Friday night was the first Ring of Honor show under the new ownership of AEW CEO and President Tony Khan.
The show took place at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas. The show was scheduled prior to Khan purchases the promotion. Khan, so far has kept the current Ring of Honor logo. He also kept the same stage look as what Sinclair used previously. It will be interesting to see if Khan changes the logo or keeps everything as is for now. Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman were on commentary near the ringside area. During the pre-show, it was said the show was sold-out. However, the lighting was dark in the upper level area. I assume that Sinclair had only a certain amount of tickets they made available for the show, given the history of the smaller crowds at Ring of Honor shows.
My daughter Gabby and myself had the privilege of watching the show, and being able to recap it, thanks to FITE TV. Below is our review of the show and matches that took place.
In case you didn’t order the show, be sure to check out our full recap of the show.
“Swerve” Strickland vs. Alex Zayne
Winner by pinfall: “Swerve” Stickland
Jerome’s thoughts: This match had some crazy moves. He did show what he is made of with this match. This is the first time I had seen Alex Zayne in action. The crowd was into this match and enjoyed the work from both men. The action was both on the floor and in the ring. Alex Zayne fits in with the Tony Khan AEW style of wrestling. I don’t know if we will see any more of Zayne after this or if “Swerve” will move to the ROH roster. With all that said, it was not a bad way to start off the show. The highflying moves certainly got the crowd engaged. Because of the highflying moves and the hard work of both men to get the crowd going, I give this match 4 out of 5 stars (****)
Gabby’s thoughts: This match didn’t grab my attention, and I found it boring. This match for me gets two stars out of five **
Tully Blanchard comes out to introduce his new member of TBE Enterprises, which is Brian Cage. The faction consists of Cage and The Gates of Agony (Kaun & Toa Liona). Kaun and Liona defeated Shinobi Shadow Squad (Eli Isom & Cheeseburger) on the pre-show. This signals that Tully Blanchard is moving the ROH roster.
Ninja Mack vs. Brian Cage
Mack tried to jump on Cage who picks up Mack and drops him on the outside apron. The bell rings and Cage hits Mack with shoulder tackle. Cage has Mack in the corner and hits him over and over. Mack attempted to get some offense on Cage, but was grabbed and tossed by Cage. Mack is picked up again and tossed across the ring by Cage. Cage taunts the crowd who boos. Mack attempts to come back with some offense, but Cage grabs him and drops him again. Cage puts Mack in a drill claw for the pin.
Winner by pinfall: Brian Cage
Jerome’s thoughts: Once Cage was introduced, you knew who was going to win. It was done to make Cage look like a dominant heel. Unfortunately, Mack had very little offense, and it would have been better to have Cage go up against somebody a bit bigger and still be unstoppable. I give this match two stars out of five (**)
Gabby’s thoughts: Once Brian Cage came out it was predictable on who was going to win. I also give this match two stars out five (**)
Jay Lethal vs. Lee Moriarty (with Matt Sydal)
Moriarty goes for a kick but Lethal moves. Both men trades lock ups. This is a technical style match so far. Both men roll up, and Moriarty goes for a pin, but only gets a two count, as the crowd chants go Lee and go Lethal. Lethal has Moriarty locked up. Lethal attempts a lethal injection, but misses as Moriarty goes for a three count, but only get two. Both men hit each other with chops. Moriarty hits Lethal in the jaw and then goes for a three count, but only gets two. Moriarty hits Lethal with a kick to the spine, then goes for a pin, but only gets a two counts. Lethal hits Moriarty with a backbreaker. Lethal hits Moriarty with elbow drops to the knee. Lethal has Moriarty in a leg lock, but Moriarty breaks the hold as Lethal continues to hit Lethal with kicks to the leg and knee. As Moriarty attempts to come back in the ring, Lethal drops kicks Moriarty. Lethal then dives through the ropes to his Moriarty. Lethal hits Moriarty with a baseball slide, then another dive to keep Moriarty on the outside. As Lethal goes for another baseball slide, Moriarty goes back in the ring and then has enough to hit Lethal with a kick as both men go to the outside. Both men get back in the ring as and exchange blows. Lethal hits Moriarty with kicks to the knee and the back of the leg. Both men exchange blows again. Moriarty out of nowhere clotheslines Lethal. He goes for the pin on Lethal, but only get the two count. Lethal gets Moriarty to the top rope. Moriarty counters Lethal’s attempted suplex from the top, but his leg gives out. Lethal hits Moriarty with a Lethal combination and then goes for the pin, but Moriarty kicks out at two. Lethal hits Moriarty with a kick to the face, and then a cutter. Lethal goes to the top rope for an elbow drop, then Moriarity attempts a pin. Both men go for several pin attempts with several near falls. As Matt Sydal was talking with the ref, Lethal hit Moriarity with a lowblow as the crowd boos, then hits the Lethal injection for the pin on Moriarty as the crowd boos loudly. Lethal seems disgusted with himself as his hand is raised and continues to seems upset during the replay.
Winner by pinfall: Jay Lethal
Jerome’s thoughts: I like Jay Lethal better as a heel. When he was a heel in the Sinclair ROH, he did some of his best in-ring work and was absolutely great on the mic. He showed it again Friday night. I hope Tony Khan goes back and watches the old heel Jay Lethal footage and books Lethal the same way or similar. The near falls were great, and I have not been high on Moriarty. However, I liked his work on this show, and hope that Khan will keep him on the ROH roster along with Lethal. For me this match gets four stars out five (****)
Gabby’s thoughts: This wasn’t a bad match. I was very surprised Lethal turned heel. I was hoping that Lethal would not turn heel after Sonjay Dutt had come out to try to talk sense into Lethal. I also give this match four stars out of five (****)
-Interim ROH Women’s World Championship Match to crown an interim champion: Willow Nightingale vs. Mercedes Martinez
Winner by submission and Interim ROH Women’s Word Champion: Mercedes Martinez
After the match both women hug as the crowd cheers. Willow and Mercedes go to the back together.
This match had some great near falls. I didn’t expect that Willow would win. Mercedes seems more of a fit for the ROH style. The women worked hard to put on an entertaining match. With Deonna Purrazzo holding the main ROH Women’s World Championship, and being under contract to IMPACT Wrestling, I would expect that she will lose the title to Mercedes in the near future. I give this match three stars out of five for the effort the women put together. (***)
Gabby’s thoughts: For me this was a bathroom break match – enough said.
-ROH World Tag Team Championship Match: The Briscoes defends against AAA World Tag Team Champions FTR
Winners and new ROH World Tag Team Champions: FTR
Jerome’s thoughts: This was the match of the night. It was placed where it was due to The Briscoes heading over to the IMPACT show to wrestle the Good Brothers. Jay, Mark and FTR put on a great match. It was violent with lots of blood. I wouldn’t expect anything less from this type of match. Both teams went all out to give the fans their money’s worth for those who were at the show live, and those that purchased it on PPV. The post match was great with all four men hugging and the bow that FTR gave The Briscoes. The fans showed their appreciation for The Briscoes. The Young Bucks made a surprise appearance as they superkicked The Briscoes when they had their backs turned. FTR came back out to make the save. I don’t know what is in store for The Briscoes as WarnerMedia isn’t a fan of the team, especially Jay who made some homophobic comments on Twitter several years ago. Jay had repeatedly apologized for those comments. With the post match hugs and promo from FTR, it looks like we have a babyface FTR. I give this match five out of five stars (*****)
Gabby’s thoughts: This match was off the charts. This was the match of the night. I loved this match this was my favorite. Five stars out of five. Although this should be in my opinion, a 10 star match. It was awesome. Not sure where The Briscoes go from here. Will they stay with ROH?
–ROH World Television Championship Match: Rhett Titus (c) defends against Minoru Suzuki
Winner and new ROH World Television Champion: Minoru Suzuki
I didn’t expect a title change with this match. The fans were quiet for most of this match. They did pop for Minoru Suzuki. It was noted by the commentary team that this is Suzuki’s first title in the U.S. This match ended faster than I expected. Overall it was okay, but Suzuki’s music is as boring as he is in the ring. I give this match one star out of five. (*)
Another bathroom break match -enough said. Suzuki is boring. I also give this match one star out five (*)
-ROH Pure Championship Match: Josh Woods defends against Wheeler Yuta
Winner and new ROH Pure Wrestling Champion: Wheeler Yuta
Jerome’s thoughts: I didn’t expect Wheeler Yuta to go over and get the win. This obviously means that Woods may move on elsewhere. It was noted that was the longest title holder in ROH. This was a lot of old-school mat wrestling. The crowd was quiet at times. The fans were surprised to see Yuta get the win, as it was out of nowhere. I give this match three start out of five (***)
Gabbys thoughts: This was a good match. I was shocked to see Yuta Wheeler win. The Pure Rules are different than what I am used to watching. I enjoyed this match. I give this four out of five stars ****
-ROH Unification Championship Match: Jonathan Gresham vs. Bandido (w/Chavo Guerrero Jr.)
Winner and ROH Unified Champion: Jonathan Gresham
Jerome’s thoughts: The action and near falls were great. It kept me guessing on who might go over. I honestly wasn’t sure who was going to win. The match was booked well kept my attention. The post match with a heel Jay Lethal and heel Sonjay Dutt taking out Gresham, Moriarty and Sydal was great stuff. Then Samoa Joe’s old ROH music hit, and the place went bonkers…out comes Joe to make the save. He grabbed a mic, but then the show went off the air, which was probably due to the IMPACT show that was up next on FITE. I give this match five out five stars (*****)
This was a good match, especially good sportsmanship at the end. This is what wrestling should be today, not what like WWE is. Samoa Joe was my favorite part when he came out at the end. The fans went nuts. The fans especially went crazy when Joe put Sonjay Dutt in the sleeper. I give this match five out of five stars *****