McXal's Reviews

Another week of ROH television, and another week of contenders in the hunt for the Most Wanted Champion, Bandido. This time it's The OGK in tag team competition against he and Rey Horus. There will be more tag team wrestling on the undercard as well; Soldiers Of Savagery getting the chance to compete against a former World Champion (Dalton Castle) and a former Top Prospect Tournament winner (Dak Draper). Ian Riccaboni is joined by the Briscoe Brothers in Philadelphia, PA.

Although Eli Isom declined his guidance, Castle has found a protege in Dak Draper and is trying to improve the 'television show' by moulding him into a more entertaining performer. They face intimidating opponents tonight as Moses & Kaun of the SOS return to tag team competition having focused on defending their Six-Man Titles recently...

Kaun and Dalton start, with Castle gaining control after a big early suplex. Castle allows Draper in, which gives SOS the opportunity to capture the least experienced opponent. Kaun repeatedly throws the former World Champion out of the ring so he and Moses can take turns brutalising Dak. Gutwrench suplex from Dalton to Kaun saves his partner...then runs laps of the ring with the Baby Chickens whilst Draper handles the entertainment business inside the ring. Dak gives Kaun's midsection a working over. Kaun blocks the Draper Bomb, leapfrogs the Mile High Magnum and at least unleashes Moses legally. He hits a flying crossbody on Draper...but can't get at Dalton because he's hiding behind the Baby Chickens. Moses gets past them and throws him into the (empty) crowd. Flapjack/DDT combo n Dak, giving SOS the win at 07:22 (shown)

Rating - ** - A filler match, here to do little more than showcase the dynamics of the Castle/Draper relationship (which hasn't been on TV too often) whilst giving SOS a big victory to bolster the reputation of their tag team. The highlight of the match for me was Kaun and Castle's mat wrestling exchanges in the first minute. Kaun is someone who looks to be getting better with every match.

Kenny King and Dragon Lee run down the aisle and attack SOS from behind, hitting them both with the Tag Title belts. With SOS down, LFI pose for pictures over their fallen bodies to 'send back to Rush'...but don't even make it half-way back down the aisle before Moses gets back up and challenges them to a Tag Title Match.

This is the first of two triple threat matches in the coming weeks, booked by Maria Kanellis-Bennett to bring order to the rabble of contenders squabbling for a title shot at new Women's Champion Rok-C. The winner here will face the winner of the second triple threat in a #1 contendership match for Final Battle 2021. All three women are motivated having been participants in the tournament but failed to win. Alize in particular is clearly still frustrated after her incredible, losing, effort in the tournament final. I'm reviewing the 'encore presentation' of this one from Women's Division Wednesday, which airs the match in full. Chelsea Green joins Ian and Caprice for commentary.

Alize and Angelina share a knowing look, then both charge at Willow to double-team her. Miranda drills her with the sliding hurricanrana for 2. The 2-on-1 beating continues, until Nightingale counters an attempted suplex spot to throw both her opponents into the air. She looks for a missile dropkick, which Love escapes by shoving Alize into its path. Their alliance crumples rapidly, coming to blows after Willow is dumped to the floor. Nightingale tosses them both to the floor...DOUBLE MISSILE DROPKICK OFF THE APRON! Alize bites Willow's hand to escape, sprinting across the ring to hit her Heat Seeking Missile which lays out both opponents. Even Angelina doesn't want to miss out on the dive fun so launches into a crossbody block from the apron to the floor. Mandy Leon grabs Miranda's leg...and Angelina levels her with the Botox Injection! The Allure celebrate, only for Willow to roll-up Love - pinning her to win the match at 08:32

Rating - ** - Much like the opening match on the show, this was as much a functional match as it was well-wrestled. Willow was presented incredibly well, combining her likeable presence with a quiet steeliness and power which make her an imposing opponent. Some of Alize's facial acting and body language was really good as well. 

Bennett and Taven are firmly in the hunt for the Tag Championship, but they've never stopped wanting to become ROH World Champion and are both experienced enough to know that a pin on Bandido tonight puts them in the picture for a title shot immediately. Taven in particular needs that, having just lost his guaranteed title rematch to Vincent at Glory By Honor 18, and lost a separate title match to Bandido during the champ's 'Bandido's Gym' show in Mexico.

Bennett tries to lock up and keep Horus on the canvas, which ultimately proves futile. Rey's funky lucha tricks almost cause Bennett to take an early pinfall loss. Taven and Bandido replace them, the champ blocking the Proton Pack but eating the Superkick/Spear combo by The OGK instead. They start working Bandido's leg in a clear effort to slow him down, before Matt gets 2 with the Purple Thunder Driver. Bandido evades a Lionsault though, stepping off Taven into a tornado DDT on Mike. Hot tag to Rey, who walks into the STANDING C-4 on Bennett! TOPE ATOMICO OVER THE RINGPOST! Tornillo by Bandido gets 2! He finds the power in his leg to hit a SHOOTING STAR PRESS as well. Just The Tip by Taven...setting up HAIL MARY! Horus breaks the pin, taking us into a wild strike battle that culminates with everyone collapsing to the canvas. RUNNING MOONSAULT to the floor by Bandido! AIR TAVEN NAILED! Bennett is left alone with Horus, who misses a 450 splash. PROTON PACK! Bennett pins Horus to win at 11:58 (shown)

Rating - *** - The second half of this was just brilliant. Relentlessly exciting, full of mayhem and drama with a genuine sense of mystery as to who would win (booking-wise there were merits to both teams winning). Bennett and Taven did a great job using their experience as a team to stay on top of the luchadors, and only really lost control of the match when they allowed one of Bandido or Horus enough space to hit a crazy move. Like most ROH matches these days however, it would have benefited from a greater time allocation to assist them with turning a fun spot-fest into a genuinely great tag team encounter.

NEXT WEEK - The Foundation in eight-man tag action against Taylor Rust, Joe Keys, Eli Isom and Cheeseburger, plus Soldiers Of Savagery challenging LFI for the Tag Titles.

Tape Rating - ** - A solid, building episode, but not one with enough merit to really be worth seeking out. If you skipped this episode, I don't think you miss anything significant. The last five minutes of the main event are really great, but a couple of functional matches don't make for must-see TV unfortunately.

Week By Week (5th October 2021) - I don't always dip into ROH's Week By Week matches, but do check them out when there's one which really interests me and the debut of 'Weapon X' Matt Makowski certainly fell into that bracket. He's someone I discovered in 2020 during quarantine when seeking out new wrestling, a former MMA fighter, trained within the Chikara system and also working for Beyond. He debuted in 2019 so is still pretty fresh, but is someone I think has serious potential. His opponent is more of a journeyman having debuted in 2005 (trained by Afa of the Wild Samoans) but working mostly in Hawaii and Florida. 

Makowski uses his martial arts background to stay illusive and pepper Ativalu with kicks. It works for almost a minute until the big man leaps into the air and lays him out with a leg lariat. SLINGSHOT rear naked choke by Makowski to put him back down though! Ati looks to stand up out of that but finds Matt rolling down his body to a knee bar instead. With the big man struggling to breath or walk, it frees Makowski up to take more risks - springing off the middle rope into a jumping enzi kick. Superplex nailed, and Matt hangs on to apply the kneebar again. Ativalu taps at 05:26

Rating - N/A - Had ROH not opted to go on 'hiatus' at the end of 2021 I feel like they may have had plans to use Makowski more often. He had his own Cary-tron entrance video, and this match was basically a squash win for him. The choice of Ativalu was pretty smart as the talent to put him over as well, since he is the polar opposite of Matt in every way. Makowski is an MMA fighter transitioned into pro-wrestling, as opposed to Ati who has deep roots in the business and was trained by Afa. Ativalu has been wrestling for more than a decade, whilst Matt is only in his second year (which includes a period of inactivity due to the pandemic too). Physically Ativalu is a lot bigger too, so stylistically he wrestles much differently. In short, he is everything that Makowski should struggle with yet Weapon X just absolutely dominated him. In that regard it was an effective debut, which thus far hasn't really led anywhere.

This is the Hot Mess' first singles match in ROH. It won't be an easy one either, as she locks up with one half of 'Team Sea Stars' - the returning Ashley Vox. She's worked for ROH before and was, I believe, scheduled to be a part of the cancelled 2020 Women's Title Tournament. She has worked for prominent women's promotions like SHIMMER (where she currently holds the Tag Titles), RISE, SHINE etc. Her work on the indies has taken her to MLW, AEW, NWA, Beyond, GCW and more. She is the kind of talent Chelsea needs to beat if she wants to force her way into the crowded Women's Title picture however.

Chelsea is considerably taller than Vox, which seems to give her an edge in their initial lock up. Ashley tries all manner of approaches to even that up - whipping Green to the ground, climbing the turnbuckles to make herself taller etc. Eventually Green absolutely drills her with a jumping enzi! Cannonball in the corner in response by Ashley! Reel Catch applied...which Green breaks by propelling her straight into the middle rope. She struggles to catch her breath after that, which the Hot Mess notices and starts driving strikes to the neck and stomach to exacerbate. Green starts driving knees into the arm as well, negating Vox's ability to chain-wrestle or work submissions. Struggling to breathe and unable to grapple as she'd like, Ashley digs deep and meets Chelsea at her own game - laying in a volley of strikes until they both fall to the mat. She goes back to the Reel Catch, which Green escapes by booting her in the stomach. Unpretty Her blocked into an Air Raid Crash by the Sea Star! Unpretty Her nailed second time of asking...but Chelsea finds herself distracted by The Allure strutting down the aisle. The Hex are here too! Allysin Kay and Marti Belle get into Angelina and Mandy's faces, as inside the ring Chelsea counters a Vox roll-up into a small package to win at 08:37

Rating - *** - I've said it a few times during recent ROH Women's Division reviews, but this new class of 'Women Of Honor' are driving up standards with every week that passes. Stripping away the outside guff with The Hex and The Allure, and putting Chelsea's popularity to one side...this was a strong wrestling match in its own right. They told a smart story which saw Chelsea pushed hard, but ultimately showing her skill as a wrestler by systematically picking Vox apart, removing her ability to breathe or grapple - therefore making it almost impossible to win. Little touches like the intensity and quality of the initial collar and elbow sequence demonstrate the talent these two possess, and it's a standard considerably higher than ROH's women's division was consistently able to hit in 2018 or 2019. 

The Hex celebrate with Chelsea, whilst The Allure glare at them before walking out.