McXal's Reviews

Up next we move to content taped at the big 'Summer Supercard' event. As with the Manhattan Mayhem/Mass Hysteria TV shows, this hour of television will provide a blend of highlights, reactions and interview segments - building to a feature match from the Summer Supercard show itself. To that end our main event sees the World Title at stake; Alex Shelley challenging Matt Taven. Quinn McKay and Ian Riccaboni are the hosts of the show; Caprice Coleman is alongside Ian for commentary in Toronto, ONT.

With Alex Shelley returning to ROH in Philadelphia, and challenging for the World Title in our Summer Supercard main event for this broadcast, we begin with clips from Mass Hysteria where Shelley teamed with Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham to face The Kingdom. After the match Quinn was able to interview Shelley, who says he doesn't think Taven represents the ROH that 'I helped build fifteen years ago'. He wants to restore honour with a win this evening.

Next we watch The Allure attacking Tasha Steelz with hairspray at Mass Hysteria, then their ensuing confrontation with arch-rival Kelly Klein. This leads to highlights of the Klein/Steelz WOH Title Match at Summer Supercard; which saw The Gatekeeper retain.

After the match The Allure attacked Klein again, dishing out another vicious in-ring assault. Quinn tries to interview Angelina to understand her actions, but the interview doesn't get far before Kelly Klein gatecrashes and brawls with Love...

Lifeblood get some promo time next. Mark Haskins talks about his long history with Marty Scurll and bemoans the fact that he didn't spot Scurll, Flip and Villain Enterprises' double-cross coming at Best In The World. Tracy reminds the Villains that they beat them in a Street Fight in Philly, so deserve a Six-Man Title shot. That Villains/Lifeblood Trios Title bout is then announced for Honor For All 2019. A singles bout between Marty Scurll and Bandido is also booked for Saturday Night At Center Stage. 

Back to Summer Supercard where, after defending the TV Title against Tracy Williams, Shane Taylor marches backstage and complains about his dominant victory being over-shadowed by Tracy's shoulder-injury inflicted by Flip Gordon earlier in the night. He decides he might need to start his own promotional company to ensure he gets the coverage and publicity that his dominant performances deserve.

Ian and Quinn discuss Ladder War 8, which was too bloody and violent for them to show on television in anything other than highlight form. By the end of the highlight package Jay's face is permanently censored due to the volume of blood he has pouring out of a head-wound.

NEXT WEEK - Lifeblood of Mark Haskins and Bandido face Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham

Shelley was assumed as retired (although he did point out he never used the word 'retirement), and was thought to have exited ROH in 2018. But he returned in Philadelphia, and cashed in his 'veteran card' for an immediate title shot; gratitude for his years of service to pro-wrestling and the influence he has among promotions and performers all over the world. Taven is in the form of his life though and has eradicated all doubt about the legitimacy of his World Championship credentials by ending Jeff Cobb's undefeated streak at Best In The World, then beating Jay Lethal at Manhattan Mayhem. Good as Shelley is, one suspects that it would be an upset if he were to leave Toronto as World Champion...

The opening exchanges favour Shelley as they take place almost entirely on the mat - where he has spent an entire career honing his craft. Eventually he snots in the champ's face, provoking Matt to fire back with a slap. All of this takes place with a front row fan visibly fast asleep (and a very sleepy looking kid next to him). Taven looks annoyed as the challenger ties him into knots without breaking a sweat. He pokes Shelley in the eyes and goes for The Climax...but Alex keeps almost countering it to the Border City Stretch, which forces the champ to the floor. Upon his return Shelley has no qualms about poking Taven in the eye either. At this point big portions of the audience are now visibly distracted by the still-sleeping front-row fan - meaning Shelley continuing to out-wrestle Taven goes almost unnoticed. He dropkicks Taven's suspect knee, and once again the champion has to flee the ring. Diving knee off the apron by Shelley! To the delight of the crowd, Shelley actually reaches into the crowd and STEALS the sleeping fan's shoe to beat Taven with! He is still basking in the cheers from that when he spits water in Taven's face and looks for a Sliced Bread off the ringpost. TAVEN TOSSES HIM THROUGH A TABLE to counter it! Shelley barely survives being counted out, and returns to a barrage of strikes from the champion. His back is hurting him, and Matt makes it worse with a swinging backbreaker for 2. Surfboard applied, then another flurry of backbreakers when the challenger escapes it. Lion Tamer next, followed by a Russian legsweep/rolling neckbreaker combo. SLINGSHOT DDT OVER THE TOP ROPE TO THE FLOOR by Shelley! But Taven is still moving so the challenger goes out after him. SHELLSHOCK TO THE GUARDRAIL! STANDING SHIRANUI INTO THE CROWD! But Taven recovers to boot him in the face and hit AIR TAVEN INTO THE FRONT ROW! It's a spectacular sequence, but the crowd are mostly distracted by the sleeping fan having to be carried out. Aurora Borealis blocked...SHELLSHOCK gets 2! SLICED BREAD #2! BORDER CITY STRETCH! Taven escapes and hits Just The Tip. CLIMAX NAILED! FOR 2! CLIMAX AGAIN! Taven retains at 18:05

Rating - **** - I love Alex Shelley and he was at his best here; out-wrestling Taven at every turn and coming off as a genuine threat even in a match nobody thought he'd win. And in turn the content of the match itself (ignoring the unconscious fan) really put Taven over too. He didn't need to cheat to get on top, he just had to show his toughness and endurance - and also his ingenuity as he opportunistically tossed Alex through a table when the chance presented itself. He pummelled Shelley's back and seemed on the brink of victory - until they paralleled the momentum-shift from earlier and had Shelley opportunistically hit a crazy high spot to grab the advantage back. From there it was a race to the finish line; the critically-injured Shelley emptying the tanks with all the offence he could muster - only for Taven to survive it all and grab the win. 

Tape Rating - N/A - One thing I like about this new format is that the full hour seems set-up to push Honor Club hard. Even the original premise of 'Road Rage' TV episodes weren't as good at delivering the basic concept of advertising ROH live events to shift DVD/VOD sales as these new broadcasts have been. Every segment is an abbreviated, punctuated summary of events at recent live shows; showing just enough to enable casual viewers to 'get' the storylines whilst more than holding enough back to hint that people should purchase an Honor Club membersbip to see those events in full...