McXal's Reviews

Episode 303 opened with a promise from new World Champion Cody that we'd see him live and in the middle of the ring this week. He'll be here to address the future of the company now that he holds the World Title. His Bullet Club stable-mates will be in action as well; our main event sees the 'Hung Bucks' of the Young Bucks plus Hangman Page face former ROH Six-Man Tag Champions Bully Ray and the Briscoes. Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana once again provide post-production commentary for the action taped in Lowell, MA.

Cody opens the show, with Ian and Colt informing us that they also had a Daniels promo scheduled but it was 'too offensive to broadcast' after turning on the fans. 'Heel' Champion Cody comes out to rapturous applause and chants of 'you deserve it'. The very mention of Daniels gets loud boos and jeers. Rhodes goads ROH officials by reminding them that he still hasn't signed a contract. Since people think he doesn't fit the 'Honor style' he offers a rematch to Daniels, in a 2/3 Falls contest to prove otherwise. 

Well this should be fun. Martinez has been feuding with Gresham's Search & Destroy stable-mate Jay White - losing to him twice in singles matches but repeatedly assaulting him at other events. Here we'll see Gresh fighting for the honour of his friend, whilst Punishment will be out to send an emphatic message to White.

The height difference between these two is vast (more than a foot). Gresham is a veteran though and springs into action trying to use his speed and technical skills to out-fox the big man. We get more than two minutes of evasive offensive manoeuvres from the Octopus, who starts to pick apart Punisher's leg. He starts hobbling, but that causes Gresham to get over-confident. He tries a top rope dive only to be caught with a swinging backbreaker. Martinez tries a springboard move, only for Jon to kick him right in the bad leg! QUEBRADA SWINGING DDT by Gresham sends Punishment outside. BERMUDA TRIANGLE MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! Martinez is in trouble...so emphatically stomps on Gresh's face! Kicks to the leg block South Of Heaven, allowing Gresham to hit a rana rolled into a knee drop to the bad leg! Springboard Punch by Punishment...COUNTERED into a cloverleaf. Martinez tries the cyclone kick, but his knee gives way! SHOOTING STAR PRESS gets 2 for Gresham, and when Martinez kicks out he converts it to an anklelock. Martinez leaves the ring to escape that, so Jonathan tries to go after him with a tope suicide. COUNTERED WITH A LAST RIDE ON THE F*CKING APRON! PSYCHO DRIVER! Martinez wins at 08:13 (shown).

Rating - **** - What an absolute gem this match was. I objected to the booking of it because Martinez HAD to go over, and it seemed a shame to blow the momentum Gresham gained by getting the winning submission in the 8-man against The Rebellion at Best In The World. But this is still Ring Of Honor, where great wrestlers get over for being f*cking good rather than just by winning matches. Both Gresham and Martinez were excellent here. The height difference between the two was so pronounced, and playing against type by putting together a match where Gresh was actually the aggressor for the majority of it was a bold move. Somehow, in just eight minutes, these guys produced a spectacular match which simultaneously showcased Gresham as a lethal technician and Martinez as the big killer getting a much-needed victory. I'm unashamedly a fan of both of these gentlemen, and they are unfortunate to be working in ROH at a point in time where any good work that anyone who isn't a 'Being The Elite' cast member is completely overlooked, but this was sensational for the time they were given.

Jay White runs in and, with an assist from Gresham, lays Martinez out with his Urinage.

We go to footage taped 'backstage at Best In The World'. A seething Bully Ray walks in on the Briscoes bitterly blaming each other for losing the Six-Man Titles. He 'settles' it by blaming both of them, then storms off.

TWO WEEKS - Mandy Leon announces another Women Of Honor special. Silas interrupts her to say that 'nobody cares about women's wrestling', and remind everyone that it has been '22 days' since Jay Lethal was put on the injured list

Sho and Yoh have spent the majority of their 'excursion' in ROH wrestling teams like Coast 2 Coast or Cheeseburger and Will Ferrara. After Will turned on Burger at Road To Best In The World, their trainer Joey 'Diesel' Daddiego slides into Ferrara's now-vacant spot. This is a chance for Cheeseburger to show that he wasn't the weak link of the team...

Team Sea Stars (Ashley Vox and Delmi Exo) are plant Cheeseburger fans in the front row. Yes, ROH are officially so desperate to get f*cking Cheeseburger over they are actually planting far superior wrestlers in the crowd for him! Diesel uses his muscle to toss the Tempura Boyz around. He has a new 'gimmick' where he yells 'beef' when hitting every spot. It's as f*cking retarded as plant fans for Cheeseburger. Codebreaker/lungblower combo by Sho and Yoh drops Burger to the mat. Cheese fights them both off at once and subjects us to more Daddiego offence. He lands a clumsy spear on Komatsu. Burger follows that with the Shotei and pins Yoh at 03:57

Rating - DUD - There wasn't a single thing here I didn't find offensive. Just to remind you, the Tempura Boyz are Rappongi-3K. The fact that ROH had these guys and wasted them in sh*t like this is mind-blowingly stupid. Having Cheeseburger dominate them infuriated me. Putting Vox and Exo (two women who are easily good enough to be regulars on the Women Of Honor roster) in the crowd as f*cking plants so ROH can keep pushing this bizarre agenda to turn Burger into a PG, corporate, modern-day Spike Dudley was wholly unpalatable. And why does J. Diesel still get bookings? Quite incredibly, this was so bad that Daddiego was almost the part I found the least objectionable. 

Vox and Exo jump the guardrail trying to mob Burger and have to be dragged away by security. In the aftermath of that Will Ferrara sneaks out as another security staff member and blindsides Burger. 

NEXT WEEK - Kushida defends the TV Title against Jay White

This is a huge main event...that nobody is very pleased to be a part of. The 'Hung Bucks' are frustrated that what was scheduled to be a Six-Man Title Match is now non-title after the previous champions lost to Dalton & The Boys at Best In The World. Meanwhile (as we saw earlier) Jay, Mark and Bubba are all on different pages after losing the belts in one of the biggest upsets in ROH history. Can they get it back together to face the unstoppable juggernaut that is Bullet Club? Remember the Bucks and the Briscoes worked together a lot in late 2016/early 2017...with Matt and Nick coming out on top whenever the Tag Titles were up for grabs.

The Briscoes and Bully continue arguing during their introductions, although Bubba may just be annoyed that fans like the Bucks so much that nobody is chanting 'EC-Dub' at him. Page and Jay start, renewing their long-standing rivalry with ferocity. Mark hits Matt with a urinage as the Briscoes seamlessly put aside their differences to pick off a member of the opposition. Nick makes a save with a springboard crossbody. Bully steps in...and gets poked in the eyes by Matt! Fans actually start booing Bubba (at last!), then explode when he eats a double Superkick from the Bucks. Rise Of The Terminator blocked...into a crazy man tope suicida by Jay! MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR BY MARK! Buckshot Lariat countered to the Bubba Bomb. Somersault plancha by Matt! The Hung Bucks isolate Bully, until he blocks an attempted Wassup parody and blasts Nick with a mid-air Bubba Cutter! Redneck Kung Fu from Mark, setting up the Fisherman Buster for 2. Day One Neckbreaker on Matt, followed by the Splash Mountain Neckbreaker on Nick! Todd Sinclair is wiped out by a wayward body avalanche by Bully - and therefore misses a pin when they hit the Super-3D! Paul Turner tries to come out and officiate...but then he is decked by a missed Superkick! Marty Scurll runs in and NAILS Jay with his umbrella. Page pins Jay to win at 09:44 (shown).

Rating - *** - This ticked all the boxes you were expecting. Bully's interactions with the Young Bucks were, unsurprisingly, among the highlights of his ROH tenure thus far. The disharmony between Jay, Mark and Bully was played out nicely as well. It did get silly and overbooked at the end, but I'm definitely ok with Hangman going over Jay Briscoe again. File this in the category of 'fine for a free TV main event'...

The Briscoe brothers have temper tantrums at ringside - tossing furniture around and attacking the ring crew. Bully stands and watches, without saying a word.

Tape Rating - *** - Whilst it is tainted by how ghastly I found the Tempuraz vs Burger/Daddiego tag in the middle, for the most part this was a decent episode. Cody opening the show with a promo segment hardly broke new ground (the Daniels promo they referenced, but didn't show, sounded far more interesting) - but did show that ROH has a plan to manage the presentation of the American Nightmare if fans are going to cheer him. There were more Bullet Club shenanigans to be found in the main event - which was perfectly fine. Page going over Jay Briscoe was a nice touch, it sets up the Hung Bucks getting a shot at Castle & The Boys in the future...and continues the slow build to a Briscoes/Bubba fall-out. The obvious highlight here, however, is the astonishingly under-rated Martinez/Gresham bout. Honor Club members, it is well worth seeking out.