NXT Takeover: Brooklyn review

NXT Takeovers have been established as highlights of wrestling. Going into Takeover: Brooklyn there had been six and all had been of the highest quality possible. The seventh had a lot of hype to meet because of this, hype that was only added to by the show emanating from outside of NXT's home base of Florida's Full Sail University for the first time.

I'm pleased to say that it not only met but exceeded the hype.

The show kicked off with Triple H stood in the middle of the ring with a spotlight on him. Thankfully this wasn't a sign of things to come. 'The Game' was there to hype the crowd up with his star power and cut a quick promo getting over the brand's chief goal: shining a spotlight on the stars of the future.

In direct contradiction to this the opener featured 50-year-old Jushin Thunder Liger. Actually, that's a tad unfair. Liger was there to help the brand name's continued growth as WWE's "indy" brand. He has credibility with the target audience as a well-travelled, talented and innovative veteran. He was also there to provide a big name opponent for Tyler Breeze, who is arguably NXT's greatest success story in terms of creating a star from scratch.

Tyler Breeze was out first. He again got his runway entrance, this time the women with him were dressed as the Statue of Liberty, a taxi cab and other NYC tropes. Not being a regular Liger didn't get a special entrance. He didn't even get his regular entrance music. Not that it mattered. The crowd went crazy for him anyway.

Breeze got first blood ;not literally, obviously) with a knockdown and his relaxing in the corner taunt. Liger took control with submission holds and shenanigans such as stealing both the corner taunt and the selfie stick. Breeze floored his foe with a super model kick and began working over his back.

Liger v Breeze, a strong opener.

A "Full sail sucks!" chant broke out as 'The Gorgeous One' applied a front face lock to Liger. In addition to this they failed to react to Breeze's screams of "Don't touch me!" to the referee. It was at this point I realised the Brooklyn crowd was going to be detrimental to show, even if only in a minor way. Instead of focusing on the opener, featuring one of NXT's most over acts and a bonafide legend, the fans focused on getting themselves over and taking shots at Full Sail. In principle there's nothing wrong with that. The FS fans had done this to them but they'd chosen an appropriate time to do it. There were more than enough gaps in the show for the Brooklyn audience to have done the same.

Back in the match Liger hit a rolling kick and tilt-a-whirl. A top rope splash was countered with knees by Breeze. Liger hit a running palm strike as Breeze shouted at the ref (set up numerous times earlier and mostly ignored by the crowd) and followed up with a running senton off the apron and a Liger bomb for the victory. The match was neither man's best work but it was still significant for both. For 'Prince Pretty' it was a vote of confidence from management and the chance to wrestle, and learn from, a legend (a term I use far less lightly than WWE). For Liger it was the chance to wrestle his first ever WWE match.

After Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Sean 'The Kid' Waltman were shown at ringside cameras cut backstage to show us Bayley in a locker room. She got a hug from Charlotte and a handshake from Becky Lynch. That was followed by a video to let us know that Nia Jax, one of The Rock's many young cousins, is on her way to NXT. She's coming in to fill the gap left by the recently departed Banks, Flair and Lynch.

The Vaudevillains got the special entrance treatment for their tag title challenge, wearing top hats and longcoats. They'd have fit in well with fan of steampunk Becky Lynch. The champs got nothing as fancy as hats but were wearing fancy new red and gold (almost but not quite Iron Man-inspired) ring gear and looked pretty dapper. And they had Alexa Bliss with them to put down the challengers before the match, telling them she knew they wouldn't find anyone to accompany them in Brooklyn. Which naturally set up the introduction of their second for the match: Blue Pants.

Gotch controlled the opening moments with his strong gentleman act before English tagged in and got worked over for a bit. BAMF did a good job of riling the crowd and working slick double teams. A hot tag was eventually made to Gotch, who did a solid job drawing the crowd into his brief but fiery comeback. He tagged back out to English who clambered to the top rope and immediately got crotched. The tag champions set up a double superplex but Gotch made the save with a double power bomb out if the corner.

They Vaudevillains did it, thanks to
the power of blue pants.

A Swanton bomb from English got the challengers a convincing two count. That prompted Bliss to get onto the ring apron. She was immediately pulled down by Blue Pants and they ended up writhing about on the floor pulling one another's hair and popping shots. Murphy snuck in and threw English out before trying a sneaky rollup on Gotch, a callback to the finish of their last successful defence against the 'villains. This time Gotch kicked out and the challengers connected with the Whirling Dervish on Murphy to win the tag straps.

These first two matches showed the NXT system is still working. It was set up to give less experienced wrestlers the chance to learn and prepare them for the main roster. The opener gave Breeze time in the ring with a veteran in front of a massive crowd. This second match gave six performers the same platform and provided them with the time to have a competitive match that told a focused, logical story. It was invaluable experience. It was not the best tag match you'll ever see but that's a complaint that misses the point. This was about people getting to work an important match in front of a large crowd and they did an excellent job with it.

After an entirely pointless shot of Coney Island and a plug for Takeover's official song (so generic I can't remember what it was called) we were shown Adrian Neville and Finn Bálor arriving together to be greeted by Cesaro. Then we were shown a shot of Rick Rubin. Who I've never heard of and don't care about.

'Perfect 10' Tye Dillinger rolled out to take the most predictable loss on the show after that. The debuting Apollo Crews got a hearty response, which is a good sign for his prospects both in NXT and WWE proper. I missed his old, catchy entrance music from when he was Uhaa Nation though. WWE will never come up with anything that good. Jim Johnston doesn't have it in him. 

Future NXT champion? Maybe...

Dillinger did his ten shtick. Crews did it back, after a series of fancy back flips, to the delight of the fans. Crews got a flurry of offence on Dillinger before being surprised by a drop kick (after which Dillinger patted himself on the back). It wasn't long before Crews fought back for the finish though. A standing enziguri, a roaring clothesline, a corner splash and most of what was once known as the Uhaa Combination (it was missing the standing SSP, which will presumably be saved as a big deal) put Dillinger down for the three count. The match got over Crews' athleticism and Dillinger's gimmick, which was the aim.

William Regal then announced the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. This is a tournament featuring teams from NXT's "past, present and future." It strikes me as a clever move. Until recently the presence of Sasha, Charlotte and Becky has allowed NXT to make women's wrestling a focus. With their promotions meaning full-time departures are presumably not far off  this tournament will allow tag wrestling to become a focus, giving others a chance to shine while still giving NXT something to set it apart from the main roster.

The pre-match promo for Baron Corbin versus Samoa Joe was excellent, even by WWE's usually high standard. Corbin spoke about being paid to go to college and play football and not having heard of anyone of the guys who have come to NXT hyped as big deals for accomplishing things elsewhere. He said he didn't have to compete around the world to get to NXT, he just put in a call. Then the video cut to Joe, who said WWE had called him. This bit of editing perfectly told the story behind the match: Corbin is dominant in NXT and wants to be considered a bigshot like his more famed peers, like Joe.

The match itself was better than I'd expected. But then I hadn't expected a great deal. Corbin is good at his twenty second squash wins on TV but he's shown in longer matches so infrequently that we couldn't be sure what to expect here. He held his own with Joe well. Clearly he's working lengthier matches at house shows, can be led well, or has a very good memory for match layouts.

The two were shown to be equals for the most part. They traded the advantage often and every time one did something the other would do it moments later. Joe's single leg crab was followed by a heel hook from Corbin, for example. 'The Wolf Shaman' would eventually be choked out in the coquina clutch after hitting Joe with a double handed choke bomb. They went with referee stoppage over a tap out though, so as to preserve some of that precious Barry Corbin mystique.

More ringside stars were shown. Ric Flair was shown sitting with Kanna and Sargent Slaughter. Team BAD were sitting by themselves, there to cheer on storyline-pal Sasha Banks. And I'm sure all of these people were genuinely spending the entire night in their seats and not hanging out backstage at all.

Stephanie McMahon came out to her ridiculous music in full-on happy babyface mode. She was there to announce the official attendance as 15,589, talk up the "Divas revolution" she's taken storyline credit for introducing to the main roster, and remind everyone that Banks v Bayley was to be considered one of two main events. They got a great video package before their match that told the story of the other three of the so-called NXT Four Horsewomen progressing to the main roster and seemingly outgrowing and surpassing Bayley. It also emphasised the importance of winning the women's championship to Bayley and the matches she'd won to earn her latest opportunity.

Bayley got her regular entrance featuring the wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube men and was sporting some fresh white and gold ring gear. 'The Boss' was driven out in a car that looked suspiciously like the one Bálor and Neville had arrived in earlier in the evening and had a four strong security team with her. I'm a big fan of special entrances and this was a particularly good one.

Banks started off laying into Bayley's polka dot wrist bands (a tribute to Dusty Rhodes). Bayley took her down, gave her a pummelling and went for a pin. Banks kicked out and threw her into a turnbuckle. Bayley fired up and put Banks in a tree off woe to give her a springboard elbow drop. Banks kicked out of the following cover at one and followed up with a flash rollup and a kick to the stomach. Bayley got an arm drag and Banks tumbled to the outside, the challenger following to do her baseball slide through the corner spot.

Back in the ring Banks went for her draping double knee strike but Bayley dodged it. She would then be kicked off the apron down to the mats, the champ staying in the ring to mock her by using her own taunts. When Bayley got back in she was slapped down and worked over by 'The Boss'. The crowd were split as Banks applied a straightjacket sleeper but Bayley found the power to fight up to her feet anyway. That didn't work out for her: she tried backing the champion into a corner but got tossed head first into it herself.

Banks again went for her draping double knees but Bayley caught her. Again things didn't work out for Bayley, Banks sending Bayley into the turnbuckle using her legs. Banks softened Bayley up with punches before putting her on the top rope and hitting her double knee attack there. Bayley managed to kick out but convincingly sold absolute exhaustion. She dragged herself to a corner and was given a mouthful by Banks. Bayley's response was to kick her in the face and, getting a second wind, fire off punches at her. Sasha cut her off and tossed her out of the ring where she pulled the hand guard off of Bayley's previously injured right hand. Then she viciously smacked the hand against the ring steps and stomped it.

The referee told Banks to lay off back in the ring and then leant out of the ring to check on Bayley. Banks threw out a big spot by vaulting over the ref and flooring her foe with a tope. Back in the ring she continued to focus on the challenger's hand. Bayley fired back with left hand jabs and axe handles smashes.

Bayley hit a suplex into the turnbuckles and went for the Bayley-to-belly. Banks dropped to her knees to avoid it and took Bayley down with an armbar before slipping into the Bank Statement. Bayley dragged herself towards the ropes. Banks reared back and stomped away at Bayley's hand then rolled back towards the centre of the ring to reapply the hold and trap Bayley. But Bayley countered, trapping Banks in her own signature hold.

Banks sold the move like a pro (a boss, if you will) before making the ropes. Bayley got the Bayley-to-belly. Banks kicked out. Bayley placed a dazed champion on the top rope and went for the move again. Banks fought off. Bayley came back and tried for a top tope hurricanrana. Banks stayed put and, in a really awkward-looking moment, Bayley landed head first in the ring. Presumably she was fine as the match continued with Banks launching herself from the top rope and smashing Bayley with knees. That got her a two count.

Banks took Bayley to the top rope. Bayley fought back and hit a reverse hurricanrana off the second rope, immediately followed by a Bayley-to-belly for the win and the championship at 18:22.

The end of Bayley's title chase and quest for validation.

Bayley got plenty of time to celebrate her win. She waved the belt about and looked generally pretty happy. Then Charlotte and Becky ran out to congratulate her and (awkwardly) hoist her up onto their shoulders. Banks returned to the ring to hug and congratulate the new champion. Becky and Charlotte joined in and the four did the Horsemen hand sign (woooooo!). It was a heart-warming little post-match sequence, and lovely to see how much it meant to the four to be in the ring together on such a big night for the NXT brand. They deserve to be the focus of the Divas division within a year.

Some general hype and a shot of current WWE champ, and first ever NXT champ, Seth Rollins followed. More importantly they showed a recap of Triple H announcing a UK tour for NXT. I'll be looking into tickets.

The hype video for the main event was all about reminding us that Kevin Owens has been a beast in NXT since he debuted last December. Finn Bálor's title win was a big part of the video, being marked as a turning point for the Owens and Bálor characters. It was also made clear Bálor would be rocking his demon face paint to ensure victory, although the fact that he has yet to lose in Demon Mode was not touched on.

Owens received the always enjoyable pre-match walking to gorilla shot before he entered. When he entered the arena he got a thunderous pop and did some rope-kicking and cursing to psych himself up in the ring. Bálor did his demon entrance, this time with some extras dressed like him accompanying him to make it look like he was teleporting around in the smoke. Owens watched this from a chair at ringside, demonstrating that he was entirely unfazed by Bálor's "mind games."

The match started with some simple back and forth in the ring. The crowd got rowdy as Owens took control of the pace but that was because someone was getting chucked out of the building for something. It was understandable but still disappointing to see this happening during a main event which had been so well built up.

Once attention was back on the match a "Ole!" chant broke out. Owens seized on it and milked it for all it was worth. Truly Zayn versus Owens (Generico versus Steen, whatever you want to refer to it as) is the feud that will never die.

The ladder came into play shortly after. Owens used it on Bálor first, smashing it into his stomach and back before propping the champ up on it against the ring apron. He then trolled the crowd by getting a run-up from the aisleway, teasing he was dash into or up the ladder but instead sidestepping and punching  Bálor in the face. A standard issue main event ringside brawl followed, complete with barricade and he announce table spots.

The pair returned to the ring and Owens whacked the champion with a ladder then sentoned onto it. Owens tried a power bomb onto a ladder placed on its side but Bálor reversed into a back drop. The challenger recovered and aimed a cannonball at a Bálor slumped against a ladder. The champion move and Owens hit ladder. Bálor hit his Coup de Grâce combo and ascended a ladder. Owens caught him by the foot and pulled him off into a power bomb.

Owens tried for an apron bomb. Bálor grabbed the roped and escaped to the safety of the apron. He managed to nail a punt kick but when he attempted to follow up with a double stomp Owens moved out of the way and and hit the apron bomb after all.

No two time champion here. Move on.

Back in the ring Owens hit Bálor with two super kicks and an order to stay down. He then spent some time setting up a ladder under the title belt and positioning another between the first and the turnbuckle, providing a low platform. He then grabbed Bálor and tried for a fishermanbuster. Bálor fought back and, after a tense few seconds trading the advantage back and forth, sent Owens sailing back onto the ladder. The ladder Bálor was standing on was by this point a little off centre so Owens, pro that he is, recovered enough to claw at Bálor's feet, got himself kicked away and set up to receive the Coup de Grâce. That gave Bálor the excuse he needed to leave the ladder before repositioning it, climbing up, and grabbing his belt to retain in a very good main event. 

This match had a distinctly different feel to the majority of WWE produced ladder matches. The ladder seemed to be in play a lot less but when it was used it was used in a meaningful way. It made the gimmick more, which was clearly the intention. I imagine it didn't hurt that it didn't feel like a standard ladder match too as that contributed to NXT's unique feel.

This was a top notch show. It didn't quite beat out either of the two Takeover cards from earlier in the year but that was a high standard and certainly didn't make this bad or an affront to the Takeover series. The main event was excellent and provided a great cap to the show while everything on the undercard did everything it needed to. Match of the night honours go to the women's title match. It was the best pure wrestling match on the show and told a self-contained story while paying off years of backstory in the Four Horsewomen's ascent and Bayley's desire to reach the top of the division. Basically, go and watch this show.

***

Results summary:

Jushin Liger defeated Tyler Breeze
The Vaudevillains defeated The BAMF to win the NXT tag team championship
Apollo Crews defeated Tye Dillinger
Samoa Joe defeated Baron Corbin via referee stoppage
Bayley defeated Sasha Banks to win the NXT women's championship
Finn Bálor defeated Kevin Owens to retain the NXT championship

NXTweet 19.08.15

This week's episode of NXT opened and closed with promo segments, a contract signing and a promo to set up a brawl respectively. This is a little close to the standard RAW formula for my tastes but it worked here, this being one of the better episodes of NXT of the last couple of months, and it's worth bearing in mind that I'm not someone who feels the show has gone off the (proverbial) boil.

There were a few reasons for this. Firstly, none of the people involved in the talking portions of the show have been in enough for us to feel bored at the prospect of them in more. A large part of the reason promo segments on RAW get so much hate is that they all too frequently involved John Cena, Seth Rollins and the rest of the gang. We know what's going to be said and done before anything happens and so it's boring.

Secondly, the promos featured performers we care about discussing championships we care about. It's far easier to sit through these sorts of things when the people involved are over and are taking about something meaningful. To go back to RAW problems again, the trouble is that they happen so often (every week, basically) that we're just hearing the same things discussed. It also helped that the discussions didn't adhere to a formula. The contract signing in particular gave us something unusual for WWE in Banks, the defending champion, telling Bayley she wasn't worth it before walking away. Yeah we still got a brawl between the two but the way in which we got to it told the story of 'The Boss' being an arrogant champion who doesn't rate or worry about her opponent.

The show was helped by a fun, if underwhelming, eight man tag match and an entertaining non-title tag match featuring the tag champs. These two matches, incidentally, did a nice job of quietly highlighting the number of teams that have sprung up in NXT over the last couple of months, something that had been sorely needed.

All that and Baron Corbin getting to lay out Samoa Joe to try convincing people he has a chance of beating him at Takeover! Quite the hour of wrestling...

Intro

Tweet 1: Finished work but I'm going to sit AT work and watch NXT. Madness, am I right?

Tweet 2: Dramatic recap of Finn Bálor entering the arena last week. Less dramatic reveal that he as facing Marcus 'NXT Kane' Louis.
Tweet 3: I bloody love Marcus Louis though tbf.
Tweet 4: Also from last week: Bayley and Becky Lynch did a wrestle. This is also very dramatic.
Tweet 5: How long has Dana Brooke in the intro please?

Sasha Banks and Bayley contract signing, featuring William Regal

Tweet 6: #Regalpop

Tweet 7: Top lad, Blackpool's favourite son, bright-eyed Billy Regal.
Tweet 8: Rich Brennan is morphing into Michael Cole. Physically, I mean. Poor man.
Tweet 9: Contract signing. These are always a laugh.
Tweet 10: Long term I kind of hope they go with the theme of Bayley always being a step behind the other lasses. It'd make for a great payoff.
Tweet 11: Sasha mocking a young Bayley fan there. Absolutely phenomenal stuff. She'd have gotten the granny handbag treatment on World of Sport.
Tweet 12: "There's a reason Takeover: Brooklyn isn't here" - Sasha Banks, failing geography but excelling at heelish jibes
Tweet 13: Sasha ain't ratchet, folks...

Sasha dropping some hot truth direct into Bayley's ears.

Tweet 14: Big fan of every pretty much every woman in NXT being so over they split the crowd.
Tweet 15: Really hope Sasha walks out on this fight challenge.
Tweet 16: Bayley really kind of has to win after this pretty vicious promo from Banks.
Tweet 17: "You're just not worth it" - Sasha Banks, going full tilt at making Bayley the ultimate underdog for their match
Tweet 18: Should've called this Takeover NXT: NYC. Got a good ring to it.

Tyler Breeze v Rob Ryzin

Tweet 19: Look! Look, everyone! It's TYLER!! *swoons*

Tweet 20: I like the idea that Liger called up Triple H and demanded an NXT match. Didn't happen though.
Tweet 21: Wii's this lad with the fauxhawk then?
Tweet 22: I like him having Ryzin' on his trunks. Terra Ryzing reference?

Super (model) kick for the son of Terra.

Tweet 23: Oh, he's lost already. Kind of disappointed that Breeze doesn't wrestle long TV matches anymore. He's a guy who warrants time.
Tweet 24: In terms of getting over using only the NXT system I don't think there's anyone that can touch Breeze.
Tweet 25: Breeze stepping on a Liger mask as he walks out. IS THIS SYMBOLIC?!
Tweet 26: Little Attitude Era podcast reference for you there.

The Hype Bros, Enzo Amore and Big Cass v Team Young Boy

Tweet 27: The Hype Bros. I am not hyped.

Tweet 28: Enzo and Cass. Now I'm hyped.
Tweet 29: Mojo seems to think that shouting equals hype.
Tweet 30: May look back at Enzo's debut. I bet it would be fascinating.
Tweet 31: Some sugar-lovin' hype fans and Enzo and Cass versus NXT young boys here. Interesting. I'd have preferred a longer Breeze match tbh.

Jesus de Reigns.

Tweet 32: Big fan of that lad who looks like a cross between Roman Reigns and Super Crazy on Team Young Boy.
Tweet 33: Shout out to Enzo's mullet.

Dash Wilder, Scott Dawson, Chad Gable and Jason Jordan talk about the preceding match backstage

Tweet 34: I'm confused. Is the eight man tag at Takeover going to be aired live? It should be. Hometown lads and all that.

Tweet 35: Chad Gable referencing the 2-0 streak he and 'Jazzy' Jason Jordan have been on there.

Samoa Joe v Steve Cutler

Tweet 36: WWE should bring in Tazz. Reunite him with Joe live on the Network on Saturday. That's going to get subscribers, yo.

Tweet 37: Samoa Joe acting like a big man for choking out jobber extraordinaire Steve Cutler there. Good on ya, Joe lad.

Joe acting like a bigshot.

Tweet 38: Oh look. It's everyone's former NFL player turned wrestler, 'Wolf Shaman' Barry Corbin.
Tweet 39: Barry going full Hardy Boyz and peeling off his T-shirt to show he's filled his special bar.

The BAMF v Sawyer Fulton and Angelo Dawkins

Tweet 40: BAMF v Fulton and Dawkins. But... they're all heels? Whaaaaaa'?!

Tweet 41: The crowd are bullying Alexa Bliss, referring to her as Barbie. Disgusting behaviour. Ban those chanting from the building.

Wr-r-r-r-r-r-r-restling!

Tweet 42: Fulton and Dawkins are winning the crowd over. Maybe a test to see if they could be turned?
Tweet 43: Because who doesn't like a guy inspired by Rick Steiner?
Tweet 44: Remember when Simon Gotch was a silent movie star and didn't speak?
Tweet 45: Female privilege. Tears.
Tweet 46: The fans just chanted "We want Blue Pants" and quite possibly ruined the Takeover surprise for me. The rascals.
Tweet 47: Carmella v Eva Marie getting hyped for some reason. Getting taped in New York. Maybe they're banking on the crowd being into Carmella.
Tweet 48: Clarification on the Takeover lineup there. Thumbs up.

Kevin Owens promo, featuring Finn Bálor

Tweet 49: Oh look. It's Big Kev with a ladder. Wonder what this is all about?
Tweet 50: Brooklyn, New York. The biggest heel on the NXT roster.
Tweet 51: "You are the John Cena of wrestling fans" - Kevin Owens to the NXT audience
Tweet 52: Owens making the crowd the heels and explaining his character motives all while making people boo him. I love this man.
Tweet 53: Motive for regaining the title too. Proving he's better than Finn and annoying the NXT fans. Cracking stuff.
Tweet 54: "Fall, Owens, fall!" - The crowd to Kevin Owens on a ladder

The lads and a ladder.

Tweet 55: Finn Bálor here, making a seemingly rare appearance on the show he's champion of.
Tweet 56: And now, the inevitable brawl.
Tweet 57: Bálor climbing the ladder, presumably to show Owens that he can.

ROH Supercard of Honor IX review

While their disgruntled former employee Gabe Sapolsky was busy offering up in excess of half a dozen shows via his World Wrestling Network, Ring of Honor was taking a more conservative approach with WrestleMania Weekend. While they have the name value and roster to be able to put together two, possibly even three, shows on the biggest wrestling weekend of the wrestling year they decided to go for one. Less is more, and all that.

Looking at the line-up they had announced beforehand this is probably a good thing. Despite ROH's name value and roster Supercard of Honor IX looked like anything but a supercard before the fact. Of the six matches announced days before the event only the Jay Briscoe versus Samoa Joe main event and Jay Lethal's TV title defence against Jushin 'Thunder' Liger sounded like anything special. Daniels and Kazarian being placed in singles matches reeked of padding out a card, the Jimmy Jacobs v BJ Whitmer grudge battle was something that had been seen ten years earlier, and the reDRagon v Kingdom match sounded underwhelming.

In ROH's defence they suffered by losing access to regulars AJ Styles and the Young Bucks, all three of whom were busy in New Japan. But while that was beyond ROH's control it can only be taken so far as a defence. The promotion is still ultimately responsible for finding and building up its own new stars. That ACH was merely confirmed to appear with no match announced shows that the company's not as dedicated as it probably should be to establishing its next batch of headliners. And being in the position it's in (basically the last stop guys make on their way to being signed by WWE) that's something that should always be a priority for Ring of Honor.

This said the show was better than my (admittedly low) expectations had made me think it would be. It kicked off with an enjoyable match between Mark Briscoe and ACH. Recent shows had seen ACH lose to AJ Styles, Alberto El Patron and Samoa Joe. He lost again here, coming close with a bombardment of big moves in the closing moments before Mark sat down on a roll-up during a pin exchange sequence.

I understand that a guy can't just start beating big names as soon as they start getting pushed but the regularity of ACH's losses isn't going to do him any favours. They're probably going somewhere with him not being able to win in one of these matches but it's not anywhere interesting. ACH deserves more than he's currently getting and ROH need to be trying to build him up in case they lose some of their top guys in the near future. If they don't then they'll still have ACH but he'll just be the guy who lost to everyone who left.

Match two saw Michael Elgin take on Frankie Kazarian. It was a slower match than the opener and the pair took a while to find their groove. They were fine by the halfway point though, and the match ended in the typically pacey big move sequence most Elgin matches benefit from. The story of the match was that Elgers was being particularly vicious and was going out of his way to try and injure Kazarian. Kazarian survived a chair attack and all of Elgin's big moves before finally falling to a spinning back fist and the Elgin bomb.

Despite having acted like a nasty heel throughout the match the crowd chanted for Elgin after the finish. They returned to booing him as he sarcastically asked a spent Kazarian for a handshake. Kazarian's Addiction teammate Chris Daniels came out to try and keep Elgin at bay but it didn't work. Elgin initially backed off before returning to the ring with a chair and smacking Daniels in the back with it. H gave him an Elgin bomb and then used the chair on Kazarian. Because, in case you haven't noticed, Michael Elgin is now a renegade who plays by nobody's rules but his own.

Andrew Everett, Caprice Coleman, Cedric Alexander, Tommaso Ciampa (sporting his MF Doom style mask), Moose and Matt Sydal were guys stuffed into the show's six man mayhem offering. That Sydal, Ciampa and Alexander were thrown into a multi-man match was disappointing. A more meaningful match could have happened in its place, or the card could have been reshuffled to put The Addiction in a tag match. It's hardly surprising that Ciampa asked for his release when he went from main eventing shows to being in filler matches. There were clearly no long term ideas for him.

This match was a good use of Moose though. With five men against him he had plenty of guys to throw around and look powerful against. The match was a fun spot-fest, which is all it was intended to be. Sydal won off a shooting star press on Everett. Moose was just a little too slow to break the pin up.

After the match Veda Scott again stopped Moose shaking hands, as she had at the start and in other matches since she turned heel. Cedric also refused to shake hands with people. He just looked angry as Adam Cole (who was working as guest commentator for the evening) and Kevin Kelly discussed how he'd had lots of exciting matches but couldn't win. That story would be more impactful if they weren't also running it with ACH. They may be building to those two confronting one another on their different outlooks on losing but so what? We've seen them wrestle one another before so the prospect of them facing off again isn't particularly interesting, even if Cedric's a heel when it happens.

That was followed by the Epic Grudge Match between BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs. Whitmer had his new young boy Colby Corino with him (which was why Steve Corino wasn't on commentary). They started with a handshake before immediately pummelling each other. They headed outside, fought more, then got back into the ring and had a chair duel. Whitmer whipped Jacobs into chairs set up in the corner. Jacobs fought back with a spear (which brought about a "Better than Reigns!" chant) and smacked Whitmer with chairs before dropping him with Sliced Bread Number Two onto a chair.

Whitmer got a fisherman suplex for two. Jacobs brought out a table. Whitmer tried to exploder Jacobs through it. Jacobs fought him off. Whitmer helpfully rolled onto the table in just the right place for a Jacobs senton. The table didn't break so Jacobs set it up between the ring apron and the crowd barrier. A second senton in that position worked. Whitmer kicked out of a pin attempt and got clamped in a guillotine choke. Whitmer muscled out into a brainbuster then hit a second brainbuster onto a chair. Jacobs kicked out.

Whitmer tried a top rope power bomb (a call-back to one of their more grizzly encounters against one another). Jacobs back dropped him off the top rope and gave him an Ace crusher, holding on to follow up with another Sliced Bread. Whitmer floored Jacobs twice with lariats before giving him an exploder suplex onto a pair of chairs. That was enough to put 'The Zombie Princess' down for three.

A "Thank you, Jimmy!" chant rang in, it being an open secret that this was Jacobs' final match with Ring of Honor before taking a creative job with WWE. Jacobs went for a handshake. Whitmer pulled away then said he only shakes hands with guys who belong. Colby then smacked Jimmy with a water bottle shot from behind and pummelled him before Lacey ran in through the crowd to make the save. They embraced as the Ballad of Lacey played, finally bringing an end to ROH's ancient Jimmy Loves Lacey story which began back in the Gabe Sapolsky days. It was a nice touch and a fitting end to Jimmy Jacobs' time in Ring of Honor.

The love story moment was immediately undercut by Chris Daniels dancing out to the ring to his jaunty entrance music. It would have been nice if ROH had had a video package to play at this point, or a heel promo to schedule to deliberately kill the mood. But they had neither because despite this show being held on WrestleMania weekend it was still just a VOD event. As  rule they don't get video packages, and there were no heel promos on the show.

Daniels versus Roderick Strong was predictably sharp but I still think it would have been better to have The Addiction in a tag match and Roddy doing something against someone else. Matt Sydal, for example. Strong won with the Stronghold following a torture rack into a back breaker.

That was followed by The Kingdom team of Matt Taven and Michael Bennett, with Maria Kanellis, challenging reDRagon, with MMA personality Tom Lawler, for the ROH tag team championship. The Kingdom played rock, paper scissors to decide who'd start (Bennett won with rock). I've always been a fan of that in tag matches.

As stated above I hadn't expected a great deal from this match. reDRagon are great and Taven and Bennett are good but it just seemed like an awkward bout waiting to happen. It took a while to get going, the first half being characterised by Taven and Bennett employing cheap heat shenanigans, featured a needless run-in from a lone KRD member, and faltered in the closing moments because of an injury to Kyle O'Reilly, but it ended up better than I'd expected. Fish got the pin for reDRagon with a falcon arrow on Bennett.

Cole returned to commentary (he'd left after Kelly had questioned him about The Kingdom's relationship with the Knights of the Rising Dawn during Whitmer v Jacobs) and promised he hadn't been the masked KRD guy. He probably wasn't, but in storyline he likely was. That's wrestling logic, that is.

Jay Lethal's television title defence against Jushin Liger took the semi-main spot. Lethal has been great as the aggressive heel champion and his reign is doing the championship's credibility a lot of good. He's the sort of guy ROH could elevate to the world title picture should they lose a bunch of their top guys. Liger is Liger. Not as good as he is in 80's and 90's videos but still very reliable and a definite crowd-pleaser.

What I liked about the Liger and Lethal pairing was that a title change wasn't inconceivable, something that can't often be said when a champion defends against an outsider. With ROH promoting shows with New Japan a month and a half after this they could have switched the title to Liger and had him enter those shows as champion. The TV title could have been defended on New Japan shows by Liger in the meantime and a rematch would have been a natural addition to one of the four inter-promotional shows. It wasn't likely but it made suspension of disbelief a bit easier than it had been in Liger's world title match with Cole at War of the Worlds 2015.

The match was very good and had a entertaining finishing sequence. After stopping a Lethal suicide dive Liger dropped the champ with a brainbuster. They made it back into the ring at the nineteen count. Lethal grabbed the TV title belt. The referee took it from him and Liger went for a rollup, which Lethal countered into a pin attempt of his own by grabbing hold of the ropes. The ref noticed and called a halt to the count. Lethal took the belt again and tried lamping Liger with it. Liger ducked and snatched the belt for himself. The referee started a tug-of-war over the belt with the challenger, allowing Lethal to sneak in a super kick and a Lethal Injection for the victory.

The main event saw Samoa Joe challenge Jay Briscoe for the ROH world championship. This was a match with a lot of history behind it. Briscoe and Joe had feuded with one another in the early years of ROH, Briscoe never managing to defeat Joe when it really counted. Joe is the man most readily associated with the championship, thanks to his dominant twenty-one month title reign during the company's formative years, a reign yet to be bettered in length. Briscoe is the dominant champion of the present, not having been pinned in two years and having defeated everyone that's been put in front of him just as Joe did during his reign.

Joe got the best of an early feeling out process. The match gradually got more physical with forearms, chops, jabs, a Jay boot to the face and a Joe enziguri. Jay went for a suplex. Got it on fourth try following a jab. He peppered the big man with more jabs and applied a sleeper. Joe muscled out, tweaked his knee on a bungled spill over the top rope, and rolled to the outside to counter a suicide dive with a high kick as planned.

Back in the ring Joe hit Briscoe with jabs of his own and used a Hogan-esque leg drop in place of his usual knee drop. Joe got the best of an exchange of blows with an uppercut. Briscoe tried climbing to the top rope but Joe booted him to the outside and hit a suicide dive. He went for the Olé kick but Briscoe threw a chair in his face (the lack of a DQ being explained away with talk of referee lenience). The champ threw Joe into the barricade before getting grabbed off of the apron and slung into the barricade himself. A second try for the Olé kick was successful. So was a third.

Joe pulled Briscoe back into the ring and got a two count. He peppered him with jabs and hauled him into position for the Muscle Buster. Briscoe fought out of it and dropped Joe with a neck breaker. Jay got more jabs on Joe and went for a Death Valley driver. Joe and his weight blocked it. Jay took some elbow strikes before firing back with a super kick and a belly-to-back suplex as Joe came off the ropes.

Briscoe got in several uppercuts and finally connected with the DVD. Joe kicked out at two. Briscoe went for the Jay driller. Joe back dropped out of it and sent Jay sprawling with clotheslines, an inverted atomic drop, a yakuza kick and a senton. Jay kicked out and slugged away at Joe before hit ting the ropes. He was met with a power slam. Joe went through the power bomb, Boston crab, STF, crossface sequence to loud cheers. Briscoe managed to make the ropes, forcing a break.

The two returned to their feet and traded forearms, slaps, and jabs, just as they had at the start of the match. Just as he had then Joe won out, this time when he smashed Jay with a kick to the chest. Joe again went for the Muscle Buster. Briscoe again fought out and caught him with a Jay Driller for the three count. Jay Briscoe finally defeated Samoa Joe in an ROH world championship match.

After the match the two shared a handshake and hugged. Joe presented Briscoe with his championship belts and raised his hand to end the show. Everything about Joe's performance, from his post-match actions to the fact that he went down to a single Jay driller, was designed to endorse Jay Briscoe as a great champion, which was a good call. In ROH terms Joe is one of the biggest guys a wrestler can receive a rub from. That said, the match wasn't anything amazing. It was good and a worthwhile main event, but Joe and Briscoe have both done far better and ROH has had more fitting headline bouts.

While this event was better than I'd expected it to be it still didn't feel particularly special. There was nothing bad on it but there also isn't really anything worth revisiting. There's nothing wrong with an enjoyable wrestling show (obviously) but sometimes it's nice to make a show feel a bit special, and that's something ROH can struggle with. Which was all too apparent here.

***

Results summary:

Mark Briscoe defeated ACH
Michael Elgin defeated Frankie Kazarian
Matt Sydal defeated Andrew Everett, Cedric Alexander, Tommaso Ciampa, Caprice Coleman and Moose to win a six man mayhem
BJ Whitmer defeated Jimmy Jacobs
Roderick Strong defeated Christopher Daniels
reDRagon defeated The Kingdom to retain the ROH tag team championship
Jay Lethal defeated Jushin Liger to retain the ROH television championship
Jay Briscoe defeated Samoa Joe to retain the ROH world championship

ROH and New Japan War of the Worlds review

We start, as always, with a video package. This one was little more than a hype video showing the best of both companies. In the arena the crowd kicked off with a loud chant for New Japan. Steve Corino and 'Cool as a Cucumber' Kevin Kelly welcomed us to the show before AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows and the Young Bucks walked out to the ring. They too got loud chants. Anderson introed 'The Phenomenal One'. There was a "Fuck TNA!" chant before he could speak. When he did it was to say he's not the leader. Because all Bullet Club members lead.

Kazuchika Okada and Gedo interrupted him. Gedo, as translated by Anderson, said Okada could beat Styles. Styles disagreed, and did Corino's aside-to-the-comedy-sidekick shtick (which I enjoyed even if no one else did). He also said he had his hands full with Elgin and that Okada would have to wait for his title rematch.

Then Michael Elgin wandered out. He asked for Nigel McGuinness to come out and make a three-way title match (odd as he was stood in the ring with one of New Japan's bookers). After checking with the NJPW chairman Nigel said the match would happen if all three wrestlers agreed. They all did, giving us a changed, and much more desirable, main event.

Takaaki Watanabe teamed Forever Hooligans to take on ACH, Matt Taven, and Tommaso Ciampa in the solid enough opener. Everyone did what you'd expect. That basically meant it was enjoyable but there were no surprises. There was a buzz of finishers followed by a dive onto the Hooligans by ACH before Taven got the win for his team with the tumbling DDT. I was surprised at that result. I thought the hooligans would win, being the regular combo who've held tag gold in both promotions and all.

Match two saw Roderick Strong and BJ Whitmer of the Decade team to face The World a Class Tag Team. The wrong graphic was displayed when the Decade entered, which was pretty embarrassing. The match was good. There were several exchanges of stiff kicks and chops but many seemed oddly mistimed, probably because the two teams aren't used to working with each other. Strong survived a chair shot from Gedo to hit a gut buster, followed by a Whitmer lariat and a sick kick for the victory. It was another mildly surprising result. Gedo and Jado are an accomplished team and it felt like they should have been the ones to win.

After the match Cedric Alexander ran in and took out every member of the Decade before being restrained by security. The Decade ran off. It was ROH's way of reminding us of that feud. It was effective enough and practically guaranteed a stipulation and-or gimmick match between the two at Best in the World.

Match three saw Marty McKUSHIDA challenge Jay Lethal for the ROH TV championship. The New York City crowd didn't provide the intense heat for Lethal that the Toronto crowd had. That was disappointing. Lethal had looked like a top of the line villain at Global Wars simply because of the crowd heat.

The story of the bout was that KUSHIDA was good enough to beat Lethal (there was a lovely spot where Lethal went for the Lethal Injection and KUSHIDA countered with a drop kick to the face during the handstand portion) so Lethal had Truth distract him to get the advantage and then slowed the pace with stomps, rest holds and other similarly dastardly moves. Eventually KUSHIDA made a comeback and almost had the match won after a DDT but Martini pulled the referee from the ring. That got him ejected from ringside. Lethal survived a wonderful top rope hurricanrana before winning with a super kick and a Lethal Injection. KUSHIDA took the move better than I've ever seen it taken before. It's not easy to make it look natural and as though it's a surprise to see coming. That guy is a talent.

Up next were Mark and Jay Briscoe challenging Bullet Club members Doc Gallows (the artist formerly known as Fake Kane) and Karl Anderson for the IWGP tag team titles. The crowd were pretty evenly split. NYC has a history of not being keen on 'Dem Boys'. Perhaps they're mellowing on them.

This was not a technically sound match, not that that should surprise anyone. They started off with a brawl around the ring which saw a table get destroyed and Jay Briscoe perform a modified plancha. When they got back into the ring the action was rough and ready. After a while Mark was wiped out with a back body drop on the floor, leaving Jay at the mercy of both Bullet members. He withstood some double teaming before Mark managed to return. The Briscoes downed Anderson and got a near fall with Mark's frog elbow drop but the crowd didn't react. Which was a pity.

Jay was wiped out with a double handed choke bomb and Mark was dropped with a shoulder height double team move for the win. The two teams shook hands afterwards. Jay glared at Gallows and refused to let go of his hand for an uncomfortable amount of time. It was a powerfully erotic moment.

Shinsuke Nakamura v Kevin Steen was one of the matches I was most looking forward to on this show. They're interesting characters who generally work pretty intense matches. Beyond that they're among my favourite wrestlers from their respective promotions. Everything pointed to them meshing and having a solid match. Steen got more streamers than Nakamura. I hadn't expected that. It speaks to Steen's popularity.

Everything about the match was great. Nakamura's movements were so fluid. Even when doing something as simple as running the ropes over a dropped down Steen he exuded grace and poise. His mannerisms were perfectly judged and warmly received while his moves were perfectly timed and, as always, looked thoroughly believable. 'Mr Wrestling' was not to he outdone. He worked the crowd expertly and matched Nak when it came to well timed offence.

The closing moments were a triumph. Steen reversed running knee into pop up power bomb. Nakamura rolled through a package piledriver attempt and kneed Steen in the face, then followed up with the Boma Ye. Steen stunned Nakamura by kicking out of that at one. But the adrenalin wouldn't last. He fell to another knee seconds later.

Nakamura left immediately. He didn't hang about to shake hands or tease a rematch or anything. Steen took a mic and joked about his jaw possibly being dislocated (or at least I assume he was joking). He acknowledged he hasn't always been happy in ROH but that he loves the company. For a year he's not felt like he belongs, and losing two big matches in a row reaffirms that. He said he was going to step away for a bit, which got "No!" chants. Then Silas Young interrupted him.

'Wrestling's Last Real Man' said he agreed with the fans regarding Steen leaving. To illustrate how much ROH needs "real" men Silas mentioned that the world champ looks like a ladyboy (which prompted Corino to say "a sexy one"), the tag champs look like kids off a Disney show and the TV champ "runs around with a fruit" (peculiar when you consider a major part of Truth's gimmick is that he likes the ladies). Perhaps they're trying to establish Silas with an overtly homophobic gimmick. Apparently wrestling has not moved beyond such things in 2014. Pity.

Silas felt Steen was the only other man in the locker room. Then he called Steen a pussy for thanking the fans and for walking away. Steen went to leave then Young said his son would grow up to be a quitter too. Because Steen's a fightin' face a brawl erupted. It ended when Steen leapt off the top rope onto security, at which point it was revealed that Silas had wandered off, evading the attack. This was followed by intermission.

It seems clear from this that Kevin Steen is getting ready to move away from Ring of Honor. It's common knowledge that he participated in a WWE tryout in February (alongside ACH and Roderick Strong) and doesn't appear to be working a number of ROH's future shows. The obvious assumption to make is that he's been made and has accepted a developmental offer from WWE. If that's the case I hope Steen can succeed in the WWE system. There's nothing to say he can't. He knows how to develop a character and make it popular and he's been a fan of WWE for years (and has friends in the company) so knows what to expect. It will be a blue for Ring of Honor if he leaves though. With or without the championship he has been ROH's top star since 2011. Hopefully he can give Silas Young a boost on his way out.

The second half opened with Michael Bennett facing Hiroshi Tanahashi. For the record Tanahashi had opened the second half at Global Wars too (not counting RD Evans's win over Bobby Cruise). Also, Bennett was wearing a shirt which read "Eat, Sleep, Beat Tanahashi, Repeat". It was modelled on Lesnar's pre-'Mania Streak-beater T-shirt and his conquer and repeat T-shirts. The thing is combining them doesn't work here, because beating Tanahashi again and again is not something that Bennett's going to get the chance to do.

Anyway, the match followed the basic pattern of a Bennett match but was better than his average outing. He stalled, trolled the audience with deliberately poor wrestling, brawled at ringside, and channelled CM Punk. The match was significantly poorer than the average Tanahashi match. There was once again a miscue between Bennett and Maria, this time Bennett ended up lightly tapping his girlfriend on the cheek. On the subject of Maria, she interfered and got placed in a cloverleaf by Tana. The crowd were into that. Personally I thought it was uncalled for.

Tanahashi overcame Maria interference, a piledriver, and the anaconda vice to win with a High Fly Flow. The reaction to his victory was staid. By this point it was clear that the audience were not as good as the guys in Toronto. The did bust out a "Please come back!" chant though. But that's almost a nicety at this point. Not that I think that was the case with 'The Once in a Century Talent'.

reDRagon were accompanied to the ring by a UFC personality named Tom Lawlor (no relation to Jerry (because it's spelt differently)) for their match with ROH tag champs the Young Bucks. It was the best match of the night, meaning that for the second weekend a row the Jackson brothers and reDRagon stole the show.

Once the action got going it didn't stop. Matt hit a perfectly timed handspring through the ropes into moonsault. Moments later he was at ringside to combat an O'Reilly flying knee from the apron with a super kick. Fish thwarted a springboard double Tombstone. O'Reilly avoided a super kick and countered into a double dragon screw leg whip on the brothers. Fish hit a falcon arrow from the top rope on Matt (he was doing more than his fair share for the Bucks, eh?). Nick hit a leg drop on O'Reilly as he had Matt scissored in a guillotine. The kick out got a great response. The champs went for More Bang For Your Buck on O'Reilly, but Nick was met with knees and Matt a triangle choke. Matt kicked out of Chasing the Dragon. O'Reilly locked in an armbar on Matt. Nick tried to make the save but Fish stopped him. Matt had no choice but to tap in another excellent ROH tag title match. O'Reilly in particular looked great.

The Bucks opted for crotch chops over handshakes. I imagine that's why people love them. Maybe I'm just too old to see the appeal.

Jushin 'Thunder' Liger was met by loud cheers that petered out quickly (because the crowd had become actively bad by this point, only reacting to moments of particular significance) when he entered for his match with ROH world champion Adam Cole. They kept the pace relatively slow for the most part, because of Liger's age (49) although that was by no means a bad thing. His offensive flurries were carefully planned out to gradually build towards a lovely finishing sequence. A better crowd willing to make the appropriate noise for the duration of match would have helped make it come scrims as the accomplishment it was. But we had what we had. Liger survived multiple super kicks and Florida Keys before falling victim to Cole's figure four leg lock. That's not as bad as it sounds. It's being built up as devastating when used by Cole.

Liger offered a handshake after the match. Cole held up the belt and then walked off sniggering. Whadda heel!

The final match was the three-way match for the IWGP championship. It was we were informed by Kevin Kelly, the first three-way IWGP heavyweight title since 8 October 2005 when Brock Lesnar successfully defended against Kazuyuki Fajita and Masa Chono (Styles is in fine company). Something I'd like to note about the main event is that it came close to having the best of three companies in it. Elgin could be considered to be ROH's best. The same goes for Okada in New Japan. While AJ Styles was until recently almost universally acknowledged as TNA's best, and is in the running for the best in NJPW too. Beyond that almost being a meaningless little achievement it's entirely irrelevant, but it demonstrates the calibre of talent involved. Elgin, Styles and Okada really are amongst the world's best.

They paced the early going with the one-on-one stretches that are now standard in three-way dances. When it started the stuff involving all three guys couldn't have been better. Early highlights included a stalling suplex from Elgin to Okada with kicks to the kid-section from Styles, which didn't put Elgin down and 'Unbreakable' also hit a Samoan drop and a fallaway slam on both his foes at the same time.

Elgin's knee got injured as he tried a new move from the turnbuckle (nicely worked into the story by Kevin Kelly) and performed a Tombstone. It was made worse when Styles put him in the Calf Slicer. He managed to perform his deadlift second rope suplex on Okada but was too injured to go for the cover, leaving him open to a 450 splash from Styles. Styles got a Pele kick on Okada and then went for a Styles Clash. 'Rainmaker' fought out of it and floored the champ with a Tombstone. Then he picked him up for the Rainmaker. Elgin made the save when he rocked Okada with a clothesline and a buckle bomb. Seconds later Okada was in control and finally connected with a Rainmaker on Elgin. Styles sent him rolling from the ring with a springboard drop kick before he could attempt a cover then gave Elgin a Styles Clash to win the match.

Afterwards Adam Cole ran out and hit everyone with his ROH championship belt. Then he shouted about being the best in the world as Kevin Kelly signed off to an ad for the next major ROH show, Best in the World.

And then... there was a comic book style "post credits" sequence. An appletini was placed on a bar. Then clips of Chris Daniels matches were played. Back in the bar 'The Ring General' was shown sitting on a stool and said he was coming home and that he wouldn't be alone.

The final two developments involving Cole and Daniels are both good news for ROH fans. It hints at a proper feud between Styles and Cole over the ROH gold in which ‘The Phenomenal One’ will play face. While fans were persuaded to boo him at the joint New Japan shows it’s not something that can be expected all the time. Simply put Styles is too well liked and fresh to the promotion to be getting booed regularly yet. Cole’s actions could also set up future bouts with Elgin. We’ve seen them clash before but not excessively. There’s even the option to have a future joint effort headlined by Cole versus Okada.

The return of ‘The Fallen Angel’ is obviously more good news. He’s a talented, charismatic veteran who’s gone through one of his periodic reinventions since he last left ROH. It’ll be interesting to see how his current character fits into the company. Of course he brings with him plenty of fresh matches (he’d make another fine challenger to Cole for example), particularly if Bad Influence teammate Frankie Kazarian is the man joining him in ROH. Daniels and Kazarian versus reDRagon is a match that could mean a lot if held off for a memorable first encounter.

War of the Worlds as a whole was a very good show. The tag title match was a match of the year contender. KUSHIDA v Lethal was the surprise of the night, being a lively tussle that established Lethal as a rulebreaker and KUSHIDA as a potential singles star (how great would it be if NJPW decided to send him on a sabbatical to Ring of Honor?). Steen versus Nakamura just about lived up to my lofty expectations. The main event was superb and a fitting end to a week of co-promotion. Everything else on the card was at least good and both companies ended up looking better than they had going in. Any future co-productions will be more than welcome if they’re this good.