Ring of Honor Review - December 18, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Kenny Burger King, Dalton White Castle and Burger Flip Gordon def. Cheeseburger, Double Cheeseburger and Triple Cheesebuger

​ROH Unauthorized, where this took place, was the show run by Colt Cabana that featured random matches played for comedy. Therefore, everyone involved in this match received a hamburger-themed nickname. You can pretty much figure out who everyone is from the list of names above, except that Double Cheeseburger and Triple Cheeseburger were The Bouncers. Cheeseburger and The Bouncers ended up having an advantage in numbers once Gordon walked out on King and Castle, so it was weird that King's team overcame the odds and ended up winning. Perhaps it was justified because King pinned Cheeseburger. Either way, this was a fun match for what it was.

TK O'Ryan Addressed the Audience

We hadn't seen or heard from O'Ryan since September before now. I believe he's been out injured with a concussion and hasn't factored into the ongoing Matt Taven vs. Vincent rivalry at all. In fact, he brought up in his promo here that he hasn't heard from them at all while recovering. This was one of the most real things I've seen on this show in a while, with O'Ryan thanking the fans for their continued support and expressing doubt over an in-ring return. I'm not sure if he's wrapped up his run with Ring of Honor or if this is simply a storyline, but color me intrigued.

ROH World Champion Rush and Dragon Lee def. Lifeblood

​Lifeblood consisted of Mark Haskins and Tracy Williams here and the match was contested under lucha tag rules (a.k.a. a Tornado tag team match). Since this was taped at Unauthorized in early November, Rush was still ROH World Champion and Lee had yet to win the ROH World Television Championship. This was different from most of the silliness on the Unauthorized show and was absolutely excellent for the time it was given. They worked a frantic pace and delivered the goods. This is the type of stuff ROH is known for and needs to get back to more often.

Overall Show

Yes, ROH is still airing highlights and full-length matches from the shows they taped over a month and a half ago that most ROH viewers have probably already seen on HonorClub. The two tag matches were entertaining and I liked O'Ryan's promo, but considering this episode aired before Final Battle in some markets, it did nothing to promote the pay-per-view in the slightest. Maybe content taped at Final Battle Fallout will begin to air next week, but I assume it will be more filler until the new year. I'm not sure if they taped a Christmas Surprise match at Final Battle Fallout for ROH TV, but personally, I'd love to see it.