McXal's Reviews

I've seen nothing other than praise for Episode 502, which feels richly deserved. ROH's television show has been consistently enjoyable through most of 2021 (after something of a lull in late-2020 after the Pure Tournament concluded) and it is right to praise and promote that. But it is a new week and Ring Of Honor are trying something very different with their main event this week. We will see regular host of the show Quinn McKay compete in her first ever ROH match against her tormentor-in-chief, The Allure's Angelina Love. Beneath that we have an open challenge issued by 'The Mecca' Brian Johnson, and the show will open with tag team action; the reunited Briscoe Brothers facing long-time rivals EC3 and Flip Gordon. Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman provide commentary in Baltimore, MD.

This is a continuation of rivalries which led to singles matches at the 19th Anniversary Show. On that night Flip cheated to beat Mark, whilst Jay and EC3 went endured a gruelling battle with Briscoe winning and the two seemingly showing each other mutual respect in the aftermath. Since then we've seen the Briscoes try to settle their differences with an action-packed singles match on Episode 500 - which saw Mark score a rare singles victory over his brother. They are now supposedly back on the same page and ready to re-dedicate themselves to the tag division. The jury is out on how well Flip and EC3 will coexist however. Gordon is 'The Mercenary', albeit a mercenary that has been little more than a bit-part player since ROH's post-Covid reboot in 2020 and a man who arguably acts without the 'Honor' that EC3 is so desperate to find. In the back Flip sarcastically reminds EC3 that he has singles victories over both Briscoes so he has got them covered tonight...

Carter shakes the hand of both Briscoes (who come out to their old music), whilst Gordon stands aloof on the apron. He starts with Jay, meaning they pick up where they left off at the PPV - dropping bombs and going after each other's necks. In tag competition the Briscoes have a clear edge though and Jay gains an advantage after fluent tags in and out with his brother. In the end Gordon makes a save by attacking Mark from behind, which EC3 doesn't like...but recognises that he needs to tag out so begrudgingly accepts and tags out. Once again the Briscoes pair up though and quickly overwhelm Flip with superior tag team wrestling. Mark is particularly aggressive towards Flip and chokes him multiple times as he looks for payback for the low blow at the 19th Anniversary. Gordon recovers by leaving the ring and giving Jay an OCEAN CYCLONE SUPLEX ON THE FLOOR! Black Superkick as well, leaving Jay laying on the outside. Again EC3 isn't happy about the tactics, but for a second time he reluctantly accepts it and hits a MISSILE DROPKICK OFF THE APRON! Front facelock from Carter, still applying pressure to the neck he attacked at the PPV. Flip blind-tags in against EC3's wishes and almost finishes things off with the Falcon Arrow. Springboard Sling Blade COUNTERED with a crunching spinebuster out of the air though. It sets up the hot tag to Mark, who flies in with Redneck Kung Fu to Gordon. Iconoclasm gets 2 before Carter breaks the pin...and in seconds Jay dives at EC3, taking them both outside for a brawl. EC3 eats guardrails, but sprints back in to save Flip from the Redneck Boogie. It's Carter's turn to forcibly tag his partner out, but he fails to hit the TK3 and walks into the Redneck Boogie. Flip breaks the pin and mows Jay down with a pescado! Cut-Throat Driver lined up...but after sliding a chair into the ring on one side to distract the ref, Flip runs in from the other and blasts Mark in the head with a length of metal chain. Carter capitalises to hit an inverted version of his One Percenter finish and wins for his team at 10:20 (shown)

Rating - *** - Good fun for free television. There were parts of this that I really liked; the Briscoes using traditional tag team wrestling to dominate the two singles wrestlers standing across from them, and the heavy references to the Briscoe/EC3 match at the 19th Anniversary in particular. Flip and EC3 were entertaining as the poorly communicating odd couple too. The finish lacked some imagination though, and felt particularly frustrating on the back of a similarly uninspired finish to Flip/Mark at the PPV as well. Does Delirious not trust Flip to get over as a heel without tired bullsh*t finishes? 

Flip taunts the Briscoes and scampers back up the aisle as the brothers yell at him, the ref and each other...

Brian Johnson pauses to think about the divided ROH landscape right now, with warring and divided factions everywhere he looks. But The Mecca stands alone and he feels disrespected that nobody has noticed what a dominant force he has become...so made an open challenge tonight in an attempt to prove it. He ends with a rather comical rant that buries the entire roster and swears that when he is finished his name will be spoken alongside the greats of Ring Of Honor. He then comes to the ring for his match...to be confronted once again by Danhausen. He isn't answering the challenge tonight...he's here to introduce PCO!!

I really like Johnson's promo skills; the man is a phenomenal talker. But he is yet to catch fire in the ring and I don't think a never-ending comedy feud with Danhausen is doing much for him. Tonight he faces an altogether different test in the form of a former World Champion, the 'French-Canadian Frankenstein' PCO. Like quite a few others, the lack of TV time means PCO is another guy who just hasn't done much since returning from the pandemic. Since Villain Enterprises is done, Brody has a new group and Flip is a Mercenary there is some potential in a Danhausen/PCO alliance though...

Johnson loudly yelling for Danhausen to come back so he can wrestle Dan instead is quite funny. Instead Danhausen has joined commentary to watch the fun though! The Mecca jumps PCO from behind but his strikes make no impact...and soon the former World Champion hits an exploder suplex and a savage running DVD into the turnbuckles. BACK BODY DROP OVER THE GUARDRAIL! PCO starts 'malfunctioning'...and attacks Bobby Cruise for no reason, then throws HIMSELF through the guardrail door. Brian, like the rest of us, has no idea what is going on and capitalises by repeatedly bashing PCO's face into the guardrail. Tope suicida nailed, as is a top rope splash...but Johnson is so beaten up he slumps to the mat, as PCO shakes off all his offence and destroys him with a pop-up powerbomb. PCO-SAULT nailed - but The Mecca kicks out! Riccaboni and Caprice do a great job and sell the sh*t out of that. Johnson then tricks PCO into eating the exposed turnbuckle bolt, but can't pin him even with feet on the rope. PCO locks in the Destro Death Grip (Mandible Claw) and forces Johnson to tap out at 06:00 (shown)

Rating - * - Unfortunately for Brian Johnson, once again he is involved in a match which stylistically did not appeal to me at all. I fully support PCO being an out of control mauler and some of his best ROH work (back in 2019) came when he was less of a 'character' and more of a psychopathic killer. But the 'PCO is malfunctioning' skit felt TERRIBLE to me, and killed the match. I came away from this completely confused about what the hell they are trying to do with him, rather than talking about how Brian Johnson pushed an ex-ROH Champion to the limit - and I don't think that was the purpose of this segment. To end on a positive, a PCO/Danhausen team interests me and feels like a neat way to give two popular but aimless characters some direction (not to mention having the potential for some ludicrous backstage skits)...

Clearly this won't be a wrestling classic, but this does have a long-term angle behind it and I think few would argue that on the card for this episode, this is the match most people who follow ROH are here to see. Angelina debuted controversially at G1 Supercard, forming The Allure with Mandy Leon and Velvet Sky. Although Velvet appears to have fallen by the wayside, Mandy and Angelina remain and are regarded as a toxic presence that has left the Women Of Honor division in ruins. With barely any women's wrestlers left, The Allure started picking on Quinn instead. They feel that she is a perky, annoying announcer with ideas above her station; even going so far as to attack her on the set of her 'Week By Week' YouTube show or lock her in a cupboard to steal her backstage interviewer job. The Allure's detractors believe they are jealous of Quinn's youth and popularity amongst Ring Of Honor fans. Love reminds us that she is a twenty year veteran, a multi-time former Women's Champion across multiple promotions (including one brief reign as Women Of Honor Champion) - and thinks Quinn is no more than self-entitled, for which she will be taught a lesson tonight. Quinn gets a spot in the Women's Title Tournament if she wins. I believe Angelina has been promised a first round bye if she earns a victory too.

Angelina refuses to shake Quinn's hand, as Mandy chips in from the floor that McKay is 'just a backstage interviewer' and deserves no such respect. The veteran has some fun early, easily out-wrestling the rookie then walking all over her. Annoyingly, they allow Quinn's big comeback to be cut out during commercials, as when we return McKay is smiling triumphantly and controlling the former WOH Champion in a headlock. Love has to start pulling hair to escape...then starts battering Quinn's head into the canvas repeatedly. Next she turns McKay's face to the camera and loudly taunts her as she stomps her head into the bottom rope. Mandy Leon is on hand to choke her over the ropes when Todd Sinclair's back is turned too. To her credit McKay keeps fighting, only to be kicked in the head repeatedly then given the Lights Out. Koji Clutch applied - and Quinn is choked out. The match is over, but Love releases the hold before Todd stops it just so she can keep assaulting Quinn. Mandy trips Quinn...but she still dodges the Botox Injection and hits a BIG powerslam on Angelina for 2. Cobra Clutch applied on Love - with bodyscissors! Mandy hops onto the apron and starts trash-talking Quinn...and McKay releases the hold to go after her! Leon runs, Angelina hits the Botox Injection and nabs a win at 08:00 (shown)

Rating - ** - Ironically, non-wrestler Quinn McKay is the only person to have gotten people remotely into The Allure, who have been stone-cold as a faction ever since the debuted like a wet fart in Madison Square Garden. As a wrestling match this turned out better than I'd expected. McKay found a way to channel her precocious backstage interviewer persona into a game, plucky underdog wrestler incredibly well which, in turn, made Angelina easy to watch as the bully. It ran longer than I'd like though, and cutting out Quinn's first big moments of offence for a commercial break was a really sucky post-production move. If I am completely honest (and as admirably as Quinn performed) this isn't the kind of product I want the relaunched Women's Title to be built around.

NEXT WEEK - 2 Guys 1 Tag explode as Silas Young faces Josh Woods in a grudge match, plus Future Of Honor graduates Primal Fear challenge Shane Taylor Promotions for the Six-Man Title. 

Tape Rating - ** - In some ways this was an admirably ambitious episode of ROH TV. They put the 'traditional' ROH style match on first and, for me anyway, it was the highlight of the hour. Briscoes vs EC3/Flip certainly won't win any MOTY awards and the finish really lacked in originality, but was a solid ten minute TV wrestling match that did a number of things very well. From there things got unorthodox, first with a strange segment/match involving Danhausen, PCO and Brian Johnson - then a main event which got a lot of build and wound up being as entertaining as one could have hoped in the circumstances. However, I personally didn't really like Johnson/PCO at all and, as I just stated, I don't think the type of match we just saw presented is the correct 'direction of travel' for a successful Women's division relaunch. There are so many phenomenal female athletes on TV now, doing incredible things and having incredible matches. Beautiful People-lite just doesn't feel relevant in 2021...

Episode 1 of Women's Division Wednesday was relatively well received. I enjoyed reviewing the match itself and will try to maintain the inclusion of the previous week's 'Women's Division Wednesday' episode as part of my weekly ROH TV review. This week our scheduled match features the return of former WOH World Champion Sumie Sakai, who faces The Righteous' Vita VonStarr in her in-ring debut. We'll also find out who gets the first 'Ticket To Gold' or entry into this summer's Women's Title Tournament...

I believe this is Sumie's first match since the outbreak of the Covid-19 global pandemic. She is a seasoned veteran with more than two decades of experience behind her, but now in her late-40's she may find ring-rust harder to knock off than she once did. Her opponent is something of an enigma. Vita has certainly made her presence felt as part of Vincent's group 'The Righteous', but is yet to work a match in ROH and speaks in nothing but riddles. Does she have the skill to take down a battle-hardened professional like Sumie? 

This is Sumie's first match in ROH's Covid-secure empty arena, and she genuinely makes me laugh out loud with the way she sells that. VonStarr jumps her and tackles her to the floor to make the immediate point that she is a dangerous foe if Sumie doesn't take her seriously. Xavier Knee (an old Xavier spot which she does in tribute to the former ROH Champion) gets 2...but then Vita starts biting her to block a cross armbreaker. It leaves a visible mark on Sakai's thigh and takes the former champion off her game, which Vita profits on to work an abdominal stretch. She then hot shots Sumie into the top rope as soon as she escapes. More biting from VonStarr - this time to Sumie's head! Nothing about Vita's offence is pretty but it is undeniably effective. Next she props herself on her knees and just starts clubbing Sumie across the neck and back. Big SLAP from Sakai to break that, followed by the TJ Neckbreaker for 2. Missile dropkick nailed...but Sumie tries it again and slips off the top rope, maybe because she was busy playing to the non-existent crowd. Fisherman Buster scores instead but VonStarr kicks out again. BUCKLE BOMB by Vita! She applies a Last Chancery, and when Sakai counters that Vita simply starts throttling her and beating her around the face. Michinoku Driver gets 2! Sakai is starting to get desperate...and counters a powerbomb attempt into a small package, earning a win very much against the momentum of the match at 08:31

Rating - ** - This was an outstanding debut performance by Vita VonStarr. I was so impressed with what I saw from her; not because she was the finished article or a faultless performer, but because of how well she conveyed her character through her in-ring style. Everything we've seen from her as part of The Righteous has portrayed her as an unorthodox weirdo 'with a circus background' - and that was what we saw here. She couldn't out-wrestle Sakai, but she brawled, bit, clawed, punched and choked with real conviction. In a completely different way, I found Vita's performance this week to be every bit as impressive as Rok-C or Hyan last week. Sumie was largely the same as she always has been; hard-working, admirably tough and a little bit sloppy. Her comedy bit of playing to an imaginary started out quite funny, but got old VERY quickly when she did it after every single spot. 

Vita attacks Sumie before she can celebrate her victory and chokes her unconscious with a hanging headscissors in the ropes. Dutch and Bateman stand in the aisle to prevent anyone from rescuing Sakai

We end by finding out who gets the first spot in the Women's Title Tournament. Maria Kanellis-Bennett is on Zoom and calls the first entrant. Rok-C appears and informs that she is the first tournament participant. Rok-C seems thrilled, calls being in ROH a dream, talks about starting training at the age of 13 and lists trainers like Booker T and Daga who have influenced her...