McXal's Reviews

Once again there are issues between the Briscoes and The Kingdom. TK O'Ryan is back from injury, back causing trouble and in the main event tonight; teaming with Vinny Marseglia to face Jay and Mark. This is also our go-home show for Death Before Dishonor so the last chance to draw some PPV buys. Ian Riccaboni and BJ Whitmer provide commentary in Atlanta, GA.

This is a rematch from the Liverpool leg of the War Of The Worlds UK Tour, which saw King score a victory over Page. Hangman was part of the Bullet Club duo which cost Kenny his shot at Kushida's TV Title on Episode 308. King wants more momentum going into Death Before Dishonor and his TV Title rematch, Page wants payback for the Liverpool defeat.

Page is fired up but, like in the UK, finds King's speed and athleticism a formidable challenge. He needs to make it more of a fight and wisely throws his opponent out of the ring. Moonsault off the stage MISSES! King hops up and hits him with a CORKSCREW PRESS off the apron! Page survives and blasts King with a piledriver! Kenny wisely rolls into the ropes to recover, but finds Hangman right on top of him, piling him neck-first into the guardrails. All of a sudden King is wildly out of sorts - getting nowhere near Page on a corkscrew enzi strike and then dumped with a pumphandle suplex for 2. Spinebuster nailed by King, then a spinning heel kick...but he clutches at his neck and looks seriously disorientated. CORKSCREW PLANCHA MISSES! SHOOTING STAR TACKLE TO THE FLOOR by Hangman! Buckshot Lariat blocked into a NECK SELLING Last Chancery! Page escapes because Kenny just can't lock in the hold. ROYAL FLUSH! King wins at 07:57 (shown).

Rating - *** - A substantial improvement on the Liverpool match. This was tighter, more focused, more exciting and considerably less lethargic. King's selling of the neck, for an eight minute TV sprint, was absolutely excellent - and that isn't always something you can compliment Kenny on. 

This is Bullet Club vs CHAOS, a battle between elite level and world-travelled junior heavyweight workers and hugely intriguing. Apparently this one came about after a Twitter spat, which is unique - but completely uninteresting for me as a VOD viewer who has minimal interest in Twitter. Why not show some Twitter screen grabs? Or better yet, film a promo to explain it to me. For similarly unexplained reasons, Scurll faces Chuck Taylor at the PPV so is using Rocky as a warm-up for that.

Romero goes right after the Diablo Armbar, laying down a marker that he isn't afraid to engage The Villain in a submission/mat-based battle. Scurll has clearly never watched a Romero match in his life, as he falls for Rocky hanging in the ropes and cackling - tumbling out of the ring so Romero can hit him with a tope suicida. Armbreakers in the ropes by Marty in response. Back in the ring he nails an armbar DDT for 2. Rocky crawls away, playing possum and almost pinning Scurll when he rushes in looking for the Chickenwing. Rocky kicks at the arm and goes for a Shiranui...Marty blocks looking for the Chickenwing....COUNTERED TO THE ARMBAR! BUCKLE BOMB by Marty! Moonsault missed by Scurll, allowing Romero to hit the Nomisugi Knee for 2. Just Kidding scores, only for Romero to rana him into the DIABLO ARMBAR! Marty taps - but with his limbs in the ropes so it doesn't count. Knee strike by Romero...and Scurll fires back with lariat into the Bird Of Prey! Scurll gets a huge win at 07:08 (shown).

Rating - *** - These two are phenomenal professional wrestlers with masses of experience between them. Therefore it isn't any kind of surprise that, even with a paltry time allocation for television, they were able to put together something enjoyable. Great mat wrestling, thrilling counters, a punch and snappy pace - this had everything you want to see in a brief, made-for-TV sprint.

Cody is out next to hype his PPV showdown with Minoru Suzuki - to a thunderous ovation since he lives in Georgia. Rather than address the title match, he jerks around and replaces his title belt with an actual 'Ring' Of Honor (a World Championship ring). He also announces that, rather than shake hands, the Code Of Honor now means that his opponents have to kiss the ring. 

TK returns to the ring, having removed his cast back in Concord and joined his Kingdom stable-mates in dishing out a concussion to Jay Briscoe. The Briscoes in a war with The Kingdom is nothing new at all - they go back years with Matt Taven. But Vinny and TK are fresh meat, and hungry to make their name at the expense of the ROH veterans. Bully Ray is on commentary.

O'Ryan starts with Mark Briscoe...before an obvious clip/edit sees Jay Briscoe booting Marseglia in the head. Jay is steaming and flies around the ring putting the boots to both opponents. Mark is no less aggressive - choking, pulling hair and taking cheap shots as he tries to wear down O'Ryan. Spinebuster/diving headbutt combo by The Kingdom gets 2. TK is impressive in his ability to beat Mark down, albeit with repeated assistance from Marseglia. Jay gets a tag and seems hellbent on either choking out or knocking out TK O'Ryan. Day One Neckbreaker nailed...as Mark wipes out Vinny who tries to use a chair as a weapon. Jay gets into an argument with Todd Sinclair for absolutely no reason...and is almost pinned as a result. Splash Mountain Neckbreaker scores as well...only for Marseglia to shove Mark to the ground when he sets up a Froggy Bow. Redrum on Jay - but Mark breaks the pin at 2. Jay Driller blocked, as O'Ryan misses when swinging a baseball bat at Mark. Pendulum double suplex gets 2 for The Kingdom. Jay Driller on TK wins it at 10:49 (shown).

Rating - * - Focusing on the positives first - I love this more aggressive and violent version of the Briscoes. I hope this culminates with them turning completely heel - it's been a while since we've seen them as villains and would open up a lot of fresh possibilities. As a main event this was pretty tedious though. It wasn't just that it wasn't very interesting, it also felt like a total demolition-job on Vinny and TK's credibility. I am far from the biggest fan of this act (particularly Vinny), but having them hit their finishers, use weapons, cheat throughout and STILL not look remotely like they were going to win absolutely killed them. The fact that this was the main event (along with Bully's odious commentary) over Scurll/Romero and Page/King - both of which were far better and deserving of more time - really is galling.

Obviously Bully Ray ships up to steal some TV time and celebrate with the Briscoes...

NEXT WEEK - Honor Rumble 2017

Tape Rating - ** - The aforementioned King/Page and Scurll/Romero bouts were snappy, short and well-worth watching. The first half of this episode was hugely enjoyable as a result. After that it went downhill - with a lousy main event and a downright weird Cody segment. Considering how stacked the Death Before Dishonor line-up actually is, very little about this episode made me want to buy the pay-per-view.