Ring of Honor Review - January 22, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Bouncers def. Joe Hendry and Dalton Castle

Are Hendry and Castle being built up as a tandem or are they going to break up before they can really find their footing as partners? They've gotten over nicely together so far, and honestly, I think I prefer them as a tag team than on their own. Despite that, not only did they lose here, they teased tension with the two accidentally colliding. This was a fun match and with the win The Bouncers appear to be back on the ascent.

Brian Johnson and PJ Black def. Master & Machine

Master & Machine have appeared on Ring of Honor TV before, but they've never been anything more than an enhancement team, so the outcome was never in doubt. Johnson and Black, on the other hand, have been telling a story as of late with Black serving as Johnson's "mentor" or sorts. The match was fine as Black did all the work and Johnson scored the victory in the end to take the credit. Johnson vs. Black isn't exactly a feud that excites me, but I guess it's one way to try to get Johnson over.

Silas Young and Josh "The Goods" Woods def. The Briscoes

(From my Final Battle Fallout review...) Young and Woods have been on quite the roll lately as a team. They've been undefeated since joining forces, so there was no reason for them to lose to The Briscoes. I don't believe this was officially labeled a number one contender's match, but it might as well have been. Gresham and Lethal interfered at the end to cost The Briscoes the victory and further their feud with them in the process. This was a very enjoyable matchup and exactly what the tag team division needs more of. Young and Woods should be in line for a tag title opportunity sometime soon.

Overall Show

This was a very tag team-heavy edition of ROH TV with two original matches and one that already aired as part of Final Battle Fallout last month. Hell, even Brian Zane's usually Top 5 countdown focused on the top tag teams in ROH history. It helped that all three matchups seemed to serve a purpose and ranged from solid to very good. ROH's taping schedule remained flawed (these matches were from well over a month ago), but at least the hour wasn't a total waste this week.