Jordan’s ROH 15th Anniversary Review

I was not able to watch this show live on Friday night but I did in fact order the replay and avoided all spoilers so I’m excited to see how this show goes down!

Kenny King w/Caprice Coleman vs. Jay White

I wanna first say that I miss Steve Corino on commentary immensely. It’s weird watching ROH without him calling the action alongside Kevin Kelly. I’m glad Colt is on commentary though. I would also like to say before this match goes underway that the gimmick change of King, Coleman, and Titus is easily one of the worst I’ve seen. I thought The Cabinet gimmick was fun and creative. This gimmick of “The Rebellion” is pretty damn lame to me. Hot start to this match. I do like Kenny King and I always have, he’s just been stuck in some pretty shitty situations like here with The Rebellion and in TNA with MVP, Lashley, and all of them in the Beat Down Clan. Jay White gives a shout out to Tomoaki Honma with the Kokeshi which made me smile. King with a beautiful corkscrew dive over the top rope. White goes for a suicide dive on King but Caprice jumps in front taking it for his partner and then White nails an exploder suplex on the floor to King! King hit a T-Bone Suplex on Jay White for a very very close near fall. Big STO and a German from White but King then hits a gorgeous Spinebuster and both men are down. Single underhook suplex from White to King into the corner which was very cool. Both men at the top, White shoves him off but King does a backflip and lands on his feet and then kicks White! Wow! Back at the top, White shoves king off and goes for a cross body, king rolls through, goes for a spin out face buster but White counters into a pin for the win! That was a very great way to open up the show. King had one of his best performances in a while and Jay White continues to impress.

Rating: ***1/4

Frankie Kazarian vs. Hangman Page vs. Chris Sabin vs. Punishment Martinez vs. Cheeseburger vs. Silas Young

6 Man Mayhem matches are always fun. We start with Sabin and Kaz who exchange roll-ups all for a 1 count. Sabin with a suicide dive to Kaz followed by a shooting star from Page. Burger then tried to dive but was stopped by Young stopped him and then was launched onto the outside. Burger then attempted a dive but was caught by all the men until Punishment Martinez jumped over the top rope with a crazy dive! Martinez can join the group of extremely athletic men in wrestling. Cheeseburger now getting the best of Kaz and Page but Silas stops his momentum. Every man in the match then hits multiple moves to finally knock down Martinez. This match has been pure chaos as all the men are getting their shine. Page goes for Rite of Passage on Burger on the apron. Page spits in Martinez’s face on the apron and Martinez CHOKESLAMS Page on the apron! Good lord! Sabin springboards in into a cutter from Kaz for a close near fall that was broken up by Silas. Sabin jumped all the way to the top rope with a German! I can barely keep up with this action, its’ nonstop! Sabin counters the Plunge from Silas but Silas still manages to hit Misery but Burger broke up the count. Burger with a springboard knee on Silas after much back and forth. Kay then hits Ace of Spades on Burger for the win. I expected Kaz to win but wanted Sabin. Still such a fun match, I didn’t want it to end. This would’ve been a great opener too. Everything looked great and it genuinely made my jaw drop multiple times. I enjoyed the fuck out of it!

Rating: ***3/4

Jay Lethal vs. Bobby Fish in a Top Contenders Match

I’m fully behind Fish here. He’s the overall more talented man in this match and I just don’t like Lethal. I hope this is a solid match because it should be. Colt reminded us that these two have had another PPV match which I totally forgot about. Lethal defended the TV Title against Fish back at ASE 2015. Fish kicks Lethal so hard in the chest that it knocks him outside of the ring. Damn! Crazy back and forth here. This match is starting out great, hopefully it keeps up. Lethal goes for a suicide dive (making this the third match in a row with a suicide dive) but Fish sidesteps him and Lethal crashes into the barricade! Fucking brutal. Fish now with total control over Lethal. Lethal counters with a snapmare and dropkick to the back. Neither man has had control it’s been extremely competitive. Fish goes for a moonsault, Lethal dodges. Lethal with a nice superkick, Fish out of the ring, and Lethal this time connects with the suicide dive. Both men trading shots now. The pace now quickening with Fish on fire with a bunch of kicks followed by a vicious Saito Suplex for a super close near fall! Fish has Lethal’s leg but Lethal counters with a cutter out of nowhere. Lethal heads up top possibly for Hail to the King, but Fish stops him. Fish is thrown off the top and Lethal goes for the Hail to the King elbow drop but Fish counters and locks in the knee bar. Lethal is so close to tapping, I thought Fish had it but Lethal makes it to the bottom rope. Lethal now connects with Hail to the King and signals for the Lethal Injection but Fish kicks his leg out. Fish gets kicked in the head multiple times but Fish and then jumps off the middle turnbuckle with a cutter. Lethal goes for Lethal Injection but Fish with an impressive counter and LOCKS IN THE KNEE BAR! Lethal counters with a pin, Fish kicks out. Lethal hits Lethal Injection for the win. What a match! It was intense, nonstop action. They tore the house down. One hell of an encounter! This just felt like a big match once it got going which was pretty much right away. Nonstop action the whole way through! This show is already awesome.

Rating: ****1/4

The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia, and TK O’Ryan) (C) vs. Dalton Castle and The Boys for the ROH 6 Man Tag Team Championship

We start with brawling and then some dives from The Boys. Kingdom sends in Marseglia to start with Castle. Awesome triple team stuff with Dalton and The Boys. TK in now and Vinny pulls Boy 1 out of the ring and slams him against the apron. Ouch. Kingdom has control now. The Kingdom hit a shit ton of moves in a row on Boy 1 but they only get a near fall. Castle has the referee distracted and the Boys switch so Boy 2 is in now and Colt tries to get Tood Sinclair’s attention to tell him. Castle in now and he’s running wild. Castle and Taven slightly fucked up a spot but they recovered quickly and it didn’t turn out as bad as it could’ve. Castle hits the Bang-A-Rang but the pin is broken up by The Kingdom. Vinny is now going after both boys in uninspiring action. TK with a springboard moonsault but OH FUCK he hits his fucking shins on the barricade. Fuck he has to be hurt. It was a beautiful moonsault but god damn I hope he’s okay. Something has to be broken. Vinny and Taven quickly wrap up the match with the Rock Star Supernova for the win and retention. Crew members and Vinny cary off TK after the match. Damn, I feel for TK, that was hard to watch. The match was fun but it seemed they had to wrap it up early because of TK’s injury.

Rating: **1/2

Marty Scurll (C) vs. Lio Rush for the ROH Television Championship

Lio Rush comes out to barely a reaction and Scurll comes out to a nice one. Rush dodges a lot of Scurll’s attempts for moves, Scurll goes for the Chicken Wing early on but Rush quickly reverses and we get a standoff. More competitive action now and we’re on the outside now and Rush nails a hurricanrana on the outside to Marty. Very creative spot as Scurll traps Rush in the ring apron and then hits his trademark apron superkick! Scurll then stomps on Rush’s arm on the apron which was vicious and now Marty is targeting the arm and shoulder of Lio. Scurll goes for his patented finger snap but Rush smacks the shit out of Marty! A springboard back elbow now from Rush and then a middle rope clothesline. Cool STO/DDT type maneuver, never seen that before, very innovative. Rush heads to the tope, Scurll moves, and Marty sends Lio HARD into the corner. Marty goes for the apron superkick again but Rush pulls his leg out from under him. Rush with a backflip back into the ring followed by a kick that sent Marty off the apron and then a kick on the apron and a double stomp to the back! Back in the ring now and Rush hits another double stomp to Marty’s back for a near fall. Rush then knocks Marty’s head off with a kick and both men are down. Marty with 2 more apron super kicks to Rush and then hits a third one in a row! Rush is feeling it now as he’s back up and now both men are brawling like crazy. Rush goes for a springboard but Scurll CATCHES HIM right into the Chicken Wing! Rush counters for a near fall and a kickoff then a tornado DDT and Rush goes for the Frog Splash but Scurll’s knees come up and then a Piledriver on Rush! Marty covers for 2. Scurll could be going for the Tombstone but Rush counters and he locks in the Chicken Wing! Scurll quickly out, RUSH HITS RUSH HOUR but ONLY FOR 2! Rush grabs the TV Title and looks to use it for some reason. He decides not to and Scurll rolls him up but no, Rush hits the Dragons Call for a a really really close near fall. Rush now grabbing a chair and he’s setting something up. Rush is trying to hit a move to the outside onto the chairs but Marty counters with an uppercut and then the Tower of London for 2! Scurll then snaps the finger of Rush, Rush counters the Chicken Wing but then Scurll gets it locked in, rips off the shoulder tape, and Rush taps out. Scurll retains! Well it started off decently and I wasn’t feeling it but after Rush came back after the three superkicks this match really kicked into gear. Very good match and a great defense from Scurll.

Rating: ****

The Briscoes and Bully Ray vs. War Machine and Davey Boy Smith Jr.

Bully introduces himself and The Briscoes and say that they’re going to kick their opponents asses and a brawl breaks out. We’re officially starting with Ray and Smith. Briscoes do a version of the WAZZZUUUUP but instead of a headbutt it’s an elbow drop! Bully says it’s time to get the tables but they’re halted by War Machine and Smith. Rowe slams Hanson onto Mark Briscoe as Smith and War Machine are in control. They are keeping Mark in their corner and making frequent tags. Smith now using one of his fathers famous moves, the stalling suplex before locking in the Lion Tamer. Jay comes in to break it up but Smith throws Jay hard out of the ring. Mark was about to make the tag but Bully was knocked off the apron by Rowe. War Machine us the Pop-Up Powerslam for a near fall. War Machine went for Fallout but Smith tagged himself in. Rowe then tags himself in and there’s tension between their team . Briscoe tags in Ray and he’s running wild! Smith takes out Bully, Jay takes out Davey, Hanson takes out Jay, Mark takes Hanson, and Rowe knees Mark in the head! Jay with a suicide dive taking out Rowe. Briscoes want Bully to head to the top rope and he does and takes out all three of their opponents with a diving crossbody. Jay hits the Jay Driller and Mark hits the Froggy Bow on Hanson. Triple team 3D on Rowe and The Briscoes and Bully get the win. This was hard to follow the last performance but these men did a pretty good job. It wasn’t crazy but it was enjoyable. Everything was done well.

Rating: ***

The Hardy’s (C) vs. The Young Bucks vs. Roppongi Vice in a Las Vegas Street Fight for the ROH World Tag Team Championship

This one is going to be fun. The Hardy’s are taking RPG Vice lightly as they are focused on the Bucks and RPG Vice brings in a garbage can and lid to take out the Bucks and Hardy’s. I’m expecting just like the 6 Man Mayhem that this will be hard to keep up with. Matt Jackson hits a THUNDEROUS Powerbomb on Barreta on the entrance ramp. MY GOD! Speaking of MY GOD Barreta again takes a brutal ass bump as his leg is swept out from under him at the top rope and his back hit the ladder in the corner. Good fucking god. Nick Jackson climbed a ladder and looked to jump onto Barreta but Trent shoved him off and Nick with a swanton to the outside onto everyone! Barreta now takes a 450 with a trash can laying across him. He’s taking a beating tonight! Rocky pulls out a SLEEVE COVERED IN THUMBTACKS and he does the Forever Clotheslines on the Bucks and Hardy’s! Strong Zero from RPG Vice but the pin is broken up. Barreta brings in some thumbtacks. The Bucks do an assisted top rope bulldog on Trent onto the fucking tacks and then they stick a bunch in Trent’s mouth and SUPERKICK him! I feel for Trent, good god. Bucks hit the Meltzer Driver on Rocky onto the tacks!! For fucks sake, they’re killing each other! Matt brings in a table and Jeff brings in a ladder. Poor Trent is being layed across the table now and JEFF WITH A SWANTON OFF THE LADDER THROUGH THE TABLE. Poor fucking Trent. Jeff covers Trent for the win. What an enjoyable match! Trent Barreta was the star of that one for not only some of the stuff he did but the stuff he took. Awesome, awesome shit. Sick spots, my jaw dropped, and the intensity was high.

Rating: ****1/2

Adam Cole (C) vs. Christopher Daniels for the ROH World Championship

I can’t believe I’ve managed to avoid finding out what happens in this one but I have. I love Adam Cole but I’m pulling for Daniels so hard in this one. The guy is one of my favorite wrestlers of all time and he deserves this more than anyone. He’s one of the all time greats in my opinion and he deserves to be recognized as one rather than “one of the best to never hold a World Title”. I’m going to watch this whole match without typing anything and give my thoughts afterwards as I usually do for the main event.

GOOSEBUMPS. TEARS. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS IS ROH WORLD CHAMPION.

I couldn’t be happier for this man. 46 years old and he’s finally captured a World Title! That match was everything it should’ve been and was supposed to be. The blood early on was a great touch. The sleazy, shitty things Cole was saying to Daniels throughout were great. The storytelling was very well done. These two men put on a stellar performance to main event a stellar show. Daniels even hit the Styles Clash which made me smile from ear to ear. The Kaz turn was an excellent swerve. It was smart that they subtly never actually had him attack Daniels when he joined the Bullet Club. What a match and what a way to end this show. They even brought out the old belt for him to celebrate with which made me smile. I hate that they had to cut off his title celebration early, I wanted to see more.

Rating: ****

Overall this show surprised me with how damn good it was. From the very solid opener to the fun, wild matches in the 6 Man Mayhem and Street Fight, to the great storytelling with Lethal/Fish and Daniels/Cole to just excellent wrestling with Scurll/Rush, this show really had it all. 2 big thumbs up from me, great job ROH. For a company I’ve shit on a lot in the past year they stepped up huge here and grabbed my attention again. The commentary was also great. I gotta hand it to Colt Cabana who really shined being a great color commentator and giving lots of awesome ROH fun facts. Go out of your way to watch this show, or at least the matches that received a 4 star or above rating.

Overall Rating: 9/10