McXal's Reviews

This show was actually scheduled to be the second night of another Winter Warriors Tour double shot, but the preceding night in Asheville, NC was cancelled at circa 24 hours notice due to severe weather. It is remarkable how few times Ring Of Honor has actually had to cancel a show in almost fourteen years of operation. Thankfully this event goes on without issue, and (like last year’s Winter Warrior event in Atlanta) drew glowing reviews at the time. It could be a real night of celebration for the Bullet Club too. First AJ Styles makes his ROH farewell appearance, albeit he isn’t wrestling (because, as it turned out, he was in the Royal Rumble the following evening). He’ll watch his Biz Cliz brethren (although in Japan Kenny Omega had just chucked him out of the faction) challenge for all the belts in tonight – although not in the format that was originally scheduled. Beneath that the standout match is another multi-man tag, with Michael Elgin once again joining forces with reDRagon to face the trio of Matt Sydal, ACH and Alex Shelley. The impressive Ian Riccaboni is with Mr Wrestling III in Duluth, GA…which is basically Atlanta apparently, meaning I presume this building is either a) better or b) cheaper than the previous Atlanta building they’ve promoted shows from.

This was taped as a dark/YouTube exclusive Women Of Honor match rather than being part of the main show (which I don’t agree with), but as it’s included as a bonus feature I’ll include it. I really want the Women Of Honor division to succeed, even if I have some concerns about how ROH are presenting it thus far. This match pits regular performer Veda Scott, stepping away from managing Cedric Alexander to wrestle for once, against Amber Gallows (current NWA Women’s Champion). She is the wife of Doc Gallows and nicknamed the ‘Bullet Babe’ – so obviously represents Bullet Club as well. She has previously worked for the likes of SHIMMER as Amber O’Neal, where she used a archetypal blonde, ‘diva’ gimmick to get over. I’ve not seen her work in a long time so curious to see how her style has evolved since then.

Taeler Hendrix is at ringside to watch this one. Scott refuses a 2 Sweet, and gets punted in the face by Gallows as the match begins. She then hits a hair-pulling STO for 2.Veda fights back with a snap Regalplex (which looks awesome), but gets preoccupied arguing with the official allowing Amber to attack her with forearms. Hanging headscissors in the ropes executed by the NWA Women’s Champion…so Scott dropkicks her off the apron. Amber seemingly landed hard on that, leaving Scott time to perch on the top rope and taunt her. Of course that’s another mistake, with the Bullet Babe re-entering the ring with a version of Cattle Mutilation. Big elbows and slaps traded from the ground as things start to get personal – until Gallows puts her opponent down with a superkick. Great resilience is then shown by Scott, who absorbs that and hits a Spear. Mind Trip countered by Gallows into the A-FACTOR (X-Factor naturally) for 2. Credit to Veda who made that look f*cking brutal! Somehow she survives again; popping up and dropping Amber with a springboard bulldog. Gallows has had enough, and pins Veda using the ropes at 08:31

Rating - * - Probably not a match I’d use to sum up the talent in the WOH division. Veda Scott is a likeable worker, and her performances in SHIMMER (plus against Sumie Sakai last year) tell you she is capable of good matches with the right opponents. This one didn’t click at all, and became an uncomfortable heel vs heel match with no real flow, no real story-telling and just a succession of slightly awkward, poorly executed spots. Amber was fun in SHIMMER when she worked the diva gimmick ironically, contrasting well against a sea of ‘serious’ female workers in that promotion. Here the act didn’t come off as ironic, and whilst she has undoubted charisma, a lot of the physical stuff she did felt very reminiscent of the ‘diva era’ too. She works for New Japan, is in the Bullet Club and therefore has more name value and ‘cool factor’ than a lot of the women ROH are booking for their Women Of Honor relaunch…but if I was booking it I’m not sure Amber is someone I’d have at the heart of it. Certainly not in the role she played during this match.

Post-match Amber gets some interview time to promote herself as an ‘international superstar’, and having made her WOH debut she vows to come back. Veda interrupts and offers respect to Gallows for her ability to manipulate the rules. If Amber is going to be returning, Veda proposes that they form an alliance of sorts…

Dalton is still basking in the joy of his Boys returning to him at Final Battle. But that joy may be short-lived with his arch enemy Silas Young demanding that the Boys return to him and become Real Men. They seem destined to fight again somewhere soon, meaning Castle needs to stay match-sharp and in top condition. Corey Hollis is no pushover, and has shown his skills whilst making part-time appearances for ROH for years. His quality has led to him getting regular work as an enhancement talent for WWE recently – something which Mr Wrestling acknowledges on commentary. Interestingly, he has brought adult film star, pro-wrestling fan/valet etc Trina Michaels to the ring with him, potentially to counteract Dalton’s Boys (who aren’t the Tate Twins tonight).

Riccaboni and MW3 talking about Trina’s ‘film work’ in a manner deemed acceptable by the ultra-conservative Sinclair Broadcasting is extremely funny. Dalton is over in this building, to the extent that does almost no work at all for the first three minutes and still has everyone cheering for him. Hollis gets more and more agitated as Castle continues to dick around…but of course that is all part of Castle’s mystique. The second Corey tries to get more physical Castle makes a joke out of him with his amateur grappling skill, then dumps him on his neck with a dead-lift German suplex. A jumping knee launches Hollis from the turnbuckles to the floor…but taking the match out there gives Trina a chance to distract Castle. Hollis capitalises to knock Dalton off the apron, which seemingly gives him something of a leg injury. Corey promptly grabs the legs to counter the Bang-A-Rang…and Dalton MISSES another running knee strike which sees his leg collide with the turnbuckles before falling to the floor. Pescado by Corey to punish the leg further! All of a sudden Castle is too injured to hit the Everest German, and Hollis converts him into a Stunner for 2. Once again he rams the Party Peacock’s knee into the buckles, only to then miss a double stomp. ST-JOE OVER THE TOP ROPE TO THE APRON by Castle! On one leg as well! STALLING ONE-LEGGED OUTSIDE-IN EVEREST GERMAN FOR 2! Trina goes after the Boys as they fan Castle – which only serves to piss Dalton off. He gives Hollis Bang-A-Rang and gets the win at 12:07

Rating - *** - I think the Reloaded Tour was the last time we saw Hollis, and I believe he had a very strong match back during his last appearance too. This was an extremely well-judged opening match, striking the perfect balance between involving the live audience, delivering a decent contest in it’s own right, and also setting the platform for the rest of the show. Castle whipping the crowd into a frenzy into the opening minutes without doing anything was quite the spectacle, and I thought he did a brilliant job selling the leg as well (which in turn made Corey’s heat segment strong viewing). 

Up next it’s time for AJ Styles to make his farewell appearance. The ring fills with streamers and he has tears in his eyes as he enters. He praises ROH for booking him way back in 2002 (before TNA) and then welcoming him back after he left as well. He teases giving the fans an update on where his future lies, but is interrupted by Jay Lethal who wants to put himself over as the ‘greatest champion in the world’. On cue that brings out TV Champion Roderick Strong, who is literally in the middle of doing a ‘Roddy vs The World’ gimmick to prove that he is the greatest. The two champs tease attacking AJ, but are prevented by the arrival of Anderson, Gallows and the Bucks. They apologise for decking Styles in Japan (‘business is business’ apparently)…then call all the champions in Ring Of Honor ‘a bunch of pussies’. Of course that draws War Machine out of the locker room, and they get a brawl started. The eight men brawl all over ringside, through hoards of officials and security staff! They are eventually separated and return to the locker room…as Mike Posey and his ‘Get Along Gang’ comes out to rap. AJ doesn’t like that one bit, and gives him a Styles Clash!

Stokely Hathaway and Moose are campaigning for bigger and better opportunities in ROH, therefore I’d argue that it makes no sense that they’d willingly team up with Cheeseburger. That said, I’m sure they may have some charm as a big dude/little dude team. ANX are still #1 contenders to the Tag Titles, and are presumably getting their title shot at the 14th Anniversary (although it hadn’t been announced at this stage). As imposing as Moose may be, this is a match they have to win if they are serious about becoming the next Ring Of Honor Tag Champions.

Moose gets more streamers than AJ. I’m not even joking. Was he THAT good playing for the Atlanta Falcons?! He tries to control quicker King with headlocks, and finally tosses him back into his corner so emphatically that Kenny opts to tag out. Titus suffers a similar fate, except his beating was apparently worse since what follows is him having to take a bunch of Cheeseburger comedy offence. Thankfully Moose saves it by press slamming his own partner into an enormous flying splash! ANX have had enough of Moose over-powering them, so tag in together then trick him into stereo dropkicks aimed at his legs. Double teaming is an effective method of working Moose over it turns out, with the All Nights showing impressive fluidity as a team…particularly after the big man tags in Burger to carry the can. They make mincemeat of Cheese for several minutes, but eventually lose control which brings Moose back for a ROPE RUN FLYING CROSSBODY! GAME BREAKER SHOTEI COMBO on King gets 2! Moose busts out a standing somersault senton for good measure but can’t force Kenny into defeat quite yet and he rattles into him with Shotgun Knees. Last Chancery Dropkick nailed, only for Cheeseburger to make the save. DISCUS LARIAT from Moose to Kenny! SOMERSAULT PLANCHA BY RHETT! HOT nearfall on a schoolboy from Burger to King! Cheese goes upstairs, only to fly right into the Royal Flush Dropkick combo. Titus pins Burger at 13:31

Rating - *** - I had this pegged as being something of a bore, and I was way off base with that assumption. Quite surprisingly, this combination of workers gelled extremely well and delivered a fun, if formulaic tag match which maintained a rapid pace and built to a genuinely exciting crescendo. The amount of times I was enraged by wrestlers trying to credibly sell for nonsensical Cheeseburger offence was kept to a minimum, Moose looked really strong even in defeat (which is important since they are building him up to face Okada), and the All Nights get a big win as we prepare for them to challenge War Machine. I had little interest in watching this and was quite shocked by how much I wound up liking it.

When they gatecrashed Final Battle, Veda Scott promised that Cedric’s legal settlement with ROH meant we’d be seeing a substantial amount more of him in 2016. Thus far he hasn’t delivered on that promise, and has been slumming it way down the card in scrapes with the likes of Jon Gresham and Cheeseburger. Perhaps a win over Mark Briscoe (whom the announcers put over as having one of the longest singles undefeated streaks in ROH right now) is the catalyst to his move up the rankings.

Alexander starts cautiously and frequently heads for cover in the ropes as Briscoe threatens to take control of the contest. The match veers between bursts of athleticism and speed (both are so quick when they need to be) and then slowing right down again…but gradually Mark starts getting to grips with his opponent. He dropkicks Cedric to the floor, but gets prevented from hitting the Cactus Elbow by Veda. Alexander capitalises with a rebound enzi to the apron! He rakes the eyes of the multi-time former Tag Champion, but in truth seems as interested in arguing with members of the audience as he does in wrestling the match. Briscoe pounces with a brainbuster which gets a two-count, then goes into an elongated Redneck Kung Fu sequence. Iconoclasm blocked by Alexander, as is the Froggy Bow! Michinoku Driver blocked by Mark too…so Cedric gives him the 540 Kick instead (and then hits the Michinoku Driver anyway). COD Dropkick flurry…no sold by Briscoe, who clocks him with a lariat then the Fisherman Buster. Veda distracts Mark as he lines up the Froggy Bow – causing him to dive right into Cedric’s knees. The Lumbar Check gives Alexander the win at 10:47

Rating - ** - There were some really high quality sequences within this, albeit the overall result wasn’t particularly groundbreaking or memorable. I loved the opening few minutes where they’d go nuts with counters for seconds at a time only for Alexander to kill the momentum. Some of the countering they did in the closing stretch was also extremely good. In between they meandered somewhat though, and it felt like we were going from one spot to the next without much holding it together. I will lament Ring Of Honor wasting Cedric Alexander and his talent until I’m blue in the face, but it is difficult to deny that by early 2016 he had so little connection to the audience. Even Veda Scott and the heel character he now works gets precious little out of a live crowd. He badly needed a change of scenery.

Scarlett Bordeaux is ring announcing this evening, and she has her phone with her to announce a Nigel McGuinness-sanctioned change to our scheduled title matches due to the events of earlier. We were originally scheduled to see Lethal and Strong defend their belts against members of the Young Bucks and War Machine defend against Gallows and Anderson…they are now all getting thrown into the main event together. It’s Champions vs Bullet Club with all titles being defended! 

ROH have been trying to promote Sydal, Shelley and ACH as a faction of sorts, which I’m not buying. Other than Sydal and Shelley both occasionally teaming with ACH, what exactly is their stable about? Elgin has teamed with reDRagon a few times in the last year or so. Are they a stable too? Having said all that, this six-man has the potential to be really good as everyone involved is supremely talented. 

Fish and Shelley work an ultra-slick opening minute, which instantly makes me want to see them in a singles match. Sydal and O’Reilly tag in next and pretty much repeat the same feat. Watching those two semi-botch a rana spot then convert it into an intense submission/strike exchange is a thing of absolute beauty. Elgin stomps in after Kyle has incapacitated Sydal with his superior strike game, to splat him on the canvas with an emphatic press slam. Stalling suplex next, even as ACH and Shelley take turns punting Mike to attempt to rescue their partner. The suplex only ends because reDRagon get bored and trip their own partner over so he’ll finally release the hold! ACH dropkicks O’Reilly to the floor…but gets pulled out after him before he can line up a dive. Shelley stops Elgin from hitting a dive too, but then misses a pescado himself. SYDAL TOP ROPE MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! In the ring Elgin picks ACH up and POWERBOMBS HIM TO THE OUTSIDE ON TOP OF EVERYONE! There’s a fun moment next when Elgin wants Kyle to help him get a pop with his own crowd dive, but instead O’Reilly simply feeds ACH back into the ring like ‘get on with it you big idiot’. Kyle looks for Arm-ageddon on ACH and whilst he doesn’t lock it in properly he does do enough damage to the arm that it leaves his victim carrying a noticeable injury which Big Mike can exploit. Sadly reDRagon drop the ball before he can – falling victim to a tandem Stunner/Flatliner combo which enables the hot tag to Shelley. He hits a diving knee off the apron to Elgin, but slingshots back straight into a triangle choke by Kyle! COUNTERED TO A FREAKY PIN ATTEMPT for 2! Alex Shelley is so f*cking awesome! He and O’Reilly lay into each other, with Alex absorbing Axe & Smash to deliver the turnbuckle Shellshock. Sydal gives Fish the Slice/standing moonsault combo for 2. Fish goes after his legs after that, kicking at them then dragon screwing him into the mat. Matt is still recovering when Elgin steamrolls him with lariats and ROLLING GERMANS! ACH saves…and gets German suplexes too! GERMAN SUPLEX ON BOTH ACH AND SYDAL AT THE SAME TIME! reDRagon feed Sydal into the Buckle Bomb from Big Mike, then give him the Two Man Smash Machine for good measure. RUNNING LARIATOOOOOO only for Shelley and ACH to save! Avalanche Elgin Bomb COUNTERED WITH A SNAP RANA by Sydal! DOUBLE SLICED BREAD #2 BY SHELLEY! RUNNING MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR BY ACH! Elgin gets Sliced Bread as well, into the MIDNIGHT STAR! SYDAL PRESS! Sydal pins Elgin to win at 19:33!

Rating - **** - Last year I criticised ROH for the number of bland, personality-free, cookie-cutter six man tags they ran (especially at live events). This was about as far away from that description as you could possibly get. This was high quality from the opening bell when Fish and Shelley locked up to the closing moments when bodies were flying everywhere. It lasted twenty minutes but felt like barely half that time, such was how slick, polished and downright GREAT everything was. Shelley is a huge pick up for Ring Of Honor. Even if they don’t want to push him as a singles star (which I think they should) the dude is so experienced and so damn fluent at so many different styles of wrestling. He is delivering every time right now. 

INTERMISSION – BJ Whitmer replaces Mr Wrestling III on commentary

From a six man tag before intermission, we now return with a classic Six Man Mayhem. There are plenty of guys here who could do with a win and some momentum as we build towards the 14th Anniversary pay-per-view. Jay Briscoe will be teaming with his brother against old rival Michael Elgin and his partner New Japan ace Hiroshi Tanahashi – which is a fearsome prospect. Page is on a collision course with his old mentor BJ Whitmer (who is on commentary). Silas has openly called for The Boys to leave Dalton and return to Real Men training with him, so presumably he’ll have at least one more match with Dalton. Caprice and Ferrara have something of a mini-rivalry themselves, stemming from the fact that they’ve both recipients of Prince Nana’s mysterious ‘Age Of Enlightenment’ letters. That leaves Frankie as the odd man out – in all senses of the word since Christopher Daniels is currently suspended and Chris Sabin isn’t here tonight either.

Jay Briscoe surges past AJ and Moose in the battle for who gets the most streamers. He also gets called a b*tch by Kazarian, who demands to start with him for some reason. He gets punched all over the ring with such severity that nobody will tag him out…so he uses the Mayhem rules and roles out under the ropes. Silas and Caprice in next, with some deceptively fast-paced stuff which ends when Young dumps his foe to the floor. Page hits a big dropkick on Ferrara, and pops an elbow into the face of his old rival Briscoe just for kicks. SIX WAY chinlock with Jay at the top of the pile! At the bottom is Ferrara, who refuses to tap then hits a jawbreaker that sends the other five toppling to the ground. Page and Jay are the last two left standing and they start stiffing each other feverishly as everyone else brawls on the floor. TOPE SUICIDA BY JAY! AS PAGE FLIPS OVER HIM INTO THE BUCKSHOT LARIAT on Will! Torpedo SSP headbutt to the floor by Page, but as he celebrates Young decks him with a springboard clothesline to the apron. INSIDE OUT MOONSAULT to the floor by Caprice! Bless-TO on Kazarian, only for Coleman to eat an Ace Crusher by the Last Real Man. In turn Silas barely gets to celebrate before eating Page’s spike DDT. Rude Awakening from Jay to Page! Frankie then drags Briscoe out and brains him against the railings. PUMPHANDLE DRIVER from Silas to Ferrara for 2! Trinity suplexes by Caprice, ending in a DOUBLE NORTHERN LIGHTS TO THE FLOOR on Young and Kaz! Whitmer leaves commentary and slams Page’s skull into the ringpost, before Briscoe wins it all with the Jay Driller on Ferrara at 12:02.

Rating - *** - It really does feel like ROH’s roster are being given a little more room to express themselves at these live events. A year ago you just weren’t seeing matches like this on the undercard of these house shows, and it is only right to acknowledge that progress. Of course this will go down as an entertaining and free-spirited spot-fest, but there was some really good story-telling content tucked away in here too. Ferrara and Coleman got plenty of time to shine, which made sense given that ROH are still trying to push the Nana letters angle. They showed lots of respect to the Page/Briscoe feud from last year (which sort of went under the radar as it was almost entirely played out on the TV show) and concluded with Whitmer effectively costing Page the match to build towards their eventual match too. I understand that ROH is a TV/PPV model product now, owned by a mass media organisation, and that these live events really aren’t there to provide much in the way of significant storyline content. I have no issue with that – but there’s no reason they still can’t be fun. This was quickly forgettable and of minimal long-term significant, but at least it was a blast to sit through. 

Jay Briscoe gets a microphone and tries to put Will Ferrara over, but is interrupted by Whitmer. He tries to steer Jay away from putting young guys over and actually wants to recruit the Briscoes to The Decade. Didn’t they try this two years ago? Jay refuses and watches as Page attacks Whitmer from behind. BJ tries to run…but is met by Steve Corino in the aisle! He tosses Whitmer into the Rite Of Passage! A message has been sent! 

As this one isn’t included in the match listing on the back of the DVD, feels like something of a bonus. Stevie has probably surprised a few people with the quality of his work since returning to Ring Of Honor. He’s 0-2, but has rolled back the years to deliver great showings against the likes of Jay Lethal and Roderick Strong. Now he faces another name from ROH’s main event picture, once again testing himself against the best the company has to offer. Can he pull off an upset? Cole, meanwhile, (now a lone wolf after the demise of The Kingdom) is deep in preparation to challenge for the World Title at the 14th Anniversary Show.

Richards surprises Cole early with a big sit-out powerbomb which puts him in firm control. Cole smartly attacks back by superkicking the knee out from under his veteran opponent. Stevie has a long career of wear and tear behind him, and Adam has the much-feared Figure 4 in his arsenal making a knee injury a potentially serious problem. The ref tries to check on Richards but is prevented by Cole who hauls the ECW-alum outside for repeated trips into the guardrails. Stevie has to dive back into the ring to avoid being counted out, and in doing so lunges right into the waiting Cole’s pre-planned neckbreaker spot. But Cole gets too confident, and when he cockily poses to the crowd Stevie instantly pounces with a STEVIE KICK TO THE KNEE! More payback seconds later as now he drags the former ROH Champion to the floor and doles out guardrail bumps of his own. Back inside we go and now Stevie hits a neckbreaker! SUPERKICK! NO SOLD! STEVIE KICK! NO SOLD! THEY SPIT IN EACH OTHER’S FACES! SUPERKICK! ONE COUNT OF DISRESPECT! NXT LAST SHOT gets 2 for Cole! He lunges at Richards again to apply the Figure 4 Leglock, only for Stevie to fight out and put Cole in the hold instead. Adam leaves the ring in pain…then coils to hit a jumping enzi from the floor as Richards tries to retrieve him. Another superkick on the knee lands, followed by the LAST SHOT! Cole wins at 09:48

Rating - *** - Another really strong Ring Of Honor performance from Stevie Richards. It is easy to criticise ROH for using ex-WWE talent instead of promoting the stars of the future, but capable veterans coming into the company and showing they ‘still have it’ has been a staple of the ROH product for a long time. Stevie is in phenomenal shape and hasn’t looked out of place against Lethal, Roddy or Cole. In fact this might have been his best match yet, as they went through a high stakes game of one-upmanship that had the place rocking. I’d easily put an extra half star on my rating if you rate matches in such a manner. I have no problem with Richards coming back again if he can keep performing at this level and remains willing to put ROH’s core roster over.

As Scarlett announced, all the belts are on the line here. It’s one fall to a finish meaning if any of the champions are pinned, the winner from the Bullet Club will become the new holder of the relevant title. These kind of gimmicks can come off as somewhat corny, but as a throwaway house show main event stipulation it actually helps make this feel like a big deal. All of the champions have other contenders distracting them of late with Lethal preparing for Cole and O’Reilly, Strong being chased by Bobby Fish and War Machine scheduled to defend against ANX. The last thing they really need now is to defend their belts in an unfamiliar 8-man environment against elite level, dangerous opponents like the Bullet Club. Amber Gallows is at ringside for this too…

Hanson gets made to look foolish by the Young Bucks in the first minute…before Matt simply walks out of the ring and SUPERKICKS TAELER HENDRIX! LETHAL SUPERKICKS AMBER GALLOWS! SH*T GOT REAL! It is chaos all around ringside with officials now having lost all control. ROPE RUN SPRINGBOARD SWANTON TO THE FLOOR by Nick! Riccaboni and Mr Wrestling on commentary are openly discussing the Anderson/Gallows WWE rumours and using it as a lead-in to create ‘where will they take the titles’ drama. The fluidity of the Bullet Club (particularly the Bucks) is far too much for the ROH Champions, and they trap Roderick in the corner for an elongated stomp/’Suck It’ sequence which provokes yet another mass brawl. Rowe judo throws Matt on the concrete floor, into the path of a tope suicida from Lethal! War Machine delight in isolating Matt Jackson, clearly looking to send a message to the Young Bucks as the champions of ROH’s crowded tag division…but cracks start to show as Lethal and Strong each want the limelight for themselves. BC representatives are regularly having to break pins to save Matt from defeat now, and it may be the last energy he has which sees him springboard off the top into a flipping cutter on Strong. Sadly for him Lethal is in position to cut him off before he can make the tag. Desperation Superkick on Strong! SUPERKICK ON LETHAL AND HANSON! Hot tag to Anderson who levels Rowe with the Rocket Kick! CEMENT MIXER from Rowe to the Machine Gun! Doc and Hanson in next; a collision of the two biggest dudes in the match. Neither backs down, with Gallows countering the cartwheel lariat to hit a thrust kick (and still neither bumps)! MOONSAULT OFF THE APRON by Nick! FOUR-MAN BIZ CLIZ SUPERKICK ON STRONG gets 2! TOP ROPE MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR BY MATT! 450 SPLASH BY NICK! DEATH BY RODERICK! Lethal Combination on Nick as bodies once again start to pile up! Hanson saves Rowe from the Magic Killer and clobbers Doc to the floor. SUPERKICK PARTY…NO SOLD! DOUBLE CARTWHEEL LARIAT! GALLOWS POLE! Muso from Strong to Matt! LETHAL INJECTION ON NICK! GUN STUN BLOCKED! LETHAL INJECTION COUNTERED TO THE GUN STUN! SUPERMAN PUNCH BY ROWE! FALLOUT ON ANDERSON! War Machine win for their team at 18:36

Rating - **** - You pretty much knew what you were going to get from this, i.e. bodies flying everywhere, Superkicks all over the shop etc. They absolutely delivered and met expectations on that front, but what I liked were some of the subtle little touches hidden amongst the carnage. Roderick and Lethal, major rivals last year, clearly didn’t like each other but now as heel champions rather than fighting their goal was to eclipse the other. There were so many little moments, glances or gestures to that effect which I really liked. War Machine and the Young Bucks were sensibly kept apart for long periods (given that the Bucks are a LOT more over than the current Tag champs), but any time they did lock horns it felt loaded with significance – be it the Jacksons embarrassing the champs, or the big bearded dudes looking to maul the small, charismatic pretenders. Giving War Machine the win was a nice touch as well, as they very clearly have the most to benefit from it. Anderson and Gallows were WWE bound. The Bucks are the most over guys on the planet. Lethal and Roddy are accepted top tier guys in ROH, so having Hanson and Rowe get the win is a major feather in their cap. Personally I thought this was a touch below the quality of the pre-intermission six-man, but a riot nonetheless.

Tape Rating - *** - Perhaps not quite to the level of the excellent Collinsville event (which I preferred), but this was yet another strong stop on the Winter Warriors Tour. It felt loaded with fun and dynamic matches, along with unpredictable pacing, plenty of action and the kind of energy ROH live events were sorely missing in 2015. The two big multi-man tags obviously steal the show (and are well worth checking out), but even matches that last year would have become predictable and plodding dirge were refreshingly watchable. Matches like the post-intermission Six Man Mayhem or ANX vs Moose/Cheeseburger were given time and sufficient leeway to allow the talents contained within time to shine; meaning even inconsequential matches which offer little long-term significance are at least damn enjoyable to sit through. Up next ROH heads to Japan to join up with NJPW for their Honor Rising events on the road to the 14th Anniversary…

3) Adam Cole vs Stevie Richards (***)

2) Jay Lethal/Roderick Strong/War Machine vs Karl Anderson/Doc Gallows/Young Bucks (****)

1) Matt Sydal/ACH/Alex Shelley vs Michael Elgin/Bobby Fish/Kyle O’Reilly (****)