Ring of Honor Review - March 15, 2017

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

ROH World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks def. Coast to Coast (Non-title)

I've listed The Young Bucks as ROH World Tag Team Champions above because they were still the champions at the time this was taped, though it should be noted they have since dropped the straps to The Broken Hardyz at Manhattan Mayhem and successfully defended them at the 15th Anniversary Show. I assumed this would be a short squash match, but it turned out to be a really fun outing and Coast to Coast looked great in defeat, which will work out well for them if they show up more in the future. The Young Bucks also continued to tease their upcoming match with The Hardyz by doing their signature moves afterward.

Kenny King Confronted Lio Rush

Ring of Honor doesn't always do the best job of telling stories on their television show and then carrying those same stories over to their pay-per-views, and this was one of those cases. Rush has been feuding with The Rebellion for a few months now, yet he recently challenged for the ROH World Television Championship at the 15th Anniversary Show. This was a fine segment, but Rush was way more compelling in that match with Marty Scurll than he has been in this program with The Rebellion, who have been dead in the water since Day 1.

curt Stallion def. Preston Quinn in a Top Prospect Tournament Round 1 Match

Well, this was a weird match. Quinn came across like an old school competitor (a la The Revival), while nothing special stood out about Stallion and he largely had his ass handed to him. Stallion had a brief flurry of offense, but even that aside, his win was a fluke because he barely scored the victory. I doubt he'll go far in the tourney, but the booking of his bout just struck me as odd.

Cody Challenged Jay Lethal to a Texas Bullrope Match

In case you couldn't tell, Cody has really rejuvenated himself since leaving WWE, especially as a heel. He was a likable babyface at first, but that was only going to get him so far, and he has benefited greatly from joining The Bullet Club. This was an excellent, heated promo from him, getting back to the roots of his rivalry with Jay Lethal and challenging him to a Texas Bullrope match at Supercard of Honor over WrestleMania weekend. If any two men can make the most of that stipulation, it's them.

Dalton Castle def. Jonathon Gresham

Castle is completely directionless at the moment, and for a guy who is as over as he is, it's ridiculous. He contended for the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship with The Boys and lost, and while this was obviously taped prior to the pay-per-view, it still seems ROH doesn't have any major plans for him in the immediate future. This was a decent enough match albeit nothing special.

Punishment Martinez and BJ Whitmer def. War Machine in a No Disqualification Match

I'm not sure what led to this match coming to be (the commentators made mention of a match they might have had at a recent live event), and I don't care because this was way better than I thought it would be. Then again, I should have expected it to be enjoyable considering War Machine tend to thrive in this type of environment. Similar to at the 15th Anniversary Show, Martinez shined once again and stole the show with what he was capable of pulling off. Not only did he pick up the victory for his team, he turned on Whitmer afterward! Thank the lord!

Overall Show

This was definitely a more loaded edition of ROH TV than what we usually see, but it was entertaining on the whole. If you tune in looking for follow-up from the 15th Anniversary Show, you will definitely be disappointed because there was absolutely nothing. As previously mentioned, this was taped well before the event, and it could be a while before the fallout airs on TV. As a standalone show, though, I give this episode a thumbs up.