McXal's Reviews

We have a couple of big hitting matches lined up for this episode. In the main event the Young Bucks defend the ROH Tag Titles against their old rivals the Motor City Machine Guns. Shelley and Sabin scored a big win over War Machine a few episodes ago so arrive with renewed drive as a team and pose a serious threat to the belts. On the undercard we will see a big showdown between Shane Taylor and Josh Woods. 'The Goods' is looking for payback after Taylor jumped him in Lowell. Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana are once again in Concord, NC.

Given that they have some history with Punishment Martinez, fighting War Machine are not the worst opponents for Jay White to test him against. Gresham, Hanson and Rowe have less direction. Presumably the idea here is that War Machine need to win to get back into the Tag Title hunt (after failing to win them at Best In The World), but with the clock running down on their time in ROH and their focus almost wholly on their New Japan work you'd be hard-pressed to make a case that it is a priority for them. They arrive here as IWGP Tag Champions again, having won them back from the Guerrillas Of Destiny at the G1 In USA Special. 

Do people actually prefer War Machine's crappy, generic grunge rock entrance music that they use now? Gresham leads a running sneak attack on the big men before the bell...only to be stacked on the deck and splattered by the body slam senton combo. Search & Destroy put the boots to Hanson in the corner...but he dwarfs Gresham and easily shakes it off. Gresh and White try to work together, and even then the combined total of their immense skillset doesn't keep him at bay forever. Rowe gets the hot tag and mows Jay down with the Shotgun Knees. He then Cement Mixers Gresham right down on top of him. Pescado misses for big Ray...and White capitalises with a tope suicida up the aisle. We come back from commercials with count-along clotheslines from Hanson. Which the bloody crowd pop for louder than anything else in the entire match. I really miss old ROH crowds. Hanson tries to go up to the top...but Gresham blocks Fallout by climbing up Hanson's beard into a SUPER RANA! Decapitation soon after destroys the Octopus. Gresham finding innovative ways to escape War Machine has been really fun in this match. Stunner/German combo gets 2 for Search & Destroy. Cartwheel Lariat COUNTERED to the Urinage suplex by White! Rowe makes the save by using his head to block elbow strikes...then f*cking murders Gresh with the judo throw knee. QUEBRADA/TOPE COMBO! BRAINBUSTER/450 SPLASH COMBO! Rowe kicks out at 2! Hanson dumps White to the floor, leaving Gresham alone. THOR'S HAMMER! SPIN KICK OF DOOM ON WHITE! Rowe pins Gresham at 09:51 (shown).

Rating - *** - There were aspects to this that I really didn't like. I don't enjoy Hanson doing goofy comedy spots like the endless body avalanche clotheslines...and it's even more annoying now Rowe has his own goofball spot too (headbutting an opponent's strike away over and over again). But amongst some of the least enjoyable aspects of War Machine in ROH there was a really decent TV match. Gresham was brilliant as the buzzing, annoying fly constantly getting under Rowe and Hanson's skin and the absolute highlight of the match for me. They had a hot finishing sequence too...

Punishment Martinez comes out to pick the bones and destroys White with South Of Heaven...

Caprice Coleman is trying to get a new talk show started ('Coleman's Pulpit') but complains to various crew members that nobody has provided any of the props and set pieces that he requested. He thinks he is being held down just like he was in The Rebellion and gives ROH one week to rectify the error...

QT Marshall joins commentary and discusses the concussion The Kingdom gave Jay Briscoe last week

Much still isn't known about Shane Taylor's agenda following Best In The World. At the TV taping in Lowell he started attacking random people (one of whom being Josh Woods), but we are still unclear on the reasons why. What we do know is that The Goods wants payback for that assault in Lowell, and that we are about to see a hard-hitting battle between two stars on the rise...

Woods is pissed and charges at Taylor with knee strikes. He has such strike power that Taylor collapses out of the ring. Brawling on the floor is something Shane is far more comfortable with though and he quickly recovers by heaving Woods through the guardrail. After commercials he rams Josh's shoulder into the ringpost too. Curb Stomp into the turnbuckles comes next, and Woods' head is still ringing when Taylor crushes him again with a running hip attack. BACK DROP DRIVER! The Goods kicks out of that and blasts him with another knee strike...only for Taylor to put him down with a lariat. Woods kicks out disrespectfully...and when Taylor angrily tries to choke him Josh INSTANTLY counters him to a cross armbreaker! Next he kicks Taylor's legs out, before ankle locking him into a LEG CAPTURE GERMAN SUPLEX! Taylor is rattled and retrieves a steel chair from the outside. Mike Posey prevents him from using it...and Josh schoolboy pins Taylor to win at 05:29 (shown).

Rating - *** - As opponents these guys had a strange and watchable chemistry. The size and brawling street smarts of Taylor juxtaposed wonderfully with the MMA skills of The Goods. They laid the match out smartly, contested it at a ferocious pace and I am definitely interested in a rematch if/when we get it. My problem here was QT Marshall. Why is this piece of garbage back? My assumption is that he is a nice guy and has a good mind for the business, given that ROH keep going back to him and he'd go on to obtain a role with AEW. But having him on commentary putting himself over, then apparently involved in an angle with Taylor (who is absolutely fine by himself by the way) was hugely disheartening. He is not needed here at all.

The angry Shane Taylor mauls Josh before he can celebrate the win. Marshall joins him in the ring and instructs Shane to keep beating on Woods...then hands him a pay-off

'It's not 2009 anymore' - Matt Jackson discussing the Motor City Machine Guns. We are advised to expect a Superkick Party tonight...

Ian Riccaboni announces that Cody Rhodes' open challenge for the World Title at Death Before Dishonor has been answered...by Minoru Suzuki! Had Cody been on TV at any point to discuss this this 'open challenge' then the reveal would have been far more dramatic. We see clips of Cody reacting angrily in his locker room...

Kenny King talks about the change in people's perception since he appeared on a reality TV show. He acknowledges that he has wasted his potential in wrestling and is anxious to make up for lost time. After their battle with Bullet Club he feels that he earned Kushida's respect - and now he has a TV Title rematch at Death Before Dishonor. It takes place in his hometown and his family will be watching...

Matt Jackson has already framed this match wonderfully. A decade ago Sabin and Shelley were wowing fans with their style of junior heavyweight tag team wrestling. But times change, humans age and it is now the Young Bucks who are at the cutting edge of tag wrestling. Older and more streetwise, the Machine Guns come into this on the back of a big win over War Machine and renewed purpose after avoiding being forcibly broken up at Best In The World. Are they good enough to defeat the Jacksons and claim one of the few Tag Titles in wrestling that they haven't won?

Colt spots that the Bucks are far more serious than usual this evening, showing that they take the threat of their challengers seriously. The Machine Guns easily keep pace with them in the early going, and Sabin scores with the through-the-legs top suicida to cap it off. MISSILE DROPKICK/DOUBLE SHELLSHOCK combo gets 2! They can't keep up this pace though...and before long Matt and Nick start rattling off their signature combo sequences. CORKSCREW DIVE TO THE FLOOR by Nick! He trash-talks Shelley, proclaiming that he and his brother 'aren't GenerationMe anymore'. Duelling Sharpshooters take us into the commercials...but when we come back we see Nick inadvertently blast his own brother with a knee. Turnbuckle Shellshock nailed, setting up the hot tag to Sabin. Tope suicida into the aisle nailed! Then they stack both Bucks in the corner for the Hesitation Dropkick. Skull & Bones blocked with the Worst Case Scenario by Matt. Rolling moonsault off the apron from Nick to Shelley. Swanton Bomb misses...Cradle Shock blocked! Dream Sequence nailed by MCMG. SUPERKICK FLURRY! NO SOLD! Double clothesline by Sabin leaves everyone down. We seem set up for a big finish...only for The Addiction to run in and attack both teams. Todd Sinclair has no choice but to call the match a no contest at 10:03 (shown).

Rating - *** - I'm not quite sure where we are going with this. The Ladder War between the Bucks, the Machine Guns and The Addiction was so great and so iconic that I almost don't understand why ROH are even hinting at revisiting it. The match that came before the non-finish was decent though. I thought each team attacked the match with genuine intensity, and the way they referenced the history between these two duos across multiple promotions was interesting. I'd like to see more between these two teams...but I'm entirely less certain about whether Daniels and Kazarian need to be inserted into that picture as well.

The show ends with Daniels and Kazarian beating up the Bucks and the Machine Guns, shoving Todd Sinclair over and taking swings at fans in Bullet Club shirts on the way out.

NEXT WEEK - Cody and Hangman Page face Mark Briscoe and Bully Ray...

Tape Rating - *** - This episode was a strange one. It reminded me why I enjoy pro-wrestling so much, but also showed why watching modern-day ROH can be a hugely frustrating experience. The fact that War Machine can seem so limp, childish and irrelevant in ROH is such a shame. QT Marshall still being on TV is inexplicable. Seemingly going back to a Bucks/Addiction/MCMG rivalry is perplexing. Multiple overbooked-finishes in a single episode is the antithesis of what this promotion was founded to stand for. But between the ropes the action was too good to ignore. The chemistry between Taylor and Woods was evident. The sheer quality of Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin and the Jackson brothers is undeniable. Judging solely on the quality of the wrestling product - this episode was a good one (and they sneaked the announcement of Minoru Suzuki coming in too).