Csonka’s Top 5 ROH Supercard of Honor X (Night One) Moments

Welcome one and all, your old pal Larry here to talk some Ring of Honor! Last week I did lot of Mania weekend related reviews and columns, including one titled Csonka’s 6 Sins of WrestleMania Weekend. In that column, I was very critical of Ring of Honor and their lack of effort to get their product out to the masses during the largest wrestling weekend of the year. I had no plans to watch and review the shows, but I had a lot of people (who were there live) tell me that they were worth my time. I found myself with a bit of free time and decided, what the hell, I’ll check them out. But instead of a regular review, I am going the column route to discuss the five moments/things you should see from Supercard of Honor (Night One). Enjoy…

Christopher Daniels vs. Bobby Fish a.k.a. Old Dudes Kick Off The Weekend Proper Like

Christopher Daniels vs. Bobby was the opening match for ROH over Mania weekend, and was a match that I basically blew off and had no interest in when announced. I like both guys, but these days I prefer them in a tag team setting; nothing about the match going into the weekend made me feel as if I had to spend time watching it. The match was the opener for the ROH Mania weekend, and to their credit they completely proved me wrong and got the weekend off to a very good start. Daniels (46) and Fish (39) went out there and did what they are there to do; they worked like two seasoned pros. Never once did I feel that they were trying to do anything spectacular or steal the show. They had an awesome crowd, they worked a smart match that constantly built through out, we had some great back and forth counter wrestling and clean psychology. I do not think you could have asked for a better way to kick off the weekend for the company, they had the crowd, they kept the crowd and didn’t burn them out, while providing something entertaining and largely different from the rest of the card. (***¾)

ROH Continues Commitment to The Tag Team Division

ROH has been dedicated to the growth of their tag team division, and this show was further evidence of that. The mid-card featured an eight-man tag, with War Machine and The Briscoes facing off with Silas Young, Beer City Bruiser, and the All Night Express. This was a wild brawl, with consistent action, a great vibe, everyone working hard and it just clicked together. There was nothing as far as a typical or tradition tag team formula, but in the chaos was a ton of fun with War Machine and The Briscoes winning. They are working towards their battle over the titles, and the match was great (****) but never overstayed its welcome. From there we had The Young Bucks vs. Motor City Machine Guns in the main event; even with the title match on the card I loved the call here as they to only continue the build the division, but they are doing their very best to make the MCMGs reunion as special as possible. This was another great match, to a degree I can admit that they put on a best of album, but when you have a hot crowd and it comes off well you can do that from time to time. The Bucks won, we got a brawl with the Addiction added in to closes the show and this should boil down to a bad ass three way match since each of them hold a victory over the other. I love tag team wrestling and appreciate ROH being dedicated to it like they are. (****)

Matt Sydal vs. Kyle O’Reilly a.k.a Matt Sydal Continues To Be Criminally Underrated

The more I watched this show, the angrier I got; there has been some tremendous efforts in the ring that people will enjoy. While they may not have topped my overall listing for the weeken, they have been very consistent here, and delivering upper tier matches. Another match that was really great was Sydal vs. O’Reilly. This was a first time match for ROH, and not only did I really enjoy the match, it came off as important. They set the pacing well early, they kept heir work focused as O’Reilly looked to pick apart Sydal to finish him with a submission, and it smartly built to the end. This was another match that didn’t over stay its welcome, and that is a compliment because all too often these days people want to work 30-minute epics that tend to feel way too long and lose the crowd. O’Reilly picked up the clean win via submission to set the stage for his night two match with Adam Cole, as he should have. Matt Sydal continues to be one of the most consistent and overlooked talents in all of wresting. He has great tags in Japan, and everyone wants to talk about Ricochet. He has a library of great matches on ROH like this one, and everyone will talk about O’Reilly or whomever else he faces. Now O’Reilly is really great, but people need to start appreciating Sydal more. Don’t sleep on a Matt Sydal match these days kids, he can still fly but works so much smarter, and has become a complete performer. He’s pretty much become a can’t miss performer for me. (****)

Jay Lethal vs. Lio Rush a.k.a. Lio Rush Is Made In One Night

At the age of 21, Lio Rush has received a lot of hype over the last year. He debuted in 2014, and after hearing about him I finally go to see his work in Evolve and came away impressed. He then entered the ROH Top Prospect Tournament, and came away the winner with strong performances there. Rush signed with ROH, but there was a lot of trepidation following that, due to the fact that the booking of the Top Prospect Tournament winners and recent guys like ACH and Moose has been sketchy at best. And then it was announced that Rush was getting a title shot against Jay Lethal at Supercard of Honor X (Night One), due to TV champion Ishii being too busy with NJPW. The crowd was rough for Rush at the beginning, the fans knew who he was, but were not sure what to expect in this match. What they got was a match that was a true star making performance for Rush. I felt that they played the match exactly as they should, Lethal was the over confident veteran and champion, almost looking insulted that he had to share the ring with Rush. Commentary even called it as if he was completely over matched and that it was only a matter of time before he lost. And then Rush started to find his groove, overcome the odds and the homestretch to this was spectacular. Rush scored with a series of great near falls that not only got the crowd into the match big time, but also had them believing some of the near falls. Lethal eventually scored the win, but Rush came away a big winner here. ROH has something special, they just need to follow up with it. I fear they won’t if history has taught us anything, but I hope that I am wrong. (****)

Colt Cabana’s Return

As if the title match wasn’t good enough, the follow up was even better. Jay Lethal gave a post match promo, proclaiming his greatness and also the fact that the re was no one else for him to defeat. After years away from the promotion, Colt Cabana made his return to Ring of Honor. In a weekend full of great matches and big time shows, for ROH and their fans, this was a he deal. Cabana was seemingly never going to return to ROH, due to past issues with Cornette and such. But Cabana has since said that he needed to let bygones be bygones and do this for the ROH fans. Cabana gave a great and passionate promo about the past ROH champions, his legacy being incomplete without it and the fact that he wanted to be remembered as more than someone’s best friend. It was a great promo, the best promo I’ve heard in ROH in forever, not only due to the passion and surprise factor, but because it felt as if it meant something special. I make no claims that Colt Cabana returning to ROH will turn business around, create a ratings buzz and sell thousands of PPV buys; but it felt important, important to Cabana and the fan base that has wanted his return for years. While Cabana is an old face to long time fans, he’s been gone for so long that he’s a fresh face to the current product and title scene. Cabana knocked it out of the park, and made the segment feel not only important, but also made it feel like a special segment, one that you had to see. I won’t proclaim to be the biggest Cabana fan out there, he’s been very hit or miss for me over the years, but I give ROH credit for making a move that their fans have been asking for. Now it’s up to them to deliver on the moment going forward.

As a whole, ROH Supercard of Honor X (Night One) is a great show and well worth your time. I just fear due to the delay in release that many will pass on it and not get to see it.

In case you missed them….
– Csonka Reviews The Mania Main Events (8-Part Series)
– Evolve 58 Review
– Evolve 59 Review
– WWN Live Mercury Rising Review
– CZW Welcome to the Combat Zone Review
– SHIMMER 80 Review
– NXT Takeover: Dallas Review
– WrestleMania 32 Review
– Csonka’s Top 14 Mania Weekend Matches
– Csonka’s 6 Sins of WrestleMania Weekend