McXal's Reviews

Ring Of Honor's first live show of 2020 is upon us, and they are coming out of the gates swinging as we launch right into a big World Championship rematch from Final Battle as PCO defends against former champion Rush. We'll also see La Faccion Ingobernable's Dragon Lee in action against the returning Andrew Everett, Josh Woods looking to push 2G1T's claim for a Tag Title shot when he meets Jonathan Gresham in singles action, Villain Enterprises defending the Six-Man Championship and The Allure facing Sumie Sakai and Nicole Savoy. Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman are in Atlanta, GA.

Can we please stop throwing around title shots for people who haven't done anything to earn one? It feels like a plague that started with the Six-Man Title, that spread to the Women Of Honor Title and has now consumed the TV Championship as well - and it KILLS the credibility of those prizes. Lee makes the first defence of the championship he won at Final Battle, and also competes in his first match since being revealed as a member of La Faccion Ingobernable. Everett returns after an absence of more than a year, last appearing in the 2018 Survival Of The Fittest first round. 

Dragon's entrance music is just atrocious. The guy is a star, yet is stuck with such generic and forgettable dirge. There is a huge Spanish-speaking proportion of the crowd this evening and they give Lee a thunderous welcome nonetheless. Andrew makes a point by going move for both with him in the first few minutes, eventually driving him from the ring and nailing him with a somersault plancha. Dragon is temporarily rattled and actually has to ditch the fast-paced stuff and dip into his arsenal of big strikes, such is Everett's ability to match him when it comes to speed and agility. Dragon's Fire gets 2. Desnucadora blocked...but Lee cartwheels out of a hurricanrana. Everett counters one move with a cartwheel over the ropes, and when Dragon takes aim with the running inside-out rana off the apron EVERETT CARTWHEELS TO COUNTER THAT TOO! Step-up springboard tornado DDT nailed, followed by a sensational moonsault getting 2 for the challenger. Desnucadora COUNTERED into a Stunner! Andrew back flips out of a German suplex as well, drilling Lee with a REVERSE RANA! NO SOLD! SNAP GERMAN! REVERSE RANA BY LEE! BOTH MEN DOWN! Dragon lures Everett into another strike exchange, now keenly aware that Everett has his number when it comes to speed moves. He demands that Andrew strike him in the corner...and inevitably drills him with the Ghetto Stomp as a result! Pele Kick by Everett (just about), but he springboards INTO THE INCINERATOR! DESNUCADORA! Everett kicks out! BARE KNEE INCINERATOR! Lee retains at 14:17

Rating - *** - Some slightly scrappy, sloppy moments were pretty much all that stopped me going higher on my rating. What I particularly liked about this is that in recent years ROH hasn't tended to utilise many opening matches like this; decent time allowance, fast pace, full of high spots, no-selling and false finishes. It was a spectacular night for Everett who went into a fiery environment and an arena full of Dragon Lee fans...and delivered a clever, resourceful performance where he matched Lee move for move for as long as he could. Dragon ultimately retained because of his superior strike-power; a theme which they established inside the first five minutes. On this showing Andrew Everett is someone we should be seeing more of (assuming he can stay free of injury)...

Bully Ray interrupts the show, hurling abuse at Caprice Coleman for no apparent reason on his way to the ring. He shoves Bobby Cruise on his ass for the sake of it...and wastes SO MUCH TIME antagonising the crowd before getting to the point. He heard Maria Manic is coming to Atlanta to 'call him out', so he has decided to call her out first. Maria appears in the crowd and gets a great response, before marching into the ring and spearing Bully to the ground. Bobby Cruise hands her a chair so she can continue her assault...and she then brings a table into the ring. The Allure sprint to the ring to attack her from behind; Angelina nailing Manic in the face with a high-heeled shoe. They hold her on the table so Bully can splash her through it...

At Final Battle Fallout we saw Sakai and Savoy as opponents. Nicole won a terrific match, but in the aftermath both were attacked by The Allure. Angelina and Mandy (initially with the now-absent Velvet Sky) have been causing chaos within the Women Of Honor division since G1 Supercard and have crossed paths with Sumie multiple times. Can they send another emphatic message to the inaugural Women Of Honor Champion?

Love and Leon suckerpunch their opponents at the bottom of the stage, but Savoy and Sakai quickly turn the tide. Nicole hauls Love into the ring and easily out-wrestles her; going through strikes and submissions for which Angelina has no answer. Mandy tries to rush her...but she too is easily taken to ground and stretched out by the outstanding Savoy. It is only Nicole's decision to tag out which breaks her unrelenting dominance over The Allure...and the heels quickly recognise the opportunity. Mandy instantly takes a cheap-shot at Sakai, then joins her partner in the ring to illegally work the veteran over 2-on-1. Love tears off some wrist-tape and tries to outright strangle Sumie, whilst Mandy taunts Savoy causing her to distract the referee. Sakai hits back with the TJ Neckbreaker but is so battle-worn that she cannot immediately get back up. She makes a crucial tag to Nicole...who charges in scattering The Allure with suplexes. SavoLock on Mandy! Fujiwara Armbar from Sumie to Angelina! Sakai climbs the ropes to floor Leon with a missile dropkick...but seconds later Mandy ducks as Savoy throws a devastating roundhouse kick. She KO's her own partner, and Leon pins Sakai to win at 08:23

Rating - ** - We have seen two ROH matches from Nicole Savoy thus far, and on both occasions she has dragged up the quality of the in-ring product from the Women Of Honor division substantially. This was the best Allure tag match we've seen. It wasn't particularly special, but they were solid villains; and having been so spectacularly dominated by Savoy it made complete sense that they'd want to cheat and take short-cuts just to even the score. Everything about this match was geared around putting Savoy over too, which I liked. That includes the finish, where she threw a single kick with such force that she knocked out her own partner.

Nicole apologises to Sumie...but Sakai attacks her, leaving her laying with the Smash Mouth.

The Mile High Magnum continues his preparations for his forthcoming TV Title shot by taking on another newcomer tonight. I was doing some research on Cade's career and the guy has worked almost everywhere. Jobber matches for WWE and AEW, he has made appearances for Impact and PWG, worked with GCW, FIP, Evolve, MLW, CZW - an impressive resume for a guy who at this point was still in his 20's. He has the credentials to at least pose Dak a few challenges tonight.

Draper quickly looks to use his range and power to control the pace, only for Cade to blind-side him with a running rana. He tries to follow with a slingshot rana to the outside...so Draper POWERBOMBS HIM ON THE FLOOR! Was that intentional? Yikes! Dak immediately follows it with a powerbomb into the apron as well. Back in the ring Jason looks for a satellite headscissors but Draper counters into a powerslam which dishes out more damage to his ailing back. Cade does land a springboard swinging DDT...although comes up clutching his back in pain. SOMERSAULT PLANCHA! Frog Splash back in gets 2, and leaves Cade folded up in half nursing his midsection. He tries one more aerial move - but springboard straight into a big boot, followed by the Draper Bomb for 2. He blocks the Magnum KO, spiking Draper with a hanging lungblower. POP-UP MAGNUM KO! Dak wins at 07:53

Rating - *** - Considering this was a filler/enhancement match, it turned out REALLY well. Some of was messy, and at times it was perhaps more violent than they'd intentioned but the actual quality of the bout was high. Draper attacked the midsection effectively, I thought Cade sold his back and ribs in an effective manner and they built to a great finishing sequence; Jason getting in plenty without damaging Draper's credibility. 

2G1T are undefeated as a team, and #1 contenders to Lethal and Gresham's newly-won Tag Championship after defeating the Briscoes at Final Battle Fallout (albeit with help from Lethal and Gresh). Woods gets a chance to put a marker down before that championship match, in what could be a pure wrestling clinic. 

They begin by going back and forth on the canvas; Gresham's elaborate technical skill at times winning out, whilst at others Josh's raw power and amateur grappling credentials sees him in the ascendancy. Josh's size makes it difficult for Gresham to keep him down, as does his ability to nip-up out of a grounded headscissors. The ease with which they just filled four entire minutes with elaborate mat-based tussles was a joy to watch. Jay Lethal gets involved, distracting Josh from the floor...prompting Silas to do the same to Gresham on the other side of the ring. The Goods switches to strikes and is easily able to kick The Octopus off his feet. That is until Gresh inflicts a cheeky, unseen low blow then dropkicks the knee out from under his opponent. Woods collapses in immediate pain, which of course Gresh speedily exploits. Even when Josh is able to throw a kick back at his opponent, the pain is such that he drops to his haunches. CAPTURE German suplex by Woods - who can't maintain the bridge because of his knee injury. He does manage to catch Gresh diving off the top into a version of a GTS - but it hurts his own leg so much in executing that he can't capitalises. When he finally gets up he tries to tap Gresham out with a bear hug...but fails and Gresh tries to dislocate the injured knee! Figure 4 Leglock applied, but Young fires up his protege and cheers as The Goods rolls to the bottom rope. Quebrada by Gresham, then a tope suicida to the floor. DIVING MID-AIR KNEE STRIKE BY WOODS! He might have fleetingly knocked Gresham out, but his ailing leg means he loses precious seconds before covering. He tries a dead-lift superplex...but the knee means he stumbles backwards and they both collapse over the top rope! Lethal and Silas rush over and look to fire up their partners - and then agree to throw theem back inside. Referee Joe Mandak ejects them from ringside, and as Silas protests he doesn't see Lethal smash Josh IN THE LEG with his Tag Title belt! Figure 4 Leglock on the floor by Gresham! Woods is toast; Gresh rolls in right before the count expires - winning the match via count-out at 16:28

Rating - **** - This was right up my street, although I can acknowledge that a methodical pace and an intensively mat-based wrestling match won't be for everyone. It perfectly suited my tastes as a wrestling fan though, delivering spectacularly good grappling, an easily relatable and well-told story around Josh's leg, strong-selling and an innovative finish which puts more heat onto a forthcoming championship match. Gresham was fantastic; at his absolute best as a worker, but also impressing by being such a devious asshole. He helped Josh to probably his best singles match in his ROH career thus far.

Another video package informs us that Australian star Slex is coming, and that 'business is boomin'. He debuts in February at Free Enterprise...

Obviously this match has major Tag Championship implications, with the winner getting a significant boost up the rankings towards a title shot. Cobb and Maff are once again teaming after bonding through mutual respect when they wrestled each other at Final Battle. Lifeblood are back in the hunt for gold, plus another chance to get to grips with the Briscoes, whom they've been at odds with since last January when the faction was formed. The Bouncers join commentary to scout their competition in the tag team division.

Haskins strikes out at Cobb, with Ian completely forgetting that they had a (really good) match together on TV last year. Jeff tosses Haskins aside, and he is replaced by Mark Briscoe. Cobb quickly despatches him too, so next steps up to the challenge of Williams. Lifeblood recognise that Cobb is on fire so double-up on him with a fiery sequence of tandem strikes to put him on the ground for the first time. Haskins starts attacking Cobb's arm but is forced out by the Briscoes before he can make any real impact. Hot Sauce is so pissed off he basically slaps Mark Briscoe from behind to blind-tag his way back in - so Lifeblood can resume working over the Olympian. Lifeblood and the Briscoes start getting increasingly irritated with each other...eventually breaking down into Haskins and Mark Briscoe slapping the sh*t out of each other. It opens the door for Cobb to mow them both down then unleash Maff for the first time. CRISS-CROSS DIVES to the floor by Lifeblood! Mark Briscoe hurdles Maff to give Cobb the blockbuster off the apron...whilst Jay launches into a somersault plancha on Dan! Maff marches back into the ring and almost splits Jay in half with a Spear. BIG MAN TOPE by Maff! Cannonball/Athletic-Plex combo on Tracy! Haskins comes to his partner's aid with a double stomp on Maff. Infusion blocked - and Maff starts IGNORING Haskins' kicks! Burning Hammer COUNTERED to a Stomp Boy/Anklelock combo! FROGGY BOW by Mark Briscoe to break that! Sick Kick on Cobb, then the Redneck Boogie on Williams...for 2. He rallies and DVD's Mark Briscoe into the Crossface! That is broken when Jay powerbombs his own partner on top of him! JAY DRILLER! Briscoes pin Tracy to win at 12:36

Rating - *** - This became almost two fun matches in one. The first half, with the Briscoes and Lifeblood working Cobb over - but getting increasingly pissed off at each other whilst doing so - was incredibly entertaining. The second half was an extremely exciting Scramble Match with guys entering and flying out of the ring at great speed. Maff really shone in that segment; his intensity and sheer size made an interesting contrast to Haskins and Williams in particular. This match also gave us a possible insight into ROH's original plans/direction of travel in 2020. Cobb's contract has now expired, so he is now working as a freelancer and he was on the receiving end of the majority of the punishment in the first half of the bout. Tracy Williams is another guy ROH were rumoured to be planning on finishing up with - and he ate the pinfall. 

Ian and Caprice try to preview the card for Honor Reigns Supreme (tomorrow), but are interrupted when Danhausen crashes commentary. He'll be in action tomorrow night too...

Shane Taylor (and SOS) come to the ring next, with Taylor having requested some interview time. He has a Shane Taylor Promotions microphone cover and everything. He wastes no time and calls out Joe Koff to personally inform him that he won't be signing a new deal unless Joe agrees to four specific demands. Those being he wants a guaranteed Six-Man Title shot for SOS and an unspecified third partner, a guaranteed World Title shot for himself, his name and face on every event poster (since ROH repeatedly left him off those last year)...and finally to become the highest paid star on the roster. He gives Koff 24 hours to think - but wants an answer at Honor Reigns Supreme tomorrow night.

Up next we are scheduled to see Villain Enterprises in trios action against Bandido, Flamita and Rey Horus (not yet dubbed the 'MexiSquad'). Since there is such a substantial Spanish-speaking crowd in the building, and Marty is very popular too, we are set for a sizzling atmosphere. Scurll yells at the Hispanic fans blasting air horns and waving their flags...and demands that the Villains are allowed to put the Six-Man Titles on the line.

There is precedent for Freebird-ing in other stable-mates to defend the Six-Man Championship. Scurll himself has actually done it back when he was in Bullet Club and the titles were 'officially' held by the Young Bucks and Adam Page. Flip replaces PCO (who is in the main event), whilst King wrestles in his first ROH match since Night 1 of the Honor United 2019 Tour when he suffered a knee injury. Bandido and Flamita have locked horns with Villain Enterprises previously - and last time we were in this building Bandido was scoring a major singles victory over Marty. It isn't clear whether he remains a part of Lifeblood but he, his MexaBlood partner Flamita and newcomer Horus will enjoy raucous crowd support tonight.

King and Flamita start; the big man tossing the luchador around with ease. Even when Flam tries to quicken the pace, Brody simply decapitates him with a lariat. Bandido and Scurll tag, and we soon see The Villain trying to keep Bandido on the ground with some British wrestling...but failing to pin down someone as fast as Bandido. Horus and Gordon in next to reprise their bout at Final Battle Fallout. They go strike for strike at real pace, until Flip pulls his foe to the outside for Scurll to blast him with a Superkick. The champions isolate Rey...but he is so fast they can't retain control and he tricks Flip into decking Marty. POP-UP CUTTER by Bandido, who then flies through Brody with the Tornillo as well. Pop-up rana combo by MexaBlood. STEREO SOMERSAULT PLANCHAS OVER THE RINGPOST by Flamita and Horus! MOONSAULT OFF THE RINGPOST BY BANDIDO! 450 Splash gets 2 for Flamita. Bandido then wheelbarrows Flamita into a back flip moonsault onto Flip as well! Gordon retaliates with a springboard spear and makes a vital tag to a fired up Brody. Horus wipes him out with a spectacular tornado DDT...followed by a Crucifix Driver by Bandido! Tornado DDT/Superkick combo by Flip and Marty! FLAM FLY! SATELLITE DDT BY HORUS! ALL SIX ARE DOWN! Bandido and Scurll are the first back into battle...and Bandido drills The Villain with the X-Knee. Backbreaker/Asai Moonsault combo by he and Flamita gets 2. STANDING REVOLUTION FLY gets 2! Bandido is left alone with all three Villains, with Marty and Flip hitting the powerbomb/Shiranui then Brody following up with a running senton. 619/CANNONBALL/SUPERKICK FLURRY on Bandido! Chickenwing COUNTERED TO A ROLL-UP! BANDIDO WINS! New champs at 16:00

Rating - **** - This was very possibly the best ROH crowd for any single match since The Elite left. It was an amazing, almost football (soccer) type atmosphere as the Latin American contingent roared on the challengers whilst the rest were vocal in their support of the Villains (largely Marty). The fans added enormously to the match. These guys produced some stunning high spots and incredibly elaborate combination sequences...and each one was cheered by their supporters like they'd scored a goal. Reading the results back in early 2020 I thought it was a strange choice to take the belts off Villain Enterprises here. The Six-Man Titles are basically just a prop to put over which ever faction ROH are trying to get over, rather than a serious 'prize' to be won. It's how ROH got the 'new' Kingdom over, it's tied Villain Enterprises together for the last year...so my assumption was that La Faccion Ingobernable should take it (in their scheduled title match) the following evening. Long-term I don't know what the plans were for the Bandido/Flamita/Horus reign (which wound up lasting almost a year without a single title defence due to the pandemic)... but pulling the trigger on MexiSquad getting the belts here delivered a really special moment. There have been better Six-Man Championship Matches, but few more memorable than this one.

Fans throw money into the ring to show their respect for the match, and hand the victors Mexican flags to celebrate with. 

El Toro Blanco wastes no time in demanding his contractual rematch for the World Title, following his shock loss to PCO at Final Battle. I called their 'Friday The 13th Massacre Match' a complete mess, but ROH are pushing it as the unlikely but joyous zenith to PCO's thirty year career. Either way, it provoked an enraged response from Rush who has reacted to the loss by forming his own stable: 'La Faccion Ingobernable'. Will they be a factor tonight? Has PCO parked his hearse randomly next to the stage again? Can Rush immediately regain the World Title?

It's another terrific atmosphere; half of the building cheering on Rush, the other firmly behind the champion. Rush looks to charge PCO, who doesn't budge and instead starts throwing strikes. Pop-Up Powerbomb scores as PCO continues to dust off everything the challenger throws at him. He boots Rush to the floor and absolutely FLATTENS him with a tope suicida. PCO is one of the few who can comfortably brawl on the floor with Rush - and proves it by chokeslamming him onto the apron. QUEBEC CANNONBALL TO THE APRON MISSES! Every time I see that spot I'm almost in disbelief. Just like at Final Battle Rush starts tearing up segments of guardrail to hit his opponent with, leaving PCO so wounded that Rush feels comfortable enough to fake-out on the Bull's Horns. He actually decides to start arguing with Todd Sinclair before hitting it too...and is rightly punished with another PCO chokeslam. PCO-SAULT...BUT RUSH PULLS TODD SINCLAIR IN THE WAY! I hate ref bumps - but that at least looked amazing! Dragon Lee and Kenny King run in to attack PCO, soon followed by Marty Scurll and Brody King. They all brawl on the outside, as in the ring Rush blasts the champion with a steel chair. That only gets 2, so Rush knocks out replacement ref Joe Mandak as well! BULL'S HORNS on Mandak! A semi-conscious Todd Sinclair calls for the bell, disqualifying Rush at 11:18

Rating - *** - Perhaps I'm in a minority, but I enjoyed this so much more than Final Battle. It helped that it was shorter of course, but what helped even more was that they ditched most of the hokey, gimmicky sh*t and concentrating on having a real match. What they did as wrestlers made sense here; Rush trying to overwhelm PCO as he has so many others, but the champion having the power and inhuman capability to absorb punishment and continually put Rush back down. There were some nice call-backs to Final Battle too. And when they came, the ref bump on Todd Sinclair was a brilliant visual if nothing else - and created an absolutely chaotic scene which really sets the tone for the 'ungovernable' LFI stable. 

Flip Gordon runs out to try to help PCO...but gets blind-sided by Nick Aldis disguised as a police officer. He rips off his Big Bossman cos-play to reveal an NWA shirt and angrily gestures at Marty Scurll before bailing! La Faccion Ingobernable viciously attack Brody King's knee with a steel chair, then lift PCO so Lee can GHETTO STOMP HIM THROUGH A TABLE! LFI stand tall...

Tape Rating - *** - As a wrestling show this was really solid. What really stood out, however, was that this event took place in front of one of the best crowds ROH has had in a long time. Center Stage is a smaller building, with steep seating making the fans feel like they are on top of the ring. The more intimate setting is perfect for ROH's current crowd sizes; everything on this show was so much better with a hot crowd in a tight space - as opposed to a cavernous arena with countless empty seats. Even if it meant downsizing the elaborate Cary-tron screen set up Ring Of Honor's product would be so much better served running more smaller venues. They could also do with packing this raucous crowd up and taking them everywhere. The way they vocally supported the wrestlers; in particular the large contingent of Mexican stars, contributed so much to the show. The Six-Man Title Match stands out as the obvious highlight of the night - delivering a spectacular match, a title change and a genuine feel good moment; it's a shame more people didn't see it.

3) Dragon Lee vs Andrew Everett (***)

2) Jonathan Gresham vs Josh Woods (****)

1) Marty Scurll/Flip Gordon/Brody King vs Bandido/Flamita/Rey Horus (****)