Ring of Honor - 2024

[Curt McGirt]

Hoo boy. I remember Dalton but I don't think I stuck around for the mains.

[RazorbladeKiss87]

I'm not able to draw up specifics, and it's not top of the card stuff, but I always enjoyed the brawls Beer City Bruiser would have.

 

[Curt McGirt]

YEAH! Now that's one of the dudes I remember! Always loved him and the other dude, wish they were around still. 

[Curt McGirt]

Brian Milonas! What are these two fatbodies up to now? There isn't any Wiki information past 2017 (which was eight frickin' years ago).

[RazorbladeKiss87]

Looked him up on Cagematch. Not a lot it looks like although he did lose to Lawler last year.

Edited February 28 by RazorbladeKiss87

[AxB]

Brian Milonas lost to Jermaine Marbury 6 days ago. He wrestles for Beyond/ Wrestling Open in Worcester MA a lot, and is co-head trainer at their school.

[DreamBroken]

Short episode of Honor tonight at just over an hour with only around 5 matches.

Queen Aminata vs Taya was a great opener and I was pleasantly surprised by Aminata pulling the upset! 

Nice to see Mike Sydal back after he'd been gone from AEW for years now. Also cool to get a Taiji Ishimori appearance in for a quick squash. 

Blake Christian vs Komander was good stuff. Main event was fun with all the buildup and now Johnny TV has custody of The Boys. 

[Curt McGirt]

I just kinda listened to this one in the background. One thing that did strike me is that Blake Christian has always looked like somebody I couldn't put my finger on, and I finally figured it out. It is...

Mocho Cota. 

Of all people. 

Now, I'm not suggesting he cut off any fingers, but looking like that and trying to be a face is perhaps not the best match. (If he turns though, I want the afro to be grown out for sure.)

Poor Dalton even got the Owen Voice from Riccaboni! I'm sure Caprice had his hand over his mic and was trying not to bust out laughing and ruin the moment. 

[NikoBaltimore]

He's a shitbag heel and the GCW champ. At first it was jarring since I only saw him as a face. But he's really fucking good at this heel thing. 

[Curt McGirt]

Really! Well then! They, then, need to go with that in AEW.

[NikoBaltimore]

I felt they were hinting at it when he did some kind of unpure tactics that they mentioned on commentary. 

[DreamBroken]

Another quick 5 match episode of Honor, this time under an hour. 

Red Velvet vs Leyla Hirsch was an awesome opener. I was rooting for Leyla in the tournament but I like both so Velvet going on is cool too. Velvet vs Aminata in the semis shall be excellent, another where I'm a fan of both. 

Abadon squash setting up their tournament match with Mercedes upcoming, this tournament rules.  Big Shotty's win streak continues.  the traditional 4 corner tag was a fun main event, nice win for the Infantry. 

[Curt McGirt]

I should have paid closer attention to that open. Too busy dicking around elsewhere. Grrrrrr. 

Got a kick out imagining Serpentico tearing off the mask, his clothes, and redressing right there in gorilla to walk out as Jon Cruz in the time between the segment and that. He was really good this time out. I loved loved loved the stalling, walking forwards and backwards on the steps especially. 

This felt like a really short one (and of course I still showed up late) but hey, Abadon was there, all is right with the world. 

[Jenalysis]

I hope Airica gets a chance to do some more matches in ROH.  She showed some good fire and some fun reactions, and takes a beating well.  Still heavily a work in progress, but someone who has improved a lot in the past few months, and the strikes look better than many in AEW already.

 

 

 

Edited March 8 by Jenalysis

[evanknight]

What a long strange year it has been. The tv shows started out strong, with a unique feel, then it became a glorified Dark, currently it's an above average show focusing on some good characters and having good matches, mostly where it should be. I think there were maybe two more phases in there honestly, but it has settled into something that is enjoyable viewing, but not must see. They really need to draw a harder line between AEW and ROH to not drag down both. It'll be interesting to see how long they carry on like this though, because there doesn't seem to be much upside to it. I still believe that a few minor tweaks could turn it though and make it worth a subscription. All that said, I hope the blow off for the Infantry and Outrunners is saved for the PPV. 

You have that, the women's TV title finals, Dalton & Johnny, then mix in the champs and you should have a solid Supercard. 

[NikoBaltimore]

ROH in general as a glorified Dark with ROH vibes works quite fine for me.  From what I remember before tuning out of Sinclair ROH they had a kind of similar style to the shows so it doesn't feel like that much of a leap to me.  I think what they're still recovering from is Jay Briscoe passing away as he was ROH through and through.  In an alternate timeline him and Mark would be champs and we wouldn't have Mark trying to find his groove in AEW.  As for things that AEW could control while I love Kingston as Continental champ the ROH champ is barely if ever on TV and TK had to assure the press that he Eddie would be defending at the PPV.  It's not the best look and they really could use a champ that's on ROH TV often to drive the show along.  And now that I think about it same goes for the tag and 6-man champs which are being used as props for stuff on AEW TV.  Unless they have those champs pulling double duty (hopefully with more pay as a result) something will need to be considered for the long term.

[HarryArchieGus]

On 3/12/2024 at 1:18 PM, NikoBaltimore said:

ROH in general as a glorified Dark with ROH vibes works quite fine for me.  From what I remember before tuning out of Sinclair ROH they had a kind of similar style to the shows so it doesn't feel like that much of a leap to me.  I think what they're still recovering from is Jay Briscoe passing away as he was ROH through and through.  In an alternate timeline him and Mark would be champs and we wouldn't have Mark trying to find his groove in AEW.  As for things that AEW could control while I love Kingston as Continental champ the ROH champ is barely if ever on TV and TK had to assure the press that he Eddie would be defending at the PPV.  It's not the best look and they really could use a champ that's on ROH TV often to drive the show along.  And now that I think about it same goes for the tag and 6-man champs which are being used as props for stuff on AEW TV.  Unless they have those champs pulling double duty (hopefully with more pay as a result) something will need to be considered for the long term.

Jay Briscoe was one of my favorite performers of all time, but I'm not sure the shows would be a whole lot different with him. Maybe he and Mark would be featured similarily to Athena? I'm happy with Mark Briscoe's AEW run, and glad he's getting a chance to make some money and grow his career. A career trajectory I fully expect will lead to Main Events on PPV and national television. 

I was really excited about the launch of ROH. I was even more excited by the first 4 weeks in Orlando. Featuring new and old ROH performers, and the lost in the shuffle AEW mid to lower card. The touring version has certainly featured some fun stuff, but so often to dead crowds and empty houses. I saw good reason for the latter when I missed the first portion of the taping here in Toronto - they announced the start time as 730, but decided to start at 7. Further, they did nothing at the two tapings I saw to keep the Collision crowd afterwards. Ppl filed out right after Collision. Many with no idea the show was continuing. My biggest issue with this show and promotion, besides the relentless multi-person matches, is the total lack of Champions wrestling on the weekly show. It's especially alarming that ppl wearing ROH titles don't even appear on the show in promos. Further, with all due respect to Kingston, it doesn't quite feel like there's even a World Champion anymore.

I get the impression that the current ROH is in placeholder mode until an actual TV deal is in place. That does raise some questions as to why they didn't take the CW deal. Maybe WBD adds an ROH show after the next deal? Feels unlikely. Ideally, they cancel Rampage-Baby in place of ROH Friday Night-Baby. Maybe even add an hour. What I do like about this show is the attention given to the Women's Division which has badly needed more camera time and reps. And in a less strenuous TV situation. Regardless of the success of said segments, I'm also pleased to see the wrestlers getting promo reps. Even if it has led to some of the worst promos I've ever seen (babyface Ethan Page take a bow).

[DreamBroken]

Back to longer 2 hour Honor this week

Billie/Diamante was an awesome opener. Hard hitting, Billie had a few near head drops there. Loved the roundhouse kick leading up to the finish. 

Big Shotty vs Aaron Solo was a solid competitive match. 7 in a row for Lee. 

Women's 4 corner survival was a fun 5 minutes with great talents. Love to see Kiera actually get the win for a change. Robyn Renegade continues to be a weekly highlight.

Athena/Aisha was a nice extended squash. Athena back to original super heel mode killing her opponent afterwards. Now Athena vs Shida sounds excellent. Great Athena promo setting it up for Supercard. 

Top Flight & Andretti looked good.  Welcome back Nick Comoroto for the first time in months.  Always enjoy a Lance Archer squash plus we get Jake the Snake's first ROH appearance.

Martinez/Abadon was good stuff as I hoped for, dug the finish to protect Abadon from losing clean. 

Men's weekly 4 corner survival was fun as well. Jack Cartwheel's cartwheel sequence with Komander up the ramp ending with Komander's Mexican destroyer was hilarious. I hoped maybe slim J would pull off the upset. 

Eddie Kingston vs. Mark Briscoe for the title at Supercard! Nice simple promo from Eddie bringing things back around to Mark not getting his planned shot last year. the ROH PPVs always deliver greatness.

Good tag team main event. Maria was highly entertaining at ringside. Cool to have Orange Cassidy on for his first ROH match in years. Very enjoyable overall episode

[Curt McGirt]

ROH was long long long again, but also pretty damn good.

Both the women's tourney matches were all that. I still think Billie has a ways to go but Diamante ladled on some child abuse. Mercedes vs. Abadon was the shit! Intense and hard-hitting stuff and Abadon was put in a position to sell, which they did a great job at, especially on the apron and the floor. End was cheap but the slapjack keeping down the person with the undefeated streak was just fine story-wise. (I don't know what the crowd was chanting or why Abadon apparently had fishnets on their head, someone is gonna have to explain these things to me.) Kiera won the four-way (good for her) and Athena actually let the lady with the missing eye stick around for longer than expected. I had no idea that PCO was also missing one. This was a lot of women on the show and if that's because Mercedes is here, then good deal. Taya even got to show up and yell at a "barefoot and deranged" Dalton who has clearly been hitting the pipe again. 

Dante Martin is really good at shotgunning beers, I bet. The superfast zoom-in on the Savage dude's gross chest was hilarious, and the Michinoku Driver right onto one of the opponents was nasty. 

Slim J before the four-way to the others:  "If I'm gonna lay down for three guys I get to hit Jack Cartwheel in the nuts. That's my terms."  Ref watching and not DQing him at all was hilarious. Cartwheel needs to cartwheel all the way down to the ring, then keep going all the way around. Come on, we know you can do it!

Tony, please please please let Eddie drop the belts to Mark so Eddie can blood-feud with Okada instead of Okada stripping him and wasting all that momentum and prestige on the shiny new toy in the sandbox. Please.

[HarryArchieGus]

1 hour ago, DreamBroken said:

Billie/Diamante was an awesome opener. Hard hitting, Billie had a few near head drops there. Loved the roundhouse kick leading up to the finish. 

41 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

I still think Billie has a ways to go but Diamante ladled on some child abuse.

There was a couple rough spots (not necessarily bad), but Billie v Diamante was pretty darned solid. Definitely agree that Billie isn't quite where she will be (one of the best), but she's way ahead of other young'uns like Anna,Skye, or Julia. And (looking over the roster page) way ahead of Baker (in-ring), Penelope, Nyla, Shafir, Rosa, Ruby, and most of the regular AEW roster.

She really needs to stop with that trio of dives spot. Save it for big matches. I worry that she's gonna get hurt working a meaningless ROH TV match.

[AxB]

She still does a few weekend indie bookings too. Fewer than she had been previously, but she's not stopped.

[DreamBroken]

1 hour ago, Curt McGirt said:

End was cheap but the slapjack keeping down the person with the undefeated streak was just fine story-wise. (I don't know what the crowd was chanting or why Abadon apparently had fishnets on their head, someone is gonna have to explain these things to me.)

this Abadon look came from the music video for Dir En Grey's song "Obscure" 

[dragonzombie]

The Triple Crown was dissolved. It's just unofficially a Double Crown (of two seperate titles) for now. Until Eddie either loses the RoH World or NJPW Strong Openweight Championship.

[DreamBroken]

Excellent night of women's wrestling on the Honor Club! Back to a one hour this week. Billie/Mercedes was an awesome opener as expected.  Aminata/Red Velvet was fantastic, both looked great all the way through. Feels like Billie was the favorite when this started but Queen has gained a lot of momentum along the way.

Shida vs Ellering was good stuff and then Mina Shirakawa was a showstealer from the epic entrance on in a quick but action packed main event against Anna Jay, loved the finish.  A couple solid squashes in between, nice to see Sydal get a rare win. Also enjoyed the promos, nice setup for Kiera vs Diamante next week and Billie/Lexy/Athena is always the best.  Already enjoying the build for Athena/Shida a lot. Cool callback to their only singles match being 10 years ago in SHIMMER. Along with Mark/Eddie being a first time singles.

Loving the triple main event set up of Supercard so far and looking forward to what else comes together. 

Edited March 22 by DreamBroken

[HarryArchieGus]

On 3/21/2024 at 8:17 PM, DreamBroken said:

Excellent night of women's wrestling on the Honor Club! Back to a one hour this week. Billie/Mercedes was an awesome opener as expected.  Aminata/Red Velvet was fantastic, both looked great all the way through. Feels like Billie was the favorite when this started but Queen has gained a lot of momentum along the way.

Shida vs Ellering was good stuff and then Mina Shirakawa was a showstealer from the epic entrance on in a quick but action packed main event against Anna Jay, loved the finish.  A couple solid squashes in between, nice to see Sydal get a rare win. Also enjoyed the promos, nice setup for Kiera vs Diamante next week and Billie/Lexy/Athena is always the best.  Already enjoying the build for Athena/Shida a lot. Cool callback to their only singles match being 10 years ago in SHIMMER. Along with Mark/Eddie being a first time singles.

Loving the triple main event set up of Supercard so far and looking forward to what else comes together. 

I just saw this show. I agree on the Martinez v Starks opener. Mercedes is such a pro. Billie is already really good, but continues to improve each week. What a hand Mercedes is. I also liked Aminata v Velvet. Aminata is coming into her own. I sense she's winning this tournament. The Eddie Kingston promo was particularly awesome. My favorite thing on this show. I really wish they'd utilize his promo more regularly on the Honor Club. If the Men's Champions aren't gonna wrestle regularly they might as well promo about what they're seeing happening. Shit is pretty aimless without regular Champions 'In Action'. Sydal v London Lightning was a good showcase opportunity for the Ontario Indy performer. Lightning has some solid fundamentals and footwork. Sydal is another great hand. 'Lee Johnson in action' says a lot about this show. At least the local was over. Shirakawa v Jay was solid. Patient eyes will agree that Anna has come a ways. I really like that she refrains from some of the flimsy offense she showed early in her run. I skimmed/skipped most everything else. I have to admit, not a fan of Lexi/Billie/Athena promos, but I'm happy it's helped get them over, and promo reps in general. Could've used a word from Mark Briscoe, or did I accidentally skim passed? Briscoe v Eddie will not doubt rule. I'm hoping for strong showings in the Women's Title bouts. Athena gets the best out of her PPV opponents, and I expect as much with Shida. Billie v Amanita could be interesting.

Edited March 27 by HarryArchieGus