McXal's Reviews

I’m always a little uneasy approaching Ring Of Honor pay-per-view events. The card is usually decent, but a combination of horrendous, meddlesome over-booking or ROH’s constant need to jam too many matches into the time allowance has scuppered major shows like this in the past. In many ways, 'Best In The World' is Sinclair-owned ROH’s flagship event. Since they took ownership of the company it is the show in the middle of the year they have always heavily promoted as a major happening. A year ago we saw one of the biggest matches in Ring Of Honor history at Best In The World, as ROH World Champion Jay Briscoe and TV Champion Jay Lethal locked horns with both championships on the line. Lethal became World Champion that night, has held onto the belt for a full year…and we return to Best In The World a year later for the rematch. ‘One year in the making’ is an exaggeration; it feels like ROH threw this together a month ago because they didn’t have much else to go with, but it’s still a huge main event. The rest of the card has plenty to offer too. BJ Whitmer and Steve Corino end their years-long, bitterly personal rivalry in ‘the ultimate’ Fight Without Honor, with the betting split on whether it will be good or downright terrible. Motor City Machine Guns get their long-awaited shot at The Addiction’s ROH Tag Team Championship, whilst Dalton Castle challenges his ‘friend’ Bobby Fish for the Television Title. On the undercard the ‘SuperKliq’ of Bullet Club – the Young Bucks and Cole – face War Machine and Moose in a Tornado Rules match which could be insane, Silas Young and ACH have their own rivalry to settle, and ‘Mr ROH’ Roderick Strong makes his final pay-per-view appearance, on his last weekend with the company, to face old friend and long-time rival Mark Briscoe. Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness (who has basically vanished since the Toronto TV Tapings) provide commentary from Concord, NC.

Jerking the curtain is not where Kyle O’Reilly wants to be. He main evented the 14th Anniversary PPV, and is still on a hot streak after defeating long-time rival Adam Cole in a No Holds Barred Match at Supercard Of Honor 10. But since then he has watched his partner Bobby Fish become TV Champion, and possibly lost some focus due to his extensive commitments with New Japan. He knows he needs to kick off Best In The World with an emphatic win over the impressive touring NJPW star Kamaitachi if he is to push back into the main event picture.

After a respectful opening minute where they probe each other for weaknesses, Kamai kicks it up a notch with a ferocious open hand chop rather than offer a clean break. O’Reilly retaliates with palm strikes and drives him into the ropes making an early play for his Arm-ageddon submission. He starts to pepper Tachi with strikes, softening him up for an armbreaker as he starts to set up for the submission finish. Kamaitachi gets lucky as O’Reilly’s knee gives way attempting a tilta-whirl, which he wastes no time in going after. With his arm hurting him he relishes the opportunity to capitalise on an injury to his opponent too. A modified version of the Figure 4 is applied to do more damage, leaving Kyle so injured he crawls out to the apron for safety. But Kamaitachi knocks him to the floor with a running tackle through the ropes…and he lands badly on his injured knee again too. HANGING ARMBAR IN THE ROPES by O’Reilly! Out of sheer desperation he delivers a major move which re-establishes Tachi’s arm injury. The Japanese star is still recovering from that when O’Reilly obliterates him with a running knee strike. Now it’s Kamaitachi that needs to leave the ring to recover…with Kyle in hot pursuit throwing brutal kicks. Until he gets too close with one and smashes his bad leg against the ringpost! MISSILE DROPKICK FROM THE APRON TO THE FLOOR by Kamaitachi – which is a trademark O’Reilly move by the way. With one arm hanging by his side Kamai climbs to the top rope, setting up for the TOP ROPE SUPER SENTON OF UTTER DEATH! Both men lie in a heap on the mats after that. O’Reilly needs the ropes to pull himself up, and barely gets to his knees before Tachi kicks the bad leg from under him again. They take turns throwing kicks at the injured body part, until Kyle steps through an attempted shot to his leg and ROCKS Kamaitachi with another knee to the face. Axe & Smash COUNTERED TO A GERMAN! But Tachi is too injured to hit the rolling German suplex combo that he is known for too. SUPERKICK…JAWBREAKER LARIAT! BOTH MEN DOWN! Kamaitachi blocks an attempt at a brainbuster and counters with a KNEE-FIRST suplex into the turnbuckles. Pop-up Ligerbomb…countered to a triangle choke by Kyle! KAMAITACHI STAMPS ON HIS FACE to break it! BRAINBUSTER! KAMAI KICKS OUT! ARM-AGEDDON! HE TAPS! O’Reilly gets a huge win at 13:50

Rating - **** - Quite possibly the best opening match ROH has produced all year. O’Reilly’s familiarity with the Japanese junior heavyweight style made him the perfect foe for Kamaitachi, who once again looks great despite falling to another defeat against one of ROH’s bigger names. The story wasn’t particularly complex – each man worked a body part and sold it with some consistency – but what made this enjoyable was the intensity, speed and quality of the execution. They didn’t out-stay their welcome, didn’t steal the thunder from later matches on the show, but still delivered a cracking bout to get us started.

Kamaitachi, who was a renowned ‘rudo’ during his time in CMLL but has been honourable thus far in this excursion, angrily declines a handshake from O’Reilly by spitting at him, then walks out…

This feud has been refreshing simple. Silas doesn’t think ACH’s affinity for video games, comic books, cartoons and action figures is becoming of a ‘real man’. After dropping a match to ACH and Matt Sydal during the War Of The Worlds Tour (ACH and Sydal’s last match as a team) he jumped ACH, and has aggressively pursued him ever since. The Last Real Man does enter this red-hot, however, having just won Tag Wars 2016 with Beer City Bruiser at the recent live event in Milwaukee.

Silas punches ACH in the mouth instead of following the Code Of Honor…but then immediately loses his grip of the ultra-fast ACH and eats a dropkick. Sensibly he shuts the smaller, faster man down right away with a slingshot double stomp. Even when ACH tries a back flip over the ropes Young is on hand to clobber him off the apron. ACH lands a rebound crossbody off the guardrails…but then tries the same move back into the ring and finds it countered with a gutbuster. It’s a punishing attack on the core of ACH, negating his high-flying moveset and in particular his Midnight Star finisher. A rugged, basic, bodyscissors grinds the match to a halt whilst further punishing the midsection. Somehow ACH escapes with the running lariat, but he has to flex his back before he looks to follow up with the Hero’s Grip. He can’t maintain the bridge due to his injuries however. He doesn’t have enough in the core to lift Silas for the Spirit Bomb and it is countered with a gourdbuster over the ropes. Killer Combo countered to a backslide…only for Silas to punt ACH right in the head. Slingshot flatliner then countered back to the Killer Combo by Young though. Silas is so confident he apparently wants to make fun of ACH, stepping away from the methodical ground game which has served him well and instead looking to try something from the top rope. ACH catches him up there…only for Young to powerbomb him out of the corner before delivering a slingshot neckbreaker for 2. ACH’s resilience is grinding on Silas now, and he stomps out of the ring looking for a chair to use as a weapon. AIR JORDAN NAILED BY ACH! Back in the ring he blocks Misery, then dodges the Peegee Waja Plunge to hit the Spirit Bomb. Midnight Star wins it for ACH at 11:09

Rating - *** - As a concept I like this feud so I hope it doesn’t end here. They had a nice central theme running through this match as well with Silas working the midsection because ACH is far too quick for him otherwise. The problems were twofold; firstly whilst the premise was good, in actuality some of the work contained therein wasn’t overly exciting meaning they lost the crowd to near-total silence…and secondly, in just over ten minutes they didn’t have enough time to really sell what they were pushing. ACH was supposedly weakened and hurt with bad ribs and a bad back…but popped up at the end to win by hitting a dive to the floor, an effortless brainbuster and a sell-free 450 splash. These two certainly have a better match in them.

In a style reminiscent of an NXT Takeover, ROH pan to Jay White seated in the front row watching the show. The New Zealand native graduate of the NJPW Dojo will be debuting soon apparently…

It was announced in the build-up to this PPV/TV Taping weekend that it would be Roddy’s last dates with the company. Given that they had him go over Jay Briscoe, and have still been pushing him as a potential World Title contender for Jay Lethal as recently as earlier in June, I do wonder if Sinclair thought they had a chance of re-signing him before ultimately being turned down. Fittingly his final pay-per-view match is against his long-time friend and rival. When he became part of the Generation Next stable, Mark Briscoe was on the team opposing him. It’s a battle between Mark, who appeared on ROH’s first ever show (although he was too young to wrestle), and a man who has been so pivotal to the success of Ring Of Honor that one of his nicknames is ‘Mr ROH’. Apparently he treats Mark with disrespect and acts like he’s a ‘kid brother’…which the younger Briscoe is fed up of. With Roddy on the way out, he has one last chance to force Strong to give him the proper respect.

No handshake between these guys before the bell, with Strong opting to berate and belittle Mark as the bell rings. He tries to pull Mark’s hair…only for Briscoe’s ponytail to come clean off in his hands. It turns out Mark has shaved his head, and uses the distraction to kick Roderick to the floor. BLOCKBUSTER OFF THE APRON! He escorts Strong around ringside, doing his best to send him to NXT covered in bruises and battle scars. Strong evades the Cactus Elbow though, recovering to hurl Briscoe head-first into the ringpost. Guardrail backbreaker follows that, as vintage, ‘work the back’ Roddy comes to the party. Back inside the ring even when Briscoe lands a vertical suplex his back is now so messed up that he hurts himself in executing it…and Roddy profits with an Olympic Slam. Strikes from Mark…leading to an awesome sequence where they just KEEP countering each other’s trademark stuff. First it’s Mark’s Iconoclasm and urinage, then Strong’s jumping knee! Briscoe does eventually hit the Iconoclasm for 2. Cut-Throat Driver blocked, so Mark hops to the top looking for the Froggy Bow instead. COUNTERED with knees to the back! Cradle Backbreaker blocked by Mark, who then counters the Death By Roderick INTO A STRONGHOLD! Mark-Hold? Roddy punts the ribs to escape and chases Briscoe up the ropes to deliver the big superplex. Jumping Knee dodged, but so is a Redneck Kung Fu strike. DEATH BY RODERICK! GIBSON DRIVER! STRONGHOLD! Mark drags himself to the apron to escape…then grabs the ropes brilliantly to counter Strong’s apron backbreaker spot. CACTUS ELBOW NAILED! Back in the ring, however, Strong shuts him down again with a brutal dropkick into the ribs – leaving them both on the canvas. Gradually they shuffle back to a vertical base and go toe-to-toe, strike-for-strike. SICK KICK gets 2! Strong pulls his knee pad down to prepare for the Jumping Knee…only for Mark to counter with a Sick Kick of his own! Fisherman Buster gets 2. FISHERMAN BUSTER AGAIN! Mark wins at 15:36

Rating - **** - It wasn’t a smooth, technical showcase like O’Reilly/Hiromu in the opener, but this match had a real charm in it. Strong worked the back and ribs like he has done with such success throughout his ROH career, but the wider picture here was that these guys have been friends, enemies, travelling partners, and shared rings together for well over a decade. They know each other’s movesets and routines intimately…which meant every move successfully executed tonight was a struggle. We saw counter after counter after counter, with Mark even resorting to using Strong’s moves because Roderick kept blocking his. Roddy does the right thing on his way out by putting Mark over so he can kayfabe ‘earn his respect’. But on a deeper level it was just fun watching these two long-time colleagues get a chance to work a feature length PPV bout against each other. I'm notoriously not a fan of Mark Briscoe singles matches post-Gabe era...but this was amongst his best work.

They shake hands and hug after the match as fans throw streamers and give them a standing ovation. Roddy looks emotional as he walks away from his final ROH pay-per-view appearance…

This one is fought under Tornado Rules, and is something of an attempt on ROH’s part to make an example of Bullet Club for how they derailed a World Title match at the last PPV. That night Adam Cole, the Young Bucks and the Guerrillas Of Destiny hijacked the show and caused complete mayhem. Now they have to answer to three huge, bad dudes as a consequence. War Machine could really use a win over someone with the reputation of the Bucks to get back into the Tag Title hunt, whilst Cole could use the cache of a major PPV victory to push his own claim for an ROH Title shot. Matt Taven is on commentary, which sort of makes sense since he got injured against War Machine and kicked Adam Cole out of The Kingdom (after the Young Bucks had sent Mike Bennett packing too)…

War Machine and Moose come out wearing matching football pads and facepaint. They stand and look like goons as the Bullet Club team strut out for their entrance…right into three-way Superkicks to lay out the three big men before the bell. RISE OF THE TERMINATOR TOPES! CRAZY CORKSCREW PESCADO BY MOOSE! He then nabs Cole for the Guardrail Swing, trying to knock the residual pneumonia out of him. Next he sprints around the ring building up momentum, only to MISS the Hitstick and violently eat guardrail! Meanwhile War Machine have chased the Bucks up onto the stage! Matt and Nick check that Todd Sinclair is preoccupied with Moose and Cole though…then hit stereo low blows! Hanson is suplexed onto the metal entrance ramp…so Rowe almost KO’s Matt with a straight punch. Back at ringside Cole and Matt hang Rowe off the edge of the ring so Nick can hit a SWANTON BOMB TO THE FLOOR! Game Breaker ducked as Moose gets back involved…but instead the former NFL star floors Cole with a dropkick. Taven on commentary predicts that the Bucks will have to deal with trademark infringement suits for their liberal use of ‘Suck It’ and ‘Too Sweet’, which turned out to be startlingly accurate. TRIPLE SUPERKICK FLOORS MOOSE! Rowe saves with a Cement Mixer on Cole, followed by a knee strike on Matt! MOONSAULT OFF THE APRON BY NICK! Rowe counters by catching both Jacksons…only to run into a Superkick from Cole. ROPE RUN CROSSBODY BY MOOSE! Hanson powerbombs both Young Bucks at once after that, then turns right into the Bronco Buster on Cole. POP-UP DISCUS LARIAT GERMAN SUPLEX COMBO by Rowe and Moose on Nick! TOPE CON HILO MISSED by Hanson! And as his partners check on him they both eat Superkicks from Cole and Mat. SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR BY NICK! SOMERSAULT SUICIDE DIVE BY HANSON! Path Of Resistance on Cole gets 2. Hitstick blocked! PANAMA SUNRISE ON ROWE! STEINER SCREWDRIVER FROM HANSON TO COLE! HANSON MOONSAULT…BLOCKED WITH MID-AIR SUPERKICKS BY THE BUCKS! SUPERKICK PARTY ON STOKELY HATHAWAY! MELTZER DRIVER ON MOOSE! The Bucks then step aside and allow Cole to pin Moose at 13:00

Rating - **** - This sounded like a fun match on paper and so it turned out. After something of an underwhelming Young Bucks/Bullet Club multi-man match on the last PPV (Global Wars), this was a welcome return to form for ROH’s top drawing act on the biggest stage. Most of Matt Taven’s commentary was extremely off-putting (it felt like he was only there to remind us that he’s still employed), and there were a few visible pauses as guys set up the next elaborate spot, but this flew by in a blur of lunacy. Moose was unsurprisingly the one to take the fall given that he only has two ROH dates left, but I really liked the finish where the Bucks stepped aside and allowed Cole to get the major victory he needs to press his World Title credentials.

Not for the first time in 2016, the Tag Title Match goes on right after the Young Bucks have burnt out the crowd with one of their spot-heavy crazy-fests. This one has been a long-time in the making, dating all the way back to last year when Chris Sabin returned to ROH as part of the KRD angle that saw The Addiction crowned Tag Champions the last time round. Alex Shelley used the same KRD Red Mask gimmick to make his own return, and haunted Daniels and Kazarian from that point forward. We were all left wondering where Sabin’s loyalties were…until the 14th Anniversary Show when he formally turned on The Addiction to reform the Motor City Machine Guns. MCMG have been on a tear since then, winning far more than they’ve lost, re-establishing themselves as a force in tag team wrestling, and picking up a number of wins over Daniels and Kazarian in the process. Coming into this it feels like they have The Addiction’s number, but they’d be wrong to rest on their laurels. As their feud with War Machine proved, there is very little that The Addiction won’t stoop to in order to preserve their status as the best team in the packed ROH tag division…

The Addiction attack the challengers before the bell (has every match started like that tonight?), but are quickly sent packing to the floor so Sabin can hit a cannonball off the apron. MCMG send Daniels packing too with a double dropkick to his neck, which has been a weakness of his for almost his entire career. Daniels responds by kicking Sabin’s neck too, which he has had injury problems with in the past (injuries that were exacerbated by the Best Meltzer Ever attack he suffered last month). Before the champs can really target the neck he wisely tags out to Shelley. Kaz drops him with a lungblower, ensuring The Addiction retain control; attacking Alex’s neck instead. They get cocky and look to position him for Daniels’ big Arabian Press to the floor…only for Shelley to evade it causing the Ring General to take out his own partner. Sabin capitalises with the through-the-legs tope suicida, before slingshotting Shelley into a German suplex on Kazarian for 2. The Addiction dump Sabin on his neck again with the powerbomb/neckbreaker combo…only for Alex to save his partner from Celebrity Rehab. Blue Thunder Driver from Daniels to Sabin! Sliced Bread #2 from Shelley to Daniels! WAVE OF THE FUTURE by Kazarian sending Shelley to the floor. In the middle of all this Kamaitachi stomps to ringside and hauls Jay White over the guardrail for a New Japan dojo fight! Their brawl spills into the ring and distracts referee Paul Turner (plus Todd Sinclair who has come to ringside, and Nigel McGuinness who has left commentary)…allowing Daniels to give Shelley a low blow, which ROH’s sh*tty production team miss. Future Shock blocked by Kazarian…INTO THE BEST MELTZER EVER! The Addiction retain at 12:12

Rating - ** - I don’t want to knock on the age and battle-weary condition of these guys, but this did feel like a match which would have been GREAT five or six years ago. In defence of Daniels, he is ageless…but all four have miles on the clock and it showed here. They didn’t have it in their locker to upstage the cutting edge Young Bucks match which preceded them. The formula work was good, and I liked the focus on Sabin’s neck in particular…but it did all feel a bit flat and ‘safe’. The Kamaitachi/White stuff felt shoehorned in too. I am a huge fan of both of those two individuals, but I can’t help but feel there is a much better way to get them involved in the product whilst they are on excursion…

Inside the ring Jay White apologises to the fallen Machine Guns and helps them to his feet…as off on the stage Kamaitachi joins The Addiction to celebrate, suggesting this was another elaborate scheme coming to fruition for the fortunate Tag Team Champions.

Nigel McGuinness turns to the camera next and tells the audience that he wants nothing to do with the next match. Having sanctioned the Corino/Whitmer match, made sure they’ve both been ‘tested’ and ensured they’ve both signed waivers so ROH isn’t liable…he now walks to the locker room and sends Ian Riccaboni out in his place to call it. That’s a nice touch, and a clever way to give the deserving Riccaboni some exposure to pay-per-view commentary.

Part of me thinks maybe this isn’t ROH’s fault they’ve had to drag this out as long as they have. The recap video package reminds me that in the midst of this years-long war of words we’ve had a serious knee injury to Whitmer, and major neck surgery for Corino. Neither man are anywhere near their best at this stage of their careers and lives, but the level of hatred they feel for each other will fuel their bodies in battle once again. Steve Corino has been suspended as a commentator and staff member since last year when BJ goaded him into striking him with his signature roll of coins (their history goes back even further, all the way to BJ Whitmer’s time in The Prophecy with Corino’s sister Allison Danger). Nigel McGuinness did reinstate Corino as a wrestler before Final Battle…only for Steve to pull out of the Fight Without Honor Nigel had planned in December. Convinced Corino was ducking him, and irate that he believed Corino was being allowed to continue commentating under a mask as Mr Wrestling III the unhinged Whitmer made things more personal. He violently attacked Corino’s son Colby, effectively ending The Decade stable in the process…then went to Steve’s house and made a series of creepy videos stalking his wife and youngest son. Left with no choice, and potentially defying doctors who told him his in-ring career was over, Steve Corino steps out from behind the commentary table one more time to finally end it. He has gone full King Of Old School here, bringing back the bleached hair and donning the all-white street clothes outfit he previously used in ROH at Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies 2 in the height of the Steen/Corino vs Generico/Cabana war. Matt Sells, who was also attacked by BJ as part of this feud for his resemblance to Corino is fittingly a chair-wielding extra for Steve’s entrance.

Whitmer himself wears white tights bearing Corino and Steen’s ‘Evil’ emblem. He jerks Corino face-first into the ringpost as the former ECW Champion makes an early move to introduce a table…and knocks out his f*cking tooth! Inside the ring he drops Steve with a spinebuster, looking to test just how healthy his neck really is. HANGING TREE OF WOE NECKBREAKER landed, further aggravating Corino’s neck injury. BJ takes it to the apron, looking for the apron piledriver which so nearly ended his own career a couple of years ago. Corino counters that with an STO on the apron. Smirking and angry, Corino smashes a steel chair into BJ’s knee. CON-CHAIR-TO ON THE KNEE! Then he folds the knee up in a chair to give it the Pillman treatment, leaving BJ screaming in pain. STIFF punches by Whitmer bust Corino wide open. A doctor checks on him and tries to address the blood as BJ sets up a table in the corner. EXPLODER ’98 INTO THE TABLE! THEN ANOTHER ONE THROUGH IT! ONE COUNT OF DISRESPECT! An angry Whitmer grabs a hunk of table and starts swinging it at his hated rival…only for Corino to keep no selling and channel his inner Young Buck with as many Superkicks as he can muster. He grabs a beer bottle…and smashes it over Whitmer’s head. THEN HE STABS HIM WITH THE BROKEN GLASS! Blood pours from BJ’s head…and when the doctor tries to check on him Steve kicks the doc away and grabs his medical bag. He pours rubbing alcohol into the open wound. Both guys are covered in blood, and Corino starts filling his sock with as many quarters as he can. It takes too long though, and BJ sucker punches him with his own roll of quarters in payback for Corino doing the same to him last year. Blood showers through the air at the impact of that. Corino is now fighting in only one boot, on a ring covered in broken glass which seems crazy. PACKAGE PILEDRIVER BY CORINO! BJ KICKS OUT! The lights go out…and when they come back on Kevin Sullivan is in the ring, looking like a crazy grandpa in his purple bathrobe and underpants. You can hear large portions of the crowd literally having no clue who he is. He stabs Corino in the head with the Golden Spike, almost falls over the table like an old drunk…then feeds Steve into another Exploder ’98 from Whitmer. BJ takes an unsatisfactory victory at 14:59

Rating - *** - The match was actually better than it had any right to be. They weren’t ambitious and didn’t try many elaborate spots, the majority of the work heavily referenced the previous content of the feud and the recent injury problems both men had overcome to compete in this. To the credit of the ROH/Sinclair management team, they were permitted to get far more violent and bloody than ROH has gotten in a long-time, which given the history of both men (they’ve each competed in one of only two Barbed Wire Matches in ROH history for instance) was critical. The white clothing was a great choice too, as it made everything look even more vivid, violent and stark. But as usual, Delirious felt the need to meddle. He felt the need to get clever…and the match was by far the worse for it. The fans were SO into this. The two ageing veterans in the ring were delivering. They didn’t need Kevin Sullivan. Half of the bloody crowd didn’t even know who Kevin Sullivan is. In 2016, why the f*ck is Kevin Sullivan derailing a match that most people didn’t want but ROH have spent more than two years building to anyway? I respect Kevin Sullivan’s career and all, but in his mid to late 60’s he doesn’t need to be here...plus he looked like someone’s grandfather had escaped the care home and tottered out into the middle of a pay-per-view looking for the bathroom. F*cking terrible finish; so bad it left me feeling robbed and cheated. I don’t want to see more of this. I wanted this garbage between Whitmer and Corino to end. I didn't want to see Kevin f*cking Sullivan at all. I couldn’t drop my rating lower than 3* because it would be a disservice to Corino and BJ’s work. But f*cking hell was that ever an atrocious way to end things. In Delirious’ storied tenure of mediocre, meddlesome booking it stands as one of his most abysmal of decisions. 

Kevin Kelly – who’s dorky, cliché’d over-blown commentary did the match no favours either – is an ass and continually talks over Ian Riccaboni (who is actually trying to put both guys and the quality of the match over – something someone as experienced as Kelly should be able to f*cking do) by sh*tting his pants and blowing his wad over Kevin Sullivan until he is red in the face (poor Ian just gives up trying to say anything and leaves commentary instead...)

Despite this one being effectively booked at Global Wars when Fish defeated Tomohiro Ishii to become TV Champion and Dalton won a four corner #1 contendership match, there hasn’t been a lot of interaction between them. Castle has been imperious form on the live event circuit though, racking up wins and demanding that people start treating him as a ‘serious threat’. Fish missed a chunk of action in Japan with Best Of The Super Juniors, but returned at the final ‘Road To Best In The World 2016 Tour’ shows to host a Live Fish Tank segment with Dalton. There we learned that these two are friends and have travelled together…but when Ring Of Honor championship glory they are prepared to throw their friendship (and brunch plans) aside in order to leave with the belt.

Dalton is all smiles and sunshine as he watches Bobby during his entrance, but quickly loses his temper when his ‘friend’ throws a kick rather than offering a clean break. They go to the ground next where Fish’s submission skill gets the edge over Castle’s amateur grappling…which again pisses Castle off. He sulks in the corner with The Boys for a few seconds, which seems to inspire him as he returns to action and does start using his amateur techniques to throw the champion around. He drives headbutts into the neck…provoking Bobby into action with a series of kicks and wrenches on Dalton’s leg. A slingshot senton rattles across Dalton’s legs, and it’s clear that the TV Champion is starting to set his leg up for the Fish Hook Deluxe. Using his good knee the challenger strikes his way to freedom and begins targeting Bobby’s back…which clearly hurts Fish, provoking another aggressive defensive reaction to exploder suplex him legs-first into the turnbuckles. EVEREST GERMAN…but Castle’s knee gives out before he has even held the bridge for a one-count. Bobby tries to capitalise with the Fish Hook only for Dalton to grab a rope in mere seconds to break it. They go to the apron…and Fish kicks the legs from under his opponent once more. The leg is too injured for Castle to hit the tiger feint headscissors off the apron, and Bobby counters with a spear into the guardrails. He tries a diving strike off the apron…CASTLE CATCHES HIM AND SUPLEXES HIM INTO THE FRONT ROW! He then piles out after him with a diving forearm over the barricade for good measure. The potency of this attack on the floor is such that even Fish yells at him to stop as he ‘can’t beat him out here’. EXPLODER INTO THE RINGPOST by Fish! Both men barely beat the 20-count into the ring off that. Castle is back in the ring first, hitting a wrist clutch suplex, followed by German…into a BACK DROP DRIVER! Fish landed on his damn head on that! There is genuine concern as to whether he can continue, until from nothing he counters the Bang-A-Rang into a folding pin and snatches a victory at 16:49. Fish retains the TV Title.

Rating - *** - I’ve seen some low ratings for this match, so I went in with low expectations...and I actually thought this was a decent encounter. It wasn’t as exciting as it could’ve been, the story-telling wasn’t consistent, the finish was flat and ultimately it didn’t live up to the sort of quality you’d expect from workers of this calibre. But all that doesn’t mean it was a bad match. There was some nifty wrestling exchanges. Both are accomplished in other fighting disciplines and at times I enjoyed the way those meshed together. In the end they weren’t able to inject enough drama (despite having the longest match of the night) to make this memorable.

We are ready for the main event, but the All Night Express come out in suits, flanked by a number of extras waving placards, shouting into megaphones and promoting their campaign to make wrestling great again. Caprice Coleman is out with them as their new ‘Minister Of Information’ as well. The three of them think they are overlooked, under-rated and underpaid…so have formed ‘The Cabinet’ to represent themselves. ‘Secretary Of Shoulders’ Rhett Titus is fed up of ‘scrawny punks doing high spots’. ‘Chairman Of Championships’ Kenny King points out that even Kurt Angle has been promoting a campaign to ‘make wrestling great again’…and puts all the champions in Ring Of Honor on notice. 

This one has been a ‘year in the making’, in the sense that they took the belt away from Briscoe and kept him well away from Lethal until a month or so ago when it felt like they pulled this one out because a ‘year in the making’ sounds good. At Best In The World 2015 Jay Lethal ended Briscoe’s incredibly lengthy, years-long undefeated streak and took his World Title in the process. Twelve months later they come together again, each worn down by gruelling battles on the Road To Best In The World Tour, each believing they have their opponent’s number. This is Briscoe’s chance to avenge his loss last year, and it’s Lethal’s chance to establish himself amongst the great Ring Of Honor Champions. 

The two men trade early takedowns; notching their guns early and demonstrating how evenly matched they are. Briscoe is the aggressor, but Lethal doesn’t back down and sends him to the apron where he can hit a springboard dropkick. The challenger blocks the third in the tope trilogy…and gives Lethal an aggressive series of full-pelt tope suicidas into the guardrails. Followed by a somersault plancha as the champ sets up to block! Taeler Hendrix literally grabs and scratches at Briscoe…seemingly in an attempt to get Lethal disqualified. Mandy Leon is on timekeeping duties this evening and assists Todd Sinclair in evicting Hendrix from ringside. In the melee the champ gets 2 with a Lethal Combination. Briscoe retaliates with a roaring elbow. DVD blocked…Jay Driller blocked…so Briscoe hits a Kawada-esque folding powerbomb instead, and then the snap DVD for 2. Lethal bails to the apron, hauling Briscoe along with him for a HANGING ACE CRUSHER TO THE FLOOR! He tries to bring Briscoe back in with a super rana…only for Jay to cling to the ropes and block it. Avalanche Jay Driller COUNTERED TO A MID-AIR HEAD DROP SUPER RANA! Hail To The King gets 2! Lethal Injection dodged…Jay Driller countered…LETHAL INJECTION BY BRISCOE! JAY DRILLER NAILED! LETHAL KICKS OUT AT 2! Seemingly on the cusp of victory Briscoe goes for broke with one last big spot – apparently another attempt at the super Jay Driller. COUNTERED with a flying Ace Crusher. Lethal Injection! Lethal retains at 12:53

Rating - *** - It was fun, it was punchy and it definitely had a hot finish with the live crowd were very into. But, I feel like an ROH World Title main event of a pay-per-view should amount to something more substantial than this. Both men have been in top form this year, but in less than thirteen minutes they were always going to be up against it to deliver something as memorable as their 2015 Best In The World encounter. There were some neat references to it, but yeah, this was nothing more than a sprint to the finish line and definitely didn’t reach the level of their first World Title match. Whomever made the call to waste all that air-time on The Cabinet should be fired…

Tape Rating - *** - Certainly not a bad show by any means. There is hardly a bad match on the card and the first eighty minutes or so are really enjoyable. After that point the show starts to slide and get progressively worse though. The Addiction/MCMG tag was a little dry and felt very aged and weathered coming right after a Young Bucks match. Whitmer/Corino was a hell of a fight but irredeemably ruined by sh*tty booking. Then the Fish/Castle and Lethal/Briscoe singles title matches were perfectly decent, but each underwhelming in their own way. This certainly isn’t a PPV I’d rush to watch back, mostly because the main matches set up to draw the house missed the mark. Having been running these major PPV events for two years now, Ring Of Honor really needs to start improving and getting their sh*t together when it comes to pacing and laying them out. Stop booking so many matches for the sake of it, stop packing as many guys onto the show for the sake of it, and for the love of god get the f*cking main event right. In the end this show came off like a typical example of what I’ve been saying about ROH for years. Creatively they aren’t in great shape, the rigid and stiflingly conservative, corporate ownership dates the product enormously…but the immense quality of the wrestlers cover for it. Mild recommendation only for this one. It is a solid night of in-ring action…

3) Mark Briscoe vs Roderick Strong (****)

2) Kyle O’Reilly vs Kamaitachi (****) 

1) Adam Cole/Young  Bucks vs War Machine/Moose (****)