ROH Mass Hysteria Review - July 21, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

ROH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoes def. The Bouncers

The Briscoes are fresh off regaining the ROH World Tag Team Championship at Manhattan Mayhem, meaning The Bouncers had virtually no chance of becoming the champions here. Despite that, they put forth a nice effort and had an enjoyable match with The Briscoes. Here's hoping this isn't the last of them as tag title contenders. Following their victory, The Briscoes were attacked by the former champs Guerrillas of Destiny (so now they bother to show up?), indicating that their feud isn't over yet.

Christian Casanova def. Jimmy Preston

I've been following these guys on the northeast independent scene for over five years now and am a big fan of them both. Thus, it was super cool to see them get an opportunity on a bigger stage. Their match didn't light the world on fire, but it was a fun showcase for both men while it lasted. I'd argue Casanova had the better showing in the ring, but Preston has star potential with his mic skills. Needless to say, I hope Ring of Honor brings them back for more appearances in the future.

Silas Young def. PJ Black

I don't believe there was any storyline reason behind this bout, so it was a bit difficult to care about it as a result, but at least it was well-wrestled. Black can always be counted on for a quality contest while Young is a skilled competitor in his own right. They didn't have a ton of time, which was probably for the best, but the win allows Young to bounce back from the loss he suffered to Jonathan Gresham at Best in the World.

Tasha Steelz def. Karissa Rivera and Angelina Love in a Three-Way Match

Steelz recently became the number one contender to the WOH Women's Championship, and since she isn't established yet in ROH, it's important to give her victories like this. I expected Love to pick up the win here so she could be added to the Kelly Klein vs. Steelz title match at Summer Supercard, but apparently not. Unfortunately, the match was no good and the crowd sat on their hands for it. The only highlight of this was Maria Manic showing up afterward and destroying some security and Sumie Sakai.

Kenny King def. Dragon Lee

Between his series of wins over Jay Lethal and his strong showing in the ROH World Championship three-way at Manhattan Mayhem, King is on quite the roll right now and I'm happy to see it continue in this well-wrestled outing. It was far from an instant classic from an in-ring standpoint (likely because their chemistry wasn't that strong), but it served to further King's momentum and therefore was a success in that respect.

ROH World Television Champion Shane Taylor def. Eli Isom

Taylor has been built up so dominantly during his time in ROH that Isom beating him here was a bit far-fetched, yet they still managed to make a majority of the crowd both believe he was a threat to the title with some of those nearfalls and also make them want to see the championship change hands. Alas, it did not, but the story they told was terrific. Isom looked very credible in defeat and this was easily the best bout I've ever seen him have. Taylor's run as ROH World Television Champion is off to a stellar start.

ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions Villain Enterprises def. Lifeblood

Marty Scurll and PCO represented Villain Enterprises here while Bandido and Mark Haskins represented Lifeblood. The eight-man tag team match these two stables had at Manhattan Mayhem was wonderful, so it shouldn't have come as any surprise that this was equally entertaining. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what they're even feuding over since the six-man tag team titles weren't on the line in either outing, but they work very well together, nonetheless. Villain Enterprises avenged their loss from Manhattan Mayhem with a win here and PCO continues to impress me every time I watch him. I'm curious how long this Villain Enterprises shtick will last if Scurll is indeed on his way out of ROH sooner rather than later.

Rush def. Dalton Castle by Disqualification

Castle has been obsessed with getting his hands on Rush since Castle lost to him in record time at G1 Supercard (it was immediately after that bout that Castle turned heel). I appreciated the intensity from both men in this match, but it was too short to be anything special. Before they could reach that near gear, Castle intentionally got himself disqualified and thus their rivalry will resume. It's obvious Rush will once again go over decisively in the end, so I have no clue what the point is in delaying the inevitable.

Alex Shelley, Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham def. The Kingdom

Although Matt Taven will be defending his ROH World Championship against Shelley at Summer Supercard next week, Taven vs. Lethal felt like the real focus of this match. Other than that, this was a top-notch, all-action main event that received plenty of time and never slowed down. The Kingdom are masters of the six-man tag team match formula and that was evident here. The crowd was hot for this and Shelley picking up the pinfall win for his team ahead of his upcoming title shot was logical.

Overall Show

I found Manhattan Mayhem from Saturday night to be the superior show on the whole, possibly because it had better matches and felt more action-packed at a little over two hours. That said, Mass Hysteria was a solid show as well featuring a handful of good to great matches and the progression of several storylines. All things considered, I'd recommend Manhattan Mayhem over Mass Hysteria, but if you skip it, you aren't missing much.