McXal's Reviews

We are two weeks out from the 17th Anniversary Show with much of the card still taking shape, meaning the next couple of episodes of Ring Of Honor television have a lot to accomplish. The announced feature bout for this week sees Silas Young challenge the undefeated Jeff Cobb for the TV Title which sounds great, and we'll also see the return of Rush who looks for payback on The Kingdom after they assaulted him in Philadelphia during his debut appearance. The opening graphics inform us that we'll also have a 'Matt Taven Open Challenge', open to anyone except Jay Lethal. Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana call the action from Lakeland, FL.

Jeff Cobb opens the show by promising Silas a 'first class Tour Of The Islands' tonight...

No messing around, we go straight into the action with the Television Championship on the line. Silas won a mini-tournament to earn this shot, defeating his former partner Beer City Bruiser in a No DQ Match, then out-classing plucky youngster Eli Isom in the finals. The group he is part of, including Shane Taylor, Bully Ray and the Briscoes, targeted Cobb both in Atlanta, and in Texas during the Road To G1 Supercard triple-shot, with he and Taylor in particular making no secret of their desire to take down the undefeated champ. Young gets first crack, and wants become the first ever three-time TV Champion.

Silas has plenty to say for himself, but isn't good enough as a mat wrestler to get down and start grappling with him. After ninety seconds of getting dominated he leaves the ring looking immensely frustrated. When he returns he pretends to he an honourable man and shakes hands...as a smokescreen which enables him to jab Cobb in the throat. Even that is ineffective; Jeff shakes it off, dropkicks him to the ground and lands a standing moonsault for 2. Young flapjacks him sternum-first into the top rope then drags the champ outside to beat him against the guardrails and ringpost. The Last Real Man starts targeting his offence at the midsection - making it hard for Cobb to breathe and testing his stamina. Camel clutch next, after Cobb misses a dropkick and crunching his own ribs into the canvas. Jeff makes it to the apron...where Young levels him again with a springboard clothesline. When we return from commercials Silas has Cobb on the ground, squeezing the ribs with a bodyscissors and making it impossible to breathe using a sleeper hold too. Rolling DVD/double stomp combo gets 2. Jeff tries to muscle him up for a suplex, but is too injured and allows Young to slither free and drop him with the Killer Combo. Cobb blocks the full nelson knee strike only for Silas to switch it up and deliver the slingshot swinging neckbreaker instead. Seemingly over-confident now, Young stands over the injured Olympian and starts loudly taunting him. Cobb fires up and nails him with a belly to belly suplex. Hawaiian Stampede blocked...ATHLETIC-PLEX instead! Silas clings to the ropes to block Tour Of The Islands, so Cobb starts giving him ROLLING GERMAN SUPLEXES! TOUR OF THE ISLANDS! Cobb retains at 12:46 (shown)

Rating - **** - A very generous rating, but it isn't often that ROH allows this type of match onto their TV show and I thought it was really good. Silas continues to show that, when given the chance to shine, he is a great worker as well as a fantastic character. He didn't need to be theatrical, brash or make a big deal out of his strategy; he was completely believable as a rugged dude who realised he couldn't out-wrestle or over-power someone like Cobb so instead went after the midsection to make it hard for him to breathe and blow him up. Cobb sold it competently and this genuinely felt as in peril as Jeff has been in his ROH career (including the Final Battle match with Hangman Page). It wasn't a fast-paced, offence-heavy encounter but something a little more thoughtful, which I very much appreciated - although I will concede that this may have been a little pedestrian and lacking in action for other fans. If anything my biggest criticism was that the finish came too quickly and didn't really allow for much of a pay-off, or much drama to play out around the rib injury which Silas spent ten minutes laying out.

ROAD TO G1 SUPERCARD: SAN ANTONIO - Ian R narrates footage of Villain Enterprises winning Tag Wars 2019 and earning their Tag Title shot for the 17th Anniversary...then the chaotic brawl with the Briscoes that followed.

Matt Taven struts around in the locker rooms and calls Jay Lethal a poser. Tonight he'll prove why he is a 'Real World Champion' by defending his purple belt in an open challenge tonight.

17TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW - Having survived the challenge of Silas Young tonight, Cobb vs Shane Taylor for the TV Title is formally announced for the Las Vegas pay-per-view.

BOUND BY HONOR 2019 - Mayu Iwatani defeating Kelly Klein to become the new Women Of Honor Champion is shown. Kelly gets an immediate rematch at the 17th Anniversary...

Rush debuted in Phildelphia at the 'Final Battle Fallout' TV taping. He defeated TK O'Ryan in a hell of a match...but was then attacked by all three members of The Kingdom, extending Taven's CMLL grudge against Rush onto American soil. They ended Rush's debut appearance by giving him a triple Con-Chair-To - and El Toro Blanco wants revenge tonight. 

Rush sprints across the ring, and Marseglia is right there waiting for him. The match begins with them absolutely teeing off on each other at breathless speed. Vinny shuts the Mexican down with a Russian legsweep and throws him out of the ring, clearly aware of the danger he poses inside the ropes. On the outside he starts blasting Rush's head into the guardrails and peels back the protective mats looking to drop him on the exposed concrete. When Rush blocks that Marseglia almost knocks him out with a knee strike. Now full of confidence Vinny starts doing 'Tranquilo' poses...giving Rush precious time to recover and drive a forearm through his face. Rush struggles to contain his temper and almost uses a steel chair, then almost punches referee Paul Turner when he confiscates it. Eventually he regains control, boots Vinny in the face and gives him a brainbuster for 2. Snap German by Rush, no sold into a Side Effect by Marseglia! He follows that with a double underhook backbreaker for 2. Turnbuckle belly to belly from El Toro Blanco, putting him on his ass so he can land the Bull's Horns. Rush wins in a time of 08:19 (shown)

Rating - *** - Not as smooth, aggressive or exciting as Rush/O'Ryan, but still a pretty decent encounter and one of Vinny's better ROH singles matches. Rush brings such intensity and presence to his matches. Most of his move set appears to involve sprinting around like the Ultimate Warrior before hitting his opponent as hard as possible and that kind of dynamic energy is very hard to dislike. The way Marseglia tried to negate that wasn't overly innovative and, whilst logical, did drag the middle portion down somewhat. With new music and more personalised tights to go with a competent in-ring performance, this match did feel like the first real glimpse of a 'separate' identity for Vinny, and what he could look like outside of The Kingdom...

BOUND BY HONOR 2019 - Kenny King reprised his 2018 'Bullet Club Silencer' act by kicking Marty Scurll in the balls to beat him. The Villain has a World Title shot in his pocket after winning Survival Of The Fittest, so this is pushed as a major scalp for Kenny. He'll face Marty in a singles match at the 17th Anniversary PPV.

NEXT WEEK - Villain Enterprises (Marty and PCO) face The Kingdom (Vinny and TK), Mayu Iwatani takes on Holidead and the main event will pit Dalton Castle against Kenny King.

Matt Taven now enters the arena for his open challenge, with the rest of The Kingdom by his side. He complains that ROH continue to put Jay Lethal 'on a pedestal' and says only he has the guts to put his title on the line in a 'live' open challenge. Jonathan Gresham answers the challenge, looking to get the match Taven ducked out on in Houston. The 'match' barely lasts a minute (most of which consists of Gresh dominating Taven) before Marseglia and O'Ryan attack The Octopus causing it to end in a DQ. TK knocks him out with his baseball bat...prompting Jay Lethal to run to the ring and square off with Taven. The numbers stack up against the World Champ; Vinny and TK holding him down as Matt brings a table into the ring. Juice Robinson leads Lifeblood to the ring to chase The Kingdom away before they can use it though. Tenille Dashwood calls the purple belt a 'slap in the face' to the entire roster and hands it to Jay Lethal...who smashes it to pieces using TK's bat and Vinny's axe! 

Tape Rating - *** - This was a really strong episode. Cobb/Silas won't be to everyone's taste but I personally really enjoyed it. Rush/Vinny was a decent follow up to Rush's debut in Philly and gave everyone another teaser as to what 'El Toro Blanco' will bring to the party in 2019. The main event segment saw ROH's campaign to get Matt Taven over as a main event talent continue. He got to talk, he has his own dog and pony show around him...and the striking visual of Lethal smashing up his purple championship belt did feel like the perfect gateway to Lethal vs Taven at the 17th Anniversary. I also really liked Lifeblood's involvement. They weren't 'involved' necessarily, but they have come to 'restore the honour' to ROH, therefore helping destroy the phony crown of an imposter champion is well within their remit. It also made Tenille feel like a legitimate part of the group for the first time too...right before she leaves the territory.