Ring of Honor Review - April 17, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Shane Taylor def. Luchasaurus

Luchasaurus has impressed me in the past, so I'm glad he's becoming more of a regular in Ring of Honor. He and Taylor had great chemistry here and produced a fun little match in the time allotted to them. Taylor winning here was obviously the right call, but then again, his win-loss record isn't terribly consistent. He needs to maintain momentum by stacking up victories and not losing when it matters most. He's already unsuccessfully challenged for the ROH World Television Championship, so I'm not sure what's next for him.

WOH World Champion Mayu Iwatani and Sumie Sakai def. Katie Forbes and Mazzerati

This was taped before Iwatani dropped the belt back to Kelly Klein at G1 Supercard about a week and a half ago. Nevertheless, she and Sakai are a terrific team and were able to get a good match out of newcomers Forbes and Masserarti (neither of whom I have seen before, aside from Forbes for a brief second at WrestleCon 2019). This didn't seem to be anything other than a showcase for the established duo of Iwatani and Sakai.

The Briscoes def. NWA National Champion Willie Mack and ROH World Television Champion Jeff Cobb to Qualify for the 2019 Crockett Cup

The Crockett Cup will be held a little later on this month by the NWA. It'll be the first time in nearly three decades that the tournament will be brought back, which is pretty cool. Considering Mack and Cobb are currently champions, The Brsicoes winning was never really in doubt, but that didn't take away from this being an exciting main event with excellent in-ring action. I believe this technically marked Cobb's first loss in ROH, but because he wasn't pinned, he won't be damaged by it any.

Overall Show

This episode was taped almost a month ago the night after the 17th Anniversary Show, so I don't know how much longer it'll be until the fallout from G1 Supercard begins to air. I loathe the layout of ROH's taping schedule in times like this. At any rate, this was an enjoyable edition of ROH TV. The women's match didn't serve much of a purpose, but Taylor vs. Luchasaurus got Taylor back on track and the main event was top-notch. All in all, this was a solid show.