McXal's Reviews

We arrive at another Sinclair-owned ROH PPV with a card that, on paper, looks wonderful...but is so enormously stacked it is impossible to work-out how they will cram everything into a three hour PPV timeslot without match quality suffering. The headline act will see wounded, hurting but fighting World Champion Dalton Castle put his title on the line against Cody and Marty Scurll - with Dalton's injuries meaning fans are very much expecting a title change at this show. All the championships are on the line tonight; The Kingdom defend the Six-Man Titles against Los Ingobernables de Japon of EVIL, SANADA and BUSHI, new TV Champion Punishment Martinez adds his belt as a sweetener to his no rules grudge match with hated rival Hangman Page, whilst dominant Tag Champions the Briscoes defend against the all-conquering, world-famous Young Bucks in a match which really should be the main event. If that weren't enough there is also a WOH 8-woman tag featuring multiple Stardom talents, Kushida returning for another round with Jay Lethal and Kenny King gunning for vengeance on Austin Aries too. Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana are in Baltimore, MD.

The Kingdom are out to prove they are the best six-man team in the world, but face a stiff test from international superstars tonight as they defend against Los Ingobernables de Japon. EVIL, SANADA and BUSHI are seasoned as a trio and former NEVER Openweight 6-Man Champions too. This is a real test of the credentials of our current champions. Marseglia has a little kid in an 'IT'-style yellow raincoat hand him his red balloons during their entrance...but the lighting/production basically misses the whole thing which is a shame.

Taven and TK mug Evil at the bell but are easily pushed aside by the raw power. Sanada hits a standing moonsault, setting up a heated showdown between Marseglia and Bushi - the former going after the latter's mask. Taven gets BIG heat by doing Naito's 'Tranquilo' pose, but turns his back on Sanada in doing so and is smashed in the back of the head. Double flapjack/rope guillotine triple team from The Kingdom to Evil, restoring control for the champions. That is followed by a spinebuster/diving headbutt combo for 2, whilst Cabana puts over the trios work of The Kingdom hard. Evil gets a hot tag after superkicking O'Ryan in the ass, unleashing Sanada to put Matt in the Paradise Lock. TK tries to do the same thing on Sanada, but gets confused and finds it countered. Double ass dropkick by Sanada nailed! Marseglia pops a red balloon in his ear...but in response Bushi and Evil prevent the champs from hitting Rock Star Supernova. Taven blocks the Magic Killer and hits Just The Tip on Sanada for 2. Climax blocked with a dropkick to Taven's bad knee, with Bushi poised and ready to deliver a missile dropkick. Lungblower gets 2, with TK diving in to break the fall at the last. Sam Hane elbows, into the German suplex/springboard elbow drop by TK and Taven for 2. EVIL LARIAT! PELE BY TK! Skull End BLOCKED with Kick Of The King! POISON MIST BY BUSHI! Vinny is down and out, but with everyone else scattered Taven and O'Ryan grab Bushi for a 2-man Rock Star Supernova! The Kingdom retain at 11:07

Rating - *** - As an opening match this struck the perfect tone. They minimised the amount of silly 'Horror King' chicanery from Marseglia, kept the pace brisk and continually circled back to making The Kingdom look like credible, formidable defending champions. The Kingdom pulling out double and triple teams to nullify the individual strengths of their opponents was a core theme of this match; which is a HUGE statement when you think about what the LIJ crew have achieved as a trio in New Japan. The only time The Kingdom were ever really threatened was after Taven broke out the Naito pose, which got serious heat with the live crowd. All that built to a fine closing sequence - and a brilliant piece of improvisation from The Kingdom to beat BUSHI even when one of their own team had been incapacitated. This was probably better than I'd expected it to be in truth.

At the end of last year Bully Ray made a series of appearances where he seemingly announced his retirement. He fought valiantly in one final match at Final Battle, teaming with Tommy Dreamer in an absolute war with the Briscoes...then looked set to help the promotion by becoming an on-air 'Enforcer'. But at Supercard Of Honor he turned heel, violently attacking Cheeseburger for what he felt was disrespectfully trying to get him to come out of retirement for a match. He set upon a campaign of bullying and trying to drive 'disrespectful young boys' - like Burger, The Boys and other assorted enhancement talents - out of the company. He has tried to give Flip the same treatment, but found Gordon more than capable of standing up for himself. Now they meet in a bitter grudge match...

Flip stands coiled on the top turnbuckle, having correctly anticipated that Bubba will try to run in during his entrance attack him. He waits for Bully to arrive, back flips over him (removing his shorts in the process) and kicks him in the head! He repeatedly Superkicks the Hall Of Famer then decks him with a spear. Pescado scores and drops the veteran on his ass, setting him up for a somersault plancha as well. Bully tries to run, so Flip hits a SPRINGBOARD ELBOW SMASH TO THE FLOOR! He attack continues as he bashes Bully's head into the ringbell - then Flip gets the fans to hold his arms whilst he repeatedly punches him in the face. Samoan Pop gets 2. But then after a full four minutes of relentless Flip Gordon offence, Bubba pops up off the canvas and obliterates him with a body avalanche. Flip goes down selling that like death whilst Bully instantly acts like he's absolutely fine. And that is why Bubba Ray Dudley SUCKS. Vader Bomb misses, Flip tries the Star Spangled Stunner...which Bully counters with a kick to the balls. Obviously that is a DQ at 05:25

Rating - DUD - Sorry Flip, you did nothing wrong here...but this sucked. Bully Ray is a poisonous, toxic in-ring presence and it made this very difficult to watch. I'm writing a series of 90's AJPW reviews alongside ROH at present and the way veterans like Jumbo Tsuruta carefully, subtly but consistently work to enhance the upcoming talent like Misawa, Kawada, Kobashi and Taue is a thing of beauty. Even on offence Jumbo will sell a move, an injury, or bust his ass to put over how beaten up he is. Compare that to Bully, who got beaten all over ringside by Flip for the majority of the match - then when it was time popped up as if nothing had happened, smeared Flip to the ground with a single basic move which Gordon is then expected to sell like death. NOTHING about this did anything for Flip Gordon - which is inexcusable. He simply doesn't need to be involved with Bubba at all.

Bully starts beating on Flip's legs with a chair, intent on ensuring he can flip no more. Eli Isom tries to save and is beaten down with a garbage can. Cheeseburger is out next and is swiftly disposed of with another one of those emphatic powerbombs. Todd Sinclair is tossed aside, and Colt Cabana has seen enough. He threatens Bully with a chair as he teases putting Flip through a table...so Bubba turns and leaves. 

Bringing in four Joshi stars for a one-off PPV appearance isn't cheap, and is a welcome statement of intent towards ROH's women's division. Sumie is the champion and has teamed regularly with Tenille as late, even though she beat the Australian in the semi-finals of the WOH Title Tournament and Dashwood has made it clear she wants a title shot. Sumie's friendship with former protege Jenny Rose is strained since Jenny made it personal and relentlessly pursued Sumie for a title opportunity too. Their partner is Mayu Iwatani, legitimately one of the best wrestlers in the world. She has her own motivations for wanting to be in this as well; chasing new World Of Stardom Champion Kagetsu for the top prize in Stardom and payback on Klein for beating her in the WOH Title Tournament. Klein wants a shot at Sumie and has repeatedly sided with those who oppose her - tonight bringing in Oedo Tai. Their line-up includes Hazuki, making her ROH debut despite appearing in the Title Tournament (under her Queen's Quest name of 'HZK' at a Stardom show)...

Sumie makes it clear that she is the captain of her team, ordering everyone else out so she can start with World Of Stardom Champion Kagetsu. Sakai looks for Smash Mouth, has it blocked then they trade VICIOUS palm strikes. Kimura tags and shoves aside Sumie because she wants a piece of Tenille. She starts making fun of Tenille's poses and catchphrase...annoying Dashwood so much she almost spins herself off her own feet hitting a Russian legsweep. Rose gets 2 with a fisherman suplex...but runs into a big dropkick from Hana. Klein decks Jenny with a lariat for 2, but Rose blocks the K-Power and brings in Mayu. Hazuki tags in with her, giving us an immediate rematch of their WOH Title Tournament bout. Sling Blade by Iwatani, who is then joined by Sakai to hit a double neckbreaker drop. Kagetsu doesn't like that so joins her young partner to hit a double senton splash on the WOH Champion. Kelly starts distracting the referee whilst Oedo Tai triple team Sumie. The Gatekeeper beats on Sakai with knees soon after...but Sumie counters into the same DDT she beat Klein with for the title. Dashwood gives Klein a neckbreaker in the ropes...only to be mauled by Kagetsu and Kimura. DOUBLE Taste Of Tenille in response! Dilemma on Kelly (as a cameraman falls over), into a flying crossbody for 2. DOUBLE MISSILE DROPKICK from Iwatani to Kagetsu and Kimura! Spear from Jenny to Hazuki! FROG SPLASH by Mayu gets 2 before the rest of Oedo Tai break the pin. Hazuki stomps on Mayu's head after Kagetsu cracks her in the back with a metal placard. STALLING BRAINBUSTER BY HANA! FOR 2! Hazuki distracts the ref again...but Kagetsu accidentally nails Kimura with the same metal placard! TOP ROPE SUICIDE DIVE TO THE FLOOR BY SAKAI! DRAGON SUPLEX BY IWATANI! She pins Hana to win at 10:25

Rating - *** - I'm sad this didn't get to longer because they had the building absolutely rocking. This could have had the same kind of impact in Women Of Honor that the amazing Michinoku Pro trios match had at ECW Barely Legal 1997 (or the Dragon Gate guys had at the original Supercard Of Honor) if they'd been afforded just a little more time to turn this into an instant classic. The step-up in talent the Stardom women bring with them is drastic. Iwatani is sensational - even in brief little cameos like we saw here. Kagetsu is fantastic as the villainous spearhead of Oedo Tai whilst young Hana Kimura and Hazuki were obscenely talented given how young they both were. The real emotional core of this ten minute sprint actually came from Sumie, who was superb as the uppity, pugnacious 'home promotion' ace looking to stave off invaders from overseas. Going so short meant they went at breakneck speed throughout, and that unfortunately led to some moments of sloppiness, limited amounts of time to enjoy the unique skills the Stardom women bring to the party and no time for moments of excellence to really breathe and stand-out. But these are relatively minor criticisms and don't stop this from comfortably being ROH's Women Of Honor MOTY so far...

The one thing you can never really criticise Kenny King for is his promo ability. The pre-match video for this bout is almost entirely a sizzling interview with him. Rather than complain endlessly about his former friend and mentor attacking him in Chicago, he links that assault to Aries' wider lack of respect for him. He accuses Aries of looking down at him and not acknowledging him as an equal - even though the TV Title that Aries was trying to 'collect' had already been held by Kenny twice. He also admits that he cost Aries the TV Title against Silas - but only because he was trying to help his friend and got 'overzealous' when he saw Silas (who cheated him out of the TV Title just weeks earlier). Tonight he isn't just trying to get payback on Aries for attacking him. He is fighting to prove that he is no longer a subordinate, a follower, a student or a protege - he is now on A-Double's level.

They have a tense stare-off and it's clear that Aries is still trying to remind King of his inferior 'status'. Kenny rejects that by repeatedly backing A-Double into the ropes and shoving him around. OPEN HAND SLAP by Aries! He rockets King to the floor, but King charges back in before he can hit the Heat Seeking Missile. Royal Flush blocked...Brainbuster blocked...lariat by Kenny to send his foe to the apron! He keeps sweeping Aries' legs from under him (inspired by his Karate Kid ring attire) - even doing it on the floor when Austin leaves the ring to escape him. Over-confidence is what finally gets the best of King. He plays to the crowd once too often, attempts a springboard move and is viciously dropkicked to the floor. TOP ROPE AXEHANDLE TO THE FLOOR, with insane hang-time, puts Aries on top. He starts attacking King's midsection, back and neck; touching all the bases to set up his arsenal of finishing moves. ONE NIGHT STAND by King gets 2. He follows that with a capture suplex; all of this offence coming when Aries thought he was in charge and had started swaggering around the ring. Royal Flush countered with an eye rake, into the shinbreak back suplex, then the Last Chancery! King goes to the ropes, so Aries tries to give him the apron DVD...then when King blocks that he hits a hanging neckbreaker in the ropes instead. HEAT SEEKING MISSILE COUNTERED WITH THE CAPO KICK! Aries is almost out - but spits in Kenny's face! Kenny freaks out and teases giving him a Royal Flush on the apron. Aries convinces him not to by begging for mercy as a friend - an obvious rouse and one which almost leads to victory with a small package. ROYAL FLUSH! Aries grabs the ropes to break the pin! The former ROH World Champion clings to the ropes to survive then tries to grab his litany of championship belts before leaving. CORKSCREW PESCADO up the aisle to stop him. Kenny grabs the Impact World Title...and tosses it to the ground. I presume that may be why Aries doesn't work more ROH dates after this show?! BRAINBUSTER ON THE FLOOR BY ARIES! Unlike King he had no hesitation hitting his finisher on the floor. King displays one last burst of energy going for a small package...which Aries shuts down with the discus elbow. BRAINBUSTER! A-Double grabs the win at 15:35

Rating - **** - As I said when I reviewed the Silas/Aries TV match, I understand that Aries is a polarising figure. That has been the case for a long time. But my opinion on him has always been that I don't need to share a locker room with him and don't want to be his friend - I just really like to watch the guy wrestle. When he shows up with his working boots on he's still as good as anyone and this match was no exception. If I'm being perfectly honest some of the 'storyline' elements of this match fell a little flat with me; particularly King deciding not to pull the trigger on Aries on the floor because they are 'friends'. It felt heavy-handed and clumsy when compared to the more enjoyable cat and mouse battle for superiority that the 'wrestling' portion of the match delivered. I loved that Kenny spent lots of the early going countering signature moves that Aries has done for most of his eighteen year career...but was then undone because he doesn't have the same 'big match' experience that the multi-time, multi-promotion World Champion does and got distracted by a big crowd reacting to his stuff. There were two moments of absolute HATRED within the bout that I adored too; first when Kenny spat at Aries, triggering a mass brawl on the floor...then later when King tossed the Impact Title down, triggering a wild offensive flurry from Aries; the kind of offensive flurry that has led him to countless championships. It's a shame we didn't get more Aries special attraction matches during this run. He adds a touch of real quality to every show he works and has an almost-entirely new roster to work fresh matches with...

As the pre-match video goes over, Lethal has felt lost since failing to win the ROH Title from Dalton Castle at the Anniversary Show (then failing to win the Tag Titles from the Briscoes at Supercard as well). For someone that came to be defined by prolonged runs with Ring Of Honor championships, going so long without gold weighs heavily upon him. To prove to ROH officials that he deserves another title shot he has been going around trying to beat people who have beaten him. Punishment Martinez, Mark Briscoe, Matt Taven and Chuck Taylor have all fallen. Now he looks to beat Kushida in the rubber match of a trilogy which stretches back to the inaugural ROH/NJPW War Of The Worlds event in 2014. On that night Lethal beat Kushida, but when they met again on the 2017 War Of The Worlds Tour it was Kushida who emerged victorious (in a bout which I had in ROH's Top 5 MOTY's for 2017). They are looking to break the 1-1 tie, and Lethal knows this is effectively a #1 contendership match as well. Win here and he can realistically expect a World Title shot in the future...

No handshake from Kushida, demonstrating how seriously he is taking this one. The early grapping is cagey and it is noticeable how they mirror each other's movements. Lethal tries to control Kushida's speed and power with headlocks...but then mistakenly allows the pace to quicken and immediately misses his cartwheel dropkick sequence. Kushida steals that same combo (something he has done in both previous matches) to drive the Franchise to the outside. SOMERSAULT PLANCHA TRILOGY! Kushida is stealing Lethal's stuff in his own promotion! He re-enters the ring with repeated Randy Savage-style double axehandles (complete with Macho Man posing). They battle over a vertical suplex, until Kushida bails on that and goes for the Kushida Injection (which he hit in 2017)! This time Jay counters with a kick to the leg. It triggers him to start working Kushida's leg hard; knowing that tactic has won him high profile matches with the likes of Jon Gresham already in 2018. Kushida flails in pain, so Jay sarcastically gets the handshake that the New Japan star declined before the bell...before blasting him with a turnbuckle shinbreaker for 2. Figure 4 blocked, but all Kushida can do is hobble to the apron where Lethal drops him with a springboard dropkick. Looking for payback from earlier, Jay starts taking flight, unleashing the Tope Trilogy. But on the third Kushida COUNTERS WITH A FLYING ARMBAR TO THE FLOOR! Lethal tries to grab at the bad leg, but now Kushida has an injury to target as well - repeatedly dodging Jay's attacks and whacking the arm. Lethal Combination scores...only to leave both men flat out on the ground nursing their respective injuries. Lethal is up first; heading upstairs whilst still clutching his arm. Kushida is up to prevent a Macho Elbow, but when he tries another Kushida Injection Jay COUNTERS into the Lethal Express. HAIL TO THE KING COUNTERED TO A CROSS ARMBREAKER! COUNTERED TO THE FIGURE 4 LEGLOCK! Both men struggle to the ropes but Kushida's leg injury has almost brought him to tears. He battles back to his feet and starts kicking at Jay's arm...so of course the Franchise kicks back at the leg just as hard. SLAP by Kushida! He takes his own sarcastic handshake...mafia kick by Jay. NO SOLD! PELE BY KUSHIDA! Running punt to the arm! Lethal Injection COUNTERED TO THE HOVERBOARD LOCK! Just like Toronto in 2017 he tries to roll through that into Back To The Future - but this time he has an injured leg so Jay counters to a small package for 2. Kushida desperately tries to lift his opponent into Back To The Future...COUNTERED to an Ace Crusher! Tanaka Punch blocked with a kick to the leg! LETHAL INJECTION! Lethal snatches victory at 17:35

Rating - ****1/2 - An absolutely super match, adding another classic to Jay Lethal's phenomenal 2017 which already includes two ROH MOTYC's with Gresham and the sensational Anniversary Show clash with Dalton Castle. In pro-wrestling trilogies it is so hard to 'save the best for last', but they absolutely did that here. Kushida refusing to shake hands instantly let everyone know how serious and big-time this match was; a simple but stark and effective tonal gesture that embodied the intensity that oozed from every second of the contest as it unfolded. There were some wonderful references to their past matches; Kushida trying to steal Lethal's moves goes right back to their first match, and the way they replayed the Toronto '17 finish - except this time Kushida was too injured to pull it off - were both incredibly effective, neat little touches for long-time fans. This was absolutely essential viewing for ROH in 2018.

Despite this feud going on for months this is the first time ROH have been able to lock in a singles match between them (and only now by agreeing to throw the rules out). It started back at Bound By Honor in Florida when Martinez, frustrated by recent high profile losses (in particular to Bullet Club members like Cody and Marty Scurll) attacked Hangman and put him through a table before their scheduled match. Page got a measure of revenge at War Of The Worlds Toronto when he effectively cost Punisher the IWGP US Championship...but then paid the price himself later in the night when Martinez cost him the ROH TV Title. In Royal Oak Hangman put Martinez through a table to further escalate the matter. As recently as two weeks ago at State Of The Art their violent clashes marred a Proving Ground Instant Reward bout - which was ultimately won by Punishment, who went on to dethone Silas for the TV Title. It is on the line, but other than that there are no rules. This could get very violent, very quickly. Silas Young joins commentary in a foul mood...

Martinez comes out in a casket, is dressed in street clothes, has red facepaint on and is flanked by multiple druid figures. Page debuts the entrance theme that he is still using to this day in AEW. The two combatants aren't interested in Bobby Cruise's championship introductions and just start brawling. Page forces the big man to the floor with an elbow suicida as Riccaboni and Cabana mention that he is competing with a stitched-up eyebrow split. He goes for a table right away, but has to change approach quickly to throw a chair into Punisher's face as he looms in the background. He props the table up against the ringpost (as he did in Royal Oak)...but Punisher side-steps the attempted SSP off the apron and gives him a LAST RIDE INTO THE APRON. CHOKESLAM ON THE GUARDRAIL NAILED! Page's back is ruined after that devastating two-strike combo - and Punisher makes it worse by hammering it with a chair then hurling him back at the guardrails. The champ opens up four adjacent chairs - and stacks a couple more on top for good measure - but takes so long about doing so that Hangman is getting time to recover. Martinez starts climbing the rails like a mad man...but is cut off with a GUARDRAIL SUPERPLEX TO THE FLOOR! Punisher looks in considerable pain, so Page looks to capitalise with repeated elbows at the neck and head. All of which the Punisher shakes off to batter him with a lariat. CRADLE TOMBSTONE ON A CHAIR by Hangman - which only gets 2. The challenger tries to take the bout out of the ring, inadvertently putting himself in prime position for a CURB STOMP ON THE APRON! That looked horrific! Punishment wants to put the exclamation point on it with a Super Dragon-esque steel chair curb stomp - and starts using zip-ties to restrain Hangman when he blocks it. SHORTARM CURBSTOMP ON A CHAIR for 2! Martinez sets up a table inside the ring, as a defiant Page spits in his face. That enrages Punisher so much that he accidentally breaks the zip-ties. The fight spills through the ropes...SPEAR THROUGH THE TABLE by Hangman! TOP ROPE MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR SCORES! Page plays to the crowd but doesn't see an irate Punisher stand up like a demon behind him. MAFIA KICK THROUGH THE CHAIRS! He pours thumbtacks all over the apron - but then Page back drops him straight into them! Rite Of Passage blocked...SOUTH OF HEAVEN THROUGH THE TABLE! Martinez collapses on top of Hangman to retain the TV Title at 15:07

Rating - **** - Hangman Page is always great value in a no-rules environment like this. He's spent his entire ROH career producing GREAT feud-ending hardcore bouts in fact (his feuds with ACH, Jay Briscoe, BJ Whitmer and Frankie Kazarian immediately come to mind). This match was unrelentingly violent, and fought at astonishing speed as well, which was smart-wrestling and entirely keeping for a feud which hadn't actually made it to a formal singles match before due to the ill-will between them. It wasn't complex in terms of structure, but instead raw and animalistic. I could have done with a couple less delays to set-up a future stunt and the tacks added absolutely nothing but neither of those things stop this from being great fun and a display of tremendous courage from the participants.

In many ways this is the definitive ROH Tag Title rivalry. It may not be the 'best feud' for the belts, but no other teams define tag wrestling in ROH the way these two do. The Briscoes are the OG's, the dominating 9-time former champions who have been setting the standards in this company for more than a decade. The Bucks took far longer to establish themselves in ROH but have gone on to become two of the biggest independent wrestling stars on the planet, eclipsing even the Briscoes as the icons of the North American tag wrestling landscape. They were last feuding over these belts in late-2016/early-2017 - which saw the Briscoes win a non-title bout in London, but suffer comprehensive championship defeats at both Final Battle 2016 and a subsequent January live event. The Briscoes were targets as Bullet Club - particularly The Elite - took over ROH...and on Episode 347 of the ROH SBG TV show they snapped. Cutting short a title defence against the Bucks they instead opted to violently assault them (and their Bullet Club colleagues) with chairs. This grudge showdown was booked for Best In The World, with the Bucks looking to reclaim the Tag Titles that they haven't held since Death Before Dishonor 15. Also of interest is the fact that the Bucks are now IWGP Heavyweight Tag Champions too - making this a showdown between ROH and NJPW's top tag teams. 

The crowd is jacked for this, with plenty of vocal support for both teams. Mark and Nick start - evenly matched and fired up. Nick turns on his heels and clobbers an unsuspecting Jay to the floor. That in turn causes Jay to drag his ass to the floor...so Nick roundhouse kicks him in the side of the head. The Bucks try to hit a flurry of double teams - but find the Briscoes ready with a counter at every turn! Double Superkicks nailed...but they barely knock the champs off their feet! Jay spots the danger and starts decimating the Bucks with strikes before they can put more combo moves together - then joins his brother to hit the Redneck Boogie for 2. The duelling 'Young Bucks' and 'Man Up' chants are deafening! The Briscoes are working hard to keep the challengers separated, mostly by isolating Matt and going after the back and midsection that has bothered him all year. Matt tries to run away and blasts Jay with a Superkick on the outside, only to find Mark blocking his way to the hot tag! FLIPPING BLOCKBUSTER OFF THE APRON! Matt sacrifices his own back to break free and make the tag to Nick. ROPE RUN CORKSCREW MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! He does his crazy hot tag house of fire sequence - but all of it on the floor for extra impact! Stereo tope suicidas nailed, notably without the 'Rise Of The Terminator' posing to indicate how seriously the Jackson brothers are taking it. CHOKE from Mark to Nick, throttling enough of his momentum to set up a lariat by Jay. DIVING BLOCKBUSTER BY MARK to keep Matt Jackson out of commission! Day One Neckbreaker/Froggy Bow combo gets 2. The champs try to set up an avalanche Redneck Boogie. COUNTERED TO A SUPER RANA! Hot tag to Matt...but he is carrying injuries and left fighting both champions at the same time. He runs right into the diving DVD by Jay to leave all four men down. Superkicks by the Bucks! NO SOLD! BRISCOE SUPERKICKS NAILED! NO SOLD! LARIATS INSTEAD! JAY DRILLER! NICK BREAKS THE PIN! The Briscoes haul a bedraggled Matt off the canvas for the Doomsday Device. COUNTERED WITH A SPRINGBOARD CUTTER BY NICK! Moonsault off the apron scores! SPRINGBOARD DOOMSDAY DEVICE ON JAY FOR 2! MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK! MARK FROGGY BOW'S THE REF TO BREAK THE PIN! He tries to bring a chair in (to recreate what happened on TV)...blocked into a SUPERKICK VAN DAM-INATOR! MELTZER DRIVER! Mark breaks the pin! The Bucks try to hit their finish again, so behind the referee's back Mark HURLS a chair into Nick's head. JAY DRILLER ON A CHAIR! MATT KICKS OUT! SUPER REDNECK BOOGIE! Briscoes retain at 17:00

Rating - ****1/2 - I am racking my brains and I can't think of anything which stops this becoming the definitive Briscoes/Bucks tag match. It grabbed you from the opening seconds and never relented, taking you on an utter rollercoaster where it genuinely felt like either team could win the match at any moment. In front of a rabid audience they were absolutely bombing on each other. Like at Final Battle 2016 the Briscoes knew they couldn't trade combo moves with the Bucks for prolonged periods of time so busted their asses to isolate them individually. Except where at Final Battle 2016 (and Honor Reigns Supreme 2017) the Jacksons were able to overcome that approach - now Matt fights with a lingering back problem which the Briscoes ruthlessly exploited. It made for a tense, evenly-matched war; and one which it seemed like the Briscoes were about to lose after the Bucks broke out a deep cut and brought back More Bang For Your Buck. That was when the 'new attitude' of the Briscoes kicked into gear. They saved the match by attacking the ref, used chairs as weapons as they'd done so effectively on television and eventually won the match (in an admittedly slightly whacky) final sequence via heavy chair usage. The ref bump/obvious weapon use spots did make the conclusion feel over-the-top and slightly less to my taste. But it is important to contextualise this by pointing out this was a Briscoes who had lost three of their last four matches against the Bucks, who had been shut out of the Tag Title picture for a long time whilst the Bucks rose to prominence, and a Briscoe team who have been getting attacked by Bullet Club going back to War Of The Worlds 2016. Overblown though it may be, it was a stunning mission statement from the Briscoes; a flag in the ground to herald their return to the mountain-top as ROH's top team and to signal the beginning of the end of the Bucks run as the top duo in this promotion. This absolutely should have been the main event, even before you take into consideration that Dalton's body was falling apart...

The Briscoes try to put the boots to the Bucks after the match...and are joined by SoCal Uncensored too. SCU tease joining them in beating the Bucks down, but instead turn the chairs on the champs and beat Jay and Mark to the floor! Young Bucks and SCU look at each other in acknowledgement of their prolonged history together...

The reigning World Champion, Dalton Castle, has poured everything he has into this title reign. Already plagued with back injuries, he is still champ after months of ferocious combat...but his body is now paying the price. A stress fracture in his back has caused 'severe nerve damage', he broke his hand and fingers at Supercard Of Honor, he has torn muscles in his leg - and has started to miss ring-time as a consequence. He sat out the War Of The Worlds Tour, didn't compete at the NYC Excellence TV Taping (meaning scheduled defences against Matt Taven and Ultimo Guerrero were cancelled) and was absent from State Of The Art 2018 weekend too. Indeed, since losing to Cody in the final fall of Champions vs Bullet Club at Bound By Honor Night 2, his only action was on the Honor United UK Tour - where he looked a shadow of his former self (albeit still managing to scrape a commendable title defence against EVIL in London). On paper, he doesn't have a chance tonight. His body is too broken and his opponents both come from the same stable. And yet hope lingers. Although both challengers have beaten him (Cody at the aforementioned Champions vs Bullet Club, Marty in Defy Or Deny at Masters Of The Craft 2018)...he has clean wins over them too. And crucially, the 'Bullet Club is fine' debacle now centres on Cody and Marty. Relations between them are extremely strained after both of them refused to back out and drop their (legitimate) claims to this opportunity. Can they get on the same page to bring the World Title back to Bullet Club? Can Dalton pull off yet another miracle? NWA Champion Nick Aldis is at ringside, scouting Cody ahead of All In. Cody has agreed to defend the World Title in their match if he wins here.

Marty has new remixed entrance music, and both he and Cody have super-special entrance gear. Cody also sends Burnard The Bear to the back to demonstrate how serious he is. Scurll socks him in the jaw at the bell, leaving us in no doubt that they have no qualms about fighting each other. Cody hits a Disaster Kick to knock Castle to the floor...only for Dalton to recover and hit the tiger feint rana off the apron. Castle hobbling and limping around after hitting that isn't nice to see. He is clearly fighting through incredible pain - but tosses Scurll around the ring, eventually into a springboard dropkick from his own stable-mate. Castle eats the apron Superkick from The Villain, who flows in one smooth motion into a tornado DDT to the floor on Rhodes as well. The Bullet Club members take into the ring and start really laying it in as they exchange chops. Dalton tries to run in...but can barely lift his leg trying to throw a kick at Cody and is dropped on his face. Next Dalton tries a superplex but can't find the power to get Cody up for it, so has to modify it to an avalanche judo throw instead. Scurll capitalises with a Crossface Chickenwing on the champ. FIGURE 4 BY CODY AS WELL! In the end Cody and Marty start fighting amongst themselves as the desperately injured champ bails. Cody thinks about hitting Marty with a low blow - but he is a Villain of course and sees it coming. Low blow blocked...and Scurll sets up Shattered Dreams! Brandi hops onto the apron to distract the ref as the American Nightmare hops off the turnbuckles and punts Marty in the balls. He slides the 'Ring' of Honor onto his finger...SO MARTY SNAPS THE FINGER! BANG-A-RANG! Nick Aldis drags Todd Sinclair out of the ring?! He does so to protect his ROH Title shot at All In, but in doing also saves his old friend Marty! The Boys try to attack Aldis but he swats them like flies. SPRINGBOARD SUICIDE DIVE BY CODY! Scurll waffles Dalton with the title belt! Now Brandi and Cody drag Todd out before he can count! Sinclair ejects Aldis and Brandi from ringside as the three competitors trade schoolboy pins, then knock each other out with wild strikes. Cody brings a bag of powder in - but that's a trick Scurll has favoured recently. He sees it coming so slaps the powder into Cody's eyes! BLINDED CROSS RHODES ON SCURLL! Dalton then chucks Cody out and almost snatches his win! Bang-A-Rang blocked...CHICKENWING! CODY BREAKS IT! CROSS RHODES ON CODY! BANG-A-RANG ON MARTY! CASTLE RETAINS! Dalton's impossible run continues! It's over in a hectic 13:15

Rating - **** - So I have this down as a MASSIVELY under-rated PPV main event. It was far from a 'typical' ROH championship match, and definitely should have gone on earlier to allow Briscoes/Bucks to headline...but considering the condition of Dalton Castle this was an amazing effort. The guy can, very visibly, barely walk pain-free let alone work a wrestling match. Cabana noticed that even during his entrance he looked burdened with discomfort. Given his physical limitations, the big personalities of his opponents and Cody's finely-honed ability to work a dog and pony show match - the way they took this triple threat REALLY worked. The fact that everyone in the building was expecting a title change due to Dalton's condition made it easier for the wrestlers to toy with the audiences emotions, amplified by the chaotic, anarchic, non-stop brawl they put on. Sure the finish was overbooked, but not in a way which didn't make sense. People aren't clamouring to see Aldis in an ROH ring sure. But Cody/Aldis is a marquee match at All In (which he wanted the ROH Title on the line for), and Nick has a well-documented friendship with Marty. His insertion onto the bout was pointed, brief and VERY relevant. Brandi wasn't popping up at random intervals. She popped up to stop Marty insulting the Rhodes name by using Shattered Dreams, or to save the title for her husband. Cody and Marty ditching the pretence of 'Bullet Club is fine' to beat the hell out of each other was great. Castle dipping into unreal reserves of endurance, courage and heart to even appear in the ring at all was the emotional heart. I've seen very few critics like this as much as I have, however I really think for the STYLE that they were trying to work and given the challenges Dalton's injuries presented this was a hell of a fight.

Tape Rating - **** - I've had real issues with some of Ring Of Honor's live event/VOD/house shows (whatever we're supposed to call them now Honor Club streams them all), but they've knocked it out of the park for all three of their 'big' events so far in 2018. Following in the footsteps of the 16th Anniversary and Supercard Of Honor 12 this was a fantastic PPV. So many different styles of wrestling on display from great athletics, the finest Women Of Honor bout of the year, hardcore Street Fighting, state of the art tag team work, a pure wrestling clinic and a thrilling sports-entertainment style car crash main event too. The last two hours of this show were absolutely superb - as good a two hour stretch of wrestling as ROH has produced in a long, long time. One of the easiest recommendations of the year for me. Even if you don't like the main event as much as I did, Briscoes/Bucks and Lethal/Kushida are must-see bouts for Ring Of Honor's 2018. 

3) Punishment Martinez vs Adam Page (****)

2) Jay Lethal vs Kushida (****1/2)

1) Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Young Bucks (****1/2)