McXal's Reviews

The Global Wars shows have traditionally been a cross-promoted showcase of Ring Of Honor and New Japan talent. This year, however, ROH and CMLL have decided to partner up for their first full tour of co-promotional events; the Global Wars Espectacular Tour. At the heart of this trilogy is Matt Taven defending the World Title against CMLL's Volador Jr. but across the three nights we'll also see Caristico, Stuka Jr, Hechicero, Barbaro Cavernario, Rey Bucanero, Okumura & Triton - not to mention ROH have luchadors Rush and Bandido on the roster as well. Bandido is in our main event tonight, facing former World Champion Jay Briscoe. The card also includes a preview of tomorrow night's Taven/Volador bout as the World Champion and Vinny Marseglia face Volador and Stuka - plus Villain Enterprises facing a CMLL dream team in 8-Man Tag action and the odd couple pairing of Dalton Castle and Joe Hendry facing Jay Lethal/Jon Gresham. Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana and Caprice Coleman provide commentary, back in Dearborn, MI.

This is a semi-final in the 2019 Top Prospect Tournament. Sensation defeated Ken Dixon in the first round, whilst Draper overcame Makita. Dak is an interesting talent. Tall and athletic, and trained extensively within the WWE developmental system, he has spent the last four years grafting on the independent circuit before earning this opportunity within ROH's 'Future Of Honor' framework. He is relatively young (around 30 at this point I believe), has a strong look and is actually someone you might actually consider to fit the definition of a 'Prospect', as opposed to the journeymen that sometimes get brought in to fill these spots. Haitian Sensation is a product of the Team 3D Academy.

Sensation comes out dancing and tossing coloured bead necklaces into the crowd, which Draper doesn't find amusing in the slightest. Indeed, when the Haitian tries to hand some beads to him he kicks him in the gut. Cactus Clothesline by Sensation, who really is getting the crowd to rally behind him. They cheer again as Dak misses a knee drop, rattling his legs into the canvas as a result. It doesn't slow him down much as he hits a rope-run axehandle smash soon after. He then grabs Haitian's colourful braided hair and ties it in the ropes like a jerk. But Sensation uses his hair to his advantage moments later; dropping Draper with a neckbreaker whilst his hands are tangled in the same colourful braids. Scissors Kick gets 2 for Sensation, but Draper gets right back up and scoops him into the Magnum KO. Draper advances to the finals at 05:49

Rating - ** - There have been some really terrible choices for entrants into the Top Prospect Tournament over the years. So I have a soft spot when you see someone who genuinely should be considered a 'prospect'. Someone like Josh Woods in 2017, or Draper here, or Matt Taven in 2013 - wrestlers who you can see have legitimate potential along with the rough edges which need to be polished off. Dak is a little generic at this point but he looks great, carries himself with real physical presence and charisma and delivers his limited moveset with precision. He was absolutely the right choice to win here. I'm not quite sure what to make of Sensation. It was an act which felt like it was ripped out of a 2002 ROH undercard...but fans really did respond to him, which in turn generated genuine heel heat for Draper. Dak advances to meet the winner of the Caballero/Gunn match, in the finals at Death Before Dishonor Fallout.

It is always interesting whenever Silas Young and Beer City Bruiser come back together. They were a team for a long time, even winning the Tag Wars Tournament back in 2016. The origins of The Bouncers even link into the Silas/Bruiser team, as they spent some time looking for a third partner so that they could go after the newly-minted Six-Man Championship a couple of years ago too. Young finally ditched Bruiser as a partner...but now they gravitate to each other again with the Last Real Man now taking Josh Woods under his wing as a new protege. He has acknowledged how talented Josh is, but thinks he needs to learn veteran tricks from a savvy old pro like Silas if he is to tap into the potential which saw him win the Top Prospect Tournament in 2017. Bruiser and Milonas may well be distracted, as their heated rivalry with The Kingdom continues...

Woods comes out smiling, shaking hands and signing autographs, much to the annoyance of his mentor. He is similarly aggravated when Josh follows the Code Of Honor too. Silas starts for his team and tries to get in some of his 'Technician Of Honor' routines, only to be met by jabs and bites from his former partner Bruiser. Woods blind-tags his way in but can't overcome the size of Milonas early on. He has better luck by striking BCB into the ropes...but Young forcibly tags his way back then gets punched in the mouth by Bruiser! The Goods helps out his partner by low-bridging BCB to the floor. Silas tries to distract the ref so Josh can take more cheap-shots - and is frustrated to see that Woods refuses to do it. He loses so much focus that he lets BCB sneak away for a hot tag to Brawler. Bossman Slam on Young gets 2. LAST CALL! Woods dives in with a knee strike to break up the pin. He KO's Milonas with a springboard elbow...only to turn into a mafia kick by Beer City. WOODS HIPTOSSES HIM OFF THE APRON! It propelled BCB into a cannonball which took out both Milonas and Young on the floor. Anklelock on Bruiser...into a LEG CAPTURE GERMAN! Marseglia and O'Ryan are in the crowd distracting The Bouncers, and Woods profits - countering the Beer City DDT into a cross armbreaker. Milonas breaks the hold with a senton splash! He then tries to jump the guardrails to get at The Kingdom...as Woods schoolboy pins Bruiser to grab the win at 09:28

Rating - *** - I'm not sure what I expected to see out of this, but I know I hadn't anticipated it being as enjoyable as it was. The Bouncers are churning out some really fun undercard content at the moment. They know their role and limitations, but are actually delivering the goods as behemoth brawlers in the tag division. Bruiser, in particular, is always willing to throw his body around with frankly insane disregard for his long-term health (at least they've stopped doing the Last Call quite so often, as that frog splash must destroy his knees). Add that to the genuine delight that is the Silas/Woods dynamic and this really turned into an entertaining match. It's rare in ROH, particularly modern ROH, where Delirious will book an angle and fans will immediately think 'this works'. Silas and Josh is one of those examples. Young is so talented he consistently makes whatever he's given to do better, but it's incredible how quickly Woods has started to connect with audiences in this role - the smily, goofy, mixed martial artist Labradoodle that Young is trying to house-train. 

Silas refuses to partake of a post-match toast with The Bouncers (although does steal one of their beers and leaves drinking it). Woods remains in the ring to toast with Milonas and Bruiser.

This is an ROH debut for CMLL's Triton. He is the latest man to look to end Rush's undefeated streak...and does so with Rush now primed for a World Title Match at Death Before Dishonor. Riccaboni confirms that Rush will face the winner of Taven/Volador at the forthcoming Vegas PPV.

Triton's trunks are quite something. They start at breakneck speed, countering at will in classical Lucha Libre fashion. Rush lands the leaping forearm smash and starts kicking and slapping at his opponent in the corner. Triton hits back with a couple of tope suicidas...but then goes for a third only for Rush to side-step and PLANT him into the arena floor! Now we're outside the ring Rush goes on a tear, launching Triton into guardrails on all sides. Turnbuckle belly to belly nailed, leaving Triton in position for the Bull's Horns. Rush wins at 03:51

Rating - N/A - If you can take your eyes off Triton's impossible wrestling trunks, you'll see a rather fun squash match. It was full of energy and non-stop motion, moved at a brisk pace and ended at just the right time. This really did make Rush look strong as he prepares for a World Title Match.

Mark Haskins comes to the ring, despite not having a match booked. He says he signed with ROH because he wants competition, but is soon interrupted by Rhett Titus. Rhett compliments Lifeblood, and since Haskins doesn't have a match - he wants to face him right now.

'Overkill' is one of the eight men selected for the #1 contendership tournament which starts at Death Before Dishonor so will want to get the ball rolling with a victory here. Titus just spoke about how he still has the dream of being ROH Champion one day - and therefore will recognise the value of pinning one of the top contenders for that belt here tonight.

Rhett wears all black trunks, which apparently symbolising him going back to the start and trying to rebuild his career. He looks laser-focused from the bell, showing no hesitation in locking horns with a skilled technician like Haskins. Indeed, it's when he gets over-confident and tries an Aries-esque springboard reverse elbow that he is nearly picked off; Mark countering to a cross armbreaker that sends Titus to the ropes. Chaos Theory attempted by Titus, and when Haskins blocks it Rhett drops to his knees and applies a surfboard instead. Double chickenwing stretch locked in after that, Titus now raising eyebrows with his composure and the quality of his submission work. Haskins hits back by hanging him in a tree of woe - then hitting a slingshot dropkick into the exposed ribs. Running knee into the sternum follows, as does the running falcon arrow for 2. Soldier Roll gets another nearfall, and sets up an attempt at Cradle To The Grave. Titus blocks and catches Mark attempting a slingshot; drilling him with a northern lights suplex. Back suplex by Haskins, who misses a top rope double stomp seconds later and eats the ROPE RUN SUPER SEX-FACTOR by Titus! Rhett-ribution DDT gets 2! Yakuza Kick flurry connects, only for Haskins to roll him over out of nowhere into the Sharpshooter. Titus taps giving Haskins another submission victory at 10:17

Rating - *** - Not the kind of match that will make you leap out of your seat with excitement, but it was an extremely solid, grounded and hard-fought wrestling match. The story was a simple one, that being the reformation and rebirth of Rhett Titus once again as a 'serious' wrestler. He was given plenty here, and looked completely comfortable trading submissions with someone like Haskins. Ultimately he came up short, with Haskins getting another submission win to build his credibility going into the #1 contenders tournament - but I'm very happy if we get to see more matches from Rhett of this style.

The Briscoes are in the parking lot. Jay reminds Bandido that he is a two-time World Champion, an 11-time Tag Champion and delivers an ominous warning ahead of the main event tonight.

The Allure are out next. It's just Angelina and Mandy again - making it a fair few shows since Velvet Sky has been around. Angelina says there is a 'conspiracy' against them, because apparently nobody told her The Kingdom spent last year running the exact same angle. She calls herself the 'Best In The World' since she pinned Kelly Klein, and then calls out The Gatekeeper. Kelly is ready to fight tonight - but unsurprisingly Angelina backs out. She demands to face Kelly in Las Vegas at Death Before Dishonor and asks to cement the agreement with a title shot. It's the most obvious set-up you'll ever see, and of course Mandy jumps Kelly as soon as they shake. Love poses with the title, but has to drop it to fight off Sumie Sakai who comes out to help Kelly. Jenny Rose sprints out too, and finally The Allure scramble back up the aisle to safety.

Shane Taylor replaces Colt Cabana on commentary. I'd assumed it was to scout Tracy because he defends against both Tracy and Flip Gordon in a triple threat at Death Before Dishonor. However, Ian informs me that this bout has 'major Television Title implications'...which I don't understand. Cobb publicly left the 'TV Title division' and stated his intention to pursue the World Title, and after winning Defy Or Deny at Honor For All, already has another guaranteed World Title shot. Kenny too has been around the World Title picture all year, after winning the 2019 Honor Rumble. Why are either of those guys back in the TV Title picture now?

The first minute is REALLY fun, as they work multiple three-way submission spots. That segues into a frantic near-miss strike flurry and ends in a tense stand-off. Eventually King opts out, leaving Williams to eat a dropkick by Cobb. Kenny then pounces to toss Jeff to the floor, leaving him free to isolate Hot Sauce instead. Interestingly, even when Tracy fights back he too continues to keep Cobb beaten down outside the ring - demonstrating that both King and Williams think they have a better chance of beating each other then the former Olympian. Amy Rose checks on King, who in turn shoves her at Tracy - using her as a distraction before laying in a cheap-shot on the Lifeblood member. Kenny pauses to bash Jeff's skull on the ringpost...and re-enters the ring with a springboard One Night Stand for 2. Cobb finally batters his way back into the ring; tackling Tracy so hard that he flies through the air. Athletic-Plexes for both opponents, before he drapes them on the canvas to hit them both with a standing moonsault. Tour Of The Islands blocked by Tracy, but he absorbs a German suplex instead. Kenny looks for his spinebuster...but Williams COUNTERS to a DDT quite brilliantly. Frog Splash on Cobb gets 2. Williams and King have had enough of Cobb...so round on him and act as a team to bludgeon him to the mat. Guillotine choke on him by Tracy, but choking Cobb out so he can hit the PILEDRIVER! Flip Gordon is here! He pulls Tracy out just as he has Cobb beaten. Williams is understandably irate, but turns his back on King - who schoolboys him using the tights to win at 11:28

Rating - *** - The finish was disappointing - not because I didn't understand the reasoning, and I'm completely comfortable with this mini-feud (within the bigger Lifeblood/Villains feud) between Flip and Tracy continuing to escalate. My disappointment came because the match that came before that finish was really enjoyable. Like the Manhattan Mayhem World Title triple threat (also featuring Kenny), I thought the lay-out was incredibly smart. It avoided so many of the usual, tedious three-way tropes; always finding believable ways for them to work elaborate three-way sequences, and having two of the three work together to continually keep Cobb out of action gave a plausible explanation to the whole 'one guy lies around while the other two fight' element of every triple threat ever. I'm really not clear on what the TV Title had to do with this (and if the TV Title was a serious motivation, then why the f*ck don't they just book a Taylor/Cobb rematch from their banger at the 17th Anniversary)?

Booking these two teams together is really smart. Castle and Hendry don't like each other at all, but formed an uneasy team at Honor For All and defeated two thirds of the Shinobi Shadow Squad - and are duly paired together again. This time the competition is much stiffer, with a world-renowned technician and a former World, TV and Pure Champion across the ring from them. But Lethal and Gresham aren't getting on overly well either. Gresham's feud with Silas Young earlier in the year proved to him that there is no honour left in ROH - so he has decided to start winning matches and taking what he wants by any means necessary. Lethal disagrees with this approach, even though we've seen 'The Franchise' struggle to control his temper after a frustrating year too. Lethal and Gresh are very much in the hunt for championship gold (Lethal pinned one of the Briscoes during Champions vs All-Stars), so would love a win here to ensure they get a title shot ASAP. Hendry has created a custom song and Cary-tron video for his team, dubbing the duo 'Joe Hendry & Friends', and wearing his '2nd best! Dalton Castle' t-shirt...

Castle's irritation at Joe's entrance means The Prestigious One starts the match with his feelings hurt. He leaves Hendry to start with Lethal, who quickly delivers the hiptoss/dropkick sequence in a 'welcome to ROH' fashion. Dalton decides he'd better take over, meaning we have two former champions locking horns. They have a high-quality wrestling exchange, that Castle actually gets the better of. Things change quickly when Gresham tags; The Octopus plays mindgames with Dalton whilst comprehensively out-wrestling him. Dalton swiftly tags out, bringing in Hendry who himself is a decorated former amateur grappler too. Gresham acts like a prick to Hendry; raking his eyes, stomping his feet, kicking his shins...and doing everything within his power to make him look foolish. But Gresham threatens to lose his temper, bringing a chair in the ring and seeming poised to use it until Lethal rips it out of his hand. Despite arguing moments earlier, the partners quickly get on the same page to nail Castle with an enzi/dragon screw combo. They scatter Castle and Hendry to the outside...where somehow the odd couple find a way to work as a team! Castle lures Jay in, then ducks so Hendry can blast him with a lariat on the floor. Together they isolate Lethal, who appears to be carrying an injury to midsection after that hard trip to the concrete. The fluency between Hendry and Castle improves by the second; tagging in and out smoothly and even helping each other out with things like occasional cheap-shots to the bad back of the captive Franchise. Somehow Jay rallies to deliver the Lethal Combination...but is so injured he can hardly peel himself off the canvas to tag Gresham in. He skittles both opponents with a double missile dropkick - before almost taking Dalton's head off with a quebrada. Bang-A-Rang COUNTERED to the Octopus Stretch! Samoan drop by Dalton to escape...followed by a Doctor Bomb for 2. DOUBLE Freak Of Nature slam by Hendry! But Castle is irritated by Joe stealing his spotlight! He throws Hendry over the top rope...then ducks his head to CATCH Gresham as they look for the Cornette Cutter! Hendry intentionally ensures a big boot from Lethal connects with Dalton. CORNETTE CUTTER! Gresham pins Castle at 16:36

Rating - *** - Usually I'm one for wanting matches to have more time than they get, but this was one of those instances where they probably could have trimmed the fat a little. The core stories here were good; Castle and Hendry make for excellent viewing as a bickering odd couple with bizarrely effective tag team chemistry, Lethal and Gresham are excellent workers etc. The angles they were working within their respective teams played out really well here. That was, at times, to the detriment of the match quality however. It was never bad - but early on it felt like we were getting a lot of filler wrestling which wasn't really relevant to the match at all, and only existed to set-up a skit or interaction between feuding tag partners. It picked up with the heat segment on Lethal, and got exciting towards the end - but the dry first act is what held this back from getting a higher rating from me.

Gresham, Lethal, Castle and Hendry all appear to be arguing among themselves as they leave the ring and head for the locker rooms... 

Ian R dubs this match 'rudos vs Villains', which I like. It seems that the CMLL team are predominantly heel characters in CMLL, and now look to pit their villainous wits against Marty Scurll and his squad. Will we see Flip Gordon play a more active role this evening, having barely wrestled since injuring his elbow when he betrayed Lifeblood at Best In The World?

Scurll and Hechicero start, although both seem more interested in posing and playing mindgames than they do in actually wrestling. When they do get to work Hechi does a decent job using his lucha techniques to continually negate Scurll's British grappling style. PCO tags with Barbaro next, bringing together two extremely whacky personalities. Cavernario hits a beautiful hurricanrana just when PCO's power threatens to take control, then knocks him out of the ring with a missile dropkick. Bucanero in now, marching to the Villains' corner and specifically calling out Brody, the biggest man in the match. Like a true rudo he goes after King's surgically repaired jaw, meaning King has to leave the ring. Gordon and Okumura replace them, and even though he still has a heavy support and brace on his arm it is evident that Flip does have more use of his injured arm this time around. Oku hits a neckbreaker drop and an elevated DDT for 2 on The Mercenary though. Bucanero comes back to go after another injury; setting up the CMLL team to start working Gordon's arm over. That's how they spend the next few minutes, cynically manipulating the rules and abusing his arm from a variety of predicaments. Flip at last fires past Okumura and makes the big tag to Brody, who grabs Rey's waist and waits for Scurll so they can deliver the slingshot German suplex combo. Cannonball in the corner nailed, followed by a Brainbuster/Cannonball combo from Marty and PCO! The rest of the CMLL rudo team invade the ring to break that pin. Meanwhile on the floor Hechicero and Bucanero hit a leap-frog Leap Of Faith into the rails on PCO! Guardrail guillotine from Hechi to Marty! ROPE RUN SOMERSAULT LUCHA ARMDRAG by Brody! SOMERSAULT PLANCHA NAILED too! SPRINGBOARD INSIDE-OUT MOONSAULT to the floor by Hechicero! Inside-out suicide dive by Cavernario too. Before Hechi MONKEY FLIPS Bucanero into a tope atomico as well. Hechicero and PCO are left in the ring...until PCO hiptosses his foe clean over the top rope. TOP ROPE PCO-SAULT TO THE FLOOR! Scurll and Okumura return to the ring - The Villain giving him the Finger Snap. He and Brody hit a senton splash/backbreaker combo on Oku - giving the Villains the win at 15:52

Rating - *** - Like the Lethal/Gresh vs Castle/Hendry tag, this match got much better in the second half. The big dives at the end were great, but actually my favourite part of the match was Rey Bucanero being a prick and trying to attack pre-existing injuries of his opponents. Ian promised us this was a team of CMLL's most notorious rudos - and Bucanero lived up to billing. It gave the impression he'd been watching his tapes, therefore making the match feel like a much bigger deal. There seemed to be a few communication issues, some slight mishaps...and I'm not sure I buy that slightly messy Brody/Scurll senton over the knees spot as a finish but this was altogether rather enjoyable. 

Tomorrow night in Chicago, Taven will defend his World Title against Volador. Ian explains that Volador pinned Taven during a recent tour of CMLL to earn this shot. Interestingly, Volador was also Taven's partner last year at CMLL's 85th Anniversary Show which saw both men lose a Hair vs Hair Match to Rush and Barbaro Cavernario. Can champion or challenger deliver a decisive, pre-emptive strike ahead of the title bout tomorrow? There is no TK O'Ryan at ringside for The Kingdom, and Vinny looks a somewhat aloof and disconnected figure as Taven struts around as he always does.

Taven and Volador start, giving us an immediate preview of tomorrow night's title match. The luchador ignores much of Taven's bravado and back flips into a hurricanrana...but Marseglia attacks him from behind and throws him to the floor. Vinny looks for a tope suicida only for Volador to dodge, causing Vinny to hit his own partner. TOPE ATOMICO by Volador! AIR TAVEN! MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR by Stuka! Volador tries to re-enter the ring with a super rana, evades Taven's attempt at Just The Tip to counter...but Taven shows his CMLL experience by countering another satellite lucha staple by drilling Volador into the canvas. Kick Of The King aimed at Stuka misses...only for Vincent to give him an Ace Crusher on the floor instead! The Kingdom act quickly to isolate Stuka, Taven drilling him with the rolling neckbreaker for 2. He is still spinning from that when Vincent tags and absolutely folds him up with a Saito suplex. They aim heaps of offence at his neck leaving him barely able to stand - but somehow he musters up the fight to suplex Taven on top of Marseglia - then get the hot tag to Volador. Russian legsweep/Just The Tip combo kills Volador's momentum quickly though. Climax blocked, and Stuka dives in with a Torpedo Splash for 2. Taven crotches Stuka when he tries to come off the top again, but Volador chases him to the top rope for a SPRINGBOARD SUPER RANA! REDRUM by Vinny gets 2! Acid Drop blocked by Stuka, who then gets Volador to monkey flip him into a cannonball senton on both Kingdom members. TORPEDO DIVE TO THE FLOOR by Stuka takes out Taven! SPANISH FLY from Volador to Marseglia. He wins at 11:11

Rating - **** - Don't sleep on this one. It doesn't last long, but featured an absolutely frantic energy and wound up being one of the most unique and exciting matches on the show. Neither Volador or Stuka are young men, but they move around with a real ease - which visually makes them a natural contrast to the more laboured style of Marseglia and Taven. The structure of the match, pitting flurries of the CMLL team's classical Lucha Libre fast-paced attacks with The Kingdom's American style worked really well. It allowed Volador to show off all his skills, building him up as a threat to the World Title for ROH fans before he challenges for it in Chicago. My final thought is that it was so refreshing to see Taven and Vinny treated as legitimately dangerous wrestlers - even in defeat. They didn't really cheat much, nor did they rely on many shenanigans. They got ahead through Taven's experience of working in CMLL giving him ways to counter Volador and Stuka's stuff, or Marseglia being a dangerous wild-card looking to drop Stuka on his neck. I hadn't heard much about this one, and saw on Cagematch that it only went eleven minutes - but they really took me aback with how much quality they packed in. A real hidden gem.

Alex Shelley comes out, having apparently sneaked into the building disguised as one of CMLL's luchadors. He says he pushed Taven to the limit in Toronto, despite only having two matches in two years (and not having worked a singles match for even longer). He is a free agent but he keeps coming back to ROH because he wants to work guys like Tracy, Haskins, Taven, Lethal...before he gets interrupted by Jonathan Gresham. He says Alex 'dropped the ball' by failing to beat Taven in Canada, and missed a chance to restore honour to ROH. Gresh is pissed off that Shelley gets opportunities handed to him, whilst he's been struggling on scraps in the company for 3-4 years, and bemoans the fact that Shelley was supposed to help him 'save the company' with Search & Destroy. Shelley points out that Gresham has spent his career being influenced by him, and challenges him to find out who the better man is at Glory By Honor 17. 

On the first night of the War Of The Worlds Tour ROH put Bandido into a 'dream match' main event against Flip Gordon, and they stole the show. They have taken the same approach for the Global Wars Tour too - putting him in the ring in a big-time main event bout, this time against a former World Champion. This match has championship ramifications too as Bandido (teaming with Mark Haskins) will challenge for the Briscoes' Tag Titles at Death Before Dishonor. Lifeblood and the Briscoes haven't seen eye-to-eye all year either. Indeed David Finlay's last match before injury was losing to Jay and Mark in the main event of NJPW Honor Rising 2019: Night 2. Mark Briscoe and Mark Haskins accompany their respective partners to the ring. Lifeblood ally, and self-confessed fan of Bandido, PJ Black replaces Caprice Coleman on commentary - which is a shame because Caprice is really good, and Black doesn't appear to have a clue why he's been sent out!

Jay looks to intimidate Bandido, who makes an immediate statement by overpowering the former champion and driving him into the corner. Briscoe retorts by playing Bandido's game - hitting a running hurricanrana. Tumbling lucha armdrag scores for Bandido, tossing Jay to the floor into position for the RUNNING MOONSAULT over the ropes! Haskins and Mark Briscoe each rush over to check on their partners after that. Bandido tries to moonsault back into the ring as well, only for Briscoe to meet him with a SUPERKICK out of mid-air! He starts using his striking and brawling to dominate Bandido, almost ending the match early with DVD. Meanwhile on the floor his brother and Haskins are in a full-blown argument; tensions rising on the road to Death Before Dishonor. The brawling continues on the floor with Jay throwing the masked man into the guardrails before choking him with electrical cable. Riccaboni spots blood coming from Bandido's arm after a couple more attacks against the barricades, and the chaos intensifies further as Mark Briscoe starts throwing chairs around...then invades commentary. Haskins has to rally and fire up his partner just so he beats the twenty-count. Tornillo by Bandido, going for broke in an effort to halt Jay's marauding onslaught. Briscoe leaves the ring again and tools up with a chair...so Bandido grabs one too! But it was all a trap - Briscoe just wanted to distract the luchador and stop him flying around. He jumps Bandido, pulls him into the ring then tries to choke him out with a sleeper hold. Day One Neckbreaker blocked, so Jay hits a DRAGON SUPLEX instead...followed by a lariat when Bandido fires back to his feet. Bandido survives, delivers an inverted suplex then a sliding knee strike for 2. Jay Driller COUNTERED WITH A FLIPPING RANA for 2! Briscoe taunts Bandido again, luring him away from high-flying stuff and into another strike exchange. SUPERKICK DUEL! POP-UP CUTTER by Bandido! Both men go down. Bandido thinks about another dive but is decked with an elbow, then the JAY DRILLER! But Bandido kicks out! Jay doesn't have to cope with guys kicking out of that too often - and this time reacts by hauling his opponent up the ropes looking for an avalanche version. REVOLUTION FLY BY BANDIDO! ONE COUNT ONLY! Bandido tries a Jay Driller, but Jay HURRICANRANA'S HIM ON HIS HEAD! Both men are exhausted now - but keep teeing off on each other. GUTWRENCH X-KNEE by Bandido! Jay tries to use the ropes to pull himself up...SO BANDIDO GIVES HIM THE 21-PLEX! BANDIDO WINS! He pins the former World Champion at 21:45

Rating - ****1/2 - I would put this up as one of Jay Briscoe's best singles matches in ROH ever. It won't be his most iconic, it wasn't a historic unification of the World and TV Titles like his bout with Lethal at Best In The World 2015, it didn't have him bleeding all over the place like the Steel Cage Match with Samoa Joe at At Our Best, and possibly lacked the sense of spectacle that came when he and his brother fought to a double KO at the end of the 5th Year Festival - but as a straight-up wrestling match this was superb. They married their two styles together so well, telling an absolutely thrilling story which was excellent as a standalone match whilst also working in a wider sense as build to the Briscoes/Lifeblood Tag Title Match on PPV as well. The opening segment, with Bandido over-powering Briscoe, prompting Jay to out-lucha Bandido was so simple and almost overlooked by the announcers - but it set the tone for a deceptively smart wrestling match. At every turn they were doing something that was both interesting, fun to watch but also directly relevant to the story of the match. Bandido hit a few big dives early, which drove Jay to brawl and slow the match down. Then when Bandido threatened to mount a comeback, Briscoe devised an elaborate trick with a steel chair, specifically to ensure that his foe had his momentum curtailed and the match slowed again. However, as we've been told all year, Bandido is one of the strongest men in ROH. Where Jay's brawling, dominant style might work against most luchadors - Bandido had the power to overcome. He won strike exchanges, he dead-lifted Jay off the canvas and even had enough to kick out of the Jay Driller. They had a little strike exchange minutes before the end of the match where PJ Black pointed out that, having wrestled Bandido twice, he knew how blown up Jay would be trying to keep up with him. It was a wonderful, insightful comment - and gave context to Bandido's sometimes hokey finisher, the 21-Plex. You understood that Jay NEEDED to use the ropes to get up, because Bandido had blown him up so badly. Two of the best ROH workers of 2019, given twenty minutes of main event time to steal the show - and they completely delivered. You could drop this into any era Ring Of Honor, and it would still have been an absolutely killer bout.

Briscoe and Bandido shake hands and show respect to each other after stellar main event. Matt Taven ruins the moment by coming out to attack both of them with his title belt (I'm not entirely clear on why, and nobody really bothers to explain it)...but as he poses, he doesn't see Rush marching to the ring. Matt flees before Rush can hit the Bull's Horns, forgetting his title though meaning Rush poses with it as the show ends...

Tape Rating - *** - It's hard to call Night One of the Global Wars Espectacular Tour a 'great' show, because it isn't. If you were watching with a cynical eye, it's fair to say that it's really only the main event that stands out as special (although I did think the Kingdom vs Volador/Stuka match was REALLY fun too). Where this show excels is consistency. Most matches hit a pretty decent level, it is an enjoyably solid night of wrestling. Given that ROH live shows now directly feed into the TV product, lots more matches have a tangible sense of development and progress than before. In-ring and backstage segments break up the flow of matches, stories and rivalries feel palpably advanced. If you're looking for spectacular, must-see matches then, other than Bandido/Briscoe, this probably isn't the show for you. Again, to be cynical, Ring Of Honor made it's name delivering 'must-see matches' multiple times per show, every show - meaning long-time ROH fans may not necessarily be as receptive to three hours of 'pretty good' wrestling. But there have been some real lows with this product - particularly in 2019, but before that too. Since they've changed up the format of their product and schedule it does feel like things are generally 'improving' for the first time in a while...

3) Jay Lethal/Jonathan Gresham vs Dalton Castle/Joe Hendry (***)

2) Matt Taven/Vinny Marseglia vs Volador Jr./Stuka Jr. (****)

1) Bandido vs Jay Briscoe (****1/2)