McXal's Reviews

Next week we’ll finally get to new post-14th Anniversary content (I’ve reviewed the entire 14th Anniversary TV Tapings DVD too if you’d prefer). I’ve complimented Ring Of Honor on the quality of the last two weeks of television, where they’ve done a decent job keeping the product relevant and enjoyable despite being taped weeks ahead of the Vegas pay-per-view. Can they stretch it to a third week? Tonight we have a unique seven team Gauntlet Match with bragging rights and a future Tag Title shot up for grabs. Ordinarily I don’t particularly like Gauntlet Matches, but with the tag division as loaded as it’s ever been right now, this feels like a unique way of showcasing. All matches tonight are part of the Gauntlet. We are back in Nashville, TN with Kevin Kelly and Mr Wrestling III.

These four are the unfortunate men who have the longest way to go if they are to win the Gauntlet tonight. reDRagon have been at the cutting edge of ROH’s tag division for years. They will back themselves to at least make it past the still-new duo of Coleman and Ferrara who were initially rivals but have now formed an intense tag team after being brought together by the power of the messages contained within Prince Nana’s mysterious letters.

Ferrara starts by getting a bit of a kicking from O’Reilly but creditably refuses to back down and throws his fair share of offence back in the other direction. reDRagon quickly cut him off from Coleman, picking apart the back as his partner watches helplessly. The tag does eventually come, but you wonder whether Will has already been knocked out of the match. Bless-TO drops Kyle, right into an ultra-athletic pescado to the floor which wipes Fish out. Ferrara delivers a tope suicida, but returns to the ring with blood pouring from his mouth and quickly gets dumped out by Bobby. Two Man Smash Machine nailed to incapacitate Caprice, before Bobby makes Ferrara tap to the Fish Hook Deluxe at 05:36

Rating - ** - Hardly a ground-breaking match, but I admired the logical path it followed. It stood to reason that reDRagon would dominate this new team from the get-go, it was entirely sensible that they would pick Ferrara off to isolate, it was completely believable that the experienced Caprice would have some success on a fiery babyface sequence…and finally it was utterly logical that having taken so much damage, Will would be the one to quit. 

Truth Martini pops out onto the stage to berate Donovan Dijak for killing his dreams of HOT Tag Team gold. He’s had to go out and recruit a new partner for J. Diesel and has found one in the form of ‘martial arts expert’-turned lawyer Chris Larusso. Martini explains that this is a House Of Truth trial for him, which makes complete sense as it’s a concept his stable have operated going back years. In short, he needs a strong performance to earn his spot. Is this new team any match for reDRagon?

Larusso (who looks like a chubby Miz with Lego hair) smirks as he lands an armdrag on Fish…so Bobby gets up and seemingly tries to break his arm. Larusso’s ‘martial arts’ experience helps him survive that onslaught but can’t stop him from being isolated just as Ferrara was in the previous match. Daddiego nearly falls on his face running in to save him from Arm-ageddon. He lumbers in again off a tag, swinging punches so Kelly and MW3 can waffle on about his boxing past. Diesel has enough power to block an O’Reilly triangle choke into a sit-out powerbomb for 2. Young Larusso hops in to prevent the Fish Hook again…but this time accidentally kicks his own partner in the face. That’s enough to earn the notorious Truth Martini ‘thumbs down’! Martini and Joey walk out, leaving the kid to get savaged by O’Reilly. He taps to a front choke at 11:29 (total Gauntlet time).

Rating - * - In defence of Larusso, he didn’t actually look bad at all. It is a sad state of affairs when he needs to work the majority of the match because of how overwhelmingly bad Daddiego is though. This went on way too long, and the pay-off of Martini walking out simply wasn’t worth the long wait. 

In Jim Ross parlance, business is now picking up. reDRagon have convincingly beaten two teams you’d expect them to beat, but have also expended valuable energy reserves in their ten minutes of ring-time thus far. The last thing you need when getting into the ring with the Bucks is to be blown up! Matt and Nick said last week that they want to win this Gauntlet to prove themselves as the best tag team in Ring Of Honor. To do so they need to start with a victory over their old rivals reDRagon.

Poor Larusso eats a Superkick on the way out too! reDRagon, on the other hand counter attempted Superkicks with tandem anklelocks! Stereo topes land for the Jacksons…to which Kyle responds with the double dragon screw. Fish and O’Reilly keep blocking Superkick attempts, but can’t block the Kevin Steen Cannonball in the corner. O’Reilly stops them landing the elevated Swanton spot, only for Matt to counter Chasing The Dragon too. Nick misses a moonsault off the apron, but then backflips again to dodge Kyle’s strikes. Superkick COUNTERED AGAIN! Turnbuckle exploder from Fish to Matt! It opens up an injury on the back which the battle-weary reDRagon are keen to exploit. Matt eventually lands the springboard flipping cutter from the top…but takes all the impact on his spine and needs an age to crawl into the hot tag. Still no Superkick, but Nick does hit a punt from the apron at least…only for Bobby to put him down with the Samoan drop. Rolling butterfly suplexes from O’Reilly, only for Ride The Lightning to be blocked. Jawbreaker Lariat by Kyle COUNTERED WITH A SUPERKICK PARTY! At last! MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK! The Bucks eliminate reDRagon at 18:22 (total Gauntlet time shown).

Rating - *** - There’s a chance that this will be the best match of the episode. It was only brief, and whomever made the decision to cut this match to allow an advertisement break but air Chris Larusso and Will Ferrara’s participation in full needs to be f*cking fired. However, they packed in so much quality, combined with real reverence and respect paid to their previous matches. Counter met counter met counter again so many times, with the ongoing theme of reDRagon persistently blocking attempted Superkicks. In the end they were only defeated when Matt and Nick actually managed to land one of their signature kicks.

I swear the ROH tag division is full of good teams. Having sat through Ferrara and Larusso, I’m truly not sure we needed to endure Bob Evans and Terrible Tim as well. They have formed a mentor/protégé team, albeit with minimal success thus far. It would be one of the biggest shocks in the history of the sport if they can defeat the world-famous Young Bucks here.

Apparently watching Bob and Tim stand around is more important to show than the entire Bucks vs reDRagon segment. They eventually enter the ring and get knocked straight back out by tandem Superkicks. After that they aren’t so keen on getting involved…so the Bucks chase them to the floor for more Superkick action. Brutal Bob amusingly counters with kicks to the lower leg, only to be roundly dismissed by the SUPERKICK PARTY! The elevated Swanton combo pins Hughes at 21:22 (total Gauntlet time shown).

Rating - N/A - This turned out to be pretty comical. Tough Guy Inc. as cowards who keep getting superkicked drew some legitimate laughs, and the comprehensive manner of the victory (including winning without the Bucks having to use any of their major finishing moves) was just the right amount of squash to demonstrate the colossal gulf in stature between these teams.

This is a superb draw for the veterans Daniels and Kazarian. They have cried conspiracy ever since Alex Shelley returned and cost them the Tag Titles to The Kingdom…and now have a huge opportunity as the sixth of seven entrants to go all the way, thereby winning the #1 contendership. They’ve contested their fair share of battles with the Young Bucks too of course. Just as we saw with reDRagon after two matches earlier, is this the point where fatigue will start to severely hamper the Young Bucks?

Daniels and Kaz enter through the crowd to get a jump on their opponents. They have clearly been watching on the monitor as they instantly attack the back injury Matt sustained against reDRagon. T-Gimmick scores for a 2-count on Nick. Matt makes the save with Superkicks, allowing Nick to bust out a shock jack-knife pin and grab a flash pin on Daniels at 23:16 (total gauntlet time shown). They may have lost but The Addiction dish out a vicious assault on the Bucks after the match, even whilst the final team make their entrance.

Rating - N/A - Obviously not a representation of what these teams can do in the ring together. But that isn’t what is important here as we’ve seen them work good matches before. This was about getting the Young Bucks to the final without expending too much energy. The quick loss will also add extra fire to the ‘conspiracy’ theories constantly raised by The Addiction.

This is the final bout, meaning one of these two teams will go on and take the Tag Title shot. This is a huge test for Matt and Nick Jackson, who are now in their fourth match of the evening and have just endured an assault from The Addiction too. They’ve had plenty of battles with Romero and Beretta too of course, and traded wins back and forth in ROH last year. Who gets the shot at War Machine?

RPG Vice happily come to the Bucks rescue, and even continue to brawl with The Addiction on their behalf. Eventually Daniels and Kazarian leave, and we go to our final commercial break with a shattered Nick Jackson desperately throwing strikes at his new opponents. Trent blocks his moonsault to the floor though, opening up a DOOMSDAY KNEE STRIKE TO THE FLOOR! Vice slow the match to a crawl and work on keeping Nick on the floor where no momentum can be gained. Matt nails Rocky with a Superkick…then climbs the ropes for a TOP ROPE MOONSAULT TO THE OUTSIDE! Shiranui countered by Matt, as is an attempted Romero rana! More Bang For Your Buck is blocked, but then Rocky blocks the IndyTaker too! TREE OF WOE KEVIN STEEN CANNONBALL on Rocky! More Bang For Your Buck blocked…ROPE RUN GERMAN SUPERPLEX BY TRENT! BUT MATT LANDS ON HIS FEET. STRONG ZERO! RPG Vice win at 29:26 (total Gauntlet time shown)

Rating - ** - This felt rushed, and in a sufficient (but not excessive) six minutes of run time it needn’t have. Unlike the very focused reDRagon/Bucks segment, this one looked a little meandering and improvised on the fly. It isn’t bad at all, but it didn’t feel slick or polished until the final few moments. Considering how often these two teams have worked together in the junior ranks in NJPW I’m surprised at how clunky this actually felt. 

The episode ends with clips from War Of The World 2015 in order to promote the next batch of episodes, taped during the 14th Anniversary and featuring some of New Japan’s major names.

Tape Rating - ** - This episode was just fine, and a ‘concept’ episode like this generally makes for pretty easy viewing for the casual viewer if nothing else. No excess talking, no extras, just a full forty five minutes of in-ring action. At this point in time I’m accepting that I’m never going to like Gauntlet Matches…but this one was ok. The Bucks/reDRagon mini-showdown in the middle was the clear highlight.