BRM Reviews the 4/30/2021 ROH (AWESOME!)

[Big Red Machine]

OPENING- After running down the show, Quinn got to cut a little promo for her match against Angelina Love next week. My belief that having Quinn wrestle will take away from her character (see my revie wo the 19th Anniversary Show for my reasoning), but I will admit that she cut this promo in a way that at least made Wrestler Quinn and Hostess/Interviewer Quinn feel like they could be the same person.

QUINN MCKAY INTERVIEWS FLAMITA- good
The promo was good, but my takeaway here was once again how many things Quinn does as an interviewer that should be annoying but don’t come off that way. Her optimistic naivety that Maybe Mexisquad can still get back together was a perfect set-up for Flamita’s cagy dickishness.

QUINN MCKAY INTERVIEWS FLAMITA- Okay, maybe they don’t know their limits with Quinn. These little lines at the end of the interview are really starting to push it.
Bandido is also optimistic that Flamita might still reform Mexisquad if he can just get whatever his issue is out of his system.

BANDIDO vs. FLAMITA- 8/10
Bandido grabbed a broom from under the ring and hit Flamita in the knee with it. How was that not a DQ? And it really doesn’t fit in with his pre-match promo, either. If I want to encourage my friend to work out whatever is making him angry at me, I don’t try to cheat against him in a game… and this isn’t even a game to these two. Winning wrestling matches is how they feed themselves and their families!
That issue aside, this was probably the best match on ROH TV since they returned from the pandemic. I didn’t go back and check all of my reviews, but I don’t remember giving out another match an 8 or higher. I loved the way that they managed to do Lucha Libre and still make it feel like a grudge match, rather than just brawling. My experience with Lucha is admittedly limited, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone pull that off. When I see a luchador having a violent match, it’s usually more of a brawl or a general spotfest with weapons. Maybe I’ve just been watching too much Rush and Lucha Bros or CHIKARA and not enough… I don’t know… Ultimo Guerrero and El Hijo del Santo.
Anyway, in addition to that, I thought the finish was perfect. A ref bump setting up a low blow, followed by the world’s most disrespectful “foot-on-the-face” pin. Yes, Bandido using the broom earlier did take away from the cheating a bit, but this is a grudge match, and Flamita has been the dick in this story at every single turn, so this still worked for me.

ROH now has the Ric Flair Car Shield commercials. I wonder if they’ll stop after the half-way point of the show and Flair will be replaced by someone else as the Car Shield spokesperson.

MATT TAVEN & MIKE BENNETT PROMO- awesome!
Bennett says that they can concentrate on the tag titles, but Taven is totally focused on getting revenge on those who have wronged him. He cut an excellent promo here. There are some insults that most people would sound way too goofy when saying, but Matt Taven managed to say “Beer City Butthole” with enough conviction to make it work.

BEER CITY BRUISER & KEN DIXON vs. OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett)- 6.75/10
Brian Milonas was on commentary for this match and did a great job. He was fully a babyface, but also still insisted that he and BCB were friends and refused to consider their tag team over.
They picked a TERRIBLE time to cut away to show us Milonas on commentary. When one wrestler is running towards another, DON’T CUT AWAY! IT’S NOT THAT F*CKING HARD! IT’S COMMON SENSE!
This was a very good match. Dixon might have had Taven pinned but pulled him up to try to hit something bigger to “impress” BCB, but this allowed Bennett to reach in and tag Taven when Dixon had Taven up on his shoulders. Bennett got the win for his team soon afterwards, pinning Dixon after his and Taven’s tag team finisher.
I was actually expecting Taven’s desire for revenge to cost his team the match, which would lead to some friction between Bennett and Taven and allow thew new team of Beer City Bruiser & Ken Dixon to come away with the win in their first match, but that wouldn’t have worked for where they were trying to go in the…

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- LOVED IT!
BCB was checking on Dixon when Taven got his revenge by hitting BCB in the head with a beer bottle, just like BCB had done to him. As Bennett and Taven went to leave, Milonas confronted them, telling them that was unnecessary, but Taven insisted “you would have done the same thing!”
Milonas then went to check on BCB, then told him “you’ve been right all along. I’m not taking it anymore.” Milonas then joined Bruiser on the heel side of Delirious’ booking sheet, attacking Dixon.

ROH TV TITLE MATCH: Tracy Williams(c) vs. Tony Deppen- 7.5/10
A GREAT match with the story of Deppen surviving everything Tracy did to him and catching him with a roll-up to win the title. The Foundation has now lost another title, and now Violence Unlimited have a title. I can’t help but notice that all of the men’s title in this company are in factions (LFI, Foundation, VU, Shane Taylor Promotions).


An AWESOME episode of ROH. Easily their best since the return.