McXal's Reviews

Lifeblood have arrived in ROH, planning to restore the honour to a company which has apparently lost its way in recent years. One such example of that would be the chaotic and violent scenes which marred the 'Farewell To The Elite' Honor Club special when the Briscoes, Bully Ray, Silas Young and Shane Taylor assaulted the departing Elite plus a number of ROH stars too. The Best Friends were among those victims in Philadelphia, and are scheduled to get a chance at payback tonight with a Tag Title shot against the Briscoes. Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman and Colt Cabana are in Atlanta, GA.

The bell for this one rings literally as the show opens and it is quite an intriguing array of talent. Taylor, Titus and King are former stable-mates in The Rebellion so may form an alliance. But as we saw in Philadelphia, Taylor has new friends and a new attitude - which saw him destroy Chris Daniels' new contract then wreck The Elite's farewell too. Sabin and Flip both have World Title shots in their pockets; Sabin after taking Lethal to a time-limit draw in a Proving Ground Match, Flip by winning the Sea Of Honor Tournament. Luchasaurus is the odd man out but has the size and athleticism to pose a threat to anyone in the field...

Sabin starts with Luchasaurus, initially struggling but then sending him out of the ring with a flying headscissors. King steps in, so Sabin gets cheeky and tags Rhett in to meet him. The former All Night Express don't hesitate to go at it and, as you'd expect they know each other pretty well. Neither man can force the advantage which eventually frustrates the other former Rebel in the match - Shane Taylor. He sarcastically applauds them and tries to jump both of them...only to fall victim to some classic ANX double-teams. Luchasaurus falls victim to that as well, right before King and Titus start falling out over who gets to pin the lucha dinosaur. Gordon capitalises and drops Kenny with a Springboard Spear. POUNCE from Taylor to Flip! Discus lariat from Rhett to Sabin! Pele Kick from Flip to Kenny, meaning as we go into commercials all six men are down. When we come back from commercials we see Sabin hobbling around on one leg then collapsing to the outside...as on the other side of the ring Titus hits a somersault plancha onto everyone. One Night Stand from King to Taylor, who recovers quickly from that to take out both All Nights with a cannonball senton off the apron. STEP-UP SOMERSAULT PLANCHA TO THE FLOOR by Luchasaurus! Flip temporarily vanishes into the crowd, reappearing for a SOMERSAULT SENTON OFF THE BALCONY! 450 Splash on Taylor, only for King to break the pin. Star Spangled Stunner attempted, but thwarted when King NAILS him with a steel chair! Paul Turner keeps the match going but ejects Kenny from ringside. Thrust Buster from Rhett to Lucha, and he then shows his immense strength with a Samoan drop on Shane as well. Yakuza Kick blocked with a knock-out knee though. Greetings From 216 nailed, giving Taylor the big win at 09:53 (shown)

Rating - *** - All action, no dead-spots and plenty of excitement. That's really all anyone was looking for from this match and it delivered, with Taylor the right choice of victor as ROH follows up on his destructive appearances at the last taping in Philadelphia. Flip was protected and allowed to get in some decent high spots. Kenny too was protected, and the use of the chair furthers his character as a disgruntled veteran fed up of being stuck in the midcard. Although he didn't feature prominently, once again I thought the contributions from the Luchasaurus were really entertaining - and REALLY got over with the live crowd. It certainly feels like Ring Of Honor missed the boat with him. This match also marks the final appearance of Chris Sabin too sadly. The knee injury he sustained during the commercial break would be so severe that he'd miss more than a year of ring-time. It meant he would never get his ROH World Title shot, his ROH contract expired and within a couple of months he was back working behind the scenes with Impact whilst he rehabbed his knee. 

Ian Riccaboni announces that Trent Beretta hasn't made it to the building due to a family emergency, but Chuck Taylor has found a suitable partner to help him challenge the Briscoes for the Tag Titles tonight.

Master & Machine are Griff Garrison and Marcus Kross, who made a few appearances last year and now want to nail down a permanent spot. Griff is brimming with potential and looks to be a natural athlete, whilst Kross has a look and style which makes him memorable if nothing else. They are, however, giving up a lot of size to The Bouncers.

Kross starts with Milonas, giving us a completely comical contrast in sizes right off the bat. In fact the Brawler tosses both opponents aside with ease then mauls them both at the same time. Griff uses his speed to evade Bruiser's clutches then makes himself available for Kross to step OFF HIS CHEST into a flying elbow drop for 2. Seconds later BCB flattens Kross with a Samoan drop, leaving Milonas to crush what ever is left with a senton splash as well. Garrison gets in a few plucky shots on Bruiser, only to be quickly shut down with a Bossman Slam from Kingpin. Last Call on Griff, giving The Bouncers the win at 03:56

Rating - N/A - As far as squash matches go I found this quite entertaining. The sight of Kross in particular trying to fight guys the size of The Bouncers was fun in and of itself. I really like Griff Garrison; another guy that it's a real shame ROH could have locked down but let go to AEW...

Chuck Taylor arrives on the stage to deliver the news to the live audience that Trent couldn't be in attendance. Luckily he has another 'Friend' in attendance...which turns out to be Colt Cabana. Colt stands up from the announce desk and pulls off his shirt to reveal he is in full gear.

In Philadelphia the Briscoes were one of the five men who trampled all over The Elite's farewell and smoked a whole bunch of ROH talents too. Among those were the Best Friends, who as luck would have it were booked for a Tag Title shot. Unfortunately fate intervened and Trent missed this taping. It left Chuckie T looking for a new partner - and he found one in the form of Cabana. The popular Chicago native and former Tag Champion was another victim of the rampage in Philly so enters the fray extremely qualified and extremely motivated. He's even someone who has experience of beating the Briscoes to become Tag Champion (twice). This one was broadcast in full as an exclusive for Honor Club so I'm reviewing that version to avoid commercial breaks.

Taylor and Cabana rush the ring instigating an immediate brawl. Colt is sharp enough to dodge a steel chair thrown at him by Jay. Mark botches dropkicking Colt through the ropes, but the Briscoes are so well-versed in creating a chaotic mess that they barely miss a beat and seconds later Mark has already recovered to land the Cactus Elbow instead. It leaves Cabana incapacitated on the floor and sets up the Briscoes to work Taylor over 2-vs-1. They mug him on the floor, bashing his skull against the ringpost and trying to kick his teeth in. Colt has recovered sufficiently to make it to the apron...where he promptly distracts Todd Sinclair setting up the Briscoes for more illicit offence at Chuckie's expense. Finally the tag is made...and Colt explodes with a springboard moonsault press taking both champions down. Flying Asshole flurry gets 2! Second rope bulldog by Mark evens things up, only for Taylor to drop Jay with a Sole Food/standing Shiranui combo. Pescado misses though and Jay gives Chuck a suplex on the arena floor. APRON BLOCKBUSTER THROUGH A CHAIR from Mark to Cabana! Doomsday Device blocked...JAY DRILLER! Briscoes retain at 09:58

Rating - *** - I'm not a fan of throwaway, filler title defences on television. They don't feel meaningful and don't feel like they add any value to the legacy of the championship. But, with that noted I had fun with this. The Briscoes were at their chaotic, violent best and made for a terrific natural contrast to the fun-loving duo of Taylor and Cabana. Watching their unrelenting aggression force cheerful guys into wild brawls around ringside was effective. The Briscoes are clearly a major part of Ring Of Honor as they try to recover from the loss of The Elite and they were presented well.

Not satisfied with victory, the Briscoes set up a table and drape Taylor across it. FROGGY BOW THROUGH THE TABLE! 

A video package airs, juxtaposing the violent scenes created by Bully Ray, the Briscoes, Shane Taylor and Silas Young in Philadelphia with the formation of Lifeblood. 

Jay Lethal is set to end the episode with an in-ring interview. He emotionally talks about ROH 'deteriorating' in front of him, from the disgraceful scenes in Philly to an imposter World Champion - he vows to clean up Ring Of Honor in 2019. Recognising a common ethos, Juice Robinson leads Lifeblood to the ring. Lethal puts over each member of Lifeblood in turn (seriously, it goes on for a while) and wishes them luck in their quest to 'push the reset button' and restore honour. Juice challenges him to find four more 'like-minded individuals' so that they can 'lead by example' and deliver a match ROH can be proud of next week...

Tape Rating - *** - That promo segment at the end went on far too long, but given that the end result is a strong main event next week one shouldn't complain too hard. Lethal fellating Lifeblood really could have been cut short though. The in-ring content of this episode was thoroughly decent - from the exciting Six Man Mayhem, the entertaining Bouncers squash to the solid Tag Title main event which also wrote Chuckie T out. Nothing about this episode was must-see, nor will much of it stick long in the memory. But that doesn't stop it being fun or effective television.