McXal's Reviews

Ring Of Honor was not immune to the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus and subsequent global pandemic in 2020, cancelling shows and spending the spring and summer on hiatus. Strangely they did exit the year as one of the few promotions who had been able to enhance their reputation in the face of such unprecedented adversity though; earning praise for the way they treated their wrestlers during the quarantine and partnering with the Maryland State Athletic Commission to put together a set of stringent Covid protocols to keep the roster and crew safe when they finally did emerge...then rebooting with a compelling series of TV shows centered around the return of the Pure Championship, leading to a well-received Final Battle 2020 PPV. We begin 2021 with a special episode looking back at how Ring Of Honor managed the early days of the Coronavirus outbreak in 2020, featuring previously unseen matches taped back at the cancelled 18th Anniversary weekend. Quinn McKay and Ian Riccaboni are our broadcast team. The in-ring action was taped in Las Vegas, NV.

Quinn's signature perkiness feels a little out of place as she briskly discusses the events of March 2020, with Covid forcing ROH to cancel the 18th Anniversary/Past vs Present double-header in Las Vegas at such short notice that many talents and crew-members were already on flights and unable to get the news before arriving. She talks about all the social media content the company produced during quarantine and the unrivalled access we were given to the roster on the weekly TV show as each episode featured a spotlight on a different performer both at home and in the ring. 

Matt Taven is the first talking head, candidly discussing how he felt like the Coronavirus was something which would remain far away and not impact ROH...until it started taking hold in Europe causing him to worry about how international talents might be affected, before the situation escalated rapidly as he prepared to travel to Vegas. He outs Ian Riccaboni and Todd Sinclair as panic buyers and admits that he was concerned about ROH's very existence...but then gives credit to those in charge for holding an immediate meeting to offer reassurance to the crew.

Flip Gordon's experience was different. He had just got back from a trip to Barbados when he was preparing for the 18YA weekend...and actually found out about the cancellation whilst on a layover en-route to Vegas. He made the decision to attend the shows anyway, agreed to wrestle in the empty arena and was pleased he got to work 'one of [his] favourite wrestlers' in Bandido. He does also call it a 'plandemic' and says he doesn't care when fans are allowed back to shows; all he wants is his World Title shot. His weekend ended with him being stuck in a near-deserted Las Vegas without a flight for several days...

To those Vegas dark matches we go. This is the first time we've seen Bandido in new in-ring content since February. When the pandemic struck he and his allies Flamita and Rey Horus had just defeated Villain Enterprises (featuring Flip substituting for PCO) for the Six-Man Championship. Bandido has been impacted more than most members of the roster, having reportedly been struck down with a serious bout of Covid. Despite having reportedly recovered and been booked to return for the Final Battle tapings, he failed his pre-travel Covid testing so didn't travel. Gordon will want revenge for the Trios Title loss, and to get one over a man he just described as one of his favourite performers.

I get accused of bashing all modern ROH themes. That isn't true - for example I quite like Bandido's music. As this was taped in March, Flip still competes in his Villain Enterprise branded gear. Of course these two agile athletes are extremely evenly matched and spent the first minute working at great speed. Gordon tricks Bandido out of the ring with his repeated nip-up trick, teases a dive to the floor without delivering...but then gets wiped out by Bandido's frog crossbody. To prevent that happening again The Mercenary traps his foe in the ring apron and clobbers him. The masked luchador is slammed onto the arena floor as soon as he frees himself from that predicament as well. All of Gordon's offence starts targeting Bandido's midsection and back, clearly intended to slow him down. It counts for little as Bandido unleashes his wild rebound tornillo from the top and then almost takes his head off with a superkick. Revolution Fly blocked, with Flip tumbling out of the corner into a Pele Kick across the neck. He takes too long climbing the ropes for the 450 Splash...so instead almost KO's Bandido with a heel kick. X-KNEE gets 2...so Flip tears into the midsection again with the Springboard Spear. FLIP-5! Gordon wins at 08:21 (shown)

Rating - *** - Flip is really good, so is Bandido. Even in a nine-minute exhibition bout in an empty arena, with uncertainty over the pandemic raging, they did a great job with this. Gordon took a while to grow into this 'Mercenary' persona, but after his injury issues it really is in his best interests to adapt his style a little. Working someone as explosive and athletic as Bandido really brought that into focus, and this is actually one of Flip's better performances in terms of stripping back his moveset and dominating someone. If and when he does make it back to ROH, Bandido is a guy they should look at pushing to the moon (even as a potential candidate to dethrone Rush)...

Cheeseburger, Beer City Bruiser and Session Moth Martina get a compilation interview talking about their pandemic experiences thus far. Martina's experience is particularly unique given that she is an international fly-in, touching down shortly before President Trump closed the US border to the UK and Ireland. This joins together as it turns out they'd taped an 8-person tag - Burger, Eli Isom, Delirious and the returning Grizzly Redwood against Rhett Titus, Joe Hendry, Bruiser and Martina. They show a few brief clips of it and to be fair it does look really fun.

Like Bandido, Haskins is another man whom the pandemic has left marooned and largely out of the spotlight in another country. Yes he's done the Rev Pro shows, but internationally his career has undoubtedly been set back. In the midst of a real push (completely deserved based on the relentless high quality of his own in-ring performances since debuting in ROH), he was firmly part of the World Title picture and actually scheduled to challenge Rush for the belt at the 18th Anniversary. Airing this footage gives us a welcome chance to see him in an ROH ring again, squaring off with Jay Lethal - a man with whom he shared an absolute classic back in 2018 at Honor Re-United Night 3 in London.

Plenty of trash-talking before the bell, with Haskins steadfast in his belief that it's his 'time' now. He starts with a flourish; comprehensively out-wrestling Lethal and almost locking into an armbar on a couple of occasions. Lethal is dazed but absent-mindedly mutters that ROH is 'my house' as he tries to mount a comeback. Haskins silences that with a running punt to the arm and follows it by stomping the arm into the canvas as well. The former World Champion finds himself squirming to the ropes as Mark starts lining up the Star Armbar. Jay leaves the ring - now keenly aware that he can't out-wrestle Haskins so instead trying to brawl with him on the floor. Haskins LEAPS THE RAILINGS into the empty crowd areas. LETHAL INJECTION FROM THE APRON TO THE FLOOR! Jay thinks he has it won...but back inside the ring Haskins kicks the arm out from under him as he tries another Lethal Injection. Lethal Combination instead gets 2! He repeatedly kicks at Mark's head, having been rendered unable to apply the Figure 4 thanks to his arm injury. Hail To The King COUNTERED IN MID-AIR to a Crossface! Jay crawls to the ropes, so Overkill converts to a Rings Of Saturn instead! Lethal tries to put a leg on the ropes...so Haskins transitions again to a bow and arrow! Cradle To The Grave blocked! RUNNING gourdbuster instead, with Lethal putting out his injured arm to absorb all the impact of that. Lethal once again goes to strikes. ONE-ARMED LETHAL INJECTION MISSES! ARM-CAPTURE SHARPSHOOTER! LETHAL TAPS! Haskins wins at 08:40 (shown)

Rating - **** - If you needed a reminder that Mark Haskins was on top of his game and completely deserving of the push he was getting in ROH before the pandemic struck then this was it. Lethal has been churning out great, mat-based singles matches since ROH relaunched and this was yet another superb example of that too. Structurally it was so tight, telling a great story even with minimal ring-time. Haskins came in hot; pissed off that his World Title Match was cancelled, keen to revenge 2016 and 2018 World Title losses to Lethal and ready to beat 'The Franchise' of the company in order to signify his ascension to the main event. It rattled the former World and current Tag Champion, but didn't break him. Jay realised he couldn't out-wrestle Haskins so started a fight with him on the outside - finally almost murdering him with that insane Lethal Injection off the apron. As the match reached it's conclusion the selling from Lethal and the brilliant, intricate, innovative limb-work from Haskins were supremely good, leaving me on the edge of my seat. They had no need to go as hard as they did, but it absolutely rocked. 

Mark Briscoe arrived in Vegas early for a mini-break with his wife, and actually found out from his brother Jay that the shows were cancelled. With kids at home and not wanting to be stuck in Nevada, they were forced to return home less than 24 hours after they arrived...

Meanwhile Slex travelled from Australia, and wound up with a 32-hour round trip to get from his home country, to the US...then straight back again. Like everyone else he expresses his gratitude at how he has been looked after by ROH even whilst the pandemic has sent him into exile.

Quinn ends the broadcast with a great in-depth look at the 'ROH Bubble' and all the safety measures and protocols which are now part of ROH taping television. We also have Maria Kanellis-Bennett promoting 'The Experience' as a continued method of ensuring the fans' voices are heard...

Tape Rating - **** - I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this episode. I feared that tonally it may come off as too self-congratulatory, particularly as it airs on January 1st 2021 when the world is very much still under the shadow of Covid-19 and far from through the pandemic. I didn't expect much from the in-ring content either, knowing how unusual the circumstances surrounding their taping over the cancelled 18th Anniversary weekend ended up being. I was wrong on both counts. It is a Ring Of Honor show so clearly there was an element of self-promotion - but I thought the overall tone of the presentation of this episode was excellent. It didn't feel forced or over-produced, instead we had wrestlers in their homes, talking into their phones, laptops or whatever filming equipment they had available, discussing their experiences of the Vegas weekend and the pandemic. Other than Flip, the talking head segments all felt earnest, honest, sincere and intensely personal. Seeing people like Martina and Slex, whom have seen their careers grind to a halt, gave a stark, if fleeting, look at the very real impact of the pandemic on professional wrestlers. Seeing guys like Mark Briscoe fearing being stuck in Vegas and unable to get back to their children sheds real light on how fluid, unpredictable and accelerated the Covid situation became over that week. Ending the show with a video package covering the steps Ring Of Honor take to safely produce new, Covid-secure in-ring content was incredibly smart as well; that clearly is a very real (and incredibly expensive) way in which this promotion have set themselves apart in 2020. If all the pandemic-related content isn't for you...then just watch Haskins vs Lethal. It's like nine minutes long and absolutely superb - legitimately one of the best matches ROH have put out in the Covid era...