McXal's Reviews

It is a big week of Ring Of Honor television this time around. Dragon Lee of LFI and Tracy Williams of The Foundation both look to get the TV Title back from VLNCE UNLTD's Tony Deppen, meaning we'll see representatives of all three of the warring factions in the ring at the same time. Beneath that we'll also see Survival Of The Fittest 2021 continue with the hotly-fancied Bandido facing Righteous-representative Bateman with the penultimate spot in the SOTF elimination match up for grabs. Quinn McKay, Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman stand-by to welcome us in Baltimore, MD

Following his decisive victory over Sledge, O'Shay was presented with his 'Shane Taylor Promotions' jacket and officially welcomed into/acknowledged as part of the faction by Shane T and the Soldiers Of Savagery. He is looking to capitalise on that momentum by rolling into the Survival Of The Fittest finals, raising his profile and finally getting paid the kind of money he feels he is worth. Dickinson represents Violence Unlimited and has been a stand-out all over the independent scene for a long time. His return to ROH caught many off-guard, but his reputation precedes him and he is a favourite for the entire tournament. Shane Taylor is on commentary to watch his newest signee...

Dickinson goes straight to the mat, with Caprice speculating that he fears the power and strike game of his opponent. The Big Bad Kaiju strikes first with an emphatic tackle which floors Chris. He barely lets Dickinson recover before he dives on him again with an emphatic vertical suplex. The Dirty Daddy hides in the ropes to curtail his momentum, then flies out with a succession of kicks to the legs then a Shining Wizard as soon as O'Shay drops to one knee. Half crab applied to do more damage to the leg of the STP-representative. When Edwards makes the ropes, rather than give him a clean break Dickinson grabs the leg again and stomps it into the canvas. Now confident, Chris starts talking the ring and laying in big strikes...but O'Shay stands there and takes his best shots. He drops Dickinson with a spinebuster, albeit with minimal lift to sell his leg injury. Exploder suplex comes next and gets 2. Air Raid Crash blocked with a hook on the leg injury, allowing Dickinson to drop into the STF. O'Shay makes the ropes, but again Chris declines a clean break and instead inflicts more damage to the injured limb. Dragon screw in the ropes has Edwards crumpled in a heap, and Dickinson mounts him for the STF once more. O'Shay taps at 08:08

Rating - ** - Solid stuff. Edwards will benefit from being in the ring with guys like Dickinson far more than someone with similar strengths and weaknesses to him like Sledge. There wasn't much ambition on display here and I thought some of Edwards' selling on the leg injury was really poor, but they had a really intense, physical chemistry together which made the match very watchable. O'Shay's size, power and aggression was perfect to put over how dangerous Dickinson is too.

Quinn opens Episode 509 with confirmation that Survival Of The Fittest 2021 will conclude next week with the traditional six-man elimination finals

The pre-match interview for Bateman on this one is incredibly interesting and brilliantly delivered. He rambles like a mad-man, in a manner clearly distinct from Vincent and unique to himself yet tonally so in-keeping with 'The Righteous' messaging and persona. He says he can knock Bandido out because 'God lives in [his] elbow' and says he is desperate to win SOTF - not to legitimise his own career or for his own ambition, but so that he can hand the World Title to Vincent as the culmination of their Righteous work.

Referee Joe Mandak orders Dutch and Vita to the back before ringing the bell. Bateman has the strangest gear, and his mannerisms are no less strange. After a minute of the match he decides to sit in the corner and have a conversation with thin air! Bandido rattles his teeth with a big elbow...but Bateman simply grins at him and smashes him right back. He then stands and watches as Bandido does an unnecessary back-flip, before clobbering him with a big chop. Tornillo rolloed through, but he can't block a satellite headscissors from the luchador which sends him out to the floor. From the outside he catches Bandido's leg and drives him face-first into the apron though. He starts asking for Bandido to hit him, yet when he obliges Bateman almost knocks him out with another big elbow. Switching tactics, Bandido hits a dragon screw then a Shining Wizard for 2. PRESS SLAM MICHINOKU DRIVER BY BANDIDO! RED STAR PRESS gets 2! Bateman tries to escape to the floor, but Bandido dives straight after him with a flying moonsault! Dragonrana BLOCKED with another elbow though, then a snap neckbreaker. Crucifix Driver by Bandido! He thinks it's time for Revolution Fly but Bateman blocks by gouging his eyes and stomping on his f*cking head! This Is A Kill COUNTERED TO A NECK DROP RANA! 21-PLEX! Bandido advances at 09:43 (shown)

Rating - *** - Bateman is really good, in fact much better than he's been given an opportunity to show in any of his ROH run thus far. Even NJPW Strong feel like they've only just started scratching the surface of what they could do with him. Despite debuting in 2019, this felt like one of the first times he's been allowed to step out from under the shadow of The Righteous and work an actual match. Clearly a lot of gimmick and character work was still present, but we also got to see glimpses of his own unorthodox personality and some of his hard-hitting, smash-mouth style which is incredibly likeable. Bandido is an absolute star, who was red-hot when ROH signed him and feels like he has been wasted ever since. He ran through everything that makes him so fun to watch in this match; big dives, unexpected power moves and a genuine babyface charisma which belies his full-face mask. The match itself was mostly just a display of big offensive moves - but that isn't inherently a bad thing. Both of these talents deserve more opportunities than they currently receive; this match was an entertaining exhibition into what they are capable of.

Bandido leaves, and as Bateman lies wounded in the ring Vincent's music hits. He returns to the arena, perched barefoot on the guardrail with Dutch and Vita beneath him. He had a 'moment of clarity' on his hiatus - and that is that he wants to be ROH Champion. As such, Bateman's loss means he has failed him. Bateman stretches out his arms and seems to accept his punishment - first being throttled by Vita then given a ripcord Bossman Slam by Dutch...

WEEK BY WEEK - This week the final SOTF Qualifier will see Danhausen battle Rhett Titus. Dan acknowledges that he hasn't won a match since Final Battle 2020, and as a result his 'money sack is dwindling'. He says he's going to start being less nice...and more evil. Titus, meanwhile, is a veteran of Survival Of The Fittest; working it in 2009, 2010 (where he made the finals), 2011, 2015 and 2016. Now he represents The Foundation and has ambitions of winning his first ever ROH singles championship. Winning SOTF is the 'fastest route to Rush'...

SIX WEEKS AGO - Flip Gordon used metal chain to knock-out Mark Briscoe and assist EC3 in a tag team victory over the Briscoes. At the Briscoe farm Jay makes it clear that he still blames Mark for the loss. The brothers argue, and are interrupted by Papa Briscoe who tells them they need to settle their differences 'old school style'. He tells them they are going to have a 'Fight On The Farm'...and that is in two weeks time!

Lee never lost the TV Title, which he'd held for more than a year after defeating Shane Taylor for it back at Final Battle 2019. Emergency ear surgery forced him to pull out of 19th Anniversary, with ROH insisting that his La Faccion Ingobernable stable-mates to defend his belts on his behalf. He returned having lost both belts, and failed to get the Tag Championship back last week in an exciting Pure Rules Match with The Foundation. Kenny King lost his TV Title to Tracy Williams...but Hot Sauce's reign was short-lived too. In something of an upset, Violence Unlimited's Tony Deppen defeated him to bring the first taste of ROH gold into Brody King's new group. Deppen is motivated here too. He failed to take the TV Title from Dragon at Final Battle 2020 - but was in his second match of the night on that show. Now fresh can he throw off the critics who have called him a lucky champion and the 'least violent' member of VLNCE UNLTD. He stands in the ring with two of the best wrestlers in the world...

Lee appears in a foul mood, and starts the match by shoving his opponents around then leaving to watch them fight between themselves. He only returns when an opportunity presents itself to look for a sneaky pinfall and a flash pin. Deppen showcases his wrestling skill by thwarting all of Williams' attempts at an early submission between Lee interruptions. Dragon clears the ring and looks for a tope suicida...only for both opponents to catch him and give him a double suplex on the floor. Back in the ring Tony takes the fight to Hot Sauce with a flurry of kicks, then hits a springboard dropkick on Lee for good measure. That moment of hesitation allows Tracy to blind-side him against the guardrails though. Somersault plancha by Dragon...who lands on his feet and takes a bow too! Double stomp on Deppen gets 2. BULL'S HORNS FLURRY on Deppen and Williams! Tracy retaliates with elbows to the neck then a diving DVD for 2. He takes the champion up the ropes for the SUPER TURNBUCKLE DDT! All three men have their brains scrambled, so all start throwing knee strikes and lariats with reckless abandon until they all collapse. THREE-WAY GERMAN SUPLEX DUEL! DOUBLE NECK DROP GERMAN BY WILLIAMS! Deppen frantically blocks Tracy's Piledriver, but instead gets nailed with a Ligerbomb by Lee. Tracy and Lee stand in the middle of the ring beating the sh*t out of each other - again until they can barely stand. Dragon hits an unseen low blow...and Deppen scrambles in to schoolboy pin Tracy to retain at 10:49 (shown). Dragon Lee could have broken the pin, but instead stood and watched with a weird look on his face...

Rating - *** - This was spritely, lively and full of character but ultimately wasn't a match which will live long in the memory. I felt like was watching three extremely talented wrestlers work well within themselves and dumb their act down for the most part. Fine for television, but I'd much rather see a feature-length singles bout between any combination of the three of them. The finish was incredibly weird too.

Dragon sarcastically applauds Deppen, as the rest of Violence Unlimited come out to celebrate with him. Kenny King and La Bestia strut onto the stage to gloat that, since he wasn't pinned, Dragon is now #1 contender to the TV Title. Kenny demands that it is Deppen vs Dragon for the belt at Best In The World...

NEXT WEEK - Matt Taven vs Dutch, then Survival Of The Fittest 2021 (why the hell are they wasting time with Taven/Dutch when they could just dedicate the entire episode to the SOTF finals?!)

Tape Rating - ** - Hardly an outright bad show, but certainly a less-important and skippable week of ROH television here. With Survival Of The Fittest 2021 finals next week, then 'Fight On The Farm' the week after the next couple of episodes have some big things in store as we build towards Best In The World and the return of fans. This show was the calm before the storm though, and one you don't need to fit into your weekly wrestling viewing if so inclined...

Competition is becoming fierce for the coveted 'Tickets To Gold'. This week we'll see two women who participated in the first ever 'Women's Division Wednesday' Match; Rok-C (who has her 'Ticket') faces Laynie Luck (who doesn't). Host Lenny Leonard reveals that Maria Kanellis-Bennett will actually be giving away two more 'Tickets To Gold' on this episode...

Maria opens the show by issuing the first of her two 'Tickets To Gold'. She calls Mandy Leon, talks about her near-decade in ROH and calls on her to show her skills when she is part of the Women's Title Tournament. Mandy kayfabes it and says she 'expected' to be part of the tournament all along...

These two were on opposite sides of the ring on WDW 1 in a tag bout that went to a time-limit draw. Teenage sensation Rok-C was so impressive that she was given the first 'Ticket To Gold' as a result. These two have spent time on the Texas independents together so are very familiar with each other's work, and will both come in hugely fired up. Rok wants the win to justify her star billing and Ticket To Gold award; Laynie wants the win to force her way into the tournament line-up...

Luck gets the better of the opening exchanges, which leaves Rok-C looking a little frustrated. Laynie also steps up and poses with The Prodigy when the teenager tries to show her up there. STANDING MOONSAULT KNEE DROP by Rok-C! Luck starts dancing around and goofing off, which seems to annoy Rok...who smacks her about and hits a TOP ROPE flipping lucha armdrag. Not to be out-done, Luck hits a springboard lucha armdrag and a dropkick for 2. The slight size and power advantage Laynie enjoys sees her start to dominate proceedings. The teenage sensation looks a little bedraggled and struggles to overcome the ferocity and relentlessness of her opponent. That said, she almost knocks Laynie out cold with a wild swinging elbow strike. Luck staggers around almost out-cold...but then rallies to hit a springboard dropkick for 2. Rok keeps swinging elbows and eventually lands with a guillotine on the top rope. Super Thesz Press scores as The Prodigy tries to build momentum. Desperate to win - both women start scrapping on the mat going for flash pins. Laynie escapes and delivers a German suplex which ragdolls Rok-C across the mat. CODE RED out of nowhere by Rok, nabbing her the win at 09:46

Rating - ** - Hard-fought, earnest and considerably more intense than the personas of these two women might suggest - I liked this more than a 2* rating implies. It would have been easy for them to get lost in making this more of a fun, light-entertainment match as Luck likes to dance and goof around, whilst Rok-C is a teenager with a big attitude too. Instead they were more serious; to their detriment in that they never really found a hook to really take this match to the next level...but in a manner which truly emphasised the spirit of competition and the importance of wins and losses. The biggest compliment I can offer this match is that I truly felt like Laynie was motivated to win to force her way into the tournament. Similarly I truly felt that Rok-C was frustrated and desperate to live up to her billing as this teenage sensation (and at times buckling under that pressure). At such a young age Rok-C has a lot of potential...

WDW 8 ends with Maria issuing a second Ticket To Gold. This one was voted on by fans on the 'ROH Experience' Facebook group apparently...and they have voted to bring back Nicole Savoy. She is a former SHIMMER Champion, one of the best unsigned women's wrestlers in the US, and someone who made a few ROH appearances starting in late-2019. It has taken ROH way too long to bring her back; the tournament just got VERY interesting.