Global Wars 2016
Date: May 8, 2016
Location: Frontier Fieldhouse, Chicago Ridge, Illinois
Attendance: 2,000
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Mr. Wrestling 3

This is a few months old and unfortunately someone requested it recently so I have to actually look at the thing. Basically it’s a bunch of New Japan vs. Ring of Honor matches and a few ROH only matches to pad out the card. I’m really not a fan of this concept, especially after weeks of watching the same thing on ROH TV. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

The opening video talks about the history and business relationship between the two promotions and looks at some of the great matches. Tonight is also about the return of Colt Cabana, who wants Jay Lethal’s ROH World Title. Thankfully the title part gets much more time than the interpromotional matches.

We run down the card in case you bought the show on a whim.

ACH vs. Dalton Castle vs. Roderick Strong vs. Adam Page

Winner gets a TV Title shot at some point in the future. Castle has the Boys with him and is the big crowd favorite. This is one fall to a finish but there are only two people in the ring at once. ACH and Page get things going with Adam scoring off a spinwheel kick. Back up and ACH starts his flips but Strong tags himself in to take a dropkick from Page. That means it’s off to Castle with Dalton doing his lean back to the mat to freak Adam out a bit. Strong tags himself in to beat on Castle as the announcers are worried about a referee mistake.

Page works over Castle with Strong saving a pin, much to Adam’s annoyance. It’s back to Strong to keep Castle down as this has turned into a glorified tag match. Castle gets in a suplex on Page but ACH springboards in for a swinging Downward Spiral. The heels are on the floor so Strong can get crushed by a suicide dive from Castle. Everyone but ACH is down on the floor and that means a big flip dive to really pop the crowd. Wrestling 3: “Cheese and crackers he’s good!” Back in and Strong blocks ACH’s top rope splash, only to have Castle Bang A Rang Strong onto Page for the pin at 8:28.

Rating: C. Good choice for an opener here with everyone flying around and the fun character winning to set up the biggest match of his career pretty soon. This is the kind of thing you want to open the show and if there’s one thing ROH knows how to do it’s get a crowd going, especially one like this who is already white hot no matter what.

Strong is livid about the loss.

Cheeseburger/Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Addiction

Daniels won’t shake Cheeseburger’s hand to start so he has to duck an early palm strike. It’s already off to Liger to face Kazarian but everything breaks down with Kazarian taking a bad looking double dropkick. Now it’s time for Kazarian and Cheeseburger to slap it out which really should go to Cheeseburger since he does a big palm strike (yes a palm strike). Kazarian takes over and the double teaming begins with a gutwrench suplex planting Cheeseburger.

Daniels suplexes his partner into a moonsault onto Cheeseburger, setting up an arrogant cover for two. We hit the chinlock for a bit before a hurricanrana allows the tag off to Liger (Wrestling 3: “Hot suey tag!”). The Liger Bomb gets two on Daniels but Kazarian breaks up the brainbuster. Celebrity Rehab (belly to back flip into a gutbuster) gets two with Cheeseburger making the save this time. A pair of STO’s put Cheeseburger down but he rolls Daniels up for the big upset at 7:02.

Rating: C-. Cheeseburger has been around for years now and while I get the appeal, he’s really not someone I have any interest in seeing. Yes he’s small and yes his big move is a running slap but that’s not enough to make me want to see him. The Liger partnership only helps a little bit as Cheeseburger just isn’t interesting no matter how you package him.

Post match the Addiction knocks Liger to the floor and hits the Best Meltzer Ever (moonsault into a spike Tombstone) on Cheeseburger.

We recap War Machine vs. the Briscoe Brothers. War Machine have the belts but can’t be considered the best until they beat the greatest team in ROH history. They’ve never beaten the Briscoes before so tonight is also about vindication. Now that’s a simple story that I can get behind.

Tag Team Titles: War Machine vs. Briscoe Brothers

War Machine is defending and this should be a really physical fight though they respect each other. Hanson easily throws Mark out to the floor and the champs start double teaming as I’m assuming they’re the moderate heels here. Jay pulls Rowe outside and now it’s time for the brothers to suplex Hanson. Mark grabs a Russian legsweep and get two off a clothesline. A backdrop sends Mark crashing out to the floor and it’s time for the big man dive to take everyone out.

Hanson does….something that sends him through the table but the camera misses it completely. Thankfully we get a quick replay showing that it was Jay double stomping him through the table, which is something you don’t see often enough. The replay that is, not the double stomp. Back in and it’s Jay slugging it out with Rowe, whose Rock Bottom suplex has no effect. Everything breaks down again and Hanson’s big clothesline flips Mark inside out to put all four on the mat.

We get the double standoff (cool visual) and it’s Jay winning the slugout against Rowe, followed by a Cactus Clothesline to put them both on the floor. Mark keeps things moving with an apron Blockbuster to Hanson as the fans are behind the Briscoes. Rowe blocks a Jay Driller and Superman Forearms Mark out of the air. Back up and it’s Hanson getting double teamed, only to have Jay get caught in the Path of Resistance. Hanson misses the moonsault though and there’s the Jay Driller for two. A pop up German suplex drops Mark and it’s Fallout to retain the titles at 15:15.

Rating: B. The lack of tagging aside, I had a lot of fun with this one as they beat each other up for fifteen minutes and told a story with War Machine going as far as they could to finally beat the Briscoes. Jay and Mark are the kind of team you can throw in there and have them put over anyone because of all the things they’ve accomplished over the years and that’s a very valuable asset.

Tetsuya Naito vs. Kyle O’Reilly

Naito’s IWGP World Title isn’t on the line here but he does come to the ring walking a white suit. Feeling out process to start with Naito threatening a right hand but pulling back and tapping Kyle on the chest instead. Kyle’s leg lock doesn’t get him anywhere and a cross armbreaker across the ropes has the same result.

The crowd cheers for Naito as he dropkicks Kyle because the Japanese guys are the stars here and everyone knows it. A dropkick in the corner sets up a slingshot dropkick have Kyle in trouble but he comes back with the forearms and kicks. That means it’s time for the guillotine choke into an arm trap/leglock at the same time.

Naito climbs the ropes for a tornado DDT followed by a neckbreaker off the ropes for two. They kick each other in the head until Kyle hits a rebound lariat to put both of them down again. A Regalplex gets two on Naito and a knee to the head makes it even worse. Not that it matters as he does a weird backflip into a reverse DDT (Destino) for the pin at 12:03.

Rating: B-. Kyle has grown on me as he’s gone from one of the most overrated people I’ve seen in years to downright tolerable. Naito winning was obvious because New Japan won’t let one of their top stars lose here because that might imply that ROH is on their level. The match was good though again: I need a story, not just having two people have matches.

Naito lays him out and throws the belt down post match.

We recap Kazuchika Okada/Moose vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi/Michael Elgin. Moose impressed Okada in their singles match and now they’re teaming. End of story and all animosity.

Hiroshi Tanahashi/Michael Elgin vs. Kazuchika Okada/Moose

Okada and Moose have Gedo and Stokely Hathaway in their corner. Tanahashi and Okada start things off and the fans are in awe, despite knowing that this was a distinct possibility. That goes nowhere so it’s off to Okada vs. Moose and the fans aren’t pleased. Elgin does the delayed vertical suplex but Moose no sells it. You know, because it’s just a suplex.

Tanahashi comes in and mocks the Moose chant, only to have Moose and Okada dropkick their opponents to the floor. Moose isn’t done as he hits a big dive to the floor to take them out and get the fans’ respect for a bit. It’s Tanahashi playing the face in peril (good role for him) until Moose misses a charge, allowing the hot tag off to Elgin for the powerful house cleaning. Elgin only stays in for a bit before we get to the real showdown with Okada vs. Tanahashi with Okada getting the worst of it.

Tanahashi escapes a Tombstone attempt but neither can hit a Rainmaker. Instead Okada hits a Sling Blade but Elgin comes back in to powerslam Tanahashi off the top. Elgin puts Tanahashi on his shoulders for a kind of reverse Alabama Slam for two on Okada with Moose making the save. Tanahashi and Moose head outside with Elgin hitting a hard clothesline to the back of Okada’s head. Moose comes back in with a spear to Elgin, followed by the Rainmaker for the pin on Elgin at 13:46.

Rating: B-. This wasn’t bad though I could have done with Moose pinning Elgin and actually getting a big rub off this instead of just getting to stand next to the big star. At least Moose was actually involved in the ending as until then it was just about all of the New Japan guys doing their thing while Moose was along for the ride.

We recap Tomohiro Ishii vs. Bobby Fish which really shouldn’t have anything to do with Ishii but screw off with the whole storytelling thing when we can just go “New Japan vs. ROH, next.” Fish had been feuding with Strong over the title as Fish made him tap but the referee didn’t see it, allowing Strong to retain the title. Then Ishii won the title and took it over to Japan, leaving Fish to beat Strong again and earn this shot in what should have been the title change.

I’ve already done this one twice for ROH TV so I’m just copying it instead of doing it all over again.

TV Title: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Bobby Fish

Ishii is defending. Fish actually runs the much bigger Ishii over to start but Ishii does the same to send Fish outside for a bit of his time. Back in and Fish fires off some kicks to put Ishii in trouble, which isn’t something you see happen to him that often. Ishii wins another slugout though and a headbutt puts Fish down with ease.

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

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

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

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

Kushida/Matt Sydal/Motor City Machine Guns vs. Bullet Club

For the sake of simplicity, I’ll only refer to Matt Sydal as Sydal and Matt Jackson as Matt. Young Bucks and the Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga/Tama Loa) here. Kushida and Sydal are IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, the Guerillas are the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions and the Bucks are two thirds of the Never Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champions with Kenny Omega. Mr. Wrestling 3 has a Bullet Club Superkick Counter as we get so far into the meta humor that my head wants to explode.

Sydal rides Matt to start so it’s a Too Sweet poke to the eye and a lot of crotch chopping. The good guys (as in not the Club) clean house and it’s a double dive to take the Bucks out. Back in and we get some sweet (not too sweet) triple teaming to on Matt as this is one sided so far. The Bucks start kicking everyone (not superkicking, much to Wrestling 3’s chagrin) but their dives are broken up by Guns’ superkicks. Wrestling 3: “THOSE ARE THRUST KICKS!”

The Guerillas no sell kicks to the face and clothesline the Guns down and it’s time for some Buck diving. Back in and Shelley blocks a superkick but gets kicked in the head anyway. Loa comes in and is one of the biggest balls of energy I’ve seen in a long time with headbutts and splashes to keep Shelley in trouble. Tonga comes in for a splash of his own before it’s off to Matt for a chinlock.

Shelley takes out both Bucks and makes the hot tag off to Kushida as things speed up again. Everyone else clears out and it’s Tonga not being able to powerslam Sydal, who escapes with a kick to the head. Some, ahem, thrust kicks drop the Guerillas before Matt gets quadruple teamed in the corner. A powerbomb/top rope double knees to the face gets two as the Bucks run in for the save.

Skull and Bones (top rope splash/neckbreaker combo) gets two more before Nick comes in and does SUCK IT over and over because popping the crowd is far more important than having a good or logical match. Sliced Bread #2 is broken up and a quick Meltzer Driver puts Shelley away at 13:04. Wrestling 3: “I JUST WASTED SIX GRAND!!!”

Rating: C. The match was certainly watchable but this meta comedy and running jokes throughout the match really bring things down. As I’ve said roughly 18,000 times, the Bucks are supposed to be heels but spend the whole match doing things faces would do. It makes the match feel completely uneven and it’s really annoying when you’re trying to keep the match straight. I know their response is they’re “evolving” the business but as is always the case, that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.

Wrestling 3 is distraught and it gets even worse when BJ Whitmer comes out in a Masked Superstar mask. Whitmer has a flash drive with something Wrestling 3 will want to see.

Long recap of the World Title match with Colt Cabana returning to win the one title he’s never been able to capture. He’s an indy legend but wants one more chance at the big prize. Cabana pinned Lethal in a quick non-title match to earn a shot.

Nigel McGuinness joins commentary.

ROH World Title: Colt Cabana vs. Jay Lethal

Lethal is defending and only has Taeler Hendrix with him. Cabana, the hometown boy, knocks him into the corner to start and the chops start early and Jay hides for a bit. A hiptoss sets up a basement dropkick to knock Cabana out to the apron and they’re still at a fairly hot pace to start. Jay misses another dropkick but a Hendrix distraction fails as well. Eh she’s there because of how she looks, not because of how she does things.

Hendrix redeems herself a bit by grabbing Colt, allowing Jay to hit three straight suicide dives. Unfortunately that means an ejection with Nigel having to drag her to the back by the wrist. Back in and we hit the chinlock before the Lethal Injection is countered into a rollup for two. A quick Lethal Combination sets up the top rope elbow for two on Cabana but he dives into a rollup for the same. They fight over a Tombstone with Jay connecting for two, meaning he’ll likely get a letter from the Bullet Club for copyright infringement.

Colt comes right back with the Billy Goat’s Curse (reverse Boston Crab), only to have Hendrix run out and pull the referee to the floor. Speaking of the Bucks, here they are to superkick the referee and Hendrix. The Bucks pull out two Bullet Club shirts (Wrestling 3: “I’M GETTING THE SHIRT!!!”) and toss them to Lethal and Cabana (Wrestling 3: “BUT I WORKED SO HARD!”). There go the lights and it’s Adam Cole in the ring in the shirt. Cabana and Lethal take superkicks and we’ll call it a DQ at about 16:00.

Rating: C+. This was fine until the ending with the Bullet Club taking over the ending and making it all about them instead of having anything to do with the match. Unfortunately this is probably it for Cabana, who was really in this spot for the sake of having a face for the Bucks to superkick. In other words: it’s the same thing that happened far too often on this show but that’s how Ring of Honor works these days.

Security eats superkicks and the counter goes back up but they only count double kicks as one. I DEMAND A REFUND! The Guerillas come out and the beating continues with Loa spray painting BC on a table and a security guard being powerbombed through it. More spray paint continues with the announcers getting kicks of their own.

The Bucks jump on commentary to do a Jim Ross impression because that’s cutting edge. Cole ties Lethal to the ropes and superkicks him a few times with the counter still going. Cue the Bucks’ dad (just go with it) who gets superkicked as well. The cameraman is kicked down and the Club all stare into the camera to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This is a show where the wrestling really isn’t important. This show was all about the Japanese stars looking WAY more important than the ROH stars, making this far less a competitive show and much more about making New Japan look completely superior to Ring of Honor.

There were eight total matches on this show with Ring of Honor wrestlers winning in five of them. Of those five wins, there were two tag matches with a New Japan partner and two matches with no New Japan stars involved. Counting the no contest, New Japan went 4-1 along with destroying the World Champion and the #1 contender to close the show.

This was basically a New Japan show featuring the Ring of Honor players. I get the concept there, but that’s been all we’ve seen on Ring of Honor TV for weeks leading up to this pay per view. Yes I said pay per view, as this show carried a $45 price tag. I’m sure all the fans who paid to see Ring of Honor vs. New Japan, which is how this show was billed (in the one week of TV dedicated to it), and got the Bullet Club dominating everything in the end.

If that’s what you want to see on your Ring of Honor shows then so be it but I really do not care about seeing the Young Bucks, Okada, Tanahashi or any of the other names come in and beat the tar out of the Ring of Honor stars. The wrestling was actually quite good but the booking was a disaster, especially since the ending was just a big TUNE IN NEXT WEEK…..when you get a Jay Lethal special! Followed by a Bullet Club special!

Ring of Honor REALLY needs to switch some stuff up because this booking isn’t doing anyone but New Japan and the Bullet Club any favors. If that’s what Ring of Honor is going for then keep going with it but it’s really not working for me. I watch ROH because I like their roster but the last few months have told me that they exist for the sake of putting over New Japan and this NWO tribute stable for reasons that I really do not understand. I’m sure it’s some kind of knock on WWE for introducing the Club because that’s unfair or whatever their latest reasoning is. Either way, it’s a good but very, very frustrating show.

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

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

Opening sequence.

Dalton Castle vs. Gedo

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

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

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

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

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

Will Ferrara vs. Tomohiro Ishii

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

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

The Briscoes are ready for the main event.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Opening sequence.

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

Matt Sydal vs. Kazuchika Okada

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

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

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

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

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

Adam Page vs. Colt Cabana

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Donovan Dijak vs. Jay Lethal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From Global Wars 2015.

Bullet Club vs. ROH All-Stars

AJ Styles/Doc Gallows/Karl Anderson/Young Bucks

War Machine/Briscoe Brothers/Roderick Strong

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bullet Club vs. ReDRagon/Hirooki Goto/Katsuyori Shibata

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Opening sequence.

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

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

TV Title: Jay Lethal vs. Alberto El Patron

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Opening sequence.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CM Punk vs. Colt Cabana

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The House of Truth tours Tokyo.

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

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

Karl Anderson/Luke Gallows vs. Briscoe Brothers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Ring of Honor
Date: April 27, 2016
Location: Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Attendance: 1,367
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Mr. Wrestling 3

We’re still in Japan and back in February with more matches from Honor Rising 2016. At this point you almost have to expect Ring of Honor to skip most of the Dallas stuff and just do a new set of TV tapings in May with the New Japan guys again. There won’t be anything major in storyline terms here but hopefully the action will be good. Let’s get to it.

Jay Lethal/Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada/Yoshi-Hashi

Okada is the IWGP World Champion but has since lost the title to Naito, who is kind of a loner, which is why he’s the leader of a stable. Lethal and Okada start things off in what’s actually a pretty cool visual. They trade wristlocks to start as we get the silent treatment (not a bad thing) from the fans. An early Lethal Injection attempt is countered (amazingly enough) but Jay ducks the Rainmaker to get us to a standoff. Naito doesn’t want to tag in and we take a break.

Back with Naito tagging in to jump over the apron and dropkick Naito for two. A quick Codebreaker allows for the tag off to Okada who eats a tornado DDT for his efforts. Lethal adds a roaring elbow but accidentally superkicks Naito (thankfully without a Young Bucks reference), allowing Okada to dropkick him down. The hot (minus the crowd reaction) tag brings in Yoshi for a neckbreaker and Blockbuster for two each. The Book of Truth is brought in to poor results but Naito’s goon Evil (formerly known as Watanabe) shoves Yoshi off the top, setting up the Lethal Injection for the pin at 12:56.

Rating: C+. This was fine and Lethal is really starting to feel like a major player instead of someone in over his head. I’m still not a big fan of the guy but he’s improved by leaps and bounds in the last year or so. Naito was fun to watch but I need to see more of him to get the idea of his whole deal.

Naito reads the Book of Truth and then uses it to pound on Yoshi. Jay shakes his hand post match to imply a future partnership.

Kazarian vs. Kushida

Kushida’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title isn’t on the line. It’s a fight over a top wristlock to start as the announcers talk about the referee’s career. Kushida gets in an early Hoverboard Lock but Kazarian bails to the ropes. That’s fine with Kushida as he rides Kazarian on the mat to take us to a break.

Back with Kazarian snapping the throat across the ropes and getting in the slingshot DDT. We hit the choking with Kushida pointing to his throat as he can’t breathe. A Backstabber gets two on Kushida as Kelly says we’ll be seeing more Honor Rising stuff for weeks to come. Kushida gets in a dropkick to send Kazarian out to the floor and there’s a big flip dive to take him out again.

Back in and it’s off to the submission attempts so Kazarian goes American with a rake to the eyes. An electric chair into a rollup gets two as the announcers talk about Japanese baseball. Kazarian loads up the Flux Capacitor (because both of these guys LOVE Back to the Future in a parallel the announcers miss) but Kushida grabs the Hoverboard Lock to slam Kazarian down to the mat. Another Hoverboard Lock makes him tap at 9:37.

Rating: C. I liked this more than I was expecting to but really I just want to go watch Back to the Future. Kushida still doesn’t do much for me and Kazarian hasn’t been the same guy I used to be a fan of back in TNA. I’m also not sure why you wouldn’t make this a title match to add a little spice. The wrestling was fine though.

The Briscoes get into shenanigans on the streets of Tokyo.

Elite vs. ReDRagon/Katsuyori Shibata

Elite is a subset of Bullet Club comprised of Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks because we haven’t seen them enough on the regular shows. The Elite is sent out to the floor and Shibata and Omega fight past the barricade. The Bucks try stereo sunset flips and get caught in matching cross armbreakers. Shibata puts Omega in one as well, only to get powerbombed onto his partners. Omega is left alone in the ring so he dives over the top to take everyone down.

We take another break and come back with the Elite taking turns choking Fish. A tag match breaks out of all the fighting with Nick telling Fish to suck it several times. Bobby suplexes Nick into Matt and makes the tag off to Kyle while Shibata is nowhere to be seen. Chasing the Dragon is broken up and it’s off to Shibata vs. Omega for the big slugout. Shibata gets in a choke and the Bucks can’t break it up.

A double superkick puts him down to one knee and the triple version gets two. Everything breaks down and Omega throws Shibata off a tornado DDT, setting up the superkick party. Everyone kicks everyone until Kyle counters the One Winged Angel into a guillotine choke. Matt sprays something in Kyle’s eyes though and it’s the One Winged Angle to put O’Reilly away at 10:16.

Rating: B-. Best match of the night here as Omega continues to look like a star. Shibata is fine in the Ken Shamrock mold of cyborg submission machine and it’s a good time whenever I get to see the Bucks get beaten up. ReDRagon is still one of the best things about ROH but they’re at the weird point where the Tag Team Titles don’t mean anything to them anymore.

Overall Rating: C. “So you know how we’ve been showing you these matches that don’t mean anything for weeks on end? Well how about paying to see a full pay per view of them?” That’s the WWE style of booking TV to a pay per view and it doesn’t work for either promotion. The limited interest I had in seeing Global Wars and War of the Worlds has been thrown out the window now because I’ve watched these big names for the better part of a month. Where’s the incentive to keep watching and even pay for another show?

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

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D4D3EGQ

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

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

Ring of Honor
Date: April 13, 2016
Location: Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Mr. Wrestling 3

It’s a very big show this week with the Tag Team Titles on the line, a major star from New Japan making an appearance and a Fight Without Honor for the first time ever on ROH TV. I know these staggered shows get annoying but they’ve actually got a big card here and that’s a rare sight on an hour long TV show. Let’s get to it.

Tag Team Titles: War Machine vs. Roppangi Vice

Vice (Trent Barreta and Rocky Romero) is challenging and knocks Hansen and Rowe off the apron before the bell. Rowe says ring the bell but gets beaten down in the corner to start. A standing moonsault doesn’t have much effect though and it’s Hansen back in for rights and lefts of his own. Romero is kicked out to the floor as Wrestling 3 tells stories of “joysting” (not jousting but joysting), whatever that is.

We take a break and come back with Hansen taking Rowe’s shotgun knees by mistake, followed by Romero kicking Rowe in the face. A quick Superman punch puts Romero down but Trent dropkicks both champs down to save his partner in a nice spot. Two double knees to the face drops Hansen but War Machine gets tired of these pests and lifts them up for powerbombs, only to slam the challengers into each other. That’s a new one. The Path of Resistance is broken up though as Romero hurricanranas Hansen down. A flip dive is countered into an apron bomb though and Fallout puts Romero away at 9:56.

Rating: C+. This was fine despite me not being a big fan of Barreta and Romero. There wasn’t much of a surprise here as they had been setting up the Briscoes challenging for the titles over the last few weeks but at least we had something other than a squash to get us there. Nice little match here.

Prince Nana brings out Donovan Dijak, in a Jay Lethal shirt, for something to say. Let’s get right to it with the envelopes: you’re not going to find out because you don’t need to know. Nana talks about how Dijak is enlightened while Donovan talks about being tired of spending the last year guarding Jay Lethal. This brings out Lethal for a brawl that security has to break up.

Dalton Castle says his goal is different again tonight because this time he wants to hurt Silas Young.

ACH vs. Kenny Omega

Omega, whose Intercontinental Title isn’t on the line here, is the head of the Bullet Club in New Japan and he has some awesome entrance music. Kenny is called the Cleaner so of course he comes out with a broom, along with the Young Bucks. As expected, the fans are almost entirely behind Omega.

Feeling out process to start with ACH doing all his flips as the announcers explain the latest issues in New Japan. An elbow to the head drops Omega and a dropkick puts him out on the floor. Naturally the numbers become an issue though as Omega distracts the referee, allowing a superkick to put ACH down. In a funny bit, Matt throws out a banana peel to offer an explanation.

We take a break (and get a promo from Adam Cole about how he created the Kingdom, meaning Matt Taven has no right to reform the team) and come back with ACH holding Omega in a headlock, only to be countered into what looked like a one man More Bang For Your Buck. That goes nowhere and ACH gets up a boot in the corner, followed by another kick to the face to put Omega on the floor.

The Jordan dive takes out the Bucks and Omega to a nice reaction as it’s not all Omega fans for a bit of a surprise. Back in and a top rope double stomp to the back gets two on Kenny and a brainbuster is good for the same. A 450 misses though and Omega gets in a hard knee to the ribs to take over. ACH comes back again and gets in a Stunner, giving us a Rock style sell job. The Midnight Star misses though and the One Winged Angel (electric chair into a forward piledriver) puts ACH away at 13:31.

Rating: B. I’m not a fan of ACH but this was pretty easily his best Ring of Honor match to date. I’ve heard a lot of great things about Omega over the last few months and he was definitely entertaining here but not quite as great as he’s been made out to be. I can go for ACH far more easily if he’s acting like a wrestler instead of a guy doing scripted out flips.

Dalton Castle vs. Silas Young

Fight Without Honor, basically meaning street fight. Castle has the Boys with him but they go to the back before he hits the ring. That’s the right idea for something like this. The fans are behind Castle as he clotheslines Silas to the floor while the streamers are still all over the ring. A suicide dive takes Young out again but Castle misses a running knee on the apron and gets shoved out to the floor. This hasn’t gotten violent yet but you can feel a different vibe.

Back up and Castle chops the post by mistake to give Young his first target. Castle tries another chop but fakes Young out and sends him into the barricade for a smart move. We take a break and come back with Young setting up a table on the floor to go with the ladder already in the ring. Neither of those are good enough for him though as he powerbombs Castle onto two open chairs instead.

A slingshot elbow gets two on Dalton and it’s time for some simple choking. For some reason Young lets him loose though and tries his slingshot moonsault but only hits ladder. They slug it out from their knees and then their feet with Castle getting the better of it until Young grabs a cutter for two. Misery gets the same so it’s time for a trashcan lid and some yelling on the mic.

Silas wishes the Boys were out here to see this beating so here they come, only to have one of them jump on Young’s back. That ticks Castle off all over again but he misses a running knee to send him outside. The Boys take a suicide dive to protect Dalton, who slides into the ring for a hurricanrana to send Young onto the floor again.

Back in and the Bang A Rang is countered so Dalton throws him over the top and down through the table for a YOU JUST KILLED HIM chant. Somehow that only gets two, followed by Silas hitting him low for the same. Not that it matters as the Bang A Rang onto the chairs gives Dalton the pin at 16:42.

Rating: B. This would have been a lot better if it had happened back in say……December. It was a good brawl and a very strong win for Castle but this story went on WAY too long to have the impact they were going for. I still like the feud and it’s a good blowoff match this could have been so much more if they had done it a long time ago.

Overall Rating: A-. A one hour show having two strong matches is about as easy of a layup as you’re going to get. This was the first time in a long time that a show felt like something big and a lot of that is due to how much time they spent building up Young vs. Castle. No they didn’t have amazing promos that made me want to see it, but just saying “it’s in three weeks” made me want to see where the match was going. You don’t get that in most promotions and it was a really nice change of pace which wound up working. Well done ROH, which isn’t something I’ve been able to say lately.

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

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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 30, 2015
Location: Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Mr. Wrestling III, Kevin Kelly

We’re still in Las Vegas with the cool blue curtains and a World Title defense with Hirooki Goto from New Japan challenging ROH World Champion Jay Lethal. It’s not like Lethal has anything else going on right now so having him defend against someone from outside the company isn’t the worst idea. Let’s get to it.

Roderick Strong vs. Adam Page vs. Moose vs. Matt Sydal

This is a Four Corner Survival match which actually means one fall to a finish. Strong and Sydal get things going with a nice running of the ropes before Roderick gets in his first backbreaker for two. Page tags himself in to go after Strong but Sydal tags himself in as well, only to get sent to the floor. That’s as good as a tag so it’s Moose coming in to slam Strong for two with Page making the save.

Moose and Sydal go to the floor with Matt getting powerbombed onto the apron, followed by Page diving on Strong as we take a break. Back with Page dropkicking Strong into the corner until Sydal drops both Page and Strong at the same time. A standing moonsault gets two on Adam, followed by Moose slugging it out with Strong.

Moose dropkicks Sydal and Page off the corner so everyone starts focusing on Moose to give themselves an opening. Page throws Sydal with a release dragon suplex but here’s BJ Whitmer to trip Page up, allowing Sydal to knee him in the face. The shooting star press crushes Page but Strong comes back in with a knee to both faces and the pin on Page at 11:53.

Rating: C. The match was certainly energetic but I’m not a fan of these wild messes with no real story (save for maybe Moose being dominant) and action all over the place. There’s a way to do these things but they have a bad tendency to turn into borderline trainwrecks like this one. It certainly wasn’t bad but it just came and went with no real impact.

Here’s Adam Cole with something to say. After some production guy says “I hope it’s story time. I really like it.”, it’s story time with Adam Cole. Adam says that despite this perceived downward spiral, he’s still the best wrestler in the world and the future World Champion. There is no one in that locker room who can stand up to him and Kyle O’Reilly shouldn’t even be in the same ring as him. Cole may be without his Kingdom but he’ll be winning that title back soon.

This brings out Matt Taven on a crutch to promise titles both in American and Japan. Well actually he’ll be winning them on his own because Cole hasn’t won any gold in a long time. After Cole got hurt, it was Taven who was keeping Cole relevant and he’s tired of carrying Adam. The Kingdom will be rebuilt in Taven’s image and that’s it for Cole.

Dalton Castle isn’t a fan of rules (like dress codes because he’s a clothing optional man) so he loves the idea of a Fight Without Honor against Silas Young in two weeks.

Cheeseburger vs. Foxx Vinyer

Foxx pounds the much smaller man down to start and some strikes to the chest don’t have much effect for Cheeseburger. Instead a powerslam gets two on Cheeseburger but he pops back up with a knee to the head. The palm strike is loaded up but here’s the All Night Express to pull Foxx out for the DQ at 1:32 for no apparent reason.

The Express isn’t here to attack Cheeseburger because they like him. They see the heart inside him and know that he’s tough enough to go through tables and be bent over ladders, even though the fans don’t care about him. Yeah no matter how badly he’s been beaten up, the people aren’t going to care.

The Express reads some mean Tweets from fans before ripping on the other teams for being too small (the Young Bucks), smelly farmers (the Briscoes) and big bald guys (War Machine). The fans chant for Cheeseburger, who reads the catchphrase on the back of the Express’ shirt and gets beaten down. Wrestling III: “HE’S JUST A BURGER!!!” War Machine and the Briscoes come out for the save but the Briscoes pick up the belts. The champs aren’t happy with that and it’s a big staredown.

The House of Truth is ready for the main event.

ROH World Title: Hirooki Goto vs. Jay Lethal

Goto is challenging after beating Dalton Castle at Supercard of Honor. Lethal‘s graphic still shows him with the TV Title. Jay kicks him in the ribs at the handshake but Goto easily pounds him down into the corner. With the champ in trouble, Taeler Hendrix offers a distraction to break up the top rope hurricanrana. Jay is right on him with a suicide dive and we get a Trutharooni in celebration.

Lethal hits a chinlock back inside and we take a break. Back with Goto making his comeback and blocking the Lethal Injection. A Saito suplex gets two on the champ and an AA into a backbreaker gets the same. Martini offers another distraction though and it’s the Lethal Injection to retain the title at 10:17.

Rating: C. This is the kind of match that doesn’t do much for me as there’s no real story other than Goto won a match at a show a few weeks back. There’s no connection or animosity between these two and with about seven minutes of airtime, there’s only so much they can actually do. It’s a perfectly watchable match but I need something else to care about or a lot higher quality.

Post match Donovan Dijak comes in to go after Lethal and easily wins the slugout. The Book of Truth to the back has no effect so Dijak kicks Martini’s head off to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. I really wasn’t feeling this one as it’s a collection of midcard stuff or short term angles that don’t seem to have much importance. The show went by fast enough and wasn’t exactly bad but nothing felt big here, save for maybe the big angle at the end. Then again I can’t imagine they’ll put the title on Donovan Dijak, even though I’m a fan of the guy. This wasn’t a horrible show but it’s completely skippable.

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

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D4D3EGQ

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

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