Ring of Honor
Date: December 23, 2020
Location: UMBC Events Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman
This is going to be a weird one as it’s airing either before or after Final Battle (which is coming….eventually) depending on when your local station airs the show. Therefore I’m not sure what to expect here, but we could be in for a fun show as this place has been hit or miss for a bit. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Dalton Castle doesn’t like Brian Johnson throwing a drink in his face. It’s a good thing this is in the ring because if it was on the street, he would have a sock full of batteries with Johnson’s name on it. Castle has a lot of rage in him and Johnson looks like the right shape to break.
Brian Johnson is tired of people talking about how everything used to be great around here. Why talk about Castle when you can talk about him? Castle already won the World Title and then he laid down and lost. Now it’s time for Johnson to create his own decade of excellence.
Dalton Castle vs. Brian Johnson
Castle tries a very early Bang A Rang but Johnson slips out, only to get taken to the mat for a waistlock. That’s broken up in a hurry as Johnson sends him outside for a dive. Johnson insists that the peacock doesn’t know what’s coming for him and there’s a posting to put Castle down again. Back in and a top rope clothesline hits Castle, allowing Johnson to crank on the arm as we take a break.
We come back with Castle bailing to the floor for a breather, only to be thrown back inside. A slingshot splash gets two as the referee catches Johnson’s feet on the ropes. The armbar goes on, followed by a crank to send Castle’s arm into the mat. A back elbow rocks Johnson though and a clothesline gives Castle a breather.
Johnson snaps the arm across the top rope but Castle catches him on the rope. There’s a running knee to rock Johnson again but he pulls Castle arm first onto the top. Back in and the Kill Shot gives Johnson two as commentary keeps complementing Johnson despite him being annoying. Castle manages to snap off a German suplex and the Bang A Rang finishes Johnson at 10:30.
Result: Dalton Castle b. Brian Johnson – Bang A Rang (10:30)
Castle does shake his hand after the match.
Post break, Castle says he has been having some issues, but everything clicked during the match against Johnson.
LSG talks about how he had Jay Lethal beaten but the time limit cost him. If he has to go through Kenny King to establish his legacy, he’s ready to go.
Kenny King is still not quite over the lost to Shane Taylor but he needs to move forward. The back to back losses aren’t acceptable, especially when he’s looking at the World and TV Champions as his stable mates. LSG is good, but just hanging with someone isn’t still good enough. King is ready to treat him like something on the bottom of his shoe. Apparently this match is taking place on Honor Club on Christmas Eve.
Matt Taven wants you to buy Honor Club.
Rhett Titus has had a lot of success in Ring of Honor but he has also had a lot of failures. He has been a champion but then Kenny King walked off. Now the Foundation wants to reward him for fighting and now it is time to go and deal with someone from his own personal history. That starts with Delirious, who was the first man to bust him open. This is a Pure Rules match though and Delirious can’t hang with him there. Titus’ dropkick is waiting for him.
Delirious, through subtitles, talks about his history with Titus and knows that they have to fight again. He doesn’t want anyone to know his motivations but Titus knows him better than most. Delirious has been around Titus for a long time and tonight, as always, Delirious will beat him.
Delirious vs. Rhett Titus
Pure Rules. They go straight to the mat to start with Titus going after the leg early on. That’s broken up in a hurry so they go the test of strength instead. With that broken up, Titus fireman’s carries him to the mat into an armbar. The grappling continues with neither being able to get very far so it’s another standoff.
We take a break and come back with Rhett taking him to the mat for a quickly broken front facelock. Titus slaps it on again for a change and it’s off to a chinlock to keep Delirious down. A gutwrench suplex puts Delirious down but he pops up with a dropkick to the back. The cobra stretch attempt sends Titus bailing over to the ropes so Delirious tries it again, meaning Titus has to burn off a second break in a hurry.
Delirious starts in on the arm for a change, tying it up with his legs and falling backwards to crank on it even harder. Titus manages to get up and sends Delirious outside in a crash but uses his third rope break in the process. Back in and the cobra stretch goes on so Titus has to use a suplex to break out this time. A belly to belly (with the Magnum TA reference) drops Delirious again, only to have him come back with a cobra clutch suplex for two. Titus is right back up as well and it’s a dropkick to finish Delirious at 12:24, which Caprice compares to getting kicked in the face by a horse.
Result: Rhett Titus b. Delirious – Dropkick (12:24)
Delirious has to ice his face before they shake hands to end the show.
Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books. Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for “GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES” to sign up. Thank you for reading!