McXal's Reviews

The final night of the War Of The Worlds UK Tour takes Ring Of Honor to Scotland for the first time. They bring a compelling card with them; arguably the best of the three shows this weekend. Jay Lethal and Silas Young meet in a main event Street Fight; a prelude to their scheduled final showdown at Death Before Dishonor in just a few weeks. The Young Bucks and Adam Page declared their intention to go after the Six-Man Tag Titles a few weeks ago - and this evening face Dalton Castle & The Boys. Cody once again comes face-to-face with the man he defeated for the ROH World Title - as he teams with Marty Scurll to face The Addiction. Hiromu Takahashi vs Mark Haskins could steal the show if given enough time; as could LIJ of Naito, SANADA and Bushi taking on Kushida, Mistico and Titan or the Briscoes vs Team CMLL of Guerrero and Bucanero. Ian Riccaboni and BJ Whitmer are at the announce desk in Edinburgh, UK.

The show opens with Colt Cabana making an unscheduled appearance. Since he spends his summer in Edinburgh at the Fringe Festival he had no intention of missing the show and is dressed to compete. Josh Bodom interrupts to call him old news...then Kenny King interrupts Josh, playing up to the Scottish fans and making fun of him. Bodom demands a triple threat...

Adding Colt to the card is a nice touch, and even nicer that they are letting him wrestle rather than throwing him behind the announce desk with Ian. The real surprise package of that opening segment was Kenny King, who has seamlessly slid into a somewhat alien post-Rebellion babyface role. He scored a big win over Hangman Page last night and will want to continue building momentum as he prepares for his TV Title rematch against Kushida in Las Vegas...

Bodom's antagonistic promo means that both King and Cabana try to fight him early on...so it is too his credit that he keeps them both at bay with hurricanranas. He tries an extravagant moonsault off the apron, but lands miles away from both of them and gets decked. Kenny almost breaks the guardrails with the Rev Pro Cruiserweight Champion's torso! King lays out both opponents with heel kicks and actually has the crowd cheering him on. Shotgun Knees knock Cabana out of the ring, but allow Josh time to recover, which he capitalises on with a corkscrew enziguri. King is soon back on top with a spinebuster though. Bodom refuses to quit and keeps getting back up to throw strikes at the experienced ROH campaigners standing across the ring from him. Kenny tries to make him tap with the Last Chancery, and when that doesn't work Colt almost snatches victory with a DOUBLE Superman Pin. Bodom dodges the Flying Asshole and kicks Cabana to the floor...where King pounces with the CORKSCREW PESCADO! TOP ROPE MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR by Bodom! He tries another moonsault back into the ring...and Cabana NAILS him with a lariat. King knocks Colt away and gives Bodom the Royal Flush to win at 09:49

Rating - *** - This was a strong choice to open the show. Colt Cabana knew his role here and executed it to perfection, so it is the performances of Bodom and King I want to discuss in more detail. Firstly Bodom looked far more comfortable here than he did against Lethal. He was allowed to show more personality, got the passionate and fiercely Scottish crowd vocally on his back; his showing was all the better for it. The reactions King got were legitimately surprising. He's spent most of his ROH run as a heel. Fans aren't used to him as a babyface, and there is no way that the vast majority of this crowd has seen much of his post-Death Before Dishonor work. So to have the Edinburgh fans cheering for him - even with Colt Cabana in the ring with him - was a real achievement. I really liked Mark Briscoe vs Ryan Smile from London too, but there is an argument that this is the strongest opener of the three shows this weekend.

The veteran luchadors are 1-1 for the weekend thus far; losing to The Addiction in London but earning bragging rights in the all-CMLL encounter in Liverpool last night by defeating Mistico and Titan. Both of those bouts were really good. They may be older and past their very peak, but they know how to command an audience's attention and structure a good tag match. It means that this could be their best of the entire weekend as they face ROH legends the Briscoe Brothers. Jay and Mark aren't necessarily on the best of terms after Jay's obsession with hurting The Boys led to them losing the Six-Man Titles, but they will surely get on the same page for the opportunity to defeat a hugely influential team on the Lucha Libre scene.

In a sign of the more aggressive streak the Briscoes have shown recently, the Briscoes jump the Mexican team from behind to get us started. They take the fight out of the ring where the lucha trickery of their opponents can be marginalised...but Ultimo and Rey have size and power to go with their lucha heritage. They give Mark the Castigo Bucanero over the knees for 2, swiftly followed by the headstand seated senton from Guerrero to Jay. Quickly the Briscoes act to separate Rey and Ultimo, preventing them from using the apparent lucha rules to keep a quick pace and come at the ROH team from all angles. It means they isolate Bucanero, slowing it right down and keeping him on the canvas with plenty of chokes and stomps. As the segment progresses they get more and more violent, from biting and raking the eyes, goading Ultimo into creating a distraction so they can unleash some illegal double teams etc. Guerrero has to wait a long time before getting the hot tag, but when he does he goes right to the floor so his team can give both Briscoes the Leap Of Faith against the barrier. Guerrero climbs the ropes for a FLYING SENTON TO THE FLOOR! Bucanero works submissions on Mark's legs until Jay has recovered sufficiently to save. He hits a lariat on Guerrero, dumps him out of the ring, then takes flight for a tope suicida...as Mark dives off the apron with a blockbuster to the floor. Rey blocks the Doomsday Device, as Guerrero VICTORY ROLLS JAY! HE WINS! Team CMLL have victory at 13:00, and Jay Briscoe just got pinned again.

Rating - *** - All three of Guerrero and Bucanero's matches this weekend have been really enjoyable. They stole the show with Mistico and Titan in Liverpool, and now have come to Scotland to inflict a memorable defeat on the top team in ROH history. It was very different to their other two matches this weekend, which shows their ability as a team to work multiple styles. Last night they were the mauling, veteran heavyweights. Tonight they needed to emphasise their speed, fluidity and Lucha Libre sensibilities...and really contrasted nicely with the traditional American brawling offered by Jay and Mark. I love that ROH put them over as well. It would have been easy to put the Briscoes over, but having them lose again really intensifies the feelings of ill-will between Jay and Mark. Are they going to go full-blown heel? Will they turn on each other? Will they turn on Bully Ray? I didn't like the Six-Man Title run at all - but I am legitimately interested in what they do next.

Jay and Mark share a heated argument in the ring, each with clenched fists as if they expect to come to blows. It de-escalates, but neither is happy and they keep arguing as they head to the locker rooms.

Bully shared some tense exchanges with members of Los Ingobernables de Japon in Liverpool, before eventually beating Naito, EVIL and BUSHI in a trios tag. Now EVIL wants some payback, and to enhance his reputation by defeating one of the bigger names on the independents...

There is a vocal minority in the Edinburgh crowd who dislike Bubba so therefore loudly cheer when Evil spits at him rather than follow the Code Of Honor. He jumps Ray before the bell and is cheered even harder - I like this crowd! Bully tries to use his size but Evil stands his crowd and knocks the veteran to the floor with a tackle. Outside Bully swings a punch...and CLOCKS the ringpost. Never fear though, Bully doesn't have any intention of actually selling - even for someone who works for New Japan. He is soon back and merrily chopping Evil in the chest without issue. Evil shrugs those off with a rake to the eyes though and continues to dominate Bubba. It is noticeable that Bully doesn't look impressed with the hostile reaction he is getting from the Scottish fans, teasing them with a potential table spot then turning his back...into the Evil Lariat. Everything Is Evil blocked, so Evil grabs a chain and nails Bully with it. Obviously that's a DQ win for Bubba at 08:40

Rating - * - Bully Ray has sucked this weekend. He wasn't too unbearable on Night 1 when the focus was on the Lethal/Silas feud rather than him, but these two matches against LIJ opposition have been a slog to sit through. I thought EVIL worked as hard as he could. He carried himself well and tried to come off like a genuine threat. There really is so much you can do when your opponent just doesn't have the ability to properly put others over and always comes off like a self-promoter. Bully's approach to 'selling' for opponents is that he lets them do moves to him, then waits to hit his comeback spots so he can ignore everything and get his pops. To that end, the Edinburgh crowd were the most interesting part of this. They were the first audience to noticeably turn their back on Bully in significant numbers - and he noticeably didn't like it. The finish sucked, and was clearly political. In the sense that Bully didn't want to do the job that he SHOULD have done (EVIL was coming in after a strong G-1, and it was a rare occasion when an ROH roster member could actually help out a New Japan talent by doing a job), and NJPW obviously didn't want to have EVIL lose clean either...

Bully can't leave without getting his heat back. Why should he allow anyone else to enhance their reputation at his expense after all? He puts EVIL through a table...

This could be fun. Titan has been the star of the tour thus far, with an incredible match against Kushida (his partner this evening) followed up by he and Mistico's thrilling clash with Ultimo Guerrero and Rey Bucanero. This evening we'll see the stars of Los Ingobernables de Japon face a trio of international stars in the epitome of why ROH calls these events 'War Of The Worlds'. For BUSHI, he'll know a win over Kushida puts him into the conversation for an IWGP Junior Title shot when they get back to Japan

Sanada doesn't start the match like a man who is devastated to have lost a World Title Match the previous day. Kushida takes him to the mat and makes an example of him...looking to send a clear message to Naito as the G-1 winner larks around on the floor. The man himself tags into the action with Mistico, albeit intent on doing as much dicking around inside the ring as he had been doing outside it. Mistico actually gets boo'd for trying to get Naito to wrestle...and in turn Naito is cheered for walking off and making Bushi do it. Titan is apparently competing with a broken rib suffered on the guardrails in London but is still electric in his exchanges with Bushi. Indeed, he is so impressive that both Naito and Sanada attack him from behind. When Mistico tries to come to Titan's aid Naito goes after his mask! Missile dropkick right into the bad ribs by Bushi, allowing Naito to go after Titan's mask as well! With his mask hanging around his head, Titan is subjected to Sanada's Paradise Lock. Despite that he Matrix-ducks under a lariat and gets a hot tag to Kushida. Tajiri Elbow on Naito! TOP ROPE SUICIDA TO THE FLOOR! HOVERBOARD LOCK on Sanada - as Mistico and Titan put Naito and Bushi in a double rowboat! Naito reasserts LIJ control with the slingshot dropkick on Mistico for 2. Tope suicida by Titan! TOPE ATOMICO BY MISTICO! Naito kicks him in the balls on the way back in and hits Destino to win at 14:16

Rating - *** - This was REALLY fun, in front of a totally unique and vibrant crowd. The Edinburgh fans loudly cheered for Naito even when he stalled, lied around and went after luchadors' masks, but then vocally went after Mistico and Titan, even as they busted their asses, hit dives to the floor and did everything they could to inject energy into the match. There were some really neat subplots and touches of detail in this one too. LIJ worked Titan's ribs because he has taken such a beating on this tour (thankfully he didn't try that suicidal Asai Moonsault to the floor this evening). Naito going after the masks was fun. Every interaction between Kushida and BUSHI was loaded with significance. And similarly every time Kushida stepped in with Naito or SANADA it was plainly apparent that he was trying to hold his ground and mark his territory as a standard-bearer of NJPW's junior division taking on established heavyweights. When it comes to LIJ/Naito house show multi-man tags it doesn't get much better than this.

It was quite a debut for Haskins in Liverpool yesterday as, with a little help from Jay Lethal, he scored a huge victory over Silas Young. His reward is a big-time clash against LIJ's Hiromu Takahashi. A win here would arguably be an even bigger upset. Can he end the tour with the most unlikely 2-0 record?

Takahashi doesn't want to shake hands, nor does he want to take Haskins too seriously. That is until Mark DOUBLE STOMPS HIS FACE! Hiromu tries to run away after that, only to eat a wild tope suicida from the Englishman. Back inside the ring Haskins stomps on the arm, trying to set up the Star Armbar. Hiromu is in trouble...and reacts to hit an APRON BOMB! Daryl Takahashi gets involved, leaving commentary momentarily so Hiromu can ping him into Haskins' face. Mark tries to grab at the arm again so Takahashi thwarts it by kicking the middle rope into his throat. Mark is left on the ground struggling to catch his breath as BJ questions whether he can hang at 'elite level' competition like this. He goes for broke trying to hit Cradle To The Grave, only for Hiromu to level him with a running rana. STAR ARMBAR! Takashi yells in pain and scrambles to the ropes. He tries another rana only for Mark to counter into a Stretch Muffler...which in turn is converted to an STF. Again he can't force a submission before the Ticking Timebomb gets to the ropes though. Hiromu SUPERKICKS the neck! Haskins almost collapses to the floor after that but instead is dragged in by the neck with a falcon arrow. Dynamite Plunger gets 2! Haskins blocks the Time Bomb and goes for the Sharpshooter. COUNTERED TO THE D! Haskins breaks it with a powerbomb! STAR ARMBAR AGAIN! Hiromu breaks free. TIME BOMB NAILED! It's a win for Takahashi at 11:33

Rating - **** - He didn't get a spot immediately after this, but I imagine this match went a long way to securing Haskins' long-term future with ROH. As I watched the drama unfold here I paused to think how in keeping this was with Ring Of Honor 'traditions' going back to the very first year of the company. Neither man is American, nor does either call ROH home (at this stage). Yet they have been brought to this company because they are elite level pro-wrestlers capable of producing special things inside the ring...and that's what they did here. Haskins hung with Hiromu every step of the way; answering the Japanese star's erratic mannerisms and explosive offensive style with cutting edge submission sequences and real tenacity. To those who have seen a lot of Haskins, it won't have come as any surprise that he was capable of performances like this. But to the uninitiated it became quickly apparent that Haskins wasn't just a local guy getting a shot because he was cheap. He proved be belonged and will almost certainly be back somewhere down the line. MOTN thus far...

The Young Bucks and Hangman Page were supposed to get a Six-Man Title shot at the TV tapings the night after Best In The World. However, Dalton & The Boys put a wrench in those plans by producing one of the biggest upsets in ROH history at the PPV - by defeating the seemingly unstoppable trio of the Briscoes and Bully Ray. Having driven the Hardy Boyz out of ROH, survived the Briscoes at the end of 2016 and beaten all comers in open challenge matches all year...Matt and Nick Jackson decided they'd done it all as Tag Champions. Therefore they set their sight on more gold and announced their intention to go after the Trios Titles. They beat former champs the Briscoes and Bully in Lowell to earn this shot and come into this one as red hot favourites. Castle is no stranger to opposing Bullet Club and made a huge statement in Liverpool yesterday by challenging Cody to an ROH World Title Match. It would be a real show of his championship credentials if he could captain his team to a major victory over the 'Hung Bucks' tonight... 

Castle and Page start, both strong and compact, and fight to a tense stalemate. Nick tags and demands a Boy! Dalton tries to refuse, only for 'Boy #1' to enthusiastically blind-tag himself in. The other Boy is soon on the scene as well, dialling up the twin-thing speed and hitting a couple of gorgeous ranas. Hangman spoils the party by knocking all three champions on their asses. Nick tries to get involved, only to be 'blown' onto the top rope with The Boys' fans. STEREO SOMERSAULT PLANCHAS by Boys #1 & #2! Boy #1 re-enters the ring with a double rana on the Bucks, but then tries to bounce off the ropes only to find that Page lowers them and causes him to fall out of the ring. TRIPLE APRON BOMBS! Castle's face after that bump - knowing the back problems he was already battling - is awful to see. The challengers capture Boy #1 inside the ring for a prolonged period, ferociously working over his midsection and almost winning it with the elevated Swanton Bomb. Boy #2 pulls a twin-thing swap-out behind Todd Sinclair's back...and hurricanranas Page into the boots of his own partners. Castle gets the tag and decks Nick with the Everest German! SUPERKICKS on The Boys! With them down and out, Dalton starts throwing their limp bodies at the challengers as weapons. He repeatedly launches them over to the top rope into whacky dives all around ringside! Castle then grabs a piece of the action with a Heat Seeking Missile as well. Bang-A-Rang countered...Rite Of Passage countered too! The Boys hit a double missile dropkick on Hangman. SUERKICK on Dalton...NO SOLD! BUCKSHOT LARIAT COUNTERED TO BANG-A-RANG! MATT SAVES! SUPERKICK FLURRY! TRIPLE SUPERKICK ON BOY #2! Sharpshooters on The Boys...only for Dalton to propel himself through Hangman and make a save. Nick MISSES a moonsault off the apron...but when Castle attempts the tiger feint headscissors Matt catches him. Hangman readies himself on the edge of the ring, then sprints for a SHOOTING STAR MELTZER DRIVER ON THE FLOOR! DOUBLE BUCKSHOT LARIAT! Page loads one of The Boys up in Rite Of Passage position, as The Bucks stack the other on his front for a Tombstone. RITE OF PASSAGE/MELTZER DRIVER COMBO! NEW CHAMPIONS! The Hung Bucks have murdered everyone and win more belts at 19:02

Rating - **** - The best match in the short history of this championship. This was the kind of action I thought we were going to see when these belts were conceived. The brilliance of this match was that they went almost twenty minutes and everyone came off looking better for it. The Boys were used extremely intelligently - delivering entertaining offence which did nothing to damage the credibility of Page or the Bucks. They just pulled out Dalton as Cody's potential next challenger in Liverpool, and he looked awesome here; a wrestling machine capable of grappling and throwing anyone who crossed his path...and one that needed and ultra-finishing combo on the floor to be incapacitated so his 'lesser' partners could be beaten. It was well paced, superb in tone (i.e. not to goofy or comedy-centric) and culminated in a blockbuster finish. Possibly one of the biggest surprise packages of the entire weekend.

This match puts the current and former ROH World Champions in the ring together, making this a very big deal. Defeat to Cody at Best In The World (and then again in a 2/3 Falls Match on Episode #307 of the Sinclair show) marked a clear change in attitude for Christopher Daniels (and Kazarian too). Hurt by the apparent lack of respect shown to him by the Bullet Club shirt-wearing masses, Daniels and his partner have embarked upon a campaign to destroy everything the fans of ROH love. The fans love Cody and Marty, meaning they are in the firing line tonight. Even though both members of The Addiction have expressed that championships aren't their motivation, they'd both like a shot at Cody's belt. Daniels even has a plan to get the ROH Title back then get his release from the Sinclair office so he can be a 'free agent' champion just like the American Nightmare! They come out dressed in kilts and Roddy Piper shirts...and remind the fans that Piper wasn't actually Scottish.

It isn't a Cody match without some stalling and tonight these four kill almost two minutes of action hugging each other. Marty doing Nigel and Cabana's old Artful Dodger chain-wrestling sequence gets us started properly. Daniels tags in soon after and demands he gets to wrestle Rhodes. The champ wastes no time in striking him out of the ring - with Kaz following soon after as well. But The Addiction are an experienced team and work together to get an advantage on Cody for several minutes - and ensure Scurll isn't on the apron even when he does engineer enough space to tag. The Villain finally gets his hot tag...and stomps Frankie into the ground. ROPE RUN SUICIDE DIVE by Cody! BIRD OF PREY on Kazarian, followed by a Sick Kick for 2. Blue Thunder Neckbreaker brings The Addiction back into the match...until Kazarian accidentally levels Daniels. Rhodes tags and hits a hanging DDT on Kaz, followed by the Hardcore Holly abdomen kick. Frankie comes back out of the ropes with the slingshot Ace Crusher though. Scurll rescues Cody from Celebrity Rehab, allowing Rhodes to hit the Rainmaker. DISASTER KICK BOMB gets 2! Cody tries to convince Marty to bust out his moonsault again...but it misses! Figure 4 by the World Champion. BME TO BREAK IT! That's how Daniels beat him at War Of The Worlds! ARABIAN PRESS TO THE FLOOR! CELEBRITY REHAB NAILED! MARTY SAVES! Just Kidding on Kazarian. FINGER SNAP ON DANIELS! Tomikaze COUNTERED TO THE CHICKENWING! CROSS RHODES ON DANIELS! Cody pins the former champ again to win the match at 18:18

Rating - *** - The first half of this was slow going, but the second half was great. Cody and Marty looked like they were having enormous amounts of fun teaming together. They displayed surprising chemistry and even had a couple of really cool double-team moves (I loved the Disaster Kick Bomb in particular). I was disappointed in Daniels and Kaz in the first half of the match as I felt like they had a chance to cut through the Cody stall-heavy bullsh*t show with some relevant and piercing heel tag team work...but they were happy to kill time, take it easy and grab-ass around with him. I wanted to see them vicious, nastier and committed to their campaign to destroy what the fans love. But, as I said, the second half was incredibly enjoyable and well worth watching. If matches made it to ***1/2 on my ratings level I'd certainly have this bout at that kind of level. 

This feud has gone on so long and is so personal that even this Street Fight this evening won't be enough to settle it - with another big grudge match already signed for Death Before Dishonor. The spark was lit in this rivalry back in late 2016 and has burned ever since. But things kicked up another notch at Best In The World when Silas and Beer City Bruiser tried to end Lethal's career. They violently put him through a table, then rejoiced on television for weeks that they'd put him on the injured list. He enters this match with lingering question marks about the condition of the rib injury he suffered in Lowell, but Lethal is determined to get his revenge on the Last Real Man...

The brawl starts in the aisle and Todd Sinclair has no choice but to ring the bell and get us underway. Lethal rips the protective padding to expose the solid floor, but Young fights out of his clutches and into the ring before any damage is done. Lethal arms himself with a chair and rams it into Silas' ribs as a receipt for the injury he suffered in Lowell. Next a garbage can comes into play...and Silas drives it into Jay's ribs to block the Lethal Injection. He then puts Jay inside the can and starts SWINGING at it with a broom handle. Immediately the former World Champion is down and nursing his midsection. Todd Sinclair's belt is torn away from his trousers by Young ('no means no' - Edinburgh)...only for Lethal to grab it and wrap it around his fist for some heavy-duty punches. Young hits a springboard clothesline - arm low and across the chest and ribs rather than neck - to knock his rival out of the ring. On the outside he sends Jay ribs-first into the guardrails. SUPERPLEX OFF THE RAILING by Lethal! Tope Trilogy loaded up...only for Young to swing a chair into his face! Both men crawl away, though as he goes Silas reaches around under the ring and pulls out a ladder...which Lethal immediately dropkicks into his sternum. Like a wounded animal Young grabs another weapon - this time Todd's belt again - and defends himself by flogging Jay like a wildman. Both are wounded and jostle for position. Jay hits a BELLY TO BELLY INTO THE LADDER! He thinks about another suplex into it moments later, but Young counters with a low blow. Lethal Injection COUNTERED with a Russian Legsweep on the ladder! They are both so battered now that they quite literally have to crawl up Todd Sinclair's legs to keep fighting. Plunge...countered to a crucifix pin for 2...before Young counters back into a sliding DDT. Killer Combo...ducked...Lethal Combination blocked as well! PLUNGE MISSES! These guys are emptying the tanks and unable to hit any of their signature spots. Lethal Combination finally scores, but Jay is so weary it takes him an eternity to follow up by climbing to the top rope. Hail To The King gets 2! Figure 4 Leglock applied - which Silas can't roll to counter because his ribs are too hurt! The Last Real Man survives, but his ribs and legs are a total mess. Lethal bridges a ladder between the ring and guardrail, and incapacitates Young with an Ace Crusher. LETHAL INJECTION! Silas kicks out! THEN HE F*CKING BACK DROPS LETHAL OUT OF THE RING THROUGH THE LADDER! Lethal's landing looked awful on that - with the ref on hand instantly to check on him and the crowd falling into a concerned hush. The unconcerned Silas Young is on the other side of the ring getting a table meanwhile. Somehow Jay crawls back to his feet and starts swinging punches at his opponent. On the top rope they fight, precariously balanced...and eventually they collapse. DIVING DVD THROUGH THE TABLE by Silas! He beats Lethal again! It's over at 31:10

Rating - **** - There is nothing that even comes to touching these guys for 'Feud Of The Year'. They are superb together, and this whole deal feels like vintage ROH. Right down to the match length too - kudos to Delirious for giving them a lot of time. I really appreciated that they were allowed to slow down and methodically explore the depths of their hatred for each other. The work on the ribs from both men was exceptional. As the gas tanks emptied they looked physically and emotionally drained. As a viewer we were left in no doubt as to what waging this war is taking out of both combatants. And this wasn't even their best match of the feud! It didn't have the frenzied atmosphere of Unauthorized in Milwaukee, nor the technical proficiency of their Best In The World 2017 or the Reloaded Tour in 2016. The last five minutes here felt a little rudderless too. It felt like they knew they had the ladder spot, and the big table to finish...but got there a little early and did a lot of set-up and stall clock-watching which I didn't feel was needed. But these are minor criticisms. This was another fantastic match and a cracking main event to end the tour.

Tape Rating - **** - Low end on the 4* show ratings, but there was a lot of really good stuff here. Most importantly - for me anyway - there were multiple moments tonight where I felt like I was watching a golden-era ROH show. Haskins and Takahashi; two international stars brought to ROH to tear the house down, did just that in front of a terrific and evenly split crowd. Silas and Lethal went a gruelling 30+ minutes in a ferociously contested main event. Arguably the biggest storyline in ROH headlined the show - even over The Elite, the World Champion or the New Japan guest stars. Titles changes hands in a meaningful, rewarding and thoughtful match which benefited all performers. If you removed the short Bully/EVIL match from this line-up it's a terrific card with very few weaknesses and a number of diverse styles to suit all fans. Having attended the London and Liverpool legs of the tour, having now watched this show I'm devastated to have missed it. London had Kushida/Titan and the big LIJ/Bullet Club main event, whilst Liverpool got the PPV treatment...but this was by a distance the best wrestling show. 

3) Hiromu Takahashi vs Mark Haskins (****)

2) Dalton Castle/The Boys vs Young Bucks/Adam Page (****)

1) Silas Young vs Jay Lethal (****)

7) Tetsuya Naito/SANADA/BUSHI vs Kushida/Mistico/Titan (*** - Night 3)

6) Hiromu Takahashi vs Mark Haskins (**** - Night 3)

5) Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Bucanero vs Mistico/Titan (**** - Night 2)

4) Dalton Castle/The Boys vs Young Bucks/Adam Page (**** - Night 3)

3) Cody/Marty Scurll/Adam Page/Young Bucks vs Tetsuya Naito/Hiromu Takahashi/EVIL/SANADA/BUSHI (**** - Night 1)

2) Silas Young vs Jay Lethal (**** - Night 3)

1) Kushida vs Titan (**** - Night 1)