McXal's Reviews

The premier date for this episode is the eve of Manhattan Mayhem, which I presume means that this show will air against it in some Sinclair markets. I presume that is the reason why they announced almost nothing for this episode, and I had to go to Cagematch to find out what we have in store. It should be an interesting week - with Villain Enterprises facing Lifeblood in the main event and a star-packed four-corner bout to open the show. Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana are in Philadelphia, PA.

This must be a packed episode, because none of these men get entrances. We cut straight to the bell ringing and the match getting underway in fact. This is an interesting bunch of talent who had mixed nights at Best In The World. For Dalton, Gresham and King it was a successful evening as they won their big matches against Dragon Lee, Silas Young and Jay Lethal respectively. Cobb was the big loser that night; his undefeated streak going up in smoke against Matt Taven in just ten minutes. He is the man who probably needs the victory the most tonight...

Castle and Cobb begin, so obviously we get a lot of grappling and jostling on the canvas. Castle finds himself out-matched there, but when he tries to increase the pace Jeff has his number there too and pelts him with a dropkick. King and Gresham in next, former rivals and Gresh still standing as a tag partner of Kenny's big rival Jay Lethal. Kenny goads The Octopus into a strike battle rather than chain-wrestling and reaps the rewards by punting him in the ribs and dropping an elbow across the head. He and Castle join forces, taking turns working Gresham over and also ensuring they always have him held down so he can't dip into his whacky bag of tricks. The ribs and back of Gresham are left in pain, and they find time to knock Cobb off the apron too...but slowly their partnership starts to disintegrate. Eventually they argue so much that Gresh is able to just walk away and tag out! Athletic-Plex from Cobb to King! Dalton cleverly shunts Jeff back into the corner into an enforced tag back out to Gresham...and Kenny quickly hits him with a backbreaker. One Night Stand from King to Gresh gets 2! He tries the same move on Cobb...but he COUNTERS TO A JACKHAMMER! Spinebuster by Kenny in response, then a Blue Thunder Driver on Gresham. Kenny grabs a high-heeled shoe from Amy Rose (with questions over whether she was intentionally assisting or not)...but when he gets distracted by Cobb and Dalton, Gresh grabs the shoe instead and pops Kenny in the back of the head! He pins King using the tights and grabs the win at 10:28 (shown)

Rating - *** - This was really entertaining. Some of the wrestling was particularly good, but it was the big, diverse personalities on display which really stood out. Castle and King's odd-couple heat segment on Gresham was devilishly fun. Cobb effortlessly (and casually) mowing down everyone in his path is always good for a laugh too. Elsewhere, this new 'cheat to win' mentality that Gresham has adopted is a really unique path to take out of his feud with Silas Young. Rather than the heroic babyface overcoming, it's a considerably more interesting approach to have someone with Gresham's skillset take an 'if you can't beat them, join them' approach. The smirk on his face as he pinned King was a joy to behold.

Quinn McKay catches up with the Shinobi Shadow Squad, who are apparently the #1 contenders to the Six-Man Championship. I'm completely flummoxed as to how that is the case, but in a division where random thrown together trios get title shots it really doesn't matter. They lost to the Villains earlier in 2019 but will leave them 'bankrupt' next time they meet...

NEXT WEEK - Ian Riccaboni reveals that Sumie Sakai suffered a broken orbital bone at G1 Supercard, but makes her return to action next week against Karissa Rivera

NEXT WEEK - The Briscoes face Rush and Dragon Lee in tag team action

This is the TV debut for the SOS, who we've seen appear sporadically as henchmen for Shane Taylor and Bully Ray in particular. They are big, violent, exciting and signed to contracts having come out of the Future Of Honor system. Finally getting a break on television, they'll be here to make a big first impression against two thirds of a trio known as 'Primal Fear'.

SOS walk to the ring and attack Primal Fear before the bell has rung. Double chokeslam finishes it in short order, giving the Soldiers the win at 00:46

Rating - N/A - No complaints from me; quick, brutal and precisely what it should have been. SOS are certainly impressive in short bursts as dominant bruisers. As ever the challenge will come when they have to translate that to a longer-form match...but for now this was all I needed to see from them

In the parking lot Jay Lethal scolds Jonathan Gresham for his cheating as of late. He admits that he failed in his quest to restore honour and purity to ROH, and he got fed up of losing so has found a way to win...

Lifeblood have asked for some in-ring interview time to address the events of Best In The World. Haskins is almost frantic with rage and immediately calls out Villain Enterprises. Marty gives Flip the night off as reward for his good work at Best In The World, sending him back to the locker room to watch his new colleagues at work. He tells Lifeblood they aren't getting a Trios Title Match, but Hot Sauce grabs the microphone and says it isn't about the belts - Lifeblood are here for violence and want the Villains in a non-title Street Fight!

As Villains, Marty's group are obvious and natural enemies for a group vowing to restore honour and prestige to ROH. But things got personal at Best In The World when he recruited his old BTE cast-mate Flip Gordon from under the noses of Lifeblood, having Gordon participate in an elaborate hoax which saw them embarrassed on PPV and culminating in Williams being put through a table. But Flip was injured in that stunt, so the Villains are back as a trio...and Lifeblood are out for revenge. VE's record in Street Fights in 2019 is strong; Brody and PCO taking the Tag Titles from the Briscoes in a bloodbath at the 17th Anniversary, whilst at Masters Of The Craft they successfully retained the Six-Man belts against The Kingdom in a no-rules match too...

Haskins piles into Marty with an elbow suicida and the match gets underway with the six men brawling all over ringside. RUNNING MOONSAULT by Bandido! Brody MISSES a cannonball senton and eats guardrail! Bandido sets up a table at ringside, in the same position that the Villains set one up for Tracy at Best In The World...but stops to sprint into the ring and step off a chair into a flying dropkick on PCO. Haskins starts teeing off on Brody, only for Marty to hit him in the back with a chair, shunting him forward into a sidewalk slam by King. Hot Sauce flies in wielding a kendo stick and uses it to add emphasis on a shortarm scissors to Brody. PCO saves, but then hands both Tracy and Bandido chairs to hit him with. DOUBLE CHAIR LARIAT by PCO! Cannonball off the apron by King! ROCKET LAUNCHER CANNONBALL by PCO! Inside the ring Marty catapults Haskins into a kendo stick shot, made worse when King lands a senton splash through a chair. The Villains open up six chairs adjacent to each other...only for Lifeblood to rescue Haskins with more kendo sticks before they can use them. DOUBLE POWERBOMB THROUGH ALL THE CHAIRS ON BRODY! Scurll starts chopping PCO to fire his own partner up, but he is caught on the top rope by Bandido. FRANKENSTEINER OFF THE TOP ROPE THROUGH THE TABLE! But PCO crawls out of the wreckage and gets right back up! Texas Cloverleaf from Haskins to Marty...KENDO STICK CROSSFACE BY TRACY! King saves his partner, knocks everyone out of the ring and hits a TOPE ATOMICO! BACK BODY DROP PLANCHA by Scurll and PCO! Bandido left alone in the ring, climbing to the top to hit a CORKSCREW MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! HE LANDS ON HIS HEAD! But somehow he recovers to hit a VAN DAMINATOR! X-KNEE! PCO collapses to the ropes. 21-PLEX THROUGH AN OPEN CHAIR! Even PCO needs help from his partners to kick out of that. Haskins and Williams smash the sh*t out of Brody with more kendo sticks, but he refuses to go down until they cane a chair into his f*cking face. UMBRELLA SHOT from Scurll to Bandido! The Villain wants to put Bandido through a table, but is crotched on the top rope by the luchador. REVOLUTION FLY THROUGH THE TABLE! BANDIDO PINS SCURLL! Lifeblood win at 14:26 (shown)

Rating - **** - A spectacular, violent and memorable TV main event. You could criticise ROH for putting this Street Fight on TV the same weekend that they are having another Street Fight in New York for the Tag Titles. Although ROH have been guilty of using haphazardly placed stipulation matches to create drama where the storylines haven't provided it all year anyway. In isolation this was thrilling and a shot in the arm for Lifeblood when they needed it most. They were embarrassed at Best In The World, but seeing them back together was a reminder of how great this trio are. I loved Tracy using hardcore weaponry to enhance his technical wrestling moveset, I thought the no-rules environment only enhanced how fun Haskins is as a tenacious, non-stop pitbull...and any set-up which allows Bandido to hit crazy dives and do batsh*t crazy stunts is going to see him steal the show. I don't think this match will change your mind and make you a fan of the Lifeblood faction - but if this feud keeps producing matches like this I think everyone will get on board.

We end the night on the Briscoe farm. Jay and Mark call themselves 'crazy white boys' and can't wait for a fight with the brothers Rush and Dragon Lee next week...

Tape Rating - *** - It's hard to criticise this episode at all. Whatever your problems with ROH's product as a whole, as an isolated episode of wrestling television this was a strong hour. Obviously the main event stole the show and is easily something I'd recommend seeking out if you're looking to pick through what you missed when you stopped watching Ring Of Honor in 2019. For twenty minutes it didn't matter how you felt about the booking, you just got to see six wrestlers beating the sh*t out of each other, taking insane risks and diving all over the former ECW Arena, which I don't think anyone could complain about.