McXal's Reviews

Best In The World 2021 is in the books, the fans returned and a new World Champion was crowned. One thing that wasn't settled however was the growing rivalry between the three top factions in ROH; La Faccion Ingobernable, The Foundation and Violence Unlimited. A fourth faction has quietly been growing in influence throughout 2021 too; that being Shane Taylor Promotions. Taylor has emerged as a credible presence in the main event scene, has captained his stable-mates (the Soldiers Of Savagery) to Six-Man Championship gold and formally welcomed O'Shay Edwards as another new member. Tonight they look to stake their place in ROH's 'faction warfare' as they face The Foundation in 8-man tag team action. Brian Johnson hosts the broadcast because Quinn is wrestling tonight, with Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman providing commentary in Baltimore, MD. TV tapings remain closed set events currently, so the next time we see fans will be Glory By Honor weekend. 

The Foundation contemplate their main event tonight, with Jon Gresham nursing a knee injury. Tracy Williams wants them to do their part to promote young pure wrestlers, and suggests that Joe Keys replaces Gresh in their match. I'd be much more comfortable with this segment if they hadn't made Keys act like a chickensh*t who admitted on TV last week that the Briscoes were going to kick his ass.

After failing to take the Pure Title from Gresham a couple of weeks ago, this would actually become Yehi's final Ring Of Honor match to date. He has impressed with his skill and unorthodox attitude since debuting as part of the Pure Tournament and will be missed - although with just 45 minutes of television (plus a handful of live shows) in ROH's schedule the roster is already too bloated. His opponent is the similarly talented Rey Horus. He watched his MexiSquad partner Bandido become World Champion at Best In The World, and has seen his old partner Flamita become 'Demonic'. It leaves him at a crossroads in his own career and he could use a win to start climbing up the ranks for himself once again.

Yehi dragon screws the leg inside thirty seconds, setting out his stall to slow the luchador down from the very start. Rey has to dart into the ropes to stay out of the Koji Clutch too. During the commercials Fred continues to target Horus' leg...but as we come back Rey lands a springboard lucha armdrag then the PLANCHA OVER THE RINGPOST! Yehi is reeling and Horus utilises his speed to stay ahead, landing a twisting frog splash for 2. Fred goes full Savageweight; SNAPPING THE NECK then pummelling him with a flurry of big elbows. Koji Clutch locked in...but too close to the ropes. Fred hops to the second turnbuckle for reasons I'm not entirely clear on - and Horus charges at him with the super sunset flip and gets the win at 05:38 (shown)

Rating - *** - A fun five minute wrestling match between two guys who are much more talented than they really get to show on Ring Of Honor television. Matches like this typify both the qualities and the limitations of ROH's product right now; the wrestling was good, but too short and too shallow to really mean much. It played out how you might expect with Fred looking to utilise his submission and power skills whilst Horus broke out as many of his athletic, lucha tricks as he could. Yehi working the leg didn't really go anywhere, Rey didn't really sell it, and the finish - where Fred climbed up the ropes even though Horus was MILES away from him just so he was in the right position for Rey's finishing move - was pretty poor. But it isn't fair to expect that level of detail from two talents just looking to get their sh*t in with just five minutes of television time...

Mandy Leon begrudgingly gives an interview ahead of her match. She looks back on her time in ROH and says she's a 'grown ass woman', rather than the young girl she was when she first started, and when she looks at Quinn she sees nothing more than a needy interviewer who couldn't 'back up her sh*t talk' when she was allowed to wrestle with Angelina Love. 

Quinn cuts an INCREDIBLE promo in response, pointing out that Mandy Leon has had the exact same career she has; coming out of the ROH Dojo system, starting on TV as a backstage interviewer/host and losing her debut match. She calls Mandy a 'shadow of the person she could have been' if she'd have 'stayed the course' and fought with honour rather than selling out to become Angelina Love's lapdog. She ends by imploring Mandy to cast The Allure aside and give her a 'fair shot' tonight...

Ten weeks ago we saw Quinn finally make her ROH in-ring debut in the match she'd so desperately wanted; facing Angelina Love. Despite fighting valiantly her inexperience (and the unwelcome distractions of Mandy Leon) saw her fall to defeat and fail to earn a spot in the Women's Title Tournament. But with Allie Recks pulling out of the tournament due to injury a spot remains open, and Maria Kanellis has promised it to Quinn if she can beat Leon tonight...

Mandy shakes Quinn's hand...then knocks her lights out with a forearm strike. She even gets on the mic and calls McKay a rookie before stomping her down in the corner. McKay threatens a fightback so Mandy rakes her eyes along the top rope and starts choking her, whilst Angelina talks trash from ringside. Quinn looks for some desperate flash pins, which look pretty poor but that really works in the context of the match. Her inexperience comes to the fore again as she fails to hit a neckbreaker and Leon starts jerking her around by the hair. Angelina then drags her off the apron, causing her to fall face-first to the ground. MISSILE DROPKICK OFF THE APRON by Leon! Panic Attack scores, only for Leon to take her eye off the ball and walk into a powerslam. Quinn is so beaten up she can't get off the mat though, and after Angelina revives her Mandy remains in charge. Swinging neckbreakers by Quinn, into a cobra clutch which she calls the Tangerine Dream. Angelina jumps onto the apron to distract referee Joe Mandak, causing him to miss Mandy tapping out. She feeds Mandy brass knucks as well...and Leon punches Quinn in the face with them to win at 07:38 (shown)

Rating - ** - I liked this more than Quinn/Angelina. The phenomenal promo from Quinn that led into the match no doubt helped, but I felt these two had better chemistry. Some of their work here was really messy, but that worked in the context of a fight between these two. Neither of them are multi-time World Champions like Angelina, nor are they claiming to be world class wrestlers. They are two feisty, hard working women out of ROH's training school out here looking for a fight. It is impossible to pretend that the whole 'Allure' gimmick and running the exact same interference/cheating spots in every one of their matches isn't incredibly tedious by now...but the biggest compliment I can pay this is that if you stripped 'The Allure' gimmick away entirely, it would still have been effective television with a relatable, watchable back-story which made you care about the result.

There is plenty to gain for all involved in this one. Lethal and Taylor want to be in World Title contention so understand the importance of main event victories. If SOS want to be considered top contenders for the Tag Titles then victories over (now former) Tag Champions like Tracy and Rhett will drive them up the rankings. And for guys like Edwards and Keys - newcomers to the roster - chances to wrestle in main events alongside wrestlers of this calibre don't come along often. It is essential they leave a good impression. Can Shane Taylor Promotions force their way into faction warfare in a major way with win over The Foundation tonight?

Edwards and Keys start and are both understandably keen to impress. Joe's technical wrestling skill causes problems and he gets the better of the exchange after hitting a running uppercut to knock O'Shay back to his corner. Taylor tags in and absolutely CRUSHES Keys, then yells at The Foundation to 'get your rookie out of here'. Lethal tags but has to duck and dive around the ring as Shane comes close to knocking him out with some heavy duty strikes. Moses tries to manhandle Tracy...who lures him into the corner and traps him into a hanging armbar in the ropes. He and Rhett double-team the big man, spearheading The Foundation's push to isolate Moses. Kaun gets involved, distracting Jay so Moses can escape for a tag. Shane Taylor Promotions start working Lethal's ribs...with Rhett and Tracy having to rush around the ring and revive The Franchise after Taylor almost KO's him with an elbow smash which knocks him to the floor. Lethal Combination on Kaun, bringing in Titus to drop Moses with the Thrust Buster. Belly to belly suplex sends Edwards spinning to the floor as well. Bombs Away knee drop gets 2, as Keys demands a tag. Big Dawg Dropkick/German suplex combo on Kaun! All eight men are brawling now; Moses hitting a cannonball senton off the apron to wipe out everyone except Keys. He tries to fight Kaun, Taylor and O'Shay single-handedly...so Shane turns out his lights with a headbutt. Lethal Injection blocked...Welcome To The Land blocked! Edwards hits a powerbomb on Keys to win at 12:56 (shown)

Rating - *** - Lots of talent, not enough time. That could probably be the sub-title of every episode of ROH television, and it was certainly the case here. Everyone worked hard but with the time they had there wasn't a great deal they could do beyond the formulaic basics. Shane Taylor was the star of the show in my opinion, looking like an absolute killer and very much a World Champion in waiting. It's interesting that Jay Lethal continues to be the whipping boy of The Foundation too.

NEXT WEEK - PCO vs Sledge & Dalton Castle vs Dak Draper vs Eli Isom

Tape Rating - *** - If you were looking for a TV show which reacted to the major events of Best In The World then you'll be disappointed. ROH has never gotten to a place where they are able to do that; not during the HDNet era and never during the Sinclair's time in charge...so it's not a problem that is exclusive to how the pandemic has driven them to present their content. But whilst this is lacking as a story-driven, episodic wrestling television show, it is still perfectly decent as a stand-alone series of matches. Yehi/Horus is exciting for the time it got, Quinn/Mandy was heartfelt and full of effort, the main event presented a group of talented wrestlers demonstrating their skills for ten minutes or so. If you are a wrestling fan who wants an easily digestible, hour-long show with competent matches that require minimal long-term investment or understanding of the product as a way to escape the stresses of every day life in 2021 then this is a safe bet. 'Safe' is probably an apt word to describe Ring Of Honor television at this point...