McXal's Reviews

Right before we move to TV content from taped during the final leg of the War Of The Worlds 2017 Tour, we take a quick stop off in Japan for some Honor Rising Road Rage. A brief video package informs us that the matches on tap are the Goto/Martinez NEVER Openweight Title Match and the Bullet Club vs CHAOS/Briscoes 8-man from Night 2, plus the LIJ vs Delirious/Liger/Tiger Mask trios tag from Night 1. Ian Riccaboni is our voiceover host, with commentary in Tokyo, JP provided by Kevin Kelly and Rocky Romero.

The champs are relatively freshly into their second championship reign having won them from Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi and Manabu Nakanishi earlier in the month of February. They also have the advantage of facing a first time trio. Tiger Mask is 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 involves beating the sh*t out of someone. 

Goto and the NEVER Openweight belt are no strangers to big boys beating the hell out of each other in no-f*cks-given brutal battles. As such Martinez should fit just fine as an opponent and challenger. He has excelled in every opportunity given to him in ROH, and is rightly positioned as one of the promotion's top rising stars. Clearly both the ROH and NJPW offices acknowledge his talent to put him in this position. Can he cause an upset and defeat Goto? 

Martinez is an ominous presence, and he laughs like a super-villain when the champ tries to intimidate him in what is arguably the biggest match of his career. Goto has to scamper to avoid a crushing stomp from the challenger. He tricks Punisher into falling to the floor...except Martinez simply bounces back into the apron and marches back to BOOT Goto to the floor. The challenger forces the champion into a disgusting bump against the guardrails which really seems to rattle Hirooki. He barely gets back to his feet before Punishment is on him again with a spinning heel kick. Ugly, heavy diving elbow drop off the top opens the door for Goto to return - a challenge which Punisher meets with some NASTY elbow strikes. Goto doesn't back down and returns fire just as hard. LARIATOOOOO by Martinez! Martini Killer gets 2! Goto is almost unresponsive now and barely gets a shoulder up when Punishment hits a falcon arrow moments later. The champ has no choice but to leave the ring trying to escape...so Martinez SUICIDE DIVES OVER THE TURNBUCKLES AFTER HIM! Super spinning heel kick back in gets the closest nearfall yet. Martinez calls for South Of Heaven...COUNTERED TO THE GTR! Goto retains (barely) at 10:49

Rating - **** - Martinez has star quality and is freakishly gifted. He has delivered no matter what ROH has thrown at him, and he stepped up again here in one of the biggest matches of his life. He was thrown a bone in getting this match and Goto was extremely generous with him - but his own performance was outstanding. He was menacing, he showed far more personality than he does in his ROH US dates, and it was completely believable that this total newcomer was beating the sh*t out of respected tough guy champion Hirooki Goto. This was a great choice of match to put on a Road Rage episode. Many casual fans won't have seen it, but it's a short, TV-length bout and a compelling part of the Martinez breakout story.  

Goto is the winner, but he looks beaten to sh*t...whilst seconds after the bell Martinez is already back on his feet with a demented grin. He marches off knowing he has made a major statement even in defeat this evening...

The headline here is that IWGP Heavyweight Champion Okada and Kenny Omega are back in the ring together just over a month after their all-time classic at Wrestle Kingdom. Jay and Mark Briscoe squaring off with the Bucks is also of interest - since the Briscoes have twice failed to take the ROH Tag Title from the Jacksons, supposedly sending Jay into something of a downward spiral. The Briscoes have plenty of history with Bullet Club too, all the way up to Night 1 of Honor Rising 2017, when Kenny and Adam Cole got the best of them in the main event.

Okada and Omega demand to start, each with a smile on their face. Okada decides he isn't interested in wrestling Kenny again though and massively pisses off The Cleaner by tagging out to Mark. The younger Briscoe is too quick for Cody, but Nick Jackson is quickly on the scene to assist his partner in levelling Jay with a leapfrog dropkick. Ospreay tries to embarrass Nick with his speed, and actually propels both Bucks out of the ring with some springboard armdrag action. Pip Pip Cheerio blocked, only for Will to counter the IndyTaker into a hurricanrana. Cody and Kenny recover things, slowing the Aerial Assassin down and keeping him on the ground for a prolonged period of isolation from his partners. Bullet Club have fun coming up with some innovative ways to put the boots to Ospreay which Kevin Kelly for some reason puts over as so dastardly there should be an 'investigation'? More entertaining is the brilliance of all of Bullet Club jerking a partner off the apron as Will makes a dive for a tag. Ospreay starts ducking and diving for all he's worth...into the TRUST FALL SUPERKICK FLURRY with Cody and Omega feeding him into repeated shots. ELEVATED SOMERSAULT SENTON TO THE FLOOR! Standing moonsault/springboard splash combo gets 2 for the Bucks. The clock reaches ten minutes with Ospreay in serious trouble (also meaning that Okada has spent ten minutes standing around doing literally nothing). Flipping Stunner nailed on Kenny though, followed by a satellite DDT which opens the door to a hot tag...for Okada to finally get involved! Double flapjack on the Bucks. Disaster Kick by Cody! Cross Rhodes countered to the Air Raid neckbreaker by Okada, and that's enough work for him. The Briscoes fly in as a team, crushing Matt in the corner with a succession of kicks. Elbow suicida by Jay! Cactus Elbow by Mark! Kenny tries to stop Ospreay hitting a dive, so Will BACK FLIP kicks him away and hits the HANDSPRING MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! Okada climbs the ropes...and Rhodes is going after him! Obviously Okada isn't taking that bump, but here's Will Ospreay taking his place, eating a SUPERPLEX TO THE FLOOR! I love that Ospreay quite literally (and very loudly) pointed out that he was taking this one for Okada. It leaves 'The Cleaner and the Rainmaker' alone in the ring and exchanging strikes in front of a baying crowd. V-TRIGGER! One Winged Angel blocked...Rainmaker blocked...DOUBLE SUPERKICK SNAP DRAGON COMBO! TRIPLE SUPERKICK! Handspring Pele by Ospreay...but he is instantly flattened by a Cody powerslam. Jay socks both Bucks with a double lariat, and is literally shoved out of the way so Okada can hit Omega with the big dropkick. Superplex on Omega...into DUELLING DIVING ELBOWS by Mark and Okada! The champ calls for the Rainmaker, to loud jeers from the audience! Rainmaker COUNTERED to the V-Trigger! RUSH HOUR BY OSPREAY! Will climbs to the top, and actually lands on his feet when Cody dodges his attempt at an SSP. OsCutter COUNTERED TO CROSS RHODES! Bullet Club win at 20:15

Rating - **** - If you were making a checklist of things you wanted to see in this match, I think they hit all the boxes. We got Okada/Omega interaction, Young Bucks combo moves, a dive sequence, Will Ospreay insanity, and a great finish involving Cody. It wasn't necessarily the most inventive, but it didn't need to be. As I've said a number of times with Young Bucks multi-man main events, the fact that they deliver this level of excellence so often that it feels almost 'routine' now is staggering and should not go unappreciated. It didn't tell the story or have the drama of Goto/Martinez...but this was everything you wanted to see in a house show main event.

Tape Rating - N/A - A solid, inoffensive Road Rage episode. The Honor Rising shows make good content for ROH television. The NJPW house show vibe gives the show a different feel and the selection of matches for this episode was solid. We got big NJPW names like LIJ and Liger in the opener, a star-studded and frenetic main event and a title match of real significance to ongoing ROH storylines as we saw Punishment Martinez's breakout match with Hirooki Goto.