Ring of Honor Review - June 17, 2015

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

War Machine def. Adam Page and Colby Corino

While the match was a total afterthought, the story of BJ Whitmer continuing to indirectly inflict pain on Corino was effectively furthered. Seeing the younger Corino get decimated is actually entertaining to watch, and what should be even better will be when Corino ultimately snaps and goes after Whitmer. Unlike last time, Steve Corino actually showed concern for his son and even came close to going after Whitmer once the match concluded, and when he eventually does, the crowd will go crazy.


Cedric Alexander def. Moose

From what I've picked up since Ring of Honor's debut on Destination America a few weeks back, Moose has come a long way since his arrival last year and has turned into a pretty big deal. Not even Alexander's pre-match promo foreshadowed his win as I was completely shocked by Moose's longstanding undefeated streak coming to an end here. The match was fun while it lasted and I would have been fine with Alexander falling short of victory, but perhaps they're building to something bigger with him and now he won't have the streak holding him back in the future. I'm also willing to bet that Veda Scott inadvertently costing him the win will lead to their split sooner rather than later.

---

Hiroshi Tanahashi and Naito def. ACH and Matt Sydal

There wasn't much of a story told in this match and I'm not even exactly sure why it happened, but I enjoyed the hell out of it. The in-ring action was incredibly entertaining and they really went all out in delivering an excellent match. The near-falls down the stretch were very believable, and there will be some people who roll their eyes at all the false finishes, but when done sporadically, they can be exciting. I love the duo of ACH and Sydal and hope this isn't the last we've seen of them as a team, as they were made to look strong in defeat here.


ROH World Champion Jay Briscoe and ROH TV Champion Jay Lethal Signed the Contract for Their Match at Best in the World

I realize both shows were taped weeks ago, but how strange was it that the contract signings for ROH's and TNA's biggest championships matches happened on the same night? It goes to show how tiresome the concept of a contract signing has grown, but this was relatively solid. Both Briscoe and Lethal performed well on the mic and I was shocked it didn't end in violence. It was also effective in building my excitement for the pending champion vs. champion match at Best in the World this Friday, so here's hoping it lives up to the lofty hype.


Overall Show

Although this was the final show taped in this specific set of tapings, it was the best episode to air on Destination America up to now. The three matches were all enjoyable, and although there wasn't a ton of hype for Best in the World, the ending segment was enough to have me looking forward to the show. Better yet, next week will be the first show that will be taped for the new network, so it will be interesting to so see if any changes will be made and if there will be an effort to establish the current characters and storylines to potential new viewers.