Tonight at ROH 16th Anniversary, ROH World Champion Dalton Castle and Jay Lethal square off in the main event of the evening! Plus, the ROH World Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns take on The Briscoes in a match-up of two of the greatest tag teams in the history of Ring of Honor! All that and more at ROH 16th Anniversary!
We are LIVE from Sam’s Town Casino in Las Vegas, Nev. Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana have the call for tonight.
Hiromu Takahashi vs. Flip Gordon
Wristlock exchange off the lock-up and Takahashi gets the advatange. Gordon kips up over and over out of the hold to land a forearm, but Takahashi with a shoulder tackle. Gordon with one of his own in return. Gordon with a handstand headscissors and a chop in the corner. Penalty kick and standing moonsault get a nearfall on Takahashi to send him out. Suicide dive from Gordon. Takahashi comes back in and leads Gordon on a chase to the apron and dropkicks him off the apron. Takahashi with a dropkick off the apron and he tells referee Todd Sinclair to shut up. Corner clothesline and dropkick from Takahashi for a nearfall. Takahashi hits Gordon with a Daryl cat doll from the crowd and Sinclair takes it away as Takahashi works Gordon down. Gordon comes back with clotheslines and a springboard tornado forearm. Samoan drop and standing shooting star get a nearfall on Takahashi. Gordon up top and Takahashi meets him. Sunset flip bomb blocked by Takahashi holding the turnbuckle, but Gordon with a thrust kick and he lands a superkick on the mat. Falcon Arrow gets a nearfall on Takahashi and Gordon goes back up top. Takahashi counters with a Canadian Destroyer and Gordon lands a superkick as he falls down.
They exchange forearms from their knees and they exchange chops. Gordon able to catch Takahashi with a springboard stunner after some back and forth, but a 450 splash lands on the knees of Takahashi and Takahashi with an inside cradle for a nearfall. Fireman’s carry into the corner Death Valley Driver by Takahashi. Gordon with a tornado kick, but he springboards into a German suplex by Takahashi for a nearfall. Takahashi looks to finish Gordon and he lands a lariat before connecting on a Time Bomb.
Winner by pinfall: Hiromu Takahashi
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Good opener with a cruiserweight style and it is about what you can expect from Gordon, though the match never really hit a second gear. Still a hot opener.
ROH World Championship Contender’s Match: Punishment Martinez vs. “The Villain” Marty Scurll
Scurll sends Martinez out early and lands an apron kick, but Martinez with the release Falcon Arrow to send Scurll back out. Springboard tope from Martinez on Scurll outside. Scurll dropkicks the knee of Martinez coming back inside and lands a gourdbuster and curb stomp for another nearfall. South of Heaven chokeslam blocked by Scurll, but Martinez with a slam and springboard senton for a nearfall. Martinez works Scurll down, but Scurll with a superkick to the knee and chops as his eye is busted open. Tornado DDT from Scurll and they exchange. Scurll with a clothesline, but Martinez with an ear clap after a big boot. Scurll with a brainbuster counter for a nearfall. Scurll calls for the Chickenwing, but he gets hit with a full-nelson gourdbuster. Martinez looks for a springboard kick, but Scurll knocks him off as he tries and he goes to work on the left leg. Martinez kicks Scurll to the outside. Scurll brings out a bag from under the ring and the referee confronts him, but Scurll threatens to punch him. Security gets between the two and Martinez lands a suicide dive over the corner to take out the pile.
Martinez takes out security guards and gets to the apron with Scurll. Scurll lands a kick, but Martinez doubles him over and lands a curb stomp on the apron. Martinez brings out a table and sets it up at ringside. Scurll knocked out and put on the table. Martinez goes inside and springboards into a flip dive through the table, but Scurll rolled off before and Martinez goes through to the floor. Scurll with the snap piledriver, but unable to put Martinez down. Scurll grabs the fingers and tries to snap them, but Martinez moves out. Scurll with a victory roll and superkicks and stomps. Martinez back up and he looks for a chokeslam, but Scurll out and the referee almost gets caught by a Martinez tornado kick. Scurll pulls the bag out of his tights, but nothing in it and he fakes Martinez out to land a low blow. Scurll rolls him up.
Winner by pinfall: Marty Scurll
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
This match started off intense and Martinez had some big spots, but got a little bogged down in Scurll’s cheating. Impressive outing for both though and Martinez keeping up with the likes of Scurll is always a treat.
ROH World Television Championship: Kenny King (c) vs. “The Last Real Man” Silas Young
Young with a wristlock and a legsweep for a nearfall. King with a legsweep for one of his own and Young with a dropkick. Young rolls out and comes back with a side headlock after bragging to the crowd. King with a drop toehold into a Last Chancery, forcing Young outside. King with slams and a dropkick for a nearfall before working Young in the corner. Young with a hammerlock and King spins into a forearm from Young. Young with ground and pound and he kicks King out of the ring. Young stomps King, but King comes back with a forearm from the apron. Springboard attempt by King blocked as Young shakes the top rope. Young works King down with a chinlock. King up and he gets thrown out into a cameraman. Young again goes back to working King down. Both fall outside as King counters a suplex attempt and they both fall out. Both barely beat the count and exchange punches from their knees. King with a tornado kick to send Young outside and he lands a slingshot crossbody on Young. King plays to the crowd and allows Young to recover, but King lands a belly-to-belly suplex on the floor. Crossbody back inside after taking a selfie with a fan outside gets King a nearfall.
King with a spinebuster nearfall inside, but Young comes back with a springboard clothesline. Knee lands on King and a corkscrew hangman’s DDT gets Young a nearfall. Young with a big boot and he looks for Misery, but King counters out momentarily. Young lands a rolling senton slam and springboard Arabian moonsault get a nearfall. Young with chops and King sent to the corner. He floats over and holds on, but Young pulls him off and takes referee Todd Sinclair out as he spins King around. Misery lands, but only gets a nearfall. King rolls him for a nearfall and Young counters into a roll-up, but King is under the ropes. Young gets in the face of the referee and gets sent to the apron, where he slingshots into a Royal Flush from King.
Winner by pinfall and STILL ROH World Television Champion: Kenny King
Rating: 2.25 out of 5 stars
Solid enough match with a few nice spots, but the crowd wasn’t hot and it slogged and felt clunky at times.
Austin Aries was a surprise visitor to the ROH 16th anniversary show. Photo by RING OF HONOR/Joe DeFalco
Post-match, Austin Aries returns to Ring of Honor with his handful of titles and he congratulates King on a hard-fought victory. Aries says he has been traveling the world collecting belts. Aries says there is one title he hasn’t won in Ring of Honor and that is the ROH TV title. Aries says they have their history, but he wants to make it clear to King that he has something on his shoulder that he wants.
Las Vegas Street Fight for the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship: The Hung Bucks (c) vs. SoCal Uncensored
The Hung Bucks land suicide dives outside to start the match and the streamers get thrown all over ringside. Nick Jackson with a pop-up kick on Christopher Daniels off the barricade. Frankie Kazarian hit with a kicks to the back of the head in the corner off a Hangman Page powerbomb and Scorpio Sky dropped. Sky hip-tossed into a chair and hit with dropkicks. Dropkick moonsault by Page on The Addiction and Sky hit with a trashcan on the apron into a Page powerbomb on the ramp. Page brings out a studded belt for Kazarian, but Sky hits him with a kendo stick. Daniels hit with a shooting star press off the apron by Page as The Hung Bucks control. Kazarian busted open and The Hung Bucks set up a table at ringside. Daniels pushes Matt Jackson off the top and through the table. Nick teamed up on by SoCal Uncensored. Kazarian with a slingshot hurricanrana outside and he leg drops the kendo stick below the belt on Nick. Daniels punches Nick and SoCal Too Sweets, but Nick moves out of the way on a kendo stick shot. Nick hit with a trashcan on the apron and Sky with a apron hurricanrana. Dragon Sleepers in on The Hung Bucks until Page saves them with a trashcan lid. Kazarian and Page exchange blows with the lids, but Page gets the studded belt and whips Kazarian with it. Rite of Passage blocked and Kazarian with a piledriver on it.
Nick back inside like a house of fire, but he runs into a chair thrown at him by Sky. Matt and Daniels left inside and Daniels lands a backbreaker on the open chair to the injured lower back of Matt. Sky and Daniels set up a barricade bridge outside. They look to suplex him on it, but Nick saves him and they lock in the Double Cease Sharpshooters. Kazarian saves Sky and Daniels with the kendo stick and the match breaks down until Daniels lands the Best Moonsault Ever on Page. Daniels gets back bodydropped onto the barricades by Page. Kazarian laid on a table outside and Nick goes up on a ladder. Sky prevents him, but gets a DDT from Matt on the apron. Matt goes up on the ladder with Kazarian on the table and lands an elbow drop. Nick lands a 450 splash on Sky with a trashcan inside and he almost has him, but Shane Taylor pulls the referee out and powerbombs Nick on the apron. Taylor knocks Page out with a knee inside. Matt lands Superkicks and tries a slam, but throws out the back. Taylor chokes him and Page hits him with a kendo stick. Rite of Passage on Taylor with the help of Nick. Daniels sends Page into the ring post and he gets tied to the ring post. The Young Bucks land Superkicks on SoCal, but Sky with a cutter and Nick tied up outside. Matt put in a double submission inside and he taps with the bad back.
Winners by pinfall and NEW ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions: SoCal Uncensored
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Your typical Young Bucks ROH match with lots of spots and fun, plus Matt Jackson selling his injured back. Went a bit long to continue that pace throughout, but it was enjoyable for what it was.
Post-match, The Kingdom run out and attack The Hung Bucks before being chased out by ROH enforcer Bully Ray.
Cody, in an elaborate outfit, plays to the fans. Photo by RING OF HONOR/Joe DeFalco
Matt Taven vs. Cody (w/Brandi Rhodes & Bury the Drug-Free Bear
Note: ROH streams have been reported to have been laggy all night, as well as the ROH website going down. Stream issues started here.
Taven and Cody go back and forth and Cody gets the American Deathlock early, but Taven gets to the bottom rope for the rope break. Taven comes back with ground and pound. Someone landed a DDT apparently and Cody and Taven exchange forearms and chops. Taven tries flirting with Brandi at ringside and draws Cody out to land a suicide dive of his own. Taven with a backbreaker inside and he lands a double underhook backbreaker inside for a nearfall as well. Taven works Cody in the corner and drops knees into the back on a botched move. Bow and arrow from Taven, but Cody fights up somehow and lands a powerslam for a nearfall. Alabama Slam from Cody gets a nearfall and Bury and Brandi bring out a chair. Cody with a missile dropkick and Bury tries to put in the chair. The referee gets distracted and Taven with the cane and Cross Rhodes. Cody able to kick out and Taven lands Kick of the King as Cody goes for the Disaster Kick. Taven misses on the frog splash and Cody lands Beautiful Disaster. Climax from Taven lands for a nearfall. Cody accidentally takes out referee Paul Turner on a dive off the top and Taven and Cody take each other out.
The Kingdom come in and hold Cody up to kick him below the belt. Cody pulls out a cup and Bully Ray chases Kingdom back. Cross Rhodes from Cody lands.
Winner by pinfall: Cody
No Rating due to technical difficulties
Kenny Omega showed up in non-traditional wrestling gear. Photo by RING OF HONOR/Joe DeFalco
Post-match, Cody celebrates with Brandi Rhodes and Bury, but Bury shoves him down. Bury unmasks and it is Kenny Omega. V-Trigger lands on Cody and Omega tosses him out of the ring. Brandi slaps at Omega and then kisses him. Brandi tells Omega he likes it and tells him to tell Kota Ibushi.
The match was a bit off from what I saw, though the cup spot felt out of place in ROH and got no reaction whatsoever, but the big moment was the reveal of Kenny Omega as Bury and the furthering of the rift between The Bullet Club and The Golden Lovers. This is the story of the year and is groundbreaking for its portrayal of Ibushi and Omega.
ROH World Tag Team Championships: The Motor City Machine Guns (c) vs. The Briscoes
The Briscoes hide under the barricades and sneak attack MCMG. Chris Sabin stomped down in the corner by Jay and Mark Briscoe. Alex Shelley comes in with a dropkick and Mark and Jay sent out. Double kicks on Jay and a suicide dive from Sabin through the legs of Shelley onto The Briscoes outside. Shelley dropped by a back elbow inside and The Briscoes take it outside. Mark with a blockbuster off the apron, but a stomp and DDT combo from the MCMG. Mark gets busted open under his right eye and they take him inside. Mark fights out of the MCMG corner as Jay is laid out outside. Superplex blocked and Mark hit with a pair of dropkicks in the tree of woe by MCMG. Jay able to make the save and get the tag to Mark. Jay works Shelley down and Mark makes the tag to bring Shelley outside. The Briscoes dive into each other outside and Sabin with a suicide dive on Jay ouside. Sabin looks for a Jay Driller inside on Mark, but MCMG with an assisted Sliced Bread and they team up on Mark. Cradle Shock gets a nearfall that is broken by Jay and Jay takes on MCMG by himself. MCMG get the numbers control and look for Made in Detroit on Mark, but he fights it off. Shelley hung in the tree of woe and Sabin misses to hit Shelley accidentally. Neckbreaker and Froggy Bow from the Briscoes get a nearfall.
Doomsday blocked by MCMG for a nearfall and Mark takes Shelley outside. Jay Driller on Sabin gets only a nearfall. Doomsday Device on Sabin lands and Shelley blocked by Mark.
Winners by pinfall and NEW ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes
Rating: 1.25 out of 5 stars
Crowd was really dead for this match and seeing Sabin kick out of the Jay Driller should have been a big deal, but it wasn’t. They went to the accidental team attacks one too many times and it seems like the Omega moment sucked the energy out of the building for the moment. It wasn’t a bad match, but not really good either.
ROH World Championship: Dalton Castle (c) (w/The Boys) vs. Jay Lethal
Lethal escapes a takedown under the ropes.and they exchange takedowns and submissions as they feel each other out. Lethal rolls outside to avoid Bang-a-rang and a reset. Lethal works Castle in the corner and lands a leg lariat for a nearfall. Castle comes back with chops and forearms to drop Lethal. Lethal drops down to trip Castle and they go outside. Castle swings on the apron for a hurricanrana to drop Lethal on the floor. Castle sends Lethal into the corner inside, but Lethal knocks Castle off the apron and lands a pair of suicide dives. Castle catches Lethal as he goes for one more and Lethal gets caught for a German suplex. Castle with punches and he runs Lethal into the ring post. Castle accidentally punches the ring post and Lethal takes control. Lethal bounces Castle off the timekeeper’s table, but Castle returns the favor and rolls back in the ring. One of the Boys knocked off the apron and caught by Bobby Cruise. Castle moves away from the Lethal suicide dive and Cruise dropped by the suicide dive along the barricade.
Lethal and Castle inside and Lethal comes off the second rope. Castle catches him for a belly-to-belly suplex for a nearfall. Bang-a-rang blocked by Lethal for a Lethal Combination for a nearfall. Lethal Injection called for and Castle flips out, but Lethal gets him in the torture rack and rolls through for a slam that gets a nearfall. Castle favors his knee, but lands a back elbow and gets a bridging deadlift German suplex for a nearfall. Castle works Lethal in the corner and lands chops. Lethal chops back and lands a ripcord into a cutter. Lethal Injection stopped by a shot to the kidneys from Castle and he lands a lariat. Bang-a-rang sees Lethal roll through into a figure-four leglock. Lethal with uppercuts and he looks for another figure-four, but Castle rolls him for a nearfall. Lethal Injection connects, but Castle able to kick out. They go to the apron and Lethal looks for a cutter. Lethal clubs him down, but Castle fights up before getting dropped again. Chop to the throat of Castle and Lethal with a baseball slide to send Castle into the barricade. Press slam on the apron and bottom rope and Lethal looks for the apron cutter, but Castle turns it into a release German suplex off the apron and onto the floor. Lethal lands on his head. Both make it back to the ring in time and untape the hands and wrists. Lethal and Castle exchange strikes on wobbly legs. Lethal with a big boot, enzuigiri, and superkick on Castle. Lethal Injection moved out of by Castle. Bang-a-rang stopped by Lethal as he rolls through. Castle jackknife covers and rolls through into landing the Bang-a-rang.
Winner by pinfall and STILL ROH World Champion: Dalton Castle
Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars
Easily the best match of the night and they turned a dead crowd in their favor, especially with the insane apron suplex spot. They didn’t rely as much on referee bumps, interference, or weapons here and it was coincidentally the best match we got of the night.
Overall, a bit of a disappointing show for ROH. Other than the main event, everything underperformed in front a dead crowd at times due to overbooking. While most matches were tolerable and average, the show dragged on at times and it just seems like a drastically different ROH product than a year or two ago. Combined with more streaming issues on the Honor Club as ROH continues to struggle launching new streaming technologies when they pursue them, this was an event you will want to pick and choose from.