McXal's Reviews

The race for the World Championship takes centre stage tonight, with the semi-finals and final of the 8-man tournament to determine who receives an ROH Title shot in the main event of Final Battle 2019. Dalton Castle, PCO, Marty Scurll and Jay Lethal are the last men standing in a heavy-hitting final four. Rush will also be making his first defence of the belt tonight, granting a title shot to the winner of a Battle Royal at the start of the show. The Women's World Title is on the line as well; we will be seeing the big Death Before Dishonor rematch as Angelina Love defends against two-time former champion Kelly Klein. And after an intense confrontation in Milwaukee, Alex Shelley and Jonathan Gresham meet in a much-anticipated singles bout. Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman and Colt Cabana are in position for commentary, in New Orleans, LA.

This is a 15-man Battle Royal, with the winner getting a title shot at Rush later in the show. There are lots of established Ring Of Honor stars involved like Kenny King, Silas Young, Josh Woods, The Bouncers, Coast 2 Coast, Rhett Titus, Joe Hendry & Cheeseburger, plus rising star Brian Johnson. Cagematch lists local independent talents Bu Ku Dao (more recently of MLW), Matt Lancie, Jace Valor and also 'Big Daddy Yum Yum' among the participants...

The bell rings all everyone has to rush into the ring to start the match...except Kenny King sneaks off and hides under the ring just like he did at G1 Supercard. Brian Johnson goes on a tear and eliminates Lancie, Valor and Dao in short order...but then gets bitten in the head by Bruiser before he can celebrate. For some reason nobody attacks BCB whilst he hits his stupid 'I ain't got no teeth' catchphrase. Hendry tosses Johnson out, then hands Bruiser an autograph. Woods and Young team up to eliminate Cheeseburger - Silas stealing the elimination from Josh at the last second. Titus skins the cat to avoid being eliminated by Ali, going right into a tornado DDT back at him. HEAD DROP EXPLODER from Woods to Rhett! And for a second time Young steals an elimination from Josh by tossing Titus out of the ring. Titus is pissed off at being eliminated, so goes under the ring and drags Kenny King out! He feeds King to Hendry...who dumps him to the floor! Silas tosses Joe seconds later, whilst C2C knock Bruiser to the floor. Milonas grabs both Ali and LSG by the throat to charge them over the top rope as well. Yum Yum hits a rebound elbow strike on Milonas, but Kingpin catches him going for a crossbody and tosses him to the floor. The final three are Woods, Young and Milonas. Silas kicks Brawler in the balls before dumping him out. Silas turns on Josh and teases him with the suggestion that he wants a hug. Woods is elated at that prospect...but when he goes in for the embrace Silas simply turns and throws him over the top rope. Silas gets the title shot, winning at 07:35

Rating - * - Does anybody actually like Battle Royals? I get the appeal of a Royal Rumble/staggered entry match where mystery surrounds each entrant and you can tell layered stories as the ring fills and empties...but matches like this are almost always a total mess. Silas winning feels like a 'safe' choice; he's more than capable of having a good match with Rush, has some credibility in and around the main event scene since he possesses multiple wins over guys like Jay Lethal...but will also lose very little when Rush defeats him. The fact that the Kenny/Rhett feud got some further heat, and the odd-couple relationship between Silas and Josh occupied the vast majority of the run-time meant that this was actually a lot better than it could have been.

Our first of two #1 Contender Tournament semi-final bouts brings together two of the most unique personalities in ROH. Castle is looking to get back into the ROH Title picture having spent most of the year out of the running. His recent in-ring performances have hinted that he may be getting back to his best...but he has his work cut out for him this evening. He faces the dangerous and unpredictable PCO. That said, PCO currently has a problem with malfunctioning and short-circuiting (urgh)...meaning question marks remain about his condition coming into the contest.

PCO has a new Cary-tron video and a smoke effect-filled entrance which looks REALLY cool. I'm not clear on why he now wrestles in a jacket which makes him look like Uncle Fester though. Castle wants to grapple him but seems completely unsure how to get to grips with someone of PCO's unorthodox stature. GERMAN SUPLEX NAILED! But PCO simply no-sells it and clobbers the Peacock with a DDT. Next Dalton bashes the Monster's head into the ringpost...only for PCO to Undertaker up from the floor and chokeslam him into the apron. With a vacant look on his face, PCO rips up the protective mats from the floor and seems intent on giving Castle a superplex onto the concrete. But he has another 'electrical malfunction' and collapses, giving Dalton a window to attack. He hits a suplex on the floor and returns to the ring hoping optimistically for a count-out. The former World Champion is relentless; hammering PCO with continual headshots and suplexes. He then picks the Monster up and body slams him OVER THE TOP ROPE to the concrete floor below. Still PCO gets up, so Dalton starts attacking him on the floor again then opens up a couple of metal folding chairs. SPINEBUSTER THROUGH THE CHAIRS! But PCO won't stay down! Castle freaks out and gives him repeated sliding DDT's - that barely get a two-count. Cactus Clothesline by the Villain Enterprises representative, which knocks Castle out of the ring for a crazy tope suicida. PCO-SAULT! PCO wins at 12:24

Rating - *** - I'd actually call this a ***1/2 star match, and pretty much the best match I'd ever expect these two guys to put on. The contrast between their personalities is stark, but that actually made for an incredibly watchable contest. PCO started the match by totally ignoring Castle's offence, basically convincing Dalton that he had no chance of pinning the Monster (only Matt Taven has ever pinned him in ROH). So when another one of those goofy 'electrical malfunctions' occurred Dalton took advantage and tried to win by count-out or knock-out. Everything he did involved beating PCO to sh*t on the floor, dropping him on his neck or smacking him in the head. The visual of the colourful, sequin-clad Castle pulverising the blank-eyed, face-painted, Uncle Fester-looking, 52-year old freak of nature was really striking. 

The winner of this advances to meet PCO in the main event, meaning the possibility of an all-Villain Enteprises tournament final is very real. Ian Riccaboni reminds us that these two met at Final Battle 2017, which saw Lethal emerge victorious. They haven't actually crossed paths too often, particularly since G1 Supercard when both were defeated by Matt Taven in a triple threat Ladder Match for the World Title. Jay has cut promos about his dream of becoming a 3-time champion, whilst Marty thinks he has been the top star in the promotion and uncrowned champion for a long time. He has called this tournament possibly his 'last chance' to win the ROH World Title...

Scurll rushes Jay from the bell...and is met by a dropkick from the former champion then a couple of tope suicidas. Apron Superkick countered to the springboard dropkick by Lethal, allowing him to complete the Tope Trilogy. Figure 4 blocked...but so is Scurll's Superkick allowing Jay to drive him spine-first into the apron. Hail To The King countered to a crucifix pin...then Marty blocks the Lethal Combo too. Lethal Injection blocked...Chickenwing blocked...ACE CRUSHER! That opening two minute sprint was superb. Marty finally hits his Apron Superkick and from that position sets Jay up to bounce his sternum and throat into the edge of the ring. Marty then stomps Lethal's arm into the canvas; the same arm that Jon Gresham attacked so viciously at Death Before Dishonor. He manages to drop The Villain with a powerslam but almost collapses in pain afterwards. Hail To The King scores - whilst inflicting more damage to his back and arm. Chickenwing COUNTERED to the Figure 4 Leglock! Marty spends more than a minute in that hold and can barely stand afterwards. Half nelson suplex scores anyway, and Marty finally hauls Lethal into the Chickenwing. Jay finally taps, advancing Scurll to the finals at 11:26

Rating - *** - As a ten minute sprint this was really good. They had a number of neat counter sequences, Lethal sold his ass off to make Marty look great, before Scurll advances to the finals and a step closer to claiming the singles title shot many felt was inevitable. I didn't quite understand why they only booked them to have a ten minute match though. Ian and Colt both shilled it as a dream match, or a 'main event anywhere'...so why not treat it like one and give them a proper time-limit? I've seen how long the final goes - it's not like they needed to keep plenty in the tank for a long match later in the show. Giving these guys 20-25 minutes here to add some relevance to all those nifty counter-wrestling sequences, and to let Lethal really add some drama to proceedings with his sell-job on those injuries would have drastically improved this. 

Why the hell is this a title match? If ROH now has to pay Shane Taylor more to defend the title, why the f*ck would they pay for a local jobber to wrestle for it? Spade has history with Taylor outside of ROH, and is apparently from New Orleans so gets some crowd support. 

Spade actually knocks the champion out of the ring with an early flurry of strikes, then takes flight for a tope con hilo which completely floors him. Shane quickly returns to the ring and decimates him with a Baldo Bomb. The pace slows, and Taylor verbally berates his challenger whilst pummelling him in the corner. More kicks from Spade, then a springboard spear for 2. Why the hell have ROH put Taylor in a match with a local enhancement talent and let the kid basically have all the offence?! Taylor cuts off more strikes with an urinage slam, then finally wins with Greetings From 216 at 05:44

Rating - DUD - I really like the idea behind Shane Taylor Promotions (ROH legitimately has done a sh*tty job promoting Taylor for pretty much his entire ROH run), and I love Taylor getting to be TV Champion and having a more prominent role. But matches like this are categorically NOT what he needs to get over. We shouldn't be having his belt devalued by having it on the line against local guys who have never even been on ROH television. We shouldn't be having his gimmick devalued by suggesting ROH would actually 'negotiate with Shane Taylor Promotions' to run this match. And we shouldn't be having Shane's credibility diminished by having him spend five minutes selling Spade's flimsy, cookie-cutter strikes. Almost everything about this really irritated me...

This is a rematch from Death Before Dishonor, where it took Mandy Leon interfering and spraying hairspray in Kelly's face to get the WOH Title from her. Kelly has called for an immediate rematch, and this time apparently has a mystery guest to watch her back if Mandy tries to get involved again. 

Kelly's mystery guest is conspicuous by her absence, and the same can't be said for Angelina who once again has Mandy in her corner. Klein spears Love to the ground at the bell, tossing the champion around with ease. Mandy acts quickly and distracts Kelly, allowing Love to dropkick her to the floor. Thesz Press off the apron by the champ! Mandy then starts distracting the referee too so Angelina can spend some time outright choking the Gatekeeper. Flatliner/Koji Clutch combo next, and it is applied for a prolonged period which seriously weakens Klein. Botox Injection blocked into Kelly's implant DDT...but the challenger is too worn down to capitalise. Finally she does; delivering rolling fallaway slams and a back suplex. K-Power nailed for 2. Love gets up and hits the Botox Injection - and it's Kelly's turn to kick out of a finisher. She rolls to the floor to recover but unwittingly rolls right into Mandy Leon's reach. SUICIDE DIVE TO THE FLOOR by Angelina! Botox Injection ducked, and Kelly accidently clobbers the referee as she drops Love with the K-Power. She has the match won, but with the ref down Mandy comes in and smacks her with a chair. The lights go out...and Maria Manic is here. She was Mandy's mystery guest, and she NO SELLS Leon attacking her with a chair! Her music plays New Jack-style as she almost snaps Mandy in half with a Torture Rack then decimates Angelina with a lariat. Kelly hits one more K-Power and wins the title for a third time at 11:56

Rating - ** - This did feel like an improvement on Death Before Dishonor. If I were to be mean I'd point out that the actual 'wrestling' portion of the match was pretty uninspired, bordering on tedious. But the story-telling, in particular the reaction to The Allure's cheating in Vegas, was sound. They threatened to steal the belt again, but this time Kelly had Maria Manic to help her out. Maria remains an unknown quantity but is arguably the hottest thing in ROH's women's division at this point, and the end of this match REALLY put her over hard. Considering how Kelly's time in ROH ended, I do wonder whether ROH regrets shifting the title back to Kelly here. She doesn't do much with it beyond this point, The Allure went on to feud with Maria going into Final Battle anyway...and after Kelly's rather forthright and outspoken comments about Ring Of Honor management, ROH opted to run down her contract and ditch the Women Of Honor World Title altogether.

The Hawx father/son duo get some promo time which endeavours to explain why this is a championship match, but it really doesn't amount to anything substantial. The short answer is that ROH uses Luke Hawx's promoters license to run in New Orleans, and he is booked as a result. This would be far better served as a non-title match to provide even a moderate degree of mystery and suspense as to who may win. But Delirious/Sinclair-run ROH has never understood that concept, and always thought that title changes, title matches and gimmick matches = prestige/ticket sales (as opposed to things like great matches or engaging storylines). 

Mark starts with PJ, almost growling and snarling as he tries to intimidate the youngster. Ian draws some great parallels between PJ and Mark back in 2002/2003 - the young Hawx even wrestles in a similar singlet and likes to get down on the mat for some elaborate chain-wrestling sequences. The Briscoes haul the kid into their corner and absolutely maul him, stopping only to taunt his father. Luke gets a tag and tears into Jay, actually softening him up so PJ can take a few shots too. Jay and Mark take the match to the outside and comfortably win out in a roving brawl around ringside - Mark hitting a step-up somersault plancha off a chair in the melee. When order is restored the champions once again have Perry caught in the ring and enjoy beating him up as his helpless father watches on. Finally PJ drops Mark with a suplex - and is joined by Luke to hit a double backbreaker for 2. Luke guillotines Jay into the top rope, bouncing him straight to the floor. PJ flies out on top of them with a top rope dive to the outside. Springboard outside-in moonsault by Luke gets 2. Superplex/Froggy Bow combo by the Briscoes in response...but PJ breaks the pin. He also thwarts the Briscoes' attempt at the Doomsday Device moments later, joining his father to hit a pop-up powerslam combo for a hot nearfall. Mark yells profanities in Perry's face and encourages him to hit him...finally evoking a flurry of Redneck Kung Fu. NECK DROP GERMAN SUPLEX by Perry! Redneck Boogie nailed, into the Jay Driller! Jay pins PJ to win at 12:15

Rating - *** - This really would have been better as a non-title match. The drama was tangibly stunted because everybody in the room knew the result before the bell even rung. And that's a shame because the Hawx team were getting legitimate beloved hometown babyface reactions; this match had the loudest crowd on the show by a mile. It could have been an even better atmosphere if the audience were allowed to believe their hometown heroes had even a remote chance of winning. The bout itself was decent; formulaic of course, but the Briscoes were fantastic when bullying young PJ.

During Night One of the Global Wars Espectacular Tour Alex Shelley came out to address the live crowd (since Dearborn is close to his hometown of Detroit). He talked about his World Title loss to Matt Taven in Toronto, but was pleased at his performance after a prolonged hiatus from wrestling. He listed a number of opponents in ROH he wanted to face, but was interrupted by Gresham. They are former stable-mates in Search & Destroy, have been friends and (apparently) have a shared training influence in the form of Ikuto Hidaka. Gresh berated Shelley for failing to get the World Title away from Taven and failing to restore purity and honour to the top prize in the company and both agreed to this match to see who the better man is.

This starts precisely as you'd expect; both wrestlers chaining and countering with effortless precision. They repeatedly work to a stalemate, each man having an answer for whatever their opponent throws at them. Shelley grows frustrated first and shows his smarts by backing Gresh into a corner and taking a little cheap-shot at him to get ahead. He attacks the shoulder and arm...then dials up the aggression still more by raking the eyes and clobbering Gresham across the back of the head and neck. Gresham needs to step up his game to fight back - and does so by landing a quebrada then seamlessly floating into a running punt to Alex's arm. He chickenwings the arms, stretches a leg...and generally ties Shelley into knots. Even when he releases a hold, Gresham's next move is a deep armdrag to ensure that more damage is inflicted to that arm. Shelley breaks into an AWESOME flurry of counters to thwart further attacks on his arm then dives into a dropkick to the bandaged knees of The Octopus. Alex tries a flying crossbody to crumple Gresham's knee under him again...only for Gresham to roll through into a fast-paced rolling cradle exchange; each man blowing himself up but neither able to force victory. Gresham stomps the arm again. Alex looks for an electric chair but Gresh rolls down his body with ease to escape. BRIDGING La Magistral pin, using the arm for leverage, gets 2. Shelley tries to come off the top - so again Gresh meets him with a dropkick TO THE ARM! FLYING ATOMIC DROP by Shelley! Gresham COUNTERS Sliced Bread #2 by going back to the arm. Golden Gate Swing scores for Alex. Shellshock blocked...Octopus Stretch blocked...and Shelley forces Gresham's shoulders down for three! Shelley wins at 14:31

Rating - **** - This will appeal to only a rather niche audience. It was intensely mat-based, methodically paced throughout and even when they escalated the drama and aggression the work remained wholly grounded and more akin to a chess match. Speaking solely for myself however, I was captivated by this one. I enjoyed Gresham's work on the arm of course, and I thought Shelley pulling out all his savvy veteran tricks just to stay ahead of Gresh was a neat little touch to put over just how good Gresham really is at this point. But actually, the beauty of this match for me was the hypnotic ease with which they pulled it off. It had an almost balletic quality and was head and shoulders above anything else we've seen on the show. I do question putting Shelley over though. I absolutely adore the guy as a solo worker...but coming off Gresham's huge win over Lethal at Death Before Dishonor, it was just so typical of Delirious that he fails to really capitalise and instead just slots Gresh back into his same old spot - technically excellent midcarder putting other people over.

Gresham flips out at the loss, shoving ringside attendants around and threatening Shelley with a chair. Jay Lethal runs out to calm him down, and there's a great moment where you can see Gresham visibly contemplating laying out Lethal with the chair instead. He thinks better of that and finally does shake Shelley's hand...

The war between Lifeblood and Villain Enterprises continues. In Vegas we saw Williams win out in a hard-fought No DQ Match with Flip, but clearly nothing has been settled in the long-term. Lifeblood are really struggling for numbers now with Juice Robinson and Tenille out of the company and Bandido joining David Finlay on the injured list. Can they keep their flagging stable going in the face of a villainous onslaught?

Haskins starts out with Flip, each man working hard to exert dominance on the canvas. It isn't long before Tracy demands a chance to work his arch-rival, but Gordon walks out and refuses to wrestle him. Williams and King start smoking each other with some heavy-handed striking, with such gusto that the referee has to separate them. Brody then tries to choke Tracy in the corner...only for Hot Sauce to counter into a hanging leg lock. He tries to capitalise with a springboard dive which Brody easily counters with a Bossman Slam. Only now Tracy is down does Flip willingly get into the ring with him. He and Brody isolate Williams before an unfortunate miscue opens the door for Tracy to land a missile dropkick and tag his way free. Haskins rips into Brody, despite a massive size difference! PK knocks him off the apron...then Williams THROWS FLIP INTO THE RAILING! CRISS-CROSS DIVES OUTSIDE by Lifeblood! DVD/sit-out Soldier Roll combo gets 2, necessitating Brody to break the count. Star Armbar on King! Triangle choke on Flip! But Gordon powerbombs Tracy into both Brody and Mark to break both holds. Cannonball senton in the corner by King, whilst Gordon hunts around under the ring before pulling out a kendo stick. Haskins ducks causing Flip to accidentally nail Brody with the stick! JUMPING PILEDRIVER by Williams, and he pins Flip again at 10:55

Rating - *** - On the lower end of what Lifeblood vs Villains matches have been delivering through the second half of 2019. The interactions between Williams and Gordon were great, and I really want to see more of Haskins and Brody going at it as they had a really weird but watchable chemistry in their brief exchanges. But in just ten minutes this was always going to lack substance and pale in comparison to some of the better matches in this rivalry. Tracy's win over Flip in Vegas also took us to the point where we need to see some progress in the feud too. What is the endgame? Do they have a gimmick match to finish it off? Is Lifeblood dethroning the Villains for the Six-Man belts the pay-off? If so shouldn't we be hearing more about Lifeblood wanting those belts now? For me, this bout felt like the tipping point where I started questioning whether there is any long-term plans for this rivalry beyond 'they have good matches together'...

Lifeblood don't get to celebrate for long...because Bully Ray is once again here, taking money from ROH for doing absolutely nothing. He attacks Tracy and Haskins from behind, doing basically the same dismissive powerbomb spot we were watching him do with Cheeseburger last year. Flip Gordon slides into the ring armed with a kendo stick, seemingly to reprise his own feud with Bully (where he was caned by a similar weapon in the ECW Arena). But because he is a Villain now, he hands the kendo stick to Bubba and walks away leaving the veteran to smack Haskins around with the weapon.

The World Champion Rush remains undefeated in ROH. This is his first match since winning the title from Matt Taven at Death Before Dishonor, since injury caused him to miss the Fallout show the following night. He defeated Silas earlier in 2019, and this time around Young is having to step up to El Toro Blanco having already worked a match earlier in the show. He won the Battle Royal at the start of the night to earn this spot, screwing over his student/tag partner Josh Woods to do so. Can he ensure Josh's sacrifice was worthwhile, and screw up plans for both Honor United and Final Battle by assuming Rush's place as World Champion? Lanny Poffo replaces Caprice Coleman on commentary. Like his appearance in Atlanta, charming though he is, he adds very little of relevance to Ring Of Honor's product in 2019.

Rush starts quickly as he always does, but is confronted by Silas FLYING out of the corner to spear him to the ground when he looks for an early Bull's Horns. It injures Rush's ribs and Young quickly looks to capitalise on that. He curls into a ball on the arena floor gasping for air and Silas makes it worse by hitting a diving axehandle off the apron, into the ribs. The challenger talks smack and has caught the entire arena off-guard with the dominant nature of his performance thus far. Rush grows incredibly irritated by Silas' constant narration...and blasts him with a German suplex and the Incineration knee. The champ wants to brawl on the floor; escorting Young around ringside to bash his head off multiple hard surfaces. Silas blocks the Bull's Horns...and ensures Rush inflicts more damage to his midsection when he misses a top rope senton splash. Plunge gets 2 for Young, and inflicts yet more punishment to those ribs. Misery blocked so Silas delivers the Anarchist Suplex instead. Rush explodes out of nowhere and elbows him into the corner though...for the Bull's Horns. Rush retains at 10:22

Rating - *** - A better effort than their previous match together. That one had a pretty unique dynamic for a Rush match, with Silas completely believable as someone who could slow down and antagonise the frenetic ball of energy that Rush normally presents as. This match had that same quality, but also a decent in-ring narrative to go with it. Young again slowed down and unsettled the champ...and this time also opened up an injury which at times threatened to derail the champion. And because he faced a modicum of peril, jeopardy and adversity - Rush's eventual victory feels far more impactful and emphatic. Lanny calls it 'one of the greatest matches he's ever seen'...which leads me to believe he's seen about three wrestling matches in his life. Personally I'd rather the legacy of Ring Of Honor's World Championship wasn't diminished with ten minute filler defences either.

Matt Taven storms down the aisle for an in-ring interview, looking to address the backstage attack on Vinny and TK which took place in Las Vegas. O'Ryan is now out injured with a concussion but Taven and Vinny are here to call out the unknown assailants. Nobody answers, but instead a video plays showing stalker footage following Matt Taven around the building...

This is a clash between Villains, with the winner advancing to a World Title Match in the main event of Final Battle 2019. Marty feels he is the top man in the company and destined for the championship. PCO has been almost unbeatable all year and knows becoming a World Champion in his 50's would complete one of the most remarkable comeback stories in sporting history. 

Marty says he always knew this match was inevitable...and encourages PCO to wrestle a clean match, where the best man wins. He then duly smashes PCO across the face with his umbrella before the bell rings and tries to nab an immediate victory! PCO kicks out and starts a demented climb to the top rope. Marty counters whatever he had in mind with an Iconoclasm for 2. The Monster shrugs off Scurll's attempts to work the arm and smears him into the canvas with a Pop-Up Powerbomb. Top rope Cannonball gets 2...so Marty starts snapping multiple fingers. PCO ignores that too; booting The Villain to the floor and lumbering after him to set up a table at ringside. He climbs to the top rope again, but Marty desperately scurries up to the apron to PRESS SLAM HIM THROUGH THE TABLE! Todd Sinclair gets knocked to the floor as PCO blocks the Chickenwing, and PCO gets a visible pinfall on Marty whilst Todd is down. Brody King runs in and lays out PCO with a Bossman Slam - apparently under orders from Scurll. Scurll tries to smash PCO off the top rope know - and as PCO clobbers him backwards, Scurll falls on top of Todd again. Flip Gordon does a run in and blasts PCO with the Kinder Surprise. Marty then drops him with a Six-Man Title belt shot too...but still PCO kicks out. TOPE CON HILO on Brody and Flip! PCO-Sault gets 2! He decides to take Marty out for good with his death-defying Swanton to the apron. BUT SCURLL MOVES! Despite almost killing himself on the apron, PCO is still moving...so Scurll lariats him onto his neck (and barely gets 2). PCO-Sault again...and it's PCO going to Final Battle at 13:25

Rating - * - A token star because PCO, as usual, took so many ridiculous bumps that if nothing else this main event really was a spectacle. But in brutal honesty this was a mess. The fact that Delirious needed this much bullsh*t to feel comfortable putting PCO into the World Title picture tells you that the guy simply shouldn't have been put there. He's as popular as anyone in 2019, and is FANTASTIC in his role as ungainly, oddball pet monster for Marty in Villain Enterprises (and in all fairness his World Title Match with Taven was one of the most strangely enjoyable bouts of 2019)...but this really showed his limitations. The match itself was an unimaginative blend of un-funny comedy, near constant ref bumps, run-ins and stupidity and I'm astonished that ROH still persisted with sending PCO to the Final Battle main event after this. 

Scurll grabs a microphone and bemoans the fact that after three years in ROH his hunt for the World Title goes on. But he congratulates PCO, wishing him well at Final Battle in what may be his last chance in a decades-long career to become a recognised World Champion. This would have been better if he'd have pulled a Jimmy Jacobs/Necro Butcher/Age Of The Fall and booted PCO out of Villain Enterprises...

Tape Rating - * - Recent Ring Of Honor shows have been much improved. Best In The World was marred by a poor main event but was still an altogether strong PPV, Manhattan Mayhem and Death Before Dishonor were outstanding, and multiple live events in between have been really decent as well. But Glory By Honor was a dramatic and alarming step backwards. Alarming not just because the match content wasn't great...but because of how dreadful the execution of the event was; be it from a booking perspective, the lay-out of the card and what it suggests about the direction of travel as we move towards ROH's key year-end period. The big hook for this show was the #1 Contendership Tournament - which in my opinion was an absolute bomb. The semi-finals were decent matches, but it felt like a critical mistake to not at least allow Lethal/Marty far longer to really deliver a 'Ring Of Honor style' classic to elevate the show & tournament. The final was a gimmicky mess, feeling a lot like G1 Supercard with 'Project PCO' being formally unveiled (like 'Project Taven' was at MSG) even though it just felt OBVIOUS how terrible an idea it was. Throw in another wholly mediocre Women Of Honor Title Match and the appalling TV Title presentation - it really takes a lot more than a Gresham/Shelley technical masterclass (which only has very niche appeal anyway...plus the wrong guy won!) and some unspectacular Tag/World Title Matches (with predictable outcomes) to save the show. In terms of in-ring content there are worse Ring Of Honor shows. But in terms of a show harpooning momentum the promotion felt like it was building after a successful summer, this show felt disastrous. Perhaps not on the company-killing level of G1 Supercard...but still one of the biggest flops I can ever recall on a Ring Of Honor show. Avoid this...

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

2) PCO vs Dalton Castle (***)

1) Alex Shelley vs Jonathan Gresham (****)