McXal's Reviews

After the success of the Reach For The Sky Tour in 2016, Ring Of Honor returns for the summer - this time bringing some friends with them. For this weekend trilogy of shows they are working in conjunction with NJPW, CMLL and Rev Pro - meaning we'll see talents from all four promotions compete. The NJPW contingent includes the entirety of Los Ingobernables de Japon, Jushin Liger and TV Champion Kushida. CMLL have Ultimo Guerrero and Rey Bucanero leading the charge, alongside the debuting Titan (who challenges for the TV Title) and Mistico (the second one, and not the guy who originally - and disastrously - portrayed Sin Cara in WWE). The big draw this evening is a 5-on-5 showdown between Bullet Club and LIJ. All the big hitters are in town as Cody, Marty Scurll, Hangman Page and the Young Bucks take on Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi, EVIL, SANADA and BUSHI. As well as the aforementioned Kushida/Titan TV Title international clash, we'll also see the cross-promotional dream team of Delirious, Liger and Mistico challenge Dalton Castle & The Boys for the Six-Man Tag Titles. Ian Riccaboni and BJ Whitmer call the action from ringside, live at the historic York Hall in Bethnal Green, London, UK.

So I say that this weekend is being run by four promotions...but Rev Pro is very much the most junior of partners. Ryan Smile is one of their contributions; a promising young junior worker who would win their British Cruiserweight Championship before the end of 2017, but would eventually disappear from wrestling in 2018. This is a huge opportunity for him as he faces a veteran of ROH competition since 2002 in Mark Briscoe. Mark will be distracted by issues with The Kingdom, issues with his temperamental brother and issues with Bully Ray as well...but he can't afford a loss here. 

Smile is pumped and gets right in Briscoe's face. He is also exceptionally quick, putting Mark in the unusual position of needing to slow the pace against an opponent. He grinds onto a camel clutch and even starts choking the Englishman with his bandana. The veteran stalks Smile; peppering him with stomps and throttling him in the corner. Fisherman Buster blocked...so Mark absolutely pummels his opponent with chops and elbows before dropping him with a brainbuster instead. Smile won't let himself be pinned though; quickening the pace once again and delivering a missile dropkick. RUNNING SOMERSAULT PLANCHA OVER THE RINGPOST! To the top rope Ryan goes next, scoring with a Meteora for 2. Smile High frog splash misses...but so does the Froggy Bow. Ryan hits a heel kick with such force that Briscoe tumbles out of the ring. But Smile foolishly gives chase, kick-starting a game of cat and mouse which culminates with the blockbuster off the apron. CUT-THROAT DRIVER!  Mark wins at 09:53

Rating - *** - This was a corking little opener, and one of the better Mark Briscoe singles performances all year. Seeing Mark play against type as the grumpy more experienced guy having to cheat, slow down and stomp all over a super-fast, high flying opponent was really fun. Smile played his part well, providing the required intensity and precision at just the right points. But for me this was all about Briscoe. The way he delivered his character work meant the fans, who started enormously in favour of Mark, were cheering Smile on in the closing stages. I'm not quite sure it was worthy of breaking out Mark's first Cut-Throat Driver in years...but perhaps it signals the start of a long-overdue darker direction for Mark's character.

Daniels and Kazarian came out of Best In The World enormously bitter. Irate at how the fans turned on Daniels to support Cody in the PPV main event, they have now vowed to ruin everything the fans love. Presumably that extends to trying to beat up international guest talent so badly they don't ever return. Guerrero is familiar to ROH fans, but I believe this is Bucanero's debut. Although they have denied being interested, there is no doubt that a win over a high profile team from CMLL would put The Addiction near the top of the list of challengers for the Young Bucks' Tag Titles.

The Addiction jump the jovial luchadors during their crowd-pleasing entrance, sticking true to their promise to destroy things the fans love. Team CMLL shut it down quickly, with Rey landing Castigo Bucanero for 2. Ultimo follows it with the headstand Bronco Buster. He baseball slides Daniels from the apron to the floor...as inside the ring Bucanero and Kaz start going at it. Ian points out that these guys are working this under lucha rules whether anyone likes it or not. The Addiction hit some nefarious double teams to kill Rey's momentum - coming at him from all angles and with such pace that he can't keep up. Guerrero gets a tag...then dives sideways causing Daniels to Arabian Press into his own partner. ROCKET LAUNCHER SOMERSAULT PLANCHA by Rey and Ultimo! TOP ROPE SUICIDE DIVE BY GUERRERO! Daniels took ALL of that! Back in the ring Ultimo gets 2 with an avalanche gourdbuster. Daniels saves only to promptly miss the BME. La Magistral by Bucanero - missed by the ref who is still arguing with Kaz. Rey had the former World Champion pinned for almost twenty seconds! Angel's Wings blocked, but Daniels pins Rey using the ropes at 08:52

Rating - *** - There wasn't much wrong with this. I remember having a lot of fun watching it live and it entertained me as a DVD experience too. I have no problem with the finish; Daniels and Kazarian are openly running an angle where they want to piss off the fans and decry honour or respect - so using the ropes to win makes sense within the context of the story. The match that came before the finish was well structured. The luchadors worked lucha rules and big dives to their advantage - but came unstuck when the smaller and quicker men would ping around with multiple combination sequences. 

Bucanero and Guerrero don't take defeat well - and lay out Daniels with the Leap Of Faith against the guardrails. 

There is nothing inter-promotional here; just two guys with lots of motivation, plenty to prove an extensive history together. The feud between the Briscoes and All Night Express is legendary, and was so violent it almost derailed the Sinclair purchase of ROH. In 2017 we see Jay Briscoe trying to shake off a concussion he suffered at the recent Concord TV taping and cope with his anger stemming from multiple defeats. King is preparing to face Kushida for the TV Title at Death Before Dishonor and will be very aware of how much his momentum would be boosted with a win over a former World Champion.

King spends the first two minutes answering every question Briscoe poses...which only pushes Jay's fragile temper. He takes the athletic King to the floor for a brawl, where he clearly has the upper hand. That is until Kenny innovates something - hopping onto the apron for a corkscrew senton to the floor. He has the edge on Jay in terms of speed and athleticism and, having used that to his advantage, he brings the contest back into the ring where he can exploit it. He combines agile strikes with a grounded offence to completely negate Briscoe's brawling style. He noticeably grinds on Jay's shoulder which has been a problem for him for many years. The former World Champion finally fires back...first with a rana but then with stomps, kicks and headbutts. Superplex blocked, so instead Briscoe simply crotches Kenny on the buckles and punts him in the head. Again Jay wants to come off the top, only for King to backflip into a jumping enzi! Last Chancery locked in (note the arm around Briscoe's bad shoulder too!). Jay escapes and then quickly has to block the Royal Flush as well. He can't hit the Jay Driller though and Kenny counters him into a spinebuster for 2. Mafia kick by Briscoe, into the Day One Neckbreaker. King misses Shotgun Knees and walks into the JAY DRILLER! Briscoe wins at 12:25

Rating - *** - Live and in the building I thought this was a fun match, but I didn't pick up on so many little details. For one thing, having not seen the post-BITW tapings in Lowell or Concord, the live crowd had seen very little of Jay's turn down a more aggressive, heel-ish path...nor King's post-Rebellion rebrand as a reformed, family-orientated babyface. Therefore the whole match had a weird dynamic where Kenny was playing to the fans, Jay came out clearly refusing high fives and looking extremely intense...yet got all the cheers from the audience. I saw glimpses of it live, but watching on DVD, the subtle work King utilised on Jay's problem shoulder was a really neat little touch. I liked how they approached this. The contrast of the athletic King and the marauder Briscoe worked really well. I just wish they'd have been given another five or six minutes (and trust me this is a short show, they had plenty of time) to really flesh things out. The finish came very suddenly...

Jay refuses to shake Kenny's hand and walks out to jeers...

There are some big, hairy boys in this match. We know that Lethal and Silas are embroiled in a bitter feud. Already scheduled to meet in a grudge match at Death Before Dishonor, they've also been pencilled in for a Street Fight on Night 3 of this Tour during ROH's Scotland debut. If Silas can tear his attention away from his rivalry with Lethal, he'll remember that he suffered a loss to Bully at Masters Of The Craft earlier in the year too. Samuels is the wildcard. A UK talent, representing Rev Pro, he has worked extensively for most of the UK's top independent promotions. He isn't the most technically proficient, but the delivery of his 'East End Butcher' character usually makes him stand out. He also has decent size, so has nothing to fear from anyone involved here.

Just like the last UK tour, Lethal is wildly over with the British fans. Noticing the reaction that Jay and Bully get, Sha and Silas form an impromptu alliance and get the fight started. Lethal wastes no time diving up the aisle with a tope on Young. Bubba and Lethal then work a near-miss sequence which the crowd really dig. Samuels flattens Lethal with a powerbomb then keeps Bully out of the ring so the Last Real Man can work Jay over. Young isn't a man to be trusted of course...and soon turns on Sha with a vertical suplex. Bully tries a dive off the top, only to be press slammed by Young. But, as is the pattern for the match, whenever one of Lethal or Silas enjoys a period of offence, the other is quickly on hand to put a stop to it. Samuels hits a Michinoku Driver to counter the Lethal Injection...only to come close to being pinned after a mafia kick by Bubba Ray. Bully then body slams Silas, into position for Lethal to join him in a Wassup Headbutt. Jay does the D-Von 'Testify' pose afterwards which I really enjoy. Silas and Sha stop them bringing tables in. MOONSAULT misses for Samuels, and Bully pins him with a top rope crossbody at 08:46

Rating - * - The only content of the match which really interested me was Lethal/Silas. I've never been the biggest Sha Samuels fan and don't think he contributed much here, although in all fairness I don't think he was given much of an opportunity. I imagine for a lot of these UK fans it was the first time they'd have seen Bubba in such an intimate setting so of course he was given plenty of nostalgia pops. The little exchange he had with Lethal was kind of fun, and for once this was a match I didn't even mind him winning. The clear story here was how much Lethal and Silas dislike each other. They were continually cutting each other off, brawling, making alliances to beat the other down. This was nothing more than build to the two big grudge match pay-offs in Edinburgh and Las Vegas. With them on the floor Bully pinning a limited guest star from the UK doesn't do any harm. I don't really want to see his ugly ass crossbody get over as a finishing move though...

Silas and Lethal keep brawling all the way to the locker rooms. It means Bully is alone in the ring...so of course he gets on the microphone, sh*ts all over their angle and demands Jay come back out. He acts like it is to put Lethal over, but really it's an excuse to share the ring and take some shine from Lethal - saying something which didn't need to be said. WHY does this guy have to talk on every show? Having Lethal come back out crapped all over the angle he was in the middle of with Silas...

This has to be the most whacky, oddball collection of guys you could possibly assemble for an ROH Trios Title Match. Dalton & The Boys being champs is strange enough. They know the Bullet Club are coming for their belts so would have an excuse to be distracted...which would in turn put the gold in real jeopardy this evening. They face a dream team of representatives from ROH, CMLL and NJPW. Liger and Delirious are, of course, familiar to ROH fans. Liger also has some history with Dalton, both as a partner and as opponents too. Mistico is making his debut. He is the second version of the Mistico character, i.e. NOT the luchador who would go on to play the original Sin Cara in WWE. This version of Mistico is, however, extremely talented and also the brother of Dragon Lee and Rush. As a fan in attendance this was among the matches I was most excited for, as I'd never seen Liger live before. Liger's music is dubbed over with generic rock. F*ck that...

The UK fans have fun running through all their chants, delaying the start of the match by several minutes...during which time Delirious, of course, doesn't move in the corner. As soon as the bell rings he chases The Boys around like a madman. Castle tries to use his size and grappling to get the better of Mistico...who of course has lucha speed for days and easily escapes his clutches. Liger demands a piece of Castle, albeit mostly so he can try to out-pose him. The Boys reward him with a fan session, much as we've seen from them before. Dalton isn't happy, and orders them in to face Liger! The Twins bewitch him with plenty of twin-thing offence...until he crushes one of them with a tilta-whirl backbreaker. Delirious tags, and yells 'give me a boot' over and over again at his partners. Sadly they don't speak Lizard and just stare at him in confusion. The Boys pull an unseen switch, and since Liger can't understand Mistico or Delirious he walks into the trap! NECK DROP GERMAN on Delirious! Dalton tries to snap the Lizard Man in half with a torture rack...but after a distraction by Mistico, Liger tries to pull the same switch with Delirious that The Boys did. Dalton and the ref sell the lunacy of it quite brilliantly too! All six men pile in, then out again as Castle starts using the Boys as weapons. APRON CANNONBALL by Liger! TOPE ATOMICO by Mistico! BANG-A-RANG! Dalton pins Delirious to retain at 12:23

Rating - *** - Sometimes it is ok for wrestling to just be fun. I've been critical of how badly ROH has treated the new Six-Man Titles and you could hardly hold this up as an example of them taking the belts seriously. But as we're already down the rabbit hole with Dalton & The Boys as champions, we may as well have a few laughs. The crowd were in on the act with lots of raucous chanting. The six competitors were game as well - putting together a match which gave the crowd everything they wanted to see whilst giving the competitors themselves a relatively easy evening. Liger, The Boys and Dalton all have great chemistry together, so it was nice to see that quartet reunite for more shenanigans. I really loved the communication mishaps between the challengers too. In the mid-00's had ROH managed to bring the original (Sin Cara) Mistico in it would have done huge numbers for them...so as a long-term fan it did feel strange to see the gimmick debuting in a comedy trios tag, but they did a good job protecting him and allowing him ample opportunity to showcase his lucha skills. In the building this was one of the highlights of the evening, not for the quality of the work but as the perfect marriage of fan and wrestler, with the single unifying purpose of having a good time. 

No reason for the title to be on the line here, other than it being an international dream match between two junior heavyweight superstars. Kushida is the ace of the NJPW junior division; Titan is hot property in CMLL. It's a clash of the Japanese junior style and the classic luchador...for the ROH TV Title...in the UK. Live in the building this stole the show for me, so I'm really keen to check it out.

Kushida obviously fears the speed of the challenger so quickly tries to close the distance on him and make a grab for his arms. Titan is too quick to be held down though, and lands a springboard lucha armdrag to toss the champ out of the ring. Running rana on the floor nailed! He flies back in with a springboard crossbody as well! In the end he tries a back flip hurricanrana, which Kushida counters by propping him on referee Todd Sinclair and PUNTING the arm from under him! Titan leaves the ring nursing his arm, only for the champ to give chase! Armbreaker scores, before he dropkicks the challenger through a chair and into the guardrail. Back in the ring Kushida stomps the arm into the canvas to do yet more damage and set-up the Hoverboard Lock. Titan quite literally screams in terror and dives for the ropes to prevent his opponent from applying his submission finisher at this stage though. PELE KICK by Kushida to counter another springboard...only for Titan to no-sell and prawn him to over the ropes. SPRINGBOARD ASAI MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! TITAN IMPALES HIMSELF ON THE GUARDRAILS! Todd Sinclair sprints over as fans show real concern for the debuting challenger...and the fans go NUTS when Titan climbs out of the laps of the front row fans to keep fighting. Springboard dropkick back into the ring gets 2...but Titan is now seriously handicapped with both rib and arm injuries. Kushida kicks at both body parts, and Titan eggs him on! Alarm Clock style kick COUNTERED to a Figure 4 by Titan! The champ escapes, prompting Titan to climb the ropes again. Handspring kick by Kushida to block him! FLYING ARMBAR! TITAN GETS THE ROPES! But as he uses them to crawl back to his feet Kushida straight-up charges at him with a brutal dropkick to the bad limb. Titanics COUNTERED TO AN ARMBAR! COUNTERED TO LA MAGISTRAL FOR 2! Kushida grabs the mask...so Titan Pele Kicks him. ROPE RUN BY TITAN! Kushida tries Back To The Future. COUNTERED TO A SPRINGBOARD SUPER RANA! KUSHIDA ROLLS THROUGH TO THE HOVERBOARD LOCK! Back To The Future COUNTERED with a corkscrew enzi! Turnbuckle Shellshock by Kushida. BACK TO THE FUTURE! The champion retains at 14:37

Rating - **** - It was phenomenal to witness live, and almost as good watching back on DVD. The way fans responded to Titan as this match progressed was a joy to witness. From respectful applause at the start (whilst wildly cheering Kushida), Titan's balls to the wall, ultra-courageous performance stole the show. You can't plan for accidents and mishaps like the scary ass guardrail bump from Titan's moonsault to the floor. I was seated almost parallel to it in the adjacent front row section and it looked absolutely brutal. The visceral, passionate, guttural ROAR the fans let out when Titan stood up and gestured that he wanted to fight on is something you can't script. After that point the atmosphere was red hot as we witnessed two international superstars fight tooth and nail. Titan took to the skies, Kushida tried to break his arm. Titan's body was falling apart, Kushida bled from the mouth. Ultimately the luchador fought bravely but couldn't defy his injuries, couldn't hit his own finisher and couldn't stave off the Back To The Future any longer. Absolutely great match, and another example of why Kushida was almost untouchable as one of the world's very best workers at this point in time. If you have Honor Club this one is must-see.

Unfortunately the blaring, sh*tty rock music they use to dub over Kushida's NJPW theme drowns out the thunderous standing ovation these guys got.

This is a dream match main event as Bullet Club, featuring most of the leading members of the 'Being The Elite' cast, take on Los Ingobernables de Japon. This is Hiromu's first time back in ROH since he finished up his excursion (as Kamaitachi). He is joined by Naito and the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Champions EVIL, BUSHI and SANADA (who faces Cody for the ROH World Title in Liverpool tomorrow night). Bragging rights are at stake. Chances for contenders to stake future title shots are at stake. For Cody and SANADA, it's a chance to make a statement before they lock horns on PPV. Naito is less than a week removed from beating Bullet Club's Kenny Omega to win the 2017 G-1 Climax Tournament so will certainly be nursing some wounds and compete at well below 100% this evening. And he doesn't work hard on his ROH dates at the best of times...

Daryl Takahashi joins commentary. The crowd are completely insane for this. Hiromu steals Marty's umbrella. In short it feels like it takes an hour for the match to actually start. When it does Marty and Hiromu bust out a couple of really awesome sequences. Sanada tags and wants a piece of Cody, but doesn't actually get to wrestle him because the American Nightmare has to pause to play to the crowd. Hangman comes in next and makes a beeline for Naito, calling out the biggest name on the opposition team. The G-1 winner teases it...but then sends Evil into battle instead. The former Watanabe blasts Page straight over the top rope. Naito tries to do his 'Tranquilo' pose...only for The Villain to walk on and stop him in the head when he isn't looking. LIJ don't take that well and start teaming up to work Scurll over. Bushi, in particular, cheats by using his own shirt as a weapon...only for Marty to counter into a lungblower. The Bucks come to his aid, scattering LIJ members like bowling pins. RISE OF THE TERMINATOR! TOP ROPE SUICIDE DIVE BY CODY! APRON TORPEDO SSP BY PAGE! Elbow drop/frog splash combo from the Jacksons to Bushi gets 2. All ten men into the ring...setting up a FIVE-WAY FIGURE 4 LEGLOCK by Bullet Club! Los Ingobernables are so unified they all counter out at the same time too. Bullet Club are annoyed by that, and get more agitated as one-by-one they miss Bushi with moonsault attempts. The rest of his team trying to convince Marty to attempt a moonsault is pretty funny. Sanada gets a tag and puts Hangman in the Paradise Lock. Buckshot Laeiat from Page to Naito! Darkness Falls by Evil! Cross Rhodes by Cody! CROSS RHODES BY SANADA! Finger Snap on him by Scurll...who is then tossed into the turnbuckles by Hiromu. SUPERKICK FLURRY by the Bucks! They then drag Daryl away from the announce table! Sanada and Evil save the stuffed cat! Scurll tries to Chickenwing Daryl...HIROMU SAVES WITH A SUPERKICK! SUPERKICKS by the Bucks! MELTZER DRIVER ON DARYL! Hiromu cradles Daryl in tears, then FIRES UP ON ALL OF BULLET CLUB AT ONCE! FIVE MAN SUPERKICK ON HIROMU! GREEN MIST from Bushi to Hangman...who then narrowly avoids being pinned after an Evil Lariat. DESTINO! Naito wins at 22:28

Rating - **** - This match was mostly made up of comedy and crowd chants, but for sheer novelty value the spectacle of being able to book all ten of these guys into the same match was really something to behold. If you don't like the 'Being The Elite' brand of humour and if you didn't enjoy the Daryl Takahashi cat gimmick then a lot of this will really pass you by. It is silly, but both live and on DVD this was a blast to watch. As I said after the Six-Man Title Match - wrestling doesn't always have to be serious. The live crowd got everything they wanted out of this whilst a number of talents who were coming in off New Japan's gruelling summer schedule got to have an easier night on their bodies. It was completely unique and unlike almost any other main event in ROH's history.

Tape Rating - *** - This is a strong, punchy little show with a really strong crowd. There is an argument to be made that fans might expect something a little more substantial than a 'fun', two hour, snappy little show at the prices they charge, in front of a packed York Hall audience...but what we got was fun. The Bullet Club/LIJ main event should be seen at least once (even though it won't be to everyone's taste), whilst the unbridled drama of Kushida/Titan completely stole the show. Clocking in at barely two hours and twenty minutes, it is a little frustrating that they couldn't find longer for the enjoyable Kenny King vs Jay Briscoe bout though. They did find the time to accommodate a ten-minute in-ring promo/BTE filming segment after the main event (which isn't even on the DVD) where they talked about the embryonic stages of what would become All In. But with only one 'bad' match on the show (Bully Ray's inevitably) this is a really easy watch. 

3) Jay Briscoe vs Kenny King (***)

2) Cody/Marty Scurll/Adam Page/Young Bucks vs Tetsuya Naito/Hiromu Takahashi/EVIL/SANADA/BUSHI (****)

1) Kushida vs Titan (****)