ROH All Star Extravaganza Review - September 30, 2016

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

ROH World Television Champion Bobby Fish def. Donovan Dijak

I continue to be confused as to what Fish is supposed to be. He has been acting like a tweener almost all year, and as heelish as he comes across in his various title defenses, he will still come to the aid of his tag team partner Kyle O'Reilly like he did later in this show. Well, I don't think there was any doubt that he was the heel here as Dijak was the obvious fan favorite being a Massachusetts native. Due to that, I really thought he had the title won, and I thought it was the wrong choice to have Fish retain. He just isn't doing it for me as TV Champion, but I will say this is the best match I've seen him have all year. They told a solid story with Fish continually working over the injured knee of Dijak, who cost himself the match when he flew off the top rope and came up empty and landed right on his knee. Although I was disappointed by the outcome, this was a very good match.

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Dalton Castle and Colt Cabana def. All Night Express, War Marchine, and Shane Taylor & Keith Lee in a No. 1 Contender's Four Corner Survival Match For the ROH World Tag Team Championship

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Ring of Honor undoubtedly has the most well-rounded tag team division in wrestling today and I think that goes unnoticed more often than not. Although I was hoping for some sort of blow-off between War Machine and Taylor and Lee, which has really piqued my interest as of late, their involvement in this match was perfect because they were too focused on each other to win the match. Everyone shined at one point or another, but Taylor and Lee impressed the hell out of me with what they could do. Castle and Cabana are an entertaining combo and they were the right team to win. Both guys deserved a little push after not doing much in recent months.

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CMLL World Lightweight Champion Dragon Lee def. Kamaitachi (Non-title)

I didn't even know this match was advertised for the card until it happened. Perhaps it was intended to serve as a "cool down" match after the hot Four Corner Survival, but it actually ended up being better and the second best match of the night next to the main event. Kamaitachi is incredibly underrated and I was happy he was able to showcase his skills here in a major way. As for Dragon Lee, I had never heard of him prior to this point, but he made a fan out of me with his phenomenal performance in this match. The match might have lasted a minute longer than it needed to, but they worked amazingly well together and I hope to see more of Lee in ROH in the future.


Kyle O'Reilly def. Hangman Page

I felt bad for these guys because they were poorly placed after the super energetic Lee vs. Kamaitachi match. This wasn't a bad bout whatsoever, but the crowd was disinterested for the better part of it, which was a letdown. In fact, some guy sitting near me attempted to start a "Boring!" chant two minutes in without giving the match more time. The match was all right (even if the finish was abrupt), but what I didn't like was Page losing so decisively. He was put over huge by beating Jay Briscoe clean at the last pay-per-view, and then he loses to O'Reily for no apparent reason. It would have made more sense if he won and that led into a feud with Fish for the TV title, but I guess they want to keep O'Reilly strong before he faces Cole for the belt before long.


Kevin Kelly Interviewed Silas Young

Young has been a favorite of mine since I started watching Ring of Honor two years ago and it still shocks me beyond belief that more isn't being done with him. That said, it looks like he's being set up for a world title push in the near future. I assume it's only a temporary thing, but at least it's a sense of direction. He's a talented talker, as evidenced by this promo, and I hope ROH has plans for him beyond the world title match. By the way, he beat Evil and Will Ferrara in a well-wrestled three-way match prior to the pay-per-view.


Kushida, ACH and Jay White def. IWGP Tag Team Champion The Briscoes and GHC Tag Team Champion Toru Yano in an ROH Six-Man Tag Team Championship Tournament Round 1 Match

While I haven't seen much of Yano other than the one match he had on a recent episode of ROH TV, he was the star of this match for me. He's almost like the Japanese version of Santino Marella, yet ten times funnier. I didn't know how he would mesh with the seriousness of The Briscoes, but they were a fun team and this was a highly enjoyable match on the whole. They were my pick to advance, but I like the idea of the junior heavyweights winning because it's a credible victory for them and they're just a more natural trio.


Jay Lethal def. IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito (Non-title)

Just seeing Lethal in person for the first time was a surreal experience for yours truly. If I were WWE, I'd pick this guy up as soon as he became available. He and Naito have had a strong rivalry going into this event and they found great chemistry with each other. It isn't often we get interference in ROH matches, but it made sense to have Evil get involved here and nearly cost Lethal the match. The finish was cool with Lethal going for the Lethal Injection a few of times, even hitting it off the top rope at one point. This wasn't the greatest match he's had all year, but I figured as such since Lethal's bigger focus is on Cole and the world title.


ROH World Champion Adam Cole def. Michael Elgin

Cole is so over to the point where people are going to side  with him over his opponents more often than not. Similar to Lethal, he is an absolute star. Elgin has improved immensely since the last time they met on pay-per-view two years ago, but the title was never really in jeopardy. Nevertheless, they produced a pretty good match with a handful of sweet spots thrown in. I was glad they went with this world title match and not something bigger considering the tag team title match headlined the show, as it should have.


The Young Bucks def. The Addiction and The Motor City Machine Guns in Ladder War 6 to Win the ROH World Tag Team Championship

Those who set their expectations fairly high for this match (myself included) had to have been more than pleased with what we got here. In so many words, this match was absolute insanity, and needless to say, it was one of the best bouts I have ever witnessed in person. You knew they were going to go out there and come close to killing themselves, and I don't think you can't say they didn't do that. It was highlight after highlight and the crowd was on their feet the entire time. All six competitors deserve credit for putting forth an absolutely amazing effort, but Daniels was the MVP with all the abuse he took, and the dude is 46-years-old! Total respect. The Young Bucks have so much momentum on their side right now it would have been foolish to not have them go over, so I was ecstatic that they did, and the celebration that ensued afterward was certainly a sight to see.


​Overall Show

With this being the first Ring of Honor event I've ever attended, I had a blast and it was a wildly awesome experience. I'll be back the next time they're in the area (no, I will not be at the TV tapings this weekend). As a show, I'd say it definitely delivered. The main event was well worth the price of purchase alone, but the rest of the card featured a ton of excellent in-ring action. Only O'Reilly vs. Page was slightly underwhelming as everything else ranged from good to great to spectacular. Check out All Star Extravaganza as you are guaranteed to be entertained.