McXal's Reviews

For some reason only three episodes were put to film at this taping. The final instalment is tonight, where our main event will see Adam Page and the Young Bucks defend the ROH Six-Man Tag Championship against SCU. Also tonight the WOH Title Tournament continues, and Flip Gordon will get the chance to test himself against Jay Lethal. Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana are in Nashville, TN.

SoCal Uncensored promise to bring about the end of Bullet Club by taking the Six-Man Titles tonight. The Hung Bucks try to cut a serious promo in response but can't resist the urge to joke around and hit their catchphrases from 'Being The Elite'...

Flip's rise up the ranks continues with a chance to wrestle 'the Franchise' this evening. Lethal has thrown his hat in the ring for a shot at Dalton Castle's World Championship, so the pressure is entirely on him to win big-time matches like this. Gordon is dangerous and talented, therefore has the ability to derail Jay's championship aspirations almost instantly...

Lethal repeatedly tries to take Flip off his feet...but can't pin him down and finally Gordon HANDSTANDS out of an attempted Ace Crusher! Gordon shows surprising strike power to pummel the former World Champion into the corner then starts unleashing repeated Impact Explosion Dropkicks. He tries another tumble to counter Lethal's hiptoss dropkick spot...except Jay has him in his sights and unloads a roaring elbow instead. He targets Flip's back with a flurry of knee drops and a backbreaker, clearly aware of how much Flip's aerial antics will be stunted by a back injury. A jumping enzi knocks Jay to the outside, where he lands a tope suicida! Seemingly trying to rip off Lethal's Tope Trilogy, Lethal retorts by booting him in the head and driving his back into the guardrails with a tope of his own. Superkick from Flip...and they start jockeying for position trying to land another suicida from there. CORKSCREW MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR INSTEAD! Gordon loves to fly, but that damaged his back further and he can't stand up afterwards. Both men are battle-worn when they hit the ring again. Springboard Sling Blade scored as a COUNTER to the Lethal Injection! Samoan Pop Pele gets 2! Kinder Surprise nailed...but Lethal no sells and walks out of the corner to put Flip into a Figure 4 Leglock. Flip tries a Star Spangled Stunner...but his leg gives out on him! DRAGON SUPLEX! LETHAL INJECTION! Lethal wins at 10:15 (shown).

Rating - *** - I think Flip legitimately slipped on the ropes at the end there, but it made perfect sense given that he'd just been in a Figure 4 so ironically, despite being slightly messed up this match had the best finish of the entire taping. In my opinion this was a ***1/2 level match easily. Lethal was awesome as the dogged veteran trying to beat down the new blood, and in return Gordon picked his moments to dish out his spectacular high spots really well too. The guy is already a good babyface for a beatdown and I thought he emoted the impact of Lethal's attack on his back well. 

Colt Cabana leaves commentary to break the news to Jay Lethal that he will be challenging for the World Championship at the 16th Anniversary Show. Marty Scurll comes out and angrily protests the decision. He demands that he gets the first shot if Lethal beats Dalton...and Jay agrees.

The WOH Title Tournament continues. Brandi calls herself the underdog to win the belt, and admits she is the least experienced. But she won her place in the tournament with a win over Stella Grey (despite some interference from her opponent tonight) and wants to be a 'Cinderella Story'. Karen is full of confidence, possesses the only WOH victory over Kelly Klein and is one of the favourites. Can she cope with the pressure of being expected to win?

Karen attacks Rhodes during her entrance. Fans jeer that but cheer seconds later as Brandi throws her on her ass with an armdrag. Q chokes her opponent in the corner, using that as a set-up for a handspring clothesline, then a thrust kick for 2. Back from commercials and she is getting another nearfall with a tumbling senton/standing moonsault combo. Frog splash MISSES though. Chops and elbows by Rhodes, but she misses a missile dropkick and jumps into the 'Chinatown Crab' (Cabana's words, not mine). Brandi makes the ropes forcing the match to continue though. Rhodes pops up out of the corner and goes down holding her ankle...but it's a trick! She plays possum and nabs Karen for a small package! Brandi advances at 05:00 (shown).

Rating - ** - The wrestling wasn't necessarily of the highest standard, but considering this was only a five minute match I thought they had a solid narrative here. Karen was cocky, over-confident and dismissive of Brandi's skills...which ultimately cost her as she didn't see a sneaky trick from a member of the Rhodes family coming. Don't get me wrong, I HATE Brandi going over. Karen has been a strong addition to the WOH roster, and Brandi winning means we didn't get Tenille Dashwood vs Karen Q in the Quarter-Finals, which would have been a great match. But I can't deny that they told the story they wanted to very well.

Marty Scurll interrupts a backstage Dalton Castle promo to remind him of The Villain's ROH debut match - where he beat Dalton. He wants a title shot if Castle beats Lethal at the Anniversary Show.

SoCal Uncensored were unveiled as a trio at Final Battle and made their intentions known that they were coming after the Hung Bucks (with whom Daniels and Kaz have so much history) to take the Six-Man Titles. They caused more chaos in Philadelphia, attacking the Bucks in the ring and paying Shane Taylor off to assault Scurll backstage. But they made an enemy of ROH COO Joe Koff, who announced on national television that he won't be renewing their contracts at the end of 2018. In effect SCU are on borrowed time. Do they want the belts to force ROH into giving them new deals? Or do they want the belts to hold hostage on their way out? Either way a win this evening would be major considering their contractual status.

Page and Kazarian demand to start and do their best to punch each other's lights out. The rest of SCU soon pile in to attack Hangman from behind. The Bucks are on the scene in a flash as well, unleashing a flurry of double teams on Daniels and Sky. Drop-sault by Hangman as the Hung Bucks clear the ring! Suicide dive to the floor by Nick! Rise Of The Terminator triple tope suicidas score next, setting up the Buckshot Lariat by Page for 2. On the outside Frankie swings a clothesline at Page but accidentally levels Daniels instead. It needs an assist from Scorpio before The Addiction are able to hit that attempted double team on the Hangman. SCU try to keep Page away from the Bucks...but he Superkicks Sky on the floor and collides with Kazarian when returning to the ring. Hot tag to Matt, who comes in flanked by his brother for STEREO SUPERKICKS! Standing moonsault/frog splash combo gets 2 on Daniels. Kaz comes to the rescue with a slingshot cutter! Superkicks by Matt! SOMERSAULT PLANCHA by Sky! TOP ROPE MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR by Page! Angel's Wings countered with a hurricanrana by Matt. Sharpshooter/facebuster combo by the Bucks! Moonsault to the floor by Nick! Daniels taps out...but the ref is on the floor with Kaz! ROPE RUN TWISTING SENTON BY NICK! Scorpio arms himself with one of the new Six-Man Title belts (the old ones were better but I don't really like either) and NAILS Matt from behind! Daniels pins, and we have new Trios Champions at 09:47 (shown). SCU celebrate a championship which ensures their ROH future...but Bully Ray comes out. He calls ROH the 'wild west' where rules are broken, people make their own matches, and do whatever the hell they want. Apparently Joe Koff has appointed him as an 'Enforcer' to restore 'honor'. His first act is restarting the match. SUPERKICKS by the Hung Bucks! SSP TO THE FLOOR by Hangman! MELTZER DRIVER! Bucks retain at 10:20 (total shown).

Rating - *** - I suspect people will expect me to hate this one a lot more than I did. As a match I liked it and I know we'll be seeing more of SCU vs Bullet Club anyway. And whilst I'd happily never see Bully in ROH again his arrival here makes sense on two counts. Firstly, it has been apparent since Nigel McGuinness left his onscreen 'Match Maker' role that people do whatever they want. Guys have booked, chopped and changed matches, stipulations and more with total disregard for authority. Occasionally we have mention of 'ROH Officials' or a 'Board Of Directors' but that has meant nothing. Introducing Bully 'solves' an element of that. In addition, the fact that Joe Koff sent him out to screw SCU, just weeks after telling them he wasn't renewing their contracts, is a GREAT twist in that angle. SCU had gold in their hands and a potential loophole around the contract issue only to have it taken away again by 'businessman' Joe. I'm not happy that almost every match at this taping has had some kind of f*ck finish...but I understood the purpose of this one and I wasn't against it. 

NEXT WEEK - Silas Young vs Kenny King for the TV Title...

Tape Rating - ** - Still not as good as the Philly episodes, but this was the best show of this taping. Lethal/Flip stole the show, the main event delivered some athletic pyrotechnics coupled with genuine story progression, we got a World Title Match sorted for the 16th Anniversary...and I didn't dislike Brandi/Karen either in truth (even though I disagreed with the choice of winner). If you watch ROH TV selectively then I'd suggest Dalton/Martinez last week, Taven/Cody from #333 and the two decent matches from this episode are really all you NEED to see.

5) Young Bucks/Adam Page vs Christopher Daniels/Frankie Kazarian/Scorpio Sky (*** - Episode 335)

4) Marty Scurll vs Shane Taylor (*** - Episode 333)

3) Cody vs Matt Taven (*** - Episode 333)

2) Dalton Castle vs Punishment Martinez (*** - Episode 334)

1) Jay Lethal vs Flip Gordon (*** - Episode 335)