McXal's Reviews

Two weeks removed from the controversies of G1 Supercard, ROH returns to Honor Club for this VOD live show - the first on-screen reaction to the big MSG extravaganza. Albeit one that takes place the night after an 'international TV taping' in Pittsburgh, where most of the 'first reactions' were taped. On TV Ring Of Honor advertised that CMLL luchadors Caristico and Soberano Jr. are in attendance for this show; the latter facing fellow CMLL export Rush, the former in a four-way with Bandido, PJ Black and Flip Gordon which drew rave live reviews. TV also advertised a hotly anticipated 30-minute 'Iron Team' Match pitting Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham against Lifeblood's Tracy Williams and Mark Haskins. If that weren't enough, the Six-Man Championship is on the line in our main event - with The Kingdom (featuring new World Champion Matt Taven) trying to get their Trios Title back from Villain Enterprises. Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana and Nick Aldis are in Columbus, OH.

The show opens with Rhett in the ring flexing and posing. This has been his gimmick for much of the last six months, but periodically on these live events he's been allowed to wrestle actual matches and they've been good (e.g. vs Marty Scurll or Tracy Williams on the Road To G1 Supercard shows). His task tonight is a sizeable one as he looks to takedown the undefeated monster Jeff Cobb. The Olympian retained his TV Title in a spectacular bout at G1 Supercard, downing Will Ospreay. Rhett knows it would be a substantial upset if he pulled it off, and would immediately put him into TV Title contention...

Titus spends the early exchanges flexing and playing games with a largely nonchalant Cobb. They do make it somewhat relevant as Titus' strength means he can power out of some of Jeff's grapple attempts. Cobb also makes a statement by hitting a big dropkick (a staple of Rhett's arsenal). Pescado attempted by Rhett...who goes STRAIGHT DOWN ONTO HIS HEAD when Cobb tries to catch him. Miraculously he isn't hurt and even recovers to clock Jeff against the ringpost. Titus continues to reel off strikes into Cobb's face, and pretty soon Jeff's nose and mouth start to bleed profusely. Clearly angry, Jeff starts battering Titus with lariats then an aggressive belly to belly suplex. Standing moonsault MISSES though, causing Cobb to face-plant on his bloody nose again. Rhett looks to capitalise with a body avalanche only to be caught and hung up on the top rope. Effortless stalling one-armed suplex nailed by the TV Champion for 2. He gets another nearfall moments later by successfully executing the standing moonsault as well. Tour Of The Islands blocked with kicks to the face, followed by the Thrust Buster to smash that bloody nose into the ground once more. ROPE-RUN SUPER SEX FACTOR! Cobb kicks out! Yakuza Kicks rattle the nose and teeth once more, provoking Cobb into unleashing the rolling gutwrench suplexes INTO A PILEDRIVER! TOUR OF THE ISLANDS! Cobb wins in a surprisingly competitive 09:49

Rating - *** - This was a great opening match; physical, exciting with a really gritty and dirty story being told. Rhett had a lucky escape on that miserably executed pescado, and obviously the unplanned blood-loss from Cobb added to the drama but I really liked this. Titus working the face was a completely fresh strategy for a Jeff Cobb match; enhanced by the blood and complemented by a moveset which almost entirely involves beating on an opponents face too. Where this confused me slightly is that Jeff has been steamrollering opponents since debuting. He smashed through Punishment Martinez in mere seconds. Jay Briscoe mowed down Rhett in five minutes just before G1 Supercard. Yet somehow we now have to buy into Titus looking extremely competitive in a feisty ten minute bout with the 'Hawaiian Juggernaut'? Something isn't right about that...

I believe this is Holidead's last WOH appearance to date. At the turn of the year we looked set for a more prolonged run for the Twisted Sisterz (Holi's team with Thunder Rosa), but that hasn't materialised. She returns to ROH looking to defeat one of the staples of the Women Of Honor division in Jenny Rose. Jenny herself will be eyeing up a run to once again challenge Kelly Klein for the WOH World Title so therefore knows how significant a win over an internationally travelled and respected foe like Holidead could be.

As usual Holidead is intense, unorthodox, vocal and extremely powerful in the first minute. Rose tries to shut her down with a sleeper hold...but is tackled to the ground. She does manage to get Holi out of the ring with a big dropkick, only to be distracted by all three members of The Allure appearing on the stage. They parade around with their phones and selfie sticks, creating a distraction as Holidead starts beating on Jenny against the apron. Eventually they evict Nick Lendl and Amy Rose from the timekeeping table and take seats to watch. Pumphandle slam by Dead, getting a nearfall but seemingly worthy of a few smiles and photos from The Allure. STF applied, and Holidead starts looking frustrated that Rose refuses to submit. Jenny recovers with a German suplex, then one of the worst clotheslines I've ever seen for 2. Holidead shuts her down with a spinebuster for 2. Victory roll by Rose, teeing up her Spear a couple of times over. Holidead retorts with the Unprettier, but appears to get distracted by The Allure before she can cover. To the top rope...where Holi misses a flying leg drop. Rose hits her version of a Rock Bottom to win at 08:53

Rating - * - I really like Holidead. She is loud, her work looks violent and there is an inherent weirdness to all of her performances which I really enjoy. But as opponents these two didn't particularly click here. Jenny had one of those nights where all of her offence looked like a borderline misfire...and of course neither woman was helped by the spectacle of Angelina Love, Mandy Leon and Velvet Sky at ringside. 

The Allure are still f*cking around at the time-keeping table, much to Jenny's annoyance. Velvet sprays a can of hairspray into Rose's eyes when she tries to intimidate Mandy...

The foursome of Coast 2 Coast and The Bouncers teamed up to face Lifeblood in Miami and, although they didn't win, they did form an impressive unit. C2C's athleticism and explosiveness gelled well with the power and size of Bruiser and Milonas - and they will make imposing opposition for the alliance of the Briscoes, Silas and Shane T tonight. The Bouncers will be particularly interested in getting at Young, since he used to be a friend and partner of Bruiser but turned his back on him last year...

Ali and Silas start off; the Last Real Man working a slow pace and fighting to keep Shaheem on the ground. Ali can't keep up with him when it comes to trading holds on the canvas and is left frustrated. Jay tags and taunts Shaheem; goading him into an exchange of strikes. Ali fights for his life and holds his own with the former World Champion until all eight men spill into the ring and have to be separated. LSG takes the opportunity to tag...and slaps the taste out of Taylor's mouth. He tries his springboard forearm smash only for Shane to tackle him out of the sky! Before Shane T can celebrate his size advantage for too long, Milonas gets into his face. They start butting into each other like rams! Taylor thinks he knocks Kingpin out with a big punch...but turns around into an emphatic body slam! BCB tags and demands a piece of Silas - tearing into him with vicious punches. For a second time all eight-men pile in...then quickly fight all around ringside. Bruiser PUNCHES Jay out of the air on a pescado attempt! St. Giovanni and Mark tee off on each other inside the ring, until LSG hits Rocket Bye Baby. Swinging front slam by Ali...right before Jay splatters Leon into the guardrails. Milonas takes out both Briscoes with a double crossbody block! Sliding DDT from Silas to Brawler! Beer City DDT by Bruiser! KO knee strike by Taylor, who goes straight onto the apron to cannonball into Milonas on the floor. SOMERSAULT PLANCHA by Shaheem! TOP ROPE CORKSCREW SENTON TO THE FLOOR by Mark! LSG is climbing! ROPE-WALK SOMERSAULT SENTON NAILED! SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR BY SILAS! Bruiser is trundling up to the top now! SUICIDE DIVE TO THE FLOOR! The crowd want Milonas to dive! Taylor heels out on his own hometown crowd by jumping Brian from behind and POWERBOMBING him off the top rope. The Briscoes and C2C go strike for strike inside the ring - where Jay and Mark have an advantage. NECK DROP REDNECK BOOGIE! BCB breaks the pin! He picks Mark up for the elevated guillotine leg drop combo. Shane T breaks the pin and hits the Knockout Punch on Bruiser! DIVING FRONT SLAM from Milonas to Taylor! It leaves him down in the corner with LSG and Ali splitting off. Briscoes block the Coast 2 Coast, and Taylor hits GREETINGS FROM 216 on Ali. Shane wins at 13:54

Rating - **** - This match was crazy. Clearly the big dives and false finishes were what popped the crowd, but I really liked how all the characters interplayed with each other too. The dynamic between Taylor, Bruiser and Milonas as the three biggest dudes was extremely interesting and they had some super exchanges. Similarly Bruiser and Silas' interactions were fraught with tension and heat. The differences between how the veteran Briscoes approached working with a Coast 2 Coast member (where they'd try to take them to school) or a Bouncer (where they were looking for a straight-up brawl) always produced something different. There was a blurred line between who the heels and faces were too which I liked. I wasn't expecting much from this and structurally it was somewhat formulaic but the combination of fast-paced action and some really unique character work hooked me in. An example of the kind of hidden gem you'll find strewn amongst the wastelands of ROH in 2019.

Coast 2 Coast are extremely frustrated at the loss. They toss The Bouncers' cooler away and emphatically decline their offer of a post-match beer toast.

Nick Aldis and Colt Cabana have spent all of the show so far bickering, and Colt is starting to get annoyed. He teases challenging the 'National Treasure' to a match tonight, and thinks he'd beat Aldis if they did fight. He grabs a microphone and gets the crowd on-side, taunting Aldis into putting the NWA Title on the line this evening. They both leave commentary to prepare...

Rush has been a big name in CMLL, so Soberano will be looking to make headlines back in Mexico by ending El Toro Blanco's ROH undefeated streak tonight. He faces Rush in red-hot form having terminated Bandido's own undefeated streak at the 17th Anniversary Show, then marched into Madison Square Garden to defeat former World Champion Dalton Castle in less than a minute...

Soberano needs to be quick and keep his distance from Rush - and does so early to pepper him with a few unique kicks and a big Tornillo. He tries one more springboard move...and flies right into a brutal dropkick from Rush. He boots Soberano in the corner then poses to the crowd as the smaller masked luchador struggles to get back up. Like a true Ingobernable, Rush goes after Soberano's mask, then instead grabs him by the throat and simply shunts him over the top rope. On the floor he tosses Soberano into the guardrails with such force that they buckle. We return for the Bull's Horns, and another comprehensive victory for El Toro Blanco at 03:49

Rating - N/A - It seems weird that CMLL would sign off on sending one of their guys - a champion no less - to the US only to get emphatically squashed by Rush. This had some charm as a classic squash match; Rush looking completely dominant with just a passing hint of offence from Soberano Jr. on occasion. I don't mind Rush having an undefeated gimmick to run with in ROH, but I don't think he needs to be Goldberg-ing through opponents too. ROH fans want to see him wrestle. If you want him to get over with an ROH audience, he needs to have great matches, not just squash everyone. Hopefully this was just done as a way to follow up on his violent destruction of Dalton at G1 Supercard.

Caprice Coleman slides into commentary to replace Aldis and Cabana

This is an international 'dream match', pitting world-renowned high-flying wrestlers from all over the world against each other. Caristico is notoriously the original Sin Cara in WWE. Obviously he had some challenges in that promotion, but before he went there the guy was tearing it up in Mexico as Mistico. Had he come into ROH for a weekend back during Gabe's era then Ring Of Honor would have done big business with ticket and DVD sales. His ROH debut at this TV taping/live event weekend hasn't received quite as much fanfare but he remains a world class athlete and it's exciting to see him. In particular it will be interesting to see him lock horns with Bandido; a man who like Caristico, was a sensation in Mexico...but has now followed a different career path on the American independent scene. Bandido and PJ have faced twice in 2019 - both won by Bandido. The attitude of he and Lifeblood has had such an impact on 'The Darewolf' PJ Black, that Black has now publicly renounced his arrogance and poor attitude on previous ROH shows and now wants to work honourably just as Lifeblood promote. That leaves Flip, making only his second in-ring appearance for ROH since January (if you don't count the previous night's TV taping). He returned at G1 Supercard to beat Bully Ray for a second time and has big plans for forthcoming episodes of ROH TV. Therefore he'd like to start with a win this evening.

Tornado rules in effect, so everyone is in the ring together. Caristico starts fastest by blasting PJ with a handspring reverse elbow and a springboard crossbody. Bandido steps up to Caristico, and within seconds they are back flipping and satellite rotating all over the ring. Flip interrupts them, and Black capitalises with a springboard clothesline onto everyone. Gordon retaliates with a springboard dropkick. A pattern is developing where guys keep setting up for a big dive to the floor, but get interrupted before they can go through. This time Bandido stops Flip, right before they both get mowed down by Caristico. Gordon has some lucha fun with Caristico only to be once again confronted by Bandido. DUELLING tope suicidas (with sh*tty camera work) by those two, who then hop back into the ring to go at it between themselves again. They run through a movie martial arts strike sequence, ending when Bandido takes a cheapshot! Kinder Surprise on PJ, turning his back on Bandido momentarily so the young luchador can lay him out in the corner. Caristico and Bandido try to join forces with a double superplex...and Black CATCHES FLIP WITH A POWERBOMB on the way down as well! The Darewolf gets tree of woe'd by Bandido, who climbs up his body to looking to give Flip the Revolution Fly. Black sits up and hits a SPIDER GERMAN SUPERPLEX, in turn causing Bandido to Spanish Fly Gordon to the mat as well. Signature mis-step from Caristico, who thinks about a springboard but instead hops to the canvas and delivers a basement dropkick on PJ instead. ROPE RUN SPANISH FLY ON BANDIDO! 450 SPLASH BY FLIP! SPRINGBOARD 450 SPLASH BY BLACK! The Darewolf stacks up opponents and hits a springboard moonsault onto them all - but still just for two. Gory Special on Caristico, but he gets cocky and tries to fold up Bandido too and winds up collapsing onto everyone. Satellite DDT by Flip COUNTERED to a brainbuster by PJ. Corkscrew pescado to the floor scores! TOPE ATOMICO by Bandido, almost crashing into the concrete wall adjacent to the ring. ROPE RUN SUICIDE DIVE from Caristico! He isn't happy with that, and starts climbing the wall and grate fence...so Black SHOVES HIM INTO THE FRONT ROW! Bandido shoves Darewolf out after him, then gets hauled into the crowd too. The three of them slug it out among the fans as Flip ponders something in the ring. SPRINGBOARD SOMERSAULT PLANCHA OVER THE FENCE INTO THE F*CKING CROWD! Gradually they work their way back to the ring, with Caristico smashing Flip with a Superkick then hitting a DESTROYER on Black for 2. He powerbombs Gordon on top of PJ as well, then climbs up to the top rope in front of them. Bandido intercepts with the REVOLUTION FLY! Flip and PJ break the pin! Springboard Spear on PJ! Flip-5 blocked...DOUBLE 21-PLEX BY BANDIDO! He pins PJ again! Bandido wins at 14:37

Rating - **** - In a bleak year for Ring Of Honor this match became a real cult favourite. It appeared in a lot of fans MOTYC lists at the end of the year and is generally well-liked for the utter craziness on display, particularly in the second half. I didn't think it was quite that good, with some obvious mistakes and a general air of untidiness at certain points (all brilliantly covered by Caprice on commentary by the way). But, in an era where ROH usually handicaps its performers with restrictions and limitations, it was nice to see these four international class athletes just get to go wild. Flip's Bryan Danielson dive into the front row is one of the coolest spots ROH has produced in ages, and is a great pay-off to a previous show in this same building where he tried to do the same thing but got smashed up by nemesis Bully Ray instead. 

Blind Kenny King is assisted to the announce table by Amy Rose. He sells the sinister Red Mist of Great Muta at G1 Supercard, and joins commentary to continue his rivalry with Jay Lethal - whom he promises to take out as soon as he has had his 'eye surgery'.

The first clash between these two teams, as part of Tag Wars 2019 in Dallas, was one of ROH's best matches of the year thus far. The battled for almost twenty five minutes in a technical clinic - from which Lethal and Gresham emerged victorious. A rematch was demanded and sanctioned, this time under half hour Iron Man rules. The winners will get a Tag Title shot at the Guerrillas Of Destiny during the forthcoming War Of The Worlds Tour so the stakes are high. It is the first broadcast appearance of Lethal since losing the World Title at G1 Supercard and he'll be keen to bounce back quickly and go straight back into the hunt for gold.

Lethal and Haskins start, with Mark instantly looking to target Jay's arm in the same manner we've seen him do to 'The Franchise' in previous matches. Williams and Gresham next, in the same building where they met in Tracy's debut match last year. The Octopus actually tags himself out quickly; almost driven away by the intensity of Williams' mat work, leaving Hot Sauce to start taking Lethal down for fun too. Jay gets annoyed at being out-wrestled by Tracy, so snapmares him down and kicks him hard in the spine. Haskins has spotted a bandage on Gresham's arm so tries to attack it...which provokes The Octopus into a violent strike exchange. Williams wants in on that and hauls Gresh into the Lifeblood corner for some big strikes of his own. It leaves Gresham sufficiently worn down for Haskins to spearhead an attack on the bandaged left arm. Lethal recognises the danger and actually has to barge in and start breaking up submission holds to help his partner out. The scores are level at ten minutes, albeit Lifeblood have a clear advantage. Rings Of Haskins applied, with Gresh escaping almost through instinct rather than skill. Jay makes a critical blind tag and hauls Williams to the mat with the hiptoss dropkick. Gresham retains enough about him to deliver a dragon screw - targeting Tracy's leg just as they did in Dallas. Deathlock applied; damaging Tracy's leg whilst crucially not using Gresham's injured arm - although Williams aggressively strikes at the arm in order to escape. Sadly for him he walks right into a shinbreaker from Lethal, then the Figure 4 Leglock. Hot Sauce desperately lunges for the ropes as we reach the halfway point still tied at 0-0. ROCKER DROPPER by Williams, which of course does more damage to his leg. It opens the door for him to tag out though, and Haskins runs right into the STAR ARMBAR on Gresham! PK on Lethal when Gresham escapes, then a tope suicida flurry when both opponents try to flee around ringside! PUMPHANDLE DRIVER, using Gresham's bad arm, gets 2! Williams hits a frog splash, this time requiring Lethal to make the save. Dropkick to the knee by Gresh, only for Tracy to grab the bad arm for the SUPER TURNBUCKLE DDT! SHARPSHOOTER by Haskins, almost snapping Gresham in half and forcing him to tap out at 18:37. 

Lifeblood take a 1-0 lead! Tags all round, meaning it is Tracy and Jay as the legal men with ten minutes remaining. They chop the sh*t out of each other with relish, until Williams spins into a discus lariat - but comes up clutching his leg. Suplex/atomic drop combo by Lifeblood get 2, as Coleman points out that Gresham isn't even back on the apron as an option for Lethal. They have time to work over Jay's back and neck, all whilst struggling with the strike power and brute force of the former World Champion. It's a really GREAT heat segment because everything feels like a struggle. Haskins and Williams are in control but never feel comfortable and never once does The Franchise stop fighting. Eventually Lifeblood start destroying him with combo moves, and Tracy hits a DVD for 2 at 25:00. Gresham finally returns, but his leg is ruined after the Haskins' Sharpshooter. He collapses into the ropes, and gets booted in the face by his own partner as he attempts an ill-fated Lethal Injection! CAPTURE GERMAN SUPLEX by Gresham instead! CORNETTE CUTTER! Gresh pins Haskins at 26:23 to even us up at 1-1. Lethal and Gresh think about stereo dives, but The Octopus collapses in the ring leaving his partner to hit it alone. Cornette Cutter COUNTERED TO A DIVING SHINBREAKER! SAMOAN DRIVER by Haskins! SHARPSHOOTER on Gresham again! Two minutes left! LETHAL AND TRACY SUPLEX EACH OTHER OVER THE TOP ROPE TO THE FLOOR...as Gresham counters the Sharpshooter into a small package! HE PINS HASKINS! 2-1 to The Octopus' team with less than 90 seconds to go. Haskins freaks out, punts the bad arm, then the bad leg. DEATHLOCK DDT! GRESHAM KICKS OUT! FIGURE 4 LEGLOCK! GRESHAM TAGS OUT! HAIL TO THE KING! HASKINS KICKS OUT! The 30:00 time-limit expires with all four on the mat drenched in sweat and trying to punch each other's lights out! Lethal and Gresham win the match and the title shot.

Rating - **** - The Dallas match felt like a neater complete package, but for scope and ambition this one was really good. They did that thing I hate in matches where early limb work is done to kill time rather than to remain relevant. The work on Tracy's leg was smart since it referenced the Dallas bout, but they quickly forgot about it and by the end Williams was using his 'bad leg' to hit atomic drops and all sorts of moves. Similarly, Gresham's arm was a focal theme in the first half, but became something of a forgotten plot-point until right at the end when Haskins attacked it again. But these are small nitpicks, and this was half an hour of thrilling technical wrestling. I mentioned it in PBP, but the heat segment on Lethal in the second half of the match was just superb. Lifeblood were on top, but always struggling and never able to fully nullify Lethal's ability to beat them to sh*t whenever they couldn't keep him down. I absolutely adored the finish as well. Last time Gresh was in a 30-minute Iron Man Match it was against Lethal, and he lost the World Title with the deciding fall taking place in the last minute or so before the bell. Here he got his redemption by pinning Haskins with just seconds remaining to win. This stole the show and definitely lived up to the 'Masters Of The Craft' billing; a showcase of arguably the four best WRESTLERS in Ring Of Honor in 2019.

This event takes place around the anniversary of Aldis successfully beating Cabana to retain the NWA Championship on a wrestling show in China. They opened the show on commentary, with Nick constantly teasing and mocking Colt for his win. The Chicago-native eventually tired of it and bated Aldis into putting the belt on the line here. Colt may spend most of his time in ROH commentating, but he remains a skilled wrestler and has held the NWA Championship twice previously. He could be the one going to the Crockett Cup as NWA Champion should he defeat the National Treasure tonight. Kamille is in Aldis' corner as usual.

Colt is feeling frisky apparently, so starts the match by slapping Nick's ass and gyrating in front of Kamille's face. Is acting like a sex attacker a babyface thing to do? Aldis is suckered into wrestling Colt's style of match early on, and falls prey to many of the Chicago veteran's signature tricks. Pescado missed by the challenger, who then gets distracted by Kamille for just long enough to allow Nick to bash him into the ringpost. The champion looks to impose himself on Cabana; hitting a big clothesline then putting all his body weight into a snug chinlock. Michinoku Driver gets 2 as well. He takes too long going to the top rope for his favourite elbow drop...and is press slammed off the top in classic Flair fashion. Flying Asshole then the Bionic Elbow from Colt. They brawl on the second rope, then Nick anticipates Cabana's signature fake-out to put boots deep into his ribs. Cloverleaf blocked into the Billy Goat's Curse! The champion barely makes the ropes to continue the match...but recovers swiftly to deliver a Tombstone Piledriver, then the Macho Elbow for 2. Quebrada by Cabana, leaving them both down...and as they struggle to recover a Villain sneaks down to ringside. Marty Scurll grabs the NWA Title belt and runs laps of the ring with it...until he is confronted by an angry Kamille. Aldis clubs his own friend Scurll to the deck. Cabana is out there too, and when he and Marty come to blows referee Paul Turner has no choice but to call the match. Colt technically wins by DQ at 10:03

Rating - ** - As a match in isolation this was entirely superfluous, skippable filler. But it did serve a purpose on this specific card to separate the Villains/Kingdom main event from the crazy four-way and the Iron Team Match, giving the crowd some much needed respite. And on the whole the audience really were into this. Both Aldis and Cabana played the hits, which in Colt's case meant he was very much in crowd-pleasing form. The finish, though, really was dumb and felt totally uninspired in both an ROH context and as build to the Aldis/Scurll NWA Title Match too. 

Colt stomps off, furious that Scurll has cost him the NWA Championship. Inside the ring, Marty isn't done. He NAILS Aldis with his umbrella and poses with his title belt; their friendship violently imploding under the championship pressure on the way to The Crockett Cup...

This is a rematch from ROH TV Episode 493, which saw the Villains complete a memorable weekend in Las Vegas by defeating The Kingdom for the Six-Man Titles. It was a championship match they'd been demanding since they debuted in the aftermath of Final Battle, and a match Taven and his cronies had ducked for as long as possible. Of course, the match at Ep. 493 did come right after Taven went an hour with Jay Lethal at the 17th Anniversary. This time Taven enters as World Champion having successfully beaten both Lethal and Scurll in the G1 Supercard Ladder Match. Can Marty get some revenge for that, or is he now distracted by Nick Aldis and the NWA Heavyweight Title? Will The Kingdom get the belts back for a quite incredible fourth reign?

Marty is still sore about the events of MSG, so demands we up the stakes and make it a Street Fight. The Kingdom immediately agree and we have a crazy brawl right from the opening bell. SOMERSAULT PLANCHA by Brody! BACK BODY DROP PLANCHA by Scurll and PCO! Taven survives the early onslaught to crunch Marty's skull into the guardrails, but on the other side of the ring PCO is busy chopping O'Ryan so hard he falls into the front row. Scurll grabs a chair, but takes so long about it that Taven is able to hit a Raven drop toehold straight into it. King smears the World Champion with a chair...but turns into TK as he CHAIR SHOTS Brody's broken hand! Four chairs are opened up in the middle of the ring, with everyone on the outside. Kick Of The King from Taven to Marty, only for PCO to scoop him up seconds later and deliver a Michinoku Driver. The Monster lays Taven out across the four chairs...but is intercepted by Vinny and TK before any damage can befall the champion. DOUBLE SUPERPLEX THROUGH THE OPEN CHAIRS from The Kingdom to PCO. Marty is down a team member, so he and King stall for time by throwing chairs into their opponents' faces. They bring a table from under the ring but are taken out by O'Ryan and Marseglia before they can use it. TK wants to put the table away, and gets into an argument with Vinny who wants to use it! Tope suicida from Scurll to Taven when the champ has to curtail the argument between his own partners. Sunset flip/German suplex combo, followed by the 619/cannonball combo; Scurll and Brody taking the fight to Taven. Marseglia saves with the Acid Drop on Marty! The Kingdom set up the table in the corner of the ring, but are tripped by Brody and PCO before they can hit Rock Star Supernova. RUNNING DVD THROUGH THE TABLE from King to Taven! The champ is surrounded by the Villains - and needs his partners to save his ass with steel chairs before Marty breaks his finger. Brody, PCO, TK and Vinny brawl around ringside, dragging out more and more tables as they go. O'Ryan hits a Russian legsweep into the guardrail, whilst elsewhere Brody rocks Vinny with a LARIAT on the stage! Taven teases giving Marty the Chickenwing...COUNTERED WITH THE CLIMAX by Scurll for 2! O'Ryan grabs Marty and drags him to the top rope, but The Villain escapes by snapping his fingers so hard that he falls from the top THROUGH A TABLE! The camera angle was such that I didn't see the table combing there! ACID DROP OFF THE APRON from Vinny to Brody! Marseglia hops onto the stage. REDRUM OFF THE STAGE THROUGH THE TABLE! In the ring Taven low blows PCO and hits The Climax, but Scurll breaks the pin. Pop-up Powerbomb into Just The Tip on Marty! Matt circles Scurll now holding his World Title belt...but gets distracted by a revived PCO! UMBRELLA SHOT BY MARTY! PCO-SAULT! PCO PINS TAVEN! Villains retain at 16:11

Rating - **** - I really enjoyed this one. I've seen others go lower on their rating so clearly mileage on this may vary, but I thought all involved did a great job. It wasn't a particularly deep or smart match, but the pace was frenetic and some of the big spots were really inventive. Marseglia looked in his element doing silly hardcore stunts, PCO and Brody looked like monsters, Scurll did a better job than anyone else on the entire roster of actually reacting to G1 Supercard and genuinely making me feel like he CARED about not winning in MSG with his demeanour...and Taven complemented everyone else with his display as a cocky prick champion. I'm not sure I'd have jobbed him out in his first televised match since MSG, but people were so annoyed about him being champion anyway I'm not sure it hurt him much either - and PCO winning instantly capitalises on his popularity to set up a fun Taven/PCO title match for War Of The Worlds.

Tape Rating - *** - ROH's 2019 vintage has a bad reputation, but this is definitely a show that is worth checking out. There are some really great matches, it takes place in a more intimate venue with a lively crowd making the whole show feel more vibrant and less like empty arena wrestling too. There's also something for every taste here; from a hardcore brawl in the main event, a thirty minute technical tag team classic, fast-paced spot mayhem, comedy, an NWA Title Match for 'old school wrestling fans, Women Of Honor action etc. I didn't agree with many of Delirious' creative decisions...but nor did any of them agitate me as spectacularly as everything ROH tried at G1 Supercard. If you can get past the creative nose-dive trajectory, the actual wrestling on this show is seriously under-rated.

3) Marty Scurll/Brody King/PCO vs Matt Taven/Vinny Marseglia/TK O'Ryan (****)

2) Bandido vs Caristico vs PJ Black vs Flip Gordon (****)

1) Jay Lethal/Jonathan Gresham vs Tracy Williams/Mark Haskins (****)