NJPW New Beginning in Osaka 2015 review

According to the ever reliable Wikipedia New Japan's New Beginning show is one that traditionally gets split across two nights. There are sound business reasons for doing this. If you're a popular wrestling company with a large and talented roster then it makes sense to split your larger shows across two nights in order to increase your profit. Why settle for batch of ticket sales, merch sales, and pay-per-view buys (or, as it is now, New Japan World subscriptions) when you can have two?

The downside of this is that the undercard across the shows suffers. Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura both wrestled a main event and a six man tag match each. AJ Styles was absent from the second show in Sendai. Kazuchika Okada was relegated to tag team matches on both shows. One show could easily have supported the key singles matches we got across both shows.

But while this is a downside it's not a big one. The split show approach means more undercard material but that gives more guys a chance to perform in front of larger crowds and notch up an appearance on a major show. All told it's not a bad way to operate. But it can be a slog to watch if you're taking notes for a review.

The Osaka card opened with a pair of solid and entirely unspectacular matches. The first saw Sho Tanaka defeat Yohei Komatsu with a Boston crab. The second saw the team of Tiger Mask and Máscara Dorada defeat Manabu Nakanishi and Captain New Japan in what seemed to be NJPW's version of a comedy match. The most notable thing was Dorada's music, which was excellent.

Bruce Tharpe rocked up after that. He's a generic western manager who wears deliberately naff game show host jackets (the one he sported here was golden). He reminds me a lot o Greg 'The Truth' Lambert, a man who screams British indy scene. Fittingly Tharpe represents that powerhouse of 70s wrestling, the NWA. He introduced Chase Owens and NWA champ Rob Conway. They had a basic match with Jushin Liger and Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Owens getting the win for his team after a package piledriver on Liger.

Match four saw Kota Ibushi defeat Tomoaki Honma, getting a phoenix splash after weathering an onslaught of big moves. Ibushi had had the match of the night with Nakamura at Wrestle Kingdom 9. He didn't manage the same feat here but they did have the first above average outing of the night, Honma's strong man stylings being pitted against Ibushi's speed and acrobatics. Based on his performance here and at WK9 Ibushi  seems like the most sensible choice for the final spot in the company's Big Four. He's a great wrestler and the audience love him.

As good as that was the match that followed it was better yet: a three-way match for the IWGP junior tag team titles. reDRagon defended against Time Splitters and the Young Bucks. The Bucks had Bullet Club young boy Cody Hall with them at ringside, just because. As you'd expect it was a match heavy on high spots. Highlights included a lengthy sequence of flashy double team work by Kushida and Shelley at the start; a kip up combined with a German suplex by reDRagon on Kushida; a sequence where Alex Shelley took out all four of his opponents with a superb series of flips and kicks on, around and from the apron; a Kushida moonsault on O'Reilly turned into an armbar; a Swanton bomb by Nick onto a kneeling Shelley; the always cool-looking (and psychology-killing) Indy-Taker; and a match-winning More Bang For Your Buck on Kushida. Cody Hall was a non-factor at ringside, doing nothing but cheer his stablemates on.

After an intermission showing highlights of the card so far, analysing what was left to come and hyping future events the Bucks and Hall returned to the ring (Hall now sporting a sexy little hat) with IWGP junior heavyweight champ Kenny Omega. He'd won the title from Ryusuke Taguchi at Wrestle Kingdom 9. This was the former champion's rematch. It didn't work out well for him. The Jacksons interfered and he was mildly sodomised by a flagpole. He was able to get hold of the pole and turn the tables on the heels just as any babyface worth his salt would but there was little he could do about the three men at ringside. Omega would win a match that was enjoyable but a surprisingly slow at points with Aoi Shoudou, a fisherman buster.

The Bucks and Omega gave Taguchi a triple team Tombstone piledriver onto a chair after the match, just to be heels. Máscara Dorada and Alex Shelley rocked up after that with Dorada getting in Omega's face. Then he made the belt-around-the-waist gesture making it crystal clear that he would be Omega's next challenger.

A pair of six man tag matches followed. Both featured Chaos members. The first saw Kazushi Sakuraba, Toru Yano and Kazucika Okada defeat Bullet Club members Yujiro Takahashi, Tama Tonga and big lad extraordinaire Bad Luck Fale when Okada hit Tama Tonga with a top rope elbow drop and a Rainmaker. The second saw Yuji Nagata, Tetsuya Naito and Satoshi Kojima defeat Intercontinental champion Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii and Yoshi-Hashi. The high points there were the interactions between Nakamura and Nagata, designed to lead into their singles match three nights later in Sendai. Naito got the win for his team after hitting a corkscrew senton on Yoshi-Hashi.

The semi-main event spot was taken by a tag team championship match. Bullet Club members Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson got their rematch against Meiyu Tag, who'd defeated them for the straps at Wrestle Kingdom. It was an intense, action-packed match. The crowd were massively into it. Goto and Shibata have entered spirited performances both times I've seen them tag and Gallows and Anderson work really well as a pairing, even if Gallows' selling does occasionally veer into cartoon territory. The Bullet boys regained the gold with an elevated neck breaker.

That left only the main event. It was preceded by a great video showing the history of Styles and Tanahashi as opponents and a short sequence of shots showing former IWGP heavyweight champions. That was a really nice touch. It's always nice to see Bob Sapp getting some attention.

In a way the match resembled a Raven match from 1996. It started off with Cody Hall, Gallows, Anderson, the Buks, Omega, Takahashi and Tama Tonga all at ringside. Fale would wander out after the finish to round things out. To be fair the large ringside entourage gimmick is one of the key aspects of Bullet Club so I'm not complaining.

Tanahashi got the better of Styles in their opening exchanges, controlling the pace with various wear down holds and avoiding many of Styles' moves. Things picked up several minutes in when AJ left the ring and Tanahashi followed him out with a dive from the apron. Styles avoided it and Bullet Club set upon him as he lay sprawled at ringside. When Captain New Japan tried to help his buddy he got set upon too.

Styles took control back in the ring and worked over Tana's back.  Thirteen minutes into the match Tana made his comeback, blasting the challenger with right hands and a back drop before coming off the second rope with a senton. Sensing a shift in momentum Styles again tried taking the action outside. Tana fought off the Bucks, threw Styles into his gang and hit what the commentary called a super High Fly Flow onto all of Bullet Club. When he returned to his feet Tana was bleeding. Those top rope moves really take their toll on the forehead.

Back in the ring (again) they did a double clothesline spot. Tanahashi was the first to his feet. He charged Styles but got caught with a kick, suplexed into a corner, then smashed with a springboard elbow. Styles attempted Bloody Sunday but Tana deadweighted and span him around into a straight jacket German suplex for a two count. Styles absorbed a German suplex but fought out of a second by distracting the referee and low blowing Tanahashi. He got his just desserts seconds later when Tana repaid him in kind as the ref was distracted by Takahashi, who'd leapt onto the apron to celebrate 'The Phenomenal One's' cheating ways.

Back on their feet the two man traded elbow strikes before Styles went for the Styles Clash (which was referred to as the Styles Crush in the pre-match video). Tana escaped and grabbed Styles' leg, dragon screwing him as he tried for an enziguri. He put the challenger down with a sling blade and went for the High Fly Flow but was met with knees, winding him and leaving him motionless in the ring. Styles took the opportunity to attempt a springboard 450 splash but Tana again repaid him in kind by getting his knees up.

Too sweet, bro.

Another HFF was thwarted when Styles hit the ropes. 'The Ace of the Universe' caught Styles as he went for a hurricanrana but couldn't avoid a Pele kick seconds later. That was enough to daze the champion, allowing AJ to pull him off the top rope and into position for a Styles Clash (or Crush, whatever). Tana fought out twice so Styles dropped him with a hangman driver, following up with a high Bloody Sunday and a Styles Clash to earn his second IWGP heavyweight championship. Despite having practically all of Bullet Club at ringside the finish was clean. The only interference came from Takahashi. Styles was not made to look dependent on his entourage for his victory.

Anderson then spent several minutes talking up every member of Bullet Club and the fact that the stable had regained all the company's gold bar the NEVER championship. It was meant to be a bragging heel promo but the fans were so respectful that they applauded the group's success. It probably didn't help that Anderson was speaking in English and couldn't be understood by most of the crowd.

All told the first New Beginning show of 2015 was a strong offering. Ibushi v Honma, the tag title matches, and the main event were all strong offerings and everything outside of the opening three bouts was better than the average match you'll find in certain prominent US promotions. Another win for New Japan.

***

Results summary:

Sho Tanaka defeated Yohei Komatsu
Tiger Mask and Máscara Dorada defeated Manabu Nakanishi and Captain New Japan
Chase Owens and Robért Conway defeated Hiroyoshi Tanahashi and Jushin Liger
Kota Ibushi defeated Tomoaki Honma
The Young Bucks defeated Time Splitters and reDRagon to win the IWGP junior tag team championship
Kenny Omega defeated Ryusuke Taguchi to retain the IWGP junior heavyweight championship
Kazushi Sakuraba, Toru Yano and Kazuchika Okada defeated Yujiro Takahashi, Tama Tonga and Bad Luck Fale
Satoshi Kojima, Tetsuya Naito and Yuji Nagata defeated Tomohiro Ishii Yoshi-Hashi and Shinsuke Nakamura
Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson defeated Meiyu Tag to win the IWGP tag team championship
AJ Styles defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the IWGP heavyweight championship

ROH Final Battle 2014 review

It’s been a good year for Ring of Honor. They may have lost their top star, Kevin Steen, and seen one of their top prospects, Michael Elgin, misfire as a world champ but they’ve co-promoted shows with New Japan Pro Wrestling, made the move from internet streaming to traditional pay-per-view, and put on a number of high quality shows with world class matches. As such the pressure was on to score a hit with Final Battle, their last major show of the year. After such a strong year they didn’t want to go out on a low note.

I’m pleased to say they didn’t. The line-up that was put together looked good on paper, with reDRagon v Time Splitters, Cole v Briscoe, and the Young Bucks and ACH v Addiction and Cedric Alexander six man tag match all leaping out as potential matches of the night. On the night everyone put in their best effort. The show was great from start to finish.

The evening kicked off with a four corner survival match pitting Mark Briscoe, Caprice Coleman, Jimmy Jacobs and Hanson against one another. It was designed to do two things. The first was to start the show with something exciting. The second was to build up Hanson. It achieved both. Everyone got a moment or two to shine and Hanson muscled everyone around at one point or another and ended up with the win after he wiped out Briscoe and Jacobs with a suicide dive before pinning Caprice off a spinning heel kick.

Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer stuck around to introduce Adam Page. ‘The Zombie Princess’ started to give what probably would have been a rousing speech about it being a night for Page to step up in a match with Strong, win, lose or draw. He didn’t get very far though: Whitmer snatched the microphone and introduced Page himself. The idea was that Whitmer was ready to accept Page as an equal while Jacobs wasn’t.

The match was all Roddy to begin with. He outwrestled Page and gave him some of his famously stiff chops. Page only managed to gain control after a distraction from Whitmer. Roddy took a bit of offence then fired back with chops, a Sick kick and a back breaker on the apron (after Page had impressively landed on his feet off a Shooting Star Press). Page got a swinging neck breaker from the second rope. Roddy came back with a pair of knee strikes and a release suplex back breaker before locking in the Stronghold for the victory by referee stoppage.

Whitmer wasn’t happy. He showed his displeasure by grabbing Corino's headset and shouting about how Page was still better than Strong. Corino wasn’t impressed. Any time their apparent real-life animosity bleeds into the show (which, let’s be honest, is frequently) I enjoy it.

Michael Elgin and Tommaso Ciampa went on third. Elgin was met with apathy. Ciampa got some cheers but not as many as you may have expected. Once the bell rang and Elgers gave Ciampa a hammering he was booed. They worked a strong style match which, while good, never seemed to slick into gear, something I also felt with their Death Before Dishonor XII match.

The usual electric finishing sequence of Elgin matches was omitted here. Instead ‘The Sicilian Psycopath’ accidentally clotheslined the ref, prompting Nigel McGuinness to head backstage because he'd introduced a zero tolerance policy with regard to Ciampa attacking officials. This was an accident but the story was that McGuinness may have gone backstage to start filing the paperwork for Ciampa’s dismissal (because he’d totes do that in the middle of a show). Hether he did or not wasn’t revealed but the possibility was enough to distract Ciampa, allowing ‘Unbreakable’ to get in a boot to the face and an elevated double arm DDT to win the match.

To lighten the mood after the shady finish the all-babyface six man tag was up next: Cedric Alexander and The Addiction v ACH and The Young Bucks. It was a crazily fast match packed with great spots. Plus super kicks, obvs. Definitely a match worth watching if you get the opportunity. ACH and the Bucks won after a Meltzer driver from the Bucks and a 450 from ACH on Cedric.

The grudge match between Moose and RD Evans was billed as "The Revenge of The Streak." The story was that Moose, who had been rescued from his gig as a bodyguard for the Bravado brothers in EVOLVE and introduced as RD Evans’ tag partner, had turned on Evans and cost him his entirely fictitious 173-0 winning streak. Ramone had also turned on RD, changing his name to Stokely Hathaway and revealing that he was working for Prince Nana, who Evans had stolen some storyline dosh from several years earlier.

The important thing to note from that is Nana’s return. Because he’s always excellent entertainment.

Moose destroyed RD for a lot of the match, but not as much as you might think. Veda rocked up after a few minutes and the camera immediately started treating us to lingering shots of her looking concerned. RD managed to turn things around after a while, hitting a reverse DDT and slapping on a sharpshooter. Nana and Hathaway tried to interfere with a chair, which promoted the referee to get out of the ring and argue with them in the aisle. That was Veda’s cue to get in the ring and betray RD with a low blow. Moose then speared him for the win. It was a fun little match. Exactly how guys like Moose and Evans should be used.

Match six saw House of Truth centrepiece and TV champ Jay Lethal defend his belt against Matt Sydal. They had an enjoyable match. I could have done without the Truth Martini interference but at least it was included for a reason and they didn’t go overboard with it. It took the form of him pulling Todd Sinclair from the ring after Sydal hit a Shooting Star Press that was framed as a definite finish. So basically Trith definitely cost Sydal the TV championship. He was chased around the ring before finally being caught and laid out for an SSP. Sydal went for it and got it... but Lethal connected with an Ace crusher as he hit it. A Lethal Injection later and Sydal was a beaten man.

reDRagon's defence of the ROH tag team championship against Time Splitters took the semi-main event spot. Both teams were greeted passionately by the New York crowd. At this point I think ROH is doing the right thing with O’Reilly and Fish and basically using them as tweeners.

The match started out as a competent display of tag wrestling by both teams. O’Reilly was isolated by the challengers before turning the tide to eliminate Shelley, working over his arm in preparation for an armbar submission. Fish got in on the action there too, giving Shelley a well-executed arm wringer out on the apron.

Tags became less frequent as all four guys moved into the ring to begin running through double team spots. Kushida performed an Okana roll and German suplex on both members of reDRagon. Time Splitters hit a power bomb-Sliced Bread supermove. O’Reilly took a moonsault and before applying a triangle choke. Kushida lamped O’Reilly with a Pele kick and O’Reilly came back with the McGuinness lariat. The match ended with Kushida kicking out of Chasing the Dragon before tapping out to the armbar. It was a well laid out tag match and probably the best wrestled offering of the evening.

The video package that preceded the Cole v Briscoe Fight Without Honor world title match was very good. It recapped their feud from its start in September 2013 and provided a good recap of the characters and motivations of both guys. I thought that was particularly impressive considering how long they've been linked to one another and the fact that their rivalry felt concluded with Ladder War V at Supercard of Honor VIII. It could have been overly complex and laborious.

There were scattered chants of "Next world champ!" when Cole stepped into the ring. Briscoe's entrance elicited chants of "Man up!" The audience would be split for the pair throughout the match.

Cole kicked things off with middle fingers and a super kick. Briscoe responded with an elbow and a Jay Driller for two. They left the ring for the requisite brawling, making use of chairs, tables and a staple gun, which Cole used to staple a “Reversed for Mrs Briscoe” sign to Jay’s head. Back in the ring Cole sat on a chair to pull at Briscoe's face. He ended up getting booted off it by the champ. Seconds later he was thrown head-first into it.

Jay grabbed a table, an additional chair, and a Singapore cane from under the ring (because, y'know, people have expectations for these sorts of stipulation matches). Cole grabbed the chairs and set them up but ended up taking a Falcon Arrow onto and through them. He had more luck using the cane, smashing Briscoe repeatedly in the head with it.

Cole took a tumble to ringside and bladed under the ring. Briscoe, being Briscoe, immediately began head butting him. He didn't get to do much though, the state athletic commission (who are always booked as heels on wrestling shows) pulled Cole from the ring to give him medical attention. Briscoe attacked the security accompanying the doctor, pushed Cole back into the ring, and gave him a neck breaker. He tried to suplex him through a table at ringside but Cole escaped and super kicked Briscoe off the top rope through it instead.

That barely phased Briscoe. He staggered back into the ring a minute or so later to be met with a title belt shot, a super kick to the back of the head (a call-back to the night Cole won the title after Briscoe had vacated it) and a Florida Key. Briscoe fired back with a Death Valley driver through the table propped up in the corner then sprinkled some thumbtacks (with heads a variety of colours) in the ring. Before he could use them himself Cole grabbed a handful, stuffed them in Briscoe's mouth, and super kicked him. Naturally such an extreme move had to be kicked out of. Two yakuza kicks and a back body drop sent Cole into the tacks. A Jay Driller, not on the tacks followed immediately.

Cole kicked out. Briscoe sold exasperation for a second or two before grabbing Cole for another Jay Driller, the third of the match, on to the championship belt. That put Cole down for the three and ended a satisfying main event.

Final Battle was amongst ROH’s best shows of 2014, and considering the quality of their major events this year I think that says a great deal. No match disappointed, the title matches delivered on the (high) expectations for them, and Page v Strong and the opener were better than could have been reasonably expected. A strong end to a strong year from Ring of Honor.

*** 

Results summary:

Hanson def Mark Briscoe, Jimmy Jacobs and Caprice Coleman
Roderick Strong def Adam Page
Michael Elgin def Tommaso Ciampa
The Young Bucks and ACH def The Addiction and Cedric Alexander
Moose def RD Evans
Jay Lethal def Matt Sydal
reDRagon def Time Splitters
Jay Briscoe def Adam Cole

ROH and New Japan Global Wars review

It was in February at the 12^th Anniversary weekend that Ring of Honor announced they had formed a partnership with New Japan Pro Wrestling. It was big news, obviously. Firstly, it came with confirmation that ROH and New Japan would be co-promoting a pair of shows in May. It’s not every day that New Japan wrestlers appear in North America, especially on the same card as one another. That alone made it a big deal.

Most people were understandably only bothered by the chance to see New Japan talent either live or on an internet pay-per-view with English language commentary (the latter is not currently something NJPW offers). That meant that the importance of the partnership to Ring of Honor was overlooked. Which is understandable but still a pity because it’s a significant thing for ROH.

Less than a year before their February announcement Ring of Honor had been in a partnership with Pro Wrestling NOAH. The gap between NOAH and New Japan is enormous. Over the last several years, through a combination of poor judgement and bad luck, NOAH has fallen from being the jewel in the puro crown to a promotion struggling desperately to stay afloat. For anyone wanting to know more I’d suggest taking a look at articles by Cewshof Cewsh Reviews and Joe of Voices of Wrestling (click the names for the links).

New Japan has rebuilt itself in the same period. New stars have been built and scores of great matches and hot shows have been promoted. In 2014 New Japan is miles ahead of any other wrestling promotion in Japan. They are easily the number two company in the world, and I’m sure there are people that would argue they’re number one.

That such a successful company wants to affiliate itself with Ring of Honor is a compliment and a vote of confidence. New Japan would not want to be associated with a second rate operation as it would only harm their painstakingly rebuilt image (note how they distanced themselves from TNA as it became increasingly evident that TNA had no idea how to succeed). The partnership was a signal that ROH is a company of significance with a good standing in the eyes of its peers.

The first of the co-promoted shows replaced Border Wars and mostly featured matches presented by one of the two promotions. There was an inter-promotional match on offer (Michael Elgin v Takaaki Watanabe) but for the most part the ROH versus New Japan matches were saved for the following weekend’s War of the Worlds event. It struck me as a strange decision at first. There are, after all, enough stars from both companies to put on several ROH v NJPW cards without worrying about repetition. But having seen the show I think it worked well. I suspect it was intended as a primer designed to introduce people with little or no knowledge of either company (though let’s face it I mainly mean New Japan because this came across as an ROH show guest starrign New Japan) to the main players.

The show started, as wrestling shows tend to, with a video recap. This one started out focusing on Kevin Steen, who said he's refocusing on the ROH world championship after a year of being side-tracked with peripheral feuds. Current champ Adam Cole said he'd beat him. That was followed by shots of New Japan wrestlers wrestling matches. No voiceovers or anything with that though. The language barrier wasn't an issue, Kevin Kelly (or whoever) could have been given something to read over it, which makes me wonder why ROH didn’t bother getting him to.

Live in the Ted Reeve Arena the audience were rowdy and Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino were on commentary. Having 'The King of Old School' was a boon for ROH here, his history in Japan allowed him to bring additional knowledge and insight. It lent an air of credibility to the commentary booth. Had Kevin Kelly had to research the background knowledge Corino dropped in throughout the night the play-by-play would have been drier than usual. And I think we can all agree Double K’s commentary is not known for being packed with personality.

ACH v Michael Bennett was the opener. It was a satisfactory match, a good choice to go on first because of the popularity of ACH and the intense dislike most fans have for Bennett. The action centred around Mr Attitude, Charisma, Heart targeting Bennett's knee, which was apparently injured last year but wasn't operated on. It was a way of evening things up between the two men. Bennett won with a Dominator after he'd knocked Todd Sinclair, causing him to crotch ACH on the top rope. 'The Prodigy' continued to sell his knee after the match, although he also slung Maria over his shoulder(necessary because ACH had avoided a Bennett spear and she’d ended up taking it) and carried her backstage. Consistent selling continues to be a problem in Ring of Honor.  

Takaaki Watanabe was the first New Japan wrestler to enter the arena. His opponent was number one contender to the IWGP heavyweight championship, Michael Elgin. Both got good reactions. Elgin's was slightly better because he's Canadian (national pride and all that). They set a faster pace than the opener, impressive when you remember ACH had been involved in that.

Elgin did his stalling suplex spot then booted Watanabe in the face. His corkscrew senton attempt wasn’t as successful, Watanabe rolling out of the way and dropping Elgin with a running neck breaker. Big Michael returned with an enziguri, a code breaker from the second rope, a rolling elbow and a stalling German suplex for a two count. Watanabe avoided the apron suplex but was nailed with a spinning back fist as he leapt from the top rope. A buckle bomb and Elgin bomb did him in.

It was a short match that didn't allow Watanabe to leave much of an impression. The focus was more on giving 'The Unbreakable One' a solid win over a New Japan guy in preparation for his challenge for the IWGP strap. Watanabe is not NJPW's biggest name so it wasn't surprising the match went this way. It was good for its length but not amongst Elgin's best offerings. I can't imagine it was a notable Watanabe outing either.

Match three was the first of two three-way tag team matches. Decade members BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs were accompanied by new young boy Tadarius Thomas. They all got booed. reDRagon got cheered, because they've gradually slotted into the cool heels role (or perhaps it’s because wrestling fans can’t resist tough-guy hipsters). Team three was Jay and Mark Briscoe. They got the most cheers. Because they're massively over. I've never fully understood why.

It was another short, action packed encounter. The Briscoes won after Jay hit a gorilla press into a Death Valley driver on Jacobs, following up with a Doomsday Device. They haven't been teaming much lately so it was a good decision to give them the win. reDRagon didn't need it and The Decade are a middle of the card pairing. The Briscoes going over reminds everyone of why they're so highly regarded. The less they lose the more it means when they do. After the match Bobby Fish complained that Todd Sinclair had had no control in the match. That might lead to some sort of future story. But it probably won't.

The Roderick Strong v Cedric Alexander match was preceded by a video package looking at their feud. They've been given a good story: Strong and his Decade pals feel that young wrestlers, Cedric in particular, need to respect the locker room veterans. Cedric felt he'd been respectful and that he needed to stand up for himself. Part of the reason it's been effective is that the "newcomers must earn respect" mentality seems prevalent in wrestling, and has occasionally been linked in interviews and on commentary to Strong. They've implemented other real life aspects like The Decade questioning whether Cedric's wife and child are proud of him, which wasn't entirely necessary but hasn't hurt anything. Cedric in particular has entered some spirited microphone performances. It's a good example of everyone involved striving to turn something good into something better, a mentality from which everyone benefits.

It was a spirited, storyline driven match. Cedric wanted the win to prove he belongs. Strong wanted the win to prove he doesn't. The fans got behind Cedric and his offensive flurries. Back breakers played a part too: they'd been the original spark for the feud with Roddy, 'The Messiah of the Back Breaker' remember, feeling that Cedric should be respectful and not use "his" moves. That setup various near falls. A particularly good one saw Cedric catch Roddy as he attempted a sick kick, hoisting him up and nailing him with a back breaker. That was seconds before the finish: after kneeing Cedric in the head Strong went for a suplex but got caught with a surprise small package.

After the match Jacobs, Thomas and Whitmer ran to the ring and smacked Cedric about. The most significant moment saw Strong hitting a release suplex through four tables. The feud's clearly not over yet, which is good as there are plenty of matches that can still be booked. A stipulation rematch between Strong and Alexander is almost certainly at the top of the list.

Match four was the first New Japan match of the evening. Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov and Rocky Romero) and Time Splitters (KUSHIDA and Alex Shelley) challenged the Young Bucks for the IWGP junior heavyweight tag team championship. The three teams have worked against one another a lot in New Japan so I expected slick exchanges and plenty of double team work. And I was right to. The match was easily the best thing on the show until that point, and it had by no means been bad beforehand. What's more it ended up as the match of the night too. The six men put on an incredible performance that elevated the entire card, not to mention the junior tag belts they were scrapping over. The Bucks won an electric encounter with More Bang For Your Buck on Koslov.

The second half opened up with RD Evans (now 104-0) and Ramon walking to the ring. They got a mixed reaction. I didn't appreciate that. Evans is tremendous and deserves standing ovations for being one of the most entertaining acts in Ring of Honor. He reminded us he had wrestling's only current winning streak. After the usual shenanigans (during which Evans dubbed himself 'Papa Bear') The New Streak continued with Evans cleanly defeating mighty ring announcer Bobby Cruise with a schoolboy.

Part two proper kicked off with NJPW Intercontinental champion Shinsuke Nakamura teaming with Jado to take on Jushin Liger and 'Mr Air Guitar' Hiroshi Tanahashi. The IC champ and Tanahashi are among New Japan's three biggest stars (they could arguably be considered its top two) while Jado is half of highly respected junior heavyweight tag team The World Class Tag Team with his partner Gedo (with the two also being the company's bookers, being credited with the resurgence over the last few years). Liger is one of the most accomplished junior heavyweights in wrestling history. Basically there was a lot of star power in the match.

Tanahashi and Nakamura, who have had a spirited rivalry dating back years, started off in the ring and gave an enjoyable, if not overly elaborate, sequence. From there the match delivered what it needed to. Liger delivered his signature light routine spots. Nak and Tana had further energetic exchanges. Jado acted like a heat magnet, a role he was particularly well suited to because he is not as prominent a figure as the match's other figures. The faces took extended beatings before making spirited comebacks. Tanahashi got the popular win when he hit a frog splash (not the High Fly Flow because he didn't do the double) on Jado. It was a good match but it never felt any of the four were striving to do more than was required. Perhaps it was simply that they didn’t want to upstage anyone.

Jay Lethal ,the first ever two time ROH TV champion, followed that, defending his title against Silas Young, Matt Taven and Tommaso Ciampa. The first thing I'd like to note is that Taven, while a good wrestler, is not as popular as he could be. His split from Truth Martini late last year may have been a little premature. Conversely I think ROH made the right decision turning Lethal. The crowd got on him from the moment he entered and they stayed on him throughout the match. Not only that but he's got new opponents to face and a fresh twist to put on his matches with the new dynamic being a heel and having a manager brings.

The match started with some ringside brawling. Highlights there included Ciampa taking a wild back drop into the audience, Young performing a superplex off the guard rail, and MTV performing a beautiful plancha. Once they hit the ring the four started swapping signature moves and stiff shots, as is the ROH way. The near falls racked up quickly. Ciampa hit the Celtic Cross. Taven dazzled with a moonsault from the turnbuckle to the outside. Young walloped various people with lariats.

It was another good match that left us wanting more thanks to a shorter than usual running time. The finish came when Truth wound up in the ring, where he distracted Taven with his punchable face long enough to allow Lethal to perform a Lethal Injection for the win.

The penultimate match saw Gedo team with Kazuchika Okada against 'Machine Gun' Karl Anderson and AJ Styles. Anderson is a longstanding member of Bullet Club, NJPW's lead heel faction, and half of the IWGP tag champions (alongside former Aces and Rights stalwart 'Handsome' Doc Gallows). Gedo is the other half of The World Class Tag Team mentioned above, and also the manager of Okada. Okada is a former two time IWGP heavyweight champion whose second reign had been ended just seven days before Global Wars by Styles. That had been Styles's first bout as a contracted New Japan performer, making winning the strap an even bigger deal. Plus he's the first westerner to hold the title since Brock Lesnar vacated it in the summer of 2006. 'The Phenomenal One' has also taken over as the head of Bullet Club. All of this makes it pretty clear that New Japan consider him a big deal and want their fans to as well.

The champs played heel, a peculiar choice considering his popularity in North America. That Okada was until recently about as close to a top heel as NJPW had further highlighted the peculiarity. Not that the match was bad. It wasn't. It was a satisfying affair, more so than the earlier New Japan tag offering. The decision to have AJ work as the bad guy worked out well, fans booing his and Anderson's cheating and rallying around super worker Okada. Either this match or the main event were the second best match of the night.

Gedo fell to a Pele kick, an Ace crusher and a Styles Clash, all while Okada was held back by Anderson. After the match Elgin showed up and bickered with Styles in the ring. Okada briefly got in on that. A three-way between those guys wouldn't go amiss. Not that that seems likely.

Adam Cole defended the ROH championship against Kevin Steen in the main event. A slugfest kicked proceedings off. Steen got the better of that, naturally. They spilled outside the ring where Steen remained in control, smashing the champ into turnbuckles and guard rails. Eventually Cole managed to take the advantage, super kicking Steen's knee and following up with a kneeDT, smacks into the ring apron and knee-centric submission holds. Cole even busted out Bret Hart's hanging figure four. Considering they were in Canada the use of the move didn't get as much heat as I would have expected. Maybe the fans no longer associate the move with hit man.

Steen gave Cole apron bombs on every side of the ring then rolled him into the ring and hit a Swanton bomb for a close two count. Cole escaped an F5 into a Death Valley neck breaker. Steen avoided a top rope hurricanrana and hit a fisherman buster for a two count which got a loud reaction. The champ avoided a cannonball. His package piledriver attempt didn't work because of his weakened knee, allowing Cole to spin out and apply a figure four leg lock. Steen flipped over to force a break. Moments later he hit a pop up power bomb on Cole and applied a Sharpshooter. It wasn't on for long but it get one of the loudest reactions of the night. That's one move Canadian fans do react for.

Steen nailed a sleeper suplex for two. Bennett showed up to try and aid his pal Cole but was swiftly eliminated by a package piledriver. Cole super kicked the challenger in the back of the head and gave him a Florida Quay for a convincing two. He was once again in the Sharpshooter shortly afterwards, this time getting a break using the ropes. A boot to the head floored Steen, giving Cole time to climb to the top rope. That proved a bad decision: Steen dropped him with El Generico's top rope brainbuster for the false finish of the night.

Cole got a small package for two. Steen went for a package piledriver but Cole rolled off his shoulders and thumped him with a super kick. That got him the three count and kept him the title.

Global Wars can’t be considered anything but a success. I don’t know how many people watched online but it was the fastest ticket sell-out in ROH history. That indicates that there was plenty of interest in the event, which should have resulted in big business on Ustream. In the ring it was a great show. I’ve mentioned that several of the matches were shorter than expected but that ended up a good thing: Ring of Honor matches tend towards the too long over the too short. It was (quite literally) a nice change of pace. The quality of the matches never dipped below good and there were three matches I wouldn’t be surprised to see crop up on many match of 2014 lists come December (the junior heavyweight tag match, Styles and Anderson v Okada and Gedo, and the ROH championship main event). I’m eagerly looking forward to War of the Worlds, and any future collaborations the two leagues care to throw our way.