I mean, it’s not like they have anything left to do. And there are some important details.

So….what does this mean?

Really, it’s hard to say at this point as they’re far away from getting off the ground. The names for the shows sound cool and tying it in with a billionaire should do them some good. I have no idea how mainstream this could go, but it’s certainly hot at the moment and they might as well make a go of the whole thing. Now, who will WWE be trying to pick off as fast as they can?

Thoughts?

IMG Credit: Ring Of Honor Wrestling

Ring of Honor
Date: October 17, 2018
Location: Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, BJ Whitmer, Caprice Coleman

We’re FINALLY after the previous month’s pay per view and that means it’s time to do something fresh. Of course around here that doesn’t mean much as Glory By Honor, as in the next major show, has already taken place. I really can’t even mock them for this anymore as it’s still such a problem. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of the ending of Death Before Dishonor, where Jay Lethal successfully defended the World Title against Will Ospreay but the Kingdom came in and beat him down. Matt Taven, now with a haircut, has his own World Title.

Opening sequence.

Here’s the Kingdom to take over the ring. They’re about to do something that should have been done a long time ago. The Kingdom has been silenced for far too long and the referee has to hold the title while the ring announcer reads off Taven’s resume. The last line says Taven is the ROH World Champion, which requires some coercing to be announced. No one comes out, but at least Lethal has a new challenger.

Video on Jeff Cobb showing up and then wrecking TV Champion Punishment Martinez. That could be a heck of a fight.

Chase Owens vs. Kenny King

Owens is Bullet Club and King is the hometown boy. They go to the arm holds to start until neither can kick the other in the face. King goes after the arm again but gets sent to the apron and dropkicked to the floor. Back from a break with Owens hitting a running neckbreaker for a delayed two until King slugs his way back into it.

The spinning leg lariat has Owens on the floor for the spinning corkscrew dive. A high crossbody gives King two and we hit a quickly broken chinlock. Owens loads up a swinging neckbreaker but twists it back into a faceplant for two of his own. The package piledriver is broken up and King bounces off the ropes but his knee buckles. Since Owens is dumb enough to fall for this, King small packages him for the pin at 9:43.

Rating: D+. You would think King would start getting better at putting a match together over time but that’s still not the case. It’s just spot after spot and then the finish with nothing connecting the sections together. The match wasn’t horrible or anything but Owens is just kind of there and King needs someone to help him along.

Coast To Coast is ready to win the Tag Team Titles next week.

Back to Death Before Dishonor, where Colt Cabana joined Bully Ray and Silas Young to beat down Colt Cabana and Flip Gordon.

Flip Gordon vs. Shane Taylor

Hang on though as Flip grabs a mic. Gordon will fight him tonight but first, he needs to call out Bully Ray. At Death Before Dishonor, Ray had to cheat before the tag team tables match but Gordon put him through a table anyway. Ray couldn’t handle that though and had to screw him over. So what does Ray want next? TLC? A Las Vegas street fight?

Here’s Ray to ask if he’s bothering Flip. Ray: “Are you upset that I keep kicking you in the balls?” As Ray talks, Taylor grabs a chair and here’s Silas Young for a low blow. The beatdown is on and no one comes out to help Gordon, despite Ray begging for someone to do so. Ian seems more interested than anyone else.

The Briscoes aren’t worried about Coast to Coast.

Jay Lethal is proud about Ring of Honor selling out Madison Square Garden and he’d love to come in defending the title.

The Kingdom leaves the arena.

We recap the show to fill time.

Next week: Coast to Coast vs. Briscoes, Cobb vs. Martinez for the TV Title and Marty Scurll vs. Chris Sabin.

Addiction vs. Best Friends vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. Young Bucks

One fall to a finish and it’s Evil and Sanada for LIJ. Since there’s no bell after the break, I’m not sure if this is joined in progress or everyone just being really rude. It’s a huge brawl to start (I mean….duh) with the Bucks taking over (I repeat my duh) until Chuck sends them together. The lawn dart cutter sends Matt to the floor but LIJ breaks up the big hug. It’s Addiction’s turn to clean house with a clothesline to the back of Evil’s head and a double stomp, followed by a pair of moonsaults to Sanada.

We hit the string of dives with Nick hitting the big springboard version. Barretta loads up one of his own but stops for a hug, followed by the stereo flip dives from the Friends. We head back in…..FOR THE OPENING BELL, three and a half minutes after the fighting started. Ian: “WHAT???” Sanada ties Daniels and Kazarian up to start (for the second time) and it’s a double dropkick for two on Daniels. Evil gets two off a side slam and we hit the chinlock to send us to a break.

Back with Daniels faceplanting Evil but the Friends, now in sunglasses, pull Kazarian off the apron. As Ian points out how dumb that was, Daniels fights back and makes the hot tag to Nick for the house cleaning. The Friends come in as well and get flipped around but it’s too early for More Bang For Your Buck. Kazarian’s slingshot cutter hits Trent but Sanada is ready for him with a hanging swinging neckbreaker.

Trent comes back in with a tornado DDT but Evil uses the referee for a Magic Killer. Angel’s Wings drops Matt and the Awful Waffle gets two so Chuckie actually makes a tag. How nice of him. The Dude Buster hits Matt but Nick Swantons in for the save. Nick superkicks almost everyone until Matt turns it into double superkicks to everyone else. A dive onto a bunch of people sets up the Meltzer Driver for the pin on Trent at 7:50.

Rating: C+. Well what we got was good and being realistic, you might as well add in the pre-match stuff as part of the match itself. This was all about flying all over the place with very little story involved and there’s nothing wrong with that whatsoever. We got a fun match out of the eight guys and there’s nothing wrong with that. Entertaining match with the fans way into it.

Overall Rating: C. It might not be a great show but it’s so nice to have something that ACTUALLY MATTERS. The Taven stuff is going to depend on your opinion of the guy and while I’m still not a fan, he’s definitely better than he was just a few months ago. The main event was entertaining as well and the show was far easier to sit through than some of the dumb stuff they’ve done in recent weeks. Now just end the Bully Ray As The Super Heel story and we’ll be fine.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: Ring Of Honor

Ring of Honor
Date: October 3, 2018
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

We’re officially past Death Before Dishonor but you wouldn’t know that for a long time around here. Alas we’re stuck with another series of nothing shows that don’t follow up on the pay per view for a few weeks for reasons that even I’m tired of talking about. Hopefully they have something good for tonight, but you never can guess. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Eli Isom vs. Shane Taylor vs. Flip Gordon vs. Chris Sabin

One fall to a finish. Sabin shoulders Flip down to start and it’s time for a very early slugout. A double clothesline gives us a double knockdown and it’s off to Isom vs. Taylor. Eli makes the mistake of going right after him, only to get planted with a spinebuster for two. Sabin and Gordon go after Taylor as well but get choked for their efforts. Some double teaming puts him on the floor though and it’s Flip hitting the big dive onto everyone.

Shane is back up though and hits a Cannonball off the apron to take all three down and take us to a break. Back with Sabin dropkicking Taylor in the corner and flip spearing him through the ropes. One heck of a clothesline drops Gordon so Sabin comes back in with a high crossbody, followed by a missile dropkick. A tornado DDT gets two on Taylor but he slams Sabin out of the corner to get a breather.

Isom comes back in and avoids a charge before getting two off a suplex of all things. Sabin grabs a DDT/Downward Spiral combination for a double knockdown but Taylor is back up to be the monster again. A huge show drops Gordon but Isom rolls Taylor up for the huge upset at 11:31.

Rating: C. There’s nothing wrong with pushing an underdog but I really hope we’re not coming up on Cheeseburger’s replacement with Isom. This is his second big upset win but at least he’s not the smallest guy in the world. Having him pin Taylor is fine, but it doesn’t work as well if they have a singles rematch later. Hopefully they just let Isom get away with it, which is going to do more for him than anything else.

Post match Taylor cleans house until Gordon superkicks him to the floor.

Marty Scurll is ready to face Shane Helms again and wants Shane to be his hero.

TV Title: Aaron Solow vs. Punishment Martinez

Solow won a competition called Dojo Pro to earn this shot and is better known as Bayley’s fiance. A slap to Martinez’s face takes us to the opening bell and Solow has to duck a spinning kick to the head. The chokeslam is escaped twice and a dropkick has Martinez in some trouble. He stomps Solow out of the corner though and it’s time for a trip to the floor for a whip into the barricade.

Back from a break with Solow hitting a kick from the apron and clotheslining Martinez to the floor for the big flip dive. The chokeslam is countered again and the belly to belly (nice touch) into a spinning suplex gets two. Martinez is right back with the running stomp and a South of Heaven chokeslam retains the title at 8:43.

Rating: C+. Not bad at all here with Solow getting to show off a bit. That’s the kind of performance you need to put in when you have an opportunity like this. The match wasn’t exactly in doubt, but Solow looked good and showed off his talents, which is a good sign for his future. Maybe he’ll be back again, which wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

Coast 2 Coast is back next week.

Bully Ray isn’t happy that Silas Young is teaming with the Bouncers because he sees it as a step backwards.

We look at the Kingdom being cheated out of the Six Man Tag Team Titles.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Cody/Young Bucks vs. Silas Young/Bouncers

Cody, with Brandi and Bernard, and the Bucks are defending. Matt tries his luck with the massive Milonas to start and gets knocked into the corner without much effort. Bruiser comes in to overpower Nick so everything breaks down with the champs triple dropkicking Milonas to the floor. More kicks and dropkicks clear the ring and of course the fans love it. Back in and things settle down with Nick rolling over for the hot tag to Cody but a cheap shot takes him down as well.

Silas hammers away at Cody before handing it off to an already tired Bruiser. Cody sidesteps a charge and Bruiser knocks Bernard over, allowing Milonas to crossbody Cody down for two. Back from a break with Cody powerslamming his way out of trouble and diving over for the hot tag to Nick (which is what he’s best at). Everything breaks down (well duh) and the Bucks clean house, including breaking up a variety of near finishers.

The splash/standing moonsault hits Bruiser for two and Cody dives onto Milonas and Young. Bruiser dives onto the other five, leaving Cody to take a big Trash Compactor for two back inside. That doesn’t bother the Bucks though as they start firing off superkicks, which is enough to have Young walk out. Cross Rhodes to Milonas retains the titles at 15:37.

Rating: C. Cody and the Bucks can only do so much with guys like Milonas and Bruiser, who just aren’t the most versatile people in the world. Young leaving makes perfect sense, especially given him being a bigger star and having more success than the other two put together. It’s fine for a one off main event, but the Bruiser and Milonas need someone smaller to do a big chunk of the matches

Overall Rating: D+. This wasn’t a great show by any means and it gave a good illustration of how these post-pay per view shows aren’t all that interesting. The matches are all standalone and none of them were anything more than a run of the mill showcase. Solow looked good, but I need a little more than Bayley’s fiance turning in a nice performance over the course of an hour.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

Like this was going to be about anything else.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/kbs-review-all-in-and-all-out/

IMG Credit: All In

All In
Date: September 1, 2018
Location: Sears Centre, Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Commentators: Don Callis, Excalibur, Ian Riccaboni

We’ve finally arrived. Last year, Dave Meltzer said Ring of Honor couldn’t sell 10,000 tickets to an event. Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks took it as a challenge and they actually pulled it off in about fifteen months. The tickets sold out in about half an hour and they were off to the races. This is the biggest independent wrestling event in history and really, anything good coming out of the show is a bonus. Let’s get to it.

The arena looks great and rather full. I’d think there were more than 10,000 people there.

Here are Cody and the Young Bucks to say they’re going to blow the whole budget in 90 seconds with a bunch of pyro. The pyro doesn’t go off and Cody asks Nick if he paid the pyro guy. They try again and there is indeed pyro. With that out of the way, here’s Animal on a motorcycle for the wrestling legend cameo (their words). Now it’s time for free merchandise with t-shirts being thrown and launched out of a t-shirt gun.

So Cal Uncensored vs. Briscoe Brothers

The Briscoes’ ROH Tag Team Titles aren’t on the line. Scorpio Sky (as Apollo Creed from Rocky) and Kazarian (as Rocky Balboa from Rocky II) for So Cal. Before the match, Sky rips on Chicago (Dude it’s Hoffman Estates. Get your suburbs right.) but the fans chant for them anyway. The Briscoes don’t get much of a reaction, likely because they didn’t insult the crowd enough.

Jay and Kazarian start things off but Mark comes in to take over. Everything breaks down and SCU does the fast paced offense, which would make you think they’re the good guys here, despite them insulting the fans before the match. The Briscoes take over with the hard clotheslines and things settle back down. Mark suplexes Sky for two and the right hands don’t get Sky out of trouble.

We hit the chinlock for a few seconds before Sky hurricanranas his way over to the corner for the hot tag. Everything breaks down and Kazarian hits a nice slingshot hurricanrana to put Mark on the floor. Sky adds a running flip dive, followed by stereo dragon sleepers back inside. The Brothers crawl to each other with Jay raking Sky’s eyes for the break. Mark elbows Kazarian in the face and adds the Blockbuster off the apron and Sky is down again.

Back in and the Razor’s Edge/running neckbreaker combination gets two on Kazarian. Sky breaks up a super version though and it’s a Rock Bottom/Backstabber combination to Mark. Jay pops back up and the Jay Driller into the Froggy Bow gets two with Sky diving in for a save. It’s Doomsday Device time (appropriate) but Kazarian reverses the clothesline into a powerslam on Mark with Sky taking Jay out for the pin at 12:36.

Rating: B-. Good match, though nothing we haven’t seen from these teams before. The Briscoes are an awesome team and have been for years so there’s not much of a surprise there. As a bonus, it’s nice to see Sky getting a chance instead of the standard Daniels/Kazarian lineup.

Kenny Omega talks about facing Pentagon Jr. tonight, saying it’s the IWGP World Champion against the former TNA World Champion. Sure Pentagon is a killer, but Omega is fired up to be in front of 10,000 Being The Elite fans. Goodbye and goodnight.

Video on Cody vs. Nick Aldis for the NWA World Title.

Over Budget Battle Royal

Brian Cage, Bully Ray, Jimmy Jacobs, Billy Gunn, Austin Gunn, Chuck Taylor, Trent Barretta, Ethan Page, Tommy Dreamer, Moose, Punishment Martinez, Colt Cabana, Hurricane Helms, Rocky Romero, Marko Stunt, Brandon Cutler, Cheeseburger, Jordynne Grace, El Hijo Del Chico

I’ve probably missed someone. Winner gets an ROH World Title shot on the main show. Former World Champion Dalton Castle is on commentary. Ray wastes no time in powerbombing Chico through a table at ringside. A series of dives take a bunch of people out and everyone is on the floor, with Tommy Dreamer and Billy Gunn teasing going over but going through the ropes and jumping off the apron instead. No one has actually been eliminated yet, even though the ring is emptied.

Back in and everyone goes after Moose but gets shoved away. For some reason Moose tries a middle rope crossbody, only to be thrown to the apron. Moose fights that off as well but a very small guy eliminates him instead. Ethan Page breaks up the Best Friends hug so they fight over a suplex to the floor. Cage apron superplexes Dreamer back in and Cutler spins Marko into a Rock Bottom. Ray knocks Marko out (not an elimination) and Cutler follows him as this is a complete mess.

The Best Friends are sent to the apron but Romero makes a save. Trent and Chuckie drop Jacobs and Page to set up the hug but Martinez dumps both of them. Romero catches him with a springboard hurricanrana and the forever lariats start connecting. Cage cuts him off with a discus lariat and there goes Romero. Cheeseburger gets in all of his palm strikes before Cage puts me out of my misery by getting rid of him. Martinez and Cage take turns with their crazy big man stuff but neither can hit a chokeslam.

Hurricane chokeslams both of them to a huge reaction and goes to the apron with Page. Cabana knocks both of them out and it’s time for the weapons so Dreamer can have something to do. Thankfully Riccaboni is there with the Doug references but Dreamer gets knocked out by Ray. Marko is actually still in this and goes after Ray, who finally eliminates him. The Gunns get back in and clean house until Jacobs grabs Austin’s crotch. That means a Five Knuckle Shuffle but Billy makes a save.

Jacobs kisses him for some reason and gets tossed but Austin knocks out Martinez. Bully dumps Austin and throws in a Suck It, only to have Billy hit him with a Fameasser. Cage and Billy have a showdown with Cage knocking him out as we’re almost done. That Marko guy is STILL IN HERE so Bully finally launches him out, leaving us with Grace, Cage, Ray and Cabana.

Rating: C+. This was actually a lot of fun as they made it feel like more than a way to get everyone on the card. There were some stories being told in there and the ending was a great touch. I could have gone with a little more order but it never felt like it was dragging, which is the worry of a match like this. Still though, well done.

Chico unmasks as…..Flip Gordon in a very nice surprise.

National Anthem.

The announcers run down the card.

Matt Cross vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

This is a surprise match. Cross is better known as Son of Havoc in Lucha Underground and Friedman is a rich guy. Friedman shoulders him down to start but Cross moonsaults away instead of trying a dropkick. That earns a round of applause from Friedman but he kicks Cross in the ribs instead.

Cross bails to the floor, only to have Friedman say he doesn’t have to flip to get over. They switch places and it’s a Sasuke Special to drop Friedman. Back in and Friedman rolls away before the shooting star can launch. A stomp to the hand has Cross in trouble and a hammerlock powerbomb of all things gets two. Cross catches him with a super hurricanrana and a springboard spinning crossbody for two of his own.

Friedman is right back with a package shoulder breaker to take the arm right back down. A slugout doesn’t go anywhere so Cross rolls him down and hits a double stomp. Cross weakly covers and gets caught in an armbreaker. The pendulum piledriver (think Orton’s hanging DDT but a piledriver) gives Friedman two but Cross hits something like a Lethal Injection. Now the shooting star can finish Friedman at 10:07.

Rating: C. Totally average match that didn’t need to be on the main card and could have been cut entirely. The high flying vs. technical work was fine and while it wasn’t a bad match, I have a bad feeling about how long the show is going to run if a match like this is getting some extra time.

Sean Mooney is with Nick Aldis (announced as Christopher Daniels in a bit of an error), who is ready to defend his title against Cody. They’re both here for the ten pounds of gold. He has a date with destiny and she is getting impatient.

Singer John Mayer is in the front row.

Christopher Daniels vs. Stephen Amell

Jerry Lynn is the referee, billed as the New Reffin Show. Amell is the star of Arrow, who wrestled at Summerslam a few years back. This is a story from Being The Elite where Daniels framed Amell for murdering Joey Ryan in Japan. Yeah it’s a different world. Daniels takes him down with ease to start and does a little Curry Man dancing. Back up and they chop it out with Amell taking him down and offering a bow.

Amell hits a nice dropkick and clotheslines Daniels to the floor. No dive of course but he does send Daniels into the barricade. A table is set up on the floor but they get back inside where Lynn accidentally distracts Amell, allowing Daniels to take over. Amell gets sent into the post and we hit the waistlock. The Arabian Moonsault, with very little elevation, connects for no cover as Daniels would rather go for the table. The distraction lets Amell score with a clothesline and a Falcon Arrow gets two.

Amell manages to hit a Coast To Coast (not a bad one either) for two more but gets enziguried down. The Best Moonsault Ever gets two more but it’s time for Chekhov’s Table. Daniels gets knocked down onto it, only to have Amell miss an elbow through the table (which exploded) instead. Fans: “BROKEN ARROW!”

That’s almost enough for a countout….so Lynn picks Amell up and throws him back inside. Lynn shoves Daniels into a school boy for two, earning Amell a pummeling. Amell says bring it on and flips Daniels off before reversing Angel’s Wings into a rollup for two. That’s about it though as Daniels kicks him down and hits the Best Moonsault Ever for the pin at 11:45.

Rating: B-. That’s on a very sliding scale, as it should be. Amell isn’t a wrestler but looked to be at the low prospect level, putting him roughly 1000 steps ahead of most celebrities. You couldn’t have him win here as Daniels is still a big deal in wrestling and having him lose a singles match to a celebrity would have been a disaster. Very nice surprise here.

They shake hands post match.

Chelsea Green vs. Britt Baker vs. Tessa Blanchard vs. Madison Rayne

Blanchard’s Knockouts Title isn’t on the line and Mandy Leon and Tenille Dashwood are on commentary. Baker, who plays a doctor (which she actually is as well) is Adam Cole’s girlfriend and comes out to his old music. Tessa hugs Magnum TA and Tully Blanchard on the way to the ring. The announcers ask why a match called a Survival match isn’t elimination rules. The explanation: it just isn’t.

They stare at each other a bit as Chelsea’s multiple personalities start fighting for control. Tessa blasts Madison and sends her outside for a whip into the barricade. Britt armdrags Chelsea down back inside but gets take down with a springboard wristdrag. Tessa comes back in with a heck of a clothesline to Chelsea but Madison is back in with a couple of twisting rollups for two each.

That’s not cool with Tessa, who gorilla presses Madison down onto the other two. Chelsea is back up with a big suicide dive onto Tessa and Britt, followed by Tessa hitting her own dive (though she seemed to get caught on the ropes). Madison hits her own high crossbody to the floor and everyone is down. Back in and Baker hits Sling Blades on everyone until Tessa gets up to clean house. A missed charge sends Tessa shoulder first into the post but she’s fine enough for a Flatliner on Baker.

Chelsea missile dropkicks Tessa and Madison hits a top rope bulldog (called a cutter) on Baker. An Unprettier hits Madison but Tessa dives in with the Magnum (jumping Codebreaker from the top) with Baker stealing the two. Tessa rolls Baker up for two of her own and Chelsea gets two on Baker off another Unprettier. Back up and Tessa grabs the hammerlock DDT to plant Chelsea for the pin at 12:46 with Baker not making the save in time. That seemed to have been a botched finish.

Rating: C. It was good with the big spots but it went on too long and there were too many false finishes. Tessa winning was the right call as she’s on a huge roll at the moment. The other three were perfectly fine (save for the messed up ending) and the spot fest stuff was good. Just a little longer than it needed to be.

They hug post match, which seems to be a trend tonight.

Video on Cody vs. Aldis, which is really just Cody wanting to win the title to be like his father. Aldis basically told him to try it and we have a match. The promos between the two have actually been quite good.

NWA World Title: Cody vs. Nick Aldis

Cody is challenging and has Brandi (sweet goodness), Brandi’s father, his dog, Diamond Dallas Page, Tommy Dreamer and GLACIER in his corner. Aldis on the other hand has Sam Shaw, Tim Storm (who he beat for the title), Shawn Daivari and Jeff Jarrett with him. The seconds, save for Brandi, all go to the back though (good) and we’re ready to go. Feeling out process to start with neither being able to get very far off a few holds.

A wristlock and headlock go nowhere so Cody catches him with a dropkick for the first big move. Aldis heads outside and there’s a big dive to take him out. Back in and Aldis chops away, setting up a pretty early chinlock. They ram heads with Aldis seeming to bang up his nose, followed by a double clothesline for the breather. Stereo crossbodies give us another double knockdown and Aldis rolls outside. The big dive from the top is knocked out of the air but Aldis goes down as well.

Cody isn’t getting up so here’s Page to check on him. Daivari comes out with a towel and shoves Page, earning himself a Diamond Cutter inside. With Page and Daivari gone, Aldis drags a very bloody Cody back in but gets powerslammed down (with Aldis’ head hitting the mat) for two. The moonsault press misses and Aldis drops a top rope splash for his own near fall. Cody is right back with the Figure Four but they roll to the ropes in pretty short order.

A powerslam on the floor has Cody in more trouble but he’s fine enough to hit an Alabama Slam. Aldis powerbombs the heck out of him and the Kingsland Cloverleaf goes on. Brandi’s cheers bring Cody over to the rope and she tells him he doesn’t have to do this. Aldis doesn’t care and piledrives him before heading up top, only to have Brandi come in and beg for mercy.

She climbs on top of Cody and takes the elbow for him (Aldis jumped before she moved), sending Aldis into panic. That’s only good for two on Cody, who pops up with the Disaster Kick and Cross Rhodes for two. Cody can’t hit a Vertebreaker but counters a sunset flip into a cradle (ala British Bulldog/Bret Hart) for the pin and the title at 22:02.

Rating: B-. I get what they were going for here and there had to be some shenanigans because the ending wasn’t in any serious doubt, but the match went longer than it needed to and there were times where I was wanting them to just get on with things already. The Page/Daivari segment didn’t need to be there and the Brandi thing felt like a forced heel turn that was forgotten ten seconds later. I liked the match and the ending was the only possible option, but the overbooking hurt things.

We get the big presentation of the belt with all of the seconds coming back in. New champion, people in matching track suits, woman in sequined bikini. Just like back in the Brisco vs. Funk matches.

We recap Hangman Page vs. Joey Janela. Page thought Joey Ryan’s, ahem, signature area was fake and may have murdered him, so Janela is fighting for him. Or something.

Nick Jackson wakes Page up and nearly gets strangled.

Adam Page vs. Joey Janela

Street fight. I’m still not sure I get Janela (with Penelope Ford) so maybe he can win me over here. Page wastes no time in sending him to the floor for a suicide dive but Janela hits one of his own, complete with the flying middle finger. Janela is staggered though and Page moonsaults down from the top to take him down again. A chair is set up in the ring and Janela gets suplexed onto (not through) it for the first big crash.

With that out of the way, it’s time for an actual cracker barrel, but Page takes too long looking at it and Janela whips him into the barrel instead. The barrel is used as a springboard for a flip dive onto Page but he’s fine enough for the Buckshot lariat over the barricade. Page loads up a table at ringside but of course takes too long and gets Death Valley Driven into the corner.

Janela bridges a ladder between the apron and the barrel but gets caught in a “Burning Hammer” (really a torture rack throw because, you know, the real thing would have killed him) onto the ladder instead. With Janela down, Page pulls a bag out from underneath the ring. That’s enough for Ford to come in and slap him in the face before backflipping away from some clotheslines. A Stunner sends Page to the floor for a heck of a crossbody and Page is laid on the table.

That means the big elbow through the table but of course Page is right back up. Two more tables are set up in the aisle and Page powerbombs Janela off the stage….near the tables at least with Janela’s head banging off the edge. Back in and the Rite of Passage gets two with Ford making the save. There are now two garbage bags in the ring and one of them has Page’s cursed cowboy boots (they talk to him).

Ford goes to pick one up and eats a superkick, followed by Janela superkicking Page for two of his own. Janela throws in a ladder and a table with the ladder being set up. Fans: “SAFETY FIRST!” The other bag has a phone (which Page used to kill Joey Ryan) and a few shots to the head rock Janela. Rite of Passage through the table ends Janela at 20:04.

Rating: C+. Way longer than it needed to be but they did what they needed to do. This was all about Being the Elite and that’s perfectly fine. As someone who doesn’t watch the show, they explained it well enough that I got the idea. Page continues to look like a star, but Ford stole the match here, which is saying a lot for someone as new as she is. Janela was the same guy I’ve seen a bunch of times, which isn’t exactly a great thing. He’s fine, but not great.

Post match….an army of people dressed like male genitalia comes out and here’s the very much alive Ryan. Page can’t believe it and there’s the You Plex. A superkick knocks Page out and the army takes him away.

Jay Lethal’s eyes are bugging out for some reason.

Ring of Honor World Title: Flip Gordon vs. Jay Lethal

Lethal is defending and has Brandi Rhodes in a military outfit. Lethal one ups her by coming out as Black Machismo, complete with Lanny Poffo in his corner. Now that’s smart. Brilliant even. You might even say it’s…..dang it I need a word for someone who is really smart. Sandow! That’s it. Poffo is introduced as Lethal’s brother from another mother. The Mega Powers handshake gives us the Code of Honor but Lethal rolls to the floor and tells Brandi to stay in the corner.

Flip snaps off some armdrags to start but gets clotheslined to the floor for his efforts. Lethal has to yell at Brandi and chases her inside, where he puts her on his shoulder in the obvious homage. That earns Lethal a slap and it seems to rock him back into reality. The basement dropkick misses though and Flip hits a standing moonsault for two. Flip’s bouncing nipups avoid some clotheslines and there’s a suicide dive to send Lethal into the barricade.

A second sets up the running flip dive over the top and Lethal is in trouble. He’s fine enough to hold up half of a pinfall reversal sequence until a standing moonsault to the back puts him down. Lethal takes too long going up and gets kicked in the head but the 450 misses (Flip lands on his feet anyway). The Lethal Combination gets two so Flip knees him in the face, followed by a Falcon Arrow for two of his own.

That’s enough for Poffo, who fires Lethal up to bring the Savage out again. A slam sets up three straight top rope elbows….for two as Gordon starts Hulking Up. The right hands set up the big boot but Gordon goes with a Star Spangled Sling Blade instead of the legdrop. The backwards fall away slam sets up the Spiral Tap (Cancun Tornado) for an even nearer fall. Gordon takes too long going up though and it’s a cutter off the top. The Lethal Injection retains the title at 14:23.

Rating: C+. The comedy was a little much for me here as they hammered away with it instead of just having a good match. We’ve covered the shenanigans tonight and that’s not the best idea in the world. Lethal can wrestle a straight match but thankfully they didn’t go with just straight shtick here. It wasn’t great, but fine for a TV main event.

The shake hands post match but here’s Bully Ray to take them both out. Even Poffo gets beaten up until Colt Cabana runs out for the save. A TripleBomb through the table (Ray: “HOLY S***!”) plants Ray and the good guys stand tall.

Kenny Omega vs. Pentagon Jr.

Non-title and you can feel the energy on this one. Pentagon does a few CERO MIEDO’s and kicks him in the ribs to send Kenny outside early. Back in and the Backstabber out of the corner has Omega in more trouble but he’s ready for a dive. Pentagon waits inside and hits the Sling Blade, followed by the big running flip dive to the floor. Omega gets sent into the barricade as it’s all Pentagon early on.

Back in and Omega hits the Regal Roll and a running tornado DDT drops Pentagon for the first time. A big springboard dive takes Pentagon down again and the Snapdragon has Pentagon rocked. The One Winged Angel is reversed into the Backstabber though and Omega is in trouble. He’s fine enough to hit a V Trigger in the corner but can’t hit a super brainbuster. Instead Pentagon ties him in the Tree of Woe for a double stomp but the Fear Factor is broken up.

Another V Trigger (Pentagon: “CERO MIEDO!”) sets up another V Trigger (Pentagon: “CERO MIEDO!”) which sets up a powerbomb into another V Trigger. The One Winged Angel is broken up and the Pentagon Driver gets two. They slug it out on the apron with Pentagon asking for a V Trigger. Tis but a ruse though as Omega charges into a Fear Factor on the apron, which should likely kill him.

Back in and a top rope double stomp gets two with the fans knowing that’s not it yet. Omega hits his own Fear Factor for a near fall, followed by another V Trigger. The One Winged Angel is broken up again and Pentagon snaps the arm. Another Fear Factor gets two so Omega hits a sixth V Trigger, followed by the reverse hurricanrana for two more. The seventh V Trigger sets up the One Winged Angel for the pin at 17:48

Rating: B+. Best match of the night and I’ll spare you the rant about Omega with all of the finishers again. Both guys looked like stars and that’s exactly what the match should have been between the two. You knew Omega wasn’t losing here so the false finishes didn’t do much for me, but that’s the case with a lot of his matches.

Post match the lights go out and we’ve got….Omega standing there and a very aggressive Pentagon, who happens to be missing a tattoo. A Codebreaker hits Omega and it’s CHRIS JERICHO under the mask. Another Codebreaker puts Omega down and Jericho says he’ll see him on the cruise. Callis freaks out so much that he actually falls out of his chair. Or maybe Jericho pushed him.

Marty Scurll runs into someone off camera who yells at him for not being very good. Someone else disagrees with him because Scurll is quite good. Scurll breaks their fingers and that’s that. Apparently this is another Being The Elite things.

Marty Scurll vs. Kazuchika Okada

We even get the Okada Bucks. Feeling out process to start with Okada laying Marty up against the ropes and slapping him on the chest. Marty teases doing the same thing but stops with a pose instead. The announcers entertain themselves with inside jokes as Okada’s wristlock doesn’t get him anywhere. Marty starts slugging away with running forearms and an apron superkick, followed by the suicide dive.

They chop it out with Marty getting the better of it but Okada flapjacks him back inside. That’s enough for in the ring so they head outside again with Okada DDTing him on the floor. Back in and Marty pulls himself up but gets caught in a crossarm choke. That’s reversed into a Backstabber followed by a tornado DDT for two more.

Another DDT gives Okada two and they strike it out until Scurll grabs the brainbuster to knock Okada silly. Scurll grabs a piledriver but can’t pick him up. Instead he stops to fire himself up, allowing Okada to hit the over the White Noise onto the knee to put Marty right back in trouble. They go to the corner to slug it out with Okada getting the better of it, followed by the pinfall reversal sequence for two each.

Scurll powerbombs the heck out of him for two so Okada missile dropkicks him for two of his own. Another DDT gets Scurll out of trouble but there’s the Tombstone. Okada spends too long loading up the Rainmaker though and Marty snaps his finger (Ian: “We found the umbrella!”). The Rainmaker is countered a second time into the chickenwing but Marty can’t get the grip. Okada stands up and drops back on him for the break, only to have Marty slap it on again.

Rating: C. It was pretty good at times but GOOD GRIEF this was long. They easily could have cut ten minutes out of this and when the show is already running long, it would have done them a lot of good. The story of Scurll trying to rise up to the heavyweight level was a good one, but sweet goodness it wasn’t the right time to go the better part of half an hour. I was worried they would do that late in the show and they did it here.

Rey Mysterio/Bandido/Fenix vs. Young Bucks/Kota Ibushi

Rey is Wolverine. Matt and Bandido start things off with Bandido wasting no time in the spinning corkscrew high crossbody. A headscissors puts Matt on the floor and there’s a big spinning flip dive. Everything breaks down and it’s Fenix coming in to kick at Nick. It’s off to Ibushi vs. Rey and that gets the fans back into things. Ibushi gets hurricanranaed down but he pops up to kick Rey in the chest.

The standing moonsault misses but Ibushi lands on his feet (of course). It’s back to Matt to superkick Fenix as a producer talks about going home when he tells them to. The fast tags continue with Ibushi moonsaulting into a double knee drop onto Bandido, followed by moonsault Pele kicks to Bandido and Fenix. Everything breaks down with Rey hurricanranaing Matt to the floor, followed by a top rope Asai moonsault to take everyone down.

Fenix dives onto all of them as well, leaving Bandido to corkscrew dive onto the pile as well. Back in and the Bucks hit their buckle bomb/enziguri combination on Bandido, followed by Ibushi getting two off a German suplex. Rey comes back in and sends the Bucks into each other but Matt breaks up the 619. Fenix walks the rope to break up the Meltzer Driver before throwing Bandido at Nick for a hurricanrana.

Fenix superkicks Matt into the 619, followed by the running Destroyer. Bandido’s reverse hurricanrana sets up some double dives to Nick and Ibushi, leaving Rey to frog splash Matt….for two. Bandido hits a backflip Blockbuster (egads) but Nick makes another save. More Bang For Your Buck gets two, followed by the Five Star Golden Meltzer Driver for the pin at 11:33.

Rating: B. Well you knew the Bucks weren’t jobbing here. They were doing some very fun high flying stuff with the idea of just turn off your brain and have fun. That’s all this match needed to be, though there’s really not much of a reason for it to be the main event. Let this be the match that picks things up somewhere in the middle and it’s a lot better. Still though, good, mindless fun.

We’re off the air IMMEDIATELY with Ian not even being able to completely sign off. Channeling some Barely Legal there to wrap it up.

Overall Rating: B. This one is going to be divisive no matter what I say. Here’s the thing: this wasn’t a standard wrestling show and therefore it’s going to be looked at differently. This is a glorified supershow with matches that are there because fans seem to want to see them without any stories being built up for the card. Aside from the wacky Being the Elite stuff, there were next to no stories being built up for the matches. The announcers said Omega vs. Pentagon was built up as Omega fighting “that crazy guy from Impact”. Fair enough, but I tend to go for a bit more than that.

The other big issue was just how long the show ran. Every match went at least ten minutes and two broke twenty. With a nine match main card, that’s quite a bit to sit through and I was very burned out by the time the Lethal vs. Gordon match started. Cut some of that stuff out (MJF vs. Havoc didn’t need to be there and you could cut at least five minutes off multiple matches, or ten plus off Okada vs. Scurll) and the show is FAR more enjoyable.

Now all that being said, I had a good time watching it and nothing was truly bad. It felt like a really souped up ROH show (which is pretty much what it was) and that’s not a bad thing. As a one off event it was good and I could see it being a yearly thing, which would be a very cool event to have every year. I’m fine with not getting the Being the Elite jokes as I don’t watch it too as that’s on me instead of them. Overall, I had a good time and the wrestling was solid enough, but it wasn’t some blowaway event and there were some big problems. More positives than negatives though, and that’s all you can ask for.

Results

Matt Cross b. Maxwell Jacob Friedman – Shooting star press

Christopher Daniels b. Stephen Amell – Best Moonsault Ever

Tessa Blanchard b. Britt Baker, Chelsea Green and Madison Rayne – Hammerlock DDT to Greens

Cody b. Nick Aldis – Rollup

Adam Page b. Joey Janela – Rite of Passage through a table

Jay Lethal b. Flip Gordon – Lethal Injection

Kenny Omega b. Pentagon Jr. – One Winged Angel

Kazuchika Okada b. Marty Scurll – Rainmaker

Young Bucks/Kota Ibushi b. Bandido/Rey Mysterio/Fenix – Golden Meltzer Driver to Bandido

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor

Ring of Honor
Date: August 29, 2018
Location: Center Stage Theater, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Colt Cabana, Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

We’re getting close to coming up on Death Before Dishonor and that means we might start putting a few things together. Other than that, it’s hard to say what we might be getting this week. That being said, the success rate around here isn’t half bad and there’s always a chance of seeing something great. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Christopher Daniels vs. Jay Briscoe

Mark Briscoe is on commentary to give us the four man booth. Fallout from Best in the World, which is just two months ago to the date of this show’s air date. Or “a couple of weeks” according to Ian. Jay drives him into the corner to start but Daniels shoves him away. A shot to the face knocks Jay to the floor and there’s the Arabian moonsault. Daniels stomps away in the corner and we take a break.

Back with Jay in control and grabbing a chinlock, which feels like a rarity around here. Daniels fights up in short order and gets two off the Blue Thunder Bomb. Angel’s Wings is driven back into the corner but the Jay Driller is broken up as well. That’s enough for Mark, who comes in and blasts Daniels in the back with a chair for the DQ at 7:36.

Rating: C-. Not enough time to go anywhere and I get why you wouldn’t want either of them to take a clean loss here. They were looking equal, which should be the case with two former World Champions. I’m still not sold on So Cal Uncensored as faces and it feels like it could be a big time ruse, which is how things should be going given their history.

Post match the beatdown is on but Scorpio Sky and Kazarian run in for the save.

Video on Jonathan Gresham vs. Jay Lethal in two weeks.

Video on Madison Rayne earning a title shot next week.

Silas Young vs. Flip Gordon

Flip’s ability to moonsault into the ring and take his pants off at the same time is most impressive. Gordon armdrags him a few times but an early suicide dive attempt is blocked right a right hand. A slingshot double stomp hits Flip in the ribs and now Young is ready to take the shirt off (sans moonsault). One heck of a whip into the corner gets two and it’s off to a chinlock (maybe they’re not so uncommon).

Back up and Gordon springboards in with a missile dropkick, drawing a loud FLIP chant. No flipping ensues, but he does hit a running dropkick in the corner. Now it’s the running flip dive to the floor and we take a break with Silas in trouble. Back with Gordon getting two off a high crossbody and a springboard spear is good for the same. Silas catches a charge with the swinging backbreaker into the low clothesline and it’s time for the big slugout.

Gordon gets the better of it with a Falcon Arrow but let’s go back to the slugout. This time Gordon enziguris him down, only to get booted in the face. A Pele drops Silas again but let’s go to the third slugout. With hitting Young in the head not working, Gordon O’Connor rolls him and bridges back for the pin at 10:27.

Rating: C. The slugouts got a little tiring but Gordon needs some more wins over credible names. Young doesn’t seem to be going anywhere now that he’s lost the TV Title but really, it’s not like there is a huge upside to him. He’s been better than I thought when I first saw him, but I think he’s reached his ceiling.

Post match Bully Ray comes in and low blows Gordon. Ray and Young stare at each other, seemingly out of respect.

Marty Scurll congratulates Kenny King on finding his inner villain. Revenge is coming.

King doesn’t have much to say about putting his feet on the ropes to beat Scurll. A year ago he was on a roll and it got him the TV Title. Now things have changed though and he lost to Austin Aries at Best in the World. King had the chance to win but wouldn’t use the Royal Flush on the floor. Ric Flair cheated and won sixteen World Titles so how much does King have to do to win once? King has options now, and that’s good. Nice explanation here, which is more than I was expecting.

Nick Aldis is on commentary for the main event as the fans want Cody.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Kingdom vs. Cody/Young Bucks

Cody and the Bucks, with Bernard the Business Bear and Brandi Rhodes, are challenging, plus getting very loudly cheered. Well Cody is from Marietta (about twenty miles from Atlanta) so it’s not that shocking. They waste no time in starting the brawl with the Kingdom getting the early advantage.

Cody gets left alone but the Bucks run back in to save him from a double suplex. The threat of a double superkick puts the kingdom on the floor and it’s a wheelbarrow faceplant into a cutter to put Taven down. O’Ryan comes in and gets kicked right back to the floor, followed by the slingshot dropkick to Marseglia as the Club is in full control to start. Cody dives to the floor to take out O’Ryan again and stares Aldis down.

Back in and it’s Marseglia chop blocking Matt to cut off a superkick attempt. Matt gets taken into the corner and the leg work continues, including Marseglia dropping some elbows on the knee. Taven comes in for a leglock of his own and we take a break. Back with Matt hitting a middle rope dropkick but banging up the knee again as Colt points out the lack of superkicks so far. Matt kicks O’Ryan down again and the hot tag brings in Nick for a series of non-super kicks.

Marseglia pops the balloon next to Nick’s head to mess with his balance though and Taven is on him with the right hands to the head. The real hot tag brings in Cody who grabs the Sharpshooter on Taven. O’Ryan and Marseglia get caught n the same hold for three at a time. All three are broken up and the first superkick drops Marseglia but Matt bangs up the bad knee again. Cody cleans house but takes WAY too long posing, allowing Marseglia to grab another balloon.

That gets superkicked next to his ear though and a triple superkick gets two on Taven. Cross Rhodes gets two on Taven with Marseglia making the save. The double dives are broken up and Marseglia dives onto Cody. Nick hits his own flip dive though, followed by Taven’s always great looking no hands dive. Brandi, in a dress, hits a big dive of her own and Taven isn’t sure what just happened.

Bernard gets on the apron so Taven kicks him in the head (it’s kind of an easy target) and there’s the Climax to Cody. Redrum (Swanton) gets two and everyone is down as Aldis wonders when the DQ is coming. Dude….actually it makes sense for the NWA World Champion to be that stuck in the past. Rockstar Supernova to Cody is broken up with stereo superkicks and Cross Rhodes to Marseglia is good for the pin and the titles at 14:33.

Rating: B. Heck of a match here with all of the dives and flips, though it might have needed to cut a minute or two to really make this work. They were flying around at the end, but it helped a lot to do the leg work and build up to that. Maybe it’s the traditionalist in me but I appreciate the work being put in to get to the insanity, and this match had that.

Post match Taven rants that Marseglia wasn’t legal (he wasn’t) and Aldis doesn’t like the ROH officiating to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The main event helps as usual, but there’s often this strange feeling to Ring of Honor’s TV. It feels like they don’t really have a long term goal in mind and just make things up as they go. There were stories to everything here but it doesn’t exactly feel like they know where they’re going. Some of these stories feel like they keep going because it’s not clear how to wrap things up. It’s still a watchable show on its own, but long term it’s not the best stuff in the world.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor Wrestling

Best in the World 2018
Date: June 29, 2018
Location: UMBC Event Center, Cantonsville, Maryland
Commentators: Colt Cabana, Ian Riccaboni

It’s pay per view time and even though I’ve already seen the next TV show, none of that matters as we have a few weeks to spare because of Ring of Honor’s wacky TV schedule. The main event here is a triple threat between World Champion Dalton Castle, Cody and Marty Scurll but the real highlight should be the Young Bucks challenging the Briscoes for the Tag Team Titles. Let’s get to it.

It’s a pretty simple opening video with a look at the matches and a discussion of people wanting to be the best in the world. It works fine and it’s not like Best in the World is something that can give you a lot of directions.

The announcers run down the card in case you came in a few minutes late.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. Kingdom

The Kingdom (Matt Taven/Vinny Marseglia/TK O’Ryan) is defending. O’Ryan and Evil start things off and a hard shoulder to TK means it’s already time for Sanada vs. Taven. That doesn’t last long either as it’s quickly off to Marseglia and Bushi but everything breaks down before that can go too far. The ring is cleared and Taven does the Tetsuya Naito pose. That’s a pretty high level call out, even for a rising star like Taven.

Things settle back down with Evil (somehow a face in this match) getting beaten into the champs’ corner. The fans are behind Evil as he hands O’Ryan’s boot to the referee so he can get in a kick to the thigh. Sanada comes in off the tag and ties Taven up but O’Ryan can’t do the same. Fans to O’Ryan: “YOU ARE STUPID!” That means O’Ryan gets tied up as well for a double kick to the back. Marseglia comes back in but Rockstar Supernova is broken up.

Everything breaks down again and Sanada dropkicks Taven’s knee out. Bushi hurricanranas Taven and O’Ryan at the same time but Marseglia makes the save. A German suplex/springboard elbow drop combination gets two on Bushi but he manages to mist Marseglia. That’s about it though as Rockstar Supernova retains the titles at 11:09.

Rating: C-. It was a little too chaotic at times for my taste but that’s how almost every indy style tag match is going to go. This was a good choice for an opener as the Six Man Titles can often be. You get a fast paced matched with some big spots and a title match always feels at least somewhat important. It’s also nice that the Kingdom is getting some traction as champions, which the belts need given how weak the “division” has been since its inception.

We recap Bully Ray vs. Flip Gordon. Ray doesn’t like smaller guys who haven’t earned their spot, turning himself into a real bully. He even attacked Gordon after offering him a handshake for being in the military. Gordon is standing up for himself and his generation tonight.

Gordon is ready to be the young boy that beats up the old man.

Bully Ray vs. Flip Gordon

Gordon comes out draped in the American flag. Ray tries to jump him during the entrances but gets superkicked and speared. A big slingshot dive drops Ray again as the announcers are treating Gordon like the biggest underdog ever. Gordon follows up with a springboard forearm to the floor and Ray is rocked in the early going.

They get back in with Gordon’s running shooting star into the middle rope moonsault connecting for two. Ray runs him over for a breather and you can feel the confidence rise. The Vader Bomb (with a Vader pose in a nice touch) misses but the Star Spangled Stunner is blocked with a low blow to give Gordon the win at 5:23.

Rating: D. Gordon was showing fire here but this felt like another angle disguised as a match in this long story. I don’t know if it’s because Ray can’t work a full match anymore or if it’s just playing to his brawling style but these short matches that keep leading to something else are rather weird choices for pay per views. At least it’s going somewhere and isn’t Cheeseburger though.

Post match the beatdown continues until Eli Isom and Cheeseburger come out for failed save attempts. Ray beats all three down with a chair until Colt Cabana makes a save with his own chair.

Riccaboni wants someone to destroy Ray.

Sumie Sakai/Jenny Rose/Mayu Iwatani/Tenille Dashwood vs. Hazuki/Kelly Klein/Hana Kimura/Kagetsu

Kagetsu is the Stardom Champion and we get a staredown over the titles. Sakai wants to start for the team and gets kicked in the face by Kugetsu. Well that’ll teach her. Kimura comes in and wants Dashwood, meaning the brawl is on. Before that has a chance to go anywhere, it’s Klein coming in to throw Jenny around. Of course the fourth pairing comes in with Iwatani Sling Blading Hazuki. I might be a bit more excited if you didn’t know the tags were coming as soon as the sequence started.

The villains (Klein’s team in case you get confused by the teams with a bunch of names thrown together because you don’t do your Stardom homework) come in and triple team Sakai with three boots on her face at once, allowing Kimura to hold up the Oedo Tai (stable) sign for a cute visual. Sakai DDTs Klein and the hot tag brings in Dashwood to clean house, including a double Taste of Tenille in the corner.

A high crossbody gets two on Dashwood and Sakai comes back in with a missile dropkick. Everything breaks down again and Sakai gets a guillotine choke on Kimura. That’s muscled into a delayed suplex for two on Sakai but Kagetsu hits Kimura with the sign by mistake. Sumie dives onto a pile and hits a dragon suplex for the pin on Kimura at 10:27.

Rating: C. I say this a lot and I’m going to keep saying it until it’s no longer a problem: I have no idea who these people are and I don’t know why I’m supposed to care about them. It’s a bunch of Stardom talents and some names from Ring of Honor, who I don’t know either for the most part. The division does exist, but it’s not going to go far if I have to do outside research to figure out who these people are or what they’re doing here. Give us some quick videos or translated promos if necessary, but find a way to let us know what’s going on.

We recap Austin Aries vs. Kenny King. Aries had the TV Title won but King’s interference turned the win into a DQ. That sent Aries over the edge so he beat King down, setting off a feud. King is tired of being seen as Aries’ lackey and wants to prove that he’s an equal, plus more.

Austin Aries vs. Kenny King

None of Aries’ multiple titles are on the line. Feeling out process to start with a lockup not giving either of them an advantage. Aries’ headlock works a bit better and they shove each other around until King gets backdropped to the floor. Back in and the brainbuster doesn’t work as King slips out and slaps him in the shoulders, which hurts more than you would expect. King sweeps the leg a few times (with no Karate Kid reference) and they head outside again with King knocking him down for a third time.

They go inside again with Aries dropkicking King down to break up a springboard, setting up a top rope ax handle. The slingshot hilo gets two and Aries adds his middle rope elbow to the back for the same. Aries’ chinlock doesn’t last very long as King is right back up with a springboard Blockbuster.

Aries grabs the rope too (he must have been watching King) and then grabs his titles to leave but King dives onto him in a big crash. King picks up one of the titles and gets brainbustered (suplexed but fair enough) on the floor. Fans: “YOU KILLED KENNY!” Ok that was funny. Another brainbuster back inside is good for the pin at 15:33.

Rating: C. Aries’ time in Ring of Honor hasn’t been the best in the world (hey….) but maybe it’s been his time with King. I liked the setup for their feud but it wasn’t the most thrilling match. To be fair though, King has never exactly been one to have a great match on the big stage. Aries is good for an upper midcard role, but I don’t know how much further he’s going to get around here.

We recap Jay Lethal vs. Kushida. Lethal is trying to get back towards the World Title picture and to do so, he’s facing everyone who has beaten him in recent years. Kushida has traded wins with Lethal and tonight it’s the rubber match.

Kushida vs. Jay Lethal

This should be fun. Kushida won’t shake hands so Lethal cranks on the wrist, only to be wrestled down to the ground for an early standoff. The fans are split here (well duh) as the grappling continues with Lethal’s headlock working a bit better this time around. Lethal misses a basement dropkick but Kushida shows him how to do it properly. Three straight running flip dives have Lethal (who likes to use three straight regular dives) in more trouble.

Back in, a top rope ax handle, complete with the Randy Savage finger wag, gets two on Lethal and we hit the chinlock. They’re certainly moving fast so far. Back up and neither guy can hit a suplex so Lethal kicks him in the back and then the leg. Said leg is taken down with a shinbreaker as Lethal has shifted into Flair mode, though he does add a handshake to make up for earlier.

Something like a Texas Cloverleaf (without Lethal reaching through the legs) keeps Kushida in trouble until a rope is grabbed. The Figure Four doesn’t work so Lethal dropkicks him to the floor and NOW the three dives connect, only to have the third countered into a Fujiwara armbar. The arm is fine enough for the Lethal Combination and Lethal counters the handspring into a torture rack (Ian: “He’ll be your hero.”).

Since no one keeps a torture rack on that long, he goes up for the elbow, which is countered into a cross armbreaker. Lethal spins out and gets the Figure Four, which is broken with another rope break. They kick it out with Kushida rocking Lethal and shaking his hand for a nice callback.

Lethal enziguris him down but the Lethal Injection is countered into the Hoverboard Lock. It doesn’t last long so Kushida tries Back to the Future, which is reversed into a rollup into the Figure Four, which is reversed into a small package to give Kushida two and a nice ovation from the crowd. Lethal kicks him in the knee again and now the Lethal Injection is good for the pin at 17:34.

Rating: B+. Shocking that two of my favorites around here have easily the best match of the night so far. Lethal wanted to win no matter what and the announcers were right there to talk about how much more aggressive he was being compared to the other matches. The leg vs. the arm work was a good story and they were both working hard to have a great match. Lethal is on fire right now and Kushida is always good for a strong performance. Very good match.

We recap Punishment Martinez vs. Adam Page for the TV Title. Martinez, being the slightly psychotic guy that he is, attacked Page a few weeks back for reasons for general evil. Page then cost him the IWGP United States Title so Martinez cost him the TV Title. Martinez went on to win the title himself and is defending it tonight.

Page doesn’t care about Martinez injuring his head because he’s ready for tonight.

TV Title: Punishment Martinez vs. Adam Page

Martinez, who walks out of a casket and has some….I guess ghouls with him, is defending and Silas Young is on commentary. This is also a street fight so Page jumps him at the bell to start things in a hurry. They’re on the floor in a hurry and fighting through the streamers because Ring of Honor fans love their traditions. A suicide dive sends Martinez into the barricade and Page whips him into it a few more times.

Martinez gets in a shot to the back so Page pelts a chair at his head. Well that’s kind of upping the violence in a hurry. The chair is wedged into the corner and for once, the person who sets it up doesn’t go into it as Martinez goes back first into the chair. A table is set up against the post but Martinez is fine enough to hit a Last Ride onto the apron. Back in and Martinez hits a rather good chair shot before throwing Page into the barricade.

A table is set up but Page breaks the zip ties and knocks Martinez outside. Martinez gets speared through the table and a moonsault drops him again. Page takes too much time posing though and gets kicked onto the pile of chairs (which the camera misses). Back in and Martinez pours out the thumb tacks but gets backdropped onto them. Again though he’s fine and a chokeslam through the table ends Page at 15:07, though all four shoulders seemed to be down.

Rating: B. Heck of a fight here, even with Martinez’s questionable at best selling. Page has become one of my favorites around here as what you see is what you get, though in a good way. These guys beat each other up and it felt like they wanted to hurt each other. I had a good time with this and the ending leaves the door open for a rematch. Good stuff.

We recap the Young Bucks vs. the Briscoe Brothers in a battle of two of the three best teams ever around here. The Briscoes are the heels vs. the face Bucks for a change and this is about as much of a guaranteed great match as you’re going to get around here. A few weeks ago, the Briscoes beat the heck out of the Bucks and Cody during a title match to set this up.

Tag Team Titles: Briscoe Brothers vs. Young Bucks

The Bucks are challenging and it’s Nick vs. Mark to start. It’s an early standoff until Nick gets in Mark’s face and knocks Jay off the apron. A low bridge sends Nick outside but he’s fine enough to kick Jay in the head. Everything breaks down and the superkicks are blocked (the Briscoes must be psychics), setting up double face to face staredowns. The Briscoes hit the ropes though and NOW the superkicks connect.

Nick dropkicks them both and a double basement dropkick has Jay in trouble. A Razor’s Edge/neckbreaker combination gets two on Matt and we settle down to a more standard formula. The fans are split here (again, well duh) as Mark stomps away and Jay gets in a choke behind the referee’s back. Matt tries to slide to the floor and run around but has to stop for a superkick, allowing Mark to stomp him down again.

Another superkick is enough for the hot tag off to Nick, who wastes no time with the springboard flip dive. Nick knees Jay in the face but Mark pulls him off the ropes into a rear naked choke of all things. Matt gets Blockbustered and it’s the neckbreaker into the Froggy Bow for two on Nick. The super crucifix bomb is broken up by Matt and a double clothesline takes the champs down. An exchange of superkicks actually goes to the Briscoes and the Jay Driller plants Matt with Nick having to make a save.

The Doomsday Device is broken up by a springboard cutter and a victory roll gets a rather close two. With Mark knocked to the floor, the Bucks hit a springboard Doomsday Device for another near fall on Jay but Mark takes out the referee. Mark brings in a chair, which is promptly superkicked right back into his face. The Meltzer Driver gets two on Jay as Mark makes another save.

Another Driver is loaded up but Mark pelts a chair at Nick’s head (that looked BAD, in a painful way) and the Jay Driller on a chair gets two on Matt. An elevated piledriver on a chair can’t get a pin? Now the super Razor’s Edge/neckbreaker combination is enough to put Matt away at 17:00. That last move looked great but they didn’t need to do that and the Jay Driller.

Rating: A-. Yep this was awesome and that’s really not a surprise. The Briscoes are an awesome team and can put on a great match with just about anyone. When you have the Bucks with their heads on straight and they’re being serious, they can carry their end of an excellent match too. This was the best thing on the show so far and that tends to be the case with the tag matches.

Post match the Briscoes continue the beating until…..So Cal Uncensored makes the save? That’s very out of character for them and the Bucks look confused. They stare each other down but there’s no violence.

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

Castle is defending and Brandi, Bernard and the Boys are all at ringside. On top of that, Castle has pretty much every injury you can imagine coming into this. Actually Cody ejects Bernard and we’re ready to go. The champ is knocked to the floor with a Disaster kick but he pulls Cody outside for a whip into the barricade. Marty gets hurricanranaed down and Castle hammers away as well as he can with one good arm.

Cody comes back in with a Downward Spiral but Castle pulls him outside, only to get superkicked by Marty. Back in and Cody begs off from Marty but pulls him into a release suplex. All three are in again and it’s Castle throwing Marty into Cody. Marty gets knocked to the floor and Castle hits a kind of super judo throw (started as a superplex) but Marty is back in with a chickenwing on the champ.

Cody gets back up and adds a Figure Four at the same time, but Marty and Cody get in a fight that breaks up both holds. That’s the only way you could have Castle survive that so it makes sense. Castle rolls to the floor and Brandi has to save Cody from Shattered Dreams (nice touch). The distraction lets Cody get in the low blow instead and it’s time to put on the Ring of Honor. This is of course REALLY STUPID as you don’t let Marty that close to your fingers.

The snapping ensues and Marty takes the ring, only to walk into the Bang A Rang for two as NWA World Champion Nick Aldis pulls the referee. Cody dives out onto him, allowing Marty to hit a belt shot for two as Brandi saves. The referee throws out all of the seconds, leaving us with a three way slugout.

A right hand puts Cody on the floor so he pulls out some powder, which of course is knocked back into his hands. It doesn’t seem to matter as he hits Cross Rhodes on Marty with Castle stealing the two. The chickenwing goes on but Cody is back in for the save, only to take Cross Rhodes from Marty. A quick Bang A Rang to Scurll gives Castle the surprise pin at 13:16.

Rating: B-. The ending actually didn’t surprise me as it was almost too obvious that Castle was losing. It wound up being fine enough as he would lose the title at the TV tapings the next day but still, nice moment there when it was almost a guarantee that he would lose. Marty is likely dropping back down the card after this, which is probably the best idea as I’m not sure how strong of an option he is near the top.

Cody on the other hand will be fine as he’s going to be pushed to the moon almost anywhere he goes and is winning the NWA World Title in September anyway. Good main event, but nothing compared to the other matches, which has been a calling card of Castle’s title reign.

We’re off the air less than 45 seconds after the fall.

Overall Rating: B. I don’t remember the last time I saw a show that went from so lame and middle of the road to awesome in such a short amount of time. Everything after Aries vs. King was anywhere from good to great but everything before then felt like a lifeless house show with a budget. As luck would have it, they split things right down the middle and the really good stuff easily outweighs the weaker parts. Rather strong show, even if it took me this long to get through it.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor Wrestling

G1 Climax Special In San Francisco
Date: July 7, 2018
Location: Cow Palace, San Francisco, California
Commentators: Jim Ross, Josh Barnett

We’re back stateside now and that means we should be in for a fun show. Last year’s version of this saw the crowning of the first ever United States Champion and the title is on the line again tonight. However, the main event is of course for the World Title with new champion Kenny Omega defending both the title and the leadership of the Bullet Club against Cody. Let’s get to it.

The announcers, in front of a mostly empty arena, welcome us to the show.

The opening video looks at the show a year ago and then tonight’s five title match. This has a very old school WCW feel to it and that’s not a bad thing. As expected, this mainly focuses on Cody vs. Kenny Omega in tonight’s main event.

Bullet Club vs. Chaos

Bullet Club: King Haku/Tama Tonga/Tonga Loa/Yujiro Takahashi/Chase Owens

Chaos: Yoshi-Hashi/Gedo/Rocky Romero/Sho/Yoh

Yes THAT Haku, the father of the Tongans (the Guerrillas of Destiny). Yujiro doesn’t have his ladies with him, making his existence far less important. Haku and Yujiro start things off and a running dropkick puts Haku down. The Tongans come in for a triple headbutt and it’s off to Romero vs. Loa. That’s it for the one on one as the Guerrillas splash the heck out of him in the corner.

A piledriver gets two and it’s Loa staying in to beat on Romero even more. Owens comes in and gets two off a backbreaker before quickly leaving so the more interesting Tongans can take over again. JR mistakenly calls Takahashi a junior heavyweight, again showing the level of research he puts into these shows.

Romero hurricanranas both Owens and Loa down at the same time and it’s Yoh (not Hashi JR) coming in to clean house. A reverse DDT gets Yujiro out of trouble and it’s Tama running Sho and Yoh over again. Everything breaks down with an exchange of kicks to the face and Romero suicide dives Loa into the barricade. Back in and Haku Death Grips Gedo, leaving Tonga to Gun Stun him for the pin at 9:24.

Rating: C-. Perfectly acceptable opener here, JR’s issues with knowing what he was talking about aside. The Guerrillas are still one of the coolest teams around and Haku adds the legendary/HE’S GOING TO KILL ME vibe to the team. Chaos continues to be a thing that just kind of exists around here and that’s actually kind of an important role to play. Fine for an opener.

Tomohiro Ishii/Toru Yano vs. Minoru Suzuki/Zack Sabre Jr.

Chaos vs. Suzuki-gun in a rematch from last month’s Dominion where Suzuki and Sabre won. Ishii and Suzuki hit each other in the face over and over to start, as they are required to do, likely by law. Suzuki actually gets knocked into the corner and tags out early on, giving us Sabre vs….Yano. Great. Ishii sends Suzuki into the post as Yano gets his hand cranked a bit.

The hiding in the ropes doesn’t work as Suzuki is right there to yell in his face. Sabre starts in on a modified Indian Deathlock as the eternal battle between Suzuki and Ishii continues on the floor. Suzuki comes back in and grabs a few double submissions on Yano. I enjoy seeing him in extreme pain far too often. Somehow that’s not enough or a submission so it’s back to Ishii to knock Suzuki into the corner.

This time it’s Suzuki getting the better of it and knocking Ishii off his feet, only to kick him in the face. You don’t do that to Ishii, who shrugs off the sleeper and suplexes Suzuki. Yano comes in and takes off the buckle pad again (Yano? Doing the same spots?), leaving Ishii and Suzuki to fight on the floor. The low blow is blocked but Ishii comes back in with a clothesline to knock Sabre into the cover to give Yano the pin at 9:42.

Rating: C. Ishii vs. Suzuki is always entertaining but egads I can’t stand Yano. It’s the same series of stuff over and over again and I really don’t need to see any of it ever again. Sabre didn’t get to do anything here and that’s a waste of someone with a very unique set of talents. Oh and he even got to eat the pin from Yano. How lucky he is.

Suzuki beats up a Young Lion to blow off some steam.

Quick video on a meet and greet yesterday.

Hangman Page/Marty Scurll vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi/Kushida

Bullet Club vs. Taguchi Japan because everyone is in a stable around here. Kushida and Scurll start things off as JR starts listing UK wrestlers. Scurll gets taken down without much effort but manages to grab a quickly broken Octopus Hold. Back up and Kushida spins around Marty to get on his nerves so it’s off to Tanahashi vs. Page.

Tanahashi starts cranking on the arm and scores with a middle rope crossbody. That means some air guitar, with JR saying he played his own earlier today. We’ll move on from that as fast as possible with the Club sending both guys to the floor with Scurll hitting an apron kick, followed by Page’s shooting star from the apron as well. They even beat up Ryusuke Taguchi for fun.

Back in and Kushida nails Marty with the handspring elbow, setting up the hot tag to Tanahashi. House is cleaned in a hurry but Tanahashi has to fight out of a crossface chickenwing. Instead Kushida comes back in and dropkicks Scurll down. A Sling Blade puts Page down as well and Kushida grabs the Hoverboard Lock on Scurll. Page sends Tanahashi to the floor though and comes in with the save off the Buckshot Lariat. The Rite of Passage ends Kushida at 9:52.

Rating: C. Perfectly fine tag match here and I can always go for more Kushida. Page continues to look like a star and that’s going to serve him well in the future. I’m not sure how far he’ll go in Japan, but the look alone should be enough to get him somewhere. Tanahashi continues to be the guy you can put into high profile spots and get something out of him even though his time on top is over, which is incredibly valuable.

Never Openweight Title: Hirooki Goto vs. Jeff Cobb

Cobb is challenging after asking for a title shot. Goto’s entrance always feels epic and it’s cool to see it in America for a change. Cobb powers him around to start so Goto pounds him in the back. That makes Cobb take his hair down and a hard shoulder rocks the champ. An overhead belly to belly shows off Cobb’s power so Goto gets smart by low bridging him to the floor.

A toss into the post has Cobb’s head bouncing off the steel (DING!) and it’s off to the neck crank back inside. JR of course starts comparing Cobb to Steve Williams, because Williams played football at Oklahoma. Cobb fights up and hits a spinning belly to back for two but misses the standing moonsault.

Goto muscles him up for a suplex of his own but Cobb is right back with an Oklahoma Stampede. Dang maybe JR isn’t as much of a rambling old man as I thought. The Tour of the Island (spinning powerslam) is countered into a sleeper from Goto as JR wants to know why Goto isn’t working on Cobb’s heavily taped shoulder. Instead it’s the fireman’s carry backbreaker for two and the GTR to retain the title at 12:17.

Rating: C-. There were some flashes of what could have been in there with Cobb looking like the monster (say an Aztec monster for example) he could and should be. Goto was his usual self, making this feel more like a wasted opportunity than anything else. Cobb can be a heck of a performer and while he was getting close in there, it didn’t feel like he was unleashed as he should have been.

Very quick video of the Young Bucks promising to retain their titles.

IWGP Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon

Los Ingobernables (Evil/Sanada) are challenging here after losing the titles to the Bucks last month. Sanada and Nick get things going and they knock the other’s partners off the apron before even going at it. Instead everyone runs in and misses something, setting up a triple headscissors with Matt Scorpion Deathlocking Evil and turning everyone ever for a near Human Centipede. A double dropkick has Sanada in trouble but Evil comes back in, allowing Sanada to superkick Matt in the hip.

It’s Matt in trouble and a backsplash gives Evil two. We hit the bow and arrow hold as the announcers talk about how much punishment the Bucks can take. Fair enough actually. Nick dropkicks his way to freedom but Sanada runs around and pulls Matt off the apron. Good idea, though the hot tag brings Matt in about ten seconds later. Matt wastes no time in going for the Deathlock but his back spasms flare up again.

Nick is back up though and hits the slingshot X Factor on Evil, but Sanada catches his moonsault in a dragon sleeper. I’d still love to see someone just step aside ala Samoa Joe. That’s broken up as well and Evil eats a pair of superkicks, only to have Sanada springboard in with a double dropkick. Back up and Sanada puts on a SWINGING DRAGON SLEEPER with Nick making a fast save.

The 450 gets two and Matt gets the Deathlock again. Sanada does a pretty awesome dramatic crawl for the ropes, which you wouldn’t expect from a heel. The Bucks are sent into each other and it’s Evil coming in with some German suplexes. Darkness Falls (sitout Samoan drop slam) gets two and there’s a Magic Killer for two on Nick.

Rating: B. I liked the match (as usual the Bucks are much better in Japan) but there were a lot of superkicks and that Tombstone onto the chair only getting two was a lot to take. Throw in Matt being up all of thirty seconds later and it’s a bit much to take. I wasn’t expecting a title change here or anything so I can easily settle for a nice match between teams with chemistry.

New Japan will be back in America in September and November (twice).

And now, a fifteen minute intervention, complete with an ad for the merch stands.

JR and Barnett preview Hiromu Takahashi vs. Dragon Lee (JR: “I worry about their long term safety.” Oh my indeed.).

Video on Jay White vs. Juice Robinson for the US Title. White accuses Robinson of spending too much time focusing on the fans and not enough going for the big wins.

Yesterday at the press conference, Cody talked about being criticized for his in-ring abilities. Kenny Omega said let’s have a big match. Not exactly strong promos here but that’s not what New Japan does (not a bad thing).

Video on Cody vs. Omega, focusing on Cody wanting to take over Bullet Club and Omega defending the team. Omega says this has happened before, showing clips of AJ Styles becoming IWGP World Champion and then getting kicked out of the team. The Young Bucks are on Omega’s side but cost him the match against Cody at Supercard of Honor. Cody is obsessed with becoming champion so Kenny says bring it. Now this was very good and caught me up on the story while making me want to see the match.

The announcers recap the first half of the show.

Kazuchika Okada/Will Ospreay vs. Tetsuya Naito/Bushi

Chaos vs. Los Ingobernables and egads Okada looks strange without the title. Naito and Okada start things off and the fans are rather appreciative. Hang on though as Naito takes about a minute and a half before he’s willing to lock up. Apparently the delay suits him as he sends Okada outside and rolls into the pose. JR compares it to the People’s Elbow and….yeah I can actually get that one.

Bushi and Ospreay come in with a hurricanrana sending Bushi flying. Naito comes in with a dropkick as everything breaks down in a hurry. We settle down to Naito dropkicking Ospreay in the corner and Bushi coming back in for a choke with a shirt. Ospreay gets in an enziguri to set up the hot tag to Okada so things can slow down a bit. A high crossbody gets two on Naito but the Tombstone is escaped.

Okada misses the dropkick as well but Destino is countered. The Tombstone is countered again so it’s the over the shoulder neckbreaker onto the knee instead to put Naito down. Bushi comes in and suckers Ospreay into a kick in the corner and gets two off the running Codebreaker. Okada comes back in for a missed Rainmaker on Naito but does hit that perfect dropkick. The Stormbreaker is enough to put Bushi away at 11:59.

Rating: D+. This uh, wasn’t very good with neither team exactly seeming thrilled to be out there. It was a bunch of signature stuff and Ospreay finishing with his big move, which isn’t exactly what you would want on a major shot. Instead it came off like a post show dark match with the guys putting in no more than the minimum effort. That being said, Okada and Naito at low speed is still better than most anyone else in the world.

Very quick video on Hiromu Takahashi.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Hiromu Takahashi vs. Dragon Lee

Lee is challenging and his CMLL World Light Heavyweight Title isn’t on the line. These two are longtime rivals so the history is built in. Takahashi puts his Best of the Super Juniors trophy and Darryl (stuffed animal) on the announcers’ table so Lee hits a running hurricanrana over the apron to kick start things. You know it’s not slowing down already as a heck of a suicide dive sends Takahashi into the barricade.

Back in and Lee mocks Naito’s pose, instantly turning him into the heel for the match. Or at least for the next few seconds. A very long dropkick puts Takahashi down but he’s right up with a hurricanrana to send Lee outside. Takahashi followed with a top rope seated senton to take Lee down again. They head to the apron and then the top rope with Takahashi getting knocked backwards so his legs are tied in the ropes.

The top rope double stomp absolutely crushes Tanahashi but they get back inside at the same time. Back in and they trade a series of hard German suplexes to drop each other on their heads. They’re nice enough to mix it up a bit with some kicks to the head and a double clothesline to put both guys down. They pull themselves to their feet and chop it out so hard that we pause for the sake of regaining feeling in their chests. Those loud chops never get old.

Lee charges into an overhead suplex into the corner and Takahashi has a scary look on his face. One heck of a C4 plants Takahashi but he reverses a suplex into a triangle choke. Lee can’t powerbomb his way to freedom so he pulls Tanahashi up and throws him backwards in a suplex, dropping Tanahashi on his head. That would result in a neck injury that would put him on the injured list for about a year. Lee isn’t done as he suplexes him into a powerbomb for two. Another powerbomb is countered into a Canadian Destroyer though and a very week Time Bomb (understandable) finishes Lee at 16:20.

Rating: B+. Well that worked, save for the whole nearly broken neck and all that jazz. These guys were going nuts with the high spots and obviously have some serious chemistry together. Takahashi has found his groove and Lee is a heck of a luchador, making this about as good of a matchup as you can get. You could see the life go out of Takahashi at the end though and that’s pretty understandable given how horrible the injury was.

We recap Juice Robinson vs. Jay White. Robinson is on a quest for his first title and White is trying to prove that he’s the best around. White has also broken Robinson’s hand to make this much more personal. Robinson on the other hand has promised to win the American title clad in red white and blue with stars on his nipples.

US Title: Jay White vs. Juice Robinson

Robinson is challenging and does indeed wear red, white and blue, along with a rather feathery hat. During the introductions, it’s made clear that Robinson can be disqualified for using the cast on his left hand. They go straight for the brawling to start with Robinson sending him outside for a flip dive from the apron. White gets thrown into and then through a barricade before being taken back inside for the snap right hands. A belly to back suplex drops Robinson right back over the top and White whips him hard into the barricade, knocking it off again.

After a little mocking of/flipping off the crowd, it’s time to start in on that bad hand. Robinson gets suplexed down again and we hit the Muta Lock. After a rope grab, Robinson is tied in the same ropes for some chops and a running shot to the head. Robinson gets the better of a chop off and hits some running corner clotheslines. A German suplex cuts Robinson off and it’s time to crank on that bad left hand. A trip to the floor goes badly for Robinson, who is sent into the barricade again.

This time though it goes HARD into JR’s ribs (Josh to White: “You done f***** up now.”) and Josh gets up and into White’s face. JR is wondering where his hat is and complains about the producers as White misses a chair shot to the hand. Robinson hits a good looking spinebuster to drive White into the apron but he trips Robinson face first onto the apron.

Back up and White can’t hit the German suplex off the apron (because we’ve already had one horrible neck injury tonight) so he settles for a Russian legsweep instead. That’s good for a nineteen count with the announcer getting anxious as he gets closer to the twenty count. Robinson is fine enough to hit a superplex for two but White punches him in the head over and over.

The Blade Runner is broken up but Robinson nearly runs over the referee. That’s enough of a distraction for White to hit a low blow and since wrestling referees are very fragile, he’s down long enough for Robinson to get in a cast shot. The jumping Unprettier gives Robinson two and White’s back to back half nelson suplexes get the same. Another Blade Runner attempt is loaded up but Robinson reverses into a rollup for the pin and the title at 23:22.

Rating: B. There was a great story here with both guys being willing to go as far as they could to leave with the title and hitting one big move after another to get there. The ending though as the hard gear shift, which is one of my favorite things to see in wrestling. They both used every big thing they could but couldn’t put the other away, so Robinson used a surprise wrestling move to win. That’s very cool and I always love seeing it.

Robinson is thrilled to win, even though JR thinks his name is Jay White.

We recap Omega vs. Cody. Omega has done everything he could to get here and says it represents pro wrestling. Cody though has been a thorn in his side though and is even trying to take over the Bullet Club. They fought earlier this year at Supercard of Honor where Cody won with an accidental assist from the Young Bucks. That was on Cody’s turf though and now it’s Omega’s turn to have a home court advantage.

IWGP World Title: Kenny Omega vs. Cody

Omega is defending and I do love the way they show every champion before the match. It doesn’t take long and is a nice nod to history. Cody has Brandi with him, but hang on as he needs to sit on a throne which is carried to the ring. Sounds like an homage to King Haku to me. Omega on the other hand has the Bucks in his corner. You can debate the importance of the IWGP World Title vs. the WWE Championship but sweet goodness that is a great looking belt.

The fans are behind Omega and they stare each other down at the bell. There’s no contact in the first minute as Cody is too busy glaring down at the Bucks. We get a hard lockup to start with Cody going to the eyes to take over early on. Cody doesn’t follow up though, instead pausing and then going for another lockup. Omega hits a hard shoulder but Cody’s actually knocks the champ down. A hard chop stuns Cody but he’s fine enough to uppercut Omega out to the floor. The brawl heads outside with the fans all over Cody with some very un-PG language.

Back in and the snap powerslam (Cody has been watching Goldust matches) gets two as they’re starting to get out of first gear. Omega’s running jumping Fameasser sends Cody outside again, only to have him hide behind Brandi. They change places and Cody hits a big springboard dive (without any twisting and instead just crashing down onto Omega, which suits someone of Cody’s size and style) but Omega sends him over the barricade and onto a table.

The double stomp through the table crushes Cody and let’s set up a second table at ringside. Cody can get away before Omega tries the big dive and a table shot to the ribs doubles Omega over. Back in and Cody kicks at the leg before grabbing a cravate. A hurricanrana gets Omega out of trouble and sends Cody to the floor where he turns over the table in frustration. Apparently a wood lover, Omega takes him down with a big flip dive, followed by a springboard missile dropkick back inside.

The first (of many) V Trigger connects and there’s the Snapdragon, only to have Cody come back with one of his own. The Figure Four goes on and Cody is quite a bit better at it than his daddy. Omega however is just as good as any Flair opponent and turns it over without much effort. Since we’re out of things to do, it’s time to bring in a ladder, which feels completely out of place here. Cody drops him ribs first onto the ladder, drawing the Bucks over to check on Omega.

With Omega on the table, Cody goes up the ladder in the ring (as JR rants about the guy who set up the barricades tonight) but Omega is right back up. The superplex through the table is teased but Cody doesn’t feel like going through traction so he superplexes Omega back down. Cody grabs the belt but gets caught in a reverse hurricanrana. The ref gets bumped (of course) and it’s time for Cody to pick the belt up again. He drops it and hits a messy Cross Rhodes for two (from a second referee) instead.

There’s another V Trigger and a second connects in the corner. Make it four in about a minute but Cody blocks the fifth, showing that the first four weren’t exactly impressive. Omega can’t get him up for the One Winged Angel so he switches to a running powerbomb over the top onto the table…..which doesn’t break. That was good for some solid cringing. Cody is DONE so Brandi comes in to cover him up, allowing Cody to blast Omega with a clothesline. Two more knees have Cody in trouble and a Jay Driller gets two. The One Winged Angel retains the title at 34:16.

Rating: B. It’s good, but there’s a far cry here than so much of what Omega is capable of doing. The tables were one thing but that ladder felt like an unnecessary crutch that was used for a single spot. Cody just doesn’t seem capable of doing these bigger matches (save for one with Okada) and that hurts things when he’s in this kind of a match. Omega was doing his thing here but it’s not like the title ever felt like it was in any real danger. The first match going to Cody made this one obvious and it wasn’t bad, but nothing great.

Post match everyone comes in to check on Cody and Omega with Cody leaving him to pose. Omega says he’s proud of having his first title defense in front of these people in this historic building. We’re all people though and we all deserve a second chance, including Cody. Omega does the goodnight and goodbye and goes up the ramp, where Haku and the Guerrillas of Destiny come out to celebrate. Massive posing and too sweeting ensue…..and the Tongans jump Omega and the Bucks!

Tama Tonga pulls off his Bullet Club shirt to reveal a Firing Squad (new stable name) shirt. Tonga Loa and Haku have them as well as the destruction continues. Adam Page and Marty Scurll run in but get beaten down too as Tonga shouts that Omega did this. Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi come in and get taken out as well. The bell keeps ringing, which JR thinks is just annoying the Tongans even more.

Cody staggers back out and gets handed a chair, which he uses on the Tongans. That lasts all of five seconds before he gets beaten down, including a spike piledriver on a chair. The Tongans leave, saying there is no leader of Bullet Club. In the ring, Cody helps Omega to his feet for the big hug. In other words, Bullet Club is fine. At least this part of it. The Club poses on the stage and the announcers wrap up the night. It’s kind of odd to see the team get beaten down and then stand up for the focus like that. Really good closing angle here, which helped make up for a main event that didn’t live up to its hype.

A quick highlight package closes things out.

Overall Rating: B-. The show was trying hard and it had its strong points, but there were several points that didn’t work so well. The first few matches were completely skippable and the big tag match was disappointing. There are some very good points though, with Lee vs. Takahashi being entertaining, the main event/post match angle, the Bucks’ match and the US Title match all being strong.

It’s a good show that is nowhere near the level of their big pay per views, though it’s not supposed to be that kind of a show. New Japan’s expansion is taking its time, but having a good show like this is going to be a strong starting point. Things are going to start picking up in the next few months with the G1 Climax and that’s going to be a lot of fun. Omega as the World Champion is the right call and if they keep things going in the right direction, I’m curious to see where things are going, especially in America.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: New Japan Pro Wrestling

Dominion 6:9
Date: June 9, 2011
Location: Osaka-Jo Hall, Osaka, Japan
Commentators: Don Callis, Kevin Kelly

So this was a big request and therefore I’m powerless to do anything about it. The main event is yet another Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada match (maybe the stars are just counting how many matches they’ve had) though this time it’s 2/3 falls and no time limit. Thankfully there hasn’t been the crazy hype about the match to drive me crazy yet so I might like it a lot more. Let’s get to it.

We open with a highlight video running down tonight’s card, albeit in Japanese so it might be a recipe for fruit pies.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles: Roppongi 3K vs. El Desperado/Yoshinobu Kanemaru

El Desperado/Yoshinobu Kanemaru are defending and are part of Suzuki-gun. Sho and Yoh flip dive onto the champs before the bell and it’s Kanemaru taking a sliding dropkick to the head for two to start. The announcers explain a bit more of the idea here, talking about how Roppongi used to be Young Lions and the older guys, like the champs, still see them as weaklings. That’s more of a story than most WWE matches give you.

Yoh gets sent into the barricade and has to dive back in at nineteen. Back in and we settle down a lot with Kanemaru ripping at the face and bringing Desperado back in. A dragon screw leg whip gets Yoh out of trouble and there’s the diving tag to Sho. The champs get speared down and some rolling German suplexes get two on Desperado.

Back up and the champs start double teaming until Yoh comes in for a save. A sliding DDT/Dominator combination (3K) gets two on Desperado and a Backstabber into a dropkick has him in even more trouble. Desperado takes some mist to the face and Sho adds Project Ciampa for two more. The ref gets bumped though and Kanemaru adds a whiskey bottle shot to set up the rollup pin to retain the titles at 9:29.

Rating: C. Completely fine opener here and a good way to make Suzuki-Gun look like a bunch of cheating jerks. Sho and Yoh are so much more entertaining than they were back in Ring of Honor and they make for a snappy little team. This was a fun match and thankfully it didn’t overstay its welcome, which can be a problem in opening matches.

Juice Robinson/David Finlay vs. Yoshi Hashi/Jay White

Taguchi Japan vs. Chaos and Finlay has a Groot jacket. White jumps Robinson at the bell, meaning we have to rush to the zoom in shot that always starts the matches (I kind of like it for some reason). Robinson is right back up and Finlay comes in for a double bulldog as they’re certainly off to a fast start. Takahashi comes in for a suplex before handing it right back to White for a backbreaker. A cravate doesn’t keep Finlay down for very long and it’s off to Juice for the snap jabs.

White is loaded into the corner for a Cannonball but Takahashi tries to break things up. That doesn’t go so well for him as Robinson ties him in the Tree of Woe and now the Cannonball can hit both of them at the same time. A double flapjack plants White but Robinson accidentally punches Finlay, allowing White to grab a Blade Runner to plant Finlay. Not that it matters as Robinson comes back in for Pulp Friction (jumping Unprettier) for the pin on White at 7:28.

Rating: C. Another perfectly fine match that didn’t get a ton of time. The ending has to set up Robinson vs. White for the US Title, probably in San Francisco in July, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Robinson has grown by leaps and bounds in New Japan and I could go for seeing him get a lot closer to win the title.

Robinson holds up the US Title to hammer the point home.

Tomohiro Ishii/Toru Yano vs. Minoru Suzuki/Zack Sabre Jr

Chaos vs. Suzuki-gun and I don’t quite see Yano matching up well with Sabre. Suzuki and Sabre’s British Tag Team Titles aren’t on the line and they have Taka Michinoku in their corner. He even throws in some custom introductions, which I again can’t understand. Suzuki and Ishii start things off and they go straight for the shots to the head. Neither can hit their finisher so it’s Sabre coming in and taking Ishii down in knots. Ishii gets up and goes with the power to take over, allowing the tag off to Yano.

This doesn’t go well either as Yano gets his arms cranked in short order. Suzuki comes in and stays on the arm with Sabre coming back in to work on the leg at the same time. An atomic drop gets Yano out of trouble and it’s off to Ishii for the hard chops in the corner. The sleeper doesn’t work on Ishii and it’s time for the big forearm exchange.

That means a double knockdown so Yano goes after the turnbuckle. Thankfully Sabre is right there to bend the arm around the ropes, making Yano scream again. Yano gets the other buckle pad off and Sabre misses a charge. The low blow is reversed into a double armbar and Yano gives up at 8:42.

Rating: D+. I get what Yano’s deal is and I’ve been tired of it for a long time. I know he’s had more success, but he comes off as the New Japan Santino with the same bits and the same jokes time after time. Ishii vs. Suzuki was fun, as always, and they were smart to keep this short.

Post match Ishii goes after Suzuki again and after a few chair shots each, they slug it out on the floor with the Young Lions coming in for the save.

Never Openweight Title: Michael Elgin vs. Taichi vs. Hirooki Goto

Goto is defending and Taichi, who seems to be a singer, has a good looking woman with him. Elgin is absolutely jacked and looking bigger than I’ve ever seen him. There’s no contact in the first minute as Taichi bails to the floor so the other two can go at it. Goto and Elgin lock up so Taichi comes back in for a rollup on the champ. That’s enough to send Taichi back to the floor and it’s Elgin with an enziguri to Goto.

Taichi comes back in to help kick Elgin down and gets suplexed onto Elgin for good measure. Elgin sends the two of them into each other and starts rolling the suplexes to take over for the first time. With the other two on the floor, Elgin hits a bit running flip dive because of course he can do that. Back in and Taichi gets two off a clothesline but walks into the fireman’s carry backbreaker which I still can’t spell.

Elgin gets belly to back superplexed but pops back up for a Tower of Doom with Taichi getting the worst of it. That sends Taichi to the floor, leaving Elgin and Goto to hit each other very hard. An electric chair suplex gives Elgin two on the champ but he misses an enziguri. Another fireman’s carry backbreaker sets up the GTR for two on Elgin but Taichi throws the woman inside. The distraction lets Taichi get two off a superkick, only to have Elgin buckle bomb both of them. The Elgin Bomb on Taichi is good for the pin and the title at 13:44.

Rating: C+. Elgin, while having some serious issues at the moment, is still fun to watch and looks more than intimidating enough to pull off something like this. Of course none of that matters as he wouldn’t even hold the title for two weeks, but at least we got a good performance to get the title on him in the first place. I can’t imagine he’ll be a big deal in the states for a good while so this is as good as it’s likely to get for him.

IWGP Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon

Evil and Sanada are defending and it’s Nick and Sanada running the ropes to start. A headscissors drops Sanada and it’s time for Nick to strike a pose. Stereo basement dropkicks have Sanada in trouble so Evil comes in, only to take half of a double dropkick. Back in and a side slam drops Matt as everything breaks down. There’s a whip into the barricade to keep Matt’s back in trouble, followed by a standing moonsault to give Sanada two.

Evil is smart enough to knock Nick off the apron but Nick is right back up for a kick to the head. The hot tag is on a few seconds later but Nick kicks the post by mistake. It’s fine enough to hold Evil, only to have Matt superkick his brother by mistake. Naturally the Bucks aren’t going to sell for more than about five seconds so they’re up top for a Tower of Doom with Sanada getting the worst of it.

The Meltzer Driver is broken up but Nick is fine enough to come in with a missile dropkick to save his brother from a dragon sleeper. Another Meltzer Driver attempt fails as Nick’s leg gives out and a Magic Killer gets two on Matt. Sanada starts cleaning house with dropkicks and there’s another dragon sleeper on Matt, with Nick making another save. The Bucks start in with superkicks and More Bang For Your Buck to Sanada gives them the titles at 14:53.

Rating: B+. It never ceases to amaze me how much better the Bucks’ matches are in New Japan than they are in Ring of Honor. Over in ROH it’s a bunch of superkicks at the end and then the Meltzer Driver with very few instances of them really ever being in trouble. Here they start fast, take a beating, sell the heck out of injuries, and grit their way to a win in an exciting finish. That’s actually entertaining and good, which isn’t something I would say more than once or twice in ROH. Do more of that and my complaints will be at a minimum.

Post match the Bucks hire Callis for All In.

Bullet Club vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi/Jushin Thunder Liger/Rey Mysterio Jr.

Well you know that face team is getting a pop. It’s Cody, Hangman Page and Marty Scurll for the Club here. Rey is in tights, which I haven’t seen him wear in many, many years. He also has some rap song so it’s not all great. Liger and Scurll, who have been having issues of late, are about to start, but Rey and Page come in with no contact. Actually make that Tanahashi vs. Page, with the first contact coming a minute and a half in.

Takahashi headlocks him down and gives us some air guitar so it’s off to Cody after the strenuous grappling. Cody and Tanahashi exchange pushups before Rey and Scurll come in. That means we actually get something, including a sunset flip for two on Marty. Liger comes in and Scurll panics, partially due to a surfboard to make Marty scream. Marty does the same thing to take over and it’s Cody coming in to punch Liger in the mask.

The Club starts in on Liger’s leg and you know a villain and a guy named Hangman aren’t going to have issues with that. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker (onto the good knee) gets Liger out of trouble and it’s back to Rey so things can speed up. The moonsault into a tornado DDT plants Scurll but Page makes a blind tag to break up the 619. Everything breaks down and the teams trade cheap shots from the apron.

Tanahashi and Page knock each other down so it’s Cody coming in to face Liger. The palm strike gives Liger two and it’s Page breaking up another 619 to Marty. I hope Scurll gets him a fruit basket. That’s fine with Rey, who hits a 619 to Scurll and Page at the same time. Ok maybe the fruit can be a little bruised. Mysterio and Tanahashi hit dives to the floor but the brainbuster is countered into Cross Rhodes for the pin on Liger at 11:36.

Rating: C+. Mysterio looked awesome here, easily the best I’ve seen him in a long time (maybe it’s the tights). There’s nothing wrong with the legends taking a loss here as the Bullet Club is the hottest thing in the world at the moment. Cody pinning Liger should be a nice little boost for him, though I’m not sure if Cody has anything going on around here other than feuding with Kenny Omega without feuding with Omega.

The heroes get a big sendoff.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Hiromu Takahashi vs. Will Ospreay

Takahashi is challenging after winning the Best of the Super Juniors tournament. Ospreay already has a banged up neck after his injuries from about two months ago. They go straight at it with right hands and Ospreay charges into a belly to belly into the corner less than twenty seconds in. A sunset bomb to the floor is broken up so they fight to the ramp with Ospreay getting a running start for a big flip dive. The floor padding is pulled back but Ospreay can’t hit Stormbreaker (a double underhook twisted into a neckbreaker), meaning it’s time to head back inside.

Ospreay is fine enough for a running corner dropkick and he cranks back on both of Takahashi’s arms at once. How Zack Sabre Jr. of him. Takahashi bails to the floor, only to come back in and have his arm cranked a little more. After a double armbar is broken, Takahashi sends him outside for a hard dropkick from the apron to take over. A pop up powerbomb gives Takahashi two and some hard chops draw some swearing from Ospreay. The champ is back up with a 619 to the standing face and a springboard clothesline, apparently called Pip Pip Cheerio. That’s just great.

The Space Flying Tiger Drop (wacky Japanese move names are so much fun) puts Takahashi down again but the Oscutter is countered into a German suplex for a sweet reversal. They slug it out for a few seconds before cranking the pace WAY up. A pair of reverse hurricanranas look to set up the Stormbreaker but Takahashi reverses into a Code Red for no cover. That’s enough to send them to the apron, which is where Ospreay hurt himself in the first place. Instead of something stupid, it’s an apron superplex (in a power display you wouldn’t expect from Ospreay) before he drapes Takahashi over the top.

That means a shooting star press to the back (the Burning Star), because Ospreay does some insane flips. A corkscrew shooting star press (Neville’s Red Arrow) gets two and Stormbreaker is countered for a third time. This time it’s into a middle rope Canadian Destroyer, followed by a triangle choke as he’s really banging on that neck. Ospreay can’t powerbomb his way out of it so he lifts Takahashi up again and just drops him on his head for the break instead.

Another Oscutter is broken up as Takahashi shoves him off the ropes and hits a sunset bomb. Back in and a fireman’s carry into a spinning slam (kind of like Chris Sabin’s old Cradle Shock but called the Dynamite Plunger) gets two more and they’re both spent. The Time Bomb is escaped so Ospreay kicks him in the face. Stormbreaker is countered AGAIN into another triangle before Takahashi switches to a butterfly piledriver (geez). A Death Valley Driver into the corner sets up the Time Bomb for the pin on Ospreay and the title at 20:22.

Rating: A-. Well that was awesome. Takahashi played the neck perfectly and in the end it was one big move after another to finally put the champ away. He’s rather good, and the lack of that stupid Daryl thing made it even better. Ospreay is great of course and those flip are often incredible, especially for someone that much bigger than most cruiserweights. Awesome match, with a great story throughout, especially with how many times they changed the pace so drastically.

Takahashi rolls around on the mat with the title, laughing hysterically.

We recap Tetsuya Naito vs. Chris Jericho. Chris attacked him back in January but hasn’t wrestled since. Then Naito won the Intercontinental Title, only to be attacked by a masked Jericho. The title match is set, which could be a heck of a fight, especially with Jericho being so aggressive in Japan.

IWGP Intercontinental Title: Chris Jericho vs. Tetsuya Naito

Naito is defending while Jericho is in some weird face paint and lipstick, plus leather pants. Kind of a Clockwork Orange look actually and that’s not working for me. Jericho jumps him on the floor before Naito can even get the white suit off. A kick to the back and a suplex on the floor have Naito in even more trouble as we’re still waiting on the opening bell. Jericho even powerbombs him through the table (great break) and Naito is rocked.

With Naito more or less dead, Jericho steals a camera and films himself flipping people off. A DDT onto (not through) a table makes it even worse but Jericho stops to sign an autograph on a format sheet. Jericho throws him inside and says to ring the f****** bell so he can cover for one.

The fans chant for Naito and get flipped off, followed by a butterfly backbreaker and the Lionsault for two. Some hard whips into the corner keep Naito down and the Walls go on, sending Naito straight to the rope. Naito gets in a hard slap and tackles Jericho down, finally allowing him to take off the vest. A neckbreaker on the apron and another from the apron to the floor has Jericho in trouble. It’s time to choke with the pants, followed by a few rams into the barricade.

Naito blasts him in the head with the broken table and piledrives him onto the same table from the DDT…..which still doesn’t break. Sweet goodness that’s a heck of a table. Back in and Naito, with his bloody eye, gets his super hurricanrana countered into the Walls. That’s escaped as well and Naito gets two off a DDT. The Walls go on for the third time but the fans drive him to the ropes for yet another break.

A German suplex and Destino get two with Jericho grabbing the rope. Now Naito is bleeding from the ear as well so Jericho slaps him upside the head. Naito’s flying forearm is countered into a Codebreaker for a near fall. The Lionsault hits knees and a pumphandle into a reverse suplex (that’s a new one) drops Jericho on his head. Back up and Jericho shoves the referee, kicks Naito low, and hits the Codebreaker for the pin at 17:18.

Rating: B+. This was similar to the Omega vs. Jericho match with Jericho playing the smoke and mirrors to a high level and presenting it as more of a fight than a match. Naito is a top guy in New Japan and will likely get a boost out of losing, as dropping a title to Jericho is hardly the worst thing in the world. If nothing else, Jericho losing the title to someone else is going to give them a heck of a rub. Really entertaining match here though and that’s all you would have expected from Jericho.

Post match Jericho hammers away at the bad eye and nails Naito with a belt shot. Jericho pulls off his belt to whip Naito, drawing in Evil for the save.

We recap the main event, which is the final blowoff to Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada, who come into this 1-1-1. Okada has held the title for nearly two years and has pretty much every record in the history of the belt. They wrestled to an hour draw here last year and now it’s time for a no time limit 2/3 falls match.

IWGP World Heavyweight Title: Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada

Okada is defending and it’s no time limit, 2/3 falls. Kota Ibushi and Gedo are the respective seconds. Feeling out process to start, which is exactly how something like this should be starting. A fight over arm control gives us a standoff so Omega takes him to the mat for a quickly broken hammerlock. Okada has some slightly better luck with a leg crank but Omega is next to the rope. They both tease right hands in the corner and things speed up in a hurry with both finishers missing to send both of them outside.

A hard whip into the barricade has Omega in trouble and there’s a running boot to the face, only to have Omega hit the first (of probably about 75) V Trigger of the match. That’s only good for two back inside so Omega starts kicking at the back, which Okada invites without much of a grimace. A backbreaker sets up a one arm camel clutch but Okada gets in a flapjack for a breather. Okada’s DDT gets two and we hit a rather bad looking cobra clutch. That goes nowhere so Okada sends him outside for a dive.

That’s fine with Omega, who tosses the champ over the barricade for a springboard dive and a nice reaction. Back in and another V Trigger misses, allowing Okada to grab a German suplex. They’re twenty minutes in here and it’s felt like half of that. Okada fights out of a super Snapdragon and Tombstones Omega on the apron, thankfully without the announcers telling us that it’s the hardest part of the ring. Omega gets sent ribs first into the barricade and you can see the confidence on Okada’s face.

A missile dropkick gets a lazy near fall but Okada takes too long loading up the Rainmaker and gets kicked to the floor. The Rise of the Terminator sets up the running no hands flip dive and the fans are rather impressed. Back in and Okada breaks up the Snapdragon and a One Winged Angel, so Omega V Triggers him again.

Omega’s German suplex gets two and there’s the third V Trigger. He still can’t hit the One Winged Angel (they’re setting that up very well) so Okada hits his perfect dropkick. There’s a Tombstone for two but the Rainmaker is countered, only to have the counter countered into a cradle to give Okada the first fall at 28:48.

We take a quick break for a few minutes before Okada dropkicks him to the floor to start the second fall. The ribs go into the apron and the barricade a second time as the champ is in full control. A hanging DDT off the barricade should knock Omega silly and they head back inside. Omega’s chops are shrugged off and it’s a big boot into another cobra clutch. That goes nowhere so let’s head outside again with a table being laid on top of Okada for a running double stomp from the apron. Again the table doesn’t break (the Dudleys must hate this country) and Omega gets his knees up to block a backsplash inside.

An AA drops Omega again and they’re both down one more time. Okada goes up top but gets caught in a superplex as the fans get behind Omega again. That’s cut off by a middle rope moonsault hitting knees so Okada stops to point at a table. The backdrop over the top (like in the first match) is blocked and Omega hits a running tornado DDT. Neither can hit anything off the apron but neither finisher can hit on the floor either.

Instead Omega hits a reverse hurricanrana to knock Okada silly but he’s back in at nineteen. The fifth V Trigger looks to set up the One Winged Angel, which is reversed into another Tombstone (I believe we’re at three now). Okada’s Rainmaker is countered into a spinning Rock Bottom for another double knockdown. The Snapdragon rocks Okada but he pops up with another dropkick to send Omega into the ropes.

We haven’t have a V Trigger in a bit so there’s number six, only to have Okada get two off the same rollup that won him the first fall. Therefore it’s another V Trigger to set up a double underhook piledriver for two on the champ. Hey look! A V Trigger! This one sets up the One Winged Angel to tie things up at 50:35. After another rest period, Okada is almost ready to remember what planet he’s on. Therefore, say it with me: V TRIGGER (that’s nine if you’ve lost count) but Okada reverses the One Winged Angel into the Rainmaker for a double knockdown.

That’s good for a delayed two and neither can hit a Tombstone. Okada misses the dropkick as Omega can’t come off the ropes. He’s fine enough to hit a Styles Clash with Okada grabbing the rope for a save. A V Trigger in the corner connects but the One Winged Angel is countered into a Tombstone which is countered into a Tombstone from Omega. Ibushi gets up on the apron for some advice, but Omega misses the Phoenix splash (Ibushi’s finisher).

We break into the hour mark with V Triggers eleven, twelve and thirteen, followed by two more dropkicks from Okada. The champ loads up another Rainmaker, which connects, but with almost no impact as he collapses from exhaustion (as Omega did last year when he was about to take the Rainmaker). They slug it out from their knees but Okada pulls him up for a quick Rainmaker. There’s a fourth Rainmaker and he loads up a fifth, which is countered into a German suplex.

Omega rolls some more German suplexes but gets reversed into another German suplex. Another Rainmaker attempt is countered into another German suplex and Omega adds a reverse hurricanrana to spike Okada on his head. ANOTHER V Trigger is countered with ANOTHER dropkick but ANOTHER Rainmaker attempt is countered into a kind of sloppy One Winged Angel. Omega can’t cover so it’s V Trigger lucky number fifteen and One Winged Angel #3 to give Omega the third fall and the title at 69:52 (including the breaks between falls).

Rating: A+. If I could go between A+/A here I would, but I’m not one to change a system that has served me very well for so many years and make things that much more complicated for everyone involved. The match is incredible and one of the best performances I’ve ever seen. The guys beat the heck out of each other and called back to their previous classics while adding in new stuff. Okada being the one to collapse on the Rainmaker was great and made Omega look like the better man. Omega winning two straight falls make him look like the rightful champion, capping off a great story.

But give me a break with the seven stars thing. As I’ve said many times: I’m now either supposed to believe that this is 40% better than any previous five star match, or every match ever has to be redone because the scale has changed. As I mentioned more than once: they repeat A LOT of moves and spots, plus at times it felt like they were repeating stuff and filling in spots for the sake of breaking an hour and having one of the longest title matches ever. There are times where that works (which it did here at some points) and there are times where it feels like you’re trying to be epic (which it did here at some points).

Overall, it’s definitely a masterpiece and well worth checking out, but is it the best match of all time? Heck if I know, and heck if anyone else knows too. This match was less than two weeks ago and I’ve been finished watching it for about fifteen minutes. One of the my all time favorite matches and a match that I would put on a short list for best match of all time is Austin vs. Hart at Wrestlemania XIII. I watched that match last year and I was STILL finding new stuff about it that I hadn’t noticed before.

Will that be the case here? Probably, but I’d like to wait until the following month before putting it among the best of all time and above so many other things that have impressed me before. Over time, matches are looked at in different ways and tastes can change dramatically throughout the years. I know it’s great, but immediately giving it some kind of other worldly praise sounds like a six year old who just saw THE NEW GREATEST AND COOLEST MOVIE HE’S EVER SEEN for the fifth time this year.

The other question is will the match hold up as well over time. I know the immediate answer is yes, but look at what they did just a year and a half ago. The Wrestle Kingdom XI match was given six stars by Meltzer, meaning that this match has now left that one in the dust if you’re using the same scale (this match would be about 17% better if you’re a numbers person). If you’re basing it on that, the Wrestle Kingdom match is blown away by this one and isn’t even in the discussion. That took a year and a half. What is this match going to be seen as at this time next year?

In other words, let these matches sink in a bit before they’re labeled as the best ever or SO much better than anything else that’s ever been done before. It makes things sound silly instead of great, which is the point in offering these matches so much praise. The match was great, I’d watch it again, and Omega deserves to be champion after taking the title from maybe the best champion ever. If the match can hold up and stand the test of time, then we’ll see if it’s as good as some have claimed it to be. Amazing match, despite a few issues here and there.

Post match the Young Bucks come out and celebrate with Omega, officially setting things right with them before he’ll even accept the title. Omega thanks the fans in Japanese and says this was his final goal. He’ll be here for the future and (in English) he’s been told to stay calm and tranquilo. That’s not his way though and he knows with these men at his side, they can do anything. Omega bids us goodnight and goodbye but here’s Cody to walk halfway down the ramp and then turn around to end the show. Eh it worked for Owen Hart.

Overall Rating: A-. Great show, as New Japan always tends to be. The first hour and a half or so didn’t exactly blow me away (though it was quite watchable) and then it picked up a lot in the second half and never looked back. New Japan has stopped being on a roll and now is just this good. Wrestle Kingdom could go multiple ways and the G1 should be very interesting. I’m curious as to how long Omega holds the title, and if he’ll stick around after dropping it. Really, what else is left for him to do in New Japan now that he’s won the title? Anyway, another incredible night which again flew by, which New Japan does better than anyone.

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor Wrestling

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

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

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

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

Roppongi 3K vs. So Cal Uncensored

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

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

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

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

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

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

David Finlay/Juice Robinson vs. Hirooki Goto/Gedo

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

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

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

Killer Elite Squad vs. Chuckie T./Toru Yano

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

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

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

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

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

The Squad is coming for the titles.

Cody/Marty Scurll vs. Guerrillas of Destiny

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

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

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

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

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

Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. Taguchi Japan/Dragon Lee

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Will Ospreay

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

US Title: Jay White vs. Hangman Page

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Golden Lovers vs. Young Bucks

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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