McXal's Reviews

I didn't like the WOTW 2018 Lowell show much. I wasn't overly enamoured with the Bound By Honor double-header in Florida either. They all felt so complacent and unimaginative. I don't want to spark another 'which ROH era is better' debate. But without wanting to pass comment on the quality or otherwise of their era, I never felt like the Cary/Gabe regime weren't working hard to earn my money, or weren't appreciative of every dollar spent following them. The current day ROH doesn't feel like that. I don't feel like they are working hard for my money. I feel like I'm being given a product which screams 'we pay a lot of money for the Bucks and Cody; you like those guys...therefore we don't need to work hard in any other area'. We go to Night 2 of the 2018 War Of The Worlds Tour, and it's another interesting card to say the least. Dalton Castle's enforced absence opens up a gap in the LIJ vs ROH All-Stars eight-man main event, but travel difficulties may yet force more changes to the line-up of that one. The Super Smash Bros make a welcome return, facing their old rivals the Young Bucks in a potential showstealer. There's also Naito/Bruiser, Silas/Page for the TV Title and a reunion of old rivals Jay White and Punishment Martinez; this time with the IWGP US Title on the line. Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana are at the announce desk in Toronto, ONT.

The last time we saw the IWGP US Title defended in an ROH ring it was held by Kenny Omega, and Jay White was still on excursion in this promotion - but times change. White returned to NJPW as the Switchblade, joined the CHAOS faction and played his part in the Bullet Club civil war angle by taking the championship from Omega. Now he returns to ROH looking to settle old scores. Last year he and Martinez had a heated rivalry, culminating at Death Before Dishonor where Punishment defeated the Switchblade in a violent Street Fight. However, before that the hallmark of the feud was that White seemed to have the big man's number; pinning him on multiple occasions. Will that prove to be the case tonight, or does Martinez forcibly insert himself onto the NJPW roster by taking one of their championships from them?

Martinez goes straight for South Of Heaven but is fought off with the big strikes of the New Zealander. He actually knocks the big man out of the ring...and then again off the apron when Martinez keeps trying to hop back up. Diving forearm off the apron scores...and has almost no effect as Martinez simply gets up and tosses him into the barricades a few times. Super spinning heel kick back into the ring gets 2. Hangman Page crashes commentary, still pissed that Punisher bombed him through a table in Florida. He watches White slap Punisher in the face - and get punished with the release falcon arrow for 2. Still White tries to strike with Punisher, finally plucking him out of the air with a dropkick as Martinez tries his springboard punch spot. Saito suplex gets 2, as well as spiking Martinez right onto his neck. He follows that with the judo throw suplex right into the turnbuckles! He starts lighting Martinez's chest up with chops - firing the monster up so much that he ends up stomping him into the canvas. Diving spear off the second rope by Punishment...then a colossal lariat which sends the Switchblade to the outside. STEP-UP SOMERSAULT PLANCHA! PSYCHO DRIVER! FOR 2! Jay took a real ugly landing on that as well. South Of Heaven blocked...Curb Stomp blocked. DEAD-LIFT GERMAN. Blade Runner COUNTERED to the Curb Stomp for 2! Martinez is irritated and goes to grab a steel chair...only for Hangman to leave commentary and grab it off him. BLADE RUNNER! White retains at 11:07

Rating - *** - Starting where the mediocrity left off yesterday. Really, ROH - you could only find a measly eleven minutes for this? Was it a good match to open the show? Absolutely yes. But clearly they are capable of so much more than this. That electric little counter sequence at the end there was just a glimpse of the chemistry we already know these guys had as opponents. And whilst I understood having Page involved in the finish, and the need to protect Martinez somewhat even though he obviously wasn't winning - I didn't much like the way the finish came off either. Having Page grab the chair and chastise Punisher like he was a naughty school kid for 'not being able to win on [his] own' came off as incredibly dated and wholly out of keeping with everything else we see from the Hangman character. Eleven minutes though!? Come on...

Oh good, Bully Ray is out here now. He complains about streamers...so is of course promptly covered in them. Every second he sucks out of this show is another second that White/Martinez could have used by the way. He calls the fans 'disrespectful, millennial, snowflake marks', runs down D-Von Dudley for absolutely no reason other than fans chanting his name...and that's literally all he has to say. Obviously his opponent is Cheeseburger again...

In Lowell Burger got a win over Bubba...but via count-out, and only because Bully intentionally got himself counted out after powerbombing him to hell. My assumption had been that Bully would use the mic time he just received to explain why. Instead he 'got heat' by being a dick and having fans throw streamers at him. Because that helps ROH in ways that 'millennial snowflake marks' like me don't have the intellect to understand...

The bell rings, and Bully jabs Burger in the jaw. Ocean cyclone suplex nailed - with Cheese already selling the injuries he suffered in Lowell. Bubba exposes his taped up ribs in a tree of woe position then starts clobbering and stomping on them. Cheeseburger finds a way to punch him in the balls, and tries to climb to the top rope. AWESOMEBOMB BY BULLY! Burger looked like he was legitimately killed taking that bump. Bully then starts flogging Burger in his injured ribs with a metal chain, so is of course disqualified at 03:15

Rating - DUD - It is only fair to absolve Cheeseburger of any blame here. Over the course of the last two shows that young man has allowed Bully to beat the absolute sh*t out of him; he has taken some insane bumps. That top rope powerbomb spot here was astonishingly violent. But why?! Why is he being put in this position? What is to be gained by letting Bully go out and suck the life out of shows, and energy out of fans, with this ludicrous heel turn angle. There is no upside here. He's not going to 'make' Cheeseburger. The guy was already as over as he was ever going to be. All he's doing is clinging on to his own relevance, rehashing the late-90's in ECW when he was doing this exact same thing, except it was fresh and relevant. 

Cheeseburger is technically 2-0 over Bubba for the week. Ringside personnel try to drag him to safety, and Bully leaves (after threatening to powerbomb him on the arena floor).

On paper this is a no-brainer, but only a fool would completely discount Bruiser here. Naito may be one of NJPW's top stars but, as we saw last night, BCB's size makes him more than capable of beating up the leader of LIJ. Fans of New Japan saw him first-hand on the Honor Rising Tour, and witnessed him put up a gutsy fight against Hirooki Goto on Night 1, then almost win the ROH World Title from Dalton Castle on Night 2. This could be a star-making match for the Milwaukee brawler...

Naito looks genuinely amused by Bruiser's surly attitude before the bell. He makes it worse by going right into his 'can't be bothered to lock-up' routine - to the delight of the Toronto audience. In the end Bruiser jumps Naito from behind when he turns his back and does his signature poses. He then dumps the IWGP Intercontinental Champion into the guardrails a few times as well; letting him know he is here for a fight. He starts biting the forehead of the Japanese star and has actually quietened the previously raucous crowd. Naito misses a dropkick, allowing BCB to plummet on top of him with an elbow drop - then simply mounts him and tries to punch his lights out. Dropkicks to the knee by Naito, unsettling Bruiser's vertical base so he can unleash a running hurricanrana. Beer City flees to the apron but is still pelted with kicks and stomps by LIJ's leader. DVD ON THE APRON BY BRUISER! Naito sells that with an AWESOME double-bluff on barely beating the 20-count back into the ring. He crawls back in...right into a cannonball senton. Northern Lights Bomb by BCB! Naito blocks another powerbomb to plant him with a tornado DDT. Slowly they work their way back to their feet dropping bombs on each other! Enzi by Naito...no sold into a LARIAT by Bruiser! KEG SPLASH MISSES! DESTINO! DESTINO AGAIN! Naito wins at 12:37

Rating - *** - There might not be a bigger surprise package in all of 2018 than some of these excellent Beer City Bruiser singles matches in the first few months of the year. They didn't go complicated, but trusted that the brilliant juxtaposition of character between the two men would really win over the audience. It did; the pissed off, no-nonsense Bruiser trying to beat the sh*t out of the nonchalant superstar in house show mode really worked. They set the tone right from the start when BCB ignored the 'Tranquilo' schtick to batter the IWGP Intercontinental Champ into the guardrails. Naito actually took some big hits for Bruiser too - most notably that big apron bump. The destination was never in any doubt; but they made the journey there incredibly fun. This was better than anything on the Lowell show, aside from the Bucks/LIJ main event.

BJ Whitmer (who 'is office') appears at the announce desk and orders Colt Cabana to the locker room. He replaces Cabana at the announce desk for the remainder of the show.

The Smash Bros have something of an infamous history in ROH. They defeated Kevin Steen and El Generico in one of their earliest matches, made a few appearances on the HDNet show and gained a cult following amongst ROH fans after producing some solid matches. But then-producer Jim Cornette was famously very unimpressed with their appearance and gimmick. He felt they were wholly too niche, and that nobody would ever pay money to see 'a Super Smash brother'. Of course, they did incredibly well for themselves elsewhere on the independents including a huge rivalry with the Young Bucks in PWG (which, I presume did indeed draw pretty well for PWG) and now get another crack at ROH...and a reunion with their old rivals the Bucks. Now known as Player Uno is now 'Evil Uno', whilst Player Dos (also known as Stupefied) is now Stu Grayson; can they deliver something special to earn themselves the roster spot they were never able to under previous management regimes?

The dorky 8-bit rock entrance music SSB come out to is quite something. Matt showcases his ascension to heavyweight status by overpowering Uno with a shoulder tackle. He celebrates it a little too hard though, affording Uno an opening to go after his nose. Grayson explodes in, but isn't quick enough to stop Nick hitting his flipping lucha armdrag. Matt stomps Grayson into the mat after they knock Uno off the apron...then they start doing Smash Bros poses and spitting at them! Stu is pissed off - shoving Matt out of the ring where Evil is waiting for a BACK SUPLEX ON THE APRON! A devastating blow inflicted on a man who has struggled with a back injury all year. SSB start showcasing their own ability to seamlessly hit flurries of double teams and combo moves; brutalising Matt's back in front of his helpless brother. Grayson tries to send him into the guardrails...but Matt counters to swing him wildly into the ringpost! Somehow Stu gets up from that and, after Uno cuts off the hot tag, we see Grayson soaring through the air for a flying elbow/sidewalk slam combo. SUPERKICK on Uno! Grayson grabs his leg and stomps the back before he can make a hot tag. SPEAR on Grayson! Hot tag to Nick who quickly hits the X-Factor on Stu, rolled into the moonsault off the apron at Uno. The Smash Bros try to team up...so the Bucks put them in stereo Sharpshooters! Uno blocks a Superkick by BITING Matt's foot, before decimating Nick with a jumping neckbreaker. He hiptosses his partner Grayson into a SOMERSAULT PLANCHA OVER THE RINGPOST! CHASING THE DRAGON gets 2! Fatality blocked...and the teams take turns accidentally nailing their own partners with knee strikes. NIP-UP PELE KICK from Grayson to Nick! STOP SIGN SUPERKICK on Uno! FROG SPLASH BY GRAYSON! SWANTON BY NICK...INTO STU'S KNEES! FATALITY! MATT BREAKS THE PIN! GRAYSON WALKS ACROSS EVERYONE'S SHOULDERS INTO A SUPER RANA ON NICK! GET OVER HERE BELLY TO BELLY CANNONBALL! 450 SPLASH/CANNONBALL COMBO GETS 2! SUPERKICK ON UNO! SUPERKICK ON GRAYSON! DOUBLE SUPERKICK ON THE SMASH BROS! They Superkick Evil into a Tombstone onto his own partner! Uno blocks More Bang For Your Buck, so Nick backslides Grayson into the MELTZER DRIVER! Bucks win at 17:27

Rating - **** - What do you know; you give performers suitable time and leeway to deliver to the best of their abilities...and we get a match which blows the roof off the place. If you've seen these teams fight before, you'll know exactly what to expect. They didn't go outside of their wheelhouse...but then again they didn't need to. The fans wanted to see a wild spot-fest, they wanted to see two extremely experienced, independent powerhouse tag teams do battle - and that's exactly what we got. They probably did get a little bit silly with non-finishes at the end, and Matt's back selling was completely abandoned. But the whole bout was fast-paced, cutting-edge, dramatic , ultra-athletic pro-wrestling. THIS is the kind of match that will make ROH's product stand out...

The fans give the four performers a standing ovation and the Bucks try to pay their respects to their long-time rivals. The Briscoes ruin the moment by hitting the ring and taking out everyone with Tag Title belt shots to the head. Mark breaks out his Choke submission hold to put Matt Jackson to sleep, as Nick is dragged into a Jay Driller. Jay reminds the Toronto crowd that they 'run' the ROH Tag division and kindly asks everyone wearing a Bucks or Bullet Club shirt to 'burn in hell'. Is anyone a better promo in ROH than Jay Briscoe right now?

INTERMISSION - Sumie Sakai joins Riccaboni and Whitmer for commentary, as the Women Of Honor will be kicking off the second half of the show.

SHIMMER fans will recognise Bale, since she has performed regularly for Prazak's promotion when they run. She makes her WOH debut this evening alongside Nicole, who I've not seen before. Tenille is, of course, the big name in the division - and looking to rack up wins so that she can get a shot at the WOH Championship. She won't get the first shot though; that goes to Jenny Rose who faces Sakai at the Chicago TV taping portion of the War Of The Worlds Tour. She'll need wins to build momentum going into that huge career opportunity...

'I'm so excited to beat her up' - Sumie's withering assessment of Jenny Rose. She starts with Nicole, a woman apparently nicknamed the 'Bubblegum Princess', which explains the luminous pink outfit. It's a strong start by Rose who shows herself to be both too quick and too strong for the debutant. Alexia starts popping Dashwood in the face...but then steals her catchphrase and is punished with an emphatic sliding kick to the face from the Australian. Bale helps her partner out by illegally guilloting Rose on the top rope. Xandra tags in legally and blasts the WOH #1 contender with a close-range kick right across the face for 2. Nicole tries to help out with a spear...but accidentally wipes out her own partner. Dashwood takes a hot tag and puts Alexia into the Dilemma. DOUBLE Taste Of Tenille gets 2 on Bale. Rose levels Xandra with a backbreaker/urinage slam combo - grabbing the win at 06:28

Rating - * - It didn't really affect the match, but why do ROH keep putting Sumie on commentary? Her limited English makes it completely redundant, and Ian Riccaboni having to coax input from her distracts him from calling the match. Not that there was much of a match to distract him from here. This one truly was 'blink and you'll miss it'. Rose loosely got to look strong, in preparation for her title shot. Tenille's star-power felt largely wasted. I don't think Nicole or Bale delivered particularly strong representations of their work either. It was, sadly, another forgettable Women Of Honor match.

This is a rematch from NJPW's Strong Style Evolved event, which saw Romero, SHO and YOH defeat SCU in what was, at the time, something of an upset considering the fact that Daniels, Kaz and Sky were then ROH Six-Man Champions. They no longer hold those belts, having lost them to The Kingdom rather unceremoniously earlier in the week. That championship was a precious bargaining chip in their plight to stop Joe Koff releasing them from their contracts at the end of the year - so once again the fight is on for the Californians to find a way to make themselves non-expendable. 

Frankie and Rocky start, rolling back the years on their way to a hotly contested stalemate. Daniels swings a cheap kick into Romero's back from behind, but it's nothing Romero hasn't seen before. He takes out The Addiction with a headlock/headscissors combo then sends Scorpio to the outside with a rana as well. Sho and Yoh quicken the pace to a point where the veteran Californians can't keep up. Sky and Kazarian take matters into their own hands - assaulting Sho on the floor behind the referee's back. SCU slow things right back down, unleashing a number of double and triple team moves to prevent Sho from getting near the R3K corner. That includes an incredibly nifty triple moonsault flurry, culminating in Daniels' Asai moonsault for 2. Lungblowers on The Addiction give Sho a lifeline, which he grabs with a big tag to Yoh. Dragon screws by him, then a corkscrew senton on Scorpio for 2. Backbreaker/neckbreaker on Daniels, before Romero FLIES in with a springboard rana to Kazarian. Forever Clotheslines...setting up a double hurricanrana on both members of The Addiction. SCU flood the ring trying to make it a brawl...and all walk into jumping knee strikes by the Chaos team. TRIPLE DIVES TO THE FLOOR by Romero, Sho and Yoh! Rocky plants a springboard dropkick into Frankie's knee, then it's time for the 3K! It gets 2 before Daniels makes the save. Best Meltzer Ever blocked by Sho! Scorpio hits the ropes for a SOMERSAULT PLANCHA! Celebrity Rehab/Big Fat Kill combo! SCU beat Romero to win the match at 12:38

Rating - *** - Structurally this wasn't too innovative and nobody tried anything ambitious at all. But it was a solid exhibition match featuring a number of highly experienced and seasoned grapplers, ending with the NJPW returning the favour and putting the ROH guys over after they'd done the job at New Japan's show earlier in the year. Rocky was the star of the show for me. The guy just doesn't seem to age and looked as crisp and exciting to watch as ever. 

Nice research from Riccaboni, who reminds us of the killer undercard SBG TV match these two had YEARS ago. Page gets a shot at the TV Title tonight, but comes in pretty banged up by all accounts. He was struggling with a groin injury before the Florida shows. That weekend he was violent put through a table by Punishment Martinez...and he then went to Japan to face Kenny Omega; a match in which he was knocked out and (according to his time on commentary) doesn't remember anything. Can he overcome his catalogue of injuries to upset the Last Real Man (who is busy preparing to face Austin Aries in Chicago...)

Punishment Martinez comes out and tries to attack Page with a chair again! He throws it into Hangman's face, then opens it up for a CURB STOMP! Hangman is left unconscious as jobbers try to ice him up to recover. Silas demands the match be started and Page be counted out. Hangman shrugs off medical attention to beat the 20-count, starting the match even though he can barely stand. Young keeps throwing Hangman to the floor...until eventually the challenger scrambles onto the apron. DDT ON THE APRON by Silas! BJ on commentary perfectly sells that as the end of the match due to his own experience with neck injuries on the apron. The champ continues to pound on his head and neck, with such ease that he lets his guard down completely and allows Page to land a lariat. Rite Of Passage blocked into a BRUTAL knee strike to the head. Page brilliantly sold his neck, clinging to it all the way through the counter sequence. Slingshot swinging neckbreaker lands, as to repeated blunt-force kicks right into the skull. Hangman lands a Superkick from the apron! He is groggy and unsteady on his feet - but still scales the ropes for a MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! BUCKSHOT LARIAT! Silas blocks Rite Of Passage with another knee to the head. MISERY! Young retains at a breezy 07:39

Rating - *** - Lets give the benefit of the doubt to ROH on the short time allowance for this one. Page was dealing with injuries and came in on a gruelling schedule so its entire plausible that this needed to be kept brief for his own good. To that end, within seven minutes I thought this was really good. Martinez's attack further fuels the fire between he and Hangman, and neatly plays off the Punisher/White feud, where Martinez would always attack White after matches instead of before them. It created a natural injury storyline around Hangman's head and neck (coming in off a concussion against Omega too remember), which Silas brilliantly exploited with some really nasty-looking strikes. Personally I'd have saved this match for television where it would have had more impact, but it really was enjoyable for the brief run-time they got.

Ian R and BJ preview the upcoming Honor United Tour of the UK, with EVIL/SANADA vs The Addiction announced for Edinburgh, a triple threat Six-Man Title Match between The Kingdom, the Hung Bucks and SCU in London and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Hangman Page for Doncaster.

It's the American Nightmare versus the Japanese junior heavyweight legend. Liger is no fan of Bullet Club of course, but the bigger story here may be the fact that Cody will generate piles of momentum if he can beat the masked man on the road to Best In The World 2018 and his desired title shot. Does a win put him ahead of Marty Scurll in the pecking order?

The crowd are on fire here, even more than for the Young Bucks match. The competitors are standoffish for the first minute, then Cody is made to retreat to the floor after being put into a Mexican surfboard by the veteran. Liger is keen to force Cody to work a methodically-paced, ground-based battle - and he dominates the early exchanges as a result. Even Burnard The Bear gets caught up in cheering for Liger! It doesn't stop the Business Bear from tripping Liger from the floor. Rhodes springs into action and assaults the legend outside of the ring. Back inside he starts assaulting the leg before dropping into a Figure 4 Leglock. By the time Liger rolls it over to reverse the pressure Cody is already in the ropes for an easy escape. Such is the American Nightmare's confidence that he decides to try a top rope move. Liger spots his opportunity and delivers a superplex! Shotei scores, then Liger escorts Rhodes back to the top for a frankensteiner. Burnard appears on the apron to stop Liger hitting the Brainbuster. Baseball slide on Burnard! SUICIDE DIVE BY CODY! Disaster Kick ducked into a rather ugly powerbomb by Liger. Do we call that leg-selling? Todd Sinclair is bumped...because for some reason we need a ref bump on every show now?! Cody starts throwing chairs into the ring, but the wounded Sinclair recovers before he can use it. Liger throws one of the chairs into Cody's face! Somehow Cody survives that, rakes the masked eyes of his opponent then delivers Cross Rhodes for the win at 12:09

Rating - * - Well that was disappointing, particularly since the crowd were SO up for it. Liger is slowing down, but in a twenty minute wrestling match these guys had the stage set for one of the best matches of the tour. Instead we got a brief, forgettable, Cody haha-fest. Ref bump - check. Pointless weapon use - check. Endless Bear-based interference - check. Limb work that went nowhere and wasn't sold - check. The sheer LACK of ambition this match showed is actually staggering. The fans deserve better. Both wrestlers are capable of better. Therefore where does the blame lie for this being so bad?

Originally this was scheduled to be an 8-man with BUSHI joining the LIJ team, and both Dalton Castle and Flip Gordon appearing on Team ROH. The reason Colt was asked to leave commentary earlier is that he has been drafted in as a last-minute replacement for Flip, who has encountered travel issues and has been unable to get to the building. Lethal has some historic issues with Los Ingobernables, with whom he aligned at Honor Rising 2016 (when he was still in House Of Truth) - but was then abandoned by when he needed their help to fight Bullet Club later that same year. BUSHI is still at ringside with his stable-mates.

Lethal and Sanada start, respectfully at first then simultaneously trying to take cheap shots at each other. Sanada gets the best of that and puts Jay into the Paradise Lock. Cabana breaks it up before Sanada can dropkick the ass though. Rapid-fire standing switch exchange into the hiptoss dropkick combo from Lethal; driving Sanada back into the LIJ corner. King and Evil tag; Evil raking the eyes but Kenny then using his speed to get the best of the King Of Darkness. Cabana drops him with a flying headscissors as well, luring Hiromu in for the first time. Colt calls out Daryl Jr., who is deposited in the ring for a prolonged stuff animal comedy skit which the crowd go apesh*t for. Cabana threatens to elbow Daryl, he and Hiromu take turns trying to sneak-pin each other, Daryl Jr's mask flies off, which Cabana celebrates like he has won a lucha de apuestas. Team ROH work a relay stalling vertical suplex spot on Hiromu, with Evil and Sanada both casually watching from the floor with minimal interest. Bushi grabs Lethal's leg from the floor...and in a flash both Evil and Sanada are in to swarm the Franchise! He is fed to the floor where Bushi rakes the eyes...and Evil blasts King's head into the ringpost. Paradise Lock in the ropes...again with Bushi raking at the eyes. And this time when Cabana comes to try and help Bushi jumps him from behind as well. It is fast becoming the Bushi show as he trips Jay when he tries to hit the ropes and mount a comeback. The masked man has definitely contributed more to the match than Sanada. Lethal Combination on Evil, setting up the hot tag to King - who beats down on the aforementioned Sanada. Again Bushi gets involved, but Kenny survives that and wipes him out with a corkscrew pescado. Quebrada by Sanada, but King blocks Skull End. Hurricanrana instead...so Colt returns and hits a double quebrada on Sanada and Hiromu. Flying Asshole on Sanada...and the same on Takahashi for 2. Superkick by Hiromu, setting up a Bronco Buster by Evil. Magic Killer blocked...Evil Lariat instead for 2! Magic Killer...but King breaks the pin. Cradle suplex on Evil! TKO by Sanada! Ace Crusher by Lethal! Tope suicida flurry by Lethal, repeatedly wiping out all the Los Ingobernables representatives. Hail To The King blocked - so Jay feeds Evil into the Billy Goat's Curse instead. SUNSET FLIP BOMB TO THE FLOOR from Takahashi to Lethal! Bushi sprays mist into Colt's eyes, making him stumble blindly into Everything Is Evil! LIJ win at 22:44

Rating - *** - Finally a match on this tour gets a half decent time allowance. It wasn't the best main event you'll ever see, but it did at least have some room to breathe and build to what was a tremendously enjoyable finishing stretch. For the most part it felt rather tame and very much an exhibition match. The real 'hook' for the first two thirds of the match was the Cabana/Hiromu/Daryl comedy skit which didn't particularly resonate with me. EVIL and SANADA keep getting booked for these ROH tours...and I'm still waiting for them to do ANYTHING which comes off as particularly special or memorable in any way. 

Tape Rating - ** - This was a better show than Lowell, in that it was a more consistently decent line-up. However, that isn't to say that it didn't share a lot of the same problems; namely matches going way too short, bouts you were excited about being complete busts...and the only bout which had any real effort put into it felt like the Young Bucks match. Bucks/SSB was very special and worth checking out. Could anyone really say the same about anything else on this card?

3) Tetsuya Naito vs Beer City Bruiser (***)

2) Hiromu Takahashi/EVIL/SANADA vs Jay Lethal/Kenny King/Colt Cabana (***)

1) Young Bucks vs Super Smash Bros (****)