McXal's Reviews

We are just two weeks away from Best In The World 2018, and our final stop on the road to the PPV takes us through this Texas double-header. There is some intriguing stuff across both nights and plenty of matches which, on paper at least, look very intriguing. Tonight's main event sees mutual enemies of the Bullet Club unite against them as The Kingdom of Matt Taven and Vinny Marseglia (replacing the Briscoes, out due to travel issues) partner up with returning guest-stars the Killer Elite Squad to face the Bucks, Hangman and Marty. Beneath that Cody/Gresham could steal the show if Rhodes has turned up to work. CMLL luchadors are here again; Guerrero Maya Jr, Stuka Jr and Atlantis face SCU in another potential showstealer. We also have TK O'Ryan getting a chance to prove himself in singles action against Jay Lethal, Rhett Titus in a rare singles match too (versus Flip Gordon) and a particularly strong-looking Women Of Honor tag out too. Shane Helms debuts this weekend too. Ian Riccaboni and BJ Whitmer provide commentary from San Antonio, TX.

Is there a reason behind The Boys getting repeated bookings as in-ring talents at the moment? Is it to keep Dalton Castle in the picture even when he is out injured? They are former Six-Man Champions of course, so be eyeing up a victory over two thirds of the current holders to put themselves back into title contention. Meanwhile Taven is still complaining about the 'conspiracy' which saw his scheduled World Title match against Castle cancelled during the War Of The Worlds Tour. He is here to send a message to Dalton by decimating his Boys.

The Boys jump Marseglia from behind during his entrance then dump Taven out before he can even make it to the ring. Headscissors/lungblower on Vinny! Stereo tope suicidas nailed, scattering the Six-Man Champs around ringside...and not content with that the twins take another run-up and hit somersault planchas too. Taven leads the fightback with a spinning heel kick into Boy #1's ribs. Marseglia has disappeared under the ring, abducting Boy #2 along the way. He comes out wearing a yellow rain jacket inspired by Stephen King's 'IT'...and is then dragged away again into the 'pit' between the ring/staging area and audience. To his credit, Boy #2 sold that brilliantly, and at least SOMETHING happened with that Horror King hiding under the ring gimmick this time. It means #1 is alone with The Kingdom - eating a Side Effect/springboard elbow drop combo. Taven refuses to allow Vinny to pin him though, because he wants to send a message to Dalton. Proton Pack gets 2 - and this time the remaining Boy does indeed kick out. Marseglia pops a red balloon in his ear which suitably disorientates him to allow Matt to hit Just The Tip. Redrum misses...and Boy#2 emerges from the darkness! Still wearing the yellow rain-jacket he takes the fight to both opponents; hitting a standing Shiranui on Taven then a facebuster on Marseglia. Diving double stomp nailed for 2 as the ref struggles to keep up with which Boy is legal. The Shining/Five Star Frog Splash combo nailed, allowing Marseglia to pin #2. The Kingdom win at 09:24

Rating - ** - Who keeps booking The Boys to have long-ish, semi-serious, credible matches with guys miles above them on the card? This was mildly entertaining as an opener but went on FAR too long and wound up damaging to The Kingdom's credibility as a result. About seven minutes into the match I was ready to praise this as a great way to start the show. The crowd loved it, The Boys showing some gumption and attacking The Kingdom during their entrance was fun, I liked that Vinny's goofball horror movie spot actually had a real pay-off by taking Boy #2 out of the match - and was ready to see The Kingdom win convincingly. Instead they tacked a few more minutes on the end, brought back Boy #2 when he didn't need to and generally made The Boys seem more competitive than they should have been. Given that The Kingdom are pulling double duty tonight, they should have crushed The Boys in short order...

Taven gives Boy #1 the Bang-A-Rang to send a pointed message to the absent ROH Champion. He denounces Castle for 'ducking' him, and informs the audience that once again The Kingdom will be saving the show by inserting themselves into their rightful spot: the main event. 

Ferrara isn't on this show, so Rhett works his first singles match in months. He faces a hungry Flip Gordon very much on the rise. He wants to prove he belongs at the top of ROH. He wants to prove Bully Ray is no match for him. And apparently what is most important to him - even above his ROH goals - is getting booked for All In. Maybe he needs to rack up so many wins that even Cody can't ignore his claim to be booked on the biggest independent wrestling show ever? This is his return to ROH following a strong showing in NJPW's Best Of The Super Juniors.

Rhett overpowers Gordon and lays in an early cheapshot. He dodges a one-legged standing moonsault next...only for Flip to COUNTER a sunset flip back to a standing moonsault for 2. Flip attempts a rope-run dive, but slips on the ropes and guillotines himself on the ropes! He comes down clutching his ribs and a smirking Titus capitalises by giving him a jumping kick right in the face. Gordon is struggling - with Titus trying to press home his advantage with a grounded neck vice. Rhett 'instinctively' goes for the tag...which comes off as dumb after Ian and Colt have just been putting him over as having more than a decade in ROH. He manages to rebound from Little Willy's absence and decks Flip with a lariat for 2. World's Strongest Slam countered to the springboard Sling Blade! Springboard dropkick nailed as well, but Gordon is so worn down he struggles to get his body off the mat to follow up. ROPE RUN SUICIDE DIVE TO THE FLOOR! RIB-SELLING SAMOAN POP! Springboard moonsault gets 2. Rope-run Super Sex Factor blocked by Flip, as is a big superplex. They semi-botch an attempted superkick in the corner...but Rhett ends up in position for the Kinder Surprise. Jumping knee by Flip. No sold into a lariat by Rhett...which Gordon nips under into a Black Superkick. Star Spangled Stunner wins it at 09:13

Rating - *** - There were some clear failings in execution here. But to their credit, they never once let it slow them down or stopped them attempting more big stunts. In fact it gave the entire contest more of a gritty, dirty, big-fight feel than it probably would otherwise have had. Whether they'd planned to have Gordon sell a rib-injury or not, the way they incorporated his dive botch into the remainder of the match was great detail with Flip doing a great job selling it. 

Both Sakai and Dashwood have singles victories over Klein now. However, last time she faced them in tag competition (at Honor United Night 1) she successfully teamed with Chardonnay to take the win. Now Klein has recruited another solid partner. Rosa has worked the US independents and toured Japan with Stardom multiple times but is perhaps most recognisable at this stage for her run in Lucha Underground as Kobra Moon - leader of the Snake Tribe. As a big Lucha Underground fan I'm happy to see her get a shot. 

Klein bad-mouths Sumie and refuses to even tag in with her. Apparently she won't wrestle her until the title is on the line. Thunder starts with the WOH Champion and makes a quick impression with a rapid-fire counter/near-miss exchange. Kelly runs in and stomps on Sumie when she threatens to put Rosa in an armbar...so Sakai takes them both down with a double neckbreaker drop. Dashwood makes her entrance with a flying crossbody on both opponents. She and Sumie think about big dives to the floor, so Klein and Rosa scatter to prevent them. Tenille and Thunder brawl on the outside as the babyfaces really press home their advantage. Rosa recovers with a cheap-shot on Sakai only to be put down with a satellite headscissors and a missile dropkick from the champ. Mafia kick by Klein, again only stepping in with Sumie illegally, turning the match in favour of her team. Rather annoyingly, Klein willingly tags in with Sumie seconds later which sort of sucks. She and Thunder start targeting Sakai's back...only for the champion to show all her experience by countering an attempted powerbomb into a hurricanrana. German by Rosa...NO SOLD! GERMAN BY SUMIE! Hot tag to Dashwood who puts Kelly in the Dilemma. DOUBLE Taste Of Tenille gets 2. Rosa trips her to stop her hitting the Spotlight Kick though, sending her stumbling into the K-Power for 2. Sumie blind-tags in and drops Thunder with a fisherman neckbreaker. She tries the rana again but Rosa catches her. Klein joins in too, hitting an ASSISTED POWERBOMB for 2. Thesz Press off the apron from Tenille to Kelly! Smash Mouth on Rosa! Sakai grabs the win at 10:12

Rating - *** - There doesn't appear to be much of a consistent, coherent booking strategy surrounding the Women Of Honor division, but it would be entirely accurate to say that the general quality of the matches has improved in 2018. Putting them on main shows helps. As does booking experienced, international-class workers like Thunder Rosa rather than the rookies that they threw on television at the NYC Excellence TV taping. Rosa was awesome here, playing her part as the vicious back-up to Kelly well - then really showing what she has to offer during some of the more explosive offensive exchanges at the back-end of the bout. I was annoyed that Kelly didn't stick to her pledge of not working Sumie until the belt was on the line though. She and Rosa were good enough to work a heat segment on the champion without the Gatekeeper ever legally getting involved. There was easy heat to be drawn with Thunder distracting the ref so Kelly could illegally attack Sumie. 

As I bang on about all the time, TK is now deep into his ROH career and we still have hardly seen him a work a singles match. He barely wrestles singles, and when he does it has been in ultra-short matches which are usually loaded with outside interference. Is an outing with the Franchise his first chance to really show the ROH fans what his potential is as a singles star? Lethal has had a stunning 2018 so far, and is looking to keep stringing wins together as he forces his way back into championship contention. He beat Matt Taven in Doncaster so will be planning on going 2-0 against The Kingdom tonight...

Colt Cabana says it is 'all but guaranteed' that we'll see some interference from the rest of The Kingdom at some point, such is their track record. O'Ryan looks to make a point by himself...and slaps the former World Champion in the face. He knows Lethal will react angrily and sets a trap on the floor; lying in wait so he can pummel Lethal with strikes. Jay hits back with big chops but TK doesn't back down at all. He retaliates with equally heavy-handed chops in the corner and it's only a springboard dropkick to the apron which brings Lethal back into proceedings. TK returns to the ring to block the Tope Trilogy, rolls back out with Jay in pursuit then LARIATS him on the floor! Jay is still reeling when TK scoops him up and drops him face-first into the ring apron. The Kingdom representative starts working the head and neck in preparation for his Mustang Ride finishing move. But he starts getting over-confident and wastes time antagonising the crowd (as they chant 'you can't wrestle' at him). KOBASHI CHOPS by Lethal, but he is so beaten up that he actually starts going for flash pins just to escape with victory. O'Ryan gives him another knee in the throat and drops him on his neck again with an underhook suplex. The Franchise has to beat his way out of a snug rear chinlock - only for O'Ryan to violently chop him into oblivion against the ropes. Lethal pushes the nuclear button and tries to put TK's formerly broken leg into a Figure 4. O'Ryan clearly fears that move and springs into action to swiftly block it. Finally TK's hubris creates an unforced error; he goes upstairs trying to antagonise Lethal with a Macho Elbow of his own but misses wildly and crashes had into the mat. Jay starts repeatedly Irish whipping him into the turnbuckles before laying him out with a DDT for 2. Lethal Injection blocked...FISHERMAN DDT by O'Ryan! He escorts Lethal up the turnbuckles but absorbs a flurry of body shots in doing so. Figure 4...countered again into a small package for 2. LETHAL INJECTION! Lethal wins at 13:23

Rating - *** - The clean finish was welcome, the run-time could have been longer - however what I appreciated the most was a genuine attempt to actually showcase TK as a singles wrestler. He debuted almost two years ago and this is the first time he's been allowed to cut-loose in 1-on-1 action. It wasn't perfect and the crowd were assholes to him, so he had challenges to overcome. He did so by demonstrating flashes of clear strategy and in-ring intelligence to go with a crisp, violent execution and style. Lethal leaves looking stronger for having survived a tough, bruising encounter; TK leaves with his own reputation enhanced too. Which is precisely why I always pester Delirious/ROH to book more feature-length bouts with clean winners and losers. In a promotion like ROH if the wrestling is good, guys will get over...

Ian Riccaboni announces the 'International Cup' Tournament for ROH's pending return to the UK on the Honor Reunited Tour. Four stars from ROH's roster will face four UK talents over two nights of competition to crown the winner. The winner of the International Cup then goes on to Night 3 in London to challenge for the World Championship.

SCU don't have the best record against teams from CMLL, and are still trying to rebound from the loss of the Six-Man Championship to The Kingdom during the War Of The Worlds Tour. The ticking timebomb of their impending release at the end of the year is adding intense pressure to every match they work, and they will know how valuable a win over international guest stars will be. We've seen the stocky Stuka Jr. on a couple of occasions, but I believe this is a debut for the more lithe and youthful Maya Jr., and also for the veteran Atlantis - who is in his mid-50's and has been competing for more than 35 years!

Daniels and Atlantis start, meaning we have more of a century of wrestling experience in the ring. The luchador grabs the first advantage to hit a neckbreaker then vacates so Stuka and Scorpio can take over. The deceptive agility and speed of Stuka is too much for Sky to deal with; he is beaten out of the ring as well. Guerrero and Frankie in next - with Kaz dialling up the aggression in an effort to break the momentum of the Lucha Libre showcase. It doesn't work - Maya Jr is soon tearing through SCU with backbreakers! SCU do finally get their sh*t together by dragging GMJ to their corner and ganging up on him. The crowd are REALLY hot for this, loudly cheering on the luchadors as the American veterans isolate Guerrero for a prolonged period. Maya finally frees himself with a spear on Kazarian though - making a hot tag to Stuka. He suplexes Scorpio into a senton on his own partner...before electric chair-ing Maya into a big splash for 2! The Addiction brilliantly counter another attempted flip from Stuka into their powerbomb/neckbreaker combo for 2. Old man armdrags by Atlantis, who then captains his team into a three-way rowboat submission! TRUST FALL DIVE OVER THE RINGPOST BY STUKA! SOMERSAULT PLANCHA BY MAYA! Atantis is game for a dive too - hitting a crossbody on Daniels the a tilta-whirl slam to grab the win at 09:55

Rating - *** - Clearly this was 95% exhibition match, which does have its drawbacks. It felt completely devoid of any real drama and never shook the sense that it was just dudes in spandex showing off. But the hot, pro-hispanic crowd really helped. They were super into everything the CMLL guys did, creating a brilliant atmosphere for the bout. SCU clearly relished that and, although they weren't given much and were largely whipping boys for the lucha antics, tucked in some real moments of rudo brilliance. Stuka Jr. is a real favourite of mine - stout and barrel-chested, yet capable of feats of crazy athleticism. 

This is Stallion's return to ROH having previously been a part of the 2017 Top Prospect Tournament, making it to the semi-finals before losing to John Skyler (in the best match of the tournament that year). He is a Texas native, so returns to ROH looking to make an instant impact in his home state. We've seen Silas lose this type of match before, such as to Mark Haskins in Liverpool - and therefore we've also seen how Haskins started getting higher profile opponents afterwards (such as Jay Briscoe and Hiromu Takahashi). Curt will be eyeing up a win and a permanent roster spot here...

Silas slaps Stallion's hand away...so Curt DUMPS him with a German suplex. RUNNING MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! He got his legs caught in the ropes and pretty much landed on his head there - but still comes up swinging wildly at the TV Champ. Silas back drops him on the hard floor then stomps him in the back of the head as he tries to get up. Stallion retaliates with a double stomp then a Yakuza kick in the corner. Young slumps to the canvas, only to be dragged back up into a DDT. He blocks Silas' full nelson knee strike and rolls him through into a Kryptonite neckbreaker for 2! They battle over a suplex, until Young decides to knee Curt in the face and give him a slingshot neckbreaker instead. Cabana is great on commentary here, pointing out bedraggled and disorientated Silas looks after the beating he has taken. Curt chases him up the ropes...and gives him an INVERTED SPANISH FLY! HOLY SH*T! Both men wearily get back to their feet and trade strikes. SLAP DUEL! Knee strike by Silas, into MISERY! He wins at 07:19

Rating - *** - This was a wild ride and, to my taste, piles of fun. My first thought was 'I can't believe Stallion wasn't signed after that'. But, if I was the owner of a stuffy, corporate wrestling company which in 2018 is still ridden with 70's/80's wrestling tropes...I can see why I wouldn't offer him a contract. Physically he isn't the most imposing specimen, and his style is all action, all moves - all the time. But attacking the look of a worker or saying that they 'just do movezzzzz' is exactly the same kind of criticism people used to aim at people like Chris Hero, Kevin Steen or El Generico before they arrived in ROH. We live in an era where the Young Bucks are some of the hottest, biggest selling wrestlers on the planet. Spots, action and athleticism are very much the fashion now - and Curt clearly has those in abundance. He wasn't always clean, but delivered every offensive blow with a tenacious passion and fire which had the crowd really buying into him as a underdog babyface. Silas was BRILLIANT as his foil too. Working in a shirt, arguing with fans, he never once gave the impression he was taking it seriously...until he started getting his ass kicked, when he switched to playing a panicked, desperate established guy fighting to avoid an embarrassing defeat. This MOTN for me so far...

Hall Of Famer Bully Ray's campaign of abuse towards Cheeseburger continues. He found two allies in the UK - big hitters Punishment Martinez and Shane Taylor - and teams with them again tonight as he looks to drive 'guys like Cheeseburger' out of ROH. Burger has turned to his mentor and trainer Delirious, and since he needed a hero to help him, he has called a superhero for back up too. Shane 'Hurricane' Helms makes his ROH debut tonight, providing heroic assistance to someone in need and stepping into the ring with a familiar old foe in Bubba Dudley too. 'J-Rocc' joins commentary, and is apparently Taylor's personal representative on the broadcast team. 

Delirious doing his ringbell freak-out as none of his opponents pay any attention to him is pretty funny. Hurricane tries to give him some advice for how to takedown someone the size of Taylor...which turns out to be poking him in the eyes. Never Ending Story clotheslines in the corner scramble Shane's brains. Cheeseburger tags and calls out Bully...who refuses to get involved and orders Martinez into the ring instead. Punisher teases wanting a piece of Helms, but then attacks Burger from behind when he goes to tag the superhero in. Now Cheese is down Bubba happily tags in - downing him with a devastating powerbomb. Taylor and Martinez take turns trying to see if they can throw Cheese further than Bully did. As a brief aside, J-Rocc is unbelievably annoying - as if the Bully/Burger feud wasn't difficult enough to sit through. Warrior Splash missed by Taylor...but Bully runs in and whacks Delirious off the apron before he can tag. Cheese dropkicks him low and unleashes The Hurricane instead. Inverted Unprettier downs Martinez then he tosses Bubba to the outside. Hurri-Chokeslam nailed on Punisher! SHADOWS OVER HELL by Delirious! Martinez kicks out of the pin which is inexplicably counted even though all three opponents pin him at once. Burger dives to the floor with a suicide dive, leaving Delirious and Punishment alone in the ring. Martinez no sells the Leaping Lariat to hit South Of Heaven. He pins the Lizard Man to win at 09:58

Rating - * - Seeing Bubba Ray Dudley and The Hurricane battle it out in an ROH ring in 2018 was partially surreal and a partially depressing. In all fairness, if ever there was a time to bring Helms in then I do quite like the idea of Cheeseburger being so fed up of getting beaten up that he called for an actual superhero. More depressing than the old-timers clubbing away at each other was having to watch Taylor and Martinez play second fiddle to Bully though. Why are they getting dragged into this mess? Why is Punishment Martinez having to bump for Helms' comedy chokeslam? Why did ROH think the way to get Shane Taylor over is to deposit an insanely annoying and unnecessary commentator behind the table? The match itself was nothing more than extension of the Bully/Burger feud which is actively turning me off of the ROH product, spliced in with some Delirious/Hurricane nostalgia spots. 

The Octopus is very much a star on the rise in 2018. He's been good enough as a wrestler to be prominently featured in ROH for a long time but finally he is now being booked regularly and allowed to showcase those skills. That now includes getting a semi-main event spot against the co-#1 contender for the ROH World Title and one of the biggest stars in independent wrestling. Cody is preparing for his championship match at Best In The World, and since one of his opponents is the technically skilled Marty Scurll, Gresham is an ideal opponent to hone his skills against.

Cody's entrance includes a lengthy detour to make Riccaboni 'kiss the Ring'. Gresham is anxious to lock up with Rhodes, backing his incredible wrestling skill to quickly negate the size difference - and he soon has Cody backing to the ropes for a break. Cody tries to bully him with shoulder blocks but quickly gets over-confident and tries to work submissions with him. At least he corrects that error quickly and starts elbowing Gresh in the jaw when he tries to counter his hold. Gresham is so dangerous though - exploding out of the corner with an elaborate series of chained holds that culminates with a satellite armbar takedown. He starts taunting Brandi as he tortures her husband's limbs, and she shrieks in horror as he sickening bends his arm. Bridging chickenwing next, with a half crab incorporated into the hold as well! The American Nightmare quite literally crawls to the apron trying to escape...only to be dragged back for more punishment. Now when he tries shoulder tackles his own arm causes him to buckle in pain. Ian provides some great commentary, speculating that Cody's manic schedule that includes a rematch with Kenny Omega, an ROH World Title Match, plus All In, has caused him to overlook The Octopus. Gresham stays on the arm, forcing Cody to take the drastic action of hiptossing them both over the top rope. Once again he tries to utilise his power; decking Gresh with a couple of thumping clotheslines then the high velocity powerslam for 2. Hardcore Bob kick the abdomen drives Gresham outside. Rhodes snatches the opportunity to hit another drastic offensive move - the ROPE RUN SUICIDE DIVE TO THE FLOOR! Gresham hits an armbar takedown as soon as they get back into the ring though, evening the match right back out. Cody tries to batter Gresh with elbow strikes but is repeatedly knocked back when Jon lashes out at the injured arm. RUNNING SLAP by Cody! No sold by Gresham, into a diving stomp to the arm. Cody kicks out of a pin with such force that Gresham rebound onto Todd Sinclair's legs, meaning even the referee carries an injury now. Octopus Stretch blocked...Cross Rhodes countered...Disaster Kick nailed! Cross Rhodes countered into a backslide using the bad arm for 2. They start really testing Todd's injured leg with repeated flash pin attempts. BRIDGING GERMAN BY GRESH GETS 2! He is clearly getting annoyed at not being able to put Cody away though. He clobbers wildly at his back, despite striking not really being his best method of attack...then tries to hit another German. It's a costly mistake and in an instant Cody counters to CROSS RHODES! The Nightmare wins at 16:06

Rating - **** - Another example of what has been most frustrating about Cody's run in ROH. When the guy shows up to work he can f*cking go. The lay-out of this match was weighted heavily in favour of Gresham, but if anything that meant Cody was working harder. He spent most of the match bumping around and selling hard. He is considerably bigger than Gresh - but the skill of Jon's work combined with the effectiveness of Cody's selling meant it never once felt illogical that The Octopus was dominating. And from Gresham's perspective this feels like a landmark moment in his ROH career. Sure in kayfabe he didn't win. But this is the bout that proves he doesn't need to be working Jay Lethal (or his 2016 clashes with Lio Rush) to have great matches. You can slide him into a marquee match against anyone on the roster and he will deliver. He is THAT good. In pure wrestling terms I'd argue that nobody is on his level on the current roster. If I were to criticise anything, then I would have preferred to see Cody physically acknowledging his arm injury a little more, and the one thing this lacked was a genuine sense of danger (Cody was a hugely over babyface and never really felt like he was going to lose). Check this one out if you have Honor Club though. Given how Cody has approached his matches since the Kenny Omega bout at Supercard I really wasn't expecting this kind of quality at all...

Clearly this match is hurt by not having the Briscoes involved. They are building to a PPV match with the Bucks and are scheduled to defend the Tag Title against KES tomorrow in Dallas. But The Kingdom stepping in does make sense. They have stepped up to replace absent/injured wrestlers in marquee matches multiple times already - seizing opportunities to main event and relishing getting to brag about 'saving ROH' along the way. They have plenty of history with Bullet Club of course and will know that if they allow a Bullet Club member to beat them tonight then instantly they open the door to another Kingdom/Bullet Club Trios Title bout. Given that the Bucks and Page (the Hung Bucks) are former ROH Six-Man Champions, whilst the Bucks and Scurll (the Super Villains) are reigning NEVER Openweight 6-Man Champions it is clear that this group have real pedigree in multi-man matches. Can KES and The Kingdom get along to fight a mutual enemy? This is three days after the Bucks defeated EVIL & SANADA to win the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Championship too. KES will clearly be eyeing up victory over the Jacksons and #1 contendership to the top tag prize in NJPW.

Scurll starts with Taven; Matt allowing himself to get distracted by the outrageous popularity of The Villain. Marty has some fun and works circles around the leader of The Kingdom - but is prevented from breaking his finger by the arrival of Archer and Smith Jr. The Bucks and KES face off, creating a distraction which allows Marseglia to jump the Bucks from behind. That kick-starts a multi-man brawl all over ringside. AIR TAVEN scores! Archer pisses the fans off by refusing to dive...so Page superkicks him off the apron then hits the TOP ROPE MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! Four-man basement dropkick almost knocks Taven out in the corner as Bullet Club's prowess and experience as a team in this multi-man environment continues to cause their opponents problems. Old School eye-poke by Page...so Lance full nelson slams the sh*t out of him! KES don't even seem to care about the match though; legitimately leaving the apron and going to the floor just so they can keep beating on the Young Bucks outside the ring. It leaves Taven and Marseglia to carry the load for a couple of minutes, isolating Hangman with a couple of signature double teams. Davey Boy does finally enter - taking out Page with the Bulldog stalling vertical suplex. Drop-sault by Hangman, wiping out both members of The Kingdom simultaneously. Nick gets a tag, joined by his brother for Stereo Sharpshooters. Davey Boy marches in and, rather than saving his partners, sends a message to the Bucks by SHARPSHOOTERING BOTH THEIR PARTNERS AT ONCE! The Jacksons try a pop-up move - CAUGHT with a powerbomb by Archer! Nick ducks the Hart Attack and drops Smith with a tornado  DDT with bodies starting to scatter. Scurll counters the Climax with Just Kidding. Chickenwing COUNTERED to the Proton Pack for 2! The Killer Elites are STILL beating on the Bucks rather than worrying about winning the match! They set Vinny up for the Redrum on Scurll, giving the Bucks just enough respite to enable them to dive in and break the ensuing pin. Killer Bomb blocked by Marty - but he turns and finds that Davey has already dragged the Bucks off the apron to prevent a pin. FINGER SNAP ON ARCHER! NO SOLD! HE SNAPS THE OTHER FINGERS TOO! SUPERKICK FLURRY by the Bucks! TRIPLE SUPERKICK ON ARCHER! QUADRUPLE SUPERKICK ON TAVEN!  Standing moonsault/frog splash/fist drop/Red Star Press quadruple team on Taven. GERMAN SUPLEX BY DAVEY! Dark Days on Marty! Kick Of The King on Page! Moonsault off the apron by Nick! Superkicks on Archer...NO SOLD! He tries to spit water at Scurll - who uses his umbrella to block it! UMBRELLA SHOT takes out Archer! Marseglia pops a balloon in Scurll's ear, but walks right into the Buckshot Lariat seconds later. ROPE RUN CORKSCREW SENTON BY NICK! TRIPLE SPIKE RITE OF PASSAGE! Page pins Vinny to win at 18:07

Rating - **** - All the chaos and mayhem you'd expect and want to see if you're a fan of this style. The clear highlight for me was the sizzling chemistry between the Bucks and KES. NJPW has a potential red-hot bout if they book that properly because they interacted brilliantly with each other here. The ruthless, intently-focused brutality Archer and Smith sought to inflict upon the new IWGP Tag Champions was intense to watch - with the Bucks bumping their asses off and making great whipping boys for the Suzuki-gun guys. The Kingdom went under the radar for most of the contest, but I found them hugely fun; acting like antagonistic, smarmy pricks too. By now people know what to expect from a Young Bucks multi-man tag main event. This was a good one - albeit for me only really memorable for the Bucks/KES stuff...

Tape Rating - *** - This was genuinely an enjoyable show. I didn't like the aesthetics of the venue but the crowd were really vocal and into every match from first match to last. Clearly I don't enjoy anything that comes of the Bully/Burger feud, and I am tiring quickly of seeing The Boys work regular matches...but everything else was of a thoroughly decent standard. TK O'Ryan held his own and delivered the goods in a significant breakout performance for him, the CMLL luchadors and wily old veterans of SCU produced an effortless ten-minute lucha showcase, Silas/Stallion was exceptionally dramatic and one of Silas' best matches in 2018...and the top two bouts really popped. There's nothing you need to see, and no meaningful story development going into Best In The World...but for a show which had it's main event changed at the last minute it turned out surprisingly well. One of the best live shows since Honor Club's rebranded launch...

3) Silas Young vs Curt Stallion (***)

2) Cody vs Jonathan Gresham (****)

1) Young Bucks/Adam Page/Marty Scurll vs Matt Taven/Vinny Marseglia/Killer Elite Squad (****)