Kicking things off at the ROH 15th Anniversary was a previously unannounced match between Kenny King and Jay White (a young lion in New Japan Pro Wrestling, currently on a learning excursion to aid his development). A solid opener, which also saw White pay homage to the currently injured Honma with a Kokeshi headbutt. Jay White would come away the winner.
The second bout was a fast-paced 6-man match to determine to Number 1 contender for the ROH TV Title, currently held by ‘The Villain’ Marty Scurll.
It was Silas Young, Punishment Martinez, Cheeseburger, Kazarian, Hangman Page and Chris Sabin all going at it – a fun match saw Kazarian capitalize over Young with the Ace of Spades to take the win.
Jay Lethal and Bobby Fish went at it next in a top contenders match.
It was a big time contest, with Fish utilising an MMA approach to attack the limbs of Lethal, but after a hell of a match and 15 minutes later, a Lethal Injection would see Jay Lethal score the victory.
The ROH Six-Man Tag Titles were up for grabs next, as The Kingdom defended against Dalton Castle and the Boys.
Whilst this match was the weakest on the show (not much heat going in, not to mention the Boys rarely, if ever, win matches), it seems this one may have been cut short after O’Ryan’s shin connected with the barricade, following a springboard moonsault to the outside.
The Kingdom retained with an assisted powerbomb.
Next up, Marty Scurll took on Lio Rush, one of the hottest prospects in pro wrestling today, with the ROH TV Title being defended.
Scurll focused on the arm of Rush, looking to lock his his signature Chicken Wing submission, whilst Rush would fight back with his fast paced, flyer brand of offense. Their two styles meshed wonderfully, and Scurll came off a vicious and dominant threat.
After working the arm all match, Scurll would eventually find the Chicken Wing and force Rush to tap.
Davey Boy Smith Jr and War Machine would do battle with The Briscoes and the debuting Bully Ray next.
This six-man match had plenty of brawling, which was a good way to introduce Bully Ray in his first ROH match, and all played to their strengths well.
Bully and The Briscoes would come away with the W, and I would not be too surprised if they challenge for the Six-Man Championships in the near future.
The penultimate match of the evening would see The Broken Hardys, Matt and Jeff, defending their newly won ROH Tag Titles against The Young Bucks and Roppongi Vice in a Las Vegas Street Fight.
Going nearly 20 minutes, this was an amazing, crazy match that you have to see. They all worked to the stipulation perfectly and left everything out there.
The ending would see Brother Nero hit a swanton bomb on Trent Baretta through a table, leading to the Hardys’ first successful defence of the titles.
After the match, The Broken Brothers took off with The Young Bucks’ Superkick Championships!
The main event had the Ring of Honor Championship on the line, as champion Adam Cole (Bay Bay!) defended against ‘Fallen Angel’ Christopher Daniels.
The story here is that whilst Daniels is one of the men who helped build ROH, in 15 years he has never held the company’s top prize.
Cole controlled early and talked trash, shouting in Daniels’ face that he would never be on his level, never be champion and that after the match he would make love to Daniels’ wife.
A bloody Daniels would fire up, and these two would throw everything they had at each other, leaving nothing short of the kitchen sink.
Cole played the douchey, overconfident role as brilliantly as only he can.
The ending would see Kazarian, who at the latest TV tapings had joined The Bullet Club (turning on partner Daniels in the process) coming out, ripping off his BC shirt to reveal a Christoper Daniels shirt and causing a distraction which would see Daniels capitalise and hit a Uranage, followed by three Best Moonsaults Ever to dethrone Adam Cole and pick up his first-ever Ring of Honor World Championship win.
They told a simple but effective story, with Daniels desperate to win the one thing that has alluded him his entire career.
Plus, Cole’s loss now will definitely feed into his ongoing story with Bullet Club (and tensions with Kenny Omega). With it reported that Adam Cole’s contract is set to expire in a few months, this night may well be the (kayfabe) catalyst that leads to his expulsion from Bullet Club, and leaving both Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling.
The PPV concluded with the locker room coming out to celebrate with an emotional Christopher Daniels, who held both the new and original ROH Championships high.
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