Friday, July 11, 2014

ROH Future Of Honor I Review

Witness the Future of ROH!


This is something Ring of Honor announced during HonorCon in February. It's essentially a show featuring wrestlers who have either trained at the ROH Dojo or stood out during ROH Tryout Camps. They would be put on an ROH sanctioned event with some select ROH stars in a showcase of sorts. Let's see how it turns out...

ROH Future Of Honor I
Newville, PA 4/18/14

Even though it's a smaller venue, the attendance looks pretty good. The building looks full, which is good. Kevin Kelly & Veda Scott are on commentary.

1.) Zizou Middoux vs. #ALLEGO: ***

Of course #ALLEGO has been making waves in places like AIW & AAW. Middoux appeared in ROH last year in a tag team with Mike Sydal, but now he's on his own. A pretty solid opener here. Both guys got to hit there stuff and looked good. #ALLEGO gets the win. He's definitely someone that ROH should sign.

2.) Brutal Burgers ("Brutal" Bob Evans & Cheeseburger) vs. Moose & Stokely Hathaway: **

Hathaway cuts a promo before the match introducing himself. Moose has been making appearances in Dragon Gate USA/Evolve as the bodyguard of The Bravado Brothers. Hathaway looks similar to someone who's been hanging out with RD Evans & Veda Scott, but Scott denies this. This was ok. The story here was that Hathaway didn't treat his partner with much respect, and wanted to all the work himself, but got beat up every time. Brutal Burgers get the win after miscommunication between Moose & Hathaway.

After the match, Moose teases spearing Hathaway, but doesn't do so.

3.) Mandy Leon vs. Jenny Rose: **1/2

Leon is making her in-ring debut. Rose is someone who trained at the ROH Dojo, but has since travelled the world and became a really good women's wrestler. This was a pretty solid women's match. Rose is very skilled, so it was no surprised that she looked good. I thought that Leon, for it being her first match, looked very impressive. She's definitely got a future. Rose gets the win in this one.

After the match, Veda Scott leaves commentary and comes to the ring with the mic. Apparently she was upset that Leon slapped Rose during the match (in the heat of competition I might add). She chastises the crowd for celebrating Leon for making her debut when she lost the match. Veda goes on, saying she's a loser (again) and that she's nothing but a pretty face. Scott then criticizes Jenny Rose for shaking Leon's hand afterwords, and reminds her about the slap during the match. This sets Rose off, and she attacks Leon! Veda taunts her as Rose leaves with her. 

4.) Proving Ground Match - ROH World TV Champion Jay Lethal vs. Jay Diesel: **3/4

Diesel has actually been working for Ring Of Honor as the head of security. He's made several wrestling appearances elsewhere (such as Wrestling Is Respect) as well. Lethal is not accompanied by Truth Martini tonight. If Diesel wins or the match goes to a draw, he gets a future shot at the World TV Title Pretty solid match here. Diesel isn't perfect in the ring, but he's getting there, and showed some promise in here. Lethal looked solid as always, and is eventually able to put Diesel away.

5.) Six Man Tag - Tim Donst, Ken Phoenix & Sam Shields vs. Vinny Marseglia, Nick Blackwell & Jimmy Nutts: ***1/2

About time Donst showed up in a ROH ring. Looks like Tim Donst & Vinny Marseglia are the de facto captains of their respective teams. This was surprisingly really good. I don't know what it was, but the action in this match just clicked really well. Everything seemed to work, and it made for a very entertaining match, and the crowd was definitely into it. The team of Marseglia, Blackwell & Nutts get the win.

6.) Kongo vs. "Psycho" Mike Rollins: **1/2

I've heard a bit about Rollins, while Kongo was in the 2014 Top Prospect Tournament. A decent big man match here, which is seemingly a rarity in ROH. Both guys got in there stuff and put forth some solid action. Kongo picks ups the victory.

7.) The Briscoes (with Cousin Jethro) vs. Team Benchmark: ***1/4

Team Benchmark is "The Benchmark" Bill Daly & "The Hype" Will Ferrara. This is their first major test as a team in ROH. Cousin Jethro is with The Briscoes at ringside. A pretty entertaining tag team match here. The Briscoes are always entertaining in the ring, and Team Benchmark played their roles as heels very well. Solid action in this one. The Briscoes eventually are able to pick up the win.

8.) ROH World Title - Adam Cole vs. Delirious: ***1/2

Delirious is making his first in-ring appearance since Night Of Hoopla last year. This was a pretty entertaining Main Event. It's really cool to see Delirious wrestle in a ROH ring again. It's a rarity nowadays, but when he does compete, it's a treat. He worked pretty well with Adam Cole here, who played his role as the heel champion really well. Only real complaint I can make is that it went a bit longer than it needed to, but otherwise, really entertaining match. Adam Cole gets the win & retains the ROH World Title. 


Overall: 6.75/10

If you were expecting this to be a blow away wrestling show, you're looking in the wrong place. Technically, this was Ring of Honor's weakest show of 2014, but that's not what this was about. This was meant to be a showcase of talents that could be the future of the company, and it did just that. You got a look at some real standouts like #ALLEGO & Tim Donst, who are very well known and could easily be on the ROH roster, and people who you might not have heard of. While the show was nothing remarkable, it was pretty solid. The Main Event was really entertaining and the Six Man Tag was a really pleasant surprise. The rest of the card has some fine matches, and it really gives you a taste of what's to come in the future.

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