Strong Style Evolved
Date: March 25, 2018
Location: Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, California
Attendance: 4,372
Commentators: Jim Ross, Josh Barnett

This was a fairly heavily requested show and I remember liking last year’s show so it’s worth a look. New Japan very rarely comes stateside so it’s cool to see their expansion. As is usually the case, this show is built around the Bullet Club, which is having some major issues. The main event is the Golden Lovers (Bullet Club leader Kenny Omega and old partner Kota Ibushi) vs. the Young Bucks. I don’t watch Being the Elite so odds are I’m going to be a bit lost in the bigger parts because Heaven forbid I just watch wrestling. Let’s get to it.

Ross (who looks nearly asleep) and Barnett open things up and offer an explanation of strong style. I really don’t like listening to Barnett at almost any point so thankfully this is short.

We get a long, well done video on New Japan, looking at what has happened since their previous appearances in Long Beach. Each match gets a quick look, with the wrestlers being listed by name. The big matches do get some longer attention, which is perfectly acceptable. It’s nice to see everything get a look instead of only looking at the top stuff. I’m also warming to the idea of announcing the matches in advance. You don’t get that in America and it lets you know when you can expect a match you want to see.

Roppongi 3K vs. So Cal Uncensored

There are American and Japanese announcers here, which is a very smart move. What’s not a smart move is getting the name graphics under each wrestler wrong. Like, seriously, how hard can that be to pull off? And yes I know WWE did it at Wrestlemania, which is even less excusable. Romero wristlocks Sky to start as Josh sounds confused about Sky starting for some reason.

Sky claims a hair pull despite a high level of baldness. A neckbreaker gets Sky out of trouble and the fans are very, very pleased. Makes sense that So Cal Uncensored would be popular in So Cal. Kazarian and Yoh come in with Kazarian getting clotheslined down and it’s Sho coming in for some speedy double teaming. Now why didn’t they do this in ROH? The fans shift over to Sho as he works on Kazarian’s ribs in the corner. Daniels offers a trip from the floor but Kazarian slips off the rope on the springboard spinning legdrop attempt. Thankfully he seems fine and So Cal takes over for the first time.

Romero tags himself in but the referee didn’t see it so it’s Yoh being draped over the top rope to keep him in trouble. It’s Daniels knocking him to the floor for a big springboard flip dive, because of course he can do that at his age. Sky gets two off a slingshot cutter but Yoh rolls over and brings Romero in to speed things back up.

The forever lariats have Daniels and Kazarian rocked and a springboard dropkick to the back gets two on Kazarian. Everything breaks down again and Sky takes Daniels out by mistake. Sho is smart enough to pull Romero to the corner for the tag off to Yoh and there’s a slingshot dive to Kazarian. A Dominator/sliding cutter combination gets two on Sky but 3K (a 3D into a Downward Spiral instead of a cutter) puts him away at 10:24.

Rating: C+. Not a bad match at all here, even if it’s odd to see the ROH Six Man Tag Team Champions lose clean. But hey, that might imply Ring of Honor being on New Japan’s level and that just can’t happen. It’s rather impressive that Sho and Yoh are already this much better than they were in ROH. I used to dread their matches but now they seem to be putting on good performances. It’s almost like they learned and evolved.

As Roppongi 3K leaves, we hear Josh say that he agrees with JR: “They need to get out of the f****** ring.” And so we continue the production issues.

David Finlay/Juice Robinson vs. Hirooki Goto/Gedo

Taguchi Japan vs. Chaos. Goto and Robinson fight over a wristlock to start and a shoulder doesn’t get Goto anywhere. A shot to the face drops Goto for two (Josh: “I wonder what kind of juice that was.” I would have guessed Josh was the biggest expert on juice around. Certainly in MMA at least.) and it’s time to trade more clotheslines. Goto kicks him down and suplexes the invading Finlay onto Robinson.

Forearms to the back of the head have Robinson in even more trouble as Goto is bleeding from the mouth. Robinson easily loses a slugout and it’s off to Gedo for some dancing around. This slugout goes a lot better for Robinson and Finlay adds in another right hand from the apron, which is enough for the hot tag. Finlay comes in to clean house and everything breaks down. Robinson gives Goto a full nelson slam and a right hand to Gedo. A dive takes Goto out and Finlay’s jumping Stunner puts Gedo away at 7:26.

Rating: C-. Totally standard tag match here with four guys who have no connection that you would know of based on this match. I knew the stables because of Wikipedia and that tells me that either the commentary isn’t great or the stables don’t mean much (with both being true in this case). Not bad or anything, but definitely felt like a preliminary match.

Killer Elite Squad vs. Chuckie T./Toru Yano

Oh yay, it’s Yano time and that means “comedy”. Suzuki-Gun (Davey Boy Smith Jr,/Lance Archer) vs. Chaos here, with Josh at least telling us that the Squad is part of the stable. Archer throws his hat into the ring to make it clear that they’re the heels. Nothing wrong with some basic villain stuff and it worked here too. Yano’s entrance consists of plugs for his various merchandise so at least he’s living the gimmick.

The Squad wastes no time in hammering away like the monsters that they are. Chuckie gets in Soul Food (Eat Defeat) on Davey (who Josh calls Harry, his real name) but misses an enziguri. Yano gets kicked to the floor and it’s off to Archer for some heavy forearms in the corner. An Undertaker rope walk crushes Chuckie as you can hear JR’s disdain for Yano’s shtick. Smith grabs a chinlock and then a Liontamer, followed by some heavy right hands to the head.

With Yano walking up the aisle and talking to the fans, Archer runs Chuckie over as the beating continues. A DDT finally gets Chuckie out of trouble and it’s off to Yano, who lays in the ropes to hide. Yano’s atomic drop to Archer doesn’t work (Archer is too tall) so this time Archer kicks him out of the ropes. Yano pulls him outside though and it’s a collision to put both Squad members down.

After teasing a dive, Yano takes the turnbuckle pad off and Archer misses a charge into the exposed steel. Chuckie’s sunset flip gets two and a stuff piledriver is good for one. Yano and Smith go outside, leaving Archer to chokeslam the heck out of Chuckie for two. Chuckie even reverses into a crucifix for a heck of a near fall but the Killer Bomb (Batista Bomb/full nelson slam combination) ends Chuckie at 10:50.

Rating: D+. I’m really done with Yano as it’s the same stuff time after time in a TNA Eric Young/Santino Marella way and that’s not good. Archer looked great here and is rapidly becoming another name on WWE’s “How did we screw him up?” list. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Squad get the titles back soon, as should be the case given how dominant they looked here.

The Squad is coming for the titles.

Cody/Marty Scurll vs. Guerrillas of Destiny

It’s amazing how much better the combination of Cody’s theme and Brandi can make things. We’re not quite ready to go yet as Cody grabs the mic to say Bullet Club is fine, which doesn’t exactly please the audience. What’s not fine is this match’s booking, which is why the match won’t take place. Why should there be a match when they’re all friends? Tama Tonga is an original Bullet Club member and the Guerrillas are a great team that made Bullet Club cool in the first place.

Now it’s Cody that makes it popular today, which the fans REALLY don’t seem to find accurate. The fans think they’re chanting TEAM CODY, which everyone here must be. Tonga says the match is happening no matter what and Tonga Loa says they’re not on Team Cody. That’s enough for Cody, who jumps Loa but gets pounded down by Tonga. Scurll gets all fired up with the Guerrillas, earning himself a double shoulder to the floor where he hides in Cody’s arms.

We settle down to Marty tagging Cody in to face Loa. That goes nowhere so it’s back to Scurll, who gets punched in the space in front of his face. Cody gets splashed in the corner so Brandi pulls him out to the floor for a pep talk. The distraction lets Scurll hit the apron superkicks to take over for the first time. Tama gets double teamed in the corner and a delayed gutbuster gives Cody two. Scurll superkicks the knee and loads up the chickenwing, only to have Cody tag himself back in.

As you might expect, this doesn’t go so well as Tama grabs a neckbreaker and brings Loa back in. A Disaster Kick cuts Loa down in short order but Tama superplexes Cody. Scurll does the same thing to Tama and everyone is down for a bit. Cody is up first and does Kenny Omega’s Terminator pose but Loa spears him down. Back up and the Tongans are sent into each other, allowing Cody to hit Cross Rhodes on Tama for the pin at 10:53.

Rating: C. This was, again, about the Bullet Club, which is the case far too often in wrestling. Cody was quite the jerk here though and that’s the best thing that he can do. Instead of relying on ref bumps and all the cowardly heel shenanigans, sometimes you just have to be a horrible friend who you have to have around for the sake of winning. Not a bad match, as the Guerrillas are always fun.

Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. Taguchi Japan/Dragon Lee

Taguchi is Ryusuke Taguchi/Hiroshi Tanahashi/Kushida. The fans go nuts for Los Ingobernables, with Naito getting the biggest reaction of them all. Naito and Tanahashi start things off but, as you might expect, Sanada and Evil come in to jump Tanahashi from behind before anything can happen. Naito hits Sanada in the face by mistake though and it’s a headlock takeover/headscissors to give Tanahashi a breather.

Lee comes in to face Takahashi to a heck of a reaction. The chop off is on and gets one of the best reactions of the night. Lee cartwheels out of a running hurricanrana and suplexes Takahashi out to the floor. Everything breaks down and Takahashi gets crushed in the corner over and over. La majistral gives Kushida two and it’s time to work on the arms. Takahashi fights up and brings in Bushi for a middle rope moonsault into some breakdancing to his feet. Take that Booker T?

We hit the sleeper before Bushi switches over to a choke with the shirt. Shouldn’t that be Evil’s job? Kushida finally gets in a handspring elbow and that’s enough for the hot tag to Tanahashi. The fans hit the GO ACE chants as Tanahashi cleans house and hands it off to Taguchi for the hip attacks. Takahashi has to come in and break up a triple submission attempt so Tanahashi goes with a Sling Blade on Sanada. Lee gets suplexed into the corner and Naito hits Destino for the pin on Taguchi at 12:15.

Rating: B-. I was getting into this one, as tends to be the case with most Ingobernables matches. They work very well together and Naito is as smooth in the ring as you’re going to find. Taguchi doesn’t do much for me but his partners were all worth checking out. I could go for more Kushida, who has kind of fallen off the radar in recent months. That’s a shame too as he’s my favorite New Japan guy, but the rest of the division is so stacked that it’s understandable.

Post match Los Ingobernables do the big group pose for a cool visual.

Here’s Rey Mysterio, who was scheduled to face Jushin Thunder Liger but had to pull out due to an injury. Mysterio explains the situation and says he wants to face Liger again someday (they had a match in WCW in 1996). He will be back to wrestle for New Japan when he’s healthy. It’s a shame but there’s nothing that can be done here. At least he made an appearance too, which often wouldn’t be the case. We do have a replacement on hand though and Mysterio is sitting at ringside.

Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Will Ospreay

Non-title. They shake hands with Ospreay bowing deeply and JR sums up the difference here: the day Ospreay was born, Liger had been wrestling for nine years. Liger wastes no time in grabbing a surfboard to get the fans even more into this. Back up and Ospreay hits a running corner dropkick before taking Liger down for an armbar. It’s off to a chinlock for a bit before Liger sends him outside for a flip dive from the apron, followed by a brainbuster on the floor.

Thankfully Ospreay doesn’t pop back up and Liger gets to go inside for some posing. JR: “There’s no reason for the match to continue if you’ve just been dropped on your head on the concrete.” Ospreay gets up and makes a very improbably dive underneath the ropes to beat the count (at nineteen so it’s not as bad as usual). The Liger Bomb gives Liger (duh) two but Ospreay sticks the landing on a super hurricanrana. He comes up favoring the knee but is fine enough for a Sasuke Special to drop them both again.

Back in and a standing shooting star gives Ospreay two with grumpy JR talking about the sloppy covers. A 619 misses Liger so he comes back with the rolling kick to the face. That’s fine with Ospreay, who grabs a standing C4 for two more. The spinning kick to the back of the head rocks Liger again but the Oscutter is countered into another brainbuster.

Liger gets two off a super brainbuster with Ospreay having to put his foot on the rope. That’s a good way to show how beaten down he is. Liger’s palm strike gives him two more but Ospreay is right back up with a Batista Bomb for two of his own. The Oscutter is good for the pin at 10:37.

Rating: B-. They were trying here but there’s only so much Liger can do at his age. That being said, he was still doing things well enough and certainly didn’t look terrible. Ospreay getting this kind of a spot is a good idea and while the fans may be disappointed by the lack of Mysterio, this is about all they could do given the circumstances.

Post match Ospreay praises Liger for wrestling like that at 53 years old (fair enough) and thanks Liger for everything he’s done over the years. Ospreay says he has to go through legends to make a name for himself with this title so he wants Mysterio. That seems to be cool with Rey but here’s Scurll to jump Ospreay with the umbrella. Mysterio tries to make a save but loses his mask, leaving Liger to make the real save.

Minoru Suzuki/Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Kazuchika Okada/Tomohiro Ishii

This could be a lot of fun and it’s Suzuki-Gun vs. Chaos again in a preview of Okada vs. Sabre for next Sunday. Suzuki and Ospreay’s British Tag Team Titles aren’t on the line though they’re carrying the belts here. Okada, with his awesome robe, goes face to face with Sabre before we’re ready to go. They even start things off for a nice bonus and the fans are behind Okada.

Sabre pretty easily slips out of a wristlock attempt and sneers down at the champ as only a pompous heel can. The fans start singing for Sabre, though another group adds that he sucks. Sabre cranks on both arms at once but Okada reverses into a crank of his own. You can see the calculations going through Sabre’s head for a cool visual. An early Rainmaker attempt misses and Sabre needs to think about things a bit. It’s off to Ishii vs. Suzuki and that means we start the slugout.

That goes on for a long time until a running shoulder takes Suzuki down as JR is starting with the football analogies. Oddly enough, that’s the first real energy he’s shown n a long time. Suzuki chokes him over the ropes as Sabre stretches Okada’s abdominals on the floor. The fights head into the crowd before Suzuki chops Ishii into the corner, allowing Sabre to grab an armbar. That’s fine with Suzuki, who comes in to add an ankle lock, followed by a double Fujiwara armbar. The fans are all over Sabre again so he flips Okada off, leaving Suzuki to kick Okada to the floor.

Suzuki comes in and slaps Ishii in the face before handing it back to Sabre for some mocking kicks to the head. Harder kicks to the chest just wake Ishii up and it’s a release German suplex to drop Sabre. There’s the hot tag to Okada so house can be cleaned in a hurry. Something like White Noise is countered into an armbar, because of course Sabre can pull off that kind of a counter.

Sabre grabs the Octopus Hold to stay on the arm, followed by a heck of a painful looking armbar. Ishii makes a diving save and the fans are split over Sabre again. The Rainmaker is countered with a kick to the arm and it’s off to Suzuki, who can’t hit either of his finishers. Ishii comes back in and slugs away at a screaming Suzuki in the corner. More yelling and more slugging out ensues with the fans going quiet for the hard forearms. Ishii even sticks his face out for more because he’s kind of out there.

A hard one staggers him but can’t put him down, with Suzuki doing the same. Suzuki knocks him into the ropes so Ishii muscles him over with a suplex. Back up and Suzuki hits a hard clothesline and everything breaks down. Sabre’s running kick is countered as Ishii headbutts the heck out of him. A powerbomb gets two but Sabre is back up with a guillotine choke.

Okada makes the save and hits the great dropkick, followed by Ishii’s clothesline for two. Another Octopus Hold has Ishii in trouble and Suzuki grabs a sleeper on Okada. Sabre twists around into an armbar and kneebar at the same time (just because). With that STILL not being enough, Sabre turns it into something like a bow and arrow at the same time (Orientating With Napalm Death. Seriously that’s what it’s called.) for the referee stoppage at 19:55.

Rating: B+. This is a good example of a match with people who do things that no one else are doing/can do. Suzuki and Ishii beat the heck out of people and Sabre’s holds are so insane that you have to give them those wacky names. Okada is probably the best in the world right now and his match with Sabre has some major, major potential. For now though, we’ll have to settle for a great tag match.

Post match Sabre puts Okada in another Octopus Hold. Suzuki and Sabre beat up the referee for fun.

On July 7, New Japan is back in the US with the G1 Special: Fighting Spirit Unleashed at the Cow Palace in San Francisco.

We recap Jay White vs. Hangman Page. Kenny Omega tried to bring White into the Bullet Club to right the ship but White turned him down, instead wanting to take the Club apart instead. He won the US Title and now it’s Page’s chance to take it back for the Club.

US Title: Jay White vs. Hangman Page

Page is challenging. They go with the hard chops to start until White charges into a raised boot. A dropkick gets White out of trouble as this seems to have a lot of time to work with. JR doesn’t think White is known as a dropkick guy. I’m not sure how you define such a thing so we’ll go with White working on the leg, including a Muta Lock. Since that holds is kind of hard to maintain, they head outside for more chopping.

White gets sent into the barricade and then the post as JR remembers that you can lose a title via countout. That probably should have been made a bit more clear. Page pulls him back in and JR explains why that was a bad idea. A fireman’s carry backbreaker gives Page two and it’s time to talk some trash. White grabs a suplex for a breather and rolls some suplexes to keep Page in trouble.

The back gives out on a Kiwi Crusher attempt so White settles for a Downward Spiral and a German suplex for two instead. A hanging DDT gets Page out of trouble but he can’t follow up as they’re certainly selling some beatings after about twelve minutes. The Buckshot Lariat is broken up with an ax handle and that means more chops to Page’s very red chest. They head to the apron and White can’t hit the Blade Runner (Sister Abigail) so he GERMAN SUPLEXES PAGE OFF THE APRON for a sick landing.

Back in and they both head to the top (since Page is somehow still alive) which can’t possibly end well. It’s Page with a super swinging neckbreaker (not a cutter Josh) for a delayed two and both guys are spent. They get up for the slow motion into a fast motion slugout until Page is suplexed to the floor in a heap. A Saito suplex on the floor rocks Page again and somehow he’s still getting up.

Back in again and Page elbows his way out of another suplex, followed by a piledriver for tow on the champ. White is rocked and heads outside, only to have Page bust out a running shooting star shoulder block. The Buckshot Lariat is only good for two and the Kiwi Crusher gives White the same. White loads up the Blade Runner so Page spits in his face to break it up. With nothing else left, Page loads up the Rite of Passage, only to be reversed into the Blade Runner to retain the title at 25:00.

Rating: B. The clock hurt this as a lot of these spots felt like they were there to fill in time and the point had already been made. Page continues to look like a future star while White already looks like one. I like both of these guys more and more every time I see them and it’s quite a compliment to put them in a spot like this. Good match, but cut out seven or eight minutes to really make it work.

Post match David Finlay spears White down, with Josh acting like this is completely expected. Finlay wants a title shot against his former partner on April 24.

We recap the Golden Lovers vs. the Young Bucks. Kenny Omega has risen up the ranks of the Bullet Club but now Cody has come in and shaken things up. As a result, Kenny has reformed his old team with Kota Ibushi and the Bucks are caught in the middle of the whole thing. Tonight isn’t so much about hatred, but rather who is the best tag team in the world.

Golden Lovers vs. Young Bucks

Matt and Ibushi start but Matt wants Omega instead. Omega comes in and trash talking ensues until Matt decks Ibushi off the apron. Now Nick comes in and Ibushi wants in as well. We’re over two minutes in here with no action between the legal men. Nick grabs a headlock at two and a half minutes but has to duck Ibushi’s kick and avoid the standing moonsault. Ibushi sticks the landing anyway though and the fans are way behind him. A kick to the chest puts Nick down and a kick to Matt’s perpetually bad back drops him as well. Omega checks on Matt but gets shoved away, much to Omega’s shock.

Matt’s running neckbreaker into a backbreaker from Nick drops Ibushi and there’s a double dropkick to Omega. Back up and Omega sends Nick into Matt’s back but Nick’s superkick breaks up Omega’s big dive. Nick scores with a big rope walk flip dive onto both Lovers and it’s time for a table. We’ll save that for later as Matt hits a slingshot swanton onto Ibushi but holds his back. Ibushi pops up and avoids a Nick charge, followed by a big dive to take out Matt.

Omega gets dropped again though and the buckle bomb into an enziguri rocks Ibushi again. A dropkick allows the hot tag to Omega but the Bucks drop both Lovers again, because you know the Bucks aren’t going to spend that much time selling. Omega is back in and kicks Matt’s bad back to take over again and the jumping Fameasser plants Nick. Moonsaults to the floor drop the Bucks (with the camera missing Ibushi’s, which apparently missed anyway) and it’s Matt in trouble again.

A running shooting star from Ibushi into a middle rope moonsault from Omega (whose legs hit Matt in the face) gets two and a shot to the back makes Matt cringe. Matt gets whipped hard into the corner and tells Nick to get him out of here. I know I don’t care for the Bucks but Matt can sell the heck out of a back injury. Back up and Matt spits in Ibushi’s face so it’s off to a chinlock. I guess revenge comes in the form of slowing things down.

Matt is sent outside for a belly to back suplex onto the apron but he slips over for the tag to Nick. Kicks abound in a hurry to get in some much needed offense as everything breaks down again. A Blockbuster into a running knee to the face gets two on Ibushi. Both Bucks head up with Nick getting knocked down and Omega coming in for a double superplex (with Ibushi having to move his feet in a fairly scary moment) to wreck the back even more. The Golden Shower (stereo 450 splashes) are broken up with Nick hitting a German suplex on the apron to rock Omega.

The table is bridged between the apron and the barricade and Matt has to pick whether to go for the pin on Ibushi or to take out Omega on the table. He takes too long picking Omega and gets kicked in the back, allowing Ibushi to take Nick out. Omega loads up a One Winged Angle through the table but Ibushi springboards to the top for a German superplex with Matt landing on his head in a scary crash. Somehow Matt isn’t dead (must be a Bullet Club thing) and gets in a superkick to slow Ibushi down.

That just earns Matt a V Trigger and a Golden Star Bomb for two. Another V Trigger gets the same with Nick diving in for the save to let the fans breathe one more time. Nick gets sent outside so Ibushi kicks the heck out of Matt even more. Somehow that’s reversed into a Scorpion Deathlock (not a Sharpshooter) so Omega is back in with hard right hands. Matt BEGS Omega to hit him in the face but it’s Nick in with a superkick to drop Omega again. A big flip dive to the floor drops Omega and this time it’s a Sharpshooter on Ibushi). Matt’s back gives out though and the hold is broken to put them both down.

More Bang For Your Buck looks to finish Ibushi but Matt dives onto Omega, who happened to be laying on the table, instead. Back in and Nick hits the 450 while Ibushi is hanging in the ropes for two more. Stereo low superkicks have Ibushi down again and there’s another one to Omega. That’s fine with Ibushi, who hits a backflip into double kicks to the head. It’s Omega and Matt up for the slugout (JR: “There’s some face punching alright.”) with Omega grabbing the Snapdragon. Matt pops up with a jumping piledriver though and Omega looks a bit dead.

The weightlifting belt comes off and Omega takes a whipping but manages a shot to the back to cut Matt off in a hurry. Omega throws the belt down and knees Matt in the face instead but a very fast spear cuts Omega off. Ibushi breaks up the Meltzer Driver and powerbombs the heck out of Nick, right through a table. A spike Tombstone gets two on Matt, followed by a gutwrench sitout powerbomb for the same.

Omega can’t believe it and begrudgingly hits the V Trigger and Matt makes him hit the One Winged Angel (you read that right) with Nick diving in for the save. The near fall FINALLY draws the old JR out as Matt is dead but Nick swears that it’s not over. Nick is willing to fight on his own but it’s a V Trigger into a half nelson Snapdragon from Ibushi. Omega takes the kneepad down and the Golden Trigger ends Nick at 39:22.

Rating: A. This felt long in the middle but the emotion at the end was very good with Matt admitting defeat but Nick never saying die no matter what. The Bucks having individual personalities helps a lot and Matt’s selling was very good. The Lovers looked awesome as well and this should do a lot for advancing this part of a much bigger story. Outstanding match here with the emotion being better than the very good action.

Post match everyone checks on Matt. An exhausted Ibushi leaves and here’s Cody to shove Matt down. He yells at Nick but here’s Omega to chase Cody off. The Bucks are back up and Nick accepts a handshake but Matt leaves instead. Omega says that it’s a shame when war makes friends go to war with each other, but the silver lining is the Golden Lovers are back. The Lovers are going to be back on July 7 and one day he’ll beat the heck out of Cody. Omega says he might have a broken orbital bone and wishes us all goodnight (muah) and goodbye (bang) to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Overall, this felt like a very New Japan show: much more good than bad but it overstays its welcome by a hair, with the Finlay/Robinson vs. Goto/Gedo match being expendable to take some of the length down (note that it’s just slightly longer than it needs to be and nowhere near as major of an issue as WWE has in the same area). The main event is excellent and the Bullet Club Civil War, while being on more platforms than I would prefer, is an interesting story, even if you don’t know all of the parts. I’m not sure how it ends save for a match at Wrestle Kingdom or some other big show, but it’s fun while it lasts.

New Japan is a very good promotion and feels like another major league (which it is), which makes these shows feel important. It’s cool to see these shows stateside and if they ever come much closer to me, I’d definitely check one out. It’s a bit longer than it needed to be, but that’s a pretty minor complaint. Just get a better commentary team (I’ve never liked Barnett and JR sounds like he’s getting ready for a painful medical procedure all night long) and cut the length down a bit and it’s that much better.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

Supercard of Honor XII
Date: April 7, 2018
Location: UNO Lakefront Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana
Attendance: 6,000
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana

It’s time for one of the biggest shows of the year in front of the biggest crowd Ring of Honor has ever had. I know I criticize them a lot but drawing 6,000 people (at least mostly paid, if not the vast majority) is no small task and they deserve some serious credit for pulling that off. Tonight is a double main event with Cody vs. Kenny Omega as part of the Bullet Club Civil War and Dalton Castle defending the World Title against Marty Scurll. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Women of Honor Title Tournament Semifinals: Mayu Iwatani vs. Kelly Klein

Instead Iwatani goes up and scores with a double stomp for no cover again. Klein blocks the snap dragon suplex but can’t block the reverse hurricanrana. Well she kind of can’t as she goes down, but lands on her back like a German suplex instead of flipping over. That’s good for two as well but Klein is right back with a front face DDT. A good northern lights suplex gives Mayu two but Klein suplexes her into the End of the Match (guillotine choke, with a great name) and Iwatani is out at 8:59.

Rating: C+. Klein winning here makes sense as the victory over a big international name makes her feel like a bigger deal. In addition, you don’t build Klein up as undefeated and then have an outsider come in and get the first win over her. This sets Klein up to lose in the finals, allowing whoever beats her to look like an even bigger deal.

Pre-Show: Women of Honor Title Tournament Semifinals: Sumie Sakai vs. Tenille Dashwood

Sakai is a veteran who has been around Ring of Honor for the majority of the company’s history. However, I couldn’t tell you much about her because she’s just a woman who wrestles without much else to her. Dashwood is the ball of charisma that used to be known as Emma. A very early clothesline gives Dashwood two but a spinning fisherwoman’s suplex gives Sakai the same.

Dashwood sends her into the corner over and over and grabs the Tarantula as they’re certainly starting fast. Sakai gets sent outside for a heck of a dive and it’s Dashwood in full control early on. Back in and it’s time to work on Sakai’s knee as Ian goes through Sakai’s wrestling lineage. That’s escaped so Sakai goes for a cross armbreaker into a Crossface.

It’s too early for a submission though so Sakai misses a charge into the corner and Dashwood adds a Taste of Tenille (running crossbody in the corner) for two. A Batista Bomb gets the same but Sakai is right back with Smashmouse for the same. With nothing else working, Sakai heads up top and gets release German superplexed back down for another near fall. The Spotlight kick misses though and Sakai grabs a crucifix to advance at 7:54.

Rating: C. Commentary helped Sakai here as I know nothing about her save for the little bites I’m getting here and there. I need something more than “she wrestles and she’s been here for a long time” and this was at least inching in that direction. I’m also surprised that they had Dashwood lose here as her vs. Klein seemed like a bit of a layup. Sakai better win at this point or there’s not much of a point in this result.

Post match Klein comes out for the photo op but decks Sakai from behind instead.

The opening video takes a quick look at the history of the promotion (as in about thirty seconds with clips and a standard “we’ve been doing this for a long time” voiceover) before moving into the quick clips about each match. Cody vs. Omega’s clip is on last, which I get here for a change. Cody’s line that Omega is everyone’s favorite underground band but no one can name any of their songs is still awesome.

The crowd looks great and it’s very cool to see this company reach this point.

Chuckie T. vs. Jonathan Gresham

Feeling out process to start with Gresham taking Chuckie down with almost no effort but letting him right back up. Chuckie takes him down and works on the leg with Gresham not being able to spin out. Who knew Chuckie could do that? Gresham blocks a lift from the mat with a wag of the finger (oh it’s on now) so Chuckie goes with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker instead. The moonsault misses (as is its custom) and Gresham snaps off a hurricanrana to put Chuckie on the floor.

Gresham tries a suicide dive but goes over Chuckie’s head for a nasty looking crash. Chuckie’s friend Trent Barretta offers a distraction though and Chuckie’s second backbreaker gets two. A rollup into an ankle lock has Chuckie in more trouble as Gresham is starting to roll. Chuckie slips out and gets two off a Falcon Arrow but Gresham gets in a knee to Chuckie’s knee. That just earns him Soul Food (Eat Defeat) and a small package gives Chuckie the pin at 8:29.

Rating: C. Fine choice for an opener here as the fans like Chuckie and it’s not like Gresham loses anything by taking a fall here. He got to do his stuff and then get pinned so it all works out well. Not a bad match either with the fans getting to see something fun, though this probably could have been a pre-show match rather than the tournament stuff.

Some demonic looking guy comes up to the announcers’ table, leaving something there (later revealed to be an alligator claw) and saying something I couldn’t make out.

Punishment Martinez vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Non-title (Ishii won the Rev Pro UK Heavyweight Title the night before in a great match and has the title with him here) and this could be fun. Martinez now comes out of a casket and has a mask during his entrance. Well that’s certainly more intimidating. Ishii gets a crazy reaction and you shouldn’t be expecting anything else. They do the tall vs. short staredown and Ishii goes straight to the forearms and shoulder blocks.

Martinez shrugs it off and takes him into the corner for some clotheslines. Ishii shrugs off some kicks to the face and hits his own running corner clothesline. A heavily muscled up suplex drops Martinez for two but he’s right back up with a kick to the head to send Ishii outside. The over the top dive overshoots Ishii and Martinez lands ON HIS HEAD with Cabana clearly sounding nervous on commentary.

Rating: B-. Sweet goodness what a showcase for Martinez. If nothing else, to beat the heck out of a monster like Ishii is a big deal, especially in Ring of Honor where New Japan guys are revered. This should move Martinez up the ladder and towards the World Title, which is a place you could keep him in for a long time in an athletic Kane kind of role. Ishii barely got in anything here and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a rematch somewhere else, perhaps in Rev Pro for the title.

Hangman Page vs. Kota Ibushi

No backstory here but it’s part of Kenny Omega reforming the Golden Lovers with Ibushi, which didn’t sit well with the Bullet Club, including Page. They start slow with Page powering him around off a lockup and then headlocking Ibushi for good measure. Page’s standing shooting star misses but so does Ibushi’s kick to the chest. The second attempt at the kick works far better and Page is down with Ibushi not following up.

A neckbreaker across the middle rope (hangman style of course) puts Ibushi down again though and the fans are not pleased with Page. It takes a lot to get the Bullet Club booed so well done. A bridging fall away slam (meaning it’s not exactly falling away) gets two as Colt talks about wrestling in every Veterans of Foreign Wars hall in America. Ibushi gets tired of the trash talk and hits a very smooth dropkick to put Page down, followed by a standing moonsault. They’re doing well with giving Ibushi those bursts of offense while Page controls for the most part.

Ibushi hurricanranas him to the floor but Page is ready to break up the moonsault to the floor. Page jumps to the barricade and Ibushi GERMAN SUPLEXES HIM ONTO HIS HEAD (making my mouth come open on the terrifying landing), thankfully with Page writhing in pain instead of, you know, not moving.

Now the running moonsault to the floor drops Page again and you know that’s getting a standing ovation. Back in and a kneeling Tombstone gives Page two and he can’t believe the kickout. Ibushi goes with the simple idea of kicking him in the head but gets backdropped onto the apron. A great looking moonsault to the floor drops Ibushi again and the Buck Shot Lariat gets two.

The pinfall reversal sequence gives us a sequences of reversed pinfalls until Ibushi grabs a German suplex for two more. They slug it out from their knees and then on their feet with Ibushi asking him to hit harder. It turns into a slap off until Page hits the discus forearm to the jaw. The sitout Last Ride gets two and an arm trap German suplex gets the same. That’s it for Ibushi who SMASHES Page in the face with a knee for the pin at 14:31.

Rating: B+. That knee alone was worth it. These two beat the heck out of each other and it turned into a great spectacle with both guys showing how hard they were working to beat the other. The dives were awesome and the shots were hard, which is all you could ask for here. Page was awesome as well and looked like he belonged on this level, which says a lot when you consider that he was a young boy when they were in New Orleans for Supercard of Honor in 2014.

We recap the pre-show tournament semifinals.

Women of Honor Title: Sumie Sakai vs. Kelly Klein

The title is vacant coming in and Daffney is at ringside. I’m not sure why as she was never a champion that I know of, but she wrestled in the previous generation so she’s a legend or something. Sumie isn’t up for waiting on the bell and jumps Kelly before the bell, only to get suplexed down for her efforts. A rollup gives Sakai one so Kelly grabs a Stun Gun. They head outside with Klein in full control as the announcers talk about how Sakai is pretty much done. Just get her nameplates ready then.

The End of the Match goes on outside but Klein lets it go in a hurry. Why? Other than the twenty count she could hold that thing as long as she wants. Back in and Sumie slips out of a super fall away slam and hits a kind of rollup powerbomb to drop Klein. The fisherwoman’s suplex looks to set up a victory roll but Klein muscles her over for a German suplex.

Cue a bunch of people from the tournament to watch at ringside as Sakai gets dropped with another shot to the chest. Klein gets two off a northern lights suplex and Sakai grabs a fisherwoman’s buster. Sakai misses a moonsault (she might have grazed Klein) so it’s a really bad looking DDT to put Klein away (her first pinfall loss in ROH) for the pin and the title at 7:44. The DDT was so messy looking that I wouldn’t be surprised if the moonsault was supposed to be the finish and Sakai did whatever she could for the finish.

Rating: D+. What the heck was that? We spent months (years in some cases) talking about how important this thing was and the final doesn’t even get eight minutes? In a pretty lame match too? The ending was bad as well as you can’t even have Sakai hit her finisher? And why is Sakai champion again? She’s been here a long time? That’s the best reason you have?

I really don’t know about this as you have better, more interesting options but this is what we get, possibly as a thank you for her work in the division. You know, the thing that wasn’t even worth eight minutes and had its other matches (neither of which broke nine minutes) on the pre-show. This felt like ROH saying “there, you have your title now” and that’s not how this was built up, which is a lot more annoying than anything else. Not a very good match and an even more questionable choice to win the thing.

Sakai holds up the title in what feels like a very rushed celebration.

We get a graphic for the next match and miss Klein and Sakai hugging. Back in the arena, the rest of the women hug Sakai as the graphic for the next match is still on the screen. Good grief if you don’t care, don’t pretend that you do.

We recap the Six Man Tag Team Title match. So Cal Uncensored and the Young Bucks/a variety of partners have been feuding over the titles for months now with So Cal Uncensored winding up with the titles thanks to doing horrible things to Matt Jackson’s back. They need to hold onto the titles to avoid being fired at the end of the year so tonight it’s a ladder match with Flip Gordon fighting on the Bucks’ side.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: So Cal Uncensored vs. Young Bucks/Flip Gordon

So Cal Uncensored is defending in a ladder match with Shane Taylor on commentary. It’s a brawl to start (well duh) and Gordon kicks the first ladder into Scorpio. Nick hits a corkscrew dive over the top to take Daniels down and Kazarian gets a ladder tossed into his face. Sky tries a flip dive….over the Bucks….who are holding a ladder….which they use to cover themselves. Even Cabana has no idea what that was supposed to be.

Back in and Daniels accidentally clotheslines Kazarian over the top but miscommunication drops Matt as well. Daniels uses the distraction to go up but Matt throws Nick onto the ladder for the save. Gordon and Kazarian clothesline each other down, leaving Daniels to throw Nick off the top and onto the ropes. Now it’s Kazarian and Gordon both jumping onto the ladder for a slugout on top until Kazarian takes him down with a huge TKO. All six are back in with the Bucks and Gordon suplexing Daniels and Sky.

The Bucks start taking over and let’s hit those….Wild and Crazy Kids references? I KNEW I WATCHED THIS SHOW FOR A REASON! With Daniels on the ladder on the bottom rope, the Bucks backflip Gordon into a 450 for the next crazy spot. Kazarian is back up with the ladder around his head but Gordon nips up to avoid shot after shot. The double superkick to the ladder brings Kazarian down, followed by Matt hitting the 450 onto Sky onto the ladder.

Matt goes up top but a ladder to the back brings him down again as the champs take over. Sky is back up and snaps off a super hurricanrana to drop Gordon. Celebrity Rehab onto the ladder rocks Matt again but Gordon is back up with a series of kicks and a monkey flip to send Kazarian into the ladder. Another flip dive drops Daniels, leaving the Bucks to beat up Scorpio.

Kazarian brings in a ladder so Matt stomps onto it, crushing Kazarian’s hand in a nasty crunch. A wheelbarrow cutter sends Daniels into the ladder and it’s off to a Cease and Desist on Sky through the ladder. Flip climbs up at the same time but Daniels uses a ladder for the save. Kazarian tries a hurricanrana over the top but takes out Daniels by mistake, leaving Flip to flip onto all of them.

Since the Bucks aren’t that bright, Nick dives onto everyone else before going up, allowing the Kingdom, in Dudley Boyz camouflage, to make the save. Rock Star Supernova plants Matt but they beat up the champs as well. TK O’Ryan, who isn’t in the match, climbs up but everyone else turns the ladder over. The Bucks superkick So Cal Uncensored down but all six climb at the same time. Gordon gets smart by jumping to the very top of the ladder and touches the belts. That earns him a shot from Daniels, sending Gordon face first onto the top of the ladder and down to the mat in a bad crash.

Kazarian and Matt fight on the top until Daniels takes Matt down with a Downward Spiral from the top. The others go down as well and it’s time to clear some ladders out. It’s time for the big ladder but before the climbing can start, Kazarian gets superkicked. The Kingdom has to be taken out again and Nick DDTs Kazarian onto the apron. Gordon springboards into a double blockbuster to take Sky and Daniels onto the pile….and it’s table time.

O’Ryan and Sky are laid onto said tables and that means stereo 450 splashes to the floor. Daniels is left alone to go up but Matt runs up for a save. In a smart move, Daniels drops down and shoves the ladder over, sending Matt through Marseglia through a table. That’s enough for Daniels to go up and pull down the titles at 24:08.

Rating: A-. It’s a great match but as is always the case with these things, all the ladder matches start to run together after awhile. There’s really nothing here that makes it stand out but the spots were cool and the ending worked. I’m glad the Bucks didn’t win again at least but there was too much Kingdom for my taste. Still though, solid stuff.

Post match the Kingdom steals the titles and run off.

We look at some highlights while the ring is cleaned up.

It’s intermission time and that means we get to see the pre-pre-show match.

Brian Milonas/Beer City Bruiser vs. Motor City Machine Guns vs. Luke and PJ Hawx

Caprice Coleman is on commentary. I’ve heard a lot about Hawx but I don’t know if I’ve ever seen more than one or two of his matches. PJ (apparently Luke’s son) works on Shelley’s wrist to start before it’s off to Luke for some backbreakers to Sabin. Chris kicks PJ away but Bruiser comes in to lumber people over. Milonas’ falling splash gets two on PJ and the big guys crush him for good measure.

A side slam/big boot combination (the Authors of Pain used to use that) plants Shelley and the big guys are dominating. Sabin comes back in to slug away but gets crushed by Bruiser in the corner. PJ is up as well though and cleaning house with a big dive to the floor. You don’t have a big pile on the floor with Milonas around though and it’s a cannonball to crush them all. Back in and the PowerPlex destroys PJ for the pin at 6:17.

Rating: D+. I still don’t care for Milonas and Bruiser but this was perfectly fine for an opening match to warm up the crowd. They kept it short and the dives were good to move things along. This is a case where the match might not have been the best but it was the right way to do things, which is what matters most in this situation.

The intermission keeps going for a few more minutes.

Tag Team Titles: Jay Lethal/Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Briscoes

The Briscoes are defending and there’s no story here. Lethal and Tanahashi are two great singles guys and they’re getting a shot at the titles. I’ve heard worse ideas, especially when the Briscoes are such dominant champions. For the sake of simplicity I’ll only refer to Jay Brisco as Jay. Lethal and Jay start things off with a lockup going nowhere. Briscoe shoulders him down and snaps off a hurricanrana (you don’t see him do that very often) and it’s off to Mark vs. Tanahashi.

Mark wastes no time in going after the hair so Tanahashi busts out the crane kick pose. Red neck kung fu is no match for a dragon screw legwhip and we hit the GO ACE chant. The middle rope swanton gets two as we’re still waiting to get into the second phase here. Lethal comes back in for a pair of basement dropkicks and even knocks Jay off the apron as a bonus. You don’t do that to Jay though and Lethal gets his head knocked off as a result.

Mark’s running apron dropkick keeps Lethal in trouble and I wouldn’t expect that to change for a while. As you might guess, this turns into a discussion of super bands and how they don’t have the most success in the world. Lethal chops both champs and sends Mark outside, with Tanahashi following instead of taking a tag. The suicide dive takes Jay down and it’s off to Tanahashi for two off a standing backsplash. That means a fight over a suplex with neither being able to pull it off. Mark adds in a kick to the back and it’s Jay kicking Tanahashi in the face to take over.

We’re off to the camel clutch, followed by a big double shoulder from the champs. A Sling Blade to Mark is enough for the hot tag off to Lethal as things pick up again. The Lethal Combination and a cutter are enough to set up a Figure Four. Mark comes in with the Froggy Bow for the save and Jay’s brainbuster gets two on Lethal. The Lethal Injection is only good for two on Mark and the fans think that was three. Tanahashi is back in but a Doomsday Device is broken up. Instead Jay gives Lethal a German suplex and the real Doomsday Device retains the titles at 19:36.

Rating: B. As mentioned, this was two great singles guys getting a Tag Team Title match so I’m not sure how much of a chance fans were really giving them. What they did have though was a rather good match, which is all you can ask for here. The Briscoes are as good as anyone right now and there’s no need to do anything more than put in a solid performance. Ring of Honor has a deep tag division but no one is anywhere close to their level (save for maybe the Bucks) so this is as good of an idea as they can do.

We recap Silas Young vs. Kenny King for the TV Title. They’ve traded the title a few times now so tonight is the final battle (as opposed to their match at Final Battle) in a Last Man Standing match.

Before we get to the match, here’s Austin Aries (with a banana in his pocket) to say he wants the winner of this match. He’ll be on commentary here.

TV Title: Silas Young vs. Kenny King

King is defending and it’s Last Man Standing. Silas loads up a table before King comes out as Aries complains about not having a place to put all of his belts. King punches him into the corner to start but gets his head taken off by a running clothesline. A swinging Rock Bottom backbreaker puts Young down as the announcers want to know how Aries is allowed to be here. King goes with a Boston crab to slow Young down before switching to the Last Chancery (Aries: “WHOA WHOA WHOA!”). It’s cool as Aries has given his permission, but King is botching the execution.

Young fights up and tosses King over the top and through the table for an eight count. Some whips into the barricade and right hands have King in more trouble but Young stops to yell at the fans. Back in and King manages a backbreaker onto the turnbuckle, followed by an apron Blockbuster to the floor. Aries isn’t sure if that’s worth the risk to your own body and as usual, he’s got a good point. Young is up at eight and they head back inside, only to walk into a spinebuster to stay on the back.

They head to the apron and Young’s back is fine enough to hit Misery, sending King face first onto said apron for an eight. It’s trashcan time with King taking a shot to the back, causing Ian to bust out a Bangin on a Trashcan reference, making him the greatest commentator of all time. King dropkicks the can lid into Young’s face and the Royal Flush onto the can for nine with Young rolling underneath the ropes to land on his feet in a smart save.

A quick suplex onto a ladder has Young in trouble again and a shooting star from the top to the floor drives him through a table in the big spot of the match. They’re both down with Young pulling himself up on the barricade but King’s feet have been tied up by Bruiser, who was hiding underneath the ring. Oh come on with that stupid ending.

Rating: C+. This was good for the most part but that ending was ridiculous. So King hits the big finishing spot but HAHA screwy finish to end the feud! They were trying to make King look good but put the title back on Young too and that’s not a good idea. You have to pick one or the other and trying to go in the middle just makes me roll my eyes as the backdoor they’re trying to go through hit them in the head on the way out. The rest of the match was fun stuff and the usual good brawling, but it could have moved at a somewhat faster pace.

Post match the double beatdown is on but Aries runs in for the save.

Since Ring of Honor apparently doesn’t have scissors, King has to hop away with his feet still tied. Thanks for the big spot dude. Enjoy your reward.

Cheeseburger/Eli Isom vs. The Dawgs

We’re nearly three hours into this show, have the double main event to go, and THIS GETS PAY PER VIEW TIME??? The announcers nearly laugh at Cheeseburger for picking Isom when people like Austin Aries, Colt Cabana, or ANYONE ON THE ROSTER is available. The Dawgs jump them before the bell and Isom gets crotched against the post. His knee gets crushed with a chair and here’s Bully Ray for the save.

With the Dawgs on the floor, Ray calls them scumbags for jumping their opponents before the bell. Since Cheeseburger doesn’t have a partner, the match has to be thrown out. Cheeseburger begs Ray to be his partner so Ray can have a final fight to go with his final moment. He appeals to Ray not wanting to disappoint 6,000 people so Ray says ring the bell.

Cheeseburger/Bully Ray vs. The Dawgs

The beating is on with the Dawgs in trouble and a Bionic Elbow to Ferrara. There’s the palm strike and Cheeseburger plays D-Von in What’s Up. Ray tells him to get the tables and then chokeslams Cheeseburger. If you actually call this a match….I’m not sure why.

Ray asks Cheeseburger who he thinks he is for putting him on the spot like that. Cheeseburger is what’s wrong with wrestling (yep) like the rest of his kind. This entire generation is selfish, spoiled and entitled because they think it’s all about them. It’s guys like Cheeseburger, Will Ospreay, Flip Gordon and Ricochet that have destroyed wrestling. Cue COO Joe Koff to ask what’s going on but Ray says signing people like Cheeseburger is killing wrestling. Koff, who doesn’t have a mic, yells a lot as Cabana wants Ray out of the ring (yep).

Now it’s Flip Gordon coming out but Ray loads up a piledriver, which would end the show here and now with no questions asked. Ray tells the young boy to get off the apron, which has Cabana calling the old bitter vets the problem with wrestling. More insults to Koff are followed by Ray putting on his WWE Hall of Fame ring (Cabana: “Then go over there. Go to New York.” You know, where so many of this company’s shows are held.) and powerbombing Cheeseburger to FINALLY end this.

Where do I even begin here? First of all, this was fifteen minutes on a show that is already approaching four hours with two major matches to go. That’s about twice as long as the Women’s Title match received. Second, I can’t stand Cheeseburger so I don’t know why I’m supposed to be disagreeing with Ray.

Cheeseburger is pretty much the Ring of Honor mascot and I need a lot more than that to make me care about him. Wow he’s a small guy with foam cheeseburgers and Jushin Thunder Liger taught him a move. WHO CARES??? I get that he’s not supposed to be taken seriously but he’s been on the show for at least the last few years in the same role and stories. This company doesn’t have a lot of TV time and wasting it on him gets old in a hurry.

Other than that, this very easily could have been done on TV instead of adding even more time to an already long pay per view. Throw in Ray being the face boss for what, three weeks or so, and it’s already feeling like a warmed over WWE/TNA storyline. This was a big waste of time and I was agreeing with a lot of what the heel was saying. Do this later (if you absolutely have to do it) and stop inflating your shows. Modern wrestling companies do not grasp the idea of less being more sometimes and it would really be a nice lesson for them to learn.

We recap Cody vs. Kenny Omega in the battle of the Bullet Club. So a little over a year ago, Cody joined the Bullet Club, led by Kenny, and slowly started trying to take over. This didn’t sit well with Kenny and the rest of the team has been pulled into the middle. Of course to know the full thing you have to watch New Japan and the Being the Elite webseries but since I don’t watch either, those are the details I’m going into this with instead of doing a bunch of research.

Cody vs. Kenny Omega

Cody comes in with Bernard the Business Bear (there better be a good reveal), Brandi Rhodes, and a bunch of cops. The fans lose their minds at the opening bell but hang on because Cody needs a kiss from Brandi. It takes over a minute to lock up….and they immediately cut to the crowd. Cody’s headlock goes nowhere as Kenny kicks him to the floor and runs the ropes until Bernard trips him up.

Omega dives onto Bernard and takes off the head revealing….just a guy, or at least someone not important enough to show. Cody uses the distraction to get in a cheap shot as the bear is ejected. Oh come on now. Hasn’t he suffered enough? Cody loads up Shattered Dreams but stops and flips off the crowd instead. So to clarify: the WWE Hall of Famer who works here is a heel move but Goldust is a face. Got it. I think? The fans sing for Omega and are rewarded by Cody powerbombing him to cut off a comeback attempt.

The American Deathlock goes on but Kenny makes the rope, only to be slapped by Brandi. In a blatant bit of cheating, Cody has a foreign object thrown in but uses the referee distraction to kick Omega low. All Cody so far. The beating continues on the floor with Cody shifting his focus to the back. Omega gets sent face first into a chair but hang on because Cody has to steal a beer and spit it at fans. Of course that gets Cody a chant and it’s time to slap it out.

Omega gets the better of the chopping but his moonsault hits knees. Cody heads outside and takes one heck of a suicide dive, followed by a sitout bulldog for two back inside. Something like Adam Cole’s old Last Shot plants Cody again and there’s the V Trigger for a big reaction. A pair of Snapdragons makes things even worse but Cody breaks up a third attempt and scores with a Disaster Kick for two.

Another V Trigger in the corner looks to set up the One Winged Angel but Cody reverses into a Figure Four instead. Omega is in trouble and rolls around to little avail. A few slaps to the face wake him up enough for the turnover though and the hold is broken. Cody grabs a dragon screw legwhip to send Omega to the apron and it’s table time (Kevin: “Did we have a banquet earlier today?”).

Cross Rhodes through the table is broken up and a piledriver is blocked as well with Omega trying the Snapdragon on the apron. It knocks Cody down, though it would be a little more effective if Cody’s head actually touched the apron. Amazingly enough that’s not enough to finish Cody, who picks Omega up and drops him ribs first on the side of the table for a good looking crash. Instead of, you know, using the table again, Cody throws Omega back in for two off the Alabama Slam (almost no reaction from the crowd) and they’re both down again.

Another V Trigger rocks Cody and the reverse hurricanrana gets almost no rotation and Cody nearly lands on his back. Again, the fans aren’t reacting to most of this stuff and it’s not a good sign when they’re only about twenty minutes in to what’s likely going to be a crazy long match. Brandi sets up a table on the floor and gets on the apron, meaning it’s a missed V Trigger to put her through the table. Kenny is distracted so Cross Rhodes gets a close two, again with VERY little reaction.

Cody doesn’t know that Brandi is down so here’s Flip Gordon to help her out, following up on a Being the Elite angle. I know that’s the case because commentary tells us about it, which is all I need. A superplex brings Omega back down and it’s time for a whipping with the weightlifting belt as we move into the Hollywood Hogan period. Cody misses the moonsault though and one heck of a knee to the face has him in even more trouble.

Two more running knees get two (Remember: when Omega spams moves, he’s awesome. When someone in WWE does it, they’re not real wrestlers.) but the One Winged Angel is reversed into a Vertebreaker for two more. We get the required ref bump (How else are you going to get the Bucks in there?) and a double crossbody puts both guys down. Cue the Bucks (with a Being the Elite camera) to decide whom to superkick. They aim for Cody but hit Omega instead with reality setting in very quickly. Cross Rhodes gives Cody the pin at 36:35.

Rating: B-. Well, it was good and long (you could have cut 10-15 minutes) and it advanced the story. The problem is this felt like a big chapter but not a chapter important enough for 36 minutes of nothing mind blowing. Cody can’t get to that level and it’s showing more and more every time he’s in a major match. They did a very good job of explaining things that set up the match and feud, which was a major issue coming in so well done there. Overall though, this was lacking and nothing that I’m going to remember as really, the big spot was Brandi’s table bump and that was nothing great. Good, but not what they were hyping.

Omega glares at the Bucks as he’s helped to the back.

We recap the World Title match. Dalton Castle won the World Title at Final Battle and is still trying to prove himself as the World Champion. Marty Scurll beat Castle in his first match in Ring of Honor so he might have Castle’s number. Somehow, this is close to the Rick Rude vs. Ultimate Warrior match in 1990, if that’s possible.

Ring of Honor World Title: Marty Scurll vs. Dalton Castle

Castle is defending and has more Boys than usual. With NWA World Champion Nick Aldis in the crowd, Castle drives Marty into the corner to start. Marty’s right hand in the corner earns him a chest thrust and Scurll is already looking confused by Castle. An exchange of wristlocks gives us another standoff, which isn’t a good sign given that we’re already to nearly four hours with this show and the crowd is obviously tired.

Scurll flips him off so Marty reaches into his (own) trunks to pull out a middle finger. You don’t offer Marty your finger but Dalton punches his way to freedom before the finger is broken. Instead Marty grabs the golden umbrella but puts it in the corner, allowing Marty to grab a single leg. The chops it out from their backs before going to a standard punch out. Castle goes with the wrestling in the form of some gutwrench suplexes but Marty avoids a charge to send the champ into the post.

As the Boys FAN UP, Marty keeps Castle in trouble with some chops. It’s time to start stomping on the arm as this is definitely going long, no matter what makes sense on this show. Marty snaps the arm back ala Pentagon in Lucha Underground to not much success. That really should be a big deal but here’s it’s just a move. Shows what happens when you get a move over. Castle strikes away and elbows Marty in the face, followed by a simple beal to really get back into this.

Marty sends him outside but Castle grabs a German suplex through the ropes and drops him hard on the floor. Back in and Scurll kicks him in the head (because a GERMAN SUPLEX ON THE FLOOR isn’t a big move) but gets knocked back to the floor. A DDT plants Castle on the floor again (How long are they going to spend out there?) but he powers out of a tornado DDT. The Bang-a-Rang is reversed into a rollup so Castle knees him in the face instead.

The fans finally get into this with some dueling chants but calm back down when Castle can’t hit a gutwrench superplex to the floor. A superkick drops Castle on the floor again (erg) and Marty backdrops him onto the steps in the aisle for a VERY nasty looking bump. Back in again and the already damaged arm is sent into the buckle as the fans have already dropped their short lived interest.

The Ghostbuster gets two and they go outside AGAIN as the match is clearly being extended for the sake of being extended. Castle gets sent into the steps and in the melee, Aldis hands Marty some clippers so he can cut off a turnbuckle pad. A suplex drops Marty though and a deadlift German suplex gets two more.

Marty is back up with a superkick to the back of the head for two of his own….and now it’s time to stop as he looks underneath the ring for something specific. He can’t fine whatever it is so Dalton sends him into the barricade instead. Marty finally finds some powder, which is kicked back into his face. The blindness causes him to break the referee’s hand so there’s no count off the Bang-a-Rang. Well that’s a new way to do a familiar spot so well done.

With the referee on the floor, Marty gets in an umbrella shot for two. The Boys get beaten down and we need a new referee. A brainbuster gets a delayed two from a second referee so LET’S KEEP GOING! The threat of a chickenwing earns Marty another Peacock Pose but he grabs a loose chickenwing anyway. Castle reaches for the rope so Marty BREAKS THE FINGER and stomps away at the champ’s head. Back to back superkicks rock Castle but he pops up with the Bang-a-Rang to retain at 31:41.

The previous match went nearly forty minutes and this should have been cut down as a result. The wrestling was fine and Castle getting a win over a pretty strong name helps him a lot but egads the length just murdered this match. This might have worked better with fifteen minutes cut off on a less overloaded show but as it was, this didn’t work at all.

Overall Rating: C+. There’s a really good show underneath a lot of the dead weight on this one. This show was dying for one heck of an edit/rewrite to make things better but as it is, this is a major struggle. It felt like Ring of Honor was trying to go with a Wrestlemania style show and it collapsed underneath the weight. There was a lot of stuff on here (the Bully Ray turn, the opener, large chunks of both main events and a little of the ladder match, plus the intermission) that could have been left off. This needed to be about an hour shorter because as it is, they’re teetering on the brink where a lot of very good stuff is forgotten.

Now that being said, there’s a lot of very good stuff on here. The ladder match and Page vs. Ibushi are both worth seeing and some of the other matches range from entertaining to more than worthy of being on a show like this. Above all else though this felt like the big show, especially with the huge crowd. They should be proud of what they accomplished here as that’s a heck of a house and a heck of a gate. Just use some of that money to hire someone to say “cut this and cut that”, because it could turn a good show into a great one and now wear down the crowd so much.

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:

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Ring of Honor
Date: April 11, 2018
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:

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Ring of Honor
Date: April 4, 2018
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana

So this is the go home show for Supercard of Honor, which must have made for an odd taping. The stuff that can give away storyline advancement and results likely stopped right in the middle, but at least we’ll be getting something important tonight. Expect a lot of Bullet Club, which you should be used to by now. Let’s get to it.

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

Briscoes vs. Kenny King/Dalton Castle

Non-title with Marty Scurll on commentary. Dalton tries to suplex Mark to start but gets taken into the corner for a stomping. Kenny and Jay come in with Briscoe actually trying a sleeper of all things. That goes nowhere as Kenny flips away and we take a break. Back with Dalton throwing Jay down but Mark getting in a slam to take over.

Jay elbows Dalton in the face as everything breaks down with the Briscoes beating Castle down on the floor. Back in and Jay breaks up the hot tag as Marty is in his glory by ripping on everything Castle does. The Briscoes knock them outside in a heap again and we take a second break.

Back again with Dalton fighting out of a bearhug and diving over for the hot tag to King. A spinebuster gets two on Jay but a hard lariat gets the same on Kenny. Jay’s superplex into Mark’s Froggy Bow gets two with Kenny making the save, sending Marty into hysterics at the cheating. Cue Silas Young to yell at King and the distraction sets up the Jay Driller to end Kenny at 16:18.

Rating: C+. This was more of a spectacle than a big match and that’s perfectly fine. There’s something cool about having all of the champions in a single match, even if the Briscoes didn’t have a real threat here. At least it wasn’t a title match, which wouldn’t have made much sense. As a bonus, they used the match to set up something at Supercard of Honor. Well done, even if the match wasn’t anything great.

Post match Marty loads up a belt shot but hands it to Castle instead.

Quick recap of the Kingdom’s issues with Bully Ray.

Cheeseburger vs. Kikutaro

Kikutaro is a masked Japanese comedy guy and the Dawgs are on commentary. They pose to start and Kikutaro grabs an early rollup for two. The referee gets whipped into the corner but raises a boot to stop Kikutaro with the announcers calling this garbage. Kikutaro grabs a suplex but stops to do his own commentary, bringing the Dawgs in for the DQ at 2:43. Thank goodness.

Ray comes out for the save.

Women’s Title tournament recap.

Women of Honor Title Tournament Quarterfinals: Mayu Iwatani vs. Deonna Purrazzo

They hit the mat for an early standoff until Deonna runs her over and grabs a running hurricanrana for two. That earns her a running dropkick to the floor but Iwatani’s charge hits a raised knee. Back from an abrupt break with a chop off with Iwatani putting Purrazzo down. A big dive to the floor is countered into a Fujiwara armbar with Purrazzo letting go in a hurry. As Colt asks, why would you let that go when you can do it until eighteen or nineteen?

Back in and some rolling German suplexes have Iwatani in more trouble but she gets in a dragon suplex for a breather. Mayu slugs away until Deonna pulls her down into the Fujiwara. A rope is grabbed though and the bridging dragon suplex sends Iwatani to the semifinals at 9:43.

Rating: C+. Purrazzo is one of those wrestlers who can give you a good match but doesn’t really stand out all that much. She’s certainly good and knows how to handle herself in the ring but I can barely remember anything she’s done. Iwatani’s Stardom resume alone guaranteed her a semifinal spot, which is kind of annoying given how big a deal Purrazzo was to the early days of the division.

The Briscoes are ready to beat two great singles wrestlers at Supercard of Honor.

Jay Lethal wants the Tag Team Titles.

Kenny King wants to keep the TV Title.

Silas Young wants to win the TV Title.

Adam Page is VERY intense about beating up Kota Ibushi.

Punishment Martinez promises to send Tomohiro Ishii south of Heaven.

The Young Bucks drew a big house and now they’re tearing it down.

Marty Scurll is ready to take the World Title.

Dalton Castle will look fantastic and retain.

Here’s Cody to insist that Bullet Club is FINE. This Saturday he’s facing Kenny Omega and has a question: can you name a great Omega match that didn’t involve Chris Jericho or Kazuchika Okada? Omega is that great indy band that you swear is awesome but can’t remember any of their songs. The reality is that Cody leads the Bullet Club while Omega says Cody is a reject from WWE. Omega is a reject from its developmental system.

That gets a BIG gasp (as it should) but here’s Omega to interrupt. He liked that Bullet Club is fine line, but wants to know why Cody didn’t bring it up with the leader of the team. As for Brandi, who kissed him at the 16^th Anniversary Show, he was confused. It went on so long that Omega thinks she wants to do it again. The brawl is on with security and the Bullet Club running in for the save to end the show. Cody was on fire with that promo and the segment made me want to see them fight so well done.

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:

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Overall Rating: C+. I liked parts of the show but at the same time it didn’t feel like much of a go home episode. Cody vs. Omega was good but other than that, I’m having to think of what’s actually on the pay per view. As usual, there’s a good chance that this was taped before a lot of the matches were announced, making this more of a last episode before the pay per view than a go home show. That’s rather annoying, but not exactly shocking. It’s not bad though and did well enough, which is better than you can expect at times.

Ring of Honor
Date: February 7, 2018
Location: Nashville Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana

I’m actually looking forward to this show for once as the company has been more entertaining as of late. The World Title situation has been very fun in recent weeks, which I never would have guessed with Dalton Castle on top. Hopefully the rest of the show can be just as entertaining as we move forward. Let’s get to it.

We look at Matt Taven attacking Cody last week, seemingly turning Cody face in the process.

Opening sequence.

Tag Team Titles: Best Friends vs. Motor City Machine Guns

The Guns are defending. Sabin and Chuckie start things off and it’s an exchange of armdrags into a standoff. Both guys tag so it’s off to Shelley vs. Barretta with Shelley being taken down. The Friends load up the hug but Sabin breaks that up. Friendship hater. Everything breaks down in a hurry and the Friends score with running corner clotheslines. That’s enough for the big hug and we take a break.

Back with Chuckie powerbombing Sabin for two but missing a moonsault. Sabin’s tornado DDT/dropkick combination takes the Friends down, followed by the Dream Sequence. Shelley tries a double Sliced Bread #2 on the floor but gets reversed, setting up a toss into a cutter. Barretta is right back up with a big flip dive and we get another hug in the aisle, only to have the Briscoes run in for the DQ at 9:13.

Rating: C-. I’m not wild on either of these teams but it’s not like it matters with the Briscoes being right there waiting to destroy whomever they face at the pay per view. The Best Friends do the hugging spot too often (twice in the match, plus another failed attempt) and it feels more like they’re just having fun than trying to win a title. That’s not a good thing and it happens too often around here.

Post match the Briscoes beat the Friends down before zip tying Shelley to the ropes. Sabin eats a Jay Driller “onto” a chair.

Beer City Bruiser and Brian Milonas debut next week.

Video on Punishment Martinez, talking about his fighting background and growing on the streets. He has a good, menacing voice here as he talks about torturing Jay White and various other names. After winning the Survival of the Fittest, it’s time to come for Dalton Castle and the World Title. Good promo here as Martinez shows us a bit of a different side.

Shane Taylor vs. Marty Scurll

Taylor throws him around to start so Marty stomps in the fingers to get a breather. A trip to the floor allows Marty to score with some superkicks from the apron, only to get shoved into the barricade. Back from a break with Shane missing a sitdown splash so Marty can score with a missile dropkick.

The suicide dive is broken up and Marty hits a tornado DDT off the apron. For some reason Marty tries the Ghostbuster, meaning he earns the splash for two. A chokebomb gives Taylor the same and amazingly enough, Marty’s finger break is stopped as he takes way too long. Somehow Marty manages a suplex for two, only to have the chickenwing broken up with ease. Shane grabs the umbrella but has it taken away, allowing Marty to throw powder in his face for the pin at 10:57. Ignore the referee not seeing the cloud of powder, the powder on the mat or the powder on Shane of course.

Rating: C. Marty was in full on face mode here and it was really working for him. I’m starting to get my head around the idea that a villain can be a good guy as Marty’s talents are starting to show more and more every time. I could easily go for Marty vs. Castle at Supercard of Honor and it would be a good match, if nothing else because of the promos.

Post match Scurll calls out Martinez, who sneaks in through the crowd. Next week, Punishment gets a World Title shot against Castle and Marty wants the first shot at the new champ. Martinez nods and then chokeslams Marty.

We look back at Bully Ray’s retirement last week.

The Women’s Title tournament starts next week. It’s about time.

Matt Taven vs. Cody

Taven speeds things up to start but neither can hit an early finisher. A standoff takes us to a very early break and we come back with Cody being tossed to the floor. They switch places though and Cody hits a big dive onto all three members of the Kingdom. Taven sends him arm first into the barricade though, followed by a whip into the post. The Kingdom gets in a few cheap shots in a sequence that works so well that they do it again.

Back in and both guys try a springboard kick to the head, meaning it’s another double knockdown as we take a break. We come back again with Cody hitting an Alabama Slam for two of his own. Taven kicks him down but his frog splash hits knees. The Kingdom tries to interfere again and that means a double ejection. The distraction lets Taven grab his walking stick but Cody kicks him low and hooks the small package for a pin at 11:25.

Rating: C-. I’m still not feeling Taven but I’m not sure how much sense it makes to have Cody go over here. Cody is a much bigger star than Taven and doesn’t need the win here. Let Taven get a pin here, especially if it’s by shenanigans, and build him up a bit if that’s where they’re going. The match was fine, albeit with a lot of the usual Kingdom shenanigans.

Post match the Kingdom beats on Cody, including crushing his hand. Taven forces him to kiss the ring to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The roll takes a bit of a hit here but I still like what’s going on here more than most of the last year. There’s a great top of the roster here and that makes for a good show, especially with the Briscoes being as awesome as they’ve been in years to carry the tag division. Good show here as Ring of Honor has stopped being a chore to watch.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the 2018 Updated Version of the History of the WWE Championship in e-book or paperback. Check out the information here:

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Ring of Honor
Date: December 27, 2017
Location: RP Funding Center, Lakeland, Florida
Commentators: Colt Cabana, Ian Riccaboni

It’s after Christmas (or before depending on when this show airs for you) and that means it’s time for a special match. This time around we’ll be having a ten man tag with surprise teams, which could make for some fun stuff. We’re still waiting on the post Final Battle stuff but that’s how Ring of Honor works. Let’s get to it.

Cody is standing by some Christmas presents and isn’t happy with being a captain of a team tonight where he doesn’t even get to pick his own team. Dalton Castle, the other captain, comes in and gets to draw the first name. Castle likes his pick, which isn’t revealed.

Opening sequence.

The Dawgs vs. Flip Gordon/Simon Grimm

Rhett Titus is dressed as Santa and Will Ferrara is a reindeer. Grimm is better known as Simon Gotch from WWE and I’m interested in seeing if he’s as nothing here as he was there. Ferrara and Grimm fight over whether the reindeer suit should be zipped up or not. Grimm takes him down into a choke before it’s off to Flip. Some chops set up a standing moonsault for two, followed by a good looking dropkick for the same.

Ferrara trips him up though, sending Gordon face first into the apron. Back from a break with Titus throwing Ferrara into Gordon for another two as the Dawgs have lost the suits but Will kept the red nose. A double suplex drops Gordon and Titus catapults Will into a splash for two. Back up and a springboard forearm cuts Titus off though and the hot tag brings in Grimm. A tiger bomb gets two on Titus as everything breaks down. Ferrara hits Grimm with a present though and an implant DDT with Ferrara helping to spike Simon (Who Let the Dawgs Out) is good for the pin at 9:33.

Rating: C-. It’s the right outcome, assuming you can tolerate the Dawgs. Grimm was slightly better than his Gotch days but that’s not exactly saying much. The match was nothing to see but that’s kind of what you have to expect from a Dawgs match. It feels like such a nothing team and that’s pretty much what they are to this point.

Cody makes two picks. He’s pleased with one but doesn’t think the second even works here. Post break he makes a third pick. Cody: “Christmas sucks.”

Castle makes a pick and says this makes things interesting. No names have been given yet.

Video on the Women of Honor, mainly focusing on Deonna Purrazzo vs. Karen Q. I feel like we’ve seen packages like this for months now and while a title will help, they need to be on TV more than once every few months.

We get an ad for Final Battle….which aired over a week before this show.

Cody is in the ring with a present. He’ll give it to the loudest fan….but stomps it instead because he hates Christmas. It’s time for the reveal of the teams.

Team Cody vs. Team Castle

Cody, Scorpio Sky, Josh Woods, Chris Sabin, Punishment Martinez

Dalton Castle, Silas Young, Hanson, Jonathan Gresham, Marty Scurll

Neither Cody nor Castle (in an ugly Christmas sweater) has the World Title here for the sake of protecting pay per view results. Gresham and Sabin start things off and of course they hit the mat with neither being able to do much against the other. Sky and Castle come in but Young tags himself in instead. They slug it out and it’s pretty clear that Sky hasn’t turned heel yet. A backbreaker has Sky in trouble so he brings Cody in, only to have Castle come in as well.

As you might expect, Cody hands it off to Woods so Castle takes the sweater off. Cody puts it on instead as Castle and Woods take turns driving each other into the corner. Neither can gutwrench the other so Castle hits the peacock pose as we take a break. Back with Hanson and Martinez coming in for the hoss fight. Both guys get in a knockdown for no effect so Cody tags himself in. Hanson tags out by chopping Scurll off the apron but of course they just pose.

Castle sends Marty into Cody and despite tensions being teased, it’s just a big hug. Everyone comes in and it’s a big ten man staredown. Castle wants to fight because IT’S CHRISTMAS! Everything breaks down and it’s Sky with the big flip dive onto the pile. Woods powerbombs Sky onto the same pile before Cody comes off the top with yet another dive. It’s Martinez adding a springboard dive, followed by Hanson topping them all with a dive of his own.

Back from a break with Sky taking a series of running charges in the corner. Marty charges into a knee though and it’s a Flair Flop. Now it’s Marty’s turn to get hit with the running charges in the corner but Cody pulls up short of course. Martinez hits Cody instead until we settle down to Cody vs. Castle. That lasts all of three seconds though as Castle has to suplex a bunch of people.

Sky slips out of the Bang A Rang and it’s Gresham taking over with a dive. Sabin escapes Misery but it’s Hanson kicking Woods in the face. Cody and Hanson trade cartwheels until Cody hits the Beautiful Disaster on Castle. *That earns him a Bang A Rang but Sky takes Castle down with something like a neckbreaker, though Castle lands face first instead. Another Bang A Rang puts Sky away at 19:37.

Rating: B-. This was all it needed to be, aside from maybe some more Cody vs. Castle. They had to hide the results from Final Battle so it was really just a bunch of random fighting, though that’s just about all it needed to be. I had a good time with the match and for a big time special, it’s hard to complain about that kind of a result.

Overall Rating: C+. Solid show, even if it’s just thrown together as a filler episode. The main event was fun enough and I had a good time with it, though the opener kind of dragged things down. We’re still not ready for the Final Battle fallout though as we’re coming up on a Best Of show next week, though it wouldn’t feel right if we got to the next stuff so soon. Good enough show this week, but I could go for some storyline advancement.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume VI: July – December 1999 in e-book or paperback. Check out the information here:

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Final Battle 2017
Date: December 15, 2017
Location: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Colt Cabana, Ian Riccaboni

It’s the biggest show of the year for Ring of Honor and the card is actually not too bad. The main event is Dalton Castle challenging Cody for the World Title with another big match in the form of Bully Ray/Tommy Dreamer vs. the Briscoe Brothers in a street fight. You know, to check off the ECW box on the card. Let’s get to it.

The opening video talks about how this was the greatest year in ROH history. I’m thinking no on that one. It’s your standard hype video with the narrator saying things like “great debuts” and “major changes” with clips of such things being shown. Not bad, but nothing that hasn’t been done far better before.

The production gets a major upgrade tonight with fire shooting up on the stage and a square lighting fixture above the ring with some LED signs. It looks very good, albeit a little out of place around here. Still good though.

The announcers hype up some of the big matches. We just did this in the opening video.

Will Ospreay vs. Matt Taven

This is your required “here’s a New Japan guy” match that has no storyline behind it. Ospreay kicks him in the face to start and hits a big flip dive over the top onto the other members of the Kingdom. Taven is right back up with a big dive of his own though as they’re starting very fast.

Back in and Taven flips out of a hurricanrana but gets armdragged into a dropkick to send him outside. Ospreay teases a dive but instead backflips into his signature pose to pop the crowd even more. The Kingdom offers a distraction so Taven can take over. Cabana: “Ospreay is great but notably kind of dumb.” Vinny Marseglia SWINGS AN AX at Ospreay’s leg, allowing Taven to dropkick him down.

The beatdown is on and Taven adds a hard knee to the face for two. Ospreay kicks him in the head again and gets two off a running shooting star. Taven reverses a hurricanrana into a Liontamer of all things, drawing a Y2J chant. A rope is grabbed and Taven shouts to the camera that he better be on Jericho’s cruise. Ospreay speeds things up a bit and gets behind Taven but still manages to superkick him in the jaw.

One heck of a superkick puts Taven on the floor and Ospreay runs the corner for a springboard shooting star onto the rest of the Kingdom. Taven is right back in with a kick to the face but his frog splash hits knees. The Oscutter is countered straight into the Climax to give Taven the sudden pin at 10:50.

Rating: C+. While little more than a flipping and kicking match, this was a great choice for an opener. Ospreay is one of the best high fliers in the company and he got to show off in front of the fans, who ate up everything he was doing out there. I’m still not getting the point of Taven but it makes sense to have him win here as he’s around a lot more often than Ospreay.

We recap the Addiction vs. War Machine. War Machine had the Tag Team Titles won when Addiction interfered and cost them the match. The monsters wanted revenge but accidentally took out a fan, earning Ray Rowe a suspension. While he was gone, Addiction cut off part of Hanson’s beard. You know what kind of revenge that warrants.

War Machine vs. Addiction

It’s a brawl to start with War Machine winning the brawl on the floor but Hanson’s clothesline train is cut off in short order. Rowe comes in for a save as this isn’t exactly going to have a lot of tagging. Some fans try to start a JOHN CENA SUCKS chant but seem to be promptly shouted down. Good. Rowe t-bone suplexes the heck out of Kazarian but Daniels trips him up to take over.

We actually get to the tag stuff with Daniels choking Rowe in the corner, followed by Kazarian’s springboard legdrop. Addiction fires off a string of springboard dives to keep Rowe in trouble. The double teaming doesn’t quite work though as Rowe Rock Bottoms Daniels onto Kazarian. Hanson comes back in off the hot tag to clean house and Addiction is stacked up in the corner for a quick pounding.

A double Bronco Buster (that’s a new one) sets up a German suplex/middle rope clothesline combo. Kazarian gets in a Backstabber on Rowe and an Unprettier is good for two. Celebrity Rehab gets the same and a Downward Spiral takes Hanson down as well. He’s right back up with a double Tajiri handspring elbow though and it’s Fallout to end Daniels at 9:35.

Rating: C. This was a well built match and War Machine winning was the right call. Addiction isn’t a team that really ever needs to win anything else and putting teams like War Machine over is a great use for them. War Machine should get back to the title hunt soon, though I could see WWE coming after them one day in the near future.

We recap Marty Scurll vs. Jay Lethal. Scurll got to pick his opponent and wanted to face someone he saw as one of the best villains in Ring of Honor history. Lethal doesn’t want to go back to the dark side but Scurll has him getting closer to being villainous all over again.

Marty Scurll vs. Jay Lethal

Scurll, in all white here, isn’t defending his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title. Marty wins a technical sequence to start and grabs a wristlock. A clean break against the ropes keeps the mind games high. Lethal armdrags him down but Marty rolls straight into a bird pose. The cartwheel into a basement dropkick rocks Scurll but he’s still able to stomp on Jay’s fingers.

Jay’s elbow gets stomped as well, only to come back with a hard whip to send Marty into the barricade. Someone throws a streamer into the ring and the fans are all over him. Again, good. A springboard dropkick has Marty in trouble again, followed by a single suicide dive. Back in and Marty suplexes him into the corner before going right back to the arm. They slug it out until a Lethal Combination gives Lethal a delayed two.

It’s off to a torture rack of all things (Cabana: “Can we call that the Lethal Express?”) with Lethal rolling forward for two more. Marty is up first and catches Jay with a tornado DDT on the floor. That’s fine with Lethal, who hits a cutter off the apron to take Scurll right back down. It doesn’t seem to have much effect as Marty grabs the chickenwing, only to have Lethal reverse into a rollup for an escape. The ref is bumped (makes sense this time around) so Marty grabs a chair for the Eddie Guerrero treatment.

Jay is one step ahead of him though, wrapping the chair around his own head and dropping down to the mat. The referee says keep it going so Scurll grabs a brainbuster onto the knee for a near fall. A Figure Four is quickly broken up so Marty grabs the umbrella. The referee takes it away so Marty pulls out a second one to knock Jay silly. That and a piledriver are only good for two so Jay kicks him low, setting up the Lethal Injection for the pin at 15:53.

Rating: B+. I really like both of these guys and it was cool to see them play up a story like this. That being said, this feels like a start to the story and I wouldn’t be complaining about seeing them do some more of this. I don’t think Lethal needs to turn heel, but an edge to his character would be nice. Scurll pinning Lethal in the future would be nice too.

The Motor City Machine Guns say no one is on their level, which is why they’re here.

The Best Friends disagree, albeit in multiple takes.

Tag Team Titles: Best Friends vs. Motor City Machine Guns

The Guns are defending. Sabin and Chuckie start things off and the fans still don’t seem to care about the Guns. An armdrag into an armbar sets up the Friends’ Two Dog Night but Shelley blocks the big hug. Shelley does a Rick Rude hip swivel and sends the Friends outside, where we get that hug. Eh Bryan and Kane did it better.

The Guns hit back to back kicks and knees to the head to take over. Back in and Sabin stands on Barretta’s crotch in the corner, followed by the face to the crotch spots. The Guns even hug to hammer home the joke. At least they seem to be embracing (no pun intended) the heel roles here. Barretta ducks a kick that goes onto Shelley’s head instead, followed by a tornado DDT to Sabin.

The hot tag brings in Chuckie to clean house and that means another hug. Yes it’s funny, we get it. Back in and the Dude Buster is broken up, but so is the rollup from the Guns. Skull and Bones gets two on Barretta, followed by Strong Zero for the same on Shelley. The Friends try another double team but Sabin rolls Chuckie up for the pin at 10:26.

Rating: C. I know this isn’t the most popular opinion in the world but I really can’t stand the Guns anymore. Their matches are basically signs that say these things were all rehearsed and planned out beforehand and I never buy the idea that they’re having a spontaneous match. The Best Friends aren’t much better with the constant hugging (I know it gets a reaction but maybe they should have something else), making this one of those matches I had to get through rather than enjoy.

We recap the TV Title match. Kenny King is a fighting champion and is ready to defend against anyone. So how about defending against three people at once?

TV Title: Kenny King vs. Punishment Martinez vs. Silas Young vs. Shane Taylor

King is defending and it’s elimination rules. Martinez comes out of a coffin and has what appears to be his legion behind him. Young and King start things off with the champ stopping for a quick dance after a shoulder. It’s off to Martinez, who grabs a headlock of all things. That’s not exactly what a monster should be doing. King can’t do much with Martinez so Taylor tags himself in for the big showdown.

Everything breaks down with Silas diving over the top onto Taylor. King dives onto both of them so of course it’s Martinez hitting his own springboard flip dive onto the pile. Back in and Martinez takes King down with a top rope spinwheel kick, putting all four down on the mat. King and Martinez kick each other in the face but Taylor catches the champ in a spinning sitout piledriver.

For some reason no one covers King with Taylor instead hitting a running Death Valley Driver to send Martinez into the corner. Taylor gets crotched on top and King manages a Royal Flush, followed by Martinez’s springboard twisting swanton to get rid of Shane at 9:07. Martinez elbows the other two in the corner but gets knocked outside in short order.

King and Young beat on the monster outside and it’s a powerbomb/Blockbuster combo for good measure. Back in and the Royal Flush plants Martinez but Young hits King with a beer bottle for the elimination at 12:58. The chokeslam gives Martinez two but Beer City Bruiser makes a save. They fight to the floor again with Young winning the brawl and kicking away back inside. Back in and some knees to the ribs set up Misery to give Young the title at 17:24 in a rather sudden finish.

Rating: D. I’m not sure why this match is getting the really harsh reactions it’s been receiving. Yeah it was bad but you would think it was one of the worst matches ever or something. The match was a bit of a mess, but what else were you expecting? Matches involving tags that break down into wild brawls are kind of ROH’s thing and that’s what you had here. Young winning is the right call and I have no idea what else you would have expected here.

We recap Bully Ray/Tommy Dreamer vs. the Briscoe Brothers. Bully and the Briscoes were partners but they turned on and injured him at Death Before Dishonor. Ray has teased retiring but was suddenly fine enough for this fight. Fellow ECW alum Tommy Dreamer is with him for the sake of nostalgia, though it does fit for what they’re doing.

Briscoe Brothers vs. Bully Ray/Tommy Dreamer

Street fight with the ECW guys coming in through the crowd. It’s a brawl to start (as it should be) with the Brothers in early trouble. Dreamer hits a flip dive off the apron onto Jay and Mark is already bleeding a bit. Bully crossbodies both of them off the apron but Jay posts him to get a breather. Jay’s good looking suicide dive takes Bully down again and it’s time for some chairs. All four wind up with one though and it’s time for the dueling.

They switch to kendo sticks instead with Bully and Dreamer pulling out plastic lightsabers. You know, for part of the match where taking place out of such EXTREME hatred. A kitchen sink is brought in and Dreamer is told to get the tables. The Briscoes fight up and clean house again, this time busting Ray open. We’ve got a ladder now too and you know this isn’t going to end well. It’s cheese grater time and Bully’s cut is a lot worse in a hurry. Maybe they shouldn’t have spent as much time with the lightsabers.

Rating: C. I really could go the rest of my life without another ECW tribute. It’s annoying enough to have this be a New Japan holding pen half the time but do we really need the ECW stuff too? I know it’s asking a lot to have ROH find its own identity again but it would be nice if they would try. The match itself was the brawl you would expect and really that’s all it needed to be. Again, the right guy won too and that’s always a perk. The ECW stuff was a little heavy handed but at least the build to this was good. It still should have been Bully vs. Jay though.

Video on the Top Five moments in Final Battle history. There’s no need for this but it only takes about two minutes. Austin Aries FINALLY ending Samoa Joe’s World Title reign is #1.

Ian brings out the Women of Honor because we’ll be having a Women’s Title tournament starting in late January. It’s a nice idea but the division has been filler at best so far. A title might help them though.

The Young Bucks and Hangman Page are ready to defend the Six Man Titles.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks/Adam Page vs. Flip Gordon/Titan/Dragon Lee

The Bucks and Page are defending, Titan and Lee are basically guest stars and Scorpio Sky is on commentary. Lee and Nick start things off and immediately go to the mat for a technical sequence. Nick is up first and walks the corner for a wristdrag before a double dropkick goes nowhere. Titan and Page come in with the masked man grabbing a headscissors before it’s off to Matt vs. Flip.

Back in and Page stomps on Titan until a legwhip takes him down. Flip comes back in and nips away from a series of superkicks. A springboard double Blockbuster cuts the Bucks down and a springboard flip dive takes them down again. Flip’s running shooting star gets two on Page but Nick has to scratch the superkick itch. A springboard DDT plants Lee onto the apron, leaving Flip to escape the Rite of Passage.

Matt superkicks Nick by mistake and Titan’s suplex into a sitout powerbomb gets two. That’s about it for the Bucks being in trouble though (might be a record for them around here) as more flip dives and a shooting star Indytaker plants Lee onto the floor. Gordon chops at everyone but gets triple superkicked. The Indytaker Rite of Passage to Titan and Gordon retains the titles at 15:14.

Rating: B-. As usual, the Bucks are a lot more entertaining when they’re not just throwing a bunch of superkicks. Unfortunately and also as usual, there was no question about who was winning here. The Six Man Titles are still completely worthless and odds are we’ll have to have another team thrown together to get another title match set up. Entertaining match, assuming you can handle the Bucks being around even longer.

Post match Sky and the Addiction come in to beat on Gordon and hold up the titles.

We recap the main event. Dalton Castle has been a wrestler for a long time, even if Cody doesn’t respect him. That’s the story of the whole thing: Castle has been fighting for as long as he’s been here while Cody thinks he deserves everything being handed to him. It’s a good story, even if they’re recycling the same videos we saw on TV in recent weeks.

ROH World Title: Cody vs. Dalton Castle

Cody, now with bleach blond hair, is defending and has Brandi in his corner. Castle comes out with a fleet of Boys, which is really what he should do here. It’s a cool entrance, which fits him quite well. Castle shoves a kick away to start and an armbar sends Cody bailing to the ropes. A chase around the ring allows Brandi to grab Castle’s foot and a DDT gives Cody his first offense.

The Alabama Slam gets two and it’s time for a shoving match with the referee. Cody takes him outside and throws him into the ramp steps, followed by a powerbomb through the timekeeper’s table. Brandi isn’t done as she goes up, despite being in a long, tight dress, and dives onto the Boys. That means a triple ejection and we’re down to one on one. Cody stops for some pushups but the delay allows Castle to slug him down into the corner. A suplex drops the champ as well and Castle pulls him face first into the post for a bonus. Blood is draw, which is probably why the hair has been bleached.

Rating: C. So….that’s it? After spending nearly half a year as champion, Cody just loses the title in less than fifteen minutes? As stunned as I am that they actually put the title on Castle, it’s cool to see them go with someone new. Castle is one of the only homegrown stars they have around here and giving him the title, even if it’s for a short reign, is a smart move. Just do it in a better match next time.

Castle celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The show wasn’t bad but aside from Lethal vs. Scurll, nothing stands out on it. I like that they’re going with less outside talent for a change and focused more on storytelling, but this was missing the big blowaway moment. Castle winning is the closest thing they had to one but Castle is more of a feel good deal than a game changer. It all depends on where they go from here and it’s a fine show, though I wasn’t as impressed as I was hoping to be.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume VI: July – December 1999 in e-book or paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/11/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-and-thunder-reviews-volume-vi/

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

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

Ring of Honor is kind of an oddball promotion. Unlike most wrestling companies, they wait until the end of the year for their biggest show, which actually makes sense. WWE holds their big show in March/April and Impact Wrestling’s is in October/November. Those are kind of strange choices, which is why “Final Battle” being held in December makes some sense. Their biggest show of the year is being held tonight so let’s get to it.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks/Adam Page(c) vs. Titan/Dragon Lee/Flip Gordon

We’ll get this one out of the way early as I’m certainly not a fan of the Bucks. It doesn’t help that I can never even remember these titles exist. They’re hardly ever defended and the teams seem to be thrown together more often than not. That’s what’s happened here as Titan and Lee are CMLL wrestlers who are being brought in for another special appearance, this time getting a title shot.

Therefore, I’ll take the Bucks and Page to retain, as it’s not like they have anything else to do at the moment. It’s rather annoying to have these belts thrown around for no apparent reason other than for the sake of having more titles but having to deal with the Bucks makes it even worse. I’m sure the match will be entertaining and could make for a fun opener but it’s not much more than that.

Matt Taven vs. Will Ospreay

Another special attraction match with Ospreay coming in from New Japan for a guest appearance. Taven is another name that doesn’t do anything for me, along with the rest of the Kingdom. They’re just kind of there more often than not and this feels like a way to make sure Taven is on the card and fill in some time.

As awesome as Ospreay can be at times, I’ll go with Taven winning here. There’s no reason to have the outsider win here, though Ring of Honor has some weird opinions on how to treat the New Japan wrestlers. Taven seems better suited as a tag team wrestler but maybe having do a singles match will be a better fit for him. I mean, it’s not like it can get much less interesting.

Jay Lethal vs. Marty Scurll

Now this is more like it. Lethal has completely won me over and I see him as one of the true stars of Ring of Honor. He has consistently good matches, including pulling off a minor miracle against Beer City Bruiser a few weeks back. Scurll is a heck of a performer too and I’m actually starting to come around on this idea of cheering for someone whose gimmick is being a villain. They’ve even had a good story here with Scurll pointing out that Lethal was more successful on the dark side and trying to tempt him back.

I’ll take Lethal here, but Scurll winning would be a huge moment for him. It’s a case where you can’t go wrong with either pick and that’s a very nice situation to be in. Scurll isn’t quite a full time Ring of Honor guy and Lethal can absorb the loss just fine, though I think he needs the win at this point. I’m looking forward to this match and if it goes as I’m expecting, it could very easily steal the show.

Bully Ray/Tommy Dreamer vs. Briscoe Brothers

The build for this one has been downright impressive. In modern wrestling and especially in a promotion like Ring of Honor, it’s next to impossible to sell an angle. However, Ray sold the heck out of the thing and made it seem like he really was done. You could always feel that he was going to be in the ring at this show, but my goodness they made it work while they were building it up.

This is going to be the emotional rollercoaster of the show and it’s going to end with the Briscoes destroying the ECW legends. I’m not sure why this isn’t Ray vs. Jay Briscoe but the tag match works well enough. The Briscoes have their work cut out for them to get booed in New York but if there’s one team that can help them pull it off, it’s a pair of ECW alumni.

Tag Team Titles: Motor City Machine Guns(c) vs. Best Friends

We’re back to the matches that don’t feel like they have much going for them. The Best Friends showed up a few months back and haven’t exactly done much. That being said, they also haven’t done too little. The same is kind of true for the Guns, who are a semi-legendary team who deserve at least one run with the titles. That’s fine, though not exactly inspiring stuff.

I’ll take the champs to retain here as the Best Friends don’t quite seem ready for the belts. The Guns could lose them at any time (please, not back to the Bucks) but I really don’t think that’s the case here. The match should be well laid out, albeit in that Ring of Honor style that I’m just not a fan of most of the time. It won’t be bad, but I can’t see myself getting too far into this one.

Addiction vs. War Machine

This is more my style. These teams have built up a very nice rivalry over the last few weeks with War Machine wanting the titles back and Addiction using every heelish trick they can come up with to cut them off at every turn. Getting Ray Rowe suspended (likely for a tour or an injury) was a nice move and it gives you a reason to want to see War Machine crush them.

As much as I want to think it’s going to be the Addiction, I can’t get past the idea of seeing War Machine beat those two into the ground. Addiction doesn’t need a win like this and while they’re still good, are probably better suited more as gatekeepers for younger teams with more long term potential. War Machine is one such team, assuming they’re not eventually WWE bound.

TV Title: Kenny King(c) vs. Punishment Martinez vs. Silas Young vs. Shane Taylor

I’m not sure what to think of this but King has really grown on me in recent weeks. Who would have thought that someone who can talk and is a borderline athletic freak was better suited as a face? Again, they’ve built the heck out of this match and I really want to see who comes out as champion.

I’ll go with Young winning, as they’ve teased giving him something for so long now that they have to actually do it at one point or another. Having the match under elimination rules might make that a little more complicated, but he’s probably the best choice of the four. King would be the second best option and Martinez can be a solid monster, though I don’t see Taylor being much of an option no matter what he does. The match should be good, especially if they tell a story with some drama included.

ROH World Title: Cody(c) vs. Dalton Castle

As well as ROH has built Castle up, I just can’t bring myself to take him as a serious contender to the World Title. Having the Boys gone helps (though you can pencil them in for a return here, even if it’s just a run-in) and the wardrobe change is a good move, but Castle just doesn’t seem serious enough to take the title. Of course that being said, Cody hasn’t felt like a real World Champion since he won the thing and I don’t see that changing either.

In a prediction I’m almost sure to get wrong, I’ll go with Cody to retain. The problem is I’m not sure who takes it off of him if he gets by Castle. Lethal maybe? A Japanese import? Their options near the top of the card are a little limited as Castle could face the Bullet Club for months. I just can’t see them going with Castle though and that’s why the main event scene is one of the company’s biggest issues at the moment.

Overall Thoughts

This is one of Ring of Honor’s best built cards in a long time and that’s a nice thing to see. Far too often these shows feel like they’ve been slapped together and it’s cool to see them actually make the top show feel like the top show. There are multiple matches I want to see and I don’t get to that point very often around here. Well done on setting something up but now follow through on it.

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume VI: July – December 1999 in e-book or paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/11/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-and-thunder-reviews-volume-vi/

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

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

Ring of Honor
Date: December 13, 2017
Location: RP Funding Center, Lakeland, Florida
Commentators: Colt Cabana, Ian Riccaboni

It’s the go home show for Final Battle and you never know what that means around this promotion. They might set up something for the pay per view but at the same time it might be any given show. Unfortunately it’s probably going to be two weeks at minimum before we get to any kind of follow up due to the annoying taping schedule. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Kenny King vs. Caprice Coleman. That’s going to be our feature attraction tonight isn’t it? I’m so thrilled.

Opening sequence.

TV Title: Kenny King vs. Caprice Coleman

Silas Young is on commentary. King is defending but Coleman has the enforcer for hire Shane Taylor in his corner. The champ works on a hammerlock to start but it’s way too early for the Royal Flush. Back from a break with Coleman snapping him throat first across the top rope and grabbing a headscissors on the floor.

King gets sent hard into the corner for two and it’s off to something like a camel clutch/crossface chickenwing hybrid. A top rope hurricanrana doesn’t work though as King slips out, leaving Coleman to take a heck of a fall with his legs bouncing off the ropes. King gets two off a tabletop suplex but Coleman grabs his rolling northern lights suplexes for two more.

The Sky Splitter is good for the same but Coleman can’t hit a piledriver. Taylor finally gets involved with a distraction attempt, prompting the announcers to talk about King being on the Bachelor. Coleman’s rollup gets two but King is right back with the Royal Flush to retain at 10:05.

Rating: C-. Total lack of drama aside, this wasn’t too bad. Coleman continues to be a guy who is just there and I’m not sure how many people were begging for a Rebellion blowoff match. King is already set for a major title defense on Friday and they’re not going to mess with that so close to the show. Not bad though, especially that landing off the missed hurricanrana.

Post match Taylor and Punishment Martinez come in to beat King down but Young goes after both of them.

Here’s the Addiction to demand War Machine be fired for accidentally hitting a fan a few months back. Cue Hanson to go after both of them until a chair shot to the back takes him down. Hanson gets taped to the ropes and Daniels clips off a piece of his beard. Security comes in and Hanson gets free to clear things out.

Bullet Club is ready to defend the Six Man Tag Team Titles. I keep forgetting those exist.

Here are the Briscoe Brothers for a chat, though the fans aren’t exactly accepting of the heel turn. They’re here to tell it like it is and that includes saying they want Bully Ray and Tommy Dreamer. Jay talks about doing everything they can to get those two in the ring and they don’t know what else they can do.

Cue Bully and Dreamer but security quickly cuts them off. COO Joe Koff comes out to try and calm things down but the Briscoes say the ECW guys are taking orders from a short old man. Koff gets in the ring and yells at them, saying he’s the matchmaker around here. The Briscoes are disrespecting everyone around here so the match is on for Final Battle and it’s going to be hardcore. Bully and Dreamer get in for the brawl but security is on them.

Matt Taven vs. Jay Lethal

Marty Scurll is on commentary. They go straight at it and head to the floor in the first few seconds. Lethal shrugs off some chops and throws Taven over the barricade, only to suplex him back to ringside. A top rope ax handle gives Lethal two back inside and there’s the cartwheel into the basement dropkick. Scurll rips on him for the theatrics but Cabana points out that Marty spins around before the chickenwing. Marty: “IT’S MOMENTUM!” Cabana: “FOR A CHICKENWING???”

Jay’s Figure Four is countered into a small package for two but Lethal clotheslines him to the floor. That means a suicide dive but Jay stops at one for a change of pace. Taven gets in a dive of his own though and we take a break. Back with Taven getting two off a flip neckbreaker but hitting knees on a Lionsault attempt.

A slow slugout goes to Lethal and now the Figure Four goes on. The Kingdom helps Taven get to the ropes and Marty freaks out on Cabana for some reason. Hail to the King gets two as Marty goes to ringside. He throws the umbrella in but Lethal’s not sure. The delay allows Taven to grab a rollup for the pin at 10:11.

Rating: C+. They were working out there and Lethal losing via distraction is fine. Taven didn’t do much here but at least he wasn’t talking and that’s always a perk in his case. Not a bad match and it didn’t overstay its welcome. Scurll vs. Lethal should be a lot of fun and Taven….well Scurll vs. Lethal should be a lot of fun.

It’s time for the contract signing between Cody and Dalton Castle. Cody, in a fur coat, and company, including Brandi Rhodes also in a fur coat, are in the ring but Castle gets an entrance. Castle says Cody looks ridiculous but Cody is too busy eating what appears to be meats and cheeses.

Cody and Brandi stop for some champagne until Castle talks about breaking Cody’s heart at Final Battle. He was excited when he heard Cody was coming because Cody loved wrestling as much as Castle does. Then Cody showed up and it was clear he was overdressed, overpaid and overrated. Both guys sign and they stare each other down to end the show. No violence of anything, making this kind of disappointing. How appropriate in Cody’s case.

Overall Rating: C-. Uh….yeah. This didn’t exactly do much in regards to getting me fired up for Final Battle as the matches were ones you would see on any given TV show. I’m looking forward to the pay per view though and that’s a lot more than I thought I’d be saying a few months ago. Hopefully the show is better, but as always I’m cautiously optimistic around here.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume VI: July – December 1999 in e-book or paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/11/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-and-thunder-reviews-volume-vi/

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

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

Ring of Honor
Date: November 22, 2017
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana

We’re less than a month away from Final Battle and, for the first time in forever, Ring of Honor feels like they’re on a roll. The last few weeks have been incredibly entertaining with some great promos to set up some of the bigger matches at the pay per view. It’s hard to say what you’re going to get around here but hopefully the last two weeks are a good indication. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Jay White vs. Matt Taven

In theory this is one of White’s last matches with ROH before heading back to New Japan. Taven punches him at the bell and we start in a hurry. White is right back with a forearm into a Muta Lock (kind of early) to send Taven scurrying over to the ropes. They head outside with Taven getting caught in a heck of a suicide dive as we take a break.

Back with White uppercutting away and hitting a brainbuster from the floor to the apron. That looked like a heck of a bump but of course Taven is right back in and kicking out of a Saito suplex. Taven’s spinning kick to the face sets up a missed Lionsault and Jay grabs a DDT for no cover. The Kiwi Crusher is loaded up but White has to stop due to a spitting Vinny Marseglia. A spinning Rock Bottom gives Jay two instead but Marseglia offers another distraction, setting up a Super Climax to give Taven the pin at 8:50.

Rating: C. I still don’t care for the Kingdom but they’re a lot easier to deal with when they’re not talking. Taven is the best of the three in the ring though one of the more annoying talkers around. Just let them be a trio instead of constantly whining or sounding like nitwits and they’ll be fine. That’s probably it for White, which is a shame as he’s become one of the more entertaining guys on the roster. His feud with Punishment Martinez was good and I hope he comes back here again at some point.

White gets beaten down post match.

Flip Gordon recruits Coast to Coast to help him fight the Bullet Club next week. They need a fourth man.

Shane Taylor vs. Cheeseburger

Caprice Coleman is on commentary. The winner goes on to the TV Title match at Final Battle. Taylor talks a lot of trash and shoves Cheeseburger down as we wait on the inevitable. Cheeseburger’s sleeper doesn’t work but some palm strikes stagger the big man. Taylor runs him over without much effort and a right hand puts Cheeseburger away at 2:27. Can we please get rid of Cheeseburger already? The joke isn’t funny anymore and it’s more embarrassing than anything else.

Post match the Dawgs come out with some coins to buy off Taylor but he pours them over Will Ferrara’s head. PLEASE tell me we’re not in for Cheeseburger/Taylor as a team.

We recap Mark Briscoe injuring his elbow and his brother costing him the TV Title match last week.

Silas Young is ready to beat Jonathan Gresham and become #1 contender to the TV Title.

Scorpio Sky joins Gordon’s team.

Adam Page vs. Dalton Castle

Cody is on commentary and freaks out as Dalton dives outside onto Page at the bell. Page gets sent hard into the barricade and it’s all Castle to start. Back in and Castle loads up another dive but does his strut again, sending us to a break. We come back with Page sending him into the barricade and moonsaulting down to the floor onto Castle. A catapult sends Dalton throat first into the top rope as this is a fight instead of a match.

Cabana calls Page Adam Cole by mistake as they head back inside for some SD Jones references. Back in again with Castle suplexing him down a few times and getting all fired up, especially at Cody. We come back with a second break with Page flipping out of a German suplex and scoring with a superkick.

The Bang-a-Rang connects but Cody dives out of his chair to pull the referee outside. Castle gives chase and runs right into a shooting star off the apron. The Rite of Passage is countered though and Page is set into Cody, setting up a seated armbar with a choke to make Page tap at 12:37.

Rating: C+. The more I see of Page the more I like him as he’s turned into quite the scrappy guy. That’s rather impressive when you consider how worthless he was just a few years ago. He’s fine for the guy you send out to soften up bigger stars, even if he rarely wins a match like this one. Good enough stuff here and it helps advance Cody vs. Dalton ahead of their match in New York.

Cody and Page beat Castle down post match.

We recap Bully Ray’s injury and possible retirement at the hands of Jay Briscoe. Things have intensified since then but it looks like Ray may be done. Tommy Dreamer came in to speak on Ray’s behalf and Jay’s brother Mark seems to be against him too.

Here’s Bully to say he’s very proud of what he accomplished here in the ECW Arena but he’s every bit as proud of ROH. He has a few comments to read and pulls out a piece of paper….complete with the old Bubba Ray glasses. But eh, who needs a script. It’s time to walk away, but first he wants to say how proud he is of this company. ROH COO Joe Koff gets in the ring to say the company loves him.

Cue Jay Briscoe to ask if Ray is really going out like this. Jay knocks Bully’s hat off and Koff actually shoves him away, only to have Jay deck Bully. Tommy Dreamer comes in as Velvet Sky (Ray’s real life girlfriend) comes out to check on him. Mark Briscoe is here as well….and he kicks Dreamer low to turn full heel. A 3D to Bully ends the show. I’m still digging the heck out of this story and while I would have gone with Bully vs. Jay, this works very well too.

Overall Rating: B-. They’re getting hot at the right time and that’s one of the most important things there is to do. The big Bully/Dreamer vs. Briscoes story is doing good things for me and the World Title feud is solid as well, despite Castle not being the most serious character in the world. I want to see Final Battle, and that’s a lot more than I would have expected to be saying.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume VI: July – December 1999 in e-book or paperback. Check out the information here:

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