McXal's Reviews

With two weeks to go before Best In The World we launch into a new and particularly risky set of TV tapings. I say risky, because they are taking place at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Going back to the mid-00's Manhattan has been ROH's A-1 market. It's not that they've NEVER taped TV there, but as TV tapings are rarely the 'best' live show experiences it is a clear, calculated gamble to tape television and potentially lose a portion of your core audience in your hottest market. Hopefully it means ROH have a big few weeks of TV lined up. We start this week with a major grudge match main event which pits the Young Bucks and Adam Page against their hated rivals and PPV opponents - the Briscoes and Punishment Martinez. Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana are in Manhattan, NY.

Dalton Castle and The Boys open the show, fully suited and once again very much not looking ready to compete. This is taped a week after the Honor United (UK) Tour, where he looked very much a broken man. He admits that the odds are against him at Best In The World...but he vows that 'nothing will change' and he will keep dropping opponents on their head (repeatedly). 

We get a video recap of Jay Lethal going through the roster and avenging losses in his effort to get back into championship contention. That continues this evening as he looks to avenge the loss he suffered to Chuckie T (in a triple threat) during the War Of The Worlds Tour.

Lethal tries to establish dominance down on the mat but is thwarted by the deceptive grappling skills of the Kentucky Gentleman. Chuck tries to hiptoss Jay to the floor, but Lethal rolls through the ropes and lands on his feet. He tries a rebound Ace Crusher back in, but dodged by Taylor leaving him eating the canvas. Jay tries to repay that dodge moments later as he evades a quebrada by Chuckie, but doesn't see that Taylor has landed on his feet and is coiled waiting to deck him with a dropkick. Back from commercials with Jay driving his opponent out of the ring with the hiptoss/dropkick combo. Tope Trilogy nailed; each one propelling Taylor back-first into the guardrails. Lethal clearly noticed that to as he brings Chuck back into the ring and drops him again with a backbreaker for 2. Taylor isn't overly interesting in selling it much sadly and hits Sole Food moments later. They battle over a back suplex before blasting each other to the ground with simultaneous lariats. They trade palm strikes, sending Chuckie to the apron. He dodges Lethal's springboard dropkick but misses a pescado and leaps into an ACE CRUSHER ON THE FLOOR! Taylor beats the count back into the ring...although he is soon back on his ass after a superkick. He resorts to clinging to Lethal's boot to stop him climbing up the ropes for the Macho Elbow. Lethal Combination COUNTERED to a schoolboy pin for 2. SNAP PILEDRIVER gets 2 as well. Lethal is reeling but counters the Awful Waffle to the Lethal Injection - winning the match at 10:48 (shown).

Rating - *** - Lethal is having a great year and this was a decent TV match. I actually he thought he carried it to a large extent, lending the match gravity and significance which Taylor felt like he was trying to undermine with way too much goofing off and not enough selling. I love Chuck Taylor, and he displayed plenty of high quality wrestling here...but he frequently allows his comedy act to eclipse his wrestling. To me it was only the brilliance of Lethal which prevented that on this occasion...

Ian and Colt speculate that Lethal may be the next #1 contender if he can defeat Kushida at Best In The World, also revealing that Bully Ray vs Flip Gordon and Kenny King vs Austin Aries have also been signed for the PPV.

There could be no better preview for Best In The World than this one. The Briscoes defend the Tag Titles against the Young Bucks. We thought we were getting that bout for free on television six weeks ago until Jay and Mark got the match thrown out with their lawless antics then launched an all-out assault on the members of Bullet Club. If that weren't violent enough, the escalating incidents between Page and Martinez have been even worse. They've put each other through tables, attacked each other from behind, cost each other championships - and this is the first time they'll actually make it to the bell for a match between them since the feud began. This was taped before Punisher beat Silas for the TV Title in Texas, so there is no mention of him with the belt...

Nick and Mark to start, with Jackson having to quickly duck an attempted cheap-shot from Briscoe. He hits a flying lucha headscissors out of the corner which pisses Jay off so much that he throws a chair into the ring then hauls Nick out of it. SOMERSAULT PLANCHA BY MATT! Page and Martinez don't wait to be tagged - they just go to war. The Bucks bust out a BRILLIANT counter to the South Of Heaven; one Jackson launching the other into a somersault to escape the goozle. SHOOTING STAR TACKLE off the apron by Hangman as the crowd are going apesh*t. Stereo pescados by the Bucks, but when Page lines up the big moonsault Martinez THROWS HIM INTO THE APRON! SOMERSAULT SENTON OFF THE RINGPOST BY PUNISHER! Mark gives Matt a backbreaker on the apron, trying to go after his known injuries to get an advantage, whilst his brother and Martinez set up an open table on the floor. Redneck Boogie through the table blocked with a kick flurry by Nick. MARK NAILS HIM WITH A CHAIR! TOP ROPE FROGGY BOW TO THE FLOOR, THROUGH THE TABLE ON MATT! We cut to another commercial break and return with some semblance of order having been restored and Matt on the apron heavily selling his back whilst the opposing trio wear down his brother. ROPE RUN SPRINGBOARD PLANCHA BY NICK! Hot tag to Page, who lays out both Briscoes with the Drop-sault. He spits in Punishment's face and clobbers him over the apron. TOP ROPE MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR NAILED! Standing moonsault/frog splash/Red Star Press sequence gets 2 on the big man before the Briscoes emerge to make a save. Stereo Sharpshooters on them! Martinez breaks...BUCKSHOT LARIAT on him though. ELEVATED 450 SPLASH  from Nick to Martinez gets 2. Rite Of Passage blocked until Page and Punisher knock each other out. Jay and Matt tag in swinging punches, raking eyes and trying to f*ck each other up. SUPERKICK! NO SOLD! SNAP DVD! Nick breaks the pin...so Mark chucks him out of the ring. DOOMSDAY DEVICE! MATT COUNTERS BY BACKFLIPPING INTO SUPERKICKS! Jay grabs Page instead. DOOMSDAY SUPER SPINNING HEEL KICK by Jay and Punisher! Spear by Matt! BLOCKBUSTER OFF THE APRON BY MARK! CURB STOMP BY MARTINEZ! MATT KICKS OUT! Mark thinks about the Froggy Bow, but Nick pays Mark back for earlier by lobbing a chair back into his head! DOUBLE SUPERKICK knocks Punisher out! ELBOWS BY JAY! TRIPLE SUPERKICK MURDERS HIM! MELTZER DRIVER...COUNTERED WITH THE F*CKING SPRINGBOARD ACE CRUSHER BY MARK! JAY DRILLER ON MATT! PAGE BREAKS THE PIN! This is f*cking nuts! Nick and Mark brawl on the apron trying to stop the Briscoes hitting the Doomsday Device. As on the floor Page POWERBOMBS MARTINEZ THROUGH A TABLE! Doomsay Device...COUNTERED to a victory roll. BUCKS WIN! MATT PINS JAY! What a huge message sent with Best In The World looming. It's over at 15:24 (shown).

Rating - ****1/2 - This was the best ROH TV match in quite a while. The first five minutes were so good and as we went to commercials I quietly thought to myself 'damn, I hope they can keep up this pace'. They didn't. They f*cking UPPED it. Every time you thought they had nowhere left to go they innovated another way to amp up the tension, action and drama. And not just spots for the sake of popping the crowd, the were weaving in familiarity counters, references to the ongoing feuds, references to past feuds - it was mind-blowing stuff. The crowd was molten hot for everything they did, all six guys really shone at different points. An ROH match hasn't surprised me like this in a long time. It was must-see good...

The Briscoes and Martinez try to put a beating on the victors but are chased off by a chair-wielding Cody Rhodes...

Tape Rating - **** - Everything we saw was relevant to the pay-per-view, Lethal/Taylor was a fine wrestling match and the main event was an easy TV MOTYC. Selective viewers, grab your Honor Club subscription and check this one out. I don't think I need to say much more than that. I said that ROH needed a big step up in the quality of their TV product if they wanted to tape television in their A-1 market. This episode absolutely stepped up