McXal's Reviews

Ring Of Honor’s treatment of the ‘Supercard Of Honor’ shows has varied greatly post-Gabe Sapolsky. Initially contrived as one of the original WrestleMania piggy-backing indy super-shows, it became a staple of ROH’s calendar running alongside WrestleMania and remained that way for Supercards 1-4, taking in Chicago, Detroit, Orlando and Houston. Under the Pearce, then Cornette/Delirious regimes ROH still ran WrestleMania weekend, but either didn’t use the ‘Supercard’ name, or held it back. 2010 in Phoenix saw ‘From The Ashes’ and ‘Phoenix Rising’ (Supercard Of Honor was later in the year in Manhattan), 2011 in Atlanta gave us ‘Honor Takes Center Stage’ weekend (with Supercard basically being an amped up house show in Chicago later in the year that coincided with the Sinclair buy-out), and in 2012 they dropped it altogether in favour of ‘Showdown In The Sun’ weekend from Ft. Lauderdale (the weekend of the infamous ‘brown out’). SOH returned in 2013 (following the departure of Jim Cornette incidentally – maybe he disliked the name?), and was back for Mania weekend as Supercard Of Honor 7 emanated from Manhattan. ROH/Sinclair kept it for Mania weekend in 2014 (New Orleans) and 2015 (Redwood City) and retain it again this year. ROH are sticking very much ‘in house’ for their WrestleMania weekend contributions in 2016. There are no special attractions, no New Japan stars…and they are taking the creditable approach of presenting an entire weekend promoting their core roster and core product. Whether that means this double-header comes off like low-key house shows (as much of Supercard Of Honor 9 did) or like something special, and resemblant of the Supercard Of Honor glory days, is entirely down to how Delirious lays these shows out. He certainly has enough solid content booked. Night Two brings us the final showdowns in the Cole/O’Reilly and Strong/Fish feuds, plus a spotlight on the jam-packed Tag Title scene. We begin with Night One, giving us a succession of high profile, potentially show-stealing singles encounters (Cole/ACH, Fish/Daniels, O’Reilly/Sydal, Strong/Moose), an unlikely World Title match as Top Prospect Tournament winner Lio Rush challenges Jay Lethal, and a ‘dream match’ tag main event putting the rock star Young Bucks against the reformed Motor City Machine Guns. Kevin Kelly and Mr Wrestling III provide commentary from Dallas, TX.

It would make more sense for Veda to be teaming up with Amber rather than Deonna, given that last time we saw them in DVD bonus action (during the Winter Warriors Tour) they formed an alliance. But booking Veda is presumably dependent on also booking Cedric Alexander…and he isn’t here at all this weekend. In fact, by this point Cedric was basically done with ROH. Scott not being here does mean she is replaced by the superior Purrazzo though, who would go on to become an extremely solid in-ring worker and a HUGE missed opportunity for ROH that they didn’t get her to sign a deal for the WOH division. She is apparently in the midst of a rivalry with Mandy too. We’ve seen Solo before, and although she is a capable worker her sugar-rush gimmick is what stands out as more memorable. 

All three announcers put Deonna over for her work ethic (she has worked in over 30 states apparently) and thirst to improve. She starts with her rival Leon, with Mandy getting the edge on her. Darling hops in almost jittering with exciting and puts the boots to Amber, annoying the Bullet Babe so much that Gallows tosses her out of the ring. Mandy and Purrazzo are brawling around ringside too, with Deonna stopping Mandy going for an Asai Moonsault and dumping her face-first on the apron. Gallows gives Solo a snap suplex on the floor then flings her into the railings to do yet more damage. Taeler Hendrix is worse than Kevin Kelly on commentary by the way. She’s almost distracting as Deonna and Amber work Darling over through fair means or foul. A-Factor gets 2…and still further pisses Gallows off when Solo kicks out. Darling defies the pulling of her tail to lunge into a hot tag to Mandy…who hits a bulldog her rival Purrazzo but then gets decked with a superkick by Gallows. Stunner by Leon (it’s Texas after all), before applying Havana Dreams on Gallows. Darling intercepts Purrazzo with a front choke…and they both tap out at 08:26. I’d say the babyfaces win, but as the crowd sat in total silence through the whole match without cheering or booing anyone I’m not sure there was much distinction.

Rating - ** - Definitely not the worst Women Of Honor match they’ve tossed onto these DVD’s (although I still wish they’d put them on the main show and not the bonus section). Mandy looked as solid as I’ve seen her thus far, and Deonna looked to be a top prospect even at this stage in her development. Their partners were more of an issue though, since Darling’s gimmick and Amber’s ‘Bullet Babe’ act both rely on the fans actually giving a sh*t about what they were doing. Some of their stuff was cringingly awkward with crickets chirping in the background. 

For a man who headlined the first ever ROH event and was integral to the promotion in the first two years of its existence, we don’t see much of Daniels as a singles guy these days. He’s now a stalwart of the tag team scene with his partner Frankie Kazarian…but the same could be said of his opponent tonight. Fish is another veteran known as much for his tag work with reDRagon as for his individual efforts. But he is looking to break-out in his own right now; in hot pursuit of both arch-rival Roderick Strong and Tomohiro Ishii’s TV Title. Will he be more preoccupied with the match versus Strong tomorrow than he is with obtaining victory tonight?

Both of these guys are extremely talented and have been around for a long-time. It means that the opening period is extremely cautious, with Daniels keen to avoid Bobby’s strikes but also not overly willing to engage on the mat due to Fish’s MMA/submission skills. Bobby keeps looking for the Fisk Hook Deluxe but the Ring General continually finds ways to escape. Fish throws strikes to defend himself and delivers a slingshot senton over the leg in an effort to further set up the Fish Hook. Daniels throws out a dirty kick to Bobby’s arm then slams it into the ringpost. He even applies a Fujiwara armbar around the ringpost in an effort to damage the offending limb. Fish kicks at the leg trying to free himself, so Daniels drops him again with an ARM STUNNER! Even with his arm in obvious pain his legs remain a viable weapon and it’s that constant kicking threat which sees Bobby fight his way back into things. He then dispatches Daniels violently into the turnbuckles with an exploder suplex for 2. Samoan drop sets up the SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT! But he hurts his arm on landing, and Daniels capitalises by locking in a Kimura! Leg-selling northern lights suplex by Daniels, floated into the cross armbreaker. But submissions are Bobby’s thing, and he COUNTERS into an Anklelock! The General kicks his way free and delivers the running STO. BME MISSES, dropping him right on the bad knee! Fish hit a dragon screw! ARMBAR BY DANIELS! DRAGON SCREW AGAIN by Fish! They trade shots to their respective injured body parts until Fish eventually counters Daniels into the FISH HOOK DELUXE! Daniels taps at 14:42

Rating - **** - Definitely the best ROH opening match in some time. Nothing flash or fancy, just two experienced guys putting on an exhibition in pacing, limb work, and outstanding counter wrestling. I could’ve happily watched this go even longer, and it was a great example to Delirious/Sinclair that you don’t need to start every show they run with a brief, insignificant contest to rev the fans up. ROH’s audience is capable of following this, and they timed everything so well here that the audience went from stony silence to really vocal. 

Bobby Fish hops out of the ring after celebrating his win before heading straight to the announce table to provide supplementary commentary on this one too, as it features his enemy; former TV Champ Roderick Strong. Fish geared up for their 2/3 Falls showdown with a win – can Mr ROH now follow suit with a victory over the imposing figure of Moose? 

Fish’s presence has obviously rattled Roddy (just as it supposedly did in a pre-match confrontation before his match with Ishii at Honor Rising) and he winds up trying to jump Moose during his entrance, only to be emphatically dropkicked out of the ring. Moose lines up a Spear into the guardrails, but Strong literally dives for his life and watches as the big man flies blindly into the barriers. That injures the midsection of course (as well as giving him a nasty cut on the shoulder)…and instantly the match is in Strong’s wheelhouse. He pulls Moose back into the ring and sets on him with submissions, leaving him so confident that he even finds time to leave the ring again specifically to mouth off and individual members of the audience. He fails to land a pescado though, as Moose grabs his legs for the guardrail Giant Swing spot! Go To Hell Bomb gets 2 when they return to the ring and when Roddy leapfrogs the Hitstick Moose simply levels him with the GAME BREAKER instead! Credit to Strong who is selling the sh*t out of Moose’s offence! ROPE-RUN CROSSBODY BLOCK BY MOOSE…COUNTERED WITH A MID-AIR DROPKICK TO THE RIBS BY STRONG! Pumping jabs by the ex-NFL man, met with the vaunted Jumping Knee by Mr ROH. BACK SUPLEX ON THE APRON NAILED! Strong tries to pepper Moose with knees…but is hoisted to the top rope for the vertical leap super dropkick to the floor instead. He staggers around ringside, pursued by Moose – who aims a bicycle kick in his direction and knocks Bobby Fish out instead after Roddy ducks it. Fish slumps to the ground as Strong pursues Moose up the ropes for a superplex. DEATH BY RODERICK! SICK KICK COUNTERED WITH A DISCUS LARIAT! Both men down! Roderick hides behind referee Paul Turner as Moose attempts the Hitstick. SICK KICK! ONE COUNT OF DISRESPECT! JUMPING KNEE FLURRY! BARE KNEE STRIKE! Moose is KO’d, handing Strong a hard-fought win at 14:23

Rating - **** - We all know Roddy is outstanding, but his opponent deserves plenty of credit too for this. It was hands down his best singles match in Ring Of Honor. His improvement since being signed in 2014 is quite incredible. He wasn’t carried here, he held his end of the deal whilst dealing with a laceration to his arm…and this wound up being a real slug-fest. It was a great match in isolation, but also did masses to hype the big Strong/Fish rematch tomorrow night…without resorting to interference or cheap non-finishes.  

The three-count has barely been administered before Fish rushes the ring and starts brawling with Strong, who runs into the safety of the crowd to protect himself. 

Up next it is time for Six Man Mayhem action. BJ Whitmer comes out in street clothes to tell us that he has sold his spot in the match to Joey Daddiego, via Taeler Hendrix and the absent Truth Martini (just like he sold his TV Title Match to Cedric Alexander, via Veda Scott, in Vegas). BJ leaves to do commentary, which means he can antagonise Mr Wrestling III (calling him ‘Steve Corino’ the entire time).

The sole reason the House Of Truth bought into this match is because they want payback on Dijak for breaking Truth Martini’s neck. Hendrix and Martini have inserted J. Diesel into this on a payback mission. And opting out of it means BJ avoids coming into contact with his student turned rival Adam Page as well. The fact that Dalton’s music hitting gets a huge pop and visibly induces most of the crowd to get to their feet and cheer would suggest that a) he is the clear favourite amongst the live audience and b) this is something of a waste of his talents. Still hot from his feud-ending win over Silas Young, he’ll want to keep the momentum going into another high profile victory. With The Boys, Taeler Hendrix, BJ Whitmer and Prince Nana all out ringside is definitely quite a congested area.

Frankie trash talks Castle…but then gets made to look foolish as the Peacock takes him to school on the canvas. So emphatic is the beating that Dalton administers that nobody wants to tag in with him so Kaz can escape. Cheeseburger does eventually lucha his way in to trade weird poses with Dalton, before Daddiego puts an end to the fun by blind-tagging Castle out. Diesel and Cheeseburger wrestling is one of my worst nightmares…so thankfully it isn’t long before Page and Dijak take over. Donovan manhandles his foe as Whitmer continues to agitate ‘Mr Wrestling’ by asking about Steve Corino’s wife. Human Centipede low blow sequence…kicks out ALL SIX MEN getting hit in the dick! FIVE-MAN PUNT TO FRANKIE’S CROTCH! The Boys help fan Frankie’s balls…much to Dalton’s displeasure! He hits a tope suicida on him as simultaneously Page hits the Buckshot Lariat over him on Dijak. SSP TORPEDO HEADBUTT by Page! Cheeseburger tries a springboard splash to the floor but gets caught…then held up for a SPRINGBOARD SOMERSAULT SUICIDE DIVE BY DIJAK! Chokeslam backbreaker drops Daddiego ON HIS HEAD! Page hits the Spike DDT on Castle, but then falls to the slingshot cutter by Frankie. Shotei flurry by Burger…until Castle counts one into the Bang-A-Rang. Dalton wins at 09:39

Rating - ** - The last couple of minutes were fun, but before that this was very obviously a filler piece with minimal substance. Dalton was the right man to win, and they managed to keep Burger or Daddiego from derailing things. Dijak is in the midst of a push and I was happy that he was able to look strong as well. Page was lost in the shuffle though, which is worrying considering this break from The Decade was supposed to give him time to shine. The Whitmer/Corino angle is intense and delivered with commendable passion from both parties…but seriously, what is the goal here? In 2016 is that match seriously much of a draw? And if ROH think it is, how much longer do we have to wait before the trigger is finally pulled? Why is still being allowed to detract and take valuable air-time from the number of young, rising stars ROH currently have on their roster?

Dijak and Diesel keep brawling, not that you’d notice because MW3 and Whitmer are arguing like children. Daddiego does a number on Dijak’s ribs with a steel chair then walks away proudly proclaiming he has delivered payback for Truth Martini.

Apparently this is a first-time match, between two exceptionally talented individuals. Kyle knows that a win here effectively ‘gets one over’ his arch nemesis Adam Cole, given that Cole recently lost to Sydal on television. Kevin Kelly goes into vast amounts of detail around why this is significant in the New Japan junior division too (because that dude literally can’t climb off NJPW’s fun stick for even a single second…)

O’Reilly is the aggressor early on and maintains a grip on Sydal to keep him grounded and prevent any possibility of him building up speed or getting some air. Matt has seen that approach countless times of course and lures Kyle into quickening the pace…at which point he instantly gains the upper hand. He hits a couple of headscissors takedowns before taking it into the corner for a diving knee strike. Kyle goes back to grapples and strikes in an attempt to restore parity…but now finds Reborn full of momentum and capable of matching him on that front. Sydal picks apart O’Reilly’s leg with the relentless technical proficiency we saw him demonstrate during the ACH Best Of 5, and the crowd is audibly stunned as they watch a renowned high-flyer out work O’Reilly. Kyle somewhat fortuitously opens up an injury on Matt’s arm…and for the first time he is able to establish a measure of control. It quickly becomes apparent that he is able to ruthlessly inflict more damage on Sydal’s injured limb than Matt was on him, as the former Evan Bourne quickly starts to look a lot more injured than O’Reilly. Sydal is able to kick the leg out from under him and nail the standing moonsault though. AVALANCHE DIVORCE COURT by O’Reilly, into the Fujiwara armbar! Sydal escapes into The Slice! But tries another standing moonsault right into a KIMURA LOCK! Matt lunges into the ropes to escape that…and now both are heavily favouring their respective injuries. Armbreaker by Kyle…is met with a kick to the leg by Sydal. Reborn starts going for flash pins in an attempt to escape with the victory, but can’t secure a three-count and is ensnared into the rolling butterfly suplexes. Axe & Smash into the Regalplex gets 2! The announcers fall into silence as they tear into each other with some ferocious strikes…almost knocking each other out in the process. O’Reilly ends that with a tornado DDT, before Sydal counters a brainbuster into a hurricanrana for a CLOSE nearfall! Like SUPER close! Sydal Press blocked…Meteora lands instead! SYDAL PRESS COUNTERED TO A TRIANGLE CHOKE! INTO ARM-AGEDDON! SYDAL TAPS! 16:34 is your time.

Rating - **** - Chalk up a third high quality singles encounter for this DVD. Daniels/Fish felt a little more polished and slick, whilst Strong/Moose was arguably more exciting and frenetic…but this had a gritty intensity and hard-fought edge that I’m not sure either matched. Since his return to the indies Sydal has been almost criminally under-rated. Having to tone down some of his more risky tendencies has thrown a spotlight on how fundamentally sound he now is as a wrestler. He didn’t look out of place going hold-for-hold or strike-for-strike with a renowned and respected technician like Kyle. They got the balance just right (i.e. Kyle was doing more damage to the body part he was working hence ultimately won the match), and didn’t let a weird WrestleMania crowd vibe derail them. 

These two have met multiple times previously, and usually have decent matches together…but apparently ACH has never beaten Cole. With the former ROH Champion consumed with thoughts of one final victory over Kyle O’Reilly tomorrow night, plus the ambition of getting back into the title picture, ACH will back himself to end his cold-streak against Cole tonight. He does enter after two back-to-back high profile losses (to Kenny Omega and Kushida respectively), so knows he needs to score big with a win over a main event level talent if he wants to start climbing the ladder once again.

The crowd seem split 50/50 for this, with both guys getting plenty of support as they contest a stand-offish opening period. ACH is the quicker of the two and drives Adam out of the ring…where he delivers a big PK-esque punt from the apron. He tries to springboard off the guardrails next, only for Cole to superkick the knee and cause him to fall backwards right onto his head! Adam spots that rough landing and wastes no time in attacking the head and neck as a result. ACH counters by gourdbustering him on the top rope…but is still so hurt from his crash landing off the rails minutes earlier that he can’t capitalise. He swings kicks in Cole’s direction from the deck…and builds up a head of steam to hit a LARIATOOOOOOOO! Hero’s Grip gets 2…and again ACH comes up shaking his head and feeling the neck. He hops to the top ropes, only to he shoved from the top to the floor on his head and neck once again. And when he tries to re-enter with his slingshot flatliner spot Cole is coiled and ready to meet him with a SUPERKICK! It busts ACH’s mouth open and his brains are still scrambled as Adam follows up with the Shining Wizard. Panama Sunrise blocked…AIR JORDAN UP THE AISLE NAILED BY ACH! MIDNIGHT STAR MISSES! SUPERKICK BY COLE! He then plants ACH with the DVD neckbreaker to crunch that damn neck again. ACH once again stops Cole from hitting the Sunrise, dragging him out with the SPIRIT BOMB BRAINBUSTER for 2 (with Adam legit grabbing Todd Sinclair’s hand to stop him counting three). Stone Cold Stunner blocked…Florida Key blocked too! Cole low blows ACH into the Last Shot, picking up the win at 14:13

Rating - **** - Well this show keeps bringing the awesome, delivering another different but still very high level singles bout. This one felt like a lot more of a sprint than the other three matches I’ve given this rating too, with the heightened energy levels drawing a much more engaged crowd too. Cole targeting the neck added a semblance of psychology, but for the most part they went out there, hit a bunch of cool sh*t at great speed and with total accuracy, riled the crowd up as the excitement built and delivered a logical (if annoyingly and unnecessarily cheap) finish. Delirious LOVES a dodgy finish after all. It means both Cole and O’Reilly have scored big wins going into tomorrow’s main event, but at the expense of substantial energy.

Eight men, four teams…and three of them want what Hanson and Rowe currently hold. We are deep in build up for the Briscoes/War Machine Tag Title showdown, but tonight they have to coexist to face two duos they’ve both done battle with in the past. War Machine and ANX beat the sh*t out of each other at the 14th Anniversary, whilst the Briscoes actually lost to King and Titus on pay-per-view last year. Everyone has something to prove, nobody is in a good mood…this could get ugly.

All eight guys stand and look at each other for a few seconds…then punches star to fly. Pretty soon there are bodies all over the ring and ringside area and things become hard to follow. Jay hits an elbow suicida…but looks like he nailed his own partner Hanson far more than he got any opponents. Bruiser hits a FATTY DROPKICK on Jay! STALLING EXPLODER from Rowe to BCB! Silas hits a rebound lariat on Mark…whilst on the floor Hanson lawn-darts Rhett into the ringpost. CANNONBALL OFF THE APRON BY BEER CITY! ANX, Silas and Bruiser show some chemistry as a unit in trying to isolate Mark…which lasts about a minute until the younger Briscoe Kung Fu’s his way to freedom. Jay superkicks Bruiser…only to turn into a spinebuster from Kenny. Superman Punch misses for Rowe, so he hits a knock-out knee strike instead. Path Of Destruction blocked by Young into an Ace Crusher on Rowe! Titus is flattened by Hanson…who almost breaks the ring hitting the Cartwheel Lariat on BCB. The All Nights team up on Hanson, feeding him into Young’s TURNBUCKLE DDT! BIG FAT FROG SPLASH by Bruiser for 2! This is carnage! Everyone leaves the ring again, except Hanson who climbs to the top for a SOMERSAULT SENTON TO THE FLOOR! Rude Awakening on Beer City, leaving him prone to Mark’s Froggy Bow. Mark pins the Bruiser at 08:33

Rating - *** - Well that was considerably more fun than you might have expected. It looked like we were watching eight guys who were fed up of having Young Bucks-style matches steal the show from them, so they just went out and threw nutty spots around too. I’d argue this was a little vapid in the sense that it didn’t really feel like we were doing much to set up for War Machine/Briscoes, or even doing much to reference the recent War Machine/ANX or Briscoes/ANX issues either. For better or worse, the focus here was very much on entertaining the crowd with an eight-minute demolition derby. The unexpected star of the show, for me at least, was the Bruiser. I’ve complained long and hard about him, but even I can’t deny that sliding him into a team with Silas Young has worked well. His contributions to this match were well-timed, exciting and the highlights of the contest in my opinion.

The winning quartet get in each other’s faces as the build to their Tag Title showdown continues.

Normally the winner of the Top Prospect Tournament gets a Television Title shot as part of their prize. But this year, with Tomohiro Ishii in Japan, the prize has been upgraded and 2016 winner Lio Rush gets a World Title opportunity instead. It’s a huge break for a young prodigy still in his very early 20’s. Will Lethal, a man distracted by the likes of Donovan Dijak and the loss of Truth Martini, take him seriously? Does he pose a credible threat to one of the most dominating Ring Of Honor champions of recent times. Judging by his smiles and loud proclamations of having an ‘easy day’, clearly Jay doesn’t think so…

The bell rings and Lethal keeps grinning as the majority of the audience loudly chant his name. Lio knows he is up against it, but makes an impression with a couple of early successful takedowns to demonstrate his speed. He counters Lethal’s hiptoss dropkick spot…which really seems to piss the champ off. He muscles the challenger down and dropkicks the back of his head instead. Great commentary from MW3 reminds us that Lethal has worked matches like Lio is having to know, back when he was Hydro in Special K. He disrespectfully jerks Rush to the ground using his hair, but as he starts to smirk again Lio drags him to the floor as well and delivers a dropkick of his own. SLAP TO LETHAL’S FACE! Oh that fires Lethal up! He stomps the sh*t out of Lio in the corner as punishment. You can feel support slowly start to build for Rush as he starts flipping away from Lethal’s bully-boy offence to deliver a jumping kick. But he shows his inexperience by attempting an ill-advised dive to the floor…and Jay mauls him before he even starts to build up speed. And still Lio won’t stay down; coming up again sliding on his knees, slithering like a snake and hitting a climbing enzi strike from the floor. Nothing Lethal tries is pinning the TPT winner down for an extended period of time. He tries to dropkick him off the apron only for Lio to BACK FLIP out of the way! Taeler Hendrix belittles Rush on the floor though, distracting him so Jay can nail the springboard dropkick then a TOPE SUICIDA! No trilogy tonight though, presumably again because he doesn’t think Lio is a credible threat to his championship. It may have taken an assist from Taeler, but the champ is now in total control and starts attacking the back and neck hard. Rush is still so damn illusive though – hitting a tornado DDT out of nowhere…but now too injured to get back to his feet and capitalise. He decks Lethal with an enzi as he looks for a Savage Axehandle…and when Lethal rolls to the floor he gives chase with a TOPE ATOMICO! He even lands on his feet on that in an effort to protect his back. Dragon’s Call misses though (another inexperienced error), allowing Jay to hit the Lethal Combination. He is now so cocky he even pulls Rush’s shoulders off the canvas on the pin there to taunt him more. Lio keeps crawling to his knees only to be repeatedly punched in the face by the dismissive World Champion. LOW SUPERKICK! Rush is on his knees, with Jay taunting and slapping at him! Lio grabs his trunks to stop him hitting thw Lethal Injection! PALM STRIKE FLURRY BY LIO! REVERSE RANA DROPS LETHAL ON HIS HEAD! DRAGON’S CALL GETS 2! The challenger can barely stand, but somehow shunts Lethal up the ropes looking for the avalanche Rush Hour. COUNTERED WITH A DIVING LETHAL INJECTION FROM THE TOP! LETHAL INJECTION SCORES AGAIN! Lethal finally retains at 19:34

Rating - ****1/2 - I thought this was a phenomenal match. In the last two years, since winning the TV Title at Supercard Of Honor 8, Jay Lethal has grown into an incredible championship performer. He hasn’t always gotten it right (there were high profile flops against the likes of Sydal and El Patron) but he now carries himself and wrestles on the level of some of the great Ring Of Honor champions. I thought he delivered a quite stunning performance here and absolutely NAILED the character aspect of the story they were telling. Rush is crazily talented for his age and experience, but this match was as good as it was because of how damn strong Lethal was at putting the story over. He was a smarmy, disrespectful ass, getting more and more pissed off as the match went along. The action was brilliantly laid out, with Lethal only dominating Rush after Taeler got involved…and the unique, complex and illusive style Lio works always offering him a way back into the contest. It culminated in an utterly fantastic final few minutes. Lethal berating the fallen Rush on the mat…only for Lio to fire back into life with slaps and a reverse rana sent the crowd (who were totally indifferent to him at the start of the night) wild. The top rope Rush Hour/Lethal Injection counter sequence was brilliant too. It wasn’t as polished and slick as ACH/Kushida or as crazy as the Bucks/Kingdom/reDRagon Street Fight from TV earlier in the year…but had a better, more emotionally rewarding story than either.

Lethal offers a handshake to Lio Rush, and even puts him over on the microphone before proclaiming himself to be the best in the world…and that the ROH locker room has no viable challengers left for him. BOOM BOOM! COLT CABANA IS BACK! What a moment! Cabana seemed destined never to return after his bitter departure in 2011, and now chooses WrestleMania weekend to make his shocking return after five years away. He cuts a heartfelt promo about his time in ROH, watching great champions of the past rise to the very top whilst he was ‘made them laugh, danced a little bit’ and was ‘okay with [his] spot on the card’. But now he doesn’t want to be remembered as ‘someone’s friend’, he’s been ‘fired and rejected’, ‘ostracised’…but he remains proudly independent, and a DIY star even when circumstance says he shouldn’t be. Lethal accuses Cabana of avoiding ROH and running off to ‘small, local indy shows’ because he fears the current champ…then says nobody wants him in this company anyway. This gets even better when Cabana says that ‘Corporate America wrestling’ has been calling him ‘ever since they fired the guy with the racket’, but that he’s always refused because he has a chip on his shoulder, and liked going all around the world with his talent. Except this time when they called he ‘said something different’. He is back because he wants to look back on his career and know he was ROH World Champion at least once. 

We’ve seen singles wrestling of the highest order all night, but it’s this hotly anticipated encounter from the tag division which gets the coveted main event slot. When the Machine Guns reformed at the Anniversary Show this was top of the list of matches people wanted to see them contest. The Bucks are the biggest contracted stars ROH have now, and undeniably one of the main attractions this WrestleMania weekend audience came to see. They were involved in a wild triple threat tag also featuring The Addiction last month on the Conquest Tour in Philadelphia…and now get a 2-vs-2 bout to further cultivate that rivalry. Apparently the Bucks were in Japan 24 hours previously, so may be extremely travel-fatigued for this.

Matt and Sabin start with some mirror-image offence during which they can’t be separated. Nick and Shelley crank up the pace even more, and they are evenly matched too. It’s Alex’s wrestling sensibility which sees him skipper his team to an early period of dominance over Matt Jackson, even hitting a double team kick combo to send Nick packing too. They do a good job of keeping the Jacksons separate for a couple of minutes, thus preventing them from stringing together their whacky combo moves…but then take their eye off the ball by attempting a dive-to-the-floor sequence of their own. Nick capitalises with Superkicks…and with the Bucks reunited the pace starts to quicken and they start hitting their sequences. Rise Of The Terminator topes by the Bucks! They have successfully turned the tide in their favour and they capture Shelley for a period of isolation. Matt and Nick have been teaming regularly during all the time MCMG were on hiatus, and for a while they get to exploit the relative rustiness of their opponents. Matt gets over-confident and taunts Sabin for his time in TNA, then inadvertently boots his own brother into the guardrails. Sabin gets the hot tag and finds a way to simultaneously take the fight to both Bucks. Diving knee off the apron by Shelley…as inside the ring Chris gets 2 with a diving tornado DDT on Matt. SPRINGBOARD INSIDE-OUT DIVE TO THE FLOOR BY SABIN! He hauls Matt in…but he blocks Skull & Bones and drills Sabin’s face into the mat with the Worst Case Scenario. MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR by Nick! KEVIN STEEN CANNONBALL! Elevated Swanton Bomb gets 2 on Sabin. More Bang For Your Buck blocked, and Shelley belly to belly suplexes one Buck into the other. FOUR WAY SUPERKICK DUEL! ALL FOUR DOWN! Testicular Claw by Shelley…broken with another Superkick by Nick! Sliced Bread #2 blocked…Meltzer Driver COUNTERED TO A CRADLE SHOCK ON NICK! TOMBSTONE ON MATT! MADE IN DETROIT! NICK BREAKS THE PIN! Doomsday Dropkick by the Machine Guns, but Matt BACK FLIPS OUT OF IT INTO A SUPERKICK! SUPERKICK PARTY ON SABIN! MELTZER DRIVER NAILED! The Bucks win at 18:28

Rating - **** - It has to be said, the Machine Guns are a different team now to how they were in their prime. Back during their classic with the Briscoes, they were almost heralded in the same way the Bucks are today. They were the guys who moved at a hundred miles an hour and had countless flashy double team manoeuvres which the crowd lapped up. It’s a really interesting dynamic to see them come back together now older, wiser, but a little more broken…whilst trying to compete with one of the hottest pro-wrestling acts on the planet. They were at their best here when they utilised that experience, plus Shelley’s all-round wrestling ability, to dominate. When they kept the Bucks separated they were able to control proceedings. But in the end they couldn’t resist falling into old habits, and giving the fans what they wanted – which was four men beating the crap out of each other with one high-octane thrill-move after another. The final 5-7 minutes here were a riot to watch. But to me (and those who always say the Bucks only deliver spot-fests and never have any depth to their matches) I found the emotional heart of this match to be whether the beaten up, reunited Machine Guns can still hang with ‘The Elite’. Turns out they can!

The Young Bucks barely get a chance to raise their hands before The Addiction run in and start beating down both teams. The Briscoes feel like they are left out of a fight, so run down to ringside and get involved as well. Daniels tries to flee…but finds himself the victim of a SIX-MAN SUPERKICK by Jay and Mark, the Bucks and MCMG. The Addiction, the Briscoes, the Bucks and the Machine Guns all meet in a four-way #1 contendership battle tomorrow.

Tape Rating - **** - I believe Ring Of Honor were heavily criticised for their decision not to air these WrestleMania weekend shows live, instead opting to put them on VOD days later. I sort of understand why; it’s the biggest wrestling weekend of the year, and fans at home can only consume so much. By holding their product back, the theory would be that they maximise the amount of people who watch the shows. But that isn’t the way wrestling (or modern society) works anymore. People want things immediately, and when all your competitors are able to offer instant, live access to their events on the biggest wrestling weekend on the calendar, it wasn’t a great choice. And the irony is that, had they done so, I think ROH would’ve created a great deal of buzz – because this was an outstanding show. Arguably one of their strongest live events in YEARS, in fact. Countless 4* level matches, an incredible (and unlikely) MOTYC World Title Match plus the amazing, shock return of Colt Cabana. This will stand up as one of ROH’s best events of 2016 I’m quite certain. From the hot start the veterans Daniels and Fish gave them, through a hard-hitting war between Moose and Roddy, a technical clinic from O’Reilly and Sydal, an adrenaline rush sprint from ACH and Cole, the epic Lethal/Rush title match to the cutting edge tag team wrestling in the main event…this show delivered. I can’t think many promotions out-did this effort all weekend…

3) Kyle O’Reilly vs Matt Sydal (****)

2) Young Bucks vs Motor City Machine Guns (****)

1) Jay Lethal vs Lio Rush (****1/2)