Eck’s Files: Josh Woods Purely Focused On Realizing His Full Potential; Angelina Love To Quinn McKay: ‘I’m Coming For Your Head!’

September 29, 2020

,

By Kevin Eck

Josh Woods was fully aware of how he was perceived by a number of fans and his peers. He knew he had been labeled the most disappointing ROH Top Prospect Tournament winner.

Previous TPT winners such as Matt Taven, Mike Bennett and War Machine’s Hanson used the tournament as a springboard to championship victories, but Woods lost more matches than he won after capturing the 2017 TPT.

Over the past year, Woods found success in the tag team ranks with his mentor, Silas Young, but he still feels he has something to prove as a singles competitor.

Woods has a golden opportunity to do exactly that in the Pure Title Tournament. He faces 
Kenny King in a Block B first-round match this weekend on “Ring of Honor Wrestling.”

“It was a little disheartening,” Woods told me on the latest episode of the “ROHStrong Podcast.” “Our locker room is so deep. The talent is unreal, and just to even be on the roster is really cool. But I’ve never been that guy to be like, ‘Yep, I made it. Sweet.’ I’m that guy that wants everything and I’m going to take it. So to not be able to … elevate myself, it was pretty difficult. That was a hard pill to swallow.”

With Woods’ background in amateur wrestling — he was a national champion and four-time All-American at Central Florida — and MMA, the pure wrestling style seems tailor-made for him.

However, he’ll have his work cut out for him against King, who has his own motivation for winning the tournament. The 18-year veteran is the only member of La Faccion Ingobernable not currently holding a championship.

On the podcast, which drops Monday at 7 a.m. ET on ROHWrestling.com and most podcast platforms, Woods also discusses his chemistry with Young; getting to show his true personality on camera; spending two years with NXT; and much more. Plus, Young surprises his protege and asks him 10 Questions.

***

This weekend’s TV episode also features Young versus independent star Fred Yehi in a Block A first-round match.

You can watch along and interact with the stars of ROH on Twitter Monday at 7 p.m. ET using #ROHPure. Woods, King, Young and Yehi will answer questions from fans, and other ROH stars will comment on the action as it happens.

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, check out the wrap-up show with Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman and Quinn McKay on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. 

Check out the preview videos for the Woods-King and Young-Yehi 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.

***

Far be it from me to give McKay unsolicited advice (I learned the hard way not to do that again), but I am genuinely concerned for her safety. The war of words between her and Angelina Love has gotten totally out of hand, and now Love has vowed to do bodily harm to her.

“I’m coming for your head,” Love said. “There, I said it. Just be prepared. When we come back to work, I’m coming for you and this is not a joke.”

Not, it’s definitely not a joke. Love is not the type to make idle threats. 

***

A new audio show called “Old School In Session” debuts this coming Wednesday on YouTube and ROHWrestling,com. The weekly show will feature ROH Director of Operations Gary Juster answering fans’ questions and telling stories about his many years as a pro wrestling promoter and executive.

Before coming to ROH, Juster  was affiliated with WCW, the NWA (Jim Crockett Promotions and Georgia Championship Wrestling) and AWA, and has worked closely with some of the biggest stars in wrestling history.

I’m very excited to be the co-host of the show. To submit a question or topic for Juster to discuss, send a tweet using #AskGary.

***

Speaking of Juster, it was at a Georgia Championship Wrestling show that he promoted in Baltimore in 1984 that I saw the Road Warriors in person for the first time. That night, Animal and Hawk teamed with manager “Precious” Paul Ellering to take on Stan Hansen, Wahoo McDaniel and “Pistol” Pez Whatley in a six-man tag match. The Road Warriors were relatively new at that time, but they were larger than life and you knew they were going to be big stars for years to come.

I was saddened to learn of the passing of Joe “Animal” Laurinaitis this week at the age of 60. I join the entire pro wrestling community in offering my sincere condolences to his family, friends and fans.

***

The next installment of Word of Honor, an occasional series of first-person articles written by ROH talent, will be authored by The Righteous leader Vincent. That should be … interesting.

***

A programming reminder: The Very Best of Death Before Dishonor airs on HonorClub and pay-per-view tonight at 9 p.m. ET. Current ROH stars will be watching along and commenting.

The lineup of matches:

— ROH World Champion Samoa Joe vs. Paul London (2003)
— ROH World Champion Austin Aries vs. CM Punk (2005)
— Cage of Death: ROH (Samoa Joe, Adam Pearce, B.J. Whitmer, Ace Steel and Homicide) vs. CZW (Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, Necro Butcher, Nate Webb and Eddie Kingston) (2006)
— ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Tyler Black in a Four-Way Elimination Match (2008)
— All Night Express vs. the Briscoes in a Ladder War (2011)
— ROH World Television Champion KUSHIDA vs. Kenny King (2017)
— ROH World Champion Matt Taven vs. RUSH (2019)

***

More matches from 2008 have been added to the HonorClub archives for Fresh 50 Friday, including: Bryan Danielson and Austin Aries versus Roderick Strong and Davey Richards; Kevin Steen and El Generico versus Tyler Black and Jimmy Jacobs; Necro Butcher versus Jay Briscoe; Danielson versus Claudio Castagnoli; Kenny Omega versus Young; and Naomichi Marufuji versus Strong.

***

Are you pure and proud of it? Then you should check out the just-released  pure wrestling t-shirts on ROHProShop.com.

***

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.

,

Be Sure to Visit Ring of Honor for more news and updates

Post Your Comments...