McXal's Reviews

Ring Of Honor returns to the city of its birth, and welcomes fans back to the 2300 Arena for Glory By Honor 18 weekend. Don't expect a rabid jam-packed arena as we saw during ECW's heyday in the same building but after so many weeks of empty arena wrestling their return remains a welcome and positive impact on the show. It should be a strong weekend too with a bunch of really exciting matches, even with Jay Briscoe having to miss the show due to ROH's stringent Covid-19 protocols. Tonight we'll see the World Title on the line as new champion Bandido makes his first defence, against 'The Mercenary' Flip Gordon. The Pure Title is up for grabs in an all-Foundation battle; Jon Gresham defending against stable-mate Rhett Titus. There's also an 8-man tag pitting La Faccion Ingobernable against Violence Unlimited which should be really fun. Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman are in Philadelphia, PA.

We know that Silas has been taking this match seriously, even scouting Horus to ensure he is properly prepared. Rey is looking to rebound after his television loss to Demonic Flamita (which airs the same night as this show) and will be keenly aware that the winner here will receive a boost in the TV Title rankings.

Silas cuts a pre-match promo designed to get under the skin of the live crowd and begins the match by tearing into his masked foe with some big strikes. Corkscrew flying bodyscissors takedown by Horus, so Young instantly kills his momentum by delivering the Killer Combo. He then savagely pushes Rey through the ropes to the floor as he tries to build up speed again! Suplex on the floor blocked by Horus, into a RUNNING RANA INTO THE GUARDRAIL! TOPE ATOMICO OVER THE RINGPOST! Silas catches Rey climbing the ropes again - and drills him with a high velocity superplex for 2. Young grabs Horus' mask and swivels it so it covers his eyes, then lifts him up for Misery. Silas wins at 07:53

Rating - ** - I feel like they could have allowed them a little more leash to really cut loose with a few more high spots and false finishes. It felt like the crowd were there for a really hot start to the show - especially after Silas' promo - so when all they got was a competent and quietly effective opener it felt like a little bit of a comedown. Silas isn't getting any younger but remains incredibly good with his character/gimmick, Horus is under-rated, exciting and good value as a babyface taking a beating so I had fun with this though.

This is a Six Man Mayhem, with the winner receiving an immediate spot in the World Title Top 5 Rankings. Its an eclectic mix of talent, but worth noting that Eli and Dak in particular don't get on - as we saw at Best In The World when they failed to successfully form a trios team with Dalton Castle and did not capture the Six-Man Championship from Shane Taylor Promotions. Flamita has unfinished business with Bandido so would love a ticket to a World Title shot against his former stable-mate. Dalton Castle runs out through the crowd, trailed by the Baby Chickens and appears to be giving Dak a pep-talk.

Flamita starts looking cocky until Black drops him on his head! Bennett and PJ chop the F*CK out of each other until each collapses to the floor. Danhausen and Draper enter, with Dan having to think on his feet to counter an immediate attempt at the Magnum KO. Bennett hauls Hausen out, and does the same to Dak as well. Flamita chops Isom so hard he almost curls up into a ball...but gets distracted pissing off the fans and pretending he's going to do a 450 splash to entertain them. Slingshot DDT drops Draper, before Eli throws him off the top rope to the floor. Danhausen decides to try a double chokeslam which of course is easily blocked by Dak and Eli. We keep coming back to Draper and Isom, and the Mile High Magnum easily blocks The Promise into an emphatic gourdbuster. Flam Fly on PJ! Spear from Bennett to Flamita! POP-UP NECKBREAKER from Isom to Bennett! Draper wants to give Isom a superplex...but steps over PJ in a tree of woe to do so and Black pops up to hit a SPIDER GERMAN SUPERPLEX on Draper - which in turn rockets both Draper and Eli into the prone bodies of Bennett and Flamita. Since everyone else is down Danhausen thinks he is the winner - and plants Black with an angry German suplex when that turns out to be false. GOODNIGHTHAUSEN on Bennett - a man who has had plenty of fun riffing on CM Punk spots himself over the years! Flamita jumps Dan to level him with the Retador and win the match at 11:47

Rating - ** - This was a different kind of Six Man Mayhem, focused more on fast paced spots inside the ring than it was orchestrated dive sequences outside it. The foundation of the match was the rivalry between Isom and Draper which I thought was smart. There are lots of 'names' here to pop the crowd; PJ is an international star, Danhausen a cult hero, Flamita a well-respected luchador and Bennett a veteran - but using their star-power to bring focus to ROH's two up and coming home-grown prospects was smart booking. They are both real talents.

Max is introduced as a 'mystery' partner for Vita of The Righteous, and they make for an odd team. This is a preview of next week's ROH TV when we will see Angelina face Max in the Quarter Finals of the Women's Title Tournament. Chelsea Green (who worked a dark match taped for YouTube earlier in the evening but makes her 'live' debut tomorrow) joins commentary...

The Allure seem terrified of Max so are happy when they start on the apron. Vita sneaks in under the radar and hits a somersault senton on Leon for 2 though. Angelina looks more confident and makes fun of Vita before putting the boots to her...but remains terrified of Max and tries not to get to close to them. Every time a member of The Allure gets preoccupied by Max, VonStarr is able to sneak in and hit something impressive - this time a fallaway slam on the former Women Of Honor Champion. Max is pacing the apron frantically and gratefully accepts a tumbling hot tag from Vita moments later. Love tries to cheap-shot Max, and quickly runs away when The Impaler gives chase. They chase Angelina away, as inside the ring VonStarr rolls up Leon to win at 06:39

Rating - * - Perfectly fine as build up to Max/Angelina in the tournament, but as a match in its own right this was limited. The crowd really wanted to see Max, but actually The Impaler did almost nothing and was hardly involved. Angelina also spent a lot of time on the outside too, meaning most of the ring-time was taken up with Mandy and Vita - which certainly didn't yield the highest quality in-ring product. The dynamic was really weird too. Vita and The Righteous are heels, The Allure are heels. It isn't really clear what Max is...and since Max was out of the match the whole time anyway it was like the whole bout was designed to alienate the crowd.

Having chased Angelina away, Max returns with a table whilst VonStarr throttles Mandy with a chain. Max violently throws Mandy through the table to send an emphatic message to The Allure.

The Mecca is from Philadelphia and gets a pretty big babyface reaction. This is a huge match for him as he gets the opportunity to work with one of the biggest names on the ROH roster (as well as being a former Impact and WWE star). EC3 has been examining the Ring Of Honor roster to find out if honour is real, and he will find few more outspoken opponents than Johnson. The Mecca thinks he should be at the top of the card already and will no doubt object to high profile free agents like EC3 taking spots he feels are rightfully his.

Johnson gets right in Carter's face and is roared on by the crowd. EC3's raw power and size sees him dominate early on though, getting him some major heat. EC3 looks as irritated in this match as he has been at any point in his ROH career, and Brian profits from being in his head by delivering a flurry of strikes. Unfortunately Carter shuts that down with a lariat and once again physically imposes himself with simple, brutal, crushing Irish whips to the turnbuckles. Avalanche urinage suplex catapults Johnson across the ring, leaving his body contorted on the canvas...and the crowd starts to cheer for him even more loudly. Springboard shoulder tackle by The Mecca, but his back is bothering him after all the damage he has sustained. He slips trying to climb the ropes again and still manages to land a diving clothesline. Trust The Process blocked...but as Ethan leaves the ring Johnson DESTROYS him with a tope suicida right into the guardrail. He seems to injure his hand upon landing which is immediately spotted by EC3, who stomps the hand into the apron. A simple knucklelock is now able to drop Johnson his knees...and an armwrench using the injured hand for leverage reduces him to a screaming wreck on the mat. He takes his last shot, giving EC3 a low blow behind the referee's back. Carter survives, hits the ECD then grabs the injured hand once more and uses it to hook in The Purpose. Johnson taps, giving EC3 the win at 12:48

Rating - *** - A strange match on the surface, but made a really exciting spectacle by a great crowd. I don't think anyone was expecting Johnson to be quite so over, or quite so much of a babyface in his hometown - but the response he got from the fans here was what elevated this match to the next level. The stakes feel higher and the drama feels more tangible when you have a vocal audience hanging on their every move. EC3 was the big, muscular outsider - a former TNA wrestler coming to the birth city of ROH looking to take on one of their own; an ROH talent who in his own promos has talked about taking inspiration from the glory days of the promotion. He fought valiantly, and the last couple of minutes where Carter worked over his hand were really exciting. Best match on the show so far.

As the leader of The Righteous prepares for the Steel Cage tomorrow, the rest of his group were due to see action tonight. Unfortunately Jay Briscoe misses this weekend 'due to Covid protocols', meaning a scheduled Briscoes vs Bateman/Dutch match now becomes a singles encounter. Dutch is still at ringside though.

Briscoe opens up throwing chops at Bateman...and the match starts with a really physical exchange of strikes, impressively won by Briscoe despite Bateman being one of the hardest hitters in the company. Dutch tries to distract Mark, and when Briscoe looks to pescado out after him Dutch catches him for a PRESS SLAM THROUGH AN OPEN CHAIR! Bateman controls for a couple of minutes until Briscoe manages to deliver the Iconoclasm. Urinage scores...but Bateman gets right back up and hits a BACK DROP DRIVER! Mark no sells this time! Froggy Bow gives Mark the win at 06:18

Rating - ** - Very hard-hitting, but so short it really couldn't amount to anything serious. Bateman has been doing some really good stuff in New Japan USA, so its a shame his role in ROH is reduced to nothing more than henchman for Vincent. We saw glimpses of his unorthodox, hard-hitting style but this wasn't much more than a squash win for Mark in truth.

Dutch attacks Briscoe after the bell, until Mike Bennett come out with a chair. Given The Kingdom's history with the Briscoes it's an unusual save, but he has bigger issues with The Righteous now and chases away Vincent's goons (as the man himself prepares for Matt Taven and the steel cage tomorrow)

We know already that The Foundation hold the integrity and ideals of pure professional wrestling above all else, even their personal relationships. They have no problem wrestling each other in matches and have done so on multiple occasions. In Pure Title combat alone, Gresham won it by overcoming Tracy Williams in the Pure Tournament final and has also defended it against his own tag partner Jay Lethal. With Gresham at the helm, The Foundation plucked Titus from the doldrums - a career which was bottoming out in 2018/19 as he did little more than commentate in his speedo or get humiliated by Kenny King on television. Rhett is a new, more dangerous and more confident competitor now thanks to Gresham's leadership - and that could bite The Octopus in the ass. Josh Woods meets the winner of this for the Pure Title at Death Before Dishonor so joins commentary. Jay Lethal and Tracy Williams are both at ringside.

Rhett uses his height, going right to a front facelock and it visibly frustrates the champion. His height also makes it difficult for Gresh to even attempt the Octopus Stretch, instead he hiptosses him to the ground and grinds onto a shortarm scissors. Jonathan counters to a version of a deathlock; trying to cut that height difference by taking Titus' legs out from under him. Rhett has no choice but to take his first rope-break to free himself. He maintains the hold visibly longer than he should which rightly irritates his team-mate in The Foundation, causing Titus to come up extremely pissed off. Gresh follows with a potentially unintentional cheap-shot which doesn't improve Rhett's mood. He is still irritated as Gresham sweeps him into a tornado headlock takedown. He really clings to that headlock as well, keeping Titus on the ground and blowing him up as he tries to escape. Belly To Belly Suplex from Rhett to escape, essentially tossing Gresham into the ropes and causing him to use his first rope-break when kicking out of the pin. Back to the headlock goes Gresham; this time with such potency that Rhett burns a second rope-break almost unnecessarily. Gresham's back is really bothering him now though, and when he fights a suplex attempt his legs give way causing them both to BOUNCE over the top rope to the floor! They need most of the twenty-count to get back in, and when they do both quicken the pace looking for a flash pin. Rhett showcases his skill by going counter-for-counter with The Octopus at high speed...but loses control in a rolling cradle and Gresh holds his shoulders down for three. Gresham retains at 14:42

Rating - *** - A slight step below some of Gresham's best defences of the belt on PPV (vs Flip, vs Dak and vs Bennett), but fascinating viewing nevertheless. We saw flashes of Gresham's more devious, edgy, pseudo-villainous streak here; a character that preceded the rise of The Foundation but sparked his ascension to the main event scene in late-2019. With tensions already reportedly high within The Foundation after Gresham lost the Tag Titles for them at Best In The World, he laid down a marker and seemed to be pulling rank on Titus - pulling out all the stops to ensure the Pure Title didn't change hands. And you can see why Rhett would be irritated about it too; not only is Gresham antagonising a team-mate, he is also pulling out tricks he didn't in the Fight Without Honor therefore implying he cares more about his own championship than he did about Rhett's. Like Gresham/Yehi from TV a few weeks ago, a LOT of the match was fought on the ground and whilst I find that kind of work intriguing I do understand that it isn't for everyone. I really enjoyed Rhett trying to use his height and reach - in particular how that aggravated Gresham (in ways it hasn't when others have tried to do that). Ultimately Gresh pulled out the win - his twelfth Pure Rules win and his twelfth different manner of victory - but not before Titus had delivered a creditable showcase of his own skill. If you enjoyed watching these two together, Gresham and Rhett had a match in MCW in late-2019 (which is still available on Honor Club as of writing) that was even better...

Rhett shakes Gresham's hand and drops to his knees to show respect to Gresham. Before The Octopus can leave he is confronted in the aisle by Josh Woods - who also shakes his hand, but warns him to be ready for their match at Death Before Dishonor.

As faction warfare threatens to engulf ROH this summer, Violence Unlimited are looking to make a statement by defeating both of their rival groups on consecutive nights in eight-man tags. Tomorrow they face The Foundation, but they start tonight with LFI. Brody started Violence Unlimited as a response to being cheated out of the World Title at Final Battle 2020 by Rush, Lee and La Bestia - getting his own crew after growing frustrated at being overwhelmed by LFI's superior numbers. He recruited Tony Deppen, who would go on to become TV Champion...but lost that belt to Dragon Lee at Best In The World. That was the same night that Dickinson and Homicide defeated The Foundation to become Tag Champions though - ensuring that this match has implications in the rankings of three different divisions. Who leaves with the bragging rights? Shane Taylor is on commentary, having decided that he's pissed off that Kenny King cost him the World Title (albeit months ago)...

VLNCE UNLTD are seriously over in Philly, especially Deppen. LFI's matching yellow and black gear is pretty bad ass too. Homicide starts with Lee, but Dragon basically walks straight past him to punch Deppen in the face. He and Tony contest a killer near-miss/counter sequence, ending with Tony blowing snot-rockets on Lee's shirt. All eight guys pile into the ring and brawl with such uncontrollable ferocity that Joe Mandak very quickly throws that match out at 01:48. Rush angrily gets on a microphone and yells 'No Disqualification' repeatedly...and the brawl continues! Brody grabs the mic, swears a lot (which I love) and reminds us that we are in the 'f*cking ECW Arena' and demands they restart as a Street Fight. Todd Sinclair comes out and agrees - so we're on! Once again it's Deppen and Lee in the ring teeing off on each other, amidst a total melee on the outside. The fight actually stops so they can all watch Tony and Dragon stiffing each other, then start up with the DUELLING GERMAN SUPLEXES! Dickinson and Homicide double-team Rush, with Kenny coming to his partner's rescue before Cide can break out the Ghetto Fork. Bestia caves in Brody's skull with a chair, whilst Rush slithers to the outside and starts flogging Deppen with electric cables. Kenny pulls a ladder and a trash can out...which Rush bashes across Homicide's skull to prevent him using the fork again. They try to hit Deppen with the ladder, but he hurdles it with incredible grace and hits a springboard dropkick to knock it into Kenny and Lee. TOPE CON HILO by Deppen! Homicide loads up the ladder Terry Funk style and helicopters like a lunatic whilst the rest of Violence Unlimited feed LFI members in one at a time to get wiped out by the ladder! Ace Crusher on Kenny! SHOTGUN KNEES THROUGH THE LADDER in response! Bestia and Rush drape Dickinson over a table, and Kenny runs up for a CORKSCREW PESCADO THROUGH THE TABLE to wipe out one half of the tag champions. Tony finds himself alone with Bestia, Rush and Lee...but shows no fear and decides to throw strikes with all three of them at once, seemingly losing a tooth in the process. LFI set him up on a table next and order La Bestia to the top. Brody sneaks in and POWERBOMBS HIM THROUGH THE TABLE! He tries to back body drop Lee...but he pivots in the air into a SOMERSAULT PLANCHA! LARIAT on La Bestia, giving Brody the win at 15:35

Rating - **** - 2021 hasn't been a great year for match quality in Ring Of Honor. That happens when you spend most of the time without fans and trying to pack too many matches onto a forty five minute TV show. Perhaps that influences my emotions watching this, but I genuinely found this to be one of my favourite ROH matches of the year. I've been criticising them for a good few years for their over-use of gimmick and hardcore matches to achieve drama and draw fans because the quality of the story-telling or wrestling has stopped doing that. But here we had a match which genuinely justified the Street Fight stipulation and it f*cking rocked. LFI have been pissing everyone off and breaking rules for more than a year, whilst Violence Unlimited have quite literally formed to prove that there is 'honor in violence'. The resulting match was messy but completely unpredictable and felt authentically lawless and chaotic. After having him dominate Jay Lethal at Best In The World, putting Brody over again here feels like an obvious move to elevate him back into the World Title picture which I have no problems with. Everyone shone at points - including some of the best Lee/Deppen exchanges of their entire rivalry, Homicide rolling back the years to be the crazy old bastard that we know and love, Kenny King hitting some brutal/brilliant spots. I haven't heard many people really praising this which is a shame as I really loved it. A live crowd in an intimate building like the 2300 Arena improve things so much as well. There is no way this match turns out to be this good if they were taping it in front of nobody, or in Baltimore where they run a big arena with only a few hundred people in it.

Shane Taylor leaves commentary and gets into a fight with Kenny King in the aisle, soon followed by Moses, Kaun and O'Shay Edwards to brawl with La Faccion Ingobernable. 

This is a title shot that has been a long time in coming for Flip. He earned it through victory in a battle royal at Free Enterprise back in February 2020 (when he pretended to be Dragon Lee to hoodwink LFI, whom his then-faction Villain Enterprises were feuding with). The pandemic has forced him to wait a long time for it, but that may prove to benefit him as he now faces Bandido rather than Rush. He is 2-0 against Bandido, with wins during the 2019 War Of The Worlds Tour (a phenomenal match in Buffalo), then another victory in a rematch taped in an empty arena the weekend that the 18th Anniversary Show was cancelled in Las Vegas. Gordon has failed to beat a champion in their first title defence previously (Matt Taven in 2019), so will be looking to put that right and ensure the reign of the 'Most Wanted Champion' is a short one. Flip's rival EC3 (wearing a 'Nuke The Bingo Hall' shirt) joins commentary...and is an immense distraction because he talks so much vague, empty nonsense.

Flip antagonises Bandido and concentrates on keeping him grounded, but hasn't reckoned on Bandido's grappling skill and finds himself trapped in a Mexican surfboard. But as the match progresses Gordon demonstrates that he is more than capable of keeping up with the champion when the pace quickens; fighting to a stalemate as the strikes and somersaults start to fly. It's Flip's aggression that sees him get ahead - poking the champ in the eye and dragging him out of the ring to beat him down on the outside. He even starts tearing at Bandido's mask, picking at the mental scars still fresh from Rush doing that on multiple occasions. Adding injury on top of insult he also bounces Bandido's face off his own title belt. He pulls out his villainous black kendo stick - in the same building where Bully Ray flogged the f*ck out of him in 2018 - but takes so long looking at it lovingly Bandido is able to create some space and land a somersault plancha. Tornillo scores, setting up the Crucifix Driver for 2! Gordon blocks a hurricanrana with a powerbomb...only for Bandido to roll through a Flip-5 attempt. ELECTRIC CHAIR DROP by Flip, seemingly to counter an attempted reverse rana by the champion! 720 DDT BY FLIP! The champ pursues Gordon up the ropes looking for the Revolution Fly, only to see it countered to the Kinder Surprise. STF LOCKED IN! Gordon has won numerous matches with that recently but Bandido makes the desperate crawl to the ropes and survives for now. FLIP-5! Bandido kicks out! Gordon thinks about a 450 splash, only to be caught at the top with the REVOLUTION FLY! But Bandido is too hurt to cover right away, allowing Flip to kick out. 21-PLEX BLOCKED! PELE KICK! SPINNING MEXICAN DESTROYER BY BANDIDO! 21-PLEX! Bandido retains at 17:18

Rating - **** - After being stuck with interference-filled 'Rush formula' World Title Matches since Death Before Dishonor 17, this felt like a breath of fresh air. Clearly it wasn't an all-time great ROH Championship Match, but it was a strong match fought with great intensity, decent pacing and typified the 'style' that once made this belt so coveted and prestigious. The two men spent the early exchanges demonstrating how evenly matched they were; Bandido able to out-wrestle Flip more than you'd expect on the ground, but Gordon easily able to match the champion when it came to speed and athleticism. So it was aggression and mind-games that gave Flip the edge; already confident after two wins against Bandido in ROH, he poked the eyes, fought him on the outside, used his belt to beat on him and even went after the mask knowing that Rush has twice ripped it apart in recent matches. It made a great match to legitimise Bandido as champion - he came back from the attack on the floor, survived both of Flip's current finishing moves and had enough in his offensive arsenal to blow Flip away in the closing stages. 

EC3 slowly marches down the aisle and interrupts Bandido's celebrations. Brody King stomps out as well and yells at EC3 to get behind him if he wants a title shot. They start fighting among themselves and have to be separated...as out through the crowd runs Demonic Flamita to attack Bandido from behind. Having been separated from EC3, Brody pulls Bandido to safety as we fade out. 

Tape Rating - *** - Although EC3/Johnson was so much better than you may expect, the top half of the card is where the money was situated on this show. And to that end I thought it really delivered; giving us the kind of high quality in-ring product that has been sorely lacking from so much of Ring Of Honor's product for a long time. Great matches, clean finishes, a decent and lively crowd, performers enhancing their reputations on the strengths and merits of what they did in the ring - i.e. exactly what ROH used to be about. The VU/LFI Street Fight in particular was really good, capturing my attention in a way very few Ring Of Honor matches have done in 2021 and almost getting me to invest in 'faction warfare' for the first time. Even though the undercard was rather forgettable and filled with short, mostly meaningless matches the quality at the top end makes this a show worthy of checking out in my opinion (particularly if you're watching selectively and skip the matches that don't matter).

3) Jonathan Gresham vs Rhett Titus (***)

2) Bandido vs Flip Gordon (****)

1) Brody King/Chris Dickinson/Tony Deppen/Homicide vs Rush/Dragon Lee/Kenny King/La Bestia del Ring (****)