Eck’s Files: Adam Brooks Returns To The Ring In Australia; Jim Cornette Weighs In On The Pure Tournament

Eck’s Files: Adam Brooks Returns To The Ring In Australia; Jim Cornette Weighs In On The Pure Tournament

October 2, 2020

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By Kevin Eck

Adam Brooks has yet to make his long-awaited Ring of Honor debut since signing with the company earlier this year, but the Australian star did return to the ring recently for the first time since late February.

Brooks competed on a Riot City Wrestling show in Adelaide, South Australia. He relocated there because his home state of Victoria was hit hard by COVID-19.

“I can actually go to the gym and I can wrestle,” Brooks said. “It felt awesome to be back in that ring.”

Brooks had been scheduled to make his debut as a member of the ROH roster against fellow Australian star Slex at the 18th Anniversary pay-per-view in March, but the show was cancelled due to the pandemic. 

Brooks doesn’t know when he’ll be able to step into an ROH ring, but he guaranteed he’ll be ready when he does.

“Whenever the borders open, I’m very excited to get to ROH and really just really start that next chapter in my career,” he said. “So hopefully it’s sooner rather than later.”

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When it comes to voicing his opinion about pro wrestling, Jim Cornette is about as subtle as a whack on the head with a tennis racquet. 

Regardless of whether he loves something or loathes it, the legendary manager and former ROH executive producer has no problem letting you know where he stands.

As far as the ROH Pure Title tournament is concerned, Cornette loves it. He gave glowing reviews to the first two episodes of “Ring of Honor Wrestling” to feature the tournament on his popular podcast, “Jim Cornette’s Drive Thru.”

Cornette lauded the sports-based presentation and quality of the matches. He also had high praise for the video packages and use of statistics, as well as the performances of show host Quinn McKay and commentators Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman.

“You could show a non-wrestling fan this Ring of Honor program, and even if they didn’t like wrestling, they would understand and not mock you or make fun of you for liking something like this, because it’s athletic guys in a competition,” Cornette said. “It’s not insulting or stupid.”

Cornette’s co-host, Brian Last, expressed similar sentiments.

“We’ve watched AEW every week this year, NXT, we’ve watched ‘Raw,’ we’ve watched ‘SmackDown.’ This is the best show I’ve seen all year,” Last said.

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This weekend’s episode of “Ring of Honor Wrestling” features Tracy Williams versus Rust Taylor in a Block A first-round match, and PJ Black versus Tony Deppen in a Block B first-round match.

You can watch along and interact with the stars of ROH on Twitter Monday at 7 p.m. ET using #ROHPure. To participate in the Twitter watch party, view the episode on ROHWrestling.com or FITE. The watch parties will continue at that same time every Monday for the duration of the tournament.

At the conclusion of the episode, stick around for the wrap-up show with Riccaboni, Coleman and McKay on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. 

Check out the preview videos for the Williams-Taylor and Black-Deppen matches on YouTube featuring comments from the four competitors. To read more on those matchups, click here, and for the full bracket and schedule of first-round matches, click here.

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Speaking of Williams, he will be a guest on the next episode of “Roleplay of Honor,” a fantasy roleplaying game featuring ROH stars. The show drops on Saturday, Oct. 10 on YouTube.

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Angelina Love was my guest on the upcoming episode of the “ROHStrong Podcast,” which drops Monday at 7 a.m. ET on ROHWrestling.com and most podcast platforms.

She talked about her close relationship with the late Road Warrior Animal (Joe Laurinaitis) and his family, her years in WWE developmental and TNA, winning the Knockouts Title in a match in which she legitimately got knocked out, debuting in ROH in 2004 and making her return 15 years later at Madison Square Garden, working with Mandy Leon in The Allure, and more.

Not surprisingly, Love also had some harsh words for McKay.

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The premiere episode of “Old School In Session” with Gary Juster dropped earlier this week on YouTube. The ROH Director of Operations and former WCW, NWA and AWA promoter shared his memories of the Road Warriors.

On the next episode, which drops on Wednesday, Juster and I will talk about the late, great Bruno Sammartino, who would’ve turned 85 next week. 

To submit a question for Juster to about his many years in pro wrestling, send a tweet using #AskGary.

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“ROH Strange,” a new weekly YouTube series in which ROH stars share their paranormal experiences, debuts on Saturday at noon ET. Kellyanne is featured on the first episode.

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Speaking of strange, I found Vincent’s origin story, which he detailed as part of the Word of Honor series of first-person articles written by ROH talent, to be both compelling and chilling.

He opened up about his troubled childhood, how pro wrestling and horror movies were an escape for him, his history with Matt Taven, and more.

In describing his relationship with his followers in The Righteous, Vincent wrote: “Now I’m doing for others what Taven didn’t do for me. I’m giving people like Bateman, Vita, and even Chuck a chance to take everything they have gone through or what they are good at and use it here. It’s a lot of acts of cruelty and suffering, but it’s a cruel world, man.

“There are many out there who are just like us, man. They’ve just got to be willing to hold the handle of the blade and I’ll guide them unselfishly to where they want to go, no matter how much blood I get on my hands. Honestly, it’s a righteous way to live.”

On a side note, Taven still has not been seen or heard from since Vincent attacked him in a home invasion several months ago.

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Survival of the Fittest 2017: San Antonio debuted on the Best On The Planet streaming TV service tonight. Fans can stream BOTP 24/7 on Stirr and Plex.

The event featured “Arrow” star Stephen Amell teaming with Bullet Club’s Cody, Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks against SCU and Flip Gordon. If you missed the show tonight, check the channel guide for information on when it will be repeated throughout the week.

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More matches from 2008 have been added to the HonorClub archives for Fresh 50 Friday, including: Kevin Steen and El Generico versus The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley); Nigel McGuinness and Claudio Castagnoli versus Bryan Danielson and Austin Aries; Danielson versus McGuinness; the Briscoes versus Takeshi Morishima and Davey Richards versus Tyler Black and Jimmy Jacobs; and KENTA and Kota Ibushi versus Naomichi Marufuji and Katsuhiko Nakajima.

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Until next time, keep safe and stay #ROHStrong!

Kevin Eck is a veteran pro wrestling journalist who has worked for The Baltimore Sun, WWE and WCW before joining ROHWrestling.com. Eck’s Files appears every Friday.

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