McXal's Reviews

Usually the 'Best Of' episode slides in on the final week of the previous year, so it is somewhat surprising to see that we are into the second week of January and running with a 'Best Of 2020' episode. People will be a little frustrated by the positioning of this show though, given that it effectively makes three weeks of TV in a row without any kind of reaction for Final Battle. Given that all of ROH's TV is taped on a closed-set right now it does feel a little frustrating that they still weren't able to work out their schedules to bounce right into fresh, post-Final Battle content. That will come next week though, so for now lets join our host Quinn McKay for a look back at the highlights of 2020.

The opening monologue from Quinn quickly reveals that these matches are being pulled totally at random. There is no structure behind this episode at all. As usual, just to remind you I'm copying and pasting my full match reviews from the relevant shows in here - but the version broadcast on this episode has clearly been edited for television.

Free Enterprise - This was a twenty person Battle Royal, with the winner earning a World Title shot at a date to be determined. The participants are Brian Johnson and his mentor PJ Black, Cheeseburger and Eli Isom of Shinobi Shadow Squad, partners-turned-rivals Kenny King and Rhett Titus, 2 Guys 1 Tag, The Bouncers, Delirious, Tracy Williams, Leon St. Giovanni, Danhausen, Dak Draper, Maria Manic (making this a rare inter-gender match for ROH), plus left-field guest stars Crowbar, Gangrel and Blue Meanie. Perhaps the biggest surprise entrant is Dragon Lee; a surprise because just hours earlier he was competing for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title against Hiromu Takahashi in Osaka...

Maria is competing in Dudley Boyz-inspired gear as a dig at Bully Ray. Kenny looks surprised to see Dragon, which is odd considering they are in LFI together, but doesn't long to think about it because Gangrel spits his goblet of blood in his face - a great callback to what happened to King at G1 Supercard. Delirious runs laps of the ring, whilst the likes of Brian Johnson and 2G1T opt against getting into the ring immediately. Danhausen tries to make friends with Gangrel which is quite funny - and is immediately drilled with the inverted tiger suplex. Implant DDT on Johnson! Dak Draper then powers the Vampire Warrior out of the ring as the first elimination. Draper throws LSG, Crowbar and Isom out seconds later as he goes on a complete tear. Cheeseburger eliminates him as payback for Eli. Blue Meanie tries to befriend The Bouncers...and they all do the Meanie dance together until Brian Johnson tosses Meanie out like an asshole. PJ comes to his student's aid before The Bouncers can eliminate him though. JOHNSON TOSSES PJ! That was a great moment! Maria Manic PRESS SLAMS JOHNSON TO THE FLOOR moments later! She hiptosses Rhett Titus out as well. MARIA ELIMINATES THE BOUNCERS! And in doing so she saves Danhausen, who is absolutely delighted. Silas finally enters the match, looking to show the Maneater what a 'Real Man' looks like. She willingly trade strikes with Young...until he lays her out with the Killer Combo. Bully Ray sprints to the ring and drags Maria over the top rope and smacks her with a steel chair. POWERBOMB THROUGH THE TIMEKEEPING TABLE! Bully just decimated Manic, and the camera cuts inside the ring as Delirious and Danhausen come face to face. Dan apparently understands Delirious...and gives him teeth to drink? Obviously he then stabs his new Lizard friend in the back (by kicking him in the head then throwing him out of the match). Silas then eliminates Danhausen...but has to be rescued by Josh Woods when Burger almost tosses him. Silas knocks CB to the floor with his springboard lariat, giving us a 'final four' of Woods, Young, Williams and 'Dragon Lee'. Tracy hits the turnbuckle DDT on Silas, but then Josh dives in front of Hot Sauce to take the rest of the hits in Young's place. Silas saves Josh from being eliminated! He screwed Josh over in a Battle Royal at Glory By Honor, so that shows real progression for their team. They toss Tracy to the floor and round on Dragon Lee...who promptly ducks an attempted mafia kick from Josh, causing him to boot Silas off the apron! KENNY KING IS BACK! Just like G1 Supercard he had been hiding under the ring, and he sneaks up behind the final two (Woods and Lee) looking to eliminate them both. Josh falls...but 'Lee' skins the cat back in as Kenny celebrates. He then pulls his mask off to reveal that it is Flip Gordon! He eliminates King, to win the match and the title shot at 17:35

Rating - *** - Battle Royals are rarely my thing, but I'll gladly offer up praise where one proves to be an exception to the rule and in my opinion this fell into that bracket. The key to it was smart pacing, and great moments scattered throughout the seventeen minute run-time. We started with Gangrel repeating the Muta/Kenny King spot which I loved, we had Dak Draper looking strong with a few eliminations, Johnson stabbing PJ in the back which was really well done, Maria Manic tearing through the field then getting f*cked up by Bully Ray at least advances that storyline (if you're into it), Delirious and Danhausen shared a comedic beat, 2 Guys 1 Tag riffed off their interactions from the last ROH Battle Royal to great impact...and we ended with Kenny King trying to pull the same trick he used at the 2019 Honor Rumble, only to be thwarted by a member of LFI's rival group - Flip Gordon of Villain Enterprises. The one thing I would say is that a lot of the entertainment value of this match could only be found if you were familiar with ROH's storylines and have watched a lot of ROH's shows over the last year. I don't know that this had the same mass appeal that something like the 'Over Budget' Battle Royal at All In had for instance. The inclusion of this match on this 'best of' episode does make some sense too, given that in 2021 we are still waiting for Flip to receive the title shot which this victory entitles him to.

Gateway To Honor 2020 - LFI's pursuit of the World Title which PCO took from Rush at Final Battle continues. PCO now faces Rush again, with the additional x-factor of Haskins being involved. The winner of this match was scheduled to make their first defence of the title at the 18th Anniversary, where they would face whomever ISN'T pinned tonight...

Haskins tries to shake hands, but is awkwardly left out as PCO and Rush get in each other's faces. PCO hits a tope suicida on Rush...then catches Haskins trying to do the same to him and crushes him with a chokeslam on the apron. QUEBEC CANNONBALL TO THE APRON MISSES - because Rush pulled Haskins out of the way! Being out of the ring clearly favours Rush; he marauds around ringside alternating between both opponents and repeatedly launching them into the guardrails. Over-confidence becomes Rush's biggest enemy and he starts playing to the crowd giving Haskins and PCO time to recover. Mark takes a run-up and rocks him with a tope, and scrambles up the ropes to hit Stomp Boy for 2. PCO is back too - hitting a Pop-Up Powerbomb...which Rush no-sells and repays with a snap German suplex. Turnbuckle belly to belly suplex nailed...but PCO gets up out of the corner and SPEARS Rush as he looks for the Bull's Horns. Soldier Roll by Haskins gets 2! He gets up unto another chokeslam from PCO, setting up the PCO-Sault! Rush breaks the pin! Nick Aldis runs in and KO's PCO with the NWA World Title belt whilst Rush argues with Todd Sinclair outside the ring. BULL'S HORNS! Rush becomes a two-time champion at 10:22

Rating - *** - There was actually a lot to like about this. From an in-ring perspective it is difficult to see what a forgettable ten minute triple threat sprint does for the prestige of the ROH Championship, but the match wasn't actually bad at all. The first half in particular was a lot of fun, from the two rivals ignoring Haskins, to the fantastic way they incorporated PCO doing his usual (and still terrifying) cannonball stunt onto the apron, to Rush's signature cockiness as he dominated his foes. It became a bit of a mess in the second half, and a more typical triple threat format of guys taking turns to hit moves on each other without much holding it together which is disappointing...but I'd be unfair if I were to say that this wasn't an entertaining match. 

ROH on Sinclair Episode 476 - The winner here will leave Baltimore as ROH's first reigning Pure Champion since 2006 when Bryan Danielson defeated Nigel McGuinness to unify it with the World Championship. Gresham has dealt with the weight and pressure of expectation throughout the tournament. An immensely skilled technician; he has spent years calling for the return of the Pure Championship and has remodelled himself as 'The Foundation'; a focal point for pure professional wrestlers to rally around and restore the integrity to Ring Of Honor. Despite that pressure, and despite picking up a leg injury along the way, he has beaten Wheeler Yuta, Matt Sydal and Josh Woods to make it here...and desperately wants to be Pure Champion so he can rebuild the promotion in the name of pure wrestling. As I said last week, his opponent is the MVP of the tournament however. Tracy Williams spent all of 2019 working through nagging shoulder injuries, and his opponents have weakened that body part again throughout the tournament. But his gutsy, hard-fought wins over Rust Taylor, Fred Yehi and Jay Lethal have all been outstanding. His win over Lethal was a bracket-buster which denied people the Lethal vs Gresham final they'd been expecting. Just one more win will see him as the man who gets to rebuild ROH in the name of pure wrestlers everywhere...

Both men are introduced as 'representing The Foundation'. Tracy is back to wearing the shoulder support which he wore throughout 2019. Despite their injuries they quite literally sprint across the ring at each other so they can lock-up and start trading holds. First blood to Tracy who hiptosses Gresh over the top rope...but that only leads to a frenetic and intense chain-wrestling exchange on the outside! Back inside the ring Williams makes an early move at working the arm, potentially to set up with the Crossface. Gresham is more than capable of working his way free and for the first time he starts attacking Williams' arms. Keen to protect his pre-existing injury, Tracy is quick to utilise his first rope-break to keep The Octopus at bay. He locks onto a cravat with such ferocity that even Gresham needs a break to escape (and protect his neck from being softened up for the Crossface). SPEAR by Gresh! A big, uncharacteristic move from The Octopus! It hurts his neck but really catches Williams off guard. Jon scoots away from the turnbuckles as Hot Sauce teases that turnbuckle DDT. Gresh looks for another spear, but this time Tracy is ready to block it! He uses is height and striking power to frustrate Gresham; annoying him so much that he actually tries to nip-up off the canvas and exacerbates his own pre-existing knee injury. Bridging German gets 2 for Gresh...but seemingly can't maintain the bridge due to his knee and is clocked with a lariat. In the end both men collapse over the top rope and lie in a sweaty mess on the arena floor. Williams tries a swinging DDT...Gresham blocks...so Tracy DUMPS him with a brainbuster instead! Crossface locked in! Gresh screams in pain as he desperately fights to utilise his second rope-break (as many as he's used in all three previous rounds apparently). EVEREST GERMAN by Gresh, dropping Williams right on his bad shoulder! RUNNING ELBOWS get 2. He maintains hold of the injured arm and puts it in a kimura! Octopus Stretch blocked...but Williams is too injured to hit the Piledriver. ONE-ARMED PILEDRIVER INSTEAD! Gresh has to use his last rope-break to kick out of that. Williams tears off his shoulder support in a rage...only for Gresh to grab his arm for the OCTOPUS STRETCH! TRACY TAPS! Gresham is the Pure Champion at 14:07 (shown).

Rating - **** - Whilst it wasn't either man's 'best match' in the tournament it was a punchy, fitting finale to what was an excellent eight weeks of solid pure wrestling. The injuries each combatant picked up along the way were referenced in the final but, bravely I felt, they weren't the main focus. Instead the story here was of 'The Foundation'; two immensely talented and like-minded technical wrestlers largely cancelling each other out. They battled for supremacy in and out of the ring, the momentum veered from man to man repeatedly. It had been billed as two of the best 'pure professional wrestlers' on the planet and they delivered on that premise. Gresham has proven himself a ruthless technician, capable of putting opponents away quickly, suddenly and without mercy from multiple situations. That paid off in the final as he was the first finalist to find a definitive way to exploit the pre-existing injury that Tracy has carried throughout the tournament, thus securing him victory. 

NEXT WEEK - Dragon Lee defends the TV Title against Rey Horus, whilst Rhett Titus meets Flip Gordon in a Pure Rules Match

Tape Rating - N/A - A somewhat lazy, slapped together schedule-filler of an episode here. If you weren't an Honor Club member or hadn't seen the Free Enterprise Battle Royal or the Gateway To Honor Triple Threat title match then I suppose it wasn't a complete waste of time, but actual fans of Ring Of Honor who watch the product with any regularity will gain nothing from this one except a sense of frustration that they are still waiting for new, post-Final Battle 2020 content. I'm not sure ROH is in a strong enough position that it can afford to air an episode of their core TV show which has no merit for their actual, current, engaged fanbase...