Ring of Honor Review - January 9, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Ian Riccaboni Announced an ROH World Championship No. 1 Contender's Four Corner Survival Match

Chris Sabin, Marty Scurll and Flip Gordon all earned shots at the ROH World Championship at some point in the final few months of 2018, while Dalton Castle is still owed his automatic rematch for the title from many months ago. This segment set up the No. 1 Contender's Four Corner Survival main event for later on in the night and also featured a strong promo from Matt Taven running down all four men. He feels he deserves a championship opportunity as well, and it looks like he and Jay Lethal may be on track to feud in the near future.

ROH World Television Champion Jeff Cobb def. Luchasaurus in a Proving Ground Match (Non-title)

Luchasaurus is the former Vibora from Lucha Underground, and he's an extremely impressive athlete for a guy of his size. Cobb has been dominating everyone who has stepped up to him since his arrival in Ring of Honor, and while the outcome to this contest was never in doubt, Luchasaurus had a solid showing against the champ and this was a fun outing while it lasted. I'm looking forward to seeing who will be next to challenge Cobb for the TV title.

WOH World Champion Kelly Klein def. Nikki Addams

Before the bout, Klein bragged about beating three other women to become the WOH World Champion at Final Battle, and declared that every singles match she has going forward will be contested for the title. It's an interesting twist that should make her matches more interesting. Obviously, Addams is a nobody, so she had zero chance of taking the title and thus this largely existed to serve as a showcase for Klein. She and Jenny Rose will do battle in a Street Fight this weekend at Honor Reigns Supreme.

Shane Taylor Attacked Christopher Daniels

It was one year ago that Joe Koff told Daniels that he would be gone from ROH after Final Battle 2018 if he couldn't clean up his act. Well, Daniels has done enough in recent moths to cause Koff to change his mind and offer him a new contract. Daniels thanked the audience for all their support over the years and appeared to be on the verge of accepting the new contract, but Taylor attacked him before it could become official. This should mark Daniels' last appearance for the promotion as he departs to All Elite Wrestling.

Dalton Castle def. Chris Sabin, Marty Scurll and Flip Gordon in an ROH World Championship No. 1 Contender's Four Corner Survival Match

What was weird about this was how all men are eventually going to get the title shots they earned, this main event was designed to determine who will receive a championship opportunity first at Honor Reigns Supreme. If nothing else, this was an entertaining multi-man match from an in-ring standpoint where everyone had their time to shine at one point or another. Castle vs. Lethal is a good headliner for this Sunday's big show considering their history from last year.

Overall Show

This was the first real show with storyline implications ROH has run since their Final Battle pay-per-view a month ago. The Elite and SoCal Uncensored are officially gone from the company, so it's time for ROH to start moving forward and building up new talent. I was surprised by how much hype there was on this episode for Honor Reigns Supreme this weekend, but at least it was timely and everything served a purpose. Nothing was particularly must-see, but it was enjoyable hour of wrestling on the whole.