I should note that this was a TV Taping, and all of these matches were taped for TV, but ROH decided to put out a DVD of the entire show. All of these matches are available to watch on rohwrestling.com as part of their TV Show (these episodes aired speficially in June 2015, and were the first to air on ROH’s Destination America run), but for those looking for a review of everything on the DVD, here you go!
ROH/NJPW Global Wars 2015: Night 2
ROH/NJPW Global Wars 2015: Night 2
Toronto, Ontario, Canada 5/16/15
1.) KUSHIDA vs. Will Ferrara: **3/4
We start things off with KUSHIDA taking on Will Ferrara. By comparison, I would say that Ferrara is probably at the level of some of the New Japan Young Lions, but a little bit higher, since he has won matches on his own (maybe at Yoshi-Hashi level). This was a fine little match here. It only went about five or so minutes, but it was a decent little match. It could have been better if it was given a little more time. KUSHIDA would score the win in this matchup.
2.) Silas Young vs. Takaaki Watanabe: **1/2
Our next match came about after what happened at Global Wars 2015: Night 1, when Young attacked his then-tag team partner Watanabe after their loss to the team of Moose & Gedo. This was another match that didn’t go very long (around six minutes), but was still a fine little match for what it was. There was some good action in the ring, as well as outside of the ring. On a random note, there were some people in the front row who had some pretty hilarious Silas Young themed signs. Fantastic! Young gets the win here.
3.) Moose (with Stokely Hathaway & Veda Scott) vs. Colby Corino (with The Decade): N/R
So this was supposed to be BJ Whitmer vs. Moose, after Whitmer stole a victory in a Four-Corner Survival Match from Moose. However, Whitmer sees this as an opportunity to take another shot at Steve Corino, and lets Colby Corino (who is much smaller compared to Moose) to step up and take this spot. This was pretty much a squash match to futher the Corino/Whitmer storyline. Not much else to say about that. Moose easily wins this match.
4.) The Briscoes vs. The House of Truth (Donovan Dijak & J. Diesel with Truth Martini): **3/4
Here we have another match that got changed around. The story here is that Jay Lethal was supposed to be in this match, teaming with Dijak, but he & Truth Martini uses politics to get J. Diesel to take his place instead. I thought this was a fine tag team match, which was the Main Event for this first episode that was taped. The Briscoes never had a bad tag team match, and they were able to carry Diesel & Dijak (more so the former than the latter) to a solid TV Main Event. The Briscoes would pick up the win here.
After the match, Dijak takes out Mark Briscoe on the outside with Feast Your Eyes, and tries to go after Jay Briscoe. Lethal saves Dijak a Jay Driller, only to get hit with a Jay Driller himself! The ROH World Champion stands tall to close Episode I of this TV Taping.
5.) ROH World Tag Team Titles - Handicap Match - The Addiction vs. Kyle O’Reilly: **1/2
So this was supposed to be reDRagon’s rematch for the ROH World Tag Team Titles, but of course, Fish wasn’t able to make to Canada (the storyline explanation was that Fish got taken out backstage by The Addiction). Before things get underway, The Addiction cut a promo where they said they signed a contract to face reDRagon only (no suitable replacement for Fish), and that they would get no rematch. O’Reilly runs out, and takes on the challenge anyway, meaning that we have a handicap match, which is rare for ROH. The Addiction had the edge early, but O’Reilly fought back hard, and really took it to Daniels & Kazarian. Eventually, Daniels uses one of the title belts on O’Reilly for the DQ. They continue to beat up O’Reilly until ACH & Matt Sydal make the save. It was ok for what it was, and they are building towards their rematch on PPV, so there’s that.
6.) Dalton Castle vs. Jushin “Thunder” Liger: ***
This is easily the biggest match Dalton Castle has had in his young ROH career, and he takes on a living legend in pro-wrestling. I thought this match was a ton of fun. Castle has such a great personality, and seeing him clash with the character of Jushin “Thunder” Liger was cool in of itself. We even saw Liger pose with The Boys of one point! The action in this match was also very solid. Not the best match on the card by any means, but it was certainly entertaining. Liger would get the win here, and he would shake hands with, and hug, Castle after the match, which was pretty cool.
7.) “Brutal” Bob Evans vs. Cheeseburger: N/R
The tag team of Brutal Burgers broke up several weeks prior, and I believe this was their first one-on-one encounter. The match went about two minutes or so when they got on the apron, and Evans gave Cheeseburger a powerful & nasty looking sidewalk slam through the timekeeper’s table, which got a HUGE reaction from the crowd. Say what you will about this feud, but that was actually a really good spot. The match ends in a no-contest.
8.) Non-Title Match - IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Michael Bennett with Maria Kanellis) vs. The Bullet Club (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows): **3/4
The Main Event of Episode II features what was arguably the worst feud of 2015. With that said, I thought this might have been their best match together, even though it ended in a no-contest. There was some pretty decent action in this one, despite the fact that we did get Karl Anderson falling for Maria Kanellis again. I do think it says a lot about The Kingdom that their best match in this feud with Anderson & Gallows was in ROH. I’ll keep saying this over & over, but in ROH, they’re fine. It’s in New Japan that they’re bad. This match ends in a no contest after both Karl Anderson & Michael Bennett shoved the referee, Red Shoes.
The two teams continue to brawl after the match. At one point, it looked like Anderson & Gallows were going to hit Maria with The Magic Killer onto a couple of chairs, but Bennett made the save. Anderson & Gallows would then hit the Magic Killer on Taven instead, ending Episode II.
9.) War Machine vs. The Decade (Adam Page & Colby Corino with BJ Whitmer): N/R
Here we have basically the same thing that happened in Episode I of this set of TV Tapings. BJ Whitmer was supposed to be in this tag team match, but he opted to put The Decade’s “young boy”, Colby Corino, into this match instead, just so he could antagonize Steve Corino. Colby Corino gets destroyed by War Machine, and Adam Page jumps off the apron, so that there would be no help for Colby. Hanson & Ray Rowe easily get the win here in another match that was more of a segment.
10.) Cedric Alexander vs. Moose (with Stokely Hathaway & Veda Scott): ***
This match was set up when Alexander (who’s been on a losing streak) called out Moose (who’s been on a winning streak). While the match wasn’t spectacular by any means, it was still pretty good. Alexander showed a lot of fire here (which fits his current storyline as he tries desperately to win), and I think he worked well with Moose. However, the ending what people will remember most about this match. Veda Scott got out a wrench and told Moose to use it. Moose threw the wrench down and refused, but Alexander picked it up instead, used it on Moose, and got the win! Alexander not only snapped his losing streak, but also ends the undefeated streak of Moose. Veda Scott looks shocked as Alexander celebrates his win.
11.) ACH & Matt Sydal vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tetsuya Naito: ***3/4
Here we have a match that I think, when considering all of the matches announced for this tour, kind of flew under the radar in terms of the buzz. ACH comes out wearing gear inspired by the anime show One Piece (which I think he was supposed to wear the night before). I thought this was a really good match. ACH & Sydal are a lot of fun to watch as a tag team, and they had a very enjoyable tag team match here against Tanahashi & Naito. I wouldn’t call it a great match, but it was definitely one of the better matches of the night, for sure. Lots of really cool stuff from both teams in this one. In the end, the New Japan Team of Tanahashi & Naito would pick up the victory.
Episode III concludes with a contract signing between ROH World Champion Jay Briscoe & ROH World TV Champion Jay Lethal for their Champion vs. Champion Match at Best In The World 2015. For those wondering, this was the go-home show for that PPV. Interesting enough, the segment didn’t end in a pull-apart brawl, and both cut promos on each other, signed a contract, and got into a verbal spat to end the episode. It’s nice for a change to not see a brawl break out at a contract signing. Very good built towards their PPV match.
12.) Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Roderick Strong: ****½
Strong has had a really eventful tour, as he scored a big victory over KUSHIDA, but was defeated by Tanahashi in an amazing match which saw Strong get busted open. Now, he’s taking on the “King of Strong Style”. I thought this match was awesome!! It was easily one of the best of the tour, and it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that it involved these two guys. There was some great back & forth action throughout this match, especially in the latter stages. This was just a fantastic match to watch. Strong continues to have an amazing 2015, while Nakamura continues to prove why he’s one of the best in the business. Despite an incredible effort (including Strong kicking out of a 1st Boma Ye at 1!), Strong would eventually fall to a 2nd Boma Ye, as Nakamura gets the win.
13.) Gedo vs. “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin: **3/4
There was a funny bit of banter online about this match when it happened, as one of the issues surround Michael Elgin late 2014 was that he was (supposedly) upset that he wasn’t booked by New Japan. Now, he’s taking on New Japan’s “power broker” (aka booker) in Gedo. A fine little match here. Gedo got some offense in, but Elgin’s power was just too much for him, as he would pick up the win with the Elgin Bomb.
14.) Six-Man Tag - CHAOS (“Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada & Roppongi Vice) vs. The Bullet Club (IWGP Heavyweight Champion “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles & IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks): ****1/2
The Main Event of Episode IV, and the final match of these TV Tapings, was a Six-Man Tag that served as a prelude to NJPW Dominion, where Okada would be challenging AJ Styles for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Of course, both men have their CHAOS & Bullet Club stablemates (respectively) at their side. These six guys closed out the show in a huge way, with an amazing Six-Man Tag Team Match!! AJ Styles & The Young Bucks continue to prove that, when it comes to trios in 2015, nobody could touch them. Okada, Rocky Romero & Trent Berreta did give them a run for their money in this match. Just some incredible action from all-six guys, who really worked hard here. Bodies were flying everywhere, the crowd was really into it, and it was super entertaining as a whole. The finish of the match came when Styles & The Young Bucks isolated Berreta, and hit him with an insane combination of moves, which included a Hollow Point from Styles, a Metlzer Driver from The Young Bucks, and double superkicks before Styles scored the pin after the Styles Clash. What an awesome match that was to close the show!
Overall: 7.5/10
As I said earlier, this DVD was pretty much the full TV Taping from Global Wars: Night 2. You do have access to watch all of these episodes on rohwrestling.com. However, what may sway you to buy this DVD is that it included all of the matches in full, with no interruptions for commercial breaks. That was a big reason why I bought this DVD, as I wanted to see the full versions of the two amazing matches on the final episode of the TV Tapings. As far as the match quality goes, it was relatively solid, but again, it was a TV Taping, so there was bound to be some stuff that was less than stellar. The first half is pretty skippable aside from Castle vs. Liger. The second half has the matches that need to be checked out on this DVD (ACH/Sydal vs. Tanahashi/Naito, Nakamura/Strong, & Bullet Club/CHAOS ). Again, you don’t need this DVD, but if you’re a completist, or if you just want to see some of those really awesome matches in full, then definitely pick this show up (maybe in a sale).
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