WWE NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn Review

NXT holds the biggest show in it's history at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York!!

WWE NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn

Brooklyn, New York 8/22/15

The show opened with the father of NXT, Triple H, in the ring. He gave this really cool promo introducing the world to what was (at the time) the biggest NXT show to date, as they had sold out the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

1.) Tyler Breeze vs. Jushin “Thunder” Liger: ***

I think everyone was shocked when it was announced that Jushin “Thunder” Liger would be appearing on this show. This was actually a pretty big moment, as Liger, in his long and storied career, had never wrestled in a WWE ring. That changed on this night, as he took on Tyler Breeze, who had another awesome entrance where he was flanked by supermodels (who were dressed in NYC-themed costumes).  I thought this was a solid opening match. Personally, I thought it was a tad underwhelming, considering who was involved (Liger in particular has had better matches in ROH in 2015), but still, this was all about seeing Liger in a WWE ring. He hit a ton of his signature spots, and the crowd in Brooklyn was really into him. Breeze looked good here as well, but in the end, Liger would score the victory following a Liger Bomb. I think most people were really surprised that Liger won here, as you might have thought that Liger would have put over Tyler Breeze. I guess the thinking might have been that if this was Liger’s only appearance for WWE, he might as well get the win.

2.) NXT Tag Team Titles - Blake & Murphy (with Alexa Bliss) vs. The Vaudevillains (with Blue Pants): ***1/4

So Blake & Murphy, at this point had been NXT Tag Team Champions since February, and back in May, aligned themselves with the newly-heel Alexa Bliss to form B.A.M.F. (That’s the Blake-Alexa-Murphy Factor). Here, they’re defending the NXT Tag Team Titles against Aiden English & Simon Gotch. I know they appeared on the episode of NXT TV that was taped before the actual special, but I have no idea why Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady weren’t in this spot, since they’re from the area, but whatever. The story here is that The Vaudevillains were looking for someone that would “neutralize” Alexa Bliss, and when Bliss taunted them on the mic before the match for not having any backup, they responded with Blue Pants (aka Leva Bates)! As far as the match goes, it was actually a pretty solid tag team affair. People have mixed opinions on The Vaudevillains, but generally, I like them. Blake & Murphy are fine as a team, but I find them to be very bland. They can have good matches, but “good” is their ceiling. As you would expect, Alexa Bliss & Blue Pants eventually get into a brawl, and this leads to The Vaudevillains scoring the victory and capturing the NXT Tag Team Titles! They celebrate their title victory with Blue Pants afterwards.

3.) Apollo Crews vs. Tye Dillinger: **

This is the official NXT debut for Apollo Crews, the man formerly known as Uhaa Nation, who made a name for himself in Dragon Gate (both the primary promotion in Japan and its affiliate in the USA), Evolve, and an assortment of other independent promotions. Here, he’s taking on Tye Dillinger, who is now doing a “Perfect 10” gimmick. This was an ok match. Crews looked fine here in his debut, but I feel that Dillinger got in more offense than he should have. Nothing much else to say about this one. In the end, Crews would pick up the victory in his debut.

Before the next match, NXT General Manager William Regal announces the “Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic”. As the name would imply, this is a tag team tournament that is dedicated to the memory of the late Dusty Rhodes. Regal says that the tournament will culminate at the next NXT TakeOver special on October 7th.

4.) Baron Corbin vs. Samoa Joe: ***

It’s kind of weird how, after his big debut at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable (where he closed the show with a confrontation with Kevin Owens), Samoa Joe’s first match on a NXT TakeOver special is against Baron Corbin, of all people. I had some fears that this wasn’t going to be any good, but thankfully, they managed to put on a solid match. There were time when it wasn’t that good, but there were other points where it actually was good. As a whole, like I said, this was solid. Thankfully, Samoa Joe got the victory here (as I was fearful that they would just use him as a veteran to put over Corbin).

Stephanie McMahon comes out before the next match, where she announced the attendance (over 15,000) and introduced the NXT Women’s Title Match as the “co-main event”.

5.) NXT Women’s Title - Sasha Banks vs. Bayley: ****3/4

The anticipation for this match had really gotten amped up in the weeks leading up to this match, I feel. Not only has the NXT Women’s Title Match grown a reputation as being one of the best matches on the show, but recent events on the main roster had added a little bit to this match. A few weeks prior, Becky Lynch, Charlotte, and NXT Women’s Champion Sasha Banks were all brought up to the main roster at once, and the “Diva’s Revolution” (as coined by Stephanie McMahon) was in full swing, but that created a small sub-story of sorts, as Baylay was the only one out of the “Four Horsewomen” of NXT to not be called up. She’s had previous shots at the title, but this one is on a much bigger stage, in front of the largest crowd in NXT history.

Banks has her own special entrance, as she comes out Cadillac Escalade and is escorted to the ring by a security detail. They also do a big championship introduction before the bell. To put it simply, this might have been not only one of the best WWE matches in 2015, but the best women’s match in WWE history. This was absolutely fantastic!!! Both competitors did an amazing job here, and put on a spectacular match that is going to be remembered for a long time!!! My words can’t do this match justice. There were just too many awesome things that occurred. The action was great. They told a nice story. The crowd was going crazy! Everything just came together perfectly. In the end, after a freaking reverse Hurricanrana off the top rope, Bayley would hit the Bayley-To-Belly to capture the NXT Women’s Championship!!

After the match, Bayley & Sasha Banks embraced in the ring. Becky Lynch & Charlotte would then come out, and the “Four Horsewomen” of NXT celebrated in the ring together.

6.) NXT Title - Ladder Match - Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens: ****1/2

At The Beast In The East WWE Network Special in Tokyo, Japan on July 4th, Finn Balor captured the NXT Title from Kevin Owens. This is the rematch, but this time, it’s a Ladder Match!! It’s only the second ladder match in the history of NXT. What’s really interesting about this match is that, while Kevin Owens has a LOOOONG history with Ladder Matches, this (I believe) was Balor’s first-ever Ladder Match, so the challenger has a distinct advantage. Of course, we get the full demon-entrance from Finn Balor, who’s all decked out in his demon body paint. I thought this was a fantastic Ladder Match!! As you would expect, Kevin Owens excelled in this environment, but Balor really did a good job here as well. We saw a ton of cool/crazy spots, and the crowd was invested. I think this may have been one of the best Ladder Matches we’ve seen in WWE in quite some times. In terms of the best matches we’ve seen from WWE in 2015, this would definitely have to be near the top of the list. Eventually, Finn Balor was able to overcome Kevin Owens, and retrieved the NXT Title to win the match. He celebrated in the ring as the show came to a close.

Overall: 9.0/10

This might go down as the biggest and (quite possibly) the best NXT TakeOver Special to ever take place. There would be a particular NXT TakeOver Special in 2016 that would come to rival it (and potentially surpass it), but for 2015, this show was CLEARLY the best of the bunch. Interestingly enough, it does compare to a lot of the previous NXT TakeOver Specials, where the undercards are largely average, while the Main Events delivered. However, the difference here is that, while the undercard was still average as a whole, it did have a number of special moments that helped it stand out (Jushin “Thunder” Liger’s appearance, the NXT Tag Team Titles changes hands, the debut of Apollo Crews, and a big victory for Samoa Joe). Of course, the two Main Events delivered in spades. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley was a legitimate MOTYC, while the Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens Ladder Match was fantastic. My only complaint is that those two matches should have been switched, and the NXT Women’s Title Match should have gone on last. Other that this, this was a really entertaining show that had the ultimate climax with the two Main Events in front of a packed house of over 15,000. Easily one of the best shows in NXT history.

ROH Winter Warriors Tour '16: Collinsville Review

ACH & Alex Shelley team up to take on The Young Bucks in the Main Event!

ROH Winter Warriors Tour ’16: Collinsville

Collinsville, Illinois 1/16/16

Pre-Show

1.) Keith Lee & Shane Taylor vs. Alpha Class (Danny Adams & Paco Gonzalez): *3/4

Danny Adams & Paco Gonzalez made a number of appearances on ROH pre-shows in 2015. Here, they have a huge task ahead of them, as they take on the team of Keith Lee & Shane Taylor, who also made some appearances in ROH in 2015 (specifically on the shows in Amarillo, Texas & Oklahoma City, Oklahoma), and are now wearing new gear. I thought this was a very….interesting match. I felt like this was going to be a squash, and it definitely was, but Alpha Class got a little more offense in than I was expected. Still Keith Lee & Shane Taylor eventually KILLED these guys, and won the match. I was actually kind of surprised how over Lee & Taylor were with the fans in Collinsville by the end. They were really popular.

Main Show

1.) Non-Title Match – ROH World Tag Team Champions War Machine vs. Frankie Kazarian & Chris Sabin: ***1/4

Kazarian cuts a promo before the match making fun of St. Louis, specifically bringing up The Rams leaving St. Louis to move back to Los Angeles. I thought this was a pretty solid opening match. They did do some comedy in the beginning of the match, where Kazarian (who was seemingly afraid of War Machine) wouldn’t tag into the match when Sabin was being beaten up, and wanted to tag out. The action was relatively solid from start to finish. Hanson & Ray Rowe would eventually score the victory.

As Adam Page is making his way out to the ring for the 2^nd match of the night, BJ Whitmer attacks him from behind! He beats up Page on the outside, and hits a back suplex to Page on the barricade. Whitmer says that after everything he’s done for Page over the last two years, he’s decided to stab him in the back. Whitmer looks to further damage, but Michael Elgin, (Page’s opponent for tonight) makes the save, causing Whitmer to back off. Elgin takes the mic, and talks about how this is his adopted hometown, since he lives in the St. Louis area. He calls Whitmer out for being a coward, and challenges him to a fight right now! Whitmer teases getting in the ring, but backs off, and leaves. Adam Page then takes the mic and says if Whitmer isn’t going to fight either of them, then he can get the hell out of here. Fans sing the “Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey Hey, Goodbye” song at Whitmer as he leaves. Page then says he came for a fight tonight, and he isn’t leaving without getting one, which I guess means his match with Elgin is still on.

2.) “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin vs. Adam Page: ****

These two had clashed on a few occasions on the undercards of ROH live events. Their most recent encounter, at Reloaded Tour ’15: Atlanta, ended in controversial fashion, as Adam Page (still a heel, at that point) got himself counted out. This particular match was WAY better than I was expecting. In fact, I would go as far as to say that this was the best match of the night! I thought this was awesome. I don’t know what it was, but these two just worked really well together, and were able to put on an awesome match! Elgin was great, as he always is, and Page seemed motivated. There was some really good back & forth action, and the crowd seemed to be into it, especially towards the end. Elgin picking up the win here wasn’t really a surprise, but the match was still incredible. It was definitely one of Adam Page’s best matches in ROH.

Michael Elgin shakes hands with Adam Page after the match.

The “Roddy vs. The World” Challenge continues tonight, but on this particular show, Strong’s opponent was unknown going into the show. Cheeseburger would end up answering the call. After the introductions, Strong takes the mic and asks the referee if this is a joke, adding that he’s never felt more disrespected in his entire career. He said that last night, he declared that he’d beat Curry Man in five minutes, but it didn’t go according to plan. Strong says Cheeseburger doesn’t stand a chance, and that he’ll be lucky if he lasts five minutes with him. He tells Todd Sinclair to ring the bell, and gets hit immediately with a palm strike!

3.) ROH World TV Title – Roderick Strong vs. Cheeseburger: **3/4

In a fun fact, these two actually challenged for the ROH World Tag Team Titles back at A Night of Hoopla (remember that awesome show?). Plus, I guess Strong has issues with wrestlers with food-based gimmicks, as he faced Curry Man the night before, and now he’s facing Cheeseburger on this show. Honestly, I have mixed feelings about this match. There were some solid spots here, and the crowd was very much into this match. However, this match didn’t need to go eight or nine minutes. I’m sure you could have done the same thing in a match under five-minutes, but the fact that this match went as long as it did wasn’t a good idea. Strong should have beaten Cheeseburger in under five minutes. Nothing against Cheeseburger (I think he’s just awesome), but he shouldn’t be going this long and getting this much offense in against Roderick Strong. The fact that Strong was backpedaling on a number of occasions was pretty bad as well. This RODERICK STRONG we’re talking about. Anyway, Strong would get the win in the end, retaining his ROH World TV Title.

4.) The Briscoes vs. Silas Young & The Beer City Bruiser: ***3/4

I was actually a little excited for this match. Two “Real Men” vs. “Dem Boys”. You knew this was going to be a fight, and that’s exactly what we got. This was another match that was actually a lot better than I was expecting. I thought this was a really good match! The Briscoes were great, as they always are, but Silas Young & The Beer City Bruiser were good here as well. I’d say this was definitely their best outing as a team thus far. Some really solid back & forth action throughout this match, and the crowd was actually pretty into it. The Briscoes (2/3^rd’s of New Japan’s NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions at the time) would get the win in this tag team encounter. Don’t skip out on this one, it’s actually really good.

After the match, Silas Young & The Beer City Bruiser refuse to shake the hands of The Briscoes.

5.) Will Ferrara vs. Kevin Lee Davidson: *3/4

Keith Lee Davidson (apparently a student of Michael Elgin) is huge…..like, really huge. He’s taking on Will Ferrara, who is significantly smaller than Keith Lee Davidson. This was another strange match (similar to the pre-show match). Despite being the smaller guy, Ferrara won this match in relatively quick fashion. Davidson got some offense in, so it wasn’t a total squash. Nice to see Ferrara get a win here.

6.) Dalton Castle vs. Delirious: ***

It seems like you can always expect Delirious to appear when ROH is running a show in Collinsville. As you might expect, this was pretty much a comedy match, and there were a number of funny moments in this one. Delirious would chase The Boys around the ring on a number of occasions. At one point, Delirious chased one of them under the ring, and the one Boy emerged with a Delirious mask on, and started to act deranged! Thankfully, he would soon be reverted back to his normal state. The match ended up going twelve minutes, and eventually, Castle would get the win over Delirious with the Bang-A-Rang. This wasn’t spectacular by any means, but it was a fine comedy match, and definitely provided something different on the card.

Dalton Castle & Delirious would shake hands after the match.

7.) The All-Night Express vs. reDRagon: ***3/4

This is actually a first-time ever tag team match, as Kenny King left ROH in 2012 several months before Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly formed their tag team. This was actually a really good tag team match. I would say this was one of ANX’s best matches since there return, and it should come as no surprise that it came against reDRagon. There was some really good back & forth tag team action throughout this match, and it seemed like the crowd was into it by the end. The second half of the match was especially good. At one point, Rhett Titus actually tapped out to Fish, but Kenny King (who was being choked by O’Reilly) had the referee distracted, so he didn’t see Titus tap. This didn’t change the end result, however, as reDRagon would end up getting the victory.

8.) Adam Cole vs. Moose (with Stokely Hathaway): ***3/4

Here we have another first-time matchup, and like the match that preceded it, this one was also very good. The action was pretty fun from start to finish. Cole was his usual great self, and Moose did well here also. I think, slowly but surely, we’re seeing the improvement in Moose. He’s certainly MILES better than he was when he first started. I’m not saying he’s fantastic or anything, but you can definitely see in matches like this that he’s made progress. The finish came when Cole used the referee to block a spear attempt from Moose, who was able to stop in time, but the distraction, allowed Cole to roll up Moose (with a handful of tights) for the win. It kind of sucks that the match, which was going really well, ended like that, but it makes sense, given that Cole is a heel. Aside from the finish (which I’m sure some won’t like), this was a really good match that was just shy of being great.

9.) ACH & Alex Shelley vs. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks: ***3/4

Back at Road To “Final Battle ‘15”: Ft. Lauderdale, ACH & Alex Shelley wrestled their first match as a tag team, in an unsuccessful effort against reDRagon. Once again, this unique duo is taking another world-class tag team in the form of The Young Bucks. For the most part, I thought this was a really good match, which much like the two matches that came before it, was just shy of being a great. I think the fact that there was a lot of comedy early played a part in that. I’m fine with the comedy stuff we get from The Young Bucks (and, to be fair, ACH & Alex Shelley got in on the comedy as well), I think it works really well, but I think we got a little too much of that early on. It caused the match to get off to a bit of a slow start. However, things definitely got better as the match progressed. The second-half was especially good. Plus, the crowd was definitely into it, so if they were happy, I can’t really complain too much. Eventually, The Young Bucks would get the win with The Meltzer Driver to close the show.

Overall: 8.5/10

I thought this was a really good show from ROH. There were a few low points, such as Roderick Strong vs. Cheeseburger (not really the match itself, but mainly how it was booked), and the Will Ferrara squash match. However, the rest of the show was incredibly consistent. You had one awesome match in the form of Michal Elgin vs. Adam Page, and four matches (The Briscoes vs. Silas Young & The Beer City Bruiser, ANX vs. reDRagon, Adam Cole vs. Moose, & ACH/Alex Shelley vs. The Young Bucks) that were all really good matches, but were just shy of being great matches. I really enjoy watching shows like this that are incredibly consistent. Comparatively speaking, this was a lot of better than the show from Indianapolis the night before. If you have to pick one or the other, go with this one!! For the most part, a great show from ROH.

ROH Winter Warriors Tour '16: Indianapolis Review

ROH returns to Indianapolis for the first time in several years with a huge Eight-Man Tag Team Main Event!

ROH Winter Warriors Tour ’16: Indianapolis

Indianapolis, Indiana 1/15/16

1.) Dalton Castle vs. Will Ferrara: ***1/4

After what transpired at Final Battle 2015, The Boys have returned to Dalton Castle’s side, and they’re with him tonight as he takes on Will Ferrara. I thought this was a pretty entertaining opener. Castle was as entertaining as always, but Ferrara looked good here as well. It looked like he busted out some new moves here, while also playing more of a heel role against the “Party Peacock”. In the end, Castle would score the victory in this one.

2.) Triple Threat Match – ACH vs. Silas Young vs. Moose (with Stokely Hathaway): ***

Evidently, Silas Young had some travel issues the day of the show (apparently with his rent-a-car), and he had expressed his frustrations on Twitter. This resulted in a fan bringing a “Real Men Don’t Use Hertz” sign, which ACH brought into the ring before the match. I thought this was a fine, but pretty pedestrian, Triple Threat Match. Considering who was involved, you’d think this match would be a little better. Again, it’s not like this match was bad. It was pretty solid, and all three guys did get the chance to shine, but the match was relatively short, only going about seven minutes or so. ACH picked up the win here after hitting the Midnight Star on Silas Young.

3.) “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin vs. Tim Hughes: *

Ian Riccaboni, who is on commentary with Mr. Wrestling III tonight, refers to Elgin as a “Two-Time ROH World Champion?” That’s just simply not true. Get your facts straight! Anyway, Elgin is coming off his unsuccessful title challenge at Wrestle Kingdom 10 in The Tokyo Dome against ROH World Champion Jay Lethal. Here, he’s taking on Tim Hughes. Now I expected this to be a quick squash for Elgin, but that’s not what we got. Instead, we got a long, drawn-out comedy squash, with lasted nearly eight or nine minutes. This was totally unnecessary, and honestly, a waste of Michael Elgin on this card. I don’t get this fascination the powers-at-be in ROH have with Tim Hughes, but he’s just not good. Sure, some parts of this were funny, but as a whole, it was just unnecessary. Elgin would get the win, but it went a lot differently than I expected.

4.) reDRagon vs. Frankie Kazarian & Chris Sabin: ***1/2

So on a recent episode of ROH TV, Christopher Daniels got suspended by ROH Matchmaker Nigel McGuinness after punching a referee. Because of this, Kazarian is teaming with Chris Sabin, The Addiction’s “associate”, to take on Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly. This was a pretty fun tag team match. It looked like reDRagon were having a lot of fun out there, and seeing this different combination of Kazarian & Sabin was actually refreshing. The Addiction are fine as a team, but their heel act has slowly started to wear on me a little bit, and it was nice to see something different. Kazarian & Sabin actually worked pretty well together as a team, but in the end, reDRagon were emerged victorious.

5.) Kelly Klein vs. Solo Darling: **1/4

This was a Women of Honor match taped for YouTube right after intermission. Kelly Klein (with BJ Whitmer, who was on commentary for this match), who is undefeated in ROH at this point, is taking on Solo Darling, who’s gimmick is that she’s a sugar junkie, and possibly part squirrel (she is wearing a tail, and is known as "The Sugar Creature"). Anyway, this was a decent match. Klein is ok, but I think I still need to see her against better opponents before I’m sold on her. Personally, I really enjoyed Solo Darling’s gimmick. It’s a very CHIKARA-esque character, and I’m not sure if it’ll work in ROH, but we’ll see if she appears again in ROH in the future. She came out with a red drink of some kind, and when she drank some of it mid-match to get fired up, we actually got a “juice” chant (at the tone of the “Moose” chant”). This energy boost would ultimately not help Solo Darling in the end, as Kelly Klein would get the win.

6.) Adam Page vs. Ken Phoenix: **1/4

Phoenix has been a perennial pre-show regular in ROH for much of 2015. Here, he’s getting a chance on the Main Show against Adam Page, who recently turned babyface on ROH TV after turning on his mentor in (what’s left of) The Decade in BJ Whitmer (who was on commentary). This was a decent match. Phoenix got some offense in, but eventually, Adam Page would score the victory.

After the match, BJ Whitmer gets in the ring with a mic. He tells Adam Page that he didn’t come here to fight him tonight. He tries to talk, but keeps getting interrupted again and again by the fans in Indianapolis. Page plays along with the crowd a little bit, and doesn’t listen to what Whitmer’s demands him to do. Whitmer says that he & Adam Page butted heads last week in Charlotte at the TV Tapings. He knows that Steve Corino has been dumping ideas of Page’s head, but he’s willing to forget what happened, and put it behind him. Whitmer wants Page to shake hands with him. Page said that if Whitmer’s taught him one thing, it’s that The Decade doesn’t shake hands. He then slaps Whitmer hard across the face! The two start brawling, and need to be separated by referees and security. Steve Corino (who played a role in Page turning on Whitmer in the first place) then comes out. He seemingly wants to fight, but Whitmer backs down. After Whitmer leaves, Steve Corino shakes hands with Adam Page.

7.) ROH World TV Title – Roderick Strong vs. Curry Man: ***1/2

Curry Man did show up once or twice in ROH back in 2005, if I recall correctly. Before the match, Strong cuts a promo telling Bobby Fish (who was on commentary) to pay close attention to this match, and claims that he’ll beat Curry Man in under five minutes. Of course, that doesn’t happen, and the crowd gets on Strong’s case because of it. Despite the fact that this match went a lot longer than it needed to (I believe it was around seventeen minutes), this was still pretty good. Seeing Curry Man does make this show feel a little different, as we rarely see him anymore. Strong did good here, as he always does, but right now I’m not sure about this heel character he’s got going. Strong would get the win in the end, retaining his ROH World TV Title.

8.) Adam Cole vs. Alex Shelley: ***3/4

Chris Sabin joins Ian Riccaboni & Mr. Wrestling III on commentary for this next match, which is a first-time ever singles encounter. Honestly, I thought this was a really good match. These two seemed to work together very well, and the action was very solid from start to finish. It was easily the best match on the show, up to this point. Unfortunately, the match was tainted a little bit, as Frankie Kazarian came out and distracted the referee, which led to Adam Cole winning the match.

After the match, Kazarian wants Chris Sabin to attack Alex Shelley, but Sabin seems to hesitate, and does nothing. ACH then comes out, which causes Kazarian to bail.  

9.) Eight-Man Tag – The All-Night Express & IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks vs. The Briscoes & ROH World Tag Team Champions War Machine: ****

This is a very interesting match, when you look at what teams are paired together. ANX & The Young Bucks have a long history with each other in ROH, while The Briscoes & War Machine have been involved in a friendly rivalry, where Hanson & Ray Rowe have yet to pick up a victory over “Dem Boys”. ROH has done these types of matches in the past (Eight-Man Tags involving four tag teams), and they always seem to turn out well. This was no exception, as this was a great match that was easily the Match of the Night. It was just an entertaining match from start to finish. Bodies were flying all over the place, and the crowd was really into the action. It was very interesting to see the interactions between these two sides, since there are issues that exist amongst the teams themselves (as I mentioned earlier). The Briscoes would eventually pick up the win for their side after hitting The Doomsday Device. The Briscoes & War Machine celebrate to close the show.

Overall: 7.5/10

For the most part, I would say that this was a pretty solid outing from ROH. It’s not a show that you need to go out of your way to see, as it does have some low points (mainly Michael Elgin vs. Tim Hughes, and the BJ Whitmer segment). However, there are a few things that are worth checking out. The Eight-Man Tag Team Match was awesome, and Adam Cole vs. Alex Shelley was really good (despite the interference that led to the finish). The undercard had some solid stuff spread throughout, with reDRagon vs. Frankie Kazarian & Chris Sabin being the highlight. Again, this was a fine show from ROH, but the only matches that really need to be seen are the top two matches.

ROH Final Battle 2015 Review

Jay Lethal defends the ROH World Title against AJ Styles, while Adam Cole & Kyle O'Reilly face off in a huge grudge match!

ROH Final Battle 2015

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 12/18/15

Pre-Show

1.) “Brutal” Bob Evans (with Tim Hughes) vs. Cheeseburger: **3/4

This match was originally taped as a "YouTube Exclusive". It's the culmination of a several month feud between these former tag team partners. I thought this match was about as good as it could have been. Evans played his role as the bully heel, and Cheeseburger was very good in his role as the underdog. Cheeseburger would get the win in the end, finally vanquishing Evans.

PPV

1.) Triple Threat #1 Contender’s Match – The All-Night Express vs. The Briscoes vs. The Young Bucks: ***3/4

The winner of this match will receive a future shot at the ROH World Tag Team Titles. The Briscoes & The Young Bucks both got cheered pretty heavily (as you would expect), but Kenny King & Rhett Titus actually got a lot of boos from the Philadelphia crowd. As far as the match goes, I really enjoyed it!! It was a sprint right from the start, with bodies flying all over the place. All three teams got the chance to shine, and the crowd was really into it. I thought it was the perfect match to have as the opener for this PPV. In the end, ANX would sneak in and score the victory after hitting a Super One Night Stand on Mark Briscoe. They’re now the #1 Contenders for the ROH World Tag Team Titles. That certainly wasn’t the result I was expecting, but we’ll see where they go from here.

2.) Dalton Castle vs. Silas Young: ***

Young still has possession of The Boys, who are now wearing jeans, wife-beaters, and sunglasses. The commentary put over a “Free The Boys” hashtag, and the fans were chanting “Free The Boys”, but there was no stipulation attached to this match. I thought this was fine. It wasn’t their best match, but it was far from their worst match. Nothing really much to say other than that. The Boys tried to get involved towards the end of the match, and Castle ended up accidentally knocking one of them down. This led to Silas Young getting the win.

After the match, Young takes the mic, and demands that Castle admit that he is a real man. Castle initially refuses, but then Young gets two chairs and threatens to sic The Boys on him if he doesn’t call him a man. This causes Castle to give in. He says that Young is a man….but he’s a foolish man! He says those are his Boys, and as he says this, The Boys turn on Silas Young and attack him with the chairs! The Boys are finally free of Young’s control, and are reunited with Dalton Castle! That was a really cool moment.

3.) Moose (with Stokely Hathaway) vs. “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin: ***1/2

Elgin is coming off of winning the 2015 Survival of the Fittest Tournament, and it had already been announced that Elgin would face Jay Lethal for the ROH World Title at Wrestle Kingdom 10 in The Tokyo Dome on January 4^th, 2016. I like the fact that commentary made mention that Elgin will still face Lethal regardless of the outcome of tonight’s Main Event, and that a win here for Moose could propel him to a future title shot. While this wasn’t a great match, I thought it was pretty good. I know that some people were a little down on this match, but I enjoyed it. This was just two guys playing a game of one-upmanship, while also trying to beat the crap out of each other. There was good back & forth action, and there were points where the crowd was into it. Eventually, Elgin got the victory over Moose after a series of impressive powerbombs, and the two shook hands after the match.

4.) Adam Cole vs. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champion Kyle O’Reilly: ****1/4

This is the big grudge match between these two. I think it’s their first major singles encounter in ROH in a very long time. Of course, Cole cost O’Reilly the ROH World Title at All-Star Extravaganza VII. I thought this was a fantastic match!! These two went at each other right at the opening bell, and you could really feel the sense of hatred between these two. I’d go as far as to say that this may have been the best singles match these two have had. We saw some great action throughout, and the crowd in Philadelphia was really into it. The only thing to really complain about was the finish, as Adam Cole turned a triangle or armbar submission by O’Reilly (can’t remember which) into a pin with his foot on the ropes, and got the win. It was kind of a deflating finish, especially given that it’s a Grudge Match. However, since the feud would continue, it didn’t bother me as much, with the benefit of hindsight.

Even though Cole got the three count, O’Reilly refuses to let go of the submission hold. He needs to be pulled off by referees. It seems like he’s done, but O’Reilly then goes right after Cole’s arm again, and has to be pulled away by more referees.

5.) Six-Man Tag – The Addiction & Chris Sabin vs. ACH, Alex Shelley, & Matt Sydal: ***

This match came about after Alex Shelley revealed himself to be the faux-KRD member that had cost The Addiction the ROH World Tag Team Titles. Speaking of The Addiction, they’re wearing Star Wars-themed wrestling gear, specifically based on The First Order (as Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, had come out the night before). ACH comes out wearing gear inspired by Dragon-Ball Z, specifically Goku. Given the talent who was involved here, you would think this would be great. Now this was a solid Six-Man Tag, but it wasn’t nearly as good as I was expected. The action was fine here, but I just thought this would be better. Part of the issues was that there were some noticeable botches, particularly from ACH. They did tease interactions between Sabin & Shelley, but they didn’t do as much as I would have thought. Additionally, the match went about fifteen minutes or so. It probably needed to be shortened by five minutes. If it was a sprint, like the opener, this could have been great. Sydal eventually gets the win for his team after hitting the Shooting Star Press on Sabin.

6.) ROH World TV Title – Roderick Strong vs. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champion Bobby Fish: ***1/2

Fish earned a victory over Strong at Reloaded Tour ’15: Chicago Ridge a few months prior, which was before Strong won the ROH World TV Title. I like how they’re using a prior victory by Fish to set up this title match. For the most part, I thought this was really good. There was some very solid back & forth action throughout, and the crowd was into it. Both guys are just so good, that it’s impossible for them to have anything less than a good match. Of course, the big controversy came with the finish, as they basically used the Brock Lesnar/Undertaker finish from SummerSlam a few months prior. Fish had a Strong in a submission hold, and Strong trapped out, but it was subtly, and out of the view of the referee. Fish releases the hold and started celebrating like he won. Where it deviated from Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker is that instead of one guy later passing out in a submission hold, Strong took advantage of the confusion to hit a high knee out of nowhere, which allowed Strong to score the win and retain his title. I really don’t like the fact that ROH basically used a WWE finish. You don’t need to copy WWE. Plus, turning Strong heel after the incredible 2015 he had just seems so odd, in my opinion. The match was still very good, but the finish definitely hurt it.

Cedric Alexander & Veda Scott then come out and cut a promo at ringside. Alexander was all dressed up. Veda says that they weren’t invited to Final Battle, and that’s a mistake ROH won’t make again. She then says that they’ve been in litigations with ROH over “unsafe working conditions”, and that they’ve finally reached a settlement. Veda says they all will be seeing more of Cedric Alexander & Veda Scott in 2016.

7.) ROH World Tag Team Titles – The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Michael Bennett with Maria Kanellis) vs. War Machine: N/R

So this was a very interesting match, to say the least. The Kingdom jumped War Machine before the bell. They hit Ray Rowe with their Hail Mary Tandem Piledriver on the floor, with Taven jumping off the second rope. As soon as Taven hit the floor, his knee buckled, and you could tell that he was hurt. It was around this time that commentary mentioned that The Kingdom may have jumped on War Machine early because Bennett has a crapped rip, and they wanted to end things quickly. They then brawl for another two minutes or so, and Taven still tried to do stuff, despite the fact that he was clearly in a lot of pain (he was visibly limping). Bennett took a nasty powerbomb into the barricades, and then got hit with Fallout in the ring, and that was it. I’m not sure if the intent originally was for the match to go short, or if things changed on the fly due to Taven’s injury, but at the end of the day, War Machine are the new ROH World Tag Team Champions, and I think everyone will be happy about that.

Before the Main Event, Mr. Wrestling III leaves commentary, as ROH Matchmaker Nigel McGuinness is going to call the Lethal/Styles match with Kevin Kelly. BJ Whitmer (who was barred from the show, along with Adam Page) shows up, and tries to take over on commentary, claiming once again that Mr. Wrestling III is Steve Corino. Security quickly sends BJ Whitmer off.

Former ROH World Champion Jerry Lynn comes out to be on commentary with Kevin Kelly & Nigel McGuinness. Lynn recently had a confrontation with Jay Lethal on ROH TV, after claiming that AJ Styles was going to win the ROH World Title.

8.) ROH World Title – Jay Lethal (with Truth Martini & Taeler Hendrix) vs. “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles: ****1/2

This is actually a pretty big moment. AJ Styles has been pretty dominant in ROH since his return in 2014. His only singles loss was against Michael Elgin in April of 2014. Despite his long winning streak, Styles is coming into this match with a bit of a disadvantage, as he’s been having nagging issues with his back over the last few months (It got bad enough that Styles had to pull out of New Japan’s World Tag League a few weeks prior). However, Styles was able to fight through the pain, and stepped up in a big way here. I thought this was an awesome Main Event!!! They were actually able to incorporate the back issues Styles was suffering into the story of the match, which was actually really cool. The action, of course, was fantastic. There was some really insane stuff in this match, including Styles leaping up on the barricade to intercept a dive to the outside by Lethal, and an unexpected table spot, where Lethal just dropped Styles right through the table on the floor (the fact that it came out of nowhere actually made it that much more of a big moment). The crowd was really behind both guys from start to finish. They were awesome here. Lethal & Styles both hit their finishers, and both kept fighting. The match finally came to an end when Lethal, in a insult to Jerry Lynn, hit AJ Styles with the Cradle Piledriver (Lynn’s finisher), before hitting a 2^nd Lethal Injection to definitively put Styles away. The fact that Lethal beat Styles clean as a sheet in the middle of the ring with no interference just added onto what was already a fantastic match. For me, this was the best ROH match of 2015.

Jay Lethal posed with the ROH World Title, standing over the defeated AJ Styles, to close the show.

Overall: 8.5/10

I should note that, when I watched this show live, I decided to watch it on my PS4 through the Live Events App. If you have a PS4, I would totally recommend watching future ROH PPV’s on your PS4!! The cost is lower than ordering on traditional PPV, and the stream is a lot better compared to watching the show on ROH’s website. I only had very sporadic streaming issues, which only lasted five seconds max. I heard from others who watched the show via PS4 that their streams were totally flawless, so again, definitely try ordering and watching ROH PPV’s on PS4 in the future.

As far as this show goes, I thought it was great!! I think it’s fair to say that this might have been ROH’s best PPV outing of 2015. You had two must-see matches with Jay Lethal vs. AJ Styles for the ROH World Title (which is my ROH MOTY from 2015), as well as Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly. Those matches alone make this show worth checking out. Aside from the ROH World Tag Team Title Match (which was, at the very least, hindered by the injury to Matt Taven), the rest of the undercard was pretty good, with the opening match being the real standout. There were a few questionable booking decisions, mainly revolving around the finishes of Cole vs. O’Reilly and Roderick Strong vs. Bobby Fish for the ROH World TV Title, but other than that, the match quality of this show was relatively great. An action-packed show from start to finish, and (for the most part) a pretty great way to end 2015!