McXal's Reviews

As ROH's live event circuit gears up for the PPV broadcast of content taped during the Jericho Cruise and Survival Of The Fittest 2018, the episodic TV show brings us to the aftermath of Glory By Honor 16. We know one match we'll see tonight - Bully Ray has challenged Flip Gordon to find someone who can beat Silas Young on this episode...with high stakes and a most unexpected ROH debut. Commentary comes from Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman and Colt Cabana, live in Philadelphia, PA.

Bully Ray opens the show demanding to be the Ring Announcer for our opening contest, so he can outline the 'Pick Your Punishment' stipulations to the live crowd. Flip Gordon is soon on the scene, teasing that Colt Cabana is his representative. Colt gets on the microphone though, and is only in the ring so he can see Bully's face when they reveal that it's The Sandman! 

Clearly I wish this debut was taking place back when ROH used unlicensed music, but the sight of Sandman in the crowd at the ECW Arena cracking open beers is undeniably nostalgic. It's an intriguing choice for Flip, bringing out an ECW legend to combat Bubba Ray Dudley's representative. Flip or Bully will get to 'pick the punishment' of their rival if their chosen representative wins...

Sandman starts by repeatedly whacking Young with his Singapore Cane. He beats Silas all around ringside with the crowd going Young Bucks-levels of crazy for him. The hardcore legend pulls a ladder out from under the ring and delivers his ladder suplex to the fallen Young on the floor. Silas gets some payback by whipping Sandman (who is already bleeding) through the ladder. He deposits a table into the ring, but takes too long about it and allows Sandman to sandwich him under a ladder. ROLLING ROCK THROUGH THE LADDER! But Young kicks out at 2! He comes back with Misery and scores the big win at 05:35

Rating - *** - Whilst the Metallica entrance would have made it better, this was a really enjoyable little nostalgia blast to get us started. Sandman looked like he was having a blast playing the old hits in front of a crowd who were going absolutely nuts for him. They kept it short, used plunder to cover Sandman's shortcomings and ended it with a clean victory for Silas meaning the core ROH talent goes over. It is easy to poo poo a match like this but if you're going to bring a legend in for a one-off this was a great blueprint for how to do it successfully. Of course, clearly if you aren't a wrestling fan of a certain age and have no affinity for ECW or The Sandman then your experience of this was probably completely different (and probably much worse!)

We return from commercials with a 'viewer discretion' warning. At this point I am switching to the 'Honor Club Exclusive' version of this segment, available on the Honor Club site. Bully tears up his original planned punishment and berates Flip for trying to 'get one over' on him by bringing Sandman. He decides Flip's punishment will be ten shots with a Singapore Cane and confiscates Sandman's cane to do it. Sandman offers to take the shots, but Bully calls him a drunk and dismisses him. The shots with the cane are absolutely SICKENING, with Bubba calling Flip a young boy who needs to 'pay his dues' the whole time. Sandman, Cabana, Cheeseburger, SCU and Jon Gresham are all at ringside offering encouragement to Flip...along with Silas who actually has to get Bully a new cane after the first one is broken. Even Cody, Brandi and the Young Bucks come out now to support their BTE cast-mate. The camera zooms in on Flip's back and it looks horrifying. 'F*ck you' - Flip to Bully...right before Bubba gives him one last nut-shut and legs it. 

The race is on to be the next challenger for Sumie Sakai and the Women Of Honor World Title. Madison has now signed an ROH contract so she wants another shot, as does Sumie's old protege Jenny Rose. Karen Q and Kelly Klein are big, brash villains on the WOH roster both making their returns to television after international tours. Kelly remains the Gatekeeper and one of the most feared competitors in Women Of Honor. She knows she just needs a couple of victories in short order to cement her spot as #1 contender. Dr Britt Baker is perhaps the wildcard. Hot property after her appearance at All In with multiple major promotions reportedly scouting her, she enters this with momentum after scoring the decisive pinfall in a tag team WOH victory at Glory By Honor. Klein and Rose have bad blood stemming back to a bout in New York where Jenny chipped one of Kelly's teeth with a wayward strike. Madison, meanwhile, competed against Britt at All In and at Glory By Honor openly stated that she wanted to face her again. Mandy Leon replaces Cabana on commentary...

Sakai and Baker start having teamed together at Glory By Honor. Dr Baker's big strike game threatens to overwhelm Sumie, but the veteran is smart enough to break out a quick counter to Lockjaw. Sling Blade instead gets 2 for Britt. Karen forcibly tags Baker out, calling her a 'rookie' along the way. She is quickly met by Rose; a pairing which prove very evenly matched. Q boots Rayne in the stomach to stop her from running through her repertoire of intricate roll-ups...then Klein marches into the ring starting a six-way brawl which takes us into a commercial break. When we return we see Sakai escaping Karen's clutches and making a hot tag to Madison, who absolutely flattens Q with a crucifix driver. Klein and Rose in next - Jenny spearing Klein to the ground as this personal rivalry threatens to boil over. Britt opts to stand and watch rather than help Klein out when Jenny nearly taps her out, and remains un-moved as Rose hits a northern lights and pins Kelly for victory at 05:36 (shown).

Rating - ** - Britt Baker looks loaded with potential. Although I didn't much care for the finish, Klein remains one of the biggest names in the WOH division and someone who has been missed during her time in Japan. The conclusion to this lays the groundwork for higher profile grudge singles bouts with both Jenny Rose and Dr Britt as a result.

NEXT WEEK - Jay Lethal and Jon Gresham have found a mystery partner to face The Kingdom. Taven wants to prove why he is the 'Real World Champion', whilst TK and Vinny don't even care who their opponents find to team with them...

Over the summer King has got in touch with a ruthless cutting edge that some thought he had lost. It has led to him scoring controversial victories over Cody's colleagues in Bullet Club Marty Scurll, Adam Page and Chase Owens. He's even christened himself the 'Bullet Club Silencer', albeit that feels slightly redundant by the time this airs at is was after the likes of Cody, the Young Bucks, Marty and Hangman were on their way out of Bullet Club. At Glory By Honor both men came out and urged Jay Lethal to give them a title shot. King has been granted a shot on the 2018 Global Wars Tour. Can Cody get the win here that ensures he'll meet the winner? Jay Lethal himself is on commentary...

Kenny starts full of confidence, scoring all the early knock-downs and playing to the crowd. It takes Rhodes a few minutes to find his footing but he quickly looks full of poise once he does so. King pretends that Brandi trips him in the ropes...but the plan backfires as Cody dives him a hanging flatliner for 2. Then he claps his hands behind the referee's back and goes down selling his face, suggesting that Brandi slapped him. Royal Flush blocked and they collide in the centre of the ring with great force. Disaster Kick nailed for 2 by the American Nightmare, sufficiently softening Kenny up to allow Cody to score with a superplex. Cross Rhodes blocked...but Paul Turner spots King trying to put his feet on the ropes in a pinning combination. Corkscrew pescado nailed by Kenny, who then returns to the ring and delivers his high impact spinebuster. Kenny throws his elbow pad at Brandi, meaning she causes a scene. He then chucks the IWGP US Title belt at Cody then goes down pretending he's been hit. Paul Turner doesn't DQ Cody...so King shoves him to the ground. Kenny is disqualified at 10:03 (shown)

Rating - ** - Considering this was supposed to be a showdown between the two top contenders for the World Championship, this felt REALLY flat. I don't think they clicked particularly well as opponents, and some of the action was so uninspired that it was actually left to King's comedic cheating skits to carry the match. They were good, as was Brandi as a character bouncing off Kenny's antics. I don't think they were enough to produce a great TV main event though

King low blows Cody and gestures in Lethal's direction ahead of Global Wars. Lethal leaves the announce table and goes after Kenny when he tries to grab Brandi Rhodes by the hair. King responds by NAILING him in the back of the head with the IWGP US Title...

Tape Rating - ** - The first third of the show - Silas/Sandman and the Bully/Flip caning segment - was really good. I may be in a minority, but I found the snappy five minute nostalgic cameo from Sandman REALLY entertaining...and there is no way you could deny that the Bully/Flip segment was emotive, if a little derivative. Unfortunately after that the episode takes a dip in quality. Neither of the subsequent matches really clicked for me and you certainly don't need to seek out Cody/Kenny unless you've REALLY liked King's 'Bullet Club Silencer' build (this episode ends that gimmick)