McXal's Reviews

Night Two of the 2018 Global Wars Tour, and we arrive with the hope that ROH is able to step up in quality after an underwhelming first night of the tour in Lewiston. Top of the bill is a big four-team clash as the Young Bucks face Jay Lethal and Jon Gresham, The Kingdom of Vinny Marseglia and TK O'Ryan plus the Machine Gun/Time Splitter hybrid duo of Chris Sabin and Kushida. Choice cuts on the undercard include Hangman Page looking to take down Tetsuya Naito, Jay Briscoe and Scorpio Sky in singles action to preview their ladder match at Final Battle, or Christopher Daniels fighting to preserve his ROH career in a big-time clash with Jeff Cobb. Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana are on commentary in Lowell, MA.

Given that Taven is from the area he always gets a big ovation in this building. Tonight is no exception as he continues his preparations for Final Battle by facing Los Ingobernables' BUSHI. In addition to his purple 'Real World Championship' belt, Taven now also wears a crown to the ring...

Bushi is much too quick for Taven at the outset and throws his body around the ring making things difficult for the leader of The Kingdom. That continues...until Matt takes the fight to the floor and starts scrambling his brains against the guardrails. Bushi stalls for time before hooking Taven in the ropes to hit a JUMPING DDT ON THE APRON! Somehow Taven survives that and comes back to level the masked man with Just The Tip. He is pissed off though, and has to be dragged away from Bushi by the referee when he tries to punch his lights out. Soon after Taven gets some payback for the DDT on the apron with a flowing DDT in the middle of the ring for a 2-count. Missile dropkick by Bushi, looking to quicken the pace again. It rocks Matt backwards across the ring and into position for a fisherman neckbreaker. He tries to spray black mist in Taven's direction, but Matt ducks and hits Kick Of The King. Climax wins it for the 'Real World Champion' at 06:56

Rating - ** - I quite liked this. It was brief which helped, but the speed and trickster-tendencies of BUSHI really meshed well with the pseudo-babyface Taven. Without it being a total squash, Taven comes out of this looking extremely dominant on his way to Final Battle.

Rhett Titus comes out to flex and pose in his miniscule Speedo, before joining commentary...

In Lewiston we saw Juice make his first appearance in the US for ROH in almost two years. It was a victorious appearance too as he defeated former World Champion Christopher Daniels. He faces an altogether different challenge tonight though; it's tag team action, this time he TEAMS with a former World Champ...and his opponents are big monsters. Dalton has just witnessed his Final Battle opponent secure a win in the opener, so won't want to instantly follow up Taven's win with a loss...

Juice and Dalton's super-special tag team entrance is rather splendid. Robinson starts and all his eccentricities start to confuse the Bruiser. BCB has an extra problem as he nabs one of The Boys trying to steal his beer as well! Dalton and Juice tip him over the top rope, but didn't see Milonas blind-tag on the way past! Robinson knocks Brian to the canvas...but inadvertently on top of Dalton! Juice can't get the unconscious Kingpin off of his partner so calls in The Boys and Todd Sinclair to assist. Realising he is needed, Bruiser joins in the fun and with his leverage as well they finally free Castle from under Milonas. Pulp Friction blocked by Brian - shunting Juice into the corner and using a body avalanche to absolutely flatten him. BCB uses his (relative) speed to drag Robinson back by the dreadlocks when he looks set to make a tag to Dalton. Samoan drop/standing senton combo gets 2 for The Bouncers, but from there Juice ducks a running crossbody attempt by Milonas and at last dives into the big tag to Castle. Bruiser tries to kill his momentum quickly by pounding on his bad back, only for Dalton to give him a jumping knee in the corner and a HEAT SEEKING MISSILE! Cannonball by Robinson, who summons Dalton back so they can hit a double suplex on Beer City. DOUBLE SUPLEX ON MILONAS gets 2! Castle tries to follow that with a pescado at the Kingpin...who simply catches him for a ruthless slam on the apron. Beer City Driver gets 2! Robinson dodges Brian's big leg drop and punches Bruiser into Pulp Friction! Juice wins at 11:40

Rating - ** - You won't see more of a surprise package all night. These four misfits came together to produce something rather fun which somehow showcased all of their skills to their fullest. Dalton was protected, meaning his broken body wasn't constantly in the firing line and allowing him to hit a few big moves when needed. Robinson brought all the workrate, and The Bouncers both took some really big bumps for their size. Altogether this was a decent blend of action, comedy and solid tag team wrestling...which I just hadn't expected.

Kaz defeated Flip in one of his earliest ROH matches, so Gordon has some extra motivation to win here. He is loosely friends with the Young Bucks too of course, so will have no hesitation in inflicting damage on one half of the Tag Champions as he builds up to Final Battle. Frankie will know that Flip has a World Title shot in his pocket after winning the Sea Of Honor Tournament on the Jericho Cruise, so will be keenly aware of how valuable a victory over a potential future World Champion could be... 

They open up and appear extremely evenly matched; significant because it shows Frankie to be competitive with Flip in terms of speed, but Gordon to be Kaz's match when it comes to strength and strategy. Frankie tries to control his foe with tackles and headlocks...so Flip increases the pace and takes his head off with a dropkick. Jerry Lynn leg drop in the ropes sends Gordon to the floor, soon followed by a Russian legsweep. Both moves see Flip start to nurse his head and neck which prompts Kaz to start targeting those body parts with a few submissions as well. SLINGSHOT RANA TO THE FLOOR! And Flip gets almost no time to recover before Kazarian is on him again with the slingshot DDT back into the ring as well. He manages to connect with a scrappy Pele Kick then the Springboard Spear...but then collapses alongside Kazarian holding his neck again. Somehow he gets up and snaps off the Falcon Arrow though. Sadly he then tries one big move too many and slingshots himself straight into Frankie's Ace Crusher for 2. Superplex blocked by Gordon, allowing him to superkick the knees and hit an IED to the back. Springboard Spear COUNTERED to a flying Codebreaker by Kaz. Kinder Surprise by Flip! 450 SPLASH GETS KNEES! They go for a frantic exchange of pinning attempts, with Gordon finally holding Frankie's shoulders down for a three-count at 10:32

Rating - *** - In terms of style and pacing this match reminded me of Juice/Daniels from the previous night in Lewiston. For the time it was given it was superb; athletic, exciting and completely modern professional wrestling. But the comparative lack of time from bell to bell meant that sacrifices had to be made - i.e. Flip didn't have enough time to really sell the neck injury they centred the match around, Frankie didn't really have time to work a proper heat segment on it either...and when the time came the finish felt totally rushed and inconsistent with the quality of the rest of the contest. A prime example of why 2018 ROH was both a) highly watchable due to the talents involved and b) immensely frustrating. Matches like this also demonstrate how good Flip is, and why spending an entire year of his career in a feud with Bully Ray feels like a colossal waste of his potential.

This is a Proving Ground Match so if Jenny can beat Sumie, or take her to a time-limit draw, she'll earn herself a Women Of Honor World Title shot. It is also a rematch from the War Of The World 2018 Tour in Chicago - which saw Sakai make her first defence of the WOH Championship against Rose. That bout was fun, so I come in with higher expectations this time around. Brandi Rhodes joins commentary for this one.

Having Brandi on commentary talking about a WOH division she was already plotting to decimate with the formation of AEW feels incredibly short-sighted. Rose tries to intimidate and overpower the champion, only to find Sumie ready to unleash a barrage of strikes. Jenny hits a suplex before applying a bow and arrow - clearly trying to injure and slow Sumie down. Sakai is so unimpressed by that she actually starts using Rose's size against her; bouncing her off the ropes and pinging her into the ground using her own momentum. It leaves Rose so disorientated she almost walks into a potentially lethal cross armbreaker. MISSILE DROPKICK TO THE FLOOR by Sumie when Jenny tries to escape! Jenny is reeling...so bashes Sakai against the guardrail and hits a SPEAR ON THE FLOOR! She re-enters with a diving clothesline off the top  (almost Kane-style) and decks the champion again. CAPTURE GERMAN SUPLEX by Rose! BACK DROP DRIVER BY SUMIE! Rose tries to fire off some strikes...so Sakai drops her with a wrist-clutch back suplex too. Smash Mouth blocked, so Sakai snaps off the fisherman neckbreaker instead. Lungblower by Jenny...who for some reason thinks this is an opportune time to try climbing the ropes. FRANKENSTEINER by Sakai, for the win at 08:49

Rating - *** - I've said quite a few times that I felt like Sumie was the wrong choice to be WOH Champion. However, what I have also said multiple times throughout 2018 is that she has had a GREAT year in the ring and has proved to be an incredibly savvy workhorse at the helm of the WOH division. With her at the summit this has easily been the most consistent that ROH's women's division has been since Sinclair relaunched it. I'm not sure this was as polished as their first match, but it absolutely felt like an absolute battle. They didn't stop moving, they beat the absolute hell out of each other and they also demonstrated that they have genuine chemistry as opponents. As the match wore on it did break down to something of a spot-fest...but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. 

The Briscoes must be starting to get quite irritated by Scorpio Sky. They beat The Addiction impressively at Death Before Dishonor...but when Sky swaps in for Daniels it has seen SCU beat the Briscoes at All In, then take the Tag Titles from them too. With a Ladder War at Final Battle brewing this one presents both men with the opportunity to inflict some pre-emptive damage before the PPV.

Jay jumps Scorpio during his entrance and beats him all around ringside. Sky shows his smarts by getting in the ring and taking Briscoe down with a running rana, instead of brawling on the floor. Of course Briscoe promptly takes it straight back outside as soon as he seizes the advantage back. Sky lands a suplex on the floor...but then slingshots himself into an Ace Crusher just as Flip did with Kazarian a couple of matches earlier. The former World Champion is in total control now, doing everything in his power to keep the explosive SCU member on the canvas. He starts disrespectfully slapping and kicking at Scorpio...who reacts with a bicycle knee strike and a Codebreaker for 2. Briscoe is furious; clubbing him down with a lariat and the Day One Neckbreaker. Jay Driller blocked with a double stomp to the back. Mark Briscoe appears at ringside trying to help his brother...but Kazarian is instantly on the scene to fight Mark through the crowd. In the ring Jay tries to swing a chair at Sky, who ducks it into a schoolboy pin and scores a huge win at 09:59

Rating - * - This felt like it could have been a showstealing match under different circumstances, but actually turned out to be a bit of a mess. They started promisingly; Briscoe trying to beat the athletic Sky on the floor, with Scorpio repeatedly battling to get back into the ring and hit his more dynamic moves. But after establishing that premise inside the first minute the match went flat and they didn't do much with it...before a hopelessly uninventive finish. I don't mind building up this 'feud' for Final Battle, but I'm in shock if this is seriously the best Delirious could come up with. Worse still - remember when a win over Jay Briscoe was like gold-dust? Poor booking like this COMPLETELY devalues a victory over Jay.  

If this was Silas and Bruiser against the LIJ guys in a 15-20 minute wrestling match this could've been really good. Instead we have Bully Ray, meaning I strongly suspect it will become the Bully Ray show where he is the centre of attention and gives very little to anyone else in the ring with him. The fact that he has a match to prepare for on the Final Battle card and not Silas is - after the 2017 that Silas Young had - a complete travesty. 

Every match on the show gets screwed for time, but there's always time for Bubba's entrance to go on for an eternity of course. Thankfully he starts on the apron (after seemingly having his microphone shut off so he finally stops f*cking talking) allowing Young and Sanada to get to grips with each other. They work to an impressive and respectful stalemate - which prompts Bully to start berating his own partner. Evil tags with Bully, who is wrestling this match like he's f*cking around with jobbers on Sunday Night Heat. He is at least vaguely interesting when he starts doing Great Muta poses to taunt Sanada. After that he isn't interested in bumping or selling for Evil, so exits and lets Silas do the heavy lifting for their team. Doomsday Device by Bully and Silas puts Evil down...and so of course in comes Bully again. Is it racist, or just disrespectful, that he keeps doing 'kung fu' poses at the LIJ guys as well? With the help of Sanada, Evil is able to press slam Bully off the top, then get the hot tag to his partner. Sanada goes for a standing moonsault, but lands on his damn feet when Young evades it and dropkicks him in the neck instead. He flips out of a German suplex as well, then lifts Silas into the TKO for 2 - with Riccaboni smartly pointing out that Young's own finisher is a version of the TKO. Paradise Lock applied...only for Bully to escape Evil's clutches and flatten Sanada with a body avalanche. Double suplex from LIJ to Bubba to get him out...followed by the Magic Killer on Silas. Los Ingobernables win at 12:58

Rating - * - A few brief exchanges between Silas and SANADA that rocked saved this from being a complete dud. As expected, Bully Ray was an attention whore who sucked the live out of the match whilst giving very little to anyone else. His belittling of Silas was annoying, LIJ didn't really get any offence in on him unless it was 2-on-1...and he was only ever really in the ring if it was to be on top for himself; clowning around with his stupid, tired routine. Parts of this were rather nauseating to sit through

Silas and Bully argue, tease having a fight...before Silas walks out when Bubba backs down and goes for a hug. 

Here we go. Cobb is the undefeated TV Champion, Daniels is the desperate veteran fighting for a new contract. It is clear for all to see that Daniels plans to become the first man to defeat Cobb and use that as a bargaining chip for new contractual negotiations with Joe Koff. Given that both men have huge matches at Final Battle (Cobb vs Hangman Page and Daniels vs Marty Scurll) neither can afford to let their pride put them at risk of injury too. 

Daniels cagily circles the big man, looking to stay out of his powerful and dangerous clutches. The issue is that he can't control Cobb with headlocks...and he can't overpower him either. Jeff has barely broken a sweat but has the veteran on the ropes and already feeling his bad neck. Wisely the veteran tries to quicken things up...but quickly gets smeared into the mat again with a lariat. Even when he tries to come off the top rope Cobb is quick and agile enough to tag him with a vertical leap dropkick and a stalling superplex. Standing moonsault scores as well, followed by a chinlock to crank on the injured neck. Daniels has struggled for a full five minutes now and just can't get out of the starting blocks. He manages to knock Cobb to the floor; at last finding a route into the bout by hitting an Arabian Press to the outside. GERMAN SUPLEX by Cobb! Tour Of The Islands countered to the flatliner/Koji Clutch combo! Jeff stands up to escape that...so Daniels gives him a frankensteiner. ANGEL'S WINGS! ONE COUNT! Cobb basically ignores Daniels trying to set him up for the BME and dumps him with the Athletic-Plex. Tour Of The Islands wins it at 08:30

Rating - ** - One of the most enticing matches on the card...so of course it only gets eight minutes and plays out like a glorified squash. If you want to know why interest in ROH fell off a cliff in 2019, it has as much to do with bullsh*t like this killing the product entirely as it does the AEW talent exodus. ROH is supposed to be the 'best wrestling in the world'. Well here you had two men who legitimately are among the best wrestlers in the world...deprived of the platform to do anything more than the bare minimum. Cobb looks strong by crushing another big name, and his disrespectful one-count kick-out of Angel's Wings was an awesome moment. But this simply wasn't anywhere near good enough and felt like a crushing disappointment. 

Well this is interesting. How badly do these two want to beat on each other? They crossed paths in Lewiston and tempers will remain high after that. But on the flip side, with Cody challenging for the World Title and Mark preparing for Ladder War...how much can they risk on the road to Final Battle?

Cody looks focused and tries to unleash a barrage of strikes in the corner, but finds Briscoe strong enough to fire back with such force that Rhodes actually leaves the ring. Mark lunges at Cody to jump him from behind, so Cody skins the cat, Superkicks him to the floor and hits a tope suicida up the aisle. Briscoe runs from the rampant American Nightmare and even shoves his wife Brandi into Cody's path to slow him down. In the end he lures him into position to kick the middle rope into his groin, before grabbing a length of electrical cable and trying to throttle the former World Champion. Suplex on the floor sets up the Cactus Elbow! Back suplex on the apron next as Mark tears into the back and neck. ROPE RUN SUPER ARMDRAG by Cody to block Froggy Bow...so Mark gets right back up and darts him neck and shoulder-first into the ringpost! Briscoe thinks about a back suplex, only for Cody to block it with a MOONSAULT PRESS! Disaster Kick follows that for 2, putting Mark on the ground where the American Nightmare can drop into a Figure 4 Leglock. Briscoe battles to the apron...but then has to quickly block Cody's attempt at the crazy Cross Rhodes to the floor. DIVING BLOCKBUSTER OFF THE APRON! Froggy Bow nailed...but Cody rolls towards the bottom rope so he has an escape route on the ensuing pin. Cody blocks the Cut-Throat Driver and grabs an opportunity to kick Briscoe in the balls too! Cross Rhodes wins it at 13:29

Rating - *** - This needed more time become really great, but it was certainly good and in my opinion a clear MOTN so far. It was hard-fought, spirited and it felt like a gruelling contest. Mark got to look a real wrestling machine and dominated long stretches against a former World Champion like Cody. And in turn, the low blow finish actually makes a lot of sense as it references Cody's first ever ROH match two years ago at Final Battle 2016. On that night he cheated to beat Jay Lethal...and that's who he is preparing to face again this year. The finish here clearly sews the seed that we'll see history repeat itself in New York. Possibly Mark's best singles match of 2018 (not that he's had many)?

Since Hangman is on his way out of ROH it doesn't even matter that having to put Naito over here will completely derail the momentum he's built going into Final Battle. I'm actually looking forward to this one. Page got what was, in my opinion, the best ROH singles match out of Tanahashi in the UK earlier in 2018 (only Tana's singles clash with Roderick Strong compares) and has all the tools to work around half-paced Naito. Hangman proclaims himself to be one of the best heavyweight wrestlers in the world. If he wants to live up to that moniker then big wins over big players like Naito are essential...

Naito is feeling as mischievous as ever; playing pranks on referee Todd Sinclair and posing to the crowd as Page gets increasingly frustrated. Hangman forces Naito to step up his game - the pace quickens and the New Japan star has to think fast to avoid flips and strikes from all angles by Page. Sadly for him Hangman gets too confident, tries to steal the Tranquilo pose and gets booted in the skull by an irritated LIJ leader. Swinging neckbreaker scores for 2 and starts setting Page up for Destino later in the match. Something weird happens and leads to Naito almost falling over whilst running the ropes, and Page grabs his chance to level him with a running clothesline to the floor. Tope suicida ROCKETS Naito into the guardrails! Back inside the ring he gets 2 with a bridging German as well...right before Naito shuts him down and jars the neck again via a tornado DDT. A frankensteiner and an inverted DDT keep up the pressure only for Page to block Destino. He tries to counter Naito's corner dropkick into Rite Of Passage...but Naito escapes by kicking the neck. HANGMAN-SAULT TO THE FLOOR NAILED! Naito is still reeling from that when he walks right into the Buckshot Lariat. Rite Of Passage LEAPFROGGED INTO DESTINO! Apparently that is only 2...but it looked like three to me!? Northern lights bomb by Naito into another Destino for the win at 12:43

Rating - *** - The finish was clearly weird. The Rite Of Passage leapfrogged into Destino was the perfect conclusion and it seems clear that going on after that was erroneous either in the execution (if someone screwed up) or planning (if they laid it out like that). But the screwy end shouldn't detract from what was a pretty fun match. The plot was comfortingly simple - Page looked to blast and batter Naito; trying to use brute force to secure the high profile win he craves. Naito was the crafty veteran throughout, using all his guile, technique and finesse to slowly wear Hangman's neck down and nab the win.

Four team tag action provides our main event. Jay Lethal is the obvious target, given that he is the World Champion and a pinfall over him provides a route to a title shot. The Bucks have plenty of scores to settle too though. They just lost the Six-Man Titles back to The Kingdom, they lost a high profile tag match to Lethal and Gresham back in the UK - and their matches with both the Time Splitters and the Motor City Machine Guns are notorious. Sabin and Kushida are the x-factors having joined forces to create a super-team in the hope of threatening some more established duos. The bout will also give us a chance to see long-time rivals Lethal and Kushida in the same ring again too.

Kushida and Lethal start, so their classic rivalry is instantly reprised. They move at speed, only stopping when Kushida lifts Lethal's cartwheel/dropkick spot and blasts him in the face. Gresham helps his partner out by sneaking in and grabbing Kushida for a capture German suplex. The champ and his partner start teaming up to beat down Kushida, who has no answer to their tandem onslaught. Sabin recognises the danger and enters the fray, allowing he and Kushida to hit some combos of their own on Gresham. Marseglia breaks up the fun by blind-tagging Gresh out...then sending Sabin into a spinebuster from O'Ryan. The Bucks have seen enough and finally join us at the five minute mark, unleashing a flurry of offence which quickly sends all six opponents out. Elevated slingshot facebuster combo on Gresham! The Kingdom give Nick a double flapjack before he can hit a dive to the outside though. Dream Sequence from Sabin and Kushida to TK, into the through-the-legs tope suicida spot that the Machine Guns always did. Lethal spots it too and clocks Kushida with a springboard dropkick whilst he perches on the middle rope! DUELLING TOPES by Lethal and Gresham...until they run into double Superkicks by the Jacksons! ROPE RUN CORKSCREW MOONSAULT by Nick! The Bucks stare off with Sabin and Kushida, reliving their past rivalries before exploding into a frenzy of fists and kicks. Stereo Sharpshooters blocked. CRISS-CROSS SOMERSAULT SENTONS off the apron! ROCKET LAUNCHER CUTTER from Lethal and Gresh to Sabin gets 2. Octopus Stretch/Superkick flurry! Kushida tries to save...and gets the Figure 4! The Kingdom try to break it, but fall victim to the Stereo Sharpshooters of the Young Bucks. Lethal Injection COUNTERED with double Superkicks! Tanaka Punch from Kushida to TK...who is then grabbed by Sabin so he can start RUNNING ON PEOPLE'S FACES into a tornado DDT! Moonsault Skull & Bones misses, and Gresham hits a TOPE CON HILO! LETHAL INJECTION! SOMERSAULT PLANCHA! SHOOTING STAR PRESS! Gresham gets a huge win, pinning Sabin at 12:38

Rating - *** - Best match on the show, thanks to an absolutely cracking second act. The first half did feel a little inconsequential and made for slow-going though. The work wasn't bad, but it couldn't escape feeling like a toothless exhibition - certainly until the Young Bucks got involved and injected some urgency into proceedings. Gresham winning was a wonderful moment, and smart booking to elevate someone who should be a huge part of Ring Of Honor in the post-AEW wasteland...

Tape Rating - ** - This show is legitimately a candidate to be ROH's worst show ever. It's certainly right in that bottom tier - not so much because there's a lot of BAD wrestling on here, but more because of the rampant, indifferent complacency on display. These New Japan cross-over shows are big ticket events for ROH. They don't have many shows left with The Elite getting eyes on the product either. You'd think they'd use a stage like that to deliver a kick-ass show to sell fans on 'brand ROH' - rather than a cluttered card full of forgettable, mid-card level matches which were all crying out for more time. Eight minutes for Cobb/Daniels was an embarrassment. Cody/Briscoe, Flip/Kaz and the main event all felt stunted and cut-off just when they'd started getting interesting. Under Cary's ownership (with either Gabe or even Adam Pearce possessing the book), Ring Of Honor felt creatively far-better equipped to deal with high profile talent losses because the 'brand' was so strong. People knew they could trust Ring Of Honor to deliver high quality wrestling. Unfortunately years of creative mis-management and complacency have seen that trust completely eroded. Shows like this are the reason why. Shows like this have as much to do with ROH's total 2019 flatline as losing The Elite and SCU did. Apart from the last five minutes of the main event, I can't honestly say anything on this show is worth watching or really sticks out as memorable. How sad is that?

3) Flip Gordon vs Frankie Kazarian (***)

2) Cody vs Mark Briscoe (***)

1) Jay Lethal/Jonathan Gresham vs Chris Sabin/Kushida vs Vinny Marseglia/TK O'Ryan vs Young Bucks (***)