McXal's Reviews

I praised the Women Of Honor special last week for daring to something different with these ‘dead weeks’ of television following a major event when they haven’t yet taped TV content to show the aftermath. It wasn’t perfect, but it was fresh and innovative content and the sort of thing Ring Of Honor should do a whole lot more of. This week is the big 250th episode of ROH on SBG celebration. To mark it, we are doing another generic highlight reel show, this time showing some of the best matches of the first six months of 2016. ROH cared so little about this ‘special’ that they haven’t even taped any in-studio segments for it. Kevin Kelly hosts via the medium of character-less voiceovers…

The first ‘best of 2016’ bout they show is this tasty little number from the Global Wars 2016 pay-per-view. It is shown almost in its entirety and holds up even when cut up for television. Ishii beat Bobby’s arch-rival Roderick Strong for the TV Title in Japan (after Fish had goaded him in the locker room) despite never having appeared on a Ring Of Honor show. This was his second trip to ROH with Fish looking to succeed against the Stone Pitbull where Mr ROH failed.

Fish tries to joke around and shoot his mouth…only for Ishii to watch in his usual stone cold silence then tackling him so hard that his challenger has to leave the ring. Next he kicks at the champ only for Ishii to look at him dismissively and ask for more. Bobby tries to put the boots to him in the corner only to he spun around and smashes to pieces with chops. There starts to become a question as to whether Fish has the firepower to threaten the Stone Pitbull as nothing he lands seems to stop him. He thinks a substantial spinning heel kick does the trick until Ishii gets back to his feet and scores with a sizeable suplex. Ishii looks at Fish like garbage and starts disrespectfully slapping him in the corner. Bobby evades a superplex…and this time even when he misses a diving headbutt he recovers quickly and starts targeting the champion’s leg. Clearly Ishii fears that approach almost immediately his guard is let down and Fish is able to land bigger offensive bombs. KO HEADBUTT by Ishii! He manhandles his limp challenger up the ropes to deck him again with the DELAYED SUPERPLEX! Fish ducks the sliding lariat so eats BACK DROP DRIVER instead. FOLDING POWERBOMB gets 2! Ishii just can’t shake Fish and finds his Brainbuster finisher countered with jumping knee strike. GERMAN SUPLEX on Fish! How is Bobby still standing…let alone still trying to throttle the champ in the ropes!? He manages to drop Ishii to his knees on the apron temporarily. They then trade blows on the apron for a while before slumping to the ground after the battered Bobby Fish kicks the champ’s legs from under him. It is a compliment to how hard Bobby has fought that Ishii genuinely tries to win by count-out after that. Fish manages to roll back in, right into a headbutt/lariat sequence which nearly renders him unconscious. Brainbuster countered to the rear naked choke for the third time. When Ishii escapes that Fish goes after his head with MMA ELBOWS! CHOKE ON THE GROUND! FISH CHOKES HIM OUT! FISH WINS! 15:33 is your time

Rating - **** - I’m a sucker for a good story…and this had a great one. Ishii powered his way to victory over Strong in February, then came to the States and produced a similarly powerful showing at the 14th Anniversary. His approach hadn’t changed here, and for most of the match he dominated with Fish apparently powerless to hurt the Stone Pitbull. But Fish showed substantial amounts of resilience and kept fighting back and when facing a seemingly impossible task (i.e. how do I beat a man who visibly shakes off everything he gets hit with and wouldn’t submit under any circumstances). In the end he devices the strategy to choke him into unconsciousness, channelling great champions of ROH’s past (Bryan Danielson’s MMA Elbows into Samoa Joe’s Choke) and winding up victorious. A huge win for Bobby, Ishii drops the belt with his mystique and reputation fully intact and ROH’s publicity stunt move to have an NJPW talent hold their TV Title is over. 

Next we go to the 14th Anniversary PPV, with legendary ROH tag team the Briscoes facing one of the finest wrestlers in the history of puroresu – Tanahashi – and his current tag partner in NJPW, former ROH World Champion Michael Elgin. 

Tanahashi refuses the Code Of Honor and motions that the reason is that he wants to punch both Briscoes in the face. That may well be his finest moment in an ROH ring thus far. Elgin and Jay start with intensity, and Big Mike gets the better of the early exchanges. Tana gets the tag, and his frivolous air guitar work would suggest his shoulder isn’t bothering him right away. He is helpless to stop Mark launching himself off the apron into the blockbuster on the floor to take Elgin out. With Unbreakable incapacitated the Briscoes work Tanahashi over, keeping him in their corner and isolating him with the kind of precision you’d expect from an experienced, elite-level team. But Tanahashi is one of the inest performers in the world for a reason and he eventually lands a rebound crossbody on Mark to make the hot tag to Elgin…who comes in dishing out German suplexes to both Briscoes. Running elbow/German suplex combo by Tana and Elgin on Mark as all four pile into the ring together. The Briscoe response is an Iconoclasm/frog splash combo for 2 on Big Mike. Elgin back drops Mark over the top rope into the guardrails…only to eat a barrage of boots to his face by Jay. NO SOLD! Roaring Elbow by Elgin! Urinage from Mark to Tanahashi! Rude Awakening/Froggy Bow combo nailed for 2! Elgin saves his partner from the Doomsday Device and DVD’s one Briscoe on top of the other in the corner! WHEELBARROW FROG SPLASH by Elgin and Tana gets 2! SLING BLADE! ELGIN BOMB! HIGH FLY FLOW! Tanahashi pins Mark at 14:49

Rating - *** - It was very formulaic, but perfectly decent and enjoyable. Of all the New Japan ‘main event’ talent, Tanahashi’s house show mode is probably the best as he is so generous with allowing his opponents offence. He was willing to bust his ass here, worked the babyface in peril segment and did a lot to promote the idea that the Briscoes were the better ‘team’ taking on two better ‘singles workers’. 

Clips of the Dalton Castle vs Silas Young televised Fight Without Honor from Las Vegas are shown next. I’m surprised they didn’t show more of this, because it was really good – and already aired for free (rather than giving away premium PPV content…)

We end with one of ROH’s best matches of 2016 (albeit one technically taped in 2015). It was Michael Bennett’s ROH farewell, teaming with Adam Cole (after Matt Taven was injured at Final Battle 2015) to face elite teams the Young Bucks and reDRagon in a Street Fight. It was utter carnage from start to finish and still right in the mix for ROH MOTY as of July…

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 a 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. Everything was set up to seem crazy. From Bobby Cruise 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 nuts’…and they did so. A hell of a match…

Tape Rating – DUD – Not a particularly creative way to fill a blank week of TV in my opinion. Giving away PPV content for free, then using potentially your MOTY to main event an episode for the second time in six months is hugely unimaginative. I would rather the Women Of Honor got another episode. Imagine how much of a statement or vote of confidence in the female members of the roster it would have been had they been given the special 250th episode. Maybe this episode will have converted a fan or two who’d never seen ROH before…but is that worth it at the cost of boring and alienating your existing core fanbase?