Ring of Honor
Date: July 6, 2016|
Host: Kevin Kelly

We’re at a special show this week with the 250^th episode, which is going to showcase the best of 2016 so far. This could mean several things, though I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot of the New Japan wrestlers who have basically dominated the year so far. Unfortunately that means even more time away from the new stuff ROH is doing but that’s a common problem for the promotion. Let’s get to it.

TV Title: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Bobby Fish

From Global Wars with Ishii defending after taking the title from Roderick Strong, the champion that Fish had been chasing. Fish actually runs the much bigger Ishii over to start but Ishii does the same to send Fish outside for a bit of his time. Back in and Fish fires off some kicks to put Ishii in trouble, which isn’t something you see happen to him that often. Ishii wins another slugout though and a headbutt puts Fish down with ease.

Fish makes the mistake of headbutting Ishii and the referee has to check on him as a result. The champ gets knocked off the top but Fish misses a flying headbutt, only to start back in with kicks to the knee. We take a break and come back with Fish hitting an exploder suplex for two but getting headbutted for his efforts. Ishii gets his own near fall with a delayed vertical superplex, followed by a Saito Suplex.

Fish looks mostly dead so Ishii powerbombs him for two more but Bobby grabs a sleeper. I could go for a small vs. big match without the smaller guy jumping on his back with a sleeper. It’s just so overdone. Ishii, seemingly annoyed with how lame Fish’s strategy was, German suplexes him down.

They head to the apron with Fish back on his feet and slugging it out. As expected, Ishii easily knocks him down but Fish kicks the leg out to put both guys down on the floor. Back in and a hard lariat gets two for the champ but Fish goes back to the sleeper. He fires off some elbows to the head and survives a flip attempt to actually knock Ishii out at 15:30 (original time).

Rating: B. The match was a good, hard hitting brawl but Ishii is the definition of a guy that had no business winning the title or being involved in this story whatsoever. Strong vs. Fish had been a well built up story but instead of getting the payoff we had been set up for, Ishii got the belt despite having no connection to either of them. That’s becoming too common of a tradition and it’s getting old in a hurry. This match was good but Fish vs. Strong would have been as well and had a strong story to go with it. Which sounds better?

Briscoe Brothers vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi/Michael Elgin

From the 14^th Anniversary Show and no real story here other than ROH vs. New Japan in a “dream” match. Jay and Michael get things going with Jay kicking him in the face but getting gorilla pressed to put him right back down. We get the very cool delayed vertical suplex with Mark’s interference not doing a thing to stop Elgin. That’s such insane power.

It’s off to Mark vs. Tanahashi for the air guitar vs. Redneck Kung Fu battle which results in Tanahashi grabbing an armbar. Naturally that means it’s time to talk about Hiroshi’s hair but Jay is tagged in, only to stay on the floor while Mark hits a Blockbuster off the apron to take Elgin out. We get the big showdown (which isn’t treated as big or a showdown) with Jay getting two off an elbow to Tanahashi’s jaw. Mr. Wrestling 3 finally realizes what we saw there but it’s already off to Mark for a Russian legsweep.

The fans chant for Elgin but get a commercial instead. Back with the tag bringing in Elgin for some running strikes to Mark’s chest. Jay has to save his brother from Rolling Germans as everything breaks down. A back elbow/German suplex combo sends Mark flying but Jay breaks up the High Fly Flow.

Mark shouts a lot and flips Mike off the top for two. With Tanahashi down on the floor, the brothers take turns with headbutts until Mark is backdropped over the top. Elgin no sells a boot to the face (he’s from New Japan remember) and clotheslines Jay down for a breather. The hot tag brings in Tanahashi for some dragon screw leg whips but he walks into a neckbreaker.

Froggy Bow gets two before Elgin breaks up the Doomsday Device. In a cool move, Elgin gives Tanahashi a reverse Alabama Slam onto Mark for two more with Jay making the save. Jay is dispatched so it’s a powerbomb into the High Fly Flow for the pin on Mark at 14:50 (original match time).

Rating: C+. The match was fine though I’m rarely a fan of these matches where the only story is one great team against two guys who might team together for a few months. Oh and of course the New Japan team goes over clean. Heaven forbid Tanahashi isn’t treated as the biggest star in the history of ever over here.

Clips from the Fight Without Honor to blow off Silas Young vs. Dalton Castle. We see less than a minute of the match which ran over sixteen minutes. To recap: we can see a full TV Title match where a New Japan guy took a spot from an ROH guy for no reason other than “we need ROH vs. New Japan” and then we can see a full meaningless “dream” match where the freshly created New Japan team defeated the undisputed best team in ROH history. The blowoff match to a year long ROH only feud can’t even get a minute of TV time though. I’ve said it many times now but this isn’t an ROH show. This is New Japan TV: America.

ReDRagon vs. The Kingdom vs. Young Bucks

From ROH TV on January 20. It’s Cole/Bennett for the Kingdom here and this is a street fight. The Bucks jump O’Reilly and Fish during the entrances and we’re starting fast. The injured Taven gets a double superkick, as does ring announcers Bobby Cruz. ReDRagon gets back in to work on the Bucks, only to have the Kingdom come in again to turn this into a wild brawl that is going to be almost impossible to keep track of.

Bennett punches Fish down and it’s Cole setting Matt in a chair in the middle of the ring. A running charge sets up a chinlock and even Kelly has to acknowledge that it’s a spot they’ve seen before. Kyle backdrops Nick on the floor for a thud before diving into a superkick. We take a break and come back with Cole in a shopping cart and being wheeled into a superkick.

The Bucks set up a table at ringside but it’s ReDRagon double teaming Matt inside. The Kingdom brings in a ladder (Mr. Wrestling III: “It’s amazing what you can find in south Philadelphia”) to take out ReDRagon and it’s Cole putting the ladder around his neck. That only allows ReDRagon to blast the ladder with chairs before setting the ladder on top of those chairs.

Bennett comes back in to spinebuster Kyle onto the steel but the Bucks powerbomb him (Bennett) through the ladder. A Swanton onto the ladder sets up More Bang For Your Buck but Cole pulls the referee out at two. Kevin Kelly accidentally eats a superkick and Mr. Wrestling III freaks out while still shouting SUPERKICK in a funny moment.

We take another break and come back with Cole hitting the Canadian Destroyer on Matt but walking into a superkick from Nick. Bennett takes Chasing the Dragon on the floor, leaving O’Reilly and Cole to fight in the aisle. That leaves Fish alone against the Bucks but he stops to spear Bennett through a table on the floor. A double superkick off the apron gives Fish the weakest table bump in history with Nick having to splash him the rest of the way through.

Back in and the Bucks put a party hat on Bennett for a superkick party, only to have Maria hit them both low for a save. This brings out AJ Styles to hit Bennett in the ribs with a chair before laying him out with Bloody Sunday. Maria gets a Meltzer Driver and the Indytaker into the Styles Clash puts Bennett away at 16:45.

Rating: B. Totally wild brawl here and a lot of fun at the same time. This wasn’t about anything more than carnage and that’s all they delivered the entire time. The piledriver to Maria was a good way to write her off TV and the Kingdom goes out in a great performance, especially considering it wasn’t their usual combination.

Overall Rating: F. The wrestling wasn’t the problem here (obviously). The problem is the same thing I covered earlier: this isn’t about Ring of Honor anymore. I know the next set of TV tapings doesn’t feature the New Japan wrestlers but look at what they consider the best of the first half of 2016: New Japan wrestler, New Japan wrestlers, one minute of ROH only and the New Japan stable.

Also this was somehow their usage of the 250^th episode. No mention of the history of the show, no classic matches (or even match), nothing but “Hey here’s a bunch of New Japan stuff in case you haven’t seen enough of it yet.” ROH should be better than this by now and it’s not like they can’t stand on their own feet without New Japan.

I really can’t imagine their ratings go up that high when they’re there, especially when they’re around that often. It’s not even a novelty anymore as they’re around so much that we just had a highlight show featuring them in every match. Having them around every once in awhile for a set of tapings here and there is fine as they’re certainly an attraction but this is WAY too far and has been for a long time.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on NXT: The Full Sail Years Volume II at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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Ring of Honor
Date: June 29, 2016
Location: Nashville Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Andrew Gervani, Nigel McGuinness

This is another of those odd weeks where we should be past a pay per view but instead it’s a stand alone show which might feature a midcard feud not big enough to get on the actual pay per view. Or it might be an hour long look at the Bullet Club, which could be almost any given episode of the show. Let’s get to it.

Thankfully the opening narration tells us that we’ll be back in two weeks with the Best in the World fallout. Therefore tonight is all about the Women of Honor division, which is almost never mentioned on the regular TV show.

Opening sequence.

Veda Scott/Amber Gallows/Allysin Kay vs. Sumie Sakai/Thunderkitty/Crazy Mary Dobson

Kay is better known as Sienna in TNA. Gallows (the Bullet Babe, as in Bullet Club BECAUSE OF COURSE IT IS) starts with Kitty, who claims to be 95 years old. Amber beats her down to start and shrugs off a faceplant before it’s off to Dobson vs. Kay with Allysin catching a cross body in a fisherman’s buster. Scott comes in and misses some kicks, allowing Dobson to dropkick her in the chest.

Sumie comes in for two off a nice northern lights suplex, followed by a double dropkick with Kay helping things out a bit. Everything breaks down and Gallows offers a distraction so Kay can kick Sumie in the face. Scott grabs something like Stratusfaction and we take a break. Back with Gallows grabbing an X Factor before stopping to say Too Sweet. Sakai gets in a fisherman’s buster and the hot tag brings in Mary as house is cleaned.

Everything breaks down again and we get a Tower of Doom, followed by the parade of finishers. Dobson stomps on Allysin’s foot and kicks her in the head, setting up the Kaiju Killer (split legged moonsault) but Gallows makes a save. Kay gets in a discus lariat for the pin on Dobson at 9:45.

Rating: C-. This is going to be a long night. These matches fall under the category of “wrestling is cool because it’s wrestling” and that’s not a theory I really subscribe to. I need a story and some personalities and just calling someone CRAZY isn’t going to be enough. The match was fine enough but it was really just six women doing moves to each other for about ten minutes.

The other weird part is Scott is an evil attorney on the regular ROH shows and here she’s just a wrestler with no real character. There’s a disconnect there and ROH doesn’t do anything to explain it, other than saying we don’t usually like her. I need more than that and I don’t think we’re getting it here.

Faye Jackson vs. ODB

This is Faye’s debut and I’ve never liked ODB. Jackson isn’t sure what to do to start so ODB slaps her (own) chest and no sells a bad clothesline. A running splash in the corner crushes Jackson again and a better clothesline puts ODB down for two. We’re two minutes in and the announcers already declare it gutcheck time. Jackson hits three straight running Umaga Attacks in the corner (the Triple Spun Milkshake) for two but she can’t get ODB in a fireman’s carry. Instead ODB hits the middle rope Thesz press for the pin at 4:14.

Rating: D-. The match sucked and ODB continued to do everything that gets on my nerves about her. Jackson looked like a rookie out there and a lot of that probably has to do with how little ring time these women get. This show is rapidly falling downhill and a lot of that is due to having no reason to care about these women. Jackson is a rookie and that’s about all I know about her. Again, I need more than that.

Inside ROH is a pair of dueling promos from Hania and Mandy Leon before their match tonight.

Hania vs. Mandy Leon

Hania is billed as a huntress which feels like something out of GLOW though she looks like she’s carved out of stone. Leon on the other hand….how do I put this…..well simply put she looks great. Feeling out process to start until a test of strength doesn’t go anywhere. We get the eternally stupid suplex to break it up with both women laying on the mat and popping their shoulders up at two.

Hania flips her away and the overly choreographed stuff continues because that’s how a lot of people think wrestling works. They trade rollups for two each until Leon headscissors her out to the floor, only to have Hania trip her up and send Leon into the barricade. Back from a break with Hania getting two off a springboard missile dropkick. A victory roll gives Mandy the same but Hania gets two more off a spinwheel kick.

Mandy grabs a neckbreaker and hangs onto it for a fairly unique (and not that painful) submission, followed by a Stratusphere but she misses a moonsault. A double clothesline puts both of them down until Hania tries some YES Kicks. Mandy shrugs them off and grabs a bulldog, only to eat more kicks to the face. They trade reverse DDT attempts, only to have Mandy counter into a Koji Clutch. It’s right next to the ropes though so Hania gets in a Codebreaker for the pin at 13:46.

Rating: B. I was blown away by this as it really looked like two good looking women in their very revealing outfits (an aspect that worked very well here and there isn’t much other way to put it) but they were actually working hard. There’s A LOT of work to do for both of them but I got into the match and had fun watching it, even though I still don’t know much about either woman. Good stuff here and very interesting that Leon is better than just a talker.

BJ Whitmer talks about how awesome Kelly Klein is and says her name over and over again in an old school manager trick. The promo is about how strong of an athletic background she has and how serious she is about her training. That tells me more than I know about most of the women on this show in about thirty seconds.

Taeler Hendrix is tired of hearing about Klein because this is her company and we get in the ring with her.

Kelly Klein vs. Taeler Hendrix

BJ Whitmer and Truth Martini are in the respective corners. Klein grabs a quick abdominal stretch but Taeler reverses into one of her own. Hendrix grabs a rear naked choke but gets broken up as we take a break. Back with Klein sitting on the top rope with a chinlock before Hendrix cartwheels into a superkick. Kelly charges into a kick as well and a palm strike staggers her again. A spinning kick to the face gets two for Hendrix before she kisses Klein to set up a Tombstone for two. Klein doesn’t seem to care for the sexual assault and grabs a guillotine choke for the tap out at 6:32.

Rating: C. Not bad here and they have a character in Klein. Unfortunately there’s nowhere for them to go because the women are never featured on the TV show. The wrestling wasn’t bad and Hendrix comes off more like a character than a wrestler, which is exactly what this division really needs. You need someone to care about and someone reminiscent of a redheaded Paige is a good idea.

Overall Rating: C. Well it was different, though it seems to be a one week concept, which makes this a bit more difficult to care about. There was one strong match in here but I really don’t know enough about most of the women to get into the shows. For a one week concept I liked it though there isn’t enough to make this work every single time. A match here or there would be fine though and a nice change of pace over all the normal stuff they do on this show.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on NXT: The Full Sail Years Volume II at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FWZZ2UA

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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Ring of Honor
Date: June 22, 2016
Location: Ted Reeve Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

It’s the go home show for Best in the World and my guess is that means it’s time to talk about the Bullet Club instead of anything related to the upcoming pay per view. I mean, I really don’t think that the last several months focusing on New Japan has been fair to them so we better dedicate another hour to them. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Dalton Castle vs. Gedo

The announcers use the entrances to run down Friday’s pay per view card. Feeling out process to start with Silas spinning out of an Irish whip, meaning it’s time for Young to bend back in a manner that freaks Gedo out in a funny bit. Gedo is sent outside where the Boys fan him down, earning themselves a poke to the eyes. We take a break and come back with Gedo hammering away but running into a forearm to the face. A facebuster has Castle in trouble but the Boys offer a distraction, allowing Castle to hit the Bang A Rang for the pin at 10:55.

Rating: C-. Believe it or not this actually has some meaning as Castle is challenging for the TV Title at the pay per view. I mean it’s not like they actually build the thing up or anything like that, but why build it up when you can remind us that Gedo is part of the Chaos stable, which means a grand total of nothing over here?

We recap BJ Whitmer vs. Steve Corino, or at least the most recent aspects of it. They bring up the idea of Corino being run out of the promotion but Mr. Wrestling III appearing in his place. Whitmer then drew Corino back by stalking Corino’s family (shown here for the first time) to finally set up the Fight Without Honor on Friday.

Adam Cole doesn’t care who wins on Friday because he’s going to be the next champ.

We look at Jay Lethal becoming undisputed champion at last year’s Best in the World, followed by Jay Briscoe having Jay Lethal pinned at a show back in April.

Will Ferrara vs. Tomohiro Ishii

They slug it out to start with Ferrara not getting very far on the bigger Ishii. A shoulder actually staggers Ishii and a dropkick puts him down. A neckbreaker gets two for Ferrara but Ishii slams him down for some two counts of his own. Ferrara comes right back with a running elbow in the corner and a Samoan drop for two. Will goes one step too far though as he tries a suplex, earning himself a beating in the corner. A running clothesline gets two for Ishii so Ferrara slaps him in the face. That means the brainbuster puts Will away at 4:06.

Rating: C. Not a bad power match here, especially when you keep in mind how small Ferrara is. Unfortunately it doesn’t mean anything other than a way to make Ishii look good, because that’s what the world was waiting for. I know I keep harping on this but there’s a pay per view in two days and we’re spending TV time on a nothing match that advances no story. That’s just bad planning and focusing on the wrong issues.

The Briscoes are ready for the main event.

Here’s Steve Corino for some thoughts on his Fight Without Honor against BJ Whitmer. Corino is an evil man and it sounds as sweet as a slogan on a t-shirt. Years ago he took barbed wire to Terry Funk’s flesh and convinced people to turn on their best friends but it was always about him. A few years ago he fell in love with a woman and tried to change himself but it’s just his nature to be evil.

Whitmer has accused him of of wearing a mask and BJ was right. However, the mask was this suit, these glasses and under this dyed hair because it made people believe he was who people wanted him to be. At the end of the day, he’s an evil man and BJ Whitmer will be out of Ring of Honor after Best in the World because Corino is taking the trash out.

Jay Lethal likes the idea of facing the Bullet Club on equal footing because something they never try.

Roderick Strong is ready to stand up for Ring of Honor against the Bullet Club.

Bullet Club vs. Briscoe Brothers/Roderick Strong/Jay Lethal

It’s Kenny Omega/Guerillas of Destiny/Matt Jackson for the Club in a somewhat weird combination. Matt and Mark start things off with Matt sliding under the crazy man but getting stopped by the threat of redneck kung fu, which earns him a jumping kick to the face. Strong comes in and knocks Matt down with an elbow to the face, meaning it’s off to Lethal vs. Omega for a BIG reaction from the crowd.

That goes nowhere though as Omega tags in Tonga Loa, who gets in a shot from behind to take over on Lethal. Now of course Omega is willing to come in and stomp away in the corner, only to have Mark take him into the ROH corner for a beatdown. Everything breaks down for a bit (of course) and it’s time for the multiple dives but Omega pulls Lethal to the floor and sends him into the barricade. Strong kicks Omega in the face though and we take a break.

Back with Omega trying to fight out of the corner but getting planted ribs first onto the mat. The tag brings Matt in anyway and it’s time for the superkicks because those are so hard to predict. The fifth superkick puts Roderick down for two and it’s off to Tama Tonga vs. Mark. Tonga’s suplex doesn’t work and it’s time for more kung fu. A Roll of the Dice drops Mark and it’s another double tag to bring in Lethal and Omega for a slugout.

The Lethal Injection is countered but Matt starts superkicking his partners by mistake. The One Winged Angel and Lethal Combination are both countered so it’s Jay Briscoe vs. whoever he can punch at the moment. Everything breaks down and the double superkick hits Lethal but the second attempt is broken up. The Jay Driller plants Loa for the pin at 15:12.

Rating: C+. It was nice to have them get together before their matches on Friday but as usual the Bullet Club had to be involved as well. Unfortunately that dominated the match and the pay per view matches weren’t exactly touched on because there was no time for something silly like that.

Dalton Castle and Bobby Fish trade promos about Castle earning his title shot but that not being enough to make him the champion.

Roderick Strong says Mark Briscoe may have been around here longer but he’s still going to be second best.

The Addiction is ready to prove that they’re the best in the world and not just the best in the busi-a-ness.

Both Jay’s are ready to go and prove that they’re the best in the world. Briscoe hopes Lethal has enjoyed all the good food he’s eaten in the last year because after Best in the World it’s back to Ramen noodles. This was really good, especially with the editing going back and forth like it did.

Overall Rating: C-. This was a watchable show on its own but a pretty lame go home show for a pay per view. That last little bit helped but a lot of it felt like they had forgotten they needed to plug this show. Hopefully the New Japan people are gone for a long while after this because they’re really dragging things down. It’s one thing to have the Bullet Club around but the people like Ishii, Gedo and Kushida are just taking up TV time from the ROH regulars and that’s not a good thing.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on NXT: The Full Sail Years Volume II at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FWZZ2UA

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Ring of Honor
Date: June 15, 2016
Location: Ted Reeve Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly, Mark Briscoe

We’re less than two weeks away from Best in the World and we’re getting ready for the showdown between Jay Lethal and Jay Briscoe for the ROH World Title. However there’s also the issue of the Bullet Club’s Adam Cole circling around the title as well, which almost has to be the next hurdle for whichever Jay comes out with the belt. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Moose vs. Tetsuya Naito

Naito’s IWGP Heavyweight Title isn’t on the line and he has a taped up knee coming in. Moose powers him into the corner to start and teases a right hand before just slapping Naito on the chest. Naito’s right hands have no effect so Moose dropkicks him down with ease. Another dropkick puts Naito on the floor and it’s easy to see why Moose is rumored to possibly go to NXT.

Naito slides back in and teases a dive but stops to pose instead. I can go for a cocky heel who knows how to deal with a monster like this. The second dive actually works as Mark talks about wanting to fight Roderick Strong at Best in the World. Moose misses the spear as we take a break.

Back with Moose doing his jab sequence but getting taken to the top for a hurricanrana. Since it’s just a hurricanrana though, Moose pops up and BLASTS him with a discus lariat for two. Moose keeps up the power with a suplex into the corner. A quick Koji Clutch slows Moose down and his delayed vertical suplex is countered into a snap DDT. Naito steps away from a dive ala Samoa Joe (love that spot) and a backflip into a reverse DDT gives Naito the pin at 10:16.

Rating: C+. It’s kind of weird to see the smaller guy as the heel and still have him be so dominant like this. Moose is someone who has kind of hit a wall as he has all the potential in the world but he needs to get a big win or have a story other than “he’s fighting people way better than him” because losing over and over doesn’t really do him much good, no matter how competitive he is.

The All Night Express want to make wrestling great again and get rid of all the superkicks. Now this I can get behind.

Jushin Thunder Liger/Cheeseburger vs. All Night Express

The Express attack at the handshake as the announcers try to figure out what makes Liger and Cheeseburger’s palm strikes so awesome. Speaking of the palm strike, Liger uses it to clean house before Cheeseburger’s dive is pulled out of the air. Instead Liger baseball slides into Cheeseburger’s back to put the Express down again. King drapes Cheeseburger over the ropes to take over as we take a break.

Back with Titus driving a knee into Cheeseburger’s face before King plants him with a spinebuster for two. We hit the chinlockery for a bit before Cheeseburger kicks King away and makes the hot tag off to Liger. Titus takes too long going up and gets superplexed down for two with King making the save. Liger saves King from a powerbomb/springboard clothesline combo but gets sent to the floor, leaving King to hit the Royal Flush (F5 with King landing on his face instead of his back) for the pin at 8:45.

Rating: C. It was nice of them to let one of the Ring of Honor teams to actually get a win instead of having to be beholden to the New Japan guys. Liger and Cheeseburger aren’t exactly interesting but I’m sure it gives the fans a thrill to see Liger in there after being in the ring for over thirty years. It’s not a bad match here but the New Japan vs. ROH idea has really gotten old.

Next week: ROH vs. Bullet Club.

Roderick Strong comes out to yell at Nigel about having to team with Mark in next week’s match against the Bullet Club. Mark doesn’t take kindly to this but no violence ensues.

The Bullet Club thinks Adam Cole should be in the main event at Best in the World and takes over the production stuff to let Cole talk about how awesome he is.

The announcers try to talk about the Best in the World card until Silas Young comes out to interrupt. Silas doesn’t like the idea of ACH playing video games in his locker room. ACH believes he’s a superhero from some Japanese cartoon but Young is ready to give him a hard fall back to reality at Best in the World. Young goes after a plant but security drags him away so ACH can run out and dive on him.

Kyle O’Reilly wants a rematch against Kushida after losing to him last year in the finals of the Beast of the Super Juniors. It’s been 367 days in the making and the match starts now.

Kyle O’Reilly vs. Kushida

So yeah, the ROH main event is a rematch from the finals of a New Japan tournament from last year. Kushida’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title isn’t on the line. Feeling out process to start until Kyle takes it to the mat. That’s fine with Kushida who can’t get a Hoverboard Lock but Kyle can’t get a cross armbreaker either. Back up and Kushida kicks him in the leg and then gets in one on the arm before stomping on the triceps. Kyle comes back with strikes of his own before going after Kushida’s leg. A knee bar has Kushida bailing to the ropes so Kyle knees him in the head as we take a break.

Back with Kyle getting in an ankle lock but Kushida flips away for the escape. Kyle takes him to the floor to work on the knee out there but dives into a cross armbreaker almost underneath the ring. Back in and they slug it out with Kushida knocking Kyle’s mouthpiece out. Kushida sends him into the ropes but gets caught in a guillotine, only to have Kushida reverse into the Hoverboard Lock. That’s reversed into a rollup for the pin at 11:50.

Rating: C+. So Kyle just pinned Kushida clean in the middle of the ring. Is this going to lead to a title shot? Say in Ring of Honor? I haven’t heard about anything yet, but I have a feeling that if it happens, we’ll see it in New Japan. That’s where they lose me on this promotion vs. promotion stuff: I shouldn’t have to go buy some other promotion’s shows or follow their stories to see where this stuff is going.

If you want them to feud in ROH then have them feud in ROH. If you want them to feud in New Japan then have them feud in New Japan. Either of those are fine, as are the occasional crossovers. The problem is these companies are basically running a full time crossover with a shared roster. If I want to know what half of this stuff is about, I have to watch New Japan as well. The problem is I’m not watching this show to see New Japan because the show is called Ring of Honor. I get that this is a special, but this same idea has been going for four months now. At what point does it stop being a special and become the norm?

Overall Rating: C. It’s another Ring of Honor vs. New Japan show and it seems that it’s what we’re going to get next week as well. “But KB! It’s War of the Worlds!” Yeah and it’s coming after Global Wars which came after Honor Rising which came after a bunch of regular shows with the New Japan guys around. Like I said earlier: this is now the norm instead of something special. Other than Young vs. ACH and a few mentions of Lethal vs. Briscoe, this was a stand alone show despite the pay per view airing in nine days. This keeps happening and it’s really getting old.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on NXT: The Full Sail Years Volume II at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FWZZ2UA

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Ring of Honor
Date: June 8, 2016
Location: Ted Reeve Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

It’s another week as we get closer to Best in the World and the big showdown between Jay Lethal and Jay Briscoe for the ROH World Title. On top of that though we have the Bullet Club running roughshod over the company and pretty clearly being in line for some title shots in the future. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

We open with dueling promos from Jay Lethal and Donovan Dijak about their match tonight. Dijak was tired of having to help fight all of Lethal’s battles when he was part of the House of Truth and fought back, only to injure manager Truth Martini in the process. That made it personal for Lethal and it’s time to fight.

Matt Sydal vs. Kazuchika Okada

Okada has Gedo in his corner. There’s actually a bit of a backstory here as Sydal wanted to be part of the Chaos stable in New Japan but Okada and Gedo gave the spot to Will Ospreay instead. Sydal has to escape an early Rainmaker attempt with a hurricanrana and the threat of a dropkick has Matt holding the ropes to get us to a standoff. Now it’s Sydal heading up top but getting caught by a great looking dropkick to send him to the floor and us to a break.

Back with Okada pounding on Sydal’s back, much to Gedo’s approval. Sydal gets in a few kicks and scores with a standing moonsault for two. Okada throws him right back down though and drops a top rope elbow, only to have Sydal duck the Rainmaker. The shooting star hits knees but Sydal slips out of the tombstone. Sydal misses his jumping knee though and the Rainmaker (still just a freaking clothesline) gives Okada the pin at 10:03.

Rating: C-. This was fine is a little obvious. I don’t think Okada has ever lost a singles match in Ring of Honor and it gets a bit tiresome to watch him come in and dominate people with no particular reason or any storyline advancement. Well at least not in this country but that doesn’t matter much around here.

The Bullet Club is ready for the winner of the Best in the World main event because Adam Cole wants his World Title back.

Silas Young didn’t like the fact that his son was coloring a picture of ACH because that’s not how a real man acts. It’s nothing personal but Silas just doesn’t like him.

Adam Page vs. Colt Cabana

This is over Page and the rest of the Bullet Club attacking Cabana a few weeks back. Feeling out process to start with Cabana throwing him into the corner and grabbing the arm before snapmaring Page for two. Cabana gets countered into a wristlock though and is sent outside for a big springboard shooting star as we take a break.

Back with Cabana making his comeback and hitting a Dusty Rhodes Bionic Elbow, followed by a forearm to the head. Page flips over the top into a clothesline for two but Cabana hits a standing Lionsault for the same. Back up and Page charges into an elbow in the corner, allowing Colt to grab a rollup for the pin at 10:09.

Rating: D+. Page is somewhere along the level of Buff Bagwell in the NWO, making him one of the least important members of the roster who is being in a featured angle because the Bullet Club needs more warm bodies. This story isn’t doing anything for me but it’s nice to see the Club lose for a change.

Post match the Guerillas of Destiny come out to beat Cabana down.

The All Night Express wants to make wrestling great again. Good grief yes we know Donald Trump is running for President. Find something new already.

Here’s BJ Whitmer to call out Steve Corino despite the fans calling him boring. Whitmer tells Corino to kiss his family goodbye before he goes off to Best in the World because he’ll never see them again. Cue Corino but security stops him from getting in the ring.

ACH thinks Silas Young is jealous because ACH can be himself while Young has to tell others how to be. Or maybe he’s just losing control of his household.

Donovan Dijak vs. Jay Lethal

Non-title with Prince Nana and Taeler Hendrix as the respective managers. Dijak wins a quick brawl and sends Jay to the floor to keep up the fighting. A whip sends Lethal into the barricade but he comes back by posting Dijak and heading inside. Dijak needs a breather so Nana gets in the ring, allowing Donovan to get on the apron. Jay knocks him outside again and hits two suicide dives, only to have the third countered with a throw into the barricade. Dijak bumps things up with a moonsault over the top for a huge pop as we take a break.

Back with Lethal scoring with a dropkick but banging up his own knee. Dijak throws him down with a suplex and nips up to his feet before covering. The Lethal Combination is broken up but Lethal snaps off a German suplex. Dijak uses FIGHTING SPIRIT (sounds like a video game weapon) to pop back up and turn Lethal inside out with a discus lariat.

Jay has to fight out of a chokeslam and counters into a rollup, only to have Dijak lift him up into Feast Your Eyes. The knee misses though, allowing Jay to superkick him back. The Lethal Injection is countered into a sitout powerbomb for two more, only to have Nana and Hendrix get into it. Dijak loads up another Feast Your Eyes but here are the Bullet Club to accidentally superkick Donovan, setting up the Lethal Injection for the pin at 12:26.

Rating: C+. Dijak actually isn’t bad but he needs A LOT of ring time and polishing to be able to really hang with most of the top names. I’m really not sure why we’re seeing the Bullet Club waiting on the sidelines while we sit through Briscoe vs. Lethal until we just have Cole win the title like he probably should have months ago. At least this was entertaining though and I’m glad they didn’t throw Donovan a title match as you have to earn them around here.

Post match the Club beats on Lethal until the Briscoes come in for the save. Jay Briscoe holds up the World Title and stares at Lethal to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. It’s nice to have things back to the closest thing to normal that you’re going to get around here, including the dominance of the Bullet Club. Yeah they’re definitely the new NWO and the fact that they’re basically the same thing really doesn’t make things better. Get the title on Cole already and hopefully have a way to wrap this up sooner rather than later so we can drop the New Japan obsession and I can find something new to complain about.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on NXT: The Full Sail Years Volume II at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FWZZ2UA

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Ring of Honor
Date: June 1, 2016
Location: Ted Reeve Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness

Could this finally be the week? Could this finally be the week that we do something other than just recap stuff or show matches from Japan? It would be nice to finally get somewhere with this stuff as it’s been going on four months since we saw a Ring of Honor show without the Japanese contingent. Let’s get to it.

We open with a clip from the end of Global Wars with Adam Cole joining the Bullet Club and laying waste to various people.

The main event tonight: three New Japan guys vs. the Bullet Club. Of course it is. Well to be fair one of those New Japan guys is Michael Elgin but still, close enough.

Lio Rush vs. ACH

In case one of them isn’t enough. ACH and partner Matt Sydal amicably split up at a recent house show. Silas Young sits in on commentary because he’s sick of people like ACH playing video games in the back before the show. A dropkick puts Lio down to start as Silas rips on the two of them for trying to be fake wrestlers. Rush sends him to the floor for a flip dive but gets kicked in the head back inside. A snap German suplex gets two on Rush and he runs into a superkick. ACH gets a brainbuster and the Midnight Star pins Rush at 4:10.

Rating: C. Yeah I know it was high flying and exciting but I’m really not a fan of this style. If nothing else you have two guys who wrestle a very similar style, which still makes me wonder why they even hired Rush in the first place. This was better than most ACH matches though so maybe it was Sydal holding them back.

Young comes in and lays both guys out post match.

Clip of the Addiction cheating to beat War Machine for the Tag Team Titles at a recent show.

Here’s the Addiction for a chat. Daniels talks about how much better the world feels right now because everything is just a little bit better now that they’ve got the Tag Team Titles back. He says no one else is worthy of them and since they’ve never been beaten in a Ring of Honor ring (Kelly: “SAY WHAT?”)……and here are the Motor City Machine Guns to interrupt.

Sabin thinks that since they’re already losing their battle with male pattern baldness, how about they lose those titles to the Guns tonight too? Roppangi Vice comes out as well with Trent saying they’re the young and cool tag team while the Addiction is getting old. That’s too much for Daniels so he says let’s do a triple threat right now and if either team can beat them, they get a title shot at Best in the World.

Roppangi Vice vs. Motor City Machine Guns vs. Addiction

Non-title. Sabin and Romero start things off while the Addiction chills on the floor, only to have the champs come in for some cheap shots. Romero clotheslines Kazarian and Daniels down before it’s off to Trent for some dancing on the apron before coming in to rake his boot over Kazarian’s eyes. The Guns come in and beat on Daniels for a bit with their fast paced (well high speed paced at least) but Kazarian takes Shelley down and we go to a break.

Back with the Addiction still in control on Shelley with a stomping in the corner. Not that it matters as Shelley gets over for the tag to Sabin a few seconds later as things speed up again. Everything breaks down with Trent suplexing Kazarian and kneeing Daniels in the face for two. Strong Zero is broken up and Daniels plants Trent with a Rock Bottom and the BME. That cover is broken up as well as the Guns get in one of their quick sequences capped off by a basement dropkick to Daniels, followed by Skull and Bones for the pin on Daniels at 9:28.

Rating: C+. The right team won here and I like it a lot better than having the champs lose a clean tag match to any team to set up the title match. Vice didn’t serve much of a purpose but it was nice to see them there to make this match different from the eventual title match.

Roderick Strong is going to prove how good he is to Jay Briscoe this Sunday in Columbus, Ohio. Strong is still not great on promos but he’s WAY better than he was just a few months ago.

The Bullet Club brags about throwing 51 superkicks at the end of Global Wars and says we’re just living in their world.

Nigel announces BJ Whitmer vs. Steve Corino in a Fight Without Honor for Best in the World after Whitmer has stalked Corino’s family.

We see Adam Page joining the Bullet Club and helping beat down a bunch of wrestlers at a recent show with the highlight being a Rite of Passage (over the back piledriver) onto a table (as in the table didn’t break) to Jay Briscoe. I get the NWO vibe but the group is getting WAY too big, just like the NWO back in the day.

Elite vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi/Michael Elgin/Yoshi Tatsu

Kelly almost laughs off the idea of there being groups within the Bullet Club. Matt Taven is on commentary for no apparent reason. The match begins after a break (thankfully without the bell ringing before the break) with the non-Bullet Club guys (I have no idea who the faces are in this as the Club gets ridiculous pops every time) telling them to suck it. The Club is sent to the floor and it’s Elgin flipping over the top to take them down.

The Bucks get double suplexed and Omega gets caught in the air, only to slip into a dragon suplex on Elgin. Tanahashi comes in to clean house but a double superkick breaks up the Cloverleaf. A triple dive takes the New Japan crew down and Tanahashi takes a triple kick to the head. Nick comes in for a bunch of cartwheels as Taven rips on how stupid this concept is, along with how easy it is to make fans cheer them.

Back with Tanahashi ducking a superkick and sending the Bucks into each other for the hot tag off to Elgin. Both Bucks get German suplexed at the same time but Taven accurately points out that they combine to weigh as much as one average wrestler. The Falcon Arrow from the apron gets two on Matt with Omega making the save. Everything breaks down and it’s Tatsu getting the tag as house is cleaned. With the referee looking away, Nick sprays Tatsu in the face and it’s a triple superkick for two. Omega adds the One Winged Angel for the pin at 10:02.

Rating: B-. It’s a fine enough main event if you can handle another Bullet Club match. Elgin continues to be an amazing strong man with seemingly limitless strength and that’s all he needs to be at this point. Tatsu being the Bullet Club Hunter over them injuring him a long time ago makes sense but he could use some wins over them. That can’t happen though because BULLET CLUB IS AMAZING.

Overall Rating: C+. What am I even supposed to say here? It’s very clear that Ring of Honor is all about the Bullet Club now and I can’t imagine Best in the World doesn’t end with the screwing up the main event. It’s nice to have some regular stuff going again but Ring of Honor becomes New Japan Jr. more and more every single week.

On top of that though, it’s really annoying to have the Bullet Club running around like heels but getting the biggest face reactions on the show. For all intents and purposes, they’re the top faces on the show despite being heels and that gets old in a hurry. Unfortunately they’re going to be here for a very long time because they make a fortune and the fact that they’re so upside down with psychology and absorbing half the roster just like the NWO. That group turned out fine though, right?

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on NXT: The Full Sail Years Volume II at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FWZZ2UA

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Ring of Honor
Date: May 25, 2016
Host: Kevin Kelly

It’s another special show, this time focusing on the Bullet Club. In other words, yes again we’re looking at something that is going to be centered in Japan and will likely feature something from Honor Rising. I don’t know when Ring of Honor plans to go back to normal but ANYTIME SOON would be appreciated. Let’s get to it.

Since most of these matches are heavily clipped, I won’t be rating them unless most of the match is shown.

Kevin Kelly opens things up and promises to show us some clips from Global Wars, which could actually be something pertaining to the current storylines.

We look at Bullet Club showing up in Ring of Honor and one of their first major matches from War of the Worlds 2014.

IWGP Tag Team Titles: Briscoe Brothers vs. Doc Gallows/Karl Anderson

Anderson and Gallows are defending and we’re joined in progress with Jay and Anderson slugging it out in the ring. Jay kicks Anderson in the face as Mark is backdropped on the floor. Gallows splashes Jay and the Boot of Doom (not named here) gets two. Mark gets back in to break up the Magic Killer and chops away at Doc. Now it’s Jay back up with a discus forearm on Karl, followed by the Froggy Bow for a close two. Jay gets knocked to the floor and Mark dives into a Gun Stun (Diamond Cutter). Now the Magic Killer puts Mark away at 3:14 shown of 10:40.

From Global Wars 2015.

Bullet Club vs. ROH All-Stars

AJ Styles/Doc Gallows/Karl Anderson/Young Bucks

War Machine/Briscoe Brothers/Roderick Strong

Joined in progress (of course) with Ray Rowe diving off the top onto everyone. Strong superplexes Matt and AJ in succession before Nick breaks up another one on Gallows. Instead Strong superplexes Nick onto a big pile on the floor. Back in and Gallows hits his choke bomb on Hanson, followed by Bloody Sunday from AJ. Styles swears and Corino is shocked. Strong breaks up the Styles Clash and Jay superkicks Matt into a jumping knee, followed by the Jay Driller. Mark’s Froggy Bow puts Matt away at 3:49 shown of 17:25.

TIME FOR MORE HONOR RISING!!! You didn’t think they were forgetting about this one did you?

Never Openweight Six Man Tag Team Titles: Elite vs. Briscoe Brothers/Toru Yano

Elite, challenging here, is a subset of the Club comprised of the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega. Fellow Club member Cody Hall jumps the Briscoes before the bell and Yano is triple teamed, which draws little more than a hard stare from the referee. The Briscoes get back in to clean house with Nick being thrown over the top and onto Hall for a big crash.

Yano leans against the ropes until Hall grabs his legs, allowing the Bucks to hit a double superkick. A triple dive from the Elite keeps the champions in trouble and it’s time to choke Yano in the corner. We take a break and come back with Omega holding Yano in an abdominal stretch. Nick cartwheels into a backflip into a….backrake. Eh that’s no running into a Kevin Owens chinlock.

With nothing else working, Yano pulls the buckle pad off (remember that it’s a big column instead of individual pads) to block superkicks and then nail Matt. The tag brings in Mark as things speed up. The threat of Redneck Kung Fu deters Nick for a bit but Omega superkicks Mark down. Mark gets powerbombed into an enziguri in the corner, followed by the Swanton Bomb while Mark was hanging from the ropes for two. A triple superkick (Are you getting the concept yet?) gets two with Jay making the save.

Yano gets the tag for some low blows, though this time the referee just didn’t see them. Omega hair sprays Hall by mistake and gets low blowed and rolled up for two. The Briscoes come back in and it’s a double Indytaker, followed by More Bang For Your Buck for the pin on Yano at 12:55.

Rating: C+. The match was entertaining enough, assuming you can tolerate all the superkicks. If there’s one thing that the Club (and ROH in general) don’t get, it’s the concept of less is more. These titles don’t really mean anything either as they were introduced in January and we’re already on the sixth reign.

Here’s MORE from Honor Rising with the final match from Anderson and Gallows before they head to WWE.

Bullet Club vs. ReDRagon/Hirooki Goto/Katsuyori Shibata

It’s Bad Luck Fale (a monster), Tama Tonga, Anderson and Gallows for the Club here. The Club attacks to start (of course) until we settle down to Kyle firing off kicks at Karl. Goto comes in and we take a break. Back with Fale pounding on Goto in the corner before it’s back to Karl for a chinlock.

Tonga comes in for a running splash and dropkick with Shibata making the save. He even kicks his partner for some motivation, which actually drives Goto to clothesline Tama. Instead of tagging though, Goto would rather yell at Shibata. Fish is smart enough to tag himself in as everything breaks down. Tonga gets kicked down but still comes back with a fireman’s carry flapjack to plant Fish.

The double tag brings in Shibata to forearm Gallows down in the corner but Doc comes out with a hard uppercut. Everything breaks down again and a reverse 3D gets two on Shibata. Goto saves Shibata from the Magic Killer and escapes the Gun Stun. The Gallows Pole gets two on Shibata but he comes back with a quick choke, followed by a running kick to Doc’s chest for the pin at 10:22.

Rating: C. As usual, this was fine though I have no reason to care about who wins and who loses. It’s a three and a half month old match with people I might have heard of if I watch enough New Japan. Nothing to see here other than some watchable action, which isn’t enough after a show of nothing but that.

We go back to this year’s Global Wars with Colt Cabana holding Jay Lethal in the Billy Goat’s Curse. Cue the Young Bucks to superkick the referee and Taeler Hendrix before getting in the ring to hand Lethal and Cabana shirts. Then the lights go out and come back up with Adam Cole in the ring, of course sporting the shirt. More superkicks (with Mr. Wrestling 3 doing his obnoxious yelling every time) drop Lethal and Cabana and Cole says this is their house. Security runs in and eats a bunch of superkicks, meaning it’s time for some crotch chops (Wrestling 3: “THAT’S HOT!”).

Tama Loa and Tama Tonga (fellow Club members) come out and more security is beaten up with superkick after superkick. We cut forward to a security member being powerbombed through a table, which of course has been spray painted BC. The announcers eat superkicks so the Bucks take their places and do what sound like Jim Ross/Jerry Lawler impressions. Lethal is tied to the ropes as Cole picks up the ROH World Title. That means EVEN MORE SUPERKICKS before Cole runs around with the belt. The cameraman gets superkicked and the Club talks into the camera to end things.

Cole says this is a long time coming because this isn’t about little kids like the Kingdom anymore. Lethal has been saying he has no challengers but everyone knows that Cole is the man around here. He’s coming to take the title because he can.

Overall Rating: D. Uh….yeah. The last little bit was good because it actually addressed something going on in Ring of Honor but the rest felt like more “WE LOVE NEW JAPAN” stuff, which has been going on for months now. I’m sure you’ve heard all my standard issues at this point so I won’t bother doing it again, but they need to get back to regular stuff and soon. This is just making me care even less about ROH and I’m already forgetting most of the stories they’re doing. There was no indication that next week is another special but it’s almost too late to get back there, especially if the Club is going to be the focus now.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on NXT: The Full Sail Years Volume II at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FWZZ2UA

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Ring of Honor
Date: May 18, 2016
Host: Kevin Kelly

It’s the week after Global Wars, meaning we should be getting some fresh storyline stuff instead of all the New Japan stuff that has dominated more than a month of shows now. Ring of Honor is fine on its own and can go without having all the stuff from the outsiders over and over again. Let’s get to it.

And never mind as this is going to be a special episode entirely devoted to Jay Lethal. Well at least he’s a Ring of Honor wrestler.

Opening sequence.

Kevin Kelly talks about how Lethal has been a champion for over two years straight, which stated at Supercard of Honor VIII (hey I was there) when he turned heel and joined Truth Martini to become TV Champion. We see the end of his match against Tommaso Ciampa to win the title.

After a quick highlight reel, we go to the 13^th Anniversary Show (as in eleven months after Lethal won the title) with Lethal defending against Alberto El Patron.

TV Title: Jay Lethal vs. Alberto El Patron

Lethal is defending of course. Alberto superkicks Donovan Dijak to start and takes Lethal out to the floor for early control. A top rope clothesline drops Jay and we’re already in a chinlock. Back up and Lethal crotches him in the corner to take over for the first time. The referee actually calls it accidental, which makes me want to see what intentional would be.

Truth Martini chokes Alberto a bit but Jay gets caught in the cross armbreaker over the top rope. We take a break and come back with El Patron countering a cross armbreaker from the champion, only to be clotheslined out to the floor. The announcers talk about the KRD (Knights of the Rising Dawn, a masked group at the time) leaving, even though we didn’t see them in the first place. To be fair this was aired on pay per view so there was no break live.

Jay hits three straight suicide dives to send Alberto over the barricade and the champ takes a breather on the inside. Patron sends him into the corner though and the top rope double stomp gets two. Back up and they slug it out until the Lethal Combination gets two. The top rope elbow (Hail to the King) is blocked but Alberto has to put Matrini in the cross armbreaker.

Jay tries another elbow but Patron counters into the armbreaker, only to have Truth offer a distraction so Jay can hit him in the head with the Book of Truth for two. Alberto grabs the Codebreaker on the arm, only to eat a bicycle kick. Jay’s arm gives out when he tries the Lethal Injection so Truth blasts Alberto with the book, setting up the Lethal Injection for the pin at 12:33 (original match time).

Rating: B-. Certainly not bad her and a win over a former WWE World Champion is certainly a good rub for Lethal. The book cheating is still annoying but at least the right guy won and Lethal continues to look awesome. This would be about it for Alberto in Ring of Honor as he was just brought in for the title shot against Jay.

This brings us up to a discussion of Lethal vs. Jay Briscoe for the undisputed title. Here’s their title vs. title match from Best in the World 2015. This is the review from Best of 2015 when more of the match was broadcast.

ROH World Title/TV Title: Jay Briscoe vs. Jay Lethal

They shake hands to start and we’re ready to go. The House of Truth tries some early interference and get thrown out to make this one on one. Well two on one as Truth Martini is still at ringside. Lethal drops to the floor twice in a row to start but the fans declare it awesome anyway. Well to be fair that was indeed some AWESOME walking around on the floor. A lockup doesn’t go anywhere so they trade wristlocks with both guys challenging, only to have Briscoe take over with a front facelock.

Both guys get back up and it’s time for the slugout with Briscoe being sent out to the floor. Lethal follows him out and drives Briscoe into the barricade to keep his control as we take a break. Back with Briscoe kicking Lethal in the head, only to be sent to the floor for a suicide dive. Lethal loads up another but Briscoe decks him with a hard clothesline and a big suicide dive of his own. Martini finally does something by grabbing Briscoe’s leg, allowing Lethal to stomp away some more.

We hit the chinlock for a bit before Briscoe fights back up and grabs a neckbreaker. Back from another break with the Lethal Combination getting a quick two. The Macho elbow is broken up for a bit, only to have Lethal shove Briscoe off to stop a superplex. Now the elbow gets two but a Koji Clutch is quickly broken up.

They head to the apron with Lethal hitting him low to save himself from a Jay Driller through the table. Well I’d hope he broke it up as it would have meant a bad case of death otherwise. Martini’s distraction earns himself an ejection and NOW the Jay Driller puts Lethal through the table as we take a third break.

Back with both guys inside and Briscoe running into a superkick, only to counter the Lethal Injection with a discus lariat. The fans are losing their minds over this stuff, though I’m still getting over the rolling out of the ring earlier. Lethal grabs the Injection out of nowhere for a very close two and Corino can barely keep going. With nothing else working, Lethal grabs a Jay Driller, followed by another Lethal Injection to finally become undisputed champion at 27:13.

Rating: B. The clipped version was good and I’m assuming the full version is even better. Lethal winning clean here, especially after going through the table like that, was a great way to make him look like the top guy in the promotion. Briscoe is pretty easily the most decorated name in the company’s history so having him lose a major match like this, especially going down fighting, isn’t going to cost him that much. This was good stuff all around and felt like a major showdown so well done all around.

We talk about Lethal defending both titles at the same time until Martini caused him to lose the TV Title to Roderick Strong back in November. We see the end of the title change.

Lethal was still World Champion though and defended the title against AJ Styles at Final Battle 2015. The match is clipped on the broadcast but here’s the full version.

Ring of Honor World Title: AJ Styles vs. Jay Lethal

Lethal is defending and has Truth Martini/Taeler Hendrix with him. Styles, who has a bad back coming in, is part of the Bullet Club but comes out alone. We get some big match intros and we’re ready to go. Feeling out process to start as they seem to have a lot of time to work with. AJ gets the better of a technical sequence and Lethal bails out to the floor. Back in and AJ grabs a headlock as the announcers debate whether Elgin vs. Lethal will be for the title or not.

We get the drop down into the dropkick from Styles but Lethal hiptosses him down for a basement dropkick of his own. It’s time for some big chops until Lethal gets caught in the Calf Cutter, sending him straight to the ropes. AJ has to avoid a book shot from Martini and gets dropped onto the apron, drawing a TRUTH MARTINI chant.

Lethal gets smart by sending him back first into the barricade and the pace slows down. We hit a camel clutch as the fans swear at someone over something. A suplex into the corner (also becoming too popular lately) rocks Styles’ back for two more and Lethal grabs the world’s least convincing bearhug. Shockingly enough, Jay Lethal holding a bearhug doesn’t last long as AJ comes back with forearms and clotheslines, followed by a suplex into the corner of his own.

The springboard forearm is caught in the Lethal Combination for two and the champ takes over again. They fight over a suplex until AJ takes him over for a neckbreaker. I’ve always liked that move. Styles can’t get the Clash so Lethal throws him into the air and pulls him down into a neckbreaker for two of his own.

Lethal gets tired of this wrestling stuff and throws AJ over the barricade and into the crowd. Ever the genius, Lethal tries a suicide dive with AJ still behind the barricade. AJ, also not that bright, tries the forearm off the barricade but really just collides with Lethal instead. Naturally the fans think it’s awesome because you could put an ROH label on Lord Littlebrook vs. Little Beaver and they would declare it wrestling.

Back in and Jay grabs a Koji Clutch, only to get countered into the Calf Cutter, sending Jay into the ropes again. A big Lethal Injection out of the corner gets two but AJ snaps off a Pele, followed by the Bloody Sunday. Styles loads up something else but gets thrown over the top and through a table, absolutely destroying it in the crash. AJ dives in at nineteen and the Lethal Injection gets two (of course). Instead, Lethal uses Jerry Lynn’s cradle piledriver (due to Jerry saying AJ would win) to set up the second Lethal Injection to retain at 22:09.

Rating: B+. This wasn’t a masterpiece or even a classic but it was a pay per view quality main event. Lethal pinning Styles clean was a good way to make Lethal look great as AJ has been considered one of the best in the world for a long time now. I’m not sure how long Jay holds the title but if they want to pull the trigger on something, giving it back to Elgin in Tokyo would be rather smart.

And now, WE GET MORE HONOR RISING. Yes seriously, we’re getting another match from this show because four straight weeks wasn’t enough.

Ring of Honor World Title: Tomoaki Honma vs. Jay Lethal

We’re joined in progress with Honma headbutting Lethal in the back to break up the Lethal Injection. Jay is knocked to the floor for a top rope headbutt to put both guys down in a heap. Honma pulls him back inside but eats a superkick, only to turn Jay inside out with a clothesline for two.

An enziguri drops Honma but again he pops up and hits a middle rope headbutt. Honma misses his top rope headbutt though and Jay gets a breather. The referee gets bumped though, allowing Los Ingobernales to interfere. A Book of Truth to the head has no effect on Honma (he has a hard head you see) so Naito kicks him low, setting up the Lethal Injection for the pin to retain at 15:32 (original match time).

Rating: C-. Honma has a hard head and that’s all I know about him from this match. He seems to be a cult favorite so it makes sense to have him get the shot on a show like this but the ending seemed to be more about setting up Honma’s next feud than anything else. Still though, the match was good enough, even if there was a lot of it clipped out.

Kelly says goodbye but says next week it’s a special look at Bullet Club. For those of you keeping track, that would be the sixth straight week with no new content.

Overall Rating: C. This is a tough one to rate so we’ll go right in the middle. Let’s take a quick look at the good and bad things here. First of all, this was about Ring of Honor (save for the required look at Honor Rising, which I’m sure we’ll hear even more about next week). It also helped that the wrestling was good, which always makes the show go by faster.

Now for the obvious bad: we haven’t had a new show with just the Ring of Honor crew since March 16. Think about that for a minute. We’ve now gone over two months since we either got a full Ring of Honor card or anything original. They’ve even taped TV since then but no, wait, let’s look at Jay Lethal and the Bullet Club before we actually get to that. I don’t know if it’s a syndication issue or whatever but it’s beyond ridiculous at this point and needs to be fixed immediately, as in not after at least one more “special” episode.

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Ring of Honor
Date: May 11, 2016
Hosts: Mandy Leon, Kevin Kelly

It’s a special preview show for the Global Wars pay per view which has likely already aired assuming you don’t have this show in syndication. The only match announced for the show is Jay Lethal defending the World Title against the returning Colt Cabana. Aside from that it’s a bunch of Ring of Honor and New Japan stars mixed together for a single show. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Mandy and Kevin welcome us to the show and this really is just going to be one big preview.

We start with a clip from Final Battle where Bobby Fish made Roderick Strong tap but the referee didn’t see it, meaning the title didn’t change. Fish then pestered Strong until Strong lost the title to Tomohiro Ishii. We get a clip of the title change which we saw in full a few weeks back. Then Ishii beat the two of them at the 14^th Anniversary Show, setting up a 2/3 falls match at Supercard of Honor X where Fish beat Strong 2-1.

Next up we have Tetsuya Naito vs. Kyle O’Reilly. Kyle had been in a long feud with Adam Cole, who he finally defeated at Supercard of Honor by choking Cole out with a chain. The clip of the match is the entire preview of this match.

Also at Supercard of Honor, Stokely Hathaway set up a tag match between Kazuchika Okada/Moose vs. Michael Elgin/Hiroshi Tanahashi. This means a clip of the ending of Okada vs. Moose from the Anniversary Show. Again: nothing more than that clip to show respect between the two.

There’s also a fourway tag with the Bullet Club vs. Matt Sydal/Kushida/Motor City Machine Guns. That means a preview by means of Bullet Club (different combination than at Global Wars) vs. Sydal/Kushida/ACH from the Anniversary Show. In other words: that was awesome so now come pay for another version of the same thing.

We actually cover a match with a story. War Machine is defending the Tag Team Titles against the Briscoe Brothers as the Brothers haven’t been around the titles for a long time now and wanted the belts back. That’s not cool with War Machine so it’s time for a rematch from a big match they had a few years back. War Machine has never beaten the Briscoes so there’s quite the backstory here. We get a clip from the two teams fighting back in 2015.

The Briscoes say War Machine can’t call themselves the best until they beat dem boys.

Video on Colt Cabana vs. Jay Lethal, which is either the same video as last week or so close that it doesn’t make a difference.

We get some clips of Cabana’s ROH highlights to show that he is more than just a comedy guy.

In case you haven’t seen enough of Cabana, here’s part of a 2/3 falls match he had against CM Punk on August 13, 2005 at Punk: The Final Chapter.

CM Punk vs. Colt Cabana

Joined in progress with Cabana grabbing a few headscissor takeovers to keep Punk on the mat and drawing a nice round of applause. Back up and Punk tries a monkey flip, only to get stomped on the face so Colt can strut a bit. Punk wants him to be serious for a change but the distraction lets Cabana grab a headlock.

We go old school (in case show a match almost eleven years old isn’t enough for you) with a crisscross. Colt stops and tells Punk to look up. Punk: “No!” Colt: “There’s a bear up there!” Punk: “NO!” Colt stomps on the foot instead and we’re clipped ahead to Colt grabbing a Boston crab as the announcers finally let us know that we’re in the third fall. Punk finally makes the ropes and comes back with a reverse hurricanrana.

We come back from a break with Colt getting in a super reverse DDT and both guys are spent. There’s the Anaconda Vice (or at least a version of it as the arm isn’t tied here) but Colt gets his feet on the ropes. The Pepsi Plunge (Punk’s middle rope Pedigree) is countered into a super Samoan drop but Punk grabs a crucifix for two.

Punk swears at him to start a slugout before kicking away at the leg to set up a Shining Wizard for two. A quick suplex is countered into a rollup to give Colt the pin out of nowhere at about 7:00 shown. I won’t rate the match since it was so clipped but what we saw was fine, for an eleven year old match with almost no connection to anything going on at the moment.

One last rundown of the Global Wars card and we’re off the air after 58 minutes.

Overall Rating: F. Nope. I know what Ring of Honor was going for here but I’m not going to accept this mess. This is the kind of show that should have aired on the website or something but above all else, IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN BEFORE THE PAY PER VIEW. It also might have helped if we saw some actual promos or something other than a match that took place nearly eleven years ago. Ring of Honor should be better than this but somehow they managed to mess up what should be the easiest idea in the world. Above all else here, I’m disappointed, which is about the worst thing you can be.

Ring of Honor
Date: May 4, 2016
Location: Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Attendance: 1,367
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Mr. Wrestling 3

We’re still in Japan for the Honor Rising tapings from February and it’s still the first night of the show. Tonight it’s almost all about the Bullet Club, including appearances by people who are no longer in the promotion. I’d assume we’ll be getting at least two or three more weeks of this stuff so there’s a long way to go. Let’s get to it.

Moose/Hiroshi Tanahashi/Michael Elgin/Tomoaki Honma vs. Bullet Club

In this case it’s Bad Luck Fale/Cody Hall/Tama Tonga/Yujiro Takahashi. Moose and Fale, the big monsters of each team, start things off with Fale pounding away to take over, only to eat a dropkick to take the bigger man down. Fale is sent to the floor and we take an early break. Back with Tonga hammering on Honma (a Tag Team Champion coming in here) before everything breaks down into a big brawl.

The good guys clear the ring and pose before everything breaks down again and the brawl heads to the floor. Yujiro chairs Tanahashi in his bad shoulder to take over and it’s Fale standing on Tanahashi’s back to keep him in trouble. Hall comes in for a few shots before it’s back to the scary looking Tonga. Tanahashi ducks his head and Tonga slides around him a few times before scoring with a great dropkick.

Takahashi comes in for a bit before it’s quickly off to Elgin for the scary power displays, including holding Tonga over his head with one arm for a gorilla press. We take another break and come back with Elgin suplexing Takahashi and Hall (who stands 6’6) at the same time. A deadlift German suplex gets two on Takahashi but he gets in a low blow to slow Elgin down. Moose comes in for his fist pump punches but Hall ducks underneath one and gets in a Samoan drop.

That’s no sold of course so Hall has to knee Moose in the ribs to block the spear. He can’t get Moose up for the Razor’s Edge though so instead it’s a discus lariat as everything breaks down again. Hall chokeslams Moose for two before Elgin Samoan drops Tonga and fall away slams Takahashi at the same time. Egads that’s scary power. Elgin isn’t done as he throws Tanahashi onto everyone but Hall. Moose runs the corner for a spinning cross body to set up the spear to put Hall away at 11:37.

Rating: B-. This was a bit too messy at times but it was still a lot of fun. Elgin and Moose are just natural freaks and Hall/Tonga have great looks and potential. The match wound up being more entertaining than I was expecting and that’s really all you can hope for out of something like this with no real backstory other than good guys vs. bad guys.

The House of Truth tours Tokyo.

We look at Lio Rush getting a World Title shot against Jay Lethal at Supercard of Honor with Rush’s top rope C4 being countered into a cutter, followed by the Lethal Injection to retain Jay’s title. Post match Colt Cabana came out and talked about being an independent wrestler who can’t be fired by the people. Lethal accused him of running away from Ring of Honor because no one wants him here. The following night, Cabana came out and pinned Lethal in a quick exhibition to earn a title shot.

The House of Truth goes to a massage parlor when Delirious walks out the door. This leads nowhere. We cut to Lethal and Martini going to the New Japan store….and then we cut to Jay Briscoe trying to find a gym. Back in the store, Delirious is hiding among the masks. After some dinner is consumed, here’s Dalton Castle at a cat cafe. Absolutely none of this meant anything other than a way to kill time.

Karl Anderson/Luke Gallows vs. Briscoe Brothers

Anderson and Gallows (Bullet Club) attack to start but Jay takes Gallows to the floor with a Cactus Clothesline. Mark’s running apron Blockbuster drops Anderson and we take a break. Back with Mark rolling across the ring and stopping Anderson with the threat of a crane kick. We’re told that next week will feature a preview episode for Global Wars, which is nice for a change but unless you see it in syndication, you won’t get to watch it until AFTER the show. But hey, at least we’re getting to see A THIRD STRAIGHT WEEK of meaningless matches from February.

Mark gets taken out to the floor with Gallows dropping a legdrop onto the apron to keep Mark in trouble. They brawl out to the floor with the Club in full control as Wrestling 3 talks about the history of Korakuen Hall for at least the second week in a row. We take another break and come back with Jay getting the hot tag to clean house. A Death Valley Driver gets two on Karl and everything breaks down again. Gallows is low bridged to the floor but slides back in to break up the Jay Driller. Mark mostly misses a top rope dropkick to put Gallows down and it’s the Froggy Bow to put Karl away at 8:23.

Rating: C. The match was fine but there was no mention of the Briscoes having an ROH Tag Team Title match against a team similar to Anderson and Gallows in FOUR DAYS because Ring of Honor has done a horrible job of setting up the show. Anderson and Gallows are long gone too, but again that’s too far in the past to actually mention.

A long video package on the entire February tour wraps us up.

Overall Rating: D-. Unless you live in an area that has Ring of Honor in syndication, THIS was your go home show for Global Wars. Yeah there’s going to be a preview show next week but in case you’re in an area that doesn’t get the show on your local station, you’ll be seeing it AFTER THE PAY PER VIEW AIRS. This really shouldn’t have to be explained but either record some new commentary that actually mentions the specific matches (other than Lethal vs. Cabana, zero specific matches have been announced for the show on TV) or cut out one of these shows and air the preview earlier.

This is the kind of stuff you expect to have heard about WCW doing in their dying days instead of a company that seems to be rather intelligent. I get that they wanted to brag about their big tour of Japan but was there really any need of airing three weeks of stuff from February instead of talking about a pay per view that might make them some money? This was a very shortsighted way of doing things and that’s much more disappointing than anything else.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of the History of the Intercontinental Title at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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