Ring of Honor Review - June 10, 2015

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Kyle O'Reilly def. Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions The Addiction in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match by Disqualification

For those aware, Bobby Fish couldn't cross the border into Canada for whatever reason when this was taped last month, hence why the contest was changed to a Handicap match. I liked the story they told with O'Reilly going up against the odds instead of forfeiting the tag team title opportunity and the crowd was solidly behind him throughout. I would have liked to see the match go longer than just four minutes, but it was fun while it lasted. O'Reilly was protected in defeat and the save from Matt Sydal and ACH set up a future tag team match between them and The Addiction. Speaking of whom, why TNA let those guys go is beyond me.


Jushin Thunder Liger def. Dalton Castle

I was first exposed to Liger at last year's War of the Worlds pay-per-view (thought I was well aware of him before that) and the things he's capable of doing in the ring at his age continue to amaze me. As for Castle, I've never seen or heard of him prior to this point, but he impressed me from the get-go with his awesome entrance. Not only was the match very well-wrestled, but it was also incredibly entertaining, especially the spot where Liger stole Castle's "boys." I've herd criticism of ROH in the past in that their matches features too many false finishes as was the case here. Hopefully this doesn't become a trend going forward.

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"Brutal" Bob Evans vs. Cheeseburger Ended in a No Contest

Cheeseburger was around when I was watching ROH regularly last summer and even then I enjoyed his act. The crowd absolutely adores the guy and he plays the underdog character to perfection. The match barely got started before the non-finish, but what a way to end it! The tables spot was sweet, and it's an indicator that the feud between these two is just getting underway.


IWGP Tag Team Champions The Kingdom vs. The Bullet Club Ended in a No Contest (Non-title)

Going into this match, I was confused as to who the babyfaces were supposed to be. The Kingdom is an established heel act in ROH while The Bullet Club are mega heels over in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Although they were beloved in this bout, they didn't do anything that would make you think they were faces. Nevertheless, the in-ring action was entertaining and they put forth a strong effort, but the non-finish felt out of place, especially considering all the other non-finishes we got earlier in this show.


Overall Show

As I mentioned last week, I'm well aware that these shows were taped last month, so I don't put the full blame on ROH, these last two shows haven't done anything to get potential new viewers familiar with the product. Obviously, they expect you to know who everyone is and what the storylines are going in, and while I enjoy the episodes because I'm somewhat familiar with the product, I can imagine new viewers being left confused. At the very least, they did what they didn't do last week: promoting a contract signing for the next edition and thus giving viewers a reason to tune in.