Ring of Honor returned to York Hall in London last night for the first instalment in its War of the Worlds UK tour. The card featured a host of talent across ROH, NJPW, CMLL & RevPro. With seven matches across the evening and two Titles on the line, fans in London were in for a treat and the matches certainly did not fail to live up to expectations.
SteelChair were on hand in York Hall to witness the action and so sit back and enjoy our review of ROH War of the Worlds London…
Mark Briscoe Vs Ryan Smile
The first match of the evening saw Ryan Smile take on Jay Briscoe in a very entertaining match. Smile is a big fan favourite at York Hall given his time at RevPro, likewise the Briscoe Brothers seemed to be over with the British crowd probably off the back of last years barn burner with the Young Bucks in the same venue. Great back and forth which saw Smile hit his insane tope con hilo over the ring post. Briscoe eventually got the win with Cut-Throat Driver to really get the crowd hyped for the night ahead.
Mark Briscoe defeated Ryan Smile
The Addiction Vs Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Bucanero
Having been a Christopher Daniels fan for as long as I can remember, I always look forward to his matches. I must admit to not having any background knowledge on Guerrero and Bucanero and when they entered the ring I was slightly hesitant that this match would be able to continue the momentum from the first bout. But boy was I wrong. For two big, older guys Guerrero and Bucanero can move in ways I didn’t think possible. They also have some really great chemistry as a team and are not scared to mix up some high flying, with Guerrero hitting a diving senton to the outside which Daniels took the brunt off. The Addiction used their heelish ways to steal the victory with a roll up and holding the ropes, to end a very entertaining tag match.
The Addiction defeated Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Bucanero
Jay Briscoe Vs Kenny King
This one for me had a slow start to it and only really seemed to pick up in the final quarter of the match which was disappointing. That said you can’t expect for even match on a card to blow you away and in that respect it wasn’t a bad match, just didn’t seem as though these two really gelled much. For a man of his size, King is extremely athletic and we got a good showing of his athleticism in this match. Jay Briscoe got the win with the Jay-Driller to end this one.
Jay Briscoe defeated Kenny King
Sha Samuels Vs Bully Ray Vs Silas Young Vs Jay Lethal
There was a huge pop for Bully Ray as his entrance music hit and he was absolutely lapping it up which was a joy to watch. This match was actually a really good four-way match and told some good stories throughout. Bully Ray kept attacking Samuels and delivered some brutal chest chops to the Brit who had a great deal of heat on him throughout. At one stage Young and Samuels looked to be getting the upper hand over Ray and Lethal but then Young turned on Samuels which was a great angle. Biggest moment of the match was Lethal delivering the Wassup diving headbutt followed by a “Lethal Get the Tables” chant. Bully Ray got the pin on Samuels whilst Lethal and Young were brawling outside to end a great match.
Bully Ray defeated Silas Young & Sha Samuels & Jay Lethal
Jushin Thunder Liger & Delirious & Mistico Vs Dalton Castle & The Boys for the ROH 6-Man Team Team Championships
As expected this one was a comedy match from the get go but I really enjoyed this one and still believe that Castle is one of the best talents on the ROH roster today. The main story pitted him against Liger, with Liger ripping off his poses and moves and also saw the Boys fanning down Liger which was incredible. Delirious & Mistico really did feel like spare parts in this one and I just can’t get behind the Delirious gimmick no matter how hard I try. Castle got the win eventually and him and The Boys retained the 6-Man Tag Team Titles. Very fun match which is definitely worth going back to watch.
Dalton Castle & The Boys defeated Jushin Thunder Liger & Delirious & Mistico to retain the ROH 6-Man Tag Team Championship’s
KUSHIDA Vs Titan for the ROH TV Championship
KUSHIDA is a joy to watch and this match did not fail to deliver. I have never seen a Titan match up until this point and was really impressed with his display in York Hall. There was one moment in the match which I thought they would have to call it off as Titan hit a top rope springboard moonsault to the outside, barely clipping KUSHIDA but taking the full weight of the bump on his mid-section. Luckily he was able to work through the pain and continue the match which then focused on KUSHIDA attacking the arm looking for the Hoverboard Lock which he attempted from a number of positions including a reversal off the turnbuckle which was a sight to see. He eventually got it locked on in the middle of the ring and Titan had no option but to tap. These two tore the house down and was arguably match of the night.
KUSHIDA defeated Titan to retain the ROH TV Championship
The Bullet Club (Marty Scurll, Cody, The Young Bucks & Hangman Page) Vs Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, BUSHI, SANDA, Hiromu Takahashi)
This match was about as insane as expected and was just stacked with so much talent. Naito got a huge reaction which was expected from his recent G1 win. The match was great in that each and every man was able to get a decent amount of offence in and then things went nasty when Daryl the cat was taken from the commentary table and given a Meltzer Driver by the Young Bucks. This lead to Takahashi taking out the whole of the Bullet Club singlehandedly and was great viewing. There were Superkicks aplenty near the end of the match but it was Naito who got the win after hitting the Destino for a team Los Ingobernables de Japon win. Post match the Bullet Club took to the microphone to send wishes to Ric Flair and then Scurll rallied the crowd to get behind his vision to sell out a stadium in the UK.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, BUSHI, SANDA, Hiromu Takahashi) defeated The Bullet Club (Marty Scurll, Cody, The Young Bucks & Hangman Page)