ROH 9/28/18 Death Before Dishonor XVI Review
The Orleans
Las Vegas, NA
Ring of Honor presented Death Before Dishonor XVI, headlined by an International Cup tournament. Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman welcomed everyone to the show before the proceedings got underway.
Jushin “Thunder” Liger vs. Kenny King
King, despite recent antics, started this match off clean and commentary did well he to lay out how King’s demeanor has changed since his match against Austin Aries at Death before Dishonor. As the match went on, Riccaboni pointed out how King being in his hometown may encourage him to play it clean, but the fans were firmly behind Liger and that never really changed. Liger injured is back after being slammed into the apron while on the outside and King zeroed in on the injury while Coleman expertly called out the strategy. King largely controlled the match, with Liger mounting intermittent comebacks. Liger went for an ill-advised superplex, injuring himself. King gave him space and allowed him to get up before offering a handshake. Liger obliged and was quickly slammed to the mat with a spinebuster, picking up the three count.A good opening contest here, if a bit predictable given King’s recent wins and the fact that he was facing a legend. Commentary did a good job of driving home the change in King and showing the right amount of surprise at the end of the match.
Winner: Kenny King
ROH World Tag Team Championship Match
Socal Uncensored vs. The Briscoes(c)
Daniels and Kazarian started off in control, double-teaming Jay early on until Mark pulled Jay to the outside. The Sandy Hook natives feigned chair use before Mark officially tagged in to tango with Kazarian. This was a bit of a wild match, with the Briscoes teasing the use of chairs throughout. There was a brief ref bump that allowed Mark to throw a chair at Kazarian before hitting a Uranage on the chair. Kazarian seemed to have a cut on his head and was completely laid out on the outside. As he was tended to, Daniels fought valiantly against the Briscoes and very nearly won the titles on his own, hitting a BME that came inches away from winning via pinfall. Instead, Jay hit a Jay Driller on the outside and again on the inside to finally end the match. The Briscoes focused “game plan” producing a near street fight match that played to their strengths. The end leaves more for the two teams at Final Battle and meaningfully allowed the issues to continue.
Winners: The Briscoes
WOH World Championship Match
Sumie Sakai (c) vs. Tenille Dashwood
Dashwood’s shoulder was heavily taped and as the match moved along, the injured shoulder became an issue. Dashwood dominated but couldn’t put Sakai away, weakened by her shoulder, unable to keep a submission locked on. Sakai created some breathing room with a hurricanrana because of a delay from Dashwood. Despite hitting Smashmouth, Sakai couldn’t secure the pinfall and tried to lock on a cross armbar, failing to really sinch it on. Dashwood was able to toss Sakai into the corner and lock on a tarantula before sliding outside and powerbombing Sakai on the arena floor. Back inside Dashwood tried to end things with a powerbomb but quickly found the moved countered into an armbar. Dashwood refused to tapout, passing out and losing the match. The injury story was a huge part of the match and helped protect Dashwood despite the loss, but this was a very surprising result. Sakai being the inaugural champion was a great moment for her and the history of the division, but it felt like this was the right time for the change and it was a wasted opportunity.
Winner: Sumie Sakai
ROH World Television Championship Match
Punishment Martinez (c) vs Chris Sabin
A bit of another brawl type match here. Sabin did his best to keep things moving at a fast pace throughout the match, sticking it to the champion and even hitting a tornado DDT on a chair mid-ring, but Martinez kicked out and then hit a Silencer before finishing Sabin off with a South of Heaven Chokeslam. Post-match Martinez set a chair up and was about to continue beating Sabin down until Jeff Cobb made his way to the ring and ripped the chair out of Martinez’s hand. Cobb tossed Martinez to the matt with a side suplex hybrid and held the Television title, making his intentions clear. The match itself was good, but not overly exciting. Either the sound is off in the arena or the fans seem to be a bit subdued and it took away from some of the big moments here.s Cobb’s appearance was well done here and I’m excited to see what Martinez and Cobb do going forward.
Winner: Punishment Martinez
Tag Team Tables Match
Colt Cabana & Flip Gordon vs. Bully Ray & Silas Young
Cabana and Gordon came n hot and had early control. As the action spilled outside, Ray grabbed a chair and began to tear into Cabana. With Gordon unable to save his partner, Ian Riccaboni became overcome with emotion and ran down to ringside. His distraction allowed Gordon to hit Ray with a dive, allowing Cabana to recover. Riccaboni handed Cabana a chair, but even after repeated chairshots, Ray was able to thwart Cabana’s attempt to powerbomb him through a ringside table. Ray then, pardon the pun, turned the tables and powerbombed Cabana through the table. Back inside Young and Ray accidentally crashed into each other and eventually came to the blows. Their spat allowed Gordon to dodge Ray and even the match at one apiece. As Young went for Misery he accidentally knocked out referee Todd Sinclair. Gordon was able to hit a 450 splash on Young through the table, but with Sinclair knocked out Ray pulled a switcheroo. A confused Sinclair awarded Ray and the Young the victory due to the circumstantial evidence. Ray then whipped Gordon with a chain post match/ The end here allowed for Gordon to be protected but felt as if it were unneeded. Even losing two one one would have been enough here, but instead, another referee bump decided a match on the night. Parts of this were fun but the end felt as if it had too many moving parts.
Winners: Young and Ray
Tenille Dashwood was then shown backstage writhing in pain on the floor, clutching at her shoulder. It seemed as if she had been attacked, but it was unclear.
10 Man Tag Team Match
Bullet Club (Cody, Adam Page, Marty Scurll & The Young Bucks vs.
Chaos (Rocky Romero, Baretta, Chuckie T, Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada)
Nick Aldis, former NWA champion, joined commentary before Page and Ishii started things off. This match was a great deal of fun and was easily the best match of the night so far. Romero’s interaction with the Best Friends is also fun and the action here really picked up when they weren’t horsing around. With Global wars not too far off in the future this seemed like a glimpse of some of the talent that we will end up seeing on those shows. The end came about when Marty Scurll was able to make Romero tap to a Chicken Wing, picking up the win for the team against the most likely guy to take the fall here. Although a match like this essentially means little in terms of the booking for either company, it was still one of the most fun matches on the show.
Winners: Bullet Club
ROH World Championship Match
Jay Lethal(c) vs. Will Ospreay
Expectations for this match were great and this match definitely delivered. Ospreay looked more filled out physically and wrestled that way. He still do his amazing dives and arial work, but he brought a different layer that really brought this match up to another level. After yet another great match from Lethal, the end came after Ospreay went for a super rana, but had the move reversed into a powerbomb. Lethal followed with a Lethal injection for the win. Post match The Kingdom attacked Lethal, which seemed unprovoked until Matt Taven came out, unveiling his newly shorn head and a his version of the ROH World title, which he used to beat Lethal about, making a statement about his intentions going forward.
Winner: Jay Lethal
Final Reaction: C+/B-
Overall, Death Before Dishonor felt a bit average. As per usual, ROH does not have a bad show, but this did not feel like it moved the needle much and in terms of the history of the show, it did not carrying the weight that others in the past have. However, keeping the world champion as the main event here shows dedication to the title being the most important thing, even when the Bullet Club is all together for a match. The lack of title changes here was a bit suprising, but as we would come to find out, some of that was out of the company’s control.