Ring of Honor
Date: September 6, 2017
Location: Cabarrus Arena and Events Center, Concord, North Carolina
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana

We’re rapidly approaching Death Before Dishonor and it would be nice to actually hype up the show instead of just having a single episode to build things up. They got it right with Best in the World and I have no idea why it’s so hard to repeat the success. Unfortunately it’s the end of a taping cycle so things might not be the most energetic. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Jay Lethal vs. Silas Young, which has turned into a nice feud, assuming they finally go anywhere with it.

Beer City Bruiser vs. Jay Lethal

No DQ and we’re joined in progress with the two of them fighting in the aisle. Lethal slugs away and manages to avoid a cannonball to send Bruiser into the barricade. Jay hits one of his own and Bruiser is in early trouble. A dropkick staggers Bruiser with Jay scoring with a suicide dive to follow up.

Back from a break with Lethal missing a chair shot and Silas Young on commentary. Scratch that as he heads towards the ring, where Bruiser is hitting Lethal in the ribs with a chair. The chair is wedged into the corner and you know what that’s going to mean. Security stops Silas so he goes back to talk some more, which means we need to look at him far more often than is necessary. A basement dropkick of all things staggers Lethal and it’s time for some duct tape.

Jay fights back though and takes off his belt for a beating. Ian and Silas argue over whether or not Riccaboni is impartial as Jay sends Bruiser head first into the chair in the corner. Young heads to the ring again and we take a break. Back with Bruiser missing a top rope elbow, earning him some praise from Silas. Young: “Smart move Bruiser.” Colt: “Said no one ever.”

There’s the Lethal Injection but Jay would rather tape Bruiser to the ropes instead of covering. Jay grabs Bruiser’s keg and puts it over the knee, which he then crushes with a chair. More chair shots to the leg have Bruiser screaming in pain and it’s a Figure Four for the submission at 15:11.

Rating: B. When did Bruiser start getting good? I was buying into the hatred and the violence here with Lethal getting a good warmup before his major showdown with Young at the pay per view. When Lethal is on his game he’s as good as anyone in the promotion and this was no exception. Really solid brawl with the beating doing a great job to show off Lethal’s anger.

Post match Jay puts the hold on again as security holds Silas back.

Video on Minoru Suzuki, who is from New Japan and has an MMA background so he’s the coolest guy ever.

Cody talks about the difference between MMA and “sports entertainment”. Which one of them is real? Suzuki has 29 recorded wins in mixed martial arts. You know what else is ready? Cody is going to stretch him and Suzuki is going to call him daddy.

Earlier today Will Ferrara attacked Cheeseburger at an autograph signing.

We look at the Addiction attacking the Motor City Machine Guns and the Young Bucks last week.

Earlier today Caprice Coleman wanted to interview the Addiction but just had chairs and a microphone, much to his annoyance. Kazarian says he wanted to talk to Caprice Coleman and only Caprice Coleman because he knows what it’s like to be disrespected. Look at the lack of set that Coleman requested weeks ago. That’s why the Addiction is declaring war on respect.

Caprice asks if Daniels wants the Tag Team Titles back so Daniels takes the one mic they’re sharing (Coleman: “Be careful. It’s attached.”) to say that’s not the point. He feels betrayed by the fans, who booed him at Best in the World. Daniels was ready to lead the company but the fans didn’t want that. They’re going to find out what the fans want and that’s what they’re going to prevent from happening. If the fans want the best wrestling, the Addiction is going to burn it to the ground.

Will Ferrara vs. Howie Timberche

Howie throws him into the corner for some right hands and sings A Whole New World from Aladdin before punching Ferrara in the face. More dancing and singing sees Ferrara get slammed down, followed by a good looking dropkick. They head outside with Timberche getting pulled shoulder first into the post, followed by the suicide tornado DDT. Timberche gets in a jumping back elbow and a side slam before putting him in the Tree of Woe (complete with more singing). A backflip into an elbow gets two on Ferrara but a low blow cuts Howie off. The second tornado DDT gives Ferrara the pin at 4:26.

Rating: C-. I really hope that’s not all we see from Timberche, who should have gotten at least a second look out of that performance. He has a good look, a lot of charisma and his work is fine. Ferrara was outshined here, which isn’t surprising given how generic he is. He’s just a small guy who doesn’t have anything that makes him stand out, which is a problem for a lot of people around here. Timberche was fun and I’d like to see him again, though he definitely looks more like a WWE guy than an ROH guy.

Post match Cheeseburger comes out to issue a challenge for next week. I know he’s a cult favorite but I’ve been watching him have the same “my partner betrayed me” feud for what feels like years now.

Jay Briscoe has a concussion but Ring of Honor paid for him to be here anyway so here he is.

Mark Briscoe/Bully Ray vs. Cody/Adam Page

I love that Cody is one of the only champions around that still wears the belt. Cody does his “who wants the shirt” bit before handing it to Page. The classics never die. Mark dropkicks Page off the apron and sends Cody outside for a dropkick. The apron Blockbuster makes things even worse but Cody elbows him in the face to get a breather.

After a little spitting from Mark, Page trips him up and hits the slingshot clothesline to really take over. Mark can’t quite fight out of the corner yet as Cody forearms him in the back and stomps away. Back from a break with Mark kicking Page in the face and making the hot tag off to Bully for the house cleaning.

Bully hammers on Page and hits a Bionic Elbow on Cody (that’s rather cruel). What’s Up with Mark hitting an elbow instead of a headbutt has Cody in trouble and it’s table time. Cue Marty Scurll for a distraction but Jay comes out to take care of him. Jay sets up a table but gets punched in his concussed head, which can’t be a good thing.

Marty and Jay fight around the back of the crowd and it’s a Doomsday Device on Page. Cody breaks up the elbow to drive Page through the table but walks into Mark’s fisherman’s buster for two. Cue the Kingdom to take Mark out though and Cross Rhodes puts him away at 11:20.

Rating: C-. This was every ROH main event all over again: too much stuff packed into a match to really work, which goes against the idea of the entire promotion. Then again it’s what worked in WWE for so long and that’s what wrestling companies do, even if it gets dull in a hurry. At least the ending helped set up the Six Man Tag Team Title stuff at Death Before Dishonor, which still isn’t all that thrilling.

Post match the Kingdom lays out Mark and Bully until Jay makes the save. That just earns him Rock Star Supernova (still way too awesome of a name for such a lame team) to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. You can tell they’re at the end of a taping cycle here and unfortunately it’s a taping cycle as we head towards a World Title match with a challenger who has no connection to the promotion. In other words, the World Champion is just a detail in the promotion while the big deal is a Japanese legend who isn’t appearing or talking until the pay per view. You know, like what happened at the last pay per view. But hey, at least the New Japan fans get what they want out of this and that’s what matters. Not a good show this week, as they’re firmly in the period of having nothing to do despite a big show coming up.

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NJPW G1 Special in USA Night Two
Date: July 2, 2017
Location: Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center, Long Beach, California
Attendance: 2,305
Commentators: Jim Ross, Josh Barnett

We’re back with night two of the show, though this didn’t air on American TV until five days later. The big story tonight is the United States Heavyweight Title, which will be decided for the first time ever. Other than that we have Hiroshi Tanahashi defending the Intercontinental Title against Billy Gunn for reasons I can’t quite comprehend. Let’s get to it.

JR and Barnett welcome us to the show and recap the tournament so far. The Intercontinental Title match gets some attention of its own.

Jushin Thunder Liger/David Finlay/Kushida vs. Tempura Boyz/Yoshitatsu

Before we get going, we hit the posedown for some nice reactions from the crowd. Eh fine enough to open a show, especially when you have a major fan favorite like Liger in there. Liger puts Komatsu in a modified surfboard to start before sending him into the barricade. For some reason this gives us a Who’s On First routine from the announcers because they aren’t the best pairing in the world.

Everything breaks down with Liger getting triple teamed in the corner with a flapjack getting two. The Shotei Palm Strike drops Komatsu again though and it’s a hot tag to Kushida as things speed way up. The announcers talk about food as Kushida grabs a Hoverboard Lock on Tanaka, only to be reversed into an over the shoulder backbreaker. A package piledriver doesn’t work on Kushida and it’s time to slug it out. Something like a Pele kick drops Tanaka but he catches Kushida in a German suplex.

Yoshitatsu comes in with a missile dropkick and is immediately booed out of the building, which apparently is a big thing for him. I always liked the guy but New Japan fans can’t STAND the guy. Finlay comes back in and runs him over for two, only to get kneed in the face for the same. Everything breaks down and it’s a triple submission with a Stretch Muffler making Komatsu tap at 8:54 while Liger had Tanaka in a surfboard and Yoshitatsu was in a Hoverboard Lock.

Rating: C+. Fine choice for an opener here as the fans are always going to eat Liger up with a spoon. The guy is really entertaining (his music is worth the price of admission alone) and Kushida is one of my favorites in the whole promotion. I’d still like to know what’s up with Yoshitatsu but I’m sure it’s something he did before.

IWGP United States Title Tournament Semi-Finals: Kenny Omega vs. Jay Lethal

Lethal has bad ribs coming in. Feeling out process to start and Omega wastes no time kicking him in the bad ribs, followed by another one to the chest. The ribs (both the good and the bad) are sent into the barricade a few times as it’s very one sided to start. Back in and the One Winged Angle is broken up but it’s too early for the Lethal Injection. Instead it’s three straight superkicks (well if the Bucks aren’t going to do them…), followed by the Lethal Injection. Lethal pops back up for three straight suicide dives.

Hail to the King gets two and Jay starts in on the leg as he channels Ric Flair. The Figure Four is broken up so he tries another Lethal Injection, only to have Omega block it with a somewhat botched Codebreaker. Eh I’ll give it five and a half stars anyway. Omega is limping a bit but comes back up a few shots to the ribs. You can’t say his psychology is off. The tape finally comes off the ribs and a few knees to the back get two.

Lethal fights out of the corner and grabs a Blue Thunder Bomb but can’t follow up because of the ribs. The dragon suplex staggers Jay and the running knee to the jaw gives Omega two. A gutwrench sitout powerbomb (always looks cool) is good for the same but the One Winged Angle is countered. The counter is countered into the One Winged Angel though and Omega is in the finals at 12:58.

Rating: B. The psychology was working here, even if the finish was a bit off. Still though, these two beat the heck out of each other and the ribs vs. the knee made enough sense. That being said, there was no way that Omega wasn’t at least making the finals of this thing so it’s not like the ending was in any real doubt.

IWGP United States Title Tournament Semi-Finals: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tomohiro Ishii

There’s a weird visual here as Ishii is really thick but the lanky Sabre is a good four inches taller than him. Ishii forearms him in the face to start and Sabre hurts himself with a headbutt. Some hard chops in the corner have Sabre rocked but he keeps sticking his chest out asking for more.

With JR trying to figure out what Sabre is thinking, he gets in a kick to Ishii’s arm and we have a target. It doesn’t make the early strategy any more logical but at least he’s doing his thing now. We hit something like a modified Tequila Sunrise with Sabre letting go for no apparent reason. Ishii knocks him back again and hits a loud running clothesline in the corner.

They head up top and Sabre grabs a Kimura, earning himself one heck of a superplex to bring him back down. Sabre comes right back with something like a reverse cross armbreaker but Ishii suplexes him into a heap. As JR says Sabre is the “TWG” World Champion, Ishii misses the sliding lariat and gets caught in another armbar. Sabre grabs the leg as well before wrapping his legs around the neck (these holds are INSANE every time).

Ishii dives over for the ropes for the break so Sabre kicks at the arm again. That’s fine with Ishii who HITS HIM IN THE FACE. I love simple counters like that. Ishii counters yet another armbar so Sabre kicks him square in the chest. Not that it matters though as Ishii pops up with the brainbuster to advance at 11:45.

Rating: C+. Ishii is slowly growing on me but I’m in awe of a lot of those holds that Sabre throws out there. I don’t even understand how he does most of them, let alone how anyone gets out of them. It’s not a great match here but it was rather entertaining, which is all you need a lot of the time.

Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. Dragon Lee/Jay White/Juice Robinson/Volador Jr./Titan

JR basically guarantees a spot fest here. This is New Japan vs. CMLL and hopefully JR can remember which luchador is which. Volador Jr., in a mask unlike last night, starts with Naito, who keeps walking away from lockups. Instead Naito rolls straight into his pose so it’s off to Bushi and Takahashi to double team Volador, who has no problem sending them outside for an Asai moonsault.

Everything breaks down with Naito choking on the floor as Bushi chokes Titan inside. Sanada ties up Juice and Titan for kicks to the back of the tights. JR: “We don’t have any idea what’s going on either.” Titan’s comeback is cut off by Naito’s enziguri as the announcers go into a discussion of Trish Stratus’ chest. The hot tag brings in Robinson so clean house with a spinebuster planting Evil.

Takahashi eats a hard lariat and it’s off to Lee to speed things up again. They chop the heck out of each other with the fans getting into it until Lee flips out of a hurricanrana. It’s off to Evil vs. White (who I forgot was in this) with Jay getting the better of it off a clothesline. White gets cut off by a guillotine over the ropes and Evil gets in a side slam.

Everything breaks down again and it’s White getting quadruple teamed inside. Robinson makes the save and cleans house and Titan hits a top rope Asai moonsault to take out Takahashi. White gets two off a Rock Bottom to Bushi but a Flatliner is enough to give Jay the pin at 12:29.

Rating: C+. It was fun and energetic but things go down a bit when you have the announcers riffing on the match being such a mess. It also doesn’t help when there’s very little setting the faces apart and the announcers didn’t seem to know anything about them. Still a fun match, though I’m getting a bit numb to all these multi man tags.

Bullet Club vs. War Machine/Michael Elgin

It’s the Guerrillas of Destiny and Hangman Page here and they’re flanked by Chase Owens and FREAKING HAKU, the father of the Guerrillas. Well that works. Page and Elgin get things going with Adam having no problem forearming him in the face. It’s fine with Elgin too, who BLASTS Page in the face with a forearm of his own.

That goes nowhere so it’s off to the tag teams with War Machine shrugging off a double dropkick and throwing the brothers at each other. Everything breaks down and Elgin suplexes Page, followed by Rowe slamming Hanson on top of him. Hanson rubs his beard on Tama’s face, which might be approved of in some areas. Loa comes in for an Oklahoma Stampede of all things and you know JR is happy with that one.

The beating of Hanson continues with the Bullet Club taking turns picking him apart. Hanson finally avoids a charge and makes the hot tag off to Elgin for the power man offense. The Falcon Arrow gets two on Page and everything breaks down again. Tama gets in a jumping neckbreaker on Elgin but Hanson cannonballs off the top to take out the Guerrillas. A fireman’s carry/Blockbuster combo drops Hanson so Rowe comes in to hit people very hard. Page comes back in with a heck of a lariat though and the Rite of Passage ends Rowe at 11:17.

Rating: D+. This felt like they had a six man tag for the sake of having a six man tag. War Machine won the titles the night before and I really don’t think they needed to set up a new match so quickly. Since all six of them appeared on the show the night before, they really could have cut this out to let the show breathe a bit more.

The New Japan boss thanks the fans for making this special and promises to bring the company back to America…..in 2018. It’s been an impressive weekend but I expected something a bit sooner than that.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. Roppongi Vice

The Bucks are defending and yes, these teams are fighting AGAIN. Now at Best in the World, the Bucks had the best match I’ve ever seen them have because they spared the superkicks. Let’s see if they keep that up or revert to the form that gets them the most praise. Nick throws a superkick less than a minute in but goes with the Sharpshooter instead, sending Romero bailing to the ropes.

All four come in and no one can hit anything, including a quadruple dropkick for a standoff. The Bucks are sent into the corner but come back with a double superkick (oh here we go) to knock Vice outside. Matt hits a heck of a moonsault to the floor, only to have Nick (the announcers are getting them confused again) miss a big flip dive back inside. Nick grabs Beretta off the apron and runs him up the aisle for a heck of a powerbomb as a fan yells something about Hot Topic.

Back in and the Bucks stay on Romero as we’re doing the same “one member of Vice gets powerbombed in the aisle” formula for at least the third time. We hit the chinlock for a bit before the Indy Taker is broken up but there’s no one for Romero to tag. JR: “It’s almost like a handicap match.” Thanks Jim. A double clothesline drops the bucks and Beretta is back up to take the tag.

Matt takes a tornado DDT but the powerbomb into the enziguri in the corner cuts Beretta off. Another Sharpshooter (I’m assuming that’s a new thing for the Bucks because reasons) is broken up so Romero gets powerbombed onto Beretta for two. Romero gets in a double hurricanrana but eats a double superkick. A 450 and moonsault onto the back get two and Nick gets in a great shocked face. It’s back to the Sharpshooter (NOT a Scorpion Deathlock JR/Barnett. There’s a difference and you really should know that, even if you sound bored with this show.) but Romero makes a quick save.

Sliced Bread #2 (not a Blockbuster Barnett) is broken up so Beretta piledrives Nick on the apron. For those of you counting, Nick is on his feet twelve seconds later. A cradle piledriver gives Beretta two and Strong Zero gets the same and….my goodness we actually get tags. For what? Like seriously, for what?

Romero and Matt come in but the tagging part is quickly forgotten, allowing the Bucks to (mostly miss, though it’s fair in this case) get in a springboard flip Meltzer Driver to Romero on the floor. This is actually a tribute to Meltzer’s father, who passed away recently before this show. Romero is dead so Beretta comes back in and spits at Matt, earning himself a superkick to the face and two to the back. Another Meltzer Driver to Romero sets up double Sharpshooters for the tap at 22:43.

Rating: B-. Too long here but, again, the lack of superkicks made it a more entertaining match. Granted it was brought down a good bit by the length and the sloppiness that came with some of the ridiculous flips. I’m not a big fan of the Meltzer stuff but the fans dig it enough so it’s hard to get that mad about it. The Bucks are entertaining but hard to watch at the same time, if that makes sense.

Post match, Ricochet runs in and takes out both Bucks, saying he wanted to be here but a certain Underground fighting company (Lucha Underground if you’re a bit slow) wasn’t being very nice. He wants a shot at the titles with Ryusuke Taguchi as his partner. This segment didn’t air in America due to Ricochet’s contract with Lucha Underground.

Post dark segment Roppongi Vice lists off their five year checklist, which they’ve already accomplished. So now they’re done because it’s time for Beretta to move up to the heavyweight division.

Bullet Club vs. Chaos

Bullet Club: Bad Luck Fale/Cody/Marty Scurll/Yujiro Takahashi

Chaos: Briscoe Brothers, Kazuchika Okada/Will Ospreay

Just in case you didn’t get enough multi-man tags yet. Scurll and Mark get things going as we hear about the Briscoes having 70,000 chickens. Red Neck Kung Fu is countered by the bird pose and we hit a standoff. One heck of a chop has Marty scurrying over to the ropes so it’s off to Cody vs. Jay.

Cody tags Scurll back in but it’s back to Scurll, then Cody, then Scurll and this is the reason both shows were three and a half hours. The fans want Fale so it’s off to the big man….who tags Cody right back in. Now the fans want and get Yujiro and he tags right back to Cody. DID YOU GET THE JOKE YET??? I’m not sure it sunk in. I’m aware Cody has a bad shoulder, but maybe they should just have him sit out and have a match if you just have to get this on the card.

Okada comes in so Cody bails as we’re about three minutes straight now with no action. Ospreay is sitting in the front row having a beer before coming in to chase Cody around……for a meeting in the corner. Now it’s back to Jay and the lockup gets a pop. Cody powerslams Jay down, making me think that the comedy (as HILARIOUS as it was) was an even bigger waste of time.

Ospreay comes in and kicks away at the chest. Will misses a dive though and it’s Yujiro coming in to stomp away. Yujiro dances a bit, then Scurll dances a bit, then Cody flips us off and gyrates the hips. Fale, in his Make Jobbers Great Again shirt, sits on Ospreay’s chest for two but Scurll charges into a boot in the corner. Scurll does his big chickenwing thing, earning himself an enziguri.

Jay comes in to fire off the clotheslines and hands it off to Okada for the real house cleaning. A DDT drops Fale but Okada can’t slam the monster. The second attempt works a bit better (naturally) but walks into a Samoan drop, followed by a splash for two. Cody comes back in and eats the flapjack (hopefully with some syrup) before it’s back to Ospreay, who catches him with a spinning Stunner.

Scurll snaps the fingers, which JR calls illegal for sure. Uh, why exactly? We get the parade of people hitting each other in the face but Scurll busts out the umbrella to block the Rainmaker (how appropriate). Ospreay kicks Scurll and Cody in the face though and moonsaults over the top to take Marty out again. Will tries another springboard but Cody is right there with the Disaster Kick. Cross Rhodes ends Ospreay at 14:00.

Rating: C. This got better later on but I was getting very sick of that stupid comedy schtick. This was a great example of a match that could have been cut as Cody already had his big match and pining Ospreay in an eight man tag isn’t exactly going to reignite whatever he had going on. We already saw these people last night and it really didn’t help the show in any real way. It’s ok to let the show breathe a bit instead of cramming everything in.

We recap the IWGP Intercontinental Title match with Billy Gunn promising to bring his A game. Gunn’s A game wasn’t great at the peak of his career and I don’t think I want to see what it’s going to be like in his 50s.

IWGP Intercontinental Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Billy Gunn

Gunn is challenging and no, it still doesn’t make sense no matter what. Feeling out process to start until Gunn shoulders Tanahashi away. They fight over a top wristlock until Tanahashi takes him down with a headlock. We’re four minute into this and that shoulder block is the high spot so far.

The announcers talk about Lou Thesz as Gunn suplexes him down and throws the champ outside. Tanahashi’s bad arm is wrapped around the post as I have a bad feeling we’ve already reached the peak of Gunn’s abilities. A Jackhammer sets up a top wristlock and Gunn actually adds a low superkick.

Tanahashi gets punched out of the air but pulls Gunn’s trunks down to reveal…..more trunks. I guess Tanahashi gets bored and comes back with forearms, only to get caught with a cobra clutch slam. The Fameasser gets two but Tanahashi hits a quick Sling Blade and the High Fly Flow (with a SUCK IT) retains the title at 14:26.

Rating: D-. This is a situation where the bigger problem is what else it could have been. There are a TON of names on this roster that you could have put in there (pick one of Los Ingobernables for instance) and they go with Gunn. I get that he’s a bigger American name but I really don’t buy that they couldn’t have brought in almost ANYONE else and gotten a better match. For the promotion based on in-ring work, this really didn’t work, though it did to by very quickly.

IWGP United States Heavyweight Title: Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii

For the inaugural title and Omega has the Bucks with him. They get straight to the physicality with an exchange of strikes before Omega slaps him in the face. Thankfully he’s smart enough to stay on him and get Ishii down before he can hand Omega one of his own body parts. Ishii tells him to kick harder and even sits there for them.

They head into the crowd as we go to the Attitude Era style brawling, which makes sense for someone like Ishii. Back in and Ishii slugs away before Omega invites him to get in a kick of his own. Ishii does just that and Omega suddenly realizes that was a REALLY BAD IDEA. The exchange of loud chops goes to Ishii and a powerslam gets two. Omega comes back with some ax handles to the chest and a middle rope moonsault for the same.

Kenny hits a big flip dive over the top and the Bucks set up a table. Josh: “The Bucks with their own gimmick table.” We’ll save that for later though as Kenny goes with a top rope dropkick to the back of Ishii’s head. Ishii doesn’t take kindly to all of these chops though and starts staring Omega down instead of selling the forearms. A hurricanrana gets Omega out of trouble because hitting him in the face over and over has no effect but a short flip onto your back knocks you silly.

Ishii takes him to the apron and blocks a German suplex through the table. Instead Omega tries a dragon suplex through the table so Ishii BITES THE ROPE to hang on, only to have his teeth give way so it’s the dragon suplex through the table. That’s only good for a nineteen count so Kenny blasts him in the head with a series of knees. A final knee is blocked so Omega tries a final, final knee, followed by another knee for two.

The One Winged Angel is countered into a DDT and Ishii hits a good looking top rope superplex for another near fall. They have another slugout until Omega hits the brainbuster for two. Ishii gets in a knee of his own, followed by the sliding lariat. Naturally Ishii is right back with a One Winged Angel of his own but Omega knees him down (AGAIN), followed by a reverse hurricanrana. Another running knee to the face sets up the One Winged Angel for the pin and the title at 31:22.

Rating: A-. It’s good and had the right finish but those running knees to the face were getting on my nerves. The best positive about this match was how fast it went by. There are several matches with this much time that feel close to twice this long but this one flew by like it was half the time. Ishii was a good foil for Omega here and the win feels important, even if it was fairly obvious.

Post match Cody comes out and snatches the belt away from Kenny, only to wrap it around his waist instead. The rest of the Bullet Club comes out to celebrate as Kenny grabs the mic. He’s hard a bunch of hardships this year but what separates the Bullet Club from the rest of the world is they never give up, just like the rest of the people here tonight. The fans made this show and New Japan is back next year. They rule the wrestling world and that’s never changing. This was a good way to end the show as Omega is one of the faces of the promotion and the face of the promotion in America.

The announcers quickly wrap things up.

Overall Rating: B. I definitely liked the first night better but it’s not like this one was bad. The problem here is the first night felt like a grand spectacle as the promotion made its big debut. This one though felt like they were cramming in a bunch of stuff that didn’t need to be on there. I couldn’t really think of anything that could have been cut off the first night but this one had multiple moments that could have been trimmed or flat out eliminated.

The Tanahashi match, which should have been a major deal, was a complete misfire and the War Machine stuff felt like it could have come weeks from now instead of immediately. It’s still a good show and a big success for the promotion but this show could have had a good half hour to forty five minutes cut out to really improve things.

Overall for the two nights, it’s definitely a great debut, but you know the fans are going to get ahead of themselves. They put on two very good shows in front of less than 5,000 fans combined in the second biggest market in the country. It’s a very solid performance for the independent level around here but they’re FAR away from being in WWE’s universe over here, which to be fair New Japan certainly seems to know. If this show is even something of a hit among the casual fans, we’ll see where they can go from there but for now, just consider it a success and start to build from here.

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New Japan G1 Special in USA Night One
Date: July 1, 2017
Location: Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center, Long Beach, California
Commentators: Jim Ross, Josh Barnett

This has the potential to be either a major moment in history or something that won’t be remembered in a few years. New Japan has been the favorite promotion of a lot of wrestling fans in recent years and now they’ve come to America on their own instead of co-promoting with someone like Ring of Honor. This is the first of a two night event, the latter of which will air six days from now. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks back at the history of the company (not exactly in depth) and the build tot he show. This includes a variety of big matches over both nights and how important it is for the competitors in a tournament for the inaugural IWGP United States Title.

Here are the tournament brackets:

Michael Elgin

Kenny Omega

Jay Lethal

Hangman Page

Juice Robinson

Zack Sabre Jr.

Tomohiro Ishii

Tetsuya Naito

We look at the tale of the tape for the World Title match between Kazuchika Okada and Cody Rhodes.

We get some pre-show ceremonies with the announcers talking over both the Japanese announcements and the English translations. This goes on for several minutes with the announcers talking about the tournament and making some predictions. If nothing else it’s VERY weird to hear the term “belt” so many times.

Roppongi Vice/Will Ospreay/Briscoe Brothers vs. Young Bucks/Marty Scurll/Yujiro Takahashi/Bad Luck Fale

Chaos vs. Bullet Club, again. Ospreay and Scurll start things off because…..well who else was going to? Scurll flips away from him a few times and does the bird wings thing a few times. Ospreay sends him outside and apparently we’re under lucha rules (never mentioned by commentary) so it’s off to the Briscoes to dropkick Fale down. Takahashi gets caught in between the Brothers, who JR has confused.

Mark hits his running Blockbuster off the apron and it’s off to Roppongi Vice vs. the Bucks (And for once it’s not something that you would know if you were watching New Japan because this is actually New Japan!). Vice takes over without much effort but there are the superkicks. Marty adds one from the apron and busts out the umbrella, allowing the Bucks to dive onto the Briscoes.

Ospreay kicks Scurll to the floor and there’s the BIG springboard shooting star to take out the pile. Back in and Scurll breaks Mark’s finger but the wild dancing and shouting CHICKENWING somehow tips Mark off about what to expect. Now it’s Romero coming in to clean house….until a superkick cuts him off. In case that’s not enough for you, Jay gets in a little comeback and eats a superkick as well.

Ospreay grabs a C4 on Scurll and it’s back to Romero for the clotheslines in the corner. The clotheslines have no effect on Fale (duh) and he keeps walking forward despite Osprey hitting clothesline after clothesline for a cool visual. Fale shrugs it off and Razors Edges Romero onto the pile, though it knocks out some partners as well. The Briscoes drop Fale but it’s the Bucks coming right back in to take over. The Meltzer driver is broken up and Romero rolls Matt up for the pin at 9:25.

Rating: B. Not the highest quality match but it was entertaining and fast paced, making it the perfect choice for an opener. This also helps set up Vice vs. Bucks for the Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles tomorrow night, which is almost always a good idea. I’m still not sure why Chaos and the Club are feuding but they’ve long since reached the point where they just are feuding so it’s kind of hard to really complain anymore.

Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. Titan/Dragon Lee/Volador Jr./Jushin Thunder Liger

That would be Sanada/Bushi/Evil/Hiromu Takahashi, the first three of whom are the Never Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champions. The first three of their opponents are all from CMLL. If nothing else it’s cool to hear Liger’s music on TV. Finally, Titan is pronounced Tee-Tan as something that is likely lost in translation. Volador headscissors Bushi to the floor to start and it’s off to Liger for a very nice reception.

Sanada comes in as well as we hear about JR seeing Liger facing Brian Pillman back in 1992. That’s when Liger had been around NINE YEARS already, meaning he’s now a thirty three year veteran. I really don’t know what to say to that but it’s rather impressive. Los Ingobernables sneak in from behind and clean house, knocking all of the villains to the floor. Sanada ties Titan up (ala Jack Gallagher) and hits a running dropkick, which isn’t treated like a comedy spot as it would be over here.

Liger gets in a palm strike and makes the tag to Lee for a BIG chop off with Takahashi. The CMLL team hits double flip dives, leaving Lee to kick Takahashi in the face. Titan hand walks away and spins into a headscissors, only making himself dizzy in the process. That’s some awful luck, or mal suerte to him. Titan gets triple dropkicked for two and Takahashi grabs the referee, allowing Evil to chair Titan down. The Time Bomb is good for the pin on Titan at 6:47.

Rating: D+. Nowhere near as good as the previous match here but the time didn’t help things. This is another good example of a match that was helped by commentary as they were explaining why these factions were feuding, which mainly took place in Mexico. I don’t need anything detailed as just telling me they’ve fought before and it was here or there helps quite a bit. The action was fun and while I didn’t know some of the guys, it was entertaining enough.

IWGP United States Title Tournament First Round: Jay Lethal vs. Hangman Page

The belt is big and rather ugly. Lethal has bad ribs coming in thanks to Silas Young and Beer City Bruiser. Page jumps him at the bell but Lethal is right back up with a suicide dive (not “drive” Josh). They head inside with Lethal missing a moonsault and getting kicked in the bad ribs. Well at least Page isn’t doing anything stupid. As I say that, he hits a shooting star shoulder off the apron in what is the best example of an unnecessary flip I’ve seen in a good while.

Back in and Lethal kicks him in the ribs but it’s WAY too early for the Lethal Injection. Instead it’s something like an Octopus Hold until Lethal escapes for some kicks to the head. Jay hits his top rope elbow but hurts the ribs again, allowing Page to get up at two. The front flip clothesline gives Page two but he gets caught in the Lethal Combination. The Lethal Injection almost completely misses though and both guys are down. I’m not sure why Page is but that’s not the biggest deal. Lethal kicks him in the head again and NOW the Injection connects full on for the pin at 8:24.

Rating: C-. This felt really off and almost like a highlight reel or clipped version of a much longer match. Lethal and Page are two of the ROH guys I like more than usual and you would expect better chemistry between them. Maybe it’s the injured ribs but I’m not sure if that’s enough to excuse the blown spots and general lack of flow to the match. They just weren’t on the same page and it felt like they were wrestling two very different matches.

IWGP United States Title Tournament First Round: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Juice Robinson

JR thinks Sabre is Ospreay. Eh I’ve gotten them confused before too. The fans are already singing for Sabre, making me think they’re all evil foreigners. Well maybe save for those chanting for Juice. After a brief feeling out process to start, Sabre wastes no time in going after the arm with a variety of holds that I can’t even begin to name.

Robinson escapes the third straight hold (all of which looked like they should have broken the arm), eventually getting Zack up in a fireman’s carry for a gutbuster. Zack rolls him up for two and it’s time to kick at the arm a few more times. Robinson tells him to bring it on so Zack kicks away.

Something like a triangle choke has Robinson in more trouble but he powerbombs his way to freedom (AMERICAN freedom that is). Back up and Robinson tries an Unprettier but gets reversed into an Octopus Hold with the arm being cranked at a CRAZY angle. The other arm is pulled back as well until it’s a full nelson with Zack’s leg between Robinson’s arms (I told you his holds were hard to call) for the tap at 10:06.

Rating: C+. Sabre is an interesting guy as he’s the best technician I’ve seen since Daniel Bryan (if not before) and that makes for some very fun matches. That being said, he’s also so dominant that it’s hard to imagine him losing, which makes things a bit worse. Now that being said, if there’s ever a time for him to lose, it’s in a tournament. Robinson continues to show WAY more upside than he did in NXT so maybe it just wasn’t a good fit down there. I’ve liked enough of what I’ve seen from him so far outside of Orlando so there seems to be potential there.

David Finlay/Jay White/Kushida/Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Sho Tanaka/Yohei Komatsu/Yoshi Hashi/Billy Gunn

Yes THAT Billy Gunn and yes he’s challenging THAT Hiroshi Tanahashi for the Intercontinental Title. Kushida gets quite the reception and it’s time for the eight way staredown to start. Yohei and Kushida start things off with Kushida easily taking him down and offering a SUCK IT to Gunn. Finlay comes in to dropkick Tanaka but the ring is quickly cleared, leaving Sho to dropkick Kushida in the back.

Sho grabs a bodyscissors before it’s off to Gunn for one of the louder reactions of the night. A quick crotch chop sets up a staredown with Tanahashi before it’s back to Sho to do the majority of the work. Kushida fights them off because the Tempura Boyz Tanaka and Komatsu don’t seem all that great. Tanahashi comes in off the hot tag and forearms Gunn down with his bad arm.

Gunn completely fails to catch him off a crossbody throws in a SUCK IT, and goes down off his half of a double clothesline. White comes in to grab a suplex on Tatsu but gets caught with a spinwheel kick. A suplex into the corner drops Tatsu and everything breaks down. Tanahashi hits the Sling Blade on Gunn and it’s White left in the ring for a Flatliner to put Tatsu away at 9:43.

Rating: D. This match has the one obvious question: why in the name of tree bark is Gunn getting the title shot? Star power? That’s not exactly something this show is lacking and I have a really hard time believing that New Japan would have issues getting someone better in the ring and with more star power than Gunn to challenge Tanahashi. Throw Gunn into the tournament and let one of the people from there (Page maybe) have the shot instead. It really doesn’t look good otherwise and the match could be a major mess, especially when you consider what Tanahashi is capable of.

A long celebration takes us to intermission, which features a look at the main event, a look at the Tag Team Title match and a recap of the night’s matches so far. This runs just under twenty minutes.

Tag Team Titles: War Machine vs. Guerillas of Destiny

War Machine is challenging in a rematch from Dominion where they lost the belts. JR says War Machine are SEVEN TIME ROH Tag Team Champions, which makes me think one of two things: JR is drunk or he looked at their Wikipedia page, saw that they had seven successful title defenses in their ONE reign with the titles, and didn’t bother checking what he was reading.

Before the match, Ray Rowe wants to make it a No DQ match and it’s immediately on. The four of them head outside without wasting a second with the champs getting more fired up every time they take a shot to the face. JR goes into a weird rambling speech about having nothing to say, followed by Barnett taking over with play by play. Did he drop his notes there or something? A trashcan shot stops Rowe’s suicide dive and the champs work him over in the ring.

Rowe takes a neckbreaker and splash for two but Hanson remembers that he’s in the match and makes the save. About fifteen straight running clotheslines in the corner crush the champs again, prompting JR to talk about…..Hanson’s beard? The Bronco Buster misses though and it’s time for the big slugout with War Machine throwing Tama around until Loa powerslams Hanson out of the air. A Swan Dive into a frog splash gets two on Rowe but Hanson is back in.

Fallout is loaded up but here’s fellow Bullet Club member Chase Owens to take out Hanson with a chair. JR sounds rather annoyed about the lack of disqualifications, which isn’t exactly like him. Rowe gets powerbombed through two chairs (Can Hanson just not take a big bump tonight?) but Hanson is here to save Rowe from going through a table. Fallout through the table ends Loa to give us new champions at 11:07.

Rating: B-. Sometimes you need four strong guys to beat the heck out of each other for a little over ten minutes. War Machine is a fun team and the Guerillas are the kind of team who can be right back due to pure charisma. A good power brawl is hard to come by and I had fun watching them beating on each other. Entertaining match and a nice change of pace to a lot of the other stuff on here.

IWGP United States Title Tournament First Round: Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Naito jumps him from behind during the entrances, setting up the charge into the pose on the mat for a VERY strong reaction. After we hit the stall button to start, Ishii hammers Naito like he stole something, including the loud chops. Naito thinks it’s a good idea to chop a guy named the Stone Pitbull (who I didn’t realize was shorter than Naito), earning himself another beating.

Back up and Naito tries again for the same result. Must be a Ric Flair fan. A hiptoss and running dropkick to the back of the head work a bit better and it’s time to pose. Ishii suplexes him down and blasts Naito with a suplex. A powerslam nearly drops Naito on his head for two but he pops right back up with a missile dropkick for a breather.

Ishii’s suplex is countered into a DDT (always liked that counter) and a top rope hurricanrana gets two. Naito walks around for a good while….and then spits at Ishii. I get that he’s confident but sweet goodness that seems unwise. One heck of a headbutt drops Naito and a powerbomb cuts him in half.

A hard clothesline gives Ishii two more but his brainbuster is countered, eventually into a tornado DDT. Destino is broken up so Naito kicks him in the head again, only to get caught by the sliding lariat. A dragon suplex gives Naito two but it’s a clothesline into the brainbuster to advance Ishii at 15:53.

Rating: B. They had a good story here with Naito being able to hang with Ishii on his own but getting too cocky and showing the lack of respect that a monster like Ishii deserved. It’s a good way to make Ishii a big deal as pinning a former World Champion always will be. I liked this a lot more than the other Ishii matches I’ve seen so it was a nice surprise, though I tend to like Naito matches.

IWGP United States Title Tournament First Round: Michael Elgin vs. Kenny Omega

Omega has the Bucks with him as usual and is playing the full on face here despite still being a heel (officially). They try to get the referee to do Too Sweet but he offers a crotch chop instead. Elgin powers him (Omega, not the referee) into the corner to start before some forearms and kicks earn Kenny a wave of the finger. Kenny still can’t do anything with the monster so Elgin chops him for a change.

The delayed vertical suplex has Kenny reeling but an Elite chant brings him back so he can do the Rise of the Terminator deal (still don’t get it and don’t really care to know). Back in and one heck of a top rope shoulder sends Omega flying across the ring and out to the floor. Omega hits a moonsault from the apron….and Elgin casually catches him because he can.

Kenny slams him onto the apron for a nineteen count and we hit the chinlock to slow things down a bit. Elgin raises his knees to block a middle rope moonsault as JR calls the Bucks very annoying. That might be the understatement of the year. A powerslam pulls Kenny out of the air for a close two (ignore the spitting onto the mat during the cover). Elgin powers him up again but gets caught in a snap dragon suplex to send him outside.

That means a big flip dive followed by a jumping knee to Elgin’s face, only to have one heck of a clothesline take Omega’s head off. They fight to the apron for a hard German suplex to drop Elgin on his head for a scary looking crash. Back in and a super crucifix bomb gives Elgin two more, prompting JR to ask the obvious: if that doesn’t work, what will?

Well nothing more than likely, but you have to be used to some big (and arguably ridiculous) kickouts around here. Three straight jumping knees to the head knock Elgin silly and a package Tombstone gets two. There’s another running knee and the One Winged Angel sends Omega on at 22:36.

Rating: A-. I liked this a bit more than a lot of the Omega matches I’ve seen, mainly because it wasn’t far longer than it really needed to be (and it won’t be called 25% better than the best matches of all time). They had another good story here with Elgin using pure power while Omega was more well rounded and therefore capable of adapting to counter whatever Elgin threw at him. Omega is very good and it’s fun watching him, face/heel issues aside (which is more a company/stable thing than anything else).

Here are tomorrow’s final four:

Jay Lethal

Kenny Omega

Tomohiro Ishii

Zack Sabre Jr.

We recap Cody vs. Kazuchika Okada. It’s a short story with Cody challenging Okada for the title right after Okada’s draw against Omega at Dominion. Okada went with it because….well that’s what wrestlers do.

IWGP World Title: Kazuchika Okada vs. Cody

Cody is challenging and comes out with a bunch of people in ex-President masks. Brandi Rhodes is with him (still absolutely stunning) in an American flag outfit and lights a cigar for him. After a kiss from Brandi (with his right shoulder taped up), we’re ready to go with a slow start, which means this is likely going long. Okada takes him to the mat and then to the ropes where he gives Cody a friendly pat on the chest.

That warrants a break for another kiss, followed by heading back inside for a standoff. They head outside to speed things up with Okada hitting a running dive over the barricade, only to have Cody go after the knee to take over. Cody chokes with his boot but Okada neckbreakers his way out.

Back up and a fast running elbow to the jaw followed by a DDT lets Okada nip up. The signature dropkick knocks Cody off the top and out to the floor in a heap. A DDT on the floor makes things even worse but Okada can’t follow up, meaning it’s a long count. Back in and Cody runs the corner for a super armdrag (looked like a C4 2000 at first) but the Disaster Kick is countered into a flapjack (cool).

There’s the top rope elbow, only to have Cody grab the Trailer Hitch to go back to the knee. The hold is broken and a slap fires Okada up all over again, prompting a mudhole stomping in the corner. The jumping Tombstone and a pair of Rainmakers drop Cody. Cue Omega with a towel like Cody was teasing at Dominion but Brandi says no.

This brings out the Bucks to ask what Omega is doing and Okada nails another dropkick. Naturally Cody hits a Rainmaker of his own for two, followed by Okada grabbing his own Cross Rhodes. So now that we’re back to even with the stolen finishers, Cody gets two more off an inverted DDT. To really mess with his boss, Cody loads up the One Winged Angel, which is quickly reversed into a German suplex. The jumping Tombstone (yes another one) sets up the Rainmaker to retain the title at 27:12.

Rating: B+. I liked the Omega match a bit more but Cody is a bit more of a generic style than Elgin being awesome with the power. Okada is still very smooth in the ring, though I do think he uses his big moves a bit too often. That being said, it was an excellent match with both guys hitting their big spots. Omega vs. Cody could be interesting, assuming it’s not just a swerve for later. Very good main event, even though I didn’t quite buy Cody as the biggest threat to the title.

Post match Okada poses but Omega gets in too. He won’t take the night from Okada, even though he wanted to main event this show. They’ll meet again in the G1 and tonight is Okada’s. Gedo and Okada both say they’re awesome and Okada will make it rain strong style around the world.

At the post show press conference….I have no idea as I don’t speak Japanese.

A highlight reel ends the show.

Overall Rating: A-. This was a very good show and that’s the best thing that could have happened. It’s not a masterpiece or a classic but for what was basically a pay per view in front of a small crowd, it worked as well as it could have. They showcased most of their stars and the two major matches were both outstanding. Couple that with this airing at 8pm EST and on free TV, it’s hard to find anything major to complain about. Maybe a little bit could have been cut (as in like 10-15 minutes, or the Tanahashi eight man tag) but the time really wasn’t a problem.

The one thing that needs to be remembered though is this is one match. Based on this, New Japan isn’t going to overtake WWE or become the hottest thing in American wrestling. It’s a very good night but they need to do it again (as in beyond night two) for it to mean much. It’s a very good show though and they’re off to a great start in America. Now build on that and keep it at (or really near for that matter) this level and we’ll see where things go. Strong debut though.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Histories of Saturday Night’s Main Event and Clash of the Champions, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

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Best in the World 2017
Date: June 23, 2017
Location: Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, Massachusetts
Attendance: 2,500
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, BJ Whitmer

I do the TV shows so it would make sense for me to do the pay per views too. This isn’t the biggest show the company does but anytime they get on pay per view it feels like a big deal for them. The main event sees Christopher Daniels defending the ROH World Title against Cody, who is about as big of a favorite while still being a challenger that you can be. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is everyone saying they’re the best (the Young Bucks say SUPERKICK of course) until Cody says he’s the worst nightmare. Now he wants to be the best in the world and end a title reign that started fifteen years too late. The idea is that he’s not under contract and therefore an outsider. That being said, he’s still on almost every show and has been given a World Title shot before this so the lack of a contract hasn’t really hurt him that much.

The announcers preview the card that we already paid for.

Kingdom vs. Ultimo Guerrero/El Terrible

Matt Taven is on a throne, Vinny Marseglia is dressed like Jason Vorhees and the injured TK O’Ryan is a viking. Yeah they’re still not interesting. Ultimo Guerrero and Terrible are from CMLL and this is under lucha rules, meaning going to the floor counts as a tag. Terrible and Marseglia start things off with some good old fashioned stalling because that’s how you want to open a pay per view.

Vinny looks insane as usual but can’t get anywhere with a front facelock. A loud shot to the face drops Marseglia and it’s time for the strikes in the corner. Taven comes in and dropkicks Terrible to the floor, meaning it’s off to Guerrero, who apparently has a history with Matt. It’s not important enough to actually explain or anything so we’ll go to Guerrero dropkicking Taven to the floor.

Vinny saves O’Ryan from Guerrero so Ultimo takes Vinny inside for a headstand into a slinghsot Bronco Buster (cool looking crash). A second version is broken up with a superkick (add Taven to the list of people better it at than the Bucks as this one actually puts Guerrero down) but it’s Terrible taking the Kingdom out with a suicide dive.

Guerrero comes off the top with a dive of his own but the Kingdom pops up for two more dives. Ultimo fights them off back inside though and hits his reverse superplex, only to take a Swanton from Marseglia. The Kingdom loads up the Supernova but Guerrero grabs a rollup out of nowhere for the pin at 11:09.

Rating: C. This was a fast paced enough match and I’m sure the live crowd liked the luchadors but that’s not the most thrilling thing for the live crowd. The Kingdom continues to be one of the least interesting groups in a LONG time because they tried to reform the team without Maria, who was what makes the whole thing work in the first place. Couple that with not great matches and it’s no shock that the team is this worthless.

We recap Frankie Kazarian vs. Adam Page. After Kazarian infiltrated Bullet Club to help Daniels in the World Title, Adam beat him at War of the Worlds. Then Page kept things personal by attacking him with a strap as part of the Daniels vs. Cody feud. Therefore, it’s time for a strap match.

Frankie Kazarian vs. Adam Page

This is the pin/submission version as both guys have their own straps but they aren’t connected. Feeling out process to start until Kazarian trips Page up and grabs a rollup for two. A hard shot to the back sends Page to the floor and a hurricanrana makes things worse. Page will have none of that and starts whipping Kazarian into the barricade a few times. He takes too long peeling back the floor mats though and gets suplexed onto the ramp steps (freaking OW MAN) for a very painful crash.

Back up and Page gets tied to the ropes but comes right back with the front flip clothesline. Page is smart enough to take Kazarian’s strap away so they trade hard forearms/clotheslines with Page getting the better of it. With Kazarian down, Paige pulls out a rope and ties him to the ropes to really turn up the violence. Since he’s just that crazy, Page pulls out a belt with nails and tacks in it.

To avoid a bad case of death, Kazarian gets out and catches Page in a cutter, followed by a Backstabber. An Unprettier gives Kazarian two but he walks into the Rite of Passage for two. The nail belt is whipped over Kazarian’s back but Page stops to spit on him, earning himself a nail belt to the back. Kazarian chokes him over the ropes for the tap out at 11:58.

Rating: C+. The violence was nice here and it actually felt like they were wanting to hurt each other instead of just doing a match with weapons in their hands. The nail belt actually being used was a surprise but you knew it wasn’t going to be the big bloodbath. It was entertaining too but Kazarian winning a big match is kind of odd, especially with Page getting treated as a big deal lately.

Quick recap of Rebellion vs. Search and Destroy. They’re both stables and they don’t like each other so the losing team has to disband.

Search and Destroy vs. Rebellion

That would be the Motor City Machine Guns/Jonathan Gresham/Jay White vs. Caprice Coleman/Shane Taylor/Kenny King/Rhett Titus. It’s a big brawl to start (of course) until it’s Coleman in the ring against the entire four man team. His oh so loyal partners just let this happen until Titus FINALLY kicks Gresham into the Rebellion corner to take over. That lasts all of a few seconds before everything breaks down again with Search and Destroy hitting a series of dives.

Back in and the huge Taylor crushes Gresham with a splash and Coleman makes things worse by rolling some northern lights suplexes. Titus hits Coleman by mistake though and a headscissors allows the hot tag to White to pick the pace up again. Jay hits a bunch of running elbows in the corner and everything breaks down. The Guns come in for the fast paced precision offense but White gets tossed into the corner.

Coleman’s Sky Splitter and Titus’ frog splash combine for two with the Guns making the save. Gresham is fine enough for a botched Lionsault press and a suicide dive, followed by a shooting star headbutt (to the thigh) as part of Skull and Bones. Search and Destroy has had it with the match and grab a quadruple submission with Gresham making Titus tap to the Octopus Hold at 12:27.

Rating: C+. Another perfectly acceptable match here with Search and Destroy, who aren’t the most interesting team in the world, winning like they should have. The Rebellion has been stale since the day they debuted and I don’t know of anyone who thought they should stick around. This is ANOTHER hit to the trios division, which hopefully will lead to its demise sooner rather than later as it sets new standards for worthlessness every day.

Post match Punishment Martinez comes in to lay White out.

We recap Silas Young vs. Jay Lethal. Young doesn’t like Jay getting all the attention and media appearances and endorsement deals so he took out Lethal’s knee. I guess that means knee or back pain has Lethal down for the count. Silas beat him in a recent match too and says he has Lethal’s number.

Jay Lethal vs. Silas Young

Young has Beer City Bruiser with him….and Lethal comes through the crowd to knock Bruiser silly with a chair. The slugout is on as the bell rings in a hurry as Bruiser is taken to the back. Good, as I still can’t stand that big tub of goo. Lethal rains down right hands in the corner but it’s back to the floor for another slugout.

A suplex off the barricade drops Young again but Jay misses a slingshot dropkick back inside. That means a slingshot double stomp (I still don’t get how something like that doesn’t break a rib) and we hit an abdominal stretch. That goes nowhere so Lethal chops away and gets two off a basement dropkick.

Silas catches him on top though and clotheslines him out to the floor to take over for all of five seconds before eating a suicide dive. They’re going back and forth with control here and it’s helping a lot. Lethal hits another suicide dive but the third attempt hits a quickly raised chair.

Back in and neither finisher can hit so Lethal settles for a superkick and the top rope elbow. Young gets in a Saito suplex and a knee to the face, followed by his bouncing moonsault out of the corner. With that not working, Silas grabs his keg but, as you might expect, the referee says not so fast. Instead Silas tries Misery but gets rolled up for the pin at 16:23.

Rating: B. The more I see of Lethal, the more I like him. He’s rapidly becoming Ring of Honor’s ace and that’s a position they haven’t had filled in too long. He also comes off as a good talker and someone who knows what he’s doing in every aspect of wrestling. That’s a rare thing and having him in such a featured role is a good idea. Young has been on a roll as of late too and while I’m not big on him losing here, it’s good to have him in this spot in the first place. Then again, they need to do something with him as he’s an older guy and if he’s not pushed hard in the relatively near future, it’s not likely to happen.

Post match Young clotheslines Lethal down. The Bruiser comes back out and sets up the keg so Young can hit Misery, sending Jay’s ribs into the steel. With Lethal’s ribs on the keg, Bruiser adds some splashes. Bruiser still isn’t done and splashes Lethal through a table on the floor. The announcers hype this up as a way to take away Lethal’s chance at the New Japan United States Title.

We recap the Six Man Tag Team Title match. Dalton Castle’s Boys accidentally caused Jay Briscoe to get misted in the face, which cost him a match. Jay wants revenge while Castle and the Boys want the titles.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Dalton Castle/The Boys vs. Bully Ray/Briscoe Brothers

Bully and the Briscoes are defending. Before the bell, Bully and Dalton have the exact staredown you would expect them to have. Dalton and Jay get things going but the latter stops to chase after the Boys. Mark finally calms things down and comes in as Castle takes him down with some nice looking amateur style. Mark gets him into a headlock and it’s Red Neck Kung Fu time.

The Boys protect Dalton in the corner (Give them some extra…..I really don’t want to know how he pays them do I?) and he throws one of them at Mark for a good visual. Castle wants Bully, who rushes him into the corner where Dalton hits the least sold chops I’ve ever seen. Bully does the snap jabs but misses the Bionic Elbow, earning himself a Peacock pose. Ian: “BULLY RAY JUST GOT SERVED!” Bully…..starts dancing for some reason and strikes his own Peacock pose, freaking the fans out as you might expect.

Castle has to be fanned up so Bully chops him down with a single shot. It’s time for Boy #1 and Boy #2 to be dragged in and that means it’s off to Jay for some fun. #2 kicks him low and hammers away to as much avail as you would expect before it’s back to Castle who might be able to survive. Dalton’s running knee in the corner sets up a front facelock to keep Jay in trouble. A top rope superplex is countered into a super gordbuster though and it’s off to Mark for the fast paced strikes in the corner.

The Boys get beaten up as well because they’re just boys and not worth much. Everything breaks down and Boy #1 takes What’s Up. Jay takes out the Boys with a suicide dive and just unloads on #2 as you can tell he’s losing focus. Boy #1 runs away from a thrown chair so Bully goes out to calm Jay down, leaving Mark to get cradled for the pin and the titles at 13:03.

Rating: C-. This was a comedy match and unfortunately, that might be an upgrade for these titles. I haven’t cared for these things since they were introduced back in December and they haven’t been worth anything since. Castle and the Boys have lost over and over but now they win one match and happen to be champions. When your resume is weaker than Jinder Mahal’s, you might not be the best choice to hold a title. There was a story here with Jay losing his cool (not that surprising) but that doesn’t make up for the weak booking with the titles in general.

The former champs are livid as Ian wants to know what the celebration is going to be like in the hotel room.

We recap Marty Scurll vs. Kushida in a rematch for the TV Title that Kushida recently took from Scurll. Marty is even angrier than usual and has promised to break a lot of fingers.

TV Title: Marty Scurll vs. Kushida

Kushida is defending. They trade some snazzy wristlock counters to start until Marty does his wings flapping thing. Scurll gets armdragged down and dropkicked in the face but it’s too early for a cross armbreaker. It’s also too early for the chickenwing so Kushida ties him in the ropes for a rolling kick to the head. A pumphandle neckbreaker gives Marty two and it’s time to hit those wings again.

Marty stays on the arm until Kushida sends him head first into the buckle. They’re playing a nice back and forth style battle here and it’s working so far. Another double heel kick staggers Marty and he gets pulled off the ropes into the Hoverboard Lock. The hold doesn’t last long so Marty knees him in the head and gets two off a piledriver. It’s back to the arm (the other arm this time) before a backslide is good for two on Kushida.

The chickenwing is countered into a rollup which is countered into another chickenwing which is countered into the Hoverboard Lock which is countered AGAIN, only to have Kushida kick him in the head to get a breather. Marty flips him off for reasons of general villainy so Kushida stomps him in the face. Somehow that doesn’t know Marty cold so he puts on a wicked looking arm hold with both of Kushida’s arms being bent behind his back at the same time.

The foot gets to the rope though and Marty looks even more annoyed. It’s time to go after the fingers but Kushida is smart enough to grab Marty’s fingers and snap them instead. A super Back to the Future (small package driver) followed by a regular version retains the title at 15:02.

Rating: B+. I had a good time with this but that tends to be the case with all of Kushida’s matches anymore. The had a perfectly natural heel vs. face story going here and that’s something that is going to work every time because it’s what wrestling is built on. It’s easy to see which of these guys is good and which is evil, which makes it easier to cheer for them. Unless you’re a modern wrestling fan who cheers for the villain by default more often than not of course.

We look back at the Women of Honor dark match, which may not have been much but it’s an excuse for me to look at Mandy Leon. This whole division is such a waste of time/a mess though and there’s not much of a way to fix it at this point.

Tag Team Titles: War Machine vs. Young Bucks

War Machine is challenging. Actually hang on a second here because cue the Best Friends to say they beat the Young Bucks back in Philadelphia so they should be added to this match. Sure why not.

Tag Team Titles: War Machine vs. Young Bucks vs. Best Friends

The Bucks are defending and this is under tornado rules. It’s a brawl to start with the Best Friends cleaning house on the Bucks. Naturally we get a hug but War Machine is right there to crush both Berreta and Taylor. Double shotgun knees and a double bronco buster bring the Bucks back in for some kicks and the Rise of the Terminator pose because the Bucks are very glorified spot monkeys.

The Bucks’ dives are caught but the Best Friends are there to hit their own dives. We get the first superkick to slow Berreta down but it’s War Machine coming back in to take over. Nick hits a moonsault to the floor to take out a bunch of people, only to have Chuck dive from the stage to take out even more of them. Naturally Hanson goes to the top to dive onto all five of them but I think you know what’s coming. If you thought selling or something original, you haven’t been paying enough attention.

Of course it’s a superkick and a bunch of flippy dives until all six are down in the ring. Everyone gets back up, there are eight superkicks, and everyone is down again. War Machine is up first and starts cleaning house with a German suplex/clothesline combination to take Berreta out, followed by a pop up powerslam for two. Fallout gets the same with Chuck making the save.

The Bucks are back in with superkicks and a flip dive but the Meltzer Driver is broken up and Chuck hits the Awful Waffle (spinning piledriver) for two on Matt. Rowe gets kneed in the face and both Friends roll him up at the same time for two. Superkicks continue to abound and a double Indytaker, followed by MORE superkicks retain the titles at 12:27.

Rating: B. You know, I watched the NJPW Dominion show and called the Bucks match their best ever. I also pointed out that they used by far the least amount of superkicks I ever saw from them. Here, I stopped counting at around twenty and I lost a lot of interest about halfway through the match. It really does get tiring, as does adding teams with no build for the sake of adding them in. True there was a story, but did we really need them there when you had a perfectly good title match already?

We recap the World Title match. Cody was supposed to win the title at War of the Worlds but got screwed over when a third man was added and cost him the fall. Now it’s his chance to win the title as a free agent. Daniels says the title means the world to him but for Cody it’s just another thing to add to his suitcase while he’s traveling from company to company. That’s a better version of the story they’ve been telling but it would be nice to have it announced more than five minutes before the opening bell.

ROH World Title: Christopher Daniels vs. Cody

Cody is challenging and of course we get Big Match Intros (as we should). The fans, as in the Ring of Honor fans, chant Too Sweet for Bullet Club’s Cody, because paying attention to the story is so beneath them. He’s supposed to be here to ruin the company that they all love so let’s cheer him. You know, the pure wrestling fans that ROH brags about having. Those guys who boo heels because the idea of heels and faces (you know, the pure wrestling that they all claim to love) is just passe at this point. I never got that but I’m often told to shut up and have fun so it probably isn’t worth asking about.

Cody works a headlock to start but a run of the ropes goes to Daniels, who puts his boot on Cody’s back as Cody drops down. Speaking of dropping down, Cody heads to the floor with a bloody lip. Back in and Angel’s Wings don’t work as Cody bails right back to the floor. This time he even goes into the crowd for a longer breather. Back in (again) and Daniels slugs away, sending Cody and his bloody lip outside for the third time.

Daniels finally follows him out with a baseball slide but Cody beats him up against the barricade to take over for a very short while. They head inside again with Daniels going up top, allowing Cody to armdrag him right back down in a good looking sequence. Cody grabs a short armscissors but stops to go outside and yell at former ROH owner Carey Silkin. Back in and Daniels drives him into the corner for a ref bump, allowing Cody to kick him low. BJ: “RIGHT IN THE DING DING!” After how forgettable he’s been tonight, even ripping off Steve Corino is a bit of an improvement for him.

Daniels gets in a small package for no count and here’s Scurll to throw Cody a chair. Of course the referee wakes up as Daniels picks up the chair, meaning it’s an Eddie Guerrero moment as he throws it to Cody and drops down. Cody grabs a cutter on the chair for no cover, but he does get a CODY chant. Kazarian comes out to get rid of Scurll and it’s table time.

The champ is right back with a Flatliner on the apron and an STO for two more. Angel’s Wings through the table is broken up and Cody busts out a Rainmaker (Thankfully not for a near fall BECAUSE IT’S JUST A CLOTHESLINE!). The Beautiful Disaster staggers Daniels but he’s still able to suplex Cody through the table in a big crash.

They both barely beat the count and Daniels grabs the Koji Clutch, sending Cody over to the ropes. Cody spits water (Where did he get that?) in Daniels’ face and gets two off Cross Rhodes. Angel’s Wings are countered again and Cody rolls him into another Cross Rhodes for the pin and the title at 19:18 to a huge face pop.

Rating: B. The crowd took me out of this one but that’s not on the wrestlers. Cody was trying to cheat in every possible way out there and they only cheered for him more. Simply put, if ROH doesn’t go for a BIG face turn for Cody (or perhaps even a double turn), they’re flat out wasting their time. The wrestling part here was fine and I liked the fact that the interference didn’t play a role in the win. Daniels lost the title at the right time as he was never going to be the next huge champion. Just giving him a feel good win and a few months as champion was all he ever needed to be.

Bullet Club comes out to celebrate to end the show as the announcers try to treat this as horrible while the fans can’t cheer Cody hard enough.

Overall Rating: B+. As is usually the case with Ring of Honor, I liked the show well enough but you’re only going to get so far with so little connection to a lot of the characters and stories. If the fans are going to cheer almost every heel, how exactly are they heels and therefore, why should I care about the people I’m supposed to care about? The wrestling is still good enough (flippy issues aside, though you expect that going into this one) and I liked most of the matches so I can easily say the show is good, though you have to really like this kind of wrestling to get behind the show, as is often the case around here.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Histories of Saturday Night’s Main Event and Clash of the Champions, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

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Ring of Honor
Date: June 21, 2017
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana

This is the go home show for Best in the World which means….well I have no idea what it means actually. We’ve actually had a good build to the main event with Christopher Daniels defending the World Title against Cody but the rest of the show is a combination of a mystery or really poorly built. Let’s get to it.

Jay Lethal welcomes us to the 300^th episode. It feels like just yesterday that he was winning the TV Title on the second episode yet here we are. He’s ready for 300 more episodes.

Opening sequence.

Silas Young/Beer City Bruiser vs. Jay Lethal/Bobby Fish

Fish and Bruiser get things going with the big man easily running him over. Bobby is smart enough to make Bruiser run the ropes over and over, eventually leaving Bruiser bent over sucking wind. Fans: “HE’S BLOWN UP!” Well at least they know the lingo. It’s off to Lethal to do the same thing with Bruiser taking a knee next to the ropes. Young offers him a beer, so Young and Fish make him run the ropes again, causing the beer to be spat through the ropes.

Back from a break with Young taking a beating for a change until Bruiser clotheslines Jay down. Bruiser takes a Samoan drop from Fish as everything breaks down. Young gets double teamed but Bruiser makes a diving save. A wheelbarrow suplex of all things drops Fish and it’s Misery to put Lethal away at 9:12.

Rating: C-. I can appreciate them mixing the formula up a bit (Coming back from the break with the faces in control?) and Lethal vs. Young has potential. The problem continues to be Bruiser, who still feels like a glorified comedy character. Throw in Fish seemingly still finishing up with the company and it’s hard to get into a good chunk of this match.

Daniels is ready to retain his title and carry ROH into the future.

Jay Briscoe is STILL livid about losing that eight man tag (dude get a therapist) so Bully Ray and Mark Briscoe calm him down. They couldn’t have done this weeks ago?

Kingdom vs. The Boys

Kingdom jumps the Boys in the aisle and beat the heck out of them with the beatdown being on in full. They pull back a ringside mat so Matt Taven can load up a piledriver on the concrete but Dalton Castle comes out for the save. The Boys recover and grab a rollup just after the bell, followed by a double dropkick on Vinny. Things settle down with Taven getting in a cheap shot from behind to really take over. A reverse superplex drops Boy #1 and Marseglia’s Swanton gives him the pin at 1:34.

To recap: Kingdom is having a challenge match against two guys from CMLL while the Boys are challenging for Ring of Honor Titles. The match was a complete squash, including the pre-match beatdown to make the Kingdom look great while the Boys look like the jobbiest jobbers this side of Brooklyn Brawler and Barry Horowitz. I don’t know if they think the CMLL team is more important or what but this was really, REALLY stupid.

Post match Jay Briscoe comes out to yell at Dalton but Mark and Bully break it up.

Video on Punishment Martinez.

Punishment Martinez vs. Joey Daddiego

Daddiego is easily shoved away and a clothesline takes him down again. A springboard flip splash crushes Daddiego again and the sitout chokeslam is good for the pin at 1:58.

Post match Daddiego’s buddies Cheeseburger and Will Ferrara come out for the save but get beaten down as well. Jay White comes out to brawl with Martinez and clotheslines him to the floor. Good angle, though it does nothing for the pay per view as neither is on the card.

The Briscoes are fired up about 300 episodes.

Kevin Kelly and Cody have replaces Riccaboni on commentary.

Will Ospreay/Gedo/Hirooki Goto vs. Addiction/Hiroshi Tanahashi

Well….two of them are on the pay per view. Neither of their opponents are but NEW JAPAN right? Ospreay and Kazarian start things off and fight over a wristlock as we take a break less than a minute in. Dang it Ring of Honor that’s not something you do! Back with Daniels cleaning house but Ospreay breaks up his springboard moonsault.

Ospreay and company take over on the floor and it’s Goto chopping at Daniels in the corner. Something like a cutter into the middle buckle drops Goto though and the hot tag brings in Tanahashi. Ospreay and Gedo take stereo elbow drops but Goto is right there with a clothesline to break it up. Ospreay comes in with a Phenomenal Forearm and a standing shooting star gets two.

Tanahashi Sling Blades him though and we take a break. Back again with Ospreay diving onto Kazarian and Tanahashi, leaving Gedo to take a Blue Thunder Bomb. Everyone gets back inside again and the Oscutter hits Goto by mistake. A Rock Bottom to Gedo sets up the High Fly Flow and the Best Moonsault Ever for the pin at 11:12.

Rating: B-. Well that happened. It does nothing for the pay per view, it wasn’t exactly a memorable match and the biggest star in the match won’t be doing anything more than special appearances for the company. The wrestling was good enough but, as usual, this felt like it was there for the live crowd instead of the TV audience, which is quite further up the food chain.

Post match Hangman Page comes in to jump Kazarian while Cody comes in to hit Daniels with Angel’s Wings. Cody holds up the World Title.

We get some quick promos for the pay per view.

Marty Scurll is ready to take back the TV Title.

Jay Lethal needs to beat Silas Young.

Dalton Castle is outraged by the lack of Six Man Tag Team Titles.

Hangman Page promises to hurt Kazarian.

The Kingdom calls the CMLL guys Melvins.

The Young Bucks promise to superkick War Machine.

Christopher Daniels is ready to find out who is the Best in the World.

Overall Rating: D. So let’s see: four matches, one of which actually built to the pay per view, two title challenges getting destroyed in the second, one that has nothing to do with the pay per view, and a showcase of New Japan wrestlers. Throw in a good chunk of the build taking place in the last two minutes thanks to some twenty second promos and you would almost never know that this was supposed to get you to want to pay $34.99 for a pay per view where I can barely tell you three matches. As usual, Ring of Honor doesn’t seem to have any idea how this stuff works, which really is hard to believe after so many years.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Histories of Saturday Night’s Main Event and Clash of the Champions, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

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Ring of Honor
Date: May 31, 2017
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana

We’re back to the regular shows this week after a quick trip to Japan (and back in time about three months). That means it’s time to deal with the War of the Worlds fallout along with starting the build towards Best in the World on June 23. Christopher Daniels is still World Champion but it’s hard to say who challenges him next. Let’s get to it.

We look back at War of the Worlds where Adam Cole seemingly finished up with the promotion with a Bullet Club sendoff. Bullet Club leader Kenny Omega came on screen and said this was the end of Cole’s fairy tale because there was a new member of the team. This brought out Marty Scurll for the big beatdown to a very strong reaction.

Opening sequence.

Here’s Bullet Club to open things up. The Young Bucks brag about what happened and say no one saw that coming, unless you watch their YouTube series. They bring out Scurll to talk about how it’s time for a new era in the Bullet Club because they needed some villany. Instead of a Superkick Party, let’s have a tea party. Scurll: “Bring out the crumpets!”

Actually it’s Adam Cole to a huge reaction. Cole thinks we should have story time instead of a tea party. He lists off his resume and talks about what a mistake it was for Bullet Club to make an enemy. Hangman Page says he’s going to run Cole out of this company and a match is made for some point.

Clip of David Starr laying out Josh Woods. Who is Starr you ask? Eh not important as you’re just supposed to know that coming in.

David Starr vs. Josh Woods

Despite being the heel, Starr is the hometown boy and has a bunch of monikers, including “Your Favorite Wrestler’s Favorite Wrestler.” Woods takes him into the corner and strikes away, earning quite a few boos. A springboard clothesline sends Woods outside but he grabs a fall away slam on the floor.

They head back in with Starr grabbing a DDT on the apron, followed by a hard clothesline. Starr’s superkick gets two but Woods reverses into a LeBell Lock. Back up and they slug it out with Starr kneeing him in the face but getting pulled down into a heel hook. Woods takes him into the corner and grabs a kneebar for the tap at 4:35.

Rating: C. As I’ve asked every time he’s been mentioned: WHO IS DAVID STARR??? I’ve seen him twice now and still have no idea who he is, why he attacked Woods or anything else, other than he’s from Philadelphia. Maybe this was explained elsewhere but would it be asking too much to have the announcers tell us about that?

Video on Punishment Martinez.

Cole vs. Page next week.

Here are Silas Young and Beer City Bruiser for a chat. Young is coming off a victory over Jay Lethal (not mentioned until now) who he also attacked backstage after the loss. We saw the attack but not the win, which is why this company is so hard to follow at times. Young brags about his victory over Lethal and says he has Jay’s number. Cue Lethal to say let’s fight so Silas bails, setting up this.

Beer City Bruiser vs. Jay Lethal

Bruiser punches away in the corner to start as Young is on commentary. Lethal dropkicks him outside and chops Bruiser up against the barricade for a running Cannonball. Back from a break with Bruiser hitting a running right hand in the corner as the fans think Bruiser still sucks. It’s off to some shots to Lethal’s knee but Jay is quickly out and kicking Bruiser in the face. Lethal can’t hit the top rope elbow but can hit a dive to the floor, only to have Young start a brawl for the DQ at 10:13.

Rating: D+. I’m still not buying into the idea of Young as a star as they’ve teased pushing him multiple times not but haven’t gone anywhere. Having him beat Lethal is fine but is there a reason that we only saw/heard about his win now, after they did the angle with the knee injury. The match was just a way to set up a rematch and that’s fine.

Bobby Fish comes out to save Lethal.

We look back at the end of the War of the Worlds Main event with Daniels pinning Cody, who had Lethal in a Figure Four.

Cody vs. Frankie Kazarian

Before the match, Cody says he wants a rematch with Daniels because, as Cabana said on the pay per view’s commentary, the Figure Four should have had Lethal pinned. Kazarian goes right after him to start and we head outside for a Frankie dive. A swinging neckbreaker takes us to a break but we come back with Kazarian in trouble on the floor.

Cody gets two off a delayed gordbuster and an Alabama Slam as the fans are split on their favorite. A butterfly arm crank keeps Kazarian down for a bit before it’s time to stomp on the ankle. The Beautiful Disaster sends Kazarian outside, only to have him catch Cody with a crossbody as we take a second break.

Back again with Cody’s kick to the ribs and another Beautiful Disaster for two. Kazarian grabs an Unprettier for two, followed by a cutter for the same. Not that it matters as Kazarian kicks him in the face and tries a neckbreaker but gets caught in Cross Rhodes for the pin at 17:35.

Rating: C+. This was an easy way to keep Cody looking strong before what is likely a one on one rematch for the title against Daniels at Best in the World. Beating the best friend is a classic idea, even if it’s basically the same story they did in the previous match. You can’t expect them to come up with another idea so soon though.

Hangman Page comes in to beat on Kazarian but Daniels runs in for the save to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. I think I could go for more of this building to the pay per view several weeks in advance. I’ve never understood how their taping schedule works but at this rate they’ll have three weeks to build to a pay per view, which actually feels like something that could work for a change. Good show this week with stories being advanced and the build towards what is likely the World Title match being started.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Histories of Saturday Night’s Main Event and Clash of the Champions, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

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

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Ring of Honor
Date: May 10, 2017
Location: William J. Myers Pavilion, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Colt Cabana, Ian Riccaboni

It’s the go home show for War of the Worlds but I have no idea what that means in Ring of Honor terms. Odds are we’ll hear about the show here (maybe even more than the handful of matches we already know) and then move on to some one off shows for the next few weeks. Let’s get to it.

Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. The Squad

The Bucks are defending and that would be Mike Mondo and Ken Doane. The Squad runs in and attacks from behind before stopping for a cheer. Colt isn’t sure if they have spirit but they eat stereo superkicks for their efforts. A top rope double stomp/reverse DDT have Mikey in big trouble and we hit that TOO SWEET.

Stereo dives make things even worse but Ken actually takes over on Matt. Back from a break with Mikey dancing and grabbing a chinlock as this isn’t the most serious match in the world. Matt finally rolls out of a piledriver for a dropkick on Ken, only to have Matt get cut off again. We hit the awkward dancing from both former (Current?) cheerleaders but a toss into a gutbuster is broken up.

The hot tag brings in Nick a few seconds later as things speed way up. The slingshot X Factor into the moonsault from the apron has the Squad reeling. Mikey comes back with a snapmare driver (basically a falling Diamond Cutter) and it’s back to Doane….who eats a superkick. A Boss Man Slam cuts Nick off but quadruple superkicks and a flip dive set up the Meltzer Driver for the pin on Mikey at 9:14.

Rating: B-. Far better match than I was expecting here with the Squad more than looking like legit challengers. The Bucks were full on faces here despite being heels (I know, I know, something about Japan) and I kind of like the idea of them finally picking something. You knew the titles weren’t changing hands here but at least it was fun.

Matt Taven is ready to win the World Title because unlike Christopher Daniels being in the twilight of his career, he’s in his prime. This is for a house show defense.

The Briscoe Brothers are ready for the Rebellion. Jay wants a piece of Shane Taylor and I want a piece of whoever designed the Six Man Tag Team Titles because they look like they’re upside down.

Punishment Martinez vs. Beer City Bruiser

This could be ugly and Silas Young joins commentary to make things even worse. Bruiser knocks Martinez into the corner to start and gets two off a crossbody of all things. Martinez actually heads outside, leaving Bruiser to hit a running cannonball off the apron. Back from a break with Bruiser getting kicked off the top, only to have Martinez COMPLETELY miss the running dive over the corner. Even the announcers rip on him for missing that badly.

Bruiser belly to back suplexes him onto the apron as Colt wants to know how much Bruiser weighs in chili dogs. Martinez shrugs it off and hits a springboard spinning flip dive for two. Back to back cannonballs crush Martinez but he pops up for the slow motion slugout. A sitout Boss Man Slam gives Bruiser two more but he misses yet another cannonball. Martinez’s sitout chokeslam is good for the pin at 6:45.

Rating: D+. I’m really not a fan of Bruiser but he was doing way more than usual here. Martinez should be squashing people though and getting beaten up for a long stretch of this match by someone like Bruiser isn’t the right way to get him moving up the card. Not terrible here but a badly laid out match.

Marty Scurll says Matt Sydal won’t win the TV Title.

Adam Cole says the Bullet Club is united and they’ll prove it tonight in the main event.

Adam Cole/Cody vs. Christopher Daniels/Dalton Castle

Jay Lethal is on commentary and thankfully Colt keeps ripping on Castle and the Boys due to past issues. As another nice point, they go to a break and come back with the opening bell. That’s always nice to see. Cody and Castle get things going and let’s look at the commentary team.

Feeling out process to start until Cody gets clotheslined to the floor. Dalton does his slow walk across the ring and Daniels throws in some fanning. The champ comes in to face Cody with Daniels getting in the springboard moonsault for two. It’s off to Cole, who is wrestling in a shirt for some reason. Daniels gets away for the hot tag to Castle who gets in a double clothesline before being dropped with a low blow. Cole throws Dalton’s face into a boot (clearly didn’t make contact thanks to a bad angle) and it’s off to a double underhook hold.

The Beautiful Disaster hits Cole by mistake and Adam walks off instead of tagging. We take a break and come back with Castle grabbing a belly to back, allowing the hot tag to Daniels. An Iconoclasm gets two on Cody but Daniels has to bail out of the BME. Angel’s Wings is loaded up but here’s Cole with a superkick and the Last Shot. Cross Rhodes gives Cody the pin on Daniels at 10:34. Jay: “I don’t get what’s going on.”

Rating: C-. Not bad here with the match mainly serving as a way to help build up for the triple threat match. The tease of the Club breaking up was fine but it doesn’t work that well when it’s all fixed in five minutes. I don’t think there’s any secret about the fact that Cole is leaving the company soon enough so the split is likely going down soon enough. Watchable match but pretty much paint by numbers.

The Bucks come out to celebrate but the Club actually leaves instead of destroying Daniels. Lethal comes to the ring to yell at Daniels about adding Cody to make the match a triple threat. Cody comes back in and sends Lethal into Daniels, only to have Jay hit a double Lethal Injection.

We get a quick pay per view rundown to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. Here’s the problem and it’s the same thing that always happens for ROH: they’re coming up on a pay per view that had nine matches on the card. TWO of them were mentioned here, one of which was in a thirty second promo. I didn’t even know most of the card until the quick package running it down at the end of the show. As usual, the solution is to just bring in all the New Japan guys, push one match, and be done with it. We’ll likely get to the fallout by June when it’s time to set up the next pay per view. Such is life around here, which gets really tiring.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volumes I and II, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

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Ring of Honor
Date: May 3, 2017
Location: William J. Myers Pavilion, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Colt Cabana, Ian Riccaboni

It’s World Title time again as we need to find out who will be joining Champion Christopher Daniels and Cody in the triple threat match (because of course it’s a triple threat match) at War of the Worlds. Other than that it’s time to build up some Ring of Honor guys to be fed to the New Japan crew so let’s get to it.

We recap the eight man tag that set up tonight’s #1 contenders four way. I’ve still heard worse ideas.

Opening sequence.

Coast to Coast vs. The Kingdom

The Kingdom jumps Ali and St. Giovanni to start but a double belly to back slam sets up a pair of flip dives to the floor. Back from a very early break with St. Giovanni getting a hot tag to clean house. Vinny is put in the Tree of Woe for the double missile dropkicks but Taven makes the save. Marseglia’s Swanton gets two but he pulls Ali up, allowing Taven to hit Angel’s Wings for the pin on St. Giovanni for the pin at 6:29. Too much in the break to rate but it was fun while it lasted.

Package on the Hardys vs. the Young Bucks.

Here are the Young Bucks with something to say. Matt is very happy about getting their belts back but Nick wants to talk about Adam Cole. Everything is cool with the Bullet Club so let’s have an open challenge for next week. Matt is ready to face Demolition, the Rock N Roll Express or Billy and Chuck but certainly not the Revival. Instead here’s the Spirit Squad of all people….to take stereo superkicks. Eh good for a chuckle.

Matt Sydal vs. Flip Gordon

I saw Gordon down in Orlando and thought something of him so hopefully he does well here. They trade flips (you would think Gordon would have the advantage there) to start with Gordon nipping up about ten times in a row for a standoff. Sydal grabs a rollup for two and there’s a spinwheel kick to put Gordon down. Back up and Gordon gets in a kick of his own and a standing moonsault gets two. Another kick to the head doesn’t do much good as Sydal scores with his own kick, followed by the Shooting Star for the pin at 5:34.

Rating: C. I haven’t liked Sydal this much since his Evan Bourne singles run, which is quite the surprise after all the time I spent being bored with his ROH stuff. Gordon looked good here and I’d have much rather seen him in the Top Prospect Tournament instead of half the schmucks they had in there.

Post match Marty Scurll comes in but can’t get the chickenwing.

Here’s Adam Cole for a chat. The Bullet Club is the greatest faction of all time and they’ll prove it again next week when Cole teams with Hangman Page to face Dalton Castle and Christopher Daniels.

We look back at Daniels vs. Cody.

Silas Young vs. Hangman Page vs. Jay White vs. Jay Lethal

Daniels is on commentary. No tags and one fall to a finish with the winner being added to the World Title match at War of the Worlds. It’s a big brawl to start with everyone going after some rollups as Daniels talks about wanting to face any of them. White takes over early on and throws everyone into a pile in the corner.

Lethal comes back but it’s WAY too early for the Injection, allowing Young to make a save. One heck of a clothesline drops White with Page taking over. Everyone goes to the corner for a Tower of Doom with Lethal getting the worst of it as we take a break. Back with White in control but making the rookie mistake of smacking Lethal in the back of the head. Lethal can’t do anything though and we’re down to White vs. Young.

Page takes White’s place though and Cabana is STUNNED for some reason. A superplex drops White again and it’s Young slugging it out with Lethal on the apron. That means it’s time for everyone to head outside, leaving White to flip dive onto everyone. We take another break and come back with the Lethal Combination getting two on White. Young makes another save though, only to have Lethal hit the Lethal Injection for the pin and the title shot at 15:41.

Rating: C+. This was a lot of quick one on one matches and the ending really felt like it came out of nowhere. Lethal adds some star power to the main event though and that’s the best thing they could have done. Daniels vs. Cody isn’t exactly thrilling so Lethal adds some much needed help and interest to the title match.

Cody comes out for the three way staredown to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. Given that we’re less than two weeks away from the pay per view, there’s only so much you can do to set up a pay per view. The New Japan guys sound interesting now as they’ve been away long enough to be an attraction again. Why that’s so complicated isn’t clear but at least we should have a fun pay per view. Good enough show here but it was a one match episode. At least the one match meant something though. And we’ve got the Spirit Squad so you know things are picking up.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volumes I and II, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/03/24/kbs-history-of-nxt-volumes-1-and-2-now-available-in-paperback/

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

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Ring of Honor
Date: April 19, 2017
Location: Sam’s Town Live, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Kevin Kelly

We finally wrap up the Las Vegas tapings here as we get closer to only being a month behind. This time it’s about the World Title again as we have a randomly drawn eight man tag. The winning team will face off next week in a four way with the winner getting a World Title shot at some point in the future. Let’s get to it.

The opening video explains what I just told you. I doubt people read those things but come on now.

Opening sequence.

Chris Sabin vs. Caprice Coleman

Feeling out process to start with Sabin doing the nip up out of the wristlock, only to have Coleman drop him because he’s smart enough to not stand there while Sabin does his movements. And never mind as Sabin does it again while Coleman just stands there. It was nice while it lasted.

Sabin gets in an enziguri and something like a spinning Big Ending for two. The running kick from the apron (that almost everyone seems to do anymore) drops Coleman, only to have Kenny King offer a distraction. Cue Lio Rush as Coleman gets two off a springboard dropkick.

Back from a break with Coleman rolling northern lights suplexes for two, only to eat a running boot in the corner. A Falcon’s Arrow gets two but Coleman grabs something like a running Diamond Cutter for the same. Sabin ducks the Sky Splitter and goes outside to take out King because he’s the kind of face who feels overly aggressive. A sunset flip (with Rush breaking up King’s cheating) gives Sabin the pin at 9:19.

Rating: C-. I really can’t stand Chris Sabin. He’s not interesting and so many of his matches feel incredibly choreographed. The match was fine enough and helped advance the feud between the two groups but it’s still not something that I really care about watching. The name Search and Destroy doesn’t help Sabin’s stable either. Watchable match with no interest.

We look back at the Briscoes and Bully Ray winning the Six Man Tag Team Titles last week.

Silas Young plugs Unauthorized in Milwaukee with the same promo from last week.

Cheeseburger/Will Ferrara vs. Roppongi Vice

Vice throws their gear to the announcers, who put them on for reasons of unfunny comedy. Trent and Ferrara start things off but the fans want a double tag. They immediately do the forearms with Cheeseburger telling him to bring it before dropping Romero with a shoulder. Everything breaks down for a bit with Trent picking Romero up and ramming him into both guys.

We take a break and come back with Romero doing his forever clotheslines (exactly what it sounds like) until Cheeseburger gets in one of his own. Everything breaks down again with Ferrara hitting his suicide dive but getting dropped by Romero’s running knee. Strong Zero is broken up and Cheeseburger does his running palm strike into a crucifix for two on Trent. Cheeseburger dives onto Romero and Ferrara hits a German suplex on Trent. Not that it matters though as a tornado DDT is countered into Strong Zero for the pin at 9:14.

Rating: C+. Better match than I was expecting but I’m still really tired of hearing about how great a team is in Japan. Yeah Vice has won a bunch of stuff in Japan but they haven’t done much in ROH, making it seem like I’m missing something. That gets old in a hurry and it happens far too often around here.

Ferrara shoves Cheeseburger away and walks off on his own.

Quick preview of next week’s Top Prospect Tournament final. Thank goodness we can be done with that thing.

Silas Young/Hangman Page/Jay White/Jay Lethal vs. Colt Cabana/Lio Rush/Hanson/Bobby Fish

The winning team advances to a four way for a World Title shot. White and Rush start things off with more spinning out of a wristlock, as in what we saw in the first match. Rush flips away a lot more, misses a few legsweeps, and grabs a rollup for two. Young is really not impressed and tells White to do better. Lethal’s team gets in a brawl and we take a break.

Back with Lethal vs. Cabana with Colt telling the other team to start fighting again. Hanson comes in and rubs his beard over Lethal’s face before it’s off to Page to work over Fish in the corner. Lethal’s team gets in another fight over who gets to stay on Fish with Silas eventually getting the call.

Back from another break with Fish being sent outside so Page can hit a good looking shooting star off the apron. Young and Page keep refusing to tag in either Jay so Fish suplexes Silas into Adam, allowing the tag to Hanson. That means it’s time for a bunch of clotheslines with two opponents in each corner. Hanson probably runs across the ring ten times before handing it back to Rush for a slam onto Page.

Rush manages to slam the 200lbs heavier Hanson onto Page as well but a tornado DDT only gets two on Lethal. Everyone keeps brawling on the floor until Rush dives onto the pile. Lethal gets the Lethal Combination on Cabana but Page refuses to take the tag. He goes to leave but gets caught by Kazarian, who throws Page to the back. Rush gets one heck of a powerbomb on Lethal but his frog splash hits knees. The Lethal Injection puts Lio away at 17:45.

Rating: B-. The psychology here made a lot of sense as you had so many people wanting to be the one to win that they didn’t see the bigger prize. I’m assuming Page didn’t want Lethal to win as the Bullet Club is scared of having to deal with him again. Other than that almost everyone was just there and that’s fine for a match like this. It’s a strong match and a good way to make things feel a bit more important.

Overall Rating: C. This show illustrated a problem that a lot of Ring of Honor shows have: a good chunk of it feels like it doesn’t matter and then there’s one major match that feels important. Look at the first two matches here. We had a match involving the Rebellion (the poster child for useless stables) and then a match that felt like it was designed to set up a team for a run in Japan/to break up a lower card team. Neither of those things really need to be taking up TV time, especially when it feels like so much time passes between some major stories.

It feels like ROH has so much going on but they take so long to get to a lot of those things. When you have an hour a week, you really shouldn’t be putting in filler. The second match certainly felt like filler while the first match just wasn’t all that interesting. They need to tighten this stuff up but I’ve been making those complaints for years now and it’s pretty clear that they’re not going to be changed anytime soon.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volumes I and II, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/03/24/kbs-history-of-nxt-volumes-1-and-2-now-available-in-paperback/

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

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

Ring of Honor
Date: March 8, 2017
Location: Stage AE, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentator: Ian Riccabani

Officially this is the go home show for the Fifteenth Anniversary Show but it’s hard to really imagine how the schedule is going to go based on how ridiculous some of these tapings go. We’re likely going to hear about the pay per view but also the Top Prospect Tournament, which continues to not do much for me. Let’s get to it.

The Briscoe Brothers, Jay Lethal and Bobby Fish are ready for their eight man tag against the Bullet Club.

Opening sequence.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: The Kingdom vs. The Rebellion

Kingdom is defending and Dalton Castle is on commentary. Titus and O’Ryan go after the hair to start as Ian points out how similar these two are, both in style and look. I really wouldn’t bring up how only one of them really needs to be employed dude. Titus seems to tweak his ankle on a leapfrog so it’s off to Vinnie and Caprice, both of whom try kicks to the ribs and then poke each other in the eye.

King and Taven come in instead with Kenny kicking him in the head. Titus comes back in to chop at O’Ryan and clean some house in general. The knee goes out again though and we take a break. Back with Titus being taken to the locker room and Coleman hitting something like an RKO on O’Ryan. King gets the tag but the referee doesn’t see it, nor does he see King hammering on Taven in the corner.

Coleman somehow knocks down all three champs but here’s Lio Rush dressed as a member of the Rebellion to take the tag. Lio cleans house (Castle: “HOW IS THIS ALLOWED?”) with his usual fast paced stuff before he gives King an RKO and watched from the apron. Ian: “Was this a ploy all along???” All along? It lasted like a minute and a half! The Kingdom’s triple powerbomb retains the titles at 8:14.

Rating: D. At what point does Ring of Honor realize that these teams are worthless as well as uninteresting and that having titles for a “division” that has three regular teams (including the champions) is ludicrous. Big waste of time here and time that could have gone to ANYTHING else.

Jay White wants a rematch with Jay Briscoe from their time limit draw a few months back.

Briscoe calls White dog food and accepts.

Dalton Castle and the Boys want a Six Man Tag Team Title shot at the pay per view. Castle starts quoting Pocahontas, asking if you’ve ever asked the grinning bobcat why he grins. Castle: “WELL I HAVE! And I got 36 stitches and a rabies shot!”

Top Prospect Tournament First Round: Raphael King vs. Brian Milonas

Bob Evans has replaced Dalton on commentary. King is a frat boy with a female manager. On the other hand, Brian is a huge guy who weighs nearly 400lbs. King does some shouting and the slugout is on with Brian’s right right hand not seeming to make contact. Trash is talked and King gets in a dropkick, only to be crushed by some splashes.

Brian misses a middle rope legdrop and gets kicked in the face as this isn’t exactly working. Evans asks what else you can do other than kicking and punching Brian, which isn’t the best thing to point out. The manager gets in a slap of her own, setting up a good looking Rock Bottom for two. A side slam sets up a…..well I guess a backwards splash as Milonas was setting up for a regular splash but turned around and just fell backwards for the pin at 3:38.

Rating: D-. No idea who these guys are and it was horrible to see Milonas just being huge and not having much skill beyond that. King was watchable enough but that doesn’t mean it’s worth watching. I really can’t stand this tournament and this is one of the weaker classes of talent I’ve ever seen it have.

Christopher Daniels is your new guest commentator.

Bullet Club vs. Jay Lethal/Briscoe Brothers vs. Bobby Fish

It’s Cody, Adam Cole and the Young Bucks. We’ll start with Lethal and Matt Jackson but Lethal has to knock the Club off the apron before really getting started. A suicide dive takes Cody into the barricade and everything breaks down in a hurry. We wind up with Cody and Lethal in the ring and Cody taking a cartwheel into a dropkick.

It’s off to Mark who gets pulled to the floor and pummeled by Matt as this match is all over the place so far. Cole hits some bicycle kicks on Fish but takes a big jumping knee to the head for his efforts. That means a Briscoes vs. Bucks showdown and of course that means superkicks all around.

The Bucks add some big flip dives to the floor but Mark gets in a running Blockbuster off the apron on Cole. Not to be outdone, Cody superplexes Mark onto the whole pile of people for a major crash. Back from a break with the Bucks working over Mark but stopping to strut because they’re cool heels you see.

Mark isn’t ready to fight out of the corner just yet so Cody suplexes Cole onto him for no count as Fish and Lethal have the referee’s attention. A flipping slam off the ropes takes Cole out though and the hot tag brings in Lethal. Everything breaks down and Lethal hits the four pack of suicide dives. Fish wants to pin Cole though and they get in a fight to take us to a second break.

Back with the Briscoes on their own and Mark punching all four Club members. A quadruple superkick is well scouted though and the Club is quadruple clotheslined to the floor. Jay gets two off a powerbomb/neckbreaker combination but Matt flips out of the Doomsday Device. Superkicks a go-go set up Cross Rhodes to Jay. The Last Shot sets up a Meltzer Driver for the pin at Jay at 12:46.

Rating: B. Well that worked. This was all about flying all over the place and letting everyone look good (especially the Young Bucks of course). Lethal and Fish are fighting at the pay per view so their brawl here makes sense, making the match a little more logical. It’s easily the best thing ROH has done in a few weeks and it was very necessary on this show.

Post match Cole is left alone in the ring so here’s Daniels in the ring with some scissors. A pair of Angel’s Wings drop Cole but here’s Kazarian to help. That leads to Kazarian pulling off his shirt to reveal a Bullet Club shirt, which freaks Daniels out as expected. Kazarian knocks the scissors away from Daniels and takes a lot of yelling. Too Sweet brings the Bucks back out for double superkicks and the Club stands tall to end the show. Note that Kazarian didn’t punch Daniels once, which seems like a potential swerve.

Overall Rating: D+. The main event did this show some wonders but there was just WAY too much damage done by the time we got there. As usual, Ring of Honor doesn’t seem capable of focusing on anything long enough to really build it up, which is why we’re seeing a pay per view build and a tournament at the same time. The main event helped but the talent drops off a cliff at various point in ROH and those first two matches really showed it.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the History of the WWE’s Big Four Pay Per Views, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/01/27/kbs-reviews-now-available-in-paperback/

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

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