Ring of Honor Review - June 8, 2016

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

​Kazuchika Okada def. Matt Sydal

I always enjoy when the stars of New Japan Pro Wrestling appear on ROH TV, though it bothers me their matches are ultimately meaningless and have nothing to do with the storylines. That said, Okada is the exception because he's such a treat to watch in the ring. Plus, the commentators made mention of how he desperately wants back his IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and thus his quest to regain the gold ran through Sydal. Their styles meshed very well and it made for an exciting contest. Okada went over as he should have, but Sydal lost nothing in defeat. Coming out of his recent split with ACH, here's hoping ROH has more in mind for him and doesn't allow him to flounder.


Colt Cabana def. Adam Page

I don't hate the decision to have Page join The Bullet Club, but... why? He just left The Decade. Maybe officials got cold feet on his face run? Also, I feel it waters down the group even more. Please don't let this be a rehash of the New World Order. As for this match, it was well-wrestled and Cabana can still hang with the best of them. I realize he hasn't stopped wrestling over the years, but he hasn't been involved with any major organizations, either. I didn't mind him winning here since the heels got their heat back with the post-match attack, and I liked the sense of urgency the commentators had regarding the situation before calling for the commercial break.

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BJ Whitmer Called Out Steve Corino

I was worried that following his recent surgery, Corino's in-ring days were essentially over, but it's great he's been cleared to compete and they're finally finishing off his long-running rivalry with Whitmer. Whitmer was his usual annoying self here, but at least the segment was kept short and sweet and it made me want to see Corino get his hands on him at Best in the World. By the way, whatever the hell happened to Steve's son Colby? He was just as integral to the storyline as King was, and unless I missed something, he was dropped from the angle without explanation. Not that I'm complaining, though, because I'm glad the focus is back to being on solely King and Whitmer.


ROH World Champion Jay Lethal def. Donovan Dijak (Non-title)

This was a feud I was actually really looking forward to when it was initially teased a while back, but it's been so long since they've crossed paths that their bad blood has lost a little steam since then. Despite that, they had a far more entertaining match than I expected them to. I realize there was criticism among fans as to how green Dijak still was in the ring, but he had a strong showing versus the champ and was on the verge of victory several times. The only thing I didn't understand was that if The Bullet Club intended to attack Lethal, why would they interfere before Dijak was seemingly about to win? And was Lethal supposed to be the babyface here? If so, fine, but if not, he should have done more to turn the crowd against him because he is absolutely beloved by the audience right now.


Overall Show

With Best in the World only a few weeks away, I'm very glad ROH is promoting the pay-per-view properly this time around unlike with Global Wars. This was a highly enjoyable episode on the whole with three excellent matches, a serviciable segment and plenty of hype for several matches on the advertised card or for matches that should be added soon. There was a ton of Bullet Club on this show, so here's hoping they aren't running the risk of overexposure in ROH.