ROH vs NJPW - Honor Rising: Japan 2019 Night 2 - 23rd February 2019

February 23rd remains a historic date to Ring Of Honor fans. In some ways it marks how far the company has come that the promotion celebrates their 17th birthday with an international tour in Japan. In another way it's sad that they are fading into the background and accepting their place as the substantially inferior partner in this 'special relationship' with New Japan Pro Wrestling; allowing their name to provide little more than some novelty to an otherwise innocuous weekend of NJPW B-shows. The top of the card is where the value is on this show. Three title matches are scheduled, all loaded with some serious beef. Jay Lethal makes a (superfluous) defence for the ROH World Title against his hated rival Matt Taven's stable-mate TK O'Ryan, Bullet Club's Guerrillas Of Desiny challenge LIJ's EVIL & SANADA for the IWGP Tag Title, before our main event will see Fin-Juice of Lifeblood look to take the Briscoes' beloved ROH Tag Championship away. Kevin Kelly and Chris Charlton are once again providing English commentary in Tokyo, JP.

Jonathan Gresham/Toa Henare vs Zack Sabre Jr./TAKA Michinoku
We begin with the continuation of a rivalry which began in Ring Of Honor. In 2018 Gresham gained real steam and found a niche in ROH where he could finally prove himself to be one of the best technical wrestlers in the world. He laid out an open challenge to anyone in the world to test that claim - which was answered by the ROH debut for ZSJ. Since debuting at that pay-per-view Zack has roared undefeated through ROH competition, verbally bashing Gresham a few times along the way. Now Gresh has found one of New Japan's impressive Young Lions to partner up with him to face Zack and his hype man. Seeing TAKA in an ROH ring, even on what is technically a New Japan show, is sure to be a fun moment.

ZSJ antagonises Shota Umino (who is working ringside) during his entrance, which is a nice reference to last night. Taka doesn't know who Gresham is, and he doesn't get much chance to learn since Toa jumps him during his pre-match speech. Sabre tags and immediately calls out Gresham for a Final Battle rematch. It goes exactly as you'd expect; technical, intricate...and brilliant. It is, for the most part, an exhibition rather than loaded with drive and purpose though. The Octopus aggravates Zack by making most of the running, and Gresham's persistent cocky counters don't improve his temper either. ZSJ tries to go to strikes but Gresh dodges, kicks him in the shins and lands a dropkick. That is the final straw - Sabre dumps him with a backbreaker than leaves the ring for Michinoku to get involved. He pokes Gresham in the eye and tries to snap his head off his body with headscissors and crossfaces. Sabre decides he can't trade strikes with The Octopus and instead clips the knees then stomps sadistically on his back. It injures Jonathan sufficiently that he struggles to execute suplexes. Eventually he lands a tornado snap suplex...but potentially with the last of his energy. He makes a crucial tag to Henare, who storms through the Englishman and hits a Samoan drop. Zack curtails his momentum with a front choke, but when he tries to transition to an arm submission Toa destroys him with a lariat. ROPE RUN TORNADO DDT out of nowhere by the impeccable Sabre Jr. POP-UP SAMOAN DROP from Henare to Taka! Gresham tagged, leapfrogging ZSJ and causing him to tackle Michinoku to the floor. Quebrada on ZSJ...then a TOPE SUICIDA on Taka! SHOOTING STAR PRESS! Zack breaks the pin at 2...so Gresham grabs Taka again for The Octopus Stretch! The veteran taps out, and Gresham ends the weekend undefeated at 12:20

Rating - *** - This was a really fun opening match, with a different vibe to what you normally see on a low-level New Japan show. The Gresham/ZSJ rivalry which spilled over from ROH added real spice to this; giving Zack some purpose and giving creative direction to Gresham who looked enormously motivated to impress the New Japan officials and fans. They carried the bulk of the match, but Henare and Taka were well-used - picking their spots correctly to best utilise the skills they brought to the table. The last minute or so was surprisingly spectacular...

Robbie Eagles vs Marty Scurll
This is an interesting one; pitting Marty Scurll against a member of Bullet Club - the faction he turned his back on with the rest of his 'Being The Elite' cast-mates. I won't pretend that Scurll/Eagles is the most interesting Marty vs Bullet Club match one could book, but I presume New Japan want to save some of the more enticing combinations for bigger shows. This is a unique clash of styles too...

Eagles isn't interested in a feeling out process; he sprints across the ring and instantly lands a hurricanrana. Scurll shows his experience by shutting him down with an elbow then starts stretching him out with a Mexican surfboard. Apron Superkick blocked though and Robbie darts back in with a springboard dropkick to the leg. The impact of that is quickly visible and he starts working the leg Marty retaliates by suplexing Eagles over the ropes and laying him out with the Apron Superkick. Sliding enzi then a folding powerbomb next. It seems that Marty has no interest in selling the leg apparently. Graduation blocked, as is the half nelson suplex. Eagles evades Just Kidding as well, into the Turbo Backpack. Scurll bounces back from that unnecessarily quickly as well and starts a rapid-fire pinning sequence. Just Kidding nailed, followed by a clothesline and a PACKAGE PILEDRIVER for 2. Robbie fights the Chickenwing so Marty DUMPS him with the half nelson suplex. Eagles back flips off the top rope for reasons which aren't completely clear to me, but eventually uses Marty's beard to drag him in position for a SPRINGBOARD SUPER RANA. Marty gets back to his knees, shakes off an Eagles kick flurry...then elbows him into the Chickenwing. Eagles taps at 08:57

Rating - ** - There was something quite ungainly about this match. Marty had no interest in selling anything that Eagles did - at all. Robbie looked to be really trying hard, but it is hard to invest in any of his offence (spectacular as some of it was) when his opponent would basically pop right back up half a second later. In nine minutes they were never going to steal the show, but this did feel like both guys had decided that since they weren't going long they were going to just hit a bunch of moves with very little rhyme or reason. That isn't necessarily bad but it didn't leave much for fans to really connect with. Given the talent involved that is clearly a disappointment.

Delirious/Cheeseburger vs Colt Cabana/Toru Yano
Last night the trio of Cabana, Burger and Delirious challenged Yano, Makabe and Taguchi for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Title, but it ended in defeat when Yano cheated to pin Delirious. Colt and Yano shook hands after the match, having already earned each other's respect following their caper-filled encounter at ROH's Global Wars 2018 event in Chicago. That handshake did not go down well with Delirious. He struck Colt in the balls then stormed out taking his student Cheeseburger with him and setting up a tag match this evening.

The crowd loudly delight in Cabana and Yano's pre-match interactions. Delirious is less impressed and brings a chair into the ring to fight Yano. Toru arms himself with one as well, leaving the Lizard Man calling for a 'Death Match'! Colt and Burger have to stop them getting the match thrown out and have to start the match for themselves...although Burger almost walks out because the Japanese crowd like Cabana more than him. Colt easily out-wrestles Cheeseburger whilst Charlton and Kelly talk about Spice Girls and crack Burger puns - reminding me exactly why I can't stand Kevin's commentary, and usually listen to the Japanese commentary tracks/don't remote miss him in ROH one bit. Yano comes in to check Colt hasn't killed Cheese. Delirious attacking him from behind when he does his stupid rope-break skit pops me. He then decides to start raking Yano's back rather than take Burger's suggestion of a 'double brainbuster'. Toru bashes Delirious' head against the turnbuckles, not knowing that traditionally that has no effect on the Lizard Man. That, of course, provokes him to try and remove the turnbuckle pads...and when he can't do that Colt fishes under the ring and just hands him a spare pad. Delirious grabs it first, uses it as a weapon then runs away to cuddle it on the apron. Cabana grabs another turnbuckle pad which Yano waffles Burger over the head with. Flying Asshole misses though and Cheese hits back with a satellite DDT. Shotei nailed for 2. Yano and Cabana swinging on the ropes in typical Yano fashion, then Colt blocks the Leaping Lariat by sweeping the legs. Low blow on Cabana again...for 2! Never Ending Story clotheslines, which Colt counters to the CHICAGO SKYLINE! Superman Pin wins it for Colt at 10:10

Rating - *** - I really liked this. Your mileage on it completely varies based on how much you can tolerate Yano though. I watch NJPW regularly and in truth tend to skip his matches altogether because his gimmick is SO tedious and so exclusively to entertain live audiences rather than to be watched on VOD/DVD. But, with that in mind some of my favourite parts of this match were how they played games with a lot of the typical comedy spots each of them do as part of their regular routine. Yano swings in the ropes...so Delirious attacked him. Bashing Delirious into the turnbuckle pads has no impact, giving Yano a real life reason to go for the turnbuckle pads. Delirious stopped Yano getting the pads off, so Colt grabbed a spare - which in turn Delirious kidnapped and made friends with. It was weird, it was dumb, it was a couple of minutes too long and when most of the 'serious' offence comes from Cheeseburger a match has problems...but it got a few legitimate laughs from me and provided non-stop gentle comedy from start-to-finish.

Jeff Cobb/Dalton Castle vs Will Ospreay/Hirooki Goto
This is an ROH vs CHAOS tag match, bringing together four men who went into battle for championship gold the previous evening. Cobb successfully avenged his NEVER Openweight Title defeat to Goto by beating him to retain the ROH TV Title...whilst Ospreay and Castle stole the show in their ferocious contest over the aforementioned NEVER Openweight belt. Spectacular as his bout with Ospreay was, it still stands as another high profile defeat for Dalton as his wretched 2019 continues. Can he at least end the tour with a win?

Goto is very insistent that he starts with Cobb. They swing for the fences with each other but don't connect with much and wrestle to a stalemate. Castle and Ospreay next, with success for the Aerial Assassin as he drives Dalton to the floor. Castle recovers quickly and marches back into the ring to start tossing Will around with big suplexes. RELAY gutwrench suplexes by Castle and Cobb! Goto shuts that down with a cheap-shot to Castle's bad back...then starts brawling with Jeff on the floor to ensure the Peacock has no escape. On the other side of the ring Will sends Castle THROUGH the guardrails! The Chaos team take turns working Castle over; giving him plenty of shots to the head as well as the injured midsection. Goto repeatedly takes pot-shots at the TV Champion too to prevent him coming to his partner's aid. Perhaps being distracted by Cobb is what costs Goto - because he finds himself walking into a back suplex from Castle. Jeff tags and CATCHES Ospreay to give him a belly to belly suplex. Standing moonsault on Goto gets 2. Will sprints into the ring and STEPS OFF COBB INTO A DROPKICK ON CASTLE! He tries to stiff the Olympian, then BACK FLIPS off him when Jeff looks for a powerbomb. Handspring Pele Kick floors Cobb again, whilst Goto tosses Castle on his face on the floor. CORKSCREW SENTON OFF GOTO gets 2. Ospreay looks for the Storm Breaker but finds Cobb too big. Ushigoroshi from Goto to Castle! Olympic Slam from Cobb to Goto! Robinson Special on Jeff! OSCUTTER COUNTERED WITH THE ATHLETIC-PLEX FOR 2! Tour Of the Islands blocked...Crucifix Driver blocked. HIDDEN BLADE! STORM BREAKER ON COBB! Ospreay pins the ROH TV Champion at 11:45!

Rating - **** - Something of a hidden gem here; this was an absolutely thrilling undercard tag match. It didn't go long but every second packed a real punch, from the opening moments where they reprised their individual battles of the previous evening, through the heat segment capitalising on Castle's ailing and broken body, to the electrifying finish as Ospreay and Cobb defied the laws of physics with each other. Usually the lower reaches of the cards on these Honor Rising shows are forgettable filler, but this one really was great. It sets up some really interesting matches in both companies too. In New Japan Ospreay is angling for a match with IWGP Champion Jay White as he looks to solidify his ascension to the heavyweight division...but he's also a former ROH TV Champion and his victory here also sets up a singles match with Cobb at G1 Supercard.

SIDENOTE - At this point Colt Cabana joins us at the announce table and in doing so quickly makes the standard of commentary a lot more tolerable.

Matt Taven/Vinny Marseglia vs Tetsuya Naito/Shingo Takagi
Long-time Ring Of Honor fans will need no introduction to Shingo. He had an extremely well-received excursion with ROH in 2006/7, which saw him briefly capture the Tag Titles with Naruki Doi and complete in an explosive Dragon Gate vs NOAH dream match as he challenged Takeshi Morishima for the ROH World Title too. After ending his career-long association with Dragon Gate (where I believe he was the first graduate of their dojo) he joined NJPW and quickly joined Naito's Los Ingobernables group. LIJ and The Kingdom have had some fleeting and hostile exchanges during NJPW/ROH tours and Taven will be eyeing up a big win over one of New Japan's biggest stars (Naito) en-route to the 17th Anniversary and his big World Title shot. Kevin Kelly reminds us that The Kingdom have issues with Rush in ROH - who is an international ally of Naito...

The Kingdom jump LIJ during their entrances in pursuit of an early advantage. Naito gets the better of Taven even whilst wrestling in a hoodie though and Los Ingobernables quickly establish control. In the end Matt needs the help of an illegal choke in the ropes from Marseglia to help him out...then lies in the ring ripping off the 'Tranquilo' pose to send a message to both Naito and Rush. Side Effect/elbow drop combo gets 2, and necessitates a Takagi save to break the pin. The Kingdom start getting very vocal and loudly taunt Naito who is in real peril. Taven then counters Naito's legsweep/dropkick combo in the corner - plucking him out of the air and joined by Vinny to hit the Proton Pack for 2. Climax countered with a tornado DDT though. Shingo tags...and is so powerful he clears the ring by literally throwing his opponents at each other. Kick Of The King levels Takagi, but in response Shingo catches Taven by the legs and DRAGS him into a backbreaker on the floor. Russian Legsweep/Just The Tip combo nailed to halt Shingo's charge, right before Marseglia misses the Redrum senton. A rejuvenated Naito gets a tag, but Vinny reacts well and gives him a butterfly backbreaker. Pumping Bomber by Shingo! Destino by Naito! LIJ pin Marseglia to win at 11:49

Rating - ** - I don't think New Japan's booking has done much to help their 'partner' Ring Of Honor this weekend. Having Cobb put over Ospreay whilst in the midst of an undefeated streak push in ROH isn't great, and neither is having Taven go 0-2 for the weekend whilst ROH are trying to build him as a credible World Title contender. The match itself was decent, if rather unremarkable. It certainly wasn't Naito's laziest performance in an ROH-branded ring and arguably The Kingdom's heat segment on him was the highlight of the match. To give Kevin Kelly credit (and ignoring how much of an idiot he sounds with his OTT 'Destinooo' call), I did like how he tied in The Kingdom's interactions with LIJ here to their feud with Rush in ROH. 

Jay Lethal vs TK O'Ryan - ROH World Title Match
Like his defence against Marseglia at Road To G1 Supercard Houston, this is an unwarranted, undeserved and completely unnecessary title defence. And another example of modern day ROH messing with and artificially bumping up Lethal's stats to fuel the narrative that he is a World Champion of comparable stature to Joe, Danielson or McGuinness. This would work perfectly fine as a non-title match; TK looking to inflict damage to the champion before Vegas. If they wanted a title match here, then it should have been against a New Japan talent as an international 'dream' match. O'Ryan has only wrestled a handful of singles matches in the last two years with ROH, and won hardly any of them. He doesn't deserve this title shot and instead of a clear narrative of 'TK is out to hurt Lethal' we have a rather confusing sub-plot over whether O'Ryan's priority is helping Taven or furthering his own career...

No Code Of Honor from Lethal, he puts the belt on the mat and DIVES at O'Ryan with a tope suicida. The challenger tries to escape, but is captured by Jay and suplexed on the floor. The match begins officially with Lethal hitting his signature hiptoss/dropkick combo. O'Ryan trades strikes with the champ but finds himself getting mauled against the ropes and almost knocked out. TK's only option appears to be fleeing, and in doing so he lures Lethal out of the ring and uses a baseball slide to drill him into the guardrails. Back in the ring he lifts Nigel McGuinness' old spine kick/elevated elbow drop out of the corner spot for 2...but quickly gets too confident and eats a few punches from Lethal. Figure 4 Leglock countered with a spinebuster by TKO though. Lethal retorts with an Ace Crusher, leaving both men flat out on the canvas. Lethal Combination scores, as does a running DVD. Sensibly TK rises to evade Hail To The King, but sees his attempt at a superplex blocked. Figure 4 locked in with such force that O'Ryan almost allows himself to be pinned. Lethal Injection blocked with WILD strikes to the neck, but Jay blocks the Mustang Ride and leaps into the Injection second time around. The champion retains at 10:52

Rating - * - As a standalone match it was forgettable, lifeless and uninteresting. As a World Title Match it was the kind of bout which does real damage and devalues the championship at a time when the heritage and pedigree of that belt is one of the few things ROH has going for it. Lethal is a great World Champion, has had countless phenomenal matches and is respected by Ring Of Honor fans old and new. Adding vanity defences to his championship reign fools nobody into thinking his legacy competes with that of Samoa Joe, Bryan Danielson or Nigel McGuinness. This was a ten minute house show match with almost nothing special to make it stand out at all. In New Japan; a company where earning the right to break out of undercard tag matches to earn yourself singles matches higher up the card is a fundamental element of the entire company, trying to pass this off as a legitimate World Title Match was poor form. 

Matt Taven runs out from the locker room, grabs the World Title belt and knocks Lethal out with it before he can celebrate. He stands over the unconscious champ with an ominous warning that he will 'see [him] in Vegas'...

EVIL/SANADA vs Guerrillas Of Destiny - IWGP Tag Title Match
These two teams met as part of a triple threat tag bout Wrestle Kingdom, where the LIJ duo defeated the departing Young Bucks to become new IWGP Tag Champions at the expense of the Guerrillas. Here we have the rematch; Tonga and Loa are looking to take out their rivals and secure a fifth reign as New Japan's heavyweight tag team champions. 

Tonga starts with Evil and both waste little time going right for their finishing moves. The battle between Evil's power and Tama's sneaky striking and cheap-shots is rather intriguing. When the GOD need heavy lifting to be done they do have Loa of course; he emphatically drills Evil into the mat with a powerslam. It is a slow start for LIJ as Sanada is left stuck on the apron whilst the challengers team up to grind his partner down. It takes a full five minutes before Evil finds a way to escape, bringing in Sanada who puts Tanga straight into the Paradise Lock. Jado tries to make his presence felt with his kendo stick...so Sanada wipes him out with a pescado! He goes for a hurricanrana, and then lands on his feet when Loa tries to counter with a powerbomb. Unfortunately he is then smacked in the back by Jado and the kendo stick, and the referee is still distracted as Jado drills him in the ribs with the stick too. Tonga drags Sanada around in the crowd; ramming his head into the arena wall and a segment of guardrail. Loa and Evil are out in the crowd on the other side too; Evil eventually left semi-conscious on the very back row of bleachers. Sanada only just makes it back before being counted out after all that, and even though he makes it he is fighting the GOD 2-on-1 for the time-being. He tries a dropkick - but is miles away from Tonga and gets smeared into the mat in wholly ugly fashion. Evil makes it back to the apron...for about ten seconds before Tama dumps on the floor again! Evil does get a tag eventually, to the delight of the crowd and quickly lays out Loa with a fisherman buster. Darkness Falls blocked though and the weary Evil is deposited ass-first on the top rope. Superplex nailed by Loa, who looks utterly gassed. Apeshit COUNTERED to an Evil Lariat. Sanada spearheads a quicker pace and crumples Tonga with a big dropkick. Tongan Twist blocked...Skull End blocked...Twist nailed by Tama second time around! Evil saves his partner by clotheslining Tanga over the top rope, only for Tonga to counter the Magic Killer into a snap DDT! Gun Stun...COUNTERED TO SKULL END! Sanada has it won, but lets it go for absolutely no reason and MISSES the Moonsault. Back Drop Driver on Loa though, because LIJ have the numbers advantage and continually isolate one Guerilla at a time. Tonga blocks the Magic Killer by kicking Sanada into the referee - knocking him to the ground. Evil has to intercept Jado before he can use the kendo stick again, but as a result Sanada is left laying with a Tonga German suplex. 3-D on Sanada! Jado holds Evil on the floor as GOD give Sanada the SUPER POWERBOMB! New champions are crowned! Cagematch lists the time at 20:26 - my viewing experience on NJPW World was so distorted by constant lag and buffering issues I couldn't clock it for myself...

Rating - *** - The second half of this match is really good. The way the momentum shifts back and forth, with each team devising tactics to get themselves into 2-on-1 situations with an isolated opponent was particularly entertaining and the finishing sequence produced a really lively crowd. Despite that, and no shortage of effort, I felt the match had a lot of issues too. From the tedious tropes many of these matches succumb to like Jado interference and listless crowd brawling, to an unimaginative ref bump, to moments of real ugly and sloppy execution too. Lots of reviews seem to have enjoyed this match a lot more than I did. It had the bare bones of a good match, but just too many shortcomings for me to go any higher on my rating.

Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Juice Robinson/David Finlay - ROH Tag Title Match
Fin-Juice were in the hunt to get this title shot at ROH's 17th Anniversary Show, but lost out on that match via defeat to Villain Enterprises in the final of Tag Wars 2019. As Lifeblood though, they remain in pursuit of gold as they look to restore honour to ROH and heal it from wounds inflicted by the likes of the bitter, aggressive and dangerous Briscoe Brothers. Although Juice and Finlay represent Lifeblood, New Japan remains their 'home promotion' so they are on their 'turf' tonight which may give them a clear advantage (even though the Briscoes have won multiple championships in Japan despite never really being a 'regular' with any puroresu organisation). Can Lifeblood take the belts tonight and begin the clean-up of ROH's tag team division?

Mark starts put pulling Robinson's hair and refusing to give him a clean break in the corner. He then feeds Juice to the waiting Jay on the outside, who hauls him to the floor so Mark can hit the Cactus Elbow. It is an impressive start by the Briscoes; not allowing Lifeblood a sniff of momentum and quickly establishing dominance for themselves. Robinson spends five minutes just staying alive in the match before he finally manages to tag Finlay in for the first time. He starts well but, like Juice, finds himself overwhelmed by the superior numbers of the Briscoes. Lifeblood are sent packing to the outside, as Mark climbs the ropes for a CORKSCREW MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! That seems to leave Robinson really struggling with injury meaning that the champs can continue to double-team Finlay. David hits a frantic back suplex on Jay, and gets some respite by tagging Juice - but how much does his partner have left in the tank? A full nelson slam on Jay, followed by cannonball sentons to both Briscoes suggests he has recovered well. Airplane Spin into the Juice Box on Mark gets 2. Again numbers overwhelm a member of Lifeblood though, setting Mark up for the Iconoclasm on Robinson. Jay Driller blocked...so Jay hits a snap DVD instead! Day One Neckbreaker blocked...Pulp Friction blocked! Double flapjack by Lifeblood, who then hit STEREO CANNONBALLS OFF THE APRON! STEREO GUARDRAIL CANNONBALLS AS WELL! Finlay returns to the ring with a superplex on Mark, leaving him in position for a diving headbutt from Juice as well. Finlay is barking instructions to his partner - and in doing so takes his eye off Jay who comes to his brother's rescue. Back body drop OVER THE TURNUCKLES from Mark to Juice, then a superplex/Froggy Bow combo on David for 2. Doomsay Device countered with a victory roll for 2...but in doing so Finlay appears to injure his shoulder. SPEAR ON MARK! URINAGE BACKBREAKER WITH ONE ARM! DOOMSDAY DIVING ELBOW! But Finlay's mangled shoulder means he is slow to cover and Mark manages to kick out. Finlay is lying on the mat literally screaming in pain, with Todd Sinclair desperately trying to check on him. Jay profits; launching Robinson out of the ring then ordering his brother upstairs for another Froggy Bow on the hapless Finlay. Briscoes retain at 17:13

Rating - **** - Neither team were operating in top gear or at full throttle here, but in a way that actually further emphasises how good they are and how good the match was. The story they told REALLY hooked me in; 10-time champions the Briscoes absolutely dominating due to their superior experience - but Lifeblood showing all their resilience and honour to hang in there, fighting to the last and when they were able to get one-on-one with the Briscoes, they were more than a match for them - in other words the embodiment of Lifeblood's core message and purpose. The final flourish is what takes this up a notch - a visceral and incredibly courageous last couple of minutes from Finlay who suffers a legitimate and serious shoulder injury (to the extent that he visibly lies on the canvas screaming in pain and, I believe, forced them to innovate an earlier-than-planned finish so he could get medical help)...yet still finds the guts to hit one-armed backbreakers and flying elbows off the top rope. 

Jay Briscoe grabs a microphone as fans try to get a polite 'ROH' chant going. He challenges Guerrillas Of Destiny to a title vs title match at G1 Supercard in MSG...which is a MUCH better idea than what we actually got. GOD come out and quickly accept the challenge.

Tape Rating - ** - Once again, this show amounts to standard fare for a NJPW low-level touring show - just re-skinned to carry some ROH branding/wrestlers whilst New Japan's biggest names sit it out. There is something here for 'completist' fans of both companies; the main event being a cracking little ROH Tag Title defence, whilst on the undercard the IWGP Tag Championship changes hands and we also got a thrilling eleven minute sprint from Ospreay, Goto, Cobb and Dalton. The 'Honor Rising' concept did feel like a spent force by this point though. I presume the amount of international travel makes it an expensive venture for both organisations and although the 2019 instalment produced some solid shows and fun matches, it is hard to say anything hit on the same level (or will live as long in the memory) as Strong vs Ishii from 2016, Cole/Omega vs Briscoes from 2017, or Golden Lovers vs Cody/Scurll in 2018. 

Top 3 Matches
3) EVIL/SANADA vs Guerrillas Of Destiny (***)
2) Will Ospreay/Hirooki Goto vs Jeff Cobb/Dalton Castle (****)
1) Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Juice Robinson/David Finlay (****)

Top 5 NJPW Honor Rising 2019 Weekend Matches
5) Jay Lethal/Kazuchika Okada/Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Matt Taven/Vinny Marseglia/TK O'Ryan (*** - Night 1)
4) Zack Sabre Jr. vs Shota Umino (*** - Night 1)
3) Will Ospreay/Hirooki Goto vs Jeff Cobb/Dalton Castle (**** - Night 2)
2) Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Juice Robinson/David Finlay (**** - Night 2)
1) Will Ospreay vs Dalton Castle (**** - Night 1)

Make a free website with Yola