McXal's Reviews

I had tickets to attend this show, but ultimately couldn't attend after one of my best friends arranged his wedding for this date at spectacularly short notice. The card is halfway decent and, after Night 1 in Scotland produced the best Honor Club VOD show so far (Supercard excluded), I'm looking forward to checking out what I missed. Three championships are on the line again tonight, including the return to singles action of Dalton Castle as he defends his World Title against Los Ingobernables de Japon's EVIL. Silas Young has a high pressure four-corner defence versus Punishment Martinez, SANADA and Hiroshi Tanahashi (of all people) to contend with. And those come before our main event provides the first ever triple threat defence of the Six-Man Titles. Three times and nine men do battle as The Kingdom defend against SCU and the Hung Bucks. Ian Riccaboni and BJ Whitmer are once again at the announce desk - this time in London, England - UK.

I presume this is part of Jay Lethal's quest for redemption on his path back to the World Title. The Briscoes defeated he and Tanahashi at Supercard Of Honor, so now he faces Mark in singles competition looking to avenge that loss and score another high profile victory. 

Mark smashes Lethal in the back of the lead during his entrance and destroys him with the flying blockbuster off the apron. BACK SUPLEX ON THE APRON! Jay survives that and gears himself up for the couple of tope suicidas. He is still feeling the effects of the opening onslaught by Mark though and walks into a rebound elbow strike, but hits back quickly with the hiptoss dropkick sequence. Briscoe hits another back suplex and starts to focus his offence on the head and neck. It is a set up for his new Choke submission and even though it's too early to lock that in he is still able to axehandle the neck and drop Jay to his knees. He also bites and fish-hooks at Lethal's face every time he tries to mount a comeback which helps of course. Camel clutch cranks the neck some more...but Todd Sinclair breaks it when he gouges at the nose. INTENSE chop exchange next, giving way to elbow strikes - until Lethal drops his foe with an Ace Crusher. Lethal Combination gets 2. Mark grabs at the damaged neck to hook a small package as a counter to the Figure 4...then drags Jay into the Choke! Lethal frantically fights for the ropes. Lethal fights being taken skyward in a superplex; chopping Briscoe to the ground...then trapping him in the Figure 4 when he tries to use a boot to block the Figure 4. Briscoe makes the ropes but his knee is bothering him now. Lethal Injection COUNTERED TO THE CHOKE! Perhaps his leg injury has weakened his ability to apply the bodyscissors, but somehow Lethal makes it to the ropes. His knee gives away when he looks for a Fisherman Buster. LETHAL INJECTION! Jay takes the win at 12:49

Rating - **** - A generous 4* for sure, but there was so much to like here. They fight with intensity, the striking was vicious, the concurrent leg/neck work made sense and was skilfully escalated throughout the contest...and of course it helps that this new heel persona has revitalised Mark Briscoe as a character and a worker. Lethal is having a superb year but it was Mark who stood out for me, from the moment he attacked Lethal during his entrance. As someone who hasn't always enjoyed his singles matches it was wonderful to see how he has evolved his style and really improved his game.

In Edinburgh Taylor scored a very commendable victory over SCU's Scorpio Sky. But stringing wins together and building momentum is what he has struggled with thus far in his ROH career. Can he back it up with a second win of the tour, this time over New Japan's Yano? On paper he could be considered the favourite...but Toru Yano has carved out a lucrative career for himself in Japan by hoodwinking, tricking and bamboozling, big and tough NJPW stars into defeat...

Yano thinks he can tackle Taylor to the ground...which of course he can't. He also can't hit a 'big slam' as it turns out. Of course he needs a rope break to escape repercussions...so Taylor downs him on the apron for a jumping leg drop. Shane shows he can break the rules as much as Yano by raking at his nose as he lies helpless on the mat. The London fans reward his success with a chant of 'you're just a sh*t Mark Henry'. Second rope diving splash misses, incapacitating Taylor for long enough to allow Yano to cut off a turnbuckle pad. For some reason Taylor actually sells getting whapped in the face with the turnbuckle pad...but then gets rammed into the exposed metal bolt seconds later. Low blow blocked by Taylor - into a standing knee strike to the jaw. Ripcord urinage slam/Warrior Splash combo gets 2. Yano behinds the referee to evade the Knockout Punch then low blows Taylor into a decisive pinfall at 07:39. Yano is your winner...

Rating - ** - I did think the contrast between Yano's antics and Taylor's intensity/violence was fun to watch. This isn't the match I'd have booked for them, and I certainly wouldn't have put f*cking Yano over...but it isn't fair to completely write the match off as a result because it did produce moments of genuine comedy and enjoyment. Sadly if you needed a physical embodiment of why Taylor hasn't gained traction with the ROH audience in the manner that his talent should suggest - it was this one. Everything is so inconsistent. One night he's a heel, one night he's a babyface. One night he teams with someone, the next he opposes them. He bounces from a big win over Sky in Edinburgh, to jobbing to New Japan's comedy goof in London. Delirious uses this 'gun for hire' gimmick to make him the wrestler ex machina for whatever problem his card faces on any given evening...and the total lack of consistency and clear direction really makes it hard for fans to buy into him.

Young British jobbers needlessly get into the ring to remove Taylor after the match...and are rightfully beaten to sh*t. 

Brandi Rhodes joins commentary. Riccaboni calls this the match many had predicted to see as the final of the WOH Title Tournament. Klein made it of course, but Dashwood was shocked in the semi-final round by Sumie Sakai. Kelly would suffer the same fate in the finals, effectively making this something of a top contenders challenge with the winner clearly heading the queue of contenders for Sumie's belt. Klein is, of course, fresh off sending Deonna Purrazzo packing out of ROH with a decisive tap-out victory at the War Of The Worlds Chicago TV Taping...

Klein is the stronger of the two and tosses Dashwood to the ground after an intense lock-up. Brandi sells the intensity of the early action...by talking about Kelly's make-up. Tenille is quicker and smarter, hitting a drop toehold on Klein and almost landing the Taste Of Tenille early on. Klein takes a cheap shot...so Dashwood satellites into a Russian legsweep for 2. They then collide in the middle of the ring in alarmingly ugly fashion - I don't even know what they were attempting. Dashwood recovers faster with a neckbreaker in the ropes then the Taste Of Tenille - driving Klein to the outside. The Gatekeeper uses the time to recover...and smashes Tenille's knee against the apron when tries to come and get her. Back in the ring she cranks on the leg whilst wrapped in the ropes then stomping on it as the Australian tries to crawl away. Superplex blocked...into a leg-selling flying crossbody by Dashwood, leaving both women on the mat. Tenille's knee is too injured to even whip Kelly but doesn't prevent her from trapping her in the Dilemma. Double underhook suplex scores...but the leg gives out before she can hit the Spotlight Kick! Chop-block on the knee by Klein, only for Tenille to counter the K-Power into a sunset flip. Dashwood wins at 09:26

Rating - ** - The quality of the wrestling wasn't the highest here, but it certainly wasn't lacking in effort and they were bolstered by one of the best Women Of Honor crowds yet. Dashwood's popularity meant she got plenty of vocal fan support and created decent amounts of heat for Klein as well. It actually glossed over the scrappy (and at times downright ugly) in-ring stuff. I understand the decision to put Dashwood over - she is WOH's biggest name - but it does feel extremely damaging to have Klein drop her third match in quick succession after going so long without being pinned. What is the angle here? Are they putting the belt on Tenille? In which case why didn't they just have her win the Tournament which would have created infinitely more positive buzz for WOH than Sakai's victory? 

According to the commentators this is Jay's first singles match since November. His opponent is Haskins, who is being rewarded for a string of solid performances on recent ROH UK shows - stretching back to his victory over Silas Young at the War Of The Worlds UK Tour event in Liverpool last year. In Edinburgh he partnered Nick Aldis in a hell of a contest against the Young Bucks and will now be eyeing up a star-making win over Briscoe to cement a full-time roster spot. He brings his wife Vicky to the ring with him tonight too...

Vicky distracts Jay during his entrance, allowing Mark to fly right at him with a tope suicida into the guardrail! Missile dropkick attempted...but he sails straight into a lariat by Briscoe. Day One Neckbreaker blocked, allowing Haskins to dropkick the legs out from under the former World Champion. The Englishman thinks about another dive to the floor but this time runs straight into a punishing elbow strike from his opponent. Haskins starts to struggle with the relentless striking and physicality coming from Briscoe, with Jay now even finding time to taunt Vicky as well. He slaps and belittles Mark - who gets to his feet and starts unloading elbows and kicks! Rings Of Saturn applied, making Jay scream in pain before he makes the ropes. More kicks rain down on Briscoe - forcing him to take action. He delivers a hurricanrana then boots Haskins to the outside...only for Mark to quickly counter his attempt at a dive by giving him a jumping enzi through the ropes. DVD ON THE APRON NAILED! STAR ARMBAR! On a man with the history of shoulder problems that Jay has that is a punishing submission hold. Briscoe somehow escapes but again Mark is waiting to meet him with a violent exchange of strikes. Bicycle kick by Mark...ROARING ELBOW by Jay! Day One Neckbreaker gets 2. Vicky is back in play, this time distracting the referee as Jay lines up the Driller. She slaps Briscoe in the face, allowing Haskins to hit a FLYING DOUBLE STOMP. CRADLE TO THE GRAVE...JAY KICKS OUT! Haskins collapses against the ropes, devastated at failing to win there. The crowd are red hot now, cheering on both men as Jay MOWS him down with a lariat. JAY DRILLER! Briscoe wins at 11:07

Rating - **** - It feels like Haskins is starting to give ROH no choice but to sign him to a full-time deal. He delivers every time he steps into an ROH ring with this arguably being his best effort yet. It wasn't as silky smooth as the Takahashi match from last year but packed far more of an emotional gut-punch. Roared on by a vocal home-country crowd and backed up by his supportive wife, he took the fight to the two-time former World Champion with courage and tenacity. Briscoe tried to bully and dominate him but found Haskins' toughness (and the interventions of his wife) too much to cope with. It meant Haskins came desperately close to scoring a monumental upset and necessitated a brutal closing flurry of offence from Jay to finally get the job done. This oozed quality...

This is certainly a star-studded title defence for the Last Real Man. He is scheduled to defend the belt on every night of the Honor United Tour and comes in on the back of a hard-fought defence against Joe Hendry in Edinburgh. His challengers tonight are a formidable bunch. Martinez is an intimidating presence, motivated by vengeance since Silas actually pinned him to win the TV Title at Final Battle 2017. SANADA is one half of the IWGP Tag Champions and has competed in ROH World Title main events before so is more than equipped to deal with the pressure here. By far the man with the most 'big match experience' though, is the Universe Ace - Hiroshi Tanahashi. A victory for him would certainly add to the prestige of the ROH TV Title...but his commitments as one of NJPW's main event stars would mean they would struggle to get their belt back!

Silas, Tanahashi and Sanada all try to attack Martinez and all get knocked about by the big man. In the end it takes repeated shots from Sanada and Young on the apron then a pescado by Tana to take the Punisher off his feet. Sanada and Tanahashi team up to work the champion over then quickly turn on each other in the race to secure a win. Silas profits and takes Tana to the outside for a beating against the guardrails whilst Martinez imposes his will on Sanada inside the ropes. The Last Real Man then dumps Punishment to the floor so he can opportunistically profit from his work on Sanada. The two ROH stars form an uneasy alliance in an attempt to put the Cold Skull away...but just like Tanahashi and Sanada earlier it quickly dissolves into back-stabbing and in-fighting. Sanada gets plenty of hang-time in a jumping rana on Martinez, whilst Tanahashi hits a Sling Blade on Silas. Twist & Shout drops Martinez...but he has to watch from the top rope as Sanada prevents him hitting the High Fly Flow by dragging two opponents across the ring in the Paradise Lock. The LIJ member punishes him further with a Paradise Lock in the ropes. Quebrada by Sanada...but Tana prevents him from locking in Skull End. Springboard dropkick on Martinez instead! Killer Combo from Silas to Sanada. SOUTH OF HEAVEN from Martinez to Tanahashi. Misery blocked to boot Young out of the ring. STEP-UP SOMERSAULT PLANCHA! Martinez threatens to use a chair on Silas but is prevented from doing so by Tanahashi. Sanada dropkicks both of them off the apron...but is in turn pinned by Young with his feet on the ropes. Silas retains at 11:50

Rating - ** - Bland and forgettable with minimal effort from the New Japan guys. It may have had some fun sequences and flashes of brilliance but this was too often subdued and unimaginative. This isn't a TV Title defence I'd have booked and, even with the quality of talent involved this never stopped feeling very much like a filler bout in Young's reign. It's almost disappointing Delirious couldn't think of something more innovative for these guys to do. 

INTERMISSION - Bobby Cruise announces that ROH will return to the UK in August for the 'Honor Reunited Tour', marking the first time that Ring Of Honor has ever toured the UK twice in the same year. I must confess I had no idea that these events were lucrative enough for ROH to warrant that - but clearly there is money to be made. 

This is a late addition to the card. For some reason Delirious seems pretty intent on giving The Boys more opportunities to wrestle at the moment. I can't say the results have been particularly pleasing on the eye so far...and being blunt it probably won't improve here. Bully has been booked on this tour for some reason. Since his primary adversaries Cheeseburger and Flip Gordon haven't travelled he's just making random appearances being a miserable sh*t.

Bully calls Riccaboni a 'zero frickin' talent' 'charity case' commentator on his way to the ring, then makes Bobby repeatedly introduce him because he isn't happy with his ring entrance. Boy #2 starts with Bubba hurling abuse at him relentlessly. He kills a few minutes shouting nonsense and working half-assed collar and elbow lock-ups with both Boys; broken up with multiple occurrences of getting Todd Sinclair involved to stall further. He appears to be calling The Boys by their names too - I'm pretty sure the first time the Tate Twins have had their names used. The Twins pull a switch whilst Bully grabs his chain and brings it into the ring. Double dropkick by The Boys, then a double suplex. They climb to opposing turnbuckles for a frog splash combo - which gets 2. That's enough offence for them; Bubba starts giving them powerbombs and wins the match at 07:18

Rating - DUD - Why does this exist? Why does any of this angle with Bully exist? Did someone seriously pay his (presumably sizeable) booking fee and airfare to include him on this tour? Who exactly is he getting over. What does all the 'great heat' I'm sure he thinks he gets accomplish? I'm sure Bully is having lots of fun pissing off 'smart fans'...but given that he exists in a company which does all of its ticket sales and merch based on The Elite and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, I'd suggest alienating such a key demographic is dumb as sh*t too. There is no end game to this. Flip Gordon doesn't 'need the rub' of working with this guy. He was breaking out already working MOTYC's with Will Ospreay and the Young Bucks. Everything about this is painfully tone-deaf and indicative of how muddled and careless Delirious and Sinclair are in their approach to the Ring Of Honor product.

King has decided he wants to 'raise the stakes' on what was to be a standard singles bout. He tells Cody that if he wins he wants to be booked for All In. Cody responds that it's the fans who make the decisions not him, and since they are in agreement he agrees to the stipulation - as long as Kenny doesn't hand his spot to Flip Gordon. The London crowd duly demand he 'Book Flip'...so Cody agrees. If Kenny wins, both he and Flip are booked for All In...

Cody starts cagily, repeatedly seeking the sanctuary of the ropes to quieten any attempt by King to build momentum. King retains his composure...even as Cody does his own signature sunset flip out of the corner spot, which sets up a big gourdbuster. He leaves the ring to cut short Cody's momentum now, then starts talking to Brandi. He pulls a rose out from under the ring and tries to give it to Mrs Nightmare! I'm not sure comedy spots based around US reality shows have huge amounts of traction with British independent wrestling fans in truth. Cody uses the delay to hit Kenny with a tope suicida and then hands Brandi the rose for himself. Next he steals a drink from a ringside fan...to spit it into Kenny's face. Shotgun Knees miss for King, which Rhodes immediately tries to exploit further with a dragon screw. Disaster Kick ducked allowing King to hit a big spinebuster - the pace at last starting to increase. It slows down just as suddenly as Kenny takes an eternity to climb the ropes and deliver a flying crossbody. Disaster Kick nailed by Cody second time of asking...then he too takes forever to go up the ropes. It takes so long that King actually catches him with a jumping enzi strike which knocks the American Nightmare to the arena floor. Brandi distracts King by stomping on the rose - and inside the ring Cody counters the Royal Flush into the Cross Rhodes...for the win at 11:35

Rating - * - Lethargic, uninspired, ill-judged for the crowd they were performing in front of, completely flat and weirdly pitched. Unfortunately (as I like both of these guys) this was one of the worst matches on the card. It wasn't bad due to lack of quality...but bad due to lack of effort, urgency or innovation. They moved from spot to spot with minimal connective tissue, each transition taking an eternity with almost nothing happening. At no point did King give any kind of indication that getting booked for All In was something he really wanted and at no point did Cody act like he felt like he was in any real jeopardy of losing. 

Cody grabs a microphone with the intention of promoting All In some more but is soon interrupted by Nick Aldis - his scheduled opponent for All In. Immediately I'm uncomfortable with the tone of Aldis' promo as he claims to have 'smashed the glass ceiling' for British wrestlers by being NWA Champion, bearing in mind this is Ring Of Honor where one of the most iconic and influential World Champions in company history was English (Nigel McGuinness). He talks about his quest to restore the prestige of the NWA Heavyweight Title and compliments Cody on being a worthy challenger. But he is pissed off that Cody made the challenge at the All In press conference rather than speaking to him directly. Before he agrees to be All In he wants Cody to agree to put the ROH World Title on the line as well - if he wins it at Best In The World. Cody accepts...so Aldis confirms that he is 'officially All In'.

It gets even more awkward as Ian and BJ have to switch from talking about how prestigious and wonderful the NWA Championship is to now calling an ROH World Title Match. Castle returned to action in Edinburgh...but worked in a shirt and looked far from 100%. EVIL has been rewarded for strong form whenever he has made the trip from Japan and has the kind of striking power which the ailing champion may not be able to overcome. With so much talk around Marty Scurll and Cody challenging at Best In The World it has been overlooked that Castle may not even make it there...

Castle has one of his leg taped, his broken hand still heavily bandaged and now wears compression gear under his trunks to support his broken back. It is genuinely quite uncomfortable watching him prepare to do battle knowing how banged up he is. He slaps Evil in the face to get us started...but is easily tossed to the ground when h tries to grapple the challenger. Evil decides to pursue The Boys on the outside but is dumped into the guardrails by the protective World Champion. Castle goes to work on the shoulder and back afterwards, looking to set the challenger up for the Julie Newmar. But a single motion has him clutching his own back in pain, allowing Evil to chop his bandaged leg from under him. The bad leg is blasted into the ringpost next, leaving Dalton barely able to stand. The Boys (themselves heavily bandaged) have to encourage him to get back in the ring - where Evil is waiting to wrench the injured leg between the ropes. The champion looks completely wrecked - barely able to get any speed up at all as Evil tries to whip him across the ring. It almost leaves him with no choice but to stand in the ring and blast Evil with strikes instead, and he actually takes Evil down on a couple of occasions...but he has no strength in his body to lift him for any of his usual moveset. On the ground he goes back to Evil's shoulder with a mounted hammerlock...only for his body to give way again when he tries to convert it to the Bang-A-Rang. Evil counters with a superkick to the leg. Castle can barely even get through the ropes looking for a running knee...instead allowing the challenger to drop him with an Evil Lariat on the apron. The Boys are thrown around like trash next, distracting he ref so Evil can wrap a chair around Castle's neck and drill him into the ringpost. That was apparently so emphatic that Ian Riccaboni temporarily forgets that Takeshi Morishima exists (calling Evil potentially the first ROH Champion) then calls Tomohiro Ishii the first Japanese champion of any time in ROH. Everything Is Evil blocked into a clothesline by the desperate Castle. Julie Newmar blocked, crushing Todd Sinclair in the process rendering him unconscious. Evil drives Castle into the ringpost again then tries to use the World Title belt as a weapon. The Boys prevent him...and he walks into a LEG-SELLING BANG-A-RANG. That looked a complete mess and there isn't a referee to count the pin anyway. Evil blasts Castle with the belt for 2! Everything Is Evil countered to a cravat roll-up. Castle retains at 15:32

Rating - *** - There were shades of Nigel McGuinness' legendary defence against KENTA at the 7th Anniversary Show here. Dalton Castle's body had fallen apart by this point, leaving him a shadow of his former self and seriously uncomfortable to watch. Which makes the courage and quality of his performance really spectacular. Clearly this isn't his best work...but his willingness to compete is both admirable and inspirational. EVIL working over one of his injuries was a nice touch, and Dalton's ability to innovate a finish when he can't properly execute his usual moveset made for a genuinely dramatic finish. The ref bump was completely unnecessary and another example of just how unimaginative and unambitious the creative minds in charge of ROH can be sometimes...

I'm excited by this next evolution of ROH's Trios Championship. Companies like Dragon Gate, with well-established trios belts, make use of multi-team six-man matches like this and I'm pleased ROH have brought that concept in. It is fitting that these three teams are the participants. The Kingdom currently hold the belts, having beaten SCU in Lowell but actually stolen the belts from them at Supercard Of Honor when they interrupted a Ladder Match. SCU's opponents on that show were the Young Bucks and Flip Gordon...with the Bucks looking to regain the belts that SCU took from them and Page in a Street Fight at the 16th Anniversary. The history between the Hung Bucks and The Addiction is notorious. Both men have waged violent wars with The Kingdom as well. This will be a fiercely contested battle between nine men with real grudges to settle...

Taven starts with Daniels, looking to bust out a few of the lucha tricks he has picked up on tour with CMLL. Daniels still has plenty of gas in the tank to keep up with him though. One thing The Kingdom and SCU agree on, however, is that neither of them want to tag one of the Hung Bucks in. Sky double stomps O'Ryan's back...causing him to stumble backwards where Page is waiting to blind-tag in. Kazarian tags in to join his old rival Hangman - meeting in the centre of the ring and battering each other until they both collapse. Of course, whilst on the ground they start spitting in each other's faces; a central theme of their 2017 feud. The seven other participants join them in the ring - Nick last with a top rope crossbody onto every one! Stereo pescados nailed by Matt and Hangman. Tomikaze from Kazarian to Nick though, ensuring that SCU retain their position of control. They appear to be targeting Nick's back and core hoping to replicate the injuries that Matt Jackson is battling through. The Kingdom take over as well, keeping on the same offensive focal points. Marseglia and O'Ryan hit a few double teams, all aimed at the same body part. Nick dodges Kick Of The King and wipes out TK and Vinny with a moonsault off the apron...but when he dives towards a hot tag SCU intervene by dragging Matt Jackson and Page to the floor! Hangman battles back so he can be tagged - piling into opponent adter opponent with big offence. Drop-sault on TK and Vinny, followed by a powerbomb for 2. Matt Jackson gets a hot tag and lays out as many opponents as he can find! SOMERSAULT PLANCHA to the floor! Stereo Sharpshooters applied on The Addiction - which needs The Kingdom to break up and prevent the Briscoes retaining. Rise Of The Terminator blocked. AIR TAVEN! SLINGSHOT RANA TO THE FLOOR by Kaz! Springboard twisting senton by Vinny. TK wants a dive but eats a KNEE STRIKE TO THE FLOOR! TOPE ATOMICO BY SCORPIO! TOP ROPE HANGMAN-SAULT TO THE FLOOR NAILED! All that leaves Daniels alone in the ring with the Hung Bucks - who give him a frog splash/standing moonsault/Red Star Press triple team for 2. Rite Of Passage blocked, with Marseglia tagging and hitting Page with a Side Effect. German suplex/elbow drop by Taven and TK gets 2. SoCal Uncensored make a charge, leading to Sky hitting a JUMPING FRANKENSTEINER! FIVE STAR FROG SPLASH by Taven to break the pin. Ace Crusher from Sky to Nick! Buckshot Lariat on TK! Kick Of The King on Page! Slingshot DDT from Kaz to Taven! Russial Legsweep by Marseglia. ANGEL'S WINGS BY DANIELS! SUPERKICK BY NICK! Everyone is down! ROPE RUN TWISTING MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR by Nick as well. RITE OF PASSAGE INDYTAKER! Daniels breaks the pin by pulling the ref to the floor...right before Nick accidentally KO's the ref with a wayward kick. Tope suicida through the turnbuckles by Daniels, and he quickly returns for the BEST MOONSAULT EVER! A replacement ref comes in...only the dragged out by Taven into the path of an ARABIAN PRESS TO THE FLOOR by Daniels! Two referees are down! Vinny pops a balloon in Frankie's ear in an effort to lure him under the ring. ROCK STAR SUPERNOVA! A third referee runs out...and refuses to count the pin! It's Cody in a referee shirt! He hates Taven and gleefully gives him a middle finger before laying out the entire Kingdom! DOUBLE SPRINGBOARD SUICIDE DIVE BY CODY! MELTZER DRIVER ON DANIELS! The original referee is back and pulls Cody out of the ring to prevent him from counting - then counts the pin as Taven sneaks the pin on the KO'd Daniels. Kingdom retain at 22:19

Rating - **** - Meant in the most positive manner possible; this was entirely the match people wanted to see. By that I meant that we got piles of high spots and trainwreck sequences, silliness from multiple characters, lots of Superkicks, Hangman's moonsault, Taven's big dive, Vinny popping balloons etc. It even found a way to provide a genuinely entertaining series of ref bumps as well (albeit that further amplified how totally unnecessary bumping Todd Sinclair in the World Title Match was). Great as it was, I didn't think this was particularly ambitious with the triple threat trios tag format though, which is a bit of a shame. I felt like they could've had more fun with the stipulation, particularly in the first few minutes when they all struggled to shake off an 'exhibition match' vibe (before Page and Kaz got in). 

Tape Rating - *** - Definitely not as consistent a live show as Edinburgh and there is an argument to be made that nothing on this card was as good as Bucks vs Aldis/Haskins or Briscoes vs Cody/Page from the Scotland show too. However, whilst the lows on this show were more pronounced we got more 4* level bouts here - and with the inclusion of a World Title Match (Castle/EVIL was very decent by the way) and Aldis' appearance to set up Aldis/Cody at All In, this show felt more significant to the long-term bigger picture too. Both nights of the Honor United Tour thus far have been solid watches. For the more selective ROH viewer with an Honor Club membership, the Six-Man Title Match and Briscoe/Haskins are definitely worth your time.

3) Jay Lethal vs Mark Briscoe (****)

2) Jay Briscoe vs Mark Haskins (****)

1) Matt Taven/Vinny Marseglia/TK O'Ryan vs Christopher Daniels/Frankie Kazarian/Scorpio Sky vs Adam Page/Young Bucks (****)