McXal's Reviews

Into the final quarter of 2016 we roll. The chaos Bullet Club instigated at Global Wars culminated at Death Before Dishonor when Adam Cole defeated Jay Lethal to become ROH World Champion for a second time. We now move into content taped at the Death Before Dishonor aftermath taping for all the PPV-reaction. The main event sees the Briscoe Brothers back in tag team action – and it will be interesting to see how they respond after each suffered damaging, high profile losses at the pay-per-view. We are in Las Vegas, NV with Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness.

Adam Cole leads a triumphant Bullet Club contingent to the ring for some Storytime. He calls himself the greatest ROH Champion of all time and talks down anyone who dare challenge Bullet Club’s superiority. Jay Lethal interrupts to warn Cole that it isn’t over, and that whilst he may be part of a group – Lethal has friends too. Tetsuya Naito and EVIL of Los Ingobernables de Japon come onto the stage to make that very point! After commercials Nigel announces that next week it will be Cole, Page and Yujiro facing Lethal, Naito and EVIL.

LAST WEEK – Footage is aired of what happened after last week’s episode went off the air, with Christopher Daniels being given an Indytaker on the floor, then Kazarian put through a table as the Young Bucks went on a rampage. It ended with them suggestively posing with the ROH Tag Title belts atop a ladder…

The Addiction crash the broadcast and berate Nigel and Kevin for airing the ‘doctored’ footage and threaten Ring Of Honor with legal action. 

More Kevin Sullivan/BJ Whitmer/Steve Corino video package shenanigans next. Punishment Martinez is once again referred to as Corino’s ‘Punisher’…

NEXT WEEK – Katsuyori Shibata challenges Bobby Fish for the Television Championship.

Last week The Cabinet defeated Dalton and his Boys in trios action. Not one to take a defeat lying down, Dalton immediately gets a singles match rematch. He won’t have taken kindly to The Cabinet’s implication that he doesn’t belong in wrestling, and won’t want to leave Vegas on the back of defeats to both Coleman and Okada.

Coleman is back wearing long tights, looking almost identical to how he did when he debuted in ROH more than a decade ago. He dismissively makes fun of Dalton, stoking up the crowd early. The fans, therefore, enjoy it when Castle knees him off the turnbuckles to the floor. All Night Express are at ringside and start attacking The Boys. They succeed in distracting Dalton, but also get themselves ejected from ringside by referee Paul Turner. Caprice now goes it alone, although he does enjoy a significant advantage after that distraction his fellow Cabinet members granted him. Bless-TO countered into a wrist clutch suplex by Castle. In response Coleman counters Bang-A-Rang back to the Bless-TO, and follows it with the vertical leap frankensteiner for 2. Dalton bridges out of the pin there straight into the Everest German! That gets 2…as King and Titus come back to ringside for more protests. Shouldn’t that then be a DQ? STEREO SOMERSAULT PLANCHAS by The Boys! Bang-A-Rang on Coleman! Castle wins at 06:22 (shown).

Rating - ** - I didn’t mind this at all. Both men are immensely charismatic and although it wasn’t a particularly exciting bout their big personalities kept it interesting. The Cabinet angle has barely begun and I’m already sure where they are going with it, or what the objectives of the group are outside of the vague ‘make wrestling great again’. I’m certainly not sure the gimmick itself is worth protecting Caprice to the extent he was protected against a guy Ring Of Honor see as a future champion…

The Addiction interrupt the show for a second time (this time as Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness praise the Briscoe/White time limit draw from two weeks ago, ahead of the main event tonight). They have set up a huge ladder on the stage and have taken live microphones to the top. Standing at the top they think the ladder symbolises their place atop the ROH tag team division. 

Bobby Fish urges Shibata to go find the referee for their match next week and bribe him for protection and favouritism. With multiple ways to beat an opponent, he is confident he will beat the Japanese star.

We’ve had ‘Cauliflower’ Chase Brown on TV a couple of times, and now we get Lemon-themed job guy too. He smiles broadly during his introduction, and is a few dollars lighter in the wallet than he’d like having bought his way into ROH by attending the seminars and camps. Is Manny any match for Dijak, who is preparing to challenge the ROH Television Champion at a date to be determined?

Manny isn’t lacking in confidence and opts to slap Dijak in the face rather than follow the Code Of Honor. Donovan is provoked…and throws him out of the ring in a fit of rage. Feast Your Eyes KO’s the jobber, giving Dijak an easy win at 01:32

Rating - N/A - As I’ve expressed in my reviews many times, I’ve no problem at all with a TV squash. They are a wrestling staple and when done in this manner – brief, impactful and of clear benefit to the victor, I think they are valid inclusions within a broadcast. To ROH’s credit they are obviously trying to rebuild Dijak after the total mess they’ve made of managing him since the 2015 Top Prospect Tournament. They put him over Moose to assume the crown as ‘top big man’ in ROH. He now needs dominant victories like this to remind everyone what a brute he can be…

Prince Nana complains that Shibata is getting a TV Title shot before Dijak, but doesn’t care which one of he or Fish wins their match next week. His man will be waiting for the winner at All Star Extravaganza...

The Briscoes praise Jay White and Lio Rush for being ‘young and hungry’…but don’t think the youngsters are in the same league as them.

During the introductions to the next match Kevin Kelly casually drops the huge announcement of a tournament to crown the first ever ROH Six Man Tag Champions in the middle of a conversation…

I’m aware he actually got wins over Kamaitachi and The Addiction on television first, but working chronologically from broadcast date White’s ROH debut match was a superb bout against Lio Rush. He emerged victorious but enthusiastically put Lio over in the aftermath. It is no surprise that mutual respect for these two immensely promising young talents has led to them forming a team. Jay Briscoe will be particularly interested in this one, having been taken to a time limit draw by White two weeks ago then gone onto lose his pay-per-view grudge match with Hangman Page as well…

Mark starts with Rush and quickly traps him in the corner to pound on him with heavy strikes. Lio escapes with a springboard headscissors, and tags White in. Immediately Jay Briscoe wants in, putting the boots to the New Zealander with relish. It means White can’t stay in the ring for long – tagging in Rush who threatens to crank up the pace with all kinds of weird movements. TOPE ATOMICO on Jay Briscoe! But as he celebrates Mark flies at him with the apron blockbuster. BRISCOE BIEL ON THE FLOOR! Lio is mauled with classic Briscoe double-team combos outside the ring…and when White comes to help Jay Briscoe levels him with a mafia kick too. The multi-time former Tag Champions isolate Lio, making tag team wrestling look incredibly easy for a couple of minutes. The athleticism of their victim is just too much to suppress though. Eventually he kicks his way through both Briscoes for a hot tag to White. He gets a nearfall on Jay with a missile dropkick, before countering the Day One Neckbreaker into the Urinage. DRAGON’S CALL by Rush…right into a Heat Seeking Missile wiping out Mark whilst White gets 2 inside the ring. Rush Hour COUNTERED with a lariat by Jay, as inside the ring Mark pulverises White with a suplex on the floor. Fisherman Buster gets 2 on Lio. Poetry In Motion basement kick by Rush and White! But their inexperience as a team shows right afterwards as they have to consult the ref to confirm who the legal man is. Strike flurry from White to Jay! Press Slam DVD/Froggy Bow combo! WHITE BREAKS THE PIN! He demands Jay Briscoe get to his feet and rekindle their battle from Philadelphia. SLAP ON BRISCOE! HEADBUTT ON WHITE! Roaring Elbow/Death Blow combo by the Briscoes on White! Doomsday Device pins Lio at 10:17 (shown).

Rating - *** - I almost went a star higher on this one (as it’s free on television). It was exciting, kept the live crowd entertained and didn’t stop building up the drama and tension as it progressed. Lio Rush was, once again, utterly sensational. He is so thrilling to watch, and moves with such precision that he makes a great opponent for everyone he comes across. He and White are breaths of fresh air on the ROH roster, and they helped make the Briscoes feel exciting and vibrant too. Jay and Mark are rightly lauded as legends in this company…but in 2016 not every one of their matches is a winner. This one definitely felt like it was worth checking out.

It is announced at All Star Extravaganza that these four men will go at it again – this time as part of the Six Man Tag Title Tournament. The Briscoes will be joined by Toru Yano (with whom they won the inaugural NJPW NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Championship) to face White, Rush and their ‘friend’ ACH.

Nigel McGuinness addresses The Addiction’s grievances (as they watch from a monitor in the locker room). He wants to give them a chance back up their claims of being the best team in Ring Of Honor, because they’ll be in the main event of All Star Extravaganza defending their Tag Titles against the Young Bucks and the Motor City Machine Guns…in Ladder War 6!

Tape Rating - ** - A solid episode to start the latest round of Vegas tapings, but definitely more functional than it was exciting or innovative. Cole was brought out as World Champion for the first time, and Lethal was hot on his heels to remind us that it isn’t over. The foundations were laid for The Addiction’s Ladder Match title defence at All Star Extravaganza, and with a big TV Title match plus Bullet Club vs Lethal/LIJ trios bout set for next week they gave us plenty of reason to keep tuning in. Other than the main event, very little of this has any rewatch value…or will even hold up as particularly memorable at all. But at least it all served a purpose and advanced the relevant storylines...