion Brian Cage says this is long overdue and it is the push he needed to start the Age Of Cage.

Nick Wayne vs. Brian Cook

Wayne strikes away in the corner to start but Cook is back with some armdrags. Wayne takes him down and stomps on the arm before sending it hard into the corner. A dropkick cuts Cook off again but he makes a quick clothesline comeback. The bad arm goes into the corner again and Wayne’s World finishes at 4:56.

Rating: C-. This was a longer than necessary squash with Wayne running through him and working on the arm for the better part of five minutes. Wayne hasn’t done anything significant for a good while so he needed this kind of a win, though it could have been shorter for the same point. Now just have Wayne do something on AEW TV if he’s important enough for this kind of a match.

MxM Collection vs. Midnight Heat

Heat is Eddie Pearl and Ricky Gibson. Normally I wouldn’t list them but that would be the same Ricky who made an appearance on Smackdown a few weeks back as Kevin Owens’ short term partner. Mansoor works on Ricky’s arm to start as the fans certainly seem to know the latter. A dropkick lets Mansoor flip up to his feet and it’s off to Mason for a headbutt to Pearl. Mansoor walks into a hot shot though and a combination backbreaker drops him again. Mason comes back in and cleans house, including a sitout chokeslam to Ricky. The Centerfold finishes Pearl at 3:51.

Rating: C. The Collection is getting better in the ring but they’re still best known for what they do on the mic. You can tell Midnight Heat was doing well enough and you can tell they have a good bit of experience together. It made their time on offense look better and that boosted up the Collection’s win.

Jack Cartwheel vs. AR Fox

They trade flips to start and nip up for a staredown before Cartwheel is sent to the apron. A legsweep misses and Fox sends him outside, setting up the big dive. Back up and Cartwheel hits a kick, setting up a cartwheel flip dive. Fox is right back with a neckbreaker for two but Cartwheel’s crucifix driver gets the same. A jumping enziguri drops Cartwheel for two more, followed by a snap superplex (that looked cool). Fox drops a 450 for the pin at 6:43.

Rating: C+. If you like the rather choreographed looking style and two people who are incredibly athletic trading their flips and kicks, this was the perfect match. Fox has long since been a guy who is great for fun matches but he isn’t going anywhere. Cartwheel is as gimmicky as you can get and in this case, that’s perfectly fine.

Atlantis Jr. vs. Jon Cruz

Atlantis knees him down for an early two and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets the same. Back up and Cruz hammers away with right hands, followed by a sliding chinlock for a bit of flare. Atlantis fights up, hits a rolling cutter, and nails a frog splash for the pin at 3:50.

Rating: C. I’ve been watching Atlantis Jr. for about six months now and I have no idea what the appeal is supposed to be. He’s perfectly fine but there is nothing about him that makes him stand out in any meaningful way. I’m sure it’s something about keeping the ties with CMLL but there has to be someone who is a bit more exciting.

Willie Mack vs. Komander

For a TV Title shot. Mack runs him over to start and adds a running kick to the head. A double nipple twist has Komander in more trouble and he loses a battle of the chops. Komander pops up with a running hurricanrana to send him outside, setting up the running dive. Back in and Mack knocks him down but misses the frog splash, allowing Komander to come back with Cielito Lindo for the pin at 6:32.

Rating: C. The match was perfectly fine, but this is a good example of why Ring Of Honor isn’t worth watching. Coming into this match, Mack has had one singles match in Ring Of Honor this year while Komander has been treated as nothing but a jobber in AEW. Why are these two having a match for a title shot? There are several people who have been racking up wins around here and aren’t getting title chances. That’s Ring Of Honor’s title situation in a nutshell and it’s not getting any better.

We look at Chris Jericho and Mark Briscoe’s promo exchange on Dynamite, setting up their ladder match next week.

From Final Battle 2018 (and from a previous review):

Tag Team Titles: Briscoes vs. Young Bucks vs. SCU

SCU (Scorpio Sky and Frankie Kazarian) are defending here. The Briscoes head outside and start throwing chairs inside, leaving the Bucks to slug it out with the champs. The Bucks get the better of it and start superkicking until Kazarian slingshots out into a hurricanrana on Mark, sending him into a spear on Jay. Everyone heads outside with Sky being put on a table but the Briscoes chair Matt down.

Jay hits a double stomp to put Sky through the table and the Briscoes take over with various metal shots. Kazarian is busted open and Mark puts the ladder around his neck to slam into people’s faces. Some superkicks break that up and Coleman thinks we might see some more later. Jay gets kicked to the floor and a wheelbarrow faceplant drops Sky. The Bucks hit a double dropkick on Sky before stopping for a Too Sweet.

The first ladder is set up but the champs take over on the Bucks, complete with some loud swearing from Sky. It’s too early for the titles though and the fight over getting to climb is on. Nick and Kazarian shove the ladder back and forth at each other until stereo superkicks put the champs down. The Briscoes come back in with some chairs to clean house though until Kazarian hits a chair shot to Jay’s back. Another shot takes out Kazarian’s ankle though and the Briscoes take over again.

Mark gets kicked out to the floor for a flip dive from Sky and it’s time to unleash the series of dives until Matt is suplexed through a table. The bloody Jay finds a staple gun but Kazarian breaks it up with a slingshot cutter through the table at ringside. And now, a sledgehammer from Matt has Jay begging him to swing. Since that’s a bad idea, we get another ladder instead.

After catapulting it into Sky’s face, Matt goes up but gets pulled back down into a backbreaker onto the open chair because the back injury is his thing. Nick hits the slingshot X Factor to send Jay into a chair but the also bloody Mark brings in another ladder. A springboard spear knocks Sky off the ladder so it’s time for the Meltzer Driver, with Mark diving off the ladder with a cutter for the save.

There’s a Jay Driller to Matt and everyone is down for a few seconds. Jay loads up yet another ladder and then bridges a second between the standing version and the corner. Kazarian is back in with a Styles Clash to drive Jay crotch first into a chair. That’s enough to get a hand on a belt with Nick going up for the save but being tossed WAY down and through a table on the floor. Jay climbs up as well and Mark pelts a chair up at Kazarian to knock him through another table, leaving Jay to pull down the titles for the win at 22:40.

Rating: A. Well that was great. This was the exact same idea that worked for the original TLC matches: take six guys and let them go completely insane with one spot after another until one team finally puts the others away after a big move. It was entertaining and nothing was going to follow it so this was the right call for the main event. Great stuff with the blood making it seem more intense, which is exactly what it should have been.

Lady Frost vs. Athena

Non-title Proving Ground match, meaning if Frost wins or lasts the ten minute time limit, she gets a future title shot and Lexi Nair is here with Athena. Frost grabs some armdrags to start and they trade dropkick attempts for a standoff. A headscissors drops Athena to the floor and Frost hits a flip dive off the apron. Nair uses a chain (the one she’s been tied to Athena with for protection from Abadon) to trip Frost down though and Athena takes over on the floor.

Back in and Athena chokes in the corner before slamming Frost head first onto the mat as things slow down. Frost scores with a kick to the head but a wheelbarrow slam plants her right back down. Back up and a flip into a Cannonball connects for Frost in the corner, setting up a cartwheel into something close to an Air Raid Crash for two. Frost’s super hurricanrana is countered into a superbomb though and a crossface makes frost tap at 8:32.

Rating: C+. When she’s been champion for this long, there is only so much interest to be had in anything she does. It seems like we’re on the way to the Billie Starkz getting a shot at Athena, likely at Final Battle, and that’s the match that has been cooking for a few months now. That leaves things like this and a showdown with Abadon (it is October after all) feeling less than interesting, but what are you expecting when Athena has been champion for the better part of ever?

Post match Athena loads up the ram into the title but Abadon’s music scares her off to end the show.

 

Results
Spanish Announce Project b. Ren Jones/Derek Dillinger – Ankle lock to Jones
Yuka Sakazaki b. Viva Van – Magic Girl Splash
Nick Wayne b. Brian Cook – Wayne’s World
MxM Collection b. Midnight Heat – Centerfold to Pearl
AR Fox b. Jack Cartwheel – 450
Atlantis Jr. b. Jon Cruz – Frog splash
Willie Mack b. Komander – Cielito Lindo

 

 

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7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

That’s as quintessential Ring Of Honor as you can get these days: the women have the only thing close to a developed story, there’s a match where you remember how things used to be great, and a title shot is thrown out to the winner of a random match while a bunch of people not important enough to be involved in something in AEW have short matches. There’s nothing impressive here other than whatever Athena is doing and the classic match, because the rest is just filler until they get to a pay per view where they’ll bring in bigger names for a few weeks. Skip this show, as usual.