McXal's Reviews

ROH have been running 'Saturday Night At Center Stage' events for some time, but that is one of the titles they've given to their TV taping nights in this venue. Tonight, for the first time we have the title used for an Honor Club VOD live event, with the show once again airing in full but with segments being utilised for feature matches and highlights on ROH television in the coming weeks. The main event sees the return of Champions vs All-Stars; a concept which dates back to 2011 and sees a squad of ROH title holders face a group of the top names in the company. This year it's Matt Taven, Shane Taylor and the Briscoes facing Jay Lethal, Jeff Cobb, Kenny King and Rush. Beneath that we'll also see the Villain Enterprises/Lifeblood feud continue as Marty Scurll meets Bandido in a much-anticipated singles bout. Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman provide commentary from Atlanta, GA.

We'll see more Lifeblood/Villains action later when Marty faces Bandido, but we begin the night with a tag team grudge match between the factions. We've seen chaotic multi-man tags, brutal Street Fights, double-crossings and no shortage of spectacular wrestling in this rivalry. Lifeblood was 'born' in this very building at the start of 2019, and before long they were in the finals of the 2019 Tag Wars Tournament - where Juice Robinson and David Finlay lost to Brody and PCO. The feud shows no signs of abating and here we see two competitive teams vying to get one over their rivals, whilst also getting ahead of them in the pecking order for a Tag Title shot...

The Villains charge Lifeblood, ensuring the match begins with a big four-man brawl. Haskins and Williams work quickly to divide their opponents, drive them from the ring then score with CRISS-CROSS top rope/suicide dives. It continues on the floor as they cross again to hit simultaneous pump kicks. King orders PCO into the ring...but he 'malfunctions' and hits a TOPE SUICIDA ONTO NOBODY! And appeared to land right on his head?! Presumably that's to see the damage inflicted by Lifeblood? Todd Sinclair has to call for medical assistance for PCO, whilst on the other side of the ring Tracy and Mark gang up on King. PCO is bleeding from his face...but shrugs off the medics and hits a TOPE CON HILO! It has to be said that the Monster has an even more glazed and vacant expression on his face than usual. He isn't moving particularly smoothly either, so sensibly tags out and lets Brody lead the assault on Haskins. He returns a minute or so later to join his partner for a double chokeslam, but again doesn't remain in long before letting King back in to spearhead their team. The pressure starts to tell on Brody, who loses control and lets Haskins tag out to a pumped up Hot Sauce. He hooks Brody's legs to deliver a back suplex...and starts peppering PCO's bloody face with elbows. SPEAR by PCO, followed by a northern lights bomb. He lumbers to the top rope and hits his crazy Cannonball Senton for 2. Haskins comes in throwing strikes like a wild-man...so Brody LIGERBOMBS HIM ON HIS NECK! Williams has to break the pin on that, and is rewarded with a brutal Roaring Elbow from PCO. He drags Tracy to the top rope, only for Hot Sauce to grab the head and look for the super turnbuckle DDT. PCO is so out of it he clearly doesn't understand what is happening...so Tracy decides to just headbutt his bloody wound instead. Brody decks him and tries to back drop PCO on top, but PCO makes no attempt to move his body and absolutely FLATTENS Tracy in a move which looked both brutal, awesome and wildly dangerous all at once! Haskins makes the save by hitting a flying double stomp on King. REBOUND short-range double powerbomb by Lifeblood, dumping Brody hard onto his neck just as he did to Haskins earlier. Brody retaliates by countering the Piledriver and giving Tracy the Bossman Slam. Haskins shoves PCO off the top rope, but in doing so turns his back on Brody. Hot Sauce saves his partner from the Gonzo Bomb. PILEDRIVER by Williams! But PCO breaks the pin! HASKINS HITS PCO WITH THE SOLDIER ROLL ON THE APRON! Flip Gordon appears, misses hitting Tracy with a steel chair once...so needs a second attempt before finally connecting with his back. It rockets him into the GONZO BOMB! Brody pins Tracy at 14:31

Rating - *** - This was carnage. PCO's injury added more drama and spectacle of course, but even without that this would still have felt like a really chaotic and violent match. In that sense I thought this was a really strong bout to progress the VE/Lifeblood feud without giving anything major away. I don't particularly like the PCO 'short circuit' gimmick, but in this instance it was given some context by the match as Lifeblood started the stronger of the two teams and delivered such a beating on the outside that it caused the 'short circuit'...which in turn led to his injury. He did seem legitimately out afterwards, moving even more awkwardly than normal and playing his part in quite a few weird or clumsy spots. Had they put a better finish on this (and maybe even if they hadn't screwed up the interference finish they did have), I'd have possibly gone higher on my rating. This was a good 'feud-building' bout and a great start to the show.

Ian R leaves commentary to bring out the Rock'n'Roll Express to the ring. Ricky Morton says that at Honor For All tomorrow they want to become recognised World Tag Champions again, when they face the Briscoes. The mention of their name brings out Jay and Mark, with Jay in particular not believing that the R'n'R's want to face them again after their first match at the 2019 Crockett Cup. Security comes out to separate them before the Briscoes can pull anything, but Jay promises they'll end the veterans tomorrow night in Nashville.

WOH World Champion Kelly Klein joins commentary to watch a match between two of only three women to ever pin her in ROH (I believe the other is Deonna Purrazzo). Love beat her at Best In The World, albeit in controversial - i.e. illegal - circumstances. She now believes she is the rightful #1 contender to Kelly's title, whilst Klein has made it clear she wants to put Angelina out of ROH altogether. It's surely a matter of time before they meet, but Sakai won't want to be a stepping stone for Angelina here. She was the first ever WOH Champion and knows victory here could earn her another shot at the belt she once held with such pride. She's another on the WOH roster who has made it known publicly that she doesn't think The Allure belong in this promotion. Once again we only have two thirds of The Allure out tonight; Velvet Sky absent and therefore only Mandy Leon in Love's corner.

Angelina refuses to shake hands then attacks Sakai from behind, in a pretty typical move from The Allure. It doesn't end there as she distracts the referee whilst Mandy chokes Sumie in the ropes as well. Jumping flatliner nailed next, leaving Sakai in position for the Koji Clutch. Sumie has a hard time escaping too, particularly since Mandy moves the ropes making it harder for her to put her feet on them. At last the former champion mounts some offence, landing the TJ Neckbreaker and climbing the ropes looking for a missile dropkick. Unfortunately Angelina puts a stop to that and hauls her down with a Samoan drop. Smash Mouth blocked, so Sakai judo throws Love into a cross armbreaker instead. It's Angelina's turn to face a desperate struggle in making the ropes. Sumie looks for the big finish...only for Love to hide under the turnbuckles to stop her opponent hitting a moonsault. Mandy takes the opportunity to spray hairspray into Sakai's eyes...setting up the Botox Injection and the victory for Angelina at 06:46

Rating - * - I don't enjoy The Allure at all, but to defend Angelina; she is a solid pro and whether one likes the gimmick or not she is pretty much the only member of the 'regular' WOH roster who gets consistent heel heat or even reactions from live crowds. There is little doubt that Klein/Love is as hyped and anticipated a WOH World Title Match as we've seen - perhaps since the formation of the championship. The bigger issue I have is that I don't think matches like this do much to build the credibility of either woman, nor the Women Of Honor division and by proxy ROH's commitment to women's wrestling in a wider sense. This was a short, unimaginative and lacklustre affair which ended all too predictably and, if anything, made me want to see Angelina in a title match even less.

Okumura and Felino are veteran workers representing CMLL, and are here to promote the big Global Wars Espectacular events next month. Okumura is in his late-40's, is actually Japanese rather than Mexican, and is returning to ROH having previously appeared in 2016. Felino is in his 50's, albeit he looks fantastic for it. They team with Silas Young, who now teams with some of CMLL's luchadors having scouted them from the announce booth back at Summer Supercard. They face Shinobi Shadow Squad, looking to rebuild after failing to take the Six-Man Titles from Villain Enterprises in New York. Silas has Josh Woods in his corner, carrying a notebook and apparently now agreeing to receiving tutelage from the 'Last Real Man'.

Burger hits an early armdrag on Okumura, who appears to struggle with the speed and diminutive stature of his opponent. Felino tags in with Nova; a stockier individual who is able to use that bulk to muscle Nova around the ring with ease. Isom enters the ring and is joined by Silas, reprising a singles match the two had earlier in 2019. Eli uses his speed to his advantage and comes close to pinning Young on a couple of occasions. He hauls Silas into the 3S corner, allowing them to hit combo moves that really leave Silas on the back foot. Okumura shows his veteran smarts; distracting Burger to allow Silas to get away and tag out. The CMLL veterans team up to put CB to the sword, isolating the leader of the opposition trio. Cheese does eventually make a hot tag to Isom, who hits a swinging back suplex on Silas. Springboard moonsault to the floor wipes out all three opponents, before he calls Nova into the ring to hit a flying knee/back suplex combo. Okumura shuts down that momentum with a hanging DDT out of the ropes. Flying body splash from Felino, trying to capitalise on a Tower Of Doom car crash out of the corner...but it's only good for a near-fall. All six men are brawling now, with Felino catching Ryan with an Awesome Bomb to win at 10:30

Rating - ** - Clearly nothing like the exhibition or Global Wars Espectacular preview bout that the CMLL trios match in Toronto provided. This was flat, it felt like filler, and it was also very apparent that Felino and Okumura are not performers on the same level as the likes of Caristico, Soberano, Rush, Titan, Dragon Lee or any other of the more spectacular luchadors we've seen cross from CMLL. It was interesting seeing them provide a different spin on the veteran/rookie dynamic which we see a lot with Shinobi Shadow Squad trios bouts though...

Silas calls Josh Woods into the ring, and talks about the lessons he could learn from international veterans like Felino and Okumura. He asks Josh to demonstrate what he has learned...and is pleased to watch as Woods blind-sides the visiting stars and leaves them laying. Silas is pleased with that and they are all smiles as they walk out. This segment would have been more effective if the production team had actually caught Josh's cheap-shot (it took place off camera)...

The winner of this match receives a TV Title shot tomorrow night at Honor For All. Neither man has ever challenged for that belt before, so it ensures a fresh challenge for dominant champion Shane Taylor. On current form in ROH Black is really the only man who qualifies for a shot, and even he has lost more matches that he has won since signing with the company. LSG is here for a rare singles outing, as frustration grows within the Coast 2 Coast team at the lack of progress up the card they've made. Owens is the outsider of course, the 'Crown Jewel' of Bullet Club, in from NJPW and looking to emulate the Guerrillas Of Destiny in taking ROH gold back to Japan...

Chase tells the ROH talent to 'suck it', so they start the match by double-teaming him and ejecting him from the ring. When he tries to come back in, PJ launches LSG into a spear through the ropes, then Leon gets payback by back dropping the Darewolf over the top rope into a plancha to take Owens out again! Sliding flatliner by Owens, and he then counters St. Giovanni's Rolling Thunder lariat into a lungblower for 2. He rebounds LSG off the ropes before hitting a DVD for 2. Black puts together a strike flurry which scatters both of his opponents, and he then stacks them both on top of each other to flatten then with a springboard moonsault. Pendulum stretch applied on Leon...but that leaves him exposed to some strikes from Owens. 450 SPLASH by LSG gets 2, broken by PJ who is presumably annoyed that St. Giovanni stealing his move. He yells at LSG to watch how it's done...so St. Giovanni crotches him on the top rope. Chase's Package Piledriver is blocked into the Saint-splosion by LSG for 2. The Crown Jewel recovers to knee PJ in the jaw and lays out both opponents with a DDT/flatliner combo. Package Piledriver on LSG - Owens wins at 09:57

Rating - ** - This was unremarkable, predictable and formulaic. That doesn't make it a bad match necessarily, but there certainly wasn't much you'll remember about it either. Owens winning is vaguely interesting as he is an outsider so we'll get a pretty unique title match, but I thought it was actually LSG's performance which was the most intriguing here - giving real hints as to what he could offer if given the opportunity to run as a singles star.

Dalton Castle makes his way to the ring, dressed in an extravagant peacock-coloured suit. He feels undervalued by ROH officials, since he is 'the most entertaining person' in the company...and vows to grab their attention by becoming World Champion again. Joe Hendry interrupts, making his first live US appearance for ROH since signing a contract. His mic fails during his opening line, which is kind of a bummer. He calls himself a future World Champion, and wants to start his road to the title by beating Dalton. 

This is one of the big money matches in the feud between Villain Enterprises and Lifeblood. Bandido has been a breakout star for ROH in 2019; signed from under the noses of AEW and stealing shows in ROH rings all year. One of his highest profile defeats, though, came at the hands of Flip Gordon at War Of The Worlds Buffalo...which is particularly pertinent after the events of Best In The World when Gordon stabbed Lifeblood in the back to become 'The Mercenary' of Villain Enterprises. Flip has barely wrestled since BITW due to injury, so tonight Bandido is looking to inflict a devastating defeat on the leader of the Villains instead. This takes place a day before a (scheduled) Six-Man Title Match for Lifeblood, so Bandido may also be looking to soften Scurll up ahead of that. The winner of this clearly also moves towards the front of the line to challenge for the World Title too.

The crowd is hot for this, and split in their allegiances meaning both competitors get vocal support before the bell. It means both men start the match full of bravado and spend much of the early going playing to their fans rather than wrestling. Scurll wants to keep his opponent on the ground as you might expect, and has some smart counters for much of the luchador's trademark sequences. In return, he is surprised at Bandido's ability to grapple and trade holds with him, and we go to a stalemate. The Villain pokes the eyes in an effort to get ahead, only for Bandido to tag him with a superkick which knocks him to the floor. Apron Superkick by Scurll, which he celebrates by going into the crowd and stealing a replica ROH World Title belt to pose with. He stomps Bandido's arm into the canvas, grinding the match to a halt and starting to soften up the luchador for his finishing move. Bandido tries a press slam...but Scurll can slither away due to the damaged arm. TORNILLO instead by Bandido, then a tilta-whirl backbreaker to send Marty to the floor. RUNNING MOONSAULT TO THE OUTSIDE! 21-Plex blocked with a Roaring Elbow and the HALF NELSON SUPLEX by Scurll. It further exacerbates Bandido's shoulder-injury, which Scurll makes worse with the GHOSTBUSTER for 2! Black Plague blocked...but Marty boots the arm from under Bandido when he tries to escape The Villain by performing a handstand. Bandido tries to build up a head of steam...so Scurll nails him with another half nelson suplex. Bandido NO SELLS and smashes Scurll in the neck with a diving knee strike! Fatigue is starting to set in, which they compound by leathering each other with a series of vicious chops. Bandido chases Scurll up the ropes, but The Villain blocks Revolution Fly. BUCKLE BOMB! X-KNEE! Marty gets his shoulder up at the last moment on the ensuing pin. 21-Plex blocked, Chickenwing blocked...RED STAR PRESS by Bandido! He takes Marty to the top rope and nails the REVOLUTION FLY! That's how he beat Marty in Philadelphia (albeit through a table), but this time he is too injured to capitalise. CHICKENWING! Bandido rolls out...straight into a lariat. PACKAGE PILEDRIVER by Marty! BLACK PLAGUE! Scurll wins at 18:51

Rating - **** - The scary thing about this is that they definitely had a better match in them. This was exciting, well-wrestled, intense and fought in front of a great crowd - full of Spanish-speaking Bandido fans making for a great atmosphere. They had some really smart, logical ideas too; Scurll trying to ground Bandido and injure the arm, whilst the luchador looked to use his speed and strength to blast through The Villain. But none of those themes were explored in enough detail for my liking. I wanted to see more of Marty using his British style to keep Bandido grounded. I wanted to see more arm work to increase the drama on that Chickenwing at the end. The Revolution Fly spot was great; spectacular in its own right but a callback to the Philly Street Fight as well...but they didn't let that moment breathe at all. I don't believe we'd ever get to see a singles rematch between these two unfortunately.

Scurll shakes hands and puts Bandido over on his way out of the arena, which seems slightly odd in the context of a supposedly bitter feud and entirely out of keeping for the conduct of a 'Villain'...

Quinn McKay walks Lanny Poffo to the announce table, as he will be providing guest commentary on the Champions vs All-Stars main event. He seems kindly and well-intentioned, but doesn't contribute a great deal of content which is overly relevant to the Ring Of Honor product in 2019...

Elimination Rules have been brought back for Champions vs All-Stars 2019, which always throws up some interesting possibilities as we see active champions pinned; something that doesn't happen often. There is a lot going on between these eight men as well. Lethal, King and Cobb have all failed to take the World Title from Taven, whilst Rush made it clear at Summer Supercard he wants a title shot as well. For any of those four, a pin over Taven would cement a championship match fairly quickly. Cobb will also have eyes on Shane Taylor, the man who took his TV Title from him without beating him back at War Of The Worlds Toronto. Kenny is also a former TV Champion, and another man who has plenty of history with Taylor (as well as a lengthy blood-feud with the Briscoes back in his ANX days). Can King coexist on the same team as his bitter rival Jay Lethal? The same could be said for Taven and the Briscoes too; those three men have battled multiple times down the years. This match also brings Rush and the Briscoes back into the same match for the first time since their bloodbath TV match in Philadelphia as well. Amy Rose accompanies Kenny King as a manager for the first time tonight.

Before the champions even get out to the ring Lethal and Kenny are arguing about Amy Rose's presence at ringside and start fighting among themselves. Taven calls out Rush (who is by far the most popular of the eight men here), steals his catchphrase, then walks away to make Jay face El Toro Blanco. Just like in Philly they don't waste any time in absolutely beating the sh*t out of each other, only really breaking so Rush can spit at Taven. Lethal gets the better of Mark next, but is forcibly tagged out by King...who enters and starts doing Lethal's signature moves on Mark! That leaves Cobb and Taylor, who butt heads in the middle of the ring like battering rams. Jeff's speed ensures he can see off the TV Champion...then his power means he can toss the World Champion around too! He drags Matt into the All-Star corner, where they take turns lighting him up with strikes. Rush and King demonstrate some real chemistry as a team, even doing Rush's 'Ingobernable' taunt together. That comes to an end when Lethal pretty much punches Kenny in the face to tag himself in. He looks for the Lethal Injection on Jay Briscoe, who blocks it triggering a frantic near-miss/counter sequence between those two long-time rivals. It ends with Lethal down in the Champions' corner eating a barrage of cheap-shots from Taven. The champ orchestrates his team to take turns moving in and out of the ring to strike at Lethal, getting payback for his own treatment minutes earlier. In the end it's actually Kenny King who comes to Lethal's aid by jumping Mark. The Briscoes quickly hit him with a flurry of their signature double-team moves. All eight men spill into the ring as referee Todd Sinclair loses all control. Mark opens up a chair in the ring and uses it for a STEP-UP SOMERSAULT PLANCHA to the floor! Redneck Boogie on King...with Cobb having to dive in and break the ensuing pin. Amy Rose tries to offer Kenny some water, which both distracts and annoys Jay Briscoe. As he remonstrates with Amy, King rolls him up for the three, eliminating Jay at 17:21. Amy heads to the locker room having been doused in water, whilst Kenny celebrates another win over a former World Champion. 

He is so thrilled he doesn't see Lethal ready to forcibly blind-tag him out of the match in fact. Lethal Combination gets 2 on Taven, and he slithers back into his corner to avoid any further interaction with The Franchise. On the other side of the ring Kenny and Lethal exchange another unwilling tag. CORKSCREW PLANCHA from King to Taylor! Blue Thunder Driver on Taven to counter The Climax! Spinebuster on Mark too! GREETINGS FROM 216! Taylor eliminates Kenny at 22:28! Shane T looks composed and determined to seize this main event opportunity; going to work on Lethal's midsection - which the rest of the Champions' Team picks up on and utilises too. Lethal desperately dodges a mafia kick from Taven...causing him to lay out the TV Champion in error. LETHAL INJECTION on Mark! He is eliminated by Lethal at 27:54...only for Taven to jump Jay and continue the savage beating on his injured midsection. The clock ticks past the 30-minute mark, which is a LONG match for Shane Taylor, who relies on distractions from Matt Taven to avoid losing Lethal to a hot tag. Matt also punts Lethal in the balls on the way back to his corner as well! AIR TAVEN wipes out Cobb and Rush! Taylor COUNTERS the Lethal Injection into Greetings From 216, meaning the TV Champion secures a memorable victory over The Franchise at 32:19. The final four all pile into the ring trading strikes. ATHLETIC-PLEX from Cobb to Taven gets 2. But Taven counters Tour Of The Islands and lands a rolling neckbreaker in response. Climax blocked by Jeff, who quite literally LAUNCHES Taven spinning through the air! Rush has had enough of Taven; getting in his face even without being the legal man. So Taylor f*cking BELTS him with an elbow strike! Jumping elbow by Rush...but as he lines up the Bull's Horns Taven nails him with a steel chair! The World Champion is eliminated by disqualification at 36:35. The match continues, but Taven remains in the ring beating on El Toro Blanco with a chair. Somehow Rush GETS BACK UP...so Taven leaves in a hurry. HAWAIIAN STAMPEDE from Cobb to Taylor! BULL'S HORNS! Rush pins Taylor to win at 38:57

Rating - **** - I'm glad this was booked to get plenty of time. It would have been easy not to, given that this will end up on television, but giving them almost forty minutes meant the participants had plenty of room to explore different combinations and match-ups, plus build on a few existing feuds. In fact, at times they sacrificed the kind of high-octane, spot-heavy mayhem these matches usually degenerate into to play with the chemistry between them all. Taylor came off particularly strongly, lasting the full duration, racking up both eliminations for his team and only losing because two of the top heavyweights in the company were beating him up simultaneously. Kenny's rivalry with Lethal was explored in more detail, we were given more build to Rush/Taven, Lethal pinning Mark sets up the Tag Title shot he's been vocal about wanting, and there were even some teases for the future La Faccion Ingobernable as Kenny King and Rush hinted at an alliance between them. It wasn't the most thrilling longer form match you'll see, and I also found Lanny Poffo's commentary quite off-putting, but as a forty-minute exploration of the dynamics between most of the top guys in ROH's main event scene I thought this was really interesting. The main job of a Champions vs All-Stars match is to promote current feuds and generate some interesting future title matches; I think it delivered on that front

Cobb offers to shake hands with Rush, who shoves him aside and storms off still laser-focused on Matt Taven and the World Title.

Tape Rating - *** - There are only three matches worth watching on this card...but between them they make up more than two hours of the three-hour show. As such this is actually an easy one to recommend to Honor Club viewers. The main events were strong, the opening match was chaotic and violent. As I've discussed before, changing the format of the promotion to put everything live on Honor Club and have anything they like ripped out for the TV broadcast has certainly dialled up the intensity and excitement in what would previously have been a slightly mundane house-show or cramped TV taping. My expectations weren't necessarily high, but this event turned out to be a solid watch...

3) Brody King/PCO vs Tracy Williams/Mark Haskins (***)

2) Marty Scurll vs Bandido (****)

1) Matt Taven/Shane Taylor/Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Jay Lethal/Jeff Cobb/Kenny King/Rush (****)