TNA Bound For Glory 2012 Review

TNA heads to the desert for its biggest show of the year!

TNA Bound For Glory 2012

Phoenix, Arizona 10/14/12

1.) TNA X-Division Title - Zema Ion vs. Rob Van Dam: **3/4

I expected a little from this then what we ended up getting, but it was still a fine opener. RVD walks out as the new X-Division Champion.

2.) TNA Television Title - Samoa Joe vs. Magnus: ***1/4

These two held the TNA World Tag Team Titles earlier in the year, but have since split up, and are now feuding over the Television Title. A pretty solid match here. Nothing fancy or flashy, just a very solid match. Joe would end up retaining. 

3.) Street Fight - Special Enforcer: King Mo - Bobby Roode vs. James Storm: ****1/4

King Mo is an MMA Fighter who is serving as the Special Enforcer for....some reason. Anyway, Storm & Roode went on to have a very brutal match. Just a very vicious contest, but in the context of the feud, it was very fitting way to cap off their year long rivalry. Thankfully, the King Mo stuff was kept to a relative minimum and James Storm would get the win.

4.) Joey Ryan vs. Al Snow: *

So Ryan got rejected on GutCheck by the judges (but received universal approval by the TNA fans) and had been heckling Al Snow, one of the judges, for months leading up to this. If Ryan wins, he gets a TNA Contract. Eh....this wasn't that good. Matt Morgan would ended up helping Joey Ryan win. Skippable.

5.) TNA World Tag Team Titles - Triple Threat Match - Bad Influence (Christopher Daniels & Kazarian) vs. Chavo Guerrero & Hernandez vs. Kurt Angle & AJ Styles: ***3/4

Daniels & Kazarian have been feuding with AJ for months and Chavo had just recently entered the company. This was a very entertaining match. Given that the majority of the guys in this match are really good wrestlers by themselves, this should be no surprise. A lot of good action in this one, and it would result in Chavo & Henandez becoming the new champions.

6.) TNA Knockouts Title - Miss Tessmacher vs. Tara: **

Basic Teacher vs. Student story here with the Teacher (Tara) turning on the student (Tessmacher). The match was relatively decent. Fine for a Knockouts Title Match, not much else. 

After winning the title, Tara introduced the world to her celebrity boyfriend, Jesse "Mr. Pectacular" Godderz from Big Brother. The fans chanted "Who Are You?" at him. That speaks for itself.

7.) No DQ - Sting & Bully Ray vs. Aces & Eights: **1/2

If Aces & Eights win this one, they get full access to the iMPACT! Zone (or where ever they're taping TV). Even though they're masked and their identities had yet to be revealed yet, I believe it is Knux & D.O.C. who are representing Aces & Eights here. They bring out Joseph Park, who they've held hostage for a few weeks. A good little brawl. Pretty much what you'd expect given the guys involved. Of course the rest of Aces & Eights would interfere. Even though Park would break free and fight back, the interference was too much to overcome.

Afterwords, Aces & Eights continue the beating on Sting & Bully Ray until General Manager Hulk Hogan comes down for the save. The good guys get the upper hand, and go to unmask one of the members....and it's revealed to be Brother Devon!! This leaves Hogan, Sting, and especially Bully Ray in shock.

8.) TNA World Title - Austin Aries vs. Jeff Hardy: ****1/4

Jeff Hardy received this title shot by virtue of winning the Bound For Glory Series. This was a really great main event. It seemed like both guys worked well together and it made for a really enjoyable main event title match. Hardy looked good and Aries especially was rocking as the World Champ. In the end though, Jeff Hardy would hit the Swanton Bomb and win the TNA World Title.

Overall: 8.25/10

A really enjoyable show. I gotta say that one of the things I really enjoyed about this show is the variety. Their is something for everyone it seems like. Good undercard title matches, a great grudge match, an entertaining tag team title contest, the advancement of a major storyline, and an excellent main event. Aside from the Ryan/Snow match, out of all the Bound For Glory shows, I'd say this was the most complete and very consistent. On the whole, a very good show and worth checking out in my eyes.

TNA Bound For Glory 2009 Review

Is this the last curtain call for The Icon?

TNA Bound For Glory 2009

Irvine, California 10/18/09

1.) TNA X-Division Title – Ultimate X Match – Amazing Red (with Don West) vs. Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin vs. Suicide vs. Homicide vs. Daniels: ****1/4

This match was originally scheduled to include "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero, but due to a last minute family emergency, he had to pull out. The Motor City Machine Guns won a Pre-Show Tag Match again Lethal Consequences to earn a spot in this match. I actually really enjoyed this match. Probably one of my favorite Ultimate X matches. Lots of great action here, which is not surprising given who was involved. Of course most people will remember this for the scary spot involved Daniels & Suicide, but thankfully both were ok. Amazing Red would retain in this insane opener.

2.) TNA Knockouts Tag Team Titles – Taylor Wilde & Sarita vs. The Beautiful People (Velvet Sky & Madison Rayne with Lacey Von Erich): *1/2

I believe Wilde & Sarita had won a tournament to become the first ever champions the month before at No Surrender. This was just kind of there. The pre-match stuff was kind of silly and the match wasn't really much. Essentially an iMPACT! Match.

3.) TNA Legends Title – Triple Threat Match – Kevin Nash vs. Henandez vs. Eric Young: **

Now I will stay they had a very good story going into it. Eric Young turning heel, forming the World Elite and feuding with Hernandez as well as the Main Event Mafia (after a brief alliance). Kurt Angle had put a hit on Young, but Young approached Kevin Nash and offered to double his bounty if Nash would help him take out Hernandez in this three-way. The match itself was ok, but it was more about the story than the match, which I was fine with. Of course, in the end, Young ended up turning on Nash and stealing the Legends Title (which he would later rename the Global Title). I have to admit, I really liked heel Eric Young, and the World Elite stable in general.

4.) TNA World Tag Team Titles/IWGP Tag Team Titles – Full Metal Mayhem – The Main Event Mafia (Booker T & Scott Steiner) vs. The British Invasion (Brutus Magnus & Doug Williams) vs. Beer Money vs. Team 3D: ***

So the catch here is that two titles are on the line. This was good....but that's about it. I normally love these Ladder/TLC type matches, but this one, although I enjoyed it to a degree, felt relatively slow. Booker T got carted out on a stretcher early for some reason. In the end, Team 3D would win the IWGP Tag Team Titles, but the British Invasion took the TNA World Tag Team Titles. A fun weapons match, but nothing really spectacular.

5.) TNA Knockouts Title – Triple Threat Match – ODB vs. Awesome Kong vs. Tara: **1/4

A pretty decent three way for the Knockouts Title. Tara got into an altercation with (I believe) Kim Couture, wife of MMA Fighter Randy Couture (and an MMA Fighter herself)....for some reason? Raisha Saeed tries to slide a chair in for Kong, but she doesn't want it. This would lead to ODB getting the win.

6.) Submission Match – Samoa Joe vs. Bobby Lashley: ***1/4

I actually kind of wish TNA did more with Lashley, but that's just me. Kind of natural that this match would happen, given both have MMA-style backgrounds. It was actually a pretty good match. Short, but on the whole pretty enjoyable.

7.) Monster’s Ball – Special Referee: Dr. Stevie – Abyss vs. Mick Foley: **1/4

Another match on this card that was bound to happen at some point. Sadly, this one was just kind of there. Part of this fun, but others just really didn't do it for me (gimmicked taser, Daffney getting injured on an unnecessary bump). Abyss would end up "winning", but it wasn't that impressive.

8.) Matt Morgan vs. Kurt Angle: ***3/4

This has to be one of the best matches in Matt Morgan's career, and it comes against Kurt Angle?...That should be no surprise. Very good match here...not much else to say. It speaks for itself. 

After the match, Angle shakes Morgan's hand and says he's earned his respect.

9.) TNA World Title – AJ Styles vs. Sting: ***1/2

AJ Styles won the TNA World Title back at No Surrender. Then their is Sting, who came into this 3-0 in Bound For Glory World Title Matches, but this possibly was his last match. Not as good as Angle/Morgan, but still pretty solid. Nice to see AJ get a big win over The Icon.

Afterwords, AJ demands that Sting give a speech. He puts over AJ as World Champion and says that if the crowd continues to support him the way they have, he might just stay forever.

Overall: 8.0/10

On the whole, I'd say this was a good show. Their were a number of really good matches, but almost an equal number of matches that were either not good or disappointing...or both. Despite those things, in the end, I'd still say that this was an enjoyable show to watch.

TNA Phenomenal: The Best of AJ Styles Volume 2 Review

Another look at one of the greatest stars in TNA History!

As with my X-Division Twin Pack Review (and most of my "Best of" Reviews) , I'll just put up my match ratings, then talk about the DVD as a whole.

TNA Phenomenal: The Best of AJ Styles Volume 2

Lockdown 2005 - #1 Contender’s Six Sides of Steel – AJ Styles vs. Abyss: ****1/2 

Hard Justice 2005 – NWA World Heavyweight Title – Special Guest Referee: Tito Ortiz – Jeff Jarrett vs. AJ Styles: ***1/4 

Unbreakable 2005 – TNA X-Division Title – Christopher Daniels vs. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles: ***** 

TNA iMPACT! (10/1/05) – Non-Title Match – AJ Styles vs. Roderick Strong: **1/4 

Genesis 2005 – TNA X-Division Title – AJ Styles vs. Petey Williams (with A-1): ***3/4 

Slammiversary 2006 – NWA World Tag Team Titles – America’s Most Wanted (with Gail Kim) vs. AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels: ****1/4 

No Surrender 2006 – NWA World Tag Team Titles – LAX (Homicide & Hernandez) vs. AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels: ***3/4 

TNA iMPACT! (11/2/06) – TNA X-Division Title – AJ Styles vs. Chris Sabin: **1/4 

Overall: 8.5/10

I really enjoyed this DVD for a few reasons. Firstly, of course, are the matches. This is a really good selection. It does a really good job of encapsulating AJ's career from 2005-2006. I honestly love how it continuously varies, from his matches in the heavyweight division, to his X-Division Matches, to his time as a tag team with Christopher Daniels. The fact that DVD has the Five-Star Three Way from Unbreakable, probably the greatest match in TNA History, almost makes the DVD worth getting by itself. Overall, despite having two seemingly random (one is more random than the other) iMPACT! contests, the match quality is fantastic. Their is also the other content, which include the documentary portion and bonus footage, which are perfectly fine, but I was more into this for the matches. On the whole, this was a really good compilation. AJ Styles is one of the biggest stars in the history of TNA, and this DVD certainly shows why.

TNA The Best of the X-Division Twin-Pack: Volumes 1 & 2 Review

Some of the greatest X-Division stars battle it out on this big "Best of" Set!

For this DVD Twin-Pack, I'm going to review both Volume 1 and Volume 2 separately, then do an overall reflection on the set as a whole. Also, since this is a Twin-Pack, I won't really talk about the individual matches, just the disk as a whole.

TNA Best of the X-Division Twin Pack

Best of the X-Division: Volume 1

Bonus Matches

TNA iMPACT! (10/1/04) – Six-Way #1 Contender’s Match – Kid Kash vs. Amazing Red vs. Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. AJ Styles: **1/2

TNA iMPACT! (12/3/04) – Triple X (Christopher Daniels & Elix Skipper) vs. Sonjay Dutt & Amazing Red: *3/4

Main Matches

Victory Road 2004 – 20 Man X-Division Gauntlet: ***1/2

Victory Road 2004 – TNA X-Division Title – Petey Williams (with Coach D’Amore) vs. AJ Styles: ***1/4

TNA iMPACT! (1/14/05) – Chris Sabin vs. Christopher Daniels: ***1/2

Final Resolution 2005 – TNA X-Division Title – Ultimate X Match – AJ Styles vs. Petey Williams vs. Chris Sabin: ****1/2

Against All Odds 2005 – TNA X-Division Title – Iron-Man Match – AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels: ****1/2

Destination X 2005 – TNA X-Division Title – Ultimate X Challenge – Ron “The Truth” Killings & Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles & Elix Skipper: ***3/4

Lockdown 2005 – Xscape Match – Micbael Shane vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Chris Sabin vs. Shocker: ***1/2

No Surrender 2005 – Special Guest Referee: Jerry Lynn – AJ Styles vs. Sean Waltman: ***1/2

No Surrender 2005 – Samoa Joe vs. Chris Sabin: ****1/4

Overall: 9.0/10

This is actually a very good disk. You get a lot of great matches on here that really give you the taste of what the X-Division is all about. Their really isn't a match on here that I'd say is skippable, other than the bonus matches, but Three Matches that go over **** and several others that are well above *** certainly makes this an enjoyable watch.

Best of the X-Division: Volume 2

TNA iMPACT! – (4/13/06) – TNA X-Division Title – Christopher Daniels vs. Samoa Joe: ***3/4

TNA iMPACT! – (10/1/05) – Three-Way Match – Petey Williams vs. Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin: ***1/4

TNA iMPACT! – (10/8/05) – Three-Way Match – Christopher Daniels vs. Austin Aries vs. Matt Bentley: **1/2

TNA iMPACT! – (11/26/05) – Chris Sabin vs. AJ Styles: ***

TNA iMPACT! – (12/3/05) – Four-Way Match – Petey Williams vs. Austin Aries vs. Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin: **3/4

TNA iMPACT! – (2/4/06) – AJ Styles vs. Jay Lethal: *1/2

TNA iMPACT! – (3/11/06) – Team USA Three-Way Qualifier – Alex Shelley vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Chris Sabin: **1/4

Destination X 2006 – International X-Showcase – Petey Williams vs. Puma vs. Sonjay Dut vs. Chris Sabin: ***3/4

Lockdown 2006 – Six Way Xscape Match – Elix Skipper vs. Petey Williams vs. Puma vs. Chase Stevens vs. Shark Boy vs. Chris Sabin: **1/2

TNA iMPACT! (4/27/06) – World X-Cup Tournament – Hirooki Goto & Minoru Tanaka vs. Alex Shelley & Sonjay Dutt: **3/4

Slammiversary 2006 – X-Division Rankings Elimination Match – Senshi vs. Shark Boy vs. Petey Williams vs. Jay Lethal vs. Alex Shelley vs. Sonjay Dutt: ***3/4

TNA iMPACT! (6/22/06) – TNA X-Division Title – Samoa Joe vs. Senshi vs. Sonjay Dutt: **3/4

Hard Justice 2006 – TNA X-Division Title – Senshi vs. Petey Williams vs. Jay Lethal: **1/2

TNA iMPACT! – Six-Man Tag – Johnny Devine, Alex Shelley & Petey Williams vs. Chris Sabin, Jay Lethal & Sonjay Dutt: **

Overall: 7.5/10

Compared to Volume 1, Volume 2 just isn't as good. On the positive side, their are still a few really good matches on here, just not as many as Volume 1. Plus, the little mini-documentary at the beginning looking at the Samoa Joe/Christopher Daniels/AJ Styles feud from 2005-6 is really good. On the other hand, I think the main problem with this is that it just takes random TV matches and just throws them on there. Several Matches could have (and probably should have been) on here, but weren't for some reason's. Joe/Liger, Elimination X, any of the PPV Matches from late '05/early '06 with Joe/Daniels/AJ (Including their Ultimate X Match) and the '06 World X-Cup Stuff could have easily made this set, and it would have been a lot better.

Overall Thoughts

On the whole, I think this set is pretty good. Volume 1 is pretty great, and worth getting the Twin-Pack by itself. Volume 2 has a few good matches on it, but proves to be mostly average. As a set though, I think it works, especially if you pick it up in a sale. In the end, I'd say this was pretty enjoyable.

ROH Manhattan Mayhem V Review

Mayhem once again returns to Manhattan as Ring of Honor rolls into the Big Apple!

ROH Manhattan Mayhem V

Manhattan, New York 8/17/13

1.) Silas Young vs. Adam Page: ***1/4

These two had a great match on ROH TV several weeks prior, which saw Page get the win. Young beat Page during the Top Prospect Tournament at the start of the year, so this is the rubber match. Essentially the perfect opener. Silas Young would get the win with his Headstand-Moonsault thing (which he never hits on anyone, I swear) to get the win.

2.) Scramble Rules - Adrenaline RUSH vs. C & C Wrestle Factory: ***

Basically, tags are not necessary. If you roll out of the ring, that constitutes as a tag. A pretty solid match here, though there were one or two botches that hurt the match a little bit. Pretty much what you would expect with these four guys involved. Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander would end up getting the victory.

3.) Proving Ground Match - ROH World TV Champion Matt Taven (with Truth Martini) vs. "No Fear" Mike Mondo: ***

Mondo is making his return to ROH after suffering an injury right before Border Wars, and for some reason, has ditched his previously unique look for a CAW based look. The Hoopla Hotties tonight are Seleziya Sparx and Kasey Ray, a wrestler and Matt Taven girlfriend/significant other. A pretty entertaining contest. The crowd was able to get into it, and the interference from the HOT (including a top rope hurricanrana to Mike Mondo from Kasey Ray) I think added a little bit. Taven would end up getting the victory.

4.) The Young Buck vs. The Forever Hooligans: ****1/2

This is the first time these two teams had faced off. Were actually getting a New Japan Champs vs. Dragon Gate USA Champs match since these teams hold the tag team titles in each respective promotions. An incredibly awesome match!! These two teams just clicked and it really produced something great. Definitely one of the best ROH matches thus far in 2013. After the match, the Young Bucks actually shake hands with the victors, Romero & Kozlov.

Back from intermission, and we get Marshall Law (RD Evans & QT Marshall) coming out. RD Evans goes on to talk about all of the injustices in ROH as well as the injustices committed against Marshall Law. They are interrupted by Prince Nana (who, along with doing commentary for Kevin Kelly on this show, was announced as Ring of Honor's new talent scout), who reveals that he has two new signees who are ready to take on Marshall Law right now! Suddenly, these weird sirens go off, and two dudes dressed in creepy masks come out. They deck Marshall Law and reveal themselves to be Homicide & Eddie Kingston!! This leads to a match...

5.) Marshall Law vs. Outlaw Inc: DUD

You know, I would have preferred if Outlaw Inc. either just beat up Marshall Law or squashed them in a quick match. Instead, they had a five minute that was competitive, when it should not have been at all. 

Afterwords, Homicide shakes RD Evans' hand, but them proceeds to break his fingers!

6.) ROH World Title Tournament - Quarter-Finals - Michael Bennett vs. "Sicilian Psychopath" Tommaso Ciampa: ***

Bennett is not accompanied by Maria Kannellis tonight. Last Remaining Pinnacle is in the house to perform Ciampa's entrance theme live, which was pretty cool. The match itself was solid. Nothing really outstanding, but fine overall. They told a pretty good story, and in the end, Ciampa would get the win and advance to the Final Four.

7.) ROH World Title Tournament - Quarter-Finals - Roderick Strong vs. Kevin Steen: ****

This match was really fast paced. They went at it right from the opening bell and didn't stop until the match ended. Great stuff here. Exactly what you would expect from two ROH Legends. Another great match on what has thus far been a consistently good show. Kevin Steen advances to the Final Four.

8.) ROH World Title Tournament - Quarter-Finals - Karl Anderson vs. "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin: ****1/4

These two had a match during WrestleMania Weekend in April, which Karl Anderson won. Elgin is looking to both advance in the tournament and avenge his loss. This was a great match, despite the ridiculous chants and antics of the crowd. They definitely stepped it up from their April match and put on an awesome contest. Elgin once again proves why he's so good, and he would win the match and advance to the Final Four.

9.) ROH World Tag Team Titles - The American Wolves vs. reDRagon: ****

So coming into this match, the World Tag Team Titles have changed hands twice over the previous few weeks. The Forever Hooligans defeated reDRagon to win the titles in Providence, Rhode Island. A  week later, The America Wolves beat Romero & Kozlov to win the titles. This is also the rubber match in the reDRagon/American Wolves Trilogy. It was a pretty awesome match! I'd say it was in the middle out of their three matches. It wasn't as good as their second match, but it was better than their first match. Both teams showed why they're the Best in the World, but in the end, Kyle O'Reilly made Davey Richards tap out. reDRagon takes the World Tag Team Titles, which have now changed hands three times over the course of three weeks.

As reDRagon are having the belts placed on them, those creepy sirens go off and Outlaw Inc. makes their way to the ring. They attack reDRagon and Homicide breaks O'Reilly's fingers!!

Overall: 9.0/10

Manhattan Mayhem has proven over the years to be one of Ring of Honor's trademark shows. This show certainly lived up to the name. Aside from one match that probably shouldn't have been a serious match to begin with, everything on here is good to really great. You have a solid undercard, a Match of the Year contender in Bucks/Hooligans, and a second half that featured three matches which broke the **** mark. Plus, you certainly had mayhem with the debut of Outlaw Inc. Overall, definitely up there with the 11th Anniversary Show & Supercard of Honor VII as one of the best ROH shows of the year.

Wrestling is Art: The Surreal Review

Wrestling is Art returns to Rhode Island with several exciting matches in the lineup!

Wrestling is Art: The Surreal

East Greenwich, Rhode Island 8/11/13

1.) Juan Francisco de Coronado & The Proletariat Boar of Moldova vs. El Hijo del Ice Cream & Steve “The Turtle” Weiner: *1/2

I believe this was supposed to be Juan Francisco de Coronado vs. Sugar Dunkerton, but Dunkerton was not on the show for some reason, so we got this match instead. Honestly, it wasn't that good at all. Just didn't do anything for me.

2.) Tim Donst vs. Antonio Thomas: **1/2

A decent match, but nothing much else. I believe Thomas brought a little stuffed monkey down with him to ringside? I don't remember.

3.) Jaka (with Sidney Bakabella) vs. Jervis Cottonbelly: **3/4

These two were actually having a pretty good match going until Sidney Bakabella got involved, thus drawing a DQ. Sad this match didn't get a finish.

After the match, Max Smashmaster would attack Jervis Cottonbelly, but luckily The Estonian ThunderFrog would make the save! This would lead to our next match...

4.) Max Smashmaster (with Sidney Bakabella) vs. The Estonian ThunderFrog: **1/2

This was incredibly short, but it was really action packed, hence the rating. Interference from Bakabella would lead to a Smashmaster win.

5.) Drew Gulak vs. “The Sicilian Psychopath” Tommaso Ciampa: ****

Here we have a big Indy Dream Match that probably nobody would have thought of. In the end, it proved to be awesome!! This was basically a hard hitting, smash-mouth, technical classic. Both guys dished out a lot of punishment and it made for a great match. Gulak would end up picking up the victory in one of the best matches in any "Wrestling is..." Promotions thus far in 2013. Really good stuff here.

6.) Frank O’Rouke vs. AR Fox: ****

Another really good match. I loved this, because it was a totally different match from Gulak/Ciampa, yet it was equally as good. These guys brawled all over the place, they even went outside the building itself! O'Rourke would get the win, and Fox would get a standing ovation afterwords.

7.) The Batiri (Kobald, Obariyon & Kodama) vs. The Colony (Green Ant & assailANT) & Frightmare: ***1/2

A pretty entertaining main event. While not as good as the previous two matches, it certainly was a lot a fun. An out of control trios match, as you would expect. They even brought a large tree branch into play! In the end, the Trio of Frightmare & The Colony would get the victory in the Main Event!

Overall: 7.75/10

This was a tale of two shows. On the one hand, the first half of the show was pretty lackluster. A few decent items, but nothing really of note. On the other hand, the second half of the show was great. You had two really fantastic singles matches and a solid trios main event. I think, despite the undercard, the top three matches are worth getting this show.

ROH All-Star Extravaganza V Review

The Ring of Honor World Title Tournament runs through Toronto and the historic Mattamy Athletic Centre!

ROH All-Star Extravaganza V

Toronto, Ontario, Canada 8/3/13

Before I begin, I should make a note about the Bonus Matches. These were included in the VOD release of All-Star Extravaganza V, but are not included in the DVD Release. You can see these matches through getting this show on VOD or watching them on the ROH TV Show Archive.

Bonus (From the 7/27/13 ROH TV Tapings in Providence, Rhode Island)

1.) ROH World Title Tournament - First Round - Sonjay Dutt vs. Jay Lethal: ***1/2

I knew this would be good coming into it, given their history together in TNA. They certainly didn't disappoint. A very good match. Lethal & Dutt put on one heck of a contest and I really enjoyed it. Jay Lethal would pick up the win and move on to the next round.

2.) ROH World Title Tournament - First Round - ACH vs. Karl Anderson: ***1/4

This is a big match for ACH as he's taking on one of New Japan's best in Karl Anderson. I wasn't sure what to expect coming in, but these two were able to put on a pretty good match. Anderson gets the win and moves on to the next round.

3.) ROH World Title Tournament - First Round - Adam Cole vs. Mark Briscoe: ***1/4

The match itself was good, but the story really drove this one. Basically they were playing up the fact that Mark wasn't fully recovered from the concussion he suffered back in June. Their was a moment in the match where Todd Sinclair was checking on a weakened and wobbly Briscoe, but Cole would take advantage, superkicking Briscoe in the head and hitting him with the Jay Driller (Jay Briscoe's Finisher) to advance in the tournament. Once again, a good match that had a great story behind it.

Main Show

1.) Adam Page vs. Kushida: ***

This is my first time seeing Kushida. A pretty solid opener, essentially a showcase for both guys.

2.) ROH World Title Tournament - First Round - Silas Young vs. "Sicilian Psychopath" Tommaso Ciampa: ***1/2

These two had a match at Reclamation: Night 2 in Dearborn that was pretty good but had a wonky finish that kind of took away from it. I thought they improved on that here with this performance. Very solid match with Tommaso Ciampa coming out on top & advancing to the tournament.

3.) ROH World Title Tournament - First Round - Michael Bennett (with Maria Kanellis) vs. BJ Whitmer: N/A

The match itself was fine but it's really hard to talk about ratings considering all that happened with BJ getting seriously injured and the fact that there was no finish. That's about all I'll say on the matter.

4.) ROH World Title Tournament - First Round - ROH World TV Champion Matt Taven (with Truth Martini) vs. Roderick Strong: ***1/4

All the Hoopla aside, this was a pretty solid match. It definitely got better after Truth Martini & The Hoopla Hotties were disposed off. Strong would get the win and advance in the tournament. 

5.) ROH World Title Tournament - First Round - Paul London vs. "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin: ****1/2

This match was supposed to take place at the 5/5/13 TV Tapings, but because London suffered a concussion at the hands of Davey Richards the night before at Border Wars, the match had to be put on hold. Nice to see ROH giving this match to the Toronto crowd that was deprived of it back in May. When it was all said and done, it was a really awesome match! Not only was the action great, but it told a good story, with London trying to pull out everything he had to beat Elgin, only to come up short. Definitely one of the best matches of 2013 from ROH!

6.) Adrenaline RUSH vs. The Young Bucks vs. C & C Wrestle Factory: ***3/4

The Young Bucks are making their ROH return after a one year absence. Interesting enough, they enter this match as the Dragon Gate USA Open The United Gate Tag Team Champions. As you would expect, this was a very fast paced match. All the teams got their stuff in, and the Young Bucks especially looked great. They didn't have a lot of time, but they certainly made the most of it. Adrenaline RUSH would escape all this melee with a big victory.

7.) ROH World Title Tournament - First Round - Brian Kendrick vs. Kevin Steen: **3/4

Compared to everything else on here, this was a bit off. Kendrick continuously tried to stall at the start, and when the match did get going, it was ok, but nothing really special. That didn't change the fact that Steen was INSANELY over in his home country (as was Elgin, I should mention). Steen would advance after making Kendrick tap to the Sharpshooter.

8.) ROH World Title Tournament - Quarter Finals - Adam Cole vs. Jay Lethal: ***3/4

This is the first Quarter Final match of the tournament. These two gave us a really good match here, as you would expect. Cole & Lethal are both great wrestlers and they showed why here. Adam Cole would end up scoring the win and advancing in the tournament.

9.) ROH World Tag Team Titles - The Forever Hooligans vs. The American Wolves: ****

Here we have a rematch from their first encounter at the 11th Anniversary Show in March, but this time, it's for the World Tag Team Titles! This was originally scheduled to be Wolves/reDRagon but The Forever Hooligans knocking off the champs at the Providence, Rhode Island TV Tapings the week prior changed that. I thought this was pretty good. Personally, I'd put this just above their first encounter. Though some people might not like this one as much, I personally found nothing wrong with it. The only thing I'd say is that it was a little bit too long. Richards & Edwards would come out on top, winning the World Tag Team Titles!!

Overall: 8.75/10

Aside from the scary incident during the Whitmer/Bennett match, this was actually a really good show. You had a show stealing match in Elgin/London, and several really good matches like Cole/Lethal, and the two Tag Team Matches. The undercard was hit or miss but still solid overall. This was definitely one of the best shows for ROH in 2013.