McXal's Reviews

On the whole I’ve enjoyed ROH’s Road To Best In The World 2016 live event tour. Not every show has been a knock-out and I’ve vehemently disagreed with some of Delirious’ creative choices (no surprise there)…but it has been refreshing to see ROH strip it’s product and roster back from the excesses of the NJPW tour shows and get back to basics. It comes to an end this evening in one of my favourite ROH venues. Tag Wars 2016 also concludes tonight with the Briscoes, All Night Express, Silas Young and the Beer City Bruiser colliding in the finals to crown new #1 contenders to The Addiction’s ROH Tag Titles. The Young Bucks, dogged by injury concerns, are back in the main event and ready to face the consequences of their actions at Global Wars…as they face the unlikely team of World Champion Jay Lethal and Colt Cabana. Kevin Kelly and BJ Whitmer provide commentary from Milwaukee, WI.

The fun thing about the Turner Hall Ballroom, ROH’s Milwaukee venue, it’s so intimate that there isn’t room for the announcers to sit ringside…but there are plenty of boxes/booths/balconies to house them in. Tonight Kevin Kelly and BJ Whitmer welcome us to the show from outside the ladies toilets (genuinely)…before being quickly interrupted by Steve Corino coming to the ring. He announces that Nigel McGuinness has banned he and BJ from having any physical interactions before Best In The World, but he calls out Whitmer for a fight anyway. Unsurprisingly BJ declines and opts to remain at the commentary table, leaving Corino alone in the ring to repeat all his mental, Kevin Sullivan-influenced rambling threats. 

Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian sat-out the events of the previous evening in Hopkins and watched as nine teams competed to win #1 contendership to the Tag Championship they hold. With the finals of Tag Wars 2016 later tonight, with their Best In The World challengers the Motor City Machine Guns also in action, and with the Young Bucks once again in the main event, The Addiction step into the ring with a goal of reminding everyone why they are the top team in the company. Kamaitachi and Juice Robinson won a pre-show match at Global Wars as a team and, as Kamaitachi’s outstanding run has shown thus far, will be a capable match for the Tag Champs. This is a huge opportunity for the New Japan guys to earn a title shot…

Kamaitachi is too quick and too lively for Daniels in the first minute, then he brings in Robinson to deliver a prolonged airplane spin to the Ring General. Frankie tries to come to his partner’s rescue but falls victim to some fluent double-teaming from Juice and Tachi. Kaz does finally land a lungblower on Kamai to give The Addiction an advantage for the first time. They have fun rattling through some of their own signature double-teams whilst also taking pot-shots at Juice on the apron, meaning he argues with the ref and enables them to cheat behind his back. Robinson gets a tag and drops Kaz with The Taste crescent kick. The Milwaukee fans seem to be getting into Robinson, who tumbles away from the champs feeding them into a double missile dropkick from his partner. Pescado nailed by Juice, wiping out The Addiction for Kamaitachi’s TOP ROPE SENTON TO THE FLOOR! Daniels isn’t impressed and massacres Tachi against the rails. Bad Elimination on Juice gets 2! CELEBRITY REHAB on Kamaitachi! Jesus, they nearly dropped him on his head just like Liger then! Robinson bails out his partner, so Kaz scoops him up for the BEST MELTZER EVER! The Addiction pin Juice at 08:33

Rating - ** - The first half was unimaginative, but it really livened up as we approached the finish as Kamaitachi got to quicken the pace and do more of the crazy sh*t that people love. Daniels and Kaz need to evaluate Celebrity Rehab as their finishing move if they are going to keep dropping valuable commodities on their heads. 

Ferrara was a late addition to the talent line-ups for the weekend after Adam Cole was hospitalised with pneumonia. This wasn’t Cole’s scheduled match for this show, but it still presents a huge opportunity for Will to remind ROH officials why they should have booked him in the first place. Dalton has been winning matches for fun recently, but did have a falling out with Bobby Fish – the man he challenges for the TV Title at Best In The World – in Hopkins yesterday. Will that distract him, or focus his mind further?

Will tries to get his own chant going, which is instantly among my favourite things he’s ever done in this company. He leaves the ring in a rage rather than get involved with Dalton’s posing but every time he returns it’s the wrestling skill of the Peacock which he can’t deal with. He starts antagonising The Boys (not the Tate Twins this weekend), and that finally causes Castle to take his eyes off the ball. Will hits a flying headscissors from the second…but is swiftly dumped to the ground again with a capture suplex throw. Rebound tornado DDT by Ferrara finds the mark…but rather than capitalise he decides he’d rather shout ‘big Willy’ at the fans. DEAD-LIFT EVEREST GERMAN! Dalton wins at 07:36

Rating - * - I don’t know how much Dalton’s back was impacting his work at this point, but regardless of the reason this was not particularly fun to watch. It felt MUCH longer than the seven and a half minute run-time, didn’t capture my interest at any stage and it was only the finish (a remarkable dead-lift German from a man who may or may not have a broken back) that even remotely entertained. 

I’ll go ahead and say it – I’m going to miss Moose when he leaves ROH. His transition from someone I could hardly stand to watch to a genuinely enjoyable worker has been a definite Sinclair-owned Ring Of Honor success story. That match he had with Jay Briscoe in Indianapolis was remarkable, and he followed that up by playing his part in a super-fun Tag Wars 2016 qualification bout yesterday in Columbus alongside his ‘friend’ Lio Rush. Between he and Bobby Lashley, I presume Lio’s phone is full of big, muscular, bald dudes whom he has befriended? They were impressive despite failing to win yesterday…and now have a stern test in the form of #1 contenders to the Tag Titles, the Machine Guns.

Shelley and Rush start, reprising their excellent match from earlier in the tour. Lio tags his big partner in soon though, and joins him in laying out Sabin with a double-team People’s Elbow. It’s almost a little sad watching Sabin, at this stage of his career, trying to keep up with the ludicrously-young Lio Rush…and in the end Shelley has to help him out by hauling the Top Prospect winner to the floor. MCMG start hitting their signature double team spots on Rush, captured with more shakey-cam footage than a cheap summer blockbuster movie and leaving me almost motion sick afterwards. It is effective work though – having been made to look foolish individually by Lio’s immense speed and ability, the Guns now use their years of experience as a team to make him look equally foolish in response. Lio kicks his way out of their clutches…and Moose’s size and power soon has Shelley and Sabin on the run. Chris dodges the Hitstick…but Shelley isn’t so lucky on Moose’s vertical leap dropkick. The Game Breaker decks Sabin instead, then Rush hops onto his own partner’s shoulders for an ASSISTED DRAGON’S CALL! SHELLEY SAVES! HEAT SEEKING MISSILE FLURRY BY RUSH! ASCS Rush drop’s Moose! DOUBLE RUBIX CUBE ON LIO! MCMG win at 09:07

Rating - *** - As usual, the first half hour of an ROH live event was pretty stale, and this was a huge step up in quality from anything else that came before it. I could have done with it going longer but some of the work here was outstanding. As I said during play-by-play, I loved the idea of Lio being too fast and illusive for the ageing, battle-hardened Machine Guns to cope with…so they took him to school and ran through almost their entire back-catalogue of double-team sequences. Moose’s interventions were kept brief and meaningful, Lio was allowed to look decent…and ultimately Shelley and Sabin get the rub in a competitive match as they build to their Best In The World title shot.

This match presents us with a double rarity – with Donovan Dijak actually getting booked at a house show for once, and Beretta getting to work a singles match instead of teaming with Rocky Romero. Given that Prince Nana and Dijak are pushing hard to be given a World Title shot, he needs to be winning matches like this – even though Trent is an experienced and dangerous adversary. I said in my review of the Columbus Road To BITW 2016 DVD that Dijak’s accomplishments in ROH as Top Prospect winner had been eclipsed by Lio Rush in just a few months and I stand by that. It would be timely for Donovan to give everyone a reminder of just how talented he truly is.

Dijak almost KO’s Trent in four seconds with a brutal boot to the face. Beretta rolls to the outside but is engaged again with more violent strikes from the taller man. SOMERSAULT PLANCHA UP THE AISLE BY TRENT! Beretta celebrates the success of that move by stealing Prince Nana’s crown and wearing it to scrape his boot across Dijak’s eyes. Donovan didn’t like that one bit and angrily tosses him with the release suplex. He trash talks Beretta as he beats him down and almost rockets him into the ceiling on a back body drop for 2. It is too early for Feast Your Eyes though and Beretta counters with a double stomp out of the corner. Trent hits the Dudebuster DDT for 2, then sets up the Dudebuster Knee. Dijak counters that with a set-up to the Chokeslam Backbreaker…only for Trent to COUNTER BACK with a pop-up rana to the floor! Beretta tries a tope…CAUGHT FOR A CHOKESLAM INTO THE APRON! Dijak heads in the ring to celebrate a count-out victory, and when Trent gets up to defy that Nana uses his head-dress to throttle him. Nana feeds Beretta back inside, into a Feast Your Eyes Powerbomb for 2! Chokeslam Backbreaker countered again, this time into a wheelbarrow pin for 2. Donovan is enraged, and makes a poor decision to attempt his springboard moonsault…which Trent blocks with a ROPE RUN GERMAN SUPERPLEX! DUDEBUSTER KNEE! DIJAK KICKS OUT! CHOKESLAM BACKBREAKER! Dijak wins at 10:50

Rating - *** - A prime example of why Dijak’s ROH career to date has been so frustrating. When he’s actually allowed to wrestle with a decent opponent, and with a decent time allowance, he almost always delivers. Beretta has been wrestling for more than a decade and his experience helped, but this was a well-rounded performance from Dijak too. It wasn’t just about his power, his size or his ability to hit high spots; everything about the way he carried himself, the way he moved and the way he acted put him over as a killer. And the excellent Milwaukee crowd brought into it. They were willing Beretta on to victory, and almost came unglued on that Dudebuster Knee false finish. You could argue that this is the biggest win of Dijak’s Ring Of Honor tenure thus far…

2016 is the final year in Ring Of Honor for all four of these men. Seeing them all alongside each other in the ring is a stark reminder of how much talent the promotion will be losing when the door closes behind them. It’s nice to see former House Of Truth allies, then rivals, Roderick Strong and Michael Elgin in the ring together once more before they go their separate ways too. Over the last few years any combination of these four in the ring together has usually yielded a 4*+ encounter. Fingers crossed that this is as fun as the four-way bout we saw in Manhattan during the War Of The Worlds Tour.

Strong and O’Reilly get the ball rolling with some high quality chain-wrestling. Roddy acts like a jerk and goes after Kyle’s cauliflowered ears then lights his pale chest up with chops…so Kyle slaps on a hanging armbar in the ropes! ACH stops that by delivering a running dropkick to his exposed face. Elgin steps in with ACH, delivering an intriguing mix of speed versus power. ACH’s speed is too much for all three opponents…and hits a RUNNING MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR wiping out all of them! Back in the ring Strong and O’Reilly tear into each other again, with Kyle getting the upper hand then trying to put the Arm-ageddon on ACH. Strong saves…so Kyle slaps on a knee bar! GERMAN ON ELGIN! NO SOLD! GERMAN BY BIG MIKE! NO SOLD! Axe & Smash COUNTERED to a jumping enzi…then a northern lariat. Jumping Knee by Roddy countered into rolling Germans! MILITARY PRESS POWERSLAM from Elgin to Strong. O’Reilly tries to choke Big Mike out, only for Elgin to grab Roddy and GERMAN SUPLEX HIS WAY TO FREEDOM! ACH flies back in with a double stomp…then decks O’Reilly with a charging lariat. Olympic Slam countered with an armdrag by ACH, only for Strong to give him the Jumping Knee in the corner. MUSO ON ELGIN! HE END OF HEARTACHE’S ACH ON TOP OF HIM! Kyle counters Death By Roderick…only for the Jackbreaker Lariat to be countered with the Sick Kick for 2. Stronghold applied! SPINNING BACK FIST BY ELGIN TO BREAK IT! Flatliner/cutter combo by ACH on Elgin and O’Reilly! MIDNIGHT STAR ON KYLE! ELGIN SAVES! JUMPING KNEE ON ELGIN! NO SOLD! ROARING ELBOW! O’Reilly and ACH go strike-crazy on each other. STONE COLD STUNNER…INTO THE JAWBREAKER LARIAT! SOLO CHASING THE DRAGON! ACH KICKS OUT! ARM-AGEDDON! ACH TAPS! O’Reilly wins in a frenetic 12:29

Rating - **** - It’s as if Ring Of Honor officials have only realised that instead of making every Four Corner Survival a heels vs faces tag match in all but name, instead they can just let four talented dudes go wild in a Young Bucks-style spotfest. This was infinitely preferable. All four of these men have had better matches with each other, but few will have been as exciting as the spectacle of watching four men of this calibre splurge offensive manoeuvres for twelve minutes. Zero selling, zero psychology but maximum fun and entertainment value. O’Reilly was the clear choice to win this with Strong and Elgin on the way out, and ACH someone whom ROH have clearly decided isn’t World Championship material despite delivering 4* matches as often as anyone else…

INTERMISSION – BJ Whitmer vanishes from commentary…and his music hits to herald his entrance to the ring instead. When Best In The World is over, can we please ban Whitmer and Corino from ever even mentioning each other’s names again? He smirks down the aisle to announce that Corino has been the ‘victim of an unfortunate accident in the back’, and has two monstrous jobbers haul his zip-tied, barely conscious body into the ring. He delivers a lengthy, monotone monologue about how it is actually he that is the truly ‘Evil’ man. Prince Nana takes his spot on commentary for the second half…

This reeks of squash. And if it isn’t something is seriously wrong. Hanson and Rowe need to find a new direction now they are out of the Tag Title scene and their dreadful feud with The Addiction is over. As an aside, War Machine’s nicknames of ‘Hard To Kill’ (Rowe) and ‘War Beard’ (Hanson) are two of the most awful I’ve ever heard. It makes me cringe every time I hear them...

‘He has a good look, this kid’ – Nana of Stallion, destroying his credibility as a commentator inside seven seconds. Jackson, in luminous pink trunks, says he is ‘feeling strong’ so demands to fight Hanson…and is promptly shoulder-blocked into the mat. Cartwheel Lariat destroys Curt! Pop-up powerslam double team on Jared! War Machine powerbomb their opponents into each other, before Rowe stacks them both on his shoulders…then throws them off SO STALLION PILEDRIVES HIS OWN PARTNER! Well that was nuts! Path Of Resistance wins it at 05:07

Rating - * - I couldn’t go to a DUD rating on this on the strength of that one Ray Rowe spot alone. Jared Jackson had some entertainment value as an out-matched jobber act too. This went on far too long though, and could have been cut in half without losing any decent content.

With Bobby’s next scheduled TV Title defence taking place at Best In The World, the belt isn’t on the line here, however, Rocky will know that any sort of victory all but guarantees him a future opportunity if Fish still has the belt. These two are tenured veterans of the Japanese touring scene, and have spent a career travelling the globe honing their craft. Both are accomplished grapplers, both are heavily influenced by mixed martial arts, both have some other combat sports experience. As junior heavyweights in New Japan they go back a long way as well; reDRagon have fought fierce battles with both the Forever Hooligans and RPG Vice. This one could be very evenly matched. Dalton Castle has joined commentary to scout his Best In The World opponent…

They begin by trading strikes, but are so evenly matched they end up knocking shins so decide to grapple instead. Fish makes an attempt at a leg grapevine which convinces Romero that he needs to bail. He returns and starts going after the arm, locking in a version of the Rings Of Saturn. Inside three minutes both have broken out submission holds to set up their big finish. Romero hangs in the ropes and cackles (as he does in every match)…but Bobby has seen that so often he simply hops out of the ring and shoves his prone opponent to the mat. Armbreaker over the top rope by Rocky…to which Bobby responds with an arm-selling tilta-whirl backbreaker. Even on offence it is apparent that Fish is carrying an arm injury now. He tries to kick Rocky’s legs from under him on the apron, but again, he does that spot in a LOT of his matches. Romero knows that and hurdles the kick before wiping the TV Champion out with a flying knee to the floor. Forever Clotheslines come out…and are instantly countered by kicks from Fish. Romero prevents a full comeback by hooking up the bad arm and delivering a suplex for 2. Next a diving knee drop to the injured arm finds the mark and has his long-time rival screaming in pain. But Bobby has the Shiranui countered to muscle Romero into a running powerslam! His arm hangs limp by his side as he spears Rocky into the corner and pummels him with knee strikes. Turnbuckle Exploder gets 2. Now he gets to kick Romero’s legs out, leaving him grabbing at the knee as he smashes the exposed knee into the apron. Arm-selling dragon screw nailed and followed by the Samoan drop for 2. He kicks at the leg more…COUNTERED TO THE DIABLO ARMBAR! Fish makes the ropes! Both fighters make their way to their feet and take turns dishing out kicks to their respective injured body parts. RUNNING SHIRANUI by Rocky! Falcon Arrow INTO THE FISH HOOK DELUXE! ROMERO TAPS! Fish gets a hard-fought win at 13:15

Rating - **** - I adore matches like this. They used to be commonplace in Ring Of Honor, but as ownerships and creative directions have changed, and as fans’ tastes have evolved, they are now much more of a rare breed. Neither Bobby or Rocky are the most athletic or outrageously exciting of workers. They don’t do wild flips, big dives or come off the top rope a whole lot. But they are pretty damn great at technically proficient, MMA-influenced, mat-based encounters and in that genre I thought this was fun. Each worked a body part, each sold it competently (I had minor quibbles with both, but nothing that overly took me out of the match) and worked it to a logical conclusion. Personally I thought this was a real hidden gem.

As predicted, Silas and Bruiser get a big babyface pop on the way in, instantly justifying their inclusion in this one. The winners earn the next spot in line to face the Ring Of Honor Tag Champions after Best In The World, facing the winner of The Addiction vs Motor City Machine Guns. We know there is history between the Briscoes and ANX. They’ve contested no rules matches, First Blood Maches, Ladder Wars…and Kenny King cemented his return to ROH by reuniting ANX and beating Jay and Mark. The Briscoes have openly stated they feel like it has been too long since they last held the ROH Tag Titles – and this now represents their best opportunity since losing to War Machine at Global Wars. Young and Bruiser are the wildcards. Big, surly, grumpy, but dangerous and roared on by a hometown fanbase even if they don’t want to be. Can they cause an upset?

The crowd is just insane before the bell here, giving both Silas and the Briscoes raucous ovations. Silas starts with Titus, after very obviously calling him some wildly un-PC names during the handshakes. Rhett accuses him of pulling his hair…which really pisses Silas off, provoking him to work an extended sequence of offence – all of which involves hair-pulls. Jay and Bruiser step in together; Bruiser getting his own thunderous chants from the Milwaukee fans. Vintage Briscoe Brothers moments later as they hit the double football tackle, knocking BCB down and kick-starting a brawl involving all six combatants. HIPTOSS ON THE METAL RAMP from Young to Mark! ANX eat guardrails around ringside, as a resurgent Mark hurls Young back down the ramp towards ringside. TOP ROPE MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR BY MARK! Inside the ring Bruiser barely gets above thigh-height, but still fells Jay with a dropkick…before ANX really piss off the live fans by ambushing Silas and giving him a series of double-teams. Young hits the turnbuckle DDT to drop Rhett though, then tags out, leaving the All Nights to team up on Jay Briscoe instead. Jay drops Titus right on his NECK with the snap DVD, capitalising on any injury Silas may have inflicted on the turnbuckles. TOPE SUICIDA UP THE AISLE BY JAY! SILAS BACK DROPS MARK OVER THE TOP! SOMERSAULT PLANCHA BY YOUNG! STEREO FLIP DIVES BY ANX! Bruiser noticeably barely budges off his feet during that sequence, then hops onto the apron for a ROLY POLY CANNONBALL ONTO EVERYONE! Cactus Elbow blocked by Young…SO MARK BLOCKBUSTERS HIM TO THE FLOOR – ON TOP OF BRUISER! The Last Real Man recovers strong with a Killer Combo on Rhett…only to be decked again with a Roaring Elbow from Jay. Kenny floors BCB with the Shotgun Knees, before getting obscene height to jumping enziguri Mark Briscoe as he perches on the top! Mark blocks the rope-run avalanche Sex Factor from Titus, and when Bruiser tries to take him down instead he and his brother counter with a DOOMSDAY POWERBOMB BLOCKBUSTER…INTO A SWANTON BOMB ON TITUS TOO! RHETT KICKS OUT! He then blocks the Jay Driller and slumps in the corner as Silas and Jay hammer the sh*t out of each other. Bruiser saves his partner from the One Night Stand…MISERY ON TITUS! THE PLACE IS GOING NUTS! FATTY FROG SPLASH BY THE BRUISER! HE PINS RHETT! SILAS AND BRUISER WIN! What a moment! 18:20 is your time!

Rating - **** - I wonder if any of the participants in this match walked past the Young Bucks with a smirk on their face as they headed back to the locker rooms. They just did to the Bucks what the Jackson brothers have been doing to ROH’s main event scene for a couple of years now – i.e. blowing out the crowd with a completely bonkers display of offensive tag team wrestling. If you’d have told me a year ago I would be marking out for a major/high profile Beer City Bruiser victory I’d never have believed you. His team with Silas Young, however, has proven to be a master stroke by Delirious…and putting them over in front of the Milwaukee crowd (who have been begging for a ‘major’ Silas Young moment in this building for years) was wonderful. It wasn’t quite up there with CM Punk and Colt Cabana winning the Tag Titles in Chicago, Punk’s farewell in Chicago, Homicide’s ROH Title win in New York or Steen’s ROH Title win at Border Wars (i.e. Canada), but this a memorable hometown fan celebratory occasion and it was a joy to witness. The story-telling was minimal, although with four ultra-popular guys in play I appreciated ANX acting like complete assholes. In truth, they didn’t need to do a huge amount to tell a story anyway. The fans wanted excitement, and their desire to see Silas and BCB win provided all the drama. 

Because Delirious can’t ever let a moment breathe and feels the need to meddle neurotically at all times, obviously he ruins the moment by sending The Addiction out for a pointless beatdown. Thankfully it isn’t completely extinguished because he lets Silas and Bruiser rally, taking out the Tag Champs with a sit-out piledriver/Misery combo…

Originally this main event was scheduled to be Colt Cabana looking for revenge on Bullet Club for ruining his title shot at Global Wars with a singles bout against Adam Cole. But with Cole ruled out through illness at late notice, Match Maker Nigel McGuinness has switched things up and allowed both Cabana and World Champion Jay Lethal the opportunity for some revenge on the Bucks. At their bombastic best back in Chicago when they trashed the Lethal/Cabana World Title main event, since then their hectic schedules have caught up with the Bucks. We know neither of them are healthy, with Nick recovering from a rib injury and Matt working with a severely broken hand. Ordinarily their experience as a team would probably see them as hot favourites for this, even though the opposition includes dominant singles champion Lethal. BUT, at less than one hundred percent perhaps even Matt and Nick Jackson will be relying on disharmony between their opponents to give them an edge…

Lethal and Colt shake hands, signalling their mutual desire to beat up the Bucks. The champ starts and instantly hurts Nick’s ribs with a shoulder tackle. He then dives into the ropes to dodge a Superkick in response. Cabana tags in and successfully engages Matt in exchanges of chain wrestling rather than fast-paced high spots. He eventually gets 2 with the diving pinning combination which beat Lethal in Texas. It’s a strong start for a team who, in experience terms, shouldn’t be able to touch the Jacksons in tag competition. But their fragile alliance starts to crack; angrily tagging each other in and out and almost trying to point score on each other rather than work over Matt. In the end Matt hits the diving corkscrew Ace Crusher and tags out to Nick. The taped rips don’t stop Nick dropping Lethal with the slingshot X-Factor…but Colt goes after them again seconds later by countering an attempted tornado DDT to the floor into a ribs-first shunt to the guardrail. Tope suicida flurry by Lethal, crushing Matt’s back into the railing repeatedly too. DOUBLE SUPERKICK ON LETHAL! RISE OF THE TERMINATOR TOPES! The Bucks nab Lethal and drag him back into the ring to work him over – which makes perfect sense when you consider that the champ has had injuries piling up through the course of this tour. The back and neck become a focal point and soon Jay is in a very bad state. He does mount an extremely innovative comeback though; dodging strikes as they get thrown rapidly his way, then rolling through the ropes and giving Matt an ACE CRUSHER ON THE FLOOR! Hot tag to Cabana, who Artful Dodger’s through Nick’s defences into a Bionic Elbow. Flying Asshole flurry nailed, followed by an ASAI MOONSAULT PRESS for 2. Nick blocks the Billy Goat’s Curse and SUPERKICKS THE ASS to block another Flying Asshole! Lethal and Matt try to punch each other’s lights out…until the champ hits the Lethal Combination. Lethal Injection COUNTERED WITH A LOW SUPERKICK! SUPERICK ON CABANA! NO SOLD! BILLY GOAT’S CURSE! NICK SAVES WITH A SUPERKICK! Colt saves Lethal from the Meltzer Driver…as Lethal puts Nick in a Figure 4 Leglock (Adam Cole’s favourite submission hold). 450 SPLASH FROM MATT TO BREAK IT! SUPERKICK ON THE FLOOR takes out Colt. INDY-TAKER ON LETHAL! COLT SAVES AT 2! Jay blocks More Bang For Your Buck…double Lethal Injection ducked. DOUBLE SUPERKICKS BY LETHAL AND COLT! DOUBLE LETHAL INJECTION! LETHAL PINS MATT! It’s an unlikely victory for Lethal and Cabana at 19:44

Rating - ****1/2 - This was the best match of the entire Road To Best In The World 2016 Tour. Of course the frenzied high spots and false finishes down the concluding stretch will be what this match is remembered for…but personally I thought this was another bout which throws a lot of shade at the theory that Young Bucks matches don’t tell stories and just work mindless spot-fests. That simply isn’t the case, and it definitely wasn’t here. Perhaps the injuries contributed to a more strategic approach, but they absolutely nailed this. Colt and Lethal, profiting from the injuries the Jacksons were carrying, dominated the opening period by sucking the Bucks into ‘their’ match – Colt used his chain-wrestling and Lethal used his tactical smarts by evading Superkicks and hurting Nick’s ribs. That control was broken not by Matt and Nick, but by the lack of trust and cohesiveness between two men whom were waging an intense battle over the ROH World Title not too long ago. They couldn’t stay on the page and presented the Bucks with the opportunity to make it ‘their’ kind of match. Much insanity ensued, and there were multiple times when I thought it was over…but somehow they kept finding ways to up the drama. The finish was a thing of absolute beauty. With the Bucks ailing physically, as soon as Colt and Lethal started working together again (saving each other from pins and hitting double superkicks) they eeked out the victory – bringing the match full circle to how they started and allowing the two participants in the spoiled Global Wars main event a measure of payback. I’m sure I’ll catch some flak for going this high on the rating for this. But I thought it was outstanding, and one of my favourite Ring Of Honor matches all year…

Colt provocatively hands the World Title belt to Lethal in the aftermath, and they share a tense moment which lets you know he is waiting for Lethal if he survives Jay Briscoe at Best In The World…

Tape Rating - **** - As usual, the first portion of the show was complete dross. Earlier in the year ROH were doing better at making the first few segments of their live events less predictable and skippable…but have fallen into bad habits again since Supercard Of Honor weekend. Thankfully once the first half hour was done this was a GREAT show. Plenty of fun matches, four bouts hitting the 4* mark, one of the feel-good moments of ROH’s 2016 with Silas and Bruiser winning Tag Wars 2016 in their home town...all culminating in one of the best MATCHES of the entire year too. The crowd (barring a few vocal assholes) in this venue always deliver the goods too – they were as much a part of the show tonight as the wrestlers and really contributed to the product. This is one of those ROH house shows you don’t want to miss…

3) Bobby Fish vs Rocky Romero (****)

2) Silas Young/Beer City Bruiser vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs All Night Express (****)

1) Jay Lethal/Colt Cabana vs Young Bucks (****1/2)

5) Kyle O’Reilly vs ACH vs Roderick Strong vs Michael Elgin (**** - Milwaukee)

4) Bobby Fish vs Rocky Romero (**** - Milwaukee)

3) Michael Elgin vs Kamaitachi (**** - Hopkins)

2) Silas Young/Beer City Bruiser vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs All Night Express (**** - Milwaukee)

1) Jay Lethal/Colt Cabana vs Young Bucks (****1/2 - Milwaukee)