McXal's Reviews

So the 'Championship Edition' last week was a mixed bag. I felt so let down by some of the booking, which felt like a tick-list of Delirious' favourite cruxes - token title change, outside interference because he can't let heels go over clean, cutting the legs out from under potentially great matches with overly-intrusive meddling. But on the flip side, I saw some really effusive and glowingly positive write-ups as well so hopefully this week brings an episode which does more to unify the fanbase. The line-up is intriguing rather than spectacular, but there is plenty at stake. Dalton Castle has implied he may leave ROH if he fails to win his Pure Rules rematch with Josh Woods, and the main event will determine the #1 contender for the World Title at the 19th Anniversary Show; Jay Briscoe, Matt Taven, Jay Lethal and EC3 are the participants. Quinn McKay is our host, with Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman at the announce desk in Baltimore, MD.

LAST WEEK - Kenny King fell in line behind LFI leader Rush, laying out his (now former) friend Shane Taylor with a steel chair so Rush could retain the World Title. He gloats that he taught Taylor 'one final lesson' about not trusting anybody, before making way for Rush and his 'daddy' La Bestia. Rush says he will 'destroy' everyone in Ring Of Honor...

On Episode 488 these two contested a superb Pure Rules Match, which I called one of the best of Dalton's post-World Title ROH career. Now it appears that Dalton has asked for a rematch, which Josh was more than happy to grant. The Goods is full of confidence having beaten former ROH Champions Jay Briscoe, Jay Lethal and Castle in the last year. He also doesn't think Dalton can blame his long-term back injury for the loss as his view is that pro-wrestlers are never 100% healthy...and now plans to beat him again to earn a Pure Title shot. Dalton seems frantic and scatterbrained, his mind scrambled by two years of near-constant losses - which the production team emphasise with a montage of those defeats. Castle admits fans and management would be right to wonder why he is kept on the roster, but says he still knows how good he is. If he can't beat Woods tonight, his plan is to quit ROH. 

Dalton tries to play mind-games with Woods and is vocal from the opening bell. In the first couple of minutes, just as we saw last time, Josh has answers to all the questions that are posed of him. Credit to the former World Champion though; he is tenacious throughout and relentlessly keeps grappling. Finally Woods dumps him on his ribs and briefly locks in the bodyscissors cloverleaf (the 'Gorilla Lock'), sending Castle scurrying to the ropes for his first break. The Goods sarcastically asks how Dalton's back is, which REALLY pisses Castle off. He pie-faces Woods and drags him out of the ring for a fight. HIPTOSS OVER THE GUARDRAIL! During the commercial break Castle stays on the back of his opponent; drilling it into the ring apron and delivering an exploder suplex on the floor. We come back with Josh springboarding off the ropes with a knee strike, but then collapsing to the ground selling his injuries. When he gets back to his feet he absolutely batters Dalton with strikes...then really struggles to get him up for a butterfly suplex. Big boot to the ribs lands, setting up the Gorilla Lock for a second time...and once again Dalton uses a rope-break to escape. OPEN HAND STRIKE DUEL! Even whilst bleeding from the mouth Woods get the better of that, but when he hoists Dalton up for his Air Raid knee strike Castle almost counters into Bang-A-Rang. Dalton goes down selling his back as if something serious has happened...but when Josh comes to check on him he grabs a small package and scores a duplicitous victory over The Goods at 06:32 (shown)

Rating - *** - These two have genuine chemistry together as opponents, and this match provided a lot of the same qualities that I found so enjoyable in last time they locked horns. Their approach to the Pure Rules isn't so much about limb work or elaborate, fancy chain-wrestling. They go out there to grapple; they TEST each other and, at a certain point, they are ready to get really violent with each other too. They cleverly touched a lot of the same beats as last time, but played on Dalton's experience and cunning - which really works when juxtaposed to Josh's lovable puppy dog wrestler act. Like last time, Woods controlled on the canvas...but here Dalton was more aggressive. Like last time Dalton brawled on the floor to negate Josh's skills...and here he got more violent and actually inflicted an injury. And this time he had a sneaky scheme in his back pocket; a plan to play on his well-documented injury and use Woods' naivety to his advantage. Castle's ROH career continues it seems, and perhaps an announcement about a new contract may follow. It is very much Delirious' responsibility to find a fresh narrative for Dalton though. He tried a traditional 'heel turn' in 2019 and it fell flat, even when he got Rush to work with. Hopefully Delirious has something more innovative planned this time...

Silas Young makes his first appearance for some time, grabbing a microphone on his way to ringside. He berates Josh for wanting to concentrate on his singles career, eschewing Silas' tutelage and mentorship during the Pure Tournament...and for continually blowing championship opportunities. Despite that he calls for Josh to reform '2 Guys 1 Tag' so he can once again learn under the Last Real Man of pro-wrestling...

The winner advances to the 19th Anniversary to challenge Rush for the World Title. Clearly Lethal, Briscoe and Taven are deeply familiar with each other and the ROH Championship. Lethal and Briscoe are multi-time champs, and Taven scored perhaps the most infamous World Title wins in history when he won it in a Ladder Match in Madison Square Garden. The three of them have all shared pretty intense rivalries at various points throughout their ROH careers too. Lethal comes in extremely motivated, a week after losing the Tag Titles to La Faccion Ingobernable and deeply aware that The Foundation need control of Ring Of Honor's top prize if they are to 'purify' and rebuild it within the principles they value and cherish. He will be desperate to book a date on PPV with Rush, who is becoming uncontrollable at the top of the promotion right now. All of this makes EC3 very much an outsider. However, he is now signed to an ROH contract and placed into this prominent role despite barely having worked a match. He has been getting into Jay Briscoe's head for months, and in his pre-match promo compares all three of his opponents - and their thirst for the ROH Title - to drug addicts. Maria Kanellis-Bennett is once again on commentary for our main event. I'm sure I overhear Riccaboni describe her as a 'member of the Board Of Directors' too...

EC3's tan is rather eye-catching, as is his sullen, drone-like body language. Briscoe refuses to shake his hand and quite literally jumps through everyone else to start brawling with him. It means that Lethal and Taven start as legal men, with Riccaboni revealing that we'll see lucha rules in play. Matt drives Lethal to the floor using his familiarity with The Franchise's moveset...but in turn Lethal knows the dive that generally follows and steps away to avoid it. They are still fighting as Carter whips Briscoe at them, setting Briscoe up for a double clothesline on the floor. Ian and Maria are openly discussing EC3's time as World Champion in Impact which is interesting. He continues to get into Briscoe's head, taunting him even as Lethal hits a springboard dropkick sending him to the floor. EC3 then absolutely slaughters Lethal with a lariat! Lethal recovers with a Lethal Combo on Taven, but in a repeat of earlier Matt hits the floor and starts ducking and weaving to prevent him hitting his big dive. AIR TAVEN wipes out Lethal and Carter! He has no time to celebrate before Briscoe mows him down with a mafia kick though. Briscoe then seamlessly throws Lethal AT Taven with a belly to belly suplex against the turnbuckles for 2. Day One Neckbreaker COUNTERED to Taven's rolling neckbreaker. EC3 comes to Briscoe's rescue...but only so they can come to blows once again. Carter starts keeping the other two men out of the ring so he has a free run at brutalising Briscoe on the mat. Finally Taven and Lethal force their way in, kick-starting a chaotic sequence where they all try to take each other's heads off with big strikes. Matt is up first, but cut off before he can dive off the top rope. Briscoe and Lethal squabble over who gets to give him a superplex...and when they finally agree to join forces EC3 is lying in wait to grab them both to powerbomb everyone tower of doom-style. EC3 slithers over to Briscoe like a weirdo and yells more nonsense at him. He tries to convince Lethal to kick Briscoe in the face - an offer Lethal declines. Instead he counters a Jay Driller into the Figure 4 Leglock. EC3 breaks that by POWERBOMB Taven at them! EC3 smirks as he hooks Lethal's arms - possibly for the ECD, but possibly even for a Jay Driller...and is mauled by Briscoe. They fight over the guardrails as out into the crowd. On the other side of the arena Vita VonStarr appears, distracting Taven as he levels Lethal with Just The Tip. He stares over at her but still lands the Kick Of The King for 2. Vita hops the railing and jumps onto the apron as he sets up for The Climax. Lethal reacts with an Ace Crusher, followed by the Lethal Injection! Lethal is going to the Anniversary Show at 13:19 (shown)

Rating - *** - Not one of the strongest main events during ROH's pandemic shows, but there was enough here to ensure it remained an interesting watch. I can't say I'm taken by EC3's promos or his ring work thus far, but it is hard to argue that his character provides a very different dynamic and that some of the weird interplay between he and his colleagues (particularly Briscoe) became the highlights of this match. Vita appearing, without getting directly involved, was a nice touch as we continue to build towards a Taven/Vincent rematch too. Lethal vs Rush was probably the obvious choice, making the winner here easy to forecast...but Lethal is a great worker, a safe pair of hands and his showdown with Rush could not be more timely as tensions between La Faccion Ingobernable and The Foundation escalate.

NEXT WEEK - Fred Yehi vs Dak Draper in the Pure Division, Kenny King vs Tony Deppen, then a grudge match between Flip Gordon and Flamita

Tape Rating - *** - I'm not sure either match was as good as the bouts we saw last week but as an episode of television, as a long term ROH fan, I found this show easier to consume. It really is hard to express how disappointed I was in the conclusion to Rush/Taylor - and nothing came remotely close to angering me as much this week. Although only brief, Castle and Woods once again demonstrated their chemistry as opponents in their punchy little clash - which concluded with a double whammy of reveals; that Castle was willing to use his back injury as a trap, and that Silas Young has made a welcome return looking to reform 2 Guys 1 Tag. The main event was one of those 'functional' matches rather than necessarily a great one; concerned with box-ticking all the relevant angles it needed to hit as opposed to delivering an in-ring spectacular. BUT I couldn't deny that EC3's antics were an intriguing watch, I continue to look forward to Taven and Vincent locking horns again...and of course the prospect of Rush vs Lethal with the World Title on the line at the end of the month is a tantalising one.