ROH Episode #399 Review

ROH Episode 399 kicked off with a Triple Threat match featuring The Bouncers, The Shinobi Shadow Squad, and Coast 2 Coast.  Josh Woods returned to ROH Television facing Flex Simmons.  Bandido wrestled Shane Taylor in the Main Event.  We also heard from Kenny King during the show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l_bL7u6qs0

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Quick Results:

The Bouncers defeat Coast 2 Coast and Shinobi Shadow Squad

Josh Woods defeats Flex Simmons

Bandido beats Shane Taylor

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Shinobi Shadow Squad (Cheeseburger and Ryan Nova) vs. Coast 2 Coast vs. The Bouncers

pic.twitter.com/TO8DbiQdeW

— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) May 15, 2019

This was a fun match.  Nova and Cheeseburger hit some nice spots.  LSG and Shaheem Ali pulled of some good tandem offense and had the biggest crowd pops of the match.  The Bouncer did what they do, which is, use their weight to their advantage.  Ultimately, The Bouncers pick up the victory by hitting their finisher against Nova.  After the match, Coast 2 Coast and Shinobi Shadow Squad had a pushing match.

For what this was, it was a decent opener.  However, when you look at these 6 men, I’m not sure ROH is wise to focus so much TV time on this crew.  The Bouncers have been picking up a lot of wins on TV recently.  They aren’t your typical ROH tag team.  For guys their size, they have a decent work rate, but I’m not sure if they wouldn’t be better used to be putting over guys who have more potential.  Speaking of potential, I’m not sure what the ceiling is of Coast 2 Coast.  They haven’t connected with the crowd as faces, as of yet.  Maybe the looming heel turn will do them some good.  They have nice move-sets, but they just haven’t quite hit the bull’s eye yet with the character component.

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Kenny King Cuts a Promo

The self-proclaimed, Kenny “Shawn Michaels” King came down to the ring to brag about winning the Honor Rumble at G1 Supercard of Honor from the number 1 spot.  However, he didn’t come down on his own.  He needed help because he is currently claiming to be blind due to the poison mist of The Great Muta.  The winner of the Honor Rumble gets a shot at the World Title.

However, King isn’t focusing on Matt Taven.  He, instead, is taking time off to have surgery on his eyes.  King did say when he’s back healthy his coming back for Jay Lethal.  He promised to make Jay Lethal “bend the knee.”  At least Kenny is up to date on his pop culture references, unlike some other folks in other universes.

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Josh Woods vs. Flex Simmons

Flex Simmons, sporter of a dad bod, came down to the ring with a wink and few poses.  I’m not sure exactly why, but I actually found Flex to be a pretty entertaining jobber.  He had a bit of charisma prior to the match.  However, he got in all his work prior to the match.  Once the bell rang, Josh Woods hit a spear.  A few tosses later, the match was over.

During the match, the announcers were putting over the fact Woods has been away training.  Woods definitely wrestled with a more forceful, almost heelish, character.  After the match, he was interviewed backstage.  He says he’s always been down to fight.  Woods is another character, like Coast 2 Coast, who hasn’t connected with the fans of ROH.  Maybe this heelish character will help him too.  He definitely has the physique of a guy who could get over.  Only time will tell if he can.

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Shane Taylor vs. Bandido

Shane Taylor recently won the ROH World Television Title during the War of the Worlds Tour.  Taylor has actually been on a pretty good roll as of late.  Bandido is also someone who’s getting quite the push in ROH.  I was really unsure of who would win this match.  I think Bandido is clearly the bigger star, but ROH seems to be behind Shane Taylor.

This was your typical big man vs. little man match.  However, holy cow, Bandido is incredible.  He’s still a bit green and doesn’t always quite hit the mark on some of his strikes, but he more than makes up for it with the spectacular.  Taylor also does a good job of coming off like a big, mean bully.  If you’ve seen Bandido, you know he is capable of hitting incredible diving moves.  He hit a suicide dive and an over the top rope flip during the match that were both fantastic.  However, the two most incredible moves were the GTS and his 21 plex finisher.  He lifted Taylor on his shoulders for the knee strike go-to-sleep.  Then he hit is somersault snap-dragon suplex on Taylor for the win.

After the match, Bully Ray comes down to the ring to attack Bandido.  LifeBlood’s Tracey Williams and Mark Haskins hop in to make the save.  However, two guys hit the ring and lay out LifeBlood.  I had no idea who these two dudes were.  However, it turns out they’ve been wrestling for Future of Honor and are called SOS (Soldiers of Savagery).  Moses Maddox and Jasper Kaun beat down all members of LifeBlood.  Not sure about the name.  They seem to be a blend of The Shield and The Guerillas of Destiny.  They looked impressive.

Bully Ray and Shane Taylor didn’t know who these guys were either.  As SOS made their way to the back, Shane and Bully both asked the other if they were with the other man.  Neither claimed responsibility for bringing them in.

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Final Take

After the first 3 segments of the show, I didn’t have high hopes for where my ranking would fall.  However, Bandido and The Soldiers of Savagery brought the show back up.  I’m giving this a 3 out of 5.  ROH is trying to create new stars in Woods, LSG, and Ali.  By Bandido winning, it should set up a feud for the ROH World Title with Shane Taylor.  I’m guessing LifeBlood will want to get their hands on the SOS.

I’m not sold on the 3 new heels, but if Shane Taylor getting the victory in the 4 Way ROH World Title match is a way to ultimately transition the belt to Bandido, then kudos ROH.  Shane Taylor also winning opens the door for Jeff Cobb to work his way up to Matt Taven.  If ROH finds itself in the next few months with Cobb and Bandido chasing titles, then the weekly TV shows should also improve.

THIS WEEK ON #ROHTV WE CELEBRATE EPISODE #400!!

THE BEST PRO WRESTLING ON THE PLANET! #WatchROH #HonorIsReal🤝 pic.twitter.com/7jX1M1AbaT

— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) May 16, 2019

Speaking of weekly tv shows improving, next week it’s Episode 400.  It features a ROH World Championship match between Taven and Flip Gordon.  We saw a nice video package about Flip during the show tonight.  In no way, shape, or form do I expect Flip to win next week, but it should be an entertaining match to watch.  We’re also getting a 6-Man Tag Team Title Match between Villain Enterprises and Jay Lethal, Jeff Cobb, and RUSH.  ROH is going to have to screw up pretty badly not to get at least a 4 out of 5 rating next week.

• Shane Taylor
• Bandido
• ROH
• Matt Taven

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