McXal's Reviews

Night two of ROH’s tour of New Japan returns us to the historic Korakuen Hall just twenty four hours after Tomohiro Ishii shocked the world by defeating Roderick Strong to win the ROH TV Title (without ever having formally competed for Ring Of Honor). Those two are on opposing sides in a big undercard six-man tag tonight, so we could see fireworks in that one. Jay Lethal will defend the ROH World Championship in the main event, against popular NJPW stalwart Tomoaki Honma (who unlike Ishii, does boast a US appearance for ROH on his resume - all the way back at Final Battle 2003, when he was part of All Japan's roster). The undercard will also see The Elite of the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega challenge the Briscoes and Toru Yano for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Titles. Once again we are taped in Tokyo, Japan. This is the NJPW World streaming version again, meaning no commentary and all ROH entrance music silenced out. 

NJPW Young Lion action gets us started. This was at the start of a pretty remarkable few years for Jay White. He’d be enjoying a successful elongated stay with ROH by the end of 2016, and by 2017/18 would go on to become a major player in New Japan. At this point he was just a humble, young New Zealander looking to make his way however. His opponent is the son of Fit Finlay, and another promising upstart talent working through the NJPW system.

Unsurprisingly, given that his dad is one of his trainers, Finlay is extremely comfortable working holds on the mat – which also serves to nullify a lot of White’s real strengths. The first two minutes fly by in a blur of smooth chain-wrestling exchanges which seem to leave Finlay in the ascendancy. The arm becomes a target and Jay is soon left nursing an injury which is clearly hampering him. He uses the good arm to hit running uppercuts though, before climbing the ropes to land a missile dropkick for 2. He goes for a Boston Crab, but Finlay kicks at the bad arm to escape which is a nice touch. Finlay Roll blocked, so David drops his opponent on the shoulder again with a bridging German suplex for 2. Finlay sits into a Boston Crab now – a sequence which annoys me greatly. He should be working an arm submission, and it gets worse when White walks along on his arms to the ropes to break it without a hint of selling the shoulder. White finally rolls Finlay into a half crab (since his other arm is injured), but then converts to the full double-legged version to force the submission victory at 07:58

Rating - ** - The whole point of the Young Lions is that they don’t do anything too flashy, they don’t hog the spotlight – they just get some valuable ring-time to gain valuable experience and showcase their skill in structuring basic matches for maximum impact. On that front I thought both executed particularly well here. This was a simple, but effective story – and both men delivered creditable performances. I didn’t like the Boston Crab spot Finlay used, and White’s selling of the arm was uneven…but ROH have sent out FAR worse to open their live events recently.

This should be unique for a number of reasons. Firstly we saw Delirious and Gedo as opponents yesterday (Delirious won), and their team is notable in that it puts together the lead bookers for both companies. It also throws together four long-time colleagues, who have worked together alongside their counterpart (Sydal/Delirious and Liger/Gedo) for almost their entire careers. Liger and Gedo have shared the NJPW Junior scene for as long as you care to remember, whilst Sydal and Delirious go all the way back to their formative training together too. Liger and Sydal already have one win as a team for this weekend – can they go 2-0?

Everyone tries to rouse Delirious before the bell like they’ve never seen one of his matches before. The notable exception is Sydal, who knows what is going to happen and simply hops onto the apron to await the beginning of the contest. Gedo sarcastically shakes hands with Liger…then attacks him without much success. Sydal and Liger run through some token work on Gedo’s arm, although it’s mostly an excuse to line-up more Delirious comedy weirdness. He starts running laps of the ring like a maniac so Sydal (once again, showing his experience working Delirious) lies in wait on the apron to deliver a METEORA TO THE FLOOR! That triggers something of a brawl and culminates in Delirious stealing a female front row fan’s purse to hit Liger with. Shotei from Liger to Gedo means he is quickly able to tag out though. Delirious tries his rope-run zig-zag spot…but AGAIN Sydal familiarity counters him into The Slice. But Delirious knows him too so dodges the standing moonsault! Only for Matt to sweep his legs and land the standing moonsault anyway! Liger rockets him to the floor with another Shotei then puts Gedo in position for the Sydal Press! Matt and Liger win their second match of the weekend at 07:19

Rating - ** - This was preferable to the Delirious/Gedo comedy match from Night One. The addition of Sydal and Liger upped the workrate significantly – particularly when Sydal and Delirious were in together. I loved the subtle nods to their career-long rivalry, in a match where they really didn’t need to bother since much of it will have gone over the heads of a Japanese fanbase unfamiliar with their work on the American Midwest independent scene. 

As I noted yesterday, Frankie took this booking at short notice when Adam Cole had to pull out of the tour for family reasons. He put up a tough fight in a losing effort against Kushida at Night 1, so won’t want to leave empty handed. Castle also failed to win his match yesterday, but did get involved in some striking exchanges with the legendary Jushin Liger which really made him popular with the Japanese fans. 

Kazarian is the latest opponent to get agitated at Castle’s bizarre mannerisms, but does at least succeed in pissing Dalton off too when he tries to get The Boys to fan him. Tiger Hattori is officiating and steals the scene from both of them when he counts Castle’s shoulders to the mat during one of his lengthy poses! A jumping knee off the turnbuckles sends Kaz to the floor…but once out there he lies in wait behind one of the Boys before jumping out and attacking Castle. He lands a hanging lungblower out of the corner (on an opponent who is known to have a problematic back) to give him the advantage for the first time. Dalton powers back with right hands and knee strikes in the corner, followed by a big overhead suplex. Bang-A-Rang blocked…Everest German blocked too! DEAD-LIFT EVEREST GERMAN gets 2! Frankie counters whatever Castle had in mind next with an electric chair suplex which has Dalton heading back to the apron for more attention from the Boys…and that backfires as Kaz rockets him back over the ropes for the slingshot Ace Crusher. He then shoves the Boys to the ground to be an asshole…and that probably draws more heat than anything else this weekend. Kazarian tries a pescado BUT LANDS ON HIS HEAD when Dalton swats him away. Apron 619 by the Party Peacock nailed, right into a HEAT SEEKING MISSILE! Bang-A-Rang gives Castle the win at 11:07

Rating - ** - The first two matches were just fine at seven minutes, and I don’t think these guys had any call to go much longer than that either. It felt like they had the same amount of action as the opening two bouts of the night…but just had more time to stretch that content out across. Whilst not a bad match, it never grabbed my attention and had started to drag before the hot final thirty seconds. My overriding opinion on both of these two is that they can have great singles matches, but rely on a more talented worker to help them get there rather than being someone who can lead a match to greatness themselves. Dalton still has time to develop and add that string to his bow…

This is Anderson and Doc’s final NJPW appearance, and therefore last time donning the Bullet Club gear. There will be no free ride for them in their final match as they meet reDRagon and Shibata (recovering from the loss to The Elite yesterday) and Goto – who wasn’t booked for yesterday’s event. 

The Bullet Club attack during the entrances to create a chaotic scene as the bell rings. The fans are smart to Karl and Doc leaving so give them huge babyface pops and chants whether they try to work heel or not. And Anderson is definitely trying; pulling Goto under the ropes and repeatedly crashing him into the guardrails, nearly causing him to be counted out. He is wounded afterwards though which makes him easy pickings for a period of Biz Cliz dominance. Shibata gets so pissed off about it that he walks into the ring and punts his own partner in the back to fire him up! It works too, as Goto levels Tonga with a lariat. He brings reDRagon in for the Two Man Smash Machine for 2, before Shibata tags in for the first time to beat lumps out of Gallows. Bad Luck mooches in to kill Shibata’s momentum, feeding him into the 3D-II from Anderson and Doc. The pace quickens with bodies starting to fly in from all angles, and Goto has to think fast to save Shibata from the Magic Killer. Gun Stun countered to a backbreaker before Karl and Goto fight to the outside…as Gallows punts Shibata in the face before giving him the GALLOWS POLE for 2! He tries it again only for Shibata to counter to the Sleeper, right into the PK. Shibata wins for his team at 10:19

Rating - *** - There wasn’t much depth to this, but it was at least consistently entertaining. Anderson and Gallows working heel but getting babyface pops was a strange spectacle for a puro crowd so added something of a unique flavour. Shibata came off like a total bad ass, Gallows does the job on his way out, everyone got some time to throw in some offence (albeit reDRagon were under-utilised). I believe Shibata comes to ROH later in the year which is exciting…

Fale and Tonga embrace, then bow to, the departing Anderson and Gallows. Doc and Karl in turn bow to all four sides of Korakuen Hall and show respect to the blue New Japan canvas as the audience loudly applauds them. 

Moose made quite the impression on the New Japan fans yesterday when he won a multi-man tag against the Bullet Club for his team, earning him respect from Hiroshi Tanahashi for doing so. Tonight he has the chance to do the same against Los Ingobernables in a 2-vs-2 tag environment. More is probably at stake for Kushida, who as reigning IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion will be aware that if BUSHI can pin him here he would move in line for a title shot. LIJ have the additional x-factor of EVIL at ringside...

Much to Bushi’s dismay, Moose is starting the match for his side…and Naito has pulled rank and sent him in to battle! Moose, however, wants the LIJ top dog and deposits Bushi back over the ropes to summon Naito in. Wily and cunning to the last, Naito looks pissed off and wants no part of a fight with the big ROH competitor, so instead starts pissing him off with showmanship and posing. Bushi tries to attack him from behind too, all of which amounts to nothing as Moose lands the ROPE RUN double crossbody block to send them packing. Kushida hits the Tajiri Elbow on Naito…but is then dragged out of the ring and slammed against the rails by Evil, and as he recovers from that Bushi piles in as well with a tope suicida. Evil gets into a brawl with Moose too, to the extent that it’s almost implausible that the referee couldn’t have seen it. Kushida’s midsection and back take a real beating…so he decides to repay the favour by snapping Bushi’s arm over the top rope before decking him with a slingshot somersault lariat. The hot tag to Moose follows, and his offensive flurry even finds the time to level Evil with a bicycle kick as well. Vertical leap dropkick knocks Naito off the top rope, then Kushida climbs onto Moose’s shoulders to hit a DIVING CROSSBODY TO THE FLOOR! Game Breaker floors Bushi, setting him up for the Hitstick. Moose goes 0-2 for the weekend at 08:21

Rating - ** - Did NJPW actually plan to book Moose before he went to TNA, or have they just helped ROH out in setting him up for his match with Okada on pay-per-view next week? He is undefeated for the weekend and has won two matches against two of the most popular and noteworthy wrestling factions in the world right now. The match itself wasn’t particularly special. House show Naito never has his working boots on so doesn’t contribute much more than funny faces and poses. In his absence I thought they did a decent job of adding some levity to the Kushida/BUSHI stuff (BUSHI would actually be the one to eventually end Kushida’s IWGP Junior Title run)…but for the most part this was set up to make Moose look good, and it accomplished that.

There will be two stories in play here. The first will be the on-going rivalry between Okada (currently the reigning IWGP Champion) and Tanahashi; an epic series which has delivered multiple all-time great matches. The second will be the fall-out from last night’s main event which saw Ishii upset ROH’s apple cart by defeating Roderick Strong to become new ROH TV Champion. Will Strong get a measure of revenge here? Will he be able to successfully team up with someone like Elgin, whom he has notably fallen out with in the past? 

Okada starts for the Chaos team, signing himself up for a real slug-fest with a motivated Michael Elgin who clearly wants to prove himself against the champ. Big Mike is dominant and defies even the interference of the rest of the Chaos team to beat Okada down (noticeably Strong helps him fight Ishii off). Tanahashi tags, and has apparently hijacked Moose’s pose and chant to get fans to chant ‘Ace’ in support of him! He and Yoshi drop bombs on each other until they can barely stand – at which point Hashi drags the ace outside and continues the fight on the floor. A trip into the guardrails exacerbates Tana’s nagging shoulder injury, which Ishii looks to exploit with headbutts right on it. I love that as soon as Ishii tags, Strong immediately starts running in trying to fight him. The Stone Pitbull apparently has time for a fist-fight with Roddy whilst preventing Tanahashi from tagging it seems! He then brings Okada in to get some time beating down his arch rival too. The famously bad back is another weakness Chaos look to exploit, meaning the ‘Ace’ is soon rendered a real mess. He hits a springboard crossbody on Ishii, but then flops around on the canvas like an animal hit by a car and doesn’t get near tagging out. Finally he manages to tag Roddy…who sprints in looking to beat up Ishii (although he finds time to level Okada with the Muso as well). Death By Roderick gets 2 on the TV Champion. Ishii lowers his chin and walks into the Jumping Knee too and this time Okada has to come to his rescue. Hashi tagged, but instantly dropped with Strong’s Olympic Slam then Elgin’s German suplex. Roddy, Ishii, Tanahashi and Okada are all beating the sh*t out of each other on the floor as those rivalries spiral out of control. Inside the ring Big Mike almost scales the turnbuckles and lines Yoshi up for the dead-lift superplex. It’s only Okada and Tanahashi brawling through and breaking up the pin that saves him there. Elgin PRESS SLAMS TANAHASHI INTO A CROSSBODY TO THE FLOOR! He f*cking MURDERS Hashi with a lariat to the head after that, before finishing him with the Buckle Bomb/Elgin Bomb combo at 15:46

Rating - *** - MOTN thus far in my opinion. Tanahashi had so many well-documented injuries at this point, and is such a huge star anyway that he makes for an outstanding lightning rod for others to work over in a heat segment. His generosity and work ethic inside the ropes here made this one really enjoyable. The other major plus this match had going for it was the Strong/Ishii stuff. They were both excellent in following up their match yesterday, and I’d love to see them go again in an ROH ring (although I believe we had to make do with a triple threat also including Bobby Fish). 

Roddy and Ishii keep brawling after the bell and have to be separated. 

The Briscoes and Yano were the inaugural NEVER 6-Man Tag Champions, having defeated the Bullet Club to become the first holders of the newly created Title at Wrestle Kingdom. At this point they are actually now two-time champions, having both dropped them to and won them back from the Bullet Club earlier this month. Where Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga and Yujiro Takahashi failed, The Elite are now looking to step in and succeed. We know the Briscoes and the Bucks have done battle many times in the past (and will most likely do so again in future as both have eyes on the ROH Tag Titles). Omega is the newly anointed top gun in Bullet Club and already holds the IWGP Intercontinental Title. He will be keen to prove his credentials by adding yet more silverware to his waist. The Elite’s entrance tonight includes Omega wearing a New Day shirt and Nick making Cody Hall carry him to the ring!

Cody Hall decks both Briscoes before the bell, leaving Yano alone fighting 3-on-1 odds as the match starts. Jay and Mark make a swift return to Briscoe Biel Nick OVER THE TURNBUCKLES TO THE FLOOR! Toru plods back in and celebrates with them like they’ve just won the match. He tries to hide in the ropes when Omega comes for payback…and doesn’t see the Bucks coming from the apron with a double Superkick! TRIPLE ELITE TOPE SUICIDAS NAILED! The challengers isolate Yano, including an abdominal stretch from Omega which includes illegal assistance from Cody, Matt and even a front row fan! It’s one of the more fun heat segments you’ll see, in that the audience enjoy Yano’s antics, but are also super into The Elite as well. In the end Toru rips one of the foam turnbuckle pads off and uses it as a weapon…to much laughter as the Bucks and Kenny sell it like death! Redneck Kung Fu-wielding Mark Briscoe gets the tag and is too quick for even Nick…but not for Omega who gives him an illegal superkick from the right side. Matt saves Omega from the Rude Awakening with a Superkick. Kevin Steen Cannonball nailed in the corner, into the ELEVATED SWANTON BOMB for 2! DRAGON RUSH by Omega, followed by a TRIPLE SUPERKICK for another 2! Yano comes to Mark’s aid and successfully tricks all of the challengers into colliding with the metal turnbuckle bolts he exposed earlier. Kenny tries to spray deodorant into his face to finally put him down…but only manages to spray Hall before Toru grabs his tights and comes within milliseconds of pinning him. SUPERKICK/V-TRIGGER COMBO from Matt and Omega to the Briscoes, followed by a DOUBLE INDYTAKER! TIGER HATTORI SPECIAL (triple team More Bang For Your Buck variant) gives us new champions! The Elite win at 12:54

Rating - **** - As a standalone match this was a total showstealer. Throwing Yano’s comedy into the mix meant this wasn’t just another typical Young Bucks spot-fest, but instead allowed both the Bucks and Kenny a chance to showcase more of their ‘Being The Elite’ humour inside the ropes too. I can’t pretend I like New Japan having their ‘next big thing’ almost lose to one of Yano’s predictable gag spots, and from an ROH perspective I don’t see that it makes ANY sense that the Briscoes would hang around with him, but I thought the mesh of comedy to high quality, cutting-edge pro-wrestling was spot on in this match. 

So Honor Rising weekend ends with another Ring Of Honor World Title defence on Japanese soil. Jay Lethal has impressed Japanese audiences with his poise and presence as ROH Champion, but his alliance with Los Ingobernables has certainly raised some questions. He even comes out with the LIJ cap Naito gave him the previous night. Honma and LIJ are no strangers of course, which may just provide more motiviation for him to emulate what Ishii did in the main event of Night 1 and ensure the other Ring Of Honor singles championship stays in Japan when their crew returns to America.

Honma refuses to shake Lethal’s hand, presumably as a result of his LIJ allegiance. Their initial lock-ups are intense, with both the Kokeshi Rocket and Lethal Injection countered early. A combination of cheap shots from Lethal and outside distraction from Truth Martini hands the champion the advantage – which he capitalises on to deliver the Tope Trilogy right into the guardrails. He seems intent on keeping Honma on the outside and repeatedly takes the match back out there for more guardrail bumps when the challenger brings it back inside. Honma’s back and neck are obviously sustaining damage after colliding with the metal barricades multiple times, and that is something Jay looks to exploit in preparation for his finishing move. Honma fights back though and gets a nearfall after hitting Shalimar Tea. Truth Martini once again gets involved when the challenger threatens his client…and once again the champ profits, this time with the Lethal Combination for 2. Hail To The King also gets 2 but the wear and tear is starting to show in Honma’s facial expressions. Lethal Injection COUNTERED WITH THE KOKESHI ROCKET! That was such a fun spot, and he follows it with another Kokeshi to shunt Lethal off the apron. TOP ROPE KOKESHI TO THE FLOOR! I know it’s pretty old hat, but every time I see that spot it looks bloody suicidal. The champion looks out on his feet, but throws a superkick to stop more headbutts coming his way…only for Honma to lariat him down instead. Kokeshi Otoshi blocked with a corkscrew enzi to the back of the neck, leaving both men on the deck in pain. Kokeshi Rocket from the second rope nailed…but Honma goes back upstairs for one last Kokeshi which misses! Honma charges at Lethal again, except this time the only person he connects with for the headbutt is Todd Sinclair! With the referee down Lethal’s cohorts in LIJ Naito, Evil and Bushi run in to attack Honma. Martini hits him with the Book Of Truth but it’s NO SOLD! Naito low blows him though, which Lethal follows up with the Lethal Injection to retain at 15:33

Rating - *** - The finish was bogus, although given that Honma is a bigger name and current title holder my suspicion is that perhaps NJPW may have had some influence on how this one was booked. The match that preceded it was really good luckily, with Lethal attacking the back and neck but finding Honma and his seemingly indestructible skull a major challenge to overcome. They meshed well as opponents and were looking at a comfortable 4* rating with a better finish on the end. I didn't feel like Lethal should have needed this kind of finish to beat someone like Honma though.

Post-match Lethal tries to shake Honma’s hand in the most obvious double cross you’ll ever see in your entire life. It’s a trap of course and BUSHI sprays mist in the fallen challenger’s eyes. Truth Martini grabs a microphone (and drops a clanger by calling EVIL ‘Watanabe’) to proclaim the House Of Truth/Los Ingobernables crossover faction the best in the world.

Tape Rating - ** - This show had a better and bigger crowd, but Night One was comfortably the better of the two Honor Rising tour events. On paper this was the more noteworthy show with the ROH Title Match headlining, Anderson and Gallows’ last shows plus the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Title change, but nothing got anywhere near the quality of Strong/Ishii from the previous evening. The Elite winning New Japan’s equivalent of the Trios Titles stole the show and is worth checking out if you do have NJPW World, whilst Lethal/Honma and the CHAOS trios match were good enough to crack the Top 5 for the whole weekend. The issue is that the rest of the card is significantly less fun and contains more of the low-level, skippable, tedious filler.

3) Hiroshi Tanahashi/Michael Elgin/Roderick Strong vs Kazuchika Okada/Yoshi-Hashi/Tomohiro Ishii (***)

2) Jay Lethal vs Tomoaki Honma (***)

1) Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe/Toru Yano vs Kenny Omega/Young Bucks (****)

5) Hiroshi Tanahashi/Michael Elgin/Roderick Strong vs Kazuchika Okada/Yoshi-Hashi/Tomohiro Ishii (*** - Night 2)

4) Jay Lethal vs Tomoaki Honma (*** - Night 2)

3) Kenny Omega/Young Bucks vs Katsuyori Shibata/Bobby Fish/Kyle O’Reilly (**** - Night 1)

2) Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe/Toru Yano vs Kenny Omega/Young Bucks (**** - Night 2)

1) Roderick Strong vs Tomohiro Ishii (**** - Night 1)