WWE Royal Rumble 2016 preview

At this point it's pretty much a tradition that the Royal Rumble "poster" feature a bunch of guys from the entire roster, most of whom have no hope of winning the match and headlining WrestleMania. It's a simple way of reminding everyone of the titular match's basic premise in a way that harkens back to the old "anything can happen" slogan. On a simpler level it gives the posters a bit of variety by featuring guys who'd otherwise never make it onto them.

This year that tradition has been sidestepped. Instead of twenty- or thirty-odd names we have Roman Reigns, WWE world title belt slung over his shoulder and a smouldering pout playing on his lips. This vision keeps Reigns strong, always a priority for WWE these days, but it also makes it tough to predict anyone but him winning the Rumble.

And it's at this point that I acknowledge that, yes, Reigns is the champ. Yes, the champ doesn't usually fight in the Rumble, what with the winner of the Rumble being awarded a world title shot at WrestleMania and all. This year that's been changed. The match is no longer for the right to challenge for the title, it's for the title.

In reality I imagine this has been done to keep the product lovely and interesting. If that's the case it's a move that's failed. WWE has become so dry and tiresome to watch that it's going to take a concerted long term plan and a great deal of effort to bring about the changes needed. Quick hits like altering the purpose of the Rumble or booking a Brock Lesnar appearance aren't enough.

In kayfabe the change was made by Vince McMahon as part of his feud with Roman Reigns. Because Roman won't conform to The Authority's idea of what a champion should be they're determined to get the title off him by stacking the deck against him. Sound familiar? It should. This is the format WWE's been using to establish main event faces since it worked with Steve Austin. The problem with it is obvious: Roman Reigns is not Austin. I don't mean this in terms of promo skills, ring work or personality (although it applies to all of them), I mean it in terms of character. The entire point of Austin was that he hated how he'd been held down by the business in general and the Mr McMahon character was the perfect foil for that.

Roman doesn't really have much of a character to speak of. There's nothing for him to be bitter or frustrated about. He has very obviously and openly been fast-tracked to the top of the company. He hasn't overcome any major setbacks and he hasn't had the real life fight to get his spot that Austin had. Which means presenting him as an underdog against malicious ol' Vinnie Mac won't get anyone anywhere: people can't accept Roman as the underdog we're told he is.

Because it's the established formula Roman seems like the only possible winner. As the babyface champion who the heel authority figures are out to screw over he is, ironically, the favourite to win. Because WWE's top lads always overcome the odds. Got to let the kids know they can believe in their heroes, right?

In fairness it's worth mentioning that had Reigns not been added to the Rumble the match it would have been decidedly light on star power (because he and someone else would have had a separate singles match). Rollins, Cena and Orton are injured. Not many people would have wanted to see the latter two win but they would have been credible contenders. That's what you want with a match with thirty participants. In addition to them Cesaro is injured. He wasn't going to win but he was popular enough to merit a lengthy stay in the match.

I have other predictions for the Rumble match that don't pertain to the winner. I expect the Wyatt clan will be responsible for Lesnar being eliminated, possibly after he's mown through all or most of them (if it's most then Bray will be the guy to survive). Kofi Kingston's annual "OMG did you see how he survived elimination?!" spot will likely involve his New Day tag partners. Maybe he'll stand on their shoulders or run across their backs or Big E will catch him or something. AJ Styles will debut to a good reaction because the Rumble is big enough to attract the sort of crowd that will know who he is and care. I can see him lasting long enough to get all his big moves in (though probs not the neck-breaking Styles Clash) before being eliminated, something the crowd will loudly boo even though 'The Phenomenal One' clearly isn't going to win the WWE world title on his first night in the company. I'm also confident not enough will be done with the comedic potential of Curtis Axel being in the Rumble.

The rest of the card is made up exclusively of title matches, which seems somehow appropriate for what has become the second most important card on the WWE calendar. Kevin Owens and Dean Ambrose will continue their run of PPV singles outings with a Last Man Standing match. It's rare for a stip like this to be busted out for the IC title these days. It's nice to see here. It can only help restore some of the lustre that's been lost over the years. It should also play to the brawl-heavy strengths of KO and 'The Lunatic Fringe'. It could end up being the best entry in their feud. Either could win because it feels like this is a rivalry of equals where either guy could win on any night, but I'll pick Ambrose to retain because he's not had the title too long.

Becky Lynch will challenge out-and-heel Charlotte 'Don't Mention Her Surname' Flair. Everything here is set up for the two women to succeed. Charlotte is playing the arrogant, snarky heel she's far better suited to at this point in her career and Lynch is established in a plucky underdog role, almost the main roster version of Bayley. They're more familiar with one another than a lot of other combinations the women's division could throw up, handy for the still-relatively-inexperienced 'Nature Girl'. And the setup of the Rumble card means that they should get plenty of time to have a good match.

A Lynch victory isn't out of the question but I think Charley retaining is far likelier. If WWE want her to be one of the key players for the Divas scene for years to come she needs to be established as someone who wins a lot. A lengthy first title reign wouldn't hurt there. She's currently at three months and while that's not insignificant it's not anything special either. A run until WrestleMania or beyond is what Charlotte needs to set her up as a somebody.

The last two matches are Kalisto challenging Alberto Del Rio for the United States championship and the Usos challenging New Day for the tag championship. Kalisto had a one day reign a few weeks ago (three in TV time) when he won the belt from ADR before losing it back ok SmackDown. Why he lost it back so soon (or at all) is a bit of a mystery. Perhaps it was to make things unpredictable. Whatever the reason I think Kalisto will get the belt again here and keep it this time. 

Match quality between Kalisto and 'The Essence of Excellence' will be questionable. They've not clicked in previous meetings. They'll need to switch things up to make a good impression here. The tag title match, meanwhile, should be very good. New Day are always on form and the Usos have become one of WWE's most reliable tandems. I don't want to see a title switch but I think we might. New Day have had the belts since SummerSlam and I suspect management will be itching to changes things for change's sake.

No matter how well the undercard matches do it's the Rumble that will determine whether this show is remembered well or not. With it looking about as predictable as the last two years' have (and let's pause for a second and note that Roman Reigns has been involved in fan backlash in the closing moments of the Rumble in both of those matches) I won't be getting my hopes up on Sunday night.

***

Predictions summary:

Roman Reigns to win the Royal Rumble and retain the WWE championship
Dean Ambrose to defeat Kevin Owens to retain the Intercontinental championship
Charlotte to defeat Becky Lynch to retain the Divas championship
The Usos to defeat New Day to win the tag team championship
Kalisto to defeat Alberto Del Rio for the United States championship

Making NXT Phenomenal

AJ Styles. In terms of talent WWE could sign right now he's pretty much the pinnacle. Not because he'd be a nice addition to the main roster (not to say he wouldn't be) but because of what he could do for NXT.

 

'The Phenomenal One' appeals to people who like their wrestlers to wrestle. That's not always something that gets factored in with WWE fans. They like Hulk Hogan because of nostalgia (or maybe racism, who knows?), Steve Austin because he was an outspoken asskicker, Rock because he was a great promo, John Cena because of Reasons™. Styles is light on intangibles but can put together a red hot match given enough time and a semi-decent opponent. That's just not necessarily something that would help him connect with the average WWE viewer who had no knowledge of his former life in ROH, New Japan, and other respected groups.

 

Would Styles want to give up this spot for Monday nights wrestling R-Truth?

Styles would not get to do what he's best at on the main WWE roster. At least not until he'd earned his way to the top of the card with years of paying dues to The WWE System. Which, understandably, probably wouldn't appeal to him because he's getting paid main event money to headline in NJPW now. He'd have no reason to relocate other than money, and WWE are unlikely to pay him big bucks to work his way up through the mid-card. While Styles has stated many times money is his chief motivation for wrestling I can't see him trading his current career for the weekly grind of WWE's mid-card and the whiff of one of Vince's brass rings unless a frankly unrealistic sum of money was involved. 

 

If you're considering that WWE would race AJ to the top don't bother. That would break decades of routine and this is a company that takes routine very seriously. No, he'd have to earn his way there like everyone else. Because Vince is certain that the batch of guys who have come along since 2000 or so are all lazy millennials who just want to coast.

 

But Vince doesn't run NXT. Triple H does, and he's been shown to break routine for his league. Wrestlers who have made names for themselves outside of WWE have been signed and immediately pushed, helping it to become a show with its own style and narrative quirks and a far more satisfying watch than the average RAW. Immediately pushing guys like Finn Bálor, Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe and Apollo Crews has trained fans to expect the best in terms of booking for debuting stars. It is, as has been noted before, WWE's take on the indies.

 

AJ Styles is a star to any wrestling fan who follows any promotion that's not WWE. He emphatically would not be in Vince McMahon's eyes because he will only truly consider someone a star once they've been built up in his territory. But Styles could come into NXT and instantly be accepted by its fans and that's what NXT needs. A steady stream of fan-friendly signings to keep the momentum going as the men and women deemed prospects get bumped up to the main roster.

 

With the "brand" still being expanded and money-losing kinks being worked out (or at least minimised) signing someone who could help draw crowds on the scale the company wants NXT to operate on would clearly hold appeal. Like Joe, Styles doesn't look like a guy who'd be a sure fire success booked by Vinnie Mac. But booked by people who'd play to his strengths (wrestling) and disguise his weaknesses (talking, although he's miles better than he used to be) he could be an asset to the planned global expansion. 

 

Could this signing happen? Absolutely. Would this signing happen? Well, WWE could outbid New Japan with ease and attitudes to indy standouts have changed significantly over the last several years. Samoa Joe keeping his name shows Styles could keep his, handily explaining why he has a massive AJ tattooed on his side. He'd be of use to an area of the company that seems to be a priority. That had to count for something. It's by no means a definite thing but Styles in NXT could happen. And with Finn Bálor likely not far off a promotion the timing could be getting pretty good pretty soon because that rarely appearing top babyface spot is perfect for Styles.

NJPW Dominion 2015 review

With the G1 tournament currently in full swing this seems like the perfect (or most illogical, whichever you prefer) time to review the promotion's last major show, Dominion. I'd been looking forward to this show a great deal due to the fact that it featured a far greater number of singles and championship matches than the average New Japan show. It felt like it was a big deal because of this and, pleasingly, all of the bigger matches were worth watching. This was a show that didn't disappoint.

This said it actually seems like this was a relatively minor New Japan show, designed more as something to get people in position before the G1 tournament. Which does a fair amount to illustrate just how good NJPW is: even its B shows are excellent. It's impossible to imagine the likes of Payback or Battleground being this good. But then New Japan and WWE (and Gedo and Vince McMahon, for that matter) have different approaches and goals with the companies they head.

The show kicked off with a trio of tag matches. The first saw Yuji Nagata, Ryusuke Taguchi, Sho Tanaka, Mascara Dorada and Manabu Nakanishi defeat Jushin Liger, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yohei Komatsu, and Tiger Mask when Dorada pinned Komatsu. The second was the traditionally high spot filled junior tag title match, the Young Bucks successfully retaining against reDRagon and Roppongi Vice in a three-way. The latter seems to have drawn criticism from some for being "too American" but with six westerners in there what else could you expect. As far as these sorts of matches go it was very enjoyable.

The third saw Tetsuay Naito and Tomoaki Honma pair up to defeat Bullet Club lads Yujiro Takahashi and Bad Luck Fale. Naturally it was Takahashi who took the pin because New Japan go out of their way to protect Fale, presumably because he's the closest thing they have to a big, bad monster. Less naturally it was Honma who got the pin for his team, playing into a match-long story of Naito seemingly being unmotivated and not trying especially hard to help his partner out. This story (which has progressed considerably with the G1) was the highlight of the match, although the work between eternal underdog Honma and 'The Underboss' was fun too.

The first singles match of the show pitted Kazushi Sakuraba against Katusyori Shibata. This match was only a little over ten minutes but it felt longer. These are two of the least compeling guys on the New Japan roster for me and as such I found this difficult to engage with. It was technically proficint but it was the least engaging portion of the show for me. Shibata went over with a punt kick to Sakuraba's face after having weakened him with a lengthy sleeper.

Things improved considerably after that with Kushida's return to the top of the junior division with a junior heavyweight championship win over Kenny Omega. Kushida had earned the match by winning the Best of the Super Junior tournament in June, playing into the simple (but slightly unpleasantly racially charged storyline) story of Kenny Omega, a Canadian, having defeated challengers of Japanese, Mexican, and American origin and gloating about how none of them had beaten him. Obviously he was going to get his comeuppance at the hands of a Japanese guy, and it was Kushida, a man who's popularity has been growing considerably over the last eighteen months and who had been perfectly positioned for a singles run away from his Time Splitters partner Alex Shelley, who had to be the one to beat him.

This was the first standout match of the show (and there were several standout matches, as you'll read below). There was early use of a rubbish bin (trash can, for y'all across The Pond) from Omega, designed to play into his weird 'Cleaner' moniker, and then a prolonged sequence of Kushida's leg being worked over against tables and barriers outside the ring. That set him up as even more of an underdog against the despicable westerner and got him doing some very sympathetic selling, drawing the crowd in and prepping him for a piping hot comeback later on in the match.

It came just shy of the fifteen minute mark when Kushida reversed a suplex. From there he hit the champion with a roundhouse kick on the apron, a handspring elbow, and a cross body block from the turnbuckle to the floor (handily wiping out the Bucks too). Omega managed to briefly hold back the tide with, of all things, an Oklahoma Stampede, a decidedly more junior dragon suplex, and a top rope Aoi Shoudou, but it wasn't enough to get him the victory. Kushida would fire back with a number of kicks and applications of the kimura lock. It took a few tries but it was eventually that hold which got Kushida the win, trapping Omega's arm as he hoisted the challenger up for the One-Winged Angel and then locking the hold in place in the centre of the ring.

Following Kushida's lengthy celebration Tomorhiro Ishii strode down to the ring to challenge Togi Makabe for the NEVER championship. Makabe had defeated Ishii at Wrestle Kingdom 9 but was stripped of the title the following month after suffering form influenza and being unable to compete. Ishii would go on to beat Honma for the vacated gold at New Beginning, only to lose it back Makabe at Wrestling Hi no Kuni.

We had the same sort of enjoyably rough and tumble match here as we'd had in their previous meetings. They pummelled one another non-stop for getting on for twenty minutes, throwing elbows like they were going out of style. Big lad matches don't get much finer than what they gave us here, and they built to a great crescendo with Makabe German suplexing Ishii off the top rope before dropping on a knee on his head to once again beat him to retain the championship. This, for the record, was the second standout match of the evening. 

It was followed by a decidedly non-standout match: The Kingdom versus Bullet Club for the IWGP tag team championship. These aren't teams that do great things together. They've wrestled three times on major New Japan shows this year (Invasion Attack, where Bennett and Taven defeated Gallows and Anderson for the tag belts, and Wrestling Dontaku, in a six person match also involving Maria and Amber) and met in a number of matches on house shows in both New Japan and ROH. Despite this they've not managed to develop any sort of noticeable chemistry or interesting spots that can be called back to.

On the one hand that's fair enough. Not every feud is going to see guys find a rhythm that leads to a string of classic matches. It's not their fault that they've been put together so much, that they're all foreign heels (leading to audience disinterest and lack of focus) or that all they've been given to work with in terms of basis for a rivalry is Karl Anderson being infatuated by Maria. But it is their fault that they've not managed to drag any of these matches up to an acceptable level.

Bullet Club regained the titles here when they hit Taven with a 3D and Magic Killer. Hopefully they can move onto something with more talented teams that the audience actually like. Tanahashi wouldn't be a bad idea: he's super over and being in tags would help limit his ring time, preserving his utterly knackered body. It could also give a rub to whoever he was partnered with.

Speaking of Tanahashi, he wrestled in the match after this. It was a feud-ending collision with Toru Yano. Why he'd been pitted against Yano in a series is beyond me. Tanahashi, the man NJPW promotes as 'The Ace of the Universe' is one of the most over men in the company, quite possibly the most over. Yano is a comedy heel. Nobody stood to gain anything from this pairing: Yano wasn't going to be brought up to Tanahashi's level, Tanahashi was only going to be dragged down. It gave Tanahashi a rest, that's true, but there were other ways of achieving that without putting him with Yano.

The match was at least enjoyable. Because Tanahashi, despite being injured and overrated, is still very good, and Yano's shtick works. The obvious result came to pass when Tanahashi gave Yano the sling blade and the High Fly Flow.

The semi-main event was a Shinsuke Nakamura versus Hirooki Goto in a rematch for the Intercontinental championship. Goto had defeated Nak at Wrestling Dontaku in early May after Nak had underestimated and belittled him. The story here was that 'The King of Strong Style' wanted to prove the result had been a fluke and that he had been right to disregard Goto.

They started off with a lengthy feeling out process, Nak toying with the champ by jabbing at him with taunting kicks. Goto would get the best of the first lockup exchange, however, and would also be the first to go on a prolonged offensive streak, grounding Nakamura and wearing him down with chin locks. Nakamura would miss a running knee to the corner before knocking Goto out of the ring and smacking him into some guard rails.

The referee started a count. Goto made it back into the ring at eighteen but was too beaten up to do anything but lay there. Nakamura took advantage of this with some kicks. When he switched to elbows Goto's fighting spirit kicked in and he started fighting back. Nakamura survived a crazy lariat attempt, a spinning heel kick, and a bulldog before buying himself some time with a drop kick. A running knee in the corner missed but he managed to hoist the champion to the top rope and strike him with one there. That earned him a two count.

Goto tried to fire up again but Nak cut him off with another drop kick and a fall forward suplex. A Bome Ye attempt was reversed into a Samoan drop attempt, Nak wriggling off the shoulders and trapping Goto in a Gogoplata. Goto made it to the ropes but not quickly, and he was clearly even more worn down after being released from the hold. So Nakamura slapped on a rear naked choke to keep the pressure on.

Goto fought to his feet only for Nakamura to release the hold and drop him with a couple of suplexes. He again went for the Boma Ye and again found it countered, this time with a lariat. Goto hit an Angle Slam for two. He followed up with a neckbreaker out of the corner and Shouten Kai attempt. Nakamura kneed him in the head to escape that, only to be clotheslined in the corner seconds later. Goto tried to hit something from the top rope but Nak slipped away and power bombed him down to the mat then walloped him with a Boma Ye as he staggered back up.

Back on their feet the two lads traded blows, Nakamura getting the best of the exchange and felling the champ with an axe kick. Goto blearily tried getting back up but got struck with a Shining Wizard. Despite the crowd being convinced it was a match-ender Nakamura's pin attempt only got him a two count. Goto ran the ropes, avoiding two further  Boma Ye strikes before getting punched straight in the face. That caused him to drop to his knees. Nakamura again tried a Boma Ye but Goto caught hold of his knee, allowing him to hit a Goto Shiki and a dangerous-looking bck drop into an inverted power bomb for a beautiful false finish.

Nak got back to his feet and punched Goto again. Goto no-sold and gave Nak some head butts. Nak fell to the mat where he was pulled back to his feet to be hit with the match-winning Shouten Kai, bringing a cracking match to a close. Being a big fan of Nakamura I was disappointed he didn't get to regain the title he, more than anyone else has helped to build up but it would have been pointless for Goto to lose it back in his first defence. It's nice for someone else to have it for a bit to create some variety and allow Nakamura to do other things.

The main event saw AJ Styles defend the IWGP heavyweight championship against Kazuchika Okada. It was preceded by a really quite excellent hype video that did a great job of setting the mood for the match. Footage was used from some of the ROH co-promoted show, establishing how popular Okada is outside of Japan. He was also shown staring wistfully at Madison Square Garden, a building he's unlikely to ever wrestle in unless he makes his way to WWE at some point. It seemed to be presenting him as a humble man driven by ambitions and goals. Meanwhile Styles was presented as brash, arrogant and condescending. It did a great job of setting the scene for the story to come.

That story saw an Okada who refused to be intimidated by Styles dominate the early going. Okada was clearly confident and determined to overcome the entirety of Bullet Club being at ringside and become the heavyweight champion for a third time. The opening minutes saw 'The Rainmaker' outwrestle Styles multiple times, demonstrating that he had the champion's number and would win a fair match. Then, to illustrate that it wasn't a fair match, the interference began. Amber tripped Okada, allowing Styles to take control of the match. Moments later the challenger was tossed out of the ring to receive a kicking from the Biz Cliz.

Okada tried to fight back in the ring ut he got nailed with a drop kick and thrown out of the ring for a second kicking. This time the referee realised what was happening and ordered all Bullet Club members back to the locker room (maybe they should have secured themselves managers licenses and avoided this issue entirely). Okada rocked Styles with elbows, reversed a whip into a DDT, and hit a kip Up. Because athleticism.

Okada got a two count with a flapjack then headed to the top rope. Styles charged in but Okada leapt over him and struck him with an elbow. The champ no-sold that and hit his Asai DDT. He tried to follow up with a springboard but Okada kicked the ropes, toppling him back down onto the ring apron where he took an Okada drop kick.

After a brief brawl around ringside the two returned to the ring and Styles hit Okada with a facebuster for two. Styles tried a springboard again. Okada countered again, this time drop kicking the champion as he sailed into the ring. He followed up with a Macho Elbow to Styles then signalled for the Rainmaker. Styles escaped and suplexed Okada into a turnbuckle board. Then, finally, he hit his springboard forearm.

Okada turned a Styles Clash into Heavy Rain. He tried to follow up with a Tombstone but Styles fought his way out of it. They traded punches, uppercuts and elbows, Styles getting the better of the exchange when he elbowed Okada to the ground and stomped him. Back on his feet Okada hit that perfect drop kick of his and went for the Tombstone again. Styles reversed his way out of it and hit the move himself, following up with the springboard 450 for a two count.

Styles headed to the top rope. Okada followed and hit a dangerous, almost botched-looking, Death Valley Driver from the second rope to the apron. After a pause Styles crawled back into the ring, only to be hit with a drop kick from the top rope. A dazed Styles staggered to his feet and straight into a Tombstone piledriver from Okada. He signalled and went for the Rainmaker again but Styles ducked and struck with a Pele kick, flooring the challenger and buying himself some time to recover.

Back on his feet 'The Phenomenal One' attempted a Styles Clash. Okada pulled out of it and tried the Rainmaker again. Styles ducked it and gave Okada a back slide, rolling him through into the Styles Clash. Okada fought out, only to be set up for Bloody Sunday. He escaped that too and grabbed Styles for the Rainmaker. Styles fired off elbows so Okada dragged him into a back slide and hit him with the Rainmaker. Just to make sure he had him Okada pulled Styles up for another but Styles ducked. It didn't help him though. Okada nailed a pair of German suplexes and another Rainmaker to put AJ down for a three count and win his third IWGP heavyweight championship.

The match was excellent, one of the best I've seen Styles have since joining New Japan. It was easily the best on the card and was of a quality befitting the beginning of 'The Rainmaker's' third title reign. The pair wrestled like the title meant something and did a great job of weaving their finishers and signature moves into the closing third of the match, each man's arsenal being portrayed as absolutely devastating. The match can't be praised enough. It was one of the finest NJPW efforts of the year, and that puts it up against some stiff competition.

The show as a whole was, as I intimated earlier, great. Every match did exactly what it needed to. Makabe v Ishii was great and the junior heavyweight, IC, and heavyweight title matches were all match of the year contenders. This show just edged out Wrestle Kingdom 9 for New Japan's show of the year spot. With this being such a great show and there being two new champions crowned I'm interested to see what New Japan does next.

***

Results summary:

Yuji Nagata, Ryusuke Taguchi, Sho Tanaka, Mascara Dorada and Manabu Nakanishi defeated Jushin Liger, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yohei Komatsu, and Tiger Mask
The Young Bucks defeated Roppongi Vice and reDRagon to retain the IWGP junior heavyweight tag team championship
Tomoaki Honma and Tetsuya Naito defeated Yujiro Takahashi and Bad Luck Fale
Katsuyori Shibata defeated Kazushi Sakuraba
Kushida defeated Kenny Omega to win the IWGP junior heavyweight championship
Togi Makabe defeated Tomohiro Ishii to retain the NEVER openweight championship
Bullet Club defeated The Kingdom to win the IWGP tag team championship
Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Toru Yano
Hirooki Goto defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the IWGP Intercontinental championship
Kazuchika Okada defeated AJ Styles to win the IWGP heavyweight championship

Beating Lethal

Best in the World 2015 saw Jay Lethal defeat Jay Briscoe to become the new Ring of Honor world champion. He's the twentieth man to hold the title and the first ever to hold it in conjunction with another active championship. Yeah, Bryan Danielson won the pure championship from Nigel McGuinness during his world title reign but he retired it immediately. He didn't hold belts simultaneously and work as a double champion.

Apparently Lethal will. Reports from ROH's latest TV tapings indicate that Lethal opted not to vacate the TV championship as he'd put too much effort into building it up. Matchmaker McGuinness then made the ruling that if Jay wants to stay a double champion he will have to defend the TV and world titles as separate entities. All of which makes sense from the point of view of Lethal's character and creates the chance to produce some fresh scenarios for championship defences and show-long stories at future events.

The double champ is here.

I'll be surprised if Lethal doesn't hold onto both belts for a while. It would be fairly pointless to go to the trouble of giving him a lengthy reign as TV champion (the longest ever, in fact) and not have him vacate the title only to lose it in a random title match after a few weeks. It would also be pointless to put the world title on him just to take it away quickly. That's not how things work in ROH. Wrestlers work hard to win titles and get to enjoy substantial reigns with them. It makes the titles and wrestlers, and by extension the matches involving them, mean more.

But at some point Lethal will lose the world championship, just as has happened twenty-two times before. Which is the point of this article: discussing the possible successors (as I perceive them) to Jay Lethal as the ROH world champion. As far as the TV championship goes I think he'll hold it for a few more months before losing it to guy who'd benefit from a surprise upset win, such as ACH, or being stripped of it after some form of shenanigans during a title defence.

I'll start with Jay Briscoe. There's a chance that Lethal will lose the title back to him but I think it would be dependent on him having a long title reign. I don't imagine ROH would take the gold from Briscoe only to get it back to him a couple of months later, even though it's an approach that would fit the sports-emphasis style of the promotion. But if Lethal has been made champion with no long term plan for a replacement (not that I think that's the case considering how well Delirious has done planning things out over the last few years) it's possible Briscoe could regain the belt in the far future (by which I mean some time next year). If Lethal left for WWE Briscoe would be a lead candidate for a short notice replacement.

As would Roderick Strong. My reasoning is the same as with Briscoe: he looks and wrestles the part, would be accepted in the role, and is unlikely to leave for another major promotion. I can't see him beating 'The Greatest First Generation Wrestler' at Death Before Dishonor XIII on July 24 but farther in the future he could be in with a chance. Right now he's more of a credible contender to stabilise Lethal's reign than anything else.

AJ's already got a belt though, so...

Sticking with the theme of men who probably won't defeat Lethal but might there's AJ Styles. ROH seems comfortable in presenting him as a special attraction. As such he doesn't need the championship. He's a draw for ROH with or without it. He's also won the IWGP championship twice since joining New Japan last year and is the champion right now. That places limitations on ROH, because New Japan aren't likely to be happy if their champion starts laying down for people elsewhere. And ROH have benefited too much from their relationship with New Japan to upset them. Styles is best off facing bigger names who aren't champion and losing (or indeed winning) any ROH title matches he's in via disqualification.

The first guy I'll name who I think has a crack at taking the title from Lethal in a long term planning capacity is Michael Elgin. He's one of the better wrestlers in the company despite fans having turned on him. In fact his  current status as a heat magnet is a large part of the reason I think he could end up beating Lethal for the title. People would be genuinely irate if he become a two time champion with his current persona. He has the character and in-ring ability to make a reign as heel work and it would be nice to see him get the championship run he deserved to have last year. Although I think an 'Unbreakable' title win would be reliant on Lethal becoming a babyface at some point the response to his win at BITW indicates he'd be accepted as a good guy. I don't think it's something that's going to come any time soon though, if it comes at all.

Moose is a possibility too, which isn't something I would have expected to write a few months ago. He's comfortable in the big man role and could easily introduce some flashier moves to help him fit in at the top of the card (big lads need to have stuff like the cross body block he used at Best in the World when they're main eventing). He's also really, really over. His burgeoning programme with Cedric Alexander will likely keep him busy for a few months but he should be done with that in plenty of time to challenge Lethal at whatever big show ROH promotes in September or October or perhaps even at Final Battle (although there's someone mentioned below who I think would make a far better opponent for Lethal at Final Battle).

No ROH champion has mastered the point into the crowd... until now.

A wildcard possibility is Nic 'Dolph Ziggler' Nemeth. I mention him mostly because at time of writing there are rumours floating about that he'll be leaving WWE when his contract comes to an end later in 2015. I don't think this will come to anything but if it does ROH has to be the favourite for the company he'd turn up in. It wouldn't rule out him working for New Japan and TNA is a laughable suggestion at this point. He's probably the WWE guy I'd most like to see in ROH. Everything that's needed to make it to the top of the work rate-centric promotion he has, and he could do it as a face or a heel. Nemeth would be a boon to ROH, giving him the title would only help matters.

But I'm not going to make any of those names my official prediction. That honour goes to Adam Cole. Everything I can find on the subject indicates that he has a significant amount of time left on his current contract. If Best in the World and TV spoilers are anything to go by he's on the cusp of turning face. Having him work as a face champion would be something new for him and the company. By the time he's finished with what I suspect could be a lengthy breakup with his Kingdom stablemates we should be just about ready for a build towards Final Battle. Babyface Adam Cole versus heel Jay Lethal would not only be new, it would be one of the biggest matches Ring of Honor could promote. I think this will be the match to headline Final Battle.

That is my official prediction. Now watch as I'm wrong, just as I always am when it comes to predicting ROH title changes.

ROH Best in the World 2015 review

ROH's Best in the World 2015 show started with a video package focusing on the main event, one of the most interesting matches they've presented in a long time, Jay Briscoe versus Jay Lethal. The chief reason this was an interesting match was that it was a champion versus champion scenario, Briscoe being the world champion and Lethal being the television champion, with both titles on the line. There was also the fact that Lethal had held the TV title for well over a year and Briscoe hadn't been pinned since March 2 2013. It felt like a big match because of how well the two wrestlers were presented and the video that kicked off the show only added to that. Everything from the promos the two men cut to the simple touch of listing the bigger names each man had made successful defences against drove home that the match was a big deal.

It was the main event I was most interested in. Whenever that's the case going into a wrestling show something's been done right. ROH did a great job promoting Lethal v Briscoe. Having said that the rest of the card did seen slightly underwhelming. Aside from the number one contender shop three-way nothing really stood out, and the three-way was mostly interesting because I wanted to see how a winner would be booked in a match involving guys who rarely lose in ROH.

The Addiction v reDRagon was a match I'd seen before and which had failed to grab me. The Bullet Club v Kingdom six man was a rematch. While the first encounter had been good I felt it had been slightly overhyped and so I wasn't as excited about this match as others may have been. Castle v Young sounded good mostly because I like the characters of both guys. And everything else looked like standard ROH fare: good but not necessarily the easiest stuff to engage with emotionally.

That last sentence perfectly summed up the first match, Mark Briscoe versus top prospect tournament winner and proud House of Truth member Donovan Dijak. It was a solid opener which didn't drag and saw both men get a turn in control but it didn't draw me in because I'm not the biggest fan of either guy and they did nothing to change that. Briscoe won after blocking Feast Your Eyes (a Burning Hammer into a knee strike) and hitting the Froggy Bow.

Pretty much the same thing can be said about match number two. It saw BJ Whitmer and Adam Page face off with ACH and Matt Sydal. Page and Whitmer had their Decade young boy Colby Corino with them. Colby's dad Steve (now inexplicably going exclusively by the title of King Corino) was on commentary for this match, as he is for all ROH shows, but he seemed reluctant to place any emphasis on his own personal feelings about Whitmer recruiting Colby to further their longstanding grudge. It's possible he doesn't feel comparable with the angle or, more likely, doesn't want to make it all about himself, preferring to keep The Decade in the spotlight. But if that's the case why bother doing it at all? Steve Corino's continued reaction to his son making a poor life choice is the entire story here and if he doesn't want to tell it, for whatever reason, it's not going to work. Which is a shame because there's a lot that could be done with it.

The match was entertaining enough. I like ACH a lot and couldn't help but feel he was a tad wasted here, especially considering how bland much of the rest of the card was (at least in terms of pairings). Page got the victory for his team after Colby pulled Sydal off a pin attempt from the Shooting Star press, distracting him long enough for Page to get the win with his Right of Passage finisher.

Young v Castle was a fun match that was surprising in how hard-hitting and back-and-forth it was. Although the approach they took made sense in terms of story: the match had come about because Castle had been the latest person to find himself accused of being "not a real man" by Silas. The two packed a lot in, including a Silas spear off the apron and a Castle deadlift German. Castle won off a rollup as Young was berating Todd Sinclair for not counting a pinfall, which Sinclair had refused because 'The Last Real Man' had shoved him into the ropes, crotching Castle, to get it. After the match Young hit his Misery TKO on one of Castle's lads. Castle was understandably distraught by this.

That was followed by the reformed C&C Wrestle Factory taking on War Machine. Alexander and Coleman got a nice welcome from the NYC crowd when they entered. Hanson and Rowe did not. They were mostly met with indifference, a worrying sign considering they've been in ROH for over a year.

This match was short and more about story than action. The story it was specifically concerned with was Cedric's continued edging towards the dark side. He tried using a wrench, the same weapon he'd used to hammer Moose and end his undefeated streak, but Caprice saw it in his hand and refused to tag him in. That allowed War Machine to grab Caprice and hit Fallout for the win. After the match Cedric teased using the wrench on Caprice but didn't. He did make it clear that their team was over though.

The first above average bout of the night was the number one contenders match. Michael Elgin, Moose and Roderick Strong had all been put in the match based on the strength of their performances and their win-loss records in 2015. It would be nice to think they were also selected because they're amongst the best guys Ring of Honor has. Elgin and Strong have both had their share of classic matches (and I'll say again that Elgin is a particularly fine finish man) and Moose has been constantly improving since I first saw him in EVOLVE. He understands how to work the role of the big man and doesn't go overboard on the bigger spots he's capable of.

There were plenty of highlights in this match. Amongst my favourites were: Elgin hitting a somersault tope on Moose, bowing afterwards and being jeered by the crowd; Roddy superplexing Elgin then Moose; Roddy performing another feat of strength by giving Moose a double knee gut buster; Elgin buckle bombing on Moose only to be immediately hit with a spear; Moose running across the ring, leaping to the top rope, and hitting a cross body to the outside on both guys; and the finish, which saw Elgin double power bomb Moose and being sick kicked as he tried for a third, with Strong pulling Moose to his feet to hot him with two jumping knees and a sick kick to put him down for three.

There was a handshake between Strong and Moose after the match. We were told Elgin shook Strong's hand but we weren't shown it. Veda Scott slapped Moose twice for daring to follow the Code of Honor, something she'd done before. This time it looked like she'd pushed Moose too far. He hunched down looking like he was setting up to spear Veda but before he could make a move Cedric Alexander ran out and smacked him and Stokeley Hathaway with the wrench. Veda smiled at him then Cedric screamed about how he should have been in the number one contenders match.

I liked this as a development. It creates a reason for Moose to not be in the title picture and freshens up Cedric's act by realigning him and giving him a manager. He and Veda seem promising together, and it neatly covers up his weakness on promos. Maybe caprice will go heel too and RD Evans will return to tag with Moose in a grudge match. Then again maybe not.

The Bullet Club trio of AJ Styles and the Young Bucks versus the Kingdom trio of Matt Taven, Michael Bennett and Adam Cole followed that. As pointed out earlier this was a rematch from the ROH and New Japan War of the Worlds show, one I felt was very enjoyable but mildly overhyped in the grand scheme of things. They did pretty much the same thing here, producing another spot-heavy match with way too many highlights to mention and too fast a pace to do a full write-up.

We got the opposite result to the original encounter. The Kingdom had won at War of the Worlds so it was Bullet Club's turn to go over here. They did so in memorable fashion, wiping out Maria with two super kicks and a Pele kick from Styles (what a southern gent he is) before isolating Cole as Bennett checked on his wife and Taven sold a beating at ringside. Cole fought back valiantly, going for a Destroyer only to be caught by AJ and hit with a buckle bomb-enziguri triple team and then 'The Phenomenal One's' Bloody Sunday, kicking out and fighting back again, but eventually it was too much for him. 'The One' was finally put down with an Indytaker followed by the Styles Clash.

After the match The Kingdom looked upset with Cole. This didn't really make sense. Taven had been lying at ringside for a while when the loss happened and could probably have mustered the strength to get back in the ring. Bennett had a right to look ticked off, yeah, but why would he when his wife had just been knocked unconscious by three pro wrestlers? Logic flaws aside the prospect of Cole splitting from The Kingdom is interesting. A face turn could work well for both him and ROH.

The Addiction's no disqualification match with reDRagon was not as enjoyable as the usual reDRagon effort. Their strength is having exciting strong style matches with plenty of tag work mixed in, not crowd brawling. The stip made sense, of course, because of the personal nature of the feud and because the two teams have already met under regular rules. This meeting needed something extra to give it a bit of variety and set it apart from previous meetings. But it was never going to be as good as a regular match.

They at least made full use of the stipulation. There was plenty of ringside brawling and chairs were used liberally. A table and a ladder were introduced after things had hotted up. The table was there because in 2015 these sorts of matches require a table to satisfy the punters. The use of a ladder was interesting though. It's possible it was done to tease Ladder War VI. Then again, it's possible it wasn't.

The finish saw reDRagon hit Chasing the Dragon on Daniels on for former TNA world champion Chris Sabin to appear and pull the referee from the ring. The Addiction then recovered, Frankie took out O'Reilly by shoving him off the apron and into the crowd barricade, and hit Fish with Celebrity Rehab. The champions retained. Hopefully another team will be added to this rivalry if it continues. Addiction v reDRagon matches haven't wowed me so far.

Then came the Lethal versus Briscoe main event. It's worth sopping for a moment here to point out that the two men both have a lot of history in Ring of Honor. Briscoe has never been shy about reminding people that he was on the promotion's very first show. He's been a two time world champion and a record setting eight times. Over the last few years he's become one of ROH's most reliable headliners, working pay-per-view main events, being involved in heavily featured stories, and being well protected in terms of booking.

Lethal's pedigree is less celebrated but still impressive. He joined ROH a month shy of the company's first anniversary as Hydro, a member of Special K, and went through stints as Samoa Joe's protégé and pure champion before leaving to work for the promising-at-the-time TNA. It was easy to overlook how much he'd improved when he rejoined ROH full time in 2011 but improve he had. In the four years since he's won the television championship twice and, like Briscoe, become one of the company's most reliable wrestlers. The last eighteen months have probably been the greatest stretch of his career as he's been given the TV championship and tasked with making it mean something, which he has, been pitted against leading outside talent, and gradually been positioned as ROH's lead heel.

Briscoe versus Lethal is a match that's been brewing for a long time. Both guys have been built up so well. The atmosphere at the start of this match demonstrated what a great job both men, as well as booker Delirious, have done and how established they are as top names.

Before the first lock-up had even taken place Diesel and Dijak were sent backstage before the after Dijak had swiped his hand at Briscoe's legs. A suspenseful feeling out process, during which the combatants were bombarded by duelling chants from the crowd, was followed by a fight around ringside. Briscoe yakuza kicked Lethal. Lethal suplexed Briscoe. They threw one another into the barricade a bit.

Back in the ring Truth grabbed Briscoe's foot, distracting him and letting Lethal knock Briscoe down. Briscoe recovered and they traded uppercuts. Lethal got the better of the exchange by switching to clotheslines to knock the world heavyweight champion down. Back on their feet they traded jabs before Briscoe hit a neckbreaker.

A Lethal Injection was countered into a full nelson slam. Briscoe went for a Jay Driller but Lethal escaped into the Lethal Combination. Lethal went to the top rope but got cut off by Briscoe, who went for a superplex. Lethal fought him off but Briscoe fired back with a drop kick and went for his superplex again. Lethal fought him off again, this time pushing him down to the mat and hitting the Macho Elbow. Briscoe kicked out and immediately got put in the Koji clutch by the TV champ.

Briscoe made the ropes and rolled onto the apron. Lethal followed him out only to be set up for a Jay Driller. He escaped as Truth leapt onto the opposite apron to distract the referee. Nigel got up and sent Truth backstage as Briscoe recovered and Jay Drillered Lethal through the timekeepers table. Both men sold for a while before making it back into the ring just shy of the twenty count.

Briscoe was first to his feet and lobbed jabs at Lethal. Lethal surprised him with a super kick and went for the Lethal Injection again. Briscoe dashed forward and floored him with a rolling elbow as he rebounded off the ropes, getting himself a two count. Briscoe went for the Jay Driller. Lethal escaped it but got hit with a lariat for another two count.

Only the second double champion in ROH history.

The pair dragged themselves back up again. This time it was Lethal who struck first with a springboard cutter. He connected with another Lethal Injection but Briscoe kicked out. The crowd erupted at that as 'The Greatest First Generation Wrestler' clutched at his head in disbelief. He recovered and tried to hit Briscoe with his own Jay Driller. Briscoe escaped and tried for the move himself. Lethal escaped too, hit the move and then hit another Lethal Injection for the victory, a successful title defence and the ROH world championship.

The crowd gave him a "You deserve it!" chant. After a bit of celebrating from the new champion Briscoe came out of the corner and offered a handshake. In a nice moment Lethal accepted it with gusto before he continued celebrating. It was a touching way to close the show, watching a man who first worked for the company twelve years ago celebrate his first world title win. He'd earned it and it was lovely to see.

***

Results summary:

Mark Briscoe defeated Donovan Dijak
The Decade defeated Matt Sydal and ACH
Dalton Castle defeated Silas Young
War Machine defeated C&C Wrestle Factory
Roderick Strong defeated Moose and Michael Elgin to earn an ROH world championship match
AJ Styles and the Young Bucks defeated The Kingdom
The Addiction defeated reDRagon to retain the ROH tag team championship
Jay Lethal defeated Jay Briscoe to retain the ROH TV championship and win the ROH world championship

RPW Summer Sizzler 2015 review

I've seen and reviewed enough RPW shows now to feel comfortable saying that Alex Shane's influence on booker Andy Quildan is clear for all to see. Shane has stated in more than one interview over the years that his approach to booking a wrestling show is to offer something that will appeal to everyone in the audience. This show, like most RPW offerings, very firmly had that philosophy in mind. The show featured former WWE stars, current New Japan stars, big lads, a cruiserweight match, a strong style match, a comedy match, and a distinctly Attitude Era main event. Whatever your tastes in wrestling there was probably something at Summer Sizzler 2015 that would satisfy you.

The show kicked off with Josh Bodom versus Tommy End. The lack of Quildan in the ring to introduce the wrestlers makes me think this was a dark match. When you've got a lad like End in a match you're not intending to release you've got yourself a packed show. Sadly there was no bicycle knee kick, a move End makes look incredible, on offer here. Bodom got the upset win following a move not dissimilar to the package piledriver.

Quildan hit the ring after that, presumably signalling the official start of the show. His first act was to announce that Mark Haskins would not be at the show due to "personal problems." He was replaced in his tag team title defence by Jake McCluskey. This wasn't the first time McCluskey had made his way onto an RPW card as a last minutes replacement. Sooner or later his reliability will be rewarded and he'll net himself a more prominent role.

Just a couple of revolutionary lads.

The match, putting McCluskey and defending champ Joel Redman against Revolutionist members Sha Samuels and James Castle, wasn't especially good. McCluskey spammed moonsaults in the early going (because he's dubbed himself 'Mr Moonsault' at some point in the last year or two), which the crowd appreciated at first but soon tired of. Because, honestly, moonsaults haven't been impressive since the eighties, Jake. I did enjoy Jake and Joel hitting a 3D though. It was an unexpected addition.

The finish saw McCluskey go for a discus clothesline on Castle, only for Castle to duck it and kick him in the privates. Yep, a nut shot was enough to put McCluskey down for the three. Redman took exception to this and gave McCluskey a shove. McCluskey made it clear he'd been cheated but Redman was having none of that and walked off in a huff. Perhaps a match or two with Redman are heading Jake 'Reliability' McCluskey's way.

The third match of the night saw Big Damo beat New Japan's Tomohiro Ishii, a far bigger surprise than the opener had been. 'The Stone Pitbull' spent the opening stretch getting worked over by Damo, something I thought (wrongly, as it turned out) was designed to set him up for a comeback leading to a victory. It's not that the comebacks didn't come, they did, it's just that they weren't enough to put Damo away. Damo survived a dead lift German suplex, a superplex and numerous lariats, among other things, before slumping a worn Ishii in the corner and leaping off a corner to hit a Van Terminator-style drop kick. He followed up with a running senton to get what has to be the biggest win of his career.

The traditional announcement of the next major show followed that. This year's Uprising will take place on October 2 (a Friday) and will be a co-promotion with New Japan. The first match announced is Jushin Liger and Hiroshi Tanahashi against Gedo and Kazuchika Okada. I'm doubtful about Uprising being a full scale co-promotion but that match (and one that will be mentioned below) is very welcome. The more New Japan talent on RPW events, the better.

Speaking of which, the pre-intermission spot was taken by Shinsuke Nakamura versus Roderick Strong (substituting for Ricochet). Not for the first time I found myself questioning the placement of a New Japan performer on an RPW card. Along with Styles Nakamura was one of the two biggest names on the show. The bigger of the two would probably vary depending on who you asked. Judging by the number of shirts and the queue for his autograph at intermission I think Nak was a bigger draw for this crowd. This match would probably have been better received as the opener of the second half. But complaining about Rev Pro running orders is always going to be an act in futility.

Shinsuke Nakamura versus Roderick Strong.

Placing aside Nakamura versus Strong was excellent. The first five minutes saw Strong berated for wearing "Shitty, shitty, shitty little boots!", a chant carried over from his recent appearance for the other London-based wrestling group, Progress Wrestling. This included him storming up the entrance ramp and having Quildan tell the crowd that if the subject of his boots wasn't dropped he'd leave. Naturally that didn't work. Roddy would get in and out of the ring a few more times, at one point teasing that he'd take his boots off, before finally starting the match. Nakamura, for his part, seemed to find Roddy's shenanigans amusing. At point while Strong was bickering with a member of the group 'The King of Strong Style' walked into the centre of the ring and bowed, effortlessly making himself the centre of attention and popping the audience.

I thought this match was great and the best effort all night. While I enjoy Ricochet's work I don't think he was as natural opponent for Nakamura as Strong. This was a far better blending of styles than the striker versus flyer effort we would have had with 'ochet. Nakamura survived a handful of backbreakers, the Stronghold and the Sick kick before he polished Roddy off with two Boma Yes. This match alone is worth buying the event for.

After the match Nakamura was confronted by Big Damo, something which immediately examined Ishii's loss earlier in the evening. Damo told Nakamura that he wanted to knock his teeth down his throat. Nak responded with his weird face-on-belly taunt then took a microphone and agreed to a match, ending with a resounding "YeaaOh!" He then brushed past the big lad and sauntered to the back. Quildan confirmed the match for Uprising (funny how quickly he got that signed with New Japan, isn't it?) before throwing to a "brief" half hour intermission.

Will Ospreay, a proud RPW British cruiserweight champion.

Will Ospreay's two-out-of-three falls defence of the British cruiserweight championship against Matt Sydal opened up the second half. It took a while to pick up steam and once it did it was technically sound but something about the bulk of it didn't grab me. The root of the issue was probably my disinterest in Sydal as a character, although he played a New Day-esque super-positive heel here once it became clear the fans were behind Ospreay. That was a welcome change of pace.

Sydal got the first fall when he reversed Ospreay's handspring elbow attempt into a reverse hurricanrana and then leapt to the top rope for a Shooting Star press. Ospreay evened things up after he rolled through Sydal's pin off a Final Cut after a brisk sequence of high-flying counters and reversals. He took the false finish-stuffed third and deciding fall with a springboard cutter and a version of the Phoenix splash.

The third fall did draw me in. It provided more evidence that WWE missed out by not pushing Sydal and highlighted that Ospreay is one of the brightest talents in British wrestling. He'll definitely be one of the next guys to get a gig in Japan or on the US indies. The pair shared a handshake after the match, just to make it clear Sydal really is the super-cool guy he's gimmicked to be.

The semi-main event spot was given over to the comedy styling a of Colt Cabana. He was there to settle his feud with Gideon Grey and Rishi Ghosh. This had started when Gideon had made the (absurd) claim that Colt Cabana and Matt Classic were the same person. Cabana had agreed to a tag match with Grey and Ghosh to prove that this wasn't true. And prove it he did. After a bit of teasing Classic and Cabana appeared in the same place at the same time for the first time ever. Classic was met with chants for Grado, CM Punk and Super Dragon. The truth of his identity remains a mystery.

A woefully poor shot of Rishi Ghosh and Gideon Grey.

The match that followed was very much a Butlin's style comedy affair (not a bad thing). It's exactly what you want from a guy like Cabana and exactly the sort of thing the Grey and Ghosh characters are designed for (for the record they are an English lord and an Arabic prince respectively... Wrestling!). It's also worth pointing out that I was at the show with someone who's not a wrestling fan (Bea, she's great) and this was one of her favourite matches of the night. This type of comedy match was one of the things I was thinking of when I wrote about Alex Shane's approach offering something for everyone at the start of this review. I think it was the ridiculous characters and silliness of the action that Bea appreciated. Cabana got the win by making Grey tap out to the Billy Goat's Cutse while Classic held Ghosh in a sleeper.

The main event was Marty Scurll (the star of ITV's Take Me Out (no, I'll never get bored of this)) versus AJ Styles for Scurll's British heavyweight championship. They had a great main event style match that drew me in despite my lack of interest in Styles. I'm award I wrote this about Sydal too. Maybe I just have something against Christian wrestlers? Scurll put in a typically slick performance that showed why he's one of the most frequently booked men in British wrestling and why he'd had RPW's top prize for well over a year.

'The Phenomenal One' won the title following a Styles Clash. At first this was a surprise but thinking about it it shouldn't have been. With the title having been on Scurll since March 2014 it was time for a change and this allows RPW to present AJ Styles, a major name, as their champion come the New Japan co-promoted Uprising in October, which will make them look a bigger deal. Plus, there was no way Styles was going to lose clean to Scurll so switching the title allowed the sidestepping of a dissatisfying DQ finish.

This was the second best RPW show I've been to. There were two top notch matches in Nakamura v Strong and Styles v Scurll, enjoyable efforts from Bodom v End and Damo v Ishii, and a fun comedy match. It wasn't going to get any better. The best RPW remains Uprising 2013 for its stacked card and the opportunity it gave me to heckle Davey 'Nippy Weasel' Richards but I wouldn't be surprised if this year's show, boasting Nakamura, Tanahashi, Okada, Gedo and Styles, takes its crown. I look forward to finding out.

***

Results summary:

Josh Bodom defeated Tommy End
James Castle and Sha Samuels defeated Jake McCluskey and Joel Redman to win the RPW tag team championship
Big Damo defeated Tomohiro Ishii
Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Roderick Strong
Will Ospreay defeated Matt Sydal two falls to one to retain the RPW cruiserweight championship
Colt Cabana and Matt Classic defeated Gideon Grey and Rishi Ghosh
AJ Styles defeated Marty Scurll to win the RPW British heavyweight championship

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2015 review

Back at the start of the month New Japan presented their twelfth Wrestling Dontaku show. Plenty of people have reviewed it in the weeks since but I thought I'd add my voice to the cacophony. Because I've been enjoying New Japan since Wrestle Kingdom and I thought "Why not, right?" Plus there's that sweet poster.

The show kicked off with a peculiar all-babyface eight man tag. The team of Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask, Mascara Dorada and Yuji Nagata took on Manabu Nakanishi, Ryusuke Taguchi, Kushida, and Captain New Japan. The crowd were really into it, presumably because of the involvement of Liger and Tiger Mask, but it wasn't anything special. Nakanishi looked good though. He's a guy I'd like  to see involved in the NEVER title scene. He was on the losing team though: Nagata got the win off an Exploder suplex on the Cap'n.

Match two saw Kota Ibushi and Yohei Kamatsu team to defeat Sho Tanaka and Tetsuya Naito. Ibushi and Naito were the respective stars of their teams, both guys frequently being talked about (by people more knowledgeable than me) as being amongst New Japan's next batch of headliners. I definitely see it in Ibushi. He's had two dazzling matches this year at Wrestle Kingdom and Invasion Attack, opposite Nakamura and Styles respectively. He lost both but was elevated by lasting as long as he did and entering solid showings. I've yet to see anything similar from Naito. He's not been put in a position to shine in the same way but there's nothing abou him that makes me want to see him have the chance, and his tag work has been wholly uninspiring. It doesn't help that his haircut is amongst the ugliest on the roster.

The Bullet Club made their first appearance of the night after that, represented by the dream team of Tama Tonga, Cody Hall and Bad Luck Fale. They would lose to TenCozy and Tomoaki Honma. It was Cody who took the loss again as he was pinned after a Honma top rope headbutt. That he keeps losing to Honma, the man who never wins, is presumably leading to something, probably a singles match where Hall finally gets a win. The match was fine for what it was but what it was wasn't much. Which was the intention. It was more a way of getting Honma, TenCozy and Fale onto the show and keeping Hall's stream of losses flowing.

The junior tag straps were up for grabs in match four. Roppongi Vice defended against former one time champions reDRagon and former two times champions the Young Bucks. It was, unsurprisingly, the best match of the night until that point. Highlights included: a Bucks double super kick on Baretta as he went for a tope; stuff shots from O'Reilly as he mounted Baretta; Baretta suplexing Nick onto the ropes and Rocky following up with a top tope knee; reDRagon's assisted wheelbarrow DDT and backbreaker-top rope knee combo; Baretta suplexing Matt from the top rope onto their respective teammates, reDRagon, and some young boys at ringside; the Bucks' buckle bomb-enziguri combo on O'Reilly onto Fish and Romero slumped in the corner; a run-up top rope German suplex from Baretta to Matt; the Indy-Taker to O'Reilly on the floor; and a series of super kicks on Baretta followed by a match-winning More Bang for Your Buck.

Taken as spot-fests with little psychology and no proper selling these matches are always good fun. All the teams involved here (plus former frequent contributors Time Splitters) have a good range of moves that can be mixed and matches in new ways to ensure there's always something new and-or interesting on offer. That said it wouldn't hurt to mix the division up a bit and get some new pairings involved.

The first of only two singles matches on the show, Kenny Omega v Alex Shelley, was preceded by a video package. It reminded us all that Omega has been on a mission to "clean up" New Japan's junior division and that Shelley is a fightin' babyface with the support of the deity Hiroshi Tanahashi himself. It did its job of elevating the match and reminding us that Omega's not a nice guy.

Shelley entered wearing a biker helmet for whatever reason (I suspect this was a gaming reference lost on me) and had Kushida and Taguchi with him. Omega entered in his Matrix-style leather jacket (get with the times, mate) and had the Bucks in his corner. Omega kicked the match off by offering a handshake. Shelley gave him a middle finger, earning himself cheers. The sequence seemed a bit off because Omega, the clear bad guy, had seemed pretty genuine. Maybe we were just meant to assume he'd cheap shot Shelley or something during the handshake but that sort of negativity is no way to go through life.

The pair exchanged the advantage in the opening moments and did a tonne of running about. Omega was the first to get in some extended offence when the Bucks distracted the referee and he countered a Shelley suicide dive with a trash can to the head (because he's cleaning up, geddit?). He stayed on the challenger with a camel clutch, a backbreaker and a nice bicycle kick into the corner before reintroducing the trash can. After belting Shelley in the face with that he gave him a fisherman buster, from which the Time Splitter kicked out.

On the outside Omega continued to use the bin (can) and also brought in a broom. A power bomb onto the bin (can) was countered by Shelley and was followed up by a vault over the top rope, catching hold of Omega and driving him down to the floor with a DDT. 'The Cleaner' took more damage when he rolled back into the ring in the form of a top rope double stomp but he managed to kick out. He withstood a super kick and attempted a power bomb but Shelley countered with a DDT. The challenger tried to follow up with a top rope splash but Omega got his knees up then gave Shelley a modified blue thunder bomb.

Shelley kicked out of that and escaped an attempted electric chair drop before hitting a dragon suplex. The pair exchanged blows, Shelley getting the better of Omega with an enziguri then giving him a super kick and Automatic Midnight for a convincingly close two count. Sensing their boy was in trouble the Bucks hit the ring but were cut off by Taguchi and Kushida and wiped out with some sweet, sweet Time Splitters double teaming. Shelley then hit Sliced Bread Number Two on Omega but only got a two.

Back on their feet Omega heelishly thumbed Shelley's eye. That was enough to open up Shelley for the Croyt's Wrath electric chair drop, which lead to a three count for the reigning champion. Afte the match Omega cut a heel promo about being too good to wrestle in the Best of the Super Juniors tournament but wished all the lads at ringside good luck in it. Kushida seemed particularly irate with Omega's behaviour. Having him win the tournament and going on to take the gold from Omega would make sense. It would establish him as a singles force and would play into Omega's defeat of his Time Splitters partner here.

After a lethargic intermission the show continued with Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows and Amber Gallows facing The Kingdom trio of Michael Bennett, Matt Taven and Maria Kanellis. The story was that Anderson was still smitten with Maria and Amber had been roped in to counteract her effect on him. It was pure silliness made worse by the lack of clear faces. Were we supposed to root for massive perv Anderson? Or were we supposed to cheer for Maria, who hadn't done anything wrong but seemed very happy to be presented as nothing more than an object to be ogled? It wasn't clear, and the only clue offered by the production team was that the match's biggest star was Maria's backside.

In terms of match quality this was adequate. The four lads are good in tag situations, although Anderson was hampered at points by his weird Maria-fixation gimmick. Maria's not bad, Amber is, but neither was bad enough to make the match a stinker. The match ended, fittingly enough, with Anderson stroking Maria's face only for her to kick him the privates. Amber then came in and went for a suplex on Maria but got rolled up with a small package.

After the match Anderson grabbed Maria and threw her to the ground. Seemingly unsatisfied by this the Bullet boys pulled her back up and gave her the Magic Killer. Then they ran off as Bennett and Taven returned to the ring to make the save. Anderson seemed unremorseful about possibly having broken the neck of his object of lust. I'd like it if this match were the end of the unpleasant Maria aspect of the Kingdom versus Bullet Club rivalry but I don't think it was.

More tag action followed that. First Togi Makabe, Katsuyori Shibata and Hiroshi Tanahashi teamed to defeat Tomohiro Ishii, Kazushi Sakuraba and Toru Yano in a lively tussle when Tana fell on top of Yano in an awkward, botched-looking exchange. Then AJ Styles and Yujiro Takahashi defeated Kazuchika Okada and Yoshi-Hashi when Styles dropped Hashi with a brainbuster and a Styles Clash. This was a particularly good match that did its job of reigniting the Styles-Okada dispute. Okada having the champ's number was hammered home after the match when 'The Phenomenal One' went to give Okada the Clash and Okada slipped out and came close, twice, to walloping Styles with the Rainmaker. It was 'The Ace of the New Era' who stood tall at the end of the segment.

The main event of Intercontinental champion Shinsuke  Nakamura defending against Hirooki Goto was preceded by a prime video package that established Nak as the cocky, charismatic champion and Goto as the underdog who wouldn't give up on his pursuit of the gold. It was also made clear that Nakamura simply didn't consider Goto a real threat to his title reign, something which carried over into the story of the match.

Nakamura refused to take Goto seriously until the halfway point of the match, by which point it was too late. The combination of the wearing down he'd already taken and Goto's tenacity meant he was unable to mount the comeback he needed to to retain his championship. Goto gave it his all, surviving a pair or Boma Yes in the closing moments before finishing Nakamura off with a Goto Shiki from the second rope and a Shouten, showing up the bigger star and earning the prize he'd bee determined to reclaim (he'd held the title in 2012 and had been the man beaten to start Nak's first reign, something I imagine the commentary team touched on during the match). A return bout between the two could be really interesting.

Overall this show wasn't bad but it was clear it wasn't intended to be taken as one of New Japan's better offerings. The IC championship match and Omega v Shelley were both very good and the junior tag match and semi-main event were both enjoyable offerings but nothing was better than it needed to be. It was a decent show and that's all it was intended to be.

***

Results summary:

Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask, Mascara Dorada and Yuji Nagata defeated Captain New Japan, Manabu Nakanishi, Ryusuke Taguchi and Kushida
Kota Ibushi and Yohei Komatsu defeated Tetsuya Naito and Sho Tanaka
Tomoaki Hona, Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima defeated Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga and Cody Hall
The Young Bucks defeated reDRagon and Roppongi Vice to win the IWGP junior heavyweight tag team championship
Kenny Omega defeated Alex Shelley to retain the IWGP junior heavyweight championship
Michael Bennett, Matt Taven and Maria Kanellis defeated Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows and Amber Gallows
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe and Katsuyori Shibata defeated Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii and Kazushi Sakuraba
AJ Styes and Yujiro Takahashi defeated Kazuchika Okada and Yoshi-Hashi
Hirooki Goto defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to win the IWGP Intercontinental championship