ROH on HonorClub Preview: Red Velvet, GYV and a Card Built for Wrestling Fans
Ring of Honor returns to HonorClub tonight, and while this isn't a card loaded with championship matches or massive stipulations, there's something here that I have always appreciated as a wrestler: wrestling for wrestling's sake. Sometimes a card doesn't need twelve layers of storyline to be interesting. Put the right people across the ring from one another, give them time, and let the bell do the talking.
That's what caught my attention about tonight's ROH lineup.
RED VELVET VS. B3CCA — PROVING GROUND MATCH: ROH Women's World Television Champion Red Velvet steps into a Proving Ground match against B3CCA, and these matches always come with an interesting wrinkle. The championship isn't changing hands tonight, but the opportunity is very real. B3CCA has a chance to earn a future title match by defeating Velvet or surviving the time limit.
From a wrestler's perspective, that changes the psychology.
The challenger doesn't necessarily have to approach the match as if she needs to definitively prove she's better than the champion. She needs to prove she belongs in the championship conversation. And Velvet has to make sure she doesn't let her. I really want to see Red Velvet grow here. She has talent. She has a look. With the right writing, we could see her soar!
GRIZZLED YOUNG VETERANS VS. ALEC PRICE & JORDAN OLIVER: This may be the match I'm most curious about tonight. James Drake and Zack Gibson have spent years developing the kind of tag-team chemistry you simply cannot manufacture overnight. Across the ring, Alec Price and Jordan Oliver bring a completely different energy.
(That contrast is exactly what can make tag-team wrestling fun. And ya'll know how much I LOVE tag team wrestling! It's my favorite.)
There's a difference between two talented wrestlers standing in the same corner and an actual tag team. Watch the little things tonight — positioning, cutting off the ring, timing and how each team creates opportunities for its partner. Those details rarely make the highlight reel, but they're often what actually wins the match.
AR FOX VS. LJ CLEARY: If you're looking for a match with the potential to get creative, keep an eye on AR Fox and LJ Cleary. Fox has built a career around making things happen inside a wrestling ring that don't always look possible until he does them. Cleary gets an opportunity here against someone whose experience can force an opponent to adapt quickly. Those are the matches that can tell you quite a bit about a wrestler.
TRISH ADORA VS. RACHAEL ELLERING: Trish Adora and Rachael Ellering also meet one-on-one tonight, giving the women's division another match beyond the Red Velvet/B3CCA Proving Ground bout. It's another example of something ROH continues to have at its disposal: a women's roster with wrestlers who bring genuinely different styles and backgrounds to the ring. I actually really enjoy Trish Adora and her work. I hope to see her excel at ROH and I could see a really cool tag team run with her in it that I'd LOVE to write!
Elsewhere on the card, Eddie Kingston and Cassie Lee are scheduled for action, while Dalton Castle teams with The Outrunners against Aaron Solo, Griff Garrison and Nick Comoroto. MxM Collection faces Il Cartello Grillo, and Ariya Daivari, Tony Nese and BEEF are also scheduled to compete.
Tonight may not be one of ROH's marquee supercards.
It doesn't have to be.
There is a place in professional wrestling for spectacle, blood feuds and matches that have been built for months. But there's also a place for turning on a wrestling show and discovering that two people you weren't necessarily expecting to steal your attention just put together something special.
Sometimes the wrestling is the story.
And tonight, ROH has several opportunities to remind us of exactly that.
ROH on HonorClub streams Thursday night at 8 p.m. ET.