McXal's Reviews

The clue is very much in the title with this one. It is a completely FREE show. All the tickets were free, they gave it away as a free VOD etc. In summarising Honor Reigns Supreme 2020, I said that I could visibly see ROH throwing a lot of stuff out there to see what lands with its audience. This is undeniably an attempt at trying SOMETHING to repair the damage the last few years has done to ROH's relationship with their fanbase. The logic is clear; ROH feel that they have built a solid roster full of diverse and exciting talent and want to expose it to as many old, lapsed or new fans as possible. But with that comes pressure. By giving this away for free ROH are openly looking to show off their 'new direction' to as many people as possible...meaning the show tonight has to be good. At the last weekend of shows Ian and Caprice were calling it a 'pay-per-view quality show for free'. In 2020's crowded wrestling landscape there is so much choice on offer that even if you're giving your show away for free, audience retention depends enormously on the quality of your product. To that end, I'm a little concerned that this is a BIG card; nine matches in three hours generally means things won't get enough time. I'm also concerned that the main event; Marty Scurll and PCO facing LFI's Rush and NWA's Nick Aldis doesn't particularly feel like a PPV main event. Beneath that there is some good stuff though, in particular the Briscoes against MexaBlood (Bandido & Flamita), Mark Haskins vs Alex Shelley and plus Tag Champions Lethal & Gresham in the Proving Ground against Jeff Cobb and Dan Maff. New international signings Slex and Session Moth Martina make debuts, Alex Zayne is back too. Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman are in Baltimore, MD.

We open with a message from ROH COO Joe Koff, promising that ROH will take a major 'step forward' in 2020 by bolstering infrastructure and adding 'the entire back catalogue' to Honor Club (which I'm pretty sure they failed to do spectacularly - even with all the time the pandemic meant they couldn't produce new content). Marty Scurll is also shown signing his new contract and welcoming us to the show...

No bells and whistles here, it should simply be a kick-ass wrestling match to get this crucial show started. Haskins has stated his intention to challenge for the World Title once again in 2020, and has been slotted into a World Title triple threat at Gateway To Honor later in the month. To prepare for that he is looking for a win over an experienced, established name like Shelley.

Haskins makes a statement early by countering every approach Shelley makes and leaving him flat on his face. Alex isn't thrown off at all and starts ensnaring Haskins in an assortment of whacky pinning situations. Big kicks from the Englishman, followed by a tope suicida; using high impact, higher stakes moves after Alex threatened to overwhelm him on the canvas. He goes after the arm of the former Tag Champion - vicious stomps and nasty submission holds are utilised in quick succession putting Haskins in control. It's Shelley's turn to try big strikes to break up the momentum of his adversary - the pace quickening so suddenly that they end up simultaneously laying each other out with clotheslines. Armbreaker by Haskins, even whilst Shelley hammers him with chops! Turnbuckle flatliner by Shelley, but he is slow to get up as he tries to nurse the feeling back into his injured arm. Finally he tries a suplex only for his arm to give out on him again and Mark balls him up into the Soldier Roll for 2. Stomp Boy misses...and Alex delivers a standing Shiranui! BORDER CITY STRETCH! Haskins counters to a pinfall, perhaps because of the arm injury. Sliced Bread #2 countered to the Haskins Sharpshooter! He reaches back and wrenches the bad arm as well! Shelley taps at 11:50

Rating - *** - Meant in the most positive sense, this was exactly the kind of match I expected to see from them. It was technical, ground-based, exciting, progressively paced and incredibly easy to watch. What I hadn't necessarily expected was how great a job this did as a primer for Haskins entering the main event scene. He was a solid upper midcard hand in 2019, so to break out of that he needed strong performances and Shelley was working incredibly hard to put him over here. The lay-out was particularly effective; it showed Haskins first out-wrestle Shelley, then it showed his use of powerful strikes to get ahead...then he inflicted a critical injury on his opponent which directly played into the finish. They could have used some more time to really sell Shelley's arm injury and build a greater degree of drama into the closing stages, but this stands as a crisp and enjoyable start to the show. Exactly the kind of product you'd like Ring Of Honor to present to its audience.

Marseglia and Bateman are introduced as 'The Righteous' for the first time here. Vincent's demented 'Ring Of Horror' has come together quickly since his win over Matt Taven at Final Battle; the impressive and enigmatic Bateman now his partner, plus Vita VonStarr and 'Chuckles The Clown' in their entourage. The only thing less predictable than The Righteous is trying to guess which version of the Hendry/Castle team will show up. Some nights they look like a slick unit, others they struggle to get on the same page. They defeated Master & Machine for TV in Atlanta though, which they are hoping is the start of a winning streak. Castle is also a friend of Matt Taven, so he'll be looking for a measure of his revenge for his injured buddy too.

As we saw in Atlanta, Vincent has Bateman start the match...and watches as he struggles to overcome some fluent and effective tag team work from Castle and Hendry. Even when he tries to get his big strike game going, Castle is able to evade his best shots and dump him to the canvas with a suplex. Vincent helps his partner out - distracting Castle by waving a crutch in his face. Ian explains that it's one of Matt Taven's crutches that The Righteous stole during a violent altercation with the injured former champion at an autograph signing. Why the hell isn't footage of that on this show? Bateman snaps Joe's neck over the top rope, whilst Vincent launches Dalton shoulder-first into the ringpost. The Righteous isolate Hendry, keeping him firmly in their corner where Marseglia's deviousness and Bateman's potent strikes come to the fore. End Time by Vincent...but he gets a little too enthusiastic about it and stops concentrating, allowing Joe to power out into a suplex. Hot tag to Dalton who sends his opponents spiralling through the air with suplex after suplex of his own. EVEREST GERMAN on Vincent! He recovers to lariat Castle onto the apron whilst the Peacock is preoccupied trying to knee Bateman. DOUBLE Freak Of Nature by Hendry to save his partner! Codebreaker/bulldog combo on Bateman! But Chuckles The Clown hauls Castle to the floor - distracting Joe for just long enough to allow Vincent to hit the Acid Drop. He wins at 12:21

Rating - ** - Both this and the opener would have been improved if they'd have trimmed four to five minutes here and added that to the Haskins/Shelley match instead. The basic premise of this was solid. It allowed Vincent to showcase his character, Bateman to be weird and hit people hard, Castle and Hendry to show what great wrestlers they are...but also show that they are not a flawless team which left them vulnerable to the loss. But they could have accomplished all of that in less time, making this feel a lot more concise and enjoyable (rather than a good 6-8 minute match stretched out for more than 12). Where this was better than the last Righteous tag (Honor Reigns Supreme) was that it was a better platform for Vincent and Bateman to demonstrate what they are all about as workers and performers - as opposed to last time where they came off like generic, cheating heels relying on outside interference. My preference would have been for them to win clean (or via opponent miscommunication) here too.

Quinn McKay hits the stage to promote Best In The World 2020 (in the same arena) in June. 

The Australian star 'Slex' makes his debut tonight, having been hyped with video packages since the start of the year. He is billed as a 'main event talent' and steps straight into the ring with one of ROH's bigger names. Flip is a member of the Villain Enterprises faction which is accumulating feuds on an almost hourly basis currently; ongoing issues with Lifeblood, MexiSquad, La Faccion Ingobernable, Nick Aldis and his NWA stable etc. 

We start with an explosive near-miss kick sequence which is a lot of fun. Slingshot backbreaker by Slex, delivering the first significant offence of the match. He immediately follows it with a perfect elbow suicida then a release suplex onto the apron for 2. Ligerbomb gets 2...but he can't keep Flip down. Gordon no-sells a wheelbarrow suplex and ploughs through the debutant with a clothesline. Spinning falcon arrow scores a nearfall for Flip...but Slex dodges the springboard spear and delivers a springboard enziguri. Business Bomb gets 2. Kinder Surprise knocks Slex to the floor...and Gordon leaps out on top of him with a second rope moonsault out of the ring! Springboard spear scores and sets up the Flip-5! Curb Stomp wins it for Gordon at 10:27

Rating - ** - This was a completely solid, passable ten minute wrestling match. I vaguely enjoyed what I was watching, but it never really felt like they found a rhythm or were giving me any kind of hook to emotionally invest in what they were doing. It was essentially a nifty strike sequence to start, a few minutes of Slex showing off his moveset (which is fine, but hardly revolutionary) then Gordon beating him. Having Ian Riccaboni going all in on the hyperbole and insist that this was a 'main event match' and that Slex is a 'main eventer anywhere in the world' when both statements are so obviously false actually detracted from the match too. I feel for Slex, who was signed with a great deal of fanfare and was presumably hoping this 2020 ROH run would be his opportunity to 'break' America, only for the pandemic to cruelly cut that short with just the three February shows under his belt. He was actually supposed to be the first of a contingent of stars recruited from the Australian independent scene - and at least he did get to work a couple of shows in 2020 unlike Adam Brooks and Kellyanne (who were also signed but never got to the US for a show)...

Flip shakes Slex's hand and leaves...as Soldiers Of Savagery come out and intimidate the Australian. Shane Taylor arrives and KO's Slex with the Package Piledriver. He's pissed off that ROH's new recruits like Slex are getting all the attention...and is here to announce that Joe Koff has caved in to his demands, so he has officially signed a new contract.

These two men made a strong impression during the first two live shows of 2020. Everett went 0-2 but produced outstanding performances against Dragon Lee and Rey Horus. Zayne only worked Honor Reigns Supreme but delivered a spectacular debut victory against Bandido. Now these high flying athletes are thrown together and could steal the show with their theatrics if given the chance.

The match is less than thirty seconds old when we see our first back flip (from Zayne). Everett does a few somersaults of his own...unaware that Alex has countered his attempt at a rana by cartwheeling away. Springboard dropkick knocks Zayne to the floor, and Everett hops up the ropes again seconds later for an effortless springboard corkscrew dive to the outside. INSIDE-OUT CORKSCREW MOONSAULT BY ZAYNE! Everett blocks his flipping sidewalk slam though, hitting a couple of Asai Moonsaults for 2. Alex back flips again, this time to block a chokeslam, and this time does hit the flipping sidewalk facebuster spot. Somersault axe kick gets 2. Crunch Wrap misses, setting up Everett for a Pele Kick. He follows that with a springboard corkscrew splash! Both men battle on the turnbuckles, with Everett looking for a springboard reverse rana. ZAYNE LANDS ON HIS FEET! REVERSE RANA BY EVERETT ANYWAY! Shooting Star Press misses and as Everett reels from that Zayne climbs to hit the Crunch Wrap. Taco Driver wins for Alex at 09:08

Rating - *** - Alex Zayne reminds me of Generation Next-era Jack Evans. His entire moveset appears to be flips, tricks and dives, he always looks on the brink of botching something...but his incredible flexibility and athleticism also means he's always on the brink of producing something absolutely spectacular as well. I thought Everett gave a more complete all-round performance here; quickly working out the crowd and understanding what he needed to do to get reactions from them. His character work was pretty much all these guys had to hold together what was a pretty threadbare match populated by little more than two dudes taking turns to flip and somersault on top of each other. Both have been pretty fun additions to the roster in early 2020 - but neither work Bound By Honor/Gateway To Honor weekend, so this match marks the end of their brief runs (Zayne would return for a few shows in late 2021 after his WWE release though).

This dream match was one of the big draws for this show and could easily have main evented. The Briscoes are looking to get back into the Tag Title picture after losing the belts at Final Battle but (as Caprice points out on commentary) they struggled to overcome luchadors in recent history. That includes losses to teams like Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Bucanero, or Rush & Dragon Lee last year. Bandido also has a singles victory over Jay Briscoe on the Global Wars Espectacular Tour as well. MexaBlood come into this extremely confident having won the Six-Man Championship (with Rey Horus) from Villain Enterprises in Atlanta last month.

Mark is a veteran and immediately grabs a headlock on Flamita so he can't produce any lucha trickery. But Mark is no slouch and matches speed with Flamita as they throw strikes and counters at each other. Bandido tags, and Jay is straight in to meet him with an eye on avenging his singles defeat. He is so pumped he tries to match speed with the masked man...and almost succeeds (until Bandido drills him with a superkick). The Briscoes have seen enough and go 2-on-1 on Bandido. Flamita quickly saves with a handspring elbow though, then gets his partner to assist him into a headscissors on Mark. TOP ROPE SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR by Flamita! Bandido tops it with a SPRINGBOARD SHOOTING STAR PRESS! Back in the ring MexaBlood stack up the Briscoes so Bandido can flip his own partner into a moonsault press onto both of them. Sick Kick/dragon suplex combo on Flamita, immediately putting the Briscoes back in charge...and they haul the match to the outside where they can brawl and fight with the luchadors. Mark wipes them both out with his step-up somersault plancha off a chair...and is so fired up that he hits the same spot a second time because the fans asked for it. CACTUS ELBOW as well; Mark is putting his body through hell to take the fight to his opponents! But as soon as they take the match back to the ring Bandido is able to pop-up off Jay into a flying dropkick at his brother. POP-UP TOPE ATOMICO TO THE FLOOR by Flamita! X-Knee from Bandido to Jay gets 2. 450 Splash by Flamita...and that gets 2 as well! Mark saves with an Iconoclasm on Bandido, followed by a capture belly to belly on Flamita. Redneck Boogie scores - but only gets 2. Flamita shakes off the ill-effects of that and delivers a FROG MISSILE DROPKICK! Bandido then straight-up hurls his own partner at the exposed bodies of the Brisoces in the corner. ASSISTED SPLASH OFF BANDIDO'S SHOULDERS gets 2! Flam goes for a moonsault but sails right into Mark's knees, and Jay is on hand to deliver the Cactus Clothesline moments later. APRON BLOCKBUSTER! Day One Neckbreaker/Froggy Bow combo...only for Bandido to break the pin by spearing through Jay. DUELLING FLAM FLIES BY MEXABLOOD! 21-Plex blocked with a BRAINBUSTER ON THE APRON! Jay drags Flamita out of the corner...DOOMSDAY DEVICE! Briscoes win at 17:52

Rating - ****1/2 - A relentlessly entertaining, exciting and spectacular match quite literally from first bell to last. At times this was actually like watching a Briscoes match from their absolute peak during that 2006-2008 run, when they would deliver incredible high octane matches like this on almost every show. Mark, in particular, bumped like an absolute maniac. We did see the more 'modern day Briscoes' too, as they tried to brawl, fight and slow down the luchadors...but for the most part they were content to throw spots around at machine gun pace along with Bandido and Flamita. The pace this was fought at, for the amount of time it went, made it a must-see spectacle and quite clearly ROH's MOTY up to this point. The drop-off in fan interest for the Ring Of Honor product has meant that lots of people have missed some incredible work by the Briscoes (and Bandido) over the last year or so.

INTERMISSION - The live-stream version of this show aired Jay Briscoe vs Mark Briscoe from Honor Invades Boston (way back in 2002) to promote the scheduled Briscoe vs Briscoe singles match at Past vs Present in March. Obviously that was cancelled...but it is weird that they cut the bonus match from the DVD version of the show. Could they not have kept it in as a 'DVD Bonus'? It doesn't matter to me clearly as I own the show on DVD already (get the 'remaster' rather than the original RF Video 'red case' version, those old discs don't age well)...but on a show focused on promoting Honor Club and trying to earn new fans, it did feel a little mean-spirited to remove it from the physical release for those few who still bother with physical media.

This is a twenty person Battle Royal, with the winner earning a World Title shot at a date to be determined (and believe me, it ended being a LONG time in the future!). The participants are Brian Johnson and his mentor PJ Black, Cheeseburger and Eli Isom of Shinobi Shadow Squad, partners-turned-rivals Kenny King and Rhett Titus, 2 Guys 1 Tag, The Bouncers, Delirious, Tracy Williams, Leon St. Giovanni, Danhausen, Dak Draper, Maria Manic (making this a rare inter-gender match for ROH), plus left-field guest stars Crowbar, Gangrel and Blue Meanie. Perhaps the biggest surprise entrant is Dragon Lee; a surprise because just hours earlier he was competing for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title against Hiromu Takahashi in Osaka...

Maria is competing in Dudley Boyz-inspired gear as a dig at Bully Ray. Kenny looks surprised to see Dragon, which is odd considering they are in LFI together, but doesn't long to think about it because Gangrel spits his goblet of blood in his face - a great callback to what happened to King at G1 Supercard. Delirious runs laps of the ring, whilst the likes of Brian Johnson and 2G1T opt against getting into the ring immediately. Danhausen tries to make friends with Gangrel which is quite funny - and is immediately drilled with the inverted tiger suplex. Implant DDT on Johnson! Dak Draper then powers the Vampire Warrior out of the ring as the first elimination. Draper throws LSG, Crowbar and Isom out seconds later as he goes on a complete tear. Cheeseburger eliminates him as payback for Eli. Blue Meanie tries to befriend The Bouncers...and they all do the Meanie dance together until Brian Johnson tosses Meanie out like an asshole. PJ comes to his student's aid before The Bouncers can eliminate him though. JOHNSON TOSSES PJ! That was a great moment! Maria Manic PRESS SLAMS JOHNSON TO THE FLOOR moments later! She hiptosses Rhett Titus out as well. MARIA ELIMINATES THE BOUNCERS! And in doing so she saves Danhausen, who is absolutely delighted. Silas finally enters the match, looking to show the Maneater what a 'Real Man' looks like. She willingly trade strikes with Young...until he lays her out with the Killer Combo. Bully Ray sprints to the ring and drags Maria over the top rope and smacks her with a steel chair. POWERBOMB THROUGH THE TIMEKEEPING TABLE! Bully just decimated Manic, and the camera cuts inside the ring as Delirious and Danhausen come face to face. Dan apparently understands Delirious...and gives him teeth to drink? Obviously he then stabs his new Lizard friend in the back (by kicking him in the head then throwing him out of the match). Silas then eliminates Danhausen...but has to be rescued by Josh Woods when Burger almost tosses him. Silas knocks CB to the floor with his springboard lariat, giving us a 'final four' of Woods, Young, Williams and 'Dragon Lee'. Tracy hits the turnbuckle DDT on Silas, but then Josh dives in front of Hot Sauce to take the rest of the hits in Young's place. Silas saves Josh from being eliminated! He screwed Josh over in a Battle Royal at Glory By Honor, so that shows real progression for their team. They toss Tracy to the floor and round on Dragon Lee...who promptly ducks an attempted mafia kick from Josh, causing him to boot Silas off the apron! KENNY KING IS BACK! Just like G1 Supercard he had been hiding under the ring, and he sneaks up behind the final two (Woods and Lee) looking to eliminate them both. Josh falls...but 'Lee' skins the cat back in as Kenny celebrates. He then pulls his mask off to reveal that it is Flip Gordon! He eliminates King, to win the match and the title shot at 17:35

Rating - *** - Battle Royals are rarely my thing, but I'll gladly offer up praise where one proves to be an exception to the rule and in my opinion this fell into that bracket. The key to it was smart pacing, and great moments scattered throughout the seventeen minute run-time. We started with Gangrel repeating the Muta/Kenny King spot which I loved, we had Dak Draper looking strong with a few eliminations, Johnson stabbing PJ in the back which was really well done, Maria Manic tearing through the field then getting f*cked up by Bully Ray at least advances that storyline (if you're into it), Delirious and Danhausen shared a comedic beat, 2 Guys 1 Tag riffed off their interactions from the last ROH Battle Royal to great effect...and we ended with Kenny King trying to pull the same trick he used at the 2019 Honor Rumble, only to be thwarted by a member of LFI's rival group - Flip Gordon of Villain Enterprises. The one thing I would say is that a lot of the entertainment value of this match could only be found if you were familiar with ROH's storylines and have watched a lot of ROH's shows over the last year. And the whole point of Free Enterprise is that the show is being targeted towards the exact opposite kind of fan. I don't know that this had the same mass appeal that something like the 'Over Budget' Battle Royal at All In had for instance.

Like Slex, Martina is making her debut tonight having signed in early 2020. She is an Irish worker who works extensively across the UK and Europe's most prominent independents - but she has also toured regularly with Stardom and made appearances in the US previously with the likes of RISE, SHIMMER, GCW and more. She, like Joe Hendry, has quite a niche comedic gimmick which she is incredibly gifted at delivering...but may take some time before she can adjust her act to suit Ring Of Honor's style and fanbase. Her first opponent is a former Women Of Honor Champion, who now has (awesome) new music and a more aggressive attitude after she turned on Nicole Savoy in Atlanta. The Allure are on commentary...

Sumie tries to take a cheap-shot at Martina...who catches her boot and starts grinding against Sumie. Then the referee. Indeed, she's so excited about twerking and shaking her ass that she literally stops watching Sakai and gets attacked. Bronco Buster by Session Moth, which drives Sumie out of the ring. But Martina is too drunk to hit a dive, blows herself up and allows Sumie to tie her up in the apron for some free strikes. Since Sumie isn't drunk she starts to dominate - delivering the TJ Neckbreaker then applying a Boston Crab looking to force a submission. There is basically daylight between her and Martina when she flies into a missile dropkick seconds later though. Martina does the same thing seconds later - clear daylight between her attempt at an enziguri and Sumie's head. Moth gets herself a beer and goes all Popeye and spinach on Sumie...only for the veteran to drop her with a German suplex. The Allure have spent most of the match talking about Martina's 'greasy hair and pyjama pants', but go conveniently silent when she smashes Sakai with a diving knee drop. She tries to do the Stink Face - but Sumie pulls the referee into the path of Martina's ass. For some reason the ref then rolls to the ring like he needs to sell that...as Sakai grabs a chair and DDT's Session Moth onto it. But with the ref still, for some reason, selling the effects of Martina's ass, Sumie has to leave the ring to retrieve him. By the time she returns Martina has recovered - and she headbutts Sakai into the Jager Bomb. Martina wins her debut at 10:54

Rating - DUD - After the quality that Nicole Savoy has brought to the Women Of Honor division over the last few shows, this was a disappointing step back. I've seen Session Moth Martina plenty of times on UK shows. She is a lot of fun and is capable of great moments and matches - but only when given the right situation/booking/angle. She isn't a Bryan Danielson who can show up and have a great match with anyone. Which makes her a slightly strange recruit for Women Of Honor and, as this match demonstrates, it will take some time for her to figure out what parts of her act will translate to a US audience on a show like this. Or at least it would have done had the pandemic not intervened anyway. This simply wasn't good though. Nobody 'got' her act, and at points the quality of the actual wrestling (what little there was anyway) was incredibly poor. Add that with a dreadful ref bump finish and some hideous commentary from The Allure and this really became quite hard to sit through. Certainly not the impression you want your women's division to leave for fans giving ROH a chance with this free show.

This is a Proving Ground Match, meaning if Cobb and Maff can win or draw they will earn a title shot. We saw this in action last year when Joe Hendry drew with Shane Taylor in Nashville and was rewarded with a TV Title opportunity during the Honor United 2019 Tour. Cobb and Maff formed a team after finding mutual respect between them when they kicked the sh*t out of each other at Final Battle - then clashed with Lethal and Gresham whilst teaming with them at Honor Reigns Supreme. They are big dudes and major threats to the new Tag Champions...

Gresham and Cobb start and its The Octopus dipping into his bag of tricks to ensure he remains out of the clutches of the former Olympian. As soon as Cobb actually does grab him he easily tosses Gresh all the way across the ring and back into his corner. Lethal tags and calls out Maff, lighting him up with chops until the big man slaps him in the face and steamrolls him with a Pounce. Even joining forces the champions aren't able to get Maff off his feet. Dan hauls Lethal to his corner and brings in Cobb to start picking apart the Franchise. Gresham intervenes and targets Jeff's leg, quickly levelling the playing field on a man Cobb's size by rendering him unable to walk. Cobb collapses into a tag...but due to the antics of the champions Todd Sinclair misses it. Gresham delights in making fun of Maff as he is ordered out...and Cobb hits him with the most effortless belly to belly suplex you'll ever see. Cannonball/Athletic-Plex combo on Lethal gets 2. Gresham kicks the leg out from under Cobb when he tries another suplex though, setting Jay up to hit an Ace Crusher. TOPE SUICIDA FLURRY on Maff - who won't go down! Gresham topes into a rear naked choke, whilst inside the ring Lethal applies the Figure 4 to Cobb's bad leg. Maff is SO big that he breaks it by walking into the ring with Gresham on his back...then DVD-ing him down on top of Lethal. Cornette Cutter COUNTERED to the Hawaiian Stampede! As Maff drops Lethal with a spear as well. Lethal Injection blocked, only for Gresh to save Jay from the Burning Hammer by hitting a quebrada. Lethal Injection again...this time COUNTERED TO THE BURNING HAMMER! Maff pins Lethal to win at 12:42

Rating - *** - As far as tag team wrestling goes, obviously this pales in comparison to the Briscoes vs MexaBlood tag earlier but it was still a pretty decent match. At less than thirteen minutes it didn't have the opportunity to really get into the higher gears...and it also deprived them of the time to really explore areas which would have taken this match to the next level. We didn't get enough of Gresham being a little prick with guys the size of Maff and Cobb, nor was there time for Cobb to bother selling the leg at all. Lethal and Maff worked a lot of the same promotions together back in the early 00's...yet their history was barely explored either. It was a functional, effective bout with flashes of excitement and an intriguing finish...albeit a fruitless one as the pandemic would ensure we'd never see the Lethal/Gresham vs Cobb/Maff title match.

This match pits a member of the reigning Six-Man Champions MexiSquad, against one of the dethroned former champions in Villain Enterprises. For all of King's success in Ring Of Honor, he doesn't actually have a singles victory to his name as yet (in all fairness he hasn't wrestled many) - so he'll be desperate both to avenge that championship loss but also to register a singles win.

The size discrepancy between these two is vast. It means Horus doesn't waste any time in darting around the ring trying to keep away from the big fists of his opponent. That lasts a minute...then Brody clobbers him with a clothesline and the match immediately shifts. Rey tries to escape to the floor but finds King pursuing him sadistically around ringside with more cringe-inducing shots. SLINGSHOT RANA TO THE FLOOR! Rey has a window of opportunity...and seizes it with the somersault plancha OVER THE RINGPOST! Satellite DDT blocked into another thunderous lariat. JUMPING PILEDRIVER by Brody gets 2. Horus crawls away to the corner, but comes out with the SPRINGBOARD 720 DDT for 2! For a third time King kills his momentum with a lariat and this time drills him with the Gonzo Bomb to win at 06:30

Rating - *** - This was great. I initially typed out a rant about how ridiculous it is that certain other matches on this card got considerably more time than these guys - and that is completely insane; another golden example of terrible card lay-out/management by Ring Of Honor - but to dwell on that would be a slant on the quality of the work. This was a six minute nugget of absolute, ubridled fun. Horus was fast, exciting and evasive...Brody was a monster who beat the f*ck out of him every time he managed to catch him. It was a joy to watch, but entirely too brief

There is a lot to unpick here. Aldis and Scurll have been best friends for years, and after they memorably did battle at the Crockett Cup in 2019 (where Aldis won) they seemed to have repaired their relationship...albeit whilst ROH and the NWA mutually parted ways on their prior working relationship. But having signed a new ROH contract with a lot more clout, Scurll invaded the NWA for another showdown with their World Heavyweight Champion Aldis - and the National Treasure is furious. He returned the favour by invading ROH at both Center Stage and Honor Reigns Supreme, picking a fight with Villain Enterprises on both occasions. Tonight he teams with the former ROH World Champion (whom he as described as a 'means to an end') in his quest to get at Marty. Rush leads La Faccion Ingobernable, a stable formed as a direct reaction to PCO defeating Rush for the title at Final Battle. LFI left Villain Enterprises in tatters in both Atlanta and Concord...

Rush jumps PCO from behind and gets him on the canvas, but he expends a lot of effort and it appears to be having minimal effect on the champion. The Villains start double-teaming Rush in a manner entirely in keeping with a pair of Villains. Rush lets Aldis in with Scurll for the first time and Marty instantly starts trying to get his much taller former friend on the mat where his height advantage is negated. He sets Nick up on the apron...but PCO MISSES THE QUEBEC CANNONBALL! It was a high risk move, but just when Aldis thinks PCO is done the crazy old bastard NO SELLS AND GETS UP! It's only for a moment before Rush jumps him from behind for a second time however. Aldis and Rush work together to wear down PCO, making Scurll increasingly frustrated and taking it out on the ref which allows even more opportunities to beat up the Monster. Just Kidding on Aldis after he finally receives a tag...only for Nick to clobber him in the face as he sets up the Chickenwing. Thanks to more surprisingly effective illicit tag team work by Rush and Aldis, they now take a turn at isolating The Villain. Marty takes his time but starts crawling into a hot tag to a rejuvenated PCO. Spear on Rush by the World Champion as he lumbers to the ring. Their opponents vanish, so Marty fires PCO up with a chop before back body dropping him into a somersault plancha to the floor! Tombstone from Aldis to Scurll! But when he thinks about the top rope elbow he finds PCO waiting to crotch him on the ropes and Marty climbing to deliver a colossal superplex. Quebec Cannonball off Scurll's shoulders gets 2. Nick tries to take PCO's legs from under him; working a leg grapevine whilst Rush lays in a senton splash too. Rush tries to hold PCO down so Nick can hit his top rope elbow drop...but PCO pulls Rush into the path of the move. El Toro Blanco angrily shoves Aldis then walks out on the match. Nick tries to use his title belt as a weapon on PCO but Marty saves with the Finger Snap. Chokeslam by PCO, setting up the PCO-Sault! The ROH Champion pins the NWA Champion at 14:43

Rating - *** - There was a clear point to all of this. We were building towards Rush getting another crack at PCO and the ROH World Title, Marty Scurll and Nick Aldis having a rematch for the NWA Heavyweight Championship at the Crockett Cup, and also PCO vs Nick Aldis at Supercard Of Honor in 2020 too (more on that momentarily). To that end, I liked this match. It was functional rather than exciting, but it really did make me interested in seeing some of those matches (albeit mostly Aldis/Scurll, which is the only one not in ROH). Where this went wrong is that, whilst it stands as an effective building block to progress a number of angles, it wasn't a great match and was actually a pretty low key main event. This show is being given away for free in a bid to win new fans. I don't mean to disrespect any of these four - but if building to matches between them was enough to draw fans or deliver buyrates then ROH wouldn't need to be doing this show for free in the first place. Nothing here screamed 'pay-per-view quality main event'. Nothing here felt like a 'can't miss' product. The over-riding final impression this main event leaves lapsed fans with is that there's nothing in this main event scene that they aren't getting done better in an AEW, a New Japan or even a WWE.

Marty Scurll gets on the microphone and offers up $500k of his big fat new contract money if he can't beat Nick Aldis for the NWA Championship. He also books Aldis vs PCO for Supercard Of Honor...

Tape Rating - *** - I have decidedly mixed feelings on this show, because it really is solid. There are a couple of forgettable matches and Martina/Sumie was terrible but most of the card is of a decent standard and it was highlighted by an absolutely stunning Briscoes/MexaBlood tag. It represents incredible value considering it was being given to fans for free. Literally the only money this show made will be through merch sales, any corporate sponsorships, ad revenue when they put it on television and from the handful of people like myself who will still purchase a DVD. It was a gamble; a roll of the dice by an increasingly desperate company looking to entice all those fans who left with the Bucks and Cody to give ROH another chance. And that's where I find that this show has real problems. EVERYTHING about the ROH product which has been driving fans away was visible here. Terrible time management on cards, a low quality main event scene, a dreadful women's division, a succession of perfectly serviceable but ultimately insubstantial ten minute matches, limited character depth/progression, a general dearth of over-riding creative vision...all of which ROH are hoping you won't notice because the likes of the Briscoes are f*cking incredible. As a show it was fine - but I genuinely don't believe many people will have watched this and honestly believed that Sinclair-owned ROH had thrown off the shackles of complacency that has undermined the vast majority of their time in charge of the company, to deliver a more fan-friendly, relevant product. That was the absolute minimum they needed to do for Free Enterprise to be a success, therefore even though the wrestling was fine I really find it hard to judge this event as anything more than a failed, futile roll of the dice - which just didn't work.

3) Jay Lethal/Jonathan Gresham vs Jeff Cobb/Dan Maff (***)

2) Mark Haskins vs Alex Shelley (***)

1) Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Bandido/Flamita (****1/2)