Ring of Honor Review - February 1, 2017

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Tempura Boyz def. Cheeseburger & Will Ferrara and Coast to Coast in a Three-Way Tag Team Match

Well, this was random. I mean, it was a fun little match that opened the show on a high note, but it didn't seem to serve a purpose until The Young Bucks invaded commentary announced they would award the winners a tag team title match on next week's show. Well, whatever good will The Tempura Boyz built up with the fans with their victory was quickly diminished when they were laid out like losers by the Bucks.

ROH World Champion Adam Cole Addressed His Challengers

Cole continues to prove every time he has a mic in his hands that, other than Jay Lethal, he is the best Ring of Honor has to offer at the moment. He should be doing more to elicit heat, though, because the crowds cheer the hell out of him but he and the rest of The Bullet Club are technically heels. He did a decent job of running down his upcoming challengers while also hyping up the night's main event and who would win the tournament.

ROH World Television Champion Marty Scurll def. Juice Robinson

I was far from the biggest fan of CJ Parker in NXT because I absolutely despised his eco-friendly gimmick. I haven't been keeping too many tabs on him since he left, but he has since gone on to hone his craft and really make a name for himself on the Japanese wrestling scene, so good for him. He and Scurll had an incredibly entertaining match here and I think my thoughts on Scurll are well-documented by this point with the guy being a total star. While I knew Robinson wasn't winning the title, they successfully suspended my disbelief with a few suspenseful nearfalls down the stretch.

Jay Briscoe def. Jay LEthal in a Decade of Excellence Semifinal Match

Every encounter I have seen between Briscoe and Lethal over the years has been fantastic and this was no exception. They just have such strong in-ring chemistry together that they constantly find new ways to innovate and incorporate new moves and exciting sequences into their matches that they haven't done before. I was honestly shocked to see Lethal lose clean, but I guess Cody costing him his spot in the tournament would have been predictable. That said, that's the match I see happening at the 15th Anniversary Show next month.

Overall Show

The in-ring action on ROH TV is always second to none and this episode was further proof of that. The first tag team match was too short to be anything of consequence for me, but the subsequent two matches as well as Cole's first promo since taking the title back more than made up for it and are worth watching. I am anxiously anticipating the next month of ROH TV as the 15th Anniversary Show quickly approaches.