Csonka’s ROH Global Wars 2018: Toronto Review

Csonka’s ROH Global Wars 2018 Toronto Review

– Final Battle Women’s Title Qualifier: Karen Q defeated Kaitlin Diemond @ 6:20 via submission [**]
– Hangman Page defeated Chuckie T @ 10:40 via pin [***½]
– Tetsuya Naito and BUSHI defeated Vinny & TK From The Kingdom @ 11:40 via pin [**½]
– Matt Taven defeated Christopher Daniels @ 9:40 via pin [**¾]
– The Briscoes defeated EVIL and SANADA @ 13:55 via pin [***½]
– Flip Gordon defeated Jonathan Gresham @ 9:10 via pin [**¾]
– ROH Tag Team Title Match: Champions Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky defeated Super Smash Bros @ 13:30 via pin [****]
– Juice Robinson defeated Trent @ 18:55 via pin [****]
– Young Bucks defeated Chris Sabin & KUSHIDA @ 15:25 via submission [****¼]
– ROH Title Match: Champion Jay Lethal defeated Kenny King @ 22:25 via pin [***½]

---

– Follow all of my reviews at this link.

– My review of the Lewiston show is at this link.

– My review of the Lowell show is at this link.

– My review of the Buffalo show is at this link.

– You can check out my top 49 matches of OCTOBER list at this link.

Final Battle Women’s Title Qualifier: Karen Q vs. Kaitlin Diemond: Kelly Klein and her complete lack of charisma are on commentary. They lock up, Diemond takes early control and grounds Karen. Karen counters out, lays in strikes, but Diemond follows with arm drags and a dropkick for 2. Diemond misses the charge, and Karen cuts her off as Sumie Sakai comes out to watch the match. Karen lays in strikes and maintains control, and the back handspring elbow and spinning elbow and running kick all connect. The XPLODER gets 2. Diemond fights back, lays in kicks and a bicycle kick and the cover gets 2. Diemond follows with a side effect and that gets 2. Karen cuts that off, but Diemond locks on Billy Goat’s curse and Cabana is insulted by this move thievery. Karen escapes, hits a full nelson slam and the spring roll for the win. Karen Q defeated Kaitlin Diemond @ 6:20 via submission [**] This was ok, Diemond was fine and thankfully not bad. She just existed here.

– Madison Rayne & Karen Q have qualified for the four-way women’s title match. Champion Sumie Sakai & the winner of Rose vs. Klein will join the match. Post match, Klein attacks Sumie and Karen joins in. Madison Rayne makes the save and all four brawl, including a high cross to the floor onto the pile by Sumie.

– Rhett Titus, his speedo, and sultry music arrive for a pose down.

Hangman Page vs. Chuckie T: They lock up, working into some counters, but Page counters back and grounds the action. They trade shoulder tackles, and Page takes him down. They work into a series of counters, and Chuckie hits the shoulder tackle. Page cuts him off with a fall away slam and suicide dive. Back in and Page slams Chuckie, and then hits the pump handle slam into a bridge for 2. Page follows with forearms, dropping Chuckie. Chuckie fights back but leaps into a bicycle kick and he rolls to the floor. Back in and Chuckie counters the RANA with a sitout powerbomb. To the floor they go and Chuckie whips Page to the barricades. Page fights back and posts Chuckie. Page heads up top and misses the apron shooting star and Chuckie hits a flatliner on the floor. Back in and Chuckie heads up top and misses the double stomp and Page hits a lariat and powerbomb for 2. Page looks for rite of passage, Chuckie fights it off and hits soul food and sliced bread for 2. He follows with chops, takes Page up top and follows him up. Page fights him off, and the buckshot lariat is cut off once but he hits it the second time but rite of passage is cut off into a stuff piledriver. Chuckie follows with rights and they trade, the awful waffle is countered into rite of passage for the win. Hangman Page defeated Chuckie T @ 10:40 via pin [***½] This was a very good and competitive match, and one that really should have opened the show. Really nice work from both.

– The card has been shuffled due to Cody’s injury.

Tetsuya Naito and BUSHI vs. Vinny & TK From The Kingdom: Vinny and BUSHI to begin. Vinny attacks and goes after the mask. BUSHI fights back with a DDT and chokes out Vinny with his shirt. Naito tags in and lays in rights and elbows. TK tags in and follows with uppercuts and Naito hits arm drags and a dropkick; traquilo. Vinny attacks and then goes back to the mask of BUSHI. TK lays the boots to Naito, and grounds things with elbow drops for 2. Naito cuts him off with an enziguri and Vinny cuts off the corner dropkick combo and hits a cutter on the floor. Back in and TK follows with ground and pound. Vinny tags in and they isolate Naito with double teams. Naito fires back, but is quickly cut off. The double team flapjack and more double teams follow for 2. TK knocks BUSHI to the floor, Naito fires back with rights, they try something and blow it, as Vinny tags back in. More kingdom double teams follow for 2. TK grounds things, Naito fires up again and hits a tornado DDT. BUSHI tags in and hits a RANA and follows with kicks and a missile dropkick. TK cuts him off, but BUSHI runs them together and hits the double RANA. Vinny hits a knee strike and double teams follow for 2. Naito cuts off house of a thousand horses and then tags in. The corner dropkick combo connects and he and BUSHI work double teams and that gets 2. BUSHI & TK brawl to the floor and then takes out Naito. House of a thousand horses follows and BUSHI makes the save. BUSHI runs them together and mists TK. Vinny hits the reverse DDT but Naito hits destino for the win. Tetsuya Naito and BUSHI defeated Vinny & TK From The Kingdom @ 11:40 via pin [**½] This was a last minute change due to Cody’s injury. There were some communication issues early on, but it ended up as a solid match.

– Post match, Taven attacks Naito as Daniels makes the save. Daniels and LIJ clear the ring.

Christopher Daniels vs. Matt Taven: The brawl immediately heads into our next match, with Taven taking Daniels to the floor, but Daniels hitting an Arabian press. Back in and Daniels heads up top and the high cross gets 2. The enziguri follows, but Taven counters angel’s wing into just the tip. He follows with ground and pound as Castle is out to watch the action as he’ll face Taven at Final Battle. Taven hits a backdrop and covers for 2. Daniels counters the lionsault into a cradle for 2. Taven cuts that off with a DDT for 2. Daniels fights back, picks up the pace and hit an STO for the double down. Back up and Daniels lays in clotheslines and strikes. Taven is down and Daniels then hits the blue thunder bomb for 2. Taven rushes Daniels to the buckles, rolls into an enziguri and the sitout powerbomb gets 2. Kick of the king connects and that also gets 2. The Russian leg sweep and neck breaker follow and Taven covers for 2. Daniels counters the climax into angel’s wings and both men are down. Vinny & TK arrive and distract the ref. Daniels attacks, TK slides in the fake title and Daniels uses it to take out Vinny., Low blow and climax by Taven follow for the win. Matt Taven defeated Christopher Daniels @ 9:40 via pin [**¾] This was going along well until the completely overbooked finish, which wasn’t needed here at all.

The Briscoes vs. EVIL and SANADA: Mark & EVIL to begin. EVIL attacks with kicks, but Mark pulls the hair and we’re fighting dirty to begin. EVIL gets a full nelson as Mark breaks in the ropes. The Briscoes now attack, sending SANADA to the floor, but EVIL fights them off and tags in SANADA. They work double teams and cover Mark for 2. Mark fights off paradises lock, Jay tags in and they double team SANADA after dumping EVIL. They choke out SANADA in the corner, and start working quick tags and lay the boots to SANADA. Mark follows with a suplex, covering for 2. The Briscoes follow with double teams, as Jay takes control. He lays in head butts and rights, and the running boot follows for 2. Mark tags back in, laying in chops on SANADA. SANADA fights back and hits the missile dropkick but Jay cuts off the tag and then Mark pulls EVIL to the floor. SANADA cuts them off with dropkicks and EVIL tags in and runs them together and runs wild. The side slam follows for 2. Mark fires back, hits a clothesline and they fight over the fisherman’s buster and EVIL finally hits it. SANADA tags in and so does Jay. They trade strikes, lighting each other up. SANADA now locks on the paradise lock. Mark in and a paradise lock for him as well. SANADA plays to the crowd, dropkicks Jay and then Mark to break the holds. Mark dumps him and they brawl as mark joins in with the blockbuster on EVIL. Back in and redneck boogie connects on SANADA for 2. EVIL fights off Mark on the floor as Jay looks for Jay driller, SANADA fights out and EVIL is back and they double team Jay and the Saito suplex gets 2. They look for magic killer, but Mark makes the save, but SANADA gets skull end, Mark in with a chair shot with the ref distracted. The Jay driller finishes SANADA. The Briscoes defeated EVIL and SANADA @ 13:55 via pin [***½] This was a very good, all action tag match with both teams working very well together.

– EVIL lays out the Briscoes with chair shots post match.

Flip Gordon vs. Jonathan Gresham: They lock up and work into some grappling exchanges. Slick counters by Gresham follow and they work into a stand off. The shoulder tackle follows, Flip dumps him and the suicide dive follows, but a rough landing for Flip as he clutches at his knee. Flip gets back to his feet, rolls in and Gresham covers for 2. Flip fires back with strikes, hits a kick and covers for 2. Flip follows with chops, but he’s slow to follow as he limps around. Gresham transitions into a rolling crab, grounding Flip and attacking the knee. He starts twisting the ankle, but Flip makes the ropes. Gresham follows with the shin breaker, the trade chops, and Gresham then attacks the knee again, and Flip is down. Flip counters and they roll around into pin attempts as they work the tumbleweed spot, and Flip hits a desperation PELE and he’s down. Flip fights off Gresham’s attacks and does the deal with a falcon arrow for 2. Flip slowly looks to go up top, Gresham follows and the super RANA follows for 2. Gresham then lays in huge strikes on Flip and covers again for 2. Gresham then hits the bridging German for 2. Flip fights back with one leg and hits a flip 5 and picks up the win. Flip Gordon defeated Jonathan Gresham @ 9:10 via pin [**¾] I think that the knee injury angle was a good idea. It allowed the match to be more of a Gresham match, and his layouts are really good. It also allowed Flip to work on his selling, he did well here, and further solidifies him as a sympathetic babyface. The match was pretty good overall, with Flip overcoming the odds, and Gresham failing because he was too sportsmanlike and didn’t stay on the attack of the knee.

– Flip calls out Bully, saying he’ll never quit no matter what he does to him. At Final Battle, he challenges Bully to an I Quit match.

ROH Tag Team Title Match: Champions Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky vs. Super Smash Bros (Stu Grayson & Evil Uno): Kaz and Grayson into begin. They lock up, work into some basic back and forth as Kaz picks up the pace, hits a RANA but Grayson cuts him off with knee strikes and a dropkick. Sky and Uno tag in. They lock up, Sky works into slick counters and takes Uno down and looks to work the arm. Uno battles back to his feet, Sky takes him down but Uno hits an arm drag and shoulder tackle. Kaz blind tags in and hits the spin kick on Uno and they then double team Grayson as the champions take control, double teaming Uno and celebrate with an SCU. Uno cuts off Sky, Grayson tags in and they put together a fun series of double teams on the champions, covering for 2. Grayson now grounds Kaz, tags in Uno, and he back rakes Kaz. The challengers work quick tags, isolating Kaz as Grayson lays in chops and a corner spear. Uno in with chops and the side back breaker gets 2. Kaz starts fighting them off, avoids a charge and tags in Sky. Sky is fired up and hits the running double stomp and slingshot head scissor. Uno cuts him off with a neck breaker, and tags in Grayson who hits the high cross and uranage on Sky, The knee strike follow sand then lionsault into Sky’s knees. The champs knock Uno to the floor and Kaz follows with a slingshot RANA, sending Grayson into Uno. Sky now follows with a sweet looking tope. Back in and the champions work over Grayson with a double team DDT for 2. Grayson cuts them off with the double PELE and tags in Uno. The SSB start working double teams, tossing Kaz into Sky and chasing the dragon follows and gets 2. They all brawl now, trading strikes, and going crazy fists. Kaz hits the backstabber and Sky hits the cutter as Kaz hits a cutter on Grayson. Double dragon sleepers follow from the champions. The SSB fire up and escape, Grayson hits an over the post tope onto Kaz, and Uno heads up top and hits the swanton, and Grayson follows with the 450 and that gets 2 as the crowd loses their shit on the tease of a title change. Sky slams Uno into Grayson, Sky hits the double stomp and flies up into a super RANA. The SCU double backstabber combo finally finishes it. Champions Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky defeated Super Smash Bros @ 13:30 via pin [****] This was a banger. Someone open the checkbook, fix the border issues, and get the Super Smash Bros in the US full fucking time please. I’m looking at both ROH & Impact.

Trent vs. Juice Robinson: They shake hands and we’re friends to begin. Lock up to begin, Juice hits a shoulder tackle and Trent is down and frustrated. Juice hits another shoulder tackle and Trent continues to look frustrated. Trent now rushes him to the buckles and lays in chops. Juice fires back with jabs, but Trent whips him to the buckles and does the Triple H bump to the floor as Coleman says he hopes he didn’t tear a pec, that’s old brother. Trent follows but Juice whips him to the barricade and then misses the cannonball and sends himself into the crowd. Trent drapes him over the barricade and delivers a double stomp from the other barricade. Back in and Trent covers for 2. He follows with kicks to the back, and follows with the back elbow. Trent now hits the charging corner elbow but Juice blocks the DDT and dumps Trent over the ropes. He follows with a side back breaker, and the senton follows for 2. He hits another and sends Trent to the buckles and he takes the Bret Hart bump. Juice is really focusing on the ribs right now, but now misses a charge as Trent sidesteps him and Juice gets posted. Trent fires himself up and follows with a tope. Back in they go, Trent heads up top and the high cross is met with knees and Juice covers for 2. Trent manages to hit a desperation DDT and they roll to the apron. Trent now spikes Juice with an apron piledriver and both spill to the floor. Back in and Trent hits the running knee strike for 2. Juice pulls himself up, but Trent unloads with rights and chops. Juice hits a desperation KO strike and both men are down. Juice drags himself up top, and Trent crotches him. Trent follows him up, Juice lands head butts and knocks Trent to the mat. Trent pops back up and hits an overhead belly to belly superplex! Juice counters the knee strike and hercs him up an into the juice box (pop up gut buster) for 2. They trade strikes, looking completely exhausted, and firing with all they have left. Juice hits the big KO shot, looks for pulp friction, but Trent counters, but Juice gets the cradle for 2. Enziguri by Trent and then kills Juice with a sick lariat! The dudebuster is countered, and Trent spikes him with a piledriver for 2. Trent springboards in and Juice catches him with the big left, and pulp friction finally finishes Trent. Juice Robinson defeated Trent @ 18:55 via pin [****] Juice goes 4-0 on the tour and does so in an unplanned match due to Cody’s injury. And with the change, these boys went out and tried to steal the show and they delivered big time as this felt like a main event style match with really good work and a dramatic closing stretch. This was some tremendous stuff, and as I discussed in my previews, this was a big rehab tour for Juice to build him back up and likely get him back into the US Title picture. Great work by both guys, they delivered, and while Trent lost, he put in a really great single performance that he needed.

– Post match, Juice tells Cody to heal up because he’s coming to get his title back.

Young Bucks vs. Chris Sabin & KUSHIDA: Nick and KUSHIDA to start, they work into a really fun opening stretch and end in a standoff. Nick hits the dropkick, and then double teams follow on KUSHIDA. They dump Sabin and continue to double team KUSHIDA. The Bucks work quick tags, isolating KUSHIDA with double teams and knocking Sabin to the floor again. KUSHIDA finally fights back enough to tags in Sabin and they run wild and hit the dream sequence on Matt. They start hitting a series of poetry in motions and follow with apron cannonballs to the floor. Back in and Sabin and KUSHIDA take control, working quick tags on Nick and working the arm. They now work arm bars on the Bucks, but they make the ropes. Sabin now grounds Nick, keeping him on their half of the ring. KUSHIDA tags back in and the cartwheel dropkick follows for 2. Nick starts to make the comeback, hits the double stomp and lung blower and tags Matt in. Matt hits clotheslines on both, a superkick and then blockbuster on the floor. Back in and the inverted code red gets 2 on Sabin. Sabin fights off the sharpshooter, Nick tags back in and double teams follow but KUSHIDA makes the save. The Bucks hit superkicks, and cover both for 2. KUSHIDA cuts off the Meltzer driver, and Sabin follows with a suicide dive. They double team Matt and the cradle shock follows for 2 as Nick makes the save. Sabin takes out Nick, Matt fights off back to the future as it breaks down into a superkick party from all. Knee strike by Nick and more bang for your buck is countered by KUSHIDA into a triangle as Sabin hits a super belly to belly on Matt. They look for skull and bones, it hits, but Matt makes the save. Sabin up top and they look for the doomsday dropkick but Matt lands on his feet after backflipping out and lays in superkicks and covers for 2. Nick hits the skywalker dive to the floor and the Meltzer driver follows and KUSHIDA makes the save. They dump KUSHIDA, and matt locks on a sharpshooter. Nick flies in and hits an X-factor and the moonsault to the floor as Sabin taps. Young Bucks defeated Chris Sabin & KUSHIDA @ 15:25 via submission [****¼] This was great and delivered on the predicted banger status. Sabin & KUSHIDA really gelled during the juniors tour and have blended the MCMG style and Time Splitter style into an extremely effective and quality tag team that I tremendously enjoy. The Young Bucks continue to be highlights of these Honor Club shows, and continue to prove why they are the best tag team in the world. This was great from start to finish, with great and effortless tag team work, great drama down the stretch, and most importantly it didn’t overstay its welcome. They also did a great job of teasing that Sabin & KUSHIDA could win here. This was the best match of the tour.

ROH Title Match: Champion Jay Lethal vs. Kenny King: King attacks at the bell with shotgun knees, and dumps Lethal to the floor. The tornillo follows. King then starts laying in strikes, beating Lethal’s ass around ringside until Lethal hits a suplex to cut him off. Lethal now follows with uppercuts, but as they look to roll in, King follows with a kick and cannonball off the apron. They finally work back in and King hits a huge lariat and covers for 2. King misses a charge, and Lethal fires back with chops and the cartwheel dropkick. Lethal continues to lay in chops and then lays the boots to King. The back breaker follows for 2. King counters the charge into a sunset flip for 2. He follows with an XPLODER to the buckles and takes control back. The spinebuster follows for 2. Lethal rolls to the floor. King brings him back in, but Lethal catches him with a powerslam. Lethal follows with rights, and then dropkicks him to the floor. Lethal looks for a suicide dive but King grabs the title and teases hitting Lethal. The distraction allows King to attack and post Lethal. King now grounds Lethal, working the arm as commentary smartly mentions that Haskins & Gresham worked the same arm in past matches. King starts talking shit and spits at Lethal, but he’s only firing Lethal up. They trade strikes, lighting each other up, and King hits the blue thunder bomb for 2. King has abandoned the arm work as he heads up top. Lethal cuts him off and connects with the superplex. Lethal now hits a suicide dive, follows with a second, and the third. Back in they go and back in and Lethal locks on the figure four. King makes the ropes and Lethal follows with leg kicks and a cutter and lethal combination for 2. King cuts off the Lethal injection and hits the chin checker for 2. Lethal fights of the royal flush, but King cuts off the Lethal injection and hits the blockbuster for 2. King takes Lethal up top, they battle for position and Lethal knocks him off and follows with a missile dropkick and running Spicolli driver. The top rope elbow is countered into a cradle for 2. King finally hits the royal flush but Lethal kicks out. King heads up top and misses the shooting star press and the Lethal injection finishes only gets 2 as King kicked out. Lethal is completely shocked. Lethal now pummels him with strikes, dares King to get back up and then follows with chops and strikes. The ref gets bumped and King pins Lethal with his feet on the ropes… but nope, the ref saw it and tells King no way. King cradles him again for 2. The Lethal connects again and that’s that. Champion Jay Lethal defeated Kenny King @ 22:25 via pin [***½] This was a tricky one coming in, Lethal is a great performer and has been the most consistent in ring performer for ROH over the last few years. King is a great athlete and has shown he can step up when working with top talent, but was put into a hard position here as the pre-Final Battle challenger. The key here was making the fans believe in a possible title change and King as a legit threat. I think they started well with King showing his desperation in finally getting his shot, attacking and running wild to try and end it early. The good news is that this ended up as very good main event match, that I feel went on bit too long and didn’t need the overbooking at the end. King hanging with Lethal and kicking out of the injection was more than enough, we didn’t need the dirty pin/overturning bullshit in any way. They did a solid job of making King a threat, but the crowd really didn’t feel as if they were buying into the near falls, which hurt the drama and atmosphere down the home stretch.

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

Despite a re-shuffled card and the loss of the IWGP US Title match, the final stop of the 2018 ROH Global Wars tour was the best of the four, with some really great wrestling, a great atmosphere, and even some build to Final Battle.