Ring of Honor
Date: September 14, 2016
Location: Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Steve Corino, Kevin Kelly

We’re getting closer to All-Star Extravaganza and for once they’re actually setting up some stuff for the pay per view in advance. Now that being said, a lot of the card is going to be built around the Six Man Tag Team Title tournament so they can throw a lot of it together at their own leisure. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Steve Corino gets his own entrance to do commentary. As expected, he’s rather happy to be back.

Guerillas of Destiny vs. All Night Express

The announcers call them the All Night Express but they’re part of the Cabinet because that’s still a thing. Tama and Titus get things going and a pull of the hair takes the monster down. Loa tags himself and it’s time to start the beating. The Tongans snap Titus’ throat across the top and we take an early break. Back with Loa suplexing Titus as this is still one sided. We hear about a four way for the #1 contendership to the Tag Team Titles at All-Star Extravaganza (with the Express as the only team mentioned) as it’s off to King for some house cleaning.

A string of kicks to the head have Tama in trouble but it’s time for the big two on two slugout. King takes over with a slingshot corkscrew plancha but it’s Tama with a jumping neckbreaker on Titus. A powerbomb/neckbreaker combo gets two on Titus and the Tongans have to deal with Caprice Coleman. Not that it matters as a double inverted DDT (Guerilla Warfare) puts Titus away at 10:38.

Rating: C. This was fine while it lasted but as usual I have no interest in the Cabinet as I’m sick of the election being part of everything and how almost everything in ROH has to be some kind of a stable or a group. The match was fine enough for a TV match and it’s always good to see the Cabinet take a beating.

Coleman says they’re not done with the Bullet Club.

We look back at Tetsuya Naito and Evil turning their backs on Jay Lethal last week.

Lethal calls last week the second worst day of Naito’s life. The worst is going to be All-Star Extravaganza when Lethal gets his hands on Naito.

Shane Taylor talks about Ray Rowe teaching him to wrestle in Cleveland. Then War Machine happened and Taylor had to deal with all of the enemies Rowe had created. I’ve heard worse.

Shane Taylor/Keith Lee vs. Ken Phoenix/Ricardo Rojas

The much smaller Phoenix goes after Lee and is picked up with one arm. A dropkick to the side of the head only ticks Lee off so he headbutts Phoenix in the chest. Rojas comes in and hits Lee in the back but it doesn’t actually change anything. Taylor adds a middle rope splash to crush Ken at 1:53.

Taylor and Lee want War Machine while the fans chant for the Young Bucks. Cue War Machine with Rowe talking about taking care of Taylor for years. Tonight isn’t about that though because War Machine is here for violence.

War Machine vs. Keith Lee/Shane Taylor

Rowe knees him in the face to start but discuses into a right hand to actually put him down off a single punch. You don’t see that happen too often. Rowe gets beaten into the corner and blasted with big forearms and right hands. Sometimes you don’t need to do anything other than keep it simple.

More right hands get Rowe out of trouble and the hot tag brings in Hanson to fire off even more right hands. Hanson gets in a reverse powerslam on Lee and Rowe runs in with the shotgun knees to take out Taylor. They start trading the suplexes with Lee hitting an AA into a powerslam to put Hanson on the floor. A chair is brought in for a LOUD shot and that’s a DQ to give Lee and Taylor the win at 4:25.

Rating: C+. I like this feud more and more every time as it’s just so different than everything else they do on this show. They’re not trying to be the Bullet Club or flying all over the place because they’re just beating the heck out of each other for full matches with big power moves and that makes for entertaining TV.

The match is called a no contest for reasons unclear. Rowe gets powerbombed through two chairs to put him out.

Matt Taven is on commentary for the main event and says the new Kingdom will be part of the Six Man Tag Team Title tournament. Partners to be announced.

Roppongi Vice/Kazuchika Okada vs. Kamaitachi/Addiction

Kamaitachi and Romero start things off but we get an Okada request. That’s fine with Okada who puts Kamaitachi up against the ropes and calmly pats his chest. Addiction charges in and get a flapjack each to send us to a break. Back with Romero hitting a long string of running clotheslines on the Addiction and it’s off to Beretta for his running flip dive onto the Addiction (and piles of Okada Bucks). Things finally settle down with Daniels driving knees into Beretta’s head and Kamaitachi getting a very fast head start for a running seated dropkick.

Daniels hammers away at the head and we take a second break. Back again with the hot tag bringing Okada in again for the house cleaning. A top rope elbow crushes Daniels but Kazarian breaks up the Rainmaker. White Noise onto a knee gets two more on Daniels, only to have Kazarian come in with a slingshot DDT. Kazarian cuts off Strong Zero and it’s the Best Meltzer Ever (a moonsault spike tombstone) to put Beretta away at 12:45.

Rating: C+. This was fine and a decent enough way to build towards the six man tournament where the matches will have almost no stories to them but at least they’ll be for titles that the company doesn’t want but it makes them more like New Japan and that’s the point of the whole thing. It’s a watchable enough match but I have little reason to care about most of these people.

Overall Rating: C. Not bad for a show with the B crew this week and assuming you can accept that the New Japan guys are the norm instead of a special attraction, this was more than watchable. All-Star Extravaganza isn’t exactly looking like anything interesting but it’s hard to say what you’re going to get on one of their shows these days. This didn’t do much to set up the pay per view but it’s fine for an hour of wrestling.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete 2014 Raw and Smackdown Reviews Part I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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Ring of Honor
Date: September 14, 2016
Location: Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

All-Star Extravaganza is in a few weeks and we only know a few matches so far. These monthly pay per views are really hard to book when Ring of Honor has so many stand alone TV episodes just after the pay per views as they’re basically booking a huge show in just a few weeks. Hopefully this makes things a bit better. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of last week’s Bullet Club segment and Jay Lethal interrupting to set up a six man tag with Los Ingobernables de Japan backing him up.

Opening sequence.

Bullet Club vs. Jay Lethal/Los Ingobernables de Japan

That would be Adam Cole/Hangman Page/Yujiro Takahashi vs. Lethal/Tetsuya Naito/Evil. Takahashi and Evil get things going here with Evil easily taking him down. That means it’s off to Cole vs. Lethal with Adam bailing out to the floor as we take an early break. Back with Naito sending Page to the floor and doing his signature take it easy pose. We get more Cole vs. Lethal and yet again Adam tags out to Takahashi.

The fast tagging continues as Naito comes back in, only to get jumped from behind by Cole. A blind tag allows Lethal to finally get his hands on Cole and the brawl is on until a double right hand puts both guys down. Naito gets annoyed at Lethal’s attempt at a tag so Los Ingobernables both walk out. That means another break and we come back to Lethal in real trouble thanks to the triple teaming.

Cue Michael Elgin to get in Lethal’s corner and Nigel says it’s all cool (thank you for actually having the boss approve something). House is quickly cleaned with Elgin powerslamming Page and Takahashi at the same time (that’s not normal) to take over. More triple teaming has Elgin in trouble so here’s Kyle O’Reilly to really make this a six man tag again.

The tag brings in Kyle to slug it out with Adam until a brainbuster gets two on a champ. We take a ridiculous third break and come back with Kyle’s rebound lariat taking out Page and Takahashi. Kyle and Adam strike it out again until a low superkick from Cole puts both guys down. The double tag brings in Lethal and Takahashi and a quick Lethal Injection ends Yujiro at 19:20.

Rating: C+. This was more than I was going to like as they threw in so much stuff that it was hard to focus on anything. Elgin isn’t much of a title challenger as Kyle is pretty clearly the real contender to Cole’s title. Kyle needs a big win to get him into the title picture though and I’m not sure who they could put in that place.

Bobby Fish is ready for Katsuyori Shibata, who is getting a title shot because he’s from New Japan and that’s important.

Addiction is ready for Ladder War.

Lethal is still by the ring (nice of him to wait through all the taped material) and says he wants revenge on Naito. That earns him a match at All Star Extravaganza, though Nigel points out that Lethal’s last request cost him the title. The match makes sense as you have to completely confirm Lethal’s face turn.

TV Title: Bobby Fish vs. Katsuyori Shibata

Fish is defending and Shibata’s Never Openweight Title isn’t on the line. The threat of an early Penalty Kick sends Fish into the ropes as the fans are almost all behind Shibata. We get a Figure Four on the champ and the turn escape isn’t working for Bobby. A rope break gets him out of the hold and sends us to an early break. Back with Shibata’s knee in trouble and Fish getting two off a snap suplex.

We hit the chinlock and here’s Prince Nana for commentary as his client is #1 contender to the title. Fish starts in with the kicks to the chest but Shibata tells him to bring it on. Shibata wins a slugout and hits a running dropkick in the corner. It’s off to a rear naked choke on Fish but he reverses into the heel hook.

Shibata gets in a leglock of his own at the same time so both guys are in trouble. They roll into the ropes and we take another break. Back from a late break with Shibata using fighting spirit (Nigel’s words) to get in a German suplex. Another slugout goes to Shibata with an STO getting a one. Armbars don’t go anywhere so Shibata gets in a triangle, only to have Fish roll him up to retain at 16:33.

Rating: C+. I still don’t get the appeal of Shibata but that’s probably a Ring of Honor thing as I’m sure he’s different here than he is over in Japan. I’m fine with the one off match here as that’s the idea behind the TV Title, even though it’s basically treated as a regular midcard title most of the time.

Fish and Shibata go nose to nose to set up their rematch in Japan.

Nigel tells us that Steve Corino is back on commentary next week.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a good enough way to set up All-Star Extravaganza, which still doesn’t feel like an important show. At least the card is starting to fill in and they can put in more Six Man Title tournament matches to really pad things out. The wrestling was fine here if a bit uninspired but we got a big match set up and some build towards a few other matches so this did its job.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete 2014 Raw and Smackdown Reviews Part I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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Ring of Honor
Date: September 7, 2016
Location: Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

We’re finally back to the regular taping cycle though thankfully we had two strong stand alone shows in the weeks since the pay per view. The big story is Adam Cole winning the ROH World Title and bringing it to the Bullet Club, which is suddenly stronger than ever before around here. Let’s get to it.

We open with a package on Cole winning the title and being attacked by Kyle O’Reilly, likely setting up their showdown at Final Battle.

Opening sequence.

Here’s the Bullet Club for their big celebration. It’s Story Time With Adam Cole, who has delivered on his promise to become a two time ROH World Champion. He’s going to be champion as long as he wants but here’s Jay Lethal to disagree. Cole knows that Jay wants his rematch tonight but it’s the champ’s night off. If Lethal wants to fight later then that’s fine, but just remember the Bullet Club will be right there. Lethal isn’t worried though because he’s got friends of his own: Los Ingobernables de Japan. The big staredown takes us to a break.

A six man tag has been made for next week.

We look at what happened after last week’s show ended, with the Young Bucks beating Addiction down.

Here’s the Addiction at the announcers’ desk to say that footage was doctored.

Video on Punisher Martinez being the new heir to Kevin Sullivan’s evil.

Caprice Coleman vs. Dalton Castle

They actually start with a battle of the thumbs until Dalton single legs him down for two. We get the chest stick out followed by a BOO/YAY fight over a headlock. A running knee knocks Coleman off the corner and there’s a running kick to the head because wrestling is about running strikes these days. With Coleman in trouble, the rest of the Cabinet goes after the Boys and we get a four man ejection to take us to a break.

Back with the Boys still at ringside and Coleman being thrown off a suplex. Castle does a sweet bridge out of a rollup into the lifting German suplex but here’s the Cabinet to get on my nerves all over again. I love that the company’s boss is RIGHT THERE and this keeps happening. The Boys come in and dive onto the Cabinet, leaving Castle to hit the Bang A Rang for the pin at 8:02.

Rating: C-. Castle and the Boys are as different than the Cabinet as you can possibly be. I know that’s probably why they’re feuding but that doesn’t work when the major difference is one being entertaining and the other being an act that caused me to wait several days to sit through this show. Hopefully this wraps up soon.

Clips from the way too good Jay Briscoe vs. Jay White match that ended in a time limit draw.

Here’s the Addiction with a ladder to say they’ve beaten every team put in front of them. See, they’re at the top of this ladder and each rung is a team beneath them.

Bobby Fish is ready for his title defense against Katsuyori Shibata next week and suggests that Shibata just pay off the referee because he has no chance otherwise.

Donovan Dijak vs. Manny Lemos

Manny slaps Dijak in the face on the handshake and gets punched down for his disrespect. Dijak throws him to the floor, bring him back in, and finishes with Feast Your Eyes at 1:34. Total squash.

Post match Prince Nana says Dijak is coming for the winner of next week’s TV Title match.

The Briscoes can respect what Jay White did in their singles match but tonight it’s a tag team match and that’s their world.

Briscoe Brothers vs. Lio Rush/Jay White

Non-title. For the sake of simplicity, I’ll only refer to Jay Briscoe as Jay. Mark and Rush get things going with Lio snapping off a springboard hurricanrana. It’s already off to White but Jay crushes him with a splash in the corner. Back from a break with White DDTing Jay and tagging in Rush for his variety of kicks. That means it’s time for the first flip dive over the top to take Jay out, only to have Mark come back with the Blockbuster from the apron.

Back in and Rush gets thrown with a gutwrench suplex, followed by a regular suplex for two. As you might expect, more kicks allow the tag off to White to face Jay and you can feel the energy picking up. White scores with a missile dropkick for two and we take a second break. Back with Rush hitting a suicide dive to take Mark out, leaving White to cover Jay for two. The fans are actually accurate for once with their THIS IS AWESOME chants.

Mark grabs a fisherman’s buster for two on Lio and the kickout stuns him. A Shining Wizard catches Mark for two more and it’s time for the slugout between Jay and Lio. The Death Valley Driver into the Froggy Bow knocks Lio silly but White tackles Jay onto the cover for the save. The even bigger slugout goes to Jay but White slaps him in the face anyway. A double forearm from the Briscoes puts White on the floor and sets up a Doomsday Device to put Rush away at 18:41.

Rating: B+. I know he hasn’t won anything but this mini-feud has done more for White than almost any initial push that I’ve seen in a long time. It’s certainly better than having him win a tournament over a bunch of other unknowns and then having him lose to a singles champion. White has the goods and could be something special if he can talk.

We get the big handshake to really make the young guys look good.

Before we’re done, Nigel makes Addiction vs. Young Bucks vs. the Motor City Machine Guns in a ladder war at All Star Extravaganza. Addiction is treated as the heels here, which really should confirm the fact that the Bucks are faces despite acting like heels. The champs freak out backstage to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. The main event easily carries this one and it was cool to see the focus on something other than the main event again. That being said, we’re less than three weeks away from the pay per view and I barely have any idea what we’ve got coming up other than a World Title match, a ladder match and some matches in the Six Man Tag Team Title tournament, which is likely a thing because they’re a big deal in New Japan. They need something more to fill in the card and I have a bad feeling it’s more New Japan to the rescue.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s WWE Grab Bag at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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Ring of Honor
Date: August 31, 2016
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 850
Commentators: Matt Taven, Kevin Kelly

This is another show that’s only kind of related to the main stories but there’s a chance that we might get some new stuff this week. If nothing else there is a title match this week as the Addiction defends the Tag Team Titles against the Young Bucks. Last week’s stand alone show was good so hopefully they can continue that trend here. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Shane Taylor/Keith Lee vs. War Machine

Grudge match between two big teams. Kelly finally explains the story as Ray Rowe trained Taylor but Taylor turned on him and decided he was ready to be part of the better team. That’s a story that is going to work every single time and it’s fine here. Thankfully they don’t even bother wrestling here as it’s a huge brawl with Hanson dives onto Taylor, only to have Lee land on his feet to counter a monkey flip. The brawl heads outside with Lee and Hanson both being sent into barricades. War Machine starts getting the better of it with Rowe slamming Hanson onto Lee for a good looking crash.

Back in and Taylor slugs it out with Hanson, only to have Lee come over to really take over for the first time. We take a break and come back with Hanson on offense, only to get caught in something like a double chokeslam. A blind tag brings in Rowe and a springboard clothesline into a German suplex gets two on Lee. Rowe gets caught in an AA into a Jackhammer (that was SWEET) for two with Hanson making the save. Lee somehow kicks out of a sitout powerbomb and a suplex into a sitout powerbomb puts Hanson away at 11:28.

Rating: B. This was the PERFECT way to book this match and I liked it more than I was expecting to. There was no reason to waste time with the regular tag stuff so they just had two teams beat the heck out of each other with one big power move after another. Sometimes you need to switch up the booking and go with what makes sense and that’s exactly what we got here.

David Starr vs. Cheeseburger vs. Joey Daddiego vs. Tim Hughes

Bob Evans is on commentary and here’s BJ Whitmer to sit in on commentary. The four guys in the ring do nothing interesting as we hear about BJ going around the world and eating a positive cookie. Starr dives onto Hughes and Evans and Daddiego throws Cheeseburger onto them as well. Hughes takes forever to give Cheeseburger a side slam as Whitmer keeps saying it’s almost time.

The lights go out and we’re told that the new Purple Haze is coming. Back in the ring and……PUNISHER MARTINEZ IS BACK! House is cleaned for the no contest at 4:12 though we didn’t see enough to rate. To be fair it was just background noise so Whitmer could bring out Martinez. I’m really happy with this guy being back but PLEASE don’t let this be about Kevin Sullivan.

The Young Bucks promises a superkick party and kick the camera down.

Dalton Castle/The Boys vs. Cabinet

Coleman throws the Boys around so it’s off to Castle for a chest thrust-off. Dalton sends him outside and then launches the Boys over the top onto the Cabinet, hopefully breaking some of the doors and handle off the thing so it goes away for a long time. Back from a break with Boy #1 (the announcers’ words) getting triple teamed. King snaps #1’s throat across the top and it’s time for some twin magic, despite the Boys having different hair styles. The hot tag brings in Castle and of course everything breaks down. King kicks a lot and superplexes #2 to set up a guillotine legdrop/frog splash combo for the pin at 9:28.

Rating: D. The Cabinet couldn’t be less interesting if their lives depended on it. They don’t even have characters for the most part and it’s just a single idea that is tied into pop culture. You would expect that from WWE instead of a “smarter” company like Ring of Honor. The wrestling was watchable enough but I have no reason to care about the Cabinet and the live fans didn’t seem impressed either.

Adam Cole is sick of Kyle O’Reilly and knows he’s better because of the two World Title reigns.

Tag Team Titles: Addiction vs. Young Bucks

Veda Scott is on commentary. Addiction is defending and wait for the Bucks in the aisle. Therefore, since the Bucks are the best team ever, they sneak up on the Addiction, apparently just knowing the champs would be doing that. Daniels gets dropkicked in the face as we’re waiting on the opening bell. Some tables are set up at ringside and it’s Kazarian clotheslining the Bucks down to get a breather. A ladder is brought in as Veda suggests she could represent Taven on commentary if he gets even more injured.

Back from a break and I guess the bell rang while we were gone. Daniels breaks up More Bang For Your Buck by sending Nick off the top and through a table, followed by Matt slingshotting into a cutter for a near fall. Veda talks about the Bucks never beating the Addiction and that horrible voice makes it clear why she’s rarely allowed to talk.

Daniels and Kazarian hit back to back to back to back Lionsaults and spinning legdrops for no cover as the heel champions wrestle like heels and the “heels” wrestle like the faces they really are. Matt finally flips off the top into a cutter of his own as the Bucks take over again. Nick’s Swanton hits knees (feet but close enough) but Matt springboards into a DDT onto the apron to knock Kazarian silly. Hey, did you know that’s the hardest part of the ring?

Daniels comes right back with a suicide dive but Angel’s Wings is broken up with, you guessed it, a superkick. Cue Kamaitachi for a distraction but the Motor City Machine Guns come out (WAY too fast) for the save, only to have Nick dive onto the Guns. In the melee, Sabin accidentally hits Matt with the chair to give Daniels the pin at 9:15.

Rating: C. I’m not a fan of either team but it’s not like the tag division exactly has a lot of options at the moment anyway. The match was a bit more reined in than most Bucks match and I’m glad that they’re not going with the Bullet Club holding all of the titles at once, at least not so soon. I still have no idea why I’m supposed to care about Kamaitachi other than he has something to do with New Japan and they’re amazing or something.

Kevin Kelly calls this a travesty after talking about how the Bucks break the rules all the time. I’m not even going to bother complaining about it this time as you’ve heard it before.

Overall Rating: C+. I liked the opener and the booking of the main event was a nice plus so we can kind of overlook the boring Cabinet match. It also helps that the expectations are a bit lower because it’s not a regular show with major storyline development, leaving us with just the wrestling to carry things. Good enough show here as ROH is getting a lot more steady, which is a really important step.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s WWE Grab Bag at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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Ring of Honor
Date: August 24, 2016
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 850
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

We’re past Death Before Dishonor but given the screwy taping schedule around here, it could be weeks before we actually get around to the next ongoing TV show. The big story at the moment is Adam Cole winning the ROH World Title without any help, ushering in the Bullet Club as the top group in the promotion. Let’s get to it.

Jonathan Gresham vs. Hangman Page

Page spits on his hand before the opening handshake. Gresham, a bit disgusted, starts fast with a dropkick to send Page outside. That means a tease of a dive but Page catches the real thing in a fireman’s carry and LAUNCHES HIM HEAD FIRST INTO THE POST. The loud thud made it far worse and we take a much needed early break.

Back with Page getting two off a suplex but Jonathan starts in on the arm to get a breather. A dragon suplex doesn’t work so Gresham settles for a German suplex and a near fall instead. That means it’s time for a Crossface, only to have Page easily power his way out and kick Jonathan to the floor. The Rite of Passage puts Gresham away at 6:55.

Rating: C. This was fine as Page is really surprising me since his latest heel turn. It’s really annoying watching a team just add members who go nowhere so thankfully Page is actually making something out of this. Normally I’d talk about his huge win over Jay Briscoe at Death Before Dishonor but we can’t go there yet since this show’s schedule is all over the place.

The Cabinet is ready to beat up Dalton Castle and the Boys next week.

Video on Shane Taylor/Keith Lee vs. War Machine before their match next week.

The Young Bucks are ready for their World Tag Team Title shot next week and superkick the cameraman for no apparent reason.

Kamaitachi vs. Stuka Jr.

Stuka is from CMLL and flips around to start, setting up a dive to the floor to take Kamaitachi out. Christopher Daniels (Kamaitachi’s mentor) breaks up an Asai Moonsault and stomps away as we take an early break. Back with Kamaitachi stomping away even more and going for the mask like a true heel. Since that’s a bit too evil, Kamaitachi opts to just send Stuka into the barricade and choke with a chair.

Back in and it’s time to go for the mask again before Kamaitachi stomps on the knee. Stuka finally gets up and limps to the top for a moonsault into raised boots to give Kamaitachi a near fall. In something as close to cheating as you can get, Stuka loads up Shattered Dreams but hits a running dropkick to the ribs instead. That’s pushing it. They trade rollups for a few near falls each before the referee gets bumped, only to have Stuka dive onto Daniels. A top rope splash crushes Kamaitachi for no count so he pulls off Stuka’s mask and small packages him for the pin at 14:11.

Rating: C-. This is the kind of stuff that I can’t get into in any wrestling company, including Ring of Honor. Stuka is just someone from Mexico that I’ve never heard of and Kamaitachi’s entire character is that he’s Japanese and being mentored by the Addiction. I need more than that and an ok fourteen minutes of wrestling to keep my interest. The mask thing was fine but it would be nice to be told a little more about these people.

We recap the still stupid Kevin Sullivan/BJ Whitmer/Steve Corino story. Apparently Whitmer summoned Sullivan, who he sees as his spiritual father. It’s all about spreading chaos over ROH and Sullivan wanted the two of them to do it. This feels like something out of ten years ago at best and that’s not a good thing.

Jay Briscoe vs. Jay White

White has the Motor City Machine Guns in his corner. The much younger White takes Briscoe to the mat and grabs a rollup for two, which makes Briscoe take this more seriously. Briscoe forearms him in the corner and hits a running boot to the face for two. Back from a break with Briscoe slowly beating on White until a running forearm puts Briscoe down.

That’s enough for Briscoe who knocks White outside for a HARD suicide dive. Another big boot doesn’t make things any better for White and neither does the Death Valley Driver. The Jay Driller is broken up though and a German suplex gives White his first real offense. Back from another break (yes in this match) with White hitting a dropkick and Rock Bottom for two before grabbing a Crossface.

White switches it up into something like an abdominal stretch crossface (it’s better looking than it sounds), sending Briscoe’s foot into the ropes. Briscoe finally throws him off the top to take over and plants White with a superplex. Both guys are gassed so it’s time to slug it out from their knees as TV time expires at 16:00.

Rating: B. That ending actually got me and well done Ring of Honor for not going with the tired “well the rookie tried but came up just short” ending. I completely understand why you don’t want someone who has been around about a month to pin one of your top stars but it took some guts to go with a draw here instead of the Jay Driller for the pin. White looks like a player now and that’s without a doubt the best thing they could have done. Well done indeed and a very legitimate surprise.

Overall Rating: C+. You can take or leave the rest of the show but the main event was one of the better booking decisions I’ve seen in a good while on a TV match. Sometimes you need to make a new star and while this isn’t a career making moment, it’s something that’s going to get him noticed. I didn’t expect that coming into this nothing show and I got a good match as a result, making this show a success.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s WWE Grab Bag at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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

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Death Before Dishonor 2016
Date: August 19, 2016
Location: Sam’s Town Live, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

It’s time for another ROH pay per view and in this case that means more from the stars of New Japan Pro Wrestling. Unfortunately that also means a lot of matches with almost no story and a lot of NJPW vs. ROH matches. The main event has potential though as Adam Cole challenging Jay Lethal for the ROH World Title. Let’s get to it.

The opening video mainly focuses on the World Title match, which makes sense as that’s certainly the biggest match of the show.

The announcers run down the card.

Kamaitachi vs. Donovan Dijak vs. Jay White vs. Lio Rush

Winner gets a TV Title shot at some point in the future. Dijak and Kamaitachi (the heels) start things off but instead of fighting each other they go after the good guys on the apron to turn it into a brawl. Rush comes right back with a flip dive over the top to take out Dijak though, leaving White to dive onto Kamaitachi. The good guys fight in the middle as the announcers take every chance they can to suck up to Rush. Actually hold that though as it’s time to plug the New Japan TV show. We wouldn’t want the fans to think this is an ROH show.

Things settle down to White and Kamaitachi forearming each other in the face before it’s back to Rush for a bunch of suicide dives. Dijak pulls him out of the air but that means Lio Rush isn’t treated like the biggest star ever so he hits his reverse hurricanrana on the floor. Back in and Dijak hits the chokebreaker on Rush, only to get caught in a Rock Bottom from White for two. Kamaitachi dives over the top to take out White and Dijak throws Rush onto all of them. Dijak hits his own dive before having to stop Rush’s running C4. That means it’s a discus boot to the face and Feast Your Eyes puts Rush away at 8:10.

Rating: C+. This was their best option for an opener. I like Dijak and White so this is one of the better options. Rush…..I still don’t get it. I know they’re VERY high on him but I honestly don’t see the massive appeal. Granted that might have something to do with me being a big fan of Punisher Martinez, who actually felt like something different. Rush just feels like an indy guy who keeps getting pushed all over the place.

We recap Katsuyori Shibata vs. Silas Young. Silas is annoyed that he keeps fighting through ROH but all he ever hears about are the New Japan guys. GEE, YOU THINK THAT MIGHT BE A PROBLEM??? Tonight he wants to fight Shibata, who is considered the toughest guy in New Japan so he can prove a point.

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Silas Young

This is Shibata’s American debut and his Never Openweight Title isn’t on the line because they never are in ROH. Silas slaps him in the face to start and the fans tell Silas that he’s made a big mistake. Shibata starts in with the strikes but Young goes after the bad shoulder to take over.

A Boston crab doesn’t get Young anywhere as Shibata goes into his “zone”, or basically Hulks Up. Shibata starts forearming Silas down in the corner and grabs an abdominal stretch. A belly to back backbreaker gets two for Young, followed by a cutter for the same. The springboard moonsault gets two more on Shibata and the fans actually say it was three. Shibata comes right back with a standing choke and a running kick to the chest for the pin at 9:30.

Rating: C. Young’s promo summed up every issue I had with the New Japan guys in a nutshell: Ring of Honor wrestlers do everything they can ever time but “oh never mind, we’ve got New Japan”. It’s like a reverse invasion where the fans are happy that the New Japan guys are here and buy tickets for them instead of ROH talent. Maybe the ROH guys would be worth more if they were actually presented as a big deal or actually won some major matches over the bigger New Japan stars, but that’s just not how it works on here and it’s getting really old in a hurry.

Silas actually shakes hands post match. I wouldn’t have expected that.

Yujiro Takahashi/Guerillas of Destiny vs. Roppangi Vice/Toru Yano

Bullet Club vs. Chaos, which means ALL NEW JAPAN! Caprice Coleman of the Cabinet (the most useless stable I’ve seen in a long time) is here to scout the Guerillas for a match at tomorrow’s TV tapings. Yano, a comedy guy, runs away from Tonga Loa so Beretta comes in and gets shoved right back down. Now we get Yano for real and he hides in the ropes, drawing a LET HIM GO chant.

Romero comes in for some running clotheslines on Tama Tonga. Everything breaks down for a bit and it’s Romero being taken into the wrong corner for a beatdown. Coleman starts screaming at Nigel about having something against the Cabinet, who can’t get on pay per view while these “less talented jive turkeys” can get on the show. Loa gets two off a powerslam as Kelly tries to explain the story here, almost all of which happened in Japan.

Romero finally kicks his way over to the corner and it’s off to Beretta to clean house. It’s off to Yano who can’t take off a turnbuckle pad, allowing Yujiro to hit a running kick to the chest for two. Yano finally gets the pad off and uses it as a weapon (that’s a new one) and of course the referee is fine with it. I guess incompetent refereeing goes across the world.

The Guerillas hit a powerbomb/neckbreaker combo onto the pad (Wouldn’t that weaken the blow?) for two on Yano with Vice making the save. A double knee takes out Loa and there are the stereo dives. Yujiro hits a fisherman’s buster for two on Yano as Coleman complains about Nigel not stopping the match due to the cheating. Yano hits Yujiro low and grabs a small package for the pin at 11:16.

Rating: C-. Well that happened. We had a referee who doesn’t mind cheating, a matchmaker who is called out on treating the ROH roster like a bunch of losers and a face who cheats to win and is cheered for it. Oh and Coleman is still really annoying. As I’ve said before: the booking in this company is all over the place and if you don’t cheer for New Japan, apparently you just don’t get it.

Post match a brawl breaks out and here’s Hangman Page to choke Yano, only to have Jay Briscoe run out for the save.

Jay Briscoe vs. Hangman Page

This actually started in ROH but of course was advanced in Japan, as everything else is. Anything goes so let’s start with a chair duel. Briscoe gets the better of it and sends Page outside in a big crash. A suplex on the ramp makes things worse for Page and it’s time to go back inside where Jay chokes with the noose.

Page fights off the attempted murder and knocks him outside for a powerbomb through an open chair. A VERY hard chair shot to the shoulder/head knocks Jay silly but Page would rather set up a table. Back in and a Death Valley Driver onto a chair gives Jay a break but no cover. Briscoe keeps up the violence by wrapping a chair around Page’s neck for a neckbreaker and only two.

We get the chair wedged in the corner and Jay ties Page to said chair. That’s different. Some running knees drive Page’s head into the chair but he blocks a third charge, which really doesn’t make a ton of sense. Page gets off the table and comes back with a hard running clothesline for two of his own. They’re beating the heck out of each other here and it’s really starting to work.

It’s back to the noose with Briscoe being sent over the top but fighting his way out of the hanging. Page tries a running shooting star off the apron but Briscoe superkicks him in the shoulder (which required a replay to see). The Jay Driller through the table is broken up and Page hits the Rite of Passage (over the back piledriver) through the table for a VERY close two. Adam’s leg is cut all to pieces and Jay is bleeding from the back. Page chokes with the noose and hits another Rite of Passage for the pin at 17:42.

Rating: B+. Now THAT is how you give someone a rub. Page felt like the Buff Bagwell of the Bullet Club and now he’s got the biggest win of his career over someone who has lost like two matches in a year. The Rite of Passage through the table was a great callback to their first match and I was way into the violence and seeing who could hang on. Awesome match here and it worked really, really well.

Dalton Castle sees the Boys playing with Okada Bucks. Castle: “WHAT THE DICKENS???” Dalton says it’s ok because he loves New Japan too, but he’d rather drop someone on their head. He eats one of the Okada Bucks and that’s the extent of the build to this match.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Dalton Castle

Non-title again. Castle has a grand entrance with even more Boys than usual, including some wheeling him through the curtain. The announcers praise Okada during his entrance to make sure they don’t anger their New Japan overlords. Okada works on the wristlock to start as the fans are actually split for a change. An early Rainmaker attempt doesn’t work (and it’s one heck of a CLOTHESLINE) so Dalton gives him the peacock pose.

The Boys actually fan Okada and the distraction lets Castle get in a running knee to the head. Back in and Dalton works on the arm to slow things way down. Castle sends him outside for a suicide dive, followed by a bulldog for two. A t-bone suplex plants Okada and a great looking bridging German suplex gets two more.

Cue the Boys into the ring to apparently side with Okada, only to have Castle hit the Bang A Rang. Okada rolls outside though because he can’t get pinned around here. The Boys start cheering for Castle again but the second Bang A Rang is countered. A Tombstone plants Castle and the Rainmaker gives Okada the pin at 13:54.

Rating: B-. Who would have thought the match would have been Castle getting close but coming up short against Okada and the IT’S STILL A FREAKING CLOTHESLINE? The thing with the Boys was a weird story that kept changing sides before the end, which was about as predictable as anything else on the show. At least the match wasn’t bad.

Okada and Castle post after the match.

We recap Mark Briscoe vs. Bobby Fish. Briscoe is the workhorse of ROH and wants to finally win something on his own but Fish says he’s just not good enough. Somehow this turned into a battle between chicken and fish because…..I have no idea actually.

TV Title: Bobby Fish vs. Mark Briscoe

Mark is challenging. Fish takes him to the mat to start and cranks on the leg before switching to a headlock. The technical stuff continues until Mark forearms him in the jaw to take over. Fish bails to the floor and says it’s his time. I’m not sure why we need to have every TV Champion (at least the ones who work for ROH) turn heel around the time they win the title but at least it’s working here.

Back in and Fish starts the kicks to the chest, only to have it countered by Redneck Kung Fu. The Blockbuster off the apron has Fish in trouble but Briscoe comes up holding his back. Ever the smart one, Bobby starts in on the leg before opting for a kick to the back. At least he’s thinking. Mark blocks a suplex but hurts his back even worse, followed by missing a charge into the corner.

A Sick Kick and fisherman buster get two on Bobby but the Froggy Bow hits knees. It’s off to the kneebar on Mark for a few seconds, only to have him grab the rope and plant Fish with a slam. Now the Froggy Bow gets two and Briscoe is spent. Fish sends him back first into the corner, followed by an exploder suplex into the same corner. A falcon arrow retains the title at 16:08.

Rating: B. They told a good story with the back injury and Fish being able to pick him apart throughout the match, which is all you need to do here. I’m fine with Fish retaining the title, though Fish vs. Dijak could be a little weird. Good match here though as the wrestling continues to work, even when New Japan isn’t around.

The Addiction says they’re so great that two top New Japan teams want a chance at the titles. Every team looks up to them because they’re the kings of the best tag team roster in the world.

Tag Team Titles: Addiction vs. Los Ingobernables de Japan vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi/Michael Elgin

Addiction is defending and Matt Taven is on commentary, again for no apparent reason. Tanahashi and Naito start things off but Daniels tags himself in before there’s any contact. Naito quickly sends him outside and poses on the mat, earning himself a face pop despite being a huge heel in Japan. It’s off to Elgin to run over both champions in succession before suplexing them at the same time.

Tanahashi comes in but the champs take over, only to have Naito tag himself in. Makes sense as you have to be in the ring to win the titles. We get a weird collaboration between Daniels and Evil but everything breaks down with Elgin throwing everyone around with German suplexes. The Addiction gets German suplexed at the same time, followed by a fall away slam/Samoan drop combo to the other challengers.

Daniels suicide dives onto Evil (Taven: “Show me that beautiful bean footage.”), only to have Tanahashi break up Celebrity Rehab. We get the big spot of the match with Elgin hitting a running flip dive over the top to take out everyone at the same time. Eh big men flying are always cool.

Back in and Elgin powerslams Evil off the middle rope, followed by the reverse Alabama Slam splash from Tanahashi for two. Cue Kamaitachi for a distraction so Addiction can get two off a belt shot. Evil plants Tanahashi for the same as I wonder how the ROH boss isn’t fired for letting this happen in a match he’s calling. The Sling Blade plants Evil and sets up the High Fly Flow but Daniels tags himself in and steals the pin to retain at 14:48.

Rating: C+. I’m not wild on the three way tags or the Addiction in general so this was about as good as it was going to get. Not that it really matters though as there’s a good chance that the Young Bucks take the Tag Team Titles in a few weeks anyway. I’m glad they didn’t give the belts to one of the invading teams here for the sake of “building the titles up” as that almost never goes well for anyone and often screws things up even more. Match was fine but nothing I’m interested in.

We recap Adam Cole vs. Jay Lethal with Cole attacking months ago, waiting for Lethal to retain against Jay Briscoe, and then cutting the champ’s hair to earn a shot here. Lethal has been champion for over a year now and they’ve done a very good job of setting him up as unbeatable.

ROH World Title: Jay Lethal vs. Adam Cole

Lethal is defending and they’re both here alone. Apparently Nigel has told the referee to relax the rules here so there must be a winner. Cole pulls out some of Lethal’s shaved hair and the fight is on in a hurry. Lethal hiptosses him down and cartwheels into a basement dropkick. Cole comes back and it’s time to SHOUT A CATCHPHRASE.

They head outside with Lethal taking over again and setting up a table, which is kind of outside his nature. A cutter on the floor knocks Cole silly but he’s still able to roll off the table, sending Jay’s flying elbow through the table instead. Adam very slowly takes his time getting back inside so we can hit the chinlock.

Lethal finally gets up and hits a middle rope leg lariat to start the first of probably multiple comebacks. There’s a springboard dropkick to knock Cole off the apron and Lethal hits three straight suicide dives. That’s WAY too common of a move around here and it doesn’t get any better when he does it a fourth and fifth time. The sixth (this is reaching superkick levels) hits the barricade though and Cole is suddenly fine. To be fair they’re really just flying shoves so this isn’t a huge stretch.

Back in and Cole kicks him in the face to cut off a second comeback, followed by a Shining Wizard for another near fall. A superkick misses (I’m sure he’ll get to throw more) and Lethal takes him down with a clothesline. It’s way too early for the Lethal Injection though and Cole hits him low for two more.

Lethal can’t get a Figure Four but the Lethal Combination breaks up a choke and puts both guys down. The top rope elbow connects for two more and it’s time to trade big strikes. Cole’s Canadian Destroyer is countered but the Lethal Injection is blocked with, of course, a superkick.

The suplex backbreaker gets a VERY close two and the fans are way into this. Cole actually takes the time to talk trash and the Lethal Injection only gets two on Adam. Both guys are spent so Cole flips him off, sending Lethal into a rage. That’s exactly what Cole wants though as he grabs another suplex backbreaker for the pin and the title at 24:00.

Rating: B. They did a very good job with the ending as I was waiting on the Bucks to run in and then Cole just pinned him clean by getting inside Lethal’s head and throwing him off his game. Cole winning was the only real option here as Lethal can’t do anything else with the belt and it’s WAY past the point where the Bullet Club should have gotten the title. If nothing else now they’re not just on the sideline and dominating the show. Besides Cole is rather awesome and made a good champion the first time around.

Since a show can’t end cleanly around here though, here’s Kyle O’Reilly to lay out Cole and hold up the title to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. It’s amazing how much more I liked this show once we had people I actually know and care about. The New Japan matches were mostly fine but for me, wrestling is about the storylines and caring one way or another about what’s going on. Just having matches for the sake of having matches, especially when you know the New Japan guys are going over, gets tiresome in a hurry.

The other major issue though is how the booking continues to go. Make no mistake about it: this company is ALL about New Japan, the Bullet Club, and making sure Ring of Honor wrestlers look like second class performers by comparison. I can’t think of the last time a major New Japan star did a job to an ROH wrestler and it’s becoming a waste of time to watch them wrestle.

Yeah I know it’s cool for the live fans but “Come see Okada and Tanahashi!” stopped being a draw for me a long time ago. Would it really kill them to have an ROH only pay per view for a change? I really can’t imagine the buys would change that significantly. Maybe if they built their own talent up, the New Japan talent wouldn’t be as necessary.

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Ring of Honor
Date: August 10, 2016
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 850
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

We’re on to another taping cycle here and we only have two weeks before Death Before Dishonor. It’s a big show this week though as we have Colt Cabana getting his ROH World Title shot against the now bald Jay Lethal. This should make for an interesting match as it’s almost guaranteed to be a way to set up Adam Cole as the next challenger. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the Bullet Club shaving Lethal’s hair and see Jay freaking out in a mirror. Good visual there actually.

Opening sequence.

Will Ferrara vs. Jay White

White is, say it with me, from New Japan. Well at least from their Dojo. For some reason this is treated like his debut even though he was on ROH a few weeks back. White grabs a wristlock to start but Will gets up for a stalemate. A middle rope hurricanrana gets two for Ferrara but White starts twisting his wrist around to take over. Ferrara sends him outside though and a suicide dive takes us to a break. Back with Ferrara hitting a bouncing DDT but getting caught with a missile dropkick for another near fall. A loud dropkick and spinning Rock Bottom get two for White, followed by the Kiwi Crusher for the pin at 9:26.

Rating: C. This was fine as White is someone who needs ring time and some wins that go somewhere to set him up as something important. That’s all well and good but I really don’t need someone else toiling in Ring of Honor until they can go back to New Japan for their real career. White isn’t bad though and that’s a good sign, especially if he sticks around for awhile.

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Silas Young at Death Before Dishonor. That would be the latest New Japan vs. ROH match with no story announced for the pay per view because they don’t have time to set up ROH vs. ROH matches because they’re too busy doing New Japan vs. ROH matches. It’s a vicious cycle.

We look back at Mark Briscoe beating ACH to become #1 contender for the TV Title.

Here’s Mark Briscoe to be in the Fish Tank. Before Bobby Fish comes out, Mark talks about learning the inner workings of the Fish Tank. It’s Bobby Fish subliminally trying to infiltrate his brain. Fish was about to come out but Mark told the music man to play the Briscoes’ music instead. Therefore, this is now THE CHICKEN SHACK with first guest Bobby Fish! Or maybe Chris Jericho since this is screaming Ambrose Asylum/Highlight Reel.

Fish comes out in a suit and Mark approves of the clothing. Mark asks if Fish prefers chicken or fish on his flights but Bobby doesn’t eat airplane food. Question #2: “Is it true that the last time you were in Las Vegas you married an Ethiopian midget?” Fish says no comment because what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. That brings Mark to the next time Fish is going to Las Vegas which will be at Death Before Dishonor.

Fish says there is no way he’s losing the title but let’s say the impossible happens. If Mark wins the title, who will he be then? Fish knows the answer: Mark would be Jay Briscoe’s little brother holding his secondary title. See, if Mark wins the title, that title drops right back down the ladder. That’s enough for Mark who throws the chairs over but security breaks it up. Fish says Mark is looking at the champion, who will be leaving Las Vegas with the title. I really liked this segment and it made me want to see the match for the first time, which I didn’t expect.

The Addiction is ready to take care of the Motor City Machine Guns.

ROH World Title: Colt Cabana vs. Jay Lethal

Lethal is defending in a rematch after Adam Cole and the Young Bucks interfered last time. Feeling out process to start as they have a lot of time to work with here, save for an angle at the end that is. Lethal is sent outside in frustration and Cabana is nice enough to hold the ropes open for the champ.

Back in and Lethal dropkicks him outside to earn a nice face chant. Lethal holds the ropes open for Cabana and the fans are getting into the idea here. Back in again and we get some very obvious spot calling with Cabana hitting another dropkick to put Jay on the floor. They quickly switch places so Jay can hit back to back to back suicide dives and the fans are WAY into Lethal here. I think we can call that a successful face turn.

We come back from another break with Cabana charging into a boot in the corner and a slugout won by the challenger. Jay can’t get a rolling suplex but can counter the Billy Goat’s Curse. Instead Cabana hits a middle rope splash for two, only to get caught in the Lethal Combination. Hail To The King is countered into a crucifix but Jay comes back with the Lethal Injection for a near fall.

Cabana is smart enough to step to the side before Jay can try another Injection, only to catch Lethal with the Chicago Skyline (a fireman’s carry drop onto the turnbuckle) as we take another break. Back again with Cabana hitting a jumping hip attack to block the Lethal Injection for a very close two. That would have been better without the commercial right before. Another Injection doesn’t work so Lethal hits a cutter and now the Injection connects to retain the title at 14:12.

Rating: B. I liked this way more than I was expecting to and I was genuinely surprised that they went with a clean finish here. That’s a good thing though as they needed to write Cabana off as a challenger instead of letting that hang over Lethal’s title reign again. I don’t think anyone was expecting Cabana to win the title in the first place but at least they had a good match to blow it off. Lethal really works as a face too, which is kind of a surprise.

Post match Jay asks Nigel McGuinness to get in the ring. Normally Lethal would be saying there’s no one left but there’s one man left. He wants Adam Cole at Death Before Dishonor because he can’t stand by while the Bullet Club takes over. I’m not sure how they’re taking over but that’s what we’re going with. At least it’s not the Beat Down Clan. Nigel says no because there are more worthy challengers.

Cue Cole to say no one is buying this. Cole says nothing should be holding him back from being World Champion again. Unless Jay defends the title again him, that title reign means nothing. Cole calls Lethal a rather rude name and Jay snaps, basically demanding a title match. The demand and the cheering from the crowd forces Nigel to officially make the match, only about two weeks after it was announced on ROH’s website. Cole (with the skinniest arms of a main eventer I’ve seen in years) smiles and leaves to end the show.

Overall Rating: A. Maybe it’s that I watched the Urban Wrestling Federation show before this but this was the best ROH show I can remember seeing in probably six months. The opener was fine, the main event was really good, and the two promos to set up/build pay per view matches were awesome. Nothing on this show didn’t work and I had a really good time with it. Well done indeed ROH and I’m fairly shocked to say that these days.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s WWE Grab Bag at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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Ring of Honor
Date: August 3, 2016
Location: Cabarrus Arena, Concord, North Carolina
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

We’re two and a half weeks away from Death Before Dishonor and it should be interesting to see how they get around last week’s ruling. Last week ROH matchmaker Nigel McGuinness said Adam Cole will NEVER get a World Title shot against Jay Lethal…..and then the match was announced on ROH’s website last week. They really need to time this stuff better. Let’s get to it.

We open with a long recap of last week’s World Title match with Cole and the Young Bucks injuring Kyle O’Reilly. This seems to be setting up Jay Lethal’s face turn.

Opening sequence.

Here’s Lethal with something to say. What happened to O’Reilly last week just wasn’t right and Jay wants to do something about it. Last week Cole took the shot away from O’Reilly and it’s time to do something about it. Tonight is supposed to be Young Bucks vs. the Briscoe Brothers, so let’s just add Lethal and Cole to make it a six man. Nigel agrees to the match and we have a new main event.

Steve Corino and Kevin Sullivan are in a park with Corino talking about embracing his evil. Sullivan blames Corino for ending the legacy of evil by having a family. I’d still love to hear why Kevin Sullivan is on my TV in 2016.

P-Dogg (former referee Mike Posey) is in the ring with his Getalong Gang to call out Moose.

Moose vs. P-Dogg

The Getalong Gang is thrown away like a group of rappers called the Getalong Gang is going to be, leaving one of them to be powerbombed over the top rope onto the rest. Dogg’s microphone shot to the head doesn’t work and a buckle bomb followed by two spears give Moose the pin at 1:16.

Post match here are Prince Nana and Donovan Dijak with something to say. Nana says he brought Moose to Ring of Honor and it’s been fun to see Moose dominating all these smaller talents. Instead, how about Moose vs. Dijak right now?

Moose vs. Donovan Dijak

Moose jumps him at the bell (which thankfully rings as we come back from a break and not before we go to one) but gets dropkicked out to the floor. Moose swings him into the barricade in one of those very cool power displays, only to charge into a chokeslam onto the apron. Back in and Dijak loads up something on top but Moose pops up with a dropkick to knock him to the floor in a nasty looking crash.

A Sky High gets two for Moose and it’s time for the big slugout. Moose gets the better of it thanks to the fist pumps and kicks Dijak in the face. A discus lariat looks to set up the spear but Dijak sends it into the corner. The chokebreaker gets one on Moose and Dijak is stunned. It’s not bad enough that he can’t give Moose Feast Your Eyes for the pin at 7:25.

Rating: C. I liked this more than I was expecting to as it was just two big guys beating on each other until one of them couldn’t get up anymore. That’s all it needed to be and it’s a good way for Moose to go out as he heads to TNA. Dijak needs to get away from Nana, who is becoming as valuable as Mr. Fuji or Slick at this point.

Post match Nana tells Dijak to kick Stokely in the head, which will likely write Moose and Stokely off TV.

Addiction says they’re awesome.

Colt Cabana gets his World Title rematch next week.

The Cabinet thinks they’re going to build a wall around the Young Bucks which the Bucks will pay for with a t-shirt and 8×10 sale. They don’t like Moose either.

Young Bucks/Adam Cole vs. Jay Lethal/Briscoe Brothers

Matt Taven is on commentary again. For the sake of sanity, I’ll only refer to Jay Lethal as Lethal and Jay Briscoe as Jay. It’s a big staredown and brawl to start with Mark (sporting a big haircut) hitting a Blockbuster off the apron to take Nick down. A double superkick saves Cole from a powerbomb over the top and the Bullet Club stands tall. Things settle down to Jay playing face in peril as the Club takes turns on him.

Matt comes in off the top with a double stomp to the shoulder, which is then sent into the turnbuckle. A quick fall away slam (more like an AA) allows the tag off to Mark, meaning it’s time for Cole to take a beating of his own. The Froggy Bow is broken up with Mark being shoved off the top and through a table for the big spot of the match. Back from a break with Mark being helped to the back to make this a handicap match, at least for the time being.

Lethal gets caught in a chinlock as the announcers talk about Taven’s sexual voice. A backbreaker and neckbreaker combination plants Lethal but he grabs the Lethal Combination on Nick for a breather. The hot tag brings in Jay for superkicks all around but Cole sends him head first into the mat as we take a break. Back with the Lethal Injection being countered with a double superkick. Jay has some better luck with a double clothesline, setting up the Lethal Injection on Cole. Lethal rolls Nick up for the pin at 13:47.

Rating: C. This was a bit too messy for my tastes and as much as I like seeing the Bullet Club lose, it wasn’t the right call to have them lose this match. The last thing you want is to have your heel stable look like they’re not capable of beating the teams the top guys, especially when they have a man advantage.

Post match Jay takes a Jay Driller onto a chair, leaving Lethal all alone. A triple superkick knocks him silly and it’s time for a haircut. They go almost all the way too as you can see most of Lethal’s scalp. Cole holds up the title to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. I like the idea of them focusing on the World Title picture for extended periods of time for a change as it’s often not that clear what the top story is in this company. That being said, there’s also stuff like the Prince Nana mess and the huge waste of time that is the Kevin Sullivan story. They need to start setting up some more stuff for Death Before Dishonor, though it would be nice if they didn’t spoil their stories on their own website.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s WWE Grab Bag at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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Ring of Honor
Date: July 27, 2016
Location: Cabarrus Arena, Concord, North Carolina
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness

We’re still in North Carolina but this time there’s a big time main event as ROH World Champion Jay Lethal defends against Kyle O’Reilly. That means it’s likely an Adam Cole appearance as Cole has vowed to keep Kyle from becoming champion no matter what. In theory this should start the push towards Lethal vs. Cole, which somehow still hasn’t been announced despite what happened at Global Wars way back in May. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

ROH World Title: Kyle O’Reilly vs. Jay Lethal

Lethal is defending and this is going to be the whole show. Well most of the show at least as Cole comes out before Lethal to say Kyle won’t even be wrestling in this match. Cue the Young Bucks with a double superkick to O’Reilly, which gets a face pop because ROH fans don’t get the concept of heels. Cole comes down to join them with a chair beatdown, including a Conchairto Pillmanizing (now THAT’S extreme) of the left arm. Bobby Fish finally comes out for the save and we take a break.

Back with a recap of what we just saw, which I thought ROH was above doing.

Kyle is getting his shoulder taped up in the back and tells the doctor that he wants to wrestle.

Due to the injury, it’s time for standby matches.

Tough Guy Inc. vs. War Machine

That would be Brutal Bob Evans and Tough Tim Hughes. Fallout ends Evans in 42 seconds.

Post match Shane Taylor and Keith Lee come out for the brawl but this time War Machine gets the better of it.

The Briscoes are ready for the Young Bucks next week. I can’t imagine that ends clean.

Cheeseburger vs. Will Ferrara

And never mind again as the Cabinet comes out to interrupt after about thirty seconds.

In case you haven’t heard about their one segment, the Cabinet is the Donald Trump inspired political group comprised of Caprice Coleman, Rhett Titus and Kenny King. Coleman, the Minister of Information, says this match is canceled because neither of the people in the ring meet the criteria to be a wrestler. King (the Commissioner of Championships) and Titus (the Secretary of Shoulders) rip on Cheeseburger and Ferrara and tell them to go buy a ticket or face the consequences. Ferrara says they don’t have a bear or an ox but they have something better: a TNA wrestler also named after an animal.

The Cabinet vs. Will Ferrara/Cheeseburger/Moose

We’re joined after a break (and a Young Bucks promo inviting the Briscoes to a superkick party) and we might break five minutes this time around. It’s a big brawl but Nigel McGuinness has to run to the back for some reason. Moose is left alone in the ring but elbows his way out of trouble before running the ropes for a spinning cross body.

Things settle down to Cheeseburger and Ferrara running into King in the corner, only to have Coleman come in and knee Ferrara in the face to take over. Titus slaps on a chinlock for a bit before the hot tag brings in Moose to clean house. A Rocket Launcher only has Cheeseburger hitting raised knees which of course does no damage to the knees. King corkscrew dives onto Moose and it’s Cheeseburger getting beaten down three on one, including a high angle Edgecution to give Titus the pin at 5:42.

Rating: D. I hated this Cabinet gimmick from the second it started as it’s not going to be entertaining while it lasts but thankfully it’s pretty much only going to last until the elections in November. These current events storylines and angles rarely work and having something inspired by the Trump campaign probably isn’t the best idea in the first place.

Kyle has demanded to wrestle tonight despite his shoulder.

ROH World Title: Kyle O’Reilly vs. Jay Lethal

Lethal is defending but before the match he respectfully offers Kyle an out due to his injury. Kyle wants to fight like men though and we’re ready to go. Kyle is very tentative to start and throws a few kicks, only to get taken down by a headlock. A shoulder block makes Kyle scream but he comes back with a kick to the spine. Another kick jars the arm though and Lethal kicks him in the shoulder to send Kyle outside.

Back from a break with Kyle fighting back as the announcers talk about Lethal’s change of attitude since Truth Martini has been gone. The Lethal Combination gets two and we hit a modified Crossface. Jay hits a pair of suicide dives but looks very mad at having to do them due to the injury. Kyle comes back with a dive of his own and a missile dropkick but he can’t get up.

It’s Jay up first with a top rope elbow but Kyle reverses into a cross armbreaker, only to have Jay stomp at the shoulder for the break. That means another break and we come back with Kyle fighting out of another Crossface. Jay plants him with a series of shoulder breakers but he asks for a stoppage instead of the Lethal Injection. Kyle says no way and they slug it out until Jay kicks the shoulder, setting up the Lethal Injection for the pin at 15:04.

Rating: B. I liked this a lot more than I expected to as I’m really not a huge Kyle fan. The concern over the shoulder injury is going to go a long way in Lethal’s face turn, though I can’t imagine Cole isn’t champion in the next few weeks, likely at Death Before Dishonor. Good main event here though and that was the point, along with giving Kyle a nice rub along the way.

Lethal is disgusted and says that wasn’t right. Jay leaves and here’s the Bullet Club again with Cole hitting a backbreaker onto the knee. Security is held off, allowing the Bucks to hit an Indytaker onto a chair. Fish and Lethal come out just too late for the save. McGuinness grabs the mic and says Cole is NEVER getting another shot at the World Title.

Overall Rating: C+. The show long story was a good idea and a clever enough way to get around having the match go throughout the entire show. The Cabinet stuff really doesn’t work and unfortunately it got a big chunk of the action here. It’s definitely the best show since the New Japan guys left and that’s a positive sign.

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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.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s WWE Grab Bag at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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