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Notes In Observance – ROH 2/27/17: Less Handshake, More Finger Break
Image provided courtesy of Ring Of Honor.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 2/27/17 On FITE)
Less Handshake, More Finger Break
– With the focus on Christopher Daniels and his quest to become an ROH World Champion, the opening video wasted no time to remind us of his journey, as it culminated with his defeat of Jay Briscoe in the ROH Decade Of Excellence Tournament Finals. It was all “15 years in the making,” you know. It was good to see Daniels in this kind of light, as his recent underdog gimmick makes ROH World Champion Adam Cole and his Bullet Club stand as good foils.
Top 20 Of 2016
Graphic by Salwinder Singh.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“It.” “Delete.” “Obsolete.” “The List.” “10.” “The Champ That Runs The Camp.” “Stupid Idiot.” “Glorious.” “Too Sweet.”
The list above describes a fiesta of phrases commonly found in pro wrestling jargon that made 2016 possibly its best year ever.
The one below describes select moments that help seal that argument and make us forget about things like The Titus Brand, The Cruiserweight Division, Raw’s Third Hour, WWE’s overloaded Pay-Per-View schedule, TNA’s X-Division and Matanza Cueto.
If you want to remember that bad stuff, check this out.
ROH Final Battle 2016 Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
Ring Of Honor’s Final Battle signifies both the end and new beginnings.
While we initially saw this as counterproductive to host an annual “payoff”-themed Pay-Per-View typically saved for December’s last week on the month’s second day, you couldn’t knock this card.
It’s funny, since ROH didn’t hammer home the hype until the final two weeks of television, but alas, it came together enough for the in-ring action and events to bring it full circle.
We had Jushin “Thunder” Liger, Cody, hell, even Broken Matt Hardy made a cameo appearance.
A fitting main event too, as we’d see Kyle O’Reilly get his last shot (seemingly) against ROH World Champion Adam Cole.
Notes In Observance – ROH Wrestling 11/30/16: Final Words
Image provided courtesy of Ring Of Honor.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 11/30/16)
Final Words
– The Lio Rush-Jonathan Gresham match was random, but could’ve been used as Final Battle hype anyway, since Rush would be on one of the teams in the Finals of the Six-Man Championship Tournament to take place there. Sadly, that was never mentioned on commentary (with even Alex Shelley on the call) as instead, they let the two guys simply wrestle a great match and follow it up with an angle where The Motor City Machine Guns looked to “form the brigade” as a way to combat Bullet Club’s ruthless ways. Gresham and Rush exchanged exceptional chain wrestling, with collar-and-elbow tie-ups and headscissor takedowns galore. Admittedly, some of it came off more choreographed than organic, but we appreciated the effort. Gresham also hit a memorable second rope moonsault to the floor, albeit Rush barely covered him on the fall. Some good near-falls down the stretch, as Rush went on to hit a total of three Rush Hours and a Rushing Elbow to get the win. It was enough for us to be interested if they were to fight again. Shelley was also pretty good on commentary, though nothing overly memorable. Certainly no Austin Aries. The post-match promo segment saw MCMG put over Rush/Gresham as the future. Obviously, this must mean that Rush/Gresham could be potential recruits for this “Honor Brigade.”
Notes In Observance – ROH Wrestling 11/23/16: Nard And Feathered
Image provided courtesy of Ring Of Honor.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 11/23/16)
Nard And Feathered
– The Silas Young-Kyle O’Reilly match was a good time for both to face each other as Final Battle looms. O’Reilly was penciled in as the definite challenger for whomever was ROH World Champion by then, given the winner between ROH World Champion Adam Cole and Jay Lethal. We also appreciated the effort to put Young over as someone in primed position to one day be atop the card, evidenced by how close he came to beating Cole on Sep. 22 for the Title. Sort of a slow bout to start, with basic chain/technical wrestling with a couple of standoffs. Expected in the “feeling out” process. Young got some momentum as he threw O’Reilly aggressively into the barricades. O’Reilly was put over by commentary for his keen predator-esque mindset that focused on the target of different body parts in a match. They traded stiff forearms as Cole came down to join commentary to badmouth Cole as a coward. Young kicked out of a power maneuver, which prompted O’Reilly to lock in his armbar. Young escaped and nearly hit Misery, but ended up in the Brainbuster to lose the match. A fine match with an added emphasis to showcase Young’s toughness (he didn’t tap out) and keep O’Reilly hot. Young’s post-match promo used his great ability to pick on the fans as a device to hype his FB encounter with Jushin “Thunder” Liger. A fan in a Liger outfit made it all possible. That said, we would’ve had a mention of the Young-Liger match much sooner than after this bout.
Notes In Observance – ROH Wrestling 11/16/16: Good Ribbing
Image provided courtesy of Ring Of Honor.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 11/16/16)
Good Ribbing
– The opening video highlighted the big ROH World Television Championship main event to take place between Hangman Page and Champion Bobby Fish. We saw a separate promo clash where Page took pride in his attack on Fish’s ribs and looked for the final key in Bullet Club to have all of the ROH gold. Fish wasn’t intimidated and eager to show Page that he simply was on another level. They did a good job with this match build, as this was one of the better storylines.
Notes In Observance – ROH Wrestling 11/2/16: Time To Go To Work
Image provided courtesy of Ring Of Honor.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 11/2/16)
Time To Go To Work
– Ring Of Honor’s mainstream storyline as Final Battle draws near seems to be a steady “war” between Bullet Club and ROH. It helps BC that they have the ROH World Championship (Adam Cole), the ROH World Tag Team Championships (The Young Bucks) and someone who has the ROH World Television Championship (Hangman Page) on the radar. BC made their quest for complete domination known, plus they seamlessly weaved in Page as an unhinged henchman of sorts, as his main job is to incapacitate Kyle O’Reilly (blood rival to Cole) from World Title contention, their biggest obstacle from complete ownage. The opening video looked at last week’s interaction between Cole/Page and reDRagon, as ROH World Television Champion Bobby Fish came to save his partner.
ROH All Star Extravaganza VIII Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
As the days wind down to Ring Of Honor’s biggest show of the year, Final Battle, at the Hammerstein Ballroom on Dec. 2, we could see pieces begin to take shape.
ROH World Champion Adam Cole was on a tear.
While he had foes like Jay Lethal and Kyle O’Reilly on his tail, he seemed destined to go to war with the two of them eventually.
On a show remembered best for some great headline matches, the first thought that’ll come about is the Ladder VI main event that was for the ROH World Tag Team Championships between Champions The Addiction, The Young Bucks and The Motor City Machine Guns.
Lowell, Massachussets was in for a treat.
Notes In Observance – ROH Wrestling 9/21/16: Prepped For Ladder War
Image provided courtesy of Ring Of Honor.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 9/21/16)
Prepped For Ladder War
– This episode was best known for Steve Corino’s “return” to color commentary on Ring Of Honor television after a one-year suspension. Yes, the catchphrases are back and they won’t have to sub in “Mr. Wrestling III” anymore. Of course, we have our fears of BJ Whitmer back in the picture, but let’s stay optimistic.
Notes In Observance – ROH Wrestling 9/14/16: Unbreakable Allies
Image provided courtesy of Ring Of Honor.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 9/14/16)
Unbreakable Allies
– We had two big matches set for this episode and the opening video focused on one of them – a six-man tag between Jay Lethal/Tetsuya Naito/Evil and ROH World Champion Adam Cole/Yujiro Takahashi/Hangman Page. It basically brought us back to the reason for the match last week, as Bullet Club loved the fact that Lethal had no friends and it was Lethal who reminded us of his past alliance with Naito/Evil of Los Ingobernables de Japon as they backed him up on the stage.
Pro Wrestling Opinion 