Ring Of Honor
Date: April 13, 2023
Location: Ryan Center, Kingston, Rhode Island
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

The show continues to go on the road with AEW and that could make for some changes to how things work. It is almost impossible to imagine doing the nearly two hour show in front of Dynamite so maybe things are going to be shuffled up a bit. Either way, I would still bet on Athena and Tony Nese getting in their regular appearances. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Ari Daivari vs. Mark Briscoe

Tony Nese, Josh Woods and Mark Sterling are here with Daivari. They roll around a bit to start until Daivari charges into an overhead belly to belly. A vertical suplex sends him outside but the distraction lets Nese get in a cheap shot to take over. The chinlock goes on for a bit, followed by a hammerlock DDT for two on Briscoe. The frog splash misses though and Briscoe gets to chop away. A Rock Bottom suplex into a hangman’s neckbreaker plants Daivari but it’s too early for the Jay Driller. Sterling’s distraction lets Nese and Woods interfere but they’re thrown out, meaning the Jay Driller can finish Daivari at 6:10.

Rating: C. This was a way to get Briscoe back on track and that is a perfectly fine way to go. Daivari is still enough of a name around here that beating him means enough when you combine him with the rest of his goons. If nothing else, it’s not the Trustbusters so this could be a heck of a lot worse.

Post match the Varsity Athletes jump Briscoe but FTR makes the save. Mark Briscoe: Friend Of Tag Teams is an interesting way to go.

Eddie Kingston reveals that he is suffering from a hernia and has been dealing with it since September. He went through the Supercard Of Honor match against Claudio Castagnoli but isn’t making any excuses. Odds are he is going to need surgery though and a lot of that is due to the beating Castagnoli gave him. He has been thinking back to his match with Cody Rhodes, when he gave his heart to AEW in the first place. Then he went home and he thought about it and now he is going to have to do it again. Kingston going away for a bit might help him, as he has been kind of all over the place in recent months.

Kelly Madan vs. Skye Blue

Blue teases a superkick to take Madan down and another kick puts her on the mat. Madan gets in a kick of her own and stops to dance, allowing Blue to kick her down again. Skyfall finishes for Blue at 2:06. Not quite a squash but it did what it needed to do.

Mike Bennett vs. Darius Martin

Matt Taven and Maria Kanellis-Bennett are here with Bennett. Martin wins a slugout to start and they trade chops in the corner. The fight goes to the floor with Bennett being sent into the barricade but Taven offers a distraction on the way back inside. That’s enough for Bennett to take over on the apron, with a superkick rocking Martin. Bennett drops him hard onto the apron but Martin manages to get up for a clothesline through the ropes. Back in and a Spanish Fly gives Martin two but Taven comes in for the DQ at 4:57.

Rating: C+. It’s almost strange seeing a DQ on one of these shows, but it’s also weird seeing Martin doing this on his own. That’s what we’re going to have to get used to in the coming months, but he did look comfortable out there in a singles match. I’m curious to see who is going to make the save/help Martin against the Kingdom, as he certainly can’t do it on his own. For now though, nice start to his singles run, even in a limited time.

Post match the beatdown is on but Action Andretti makes the save. I’ve heard worse ideas.

Wheeler Yuta vs. Tracy Williams

They go technical to start (shocking I know) but it’s too early for Williams to get in his crossface. The cross armbreaker is broken up as well and it’s Yuta grabbing a German suplex. Yuta ties up the legs and forearms away but Williams slips out. A belly to back suplex rocks Yuta but he’s right back with the strikes in the corner. The double arm DDT onto the top sets up a brainbuster and Yuta is down again. The crossface still doesn’t work and Yuta is back up with an Angle Slam. A dragon sleeper with Williams’ arms tied back is enough to give Yuta the win at 5:11.

Rating: C+. Williams is rather good at this kind of a match and Yuta can go move for move with him the entire way. Yuta is on a roll right now (save for the Shibata loss) so getting a win here is no surprise. What is a bit of a surprise is seeing Williams lose again, as has been the case since he came back to Ring Of Honor. I get the idea of having someone with a name do some jobs, but Williams has a strong enough resume that he should be able to do better than this.

Darius Martin is glad that he has a friend in Action Andretti, who knows what it’s like to deal with numbers. The challenge to the Kingdom is on for next week.

Katsuyori Shibata/Alex Coughlin vs. Workhorsemen

Drake won’t shake Shibata’s hand to start so Shibata starts with Henry instead. They go to the mat for a quick standoff and Shibata blocks an early Penalty Kick. Drake adds a headbutt to Shibata and it’s off to Coughlin to give Drake a belly to back. Another suplex drops Coughlin though and a Vader Bomb from the middle of the ropes crushes Coughlin again.

Henry comes in and goes technical with Coughlin, who starts while sitting down and manages to grab a suplex and stand up while holding Henry in the air (WOW). It’s off to Shibata, who tries a sleeper but can’t get anywhere. Drake breaks it up with a chop to the back so Shibata sleepers Henry again,, with Drake breaking it up again. A kick to the back/Downward Spiral combination plants Shibata but Coughlin makes the save. Coughlin takes Drake outside and it’s the Penalty Kick to finish Henry at 8:46.

Rating: B-. That suplex alone made this worth a look as Coughlin might be able to live up to that cyborg nickname. Shibata was a bit off here and even commentary was surprised at some of the mistakes that he was making. The Workhorsemen were their usual reliable selves and this was the best match on the show by a wide margin so far.

Post match Coughlin says he wants the Pure Title.

Willow Nightingale vs. Little Mean Kathleen

Nightingale slams her down to start but gets sent into the corner for some running stomps. Back up and Nightingale runs her over, setting up a Stampede for the pin at 1:47. As it should be, given that Kathleen is rather tiny and not overly impressive.

Stu Grayson vs. Tony Nese

You knew Nese would get a match in there somewhere. Mark Sterling, Josh Woods and Evil Uno are here too. Grayson starts fast and sends him outside, only to have Sterling’s distraction let Nese get in a cheap shot. Back in and Nese hits a running uppercut in the corner before a hard kick to the face gets two. Another forearm wakes Grayson up and a swinging Rock Bottom gives him two more. A fireman’s carry spun into a faceplant gives Grayson another near fall but Nese sends him face first into the buckle. Back up and a Pele kick rocks Nese, setting up Knightfall to finish for Grayson at 7:14.

Rating: C+. Well at least the right person won, as I was worried Grayson would take another loss. Grayson has something with the look and energy so giving him a win over anyone, even Nese, is a nice boost. If nothing else, it would be nice for the Dark Order to have someone who might be able to win a match of some value at some point. The team has needed that for a long time now so maybe they are finally getting the idea right.

Post match the Righteous come out to stare down the Dark Order. Er, actually just Grayson.

Post break the Righteous says the Dark Order is about power (How?) but now it’s like a shell of itself. Vincent has the keys to Grayson’s freedom.

Ashley D’Amboise vs. Athena

Non-title Proving Ground match, meaning that if Ashley can survive ten minutes or win, she gets a title shot. Ashley dropkicks her down to start so Athena dropkicks her a few times to take over. The Crossface is broken up and Ashley gets two off a cradle. Something like a leg lariat gives Ashley two and a Samoan drop gets the same. Athena isn’t having that and dropkicks her off the top for a big crash. A clothesline on the floor drops Ashley again and the running knees against the steps make it worse. Back in and the O Face finishes for Athena at 5:09.

Rating: C+. I’ve heard of D’Amboise before but I’ve never seen her in a match that let her shine a bit. She did well with the time that she had here, though this was all about keeping Athena as a monster. I’m not sure who is going to take the title from her, but they are making her feel like a force. Maybe just give her a week off here or there though, just to keep her appearances feeling more special.

Post match Athena throws her to the floor.

Post break D’Amboise isn’t happy with the lack of honor so Athena jumps her again. Athena wants better competition and sends D’Amboise face first into the title.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Metalik

Metalik is challenging and gets taken into the corner to start. A legsweep drops Metalik but he kicks Castagnoli into the corner without much trouble. Castagnoli gets sent outside, where he cuts off a dive and drops Metalik hard onto the apron. The neck crank goes on back inside and there’s a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Metalik fights up and slugs away but Castagnoli sends him into the corner for the stomping. Back up and Metalik manages a kick to the head and a springboard hurricanrana.

A pop up Sling Blade (cool) drops Castagnoli again but the Metalik Driver is blocked. Code Red gives Metalik two more but a moonsault only hits raised boots. Castagnoli hammers away in the corner until Metalik kicks him in the head again. The rope walk elbow is cut off though and a Crossface has Metalik in trouble. That’s broken up so Castagnoli blasts him with the uppercut. The Neutralizer retains the title at 11:59.

Rating: B. I wasn’t expecting much coming into this one but they had a nice power vs. speed match with Metalik getting in a lot of offense. This could have been a four minute squash but they stretched it out a bit and made Castagnoli break a sweat. While there was no drama over a title change, it was nice to see this be more competitive than it could have been

Overall Rating: B-. This show was about 20-30 minutes shorter than the show’s average so far and my goodness it was more enjoyable as a result. Running just shy of an hour and a half, this show didn’t drag or feel like it just kept going and that is a huge improvement. I had a good time with the show and the action was good, but I never sat there wondering how much more they could squeeze in. Keep it around this length (or maybe a hair shorter) and it goes WAY up in value. Good show this week, with one of the biggest issues being addressed, at least for now.

Results
Mark Briscoe b. Ari Daivari – Jay Driller
Skye Blue b. Kelly Madan – Skyfall
Darius Martin b. Mike Bennett via DQ when Matt Taven interfered
Wheeler Yuta b. Tracy Williams – Dragon sleeper
Alex Coughlin/Katsuyori Shibata b. Workhorsemen – Penalty Kick to Henry
Willow Nightingale b. Little Mean Kathleen – Stampede
Stu Grayson b. Tony Nese – Knightfall
Athena b. Ashley D’Amboise – O Face
Claudio Castagnoli b. Metalik – Neutralizer

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Supercard Of Honor XVI
Date: March 31, 2023
Location: Galen Center, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman, Nigel McGuinness

It’s probably the biggest non-WWE event of the weekend and the show is pretty stacked. Ring Of Honor’s TV relaunch has made for some entertaining television and while it hasn’t exactly set this show up perfectly, we should be in for a heck of a show. The headliner is Claudio Castagnoli defending the World Title against Eddie Kingston so let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Tracy Williams vs. Jeff Cobb

This is the first of four Zero Hour matches which were announced a few hours ago because Tony Khan. Cobb gets taken into the corner to start but snaps off the swinging belly to back suplex to send Williams down hard. A delayed running suplex gives Cobb two before he switches over to the leg. Williams strikes him back before getting two off a small package. Cobb isn’t having this and hits the Tour of the Islands for the pin at 5:10.

Rating: C. This was just a step above a squash for Cobb, who shrugged off everything Williams threw at him and hit his big finish to win. Cobb is the definition of a hoss who happens to have some incredible amateur skills. You don’t get things like that very often and Cobb seems to have settled into a rather nice niche.

We have a special surprise as NIGEL MCGUINNESS returns to do commentary for the rest of the show. If for some reason they have to have a three man booth, Nigel is a great choice to have around.

Zero Hour: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Willie Mack

Feeling out process to start with Takeshita going with the strikes. He knocks Mack to the floor but misses the big dive, only to have Mack get in a shot of his own. Back in and Takeshita snaps off a middle rope hurricanrana to send Mack outside again. This time it’s a big flip dive to take him down, only to have Mack get back up for his own dive. We hit the chinlock back inside, followed by a running clothesline to take Takeshita down again. Mack’s running kick to the chest sets up the nip up but his back is hurt. The standing moonsault gets two on Takeshita but Mack can’t quite follow up.

Takeshita blasts him with a lariat for two and has to block the Stunner. Mack hits the Pounce into a Stunner, only to have Takeshita hit a knee into his own Stunner. That’s shrugged off and Mack hits a running knee to leave them both down. The corner cannonball hits Takeshita but the frog splash hits too long. Takeshita grabs the Blue Thunder Bomb and the running knee finishes Mack at 9:40.

Rating: B-. These two working well together is hardly a surprise as they’re both incredibly talented. The good thing is that they were able to get some time and build something up rather than being all rushed. Mack continues to feel like someone who could be a thing if he was given the chance, but the wandering talented star is a nice place to be in as well.

Zero Hour: Miranda Alize vs. Willow Nightingale

Nightingale powers her down to start with Alize being sent outside. The big dive is cut off with a forearm though and a basement hurricanrana gives Alize two back inside. Nightingale isn’t having any of that and knocks her around again, setting up the running hip attack in the corner. Alize is back with a neckbreaker for two and a shot DDT gets the same. A Death Valley Driver plants Alize for two more, only for her to grab a cutter. Back up and the Drive By misses, allowing Nightingale to hit the POUNCE (Ian/Caprice: “PERIOD!” Nigel: “You’ve said that before haven’t you?”). The Doctor Bomb finishes Alize at 7:01.

Rating: C. It’s nice to see Nightingale win, even if it is in a lower level match like this. She has so much charisma and can do the power stuff rather well. I’m still not sure why she isn’t given a chance to win something that matters, but the fans keep cheering her so maybe she can get by without it.

Zero Hour: Slim J vs. Stu Grayson

Ari Daivari, Mark Sterling and Evil Uno are here too. Slim jumps him to start but Grayson knocks him down to the apron, setting up a slingshot hilo. Daivari offers a distraction though and Slim takes over, setting up a springboard reverse DDT (that was cool) for two. Grayson is back with a clothesline into a springboard twisting moonsault for two of his own.

A sleeper slows Grayson down for a bit but he’s fine enough for a pop up powerslam and another near fall. Slim grabs a twisting Sliced Bread for two and Grayson is ready to fight back. Sterling gets involved and is taken out by Uno, leaving Grayson to hit Knightfall for the pin at 6:55.

Rating: C. I’m not sure why this needed to be the final match on the show or why it needed to be there at all but at least Grayson has been treated as something important in recent weeks. In theory the idea is to get people to cheer for the Dark Order, though this isn’t really a crowd that needs to be warmed up. The match was good enough, but I’m rather tired of seeing Sterling everywhere.

Post match the Righteous (Dutch and Vincent) return to stare at the Dark Order.

Commentary welcomes us to the show proper.

AAA Mega Title: El Hijo de Vikingo vs. Komander

Vikingo is defending and we get the show of sportsmanship to start. The bell rings and that is a ROAR as the fans are way into this. They actually go with the wrist grappling to start until Komander takes him down and ties up the legs. That’s broken up so Vikingo gets him into a surfboard. Komander slips out as well and gets his legs tied up again, allowing them to slap away at each other.

With the legs still tied up, they both wind up on their heads to slap each other in the face. Back up and they both flip into a pose for another standoff. Komander gets sent to the floor where Vikingo dives on him and lands on his feet, only to send Komander back inside. This time Komander sends him outside for the running flip dive and it’s already time for the table.

Instead of putting Vikingo on it though, Komander hits a 450 off the stage. Back in and Komander has to bail out of a rope walk shooting star so Vikingo does his inverted dragon rana (again, the heck). Running knees put Komander on the floor, where he gets his own knees up to block a shooting star press. Back in and Vikingo puts him down, setting up a jump from the post to the top but right into a sitout powerbomb to give Komander two.

Komander goes up this time and gets shoved down in a big crash. Vikingo hits a springboard inverted moonsault to take Komander down again as commentary tries to figure out what to call that. Back in and a springboard corkscrew 450 gets two as the fans are very happy. They go to the apron with Komander hitting a Canadian Destroyer, followed by the rope walk (all the way across) into a VERY high flip dive. Back in and Vikingo finally hits his shooting star for two before going up top.

Komander tries to walk the ropes but gets caught in a top rope Canadian Destroyer. That sends Komander outside and onto the table for the springboard 630, which doesn’t break the table (because of course it doesn’t). Back in and Vikingo misses the 630, setting up the Hidden Ace (twisting Phoenix splash) for two. They both go up top again with Vikingo managing a swinging Rock Bottom to leave them both down. The running double knees hit Komander in the corner and the 630 can retain the title at 16:45.

Rating: A. Yeah what else are you supposed to say here? It’s a total stunt show and they aren’t trying to do anything else. There isn’t supposed to be anything with a big story or something complicated like that. Instead, this was about going out there and doing whatever insane thing they could think of to pop the crowd more and more. That’s what they were going for here and it worked incredibly well with some almost hard to believe stuff.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: The Embassy vs. AR Fox/Metalik/Blake Christian

The Embassy (Brian Cage/Gates of Agony with Prince Nana) is defending and gets knocked to the floor at the bell. Some dropkicks put them down again but we settle down to Cage powering Metalik down. Fox comes in and hits a jumping enziguri as Ian and Caprice talk about their wives. A cutter drops Cage and everything breaks down, with Fox hitting a running flip dive to the floor to take Cage down again.

Back in and Fox’s Blockbuster is pulled out of the air, allowing Cage to hit an F10. Cage takes too long though and it’s off to Christian, who hits the big Fosbury Flop on the champs. Metalik adds a top rope splash to Toa for not even a one, leaving Kaun to hit a backbreaker. Back in and Fox drops Cage but Toa plants Christian. Metalik comes back with a spinning DDT though and everyone is down. Christian hits Cage with a Canadian Destroyer and Metalik adds a sunset flip for two. Cage clotheslines Metalik into the Drill Claw to retain at 8:16.

Rating: C+. The action was there but it’s the Embassy beating a team that was thrown together for the sake of having challengers for the belts. There isn’t a division for these belts and other than giving Cage something shiny to hold, I don’t know how necessary the titles really are. The match was entertaining, but it’s not exactly easy to get invested in these belts.

We recap Athena vs. Yuka Sakazaki for Athena’s Women’s Title. Athena called her out for the title match and here she is, with Sakazaki saving Emi Sakura from a post match attack this week.

Women’s Title: Athena vs. Yuka Sakazaki

Athena is defending and stomps on a porcelain doll, as she has been calling Sakazaki recently. The fans are behind Sakazaki as they feel each other out to start. A hurricanrana takes Athena outside and Sakazaki dives through the ropes to take her down. Athena kicks her down and hammers away back inside as commentary thinks Sakazaki got messed up on that dive.

Sakazaki gets taken down in the corner to land on her head again but she’s fine enough to hit a clothesline. Athena cuts her off with a hard powerbomb and pounds away, with another near fall increasing the frustration. A dropkick sends Sakazaki outside and there’s a wheelbarrow suplex to drop her on the floor.

Athena’s running dropkick only hits barricade though and Sakazaki kind of suplex slams her on the floor. Back in and a springboard splash gives Sakazaki two but Athena blasts her with a spinning forearm. Sakazaki is back up with a spinning hammerlock slam for two more. Athena knocks her away though and hits the O Face to retain at 11:36.

Rating: B-. Athena has been on a roll lately with the new heel style and that was the case here. Sakazaki has all kinds of talent and was showing it in the match, with the neck injury slowing her down. I liked this more than I was expecting and the good thing is there are a ton of women who could come after the title.

We recap Samoa Joe defending the TV Title against Mark Briscoe. Joe won the title at last year’s show and Mark has been trying to win it for his entire career. The Briscoes could never beat Joe on their own but now Mark has to do it for himself, his family and his brother.

TV Title: Samoa Joe vs. Mark Briscoe

Joe is defending. They circle each other to start until Mark strikes away. A fireman’s carry doesn’t work so they chop it out instead. Mark gets the better of things and manages a Death Valley Driver but Joe rolls away before the Froggy Bow can launch. They head outside with Mark charging into an overhead belly to belly to cut off the momentum. Back in and Joe hits another suplex for two but the right hands seem to wake Mark up.

Mark slugs away but gets knocked outside in a heap. The suicide elbow connects but Joe spends too much time bragging, allowing Mark to hit a dropkick. There’s the step up dive off the chair and Mark pulls out a table. Joe gets in a shot and leans the table up but gets Blockbustered through it for his efforts. Back in and a top rope chop to the head staggers Joe again, setting up a chop off.

Mark’s middle rope forearm puts them both down….and Mark goes over for a tag. Since Jay isn’t there, Joe catches him with the snap powerslam for two. Joe’s Crossface sends Mark to the ropes and Mark is back up with the chops. One heck of a clothesline drops Mark for two and Joe puts him on top. That’s broken up and Mark hits the Froggy Bow….for two. Mark loads up the Cutthroat Driver but Joe reverses into the Koquina Clutch. With Mark getting close to the ropes, a sleeper suplex drops Mark again and Joe chokes him out to retain at 14:16.

Rating: B-. That ending is going to get a lot of people talking and I’m not sure how well it is going to be received. This seemed tailor made to FINALLY give Mark his big win over Joe and get the TV Title that he has chased for years, but instead Joe holds onto it as his reign hits a year. Maybe there is some long term story planned, but it’s hard to believe that it will wind up feeling better than this would have. I really don’t get the thinking here.

Respect is shown post match.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Daniel Garcia

They grapple against the rope to start and no Garcia isn’t going to let him have a clean break. The fight goes to the floor with Tanahashi hammering him around the ring but Garcia gets in a cheap shot to the knee. Garcia then mocks the air guitar and dances, leaving commentary aghast.

Some knee cranking ensues and Tanahashi screams a lot as McGuinness praises Garcia as much as he can. Garcia even mocks Shinsuke Nakamura a bit until Tanahashi fights up. A slam sets up the middle rope flip splash (don’t let Mike Bailey rub off on you man) but Garcia is back with an ax kick.

They trade shots with Garcia going to the knee to take him down. The dragon screw legwhip gives Tanahashi a breather and the high angle Texas Cloverleaf goes on. With that broken up, Tanahashi slips out of a piledriver attempt and hits the Twist and Shout. There’s the Sling Blade for two, followed by the High Fly Flow to finish Garcia at 12:04.

Rating: B-. Good match again but I never bought Tanahashi as being in any real danger. Garcia just isn’t on his level and there is no reason to believe that he will be anytime soon. This was more of a way to get Tanahashi on the show in some way with Garcia as the designated victim, kind of like his match with Adam Cole earlier this week.

We recap the ladder match for the vacant Tag Team Titles. The Briscoes are gone so the titles are on the line in a ladder match. Not much more to it than that.

Tag Team Titles: La Faccion Ingobernable vs. Lucha Bros vs. Kingdom vs. Top Flight vs. Aussie Open

Ladder match for the vacant titles. It’s chaos to start of course with La Faccion and the Kingdom being left alone, only to have the Kingdom jump them. Top Flight comes back in and gets beaten up by La Faccion, including being crushed in the ladder. The Aussies come in and quickly take La Faccion down, leaving them alone in the ring. The Lucha Bros break that up and stack La Faccion in a ladder, setting up their assisted wheelbarrow splash.

It’s too early to climb though as the Bros are sent outside, setting up big dives from La Faccion. Bennett holds up Darius Martin so Taven can hit a dive over the top for a Doomsday Device on the floor (GEEZ). It’s time to bring out the big ladder as the Aussies hit stereo Tombstones on the stage to knock the Kingdom cold.

Back at ringside the Aussies crush Dante Martin with the ladders but the Bros take them down. It’s too early for the Bros to go up though as La Faccion pulls them back down. Taven and Bennett (bleeding) are somehow back with the latter slugging it out with Rush. Dralistico suplexes Taven into a ladder in the corner before going up top with Darius. With that not working, Darius helps Dante go up top for the slugout with Dralistico going down. Dralistico breaks it up and Dante hits a step up dropkick to knock a chair into Rush’s face.

The Aussies clean house, including tossing Penta into a ladder in the corner. One ladder is stood up and another is bridged into it, allowing Taven to pull Darius down. Dante and Bennett fight up top, with Dante hitting a sunset bomb over the ladder. The Aussies are back with Coriolis on Dante and an assisted Alabama Slam drops Darius onto another ladder.

Dralistico plants Davis and hurricanranas Fletcher into (not onto) the announcers’ table, with everything being knocked over. The Kingdom puts Dralistico on the ladder and Bennett splashes him through for a huge crash. Rush suplexes Davis off the apron and onto a ladder, leaving the managers to fight.

Dante and Fenix go up with Fenix being knocked onto the bridged ladder. Penta goes up as well and kicks Dante down (leaving him alone with the titles) before hitting a Canadian Destroyer off the bridged ladder through two tables at ringside (Dante’s foot/leg looked BAD on that landing). Back in and Fenix takes out the Kingdom and gets the titles at 20:11.

Rating: B. That injury sucked the life out of me and the way it was set up (Penta being alone with the titles but going to do the move anyway) made it worse. That’s what will be remembered from the match, which is a shame as it was a bunch of great looking stunts. It did run longer than it needed to, but that injury is far worse than any timing issues.

Post match Mark Briscoe and FTR come out to celebrate with the Lucha Bros in a nice touch.

Looking at some photos, Dante’s foot was completely twisted around. He’s going to be gone for a long, long time.

We recap Wheeler Yuta vs. Katsuyori Shibata for the Pure Title. Yuta bragged about his training and wanted the head of the New Japan LA Dojo, meaning Shibata. Match made.

Pure Rules Title: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Wheeler Yuta

Yuta is defending and Jon Moxley comes out with him (but doesn’t stay). Shibata takes him down without much trouble to start and mounts him MMA style. Back up and Shibata pulls him to the mat again before working on the leg. Shibata grabs a leglock and Yuta goes for the ropes which, after a while, he does reach.

Back up and Yuta goes for the arm for a change, only to have Shibata take him down by the leg again. They get back up and Yuta’s chops have no effect, leaving Shibata to forearm the heck out of him. With nothing else working, Yuta uses the right hand to get the official warning (meaning he’s disqualified if he does it again).

Yuta’s chops still don’t work so Shibata chops him into the corner for a face wash. A running corner dropkick connects with Yuta and we hit the chinlock. Shibata chops away but Yuta spits in his face to anger the crowd. That earns him a sleeper, followed by the Penalty Kick to give Shibata the pin and the title at 12:08.

Rating: C+. I know it’s not the wisest thing to say but I’ve never gotten the appeal of Shibata’s style. It’s strong style and he’s a master of it and all that, but it’s never been something that has really held my interest. In this case though, he pretty much had to win as Yuta has done everything he can as champion and shouldn’t be going over someone as talented as Shibata. Then again, ROH’s history of having New Japan guys go over its stars isn’t a road they want to go down again, but I doubt that’s going to stop anything.

Post match Yuta won’t shake hands.

We recap the main event. Eddie Kingston wants to be World Champion but Claudio Castagnoli calls him a waste of talent. They have known each other for fifteen years and it is time for them to fight over the title.

Here’s what’s coming on Dynamite.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Eddie Kingston

Kingston is challenging and they go right to the fight to start, with Kingston going after the knee. A suplex drops Kingston but he’s right back up with a chop. Castagnoli absorbs the shots and manages to drop him across the top rope for a needed breather. One heck of a European uppercut sends Kingston outside but he comes back in for the slugout. You don’t do that with Castagnoli, who grabs the swing but Kingston goes to the knee to break it up.

Castagnoli gets back up and takes Kingston up top, where he knocks Castagnoli back off. The fans are split as Kingston comes back with chops, setting up a clothesline to send Castagnoli to the floor. There’s the big dive to knock Castagnoli silly, followed by a bulldog for two back inside.

Kingston tries the back suplex but Castagnoli turns onto him and fires off elbows. That’s reversed into the Stretch Plum until Castagnoli falls down to break it up. The backdrop driver gives Kingston two but Castagnoli uppercuts his way out of trouble. The Riccola Bomb is countered and the spinning backfist gets two. They head outside again with Castagnoli slamming the barricade into him over and over.

Another big uppercut gives Castagnoli two back inside but Kingston catches him with another backfist. A third backfist looks to set up what looked to be a brainbuster but it’s broken up. The Neutralizer gets one so Castagnoli uppercuts him down for two more. A bunch of uppercuts, including one to the back of the head sets up the Riccola Bomb but Kingston reverses into a cradle….which is reversed into a sunset flip to retain at 20:08.

Rating: B. Let me guess: long term booking. I’m sure they have some reason to keep the booking going, but having the fan favorite lose his big shot (again) isn’t exactly the best way to keep the interest up. This was the time for Kingston to win the title, even if he lost it back a week or two later. Castagnoli is a bigger deal on AEW TV, but him losing here wouldn’t have killed him. It might have killed Kingston though, as he loses yet another big one.

Post match Wheeler Yuta comes in to surround Kingston but Katsuyori Shibata comes in to even things out and hold up his title to Castagnolie’s. Kingston gets a mic and asks if we’re still on pay per view. Kingston: “One minute? F*** s*** motherf*****, fine me, I don’t care.” He puts over the Japanese stars on the show (not the young guys, not the talent who is here ever week, not the people who risked their health in the ladder match, but just the Japanese guys) and says he’s not done with Castagnoli to wrap it up.

Overall Rating: B+. This was a weird situation as the wrestling was good throughout, but that injury took me out of the rest of the show. It was so gruesome and so horrible looking that it was hard to get into the other matches. This was also a good example of the Zero Hour doing more harm than good, as having four matches thrown in didn’t add much of anything and had me more burned out near the end. It felt like “here’s more stuff, just because we can” and that doesn’t exactly scream best of the best like this show is supposed to be.

Now that being said, this show is definitely worth seeing with as much good stuff as it had. When the weakest match is perfectly watchable, if not good, you know you’re in for something special. The opener is another eye popping stunt show and the other matches are great, but egads there are some weird choices in here. Briscoe and Kingston, the emotional challengers, both losing is hard to get my head around, as only Shibata and the Lucha Bros got feel good wins. You need something more than that to get invested in and I don’t think this had that. Great show, but I’m not sure about a few decisions.

Results
Jeff Cobb b. Tracy Williams – Tour of the Islands
Konosuke Takeshita b. Willie Mack – Running knee
Willow Nightingale b. Miranda Alize – Doctor Bomb
Stu Grayson b. Slim J – Knightfall
El Hijo del Vikingo b. Komander – 630
The Embassy b. Blake Christian/Metalik/AR Fox – Drill Claw to Metalik
Athena b. Yuka Sakazaki – O Face
Samoa Joe b. Mark Briscoe
Hiroshi Tanahashi b. Daniel Garcia – High Fly Flow
Lucha Bros won the Reach For The Sky Ladder Match
Katsuyori Shibata b. Wheeler Yuta – Penalty Kick
Claudio Castagnoli b. Eddie Kingston – Sunset flip

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Ring Of Honor
Date: March 30, 2023
Location: Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis, Missouri
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

It’s the go home show for Supercard Of Honor and that means we should be in for a big night. The card is mostly set and while a lot of the build should be focused on the event, there is a good chance that we will be seeing a lot more than that. The show has been good so far though and hopefully they can keep that up. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Tony Nese/Ari Daivari vs. Aussie Open

So yes, Daivari is now in TWO groups and Mark Sterling is here with Nese/Daivari. Fletcher works on Daivari’s arm to start and throws him down without much effort. Nese and Davis come in with the former going straight to the bicep pose and the Aussies take over on him rather quickly.

Sterling offers a distraction though and Fletcher is brought to the floor for a ram into the apron. Back in and Daivari misses a top rope splash, allowing Fletcher to roll over for the tag to Davis. Everything breaks down quickly but Sterling’s distraction breaks up Coriolis. Daivari knees Fletcher in the head and Nese adds a 450 for a rather close two. Davis makes the save and the Aussies superkick Sterling, setting up Coriolis to finish Nese at 9:20.

Rating: C. This is exactly what the match should have been, as the Aussies have a big match coming up and they need some momentum. Nese and Daivari aren’t a regular team but they have enough value on their own. At the same time, anything involving Sterling being hit in the face is a good thing so this could have been a lot worse.

Miyu Yamashita vs. Shazza McKenzie

Respect is shown and Miyu snapmares her down for a kick to the back. A suplex gets McKenzie out of trouble but Miyu powers out of an abdominal stretch. Back up and Miyu hits a heck of a kick to the chest but Shazza kicks the leg out. Some kicks to the chest rock Miyu but she rolls through a crossbody. A big kick to the head knocks Shazza silly for the pin at 4:43.

Rating: C. Short match here but Yamashita is someone who feels like a big star, especially with those hard kicks. McKenzie is someone who has been around for a long time but hasn’t had a lot of exposure on the big stage. As good as she was though, this was all about Miyu, who lived up to the hype and would be nice to have around here/AEW more often.

The Embassy vs. JD Griffey/Dak Draper/Arjun Singh

Non-title and the Embassy has Prince Nana with them. Cage leapfrogs the rather tall Draper to start and powerslams him down. A release German suplex drops Draper again and it’s off to Griffey to strike away at Toa. The strikes don’t exactly have any impact though so it’s Kaun coming in for a hard clothesline. Singh gets blasted by the Gates’ double clothesline and the apron superplex finishes for Cage at 3:14.

Rating: C-. More dominance from the Embassy before their title defense on Friday. Much like the opener, this was to the point but the speed made the team look even more dominant. I’m still not sure why I’m supposed to be interested in guys who aren’t much more than a bunch of size and power but there have been weaker reasons to give people belts before.

AR Fox/Metalik vs. The Infantry

For and Metalik have a Six Man Tag Team Title shot coming up but they’re in a regular tag match here. I’m sure that makes sense somehow. Metalik breaks up Dean’s headlock to start and hits the reverse Sling Blade. The rope walk dropkick gets an early two and it’s Fox coming in to almost piledrive Dean down for two. Bravo comes in and hits Metalik in the face to take over though, including Snake Eyes in the corner.

Fox tries to come in and gets caught with a wishbone to put him down as well. A suplex gets two on Metalik and a heck of a right hand into a Sky High is good for the same. Metalik manages a sunset bomb though and an enziguri allows the tag back to Fox. House is quickly cleaned and an enziguri knocks Bravo into a rolling cutter. Metalik adds a heck of an Asai moonsault, setting up Fox’s springboard Downward Spiral. The top rope elbow gives Metalik the pin at 8:14.

Rating: B-. This was all action and it was rather entertaining, despite the weird choice of not having Blake Christian here. The Infantry might not be the most successful team in the world but they are more than capable of having a nice match. Fox and Metalik are a nice team together too and the four of them made this work well.

Ring Of Honor Women’s Title: Athena vs. Emi Sakura

Athena is defending and gets chopped to the floor to start. Back up and Athena is able to get in a posting, setting up something close to a belly to back suplex on the apron. Athena slams Sakura’s manager but the distraction is enough for Sakura to hit a running crossbody against the steps. Back up and Athena is fine enough to tie her in the Tree of Woe for some kicks to the back as the intensity cranks up a bit.

Sakura cuts off a flip with a chop though and a rather delayed butterfly backbreaker drops Athena again. A moonsault gives Sakura two and it’s time to chop it out. Athena gets knocked down but nips up, where she has to cartwheel out of something close to Cross Rhodes. Sakura gets knocked away but manages to pull the O Face out of the air. A suplex gives Sakura two but Athena forearms her in the face. Something like a powerbomb flipped into a Codebreaker sets up a choke to make Sakura tap at 8:33.

Rating: B. This was a heck of a fight and the crowd carried it that much further. The fans were actually rocking over this one and it was well deserved as it was one of the best Athena matches I’ve ever seen. Sakura brought it as well and it was rather good once it got going. This came out of pretty much nowhere and it was quite the hit.

Post match Athena goes after Sakura’s knee but Yuka Sakazaki runs in for the save. Security has to break up the brawl but Sakazaki dives off the top to take out a bunch of guards and Athena at once.

Rush/Dralistico/The Kingdom vs. Top Flight/Lucha Bros

Jose the Assistant, Maria Kanellis-Bennett and Alex Abrahantes are here too. Taven and Darius start things off but Taven wants (and receives) Penta. That means a slap with the glove, which Alex catches on the floor. That’s too far as everything breaks down and the good guys clear the ring. With that not working for the villains, they pull the other four outside and the brawl continues.

Taven kicks Penta in the head and a slingshot elbow gets two. Rush and Dralistico stomp away on Dante, setting up a double basement dropkick to make it worse. It’s back to the Kingdom, who can’t quite manage Hail Maria to Dante. Fenix comes in to clean house but Penta has to save him from the Proton Pack. Top Flight comes in with the kicks to the head, only to have Dralistico come in with a springboard Codebreaker to Darius. Dralistico’s springboard Canadian Destroyer (geez) gets two and the Bull’s Horns finishes Darius at 7:32.

Rating: B-. This is about as logical of a way as they could have taken to set up the ladder match and I appreciate them keeping it to one match here rather than spreading it out. If nothing else, there is something fun about having everyone in there running around until one team catches the pin. The win means nothing for tomorrow, but at least they had an entertaining match on the way there.

Here is Mark Briscoe to say that tomorrow night is the biggest singles match of his career. This one is special because it’s for his family, from his wife to his kids to his brother to everyone back in Delaware. He and Samoa Joe have beaten on each other for years but now it’s time for Briscoe to claim his destiny. Joe pops up on screen to say he does NOT like the sound of that and promises to win. They kept this one to the point.

In the back, Jay Lethal is waiting for Mark Briscoe and tells him to bring home the title. Lethal was being sincere here.

Pure Title: Leon Ruffin vs. Wheeler Yuta

Yuta is defending and has a newly designed title. They go with the hard lockup to start with Yuta taking over off a wristlock. Ruffin fights out and goes to the middle rope, only to get tossed back down. The Octopus hold goes on (in a nod to Katsuyori Shibata/Antonio Inoki) but Ruffin makes it over to the rope or the break. Yuta ties up the legs and bridges back while posing a bit for a bonus. Ruffin has to burn off another rope break and he bounces off the ropes, only to get knocked out of the air. The hammerlock crossface finishes Ruffin at 5:28.

Rating: C. This was little more than a squash for Yuta and a match that probably didn’t need to be on the card. Yuta has long since been established as being able to take out those beneath him and Ruffin would certainly fit the description. The Shibata match should be good, though I’m not sure where Yuta is supposed to go after that after beating so many people.

Post match Yuta promises to beat Katsuyori Shibata….who is here in person. They go nose to nose and Shibata backs down.

El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Blake Christian

Non-title. Commentary can’t believe we’re getting this match and….yeah it’s quite the odd choice. Feeling out process to start until they start running the ropes. Christian gets knocked down to set up a quick standing shooting star press to give Vikingo two. Vikingo snaps off an armbar for two as commentary makes the good point of how fast Vikingo’s mind must go to do those moves.

A rope walk hurricanrana drops Christian to the floor and the big springboard flip dive takes him down again. Back in and Christian avoids a charge and hits a basement dropkick to the floor. Christian kicks him down again back inside and there’s the Fosbury Flop to drop Vikingo again. A standing flip splash hits Vikingo back inside and we hit the chinlock. That doesn’t last long and Vikingo is up with a spinning kick to the head.

Vikingo’s springboard corkscrew 450 gets two and Christian drops him down hard. They head to the apron and Vikingo hits a poisonrana but Christian catches him with a running C4 on the floor. Back in and a running Death Valley Driver gives Christian two and they go up top. Both of them backflip down at the same time (that looked sweet) where Vikingo plants him with a hurricanrana for the pin at 10:38.

Rating: B+. This was a different kind of match as it was Christian trying to match Vikingo instead of trying to survive him. Christian absolutely help up his side of things and it was a heck of a match. I’m not sure why this match needed to air this week when Christian has a title match tomorrow but the action involved makes up for pretty much all of that.

Post break Prince Nana interrupts Blake Christian, who isn’t worried about being beaten up and is ready to win the titles. Then the Embassy jumps him to make it worse.

Eddie Kingston vs. Christopher Daniels

Daniels’ running shoulders don’t work to start so Kingston hammers him down to take over. A running neckbreaker gets Daniels out of trouble though and an STO gets two. Daniels Downward Spirals him into a quickly broken Koji Clutch and Kingston grabs a backdrop. They chop it out with both lowering their singlets to make it more painful.

Kingston goes with a jumping enziguri to stagger Daniels and an exploder suplex sends him flying. Daniels gets in a shot of his own though and pulls up the straps to protect the damaged chest. Back up and Kingston has had it with this, meaning it’s a pair of Spinning Backfists to the Future to finish Daniels at 7:25.

Rating: C+. You knew these two were going to be fine against each other as there is way too much talent between them. Kingston is going into the World Title match at Supercard and Daniels mainly exists to put other people over these days so this was a completely logical setup for the main event.

Post match respect is shown….and here is Claudio Castagnoli (also with redesigned title). Daniels leaves and Kingston wants to fight right now. The referee stays in and Castagnoli takes off his shirt….before leaving. Kingston says says if the fans don’t buy the pay per view, they’ll feel like s*** because he needs to be a World Champion.

Kingston’s mom isn’t a grandmother because he doesn’t have time for anything but wrestling. He accuses Castagnoli of leaving to go be an entertainer (with an uncensored F bomb included). Castagnoli leaves and Kingston promises to fight until he dies in the ring and lists off some Ring Of Honor World Champions to end the show. Good fired up promo from Kingston here and I would hope that they change the title, though I don’t think I can picture it.

Overall Rating: B. This show started slowly and then didn’t look back with pretty much nothing short of rather good after the first three matches. There were some weird booking choices here and there but what matters is they made me want to see Supercard of Honor more than I did coming in. Solid show here which would have been a bit sharper with a bit of it trimmed off and maybe another promo or two.

Results
Aussie Open b. Tony Nese/Ari Daivari – Coriolis to Nese
Miyu Yamashita b. Shazza McKenzie – Kick to the head
The Embassy b. JD Griffey/Dak Draper/Arjun Singh – Apron superplex to Singh
AR Fox/Metalik b. The Infantry – Top rope elbow to Bravo
Athena b. Emi Sakura – Choke
Rush/Dralistico/The Kingdom b. Top Flight/Lucha Bros – Bull’s Horns to Darius
Wheeler Yuta b. Leon Ruffin – Hammerlock crossface
El Hijo del Vikingo b. Blake Christian – Hurricanrana
Eddie Kingston b. Christopher Daniels – Spinning Backfist to the Future

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Ring Of Honor
Date: March 16, 2023
Location: Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

It’s the third week of this show and hopefully the improvements they made last week are taken further this week. Last week’s show was a bit shorter than the debut and also felt like it was more important, with fewer squashes. They need to start announcing some more stuff for Supercard of Honor so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Willie Mack

Non-title but a Proving Ground match, meaning if Mack wins or survives the ten minute time limit to a draw, he gets a future title shot. Castagnoli works on the arm to start until Mack armdrags him out to the floor. Mack teases a dive but Castagnoli walks away in time, leaving Mack to pose instead.

Back in and Mack snaps off a hurricanrana for two before hitting a running kick to the chest. A hard clothesline and butterfly suplex give Castagnoli two and we hit the chinlock. With that broken up, the Samoan drop into the standing moonsault gets two on Castagnoli and they forearm it out. Mack goes Sky High for two more but Castagnoli BLASTS HIM with a running uppercut for the pin at 7:12.

Rating: B-. Mack has the charisma and the impressive looking offense but Castagnoli is on another level in there. He shrugged off everything Mack threw at him and then finished it with one heck of an uppercut. It made Castagnoli feel like the bigger star while he beat someone who felt important as well. Good opener and dang that uppercut looked great.

Castagnoli shows respect while Mack is still down.

Mike Bennett vs. Dante Martin

The rest of the Kingdom and Darius Martin are here too. Dante spins out of a wristlock to start and shoulders Bennett into the ropes. They strike it out with Dante getting the better of things, setting up a dropkick to the floor. There’s the big dive to take Bennett out again but a Maria distraction lets Bennett hit a piledriver on the ramp. Dante beats the count and is fine enough for a springboard crossbody.

A package sitout powerbomb gets two on Bennett and they both need a breather. Back up and Bennett grabs a Death Valley Driver into a seated armbar, sending Dante over to the rope. Bennett takes him up top but gets hurricanranaed down, setting up a frog splash for two. The Kimura is reversed into a cradle to give Dante two and a spinning half nelson slam finishes Bennett at 10:02.

Rating: B. This was REALLY fun as they had me wondering who was going to win in the end. It was a back and forth match that had both of them looking good multiple times, as Martin continues to know how to do the comeback well. Cut out the piledriver on the ramp not knocking Dante out cold and this would have been even better. Heck of a match.

Post match Matt Taven comes in to beat on Dante, with Darius making the save.

Trustbusters vs. Metalik/Blake Christian

Mark Sterling is here with the Trustbusters. Christian and Daivari start things off with the former working on the arm and bringing Metalik in to do the same. The rope walk dropkick gets two on Daivari but a Slim J distraction lets Daivari take over. That doesn’t last long as Metalik gets over for the tag to Christian so house can be cleaned.

Back in and Slim J takes Christian down before Daivari drives him into the corner. Christian handspring kicks his way out of trouble and it’s back to Metalik, who gets dropkicked out of the air. Everything breaks down and Christian dives onto Daivari, leaving Metalik to Michinoku Driver Slim J for the pin at 8:50.

Rating: C+. Well thank goodness we got the Trustbusters on for the third show in a row. The good thing is the match was better, though it’s still rather hard to care about anything Trustbusters related as the team is just so uninteresting. Metalik and Christian worked well together for a makeshift team, though I’m not sure how much of a future they’ll have.

Video on Mark Briscoe wanting the TV Title and Samoa Joe’s history of success against the Briscoes.

Mark Briscoe calls the TV Title his destiny but for now, he wants to take out everyone who works for Mark Sterling.

Jeeves Kay vs. Eddie Kingston

Believe it or not, Kay is part of the Trustbusters. Claudio Castagnoli has a seat in the crowd as Kingston grabs a headlock takeover. They head outside with Kingston sending Kay into the barricade, knocking a drink onto Castagnoli’s expensive shirt. The distraction lets Kay get in a shot of his own and a frog splash gets one. Kingston isn’t having that and suplexes him into the Stretch Plum for the tap at 2:36.

The Trustbusters (Are they kidding?) says there were some illegal tags so that loss didn’t count. Oh and Kay gave Kingston his best match in AEW. Daivari is fed up and wants Christian and Metalik in a six man tag.

Athena vs. Hyan

Another non-title Proving Ground match. Athena drops her to start and mocks the fans a bit, only to get kicked in the face for her rudeness. A swinging chokeslam cuts Hyan down again but she fights out of a chinlock. Athena catches her on top and spins into a powerbomb to the floor (ouch). Back in and the Crossface makes Hyan tap at 4:41.

Rating: C. They didn’t have time to do much here and a lot of that was spent on Athena playing to the fans. That powerbomb looked good though and Athena ran through an opponent who shouldn’t have caused her much trouble. This was little more than a showcase for Athena and in that regard, it went well.

Post match Athena sends her face first into the title belt.

Blake Christian and Metalik have AR Fox to help them deal with the Trustbusters.

Silas Young vs. Marcus Kross

This is Young’s first ROH appearance since Christmas 2021. Young grabs a headlock to start but gets pulled into a rollup for two. Back up and a hard whip sends Kross into the corner and we hit the double arm crank. Kross fights up and hits a high crossbody but gets sent into the corner again. The Pee Gee Waja Plunge (handstand into an Arabian moonsault) finishes Kross at 3:07.

Rating: C. Young is a good hand to have around as he is someone with the resume to make a difference around here. I don’t know if he’ll be a star in the new Ring Of Honor but he ties back to the past in a way that could be beneficial. The match was almost a squash and that was a good way to bring Young back.

Post match Young says no one measures up to him but here is Shane Taylor to interrupt. Taylor doesn’t like Young calling himself the most dominant TV Champion ever, so let’s see who is more dominant next week. Young is in.

Athena wants to know where Yuka Sakazaki is because she hurt Sakazaki, who is now staying in Japan to avoid her. Well come challenge for the title at Supercard of Honor.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Dalton Castle/The Boys vs. The Embassy

The Embassy, with Prince Nana, is defending. Castle and Kaun start things off with Castle wrestling him to the mat without much trouble. Brent comes in and gets taken into the wrong corner with straight power. Toa chokes away and runs over the now legal Brandon. The Boys are back up with stereo basement Downward Spirals, setting up Castle’s splash. That doesn’t last long as the Gates are right back up to take over on Brandon.

The chinlock goes on, before Toa backbreakers Brandon onto the top rope. Cage’s apron superplex gets two and Kaun’s spinebuster gets the same. Brandon gets over for the tag off to Castle, who is promptly kicked down by Cage. Everything breaks down and Nana breaks up the Bang A Rang. The Boys beat up Cage but get crushed by the Gates. A double clothesline (one to the front and one to the back) drops Brent, with Brandon being slammed on top of him for the double retaining pin at 10:26.

Rating: C+. Given that these are the only two teams who ever talk about going after the titles, it would have made some more sense to put this on Supercard of Honor. Then again it would make more sense to drop these titles altogether, but that isn’t likely to happen. It gives Cage something to do though and that at least keeps him from being on Dynamite.

Post match the Embassy beats up Castle and the Boys again until Blake Christian/Metalik/AR Fox make the save. They hold up the titles, because forming together, setting up another match, and then going after the titles in the span of 45 minutes is perfectly normal pacing.

Trish Adora vs. Madison Rayne

They lock up to start, with Madison climbing the ropes and spinning her way out to take Adora down. Adora blocks a crucifix bomb and uses the power to take over. The Lariat Tubman is blocked though and Rayne plants her with a DDT. Rayne is right back with a cutter for two and the crucifix bomb gets two more. Back up and the Lariat Tubman finishes Rayne at 5:19.

Rating: C. Again they didn’t have much time but pushing Adora as a star is far from a bad idea. She’s got the charisma and abilities in the ring to make a go of something so let her see what she can do. If the division is going to work this time, it needs to make some new stars. Adora is a very interesting place to start.

Top Flight isn’t done with the Kingdom so next week, Darius is ready to take out Matt Taven.

Outrunners vs. Christopher Daniels/Matt Sydal

Truth Magnum jumps Sydal to start and Daniels gets planted. Daniels slips away though and brings in Sydal to kick away. A suplex gives Sydal two and everything breaks down. Turbo Floyd is sent outside and the Angel’s Wings into the Lightning Spiral finishes Magnum at 2:42. That worked.

Post match Aussie Open comes out and, after insulting Sydal and Daniels for being old, challenge them to a match. Daniels and Sydal seem in.

Video on Clark Connors challenging Wheeler Yuta for the Pure Title.

Pure Rules Title: Clark Connors vs. Wheeler Yuta

Yuta is defending and they run the ropes to start until Connors tells him to chop away. Yuta pulls him down into a choke and Connors has to use his first rope break. Back up and Connors grabs a brainbuster, only to get pulled into octopus stretch. That’s broken up as Connors falls into the ropes (there’s the second break) so Yuta punches him in the face (not seen). Yuta starts going after the arm by sending him into the corner but Connors comes back with a Pounce.

Another Pounce is blocked though and Yuta scores with his top rope forearm. Back up and Connors flips out of a belly to back and hits a hard spear. Yuta dropkicks him in the arm to break it up and ties the….leg up. Connors has to use his still legal punch for the break but Yuta punches him back (both are warned, meaning another punch results in a DQ). That’s fine with Connors, who grabs the ankle lock to make Yuta burn a rope break. Yuta ties up the arm with something like a Crossface before switching into the Seatbelt to retain at 9:57.

Rating: B-. Yuta cheating is working for the title and Connors was a nice safe title defense for him. Connors isn’t the biggest guy but dang that Pounce and spear looked good. With this out of the way though, Yuta is going to need a bigger name to come after the belt, or at least someone who doesn’t feel like they were drawn out of a hat.

Post match Yuta brags about his win and calls out Katsuyori Shibata for a title match to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. As usual, the show was good and the wrestling isn’t the problem. Even the run time isn’t the problem (still under two hours, which is about as long as a show like this can reasonably go), but rather how much stuff is crammed in here. On this show, you had one story involving a tag match, the losers of that match wanting a six man, the winners finding a partner, the match being made and the winners wanting the Six Man Tag Team Titles. That sounds like about a month of one story and it took place in less than an hour and twenty minutes of one show.

I’m aware that they have a pay per view in a few weeks, but starting the build almost from scratch with about five weeks to go is turning the build into a train wreck. Things are being rushed together as fast as they can and very little is sticking in any way. It will likely get better after Supercard, but this show still feels like they’re racing to cover as much as they can as fast as they can instead of putting on a well polished product.

Results
Claudio Castagnoli b. Willie Mack – Running uppercut
Dante Martin b. Mike Bennett – Spinning half nelson slam
Blake Christian/Metalik b. Trustbusters – Michinoku Driver to Slim J
Eddie Kingston b. Jeeves Kay – Stretch Plum
Athena b. Hyan – Crossface
Silas Young b. Marcus Kross – Pee Gee Waja Plunge
The Embassy b. Dalton Castle/The Boys – Double pin
Trish Adora b. Madison Rayne – Lariat Tubman
Matt Sydal/Christopher Daniels b. Outrunners – Lightning Spiral to Magnum
Wheeler Yuta b. Clark Connors – Seatbelt

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Ring Of Honor
Date: March 9, 2023
Location: Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

We’re still on the first taping of this new show so things are likely to look like they did last week. The wrestling itself was pretty good, but the length of the show was quite the drag. They did offer something big at the end with Eddie Kingston showing up to challenge Claudio Castagnoli, so there is at least a path forward in the main event. Let’s get to it.

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

TV Title: Samoa Joe vs. Tony Deppen

Joe is defending and works on the wrist to start. For some reason Deppen strikes away, earning himself a beating in the corner. Deppen fights back though and hits a running corner dropkick. A knee gives Deppen two more but Joe Rock Bottoms him out of the corner. Joe blasts him with a clothesline though and the MuscleBuster retains the title at 5:26.

Rating: C+. Deppen was trying and they had the action going, but Joe isn’t about to lose to someone who has only made infrequent appearances in his first defense on this show. Joe doesn’t really need to get built up in Ring of Honor again but breaking a bit of a sweat against a former champion is a good thing. Now just get Joe a more serious challenger and we could be getting somewhere.

Post match Joe says that he always runs this place no matter what happens around here. If anyone wants a title shot, come see the champ. Cue Mark Briscoe (good call) to say that title is his destiny, with Joe saying bring it.

Dalton Castle and the Boys want the Six Man Tag Team Titles back. They’ve been moving furniture all weekend and want to face the Embassy. Castle: “Show them your teeth boys!” I have no idea why the Six Man Titles need to exist.

Dalton Castle/The Boys vs. Marcus Kross/Cody Chhun/Guillermo Rosas

Chhun and Rosas are collectively known as C4. Castle and Cross poke each other in the chest to start, with Castle actually being knocked to the floor. The Boys fan him up before one…puts him in a full nelson and the other hits him in the stomach? I guess that is training of some sort as Castle goes back inside to wrestle Rosas down.

Brent comes in for a dropkick (the fans approve) and it’s time to go after Rosas’ knee. Rosas drives him into the corner though and it’s Chhun coming in for a dropkick into a suplex. Brent enziguris Kross though and Castle comes back in to start the house cleaning. Everything breaks down and the Boys are thrown outside for the crashes (that’s always cool). Back in and the Bang A Rang finishes Rosas at 5:30.

Rating: C. Just a squash here with Castle and the Boys proving that they are ready for the Six Man Tag Team Title shot. I’m not sure who else would get the shot, but the idea of throwing three people with little in common together would not be out of the question. Castle and the Boys are a fun team and crowd favorites, so this was a smart addition to the show.

Maria Kanellis introduces the OGK (Matt Taven/Mike Bennett) who say they’re coming for the Tag Team Titles. Maria: “We are the OGK but you can call us the Kingdom.” Or you could just pick one, preferably the Kingdom.

Angelico/Serpentico vs. Rush/Dralistico

Luther is here with Angelico/Serpentico, collectively known as the Spanish Announce Project and Jose the Assistant is with Rush/Dralistico. Rush isn’t interested in a handshake with Angelico as we are officially ready to go. They trade legsweeps into covers for no counts and it’s an early standoff.

Serpentico comes in to chop away at Rush for no avail before Dralistico comes in to take him down. Rush’s running splash in the corner sets up a pair of basement dropkicks to send Serpentico outside as the beating is on. The means a big flip dive from Dralistico and the Tranquilo pose from Rush. Angelico gets whipped with an electrical cord on the floor and Serpentico is draped over the top rope for a legdrop in a painful looking crash.

The double teaming continues until Rush accidentally knocks Dralistico off the apron. Serpentico gets knocked out of the air but Angelico breaks up the Bull’s Horns. With Angelico knocked outside, Dralistico hits a springboard spinning Canadian Destroyer to finish Serpentico at 9:16.

Rating: C. That was a pretty long squash as Dralistico and Rush were never in any real danger. They could wind up being a solid team around here as Rush has the World Title credentials and Dralistico looked good in a bit of a showcase here. Angelico and Serpentico did well as cannon fodder, but that’s all they were.

Post match Dralistico and Rush take Serpentico’s mask.

Trish Adora vs. Billie Starkz

Starkz is an 18 year old prodigy. Adora works on the arm to start and powers Starkz down without much trouble. Starkz gets knocked outside and dropped onto the apron before Adora la majistrals her for two back inside. A delayed bridging German suplex gets two and Adora grabs Cattle Mutilation, with Starkz having to go to the ropes. Starkz gets in a kick to the face but walks into a pump kick for two. They trade running shots to the face and then the big forearms until Starkz lands another kick. That doesn’t seem to matter as the Lariat Tubman (what a great name) finishes for Adora at 5:41.

Rating: C+. This was another near squash as Starkz only got in a few shots while Adora was running her over for the most part. Adora is someone who felt like she was ready to become a breakout star in the original Ring Of Honor, but the women’s division wasn’t nearly strong enough to make that work. The dominance was on strong here and it was already better than most of what Ring Of Honor’s women did in the past.

Christopher Daniels talks about his success around here and wants to win the Tag Team Titles with his new partner….Matt Sydal. Cue Sydal, who is willing to die flying or die trying. That feels like a “we have nothing else for these two to do” and that isn’t a bad thing.

Jake Crist/Jake Manning vs. Trustbusters

Yes the Trustbusters (with Mark Sterling) are back and no I don’t get it either. Manning is the Man Scout, which is like a Boy Scout but….I think you get the idea. Daivari throws Manning’s scout manual (which he reads during matches) outside and brings Manning into the corner for the tag off to Slim J. The Trustbusters start the alternating beatdowns but it’s off to Crist for a springboard forearm. Manning comes back in to hammer on Daivari but J gets in a cheap shot from the apron. The STF makes Manning tap at 2:55. At least it was short.

Post match Ari Daivari brags about beating Metalik on his own last week but Metalik runs in. That earns him a beatdown of his own but Blake Christian makes the save.

Pure Title: Wheeler Yuta vs. Timothy Thatcher

Yuta is defending and has to use a rope break to escape the Fujiwara armbar less than ten seconds in. They fight over arm control on the mat with Thatcher taking over and slamming the fingers into the mat for two. Yuta reverses into an Octopus and Thatcher has to use his first rope break as well. The armbar keeps Thatcher down and a middle rope flying armbar makes it worse.

Back up and Thatcher manages a belly to belly but Yuta is right back with another armbar. Thatcher’s second rope break gets him out of trouble so they trade uppercuts for a change. Thatcher uppercuts him into the corner but gets punched off the ropes, earning an official warning (one more punch and he’s disqualified).

Another armbar sends Thatcher to the rope again and this time he pulls Yuta into the keylock, sending him to the ropes as well. A belly to back gives Thatcher two and he knees away at Yuta’s back, sending him to the ropes for the final break. So now holds and pins in the ropes are legal so Thatcher stomps him to the floor. With the referee holding Thatcher back, Yuta hits him in the face again and slaps on an armbar in the ropes to retain at 12:40.

Rating: B-. This match stood out as it had the talent, the intensity and the different feeling from everything else on the show. Thatcher was doing more stuff here but Yuta cheated just enough to retain the title. The Pure Title isn’t the best thing going in Ring Of Honor but Yuta does well enough to make it work. Giving him an opponent like Thatcher was a guaranteed hit and they delivered.

Post match Yuta complains about the LA Dojo so here is Clark Connors to say the Blackpool Combat Club wished they trained under Katsuyori Shibata (the Dojo’s head trainer). Connors issues the challenge for a title match next week and Yuta is in.

Aussie Open vs. Tracy Williams/Rhett Titus

Titus wrestles Fletcher to the mat to start and it’s Williams coming in to scare Fletcher over for the tag to Davis. A few shots to Davis’ arm seem to wake him up enough to kick Titus in the face and the Aussies take over. Fletcher comes in for a rather delayed suplex, which he passes over to Davis for the actual drop on Titus. A missed charge lets Titus roll over Davis and bring in Williams to clean house.

The piledriver is blocked but everything breaks down, with the Aussies being sent outside. That’s fine with them, as they pick up Titus and Williams for a hard ram together. Back in and Williams gets planted to give Fletcher two but Williams is fine enough to pull Davis into a Crossface.

Titus adds a half crab on Fletcher at the same time but the Aussies go to the ropes to escape. There’s a belly to belly to drop Fletcher and a lariat gets two, with Davis having to make the save. Williams adds a top rope splash for two on Fletcher but he’s back with a spinning Tombstone. Davis pulls Titus from the mat up into a piledriver (that was awesome) and the Coriolis finishes Williams at 10:22.

Rating: B. Now this was a fun one as they cranked up the intensity here with one hot sequence after another. The Aussies needed a win and putting them over some former Ring Of Honor champions worked well. Williams always felt like someone who could move up to the next level and Titus seems to get better every time he’s out there. Very energized match and I had a lot of fun with it.

Respect is shown post match, but the Aussies don’t seem to mean it.

Eddie Kingston vs. Ben Dejo

Suplex and spinning Backfist To The Future finish for Kingston at 40 seconds.

Post match Kingston calls out Claudio Castagnoli to answer his challenge. Cue Castagnoli to say a man without honor will never be champion. Castagnoli leaves and we see Kingston giving chase backstage.

Willow Nightingale isn’t just here to be happy because she wants Athena’s Women’s Title.

Athena isn’t worried about Nightingale and the title isn’t going anywhere.

Women’s Title: Athena vs. Willow Nightingale

Nightingale is challenging and I would have bet on this one taking place at Supercard Of Honor. They fight over wrist control to start with Athena throwing her down and posing. Nightingale is back with a running crossbody for two and Two Amigos into a fisherman’s suplex. Athena gets sent to the apron, where she snaps the arm over the ropes, allowing her to kick Nightingale down.

More kicks let Athena pose again and we hit the seated armbar. They trade rollups for two each until Athena hammers her down. The running baseball slide sends Willow outside, where Athena sends her face first into the steps. Willow’s arm gets crushed in the steps but she still beats the count back in. the running hurricanrana is countered into an apron bomb though and a Death Valley Driver plants Athena on the floor.

Both of them make it back in at 18 (out of 20) and a spinebuster gives Nightingale two. The arm gives out on the doctor bomb though and Athena grabs a crossface. Make that the Fujiwara armbar, which Willow reverses into a rollup for two. Athena plants her for two more and the kickout leaves her panicking. The Pounce sends Athena flying and the doctor bomb gets two more. Athena bails up the ramp, where she grabs a Wasteland to knock Willow silly. Back in and the O Face retains the title at 14:47.

Rating: B. This was a heck of a match and the fans were way into it rather quickly, as Willow is as likable as you can get and Athena is starting to feel it as a villain. They had me thinking they might change the title here and maybe that is what they should have done. I’m not sure why Willow got the shot here and lost, as she could be built up as a potential new star in the division, including as the champion. Also, why not wait to do this at Supercard? Unless they’re running this back, I don’t know how much sense it made here, even as a rather good main event.

Post match Athena sends her arm first into the steps.

Overall Rating: B. Much better show this week as it was a bit shorter (about 15 minutes) and they kept things moving. The action was better as well, with a mixture of different kinds of things up and down the card. Three title matches is a bit much, but the TV Title defense was hardly a big deal.

The show is still too long though and that is going to get them in trouble when the matches aren’t as good. It’s ok to spread this stuff out a bit, but that has long, long since been one of the major problems with Tony Khan’s booking style. For now though, it’s an upgrade over last week, but I’m curious about how the second taping will go.

Results
Samoa Joe b. Tony Deppen – MuscleBuster
Dalton Castle/The Boys b. Marcus Kross/Cody Chhun/Guillermo Rosas – Bang A Rang to Rosas
Rush/Dralistico b. Angelico/Serpentico – Springboard spinning Canadian Destroyer to Serpentico
Trish Adora b. Billie Starkz – Lariat Tubman
Trustbusters b. Jake Manning/Jake Crist – STF to Manning
Wheeler Yuta b. Timothy Thatcher – Armbar in the ropes
Aussie Open b. Tracy Williams/Rhett Titus – Coriolis to Williams
Eddie Kingston b. Ben Dejo – Spinning Backfist To The Future

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Rampage
Date: March 3, 2023
Location: Cow Palace, San Francisco, California
Commentators: Chris Jericho, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

It’s the final show before Revolution and that means this week is live. Normally I would say a pay per view card is set two days before the show but AEW has a tendency to throw in a bunch of stuff at the last minute. This week will also see Dustin Rhodes/Keith Lee vs. Mogul Affiliates so let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Aussie Open vs. Claudio Castagnoli/Wheeler Yuta vs. Top Flight vs. Dark Order

The Dark Order jumps Castagnoli/Yuta in the aisle to start but Top Flight dives onto all four of them. Aussie Open drives Top Flight together as JR talks about needing to win to get a pay per view pay day. Ross: “Am I right about that?” And he is completely ignored, as that doesn’t seem to be right.

We get inside for the bell with Top Flight dropkicking Aussie Open with Davis being knocked to the floor. Reynolds comes in and hits a running elbow on Fletcher as Jericho talks about the attractiveness of Tony Schiavone’s grandmother. It’s off to Silver to take Castagnoli down and hammer away. Silver hits a running flip dive to take Davis down on the floor, runs over more people, and then gets pulled out of the air by Castagnoli.

A backbreaker gets two on Silver as we see La Faccion Ingobernable watching backstage. Castagnoli and Yuta kick Reynolds down and we take a break. Back with Reynolds flipping out of a belly to back suplex as Maria and the Kingdom are watching at ringside. Yuta comes in but gets stomped down by Reynolds, allowing a double tag off to Dante vs. Fletcher.

Dante forearms him down and hits the big running flip dive to the floor. Back in and Silver has to make a save but the Aussies superkick Dante out of the air. An assisted flip powerslam gets two with Yuta making the save. Davis blasts Fletcher by mistake though and it’s the Dark Order coming in to clean house. The Stunner into the German suplex hits Darius but Yuta comes in with the Seatbelt for the pin at 9:35.

Rating: B. This was your “here are a bunch of people doing a bunch of stuff” match of the week and it was an entertaining one. While I do think these matches tend to run together quite a bit, they worked well here and the Blackpool Combat Club’s nefarious ways continue. The Aussies still feel like they should be a bigger deal around here but maybe their infrequent appearances are slowing them down. As for Top Flight, can they please get a few wins already?

Post match Dark Order jumps Castagnoli and Yuta until things are separated.

Video on Hangman Page vs. Jon Moxley in Sunday’s Texas Death Match.

We look at the Jericho Appreciation Society beating up Ricky Stars on Dynamite.

Jungle Boy wants to end Christian Cage…and it seems like it’s going to be something like Buried Alive. That seems like quite the jump after one 30 second match, jokes about Jungle Boy’s dad or not.

Riho vs. Emi Sakura

Sakura, Riho’s mentor, kicks her in the ribs to start and pulls the crossbody out of the air. Riho is back with a snap suplex for two and a headscissors puts Sakura on the floor. Sakura is fine enough to catch a charging Riho in a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Riho gets crushed against the barricade as we take a break.

Back with Riho forearming away and hitting a 619. A high crossbody gets two on Sakura but she’s back with a running crossbody in the corner for two of her own. La Majistral gives Sakura two more and her moonsault….well it hits Riho but it doesn’t seem like it was supposed to. Riho misses the top rope double stomp but spins around Sakura into a rollup for the pin at 9:30.

Rating: B-. Riho is back and seems to be getting a strong push, which could lead up to a big match, perhaps against say Jade Cargill. This win makes her 2-0 this week and that should be enough of a stepping stone to somewhere. Sakura is someone else who can wrestle a good match with anyone and she was just right for putting Riho over here.

Video on Ruby Soho vs. Saraya vs. Jamie Hayter for the Women’s Title.

Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Serpentico

Town Business finishes Serpentico at 41 seconds. As it should be.

Don Callis recruits Konosuke Takeshita, who seems intrigued.

Mark Briscoe talks about being sick of Mark Sterling. He was ready for a tag team battle royal but he couldn’t find his brother Jay, because Jay must have already been out there (well dang). But no, he’s up there with the Lord now so Mark Briscoe went after Mark Sterling on his own. Then he saw the Lucha Bros in there and here they are with their friend. The six man tag is set for Revolution.

Revolution rundown.

The four teams in the four way Tag Team Title match are all ready to fight.

Video on Dustin Rhodes/Keith Lee vs. Mogul Affiliates.

Dustin Rhodes/Keith Lee vs. Mogul Affiliates

It’s a brawl to start with Lee and Boudreaux slugging it out. Boudreaux’s shots to the face just wake Lee up and it’s Dustin coming in to rain down right hands in the corner. Those are shrugged off but Boudreaux won’t tag for no logical reason. We take a break and come back Strickland throwing Dustin out of the corner and dropkicking Lee off the apron. Dustin backdrops his way out of trouble but there’s no Lee, leaving Dustin to powerslam Strickland instead.

That’s enough for the tag to Lee, who Pounces Boudreaux for the big crash. Strickland comes in and realizes he has to face Lee, leading to panic. One heck of a high angle spinebuster plants Strickland as everything breaks down. Strickland moonsaults off of Lee’s chest to take Dustin out on the floor. That leaves Lee to get Swerve Stomped for two but Dustin is back in. Lee crossbodies Boudreaux and Dustin hits a Canadian Destroyer on Strickland. Dustin gets tossed onto Boudreaux and the Big Bang Catastrophe finishes Boudreaux off at 11:03.

Rating: B-. This was about how the match should have gone, as Lee looks like a monster who is going to get his hands on Swerve at some point. I’m a bit surprised that it isn’t at Revolution, but it should make for a nice Dynamite main event in a few weeks. You also have Dustin holding things together for the incredibly inexperienced Boudreaux and it made for a nice main event.

One more Revolution rundown….doesn’t finish the show as Ricky Starks jumps Chris Jericho and brawls with him to end the show. That was a nice surprise.

Overall Rating: B+. While a lot of the matches didn’t exactly feel important (JR thinking there was a prize for the winner was really bad), this was a very easy to watch show with good stuff up and down the card. It was a mixture of different stories and kinds of matches to keep things interesting and that made for a solid Rampage. Now just get Revolution right (which they probably will) and maybe AEW can get back on track.

Results
Claudio Castagnoli/Wheeler Yuta b. Top Flight, Dark Order and Aussie Open – Seatbelt to Darius
Riho b. Emi Sakura – Rollup
Powerhouse Hobbs b. Serpentico – Town Business
Dustin Rhodes/Keith Lee b. Swerve Strickland/Parker Boudreaux – Big Bang Catastrophe to Boudreaux

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Dynamite
Date: February 22, 2023
Location: Footprint Center, Phoenix, Arizona
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We have two weeks to go to before Revolution and that means it is time to start finalizing the card. That is a little tricky when one of the matches is going to be a sixty minute Iron Man match, but AEW does know how to throw in a few surprises. Tony Khan has promised a big surprise for tonight so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

All-Atlantic Title: Orange Cassidy vs. Wheeler Yuta

Only Cassidy is defending after Yuta wants revenge for Cassidy and the Best Friends forgetting about him. They go technical to start and get some near falls each until Yuta bails to the floor. Back in and Cassidy uses Yuta’s own Seatbelt rollup for two, meaning it’s time for another breather outside. Cue Claudio Castagnoli to slap Yuta in the face to wake him up.

That’s enough to make Yuta counter the Orange Punch and send Cassidy outside for some whips into the barricade. A posting ensues and Yuta strikes away back inside, despite Cassidy putting his hands in his pockets. Cassidy hits a dropkick ad sends him into the corner a few times. There’s an enziguri from Yuta, followed by a top rope forearm for two. We take a break and come back with Yuta hitting a brainbuster into an Angle Slam for another near fall.

Cassidy manages some rolling German suplexes for two but Yuta uses Cassidy’s Mousetrap for two more. They spit at each other and knock each other down before heading to the apron. Cassidy gets the better of things and hits the diving DDT to the floor. Back in and they trade the driving elbows to the face until the Orange Punch gives Cassidy two. The Orange Punch retains the title at 16:48.

Rating: B. This turned into a hard hitting fight and that is the kind of thing that you do not see from Cassidy very often. Yuta can wrestle the technical style very well and made his half of things work here. They had a better match than I was expecting and this worked very well for a long, back and forth opener.

Post match Cassidy loads up the hug but Castagnoli tells Yuta to get out, with Yuta listening and leaving with Castagnoli.

Evil Uno is ready for Jon Moxley and wants Hangman Page to stay out of there from bell to bell. The Dark Order has to stand up for itself.

Here is Ricky Starks for a chat. Over the last few months, he has been dealing with Chris Jericho, who doesn’t want a rematch with him. Therefore, he is moving away from Jericho and now he has an open contract for a match at Revolution. Cue Jericho, who says Starks is enjoying that one win he got but it is never going to happen again. Starks isn’t at his level so good luck with the open challenge.

Cue Peter Avalon to try to accept the challenge but Jericho beats him down. Jericho gets in the ring and says this is what happens when you issue an open challenge. Starks says if Jericho signs, he’ll just bring the Appreciation Society, because apparently he needs them to win. That’s too far for Jericho, who agrees to the terms…..but he doesn’t have a pen. Starks: “D***. I do!” And after the big dramatic click, Jericho adds a line about the Society staying in the back and signs for the match. That took some time but it was some nice mind games from Starks.

A bunch of tag teams are ready for the battle royal.

Lee Moriarty/Big Bill vs. Acclaimed

Stokely Hathaway and Billy Gunn are here too. Caster’s rap makes fun of Moriarty and Bill, including Bill’s mother. Caster doesn’t get far with an armbar as a Bill cheap shot lets Moriarty take over. Bowens comes in for the blind tag though and something like a neckbreaker onto Caster’s raised knees gets two.

We take a break and come back with the Gunns out to watch as Bowens gets the hot tag and cleans house on Moriarty. Bill comes back in to kick Gunn and Bowens down though, allowing the Gunns to stomp their dad down. The Acclaimed chases them off and Caster poses Bill. The Arrival into the Mic Drop finishes Moriarty at 7:08.

Rating: C. They kept this short and sweet here as the Acclaimed gets some momentum back on their way to the four way title match. I’m not sure I can imagine them getting the titles back so soon, but at least they are beating teams they should beat. The title change still feels like it came out of nowhere though, and that might not be the best move.

Christian Cage comes out for an interview but Jungle Boy jumps him from behind. Jungle Boy loads up a Conchairto but takes too long, allowing Cage to low blow his way out of trouble. Cage hits him in the head with the chair and then rams said head into the other chair a few times. Jungle Boy is busted open and referees break it up.

Video on Wardlow vs. Samoa Joe.

Saraya vs. Skye Blue

Toni Storm is here with Saraya. Blue starts fast but a Storm distraction lets Saraya pull her off the top. Saraya takes over on the arm and plants Blue down for two. As Tony and Taz discuss the difference between making friends and making money, Saraya can’t superplex her down, allowing Blue to hit a high crossbody. Blue nails a running kick to the face but Storm offers a distraction, allowing Saraya to hit a superkick. The Scorpio Crosslock makes Blue give up at 3:45.

Rating: C. The fact that Saraya is now needing help to beat Blue isn’t a good sign for her future, but things haven’t exactly been going well for her for a good while. This us vs. them story is only so good and Saraya continues to be a letdown since she has been back. It was cool to see her wrestle again, but the charm is wearing off quickly.

Post match the beatdown is on but Jamie Hayter and Britt Baker make the save. Cue Ruby Soho to signal that she wants the title shot. Hayter doesn’t seem opposed.

Here is Bryan Danielson for a chat. Danielson is ready to do everything he can to win the World Title but first he needs to talk about what MJF said last week. MJF hurt Danielson’s mentor William Regal…and here is MJF to interrupt. MJF says these people love Danielson but MJF is the guy who has been shoved away by everyone he has ever loved. Then he met a girl and fell in love with her, to the point where he got down on one knee and said he wanted to start a family with her.

Then she left him, meaning the only thing that that stops him from taking a fist full of pills and calling it a day is this title. Everyone loves Danielson though, and they’ll shout YES at the top of their lungs. Danielson has a family that he takes for granted but do you know why MJF hates him? Danielson has had concussions and seizures but he’s still wrestling. Every time Danielson gets in the ring, he is saying wrestling is more important than his family and his children.

Every time Danielson gets in the ring, he is spitting in MJF’s face because he disrespects everything MJF wants. Danielson is worse than his drug addicted mentor so he’ll get all of the spotlight he wants at Revolution when MJF beats him do badly. MJF talks into the camera to Danielson’s children and promises to hurt their daddy at Revolution, to the point where Danielson can’t play with them again.

For some reason Danielson doesn’t move, but MJF gets in the ring and promises early onset CT…..and Danielson jumps him. Security eventually breaks it up. This was a weird segment, as it didn’t so much make me want to see MJF lose the title, but rather make me want to buy him a hot sandwich and give him a hug.

Jamie Hayter thinks Ruby Soho and Saraya deserve a title shot, so let’s make it a triple threat at Revolution.

Tag Team Battle Royal

Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal, Top Flight, Best Friends, Lucha Bros, La Faccion Ingobernable, Aussie Open, Ari Daivari/Tony Nese, Jericho Appreciation Society, Butcher and the Blade, Dark Order

The winners move on to Revolution for a Tag Team Title shot and both members must be thrown out for an elimination. It’s a brawl to start with some teams on the floor and others fighting inside. Nese and Penta fight to the apron but here is Mark Briscoe to go after Josh Woods, because that feud is still going. Penta Fear Factors Nese for the elimination and Daivari is tossed out shortly thereafter as we take a break.

Back with no eliminations during the break but Aussie Open is tossed at the same time. Dark Order gets rid of Blade and Darius Martin was tossed somewhere in there. Butcher eliminates Reynolds and Penta kicks Vance out. Vance helps Rush get rid of Penta but Penta kicks Rush out to get rid of La Faccion.

The Society finally gets in and goes after the Best Friends, only to have to deal with Danhausen. They toss him out so he fires off a curse, with the Society being tossed out at the same time. Jarrett and Lethal get rid of Taylor, leaving us with Jarrett, Lethal, butcher, Fenix, Trent and Dante Martin as we take another break.

Back again with a mini six man having broken out and Butcher knock Fenix through the ropes to the floor (not an elimination). Dante gets knocked out but Fenix dumps Butcher as well. Jarrett and Lethal toss Fenix and we’re down to the two of them plus Trent. The double teaming is on but Trent makes the comeback, only to have Satnam Singh make the double save.

Jarrett hits the Stroke and sends Trent….to the apron, where Orange Cassidy makes a save of his own. Sonjay Dutt’s interference doesn’t help as Trent manages to get rid of Lethal. Danhausen chases Dutt to the back but Singh saves Jarrett from another elimination. Another Strike lets Jarrett toss him out for the win at 18:31.

Rating: C+. The ending was a bit much and they had a bunch of stuff going on at once, but Jarrett and Lethal being added to a four way title match isn’t a bad idea. You’re going to need a team to keep things a bit more under control and that is where Jarrett and Lethal can shine. Fun match here, though it did run for a good while.

The House Of Black wants the Trios Titles.

Tony Khan joins us for a big announcement….which will be made by Adam Cole: AEW is getting a reality series called All Access, which debuts next month after Dynamite. On a more personal note: Cole is making his in-ring return the same night as the show’s debut. I get that it’s an announcement and a cool deal for AEW, but hyping this up as a “major announcement” was destined to fail. Put out a press release, mention it on Dynamite, and then talk about it rather than making a big deal that isn’t likely to go over very well. And yes, I understand that it’s likely a mandate from WBD. Just maybe present it a little smarter.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal and company are excited but here are the Gunns to interrupt. Mocking ensues, but nothing gets physical.

Jon Moxley vs. Evil Uno

Uno jumps him to start and the beating is on fast, with Moxley having to fight his way out of trouble. Moxley gets sent outside for the top rope flip dive and Uno hammers away some more. A whip into the steps cuts Uno off though and Moxley sends him head first into the steps for a bonus. Uno is busted open and Moxley hammers away back inside, only to get caught with a pair of piledrivers. Moxley shrugs them off and chokes Uno out at 6:18.

Rating: C. You mean the former World Champion and one of the biggest stars in AEW history bet a guy who has been treated as little more than a comedy goof since AEW began? I’m really not sure why this was given the main event slot, as just having Moxley out there isn’t likely to give them that much attention. It was a bloody brawl, but there was zero drama to it and Moxley didn’t exactly seem to be worried.

Post match Moxley won’t let go so the Dark Order, the Blackpool Combat Club and Hangman Page run in (Page promised not to be out there from bell to bell so he kept his word). Page loads up what looks to be barbed wire but Moxley bails from the threat of a Buckshot Lariat to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a weird show as everything worked out well enough from a presentation standpoint and the wrestling was fine to good, but man alive AEW is ice cold going into Revolution. The MJF vs. Danielson feud is just weird, Page vs. Moxley has been done over and over, the women’s feud has a ton of moving parts and the Tag Team Title stuff is overcrowded. This wasn’t a bad show by any means, but AEW needs to figure out what they want to focus on and fast.

Results
Orange Cassidy b. Wheeler Yuta – Orange Punch
Acclaimed b. Lee Moriarty/Big Bill – Mic Drop to Moriarty
Saraya b. Skye Blue – Scorpion Crosslock
Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal won a tag team battle royal last eliminating the Best Friends
Jon Moxley b. Evil Uno – Rear naked choke

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Rampage
Date: February 17, 2023
Location: Saves Auto Arena, Laredo, Texas
Commentators: Jim Ross, Chris Jericho, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

It’s a special show this week with the show on at 7pm instead of the usual 10pm due to the NBA coverage. Therefore the show is call Slam Dunk as AEW stacks the card because it might be able to draw a good bit more fans this week. Hopefully that is the case as Rampage hasn’t felt important in a few weeks now. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Trios Titles: Elite vs. AR Fox/Top Flight

The Elite is defending and since this is Slam Dunk, there are a lot basketballs as props. Dante and Nick start things off by throwing a basketball at each other. Nick hits Matt in the face with the ball by mistake though and the champs are kicked out to the floor early on. Fox dives onto all of them in a pair of dives and then adds a third with a basketball. Back in and Omega grabs a headlock before running Fox over with a shoulder.

The basketball comes back in and the Elite tosses it around until Fox jumps for it, earning himself a double superkick. We take a break and come back with Fox kicking Nick into the corner. The hot tag brings in Dante to clean house, including a high crossbody for two on Omega. Everything breaks down (What took them so long?) and Fox dives off the top onto Nick and chucks the basketball at Omega in the corner.

A 450 gets two on Matt but Nick and Omega hang Top Flight over the ropes for Nick’s Swanton onto both. Fox makes the save and it’s time for the exchange of kicks to the save. The double cutter drops the Bucks but Matt is back up to shake the ropes. Fox’s middle rope moonsault is triple superkicked out of the air and Nick hits a big dive onto the floor. The One Winged Angel hits Fox to retain the titles at 10:22.

Rating: B-. The basketball stuff was goofy but harmless enough in a match where the Elite gets to beat another team. They need some challenges and that almost has to be the House of Black. I’m almost worried to see that match, but for now I’ll settle for another entertaining but pretty much drama free Elite match.

Post match the basketballs come back in but the lights go out. Cue the House of Black on the stage and we have a staredown.

The Gunns aren’t happy with the Elite bypassing the tag team battle royals but they’ll deal with them anyway.

Mark Henry is praising Orange Cassidy when Wheeler Yuta comes in. Yuta is glad he left the Best Friends because he has gotten so much more out of being in the Blackpool Combat Club. Now Cassidy doesn’t even think anything of Yuta being gone so Yuta is going to take the All-Atlantic Title from him. Cassidy says he wasn’t there to be a teacher but to be a best friend. If Yuta wants the title, come take it. That was a rather harsh heel spin from Yuta, who is pretty neutral most of the time.

Daniel Garcia vs. Ricky Starks

Starks punches him into the corner to start and hits the dancing Old School. A tornado DDT is broken up though and Garcia knocks him outside. We take a break and come back with Starks’ knee rather banged up as he walks into a Rock Bottom for two. The Sharpshooter goes on and here is Sammy Guevara to hold the rope away. Cue Action Andretti to go after Guevara and they brawl up the ramp. Starks gets up and hits the spear, setting up Roshambo (with a point at Jericho on commentary) for the pin at 9:45.

Rating: C. The match was just shy of ten minutes and had a break plus interference. It also doesn’t help as we’re still on this idea of Starks running through the Jericho Appreciation Society on the way to a rematch of a match he won in the first place. This isn’t the most logical story, but at least Jericho has someone to yell about.

Post match Guevara says he wants Andretti next week.

Evil Uno really doesn’t like Jon Moxley.

TBS Title: Jade Cargill vs. Vertvixen

Jade is defending and retains with Jaded at 1:05. I’ll take this over being asked to think Red Velvet is a threat.

Swerve Strickland is ready to go to war and thinks Dustin Rhodes has something to do with Trench not being here. Rhodes gets rather annoyed (granted that seems to be his default mode) and is ready to fight.

Swerve Strickland vs. Dustin Rhodes

Parker Boudreaux is here with Swerve (no Trench), who sends him after Rhodes on the ramp. That doesn’t go well for Parker and Dustin knocks Swerve around to start. The beating heads back inside, where Swerve gets in a quick shot to the face but misses a running knee.

A release German suplex drops Swerve but he kicks Dustin in the face for a knockdown. Swerve adds a pump kick from the apron to drop Rhodes and there’s a hard dropkick into the barricade. Dustin is busted open and we take a break. Back with Swerve hitting a Downward Spiral but Dustin fights up and yells a lot. Swerve bites his forehead but charges into the scoop powerslam.

The Canadian Destroyer gives Dustin two and they head to the apron, where Swerve grabs a Death Valley Driver for two. A superplex and piledriver give Dustin two and Cross Rhodes gets the same. The Final Cut connects but Boudreaux pulls Dustin out at two and sends him into the steps….for the DQ at 12:24. You always hear about these things but you never think you’ll actually see one.

Rating: B-. Rhodes is still one of the most consistently solid wrestlers anywhere, as you might not see him get to a great match but you’ll see him have a good one almost every time. Granted having a nearly thirty five year career is going to have a lot to do with that, along with Strickland being in there to help. Good match, as Rhodes continues to defy Father Time.

Post match Boudreaux and Strickland load up the cinder block but Keith Lee (clean shaven and with white/gray hair) pops up behind them (with the camera being set up low instead of at face level so the rising up shot is lost). Boudreaux and Swerve are destroyed, with a discus forearm taking Boudreaux out. Of note: Jericho mentioned that Lee must have attacked Trench for a way to explain his absence.

Overall Rating: B. This was the best, or at least biggest feeling, Rampage in a long time. Granted that is almost guaranteed to be due to the different time slot but I’ll take whatever I can get. There was nothing bad on here and the Lee return felt important, along with having the House of Black finally going after the Trios Titles. Good show here, and it’s nice to see one that feels like it matters.

Results
Elite b. AR Fox/Top Flight – One Winged Angel to Fox
Ricky Starks b. Daniel Garcia – Roshambo
Jade Cargill b. Vertvixen – Jaded
Dustin Rhodes b. Swerve Strickland via DQ when Parker Boudreaux interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Rampage
Date: January 27, 2023
Location: Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Chris Jericho

We’re still in Kentucky and in this case that means it’s time for Hangman Page to face Wheeler Yuta on his way to next week’s showdown with Jon Moxley. Other than that, Jamie Hayter is in a Women’s Title eliminator match and we should be in for a treat there. The show continues to be up and down, but maybe they can make it work this week. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

I was in the arena for this show, sitting in the middle deck with the video screen on the right.

Opening sequence.

Hangman Page vs. Wheeler Yuta

Yuta knocks him into the corner to start and hammers away. The Octopus has Page in early trouble before Yuta switches to the legs. They trade slaps to the face until Yuta bridges back into a leglock. Page fights up and knocks Yuta down for a change and a fall away slam sends Yuta to the apron. There’s the springboard clothesline to send him outside, setting up a slingshot dive.

Page sends him back inside where Yuta hits a very fast dive of his own. That earns Yuta a pop up powerbomb onto the apron, followed by the Liger Bomb for two back inside. We take a break and come back with Yuta hitting a middle rope dropkick. A top rope forearm drops Page again but he catches Yuta on top. The super Death Valley Driver gets two (Why debut a huge move like that if it’s a two count?) and a release German suplex drops Yuta again.

Yuta grabs his own German suplex and ties Page’s leg in the rope for some elbows to the head. Another German suplex on the apron and another on the floor (with Yuta flipping him backwards because EGADS) drops Page hard. Yuta adds a heck of a dive on the floor but a frog splash only hits knees. The Buckshot Lariat is countered into an Angle Slam, setting up a frog splash to give Yuta two. They strike it out again until Page sends him through the ropes. Yuta hangs on so Page goes to the apron, setting up the Buckshot Lariat. A Jon Moxley Death Rider finishes Yuta at 14:59.

Rating: B-. Good fight here, though that super Death Valley Driver was a good bit annoying. Other than that you have Page trying to get more and more violent for the sake of getting ready for Moxley next week. Yuta tried hard and looked good in defeat, but can we please have another champion stop losing over and over?

Action Andretti and Ricky Starks aren’t done with the Jericho Appreciation Society, who had to cheat to win.

Eddie Kingston is done fighting and understands the House of Black. He’s ready to go home.

Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal/Satnam Singh vs. Best Friends/Danhausen

Sonjay Dutt and Orange Cassidy are the seconds here. Danhausen even has a ukulele and gets in a contest with Jarrett’s guitar. Not musical of course, but just who the fans like more. Then Singh steals the ukulele and breaks it with ease, allowing Lethal to jump Taylor from behind. The Beat Friends elbow Lethal down and it’s off to Jeff, who gets elbowed in the face as well.

Danhausen comes in for a single kick before handing it back to the Best friends for a double shoulder. We get a quadruple double bicep pose from the good guys and it’s Soul Food into the half and half suplex on Lethal. The Big Hug is broken up though and Trent makes the mistake of going after Singh, earning himself a hard whip out to the floor. We take a break and come back with Trent flipping out of a German suplex so Taylor can come back in to take over.

The Koji Clutch has Lethal in trouble but Jarrett makes the save. Taylor Figure Fours Jarrett and Lethal’s Hail To The King misses. Jarrett inches over for the tag off to Singh though and Danhausen comes in for the, ahem, showdown. Danhausen slugs away and clotheslines the stomach but Singh misses a charge in the corner. All four of the good guys get in a neck snap over the top rope. Danhausen grabs the guitar but the distraction lets Jarrett use the Golden Globe to knock out Danhausen so Singh can get the pin at 10:02.

Rating: C-. I really wasn’t feeling this one as it was a bunch of goofy shenanigans that didn’t exactly make Singh look good. Other than shrugging off offense, he didn’t do anything that made him feel like a monster. I can definitely go with this version of Jarrett/Lethal/Singh rather than them going after the Tag Team Titles, but this match wasn’t exactly great.

Britt Baker tells Ruby Soho to grow a backbone and pick a side. If she’s smart, she knows which one to pick.

Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Tony Gunn

Gunn is a former OVW Champion. Hobbs powers him around, plants him and hits a reverse Attitude Adjustment for the pin at 1:12.

Top Flight want to team up with AR Fox to go after the Trios Titles.

Dustin Rhodes is back after a rough month (losing his mother) but Mogul Affiliates interrupt. Swerve talks about Dustin’s brother having a slick mouth and Dustin’s daddy….and that’s too far. A fight seems imminent.

Video on Jamie Hayter vs. Emi Sakura.

Mark Henry does his catchphrase.

Jade Cargill is interrupted by Red Velvet and has a 50th opponent.

Jamie Hayter vs. Emi Sakura

Women’s Title eliminator with Britt Baker, Rebel and Sakura’s royal court. They strike away to start with Jamie Hayter as Baker has found a rather nice HAYTERADE sign in the crowd to hold up. The fight heads outside with Sakura whipping her from the apron and into the barricade over and over. Back in and Sakura strikes away in the corner before grabbing the surfboard.

We take a break and come back with Hayter grabbing some exploder suplexes. Hayter pounds her down in the corner and grabs a Haytebreaker for two. Sakura counters a sliding forearm into a crucifix for two of her own but Hayter blasts her with clotheslines. A Tower Of London drops Hayter but Sakura avoids a moonsault. Sakura’s Tiger Driver gets two and a moonsault connects for the same. The ripcord lariat is countered into a suplex from Sakura but Hayter BLASTS her with a clothesline. Hayterade finishes Sakura at 12:33.

Rating: B. Hayter continues to look like an absolute star and Sakura gave her a heck of a match. These two beat each other up and looked solid in the process. It felt like a main event and Hayter got a great boost out of it. She has turned herself face with all of the good things she does and it is kind of amazing to see. Heck of a main event.

Overall Rating: B-. The main event carries a lot of this show and the opener is good, but there is a big half an hour gap in the middle with only a Hobbs squash being noteworthy. It was another enjoyable show, but like Rampage most of the time, it felt like little more than a preview for Dynamite. If that is what Rampage wants to be then cool, but it still feels like a bit of a waste of TV time.

Results
Hangman Page b. Wheeler Yuta – Death Rider
Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal/Satnam Singh b. Best Friends/Danhausen – Golden Globe to Danhausen
Powerhouse Hobbs b. Tony Gunn – Reverse Attitude Adjustment
Jamie Hayter b. Emi Sakura – Hayterade

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Jay Briscoe: A Celebration Of Life
Date: January 26, 2023
Location: Save Mart Center, Fresno, California
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Carpice Coleman

As you might have guessed, this is a special show honoring the life of Jay Briscoe, who passed away last week. The show was filmed after last week’s AEW taping and features special matches, plus presumably tributes and maybe classic matches from Briscoe’s career. That should be more than enough so let’s get to it.

We get the tribute video from this week’s Dynamite. Still works.

Ring Of Honor Pure Rules Title: Hagane Shinno vs. Wheeler Yuta

Yuta is defending under Pure Rules (of course) and Shinno is from Big Japan. They go with the grappling to start with Yuta working on a head/wristlock. Shinno shrugs that off and strikes away but gets caught with an Angle Slam for two. Yuta starts in on the leg and the cranking sends Shinno to the ropes for the first break. That’s fine with Yuta, who grabs a Gory Stretch to work on…well quite a bit really.

Something like the Octopus sends Shinno to the ropes for the second time but he’s able to knock Yuta to the floor. Back up and Yuta hits a springboard moonsault, followed by a German suplex back inside. Shinno is back with an enziguri into a Michinoku Driver for two. Yuta kicks him in the head and hits a top rope splash, setting up a crossface armbar to retain at 9:28.

Rating: C+. Shinno was more or less a designated victim here as Yuta took him apart and was only in trouble for a short stretch. The Pure Rules Title is a unique enough title that almost anyone can challenge for it, but Yuta wrestles a style that fits it so well that it takes someone special to beat him for it. Good opener here and it didn’t go too long.

Samoa Joe, fighting back tears, talks about how rare it is to meet authentic people who love unconditionally. That is what Jay Briscoe was and the people who knew the Briscoes knew them as brothers. He watched them grow up and he still loves his brother.

Adam Cole talks about meeting the Briscoes in 2010 when he started with Ring Of Honor. That was the company he wanted to work for and then he got to share a locker room with the Briscoes. Jay believed in him and taught him a lot, but he also vouched for him and helped get Cole’s World Title reign extended. Jay never complained or talked trash about anyone because he wanted to boost people up. Cole would be at the Briscoes’ house every year on the opening day of football season and he knows Jay is telling everyone to man up.

We recap Jay Briscoe vs. Adam Cole in the main event of Final Battle 2014 for Jay’s Ring Of Honor World Title. This is the culmination of their feud in a Fight Without Honor.

From Final Battle 2014.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Adam Cole vs. Jay Briscoe

Jay is defending in a Fight Without Honor (anything goes) and Cole has reserved two seats for Jay’s parents (after attacking Papa Briscoe). They slug it out to start and Jay grabs the Jay Driller for two less than a minute in. The fight heads to the floor with Briscoe hammering away and putting Cole on a table. A double stomp from the apron puts Cole through that table and it’s staple gun time.

Cole comes back with the Papa Briscoe chair to Jay’s head and then staples the labels to the same head. Back in and Cole sits in the chair and rips at Jay’s face, only to have Jay slip out and kick him in the face. The chair is wedged in the corner so Cole can go face first into it and it’s time for another table. The table is put up in the corner but Cole grabs the brainbuster onto the knee to take over. Cole sets up the two chairs, only to have Jay Falcon Arrow him onto those chairs.

Back up and Cole kendo sticks him in the face for two. The Figure Four around the post is broken up with a pull into the post and Cole is busted open bad. Cue the athletic commission (great) but Jay breaks that up and beats on Cole some more. Jay pulls out another table and sets it up on the floor before going up top. That takes too long as well, allowing Cole to superkick him down and through the table in a big crash.

A belt shot gives Cole two more and the Florida Key (arm cross German suplex) gets the same. The Panama Sunrise takes too long though and it’s a Death Valley Driver through the table in the corner. It’s thumbtacks time (of course), with Cole putting some in Briscoe’s mouth for a superkick and another near fall. Jay is back with one heck of a backdrop onto the tacks, setting up the Jay Driller for two. Another Jay Driller onto the belt retains the title at 21:24.

Rating: B. This was the kind of brawl that felt like one of the biggest fights of the year. You could feel the hatred between the two of them and it came off like the big culmination of a feud. Jay getting his big win over Cole makes him look like the undisputed star of the company and he got his revenge as well, though I was kind of expecting Papa Briscoe to make a cameo.

Here is Adam Cole in the arena for a chat. Cole talks about his rivalry with Jay and everything that he learned from the Briscoes. Over the years, he learned all kinds of things from the two of them and has all kinds of memories from knowing them. Jay’s entire heart and soul was his family and everyone is here for that family. If Jay was here, he would slap Cole in the head and say MAN UP because they have a show to put on. Cole: “Jay, I love you, I miss you and you made the world a better place.”

Matt Hardy calls what happened a tragedy as 38 is way too young (amen). A lot of people misunderstand the Briscoes because they see the character but don’t know the man behind the scenes. Once he came through the curtain, he would turn that off and be a bashful soul. Matt was going through the texts they had sent each other over the years and they always talked about being fathers. It is devastating to Matt that Jay won’t get to see his kinds grow up. Matt thinks of the Briscoes when he thinks of Ring Of Honor and he is sad that they can’t text each other anymore.

Marina Shafir vs. Mighty Mayra

Mayra doesn’t get an entrance but does get judo thrown down to start. A chop in the corner has Mayra in more trouble and Shafir kicks her in the chest. An armbar makes Mayra tap at 2:11.

Christopher Daniels talks about how many times he came and went from Ring Of Honor and the Briscoes were the constants in the company. The Briscoes knew they were never leaving and Jay deserves to be at the top of the list of great Ring Of Honor stars. They wrestled a lot over the years and Daniels would come out bruised, but he was always in there with someone who had passion for what he did. Everything about Jay was real and the only thing he did better than wrestle was be a father. Daniels is glad he could consider himself a friend and thanks the Briscoe family for sharing Jay with them.

From Survival Of The Fittest 2016.

Jay Briscoe vs. Christopher Daniels

Frankie Kazarian is here with Daniels. They go with the grappling to start as Jay reverses a headlock into a headscissors on the mat. Back up and Jay drives him into the corner but Daniels’ second headlock goes a bit better. Briscoe breaks that up as well and slams him down before snapping off a hurricanrana for two.

A Kazarian distraction lets Daniels backdrop him to the floor though, setting up the Arabian moonsault. Daniels pulls him against the post and adds a slingshot elbow for two back inside. The waistlock goes on to keep Briscoe down and a knee to the ribs makes it worse. Another Arabian moonsault gives Daniels two and he walks over Briscoe’s chest to mess with the mind a bit.

Briscoe fights out of another waistlock with some elbows to the head and a superkick gets two. A middle rope crossbody misses though and Briscoe bangs up the ribs again. Daniels is right back on the ribs but Jay shrugs it off and hits the Jay Driller out of nowhere for the pin at 14:58.

Rating: B-. Pretty good stuff here but the ending kind of came out of nowhere. Daniels working over the ribs worked well enough and Briscoe looked good fighting out of it. They were just kind of done all of a sudden though and it didn’t help the rest of the match. Briscoe getting a nice win is a good thing though and it made sense to have him go over.

Respect is shown after the match.

Eddie Kingston doesn’t have any inspirational words to say because this doesn’t seem real. He is going to miss the good times with Jay and this isn’t fair. Jay is going to be missed by a lot of people because he was a good family man. Kingston thought he had more to say and the only thing he can think of is that he misses Jay. Kingston: “Tell Brodie I said hello.”

Eddie Kingston vs. QT Marshall

Marshall offers the handshake and misses the cheap shot, allowing Kingston to chop away. A backdrop sends Marshall rolling to the floor and Kingston chops him against the barricade, with two fans holding Marshall’s arms. Back in and Marshall manages a cheap shot to take over, allowing him to send Kingston’s throat into the bottom rope. Marshall keeps striking away and Kingston tells him to keep bringing it before hitting the machine gun chops in the corner. The Spinning Backfist To The Future sets up the Stretch Plum to finish Marshall at 5:11.

Rating: C. This wasn’t quite a squash but Marshall isn’t going to beat someone of Kingston’s caliber. Kingston’s tribute to Jay felt emotional and it would have been weird to have him not be on this show. Marshall is a good hand to have around as he is enough of a jerk to make you want to see him get beaten up, which is what we got here. Perfectly fine match.

Post match Eddie holds up a Jay sign.

Austin Gunn talks about getting to Ring Of Honor in 2018 and seeing Jay get injured. The paramedics wouldn’t help Jay because they were off the clock so Austin gets a care package to clean him up. Jay said no because he had a flight in two hours but Austin butterfly stitched a huge cut on his back. That was the first time he met Jay and they talked about family for two hours.

Ryan Nemeth talks about wanting to be in a tag team with his brother. Then he met the Briscoes, who welcomed him to the locker room. He wasn’t close to the team but he knew they were what he wanted to be.

Stokely Hathaway talks about how great the Briscoes are and how it is our job to make sure his legacy lives on.

Madison Rayne vs. Athena

Ring Of Honor Women’s Title Eliminator match and Skye Blue is here with Rayne. Rayne hammers away to start and snaps off a headscissors. Athena is sent outside but what looks to be a diving DDT is countered into something like a gordbuster on the floor. Back in and we hit the surfboard on Rayne, followed by a backbreaker to keep her in trouble.

We hit the cross arm choke into a Backstabber but Rayne manages to send her outside. The whip into the barricade rocks Athena again and a high crossbody hits Athena for two back inside. Athena is fine enough to hit a belly to back suplex onto the apron but Rayne’s crucifix bomb gets two more. Rayne gets sent into the buckle but still manages to cutter a diving Athena out of the air. Back up and Athena grabs a Big Ending onto the knees, setting up a Crossface to make Rayne tap at 8:27.

Rating: C. This show certainly loves its arm submission finishes. Rayne continues to be a good enough hand in the ring and she was able to make Athena look dominant enough by the end. The match was just competitive enough to stay interesting but it was hard to believe that Rayne was going to beat the champ in a spot like this.

Post match Athena drops Blue with a belt shot.

BJ Whitmer talks about his history with the Briscoes and sounds like he is fighting back tears. He thanks Jay for being a friend and a brother.

Zane Decker, a former Ring Of Honor producer, talks about how Jay always listened to him and never brushed him off. Jay understood how much Decker was putting in and treated him nicely. Decker can’t wait to be with him again in Heaven.

Brandon Cutler vs. Juice Robinson

Robinson armdrags him down a few times but Cutler snaps off some slams to take over. A running clothesline sends Robinson outside but Robinson steals the cold spray to blind Cutler. Caprice: “That’s cold.” We hit the chinlock for a bit before Cutler fights up and slugs away, setting up a ripcord lariat for two. An airplane spin leaves them both dizzy until Cutler right hands him down for two more. Robinson fights up but gets cold sprayed down for another near fall. Robinson finally sends him into the corner and hits the running Cannonball. A forward DDT finishes Cutler at 7:34.

Rating: C. This felt like it should have been on something like Dark as Cutler’s comeback came off as little more than comedy. Robinson has been around AEW for a bit now and has yet to take off in any real way. Beating Cutler isn’t likely to change that, but at least he got to do something positive for a change.

Prince Nana talks about Jay being a realist and all of the years they have spent together.

Yuka Sakazaki vs. Sandra Moone

Sakazaki takes her down without much trouble to start but Moone hits a running elbow to the back of the head. Some forearms to the face give Moone two more but Sakazaki grabs a twisting brainbuster. A spinning hammerlock faceplant sets up the Magical Girl Splash for the pin on Moone at 2:59.

From Final Battle 2006.

Briscoes vs. Kings Of Wrestling

This is the Kings Of Wrestling’s (Chris Hero/Claudio Castagnoli, with Larry Sweeney) final ROH appearance. It’s a huge brawl to start and the Briscoes take over on the floor. Back inside and a springboard crossbody hits Hero for two and Mark moonsaults onto Castagnoli on the floor. Castagnoli comes in and gets northern lights suplexed for two before Jay’s snap suplex gets the same.

The fans are split as Hero comes back in and rolling into a moonsault for two on Jay. A double big boot drops Jay for two and a delayed suplex gets the same. Castagnoli stomps away in the corner and then Hero comes in to crank on the arms. Jay manages a double DDT though and it’s back to Mark to clean house.

A Rock Bottom suplex gets two on Hero but a springboard splash only hits raised knees. Mark hits a gordbuster for two on Castagnoli and Hero kicks him in the face for two. The Kings use a PowerPlex for two but Jay catches Castagnoli on top with a super hurricanrana. The frog splash gives Mark two and the yet to be named Redneck Boogie gets the same.

Everything breaks down and Castagnoli spins both Briscoes (with their legs around his neck) because he can do something like that. An exchange of strikes leaves Hero as the only one standing but Jay is up with the Jay Driller, leaving everyone down. With Castagnoli sent outside thanks to a botched Sweeney interference, a shooting star press/guillotine legdrop combination finishes Hero at 17:15.

Rating: B. This is another case where the talent involved is going to guarantee that it worked, though you could tell that the Briscoes were still trying to find themselves as a team. The talent was there and they were starting to put it together, but they weren’t to the point where they felt like THE team just yet. Beating the Kings was good as they felt like huge deals, which is a nice way for them to go out.

Claudio Castagnoli doesn’t know what to say and the locker room found out on their way to the show. You always say “see you next time” but that wasn’t the case here. Castagnoli hadn’t seen Jay in over ten years until recently but he was the same Jay he had seen the last time. He remembers Final Battle 2010 and will miss Jay’s voice and laugh.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Christopher Daniels

Castagnoli is defending and grabs a headlock to start. Daniels fights up but gets pulled into an armbar to slow him right back down. Back up again and Castagnoli knocks him to the floor before sitting on the ropes to let Daniels back in. Daniels uses another way and drops Castagnoli throat first across the top and we hit the chinlock.

Back up and Castagnoli hits a clothesline, only to get pulled into the Koji Clutch. With that broken up, Daniels chokes on the rope before slapping on a guillotine choke to keep Castagnoli in trouble. Castagnoli reverses into a suplex for a breather and fires off the uppercuts to take over.

Daniels manages to pull him out of the air for a spinning Downward Spiral and a Best Moonsault Ever press gets two. The Angel’s Wings is countered though and there’s the pop up uppercut for two on Daniels. The Swing sets up the Jay Driller (after loading up the Neutralizer but changing his mind) to retain the title at 13:35.

Rating: B-. Unless Mark Briscoe was available, there wasn’t much of a better way to close the show. Jay was a two time champion and having that title defended in the main event worked well. They had a good match too, even if it was much more about honoring someone than teasing a title change. This worked well and you could feel the emotion from both of them.

A handshake and REACH FOR THE SKY BOY wraps up the show.

Overall Rating: A-. I never know how to rate these things but this was a heck of a nice show with a balance of classic matches, new material and people talking about Jay. It felt like a lot of the people were still numb (as they probably should have been) but they put on an entertaining show in his honor anyway. The wrestling isn’t the point here, though opening up the vault is always a fun idea. Excellent show here and Jay deserved it.

Results
Wheeler Yuta b. Hagane Shinno – Crossface armbar
Marina Shafir b. Mighty Mayra – Armbar
Eddie Kingston b. QT Marshall – Stretch Plum
Athena b. Madison Rayne – Crossface
Juice Robinson b. Brandon Cutler – Forward DDT
Yuka Sakazaki b. Sandra Moonse – Magical Girl Splash
Claudio Castagnoli b. Christopher Daniels – Angel’s Wings

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