Ring of Honor Review - February 5, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Dalton Castle and Joe Hendry def. Master and Machine

Master and Machine have basically served as an enhancement team for as long as I've seen them in Ring of Honor, which is why I was surprised they scored so much offense here and were made to look so competitive. However, it made for a pretty fun match and it worked because Castle and Hendry have been on a bit of a losing streak lately, so it was believable that Master and Machine could score the upset victory. Castle and Hendry ultimately went over, but we'll see how long they can continue to coexist until they inevitably go their separate ways.

Rhett Titus def. Danhausen

I'm not the biggest Rhett Titus fan in the slightest, but Danhausen has grown on me in the handful of appearances he's made for ROH recently. Crowds dig him and not only is the gimmick unique enough to make him stand out, it makes his matches more entertaining as well. Titus played the heel role (even though he still wants a rematch with a heel Kenny King) and did fine, but I thought Danhausen really shined here and was largely responsible for this matchup exceeding my expectations.

The Brisoces def. Lifeblood and Jeff Cobb & Dan Maff in a Three-Way Tag Team Match

(From my Saturday Night at Center Stage review...) ROH is in the process of slowly but surely building back up their tag team division, which is encouraging to see. I doubt it will ever be what it once was when they had The Young Bucks, The Addiction, War Machine, reDRAGON, and The Motor City Machine Guns among other tandems, but it's better than it was even a few months ago with the addition of Young and Woods as well as Cobb and Maff. This was a very well worked three-way tag as the pace was kept consistent throughout and the final few minutes were a blast. Cobb and Maff will be competing for the ROH World Tag Team Championship soon, but The Briscoes winning makes some sense because of how they're still owed a rematch for the belts at some point.

Overall Show

The weekly ROH television show is still far from must-see, but at least there's a bit more to watch for now compared to a month or two ago. The two featured matches were solid and I especially enjoyed Danhausen vs. Titus for what it was. The main event (which originally aired as part of Saturday Night at Center Stage) was excellent as well, making for a quality hour of wrestling on the whole. I'm looking forward to the Free Enterprise event in Baltimore this Sunday and how that sets the stage for the 18th Anniversary Show in March.