McXal's Reviews

I presume more of a fuss was made over it on social media posts or via YouTube at the time, but tucked into Episode 316 was Marty Scurll's announcement that 'American Nightmare' Cody is no longer a free agent and has now signed a lucrative Ring Of Honor contract. Tonight the Bullet Club have a celebration ceremony planned to commemorate the occasion. We return to Las Vegas, NV with Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana to see how it plays out.

EARLIER TODAY - The Addiction arrive, but are informed that Sinclair personnel are not permitting them to enter the building for the show.

More PWG veterans start filtering into Ring Of Honor as the influence of the Young Bucks continues to grow. Scorpio Sky has appeared in ROH before, and his appearance here is so unheralded he is introduced as 'already in the ring' during Kushida's entrance. But he brings a wealth of experience with him and will pose a threat to Kushida if the now-former TV Champion isn't on his game.

Sky puts a dropkick into Kushida's face early to make an immediate impression. He happily trades strikes with Kushida - but walks into the NJPW star's Tajiri elbow. Slingshot rana nailed by the SoCal veteran to prevent Kushida going after his arm though. He follows it with a jumping neckbreaker for 2 as well. He tries to come off the top...but sails straight into a cross armbreaker! The Addiction come through the crowd, letting off airhorns...then force a no contest by attacking both men at 03:23

Rating - N/A - It felt completely random bringing Scorpio in for this, so lets give Delirious the benefit of the doubt and assume he had a plan. What little wrestling we got before Daniels and Kazarian arrived was decent, much as you'd expect from competitors of Kushida and Sky's calibre. Ultimately this was nothing more than fodder to further the 'Addiction hates ROH fans' angle...

Jay Lethal comes out to chase Daniels and Kaz away, but only after they have left Kushida and Sky laid out. As 'the franchise' of ROH he takes their attitude personally and challenges them to a match against him and Kushida.

Bully Ray comes out without music and walking gingerly as he battles the effects of the concussion Briscoe gave him at Death Before Dishonor. Such is the severity of his condition he doesn't know if he'll be able to come back to 'get revenge' on Jay Briscoe. He is apparently considering his future in the business for the good of his health and his family. Mark Briscoe comes out assure him that Jay's actions don't represent the views of the entire Briscoe family.

The Bullet Club come out for their celebration, with even Papa Jackson and Brandi Rhodes involved. Cody also brings out Shane Taylor as paid security for the event. The champ crows about getting the 'most lucrative contract in ROH history' like a true heel, as fans applaud and chant 'you deserve it' at him. He formally signs his contract as streamers fly all over the building then sends the rest of Bullet Club away so he can get to 'business'. Even in his suit he announces he is going to defend the World Title right now - teasing that it will be against Dalton Castle but then bringing out Cheeseburger...

I'm a long-time critic of Burger, but in all honesty this is the kind of spot I'd use to harness his popularity. Having him come out as a comedy filler challenger isn't a horrible idea and watching him wrestle Cody in a suit should be good fun. This reminds me of Austin Aries defending the title against the likes of Grizzly Redwood and Alex Payne back on HDNet in his 'Lethal Lottery' and I found those segments pretty entertaining too.

Cody slaps Burger because he refuses to kiss the ring and has some fun knocking the diminutive challenger around. Cheese gets in a few shots though, annoying Rhodes sufficiently that he leaves the ring and rips his dress shirt off. Pescado nailed by Cheeseburger whilst he's out there. Back in the ring Cheese blocks the drop down palm strike into a crucifix pin for 2...but is put back in his place with a stalling superplex. Springboard knee gets another 2-count for the tenacious challenger though. Shotei countered to Cross Rhodes. The match is over...but the American Nightmare pulls Burger's shoulders up. Cheese almost profits with a small package for a close 2-count. American Nightmare (deathlock) applied, forcing Burger to tap at 05:42

Rating - DUD - This has the potential to be funny, and was for a little bit...before it went on far too long. They basically did the same 'Cody does something stupid, Burger almost pins him' sequence on repeat over and over again and I wasn't feeling it. The only positive was that it was used as the stage to debut Cody's submission finisher.

The Kingdom bemoan a 'conspiracy' against them, and are furious at having to compete in a #1 contenders match for the Six-Man Titles at Death Before Dishonor, when they felt they already had a rightful claim to. They want to take their frustration out on Search & Destroy (including new Tag Champions the Motor City Machine Guns) in our main event.

COLEMAN'S PULPIT - Tonight his guests are his friend Rhett Titus and his new tag partner Will Ferrara. They mess around with a big brother/little brother dynamic, then Ferrara rants about Cheeseburger. Titus takes some barbed shots at his former partner Kenny King as well...

NEXT WEEK - The Dawgs (Titus and Ferrara) make their debut as a team against the Tempura Boyz.

As we just heard, The Kingdom are feeling mistreated by Ring Of Honor, although it is starting to feel like that's the creative direction for half of the roster now. Tonight they want to vent their anger on Search & Destroy, whilst also establishing themselves as top challengers for both the Tag Titles (held by Sabin and Shelley) and the Six-Man Titles...

Sabin legit almost walks into his pyro during the S&D entrance, which Cabana hilariously puts over by saying that the 'Machine Guns are on fire'. Taven makes it worse for Sabin by attacking him from behind to start the contest. Marseglia and O'Ryan jump him as well, cueing up a six-man brawl inside the first minute. Criss-cross dives off the apron by MCMG, followed by a tope suicida by Gresham! The Octopus brings Matt back in the ring and goes right after his surgically-repaired knee. Marseglia comes to the rescue with an Ace Crusher in the ropes for Sabin. Sabin is once again isolated by The Kingdom and falls victim to a number of chaotic combo moves. He ranas out of Rock Star Supernova only to be totally mauled by TK and Vinny before he can even get back to his feet. Stepping tornado DDT by Sabin instead...and at last he gets a hot tag. Gresham steps in and totally bewitches The Kingdom as he takes the fight to all three at once. Quebrada into an ANKLELOCK on O'Ryan's bad leg! Taven saves with a springboard enzi, only to eat the Dream Sequence by the Tag Champs. Through-the-legs tope wipes out O'Ryan...right before Marseglia skittles everyone with a springboard corkscrew plancha. AIR TAVEN wipes out his own partners! BERMUDA TRIANGLE moonsault by Gresham! Marseglia crotches Sabin as the Machine Guns line up Skull & Bones...then Taven wins it by waffling Sabin with his wooden cane behind Todd Sinclair's back. 09:20 (shown) is your time

Rating - ** - Given how little wrestling there has been on this episode this isn't the finish I'd have gone for. In fact, if the aim was to set The Kingdom up as credible challenges for either the Tag or Six-Man Title then a competitive match and a clean win for them would have been far more impactful. I love Gresham (and he was excellent in this match) but he is still relatively new and wouldn't have lost a great deal by eating a clean pinfall loss to protect the Machine Guns whilst putting The Kingdom over. This was classic, lazy, booker-inability to put heels over as anything other than cliche'd cheaters.

Tape Rating - * - Every so often ROH churn out a really AWFUL episode of their TV show and this was definitely one of them. Barely fifteen minutes of in-ring content across the entire broadcast, it felt like they were throwing filler segments at me one after another. I didn't need to see Bully. His segment was pointless and a fraction as impactful as the Briscoe/Dreamer in-ring promo last week. The 'Bullet Club' celebration was prolonged and uneventful (unless you were desperate to see Cody/Cheeseburger). And the main event was fine but forgettable and marred by my usual issues with  this company. You can skip this episode and miss absolutely nothing...which isn't acceptable given how much wrestling there is out there on a weekly basis