McXal's Reviews

Over the last couple of weeks I've taken a little break from reviewing Honor Club TV. That isn't a reflection on the quality of Episodes 11 & 12 (which were a significant improvement in overall quality versus the month or so of shows which came before them) - but more my desire to take a step back, concentrate on work and also take a little vacation. But I do have to be honest/transparent - and confess that I certainly haven't rushed back as quickly as I could have to catch up on this episode. Tony Khan and a number of ROH/AEW personnel promoted this as a 'pay-per-view quality' bumper version of the show as it took place in the build up to AEW's Double Or Nothing 2023 PPV. But one look at the Cagematch match-times for this show will tell you that this is quite clearly going to be largely another week of 'ROH Dark'. We are splurging all of the rest of the content they taped at the most recent Universal Studios taping into a single episode; a quite ridiculous NINETEEN matches, only three of which are clocked at longer than eight minutes. As I keep banging the drum - less is more, and (on paper at least) there is very little here which I'm eager to check out. At least the main event looks good; the ROH and NJPW TV Champions (Samoa Joe and Zack Sabre Jr.) unite to face former ROH Tag Champions Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal. Some other choice picks from this ludicrously long line-up include Mark Briscoe in singles action against JD Drake, Kyle Fletcher of Aussie Open squaring off with AR Fox, The Kingdom facing the 'Mack Attack' of Willie and Ninja Mack, former TV Champions colliding as Shane Taylor meets Tracy Williams and Stu Grayson teaming with The Righteous in trios action for the first time. Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman and Nigel McGuiness are in Orlando, FL.

The WorkHorsemen and Shane Taylor have been a foul-tempered, extremely aggressive force on ROH television in recent weeks. Last week they scored a dominant trios victory...but Drake takes a big step up in quality tonight as he faces Ring Of Honor legend Mark Briscoe. Since we're all about shilling AEW's pay-per-view here (Riccaboni's first sentence to open the show had barely any relevance to ROH but was instead hyping Double Or Nothing), I suspect we'll get lots of references to Mark's complex relationships with Jay Lethal, FTR and his special referee responsibilities in their match at the big PPV in Vegas.

They decide to test each other's toughness with a voluntary chop duel through the first minute. Briscoe is a tough competitor but Drake is bigger and stronger - which he demonstrates by tossing Mark way across the ring with a biel. Mark retaliates by dropkicking JD to the floor (where he receives a pep-talk from team-mate Anthony Henry). TOP ROPE CORKSCREW SENTON ONTO THE WORKHORSEMEN! Redneck Kung Fu continues the assault...but Drake absorbs that and starts flattening Briscoe with body avalanches and repeated senton splashes. A spinebuster gets 2 and he curtails another Briscoe comeback moments later with a Bossman Slam. He chases Mark up the turnbuckles...only eat more Redneck Kung Fu whilst he's up there. Mark hits a missile dropkick and loudly shouts 'back to square one' as they return to another chop exchange. Except this time Briscoe tricks Drake, ducking a chop and hoisting him into the corner for the Iconoclasm. Drake blocks that...so Mark hits the Urinage instead for 2! Henry hops onto the apron to stop Mark loading up the Jay Driller...and seconds later JD ducks Briscoe's attempt at the blockbuster off the apron. DRAKE MOONSAULT GETS 2! Drill Bit blocked into Mark's rolling DVD. Froggy Bow nailed, giving Briscoe the win at 09:22

Rating - *** - A good, earnest and hard-fought match to get the show started. Both men have plenty of experience and didn't really deviate too far from their usual routines, mannerisms and movesets - but worked well together to create something pretty entertaining. There were a couple of spectacular moments, some really intense moments of physicality too; therefore not a whole lot to object to.

Mark grabs a camera man and again reminds Samoa Joe that he's still coming for the TV Title...

Dasha Fuentes is with Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal ahead of the main event. Daniels accuses Joe and ZSJ of arrogance; and thinks that in a tag team setting they aren't a match for former ROH Tag Champs

It makes sense that Claudio wouldn't necessarily be in a featured match right before Double Or Nothing when the Blackpool Combat Club face The Elite in one of the pay-per-view main events (even though this was taped a few weeks prior)...but I can't be the only one who has grown a little frustrated with Claudio's lack of direction in Ring Of Honor. He quite rightly has to prioritise being a highly featured part of All Elite Wrestling, but the Ring Of Honor World Title has been little more than a prop on AEW TV in the two months since Supercard Of Honor and it doesn't really feel like we're any closer to lining up a fresh set of challengers for him either. This is a Proving Ground Match, and I can think of countless talents on the ROH/AEW rosters I'd rather have in this spot than Serpentico, but there we go. I will say that having the World Champion face a lowly-ranked Dark/Elevation regular like Serpentico doesn't scream 'PPV-quality episode' to me...

Serpentico bounces around in front of the champ, before deciding he can match the big man in a test of strength for absolutely no reason. Obviously that doesn't go well, but he has more success kicking at Castagnoli's legs then rattling off a few lucha moves at high speed. Claudio leaves the ring in frustration only to be cleaned out again with a tope atomico seconds later. But Serpentico takes one risk too many - getting caught in the corner and violently tossed from the turnbuckles to the guardrail on the floor. Double C smashes his head and upper body into the metal steps...then deposits him back into the ring for a succession of shortarm clotheslines. He then removes his elbow pad to fully expose his arm before delivering one last, emphatic lariat before pinning Serpentico at 04:39

Rating - * - They could have cut the time this got in half and we'd have missed nothing. I didn't need to see any Serpentico offence, and actually some of what he did was so goofy and silly it reduced the impact of how dominant I perceived Castagnoli to be in victory. I really liked the finish (Claudio deciding he was just going to lariat his opponent into the dirt) but some of this was a real drag.

This is an ROH debut for Hogan, although I'm sure I remember appearing as an extra or in some other non-wrestling capacity years ago during Sinclair's ownership. She has split from Jade Cargill's Baddies group and is on her own looking to make an impression in ROH. She is still young but has heaps of experience, having held Tag gold in Impact, wrestled regularly on AEW programming and worked for notable promotions like SHIMMER, SHINE, RISE, The Crash, AIW, Evolve, NWA and many more. She faces another hungry newcomer to ROH in VertVixen, looking to rebound after she lost her debut ROH bout to Robyn Renegade.

Athena isn't enamoured by Kiera's arrival in ROH apparently and struts onto the stage to watch this one as the bell rings. Vixen tries to use her height and range to her advantage and rocks Hogan with a few big early strikes. Kiera retaliates with a hip attack in the ropes then a step-up stomp off Vert's back for 2. Sliding flatliner by Vert, into her version of the Koji Clutch which momentarily has Kiera in serious trouble. Hogan again uses running strikes to fight back, chasing Vixen all over the ring as she delivers shots with her hips, feet and elbows. YAKUZA KICK by Vixen! Into a Blue Thunder Driver for 2. Kiera somehow survives; levelling Vixen with a superkick and hitting a BACK DROP DRIVER to win at 04:59

Rating - ** - As a standalone match I enjoyed this. Some of the execution was a little sloppy, but it was lively and packed a lot of exciting sequences into a sub-five minute run-time. Once again I thought Vixen was really fun to watch when she was on offence 'getting her sh*t in'. I must confess I thought some of the messaging was slightly curious here though. It felt like they were trying to bring Hogan to ROH and establish her as an immediate threat to Athena (hence the champ is out here). If that were the case a competitive 50/50 match against someone like Vixen doesn't feel like the right move. She should've either been squashing an enhancement talent - or having a competitive match like this against someone with more name value.

Athena gets on the apron and intimidates Kiera after the match; shoving her to the canvas and laughing as she saunters off up the aisle.

This match throws together two of the undoubted star performers of this short run for ROH TV on Honor Club. Fox has delivered matches of a consistently high quality against a variety of opponents (even if he doesn't have as many wins as he might have liked), whilst Fletcher stood out when Aussie Open were making guest appearances on loan from NJPW...and is now a regular with AEW/ROH now that the team have formally signed with All Elite Wrestling.

Ian Riccaboni does a great job offering a kayfabe explanation for why Fletcher and Davis still have the IWGP and Strong Tag Title belts despite having relinquished them at NJPW Strong Resurgence days earlier. Fletcher sensibly starts by grappling and wrestling Fox, rather than letting him build up any speed. Of course, AR recognises his need to quicken the pace - and does so with a succession of strikes and a quick neckbreaker which drives Kyle to the apron. BACK SUPLEX ON THE APRON by Fletcher! And Fox gets almost no time to recover before Fletcher drills him with a violent body slam on the arena floor as well. AR is in trouble but somehow counters a brainbuster by Fletcher into a Twisterplex for 2! ARKO gets 2 as well! He climbs the ropes but Kyle rolls away before he can hit the 450 splash. HALF NELSON SUPLEX from Fletcher! Followed by a Brainbuster for a close nearfall. Fox blocks another suplex and boots the Australian right off the apron to the floor. SOMERSAULT SENTON FROM THE TOP ROPE TO THE FLOOR! 450 SPLASH NAILED! Fletcher kicks out! Fox tries to set up Lo Mein Pain, but Kyle refuses to budge before scooping him up for an AVALANCHE MICHINOKU DRIVER! GRIMSTONE PILEDRIVER! Fletcher wins at 10:13

Rating - **** - As I said in my introductory paragraph, both of these guys have been consistently entertaining whenever they've stepped into an ROH ring during the 'new era' and they delivered the goods again here in a super-exciting ten-minute sprint. There were lots of really exciting moments of course, but I really did like the thread of Kyle targeting Fox's neck and back holding it all together. There were some subtle moments selling that which I thoroughly enjoyed too; things like Fox visibly having to get his balance and catch his breath before attempting a big dive to the floor, or how he struggled to fluently land the Lo Mein Pain in the same way he usually does. A super little TV-length bout here.

Given that this airs after NJPW Strong Resurgence, we can acknowledge that Willow is the new NJPW Strong Women's Champion after pulling off an upset victory over Mercedes Mone in the finals of the tournament to crown the inaugural champion. Her opponent is Hyan; back for the first time since Episode 3 of Honor Club TV when she was defeated by Athena in a Proving Ground Match.

Hyan grows irritated at the smiling, perky persona of her opponent...but Willow's size and power is such that she struggles to land any significant offence. Hyan frantically throws elbows in the corner; finally getting Nightingale on the ground so she can apply submission holds and start to bridge the size-gap. She taunts Willow whilst doing so...and is punished with a thunderous running hip attack in the corner. Cannonball senton follows, into the Dangerous Babe Bomb for the win at 04:16

Rating - N/A - A pretty comprehensive squash match, albeit allowing Hyan just enough personality and offence to give a little glimpse as to the quality she possesses. Willow becoming Strong Women's Champion does make it seem like we might be waiting a little longer for a rematch with Athena though.

This is a big match for Taven and Bennett, who badly need to rebound after their high profile Fight Without Honor loss to Action Andretti and Darius Martin in the main event last week. Two weeks ago we saw Willie defeat Ninja Mack, but he was so impressed with the mysterious masked wrestler even in defeat that he proposed they form a 'Mack Attack' to take on the best in ROH's tag division. A bout with multi-time former Tag Champions is certainly a formidable test first up.

Willie is too big and too fast for Taven in the first minute, which Bennett quickly recognises and sneaks in to help his partner out. It takes a strong of combo moves from The OGK to finally get Willie off his feet. Ninja tags in and does his best to take the fight to both opponents; using his illusive striking to send them both out of the ring. SOMERSAULT SUPERKICK OFF THE APRON! He lines up a handspring backflip dive as well...only for Bennett to pluck him out of the air with a NECK DROP BACK SUPLEX! Brainbuster/Aurora Borealis gets 2 for The Kingdom, with Willie making a necessary interception on the pinfall there. Willie flattens Bennett with a cannonball in the corner, then gives Taven the Samoan drop/standing moonsault combo. HANDSPRING MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR BY NINJA! The Mack Attack plant Taven with a double flatliner, but get the legal man wrong for a split-second and miss out on a potential victory. Bennett levels Willie with a rebound elbow smash on the floor, and returns to the ring to load up Ninja for the Proton Pack. Taven pins Ninja to win at 07:41

Rating - *** - The Kingdom are wily, cunning villains and played their role well whilst getting a much-needed victory to re-establish some credibility having lost a lot of matches since returning to Ring Of Honor at the end of 2022. As expected, the Mack Attack team were heaps of fun; both completely unorthodox and slightly zany athletes who have plenty of exciting highspots in their locker which worked really well alongside a grounded, veteran heel team like The OGK.

The Latina Sensation, the OG Badass and former ROH Women's Champion Mercedes Martinez made her return last week and scored a big win over Ashley D'Amboise. She no doubt has her sights set on a rematch with Athena so knows she needs to keep her momentum going and must win well against another ROH debutant tonight. Ellie is a regular in OVW but has appeared for sporadic AEW Dark/Elevation losses over the last three years too (not that this isn't a 'pay-per-view quality' card of course...)

Martinez has Ellie on the ground and is pounding away on her within seconds of the opening bell. Even when DGE does get some distance, Mercedes simply closes it again and brutally stomps her into the canvas. BACK DROP DRIVER NAILED! Ellie is practically unconscious...so Martinez repeatedly knees her in the face and decapitates her with an elbow to the back of the head. Brass City Sleeper wins it for the former Women's Champion at 02:58

Rating - N/A - A swift and brutal squash win for Mercedes - exactly what it needed to be as she rehabs and rebuilds her reputation in ROH after a few months away. With an Athena/Willow rematch now politically problematic due to Nightingale holding an NJPW championship, I really hope we start building towards another Athena/Martinez title match in the near future.

Dasha catches up with the Mack Attack in the aftermath of their defeat to The Kingdom. They promise they'll be back in Ring Of Honor soon...

D'Amboise has been impressive in recent ROH defeats against Athena and Mercedes Martinez, but she is still winless in this promotion and will want to rectify that tonight. She faces yet another debutant, with Kamela perhaps being more recognisable for her time in NXT as Vanessa Borne.

Kamela starts full of confidence, showing all of her experience and comfort being on TV as she tosses Ashley around (and verbally taunts her constantly). She hangs D'Amboise in the ropes and delivers a flurry of targeted kicks to the lower back, leaving her rolling around in pain on the canvas. Ashley is a tall, powerful athlete though - and even after a rough few minutes she has plenty in the locker; landing a neckbreaker and a powerslam in quick succession to even things up. BURNING HAMMER gets 2, followed by a Rock Bottom to give Ashley the win at 05:07

Rating - ** - Too short to provide much of substance, but it was certainly competitive. Kamela's NXT experience shone here; she looked substantially more comfortable in a brief, televised wrestling match environment than some of the enhancement talents we've seen on ROH TV recently. There's an argument to suggest she was more impressive than D'Amboise in actual fact. 

This one pits a Ring Of Honor veteran against a talented young kid making his first appearance. Alexander works out of California and was part of PWG's BOLA 2023 tournament field which should speak volumes for the potential that he has. Does he have enough in his locker to stop the experienced 'King Of Sneaky Style' tonight though?

Alexander sets out trying to grapple and strike with Romero, which shows he is confident but probably isn't sensible given how proficient Rocky is in that environment. Indeed, Titus enjoys far more success when he tries to overpower the veteran...disrupting him so much that he can't even complete the Forever Clotheslines. Romero spikes him with a springboard DDT though, then starts kicking at Titus' arm as he starts setting up some of his finishing manoeuvres. Running Shiranui gets 2, but Alexander survives that to land a few impactful strikes then a brainbuster for 2. His arm is still bothering him though, and Rocky plucks him out of the corner with the Diablo Armbar for the win at 04:16

Rating - ** - I've seen a couple of Titus Alexander matches recently that have impressed me, and I thought he looked pretty decent here (albeit with pretty limited scope and time to do so). He did some interesting things with his brief time on offence, then threw himself around and sold extremely well to put Romero over too. 

After pursuing Grayson for weeks, it seems that The Righteous have finally seduced him away from the Dark Order. Vincent and Dutch made their return to ROH during the Supercard Of Honor pre-show in a segment also including Grayson - and have been picking apart his status in Dark Order ever since. He finally snapped and told Evil Uno that he was fed up of everyone else speaking for him, and tonight gives The Righteous an opportunity to show their true intentions. Stu is still introduced as 'representing Dark Order' at this stage, however.

Grayson starts for his team and absolutely massacres Morales from the outset. Kross tags and runs right into similar treatment as well. He and Dutch even hit a few double-teams to further underline the cohesion between Stu and The Righteous. Vincent joins in the fun with some combo moves as well, and before long there's only LSG left standing for his team. He fights all three opponents valiantly...until he and Kross eat a double Pele kick from Stu. Uno, Reynolds and Silver of Dark Order come onto the apron to ask questions of Grayson, as in the ring Dutch catapults Vincent into Autumn Sunshine on Kross. Marseglia starts talking to Stu again, then steps aside so Grayson can hit Nightfall and win it for their team at 04:09

Rating - ** - This angle really is one of the very few ongoing storylines that Ring Of Honor really have going on at the moment. As always with Vincent and The Righteous; it isn't necessarily very innovative or original but they are at least telling the story competently with what little TV time they are getting. I thought in four minutes this had some good ideas, like Grayson seemingly having immediate chemistry with Vincent and Dutch, and seeming to enjoy the anarchic violence he was allowed to express. There was certainly enough here to keep me interested in the story moving forward.

Samoa Joe and Zack Sabre Jr. get some interview time ahead of the main event, which means we get more comedic gold with Zack repeatedly referring to his partner as 'Samoan Joseph'. 

Two of my favourite workers from the Sinclair era, who have only been sparingly utilised since the Khan buy-out come together here, albeit in a match which is sure to go short and fail to meet my expectations as a result. They are both former TV Champions, but come into this with Hot Sauce arguably slightly behind Taylor in terms of rank and status in the 'new era'. Despite a number of impressive performances he badly needs a win.

The first ten seconds feature Tracy trying to lock up with his massive opponent, only to be effortlessly thrown right into the ropes. Taylor swats off multiple attacks from Hot Sauce...until Tracy dodges a punch and plummets into a HANGING ARMBAR in the ropes! Shane T screams in pain but survives and bludgeons his opponent to the canvas once again with raw power. Williams goes after the arm again, and again Taylor powers free; this time with a sidewalk slam for 2. Taylor tries to swipe Tracy out of the corner seconds later, but Hot Sauce BRILLIANTLY counters to a mid-air DDT! Diving lariat nailed too - followed by a frog splash for two. Williams tries to line up his Piledriver but just can't muscle Shane off his feet - before Taylor rattles his jaw with a knee and a headbutt. DEAD-LIFT CHOKESLAM, followed by the Warrior Splash for 2 by Taylor! Tracy comes up with one last wild strike flurry...but is knocked senseless by another big punch by Taylor. PACKAGE PILEDRIVER wins it for Shane T at 05:14

Rating - *** - It is hard to get much better with the meagre time allocation they were given. There are at least five matches on this card I'd have cut altogether to let these guys have 12-15 minutes for a longer version of this exact match because I was very into what we did get. Their chemistry was instant; Williams looking for any kind of opening to wrestle, or work the arm or the neck in preparation for his finishing moves...but constantly thwarted by the aggression and sheer size of his foe. Yet despite the mismatch he fought valiantly and caused Taylor genuine problems even in defeat. As an ardent supporter of both men it won't surprise you to know that I liked this a lot. Probably my second favourite match on the card so far.

Once again the imposing ROH Women's Champion allows a contender to enter the Proving Ground with her. She has been the stand-out performer in all of ROH in 2023, but has contenders circling her from all sides. On this show alone we've already seen Kiera Hogan, Mercedes Martinez and Willow Nightingale. Such is the quality of her championship reign that people are coming from all over looking to test themselves. How long will the Fallen Goddess be able to work at this level and intensity?

Athena doesn't come out swinging from the opening bell as she sometimes does, and Braxton is able to hold her own with the champion in the opening exchanges. She actually takes the champ off her feet with an armdrag and celebrates to the crowd...and the commentators audibly gasp as they realise what a mistake she just made. Athena is furious and instantly decapitates her with a mafia kick. Promise clings to Athena; blocking her power and striking by trapping her in an abdominal stretch. She tries rolling suplexes next, but Athena blocks and drills her with a gourdbuster/superkick combo. One last flurry of energy from Braxton sees her hit clotheslines and a double knee strike to the back of the head for 2. Athena CRUSHES her with a nip-up rana right into the turnbuckles, into a slingshot corkscrew splash. She climbs into Promise with elbows then submits her with a Cobra Clutch at 05:55

Rating - * - There were some noticeably ugly exchanges here, and I just didn't understand why Braxton went almost six minutes with Athena where others have been crushed far more easily. If they were telling a story about Athena starting to weaken or feel the heat after such a gruelling schedule as champion that would make sense - but nothing the commentators said made me feel that. Instead it just felt like we were killing time with a senselessly evenly-matched encounter which felt damaging to Athena's aura without ever really presenting Promise Braxton like a rising star either. 

Athena tries to humiliate Promise further after the bell, but Kiera Hogan comes to the ring and attacks the Women's Champion. She SMASHES Athena's face into her own title belt (the way Athena has done to so many challengers previously). This was a great little segment to add some spice to the inevitable Athena vs Hogan title match.

Have the ROH graphic design team put Alex Abrahantes into Dralistico's image instead of Jose The Assistant? The LFI member has been on AEW TV a lot recently; failing to take the International Title from Orange Cassidy then losing an AAA Mega Title Match to Vikingo as well, and has also packed in some work in Japan and Mexico since he last appeared in Ring Of Honor. He looks to recover from those high profile AEW defeats with a win over former TV Champion Tony Deppen.

TOPE CON HILO by Deppen to get us started! Dralistico retaliates by bouncing Tony's torso off the ringpost, guardrails and entrance steps. We go into the ring for the first time with Dralistico hitting a springboard Swanton for 2. Deppen blocks a powerbomb, and when Dralistico slithers out of the ring Tony flies at him again with a SPRINGBOARD SENTON TO THE FLOOR! Back in the ring they goad each other into chopping each other as hard as possible (which would've been far more effective if Mark Briscoe and JD Drake hadn't done the same sequence an hour ago on the same show), then transition into big knees, culminating in a spectacular corkscrew enzi by Dralistico. ROLLING GERMANS by Deppen! SNAP GERMAN by Dralistico! He drills Tony with an inverted rana seconds later...then they both collapse to the canvas in complete exhaustion. Deppen tries to come off the ropes, but is blocked by the luchador who flies at him with a SPRINGBOARD RANA! LA MISTICA wins it for Dralistico at 06:35

Rating - *** - A really impressive showcase for both men. Deppen has history with the previous incarnation of La Faccion Ingobernable back during his time in VLNCE UNLTD and he made for a tremendous opponent for Dralistico. His unhinged, unpredictable, tenacious style brought out a more gritty, aggressive side to the silky smooth but not always that relatable in-ring game of the masked luchador. They wrestled this one at breakneck speed from the outset, taking spills and dives all over ringside in the process. Sadly this is the last time we'll see Deppen for a while. He broke his arm in a match against Zack Sabre Jr. in GCW barely a week after this taping...

Dasha interviews Nick Comoroto, who calls 'All Heart' Blake Christian (his opponent tonight) 'All Generic'. He ends by promising to rip out Christian's heart then 'spit in the hole I make'. 

This feels like a really smart match-up, given that Alize is a cunning and effective heel worker and should therefore contrast well with the likeable Blue. The Lucha Baddie still hasn't won in ROH since the Khan buyout...

No handshake from Miranda, riling up Blue who quickly sends her to the outside after a flurry of early takedowns. Alize recovers by dropkicking the legs out from under Skye, setting her up for a sliding DDT. She pummels Blue with kicks in the corner, and when she staggers out Alize is waiting again - this time to deliver a butterfly suplex. Skye hits a jawbreaker, then boots Miranda around the back of the head after the Lucha Baddie blocks her initial attempt at a superkick. Alize quickly puts Skye on the defensive again by hitting a release suplex, dropping her right on her back and neck. Miranda Rights applied, but Skye counters into a pinning situation forcing her to release the hold. Bridging roll-up by Blue - and she grabs a pinfall victory over Miranda at 04:01

Rating - ** - As expected, I thought these two worked well together. Alize is such a natural heel, and a strong enough worker to cover for some of Blue's limitations as well. She carried large portions of this match, and her first ROH win feels closer than ever; Blue was just barely able to escape with a flash pin here tonight. 

Lexy Nair is also here apparently, and she asks Athena for her initial reaction to being attacked by Kiera Hogan. The Fallen Goddess is so enraged she offers Kiera an immediate title match next week so she can get her hands on her...then has a meltdown in the locker room before storming off.

Cole and Zack put up a spirited performance in their loss to Chris Daniels and Matt Sydal last week. They'll be looking for a win tonight, and will be hoping that Andretti and Martin are still feeling the ill-effects of their Fight Without Honor victory over The Kingdom.

Clayton tries to bully Andretti but just isn't quick or nimble enough to lay a glove on his illusive foe. He finally manages to sock Darius with a big clothesline, but all that does is release Karter who has similar issues with Darius moments later. Tornillo shoulder tackle by Action drops Cole again, but he blocks another big high spot moments later by dumping Andretti right over the top rope to the floor. He tweaks his back upon landing, which Clayton and Karter immediately look to exploit. He quickly escapes them though and makes a critical tag to Martin...who clobbers Karter right over the top rope to the floor. Cole returns with a big frog splash (after an assist with a powerslam from Zack), but Action is on hand to break the pin. He and Darius hit a double spinebuster on Karter to win at 04:52

Rating - * - This didn't resonate with me at all. I don't think anyone was particularly to blame and they all felt like they were working hard. This just felt like such a limp and timid follow-up to Andretti and Martin's win over The OGK in the main event last week. Other than having matching gear, they felt like they were slotted right back into the same slot at the bottom of the card working Dark-style matches with other lowly-ranked guys. The match itself was also a generally bland, listless five minutes during which I found very little of interest to latch onto. 

Nothing says 'PPV quality' like Nick Comoroto in singles action. I'm probably being a little cruel by cynically mocking him to send up the incredulous hyperbole of the rhetoric used to promote this episode, but still. His pre-match promo has at least added some spice to this, as he pointed out that he is a unique athlete whilst Blake is a little more generic. Can 'All Heart' make him eat his words?

Christian opens up with some big palm strikes and has a clear game-plan to stay out of the clutches of the big man. He somersaults off the apron, hurdles off the ring-steps and finally lands a wild somersault plancha to knock Comoroto off his feet for the first time. He tries an ill-advised second dive though, with Nick catching him on a tope suicida attempt and launching him face-first into the ringpost. The pace immediately slows, allowing Comoroto to impose his will on his significantly smaller opponent. Christian successfully dodges a tackle in the corner though, causing Nick to collide hard with the turnbuckles. He falls to the floor again, and this time Blake successfully hits a tope which forces Nick right into the guardrails too. TOP ROPE DOUBLE STOMP TO THE APRON! Christian gets a two-count from what feels like the 84th frog splash of the night...but just isn't doing enough damage and gets flattened with a spinebuster (we've seen lots of those too) from Comoroto. Blake falls out of the ring and grabs a steel chair from under the ring...tossing it across the ring to distract Comoroto. As Nick turns his back, Blake sneaks in and grabs a roll-up to win at 06:30

Rating - ** - An effective speedy little guy versus bulky big dude bout. Comoroto isn't someone who I particularly enjoy watching, but he was completely fine as a big base around which Christian could execute lots of whacky high spots. I thought the finish was smart, with Christian realising that his big dives just weren't hurting Comoroto enough to beat him so instead he came up with something sneaky and resourceful to outwit his bigger opponent. 

Riccaboni points out that Trish has recently moved to train at the NJPW Academy, and she hasn't actually been on ROH TV since her win over Madison Rayne ten episodes ago. She also has a win over Billie Starkz in ROH during 2023, so is very much a target that Diamante will be aiming to take down tonight. Diamante lost her ROH debut to Skye Blue on Episode 9.

The opening exchanges are frought with tension as both women approach the match with real aggression. Trish blocks an attempted cheap-shot in the corner and tries to break Diamante's arm, only for Diamante to latch on to an arm of Adora in response and thwart her attempts at over-powering her. Neckbreaker in the ropes by Diamante, immediately followed by a baseball slide dropkick right into the lower back as well. They really lay into each other with chops, but again Diamante drops Adora on her back; this time with a belly to belly suplex. Trish keeps throwing big elbows back at her opponent, even as Diamante really starts to dominate. Somehow Adora lands a big arm-wrench takedown...and uses it to set up another big elbow for 2. FISHERMAN BUSTER gets 2 for Adora! Lariat Tubman ducked though, and Diamante taps Adora out with a stranglehold submission at 04:44

Rating - ** - Disappointingly too short, because what we got here was extremely spirited and hard-hitting. I was slightly confused as to how we've gone from Adora delivering impressive victories over Rayne and Starkz to this - where she was really just a body relegated to busting her ass putting Diamante over, but they had a decent little match together. I liked how they blended the striking, technical style of Adora with the more street-smart, bullish offence of Diamante. But in less than five minutes there really wasn't much opportunity to explore that interesting premise in any real detail.

NEXT WEEK - Alex Coughlin challenges Katsuyori Shibata for the Pure Title. He warns his mentor not to underestimate him, and plans to take his title using the very techniques that Shibata taught him.

We saw Rey Fenix victorious in singles action last week, and tonight it is the turn of his brother as he takes on Slim J of the Trust Busters. This takes place hot on the heels of the Lucha Bros successfully defending the ROH Tag Titles against Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta on AEW Dynamite (in a match which patently would have been in Ring Of Honor if this brand was being treated with any kind of real reverence). 

Pentagon tries to intimidate Slim J, even with all of the Trust Busters surrounding the ring trying to distract him. A superkick sends J sprawling under the ropes to the outside, but Slim recovers quickly to block an attempted tope with a forearm into Penta's face. He then quickly retreats to allow Jeeves Kay and Sonny Kiss to put the boots to the luchador on the outside. Back in the ring J hits his springboard inverted DDT for a nearfall and stays on top of Penta so he can't regain his vertical base. Sling Blade by Pentagon when he does get back to his feet, but J isn't worn down enough for the Fear Factor and slides out to drop Penta again with a Sliced Bread #2. LANZA stomp by Penta gets 2! Once again he gets distracted by Daivari and the rest of the Trust Busters, and again Slim is able to get in a flurry of offence as a result. Penta survives that, boots J out of the air and at last hits the Fear Factor to win at 05:46

Rating - * - I think it's been clear that Slim J isn't one of my favourite performers to have regularly been featured in this new Honor Club venture, and that is largely because of matches like this where he is allowed to get in far too much offence and made to look far more credible than I'd like against the higher ranked members of the roster. It felt incredibly damaging to Penta El Zero M to have him struggle this much against Slim J - and the entire match just felt a little ragged, sloppy and tediously predictable. Having waited so long to see Pentagon in an ROH ring, it's so disheartening that we're only getting him in Dark/Elevation-type matches like this, whilst his marquee bouts remain on AEW television.

After an incredibly long two and a half hour show, we finally arrive at what feels like one of the only matches with any real hype behind it. Daniels and Sydal are the reunited former Tag Champions (both of whom have history with Joe as well), with Sydal now looking to get into the TV Title scene in both Ring Of Honor and New Japan. The TV Champs have agreed that if either one are pinned tonight they'll offer up a title shot to their conqueror so the stakes are certainly high. Questions will be asked about whether ZSJ and 'Samoan Joseph' are able to coexist, given how tense their previous exchanges have been and how evident it is that both men believe their version of the Television Championship to be the superior title.

Sabre promises the crowd that he won't 'murder' Sydal tonight, although he does seem pretty hell-bent on snapping him in half as he ties him in knots from the opening bell. He controls Matt's arm for a time, but Sydal is a veteran and he realises his best chance is to quicken the pace - instantly dropping Zack a couple of times as a result. Daniels tags, and Joe immediately demands that Sabre let him join his old rival in the ring. But Joe seems as intent on jaw-jacking with his own partner as he does taking the fight to Daniels, and as a result the former Tag Champions are presented with an opening to hit a few double teams on the ROH legend. Joe bitterly storms off and lets ZSJ handle them instead, leaving him to withstand a Slice/assisted moonsault combo by their opponents. Joe is on-hand to rock Daniels with a cheap-shot though, (albeit we almost miss it due to the huge, gaudy graphics promoting Double Or Nothing across the bottom of the screen). He and Zack start trying to one-up each other as they work Daniels over - with the result being that all of the veteran's limbs are torn, stretched and contorted at grotesque angles. A highlight for me is Joe pretending he is going to attempt one of Zack's elaborate chain-wrestling sequences...but instead working over the arm with a series of violent headbutts. But all isn't well with the pair; one mis-communication almost allows Daniels to escape, and sees them knock heads giving Joe a minor facial laceration as a result. Daniels hits a running STO on Joe and at last finds a way to tag Sydal back...who lays the Samoan out with a Meteora for 2. ZSJ saves with a sadistic neckbreaker! Running uppercut by Sabre COUNTERED to a backslide by Sydal for 2! PK ducked, allowing Sydal to execute a Satellite Crossface. Joe tries to save but is intercepted by the Koji Clutch of Daniels! Zack blocks Matt's path to the top for a Sydal Press, but Daniels drags ZSJ away so they can hit a DOOMSDAY POWERBOMB/METEORA COMBO! Joe blocks Angel's Wings and destroys Joe with a lariat! Neckbreaker from Sabre to Sydal! ANGEL'S WINGS from Daniels to Sabre! ST-JOE! CHOKE! Daniels is unconscious, meaning the ref stops the match at 15:17

Rating - *** - Here we were watching four smart, experienced wrestlers working a lively TV main event relying solely on the strength of their characters, the richness of their backstories and playing the hits rather than having to go too hard, too fast or take many unnecessary risks. This won't go down as the most exciting main event of all time, but it absolutely will have kept everyone entertained. The complex alliance between ZSJ and Joe was extremely fun to watch unravel here. They were wonderful as the diametrically opposed tag partners who's tense relationship could fall apart at any moment. I liked that individually they almost always dominated their opponents - and it was only when they made an error or Daniels and Sydal were able to engineer a 2-on-1 situation that they were able to get ahead. Those little touches of detail were what made this such a fun bout.

The show fades out with Joe and ZSJ sharing a tense handshake...

Tape Rating - * - This absolutely was not a 'PPV quality' episode and it is utterly laughable that Tony Khan, Ian Riccaboni and others were promoting this episode as such on social media channels. The critics of the ROH/Honor Club show who have continually compared it to Dark/Elevation will have a field day with this - as it was nothing more than a hapless, woeful, Dark-esque marathon three hour slog to get through. Quantity over quality; endless, meaningless five-minute forgettable filler bouts thrown out one after the other, each resonating less than the last. I found this episode to be a genuine chore to review. Yes there were some bright points - a decent main event, a scattering of enjoyable undercard bouts and a show-stealing Fletcher/Fox sprint - but they were eclipsed, overshadowed and outweighed by a litany of forgettable dirge. Tony Khan needs to quickly get out of the mindset that ROH fans think this is value for money, or that MORE five minute matches = BETTER show. There are almost no storylines, almost no angles. All the major stars/champions (excluding Athena and Joe, although that will change now he is one of the bigger names on AEW Collision) spend most of their time and have most of their major matches outside of ROH.  Even things like the simmering tension between Joe and Zack Sabre Jr. will most likely pay-off on Collision or at Forbidden Door - both All Elite Wrestling events. And with a return to Honor Club TV being taped as a prelude to AEW events rather than as standalone shows I really do fear for the quality of this ROH relaunch moving forward. It is 2023 and there is SO MUCH WRESTLING out there available to watch - trust me when I say that there is absolutely no need to spend three hours of your life slogging through this show. And that is an extremely dangerous precedent to set for a 'premium product' entirely hidden behind a paywall.