Ring of Honor Review - February 14, 2018

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Coast to Coast vs. Beer City Bruiser and Brian Milonas Ended in a No Contest; Kenny King and Coast to Coast def. ROH World Television Champion Silas Young, Bruiser and Milonas

Coast to Coast are coming off a huge victory versus War Machine from last month, so it was important that they weren't just squashed here by their much bigger opponents. The first match was fine while it lasted, but the non-finish set up the subsequent six-man tag team matchup also involving King and Young, which effectively furthered that feud. The second bout was a bit more fun and had the right result with the babyfaces going over.

Mandy Leon def. Madison Rayne in a Women of Honor Championship Tournament First Round Match

I haven't seen too many great Mandy Leon matches because she is still fairly inexperienced even with five years in the business under her belt, but this was actually a pretty decent match. Of course, a lot of that was likely Rayne, who has improved immensely over the years, but Leon had a solid showing for herself. Leon advancing was huge given Rayne had to be considered a favorite to win the tourney, but Leon has been with Women of Honor since the start and deserved to go a bit further.

ROH World Champion Dalton Castle def. Punishment Martinez

Obviously, it was way too soon to be taking that title off Castle, so the key was giving Martinez a dominant performance without making Castle look weak. Well, mission accomplished. Castle sold Martinez's offense very well and had the crowd rallying behind him throughout to battle back. The final stretch was really well done and Martinez was protected in defeat via the small package and the post-match attack on Castle and The Boys. Here's hoping this isn't the last we've seen of him in the ROH World Championship picture. On a side note, Marty Scurll was a treat on commentary and he could be next in line for a shot at the strap.

Overall Show

It's been nearly two months since Final Battle, but at least we finally got a televised title defense from Castle in the main event and it was an entertaining outing. Combine that with a nice opener and a serviceable women's tournament match and you've got yourself an enjoyable edition of ROH TV on the whole. Next week, Bullet Club will defend the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship against So Cal Uncensored.