McXal's Reviews

I believe this is the final episode of Ring Of Honor television in its current format. As of writing details still haven't really been revealed about what ROH TV will look like through the first quarter of 2022 (or even if there will be any televised content to speak of at all) - so after Final Battle ended the 'Era Of Honor' this broadcast really is the final chance for the current generation to say goodbye. Rok-C defends her Women's Championship against Holidead, and our main event is the annual Christmas Surprise tag match where teams are drawn at random for a night of festive fun. Perhaps for the last time, our broadcast team in Baltimore, MD are Quinn McKay, Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman.

Dalton Castle opens the show with a promise that he has a 'big surprise' to help celebrate the holidays

Josh Woods is one of the team captains for the annual Christmas Surprise 12-Man Tag. As has become tradition he draws his team at random from presents and seems delighted with his line-up...

The other team captain is Brian Johnson, who immediately dubs his squad 'Team Mecca'. He is less happy and thinks his team-mates are all 'bozos'...

The final championship match from 'this era' of Ring Of Honor deservedly goes to the Women's Division, which has been an absolute joy to cover through 2021 as Maria Kanellis-Bennett and Bobby Cruise have been at the forefront of a genuine resurgence. Holidead earned this title shot via victory in a four-way #1 contendership bout at Honor For All 2021, and is an imposing challenger for the teenage Prodigy. Holi is strong, fearsome, experienced and well-travelled - and will have her eyes set on becoming 'the last' ROH Women's Champion.

Holidead is bigger and stronger...which Rok-C tries to negate by working headlocks, but keeps getting tossed around by the challenger. Even when the champion forces her to the ground, Holi easily hammers her way free and starts squeezing the life out of her with a grounded bodyscissors. Rok-C gets faster, cartwheeling around the ring and staying out of Holidead's clutches - before running the ropes into a flying headscissors! LOPE...CAUGHT BY HOLIDEAD! She powers The Prodigy spine-first into the ringpost! During commercials she delivers a sidewalk slam on the apron as well, inflicting more punishment on that bad back. Rok retaliates with a frantic knee strike...but collapses afterwards with pain radiating down her back. Rok-Knees gets 2! Holi blocks the Crossface and drops the champion hard on her injured core with a swinging flatliner. Darkness Falls blocked, before Rok-C counters with a lungblower. Diving spinebuster by Dead gets 2...but the champ comes up and drives a spinning kick into the abdomen. Code Rok nailed, and Rok-C retains at 09:05 (shown)

Rating - *** - A good, solid, competitive size/power/experienced vs speed/athleticism/youth battle. It wasn't groundbreaking or innovative, but they kept it light and fast-paced which made for an entertaining contest. I do think they lost their way in the closing stages a little and abandoned a lot of the themes they'd set up to just hit spots on each other...but in nine minutes on the final TV episode from a promotion which may not exist for much longer this was everything it needed to be. 

DALTON CASTLE'S CLASSY CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR - Dalton's big surprise is a horrendous, choreographed musical number also featuring Dak Draper and the Baby Chickens. One of the Baby Chicks messes up the steps though, causing Draper to get angry and trash the set. 

Quinn McKay joins commentary for the last TV match, of the current era at least. It's a nice touch, bringing together all three members of ROH's core broadcast team for the last time.

Ordinarily the Christmas Surprise multi-man tag is a 10-person bout, but this year it has been bumped up to six-a-side for extra fun. The Mecca captains a team which includes wayward former friends and tag partners in All Night Express; Rhett and Kenny. It also has Flip Gordon, who still thinks it is 2018 and is mostly here to invite people to his New Year's Eve party. Johnson's opposition captain is the man who beat him to retain the Pure Title at Final Battle: 'Technical Beast' Josh Woods. Except for the last show ROH seem to have erased 18-months of character development with Josh and he now reverts back to a lovable goof fawning for Silas Young's attention as they reunited 2 Guys 1 Tag. Their team also includes the Briscoes, one of their Final Battle opponents Matt Taven, plus the former (??) World Champion Bandido (since this was taped before Covid caused him to miss Final Battle). The winners receive a 'Christmas Bonus'...

Era Of Honor Begins veterans Jay Briscoe and Homicide start, which is a nice moment. They can't be separated, so Woods tags Jay out and goes to work throwing Cide around on the canvas. Homicide BITES him to free himself! He is confronted by the surly presence of Brian Johnson in his corner, so reaches out to fellow veterans Rhett Titus and Todd Sinclair to explain what Johnson's 'deal' is. Rhett finally tags in and tries to take the fight to the mat with the Technical Beast. He does a commendable job trading arm submissions with the Pure Champion (and fellow Foundation member). After commercials we rejoin with Taven and Flip in the ring together; Gordon defying his amnesia to drive The Trend back to his corner. Bandido and Flip renew hostilities from Glory By Honor weekend (although Gordon doesn't remember that match), until Horus tags to come face to face with his friend and MexiSquad team-mate Bandido! Everyone watches from the floor as they go wild with crazy lucha sequences, which end when Kenny King tags Bandido out. He is met by the Redneck Kung Fu of Mark Briscoe. Titus makes the save, joining Kenny to wind the clock back with some old ANX double-teams. They throw up their ANX hand-signal as well to seemingly end their feud. All of a sudden it is like 2011 all over again as the Briscoes and ANX start brawling all over ringside. Blockbuster off the apron by Mark - whilst the camera picks up that Flip Gordon has walked out and headed to the commentary table to invite Ian, Caprice and Quinn to his NYE party. AIR TAVEN NAILED! Silas then THROWS Woods over the top rope into a suicida dive on a pile of opponents! TOPE ATOMICO from Horus to Silas! TOPE CON HILO by Homicide! TOP ROPE MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR by Bandido! Flip leaves commentary and charges around the building to hit a SOMERSAULT PLANCHA OFF THE STAGE! Young misses The Plunge and walks into Homicide's Ace Crusher for 2. Taven counters the Cop Killa to Just The Tip for his own nearfall. Kinder Surprise on Taven! POP-UP CUTTER from Bandido to Flip! X-KNEE on Horus! Who n-sells and hits the SATELLITE DDT! Woods saves and hits the BEAST SLAM on Rey! Hydraulic Dropkick by Titus to make the save. JAY DRILLER! Tiger Driver by Kenny to save his partner Rhett! Mark is bleeding, but still hits a Froggy Bow, sending King to the floor. CUT-THROAT DRIVER on Johnson! Doomsday Device finishes The Mecca, giving the Briscoes the victory in the last ROH match ('of this era') at 17:18 (shown)

Rating - **** - There was a lot to like about this. It was twelve guys who all just got told they don't have jobs anymore, yet still went out and had some fun throwing themselves around with reckless abandon. The dive sequence was fun, the flurry of finishing moves at the end likewise. I really liked the ANX reunion in the middle too, giving long-time fans some closure to an angle which never really went anywhere other than a pre-show match at Final Battle 2019 (despite Rhett and Kenny being members of rival groups during 'Faction Warfare'). You could have forgiven the combatants and completely understood if they'd have phoned this in or opted to work this match as a total low-impact comedy bout, but they all came out determined to provide some real entertainment in a fast-paced scramble match.

Jay, who has appeared largely level-headed since ROH's hiatus was announced, does look emotional after his win and hugs Todd Sinclair almost as soon as his hand hits the mat for the final time. Everyone hugs, smiles and shakes hands after the match, with only Johnson cutting a more forlorn figure. They all lift the Briscoes onto their shoulders to close the show. If that truly is the end of ROH, it was a fitting closing shot...

Tape Rating - *** - These last two pre-taped episodes to follow-up from Final Battle have been a little odd. It has been openly acknowledged that they were taped before the 'End Of An Era' pay-per-view, meaning that they've existed in this weird bubble where we all know nothing significant happens and we all know the end has already come. Against that back drop this episode was perfectly satisfactory, even rather fun. I wasn't blown away by Rok-C/Holidead (personally I'd rather have seen a Rok-C/Alize rematch) but it was totally solid for what it was. The main event didn't take itself too seriously and simply gave twelve talented athletes a twenty minute platform to show off their skills - which was really fun to watch. The end of the show doesn't bring any real closure, nor does it give any hints as to what the future of ROH (if any) will look like - not even giving us any detail of what TV will look like next week - assuming there is any more TV. ROH as we most recently knew it ended at Final Battle. This episode didn't even feel like a proper epilogue to the PPV, but I think few would deny that the last minute with the Briscoes winning the 'final' match then being hoisted onto everyone's shoulders and carried around the ring as the show ends was a fine way to end.

Some of the commentary last week hinted that it might have been the last Women's Division Wednesday, so I'm pleased to see that we have another week of content from the impressive Ring Of Honor Women's Division for 2021. It's also pleasing to see Exo make her first WDW appearance. She is currently one half of the SHIMMER Tag Champions 'Team Sea Stars', along with her sister Ashley Vox whom we've seen on WDW previously. She has been extremely busy after a period of quarantine in 2020 due to the pandemic, working in Impact, GCW, MLW, Beyond, AEW, SHIMMER and now ROH as well. She is taller and more robust than her sister, but not such an intricate technician - although her height may serve her well as she looks to take down the intimidating 'Impaler', Max.

Max smiles and sets about trying to throw Exo around...and drives her to the canvas with a Thesz Press in short order. Curb Stomp renders Delmi almost unconscious and the match is less than three minutes old. Exo tries a few dropkicks and looks for a crossface submission on The Impaler. Max shakes it off and backbreakers Exo into The Wasteland for the win at 04:34

Rating - N/A - A complete squash win for Max here. So emphatic, in fact, that I'm not entirely sure what the point was. Since they are going on hiatus there isn't a pressing need to keep Max looking strong, and it seems quite unkind on SHIMMER - a former sister promotion of ROH - to bring one of their champions in just to completely crush her. 

Ashley Vox jogs down the aisle to check on her sister whilst Max and Amy Rose leave the ringside area. The Allure come out, with Angelina gloating that she was able to beat Max (via DQ, during the Quest For Gold Tournament). She says that The Allure are all about giving opportunities, and since they are already the best tag team in ROH, they want to face champions from another company...

This would have been far more interesting if they'd have just booked a straightforward Allure vs Sea Stars match. It would have felt like a bigger deal, and would've saved ROH crushing Delmi's credibility by having Max pulverise her. Since ROH have name-dropped SHIMMER multiple times, this genuinely is about Mandy and Angelina wanting to see if they can beat Tag Champions from another promotion...

Love jumps Vox from behind to get us started, throwing her out so The Allure can team up on the already-injured Delmi. Double missile dropkick from Ashley to save her sister! But her momentum is short-lived after Leon gouges her eyes and drops her with a neckbreaker. Even when Vox escapes The Allure, she finds that Exo is still injured and has been clobbered off the apron so isn't in position to accept a tag. At last Ashley does make a tag - and even whilst clutching her ribs Exo is able to drop Love with a northern lights suplex. Mafia kick/Russian legsweep combo gets 2 for the Sea Stars, before Leon heaves Vox to the outside. Botox Injection ensures Love pins Delmi at 06:00

Rating - ** - I bet Dave Prazak was delighted to see his promotion name-dropped multiple times, whilst ROH utterly crushed his Tag Champions in two consecutive matches just to put The Allure over. As a match this was ok; The Allure are easy to dislike whilst Vox and Exo were strong babyfaces to get behind. From a booking perspective I wasn't particularly comfortable with it, however. It's also really disappointing that we didn't get to see Team Sea Stars in a 'proper' match. 

23rd December 2021 - This was made available as an exclusive on ROH's YouTube channel. It is a chance for Delirious and CB to say goodbye to a company they've both worked extremely hard for. Delirious has been a staple of this promotion since 2004. He began as a novelty act, but his immense skill as a wrestler saw him transcend his role as a comedy worker and become a respected competitor. He contested some famous World Title Matches with Bryan Danielson, he won the 2006 Survival Of The Fittest Tournament, he became a pet monster of Jimmy Jacobs' Age Of The Fall, he fell in love with Daizee Haze...but since 2010 he has only appeared sporadically as a special attraction character. He has also worked extensively behind the scenes in ROH, who acknowledge on-screen that he was a trainer at the original ROH Dojo - where one of his students was Cheeseburger. He has watched CB tread a very similar path to him; scrapping for a spot on the roster then battling to overcome the notion that he is 'just' a comedy act. CB may be 'World Famous', but he has never had 'THE' match which makes people take him seriously; like some of Delirious' clashes with Danielson. He says he needs to beat his trainer before ROH shuts its doors and he heads off into the world to find out if he truly has transcended his gimmick just as Delirious once did...

We see this is a big match for Delirious as well, because he doesn't freak out at the sound of the ring-bell. He dominates the first two minutes, proving the better of the two when it comes to trading holds on the ground. But CB is no young boy and is confident to recognise it - so creates some distance, hits a couple of lucha-inspired armdrags then trips his trainer into an anklelock which forces him to use his first rope-break. Delirious tries to congratulate Burger with a handshake - but CB uses the extended hand to haul him back to the mat for another anklelock, and Delirious grabs the ropes for a second time. The Lizard Man is fuming, and drives a big knee into Burger's guts. He berates him in Lizard Tongue whilst striking at the head and neck...then cranks onto a half crab which draws a first rope-break out of WFCB. APRON BACKBREAKER by Delirious! Burger actually uses his second rope-break just to kill Delirious' momentum and prevent him lining up Shadows Over Hell. His back is really bothering him though and executing even a vertical suplex leaves him writhing around in pain. He quickly devises a new strategy; ramming the arm into the turnbuckles then landing an arm-capture bulldog. Shortarm Scissors applied, and Delirious has to use his last break to escape. The fight spills outside where Burger hits a ROPE-RUN TORNADO DDT OFF THE APRON! Delirious is rattled - and his arm now so injured that CB is able to attack it to prevent him from hitting the Cobra Stretch. BIZARRO DRIVER instead! World Famous dives into the ropes, using his last break to again block the Cobra Stretch. Panic Attack nailed, into another Bizarro Driver for 2. There is a minute remaining in the time-limit as Delirious hits a COBRA CLUTCH-PLEX! DRAGON SUPLEX FLURRY by Burger! SHOTEI! Delirious kicks out - but by raising his injured arm right into Burger's face. CB capitalises by rolling him back to the Shortarm Scissors...and Delirious taps at 14:57!

Rating - **** - This is Cheeseburger's best singles match in ROH. Or certainly, it is by far the match of his that I have enjoyed the most. I never particularly enjoyed the novelty act version of his character and I always felt he was pushed as a Spike Dudley-esque figure in ROH even though it never felt like ROH's fans were investing him the same way ECW's fans LOVED Spike (or Mikey Whipwreck before him). His stature is SO unique for a professional wrestler too. It's not something I've ever really held against him, but it has always irritated me when much bigger guys have to make themselves look goofballs selling for him to hit moves which look utterly illogical given the size disparity. ALL of those concerns were addressed here. It was a great match, with both guys producing rich, deep and emotive performances to sell the story and drama. Delirious was as serious here as he has ever been in an ROH ring. Burger's offence was strictly limited to moves which felt practical or remotely feasible for someone of his size. They worked body parts well, made a decent effort to sell them, and paced the match fantastically so that it climaxed just as the time-limit was due to expire. This one is available for free on YouTube; there's no excuse not to check it out. 

Delirious removes his mask, covers his face in a shirt, then ceremonially hands his mask over to CB. They both embrace in a long, tearful hug...