McXal's Reviews

The show last week was not good, we'll leave it at that. Looking positively at Episode 23, the card is significantly better for this one. Three titles are on the line in three big matches, with Shibata defending his Pure Title against former champion Josh Woods, Aussie Open making their first defence (and only defence in an ROH ring) of the Tag Titles against the Iron Savages and Athena is in a hotly anticipated Women's World Title bout against challenger Diamante. We've also got the TV Title contendership tournament semi-finals and El Hijo del Vikingo returning in the main event. Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman provide the commentary in Hartford, CT.

Given a decent time allowance this could easily provide a killer main event for an episode of ROH's weekly show. Instead their TV Title Eliminator Tournament semi-final bout will get us underway. Daniels defeated JD Drake to get here, whilst Taylor simply overwhelmed Serpentico. Both have held multiple championships in ROH before, and both would make formidable opponents for Samoa Joe if they do make it through the field of competitors.

Daniels aims a nasty kick at Taylor's leg when it becomes clear he can't out-wrestle someone of his size. But Taylor is able to shake that off and seizes the advantage after a series of clobbering strikes to the Fallen Angel. The crowd don't like it, but Shane T dominates, powering through the former World Champion with big clotheslines and bruising punches. The head and neck become a target for Taylor, and Daniels is so worn down that even after hitting a neckbreaker of his own he can't capitalise. He shakes off a chokeslam attempt, boots Taylor in the neck and climbs for a TOP ROPE HEADSCISSORS! Sliding lariat to the neck gets 2! He goes for a tornado flatliner as well...but jumps right into Taylor's urinage slam. Daniels throws one last flurry in the corner...but Taylor claws it his FACE to block the Fall From Grace. FLYING CROSSBODY BY TAYLOR! GARVEY DRIVER! Taylor wins at 06:38

Rating - *** - I need to make my peace with the fact that in 2023's version of ROH TV this match between two of my favourites wasn't going to get as much time as I might of liked. Taking that into consideration this was thoroughly decent. Taylor comes out of this looking like a killer having dominated someone of Daniels' stature for long periods, but even in defeat CD was able to provide some great moments too. I really liked the pacing on this one too, even in a compact six minutes.

Even Lexy Nair seems confused as to why Iron Savages have a Tag Title shot this week after losing in a Six-Man Title Match last week. Their promo is slightly nonsensical and full of catchphrases I don't quite understand...but if this is landing with certain portions of the audience then all good.

This is the first time these belts have been defended on the weekly ROH show, showing how ineffectively booked they were (and how far ROH was down Tony Khan's list of priorities) during the Lucha Bros' reign. The Savages haven't lost a tag match on ROH TV and there's no doubt this is full of potential if given enough time. Just don't scratch beneath the surface or try to make any sense of why some teams have to spend weeks earning title shots whilst Boulder and Bronson are just given one a week after losing another high profile title match. Aussie Open don't have the title belts with them (explained with a fun little skit where Fletcher says they are so confident he hands them over to Tony Khan in Gorilla for safe keeping).

Bronson starts with Fletcher, and it's Kyle that impresses by withstanding all of the big man's power moves. Boulder and Davis replace them, and they have an interesting dynamic since Boulder is big enough that Mark can't overpower and push him around like he does so many opponents. He swats Mark away, then scoops Fletcher up for a sidewalk slam/senton combo with his fellow Savage. Kyle hits back with a big boot to knock Bronson off the apron, then joins up with his partner to POWERBOMB Bronson on top of Boulder against the guardrail. That leaves the way clear for the champs to isolate Bronson...albeit only momentarily before he dives off the ropes and ploughs through both of them. Boulder picks both champs up and hits a fallaway slam/Samoan drop combo and follows up with a wind-up powerslam on Fletcher for 2. The big man climbs the ropes but takes so long about it he inevitably misses his attempt at a springboard moonsault. Aussie Arrow blocked by the Savages, and Bronson then scoops up Kyle for a SIT-OUT PILEDRIVER ON TOP OF DAVIS! Double spinebuster on Davis gets a nearfall. Bronson hops onto Boulder's shoulders...but doesn't see Fletcher climbing the ropes so is inadvertently loaded into a Doomsday Device! Dental Plan gets 2 for the champs. Cross Bomber nailed, then the CORIOLIS! The Aussies retain at 10:26

Rating - *** - This one won't change your life, but it's a solid building title defence early in Aussie Open's reign and I thought the Iron Savages did more than enough to impress and let their work eclipse their goofball gimmick. Perhaps it could have been slightly less formulaic and it didn't really feel like they got out of the lower gears until quite late into the match, but the last couple of minutes were very strong.

Stokely Hathaway thanks everyone for the 'positive feedback' for his decision to book another Eliminator Tournament and is actively considering booking another one after Joe defeats the winner of the current version. Dalton Castle interrupts him, still sore about Stokely's involvement in his TV Title loss to Joe at Death Before Dishonor. He is furious about being left out of the tournament and demands to be put into the next one. Enter Samoa Joe...who teases defending the belt against Dalton again, but then instead challenges The Boys to a tag match against him and Stokely?

I said a few weeks ago that 'Technical Beast' Josh Woods feels like someone who should be excelling on ROH TV. Under-utilised in AEW and with a history in Ring Of Honor, it feels like a perfect fit for him. And yet he's only been seen fleetingly. However, recently he has recovered his focus on the Pure division - an environment where he has excelled previously and defeated one of the greatest ever Pure Champions in Jonathan Gresham. Last week he laid down the challenge to Shibata (and even beat Eli Isom using Shibata's moves). This week the Japanese veteran steps back into the ring to meet him. Former Pure Champion John Walters has a guest spot on the judges panel which is a nice touch. 

Shibata throws a kick, throwing down the gauntlet and making a statement that his strikes are better than the challenger's. Inevitably Josh responds by going to the canvas but again Shibata steps to meet him and almost snags an early pinfall to further demonstrate his skill. Woods furiously blocks a cross armbreaker, then gets snared in a leg grapevine instead. He grabs an anklelock...and together they roll under the ropes to the floor (avoiding rope-breaks on a technicality) keeping them locked in as they hit the ground. PK blocked by Woods, before they start GRAPPLING with each other on the mats! They do that with such intensity they almost get counted out...then sprint back into the ring to keep going. Mark Sterling hops onto the apron to distract the champion, and for the first time the Technical Beast has an opportunity to take the advantage. He slams Shibata's shoulder into the guardrails and goes to work on that arm in earnest. He peppers it with strikes and clamps onto a shortarm scissors intentionally close to the ropes in an attempt to lure Shibata into using his first break. The champion avoids that, so Josh hits an ARM CAPTURE gutwrench suplex for 2. Doctor Bomb next, high on the shoulder too, earning another nearfall. PK ON SHIBATA! But that only serves to piss the champ off! He no sells it and blasts Woods with strikes in the corner. Sleeper Hold locked on, but Woods takes a rope-break. They trade German suplexes, but with each shot Shibata's injured arm hangs lower and lower by his side. Coming to a stalemate, they stand in the middle of the ring and absolutely tee off on each other with kicks and lariats. Woods STOMPS the bad arm! SLEEPER HOLD! PK! Shibata retains at 11:11

Rating - *** - This is the kind of action we should be seeing on Honor Club far more often. It isn't the best match, nor was it the longest. But it FELT important. It had a big match aura. It felt like watching a premium product worth paying a monthly fee for. Both men contributed to that. I might have felt like Shibata could've done more to sell the arm, but it never felt like he wasn't going HARD here, perhaps as hard as we've seen him during this Pure Title reign. And Woods relished the opportunity to sink his teeth into something more substantive than he's had for most of his AEW run, delivering a performance rich in intensity, skill and violence. 

We've not seen 'The Reality' Zack Clayton for a little while, but he's back tonight looking for an upset victory over the former ROH World, Six-Man and TV Champion Dalton Castle. Dalton has made it clear he still wants in the TV Title picture so will be looking for a convincing victory here.

Dalton frustrates Clayton with his theatrics, including a momentary pause in the corner to be fanned by The Boys. It leaves Zack so frustrated he winds up jumping Castle and trying to stomp him out. He hits a Castle-esque overhead suplex and tries to choke the former World Champion out in the ropes. That fails, and Dalton at last gets going with a few suplexes of his own. Bang-A-Rang wins it for Dalton at 03:53

Rating - DUD - Most of the match wound up being Clayton on offence, which just didn't work from me either conceptually (Dalton looks weak even in victory) or from a match quality perspective (nothing Zack did was particularly interesting). 

Josh Woods has requested some interview time following his loss to Shibata. He points out he has now lost to Claudio for the World Title and Joe for the TV Title (both on AEW TV I guess) as well as Shibata, and thinks that something has to change...

Shawn Dean and Carlie Bravo are trying to build momentum as a tag team and have the opportunity to do so tonight against opposition working together for the first time. Johl and Comoroto haven't teamed before, but Nick actually won his last ROH match (back on Episode 16).

Carlie uses his speed to get the better of Johl from the bell, leaving him trapped in The Infantry corner early on. Comoroto comes to his rescue with a cheap shot from behind though and he uses his brute strength to extract Bravo so they can work him over. He and Jora take turns beating on him...until Johl inadvertently clocks his own partner with a superkick. Bravo makes the hot tag to Dean who plants Jora with a hanging neckbreaker off the ropes for 2. AXE KICK in the ropes from Bravo takes out Comoroto, and together The Infantry hit a big boot/Russian legsweep combo on Johl to win at 04:35

Rating - ** - You could make a compelling argument that this could easily have been cut from the show to allow the other matches more time. But that wouldn't change the fact that this is a completely solid, watchable four minute formulaic tag bout. Comoroto was effective as a powerhouse, The Infantry looked decent getting their sh*t in and it ended before it outstayed its welcome or became tedious.

'Legit' Leyla has stormed through all comers in Ring Of Honor so far. There can be no doubt that she will be closely watching the Athena/Diamante match later in the hope of challenging the winner - assuming she can make it past the debuting Vionette here.

Hirsh doesn't follow the Code Of Honor and gets to work dominating Vionette on the mat. Miranda tries a couple of flash pins, but gets her legs kicked out from under her and is sent packing back to the canvas in a hurry. Maria Kanellis-Bennett is on the stage watching this for unknown reasons. The ref considers stopping it as Hirsch mounts Vionette for seemingly relentless forearm strikes...then punts her right between the eyes when she even thinks about trying to defend herself. Legit Leyla hauls her up from the ground, only to swiftly dump her again with a German suplex. Cross armbreaker taps Vionette out at 03:19

Rating - N/A - An effective squash match promote Hirsch, and Maria's presence implies we might have a sniff of any kind of new storyline for Ring Of Honor television, which certainly isn't a bad thing.

This is the second TV Title Eliminator Tournament semi-final, determining who meets Shane Taylor in the finals. It will be the experience, strikes and wrestling skill of Nese against the unpredictable luchador Gravity. 

Gravity interrupts the now-weekly Nese attempt at group training, drawing the ire of Nese who repeatedly dumps him on the mat. But the second he lets any distance build up Gravity explodes with a somersault lucha armdrag off the ropes, followed by a Bandido-esque press slam. He knocks Tony to the floor, but can't get a dive in before Mark Sterling appears on the apron to distract him. Instantly Nese attacks Gravity from behind, then pulls the ref away so Smart Mark can get a few shots in too. Again Sterling tries to interrupt proceedings, but this time Gravity fakes him out for a ROPE RUN SUICIDE DIVE to the floor. Hanging torpedo splash gets 2. The luchador tries to climb the ropes again, but Nese somersaults into an uppercut to block him. Powerbomb by Gravity, followed by the top rope splash. Gravity wins at 05:35

Rating - ** - Tony Nese would be so much better off without Mark Sterling. He is smarmy and capable enough on the mic that he doesn't need a heater manager, and Sterling interfering in the exact same manner in almost everyone of his matches makes his act incredibly predictable. And having already seen Sterling do the exact same thing in Josh Woods' match earlier it felt even more deflating and cheap. That really took me out of proceedings, but between 'Smart' Mark bringing the match down there were some decent exchanges from these two contrasting wrestlers.

This one has been in the offing for some time, so it's a shame that it has rather been dropped in without much build-up (although Athena did say in a promo last week that she was fed up of facing 'local jobbers and porcelain hussies', which her opponent definitely is not). Diamante doesn't have a flawless record in ROH but she's won more than she last lost and looked tough every time out. She will undoubtedly be one of the toughest tests the reign of the Fallen Goddess has seen.

Athena skips around the ring and smiles, in stark contrast to the business-like demeanour of the challenger. But the champ is as skilled as ever, and cartwheels out of an attempted headscissors before strutting around and playing to the crowd some more. She does the same thing out of a monkey flip as well, which visibly pisses Diamante off. BACK DROP DRIVER by the challenger, then a brutal baseball slide which sends the champ careering out of the ring. Diamante looks for a crossbody off the apron, but Athena COUNTERS with a front slam on the floor! Body slam into the guardrails follows! Inevitably the challenger has sustained back and midsection injuries coming off that which Athena looks to exploit - hitting a senton then a double knee drop into the midsection in quick succession. She tries to start clubbing the back whilst Diamante is hung in the ropes, and follows it with a SIDE EFFECT ON THE APRON! She tries to finish Diamante off with her big running elbow, but the challenger keeps dodging it and finally knocks her away with a satellite headscissors. The monkey flip follows, almost a receipt for Athena countering both of those moves with such arrogance earlier in the match. The back gives out before she can hit anything else though, and Athena plants her with a swinging backbreaker for 2. O-Face blocked! CHAOS THEORY by Diamante, with a modified pin to protect her back...but it only gets 2 as a result! She goes for one last strike, but Athena boots her right in the face! CROSSFACE! Diamante counters out into a pin! BRIDGING ROLL-UP! Athena wins at 09:15

Rating - *** - Another high quality title defence for Athena, which I considered going higher on my rating on because there was a lot of good stuff here. Not least the finish, which was incredibly smart as it saw Athena capitalising on all the work she'd done on Diamante's midsection by applying all of her body-weight into a pinfall which Diamante simply didn't have the core strength to kick out of. Ultimately what kept me from going higher on this wasn't the quality of the work, but simply that I felt like it lacked a bit of drama as it never felt like Diamante was close to victory. And in nine minutes you can understand why - they just simply didn't have enough time to build that tension. 

Athena sets up to stomp Diamante into the title belt like she's done to many others...but decides not to and walks up the ramp. Is that another sign of respect to an opponent from the champion?

As we heard earlier, The Boys are preparing for a tag team match with Samoa Joe and Stokely Hathaway in a couple of weeks. As if the prospect of facing one of the most dominant champions in Ring Of Honor history wasn't enough of a concern, tonight they are in the ring with the imposing Gates Of Agony; two thirds of the ROH Six-Man Champions.

Kaun pulverises Brent from the bell, no matter how hard Tate tries to quicken the pace and keep out of his clutches. Toa chokes him in the ropes, and Prince Nana lays in a few unseen shots to add insult to injury. To his credit, Brent absorbs almost three minutes of punishment and stays alive long enough to finally make a hot tag to Brandon...who flies into a tope atomico on Kaun. Liona no sells The Boys offence, and Bishop is soon back up to dump Brent into the guardrails. Open The Gates wins it for GOA at 04:19

Rating - N/A - Too long if you were being critical, but they structured it well in that The Boys got in almost no offence, and were given lots of opportunity to bump around like crazy men to make Kaun and Toa look great.

Lexy Nair asks Diamante why she thinks Athena didn't attack her after the match...but before she can answer the champ herself interrupts. Athena admits she didn't attack her because she saw something in Diamante and tells the fallen challenger to stay the hell away whilst she tries to figure it out

Karter is a talented young guy who has been around AEW and ROH for some time. If ROH were run properly as a separate NXT-style developmental it would be the perfect place for him to develop, but for now he returns after a few shows away once again looking to build some momentum. His opponent is another Sinclair-era alum trying desperately to get their spot on the roster back...

Karter disrespects Leon during the handshake and the match begins with a cheapshot. LSG is experienced enough to bounce back...but is so fired up that Cole is able to lure him in and cause his face to ricochet right off the top rope. He starts working St. Giovanni's face and upper body as a result. Maria Kanellis-Bennett is out on the stage for the second time tonight to watch proceedings. Her presence momentarily distracts Karter allowing LSG to reel off a few jabs. He springboards right into a jumping knee to the head though, and Cole hits a lifting implant DDT to win at 03:00

Rating - N/A - A really good squash win for Karter, who impressed me by doing something a little unusual in targeting the face of his opponent. Ian Riccaboni went seriously overboard in trying to hype how much of a big deal LSG was in the previous incarnation of ROH and it was a little sad seeing a familiar face in a spot like this, but to a big company like AEW it is easy to see why a talented kid in his early 20's like Karter is someone they'd want to invest in. 

In some exclusive footage shot in the aftermath of Death Before Dishonor, Dark Order confront The Righteous. Uno and Grayson shake hands, with Uno saying 'thank you Stu' and Grayson leaving with a big smile yelling 'finally'...

There were mixed fortunes for these two women last week. Robyn returned to tag team action alongside Charlette and emerged victorious, whilst Marie fought valiantly but ultimately took a bit of a beating from Women's Champion Athena in a Proving Ground Match. She impressed enough to be given another shot though...

Robyn works a headlock as she recognises that Marie is more powerful and harder hitting, but can't maintain it and is sent to the outside after a couple of bruising shots. Christina tries to give chase, only to be bounced against the ringpost by Charlette whilst Robyn pulls the referee away. Renegade verbally taunts her opponent, proclaiming it to be 'her time' whilst pie-facing her to the ground. That fires Marie up and she again catches Robyn off guard with some big strikes. Things get a little bit ugly, until Renegade catches Marie in a dropping version of an abdominal stretch to earn a submission victory at 03:57

Rating - * - The crowd were deathly quiet for this. Both are new acts of course so that is understandable to an extent, but they really didn't do a whole lot to garner any interest or vocal support. Of the two I don't think it is unfair to say that Marie looks a more solid and compact worker, but it is clear that Khan (and plenty of others) see something in the Renegade double-act. I'm still waiting to see more from them inside the ropes...

One thing you cannot dispute when it comes to JD Drake and Anthony Henry is that they have been incredibly reliable acts on the new Honor Club show. They don't win much and don't get much traction in the way of storylines (almost nobody does in fairness), but when the bell rings they are always dependable and always produce to the best of their abilities. They are rewarded for that tonight with a main event spot taking on the returning, super-popular AAA Mega Champion Vikingo and his long-time friend/rival Komander (himself looking to rebound after losing to Gravity at Death Before Dishonor).

Komander has his shoulder heavily taped, which a technician like Henry is sure to notice. It doesn't slow the luchador down too much though as a flurry of armdrags sent Anthony flying back to his corner. Drake walks into a springboard dropkick from Vikingo, before the luchadors hit criss-cross tope suicidas to the floor. Frog Splash gets 2 for the AAA Champion. STO ON THE APRON by Henry to curtail Vikingo's momentum though! JD sensibly follows Vikingo to the floor as well, battering him with strikes away from the ropes which he knows his opponent can use with such ease. The WorkHorsemen isolate him deep in their half of the ring, and hit a big boot/legsweep combo the second he threatens to escape them. Henry starts taunting Komander though, and for the first time in a while Vikingo is presented with an opportunity to build some speed. He hits a corkscrew enzi...but finds Henry booting his partner off the apron before he can make the tag. Shining Wizard by Drake gets 2. CODE RED ON DRAKE! Hot tag to Komander who tears into both WorkHorsemen, sending them both to the outside. POP-UP REBOUND ELBOW from Drake to Komander! CAPTURE BUTTERFLY DDT/DOUBLE STOMP COMBO on Vikingo when he tries to springboard in for a save! The luchadors pepper Drake with relentless, highly unorthodox kick attacks then climb to opposing turnbuckles. DOUBLE TIGHTROPE WALK SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULTS TO THE FLOOR! DOUBLE 450 SPLASHES! Vikingo pins Drake to win at 08:01

Rating - *** - One of the matches of the night for me. The WorkHorsemen were impeccable in how they used their respective skillsets to isolate Vikingo, repeatedly separating their illusive luchador opponents and preventing them from building up any momentum or stringing together any outrageous dives. But such is the skill of Vikingo and Komander that they just couldn't maintain it. Experienced as a team though Drake and Henry are, the AAA Mega Champion and his partner were able to withstand everything thrown at them and emerge victorious after at last pulling out a flurry of big high spots.

Tape Rating - ** - This was a much better effort from Honor Club TV this week. Nothing was must-see, the matches fans cared most about still didn't get enough time due to the ridiculous surplus of Dark-style squash filler...but the quality of the wrestling was significantly up and that can only be a good thing. The three title matches are all worth watching and after the farce of a trios main event last week, it was pleasing to see the top bout feel far more rewarding this time around. This should be the absolute minimum standard expected of ROH's weekly TV though - not the exception and this certainly shouldn't be promoted as a 'special' episode because it certainly isn't that good. Hopefully things continue to improve.