McXal's Reviews

We only have one thing scheduled for this broadcast. Tonight we get the Best In The World 2017 PPV main event rematch as Cody Rhodes defends the ROH World Title against Christopher Daniels in a 2/3 Falls Match. Will the American Nightmare prove he can live up to the 'Honor style' whilst continuing to give Sinclair Broadcast Group officials a contractual headache? Does Daniels have another elaborate scheme in place to take him back to the top? Ian Riccaboni and Rico De La Vega welcome us to Lowell, MA so that we can find out...

Cody has a sit-down interview discussing his admiration for Chris Daniels as a wrestler...but has numbers to back up that he, as a 'sports entertainer' does better business and buyrates for ROH. Even as a free agent, he is here to alleviate Ring Of Honor above 'mediocrity' like Daniels...

After commercials, Ian Riccaboni introduces clips of the 'controversial' in-ring promo Daniels delivered a few weeks ago but SBG officials 'refused' to broadcast. Kazarian is out too, berating the fans for their treatment of Daniels at Best In The World. Daniels reminds the Lowell fans of the sacrifice he made in that very building at All Star Extravaganza last year. He invokes his rematch clause, he plans to win the World Title, then he's going to demand his release from Joe Koff so he can be a free agent champion just like Cody

Silas Young and Beer City Bruiser are out next. It is now 43 days without Jay Lethal on TV and Silas commends Bruiser for his part in making that happen. Of course, the pay-off is that Lethal returns and takes the fight to both of his enemies. He wears out Young's ribs as a receipt for the assault he suffered at Best In The World. 

None of the segments in this episode have been bad, but it is supremely episode that we are almost halfway through this show and we've only just reached the ring entrances. Cody took the World Title from Daniels at Best In The World - but the self-proclaimed 'sports entertainer' needed an overbooked charade of a finish to prise it from the Ring General's fingers. We saw run-ins, ref bumps, weapons, tables, spitting and more before Rhodes (covered in blood from a badly split lip) would take home the gold. The backdrop to the match was an audience which spectacularly rejected the 'babyface' veteran champion. Daniels called them 'trend-following bandwagon jumpers', but the audience loudly rallied behind Bullet Club representative Cody. The American Nightmare, also part of the outrageously popular YouTube series 'Being The Elite', has delivered bumper buyrates and brought more eyes to the ROH product than ever before. But he remains unpopular with Sinclair officials due to his refusal to sign a contract. And, as we learned earlier, Daniels wants out as well. His goal is to win the belt back, then spite the fans by obtaining his release and taking the championship with him. This could be an interesting bout...

Daniels is in complete heel mode here - mouthing off to fans, stalling and basically running the same routine Cody was working in the same building at the pay-per-view. Cody doesn't really alter his character thankfully, and starts messing around with Daniels right back. He is the aggressor in the early going though, which makes sense given that he is trying to prove people wrong and establish that he can work in the 'Honor style'. He splats Daniels into the canvas with a gourdbuster, sending the former champion back to the floor to argue with the fans again. The Ring General fights back by taking a cheap-shot at Cody's stitched up lip then traps him in the ropes to claw at the mouth. Rhodes ducks a baseball slide and crashes Daniels bad neck into the guardrails. Daniels responds by whipping the American Nightmare shoulder-first into the rails. Apparently the shoulder was injured at Best In The World and he needs medical attention again after that. He has Todd Sinclair pop the shoulder back in and Disaster Kicks Daniels off the apron. Back from commercials with Daniels staying on both the shoulder and midsection (since he wants to set up the BME or Angel's Wings). He takes an eternity climbing the ropes after arguing with the crowd...and is cut-off at the top with the ROPE RUN super armdrag by Rhodes. Of course, executing that hurts the champ as much as the challenger. He whips Daniels into a powerslam for 2 but then curls up in pain afterwards. Alabamaslam blocked...so Cody breaks out the Figure 4 Leglock. Daniels escapes, blocks the Rainmaker...and down goes Todd Sinclair in the ensuing melee. LOW BLOW DUEL! Both men down! Frankie Kazarian runs out and tosses a chair to Daniels...and just like at Best In The World Marty Scurll is soon out as well. He chases Kaz away, creating a distraction which allows Cody to roll Daniels up and win the first fall at 14:12 (shown). DANIELS NAILS HIM WITH A CHAIR! Todd Sinclair goes to DQ him, until Daniels points out that Sinclair hadn't 'rung the bell' for the second fall, and therefore can't. It means that Rhodes is on the ground with still more damage inflicting to his midsection. Urinage backbreaker on the floor by Daniels! Cody barely beats the count-out but slides back in to a barrage of abuse from the embittered former champ. A couple more shots to his busted up lip seem to sting Cody into action - blasting Daniels with a hanging flatliner. Dusty jabs into the Bionic Elbow for 2. Cross Rhodes COUNTERED TO LAST RITES! ANGEL'S WINGS! STILL 2! Daniels sets up the BME, only for Cody to dodge him into CROSS RHODES! Cody wins 2-0 at 21:06 (shown).

Rating - **** - This was far superior to Best In The World, which may sound odd because on the surface much of this was very similar. The difference was that at the PPV the stupidity and shenanigans WAS the story and totally outshone the quality of wrestling the athletes were able to produce. Here there was still some stupidity, but it was used sparingly and in a manner which enhanced the story. The success of this match was built around a thrilling heel performance by Chris Daniels; one last teasing reminder of what we could have seen from him as World Champion if his run had not been so cruelly neutered. Where at the PPV we saw Cody struggle to cope with fans cheering him on and sh*tting all over the match they'd laid out with him as the heel, tonight they knew they fan reaction to expect and really milked it. Daniels was absolutely poisonous in his interactions, really stoking up what has been a quiet crowd all taping. When the run-ins came, it was a neat play on the Scurll run-in we saw at Best In The World, and it was done to make the point that Daniels is an asshole who doesn't care what the fans think. Meanwhile Cody, so villainous at Best In The World, had committed to trying to follow the 'Honor style'. It was a clever twist and a far better context to set the overbooked run-ins against. We saw some really great wrestling here too. Daniels picking apart a body part with such precision is hardly new...but he is still absolutely brilliant at it. For as much as I was disappointed by the PPV match, this one really caught me off guard with its quality. Cody's reign as champion doesn't get many plaudits for in-ring work...but I really enjoyed this. 

NEXT WEEK - Kenny King gets his shot at Kushida's TV Title.

Tape Rating - **** - The whole episode (bar one segment) was built around Cody/Daniels. The main event delivered, therefore the episode as a whole delivers and is easy to recommend. The Jay Lethal return was probably a little predictable (this was taped 24-hours after the PPV, therefore fans knew he was in the building and wasn't booked to do anything else) but furthers the enjoyable Lethal/Silas feud too. If you didn't like Cody/Daniels at Best In The World, and didn't enjoy Cody's title run generally I'd urge you to revisit this one on Honor Club. Their 2/3 Falls Match is genuinely very good; a real gem to throw out on free television.

5) Karen Q vs Deonna Purrazzo vs Kelly Klein (*** - Episode 306)

4) Motor City Machine Guns vs War Machine (*** - Episode 303)

3) Punishment Martinez vs Jonathan Gresham (**** - Episode 304)

2) Kushida vs Jay White (**** - Episode 305)

1) Cody vs Christopher Daniels (**** - Episode 307)