McXal's Reviews

On paper we have a slightly smaller card for this week's instalment of Honor Club TV, which certainly isn't a bad thing. We're two weeks out from Death Before Dishonor with precious little of the card formalised (and the scheduled Claudio/Briscoe main event immediately cancelled due to Mark's unfortunate knee injury) so some movement on that front would be welcome as well. To that end a contendership tournament kicks off tonight to determine who challenges Samoa Joe for the TV Title at the PPV. We're still in Canada, tonight in Regina, SK with Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman calling it.

Matt Sydal decides to interview Brian Cage and Prince Nana, still sore after losing to The Machine on Rampage apparently. He challenges The Embassy to a Six-Man Title shot later...

I've been enjoying Bill's work as part of a team with Lee Moriarty, but I'm not sure that extended to wanting to see him in singles action against Serpentico. He will be looking to make short work of the SAP representative here.

Bill effortlessly throws Serpentico out of the ring and looks unmoved by anything the masked man does throughout the first minute. Serp decides his best plan is to run - building enough distance between them to hit a tope suicida. But Bill catches him attempting a crossbody moments later and delivers a fallaway slam to kill his momentum. Chokeslam blocked, and Serp counters the East River Crossing with a satellite headscissors too. Bill crotches him on the top rope to deliver a big boot which sends him tumbling to the floor though. The match is effectively over...and Big Bill eventually ends it with a Chokeslam at 04:30

Rating - * - This was simply far too long and uninteresting for what they were going for. Some of the interplay between the massive Bill and diminutive Serpentico was moderately fun, but it should have been over substantially earlier.

Once again the ROH Women's World Champion is in Proving Ground action. Lawless has spent the majority of her short career thus far competing in Canada. It would be pretty spectacular if she were able to upset the Fallen Goddess tonight.

Athena smiles and plays to the crowd, giving the impression that she isn't sweating Ava at all. Lawless visibly takes exception and clocks her with a couple of big elbow strikes. Athena snaps and charges at Ave, levelling her with a running elbow...then another as Lawless slumps in the corner. Crossface applied, and Lawless taps out at 01:42. Inevitably she refuses to let go of the hold for a prolonged period afterwards...

Rating - N/A - Unlike Bill/Serpentico this WAS kept brief, and felt more effective and exciting as a vessel to promote Athena as a result. I liked how they opened, with Lawless smacking Athena about for not taking her seriously (only to be brutally punished for doing so).

The Righteous are here to show more aggression against more enhancement talent. Will they be looking to send another message to the Dark Order?

Grayson blasts through Rivers as soon as the bell rings, then tosses him back towards his own corner with a suplex. Levi tags and is soon dropped by the ominous bulk of Dutch. Evil Uno comes down the ramp and takes a seat at ringside, immediately distracting Grayson and allowing Knight to get a couple of shots in. Vincent soon drops him again with a sliding flatliner though ensuring The Righteous don't sustain too much damage. Clark tags and EATS a knee strike from Stu! Powerbomb/Redrum combo by Dutch and Vincent! Bossman Slam from Dutch to Rivers! Nightfall from Grayson sends Knight packing. Righteous then smear MARC all over the canvas to win at 04:24

Rating - * - Once again far too long for what was an entirely one-sided squash. I am a fan of this feud, but this match didn't need anywhere near this much time (even allowing for giving Uno a minute to get down the aisle and set up a chair).

Evil Uno shows his violent side by smacking one of the jobbers with a chair too. He then walks out yelling that Stu Grayson 'knows where he belongs'...

Lexy Nair catches up with Matt Sydal who confirms that he has recruited his old tag partner Chris Daniels, along with Darius Martin, to help him challenge for the Six-Man Championship tonight.

'Legit' Leyla made a surprise return last week, recruited by Maria Kanellis-Bennett to take her place alongside The Kingdom in a trios match. Hirsch made it clear afterwards that was strictly business, and she strikes out on her own tonight against veteran Canadian opponent Hall.

Hall drops Leyla on her face right away, quickly demonstrating that she can't be pushed around. Hirsch reacts badly; choking her in the ropes until the ref has to pull her away. She starts working Bambi's arm over, whilst peppering her with elbows and forearms too. German suplex nailed, into a cross armbreaker which forces Hall to tap out at 03:15

Rating - ** - I liked the chemistry between them as opponents. Hirsch is stocky and clearly a fearsome grappler, but Hall had plenty of size and power which made it difficult for Leyla to move her around in the way she'd have liked. It gave a heightened sense of struggle to what was otherwise a fairly routine, brief encounter.

This is the first of two TV Title Eliminator Tournament semi-finals, with the winner advancing to the finals next week for a shot at Samoa Joe's championship. Castle has held the gold before and is an ROH veteran, but Nese is extremely skilled. Tony usually has a cast of characters at ringside helping him out too, so Castle may need plenty of assistance from The Boys to counteract that.

Castle's entrance comes as Nese tries to give the crowd exercise and personal hygiene training. He almost catches Tony in the Bang-A-Rang straight out of the gate...but the Premier Athlete shows his skill by grabbing the ropes to block. Castle uses his amateur wrestling skills to toss Nese around (even though Tony has plenty of ability in that department too). Mark Sterling is panicked and gets onto the apron to distract Dalton - with Ari Daivari then tripping him from behind as well. The fight spills to the floor where Nese ducks Castle, causing him to collide hard with the ringpost. His arm and shoulder took the brunt of the impact and Tony immediately targets them. Castle is having to fight one-armed now, and Nese capitalises to land a heel kick for 2. Nese goes for more arm submissions...but then gets over-confident and misses a springboard moonsault. Dalton hits some really cool arm-selling suplexes, but can't even attempt to hold a bridge on the Everest German. Sterling tries to interfere again...but The Boys swarm him! ONE-ARM BANG-A-RANG! Castle advances at 08:10

Rating - *** - A low-end 3* rating, and of course you get the usual dose of generic Mark Sterling inference, but there was some neat wrestling here too. Watching these two guys with genuine amateur wrestling credentials go at it was fun. I thought the way Castle sold his arm injury in the second half of the match was outstanding (and something new for him versus the usual back work he has to sell). 

The second TV Title Eliminator Tournament semi-final also pits a former TV Champion against a newer ROH athlete from the Tony Khan era. Taylor is one of the most imposing and dominant champions in the history of the belt and a potential showdown with Samoa Joe is an undoubted dream match. But Dean enters with momentum after The Infantry scored a big win over The Kingdom a couple of weeks ago.

Dean tries to stay out of Taylor's reach and is clearly aware of the striking power his opponent possesses. That lasts for almost a minute, but then Shane turns his lights out with a crunching right hand which leaves The Captain slumped on the apron. The beating continues in the corner, Dean's head and midsection taking repeated shots. He is left nursing injuries to his ribs which impair his ability to even throw strikes back at his opponent. Taylor puts the squeeze on him with a bearhug, but Shawn escapes and hits a couple of enzi kicks in the corner. ST-JOE by Taylor, leaving Dean in position for more rib punishment with Shane T's signature second rope splash. Dean manages to evade the splash and floats into a swinging DDT...but is gasping for air as he looks to follow up. SALUTING SPLASH GETS KNEES! Shawn crumples in a heap screaming in pain from his midsection, whilst Taylor verbally berates him. HEADBUTT! KNOCK OUT PUNCH! Taylor wins at 06:47

Rating - *** - Taylor is a super talent who deserves the platform he's starting to get within ROH and AEW. This was a fine little showcase of his skills, not only as a fearsome brute in the ring but also a savage, nasty trash-talker too. Dean was a great foil for him, capable of taking a hell of a beating whilst being exciting enough in his brief moments of hope to make those sequences pop. Joe/Taylor is a long-time dream match of mine and seems like such an obvious outcome for this tournament...

Taven and Bennett want a Tag Title shot, but their loss to The Infantry a couple of weeks ago has undoubtedly set them back. They are here to get back on tracks against perennial whipping boys of this division in the Tate Twins/Boys. Bennett is introduced as 'The Miracle'. Is that back? Maria Kanellis isn't here tonight, suspended as Jerry Lynn investigates the legitimacy of her claims to be injured last week.

Taven spends the first couple of minutes bullying Brent around. Bennett then gets over-confident and allows him to slither away into a vital tag to Brandon (with Caprice and Ian reminding us how they made mistakes and under-estimated The Infantry too). Box Office Smash gets 2 for Bennett soon after though. He swats Brent off the apron so he and Taven can get in a couple of double-teams on the stranded twin inside the ring. Piledriver blocked...so Bennett snares Brandon in a kimura instead, causing him to squeal in pain until he desperately makes the ropes. TKO blocked, with Brent getting a big tag to save the match for his team. Inverted Code Red drops Bennett, whilst a standing Shiranui sends Taven sprawling too. The Boys try to finish it off, but Mike scoops Brent up for a DVD/Just The Tip combo! Rock Star Supernova nailed on Brandon, giving The Kingdom victory at 08:49

Rating - ** - Having them take the better part of ten minutes to overcome The Boys does absolutely nothing for The Kingdom's credibility. The match itself was completely serviceable; Taven yelling at The Boys to 'call me Daddy' was comical and some of Bennett's hard-hitting offence looked particularly brutal when he had a Tate Twin to bump the sh*t out of it. Nothing here really sticks out as memorable though, and it is hard to escape the feeling that this did more damage than it did good for The OGK.

A month ago Darius was challenging for these belts with Action Andretti and AR Fox by his side. This time around he has been recruited by veteran former ROH Tag Champions Chris Daniels and Matt Sydal and he'll be hoping they have the skills to help him dethrone the dominant Embassy. As we saw earlier, Sydal is still frustrated at being eliminated from AEW's Blind Eliminator Tournament to Cage and Big Bill and laid down this challenge tonight.

Kaun and Daniels start, although completely ignored by commentary as Riccaboni is forced to shill about 84 scheduled AEW matches coming up. The former World Champion is too smart for Bishop, hauling him into the challenger corner where he and Sydal can string together some offence. Standing corkscrew senton nailed by Matt...but soon after Liona is able to start manhandling Darius as the challengers make an error leaving him in the ring with him. Daniels spots their mistake immediately and trips Toa from behind, allowing Martin to escape! SAMOAN DROP ON DANIELS! The Embassy set about taking out the strategic mastermind of their opposition, isolating him from his partners with a series of brutal moves. He is soon so beaten up that he can barely run the ropes...and even when trying a desperation pinfall can't get the official to count because the ref is distracted by Kaun, Cage and Prince Nana. Back Drop Driver from The Machine gets 2. But Daniels rallies - hitting a German suplex on Kaun then diving into a hot tag to Martin. Double DDT combo on the Gates Of Agony! POP-UP SUPERKICK by Cage to save his partners! Darius counters GMSI with a PK, then vacates for Sydal to hit the Meteora. Running elbow from Kaun to Sydal! F'n'5 by Cage gets 2! Drill Claw COUNTERED WITH A SNAP RANA by Sydal! Another Meteora gets 2 with Kaun having to dive in and break the pin. GOA look for Open The Gates on Matt, only for Daniels and Martin to break it. Pescado from Darius to Kaun! DISCUS LARIAT by The Machine! DRILL CLAW NAILED! He pins Sydal to retain at 12:03

Rating - *** - Men like Sydal, Daniels and Cage have been around for what feels like an eternity having matches like this and throwing spots around like they did here. This wasn't anywhere near the high end of their capabilities in the ring together, but it is still fun watching these savvy old-timers bust out plenty of hits. The actual core of the match; Daniels being a master strategist who captained his team, fixed their errors and was too good for less-experienced foes like Kaun, causing The Embassy to isolate and eliminate him, was a really smart little narrative too (he didn't feature heavily after that point). 

Tape Rating - * - The length of the episode was much more palatable this week. Some of these Honor Club shows have gone three hours so this compact 80-minute burst made for better viewing. Unfortunately the match quality did not show much improvement. Squashes that went far too long were the order of the day it seems. The three matches that actually did mean something (Castle/Nese, Taylor/Dean and the main event) were all decent enough, but all would have benefited from time that could've been shaved from elsewhere.