McXal's Reviews

Ring Of Honor's 2017 exploded into life before the company had even run an event. At NJPW's annual Wrestle Kingdom super-show in the Tokyo Dome Adam Cole defeated World Champion Kyle O'Reilly...and in the process made history twice over by becoming the first man to win the ROH Championship at a non-ROH event, and the first three-time champion. Kyle O'Reilly is now gone from ROH. Before we explore the ramifications of that monumental occurrence, we have more content taped in early December in the aftermath of Final Battle. This week we'll see multiple bouts in the 'Decade Of Excellence' Tournament, as the battle hots up for a 15th Anniversary Show title shot. New Six-Man Tag Champions The Kingdom are in action too. Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness are in Philadelphia, PA to call all the action.

Christopher Daniels gets some interview time, talking about main eventing the first ever ROH event. He thinks he has personified 'excellence' for his entire career, and just as he proclaimed way back in 2002, he still believes it his destiny to become Ring Of Honor Champion...

This another Decade Of Excellence Tournament bout. Like his brother, Jay qualifies via his participation in the first ever ROH show - Era Of Honor Begins - in February 2002. Indeed, Jay was actually on the losing side of the first ever 'official' match. Whitmer's ROH debut was almost a year later, coming at 'Revenge On The Prophecy' in 2003. Now a demented disciple of Kevin Sullivan, with his dangerous protégé Punishment Martinez by his side, he will be an unpredictable opponent for Jay - who probably starts as tournament favourite...

Whitmer is wrestling in his goofy white linen suit attire and starts by throwing Kevin Sullivan-esque strikes to the neck. Sullivan himself chirps from the floor in his bathrobe like a demented grandfather. He grabs Briscoe's boot to distract him...and for the first time in his ROH tenure actually does entertain me as he hides behind Punishment Martinez like a chikensh*t. BJ is on hand to capitalise, dumping Briscoe into the guardrails as we break for commercials. When we return Whitmer is distracting the official as Sullivan and Martinez crotch the former World Champion against the ringpost. Apparently he has balls of iron though, because within seconds he is back throwing jabs at his opponent, then diving through the ropes like a maniac with an elbow suicida. Day One Neckbreaker gets 2, only for BJ to shut him down with a German suplex. Exploder '98 countered to the snap DVD by Jay. Whitmer smiles like an oddball and spits in Jay's face as he pummels him, weirding Jay out so much that he walks into the Exploder '98...for 2! Sullivan pulls out the Golden Spike, but Mark comes out to rescue his brother before it can be used! The younger Briscoe hits a tope on Punishment, as in the ring his big brother lands the Jay Driller. He beats Whitmer to advance at 07:23 (shown)

Rating - ** - I have no interest or desire to see Kevin Sullivan in ROH, and I certainly don't want to see BJ work a Sullivan tribute act in a senior citizen's beach holiday attire. It took a while for them to hook me into the match, but to their credit, it did get interesting when they stripped away some of the bullsh*t and just had these two tough old competitors beating each other up. I could have watched more of that...

BJ Whitmer grabs a microphone and yells over the jeers of the crowd that 'one must be sacrificed' and that next week they plan to 'finish this'...(whatever that means)

Kevin Kelly puts over what a great year Silas had in 2016, which is absolutely correct. The challenge that now faces him is the same one that has faced every other rising star under Sinclair ownership/Delirious creative - how do you go from dependable, consistent midcard guy to break-out main event player? Reynolds and Silver are experienced workers who have appeared all over the independents. They are both Mikey Whipwreck students and I believe could already count a PWG Tag Title win on their resume by this point...

No handshake from the Real Men - they jump the 'Beaver Boys' before the bell. Reynolds botches an early springboard armdrag (which they cover with some nifty editing) and the debutants string together a couple of combo moves on Silas. Bruiser pancakes Reynolds into the lights - feeding him to Young for a German suplex/lariat combo. Cannonball senton in the corner gets 2, forcing Alex to bail and tag in Silver. Kevin Kelly is an asshole and sh*ts all over his babyface fiery comeback sequence by making undermining references to his lack of height. He pops the crowd at least by muscling Beer City over for a suplex. Codebreaker/German suplex combo on Young gets 2. Beer City Driver on Reynolds! BANZAI DROP on Silver! BCB has destroyed the Beaver Boys - and Silas gets the win at 04:47

Rating - ** - I found this more entertaining to watch than Briscoe/BJ. I didn't think it was the most effective squash match ever, but they walked the line well between Silas and Bruiser dominating whilst allowing Reynolds and Silver to get some of their stuff in. I'd love to see more of the Beaver Boys, but the tag division is one area where the ROH roster has real depth at the moment...

Silas Young talks with Bruiser about finding a third partner so they can challenge for the Six-Man Tag Titles. He brings out Bull James to be that partner...but it's a set-up and he and Bruiser jump Bull. Why aren't they getting cheered to the rafters for this? Bruiser gives James the Keg Splash as Kevin Kelly hilariously tries to apply some logic to what we just saw. 

J. Diesel is now teaming with Burger and Ferrara, having been acknowledged on-screen as their personal trainer. This is a significant opportunity for the group, as a win over new Six-Man Champions The Kingdom would put them in line for a title shot. Taven debuted his new Kingdom in Lowell after All Star Extravaganza and captained them to victory in the Six-Man Tag Title Tournament - beating the dream team of Kushida, Jay White and Lio Rush in the finals in a hell of a match. What next for Taven's crew? Which challengers will emerge in pursuit of their belts? Can they send a message to the entire trios division with an emphatic win here?

The Kingdom try to finish Burger early with the Rock Star Supernova only for Joey and Will to make a save. Daddiego gives Vinny a fallaway slam, sending the champs scattering but they soon reassert control by putting the boots to Ferrara. Proton Pack Stunner by O'Ryan and Marseglia gets 2, before TK accidentally levels Taven with a spear. Kobashi Chops by Cheeseburger (groan), setting Taven up for a sliding DDT. O'Ryan prevents him from hitting the Shotei...then gets his lights dimmed by a knock-out punch from Daddiego. Shotei from Burger to Taven! He tries to hit O'Ryan with the same move, only for TK to counter with a rake to the eyes. Mustang Ride/Red Rum/Five Star Frog Splash sequence by The Kingdom (which would go on to become known as 'Resolution'). That is enough to give them the win at 04:25 (shown).

Rating - ** - I didn't hate this as much as I was expecting to either. It is clear that The Kingdom are getting more comfortable as a trio and in many ways this was their smoothest showing so far. I could rant for a long time about why I think it's stupid that they were having Taven and his crew - who need to build credibility and legitimacy - bumping around for nobodies like Diesel and Cheeseburger, but I don't have the motivation to do so. Diesel will start to fade away from the roster now, and we're stuck with Burger and Ferrara so I gain nothing by moaning. To focus on the positives, this was a fine exhibition for how The Kingdom are rapidly improving as a trio...

Up next they show the Matt Hardy Carytron appearance from Final Battle. The audio has been fixed here, so it's actually far easier to understand than the Final Battle DVD/VOD version. The Broken Hardyz are coming to ROH to render the Young Bucks obsolete...

The Young Bucks themselves come to the ring to address the situation. They gloat about signing the most lucrative contract in ROH history and proclaim themselves the greatest team ever to work here. Nick says they 'can't be Broken and they won't be Deleted'...as the lights go out. Vanguard-1 is flying around the 2300 Arena! SUPERKICK ON VANGUARD-1! 

Our main event will determine the third of four Decade Of Excellence Tournament semi-finalists. Cabana goes back to 2002 and his debut matches with CM Punk of course, with Sabin making his first appearance in 2003 at Night Of The Grudges. Cabana won a surprisingly competitive match between these two men over Survival Of The Fittest 2016 weekend, and will be looking to repeat that here. We know the motivation behind his return to ROH last year was his burning desire to be World Champion, so of course craves a title shot at the Anniversary Show as badly as any of the other entrants.

Cabana is still acting like a cocky prick, which is brilliant to watch. Just like their match in Texas the attack, precision and crispness of their work in the opening hold exchanges are right on point. Flying Asshole blocked by Sabin, into La Magistral for 2. With Alex Shelley egging him on from commentary, Sabin looks to use his quickness to get the edge over the master grappler from Chicago. Colt actually has to pop out from behind Todd Sinclair and toss the Machine Gun out of the ring to get a break from him. During commercials Cabana drags Sabin over to the announce table and makes fun of him right in Shelley's face. He keeps antagonising Shelley from the ring...to his detriment as Sabin dodges an ill-advised diving splash attempt. Missile dropkick by Chris, knocking Cabana to the floor and into position for a PK from the apron. Springboard tornado DDT gets 2. Chicago Skyline blocked, so Colt hits the leaping hip attack instead. Dalton Castle's Boys scamper out to the ring - distracting Colt with their antics! Sabin capitalises with a tornado small package to win at 07:12 (shown).

Rating - ** - As far as 2* matches go, this was on the more entertaining side of the spectrum. Cabana is so good playing this dickhead version of his character. It was great when he was doing it with Jimmy Jacobs and Lacey a decade ago, and it works every bit as well in 2016/2017. This had some of the same qualities that I enjoyed about their match at Survival Of The Fittest 2016, but it was heavily condensed down and felt extremely jovial and inconsequential - which it shouldn't when a World Title shot is at stake. I'm not a big fan of jobbing Cabana's new heel act out twice in a row (having also lost to Dalton at Final Battle), and I don't really need to see Daniels and Sabin in the ring together again either - so my personal opinion is that the wrong guy went over here. At least it looks like they are continuing the enjoyable Castle/Cabana feud a little longer.

Tape Rating - ** - This was more a functional hour of television than it was an entertaining one. None of the matches were bad, but they were all pretty short and meaningless. Every segment felt like it was progressing a storyline arc...but on a personal level it was only the Vanguard-1 appearance and Colt Cabana's work in the main event which interested me. You could skip this episode comfortably and miss out on very little, making it a pretty low key start to ROH's 2017 season...