McXal's Reviews

For the first time since Gateway To Honor in February 2020, Ring Of Honor will welcome fans back in to an event tonight. They are still in their home base Maryland arena (and I believe they still taped TV on a closed set during the days around the pay-per-view) but it will be an exciting moment for performers who worked so hard to provide entertaining content during the pandemic to hear the support of a crowd once again. ROH continues to take serious precautions to protect its fans, talent and staff though - with tickets allocated in socially distanced bubbles meaning they are well below capacity (and fans kept well away from guardrails so they can't physically interfere with the talent). From memory I think sales were relatively healthy but probably a lot slower than ROH/Sinclair would have hoped considering how long fans have been without live events and how much money they invested into the product during 2020. The main event this evening is a big one; a rematch more than two years in the making as Bandido challenges Rush for the World Title. All the belts will be on the line tonight; Tony Deppen defending the TV Title against Dragon Lee, The Foundation defending the Tag Titles against Violence Unlimited, Shane Taylor Promotions putting up the Six-Man Title against Dalton Castle, Dak Draper and Eli Isom...whilst Jon Gresham expects Mike Bennett to earn his respect when they meet for the Pure Championship. Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman are in Baltimore, MD

The show begins with Ian and Caprice having to announce that after Tracy Williams was hit by a car in New York, he is unable to defend the Tag Titles with The Foundation tonight. As per the precedent set at the 19th Anniversary when LFI were made to find replacements to defend belts, The Foundation will find a replacement partner to defend them with Rhett Titus tonight; Jay Lethal pencilled into that spot.

The 'demonic' new attitude of Flamita has led to the complete implosion of the MexiSquad. They looked destined for greatness when they memorably dethroned Villain Enterprises to win the Six-Man Titles in early 2020, but Flamita grew jealous of Bandido and the trio fell apart. Horus has tried to keep the group together but he too has now felt Demonic Flamita's wrath. He watched Flamita injure Bandido during the Survival Of The Fittest final two weeks ago on television though, so will know just now dangerous and unpredictable this new persona is...

Rey boots Flamita off the apron whilst he gets distracted trying to wind the fans up. SLINGSHOT RANA TO THE FLOOR! Horus tries a crossbody back into the ring too, but is intercepted by a vicious dropkick into his ribs. Demonic slows the pace right down, using strikes and disrespectful slaps rather than his traditional athletic lucha style. He focuses on making it hard for Horus to breathe with repeated shots to the ribs and throat. We see Rey gasping for air...but it doesn't stop him building up speed to hit a TOPE ATOMICO! SPRINGBOARD 720 DDT gets 2! But Flamita shuts him down with a slingshot DDT then a sit-out powerbomb; again driving all the air out of Rey's lungs. He looks for a frog splash - but takes so long setting it up that Horus is able to block it with his knees. Superkick flurry by Demonic - but as he looks to finish it Rey comes out of the sky with the Satellite DDT for 2. Retador nailed, but Horus kicks out! Flamita poses to the crowd again - and this time it's a costly error as Horus tumbles out of a powerbomb into a sunset flip and steals the victory at 09:48

Rating - *** - A nice, high octane, light-hearted start to the show, which was considerably enriched by the presence of a lively audience who cheered everything Horus did whilst giving Flamita some genuine heat. I love Rey Horus so I won't complain about his winning, but it does feel odd that ROH have had Flamita put over Bandido and Horus quite so soon after breaking out the 'Demonic' persona. I don't feel like jobbing out to his stable-mates is necessarily the best way to establish or legitimise his new gimmick. 

Just like when Bandido beat him during Survival Of The Fittest, Flamita has a temper tantrum and attacks his former stable-mate. Rey needs medical attention as Flamita skulks back to the locker room.

Out in the parking lot camera crews capture La Faccion Ingobernable arriving at the arena. Kenny King comes straight onto the stage, hyping up the crowd then announcing that he won't be competing tonight because he hasn't been booked into a championship match. He does guarantee that Dragon Lee will leave as TV Champion and La Faccion Ingobernable will end the night holding all the gold...

TRENDING WITH TAVEN LIVE - A scruffy, dishevelled Matt Taven is in the ring for a live edition of his chat show. He reflects on the last time he wrestled in this building with fans (Final Battle 2019), and thinks all his accomplishments over the last year are overshadowed by Vincent. The Righteous interrupt him - the bare-footed Marseglia dancing along the guardrails in a purple waistcoat. He rants about Taven's ego...but is interrupted as Matt says he will leave ROH forever if Vincent agrees to one more match. Vincent declines; he doesn't want Taven's career...instead he tells Taven to put his World Title shot (which is still outstanding from his title loss to Rush back in 2019) on the line - in a Steel Cage Match. Having agreed to the match, Taven takes a shot at Vincent...seconds before the rest of The Righteous mob him. Bateman and Dutch pick him and throw him THROUGH HIS PURPLE LADDER/NEON SIGN! 

Quinn McKay bounces out onto the stage to promote ROH TV and the various YouTube shows, then announces that we'll see the Women's Title belt revealed tonight along with the final entrant into the tournament and full brackets.

I really like the idea of a Danhausen/PCO team. For all his popularity, Ring Of Honor has never felt like a comfortable fit for Danhausen and his matches have never been much more than undercard filler. Forming a spooky tag team with a former World Champion (and similarly rudderless) PCO actually makes a lot of sense. They have a tough task ahead of them tonight though as they faced established team The Bouncers - who now have bad attitudes and Ken Dixon in their corner as some kind of beer-swilling apprentice.

Milonas suckerpunches PCO, flooring him so The Bouncers immediately get to double-team Danhausen. Ken Dixon trips Dan from the floor inside thirty seconds as well, capping off a hapless start for the new team. The Bouncers spent several minutes bullying Danhausen, with PCO brooding helplessly on the apron. SNAP GERMAN on Bruiser! Hot tag to the former World Champion...and PCO knocks Milonas off his feet with a discus lariat! QUEBEC CANNONBALL ON THE APRON NAILED! TOPE CON HILO wipes out Milonas too! Danhausen tries to chokeslam Bruiser - but doesn't see PCO sneak into the ring to help him. PCO has another electrical malfunction, which Dan uses to his advantage and tricks his Monster into giving Bruiser another senton. Sledge has issues with PCO and is now watching from the aisle too! VADER BOMB TO THE FLOOR BY BRUISER! Danhausen hits an absolutely impossible diving headscissors off the apron, then grabs his jar of teeth to fill Bruiser's mouth! Goodnighthausen blocked...so Danhausen DVD's Bruiser into the teeth instead. PCO-SAULT! PCO pins BCB to win at 09:04

Rating - *** - I never want to see a guy as big as Milonas having to sell a flying headscissors from someone as small as Danhausen again in my life. Outside of that, however, I thought these guys were a riot together. Nobody took themselves too seriously, the heat segment on Danhausen worked because the guy is just SO much more over than most of the roster, and after the hot tag it was incredibly fun to watch PCO, Bruiser and Milonas go nuts with improbable big man bumps. I can't pretend to be an enormous fan of any of these four men, but for a pre-show match they went all-out to provide something entertaining.

The point of this is that we are watching two teams at the bottom of the tag division scrapping to climb the rankings. Black and his reluctant protege Brian Johnson have been working together since early 2020, but a combination of the pandemic and injuries means that they haven't actually teamed together too often. The Briscoes have been ordered to work their way up from the bottom by Papa Briscoe, who is looking to overcome their differences and bring their team back to greatness after the issues they've had with each other in 2021. 

Brian Johnson's rant on the way to the ring is absolutely hysterical, and absolutely buries the entire Briscoe family. The Briscoes themselves look genuinely emotional to see fans back in the building. They haven't taken kindly to The Mecca's words either and storm into the ring with fists flying. Mark back drops Black into the guardrail, then the apron in short order. The younger Briscoe then hits the step-up somersault plancha off a chair! Having taken PJ out, it means the Briscoes are free to isolate the big-mouthed Johnson...which they do so until Black recovers and returns. The Mecca and the Darewolf show some fluency as a team by cutting the ring in half to work Mark over, only for Brian to make an error and whip him too close to Jay (who blind-tags in). Johnson gets right in Jay's face without fear but doesn't have the fire-power to hang with the former World Champion and is dropped with the Day One Neckbreaker. PJ saves him from the Redneck Boogie...causing Jay to inadvertently strike his brother! Black blocks the Doomsday Device...into a Tower Of London/450 splash combo on Jay for 2! Apron blockbuster from Mark to PJ! CACTUS ELBOW on Johnson! Jay Driller on Black, followed by the Froggy Bow. Briscoes win at 08:06

Rating - ** - I have only limited interest in watching PJ Black wrestle, which hurt the match a little for me. It was an effective opener to the pay-per-view though which accomplished a decent amount in a relatively short run-time making you feel like we were seeing real progress and direction for all four men. The Briscoes teased lingering dissension following the Fight On The Farm, but remained a cohesive unit and ultimately delivered a dominant victory. Black and PJ gave hints at their capability as a team - but of more relevance was the low-key break-out performance by The Mecca. His pre-match promo was scorching, and he really looked good in the match too. 

EC3 has come to ROH to find out if honour is real (among other vague, ultimately meaningless buzz words), and was disappointed in what he has found in Flip Gordon. He has found a 'Mercenary', motivated only by money and little else. When they teamed up against the Briscoes he also found that Flip is a cheat - using a chain behind EC3's back in order to help them win. Carter delivered a formal warning to Gordon, and is looking to see what The Mercenary is made of inside the ring. Flip is getting ready for the World Title shot he earned back at Free Enterprise in February 2020, so can't really afford a high profile loss to curtail his momentum. Ian reminds us that EC3 was recently hospitalised with a serious infection following a wound on his arm, so may not be 100%

Flip uses the Code Of Honor as a means of trying to jump his opponent, but Carter easily swats him away. Each man tries to work headlocks; Flip trying to negate EC3's power, whilst EC3 himself is clearly aware of Gordon's speed. Flip goes after his opponent's knee, superkicking it in the ropes to leave him hobbling around the ring. Caprice and Ian are pushing a narrative that Gordon is completely different to how he was before the pandemic...but he's been a 'Mercenary' since June 2019, so I presume we're pretending Villain Enterprises never existed. With Carter now unable to stand, Gordon is able to hit some of his more traditional moves, like a standing moonsault or a Pele Kick. EC3 is really immobile now - but still has so much power that he is able to deck Flip with single strikes. He lands a TKO over the knee...which of course hurts his own leg as much as it does his opponent. Flip capitalises by ramming the leg into the ringpost. STF applied...and again it's Carter's raw power which thwarts Gordon as he crawls to the ropes using only his arms. Superplex by EC3! Gordon tries to retaliate with the Star Spangled Stunner but is CHOPPED out of the air and powerbombed by the limping EC3. ECD nailed, into a crossface submission called 'The Purpose'. EC3 wins at 11:12

Rating - *** - I thought EC3's match with Jay Briscoe at the 19th Anniversary Show was pretty under-rated, and have similar feelings about this one. It failed to reach the real heights of EC3/Briscoe, and didn't have the depth of story behind it - but this was a good match. Flip working the leg was an easily relatable story, and EC3 sold it REALLY well. He looked completely at home as a muscular, immobile powerhouse just trying to hit something powerful enough on a smaller, faster opponent to force the win. Booking Flip into this match (where they didn't feel comfortable putting Gordon over their 'new toy' EC3) felt like bad booking when you're asking us to buy him as a World Title contender at the next Honor Club show though. 

Flip repeatedly slaps EC3 rather than shake his hand, then spits in his face before walking out. 

One thing the pandemic hasn't changed is thrown together teams getting Six-Man Title shots without doing anything to earn them. This one is supposedly excused by Shane Taylor Promotions being fighting champions and looking to defend the belts against all comers, but that only holds so much merit. Castle is teaming with Draper and Isom, looking to mould them into stars with a little help from his experience and charisma. The problem is that Dak and Eli don't get along, and are only here because they want to hold ROH gold. Is there any way Dalton can hold the team together and win the belts? He's done it before; shocking the world by leading he and The Boys to a Six-Man Title victory over then-champions the Briscoes and Bully Ray.

Eli and Dak start arguing before anyone else comes through the curtain since Isom's music ruins Draper's shirt-ripping entrance gimmick. Draper starts by trying to hit his rope-run crossbody block - but is easily smacked out of the sky and given a standing moonsault by Kaun. Moses then tackles Isom with such force that he almost rockets out of the ring. Castle tries to grapple and wrestle with Moses, but finds the Soldier Of Savagery so big and powerful that he just can't move him. Instead Dalton decides to leave the ring to pose to the crowd and mess around with the Baby Chickens (much to Eli's irritation). KNOCKOUT PUNCH BY TAYLOR! That KO's the former World Champion, allowing STP to isolate Eli. Dak pulls Kaun's hair in an effort to save his partner; pulling him to their corner whilst Castle recovers and starts barking orders. Dalton is more preoccupied with showmanship and encourages Isom to hit flashy moves rather than try to win...and actually drags him out to force him to tag when he tries to pin Kaun! Draper accidentally clobbers Eli to the floor but then walks into a spear from Moses. Cannonball off the apron by Moses! POWERSLAM by Draper, but he hasn't seen that Taylor has tagged in legally. PACKAGE PILEDRIVER! Isom dives in to break the pin! Dalton has essentially left the match and is just sitting at ringside being fanned by the Baby Chickens. AIR RAID CRASH ON TAYLOR by Isom! He gets distracted arguing with Castle though, allowing Kaun to hit the AVALANCHE JACKHAMMER! WELCOME TO THE LAND from Taylor to Draper! STP retain at 10:55

Rating - *** - To be completely transparent, I really didn't have much interest in this match. You won't find a more staunch supporter of Shane Taylor than me, and it was fantastic to see that he has been one of the most over guys on the show so far; reward for an incredible run in this company over the last couple of years. But I don't enjoy pointless filler defences which devalue championships, I'm not particularly interested in Castle's current storyline and for all ROH hypes them up, SOS really haven't been given the chance to do ANYTHING special in an ROH ring so far. I'm stating all of that to make the point that I'm not biased and I'm not over-rating the match because I like the guys involved...I was just genuinely entertained by what they did. All three members of STP looked like juggernauts, beating the sh*t out of their opponents at every turn. Castle was genuinely funny with his manic rants, posturing and hilarious reasons to stop Eli trying to win the match. In recent matches we've also seen Taylor take a step back in an effort to give his team-mates the spotlight. But the guy is a main event star in ROH now, and he absolutely looked the part as he decimated Dak at the end. 

When the pandemic struck 2 Guys 1 Tag were starting to find their feet as a tag team. As 2019 bled into 2020 they were on a winning streak, Josh Woods was delivering the best matches of his ROH career and they were among the top challengers for the Tag Championship. But the Pure Tournament brought something different out in Josh. He wasn't Silas' goofy, happy-go-lucky partner any more - he was the 'Technical Beast'; going deep in the tournament (Silas was eliminated in the first round) and continuing to be a force in the Pure Division even after being eliminated by eventual winner Jon Gresham. Young took some time off, but returned ostensibly to resume his mentorship of Josh...only to stab him in the back as his 'final lesson'. Each man is looking to end this rivalry with a definitive victory over their former partner, and Woods is up against it as Silas is unbeaten in Last Man Standing Matches (with wins over ACH, Jay Lethal and Kenny King). 

Woods attacks Silas from behind during his entrance, tearing up the heavy padded guardrails in his desire to decimate his former partner. He drives elbows into Silas' back and drops him with a German suplex...then levels him with his own Killer Combo to tear apart the back some more. Silas tosses referee Joe Mandak into Josh's path, then smacks him down with a steel chair. Anarchist Suplex off the guardrails! Young shows his experience in Last Man Standing Matches by pressing home his advantage on the floor, using the lack of count-out to hit suplex after suplex on the solid floor of the arena. Woods props up a table in the corner...only to be scooped up by Young and SPEARED through it! Woods realises he can't trade weapon shots with Silas...so uses his grappling to drop Silas then trap him in the Gorilla Lock! Young makes the ropes, then taps out - but since neither are relevant under Last Man Standing rules The Goods simply holds on! Silas has to plummet off the apron to break it and can't get back to his feet afterwards (whilst Woods opens up two tables at ringside). A desperate Silas tries an ill-advised cannonball on the floor...which Woods easily counters with a POWERBOMB THROUGH A LADDER! The ring is filled with chairs and yet again Woods takes too long about doing so. Silas hits him in the back with one of the chairs and then hits a German suplex. MISERY ON A CHAIR! He thinks about tossing Woods through the tables on the floor, but Josh swivels his hips and ducks behind Young. GERMAN SUPLEX OFF THE APRON THROUGH THE TABLES! Josh gets up at 8, whilst Young stays down...meaning Woods wins at 14:07

Rating - *** - I don't think the stipulation helped them here. I understand that Silas has done lots of Last Man Standing Matches before and it feels like a big deal to have Woods be the first man to beat him in this format, but I don't think Woods is the right worker for this kind of match and I don't think the crowd was really invested enough in their rivalry either. This certainly wasn't a bad match, and it was great when we saw Silas outsmarting Woods when it came to weapon use or brawling because he knows this gimmick match, or when the inexperienced Josh would set aside trying to use weaponry and instead rely on his superior grappling/striking skills to get ahead. But it is fair to say that parts of this match were lethargic and largely devoid of excitement, and this was the most quiet the crowd has been all night. Lethargy, lack of excitement and silent crowds are rarely the ingredients for a top notch feud-ending grudge match. I can't help but feel these guys would have been better served doing this on television, and having a kick-ass wrestling match for the live crowd instead.

Quinn McKay is backstage to check on the condition of Matt Taven. Despite having a head wound, Taven is actually happy because he gets his match with Vincent, and has started planning how he can permanently scar his former friend.

As faction warfare intensifies, here we see the leader of Violence Unlimited step into the ring with 'The Franchise', the former World Champion and one of the centrepieces of The Foundation in Jay Lethal. Bragging rights are, of course, at stake. As are ranking positions in the hunt for the World Title.

The reaction of the fans leaves tears in Lethal's eyes. Brody is a little less emotional and successfully goads Jay into a strike battle to start the match. LETHAL INJECTION! ONE COUNT! Brody rolls to the outside...so Lethal takes a run up and unleashes a tope suicida flurry. And King just keeps ignoring them to get back up. BACK SUPLEX TO THE FLOOR! Despite taking some of Lethal's best shots, King has survived almost unscathed and gets back to battering him with strikes. Jay clings to the top rope to save himself from being superplexed, then wriggles away to powerbomb him...but King repeatedly blocks the Figure 4 and PILEDRIVES Lethal! When Jay crawls to the floor Brody stalks out after him and pummels him down into an open chair. RUNNING CROSSBODY THROUGH THE CHAIR (and guardrail)! DVD ON THE APRON! King is killing Lethal here! Jay is so beaten and broken he collapses onto the canvas even when throwing a chop. King lariats him into the dirt then gives him ROLLING GONZO BOMBS! Brody wins at 10:43

Rating - **** - I read that this match only went ten minutes and I will confess to being disappointed. Listen to the crowd at the start of this match - they are 100% there and ready for a 20+ minute 'classic ROH' style match...which isn't what we got here. But setting that aside, I thought this was fantastic. Brody has never been presented better in his two years in the company. It wasn't a squash so much as it was a systematic dismantling of one of the greatest ROH World Champions of all time. He took and/or countered all of Lethal's biggest moves, he absorbed strikes like he didn't feel them and his offence was absolutely spectacular in its violence. This match showed that since 2020 when fans were last in the building Brody (like Shane Taylor) has become a main event player - although it remains to be seen whether that will be in Ring Of Honor or somewhere else. It might not have been the match I expected, but for what they were aiming for, and for the story they were trying to tell this was outstanding.

Whilst his stable-mates are concentrating on tandem feuds with Violence Unlimited and LFI, Gresham continues his quest to restore honour and purity to ROH by dominating the Pure division that he relaunched. He is undefeated in Pure Rules Matches and has defeated all comers for his coveted championship thus far. And he enters this particularly motivated; having openly discussed his dislike and mistrust of his opponent. He doesn't think Bennett is an honourable man, he doesn't think he is capable of being a pure professional wrestler and he simply doesn't respect him. Bennett says he has come back home to ROH looking for competition and to fight the best in the company - and right now few would dispute that is Jon Gresham. He has vowed to earn Gresham's respect by the end of the night...

Gresham barely acknowledges Bennett's existence during the most cursory of pre-match handshakes. He goes right for the Octopus Stretch as well, as if he doesn't think Mike has any kind of ability at all. It means that he reacts with complete shock when Bennett grabs at a version of the London Dungeon, forcing Gresh to utilise his first rope-break. He legit looks like he wants to break the challenger's arm; almost snapping the elbow and wrist from Bennett's body whilst in a mount position. As he tears at the arm more and more his demeanour starts to change - smiling sadistically, mugging to the crowd and acting entirely dismissively of his opponent. Every time Bennett even escapes Gresh goes straight to an armdrag to haul him down again. Kimura applied, finally forcing the challenger to use his first break. Pescado by Gresham...caught by Bennett...COUNTERED BACK TO THE KIMURA! Mike walks all the way around the ring and even back into it all with Gresham clinging to the hold. He collapses against the ropes using his second break to escape it. London Dungeon again by Bennett, perhaps opportunistically...but it forces Gresham to use his second break (and buys Mike time to recover). Gresham grabs the bad arm to block the Piledriver, so Bennett hits a DVD instead...back to the London Dungeon! The Octopus escapes without using a break...but is weakened and walks into a lariat for 2. Running punt to the bad arm by Gresham! Octopus Stretch blocked again...so Gresh quebradas across the bad shoulder and lunges into a bridging pin for 2. PUNT TO THE ARM AGAIN! Octopus Stretch applied, and Mike immediately utilises his final rope-break to escape. He tries to trade strikes with the champion, only for Gresham to cling to the bad arm like a limpet and continually strike at it too. Tope suicida by Gresh...but as he tries to springboard back in Bennett counters with a superkick! CROSSFACE! Bennett is out of breaks so he STANDS UP AND CANNONBALL SENTONS GRESH INTO THE TURNBUCKLES! LARIAT! JUMPING PILEDRIVER! GRESHAM IS IN THE ROPES! Joe Mandak actually counted three, but spots Gresham's boot in the ropes for his final break! A desperate Bennett goes for the Piledriver again and is again confronted by Gresham kicking at his arm. He pops the knee as well! ANKLELOCK! Bennett tries to pull himself to safety but the arm Gresh has worked on all match gives way...and Bennett taps at 19:21

Rating - **** - There is a solid argument to be made that this was Bennett's best ROH singles match ever. Certainly if I gave quarter stars and the like you'd be looking at a ****1/4 rating from me on this as it really was good. These Pure Rules Matches come across so much better on pay-per-view where they get to go longer and don't get broken up by commercial breaks; which is so key when story-telling is such a critical component for the success of a match. Gresham was at his absolute best here, not only as a sensational wrestler, but as a character as well. He lived, breathed and completely embodied his Pure Wrestling mantra - flawless as a wrestler and so determined to promote his pure values that he was an absolute asshole to Bennett (whom he doesn't feel meets the standard he has set). What Bennett did so brilliantly was to elicit sympathy. Gresham was the draw and de-facto babyface here, but Bennett's ultra-sympathetic babyface performance really suckered people in and made them cheer him on. It might not be something you'd expect Mike Bennett to be good at, since he has spent most of his career being a cocky prick heel, but the way he conveyed desire, heart, the will to fight through injury and a determination to win the respect of his foe was compelling (even if the actual physical selling of his arm wasn't necessarily the most consistent). I loved this match, I strongly suspect it will steal the show. Gresham is ROH's Bryan Danielson right now; their best worker, their star-maker, the guy the fans respect, their ace even if he isn't the World Champion.

Gresham gets back to The Foundation locker room to find that Jay Lethal is too injured to replace Tracy Williams in the Tag Title Match. Tracy wants to compete but isn't medically cleared, so Rhett pleads with the battle-weary Gresham to help. The Octopus agrees...

La Faccion Ingobernable's Dragon Lee is here to win back the championship he never lost. His reign was ended when injury forced him to miss the 19th Anniversary, where Kenny King defended the TV Title he had held since Final Battle 2019 in his place and duly lost it to The Foundation's Tracy Williams. Tracy in turn lost the belt to Deppen of Violence Unlimited on television...which brings us full circle to this one. It is a rematch of Final Battle 2020, where Deppen put up a hell of a fight but failed to beat Dragon - but perhaps only because he'd already wrestled once on the show to earn the title match. Now they meet on an even playing field, can Deppen slay the Dragon or will Lee swoop back into possession of the belt he feels is rightfully his?

They spent the first two minutes slapping and chopping lumps out of each other, without backing up an inch. Tony hits a suplex on the arena floor...then takes a run up for a TOPE CON HILO DESTROYER ON THE CONCRETE! Lee is understandably reeling and Deppen almost finishes him with a running death blow to the back of the head. GHETTO STOMP TO THE APRON by Lee! Kenny King (who had been commentating) leaves the announce desk and distracts Deppen. GERMAN SUPLEX DUEL! Reverse rana by Dragon...only for Tony to no-sell that as well to clobber him with a clothesline. Deppen smiles with delight as he and Dragon continue to stiff each other, so Lee drops him with a CRADLE TOMBSTONE for 2. Slaps by Deppen, who is pissing Lee off by refusing to quit. DESNUCADORA! INCINERATOR! Lee regains the title at 10:12

Rating - *** - It would be great if any of Deppen's matches were ever allocated more than ten minutes. Having said that, they packed as much as they could into the time they got here, producing perhaps the most intense match of the entire show. It wasn't a particularly complex set-up - just two hard-hitting dudes who enjoy violence and chaos coming out and beating the sh*t out of each other. There were points where the no-selling became incredibly silly and it feels like an incredible waste of Dragon Lee's talents to bring him in for a ten minute spot-fest...but I don't think many wrestling fans could fail to be entertained by this. It also features one of the best Destroyer spots I've ever seen!

Chris Dickinson and Homicide run out to protect Deppen as Kenny King, Dragon Lee and La Bestia Del Ring stand ominously over him. When LFI scram, The Foundation's music hits signalling Gresham and Titus' arrival into the arena to defend the Tag Titles

It feels like this was made a Fight Without Honor at relatively short notice, which I'm not a fan of. I'm not necessarily sure it's the right stipulation for these guys either since The Foundation and Violence Unlimited are both proponents of 'Honor' - it's just the means through which it is achieved that they disagree on (purity vs violence). The challengers have to be favourites for this one since the match takes place in a lawless environment and they face a championship team with Jon Gresham subbing in for Tracy Williams on ten minutes notice having already wrestled a twenty minute match tonight.

Gresham sprays disinfectant in Dickinson's face, as inside the ring Rhett gives Homicide a swinging bulldog onto a chair. Titus climbs to the top rope...but Chris jumps onto the apron and shoves him through an open chair. Octopus Stretch from Gresham to the Notorious 187, but Homicide escapes and Gresh looks to be nursing the arm that Bennett repeatedly put in the London Dungeon earlier. MICHINOKU DRIVER THROUGH A TABLE from Rhett to Homicide! Inside the ring Dickinson is targeting Gresham's arm...so Rhett clocks him in the back with another chair. He barely has a chance to celebrate swinging the chair before a rejuvenated Homicide flies at him with a super Ace Crusher though. Big Dawg Dropkick through a chair! BELLY TO BELLY CHAIR-PLEX ON HOMICIDE gets 2! Octopus Stretch - with repeated head punches! Dickinson saves Homicide by full-on throwing Titus at his own partner. STF on Gresh...as Homicide pulls out his f*cking Ghetto Fork! Rhett saves his partner with a suplex! RAZOR'S EDGE THROUGH A TABLE BY DICKINSON! COP KILLA ON GRESHAM! Homicide pins Gresham to win the Tag Titles at 11:02

Rating - *** - I've got a number of problems with the booking here but I want to first acknowledge that this was very exciting, surprisingly violent, genuinely innovative at points...and it was absolutely joyous to see Homicide become an ROH Tag Champion. As a match in isolation this one was really good. But it also shows how Delirious just isn't able to book properly and succumbs to so many easy crutches and fixes in the hopes that it will create a buzz where his creative vision fails him. In 2019 I criticised ROH for repeatedly using random hardcore matches, regardless of whether the storyline called for it, because they felt it would draw fans - and that was absolutely the case here. There was no call for a Fight Without Honor (arguably THE premiere ROH grudge match); Delirious just booked it because it's 'faction warfare', he has a faction with 'Violence' in the title and hopes people will buy tickets without asking too many questions. He also needs to stop this constant hot-shotting of the belts around between groups. It isn't adding to my enjoyment, it isn't making me want to buy more merch and it isn't selling tickets either...it's just bad booking with Sinclair/Delirious holding the misguided opinion title matches and title changes = buy rates (and it has been that way for a LONG time). The way the Tag and TV Titles have bounced around all year has done nothing more than devalue them. 

Maria Kanellis-Bennett and Lenny Leonard arrive on the stage to reveal the new Women's Championship and full tournament bracket. I assume the show is running behind (as usual) because they talk so quickly they barely pause for breath between sentences. The final is confirmed to take place at Death Before Dishonor 18 in a couple of months time. Maria confirms that Vita VonStarr has been removed from the tournament due to interfering in matches on ROH TV leaving an open spot in the bracket. She brings out Chelsea Green as the perfect candidate to fill it...but since she isn't able to wrestle with her broken arm in Maryland, instead the 'Hot Mess' will be watching the tournament and will be cleared in time to face the winner.

El Toro Blanco has been a near-unstoppable force in ROH since he debuted at the beginning of 2019. Only one man has defeated him (PCO in a Friday The 13th Massacre Match), and that loss was avenged within a couple of months. His resume includes wins over pretty much everyone on the roster, including Bandido. Last time they met was at the 17th Anniversary, when both were relative newcomers to the promotion. Since then we've seen Bandido as part of Lifeblood fighting to preserve the integrity of ROH, whilst Rush has formed La Faccion Ingobernable to cause chaos. After the promotion returned from hiatus in September multiple challengers have stepped up to face Rush - and each time he has broken rules and/or called upon the help of his stable-mates to ensure he retains his belt. Shane Taylor, Brody King and Jay Lethal have all fallen in this manner...and in the aftermath of MexiSquad's break-up Bandido is a little short on allies. He earned this opportunity by winning Survival Of The Fittest and he has vowed that he won't waste it...

BULL'S HORNS! But just when Rush threatens to repeat the Dalton Castle MSG massacre, he declines to pin Bandido and instead disrespectfully shins him out of the ring. The match isn't even a minute old as we see Rush slamming a heavy guardrail door into the challenger's face. Out come the electrical cables, as they have done in all of Rush's high profile defences, so he can flog and choke Bandido with them. Bandido is taking an absolute sh*tkicking, almost unable to defend himself as Rush stands over him delivering stomps and kicks without difficulty. We go back to the floor, where Rush hits Bandido in the legs with a steel chair and basically dares Todd Sinclair to disqualify him. Bandido is hobbling badly but somehow manages to hit a corkscrew pescado after Rush loses his focus following another argument with the ref. Shooting Star Press gets 2 for the challenger. X-Knee blocked! Crucifix Driver instead...which Rush survives before suplexing Bandido into the turnbuckles. SOMERSAULT PLANCHA nailed by the champion, showing that he can fly almost as well as his opponent. He sets up a couple of tables at ringside, and stands on the apron to counter a Bandido dive into a FLYING BELLY TO BELLY THROUGH THE TABLES! Both guys were really f*cked up as a result of that and barely beat the count back into the ring. They trade ragged German suplexes, Bandido hits an even more slapdash pop-up cutter...which Rush rightly ignores and takes his head off with a kick. Dead-lift superplex nailed for 2. So Bandido chases him back up the ropes and hits the Revolution Fly! Rush gets up! 21-PLEX! GETS 2! Rush hits another belly to belly suplex to the buckles...and starts tearing Bandido's mask away from his face. He is so intent on pulling the mask off that he misses Bandido raising his legs to snare him in a pin...and Bandido wins! He is the new champion at 16:02

Rating - *** - It was really messy at various stages, but in a strange way that added to it. We were watching two luchadors play fast and loose with the rules and with traditional execution of moves; whilst not always pretty I never felt they weren't throwing everything they had at the match to entertain us. I'm glad Rush's time as champion is over too. The guy is undeniably pretty cool with an incredible intensity and aura about him. But despite being in ROH for two years I don't feel like I've ever really seen him cut loose or allowed to deliver a truly GREAT match. Indeed, the times he gets the most leeway (like this, or the Final Battle 2019 main event) it usually becomes a pretty one dimensional match with loads of unnecessary table spots. This match was basically the same bout as every other title defence he's had since returning from the pandemic. He started fast, he used cables on the floor, he was a dick to the ref, he hit a few catchphrases and he dominated most of the wrestling. Brody King's demolition of Jay Lethal earlier felt like Brody winning a match and ratifying his status as a main event talent; Lethal setting an example of how to put a guy over. Bandido, despite leaving as World Champion, leaves looking like a slightly fortuitous crash test dummy having been clobbered all over the arena. He is someone I've been calling out as a future World Champion from the very start of his ROH career and I'm delighted we're going in a new direction after two years of Rush...but compare the emotion here to the scenes when someone like Austin Aries shocked Samoa Joe. That tells you everything about the lower quality of this as a main event. Or that Delirious can't book properly and has done nothing to promote or build to Bandido winning the World Title (beyond winning SOTF like two weeks ago)...and is now relying on a random title change even if the storyline doesn't call for one in the hopes that people will mark out, buy sh*t or chant 'this is awesome'.

La Faccion Ingobernable storm the ring and assault Bandido, meaning the show goes off the air with them all standing on his unconscious body...

Tape Rating - *** - Coming away from this show I actually feel very similar to how I felt having watched Free Enterprise back in 2020. Just like that night, Ring Of Honor had lots of new/returning eyes on their product with this show and therefore had a chance to really showcase a new/better direction...but ultimately missed that opportunity as they failed to deliver any real signs of progress or produce anything different from the tone-deaf product which has been haemorrhaging fans since the Young Bucks and Cody left with half of the roster. There is hardly a bad match on the card, there were some incredible individual performances from some amazing talents; some of whom were clearly very emotional at getting to perform to real life fans once again. But as ever the creative side of the promotion just felt off. Sending Woods and Young out to have a slightly sterile Last Man Standing Match actually hampered how good their match could be. Too many bouts on a bloated card meant that some of the biggest draws on the show (Brody/Lethal, Lee/Deppen, the Fight Without Honor) were stiffed for time and barely got ten minutes each. The absence of compelling story-lines is glossed over by an abundance of table spots, weapons and title changes. These aren't new problems for Ring Of Honor; they aren't even problems which have come about since The Elite left. These are fundamental issues which have been present for years and years, slowly sucking the life out of this once great company leaving it a zombie-like husk of what it used to be. If you're tuning in because you want to space out and watch a few good matches then the show is fine...but in the 2021 wrestling space, ROH aren't even close to being 'Best In The World'. They probably weren't even the best wrestling show being broadcast that night.

3) Tony Deppen vs Dragon Lee (***)

2) Brody King vs Jay Lethal (****)

1) Jonathan Gresham vs Mike Bennett (****)