ROH Glory by Honor: Night 2 Review - August 21, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Dalton Castle def. Danhausen

​Ring of Honor snatched up Danhausen at just the right time because any company would be foolish to not sign him with how popular he is right now. He's a blast to watch, even if his matches aren't instant classics by any stretch (and they don't need to be). This was an example of that. This was far from a great match from an in-ring standpoint, but I enjoyed it as an opener. Being a former ROH World Champion, Castle winning was probably the right call.

LSG def. World Famous CB in a Pure Rules Match

As I've mentioned before, LSG has really come into his own as a singles star over the last year and I'd like to see him get a run with a singles title at some point. Even World Famous CB (the former Cheeseburger) has shown some nice character development since the relaunch of the product. They wrestled a totally different style from the opener and the crowd didn't have much of an incentive to cheer for either guy, but it was a well-wrestled affair, nonetheless.

Rok-C and Miranda Alize def. Chelsea Green and Willow

Green was obviously the biggest star of the bunch, yet she was the least involved in this match. To be honest, I actually liked how she allowed the others to shine and I thought they did a great job. This was a very good match with everyone having strong showings. This marked Green's first official televised match in ROH, so I was slightly surprised she lost. No complaints, though, as Rok-C and Alize will the ones featured on the next episode of ROH TV.

ROH World Six-Man Tag Tag Team Champions Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor and Soldiers of Savagery) def. Incoherence (Delirious, Hallowicked and Frightmare)

It's honestly shocking that the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship aren't a part of any of the three major factions at the moment (La Faccion Ingobernable, Violence Unlimited, and The Foundation), but at least Shane Taylor Promotions have been killing it in the role. They haven't had many title defenses this year, mind you, and I wasn't familiar with their opponents outside of Delirious, but the bout turned out to be better than expected with Hallowicked and Fightmare in particular impressing. There was no reason to think the titles were changing hands here, though.

Mark Briscoe and Brian Johnson def. Flip Gordon and Demonic Flamita

Jay Briscoe had to be pulled from the show due to COVID-19 protocols, so Mark chose to team with Johnson instead. He's from Philadelphia, so it was cool that they got him on the show, especially coming off his standout performance against EC3 on Night 1 of Glory by Honor. Briscoe and Johnson played off each other well, and despite Johnson walking out on Briscoe toward the end, Briscoe still managed to win for their team. The finish looked nasty with Gordon getting dropped on his head on top of a chair. Hopefully he's okay as he had to be helped to the back afterward.

The Foundation (ROH Pure Champion Jonathan Gresham, Jay Lethal, Tracy Williams and Rhett Titus) def. Violence Unlimited (Brody King, Tony Deppen and ROH World Tag Team Champions Chris Dickinson and Homicide)

It was great to see Williams back in action after the car accident he was involved in a car accident a few months ago. He's one of the best wrestlers ROH has on its roster and that was certainly evident during this match. He didn't show any signs of ring rust at all and, in fact, everyone looked excellent in this match. This was a wild eight-man tag team affair as everyone beat the hell out of each other and put forth a fantastic effort. Violence Unlimited laid out The Foundation afterward, so it appears the faction wars aren't over yet.

La Faccion Ingobernable (Rush and ROH World Television Champion Dragon Lee) def. ROH World Champion Bandido and Rey Horus

This was contested under lucha rules and was complete madness as a result but in the best way possible. Rush and Lee never cease to kill it whenever they team up while Bandido and Horus are an awesome duo as well. If you aren't into spot-fests, you may not have enjoyed this as much, but I loved every second and the crowd was in the same boat as me. I expected something fun and got much more than that. La Faccion Ingobernable needed the win coming off their loss to Violence Unlimited on Night 1 of Glory by Honor. I assume it also sets up Rush for a rematch for the ROH World Championship at some point.

Quinn McKay Made Multiple Death Before Dishonor Announcements

First and foremost, McKay plays the host role remarkably well on these ROH shows and live events. I know she wants to wrestle more, but I really think this sort of stuff is her strong suit. At any rate, she made multiple exciting announcements pertaining to next month's Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view. Shane Taylor Promotions will defend the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship against La Faccion Ingobernable's Rush, Dragon Lee and Kenny King, there will be a "mystery" match between two wrestlers that were presumably released recently from WWE/NXT, and a elimination four-way main event with Bandido defending the ROH World Championship against Brody King, EC3 and Demonic Flamita. That played off what happened at the end of Night 1 and I like that ROH didn't waste any time in giving viewers several matches to look forward to at their next event.

Vincent def. Matt Taven in a Steel Cage Match

This was billed as "The Last Stand" and Taven's ROH World Championship opportunity was on the line as he never received a rematch when he lost the title two years ago. They've literally been embroiled in this heated rivalry since then, and while I wanted it to end a while ago, I will admit that this was a fitting finale to their feud. It's been a long time since we got a Steel Cage match in ROH, so while the stipulation felt special, it of course wasn't without interference from the rest of The Righteous. Oh well. At least it protected Taven in defeat, I suppose. I really thought this was Taven's match to win so he could re-enter ROH World Championship contention, but apparently not. All in all, it was a hell of a fight that lived up to the hype. If Bandido escapes that four-way at Death Before Dishonor still the champ, Bandido vs. Vincent for the title would make sense.

Overall Show

Kudos to ROH for putting together two nights of awesome wrestling despite the less-than-desirable circumstances with so many other events going on this weekend. Sure, Glory by Honor was lost in the shuffle, but those who tuned in or checked it out after the fact got their money's worth and were left satisfied. As previously noted, they did a great job of setting the stage for Death Before Dishonor in a few weeks as well. The last three matches specifically stood out to me. This was a wonderful show from an in-ring standpoint and I can't stress enough how much of a difference having a crowd back makes. Fingers crossed ROH will be able to feature fans more regularly going forward and not just for their monthly events.

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