Ring of Honor Review - August 31, 2016

By Graham "GSM" Matthews
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Shane Taylor and Keith Lee def. War Machine

I was skeptical how well the match would go considering how green Taylor and Lee are in the ring and how the crowd would react to it, but they ended up producing a much better tag team match than I initially expected. Taylor and Lee are essentially the ROH version of The Authors of Pain in that while they are still early on in their run, they can be carried to a good match with the right opponents, and they definitely had the right opponents in War Machine. Their win allowed them to establish credibility and dominance as well as keep the feud alive a while longer.


Cheeseburger vs. Tim Hughes vs. David Starr vs. Joey "Diesel" Daddiego in a Four Corner Elimination Match Ended in a No Contest

You had to know shenanigans were going to ensue here considering none of these four competitors mean anything at the moment, nothing was at stake in the match, and BJ Whitmer was on commentary. It didn't last long before the lights went out, the video package played and Punisher Martinez surfaced. I know I've heard the name before, and it might have been because he was a part of that Top Prospect Tournament from earlier this year. He's an impressive looking specimen, and although I'm not high on the Whitmer-Steve Corino feud continuing, his involvement should spice things up a bit.

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The Cabinet def. Dalton Castle and The Boys

I'm sorry, but I'm just not buying into The Cabinet. At this point, I'm assuming they merely serve to exist due to the impending debut of the new Six-Man Tag Team Championship that was announced recently. Even then, I don't want to see them hold the titles. Thankfully, Castle and The Boys are entertaining enough that they made the match bearable and the matchup had its moments as a result. The Boys aren't technically wrestlers in storyline, but hey, why not crown them the inaugural champions?


ROH World Tag Team Champions The Addiction def. The Young Bucks

I would have rather seen this match transpire at Death Before Dishonor so it would have had a bit more meaning, but whatever. At any rate, this was a very enjoyable match and these two teams instantly found in-ring chemistry together. For some reason, though, I never bought into the possibility of The Young Bucks winning the belts. Have they not been built up enough in Ring of Honor? That said, I did like how The Motor City Machine Guns inadvertently cost them the contest, setting the stage for a future Three Way Dance for down the line.


​Overall Show

None of these matches featured fallout from Death Before Dishonor, but an excellent pre-taped promo from Adam Cole did air, so I appreciated that. Furthermore, the rest of the matches did have storyline significance, so in addition to some above-average wrestling, this was a successful edition of ROH TV in my book. I don't know when the post-PPV episodes will air, but hopefully soon because I'm looking forward to see what direction they will take with Cole and others.