McXal's Reviews

Fourteen years is a long time. There have been peaks and troughs, highs and lows but in my view ROH enters this pay-per-view with as much momentum as it has had in some time. I still have some issues, but they’ve followed up the extremely decent Final Battle 2015 PPV with a couple of solid months of TV and some really strong live events. As usual I’m concerned that they have simply booked too much for a three hour pay-per-view slot meaning certain matches will get screwed for time, but the line-up is stacked. Triple threat matches for the two singles titles book-end the show, as Tomohiro Ishii makes his ROH debut already holding the TV Title and now defends it against the two top contenders in Roderick Strong and Bobby Fish…then our main event sees Jay Lethal defend the World Title against both Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly. Underneath that the big New Japan names are all in town. WWE pulled Shinsuke Nakamura (who was originally booked), but Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega (making his first ROH appearance since the HDNet era) work significant matches this evening. There’s also War Machine defending the ROH Tag Championship against All Night Express in a No DQ Match, plus grudge matches featuring Christopher Daniels, Alex Shelley, BJ Whitmer and Adam Page. Kevin Kelly and Mr Wrestling III are in Las Vegas, NV. 

‘Which hurts more – broken bones or broken dreams?’ – Truth Martini

Just a week ago it looked certain we were going to see a rematch of Final Battle, with Roderick Strong defending the TV Title against the man he tapped out to in Philadelphia yet still survived with his championship belt due to the ref not seeing it. Fish has stalked Roddy for two months, accusing him of hypocrisy as he has undertaken countless ‘Roddy vs The World’ challenges whilst continuing to duck him. But a week ago in Tokyo at New Japan’s Honor Rising weekend, ‘Roddy vs The World’ came back to bite Strong on the ass. He finally bit off more than he could chew by granting the Stone Pitbull, Tomohiro Ishii, a title shot. Ishii shocked everyone with a brutal, violent and impressive performance which saw him dethrone Strong and win the Television Title despite never having appeared in an ROH ring before. He makes is official ROH debut tonight defending the belt against two top contenders. 

Just like Night 2 of Honor Rising, tensions between Ishii and Strong really threaten to boil over. The match actually starts with Roddy punting him in the face before the introductions are even finished. Fish doesn’t like Strong either of course, and sure enough he joins forces with the champ to put the boots to Mr ROH. It’s a hectic opening period with plenty of offence but little flow. Roderick survives the initial onslaught and starts to divide and conquer on his two opponents, first hitting the Olympic Slam on Bobby then delivering the Muso to Ishii. The champ completely no sells Strong’s big chops but goes crashing to the canvas off the big dropkick instead. Fish gets involved by suplexing Roddy into Ishii for a two-count. The Stone Pitbull has swift payback with a stunning STALLING superplex out of the corner which the Vegas crowd really react to. FOLDING POWERBOMB gets 2 on Fish! But close enough that the fans accuse Turner of counting a three. With Fish incapacitated we return to Ishii and Strong, as Mr ROH dodges a lariat into DEATH BY RODERICK! SICK KICK gets 2! Into the STRONGHOLD! He targeted Ishii’s back last week so presumably the champ may still be carrying an injury. Luckily for him Bobby dives in to come to his aid by putting Strong in the Fish Hook Deluxe. JUMPING KNEE on Fish! BRAINBUSTER ON STRONG! Ishii beats Roddy again to retain at 08:34

Rating - *** - There is a case to make that this was a supreme waste of talent. There arguably aren’t any better workers on the entire show than Fish or Strong, and Ishii’s ROH debut really could’ve been treated with more reverence than a nine-minute throw-away sprint. However, on a packed pay-per-view card time-savings need to be made somewhere and this was an obvious candidate. The ‘money’ matches here are the eventual Strong/Fish rematch down the line, plus potentially singles defences for Ishii against both of them. As an opening match this did a fine job of keeping a quick pace, involving the audience and setting the standard of what one should expect from the evening’s entertainment. It also did a hell of a job putting Ishii over like a star, which is critical for a guy making his debut whilst already holding a championship. I really liked the last few minutes, and thought having Ishii go over Strong in exactly the same manner as he pinned him in Japan the previous weekend was the right finish

There has been months of slow build towards this encounter. When Page joined The Decade he was a young kid with heaps of talent, frustrated at his lack of progress in Ring Of Honor and willing to follow the questionable example set by BJ Whitmer in order to get ahead. Fast forward a year and he’d started to feel like he was bumping his head against a glass ceiling. He produced some great matches in 2015, such as his battles with ACH or Jay Briscoe, but never seemed to see his stock rise accordingly. And as he tried to grow as a performer he was frustrated to see his supposed ‘mentor’ distracted at every turn by his interminable war of words with commentator Steve Corino. He’d seen enough, and with some assistance from Corino, turned on BJ during the Winter Warriors Tour. Tonight this is promoted as ‘teacher vs student’ (which is disrespectful, Page has been in ROH for almost five years now); can Adam Page finally step out of Whitmer’s overbearing shadow? It’s worth pointing out that this is BJ’s first ‘serious’ match since returning from a major knee injury.

Fists fly after the bell, and it’s a feather in the cap of Page that he is able to out-strike the veteran to drive him out of the ring. On the floor the future Hangman sets BJ up in a chair and delivers a running, unprotected dropkick to the face. But Whitmer knows all of Page’s moves and has the torpedo SSP headbutt off the apron scouted. He blocks it by sweeping the legs then delivering a GUARDRAIL BACKBREAKER! Whitmer starts to get disrespectful with his former protégé by poking the eyes or pie-facing him. It’s symptomatic of the fact that he isn’t taking Page seriously and he soon pays for it as the younger man dropkicks his bad neck down into the turnbuckles. Adam looks to stay on the neck with the Spike DDT…but again BJ has his key moveset scouted and counters it into a powerslam. Page counters BJ’s Exploder ’98 and levels him with the Buckshot Lariat for 2. Whitmer heads to the apron in an attempt to deliver the same piledriver that almost ended his career…but instead Page boots him to the floor for the SHOOTING STAR TORPEDO HEADBUTT! Hangman has snapped apparently and starts trying to bring chairs in. Obviously referee Todd Sinclair has to stop him, and when he does Whitmer kicks Page in the balls, then rolls him up to win at 09:12

Rating - ** - I didn’t hate the match by any stretch. It wasn’t as lively or dynamic as the opener but told a strong story, particularly with the running theme of Whitmer knowing Page so well and countering all his moves. But wow that finish was atrocious. Delirious is a known fan of cheap low blows and roll-up finishes so it isn’t surprising…but he really needs to find better ways to protect babyfaces when taking a loss. I’d argue that Page really should’ve gone over here too. If the feud is to continue they could have had Whitmer attack him after the match, but in my view Page is the rising star and prospect which needs to be promoted. Couldn’t he win the high profile PPV match and have BJ get a cheap win at a subsequent house show? And the manner of the defeat was infuriatingly dumb. It kind of makes sense in a ‘Page is naïve and makes mistakes without BJ to guide him’ manner, but isn’t the whole point that Page is a ‘star’ now and doesn’t need The Decade? Having him introduce weapons like an idiot, thereby f*cking himself over, made him look like a moron – totally unnecessarily too.

Post match Page has a temper tantrum and starts fighting with security staff as Whitmer skulks away and smirks on the apron.

Dalton Castle gets some interview time to warn Goto of the dangers of underestimating him tonight.

This was initially scheduled to be Goto vs Ishii, but was rearranged when the Pitbull beat Roddy last week. Instead the Party Peacock, who won lots of fans in Japan with his performances during the Honor Rising tour, gets another chance to make an impression on the NJPW office. This is Goto’s first return to ROH since appearing at Field Of Honor weekend last year. Dalton’s entrance is given some PPV ‘big match feel’ with the addition of four more Boys (on top of the Tate Twins). It’s a thoroughly strange spectacle which the crowd lap up.

Kelly and MW3 do a great job framing Goto’s NJPW storylines as he enters the match, and in doing so add some genuine tension and drama to this one by portraying his desperate need to break his slump and win tonight. Perhaps his issues in Japan are the reason the start is slow as he feels his way into the match against such an unorthodox opponent. He struggles with both Castle’s posing and his immense grappling skill…before eventually decking him with a lariat. The big hitting style has success in keeping Dalton subdued, but Goto makes an error trying a jump off the second rope and is caught into another overhead throw. Bang-A-Rang blocked into more strikes, then a back drop driver for 2. To the floor they go, where Castle 619’s the apron to hit a headscissors…and returns to the ring with a spectacular missile dropkick. Everest German blocked…ARM CAPTURE EVEREST GERMAN INSTEAD gets 2! Elbows by Goto drop Castle to his knees, into position for a DVD over the knee. Shouten Kai nailed (eventually), giving Goto a victory at 09:48

Rating - *** - The match itself was my favourite Goto performance in ROH thus far (not that there have been many). I thought the central premise was excellent, with the under-performing Goto struggling to cope with Castle being a) weird and b) a superb technical wrestler…so had to turn the match into a strike battle whenever possible. It gave some great exchanges whereby he’d be beating the hell out of Dalton, only for the Peacock to quicken the pace and hit a big move which immediately quietened Goto’s momentum. I’m not sure I quite understand the logic of putting Goto – in the middle of a supposed ‘slump’ angle in New Japan – over Castle, whom has been on an upward curve since Final Battle at all. Such are the pitfalls of being the junior partner in the ‘special relationship’ between ROH and NJPW I suppose. It does at least play into him getting a title shot tomorrow night, which he’d subsequently lose (apologies for the spoiler) and thus further fuel his NJPW funk angle.

The return of Shelley is comfortably the best thing to emerge from the entirely strange KRD/red mask angle. Chris Sabin initially wore the mask as part of his return to ROH last year, eventually helping Daniels and Kazarian become ROH Tag Champions. But then another Red Mask started getting involved to the detriment of The Addiction…and that man eventually revealed himself as Sabin’s former tag partner and friend, Alex Shelley. It began talk of a ‘conspiracy’ against them by the KRD faction, and tension built so far that Daniels actually attacked an official and got himself suspended for a month. That is now lifted, and he steps into the ring looking for payback against Shelley tonight. Kaz is in the Ring General’s corner tonight, but Sabin is conspicuous by his absence. Brian Kendrick also makes a random appearance on commentary for no apparent reason. My assumption is he was lining up a potential spot in Ring Of Honor before the WWE Cruiserweight Classic opportunity came up.

Shelley immediately gets into an altercation with Kazarian at ringside, which gives Daniels the chance to put the boots to him in the corner. Shelley manages to toss him to the ring, but can’t hit his planned dive because once again Frankie gets involved. TOP ROPE FLYING CROSSBODY ONTO THE ADDICTION! Kaz makes another move to attack Alex, which Daniels capitalises on to crotch him in the ropes and put a kick through the side of his head. The Ring General starts working on the neck and head with great precision, delivering moves which bounce it off the mat and breaking them up by repeatedly putting elbows and boots into the skull too. Crossface applied – high across the nose and face to punish the head further – after the Arabian press across the neck. And of course, Frankie is on hand to leg drop the neck too when Todd Sinclair is distracted. Alex retaliates with the turnbuckle Shellshock for 2. WA4 blocked with a lariat to the neck, because Daniels is so f*cking good. Best Moonsault Ever misses though…bringing Frankie back into the ring just as Shelley sets up for Sliced Bread #2 (in front of the man that gave the move it’s name). Sabin runs in AND ATTACKS DANIELS! Shelley pounces with a flash pin and nabs victory at 09:40

Rating - *** - I really hope these two get a chance to reprise this match at a house show or something. This was SO DAMN GOOD but was worked at half pace and barely scratched the surface of what they are capable of together. They are both so experienced, so slick and so fluid inside the ropes that the match itself was an easy watch even though they only stayed in the lower gears. The persistent interference from Kazarian was aggravating but does make total sense from a storyline standpoint, and didn’t detract too much from the high class talent inside the ropes. Sabin’s run-in and turn on The Addiction was pretty inevitable and felt remarkably devoid of tension which is a shame. I think they could’ve turned the screw a little more on this, but obviously (and understandably) decided that they couldn’t wait any longer to get Motor City Machine Guns into the already packed tag division. MCMG vs Addiction tags are ok with me!

The Machine Guns beat The Addiction out of the ring then hug it out to cement the return of their team.

The Briscoes, veterans of ROH since Day One, get interview time and pose the question as to whether Elgin and Tanahashi – great singles wrestlers – stand any chance against them in tag team action.

I believe there was some speculation that Tanahashi would be pulled from this tour due to his legitimate ongoing shoulder problems, but he has it taped up and comes to Vegas to a rapturous ovation. Elgin and Jay have a well-documented rivalry and have traded wins, most significantly when Jay beat Big Mike to take his ROH World Championship. After another loss to him on TV, Elgin bemoaned his fortunes before laying down the challenge to a tag match…then dropped the bomb that he was bringing his partner from NJPW with him. Tanahashi didn’t come back to ROH over the summer of 2015 when the likes of Okada and Nakamura did, so this is the first time we’ve seen him in this company since the War Of The Worlds/Global Wars tour. Jay Briscoe just did a great job of summarising the key question coming into this. Elgin and Tanahashi are great wrestlers and former champions of ROH and New Japan respectively. But are they able to channel that singles success into victory over the Briscoes, one of the most influential and experienced tag teams of the modern era?

Tanahashi refuses the Code Of Honor and motions that the reason is that he wants to punch both Briscoes in the face. That may well be his finest moment in an ROH ring thus far. Elgin and Jay start with intensity, and Big Mike gets the better of the early exchanges. Tana gets the tag, and his frivolous air guitar work would suggest his shoulder isn’t bothering him right away. He is helpless to stop Mark launching himself off the apron into the blockbuster on the floor to take Elgin out. With Unbreakable incapacitated the Briscoes work Tanahashi over, keeping him in their corner and isolating him with the kind of precision you’d expect from an experienced, elite-level team. But Tanahashi is one of the inest performers in the world for a reason and he eventually lands a rebound crossbody on Mark to make the hot tag to Elgin…who comes in dishing out German suplexes to both Briscoes. Running elbow/German suplex combo by Tana and Elgin on Mark as all four pile into the ring together. The Briscoe response is an Iconoclasm/frog splash combo for 2 on Big Mike. Elgin back drops Mark over the top rope into the guardrails…only to eat a barrage of boots to his face by Jay. NO SOLD! Roaring Elbow by Elgin! Urinage from Mark to Tanahashi! Rude Awakening/Froggy Bow combo nailed for 2! Elgin saves his partner from the Doomsday Device and DVD’s one Briscoe on top of the other in the corner! WHEELBARROW FROG SPLASH by Elgin and Tana gets 2! SLING BLADE! ELGIN BOMB! HIGH FLY FLOW! Tanahashi pins Mark at 14:49

Rating - *** - It was very formulaic, but probably the best match on the show up to this point. Of all the New Japan ‘main event’ talent, Tanahashi’s house show mode is probably the best as he is so generous with allowing his opponents offence. He worked the babyface in peril segment and did a lot to promote the idea that the Briscoes were the better ‘team’ taking on two better ‘singles workers’. 

This is the type of big money match Stokely Hathaway has been petitioning for. He came out at the start of the year and announced that Moose felt ready to start wrestling main event matches against the best talent in the world, and his first port of call was to challenge the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Okada, for this show. The Rainmaker has accepted the challenge, and will have taken note of Moose’s unbeaten showing in the NJPW ring at Honor Rising weekend. He made a real splash in Japan and comes into this full of confidence, ready to spring an upset.

An instant statement is made by Moose as he powers Okada into the corner and teases unloading his huge vertical leap dropkick. Okada is famous for his own dropkick of course, and quickly does the same thing back to the former NFL star. First dropkick blood goes to Moose though, and he follows it by literally powering the Rainmaker to the top rope to actually deliver the standing jump version. It knocks Okada to the floor…and once again Moose is on him, this time to repeatedly swing him into the metal guardrails. Okada retaliates by throwing him into the front row! RUNNING CROSSBODY INTO THE CROWD BY OKADA! Moose is rattled by the rapid escalation in intensity by the IWGP Champion, and when the match returns to the ring Okada is able to keep him grounded to negate his obvious strength advantage. The neck is the target…but when he lands a DDT Moose pops right back up and levels him with a discus lariat. ROLLING POWERBOMBS get 2. Hitstick dodged to shunt Moose into the ringpost, and with his skull still ringing from that Okada lands the flapjack as well. Both men are punch-drunk from the effects of this physical match, and stand on wobbly legs in the middle of the ring swinging wild strikes at each other. Okada goes after Moose’s neck again with the Air Raid Crash neckbreaker. Rainmaker COUNTERED WITH THE ROPE RUN BODY PRESS! Moose does Okada’s pose! HITSTICK MISSES…RAINMAKER COUNTERED…GAME BREAKER BLOCKED! Dropkick by Okada, into the RAINMAKER! Okada wins at 10:29

Rating - *** - If I did half stars this was easily a ***1/2 level affair. Probably not the break-out match ROH were hoping for, but Moose has improved so rapidly and genuinely did do a hell of a job stepping up to someone the level of Okada. Kudos to Okada as well, who had his working boots on and busted his ass to ensure this was of a decent quality as well. They started and ended extremely strong; particularly that climactic flurry of counters which was just unreal to watch. The last minute made for compelling viewing, and really spotlighted the growth of Moose as a worker, as those kind of elaborate, high intensity, back and forth exchanges at high speed, deep into a match, were something he really struggled with early in his ROH career. They probably needed a little longer to flesh out the bones on the story they were trying to tell here to get a higher rating, but I thought this was great. After Honor Rising and this match I’m amazed Moose didn’t get offered more of a shot in New Japan.

We saw The Elite win the NEVER 6-Man belts from the Briscoes and Toru Yano at Honor Rising last weekend, and they come straight to Ring Of Honor to defend them. Their opponents tonight are a real threat to the belts however, and they have a genuine track record of success against them. Kushida won the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title from Omega at Wrestle Kingdom this year, whilst we literally just saw Sydal and ACH defeat the Young Bucks on ROH television, plus Sydal is currently half of the IWGP Jr. Tag Champions with Ricochet (belts they won from the Young Bucks too). This is Omega’s first time in an ROH ring in years. Since he’s been gone he’s become one of the most sought over and popular wrestlers in the world, and his elevation to Bullet Club top billing leaves him on the cusp of legitimate superstardom. Getting a rare US appearance from him (and getting more of them moving forward) is a major objective for ROH.

The fans are rabid for this, quite literally chanting for all six men before the bell has even rung. Kushida and Nick start at breakneck speed, but Matt tries to slow it down by poking ACH’s eyes. ACH retaliates with the Steve Austin flurry to drive Omega out of the ring, and almost lands a Stone Cold Stunner on Matt as well. Sydal brings his experience to the party next and wipes out both Jacksons with a double rana. Their response is to boot him off the apron towards Omega…who hits CROYT’S WRATH ON THE ENTRANCE RAMP! Holy sh*t! Kushida and ACH check on Reborn as if he could be legitimately dead, and don’t see stereo tope suicidas from the Young Bucks coming. RISE OF THE TERMINATOR BY KENNY! He drags the half-dead Sydal back into the ring, where he is easy pickings for signature Elite combinations. Sydal fails to hit The Slice, but does land a jumping knee strike and at last tags out to Kushida. He hops to the top rope for a TOP ROPE SWANTON TO THE FLOOR! He literally dived over the announce table on that, giving Kelly and MW3 a fright too. Hoverboard Lock blocked by Omega, who powerbombs Kushida into flying kicks by the Bucks. Dr Wily Bomb gets 2 for The Cleaner. Dragon Rush blocked, for ACH to hit the slingshot flatliner. STONE COLD STUNNER ON MATT, bringing Nick in to break the pin. Nick then MISSES a moonault to the floor and gets knee’d into the guardrails by Sydal. SUPERKICK on the floor by Omega! AIR JORDAN ONTO EVERYONE BY ACH! Inside the ring Sydal lines up his standing moonsault on Matt…so Nick F*CKING SUPERKICKS THE SH*T OUT OF HIM! TANAKA PUNCH BY KUSHIDA! TRIPLE SUPERKICK BY THE ELITE! SUPERKICK PARTY ON ACH! KEVIN STEEN CANNONBALL on Sydal, right into the elevated Swanton for 2. DRAGON RUSH by Omega! Matt Sydal has taken an absolute sh*tkicking in this one. TRIPLE SUPERKICK ON SYDAL! ACH SAVES! Tiger Hattori Special blocked into the CYCLORAMA by Sydal! MIDNIGHT STAR/STANDING MOONSAULT COMBO by ACH and Kushida for 2! TOMBSTONE ON THE FLOOR FROM OMEGA TO KUSHIDA! MELTZER DRIVER ON SYDAL! ONE-WINGED ANGEL! The Elite retain at a bonkers 16:56

Rating - **** - An obscenely crazy match, positively lurid in it’s use of whacky high spots, dives and lunatic offensive flurries. Obviously if you dislike the style then you’ll hate this, but I’m a fan and I thought this was a fantastically enjoyable whirlwind of chaotic violence. I loved that, underpinning it all, was The Elite going all out to destroy Matt Sydal. He took the pin, he got Croyt’s Wrath on the metal entrance ramp. Whenever the champions were on top, more often than not it was because poor Sydal was getting beaten to hell. It’s little touches of logic and strategy to along with the carnage that make these Young Bucks-influenced spotfests so enjoyable. They are such phenomenal, clever athletes. They understand perfectly how to pace and structure these types of matches…but they also get the need to put together enough ‘logic’ to prevent it from falling apart as well. This is an obvious show stealer, and also a fine way to bring Kenny Omega back – but without him eclipsing the Young Bucks (who are ROH contracted and therefore of greater importance to this promotion).

I admire ROH’s sentiment here, in putting their championship matches at the top of the card, but putting War Machine and ANX on after the previous matches does them no favours. They are works in progress and definitely not the most over teams in the tag division by any stretch of the imagination, and will have their work cut out for them getting a reaction out of this crowd now. ANX become top contenders to Hanson and Rowe by upsetting the Briscoes and the Young Bucks at Final Battle. They challenged for the belts on Episode #229 of ROH on SBG, but went to a controversial DQ finish when Kenny King got Paul Turner KO’d by Rowe’s knees, then War Machine got themselves disqualified by putting Kenny through a table. ANX pursued a rematch (and have still never been beaten with the Tag Titles on the line since winning them in 2012) and have been granted it under No DQ rules.

The fight starts on the floor, with some chaotic scenes – some planned, some unintentional, like Hanson dropping Titus on a planned double team spot. Stereo Sledgehammer strikes against the rails by War Machine before Hanson goes straight under the ring to introduce a table whilst Rowe suplexes Rhett onto the wooden floor. BACK DROP THROUGH THE TABLE from Hanson to King! Inside the ring the champs hit the Shotgun Knee/Bronco Buster combo on Titus who is all on his own after that table spot. They jam steel chairs in the ropes on all four corners of the ring…but take so long doing it that Titus recovers and spikes Hanson through one of them. Kenny returns and help but Rowe through a chair too. King puts a trash can over Hanson’s head before delivering a spinning heel kick for 2. But the challengers just aren’t doing enough damage to keep their powerful opponents down. Hanson hits the reverse powerslam on Titus…but misses the Cartwheel Lariat to eat King’s corkscrew enzi. THRUST BUSTER THROUGH AN OPEN CHAIR from Titus to Rowe! Unfortunately the crowd is so burnt out it gets zero response. Superman Punch on King…into Fallout. Kenny kicks out at 2! Again to zero reaction, which just sucks for them. KING PRESS SLAMS HANSON OFF THE TOP THROUGH A TABLE ON THE FLOOR! ONE NIGHT STAND on Rowe…and now he kicks out! Kenny yells at Rhett to bring a ladder out, which they bridge between the ring and the railing. CEMENT MIXER OFF THE APRON THROUGH THE LADDER DESTROYS KING! FALLOUT ON TITUS! War Machine retain at 11:20

Rating - *** - I’ve seen some lousy ratings for this match, which just aren’t right in my opinion. It isn’t the fault of the four men involved that they were put in a spot on the card which was so painfully obviously incorrect. I like both teams, but they aren’t as over as the Briscoes, or the Bucks, or reDRagon (or even the likes of The Addiction or MCMG). Had they put this on earlier in the show, definitely before The Elite’s trios match, they’d have got such a different crowd reaction. They worked so damn hard here, introducing all manner of plunder to try and give it the big match feel. Admittedly some of this felt sloppy, with some botches, a broken table, and Rowe having to pause on the climactic ladder spot when it fell off the guardrail. But those are reasons why this isn’t a great match, not why it wasn’t good at all. The idea of both teams kicking out of the respective finishing moves of the opposition was a good one too (particularly as nobody had kicked out of Fallout I don’t believe). Personally I enjoyed this. If you’re watching on DVD/VOD and you’re feeling burnt out after the trios match take a quick break and come back – there’s much to appreciate here even if the dead crowd was detrimental to their efforts.

At All Star Extravaganza last year, many thought O’Reilly was on the brink of defeating Lethal to win the World Title…until his supposed friend Adam Cole stabbed him in the back. The temporary return of Future Shock had all been a hoax by Cole to get at his former partner, and it reignited the feud between them. At Final Battle Cole beat Kyle, but under controversial circumstances. He thought that was sufficient to be named #1 contender to the World Title, but Nigel McGuinness disagreed and added O’Reilly to the 14YA main event as well. Now we enter with all manner of questions. Can Kyle maintain his composure and lust for revenge on Cole for long enough to win the belt? Can he actually win the ‘big one’ and become World Champion as his opponents tonight already have? Can Lethal survive the challenge of two opponents at the same time? Your 14th Anniversary main event, as it was when the Era Of Honor began, puts together three men at the top of their game. Who leaves with gold?

Unsurprisingly the match starts with O’Reilly and Cole beating the hell out of each other whilst Lethal struggles to get their attention. It leads to some unwitting Future Shock combo work as the two challengers want to fight each other so bad they are willing to team up and incapacitate Lethal to do so. Jay eventually drags Cole out of the ring to get into the fight, watching as Kyle crashes and burns missing a pescado. O’Reilly returns to German suplex Cole into a fisherman buster on Lethal for 2. DVD over the knee gets a nearfall for Adam as he starts to target O’Reilly’s neck. Lethal swoops in looking to capitalise, knocking Cole out with the springboard dropkick then attacking Kyle’s neck for himself with an inverted DDT. DOUBLE MISSILE DROPKICK from O’Reilly to both opponents, but his neck is so beaten up he is slow to his feet afterwards. He hits Axe & Smash on Lethal, then the Regalplex on Cole but can’t hold the bridge allowing him to kick out. Lethal Injection countered to a sleeper by Kyle. SUPERKICK ON O’REILLY by Cole! He collapses out of the ring leaving the way clear for Cole to pursue a submission victory on Lethal with the Figure 4. ARM-AGEDDON BY O’REILLY…and all three spill into the ropes to break the holds! To the floor they go with O’Reilly lining up a MISSILE DROPKICK TO THE FLOOR THROUGH A CHAIR taking out Cole. He goes again at Jay but is countered with a MID-AIR SUPERKICK! TOPE TRIFECTA by the champ! Lethal Combination gets 2 as the announce team ponder whether O’Reilly is out of the match for good. He appears at the bottom of the screen…only to be shoved into the champ’s LETHAL INJECTION by Cole! LAST SHOT ON LETHAL! FOR 2! But then Cole goes to the floor chasing his rival O’Reilly rather than stay on the champion. It comes back to haunt him as Kyle dumps him out and hits the ring to land a brainbuster on Lethal. Arm-ageddon blocked…triangle choke instead! ANKLELOCK ON COLE AT THE SAME TIME! Cole, whilst still in the Anklelock, stops Lethal’s arm from dropping three times and being choked out! The three beleaguered competitors rise to their weary feet and throw strikes at each other. Cole tries to dismiss O’Reilly with another Superkick, but this time Kyle explodes back with the DOUBLE JAWBREAKER LARIAT! LAST SHOT ON O’REILLY! LETHAL INJECTION BLOCKED BY COLE! O’Reilly tries to choke Adam out…leading to a DOUBLE LETHAL INJECTION! Lethal pins Cole to retain at 13:44

Rating - **** - I didn’t have the highest of hopes for this, but it turned out to be a GREAT triple threat match. I’ll get the obvious criticism out of the way early and say it needed more time. Not heaps more, but at less than fourteen minutes they were working at a sprint pace all the way through meaning none of their big dramatic moments - like the work on O’Reilly’s neck, the heated brawl segments between Cole and O’Reilly, or the superb double submission spot where the in pain Adam Cole had to find a way to save Lethal from being choked out - got enough time to breathe and make an impact. But there was so much great content in here. Cole and O’Reilly’s feud permeated everything that happened – from the start where they brawled, right to the end when Cole went after his rival rather than staying on Jay Lethal when he seemingly had him beaten. I also thought the way they booked Lethal here was great as well. Rather than be a cowardly lion (and rather than have the thousand run-ins like his match with Honma in Japan last week) from the outset he wanted to be a fighting champion. He had to muscle in on Cole and O’Reilly simply to be involved, and probably hit more ‘double spots’ (i.e. one move to both opponents) than anyone else. Personally I’d have preferred it to be O’Reilly taking the fall at the end. I understand protecting him, but the story they told with his neck as the focal point of offence from both opponents, really needed to conclude with him taking the pin. Adam Cole is arguably closer to being World Champion than he is too, so a clean loss to Lethal definitely hurts him as well.

Tape Rating - *** - This was another good pay-per-view from Ring Of Honor, which I think in some quarters has been seriously under-rated. The problem, as ever, lies with the way these big shows are booked and laid out by Delirious/Sinclair management. The three hour time slot just isn’t enough for the amount they are trying to pack in, meaning everything feels rushed and most matches don’t get enough time. It’s a conundrum WWE wrestled with too, eventually leading them to add in official Pre-Shows and longer PPV run-times to pack in more content…and that may be a decision ROH needs to reach too. Okada/Moose, Ishii/Strong/Fish, Shelley/Daniels and the main event all really would have benefited from more time here. Did the Castle/Goto match need to happen? Could they not have delayed Whitmer/Page until the TV taping tomorrow? Did the Briscoes, Elgin and Tanahashi need the second longest match of the night? It also doesn’t help that one of the ‘marquee’ matches for this show – the Tag Title Match – was perceived as a flop. In my view it wasn’t, it was a good, hard-fought and plunder-filled match but both teams were screwed over by having to go on after the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega. They needed to go on earlier in the show – and it was such an avoidable mistake since anyone could work out that The Elite were going to be more popular than them, and do crazier sh*t in their match right before them too. Onto the positives…top to bottom there is barely a bad match to be found. Page/Whitmer was disappointing and probably could’ve been cut, but everything else reached a decent level. Of course the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Title match stole the show and is well worth checking out, but the main event blew my expectations out of the water as well. Lethal continues to prove that when he is allowed to wrestle (rather than get bogged down with House Of Truth BS) he is a GREAT champion. There were some enjoyable moments on the rest of the card too…although lacking the emotional ‘punch’ they probably deserved because there just isn’t enough time to really promote them. The return of the Motor City Machine Guns adds to a packed Tag division, Moose/Okada was a lot of fun, Ishii looked great on his ROH debut, Tanahashi got a popular victory but gave a lot back to the Briscoes in the process etc. All in this was a decent (albeit not quite as good) follow up to Final Battle…but take my recommendation with a pinch of salt as I’ve not seen many reviewers like the show as much as me.

3) Kazuchika Okada vs Moose (***)

2) Jay Lethal vs Adam Cole vs Kyle O’Reilly (****)

1) Kenny Omega/Young Bucks vs Kushida/Matt Sydal/ACH (****)