McXal's Reviews

Just a couple of weeks out from Death Before Dishonor, the stakes are starting to rise. The Bullet Club are out in force for this TV taping - including the Guerrillas Of Destiny, who are back for the first time in a while and in the main event alongside the Young Bucks to take on Search & Destroy. Fans of Cheeseburger will also be interested in his big grudge match against Will Ferrara. Ian Riccaboni and Marty Scurll provide commentary from Atlanta, GA.

Bully Ray opens the show to tell a nice little story about how he has been a fan of ROH since 2002, which is why he wanted to get involved with the Briscoes when he arrived. He announces that they have a shot at the Six-Man Titles at Death Before Dishonor, and promises that he and the Briscoes will be on the same page for it. 

Straightforward story here - former team-mates ended their tag team on bad terms when Ferrara turned on Cheeseburger. Proclaiming himself to be a 'workhorse' and fed up of being saddled with the burden of carrying Burger, he now strikes a path on his own. Clearly he feels he needs to mow through Cheeseburger before carving his own legacy...

Ferrara charges, and Burger is waiting to meet him. He knocks Will to the floor and wipes him out with a double stomp off the apron. Ferrara takes it back into the ring and uses his strength to his advantage - working the arm perhaps to negate the Shotei. Hammerlock DDT on the apron! Back from commercials with Cheese busting out the Shotei to knock Will off the top rope. He follows with a double knee drop into the ribs, then a SPRINGBOARD SENTON into them as well! Ferrara tries the springboard DDT, but finds it blocked so Cheese can hit a bridging back suplex. Anklelock applied - apparently that is a move Cheeseburger does now. Ferrara counters by putting his feet on the ropes and almost getting a three-count. Paydirt by Will...gets 2! The two bitter rivals start spitting at each other and throwing wild strikes. Dragon suplex by Burger! TOMBSTONE! Ferrara kicks out! Burger dives into another double stomp...and still it's only 2. Ferrara lariats Burger right into the Cobra Stretch, forcing Burger to tap out at 08:51 (shown).

Rating - ** - Ian and Marty really worked hard on commentary to put this over as an epic battle. I didn't enjoy it that much, but it was well paced and had some really strong moments. They were allowed to throw in lots of high spots and false finishes - only some of which felt rather silly. I'm happy Delirious let the heel go over clean, as you suspect this won't be the last we see of this feud.

Will refuses to break the hold, then Rhett Titus joins him to put the boots to Burger too!

COLEMAN'S PULPIT - Caprice has gotten his set this week, along with some tacky music. He invites fans to send in questions for his future guests and promises he'll ask the 'tough questions' that other broadcast journalists are afraid to.

Bruiser is out with Silas, but on crutches following Jay Lethal's attack. That happened last week on TV, but was taped before ROH went to Edinburgh for Lethal and Young to contest a punishing Street Fight. Silas was victorious in Scotland but neither was able to walk away unassisted, therefore officials have made their showdown at Death Before Dishonor a Last Man Standing Match. He'll look to prepare with a win over returning enhancement talent 'Cauliflower' Chase Brown. The enhancement talent has shaved his head, improved his physique and ditched some of the cauli-comedy since we last saw him.

Young is aggressive and looks surprised when Brown absorbs some of his best shots and keeps fighting. Killer Combo doesn't even get two before Brown is back on his feet kicking at the Last Real Man. Silas has seen enough and wins it with Misery at 02:12

Rating - N/A - Short and sweet. Silas looked good in victory, whilst we saw enough of Brown for him to demonstrate that he may not be a total no-hoper as far as an in-ring performer is concerned. Young leaves with the emphatic victory he needs to build momentum for the pay-per-view.

Jay Lethal runs in and starts a crazy brawl with Silas - which needs a mass of security guards to break up. Lethal wants to wrestle Silas right now, but the Last Real Man refuses since he wants to beat him again on the highest profile stage possible...so Sinclair officials take notice of his skills.

Matt Sells has ditched being a jobber and is now 'Backstage Correspondent'. He has an interview with Cody Rhodes, who now wears a World Championship ring and assures everyone he is fully prepared to face Minoru Suzuki on pay-per view. He makes Sells kiss his ring...

Backstage at War Of The Worlds Edinburgh the Bullet Club mock Dalton Castle for losing the Six-Man Tag Titles...then Cody assaults him and beats him out of the building, calling Dalton a 'novelty act' as he does so.

An extended promo segment airs running through the card for Death Before Dishonor. Punishment Martinez and Jay White in a Street Fight has been added. Kenny King promises to 'give the game a facelift' by becoming TV Champion too...

Search & Destroy are back together as a four-piece, although with White now in what would turn out to be his final two months on excursion you wonder how much longer for. They are a collection of like-minded individuals born out of the frustration Sabin and Shelley felt about the dominance of factions like Bullet Club. The Machine Guns have had issues with the stable for a long time, and have a renewed focus on the Tag Titles - currently held by the Bucks. The rumblings of divides, splits and mounting tensions within Bullet Club won't go away. The Bucks are firmly in 'The Elite', whereas the Guerrillas are OG-members. Can they put on a cohesive display which expels those rumours?

Nick starts at breakneck speed with Gresham, who is so technically proficient that he is able to drive Nick out of the ring. DUELLING TOPES by White and Gresh! The GOD mob them from behind, hitting tandem neckbreakers. Through-the-legs tope by Sabin only for him to have his head kicked off by the Bucks. Rise Of The Terminator nailed, then Matt hops onto the stage for a SOMERSAULT SENTON ONTO EVERYONE! Gresham is still too illusive for the Bucks to pin down though - and almost puts Matt through the rails with another dive. SHOOTING STAR PRESS - COUNTERED WITH A MID-AIR GUN STUN BY TONGA! SUPERKICKS BY MATT! White and Loa start dropping bombs on each other, and when Tama joins them Jay simply starts doling out suplexes to both Guerrillas! The Bucks renew hostilities with MCMG, hauling them into the Stereo Sharpshooters. Gresham and White have to make the save on that. More Bang For Your Buck blocked into the Dream Sequence by the Machine Guns. Moonsault off the apron by Nick! PK by Sabin! SUPERKICK by Matt! Urinage by White! SWANTON BOMB TO THE FLOOR! Matt blocks Cradle Shock, but eats a lariat instead. White blocks the Meltzer Driver. DOUBLE RUBIX CUBE! Sabin gets the victorious pin, meaning the Machine Guns score a de facto victory over the Tag Champs at 10:41 (shown).

Rating - **** - Thrilling stuff to give away for free on television. Gresham and White both looked terrific here, even in a match where you might expect them to get lost in the shuffle because they aren't in Bullet Club and don't do lots of crazy dives. Gresham's technical wizardry and speed meant nobody on the BC team could really pin him down, whilst White's heavyweight exchanges with Tanga Loa were incredibly intense. Interactions between the Young Bucks and the Machine Guns were all loaded with significance - clearly building to another Tag Title match between them. They packed so much into barely ten minutes of ring-time and really gave me everything I was looking for. 

As we fade out it is confirmed that the Young Bucks will defend the Tag Titles against the Machine Guns at Death Before Dishonor - meaning they are pulling double duty at the PPV.

Tape Rating - ** - The main event was good. The vast quantity of people who - inexplicably to me - cheer Cheeseburger at live events will most probably really enjoy his match with Ferrara too. Beyond that I didn't like much of this episode. It was a hard sell on Death Before Dishonor, but not my giving me storylines or quality in-ring content that I want to see - just by wheeling out talking head after talking head to TELL ME how great something else I'll watch will be. The main event is worth seeking out for Honor Club members since it is short and packed with big names - but everything else here is easy to skip. Marty Scurll was entertaining on commentary at least...