ROH Wrestling Episode 343: Review, Grades, and Analysis

The Beer City Bruiser and Brian Milonas attacked LSG before the match, eliminating him from the tag team gauntlet main event.

Tag Team Gauntlet – (Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas, Shaheem Ali, The Dawgz (Rhett Titus & Will Ferrara), The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley), The Kingdom (Vinnie Marseglia & TK O’Ryan), and The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) (Bullet Club)

Shaheem Ali comes out to fight, despite his Coast 2 Coast tag partner being taken out by Mr. Beer and Milonas. Mr. Beer and Milonas dominate Ali for a few minutes. It isn’t long before Milonas hit a superplex and Mr. Beer hit a flying splash and Ali was eliminated. The Dawgz then came out and attacked both big men and used their own speed to attack them.

Milonas was dumped to the outside of the ring and the Dawgz focused their offence on Mr. Beer. Fortunately for Mr. Beer, he is twice the size of Will Ferrara and the advantage doesn’t last long. Milonas controlled the action but Ferrara made the hot tag. Titus wasn’t that effective though, and it wasn’t long before Milonas hit a superplex on Ferrara and pinned him.

It looked like The Beer City Bruiser hurt his knee, but the Motor City Machine Guns run in quickly and take it to both of the big men. It wasn’t very long before MCMG hit Made in Detroit for the pinfall. Next in was The Young Bucks.

The Bucks got the biggest pop of the show, so regardless of what you think of them, they’re very over. The action is fast and furious as all four men fly all over the ring. This is some really great stuff here. Matt Jackson continued to sell his back, making it clear that the injuries suffered back in January are still hurting him. Alex Shelley tried to keep Matt from tagging out to Nick by taking Nick off the apron. Nick hit a superkick for Shelley’s efforts. Matt and Nick hit a double superkick on the outside on Shelley.

Both Bucks take it to Sabin with a series of ridiculous double team moves, ending with a near fall. The Bucks went for More Bang for Your Buck, but Sabin hit a German Suplex on Matt, interrupting the move. Before MCMG could capitalize, Matt did a backslide and got the pinfall.

The Kingdom came out next, and the ridiculous tag team action continued. The Kingdom attacked from behind as they ran in from the crowd. However, their advantage didn’t last long, as both teams exchanged a great amount of holds. Nick hit a DDT on the outside of the ring, driving TK O’Ryan into the mat.

Vinnie tried to powerbomb Matt on the outside of the ring, but Nick Jackson frantically superkicked TK O’Ryan and flew over the top rope attacking Vinnie with another kick. Ryan was soon picked up by Matt Jackson, and Nick sprung off the ropes hitting The Meltzer Driver for the pinfall victory. Great match.

Result: The Young Bucks

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

The Young Bucks have earned a future tag team title shot, meaning The Briscoes and The Bucks are about to meet again soon. The war between both those teams continues, and it’s always a match that delivers. I believe the last time we saw those two face off for the tag titles was Final Battle 2016.

Final Thoughts

Show Rating: 3/5

Next: NJPW Sakura Genesis: Review, Grades, & Analysis

A very solid episode of ROH TV here, with some good wrestling. Some will question going back to The Bucks vs. The Briscoes again, but this gauntlet showed that they do have other options to go with should they decide to. The Beer City Bruiser and Brian Milonas might win the ROH Tag Team Titles before long based on how strongly they were booked in this match. Maybe if the Bucks defeat the Briscoes, that will be the way to go.

Regardless, a very fun show. ROH Wrestling is a show you can usually count on for solid matches, and this one was no exception.