McXal's Reviews

On into 2020 we go. Other than a half-asleep live viewing of Free Enterprise, I have seen absolutely nothing from this weird early-2020 period when Ring Of Honor was trying desperately to come back from their disastrous 2019 - but I already know that it will be incredibly hard to invest in anything when we know that the Coronavirus pandemic will cruelly cut short what little momentum they were able to build. The first couple of months of the year were a time of real transition. In early January it was announced that Marty Scurll had signed one of the most lucrative contracts in the history of ROH, surprising everyone by declining an offer to join his friends in AEW...thanks to the sweetener of being made ROH's new lead booker. It's difficult to understand how that dynamic was to work as Delirious remained with the company and was supposedly 'helping' Marty whilst remaining as the 'executive producer' of the TV show, and of course Scurll's ill-fated tenure as booker was so brief it's difficult to know what impact he really had (if any). We begin with content taped in Philadelphia, PA at Final Battle Fallout, with a scheduled 'feature bout' main event which sees new World Champion PCO in action. This airs a week before he was due to go to Atlanta to defend his belt in a rematch against former champion Rush. Quinn McKay and Ian Riccaboni are our hosts.

First thing is first, I notice we have a new title sequence. It removes people like Kelly Klein (replacing her in the same spot with Maria Manic), PCO is positioned far more prominently and I couldn't spot Tracy Williams - who was rumoured as about to be released too. 

In a segment lifted directly from the FB Fallout VOD, Villain Enterprises open the show in celebratory mood after PCO's World Title win at Final Battle. PCO talks for much longer than he should...before Rush interrupts on the Cary-tron. Rush says he isn't done with PCO, and introduces Kenny King and Dragon Lee as his partners in 'La Faccion Ingobernable'. Was there no way they could clean up/improve the audio for television? Rush and Dragon Lee were impossible to understand on the livestream, and it's the same on the TV edit...

PJ Black asks Josh Woods about being mentored by Silas Young. The Darewolf has decided he wants to get his own protege to mentor just like Silas has. Young suggests 'The Mecca' Brian Johnson to f*ck with him...and says 2G1T will face them in a couple of months.

This is a TV exclusive, recorded at the Final Battle Fallout taping. Draper is waiting for his TV Title shot having won the 2019 Top Prospect Tournament so will be looking to impress with another commanding singles victory. Ali, meanwhile, is taking some tentative steps into the singles division after Coast 2 Coast's momentum stalled entirely last year.

Shaheem doesn't have any C2C graphics on the Cary-tron during his entrance. Dak strides confidently into the match and immediately looks to curtail any speed or high-flying with some grounded submission holds. Ali does quicken the pace though and drills the Mile High Magnum with a back suplex as we enter commercials. It doesn't seem to amount to much though because when we return Draper is putting him on the mat again with a pumping gutwrench suplex. Dak looks for a rope-run crossbody...but is countered impressively with a suplex by Shaheem. DEAD-LIFT Doctor Bomb gets 2 for Ali. Draper shows surprising athleticism by rolling over the ropes (twice) to evade the clutches of his opponent, before delivering a rebound elbow strike. Magnum KO wins it for Dak at 04:54 (shown)

Rating - ** - It was brief so won't inconvenience your life too much if you sit through it, but I don't understand what the goal was with this match. The match was an entirely even contest, and that felt like the booker failing to trust in his own instincts/talent. Draper is very obviously the 'project' right now, having won the TPT and getting more exposure on television. Therefore he feels harmed by how difficult he found beating Ali, one of the lowest ranked members of the roster - which feels like a real error if ROH are hoping we buy him as a credible contender to Dragon Lee in a few weeks time. And since Ali essentially drops off the roster in 2020 (pre-pandemic, obviously we don't know what was planned had that not been the case) he really didn't warrant as much protection as he got here.

Highlights of the shockingly intense Taven/Vincent match from Final Battle are shown. That ended with Marseglia and his new associate Bateman seemingly breaking Taven's ankle...

PJ Black catches up with Brian Johnson after we see clips of him losing to Colt Cabana and assorted ROH office staff in Columbus. He offers to mentor The Mecca, who resoundingly rejects the offer...

Camera crews follow Lethal and Gresham to the locker rooms after their Tag Title win at Final Battle. Lethal calls it a sad day, because they did 'whatever the hell they wanted' (just like everyone else) and have been rewarded. He apologises again for taking so long to come around to Gresham's thinking. The Octopus says this is the start of them 'rebuilding the company in [their] image'...

Brian Zane discusses his Top 5 moments from Final Battle 2019. 

Cobb and Maff found common ground and mutual respect in the aftermath of their slug-out on the Hour One pre-show for Final Battle 2019. It was a bout which ended with them smiling, shaking hands and continuing to chop each other. They now get a big opportunity to wrestle against the new World Champion on their first night as a team. Maff would love another crack at PCO having pushed him to the limit in their violent non-sanctioned match at Unauthorized, whilst Jeff has World Title aspirations of his own so will be eyeing up a pin on PCO for himself. 

Scurll starts, looking to trade 'heavyweight' offence with Cobb. He follows that with a 'Just Kidding' slap to Maff's bald head...then runs away before Dan can get his hands on him. He basically forces PCO into the ring to protect him from Maff's wrath. Cobb and Maff hit a double suplex on the Villains, but it knocks them out of the ring where Scurll can get evasive again before drilling Dan with a Superkick from the apron. Back inside the ring Cobb starts tossing The Villain. It again essentially forces PCO to make a tag...and he is caught with the DEAD-LIFT SUPERPLEX BY COBB! But PCO gets up and back flips out of a German suplex seconds later. Once he has successfully put Jeff on his ass, Marty once again tags in and starts picking apart the Olympian through both fair and foul means. Cobb eventually powers Marty to the ground and makes the tag to Maff...who flattens PCO with the cannonball senton. ATHLETIC-PLEX from Cobb to PCO, and he stays on his knees for Dan to hit a step-up senton off his back! Jeff delivers a running barrel toss to the champ, pausing to make fun of Scurll on his way as well...but nothing he or his partner do seems to keep PCO down for long. Marty gets a tag and uses all his trickery to lead the fightback on both his behemoth opponents. Tornado DDT's scatter them before he then back drops PCO into the somersault plancha to the floor. Cambridge Crab/guillotine leg drop combo on Cobb gets 2. Big headbutt by the Hawaiian to block the Finger Snap though. Maff flies in with an Ace Crusher on Scurll, with PCO in hot pursuit. CANADIAN DESTROYER ON MAFF! Marty then hurls the champ into his Quebec Cannonball for 2 - with Jeff making the desperate save. TOPE CON HILO wipes out Cobb! POOUUUUNCE from Maff to Marty! But when he tries a tope suicida he inadvertently cleans out Cobb! PCO MISSES THE QUEBEC CANNONBALL TO THE APRON! Inside Maff goes for the Burning Hammer, but Marty counters with a small package and snags a Villain Enterprises victory at 16:26

Rating - *** - It took a little while to get going and ultimately wound up being one of those functional but forgettable B-show tag team main events. But having said that, the second half of the match was a lot of fun as Cobb, Maff and PCO traded big boy spots and Scurll trotted in and out being an asshole. Most of the match played up Marty as a smart, resourceful, devious wrestler - so having him outwit the rather one-dimensional Maff for the win made sense in that context.

Tape Rating - N/A - As I said during my introductory paragraph, reviewing these early-2020 shows in 2021 is extremely difficult, knowing that everything ROH are trying to set up will be curtailed by the pandemic. They set up plenty here; PCO as champion, the formation of La Faccion Ingobernable, Dak Draper as a growing force, Lethal and Gresham starting to sound more like what would come to be known as 'The Foundation' plus PJ trying to mentor Brian Johnson. I find it difficult to ascertain just how much any of that would appeal to a casual viewer - so on a week where the in-ring content was solid but no better, it's hard to recommend this episode too strongly.