McXal's Reviews

The final episode taped at the end of August airs this evening, and we know our main event already. Frankie Kazarian won the 2017 Honor Rumble last week, and is rewarded with a shot at Cody Rhodes and the ROH World Title tonight. Ian Riccaboni and BJ Whitmer are in Atlanta, GA.

Tough times for Hanson and Rowe, at least as far as their standing in this company is concerned. In Japan they are fearsome gaijin monsters and currently the reigning IWGP Tag Champions. But in ROH they are an irrelevant, spent force - fitting in shows between their NJPW commitments and counting down to being freed from even those so they can head to WWE developmental. Tonight they are stuck at the bottom of a card, on a filler episode of the show, with the two bottom-feeding teams in the tag division. They are, however, scalps to be shot at by their opponents. LSG and Ali will want to beat them to enhance their reputation in ROH - whilst Sho and Yoh will know that a win over the IWGP Tag Champs may well punch their ticket back to Japan and away from this nightmarish excursion.

Tornado rules in effect apparently, meaning all six guys are in play. War Machine throw their opponents around like children. Shotgun Knee/Bronco Buster combo on Shaheem, then they head to the floor to beat the Tempura Boyz senseless. STEREO PLANCHAS by Sho and Yoh! 3K on Ali! Seeing them not even try a pin after that spot is so weird! Rowe returns with a Cement Mixer, as Hanson blasts LSG with a Cartwheel Lariat. GERMAN SUPLEX from Sho to Hanson! Tope atomico by Shaheem, setting up a ROPEWALK PHOENIX SPLASH TO THE FLOOR by Leon! TOP ROPE SOMERSAULT SENTON by Hanson! Decapitation on Komatsu...only for Ali to break the pin with a frog splash. C2C hang Sho in the corner...only for War Machine to stop them hitting the stereo Van Terminators. SPIKE PILEDRIVER from the Tempuraz to Rowe for 2! Handspring elbow by Hanson to make the save. Thor's Hammer on LSG! Path Of Destruction finishes Sho, winning it for War Machine in 08:51 (shown).

Rating - *** - This hasn't been a great taping from an in-ring quality perspective. Against that admittedly low bar I thought this was fun. Tornado Rules was a good choice; it allowed everyone an opportunity to showcase their stuff. There is an argument to be made that this was Sho and Yoh's best performance as the Tempura Boyz.

Ray Rowe complains that ROH don't appreciate War Machine (true), berates ROH officials for allowing the Best Friends into their title shot at Best In The World and promise that their 'good behaviour ends now...'

Ah yes, here is Corey Hollis getting wheeled out for his annual booking. He will, as usual, look completely solid and it will, as usual, mean nothing. His role tonight is as enhancement talent to Flip, himself a star on the rise looking to make an impression. Unlike Corey he has an ROH contract - something which Hollis will use as motivation I'm sure...

Corey is experienced and knows his game...so smartly starts the match trying to chain-wrestle with Gordon and keep him on the mat. Flip chucks Hollis out of the ring and cartwheels across the apron for a superkick. TWISTING SOMERSAULT PLANCHA! Springboard 450 misses, and when Flip tries another springboard move Corey pounces and guillotines him in the ropes. Hollis targets Gordon's arm; ramming the exposed shoulder into the turnbuckles as we go to commercials. With a bad arm Gordon is forced to use his kicking to fight back...and crumples in pain when he damages it further whilst hitting the springboard Sling Blade. Hollis pounds at the arm again, only to be countered into the Samoan Pop for 2. Hollis snaps the arm and throat over the ropes with a stunner, then tries to squash Flip's hands inside the turnbuckle bolts. COUNTERED with the Kinder Surprise! Springboard 450 Splash wins it for Gordon at 06:54 (shown).

Rating - *** - As expected, Hollis delivered the goods here. He was really solid as the aggressive mat technician, and the base for Flip to hit his high spots around. Gordon is a really exciting talent. Seeing his early ROH work has been fun, and serves as a reminder that he had plenty of potential and most likely would've achieved something without getting over via his role on 'Being The Elite'.

Frankie Kazarian gets some promo time and says he wants to win the belt tonight not to fulfil a destiny, but to piss the fans off and make Joe Koff 'sick to his stomach'. Didn't we just do a 'Joe Koff doesn't want me as champion' angle? Oh yes, that's right...like two months ago with f*cking Cody, the current champion!!

INSIDE WOH - Ian Riccaboni rounds up happenings in the Women Of Honor division, plus Mandy Leon's tour with Stardom. We've seen debutants Stella Grey and Brandi Rhodes (as an in-ring performer), and he spotlights the rivalry between Kelly Klein and Deonna Purrazzo - with Karen Q barging into the equation as well. Klein interrupts the segment to remind everyone that she is still the dominant force in the Women Of Honor division. Nice segment...

There is plenty of history between The Addiction and the Bullet Club, be it for the Tag or World Championship. Cody controversially won the World Title from Daniels at Best In The World 2017 - a belt Daniels himself had won from then-Bullet Club member Adam Cole (with Kazarian's help) at the 15th Anniversary Show. The BITW loss was a catalyst for a dramatic change in attitude for Frankie and his tag partner. Furious that the fans turned on Daniels as his fairy tale dream of being ROH Champion was stolen away from him by Cody they are now on a mission to destroy everything the fans love. Since the fans love Cody, Bullet Club and the World Title - the goal here is clear. They are never short of a scheme (as shown last week when Daniels' interference allowed Kaz to steal the Honor Rumble victory from Jay Lethal) and want to take the ROH Title before leaving ROH altogether...

It's a fast start from Cody for once. He doesn't hesitate in locking up with the challenger and quickly dumps him on the mat with a gourdbuster. He applies the Figure 4 inside two minutes and has Frankie desperately crawling to the ropes. Rhodes follows it with a dragon screw in the ropes...but MISSES the rope run suicide dive and eats Kazarian's slingshot rana to the floor. Kaz makes a point of ramming Cody neck-first into the guardrails - right in front of the fan who kissed his ring a couple of weeks ago on TV. When Cody tries to get back into the ring Frankie stays on the neck with the Jerry Lynn legdrop, followed by a springboard leg drop across the exposed neck. But Kaz gets over-confident and makes a mistake - taking too long to get to the top rope and allowing the champ to pounce with a rope-run super armdrag. Disaster Kick scores...but then instantly shaken off as Kazarian goes back to the neck with a slingshot cutter. Powerslam by Rhodes...who falls to the ground alongside his opponent. LeBell Lock applied! Chris Daniels runs in and tries to distract the ref...with Marty Scurll hot on his heels to distract him! Why isn't Adam Page - billed as the 'problem solver' - not fulfilling that duty? The distraction means Todd Sinclair misses Cody rolling Kaz up for almost ten seconds. Todd is bumped afterwards...allowing Daniels to nail Rhodes with his own belt. TOMIKAZE gets 2! Marty shoves Kaz off the top rope then eliminates Daniels with a Superkick. Cross Rhodes sees the American Nightmare retain in 10:05 (shown).

Rating - *** - It all got overbooked and silly at the end there, but truth be told this was one of Cody's better World Title Matches. Up until the last couple of minutes I thought the wrestling content was extremely strong. Cody looked motivated, Kazarian was awesome in picking part his neck. Little touches like working Cody over in front of the fan who kissed his ring were very appreciated. As I aid in my Episode 314 review, this wasn't a World Title Match I had much interest in. But, it actually turned out to be perfectly decent. Whether you consider a 'perfectly decent' standard to be good enough for big-time World Title Matches is another matter...

Tape Rating - *** - Last week was really bad. This week was equally packed with pointless filler content...but last least the wrestling was good. War Machine's performance and moderate change in character direction was perhaps the highlight of the hour, but the World Title main event surprised me with it's quality, and Flip/Hollis was fine for what it was as well. This has been a really poor taping overall, but at least it ended with three half-decent wrestling matches...

5) War Machine vs Coast 2 Coast vs Tempura Boyz (*** - Episode 315)

4) Cody vs Frankie Kazarian (*** - Episode 315)

3) Kenny King vs Adam Page (*** - Episode 313)

2) Marty Scurll vs Rocky Romero (*** - Episode 313)

1) Young Bucks/Guerillas Of Destiny vs Alex Shelley/Chris Sabin/Jay White/Jonathan Gresham (**** - Episode 312)