ROH Global Wars 2016 Review

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ROH Global Wars 2016 Review

Written by Jordan Bass on May 15, 2016

ROH Global Wars 2016 Review

ROH/NJPW Global Wars 2016 Review

Hello ladies and gents, Jordan Bass here again on thewrestlingclassic.com for another blog! This time I’ll be doing a review of last Sunday’s ROH/NJPW Global Wars show. I didn’t watch this show live but I ordered the replay on Thursday so I could review it here on the site (you’re welcome, haha).

ACH vs. Adam Page vs. Dalton Castle vs. Roderick Strong to determine the #1 Contender to the ROH Television Championship

This match really had no purpose on an ROH vs. NJPW show. I figured it would be good, and it was, but I guess it was just to get these 4 on the card. It started a little slow which was odd considering the style of these 4 competitors, ACH obviously being a high flier, Page has a great brawling and fast paced style, Castle has nothing but fun offense, and Roderick Strong can do it all. It picked up a bit and then Castle did a suicide dive to the outside and then others started doing dives to the outside that really got the crowd hot. Roddy then went all out and started hitting big moves on everyone until Castle hit the Bang-A-Rang on Strong onto Page and got the win. I enjoyed the match but it was a bit short. Only 8 minutes long and it felt like it had a lot more to go. These 4 men could’ve really put on a classic match if given at least 8 more minutes, though it was still fun after the first few minutes. Castle winning I guess was the right move, even though I wanted Strong to win but he was already champion a few months ago and lost his rematch. Castle vs. Fish should most definitely take place at Best in the World and I would like to see some promos between these two because their characters really clash and I think a match between those two will be very great.

Rating: **3/4

The Addiction (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian) vs. Jushin Thunder Liger and Cheeseburger

I had absolutely no interest in this match. Even though he’s quite popular, I can’t stand Cheeseburger. He’s a good underdog but not a good wrestler. Cheeseburger just got beat down for a while until he made the hot tag to Liger and Liger came in and started getting in offense on Addiction. Addiction hit their tag finisher on Liger and Liger landed really awkwardly onto his head. Cheeseburger ended up getting a surprising victory roll on Daniels for the win. This wasn’t necessarily bad just far from PPV worthy and Cheeseburger and Liger winning here was far from the right move, especially considering Addiction won the tag titles the next night.

Rating: *

War Machine (Hanson and Ray Rowe) vs. The Briscoes (Jay and Mark Briscoe) for the ROH World Tag Team Championship

I’m not a fan of War Machine and I don’t really like The Briscoes, though I can understand why people would and I think Jay is very good. War Machine went into this match having never beaten The Briscoes, they’d had encounters at 2 different ROH TV tapings back in 2014, The Conquest Tour in Hopkins last year, and Glory By Honor last year. The Briscoes won 2 of those while the other 2 ended in a no contest. I really had no interest in this match as their matches in the past were merely decent to me, but this match was actually very good. A good story was told as both teams felt the whole match like they needed the win and would do anything for it. These four went all out and it was a very brutal battle. Some good near falls in there as well, Hanson kicking out after the Froggy Bow was a very good one. The finish was very odd as after War Machine hit Fallout on Mark, the bell just didn’t ring and it was very confusing. Nothing on the competitors, but that hampered the end of the match. Nonetheless, this was a good match and helped cap off a mediocre Tag Title reign from War Machine, who lost the titles to Addiction the next night.

Rating: ***3/4

IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito vs. Kyle O’Reilly in a non-title match

God, Naito is such an ass and I love it. Anyway, this match happened last year at War of the Worlds night 2 and it was excellent so I expected an even better match this year considering how far Naito has come in one year from squandering babyface to the biggest heel in NJPW and Heavyweight Champion. I’m thinking last year’s match was better. Don’t get me wrong, I think this match was very, very solid and felt like a bigger match than last year, but it felt odd because it didn’t ever feel like it took off. It practically felt like it stayed in neutral the whole time and never kicked into gear. There was still some good back and forth but this wasn’t either mans best performance and I expected a lot more. The finish was a bit underwhelming as Naito went for Destino, O’Reilly countered, and then Naito ended up hitting Destino shortly after. I like Destino as a move but I feel like Naito needs a new finish. It just really doesn’t feel like a main event heel’s finisher. Good match but could’ve been a MOTY contender and in my eyes, it wasn’t.

Rating: ***1/2

Kazuchika Okada and Moose vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi and Michael Elgin

It was strange seeing Tana and Okada in a very midcard match, especially because they started the match off together. They had a quick exchange at the beginning before Moose and Elgin both came in. Moose and Okada are a very fun team, they work well together. I loved the spot where Okada and Moose hit dropkicks on Tana and Elgin in the corner to send them out of the ring. The finishing stretch was pretty good with a lot of fun competitiveness. I don’t see the point of having Moose and Okada win here unless big things are in store for Moose in either ROH or he plans on doing some NJPW stuff. Good match for what it was.

Rating: **3/4

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Bobby Fish for the ROH World Television Championship

This match was absolutely brutal as practically all Ishii matches are; both men beat the hell out of each other. They hit lots of vicious kicks and forearms early on. Ishii controlled the match for a bit just dominating Bobby. Fish kept trying to fight back and Ishii was having none of it, but Fish didn’t give up. Fish played a good valiant face in this match and Ishii kind of played the heel role even though he is a face. Ishii’s offense in this match was absolutely ferocious and Fish still ended up surviving that and winning and that made Fish look so great. The finish was a little strange but made sense because Fish basically had to make Ishii pass out in order to get the win. Right call here, Fish deserved this win and I’m so happy he’s finally won the TV Title after many unsuccessful attempts and Ishii wasn’t doing anything with that title. Really good match and the right man won.

Rating: ***3/4

Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin), IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion KUSHIDA, and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion Matt Sydal vs. Bullet Club – The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) and IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions The Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa)

This match was rather fun to watch. I like 6 of the 8 men in this match (sorry G.O.D, you guys kind of suck), and I think it’s pretty obvious why as this was fast paced when Tonga and Loa weren’t involved. There were no superkicks at all here even with the whole “superkick counter” thing. Still, there was a good amount of fast paced, competitive, high flying action in this match. I think this match really could’ve been so much better though especially considering the caliber of wrestlers Shelley, Sabin, KUSHIDA, Sydal, and the Bucks are. I think I had too much riding on this match considering it looked like it would be incredible on paper but in execution it was just good. The Bucks got the pin following the Meltzer Driver on Shelley. Speaking of the Bucks, I think they’ll win the Jr. Heavyweight Tag Titles very soon, probably at Dominion.

Rating: ***

Jay Lethal vs. Colt Cabana for the ROH World Championship

Joe and I had a bet going into this match where if Lethal won, he’d have to buy me an ROH DVD, but if Cabana won then I’d have to buy him an ROH DVD. Well, neither of us are getting DVDs. Thanks a lot ROH. Besides that, this match was going decently well, it was actually better than I was expecting it to be while it was still going on. I’m not a big Cabana fan and Lethal can be sort of boring to me at points, though when he turns it on he kills it. Just as this match felt like it was about to kick into high gear, Taeler Hendrix pulled out the referee before the Young Bucks came out and superkicked both her and the referee. Then they entered the ring with Cabana and Lethal and the lights went out and when they came back on, Adam Cole was in the ring… wearing a Bullet Club shirt! This crowd went ballistic and I’m sure I would’ve too seeing it live. Cole signaled the Bucks and they superkicked both Lethal and Cabana and Cole grabbed a mic. Cole talked and the Bucks took out security with superkicks and then Tanga and Loa made their way out and more destruction was caused. Superkicks were the main point of the rest of this attack on Lethal and Cabana as well as other people, including the Bucks’ dad who ate a triple superkick. They posed and the show ended.

Rating: No rating due to finish

This show was lackluster. Some poor booking decisions and the main event ending the way it did, though cool, was also annoying because this is a Pay-Per-View that people paid $35 to see and you gave them that finish. The Tag Title and TV Title matches were the standout matches of the night, but everything else was either decent or whatever. ROH is having a pitiful year booking-wise and they need to fix those issues quick because I don’t want all these horrific decisions to continue after Best in the World.