McXal's Reviews

It’s at this point that ROH television could start to become rather unrepresentative of the current product. With all content taped in February in Las Vegas now utilised, they are now going even further back for some Road Rage from the Honor Rising NJPW tour shows - taped two months ago. I don’t disagree with airing that footage (particularly since an ROH championship changed hands), but to still be airing content from February as April turns to May isn’t particularly desirable. Nevertheless, we now follow the stars of Ring Of Honor as they head to the famous Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. I reviewed the NJPW World versions of these shows so much of my match-review content will be copied and pasted…however, there is additional footage and commentary provided by Kevin Kelly and Mr Wrestling III. Tonight we are set to see the long-awaited Strong/Ishii TV Title Match, plus the Gedo/Delirious battle of the bookers.

Kevin Kelly starts by assuring us that despite the Japanese ring announcer, Japanese fans, New Japan ring and so on this definitely is a Ring Of Honor show. 

I wonder, out of curiosity, what would have happened had New Japan tried to book Ricochet to team with Sydal here. As is Castle brings his Party Peacock act to Japan, in a rematch of sorts with Jushin Liger (who beat him in the US last year). 

Liger antagonises Dalton immediately, which I love. Presumably he is reminding him of the win he scored in 2015, and Castle is visibly annoyed by it. Usually Dalton’s matches start with lots of posing and stall-tactics, but this time Liger takes him straight down for some stretches that leave him heading to the ropes and taking a powder with the Boys (Japanese lads, not the Tate Twins). Just like last year, Liger again pisses Castle off by hijacking the Boys and posing with them! Taguchi sensibly tags his partner out, but finds his hip attacks blocked by Liger (who is on top form tonight!). Castle sneaks in to hip attack ‘Thunder’ instead, which Taguchi loves! Dalton then picks his partner up and rams him hip-first through Liger’s face for 2. The masked man’s response is to plant Taguchi with a tilta-whirl backbreaker then gesture wildly in Castle’s direction. Dalton CATCHES Sydal going for the Meteora and counters into an overhead suplex, following it with an OUTSIDE-IN EVEREST GERMAN for 2! Meanwhile Liger wipes out Taguchi with a flying crossbody off the apron! Bang-A-Rang countered with a reverse rana…into the SYDAL PRESS! Sydal pins Castle at 08:20

Rating - *** - I thought this was a deceptively fun little opening match. Jushin Liger worked almost the entire bout and was fantastically entertaining throughout. I loved the continuation of his rivalry with Castle from last year’s New Japan tour of ROH. They were solid gold every time they were in the ring together. Sydal picks up another big win, and has looked incredibly strong all year thus far, but my big takeaway is that ROH need to book Castle/Liger II if they can get the veteran back to America this year

A video package showing the ROH stars arriving in Japan, travelling by bus and checking out Korakuen Hall is shown.

This one is clearly a bit of fun, as it throws together the two lead bookers for both organisations in a singles match. Delirious is an odd guy, who has plenty of Japanese experience from back when he was an active in-ring competitor. But Gedo is pretty strange himself, and similarly has worked in the US many times too. Who has the edge? Kevin Kelly notes for the TV edition that this is actually Delirious’ debut on SBG TV.

Gedo stands and watches Delirious’ customary ring-bell freak-out with a confused look on his face (the ref sells it like a lunatic though), which is mirrored on the faces of many of the fans in attendance too. More than ninety seconds have elapsed before they lock up, and even then it’s only fleeting before Delirious breaks it to insist that Gedo pulled his hair (although amusingly he does then try to pull Gedo’s non-existent hair in revenge). Delirious heels out on the home-promotion, taking cheap-shots and breaking rules to beat Gedo down. Sensibly Gedo dropkicks the legs out from under the Lizard Man and immediately tries to submit him to a Figure 4. The masked man is still on one knee recovering from that when Gedo lands a superkick for 2. Gedo Clutch blocked into the Leaping Lariat for 2. Shadows Over Hell misses, but Gedo can’t capitalise and Delirious drags him into a crucifix pin. That’s enough to give ROH’s booker the win at 07:53

Rating - * - It wasn’t all bad, but a lot of the humour here missed the mark for me. Both competitors looked like they were having a great time messing around, tossing out some joke spots and keeping it low impact. I’ve no problem with that, it just wasn’t very fun to watch. Delirious working semi-heel for a minute was perhaps the highlight for me.

The next video package shows Moose getting himself over with the Japanese fans, which would’ve made a great deal more sense had he re-signed with ROH and started touring New Japan, rather than leaving for TNA in the summer of 2016. 

SIDENOTE – Of the three high profile departures over the summer of 2016, Moose’s is by far the strangest. It was evident from 2015 that Cedric Alexander would be gone. He has basically disappeared altogether in 2016. When Roderick announced he wouldn’t be re-signing it wasn’t a shock as he’d already dropped the TV Title, been removed from the World Title picture and put over Bobby Fish on his way out. HOWEVER, after his storied career in ROH people were pretty happy for him and accepted it was his time to go. Moose feels different in the sense that, at this point anyway, he’s still getting pushed. He’s working with Okada, they made a big deal of him on the Japan shows. He was also starting to improve as a worker at an extremely quick rate. I wonder if perhaps his departure came as more of a shock to ROH/SBG.

In the bowels of the arena Roderick Strong tries to cut a promo, but is interrupted by a smug Bobby Fish reminding him that he is waiting for him in Las Vegas. This would be the famous ‘backstage confrontation’ that Kelly and Mr Wrestling have rambled on about for weeks…

Dalton Castle having fun in Tokyo is shown next. He does his weird poses in the street, compliments the ‘perfect cursive’ of his autograph and wins over the Japanese fans.

This is your main event of the episode, and yet another instalment in the ongoing ‘Roddy vs The World’ series. Mr ROH has proudly defended the Television Championship against challengers of all shapes and sizes from all over the world. From comedy guys like Cheeseburger, to mystery guys like Curry Man, to a death match worker like Masada, to a veteran like Stevie Richards. Many have challenged, none have succeeded. The ‘Stone Pitbull’ Tomohiro Ishii may be has most intimidating challenger to date though. Will Roddy return to the US with the belt? Todd Sinclair is referee for this one, which wasn’t necessary but is an added expense which adds some authenticity to proceedings that I really appreciate.

Ishii stands stone-faced and unmoved as Roderick prances, bobs and weaves through the opening minute – looking like he is taking this match as seriously as he did with Cheeseburger or Curry Man. The power of the husky challenger’s strikes really rattles Roddy, and when he tries to quicken the pace Ishii continually cuts the ring in half and tackles him to the floor. He can’t live with the punishing style of the Pitbull and actually clambers into the front row just to get some respite. It draws Ishii to the floor – an error which Strong pounces upon with an APRON CRADLE BACKBREAKER! GUARDRAIL BACKBREAKER follows that! In just two moves the defending champion has nullified almost five minutes of Ishii dominance. Strong acts smart and keeps his challenger on the deck whilst working the back with an assortment of submissions. Even when Ishii escapes, Roderick nails him with a big move (like the Olympic Slam) to drop him on his back, on the mat, once again. At last Ishii creates some space and uses it to launch Strong through the air with a powerslam…but is so hurt he takes an eternity to get up of the deck himself to capitalise. BACK DROP DRIVER when he does gets 2. His back is too injured to land the Ishii Driller though. Roddy counters by gourdbustering him straight onto his face, dragging him up then splattering his face again with the Muso. Stronghold blocked by the challenger’s powerful legs…and onto the apron they go! Ishii Driller COUNTERED WITH A BACK SUPLEX FROM THE APRON TO THE FLOOR! Ishii’s back is now f*cked! He fights Death By Roderick though, slowly getting back to his feet where he starts HEADBUTTING Strong’s elbow as he tries to throw strikes at him! SUPERPLEX on Strong gets 2, as does the folding powerbomb. JUMPING KNEE BY STRONG! He’s been using that as a finish recently, and on this occasion it leaves both men flat out on the deck. Roddy is up first; chasing Ishii up the ropes for a superplex…ROLLED INTO DEATH BY RODERICK! SICK KICK! ISHII KICKS OUT! Roddy pulls down the knee pad for an EXPOSED KNEE STRIKE! NO SOLD! LARIATOOOO by Ishii! RUNNING LARIATOOOO! Now it’s Mr ROH’s turn to kick out at the death. REPEATED BARE KNEE STRIKES! KNOCKOUT HEADBUTT BY ISHII! SLIDING LARIAT FOR 2! BRAINBUSTER! NEW CHAMPION! Ishii shocks everyone and becomes ROH TV Champion despite never having appeared in Ring Of Honor at a time of 20:08

Rating - **** - These two delivered a hell of a main event, with an ultra-physical style and a simple story which emphasised the strength of both performers. Strong couldn’t cope with Ishii’s toughness and physicality so drew him out and attacked him on the floor. Ishii found his back targeted as so many of Roddy’s opponents have in the past…except that same rugged toughness meant he had the guts to survive the onslaught, before delivering a devastating offensive flurry which Mr ROH simply couldn’t respond to. I felt like this was the perfect climax to the ‘Roddy vs The World’ gimmick, an act of hubris for which Roderick Strong was destined to be punished for. We’d seen him shamelessly self-promote himself for weeks, despite looking vulnerable at every turn. At Final Battle he tapped out (unseen) to Bobby Fish. He promised to beat Curry Man and Cheeseburger in less than five minutes and failed. He got pushed hard on TV by death match workers and ECW old-timers. It was like he wanted to prove himself to be a dominant champion but couldn’t pull it off. This was the perfect way for his ‘big mouth’ to catch up with him. He started this match smirking, joking and dancing around…and got his ass kicked by a tough, ass-kicking machine in his prime. 

Tape Rating - *** - I quite liked this presentation. It did just enough to feel different to the NJPW World version of these shows, whilst the addition of Kelly and MW3’s commentary made the Japanese product more accessible to a casual American viewership. Strong/Ishii was still a great match when cut up for TV, and it was nice to see the ‘confrontation’ which Kevin and Mr Wrestling have been blaming for Strong’s loss over the last couple of months. Fingers crossed that ROH is able to air at least one of The Elite’s awesome trios matches from Honor Rising weekend in the coming weeks, because a lot of the rest of the content was rather low key…