McXal's Reviews

I'm going to say from the outset that the entire premise of this show feels incredibly corny and outdated. Ring Of Honor promises the 'most interactive show in ROH history', in a concept which wouldn't have felt innovative if it had happened fifteen years earlier. Like a bush-league version of Taboo Tuesday, fans to vote on a few matches - albeit in the most inconsequential and minor of fashions. There are also odd Q&A sessions scattered throughout the DVD as well. I'm hoping the show will be good as the card is decent, but the totally straight-faced way that ROH have promoted this really does show a dangerous level of disconnect with how their fanbase watches wrestling in 2017. This is a time when an alternative-reality version of ROH's biggest stars was exploding in popularity on YouTube ('Being The Elite'). Wrestlers are more accessible than ever before thanks to multiple social media platforms. Getting to vote on which midcard wrestler gets to challenge The Kingdom for the least important belts in the company is not remotely a big deal or a draw. Lets talk about the 'interactive vote' matches tonight. The Kingdom, as mentioned, will defend the Six-Man Tag Titles, with the fans getting to vote between ten talents; the top three going forward to challenge them. Jay Lethal and Bobby Fish face Bullet Club's Adam Cole and Adam Page - with fans voting on which 'grudge' match stipulation they'll compete under. Marty Scurll will face Lio Rush in a Proving Ground Match which could steal the show, and fans will choose the stipulations they'll have to work with as well. Elsewhere we have Young Bucks against War Machine in another potential classic (if they have their working boots on), Cody against Dalton Castle, a grudge match between Search & Destroy and The Rebellion, and more. Ian Riccaboni and Silas Young provide commentary from Columbus, OH.

Being completely honest I thought Hendrix had already departed ROH by this point. A quick Cagematch search tells me that this appears to be her final match. No matter whether you deem the relaunch of the Women Of Honor successful or not, she has been an integral part of the project. Serving as the top heel and one of the most recognisable characters, she has been involved in many of the most significant moments in the WOH rebirth. Her opponent is ROH school graduate Jenny Rose, formerly known as 'Jumping' Jamilia Craft...

QT Marshall seems as interested in getting himself over as he is in calling the match. The women themselves are working hard, but are far from perfect in their execution of some relatively simple exchanges. The crowd are GREAT though and respond by getting behind them rather than being disrespectful. Hendrix fires up, hitting an armwrench into a heel kick for 2. She targets Jenny's head and neck, but resorts to simple violent headbutts when that approach doesn't look to be doing enough damage. They attempt something else that winds up looking extremely scrappy - but Taeler styles it out this time and sells it like a high impact sidewalk slam. Rose fires back with a KILLER German suplex to leave them both down. Jenny up first, nailing the spear for 2. She tries a dive off the top - grazing Taeler on a diving clothesline attempt and following it with a fisherman suplex which gets 2 again. Another headbutt from Taeler lands - then she rakes the eyes and yanks the tights to roll Rose up for a cheap victory at 07:43

Rating - * - This wasn't good unfortunately. I'm trying not to jump to any conclusions regarding Jenny, as I've only seen her in ROH where the quality of opponent she gets to work with is low - but she really hasn't impressed me. Every one of her matches as been uncomfortably sloppy. Taeler is far from perfect, but there were points where she was holding this together. She is a big loss to the Women Of Honor - not necessarily because she had good matches, but mostly because she was a character. Unlike the rest of the roster who turn up, have matches of varying quality, then go - she has an identifiable personality which makes her stand-out. 

This is a grudge match, brought about by Klein and Whitmer repeatedly antagonising and even attacking Scarlett when she has worked as a ring announcer. Bordeaux has wrestled in ROH before, but infrequently. She is not on the same level as the undefeated Klein but is clearly here to put up a fight and stand up for herself. This is a weird market to run this match in, since Kelly is from Ohio so therefore gets as much of a babyface reaction as Scarlett...

Kelly makes a point that she doesn't need her mouth guard to fight Scarlett. Bordeaux makes her pay by popping her in the mouth at the bell, then courageously diving off the apron looking for a crossbody. CAUGHT FOR A FALLAWAY SLAM ON THE FLOOR! Klein doesn't even watch Scarlett, but returns to the ring and smirks thinking she stands no chance of beating the count. But Bordeaux does make it back in - still swinging forearms and forcing Kelly to fight her. Even a basic Irish whip to the turnbuckles leaves Scarlett writhing in pain on the canvas. Knee strikes by Klein, culminating in a sadistic close-range knee to the back of the head. Michinoku Driver scores...but to everyone's surprise Bordeaux kicks out. She goes crazy in the corner and batters Klein with repeated body avalanches, into a spear for 2. She tries it again, but this time as set up for a dragon sleeper variant she calls 'Scarlett's Web'. Klein escapes...and gets a Codebreaker for her troubles! SNAP FISHERMAN SUPLEX into End Of The Match! Bordeaux taps, and Klein wins at 07:23

Rating - ** - Far from a classic match, but the fact that this one had a clear creative direction and was built upon a simple and accessible storyline really helped. Bordeaux busted her ass and fought hard, taking some big bumps and playing her role well. Klein produced one of her better performances too, cleverly letting Scarlett get plenty of offence in without ever really damaging her credibility as the Women Of Honor Goldberg. 

Sho and Yoh are still joke acts in ROH, but have started forcing people to take them more seriously. They impressed enough at the first TV taping of the year to earn a Tag Title shot, and went on to defeat The Addiction at Undisputed Legacy. This is the night after the 'Steel City Excellence' TV tapings in Pittsburgh, and across those tapings we found out that Jay Briscoe has become extremely frustrated after failing to get the Tag Titles back from the Young Bucks. The Briscoes are seemingly looking for some direction right now...

Mark starts for his team, in total house show comedy mode which means he goofs around, mugs to the crowd and doesn't appear to put in a whole lot of effort. The Tempuraz take advantage and rattle off a few combo moves to leave him in trouble. Jay saves with a lariat on Tanaka as Mark takes the fight to the floor with the apron blockbuster to Yoh. The Briscoes isolate Sho for a couple of minutes...until he musters up the energy to hit a double spear on both of them. He tries to make Jay tap with a half crab then gets into a slug-out with Mark without even thinking of tagging out to Komatsu. Day One Neckbreaker into the Froggy Bow gets the Briscoes a win at 06:43

Rating - * - Did Yoh get into this match legally at any stage? The way ROH has handled Sho and Yoh during their excursion is so disappointing. After the quality of Kamaitachi (Hiromu Takahashi) and Jay White's elongated runs, the total waste of the future Roppongi 3K is frustrating. This was a basic squash...

Jay stomps off immediately after the match without celebrating and leaving his brother to follow the Code Of Honor on behalf of the team...

Larry Mercer and Mandy Leon are the 'hosts' of The Experience and bring out Dalton Castle and The Boys for the first Q&A segment of the night. He fields questions about his hair, his Boys and his scheduled World Title Match at Supercard Of Honor.

Injuries to Rhett Titus and Alex Shelley mean that this match has a unique twist with neither team working regularly as a duo. It's an interesting match for White, who is competing 24 hours after losing his undefeated streak at the Pittsburgh TV Taping. The Rebellion have been picking fights with the Motor City Machine Guns and their associates for several weeks making this a real grudge tag bout...

Coleman starts with a disrespectful slap on White, who isn't phased and gives Caprice a receipt several times over. King and Sabin are evenly matched, and it takes some double teams from the S&D team to put him down. White and Sabin hit a couple of MCMG double team combos...then Jay literally hits a tope suicida into a wall on the outside! Kenny hangs his leg in the ropes and tries to inflict an injury, triggering a period of Rebellion dominance as White struggles to escape them. The fact that Riccaboni, Silas and Titus are on commentary discussing Kevin Kelly's whereabouts tells you that the heat segment isn't spectacularly interesting though. It ends with a tag to Sabin who gets a nearfall on Caprice with a tornado DDT. Cradle Shock blocked, but S&D hit a bridging German suplex combo for 2 instead. King saves by going after Jay's leg again...but leaves his head exposed to a superkick from Sabin. Jumping frankensteiner by Caprice! Shane Taylor has appeared at ringside, watching as his new Rebellion team-mates are thrown around by their opponents. He and Shelley get into a fight at ringside! It distracts Sabin, who is given the Sky Splitter. The Rebellion win at 10:44

Rating - ** - Taylor joined The Rebellion at the TV taping the night before, but with so many shows coming up and a few weeks until it is broadcast it makes sense to introduce him to a DVD/VOD audience as part of the group too. This match wasn't particularly interesting, but did pick up noticeably in the second half. This all felt very safe, a bit generic and therefore pretty difficult to invest much emotion into though. 

The Briscoe Brothers are out again for their fan Q&A. There is literally zero content of any relevance here, and it is very apparent that these segments are entirely pointless.

It feels weird that this isn't the main event, or that ROH has put zero effort into promoting a significant championship match between the massive former champions and the massively over current champs. In the context of recent records I'm not completely sure what War Machine have done to earn this either, given that the previous evening in Pittsburgh they dropped a high profile grudge match to Punishment Martinez and BJ Whitmer. The fact that this title shot takes place on the undercard of a house show with a bizarre gimmick says a lot about the diminishing relevance of Hanson and Rowe. They have plenty of international committments, but have slipped down the pecking order in ROH. This is the chance to prove they still belong at the top of the card. New Bullet Club member Frankie Kazarian is on commentary...

Rowe essentially ignores the showmanship of the champs and tosses Matt Jackson around effortlessly. Nick is a little more intelligent and uses his speed to get the better of Hanson. A double team flurry knocks the challengers out of the ring...but they simply stand there and catch an attempt at Rise Of The Terminator and throw the Bucks back into the air with ease. Rowe press slams Matt from the floor to the stage! SOMERSAULT PLANCHAS OFF THE STAGE by the Bucks! Rowe shrugs that off to hit Nick with a sit-out powerbomb. War Machine have captured Nick and now start methodically grinding him down. They try the pop-up powerslam...only for Nick to counter in mid-air to a flying rana! Matt Superkicks Hanson...then climbs the ropes for a SUICIDE DIVE TO THE FLOOR! Superman Punch by Rowe! SUPERKICK ON THE APRON by Nick! TORNADO DDT OFF THE WALL! Rise Of The Terminator tope dives nailed second time of asking, before Ray is tipped back into the ring and given the frog splash/standing moonsault combo. DOUBLE POWERBOMB BY HANSON! Decapitation nailed! SWANTON BOMB by Nick to break the pin! Fallout blocked, setting up a SPRINGBOARD SUPER RANA from Nick to Hanson. He slumps to the ground, and Matt stacks his own partner on top of him for Nick to hit a springboard elevated double Swanton Bomb for 2. More Bang For Your Buck blocked into count-along corner clotheslines by Hanson. SUPERKICK PARTY! Meltzer Driver...but Rowe CATCHES NICK! FALLOUT NAILED! Frankie Kazarian leaves commentary and distracts the referee so the Bucks don't lose! Superman Punch from Rowe to Kaz! ELBOW SUICIDA! Fallout nailed for a second time...but Nick kicks out! They try Decapitation again...but Matt is lying in wait to give Hanson a Superkick. The Bucks position Rowe on Hanson's shoulders...then kick out his knees so he gives his own partner a sit-out piledriver! SUPERKICK FLURRY! NO SOLD! MACHINE GUN SUPERKICKS! DOUBLE SUPERKICK FLURY! The Bucks retain at 17:40

Rating - **** - The first quarter of 2017 has been pretty forgettable, but the Young Bucks continue to shine brightly and have been killing it every time they step into the ring. This was no exception, and a fantastic match which could easily have main evented most current Ring Of Honor shows. Neither team are particularly great at formulaic, work a body part, classical wrestling matches - so they abandoned that and stuck to their strengths; a decision which the match was all the better for. It boiled down to a straight battle between the power and offensive bombs of War Machine and the speed allied with multiple combo moves that the Bucks bring to the table. The fact that they broke out the Final Battle, killer Superkick flurry finish (which has thus far only been needed to beat the Briscoes) made this match feel important. A great match and a great reminder of the talent Hanson and Rowe possess when Ring Of Honor lets them cut loose.

Even whilst celebrating a hard-fought win the Young Bucks are yelling to the Hardy Boyz through the camera to hype the Supercard Of Honor dream match.

These two have big personalities so it could be a fun match. It isn't one I'd have booked though, because I don't think either can take a loss without having their credibility damaged right now (and Delirious isn't someone who regularly books time limit draws). Castle has been on a hot streak in 2017 and been rewarded with a Supercard Of Honor title shot, so he shouldn't be losing. Cody, though, is fresh into the company, oozing star power and not someone they should be using to put Dalton over at this point either. 

Cody sneaks out dressed as a Boy during Dalton's entrance, mugs one of The Boys and replaces him - literally working Castle's entire entrance routine. Dalton slowly realises what is going on (with some hilarious facials', then rumbles him by pulling off the mask. It's fun, but sort of makes the whole thing a shallow play for giggles since Rhodes got no benefit from the skit. In the end he has to kick Dalton in the balls and give him a Disaster Kick before the match starts - something he could have done without all the fancy dress shenanigans. Cody also has the disadvantage of having to wrestle barefoot. Cross Rhodes nailed as the bell rings...but Castle valiantly kicks out. He is frazzled by the events we've seen thus far, but starts to get his footing with a few Greco-Roman throws. Rhodes hits another Disaster Kick to knock his opponent off the apron...but can't focus on the match for more than ten seconds at a time without playing to the crowd, yelling at the ref or acting like a douche. When he does concentrate he works Dalton's midsection, which Riccaboni theorises is an effort to injure him before Supercard Of Honor for Adam Cole. Cody blocks the tiger feint headscissors off the apron...but Castle then blocks the hanging DDT off the apron and hits it anyway! Tope suicida into the wall scores! A second attempt at Cross Rhodes is blocked with Dalton grappling his way into the Everest German. Cody quickly drills him onto his injured back again with a snap powerslam for 2. Rhodes brings chairs into the ring, but is distracted by the Boy he attacked earler...dressed in Cody Rhodes gear! Again it's just a silly skit played for silly comedy with no long-term relevance. Adam Cole and Hangman Page run in beat the sh*t out of the other Boy to upset and distract Dalton. Cody hits Cross Rhodes and wins at 10:45

Rating - DUD - This was immature, lazy, filler wrestling designed to give everyone involved an easy night. That isn't a problem at all. It is entirely a wrestler's prerogative to work safe and ensure their safety for higher priority paydays. But similarly I have to be honest and call something poor when it is. The Boy dress-up gags were just that - gags. If you took them out the match doesn't change a great deal, except you have less to distract the fans from the phoned-in crap they are watching. As I said during my intro paragraph, I didn't like booking these two together as it felt like neither could afford a loss. In truth nobody feels like they gained a great deal here. Both looked like fools at points, Castle walks away a bigger fool for talking a loss. 

Cole and Page put the boots to Dalton as Cody celebrates, with the champ clearly trying to send a Supercard Of Honor message to Castle. Fortunately Jay Lethal and Bobby Fish happened to be watching the whole thing (in full gear too) so immediately - as in literally half a second later - sprint out to the rescue. Lethal drops Cody with an Ace Crusher on the way. Fish demands their match beings immediately...

Even though Ian Riccaboni has been hammering the 'most interactive show ever' message all night, this is actually the first match given to us as a result of a fan vote. Via a poll on ROH's website, fans were asked to vote between Falls Count Anywhere, No DQ and Table Match stipulations. Lethal has as much history with Bullet Club in ROH than anyone, but will know the value of scoring a win over World Champion Adam Cole to set him up for a title shot. Bobby Fish doesn't need a set-up, he has the next shot - at Manhattan Mayhem 6. This is his chance to inflict some damage and send the champ into New York carrying an injury.

We're right into the crowd in what is a cramped little building with a pretty unique set-up. Lethal and Page disappear into the darkness next to the 'Pro Shop' (aka merch stand), eventually fighting into an elevator! Fish and Cole stick at ringside, with Bobby spearing the champ so hard they break the guardrail. The elevator pings open with Lethal and Hangman on the second floor of the building, brawling in the balcony and bar. Lethal tries to make Hangman tap with a Figure 4, but everything they are doing is almost unwatchable due to how blurry and unstable the footage is. Back inside the ring Fish counters the Shining Wizard into the Fish Hook Deluxe! Hangman sprints down the stairs ready to help - making it to the ring as Bobby converts to a half crab. Lethal is in hot pursuit, eventually collaring Page at ringside...as Fish and Cole vanish into the darkness of the crowd. They reappear on the stage with Cole sending Bobby to the floor with a couple of superkicks. SHOOTING STAR TACKLE OFF THE APRON BY PAGE! EXPLODER ON THE FLOOR BY FISH! Cole recovers to save his partner from the Lethal Injection - by whacking Jay with a superkick in the back of the head. BUCKSHOT LARIAT! LETHAL COMBINATION! The champ tree of woe's Lethal to stop him hitting the Macho Elbow, leaving him incapacitated momentarily so Bullet Club can gang up on Fish. Rebound Cutter from Lethal to save! Rite Of Passage blocked...LETHAL INJECTION! Lethal wins at a time of 10:13

Rating - *** - Some of the production and videography work capturing this match was awful; in 2002 ROH was doing a better job shooting matches like this. However, this was refreshingly energetic and undeniably entertaining. After watching Cody and Dalton wise-ass their way through a shell of a match, this didn't have a whole lot more substance - but it did have a damn sight more workrate. From what I could see, the diversions into the crowd were spirited, and it was smart to keep a couple of guys at ringside at all times meaning fans always had something to watch. It felt wild and out of control, therefore really gave fans their money's worth. Lethal feels least in need of the win and gains very little as a result of beating Hangman. Page or Fish would have gained far more by picking up a win here.

Fish and Lethal bicker after the match, adding further spice to their upcoming scheduled match at the Anniversary Show...

Larry and Mandy bring out The Kingdom for the next Q&A. Taven says they don't care who the fans vote for in the main event - but would prefer it was Cheeseburger. A little girl threatening to beat them up pretty much steals the show...

There are some big hitters in this Six Man Mayhem. Martinez is hot after severing ties with BJ Whitmer the previous evening at the TV taping. But as Punishment burns bridges Taylor has been building them - filling the void left by the departure of Keith Lee to join up with The Rebellion. He comes out to their music to confirm his membership of the group. Starr may be less familiar, but is a former Top Prospect Tournament participant and a solid independent worker with a growing reputation. Riccaboni pushes that Martinez has been booked for the NJPW Honor Rising shows, which admittedly does make him seem like a bigger deal...but at the expense of pushing the narrative that New Japan is a bigger, more important company than ROH. Accurate though that may be, I strongly dislike ROH actively pushing it on screen...

The three small dudes share respectful handshakes...as the big men circle them ominously like predators. Bruiser spits beer in Punishment's face, and it's the big fellas who nearly come to blows. Bruiser rumbles the juniors drinking his beer...TRIPLE STUNNERS on the big men! They get no sold for Starr and Ferrars to hit stereo tope suicidas. Gresham starts hitting his freaky chain-wrestling to make Punisher look stupid...then lands a BERMUDA TRIANGLE TO THE FLOOR! Taylor mangles David against the wall, taking their eyes off Beer City as he sets up the rolling cannonball off the apron. Shane manhandles the Octopus, before turning into the SUPER SPINNING HEEL KICK  by Martinez. He follows with an astonishing corkscrew senton spot for 2. Starr gives him a DDT on the apron! German suplex from Starr to Bruiser! Ferrara counters South Of Heaven from Punishment, who instead gives him an AWESOME BOMB TO THE FLOOR! BEER CITY SLAM on Martinez! He retaliates with a diving spear. SOUTH OF HEAVEN! Punishment pins BCB at 07:14

Rating - *** - Seven minutes of pure filler, but used smartly to ensure everyone got a moment to shine and culminating in the right man winning. Martinez has outrageous potential if ROH can manage him correctly (in the way they failed to do with the recently-departed Donovan Dijak). He looked like a star here and the finish had so much more impact because he hit those big power moves on Bruiser rather than Ferrara or Starr. 

Christopher Daniels is the final Q&A participant of the evening, 24 hours after his partner Frankie Kazarian betrayed him to join Bullet Club at the TV taping. These Q&A's are just brutal. The punchline for this one is that Daniels plans to 'ignore' Frankie and become World Champion in Vegas.

This was our second online poll stipulation result of the show. ROH fans voted between 2/3 Falls, Submission Only or European Rounds rules for this Proving Ground encounter. Lio needs to win or take Marty to a time limit draw in order to earn a future title shot. Cagematch has this as the main event of the show, and I've seen a few reviews with it going on last as well. Frankie Kazarian is back on commentary and is completely distracting throughout...

Scurll slaps Rush in the face rather than shake his hand...because he's a bloody Villain. Lio's slap in response is BRUTAL though. He pitches Marty to the floor and lands a couple of lopes into the railing. DRAGON'S CALL gets 2! Scurll has seen enough after an electrifying opening minute from Lio, and f*cking NAILS him with his umbrella! Obviously that's a DQ, meaning Lio takes a 1-0 lead at 01:03. Scoop Tombstone from Marty gets him a pinfall win, instantly tying us up at 1-1 in a time of 01:36 and effectively removing the fan-voted 2/3 fall stipulation in ninety seconds. Chickenwing COUNTERED with a Pele Kick! Dangerous Slam nailed by Scurll...then an even more violent slam which outright dumps Lio on his ass. He sets up a Mexican surfboard...but only as a distraction so he can rake the eyes then stomp Lio's knees. The Mexican surfboard does come out moments later though, mostly because it works the shoulder as set-up for the Chickenwing. Rush is hurt and significantly slower than earlier in the contest, but knows well enough to headbutt away from the finger snap. Rush Hour blocked, only for Lio to counter back into a SNAP DDT for 2! Scurll punts the legs from under him as he sets up Dragon's Call again though. Marty tries to hop up the ropes...except Lio hops BACKWARDS onto the apron and levels him with a kick. European uppercut from Marty...met with a diving enzi kick from Lio for 2. The Villain snaps the shoulder again, right before kneeing him in the face! Lio tries to go for his signature duck and weave sequence...but he's too slow now and Marty is able to grab him for a JUMPING PILEDRIVER! Cradle Piledriver blocked, and we're back where we started with them SLAPPING THE SH*T out of each other! Just Kidding from Scurll! Heel kick from Rush! LARIAT BY THE CHAMP! Lio is out on the ground prompting Scurll to lecture him like an asshole. Finger Snap...INTO JUST KIDDING BY LIO! FALCON ARROW CHICKENWING BY SCURLL! RUSH GETS THE ROPES! Tilta-whirl DDT! DRAGON'S CALL! SCURLL KICKS OUT! Lio sinks to his knees, mystified as to what else he has to do. He relentlessly elbows Marty until he collapses...except he's a f*cking Villain and is playing possum! FINGER SNAP! CHICKENWING COUNTERED TO A PIN! RUSH WINS! Rush takes the decisive fall, earning a TV Title shot at 15:16

Rating - **** - I will sorely miss Lio Rush when his all-too-brief tenure in Ring Of Honor comes to an end. This one wasn't on the same level as his Supercard Of Honor classic with Jay Lethal, but it was a hell of a fight. It was different to a lot of Rush matches as well. It didn't include masses of high spots, and it didn't feel like Lio fighting as an underdog. This was Lio, after a gruelling year of ROH competition, being presented on equal footing with one of the hot new commodities and reigning TV Champion. Clearly it was too late, but this match (on the back of his double-double cross of The Rebellion in Pittsburgh) feels like a turning point in Lio's career. This was the weekend he stopped being the insanely talented newcomer and started becoming a credible contender. Marty was spectacular in laying the groundwork for that as well. He has already been an awesome pick-up for ROH and has delivered in every situation thus far. The 2/3 Falls stipulation contributed nothing to this at all, and felt more like something they had to 'get out of the way' before having the actual match they wanted to work.

The Villain tries to attack Lio from behind only for Rush to dodge the attach and level him with the belt. He stands tall as attention turns to his title shot at 15th Anniversary...

Not that teams have really had to do anything serious to earn a Trios Title shot anyway (War Machine and Jax Dane), but awarding a title shot as the pay-off to this grotesquely cheesy show concept does nothing to build the prestige of the belts - and only makes them seem even more gimmicky. Which is unfortunate because The Kingdom have been doing a half-decent job in the role. Taven is being protected and eased back into competition after his serious knee injury and looks extremely comfortable with the star-billing. O'Ryan has shown glimpses of potential, and Marseglia has kept a lid on not being a particularly good wrestler to carry his end of the deal too. Do a makeshift trio of guys who were voted into the title shot by the live fans in attendance and only found out about it during the introductions stand any chance of defeating the growingly-polished Kingdom group? Jay has plenty of history with the previous incarnation of The Kingdom but has already wrestled once this evening (as has Sabin). Burger is the guy The Kingdom wanted to win the fan vote specifically because they think they can beat his ass. Is he a weak link?

Taven winds Briscoe up then quite literally runs away as far as he possibly can, all the way to the back of the building with the former World Champion in hot pursuit. Burger and Sabin start hitting MCMG spots and look surprisingly coherent as a team...until O'Ryan and Marseglia rake the eyes. Jay returns to the fray, along with Taven who pings his head into the guardrails. TK and Vinny take the lead in isolating Sabin and continue to showcase their fluency. It culminates in a German suplex/springboard elbow drop combo also featuring Taven and gets a nearfall. They set up for Rock Star Supernova but Sabin blocks it...before RUNNING off of O'Ryan and Marseglia's faces into a tornado DDT on Matt. Hot tag to Burger, who enters with a laughable springboard crossbody taking out two men at once. Stunner on O'Ryan - which would've been more effective had three guys not already popped the crowd by lifting that move in the Six Man Mayhem earlier. Springboard plancha to the floor by Cheese! He follows it with a springboard knee to take Marseglia's head off.  Shoteis for O'Ryan and Taven. He then works a comedy force war with Vinny which cause me to audibly groan with bewilderment but sent the live fans wild. Pele from O'Ryan to Sabin, leaving him as the last man standing. ASAI MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! He isn't done diving either - he and Sabin brawl onto the stage where Chris BACK DROPS HIM INTO A SOMERSAULT PLANCHA OFF THE STAGE! SOMERSAULT DIVE TO THE FLOOR BY SABIN! Back in the ring the challengers hit a triple team Rocket Launcher on Vinny for 2. Marseglia rakes the eyes to block a Doomsday Device...and Taven scores with the Climax on Briscoe. Rock Star Supernova finishes Cheesburger at 11:24

Rating - *** - I was told I'd hate this match by some people who's opinions I trust, but actually I thought it was perfectly tolerable. It was low key and didn't feel like a main event (if Rush/Scurll went on last I've no idea why they switched them for the DVD) but it was another perfectly passable Kingdom Six-Man Title defence which, as with all their other matches, combined some genuinely decent stuff with some poor segments too. On this night I didn't feel like they did much wrong. Being forced to sell for a prolonged Cheeseburger offensive onslaught made them look like idiots, but they look like a group growing in confidence. I thought the finish was effective, with Taven setting it up by hitting his finishing move on Jay Briscoe which I felt gave Taven some credibility. I'm at a loss to understand why ROH created these belts at this stage however. It feels like they are nothing more than a prop to legitimise project Taven and his experimental Kingdom group...

This is Delirious, and he can't live with himself if he books villains with any credibility...so has Cheeseburger fight off The Kingdom by himself until Jay Briscoe hits a Jay Driller on Taven. I didn't need this...the whole show would've had more impact if The Kingdom had stood tall at the end.

Tape Rating - ** - I've seen some call this a big improvement on the Texas house shows, and some call it the worst show of the year so far. It definitely isn't bad, but I never got on board with the 'Experience' concept. Kudos to ROH for trying something different, but the execution was painfully out of date - indicative of just how out of touch the people who run ROH truly are. With hokey voting, terrible Q&A's full of fans telling wrestlers they could kick their asses, this felt like a weird gimmick show ripped straight out of the early 80's. The wrestling was a real mixed bag as well with some bad matches, some forgettable filler...but two awesome matches which are among the best of the year so far in the form of Bucks/War Machine and Scurll/Rush. If you have an Honor Club subscription those are worth your time. Nothing else has much re-watch value though...

3) Adam Cole/Adam Page vs Jay Lethal/Bobby Fish (***)

2) Marty Scurll vs Lio Rush (****)

1) Young Bucks vs War Machine (****)