Rant of Honor

Watched the most recent Ring of Honor tv show made available by the company on Facebook and I had some thoughts...

First of all, not a damn guy on this show could talk to save their lives with the exception of Lance Storm who cut a very good promo on Mike Bennett, hyping their rematch at the upcoming Ring of Honor ppv "Border Wars." Storm is a vet and has always been a pretty good talker so this doesn't surprise me.

What did surprise me was that he was the only one who pulled off a compelling interview. This is Ring of Honor after all, the company that's run by one of the greatest talkers of all time, Jim Cornette. It's not like these guys have to memorize scripts or anything like that. It's not like they're talking in front of capacity crowds of twenty or thirty thousand people. The actual promos on the show were all backstage, pre-recorded segments where I'm sure if they needed it, the wrestlers were probably offered the luxury of multiple takes.

Even Kevin Steen, who I've heard a lot of good things about and was really looking forward to hearing, failed to wow me. On the one hand, it was the first ROH tv show that I've had both the time and means to sit down and actually watch all the way through. But on the other hand, Kevin Steen was trying to build interest in a landmark event where he will be challenging for the ROH World title. I'm sure die-hard Ring of Honor groupees are going to mark out for the match no matter what. But for someone like myself, who is watching this for the first time, I saw nothing that would make me consider "Border Wars" a ppv that I must see.

I promise this isn't going to be a total burial job so please just stick with me. On to the action...

-THE BRISCOE BROTHERS (ROH Tag Team Champions) vs THE WORLD'S GREATEST TAG TEAM (Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin)
I was expecting a lot from this match because I've heard a lot of good things about the Briscoes and I knew Haas & Benjamin were both great athletes. The match DID NOT live up to my expectations.

It was kind of sloppy, there were a lot of moments when it looked like the guys weren't really sure what they wanted to do, and there was no real flow to the match. What I mean by "flow" is, it was like four guys in wrestling gear executing moves. They weren't telling a story through the action. It's a very subtle skill that if you're not used to seeing, may be hard to pick up on, but it's the kind of thing that can make a "boring" portion of a match part of a greater whole resulting in a good match. This was NOT a good match. To put a positive spin on it, anyone can have an off night, and maybe this was theirs.

TJ PERKINS vs FIRE ANT
This was a cross-promotional exhibition between an ROH guy (Perkins) and a CHIKARA guy (Ant). I know the appeal of CHIKARA is the storyline and gimmicks but sooner or later you have to get in the ring. And while some may be fans of the CHIKARA style, if this match was any indication of what they're all about, I am definitely NOT a fan.

SELL A FREAKING MOVE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!!! Some impressive high spots were totally negated by the fact that they popped right back up after every one of them until they decided it was time to end the match and the loser graciously stayed down so that the winner could hit him with his finish.

Here's the problem, I'm a wrestling fan. I'd love it if other people became wrestling fans too. I wouldn't encourage someone to watch the WWE right now because it's garbage. If you tout your promotion to be what wrestling SHOULD be, and you offer up crap like this, you're not trying to bring in new fans. You're catering to good ol' rasslin fans who will pardon stuff like this as long as they can get drunk and have a good time at your show.

Sorry if I'm being harsh but this match insulted my intelligence more than the notion of "good guys versus bad guys" ever did.

JAY LETHAL (ROH TV Champion) vs RODERICK STRONG
Jay Lethal was the saving grace of this show. If his wrestling style is any indication, you can tell this guy is a fan of old-school wrestling. What I loved most about this match was Lethal's striking. Good striking is a lost art form. His punches, forearms and chops looked stiff and realistic which goes such a long way in legitimizing the product. Stop a person on the street and ask them to demonstrate a professional wrestling punch and they'll probably stomp their foot while they do it. Even some of the greats have done it that way but Lethal is clearly from the school of Ric Flair and Terry Funk where wrestling is a FIGHT and in a FIGHT, the damage you do is more important than how good it looks. (That's PERCEPTION by the way; looking like you're doing damage without actually doing damage. It's an art form and if you don't understand that, I encourage you to stick around for future installments of this blog and get eductated)

By contrast, Jay's opponent, Mr. Strong, looked like he couldn't bust his way out of a brown paper sack with the shots he was throwing. His selling sucked too, kind of like everyone else's on the show so at least there's uniformity within the company, Jay Lethal excluded. Although Strong made up for it all with a sick finisher that popped me as well as the crowd.

Just to sing his praises once again, the pace that Jay Lethal kept was another bright spot. By that I don't mean that he chained a bunch of big moves together in rapid-fire succession. I mean his movements were brisk and clean. He wasn't staggering around or fumbling with his opponent wondering what to do next. It reminded me of Shawn Michaels, who's pacing I always felt was the best in the business. Doing simple things like the drop down, leapfrog, armdrag quickly and decisively is an underrated skill.

As a side note, I enjoyed the peripheral story between Jay Lethal and Tommaso Ciampa. It got me wanting to see that how that storyline progresses.

OK, to wrap this all up, Ring of Honor has got some pluses and minuses just like any other fed. But it's a fed that hypes its wrestling as the selling point. I've seen other Ring of Honor shows that I was more impressed by so I'm not going to write them off completely. I wouldn't tell you as a wrestling fan not to give them a try. You should definitely check them out. Would I say they're going to be the next big thing in wrestling? Not a chance.

I will be watching though, and reporting so if this review didn't sell you on Ring of Honor, stay tuned to this magnifical blog and maybe the next one will.

That's all I got. Discuss!