McXal's Reviews

The 2018 War Of The Worlds Tour is in full swing, meanwhile in TV land we have huge Tag Title showdown to think about. This evening the Young Bucks challenge the Briscoes and have promised 'pay-per-view quality on free television'. Lets head back to Stage AE in Pittsburgh, PA, with commentary provided by Ian Riccaboni and BJ Whitmer.

Two of the higher profile names on the Women Of Honor scene look to process their disappointment at failing to win the WOH Title Tournament with a battle against each other. Klein was defeated for the first time at Supercard Of Honor, whilst Madison was eliminated in something of an upset in the first round by Mandy Leon. Who rebounds first?

Klein looks fired up and easily tosses Rayne around with a huge scowl on her face. Madison goes to one of her favourite tactics, which is going for repeated flash pins. Klein finally comes up with a counter by wheelbarrowing her right onto her face. She tries to choke her out - literally climbing up the ropes and trying to hang her in a rear naked choke. Rayne bails, with Kelly in hot pursuit to give her a suplex on the floor. Ripcord Ace Crusher (apparently called the Chance Of Rayne) gets 2, followed by the Barbie Crusher for another nearfall. K-Power by Klein in response. Kelly rams a knee into Rayne's face, knocking her out and delivering an easy pinfall at 05:34 (shown).

Rating - * - The premise here was good. Kelly is pissed off at losing in the tournament final so wanted to beat someone up. Unfortunately the execution was way off. Most of the match was incredibly awkward to watch. When Kelly clicks with an opponent (like her match with Bonesaw Brooks in the WOH Tournament) she can be really fun to watch...but these two seemed to have zero chemistry.

NEXT WEEK - SCU face Bullet Club. Daniels, Kaz and Sky remind everyone that they are still Six-Man Champions and relish the chance to tear the divided Bullet Club apart...

NEXT WEEK - Jay Lethal wants to avenge his 2017 loss to Punishment Martinez. 

Motor City Machine Guns get some mic-time next. Sabin admits that they are undecided about the future of their team, but is quickly interrupted by The Dawgs. They want to 'put Old Yeller out to pasture' and suckerpunch the former Tag Champions. 

Titus and Ferrara are pissed off at MCMG for thwarting their beatdown of Jon Gresham on last week's episode. This week they want a match, knowing full well the value of a win over the former Tag Champions. Given that Sabin and Shelley are now publically evaluating the long-term future of their team, a commanding performance here could be just what they need to convince them they still have what it takes.

The Machine Guns dump The Dawgs outside and hit the through-the-legs tope suicida spot. Jumping enzi/Shellshock combo sends Ferrara packing...but whilst he's out there he grabs Sabin's leg to prevent the Dream Sequence and gives him a tornado DDT on the floor. Somersault plancha nailed by Rhett immediately afterwards. Shelley fights back against the big brother/little brother double-teams so instead Titus clotheslines him into the guardrails. Tope suicida by Ferrara...but he accidentally wipes out his own partner. Tag to Sabin who hurdles the turnbuckles for a crossbody to the floor on both of them. Dream Sequence on Rhett, but the Big Dawg survives that to Lawn Dart Sabin into the turnbuckles. Big Dawg Splash gets 2. Rope run Super Sex Factor blocked, then countered to the Hesitation Dropkick. Skull & Bones is enough to pin Titus at 05:46 (shown).

Rating - ** - Sort of a nothing match in all honesty. It was completely decent but oozed 'we have nothing planned for either of these teams'. All four men were perfectly professional but it really is hard to blame them for not putting forth their best effort here. Five instantly forgettable filler minutes.

The Young Bucks plan to become four-time Tag Champions tonight, and cement their spot as the greatest team in Ring Of Honor history.

This is a 'Future Of Honor' bout, because apparently even though ROH's TV show only runs 45-minutes and there is a huge Tag Title main event we have time to fit this in too. Isom has popped up on a few occasions for enhancement duty and has looked a natural athlete. Facade, the colourfully-attired 'Neon Ninja' is hardly a rookie. He has been around for a decade, competed all over the worked and multiple US indies like CZW. He is a high-flier and hungry to impress and earn a spot.

Facade is quickly frustrated as the vastly less-experienced Isom matches him every step of the way in a fast-paced opening minute. Eli actually puts the Ninja on the ground with a leaping knee strike and follows it with a thunderous running uppercut as well. Springboard dropkick by Facade but Eli flees when he lines up a big springboard dive to the floor. Backbreaker/northern lights suplex combo by Isom which pitches Facade to the floor. Jumping boot by the Neon Ninja to block Eli's dive, setting up a DOUBLE SPRINGBOARD 450 TO THE FLOOR! Facade landed on his feet too! ROPE WALK flying martial arts kick gets 2. Bully Ray comes out and obliterates Facade with a clothesline. That's a DQ finish (so Facade wins?) at 04:40

Rating - ** - I was quite enjoying this. Isom is kind of nerdy but so enthusiastic, so athletic and has real potential considering how little time he's been doing this. Facade is clearly more experienced and has an identifiable look, plus delivered a couple of fun high spots. Quite unfairly I found this a little offensive though. Every second takes precious time away from the Bucks and the Briscoes. Why did this need five minutes of ring time? Why couldn't Bubba come out and beat them up right away? 

Bully tosses Eli and Facade out by their hair, calls them 'young boy bottom feeders' and fires them (since he is ROH Enforcer). Cheeseburger comes out to tell Bully to his face that he is a 'piece of sh*t'. Bully chokeslams him right on his neck. Joe Koff is here now (why is he on TV so much these days?!), firing Bully as the Enforcer...so Bully 'unretires' to become part of the active roster again.

Cody and Hangman agree that they despise Daniels and Kazarian (Marty chips in that he doesn't like Scorpio Sky much either). They plan to beat SCU next week, put themselves right back into the Six-Man Title picture...then Cody wants to go to Best In The World and face Dalton for the World Title (in a match that Scurll is currently scheduled for). 

Well, we were promised PPV quality for free on television, but given that there are less than ten minutes of the episode left by the time we start I find that somehow doubtful. The issues between these teams go back years. They most recently fought over the Tag Titles in late-2016/early-2017 with the Bucks successfully defending the belts on both occasions. If they can repeat that tonight they will leave four-time champions, as promised.

The Briscoes throw chairs into the ring...which the Bucks grab and promptly use on the champs before the bell rings! It kick-starts a wild brawl all around ringside as referee Todd Sinclair loses all control. Stereo topes by the Bucks, into DOUBLE APRON BOMBS, even as Matt's back threatens to give out on him again. The Briscoes start attacking that back in response...until Matt hits Mark with a Moose-style rolling Spear. Nick tags in throwing rapid-fire strikes to both champions, soon joined by his brother to give them double Superkicks. Frog splash/standing moonsault combo on Mark for 2. Mark hits a Redneck Kung Fu thrust after Nick misses a 450 Splash, but is booted in the face by Matt. Sharpshooter...broken by Jay who boots Matt's own brother into him. Sharpshooter by Jay! Choke Sleeper from Mark to Matt - with body scissors to amp up the damage on the injured back. Splash Mountain Neckbreaker gets 2. Doomsay Device...MATT BACK FLIPS INTO A SUPERKICK! JAY DRILLER! MATT KICKS OUT! Meltzer Driver lined up, but Mark nails Nick with a steel chair! The ref has to call it - giving the Bucks a disqualification victory at 06:58 (shown).

Rating - *** - This was seven minutes of awesome at the end of a rather tedious episode. They knew they weren't going long so beat the hell out of each other relentlessly. To set the stage for a feature-length title bout between them at Best In The World this was really great. 

The champs lay into the Bucks with repeated chair shots, then grab the injured Matt Jackson for a DOUBLE SUPERPLEX INTO A PILE OF CHAIRS! Mark then sneaks up onto the stage and lies in wait so he can smash up Hangman Page and Flip Gordon when they come to help. Cody finally arrives...so Jay whacks him across the head with a chair too. The Briscoes end the episode standing tall over a decimated Bullet Club!

Tape Rating - * - Briscoes/Bucks was really good. Everything else about this episode was, on the other hand, seriously bad. Klein/Madison was a major misfire to start the hour, letting Isom, Facade, Bully and Cheeseburger suck almost ten minutes out of the episode was a horrible decision and MCMG/Dawgs was so forgettable I actually forgot about in my first draft of this summary paragraph. Given how many Briscoes/Bucks matches there are, and given that we are setting up to another, higher profile match between them in future - watching a six-minute sprint between them here really isn't enough to recommend this episode at all.