McXal's Reviews

Last night in San Antonio provided a decent night of wrestling, and I'm hoping ROH can delivery a second solid live show in a row for our final stop on the road to Best In The World. The main event is something of a weird one; a TV Title Proving Ground Instant Reward Six Man Mayhem - putting five contenders in the ring with champion Silas Young, all looking for a title shot before the night is done. The clear stand-out match on the undercard is the Tag Title showdown between the Briscoes and the Killer Elite Squad, but we'll also see Marty Scurll prepare for the PPV by getting some triple threat practice in a bout also featuring Jay Lethal and Flip Gordon, plus Cody facing Shane Taylor, The Kingdom defending the Six-Man Titles against Team CMLL and a potentially very decent Women Of Honor Match throwing together Tenille Dashwood and Thunder Rosa. Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana are in Dallas, TX.

Rosa's debut last night was a good one. She showed her class and held her own in a really competitive Women Of Honor tag team encounter...but wound up being pinned by the WOH Champion Sumie Sakai (who is on commentary for this match). This is her chance to rebound immediately as she looks to defeat the biggest name in ROH's women's division. Tenille has championship aspirations of her own so will therefore know that she can't afford to lose to a competior whom Sumie bested yesterday.

Rosa absolutely DECKS Dashwood during her entrance. Tenille really sells it well too, starting the match at a clear disadvantage. Thunder dumps her on the ground again and tries to punch her lights out - only to get over-confident and allow Tenille to repeatedly bash her face into the canvas. A hanging neckbreaker in the ropes sends Thunder to the floor. Dashwood chases her opponent around ringside delivering chops to the midsection but Rosa skates to the apron to dodge a Taste Of Tenille and guillotines the Australian over the ropes. She capitalises with a bow and arrow around the ringpost and returns to the ring with a double knee strike driven deep into the back too. Bow and arrow again, this time converted to an inverted Samoan drop, scores 2. Tenille needs the ropes to hold herself up now - but is still able to ram Thunder's head into the turnbuckles...and almost collapses into a ragged version of the Dilemma. Taste Of Tenille gets 2...so Rosa shuts her down with a lungblower. Spotlight Kick! In an instant Dashwood turns Rosa's lights out - and grabs a victory at 07:12

Rating - ** - This was a bright and breezy way to start the show, but I've gone low on my rating because it felt they left a far better match out there. Thunder Rosa completed a solid debut weekend with another strong individual performance though. She was punchy, mobile and delivered a focused, targeted gameplan from start to finish. It was actually Tenille I wanted to see more from here, and who I felt had more to offer that would have improved the quality of the match. Despite sustaining a few bumps and bruises I never really felt like she was busting her ass to put Rosa over. Her facial expression never really changed, her work was a little ragged...and for the most part any time Thunder was on top Dashwood felt like she was just along for the ride, waiting for her turn to hit a few spots again. It's not a bad match by any stretch - but it could have been better.

Do we call this a grudge match with The Boys looking for payback for the Bucks beating them for the Six-Man belts last year? Or do we call this a Best In The World tune-up match for Matt and Nick Jackson, who are preparing to face the imposing Briscoe Brothers at the pay-per-view (regardless of the result of Briscoes/KES later)?

Nick wants a test of strength with Boy #1...using that as a launching point for a savage spinning elbow to the head. Cabana says that the Bucks had been on Twitter calling this an 'enhancement match', which The Boys are supposedly using as motivation. Boy #2 hits a springboard crossbody...soon followed by a brief time-out to form a human sofa with his twin brother. The Bucks are so confused the twins are able to dump them to the floor...then wipe them out with stereo somersault planchas. Nick RUNS UP A SUPPORT PILLAR into a moonsault on the floor! The Boys break out the twin-thing swap-out - which Nick spots, but can't stop his brother from getting unknowingly wiped out. Matt quickly restores order with a SNAP LIGERBOMB though! The Boy hits a flying rana on Matt, and Nick runs in trying to do the same brotherly swap-out right in front of referee Paul Turner. That was legitimately quite funny and causes so many arguments that Boy #1 is able to take them both over with a hurricanrana. The other Boy gets a tag (wearing a novelty cowboy hat like he's off on a hen do/bachelorette party) and counters an attempted Buckle Bomb with yet another rana. Double Superkicks by the Bucks! Nick loads Matt up with both Boys...DOUBLE INDY-TAKER! Bucks win at 09:49

Rating - ** - Exciting at points, goofy and funny at others; parts of this match I really liked. My real gripe with it is that it went on far too long. I didn't need to see much offence from The Boys, other than a classic twin mistaken-identity swap spot and maybe a few squeals and dives. This would have worked, and been just as effective, as a five minute burst of Young Bucks offence. Stretching it out to ten minutes meant there was too much offence from the Tate Twins and too much filler content to pad out the unnecessary extra minutes they were in the ring for.

Cody cuts the victory music of his stable-mates (the Young Bucks) so his own entrance theme can play and he can come to the ring, flanked by Brandi and Burnard. He calls them 'Ambassadors of All In' - which Cabana points out is disrespectful as they are co-owners/financiers along with him - then annoys them more by pretending to 'Book Flip'...but only as a joke to annoy the crowd. He orders them to the 'showers' so he can discuss his campaign to be Texas Senator in 2020 (I'm reviewing this show deep into Covid-19 riddled 2020 and this plot-thread has really gone away!). Brandi cancels Cody's match with Shane Taylor on the grounds of 'safety'...bringing Taylor to the ring. He calls bullsh*t, makes veiled remarks about Cody being protected by ROH management...then sort of implied that he used to murder people for a living (which is a pretty dark plot-twist). Cody agrees that the match is back on, then inadvertently punches out Burnard The Bear when trying to attack Shane from behind. Cody running away in terror even whilst his wife is still in the ring with Taylor was the highlight of this somewhat messy segment.

Obviously this is mostly another filler/exhibition trios match for the luchadors from CMLL, but at least there are some solid reasons for it to take place. Team CMLL defeated former Six-Man Champions SCU last night in San Antonio, whilst Atlantis and Guerrero Maya Jr hold trios championship belts in CMLL too. Taven has started touring with CMLL semi-regularly and is currently their Historic Welterweight Champion. He has a decent record against the CMLL talent, including the recent NYC Excellence TV Taping where he overcame Ultimo Guerrero...

The Kingdom pull a Suzuki-gun on the lucha squad, in particular driving boot after boot into the stout midsection of Stuka Jr. As usual they don't bank on the outrageous speed and athleticism of Stuka, who legit explodes from the mat and batters Taven out of the ring. Atlantis hits a 'high' (and by that I mean his feet didn't leave the ground) crossbody...but does get more hang-time on a top rope crossbody block. He teases an old-man dive to the floor causing Vinny to run away! Guerrero and O'Ryan enter the fray next, with TK totally unable to cope with GMJ's lucha spots. Three-man, hair-pulling camel clutch by Team CMLL, indicating that the belts are in jeopardy tonight, Marseglia pops a balloon in Maya's ears, allowing Taven to TKO him over the top rope. The Kingdom run a relay of the ringside area; planting Guerrero's face into the guardrails to hand him from one partner to the next. Big boot/semi-mistimed Pele Kick sequence gets 2 for the defending champions. Spinebuster/diving headbutt/Five Star Frog Splash sequence scores another nearfall and leaves GMJ in major peril. Atlantis and Stuka brawl with Taven and TK on the stage. MONKEY FLIP SOMERSAULT SENTON OFF THE STAGE by Stuka. Back in the ring Atlantis monkey flips Stuka again, this time into a cannonball in the corner. NO HANDS SPLASH gets 2! Taven grabs Guerrero and lifts him up so they can hit Rock Star Supernova! Kingdom retain at 10:38

Rating - *** - Having now booked 'the legendary Atlantis' and brought him over the weekend, I'm hoping he won't be coming back regularly. Good on him for his legendary career and for still plugging away into his 50's, but he isn't equipped to deal with ROH-level combat and has really hindered both matches he was involved in. This was better than the SCU match though. Guerrero Maya Jr was tremendous and really carried the workload for his team. He took the fall and spent all most all of the match as the legal man, which enabled Stuka to be selective with his exciting moveset, and allowed Atlantis to spend as much time as possible on the apron. This is slick, fluent heel version of The Kingdom that we need to see more of too... 

All three of these men have high profile singles matches at Best In The World (Flip/Bully, the World Title triple threat between Castle, Cody and Marty, plus Lethal/Kushida). This is, therefore, a serious amount of talent to throw in the ring together so close to a PPV. Marty has the most to gain, tuning up in a triple treat environment against a man who has beaten Cody (Lethal) and a man who annoys him more than any other (Flip). 

Scurll raises his middle finger at opponents and fans alike rather than shaking hands, being a Villain and all. He then treats Gordon like a young boy, ordering him to 'step aside' to 'watch and learn' from himself and Lethal working each other. He grapples Lethal to the ground then summons in Flip to demonstrate what he learned. Gordon requests that Jay leave so he and Scurll can go at it. His speed, agility and outright weird style sees him get the better of The Villain, prompting the crowd to order Marty to the apron so he can watch and learn from Flip and Lethal. He attacks Lethal from behind which causes things to break down and all three guys to start trading strikes in the corner. Quebrada press by Flip skittles his rivals and opens up Jay for the one-legged standing moonsault. Springboard Spear on Marty then gets 2. The Villain hits back with a Gory Special on Flip whilst working a Boston crab on Lethal at the same time. Lethal goes for the Figure The Villain hits back with a Gory Special on Flip whilst working a Boston crab on Lethal at the same time. Lethal goes for the Figure 4, but soon has to scramble to the ropes as Scurll almost counters him into a Chickenwing. The Franchise dropkicks Flip into the corner - causing him to collapse and capture Scurll against the ropes and allowing Jay to take repeated shots to the head. He sends them both to the floor with springboard dropkicks, cueing up the tope suicida flurry. Star Spangled Stunner countered to the Lethal Express for 2. Marty and Flip start working together, each blocking Lethal's Figure 4. Gordon tries another Springboard Spear but dives into Scurll's jumping knee strike and The Villain smoothly turns on his heels to follow that with a diving clothesline on Lethal. Finger Snap countered to the Lethal Combination, only for Jay to walk into a spinning falcon arrow from Flip. Samoan Pop in response gets 2...when Marty breaks the pin into the CHICKENWING! LETHAL FIGURE 4'S FLIP TOO! Flip rolls over to block Jay's hold, but exposes himself to Marty stomping on his hand. The Villain snaps Lethal's fingers then gives him the 'Black Plague' inverted suplex. Lethal's hand hurts from having his fingers snapped that he can't chop Flip...so gives him an Ace Crusher instead. Marty tries to whack Jay with his umbrella...KINDER SURPRISE from Flip to Lethal as he is distracted.  AVALANCHE BLACK PLAGUE! CHICKENWING! Flip taps, giving Marty the win at 16:28

Rating - *** - I wasn't in love with the match itself, but I like that it was ambitious and wasn't a time-killing, ten-minute fluff piece. The idea here is that after these three high profile athletes pushed each other for so hard, in a longer-than-usual (for modern-day ROH) match, Scurll was still able to tap someone out. With Castle's body fried most people are expecting a title change at Best In The World and this match brilliantly set up the very real possibility that it will be Scurll rather than Cody who wins the belt. Sadly the rest of the bout was only 'ok'. The start was fun with each man taking turns sitting out the action whilst the other two tried to prove a point. As was the climactic two-minute stretch as the shackles were thrown off and all three started dropping bombs. But I have to be honest and say that the middle period felt bloated...

Gordon is still reeling after the conclusion to the match...but spots Bully creeping down the aisle and lays him out with a Superkick before he can attach with a steel chair. Bubba gives him another low blow then yells at him for being a young boy who is too interested in getting booked for All In. Apparently he is going to 'shoot on him' at Best In The World. Ohhh, edgy...

INTERMISSION - Rhett Titus joins commentary for the second half, continuing this dumbass non-gimmick/angle where Riccaboni and Cabana point out that he's drunk. 

I'm sure Daniels and Helms have probably crossed paths before in their lengthy careers. Helms and Delirious appear to have struck up some kind of Lizard-Man/Superhero bond after teaming together in six-man action yesterday - so buddy up again here to face former Tag Champions The Addiction. Daniels and Kazarian have struggled to get out of a post-War Of The Worlds Tour slump and look to be drifting towards their promised year-end release. If they can refocus, a win over a respected and world-famous veteran like The Hurricane would definitely contribution to an SCU career-resurgence...

Daniels and Kazarian hide on the outside whilst Delirious freaks out. The first minute passes without anybody coming close to touching each other. Delirious eventually tags Hurricane in, who has to fight off both members of The Addiction at once. He starts kicking them both in the corner, leaving them in a suggestive pose for 'comedic' effect. Delirious thought it was funny then amuses himself bashing Frankie's head into the turnbuckles. The Lizard Man runs through some of his old comedy favourite spots, none of which get the kind of reactions they were drawing a decade or more earlier...and Kaz shuts him down with a hiptoss brainbuster. Delirious runs away and hides under the ring, with Daniels in hot pursuit. A midget version of Delirious then pops out on the other side - and takes the fight to both members of The Addiction. DOOMSDAY DEVICE by Mini-Delirious and Hurricane (Helms diving off the bottom turnbuckle). Actual Delirious replaces Mini-Delirious...just in time for Daniels to brain him against the guardrails. He takes a couple of minutes of punishment before building up the momentum for the Leaping Lariat. Hot tag to Helms, who drops Kaz with an Unprettier instantly. Hurri-Chokeslam blocked...into the Tomikaze! Hurricane starts...Hulking up for some reason? Angel's Wings countered to the Hurri-Chokeslam. Helms pins Daniels to win at 14:14

Rating - ** - I really enjoyed the Mini-Delirious skit. I realise it wasn't particularly intellectual humour and certainly wasn't innovative...but I thought it was fun. The way Daniels and Kaz protested to Todd Sinclair, who just dead-panned them both by insisting that it was Delirious and they need to fight him was very comical. The Hurricane, however, is a perplexing booking. Based on his two performances this weekend he certainly hasn't come here to have a career renaissance in the mould of James Gibson in 2005 or Jerry Lynn in 2008/9. He is here to play the hits, randomly spoof Hulk Hogan...and that's it. Which begs the question; why the f*ck book him in the first place? This is still ROH right? This weekend Daniels has put over old-man Atlantis and washed-up Shane Helms on consecutive shows. Delirious better be going somewhere with this running down SCU's contract angle! And at almost fifteen minutes long this was far too self-indulgent as well...

Mini-Delirious returns to the ring to celebrate with regular-size Delirious and Shane Helms, much to the annoyance of The Addiction...

We were supposed to see something of a prelude to this yesterday in San Antonio, with these two teams joining forces to face Bullet Club; a mutual enemy in ROH and New Japan respectively. But the Briscoes encountered travel difficulties, so come straight into this tonight - and it should be an ultra-physical slug-out. Both teams have the Young Bucks on their minds; KES wanting an IWGP Tag Title shot in NJPW (which Matt and Nick currently hold), and the Briscoes facing them at Best In The World. KES could strike a devastating blow to the Young Bucks if they win here, because it's already confirmed that the ROH Tag belts would go back to Japan with them, thus making Briscoes/Bucks at the PPV a non-title bout...

Jay tries to attack Archer from behind in Suzuki-gun style...but it has no effect! Davey and Mark brawl on one side of the ring, as on the other Jay dumps Archer to the outside for a wild tope suicida. STEREO SOMERSAULT PLANCHAS by Jay and Mark! Not content with that, Mark drills Lance against the barricade with a springboard forearm smash. It temporarily incapacitates him and allows the champs to establish some control for the first time. POOUUUUNCE from Archer to Mark, whilst Smith drags Jay off the apron to destroy him against the barrier. Archer joins him and body slams Mark on the concrete! The younger Briscoe brother is in serious peril, particularly after a few more trips into the guardrails. Archer then feeds him to Smith Jr inside the ring, who picks him apart with multiple submissions and ground attacks which show off his rich heritage and training background. I really like the heat segment KES work on Mark, contrasting Bulldog Jr's grappling and striking with the straight-up aggression and violence of his partner. Overhead CHOKE-plex launches Mark through the ropes to the floor...but he counters a Chokeslam and lands the blockbuster off the apron! Davey Boy tackles him into the guardrails again before he can escape for a hot tag...so Mark rocks him with a Pele Kick. Hot tag to Jay - who has to crank up the speed and athleticism because he can't trade strikes with Davey. He tries throwing strikes at both members of KES, but is destroyed with a Hart Attack. Killer Bomb blocked into a Cactus Clothesline on Smith. SUICIDE DIVE TO THE FLOOR by Mark! DVD/Froggy Bow combo gets 2. Jay Driller blocked...GERMAN SUPLEX by Davey! Mark tries dropping him with forearms, so Bulldog drops him on his FACE with another German. Buckle Bomb on Jay, feeding him into a brutal chokeslam by Lance for 2. Bulldog Bomb blocked...KILLER BOMB INSTEAD! KILLER BOMB ON MARK! Jay kicks out! ARCHER MOONSAULT MISSES! That is a massive guy to be throwing moonsaults around! Mark climbs the ropes as Jay pulls Archer onto his shoulders. DOOMSDAY DEVICE for 2! German suplex by Mark! He counters an Archer chokeslam into a victory roll...and wins the match for the Briscoes at 15:26

Rating - **** - This is the best match of the weekend for me. They got the tone just right, played well on the strengths of both performers, constantly made things interesting with little touches of detail and innovation, and built to a great finishing sequence which saw the Briscoes go over clean - yet in a manner which protects KES too. I loved the transitions in momentum; first the Briscoes rolled back the years and hitting big dives and junior heavyweight spots to gain the edge over the far larger adversaries...but then KES grabbed the initiative back with powerful offensive bombs and some nasty brawling on the floor (a tactic the Briscoes have used themselves in the past). As I said in PBP, the heat segment on Mark was superb; targeted work whilst brilliantly showcasing the dichotomy in skills between Archer and Smith Jr. My only real criticism I wish they could have had longer to really go through the gears in the closing stretch to really elevate this bout into MOTYC territory. Perhaps if the booker hadn't given his only match more than twice as long as necessary...

Jay Briscoe says they are going to murder the Young Bucks at Best In The World...but doesn't see the Jacksons coming out through the crowd. They toss chairs into the Briscoes' faces then lay them out with Superkicks. The Bucks pose with the belts and suggest they'll be leaving with them after the PPV

J-Rocc replaces Rhett Titus on commentary, which is most certainly NOT an improvement. He ruined Taylor's match yesterday, and is here to spew all over what should be a huge match for Shane tonight. He faces Cody, with the American Nightmare right on the brink of his World Title rematch. We already know Cody didn't want to take this match; he and Brandi tried to have it cancelled on 'safety grounds' earlier. Is he taking it seriously? Is he looking past Taylor to Best In The World? Shane could issue a warning to the entire roster with a win over Rhodes tonight...

Taylor rips into Cody with knee strikes and a Baldo Bomb from the bell. J-Rocc sort of kills the moment with his ghastly commentary, but I like Taylor's intensity. It continues when Cody tries to leave the ring, as he taunts him on the mic then runs around the ring into a clubbing lariat on the floor. Rhodes tries to return fire with a few open-hand strikes...but Shane laughs in his face and decks him again. Next Cody hits the dropdown palm strike - which Taylor again no-sells and batters him to the ground again. Brandi decides to act; creating a distraction which allows her husband to finally lay in a few shots. Shane still dusts him off though and splatters him into the corner with a cannonball for 2. He starts climbing the ropes - with Burnard The Bear in his peripheral vision. Perhaps that distracts Taylor momentarily as he misses a Vader Bomb. Springboard dropkick by Cody finally knocks his opponent off his feet. He ups the stakes further with the ROPE RUN SUICIDE DIVE in an effort to press home his advantage. Taylor's knee looked to buckle under him a little, and Cody tries to exploit it with the Figure 4...but Shane knocks him back with a Sick Kick. Cannonball misses though, setting the American Nightmare up for a Figure 4 Leglock. Brandi chokes him with her sling whilst Burnard distracts the ref...but that blows up in their faces as Taylor dodges the Disaster Kick, causing Cody to lay out Paul Turner. Greetings From 216 nailed, with no referee present to count the pin. Burnard The Bear is in the ring, celebrating as Cody levels Taylor with the Disaster Kick. Taylor squashes Burnard with a body avalanche...before Cody swoops to pin him for the win at 09:24

Rating - ** - Nothing about this match felt like it was helping Shane Taylor. And considering he spent 70% of it dominating one of ROH's biggest names (and former World Champion) that is a worrying statement. Having him effortlessly beat Cody up for seven minutes, then have him falling for every stupid Cody/Brandi/Burnard trick in the playbook doesn't boost or benefit Taylor in anyway. It makes him look wasteful, and like someone who took his eyes off of a guaranteed victory because of a bear mascot and a non-wrestler at ringside. Considering Taylor is supposed to be motivated by big paydays - that makes NO sense. I liked the first six or seven minutes. It felt like Taylor was making a real statement by imposing his will on Rhodes. Sadly the final two were so bad I considered going even lower on my rating. Delirious' continues to book Shane Taylor so badly...

Shane Taylor vents his frustration by crushing Burnard with a second rope splash as Cody and Brandi slope away up the aisle.

This is a Proving Ground Instant Reward Match. If either of the five challengers win they will receive an immediate shot at the TV Title tonight. But (and here's where it gets confusing), ROH have thrown in elements of the Defy Or Deny stipulation bout too as if Silas wins, whomever he pins will be banned from challenging for the TV Title for the duration of his reign. Ian Riccaboni has tried to explain that concept about 1000 times over the last two shows, and it's been slightly different each time - but I think I've distilled it down to a couple of sentences. Martinez won Survival Of The Fittest in 2017 so has experience of victory in cluttered six-man environments...but he may be distracted by the ongoing feud with Hangman Page, who is also present here. 

Silas starts with Burger, grabs a handful of trunks and tries to pin him in the first thirty seconds. Cheese responds by going a little lucha; sending Young to the floor with a springboard armdrag. Scorpio comes in...only to be tripped from the floor because Silas wants to continue in the ring with Burger, trying to force a quick victory. Burger makes fools of both of them - tripping Sky into a dropkick on the champion. Gresham blind-tags in and effortlessly wrestles Scorpio to the floor. But then Hangman tosses every other competitor out of the ring and calls out Punisher! For the first time these two look set to do battle inside the ring...but are stopped by all four opponents running back in and ambushing them. Cheese thinks about a dive only for Punishment to punch his lights out. Gresh hits a flying crossbody on Young for 2 then leapfrogs the Last Real Man as he looks for payback, causing him to inadvertently spear Sky instead. Silas ditches the fancy wrestling and starts mauling the smaller Gresham. Page gets a tag...and ignores the match to sprint across the ring and attack Martinez! SSP TACKLE OFF THE APRON! Drop-sault on Scorpio and Silas gets 2. Buckshot Lariat almost takes Silas' head off - but still he kicks out at 2. Sky and Young try to give Hangman a superplex. Enter Gresham and Burger! They aren't strong enough for a Tower Of Doom! Martinez sees everyone tangled up and flings everyone to the floor so he can get to Page! SUPERPLEX NAILED! Silas sneaks in and tries to steal the pin from Punisher too! Killer Combo ducked by Gresh, setting up a prolonged standing switch exchange into a DDT by Gresham. Shotei by Cheeseburger! He then hits a springboard plancha through bodies on the outside. Tope atomico by Scorpio Sky as he gives chase! TOP ROPE MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR by Hangman! And he gets straight up to FALCON ARROW MARTINEZ THROUGH A TABLE! Buckshot Lariat countered with another trunks-grabbing roll-up by Silas for 2! Misery countered...CRADLE TOMBSTONE gets 2 for Page! Springboard tornado DDT from Gresham to Scorpio. But in doing so Gresh turns his back on Silas. Misery ROLLED THROUGH! Silas and Gresham trade pins...Killer Combo nailed third time of asking. SHOTEI on Silas...gets 2! Burger tries the springboard knee on Page. CAUGHT INTO THE RITE OF PASSAGE! CURB STOMP from Martinez to take Page out! South Of Heaven on Burger...and Martinez wins the match at 15:29

Rating - **** - Maybe I'm alone here, but I thought this was a GREAT Six Man Mayhem. The convoluted and confusing Proving Ground Instant Reward stipulations seem to have caused people to overlook a hell of a bout. It had great action from the outset, the Page/Martinez feud brilliantly continued from first bell to the very conclusion, incredible counter-wrestling sequences from Gresham, brilliant moments of cunning and strategy by Silas, Scorpio Sky bringing the effortless athleticism and one of the most watchable Cheeseburger ROH matches EVER. A riotous hidden gem of a match...

So Martinez moves to his Instant Reward title shot. Nobody has ever won the belt under these circumstances before though. When Silas won the TV Title for the first time (at Final Battle 2017) it was actually Martinez that he beat for it. He has a track record of pulling out ways to win even when defeat seems certain - in contrast to Martinez who is always impressive but has lost every big match he's been involved in since winning Survival Of The Fittest 2017...

Martinez and Page are still arguing even after the bell has rung to signal the start of the championship match. To his credit, Young isn't remotely intimidated by Punisher...even after Martinez almost KO's him with an elbow strike. He kicks at Martinez's knee (an injury he exploited at Final Battle) and drapes it over the ropes for a slingshot swinging neckbreaker. Plunge COUNTERED TO A TOMBSTONE for 2! The challenger tries another big superplex, but this time Young is able to counter - hitting a sunset flip out of the corner and trying to get his feet on the ropes to secure a win. Psycho Driver blocked...Plunge missed. Knee strikes by Silas! Misery countered with a kick to the back of the head. TURNBUCKLE CURB STOMP! Ripcord kick into SOUTH OF HEAVEN! Martinez is the new TV Champion at 04:52

Rating - *** - You know what would have been a better way to put Martinez and the TV Title over? Booking this title change to be the culmination of a memorable feud or series of matches, rather than the old Delirious staple of a random, overbooked title change to try and generate the buzz the product lacks when storylines/creation of new stars barely exist. This was, at the very least, a fun five minute sprint. It felt like two warriors emptying the gas tanks on each other, with the references to the Final Battle exchanges they shared a nice touch of detail which I really appreciated. Punishment is a GREAT choice of TV Champion and I'm excited to see where he goes with it. If you're being brutally honest, after a superb 2017, Silas wasn't doing much as TV Champion either (although his TV match with Aries was outstanding). But this was a completely flawed, gimmicky way of managing the title change which the fans saw right through - meaning the image of Silas, Martinez and the championship all suffer as a result.

Tape Rating - ** - Nowhere near as consistently enjoyable as Night 1 in San Antonio. BUT, this show has the best match of the weekend in Briscoes/KES, a massively under-rated main event, then the title switch at the end of the night as well. Perversely therefore, you'd argue that even though this is a 'worse' show than last night it probably has more 'must-see' content. The beauty of an Honor Club membership is that you can pick and choose the bits you want to watch from both nights (as opposed to the days of having to really commit to a physical media purchase). There is a LOT more forgettable filler content to get through on this show...

3) Marty Scurll vs Flip Gordon vs Jay Lethal (***)

2) Silas Young vs Punishment Martinez vs Jonathan Gresham vs Cheeseburger vs Scorpio Sky vs Adam Page (****)

1) Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Killer Elite Squad (****)

5) Silas Young vs Curt Stallion (*** - Night 1)

4) Silas Young vs Punishment Martinez vs Jonathan Gresham vs Cheeseburger vs Scorpio Sky vs Adam Page (**** - Night 2)

3) Cody vs Jonathan Gresham (**** - Night 1)

2) Young Bucks/Adam Page/Marty Scurll vs Killer Elite Squad/The Kingdom (**** - Night 1)

1) Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Killer Elite Squad (**** - Night 2)