McXal's Reviews

On the eve of the NWA's rejuvenated Crockett Cup, presented in conjunction with ROH, Ring Of Honor's product launches into their first batch of TV episodes taped after G1 Supercard. This cluster of four episodes runs us up to the significant 400th episode of ROH on SBG, and was taped the night before Masters Of The Craft 2019. CMLL stars were in attendance for this weekend, and the main event for this show is a hot one as the returning Soberano Jr. teams with Caristico (aka 'the original Sin Cara' in WWE, and he also had a world-famous run as Mistico previously). The CMLL luchadors face the Briscoes in our headline bout. Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman are in Pittsburgh, PA.

No hanging around, the new World Champion Matt Taven heads straight to the ring. A pocket of fans chant that he 'deserves it', whilst another more vocal group loudly jeer and disagree with that sentiment. He lists his achievements in the last year, as well as all the times he felt there was a 'conspiracy' against him. Flip Gordon strides onto the stage to remind Taven that he earned a title shot by winning the Sea Of Honor Tournament, and now his knee is back to 100% he is officially #1 contender. After a commercial break Riccaboni announces that it will be Taven/Flip for the World Title at Episode 400.

Three weeks ago in Vegas at Episode 394 these two men produced arguably ROH's TV MOTY so far. It was a gruelling, twenty minute classic which ended with Silas' head bleeding all over the canvas - but crucially also with him using a low blow to defeat The Octopus. Gresham was understandably furious and confronted the Last Real Man backstage. He accused Silas of being unable to beat him without cheating, meaning Young has apparently promised to win the rematch with a wrestling hold tonight...

They adhere to the Code Of Honor, but with such intensity and aggression that Todd Sinclair has to physically end the handshake. Young hits a few early tackles to show off his power, but after each one Gresham hits a swatting kick at his leg. They take turns trying to hiptoss each other, with such ferocity that they end up rocketing each other over the top rope! DUELLING headlock takedowns on the floor! When we come back from commercials they are still trading counters with the rapidity of machine gun fire - and Silas' power continues to give him the edge over his smaller adversary. He isn't shy about taunting Gresh either, which is smart considering how The Octopus struggled to control his temper and made mistakes repeatedly in Vegas. They pause to debate the ethics of pro-wrestling and as tempers flare they trade strikes instead...until Gresham balls up his fist and punches Silas in the jaw. Young continues to play mind games with Gresham and is so in his head that he actually gets the better of him in a straight-up chain-wrestling sequence. He then takes a cheap-shot to the back of Gresham's head (after Jon turned his back in error), gets in a few shots at the same midsection he attacked three weeks ago...before going right back to out-wrestling Gresham on the canvas. Gresham tries to build momentum with a dropkick, so Young leaves the ring to kill it again. Back in the ring they trade pinfall attempts until Gresh winds up into a satellite DDT. Silas bails again, grabs a chair and slips the bell hammer in his trunks too. When Todd takes the chair away he KO's Gresham with the hammer - then puts him in his own Octopus Stretch. Gresham is already out cold, so Sinclair awards the match to Silas at 09:10 (shown)

Rating - *** - This was more about developing the angle they have going than specifically delivering a great standalone match, but what we got here was really good. I loved how they took themes they developed in their previous match and built on them here; not only to make this match interesting but also to build and grow the characters of the two performers themselves. Seeing Silas as a wily veteran and a savvy technician as well as the expected curmudgeonly 'Real Man' was a great touch (as was him winning the match using Gresham's finisher). Having Gresham's unparalleled grappling skills hampered by his inability to control his temper immediately makes him less of a generic 'good' wrestler and more of a CHARACTER for ROH fans to identify with. We're two matches in and I've loved this feud so far. Here's hoping for more...

Kelly Klein is out in the street, reflecting on her G1 Supercard experience. She is thrilled to be a two-time WOH Champion, and vows to 'clean up' the mess left by The Allure at MSG. 

The entire Rush/Dalton Castle match from G1 Supercard is replayed, including the ugly post-match scenes which saw Dalton turn on and destroy The Boys. We'll hear from Dalton next week...

Lifeblood (Tracy and Haskins) aren't happy with Bully Ray. They are furious that he took Tenille out of ROH, attacked Juice in MSG and loved kicking his ass in Madison Square Garden. After they defeat The Kingdom next week, they want another match with Bully to 'end this'.

The Briscoes are even more disgruntled than usual. They failed to get the Tag Titles back at G1 Supercard, they are being goaded through social media by the Guerrillas Of Destiny, they got into a fight with Enzo and Big Cass that everyone hated, they still have issues with Villain Enterprises, and now they have to face two of CMLL's finest. Soberano we saw at Manhattan Mayhem 7 last year, albeit in a rather disastrous, botch-filled match with Punishment Martinez. He returns hoping to make a better impression and teams with one of the most world-renowned and notorious luchadors of them all. Caristico is the original Sin Cara in WWE, the one who famously messed a lot up and eventually got replaced. But before that he was famous as Mistico and was having legendary matches which transcended the Lucha Libre scene in Mexico and were seen by wrestling fans all over the world. Had ROH brought him in back in the mid/late-00's it would have been a huge coup. He's here now, and right into a hotly anticipated television main event.

Mark calls out Soberano and demands they start the match together. He does a good job of making it a traditional 'American' style match; laden with strikes and holds and keeping the luchador firmly grounded. Soberano lays in a few kicks, runs the ropes and springboards into a headscissors takedown though, before vacating the ring for Caristico. Jay looks outright annoyed at Caristico playing games with him, and even angrier when the luchador starts back flipping and hitting crazy lucha armdrags. The Briscoes try to leave, but have to stay mobile even when on the floor to prevent the CMLL team from hitting a dive. Sensibly they divide and conquer; first beating Soberano out of the ring then hitting a double tackle on his partner. Cactus Elbow on Soberano! They capture Caristico in the ring next and even start going after his mask. The pace is slow, the ring is cut in half - this is exactly the match the Briscoes want to be wrestling. Their confidence shows and they start openly goading and mocking the lucha stars...losing focus as Caristico hits a handspring elbow and Soberano lands a double crossbody block. RUNNING MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR by Soberano! Caristico is climbing too. SUICIDE DIVE from the top rope! Mark peppers Caristico with strikes, but he has the resilience to endure them and deliver a springboard crossbody for 2. DOOMSDAY CROSSBODY by Team CMLL, riffing on a signature move of the Briscoes for a close nearfall. Jay is clearly annoyed and rattles Caristico's skull against an open chair on the floor. Day One Neckbreaker blocked, but the snap DVD isn't. Redneck Boogie nailed...but still Soberano kicks out! JAY DRILLER/FROGGY BOW COMBO! Mark tackles Caristico to the floor, ensuring his brother can pin Soberano to win at 11:20 (shown)

Rating - *** - The fourway match Caristico was involved in at Masters Of The Craft really sizzled. This was a lot more low key in comparison, but was actually a really smartly wrestled free TV match playing to the strengths of both teams. The Briscoes won because they were able to adapt to their opponents quicker; shaking off the traditional luchador tricks and flips to brawl, isolate and overcome. It was fun as a standalone match, but also provided Jay and Mark with a rather impressive victory as they look to rebuild after some high profile failures recently. Credit to Soberano as well, who had a nightmare on his ROH debut but came back and looked much better here.

Tape Rating - *** - The Crockett Cup wasn't mentioned at all, and Masters Of The Craft hadn't taken place at the time it was taped, so this show exists entirely in an isolated bubble to provide belated G1 Supercard reaction. On that front, I thought it was an effective hour of television. Taven's promo was more functional than anything else and it is interesting they went to Flip straight away rather than having Matt interact with Lethal or Scurll in any way (probably not the direction I'd have gone, but Taven/Flip does seem like a solid first defence for the new champion). Inside the ropes this was a really solid week with Gresham/Silas providing an intriguing sequel to their Vegas encounter and a unique 'clash of styles' in the main event which the four men involved pulled off competently. Nothing about the show felt essential or can't miss though, which is already a problem given how disastrous G1 Supercard was at 'hooking in' fans.