Gutteridge’s Ring of Honor TV Hit List: The Addiction vs. The Young Bucks for the ROH Tag Team Titles, War Machine vs. Taylor and Lee, and Dalton Castle and the Boys vs. The Cabinet

By Darren Gutteridge

ROH TV Hits

Dalton Castle and the Boys vs. The Cabinet: The sole bright spot in this otherwise wasted hour. I can’t say I even really liked this match, but it was the best thing on the show, partly because the crowd were super into not only Castle, but also The Boys, who had their best in-ring outing to date. Also, I like that they seem to be trying something with the Cabinet. The act still has some ironing out to do, but it could be worthwhile, and I’m glad to see ROH at least give them some momentum.

ROH TV Misses

The Addiction vs. The Young Bucks: This was a case for good wrestling not always being enough to salvage a match. The Bucks and the Addiction did their usual stuff, and it entertained in small doses. However, the ending felt very lazy and half hearted. No one was doing anything with urgency. More damning, however, is the fact that ROH title matches now feel very hollow. They are all but meaningless 99 percent of the time. This didn’t feel important, consequential, or exciting. It felt just like any other match, and if your titles mean nothing, no amount of superkick parties is going to solve the problem.

War Machine vs. Keith Lee and Shane Taylor: This called for a No-DQ after all that has gone down between these two ever since Lee and Taylor showed up. Instead, we had a normal match that didn’t reflect the intensity of the feud. It wasn’t bad, it just felt like the flattest way to present their first match together. Lee impressed with his athleticism, but Taylor looks very lumbering at times. Maybe they could do better at a PPV with a No-DQ stipulation, but then that would mean ROH would have to sacrifice one of the eleven New Japan matches they have booked for their next live show, and they can’t allow that to happen can they?!

Punisher Martinez and BJ Whitmer: Punisher Martinez was by no means the star of this year’s Top Prospect Tournament, but I’m glad to see him return in a monster heel role. Or rather I would be under any other circumstances. However, just as Adam Page found out, getting involved in the black hole that is the Steve Corino / BJ Whitmer feud is a terrible idea. I’m convinced ROH knows this is awful and are now intentionally trolling us, because no one of sound mind could think BJ Whitmer in eye liner with an “X” drew on his forehead is anything but laughable and campy.

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