Cole is over with the crowd, getting quite a few chants - despite being the heel. The catchphrase is of course over as well, and in a fun bit early, YOSHI-HASHI apes it as his own to really miff Cole. Pretty standard Cole title defense, lot of trading, but Cole does come off like the bigger star. They trade finish kickouts and then move into a sequence with YOSHI-HASHI working the shoulder with a submission and a sleeper, where Cole barely survives. Cole continues to sell on offense, he was fine there. More escalation, layout here is booked well; Cole hits his real crappy looking destroyer and a shining wizard (again) for another two count. That's it though, he pulverizes YOSHI-HASHI and hits another Last Shot to retain. Even with some extra kickouts in the back half, this was easily better than Lethal's ROH title defenses and the crowd was really into it. ***

Adam Cole is someone I don't find to be good, so I didn't have any expectations going in - but what a pleasant surprise this was! A really good match! Adam Cole's work on top wasn't actually boring, which is VERY rare & YOSHI-HASHI was a damn great underdog trying to pull off the upset. Best Adam Cole singles match since the one vs. Chris Daniels from 2015 Field of Honor. Really good stuff. ***3/4

Good title defense for Cole. Someone like HASHI I think helped him with the crowd heat. He is a big enough threat to be able to have the crowd invest in his nearfalls but also a low level enough opponent to allow for Cole to shine without diminishing his character enough. Overall, not a particularly memorable match but an enjoyable 15 minute affair to pad out a title defense record. ***1/4