McXal's Reviews

Here we are for the now-annual trip to Las Vegas for the ROH Anniversary Show. In 2018 Ring Of Honor were celebrating their sixteenth birthday with a big PPV bash and it is with great trepidation that I point out that the card for this show looks decent. Not just in terms of potential match quality, but also in terms of the volume of matches booked. We only have 7 matches tonight, which probably the most that can be squeezed into a three hour timeslot with everything getting a reasonable time allowance. Every match has something going for it tonight, from the World Title main event between Dalton Castle and Jay Lethal through to the inter-promotional opening bout pitting Flip Gordon against Hiromu Takahashi. All the titles are on the line - it's King/Young for the TV Title, Briscoes/MCMG for the Tag Titles and Hung Bucks/SCU for the Six-Man Titles. Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana provide your commentary from Las Vegas, NV.

This is the first Quarter Final in the WOH Title Tournament. Brandi booked her place here with an upset victory over Karen Q, where she feigned injury and created a trap which Karen fell into. Dashwood debuted at Honor Reigns Supreme, then went into first round action against Stacy Shadows - emerging with an impressive victory over the 'Midwest Slayer'. Brandi knows she's the underdog. Can she continue her (self-proclaimed) fairytale story with another shock victory tonight? Mandy Leon has joined commentary to check this one out.

Rhodes tries to swing a cheap-shot at Dashwood but it doesn't connect and the Australian tries to punish her with a series of pinning combinations. Tenille is noticeably having to stop, slow down and actually coach Brandi through the match which isn't idea. In the midst of that she pokes fun at Mrs Nightmare...who responds by slapping her in the face. Emma-mite Sandwich blocked and Rhodes actually runs way to buy some time to recover. She returns and tries to work a ground game; putting together some kind of bastardised shortarm scissors variant...which in turn she uses to set up her version of the Sling Blade. Tenille winds up a ripcord forearm strike and starts dragging Rhodes around by the hair. Dilemma locked in, stretching out Brandi's back so she can now hit the Emma-mite Sandwich. Brandi decides to fake a knee injury...and it's another scheme! When Tenille checks up on her she pokes the eyes and delivers Cross Rhodes for 2. Dashwood survives that and hits the Spotlight Kick to take the win at 07:30

Rating - * - I try to be supportive of the Women Of Honor division, and I've really liked Tenille's presentation in ROH so far. But this wasn't of a good enough standard and amounted to little more than another short and totally pointless WOH tournament bout. Matches like this feel devaluing the championship on the whole. It is a shame ROH officials went for the star-power of Brandi in this role and match, rather than the real quality of Karen Q.

The opening video package features ROH stars and staff members talking about their favourite Ring Of Honor memory or moment from sixteen years of history. Bully Ray is in the ring getting the crowd fired up for the show. 

Yes, the DVD has Hiromu's actual music rather than over-dubbed generic trash. He is still smarting over being pinned by Flip in a triple threat match at Night 1 of NJPW's Honor Rising 2018 weekend. Although he got a measure of revenge with a tag match victory at Night 2, he would love to get a win back over Gordon in his home promotion. 

Colt deviates from the Sinclair/ROH party line that Briscoe/Red was the 'official' first ROH match and mentions Da Hit Squad vs Christopher Street Connection. Takahashi makes fun of Gordon's needless flipping...then slaps him around the face. In response Flip teases his head-stand dance taunt but then vaults right into a hurricanrana to set up a one-legged standing moonsault. Tope suicida nailed, causing Hiromu to run away. He's so quick he can lap the ring, knock Gordon off the apron then level him with a missile dropkick to the floor! He grabs a Daryl doll from a fan and belts Flip with it. Quite insanely Gordon bumps that like it hurt?! Springboard twisting uppercut in response by Flip, flowing right into the Samoan Pop for 2. Kinder Surprise nailed...and followed with a falcon arrow inside the ring for 2. 450 Splash dodged...CANADIAN DESTROYER by Takahashi! No sold for a Superkick by Gordon - and now they both collapse in a heap. Gradually they work their way back up still pelting each other with tasty strikes. Star Spangled Stunner...gets 2! 450 Splash gets knees! Turnbuckle DVD nailed by Hiromu which Gordon somehow shakes off to hit a Pele. Star Spangled Stunner countered to a German suplex for 2. TIME BOMB wins it for Takahashi at 12:21

Rating - *** - A little predictable that Hiromu would get an immediate win back over Flip, meaning Gordon doesn't really gain as much momentum out of the Korakuen Hall victory as he could. But for the most part this was an exciting and fast-paced opening bout which really worked, with the exception of the Daryl-based comedy, and I'm never a big fan of total no-sells on the Canadian Destroyer. The rest was pure athletic fire though, with Flip taking some of Takahashi's best shots and coming perilously close to snatching another big victory.

I don't know if it had been officially confirmed that the winner would get their title shot at Supercard Of Honor, but the winner here becomes #1 contender to whomever wins the Castle/Lethal match later this evening. Marty has been pursuing a title shot all year; comically covering all his bases by issuing challenges to Dalton Castle, Punishment Martinez or Jay Lethal. Punisher felt like he had the belt won when he challenged Castle on television - but let his guard down once when going for victory and allowed Dalton to escape with a flash pin victory. This is his shot at redemption.

We miss the start of the match thanks to the stupid 'Tale Of The Tape' graphic. We return with Scurll looking for the Ghostbuster...only for Martinez to counter with the falcon arrow then chase him to the floor with a STEP-UP SOMERSAULT PLANCHA! Marty goes after the leg like a mad man, landing a knee-DT, only to find Punisher pounds him away with a lariat which sets up the Curb Stomp for 2. South Of Heaven ducked so Martinez slams The Villain into a springboard senton instead. Just Kidding rocks the leg again as we see that the attack of the Punisher has busted Marty's eye open. He slaps Martinez in the face and kicks at the leg again to thwart the Last Ride. BRAINBUSTER! With blood streaming down his face he lines up the Chickenwing, but finds it countered to a full nelson facebuster. Springboard by Punishment...COUNTERED with another kick to the knee. Martinez's knee is really bothering him now. Scurll tries to go for his bag of powder - but he's used that trick a lot recently so Paul Turner stops him. Security has to rush in to stop The Villain punching out the ref, and as that argument boils over Martinez launches himself at everyone with the OVER THE TURNBUCKLES SUICIDE DIVE! Martinez starts scattering security guards like bowling pins, but then hops up for an APRON CURB STOMP to block Marty's Superkick from the apron that he always does. Martinez appears to be on a rampage and drags out a table from under the ring. He drapes a semi-conscious Villain on the table. STEP-UP SOMERSAULT SENTON THROUGH THE TABLE ON THE FLOOR MISSES! Scurll bails and Martinez crashes wildly through the table! Marty hauls the big man back into the ring and hits a snap piledriver for 2. He wants to snap the fingers...but Martinez just swats him away. South Of Heaven blocked...into repeated superkicks. REPEATED HEAD STOMPS! He's a Villain! MARTINEZ HOPS UP! Cyclone kick ducked...and behind the ref's back Scurll pretends to have powder, but instead punts him in the balls! Small package, and Marty grabs the win at 10:32

Rating - **** - Ten minutes of complete carnage. These guys beat the absolute sh*t out of each other with an intensity I just hadn't been expecting. And it wasn't just big spots for the sake of it, they were incredibly smart too. We saw familiarity counters, big moves to set up something else right after, Scurll working limbs to cut down the size differential etc. It would've been easy to do a ten minute spot-fest, but to do one with real depth and thought behind it shows the quality of the two performers. Scurll bled for his art, Martinez took some utterly insane bumps. I thought this was great and seriously under-rated based on the live and retrospective reviews I've subsequently read for this show.

The rivalry between these two grows increasingly personal. Young broke a beer bottle over Kenny's head on the way to taking the TV Title from him at Final Battle. Incredulous, Kenny pursued the new champion for weeks on TV, even enduring a violent backstage assault by the Last Real Man and his massive associates The Bouncers. But he got his rematch at Episode 336 of the SBG show - and immediately took back his title. This takes place in his hometown and his daughter is at ringside. He will desperate not to lose the belt again tonight. Silas sends Beer City Bruiser to the locker room before the bell, indicating his desire to beat King clean...

Silas starts strongly, repeatedly taking the champion down and coming close to beating him on several occasions. King responds with a couple of takedowns and an attempt at the Last Chancery which drives Young to the floor. They run through a really cool sequence where they low-key counter or dodge a string of their signature moves like Silas' springboard lariat or Kenny's Japanese armdrags. Young bludgeons the champion to the floor then trips him off the rope causing him to land on his head when he tries to re-enter with the One Night Stand. Back in the ring Silas blocks the capo kick, then King's cradle suplex...and launches him back to the floor again, straight through a photographer. Into the ring again, and when Silas tries a suplex Kenny switches body weight and suplexes them both over the top rope to the floor! Corkscrew enzi straight into the face scrambles Young's brain...and when he rolls away to recuperate Kenny goes right out after him with a corkscrew pescado. Belly to belly suplex on the floor! Flying crossbody gets 2...and now Silas is sufficiently beaten down, King can finally start hitting his signature moves. He unleashes the spinebuster, only to eat a springboard lariat from the Last Real Man soon after. Slingshot swinging neckbreaker gets 2 for Silas. Misery blocked...but Young rakes the eyes to block the Royal Flush afterwards. Plunge gets 2 for the challenger. Misery scores, but a flailing limb clocked Todd Sinclair around the head on the way down. It means he is slow to count and misses what would have been a sure-fire win for Silas. The Last Real Man screams in anger at the official before walking into the Royal Flush! King retains at 14:37

Rating - *** - The first two thirds of this match were really strong. I thought they established a great dynamic with Silas sending Bruiser away then proceeding to prove his skill as a wrestler by dominating King. He wasn't just countering Kenny's big spots. Silas knew every little mannerism, or mild variant on a standard moveset that is unique to Kenny...and had a counter lined up for it. Not only would he counter, each time he would toss the champ out of the ring and beat the sh*t out of him. But having laid the groundwork well, the landing was something of a bust for me. The ref bump was done to protect Silas, but came off as awkward. It also was an immediate spoiler of how the actual finish would go down. The ROH audience isn't dumb. You could almost see three quarters of the fans going 'ok, so he's going to argue, Kenny will hit his move and win'...and that's exactly how it went down. Like Atlanta this was full of effort and had a workmanlike charm to it...but undercut with a level of flatness and disinterest which suggests ROH's audience isn't getting into this as a TV Title feud.

Kenny King doesn't get long to celebrate, because his old mentor Austin Aries (in full 'belt collector' mode, adorned with championships) makes his return to ROH. He's a former ROH World and Tag Champion, but he's never been TV Champion, meaning that is a belt he wants to collect. He challenges Kenny King to a match...

At Final Battle SoCal Uncensored formed and made it known that they wanted the Six-Man Title held by the Hung Bucks. The Addiction's issues with Bullet Club - the Young Bucks and Page in particular - obviously stretch back even further. Daniels is still immensely bitter at how the fans treated him during his World Title loss to Cody last year and has led his team on a crusade against ROH and its fans ever since. That culminated in January when COO Joe Koff announced that he wasn't renewing SCU's contracts when they expire at the end of the year. Without any leverage over the company, SCU are now trying to settle their personal issues and regain control of their careers simultaneously. They know that holding a championship gives them a contractual bargaining chip, and nothing would be sweeter than taking them from their old rivals. These two groups were supposed to meet in 'Ultimate Mayhem' at Manhattan Mayhem 7 a week earlier, but travel issues prevented SCU from attending. The Kingdom replaced them and subsequently contested an absolute war. Will Page and the Bucks still be feeling the ill-effects of that incredibly violent affair? Perhaps more importantly - are they on the same page tonight, or will the internal tensions within Bullet Club negatively impact them?

The Bucks are in full gear, whilst SCU are in street clothes indicating how seriously they are taking this. It doesn't stop them getting taken out by triple tope suicidas before the bell has sounded though. The Bucks hit a pop-up dropkick on the floor to knock Daniels off the guardrails. Inside the ring Hangman and Kazarian have already renewed their rivalry too. The Bucks, meanwhile, hiptoss Scorpio into a chair...before dropkicking him through it. Drop-sault ON A CHAIR from Hangman to The Addiction! POWERBOMB ON THE ENTRANCE RAMP from Page to Sky! Page pulls out the nail covered leather strap from Best In The World 2017 and tries to flog Frankie with it but Daniels makes the save before he can use it. ELEVATED SHOOTING STAR PRESS OFF THE APRON by Page and Matt! Kazarian is bleeding heavily, and he is positioned across an open table. DANIELS SHOVES MATT THROUGH THE TABLE ON THE FLOOR! SCU haul Nick into the ring for a three-on-one attack, keeping Page down with Frankie's SLINGSHOT RANA TO THE FLOOR! Kaz returns to the ring to springboard leg drop a Singapore cane into Nick's balls! SCU throw up '2 Sweets' to antagonise the champions. It fires Nick up...until Kaz throws a trash can into his face and Sky hits a jumping super rana off the apron! STEREO Dragon Clutches by Kaz and Sky to the Bucks, absolutely destroying Matt's already injured back. Hangman saves with a trashcan lid. TRASHCAN LID DUEL with Kaz! NAIL-COVERED STRAP TO KAZARIAN'S BACK! JUMPING PILEDRIVER ON THE BELT BY FRANKIE! BACKBREAKER THROUGH AN OPEN CHAIR from Daniels to Matt! The Ring General may have just dealt a decisive blow to the champions. SCU set-up a stack of guardrail segments outside the ring in an attempt to end Matt's career. Nick catches his brother to save his career though...then joins him for double Sharpshoots. KENDO STICK TO MATT'S BACK by Kaz breaks it! Buckshot Lariat from Hangman to Scorpio. BEST MOONSAULT EVER on Page! HANGMAN BACK DROPS DANIELS THROUGH THE GUARDRAIL STACK! Nick bashes Frankie onto an open table then drags a ladder from under the ring. ACE CRUSHER ON THE APRON by Sky to save Frankie...right before Matt gives Scorp a springboard DDT on the apron. Matt Jackson climbs the ladder! BACK SELLING ELBOW DROP OFF THE LADDER THROUGH THE TABLE ON THE FLOOR! In the ring Nick 450 SPLASHES SKY THROUGH A TRASH CAN! Shane Taylor runs out and breaks the pin, having accepted another pay-off from SCU! APRON BOMB from Taylor to Nick! Knee strike KO's Page! Matt almost puts his back out trying to slam Shane...but does distract him for long enough for Nick and Hangman to recover. SPIKE RITE OF PASSAGE ON SHANE! SCU have recovered, and Daniels zip-ties Page to the ringpost to take him out. SUPERKICK FLURRY ON SCU! Matt's back gives out before they can hit a Meltzer Driver...and Sky whacks it with the kendo stick. KENDO STICK CEASE & DESIST ON MATT! HE TAPS! SCU are champions at 18:44

Rating - ****1/2 - An absolute classic and by far the best match for the Six-Man Titles so far. It had all the insanity of Ultimate Mayhem last week, but even more layering, depth and brilliant story-telling to go with it. Everything around Matt Jackson's ongoing back injury was brilliant. The way it was sold, the way SCU exploited it, the way it factored into the finish - it was all superb. There were marvellous callbacks to the Kaz/Page feud, or Ladder War 6. Taylor's run in made perfect sense, not only because he has been taking pay-offs from SCU all year, but also because it furthers the 'Bullet Club is fine' angle since Taylor has been a paid associate of Cody in the past as well. It also should not be understated that this match was almost twenty minutes long - and these six (seven) men went at full throttle from the second it started with very little respite or slow moments. And they did so whilst continually upping the tension, increasing the drama and building to a believable finish. A great match, and so much more than the 'typical Young Bucks spotfest' some cynics will write it off as.

Hangman screams in fury whilst powerless to do anything and still zip-tied to the ringpost. He is noticeably yelling at the Young Bucks, as Nick tries to help his wounded brother off the mat. Vinny Marseglia and TK O'Ryan come out and assault the beaten Jackson brothers...until 'Enforcer' Bully Ray runs out and chases The Kingdom away.

This one dates back to the very first set of TV episodes of the year, where Taven came out and berated Cody for being undeserving of the chances he has received in ROH before kicking him in the dick. They had a match in Nashville which Cody won...only for him to them be assaulted by The Kingdom after the match. Taven stole the 'Ring' Of Honor in that assault and has lorded it over the American Nightmare ever since. Taven was also part of the insane Ultimate Mayhem Match the previous weekend, against Cody's Bullet Club team-mates. What is his physical condition? Once again Cody is accompanied by Brandi and Bury The Drug-Free Bear.

Cody is all business (despite having a bear mascot with him at ringside) and for once doesn't want to waste any time before locking up. Therefore it is rather cruel irony that all Taven wants to do is stall. He walks laps of the ring, jawing with fans and Brandi along the way...until he gets distracted by Bury The Bear and eats a tope from the American Nightmare. Cody puts the American Nightmare Lock on the surgically repaired knee of Taven, but Matt escapes quickly and starts doing Stardust poses at Cody. Once again he leaves the ring and starts making suggestive advances towards Brandi, and when Cody comes out to stop that he wipes him out with Air Taven. He rams Cody's broken hand into the ringpost then brings him back inside to hit a double underhook backbreaker for 2. He shows his ring-smarts by side-stepping Rhodes' typical powerslam...then capitalises with a super-weird-looking riding neckbreaker off Cody's back. Disaster Kick countered to a Lion Tamer...then a knee smash when Rhodes counters out of that too. Cody gets knees up to prevent a Lionsault and rallies with some weary-looking strikes. His back has been targeted and he almost buckles in pain as he drills Taven with the Alabamaslam. Bury The Bear hands Cody a chair...which is immediately confiscated by referee Paul Turner. Taven SMASHES Cody across the back with his purple cane, before blasting him with Cross Rhodes for 2! Climax blocked...Disaster Kick COUNTERED with Kick Of The King! Five Star Frog Splash misses for Taven and this time Rhodes does land the Disaster Kick. CLIMAX gets 2! Matt thinks about a Super Climax, ducks a flying crossbody from Cody and watches as the Nightmare wipes out the referee. Marseglia and O'Ryan return to ringside and lift Cody up so Taven can give him Shattered Dreams. But the camera reveals that Cody was wearing a cup! Bully Ray is back ejecting the rest of The Kingdom from ringside...and Cody hits Cross Rhodes to win at 14:07

Rating - *** - As a more sports-entertainment styled match this was actually pretty good. It certainly wasn't a technical classic by any means, but with characters around the ring, run-ins, sub-plots involving rings, dick kicks and more, these two men with very similar statures and movesets really held my attention. I don't like how Cody kicked out of all of Taven's finishers as that felt unnecessarily damaging to Matt and, given that people only remember this for the post-match angle we are about to see, I don't think he needed to win quite as resoundingly as he did. Wearing a cup as a response to the sheer volume of low blows he has sustained at the boot of Matt Taven was a neat little plot twist though. Perhaps cruelly, the angle that is about to follow the match turned out to be far more memorable than anything these guys did in the ring...

Cody takes back the 'Ring' Of Honor and invites Brandi and Bury into the ring to celebrate. He tries to hug the bear...only for Bury to shove him to the ground! Off comes the mask...IT'S KENNY OMEGA! V-TRIGGER ON CODY! The building goes f*cking apesh*t! Brandi gets in his face...then kisses him! She gloats at him for 'liking it' and yells at him to 'go tell Ibushi'

SIDENOTE - Omega's reveal was awesome moment. It was brilliant build for Supercard Of Honor and another twist to the multi-format 'Bullet Club is fine' angle. 

This is the fourth meeting between these two notorious tag teams. The first two are iconic tag matches in ROH history (especially the first one at Good Times, Great Memories almost eleven years previously) and even the third - a house show match at Masters Of The Craft last year, was very decent for the circumstances and time given. But this is a different, more dangerous version of the Briscoes we are talking about. As they make their sixteenth anniversary as a part of ROH, they've decided they don't give any more sh*ts, don't care about anyone's well-being and view the Tag Titles as their 'property'. They want the belts back, and will be 9-time champions if they do pull it off tonight.

Mark hides behind the guardrails and jumps out to attack the Machine Guns during their entrance. Sabin is mowed down with the Briscoe football tackle but MCMG are smart to keep it in the ring where they can use their speed and skill as wrestlers rather than brawlers. It is only once they have worked their way onto an even footing that they take it outside, hitting the through-the-legs tope suicida. Brawling on the floor is very much what the Briscoes want though and Mark is swift to return the favour with the blockbuster off the apron to take Sabin out. Double stomp/slingshot swinging neckbreaker off the apron by the Machine Guns! They bust Mark's head and eye has been cut open by braining him against the ringpost...and Shelley mercilessly tries to capitalise by raking the bloody eye socket too. Jay realises the danger and barges into the match to rescue his brother, completely negating Shelley's technical acumen with a blunt-force assault. INSIDE-OUT SUICIDE DIVE by Sabin to save his partner, soon followed by another suicide dive to shunt Jay into the guardrail. Sabin Driller blocked, so the Machine Guns land an assisted Shiranui instead. Cradle Shock gets 2 before Jay breaks the pin. Dream Sequence on Jay! Mark blocks Made In Detroit, then dives out of the way causing Sabin to Hesitation Dropkick his own partner! Day One Neckbreaker/Froggy Bow combo gets 2. Doomsday Device countered with a victory roll by Sabin, but he is too weary to follow up. JAY DRILLER! Sabin kicks out!? A fan loudly yells 'what the f*ck' at that. Doomsday Device nailed, allowing Jay to pin and win the titles for his team at 13:38

Rating - *** - There was an intensity and violence to this match which was really enjoyable. Given the actions of the Briscoes towards MCMG this year, the tone made sense and was perfect for the match they were attempting to have. Time constraints probably didn't help them (but it is better this goes short than the main event) but there was some decent content produced anyway. The Machine Guns showing a nasty side of themselves by splitting Mark open was really awesome. The Briscoes having to be at their marauding best to overcome the fluidity and experience of MCMG made total sense. But it all felt a little rushed and disjointed, like it was the final fifteen minutes of a longer match. Nine-time ROH Tag Champions is a stunning accomplishment for the Briscoe brothers.

Lethal was the first man to step up to Castle and make it known that he wanted a title shot. Since losing the title to Adam Cole at Death Before Dishonor 15, Jay has continually pushed to get back into the title scene. He continued to improve and is now recognised as one of the best workers on the planet; a reputation he seeks to legitimise with a second reign as champion. Castle, on the other hand, is looking for his career-affirming title reign to continue and won't want to lose it in his first PPV event as defending champion. 

Lethal sets out to trade holds with the champion...and finds that Castle is a fearsome foe in that regard. It doesn't take much for Dalton to come close to hitting Bang-A-Rang and snaring a shock quick victory. He comes back into the ring as Castle runs through his usual array of poses...and starts striking the sh*t out of him. Castle tries grappling and suplexing but can't maintain a grip on Lethal and almost gets knocked out with a bicycle knee smash from the challenger. Dalton is pissed now and straight up CHINS Lethal with a violent punch. To the floor we go with the tiger feint headscissors from Castle, but he is already starting to hobble under the weight of Lethal's striking. He almost collapses to dodge Lethal's springboard dropkick but falls to the floor into perfect position for the rolling tope suicidas from the challenger. EVEREST GERMAN ON THE FLOOR BY DALTON! Ian Riccaboni spots that The Boys are fanning Castle's injured leg; an unbelievable touch of detail. Dalton is injured but on a roll - shunting Jay into the ringpost and trying for more dangerous floor suplexes. Sadly for him he accidentally whacks the ringpost with an errant chop and finds himself on the defensive again. Still angry he rams Lethal's head into the timekeeping table. Jay tries another tope suicida...but Castle ducks! Lethal flies straight into poor Bobby Cruise!! Bodies surround 'the voice of ROH' to check on him, as Castle and Lethal continue beating the hell out of each other at ringside. Dalton moves the match back into the ring, hits an overhead suplex and mounts Jay looking for the Julie Newmar. Jay blocks that, rolls away from Bang-A-Rang and whacks him with the Lethal Combination. Lethal Injection blocked...so Jay breaks out the Lethal Express, wrenching onto Castle's suspect back. Still he keeps trading blows with his challenger, hitting a LEG-SELLING EVEREST GERMAN for 2! Ace Crusher by Jay. Lethal Injection BLOCKED with a big elbow/lariat combo. Bang-A-Rang COUNTERED TO THE FIGURE 4 LEGLOCK! Castle looks delirious with pain (amazing facial selling) but grabs a rope to escape. These guys are fighting like crazy and Lethal just starts SLAPPING Dalton! LETHAL INJECTION! FOR 2! The Peacock just wants to escape now and crawls to the apron - but finds Jay waiting for him with more strikes and kicks to the leg. Castle clings to the ropes to block an Ace Crusher so the relentless Lethal baseball slides him right into the guardrails. They battle back to the apron...HEAD DROP GERMAN SUPLEX OFF THE APRON BY CASTLE! Both champion and challenger are beaten to a pulp and barely beat the count into the ring. When they do they look into each other's eyes...then start slapping! Kicks to the leg by Jay...and somehow he no sells and hits a jumping knee. Lethal Injection ducked...Bang-A-Rang countered. Victory roll...CONVERTED BACK TO BANG-A-RANG! DALTON WINS! Or more appropriately, he survives at 25:56

Rating - ****1/2 - Is it excessive praise to say that this reminded me of an AJPW King's Road style main event? It was without a doubt the best World Title Match we've seen in more than a year (maybe Lethal/Cole during the 2016 Reach For The Sky Tour?), taking us on an emotional and physically bruising journey. We had a showman champion seeking to legitimise his shock championship win by taking down one of the most dominant ROH champions of the modern era. On the other we had an established top tier ROH star trying to beat a potentially 'out of his depth' champion down. This all started when Dalton joked that Lethal never had a reason to even talk to him before. This match was the physical embodiment of that wisecrack. Lethal showed his big match experience, picked apart body parts and gradually broke Castle down - perhaps until Dalton himself started doubting he had the chops to hang at this level. But every time Jay seemed to have the match won Castle would rally with a remarkable piece of offence. Some of the bumping was nuts. The head drop apron suplex to the floor spot felt ripped straight out of a Misawa/Kobashi bout. This is my ROH MOTY right now. I will admit to being a huge fan of this style; as much as I love the Young Bucks and their spot-led, brilliantly orchestrated multi-man battles this is the kind of match that always has my heart. It's what ROH's World Title picture sorely missed throughout 2017 as the title bounced from the needlessly overbooked Daniels reign to the Cody era. A match about belonging and acceptance, ambition and aspiration - there were so many themes here that can be translated to every day life situations. If Dalton need a match to establish him as a World Champion then this truly was it.

Dalton is battered and broken...but still World Champion. As he struggles to raise his belt aloft Marty Scurll walks down to confront him. Dalton knows it will be Peacock vs Villain soon enough...

Rating - **** - This was the best ROH show in quite a while. Obviously packing two matches I thought were MOTYC's clearly helps, but it wasn't just those two matches that carried the show. ROH has had MAJOR issues booking and laying out their pay-per-view cards for a long time. Too many matches, poor time management, overbooking rife - it has felt like they'd never put together a consistent, total package show. That changed with this one. It wasn't flawless top to bottom, but it was a consistent card which delivered great matches, but perhaps more importantly great MOMENTS and content to suit a variety of tastes. Fans of longer, workrate World Title Matches like me will love the main event. Fans of the Young Bucks will love the Six-Man Title Match. There was not one but two shock guest appearances - major names of genuine repute in the form of Austin Aries and Kenny Omega. All that came alongside international guest stars like Takahashi, a completely under-rated slug-fest between Scurll and Martinez, bloodshed, title changes and more. This should now be the template for future ROH three-hour pay-per-view events and is, by ROH's standards, an absolute must-see show

3) Marty Scurll vs Punishment Martinez (****)

2) Young Bucks/Adam Page vs Christopher Daniels/Frankie Kazarian/Scorpio Sky (****1/2)

1) Dalton Castle vs Jay Lethal (****1/2)