McXal's Reviews

This pay-per-view is missing a LOT of talent that ROH have relied heavily upon over the last year. ACH, Roderick Strong, Moose, the Young Bucks, the Motor City Machine Guns, Matt Sydal, War Machine and Colt Cabana are amongst the names of those either not booked, departed from the promotion or busy with commitments elsewhere. However, that has largely flown under the radar because the main event is one we’ve been waiting for. Adam Cole is a former World Champion, and has remained at the heart of everything good Ring Of Honor does even without the belt. But he has largely been kept away from the ROH Title picture…until now. He and Jay Lethal meet with the ROH Title on the line in a match which live reports at the time were absolutely raving about. The presence of New Japan’s big heavyweight names (NJPW was running the Super-J Cup this weekend, so all the heavyweights had a free date) adds starpower to the undercard too. Kazuchika Okada meets Dalton Castle in what could be an enjoyable match. Tetsuya Naito and Hiroshi Tanahashi saddle up their respective partners (EVIL and Michael Elgin respectively) to challenge The Addiction for the ROH Tag Titles, and Katsuyori Shibata makes his ROH US debut against Silas Young. Yujiro Takahashi and Toru Yano are also in town for their first appearances for ROH in the United States. ROH’s feature matches also include Mark Briscoe getting his ‘dream’ to challenge for Bobby Fish’s TV Title, and a No Holds Barred grudge match between Jay Briscoe and Bullet Club’s Hangman Page. We are back in Las Vegas, NV for the second time in four PPV’s. Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness are on commentary.

The winner here becomes the #1 contender to the Television Title, and there are plenty of burning issues between these four young men who have all been outstanding in their own way thus far in 2016. White is undefeated since debuting after Best In The World – including wins over his NJPW Dojo rival Kamaitachi and Lio Rush. Dijak and Rush shared a killer match at the Aftershock TV tapings in Philadelphia which aired during the go-home show for this PPV and kick-started a brawl between all four of these men.

Kamaitachi tries to make friends with Dijak, and apparently forms an immediate bond as they each turn around and attack their other opponents instead. STEREO DIVES TO THE FLOOR by White and Rush! The babyfaces shake hands then go at each other, picking up where they left off at Aftershock 2016. Jay’s technical sensibilities enable him to get Lio out of the ring, where he has to slug it out with Dijak on the floor. Donovan tosses him through the air for a rough landing on the mats. That temporarily incapacitates Lio, leaving Dijak free to enter the ring and join Kamai in beating White down. Jay tries his best to fight both of them at once and unleashes a barrage of European uppercuts. Lio returns with a tilta-whirl DDT on the New Zealander, right into ROLLING HEAT SEEKING MISSILES! Dijak tries a Chokeslam Backbreaker on the outside…COUNTERED TO A REVERSE RANA ON THE FLOOR! Is Dijak dead?! Rush has an impossible task getting his big body back into the ring, finally expending so much energy that by the time he does it Donovan is able to drop him with the Chokeslam Backbreaker. Urinage from White to Dijak gets 2…right into the Meteora from Tachi. SUPER SENTON TO THE FLOOR BY KAMAITACHI! That seemingly takes both he and Jay out of the match…especially once Dijak has press slammed Lio on top of them. SPRINGBOARD CORKSCREW PRESS TO THE FLOOR BY DIJAK! Back in the ring Rush breaks out the same Feast Your Eyes crucifix counter that he used to beat Dijak on television…for 2 this time. RUSH HOUR ON WHITE! THEN ON KAMAI! Dijak blocks it though. MARTINI KILLER KICK! FEAST YOUR EYES! He avenges the TV loss and becomes #1 contender to the TV Title at 08:10

Rating - *** - I seriously considered going to 4* on this, as it was a thrilling way to get a pay-per-view going. There have been some outstanding four corner matches in ROH this year however, and in the end it didn’t feel like this quite reached the level of Castle/Elgin/Rush/Moose in New York during the War Of The Worlds Tour for instance. Kamaitachi and Jay White are top class workers but their thunder was well and truly stolen by the theatrics of what Dijak and Lio were doing. They worked in some fantastic references to their TV match from Philly, and most of the really HOT moments in the match came from them. Dijak winning is a big call…but I don’t think you could argue the point that he NEEDED the win more than the other three. He gains a lot more in winning than they lose in defeat…

The Last Real Man actually challenged Shibata to this match. He was fed up of getting bumped to the pre-show and dark matches every time ROH was on PPV and the New Japan talent comes in to ‘take all the best spots’. Fresh from having won his feud against ACH in a brilliant Last Man Standing match in Baltimore, he now finally makes it to pay-per-view and will want to make an example of one of the NJPW talents he feels is taking a spot. This is Shibata’s US debut, although he was part of the Honor Rising NJPW cards earlier in the year. 

Kelly brings our attention to Shibata’s taped shoulder, as he comes in still feeling the effects of a gruelling G1 Climax campaign. He is still a fearsome competitor though and looks comfortable grappling with Young on the mat. Silas tries to tempt him into a strike exchange…which is a shocking error that Shibata almost punishes him for. A better strategy is to take to the sky, and he does just that by landing a pescado – leaving the New Japan star visibly nursing his injured shoulder. Back in the ring Silas applies a Boston Crab but does so after kicking at the shoulder, and applies it with most of the torque applied on the shoulders. Shibata is getting REALLY pissed off now though…and starts no selling Young’s offence. SILAS SPITS IN HIS FACE! That’s enough for Shibata who batters him into the corner with elbows then flies into his face with the diving dropkick. Young blocks a big kick aimed at his sternum…then drives him down onto his shoulder once more with the Killer Combo. Plunge countered, but so is Shibata’s Sleeper – into an Ace Crusher for 2. Peegee Waja Plunge gets 2! SLAPS BY SILAS block the violent headbutt…only for Shibata to lock in the Sleeper. PK NAILED! Shibata picks up a hard-fought win at 09:18

Rating - *** - Completely different to the frantic four-man opening bout, but in it’s own way I enjoyed this just as much. Shibata, like most of NJPW’s big guns, didn’t bring his A-game, but Young was smart enough to make a story of that in itself. The shoulder injury gave the body of the bout some focus, but ultimately this was all about whether Young could put Shibata away before he’d pissed him off too much. With every attack on his shoulder, disrespectful slap, or even spitting in Shibata’s face, Silas riled up his Japanese opponent all the more. But it made sense, as Young worked this match like a man fed up and pissed off at NJPW talent taking his spot. I love Shibata and would prefer that he got the opportunity to work a high profile match, but even way down the card like this he is still totally watchable. Silas was a great choice of opponent for him.

Post-match they slap the sh*t out of each other, then shake hands to show respect. 

This is basically an NJPW match on an ROH pay-per-view. Bullet Club and Chaos lock horns, with an ROH US debut on either side. Yujiro brings his villainous ways to ROH for the first time, and Yano is bringing his comedic capers Stateside as well. Given that an ROH team (the Briscoes) currently hold the IWGP Tag Titles that the Guerrillas Of Destiny crave, Tonga and Loa will be ultra-motivated by this. The same could be said for RPG Vice, however, given that Bullet Club’s Young Bucks are currently in Japan still in possession of the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag belts. Caprice Coleman is on commentary scouting the GOD ahead of their match with ANX at the TV taping…

Rocky doesn’t want to start with Loa, so tags Beretta in and hops to the floor in fear. Trent is quickly sent packing…so Yano decides he’ll take a shot. The Guerrillas swarm him, so he drags Tonga down by the hair so he can tag Romero. Forever Clotheslines on Tama! The Chaos team start to isolate Tonga…which Yujiro quickly realises. He attacks Rocky from behind and tries his best to KO him against the ringpost. Caprice is ranting on commentary about the ‘least talented jive turkeys’ from Japan getting spots on PPV over The Cabinet as inside the ring Takahashi feeds Rocky into a running powerslam from Loa. Hot tag to Beretta who flies in with a crossbody on Yujiro, as outside the ring Romero puts Tanga into the ringpost. Yano wants to rip the turnbuckle pad off but is thwarted by a running boot from Takahashi. Romero hands Toru pliers to help his partner in ripping off the turnbuckle pad…which he proceeds to use as a weapon with such enthusiasm that RPG Vice have to stop him hitting them with it too. POWERBOMB NECKBREAKER ON THE PAD by the GOD gets 2. Romero and Beretta save Yano from Guerrilla Warfare, and he goes on to catapult Yujiro into the exposed turnbuckle. The unseen low blow gives Yano and Chaos the victory at 11:15

Rating - * - ROH could’ve saved themselves some money and just not booked this one. It wasn’t needed, and the eleven minutes (plus ring entrances) it was allocated is precious pay-per-view time which could have been better used elsewhere. The US fans had some fun with Yano, but he wasn’t actually involved too often. 

Bullet Club don’t take kindly to defeat and the GOD drop Yano with the Guerrilla Warfare. Adam Page comes to the ring with his noose ready to choke out Yano…only for Jay Briscoe to run in and save his some-time New Japan tag partner. Since they are both already at ringside, it’s now time for their match!

Last year, whilst still part of The Decade, Page picked a fight with Briscoe. He wanted to use Briscoe’s name and legacy in this company to legitimise himself…and came damn close to doing so in an excellent televised No DQ bout. Now in 2016, having emphatically disowned BJ Whitmer’s influence, he chose to hook up with the Bullet Club in Dearborn in the most spectacular fashion he could think of – putting Jay Briscoe through a table with the Rite Of Passage. Now once again he’s here seeking legitimacy and respect by defeating the two-time former ROH World Champion. Page has been around ROH for a long time, and felt on the cusp of breaking out a number of times before. Is this the time he makes it stick?

Page and Briscoe mutually agree to go and get some chairs and duly start the match with a wild duel that ends with Hangman getting a metal chair in his face. TOPE SUICIDA INTO THE FRONT ROW! Hangman tries to retreat only for Jay to give chase and suplex him on the metal entrance ramp. Briscoe grabs Page’s noose but he has a chair pitched into his face before he can use it. Hangman fastens it around Jay’s neck now and uses it to apply a HANGING SLEEPER in the ropes! The battle spills to the floor where Page drops his rival throat-first over the guardrail. As he staggers back from that Hangman hits a DIVING POWERBOMB THROUGH AN OPEN CHAIR! The noose lies on the ground next to them and Hangman uses it to tie Jay’s wrists to the rails before hammering him with the chair again. Next he pulls out a table and sets it up on the floor in much the same position as the table he used when turning on ROH at War Of The Worlds in Dearborn. Jay blocks the Rite Of Passage on this occasion into a DVD ON A CHAIR! Incredibly Page gets back to his knees and spits right into Jay’s face…so is put down again with the Day One Neckbreaker. DAY ONE NECKBREAKER WITH A CHAIR AROUND PAGE’S THROAT! Somehow Hangman isn’t crippled so Jay ties him in the corner with his face pressed against chair. He delivers repeated running body presses, hurting his own ribs so he can splatter Adam’s face against the metal. Hangman collapses through the ropes onto the table…but crawls away before Jay can double stomp him through it. Buckshot Lariat out of nowhere gets 2! Page wants to use the Hangman’s Noose again…then delivers a Stunner in the ropes as Jay tosses the rope aside. SSP TORPEDO OFF THE APRON COUNTERED WITH A SUPERKICK! Hangman is seemingly out, so Briscoe drags him to the apron looking to use the table again. Jay Driller blocked…RITE OF PASSAGE OFF THE APRON THROUGH THE TABLE! Is that a chunk of table sticking out of Page’s knee after that? Amazingly by the time Briscoe is hauled back into the ring he is able to kick out. HANGMAN’S NOOSE CAMEL CLUTCH! Blood is pouring from a cut in Jay’s back, and he goes a hideous colour…but Jay doesn’t tap so the ref can’t stop it. RITE OF PASSAGE! PAGE WINS! Hangman gets a huge, clean win over Briscoe at 17:40

Rating - **** - Surely this HAS to be the time that ROH doesn’t sh*t the bed on a Hangman Page break-out match?! The guy has been a solid hand for years, and has produced this kind of killer match repeatedly, but always gets shuffled back into the pack soon after. Delirious has a responsibility to make sure this is different from his last match with Briscoe, or his feud with ACH, or when he quit The Decade and looked poised for a singles run (there are probably more potential Page break-out moments I'm missing too). Jay Briscoe has busted his ass for this company since the very first official match – and once again he geared up for work here, with a mission to get Page over. He smashed his body pieces, took some crazy bumps and did the job as a clean as a whistle at the end of it. It was violent, it was very well paced, and the dramatic conclusion with them both bleeding heavily after that table bump was quite a sight to behold.

The Boys are rumbled by Dalton Castle playing with Okada dollars. Dalton isn’t too hard on them as he likes Okada and New Japan too…but he still plans to drop the Rainmaker ‘on his head’ tonight.

Despite his failure to win the TV Title at Best In The World (and despite a serious back injury), Castle has been impressive in 2016, and more than earned the chance to work the IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Okada’s record in ROH is impeccable, but he doesn’t always work as hard as he does in NJPW. With challengers lined up for his IWGP Title, will he take his eye off the ball and overlook the threat that the Party Peacock poses in Vegas tonight? Dalton’s entrance, with a whole load of Boys (including the Tate Twins) is quite a spectacle…

Okada smiles and laughs along with Castle in the first minute, which gives the impression that he isn’t taking the ROH competitor seriously. Kevin Kelly muses on how healthy Okada is after the G1 Climax and he does look a step slow as he wildly misses an early attempt at the Rainmaker. The Boys once again show their support for Okada by offering to fan him and in doing so almost open the door for Castle to hit the Everest German. They distract him again when the Rainmaker climbs the ropes – this time Dalton capitalises by landing a running knee strike to knock the IWGP Champion to the ground. Sensing Okada is struggling with G1 fatigue, Dalton starts attacking the ribs to make it tough for him to catch his breath. Okada hits back with the flapjack but stays down nursing his midsection after hitting it. A big dropkick knocks Castle out of the ring…only for him to quickly recover for the tiger feint headscissors off the apron then a tope to drive the Rainmaker ribs-first into the guardrail. Back in the ring Castle hits a series of exploder suplexes which leaves his opponent’s face contorted in pain. EVEREST GERMAN gets 2! Reverse Neckbreaker by Okada…who then instructs The Boys into the ring to watch up close as he hits the diving elbow. RAINMAKER POSE by Okada and The Boys! BANG-A-RANG BY DALTON! BUT OKADA FALLS OUT OF THE RING! Dalton looks devastated but retrieves Okada for another attempt at the Bang-A-Rang. Okada blocks that one though; landing his big dropkick. Rainmaker blocked…Bang-A-Rang-blocked…RIB-SELLING TOMBSTONE! RAINMAKER NAILED! Okada wins at 13:52

Rating - *** - This was really fun. I’m not quite sure whether it was G1 fatigue or the usual lack of effort the NJPW main eventers treat most of their ROH bookings with…but Okada's performance here was a) well below his best, yet also simultaneously b) PERFECT for the story they went with. At times he was slow, at times he was really clunky in transition sequences but it all made sense within the context of the match. Castle hitting the Bang-A-Rang was an awesome moment too, and you could almost feel that split-second of disbelief amongst the live fans as they thought he might actually do the unthinkable and pin the Rainmaker. It wasn’t quite as good as his match with Roderick Strong at Field Of Honor last year, or the IWGP Title triple threat with AJ Styles and Michael Elgin from the first War Of The Worlds event, but this is up there one of Okada’s best ROH matches.

ROH are heavily invested in pushing this sham storyline that Mark Briscoe’s dream has always been to be ROH TV Champion…despite the fact he debuted eight years before it was even created. His pre-match promo does a much better job of explaining his motives, as he believes the TV Title would be a symbol of him as a ‘workhorse’ in ROH after his years of busting his ass, and legitimise his own legacy rather than just being known as (as Bobby Fish put it) ‘Jay Briscoe’s little brother’. Fish has goaded Mark by calling Jay the ‘better Briscoe’ and openly doubted that Mark can succeed where the likes of Ishii and Dalton Castle have failed. 

The opening is intensely ground-based which heavily favours the champion. Sure enough Briscoe is slow out of the blocks and is almost trapped in multiple submission holds. Smartly he changes things up and tries to get Fish striking instead. Bobby instantly leaves the ring to cut that short. From the floor he kicks Mark’s legs; an obvious prelude to the Fish Hook. More striking from Briscoe to thwart that, and he willingly takes the fight to the outside again with the apron Blockbuster. Fish isn’t even back up from that when Briscoe stomps his neck into the floor of the arena again. A suplex on the apron follows and it’s clear that fighting on the outside has paid off for the challenger. Bobby tries to retreat…only to be caught and slammed into the floor again. CACTUS ELBOW scores! Inside the ring again he hits a brainbuster…but looks to have injured his own back with all those dives off the apron. Fish pounces and hauls him down with a dragon screw. A big kick to the spine has the challenger crying out in pain! Falcon Arrow blocked by Mark, but he is now carrying injuries to both his leg and his back so working severely impaired. Bobby quickly reasserts himself with a spear into the turnbuckles. Urinage by Mark, followed by the SICK KICK! Roddy feuded extensively with Bobby of course, so adds insult to injury as he sets Bobby up for the Fisherman Buster which gets 2. DEATH BY RODERICK by Fish! Since Roddy also had issues with Mark! Briscoe hobbles to the top, only for Fish to block the Froggy Bow with his knees and hit a Falcon Arrow…right into the Fish Hook. Briscoe makes the ropes and powerbombs Bobby to the deck. This time he hits the Froggy Bow for 2! Avalanche Fisherman Buster blocked by Fish by striking at Mark’s injured back. Next he kicks the bad leg out from under Briscoe, setting him up for the turnbuckle exploder. Falcon Arrow nailed, and Bobby wins at 16:03

Rating - *** - Having all these different finishing moves really does play up the idea that Fish can beat an opponent from anywhere at any time. I feel like this match was hurt by having to go on after Briscoe/Page and then the Okada match. It was actually a really solid wrestling match and notable for Mark toning down his comedy stuff to almost absolute zero in favour of a more serious approach, which really delivered from an in-ring quality perspective. The structure was superb, with Fish dominating the mat-based stuff so Mark starting a fight on the floor to stop it. Sadly he injured himself in the process and despite a valiant effort, whilst carrying injuries to both his back and his leg he couldn’t survive forever. This would’ve benefited from the drama of having a hotter crowd, but it was still wholly decent. 

The Addiction get interview time and demand appreciation for making the ROH Tag Titles such coveted prizes that two teams from New Japan now come to ROH wanting a shot. They also urge their opponents tonight not to forget what they are ‘capable of’…

I’ve been critical of how Daniels and Kazarian have been booked, but whether you think it presents them in the best light or not, one cannot deny that they now have a track record of SOMEHOW surviving no matter who challenges them. Be it getting Kamaitachi to align with them to beat the Machine Guns, be it manipulating their way into title shots with War Machine, cheating to keep the belts away from them, profiting from the misfortune of others (PBK's run in on War Machine), or even gloating about how injuries to rival teams has forced the cancellation of scheduled title defences. Will that attitude catch up with them tonight as two teams from NJPW challenge for their gold? It is a first return to ROH for the former Takaaki Watanabe, now repackaged as EVIL as part of Naito’s Los Ingobernables de Japon. 

Naito and Tanahashi look set to start, to the delight of the Vegas fans…until Daniels heels it up and blind tags Tana out before they come into contact. Naito reacts by hiptossing him to the floor and reclining on the canvas before tagging out. Elgin has some fun suplexing the champs, who don’t do any better against Tanahashi either. At least until Evil gets involved to distract the Ace, allowing Kaz to drop him with a lungblower. With Tanahashi now weakened Naito forces his way into the match and demands his opportunity to work one of his big rivals from NJPW over. The Addiction and LIJ fall out over who gets to beat up Tanahashi and quickly come to blows. It means the Ace gets a chance to crawl away and make the hot tag to Big Mike. He hits rolling Germans on Daniels and Kazarian, then scoops up both Naito and Evil for a double fallaway slam! TOPE SUICIDA from Daniels to Evil! The champs line Elgin up for Celebrity Rehab but Tanahashi saves. Everyone piles onto the floor for a fight, and Elgin dives onto them all with a TOPE ATOMICO! Evil and Naito recover quickest but can’t put either Kazarian or Tanahashi away and Elgin comes back in with a top rope powerslam. Alabamasplash combo by Elgin and Tana gets 2 on Evil. Tanahashi prepares for the High Fly Flow, but the ref is distracted by Kamaitachi running out to the ring. Kaz hits Elgin with one of the title belts! Darkness Falls from Evil to Tanahashi gets 2! EVIL STO blocked into Tanahashi’s Sling Blade! HIGH FLY FLOW! But Daniels blind-tagged Tana on the way through. He then sneaks in and pins Evil to steal another unlikely victory at 14:47

Rating - ** - This was definitely one of the weaker matches on the card. It wasn’t necessarily bad, but really didn’t deliver much in the way of memorable content at all. Naito and Tanahashi took it easy, Evil was barely involved, and The Addiction did all the heavy lifting. Too many components here weren’t bringing their A-game and it showed. I will say that this was my favourite shady Addiction finish thus far. At least this time it made Daniels and Kazarian look smart, not like lucky idiots.

This has been a long time coming. After Adam Cole finally relinquished his pursuit of Jay Briscoe’s World Title following Final Battle 2014 and took months off to recover from multiple injuries, fans soon started speculating how long it would be until he made his presence felt in the hunt for the top prize once again. But despite being one of ROH’s big-time players, even after his return at War Of The Worlds 2015 it didn’t happen. He was embroiled in issues with The Kingdom, then sidetracked by his war with Kyle O’Reilly. But he never took his eye off the belt. One of the main reasons he has screwed O’Reilly out of the title so many times is that he so desperately wants to back for himself. He failed in a triple threat main event at the 14th Anniversary, but this is his first singles title shot since December 2014…and it comes in the most acrimonious of circumstances. Driven into the arms of his friends the Young Bucks after his Supercard Of Honor loss to O’Reilly, he was revealed as Bullet Club’s newest member at Global Wars and assaulted Lethal. It started a summer of chaos, with Bullet Club members doing what they wanted at all times. He spearheaded a vicious attack on O’Reilly on television which caused him to wrestle Lethal for the World Title on one arm…and after Nigel ‘banned’ him from the ROH Title picture he went even further – by shaving Jay Lethal bald. Lethal demanded this match so he can have revenge, and against McGuinness’ better judgement he has agreed. Can Lethal once again prove he is the best in the world, or will Bullet Club’s value increase further with the ROH World Title within their possession? Both men have new entrances for this, with Cole going back to a Bullet Club intro version of his ‘Something For You’ theme, whilst Lethal has an all new Cary-tron video package and has all House Of Truth theming removed from his iconic ‘Scorched Ops’ music. 

Cole taunts Lethal with the braids that he shaved off his head, earning him a well-deserved punch in the face. Nigel points out that there are more than fifteen guys around ringside to prevent Bullet Club interference this evening. Lethal wants to get a closer look and takes the early skirmishes outside. On the floor he lands repeated dropkicks to the neck of the challenger and starts ferreting around under the ring looking for a table. His thirst for vengeance seemingly outweighed his strategic thinking there though, and the time it took to locate and set up the table allowed Cole the chance to recover. ACE CRUSHER ON THE FLOOR! Obviously that puts Adam down again. Jay props him up on the table. HAIL TO THE KING FROM THE TOP TO THE FLOOR MISSES! LETHAL THROUGH THE TABLE! Cole can hardly believe his luck and smiles broadly as the champ’s failure to control his emotions has put the title in genuine jeopardy. The rough landing has cut Jay’s head open, which Cole tries to exacerbate with a trip into the ringpost. There is a huge bruise on Lethal’s back after that bump too – he is a real mess. I love the fact that Cole doesn’t rush to capitalise either. This is a big match for him, and he calmly tries to benefit with wrestling holds. Lethal rallies with a DVD then a springboard dropkick to the apron. He hits the Tope Trilogy…but loses control of his emotions again! He keeps going, nailing a fourth and a fifth, before crashing and burning on the sixth and getting thrown head-first into the guardrail. Realising the champ is in a very fragile place, Cole starts to taunt him then SPITS in his face. NXT LAST SHOT nailed as Lethal rushes in blind once again. Sweet Chin Music blocked…only for Cole to hit an unseen low blow to avoid the Lethal Injection. Last Shot nailed for 2! Cole applies a guillotine choke, which (as Kevin Kelly points out) he is ripping off from his rival, Kyle O’Reilly. The champion counters it to the Lethal Combination…but is so beaten up he can’t get back to his feet. Rolling back suplexes by Lethal when he finally does get up – leaving Adam in position for HAIL TO THE KING! But after a very limp cover Lethal collapses to the ground once again. They resort to wildly swinging kicks at each other…and eventually slump to the mat alongside one another. Lethal blocks Panama Sunrise into a REBOUND INJECTION! LETHAL INJECTION COUNTERED WITH A SUPERKICK TO THE HEAD! PANAMA SUNRISE NAILED! LAST SHOT AGAIN! LETHAL KICKS OUT! The challenger is incredulous…and tries to provoke another unfocused, vengeful mistake by Lethal by yelling and swearing at him again. LETHAL INJECTION! COLE KICKS AT 2! Then he starts raising his middle fingers at the champ! Mistake by Lethal again – he sprints at Cole with his head down and almost gets pinned using the tights. Then he does it again and eats the LAST SHOT! SHINING WIZARD! LAST SHOT AGAIN! NEW CHAMPION! COLE WINS! Lethal’s reign is over, and Cole joins the two-time club at 24:00

Rating - ****1/2 - I absolutely loved this match, and have it as my ROH MOTY thus far. They delivered all the thrills, spills, big moments and drama that you want to see from a pay-per-view main event championship match…but they also delivered an extremely gripping psychological element which you don’t always see. Lethal visibly struggled to control his emotions during the introductions and from the moment Cole started taunting him with the remnants of his shaved braids...he snapped. A man who has been a singles champion for more than two years, the first ever double champion in ROH history, a consummate pro who has defeated all comers with skill and composure – Lethal was emotionally unstable and paid the ultimate price. He wanted to put Cole through a table, and it violently bit him in the ass. He lost it again when trying to hit too many tope suicidas...and he was punished heavily. In the concluding moments of the match he still couldn’t control his anger – running blind at Cole as the challenger taunted and swore at him. Other than a slight lull in the action halfway through, I can’t think of much they could have done to improve this. It was a brilliant title match, a fitting end to Lethal’s admirable tenure as World Champion and a fine way to cement Cole’s return to being the ROH franchise player we’ve always known him to be.

Cary Silkin presents the World Title belt to Cole, who pisses him off by being a dick about it. Eventually he turns to celebrate...KYLE O’REILLY IS HERE! LARIAT ON COLE! He has ruined Cole’s championship celebrations and poses with the title belt himself as the PPV goes off the air! 

Tape Rating - *** - I didn’t think it was paced too well, and there is some seriously skippable stuff on the undercard, but that incredible main event more than makes up for it. Lethal/Cole is perhaps the best ever 'traditional' PPV main event since Sinclair took control and so worth going out of your way to see. Adam Page’s big win over Jay Briscoe on the undercard was also a memorable moment, plus I thought the show started strongly with the Dijak/Kamaitachi/White/Rush four-way…and the singles matches featuring Shibata and Okada were decent, ***1/2-level matches too. 

3) Kazuchika Okada vs Dalton Castle (***)

2) Adam Page vs Jay Briscoe (****)

1) Jay Lethal vs Adam Cole (****1/2)