Ring of Honor Review - January 20, 2016

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Addiction def. Alex Shelley and ACH

It seems like it was ages ago that Shelley was revealed to be the masked man and confronted Chris Sabin. I was so hyped to see The Motor City Machine Guns back together (to an extent, obviously), but the follow-up has been almost nonexistent. The feud was furthered somewhat in this match, but I'm still confused what the problems are between the two. The match itself, however, featured enjoyable in-ring action and the two teams worked well together. It's hard for The Addiction to do wrong because they're always so damn entertaining and I liked that they scored the win here seeing as how their the regular tandem.


Mark Briscoe def. Adam Page

Was there an angle that set this match up? It felt like it came out of nowhere, and while I realize it led to what happened afterward, it didn't serve much of a purpose. That said, it was fine for what it was and Mark Briscoe is thankfully fun enough to watch in the ring that it made the match worth the time. Then again, Page doesn't have much credibility as a singles performer, so the ending outcome was never in doubt.

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Mr. Wrestling III Confronted The Decade

I figured Steve Corino's neck injury would spell the end of his feud with The Decade for good, but it appears they're still going forward with it anyway. It doesn't necessarily mean he'll be wrestling BJ Whitmer as originally planned, but he could be simply stirring the pot within The Decade to set up his son's split from the group. Either way, I'm happy to see the program continue as it was one of the best parts of the show before Corino got sidelined.


The Young Bucks def. The Kingdom and reDRAGON in a Triple Threat Tag Team Philadelphia Street Fight

This was every bit as chaotic and exciting as one would expect given who was involved. All three teams put forth an incredible effort and it resulted in a fast-paced, action-packed matchup. Those that don't like The Young Bucks' style of wrestling may not enjoy this match as much, but it was a total train wreck in the best way possible and the perfect way to send off The Kingdom. I'm not sure if this was the final appearance of Michael Bennett and Maria or if the group will disband next week, but they sure did a great job of writing off the Maria character by finally having her get her comeuppance after all this time.


Overall Show

ROH TV usually is a delightful hour of wrestling and this edition was no exception. I've nitpicked in the past about how ROH should focus on furthering more storylines on their syndicated TV show and they definitely did that with all their matches on this episode. Even Mark Briscoe vs. Adam Page, which was random, led to something more significant afterward. Furthermore, the wrestling on this show was superb and the main event was especially exceptional, so check it out at your leisure.