McXal's Reviews

After a wild and unpredictable night at Unauthorized, normal service resumes tonight with a card that could be described as 'interesting' if nothing else. Taking all the headlines is the controversial Ken Anderson coming in to challenge Marty Scurll for the TV Title. From a storyline perspective it makes sense (Marty has been complaining about a lack of competition on the main roster), but the jury is very much out on whether Mr Anderson has the chops to cut it with a guy at the top of his game like The Villain. Aside from that there is some good stuff on this show. The Briscoes and the Motor City Machine Guns are set to contest a 'rubber match' years in the making, Matt Taven and Adam Cole are in a long-awaited grudge showdown between current and former leaders of The Kingdom, rising superstars Jay White and Punishment Martinez could steal the show if given the opportunity, and we have a big trios main event as World Champion Christopher Daniels teams up with Frankie Kazarian and Dalton Castle to stave off a Bullet Club team of Young Bucks and Hangman Page - all sent by Cody to inflict damage to the champ ahead of War Of The Worlds in New York. Tonight we are back in Hopkins, MN with Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana at the announce desk. It has to be said the crowd looks very decent too...

The curtain came down on ROH Unauthorized - the show that Silas and Bruiser put together - with the Last Real Man raising his arms after an enormously significant victory over rival Jay Lethal. That means the stakes are high for both men in this match as a result. Lethal needs to rebound and to send a message to Silas, Bruiser and the wider ROH community that he is still a force to be reckoned with. Bruiser will want to scavenge on Jay at his lowest ebb after dropping a high profile bout a day earlier. 

Bruiser drinks heavily during Lethal's entrance, whilst Colt makes some astute observations about how different (and awkward) Jay is acting after his loss. Beer City boxes his ears and starts to pummel him all around ringside. He hits a mafia kick to block Lethal's attempted tope suicida, but we've entered the territory where every BCB spot is followed by a prolonged pause as he catches his breath...so he doesn't cover. Lethal hammers at the neck to block a back suplex and continues to strike at that body part in the ensuing minutes. Bruiser absorbs his best shots, tucks his gut back into his trunks, then absolutely blasts Jay with a reverse elbow. The former champion fires up the crowd and torques the neck again with a vertical suplex...and drills BCB into the guardrails with a tope suicida. Hail To the King gets a hot nearfall. Bruiser blocks the Lethal Injection...and almost bumps Lethal on top of his head with the force of a violent close-range lariat. He thinks about a Keg Splash only for Jay to roll away. Beer City Driver blocked too, with more kicks to the neck and head. LETHAL INJECTION! Lethal picks up the win at 07:47

Rating - *** - This might be my favourite Bruiser singles match so far. His lack of stamina and general untidiness did cause some problems, but they worked extremely smartly to cover some of his weaknesses and put together a really strong little story which the live crowd really latched onto. Lethal, now dubbed the 'Franchise of ROH' has morphed himself into a real workhorse. He really is the Bryan Danielson of the company now; relied upon and trusted to go out every night and deliver a great match. Bruiser was the beneficiary tonight...

The Rebellion want power and want to strike at the heart of ROH's credibility. Therefore this match is a huge deal for them, as they know scoring a win over the current IWGP Tag Champions would upset the apple cart for ROH's marquee relationship with New Japan Pro-Wrestling right on the eave of the 2017 War Of The Worlds Tour. Shane Taylor, of course, has piles of history with War Machine, in particular Ray Rowe. The battles between the Pretty Boy Killers and War Machine in 2016 were ferocious. In Titus and The Rebellion has he now found more suitable partners to help him in beating War Machine out of Ring Of Honor?

War Machine have new, crappier music. Rhett stalls and poses to avoid locking up with Hanson, and barely contributes before walking out to tag Taylor in. Rowe instantly tags in which I like, screaming abuse at Shane as they collide like bulls. Titus tries to help Taylor...but is mauled into the War Machine corner by Rowe and Hanson. The brawl spills outside, with big boots from Hanson and a wild somersault plancha by Titus. The Rebellion isolate Rowe, spearheaded by Taylor again as he looks to make an emphatic statement at the expense of his old friend and partner. Ray dumps Rhett with the Cement Mixer...but is so beaten up it takes most of the next minute for him to get across the ring and tag Hanson in. Count-along clotheslines rock The Rebellion, which are made even worse by some horrible, rapid-fire camera-cut editing. Shane f*cks something up and gets a face-full of Hanson's crotch as punishment. Rowe tags and makes a beeline for Shane again. He gets battered with strikes, then Ray turns on Titus with an exploder suplex. Rowe starts headbutting Rhett's arm to block his attempt at forearm strikes before absolutely destroying him with the judo throw knee strike. Shane shoves Hanson off the top to block Fallout and orders Titus up onto his shoulders for the Big Dawg Splash (which gets 2). Cartwheel Lariat by Hanson...chokeslam by Taylor. GERMAN SUPLEX FROM ROWE TO SHANE! NO SOLD! LARIAT ON ROWE! Rhett crawls to his feet surveying the mass of broken bodies around him. Pop-up powerslam on him gets 2 (whilst Hanson mows down Taylor with an elbow suicida). FALLOUT! War Machine win at 11:17

Rating - *** - The first half of this was a bit of a mess, but I thought the second half was awesome. The stretch of high spots and nearfalls at the end was really entertaining, and I loved how they continually referenced the ongoing hatred between Shane Taylor and Ray Rowe even though that feud ended in 2016. As IWGP Tag Champions Hanson and Rowe weren't ever going to be doing the job here which is a shame, but they protected Shane by having Titus take the fall. I didn't have the highest of expectations, but ultimately I thought they delivered something rather good...

Every review I've seen of this show has referenced how this feels overdue, and it does. But, to present a counter-argument, Taven only returned at the end of last summer after a major knee injury. ROH have carefully managed his workload and haven't exposed him to many high profile singles matches as he gradually works his way back to full fitness. Perhaps they've waited to book this until they feel like Matt is healthy enough to deliver at the level required. These guys have history going back to their time in The Kingdom. Mike Bennett recruited Taven to join and was incredibly close to him (along with his wife Maria). Cole was always the outsider of the group, missing long periods with injury and setting himself apart by prioritising the World Championship over the needs of the group. Taven and Bennett grew tired of his self-centred ways and with Bennett and Maria out of ROH, Matt decided to boot Cole and rebrand The Kingdom in his own image. It led to Vinny Marseglia and TK O'Ryan coming in - and on their debut they tagged with Taven to defeat a Bullet Club trio...including Cole. This has been a long time coming and is booked as Cole enters his final dates with the company (he only has War Of The Worlds in New York and the TV taping in Philadelphia left after this...)

Taven looks pumped - repeatedly shoving his former stable-mate, getting in his face and trash-talking him too. Cole tries to punch his lights out and go right to the Last Shot only for Matt to counter with a shoulder-first charge into the ringpost. The arm remains a target for Taven's offence; he rams it into the rails, ring apron and ringpost in quick succession. Kudos to Riccaboni for reminding everyone that Taven won the TV Title from Cole in his first contracted match. He hammerlocks the arm whilst applying a camel clutch to ensure he keeps abusing the injured body part. Cole responds by WRENCHING Taven's knee in the top rope! He hangs at a horrible angle (which both commentators sell superbly) then falls to the floor obviously concerned about the well-being of his leg. Cole shares no such concern - grabbing the heavily-braced knee and wrapping it around the ringpost. Figure 4 blocked only for Cole to snap his neck back with the Shining Wizard. Panama Sunrise COUNTERED to a version of the Shining Wizard by Taven instead. But that, of course, relies heavily on his injured knee to execute so he collapses alongside the Bullet Club member. They take turns striking at each other's injuries like assholes, with Taven blinking first and delivering a Blue Thunder Driver for 2. Matt scrambles up the ropes on one leg, taking so long that Cole easily intercepts him. TOP ROPE ARMBREAKER BY TAVEN! And again, he landed heavily on his knee so needs time to recover. He is in so much pain he makes a horrible decision to try a double stomp...but Cole avoids and retaliates with the DVD over the knee. Bare Knee Wizard ducked...into Taven's springboard enzi for 2. He grabs the bad arm but can't hit the Climax. SUPERKICK! BARE KNEE WIZARD! Matt kicks out though. Somehow he wobbles on his bad leg and hits a Lionsault...which only gets 2 and leaves him hobbling still more. Climax blocked with a Superkick to the knee! LAST SHOT ON COLE! FOR 2! FIVE STAR FROG SPLASH GETS KNEES! NXT LAST SHOT! Taven counters the Last Shot with a small package...FOR THREE! Taven wins at 12:47

Rating - **** - Adam Cole may be on his way out of ROH, but he has produced two seriously under-rated undercard matches this weekend. I thought his match with Jay White at Unauthorized was really good, and this was on that same level. Although far from perfect, with some truly horrible selling at times...as a match geared around making believe Matt Taven is a plausible top tier singles talent I thought it worked. I wish they'd have gotten more time - although the shorter, punchier format may actually suit Taven more than a longer bout - but the right man went over and the match felt like a big deal. 

Cole slumps dejectedly onto his haunches, looking devastated as the victorious Taven taunts him...

Boy was this ever controversial when it was announced, and I get it. ROH was created as a place where ultra-talented young guys would be given the opportunity to grow, flourish and improve...and not somewhere that 'washed up' old WWE guys could collect paychecks and relive past glories. Sadly that ROH doesn't exist anymore and whilst I have no real interest in watching Ken in an ROH ring in 2017, I can at least concede that Delirious has put together a kayfabe reason for this to happen. Only Lio Rush holds a singles victory over Marty since he debuted in Liverpool. He has been dominant in TV Title competition and openly stated that he feels there is no competition for him left on the ROH roster. That is why outsiders are coming in to face him. Sonjay Dutt challenged at Manhattan Mayhem. Delirious reappeared from the Edge Of Sanity to work him in Milwaukee. Now Mr Anderson comes in, no doubt motivated by all the criticism and doubt that he has what it takes, looking to shock the world and win an ROH singles championship right off the bat. 

Ken freaks out in a rage because ROH hasn't paid for a mic to drop down from the ceiling (and makes Riccaboni stand on a chair to present him with one instead). 'Think of this as gimmick infringement bitch' - Scurll as he grabs the mic to do his introduction too...then pops Anderson in the face with it! He snaps Ken's arm once, driving the veteran out of the ring in a hurry. He smashes Scurll spine-first into the apron and follows it inside the ring with plenty more big hits on the champ's back. The Villain realises he is outgunned and undersized...so he goes to the top rope for some leverage and comes down with another savage crank on Anderson's arm. That is followed with a lifting wristlock and a big stomp to the exposed elbow. With the arm now injured Mr Anderson finds his size and strike power counts for little - as Marty takes him down with ease and controls the pace. Ken's arm prevents him from hitting the Mic Check, but he does manage to drop Scurll with a clothesline. The fans are loudly behind Marty and boo every piece of Kennedy offence. Finlay Roll crushes Scurll's back again for 2 though. FINGER SNAP! Anderson blocks the Brainbuster...and referee Paul Turner takes a spill. Mic Check nailed - but there is no ref to count the pin. Mr Anderson tries to revive the official...and Marty goes right outside to grab a chair. EDDIE GUERRERO TACTICS! Reprising something Eddie did to Ken back in the WWE, Scurll tries a classic lie, cheat and steal finish by handing the chair to Anderson then hitting the deck feigning injury as the ref recovers. So Ken hits the deck as well! Both men lie on the ground faking injury as Paul Turner looks completely confused! Eye poke by Marty...and then he gets his umbrella. Again Paul is knocked sideways, leaving Marty to low blow then small package Ken for the win at 14:21

Rating - *** - It was a stupid finish in the sense that a) Marty should have won more convincingly, Ken is here to do a f*cking job and b) they shouldn't have done a roll-up finish right after Taven and Cole just did one. But aside from that, this was fine. It won't win any MOTY awards and is at the low end of the quality Scurll has been consistently delivering since he arrived in ROH...but it was by no means bad. Ken worked hard, comfortably kept up with Scurll and hit most of the moves people wanted to see. Scurll showed off some of his wrestling prowess, but it was actually his skill as an entertainer and comedic performer that came to the fore. The goofball closing minutes had the fans going crazy. I can understand people not liking that, but in the building in front of this audience the direction they went in worked. There is no reason to bring Anderson back (there's no reason to be booking Bully Ray right now either)...but as a filler TV Title defence for Marty on a B-show it was actually completely decent. I won't lay into Ken on the basis of that performance - he fulfilled his role. I've seen WWE guys come into ROH, take it far easier and have way worse matches than this. Of course his presence here indicates a worrying direction of travel for Sinclair-owned ROH, and using this match to heavily promote this show RATHER than shilling the big Cole/Taven bout for instance, is the antithesis of what Ring Of Honor was set up to do. But as a standalone fifteen minute wrestling match taken solely in isolation I didn't think there was heaps wrong with this.

I believe this is a debut for the circus-inspired Carnies of Nick Iggy and Kerry Awful (certainly under this gimmick). They face Burger and Ferrara at an opportune moment as they are struggling to keep their team together. Will is feeling the heat of constant defeats as a team; an opinion which will have only been enhanced last night at Unauthorized when he won a singles match himself. This is a team which badly needs a win...

Ferrara starts with Iggy, looking thoroughly annoyed that the crowd is loudly chanting for Burger. He tries to tap Iggy out with a shortarm scissors inside the first minute. Will refuses to tag Cheese, trying to carry the match for his team...but after goading from Awful, Burger blind-tags his way in despite Will's irritation. Kerry gives Will a spear on the apron, cueing up a sliding cutter from Iggy for 2. Burger in with strikes which are ludicrously oversold by The Carnies. Stunner on Iggy, then the springboard knee smash for 2. Awful blocks the Shotei, then he hooks Ferrara and Burger up together for a FORCED DESTROYER from one partner to another. It was a cool spot, and one which of course furthers the dissension between partners. Shotei on Kerry. Burger then 'takes a bullet' for Will by shoving him out of the way of an attempted strike from Nick. Ferrara capitalises to give Iggy the VLL - his version of the Rainmaker - and grab a win at 07:55

Rating - * - I couldn't give this the DUD treatment. The subtle dissension between Burger and Ferrara was well played out (and I say that as someone who isn't a fan of either man), that forced Destroyer spot was really cool, and whilst The Carnies didn't make much of an impression I did think their striking (and contrasting looks) and identifiable gimmick made them an easy watch. But at almost eight minutes this was miles too long and a really tedious match to get through.

Will makes sure he takes centre stage during the celebrations, but does at least shake Cheeseburger's hand and leave with him this evening...

Again, this should have been promoted on this show as a really big deal. Rather than talking about Bully Ray and Mr Anderson, matches like this should be pushed hard as both of these guys have outrageously bright futures. Martinez has continually impressed since breaking away from BJ Whitmer and Kevin Sullivan, even if he hasn't necessarily won as many big matches as he'd like (he frequently competes in multi-man matches and isn't involved in the fall). White's run in ROH has been outstanding from an in-ring perspective. Time and again he has proved himself a reliable - and rapidly improving - professional wrestler. With only losses to former World Champions Jay Briscoe and Adam Cole on his record despite now being in ROH for almost a full year he really has had an impressive run. Championship gold has eluded him however and, even whilst embroiled in Search & Destroy's feud with The Rebellion, he'll know if he wants title shots he needs to rebound from yesterday's defeat to Bullet Club's Adam Cole.

Punisher tries to maul White from the bell and cuts an imposing figure as he marches relentlessly towards the courageous Kiwi. White rattles him with chops and elbows...but Martinez just keeps getting up. In the end he almost stomps Jay through the canvas, and in a single move dramatically turns the momentum of the match in his favour. Still Jay goes to his strikes as he looks to make impact on Martinez but he simply can't keep the big man down. Uppercuts leave him hanging from the apron, and getting desperate White attempts a wild German suplex into the crowd. Obviously that isn't happening and Jay is soon clinging to the ropes to avoid a chokeslam on the apron. More uppercuts with Punishment captured in the ropes...setting up a tope suicida! At last the big man is down...for a few seconds at least. Jay is on him again with a shotgun dropkick into the railing, then hits a back drop driver inside the ring for a 2-count. Punishment blocks the Urinage and turns Jay's lights out with an emphatic falcon arrow. Still White throws strikes, then counters Martinez's springboard punch into a flatliner. German suplex, followed by the Urinage...but still not enough to put the Punisher away. The big man is too strong to be taken over with a brainbuster and he scrambles Jay's brains with a violent lariat. Springboard punch, into a torture rack driver for 2! Jay SLAPS his way out of South Of Heaven and so eats a spinning heel kick. Martinez tries it again, and this time White counters to a roll-up. That's enough to snatch a precious victory for Jay at 10:27

Rating - *** - I'm about to be extremely critical, so I want to start by saying that the wrestling we got here was extremely good. I'm a fan of both guys, I enjoy their work and I liked what they did with this match here. I can't call this a 'bad' match by any stretch of the imagination - it was thoroughly decent. But the booking here is atrocious. Firstly, on a crappy B-show in one of ROH's lowest ranked markets, can Delirious seriously not find more than ten minutes for two of the fastest rising stars on his roster? These guys could have stolen the show, but, as is sadly par for the course with modern-day ROH, they got totally f*cked for time. Secondly, why was White going over here? Martinez is breaking out in a major way, has such star potential and could've been the 'next big thing' so to speak. But having him job clean to a guy who isn't even in the company for much longer just sucks - especially when Adam Cole and Jay Briscoe literally just beat him so it's not like this 'undefeated streak' gimmick is still going. And I just don't understand the logic - beyond 'well he just lost twice and New Japan will get mad if he loses again'. Are they setting White up for a World Title shot before he goes? That would make sense, he has a decent won/loss record and history with Chris Daniels. But a cursory glance at Cagematch reveals that the only title shot Jay gets is with f*cking Punishment Martinez in a triple threat anyway. Do time limit draws only exist in TV land now? Having these guys go twenty minutes and stolen the show in a draw could've been a defining match for Punisher to hang his hat on even if he wasn't going over. I've gone off on a rambling tangent, so bringing it back to the match. The action was good, but I disagreed with the victor and thought only giving them ten minutes was a sh*tty decision. This is the kind of match which makes me miss Gabe's ROH in a major way - he'd have done so much more with these guys...

Punishment reacts badly to the loss and assaults White after the bell. 

Please Delirious, don't f*ck this up. Although, whilst we're on that subject, how the f*ck is this not the main event? The Ring Of Honor matches between these two teams are iconic. The first, at Good Times, Great Memories is one of the finest tag team encounters the promotion has ever delivered. The Briscoes won that night, but lost the 2008 rematch at Return Engagement. Now we have the rubber match, which fans have been clamouring for ever since MCMG reunited in ROH last year. It has obvious ramifications on contendership rankings in the pursuit of the Young Bucks and the Tag Titles too of course. Alex Shelley has not competed regularly in 2017 however. He has made sporadic appearances, repeatedly been attacked by The Rebellion and will not be at 100% for this having reportedly recovered from concussion issues suffered at the hands of Shane Taylor. 

Mark starts with Sabin; two men who's bodies have suffered greatly since the last time these two teams met. It's Briscoe who looks a step ahead of his adversary, but Sabin has striking power and rockets him back into his corner with an enziguri. The Machine Guns rush the ring with combo moves to send the Briscoes scattering. Their speed is too much...so Mark elbows Shelley in the back of his previously-concussed head then hauls Sabin out of the ring by his previously-injured neck. Things get wild on the floor, first with Mark hitting a senton splash off an open chair, then with the Guns landing a double stomp/swinging neckbreaker combo off the apron to lay out the younger Briscoe brother. It means Jay is left alone and isolated inside the ring...and soon flattened with a missile dropkick/flatliner combo. When Mark finally battles back to the apron the first thing that Sabin does is smash him in the head and knock him off again. Jay does finally get Mark back involved...and he immediately leaves the ring for the BLOCKBUSTER TO THE FLOOR! TOPE SUICIDA THROUGH EVERYONE by Jay! All four brawl into the crowd, creating chaotic scenes that the cameras struggle to keep up with. Shelley starts braining Jay against the back wall of the building then dumps him through a row of chairs...whilst Mark and Sabin have vanished up into the bleachers. They find their way down as Sabin hits a running dropkick through Briscoe and an open chair! MOONSAULT OFF THE STAGE BY MARK! He drags the fallen Sabin back into the ring, where his brother is waiting to hit the Splash Mountain Bomb for 2. Doomsday Device blocked with the ASCS Rush - Shelley returning to the ring to help his partner. FRANKENSTEINER by Sabin, rocketing Mark into a somersault senton on his own brother. Skull & Bones nailed for 2 before Jay saves. The former World Champion punches the sh*t out of the Machine Guns, who fire back with the Dream Sequence (great call by Cabana). The Guns look for Made In Detroit, but it's blocked by Mark. Sabin accidentally blasts his own partner with the Hesitation Dropkick, and it gets worse when he walks into Jay's snap DVD. JAY DRILLER! FROGGY BOW! Briscoes win at 15:40...

Rating - **** - Good enough that it will probably comfortably be match of the night, and among the best matches all weekend, but it wasn't given the time or space to be a patch on their first two matches. The brave call they made here was making it a very DIFFERENT match to the 2007/2008 encounters. Both teams perform in a wholly different manner to how they did ten years ago, and they didn't try to recapture the magic that their ailing bodies may well have struggled to recreate. They went for more of a brawling route - easier in the sense that they could use set-piece bumps to pop the crowd. There were still some wonderful tag team dynamics in play where we'd see the speed and combo moves of the Machine Guns continually test the marauding ruggedness of Jay and Mark. It is hard to escape a slight sense of anticlimax though. This could have main evented any ROH event, let alone a house show in Hopkins. The fact that they only got fifteen minutes, third match from the top, and were clearly not given the creative license to even come close to hitting the heights they hit a decade ago is a major disappointment. If you set your expectations accordingly you'll have a lot of fun with this match. I thought it was great. But then again I wasn't expecting something on the level of those incredible wars in Chicago. If you wanted them to hit that bar you will come away sorely disappointed...and I'm not sure it is the fault of the wrestlers in any way.

If he was looking for a challenge to follow up from his sensational victory over Jay Lethal in the main event of Unauthorized, the Last Real Man has certainly found it here. Bully is a mountain of a man and still full of momentum after his shocking debut at Manhattan Mayhem 6. Young has alluded to his desire to win the Six-Man Titles ever since the inception of the championship. He and Beer City Bruiser are still supposedly looking for a mystical third partner to help them in that quest. Therefore he'll know a win over one third of the incumbent champs would certainly put him in line for a title shot - as well as delivering another substantial boost to his singles career aspirations.

I love Ian, but his insistence that Bubba is 'at the top of his game' is painful to even listen to. Of course, Bully apparently has a contractual guarantee that he gets mic time on every show, and uses it tonight to goad Silas into agreeing to make this No DQ. Silas belittling Bully is one of the highlights of the show though. He jumps Ray before the bell and chokes him with a t-shirt meaning the match starts with the Hall Of Famer on his knees. Bully quickly comes back with headbutts and his mammoth overhand chops forcing Silas to flee the ring. Going to the floor may not be a smart move against an ECW veteran, and Bubba goes to work bashing his skull against the various tables at ringside...until Silas hits back with a steel chair across the back. He whips Bubba with the length of metal chain that he wears around his neck as a ring entrance. A big spear stops Silas from using the steel chair again and leaves both men down and out on the canvas. Young comes up absolutely screaming abuse at his opponent - firing him up for a volley of big strikes. Even Paul Turner decides he is a Dudley Boyz mark and helps Bubba recreate the Wassup Headbutt spot. Bully tries to convince Turner to get the tables as well, taking so long about it that he doesn't see Beer City Bruiser run out to attack him. Jay Lethal is soon on the scene to even the score; wiping Bruiser out with a tope. Silas is furious and walks into the Bubba Bomb. Ray wins at 09:51. F*ck you ROH...

Rating - DUD - If you ever feel sorry for ROH in 2019 and how much they are struggling...don't. It's total bullsh*t like this which is the reason why. Silas Young comes in red hot after the biggest win of his ROH career, a star-making match which took a huge stride to positioning him as a bonafide top tier star. So naturally the first thing he does is job to f*cking Bubba Ray Dudley? This match made me so angry I almost didn't want to finish reviewing the show. Putting Bully over here is a total travesty; an astonishing act of self-sabotage by Ring Of Honor just when it felt like they were really starting to build something with Silas. The fact that Joe Koff, Sinclair, Delirious, or whomever thinks that in 2017 Ring Of Honor's product should be about Bully Ray wasting five minutes on every show rambling on a microphone, then lazily half-assing his way through nostalgia spots, is utterly appalling. The match sucked. The Paul Turner Wassup spot was embarrassing. The treatment of Silas Young was criminal. I've been open-minded about Bully in ROH up to now. But watching this was brutal, and among the worst booking decisions I can EVER recall in all my years watching Ring Of Honor. This was the antithesis of everything this company was founded to stand for, and it made me sick to my stomach.

Colt Cabana calls the Bullet Club the 'stars of ROH'...which sums up Sinclair-owned ROH's attitude in one neat little sentence. We know the deal here, the Bullet Club are sour that Daniels and Kazarian pulled the ultimate heist on them to take the World Title away from Adam Cole. The Bucks have a long history with The Addiction too, and we'll be revisiting that again here in our main event. It's a trios match, but with the Tag Champions on one side of the ring and the World Champion on the other, all three men will go in knowing a pinfall win over an incumbent champion would yield a title shot somewhere down the road...

Kaz wants to start Page in pursuit of payback after Hangman attacked him in a parking lot, but has to wait since Hangman backs off. Matt starts with Daniels...who fights fire with fire and pokes the Bucks in the eyes as often as they do it to him. Dalton tags and manhandles all three Bullet Club representatives - driving them out of the ring so emphatically that even The Addiction start to fan him like The Boys. At last we get to see Page and Kazarian go at it and it is suitably intense and hard-hitting. Sadly it quickly devolves to comedy as all six guys bundle in for Benny Hill style missed offence attempts. It is fun to watch...but belittled the intensity we'd just seen from Frankie and Hangman. They soon ditch the comedy to go back to punching each other's lights out on the floor, as inside the ring the Bucks breakout the first Superkicks of the bout. STEREO DOUBLE STOMP DOMINATOR COMBO by the Hung Bucks! Rise Of The Terminator tope suicidas score and leave their opponents scattered all over the arena floor like bowling pins. Hung Bucks isolate Daniels, clearly trying to make their mark at the expense of the World Champion. Much of their offence attacks Daniels' neck; an entirely logical step on a man who almost had to retire from a broken neck years ago. Matt Jackson inadvertently punches Page on the floor, but the Bullet Club recover quickly for the TRUST FALL SUPERKICKS! ELEVATED SENTON OFF THE APRON by Nick! He tries to polish the champ off with a springboard frog splash...but sails into Daniels' knees. Hot tag to Castle who comes in like Taz - doling out the suplexes to all who cross his path. It ends with the Everest German on Matt for 2. Jackson blocks Bang-A-Rang with a Superkick feeding the Peacock into Page's Spike DDT. Inadvertent flying headscissors by Nick wipes out Hangman, and allows Dalton to tag Frankie in. Lungblower on Hangman, setting up the Tomikaze for 2. The Bucks save Page from Celebrity Rehab...TRIPLE SUPERKICK on the World Champion! Nick hits a moonsault off the apron, clattering his shins on the rails as per TK O'Ryan. SHOOTING STAR PRESS to the floor by Page, followed by the Buckshot Lariat back in, getting 2 on Kaz. Daniels blocks the Meltzer Driver...so Matt Superkicks Frankie to the floor. Running STO on Nick! Page tries to set up Rite Of Passage on Kazarian, only for Matt to f*ck up and Superkick his own partner into a CODE RED! ANGEL'S WINGS ON MATT! All six men are exhausted on the canvas, gasping for air. CRAZY ARABIAN PRESS TO THE FLOOR BY DANIELS! Nick accidentally punts his own partner in the jaw! HEAT SEEKING MISSILE BY DALTON! BEST MELTZER EVER ON PAGE! Kazarian pins his rival at 19:13

Rating - **** - The Young Bucks can generally be relied upon to carry a house show trios main event and make it feel far more special than it really is. Once again they spearheaded a similar effort this evening. They were far from the only participants (you could argue the best part of this match was the interaction between Kazarian and Page), but they are so slick, polished and experienced in this type of match. And, as usual, a little scratch under the surface yields far more story than just goofball high spots at 100mph. Kaz and Hangman were at the forefront, but there were a number of other really cool touches. The Hung Bucks working over Daniels neck was intriguing and relevant to a man who has suffered a broken neck in his life. The ongoing thread of 'are Bullet Club okay' ran through everything they did here, with countless miscues between the three members - most notably with the Bucks persistently messing up and hurting Page. 

Tape Rating - ** - You might think that rating is harsh on a show which contains three 4* level matches and not many 'bad' matches at all. But the booking of this show was infuriating, and massively detracted from the efforts of the incredible roster inside the ropes. The first half was ok. I didn't need to see Ken Anderson and would've preferred he put Marty over cleanly, but he certainly didn't suck and as a one-off guest appearance was fine. But the second half was astonishingly terrible from a creative standpoint. Bully Ray lazily squashing Silas Young made me as angry as anything has in my entire time reviewing ROH shows. Rising stars Jay White and Punishment Martinez only getting ten minutes, and having the NJPW guy go over despite only questionable logic saying he should do so greatly annoyed me. Only giving the Briscoes and the Machine Guns fifteen minutes, and not letting them main event sucked. Putting a very good, but completely unnecessary filler Young Bucks/Being The Elite trios match over Briscoes/MCMG as the main event indicated the alarming direction of travel ROH is heading in (i.e. BTE crew sell merch, they are important, everyone else is secondary). As a wrestling card this is good. As an in-ring product this is a half-decent night of wrestling. But large parts of this show were an afront to what ROH was founded to stand for. As much as I enjoy watching a vast portion of this roster...the way this show was booked meant I came away feeling totally empty. I wanted to go lower than a 2* rating for this show...

3) Matt Taven vs Adam Cole (****)

2) Christopher Daniels/Frankie Kazarian/Dalton Castle vs Young Bucks/Adam Page (****)

1) Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Motor City Machine Guns (****)

5) Adam Cole vs Jay White (**** - Unauthorized)

4) The Addiction/Dalton Castle vs Young Bucks/Adam Page (**** - Masters Of The Craft)

3) Young Bucks vs The Addiction (**** - Unauthorized)

2) Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Motor City Machine Guns (**** - Masters Of The Craft)

1) Silas Young vs Jay Lethal (****1/2 - Unauthorized)