DEARBORN, Mich. — Ring of Honor held its first night of the Global Wars tour in the Ford Community Center of Dearborn, Mich. — a suburb of Detroit. This venue has been home to many notorious ROH moments including Kevin Owens’ final ROH match and Hangman Page joining the Bullet Club. Global Wars showcased the best of ROH and CMLL to the few hundred in the Center, plus the streamers on the Honor Club with the headline bout of Bandido against Jay Briscoe. Here are my top five moments from attending Global Wars Espectacular:
Kenny King becomes #1 contender for the Television Title
A triple threat match between Tracy Williams, Kenny King, and Jeff Cobb determined the next in line for Shane Taylor’s TV Title. The two smaller men precariously worked together against the larger Jeff Cobb, but the teamwork shortly dissolved. The three each got in their offense, and the outcome of the match was unpredictable. Williams looked to get the pinfall over Cobb until Villain Enterprises’ Flip Gordon came to pull Williams off. Kenny King capitalized on the interference with a rollup and the victory.
Joe Hendry and Dalton Castle debut a new entrance
ROH’s hottest signing “The Prestigious One” Joe Hendry flanked Dalton Castle. The most flamboyant characters in the company have seemingly formed a new team, yet Castle has been disapproving. Hendry is known for his ridiculous entrance themes and trons, and Friday night he debuted a new set for the new team. The song is centered around the hook “Joe Hendry and… some guy,” which initiated a chant throughout the match against Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham. “Some guy!” and “Pigeon man” was chanted at Castle, to which Castle whined, “This is your fault!” to Hendry. The two almost pulled off the victory until Castle threw out his own partner — which, of course, signaled the end for Castle. Lethal and Gresham performed an impressive tag team rolling cutter for the win.
Chaos between Villain Enterprises and Team CMLL
A huge eight-man tag match featuring Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO, Brody King, and Flip Gordon) and Team CMLL (Okamura, Rey Bucanero, Hechicero, and Barbaro Cavernario) tore the roof off the Ford Center. The spectacle of Marty Scurll, in likely his final months in ROH, brought Dearborn to its feet and the match did just the same. Bodies were flying everywhere, and everyone was diving to the outside — notably the 51-year-old PCO, who popped the crowd with a moonsault to the floor. PCO flipped off the top again onto Okamura to gain the victory for Villain Enterprises. As Scurll’s contracted dates for ROH are dwindling down, his club of Villain continues to stand tall.
Alex Shelley wants Jonathan Gresham
With Global Wars being in Metro Detroit, one would figure that “Motor City Machine Gun” Alex Shelley would be around. In similar fashion to his appearance at EVOLVE 133, Shelley posed as an incognito masked man and revealed himself to a welcoming hometown audience. Shelley mentioned his loss to ROH Championship Matt Taven and explained his need to compete with the ROH roster to prove himself. Out comes Jonathan Gresham who had frustrations of being overlooked, and the two were locked in a battle of words. Gresham blamed Shelley for dropping the ball against Matt Taven, and in return Shelley called Gresham a “Puss” (in reference to Gresham’s title “Octopus”). Shelley said he paved the way for Gresham’s generation, and challenged him to a match at Glory by Honor in New Orleans.
Jay Briscoe and Bandido clash
For the main event of the evening, ROH tag champ Jay Briscoe competed with LifeBlood’s Bandido. They garnered the only “This is awesome” chant of the night, which was only fitting for this type of bout. Briscoe’s brawler style took over the opening minutes, dominating his opponent all over the ringside area. Bandido eventually gained an upper hand pulling out all his signature moves, as well as kicking out of Briscoe’s infamous “Jay-Driller.” In fact, both competitors had some shocking near falls — most notably when Briscoe took a moonsault fallaway slam and kicked out at one. Bandido then hit his “24 Plex” to win the match and earn the respect of his opponent.
ROH Champion Matt Taven ran down to the ring and attacked both Briscoe and Bandido, cutting their celebration short… but out came Rush to make the save and make it clear that he’s next in line for the ROH Championship.
All in all, I have to say that even with a lessened roster than a year ago, resulting in internet backlash and some unstable ticket sales, ROH always pulls out a great wrestling show.
FULL RESULTS
– Dak Draper defeated Haitian Sensation
– Josh Woods and Silas Young defeated The Bouncers
– Rush defeated Triton
– Mark Haskins defeated Rhett Titus
– Kenny King defeated Tracy Williams and Jeff Cobb
– Jay Lethal and Johnathan Gresham defeated Dalton Castle and Joe Hendry
– Villain Enterprises defeated Team CMLL
– Volador Jr. and Stuka Jr. defeated Vinny Marseglia and Matt Taven
– Bandido defeated Jay Briscoe
