McXal's Reviews

According to Honor Club's official airdate, this episode is broadcast on the exact sixteenth anniversary of ROH's first ever show - Era Of Honor Begins. To celebrate the occasion our main event is the big TV Title showdown between Silas Young and former champion Kenny King. We'll also see more from the Women Of Honor Championship Tournament, plus the Young Bucks in action. Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana are set up for commentary in Atlanta, GA.

Bully Ray is in the ring to remind everyone that he is now the official 'ROH Enforcer'. He's here to enforce the 'honor' in Ring Of Honor supposedly.

Last week SoCal Uncensored thought they were the new Six-Man Tag Champions. They'd cheated to achieve it - Sky used one of the belts as a weapon - but they were announced as the winners. But Bully's appointment as Enforcer preceded that decision being overturned, and a potential loophole in Joe Koff's plan to release them at the end of 2018 had been closed. Kazarian in particular has heaps of history with the Young Bucks. Both teams would love a shot at the Tag Titles shortly. There is so much more than just pride at stake here...

Kazarian starts punching Matt in his bad back before the bell even rings. This is taped the night after the Best Friends destroyed his pre-existing back injury at Honor Reigns Supreme. Matt has recovered enough to bust out a few back flips and kicks early on...but he and his brother get confused as Cody strolls down the aisle to join commentary. The distraction sees SCU assume control of the match, even as Cody tries to assure everyone that Bullet Club is fine. Springboard double stomp by Nick but Frankie acts fast to incapacitate him with a slingshot DDT on the apron. TOPE ATOMICO BY SKY! It means SCU can isolate Matt and his back is really bothering him. Spear from Matt to Scorpio! But Kaz dropkicks him in the ribs then levels him with the SLINGSHOT RANA TO THE FLOOR! ACE CRUSHER ON THE APRON from Scorpio to Nick! SOMERSAULT SENTON OFF THE STAGE BY MATT! But he collapses holding his back after pulling that off. Cody says his back is fine though - just like Bullet Club. Slingshot Cutter by Frankie, before SCU unleash stereo Dragon Clutches looking to force a submission. COUNTERED to duelling Sharpshooters! SCU escape...into stereo Superkicks! Kazarian Jerry Lynn's Matt's back in the ropes to block the Meltzer Driver! Moonsault off the apron by Nick! MELTZER DRIVER! Bucks win at 08:44 (shown).

Rating - *** - I considered going to 4* on this as it was a lot of fun to give away for free on television. Matt's back injury was referenced but not the focal point of the match as it was versus the Best Friends in Concord. The growing tensions in Bullet Club were BRILLIANTLY verbalised by Cody on commentary, who somehow managed to be funny, insightful, entertaining but very rarely did he distract from the in-ring action either. Kaz and Scorpio are a fun, fresh team in the tag division too. Obviously ROH fans have seen a lot of what Frankie offers, but adding the more athletic Sky into the mix really changes the dynamic in a positive way.

Chris Daniels runs out and slams into Matt's back from behind. Cody takes his time and calls for security rather than rushes into the ring to help the Bucks as they are attacked by SCU. In the end it takes Hangman Page, armed with a chair, to make the save...and only then does Cody come out from behind the announce table.

LAST WEEK - Bruiser and Brian Milonas make fun of Kenny King for losing the TV Title...right before Silas Young jumps him from behind. The Last Real Man throws him into a steel garage door and hurls abuse at Kenny...

Ian and Colt announce that Motor City Machine Guns vs Briscoe Brothers for the Tag Titles has been signed for the 16th Anniversary Show. From there they take us to (very brief) highlights of two first round Women Of Honor Title Tournament Matches. Since both of them aired in full on YouTube for 'Women Of Honor Wednesday' I have reviewed the full matches from ROH's YouTube page instead...

We all know Kelly is the red-hot favourite. With just one count-out loss on her entire ROH record, if the belt were being handed over to the most 'deserving' competitor she would take it. But she has to compete like everyone else, and she doesn't have a walkover in the first round. Jessie 'Bonesaw' Brooks might not be the most well-known worker in the tournament, but she is hard-hitting and tough. She will certainly push 'The Gatekeeper' all the way. This one was taped in Nashville at the 'Music City Excellence' taping

Kelly has ditched The Decade's old music and actually has quite a cool entrance, including a bad-ass Carytron video and pyro. No handshake between these two - they just stare at each other like they want to punch each other's lights out. Bonesaw doesn't back down an inch from the Gatekeeper, forcing Kelly to literally propel her entire body at her with a running avalanche in the corner just to back Brooks up. Jessie recovers quickly from that and knocks Klein over the top rope to the floor. When Kelly tries to get up Brooks simply grabs her gear and launches her head-first into the guardrail. KLEIN-LINE ON THE FLOOR! Bonesaw survives that and tries to elbow Klein in the head...which Kelly no-sells and mafia kicks her to the ground (for a mere 1-count)! Bonesaw channels her inner Low Ki by setting her opponent up for a flurry of kicks across the chest...and still Klein shakes her off and blasts her with a spinebuster. Still Brooks kicks out at just one though. They stands in the middle of the ring and start PASTING each other with strikes and just don't stop. TIGER SUPLEX gets 2 for Jessie! K-Power blocked into a NECK DROP GERMAN SUPLEX! NO SOLD! GERMAN BY KELLY! Brooks muscles up for a fisherman suplex then tries to tap the Gatekeeper out with a cross armbreaker. COUNTERED TO K-POWER! Bonesaw kicks out! Knock-out knee strike! Kelly wins at 08:18

Rating - *** - I'm glad I took the time to watch this in full on YouTube as it was really decent. Klein's best matches always come when she gets an opponent who allows her to cut out the bulsh*t and work a more of a 'strong' style. Here neither woman tried anything complicated. From the opening bell they came out to beat the hell out of each other - and delivered such a physical bout that both come out looking better as a result. Klein marches into the Quarter Finals with a powerful reminder of why she has been so hard to beat, but Bonesaw gets the rub from knowing she pushed the Gatekeeper hard, and kicked out of some her biggest moves (some at just a one-count). It's a shame more WOH matches aren't worked in this style.

Purrazzo competed in the first match after ROH's 'Women Of Honor' relaunch, but has only established herself as a mainstay of the WOH division more recently. Undisputedly one of the most technically gifted performers in the field, she could be considered another of the frontrunners for the championship. She has an extremely tough first round match though, as she faces the mysterious Holidead. We've seen her before of course, and she uses her pre-match interview time to tell us that where most people try to cover their darkness, she paints her face so people can see it. This one was taped as a dark match before Honor Reigns Supreme 2018 in Concord, NC.

Holidead was trained by Gangrel apparently, which seems appropriate. She has a clear power advantage over the Virtuosa so spends the opening minutes trying to muscle her around. Deonna shows her tactical knowledge by provoking Holi into a faster-paced match, before sending her out of the ring with a running hurricanrana. She tries to follow that with a crossbody off the apron...only for Holidead to catch her and ram her back into the ringpost. Now Purrazzo starts making mistakes; trying to suplex Dead...and getting her now-injured back driven into the canvas as punishment. Pendulum submission by Holidead...which Deonna escapes and manages to drive her shoulder into the ringpost. Italian Legsweep gets 2, so Holi drops her on the bad back again with a spinebuster. Dead Drop gets 2. Satellite Armbar by Deonna! HOLI TAPS! Purrazzo advances at 06:19

Rating - ** - There were moments of real quality within this, but unfortunately it felt like a lot of other Women Of Honor matches - in that it was too short and suffered by being taped as a dark match before a main card. I liked Holidead using her power and working the back, and I really liked watching Purrazzo experiment with different strategies to counteract that. But in six minutes they had absolutely nothing to work with. In the end it was fun whilst it lasted and the finish was a great way to put over Deonna's fearsome submission hold as she goes deeper into the tournament.

Matt Taven vs Cody is announced for 16th Anniversary Show, as is Marty Scurll vs Punishment Martinez in a World Title #1 contendership match. 

At Final Battle these two were both involved in a four corner survival, with Kenny King attempting to defend his TV Title against three other men. He didn't even make it to the final two, but only because Young smashed a beer bottle over his head, out of sight of the referee. It was a cruel end to a TV Title reign which Kenny worked so hard for. He refused to drop the matter though, and from the very first TV Taping in Philadelphia has been pursuing the Last Real Man for a rematch. After King defeated Young in a six-man tag two weeks ago in Nashville, ROH officials had no choice but to sanction this. Silas has The Bouncers with him at ringside...

Silas trash talks but obviously has a gameplan to keep King on the mat so adopts a grappling-heavy approach early on. The second King starts quickening the pace Beer City Bruiser trips him up. Bully Ray comes out and ejects The Bouncers from ringside as a result. As Silas argues with Todd Sinclair, Kenny unleashes a flurry of armdrags. Back drop over the top rope by Young, causing the challenger to spill almost onto the entrance steps upon landing. Kenny strikes back with a volley of punches, only to miss the corkscrew pescado. Capo kick on the apron nailed...and he celebrates it far too hard, allowing Young to drill him face-first into the edge of the ring. CORKSCREW SENTON OFF THE STAGE! The challenger is so impressed with that he sprints into the crowd taking selfies! Spinebuster nailed and gets 2. Royal Flush blocked...Misery blocked. Young rakes the eyes, and even without his vision Kenny almost pins him! Killer Combo scores, right into a slingshot swinging neckbreaker. Plunge countered...Royal Flush turned into a small package for 2! LAST CHANCERY! Silas makes the ropes and bails in an effort to save his TV Title. Kenny keeps having to retrieve the champ...until Silas engineers a situation where he can kick the middle rope into his balls. The Plunge scores for 2. The two athletes peel themselves off the canvas still hurling abuse at each other. Kenny musters up the energy to hit his pop-up sunset flip out of the corner...and wins! It's a three-count and we have a new TV Champion at 12:57 (shown).

Rating - *** - It wasn't anywhere near as epic as Riccaboni and Cabana were shooting for on commentary, but I enjoyed this as a solid and workmanlike main event from two experienced performers who are visibly busting their asses trying to seize this opportunity and break out to the next level. I don't think they are ideally suited as opponents (King really isn't a natural babyface), but for sheer effort and determination you could not fault these guys. I'm glad they kept the outside interference to a minimum this week (Silas' match with Josh Woods at Honor Reigns Supreme was terrible for that reason), and the quick switch of the belt back to Kenny is an interesting plot-twist since the issue between these guys clearly isn't over. 

NEXT WEEK - Hangman Page vs Christopher Daniels & a tag team main event pitting Dalton Castle and Jay Lethal against Marty Scurll and Punishment Martinez.

Tape Rating - *** - It wouldn't be fair to factor in the two WOH Title Tournament matches into my episode rating (although you should check out Klein/Bonesaw on YouTube), but I thought this was a strong hour of television. Bucks/SCU was a great match to kick-off the taping, delivering really decent in-ring action and finding clever ways to further the 'Bullet Club is fine' angle. Spotlighting the WOH tournament on television (they actually showed more character packages than in-ring footage) was at least an attempt at promoting the Women's division...and then we got a big title change in the main event. There wasn't anything you NEED to see here, but it was good stuff throughout. This was the standard of show I'd expect ROH to put out every week (which considering the talent roster they are more than capable of).