Ring of Honor Review - February 6, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Tracy Williams def. David Finlay

These two are among Ring of Honor's latest pickups, and from I've heard, they are very talented. I found that out for myself in this match, which was very entertaining and honestly way better than I thought it would be for two guys who just debuted. It was all action and no nonsense. It virtually didn't matter who went over, but I thought both guys made a great first impression.

Bandido def. Mark Haskins

I was surprised that ROH went with another match featuring two new additions to the roster fans aren't overly familiar with, but hey, I'm not complaining because this was a hell of a clinic. The frantic pace was perfect as they never slowed down and instead left it all out there in the ring. There were plenty of suspenseful nearfalls down the stretch as a result before Bandido scored the victory. More of these two against each other, please!

Silas Young def. Eli Isom to Win the ROH World Television Championship No. 1 Contender's Tournament

It was tough to take Isom seriously when he (along with the rest of the Shinobi Shadow Squad) lost in decisive fashion to Villain Enterprises on last week's show, but he put forth an incredible effort against Young, nonetheless. You had to know Young was winning, but they did a good job of suspending your disbelief with Isom scoring a decent amount of offense over Young, withstanding the pain and punishment, and coming close to having his hand raised on a few different occasions. He definitely gained some credibility even in defeat. Young cut a promo afterward on Jeff Cobb and how he'll be gunning for his gold in four weeks' time, only for Cobb to confront him. Young and Shane Taylor double-teamed Cobb to close the show.

Overall Show

ROH TV is wrestling-heavy almost every single week, but this episode in particular was an absolute blast. I loved how it was filled with fresh faces and how all of them had strong showings. PCO and Brody King wrestled their first televised matches for ROH as well last week, so I'm a big fan of these new signings looking great out of the gate. I'd recommend giving this episode a watch (if only for Bandido vs. Haskins). Next week, Nick Aldis will defend his NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship against PJ Black.