McXal's Reviews

Faction Warfare once again comes to the fore tonight. Members of The Foundation, Shane Taylor Promotions, Violence Unlimited and La Faccion Ingobernable meet in a four-way main event; Jay Lethal, Shane Taylor, Brody King and Kenny King the participants. We'll also see teacher vs student as PJ Black faces his former protege Brian Johnson. Stick around after my episode review too as I'll be checking out Brandi Lauren vs Laynie Luck from Women's Division Wednesday Episode 22 as well. Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman are on commentary, with Quinn McKay as host in Baltimore, MD

The Darewolf frames this as Johnson's final test. The Mecca has entered the Pure Division and now plans to run through it on his way to the championship. He believes he is ready to be a top star in ROH, but Black says he needs to beat his old mentor first. If Johnson wins PJ will award him his 'black belt', however if the veteran wins then Brian has to willingly shake his hand and congratulate him.

For all his bravado, The Mecca is comprehensively out-wrestled in the early going. Veins bulge out of Johnson's head as he grows more and more frustrated at being repeatedly taken down and headlocked. PJ is so far ahead he actually starts to coach Johnson again; encouraging him to control his breathing. Brian uses his first rope-break to escape another Black advance, tries to take a cheap-shot but gets thrown out of the ring by the Darewolf. Black misses a springboard moonsault, making his first real mistake of the contest. Johnson capitalises with a flurry of knees to the stomach...so Black puts him in a pendulum stretch; walking him towards then depositing him on the ropes. It forces Joe Mandak to break the hold, and deduct a rope-break from Johnson even though he didn't elect to use it. The intensity increases with the two men aggressively striking each other. Brian uses his last break to kick out of a moonsault by Black...then pokes him in the eyes before hitting The Process. Johnson wins at 10:44 (shown)

Rating - ** - As I've said a fair few times: my interest in PJ Black wrestling in 2021 is rather minimal. He seems like a quirky, fun individual but I don't see what he is adding to the product at this point and in an era where ROH is about to cut everyone's contracts because expenses have gotten way too high, he is an example of a pricey talent who just isn't contributing enough. The match was fine - at its best when showcasing the gulf in personality between them but only passably watchable as a wrestling contest. 

Backstage Brian Zane catches up with the victorious Mecca, who is congratulated by PJ - even for beating him with the finishing move he gave to Johnson...

Eli Isom hypes his forthcoming Week By Week match against former Shinobi Shadow Squad team-mate Ryan Mooney (Nova). He respects Mooney, but won't let him get in the way of achieving his goal of being ROH TV Champion.

Mooney cuts a commendably intense promo in response; he is fed up of people thinking Eli is better than him without ever having to prove it...

Four major players in Faction Warfare come together for a fight in our main event. As Kenny King says, none of these four have gotten along for months, but there are a couple of particular sub-plots to focus on as well. Kenny and Taylor are former friends but now bitter rivals, their friendship terminated when Kenny cost Taylor the World Title in a match with Rush. That rivalry has heated up again recently as Kenny took Taylor out of the STP vs LFI Six-Man Title Match at Death Before Dishonor, only for Shane to return and cost Kenny the match. Brody and Lethal wrestled at Best In The World in a bout which saw Brody absolutely dismantle The Franchise to produce one of the biggest wins of his ROH career. As well as faction pride on the line, clearly the winner here takes a leap forward in the chase for the World Title too.

Brody and Lethal start, with Jay looking fired up to avenge his loss at Best In The World. He beats Brody back to a corner where Taylor blind-tags in...and marches across the ring to exchange barbs with Kenny King. Lethal goes after Shane's legs, leaving him temporarily incapacitated and with no choice but to tag Kenny of all people. Kenny and Lethal go back a long way too and immediately pick up where their rivalry left off - furiously grappling back and forth until Kenny punches him in the mouth and steals his hiptoss/dropkick combo. Brody tags in - and chops Lethal so hard that he collapses to the floor. Kenny absorbs some huge blows too, but knocks him back with the Shotgun Knees. One Night Stand nailed, but rather than pin Brody he decides to lay out Taylor with a corkscrew pescado. An irritated Shane T forcibly tags Kenny out and launches into a VIOLENT strike war with Brody! Tope suicida from Lethal to Brody! Tower Of London from Taylor to Kenny! Lethal Injection blocked - PACKAGE PILEDRIVER! BLUE THUNDER DRIVER from Kenny to Taylor! Brody tosses Kenny out, lariats Shane into the mat and wins for Violence Unlimited at 09:19 (shown)

Rating - *** - Quite clearly nine minutes is nowhere near enough time for four performers of this quality, but with limited TV time and few live shows Delirious really doesn't have much choice if he wants to cram all of his roster onto the television show as often as possible. To that end, this was a lively TV main event. It was hard-fought, it felt physical and intense...and I thought the four competitors were extremely effective in how they conveyed their motivations. Taylor and Kenny wanted to hurt each other, Lethal was fired up to get after Brody because he was embarrassed at Best In The World, whilst Brody wanted to dominate everyone in the name of honourable violence. Realistically this does almost nothing to progress faction warfare, but I'm not sure many will deny that it was still ten minutes of thoroughly competitive, entertaining wrestling.

Tape Rating - ** - A completely skippable week of Ring Of Honor television. This was taped after Best In The World, and it felt almost completely redundant considering that ROH had run three more live shows (including the next pay-per-view) since then. Both matches are fine...but when ROH has so much talent spinning their wheels and doing very little it was a sign of just how much of a filler episode this was that time was given to Eli Isom and Ryan Mooney to talk about their YouTube match and to air highlights of Violence Unlimited vs The Foundation from Glory By Honor. I make this statement a lot, but in 2021 wrestling fans have more choice than ever about what to watch. If you're product doesn't stand out, and doesn't seem like it's making an effort every week then fans just won't bother. This episode absolutely does not meet the standard required in my opinion. The Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view was not a stellar, must-see event and the subsequent, follow-up weeks of television simply not been good enough to retain fan interest.

These two were the designated 'alternates' for the Women's Title Tournament, to provide emergency cover in the instance of injury or Covid absence. They now get their chance to shine against each and prove why they should have received a Ticket To Gold outright. Laynie will feel disappointed not to have been in the tournament, having been a regular performer throughout the previous 21 episodes of Women's Division Wednesday. Lauren is making her return to ROH, appearing for the first time since 2018. She was a stand-out in the WWNLive promotions (e.g. SHINE & Evolve) and when WWE bought out Evolve she was one of those signed to a developmental deal. She was released from WWE having barely appeared at all in 2021, so heads back to the independent scene - and would be picked up by Impact by the end of the year. 

Lauren pie-faces Luck during the Code Of Honor and tells her to 'earn my respect'. She gets more annoyed when Laynie jovially chain-wrestles, smiles and poses. It is Laynie's speed that unsettles Brandi, reeling off a succession of armdrags that throw the former WWE developmental talent around the ring. She gets her own back by raking Luck's face along the ropes. A catapult rockets that same face into the turnbuckles as well. Laynie is reeling and picked off again when Lauren evades her kick attempt and drops her with a neckbreaker. She adds insult to injury by clawing at Laynie's face, pulling off her glitter and make-up. Lauren looks to force a submission with a dragon sleeper, which is countered into a northern lights suplex from Luck. She boots Brandi in the face and scrambles up the ropes to hit a 'Unicorn Dive' outside-in somersault senton. Yakuza Kick drops Lauren, setting up the Death Party Driver for 2. Lauren goes back to the head and neck, hitting a hanging neckbreaker out of the corner for her own nearfall. Uni-Cutter by Laynie, giving her the win at 09:11

Rating - ** - The standard has been raised in the ROH Women's Division. This was completely fine and solid, but doesn't necessarily hold up as well as some of the women's wrestling we've seen recently. Lauren was a strong heel and I enjoyed her focused offence on the head and neck, and Laynie was once again likeable and fun as the pink-and-glitter-clad babyface. The quality just wasn't quite at the same level though - having watched seasoned pros like Nicole Savoy, Chelsea Green and Allysin Kay or some incredible performances from the next generation of talent like Alize, Adora and Rok-C. There were plenty of slightly awkward or cumbersome moments, none of which were particularly detrimental to my enjoyment of the match, but certainly enough to make you aware that you weren't watching a bout at that same standard.