McXal's Reviews

Violence Unlimited haven't been predictable in anything they've done thus far. They are maverick, wildcard wrecking balls as faction warfare rages in Ring Of Honor; off-kilter assassins on a battlefield already stacked with the 'ungovernable' La Faccion Ingobernable and the whole-hearted purists of The Foundation. With LFI banned from these tapings, tonight our main event is an 8-man tag team encounter; The Foundation versus Violence Unlimited. Quinn McKay, Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman are our broadcast team in Baltimore, MD.

LAST WEEK - The Foundation defended the Tag Titles against The OGK in an absolute banger. Tracy and Rhett tell Quinn that they will welcome another chance to face Taven and Bennett down the line. They also announce that the Board Of Directors have granted their request to have all of their future title defences contested under Pure Wrestling Rules.

These men were the last two standing in the Rankings Battle Royal on Episode 504. Their prize for that achievement was this singles contest - with the winner getting the choice to enter the Top 5 Rankings for either the TV or Pure Championship. LSG has been vocal about wanting to hold the TV Title as he considers it a springboard to future greatness, but has enjoyed some success in Pure Rules Matches - most notably in a thriller against Jay Lethal last year. Keys, meanwhile, has trained under Jon Gresham and challenged him for the Pure Title previously. Does that mean he has his sights set on a rematch?

Keys has kind of a mini-Snitsky look to him. As you might expect, he works hard to get LSG on the ground, and also shows his counter-wrestling skill as he slides away from an early Rocket Bye Baby attempt. St. Giovanni rides through a sunset flip attempt to dropkick his foe in the face...but Keys gets up to counter the rolling thunder lariat into a backbreaker. When we return from commercial break we see Joe looking to open up an injury on that back; stretching LSG out in a surfboard. Keys shows some raw power to muscle his opponent over into a German suplex from the mat too. Boston Crab blocked though and Leon springs off the ropes to deliver a forearm strike. He almost rips Joe's head off with a rolling neckbreaker and stays on that body part with a cravat hold too. Keys shows his strength again and powers LSG up to body slam him onto the injured back. Rocket Bye Baby nailed, into a MutaLock to stretch Keys' neck some more. Lets generously say that Joe is able to get to the ropes because LSG's back injury negated his bridging strength. Keys escapes with a really cool small package counter through to a vertical suplex - leaving them both on the canvas. They roll around on the mat vying for control, with LSG eventually landing in a crucifix pin and snatching victory at 09:23 (shown)

Rating - ** - Fine, competitive action. I dug the intensity and loved the dedication to technical wrestling on display here. It did lack a hook to really draw you in though. Both guys tried to provide that with some work on a body part, but neither seemed overly interested in selling it with much commitment. That isn't a particularly big deal in a ten minute undercard TV match - but when there isn't a lot of character on display to draw you in either, the whole affair did become a little dry. LSG is definitely someone who has enhanced his stock in ROH during the pandemic era though, transforming himself from the highspot guy in a forgettable undercard tag team to a really consistent singles worker.

Quinn McKay is waiting in the locker room to get LSG's decision on which division he will enter. He surprises people by announcing that he respects The Foundation and has been inspired to join the Pure Championship division...

TWO WEEKS AGO - Silas Young cheated to beat Josh Woods in their grudge match, but when confronted by Quinn called it a 'veteran' move and said he is just trying to share his knowledge. Woods angrily gets in his face, so Silas suggests they have a Pure Rules Match so he can beat him again.

NEXT WEEK - Survival Of The Fittest 2021 begins

Violence Unlimited are in the same dirty room they've cut promos from previously. Brody's knowingly tongue-in-cheek method of circumventing referring to themselves as 'Villains' is genuinely very funny. Dickinson reminds everyone that he is good enough to beat anyone in The Foundation be it Pure Rules or Street Fights. Homicide says Jay Lethal has been 'drinking too much Special K' which is a freaking BRILLIANT line! Deppen says they are going to show The Foundation 'real violence' tonight...

In a mint green shirt and greying beard, whilst hoping that Brody King has come back 'well rested' from his 'vacation', Jay Lethal comes off a little bit like a salesman in a sofa dealership. He complains about Homicide being a 'big bully' when he was growing up in the business...and doesn't think anyone in Violence Unlimited can hang with The Foundation in a wrestling match.

Everything Violence Unlimited have done thus far has made people take notice. Brody King was sent into exile by the gang warfare mentality of La Faccion Ingobernable, but returned at 19th Anniversary having recruited some friends - and then proceeded to destroy any member of LFI or The Foundation that crossed his path. They went to TV against LFI a week or so later, in a main event which lasted less than five minutes before descending into a weapon-filled brawl which the referees threw out. Since then we've seen Dickinson smash through ROH Dojo wrestler Eric Martin in mere seconds on Week By Week, and Deppen pull off a huge upset by defeating Tracy Williams to claim the TV Title. The battle for faction supremacy is very much on, even with LFI banned from these tapings due to their actions (although Kenny King is here and guests on commentary). The Foundation are pure wrestlers; Gresham the pinnacle of the style as Pure Champion, Lethal among the greatest ROH Champions of all time, Tracy and Rhett reigning Tag Champions. But VLNCE UNLTD have a former World Champion in their line-up, and with their 'honor in violence' mentality have appeared unstoppable so far. Will this one be a wrestling match that favours The Foundation...or a straight-up fight which favours Violence Unlimited? 

Tempers are stretched to their very limit before the bell even rings, with one of the tensest set of handshakes you've ever seen. Deppen and Williams start in an immediate rematch of their bout from Episode 502. Big strikes fly at a frantic pace, until Homicide socks Tracy from behind to prevent him hitting a piledriver. CRADLE BACK DROP DRIVER by Tracy, sending the TV Champ back to his corner. Cide tags and loudly calls out Lethal...then gets into his head by walking out and making him face Dickinson instead. Dirty Chris pops Jay in the mouth so hard that he crumples to the canvas! Lethal gets so irate he quickly goes to very un-pure closed fists...only for Dickinson to bail before Jay can hit a tope suicida. Homicide gives Lethal a cynical cheap-shot too. Gresham steps in and tries to calm the rest of The Foundation down, as Homicide bounces around and keeps hurling abuse at Lethal. The Octopus takes Homicide down and f*cking RIDES him on the mat. He mocks Homicide as well, which goes about as well as you might expect; soon enough the Notorious 187 has him on the ground punching him in the face. The Foundation utilise rapid-fire tags to incapacitate Cide...so Homicide rakes Gresh in the eyes and unleashes Brody. His sheer size overwhelms the Pure Champion and ensures Violence Unlimited are able to take charge. Homicide giving Gresham a sneaky low blow and passing it off as being too injured to hit a body slam is SO awesome by the way. The back injury that The Foundation inflicted is bothering him though and Gresham shows unbelievable power to give him a BRAINBUSTER! Titus gives King the big Dropkick and powers through Dickinson as well. Deppen tries a tornado DDT, which Rhett counters with the RVD/Jerry northern lights! Belly to Belly suplex! Yakuza Kick flurry on Brody! Bombs Away Knee Drop gets 2! Lethal and Titus bombard Brody with strikes, joined by Tracy as well for a Dropkick/double DVD combo for 2! RUNNING DVD by Dickinson! ACE CRUSHER from Homicide! Lethal blocks the Cop Killa...TOPE CON HILO INSTEAD! Lethal Injection COUNTERED TO THE GONZO BOMB! King pins Lethal at 14:24 (shown)

Rating - *** - It wasn't the best, or most exciting eight-man tag you'll ever see (and ROH have had a couple of REALLY good ones on TV this year), but what this match did brilliantly was establish Violence Unlimited. By that I don't just mean that they won (although King beating Lethal obviously makes a statement), I mean that the match laid out their individual personalities and made it clear how they plan to approach a three-way faction feud for ROH's ideological future. King is the leader and the raw power; blasting through all before him and also getting extremely verbal with his opponents. Dickinson is the hatchet man; brutal, dangerous and capable of working any style. Deppen is sneaky and unpredictable. And what more can be said about Homicide? He was FANTASTIC here; the absolute highlight of the match. A dirty, antagonistic veteran presence who had brilliant interactions with all four opponents. His abuse of Lethal, his belittling of Tracy, his electric wrestling exchanges with Gresham - you couldn't take your eyes off of him. 

Homicide smiles broadly and reclines on top of Lethal's unconscious body, giving him a sarcastic handshake whilst doing so. The Foundation have to negotiate with VLNCE UNLTD just to get their fallen team-mate's body back! 

NEXT WEEK - Former stable-mates collide as Rey Horus and Flamita meet in the first Survival Of The Fittest Qualifier, alongside the Woods/Young Pure Match in the main event...

Tape Rating - ** - A solid, building week of television albeit with very little that makes it 'must-see'. Brody beating Lethal is significant...but lots of guys have beaten Lethal since the pandemic relaunch in truth, and whilst the main event was good I don't think it is necessary viewing before you can buy into Violence Unlimited as credible threats to LFI or The Foundation. I'm pretty certain that long-time fans of ROH will absolutely adore Homicide's contributions to the main event though - I know I did!

This week on WDW The Allure's Angelina Love is back in action. Having secured her first round bye after defeating Quinn McKay on TV, she now stands as a measuring stick for the returning Mazzerati to test herself against. Maria Kanellis-Bennett will also hand out another 'Ticket To Gold' to join Angelina, Rok-C, Trish Adora, Miranda Alize and Allysin Kay in the Women's Championship Tournament coming later this year. Holy sh*t - Lenny Leonard is back! He's our host and it is great to see him...

Angelina Love has essentially been the entirety of the Women Of Honor division for the last year, since Mandy Leon is her team-mate, Martina is stuck in Ireland, Kellyanne hasn't even debuted, Maria Manic is MIA and there really isn't anybody else. Maria Kanellis-Bennett's return and rebrand to the Women's Division has ruffled the feathers of The Allure, but they did gain a measure of revenge when they humiliated Quinn McKay on television and forced Maria to make good on her promise to give Angelina a first round bye in the tournament. Her opponent is making her return to ROH after considerable absence. Mazzerati was scheduled to be part of the cancelled 2020 Women Of Honor World Title Tournament and knows a win over a veteran like Angelina could be enough to convince Maria that she deserves a spot in 2021...

Graphics state that Angelina is on a two match winning streak...but those wins are over Session Moth Martina (who hasn't wrestled in ROH since early 2020) and Quinn McKay (who isn't an active wrestler). Mazzerati looks fired up and has some fun countering and out-manoeuvring the veteran in the first minute. In the end Love has to start pulling hair to get ahead. A flurry of pinfall attempts and big dropkick force Angelina to roll out of the ring seeking help from Mandy Leon on the floor. Mazz makes a mistake, tries to chase her...and is planted on her face on the ring apron. Angelina then distracts the ref whilst Mandy assaults her against the guardrail. Diving front slam gets 2 for Love when Leon finally returns her to the ring. Diving neckbreaker lands as well, though Angelina starts to look frustrated because Mazzerati refuses to stay down. Now working through a back injury, Mazz tries in vein to hit something from the ropes but is downed with a brutal diving Ace Crusher by Angelina. Camel Clutch cranks on the injured back, only for Mazz to power out and hit a springboard crossbody. Buzzsaw Kick seems to have knocked Love out cold, but she gets a shoulder up at 2. Lights Out/Koji Clutch combo by Love, her entire body weight on top of Mazzerati's back. Mazz makes the ropes and lands a version of Sole Food for 2. Botox Injection nailed, Love wins at 11:16

Rating - ** - I do understand the need for The Allure right now. Every division needs established villains, and The Allure's gimmick makes them natural enemies for Maria Kanellis and the honourable women's division she is looking to implement. To that end, this is actually one of the better Allure/Angelina singles matches. The outside interference was kept to a minimum and used only when relevant (i.e. to stop Mazzerati's early dominance and inflict an injury which Angelina could then exploit). I was a little disappointed with Mazzerati though. She is athletic and likeable, but I felt she didn't put much effort into selling her injuries - ignoring them altogether when she needed to hit a big spot. It made her less of a relatable babyface and diminished the heelish antics of The Allure too. 

It isn't all bad news for Mazzerati though. She receives the next Zoom call from Maria Kanellis-Bennett and is informed that she is to be the recipient of the next 'Ticket To Gold'. She gets the chance to make up for missing 2020, and has a spot in the 2021 Women's Championship Tournament...

I made reference to the rivalry (which has developed between these two 'Future Of Honor' talents on Week By Week) when reviewing the Rankings Battle Royal back at Episode 504. In their first match they went to a ten minute time limit draw, and weren't able to be separated in the rematch either despite being given an increased fifteen minute time limit. Now they meet again in a YouTube exclusive third encounter. Neither are typical 'Future Of Honor' talents. Both are a little older, Sledge with a pretty unique back-story alongside a relatively innocuous ten year career on the California indies; O'Shay is a member of Shane Taylor Promotions, although hasn't appeared with them on television. I did see the first two matches in this series, but only in passing and not with any kind of critical/reviewing eye in honesty. I thought they were fine, but nothing that compelled me to write about them - and in truth I've only checked this out because a few people asked me to review it. I like O'Shay a lot more than Sledge, and would like to see him on TV with the rest of STP sometime soon.

They can't even make it to the ring this time and start brawling in the aisle - only stopping when security floods out to separate them. Sledge grabs a mic and demands a No DQ Match, and Todd Sinclair comes out to agree to the request. Atlanta Stampede attempted by Edwards, but Sledge blocks it and decks him with a lariat. Instead O'Shay hauls Sledge off the apron for a powerslam ON THE FLOOR. Edwards gets a little too confident and goes all in on the verbals...but does appear to have knocked one of Sledge's teeth out. Sledge grabs his own tooth and THROWS IT at O'Shay! Clearly angry, he pummels the Big Bad Kaiju against the guardrail and slaps him in the ear. Unfortunately he doesn't inflict enough damage and Edwards easily dodges him as he attempts a cannonball senton, meaning it is Sledge who goes barrelling into the unforgiving barricade. O'Shay tapes Sledge's hands around the ringpost and tries to hit him with a chair...and somehow misses despite his opponent not being able to move?! Sledge breaks free and mafia kicks the chair into O'Shay's face! He grabs a reel of cable and chokes his opponent on the floor then opens up a quartet of chairs out there as well. Edwards is draped across all four chairs as Sledge hops onto the guardrails...but hops up before he can hit a moonsault. They brawl into the vacant crowd space, until O'Shay scoops Sledge up for a back drop over the guardrails and THROUGH THE CHAIRS! Sledge is on the ropes for a couple of minutes, but catches Edwards as he gets too confident and scores with a slingshot spear. He is still critically wounded after that trip through the chairs though and O'Shay is able to put him down again soon after with a spinebuster. Sensing victory within his grasp, Edwards decides to bring a table into the ring. It gives Sledge valuable seconds to recover though, which he gratefully accepts before drilling his foe with a Blue Thunder Driver. The 'Metal Head Maniac' decides he wants his own table in play, eventually setting up two tables in the corner of the ring. He climbs to the top preparing to put O'Shay through them, but Edwards pops up and climbs after him. He grabs Sledge and delivers a SUPER AIR RAID CRASH through the tables! O'Shay lands on top of Sledge, and the ref counts the pin giving him the victory at 19:52

Rating - ** - First of all, credit to both men for busting their asses and working extremely hard out there. Matches like this must be absolutely horrible to work with no fans in the building, and they really did let it all hang out. In truth this played out like you probably expected; two big ageing dudes who aren't really equipped to work a twenty minute match stretching their sh*t out to make it last as long as possible, to the detriment of the overall quality of the bout. Edwards is an intriguing performer, particularly in an empty arena environment where you can hear every word he says. For my taste he was just a little too jovial, jocular and sarcastic for what was supposed to be a big grudge match here though. These two seemed far more comfortable bombing on each other for ten minutes in the first match than this one, which became a slog to watch and felt like it was airing in slow-motion by the end.