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ROH Discussion Thread

322K views 5K replies 245 participants last post by  3venflow 
#1 ·
Catch all general thread for Ring of Honor discussion. Don't be shy and make your own threads for more specific discussion topics too. Or you can be a rebel and use the unofficial ROH thread.
 
#1,041 ·
Nice piece ROH wrote here.

ROH 5 COUNT: ROH'S MOST DECORATED SINGLES COMPETITORS

Since Ring of Honor’s inception in 2002, some of the most talented competitors in the industry have held or competed for the company’s singles championships (the ROH World Title; ROH World Television Title; and ROH Pure Title, which was unified with the world title in 2006)

Here are the five competitors who have spent the most days as a singles champion in ROH.




5. BRYAN DANIELSON
Days as champion: 462. Title reigns: One (ROH World Champion, Sept. 17, 2005 - Dec. 23, 2006).

“The American Dragon” owns the third-longest ROH World Title reign, during which he unified the ROH World and Pure championships by defeating Nigel McGuinness on Aug. 12, 2006 in Liverpool, England. Danielson had a well-deserved reputation for being one of the greatest technical and submission wrestlers in the world, but he also proved that his wrestling ability was matched only by his toughness. During an ROH World Title defense against Colt Cabana in 2006, Danielson suffered a separated shoulder early in the match but he fought through the pain and ended up going to a 60-minute draw. In a match against then-ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima in 2007, Danielson suffered a detached retina from a punch to his eye, but he competed for another 15 minutes before he was defeated.




4. ADAM COLE
Days as champion: 691. Title reigns: Four (ROH World TV Champion, June 29, 2012 - March 2, 2013; ROH World Champion, Sept. 20, 2013 - June 22, 2014; Aug. 19, 2016 - Dec. 2, 2016; Jan. 4, 2017 - March 10, 2017).

Cole is the only three-time ROH World Champion and is one of five men to have held the ROH World and ROH World TV titles. He won the ROH World Championship the first time in a tournament after the title had been vacated by Jay Briscoe due to an injury. Cole defeated Mark Briscoe and Jay Lethal in the first two rounds before beating Michael Elgin in the finals. Cole’s final reign as ROH World Champion was historic not only because he became the company’s only three-time world champion, but also because the match took place in Tokyo, Japan at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 11, marking the only time the title has changed hands outside of North America.




3. SAMOA JOE
Days as champion: 757. Title reigns: Two (ROH World Champion, March 22, 2003 - Dec. 26, 2004; ROH Pure Champion, May 7, 2005 - Aug. 27, 2005).

Joe’s 645-day reign as ROH World Champion is the longest reign for any singles titleholder in company history. It also remains the longest world title reign in a U.S.-based wrestling company since Ric Flair held the NWA World Heavyweight Title for 793 days in 1984-86. During Joe’s reign, “The Samoan Submission Machine” engaged in a classic series of title defenses against CM Punk. They wrestled to two 60-minute draws, and in their other meeting, Joe scored the victory. Joe made his much-anticipated return to ROH in 2015 after a seven-year absence, but he came up short in his match against then-ROH World Champion Jay Briscoe at Supercard of Honor IX.




2. NIGEL McGUINNESS
Days as champion: 895. Title reigns: Two (ROH Pure Champion, Aug. 27, 2005 - Aug. 12, 2006; ROH World Champion, Oct. 6, 2007 - April 3, 2009).

McGuinness is the second-longest reigning ROH World Champion (545 days) and the longest-reigning ROH Pure Champion (350 days). The London native won the latter title by defeating Samoa Joe. During his reign as ROH World Champion, McGuinness successfully defended the title against the likes of Bryan Danielson, Kevin Steen, Tyler Black, El Generico and Claudio Castagnoli. McGuinness, who went on to serve as ROH matchmaker and color commentator for “Ring of Honor Wrestling” for several years after his in-ring career ended, had a longstanding rivalry with Danielson over the ROH World and Pure titles that produced a number of classic matches.




1. JAY LETHAL
Days as champion: 1,288. Title reigns: Four (ROH Pure Champion, March 5, 2005 - May 7, 2005; ROH World TV Champion, Aug. 13, 2011 - March 31, 2012; April 4, 2014 - Oct. 23, 2015; ROH World Champion, June 19, 2015 - Aug. 19, 2016)

It’s no wonder Lethal is regarded as ROH’s franchise player. He is the only man to hold the ROH World and ROH World TV titles simultaneously, as well as the only man to hold all three ROH singles titles. His second reign as ROH World TV Champion lasted a record 567 days, and his 798 combined days as ROH World TV Champion is a record as well. Lethal also owns the fourth-longest ROH World Title reign, at 427 days. One of Lethal’s most high-profile successful title defenses occurred at Final Battle on Dec. 18, 2015, when he defeated AJ Styles. Given the fact that Lethal is just entering his prime, it’s highly likely “The Greatest First Generation Wrestler has more title reigns in his future.
[/CENTER]
 
#1,058 ·
Going to Final Battle in a couple weeks with my girlfriend. Haven't been to a ROH show since Best In The World 2015. I'm excited!
 
#269 ·



So funny, it makes me wanna cry :(
 
#517 ·
my wife surprised me with tickets today for us to go see Death Before Dishonor and the following nights TV tapings in Vegas in September.

Ring of Honor “Final Battle 2015”
December 18th, 2015
From the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Kevin Kelly and Mr. Wrestling III

Tonight Jay Lethal defends the Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Championship against AJ Styles, the Kingdome defends the Ring of Honor Tag Team Championships against War Machine, Bobby Fish challenges Roderick Strong for his Television Title and I’ve been drinking. Heavily.

To determine the number one contenders for the Ring of Honor Tag Team Championships
The Young Bucks vs. the All Night Express vs. the Briscoes
This was an okay match. It was very quick paced. Everyone got their stuff in really fast and as a result it was pretty short.
Winners: All Night Express (new number one contenders for the Ring of Honor Tag Team Championships)

Recap of the story between Silas Young, Dalton Castle and Silas’ effort to make the Boys into men.

Silas Young w/the Boys vs. Dalton Castle
This was a really good match. One of the better Dalton Castle matches I’ve seen. And Silas is a God at this point. They had a better match a few months later in a Fight Without Honor but this was still Silas-y.
Winner: Silas Young
Afterwards Silas tells Dalton to admit that he (Silas) is a real man. Dalton won't so he gets a further beating. He finally says Silas is a man...but also a fool. The boys attack Silas with chairs and reunite with Dalton!

Recap of Michael Elgin and Moose's quests to become number one contender to the Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Championship.

To determine the number one contender for the Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Championship
Moose w/Stokely Hathaway vs. Michael Elgin
Moose really isn't that great, even at this point. This was a really good "big man" match but Elgin is on a whole other level compared to Moose. I once saw the guy go over an hour and still have enough gas in the tank to fuck shit up.
Winner: Michael Elgin (new number one contender for the Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Championship)
Good show of respect between the two afterwards

Recap of the history between Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reily

Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reily
This was a REALLY FUCKING GOOD MATCH. There was some stiff fucking shit and it was probably the best Adam Cole match I've seen. Mostly due to Kyle O’Reily getting his ass destroyed.
Winner: Adam Cole

Prince Nana joins the commentary team for the next match.

The Addiction & Chris Sabin vs. ACH, Matt Sydal & Alex Shelley
This was a good match but it was hard to compete with the last one. It was hard to tell who was Matt Sydal and who was Alex Shelley. Except one was way better with the ariel stuff (Sydal).
Winners: ACH, Matt Sydal & Alex Shelley

Recap of the history between Bobby Fish and Roderick Strong

Prince Nana has left the commentary table.

For the Ring of Honor World Television Championship
Bobby Fish vs. Roderick Strong (champion)
This was a good match but the ending was stupid as fuck, with Roderick clearly tapping but the referee being unable to see it.
Winner: Roderick Strong

Veda Scott and Cedric Alexander come out and...I'm not really paying attention but...boobs.

For the Ring of Honor World Tag Team Championships
War Machine vs. the Kingdom (champions) w/Maria Kanellis
This match didn't go long at all because Matt Taven fucked his knee up really early on
Winners: War Machine (new Ring of Honor World Tag Team champions)

Mr. Wrestling III helps attend to Matt Taven leaving the ring and BJ Whitmer tries to take his place. But he's escorted out.

Recap of Jay Lethal and AJ Styles past.

Nigel McGuinness and Jerry Lynn join Kevin Kelly at the commentary table. You have to tell me that's Jerry to make me believe it. No long hair. No goatee. What a geek.

For the Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Championship
AJ Styles vs. Jay Lethal (champion) w/Truth Martini and Taeler Hendrix's breasts
This wasn't the best AJ Styles match but was still better than whatever’s going to happen on Monday. It was a good fucking match.
Winner: Jay Lethal
____________________________________________________
This was a great fucking pay per view. Nothing was “OMG, MATCH OF THE YEAR SEVENTEEN STARS” but there was not a bad match on the card. Even the lesser matches like Moose verses Elgin and the first match were good. But at the same time I was sad watching it as Ring of Honor has lost so much talent in the last eighteen months since this show. It breaks my heart that that fucking other sideshow has raped it so much because of petty competition. Things will come around but they haven’t yet. Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reily and Dalton Castle need to go back and watch this show before they do anything stupid. And AJ Styles, Moose and Roderick Strong need to watch it to see the error of their ways.

Michael Bennett shouldn’t watch it though. The WWE can have that douche.

Watching this show meant a lot to me as it happened just a few weeks before I started watching their current Ring of Honor product and abandoned that other company. So while I'm far from complete in my Ring of Honor journey but one circle is complete.

DVD bonus features:
Post match interviews with Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, War Machine and Jay Lethal

Brutal Bob Evans w/Tim Hughes vs. Cheeseburger
Watching this broke my heart. They were such good friends. The dark match will never be the same. The top rope spot was pretty funny.
Winner: Cheeseburger
 
#554 · (Edited)
Here's a nice breakdown of Ring of Honor's growth since Sinclair bought them.

This is attendance from January through June from 2012-2017:
2012: 671 per show, 12,750 total
2013: 621 per show, 11,546 total
2014: 830 per show, 13,282 total
2015: 986 per show, 21,700 total
2016: 928 per show, 23,210 total
2017: 1,105 per show, 24,307 total

Four straight years of total attendance growth, while the average tends to rubber band a little but is still trending up overall.
 
#839 ·
@Corey you got your wish, the Chicago show is now on iPPV:

ROH GLOBAL WARS TOUR TO STREAM LIVE ON ROHWRESTLING.COM

Ring of Honor announces that GLOBAL WARS: CHICAGO will be an internet pay per view live on ROHWRESTLING.COM on Sunday, October 15 at 8e/7c for just $19.99. The sold-out crowd will witness “The Cleaner” Kenny Omega defend his IWGP US Championship for the first time in the US against YOSHI-HASHI and now fans around the world can watch it live as well. Other ROH and New Japan stars confirmed include the ROH World Champion Cody, ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks and Adam Page, “The Villain” Marty Scurll, and more!

Also, as a special thank you to our Ringside Members, ROH will be LIVE streaming GLOBAL WARS: PITTSBURGH (Oct. 13 at 7e) and GLOBAL WARS: COLUMBUS (Oct. 14 at 430e ) FREE for Ringside Members through ROHWRESTLING.COM! It’s not too late to become a Ringside Member (for as low as $5 a month) to get special access to these stacked shows in addition to exclusive ROH ON TOUR presales and discounts at ROH SHOP. Become a RINGSIDE MEMBER NOW!

Keep checking ROHWRESTLING.COM and ROH on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for daily match announcements for GLOBAL WARS 2017, as well as more information on how you can stream these huge events!
 
#2,187 ·
I was at the Buffalo show tonight and I’ll post a fuller review later but, I know a lot of people don’t like Jay Briscoe and we’re not going down that road but my wife, kids and I were in the front row tonight and he was a complete class act with the boys after the match was over. Playing along with them as any father would with his kids, he complemented my eldest son on the homemade Briscoes shirt he was wearing and gave him a fist pump. Those are the things that make fans for life.
 
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#4,064 ·
Recently watched episode 500 and you'd be hard pressed to find a better technical wrestling match in America this year than Lethal vs. Gresham. It's a match that many people on WF, where even 10 minute matches are 'too long', would not enjoy. But I loved it. Everything was logical and looked painful. I don't think they used a single strike, it was all grappling and matwork except for the Lethal Injection. The ending I was torn on. Lethal bossed Gresham and made him use his three rope breaks, then Gresham won suddenly with a cradle. On one hand it broke the flow of the match, on the other it made it looked like Gresham had pulled an ace out of his sleeve and was one of the most unpredictable finishes I've seen in some time.

On the same show, Briscoe vs. Briscoe was a very good war of attrition. The countout finish I did like as it came from a brutal table spot on the outside. This was a fitting main event as the Briscoes have been unbelievably loyal to ROH for nearly 20 years. You have to think offers have come from WWE, TNA and AEW at some point, but they've stuck to ROH while doing dates in Japan and Mexico.
 
#128 · (Edited)
so here's my review of the Ring of Honor/NJPW "War of the Worlds" show in Toronto tonight.

Ring of Honor/New Japan Pro Wrestling “War of the Worlds”
Date: Sunday May 7th, 2017
Venue: the Ted Reeve Arena in Toronto, Ontario
T-shirt worn: Kenny Omega “Final Fantasy VIII ‘G1’”
Commentators (not that I could hear them): Ian Riccaboni, Kevin Kelly and Colt Cabana

The Rebellion vs. the Motor City Machine Guns
This was a decent opener. Caprice Coleman has become one of my favourite “unsung heroes” of the under-card and it was nice to see him not only get in some good offence but also actually win a match. Shane Taylor came out on behalf of the Rebellion but he didn’t do too much. He probably interfered and helped them win but I can’t remember.
Winners: the Rebellion
After the match Shane Taylor got on the microphone and said he wanted his match RIGHT NOW. For whatever reason the other members of the Rebellion left.

Shane Taylor vs. Hirooki Goto
This match had potential but fell mostly on deaf ears. It was actually a really good match. When it was hot it was HOT but there were quite a few moments of “pin drop silence”. The finale got the crowd going.
Winner: Hiroki Goto

Chaos (Trent Beretta, Rocky Romero & Gedo) vs. Dalton Castle & the Boys
This was the first match that got the crowd off of their hands for a good portion of its time. Mainly due to Dalton Castle. The Boys both took vicious beatings at different times in the match. I kinda wish I was sitting on the other side of the arena as I was sitting right in Dalton and the Boys corner. Trent is a pretty funny guy and I’d have rather heard his banter when he wasn’t in the ring. This was a good, fun match.
Winners: Dalton Castle & the Boys

Punishment Martinez vs. “Hangman” Adam Page vs. Bully Ray
This was another fun match. Most of it was playing off of Bully Rays past with either Page or Martinez filling the role of D-Von Dudley, sometimes double crossing Bully though.
Winner: Bully Ray

Will Ospreay vs. Cody
I’m not a fan of either of these guys for various reasons (I don’t like Ospreays overly choreographed matches and don’t get “it” with Cody) but they both won me over with this match. Cody played a good heel and got in some great offence that I’d never seen him use in his time with the WWE and Ospreay was still jumpy-flippy but not to the ridiculous levels as he did with Ricochet.
Winner: Cody

[intermission]

The Kingdom vs. los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito and Bushi)
This match wasn’t very good. The Kingdom just doesn’t do anything for me and Naito just seemed to not really be into it tonight. Bushi was fucking useless. As a tag team partner are you not supposed to stand on the apron? Well he stood on the floor for most of the match. I wasn’t impressed with this match.
Winners: los Ingobernables de Japon

Silas Young & the Beer City Bruiser vs. los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL and Sanada) vs. the Briscoes
This was a really good match but it was pretty much all the Briscoes and Silas and the Bruiser doing all the work. I’m sorry to any of their fans reading this but EVIL and Sanada were fucking useless. They have cool masks during their entrances. That’s all I got out of this team. The rare times they were in the ring during this match showed me a bit of cool offence but they may as well have not been there. Mark Briscoe got his ass destroyed during this match and the person who had the best showing was actually the Bruiser. I threw a green streamer during the Briscoes entrances and I’m not sure but it may have hit Jay, possibly in the face. I didn’t watch. I was too busy cowering in fear and pointing at my wife.
Winners: the Briscoes

Kushida vs. Jay Lethal
This match got really good towards the end but it had the unenviable spot of following up a good match and going on before Kenny Omega. The whole feeling was “okay, do your thing and get out of the way so Kenny Omega can come out”. I felt bad for them because they put on a really good match and it did get the crowd hot towards the end. But they got the “womens match at a Wrestlemania” spot on the card and reaction. Until the end. The last five minutes were really good.
Winner: Kushida

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian vs. the Elite
The whole card had built up to this match. I felt really bad for Hiroshi Tanahashi, Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian. One is a legend, the other the reining Ring of Honor Champion (as well as a legend) and the last a travelled journeyman who deserves more recognition than he gets. Tanahashi came out to a decent pop but the other two came out to apathetic crickets. The Young Bucks came out to a huge pop but the crowd went nuclear for Kenny Omega. So the roles of “face” and “heel” were reversed for this match. And what a match it was. Again, Tanahashi, Daniels and Kaz were “served” for most of the match. They still got all their big spots in and even more, but if this match was thirty minutes (which I think it was) it was twenty-five minutes in favour of the Elite. The Bucks were “the Bucks” and Omega was “Omega” but it was turned up to twelve tonight. It was far from a technical masterpiece. There may have been a submission hold or two (I honestly can’t remember) but it was basically just a spotfest with a dose of comedy and Omega hitting all of it (most notably some vicious Dragon Suplexes and the One-Winged Angel), but turned up. It was probably the most fun I’ve ever had watching a match live. I didn’t want it to end.
Winners: the Elite
After the match Omega got on the microphone and thanked the crowd for coming out and promised to come back again. Then him and the Bucks hocked their merchandise and YouTube channel.

Honestly, this was the Kenny Omega show tonight. Everything was built around him. The line-up for photos and autographs was (I’d imagine) mostly for him, half the t-shirts in the crowd were some variations of his or his various groups (hey, I was guilty too) and his pop eclipsed everyone else on the cards combined. The rest of the card had some very good very fun moments and matches. The three-way match with Page, Martinez and Bully Ray was fun to watch. The Cody verses Will Ospreay match was very good, as was Lethal verses Kushida. And the three-way tag team match was a good tag team match (since los Ingobernables de Japon were fucking useless). But the main event made up for anywhere the card may have faltered or fallen a bit flat and made going worth going just on its own.

Dark Match:
The Fraternity w/Alicia vs. Will Ferrara & Cheeseburger
This was a dark match and was fine. I think it was there more to tell people to get to their seats because the line up for autographs was still pretty long when it started.
Winners: Will Ferrara & Cheeseburger

My seats were good. I was in the front row left of the entrance ramp. In WWE language “hard camera side”. One thing that pissed me off was I bought the tickets via select a seat and purposely picked seats that were (if the stage could be considered twelve o’clock) at seven o’clock and they moved the seat numbering so I was sitting at ten o’clock. That sounds weird but if the seats were numbered 1-25 north to south when I bought my tickets I purposely bought seats 20 and 21. Well when I got there they had changed it to the seat numbering going 1-25 south to north. So a lot of the action of guys doing spots jumping out of the ring or throwing each other into the barricades was out of my line of site, when I purposely bought tickets to have it right in my line of site. There were spotlights in my eyes and everything was hard to see all night, but that would have happened regardless of if they moved the numbering around. Still, I was front row so I can’t complain.

The place was packed and I believe the show was sold out. But it was all because of the NJPW guys and specifically Kenny Omega. I’ll definitely go to a Ring of Honor show again with or without them being there. But they won’t get this crowd without them. The undercard was a solid card but the main event made it.

After all the ballyhoo surrounding him I didn’t even notice that Adam Cole wasn’t there.
 
#592 ·
I'm a couple months behind with ROH (and only realised today that they're doing a show in Liverpool, next month!) but just managed to land a pair of tickets to the show. Can't wait, wanted to go see ROH for almost a decade now (yes, I was late to the party and still haven't actually arrived) and finally going in 5 short weeks.
 
#697 ·
Minoru Suzuki has been announced (by NJPW; looks like they spoiled it for ROH kind of like ROH spoiled Omega's US title defense announcement for NJPW) for Death Before Hishonor!

Kushida too, but that's not surprising.

I wonder who Suzuki will face? My wishlist:
Silas Young
Jay Briscoe
Jay Lethal
Dalton Castle
Kenny King
Marty Scurll
Mark Briscoe
 
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