McXal's Reviews

Some could accuse ROH Match Maker Nigel McGuinness of letting power go to his head after his actions of last week. With The Kingdom seemingly divided, Matt Taven injured and enemies surrounding them from all sides looking to pick their bones, the last thing they really needed was to be thrown into a Street Fight main event against the Young Bucks and reDRagon. But that is the fate that awaits them in tonight’s main event. After years of scheming, plotting and worming their way out of seemingly impossible scrapes do they have anymore cunning plans to survive? Kevin Kelly and Mr Wrestling III will find out in Philadelphia, PA.

We saw Shelley and ACH team up on the Road To Final Battle in Florida, putting in an impressive performance in pushing reDRagon to the limit. Tonight they face another experienced former ROH Tag Title-holding team in The Addiction. It’s also a rematch of sorts from Final Battle itself when these four did battle in six-man action also featuring Matt Sydal and Chris Sabin (who is at ringside). The question remains as to the ongoing relationship between former MCMG partners Shelley and Sabin.

The Addiction are still pissed at Shelley costing them the Tag Titles, and the match is less than a minute old before they are trying to gouge his eyes and double team him. Sabin too gets involved, hopping onto the apron and staring intently at his former (??) partner. Next Sabin trips ACH, distracting him so Kaz and Daniels can jump him from behind. Daniels hits the Fall From Grace, then a running STO as we take a break to learn about pain-saving knee or back braces. We return just as ACH makes a critical tag to Shelley, who Shellshocks Frankie into the turnbuckles. Double stomp misses, but Alex counters Angel’s Wings into a Buzzsaw Kick. Free Bird Crossbody by ACH, into the Hero’s Grip for 2 before Kazarian breaks the fall. Sabin stops ACH hitting the Midnight Star by shaking the ropes, and when ACH pursues he walks right into Celebrity Rehab. Addiction win at 07:33 (shown).

Rating - ** - Inoffensive and brisk, but you know given the talent of the names involved in this it could have been much better under different circumstances. The Shelley/KRD angle is actually pretty interesting by ROH’s standards, and I’m invested in seeing where that goes. It helps, of course, that Sabin has been on point as a smarmy heel all of 2016 thus far. His constant interjections in this one were annoying, but consistent with the character he has been playing – and well-timed enough to further the tension with he and his former partner. 

Daniels and Kazarian jump Shelley and give him Celebrity Rehab too. Sabin does nothing to help and watches uncomfortably from the corner of the ring. Meanwhile Daniels tries to go after Shelley with a hammer, then punches out referee Paul Turner when he tries to stop him. Nigel McGuinness comes out and issues an immediate suspension to the Fallen Angel!

Kevin Kelly reminds us that The Decade were banned from Final Battle, so enter this with a point to prove. They are out in force, with Colby Corino and BJ Whitmer both in Page’s corner. Among the highlights of Page’s 2015 was his violent No Holds Barred Match with Jay Briscoe on television. Mark won’t have forgotten the things Page said and did to lead to that match, so will be keen to administer an ass kicking of his own.

Neither man can lay a glove on each other in the first minute, so Whitmer leans in and grabs Briscoe’s attention which allows Page to cheap-shot him. Colby chokes Mark in the corner too, immediately making it clear that he is at a significant disadvantage here. HEAD DROP POWERSLAM INTO THE TURNBUCKLES! That was extreme, so it’s incredible that in just a few moments Briscoe is back on his feet and diving off the apron into the blockbuster to the floor. Page blocks the fisherman buster and converts to the jumping spike DDT for 2. Buckshot Lariat flips Mark in mid-air but similarly is only good for a nearfall. He looks for the Rite Of Passage but Briscoe rolls away as BJ yells at Page, inadvertently causing a distraction. It gives Briscoe the chance to hit the fisherman buster, followed by the Froggy Bow. Mark wins at 06:31

Rating - *** - At the lower end of the 3* scale for sure, but I liked this. It had plenty of workrate, featured a great near-miss/counter wrestling sequence at the start, packed in a couple of pretty big bumps for a filler midcard TV bout, and culminated with another Whitmer/Page mishap to further the slow-build on The Decade split angle which, as an Adam Page fan, I’m keenly looking forward to. Definitely one of Mark’s better singles matches of recent times.

BJ Whitmer gets into the ring and keeps doing the f*cking terrible ‘get the fans to boo me so I can’t cut my promo’ gimmick. He yells at Mr Wrestling III, accusing him of being Steve Corino, prompting MW3 to enter the ring and remind BJ that there is a zero tolerance policy on violence against ROH staff before telling him to leave. Page watches sullenly in the background throughout…

Silas Young is out next to voice his disappointment that The Boys returned to Dalton Castle, and extends them an olive branch – wanting them to come back and be ‘Real Men’ rather than Boys…

In their time as Tag Champions The Kingdom did plenty to piss off both reDRagon and the Bucks. Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly are embroiled in an intensely personal feud after Cole screwed Kyle out of the World Title. It’s payback time tonight, with both the Bucks and reDRagon gunning for vengeance. It’s very much a wounded Kingdom too, with Cole supposedly nursing arm injuries inflicted by O’Reilly at Final Battle, Bennett carrying a rib problem inflicted by War Machine and Taven on crutches after sustaining a serious knee injury. Their only saving grace may be that the Young Bucks and reDRagon have a long history of fighting each other too, with some fantastic battles over the ROH Tag Titles in their back catalogue. That is dissension Cole and Bennett will need to play up (assuming their own dissension can be kept at bay) if they are to walk out of the 2300 Arena here.

As if to make the point that the Jacksons don’t like reDRagon either, they attack Fish and O’Reilly on the stage during their entrance! They then march to the ring and KO Taven with a Superkick Party too! COLE SUPERKICKS BOBBY CRUISE! reDRagon return with the Two Man Smash Machine on Matt as all six men battle through streamers. Fish hits a somersault pescado onto a pile of bodies on the floor…followed by a SOMERSAULT PLANCHA from Nick! Cole jumps Kyle with a steel chair but is quickly staved off by Fish. Matt gives Cole a jawbreaker on an open chair, followed by a HANDSPRING CHAIR SHOT! Meanwhile on the floor O’Reilly tries to put Nick through another open chair and succeeds only in diving into another Superkick! Back from commercials with the Bucks putting Cole into a shopping cart then shoving him down the aisle for a SHOPPING CART SUPERKICK! APRON MISSILE DROPKICK THROUGH A CHAIR from O’Reilly to Bennett! That will destroy his injured ribs! Fish and O’Reilly hit Total Elimination on Matt then Double Dragon on Nick! Meanwhile The Kingdom have hauled a ladder out, using it as a weapon to wipe out reDRagon. Terry Funk ladder swing by Cole! So Fish and O’Reilly whack the ladder with chairs. TWO MAN SMASH MACHINE WITH A CHAIR! They prop the ladder between two open chairs, but Bennett counters with a SPINEBUSTER THROUGH THE LADDER on Kyle! LADDER BOMB ON BENNETT by Matt Jackson, who then holds the ladder aloft to Nick can hit a SWANTON THROUGH THE LADDER too! MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK! Cole breaks the pin at two! Nick swings a Superkick at him…AND CONNECTS WITH KEVIN KELLY! YES! Kelly is slumped unconscious on the desk, as O’Reilly kicks Nick ON HIS HEAD on the apron! PANAMA SUNRISE by Cole! CHASING THE DRAGON ON THE FLOOR to murder Bennett! O’Reilly and Cole brawl to the locker room, as Fish lines up Bennett for a SPEAR THROUGH A TABLE! SUPERKICK PARTY THROUGH A TABLE on Fish, before Nick hops to the top for a SPRINGBOARD FROG SPLASH TO THE F*CKING FLOOR! Cary Silkin has joined commentary with Mr Wrestling III which I love. Maria Kanellis dives in to low blow the Jacksons as they plot to finish off her husband! AJ STYLES IS HERE! BLOODY SUNDAY ON BENNETT! MELTZER DRIVER ON MARIA! INDYTAKER! SUPERKICK PARTY STYLES CLASH! The Bucks pin Bennett to win it at 13:12 (shown).

Rating - ****1/2 - This was arguably as crazy as ROH has ever gotten on the SBG TV show. It wasn’t one for the purists, but as a full throttle stunt show which quite literally went stir crazy from the minute all six guys were through the curtain it has to be admired. Hats off to Mike Bennett and Maria, who knew they were leaving and needed to protect their bodies for their TNA deal, but still threw themselves into this with gusto. Maria has been an incredible sport and terrific on-screen presence for the entirety of her ROH run, so it is no surprise that she generously went out taking an absolute sh*tkicking from the Bullet Club. The goal here was very clearly to go nuts, remove the shackles and let these creative individuals do what they do best – and what I liked was that everything was set up to seem crazy. From the Bucks ruining reDRagon’s entrance, to Bobby Cruise and Kevin Kelly getting taken out, to Cary Silkin joining commentary, AJ’s run-in, Cole and O’Reilly vanishing. The mission statement was ‘go crazy’…and they did so. A hell of a match…

Tape Rating - **** - An easy episode to recommend on the strength of the main event alone. It isn’t often that the ROH on Sinclair show delivers an MOTYC, and it is always worth checking out when it does. If you’re a fan of the Young Bucks-style no rules, adrenaline rush, plunder matches then this is definitely one you’ll want to check out. It wasn’t just about the killer Street Fight though, with Page/Briscoe being decent, the slow burn on the Whitmer/Page and Shelley/KRD angles continuing, Chris Daniels getting suspended and so on. The entire post-Final Battle TV taping has been really strong…

5) Dalton Castle vs Matt Sydal vs Jay Briscoe vs Moose (*** - Episode 225)

4) All Night Express vs RPG Vice (*** - Episode 225)

3) Michael Elgin vs Donovan Dijak (*** - Episode 224)

2) Roderick Strong vs Stevie Richards (*** - Episode 224)

1) Young Bucks vs Adam Cole/Michael Bennett vs reDRagon (****1/2 - Episode 226)