SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
HITS
Ian Riccaboni and BJ Whitmer on Commentary: I say it every week and I will say it again this week. I think the versatility of Ian Riccaboni on commentary has become a big asset to Ring of Honor. No matter who you put in the color commentary seat, Riccaboni excels with that person. We’ve seen BJ Whitmer with Riccaboni a few times since Riccaboni took over the commentary duties in ROH. I thought Whitmer did another great job this week filling in and adding valuable commentary throughout. They don’t oversell the moves and Whitmer especially only comes out of his seat on commentary when a big move is made. Just another good job on commentary from these guys this week. This is not a shot at Kevin Kelly. I thought he did a good job with Corino but Riccaboni has done well filling Kelly’s shoes since moving into the lead role.
Kenny King vs. Hangman Page: Another solid hard hitting ROH match between these two. I thought this was the right move having King get the win on Page going into Death Before Dishonor where King will face Kushida for the ROH TV title. On a side note, Caprice Coleman joined Whitmer and Riccaboni on commentary. Coleman announced that Mark and Jay Briscoe will be making an appearance on Coleman’s Pulpit next week and Whitmer and Coleman put that over well with their excitement of the announcement. I’ll say it again, I’m a fan of Coleman’s Pulpit so far and I look forward to Mark and Jay, who are both solid promo guys, appearing on it next week. Back to the results of the match, again I did think King winning here is the right move and it was a good opening match of the show.
Marty Scurll vs. Rocky Romero: Very good matchup for this week’s episode with a good number of false finishes but at the same time it’s not overdone. I felt like this was not a hit or a miss. It was just a match to have to fill up TV time. In the same way that King won his match prior to this, it’s good that Scurll picked up a TV win before heading into Death Before Dishonor where he’ll face Chuckie T.
The Briscoes vs. The Kingdom (Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan): I like this being the main event. There’s some bad blood here based on O’Ryan attacking The Briscoes with his cast a few weeks back. Additionally, I want to give props to O’Ryan and Marseglia here. I know Marseglia has been around for a while and O’Ryan is young in the business but they’re both relatively new to ROH and they’re wrestling two long-time ROH vets. Marseglia and O’Ryan are bringing it though. When you wrestle The Briscoes, you’re in for a war and I felt O’Ryan and Marseglia gave it right back to Mark and Jay. Bully Ray even mentioned it on commentary how Mark and Jay always lay it in hard. Bully Ray was spot on with that assessment. As we work towards the end of the match, Marseglia hits his finisher on to Jay but Jay kicks out on two. In amazing fashion, the match still goes on for another 2-3 minutes before Jay hits the Jay Driller and Jay gets the pin on O’Ryan. This was a very good main event as we go off air and lead into Death Before Dishonor.
MISSES
Cody’s Literal “Ring of Honor”: Cody officially presents his new Ring of Honor which last week we got a glimpse of this. Unless I missed something, this segment should’ve aired last week. In any case, I was not a fan of this segment and it did nothing for me as Cody is getting people to kiss his ring. I don’t hate this nor do I hate the majority of what Cody has done in ROH but this “kiss Cody’s Ring of Honor” just isn’t connecting with me.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Good episode that could’ve gone without the Cody “Ring of Honor” segment. Other than this segment, I thought everything else fit in well. I thought the main event was exceptional and it was due to the fact of me wanting to see how Marseglia & O’Ryan would do going up against The Briscoes. I thought Marseglia & O’Ryan had a great match with The Briscoes. Good episode overall as we head into Death Before Dishonor Friday September 22, 2017.
Mike Mills is the PWTorch.com ROH TV Hits and Misses Specialist, providing his point of view on ROH TV weekly. You can follow Mike at @BTT_Podcast and @Mike504Saints on Twitter.
NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S COLUMN: ROH HITS & MISSES 9/9: Bully Ray speaks, Coleman’s Pulpit channels Brother Love, Cody, Young-Lethal feud escalates
Thank You! I was thinking as I watched The Cody (totally should go by that: THE Cody) segment- seems like they should have flipped flopped those segments and then it would have made last weeks interview a wee bit more sensible.
Keep up the good work- always look forward to your Hits and Misses.