Welcome back to another edition of "Honorable Mention," the once-weekly Ring of Honor report exclusively available at Cheap-Heat.com. My name is Mark Adam Haggerty and in addition to my production credits at the "B+ Players Podcast," I'm the resident ROH reviewer at Cheap-Heat. It's tough being a Ring of Honor fan in Southern California as I've mentioned in the past; Sinclair Broadcasting, ROH's parent company, doesn't currently distribute their programming in Los Angeles, making it increasingly difficult to get my weekly fix without forking over a couple of dollars. But as JR likes to say: "That will not be my hill to die on." I appreciate and value the ROH product, and I recognize the strides they've made in recent years, so I can get over the lack of syndication in SoCal. For now. As a matter of fact, I finally forked over the $7.99 to subscribe to the official website, and I have to say I'm very satisfied with what Ring of Honor has to offer.
EDIT: DESTINATION AMERICA just announced Ring of Honor will debut on their network this Wednesday before a brand new episode of TNA Impact.
This week's episode of Ring of Honor TV comes to us from the Eisenhower Community Center in Hopkins, Minnesota and kicks off with none other than "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin. Does Elgin remind anybody else of the "Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan? Not only does he dress like the former leader of the Dungeon of Doom, but he's also fucking crazy. Elgin is one of my favorite performers in Ring of Honor; I wasn't sold on him during his time as champion because I didn't buy him as a babyface title holder. Tonight Elgin is going one on one with Caprice Coleman, who has been conspicuous by his absence in recent months, aside from his role on commentary during the "Top Prospect Tournament." Coleman is looking to shut Elgin up once and for all, and arrives to an extraordinary ovation and a sea of streamers. According to the Tale of the Tape, Caprice Coleman has been lacing up his boots since 1998, and has no problem adhering to the "Code of Conduct." Despite his wily ways, Elgin is also receptive to the initial handshake, and then immediately takes the fight to Caprice. After a successful headlock takeover, shades of the great Brad Armstrong, Caprice was rushed to the outside of the ring by an imposing Elgin, who was unwilling to waiver at such an early stage in the match. We head into a quick commercial—even on the official website that I PAY for—and when we return, Caprice is on the offensive and putting the former world champion through his paces. Caprice hit Michael Elgin with his signature "Sky-Splitter" leg drop from the top rope, but achieved only a two count before Elgin responded. Once on his feet again, Elgin proceeded to dominate Coleman with a series of turnbuckle and spinning powerbombs for the 1-2-3.
The next match is for the world television title; Jay Lethal has been champion for over 400 days, and is the only man to wear the coveted TV belt on two separate occasions. His opponent and challenger is the former ROH world tag team champion, and one half of reDRagon, Kyle O'Reilly. Jay Lethal has become accustomed to calling himself the "Ring of Honor Champion," and has customized his television title by removing the "TV" and superimposing a golden globe. Kyle O'Reilly is only one of a handful of wrestlers on the ROH roster who actually poses a threat to the longevity of Lethal's title reign, and wastes little time in showing the "Greatest First Generation Wrestler" why he is a world-renowned professional athlete. O'Reilly is currently competing in Japan as part of the "Best of the Super Juniors" tournament along with his longtime partner Bobby Fish, but tonight O'Reilly's eyes are on the prize. He keeps Lethal grounded with an onslaught of educated feet, and an impressive precision-based mat style that would make Drew Gulak dizzy. Lethal hits Kyle with a belly-to-back suplex, but the Irish-American O'Reilly is unwilling to relent on the vice-like headlock.
After another commercial break—this time an advertisement reminding us to WATCH Ring of Honor—we head back to the ring where O'Reilly is continuing to prove himself to the current title holder. Lethal is finally coming around by now, and returns the offense with a drop kick to Kyle's jaw and a number of knees to the midsection. The TV champion Irish-whipped O'Reilly across the squared circle into the opposing corner for a near fall, and then applied an incredibly innovative submission to the technically-sound Kyle O'Reilly. This match continued back and forth with both men gaining the advantage. Truth Martini tried to council his charge, but was unable to save him from the brutality of the former ROH world tag team champion. O'Reilly locked Lethal in a submission hold around the top rope, but was blindsided by the "Book of Truth," wielded by the veteran manager Martini. Lethal took advantage by slamming O'Reilly directly into the Canadian flag adorning the ringside barricade. He then wrapped the red and white maple leaf around O'Reilly's neck and choked him until referee Todd Sinclair ordered him to cease. The action returned to the ring before the 20-count and Lethal attempted to end things quickly; he climbed the ropes, "Hailed the King" and hit a double axe handle across the skull of O'Reilly. Back and forth, kick for kick and shot for shot, both men fought valiantly for the right to be champion. There aren't many men who can go toe-to-toe with O'Reilly in terms of kicks, but Lethal is eager to try his luck at matching his opponent's veteran BJJ-skills.
Kyle O'Reilly landed a strong knee to the jaw of Jay Lethal, nearly knocking the champion unconscious in the process. He applied the "Guillotine" submission hold, which caused Lethal to fade ever so slowly, until he summoned the strength for a LETHAL COMBINATION! Jay covered Kyle for a two count, and this contest continued to a chorus of "This is Wrestling," from an army of anti-establishment former �Federation fans. O'Reilly attempted to finish the job with what could have been a Superplex, but ultimately became a full-fledged "Hail to the King" elbow drop by Lethal. Lethal tried for a Superplex of his own, but was countered into "Arm-ageddon" in the center of the ring. Lethal jockeyed for the ropes and both men went flying to the outside, where Truth Martini checked on the welfare of his champion as Todd Sinclair counted higher and higher toward twenty. Jay Lethal returned to the ring at thirteen, and O'Reilly made it just after nineteen, thanks to some fans at ringside who helped him to his feet! The two men met in the ring and stared each other down before engaging in what would be the final moments of this incredible contest.
O'Reilly almost fell from the ring but returned in much the same way as Terry Funk, or Dean Ambrose, and hit the champion with a massive lariat for this trouble. He hit Lethal with a brainbuster, and once again, locked him in the lethal—no pun intended—"Arm-ageddon" cross arm bar. Both men refused to lose as Lethal made it to the ropes and both wrestlers staggered to regain their composure. Kevin Kelly reminds the audience at home that we are less than three minutes removed from the time limit, a concept that this wrestling fan completely forgot about! Lethal went for the "Lethal Injection," but O'Reilly caught him in his patented arm-bar. The bell sounded; the time limit was up! The fans chanted "Five More Minutes," and O'Reilly led them in their cry. Lethal was given the microphone and it was on the champion to decide whether or not he would continue.
The fans chanted "Man Up"—the popular catchphrase belonging to world champion Jay Briscoe—and Lethal informed everyone that he was GOING to accept the challenge, but the fans ruined it. He left the arena just as the world champion was making his way down to ringside. "Jay Lethal stay in the back, boy," Jay Briscoe began, "Let a real fighting champion show you how it's done." Briscoe told O'Reilly that he just went to war: "To hell with five more minutes, I don't care if this takes all night!" Jay Briscoe was ready to give Kyle O'Reilly a world title match, but once the bell rang, Lethal returned to cause the disqualification.
All in all, a much better program than last week's show that never really delivered. I've said on recent episodes of "The Outsiders' Edge" that I would rather three or four two-star matches to one or two four-stars. Yes, I love to watch wrestling, but weekly broadcasts are meant to introduce the fan base to the entire roster, and that's hard to do when you're limited to just one or two matches within an hour long show. The big breaking news as of this writing is that Destination America—the current home to TNA Impact—will begin to feature Ring of Honor as early as this Wednesday, June the 3 rd . Until next time, please LIKE "The B+ Players Podcast" on Facebook, and FOLLOW me on Twitter for all the latest and greatest updates courtesy of Cheap-Heat and Daily Wrestling News!
