ROH Bound by Honor Review - February 28, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Marty Scurll def. ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion Bandido and Slex in a Three-Way Match

This was a random mix of talent, but from an in-ring standpoint, it was a ton of fun and was perfectly positioned as the opener. Scurll and Bandido have had their fair share of matches against each other over the past few months (largely in tag team action), so it was no surprise that they worked well together again here. As for Slex, he impressed me in his debut bout with Flip Gordon earlier this month and I thought he had another solid showing in this three-way. Scurll going over was the right call, but I do question Shane Taylor and Soldiers of Savagery continuing to beat down Slex. He just arrived and hasn't been given a chance to establish himself yet (not to mention how he has yet to win a match), so I'm not sure what the post-match attacks are supposed to accomplish.

Dalton Castle & Joe Hendry def. Brian Johnson & PJ Black, Lifeblood, and The Righteous in a Four-Way Tag Team Match

Castle and Hendry have been entertaining together, but I'm curious what the endgame is with them. They were teasing tension at one point and appeared to be headed for a split, but they're a cohesive unit again and are actually getting over with the audience. It's been the best thing to happen to Castle in forever. The match wasn't anything special, but the four teams worked well together and the right duo went over. Props to ROH for improving their tag team division. It doesn't have a ton of depth just yet (in terms of tandems that truly matter), but there are a ton of teams now compared to a year ago.

Nicole Savoy def. Angelina Love

The Women of Honor division is definitely the biggest weakness in Ring of Honor at the moment, so I hope the upcoming ROH Women's World Title Tournament can change that. It's no secret that I haven't been the biggest fan of The Allure since their arrival in ROH and believe they have hindered the division more than they've helped it, but to Love's credit, she wasn't totally terrible here. Granted, that may have been because of the talented Savoy, but this wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Savoy winning was the right call and if she isn't already signed to a deal, I hope she will be soon.

Villain Enterprises (Brody King and Flip Gordon) def. La Faccion Ingobernable (Rush and Kenny King) by Disqualification

This Villain Enterprises vs. La Faccion Ingobernable feud is the new Villain Enterprises vs. Lifeblood in that the matches never cease to deliver. They weren't given enough to reach that next level here, but what we got from them was enjoyable. The non-finish was lame, but at least no one had to lose. Plus, it furthered the feud between the two factions effectively and the crowd was hot for the post-match brawl. 

Eli Isom vs. LSG Ended in a No Contest; Bully Ray def. Isom

The commentators made mention of LSG's "former" tag team Coast to Coast, which must mean that the team is no more. That's such a shame because they had so much untapped potential that went to waste. I know one of them was hurt for a bit, but there was no reason for them to not be booked better upon their return. Nonetheless, this match was basically a backdrop for Bully Ray's segment. He laid them both out, went off on the fans and agreed to face Isom in an impromptu matchup, which was won by Bully. He's a tremendous heel, but he's been doing the same shtick for years and I fail to see who it's benefiting at this point. He tends to take away from these ROH shows more than he adds to them, despite generating nuclear heat. At least the crowd was super behind Isom.

ROH World Tag Team Champions Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham def. 2 Guys 1 Tag

Despite initially looking like a bit of a mismatch on paper, Silas Young and Josh "The Goods" Woods have become a great team over the last several months. They have strong chemistry together and were actually undefeated as a tandem before losing to Lethal and Gresham here. Lethal and Gresham have been on a roll since joining forces, so it would have been premature to take the tag titles off them at this juncture. It didn't feel like the crowd ever thought the titles were in jeopardy, but it was a solid match, nonetheless. Lethal and Gresham will now defend against Villain Enterprises' Marty Scurll and Flip Gordon at the 18th Anniversary Show.

Alex Shelley def. ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion Rey Horus

It's been so cool to see Shelley all over ROH programming, NXT and other independent promotions lately, and he came close to retiring from the ring two years ago! He's been killing it everywhere and he had another very fun match here with Horus. I don't think there was any reason for these two to be facing off, but the babyface vs. babyface dynamic didn't seem to be an issue as the crowd enjoyed the action, regardless. Shelley's victory gives him a momentum boost before he enters the upcoming ROH Pure Championship Tournament.

The Briscoes def. Jeff Cobb and Dan Maff

I wouldn't read too much into the commentators acknowledging Cobb's recent AEW appearance. Hell, Ian Riccaboni even mentioned Shelley wrestling for WWE during his match, so it's not like ROH and AEW are working together (at least not yet). At any rate, this match was fantastic. I had my reservations about Cobb and Maff teaming up early on, but they've been brilliant together so far, and you can never go wrong with The Briscoes. Cobb and Maff actually beat Lethal and Gresham in a non-title matchup at Free Enterprise, so I'm surprised The Briscoes beat them here. Considering Cobb was pinned, could ROH be preparing for the possibility of Cobb leaving for AEW eventually?

ROH World Champion PCO def. ROH World Television Champion Dragon Lee (The ROH World Television Championship Was Not Defended)

Considering Lee's ROH World Television Championship wasn't up for grabs, it was pretty obvious PCO was winning here, but this still ended up being an excellent main event. PCO hasn't had many exciting matches in recent months (not even with Rush), but I thought he and Lee played to each other's strengths very well and produced an action-packed match without all the brawling and shenanigans mixed in. The post-match face-off between PCO and Nick Aldis served as hype for their upcoming encounter at Supercard of Honor over WrestleMania weekend.

Overall Show

There was a ton of quality wrestling on this show, which was refreshing to see. I know that's what ROH has been known for in the past, but most of their events in 2019 lacked excitement and weren't worth watching. This continued the streak of strong shows from ROH in the new year with only the Bully Ray segment feeling like a waste of time. Props to the crowd for being into the action all night long.