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Following the ROH product closely for years, here’s what I have noticed: ever since Delirious took over as head booker, there has been a sustained breath of fresh air injected into the company. It feels…ALIVE.
As a matter of fact, this past Saturday night, the Forever Hooligans (Rocky Romero and Alex Koslov) went over the team of ReDRagon, (Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly), for the ROH Tag Titles. The Forever Hooligans are also the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Champions. What a great coup for ROH to bring in the Forever Hooligans again, and with a title change out of the blue? That one totally caught me off guard.
I’ve come to expect that whenever companies bring in outside talent, it’ll mostly serve as an awesome exhibition, but a title change? Awesome! That’s what the business needs more of—I’m not referring to hot shot angles and arbitrary title switches, but fun surprises and unexpected twists and turns (TNA recently had some success with this by putting over Chris Sabin against Bully Ray for their world title).
Of late there has been a push to enhance the tag division in the company, but Ring of Honor consistently has, bar none, the best tag team division of any company in the States. The aforementioned current champs, the Forever Hooligans, the American Wolves, Cedric Alexander and Caprice Coleman (C&C Wrestle Factory, who have improved by leaps and bounds this past year), ReDRagon, Adrenaline Rush (ACH and TaDarius Thomas), and this coming Saturday in Toronto at the All Star Extravaganza V at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (formerly the historic Maple Leaf Gardens), Nick and Matt Jackson, the Young Bucks, will be back in action after a lengthy absence from the promotion.
Speaking of the Young Bucks’ return, that brings us to another highlight for Ring of Honor this year: the influx of outside talent (including foreign wrestlers, harkening back to ROH’s first golden age), both familiar to ROH fans as well as some established wrestlers from elsewhere who are popping up at ROH shows. A few months ago I was lucky enough to witness the long awaited return of Paul London, who has verve for performing that nearly escapes words, much like his death-defying ring style. It was bittersweet because Paul suffered a stinger AND a concussion in his return bout with Davey Richards, but Paul somehow still managed to put on a remarkable match with Davey at Border Wars 2013. And for those of you wondering if he’s as cool in person as he appears to be on all those shoot DVDs, yes, Paul London is one of the nicest, humblest, and downright decent human beings I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Isn’t it cool when you meet someone you admire, and they exceed even your wildest expectations? We’re looking forward to seeing him put on what’ll certainly be a classic against Michael Elgin this Sunday in Toronto. Could it be a match-of-the-year contender? No pressure, fellas.
Speaking of Border Wars 2013 and the subject of outside talent, let’s not forget the showstealer between Taiji Ishimori and Eddie Edwards. It was an honor to see two world class wrestlers at the top of their game allowed to do what they do best, and at the TV Tapings the next day, fans were treated to Ishimori vs. Roderick Strong.
Other outside names who have been brought in recently or will be soon are Karl “Machine Gun†Anderson, Sonjay Dutt, Brian Kendrick, and Kushida. This is not to take away from the current full time roster who bust their ass at every show, guys like Steen (who overcame the odds despite having certain people who may or may not have had his best interests in mind at one time), Elgin, Roddy, Davey, Eddie, Adam Cole, and Mike Bennett and Maria (pay close attention to their work; he has “itâ€, whether you want to admit it or not, and Maria may be the best “old school†style heat magnet manager on the scene in any company).
And what about the Briscoes? 2013 has proved to be the Year of #DemBoys, in many ways, first with Jay winning the title from Kevin Steen, and now with their hiatus that has many journalists and fans speculating what’s in store next for them. Unless it’s a WWE-run where the Briscoes make the millions of dollars they deserve, I don’t want to see them anywhere but in ROH. In my opinion, Mark and Jay represent ROH in the same way that Tommy Dreamer represented the original ECW. The Briscoes are the real deal, and ROH lets them turn the volume up on the dial to 11. That’s a large part of why they work so well and are so unique in what is often a homogenized, PG-era of mainstream wrestling. They’re our generation’s version of the Funks. It’s difficult for me to picture them in, say, TNA. Can you see them in a program fighting for the honor of Brooke Hogan? Getting brother’ed by Hulk Hogan? It makes me shudder. Someday I hope they get the chance to shine in WWE, but for now, I’m paying close attention to see what kind of vengeance the Briscoes seek on whomever wins the currently vacant ROH World title. That’s a natural built-in storyline. Much like Bret Hart and the Montreal screwjob, Jay Briscoe technically never lost his title. (As an aside, props to whoever handles www.rohwrestling.com for paying attention to the fine details. If you click on the “ROH Stars†tab on the site, there’s a big ol’ “VACANT†stamped across a picture of the ROH World title. Well done!)
Another talent I want to focus on here is Jay Lethal and his run in ROH, which has been consistently entertaining. Lethal is so polished and solid as a performer, everything from his in-ring work to his promos, to his natural charisma, to the way he carries himself. There have been rumblings of late that WWE is searching for a black superstar for the African-American demographic, in the same way they had Rey (and later Sin Cara, which was botched, literally) for the Latino market. While he would be a huge loss to Ring of Honor, Vince McMahon should look no further than Jay Lethal if he’s looking for another superstar.
Last year Lethal was booked in a tricky situation. He was basically handpicked by Cornette (in storyline) to dethrone Kevin Steen as ROH World Champion. This was at the height of fans’ hatred for Cornette as an on-air authority figure (and as behind-the-scenes booker), and Steen was beloved by probably 99.9% of ROH fans (okay, let’s be honest, Steen was over with everyone, he was and still is white hot).
Looking back at those angles and the final match between the two of them at Killer Instinct, in Rahway, NJ on 10/6/12, Lethal managed to be one of the few guys at the time who could get a portion of the crowd to cheer him against Steen, and also make you believe that as the match went on, there was a chance he could take the title (And let’s give due credit to Steen who was in the middle of an incredible run main-eventing as champion). That was surely no easy feat for Lethal, but perhaps the company was correct to book him in the spot and have faith in him. I believe there’s still some unfinished business between Lethal and Steen that would make for some nice drama and subsequent rematches.
In the meantime, while everyone seems to be pegging Michael Elgin as the favorite to win the ROH World Title tournament, don’t overlook Jay Lethal. Here’s a guy who has done stellar work in ROH, and I would love to see more high profile matches for him in the future. Lethal has earned his spot with the company tenfold, has the heart of a champ, and I hope his work isn’t taken for granted by anyone.
I’d also like to put a spotlight on Matt Taven and his work alongside Truth Martini and the Hoopla Hotties (Scarlett Bordeaux and Seleziya Sparx). Taven could very well be the future of this company, the same way Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly rose to the occasion a couple of years ago. Recent breakout performances have shown that Taven not only has the sizzle but the steak to go with it. Taven with Truth Martini is a perfect pairing. I’ve always had a tremendous fondness for Truth Martini’s outlandish outfits and wacky behavior, because he’s really committed to his character and he’s a bit of a throwback (and you can tell he loves the business). The problem was I just never really bought him with Roderick Strong and Michael Elgin in his House of Truth stable. However, Matt Taven and Truth Martini are a tremendous act, and I believe them as a team. ROH definitely has something here.
This past weekend on ROH TV the S.C.U.M. vs. ROH feud seemed to have concluded, at least this chapter of it, with Adam Cole lurking in the wings ready to turn heel as the screen faded to black. It was a hell of a show devoted to the War Games style cage match, and a climax that has culminated over months of TV. And that’s another thing I’ve noticed with Delirious as booker: the pacing of TV over the past 9-10 months has been superb. Kevin Kelly is an asset at the announce table, and easily the best play-by-play guy in the biz today. While Kevin and Nigel (on color commentary) are still my favorite pair in recent years, Kevin Kelly with Steve Corino has been a lot of fun, and wherever things are headed next, now that S.C.U.M. is seemingly disbanded, I hope Corino sticks around on commentary.
So that’s my love letter to Ring of Honor. I’ll see you Saturday at the show in Toronto! Feel free to send me feedback on the Twitter machine over at: @jillybeanjab (Head to www.rohwrestling.com for full event details.)
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