BRM Reviews the 4/16/2021 ROH (500th Show Disappointment)

[Big Red Machine]

Tonight’s matches were both voted on by the fans.

JAY LETHAL PROMO- fine

JONATHAN GRESHAM VIDEO PACKAGE/PROMO- fine

ROH PURE TITLE MATCH: Jonathan Gresham(c) vs. Jay Lethal- 6.25/10
The whole Foundation came out together in a show of solidarity. Ian Riccaboni explained that Lethal got to bypass the requirement to be in the top three of the division to get a title shot because this match was specially selected by the fans. He also told us that if this match goes the one-hour time-limit, we’ll see the Briscoe vs. Briscoe match for free on Facebook. Hooray for remembering that things are kayfabe spontaneous and that the company needs to seem kayfabe prepared for logical eventualities.
This was pretty disappointing. I like mat wrestling as much as- okay, fine, a lot more than- the next guy, but while the work was good here, the pacing of the match never felt like it got out of second gear. They told their story (Gresham’s arm got worked over and he got into ropebreak trouble, but prevailed with a roll-up) adequately and there was some drama, but never that big dramatic back and forth of escaping from one hold and then quickly catching the opponent in one of your own.
The announcers pushed that they never once threw a strike, and that Gresham has now won every one of his Pure Rules matches with a different move.

MARK BRISCOE vs. JAY BRISCOE- 7.5/10
I can buy the argument that Jay didn’t intend to put Mark down on the chair when he hit the DVD and thus it’s not a DQ… but did the main event of the 500th episode of ROH really need a chair in a babyface vs. babyface match? Mark Briscoe can’t do a f*cking dive without jumping off of a chair?
Ditto for the table spot. Did we really need that? And on that one, there is no excuse for it not being a DQ. Mark put Jay on a table, then climbed up to the top rope and jumped off onto Jay, putting him through the table. How is that not a DQ for using a weapon?
And a f*cking count-out finish? Really? In the main event of the 500th show of Ring of Honor TV? Just because there is a f*cking handshake after the match doesn’t mean that it falls within the ethos of what Ring of Honor is supposed to be! If you’re going to do the f*cking count-out, at least let the Pure Title match be the main event!
Yes, I fully realize that count-outs can be an effective booking tool. Before we got the post-match handshake, I was wondering if this had been an angle to designed to exacerbate things between Mark and Jay. And yes, I realize that they drew a strong contrast between the match the actual brothers had as opposed to the two guys who are just friends, who wrestled the nice, clean wrestling match. But just because your idea is artsy does not automatically make it good. And I’m not even rendering judgement on whether the idea is good in a vacuum. Because it didn’t take place in a vacuum. Just because there is artistic merit to the show you have put together does not mean that it’s the right show for the 500th episode of Ring of Honor. I’m sorry, but you can’t celebrate Ring of Honor with a f*cking count-out finish, and doubly so off of a spot that should have been a DQ but wasn’t!