IMG Credit: AEW

Dark
Date: June 9, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Taz, Excalibur

Last week’s show was a nice change of pace as it was down to about forty five minutes, making things feel a lot better. This week though it’s a different world as we have World Champion Jon Moxley in action. Hopefully the show is as easy to watch as it was last week. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Taz and Excalibur welcome us to the show.

Fuego del Sol/Low Rider vs. SCU

Kazarian legsweeps del Sol to start and it’s quickly off to Sky for a knee to the ribs. A butterfly suplex gives del Sol two and Rider comes in with a springboard missile dropkick for the same. Rider misses a charge in the corner though and it’s a hot tag to Kazarian to clean house. The hiptoss neckbreaker hits del Sol (always looks cool) and SCU Later finishes him at 2:58.

Alan Angels joins the Dark Order and is renamed 5.

Lee Johnson vs. 5

Some more of the team is here with 5. Johnson shrugs off the beating in the corner to start and dropkicks 5 to the floor. Back up and 5 sends Johnson arm first into the post and starts working it over. A fireman’s carry slam plants Johnson but he’s right back up with some clotheslines. The leg lariat drops 5 and he gets knocked to the floor for a big running flip dive. Back in and the Blue Thunder Bomb gives Johnson two but 5 hits a hanging DDT onto the apron. Brodie Lee comes out to watch as 5 hits a modified Backstabber (boots instead of knees) for the pin at 5:20.

Rating: C. The match was pretty much skippable but what matters is they gave Angels something to do after some rather impressive performances on this show. That opens up some doors as it gives the wrestlers an added incentive to work hard around here while also boosting the company’s roster. That’s a good sign going forward and a smart thing to do.

Post match, the rest of the Dark Order, minus Lee, beats down Johnson.

Santana and Ortiz vs. Musa/Brady Pierce

Ortiz flips Musa down by the arm to start and they trade some standing switches. A rake to the back keeps Musa in trouble and a sitout powerbomb makes it worse. Pierce’s save fails as both of them are sent outside for a moonsault from Santana. Back in and Santana throws Musa into the corner for the tag to Pierce, who misses a quick moonsault attempt. Pierce and Musa are laid on top of each other in the corner for the assisted Cannonball. The Street Sweeper finishes both of them at 5:09.

Rating: C-. Santana and Ortiz are getting more and more entertaining every week, which says a lot given how good they were in the first place. They’re the kind of team who works so well together and it’s fun to see how well they gel as a unit. Give them some big matches already because they can hang with (if not beat) any team in the company.

QT Marshall tells Dustin Rhodes that their tag match is now a singles match for himself. Dustin isn’t pleased and seeing the Natural Nightmare shirts that Allie made doesn’t make it better. Brandi gets a special one and asks who the f*** this is for, as it’s about three sizes too big.

Butcher And Blade vs. Pineapple Pete/Anthony Catena

Butcher drives Pete into the corner to start and goes Arn Anderson with an eye rake across the rope. It’s off to Blade for a beating in the corner as the announcers run down the name Pete (which is an inside joke of course). A fisherman’s neckbreaker into a fisherman’s DDT plants Pete and it’s off to Catena. Blade hits a Stunner into Butcher’s hard clothesline and the running powerslam gets two. The suplex onto Blade’s knees finishes Catena at 3:59.

Rating: D+. It isn’t often that getting rid of the talented manager makes things that much better but it was the case here. Butcher and Blade were little more than heel goons to start so it is nice to see them getting to do something for a change. The match was total destruction, and that’s a nice way to rebuild a team like Butcher and Blade.

QT Marshall vs. Zack Clayton

Allie, Brandi Rhodes and Dustin Rhodes are all here with Marshall, though Allie goes over for commentary. Marshall knocks him down to start as Allie talks about all of the training she has been putting Marshall through. Clayton sends Marshall over the top so he skins the cat but Clayton dropkicks him to the ramp. That’s enough to send Allie down to ringside as Clayton hammers away even more back inside.

A knee drop gives Clayton two and the powerslam is good for the same. Clayton goes for the turnbuckle so Brandi gets on the apron, only to be knocked down onto Dustin. Marshall uses the distraction to hit a Lethal Combination as Brandi is clutching her wrist. Allie claims a broken nail so Marshall checks on her, much to Dustin’s annoyance. Allie grabs Clayton’s leg (it isn’t clear if Marshall saw it) and the Red Delicious is enough to give Marshall the pin at 5:19.

Rating: C-. The match was nothing of course but it’s rather nice to have a story going on around here. It’s not a hard story to set up with Marshall siding with Allie over the team, though it’s not like Allie has been completely evil or seems to have some other motivation. Maybe that comes later though, as you know a Rhodes story is going to get the attention.

Christopher Daniels vs. Sonny Kiss

Daniels slams him down to start and works on the arm but Sonny bounces out of a wristlock. The armbar has Daniels in trouble and it’s an armbar into another one. Let’s do that a third time until Sonny gets two off a forearm. The fourth armbar goes on and you can feel Daniels’ frustration setting in. Back up and Daniels sends him hard into the corner, setting up the STO into a Crossface.

Sonny grabs the rope and a much more aggressive than usual Daniels stomps away in the corner. Sonny fights back with a dropkick into a hurricanrana, setting up the standing hurricanrana for two. A victory roll gets the same and there’s a spinning kick to Daniels’ head to drop Daniels again. Daniels counters a quick flip though and kicks him in the ribs, setting up the Angel’s Wings for the pin at 8:25.

Rating: C. This was more interesting from Daniels as he is better as a heel than a face. It certainly wasn’t a full on face turn or anything, but it was cool to see him showing a different side of himself. Let some of that aggression out, especially when he is against someone whose style might frustrate him. If nothing else, a split from SCU could be rather interesting.

Jurassic Express vs. Peter Avalon/Brandon Cutler

Marko Stunt is wearing Luchasaurus’ shin guards, which look like chaps on him. See it’s funny because he’s small. Avalon laughs off the idea of facing Stunt so Luchasaurus comes in to chop him over to Cutler instead. Cutler tries to bail to the floor but gets grabbed by the head and pulled back inside. A superkick gives Luchasaurus two but Cutler scores with an enziguri.

That just earns him a wheelbarrow suplex and it’s off to Stunt, who is dropped down onto Cutler for two more. Avalon comes in and gets caught in a super hurricanrana but Stunt spends too much time looking at Leva Bates. That lets Avalon slam him off the top and Cutler slaps on a torture rack (Taz: “The Total Package Brandon Cutler.”). Stunt gets out of a gorilla press and tornado DDTs Avalon, allowing the hot tag to Luchasaurus.

House is cleaned in a hurry and it’s time for Cutler and Avalon to fight. Stunt dives onto both of them but gets caught and tossed onto Luchasaurus. He throws them right back for a double knockdown but Avalon kicks them both down. Avalon hits a sunset bomb into a slingshot elbow from Cutler. Luchasaurus dodges a double running knee and nips up before Stunt springboards in with an armdrag to Cutler. Stunt hits his own Tail Whip and a double chokeslam finishes Avalon at 10:38.

Rating: D+. Remember every complaint I’ve ever had with Stunt matches? It was all of the same ones here, with so many “See, he’s SMALL” deals that it gets annoying in a hurry. I can’t quite say Cutler and Avalon are above this, but egads man. How many people have to be in the ring with him and not just pummel him into a pulp?

Jon Moxley vs. Robert Anthony

Non-title and Brian Cage is standing near commentary. They wrestle to a quick standoff to start and Anthony bails to the floor to get out of a headlock. Moxley trips the leg to take Anthony down, which Taz says he saw coming because he knows this stuff. That’s where Taz can be really really valuable as he’s viewed as someone with a knowledge of this stuff and can explain it very well.

Moxley takes him down again and goes to the arm as Cage doesn’t look overly impressed. Anthony is sent outside for a suicide dive, with Moxley coming up favoring his shoulder a bit. Back in and Moxley starts in on the leg with some dragon screw legwhips and the half crab. A release suplex drops Anthony again and it’s time to wrap his back around the post. There’s a Hartbreaker around the post but Anthony grabs a quick tilt-a-whirl faceplant.

Taz is losing his mind over Anthony not covering and going for a surfboard instead, which is pretty sound advice. Moxley’s Gotch style piledriver is countered into a Death Valley Driver for two. The Paradigm Shift is countered as well but Moxley slams him off the top. A double chickenwing slam plants Anthony for a surprise two so it’s the Texas Cloverleaf to make him tap at 13:10.

Rating: C-. This was an angle rather than a competitive match and commentary did a great job of making the story clear. Moxley was trying to show off in front of Cage and didn’t take Anthony seriously until the ending, when he finished Anthony pretty much with ease. That’s a good way to go, and I’m not sure how the title match is going to play out. It’s nice to have that feeling and hopefully they can keep it up. Also, big points to Taz here, who called the match perfectly given the circumstances. He stood out here, which is rare for commentary.

A quick Dynamite preview takes us out.

Overall Rating: C-. The show is watchable and it’s nice to have some bigger names and angle advancement, but it’s the same thing I ask almost every week: why does it need to be this long? You had eight matches here and two of them had any major (or even moderate) angle advancement. You couldn’t cut out two of those? Say the SCU match and Jurassic Express? Those matches don’t make the show any bigger of a deal and just extend it longer than it needs to be. Just let them have the night off instead. It’s not that important to get them in the ring every week and it makes the show feel long, which isn’t good.

Results

SCU b. Fuego del Sol/Low Rider – SCU Later to del Fuego

5 b. Lee Johnson – Backstabber

Santana and Ortiz b. Musa/Brady Pierce – Double pin after a Street Sweeper

Butcher and Blade b. Pineapple Pete/Anthony Catena – Suplex onto Blade’s knees to Catena

QT Marshall b. Zack Clayton – Red Delicious

Christopher Daniels b. Sonny Kiss – Angel’s Wings

Jurassic Express b. Peter Avalon/Brandon Cutler – Double chokeslam to Avalon

Jon Moxley b. Robert Anthony – Texas Cloverleaf

IMG Credit: AEW

Dark
Date: May 26, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz

It’s the first show after the very good Double Or Nothing and you know what that calls for: nearly an hour and a half of overly competitive jobber matches! I’m not sure if this is the new permanent norm or if they’re just burning off a bunch of material they taped on the off chance that they wouldn’t be able to tape for a good while. Either way, it’s hardly must see material. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Tazz makes it clear that he will not be getting into any details about his relationship with Brian Cage. That’s wrestling code for “this was taped before that happened.”

Dark Order vs. Natural Nightmares

Jon Silver/Alex Reynolds here. The Nightmares snap off an early double Russian legsweep on Reynolds to start and Dustin adds the running knee lift. Cue Allie of all people, with Marshal’’s apple. Marshall certainly seems interested and Silver uses the distraction to get in a cheap shot and take over. Reynolds’ uppercut gives Silver two but Marshall tells him to go with the chest kicks. The big one is countered in a hurry so the hot tag brings in Dustin for the house cleaning. The snap powerslam plants Silver and Marshall adds a cutter for the pin at 5:02.

Rating: C-. It’s not the biggest story but Allie eating an apple now counts as the top story on this show in about a month, if not more. I can always go for more of Allie as she is a great manager, but I’m worried about how long it might be before the angle gets any followup. If this show was taped that long ago, it could be a good while indeed.

Michael Nakazawa vs. Brandon Cutler

Cutler starts fast with a running forearm for an early two as Taz talks about Cutler’s losing streak. Nakazawa comes back with a spear but Cutler comes in from the apron with a kick to the head for his own near fall. Hold on though as Nakamura is out of oil, likely sending him into a downward spiral. Cutler keeps kicking away, despite having been busted open somewhere in there. The torture rack goes on and Nakazawa gets sent over the top. They fight on the floor and it’s Nakazawa sending him into the barricade for the first countout in AEW history at 6:20.

Rating: D. So yes, we needed to see these two have a match that actually got a little bit of time on this show. The wrestling was just there for the sake of filling in time and it’s not like either of these two mean anything. It’s why they’re here, having a glorified comedy match without ever being mentioned anywhere else.

Post match here are the Librarians, with Peter Avalon saying this is proof Cutler is the worst wrestler in the world. Therefore, Cutler can go sit on commentary and watch Avalon pick up a win.

Peter Avalon vs. Jungle Boy

Boy grabs an early headlock takeover and we’re already in the technical material. An armdrag puts Avalon on the floor but the rest of Jurassic Express won’t let him leave. The distraction lets Avalon post him and it’s a suplex for two back inside. A leg lariat gives Avalon two more and we hit the headscissors. The moonsault misses though and Boy hits a hard clothesline.

Boy’s springboard tornado DDT gets two but Avalon is back with a Meteora to the back of the head for his own near fall. Leva Bates gets on the apron for the assistance but winds up on Luchasaurus’ shoulders. Cue Marko Stunt to kiss her, meaning Boy can grab a modified STF for the tap at 7:30.

Rating: D+. The match was only somewhat better than the previous one and that’s not much of a compliment. Avalon has never been interesting and having him in a feud with Cutler over who the worst wrestler in the company is doesn’t sound too promising. As usual, there are people in wrestling companies who don’t need a story. Avalon, Cutler and Nakazawa fit the descriptions.

Serpentico vs. Christopher Daniels

Serpentico goes for the arm to start but Serpentico grabs a headlock. Some armdrags into the armbar put Serpentico down so he slugs away, only to walk into a leg lariat for two. Daniels hits a high collar suplex (Taz: “Thanks to him for stealing my gimmick.”) but Serpentico takes him down as well. A slingshot elbow gives Serpentico two but Daniels STOs him down. The release Rock Bottom into the BME gives Daniels the pin at 4:27.

Rating: C-. A little better here, but that might be due to having Daniels in there. He’s always good for a quick win and can make anyone look decent. Serpentico has been around a few times now and showed me a little more this time around. I don’t think he goes anywhere significant, but a not terrible performance is better than an awful one.

John Skyler/Brady Pearce vs. Sonny Kiss/Joey Janela

Pearce knocks Kiss down to start but Kiss kicks him into the corner for the early tag to Janela. That means Pearce gets laid over the middle rope and gets caught with a front flip ax kick to the ribs from Kiss. Skyler offers a quick distraction though and Pearce gets in a kick to the face. Janela avoids a charge though and the hot tag brings in Kiss for the house cleaning. Everything breaks down and Kiss kicks Pearce through the ropes, setting up the suicide dive. Back in and Janela drops a top rope elbow to finish Skyler at 4:37.

Rating: C-. This was your random partners with nothing else to do getting a win. There wasn’t much to talk about in this one but Kiss had his usual charisma turned up high. Janela continues to be someone who is just there, despite his ability to make his eyes bug out more than should be humanly possible.

Tony Donati/Faboo Andre vs. Kip Sabian/Jimmy Havoc

Penelope Ford is here with Sabian and Havoc. Andre gets jumped before the bell but manages to dropkick Sabian into the corner for what is likely the highest level of success he should expect here. Havoc comes back in and walks into a spinning middle rope crossbody from Andre. Sabian is back in to stomp Andre down in the corner, leaving Havoc to bite the face. Ford gets in a cheap shot from the floor so Havoc’s running big boot can get two.

A PK to the chest connects, though the referee said it was wide right. The lack of Stadium Stampede references as a result would tell me that there is a time gap between the tapings. The Acid Rainmaker misses though and (the bloody, from Havoc’s bite) Andre dives over for the hot tag to Donati. A hammerlock suplex gives Donati two on Sabian but he’s right back up with the hanging spinning neckbreaker. Sabian’s top rope double stomp sets up a dropkick/Michinoku Driver combination to finish Donati at 6:58.

Rating: D+. Another match that came and went as Sabian and Havoc are a fine midcard team, but there isn’t much of a reason to have them take this much time to beat a pair of jobbers with next to no experience around here. What am I supposed to get out of this? Or out of anything on this show actually?

Mr. Grimm vs. Wardlow

MJF is here with Wardlow, who slams Grimm down and stomps away in the corner to start. A missed charge sends Wardlow into the post, but he easily counters a springboard into a German suplex. The F5 is broken up but this time the running shoulder connects in the corner. A knee to the face knocks Grim out at 2:59.

Post match Wardlow hits the F10 for a bonus.

Lee Johnson vs. Colt Cabana

They shake hands to start and fight over a wristlock with Johnson bailing into the corner. As the announcers debate if Tony Schiavone or Tony’s wife is the bigger heel, Cabana gets two off a quick rollup. Cabana cranks on the arms into some crucifixes for two each until Johnson makes the mistake of firing off a chop. Johnson dropkicks him in the back to knock Cabana into the corner, which just annoys him. The Flying Apple into the Bionic elbow into the Billy Goat’s Curse finishes Johnson at 3:43.

Rating: C-. Cabana isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but at least his comedy seems to be more about chuckles than some big laugh that rarely connects. There isn’t much else to say about him, but that’s the case with most comedy wrestlers. Johnson continues to be someone they seem interested in, though that 0-8 record isn’t helping him.

KiLynn King vs. Penelope Ford

Sabian is here with Ford. King is a giant compared to Ford and grabs a headlock to start. Some standing switches don’t go anywhere so King runs her over with a shoulder. That lets King yell at Sabian, meaning Ford can get in a shot from behind. Stomping in the corner keeps King down and a suplex gives Ford two. Some choking doesn’t do much on King, who snaps off a dropkick. King misses a charge in the corner though and Ford hits a cutter for the pin at 4:53.

Rating: D+. The back and forth between eh and erg matches continues with Ford not exactly looking like a star here. Ford is talented in the ring but she needs someone better to make this work. King looked like someone who could go a little further with some more time, which is the kind of thing that you can get in this situation.

Shawn Dean/Alan Angels vs. Best Friends

Orange Cassidy is here too. Taylor works on Dean’s arm to start and adds a dropkick for a bonus. Trent comes in for the double elbow and it’s off to Angels, who is taken to the mat in a hurry. A hard clothesline cuts off Angels’ comeback but a springboard dropkick sends Trent into the corner. Dean suplexes Angels into Trent in the corner for two but Trent gets in his own suplex. The hot tag brings in Chuck to pick up the pace, including sending Dean into a spear from Chuck. Angels gets powerbombed and the big hug sets up Strong Zero for the pin on Angels at 4:24.

Rating: C. This was better just because of the shorter run time, but the #1 contenders shouldn’t be in any trouble against two guys who literally have never won a match between them around here. That’s the case with almost everyone on this show though and that hasn’t stopped them yet. Not a terrible match, but maybe I’m just numb to the Best Friends by now.

Overall Rating: D+. They did the same thing they have done for the last two weeks but this time around the matches were even weaker than usual. They weren’t terrible or anything really close to it for the most part, but it continues to be a show that you don’t need to watch in any situation. I’m assuming this was just a bunch of material they needed to burn off, but it makes me wonder how much they taped when they had the chance. This is about thirty jobber matches in three weeks. They can’t have many more, right?

Results

Natural Nightmares b. Dark Order – Cutter to Silver

Michael Nakazawa b. Brandon Cutler via countout

Jungle Boy b. Peter Avalon – STF

Christopher Daniels b. Serpentico – Best Moonsault Ever

Sonny Kiss/Joey Janela b. John Skyler/Brady Pearce – Top rope elbow to Pearce

Kip Sabian/Jimmy Havoc b. Faboo Andre/Tony Donati – Dropkick/Michinoku Driver combination to Donati

Wardlow b. Mr. Grimm via knockout

Colt Cabana b. Lee Johnson – Billy Goat’s Curse

Penelope Ford b. KiLynn King – Cutter

Best Friends b. Shawn Dean/Alan Angels – Strong Zero to Angels

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: AEW

Dynamite
Date: May 13, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

We’re coming up on Double Or Nothing and that means things are going to be pushing forward this week. The big story coming out of last week was the return of Santana and Ortiz to put the Inner Circle back to full strength. I’m not sure where things can from here but it should be interesting either way. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Here’s Lance Archer to beat up a backstage worker. He and Jake Roberts get in the ring with Jake talking about how he isn’t interested in giving Brandi Rhodes an apology. Jake has been watching Archer’s work…..and here’s Cody, in his truck, to carefully run over some rather breakable barricades. Cody has his fists taped up and kicks Archer low to take the fight to ringside. Archer drops him on the apron (Jake: “Cody went boom.”) but Cody is right back up. A chair shot has no effect on Archer but he slips out of the Blackout. The Cody Cutter is blocked as well but Roberts says not now and the villains leave. This worked well.

We run down the card.

Video on the depth of the tag team division. They really do have a lot of options.

Best Friends vs. Jurassic Express

Is there some rule that says the Best Friends have to be on every show??? Orange Cassidy is here as well of course. Jungle Boy armdrags Chuck to start so it’s off to Trent to chop at Luchasaurus. The Tail Whip drops Trent so it’s back to Boy, who gets caught on top. Chuck puts Trent on his shoulders so Boy missile dropkicks him down. Luchasaurus comes back in for a kick to the head as everything breaks down.

A chokeslam is broken up and it’s a double suplex to drop Luchasaurus. There’s the big hug but Boy flip dives onto both of them as we take a break. Back with Chuck fighting out of the corner and handing it off to Trent for the tornado DDT on Luchasaurus. Orange Cassidy starts playing cheerleader but here’s Fenix to jump him from behind. MJF jumps the barricade to post Boy and it’s the Awful Waffle to give Chuck the pin at 10:48.

Rating: C. This wasn’t great but it did its job well enough. I’m curious about the random attacks but I’m sure it’s going to be leading somewhere. What we got here was good enough, even if I could go months without seeing another Best Friends match. At least Luchasaurus didn’t take the fall, but it’s not much better to have Boy get pinned as he’s on his way to a match at Double Or Nothing.

Post match Wardlow jumps Marko Stunt and has a staredown with Luchasaurus. For once Excalibur does something useful, explaining that the people involved in the random attacks are part of the Casino Battle Royal at Double Or Nothing and are trying to get an early advantage. That line took five seconds and cleared everything up.

Jon Moxley arrives and has nothing to say.

Hikaru Shida vs. Kris Stadtlander vs. Britt Baker vs. Penelope Ford

One fall to a finish with Stadtlander being knocked down to start (Tony: “The alien is down on the mat.”) as Baker goes after Shida to make up for the broken nose. Stadtlander makes the save so Ford crossbodies Stadtlander and Shida at the same time. That earns her a double nip up so Baker grabs the Lockjaw on Shida. Stadtlander makes the save by grabbing Baker’s face, earning herself a whip into the corner. Back up and everyone gets knocked down and we take an early break.

We come back with Stadtlander fighting up but getting caught in Baker’s Canadian Destroyer. Ford cutters Baker down for two and Stadtlander Michinoku Drivers Ford for the same. Stadtlander gets sent into the corner and Shida is suplexed into her for a crash. Ford’s reverse hurricanrana sends Stadtlander outside and Baker follows her with Lockjaw. The distraction lets Shida knee Ford in the face for the pin at 10:24.

Rating: C+. This was almost all action and the women’s division continues to make great strides. They’ve come a very long way in a short amount of time and that’s awesome to see. It was a rocky part of the show at first but things have picked up to the point where it can be downright enjoyable more often than not. Shida vs. Nyla Rose should be good stuff too, likely at the pay per view.

Pineapple Pete says he’s happy that Jericho has given him a new name because it’s made life sweet. He takes a drink from a pineapple in case you needed a visual.

Kenny Omega/Matt hardy vs. Santana and Ortiz

Omega gets jumped before Matt comes to the ring so here’s Matt to bite Santana for the save. Hardy gets to the ring and it’s officially Omega and Ortiz to start. The running Fameasser gets Omega out of trouble and it’s off to Matt for a neckbreaker. The WONDERFUL legdrop allows the tag back to Omega for the chops in the corner.

We take a break and come back with Omega caught in a Boston crab but fighting out without much trouble. Ortiz comes back in to poke him in the eye and gyrate the hips a bit. Omega doesn’t seem pleased and fights back, allowing the hot tag off to Hardy. Santana is sent head first into multiple buckles as house is cleaned in a hurry. The Side Effect gets two on Santana but Matt has to break up the Street Sweeper.

Omega dives onto Santana and the Twist of Fate gets two with Ortiz making the save. The shotgun dropkick puts Omega in the corner for the assisted backsplash and another near fall. Hardy is back in with a double underhook neck crank but here’s Sammy Guevara, limping on a chair and in a neck brace. Hardy kicks the chair away and gives him a Twist of Fate (our hero). The V Trigger catches Ortiz on top and it’s a Twist of Fate to finish at 17:15.

Rating: B-. This one felt lone but Omega and Hardy getting revenge and a win back after last week’s big loss is a good idea. They did what they needed to here and Sammy coming out was a great thing to see. What matters is keeping the momentum going towards whatever these guys are doing at Double Or Nothing and they did that here.

Darby Allin still doesn’t want Taz’s help. It’s Taz who doesn’t get it, and Allin mentions that he was third in the Idaho state wrestling tournament.

We talk about the Casino Battle Royal, which will have nine entrants and staggered entrances again.

Hikaru Shida, who is confirmed for the title shot at Double or Nothing, promises to win. Nyla Rose comes in and kendo sticks her down. Nyla: “I FOUND YOUR KENDO STICK B****!”

Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Lee Johnson

MJF jumps him from behind to start and the trash talk is on in a hurry. Johnson gets sent outside with MJF telling the wrestlers in the crowd to help him. There’s an apron bomb to knock Johnson silly and it’s a shoulder breaker back inside. A Fujiwara armbar makes Johnson tap at 2:44.

Post match MJF talks about being ready for Jungle Boy. He still has some ring rust though and needs to shake that off against Marko Stunt next week.

Chris Jericho vs. Pineapple Pete

Jericho has the Inner Circle with him and his own Pineapple Pete shirt. Pete slugs away to start and hits a running elbow in the corner, followed by a second for good measure. That just earns Pete the Judas Effect for the pin at 1:04. This was worth it just for JR’s response to hearing that the match was taking place.

Post match Jericho says that with the threat of Pineapple Pete dispatched, it’s time to move forward. He’s heard that Hangman Page has moved to North Carolina to pick berries and the Young Bucks are hiding in California. That brings him to the Elite, because while the world is reacting to the Coronavirus, the Inner Circle is acting. That’s why they have created the Stadium Stampede match. Imagine what the Inner Circle can do to the Elite in an 80,000 person seat football stadium. They can bring it at Double Or Nothing.

Cue Vanguard 1 with the stolen shirt, which Jericho takes back. He had warrants out in seven states for Vanguard’s arrest. We see Vanguard’s perspective and he says WE ACCEPT. Tony: “He speaks drone.” Jericho asks about Vanguard joining the Inner Circle but doesn’t get an answer. That’s fine with Jericho, who introduces Vanguard to the newest member of the team: Floyd the baseball bat. Cue Matt Hardy, so the Inner Circle, including Jericho with a baseball bat, to run away.

We run down next week’s card.

Christopher Daniels vs. Brodie Lee

Lee, with 10, is wearing the AEW World Title and declares himself champion. Daniels is tossed to the floor and a shot to the face knocks him down again. The rest of SCU argues with Lee though and Daniels gets back up for a suicide dive. The Arabian moonsault takes Lee down again and a slingshot elbow gets one. Lee is right back up with a big boot and the boot choke is on. The swinging Boss Man Slam gets two and we take a break.

Back with Daniels countering a backdrop into a DDT and a hurricanrana staggers Lee again. 10 offers a distraction so SCU cuts him off. Daniels grabs the Koji Clutch so SCU and Colt Cabana come in to cut off the Dark Order’s interference. Lee and Daniels aren’t couched so the match keeps going, with Daniels hitting Angel’s Wings for one. The Best Moonsault Ever press gets two so Daniels goes up again, only to dive into a powerbomb. The discus lariat finishes Daniels at 12:33.

Rating: C+. This was a good win for Lee and sets up the title match well. You can only get so much out of squash after squash so beating someone with Daniels’ reputation, especially after kicking out of his finisher like that, is a good way to go. They did this the right way and hopefully we get something even better from Lee vs. Moxley.

Post match Lee grabs the title so here’s Jon Moxley for the fight. Lee sends a member of the Dark Order after Moxley and leaves with 10 and the title. Moxley says Lee is going to pay for this with interest. The World Title is about a lot more than a piece of metal. At Double Or Nothing, Lee may very well find that his AEW career is over before it started. Moxley beats up the masked man to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. The point of this show was to set up Double Or Nothing and they did that very well. The wrestling was mostly good (though not all of it) and they made me want to see the pay per view. What helped a lot here was how they didn’t spend too much time on any one thing. It was a good balance of material from a lot of the feuds and that helps a lot on a show like this. They didn’t blow anything away here, but they accomplished the important goal.

Results

Best Friends b. Jurassic Express – Awful Waffle to Jungle Boy

Hikaru Shida b. Kris Stadtlander, Britt Baker and Penelope Ford – Running knee to Ford

Kenny Omega/Matt Hardy b. Santana and Ortiz – Twist of Fate to Ortiz

Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Lee Johnson – Fujiwara armbar

Chris Jericho b. Pineapple Pete – Judas Effect

Brodie Lee b. Christopher Daniels – Discus lariat

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: AEW

Dark
Date: March 17, 2020
Location: Maverik Center, West Valley City, Utah
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz
Hosts: Tony Schiavone, Dasha Gonzalez

This might be the last time that we see a large crowd for a large company and that makes me sad in a way. I’m hoping the show lives up to its status of being in this position, even if there was no reason to believe that it would be in the first place. So yeah, odds are it’s a normal show, which sounds great right now. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

The announcers run down the card.

Peter Avalon vs. Colt Cabana

Leva Bates is with Avalon of course and Cabana interrupts his pre-match speech, also of course. Avalon takes him into the corner to start but Colt gives him a heck of a chop. It’s time to crank on Avalon’s arms before taking him down into a bodyscissors. Back up and Avalon dropkicks him to the floor, with Cabana grabbing his knee.

Avalon’s high crossbody gets two and he grabs his own double arm crank. Cabana fights up again and hits the Flip Flop and Fly into a splash for two. That sends Avalon to the apron but Bates gets in Cabana’s way, setting up a tug of war. Avalon gets the better of it and nearly kisses her, only to get caught in the Superman pin at 5:42.

Rating: D+. Just a match here, but it shows what Cabana can do best: he’s a perfect choice for a way to open the show most weeks. The fans know who he is, he can be entertaining both with comedy and wrestling, and can go serious if necessary. This was fine enough for an opener, though it’s not like it was anything worth seeing.

Tony and Dasha don’t have much to say, though Tony does have a new shirt.

Hybrid 2 vs. Brandon Cutler/Michael Nakazawa

Evans and Angelico jump them to start as the fans chant for Nakazawa. We settle down to Evans hammering on Nakazawa until Angelico takes him down by the leg to crank away. Nakazawa’s comeback doesn’t last long as Angelico cranks on the arm, only to have Nakazawa oil his way to freedom. The oil gets him out of a double suplex as well and it’s Cutler coming in to clean house.

This includes a forearm, with Excalibur making fun of JR for calling it a Five Arm (since wrestling was invented in Japan/Mexico and nothing else matters to him, or at least that’s how it comes off). Anyway, Cutler kicks people in the head and drops a guillotine legdrop to the back of Angelico’s head on the apron. A top rope elbow gets two on Evans but Nakazawa oils Cutler in the face by mistake. Evans moonsaults onto Cutler, leaving Angelico to hit a running Razor’s Edge buckle bomb. The 630 gives Evans the pin on Nakazawa at 6:24.

Rating: C-. So, to recap, Excalibur is fine with a guy whose whole deal is pouring oil on himself and then spitting it in his partner’s eyes but JR calling a forearm a Five Arm (because for some reason the idea of the name is REALLY complicated I guess) is too far? But hey, he knows the “official” name for a suicide dive and wears a mask because he honors lucha libre tradition. Or something.

The hosts preview the next match.

Penelope Ford vs. Riho

Kip Sabian is here as well. Ford forearms her down to start but Riho bridges up at one. Some running knees in the corner have Ford in trouble until Sabian pulls Riho’s leg. That lets Ford hit a Stunner and hammer away on the mat, followed by the handspring elbow in the corner. A delayed vertical suplex gets two and Ford tries a bridge, only to get stomped in the ribs.

Riho hits a 619 (or tiger feint kick in case Rey Mysterio isn’t good enough for you) and a crucifix driver gets two. The top rope double stomp gets the same but Ford is right back with a fireman’s carry gutbuster. The V Trigger misses in the corner but Sabian offers a distraction, allowing Ford to hit a handspring Stunner. A fisherman’s suplex finishes Riho at 6:06.

Rating: C-. There was a bit too much interference here as Sabian got involved several times, but I can go with that by having a surprise ending. I wouldn’t have bet on having Riho lose here but it’s nice to see someone getting a chance. I’ve never quite gotten the huge star power in Riho, but if she’s as big of a deal as the fans treat her as, this shouldn’t hurt her that much.

Stu Grayson vs. Christopher Daniels

SCU gets ejected before the bell and Dark Order is tossed as well, meaning it’s one on one. A shoulder puts Grayson outside in a hurry so Daniels hits a baseball slide to send him into the barricade. Back in and a high crossbody gives Daniels two, only to have Grayson come back with a release Rock Bottom. Some rollups give Daniels two more so Grayson hits him in the throat.

A slingshot hilo to the apron (Grayson: “This is fun!”) crushes Daniels but he catches Grayson with an exploder suplex into the corner. The STO plants Grayson and the Blue Thunder Bomb gets the same. Grayson is back with a running knee for two but Nightfall is broken up. Angel’s Wings is countered as well though and Grayson hits a sitout TKO for a rather near fall.

Grayson takes too long to set up his own BME so Daniels slips away, setting up Angel’s Wings for two. A Downward Spiral sets up the Koji Clutch but a Creeper (or follower or the Dark Order as Excalibur puts it because he can’t remember the official name here, and yes I’m still on this) distracts the referee. Daniels takes care of him and counters Nightfall into a rollup for the pin at 10:06.

Rating: B-. You have this good match, which ties into a big story, taped and you don’t put it in on Dynamite? I’m not sure I get that but at least it was a lot better than anything else on the show. What matters here is making me care about the Exalted One and they have done that rather well, as I don’t know who it is going to be, which is a nice feeling to have.

Post match the Dark Order comes in but SCU and Colt Cabana run in for the save. Daniels calls out Evil Uno, saying there is no Exalted One.

Overall Rating: C. The main event helped it a lot but aside from that, this was your run of the mill, non-essential viewing episode of Dark. It’s very good that AEW has basically turned this into the B team show most of the time, as people like Nakazawa or Avalon have little reason to be close to Dynamite these days. Not a great show, but the main event wasn’t bad at all and advanced the big story for the week so well done there.

Results

Colt Cabana b. Peter Avalon – Superman pin

Hybrid 2 b. Michael Nakazawa/Brandon Cutler – 630 to Nakazawa

Penelope Ford b. Riho – Fisherman’s suplex

Christopher Daniels b. Stu Grayson – Rollup

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: AEW

Dynamite
Date: December 4, 2019
Location: State Farm Center, Champaign, Illinois
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone

Last week’s show ended on a big moment with Jon Moxley seemingly setting himself up as the next challenger to Chris Jericho’s World Title. They had a big feud in WWE so doing the same thing over here would be fine enough. Hopefully they can bounce back from a slightly down week last time. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Young Bucks/Dustin Rhodes vs. Sammy Guevara/Santana and Ortiz

The audio is all over the place, with the volume going from fine to so loud that I jumped to so low that I can barely understand commentary, all during the entrances. It’s a brawl to start with a triple superkick putting the Inner Circle on the floor. Stereo dives take them down again and Matt rolls Sammy with his northern lights suplexes. Matt can’t suplex all of them at once though and it’s a triple beatdown, setting up Sammy’s Swanton for two.

Santana and Ortiz do their handing off delayed vertical suplex but Matt slips out and hits the superkick as the audio is back up. Dustin comes in off the hot tag and throws some uppercuts, meaning it’s time for a breather. The snap powerslam hits Guevara and a triple crossbody puts down all of the Inner Circle. Dustin even busts out a Canadian Destroyer for two with Ortiz making a save.

Shattered Dreams is loaded up but Ortiz takes advantage of the distracted referee to get in a slap jack shot. Sammy’s 630 gets two and it’s back to Matt to pick up the pace until Nick hits a spear. The Meltzer Driver gets two with Ortiz making another save and seeming telling someone what they can suck (not sure it was him). The series of dives ends with Sammy taking Matt out on the floor and it’s a powerbomb/top rope knee combination for two as Dustin makes his own save.

Sammy grabs his phone and tries a shooting star press to….no one in particular but it lets the Bucks superkick him out of the air. A double superkick in the corner/Shattered Dreams combination hits Sammy and Nick goes up for a double spike Tombstone/backsplash to Sammy for the pin at 11:02.

Rating: C+. It was fun and entertaining with some big spots, but it felt like we had to get through the big spot sequence before we could get to the ending. That’s becoming a signature around this place and that isn’t a good thing. Aside from Sammy seemingly going nuts by trying a shooting star with no one there, the audio was the big problem here as it was all over the place to start, but it did get better by the end.

The announcers run down the card.

Trent vs. Fenix

Fenix wastes no time in going for the Black Fire Driver but Trent slips out, only to miss the Dudebuster. Trent tries to go to the middle rope but Fenix 619s the knee out and we take a break. Back with Trent hitting a tornado DDT for two, setting up a powerbomb to Trent for two more.

Fenix walks the rope to kick Trent in the head but gets clotheslined inside out. They head to the apron with Fenix staggering him and hitting a middle rope double stomp to the back. A piledriver gives Trent two more but Fenix rolls into his cutter. The Black Fire Driver finishes Trent at 11:01.

Rating: B-. I’m not sure what it says that it’s a relief that they didn’t put Trent over Fenix, who could be a top tag or singles name for a long time to come. Trent is a talented guy and a good bit better than Chuck, but when you see Chuck beat Pentagon, it’s a bit of a scare to see something like this booked. They got it right, but not without making me shiver a bit.

Here’s Cody for a chat. He talks about how he isn’t allowed to challenge for the World Title again but everything his gone nuts around here. His brother and the Young Bucks are in a blood feud with Santana and Ortiz, his wife has joined forces with a monster who steals women’s hair and then there’s the Butcher and the Blade. If they wanted a match with him, all they had to do was ask and they can even choose his partner.

That brings him to Maxwell Jacob Friedman, who had no business to throw in the towel at Full Gear. There are a lot of things people can criticize about MJF. He’s short, he might wear a fake scarf, and he does the worst Cross Rhodes in wrestling. Cody: “At least they’re botching it on two channels now.” Or maybe it’s the fact that he’s an NWO low rent Chris Jericho. But MJF won’t fight him, so Cody is willing to sweeten the pot.

Cody offers the keys to his Ford Black Ops (Google says it costs about $88,500), his watch from Tony Khan, and his Louis Vuitton shoes. If that’s not MJF’s speed, Cody brings out a briefcase with about $50,000 cash. To prove it’s real, he gives a kid in the front row $100 and the kid looks….confused? Anyway, come play ball with him and name your price. Cody is a great promo, NXT/WWE shot aside.

Joey Janela is ready to face Jon Moxley again and this time the match actually counts. Moxley is going to have to kill him to win. Moxley comes in, says “kids”, and leaves.

We see a man being initiated into the Dark Order.

Nyla Rose vs. Leva Bates

Rose boots her in the face to start and hangs Bates over the top rope. A top rope knee to the back of the head knocks Bates silly so Peter Avalon tries to come in. That means a double chokeslam and the Beast Bomb finishes Bates at 1:36.

Post match Nyla Beast Bombs her again but it’s Shanna, who Rose attacked last week, coming in for the save. A powerslam crushes Shanna though and Rose stands tall.

Here’s Chris Jericho, flanked by Jake Hager, for a chat. After shilling A Little Bit Of The Bubbly, Jericho pulls out a list….and the fans cheer. Actually they need to get out of 2016 because this is THE LEXICON OF LE CHAMPION! Anyway he has to wrestle one more time in two weeks to wrap up the year but he has some people he won’t wrestle:

Jon Moxley, Cody (“Because he can’t.”), the Young Bucks, Papa Buck, Uncle Buck, Buck Owens, Moxley, Hangman Page, Diamond Dallas Page, Paige, Moxley, Scorpio Sky, 2 Cold Scorpio, Any member of the Scorpions, Moxley, Michael Nakazawa, Kenny Omega, Kenny Ortega, Kenny Shields, Kenny Chesney, Kenny from South Park, Moxley, the chubby guy with the popcorn in the fifth row, the ugly guy with the dumb glasses in the third row, Moxley, Darby Allin, Rick Allen, Alan Jones (AJ Styles), Moxley, Evil Uno, Angry Dos, Hateful Tres, Moxley, Marty…..and here’s the Jurassic Express to interrupt.

Jericho says he wasn’t finished because dinosaurs and little children were up next. Luchasaurus roars at him and then speaks normally, bringing up that he can talk and has a degree in Medieval History. It’s no surprise that dinosaurs are on the list because they’ve been marginalized for 65 million years. Yes Marko is small, but he’s more of a man than Jericho will ever be. That leaves Jungle Boy, who Jericho dubs “a piece of s***”. Jericho doesn’t think Boy could last ten minutes with him, so Boy takes the mic and says he’ll take Jericho out. The fight is on with Hager and Jericho bailing.

Here’s where Dynamite is coming.

Nyla Rose powerbombed a referee during a break and has been suspended from in-ring action. Britt Baker is shown in the crowd in shock. Excalibur: “That’s Adam Cole’s girlfriend.”

Kris Stadtlander vs. Hikaru Shida

Kris starts with some cartwheels and forearms away as we take an early break. Back with Shida hitting a running knee off the apron and getting two off a dropkick. Shida goes for a Fujiwara armbar but the long legs make the rope without much effort. Kris hits an enziguri and a hard lariat, followed by an electric chair faceplant. The ax kick gives Kris two but Shida is back with another running knee. Then it’s a running knee but Kris grabs a Falcon Arrow for two more. A cradle Tombstone….actually finishes Shida at 8:24. Dang I’m rather surprised on that one.

Rating: C. I’m pleased on this one, though I’m also not sure about having Shida get pinned. That being said, they need to make some new stars and Stadtlander is good, unique looking and talented so I’ll certainly take this one. Not a great match, but they pulled the trigger on someone and that’s a good sign.

Post match here are Awesome Kong and Brandi Rhodes to dub themselves the Nightmare Collective, saying that they do the jobs no one wants to do. Kris is all up in her business and that may give Kris an opportunity. Brandi tells Kris to pledge herself to the Nightmare Collective right now but before there’s a yes, Kong gets in Kris’ face. A female fan at ringside offers to pledge and security lets her come to ringside. She lets Kong cut off her hair and that’s that. No answer from Kris, as she doesn’t seem interested in joining the newest cult/faction.

Pentagon Jr. vs. Christopher Daniels

Fallout from last week. They fight on the ramp before the bell with Pentagon getting the better of it. The bell rings inside and Daniels spears Pentagon down and hammers away, only to get caught on the middle rope. A top rope double stomp crushes Daniels and we take a break. Back with Pentagon springboarding into a Downward Spiral. He’s fine enough to get two off a Sling Blade and the Backstabber out of the corner is good for the same. Daniels hits a clothesline to the back of the head but has to block a Canadian Destroyer on the ramp.

Instead it’s an enziguri as Daniels heads back inside, where he can superkick Pentagon down to block a dive. Daniels loads up the Arabian moonsault onto the ramp but slips off and crashes badly (commentary mentions that it’s likely the result of the pinched nerve not being all the way back yet). They head back inside with Daniels hitting the Angel’s Wings, only to have Fenix throw in Daniels’ mic stand. Pentagon misses the running shot and gets caught with the STO, allowing Daniels to pick up the stand instead. That’s taken away so Pentagon kicks him low and this the Fear Factor for the pin at 8:49.

Rating: C+. Pentagon continues to be great and Daniels continues to wrestle about fifteen years younger than he is (in a good way). They got a little too busy at the end but it was a solid back and forth match almost all the way. Having Daniels’ body give out is a good story as well and ties back in while giving him an out for the loss in case the low blow wasn’t enough.

Butcher/Blade/Bunny are here because they’re sick of seeing Cody everywhere and want to cut the head off the snake.

Joey Janela vs. Jon Moxley

Jon wrestles him down to the mat in a hurry and grabs a headlock. Back up and they chop it out before heading out to the ramp. Moxley ax handles him down and we take an early break. Back with Moxley still in control and trying the Paradigm Shift on the apron, only to get countered into a tornado DDT. Janela has to bail out of something off the top and nails a suicide dive to take Moxley down again.

Back inside and Joey’s sunset bomb gets two, meaning it’s time to forearm it out. Janela hits a superkick, only to get clotheslined down. The Paradigm Shift is countered into a German suplex into the corner, setting up a big dive into a pile of chairs (with the camera missing most of it). A top rope elbow gives Janela two back inside but he can’t superplex Moxley. Instead he gets Paradigm Shifted onto the top rope, followed by the regular version to finish Janela at 9:33.

Rating: B-. Janela was working here and it made for a better match than I can remember seeing from him before. The ending wasn’t all the way in doubt (though I would have said the same thing about Stadtlander vs. Shida) but Joey was giving it his best and that made for a rather nice main event.

Post match the Inner Circle comes through the crowd to look at Moxley as he did last week.

Overall Rating: B-. I don’t know what it has been the last few weeks but something has been missing from AEW. Maybe the fresh feeling has worn off or something but it isn’t quite what it used to be. It’s still a good show, just not as energized or entertaining as it has been before.

If nothing else, they’re running into the problem of putting the same people out there. We’ve seen Moxley, Jericho, the Bucks, the Inner Circle, Rose, the Lucha Bros and the Best Friends several times now and those are some of the bigger names in the promotion. You can only present them so many times and they have been around almost every week so far. They need a little breather from them (not replacements, but short term substitutes) so their star power can show off a little bit more. Slightly better show than last week, but still not what they had been before.

Results

Dustin Rhodes/Young Bucks b. Santana and Ortiz/Sammy Guevara – Top rope backsplash to Guevara

Fenix b. Trent – Black Fire Driver

Nyla Rose b. Leva Bates – Beast Bomb

Kris Stadtlander b. Hikaru Shida – Cradle Tombstone

Pentagon Jr. b. Christopher Daniels – Fear Factor

Jon Moxley b. Joey Janela – Paradigm Shift

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: Ring Of Honor

Supercard of Honor XI
Date: April 1, 2017
Location: Jenkins Arena, Lakeland, Florida
Attendance: 3,500
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana, Kevin Kelly

This was requested at some point and I might as well knock it out. It’s the Wrestlemania weekend show down in Orlando, which is usually pretty entertaining. It’s also usually pretty long, which is quite the problem around here. The main event is a ladder match between the Young Bucks and the Hardy Boyz, which has awesome spectacle written all over it. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at tonight’s big matches and why some people come here.

We’re in the arena…and there’s no audio from commentary. It’s especially weird because the graphics showing the matches have sound, but not the people talking.

TV Title: Marty Scurll vs. Adam Cole

Scurll is defending and Cole, part of the Bullet Club, is running out of time around here. Marty kicks away a handshake offer because he knows what Cole is thinking. They go with the technical sequence to start but neither can get anywhere other than to a standoff. Cole strikes the pose so Marty rolls away and flaps his arms. A takedown lets Cole run the ropes and go with the Kevin Owens chinlock, which is broken up in short order. Scurll sends him outside for chops against the barricade but Cole grabs the umbrella.

Marty gets the belt and it’s an evil standoff. A missed big boot lets Scurll hit his apron superkick and it’s back inside with Scurll spitting at him. That fires Cole up enough for the fireman’s carry backbreaker as the fans sound completely split. An exchange of low superkicks goes to Scurll and a brainbuster gets two. Since he takes forever loading up the chickenwing though, Cole is ready with an enziguri, followed by a sliding kick to the face for two.

Never being one to learn, Cole loads up his own chickenwing but his own dancing setup lets Scurll roll him up instead. The finger snap staggers Cole but his feet are fine enough for some superkicks. The package piledriver gets two and it’s time to grab the belt. With the referee taking it away, Scurll breaks the umbrella upside Cole’s head, followed by a piledriver for two more. Cole gets two of his own off a Tombstone but it’s two more finger snaps into another piledriver to knock him silly. The chickenwing retains Scurll’s title at 12:59.

Rating: B-. Pushing Scurll as a bigger name is a good idea for ROH, especially with Cole on his way out. The wrestling was an interesting exchange between two heels and Scurll was just better overall. Cole’s issues with the Bullet Club continue and you can feel the split coming from here. Nice opener though, as the crowd was into both guys.

We recap Silas Young/Beer City Bruiser vs. the Kingdom. The Kingdom needed a partner to defend the Six Man Tag Team Titles so Silas offered his services but the team lost the titles, with Silas not taking the pin. Tonight it’s about settling things.

The Kingdom vs. Beer City Bruiser/Silas Young

The still injured TK O’Ryan is the odd man out here. Before the match, Matt Taven insults the crowd and O’Ryan says he’s sick of hearing the stupid fans offering their condolences. Not to be outdone, Silas says the loss was the Kingdom’s fault because they’re boys instead of men. It’s a brawl to start with Silas being sent into the barricade, allowing Marseglia to dive off the apron. Bruiser comes in to clean house and yells at Marseglia, which is the next logical step in a match.

Marseglia calls Bruiser a pumpkin and gets crossbodied for two with Taven springboarding in for the save. A headlock driver puts Bruiser down again and it’s time for a slugout with Silas. The springboard clothesline sends Taven outside and it’s a double superplex into stereo frog splashes from Bruiser and Taven for two each. Bruiser dives onto Taven for the squash spot but Marseglia stops….for a cigar? Silas avoids being blinded by the lit cigar, hits Misery and smokes the cigar as he gets the pin at 6:57.

Rating: C. Not a bad little brawl here and anytime you keep Bruiser’s ring time short, it’s probably a good idea. The story makes sense and it pushes Young and Bruiser, possibly towards a title shot, and Silas getting the pin makes even more sense. Seeing the Kingdom lose is just a bonus.

Bully Ray is ready to defend the Six Man Tag Team Titles because it’s a big deal. He’s still new around here and has already had a bunch of firsts. Tonight, he’ll have another first when he faces God (the Guerrillas of Destiny that is), who he just happened to train.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Bully Ray/Briscoes vs. Bullet Club

The Club (Hangman Page/Guerrillas of Destiny) is challenging. Tama and Mark start things off and the fans are into the Club (shocking I know) as they trade clotheslines. For some reason Mark decides to headbutt a Tongan and gets forearmed backwards but a crossbody works a bit better. Jay comes in but a blind tag brings in Loa for a hard clothesline of his own.

The headbutts actually work on Loa until a powerslam puts Jay down again. A double backdrop doesn’t work and it’s off to Bully for the big showdown. He wants a handshake because that’s how the Guerrillas were taught but the beatdown is on instead. Ray and Loa slap it out with Ray going up top and diving onto everyone, setting up What’s Up on Tonga.

It’s table time but the Club takes the Briscoes down to break it up. Ray’s spear is enough to keep Page down for the tag off to Mark for the house cleaning. Mark dives onto Tama but Page is right off the apron with the running shooting star. Everything breaks down and it’s the parade of big moves that aren’t even secondary finishers. Tama and Page get caught in a double Doomsday Device and the Super 3D finishes Loa at 13:30.

Rating: C+. This was a nice brawl and the teacher vs. student story, while not exactly emphasized here, worked as a story for the match. Bully being treated as a legend is a bit of a stretch but at least he’s someone with some status who isn’t going straight to the World Title picture. Also, it’s nice to see the Bullet Club not win even more titles, though this isn’t their top lineup anyway. Oh and the table didn’t get used?

We recap Cody vs. Jay Lethal. Cody debuted against Jay at Final Battle and turned heel to beat him. Lethal wants revenge and since Cody is the son of Dusty Rhodes, it’s a Texas bull rope match between a guy from New Jersey and a guy from Georgia in Florida.

Cody vs. Jay Lethal

Pin/submission to win. They’re in street clothes because that’s how you have a bullrope match. Cody does make up for it a bit with a LETHAL SUCKS EGGS shirt. Hang on though as Cody needs to go outside before the rope is attached. We get going with Jay choking but getting stomped down in the corner.

That just earns Cody chops and stomps in the corner before Jay gets smart by tying Cody up with the rope. There’s a posting and Cody comes up bloody. Lethal goes with both the side and bottom of the bell to the head before bringing in a chair. Naturally he takes too long setting it up though and gets pulled off the ropes into said chair to give Cody his first advantage. The Flip Flop and Fly is broken up, as is the Lethal Injection with a pull of the rope.

Cody goes after the knee with the bell and gets in a shot to the ribs as a bonus. The table is set up on the floor before Cody goes with the Figure Four. Jay gets smart by hitting him in the head with the bell for the break but Cody slams him off the top through the table for a well received crash. Back in and a low blow sets up Cross Rhodes for a close two followed by a boot to the head. A superplex is countered and Hail to the King gets two. The Lethal Injection finishes Cody at 17:23.

Rating: B-. They did a good job here with the vindication for Jay as Cody takes his first loss. I know ROH (and many other companies) love Cody but sometimes you need to have him lose and this is the kind of match where that should happen. The bullrope wasn’t used all that much but it was just enough of a factor to make it worthwhile.

Post match Cody hands Jay the bell, which is….symbolic?

Intermission, thankfully skipped on the video.

Motor City Machine Guns vs. Cheeseburger/Will Ferrara vs. Rebellion

Rhett Titus and Shane Taylor for the Rebellion. Egads I had forgotten how pathetic that stable was. Titus and Cheeseburger get things going and it’s quickly off to Ferrara, who picks Cheeseburger up to drive him into Titus in the corner. Sabin comes in to trade rollups with Ferrara for two each before a blindly tagged in Shelley sends Ferrara to the floor.

Everything breaks down (What took them so long?) and the Guns clear the ring until Titus gets in a shot from behind to take over. We settle down to Taylor crushing Ferrara with a jumping legdrop but Titus’ splash hits knees. Cheeseburger comes in and tries the rapid fire chops, which have no effect on Titus. A springboard knee to the side of the head works a bit better but Taylor makes the save.

Titus boots Cheeseburger in the face and gets two off the frog splash. The Guns are left alone in the ring but it’s a bunch of kicks from the apron instead of the dives for a change of pace. Back in and Cheeseburger cleans house with the palm strikes until Taylor punches him out of the air. The Guns come back in with the Dream Sequence and something like a double Death Valley Driver finishes Cheeseburger at 9:24.

Rating: C. It was entertaining but this should have been a dark match to let the show breathe a little more. It’s not like this meant anything of note so having it on the card just made things longer than it needed to be. The Guns winning is fine as they’re the best of the three teams, but it’s nothing I needed to see.

Post match Ferrara isn’t happy with Cheeseburger for losing but here’s Punishment Martinez to scare Ferrara off. Martinez is in a match next so let’s cut out the stuff in between.

Punishment Martinez vs. Frankie Kazarian

Kazarian goes right after him in the corner but gets muscled across the ring and onto another corner. A shot to the face knocks Kazarian outside and that means the big dive over the top, which always looks awesome. Kazarian gets sent into the barricade and a release suplex slam have him in more trouble inside.

A Backstabber into a backsplash gets Kazarian a breather but Martinez is right back with a torture rack faceplant for two. The slingshot DDT really staggers Martinez and Kazarian follows him with a dive. Another slingshot into a cutter gives Kazarian two and the springboard spinning legdrop is good for the same. Cue Hangman Page for a distraction though and the South of Heaven chokeslam finishes Kazarian at 6:02.

Rating: C-. Weakest match of the night so far as it was little more than a glorified squash for the most part. Page and Kazarian having issues make sense as they’ve hated each other for a LONG time, but this felt forced in again. Martinez getting a win is a nice thing to see, but I’m not sure how much it needed to be on the show.

Now we get the intermission video.

Here’s Bobby Fish, who had been rumored to be on his way out of the company. He’s not done around here yet though and there are people on his list. Jay Lethal is on the top of that list…but here’s Silas Young to interrupt instead. Silas is tired of hearing Fish’s excuses for not beating Jay Lethal and they just make him a dime store punk. You know what that means.

Bobby Fish vs. Silas Young

Silas jumps him to start and they’re off fast. They head outside with an exchange of whips into the barricade, followed by Fish kicking him in the chest back inside. The referee gets his leg kicked out though and here’s a second referee. This one takes a chair away from Silas, who shoves him down for the DQ at 2:29. Uh, ok then.

Post match Fish spears Young through the ropes but gets spinebustered onto a pair of chairs. Security gets rid of Young. The post match match stuff was more interesting than the match itself.

Volador Jr./Will Ospreay vs. Dragon Lee/Jay White

International showcase. White and Ospreay start things off in a match that would be quite different just a few years later. Ospreay does the rapid fire nipups (without actually getting up) to escape a wristlock and we have an early standoff. White misses a kick to the head and it’s off to Volador vs. Dragon Lee, the latter of whom flips into the ring like a luchador should. The rapid fire trips and headscissors give us a standoff until Lee hurricanranas him to the floor for a suicide dive, which the camera misses.

White comes back in and forearms Volador down but it’s quickly back to Lee, who gets taken down as well. That means Ospreay comes in again as this is as fast paced as you would expect. Ospreay’s handspring moonsault double kick to the head takes but Lee is up with a running hurricanrana over the top to the floor. The series of dives begins but White catches Ospreay and brainbusts him on the top. Back in and White’s missile dropkick gets two on Ospreay and it’s a Downward Spiral into a German suplex.

Volador and Lee come in for some dropkicks and all four are down for a much needed breather. Lee’s Alberto Del Rio top rope double stomp gets two on Volador and it’s time for a luchador strike off. Lee gets in a snap German suplex but Volador is right up with a tornado DDT and a Canadian Destroyer. Just because he can, Ospreay runs the corner for a shooting star to the floor to take Lee out, leaving Volador to hit a (somewhat botched) super hurricanrana to pin White at 13:57.

Rating: B. Yeah what else were you expecting here? This was four guys going insane on each other for some time in front of a big crowd on a big show and it was one of the most entertaining things all night long. The action was great and it was exactly what it was supposed to be throughout. I’m not sure what else there is to say here and that’s a good thing to have on a card.

Christopher Daniels enjoys an Appletini and is very proud of winning the World Title but he’s ready to do anything to defend it, including against Dalton Castle.

Dalton Castle was getting worried about facing Daniels but then it hit him: he’s Dalton Castle and he’s fantastic.

ROH World Title: Dalton Castle vs. Christopher Daniels

Daniels is defending and Castle has the Boys with him. In something you don’t hear too often, Cabana flat out says that Daniels is 100% the better wrestler. They shake hands and we’re ready to go. They take their time to start with a wristlock not getting anyone anywhere. The fans are split here as you probably expected but it’s time to fan Castle off a bit. Castle can’t get a gutwrench suplex but he can hit the Peacock Pose to scare Daniels off a bit.

Daniels even takes Castle’s seat in the corner and asks for a fanning of his own, with the Boys having to stop themselves before they do the wrong thing. An O’Connor roll doesn’t work for Castle so Daniels sends him outside and steals the fans. Wait can he do that? The fans don’t seem to think so and the Boys get in to yell at him, allowing Castle to slap on a waistlock. A clothesline sends Daniels outside and we hit the strut. Back in and the waistlock goes on again but Daniel nails an STO to take over.

The champ gets two off a tilt-a-whirl slam and the Kofi Clutch goes on with Castle grabbing the mat, which Cabana insists was a tap. Castle gets to the rope and comes up with some shots to the face and a German suplex. Daniels gets laid over the top rope for a running knee to the head as the announcers debate sarcasm. With Castle in the ring, Daniels takes out the Boys, sending a flying Castle through the ropes to crush Daniels, as he should. Back in and a Blue Thunder Bomb gets two and a release Rock Bottom plants Castle.

The BME is countered with a German suplex (cool) and the Bang a Rang gets the very close two. Daniels is right back with a Downward Spiral into another Koji Clutch but Castle powers up (Cabana: “No. No. NO!”). The Angel’s Wings and Bang a Rang are countered so Castle tries a German suplex with Daniels kicking him in the leg and rolling him up to retain at 15:47.

Rating: B-. Not bad here but there was no way that this was going to be able to live up to some of the other matches. Daniels definitely felt like a transitional champion even a few weeks into his title reign and there’s nothing wrong with that. They were really playing up the idea that Castle made a step towards the title and it was a good story to spend the rest of the year on.

Post match they shake hands but Cody runs in to jump them both and hold up the titles. Kazarian makes a save.

We recap the main event and….it’s the Young Bucks vs. the Hardys in a ladder match. I think we have this covered.

Tag Team Titles: Hardys vs. Young Bucks

The Bucks are challenging in a ladder match. The Hardys aren’t allowed to be Broken here….but they’re Broken. We get the staredown with the Hardys throwing down the Superkick Titles (stolen from the Bucks) and the fight is on because you don’t throw down vanity titles. It’s the Hardys taking over with their usual to start until Jeff dives into a superkick and Matt’s bulldog is broken up with another. Top rope knees connect on Jeff’s chest and Nick rolls across the ring for a Backstabber.

The Hardys are right back up with stereo Twists of Fate and we’ve got the first ladders. Granted that takes some time so the Bucks dive onto both of them but it’s WAY too early for a serious climb. The chops in the corner give us a DELETE/THE ELITE dueling chant and it’s a double DDT to send Nick outside. Matt throws Matt (erg) Jackson to the apron and Jeff ladders him through a table for the first big crash.

With the Bucks down, Matt tells Jeff to set up a kind of teeter totter but the Bucks get back up (because this took its sweet time) and Matt sets up a pair of tables on the floor. Back in and Matt uses the teeter totter to drive a ladder into Jeff’s face and Matt dives onto Matt (Hardy). A top rope 450 drives Jeff through a table, leaving us with a battle of the Matt’s on top of a big ladder. Nick comes in to make it the powerbomb into the enziguri in the corner but we need to stop for a superkick to Jeff.

The Hardys are back up for a Spin Cycle (that spinning double belly to back suplex thing of theirs) to drive Nick through a ladder but it’s Matt back up with a slingshot DDT to drive Jeff onto the apron. For your first really crazy spot, Nick goes up a small ladder, gets shoves onto a big ladder, falls from the big ladder to the top, and springboards into a spinning splash onto Jeff through a table. I think that description sums that up well enough.

Somehow Nick is up fast enough to slug it out with Matt on top of the ladder for a slugout and the DELETE/SUCK IT chants. They both crash for the four way knockdown but of course they’re all going up just a few moments later. A near crash sends Nick and Matt (Hardy) down and Jeff from one ladder to another (just go with it) until Matt (Hardy) has to shove Matt off the big ladder and through a table at ringside.

Nick shrugs off a double stomp in the corner and strikes away as his brother gets back in for a bunch of superkicks. Matt (Hardy) clotheslines the Bucks down and they’re all on the mat (oh come on) again. Nick and Jeff are backdropped over the top through tables and Matt Side Effects Matt (Jackson) off the apron through another table. The fans are behind the Bucks as all four come back in and both teams climb their own ladder. The Bucks are on the bigger one though and a pair of superkicks knock the Hardys down to give us new champions at 25:25.

Rating: A. Like this was going to be anything else. They hyped it up exactly this way and that’s what you got, with the Hardys again showing how great they still can be and making a big impact. The fact that they would return to WWE less than 24 hours later and win another ladder match for the Raw Tag Team Titles was even more impressive. This was awesome though, with a pretty obvious ending not hurting it one bit. Incredible stuff, and were you expecting anything different?

Post match Matt (Hardy) says the Bucks are the best tag team they’ve ever faced. He’s not sure how much longer he and Jeff can do this but they know the future of tag team wrestling is safe. Matt and Jeff knee to show respect and Jeff promises to celebrate by fading away and classifying themselves as obsolete. They said the same thing to the Lucha Bros the previous night at the WrestleCon Supershow. Celebrating takes us out.

Overall Rating: B+. For once, I think I might be questioning if I made the right choice by going to Takeover: Orlando on the same night. I mean, the fact that this was about an hour’s drive from my hotel instead of ten minutes away aside that is. They didn’t overstay their welcome here and the show never felt long, though there were a few things that could have been cut out to save some time. Almost everything ranged from very good to more than watchable though and the main event is a classic, so I’m not sure what more you could want here. Very entertaining show, as you had to expect.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

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

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

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor Wrestling

Final Battle 2018
Date: December 14, 2018
Location: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana

As tends to be the case, this is the best promotion of a show that ROH has done all year and that’s the best thing that could happen on the biggest show of the year. The big question here is whether this will be the last big show for Cody and the Young Bucks, who both happen to be in title matches tonight. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at Cody debuting here two years ago and then losing the World Title here last year. The rest of the big matches get some attention as well.

The announcers run down more of the card.

Kenny King vs. Eli Isom

They added an extra hour to this show and this is the kind of thing they spent the extra time on? Before the match, King says he doesn’t want to be here against a commercial for the ROH Dojo. Tonight, King gets to prove that the old school is better than the new school. King knocks Isom into the corner to take over and sends him outside for the big corkscrew dive. A clothesline hits the post but Isom can’t do anything because King can beat him up with one arm.

Back in and Isom goes with three straight leapfrogs into a knee to the face to send King outside. That means the no hands flip dive as the fans are already getting into Isom. Isom’s armbar doesn’t get him far as King dropkicks him down and grabs a reverse suplex into a Stunner. Isom hits an enziguri and gets two off a very low lifting powerbomb. King is right back with Be Kind Rewind for two with King pulling him up before three. A quick Gory Bomb sets up a backslide driver for two on King but he dives into the Samoan driver for the pin at 9:00.

Rating: C-. Not a great match or anything but Isom has been a very pleasant surprise in the last few months. While he’s not great in the ring, I was expecting another Cheeseburger and got someone I could see turning into a completely solid midcarder one day. He had a nice performance here and with while he wasn’t ready to beat King, it was nice to see him hanging in there with him.

Post match King won’t shake his hand.

We recap Adam Page vs. Jeff Cobb. Jeff showed up and immediately won the TV Title but Page isn’t impressed. He wants to show that someone is just as strong as Cobb and can hang with him everywhere. I’m not sure if he can do that, but I’m also not sure Page can’t pull it off, which makes for an entertaining match.

TV Title: Jeff Cobb vs. Adam Page

Cobb is defending. Page isn’t playing here and goes right at Cobb with some running forearms and big boots to the jaw. He keeps getting shoved off but Page goes at him again and again as they’re certainly starting fast. Another dropkick puts Cobb on the floor but he catches the shooting star off the apron and sends Page flying with an overhead belly to belly. Back in and Page takes the knee out but mostly misses a Lionsault (barely slapping Cobb’s chest) for two.

Page heads up but gets caught in a fifteen second one armed superplex (good freaking grief). Cobb’s standing shooting star (because of course) misses so he goes to the middle rope, only to have Page roll through a crossbody into a fall away slam. That sends Cobb outside for the suicide dive and the middle rope moonsault as the fans are losing it over this stuff. Back in and Page hits a pair of running shooting stars for two and it’s time for the big slugout.

Cobb pulls Page out of the corner and flips him up into a sitout Tombstone for two more and Page is shaken. He’s fine enough to hit a superkick and a pair of discus forearms to rattle Cobb, who headbutts him right out to the apron. That’s the perfect place for the Buckshot Lariat but the Right of Passage is countered into a release F5 for two more. The Tour of the Islands is countered into a crucifix but another Buckshot Lariat attempt doesn’t work, allowing Cobb to hit the Tour of the Islands on the second attempt. Cobb isn’t done though and hits a second in a row to retain at 13:34.

Rating: B+. Cobb is right there with Brian Cage for the THAT’S NOT NORMAL award. He’s big and stout but can do flips and dives while also being an Olympic wrestler. I mean, what are you supposed to do with someone like that? At the same time, Page has become one of the most well rounded workers in the company and would have a rocket attached to his back if and when he winds up in NXT. This was a blast and worth checking out.

Madison Rayne talks about training her entire career for this moment.

Kelly Klein wants a fair title shot. These are the same promos that aired on TV.

We recap the Women’s Title match, which is basically Sumie Sakai defending against most of the division.

Women of Honor Title: Sumie Sakai vs. Kelly Klein vs. Karen Q vs. Madison Rayne

Sakai is defending under elimination rules with Mandy Leon on commentary. Kelly and Madison fight in one corner while the others fight in another, leaving Leon to offer her, ahem…eh screw the sarcasm. She’s really not good at this and we’d be better off with Caprice Coleman instead. Klein and Karen are sent outside with Sumie chopping away at Madison and getting two off a middle rope crossbody.

Karen breaks up a crossface chickenwing on Madison for no apparent reason and puts both of them in a Boston crab at the same time. Kelly and Karen start double teaming Madison with a t-bone suplex, only to have Karen kick Kelly in the face by mistake. We get the required Tower of Doom with Kelly handling the powerbombing but Sumie hangs onto the top and hits a missile dropkick on Kelly. It doesn’t do much damage though as Kelly is up with K Power to finish Karen at 6:56.

Madison hits a quick tornado DDT for two on Kelly and the Rayne Drop gets the same on Sumie. The champ is right back up with Smash Mouth to Madison and Kelly steals the pin at 8:58 to get us down to two. Sumie takes her down into a cross armbreaker but Kelly keeps her grip. The powerbomb isn’t enough to break it up so they stand up where Smash Mouth can connect for two. A hurricanrana is countered into a powerbomb to give Klein two and K Power gets the same. Super K Power finally gives us a new champion at 13:41.

Rating: C. Not bad but they didn’t have the epic match that they were shooting for. No matter what Ring of Honor tried to do, Sumie’s title reign wasn’t epic and the title change is just a regular title change. There’s nothing special or important about this because Sumie’s time with the title wasn’t all that great. She wasn’t interesting and her matches were nothing of note, but the company stuck with her forever and it made the title seem less and less important every time.

Kelly is presented with the title and hugs Sakai. Totally out of character for Kelly but when does that ever stop anyone?

Jonathan Gresham wants to prove himself against the other best technical wrestler in the world.

Jonathan Gresham vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

This should be awesome. Sabre slaps him in the face before the bell and Gresham manages to stay calm. Gresham wins the early wrestle off and they’re both right back up. It turns into a shoving match until Sabre takes him down by the wrist. Gresham grabs the leg to escape but can’t get much further than that. Some headlocks into headscissors let Sabre grab a hammerlock before going back to the headscissors to keep Gresham down.

Gresham manages to lock up the legs and sit up for a slugout but it’s another standoff as the fans are very pleased. They hit the mat again with Gresham grabbing the arm until Sabre fights up and grabs an abdominal stretch. He even rolls down into an armbar on the mat as the crazy counters continue. Back up and Sabre uppercuts him, with Gresham saying bring it on. It turns into a slap off, which just looks pathetic no matter what explanation they have. Throw punches already.

A half crab has Sabre in trouble but he reverses into a triangle choke because that’s something people can do. That’s reversed into the Octopus, which Sabre reverses into an ankle lock. Gresham turns that into an ankle lock of his own until Sabre rolls out and hits a kick to the chest. Another strike off goes to Sabre but he misses a moonsault, allowing Gresham to drop a knee on the arm. The armbar is countered into a cradle with Sabre bridging off his head for the pin (like the cocky jerk that he is) at 11:49.

Rating: B. This felt like something out of Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit from the 2003 Royal Rumble where Benoit got caught instead of getting beaten. It was exactly what this should have been with both guys looking incredible and having an excellent display of holds and counterholds. There’s going to be a rematch at some point, and that should certainly be the case.

Sabre won’t shake hands, because he’s a jerk.

We recap Dalton Castle vs. Matt Taven. Castle is back from an injury but Taven called him weak for missing time. Taven also says that he’s the real World Champion so a win over Castle would be a big deal for him.

Dalton Castle vs. Matt Taven

Castle has an army of Boys and is rolled out on the back of a glittery mini stage. Sounds normal for him. TK O’Ryan insists that Taven be introduced as the REAL World Champion and we get some confetti falling. Matt is feeling extra generous tonight and makes this a title match, with Castle touching the title because why not. It’s straight into a slugout to start and they head outside. Back in and Castle strikes the peacock pose so Taven sends him to the apron.

A springboard kick to the face knocks Castle off but the Boys catch him, allowing Castle to come back in and slug away. Taven knocks him outside for a running dropkick through the ropes and a suicide dive, but the big no hands dive hits barricade. Castle hammers away a bit more but Taven scores with a backbreaker back inside. The seated armbar gets Castle out of trouble until Taven flips out of the corner and grabs a DDT for two. A short DDT plants Taven again but O’Ryan gets in a cheap shot.

The Boys take him out but Marseglia comes out from underneath the ring for a double DDT. The distracted referee lets Taven get in a belt shot for two with frustration setting in on the kickout. Castle dropkicks him off the apron and hits a hurricanrana from the apron. The Bang A Rang sends Taven into the post so the Kingdom gets involved again, earning themselves a double ejection. Back in and another Bang A Rang gets two with Taven grabbing the rope. Another attempt is escaped and Taven knees him in the face. The Climax gives Taven the pin at 15:50.

Rating: B. I liked this one more than I was expecting to, with Castle not being able to overcome the odds and eventually falling clean to Taven in the end. Taven might not be the most interesting guy in the world, but at least they’re pushing him very hard and he’ll likely get the World Title at Supercard of Honor in April.

We recap Marty Scurll vs. Christopher Daniels. Scurll beat Daniels to win the World Title shot at Survival of the Fittest, with Daniels claiming he would have won in a one on one match. Scurll agreed to put the title shot on the line, but Daniels only has one match left on his contract. Therefore, it’s title shot vs. career.

Christopher Daniels vs. Marty Scurll

Daniels has a bad neck coming in. Feeling out process to start with an exchange of shoves and Daniels headlocking him down. Scurll slips out and pats him on the bald head, which of course means war. Another takedown sets up a hammerlock on Scurll, followed by the slingshot elbow for two. Scurll elbows him to the floor but misses the superkick from the apron. Instead Daniels pulls him down for the Arabian moonsault.

Back in and Marty hits a superplex to send Daniels outside again. That means the apron superkick can connect, followed by a regular one against the barricade. Back in and they chop it out but Scurll grabs a neckbreaker to stay on…well the neck of course. There’s a dropkick to the back and Daniels’ neck is jarred all over again. The cravate doesn’t last long and Daniels shrugs off a half and half suplex to hit a Blue Thunder Bomb. A belly to back faceplant gets two and the Lionsault gives Daniels the same.

To mix things up a bit, Daniels pulls Scurll up by the fingers but, being nicer than he was in his younger years, goes with some chops instead. Scurll kicks the leg out and gets two off a piledriver as the fans chant for Bruiser Brody (I think). The chickenwing is countered into a cradle and Daniels busts out a Burning Hammer for two.

Angel’s Wings is countered into a Tombstone with the Undertaker cover getting two. Scurll snaps the fingers but Daniels hits a not completely locked Angel’s Wings for two more. The Best Moonsault Ever misses and Marty superkicks him twice. Graduation gets two so Marty stomps on the neck to knock Daniels silly, setting up the chickenwing for the tap at 17:36.

Rating: B. Another good match here with a very well told story. Daniels wasn’t the man he used to be and didn’t quite have it anymore while Scurll was more than willing to be the villain that he was born to be. Daniels going out in defeat is exactly what you would expect here and it was a heck of a big win for Scurll. Well done all around and the ending was exactly as it should have gone.

Post match Scurll leaves and Daniels gets the big moment….until Bully Ray comes in to low blow him. Ray calls out Flip Gordon and it’s time for the I Quit match, which is all about Ray being a jerk to the younger Gordon, who he doesn’t think is a man.

Flip Gordon vs. Bully Ray

Gordon is in military gear and comes through the crowd carrying the American flag. He comes over the barricade and springboards in with a Phenomenal forearm as commentary is completely behind Gordon here. They fight to the floor with Ray being sent into the barricade for a running forearm. A trashcan to the head gets Ray out of trouble and it’s time for a table. Ray can’t powerbomb him through it though and Gordon grabs another table as commentary admits that they’re a bit biased here. Just in case you’re kind of dumb you see.

Ray gets in what looked like a chain shot and stops to yell at various executives before shoving ring announcer Bobby Cruise. The referee yells at him too and gets tossed aside, leaving Ray to threaten ROH ambassador Cary Silkin. Daniels runs back in and dives over Silkin to protect him but gets dropped as well. Gordon gets thrown down but won’t quite. Instead Ray grabs Gordon’s girlfriend and threatens to powerbomb her through the table.

The bloody Gordon wants to quit (without actually doing it) to save her but Silkin hits Ray with the kendo stick instead. Gordon gets up and makes the save before giving his girlfriend a very bloody kiss. A top rope flag shot to the head sets up a Crossface with the flag but Silas Young runs in for the save and Misery. It’s time for lighter fluid both on Gordon and a table so here’s Cheeseburger to go after Young.

That earns him Misery (shame they didn’t burn him instead) so Colt Cabana comes in to fight them both until a low blow from Young stops him as well. Silas gets the lighter….and there go the lights because Sandman is here. On the biggest ROH show of the year because THIS NEEDS TO BE ABOUT ECW TOO!!! Beer is consumed and Ray misses a charge, allowing Gordon to hit a good superkick (Sandman didn’t hit Ray). A less good Star Spangled Stunner lets Gordon grab a pair of kendo sticks and unload on Ray for the win at 14:23.

Rating: C+. I’m not sure on this one. They had a bunch of stuff that fit with the story, but at the same time there was too much crammed into less than fifteen minutes. Gordon winning on his own in the end was the right call so they got the finish right, but at the same time there wasn’t enough of a focus on him having to fight back and overcome the adversity. I did like it and it was good, but they needed either more time or less stuff. Like less Sandman for example.

Caprice Coleman joins commentary to replace Cabana.

We recap the World Title match. Cody debuted here two years ago at Final Battle and then lost the World Title to Dalton Castle here last year. He hasn’t gotten a one on one title rematch yet so tonight it’s his second match against Lethal at Final Battle. This hasn’t been a strong build, but that happens a lot with the World Title.

ROH World Title: Cody vs. Jay Lethal

Cody is defending and has Brandi Rhodes with him. He’s also in military gear, which is probably too close to the previous match. Jay has a wish list on his back, ala Cody’s list when he left WWE for a nice touch. Hang on though as Cody grabs the mic and says it sounds like the fans love him. Fans: “WE DON’T LOVE YOU!” Well you can’t say they aren’t being clear about their thoughts.

Cody certainly doesn’t love them, because if he did, he would be working the Madison Square Garden show. That earns him a Stardust chant and Cody is a little panicked. Jay says this is his company and he’s leaving the new gold of the company dull. Feeling out process to start with Cody not being able to take over on the leg. A headlock doesn’t work either and Cody slides between the legs but comes up holding his own knee. Of course he’s faking and slides outside for a kiss from Brandi and a chorus of booing.

Lethal hits another dropkick, stops to glare at the crowd (interesting), and fails at the Lethal Combination. Instead Cody starts in on the arm but pauses for some pushups. The Disaster Kick misses though and Lethal kicks the knee out again. If you’re going with a regular knee attack, why do the fake knee injury earlier? The knee gets wrapped around the post but Lethal hasn’t completed the Ric Flair requirements yet, meaning no Figure Four.

Jay kicks at the leg before getting an O’Connor roll but Brandi distracts the ref. Said ref is sent into the corner for a distraction, allowing Brandi to hit a spear (with her surgically repaired shoulder, her new finisher) to set up Cross Rhodes for a near fall. Back up and the referee won’t let Lethal hit Shattered Dreams so Brandi comes in again, only to spear Cody by mistake. Lethal tries the Lethal Injection but hits Brandi (I use the word hits loosely as it wasn’t even close), mainly due to Cody pulling her in the way.

Another Cross Rhodes gets another two and Cody slaps on the Figure Four….with the bell ringing because Adam Page runs in to ring it. I’m not sure why you would do that, as you already had Jay in trouble and ring the bell in a hurry instead of letting it do more damage. In theory it’s to allow more interference, but it seems a little more complicated than it needs to be. Lethal hits his own Cross Rhodes for two but Hail to the King hits Cody’s knee.

As it turns out that hurts the knee again, allowing Jay to knock him outside for the triple suicide dives. Eh it’s Final Battle though so let’s make it SEVEN, though Cody is fine enough to block the eighth with a spit of water to the face. Din’s Fire (Vertebreaker) gives Cody two and Jay kicks Cody into the referee. That means a belt shot to Cody’s knee, some low superkicks, the Lethal Injection, more low superkicks, and the Figure Four to retain at 23:51.

Rating: B-. There were a few too many shenanigans here with Lethal teasing a heel turn to go with everything else going on. With Cody likely leaving soon, I’m not complaining about Lethal retaining, but he seems to be in the middle of a six month filler reign. This place really does need some better main eventers, and as usual it feels like they take WAY too long to set people up.

Post match Scurll comes out to stare at Lethal, followed by Nick Aldis and the unnamed Kamilla Kaine for the staredown from the ramp. I….eh maybe this could work.

We recap the Ladder War. The Briscoes and Young Bucks had a heck of a match for the titles that ended in a double DQ. SCU won the titles in a triple threat match and have their new contracts, but now we’re having a big ladder match to decide things. To be fair, this is the best done story on the show and it should be the main event. If nothing else, who is supposed to follow them?

SCU says New York is the worst town but they’ll make it a great memory.

Tag Team Titles: Briscoes vs. Young Bucks vs. SCU

SCU (Scorpio Sky and Frankie Kazarian) are defending here. The Briscoes head outside and start throwing chairs inside, leaving the Bucks to slug it out with the champs. The Bucks get the better of it and start superkicking until Kazarian slingshots out into a hurricanrana on Mark, sending him into a spear on Jay. Everyone heads outside with Sky being put on a table but the Briscoes chair Matt down.

Jay hits a double stomp to put Sky through the table and the Briscoes take over with various metal shots. Kazarian is busted open and Mark puts the ladder around his neck to slam into people’s faces. Some superkicks break that up and Coleman thinks we might see some more later. Jay gets kicked to the floor and a wheelbarrow faceplant drops Sky. The Bucks hit a double dropkick on Sky before stopping for a Too Sweet.

The first ladder is set up but the champs take over on the Bucks, complete with some loud swearing from Sky. It’s too early for the titles though and the fight over getting to climb is on. Nick and Kazarian shove the ladder back and forth at each other until stereo superkicks put the champs down. The Briscoes come back in with some chairs to clean house though until Kazarian hits a chair shot to Jay’s back. Another shot takes out Kazarian’s ankle though and the Briscoes take over again.

Mark gets kicked out to the floor for a flip dive from Sky and it’s time to unleash the series of dives until Matt is suplexed through a table. The bloody Jay finds a staple gun but Kazarian breaks it up with a slingshot cutter through the table at ringside. And now, a sledgehammer from Matt has Jay begging him to swing. Since that’s a bad idea, we get another ladder instead.

After catapulting it into Sky’s face, Matt goes up but gets pulled back down into a backbreaker onto the open chair because the back injury is his thing. Nick hits the slingshot X Factor to send Jay into a chair but the also bloody Mark brings in another ladder. A springboard spear knocks Sky off the ladder so it’s time for the Meltzer Driver, with Mark diving off the ladder with a cutter for the save.

There’s a Jay Driller to Matt and everyone is down for a few seconds. Jay loads up yet another ladder and then bridges a second between the standing version and the corner. Kazarian is back in with a Styles Clash to drive Jay crotch first into a chair. That’s enough to get a hand on a belt with Nick going up for the save but being tossed WAY down and through a table on the floor. Jay climbs up as well and Mark pelts a chair up at Kazarian to knock him through another table, leaving Jay to pull down the titles for the win at 22:40.

Rating: A. Well that was great. This was the exact same idea that worked for the original TLC matches: take six guys and let them go completely insane with one spot after another until one team finally puts the others away after a big move. It was entertaining and nothing was going to follow it so this was the right call for the main event. Great stuff with the blood making it seem more intense, which is exactly what it should have been.

Overall Rating: B+. The extra hour didn’t really need to exist here, especially with an added match of Eli Isom vs. Kenny King. I think we’ve established that ROH isn’t going to do the sane thing of just trimming some of the longer matches down, so this is pretty much all we can do in the future.

Speaking of the future, it’s clear that things are changing around here and that could be scary. Cody and the Young Bucks and company have dominated ROH for a long time now and with the strong chance that they’re gone (assuming there aren’t shenanigans afoot), ROH needs to change a lot going forward. I’m not sure where things are going to go, but it could be a heck of a bad time if they’re not handled the right way. Or it’ll be an improvement because so many people have to step up to fill in the gap. Anyway, very strong show here and a great way to close out the year.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor Wrestling

Ring of Honor
Date: December 5, 2018
Location: Stage AE, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana, Marty Scurll

Final Battle is next week and the card seems to be mostly set. For once, they’re at least doing something with the build towards the show, which is more than you get most of the time around here. Odds are we’ll see a few matches set up here along with the build to those already announced. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of last week’s main event, where the Briscoes and the Young Bucks went to a draw. SCU didn’t seem to mind and made a triple threat ladder match for the Tag Team Titles at Final Battle. Makes the most sense of all their options.

Opening sequence.

Kenny King vs. Christopher Daniels

Marty Scurll, who wants to face Daniels at Final Battle, is on commentary. Before the bell, King says he doesn’t know how long Daniels has left in ROH so he’ll hand Daniels one of his last losses. Then Daniels can go back to SCU: the Senior Citizens Unite at the hospital. Daniels, with tape on the back of his neck, chops away to start and gets two off a standing Lionsault.

That’s enough to send King outside for a baseball slide and a whip into the barricade. A legsweep knocks Daniels off the apron though and we take a break. Back with King clotheslining him down and…doing whatever he does as we look at commentary. Why do we keep having to do that? A chinlock with a knee in the back keeps Daniels down and a kick to the head makes it even worse.

Daniels avoids a springboard though and the Blue Thunder Bomb gets two. An STO sets up a belly to back faceplant for two but King gets the same off a spinebuster. It’s too early for the Royal Flush though and Daniels hits a release Rock Bottom. The referee gets bumped though, allowing King to hit a low blow and the Royal Flush for the pin at 8:48.

Rating: C. Nice action for the most part, though I’m getting sick of the ref bumps and low blows around here. Mix it up a little bit by having King throw his feet on the ropes in a rollup or something, but find something new. Daniels losing should lead to a big comeback win at Final Battle, or his retirement and leaving the company. You could go either way.

Dalton Castle says he was gone for three months and didn’t go through all that treatment to fight Matt Taven. That belt that Taven wears is nothing but a RUSE. The anger inside Castle is certainly real though.

Josh Woods vs. Jeff Cobb

Non-title. Cobb tries to wrestle him to the ground but Woods is a former NCAA wrestling champion so it’s not so easy. Cue Hangman Page to sit on the stage and watch the match as Woods takes him down and works on the arm with Cobb not being able to shake him off. Cobb gets tired of the wrestling thing and sends him flying with a suplex, only to get caught in another armbar. Woods goes after the arm again before trying a spring but Cobb catches him in the Tour of the Islands for the pin at 3:48.

Rating: C. This was a great illustration of Cobb being well rounded. His amateur wrestling was canceled out so he slammed Woods really hard instead because he has the power to go with the mat skills. That’s a very dangerous combination and a good reason why he could be a star for a long time to come.

Post match Page comes in and says he’ll show Cobb how this is done.

Hangman Page vs. Facade

Joined in progress with Page stomping away in the corner as Cobb is watching from the stage this time. Page hits a running dive from the apron and gets two off a tabletop suplex back inside. Facade fights back with some flips and jumps, including a one armed cartwheel. A rope walk dive goes right into Page’s boot though and there’s a super fall away slam. Again Facade tries to slug away, this time connecting with a springboard spinning kick to the face to send Page outside. That means a big flip dive of his own but he walks into the Buckshot Lariat. The Rite of Passage finishes Facade at 5:14.

Rating: C+. Facade was moving out there and Page was his usual entertaining self. It’s interesting that Page had more trouble against a weaker opponent though. That’s not exactly what you would expect from a match designed to make Page look like he’s on Cobb’s level, but the ending sequence looked good and that’s what people will take away from it.

Post match Page and Cobb stare each other down.

We look back at Marty Scurll winning the Survival of the Fittest tournament.

After the match, Scurll congratulated Christoper Daniels (the man he pinned) on a good match. Daniels said Bullet Club cost him the match and arguing ensued. They’ll face off at Final Battle with Scurll’s World Title shot on the line.

Jay Lethal is ready to beat Cody because Cody had to cheat to beat him in the first place. Cody knows he can’t beat Lethal so Jay is ready at Final Battle. Cody cannot win because Jay isn’t letting him start the year on top.

Final Battle rundown. Points to them for having a proper build instead of a one week version.

Matt Taven talks about Dalton Castle cracking under the pressure of being World Champion. When he’s under pressure though, Taven becomes a diamond.

We get that heart rate thing again.

Tag Team Titles: Stuka Jr./Guerrero Maya Jr. vs. SCU

SCU is defending. Sky, dressed up as Apollo Creed, takes Guerrero down to start and works on the arm to keep him in trouble. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gives Guerrero two and it’s off to Stuka vs. Kazarian with Frankie getting two off a dropkick. The champs tie up Stuka’s legs and roll him over (the Rockers used to do that) and we take an early break. Back with Stuka and Guerrero putting Sky in a double surfboard (cool) until Kazarian makes a save.

Another double hold is broken up again and thankfully we get back to the actual tagging with Sky coming in to take over. Kazarian adds the slingshot dropkick (so much for the tagging) in the corner but Stuka moonsaults onto him outside (with Kazarian somehow winding up on top). Guerrero adds a running flip dive through the ropes onto Sky but Kazarian comes back in with his slingshot DDT. The Rock Bottom into the Backstabber finishes Stuka to retain the titles at 8:04.

Rating: C+. The match was entertaining, though it’s not like there was any kind of drama at all. This would have been better served airing before the announcement of the ladder match as there might have been a reason to believe in a fluke title change. The CMLL guys are talented, though I’m still not sure how much it means to have them around. Yeah they’re big names there, but that’s not entirely the case for a lot of the fans who might not be familiar with the company.

Post match Christopher Daniels comes in to say he’s the only one who doesn’t have a contract extension at the moment. He has one match left on his contract and that’s against Marty Scurll at Final Battle. If that’s what he has to do to stick around, he’s willing to do it to stay in the company that he helped build. Marty gets in the ring and asks if Daniels wants to be the man who built his company or the man who is known for a three letter catchphrase. A tense handshake takes us out.

Overall Rating: B-. The wrestling, while pretty good here, wasn’t the point this week. This show was all about building up Final Battle and for once, they made it work very well. The card is getting some attention and it should be a good one once we get there. You know most of the matches already and most of them have gotten some attention instead of just adding things in for the sake of adding them in. That makes the biggest difference and makes Final Battle feel important after all those shows with a last second build. Well done, for a rare change.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor

Ring of Honor
Date: August 29, 2018
Location: Center Stage Theater, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Colt Cabana, Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

We’re getting close to coming up on Death Before Dishonor and that means we might start putting a few things together. Other than that, it’s hard to say what we might be getting this week. That being said, the success rate around here isn’t half bad and there’s always a chance of seeing something great. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Christopher Daniels vs. Jay Briscoe

Mark Briscoe is on commentary to give us the four man booth. Fallout from Best in the World, which is just two months ago to the date of this show’s air date. Or “a couple of weeks” according to Ian. Jay drives him into the corner to start but Daniels shoves him away. A shot to the face knocks Jay to the floor and there’s the Arabian moonsault. Daniels stomps away in the corner and we take a break.

Back with Jay in control and grabbing a chinlock, which feels like a rarity around here. Daniels fights up in short order and gets two off the Blue Thunder Bomb. Angel’s Wings is driven back into the corner but the Jay Driller is broken up as well. That’s enough for Mark, who comes in and blasts Daniels in the back with a chair for the DQ at 7:36.

Rating: C-. Not enough time to go anywhere and I get why you wouldn’t want either of them to take a clean loss here. They were looking equal, which should be the case with two former World Champions. I’m still not sold on So Cal Uncensored as faces and it feels like it could be a big time ruse, which is how things should be going given their history.

Post match the beatdown is on but Scorpio Sky and Kazarian run in for the save.

Video on Jonathan Gresham vs. Jay Lethal in two weeks.

Video on Madison Rayne earning a title shot next week.

Silas Young vs. Flip Gordon

Flip’s ability to moonsault into the ring and take his pants off at the same time is most impressive. Gordon armdrags him a few times but an early suicide dive attempt is blocked right a right hand. A slingshot double stomp hits Flip in the ribs and now Young is ready to take the shirt off (sans moonsault). One heck of a whip into the corner gets two and it’s off to a chinlock (maybe they’re not so uncommon).

Back up and Gordon springboards in with a missile dropkick, drawing a loud FLIP chant. No flipping ensues, but he does hit a running dropkick in the corner. Now it’s the running flip dive to the floor and we take a break with Silas in trouble. Back with Gordon getting two off a high crossbody and a springboard spear is good for the same. Silas catches a charge with the swinging backbreaker into the low clothesline and it’s time for the big slugout.

Gordon gets the better of it with a Falcon Arrow but let’s go back to the slugout. This time Gordon enziguris him down, only to get booted in the face. A Pele drops Silas again but let’s go to the third slugout. With hitting Young in the head not working, Gordon O’Connor rolls him and bridges back for the pin at 10:27.

Rating: C. The slugouts got a little tiring but Gordon needs some more wins over credible names. Young doesn’t seem to be going anywhere now that he’s lost the TV Title but really, it’s not like there is a huge upside to him. He’s been better than I thought when I first saw him, but I think he’s reached his ceiling.

Post match Bully Ray comes in and low blows Gordon. Ray and Young stare at each other, seemingly out of respect.

Marty Scurll congratulates Kenny King on finding his inner villain. Revenge is coming.

King doesn’t have much to say about putting his feet on the ropes to beat Scurll. A year ago he was on a roll and it got him the TV Title. Now things have changed though and he lost to Austin Aries at Best in the World. King had the chance to win but wouldn’t use the Royal Flush on the floor. Ric Flair cheated and won sixteen World Titles so how much does King have to do to win once? King has options now, and that’s good. Nice explanation here, which is more than I was expecting.

Nick Aldis is on commentary for the main event as the fans want Cody.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Kingdom vs. Cody/Young Bucks

Cody and the Bucks, with Bernard the Business Bear and Brandi Rhodes, are challenging, plus getting very loudly cheered. Well Cody is from Marietta (about twenty miles from Atlanta) so it’s not that shocking. They waste no time in starting the brawl with the Kingdom getting the early advantage.

Cody gets left alone but the Bucks run back in to save him from a double suplex. The threat of a double superkick puts the kingdom on the floor and it’s a wheelbarrow faceplant into a cutter to put Taven down. O’Ryan comes in and gets kicked right back to the floor, followed by the slingshot dropkick to Marseglia as the Club is in full control to start. Cody dives to the floor to take out O’Ryan again and stares Aldis down.

Back in and it’s Marseglia chop blocking Matt to cut off a superkick attempt. Matt gets taken into the corner and the leg work continues, including Marseglia dropping some elbows on the knee. Taven comes in for a leglock of his own and we take a break. Back with Matt hitting a middle rope dropkick but banging up the knee again as Colt points out the lack of superkicks so far. Matt kicks O’Ryan down again and the hot tag brings in Nick for a series of non-super kicks.

Marseglia pops the balloon next to Nick’s head to mess with his balance though and Taven is on him with the right hands to the head. The real hot tag brings in Cody who grabs the Sharpshooter on Taven. O’Ryan and Marseglia get caught n the same hold for three at a time. All three are broken up and the first superkick drops Marseglia but Matt bangs up the bad knee again. Cody cleans house but takes WAY too long posing, allowing Marseglia to grab another balloon.

That gets superkicked next to his ear though and a triple superkick gets two on Taven. Cross Rhodes gets two on Taven with Marseglia making the save. The double dives are broken up and Marseglia dives onto Cody. Nick hits his own flip dive though, followed by Taven’s always great looking no hands dive. Brandi, in a dress, hits a big dive of her own and Taven isn’t sure what just happened.

Bernard gets on the apron so Taven kicks him in the head (it’s kind of an easy target) and there’s the Climax to Cody. Redrum (Swanton) gets two and everyone is down as Aldis wonders when the DQ is coming. Dude….actually it makes sense for the NWA World Champion to be that stuck in the past. Rockstar Supernova to Cody is broken up with stereo superkicks and Cross Rhodes to Marseglia is good for the pin and the titles at 14:33.

Rating: B. Heck of a match here with all of the dives and flips, though it might have needed to cut a minute or two to really make this work. They were flying around at the end, but it helped a lot to do the leg work and build up to that. Maybe it’s the traditionalist in me but I appreciate the work being put in to get to the insanity, and this match had that.

Post match Taven rants that Marseglia wasn’t legal (he wasn’t) and Aldis doesn’t like the ROH officiating to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The main event helps as usual, but there’s often this strange feeling to Ring of Honor’s TV. It feels like they don’t really have a long term goal in mind and just make things up as they go. There were stories to everything here but it doesn’t exactly feel like they know where they’re going. Some of these stories feel like they keep going because it’s not clear how to wrap things up. It’s still a watchable show on its own, but long term it’s not the best stuff in the world.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor Wrestling

Ring of Honor
Date: April 11, 2018
Location: Sam’s Town Hotel & Gambling Hall, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana

It’s one of those weird shows as we’re past Supercard of Honor but still at least a little time away from the next batch of TV tapings. There’s a good chance we’ll be having some minor storyline advancement but for the sake of this show, odds are we’re going to be seeing some stand alone stories. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Punishment Martinez vs. Shane Taylor

This could be fun. The fans are behind Martinez and a knee to the ribs cuts him down on an early test of strength. Martinez slips out and jumps over Taylor (not bad) to set up the exchange of the shoulders. A big right hand seems to please Taylor but he ducks a few kicks to the head. Martinez’s crossbody has no effect and he can’t slam the bigger man so Taylor sends him outside. Taylor can’t hit a dive so we take a break.

Back with Shane hitting a Cannonball in the corner, followed by a running flip dive from the apron. Martinez Falcon Arrows him off the top though and a running elbow connects in the corner. South of Heaven is broken up and Taylor hits his own chokeslam. Now Martinez’s kicks work a bit better to send Taylor outside. You don’t have to ask Martinez twice to hit a big dive and Taylor is rocked. Back in and South of Heaven gives Martinez the pin at 9:14.

Rating: C-. Not bad here with Martinez getting the logical win. Taylor is good in an enforcer role, meaning he doesn’t need to win anything more than a squash or tag match. He’s designed to be beaten up by someone like Martinez, who can get a lot out of a win like this. Nothing too bad here and I’m liking Martinez more every time I see him.

It’s time for Coleman’s Pulpit with Jay Lethal as the guest. Lethal doesn’t like the show so he’s only giving Coleman two questions. Coleman asks about him losing the World Title so Jay goes into a rant about how Coleman is never going to be in the World Title scene so it doesn’t really matter. He’s beaten people Coleman is never going to be able to beat so let’s get on to the next question. Coleman brings up Lethal dating AJ Lee and gets cut off, sending Coleman into a fit of laughter. That’s enough for Lethal and he’s out. Good, because the Pulpit is terrible.

Kazarian is ready to face Hiromu Takahashi, who used to be their friend. He’s not a fan of Daryl and instead of being a time bomb, Kazarian is a gun that you can’t unload.

Jay Lethal vs. Caprice Coleman

They brawl on the floor to start with Lethal grabbing a suplex to take over. Some chops rock Coleman and they head inside….only to head right back to the floor. Lethal gets whipped into the barricade but he’s right back with chops. An enziguri staggers Coleman and they head inside with Lethal dropkicking him to the floor for the third time. A suicide dive takes us to a break as the stuff on the floor is getting really old.

Back with Coleman getting two off an STO and grabbing a chinlock. Lethal fights up but the Injection is countered into a cobra clutch of all things. Better than another chinlock at least. Back up and Lethal chops away even more before grabbing a torture rack. Not exactly what I would have expected and Coleman breaks out in short order. The Lethal Injection puts him away a few seconds later at 11:03.

Rating: D+. I wasn’t feeling this one and a lot of that was due to Lethal not exactly looking interesting. This was a lot of chopping and then the Lethal Injection. That being said, even an unmotivated Lethal is often better than most people around the promotion. It’s not a terrible match, but Coleman needs to go FAR away.

Videos on the downcoming Women’s of Honor Title Tournament semifinals. Why downcoming? Well they already happened (along with the finals), so they’re certainly not upcoming. This is the kind of stuff that makes Ring of Honor look minor league half the time.

Cody vs. Matt Taven vs. Christopher Daniels

Cody still has a bear with him, introduced as Bernard the Business Bear. They circle each other to start until Taven gets caught in an exchange of right hands. That’s enough to send him outside so Cody and Daniels can exchange shoulders. Taven comes back in with a dropkick but misses a charge to put all three outside. Daniels scores with an Arabian moonsault to take Cody out and Taven kicks Cody in the face for good measure.

Back in and Taven’s flip neckbreaker gets two on Cody but Daniels is back in with his usual. Taven sends Daniels outside for a big dive, which is followed by Cody’s own version. We take a break and come back with Cody getting the American Deathlock on Taven but the BME is good for the save. Taven and Daniels collide before trading cheating rollups for two each. Cody comes back in and sends Taven to the floor before hitting the Rise of the Terminator pose. Cross Rhodes hits Daniels but Taven hits a frog splash on Cody and steals the pin on Daniels at 9:35.

Rating: C+. They were working out here and the match worked well enough as a result. It’s amazing how much easier it is to put up with Taven when I don’t have to hear him talk. Oh and when there’s no Kingdom there with people I have no reason to care about. Cody not winning is a bit of a surprise but Taven gets more out of it than either of the other two would have.

A quick recap of Masters of the Craft takes us out.

Overall Rating: C. I wasn’t feeling this one and that package on the tournament matches which have already taken place was inexcusable. Like seriously, how in the world do you leave that in? Show something from Future of Honor or have a video ready on the new champion, but don’t air stuff hyping matches that have already happened. That’s TNA level stuff and there’s nothing positive about that. Not a bad show, but completely skippable in every way.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

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

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