ROH Supercard of Honor X Review

ROH Supercard of Honor X Night One
April 1st, 2016 | Hyatt Regency in Dallas, Texas

As part of the big WrestleMania weekend of shows, Ring of Honor held their tenth Supercard of Honor over two nights. I may not be able to get to night two right now, but I can at least review night one. The card looks pretty damn good on paper, so I hope it delivers. These ROH shows usually turn out to be much better than their PPV offerings.

Bobby Fish def. Christopher Daniels in 14:43
I’m pretty sure these are the two oldest guys on the ROH roster. Christopher Daniels used to be a favorite of mine, though his age (he just turned 46) has started to show recently. I don’t always commend ROH commentary, but they came across as very good here. They gave good insight into Fish’s rivalry with Roderick Strong and quest for the TV Title as well as Daniels’ standings in the tag team division. Fish did a great job of attacking the leg. He even slightly changed some offense to focus purely on it, looking for the submission. Daniels went after the arm, with an emphasis on the wrist. You don’t see that often. They built to some really good submission finish teases. Daniels missed the Best Moonsault Ever, but tried to land on his feet. He barely could due to the leg work, which opened the door for Fish to win via submission. The pacing of this was good, the crowd was into it, both guys sold really well and commentary did a great job in hyping Daniels tapping out as a big deal. Great way to start. ***¾

Roderick Strong def. Moose w/ Stokely Hathaway in 14:23
Bobby Fish stayed out for commentary since he faces Strong the next night. Roddy attacked during Moose’s entrance. Despite being the heel, he got the crowd to do the Moose chants but with his name. He also was good at antagonizing Fish at ringside. Fish was odd on commentary. He mostly said the same thing over and over and seemed to be shouting a bit. This was Strong using his veteran knowhow to subdue the usually dominating Moose. Moose would show flashes but Strong was just too smart for him. They continued to build Fish/Strong as Moose was thrown into Fish, angering him. Strong pulled the referee in front of a charging Moose, who put on the brakes. Strong went into a flurry but Moose somehow kicked out at one! Strong never faltered though, removing the knee pad and delivering a huge knee strike to win. Really solid match that told a fine story while furthering an existing angle. I’m not sure what ROH is doing with Moose. He was poised for a big push but that has kind of stalled. ***½

After the match, a pissed off Bobby Fish ran in and attacked Roderick Strong. Strong managed to escape after a few shots though.

There was a fun ad for Cheeseburger merchandise.

Six Man Mayhem: Dalton Castle w/ the Boys def. Adam Page, Cheeseburger, Donovan Dijak w/ Prince Nana, Frankie Kazarian and Joey Daddiego w/ Taeler Hendrix in 9:41
Six Man Mayhem matches tend to be pretty fun. BJ Whitmer was originally scheduled to be in this but came out in street clothes alongside Hendrix and Daddiego. He felt like he could gain nothing in this match so he worked out a deal with the House of Truth and gave the spot with Daddiego since the HOT has an issue with former member Dijak. Whitmer had the most heat of anyone all night. Adam Page went after BJ but didn’t get his hands on him. I’m still not sold on babyface Page. Castle got the loudest pop, followed by Cheeseburger. This was a ton of fun. Cheeseburger and Castle had a fun exchange, some feuds were progressed and Whitmer and “Mr. Wrestling III” argued on commentary. There was a fun moment where everyone got hit low except Kazarian, who mocked them only to get kicked there by everyone else. The Boys even fanned his junk for him. Lots of fun spots in this one, too many to name here in fact. Castle got the win by nailing Bang-A-Rang on Cheeseburger, who was just going on a hot run. This defined the mayhem name and was a nice change of pace. ***½

Joey Daddiego got a steel chair and attacked Donovan Dijak with it. He focused on Dijak’s fibs. Nana and Taeler almost got into it, which was pretty funny.

Kyle O’Reilly def. Matt Sydal in 16:35
While Kyle O’Reilly has a war with Adam Cole on his mind, this was much calmer. It followed the formula of two guys just out to try and prove who the better man was. I can appreciate that. When he realized that O’Reilly had the upper hand on the mat, Sydal chose to use his athleticism and quickness to get in the control. He targeted Kyle’s leg for a while and Kyle returned the favor by going after Sydal’s arm. They worked their way into a really strong finishing sequence with a lot of well executed counters. Like the opener, this featured some good selling from the guys involved. The finish was pretty cool as O’Reilly caught the Shooting Sydal Press into an armbreaker that got him the win. I would have liked the finish more had they not done some similar stuff earlier in the match. Still, this was another really strong match. On par with the opening contest. One of the better Sydal performances I can recall. ***¾

Adam Cole def. ACH in 14:23
ACH had a great match against KUSHIDA a few weeks earlier so I came in hoping he could replicate some of that magic. They had some fun early on with taunt stealing and Cole calling a timeout outside. Outside of that, Cole seemed much more serious than he did in the past year. ACH showed off some of his incredible athleticism when he was on offense, including an excellent dive outside. ACH got his mouth busted open, adding something to the fight. In a fantastic moment, ACH stopped the Panama Sunrise and nailed the Spirit Bomb only for Cole to grab Todd Sinclair’s hand to stop the three count. It was something small but isn’t seen often and I loved it. Cole used a low blow that Sinclair missed followed by a suplex neckbreaker to win. Another solid match as this show has been really consistent so far. ACH is grown on me and I like a more calculated Cole. ***½

The Briscoes and ROH World Tag Team Champions War Machine def. All Night Express, the Beer City Bruiser and Silas Young in 8:33
This was certainly interesting considering the teams. War Machine and the Briscoes were headed towards an upcoming Tag Team Title match, while the All Night Express don’t exactly mesh well with their partners. The match turned out to be similar to the Six Man Mayhem outing earlier in that it was chaos. They started by brawling before slowing down a bit into a normal eight man tag and then ended with more of a war. It was great seeing the big fellas, War Machine and the Bruiser, all get in some impressively athletic spots. A barrage of offense on the Bruiser, capped with Mark’s Froggy Bow, ended things. A pretty enjoyable sprint. After the match, the Briscoes got in War Machine’s faces, building tension for the eventual title match. ***

ROH World Championship: Jay Lethal (c) w/ Taeler Hendrix def. Lio Rush in 19:36
Lio Rush won ROH’s Top Prospect Tournament. He’d normally be in line for a TV Title shot but Tomohiro Ishii was off in Japan with the title. Instead, he was given a World Title shot. Mind you, this was Lio’s first official match under ROH contract. Will Ferrara joined commentary for the match and did really well. Lethal didn’t take Rush seriously, but right from the start, Rush started to give him some problems. Each time Rush did something, Lethal was a bit stunned but would get in some of his own stuff and go back to being cocky. Lethal’s facial expressions were absolutely on point here. As Rush gained confidence, Lethal got more vicious. For example, Hendrix distracted Rush so he slapped her ass and Lethal just leveled him with a suicide dive. Lethal’s arrogance continued as he pulled Rush up on a pin attempt after the Lethal Combination. Commentary sold it as if it could be a monumental mistake. The kid came close after that on a few occasions and showed no intimidation of the champion but fell to a top rope cutter and Lethal Injection. This reminded me of a young Tyler Black coming close to dethroning Nigel McGuinness back in 2008. A great performance by both men. Rush was a really good resilient, plucky underdog and Lethal was nearly perfect in his role as the arrogant heel that got nervous as things went on. My favorite ROH match this year. ****¼

Jay Lethal shook Lio Rush’s hand after the match and got on the microphone. He said that Lio is really good and might even be better than him one day. Lethal claimed that he beat everyone and nobody was left. BOOM! BOOM! Colt Cabana’s music hit for the first time in years as he came to the ring. Cabana cut a promo about how he liked his spot on the card throughout his career but he started thinking about his legacy. He doesn’t just want to be known as “somebody’s friend” and basically laid down a challenge for the ROH World Title. Lethal said that Cabana has been gone from ROH for five years, ducking him. Cabana said that there is at least one person left to beat. The segment came across as passionate and very well done though the match doesn’t excite me.

The Young Bucks def. the Motor City Machine Guns in 18:27
I get how over both teams are, but considering the quality of the last match and the Cabana segment, that should have closed the show. This played out like a greatest hits compilation for the two teams. They have pretty good chemistry and did a lot of the stuff they are famous for. Basically, if you’ve seen Guns vs. Bucks before, this was exactly what you’d expect. Tons of spots like multiple superkicks, a fire thunder driver, sliced bread and the often used tower of doom. After a frantic final few minutes that saw some fast paced back and forth, the Bucks finished off Sabin with the Meltzer Driver. As I said, if you like these teams, you’ll really enjoy this. If not, you might hate it. I love one team and dislike the other but I rather enjoyed it. ***¼

A battle of tag teams followed as the Addiction ran down. The Briscoes showed up too and everyone got involved. They have a number one contender’s four corners match on night two. The Addiction ended up getting their asses kicked by everyone else.

Overall: 8/10. Well that was quite the enjoyable show. Nothing on the card ranked lower than three stars for me, which is impressive. Everything ranged from good to great, with the clear standout being the World Title match. Go out of your way to watch it. The reDRagon singles matches proved to be very good, while the main event, Cole/ACH and Strong/Moose matches were all good. Add in the really fun Six Man Mayhem and chaotic eight man tag as well as the Cabana return and you’ve got yourself a great show.

Top Ten Thursday: WWE Network Original Shows

Since its inception in February of 2014, the WWE Network has taken up a lot of my time. It's one of my favorite things ever. There are plenty of reasons. From getting to see every Pay-Per-View, to classic episodes of Raw to weekly episode of NXT, the WWE Network rules. One thing that stands out are the original shows on the Network. Soon, the adult cartoon Camp WWE will be debuting and it looks like a ton of fun. In honor of that, we'll be looking at my picks for the top ten WWE Network original shows.

10. Unfiltered with Renee Young 

Considering the vast amount of stuff on the WWE Network, there were multiple shows that I considered putting in this final spot. WrestleMania Rewind was cool while it lasted, Legends with JBL was very close to making it and Too Hot for TV was a fun look at some of the wacky stuff the company did. I went with Unfiltered in this slot because of Renee Young. The woman is an absolute treat and hits a home run with everything the company asks her to do. When she got her own show, I was excited. She has instant chemistry with nearly every guest. You can tell that she’s well liked since everyone seems so comfortable talking to her. The show has range as well. She’s interviewed everyone from top stars like Randy Orton to female stars like Sasha Banks to NXT guys like Finn Balor to celebrities like Stephen Amell and the cast of Star Wars. Each episode is a pleasure and there is only one negative aspect. Renee isn’t given enough time. Judging by clips, it seems like she has lengthy sit down conversations but it gets clipped down to about ten minutes. That makes it a very easy watch, but a longer back and forth would make it even better.

9. Rivalries 

When I first heard about this series, I wasn’t very excited. Granted, there have been plenty of great rivalries throughout wrestling history, but a lot of them had been covered in the past. There was even a Top 25 Rivalries DVD set that featured a ton of it. Then the first two episodes dropped, focused on Steve Austin and Vince McMahon and yikes, I didn’t care at all. Like most of the Attitude Era, we’d seen that discussed to death. However, I gave the show a chance after that and found it to be quite pleasing. They chose to mostly focus on feuds that hadn’t been completely highlighted in the past. The episode on Edge and Matt Hardy was especially great and really shined a bit of new light onto them. There are also episodes on Steamboat/Flair and Trish/Lita that are must see television. Unfortunately, the show seems to have fallen victim to the same issues that a lot of other WWE Network originals have. They abruptly end. After only a few episodes, Rivalries seems to have been completely stopped. I’d like to see it come back and give me an episode on Austin/Hart. I’ve seen all I can handle on Michaels/Hart and I’d like the superior feud be chronicled.

8. Swerved 

There weren’t many WWE Network shows that I more excited for. As a fan of Jackass and prank shows in general, fusing that with the WWE sounded like a home run to me. The previews for this also showed me that this show was right up my alley. I’ll admit, I came away a bit disappointed with it. At times, some of the jokes/pranks don’t click and are too over the top to be believable. When the show isn’t doing that, it absolutely delivers. Seeing Kofi Kingston get shot in the face with a blast of powder was priceless. Paige annoying people with a cattle prod was funny. Watching as they got “parents” to hit on Superstars, like Alicia Fox and Curtis Axel, was awkward greatness. Fandango and Heath Slater running a coffee shop proved to be way funnier than expected. I’d watch a show based around the two of them acting like clowns. Luckily, this show actually has been given a second season and should be debuting on the Network soon. Hopefully they worked out the kinks that didn’t hit last season (the episode where a parent made it seem like they were eating their children’s poo is too unbelievably gross).

7. Stone Cold Podcast 

After the initial Stone Cold Podcast with Vince McMahon, I thought this was going to be my favorite thing the Network had ever done. Austin hit Vince with some of the hardest questions and made sure to bring up controversial topics. To hear Vince discuss CM Punk so soon after the Colt Cabana podcast blew my mind. I think that he may have been too hard hitting because the show has become a lot tamer ever since. The episodes with Triple H, Ric Flair, Paige and Shawn Michaels didn’t do much for me. However, I enjoy Austin’s weekly podcast away from the Network so I kept giving it a chance. Recently, it has gotten better again. Still nothing too controversial, but I really enjoyed the interview with the Big Show, while the Mick Foley one was pretty interesting. Like the rest of the list so far, I feel like this could be better, but for what we get, I mostly have fun with them. And on the brightest of sides, it’s vastly better than Chris Jericho’s short lived WWE Network podcast.

6. The WWE List/Countdown 

I’m bunching these two shows together because they are pretty much the same thing. When the WWE Network first launched, my favorite weekly show was Countdown. As you can tell by my weekly Top Ten Thursday, I’m a sucker for a good list. Seeing things get ranked is always fun for me, but one thing really made these shows click. The talking heads. I loved hearing various Superstars and celebrities talk about the things listed. You really get a feel for who loved the business growing up. Some of the best people to hear from are Cesaro, Miz, Zack Ryder, Seth Rollins, Sasha Banks and Bayley. Countdown lasted about a season and a half and featured some standout episodes. The ones on Divas, factions, Intercontinental Champions and blunders were all strong. The List has less episodes and a shorter format (ranking a top five instead of ten) but catered more to social media and things like that. It was still an enjoyable show and I made sure never to miss either one. Either one needs to come back soon.

5. Table for 3 

Can I have more of these right now please? My favorite thing about the old 24/7 Classics on Demand setup was the Legends of Wrestling Roundtables. When those got uploaded to the Network, I said I wanted new episodes. They never gave me them, but this kind of works as a cool substitute. In a shorter format, three wrestling personalities share a meal and just shoot the shit for our viewing pleasure. Some even involved legends discussing a certain topic. Sting, DDP and Vader talked about WCW. Natalya, Charlotte and Tamina discussed being legacies in wrestling. The odd grouping of Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan and Ryback (as IC Champions) proved to be one of the best episodes. I loved hearing Molly, Ivory and Madusa talk about the business. There were some disappointing episodes (I’m looking at you Owens, Cesaro and Ambrose), but overall, the idea and delivery of the show was on point. Again, this show seems to have fallen off of the face of the earth. That’s a damn shame because it was a blast.

4. Legends House

Remember back in 2011, when we first got commercials for the WWE Network? They were poorly executed dubstep ads and didn’t excite me at all. It seems like way back then that Legends House got filmed. The show was produced, filmed, edited and wrapped for almost two years before it debuted on the official WWE Network in April of 2014. While the network already had Countdown and WrestleMania Rewind, this was the first truly great show. It took the Real World setting that worked so well for MTV but instead of drama filled randoms, we got drama filled WWE legends. Almost everything about this show worked so well. There were tons of memorable moments. From the Piper/Duggan friendship to the Atlas/Duggan feud to the unforgettable FLOCK O FLAMINGOS commercial, I loved every episode. That’s just the tip of the iceberg as I didn’t even mention perverted Mean Gene or the newlyweds’ game show the house played. The show also had heart as the episode where everyone reveals a tragic moment in their life and Pat Patterson comes out of the closet nearly leaves you in tears. Plus, having Ashley as the host didn’t hurt at all.

3. Edge and Christian Show That Totally Reeks of Awesomeness 

Growing up, I adored Edge and Christian. They were some of the first heels that I really remember loving. Their comedy almost always hit for me so when I saw the promos for their new show, I was hooked. I’ll admit, the first episode or two fell a bit flat and I found myself disappointed. As always though, I gave it a chance and man, they’ve absolutely hit a stride. The jokes are landing, the recurring themes are funny and the guests have been great. The episode where they interrogated Stardust about being Cody Rhodes, only for Cody to walk into the room was perfectly handled. Fat Tommy Dreamer being a running joke that Tommy himself is in on always makes me smile. The games the two men play are cool too. AJ Styles has now been featured twice, Bayley has been on and even Luke freaking Perry has guest starred. Nowhere else can you find that variety. It’s a great way to keep Edge and Christian relevant while not having them on normal WWE programming. It also gives their fans an incentive to purchase the WWE Network. This show needs to stick around if they can maintain some of their current momentum.

2. Breaking Ground

I really enjoy NXT. It’s the show that I do weekly reports for, it’s become appointment TV for me, I’ve gone to five live NXT shows in the past 13 months and it’s the best weekly show that the WWE produces. Breaking Ground is a show that gave us a look into the lives of some NXT talent as well as how the incredible WWE Performance Center works. So far (and hopefully we get more), ten episodes were produced. The show allowed us to get a better look and understand of someone like Dana Brooke or Baron Corbin. We got to see people that haven’t made it to TV yet, like Tino Sabatelli and Tough Enough’s ZZ. There were some heartbreaking moments, like Cal Bishop getting released after suffering multiple injury setbacks. I’m glad that the show didn’t try to only focus on a select few, keeping it varied. For example, Sasha Banks and Bayley weren’t a focal point, but they made sure to show Triple H tell them about headlining TakeOver: Respect. One of the best things was getting to see how some of the coaches interact with their trainees, the workings of promo and makeup class and seeing Bayley producing matches in the back. It really showed how intricate everything is in the Performance Center, making for great television.

1. WWE 24 

Unlike other shows on the list, this doesn’t run in a weekly format. It doesn’t even go by seasons. Since debuting in late 2014, WWE 24 has worked as a mini-documentary series. Their episodes have covered WrestleMania XXX, WrestleMania 31, NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn, Booker T, Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan’s retirement. Each episode is like a WWE produced DVD special, but in a compact thirty minute setup, which is splendid. Every episode has heart and dives deep into whatever’s the topic is. Whether it’s them going deep into Booker T’s trouble past or talking about Roman Reigns’ family, they cover it. The Daniel Bryan episode was one of the most emotional things I’ve ever watched in wrestling. Even with those episodes being great, the ones focused on Mania and NXT were the highlights. As viewers, we’ve been given way more access to behind the scenes stuff than ever before. These shows delved even deeper. We got to see Undertaker and Brock shake hands before Undertaker’s WrestleMania 31 match as well as him meet up with Michelle McCool and their child afterwards. Seeing guys and girls that normally don’t interact sitting together to watch Sting vs. Triple H was such a cool sight. I can’t wait for the episode on WrestleMania 32 and whatever else they give us because they’ve yet to produce one that I didn’t enjoy.

Lucha Underground 4/20/16 Review

Clips of the Trios Tournament so far kick things off, as well as Catrina saying that the Disciples of Death are in. We also see Matanza highlights.

Fenix is in Dario Cueto's office, sitting with Aerostar and Drago. Dario is surprised that Fenix survived Matanza, saying that he really is the man with unlimited lives. Dario needs a new team in the tournament and these three partnered up last season. Aerostar and Drago couldn't get along though. Dario says that Fenix will take on the Disciples of Death with PJ Black and Jack Evans as his partners instead. Fenix doesn't like that news. He puts Drago and Aerostar in a match for an Aztec Medallion to test their friendship.

Gift of the Gods Aztec Medallion Match: Aerostar def. Drago in 6:33
These two competed in a pretty rad Best of Five last season. Drago sported a new mask during his entrance. Matt Strike admits that Drago is his favorite but he's been in a slump so far this season. This was the typical fast paced battle between the two. Their chemistry is pretty natural and easy by this point. Striker made the best commentary remark by calling a dude in the front row with an afro "Bob Ross' son". Drago busted out the old Faarooq Dominator like he's a heavyweight. Aerostar won with a slingshot splash. Solid match between two guys that work very well together. ***

Johnny Mundo is working out backstage when Taya comes up to him. She spoke to Dario Cueto who granted Mundo a shot at an Aztec Medallion next week. But, he has to face Cage in a Steel Cage. Mundo's "Cage in a cage" line was classic.

Trios Tournament First Round: Fenix, Jack Evans and PJ Black def. The Disciples of Death w/ Catrina in 9:08
There was clear tension between Team Fenix from the start. PJ offered Fenix a tag only to fake him out. He went to tag Jack who hilariously responded with "KEEP GOING, YOU'RE DOING SO GOOD!" The crowd popped for Fenix's hot tag adn he made it worth it. Dude is so fluid in the ring. Like Mil Muertes, the Disciples looked to rip Fenix's mask though they didn't get very far. Jack Evans got a tag and showed off some babyface fire before instantly reverting back into douche mode. Interestingly enough, PJ Black started to work well with Fenix and it led them to victory. This was fun but I expect more when Fenix, Evans and Black get someone better to work. ***1/4

Back to Dario's office, where he sits with the Trios Champions. He makes sure to bring up the dysfunction that they overcame last season. He calls their reign a miracle. Ivelisse says that it doesn't matter who wins the tournament because they will remain champions. Dario says that they are in the tournament and will compete against the three teams that already advanced in a four team elimination match next week. The winners will be the Trios Champions. Dario also calls them "Team Havoc", causing them to argue a bit more. I love their dynamic. 

Catrina scolds the Disciples of Death for losing, especially for losing to Fenix. She wants one good reason why she shouldn't destroy them. Siniestro de la Muerte decided to take matters into his own hand and rip the fucking hearts out of his partners, making him the sole survivor. Ain't that some shit?

Lucha Underground Championship: Matanza Cueto (c) w/ Dario Cueto wrestled Mil Muertes w/ Catrina to a no contest in 7:03
Sometimes in wrestling, all you want is two monsters going toe to toe. That's what this was. Mil and Matazna clubbed away at each other and earl yon, Mil actually got Matanza down to the mat. The crowd reacted to this like it was a big deal, which is just what they were going for. They did a good job showing that Matanza is human. Mil hurt Matanza's leg and went after him with a suicide dive. Dario couldn't bear to watch this and hit Mil, who lifted him with a choke but Matanza made the save. They fought to the top of Dario's office and just continued to level each other. Mil teased throwing Matanza off but Matanza held on. Dario's facial expression was spectacular. Then, they died as Mil hit a Flatliner through the roof and into Dario's office. The match was called there, which was perfect since the match accomplished exactly what it needed to. It showed that Matanza can possibly be beaten and allowed them to not blow off Matanza/Mil just yet. ***1/4

Cut to the police station. There's a missing persons section featuring Hernandez, Blue Demon Jr. and Alberto El Patron. A councilman comes into talk to the captain. This councilman is played by goddamn Lorenzo Lamas! He tells the captain to stop her investigation into Dario Cueto because his employer says so. She thinks it's the Mayor but he says it's someone more powerful. She's not happy about this.

Overall: 7.5/10. Another strong effort from Lucha Underground tonight. Their shows are such easy watches and time just flies by. The opening match was pretty good and the Trios Tournament bout was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the backstage stuff tonight. Watching the Disciples of Death stuff was actually enjoyable and the closing stuff was cool. The main event had a sick finish and accomplished everything it needed to.

If you do want to check out Lucha Underground, which you absolutely should, and don't get El Rey Network (like me), you can sign up for the streaming service Fubo.TV. It's a great way to support the company and channel while streaming the show online. You can sign up and get Lucha Underground right here with Fubo.tv!

G1 Climax 23 Night One Review

G1 Climax 23 Night One
August 1st, 2013 | Shizuoka, Japan

A few months back, I went and reviewed the G1 Climax 24. It was my first viewing of the entire tournament, which turned out to be the greatest wrestling tournament I’ve ever witnessed. For those unaware, it’s a giant round robin tournament featuring two blocks of ten wrestlers each. Each guy faces the other nine in their block, earning two points for their wins. The two winners of each block meet in the finals and the winner gets an IWGP Heavyweight Title shot at Wrestle Kingdom.

The A Block is loaded. It includes Davey Boy Smith Jr., Hirooki Goto (2008 winner), Hiroshi Tanahashi (2007 winner), Katsuyori Shibata, Kazuchika Okada (2012 winner), Lance Archer, Prince Devitt, Satoshi Kojima (2010 winner), Togi Makabe (2009 winner) and Tomohiro Ishii.

In the B Block, you still have talent. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (2003, 2004 & 2006 winner), Karl Anderson, Kota Ibushi, Minoru Suzuki, Shelton Benjamin, Shinsuke Nakamura (2011 winner), Tetsuya Naito, Toru Yano, Yuji Nagata (2001 winner) and Yujiro Takahashi.

Block B
Kota Ibushi (0) vs. Toru Yano (0)
Toru Yano, ever the sneaky bastard, attacks at the bell. He throws Kota Ibushi outside and hits him with a chair before sending him deep into the crowd. He also unties the turnbuckle cover. Kota beats the count but continues to take a beating in the ring. Yano does his signature taunt, which frees Ibushi to catch his breath. He sends Yano outside and scores with a pretty moonsault. Ibushi continues with some high impact offense until Yano gets his knees up on another moonsault, rolling through for a near fall. He also gets two on a rollup after a drop toe hold into the exposed middle turnbuckle. Yano tries to distract the referee and get a low blow but Ibushi avoids and hits a kick followed by a bridging German. He nails the Phoenix Splash for the first tournament win.

Winner: Kota Ibushi (2) in 7:32
Decent little opening contest here. There may be better choices to kick off a show on the card though. Toru Yano was his usual self and Kota Ibushi had to persevere through it. Not bad, but not very good either. **¼

Block A
Lance Archer (0) vs. Tomohiro Ishii (0)
In the past two G1’s, Tomohiro Ishii has been one of my favorite performers but it looks like this was his first appearance in one. The height difference between these two is pretty nuts. Ishii can’t take down Lance Archer no matter how hard he tries. His chops have ZERO effect on Archer, who just swats him down with one strike. Archer is completely dominating. It takes everything in Ishii’s power to start rallying and he finally hits a suplex that the crowd pops for. He follows with a German that the crowd loves even more. Archer stops his comeback with a splash and Bossman slam. He sucked so badly in TNA and WWE, but seems to be completely different in Japan. A Chokeslam earns him two. He looks for his finisher but Ishii survives and starts leveling him. Archer fights him off and goes up top, where Ishii stops him. Some headbutts from Ishii are followed by an insanely impressive second rope Brainbuster. A lariat somehow only gets two. They go through an exchange that sees Archer hit a snap reverse DDT for another near fall. Archer then nails the Blackout to score the win.

Winner: Lance Archer (2) in 10:43
In his first G1 Climax match, Tomohiro Ishii delivered the goods that he would become known for. It told the story of Ishii trying to overcome his huge size disadvantage with his hard hitting style. The false finishes near the end were really good and the crowd helped. ***½

Block B
Hiroyoshi Tenzan (0) vs. Shelton X Benjamin (0)
While he wasn’t one of the bigger guys in WWE, Shelton X Benjamin has portrayed a bit of a monster like heel when I see him in NOAH. Here, he does overpower Tenzan in the early goings. Tenzan starts in with his Mongolian chops, which the crowd loves. A superkick and neckbreaker but Shelton back in the driver’s seat. He pummels Tenzan and take shim outside. Tenzan blocks a suplex before countering with one of his own. Back inside, Tenzan goes up top and hits a face crusher like move, driving his knee into Shelton’s back. Shelton escapes the Anaconda Vice, but Tenzan is still in control. He goes up again, only for Shelton to leap up and reach him. Tenzan knocks him off but misses a headbutt. Shelton strikes Paydirt for the 1-2-3.

Winner: Shelton X Benjamin (2) in 8:20
This was kind of just there. They did some pretty solid stuff, but something was missing to keep it from fully clicking. Hopefully we get better performances from both men down the line. This was just average. **½

Block A
Davey Boy Smith Jr. (0) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (0)
These two would meet in the G1 again in 2014, which is a match I gave ***½. Let’s see if their first match topped it. They start here by exchanging holds, jockeying for position. Smith slams Shibata to the ground and works a chinlock. Smith beats up Shibata outside, but back in, Shibata starts firing off some uppercuts. There’s that hard hitting style he’s so well known for. He reels some vicious kicks until Smith catches one and suplexes him over for two. Smith reaches into his family’s bag of tricks, applying the Sharpshooter. Shibata survives and locks in his sleeper hold. Smith gets out with a back suplex for two. He nails a powerbomb and covers, but Shibata kicks out and instantly applies a triangle choke. Smith tries to lift him for another powerbomb but is too weak. Shibata lets go, hits the PK and gets two points.

Winner: Katsuyori Shibata (2) in 9:08
Similar to the match I saw between them previously, this was solid. Davey Boy Smith Jr. has gotten better since leaving the WWE, while Shibata is almost always good. They work well together, making for a good, but not great match. ***

Block B
Tetsuya Naito (0) vs. Yujiro Takahashi (0)
I saw these two meet more than a few times. They’re usually solid, but nothing more. I’ve never seen anything in Takahashi at all. Early on they go through a feeling out process. As former tag partners, they know each other well, so it’s tough to gain an upper hand. Naito uses his quickness to nail a dropkick. Takahashi utilizes a second rope front suplex to start taking control. A fisherman buster follows shortly after, with him being in firm control. Naito starts applying submissions until Takahashi reaches the ropes. They fight up top where Takahashi nails a low blow, sending Naito crashing to the mat. Naito doesn’t let that stop him, nearly hitting big offense but Takahasi counters. He hits a bridging German for a close near fall. He then hits Tokyo Pimps and wins.

Winner: Yujiro Takahashi (2) in 9:30
As with most of their matches, this wasn’t bad. It was fast paced and featured some pretty cool offense by both guys. There wasn’t much psychology behind things though, making it seem like a bit of a moves exhibition. The surprising result was a nice touch, even if I dislike Takahashi. **¾

Block B
Minoru Suzuki (0) vs. Yuji Nagata (0)
Who doesn’t love watching two old dudes beat each other up? That’s exactly how this starts, as both men exchange strikes. The fight spills outside where Suzuki continues to be the badass that we know and love. Nagata gets in some shots but Suzuki aggressively goes after the leg, even shoving officials away. He wraps Nagata’s leg around the guardrail and slams a chair on it. Inside, Suzuki slaps on a submission but still gets in some strikes while the hold is applied. Nagata comes back with kicks, at least having the common sense to not use the busted leg. Minoru has some of his own for Yuji. Nagata fights back, looking for the armbar but can’t get it. He just goes to hitting armbreakers instead. Then, he gets it locked in. Suzuki survives and they just go back to slapping the hell out of each other. Suzuki wins out, sending Nagata to the mat. Suzuki locks in a sleeper hold, which is like the third I’ve seen tonight. Nagata rallies, hitting an exploder and spinning heel kick. Nagata wins a slap exchange, before nailing a badass looking exploder to win.

Winner: Yuji Nagata (2) in 14:34
Best match of the night so far. It had two guys kicking each other’s asses, with one focusing on the arm and the other focusing on the leg. I liked that as it give each guy’s offense a very distinct feel. The level these two can consistently go at despite their age is always so high. It’s basically two tough bastards trying to see who the tougher man is. I like it. ****

Block A
Hirooki Goto (0) vs. Togi Makabe (0)
Both guys seem pumped from the start, hitting each other pretty hard. Goto is going after the leg, which seems to be bandaged up. Things spill outside where Makabe clotheslines Goto over the rail and into the crowd. Inside, they just wail on each other for a bit. It’s as if they saw the previous match and wanted to try and top it in terms of toughness. Goto starts laying in the lariats, keeping Makabe down. They exchange some forearm shots now, with Goto seemingly winning out, only to run into a powerslam. Goto comes back with a big neckbreaker, but can’t keep the former G1 Climax winner down. Makabe nails a huge lariat but can’t make the cover. Up top, Makabe hits the Spider German and the King Kong Knee Drop, earning the victory.

Winner: Togi Makabe (2) in 11:20
As noted, it seemed like they wanted to one up the Suzuki/Nagata fight. They didn’t quite reach their level, but this was still one hell of a match in its own right. I don’t usually love Makabe, but he certainly has his days and this was one of them. ***½

Block B
Karl Anderson (0) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (0)
Karl Anderson made the finals of the 2012 G1 Climax, becoming the first American to do so since Rick Rude. Shinsuke Nakamura is the reigning IWGP Intercontinental Champion. Unlike some other matches, this starts quickly. Both men go for a fast exchange, rather than a slow paced feeling out process. However, like other matches, it goes outside early. Nakamura hits a running knee, but then gets kicked into the crowd. With that, Anderson takes over, beating on Nakamura. Anderson portrays a solid heel, even resorting to biting Nakamura. Nakamura starts to rally, hitting some of his signature offense. Anderson comes back with a running powerbomb but can only get a near fall. Strike exchange time. Anderson doesn’t win out, but is able to hit a TKO for two. Nakamura is up, hitting a suplex but has the Boma Ye countered. He slips free and goes for it again, but Anderson dodges and nails a neckbreaker for one. Bernard Driver connects and Anderson again can’t put down the IC Champion. He uses the Gun Stun to end things.

Winner: Karl Anderson (2) in 12:54
I’ve now seen these two wrestle three or four times and they never have a bad match. This was wasn’t their best but it was still damn good. They worked seamlessly and I bought into many of the near falls in the end. Another solid match for this show. ***½

Block A
Hiroshi Tanahashi (0) vs. Satoshi Kojima (0)
These two would have a pretty great match in the G1 the following year. They go through an early back and forth that Kojima wins with a big shoulder block. He does some flexing afterwards. Tanahashi nails a cross body, arm drag and dropkick, causing Kojima to regroup outside. Outside, Kojima ends up nearly killing Tanahashi with a massive apron DDT. The fans are firmly behind the veteran here. Tanahashi beats the count at 17 but keeps taking a beating. When he gets in some shots, the crowd boos. They pop for everything Kojima does, especially his flurry of corner chops. Kojima nails a top rope elbow for two. Tanahashi starts the comeback with a flying forearm. Tanahashi hits some more offense, but Kojima stops him in his tracks with another DDT. Both looked great. He sets Tanahashi up top and lariats him to the floor outside. Back inside, Kojima nails a Brainbuster but Tanahashi survives. Tanahashi blocks a lariat but still ends up eating one for another near fall. Time for the Tanahashi special stuff, including the Slingblade. He looks for High Fly Flow but Kojima gets the knees up. He hits a lariat to the back of the head and removes the elbow pad. Tanahashi ducks two lariats and slips before getting caught with the third for two. Kojima strikes with one more lariat and wins but the referee botches it. He dead stops the count at two, before lightly slapping the mat for three. It killed the crowd’s response to the win.

Winner: Satoshi Kojima (2) in 16:07
Damn good match up until that horrible referee both in the end. Satoshi Kojima had to dig way deep and find something, anything that would be enough to defeat Tanahashi. It took multiple lariats but he finally did it. The upset was great to see and the crowd was MOLTEN hot for it. ***¾

Block A
Kazuchika Okada (0) vs. Prince Devitt (0)
Kind of surprising to see Prince Devitt in the G1 since it’s traditionally a heavyweight tournament and he is the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion here. Kazuchika Okada holds the IWGP Heavyweight Title at this time. A few weeks before this, they met for the Heavyweight Title and Okada came out on top. Their first time locking up is won out by Okada. An irritated Devitt chooses to get in a cheap kick to take Okada down. Things move outside because a G1 match isn’t complete without that. Devitt sits Okada by the guardrail before running and dropkicking him. Inside, Devitt nails a loud chop and wears down Okada. Devitt makes a mistake by going high risk, eating an uppercut and DDT for his troubles. Okada nails the top rope elbow and RAINMAKER POSE! Devitt avoids the signature dropkick, hitting one of his own in the corner. They start exchanging forearms in the middle of the ring. Devitt nails Bloody Sunday, but it’s not enough. Okada comes back with a Tombstone and tries the Rainmaker but Devitt pulls the official in the way. This allows Bad Luck Fale to get in the ring and attack Okada. Gedo hops in to hit Fale with a chair but it has no effect. Fale puts him down with ease and then plants Okada with a Samoan drop. The referee is up as Devitt gets two on a rollup with a handful of tights. Okada hits the big dropkick but Devitt avoids the Rainmaker. He sends Okada into the ropes, where Fale levels him with a chair. Bloody Sunday hits and Devitt gets the W.

Winner: Prince Devitt (2) in 12:56
A solid enough match, but it didn’t have a big main event feel. Since Okada beat Devitt in their title match shortly before this, I kind of expected Devitt to even the score here. The interference makes sense but was a bit much here with the ref bump, two moves from Fale and Gedo all coming into play. ***¼

Overall: 7/10. This was a solid show as a whole. Nothing outside of Nagata/Suzuki was must see, but most of the show was strong. Kojima/Tanahashi was reaching greatness levels until the lame finish. I wouldn’t say any of the matches were bad and it was an easy watch in the end. There are ten matches on the show, seven of which get at least three stars and none clock in under two.

Block A Standings
Prince Devitt 2 points
Satoshi Kojima 2 points
Katsuyori Shibata 2 points
Togi Makabe 2 points
Lance Archer 2 points
Hiroshi Tanahashi 0 points
Kazuchika Okada 0 points
Tomohiro Ishii 0 points
Davey Boy Smith Jr. 0 points
Hirooki Goto 0 points

Block B Standings
Karl Anderson 2 points
Kota Ibushi 2 points
Yuji Nagata 2 points
Shelton X Benjamin 2 points
Yujiro Takahashi 2 points
Shinsuke Nakamura 0 points
Tetsuya Naito 0 points
Minoru Suzuki 0 points
Toru Yano 0 points
Hiroyoshi Tenzan 0 points

ROH Conquest Tour Philadelphia Review

Conquest Tour Philadelphia
March 12th, 2016 | 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

One of the most highly anticipated Ring of Honor non-PPVs in recent memory was this one from the famous 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. There were some relatively big matches scheduled including an IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title match, triple threat tag team match and ROH World Title match.

Jenny Rose, Mandy Leon and Sumie Sakai def. Kyoko Kimura, Taeler Hendrix and Veda Scott in 9:26
I’m doing this as a bonus. It took place on the show but wasn’t part of the VOD and instead was uploaded for free on ROH’s YouTube page. There’s something about Veda Scott that I really like. Each girl was given some time to showcase their abilities. The crowd mostly cared about the women they see often (Hendrix, Leon and Scott). Kimura is odd but she held control for her team for a while. So much so that Veda left the ring to do some commentary. It was a nice little touch for her character. Eventually, the faces turned it around and Leon dove onto most of the girls outside. That left Sakai alone with Hendrix, who tried a Tombstone, only for Sakai to counter with a rollup. Decent little six woman tag here. **¼

All Night Express def. Dalton Castle and the Boys in 7:49
Kenny King and Rhett Titus reformed at All-Star Extravaganza last September. Castle had no opponent due to a lineup change that kept Kenny Omega out. I don’t know the exact reason but Castle’s promo about Kenny ducking him because of the ab workouts he’s been doing is delightful. He was going to host a talk show but got interrupted by ANX, leading to the handicap match. ANX were pissed that Philly booed them at Final Battle after their win. This was a fun short match fueled by the antics of Castle and the Boys, who were insanely over. The Boys got some shine and Castle did some of the heavy lifting. ANX seemed to have really settled into their heel roles. After taking out Castle, they put down the Boys with a backbreaker for one and a DDT for the other. **½

Grudge Tag Team Match: Adam Page and Jonathan Gresham def. BJ Whitmer and Cedric Alexander w/ Veda Scott in 7:00
During the entrance of Alexander (where I just stuck staring at Veda), Gresham and Page rushed out to attack and start the grudge match. Gresham warred with Alexander on one side of the floor while Page and Whitmer went at it on the other. The outside brawling lasted a few minutes until things went inside and the bell finally rang. Once the match got started, the pace slowed and it seemed like all of the fun would come before it actually started. Thankfully, it picked up as Gresham and Page laid into Alexander with some big offense. Mr. Wrestling III on commentary slid Page a chair to even the odds with Whitmer who also had one. When Whitmer lost out there, he left the ring, leaving Alexander alone to take the Rite of Passage for the loss. Including the brawling before the bell, this was a lot of fun. Plus, Veda. ***

Moose w/ Stokely Hathaway and ROH World Tag Team Champions War Machine def. Cheeseburger and the Briscoes in 15:15
I didn’t know it until now, but the Briscoes and Cheeseburger is a team I needed in life. I’m still upset we never got vignettes of Toru Yano in Sandy Fork with the Briscoes when they were NEVER Champs in New Japan. War Machine and Moose came out with matching shoulder pads. Matt Taven joined commentary due to his knowledge of War Machine and the Briscoes. Cheeseburger opted to start against Moose and watching him try to overcome the size disadvantage was a blast. Mark took the heat for a while and the hot tag ended up going to Cheeseburger. His offense had little to no effect on their opponents, which was funny. The real hot tag came to Jay as expected. Then the match just broke down into chaos, capped by Moose spearing Cheeseburger for the victory. Everything involving Cheeseburger was a blast, while the match also allowed for a preview of Briscoes/War Machine. Good stuff. ***¼

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: KUSHIDA (c) def. ACH in 18:47
I always love me some KUSHIDA. This was a rare Jr. Heavyweight Title match in the states. ACH was all business and didn’t adhere to the Code of Honor, while showing some brash tactics throughout the match. KUSHIDA was having fun early, doing a John Cena taunt and Stone Cold Stunner. ACH got on offense with a sick front flip over the guardrail, causing KUSHIDA to get serious. He worked the arm by wrenching it at every opportunity. It led to a Hoverboard Lock spot that I truly believed was the end of the match but ACH survived. ACH did a great job of selling the arm in the home stretch. Just when ACH looked like he would overcome it, he crashed and burned on Midnight Star, landing somewhat on the left arm that had been worked on. Not missing a beat, KUSHIDA kicked the arm and then applied a Hoverboard Lock. ACH was forced to tap out and KUSHIDA retained. This was great and the best performance from ACH that I have ever seen. KUSHIDA just continues to have great match after great match with pretty much anyone he steps in the ring with. ****

Will Ferrara def. Joey Daddiego w/ Taeler Hendrix via disqualification in 6:12
Hendrix got on the microphone before the match to talk about Truth Martini getting taken out by Donovan Dijak. She said that Daddiego and later Jay Lethal will set examples for what will happen to him. They nearly adhered to the Code of Honor but Daddiego just leveled him with a forearm. These guys tried but the crowd had next to no interest in what they were doing. Just as things started to pick up, Daddiego grabbed a steel chair and hit Ferrara in the back, resulting in the DQ. This was there to advance an angle. *¼

Donovan Dijak and Prince Nana showed up. Dijak and Daddiego went toe to toe and had to be separated by officials. In the end, Taeler pulled Daddiego out of the ring so Dijak took out his frustrations on security.

Adam Cole and Roderick Strong def. reDRagon in 15:43
Okay, this had my attention. Four of my favorite guys in all of ROH, in the midst of two separate feuds and going at it in a tag match. Tons of accolades among these guys as Strong and Cole are former World and TV Champions each, while reDRagon are three time Tag Champions. This got off to a slower start than I expected but it made sense. The heels did their best to avoid their current rivals until the match moved outside, where it got physical. Fish got a hot tag after Strong and Cole, being the less experienced team, had a miscue that saw Strong hurt Cole’s shoulder. Once reDRagon got going, it was a thing of beauty. They truly are the best tag team on the planet. We saw a lot of submissions, leading to Strong putting Fish in the Stronghold while Cole had Kyle in the figure four. That got turned around into stereo ankle locks from reDRagon. Cole stopped Chasing the Dragon but got put in a sleeper hold. Strong broke it with a knee to Kyle’s skull, earning the three. A really solid tag team match that built to the battle between guys that strongly dislike each other that it needed to be. ***½

The Addiction def. The Motor City Machine Guns and the Young Bucks in 19:55
It is so great to see the Motor City Machine Guns together again. This was apparently their first official match back together in ROH. Though they play complete heel assholes everywhere, the Young Bucks are very popular. The Addiction had no problem picking up the slacking and heeling it up throughout this match. The Bucks did their thing and ran wild to the crowd’s liking. They brought out “Broomega” to make up for no Kenny Omega and even did the Terminator dive for him by tossing the broom out onto the Addiction. Nick then followed with a dive. The treat of this match was the Guns back in action. They didn’t miss a beat, looking like no time had passed since they last teamed. The Bucks and Guns worked together to take out the Addiction for a good chunk of the bout. The Addiction would win by doing their own version of the Meltzer Driver, with Daniels hitting the Best Moonsault Ever with it. Great finish here. The match itself was the spot barrage that you’d expect. It was mostly fun, though the constant “SUPERKICK” shouting is always so grating. ***½

ROH World Championship: Jay Lethal (c) w/ Taeler Hendrix def. Matt Sydal in 19:03
Sydal is one half of the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Champions here. Commentary hyped up Jay Lethal believing that he was the top champion in the world, though they made sure to mention Kazuchika Okada. I mean, ROH does bow at the feet of NJPW so that makes sense. They worked at a good pace early on, with neither guy gaining a clear advantage. Lethal gets his character so well, knowing the little things to do to get under his opponent’s skin. Hendrix proved to be an asset as she distracted Sydal by pulling him into motor boating her. I’m not kidding. That allowed Lethal to hit his nice suicide dive. Sydal turned it around and got in a fair amount of offense. He had a few close calls before going up for the Shooting Sydal Press. Lethal got up and shoved him off the top, sending him through a table. He beat the count back in, busted out a reverse rana and attempted the Sydal Press again. Lethal got his feet up and followed with the Lethal Injection, retaining the gold. Like Sydal’s shot at the PWG Title a few months earlier, this was good but never flirted with greatness. ***¼

Overall: 7.5/10. You may not find many other shows this consistent. Outside of the Ferrara/Daddiego match, everything was good. The opener was fun, the tag grudge did what it needed to, the six man tag had awesome Cheeseburger moments and the triple threat tag was what you’d expect. I enjoyed the reDRagon tag as it advanced some angles and the main event was solid though unspectacular. Clearly though, the must see part of the show was the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title match. I’d recommend this show and if you can only see one thing, make sure it’s that match.