McXal's Reviews

Glory By Honor 2021 Night Two looks a lot similar in format to the previous evening. A lot of the undercard looks to be populated with apparent filler matches (with a few hooks here and there such as Chelsea Green's 'live debut' or Incoherence debuting in ROH as a trio to challenge for the Six-Man Titles) but once again the top of the card is really strong. 'The Last Stand' will main event, ending the two year war between Matt Taven and Vincent which has raged since The Experience 2019, inside a Steel Cage. Former World Champion Rush has the new champ in his sights; he and Dragon Lee face the MexiSquad of Bandido and Rey Horus and we'll also see more from 'Faction Warfare' as The Foundation face Violence Unlimited in an eight-man tag. Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman are once again at the announce desk in Philadelphia, PA.

As two of the zaniest characters in Ring Of Honor, it is obvious to see why they have been booked as opponents. Dalton has been a strange figure in 2021, repackaging himself with new music, new Boys ('Baby Chickens') and a renewed focus on bringing entertainment back to ROH. He even said on commentary last night that he finds Danhausen entertaining. On Dan's part we know he is motivated by sacks full of money so will no doubt be eyeing up a win over a former World Champion as a way to increase his value. Dak Draper joins commentary and talks up Dalton's mentorship (despite how 'busy' Dalton supposedly is).

The bell rings and Castle hops out of the ring to loiter outside with the Baby Chicks some more. Two minutes in and they've still not touched, but the crowd are loving it anyway. Danhausen decides he wants to play with the Baby Chickens too which Castle objects to. He tries to skin the cat next, and pretends like he can't do it to lure Dalton in - before booting him in the head. Draper leaves commentary to help Dalton; catching Danhausen when he attempts a pescado and then distracting him so Castle can hit a running knee to the head. Inside the ring Castle misses another knee strike though, setting Hausen up for a German suplex. Dan grabs his jar of teeth...but Castle steals it and drops them all over the canvas. The Baby Chickens think that is 'chicken feed' so hop into the ring like idiots and start trying to eat them - as Danhausen pulls out a spare jar of teeth to fill Castle's mouth with. Goodnighthausen blocked and Dalton hits the Bang-A-Rang into the teeth to win at 08:07

Rating - ** - This match didn't cater to my taste in professional wrestling, but I don't think that precludes it from being an effective opening match. The wrestling was pretty low key, but the characters in the ring were so big and bold that they really fired the crowd up. If the entire purpose of an opening match is not to burn an audience out but to stoke the fire so they are hot throughout the night then these guys did a great job.

LSG is having a great year as far as performances go. He has bounced between the Pure and TV divisions and has never been a marquee performer but inside the ropes he's had a lot of solid matches in the empty arena environment and he absolutely deserves the chance to showcase that growth to a live audience now. The same could be said for World Famous CB, who re-imagined his entire gimmick and presentation during the pandemic; choosing to cast aside the 'Cheeseburger' moniker, which is an incredibly brave move since that light-hearted gimmick has seen him get booked regularly all over the world. Now a rhythmical pure wrestler, he feels the Pure division is the perfect home for a performer of his stature and skillset. Can he push himself into the title picture with a victory? Josh Woods is on commentary again, still scouting the Pure Rules Matches before challenging for the title at Death Before Dishonor. Have ROH seriously forked out for him to travel to both of these shows and not wrestle once?

First blood goes to LSB, driving Burger to the ropes as he tries to set up for the 'Cosmic Clutch'. La Escalara applied by CB in response...and Leon uses a rope-break by BITING the ropes to escape! Cheese tries to hop around out of a headscissors, but St. Giovanni spikes him with a short piledriver and inflicts an immediate neck injury. He works over the neck, as Ken Dixon invades commentary to completely distract from the match. He tries to yell about something whilst Caprice and Josh threaten to knock his ass out. Springboard forearm snaps the head back and keeps World Famous on the ground. NECK DROP DRAGON SUPLEX by Cheeseburger, and LSG needs his second rope-break just to kick out. RIPCORD SHOTEI! Again Leon needs a rope-break to escape, meaning he is now out of breaks. Burger immediately dives on top of him, working a rear naked choke even with LSG in the ropes. Stunner, into the Rocket Bye Baby. LSG wins at 07:26

Rating - *** - This was really good. It didn't last long, but they accomplished so much with it. They did some neat work with the Pure Rules (which have been back for almost a year, but live crowds have only seen once - at Best In The World), they showcased the improvement as wrestlers both competitors have demonstrated during the empty arena TV tapings, LSG looked great in f*cking up Burger's neck, plus whatever the hell they are going for with Ken Dixon/The Bouncers. Nobody is going to buy a ticket to watch these two, but I don't there was a single second of this that I didn't find myself entertained. 

Quinn McKay is backstage and gives Mark Briscoe the bad news that Jay is still out of action due to Covid protocols. She also informs him that he needs to find a partner for his match against Flamita and Flip Gordon - even though he wants to wrestle solo. He storms into the hall and finds Brian Johnson furious that he isn't booked (after the crowd went crazy for him last night) - and decides to make The Mecca his partner for the evening. 

After her surprise appearance at Best In The World (albeit with a tinge of disappointment that she couldn't wrestle in Baltimore due to her broken arm/wrist), 'Hot Mess' Chelsea Green makes her ROH debut tonight (although she taped a match for Women's Division Wednesday yesterday). She teams with Willow, who will be disappointed to have found herself out of the tournament after the first round. Together they face two Quarter-Finalists in the Women's Tournament, teaming together even though they may still meet later in the tournament itself; 'The Prodigy' Rok-C and 'Lucha Baddie' Miranda Alize. Are they able to form a cohesive unit to combat the star power of Green and the raw power of Nightingale?

Alize starts with Willow, reaching straight into her lucha tricks to overcome the power advantage Willow obviously possesses. Nightingale hits back with a cartwheel...into the POUNCE! Rok-C tags and can't take Nightingale off her feet! She ends up having to run up the ropes just to get enough force on an armdrag attempt to take Willow down. She and Miranda go after Green as well - knocking both opponents off the apron for DUELLING TOPE SUICIDAS! Missile dropkick back into the ring by Chelsea gets 2! Rok grabs her bad arm immediately and uses it to ripcord her to the ground into the backflip knee drop. Willow recognises her partner is in immediate jeopardy and muscles in to boot Rok-C to the ground. GERMAN SUPLEX by Green! Rok-C no-sells it and gets right back up to deck the Hot Mess! We're back to Miranda and Willow, and the Lucha Baddie's speed proving too hot for Willow to handle. Flying crossbody by Rok-C as well, drawing in Chelsea to make the save with an Ace Crusher! Alize grabs the bad arm now, to hit a ripcord mafia kick. Bae Breaker from Willow to Alize! MOONSAULT MISSES for Nightingale! CODE ROK! Rok-C wins at 07:45

Rating - *** - I wish this version of the Women's Division is what ROH had put together back in 2018 when they first tried to launch a Women's Title. This was such a blast. It wasn't a flawless match, but it was four young, hungry and extremely talented female athletes going at a fast pace absolutely tearing it up in the ring. The hunger coming from Rok-C and Miranda in particular was palpable. They were the underdogs; against the powerful Willow and the super-popular Chelsea. They took the fight to their opponents with incredible tenacity. The fans didn't really react to their entrances (at least nowhere near the level they did for Willow or Chelsea)...but by the end nobody in the 2300 Arena doubted that they were on the same level as the more established stars. I don't doubt that this is a more expensive match to put on than having Kelly Klein wrestle Mandy Leon or Sumie Sakai on every show - but you get what you pay for and this was great. One of the best women's matches of 2021.

Delirious brings his friends from Chikara to play with him in ROH, and they immediately get a Six-Man Title shot. Once again this is passed up as STP being 'fighting champions', but once again I'll say that giving teams title shots in their first match completely devalues the belt and removes almost all mystery from the result. Why couldn't this be non-title or a Proving Ground Match? I refuse to believe a single person in this building purchased a ticket on the strength of the belts being on the line here. Hallowicked returns for the first time since Final Battle Fallout in 2019, and I believe it's an ROH debut for Frightmare. UltraMantis Black leads Incoherence to the ring which the crowd love.

Delirious actually shakes hands rather than sitting frozen in the corner. It feels like quite a momentous moment, although Taylor totally takes the shine off it by asking them if they 'realise this ain't Chikara, right b*tches'? Delirious still freaks out at the bell but rather than running laps of the ring he swarms Kaun. Hallowicked tags and keeps blocking Moses' usual attempts and over-powering his opponents, putting Incoherence in the ascendancy. Frightmare is too fast for Shane T for a few seconds, but Taylor shakes off every kick thrown before turning Frightmare's lights out using a big elbow strike. TORNADO DDT OFF THE APRON from Delirious to Moses! CORKSCREW SOMERSAULT PLANCHA by Frightmare! Kaun is the man to restore apron; booting Delirious off the apron so Moses can LAWN DART him into the guardrail! Frightmare tries to save with a headscissors...and Moses swings him into the barricades as well. It leaves Hallowicked down 3-on-1; Shane Taylor Promotions hauling him into their corner and completely manhandling him. Wicked cleverly tricks his way past the SOS after some serious punishment and makes a much-needed tag to Delirious. Leaping Lariat on Moses, then a German suplex on Kaun. KNEE-COLEPSY by Frightmare gets 2! Taylor KO's Wicked with an elbow then floors Delirious with the ST-Joe. Incoherence work together to thwart Taylor's second rope splash, then hit him with the Headless Horseman cutter. SHADOWS OVER HELL gets 2! Go 2 Sleepy Hollow countered into DEATH BY KAUN! Cannonball off the apron from Moses! PACKAGE PILEDRIVER on Frightmare, giving Taylor the win at 13:17

Rating - *** - My observations from this match were that we need to see more of Incoherence as a trio in ROH, and that this Philly crowd is awesome. The fans treated Shane Taylor Promotions like absolute stars, whilst still giving Incoherence their cult-hero pops as well. The atmosphere for the whole match was fantastic with not so much of a babyface/heel dynamic - but an appreciative audience who were right there digging what the six men in the ring were providing. Incoherence were so good that they genuinely had fans biting on a couple of their nearfalls at the end, SOS and Taylor were fantastic and brutal as the heavyweights trying to destroy the masked, illusive tricksters across the ring from them. 

EC3 appears on the stage and stares down Shane Taylor. Apparently his issues with Flip Gordon, Brody King and wanting the World Title aren't enough things going on for him, so he needs a feud with Shane Taylor too...

Flamita and Flip might both want the World Championship, but tonight they have to coexist if they want to secure the win. They may actually be more cohesive than their opposition though, as Mark wanted to wrestle this match solo and Johnson isn't particularly famous for his ability to get along well with his colleagues in the locker room. He impressed a lot of people with his valiant effort against EC3 yesterday however, and initially didn't have a match tonight after breaking his hand.

Mark and Flamita can't be separated, but Johnson decides he wants a piece and lays out the Demonic one with a springboard shoulder tackle. Flamita and Flip don't like each other at all, angrily chirping at each other as Gordon tags in to start working over The Mecca's injured hand. Tope suicida by Johnson shunts him into the barricades. FLAM FLY ON THE FLOOR from Flamita to Brian! Spear takes down Briscoe inside the ring as well, cutting him off from his partner. Johnson eventually gets the tag and flies at Gordon with the top rope lariat. Fist Drop on Flip! Briscoe double football tackle by Mark and The Mecca...but Flip breaks up their team-work by shoving them into each other. Brian gets annoyed at Mark and walks out on him, as Flamita struggles and mostly botches a tornado DDT. Flip hands him a steel chair, but Flamita tosses it aside and swears at his own partner! Flip spits in his face! MARK DRILLER ON THE CHAIR! Flip is knocked out cold, the ref didn't see it because he was arguing with Flamita...and Mark wins at 11:22

Rating - *** - Certainly not the best bout of the night, but the strange chemistry between the partners on each time did make this a little bit quirky and different. Watching a pretty formulaic tag match between four guys who all seemed to dislike one another felt different and I enjoyed that aspect of it. Mark winning by himself does hurt the credibility of Flip in particular, but that finish is significant because it's the start of a new angle for him - so at least him putting Briscoe over serves a purpose.

A load of backstage personnel (and PJ Black) come out to check on Flip, eventually helping him out of the ring having apparently been knocked out when Mark dropped him on his head on the chair.

Since this is more 'faction warfare', Kenny King (a member of the LFI team who lost to Violence Unlimited yesterday) joins commentary. VLNCE UNLTD are coming in hot after that hard-fought and chaotic win over La Faccion Ingobernable, and also captured the Tag Titles from The Foundation at Best In The World in a Fight Without Honor. But that night they benefited from Hot Sauce being out injured and Jon Gresham replacing him at short notice after competing in a twenty minute Pure Title Match. Homicide would eventually pin Gresham to win the titles for he and Dickinson. Incidentally that was the same show where Brody absolutely dismantled 'The Franchise'; beating up Lethal so badly he had to pull out of that same Tag Title Fight Without Honor. 

Homicide is absolutely AWESOME before this match even starts. He's an utter wild-man, from trying to sneak over to The Foundation's corner to attack them, to rolling in and out of the ring to unsettle everyone, and finally beating the apron with a steel chair in an intimidatory fashion. I couldn't take my eyes off him. Titus starts and uses his pure wrestling skill to repeatedly take Deppen off his feet. Tony gets his own back by hitting a dropkick (Rhett's move) to piss him off, then running away and hiding behind Brody! The big man calls out Gresham, but Lethal intervenes with unfinished business wanting a piece of King. He gets in Jay's head by tagging out to Homicide, someone who goes back almost twenty years with Lethal! The Notorious 187 decides he wants to use a chair so Deppen and Dickinson pull him out to calm down; Chris tagging in and making a statement by out-wrestling Tracy on the mat. Double underhook superplex by Williams in response, so Dickinson drags Lethal into their corner instead. Gresham rescues his partner and decks Tony with a German suplex...then deviously antagonises Brody so he distracts the ref, giving The Foundation the chance to isolate Deppen. They quickly decimate his leg, rendering him unable to stand. Gresham almost beats him by repeatedly smashing his leg into the canvas (as he did to Wheeler Yuta during the Pure Tournament) but breaks it and boots King in the face just to piss him off some more. JUMPING PILEDRIVER from Tracy, bringing in Dickinson to break the pin. CORNETTE CUTTER! Deppen is reeling...and walks into an Ace Crusher from Lethal. SHOOTING STAR PRESS! FIGURE 4 LEGLOCK by Gresham! Brody literally powers through Rhett, eventually powerbombing him on top of The Octopus to break the hold. He then puts Williams on his shoulders and DVD's him on top of Titus! ELBOW SUICIDA on Lethal! Gresham and King come face to face for the first time; each of Brody's strikes knocking the Pure Champion to his knees! DVD OFF THE APRON THROUGH A TABLE from Dickinson to Gresh! DOOMSDAY ACE CRUSHER by Brody and Homicide...but Rhett breaks the pin. TOPE CON HILO UP THE AISLE by Homicide! RUNNING CROSSBODY THROUGH A CHAIR from Brody to Tracy. LETHAL INJECTION! Jay pins Deppen to win at 16:05

Rating - **** - A completely different match to VU/LFI last night, which shows the adaptability of Violence Unlimited and why they are such a great group of individuals. Homicide is continually fantastic as a barely controllable crazy man but Brody, Deppen and Dickinson are as believable in a street fight with LFI as they are grappling on the canvas with The Foundation. This match paid particular reverence to the skills of the two leaders; interactions between Gresham and Brody were teased but kept to a minimum - building up anticipation for a match down the line. It also helped repair the damaged reputation of Jay Lethal, felt incredibly well paced and definitely ended with the fans wanting more. As I said after VU/LFI last night; having fans in the building for these matches makes such a big difference. The intensity here was on another level to the matches we've seen in the closed set TV tapings.

Brody King is annoyed at the loss so gives Lethal a Gonzo Bomb. Homicide peels his broken body of the canvas to give him the COP KILLA as well! PAZUZU BOMB from Dickinson to Titus! Brody says 'there is not a Pure wrestler in the world' who can stand toe to toe with them. Dickinson issues an open challenge to any pure wrestler in the world to come fight them...

Quite predictably, Rush has reacted badly to losing the World Championship to Bandido at Best In The World. He assaulted him after the PPV win, he stole his mask after Champions vs All-Stars and now he recruits his brother to face the MexiSquad in a tag match with more vengeful thoughts on his mind. Bandido has called himself the 'Most Wanted Champion' for a reason. Not only does he have a long list of potential title challengers lining up, but he also has LFI wanting to take him out altogether. Silas Young joins commentary because he's fed up of how many luchadors are in ROH and he doesn't think Rey Horus is 'stepping up' enough to justify his spot...

Rush attacks Bandido before the bell and cracks a steel chair across his leg. Dragon Lee has to pull his brother off him...and Rush grabs him by the throat! They argue , but make up and start stomping down the MexiSquad as the bell rings. Horus is basically fighting solo for the time-being and has to absorb a flurry of double-teams from LFI. He somehow lures Lee into dropkicking his brother and dumps him from the ring with a twisting bodyscissors. Tornillo by Bandido, before he plants his feet and launches Rey for a POP-UP SOMERSAULT PLANCHA TO THE FLOOR. TOP ROPE MOONSAULT BY BANDIDO! Back in the ring they hit a hiptoss powerbomb combo, rolled right into a wheelbarrow cutter - both on Lee. Rush saves his brother though and LFI stomp their opponents into the corner. STEREO TOPE ATOMICOS BY LFI! Dream Sequence gets 2 on Horus. Roll Of The King blocked, but Bandido intercepts Lee on the top to hit the SPANISH FLY! TURNBUCKLE BELLY TO BELLY from Rush to the champion! STANDING C-4 BY REY! POP-UP CUTTER BY BANDIDO! All four men are down with their bodies contorted into dreadful positions after that. Bandido up first with the X-Knee...which Lee no-sells to start blasting him with Incinerators. FRONT FLIP MEXICAN DESTROYER! 21-PLEX...LEE FLIPS OUT INTO THE INCINERATION! Rey flies in to make the save. Rush looks his knee is busted and collapses outside as Rey flies into the SATELLITE DDT on Dragon. TOP ROPE SUICIDE DIVE TO THE FLOOR MISSES! El Toro Blanco saves his brother from the 21-Plex and throws Bandido into the guardrails, as Lee counters another Satellite DDT with a mid-air flatliner. Rush still can't stand but fires up and calls Todd Sinclair a motherf*cker for checking on him! Rey shoves Rush into Lee trying to create more dissension in LFI, then DROPKICKS THE KNEE! Rush is out...but Lee blocks Roll Of The King and hits a GHETTO STOMP! TORPEDO SUICIDA drills Bandido into the guardrails. BULL'S HORNS! Rush pins Horus to win at 13:01!

Rating - **** - An incredible match. 'Lucha rules' meant they didn't need to go trudge through any formulaic pleasantries and could skip straight to all out mayhem. The wrestling was spectacular, and whilst some may disagree I never thought this felt excessive or overtly 'spotty' - it was the kind of match I'd expect between four warring luchadors trying to out-do each other in terms of both violence and the audacity of their moveset. Rush injuring his knee (he'd eventually need surgery) but calling Todd Sinclair a motherf*cker and hitting the Bull's Horns anyway is one of THE stand-out moments from ROH in 2021 for me. The subtle seeds of dissension between Rush and Dragon Lee were an enjoyable sub-plot with Rush so incredibly angry at losing the title that he does things even his own brother doesn't agree with. It's the high-flying insanity which will take the headlines with this one, but it really is so much more than just highspots. Match of the weekend so far...

Dragon Lee seems to show Bandido some respect after the match, only for Rush to hobble over and motion that he wants to slit Bandido's throat. La Bestia and Kenny King try to carry Rush to the locker room but he fires up on them and limps out himself.

Quinn McKay comes out to promote Death Before Dishonor 18 which has been moved from Florida to Philadelphia due to rising Covid cases in Florida. She reveals that La Faccion Ingobernable will challenge Shane Taylor Promotions for the Six-Man Championship, Jon Gresham defends the Pure Title against Josh Woods plus the finals of the Women's Title Tournament. She also announces that there will be a 'mystery match' between two 'recently released' free agents...and a main event with Bandido defending the World Title against Brody King, Demonic Flamita and EC3. To praise Quinn, she does a killer job timing this info dump and stretching out to give the crew enough time to put the cage together for the main event.

This is billed as 'The Last Stand'; the conclusion of a two year feud and a five year on-screen relationship in ROH between these former friends turned bitter enemies. After Mike Bennett (who is on commentary for this) and Adam Cole left ROH whilst Taven was on the shelf with a knee injury, Matt decided he would rebuild The Kingdom 'in his image'. He recruited two of his friends from his home region (Vinny Marseglia and TK O'Ryan) and they were an immediate success; becoming the inaugural Six-Man Champions and enjoying multiple runs with those belts. The 'climax' of the group would be at Madison Square Garden when Matt Taven climbed the purple ladder to controversially become the World Champion at ROH's biggest ever show. He celebrated in the ring with his friends, not knowing that Marseglia was slowly drifting away. Vincent felt that Taven's ego had grown too large; his World Title success eclipsing the rest of The Kingdom and placing them 'in a cage'. After losing the belt someone started mysteriously stalking Taven...and at The Experience 2019 we found out it was Vincent; revealing himself then slicing Taven's head open with his axe. At Final Battle 2019 he beat Matt, then revealed Bateman as the first member of The Righteous before breaking Matt's ankle. They wouldn't wrestle again before the pandemic...but even in the height of quarantine the war couldn't be contained. Vinny actually broke into Matt's house and inflicted a beating so bad that Taven disappeared. He vanished until closed-set TV tapings returned; re-emerging as 'The Trend' and going back after Marseglia immediately. Bennett was released from WWE and came back to ROH to reform 'The OGK' and at the 19th Anniversary they went back to a building special to both of them for a non-sanctioned fight. After that it was Vincent's turn to disappear - finally returning with a quest to become World Champion. And those are the stakes tonight - Taven is putting his guaranteed World Title shot (he is still owed the match after losing the title at Death Before Dishonor 17) on the line...

Vincent comes out carrying the same bloody Matt Taven shirt from his initial attack in 2019. He punts the cage door into Taven's face before he can get in...so Matt slams it in his face so hard that the door breaks! They brawl on the floor, with Taven blocking the Acid Drop and bashing his opponent's skull unto the ringpost. He hits a back body drop into the crowd...AIR TAVEN OVER THE GUARDRAIL! INTO A STEEL CHAIR FROM VINCENT! The brawl is so chaotic that cameras actually lose them in the crowd - catching up near the stage as Matt crotches his former partner on a guardrail. BACK DROP DRIVER ON THE STAGE by Marseglia! The match hasn't even started remember. Matt gets distracted setting up tables at ringside, allowing Vincent to recover and give him a Russian legsweep into the cage. They are determined to f*ck up the barely working cage door - Vinny slamming it in his opponent's face...but then stepping in so finally we can get underway. He locks the door behind him with a symbolic purple chain. He throws the key into the crowd, then hops to the top rope. AVALANCHE ROLLING NECKBREAKER by Taven! He hits repeated Just The Tips into the cage. Vincent hooks his toes on the cage to prevent Matt from doing further damage, using it as leverage to roll into the End Time. A low blow breaks that so Vincent hits a springboard Side Effect off the ropes for 2. Bateman saunters down the aisle and slides reels of barbed wire into the ring, as Vincent hits a German suplex on Matt. Mike Bennett leaves commentary and starts brawling with Bateman on the floor. Bateman actually starts cutting his own hands as he helps his leader threat barbed wire through the cage. EXPLODER INTO THE GUARDRAILS from Bennett to Bateman! But he has to watch as Marseglia starts grating Taven's face in the barbed wire immediately causing him to bleed profusely. Still he blocks the Acid Drop, and grabs more barbed wire to start wrapping it around Vincent's head! It snares in Vinny's dreads, visibly cuts his face and Matt makes it worse by delivering a DDT. Taven reaches into the ring apron and pulls out a concealed purple axe. HE STABS VINCENT IN THE F*CKING HEAD! Vita VonStarr comes out and lobs a bag into the cage - then starts climbing up the cage herself. FLYING CROSSBODY OFF THE CAGE BY VITA...but Taven ducks! She clears out Vinny! Taven dumps the bag full of thumbtacks on the canvas. BACK DROP INTO THE TACKS ON VITA! HOLY SH*T! CLIMAX IN THE TACKS ON VINNY...GETS 2! Taven climbs the cage. AURORA BOREALIS OFF THE TOP OF THE CAGE...MISSES! ACID DROP IN THE TACKS! GETS 2! Dutch is at ringside; watching as Taven gets knees up to block the Redrum. Dutch tries to get into the cage...but Taven meets him at the top and SHOVES HIM THROUGH THE TABLES! ACID DROP OFF THE TOP OF THE F*CKING CAGE! VINCENT WINS! The feud ends with Marseglia guaranteed a World Title shot at 19:38

Rating - ****1/2 - Its hard to rate violent, feud blow-off grudge matches like this. The value you draw from them is directly linked to the time and effort you put into investing into the feud itself, and impacted by the merit you attach to overbooked, bloody brawls like this. If you've followed my reviews for a long time you'll know that I'm not the biggest fan of Marseglia, and whilst I like Taven he's not someone I've historically thought was the best worker either. So when I say that I'm delighted for them that they got to have this match, at last, with a loud crowd reacting to their insane sh*t, I genuinely mean it. This is a feud which has lasted two years, with a pandemic in the middle forcing them to come up with innovative ways to stretch this out longer and longer just to get us to this point, where they could go absolutely apesh*t on each other with a paying audience to react to it. And that was my favourite part about this match - it was completely f*cking nuts. In a way which Sinclair just haven't allowed ROH to go very often. They don't get the cage out often, they don't have excessive blood often, they certainly don't have women getting launched into thumbtacks. The whole deal felt completely out of control, from the brawl through the crowd (in the middle of a pandemic) through to crazy bumps off the top of a cage which looked like it was falling apart before the match started, there was a f*cking axe, multiple run-ins too. I liked the references to the very start of the feud (Vinny bringing out Taven's shirt, Matt using a purple axe on him)...but in truth I'm just pleased they got to do the match they've been building to for years, and didn't have to end this feud (which they've both put SO much work into) without a crowd. Is it the best hardcore 'feud ending' match ROH have ever done - absolutely not. But for emotion, unpredictability, intensity, investment from the audience and for a finish which - for better or worse - legitimately elevates someone up the card I don't think anything touches this for ROH's MOTY for 2021 so far. And God bless Vita VonStarr as well...holy sh*t did she ever take a beating! 

Tape Rating - **** - This was a GREAT show from ROH, with an awesome crowd and a phenomenal main event. If the product was anything like this good on a consistent basis then they wouldn't be having the fan engagement issues they've been having since 2019. And it was one of those shows with so much variety on the card; luchadors going nuts, great women's action, high quality technical wrestling, storylines being advanced and a disgustingly violent main event. Its an easy one to recommend. In fact if you've not seen anything else ROH have done in 2021 then I'd suggest this should be your starting point; it really is that much better. And I wish this had served as a lesson that ROH would be much better off running smaller buildings with a more intimate and vocal audience. 

3) The Foundation vs Violence Unlimited (****)

2) Bandido/Rey Horus vs Rush/Dragon Lee (****)

1) Vincent Marseglia vs Matt Taven (****1/2)

5) Jay Lethal/Jonathan Gresham/Tracy Williams/Rhett Titus vs Brody King/Chris Dickinson/Tony Deppen/Homicide (**** - Night 2)

4) Bandido vs Flip Gordon (**** - Night 1)

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

2) Bandido/Rey Horus vs Rush/Dragon Lee (**** - Night 2)

1) Vincent Marseglia vs Matt Taven (****1/2 - Night 2)