McXal's Reviews

As a final promotional tool to hype the 'End Of An Era' Final Battle 2021 pay-per-view, ROH announced a special week of free matches being released on their YouTube channel forming the 'Road To Final Battle Series'. Five bouts over five nights to get you in the mood for ROH's final event before it 'pivots' into a period of hiatus/re-imagining/selling of tape rights to the highest bidder. All of these are taped within the typical closed set bubble in Baltimore, MD. Ian Riccaboni and Silas Young provide commentary

6th December 2021 - The week begins with the man who we will see challenge for the World Title in the Final Battle main event. He is preparing to face Bandido for the belt, and so gets ideal preparation in the form of another world class luchador; Dragon Lee. This match is also one of the final times we'll see The Foundation and La Faccion Ingobernable at war. With Rush out injured LFI's prominence has reduced somewhat, although La Bestia del Ring does accompany his son tonight...

They fly out of the blocks at a frenetic pace and wind up trying to straight-up throttle each other in the ropes. Their lock-up is ferocious in its intensity as well, taking them first to the canvas and then out to the floor without releasing the hold. Back in the ring they start slapping the sh*t out of each other, before once again just trying to choke each other out! Lee throws a closed fist punch to rock Gresham - so the Octopus HEADBUTTS him! Incinerator to the back of the head gets 2! Ripcord Incinerator next, but Gresham no-sells it and hits a hooking lariat! SNAP German by Lee...only for Gresham to no-sell again and leap at Dragon into a rear sleeper. EVEREST GERMAN gets 2 for the #1 contender! Bayonet elbow smash to the head scores...and Gresh wins at 07:46

Rating - *** - Pretty much as good as they could get in less than eight minutes. Its a shame ROH can't do VOD shows right now because this would make for hell of a VOD/live show main event to lead into Final Battle and would have been infinitely better with more time to play with. The one thing they did REALLY well here was establish a nasty, mean streak to their work from the very outset. LFI are one of the groups that The Foundation have been locked in an ideological struggle with throughout 2021, without ever really reaching a resolution. This match very much continued in the same spirit, with both men casting aside their favoured methods of approaching matches and look to beat the sh*t out of their opponent - or choke them when that wouldn't work. Winning in such a short period of time feels like a huge deal for Gresham; helping him transcend the Pure division as someone who can adapt his style to strike and trade head-drops with someone like Lee. He looked every bit the World Champion in waiting...

Dragon Lee reaches out his hand and follows the Code Of Honor with Gresham, effectively ending La Faccion Ingobernable's reign of terror in ROH...

7th December 2021 - As we head to Final Battle, we have Dalton preparing to defend his newly-won TV Title against multiple challengers, whilst Flip isn't concerned about the hiatus and is instead preparing for his New Year's Eve party to welcome in 2019. After TV last week we know that PJ has the ability to make Flip return to his 'Mercenary' persona at any given point though - will we see him use that in the match?

Castle parades around the ring, before of course dropping out so Draper can start for their team. Flip leaves the ring too, looking to get in on the games with the Baby Chickens (much to Dalton's irritation). It's a rough start to the match for Gordon who first gets over-powered by Dak then out-wrestled by Castle. PJ tries to springboard off the ropes, but loses his balance and gets countered to the canvas by the quick-thinking former World Champion. Dak's size and power overwhelms PJ in the corner, and when the South African collapses to the floor Dalton orders the Baby Chickens to form a protective cordon whilst Draper drops him sternum-first over the guardrails. Relay gutwrench suplex by Castle and Draper! They put a lot of pressure on Black's midsection, making it increasingly difficult for him to breathe. Meanwhile on the apron Flip bemoans the fact that he didn't realise Dalton had a tag partner (he didn't in 2018) so they could study tape! The injured PJ makes a tag after several minutes of punishment, unleashing the rejuvenated Gordon for a tope suicida. But Dak CATCHES HIM! Magnum KO on the floor blocked! MOONSAULT OFF THE GUARDRAIL by Flip! He then nips up from the floor into a superkick on Dalton. GUARDRAIL RUN DOUBLE BLOCKBUSTER! 450 Splash misses, but the Samoan Pop doesn't - and Dak just about kicks at 2. Dalton saves his partner from the Doomsday Destroyer...but Gordon counters the Magnum KO into a small package as well. Bang-A-Rang blocked! POP-UP MAGNUM KO! But Flip is legal and he blindsides Draper with La Magistral to snag the win at 12:59

Rating - *** - If PJ had made any effort to sell the midsection/ribs that Dak and Dalton had spent the whole match working over I could conceivably have gone even higher on my rating because this was a blast. One thing ROH's wrestlers haven't done enough of during this empty arena tapings is used the expanse of the empty buildings to hit cool, innovative and unique spots they'd never do otherwise. Flip tightrope walking on the guardrails into a double blockbuster was an AWESOME moment and I can't believe we've not seen more wrestlers try stuff like that in the year that we've been doing closed-set tapings. 

8th December 2021 - This is another loose storyline thread which ROH are looking to close off before going on hiatus. The Bouncers and Ken Dixon have been trying to bully the ROH commentary team - in particular Ian Riccaboni - for most of the year. They object to being marginalised and decided to start being mean in order to get what they want. Caprice took a stand, sticking up for Riccaboni and eventually looking to face Bruiser on television. BCB ducked out and made him face Dixon instead, but we do now get the Bruiser/Caprice blow off that we've been 'waiting for'. This feels like a low-budget version of the Bully Ray vs Flip or Colt Cabana stuff from a few years ago...

Bruiser tries to attack Caprice during his entrance, but the veteran is expecting it and staves off the attack with ease. Milonas and Dixon try to distract him, luring him outside where Bruiser is much more comfortable. RUNNING POWERSLAM INTO THE GUARDRAIL! Milonas takes a cheap-shot on Caprice too before he returns him to the ring. Back inside BCB bites Coleman, and headbutts him in the chest when he tries a springboard move. Coleman seems to have injured his shoulder during that spill into the guardrail as well - which both Bruiser and Ken Dixon take turns attacking. Running Edge-O-Matic by Caprice! But he can't apply the Father Time due to his injured shoulder, and gets tripped into a spinebuster by the swiping arm of Brian Milonas from the floor. Ian Riccaboni storms away from the announce table, furious at the constant outside interference...as Coleman lands the vertical leap frankensteiner! Ian stops Dixon using a steel chair...and kicks Milonas in the balls! Top rope crossbody to the floor by Caprice. MIND TRIP ON THE FLOOR lays out Dixon! Bruiser looks to blindside Caprice with the Beer City DDT...but it is countered into Father Time. Bruiser taps, giving Caprice the feel-good victory at 09:24

Rating - ** - It was goofy and overbooked, but having Caprice (and Ian) fight against the odds to pull off the unlikely victory was the right way to end it in the context of a company which may not exist in a month's time therefore has no need to protect Bruiser's credibility. Caprice Coleman really is ageless and still looks incredible - and he sold his ass off too. Riccaboni's portion of the match looked TERRIBLE, but it seems unfair to expect much from a commentator and two guys who probably should have been cut from the roster a long time ago (Milonas and Dixon). 

9th December 2021 - Shane Taylor Promotions have always been fighting champions, willing to defend the Six-Man belts against all comers. Violence Unlimited may well be their toughest challengers yet. All three have held ROH gold in 2021 (Homicide is also a former World Champion too of course), and Dickinson is on a personal mission to prove that he is a better wrestler, fighter or striker than anyone who is willing to step into the ring with him. Will Taylor be fully focused on this title defence, just days away from his long-awaited Fight Without Honor against Kenny King? Brody King and O'Shay Edwards are both at ringside supporting their respective teams.

Shane smirks at the idea of Deppen starting out with him...but is quickly forced to take him seriously as Tony unleashes a wicked flurry of strikes! PALM STRIKE by Taylor! Homicide and Moses in next, with the Notorious 187 such an unpredictable presence that it takes all three champions pinning him in their corner to finally keep him down. Cide escapes by raking Kaun's eyes and Dickinson enters the ring to help his partner out. The Dirty Daddy is a skilled grappler and oozes class as he dominates Kaun on the mat. Homicide and Deppen ditch the wrestling and instead haul Kaun up the aisle for a suplex on the floor - whilst Dickinson tries to punch Moses' lights out! With the ref distracted, Cide picks up a crate and DROPS it into Kaun's midsection! Everyone starts brawling in the aisle - and Cide is so crazy he sneaks in to try and win by count-out even though that would mean his team wouldn't win the belts. Kaun blocks a Cop Killa, unleashing Moses who flattens all three opponents with ease! Superplex into a TERRIBLE frog splash by Kaun gets 2! Lets generously say he was selling the ribs with that. Dickinson saves Homicide from the Package Piledriver and floors Shane with a Buzzsaw kick. Death By Kaun! Ace Crusher by Homicide! Brody and O'Shay are fighting on the floor now, which only breaks when King leaves to help Cide set up a table on the floor. The Foundation (and associates) come out to confiscate the table, leading to a tense stand-off with three quarters of Violence Unlimited on the floor. It means they don't see Taylor drill Homicide with Welcome To The Land, ensuring STP retain at 12:49

Rating - *** - This competes with the PJ/Flip vs Dalton/Dak tag as my favourite match from the 'Road To Final Battle Series'. It pretty much delivered everything I wanted; Deppen being whacky, Taylor absolutely dominating, Homicide as a complete wild-man and some build for the PPV as members of The Foundation and VLNCE UNLTD clash ahead of their scheduled trios bout. Taylor, Dickinson and Homicide are among my favourites on the current ROH roster.

10th December 2021 - This has been brewing since Death Before Dishonor. These two were both participants in a four-way elimination match for the World Title, and on that night a nefarious scheme by the 'Demonic' Flamita caused EC3 to be eliminated, costing him a chance to become World Champion and to wield the weapon that he things the ROH Title could be in his possession. Now, on the eve of Final Battle, EC3 wants his revenge. Vincent joins commentary and talks almost as much nonsense as EC3 usually does.

They laugh like lunatics as they shake hands, then Flamita starts taunting Carter with a chair - reprising the trick he used to eliminate him from the title match at Death Before Dishonor. Big moonsault to the floor lands; Flamita blind-siding Carter after he disposes of the chair. EC3 retaliates with a biel across the ring, which Demonic absorbs and immediately recovers from to hit a tornado DDT. Thesz Press scores for EC3 and is followed by an exploder suplex. Flamita hides behind Todd Sinclair before sneaking out to rock his foe with a superkick. He pulls another chair out, but winds up bouncing it off the ropes into his own face. ECD/Purpose combo has Flamita tapping. EC3 wins at 06:01

Rating - ** - If this was supposed to be the 'main event' of the Road To Final Battle Series, it was really rather poor. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it was actually the worst match of the week. Even Coleman/Bruiser had a clear purpose, an obvious end-game and concluded in a feel-good moment which definitively closed one of the few remaining live storylines. This was just two guys lazily trading spots for a few minutes, before a lousy finish. Both men are capable of much better

EC3 leaves with an ominous warning that the upcoming won't be his 'Final' Battle - but merely a 'first strike'...

Tape Rating - ** - These matches are all available for free individually on YouTube, so this isn't really a 'show' that I can summarise. I will say that as a package I didn't feel like it did much to promote Final Battle at all, and really felt like a procession of matches which existed either as filler, or to close minor storylines that you probably didn't care about to begin with (Bruiser/Caprice, EC3/Flamita). STP vs VLNCE UNLTD and the PJ/Flip vs Dalton/Dak tags are worth checking out though and are really solid bouts considering they were being given away for free. Gresham/Lee is incredibly high quality as well, as long as you don't set yourself up for disappointment by expecting a blow-away main event level match from them.

3) Jonathan Gresham vs Dragon Lee (***)

2) Shane Taylor/Soldiers Of Savagery vs Chris Dickinson/Tony Deppen/Homicide (***)

1) PJ Black/Flip Gordon vs Dalton Castle/Dak Draper (***)