McXal's Reviews

More interesting news came out of Ring Of Honor this week. After last week confirming their intention to return to live events in April with Supercard Of Honor, this week ROH announced their planned main event for that relaunch. Following the events of the debut Terminus show - which saw Bandido still proclaiming himself to be World Champion and defending his belt (even though ROH officially recognises Jon Gresham) then confronting Gresham at the end of the night - it is now confirmed as Gresham vs Bandido to determine an 'undisputed' ROH World Champion. After last week's excellent documentary on the Women's Title Tournament, unfortunately we do regress a little into lazy, schedule-filling rehashed content here - with highlights of Final Battle 2021 and in particular the ROH MOTY for last year (OGK vs Briscoes) being shown. Ian Riccaboni is our host (in pre-taped, voiceover form).

The return of Hendry was announced as a last-minute surprise on Week By Week leading into Final Battle. His friend and former partner is the defending champion though, putting Castle in quite a difficult position. Titus is perhaps the outsider, representing The Foundation and looking for a singles championship to put the exclamation point on a career which has seen him spend more than fifteen years in Ring Of Honor. Dak Draper joins commentary in support of the defending champion.

Castle is so fired up he starts the match standing on the guardrails whipping the crowd into a frenzy. It means he is out of the action as Joe begins with a ONE-ARM spinebuster to dismiss Silas! Young gets his own back by tossing The Prestigious One out...but in turn walks into a suplex from Dalton (who leaves the ring for another round of outrageous celebrations). Killer Combo from Silas to Dalton gets 2. Belly To Belly from Titus to Hendry, followed by a northern lights on the Last Real Man as well. He tries a flying crossbody but is CAUGHT and press slammed by Hendry! DOUBLE FREAK OF NATURE! But behind Joe's back Dalton sneaks in and tries to steal his pin! The former partners stay on the same page in an effort to double-team Rhett...Joe landing a vicious pop-up powerbomb for 2. Castle breaks the pin, and as they argue Joe falls out of the ring taking the referee with him! Bang-A-Rang on Silas! Hendry KO's Dalton with the belt! Dak Draper runs in and lays Hendry out with a big boot. Hydraulic Dropkick from Titus to Dak. Silas dodges the same move...only for Titus to evade The Plunge and land the Hydraulic Dropkick again. Titus pins Silas to win at 08:13

Rating - ** - A match more concerned with ensuring guys got spots on the card than it was producing a good contest in its own right. That isn't a bad thing, in particular it was terrific to see Hendry as he was one of ROH's international talents (along with Mark Haskins, Session Moth Martina, Kellyanne, Adam Brooks and Slex) who had their entire ROH career taken from them by the pandemic. In truth I'd have had this match go even shorter. It only really needed a couple of Hendry power spots, the dissension between Joe and Dalton, a passing reference to the Castle/Silas feud, then the feel-good moment of Rhett winning - and all of that could have been done with a few minutes shaved off the time. But when it did come, Rhett's moment genuinely was one of the most heart-warming moments of the whole PPV.

Jimmy Jacobs, now working in Impact Wrestling, is here as an ROH alum sending in a talking head video. He is proud that so many 'kids following their dreams' in ROH ultimately would go on to fulfil them thanks to the platform Ring Of Honor provided.

Next we hear from AEW's Christopher Daniels, a founding father of ROH and former ROH World Champion. His 'thank you ROH' video wasn't included on the pay-per-view, but was released the following week on YouTube (along with other exclusive messages from Colt Cabana and Cody Rhodes). Considering he is such an outstanding promo guy, Daniels' message is surprisingly low key and feels a lot like he is reading from an autocue. Nonetheless, he comes off as extremely sincere and heartfelt in his gratitude.

They air a stirring hype video for OGK vs Briscoes, featuring interview comments from both men spliced with footage of past battles and championship wins. Each reflect on what ROH has meant to them - and how important it was that they left Final Battle with the Tag Team Championship. I assume this was cut from the PPV broadcast for time so it is nice to see it included here...

Jay Briscoe wrestled in the first ever official ROH match, at Era Of Honor Begins. He and his brother are eleven-time Tag Champions and have spent their entire adult lives working for this company. Other than perhaps being in the main event, there is no more fitting a spot for the Briscoes on (possibly) the last ROH show ever than competing for the ROH Tag Team Championship. They are in the role of challengers though, once again doing battle with a team with whom they've shared a heated rivalry over the years. It is an emotional night for Matt Taven and Mike Bennett too. They are desperate to leave this show with the belts. At Honor For All, Taven looked distraught at ROH's hiatus; emotionally exhausted by his two-year war with Vincent and carrying the emotional baggage of his career highlight (the MSG win and subsequent World Title reign) become synonymous with ROH's downfall into obscurity. He wept as he said he wants to be the last Tag Champion, so he can put the belt in his house as reassurance that the blood he shed and beatings he took meant something. For the first time since their return, Maria Kanellis-Bennett accompanies her husband and his partner to the ring (with The Kingdom's old spliced 'Something For You/Suffer Unto Me' theme playing).

The OGK come out in their old black leather 'Kingdom' jackets, whilst the whole Briscoe family (including Jay and Mark's kids) occupy an entire corner of the guardrail area. Jay and Taven start; former World Champions racing through a series of strike attempts without being able to lay a glove on each other. The Kingdom double up on Mark to take an early advantage - but that's a game the Briscoes have seen countless times and easily fight back by taking it to the floor for a brawl. Taven hits an elbow suicida...and takes another run up for AIR TAVEN! But the Briscoes move causing him to lay out Bennett in error! Mark hits the step-up somersault plancha off a chair too. Purple Thunder Driver by Matt, sensibly hauling the match back into the ring to thwart Jay and Mark's momentum. Urinage flurry by Mark! Redneck Boogie nailed - as the camera pans to Jay's face to reveal that his eyebrow has been split wide open. The Briscoes think about a Spike Jay Driller as well, only for Bennett to throw Mark off the top rope into the apron! He hangs Jay off the apron too, then send Matt upstairs. HANGING AURORA BOREALIS TO THE FLOOR! Sick Kick by Mark to save! CLIMAX ON JAY! All four men are down! The OGK are sent to the floor, where Jay hits a completely crazy tope suicida into the guardrail. Blockbuster off the apron from Mark to Bennett! Froggy Bow on Taven...but Maria breaks the pin! Mark is pissed off and confronts her on the apron...but then dives as Bennett ACCIDENTALLY SPEARS HIS WIFE ON THE APRON! PILEDRIVER ON THE FLOOR to Jay! Mike puts Mark on his shoulders. AIR TAVEN DOOMSDAY DEVICE TO THE F*CKING FLOOR! The Kingdom drag Mark back in for the Proton Pack...but it only gets 2. HAIL MARY! JAY BREAKS THE PIN! JAY DRILLER on Bennett! Just The Tip on Mark! Aurora Borealis gets knees though! JAY DRILLER! TAVEN KICKS OUT! The crowd is going absolutely apesh*t now! DOOMSDAY DEVICE! TAVEN KICKS OUT AGAIN! He screams that the Briscoes will have to kill him! JAY DRILLER! FROGGY BOW! BRISCOES WIN! They are 12-time champions at 15:35

Rating - ****1/2 - I love this match. I adored it live, and watching it back to review it totally held up. Of course it helps that they were given carte blanche to go absolutely nuts; packing in as many spots and false finishes as they possibly could. There was a point in the last couple of minutes where it genuinely felt like the old days - bodies flying everywhere, impossible nearfalls, fans going absolutely mental in disbelief. It certainly wasn't a perfect tag match, but it was pretty much perfect for the setting within which it took place. The Briscoes are the ROH loyalists, the stalwart custodians of the tag team wrestling in this company - at the forefront of the division whilst all manner of great, iconic, legendary teams came through and couldn't keep them down. The OGK, therefore, are the perfect foils for them; opposites in every way. In truth, though, nobody was the heel here. It was four guys who all undeniably love Ring Of Honor, are proud of their contributions to the company and wanted to play their part in protecting and preserving its legacy the best way they could - by beating their bodies into the ground in a stunning match. This is my favourite ROH match of 2021...and 2020 too for the record.  

They don't show FTR invading, and fade out on the Briscoes and The OGK hugging in the ring to celebrate what was a truly joyous match. Instead we end with CM Punk giving his thoughts on ROH's 'final' show. He is VERY diplomatic in how he avoids talking about modern-day ROH and instead delivers a poignant eulogy to the Ring Of Honor product that he was a part of.

Tape Rating - N/A - I was disappointed by this episode. Ring Of Honor have talked a big game about they have 'exciting content' to fill this gap between Final Battle and their currently-planned resumption of operations in April. Last week certainly delivered that with the ambitious, innovative and interesting women's division documentary. This, on the other hand, was the height of complacent, disinterested, schedule-filling television and offered practically zero reward for the core fanbase who already pay to follow this product. This is a company with twenty years of history and shows to dip into (including the Soaring Eagle Cup from 2017 which still hasn't seen the light of day and completists like me would love to see that footage on television!) - so to lazily broadcast content they charged fans for just a couple of weeks earlier (in particular the best match on that pay-per-view) is very bad form in my opinion.