Ring of Honor Review - November 30, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Josh "The Goods" Woods def. ROH World Tag Team Champion Jay Lethal in a Pure Rules Match

The sit-down interviews with both men that aired beforehand were once again exceptional. Woods played up his background in amateur wrestling and his loss to Jonathan Gresham in the ROH Pure Championship Tournament, promising a different outcome the next time they face off. He first had to take on Gresham's partner Lethal here, and Lethal talked about how his last Pure Rules match with LSG ended in a draw. This was a very good match with Woods proving he was not only on Lethal's level but also that he's capable of beating him. As I've said before, Lethal is exceptional at elevating talent and making his opponents look great and that was case here. Woods really stood out during the ROH Pure Championship Tournament and I'm hoping this means he'll be given more opportunities on his own going forward.

Brody King def. Shane Taylor

Both of these guys are coming off big singles wins, so it made sense for them to clash in an effort to prove why they deserve a shot at the ROH World Championship. I also liked how King brought up in his pre-match interview that Taylor pinned him in a four-way last year to win the ROH World Television Championship. This was a hoss battle and a fun one at that. After throwing each other all over ringside in the first half, they continued to bring it inside the ring and deliver a hard-hitting main event. The unpredictability surrounding the outcome added to my enjoyment of it and King picking up the huge victory was a pleasant surprise. Will it be Rush vs. King for the world title at Final Battle? If so, I'd definitely be down for it.

Overall Show

This edition of ROH TV also featured the debut of a backstage talk show called Trending with Taven, where Matt Taven sat down with Mike Bennett to discuss his motivations for returning. It ended abruptly, but we did find out later on that Bennett will face Vincent next week in his first match back. Former ROH Pure Champion John Walters will take on Tracy Williams as well. This was another excellent show with two terrific matches that are worth seeking out, and the video packages are always top-notch. ROH has to win the award for most improved product of 2020. Things were looking up at the beginning of 2020, but they've actually emerged from the pandemic better than they were before and it's awesome to see.