McXal's Reviews

The first live show of 2020 was a wild night. New Six-Man Champions were crowned, Shane Taylor made obscene demands to COO Joe Koff, and the show ended with La Faccion Ingobernable tearing Villain Enterprises apart via an unlikely assist from the NWA's Nick Aldis. Those two factions are at war again in our six-man main event; Rush, Dragon Lee and Kenny King facing Marty Scurll, Brody King and World Champion PCO. On the undercard Flip Gordon looks for revenge on the MexiSquad when he takes on Flamita in singles action, Alex Zayne makes a hotly anticipated debut against Bandido, Nicole Savoy and Sumie Sakai rematch their excellent encounter from Final Battle Fallout and Danhausen makes his VOD-show debut. Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman are in Concord, NC.

Nick Aldis, Thom Latimer and Kamille storm the announce desk as Ian and Caprice try to open the show. Aldis is hot at Marty Scurll for invading the NWA so he says they've come to ROH for payback. Brody King and Flip Gordon show up leading to a tense scene as security personnel separate them.

Last night saw Horus capture the Six-Man Championship with MexiSquad partners Bandido and Flamita in what was just his second match in ROH. Another who impressed in Atlanta was Everett. He failed to take the TV Title from Dragon Lee, but pushed Lee to the limit. He is in his hometown tonight and will want to make sure he doesn't go winless on his return weekend to ROH...

Both men are such gifted athletes that their focus is actually on tying up and slowing down their opponent rather than taking flight themselves. Each tries to use submission holds and chain-wrestling to maintain control, with Everett breaking ranks first to deliver a springboard dropkick. SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT to the floor! Everett got crazy hang-time on that. Back in the ring Rey delivers a double springboard lucha armdrag, and in almost no-time is in the air for a somersault plancha OVER THE RINGPOST! They continue battling on the floor; each smashing their arms against the post while throwing chops. Guillotine leg drop by Horus, setting a trap by leading Andrew into the ropes before hitting it. Everett retaliates with a springboard moonsault flurry! Rey goes after Everett's recently injured knee with an 'inverted Figure 4' which once again drives him from the ring. The distance works for him - returning with a spectacular moonsault for 2. ROPE-RUN super sunset flip by Horus, securing the win for himself at 10:10

Rating - *** - Spotty and at times it all looked a little flimsy and overly-choreographed, but nevertheless this was an entertaining junior heavyweight opening match. He hasn't received the same fanfare as some other signings Ring Of Honor have made, but Horus is a great talent acquisition. He is incredibly under-rated

This was originally scheduled to be a 2-on-2 encounter, but PJ and his disgruntled protege 'The Mecca' come out and talk their way in. They are still looking for their rhythm as a team, but so are Castle and Hendry. Both undeniably entertaining, they are looking for a signature win to kick-start their run as a tag team. That leaves the Briscoes; in something of a slump after losing the Tag Titles at Final Battle and losing to 2G1T at Fallout.

The match starts with Johnson simultaneously talking sh*t to basically all five other guys. Jay duly knocks his block off, cuing up the Briscoes to completely dominate The Mecca through the opening minutes. Castle and Hendry take over, causing Johnson to try and walk out. PJ tries to reason with him, unfortunately leaving them in position for the Briscoes to fly into them with big dives. Mark suplexes Black onto the apron, as Hendry ducks Johnson's chop attempt causing him to smack the ringpost. Step-up somersault plancha by Mark wipes both of them out! DOUBLE Freak Of Nature from Joe to Black and Johnson! Urinage from Mark to Hendry, only to turn into a leg capture suplex by Dalton. Day One Neckbreaker from Jay to Castle...who in turn eats a flying double stomp by PJ. Johnson wants to hit a top rope move too...but Hendry walks away from his flying crossbody attempt causing him to eat canvas. Inverted DDT on Jay instead! But The Mecca decides to yell at his mentor rather than press home his advantage. Hendry and Castle give him a lungblower/spinning bulldog combo to win at 08:19

Rating - ** - Brian Johnson deserves a lot of credit for his performance here. The match itself was passable at best and featured a lot of big names in ROH playing the hits or going through the motions. It was up to Johnson to carry this from a character and storyline perspective and he delivered. He was incredibly watchable as the ill-tempered, completely clueless and totally out-gunned fighter, so cocksure of his own ability that he couldn't see how utterly out of his depth he was. 

After beating Sumie in a commendable debut match at Final Battle Fallout, Savoy would team up with her to face The Allure last night in Atlanta. An error from the Queen Of Suplexes cost their team the match - and when she tried to apologise, Sakai attacked her. ROH have quickly booked this rematch, now with plenty of added spice after the events of yesterday...

'Heel' Sumie is basically the same, except she wears slightly darker colours and doesn't smile. She attacks Savoy during her entrance...so Nicole suplexes her over the top rope. Sakai clings on to her though and delivers a stunner across the middle rope. She continues to aggressively strike at Savoy - and pulls her hair when working a camel clutch. She has some fun with it as well, sarcastically swapping hands on the hair pull to f*ck with Todd Sinclair. Nicole forces the former WOH Champion up the ropes and catches her with a double underhook superplex, but after taking so much punishment from Sakai she can't get up after hitting it. DRAGON SUPLEX when she does get back up, into a sliding lariat for 2. Sumie catches her setting up another suplex and counters to a cross armbreaker - even HANGING OFF THE APRON still in the hold when Savoy makes the ropes. ARMBREAKER ON THE FLOOR! She then smarmily punts the middle rope into Todd Sinclair's crotch when he tries to come out to check on them! Bridging half nelson suplex by Savoy (how she pinned Sumie in Philadelphia)...but since Todd is down he can't count the pinfall! Sumie crawls away and wraps a chain around her fist - bashing it into Nicole's leg to block her kicks. She punches her in the face with the chain and hits the Smash Mouth to win at 07:51

Rating - *** - Having Nicole Savoy working matches in ROH is such a breath of fresh air after sitting through the almost never-ending Allure/Kelly Klein show last year. I liked this as much as their Philadelphia match; the wrestling wasn't on the same level here but the character work was a lot of fun. 'Evil' Sumie is pretty entertaining, and interesting to see how she really hasn't changed a great deal from the 'babyface' presentation of her character yet is able to deliver an entirely different match. 

As Dak counts down to his TV Title shot, this is fitting preparation as he faces a man who recently unsuccessfully challenged (the previous champion) for the same title. Danhausen was handed a title shot in a TV exclusive match at Unauthorized and hasn't let defeat there deter him. Once again he will be giving up a lot of size to his opponent - as he makes his VOD show in-ring debut tonight.

Despite supposedly being seven feet tall and weighing more than three hundred pounds, Draper has no issue tossing Danhausen around. Dan calls for a test of strength, from which he starts biting Dak in the hand! He trips Draper to the floor and dances around on the apron whilst peppering the 'tall idiot' with kicks. It's only getting carried away which curtails his momentum; turning his back on Draper as the Top Prospect drills him with a dropkick. Military press powerslam nailed, followed by a succession of knee drops to the head and arm. He tries another press slam, but this time Danhausen counters into a DDT. SLINGSHOT German suplex scores...and Danhausen celebrates by reaching for his jar of teeth. He fills Dak's mouth with them, before punting him in the face causing the teeth to fly everywhere. Magnum KO blocked into a knee strike for 2 as well. Draper has seen enough - hitting the Magnum KO second time around to win at 07:10

Rating - * - The Danhausen character isn't one that I've taken to as yet. There are times when I find the act very funny...but I've not yet seen him properly translate that comedy into a good wrestling match as well. In this example, I thought the size and height difference made for some good comedy in the first couple of minutes...but then it just kept going and going. And we were asked to buy into Danhausen's offence as being remotely effective against Draper even though it mostly looked horrible. 

This is an ROH debut for Zayne, who is introduced as a 'viral sensation' after that clip of him doing an utterly crazy 630 senton at an indy show (Ian informs me it was GCW) went everywhere. He arrives in ROH having spent 2019 working places like GCW, Chikara, made a New Japan USA debut in November then went and toured Japan working BJW among others. He arrives to wrestle Bandido, who this time last year was himself arriving in Ring Of Honor as something of an internet sensation. He is now a fulcrum of the roster, one of the most spectacular wrestlers in the promotion and one third of the new Six-Man Champions...

Bandido is more powerful than Zayne and proves it by pushing him around and backing him up to the ropes. Alex tries to get a measure of revenge by proving himself quicker than his foe...but MISSES an inside-out moonsault and is DESTROYED by Bandido's running moonsault to the floor. In the ring Bandido starts battering Zayne with kicks as well, looking unstoppable as the match progresses. Zayne hits back with a ragged Red Star Press for 2 but looks a little bedraggled after Bandido's opening blitz. He looks for a CORKSCREW running moonsault to the floor, but clips the ropes and lands on his ass on the apron...completely missing Bandido, who scoops him up and splatters him into the guardrails. Zayne has better luck seconds later as he takes another run-up and hits a big somersault plancha. Crunch Wrap misses, setting up Bandido for a HUUUUUUUGE POP-UP CUTTER! X-Knee blocked, into a bizarre flipping sidewalk facebuster! Somersault axe kick then a diving powerbomb gets 2 for the debutant, who is growing in confidence with each minute that passes. Bandido rocks him with a knee to the head, and again with the X-Knee...but despite being on wobbly legs Alex charges at him and delivers a running knee of his own, leaving them both down. Revolution Fly blocked...Dragon-rana COUNTERED TO A BUCKLE BOMB by Bandido! AVALANCHE HANGMAN POWERBOMB GETS 2! But Zayne delivers a flipping kick to block the 21-Plex! CRUNCH WRAP nailed, albeit Zayne dinged himself hard on the ropes on the way down. TACO DRIVER! Zayne wins at 11:11

Rating - *** - I absolutely adored the structure of this match, which was far smarter than I think they were given credit for in the aftermath of this show. The match itself is remembered for Zayne winning, but producing a sloppy and underwhelming account of himself in his ROH debut. It's true he messes up a couple of his biggest spots, and looks generally untidy throughout, but that didn't enormously impact my enjoyment because the narrative they held it together with was deceptively strong. Bandido started the match absolutely dominating the debutant; he was stronger, faster, had better strikes and found an answer for everything Zayne threw at him. Alex was in the same position Bandido was in back in 2019; coming into ROH with lots of internet buzz but put under pressure by ROH stalwarts like Rocky Romero or Silas Young. And like Bandido did last year - Zayne grew in confidence as the match progressed and found a way to overcome the established star. As it went on he got the better of strike exchanges, his completely unorthodox movements started to flummox Bandido...and he had the resilience to withstand plenty of Bandido's biggest offensive bombs. A mixed, but undoubtedly lively debut for Alex Zayne - whom I think ROH may well have had some plans for in 2020 had the pandemic (and his signing with WWE) not intervened.

Shane Taylor Promotions are out next, with Taylor himself still looking for an answer from Joe Koff on the demands he issued last night. Since none is forthcoming, he starts listing dates he'll be working in other promotions, and says he won't wrestle again in ROH until Koff agrees to his conditions...

Williams was attacked twice by Bateman at shows in 2019 and then lost to him at Final Battle Fallout as well. He now recruits his Lifeblood tag partner Haskins, to face off with Vincent and Bateman, who compete as a team for the first time. Lifeblood crossed paths with The Kingdom plenty in 2019 of course, so are no strangers to Marseglia...but he now appears to be a very different beast to the one we saw dutifully playing Matt Taven's 'Horror King' henchman last year.

Vincent and Bateman attack Lifeblood from behind, dumping Haskins to the floor so they can team up on Hot Sauce. Lifeblood quickly show their superior experience as a team though, working together to pick apart Bateman's leg and arm, rendering him immobile so they can go to work on Marseglia. 'Chuckles The Clown' (Vinny's goon at ringside) pulls his leader to safety before they can do any real damage though. Chuckles then gets into a fight with Tracy at ringside, distracting him until Vincent can deliver an Ace Crusher on the floor. Bateman in particularly relishes being able to isolate Williams, who works hard to stay in the match before finally blocking the Acid Drop and making a big tag. Haskins rocks Marseglia with an elbow suicida, but can't connect with Stomp Boy on the way back in. Vita VonStarr trips him from the floor, but can't stop Tracy hitting the turnbuckle DDT on Vincent. SOLDIER ROLL BOMB gets 2! Infusion Piledriver on Vincent, right before Chuckles comes in and smashes Haskins in the back of the head with a wooden block. That's an obvious DQ at 08:15

Rating - * - Wrestling shows should be about variety and I can't deny that Vincent and co. are certainly different to anything else on the roster. Although derivative, I do quite like the new presentation of Marseglia and have been extremely positive about some of his recent high profile matches (think the Bar Room Brawl at Death Before Dishonor, or the Taven grudge match at Final Battle). Very little about this match worked for me however. We saw almost none of Vincent and Bateman's very weird personas or style, nor were Lifeblood given much opportunity to be the kick-ass wrestlers we know they can be. Instead we got a formulaic, generic tag where the heels used outside interference to draw easy heat rather than do anything interesting...capped off with a bullsh*t finish.

Vincent and his gang try to shatter Haskins' ankle just like they did to Taven at Final Battle, but Tracy saves his partner by swinging a steel chair at them (as they scatter)...

The intriguing thing about this 8-man tag is that on both sides of the ring we'll see teams with reasons to dislike or mistrust one another. We know the long history between Silas and The Bouncers, which laid dormant for some time but reignited last year when Silas betrayed the big men again and joined with Vincent in a memorable, blood-soaked Bar Room Brawl. Meanwhile on the other side of the ring Cobb and Maff have been signed into a Proving Ground Match with new Tag Champions Lethal and Gresham at Free Enterprise. Gresham beat Woods via count-out last night in Atlanta, but in tag team competition 2 Guys 1 Tag have been unstoppable as of late. 

The champions piss everyone else in the match off by taking an eternity to come to the ring, then stall further whilst Gresham 'stretches' and Lethal chats to the timekeeper. They get into a disagreement with Cobb and Maff about who should start as well. They finally agree on Gresham to start, in the ring with Silas - the man who helped trigger the personality shift which led Gresham to the Tag Titles. As the 'Technician Of Honor', Young is more than happy to grapple with Gresh - finally driving him back to his corner in frustration. Woods puts the exclamation point on it and sends The Octopus packing; Gresh having a temper tantrum on the floor and gives way to Lethal. Josh starts going after Lethal's broken arm in a brilliant exchange, ending when Jay decides to call out Bruiser instead. Jay soon exits in favour of Cobb, having a similar tantrum to Gresham on the floor too. Milonas tags and SQUASHES Cobb with an ass splash! Maff tags - and even he is dwarfed by Brawler. Milonas CATCHES Dan, but he escapes and decks the Kingpin with a Pounce. Lethal and Gresham drag Woods to the floor and attack him (informing Cobb and Maff that they are 'helping out')! They take turns working Woods over, all while refusing to tag their other partners and antagonising everyone else in the match. Eventually they get distracted trying to fight all four opponents at once...and Woods blasts Gresham with a jumping knee strike to escape their clutches. PLUNGE on Gresham, not delivered with much control and looking even more brutal as a result. Maff has to save the Tag Champions...but then accidentally levels Lethal with a strike as well. BIG MAN TOPE takes out Milonas! Spear on Silas gets 2! Woods saves his partner with a German suplex and tries to break Maff's ankle...only for Dan to escape and land a cannonball senton. MILONAS THROWS BRUISER OFF THE APRON AT THE CHAMPS! Bossman Slam from Brawler to Cobb! KEG SPLASH gets 2! 2G1T, Lethal and Gresham continue brawling on the floor, as Cobb hits TOUR OF THE ISLANDS on Bruiser! He wins at 18:42

Rating - *** - This spent longer than I'd like in the lower gears considering they were only going nineteen minutes. The positives of it, however, were an exceptional asshole heel performance from Lethal and Gresham, the amount of fun we got out of Maff, Cobb and The Bouncers in the ring together and a really hot finishing sequence which pulled those elements together very well. My biggest issue was the almost complete lack of acknowledgement of Silas' issues with The Bouncers. That Bar Room Brawl was obscenely violent. Dusting over it to have Silas and Bruiser on the same team again without much issue just a few months later is incredibly damaging to the legacy of that encounter.

Cobb, Maff, Lethal and Gresham share a tense staredown after the match, with Maff almost stealing one of the Tag Title belts on his way out.

A video package takes us backstage at Final Battle, where we see a frustrated Rhett Titus apologising to his wife for failing to beat Kenny King. He promises that it isn't over...

Bully Ray comes out, apparently to issue an apology to Bobby Cruise for shoving him over last night. He spends WAY too long acting like he isn't an asshole, but of course ends up shoving Bobby on his ass again. Next we go through his played out routine of winding up the crowd...and after five minutes he finally gets to the point - which is gloating about sending Maria Manic to hospital. Maria has apparently left the hospital though, as she sprints to the ring and spears Bully a couple of times. The Allure come out...but they get their asses kicked by Maria as well. Bubba smacks her about with a steel chair and tells The Allure to D-Von him a table. He sets it up in the corner, but Manic gives him a low blow and throws Bully through the table instead.

Gordon was part of the Villain Enterprises team that lost the Six-Man Championship to MexiSquad last night, so tonight he is coming for revenge on one third of the new champions. He already possesses a victory over another member of that team (Horus at Final Battle Fallout) too.

The start is outrageously quick, as you'd expect, and sees them trade strikes before Flamita almost puts Gordon through the guardrails with a tope suicida. Flip hits a mid-air dropkick moments later and delivers a tope of his own as a receipt. Flamita tries a double springboard lucha armdrag, but Gordon kicks out his legs and smashes him with the Kinder Surprise in a quite brilliant counter. He doesn't get much further before Flam lands a slingshot DDT though. Retador gets 2! Flip nips under a superkick and puts Flamita right on his neck with a springboard spear. Flamita kicks at Gordon and intercepts him on the top rope - but Flip blocks the Spanish Fly. FLAM FLY INSTEAD! Frog Splash nailed, only for Flip to counter the 450 splash with knees moments later. Worst Case Scenario into the STF! Flamita taps at 07:09

Rating - *** - These guys got seven minutes because someone in ROH thought it was a good idea to keep booking Bully Ray. This was about as exciting and action-packed as it could possibly be in the time they had available at least. Flamita was exillerating, I REALLY enjoyed Gordon's surly facial expressions and grumpy counters to some of Flamita's classic lucha spots...but in seven minutes you won't find much to invest in here. 

Having won the match, Flip rips Flamita's mask off like an asshole...

Originally the Six-Man Championship was due to be on the line here, but LFI miss out on a title shot as the Villains lost them last night. In truth the titles were only ever going to be a distraction, as the story here is the rising tension between the two groups. Rush is still furious at his World Title loss to PCO at Final Battle, and has formed La Faccion Ingobernable to fight Villain Enterprises. Last night LFI made a real statement when they ended the show by putting PCO through a table...but will there be consequences this evening? Can the Villains be focused on LFI when they also have issues with MexiSquad and Nick Aldis/the NWA? Rhett Titus joins commentary, himself still with a score to settle with Kenny King somewhere down the line...

Scurll locks up with Dragon and instantly tries to ground him, staying clear of his speed and striking power. Brody and Kenny tag and we get a complete role reversal; King of LFI looking to use his speed to overcome King of VE. Brody emphatically overpowers him though, then clears the ring so Rush and PCO can renew hostilities. The champion basically ignores Rush's strikes and splits him in half with a spear. LFI quickly intervene; Kenny battering Marty into the ring apron whilst Dragon and Rush double-team PCO in the corner. All six start brawling on the floor - bodies flying everywhere and guardrails getting violently rearranged. Dragon shows his 'ungovernable' side by aggressively choking Scurll with electrical cable (much as his brother is known to do). La Faccion continue to triple-team PCO; showing impressive fluency considering this is their first outing as a trio. They continually look to aggravate Marty and Brody on the apron, causing them to enter the ring and occupy the ref presenting plenty of opportunities to illegally attack PCO too. The champ makes a vital tag to Brody, summing Scurll as well for the sunset flip assisted German suplex on Kenny for 2. Dream Sequence by Rush and Lee to save! Incinerator Knee flurry on PCO - into the One Night Stand by Kenny! Brody blocks another Incineration though and f*cking DESTROYS Dragon with a lariat! Double chokeslam on Rush! BACK BODY DROP SOMERSAULT PLANCHA by Scurll and PCO! PCO-SAULT! DOUBLE STOMP BY LEE TO BREAK THE PIN! Everyone goes crazy throwing strikes around, ending when Dragon hits a FLIPPING northern lights on Marty! Kenny blocks the Finger Snap with a Capo Kick, so Marty gives him the GHOSTBUSTER! Rush dives in to break the pin! Senton/backbreaker by Brody and Marty...with Brody charging straight into an elbow suicida as well. Kenny tries to roll to safety on the apron...QUEBEC CANNONBALL ON THE APRON BY PCO! FOR 2! CHICKENWING! Kenny rolls out to safety and Marty quickly has to deal with Rush and Dragon Lee (who may have used chairs to the rest of Villain Enterprises on the floor off camera). GHETTO STOMP BOMB by LFI! Kenny pins Scurll to win at 16:30

Rating - **** - I thought this was really entertaining. It doesn't last long and is packed with action. Crucially, unlike the eight-man tag earlier in the show, these guys felt like they were working at a higher level, earlier in the match, at a faster pace and for longer. LFI were given plenty of time to shine and were fantastic, showing their range as wrestlers and rudos, forming a remarkably cohesive trio. Perhaps the biggest compliment I can give the match is that it made me want to see more of these factions working together - which absolutely was NOT the case after the Rush/PCO nightmare at Final Battle. It felt exciting watching Rush need back-up just to take down PCO (the only man to beat him). Scurll and Dragon Lee had some incredible wrestling exchanges in there. The pandemic and the Speaking Out revelations regarding Scurll would curtail whatever plans there were between these two groups, but this still stands as a really smart trios match.

Tape Rating - ** - A more uneven, less consistent and generally lower quality show than the previous night in Atlanta. Certainly not bad by any means and to ROH's credit they were throwing plenty of mud at the wall here; most matches felt like they were advancing a story or at least trying something. 'Heel' Sumie is a thing now, whilst Savoy continues to elevate the Women Of Honor division simply by being a competent wrestler. Danhausen was here and he is, if nothing else, 'different'. Shane Taylor continued his storyline, we got our first glimpse of The Righteous and La Faccion Ingobernable as units, we added more fuel to the PCO/Rush fire, Lethal and Gresham managed to piss off three potential future challengers to their titles, Alex Zayne came in and shocked Bandido, the relationship with Nick Aldis and the NWA is back, Bully Ray did stuff too. A lot HAPPENED within this three hours. Not all of it good, and match quality was generally down on the Center Stage event...but I don't think you can fault the new regime for effort. By his own admission though (in interviews given before he was removed from the ROH roster), Marty hadn't really started impacting the product at this point - although it can't be a coincidence that his best mate Nick Aldis is back on the show surely. 

3) Alex Zayne vs Bandido (***)

2) Jay Lethal/Jonathan Gresham/Jeff Cobb/Dan Maff vs Silas Young/Josh Woods/Beer City Bruiser/Brian Milonas (***)

1) Marty Scurll/Brody King/PCO vs Rush/Dragon Lee/Kenny King (****)

5) Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Tracy Williams/Mark Haskins vs Jeff Cobb/Dan Maff (*** - Center Stage)

4) Dragon Lee vs Andrew Everett (*** - Center Stage)

3) Jonathan Gresham vs Josh Woods (**** - Center Stage)

2) Marty Scurll/Brody King/PCO vs Rush/Dragon Lee/Kenny King (**** - Honor Reigns Supreme)

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