McXal's Reviews

This is the final episode from what has been a productive post-Final Battle TV taping. SCU will face the Bullet Club in the main event, and before that we'll see Coast 2 Coast fighting for their existence against War Machine (making their final ROH appearance). Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana call the action in Philadelphia, PA.

LAST WEEK - In the locker rooms, whilst SCU were attacking the Bucks in the ring Shane Taylor was in the locker room beating up Marty Scurll...

The Punisher enters this as #1 contender to the World Title. He won the 2017 Survival Of The Fittest, so knows he is at the front of the queue for a shot at new champion Dalton Castle. He'll be looking to use this enhancement match to send a message to Dalton.

Martinez almost knocks the debuting Dobbs out inside ten seconds. He screams Castle's name as he puts an elbow through the skull of his opponent - but that lack of focus also allows Dobbs to get a couple of shots in. The fans get a laugh, but Punishment quickly shuts it down with a cyclone kick then the South Of Heaven at 01:48

Rating - N/A - No complaints from me. Squash matches are fun in their own way, and this was pretty much spot on. Martinez looked dominant, he name-dropped the World Champion to build to that match, the jobber popped the crowd with a couple of hope spots...but was then crushed. The goal was to make Martinez look dominant and it succeeded.

Dalton comes out dressed to wrestle. Martinez takes a swing...but Castle ducks it and lays him out with a suplex. Punisher walks away to jeers, leaving everyone to speculate when he might take his title shot.

Coast 2 Coast cut a promo, jittering so much they look like they've had a coffee/Red Bull mix drip-fed into their veins all day. LSG calls their match tonight 'do or die'.

If C2C lose this they have agreed that they will split up. They impressed people with plenty of fun matches in 2017, but haven't been able to translate Future Of Honor wins into victories on the main roster. They swore that if they lost another match they would call it quits...but that was before they knew their opponents would be War Machine. Former ROH Tag Champions Hanson and Ray Rowe make their final appearances at this taping and will look to go out on a high.

Ali isn't hanging around - diving straight over the top rope with a somersault plancha during War Machine's entrance. Together he and LSG scoop Rowe up and throw him at his own partner. Shotgun Knee/Bronco Buster combo by Hanson and Rowe in response. They try to knock Shaheem out with repeated close-ranged knee strikes and time looks to be almost up for C2C as a team. St. Giovanni gets a tag, quickening the pace and dropping even Hanson with a tumbling clothesline. 450 SPLASH on Rowe for 2! BACK DROP DRIVER on Hanson! Rowe has seen enough and takes LSG's head-off with the Judo Throw Knee. Swinging front slam by Shaheem...only for him to walk into Hanson's handspring elbow. Decapitation suplex combo gets 2 on Leon. Path Of Destruction nailed so emphatically that LSG is a ragdoll before the sequence is even complete. Ali gets a desperate tag and runs into an Olympic Slam on Ray Rowe. Hanson tries to smear him in the corner for the Sesame Street clotheslines...but C2C block it in tandem with a kick flurry. Flatliner/STO combo! Rowe kicks out at 1 then starts headbutting the ragged Coast 2 Coast. They are fighting with everything they have...and Shaheem actually punches Rowe down to his knees! THOR'S HAMMER! ELBOW SUICIDA BY HANSON! ALI KICKS OUT! LSG stops them lining up Fallout and they beat Rowe down in the corner. COAST 2 COAST DROPKICKS! ROWE KICKS OUT! They are in disbelief. Even their finisher isn't enough...and in comes Hanson with the Spin Kick Of Doom. FALLOUT on Ali! HE KICKS OUT! It's War Machine's turn to stare at each other in disbelief. Cabana's astonished commentary is absolutely fantastic in putting that moment over too. They try to line up Fallout again...but Ali counters to a roll-up. HE WINS! C2C keep their right to team, winning at 10:55 (shown)

Rating - **** - Huge credit to War Machine for going out the right way. They could've gone out in a forgettable match, or asked to go out losing to the Bucks or the Briscoes. The fact they were willing to show up, bust their asses like this and put over two of the lowest ranked guys on the roster says a lot about the kind of professionals and men they are. They weren't dogging this either. It was full-throttle, the very best of War Machine - trying to beat the sh*t out of their opponents. The false finishes probably got a little bit lazy and silly - but in and of themselves they were a story. You had one team fighting for their right to stay a team, and the other fighting to go out of the company with their arms raised. The way the drama built with each passing false finish that you felt sure would be the conclusion to the match was special and the Philly fans REALLY bought into it. A star-making night for LSG and Shaheem Ali - now over to Delirious to see if he has anything lined up to capitalise on it.

Beer City Bruiser admits to taking inspiration from Silas Young's TV Title reign and has recruited Brian Milonas to form the biggest tag team in Ring Of Honor.

Bully Ray comes out carrying a pair of wrestling boots. Cutting straight to the point, he says that Final Battle was his last match. Whilst he was happy it was in his home town of New York, he knows that Philadelphia and the ECW Arena is where he was 'born' as a pro-wrestler...so wants to leave his boots here as a symbol of his retirement. Jay Lethal leads the locker room to the ring and thanks him for all the help he has given since he came into ROH, calling him a 'legend'. 

Ominous voiceover guy runs through some of the favourites for the Women Of Honor Championship tournament, and reveals that HZK, Hana Kimura and Kagetsu are joining Mayu Iwatani as representatives of Stardom in the tournament.

This is the first time we'll see Daniels, Kaz and Sky formally team up as SoCal Uncensored. Their alliance was revealed at Final Battle when they attacked Six-Man Champions the Hung Bucks after their successful defence against Flip Gordon, Dragon Lee and Titan. Daniels and Kazarian have had problems with Bullet Club going back a long time. The Ring General still bitterly resents the circumstances under which he lost the ROH World Championship to Cody, and I'm sure both Kazarian and Hangman still have scars from their intense Strap Match back at Best In The World 2017 as well. A win for SCU will surely be enough to earn them a Six-Man Title Match. They'll face a Bullet Club team coming for payback after they jumped the Young Bucks again last week...

Scorpio and Scurll are the first men in, with Sky's athleticism causing The Villain plenty of problems. He smartly retreats when Marty shows signs of a comeback and tries to go after his fingers. Daniels tags and demands that Cody joins him. Attempts at Cross Rhodes and Angel's Wings are both blocked, so Kaz jumps Rhodes from behind. His presence immediately brings Hangman in trying to take his head off. The physicality of their exchanges is a great callback to the Strap Match last year. Everyone piles to the outside...except Rhodes who takes flight with a suicide dive. Back inside for the Bullet Club Train spot, which Marty always instigates but never benefits from. Taven is on commentary and dryly points out how stupid that spot is and makes me laugh out loud. Cody's laceration from Final Battle has split open again, so now he is covered in blood as Kazarian and Daniels pound on him. Tope suicida from Page to Daniels...and Hangman keeps going to chuck the Fallen Angel into railings repeatedly. Folding powerbomb gets 2 on Scorpio. Drop-sault to Daniels and Sky for another nearfall. Doctors appear to have patched Cody up on the floor (presumably so Sinclair affiliates don't have to blur out his bloody face), but he still hasn't returned to the apron as SCU hit a powerbomb/neckbreaker combo, then a double stomp from Sky. Disaster Kick nailed when he does enter the fray. DOOMSDAY MISSILE DROPKICK by Cody and Marty! Daniels jumps The Villain to stop him hitting the Chickenwing, and he shows more veteran instinct to block the Finger Snap. Arabian Press to the floor by him. ROPE RUN suicide dive by Cody! Slingshot rana to the outside by Frankie - sending Rhodes into an ACE CRUSHER ON THE FLOOR by Scorpio! MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR BY HANGMAN! HE DESTROYED HIS LEG AGAINST THE GUARDRAIL! Buckshot Lariat ducked...and Sky knocks him the hell out with a jumping knee strike. SCU win at 09:44 (shown).

Rating - *** - What a punchy little main event this was. They didn't go long but it was absolutely packed with intriguing content. I thoroughly enjoyed the continuation of the Daniels/Cody and Kaz/Hangman feuds from last year, but it all felt revitalised and fresh too. Scorpio Sky bounces off The Addiction well as someone who is super-athletic and hungry to prove himself, compared to the more jaded and antagonistic style of Daniels and Kazarian. Cody wrestled this one like had a point to prove as well, despite bleeding all over the place. Undeniably the moment of the match came when it seemed like Page had pulled a TK O'Ryan and broken his leg moonsaulting off the railing...but then got up to a roaring ovation.

Tape Rating - *** - Bogus Bully Ray retirement ceremony aside (and even that would have been quite touching had it been genuine), this was a great show. The main event surprised me with its quality. They didn't get long, Scurll was in his second match of the taping and Cody was still stitched up after losing the World Title...so I hadn't been expecting them to go as hard as they did. The REAL surprise package, though was C2C/War Machine. For selective ROH viewers that is definitely a match to check out. The were able to deliver genuine drama and the whole package felt like an incredibly classy way for Hanson and Rowe to leave the promotion. After some poor tapings in the second half of 2017 - this was a really good batch of episodes to get 2018 started...

5) Christopher Daniels/Frankie Kazarian/Scorpio Sky vs Cody/Marty Scurll/Adam Page (*** - Episode 332)

4) Young Bucks vs Best Friends vs Dragon Lee/Titan (**** - Episode 331)

3) Marty Scurll vs Flip Gordon (**** - Episode 329)

2) Coast 2 Coast vs War Machine (**** - Episode 332)

1) Jay Lethal vs Will Ospreay (**** - Episode 330)