McXal's Reviews

The first ever Women Of Honor TV special was an enjoyable interlude, and the 250th episode ‘celebration’ was a non-event…now it’s time to get back to business and start tackling the fallout from Best In The World 2016. Jay Lethal is still World Champion, proving that his win over Jay Briscoe in 2015 was no fluke. The Addiction are still Tag Champions, mostly down to fluke and fortune it seems. Bullet Club are still an untamed nuisance, selling shirts by the bucket-load whilst treating ROH as nothing more than a playground. Tonight we’ll see a new #1 contender to Bobby Fish’s TV Title determined when two men who won high profile singles bouts at the pay-per-view – ACH and Mark Briscoe – do battle. We also have Silas Young and Beer City Bruiser getting the ROH Tag Title shot they earned by winning Tag Wars 2016 in Milwaukee last month. Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness provide commentary, taped in Concord, NC.

Kincaid impressed during the Top Prospect Tournament, and again stood out during his recent appearances on the Road To Best In The World Tour – so is a welcome addition to the roster for this television taping. His assignment is a tough one, in the form of Donovan Dijak who is desperately in search of high profile claims to back up Prince Nana’s claims that he is a World Champion in waiting.

Kincaid’s weirdness is clearly off-putting for Dijak…but fortunately he has his power to fall back on. He looks confused as Kincaid looks for a DOUBLE rope-walk lucha armdrag, but manages to block it by tossing him out of the ring. Going to the floor doesn’t work in his favour though as Jason breaks out the FACTOR X-MACHINA (springboard backwards leap super X-Factor to the floor), which gets the building buzzing as we cut to commercials. He tries to follow it with that tope sunset flip bomb, but is caught by Dijak and SUPLEXED INTO THE RAILING! Returning the match to the ring Dijak starts to make his size count and throws the smaller around with relish. Grave Of The Fireflies nailed by Kincaid, right into the Emerald City Stomp. TOPE SUNSET FLIP BOMB INTO THE GUARDRAIL! Dijak is pissed and scoops Jason up as he climbs all the way up the ropes. AVALANCHE GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES…GETS 2! Kincaid sets up the Philosopher’s Stomp. CAUGHT AND COUNTERED INTO FEAST YOUR EYES! Dijak wins at 07:04 (shown).

Rating - *** - Ring Of Honor really missed a trick letting Kincaid get away. He’s so weird and different, with so much innovative offence that each of his matches becomes a real spectacle. I liked Dijak’s performance in this one too. He let Kincaid get a lot of his sh*t in, but came away victorious and somehow still feeling like it had been a dominant performance. The whole match was exciting and packed with explosive offensive moments.

ACH gets some interview time, informing Mark Briscoe that he is going to crush his dreams of becoming TV Champion by defeating him tonight.

They show clips of Silas and Bruiser winning the Tag Wars 2016 tournament in Milwaukee, but fatally only include video (with Kevin and Nigel talking over it) meaning none of the monster pop their victory got comes across on TV. That is a real shame, as it really pads out the idea that Silas and BCB are surly, grouchy, under-rated guys who have had to bust their asses and work extremely hard just to get this title opportunity. How do they plan to defeat The Addiction, who have been scheming and cheating their way to ROH Tag Title success for years?

Daniels grabs a microphone to pay respect to the challengers tonight, and promises an honourable match this evening. That is weird, but Kazarian honours his partners words with a competitive but respectful opening exchange with Silas. That doesn’t last long though, and soon fists are flying and each team take turns with illegal cheap-shots and equally illegal double-teaming. It is impressive that Young and Bruiser are able to hang with an experienced team like The Addiction; competently going move for move with them until they are eventually able to start isolating Daniels. BCB smears his face all over the turnbuckles with the rolling cannonball, and that’s enough for Kaz. He trips Bruiser from the floor, leaving him in position for the Arabian press across the back from the Ring General. I’m guessing the champs’ heat segment on Beer City wasn’t great, because it is almost entirely edited out of the broadcast via a commercial break. We return as he makes the hot tag, bringing Young back to give Frankie the Killer Combo. Ace Crusher gets 2 before Daniels jumps in to break the count. The Addiction put the Last Real Man down with the powerbomb/neckbreaker combo…but back comes the Bruiser. The champs block the Rikishi Driver, only for Silas to hit Misery on Kaz. ANGEL’S WINGS from Daniels to Silas! KEG SPLASH MISSES for Bruiser! BME NAILED! Frankie puts the exclamation point on it with a springboard leg drop to retain the belts at 09:39 (shown).

Rating - ** - A little basic, but this wasn’t a bad match by any means. It was actually one of my favourite Addiction title defences thus far, because they were able to win it clean and look like a credible team for once. Heel vs heel matches rarely deliver lively crowds, and so it proved here. The complete lack of belief that Silas and BCB might win was a major point of detraction too. 

Mark Briscoe says it is his destiny to become ROH Television Champion…

TWO WEEKS – Jay Lethal defends the World Championship against Kyle O’Reilly. Kyle praises Lethal as a fighting champion, and someone with whom he has shared some great matches in the past. 

FISH TANK LIVE – Bobby Fish is suited up and ready to host a live version of his chat show, with guests ACH and Mark Briscoe (aka the two men vying to be the next to challenge him). Mark tries to guess what ‘ACH’ stands for. ACH himself is more serious, shunning jokes and talking about how he has no ‘legacy’ in Ring Of Honor and needs to win championships if he is to make one. 

Both of these two were victorious in high profile matches at Best In The World. ACH scored a major win over rival Silas Young, and Mark Briscoe was on the winning end of Roderick Strong’s last ever ROH PPV bout. Both badly want to win a first ever singles title in ROH. Both have failed in previous shots at the Television Championship. The road to another title opportunity starts here, with the winner becoming #1 contender to Bobby’s belt…

Briscoe clings tightly to a side headlock which stops ACH generating any speed. He also busts his ass to shut ACH down any time he creates distance…and retreats to the floor to kill his momentum again when ACH does manage to back flip into a dropkick. Mark blocks the PK on the apron and slams him hard on the floor. Cactus Elbow misses though, opening the door for a fired up ACH to bash his skull into the ringpost. FLAGPOLE RANA off the ringpost! Just when ACH looks set to get some room to express himself Mark closes it down again by landing a mafia kick as his opponent attempts the slingshot flatliner. Running lariat by ACH! Hero’s Grip nailed for 2 soon after. Spirit Bomb blocked, but so is Briscoe’s Fisherman Buster. In the end Mark settles for a vertical suplex instead, leaving them both flat-out on the ground. This has broken down into a match which favours Briscoe – as the two men stand dead-centre of the ring teeing off on each other with strikes. Without having a moving target to aim at, Briscoe is able to pepper ACH with hammer-blow kicks and elbows. His bell is clearly rung, and is sent spinning still further after Briscoe hits the urinage suplex. Referee Paul Turner starts checking on whether ACH can still compete…but we find out first-hand when he hits a TIGER FLIP KICK to block the Froggy Bow. Spirit Bomb nailed! MIDNIGHT STAR GETS KNEES! Fisherman Buster scores for Briscoe, quickly followed by the Froggy Bow. Mark wins at 10:28 (shown).

Rating - *** - I’d throw an extra half star on this if my rating system allowed, because I really enjoyed it, without feeling like I could justify going to 4*. This was competitive, and told a really clever little story throughout. Mark, whom I so often accuse of working his matches on auto-pilot, looked extremely motivated. The fulcrum of the psychology was him not letting ACH work ‘his’ type of match. It meant he kept him immobile, it meant forcing him into brawls and strike exchanges, and it meant putting him on the ground for as long as possible. As a result this wasn’t always super-exciting, but it was an entirely plausible and realistic way that someone like Mark would choose to beat up someone like ACH. At this point ACH, who has been an amazingly consistent in-ring performer in Ring Of Honor for years, was now running down his contract. He’ll remain under-rated to the very end of his ROH career it seems, as this another really lively little match. I’ll certainly miss him when he’s gone.

Bobby Fish enters the ring and gets in Mark’s face whilst posing with the TV Title belt. Kevin Kelly confirms that their championship showdown will take place at Death Before Dishonor 14.

Tape Rating - *** - The Tag Title Match was disappointing, and something of a waste of the glorious Tag Wars 2016 victory for Silas and Bruiser…but on the whole I thought this was a decent episode. We began and ended with lively in-ring content, we have started setting up the next challengers for various championships…and on the whole this felt like a focused 45-minutes with very little dead air.