May 9th, 2018
Opening Match: Jay and Mark Briscoe vs. Jushin Thunder Liger and Flip Gordon
Ring of Honor will literally book any two wrestlers against the Briscoes in 2018. Gordon matrixes to avoid some strikes from Mark. Liger and Jay have a brief exchange. A distraction from Mark allows Jay to attack Gordon from behind. The Briscoes isolate him until he flips out of some double team offense and makes the tag. Liger fires off some palm strikes but Mark cuts him off with a flash kick. The Briscoes now work over Liger. Liger hits an atomic drop on Mark and makes the tag. Gordon takes out the Briscoes with a dive. In the ring, he hits a reverse samoan drop on Mark and lands a standing shooting star press. Liger takes out Jay with a rolling senton from the apron. Gordon lands a 450 splash onto Mark for a nearfall. Jay delivers low blows behind Todd Sinclair’s back. The Briscoes hit Redneck Boogie on Gordon for the win at 11:55. A double heat segment was precisely what this opener did not need. People like to rag on Gordon, but he was the only one here doing anything remotely interesting. The Briscoes have not been enjoyable this year and somehow I don’t believe Jay low blowing people to win matches is going to help. **½
Match #2: Deonna Purrazzo and Skylar vs. Sumie Sakai and Tenille Dashwood
Sakai is replacing the injured Brandi Rhodes. Sakai snaps off a hurricanrana on Purrazzo and hits a northern lights suplex. Skylar and Dashwood trade control of a waistlock as a portion of the crowd boos. Dashwood hits a russian leg sweep on Skylar and Sakai adds a flying crossbody. Purrazzo hits a german suplex on Sakai and works her over. Sakai hits a back suplex and makes the tag. Dashwood cleans house with clotheslines. Everyone trades offense. Dashwood connects with a flash kick on Skylar for the victory at 8:00. Kelly Klein attacks Purrazzo after the match. The portions of the match involving Purrazzo and Sakai were entertaining but everything else had no heat. Purrazzo should clearly be the one to dethrone Sakai despite Dashwood being built up to do so. *¾
Dalton Castle and the Boys appear on the stage. Castle talks about where he’s taken the ROH World Title since he’s been champion. He mentions Pittsburgh and Colt Cabana makes a Norm Connors reference! Castle says that he cannot defend the title tonight against Matt Taven due to a broken hand and back problems. He is not forfeiting the title. Rather, he will heal up and be back to defend it. The Boys come out to throw croissants into the crowd. Oh man.
Match #3: The Kingdom (Vinny Marseglia and TK O’Ryan) vs. Coast 2 Coast (Shaheem Ali and LSG)
O’Ryan hits a powerslam on LSG. Coast 2 Coast connect with stereo kicks on Marseglia. Ali walks into a spinebuster from O’Ryan. Marseglia goes under the ring at one point and pulls Ali under with him. LSG goes under the ring to retrieve his partner. Paul Turner, the referee, looks confused and then he gets pulled under. O’Ryan doesn’t know where everyone went. Marseglia comes out with an axe and then we reset like nothing happened. LSG hits a butterfly suplex on O’Ryan. Coast 2 Coast miss stereo dropkicks. O’Ryan lays out Ali with an ace crusher and Marseglia adds a swantan. SoCal Uncensored come out and steal back their titles from ringside. This allows LSG to rollup Marseglia for the win at 8:35. I’m concerned about the extent to which crowds aren’t caring about Coast 2 Coast despite their push. The action had little energy and the antics under the ring didn’t play well. The finish was at least productive in the sense that it setup the main event. *½
Match #4: Bully Ray vs. Cheeseburger
Ray gets into an argument with Colt Cabana on commentary during his entrance. Cheeseburger is not backing down but immediately falls victim to a powerbomb. Two more powerbombs follow. Ray grabs his chain but Todd Sinclair stops him. He then low blows Cheeseburger. Ray goes outside to stare at the fans and gets intentionally counted out at 5:17. I understand the angle and, to his credit, the crowd reacted to Ray. However, I fail to see how this is productive and I’m doubtful Cheeseburger comes away from this with his stock raised.
Match #5: Bullet Club (Cody Rhodes, Marty Scurll, and Adam Page) vs. Roppongi 3k (Rocky Romero, Sho, and Yoh)
People love Bernard the Business Bear. Cody and Romero have a pretty odd exchange to begin. Scurll gets the crowd to come alive just by shaking the ropes. Sho and Yoh showcase some double team offense. A distraction by Bernard allows Scurll to hit a backcracker on Yoh. The Bullet Club isolate Yoh until he hits a dragon screw leg whip on Cody and makes the tag. Sho snaps off a hurricanrana on Scurll and hits a fisherman buster. He transitions into a fujiwara armbar but Page breaks up the hold. Scurll hits a pumphandle neckbreaker on Sho. Cody blind tags Scurll before he can apply the chickenwing. Romero connects with a missile dropkick on Cody and fires off clotheslines on the Bullet Club. Cody connects with the Disaster Kick on Romero. Everyone starts trading offense. Scurll accidentally superkicks Bernard at one point. This causes a huge argument between Scurll and Cody. Roppongi 3k connect with stereo knee strikes and land stereo dives. Back in, Cody hits the Cross Rhodes on Romero for the win at 14:55. This match was a great example of how the Bullet Club is so much above everyone else in Ring of Honor in terms of crowd response. That aside, these two teams worked well together as expected. The Cody/Scurll dissension was executed quite well and if you have any interest in the Bullet Club, you’d enjoy watching this trios match. ***
Match #6: Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, and SANADA vs. Silas Young, Beer City Bruiser, and Brian Milonas
EVIL wins an opening exchange against Young with a shoulder block. Bruiser and Milonas ambush Naito while he does his signature pose. They isolate Naito until he hits a tornado DDT on Bruiser and makes the tag. SANADA ties up Young and catches him with a dropkick. Milonas misses a senton and EVIL catches him with a bronco buster. Milonas answers by slamming Naito and EVIL at the same time. He hits Closing Time on SANADA. Bruiser accidentally wipes out Young with a senton from the apron. Back in, Naito and SANADA powerbomb Milonas. EVIL hits an STO on Milonas for the victory at 9:50. This wasn’t anything more than the New Japan talent getting in their signature offense for an interested crowd. Young and company felt like complete afterthoughts but the disparity in talent here was remarkable. This was an odd match to book. **
Match #7: Jay White vs. Chuck Taylor vs. Jay Lethal
These three were originally supposed to team on this show to face SoCal Uncensored. Taylor and White form an alliance at the opening bell. Lethal sends them to the floor and lands consecutive dives. Back in, Lethal connects with a double axe handle on White. White responds with a saito suplex. Taylor and White continue to work over Lethal for some time. Lethal finds an opening to apply a figure four on White. He’s able to crawl out of the ring. Taylor takes out both of his opponents with a dive. Back in, White and Taylor finally come to blows. Taylor hits Sole Food but runs into a dead-lift german suplex. Lethal superkicks White and hits the Lethal Injection. Taylor immediately rolls up Lethal for the win at 10:55. The match succeeded in building some intrigue for a singles match between Taylor and Lethal, but the action here was unspectacular. The idea of Taylor and White teaming up on Lethal likely looked better on paper than in execution. The finish was smart, but this isn’t a match that I would want to rewatch. **½
Match #8: ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Titles: SoCal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, and Scorpio Sky) © vs. The Kingdom (Matt Taven, TK O’Ryan, and Vinny Marseglia)
Both teams brawl at the opening bell. Taven knocks Kazarian to the floor with a springboard gamengiri. He follows with a dive onto the champions. They continue the “under the ring” shenanigans and the crowd reacts about the same as last time. The Kingdom hit a flatliner on Kazarian. Taven tags Daniels with a dropkick and the Kingdom work him over. SoCal Uncensored take control of the match and isolate O’Ryan. He catches Daniels with a neckbreaker and makes the tag. Taven hits a rolling neckbreaker on Sky and connects with an enzuigiri on Kazarian. He lands a lionsault onto Daniels and follows with a shining wizard for a nearfall. There’s a fast-paced offense exchange between all six men, which wakes the crowd up. Daniels lands the BME on Marseglia but Taven pulls out Todd Sinclair. Sky wipes out Taven and Sinclair with a dive. O’Ryan hits an elevated DDT on Daniels but there’s no referee. Kazarian accidentally hits Daniels with a title belt. Taven lands a frog splash onto Daniels and the Kingdom become the NEW ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions at 14:20. Everyone was working really hard, but I think this match suffered from not having a clear face/heel dynamic. Lowell is Taven’s hometown and SoCal Uncensored were certainly being jerks, but I still had no idea who ROH wanted me to cheer for throughout the match. Perhaps the answer is “whoever you want,” but that led to ten minutes of the crowd not caring much about the action. Taven winning in front of his family was a cool moment. **¾
Match #9: The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) vs. Hiromu Takahashi and BUSHI
Takahashi attacks Matt from behind at the opening bell. The Young Bucks fight back with stereo dropkicks and planchas. They showcase some double team offense. BUSHI takes them both over with a double hurricanrana. He connects with a missile dropkick on Matt. Matt is worked over. Takahashi and BUSHI take him on the stage at one point, but Matt fights them off and lands a dive off the stage. Matt hits a spear on Takahashi and makes the tag. Nick cleans house with strikes. The Young Bucks apply stereo sharpshooters. They land a frog splash-moonsault combination on Takahashi for a nearfall. Takahashi fights off More Bang for Your Buck. He takes advantage of some miscommunication and hits a german suplex on Matt. BUSHI and Takahashi catch Matt with an enzuigiri-superkick combination for a two count. Nick lands a 450 splash on Takahashi. BUSHI prevents the Meltzer Driver and spits mist at Matt. A blinded Matt still fires off some superkicks, including one on Nick. Matt traps Paul Turner in a sharpshooter until Nick cleans out Matt’s eyes. Takahashi sunset bombs Nick from the apron to the floor. BUSHI hits a destroyer on Matt for a nearfall. He follows with a dive to the floor. Back in, The Young Bucks hit the Meltzer Driver on BUSHI for the win at 14:40. Well, the Young Bucks are safest bet in professional wrestling right now for a worthwhile match. On a card full of tag team matches, this one managed to stand out above the rest. Takahashi and BUSHI felt like a special attraction and the Young Bucks were on fire. The mood they created here was so much more fun than anything else on the card tonight. ***¾
-Show Grade: C
–You Need to See:
–You’d Enjoy Watching: Bucks/Takahashi+BUSHI, Bullet Club/Roppongi 3k
–You Should Avoid: