ROH Honor Reigns Supreme Review - January 12, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Strictly Business and Villain Enterprises Brawled

Before the show could even get underway, Nick Aldis emerged at the announcers' booth and rattled off about how he's the real world's champion and specifically singled out Marty Scurll. They've been feuding in the NWA as of late, but their storyline wasn't touched upon at all until Saturday Night at Center Stage. Villain Enterprises then emerged to send them packing. In addition to Aldis vs. Scurll, I'm sure Strictly Business vs. Villain Enterprises is also only inevitable.

ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion Rey Horus def. Andrew Everett

Horus is fresh off becoming one-third of the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions at Saturday Night at Center Stage, while Everett also had a strong showing at that event against Dragon Lee for the ROH World Television Championship. As expected, this was a highly entertaining opener with their high-flying styles meshing very well. As I said in my Saturday Night at Center Stage review, I'd be shocked if Everett doesn't end up with a Ring of Honor contract eventually.

Dalton Castle & Joe Hendry def. The Briscoes and PJ Black & Brian Johnson in a Triple Threat Tag Team Match

I totally forgot Castle and Hendry were a unit. They aren't my favorite, but it's better than them doing their own thing separately. Castle hasn't had any buzz in close to two years and Hendry doesn't do much for me, but they work well as partners. It was slightly surprising to see them go over, if only because The Briscoes just won the night prior, but it looks like they too will soon be owed a shot at the ROH World Tag Team Championship. This wasn't given a ton of time, but they maximized their minutes and kept things flowing nicely.

Sumie Sakai def. Nicole Savoy

These two were always going to face each other on this show, but Sakai raised the stakes when she turned on Savoy at Saturday Night at Center Stage. I'm almost mad they gave away this match already because they're the two best women's wrestlers ROH has at the moment, and Savoy isn't even signed! Perhaps that's why they blew off their "feud" so quickly. At any rate, this was well-wrestled and Sakai going over made sense. That must leave Maria Manic as the sole notable babyface in Women of Honor. How sad.

Dak Draper def. Danhausen

I'll tell you, I've only seen Danhausen in action a handful of times so far in ROH and he's quickly won me over. He's a pretty good wrestler, but it's his character work that intrigues me (look up any of his videos on YouTube and you'll see what I mean). He's another guy that should be signed at some point. He won't won a world title or anything, but he can go and is perfect for comic relief. Here, he sold well for Draper's offense in what was a decent match. Draper will soon challenge for the ROH World Television Championship, but I don't view him as a threat to the title whatsoever.

Alex Zayne def. ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion Bandido

I had no idea who Zayne was prior to this event, but he definitely made me take notice of him here. He's an incredibly talented athlete and had the perfect opponent to work with in Bandido. Unfortunately, the match wasn't what it could have been due to poor timing and some awkward moments. That's why Zayne's victory was even more shocking. Bandido is coming off a huge title win at Saturday Night at Center Stage, so him losing here seemed like a strange call. Maybe it'll make sense if it's announced that he's signed.

Shane Taylor Issued an Update on His Contract Status

At Saturday Night at Center Stage, Taylor ran down his list of demands for ROH COO Joe Koff, which included title shots for himself and Soldiers of Savagery. He said Koff had 24 hours to respond, and because Coff was nowhere to be seen on this show, he vowed he will not wrestle for ROH until he does. He actually plugged an upcoming match he has with Nick Gage at VIP Wrestling Dallas later this month. which was a nice touch. As I've said before, I'm convinced Taylor will wind up re-signing if he hasn't already.

Lifeblood def. Vincent and Bateman by Disqualification

I figured Lifeblood would have gone their separate ways because of the big win Mark Haskins picked up over Bully Ray at Final Battle, but apparently not. I guess we're just going to forget all about that. Haskins and Tracy Williams work wonderfully together, but I'm not feeling this new gimmick that Vincent and Bateman are doing as I find it to be boring. The disqualification finish didn't help matters and left the door open for a potential rematch I don't care about seeing.

ROH World Tag Team Champions Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham and Jeff Cobb & Dan Maff def. The Bouncers and 2 Guys 1 Tag

Yes, Silas Young and Josh "The Goods" Woods are actually calling their tag team 2 Guys 1 Tag. I'm not even sure what to say about that. At any rate, this was a super enjoyable eight-man tag team match. Babyfaces teaming with heels made for an interesting dynamic (especially when you consider The Bouncers have history with Young) and it was well wrestled the whole way through. Lethal and Gresham will defend their titles against Cobb and Maff at the free show in Baltimore next month.

Maria Manic Attacked Bully Ray

Bully feigned an apology to ring announcer Bobby Cruise for how he acted toward him at Saturday Night at Center Stage, but of course he was lying. Anyone would be a fool to fall for that crap. That brought out Manic who proceeded to batter Bully and put him through a table. This was nice and all, but I don't know why the feud would need to continue beyond this now that she has given him his comeuppance. I also don't know why Bully is associated with The Allure as their alliance was never explained. The obvious explanation is that it's because Bully is dating Velvet Sky, but she hasn't been on TV in months.

Flip Gordon def. ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion Flamita

This was scheduled well before Flamita, Bandido and Rey Horus beat Villain Enterprises for the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship at Saturday Night at Center Stage, so that development raised the stakes for this match. Gordon was able to gain a measure of revenge with the win and the match itself was awesome. Flamita has been a blast to watch in ROH so far and Gordon is excellent in his own right. After beating Rey Horus and now Flamita, is Bandido next on Gordon's list of opponents to face?

La Faccion Ingobernable def. Villain Enterprises

If any one thing is for certain in ROH, it's that you can always count on Villain Enterprises to deliver. Their six-man tag team matches are a recurring highlight on these shows and they once again had the best bout of the night. Props to all for such an outstanding effort and ensuring I never looked away. This was a top-notch main event that established La Faccion Ingobernable as a dominant force, especially with Scurll being the one they pinned. What's interesting is that if the reports are to be believed and Scurll is one of the new lead bookers in the company, then it was his idea to take the pinfall loss  for his team two nights in a row.

Overall Show

Similar to Saturday Night at Center Stage, this was another well-rounded show from ROH that felt like it had purpose and contained loads of quality wrestling. I don't want to jump the gun here, but I'd like to think things are taking a turn for the better and maybe Scurll becoming a booker is one of the reasons for that. Either way, the positives outweighed the negatives on this show and the final hour alone made this event worthwhile. The women's division needs a lot of work, but at least the tag team scene is picking up again while the Villain Enterprises vs. La Faccion Ingobernable feud has been fun to follow. On top of all that, the rekindled relationship between ROH and the NWA will only lead to good things if it continues.