BRM Reviews the 11/26/2016 ROH (great!)

[Big Red Machine]

Alex Shelley is joining Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino on commentary tonight.

LIO RUSH vs. JONATHAN GRESHAM- 6.75/10
Two young guys getting ten minutes to go out there and show what they can do. Rush got the kayfabe victory, but this match allowed both men to raise their stock, and that’s what ROH needs to be doing to make new stars. After the match MCMG came out and praised both men not just for being great wrestlers but also for being honorable competitors.

COLE VS. O’REILLY VIDEO PACKAGE- good, but not great. Some of Kyle’s lines came off a little too soft or wacky (especially that “violent artist” line), and Cole using Undertaker’s “I’ll make you famous” line came off as very second-rate.
Also, did I just hear MIKE HOGEWOOD?!


IAN RICCABONI RUNS DOWN THE FINAL BATTLE CARD- the important news here is that they let everyone know that ACH is being replaced by Lio Rush, with the justification being that he was originally scheduled to be on that team in the first place. What we didn’t get was an explanation for why ACH won’t be able to compete. I think it would have been better to bring ACH back for this one show (or even the whole weekend) so he can take the fall in this match on his way out the door. The Kingdom will need the belts more than this makeshift team of young guys because their whole identity is as a three-man unit while Team Young Guys aren’t, and you can then run an angle where another combination of young guys (maybe Rush, White, and Gresham) chase the belts, as having some babyfaces chase these belts will give people more of a reason to care about them than just doing random matches like New Japan did with the NEVER Openweight Six-man Tag Team Titles.

THE ADDICTION vs. THE BRISCOES- 7.5/10
The Addiction don’t shake hands at the beginning of the match but do at the end after their loss.

ADAM COLE PROMO- awesome!

A great show from ROH. This is the ROH I want to see more of.