McXal's Reviews

Night One was an odd show. Nothing bad, nothing great...and immense frustration all round. Given that last night was the show this weekend which I thought had far the better card, I'm approaching this one with some trepidation. The main event, at least, should be very good. It's 'Champions vs Bullet Club' as the ROH World, TV and Tag Champions join forces to face Cody, Marty Scurll and the Young Bucks. The undercard features Jay Lethal vs Shane Taylor in a match which could be a show-stealer if they allowed it to be, plus a grudge match between Scorpio Sky and Flip Gordon. We've moved to Lakeland, FL - joining Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana for commentary.

Last night the Machine Guns got their rematch for the ROH Tag Titles. It was a hotly anticipated match, but the Guns were defeated in relatively short order and, by their own admission, don't know if they want to continue as a team. Had they won yesterday they would have been in the main event again tonight, as part of the Champions vs Bullet Club 10-man. Instead they are here, at the bottom of the card fighting for their existence against a motivated young team in red-hot form. C2C will never have a better opportunity to take down another set of Tag Champions - to go with their famous win over War Machine back in Philadelphia at the start of the year.

Ian says that Sabin has been working through a neck injury, suffered at the hands of the Briscoes, for weeks - which may explain why he steps aside and lets Shelley start things off with Ali. Shaheem impresses everyone by keeping up with the technical wizardry of Shelley, going hold-for-hold with him. Sabin does eventually tag and rolls back the years by getting the better of LSG in a fast-paced exchange. Ali joins his partner and together they bust out the double-teams to do some real damage to the former Tag Champions. The Machine Guns aren't impressed with that and break out kick flurries to scuttle both opponents to the floor. Through-the-legs tope suicida scores as well. Missile dropkick Shellshock gets 2 on Shaheem. Dream Sequence gets 2 as well, this time needing St. Giovanni to break the pin as well. Sabin aims a superkick at Ali...but accidentally blasts Shelley instead. Hot tag to LSG who hits a tumbling clothesline then a swinging gutbuster/neckbreaker combo on Sabin (and his wounded neck). Saint-splosion blocked...into a running Dominator by the Machine Guns. DIVING SPLASH by Shaheem to break that - and he sprints straight into a tope atomico to the floor as well. Springboard somersault senton by LSG as well! Shelley has to save his partner from the Coast To Coast - but St. Giovanni returns the favour by shoving Shelley off the top rope as MCMG line up Skull & Bones. Small package from Ali to Sabin...and it's a huge win for C2C at 09:29

Rating - ** - A big call to put Coast 2 Coast over here, but if the Machine Guns genuinely are on their way out then it is absolutely the right one. Ali and LSG may not be world-beaters, but they are solid guys who have handled everything given to them so far with competence and skill. Another big win over a 'name' team will do much to legitimise them, even if the match itself was memorable only for how flat it felt. The Machine Guns felt cold during their title run for whatever reason. That showed here, with the match played out in almost total silence. Any chance we could have a Shelley singles run?

Alex Shelley storms out after the match...

Serpentico was supposed to get the chance to work an exhibition match last night, but was denied the opportunity by the invasion of Bully Ray. He has been given another chance tonight, coincidentally working with the man who has taken it upon himself to stand up to Bubba - Cheeseburger.

Mat wrestling to start, but gradually the pace quickens. It isn't all picture-perfect but they move at speed and battle to a tense stalemate. Slingshot cutter gets 2 for Serpentico, followed by a version of the Sling Blade. Burger rallies with a few forearms - but Serpentico dodges the Shotei with a jumping knee then rocks him with a DVD. Serpentico climbs the ropes - but misses a double stomp and walks into an inverted DDT. The Shotei is cued up...as Bully Ray slides into the ring and low blows Cheese. Clearly that's a disqualification loss at 05:05

Rating - DUD - I'm not sure what was gained with the five minute nothing match that came before Bully's big invasion. I'm not a big fan of the entire angle, and I definitely didn't need to sit through five minutes of aimless filler wrestling to get there. I feel bad for Serpentico as the circumstances and his choice of opponent meant there really wasn't much he could do to impress...

Flip Gordon comes out to throw some shots at Bully before he can speak thankfully - driving Bubba out of the ring and up the aisle. He looks to have given Bully a legitimate shiner as well! 

This is quite the assortment of talents. Woods is fighting to retain his spot on the roster, having impressed periodically but struggled to make a real splash on the roster since winning the Top Prospect Tournament. King wants to get back in the TV Title picture - and will also want payback on Bruiser for his part in effectively costing him that championship at Supercard Of Honor. Taven, meanwhile, is looking to break through into the main event picture and was - at this point at least - preparing for a shot at Dalton Castle and the World Title on the War Of The Worlds Tour.

King and Bruiser come to blows immediately and spill out of the ring to the floor. King hits a tumbling senton off the apron in the process. Woods goes Greco-Roman on Taven and tosses him around with ease. He and Kenny team up to inflict more damage on BCB - turning their back on Taven, who hauls Josh out of the ring and bashes him into the ringpost. Taven hits a few lucha-inspired spots on Kenny which I like...only for King to rebound to drive him out of the ring. Corkscrew pescado...wipes out Josh. AIR TAVEN nailed! Bruiser dives off with a cannonball that scatters King and Taven like bowling pins. He celebrates...and walks into a knee strike from Josh, which knocks him back off the apron onto Taven and King again. EXPLODER ON THE FLOOR on Taven! Capture DDT from Bruiser, only for King to land the One Night Stand, before he in turn eats the Kick Of The King. Just The Tip from Taven to Beer City. Gutwrench powerbomb from Woods to Taven - only for King to drop him within seconds using a spinebuster. Five Star Frog Splash by Taven. KEG SPLASH BY BRUISER! Taven and King fight on the top rope, with BCB piling up to join them. ROPE RUN GERMAN SUPERPLEX TO EVERYONE BY WOODS! The Goods fires up and starts knee striking everyone. Taven grabs his tights, put his feet on the ropes, has TK O'Ryan HOLD his feet on the ropes - and pins Woods to win at 07:33

Rating - *** - There won't be a bigger surprise package of a match all weekend. This one didn't last long but was thrilling to watch, fast-paced throughout and gave everyone good opportunities to shine. This was perhaps the best Josh Woods has ever looked. Bruiser was fantastic as a roaming mauler. Taven and the way he carries himself held it all together for me. The finish was unbelievably bad though; there's no way Taven (a guy being lined up for a World Title shot) should need THAT much help to beat Josh Woods, but everything that came before was very decent.

TK sends Taven to the locker room, then calls out The Addiction, daring them to try and take back the Six-Man Title belts. 

So if Daniels and Kazarian win do The Kingdom give back the Six-Man belts? We know the heat that exists between SCU and The Kingdom, particularly since Supercard Of Honor when Taven and his goons invaded the Ladder Match and eventually stole the belts after SoCal Uncensored's hard-fought victory. Tonight The Addiction will want to make them pay...

Cabana on commentary continually pointing holes in this 'Kingdom stole the belts' angle is rather amusing. The Addiction go right after their belts and get into a brawl on the floor. Taven runs back out, steals all the Six-Man belts and then leaves. TK dodges Kazarian's slingshot rana to the floor because he's seen Kaz's 'act' before...but he doesn't see Daniels coming from behind to blast him. Marseglia is crawling around under the ring for no apparent reason; eventually emerging with his axe and more balloons...and doing absolutely nothing with them. His partner needs his help after Frankie lands the slingshot DDT. Todd Sinclair tries to manage a fight between Vinny and Daniels on the outside - as inside the ring TK and Kaz tease hitting each other with weapons - but then each lie down trying to con the referee Eddie Guerrero-style. Todd spots the act and tells them to 'knock that crap off'. Marseglia uses more nefarious tactics to trap Daniels in the ring. Lots Of The Kingdom's work targets Daniels' neck, which I like as it implies a knowledge of Daniels' entire career spent with neck issues. The Ring General survives, makes the hot tag to Kazarian...who merrily takes the fight to both opponents. SLINGSHOY RANA TO THE FLOOR! Tope suicida scores for TK! ARABIAN PRESS TO THE FLOOR by Daniels! He is put down on his neck with a spinebuster, instantly followed by a diving headbutt to the neck by Vinny. He somehow recovers to drop Marseglia with Angel's Wings - but is now so wounded he can't capitalise. O'Ryan grabs Daniels in a chickenwing and calls Taven out from the back, armed with his cane. It all gets shambolic as TK isn't holding Daniels close enough, then Matt obviously stalls for a little too long before swinging as Scorpio Sky is a little late out to make the save too. Sky and Taven brawl on the floor - as in the ring The Addiction hit Celebrity Rehab to take the victory in a time of 12:26

Rating - ** - This was largely decent, but pretty forgettable and with a finish that looked a whole lot like it was not only overbooked, but mildly botched too. TK and Marseglia's work on Daniels' neck was a real highlight for me, but it never really felt like the focal point of the match that it deserved to be. There was a great moment where they shut down an Addiction comeback spot by hitting a sweet double team on the neck, but other than that it wasn't revisited and it should have been. This was just too much of a B-show filler match to be considered for a higher rating.

Scorpio Sky cuts almost the exact same promo as TK - sending his team-mates to the locker room and calling out his opponent for the next match.

These two formed something of an alliance in 2017. It was mutually beneficial; giving Flip numbers to fight Bullet Club and helping Sky earn a permanent roster spot. But when Gordon overlooked Sky to team with CMLL luchadors to challenge for the Six-Man belts at Final Battle, Scorpio found himself new allies to align with. Flip beat Sky in Vegas as part of the 16th Anniversary TV Taping, despite interference from the rest of SCU. Scorpio will obviously has his eye on evening the score.

Sky tries to get the jump on Gordon but is nowhere near quick enough to pin down his athletic opponent. Flip teases a big springboard dive...but when Scorpio moves he simply drops to the floor and lays him out with a supercard instead. Star Spangled Stunner blocked with a dropkick though, bringing Sky back into the contest. Realising he can't match speed or athleticism with Flip, Sky instead overpowers him in the corner then batters him with body shots. Gordon tries throw kicks from the canvas so Scorpio literally JUMPS on top of him with a clubbing elbow smash. Next he tries to throttle the air out of his opponent; first with a rear chinlock but then a bodyscissors - both holds keeping Flip on the canvas and out of the sky. When Gordon breaks free of that Scorp is right on top of him again with mounted forearms then elbow strikes to the neck. Getting confident, Sky looks to finish things off with a top rope back superplex...only for Flip to counter with the Kinder Surprise. DOUBLE SPRINGBOARD FLYING CROSSBODY TO THE FLOOR by Gordon! Springboard dropkick back in rockets Scorpio backwards, where he can rock him in the corner with an IED too. Springboard Spear comes next and gets 2; all of these moves involving taking flight, which Sky fought for so long to prevent. He matrix-nips under another big strike by Sky, and dives at him again with a rolling neckbreaker from the second rope. Unimpressed, Sky double stomps the back and crushes him with the Final Answer backbreaker/neckbreaker combo. NECK SELLING SAMOAN POP - COUNTERED TO THE DRAGON CLUTCH! Flip muscles his way free and lands a Pele Kick. Star Spangled Stunner wins it for Flip at 10:03

Rating - **** - VERY low-end on the 4* scale, but I wanted a rating which denoted that this was the best match of the entire weekend (so far) for me. I've loved what I've seen from Flip in ROH, but this was an impeccable display by Scorpio. He's a Six-Man Champion and has been in a couple of MOTYC's already, but for me THIS is the match where Sky arrived in ROH as a worker. He was phenomenal and carried such a tight narrative through every single second of the ten minute run-time. He tried to get the jump on Flip right away...but failed due to Gordon's speed. His response was perfect; mauling Gordon in the corner with power and strikes then instantly taking him to the ground for holds which kept him out of the air, made it hard to breathe, and punished the neck. It was the kind of layered, strategic thinking which you just don't expect in a ten-minute house show match - and I really appreciated it. Even when Gordon attempted comebacks Sky would be on him, trying to batter him into defeat. And to counter-balance it, almost ALL of Gordon's offence involved going aerial - because anytime he fell into Scorpio's clutches he was being pounded. Great story-telling and such a fun, under-rated little match. 

Flip tries to celebrate...but is, of course, low-blowed from behind by Bully Ray, who creepily takes an AGE to take his hand off of Flip's crotch. Bully vows to make Flip 'regret' messing with him. 

Storie is better known as SHINE/Evolve/WWN/Impact competitor Brandi Lauren, who made her debut back at Supercard Of Honor 11 in Lakeland. She has another crack at the Women Of Honor roster tonight, but faces The Virtuosa, who comes in red-hot having defeated Kelly Klein (who is on commentary) last night in West Palm Beach.

Ava tries to make an impact by jumping Purrazzo during the Code Of Honor. Riccaboni calls Deonna's 'blink and you'd miss it' match with Klein last night 'gruelling', which comes off as dumb. She mounts a comeback by trying to go after Storie's arm, so Ava bounces the back of her head off the canvas. She looks to be trying to knock Deonna out as she mounts The Virtuosa and pings her head up and down from the mat like a basketball. Purrazzo just can't get going and is smothered in the ropes again with an illegal choke. Ava makes a mistake, missing a tackle in the corner and rattling her shoulder off the ringpost. Purrazzo instantly spots that and delivers a running knee to the arm too. Ace Crusher by Storie, but she's now hurting from that arm and can't capitalise. German suplex by Deonna, into the Fujiwara Armbar. Storie taps at 05:39

Rating - ** - Some moments of minor sloppiness, but actually a match which was pretty entertaining and will take you completely by surprise as to how they approach it. Deonna gave Storie SO much, with the guest talent getting to lead almost all the offence; and doing a really good job with it.

Klein leaves commentary to attack Purrazzo from behind, leaving her laying with the K-Power. 

Up next we are scheduled to see Hangman Page take on Punishment Martinez (who lost to Cody last night). Martinez jumps Page from behind during his entrance, plastering him with a steel chair then chokeslamming him through the time-keeping table. He then walks out having made a statement...

Jay Lethal gets some mic time, fans chant about Rusev Day, and he announces that he has a special guest tonight - Lanny Poffo. The Genius has a birthday gift of a pair of Macho Man's glasses, which Jay dons and becomes Black Machismo (which is pretty cringe next to Randy's brother). Lanny reads his Macho King poem...until Shane Taylor (finally) comes out and shuts this down. Lethal/Machismo calls him 'Kamala' because this whole segment wasn't woefully out of touch enough. Taylor reminds Lethal that he is 'supposed to be The Franchise', and lectures Lanny about 'riding his brothers coat-tails. Obviously Jay is incensed and demands a match...

Taylor likes a big payday, so will know the value of beating 'The Franchise' in the semi-main event. His harsh words for the Lethal/Poffo love-in have raised the ire of the former World, TV and Pure Champion - can he back them up and inflict a devastating defeat on a man who is desperate to get back into the hunt for Ring Of Honor's top prize?

The two brawl even before a ref can get out to the ring to officiate. Lethal hits a Randy Savage rope-jump guillotine, then the classic Macho Man double axehandle smashes as well. Lethal wants to finish it early - but finds the Injection countered into an emphatic spinebuster. Next Lethal tries to bounce off the ropes...and Taylor mows through him like a freight train with a reverse elbow, firmly putting him in control. I love Cabana, but he is basically ignoring Taylor's dominant, violent offence to talk about the plethora of 90's WWF guys 'The Genius' managed. He bludgeons Lethal with heavy-duty strikes - until Jay gets so punch drunk that he starts selling them like Macho Man as well. HEADBUTT by Taylor, into a urinage slam then the Warrior Splash. He may even have Lethal beaten there but he pulls Jay's shoulders up at two to continue the beating. Rather than put him over as a monster, Riccaboni and Cabana quite literally call Taylor 'dumb' repeatedly. Jay fires up of course and gets a big pop for hauling Taylor over into a vertical suplex. Tope Trilogy knocks the big man into the guardrails. Hail To The King blocked...so he Figure 4's the big legs instead. Taylor gets to the ropes, with the announce team still calling him stupid rather than putting over his fire for escaping the submission hold. Lethal tries to kick at the legs...so Taylor knees him right in the face and delivers a Baldo Bomb for 2. He misses a second rope diving splash...and walks into the Lethal Injection. Lethal doesn't pin him, instead hitting Hail To The King, securing the win at 11:19

Rating - ** - The match was half decent, but I couldn't get past the completely ghastly presentation, which I found completely off-putting. If they'd have advertised Lethal/Taylor on the card and let them have a serious 15-20 minute wrestling match I'd have been sold on the idea. Taylor is a gritty, tough, violent, strong-style-influenced hard-hitter, Lethal is The Franchise and has been killing it with all kinds of opponents all year. Why did we need to reintroduce his Black Machismo character? I don't have a problem with Poffo accompanying him to ringside - Lethal wears Macho Man-inspired gear and does a few Savage tribute moves. We KNOW he is a fan of Macho Man. In a promotion like ROH, which supposedly values providing the 'best wrestling on the planet', that should be enough. I shouldn't be sitting through the (usually very decent) announce team calling a potential rising star like Taylor 'dumb'. I shouldn't be having his heat segment completely negated to name-drop the Beverly Brothers. The whole segment felt lazy, desperate for a cheap pop at the expense of any real effort or actual good wrestling...and WOEFULLY outdated.  

'Land Of Hope & Glory' plays, we get more Macho Man impressions. I hope Lethal got a kick out of this. I love Randy Savage...but this sucked.

Dalton Castle gets some interview time and admits he has some concerns about his team-mates for the main event. But he knows they are all winners, so the Bullet Club are in trouble...

It's Champions vs Bullet Club and things could get very interesting. Cody and Marty are both in pursuit of Dalton Castle and the World Title. Scurll lost a 30+ minute war with the champ at Supercard, then pinned him a week later to win Defy Or Deny and earn a rematch, whilst Cody lost the title to Dalton at Final Battle last year. We know the history with the Briscoes and the Bucks, further amplified by the fact that at the Pittsburgh TV taping a couple of weeks ago Jay and Mark used chairs to lay out both the Bucks - then Cody and Hangman as well. Will Dalton be able to coexist with Silas; a man he shared an intense rivalry with back in late-2015/early-2016? Can Cody and Scurll get along, when they both are petitioning for the same Best In The World title shot? Are the Bucks ok with Cody, after they potentially tried to take him out at the conclusion of Cody/Kenny? Is Bullet Club actually fine? There are a lot of unanswered questions here...

The Briscoes' entrance, where they literally seek out fans in Bullet Club shirts to antagonise, is fantastic. Dalton and Silas bicker extensively before the bell as well. Scurll is as over as the Young Bucks here, starting with Castle and presumably already eyeing up Dalton's hand in a heavy cast. Cody forcibly tags him out and steals the limelight though, much to The Villain's annoyance. Fans chant 'you're not Kenny' at Cody so he tries to tag back out...but Marty drops off the apron and refuses! The American Nightmare starts with Dalton, his conqueror at Final Battle. Castle powerfully out-wrestles Cody just like he did in the Hammerstein then surprisingly makes a show of unity by cleanly tagging Silas in. Cody drops him with a stalling gourdbuster, only for Scurll to tag him when he celebrates. Cody tries to hold the ropes open for The Villain - who hops off the apron and walks to the other side of the ring to not accept it. As a result Young gets an eternity to recover and put the boots to Marty. The Last Real Man struggles to keep Scurll down and can't hang with him in a chain-wrestling exchange...so Jay Briscoe marches in and suckerpunches The Villain. The Briscoes and the Bucks go face-to-face! The Briscoes throw punches, so the Jacksons go to the sky to clear them from the ring! Wheelbarrow/palm strike/cutter sequence by Cody and the Bucks on the TV Champion. FOUR-WAY CORNER KICKS on Castle! Cody and Matt hug, in their matching weight belts, whilst Nick and Scurll walk away from them. The opening eight minutes of this match have been so much better than anything else this weekend. Jay has had enough of Bullet Club f*cking around - and kicks Matt in the balls behind the referee's back. They try to double suplex him on his bad back - but Nick saves his brother! FOUR MAN SUPLEX by Bullet Club! SPRINGBOARD SENTON TO THE FLOOR BY CODY! ROPE RUN CORKSCREW MOONSAULT OUTSIDE BY NICK! SOMERSAULT SENTON OFF THE STAGE BY MATT! The brilliantly played out Bullet Club tension of the first ten minutes gives way to a period of collaboration, mostly so they can act out the incredibly annoying 'ten boots' skit. They get up to six before Jay Briscoe says 'f*ck this' and THROWS A STEEL CHAIR AT THEM! Todd Sinclair disqualifies him (this is elimination style by the way) at 13:30 - but he leaves a hero in my eyes nonetheless! If Jay were rational he'd ask Todd why he allowed multiple members of Bullet Club in the ring at without tagging as well. CHAIR SHOT TO BURNARD THE BEAR! 

Matt Jackson is furious - and doesn't see Mark behind him. Schoolboy pin eliminates Matt at 14:29. Silas cheap-shots Cody from behind, and in comes Dalton once again to act as Cody's kryptonite and toss him around the ring with ease. Cody tries to leave the ring to escape but Mark is waiting on the outside - attacking him with such ferocity that Dalton has to drag him off so he isn't disqualified like his brother. His reward is a Disaster Kick by Rhodes but thankfully the Nightmare is sidelined long enough for Young to block his attempt at a tag. Cody gets the knees up on a diving elbow drop from Mark, and Cody makes a diving hot tag (to Nick, not Marty, obviously). Superkick for Dalton! Tope suicida on Silas! 450 SPLASH ON MARK! Nick pins one half of the Tag Champs at 20:04, Mark is gone! He doesn't get long to celebrate before Silas kicks him in the side of the face though. He escapes by moonsaulting off the apron at Dalton. MISERY! Silas eliminates Nick at 21:18. It means the final four are Dalton and Silas, who don't get along, facing Cody and Marty - who aren't getting along either. Just Kidding on Young, who no-sells it and muscles The Villain to the ground with a clothesline. Misery countered...Finger Snap blocked. Misery COUNTERED TO THE CHICKENWING! HE TAPS OUT THE TV CHAMP! Young is eliminated at 23:07, Scurll has clean wins over both the World and TV Champion within the space of a couple of weeks. Castle is left alone with the two men vying to face him at Best In The World. Cody begs for the chance to face him and hugs a rather bemused Scurll. They work together to target his bad back with a double Lion Tamer. Cody chases The Boys around; an act that usually fires Dalton up...except Cody knows that and is ready to smash the champ into the guardrails. Scurll is particularly vicious on the back, pounding it with forearms then cranking it with a nasty surfboard. Castle recovers, predictably by going amateur-style on Cody. Scurll grabs the broken hand to block the Everest German. He looks set to snap the fingers, but Cody steals his limelight again by grabbing the champ for CROSS RHODES! They argue again, for so long that when Scurll finally agrees to pin the champ it only gets 2. Cody accidentally blasts Marty with the Disaster Kick! BANG-A-RANG! Castle pins Marty at 29:51! Cody sneaks in for a crucifix pin! It's over! Cody is the last man standing, pinning the World Champion at 29:59

Rating - **** - So here's my deal - I am ALWAYS asking ROH to commit to giving matches more time, and allow them to tell real stories, rather than just bombard me with Superkicks and ten minute matches. This wasn't the most exciting match you'll ever see, but for long-term viewers it was SO layered with different stories, and leaves us with so many more threads to explore as the product moves forward. The first ten minutes were fantastic; the Bucks and the Briscoes want to kill each other, Castle is still Cody's kryptonite, we don't know if the American Nightmare or The Villain can coexist, questions linger over how Dalton and Silas will get along as well. They milked that tension to the max, culminating in a frenetic dive sequence. Bullet Club's egos are bigger than their divisions it seems, as they put the inter-faction tension on hold to try their old favourite 'ten boot' spot. Except, just like at the TV taping, Jay Briscoe (who has been at war with Bullet Club for two years remember) said 'f*ck that' and stopped their dumbass game with a brutal chair shot. It was a FANTASTIC moment, eliminating himself but in turn triggering the elimination of Matt Jackson as well. Nick evened the score by pinning Mark, cementing a Bucks/Briscoes Tag Title rematch down the line as well. Scurll tapping out Silas, a couple of weeks after pinning Dalton, fully restores any credibility he lost at Supercard. He was more over than anyone else in the match too, which is quite a statement. But the Cody/Marty disagreement finally boiled over and...just like in New Orleans, Cody found himself on the beneficial end of an unfortunate situation, leaving Castle having to deal with a broken hand, a broken back and the reality of losing two matches in two weeks. This went half an hour but breezed by, and, for the almost the entire run-time was LOADED with significance. Compared to how brutally mediocre the rest of this weekend has been, it was shockingly decent. The depth of story-telling here was remarkable - and not necessarily something you expect from a Ring Of Honor main event in 2018.

Tape Rating - ** - If you're only checking out one show from Bound By Honor 2018 weekend, obviously it has to be this one. It's not a more consistent card than Night 1; actually, the undercard is far worse. You'll get not one, but two Bully Ray run-ins, a number of half-assed, underwhelming filler bouts, a Lethal/Poffo segment so disastrously out-of-touch I almost couldn't watch it and you'll wonder what the hell ROH is doing. BUT, Flip/Scorpio and Champions vs Bullet Club are both great; and both great in completely unusual ways for Ring Of Honor's current product. They aren't spot-heavy sprints. They both excel because they forego excessive action and concentrate on telling stories that, as a fan, I genuinely engaged with. ROH shouldn't kid themselves - both of these shows were poor efforts. They are NOT on the level of New Japan, they are far from the biggest promotion in their territory and they will draw minimal subscriptions to the Honor Club service if they continue to think that they have reached a level where they can treat live shows like this with so little respect, reverence or care. There is so much wrestling out there now that the kind of fan who will pay for Honor Club can EASILY find better wrestling from companies who appear to be making more of an effort to give you value for money. The thirty minute main event was FANTASTIC! But don't kid yourself that it does enough to justify or cover up a bad weekend...

3) Matt Taven vs Josh Woods vs Beer City Bruiser vs Kenny King (***)

2) Flip Gordon vs Scorpio Sky (****)

1) Dalton Castle/Silas Young/Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Cody/Marty Scurll/Young Bucks (****)

5) Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Motor City Machine Guns (*** - Night 1)

4) Young Bucks/Adam Page vs Matt Taven/Vinny Marseglia/TK O'Ryan (*** - Night 1)

3) Dalton Castle vs Flip Gordon (*** - Night 1)

2) Flip Gordon vs Scorpio Sky (**** - Night 2)

1) Dalton Castle/Silas Young/Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Cody/Marty Scurll/Young Bucks (**** - Night 2)