McXal's Reviews

The content on this episode is more than a month old; a month which has also seen two live events on top of the historic G1 Supercard MSG show. That is a rough spot for Ring Of Honor and Delirious to manage from a creative perspective. To that end they've given the main event of this show its own separate storyline arc; PJ Black is looking for redemption and to fight with honour as he meets Bandido in a rematch of a stellar bout they had back in January. We'll also see #1 contender Kenny King face Lifeblood's Tracy Williams, plus the return of Reno Scum to face The Bouncers. Ian Riccaboni, Nick Aldis and Caprice Coleman provide commentary in Las Vegas, NV.

The timing of this match is problematic. It was taped after 17th Anniversary, but airs so far after G1 Supercard one has to acknowledge that Kenny is #1 contender to the ROH World Title after winning the 2019 Honor Rumble. But the problem is that, by this point on live shows he was working a gimmick where he was claiming to be blinded by the mist of Great Muta - making the total lack of reference to that here seem a little silly. Nevertheless, he is now cemented as a genuine contender to the top prize in the company and that makes him a scalp to be targeted by hungry talent like Hot Sauce. Tracy has impressed every time he has competed in an ROH ring, and fought with honour as per the ideals of Lifeblood. Kenny isn't always such a noble competitor, so therefore someone Williams will be looking to take to school...

No Code Of Honor from Kenny, which immediately draws the ire of his opponent. Tracy ignores King's antics and dumps him on his face. He also has effortless counters lined up when Kenny tries to assume control on the canvas for himself. Then when Kenny tries to block the Crossface he instead switches to a vicious hammerlock stretch instead. Kenny needs to quicken the pace, and after rattling off a few armdrags he is able to return to a vertical base. Aldis calls Lifeblood 'a load of bollocks', which pops every British person watching I'm sure. Arm capture back suplex gets 2 for Williams; continuing to work on the arm and shoulder as he sets up for his submission finish. Single arm suplexes score...but give Tracy a false sense of confidence. He is caught on the top rope and kicked to the floor - only to land on the feet and trip King on his face. REBOUND corkscrew dive off the apron by Kenny! He returns to the ring, hits a backbreaker and cranks on the back again seconds later with a camel clutch. The back absorbs the full force of his signature spinebuster as well. King lines up a superplex, but has to back flip away when Tracy grabs the bad arm and tries to counter it with the turnbuckle DDT. Missile dropkick to the shoulder by Hot Sauce...but when he goes upstairs again Kenny meets him with a jumping enzi around the head. SUPER TURNBUCKLE DDT! DVD gets 2 for Tracy! King strikes at the injured midsection to block the Crossface. LAST CHANCERY! Williams literally punches his way free. King hits kicks to the ribs and back to maintain his advantage. One Night Stand ducked...Piledriver blocked...and Kenny almost cheats to win by holding the ropes on a pin. Tracy is so irate that he tears off his shoulder brace and starts lighting King up with chops. Royal Flush countered with a small package for 2! Capo Kick COUNTERED TO THE DISCUS LARIAT! Fisherman Buster gets 2. Williams tries a crossbody, only for King to roll through into the ROYAL FLUSH! King wins at 14:16 (shown)

Rating - **** - It is one of those times where I generously nudge up my rating a little because ROH gave away a match of this quality for free on television, but this was great stuff. Once again credit to Delirious and ROH for ensuring they make time on their TV show to deliver a feature-length, high quality wrestling match. Fans weren't as into this as some of the other matches at this taping, but then again Kenny and Tracy are pretty cold in terms of fan reactions generally. The match itself was great though. Williams is SO good, and he is particularly brilliant in the way he can produce matches that feel pretty epic even in condensed, TV-length timeframes. I enjoyed the limb work here, and liked that it was always relevant, but also subtle enough that you didn't need them to be selling everything like total death.

This is during that weird time period where Reno Scum left TNA/Impact, spent a couple of years bouncing around various indies then returned to Impact later in 2019, back into basically the same spot they'd been in before. They are, though, an experienced team who pose a real threat to the heavyweight duo of Beer City Bruiser and Brian Milonas...

Thornstowe starts with Milonas, but quickly brings in his larger partner after Brawler gives him an emphatic shoulder tackle. Easy one-arm body slam on Luster by Milonas! Reno Scum gang up on Bruiser and take a number of shortcuts to ensure BCB is kept in their half of the ring. Luster The Legend tries to squeeze the life out of him with a bear hug...which inevitably doesn't work. Milonas tags and flattens both opponents with ease. Last Call on Thornstowe...and The Bouncers win at 04:57

Rating - * - The whole segment felt pretty innocuous and small-time. The wrestling was basic and uninspiring, the crowd made a bit of effort but really didn't care. Nothing about this gives the impression that Ring Of Honor is a hot company or a can't miss product which, given what they are trying to compete with from other promotions, isn't good enough.

A split-screen graphic shows Bandido and PJ Black warming up in the locker rooms. I really like little touches like this - it makes the main event feel much more like an 'event' in itself.

At Honor Reigns Supreme, during Bandido's ROH debut weekend, these two contested a hell of a match. The young newcomer took the win, and in doing so prompted a drastic rethink in Black's approach to Ring Of Honor competition. The Darewolf admits he was too cocky when he started with the company, and has tried to cheat and take shortcuts ever since. But with a 20+ year career behind him, the loss to Bandido - who was still a baby when PJ debuted - coupled with his NWA Title loss to Nick Aldis in Atlanta, has convinced him that he now wants to fight with honour. Therefore he can think of no better test for his skills and new attitude than a rematch with Lifeblood's Bandido...

Black follows the Code Of Honor, thus far staying true to his word and fighting honourably. He staves off an early attack on his legs and tries to overpower Bandido on the ground; favouring grappling and technical wrestling where throwing bombs with Bandido failed last time. The luchador visibly wants to quicken the pace, but finds PJ blocking and countering him at every turn. The Darewolf looks for a springboard, but walks into a dropkick. Backbreaker instead by Black, knocking his opponent to the floor. He takes flight for the first time and sends Bandido sprawling with a corkscrew pescado. Bandido LURES Black into trying another dive though, and lies in wait to kick him in the head then give him a stalling suplex to the floor. TOP ROPE MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! Bandido made that look completely effortless too. But he shows his inexperience moments later, takes one risk too many and MISSES a cannonball senton into the guardrails. PJ peppers him with kicks...only for Bandido to pluck him off the turnbuckles when the Darewolf thinks about the 450 Splash. SPRINGBOARD SUPER RANA...BLACK ROLLS THROUGH INTO A STYLES CLASH! Pumphandle Black Diamond gets 2! PJ thinks about going after the mask, but changes his mind to continue fighting respectfully. Bandido capitalises with a totally bizarre ARM CAPTURE PACKAGE PILEDRIVER! What the f*ck even is that!? PJ kicks out and rallies to pursue Bandido up the ropes. ROPE RUN FRANKENSTEINER! MOONSAULT PRESS gets 2. They trade big strikes, until Bandido unleashes the C-4 for 2! Black STOMPS on Bandido's chest, bringing him perilously close to victory. PJ is caught on the top rope...SPANISH FLY! GETS 2! Bandido attempts a moonsault but flips right into PJ's boots. Moonsault misses by PJ...X-KNEE! 21-PLEX! Bandido wins at 13:08 (shown)

Rating - **** - This was better than Honor Reigns Supreme. It had a lot of the same qualities that made that first match so likeable; it was messy and scrappy, but so packed full of crazy moves performed with real energy. Where this was better is the story they told with PJ's redemption, and they took it in some really interesting directions. By not trying to cheat, he actually worked smarter in the first half of the match and did a much better job calling upon his years of experience to out-wrestle young Bandido. But as Bandido continued to defy him, Black struggled to contain his urge to cheat. It opened the door to Bandido making it a high octane, death-defying spot-fest and, as we saw last time, PJ just isn't equipped to live with Bandido in that environment. Some of their offence did look a little silly, and like last time it did feel like they were just doing whacky sh*t to pop the crowd rather than because it made sense...but I thought this was incredibly entertaining. 

PJ shakes Bandido's hand then raises his arms to the crowd

We go backstage to end the show and see the sight of an unconscious Tenille Dashwood lying in the wreckage of a broken table, in scenes reminiscent of her mystery attack back at Death Before Dishonor 16 (yes, I'd forgotten and had to look that up too). Bully Ray is revealed as the attacker tonight, confesses to the same crime at DBD last year and says he'll 'tell Lifeblood [she] said goodbye'. 

Tape Rating - **** - I wrestled with this show rating more than you might think. Kenny/Tracy and PJ/Bandido were both excellent matches and well worth using your Honor Club membership to check out. But one has to balance the quality of the wrestling with how very quickly out-dated this broadcast became in the aftermath of G1 Supercard. Kenny King NOT pretending to be blinded by Muta is the most obvious example, but the whole episode exudes an air of irrelevance. However, at heart I watch wrestling because I want to see GOOD wrestling...and the matches that began and concluded this broadcast were superb.

5) Kenny King vs Tracy Williams (**** - Episode 396)

4) Matt Taven/Vinny Marseglia/TK O'Ryan vs Marty Scurll/Brody King/PCO (**** - Episode 393)

3) Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Jeff Cobb/Willie Mack (**** - Episode 395)

2) Bandido vs PJ Black (**** - Episode 396)

1) Silas Young vs Jonathan Gresham (**** - Episode 394)