Hawke’s Top 19 Lio Rush Matches from 2016

19. Lio Rush vs. Matt Riddle – Evolve – 5/7/2016

18. Lio Rush vs. Jason Kincaid – ROH – 1/9/2016

17. Lio Rush vs. Brian Fury – ROH – 2/6/2016

16. Lio Rush vs. Punisher Martinez – ROH – 2/6/2016

This was a semifinal match in the 2016 top prospect tournament.

This was exactly what a top prospect tournament should be: two guys going all out for a limited time and getting over based on their talent. Punisher Martinez came across as incredibly limited, but Rush worked around that to make him seem super talented. Rush has just been incredible in 2016, and his ability to drag something fun out of someone who seems like a complete stiff deserves a ton of praise. Rush won after reversing a diving chokeslam into a One-Man Spanish Fly. (***1/4)

 

15. Lio Rush vs. Roderick Strong – ROH – 5/9/2016

14. Lio Rush vs. Jonathan Gresham – ROH – 10/29/2016

These two did not really have the time to settle into a match on the level of their MOTYC from back in September, but they still managed to put on a very entertaining and satisfying television match. Lio tried to protect his arm early and even managed to block some initial attempts at an arm drag from Gresham. However, Gresham was able eventually to target the arm for a bit and that gave him control. Rush fought back though and eventually won with an elbow drop following two Rush Hours. Good stuff. (***1/4)

 

13. Lio Rush vs. Donovan Dijak – ROH – 11/19/2016

12. Lio Rush vs. Donovan Dijak – ROH – 7/16/2016

11. Lio Rush vs. Sami Callihan – CZW – 12/10/2016

10. Lio Rush vs. Tony Nese – House of Hardcore – 12/16/2016

9. Lio Rush vs. Jay White – ROH – 7/8/2016

This was a match between two of the most fun and fresh wrestlers on the roster who were given the right amount of time to tell a match that balanced good action and pacing. For some reason, the match was really fun. It’s hard to figure out why, but that was what happened here. Maybe ROH should try pushing guys who are fresh and fun to the moon instead of being a butt. Why be TNA?

(White controlled the majority of the match, but Rush always somehow looked competitive. They timed the comeback spots perfectly. Both guys came out looking good. It’s just White’s time to get a bigger push. Yay, wrestling.) (***1/2)

 

8. Lio Rush vs. Joey Janela – CZW – 9/10/2016

This was a ladder match for Rush’s CZW Wired Championship.

Despite suffering the career setbacks of purposely trying to seem like the front man of Arctic Monkeys and being a fake Drive geek boy, Joey Janela has seemingly developed quite the passionate following. Going into this match, I had only known him as the guy that fell off of high things in deathmatches. I enjoy people falling from high things in wrestling though so that was a solid first impression to make. This was the first time I got to see him in an actual match.

In terms of presence, crowd control, and the ability to create “moments,” Janela seems to “get it” more than most people in independent wrestling. From the moment he walked through the curtain until the moment he grabbed the belt, the fans were locked in on him. That is an incredible asset in pro wrestling.

In regards to the actual match, it was a pretty fun spectacle. Rush actually seemed severely hampered by the gimmick. As a wrestler, he thrives and stands out with his ability to be quick, physical, sharp, and sudden in his offense. None of that really works to one’s advantage in a ladder match. Still, he proved game to put his body on the line in the name of stupidity and a dying brand of independent wrestling.

This was the Joey Janela show though. This was all about him winning the feud with Rush and becoming the champ again. It seems weird that Janela has been slotted for the secondary title instead of the heavyweight championship given his “star aura” and feeling of being fresh. It’s encouraging at least that any indie has managed to develop an act that their fans (such as they are) truly seem to view as a star. This was successful for what it needed and tried to be. Quite frankly, that just doesn’t happen a lot in CZW so good on everyone involved. (***1/2)

 

7. Lio Rush vs. John Silver – Beyond – 2/28/2016

You can watch this match here.

This was one of those matches that makes you think these two should be booked against each other in every company in the world right now. It was also one of those performances from Silver that tells the world (or 200 people who saw the match) that he’s ready to up his game to the next level.

Lio Rush is the hot prospect right now for completely valid reasons, but even he got outshined here. Everything Silver did was so crisp and done with clear purpose. Obviously, he can’t perform the match he did with the smaller Rush with everyone else given his size. He can apply a lot of the ideas and movement though to other matches and be just as successful.

This was a good match, but, more importantly, it was an eye-opening performance for Silver. (***1/2)

 

6. Lio Rush vs. Moose vs. Dalton Castle vs. Michael Elgin – ROH – 5/14/2016

5. Lio Rush vs. Anthony Henry – SCI – 8/5/2016

Watch the Scenic City Invitational here.

Scenic City Invitational First Round Match

Damn, this was really good. The key to this match was that there was a great sense of urgency, but they did not ruin it with overly choreographed action. They were running around and working very fast which can turn out badly. However, that action was always based on trying to hurt the opponent which is the key to pulling that go-go-go style off in a compelling way.

Henry was super determined here to make up for losing in the first round of the SCI last year. That led to him working with a degree of focus and control that you rarely see in pro wrestlers. It’s what separates the good from the great quite frankly in a lot of ways.

Rush did not back down though, and he seemingly matched Henry’s intensity, urgency, and physicality throughout the match. Rush genuinely comes across like the future of pro wrestling right now, and it is fucking nuts no one is pushing him in that manner. This was a very good match overall with two performers who should be everywhere by now. Henry ended up winning cleanly via his GTS variation. (***¾)

 

4. Lio Rush & Jay White vs. The Briscoes – ROH – 8/20/2016

3. Lio Rush vs. Donovan Dijak vs. Kamaitachi vs. Jay White – ROH – 8/19/2016

Fun. This was fun. In Ring of Honor. It would be surprising to hear such a thing if you didn’t know who was in the match. These are four of the most talented and enjoyable performers ROH has had for a couple of years. While it makes some sense to not go ALL in on White and Kamaitachi given their temporary roster status, the fact that Dijak and Rush are not two of the very top guys in ROH right now speaks incredibly unfavorably of their booking and talent evaluation process. Oh well. This match fucking ruled. Everyone go watch it. It reminded me of the Ricochet/Arik Cannon/Chuck Taylor/Adam Cole DGUSA match from 2010. Dijak won after Feast Your Eyes on Rush. (****)

 

2. Lio Rush vs. Jay Lethal – ROH – 4/1/2016

This was for Lethal’s ROH World Championship.

Jay Lethal is a very inconsistent worker (unless you count his constant inconsistency as being consistent), but he occasionally delivers a performance that makes you wonder how high his ceiling might be in the right circumstances. His performance against AJ Styles at Final Battle 2015 was one such performance, and he had another one right here against Lio Rush.

Lethal perfectly balanced not treating Lio Rush like a genuine threat while simultaneously avoiding treating the match like a joke. This set an appropriate and compelling tone. Combining that with a fantastic performance from Rush, and we got a genuine treat of a match.

The key to the in-ring action was that they timed Rush’s comebacks really well. Rush progressively got more and more offense in until it seemed like he had a legitimate chance to win.

Rush’s resilience was not just kept to the physical action though; he also refused to put up with Lethal’s shit and endeared himself to the crowd as a result. This was hopefully a career-making performance for him (in the sense that he should receive a major ROH push and then get signed to NXT).

The end came with Rush going for the One-Man Spanish Fly only for Lethal to reverse it into a diving cutter. It was significant because Lethal could not connect on the Lethal Injection earlier. Lethal then finally connected on it after that and won cleanly. Great match.

There was of course an issue with the match because it is ROH, and they are the new TNA. Taeler Hendrix tried to distract Rush at one point. She did this by trying to seduce him. This was not in the comedic vein of Maria, but it was a seduction attempt nonetheless. Rush resisted the urge to kiss someone (we could only assume he barely knows) while in the middle of his job. To make sure though that nobody doubted his masculinity and sexual desires, he slapped Taeler on the ass. This shit is fucking dumb, tired, and insidious. Get this shit out of my fucking wrestling. It did not *ruin* the match for me, but I really did not like it. (****)

 

1. Lio Rush vs. Jonathan Gresham – ROH – 9/24/2016

This match. Holy fuck. THIS fucking match. This was some goddamn fucking fantastic professional wrestling. It had just about everything you would want from professional wrestling in 2016.

The first couple of minutes featured the best feeling-out-process in what seems like a century. Instead of jerking off in the ring, they used it to start their story.

Gresham is normally quicker than his opponents. He moves so crisply that he can get a step ahead of just about anyone he faces in the squared circle. Gresham couldn’t do that here on the mat so he tested the waters on seeing if he had a strength advantage and also began to target Rush’s left arm.

Rush, knowing that his injured arm could not withstand too much damage, then went right back to speed advantage, and he got a step or two ahead of Gresham.  Gresham decisively and with precision went right back after the taped-up arm because he knew he would lose a speed battle with Rush.

From there, Gresham continuously went after the arm. He did it all in this brilliant manner where he did a bunch of basic stuff like an ARM DRAG, but you knew it meant more here. Gresham got a little cocky after each shot at the arm, and Rush sold every move targeting his arm well.

Gresham did all of this with a calm confidence that was incredibly compelling. His calmness did not turn into laziness (like a certain lad named Zack) or without taking away the sense of urgency. Instead, he just moved about the ring like it was HIS ring. It’s a near-undefinable quality that only a few wrestlers can convey convincingly.

Rush knew he could not get too far behind so he used an opening to exploit his quickness advantage. That allowed him to hit an insane tope suicida to come close to evening things up.

Gresham went right back after the arm in the ring and tried to put Rush away. It led to amazing sequence (pictured above) where Gresham put the injured arm in an arm-trap crossface. Rush tried to use the other arm to grab the ropes. Gresham tried to pull back on that arm simultaneously. They went back and forth. It was incredibly dramatic, and Rush’s ability to finally get to the ropes felt so earned as a result.

From there, Gresham tried to put Rush away in a more traditional manner. It seemed like they were going to suddenly rely on a series of cliches like fighting spirit, fluke roll-up finishes, finisher kickouts, etc. However, Gresham stayed a step ahead of Rush the whole time though to make none of the moments seem trite. (It’s hard to explain properly, but you’ll understand when you see it.)

Gresham’s calmness throughout finally got the better of him though. He took his eye off the ball for a second, and he ran right into Rush Hour from Lio. Lio then stood them up and performed one more Rush Hour for the deathblow. (While the match would have been slightly more satisfying if Gresham won, ROH putting the roster member over is sound in theory.)

This was one of the most satisfying, substantive, exciting, and just genuinely fun matches in ROH in quite some time. It felt state-of-the-art in a way that ROH absolutely never conveys these days.

Jonathan Gresham IS what Ring of Honor should be. Lio Rush IS what Ring of Honor should be. Alex Shelley doing everything in his power on commentary to get them over IS what Ring of Honor should be. EVERYTHING about this match IS what Ring of Honor should be.

When in the fuck is Ring of Honor going to get it the fuck together and actually push guys like these two (and Dijak) to the fucking moon? Stop pushing stale acts like Adam Cole. Stop serving as a social security fund for TNA has-beens. Become the future today, or you’ll become just a memory. (****1/2)