McXal's Reviews

During the broadcast last week two seriously enticing matches were announced for this episode. Firstly the Young Bucks and Adam Page (fresh from his victory over Adam Cole last week) will face RPG Vice and a mystery partner (Trent knows a guy). Then the main event will see The Villain, the newest member of Bullet Club, the ROH TV Champion Marty Scurll defend his title against New Japan's Kushida. Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana are at the announce desk in Philadelphia, PA.

We start with the Young Bucks and Hangman Page coming to the ring ready for trios action against RPG Vice and an unknown mystery partner. Rocky acts like he has no clue who it is either - as Trent introduces his 'real tag partner and best friend', Chuck Taylor...

Although probably only felt by long-term fans of this company, Chuckie in an ROH ring feels like such a 'never thought I'd see that' moment. He was one of those characters that would always get name-dropped on the old ROH message boards as a guy people would like to see in ROH...but someone who never really seemed to be on ROH's radar for various reasons. Now he finally arrives, joining his 'Best Friend' Trent Beretta and rekindles an ongoing rivalry with the Young Bucks from various other promotions. This probably won't go long, but could get nuts...

The Bucks and Page jump their opposition during Taylor's big reveal...but Chuck quickly clears the ring and dives at all of them with a SOMERSAULT PLANCHA! Rocky and Chuckie don't seem to be getting on too well, and Romero trips the debutant up after he and Trent hug. Forever Clotheslines from Romero to all three of the Hung Bucks...then he starts throwing clotheslines at his own partners as well! Beretta has to separate Romero and Taylor, allowing the Bucks to capitalise with some of their signature double teams - culminating in an elevated cannonball senton from the apron to the floor. Taylor is left fighting all three opponents by himself; gamely so as he catapults Nick into his own brother with a belly to belly suplex. Standing Shiranui COUNTERED into a lawn dart Ace Crusher combo by the Best Friends! Nick accidentally wipes out Page with a moonsault off the apron! TOPE SUICIDA into the rails by Romero! ROPE RUN GERMAN SUPERPLEX FROM TRENT TO MATT! JERRY LYNN DRIVER gets 2! STRONG ZERO by the Best Friends! SWANTON BOMB BY NICK to break the pin! Sole Food on Nick...NO SOLD! SUPERKICK! GERMAN SUPLEX ON THE APRON to straight up MURDER Trent! SOLE FOOD ON THE APRON! SLINGSHOT DDT ON THE APRON FROM MATT TO CHUCK! SSP OFF THE APRON BY PAGE! MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK! ROMERO SAVES! The Hung Bucks surround Chuckie and batter him with Superkicks. Trent crawls in and covers his fallen friend to save him! DOUBLE SUPERKICK...NAILS PAGE IN ERROR! Now Rocky is trying to save Chuck! DOUBLE SUPERKICK ON ROCKY! RPG Vice block the Meltzer Driver! AWFUL WAFFLE NAILED! CHUCKIE T WINS! 10:28 (shown)

Rating - **** - Watching this was a surreal experience. It was like a PWG match, on fast forward, on ROH television. To some that may sound like a living nightmare, and I can fully appreciate this isn't to everyone's taste. At times this was goofy, at times it was more comedy act than athletics...but by the end it was a total riot with GENUINE drama that you cared about because they'd taken the time to introduce some character dynamics via the medium of comedy. Beretta and Romero both sacrificing themselves to save Taylor, so he could get a huge victory on his long...LONG...awaited ROH debut was a terrific moment. I really liked this, though anyone who doesn't like the Young Bucks 'style' will thoroughly hate it!

Rocky, Trent and Chuck all hug after the bell, as fans give them a standing ovation...

NEXT WEEK - The Kingdom face The Boys. TK O'Ryan blames them for breaking his leg...

Jay White gets a sit-down interview to talk about his career - from leaving New Zealand to train in the UK to living in the NJPW Dojo. He is fed up of people sleeping on him after his body of work in ROH, calls his match against Will Ospreay in New York as a career-defining moment...and has strong words for Punishment Martinez (who attacked him in the Hammerstein Ballroom).

The 'feud' between Search & Destroy and The Rebellion continues. Kenny King is largely still MIA due to other commitments, so it will be Rhett and their hired gun Shane Taylor joining forces. S&D are represented by White and Gresham, who don't have much experience as a duo either. But Gresh is a globally-travelled veteran, White is a tough NJPW Dojo graduate...and both possess exceptional grappling and technical skill. Will that be enough to overcome the unpredictable and dangerous Rebels (who also have Caprice Coleman at ringside)? Alex Shelley is in the corner of his S&D stable-mates...

Taylor and Titus jump Gresham and White during their entrance, meaning the fight starts long before any sign of a bell. Stereo tope suicidas by Gresh and Jay! Gresham then hits an AWESOME counter-armdrag to hurl Rhett into the guardrails. Coleman gets involved with the 619-around the ringpost on Gresham - setting him up for a lariat into the railings by Titus. The bell rings with the massive Taylor brutalising Gresham in the corner. The Rebellion work hard to keep White off the apron so Jonathan has nobody in his corner to tag. The Octopus starts to look bedraggled but his lack of size presents him with a unique opportunity to evade the much-larger Taylor and tag out to White. Stunner/flatliner combo on Titus! Hogan/Andre slam from Jay to Taylor, before scooping Gresh onto his back for a Proton Pack senton for 2! Caprice crotches Jay on top rope...KENNY KING IS HERE! Shelley and Sabin hit the ring in a flash, rocking him with Motor City Machine Gun double teams! TOP ROPE SOMERSAULT DIVE TO THE FLOOR by White! Paul Turner has lost all control so has no choice but to throw the match out at 05:58 (shown)

Rating - ** - It's easy to criticise how bad this angle/feud has been so far. There are plenty of mitigating circumstances - like Lio Rush and Donovan Dijak leaving, Shelley barely wrestling, Kenny King barely appearing etc - but the bottom line is that fans have had almost no chance to engage with this angle and it is stone cold as a result. To that end, I thought parts of this were really good. The hectic brawl at the start and the chaotic scenes at the end as all four members of each faction piled in were enjoyable. It went on too long and really dragged, which is pretty unacceptable for a five minute TV match (whilst also taking critical minutes away from the Scurll/Kushida main event). The storyline is perhaps irreparably weak, but you could at least see some credible attempts to salvage it here.

Shelley points out that 'nobody wants to see The Rebellion' so proposes they end this once and for all. He challenges them to a 4-on-4 tag at Best In The World where the 'losing team has to disband'.

Frankie Kazarian checks in with interview time - telling us that he 'likes' the dark side of himself that his feud with Adam Page is bringing out. He can't wait to 'whip him'...

Jay Briscoe delivers an expletive-ridden rant aimed at The Boys for costing he, his brother and Bully Ray their match against Los Ingobernables de Japon last week. He wants to 'eat [The Boys] alive'...

Since defeating Will Ospreay in an epic bout in London, England during the Reach For The Sky Tour, The Villain has looked unstoppable as TV Champion. Aside from a non-title loss to Lio Rush (which he avenged when the belt was on the line) he has beaten all comers; be they contracted ROH stars or not. Indeed, his record of defending his belt against guest talents - i.e. Sonjay Dutt, Ken Anderson or Matt Sydal - is superb. So it makes sense that he'd want to defend his title against Kushida. Having bemoaned the lack of competition on the ROH roster, and now a member of Bullet Club primed to make a splash in the NJPW junior heavyweight ranks - it is completely logical that he'd want to take down one of the stalwarts of that division. Kushida is a popular and regular visitor to ROH, and has made it known he wants to hold ROH championship gold. He may never get a better chance...

Both men like to work arms and set up their popular submission finishers and the opening exchanges are extremely tense as they feel each other out with tentative arm-based grapples. Scurll is a little slower and a little too preoccupied with playing to the crowd which allows Kushida to take him down and embarrass him. Hiptoss into the cross armbreaker...causing Marty to scream in pain and quickly take evasive action. Fisherman Buster blocked with an armbreaker though. Kushida cries out in pain now, but still knocks Marty out of the ring with a handspring kick. CRAZY TOPE ATOMICO TO THE FLOOR! But Scurll tosses two ringside attendants into Kushida's path and escapes unhurt! Kushida tries to follow it with a moonsault...only to sail into Scurll's knees. Marty's arm is hurting him, but he uses Just Kidding to drop the challenger to his knees. Pele Kick by Kushida! Handspring elbow COUNTERED TO THE CHICKENWING! ROLLED THROUGH INTO THE HOVERBOARD LOCK! Scurll escapes...and SNAPS the finger! NO SOLD! TANAKA PUNCH! NO SOLD! LARIATOOOOO! Both men down! Marty sets up the Chickenwing...but the lights go out!! When they come back on there's another guy at ringside in Marty Scurll's ring jacket. IT'S ADAM COLE! Scurll is distracted. BACK TO THE FUTURE! Kushida wins the title at 08:01 (shown).

Rating - **** - This is among the most generous 4*'s I've given, because my overriding emotion coming away from this match was utter disappointment that ROH couldn't find more than eight f*cking minutes for this match. Marty has been incredible since debuting. Kushida is consistently the hardest working of the NJPW guest stars. The title was changing hands here...so I find it unfathomable they couldn't find longer for this. BUT, what we got in that eight minutes was of outstanding quality. They packed as much in as they could, from impeccable wrestling to fun character work; a phenomenal finishing counter sequence to a legitimately fun finishing moment as Adam Cole (who was assumed as done with ROH) showed up again to cost Marty. I think Scurll's TV Title run has been booked pretty poorly, and I've no clue why they gave him the biggest moment of his ROH career in joining Bullet Club but then opted to follow it by taking the TV Title off him for shock value (although you could argue he was already 'too big' for the secondary belt)...BUT as a match and moment this was good fun. It had the potential to be so much more than 'good fun' though - which is why I'm disappointed. 

Adam Cole waves goodbye to ROH television. Colt Cabana proclaims that his 'work is done' and he leaves having cost Marty the TV Title!

Tape Rating - **** - I didn't need The Rebellion/S&D tag when a brawl between them to set up the Best In The World 'losers must disband' match would've sufficed. I thought there were too many interview segments here too. All of that contributed to the main event getting hopelessly screwed for time. BUT, there's no denying that Bucks/Page vs Romero/Trent/Chuckie and Scurll/Kushida were wholly enjoyable. I can't say I'm on board with the writing, creative direction, or never-ending superiority of NJPW over ROH in this 'special relationship'. But between the ropes there was way more good than bad here; with two great 'moments' (Taylor's win and Cole causing Scurll's defeat) really standing out as must-see...