Death before dishonor, bay-bay!

Both Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling have taken hits in the talent department recently thanks to the WWE's recent injection of new blood into their roster, but neither promotion shows signs of slowing down. Today I'm looking at what the American-based Ring of Honor promotion has in store for us in a week at Death Before Dishonor, and I like what I see.

ROH is anchored by several key talents. Right off the bat you have Jay Lethal, the reigning champ and former top heel in the company. Lethal has been a dominant force for well over a year, securing one title win after another. At the recent Global Wars pay-per-view, Lethal went from hunter to prey when Adam Cole revealed himself as the newest member of The Bullet Club and sabotaged his match with industry vet and podcaster Colt Cabana.

Cole is another one of those "key talents". "Story time with Adam Cole!" always get a huge reaction and when you see "BAY BAY" flash on the screen, signaling his entrance, you know you're in for a good time. Cole is an all around good hand when it comes to his in-ring work. I could see him bouncing off a larger foe in the WWE, but in ROH he's often a down and dirty grappler with a tendency to cut corners. Since aligning with the Bullet Club, he looks to be aiming for Lethal's "top villain" role, but how on Earth can they expect people to boo Cole, especially when he's flanked by fellow fan favorites like The Young Bucks?

Speaking of bullets and clubs, that particular faction is in an interesting place right now, especially considering how many of their heavy hitters have defected to the 'E. They're supposed to be the big bads of the indy wrestling world, but their collective persona is too cool for fans to turn on. That makes Cole's attack on Lethal (where he humiliated him and shaved off his signature braids) all the more important. They're establishing that these guys aren't just "heels", they're genuine shitheels. It'll be interesting to see who the crowd is behind in Las Vegas at Death Before Dishonor.

Moving on down the card to the ROH television title, Mark Briscoe and Bobby Fish are set to square off for the strap at the same show. Both Briscoe and Fish are part of two of ROH's most important tag teams, The Briscoes and ReDRagon, but neither one of them is a stranger to singles competition. As a singles wrestler, Mark has been slowly making his way up the card and this is his chance to bring some gold back to the family farm, especially since that spot on their shelf at home has been vacant ever since his brother Jay dropped the world title a while back.

Fish and his partner Kyle O'Reilly practically were the tag division for ROH in 2014, blowing our collective minds with their double-team attacks and old-school demeanor. Reilly is usually portrayed as the "scrappy" one, so I'm interested to see what Fish brings to the table, considering I haven't seen as much of him as a singles wrestler.

Circling back to the subject of "key talents", both The Briscoes and ReDRagon fit all the criteria. They're solid workers with growing fanbases and the ring psychology of veterans. They can split into singles competitors at any time, and in the case of The Briscoes, are extremely loyal to ROH as a company. Heck, The Briscoes have spent nearly their entire careers flying the honor flag.

The Death Before Dishonor show is only a week away and the card is still evolving, which would normally worry me. Of course, this is ROH we're talking about: the matches will be good, guys you've never heard of from Japan will be there, and somebody will be sporting a shiny blood mask by the end of the night.

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Twitter: @ChrisBComics
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