ROH War Of The Worlds UK Edinburgh Review
War Of The Worlds UK: Night 3
Edinburgh, England
8/20/17
Ian Riccaboni and BJ Whitmer welcomed us to the show, the last night of the three night tour.
Colt Cabana vs. Josh Bodom vs. Kenny King
Colt Cabana’s music hit, to the surprise of both Whitmer and Riccaboni. Riccaboni used Cabana’s own intro from his podcast to introduce him, which was a nice touch. Cabana came out and said that he was surprised to be left off the card, especially because he can say Edburgh correctly. Josh Bodom interrupted him and said that Cabana wasn’t advertised because he’s old news and that Bodom is the cruiserweight champion and the best in the build on that day. Cabana proclaimed himself to be the king on on the night and the King of Edinburgh, which prompted Kenny King to come out to the ring. King basically called Bodom a nobody and asked him and Cabana to decided who he was facing, eventually leading to a three way match. Spirited opener here hat had some good spots throughout, especially an exchange with all three men on the outside, this rarely just turned into a one and one rotation, with all the men working together for most of the contest. King won after hitting the Royal Flush on Bodom for the pinfall victory. Perfect choice for an opener here. Cabana’s inclusion really brought the crowd into the match and allowed Bodom to get over as a heel before the match began.
Winner: Kenny King
The Briscoes vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Bucanero
The four adhered to the code of honor to start, but once Guerrero and Bucanero had their backs turned, the Briscoes ambushed them and tossed them outside the ring. The Briscoes stayed on top of their opponents on the outside, as Mark choked Bucanero and Jay waylaid Guerrero with European uppercuts. On the inside the CMLL legends found a bit of room and double teamed Mark, as Guerrero bridged the Sussex Chicken over his knees while Bucanero hit Castigo Bucanero, his corkscrew senton from the top. They turned their attention to Jay, who was on the receiving end of two Sentons De La Muerte from Guerrero as the CMLL legends had their way for a good while. Mark and Jay wrested control back and went to work on Bucanero, showing an aggressive side, as commentary really put them over as changed men. A classic heel abdominal stretch spot punished Bucanero who was able to tag out to a fresh Guerrero. Guerrero and Bucanero worked on the Briscoes outside, delivering two leapfrog splashes before Guerrero lept off the top rope to the outside, taking out both Briscoes. Despite the advantage, Guerrero found himself poised to be on the receiving end of a Doomsday Device. However, Bucanero was able to pull Mark off the top rope, allowing Guerrero to steal a win with a victory tale in a huge surprise. AFter the match, Jay and Mark jawed at each other, although they never came to blows. Really fun tag team match, with interesting implications going forward for the Briscoes. It’s refreshing to see this story with the Briscoes as it feels new and the CMLL legends Bucanero and Guerrero continue to impress.
Winners: Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Bucanero
EVIL vs. Bully Ray
Evil refused code of honor, spit in Ray’s face. As Ray went to put his hat on the corner post, EVIL attacked him from behind and drove Bully to the outside after a shoulderblock.
Ian managed to make his second Bay City Rollers reference of the night, which is an unbelievable feat. Evil was in control for most of the contest and built the story that he simply couldn’t keep Bully Ray down for the three count. His frustration grew to the point that he grabbed Bully Ray’s chain and clotheslined him, losing the match via disqualification. He grabbed and set up a table, but Bully Ray thwarted him and chokeslammed the LIJ member through the table.
Winner: Bully Ray
6 Man Tag Match – LIJ (Naito/Bushi/Sanada) vs. Kushida, Mistico and Titan
KUSHIDA and Sanada started off and KUSHIDA mocked Naito by striking a tranquillo pose. After they wrestled to a stalemate Naito and Mistico were in next. Naito pulled his usual mind games schtick, avoiding the lock up and feigning a tope, before hitting his tranquillo pose. Titan took most of the punishment, but when he finally tagged out, the match became a high flying affair, slowdown with a rowboat spot by Titan and Mistico on LIJ as KUSHIDA applied the hoverboard lock. Things broke down after this and after some hijinks on the outside, Naito ended up back inside. As Mistico went to springboard into the ring, Naito pushed Todd Sinclair out of the way, in a seemingly altruistic act, only to low blow Mistic and hit Destino for the win. Naito raked Todd Sinclair’s eyes after having his hand raised, to BJ Whitmer’s delight. Really fun match between these six guys and it goes to show how over Naito is that he can have minimal involvement physically, yet still command the attention of the fans and pop the crowd with whatever he does.
Winners: LIJ
Hiromu Takahashi vs. Mark Haskins
Lock up, with Haskins in control to start, hitting a suicide dive early and going for a second one. Takahashi moved the other side of the ring and Haskins held himself up in the ropes, turning and catching Takahashi unaware. Back in the ring Haskins worked Takahashi’s arm over before tossing Takahashi, who played cat and mouse. Takahashi went for a sunset flip bomb to the outside, but Haskins held onto the rope before powerbombing Takahashi onto the apron. Daryl got involved, but the referee held off on disqualifying him and allowed the match to continue. Haskins lock on the Haskins special modified fujiwara armbar, but he was too close to the ropes and the ref forced a break. Moments later he applied a stretch muffler, eventually transitioning into an STF, but Takahashi reached the ropes yet again. A Dynamite driver by Takahashi went for a two count and led to a fun series of near falls.Haskins locked on the Haskins special again, but Takahashi wriggled out and hit the Time Bomb for a pinfall victory. Good match, with the closing stretch being especially entertaining.
Winner: Takahashi
ROH Six Man Tag Team Championship match
Dalton Castle & The Boys (c) (Brendan & Brent) vs.
Bullet Club (The Young Bucks & Adam Page)
Page started off against Page as Whitmer and Riccaboni bickered about Whitmer reporting Riccaboni to the Board of Directors for some of his inappropriate comments on the tour.
Peacock pose forced Page to tag out to Nick who demanded one of the Bots. Castle refused, but Boy 2 tagged in anyway. Test of strength initiated by Nick, who immediately was overpower, but it was all a ruse and he stepped over Boy 2’s arms, sticking with a kick to the face. Peacock strut followed by Boys making a chair for Castle. The Boys then managed to knock Nick off the top rope with their fans and then hit dueling sentons to the outside. Bullet Club recovered and floored Castle and the Boys on the outside, hitting simultaneous apron powerbombs.Commentary then mentioned that the Boys have their own dialect of English called Boys, which might explain why they got lost in the Scottish countryside.Nice stretch of Hung Bucks triple teams until Castle broke it up and proceeded to toss the Boys over the ropes at Page and the Bucks on the outside before the Boys teamed to aid Castle’s suicide dive. Page and Castle traded Bang-a-rang/Rite of Passage attempts until things really broke down and Castle finally hit Bag-A-Rang on Page. Matt broke the pin up just in time and a superkick party ensued and in the aftermath, Page teamed with Matt to hit a SHootstar Meltzer on the outside. Back inside, the Hung Bucks won after Page held both Boys while the Jacksons completed a Rite of Passage/Indytaker/ Meltzer Driver combination to win via pinfall and become the new 6-man tag team champions.
Winner: Hung Bucks
Ten Man Tag Team match
The Addiction vs. Bullet Club (Cody Rhodes & Marty Scurll)
Kazarian and Daniels came out in Hot Rod shirts and kilts. Kazarian grabbed a mic and explained they were honoring Piper, pointing out that he couldn’t actually be Scottish and that everyone knows he’s actually Canadian. Kazarian then quoted Braveheart, saying that “The trouble with Scotland, is that it is full of Scots”. Daniels then insulted the crowd a bit and made references to his nether regions that I won’t repeat here. Scurll’s music hit, cutting Daniels off and sending the crowd into a tizzy. Kazarian and Scull started off, but not before the Addiction hugged and Cody planted one on Scurll. Scurll and Kaz had a fun pinning spot that exhausted both men, as they tagged out to Daniels and Cody. Good back and forth from both of these teams as they kept the crowd engaged throughout and worked well together here. Eventually the Addiction hit celebrity rehab on Cody, but Scurll broke up the pin and he locked a Chickenwing on Kaz while Cody hit Cross Rhodes on Daniels for the pinfall victory.
Winners: Cody Rhodes & Marty Scurll
Edinburgh Street Fight
Jay Lethal vs. Silas Young vs. Jay Lethal
Young came out with a chair as he made his way to the ring in what eemed like a more ornery mood than normal. Lethal never made it to the ring as they went at it in the aisle right away, with Lethal on control early, tossing Young into the barricade. Lethal peeled off the mats on the outside and both teased dropping each other on the floor before heading back into the ring.
Sinclair lost his belt to Young, but Lethal grabbed it and punished Young with the same belt before scoring a near fall. The two went back to the outside and Lethal delivered a suplex off the guardrail to the arena floor before grabbing the same chair Young brought to the ring. An odd moment saw a Lethal figure four broken by Young rolling under the ropes, which did not make sense in a street fight with no disqualification. Young kicked out of a Lethal Injection and after some brawling, the two set up a ladder and a table, to suplex each other off the top rope. Young was able to gain the advantage and drove Lethal through the table with a Death Valley Driver, winning the match via pinfall. Both men sold being so exhausted that officials came down to check on them and help them up as the show ended. Great win for Young here, but what felt like it should be a blow off may very well just lead to a similar match at Death Before Dishonor between the two.
Winner: Silas Young
Final Reaction: B
After watching all three UK shows from this tour, the London show is still the best show all around, but this show did feature a major title change and it’s interesting that it was part of the iPPV card, as it is a major development. If you were only to order one show out of the three, I would still go with the London show, but the title switch on this card and some of the other matches easily makes this 1B if you can afford to order more than one show.
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