McXal's Reviews

So I thought Night 1 of Honor Rising 2018 was something of a hidden gem. NJPW tour shows aren't necessarily the most fun to cover, since most of the matches tend to become a little predictable and talents aren't always necessarily working at their very hardest (for understandable reasons). But the main event of Night 1 was really great, the junior triple threat was outstanding too...and everything else kept pretty short. My suspicion is that the same formatting will be in place for Night 2. Once again the Golden Lovers' reunion has delivered a packed Korakuen Hall, and the main event tonight will see their first tag match since reforming. Continuing the Kenny/Cody Bullet Club civil war angle it will be the Lovers against Cody and Marty Scurll. Dalton Castle will defend the ROH World Title on the undercard against a heavily injured Trent Beretta; an undercard which also three DIFFERENT six-man tags featuring a Bullet Club trio. Kevin Kelly and Don Callis provide commentary from Tokyo, JP.

Bruiser made a real impression with his courageous performance when challenging Goto for the NEVER Openweight Title yesterday. He'll be looking to back that up with his first NJPW win over Young Lion Henara. Toa is moving out of Young Lion status with his own gear, look and music - so knows he needs to start scoring big victories too.

Henara tries to go for headlocks...so Bruiser shoves him away and yells at him that it's a fight! He slaps Toa in the face when he tries a Haka dance and side-steps when the Kiwi tries a rugby tackle, causing him to eat canvas. Henare yells profanity at Bruiser and launches his entire body into the big rugby tackle. Unimpressed, BCB plants him with a DDT then marches to the top rope for the Keg Splash. Bruiser wins at 04:25

Rating - N/A - I've really enjoyed Bruiser on this Japan tour. This was a great squash/enhancement match. He shrugged off the usual Young Lion match format and demanded a fight, then largely beat the sh*t out of the powerful Henare to make a real statement. I have my reservations about him going too long in singles matches, but the improvements in his game since he showed up in ROH a couple of years ago are staggering. He has absolutely grasped how to stand out as a gaijin monster to the Japanese crowds and is lots of fun in that role.

I like Lethal being positioned in this match. Of course its a shame that he hasn't really had a featured bout all weekend, since he has been on a real tear in ROH. But he has deep-rooted issues with Bullet Club, so having him team with Juice and Finlay to face them in Japan does make sense. 

Bullet Club attack before the bell and multiple bodies quickly spill to the floor. Robinson hits a slingshot tackle to take Owens down, but Takahashi trips Finlay from behind then wipes him out against the barricades. They prevent him from tagging out in his wounded state, although have their thunder stolen by Robinson breaking up pins and taking the piss out of Hikuleo. He and David hit the big Tongan with the double flapjack before bringing Lethal in. Tope suicidas for Lethal, including one which noticeably rattles Yujiro's skull against the rail. Hiku prevents him from completing the trilogy, setting up Owens and Yujiro for a back suplex/neckbreaker on Finlay. Lethal Injection on Chase! Pulp Friction/Hail To The King combo sees Lethal pin Hikuleo at 06:35

Rating - ** - Short, sweet, everyone hit their spots and then we went home with ROH's 'franchise' getting to pin Hikuleo. Juice had started to break out at this point, and Lethal is capable of far more than this - so I'd have liked to have seen both of those guys get more of an opportunity to contribute this weekend - however, there was a LOT of talent in the ring here. So much so that they easily carried a six-minute match and kept it interesting.

This is a rather nifty spin-off to what happened at Night 1. There we saw Flip pull off a huge upset by pinning Hiromu to win a triple threat junior showcase which also included Kushida. It was an exceptional NJPW debut for Gordon...but now puts him in the crosshairs of LIJ. Takahashi returns tonight with his stable-mate BUSHI, meaning Flip needs a partner too. He is paired up with the Coach, Taguchi. A veteran of NJPW's junior division, he is the perfect guy to back Flip up and help show him the ropes if he wants to become a regular in Japan!

Kevin Kelly reveals that Flip suffered a minor knee injury last night. It doesn't show as he nips up from multiple angles to confuse the man he pinned last night. He then runs the ropes just for kicks, and back flips into the ring for a pose...only to be blind-sided by Bushi. Into the crowd we go with LIJ dragging their opponents around for beatings and brain-bashing against a few concrete pillars. Gordon is the man they drag back between the ropes for more of a beating...but can't keep him down before he drops Bushi with a Pele Kick. Hot tag to the nimble hips of Taguchi, who tries to deliver rolling suplexes to Bushi. When the masked man counters that, The Coach converts it to an Anklelock. Dodon blocked, and so is another hip attack. Flip sails back into proceedings with an effortless springboard dropkick, followed by a tope atomico, to wipe out Takahashi. 450 Splash misses, but hurts Flip's knee when he lands on his feet. It doesn't stop him delivering the Slingshot Sling Blade for 2! He tries to fend off both members of LIJ at once, but can't sustain his momentum. Bushi takes Taguchi out with a tope suicida, whilst inside the ring Takahashi hits the turnbuckle DVD. Time Bomb blocked with a Superkick! Star Spangled Stunner COUNTERED to a sunset flip/German suplex combo for 2. DOOMSDAY MX! Hiromu gets his win back, pinning Flip at 10:20

Rating - *** - I thoroughly enjoyed this. Hiromu pulling in a LIJ stable-mate and 'restoring order' by defeating Gordon at this show doesn't negate the scale of Flip's accomplishment the previous evening. His NJPW debut weekend ends with him having made a major impression, at the expense of one of the most popular junior heavyweight workers in the company. He fought valiantly, often against two opponents at once, having been battered all over the building, and only lost after LIJ broke out a BRUTAL finishing move to put him down. My attention drifted a little when Taguchi was involved, but most of this felt dynamic. I love that they used this to set up a third match between Flip and Hiromu - a singles bout this time - at ROH's Anniversary Show.

Liger, Delirious and their dual-protege Cheeseburger pulled off something of an upset last night when they defeated GOD and their little brother Hikuleo. Tonga and Loa blame Hikuleo for the loss though, and come back for another shot with the big, bad Underboss instead. The NEVER Openweight 6-Man belts are on the line, and have changed at Honor Rising events in the past.

Burger tries to stand up to Fale...and is quite rightly despatched to the floor as a result. 'Fale's appetite is bigger than Cheeseburger' - Don Callis. Delirious and Burger team up, buzzing around BLF like flies as he fights them both off. Rightly they flee and get Liger to help them out. He leads Burger with a Shotei combo in the corner...which Bad Luck no sells and clobbers both of them to the ground. GOD take over and isolate Liger, although Tonga drags Burger in for a brainbuster just because he can! They progress without incident until Loa accidentally lays out his own partner, opening the door for Liger to tag Delirious in. Leaping Lariat on Loa...with theatrics that Tama wants no part of so jumps the Lizard Man from behind. Delirious tricks Loa into accidentally striking Tonga again...so Tanga gives him a Jackhammer. Cheese tags in with Tonga, who no-sells all his offence, until the diminutive ROH Dojo graduate drops him with a hurricanrana. The champs circle little Burger and stomp him into the ground. Liger to the rescue with Shoteis! Burger starts going for flash pins on Tonga but can't force the victory. Tongan Twist gets 2, then the Guerrilla Warfare finishes Burger at 09:17. Bullet Club retain

Rating - ** - Perhaps for the first time this weekend, I felt this was a match was probably booked to go a little longer than it needed. There was fun to be had with Burger interacting with Bad Luck Fale, Delirious being such an oddity that even Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa are weirded out by him, plus some enjoyable student/master rescue sequences featuring Liger. It could have gone a couple of minutes shorter and not lost any impact however.

Bullet Club act like they want to make friends with Cheeseburger; picking him up off the canvas only for Tama to put him right back down with the Gun Stun right in front of Jushin Liger.

The ROH Six-Man Title held by the Hung Bucks isn't on the line tonight, although I'm sure a win for the CHAOS team would but them in line for a future opportunity, as there really isn't much governance around who gets to challenge for that particular championship. This is building up the big Switchblade vs Hangman IWGP US Title Match (which would take place at NJPW Strong Style Evolved 2018). As we saw last night, Page feels like the volume of wins he has been scoring for Bullet Club recently aren't being appreciated because the whole faction is consumed with civil warfare. We know Hangman has sided with Cody, but the allegiances of the Young Bucks remain unclear. Will that impact the ability of the Hung Bucks trio to work cohesively here?

Page and White have to be pulled apart before the match begins. Taylor and Nick start, roaming all over the ring at a frantic pace in a manner which suggests they've been working each other for years. The Bucks team up to drive the Kentucky Gentleman back, and he tags Switchblade in. Page is right in as well and they tear into each other with strikes. White gets the better of their initial exchanges which enables Hashi and Chuckie to take turns putting boots to the Hangman. Drop-sault by Page, allowing him to bring the Jacksons back in...setting him up for an offensive beatdown on the IWGP US Champion for the first time. Red Star Press nailed, leaving White vulnerable until be spikes Matt with a DDT. Yoshi tags and levels Page with the Head Hunter. Buckshot Lariat in response by Hangman, putting them both on the ground and crawling for a tag. We go back to where we started with Buck and Chuck trading shots. Taylor tries to fight both Young Bucks by himself, predictably ending with him getting repeatedly kicked in the head. Standing Shiranui gets 2. Sole Food on Hangman! BACK DROP DRIVERS for both Bucks by Switchblade! He then puts Page on his head with a butterfly suplex into the turnbuckles. Kiwi Crusher blocked...into a DIVING Buckle Bomb by Page. Everyone piles in to level an opponent with a big strike...leading to bodies on the floor which the Bucks are able to dive at with stereo pescados. White counters the Buckshot into a flatliner, then a dead-lift German. DOUBLE SUPERKICK RITE OF PASSAGE COMBO! PAGE PINS SWITCHBLADE! He wins at 12:34

Rating - *** - What has been great about these Honor Rising 2018 shows is that everyone seems to have showed up to work hard. The matches aren't going long, but all the talent are busting their chops. The Bullet Club civil war storyline also means so many of these filler undercard tag bouts have a really interesting narrative holding them together. Therefore it is to the credit of Page and White that they were able to elevate interest in their pending US Title Match over the Bullet Club strife. They were excellent together and really set the stage for their Strong Style Evolved title match. 

The Bucks try to celebrate with Page, but he throws his ROH Six-Man belt down, tosses a front row fan aside and uses her chair to smack Taylor in the ribs. The Bucks give up trying to reason with him and leave...so Hangman can give White a RITE OF PASSAGE ON A CHAIR! 

This was scheduled to be a title match between Castle and Trent, but Bruiser comes out and inserts himself into the match for no real reason. That is to help cover the fact that Beretta is working this weekend with serious injuries to both his biceps and pectoral muscles, and is operating considerably below his best. Making this a triple threat makes things significantly more difficult for the defending champion though. Castle is desperate to prove himself - but having to face two opponents instead of one considerably increases the chances of him losing tonight. Jay Lethal is on commentary as he awaits the winner of this at ROH's 16th Anniversary Show.

Bruiser and Castle get into a big punch up, which spills outside with minimal input from Trent. BCB runs through both opponents on the floor (Beretta's face grimacing with pain every time has to do anything is uncomfortable to watch), leaving bodies scattered in his wake. Heat Seeking Missile by Dalton! Beretta decides that since he's completely f*cked with injuries anyway he's going to start swinging chairs - smashing one over Castle's face! He sits Bruiser down and gives him a MISSILE DROPKICK THROUGH THE CHAIR on the floor! Seriously, Trent is completely crazy. Everest German on him by Castle, followed by a body avalanche in the corner by Beer City. That renders Beretta a non-factor for the time-being. Bruiser decides to be a sadistic motherf*cker and starts working over his already injured arm. The strategy for BCB is clear; keep Dalton out of the ring so he can isolate Beretta and tear him apart. The Best Friend collapses outside...as Castle barges back into play with a knee strike to Bruiser's exposed head. Tiger feint rana on the floor nailed...followed by a mafia kick on the hapless Beretta too. Repeated knee strikes in the corner almost caves in BCB's face. Castle is so pissed off that he screams abuse at the Milwaukee native before mounting him with strikes. Tornado DDT out of nowhere by Trent! Keg Splash blocked with a DOUBLE SUPERPLEX from Trent and Dalton! DVD ON THE APRON from Bruiser to Beretta! CACTUS CLOTHESLINE TO DALTON! Beer City Bruiser is on fire...but misses the Keg Splash on a seriously injured Beretta. GOBSTOPPER! PILEDRIVER! Bruiser kicks out at 2. Every move Trent makes causes him excruciating pain, to the point where he struggles to stand up. Sick Kick from Bruiser to Trent! KEG SPLASH NAILED! BERETTA KICKS OUT! Holy sh*t, that was a hot false finish. Trent has nothing left. Castle tosses Bruiser and tries to pick the bones. BANG-A-RANG...COUNTERED TO A CRADLE...FOR 2! EVEREST GERMAN ON BRUISER! CASTLE WINS! It's over at 15:59

Rating - **** - Where the hell did that match come from? Beretta was so badly injured he couldn't move either arm without almost falling over in pain. Castle was, notoriously, working through catastrophic back issues. Oh, and Bruiser was out there putting on the match of his life! This weekend in Japan feels like a major breakout moment for BCB. Freed from the shackles of being Silas Young's heavy-drinking, jovial sidekick, he has entered NJPW like a beer-swilling, drunken Godzilla and created carnage. The fight he gave Goto was valiant. He decimated Henare earlier...and then he forced his way into a World Title match and bullied the severely-injured Beretta so badly that he almost went back to the US as champion. Beretta's bravery bordered onto lunacy here. He looked in no real shape to perform from the start, took crazy risks with his body and was the real catalyst in turning this from a filler title defence to an impossibly dramatic spectacle. 

The main draw for the Honor Rising 2018 shows has been the return of the Golden Lovers. This is their first 2-vs-2 tag match in years, and of course it is a continuation of the Cody/Kenny Bullet Club rift angle. Rhodes and Omega meet in a singles match at ROH Supercard Of Honor 12 in a couple of months time...and are threatening to take all of Bullet Club down with them. Last night we saw how conflicted The Villain is about the whole sordid affair. He is friends with both, feels a loyalty to Cody, but was recruited to join Bullet Club by Omega. Pre-match comments from him reveal that he feels let-down by Omega prioritising his friendship with Kota Ibushi over Bullet Club and The Elite. Will he formally join 'Team Cody' tonight, or will he remain conflicted? Can Cody, who is supremely jealous of the adulation the reformed Golden Lovers are getting from crowds, sour their comeback weekend by making them lose a second consecutive match? Can the Golden Lovers get back to the level their team used to operate at? There are so many questions coming into this hugely significant main event...

The Golden Lovers are SO over. The reaction they get is almost nuclear, so Cody sulks on the floor throwing chairs into the ring. He orders Marty to start for their team and The Villain smartly tries to tie Kota in knots. Nigel McGuinness headstand, into Colt Cabana Artful Dodger takedowns by Marty! Just like last night Cody tries to stop the Lovers making a symbolic first tag...but tonight Omega evades him, allowing Ibushi to take out the American Nightmare with a roundhouse kick. Big tag to Kenny, causing Rhodes to run off into the crowd to escape The Cleaner. SPRINGBOARD SUICIDE DIVE INTO THE CROWD BY OMEGA! The brawl like crazy, until Cody traps Omega against the apron for a Superkick from Marty. Cody is soon left cowering on the canvas as Kenny lines up a V-Trigger though. Ibushi tags, kicking Rhodes into the Kotaro Crusher from his partner. Cross Slash moonsaults BLOCKED by Scurll and Rhodes, having watched them hit that spot last night. Cody drops Kota with a flatliner...and when he rolls out of the ring Rhodes literally sacrifices his own body with a crazy/ugly springboard dive OVER THE TURNBUCKLES to the floor! The American Nightmare taunts Omega as they beat Ibushi down...and then knocks him off the apron with a Disaster Kick too. Kota watches that and drops him with his own signature powerslam right afterwards though. Scurll and Omega tagged, although Ibushi is in too and dropkicking The Villain to the mat. STANDING SSP/DOUBLE MOONSAULT COMBO gets 2 for the Lovers! Golden Trigger blocked by Cody. FINGER SNAP ON OMEGA! Marty couldn't do that last night, but is now fully on Team Cody it seems! V-TRIGGER OFF THE APRON FOR CODY! Marty whacks Kenny with the umbrella to block the One-Winged Angel. CROSS RHODES BY MARTY! FOR 2! Doomsday Dropkick nailed...into the Chickenwing. American Nightmare Lock on Ibushi as he tries to save! Kenny stands up, carrying Scurll on his back with a PROTON PACK SENTON to save his partner! V-TRIGGER ON CODY! JUST KIDDING ON KENNY! PELE KICK ON MARTY! Golden Star Bomb blocked with a lariat by The Villain. They try another Doomsday Dropkick on Ibushi...WHO BACK FLIPS OUT AND HITS A SNAP DRAGON! DRAGON RUSH by Omega right after. Powerbomb/German suplex combo on Rhodes too. CROSS SLASH MOONSAULTS NAILED! They even paused to put over their ring rust as a team by repositioning that a few times too. Aoi Shoudou on Scurll...CROSS RHODES on Omega! SUPERKICK/GHOSTBUSTER COMBO on Ibushi for 2! Cody instructs Marty to hold Kota hostage so he can forcibly kiss him?! Ibushi does NOT like sexual assault and POWERBOMBS THE SH*T OUT OF CODY! V-TRIGGER ON MARTY! ELECTRIC CHAIR KAMIGOYE! GOLDEN TRIGGER NAILED! Ibushi pins Scurll to win at 20:15

Rating - ****1/2 - An incredible tag team action, packed with remarkable depth, exceptional story-telling and phenomenal in-ring athletics. All four men had such clearly defined and identifiable characters. Cody was, ironically, the real 'Villain' of the piece and delivered a masterful heel performance. Kissing Ibushi was, with or without context, such a spectacularly awful thing to do. Omega as the former bad guy trying to atone for his past sins and make things right with his former partner, was excellent...alongside Ibushi as the flawless fiery babyface that we know he can be. Perhaps the stand-out showing was, however, from Scurll (for the second night running). It was a big match for him; a Korakuen Hall main event with three major main event stars, and he delivered. The way he expressed his emotions to Omega before the bell...then gradually got more angry and became a fully-fledged member of Team Cody at the halfway point...but then edged back towards Kenny by the end (such was his horror at Rhodes' plans for Ibushi) was a joy to watch unfold. That kind of subtlety and character performance isn't an easy thing to pull off within such a big, overblown art-form as pro-wrestling. The attention to detail here was staggering too. Moves people hit last night were blocked this evening. Marty breaking Kenny's fingers where he wouldn't last night was a beautiful little touch. At points some of the wrestling did get a little sloppy (which is why I didn't go even higher on my rating)...but this was a beautiful story told by quite brilliant workers. I wasn't ready for it to end.

Cody leaves, and gloats about kissing Ibushi. 'Once you go Cody...'

Omega calls this one of the best weekends of his life because he has been reunited with Ibushi. He calls the Golden Lovers the best tag team in the world...and that brings out the Young Bucks. Matt says that they didn't have a problem with Kenny and Kota until he said that. Nick looks uncomfortable and tries to deescalate things, whilst Matt formally announces that they are formally moving up to the heavyweight tag division, setting in motion what would become the Strong Style Evolved 2018 Lovers/Bucks main event.

In the post-match interviews, Omega calls Cody's actions the 'ego project of a WWE reject' and expresses his disappointment at seemingly being on a collision course with his 'brothers' the Young Bucks to prove who the best team is. 

Tape Rating - *** - Honor Rising 2018 has been SO much better than the previous two years that ROH and NJPW have been promoting this particular tour. Clearly still lower-level shows for the hosts New Japan, this year the shows were shorter, the matches punchier, guys like Tanahashi, Okada and Naito (none of whom tend to work very hard on these shows) had the weekend off...and both nights were held together by the incredibly innovative, layered, multi-format, cross-promotional Bullet Club civil war angle. It gave meaning to otherwise pointless midcard matches...and it gave us to excellent main events. Golden Lovers vs Team Cody here was an absolute classic and one of the best matches I've covered for my ROH-centric review series in a long time. If that weren't enough, Night 2 also features the complete hidden gem World Title Match between Castle, Bruiser and Beretta; a bout which had no right to be anything like as good as it was. I've honestly had a blast reviewing these shows. They were so easy to consume, quick to sit through, and each had a BRILLIANT, theatrical, dramatic main event worth going out of your way to see.

3) Young Bucks/Adam Page vs Jay White/Yoshi-Hashi/Chuck Taylor (***)

2) Dalton Castle vs Trent Beretta vs Beer City Bruiser (****)

1) Golden Lovers vs Cody/Marty Scurll (****1/2)

5) Hirooki Goto vs Beer City Bruiser (*** - Night 1)

4) Flip Gordon vs Hiromu Takahashi vs Kushida (**** - Night 1)

3) Dalton Castle vs Trent Beretta vs Beer City Bruiser (**** - Night 2) 

2) Cody/Marty Scurll/Adam Page vs Kenny Omega/Kota Ibushi/Chase Owens (**** - Night 1)

1) Golden Lovers vs Cody/Marty Scurll (****1/2 - Night 2)