McXal's Reviews

Since I completed my review of Episode 8 it has been announced that there will be another set of ROH TV tapings at Universal Studios in early May, which is very welcome. I really thought the show had a lot of promise in those first four episodes (albeit with some stuff that needed refining), but the quality has noticeably dipped since it started touring alongside AEW. Tony Khan having to (rightly) prioritise his focus - and the time his wrestlers get to spend in the ring - on the flagship All Elite Wrestling broadcasts have left huge chunks of Honor Club TV feeling like a real afterthought and a world away from the 'premium' product a monthly fee to view would suggest. We still have a few weeks of Dynamite pre-tape shows to get through however, and on paper this one looks rough. Hopefully there is enough quality in matches like Athena vs Lady Frost, Blake Christian vs Gringo Loco or Lee Moriarty vs the returning Rocky Romero to surprise us though. Ian Riccaboni, Nigel McGuinness and Caprice Coleman are in Pittsburgh, PA.

As always, the Fallen Goddess is up for a fight and has accepted this as a Proving Ground Match meaning Frost can secure a future title shot this evening. Lady F has looked solid whenever she has worked these spots in previous ROH/Honor Club shows and is talented/experienced enough to pose a genuine threat to Athena, even with the reigning champion in arguably the best run of her entire career.

Frost pisses the champion off simply by performing a somersault during her introduction. She continues to flip and somersault around to keep out of the champion's clutches - eventually tumbling into a spear in the corner. The Fallen Goddess retorts with a running punt to the chest as Lady F tries another flip off the ropes, and follows with a senton splash right across the sternum as well. Backbreaker into a surfboard next, rolled to a gutbuster as well when Frost refuses to tap. Lady Frost's quick feet allow her to keep Athena out of reach for a few seconds, allowing her to deliver the handspring cannonball in the corner. But she is too worn down to climb the ropes quickly, meaning Athena is able to drill her back with more kicks before she can fly for the Temperature Drop corkscrew moonsault. One last desperate kick lands for Frost, setting up the TEMPERATURE DROP! Athena rolls to the ropes in the split-second that Frost pauses to sell her injuries...and the champ gets up to deliver a savage ROARING ELBOW! Athena wins at 05:13

Rating - *** - This was a strong five minute match. Athena is incredible to watch right now, but it was Lady Frost who really drew your attention here. Her offence was beautifully executed, exciting to watch and just flamboyant enough to make a really stark contrast to the bruising, brutal approach of the champion. There were some neat little details in here too; such as all of Athena's attacks targeting the midsection and core of Lady Frost, which ultimately allowed her to win because it meant Frost couldn't instantly pin her after landing the Temperature Drop. Even in these enhancement matches, Athena is can't miss TV almost every week right now.

Athena continues to beat on Frost after the bell, before smashing her face against the Women's Title belt.

The Kingdom get an extended interview, still complaining about not getting a Tag Title shot at Final Battle 2022 and instead being embarrassed by Top Flight. Taven blames the Martins for costing them the titles at Supercard Of Honor as well and won't ever forgive them for 'taking [their] moment'. They vow to extract revenge on 'every team' in the Reach For The Sky Ladder Match...

It is the first time we've seen the Rush/Vance combination of LFI on Ring Of Honor television. The Infantry of Shawn Dean and Carlie Bravo are still looking for their first victory and would love to claim it at the expense of former ROH World Champion Rush tonight.

Vance and Bravo start, with the LFI man using his size and power to bully his adversary early on. Dean tries to interfere on behalf of his partner only for Preston to mow through both of them. Discus clothesline knocks Bravo out, with only Vance pulling his shoulders up preventing him from being pinned. Rush tags, administers the Bull's Horns and does win at 03:01

Rating - N/A - If you're going down the squash route, this was very effective. Vance was striking in how he imposed his will on The Infantry, essentially winning this match by himself before allowing Rush to put the exclamation point on it. I'd quite like to see LFI in some trios matches from this point as it feels like the explosiveness of Rush, the agility of Dralistico and the power of Preston could make for quite a fun unit.

The Best Friends of Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta had a really strong eighteen month run in ROH between mid-2017 and the end of 2018 (when they departed as part of the talent exodus to AEW) so it is a welcome return to the promotion for them. They never held gold, but were part of some memorable matches in a real boom period in Ring Of Honor history; particularly with the likes of the Young Bucks and other assorted Bullet Club members, The Addiction, the Briscoes and more. Could this return be them looking to get into the running for a shot at the Lucha Bros?

Trent and Ocasio start, with Joe grabbing the opportunity to cheap-shot the unsuspecting Beretta. Gobstopper knee by Trent to shut that down, and a second drives him right out of the ring where Chuckie is waiting to almost launch him over the guardrails into the crowd. Taylor drops Summers on his neck with a pop-up powerbomb, then the Best Friends give Ocasio rolling piledrivers. DOOMSDAY GOBSTOPPER wins it for the Friends at 02:26

Rating - N/A - A quick squash, which re-establishes the Best Friends into the Ring Of Honor tag division. They weren't doing a huge amount in AEW, have plenty of experience and even though they aren't as young or dynamic as they once were I suspect ROH is probably a better fit for them to show what they still have to offer at this point in their career.

The Machine is now introduced as representing the 'Mogul Embassy', indicating the business alignment/merger that has taken place between Prince Nana and Swerve Strickland. Cage is one third of the ROH Six-Man Champions and has been on a dominant streak in singles action too. Can Ruffin - a former title holder in Evolve and NXT - come up with a plan to stop him?

Ruffin charges at The Machine only to be dragged kicking and screaming into the corner for a beatdown. A wild attempt at a tornado DDT is easily blocked by Cage, who next plucks Leon out of the sky for a powerslam when the smaller individual tries a dive off the top rope. F'n'5 COUNTERED to a spinning DDT by Ruffin, who then tries to escape Cage's clutches by hopping around off the ropes into a flying Ace Crusher. Cage DECIMATES him with a lariat, then a powerbomb backbreaker. A modified version of the Kondo Clutch gives The Machine an emphatic submission victory at 03:16

Rating - N/A - Once again a pretty effective squash. I quite liked the chemistry these two had, as Cage is always good for 'getting his sh*t in' whilst Ruffin is great as someone to bump around like a crazy person and yet come back with enough agility, illusiveness and likeable charm to win over live crowds. I was a little surprised at how much I enjoyed this

Dark Order are represented by their 'A-team' of Evil Uno and Stu Grayson, the latter of which has found himself stalked by The Righteous in recent weeks. The Trust Busters oppose them, represented by the returning Jeeves Kay and Sonny Kiss. They have Slim J in their corner.

The match doesn't get a chance to start before The Righteous' music hits and both Vincent and Dutch parade onto the stage to watch the action. The Trust Busters capitalise on the distraction to jump Dark Order from behind as we get underway. Kiss lands a handspring a palm strike that rocks Uno, only to find that Evil is so strong he can hit a suplex on Jeeves even with Sonny mounted on his back! Grayson lands on Kay's head with a springboard corkscrew senton, but finds Jeeves resilient enough to block the Nightfall moments later. Electric chair/powerbomb combo on Sonny next, before the Dark Order polish off Kay with a PK/Piledriver combo. Dark Order win at 03:21

Rating - N/A - Yet another squash. I'd love to see the Smash Bros. competing regularly in an ROH ring and in the 2023 wrestling landscape Sonny Kiss has more to offer in the Trust Busters than Slim J, so it was good to see her make her way to ROH as well. The match was basically just filler to give them all something to do and gradually develop whatever the hell is going on with The Righteous and Grayson.

Dark Order confront Righteous on the stage after the match, but Vincent does nothing more than applaud their victory before they all walk out.

Christopher Daniels is interviewed as he contemplates what he does next in his storied thirty year career. He admits he is at a low-point right now. He doesn't want to rebuild from the bottom though - he wants to 'swing for the fences' and lays down a challenge to his old friend/rival Samoa Joe. He wants the TV Title back and calls out the King Of Television to get it.

Both women are given entrances here and the commentary team portray it as a significant match in determine who progresses up the rankings towards a title shot at Athena. That doesn't make complete sense as Diamante is making her ROH debut and most of what we've seen of Blue on AEW programming recently has been losing to The Outcasts, but her record in Ring Of Honor is certainly commendable. It will be given a stern examination here...

Nigel questions whether Skye has the 'killer instinct' to step up to Athena, and Diamante herself looks to test that theory by getting right in her face from the outset. They go through rapid-fire pinning attempts until Diamante lands a neckbreaker in the ropes then baseball slides Blue off the apron, up the aisle. Diamante continues to impose her will on the youngster...only for Skye to drop down and out of a Code Red attempt and dive off the top into a crossbody block. She kicks Diamante in the face, before they trade forearm strikes on the ring apron. GERMAN SUPLEX ON THE APRON by Diamante! Blue somehow blocks a brainbuster, and when Diamante counters the Skye Fall in response Blue simply rolls her up and grabs a flash pin at 04:53

Rating - ** - I'm not completely sold on Skye Blue yet, likeable as she is. But she is young and full of potential, and will only get better considering the opportunities she is getting to share the ring with so many experienced talents. Diamante certainly counts as an experienced talent that Blue will benefit from working, and for her part Diamante looked strong here. This was perhaps the most genuinely competitive match on the show so far as the brute force of Diamante clashed with the athleticism and babyface fire of Blue. Surviving this speaks volumes for the growth of Skye and suggests she could be among the next in line to challenge Athena.

Speaking of the Fallen Goddess, Athena herself struts onto the stage and stomps on a 'Skye Blue' baseball cap. Skye is undefeated on ROH TV and a championship showdown now feels inevitable

The Firm's Lee Moriarty made a welcome return to Ring Of Honor last week in a great match against Konosuke Takeshita. He lost then, but is back in his hometown tonight with another opportunity to impress - this time against a world-travelled veteran and multi-time former ROH Tag Champion in Romero. Rocky has spent most of the last few months competing in CMLL, with occasional trips to the US for AEW or NJPW USA. This match is also significant since Big Bill (Cass) is in Moriarty's corner, officially appearing on ROH screens for the first time. I'm curious to see if the infamous non-angle with the Briscoes at G1 Supercard in 2019 will be mentioned at all...

Either the crowd is mic'd badly (I've barely heard them all night), or Rocky gets absolutely zero reaction. As you might expect these guys go right to the canvas, with Romero quickly trying to inflict damage to Lee's arm. He lands a missile dropkick to the shoulder for 2, but is then distracted by Big Bill and roughly booted off the apron by Moriarty. Lee hammerlocks the arm and shunts Romero into the guardrail, before vacating to preoccupy the referee so Bill can land a few cheapshots. Finger Snap scores next; Moriarty picking apart the arm, wrist and hand of his experienced foe. They trade kicks to the injured arms with Lee coming off worse and in vulnerable position for Rocky's springboard tornado DDT. He hits a couple of Forever Clotheslines...but at this point has been doing that spot for so long that Moriarty has it scouted and sneaks free to level him with a clothesline of his own. Taiga Driver '18 gets 2! Border City Stretch applied, but countered to Romero's Diablo Armbar! COUNTERED BACK to the Border City Stretch! Neither man wants to tap so they return to a vertical base and go back to kicking each other in their respective injured arms. Moriarty leaves the ring...FLYING HEADSCISSORS OFF THE RING STEPS by Romero! Running Shiranui gets 2! Romero's arm gives way attempting a piledriver...but when Lee looks to counter with a powerbomb his arm gives out too and they both fall to the floor! Tope suicida attempted by Rocky...but Bill shoves Lee out of the way and takes the hit himself. CHOKESLAM ON THE APRON by Big Bill! Moriarty hits a running heel kick to win at 07:59

Rating - *** - The way they sold their arm injuries annoyed me a little - as their limbs would range from being completely incapacitated and immobile, to suddenly being entirely well enough to hit elaborate spots. There was also probably a little too much Big Bill for my taste as well. But it isn't fair to ask for much attention to detail or depth in a brief match like this which doesn't even make it to eight minutes. For the time they were given this was really exciting (as I said last week, Moriarty is perfect for ROH and should be working on this brand regularly now), contained some nifty counter-wrestling sequences and ends with a deserving young talent getting a (tainted) reputation-enhancing victory. There was much to like here.

In the locker room a furious Rocky Romero congratulates Moriarty on 'out-sneak[ing] the King Of Sneaky Style', albeit only thanks to Big Bill. Rocky thinks Lee could be ROH World Champion and reminds him of greats from ROH's past...but isn't happy with how he lost tonight. He wants a rematch and lays down a challenge for a Pure Rules Match next week.

Last week we saw Gringo debut in a spectacular encounter with one of his biggest rivals in Vikingo. Tony Khan was so impressed that he immediately invited him back, this time to face another man he'll be familiar with from GCW in the form of 'All Heart' Blake Christian. A TV main event singles victory would be a major moment for whomever is able to take it...

The announcers hype this as 'American Lucha' and they waste no time in flipping around the ring at high speed. Neither man can land a significant blow, with each able to tumble or roll out of whatever offensive strike they try. RUNNING MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR for Blake misses...but he LANDS ON HIS FEET! TOPE ATOMICO by Loco! But Blake absorbs that, dumps Gringo to the floor and hits the RUNNING MOONSAULT second time around! Gringo blocks the standing C-4 with an enziguri, so Christian retaliates by springboarding INTO a handspring enzi of his own! Reverse rana COUNTERED to a Ligerbomb by Gringo for 2. They fight to the top rope next...AVALANCHE INVERTED OLYMPIC SLAM from Gringo for another nearfall. He deposits Blake on the top once more, except this time Christian swivels and tries to counter with a sunset flip bomb. GRINGO SOMERSAULTS OUT! STANDING C-4 BY BLAKE! SPRINGBOARD 450 SPLASH! Blake wins at 06:15 (although something seemed a bit off with the count - I'm not sure if the ref just missed the mat, or if something went wrong).

Rating - *** - Six minutes of guys delivering whacky 'American Lucha' spots. This reminded me a little bit of the dying days of WCW when the cruiserweights were slung out to do bonkers stuff against a backdrop of crippling mediocrity elsewhere. ROH/AEW clearly aren't in that state, but something about this felt like two guys being told they have five minutes and they have to distract us from how underwhelming the rest of the show has been by doing as many spots as possible. The benefit of that was that it was extremely exciting. The downside is that it did feel a little silly and overblown (compare this to how well Gringo/Vikingo flowed last week for instance), and some of the execution was pretty rough. I'm not judging them too harshly because delivering a six-minute TV main event in this style is a hard gig and they made the best of it. I've pointed out some limitations but I hope that isn't construed to mean that I didn't enjoy this because I certainly did.

The episode ends with a slightly random full-length presentation of Samoa Joe vs James Gibson for the Pure Title from New Frontiers in June of 2005. If you've not seen it check it out because it's still a terrific bout.

Tape Rating - * - A low point for the new ROH on Honor Club series. Athena/Frost, Moriarty/Romero and Christian/Gringo are all decent sprints, but this simply wasn't good enough. This was legitimately an episode of Dark with ROH turnbuckles and commentators; nothing goes long, most of the matches are squashes and anything good only lasts a few minutes so feels pretty superfluous and meaningless too. To put some perspective on this: I'm as much of a 'sure thing' in ROH's target demographic as it's possible to get; I watch every show, every TV, every VOD Ring Of Honor have produced. And even I sat down to watch three or four different wrestling shows and get on with a couple of different writing products BEFORE finally finding the time to sit down and check this episode out. If that is how I - among the most ardent of ROH fans feel - how are the more casual fee-paying audience feeling? I can't fathom that episodes like this do much to boost or retain Honor Club subscription levels. The quality in the last few weeks has not been worth $10 a month, and that is BEFORE you take into account what $10 a month gets you on other wrestling streaming platforms; and this episode continued that alarming downward trend still further. The slide in quality of the show needs to be addressed quickly...