McXal's Reviews

This is the final week of content taped the night after Best In The World almost a month earlier. It's that kind of lag which ROH are looking to address by changing up their taping schedule, putting everything on VOD for Honor Club and taking the best bits for their TV show each week. The main event this week should be a good one; so good in fact that ROH made it available in full as an Honor Club Exclusive, so I'll be reviewing the full version. It will be a battle of the brothers as Jay and Mark Briscoe face Rush and Dragon Lee. We'll also see the return from injury of Sumie Sakai, wrestling for the first time since G1 Supercard. Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman call the action from Philadelphia, PA.

The show opens with a 'viewer discretion is advised' warning. It's interesting they use that this week, after last week featured a wild Street Fight main event which saw six guys beat each other to hell yet required no such content warning...

This should be interesting. Josh has looked impressive when dominating enhancement talent upon his return to the company, but when challenged by an established name we saw him defeated by Mark Briscoe at State Of The Art. He now faces Silas Young, who has rebranded himself the 'Technician Of Honor' and would love to showcase his technical skill with a victory over a skilled grappler and multi-disciplined fighter like Woods.

Young immediately drops to the floor to escape a grapple attempt from Woods and instead grabs a microphone. He calls out Woods for having accomplished nothing in his two-year ROH career. He asks Josh if he wants to keep getting 'golf claps' or if he wants to learn from Silas how to earn some respect. As the ref returns the microphone Silas punts Woods in the balls and wins at 02:33

Rating - N/A - It's disappointing they weren't allowed to wrestle, but given how short ROH's TV show is the likelihood is that they'd have been screwed for time anyway. In his rivalry with Gresham, Young reminded everyone of his skill as both a wrestler and a character...so has earned some time to mould a new storyline with Woods; a guy who has been crying out for ANY kind of direction since winning the Top Prospect Tournament two years ago. 

Jay Lethal reminisces about how emotional his G1 Supercard experience was. He calls losing the World Title the 'worst experience of his life', and says he 'can't' leave New York without the World Championship again after he faces Matt Taven at Manhattan Mayhem (which airs on TV next week)

As we learned last week, the Shinobi Shadow Squad are gunning for Villain Enterprises and the Six-Man Championship, so are looking to build some momentum against another trio of guys out of the ROH Dojo/Future Of Honor system. Keys, Johnson and Caballero are all in the 2019 Top Prospect Tournament field, so themselves need a strong showing as they prepare for that opportunity...

Nova and Keys start, with Joe quickly getting beaten back into his corner by the 3S representative. Burger springs off Eli's back into a somersault senton on Dante, then CB strikes Johnson through the ropes to the floor as well. Joe's power and sound wrestling skill leads the fight back for his team; cutting Cheeseburger off from his partners as they try to wear down their smallest opponent. Johnson is still working his 'Number One' gimmick, which is far cornier and more annoying than 'The Mecca' would be. He is already very brash and outspoken though; relishing the opportunity to take centre stage on TV and beat on a popular figure like Burger. CB slithers away and unleashes Isom though, who lays out Caballero with a back drop driver. Air Raid Crash gets 2 before Brian breaks the pin. Heat Seeking Missile from Nova to Johnson! Keys inadvertently lays out Dante with a missile dropkick, then gets taken out with a double team Alarm Clock Kick by Ryan and Eli. Double stomp spike DDT triple team lays out Dante, allowing Isom to pin him for the win at 05:47

Rating - ** - Nothing here that you needed to see, but it wasn't bad at all. The right guys took up most of the ring-time (Johnson as the biggest personality, Keys as the best worker on the 2019 TPT Team, Burger as the most over guy in the match and Isom as the guy with the highest ceiling), the right man won, it moved at a brisk pace and didn't outstay its welcome. As little more than a commercial for the Top Prospect Tournament this was fine.

Keys and Caballero get into a shoving match and wind up having to be separated by security as tempers boil over ahead of the 2019 TPT...

This is Sumie's comeback match, having not wrestled since suffering a facial injury at G1 Supercard. She is, of course, a former Women Of Honor Champion and a tenured veteran of the sport so her return to the ring represents another potential challenger to current champion Kelly Klein. The Gatekeeper herself joins commentary to scout as a result. Sumie's opponent is the returning Karissa Rivera, who appeared previously at Road To G1 Supercard: Baltimore. That night she was in a slightly odd team with Gabby Ortiz, tonight she goes solo. Incidentally I had absolutely no clue that as of writing in 2021 Rivera is actually signed to NXT as 'Elektra Lopez'...

Within seconds of the opening bell Sakai has her opponent on the mat and on the brink of tapping out to a cross armbreaker. Rivera avoids the early loss and uses her long limbs to start tossing the veteran around. Both women go for flash pins but fight to a stalemate as we go to commercials. When we return Sumie tricks Rivera into bowing to her...then attacks when the younger athlete ducks her head. The veteran nods contently to herself as she cranks onto a Boston Crab; really making Karissa work to find the bottom rope. She stays on the midsection with an abdominal stretch...but in doing so gets too close to Rivera and absorbs a big dropkick. Bicycle kick follows and gets 2 for Rivera...so Sakai has to shut her down with the TJ Neckbreaker. Missile dropkick driven deep into the ribs as well by Sumie. Karissa tries to trade strikes with Sumie, although does much better with the power game as she drives Sakai into the mat with a spinebuster. Running knee into the sternum by the former WOH Champion, followed by a back suplex. Smash Mouth blocked, and Rivera sits into a pinning combination to grab an unlikely win! Karissa with the upset at 07:15 (shown)

Rating - *** - Out of nowhere this was one of the more unexpectedly enjoyable Women Of Honor matches in 2019. Free of any Allure nonsense and with a half-decent (for TV) time allowance they really worked hard to tell a simple and relatable story. Sakai was the crafty veteran who at times overwhelmed and outmatched her significantly less-experienced foe...but Rivera was tall, powerful, athletic and younger. Her fire, stamina and heart saw her hang in there when Sumie was on top, it saw her survive a couple of devious tricks from the former champion...and it saw her to an impressive and unexpected victory. 

Quinn McKay tries to interview Rivera moments after her victory, but is pushed aside by Sumie who offers Karissa a begrudging handshake to congratulate her in victory.

Backstage, security has to keep Josh Woods from attacking Silas Young. The Last Real Man says that Josh 'needs' someone like him to learn from...

NEXT WEEK - Matt Taven defends the World Title against Jay Lethal in a match taped at Manhattan Mayhem a couple of weeks prior.

Obviously the Briscoes don't have the Tag Titles here as this taping took place a couple of weeks before Manhattan Mayhem 8. This is such a big-time match that ROH made the full, unedited version an Honor Club Exclusive (and that's the version I'm reviewing). The Briscoes are violent, gruff and have been picking fights with almost everyone on the roster in 2019. They now face another set of brothers; world class luchadors coming from CMLL to Ring Of Honor. Rush remains undefeated in ROH and teams with his brother Dragon Lee for the first time. Dragon is looking to rebound from his loss to Dalton Castle at Best In The World...

Rush punches Jay in the mouth to get us started. Rush's fire and speed is such that even Jay is completely overwhelmed and has to take evasive action. Tope suicida by Dragon, but he is CAUGHT by the Briscoes and given a double suplex on the floor! Mark then leaps off a chair into a senton splash. The established ROH team lay out Rush on the floor then try to wear down his smaller brother inside the ring. It takes several minutes before Rush is even able to get back to the apron in fact. His arrival spurs Dragon into action though, punting Mark in the face and lurching into a vital tag. Once again the Briscoes try to flee...but this time their opponents give chase and start SMASHING them into the guardrails. It's a stunning assault which breaks the tag team fluidity of the Briscoes and leaves Mark absolutely POURING blood from the head. Not that they care; they give him a MutaLock/dropkick combo to make it worse! A medic comes to the ring and tries to help clear Mark's wound, but he is shoved aside as Jay launches Lee almost through the barricades. Rush BITES at the bloody wound and comes up looking like a vampire! Mark is so dazed that the Briscoes can't get on the same page to hit the Redneck Boogie (so deliver a powerbomb/leg drop combo instead). Jay feeds his brother a chair, which Mark opens in the ring for a STEP-UP SOMERSAULT PLANCHA TO THE FLOOR! Day One Neckbeaker/Froggy Bow combo gets 2! REVERSE RANA from Lee to Mark! SNAP GERMAN from Rush to Jay! All four men collapse! The crowd are frantic and roar with approval as the bloody Mark gets back to his feet to trade strikes with Rush. Urinage floors El Toro Blanco! Jay Driller countered with a TURNBUCKLE BELLY TO BELLY! RUNNING RANA OVER THE ROPES, OFF THE APRON, TO THE FLOOR BY DRAGON! BULL'S HORNS ON JAY! Rush wins at 12:33

Rating - ****1/2 - One of ROH's best matches of 2019 thus far. The real brilliance of this is how organic it felt. In years gone by it was so typical of Ring Of Honor that a match would come out of nowhere and become an absolute classic, and that was the case here. Clearly the blood-loss contributed to things; giving the entire bout a more visceral edge and heightening the drama considerably. But even before that the chemistry between these two teams was immense. The way the luchadors came out and had Rush ball up his fist to punch multi-time former World and Tag Champion Jay Briscoe's lights out was an incredible start. The differing but paralleled tactics of the two brother teams in trying to pick off and isolate one of their opponents with the other incapacitated on the floor was fascinating. It was a phenomenal TV-length sprint which got some of the hottest crowd reactions of the year and built to a grandstand finish which saw Rush pin another former World Champion (to go with Dalton Castle) and further set the stage for a Rush/Taven showdown.

Tape Rating - **** - The sheer quality of Briscoes vs Rush/Lee makes this episode must-see. My rating may be a little generous because it's a free-TV bout...but the main event here is absolutely spectacular. It came out of nowhere and delivered a brutal, bloody smash-mouth tag team fight that you really should find the time to check out. It's one of Ring Of Honor's best bouts of 2019 thus far...

5) Matt Taven/Vinny Marseglia/TK O'Ryan vs Jay Lethal/The Bouncers (** - Episode 408)

4) Karissa Rivera vs Sumie Sakai (*** - Episode 410)

3) Jonathan Gresham vs Kenny King vs Jeff Cobb vs Dalton Castle (*** - Episode 409)

2) Tracy Williams/Mark Haskins/Bandido vs Marty Scurll/Brody King/PCO (**** - Episode 409)

1) Rush/Dragon Lee vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe (****1/2 - Episode 410)