McXal's Reviews

Night Two of ROH's long-awaited return to the UK sees them travel south from Liverpool, bring another loaded card along with them. On paper this event has a hell of a line-up. The main event (which would eventually be for the ROH Tag Titles) pits the Young Bucks against ROH's two new British signees Marty Scurll and new TV Champion Will Ospreay. Beneath that there are some huge names locking horns. Alex Shelley makes his first appearance of the tour to face Jay Lethal, Adam Cole squares off with Chris Sabin, the 2015 and 2016 Top Prospect Tournament winners face off again in the form of Donovan Dijak vs Lio Rush...and in a second HUGE tag bout for the show the Briscoes continue their Final Battle preparations with a match against reDRagon. Once again I was front row for this, and I will admit that driving to this show I was genuinely very excited about the card and came away feeling a little disappointed (main event aside). My live take was that the crowd wasn't into it, the matches were undercooked and far too short (in classic Sinclair fashion) and that only Dijak/Rush and the main event were worth going back to check out - so I'm hoping this is one of those events that comes off better on DVD. Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino are in Leicester, UK. 

I wasn't the biggest fan of Hendry's match with Dijak in Liverpool, but Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino put over how impressed ROH officials are with him - albeit not enough to sign him like Ospreay and Scurll apparently. He is the next man to attempt to become the first man to pin White in ROH - the New Zealand NJPW Dojo graduate's undefeated streak just stretches on and on. It would be a colossal upset if the Local Hero was the man to end it!

Joe tries to work Dojo style with White, who is more than happy to chain-wrestle or trade holds - and does so without breaking a sweat. Hendry hangs in there with him, growing in confidence until he tries to hit the Freak Of Nature causing Jay to retreat into the corner. White can't hit his trademark offence like the running suplex and is battered to the ground again with a jumping knee strike from Hendry. The Local Hero causes White to expend more energy escaping a cobra clutch...which he eventually does by hitting a big DDT. At last White is able to nail the running suplex, quickly followed by a flying crossbody for 2. Joe tries to slow the pace right down, ironically using a DDT just as White had done seconds earlier to turn the match his way. Once again the Freak Of Nature is blocked, this time with a dropkick. Knowing that accelerate proceedings, White launches into a tope suicida then the big missile dropkick back into the ring. Urinage slam gets 2...before Jay tries another flying crossbody only to be CAUGHT for the Freak Of Nature. The two men trade strikes, then pinning combinations. HALF NELSON SUPLEX by Jay! He ends it seconds later with the Kiwi Crusher at 11:00

Rating - * - This wasn't a terrible match by any means; thematically I quite enjoyed where they went with it. But it was an appalling choice to open the show. I suspect ROH officials may have been slightly hoodwinked by the popularity of Hendry's innovative 'Local Hero' entrance and miscalculated how over he'd be with the UK fans (many of whom also weren't massively familiar with Jay White). A slow, methodically paced chess match between a guy many don't know and a guy who's entrance is more over than his workrate unsurprisingly didn't do much to spark the show into life. There were a couple of great spots in there, and the idea that Hendry could hold his own working the mat at a slow pace with White but couldn't cope with the NJPW star when the pace got quicker was a good one. This should have gone on later...

It's now just 24 hours more that Lethal has to wait before he gets his 1-on-1 World Title rematch with Adam Cole. He stepped up his preparations last night in Liverpool with a competitive victory over Chris Sabin. Shelley joins the tour late, but has made his way to Leicester and stands in the way of Lethal completing a 2-0 over the Machine Guns on consecutive nights. Alex actually missed Survival Of The Fittest weekend through injury, so has some question marks about his fitness to answer...

For a second night running Lethal gets a thunderous reception upon entering the arena. They spend the first minute frantically trying to lay a glove on each other as strikes are thrown and missed at breakneck speed. Lethal scores first - hitting the hiptoss dropkick which really scrambles Shelley's brain. He can't recover before Lethal is on him again with Randy Savage strikes. Alex leaves the ring, but keeps his wits about him and repeatedly blocks Lethal's attempts at a tope. Back in the ring he fights back with the Skull F*ck, which Jay doesn't like at all so hits back with a jumping enzi to the neck. Lethal Combination scores...and when Shelley flees to the apron Lethal is on him again with the springboard dropkick. This time he does score with a tope suicida...but then takes too long setting up Hail To The King and is punished with the turnbuckle Shellshock. He flips Jay through the air with a lariat, but watches helplessly as the former champ counters Sliced Bread #2 into the Lethal Injection. It wraps up a comprehensive win for Lethal at 10:57

Rating - ** - This was, at least, a lot more lively than the opening match. They definitely didn't hit the mark you'd expect when putting two men of this calibre together, but they did at least put in the work and kept it moving at a brisk pace. Sadly, most of what they did was low level house show content. They were stalling for time, keeping it safe, playing crowd content for all it was worth - basically doing everything to run down the clock before they could get out and go home. There were probably reasons for this - Lethal's match with Cole is the centrepiece of the entire tour, so they could ill-afford Lethal picking up an injury here. And on the topic of injuries, having missed some ring-time recently perhaps Shelley wasn't capable of doing much more. Regardless of the reason, the whole encounter felt painfully B-show which is (and was live in attendance) a real disappointment.

'What you just saw was the reason that Ring Of Honor is the greatest wrestling company in the world' - Jay Lethal toeing the corporate company line hard.

These men are the previous two winners of the Top Prospect Tournament. This isn't the first time their paths have crossed either - they already had a thrilling little match on television (which Lio won), then shared the same ring at Death Before Dishonor in a TV Title #1 contendership four-way which Dijak won. They could not be more different physically, but each possess remarkable speed and agility. They also both won their respective matches last night, so know a win here moves them within touching distance of a 3-0 sweep for the tour.

The lights go out as they shake hands, and would be a persistent issue throughout this match. Bits of it are in darkness, bits of it are fine, bits have just a spotlight or two working. It was distracting live and extremely tough to watch on DVD. They start at a frantic pace with Lio landing about 9000 kicks ion the first ten seconds to stop Dijak hitting the Chokeslam Backbreaker. Heat Seeking Missile caught, only for Lio to counter the attempted apron Chokeslam with a kick then he leapfrogs Donovan into the railing! Heat Seeking Missile nailed second time around! What an opening minute! Dijak's response is to whip him hard enough to cause him to fall out of the ring. He comes back in...and is almost thrown right back out such is the hang-time he gets off Dijak's Time To Fly. The ribbreaker/sack toss slam combo get 2...before Rush BACK FLIPS out of the Chokebreaker right into the MARTINI KILLER! Feast Your Eyes COUNTERED WITH A REVERSE RANA! The house lights are on now (showing the masses of empty seats), perfectly illuminating Lio as he sails off the top rope to miss the Dragon's Call. He recovers to pursue the big man up the ropes...before Dijak throttles him right out of the ring. SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR BY DIJAK! That's insane! Quite incredibly, Rush wasn't snapped in half and hits back with a satellite DDT. He hammers Donovan with kicks on the apron. RUSH HOUR OFF THE APRON TO THE F*CKING FLOOR! Lio limps back into the ring, leaving Dijak to crawl around on the ground like he is dragging his body out of a car crash. And when he does get up Rush is on hand to dropkick him INTO THE CROWD! Dijak barely beats the count, and Lio flies right at him with DRAGON'S CALL! NO SOLD! CHOKE BREAKER! FEAST YOUR EYES! Dijak wins at 10:21

Rating - **** - Did these guys have a meeting in the locker room beforehand, whereby the agreed that since they were both running down their ROH contracts so they could go to WWE that they were going to amuse themselves by going ballistic and squeezing as much of their sh*t into ten minutes as they possibly could? We've seen them work before and it was apparent then they had great chemistry together. Lio in particular works so well when he has a bigger guy in the ring to anchor his whacky illusive lunacy. There were three or four moments in this match where you were left jaw-dropped by the violence, athleticism or insanity of what they were throwing at each other. Compared to the lethargy of the rest of the show this was completely wild. Making it all the more frustrating that technical problems in the building detracted from it...

This is fittingly billed as a battle of two of the best teams in ROH history. It was, in actuality, the last time we would see Fish and O'Reilly compete as a duo in Ring Of Honor (although they are part of a trios tag at the post-Final Battle TV taping I believe). There are some incredibly interesting dynamics in play here. Are reDRagon motivated by tag team success, i.e. would they fired up to beat what could potentially be the next Tag Champions because they want the belts back themselves? Will O'Reilly be distracted by his Final Battle title shot? What is Bobby Fish's mindset just 24 hours after being shocked by Will Ospreay and losing his TV Title? reDRagon have perhaps more high profile tag team wins over the Briscoe Brothers than any other team. Do Jay and Mark want payback for that - or are they completely focused on preparing for their own Final Battle title shot? How will O'Reilly teaming with the Briscoes in the Liverpool main event effect things? That is a LOT of intangibles floating around in a single undercard tag team encounter...

Mark comprehensively out-wrestles Fish in the opening exchanges, which perhaps reflects Bobby's mood after dropping the TV title 24 hours earlier. Bobby is uncharacteristically quiet, subdued and gets absolutely smashed with chops and strikes from the younger Briscoe. The difference between him and the much more exuberant and vocal O'Reilly is marked...but the Briscoes remain in charge as they team up to keep Kyle on the back foot. O'Reilly recovers with an attempt at the Arm-ageddon which causes Mark to grasp for the ropes and immediately tag out. Jay comes in and overpowers Fish again, catching him making unforced errors...until O'Reilly makes a save with an illegal hanging armbar in the ropes. That seems to injure Jay's arm seriously enough that reDRagon are able to assert themselves for the first time in the match. Jay has to tag out then go to the floor leaving his brother to fight alone whilst he recovers. He fires back in, joining Mark for the Briscoe double tackle spot on Kyle. Once again the tag team prowess of the Briscoes ensures they are able to isolate O'Reilly for a prolonged period. Bobby finally gets a tag and comes in to an absolute slug-out with Jay. He is almost beaten out of the ring by the fired up former World Champion, leaving a battle-weary O'Reilly to carry the fight once again. He grabs Jay's wounded arm and uses it to pull him to the ground, before applying a knee-bar to impair Jay's ability to walk as well. Fujiwara armbar applied...until Mark saves with a crunching boot across the jaw (which Fish does nothing to prevent). Urinage from Mark to O'Reilly gets 2. The #1 contender blocks the Fisherman Buster follow-up...only to eat Jay's snap DVD instead. Froggy Bow nailed, and AGAIN Fish is slow in to make a save, forcing Kyle to kick out instead. Splash Mountain Neckbreaker gets 2, as the offence on O'Reilly really starts to mount up. How much more can he withstand before he starts to jeopardise his chances of becoming World Champion? Fish finally joins the party, albeit by losing his grip and semi-botching the Two Man Smash Machine on Mark. BACK DROP DRIVER from Jay to Fish to block Chasing The Dragon! German suplex from Kyle to Mark! Then O'Reilly and Jay smash the hell out of each other with tandem lariats. It leaves all four competitors down in the ring...as the ROH Tag Champions the Young Bucks sneak up the aisle to take a closer look. Jay tries to cut them off in the aisle...and is punished by Kyle's flying knee strike off the apron. Nick Jackson distracts Mark as he climbs to the top, giving Fish time to get his knees up to block a second Froggy Bow. CHASING THE DRAGON! reDRagon get a huge win at 19:24

Rating - **** - This one came off SO much better on DVD than it did live. In the building that night I thought this dragged a little, but sometimes when you're watching in the crowd you don't always pick up on the subtle nuances of what they are doing. Some of the character work they did with Bobby Fish in this match was absolutely masterful. For a man who we are so used to seeing smile, crack jokes, make a spectacle of the Code Of Honor...it felt so strange seeing Fish act quiet, mess up spots and seem a way off his game. It made perfect sense considering he was a man just a day removed from losing the singles title he so coveted. And in turn it played up the strengths of the other three so well. There were points in this match where O'Reilly was literally fighting both Briscoe Brothers by himself. If that doesn't put him over as a man who is ready to become World Champion then what will? And similarly, the Briscoes got to look like the more fluent, crisp and prepared tag team. Having their experience and fluidity shine through against reDRagon, a team acknowledged as one of the finest in ROH history, certainly emphasises their credentials ahead of a potential ninth Tag Title reign. The finish wasn't ideal, but I appreciate the attempt to give this event some long-term relevance by adding even a tiny little piece of additional heat on Briscoes/Bucks for Final Battle...

INTERMISSION - Nigel McGuinness makes another appearance, looking every bit as pumped to be here tonight as he was last night in Liverpool. He doesn't have as much material for a filler promo to pump the crowd up tonight, sprinkling in tales of his student days at the University Of Leicester amongst a high volume of corporate sound-bites. He does speak with a vulnerable sincerity which makes him so likeable though. At the end of his speech he trots over to join Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino on commentary for the second half...

If ever you needed an indication of where Daniels and Kazarian now sit in the ROH Tag division rankings this match would be it. From the dizzying heights of Ladder War they are now way down the card in the midst of losing streaks, forced into battle with first-time teams like Dalton and Delirious. Castle is on the look-out for new partner having been dumped by Colt Cabana, and is preparing to face him at Final Battle. Those preparations were dealt a blow last night when he lost to 'The Villain' Marty Scurll in the Englishman's ROH debut. All that combines to equal three men competing in this match all of whom desperately need to start rebounding from career setbacks. The other man is Delirious, who is probably just pleased to be in the ring and doing what he is good at - rather than sitting in the back catching the flak from guys like me for how confusingly booked ROH has been during his time at the creative helm.

Frankie Kazarian grabs the mic and announces that they are looking for a new third member of their crew (since Kamaitachi has gone back to Japan). He tries to recruit Delirious - by offering him some shoes! It gets weirder as Daniels starts acting as Delirious' translator, talking about Frankie's abs, his macro count, failed TNA gimmicks and AJ Styles. 'That is not what Delirious was saying' - Dalton. Todd Sinclair then rings the bell...meaning Delirious clears the ring with his freak-out. Daniels trying to teach Delirious the basics of leap-frogs and other rudimentary wrestling skills in the middle of a live match was extremely funny live and remains so on DVD. Predictably it ends with the Lizard Man successfully low-blowing both members of The Addiction. He then leaves the ring and stands in a trance as The Boys fan him. More comedy ensues next as Dalton successfully tricks Todd Sinclair into inadvertently hiptossing both Daniels and Kaz...leading to Frankie and Todd almost getting into a fight whilst Castle prances around acting like a referee. Sinclair takes Frankie down like he's in the Olympics, before Delirious tags despite being in the middle of eating a snack (of bright yellow streamer). Daniels is the man who finally shuts down the total chaos of endless comedy shenanigans - by attacking Delirious from behind. He leads his team in an attack on Delirious' midsection, which lasts for a couple of minutes...until Delirious tumbles away (via an attempted tag to Todd Sinclair), bringing Castle back into play. He counters a springboard DDT by Frankie into an overhead suplex, then gives him the OUTSIDE-IN EVEREST GERMAN SUPLEX as Kaz tries to scurry away. Wave Of The Future by Frankie gets 2. Leaping Lariat by Delirious...but it isn't enough to stop The Addiction taking Dalton out with Bad Elimination. BEST MELTZER EVER! Daniels pins Delirious at 15:05

Rating - *** - Sometimes matches like this feel extremely entertaining in the live setting, but don't come off so well on DVD. I don't think that was the case here, as a lot of this did still feel hugely comical. It was nice to see a different side of The Addiction, who are great promo guys despite rarely getting a chance to show it (outside of a few buzzword ten second promo interviews every now and then). They were willing to be silly and muck in to help sell the comedy of the match, which is to their credit. This actually has some long-term significance for them too. I think this is the first on-air admittance from them that they are recruiting for a new third member (setting the foundation for SoCal Uncensored when Scorpio Sky comes in), and their first win as a team in ages. 

Last night Sabin was pushing Jay Lethal to the limit. Tonight he faces the other half of the London main event as he faces the ROH World Champion. His history with the Bullet Club goes back to War Of The Worlds when they (in particular Adam Page) hung him from the ropes in his own hometown, so it remains intensely personal for him. Tonight he has the added incentive of knowing that any pinfall he's able to score over Cole would give him an immediate claim at World Title shot...

Cole is in total dickhead mode tonight and goes out of his way to antagonise as many of the fans in attendance as possible. Sabin humours him for a while but has no choice but to quicken the pace - pursuing the champ around ringside to hammer him with chops (and even finds time to let a little kid from the crowd chop him too). Nigel and Corino laughing along whilst dishing out disingenuous corporate safety messages is one of the highlights of the show too. Cole has seen enough - and superkicks Sabin's bad knee as he attempts a springboard. The Machine Gun tumbles to the floor and can barely stand even before Cole starts repeatedly whipping him into the guardrails. His back and his legs are completely shot, his mobility is impaired and his ability to mount any kind of comeback is significantly limited. But he doesn't give up and somehow finds the energy to launch his ailing body from the top rope into a missile dropkick. Cole tries another superkick to the knee, but this time Chris hurdles it and hits a cannonball senton off the apron. DVD over the knee by Cole instantly shuts him down again though. Figure 4 Leglock blocked...so Cole lands the Shining Wizard instead, knocking Sabin senseless so he can't prevent the Figure 4 second time around. Considering Sabin is just recovering from his latest knee problem, this is a punishing hold for him to endure. But endure he does, and he then counters the Panama Sunrise into a PK-style punt to leave them both flat on the ground. NXT LAST SHOT knocks Sabin's head back...but once again he stands firm. CRADLE SHOCK  gets 2! Cole superkicks the knee yet again, then launches into a standing version of the Panama Sunrise to crunch Sabin's neck one more time. Fed up of Sabin's defiance, Cole brings his belt into the ring - but as an obvious distraction tactic so he can low blow the resilient Motor City Machine Gun. The Last Shot scores, giving Cole the win at 16:38

Rating - *** - It has to be said that Chris Sabin is on a run of thoroughly decent singles matches right now. Just like the Lethal match last night, and the Cabana match at Survival Of The Fittest, this was an extremely solid, well-thought out and competitive encounter. It lacked genuine excitement, and to give you a live take I thought the crowd was completely DEAD for this (unless Adam Cole literally stopped wrestling and did something to amuse them) - which is a disappointment. But watching it play out on DVD was much more enjoyable. Sabin counteracted Cole being a jerk by working a quick pace at the beginning...forcing Cole to take him seriously, which he did by taking out Sabin's knee, back and neck (all of which he has historic injury problems with). The finish was a little silly, as I genuinely don't believe Cole should need to cheat to beat Chris Sabin, nor does Sabin need that protection either...but up to that point I thought this was good and sits just behind Dijak/Rush and Briscoes/reDRagon with just the main event to go...

Adam Cole is feeling pumped up it seems...because he calls out Jay Lethal and suggests they have their World Title Match right now. Obviously he runs away with a smirk on the face before Lethal can even make it into the ring. Jay is calm about it though, since it's now hours until London, when Cole can run from him no longer...

This was, like Ospreay's match with Bobby Fish yesterday, originally scheduled to be a non-title affair. But the Bucks are up for a challenge, and demand to be allowed to defend the belts at least once on this tour. It's a bold move, and they will have taken note of how the Aerial Assassin shocked everyone to become TV Champion last night. Marty was victorious in his debut match as well, looking very impressive in his win over Dalton Castle. The question here is how will Ospreay and Scurll work together as a team. They have had lengthy rivalries in other promotions, and are due to face each other in London tomorrow. Can they keep it together, spring another upset and leave with the gold (or more gold in Ospreay's case)?

Scurll starts for the British team, in a brilliant exchange of counters and near-misses with Matt, which ends with them poking each other in the eyes. Will tags in next and is actually too quick for even Nick Jackson - flipping multiple times before eventually dropkicking him out of the ring. The Bucks leave the ring absolutely seething that the Englishmen are embarrassing them. Scurll and Ospreay start isolating Matt using an effective combination of Ospreay's speed coupled with Marty's technical prowess and villainy. MOONSAULT off the apron by Nick, having left Marty spread-eagled inside the ring with the slingshot X-Factor. RISE OF THE TERMINATOR tope suicidas nailed! Back inside they floor Will again with a completely effortless pop-up flying headscissors spot, leaving him on the ground whilst they start roughing up The Villain. There is a fun little dynamic in play too whereby Matt seems to take pleasure in trying to out-cheat Marty. Scurll tries to fire back with the dangerous, in the ropes body slam...but turns to find no partner in his corner because Matt is on the other side of the ring giving Ospreay an APRON BOMB! The TV Champion does finally get a tag - but his 'house of fire' act is already visibly slowed thanks to the damage he suffered just waiting to re-enter the match. It doesn't stop him landing the HANDSPRING PELE KICK, then the flipping neckbreaker on Nick for 2. HANDSPRING MOONSAULT OVER HIS PARTNER TO THE FLOOR by Ospreay! And he returns with a Red Star Press off Marty's back to flatten Matt! DOUBLE Just Kidding kicks by the challengers, into a brutal strike flurry which almost brings them victory. Chickenwing COUNTERED a Superkick! REVERSE RANA from Ospreay to Matt! TUMBLING SUPER RANA ON NICK! PELE KICK COUNTERED WITH A DOUBLE SUPERKICK! DOUBLE SUPERKICK ON MARTY! NO SOLD! DOUBLE LARIATOOOOOO! 

All four men collapse with cartoon creatures spinning around their heads! Cheeky Nando's Kick to Matt in the corner, before Will just puts his head down and charges with a CORKSCREW PLANCHA OVER THE TURNBUCKLE TO THE FLOOR! ESSEX DESTROYERS BY SCURLL AND OSPREAY! CHICKENWING LOCKED IN! NICK SAVES! Matt recovers to pull Ospreay out of the ring, on his shoulders and into position for a Doomsday Superkick from the apron! SPRINGBOARD DDT FROM THE APRON TO THE FLOOR from Matt to Scurll! Followed by a f*cking 450 Splash - basically a transition move amongst this chaos - for 2. The Bucks are trying to obliterate Marty...SPRINGBOARD ELBOW BY OSPREAY TO BLOCK THE MELTZER DRIVER! TOMBSTONE BY SCURLL! PHOENIX SPLASH BY WILL! STILL 2! All four men look like they are half dead...and when the Bucks start telling The Villain to 'suck it' yet again, he simply grabs their hands and snaps their f*cking fingers. DOUBLE SUPERKICK WIPES OUT TODD SINCLAIR! LOW BLOW BY THE VILLAIN! Scurll seizes the opportunity to bring his umbrella into the ring...but is prevented from using it by Ospreay, who wants them to fight with honour! Marty wants Will to use the umbrella...and so the the fans! OSPREAY ACCIDENTALLY WAFFLES MARTY! EARLY ONSET ALZHEIMERS! MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK! WILL SAVES! MELTZER DRIVER...OSPREAY SAVES WITH A SPRINGBOARD SUPER RANA...BUT NICK F*CKING SOMERSAULTS THROUGH THAT BACK INTO THE MELTZER DRIVER! ARE YOU SERIOUS!? BUCKS WIN! BUCKS WIN! They retain the belts in a totally insane 21:56

Rating - ****1/2 - I'll include the usual disclaimer that if you don't like the Young Bucks 'style' of match then you probably won't enjoy this. But if you do then you'll appreciate this as a thing of utterly chaotic beauty. From the very opening bell when Marty and Matt went hell for leather in a terrific opening near-miss sequence, to the completely crazy, couldn't believe your eyes finish this was an absolute joy to watch (and a privilege to have been in the building live to witness). It kept escalating, it kept building, and somehow they kept topping what had gone before. And as whacky, wild and unpredictable as the Young Bucks are, in Will Ospreay they had an opponent who is even more gifted as a no-limits, high-flying daredevil than they are. Some of the best moments in this match were when the Bucks would do one of their usual crowd-popping stunts...only to turn round to find Ospreay topping it instantly. This style of match isn't necessarily Marty's wheelhouse, but the presentation of his Villain character blended perfectly well into it. He and Matt having 'villain-off' mini-exchanges was so fun, and the brilliant sequence where he tried (and succeeded) in corrupting the honourable Ospreay into using a weapon, only to have it bite him on the ass and eat his own umbrella was, in it's own way, as exciting as any of the flashy moves. There are many things you could criticise ROH for in 2016, but the depth of their tag division certainly wasn't one of them. And despite the totally loaded tag division right now, I would have this down as the best 2-vs-2 tag match of the entire year. Liverpool and London were better shows...but don't let this match get lost in the shuffle. You're missing out if you skip it...

Jay and Mark Briscoe crash the victory celebrations, getting in the faces of the Young Bucks and trying to intimidate them in the run-in to Final Battle. Marty grabs the microphone and berates Ospreay for being an 'arrogant tosser' who cost them the Tag Titles. He wants Will to put the TV Title on the line tomorrow in London. Nigel McGuinness agrees!

Tape Rating - *** - Watching this show back on DVD, it actually came off far better than it did as a live viewing experience. As I said during my intro, coming away from the show it was only Dijak/Lio and the Tag Title Match which stuck out in my mind as particularly memorable. Outside of those two encounters nothing else is necessary, compelling or must-see viewing at all. But, to give both these UK shows thus far some credit - the one thing they've not done is fall into the same, tired, predictable and underwhelming formula many Sinclair/ROH house shows fall into. Dijak and Lio going totally nuts in the third match on the show was completely out of character for a Sinclair-owned ROH event. Letting the main event guys have more than twenty minutes and literally go hell-for-leather, cramming as much sh*t in as they possibly can doesn't happen every night. Even matches like Cole/Sabin and Briscoes/reDRagon (which, by the way, came off FAR better on DVD/VOD than it did live) got so much time. If you follow my reviews with any regularity you'll know I'm like a broken record with wanting matches to go longer, so I can't state how grateful I am that it wasn't constantly the case with this show. Whilst this is the weakest of the three Reach For The Sky Tour events, Bucks vs Ospreay/Scurll may potentially be the best match of the entire weekend. It is a GREAT match you'll miss out on if you opt to skip this show...

3) reDRagon vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe (****)

2) Donovan Dijak vs Lio Rush (****)

1) Young Bucks vs Will Ospreay/Marty Scurll (****1/2)