McXal's Reviews

ROH has rightly come in for some criticism for how slow they were to capitalise on the buzz that Final Battle generated. The fact that they followed a pre-taped PPV with a couple of weeks of filler content has been singled out. For me, the bigger issue has been waiting more than a month to put World Champion Rush back on television. His individual performance, filling the empty arena at Final Battle with almost unparalleled vibrancy and dynamism, was superb. The show ended with a major angle bringing in his father and La Faccion Ingobernable staring down The Foundation. We've heard almost nothing about that since, which is a real shame. Finally, however, LFI are back on TV in (almost) full tonight. Rush and Dragon Lee team with their father, La Bestia del Ring, and Flip Gordon (presumably filling for the Covid-enforced absence of Kenny King) to face the Briscoes, PCO and Brody King in the main event. Quinn McKay is our host with Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman providing commentary. We are once again in the Covid-secure, empty arena environment in Baltimore, MD.

LAST WEEK - The Righteous got into Beer City Bruiser's head and convinced him to assault The OGK after their main event. Quinn tried to interview him as he got through the curtain. He doesn't say much before Brian Milonas arrives and argues with him for attacking Bennett and Taven (men that Milonas has been friends with for fifteen years). Bruiser tells him he either 'has [his] back' or he doesn't, then storms off yelling that he is fed up of being a 'b*tch'...

Cheeseburger is someone who I've enjoyed only infrequently despite a lengthy tenure in ROH. His regular appearances as an almost mascot-like figure have never resonated with me and I've never brought into him the way ECW fans took Spike Dudley to their heart. More importantly, I've found the substantial size difference between him and almost every other opponent frequently leads to other members of the roster looking foolish. Against this backdrop, I was astonished to see that - when ROH dropped his pre-match interview onto social media last week - it was perhaps the best thing I've ever seen him do on ROH programming (and I said as much on Twitter). He talks about the history of his Cheeseburger name, the success it has brought him...but then announces he is fed up of being a 'novelty act' wants to go by 'World Famous CB' from now on. He is a veteran wrestler, a trainer, a man who has wrestled in the Tokyo Dome and MSG, a man mentored by Jushin 'Thunder' Liger, and a man who is capable of using his lack of size to his advantage in matches. It's fascinating and, even by the heightened bar ROH has set with these character-building interview pieces, excellent television. Enter Tracy Williams, who in the name of The Foundation, is ready to step into the ring with CB - ready to help him realise his potential in a Pure professional wrestling match. 

New gear, new music and a new look for CB. The footage they aired of his very first ROH appearances show you how much size he's actually packed on in the last eight years too. Even with that added size, clearly Williams has a power advantage. He looks to exert dominance early with grapples and holds but, as promised, CB uses his illusiveness to escape his clutches. He works into a stranglehold - utilising Tracy's bad shoulder/arm as a weapon to choke him with. He is still on it when we come back from commercials, with Williams really struggling to escape. Mounted Octopus stretch applied, transitioned into a chickenwing when Tracy escapes. Hot Sauce has no choice but to use his first rope-break. Tracy is, as his nickname suggests, hot after that. He comes out of the ropes with some thumping strikes and a couple of violent suplexes in an effort to instantly damage the neck of his smaller opponent. It means World Famous has to use his first rope-break before Tracy can lock on to his Crossface finisher. But in saving his neck he leaves his arm exposed...and in a flash Williams starts working that over too. With his neck and arm wounded, Tracy decides it is time to attack the legs as well. As we hit the ten minute mark in the time-limit CB escapes his clutches and tries to create some distance. He darts across the ring, keeps out of Tracy's grip and looks to grab the bad shoulder for a cross armbreaker. Williams blocks...shortarm scissors instead! That necessitates rope-break #2 to be utilised by Hot Sauce. It's clear that, once again, Tracy's shoulder is really bothering him. CB grabs a double wristlock and without much prompting Williams basically collapses into the ropes for his final break. He uppercuts at the neck and hits a backbreaker/back suplex combo. Doctor Bomb gets 2! But that uses Tracy's arm so he is slow to capitalise too. CB drives elbow strikes into the jaw and shoulder, followed by a Superkick. Shotei blocked...JUMPING PILEDRIVER! Tracy wins at 10:45 (shown).

Rating - *** - If I did half stars this would undoubtedly go to ***1/2. In fact, I'm struggling to think of anything that compares to it as the best CB singles match in his entire ROH career. As someone who has never liked the 'Cheeseburger' gimmick, I'm thrilled to see that he has thought hard about his character and found a way to rebrand himself in a manner which is entirely in keeping with ROH's 2020 presentational reset. His new look worked, and stylistically this was comfortably the most credible and exciting I've ever found him as a wrestler. Tracy has been probably ROH's most consistent wrestler since the pandemic, so was the perfect opponent to help CB debut this new style. Without going wild with moves or spots, this was a beautifully crafted match with a well-told and believable story at its heart. CB was here to prove his worth as a Pure wrestler - and used all the 'rhythm' and illusive escapology that he spoke about in his interview to bewitch Hot Sauce. He was able to inflict such damage to Tracy's permanently injured shoulder that Williams had to burn through his full rope-break allocation. The moment where he fell into the ropes to use his third break was a striking moment. Ultimately Williams' size, comfort in the Pure Rules environment and ability to break down multiple body parts was sufficient to score the win. But CB felt refreshed, and I absolutely want to see more of him in the Pure Division...

At Final Battle it took Rush, Lee and the arrival of their father, La Bestia, to put Brody King away. Brody himself believes he had the World Title won before La Faccion Ingobernable used their numbers to overwhelm him. Since the only language they appear to understand is 'violence', King has wrangled up a few 'violent' friends to help him. The Briscoes come out separately, so there are clearly still issues stemming from their EC3-induced quarrel before Final Battle. Mark teamed with PCO instead of Jay at the PPV so has started building chemistry with him too. PCO and Rush are, of course, no strangers having traded the World Title at the end of 2019 and into 2020. 'The Mercenary' Flip Gordon is the odd man out here. As a mercenary he has no problem accepting a payday and replacing Kenny King (who missed this taping) - even if it means standing across the ring from his former stable-mates in Villain Enterprises, Brody and PCO. However, he is another man with a legitimate claim to a World Title shot and has been outspoken about his intent to pursue that now he is banished from the Pure Title division. Therefore how much coherency will there be between him, ROH Champion Rush and the rest of his family here? LFI's Amy Rose joins commentary, burying The Foundation and saying LFI didn't want to team with Flip at all...

Rush refuses to start with Brody and instead instruct Flip to do it. King calls Flip a 'traitor' but doesn't want to wrestle him so steps out in favour of Mark. Briscoe hangs Gordon over the top rope to block Kinder Surprise, handing the advantage to Brody's team whilst LFI all drop off the apron and watch from the floor. Eventually Jay throws Flip out of the ring at LFI on the floor...only for them to toss him back! Pele Kick misses...and now King steps in to brutalise his former stable-mate. Rush can't stop laughing as they repeatedly throw Flip back into the ring and watch him get dominated by all four opponents. PCO hits a pumphandle powerbomb, but somehow Gordon stays in the fight with a Springboard Sling Blade on Jay. Once again La Faccion all leave the apron before he can tag though - and Flip is left to eat the Redneck Boogie. Only now that Flip is seemingly on the brink of defeat do Rush, Bestia and Lee get involved...and instantly a wild brawl breaks out all over ringside. Rush smashes a steel chair over Brody's leg and starts flogging him with electrical cable just like he did at Final Battle. Flip watches awkwardly as LFI brutalise King on the outside...then as they turn their attention to Rush's old rival PCO. The Monster starts fighting all three of them at once with throat chop flurries! TOPE CON HILO BY PCO...but LFI move and leave Gordon to take the full impact of that. La Bestia and PCO go strike-for-strike in a crazy old man battle...and speaking of crazy, Jay Briscoe wants a piece too! Roaring Elbow knocks Bestia to the floor, only for Rush to wipe him out moments later. A limping Brody drops Flip with a lariat...and almost f*cking MURDERS Dragon with a Cement Mixer. Rush and La Bestia toss him off the top rope, turning their back on Jay and PCO who hit STEREO ELBOW SUICIDAS! SABU-STYLE STEP-UP SOMERSAULT PLANCHA TO THE FLOOR BY MARK! Brody puts Rush on a table and orders PCO to go to the top. CANNONBALL SENTON OFF THE TOP THROUGH THE TABLE...MISSES! PCO is down and out, and Todd Sinclair finally decides he's seen enough to throw the match out at 13:16 (shown). 

Rating - **** - ROH has done a great job refocusing the company around a strong in-ring product and heavily promoting 'Pure' wrestling. The creative reset has been wholly welcome...but ROH has always been about presenting the best of all 'styles' of professional wrestling. To that end this was a really welcome change of pace. Rush is utterly brilliant in his role as a 'gives-no-sh*ts' World Champion. He has his family around him and - as he did at Final Battle - filled the room with his personality and charisma. This match did as much as anything we've seen since the group formed last year to flesh out what 'La Faccion Ingobernable' truly is. They were assholes, they were violent, they were devious - but in Rush and Lee they have two of the best in the world too. The way they orchestrated the destruction of Flip (crushing the dying embers of Villain Enterprises in the process) meant that all the action before the big brawl segment - which could have been stale and formulaic - was fantastic to watch. Despite being paired off with four of the toughest guys in ROH, it didn't feel forced or improbable that LFI could hang with them once the violence started spilling all over ringside either. Whether La Bestia really 'deserves' to be in ROH or not, giving LFI their own 'crazy old bastard' to bounce off PCO was really fun too. The 'wrestling' portion of the match was fun, the 'brawl' segment was spectacular. LFI have never looked better. I had a blast watching this...

With The Foundation watching on screens in the locker rooms in complete disgust, Rush destroys Brody King and PCO with steel chairs. The show ends with Rush and Lee posing triumphantly in the middle of the ring as Gresham declares 'this is NOT Ring Of Honor'...

Tape Rating - **** - A fantastic episode of wrestling television. The rebrand of Cheeseburger, producing the best match of his career (in my opinion) was brilliant - catering to fans of grounded technical wrestling in a major way. The main event felt fresh, vibrant and completely different to much of what ROH has produced since they emerged from Covid-19 hiatus. It produced the kind of wild, 'ungovernable' chaos that fans have been waiting for since the controversial conclusion to Final Battle 2020; a fascinating standalone main event which bridged the gap between Rush's individual rivalries with the likes of Brody and PCO, set the stage for future title matches like Rush/Jay and Rush/Flip...and further stoked the inevitable confrontation between the anarchic LFI and The Foundation. Don't skip this episode...