McXal's Reviews

With Manhattan Mayhem, 15th Anniversary Show and Supercard Of Honor 11 all coming up fast and all heavily promoted by ROH, the timing for the roster's 2017 trip to Japan for NJPW's now-annual 'Honor Rising' house show weekend probably isn't ideal. These are not ROH events, and are cross-promotional in the same manner than ROH's 'Global Wars' or 'War Of The Worlds' are co-promoted. In effect, this is an NJPW house show loop with the added quirk of ROH personalities. This year, with so many significant shows coming up for ROH as well, it is hard to think that anyone on these shows will be bringing their A-games. Unsurprisingly, Bullet Club talent already appearing in NJPW make up the bulk of ROH's touring roster this year. World Champion Adam Cole missed Honor Rising 2016 but makes the trip in 2017, along with the Young Bucks, Cody and Hangman Page. War Machine and Will Ospreay are technically ROH talents to varying degrees as well. The rest of the contingent includes Jay and Mark Briscoe, Delirious, Jay Lethal and Dalton Castle who were here in 2016, alongside newcomers Silas Young and Punishment Martinez. As is tradition for NJPW house shows, don't expect many singles matches this weekend. There are only two, and none of them on Night One. The main event here is an interesting one as it features Being The Elite angles bleeding into ROH content in the most noticeable manner yet - with Adam Cole and Kenny Omega trying to put their differences aside to work the Briscoes. Beneath that we have a rematch from The Experience as War Machine face the Young Bucks, Jay Lethal continuing his war with Bullet Club whilst teaming with Katsuyori Shibata, and the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Titles on the line as Los Ingobernables de Japon defend against the masked trio of Jushin Liger, Delirious and Tiger Mask. We are back at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, JP once again. Unlike 2016, this was taped with English commentary in place, meaning I'll be joining Kevin Kelly from his new home of NJPW World. He is joined by multi-time former ROH Tag and IWGP Jr Tag Champion Rocky Romero...

A pre-show hype video introduces the ROH talent coming to Japan for the shows. Annoyingly they recycle the Delirious talking fluent English promo they used in 2016 - which I hated last year and I equally dislike second time around. On a more positive note about the presentation, NJPW World haven't muted all the ROH entrance themes this year which certainly contributes positively to the product for the 2017 edition. Some are hilariously over-dubbed with unnecessarily loud generic rock music though...

What better way to introduce grumpy Silas to the Japanese audience than to have him team with the ultimate rudos Gedo and Jado? They face the charismatic and popular Kushida alongside rising young stars David Finlay and Juice Robinson...

All the heels come out wearing 'Real Man' shirts. Silas rants on the microphone about feeling disrespected even in Japan then kick-starts the match by kicking Finlay in the stomach. Jado wants a handshake...which is inevitably a cue for another cheap shot. David rocks the veteran with a succession of high velocity strikes prompting Young to attack him from behind. They isolate Finlay in their corner, each taking turns pummelling on his already heavily-taped torso. Big tag to Kushida, who is called a 'piece of sh*t' by Silas shortly before dropkicking him in the face. Hoverboard Lock attempted, but far too early and Young counters with a BOTCHED Plunge. He got in a real mess with the NJPW turnbuckles and took a really nasty landing. Juice tries to profit from his misfortune - rocking him with Diamond Dust into the cannonball senton for 2. Ace Crusher by Young but he is hurt and evacuates the ring so the veterans Jado and Gedo can takeover. Gedo appears to bust Juice open with a superkick! Juice Box on Gedo gets 2 before Silas and Jado make a save. Kushida and Finlay help him out with tandem pescados, and Robinson wins it with Pulp Friction on Gedo at 09:59

Rating - ** - Other than completely wasting Kushida's time this was pretty fun for a house show opening match. Silas carried the bulk of the work for his team - and he clearly impressed the Japanese audience with the quality of his delivery of the 'Last Real Man' character (if not his ability to hit his signature moves cleanly). Kushida has already established himself as a favourite of the ROH fans, so it seems weird that on a co-promoted show with ROH he wouldn't be more heavily promoted on this card...

A potentially broken nose doesn't stop Juice leading his team deep into the crowd to celebrate the win amongst the people...

This is quite an oddball masked team that the LIJ trio find themselves defending against this evening. The champs are relatively freshly into their second championship reign having won them from Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi and Manabu Nakanishi earlier in February. They also have the advantage of facing a first time trio. Tiger Mask is, I believe, Tiger Mask IV - NOT Tiger Mask W which was Kota Ibushi.

Tiger and Liger desperately try to reach Delirious in his catatonic, pre-bell state but eventually give up and leave so he can freak out. All five Japanese talents watch him with a mixture of confusion and indifference, but as usual it quickly wins over the live crowd. Evil shuts him up with a crushing chop to end the Delirious show for the time-being. Sanada goes after Tiger's mask like a jerk but is blocked from doing so. Instead Liger and Tiger steal Bushi's shirt and use it as a weapon! Big Evil and Sanada sensibly drag Liger out of the ring to put a beating on him and change the momentum of the match. LIJ isolate Liger with great relish; taking turns to choke him in the corner or toss him around. Shotei on Evil, into the backbreaker on Bushi. Sanada tries to block the tag...but the veteran tosses him and tags Mask in. ROPE RUN SUPER ARMDRAG on Bushi gets 2. Jumping Tombstone nailed, only for Evil to come in and fling Mask around like a child. Tiger Driver nailed on Bushi, before he makes a key tag to Delirious. The Lizard Man gets 2 with a DDT on Sanada. Sanada blocks the Cobra Stretch and levels Delirious with a back drop driver. Liger has to save the match for his team this time. Delirious blocks Skull End and almost causes a huge upset with a 'close nearfall'. Evil NAILS Delirious with a chair out of sight of the referee...and Sanada makes the wounded Delirious tap with Skull End at 10:35

Rating - ** - Is there any reason a part-time booker needed to be protected by a shady finish like that. I understand LIJ are major villains in NJPW but I don't think this decent encounter had to end in the manner it did. EVIL, SANADA and BUSHI were really fun together, especially EVIL as a no f*cks given enforcer. He wasn't actually in legally all that much, but his every contribution involved beating the sh*t out of someone. 

This weekend is being billed as the 'return of the Bullet Club' after some misfortunes in recent months. They are straight back into the battle with CHAOS who are led by the reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Okada. Goto is NEVER Openweight Champion, whilst Ospreay is co-signed to ROH at this point in time and has already chalked up an ROH TV Title reign on his resume. Hashi challenges Bullet Club's Adam Cole for the ROH World Title tomorrow night so Cole will be leaning on his BC brothers to put a dent into Yoshi's title aspirations this evening...

Bullet Club jump the gun and nab Goto for a beating in the corner. Hirooki gives Tonga a neckbreaker over the knee and makes a tag to Ospreay. He tricks Tama into smashing his own partner Fale in the face before getting serious hang-time on a diving corner dropkick. He tries a handspring move...but Bad Luck and Loa catch him then smear him into the guardrails in a seriously ugly manner. With the match on the floor of course Yujiro is in the thick of the action - raking eyes and taking cheap-shots with whomever he comes across. Only with Ospreay severely weakened will the Tokyo Pimp even consider tagging in legally. Both Fale and Loa give poor Will some really nasty landings on the blue NJPW canvas. On both occasions he pops up with a visible 'oh sh*t that hurt' facial expression which feels as authentic as anything on the show. Handspring Pele kick wipes out Fale, setting up the hot tag to Okada. Fans roar him on as he peppers Bad Luck with strikes and a Hogan/Andre slam. Yujiro intervenes hitting a fisherman suplex (with another rough landing)...only for Okada to explode from the match with a flapjack. Hashi tags in legally for the first time...but walks right into a flurry of double teams by the Guerrillas. Fale does his best to break the ring by delivering a body avalanche at extreme speed - setting up Miami Shine by Takahashi for 2. Dropkick from Okada to Loa! ASSISTED CORKSCREW DIVE BY OSPREAY! Lariat from Yoshi to Yujiro! Karma nailed by Hashi, giving him a big win on the eve of his ROH Title shot at 11:04

Rating - ** - All three of the multi-man tags we've seen so far have been pretty much at the same level. This one had more star presence and name value with Okada, Ospreay and Bullet Club involved, but there wasn't a discernible step up in class. Okada was here in name only and did almost nothing. Ospreay, like Kushida earlier, was completely under-utilised despite being under some form of contract with ROH too. The Guerrillas were enjoyable at points...but this all felt very half-hearted and house-show paced. 

This is an immediate rematch from the outstanding ROH Tag Title battle between two teams that took place just a couple of weeks earlier at The Experience. On that night the Bucks pulled out an outstanding performance to defeat a motivated War Machine. Hanson and Rowe now return to Japan, where the majority of their focus and success has been since they moved past their feuds with Taylor, Lee or The Addiction. There are no ROH Tag Titles on the line this evening, and NJPW are in the midst of hyping a GOD/War Machine tag. Beating the stable-mates of the Guerrillas would be the strongest possible preparation. Rocky Romero being on commentary is interesting, since RPG Vice are preparing to challenge for the ROH Tag Titles in the US shortly...

Rowe no sells Matt's offence (and ignores their 'massive babyface reaction' - in the words of Nick Jackson) to comprehensively dismiss him from the ring. Nick is more antagonistic with Hanson, and starts playing for comedy as Hanson starts mauling him. Gradually the Bucks start stringing together combo moves to establish themselves in the contest though. Tandem tope suicidas attempted...only for War Machine to catch them and throw the brothers violently at each other on the floor. War Machine isolate Nick with minimal showmanship and wasted motion - clearly desperate to avenge the loss at The Experience. Nick counters the pop-up powerslam into a slow motion headscissors (the spot was better conceptually than it was in execution) and gets a much-needed tag to Matt. He Superkicks Hanson on the floor...but tries to give Ray the same treatment and gets his lights punched out. Superkick on the apron by Nick instead! DOUBLE SPRINGBOARD SWANTON TO THE FLOOR! Nick re-enters with the springboard frog splash/standing moonsault combo for 2. Hanson thunders back into the match...only to eat a SPRINGBOARD SUPER RANA from Nick! That is followed by the elevated Swanton Bomb spot for 2. More Bang For Your Buck blocked...so Hanson can break out the never-ending corner clotheslines spot with Romero on commentary calling him out for gimmick infringement. The Bucks fire back with ROLLING 450 SPLASHES on Hanson! Meltzer Driver blocked as Rowe catches Nick in mid-air then Hanson gives both Jacksons the double powerbomb. Pop-up powerslam nailed, drawing 2 before Nick breaks the pin with a frog splash. Path Of Resistance by War Machine, taking out Nick and leaving Matt alone in the ring. He goes crazy throwing punches and Superkicks...but can't get Rowe or Hanson off their feet. FALLOUT! There's no Frankie Kazarian to save them as their was at The Experience, and the Bucks lose the match at 12:01

Rating - *** - I preferred the ROH match, but this was a fine follow-up. Given the size of this show and the fact that most NJPW fans won't have seen the Ring Of Honor match they understandably recycled some of the cooler spots...but they did some new stuff here too which I really enjoyed. Nick Jackson in particular was going 100mph in this and was comfortably the hardest working wrestler on the show so far. Kevin Kelly did a strong job pushing what a big deal it would be for Hanson and Rowe to get a win here, so when it happened it did feel like a significant moment. It was a little too condensed for me, and I didn't like the lay-out quite as much as Columbus; this one felt a lot like the Young Bucks getting as much of their sh*t in as possible before War Machine go over...

The blaring generic, piped in rock music drowns out a heated confrontation between the Young Bucks and Rocky Romero at the announce table - in place to hype Bucks/Vice at the 15th Anniversary

Taguchi and Tanahashi dress as Dalton's Boys for the evening which is lots of fun, but probably indicative of the amount of effort Tanahashi will be putting into this match. Given that one of his opponents is Naito, someone who never gives a sh*t about house show matches, my suspicion is that Dalton, Hiromu and Martinez will need to do the bulk of the lifting here. If you consider these shows part of the 'ROH universe' then this marks the first appearance of Takahashi since he returned to NJPW, ditched the Kamaitachi gimmick and joined Los Ingobernables. He is the current Jr Heavyweight Champion, with Taguchi the #1 contender - so exchanges between those two are ones to watch. Punishment is obviously the one with the most to gain here. He is still very fresh onto the ROH roster and only broke free of the shackles of the AWFUL gimmick they gave him (with Sullivan and Whitmer) at the last TV taping. Dalton was one of the ROH talents who made a big impression at Honor Rising 2016. Can the Punisher have the same impact this year?

Naito's entrance, during which he mocks Rocky for having no match and spits in his face, is one of the highlights of the show so far. Martinez starts for his team having completely refused to interact with them at all before the bell rings. He no-sells Castle clowning around as well; silently stalking the ring waiting for his opportunity to get his hands on the Peacock. He takes so long about it that even Naito gets bored and forcibly tags Punisher out. His arrival immediately brings Tanahashi into the fray as well...and by acting like one of Dalton's Boys Tana actually gets into Naito's head. The usually relaxed Intercontinental Champion tries to jump Tanahashi but is wiped out with a springboard crossbody. The babyfaces take turns delivering Taguchi hip attacks to Naito...and find time to pose for pictures before continuing to beat the him down. Hiromu is pissed off and charges in to turn the match in LIJ's favour - bulldozing through Tana's legs with a dropkick. LIJ refuse to tag Punishment as they go to work on Tanahashi's knee. Naito, in particular, is of course brilliant at antagonising Martinez by not tagging him. It's that side-plot which causes him to take his eye off the ball...and the veteran Tanahashi profits to counter a tornado DDT into a swinging neckbreaker. Hot tag to Taguchi, who makes a beeline for Hiromu and batters him with the usual assortment of hip attacks. Ankle Lock repeatedly blocked by Takahashi...so Castle hits him with an exploder suplex. It sends Hiromu into his own corner and allows Punisher to forcibly tag his way back in. Cyclone kick COUNTERED to the Everest German by Castle. Dalton and his Boys need a triple dropkick just to take him off his feet...and even the he gets right back up and starts kicking the sh*t out of them. Super spinning heel kick on Dalton! South Of Heaven nailed, and Martinez scores a massive win at 11:48

Rating - ** - Another perfectly fine, functional NJPW house show trios match. There wasn't as much exciting wrestling to be had here, Takahashi was totally wasted and the big guns (Naito and Tanahashi) barely took a bump between them. The way it built up Martinez (right after his break-out moment on ROH TV) ahead of his NEVER Openweight Title shot tomorrow night was enjoyable however. I don't know how much say Delirious had in this, but it feels a little short-sighted to put Martinez over Castle here. I'd argue that with Martinez coming off the Pittsburgh No DQ Tag and Castle being positioned for a future World Title run neither could really afford to drop the fall here. Playing fantasy booker here, I'd swap Martinez and Silas around on this show, putting Punishment over one of the Young Lions in the opener then having Silas take the loss in this one. 

This is promotional material for ROH Supercard Of Honor 11, when Cody and Lethal look to settle their feud in a Bullrope Match. Both will be looking to inflict punishment on the other ahead of that one. Shibata will have pride to fight for in a ring full of ROH guys as well, given that his tour of ROH in 2016 didn't go as well as he'd have liked and he failed to take the TV Title from Bobby Fish. Shibata also has history with the Bullet Club, whom of course are represented by the American Nightmare and the Hangman here. Scorched Ops (Jay Lethal's awesome theme) is dubbed over with crappy identikit rock music which sucks.

Rhodes pisses Lethal off by dismissing him and demanding to start with Shibata. In truth the Japanese fans are way more excited about Cody/Shibata too in what is technically only his second NJPW match. Fearing Shibata's strikes Cody tries to wrestle with him...but finds the Japanese competitor extremely dangerous in that environment too. Romero puts over his time in Europe as being instrumental in improving his ground game. Cody dives to the ropes to avoid the PK and tags out to Page. Lethal doesn't want to wrestle Hangman...and is so determined to get to the Nightmare that Page is able to jump him from behind. Once Jay is beaten down Cody is more than happy to tag in and put the boots to him...and then walk out again with Lethal fights back. This time the former ROH World Champ goes after him - hitting a tope suicida to the outside. Lariat on the floor brings Cody back into things and the Bullet Club beatdown of Jay Lethal continues. Even in Japan fans are so enamoured with Bullet Club that Cody and Hangman are mostly babyfaces - and fans even laugh when a few others try to get a 'Jay Lethal' chant going'. SSP torpedo tackle from the apron to the floor nailed by Page, but it isn't enough to put Lethal away. Hot tag to Shibata who comes in completely ignoring Rhodes' attacks! He yells at Cody for not hitting him hard enough! He tries to work submissions but Hangman rescues his partner. Cross Rhodes blocked...but the Disaster Kick isn't. American Nightmare locked in, and this time it's Lethal's turn to make a save. Tope suicida on Cody again! Back in the ring Page fails to hit the Rite Of Passage but does duck the Lethal Injection. Cross Rhodes blocked...PK ON CODY! Shibata is horribly positioned though which leads to a big mess-up on the Buckshot Lariat. Lethal gives Page the Lethal Injection and picks up the win for his team at 14:06

Rating - *** - It's a shame they messed the finish up a little, but before that this was decent. It was still very much a B-show affair, but all four did well in carrying themselves like stars and making each interaction between them seem loaded with significance. Cody carried the match from a creative standpoint - antagonising Shibata for long stretches even alongside his ongoing feud with Lethal. This certainly won't win any MOTY awards but it was smartly worked, meaning the performers were able to extract maximum value for minimum effort. It was also fought in front of the best crowd of the show so far, with a really odd mix of fans vocally wanting to cheer for Bullet Club even though they recognised that Shibata and Lethal were the babyfaces. It felt very much an American-style audience - which looked extremely strange in Korakuen Hall.

This is our main event, and very much the highest profile instance of Being The Elite angles bleeding into the ROH/NJPW product from the Bucks' YouTube channel thus far. The Elite was initially Omega and the Bucks, but as Bullet Club has continued to expand Kenny has seen his influence over both the stable and his friends the Jackson brothers weaken as he largely remains in Japan and they appear regularly as the 'SuperKliq' on US indies with Cole. Tensions have been simmering over who the true leader is, and who the better friend is - so in effect this unison of the leading men for Bullet Club in Japan (Omega) and the US (Cole) is an attempt to show that Bullet Club doesn't have a 'problem'. If there is a problem, however, the Briscoes will be sure to find it. ROH mainstays and experienced both in the US and Japan - Jay and Mark will look to exploit any lack of cohesion in their opposition this evening. Omega is making his return tonight after dropping the infamous '6-Star Match' to Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 11 back in January.

There are lots of handshakes and plenty of mutual respect between Cole and Omega before the bell. The ROH Champion is in no hurry to wrestle either and spends the first couple of minutes messing around. The fans thank him by chanting for Kenny...and pop when he instantly tags in. He is too quick for even Mark Briscoe and drops him on his head with a hurricanrana. It leads to our first tense moment of the night as Omega chastises Cole for mugging to the fans rather than concentrating on the match. His distracting showmanship leads to Mark giving Omega a suplex and allows Jay to tag in. Mark hits the blockbuster off the apron, followed by a back suplex back onto the apron to keep Omega in trouble. Brawling around on the floor massively suits the Briscoes and we see Jay beating the sh*t out of Cole too. They expose the wooden floor of Korakuen Hall and seem to want to kill Kenny with a Spike Jay Driller! SUPERKICK by Cole! Kenny then back drops one Briscoe over the guardrail into the other. SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT OFF THE RAIL AND INTO THE CROWD by Kenny! Cole watches from the apron and cheers on his partner...but very clearly has no desire to join him in hitting a crazy dive. Instead he gives Jay a suplex, accidentally dropping Jay onto Omega's foot. The hobbling Canadian tries to isolate Jay, accidentally knocking Cole off the apron (as he mugs to the fans again) in so doing. CRAZY PESCADO TO THE FLOOR by Omega! Jay hits back with a snap DVD but can't tag out before Mark is dragged off the apron. At last Mark does get tagged - and fights through more comically mistimed attempts at tandem offence from Bullet Club to give Cole a Fisherman Buster for 2. Froggy Bow blocked, and Omega feeds Mark into the NXT Last Shot for 2! Day One Neckbreaker from Jay to Cole gets 2 as well. Kotaro Crusher by Omega...and that's a nearfall as well. Dragon Rush blocked...then a springboard moonsault gets knees! LARIAT BY JAY! Cole and Mark start BEATING THE SH*T out of each other with strikes...and the quiet crowd means those shots echo through the building horrendously. Panama Sunrise blocked...V-TRIGGER NAILED! PANAMA SUNRISE! That didn't look pretty and looked like a rough landing for Mark, who still gets a shoulder up. Adam tries to hit an avalanche version of the same move but Jay saves his brother with a superplex. FROGGY BOW...Omega breaks the pin! Doomsday Device blocked with a roll-up, which doesn't look terribly well timed so Mark just stomps on Cole's head. TOPE SUICIDA THROUGH THE GUARDRAIL BY JAY! V-Trigger on Jay...who wriggles out of the One-Winged Angel. DOOMSDAY DEVICE COUNTERED TO A MID-AIR POWERSLAM BY OMEGA! BARE KNEE WIZARD BY COLE! V-TRIGGER! LAST SHOT! Cole pins Mark at 22:01

Rating - **** - The first fifteen-ish minutes of this match were absolutely outstanding. Omega was busting his ass, Cole was awesome as a total prick heel, the subtle tension spots between the Bullet Club members were outrageously entertaining and the Briscoes were presented as genuine, credible threats to an NJPW main event level star in Omega. It peaked a little early and had a couple of rough moments down the stretch, which came off even worse thanks to the burned out crowd. But they did get their mojo back for a hot finishing sequence. I read somewhere that the pay-off to the Cole/Omega angle (outside of Being The Elite) was supposed to be a singles match on PPV during the 2017 War Of The Worlds Tour (Cole's last ROH dates) but Kenny's US work visa didn't get approved. That's a real shame because they were absolute gold together here.

Kenny Omega shakes hands with Adam Cole and grabs a microphone to denounce rumours that he was leaving NJPW. He is staying and will make 2017 the year he takes over Japan...and has his ambitions set on taking over the US as well. Cole has a problem with that and snatches the mic away from him. He then drops the mic and continues arguing with Kenny as the music plays...

Tape Rating - ** - If you follow New Japan you'll know what to expect from house shows like this. Tag matches as far as the eye can see, the big names mostly taking it easy with usually a couple of matches which stand out from the rest and reward you for watching. That was the case with this show, as it contained wall-to-wall tag matches, plenty of decent but forgettable wrestling highlighted by an outstanding main event which anyone with an NJPW World subscription would enjoy taking twenty minutes out of their life to check out. Not really a show to recommend to anyone but ROH/NJPW completists...or big BTE fans who want to see some fun progression of the Kenny/Cole angle. But I found it easy to watch in a single sitting (which is rare for me with wrestling shows these days).

3) Jay Lethal/Katsuyori Shibata vs Cody/Adam Page (***)

2) Young Bucks vs War Machine (***)

1) Adam Cole/Kenny Omega vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe (****)