New Japan have announced a huge match for the Hiroshima stop in the upcoming ‘Destruction’ tour. ROH World Champion and Bullet Club member Adam Cole will be defending his belt against British sensation Will Ospreay.
It was recently announced that Ospreay had agreed to be part of ROH’s upcoming Reach for the Sky tour in the UK, his involvement with the US based company beyond the tour is unknown at this point.
As previously announced here SEScoops, Ring of Honor will be making their way to the UK for the first time in over a decade this November. There will be three stops on the tour:
Friday November 18th – Liverpool Olympia
Saturday November 19th – Leicester Community Sports Arena
Sunday November 20th – Seymour Leisure Centre, London
5 names have now been announced: for ROH’s historic return to Britain and they are:
ROH Champion Jay Lethal
The Briscoes
The Young Bucks
Dalton Castle
New Japan Pro Wrestling BOSJ Champion Will Ospreay
Tickets for the tour are now available to purchase through ROHWrestling.com.
Having already announced NJPW talents Jushin Thunder Liger, Honma and Naito for the November 10th/11th Global Wars shows, Revolution Pro have released a promotional poster featuring Will Ospreay and Zack Sabre Jr who have both confirmed via Twitter that they will be appearing at the two night event.
Their opponents are yet to be named however with the event focusing on inter-promotional bouts there are bound to be some one time only unmissable match-ups.
Tickets are still available for the event here: https://www.gigantic.com/revolution-pro-wrestling-york-hall-2016-11-10-18-30
Ring of Honor have confirmed that Kyle O’Reilly will be facing NJPW NEVER Openweight Champion Katsuyori Shibata at the Field of Honor show on August 27th. The match falls just over a week after the G1 Climax tournament has concluded and with Shibata slated to finally win the tournament this is a major bout for the ROH supershow.
— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) July 21, 2016
Ring of Honor recently announced that they would be touring the UK for the first time in a decade and now the venues for their tour have officially been announced:
Friday November 18th – Liverpool Olympia
Saturday November 19th – Leicester Community Sports Arena
Sunday November 20th – Seymour Leisure Centre, London
The first confirmed names on the tour are ROH World Champion Jay Lethal, The Briscoes, War Machine, “BULLET CLUB’s” Adam Cole and the Young Bucks.
Ring of Honor have secured the services of ex-WWE star Cody Rhodes for Final Battle on Friday December 2nd, which takes place from the Hammerstein Ballrom in New York City. His opponent has not been announced as of this writing.
Also announced for the December supershow are ROH Champion Jay Lethal, ROH Television Champion Bobby Fish and ROH Tag Team Champions Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian.
Ring of Honor have announced that for the first time in a decade that they will be touring the United Kingdom. Although the official stops on the tour have not yet been announced the likely shortlist would be London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Cardiff.
The announcement of a November tour has already caused some stirring in the UK wrestling community as ICW have their biggest show to date on November 20th (Fear & Loathing IX featuring Kurt Angle) which depending on the venues ROH opt for may be to the detriment of both shows.
Whether there will be any NJPW talents on the tour has not yet been announced, however many UK promotions have had success with bringing in New Japan talent in the last year so it is likely that Ring of Honor would look to capitalise on that.
Katsuyori Shibata has been booked to appear at Ring of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor pay per view on August 20th. Shibata is also scheduled to make his UK debut at Revolution Pro Wrestling this Sunday at York Hall in London against Zack Sabre Jr.
There has been speculation that 2016 could finally be the year that Shibata wins the prestigious NJPW G1 Climax tournament. Shibata does appear to have regained the trust of New Japan after leaving to pursue MMA in the mid-2000s and these international bouts could be setting the stage for a major IWGP title push in the near future.
MLW Radio reported earlier today that former ROH star and one-time WWE prospect Moose had signed with TNA. They later posted an update, seen below, noting that TNA has made an offer but Moose hasn’t made a decision yet.
It’s no secret that Moose has been on WWE’s radar and was expected to be at the WWE Performance Center this fall. The Wrestling Observer reports that WWE backed away from signing Moose due to a 2009 domestic incident with his now ex-wife, that led to a one-game suspension as he was playing in the NFL then. WWE reportedly told Moose that it was a timing issue, due to the recent incidents with Adam Rose and Jerry Lawler, not a closed door.
Ring of Honor BITW – Briscoe vs. Lethal 2 – June 24, 2016, from the Carbarrus Arena in Concord, NC
Kyle O’Reilly defeated Kamaitachi via submission.
ACH defeated Silas Young with the Morning Star.
Mark Briscoe defeated Roderick Strong in Strong’s farewell match after 2 brainbusters.
Adam Cole & The Young Bucks defeated Moose & War Machine in a Tornado Rules 6-man tag. YB hit the 5-Star Meltzer Driver on Moose and kissed Cole as he covered for the victory.
The Addiction (c) retained the ROH World Tag Team Championships against the Motor City Machine Guns after Kamaitachi came out and attacked Jay White, who was sitting at ringside, causing the distraction.
BJ Whitmer defeated Steve Corino in an Unsanctioned Fight Without Honor. With both men bloody, the lights went out, Kevin Sullivan appeared and delivered the golden spike to Corino’s head. Whitmer hit the exploder and scored the victory.
Bobby Fish (c) retained the ROH World TV Championship over Dalton Castle with a small package.
ANX came out with Caprice Coleman, continuing their campaign to Make Wrestling Great Again. The three of them declared that moving forward, they will now be known as The Cabinet.
Jay Lethal (c) retained the ROH World Championship against Jay Briscoe. The rematch one year in the making saw Briscoe hit a Lethal Injection and Jay Driller, but Lethal followed up with a top-rope cutter and the Lethal Injection for the clean victory.
Ring of Honor announced on Wednesday that former ROH Champion Roderick Strong is gone from the company. Strong is a tremendous talent that has plied his craft across the world over the past decade-plus. A free agent of his caliber won’t have a hard time finding work, comment on this article and tell us where you’d like to see him turn up next.
Goodbye… For Now.
Roderick Strong Departs Ring of Honor
Roderick Strong told ROH officials that he plans to leave the company after Saturday’s TV Taping in Concord, NC to pursue other opportunities. This brings to conclusion an amazing run of success lasting nearly 13 years in Ring of Honor. Immediately after his announcement, Roddy sat down with ROHWrestling.com to provide exclusive quotes for a look back at his tenure with the company.
It was September 20, 2003 at the Murphy Rec Center in Philadelphia, PA, where it all began in Ring of Honor for Roderick Strong. A young, muscular upstart with movie star looks made his way into the ring and proved immediately that he had the tools to be something very special.
“After seeing ROH for the first time I immediately went and put “Wrestle for ROH” at the top of my goals. It was everything I wanted as a fan. As a wrestler, I knew getting there and staying there would be a difference maker for my career” said Strong. “As I prepared to walk through the curtain, all I could think was, ‘don’t screw this up!’ Honestly, I felt I was still very young but I couldn’t be more prepared for whatever opportunity I would be given”. Little did anyone know that Roderick Strong would become a stalwart for Ring of Honor over the next decade.
They say you can measure a true athlete’s greatness by the amount of championships he has held and Strong’s championship resume is befitting a wrestler of his caliber. In 2005, he teamed with Austin Aries to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship. In September of 2010, Roddy ended the 7 month reign of Tyler Black to become the ROH World Champion. In March, 2012 he would defeat Jay Lethal for the ROH World Television Championship to become the 2nd ROH Triple Crown Champion. He would capture the ROH World Television Championship once more in October of 2015.
When asked what winning championships meant to him, Strong said, “The championships I won all carried a different feeling and were amazing for very different reasons. Winning the ROH World Tag Team Titles was something special because I was always a huge fan of tag team wrestling and holding it made me the best. To be considered part of the best tag teams in the world was an honor. The ROH World Championship was something that meant a lot because it was validation from Ring of Honor that all the miles, working through injuries, time lost with my family was not lost. I was in a position where the pressure is at its highest and they knew I could get the job done. Both of my TV title wins came at important points of my career. They helped show not only me, but my peers and the ROH fans my growth as a performer”.
He added “Believe it or not, when I lost the World title to Eddie Edwards, it was a very special moment for both of us. Looking back, I realized I was happy that I could be a part of a landmark moment for his career. Losing the TV title to Adam Cole also holds a special place in my heart. To see the crowd react the way they did and making him really earn it was awesome. To be a part of their moments is something ROH gave me and I will never forget.”
In the early days of Ring of Honor, fans enjoyed his great matches with likes of Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, Samoa Joe and AJ Styles. “Guys like them were the reason I wanted to come to ROH and why I fell in love with wrestling here. I wanted to go out and be tested by the best and prove I either had what it takes or not. Every match up was such a great learning experience and made me who I am today.”
ROH fans witnessed amazing battles with international stars Shinsuke Nakamura, Hiroshi Tanahashi and “the Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada. “I was fired up at the opportunity to show the world, no matter who they are and where they are from that I can go toe to toe with them. I pride myself on being able to work with anyone and any style so it was nice to be able to do that.”
More recent wars with ROH World Television Champion Bobby Fish and ROH World Champion Jay Lethal really showed that Strong continued to operate on an elite level. “Fish is a warrior and someone I respect immensely, not just as a personality, but also a performer and beating Jay Lethal for my second Television title was the beginning of the next chapter of my career. It showed the world that I wasn’t going anywhere for a very long time and it showed the growth in me as a performer. Those matches with Jay are very special to me.”
When asked about why he stayed with ROH as long as he did, Strong said “ROH was everything great about wrestling to me, getting the most talented people together to push each other and come up with super-unique and interesting things to make the product stand out. They gave me my first real chance to grow and had the confidence in letting me fail or succeed. ROH will always mean the world to me.”
ROH fans have had a love/hate relationship and at times, they truly loved to hate him. What can never be lost is Roddy’s appreciation the fans. He doesn’t have an “off button” or know how to take it easy. Roderick Strong is truly a once-in-a-lifetime athlete that Ring of Honor and its fans have been blessed to have witnessed for nearly the past 13 years.
Strong concluded, “I want to be able to personally thank everyone, from the new fans that just found ROH, to the fans that have followed me from the beginning. Ring of Honor is more than just a company to me. It’s my family, I started as 20-year-old kid just looking for an opportunity to learn and grow as a performer. Now I stand here after 12 and a half years loving it just as much, if not more than when I came in. I want to thank you for your patience as you watched me grow over time. I want to thank you for the cheers, the boos and the passion you showed me. Most importantly I want to thank you personally for always supporting the greatest company in the world, Ring of Honor. I hope to see everyone this Saturday in Concord”
Join us Saturday in Concord, North Carolina at the Cabarrus Arena as Ring of Honor bids farewell to the one and only, “Mr. ROH” Roderick Strong.
Ring of Honor announced on Wednesday that Final Battle 2016 will take place from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on Friday, December 2nd.
ROH has been running NYC shows from Terminal 5 ever since 2014, with a lot of fans being unhappy with the Terminal 5 location due to the seating configuration and obstructed views.
PWInsider reports that ROH’s return to Hammerstein is not a one-shot deal. ROH will be running several shows from the Manhattan Center location in 2017 “and beyond.”
Tickets for Final Battle will be available soon. For more information, visit ROHWrestling.com.
The show opens with spliced together backstage promos from Prince Nana and Donovan Dijack, as well as Jay Lethal and Taeler Hendrix. Nana says, “The time has come. We put out the man that led you to the ROH World Title.” Lethal says, “To be a great champion, you must remove all your personal affairs. Well, I’m having a damn hard time doing that.” Hendrix says, “What you did, was sick.” Lethal says, “You hurt our friend, Truth Martini.” Hendrix says, “The one man to ever believe in you.” Lethal says, “You broke his neck.” Nana says, “Right now, you have no one to turn to.” Hendrix says, “I’ve got news for you, pal. You are in the sights of the champion.” Nana, “The time for a new Ring of Honor World Champion has finally come.” Lethal, “We believe in revenge.” Hendrix, “It just got personal.” Dijack, “Jay Lethal, your time is up.”
Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness welcome us from Ted Reeve Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. KK says, “And tonight the man who broke Truth Martini’s neck will speak, plus we will see the newest member of the Bullet Club, The Hangman Adam Page, against a man who is really looking for revenge, Colt Cabana, making his return to ROH TV after a 5 year absence. All of this, plus The Rainmaker is here.”
Matt Sydal vs. Kazuchika Okada
Co-holder of the IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship Reborn Matt Sydal walks to the ring, slides under the bottom rope, and poses in the ring. Okada’s music hits and KK says, “Next, the man who Jushin Thunder Liger called ‘a perfect wrestler’ is on his way to the ring,” he is followed by Gedo. The fans pop loudly for Okada. KK says, “Tens of millions of dollars of talent. The Rainmaker has arrived.” The camera gets a close up of one of the Okada dollars.
Tale of the tape says Sydal 5’10”/195 vs. Okada 6’2”/229 (Bobby Cruise says 236). KK says “Certainly there is a size advantage for Okada, but Sydal has faced The Big Show and Mark Henry. He’s given up size and weight many times before, and never even taken a back step. Nigel, it’s interesting, when your fellow countrymen Will Osprey was tabbed the newest member of Chaos in New Japan, Sydal felt more than a little slighted. That was an interesting conversation we had with Mr. Sydal.”
Collar-and-elbow tie-up, go behind by Okada, go behind by Sydal, wrist lock by Okada, Sydal rolls through, jumps to his feet, armbar, pump handle, snapmare takeover, headlock, armbar, Okada reverses into an armbar headlock of his own. NM says, “He’s called Reborn, because he came back from an injury that many thought was going to sideline him forever.” Sydal throws Okada off the ropes, Okada hits a shoulder block tackle, runs the ropes again, ducks under, jumps over, goes for The Rainmaker, but Sydal hits a hurricanrana, arm wringer by Sydal, back elbows by Okada, Sydal flips him down on the mat, does a backflip, Okada gets out of the way, jumps and stops and they stare each other down.
Okada wrist a wrist lock, arm wringer, shoulder block, whip reversal into the corner, Sydal meets an elbow, and then a spinning back heel kick takes Okada to the mat. Sydal goes to the second rope and tries for a tornado DDT, but Okada reverses and puts him back on the turnbuckle, and then nails a dropkick knocking Sydal to the floor, and we go to commercial.
When we return, Sydal fights out with an elbow and a kick, throws Okada off the ropes, he catches himself on the ropes, and Sydal meets a boot, Okada with a slingshot senton over the top rope, cover, kick out. Sydal is wincing in pain, Okada picks him up, Sydal with an elbow to the gut, chop kick chop kick, Okada returns with clubbing blows to the back. Okada slams Sydal’s head into the turnbuckle, slams his head into the opposite turnbuckle, now back to the first one, 2 elbows to the back of the neck, goes to throw Sydal’s head to another turnbuckle, but he blocks and kicks him in the face.
Sydal delivers 2 kicks to the back of the quad, then a kick to the back of the head, standing moonsault, folds him up like an accordion, cover, kick out. Sydal splashes Okada in the corner, flies off the top rope with a double sitting knee, cover, kick out. Sydal grabs hold of an injured knee, ducks a kick by Okada, and then connects with a back kick of his own, goes for a top rope hurricanrana but Okada slides through, catches Sydal’s head on the turnbuckle and then rolls through backwards and plants him with a jackknife neckbreaker to the knee, pin attempt, kick out.
Okada slams Sydal to the mat, climbs to the top turnbuckle and nails the big elbow. Okada calls for The Rainmaker as the camera zooms out, he picks up Sydal, spins around, Sydal ducks it with a Matrix-like escape, reverse headscissors by Sydal that drops Okada on his head. Sydal climbs to the top rope, goes for the Shooting Star Press, but Okada blocks with double knees to the gut, Okada goes for a tombstone piledriver, Sydal gets out, Sydal misses a kick and then Okada lands a standing dropkick. Now on his third try, Okada nails The Rainmaker, third time’s a charm, and it’s over, 1-2-3.
Winner: Kazuchika Okada
After the match, Okada and Sydal shake hands.
Adam Cole and the Young Bucks cut a backstage promo, “Hey Bucks, did you guys hear what the Best in the World main event is? Jay Lethal defending his title against Jay Briscoe? Everybody knows that whoever wins that match is just keeping the title warm for ol’ Adam Cole baybay. And Jay Lethal, tonight you’re wrestling Donovan Dijak. Well, I just wanted to make this very apparent to you, the BC, we might, I don’t know, come say hello to the champ,” and we go to commercial.
After the break, Silas Young cuts a backstage promo, “The other day, I came home and my son was sitting on the floor coloring this.” He shows ROH’s ‘The Best Coloring Book on the Planet Today.’ Silas continues, “And I look down, and he was coloring a picture of ACH. I told him ‘Son, that’s fine if you want to color that book, but just know that guy you’re coloring a picture of, the way he acts, that’s not the way men act.’ He looked at me, he closed it up, and he gave it to me and said, ‘Dad, if that’s the case, then I don’t want it anymore’. And it just made me think, my seven-year-old son is more of a man than ACH is. See the problem is ACH, you think I hate you, you think I got some big problem with you, but the fact of the matter is, I’m just trying to teach you some lessons, some lessons obviously you didn’t learn that you needed to learn, some lessons that your father failed to teach you on being a man.”
Adam Page vs. Colt Cabana
Out next, is the newest member of the BC, The Hangman Adam Page. NM notes, “Conspicuous by their absence, the rest of the BC. Normally they’re like packs of wolves, they come out here together.” KK comments, “You never know when they could be on the scene.” Colt Cabana’s video plays, the camera zooms in and out for the Boom Boom. Tale of the tape says 6’1”/240 Cabana vs 6’0”/207 Page (Bobby Cruise and the video department matched up correctly). The fans chant, “Colt Cabana!” The referee asks for the Code of Honor, both men refuse.
Collar-and-elbow tie-up, they push each other to the ropes, the referee calls for the break. The fans chant, “Art of wrestling!” Collar-and-elbow tie-up again, they push each other to the ropes again, the referee calls for the break again. Cabana shoves Page and then Page connects with a big right hand, Page with a chop, punch to the head, Cabana throws him off the ropes, but Page lands a shoulder tackle. Page runs the ropes, Cabana ducks under, leaps over, then runs the ropes himself, and hits a spinning headscissors
NM says, “Cabana has learned so much from going over and wrestling in England, from guys like Johnny Saint, Steve Grey.” Fans chant, “Boom! Boom!” Page goes for a kick, but Cabana catches him with a leg takedown. NM says, “You could make an argument that perhaps he doesn’t feel he feels his spot in BC is really secure yet, so he’s got to earn it. I don’t know.” Cabana goes for the Boston crab, Page fights out, Cabana with a wrist lock, go behind, snapmare takeover, cover, kick out, now Cabana transitions into a crucifix style pin attempt, kick out again.
Cabana and Page push each other, collar-and-elbow tie-up, headlock by Cabana, arm wringer by Cabana, Page with a forearm, Cabana arm wringer again, Page forearm, Cabana throws his hand to the mat. Cabana stands tall with a wrist lock, twisting the fingers, whip reversal, Cabana jumps up the turnbuckle, ducks underneath, Page throws him to the outside, and then Page hits a Shooting Star Press from the apron, and we go to commercial.
When we return, the fans have dueling chants going. Chop by Cabana, chop by Page, slap by Cabana, chop by Page, slap by Cabana, push by Page, forearm by Cabana, Cabana ducks a clothesline and then gets hit with a clothesline on the reversal. Page with the push kick into the corner, cover, kick out. Page with a pectoral stretch, Cabana runs his backside hip into Page’s gut twice, a kick and a punch by Page, whips Cabana in the corner, and then meets a back elbow.
Cabana with another elbow, climbs to the second rope and jumps off, Page goes under, then Cabana with a double-handed chop, two punches to the face, whip reversal off the ropes, Cabana ducks a clothesline, and then 4 punches and then a rolling punch. Cabana runs into the corner with the flying hip attack, Page with a kick to the leg, Cabana with a elbow to the head.
Page goes to the apron, comes back in with a slingshot lariat, cover, kick out. Page picks up Cabana for the Rite of Passage, Cabana holds himself on the ropes, ducks a clothesline and then a moonsault by Cabana, cover, kick out. Elbow by Cabana, elbow by Page, Page comes charging in, push kick by Cabana, leg-on-leg bridge pin attempt, 1-2-3, and Cabana wins.
Winner: Colt Cabana
After the match, the Guerrillas of Destiny come down and attack Cabana, with clubbing blows, stomps to the back, punches, elbows, as Page walks around the ring with the hangman’s noose. GoD hold Cabana, Page goes to put the noose around his neck, and KK says, “We need some help. We need security. Look at what they’re doing. Fans, we can’t show any more of this, we’ve got to go to break, go to commercial break, we need help.” The camera points at the apron and we cut away.
Rhett Titus asks, “Are you tired of little boys with itty bitty biceps?” KK asks, “Are you tired of really old dudes in masks? Hi I’m Kenny King.” RT chimes in, “And I’m Rhett Titus,” and together, “We’re the All Night Express.” KK asks, “See, when you think about Jushin Thunder Liger, what are the things you think of?” RT says, “Honor, respect, legendary.” KK continues, “Legendary, the man has fought names like Malenko, Juventud Guerrero, Chris Jericho,” RT says, “All of the greats.” KK continues, “But now Cheeseburger? See, this is what we’re talking about, now when I think of JTL, I think of Brett Favre, I think of Allen Iverson, aka. I think of old farts that stayed in the game way past their prime, but that changes in Toronto.” RT says, “And Toronto is the first stop on our campaign trail.” KK continues, “We’re listening to you. Even if it kills us,” and they say together, “We will make wrestling great again.”
BJ Whitmer comes down to the ring and grabs a mic, “Finally Nigel, finally you have come to your senses and you have booked the match. Lately Steve, you’ve gone online and you’ve thrown out all these empty threats. You tell me I’ve crossed the line, you tell me I’ve gone too far, but the truth of the matter is, you have no one else to blame for my actions, but yourself. So this all comes to a head on June 24th, Best in the World, live on pay-per-view. We stand across the ring from one another, in the ultimate Fight Without Honor. Now listen real close Steve, because this is not an empty threat. When you leave the house that weekend, you kiss that pretty little wife and that baby son of yours goodbye. Because not only am I going to break your body, I’m going to steal your soul.”
Steve Corino runs through the audience, security holds him back, Whitmer says, “Tough man, tough man. Oh, you want some now? You want some now? You know what? I ain’t gotta wait for Charlotte, let’s do this right now.” Corino gets into the ring, but Whitmer climbs out of the ring, and officials and security keep the two separated. KK says, “You went too far BJ Whitmer, that footage when you stalked his wife, stalked his son, how dare you.”
ACH cuts a backstage promo, “When I was 13 years old, my father actually told me, if you’re handling your business, and you’re taking care of your responsibilities, you do you. As long as you’re not taking food off another man’s plate, you do you. And Silas, I’m obviously not taking food off your plate, and I obviously don’t have a problem with you, you obviously have a problem with me. More importantly, you have a problem with yourself, because these things are called insecurities. You’re jealous of all the things that ACH does. See, its confidence to walk out and express yourself, and tell people that you can be you, no matter what you do. If you want to watch cartoons, watch cartoons, it doesn’t matter how old you are. And how dare you say my father never taught me how to be a man? Don’t worry about me, worry about your son. And the only reason why your son may be more man than I am? It’s because Silas, it’s simple, you’re not man enough to hold down your household.” He takes a PlayStation Vita out of his back pocket and walks away.
Donovan Dijack vs. Jay Lethal (c) (non-title match)
Dijack’s over-autotuned entrance music hits, he walks out slowly, smiling, screams on the ramp, and then continues suave to the ring. KK asks NM, “And why is this a non-title match?” NM says, “He hasn’t earned it yet, but if he were to win here, he would certainly be in line for one.” Next out is your ROH World Champion Jay Lethal, the greatest wrestler in the world, the greatest first generation wrestler. Lethal is all business as he walks to the ring, gives Dijack a long stare, takes off the belt, climbs in the ring, and immediately the two men go at it.
They exchange shots, Lethal with a knee to the gut, takedown, mount position raining blows, roll over, Dijack raining blows, Lethal raining blows. NM says, “Very uncharacteristic for the world champion, likes to usually take things slow. But as you said, the anger, the aggression,” Uppercut by Lethal, right hand by Dijack, throws him to the corner, Dijack fights out with 3 forearms, Dijack with 4 kicks, and then points at his nose and screams. Lethal fights out with 2 forearms, chop, Dijack picks him up and throws him up-and-over to the floor.
Dijack crawls outside after Lethal, pushes him in the back of the neck, clubbing blow to the back. Lethal walks around, then returns with the right hand, chop, forearm, but Dijack with a knee and then a suplexes Lethal on the floor. Dijack rolls back in to break the count, goes for a whip but Lethal reverses and sends Dijack upside down into the steel railing landing on a chair. Lethal picks up Dijack, and whips him upside down into the steel railing again. Lethal stares down Prince Nana, and then chases him around the ring. Nana climbs into the ring and pleads for mercy, Lethal grabs him by the jacket and points a finger in his face, suddenly Nana smiles, and then Dijack attacks from behind.
The two men exchange forearms, Lethal with a knife-edge chop, forearm, Dijack throws him off the ropes, Lethal catches himself, Lethal throws Dijack up-and-over, Dijack catches himself on the apron, and then Lethal with a dropkick sends Dijack to the floor. Lethal runs the ropes and suicide dives toffee onto Dijack once, twice, and looks really mad as he goes for it a third time, but Dijack sidesteps and shoves him into the barricade. Dijack does a standing backflip over the top rope onto the floor onto Lethal, screams at him, and we go to commercial.
When we pick it up, Lethal is on the mat. We see footage from during the commercial, Dijack picks up the belt and shoves it in Lethal’s face, “You see this? I’m taking it. Feast your eyes. I’m taking it, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Back to the action, Dijack picks Lethal up, he fights out, go-behind, Lethal with an arm drag, cartwheel, and then a low dropkick, but Lethal may have injured his knee. Lethal sends Dijack’s head into the turnbuckle, 2 knife-edge chops, Lethal with an armbar, whip reversal, Dijack runs in, but meets a boot, Lethal jumps off the second rope, but Dijack catches him with a belly-to-belly suplex, Dijack springboards to his feet and points at his nose, cover, kickout.
Dijack start pushing Lethal in the face and yelling at him, Lethal gets angry and stands up and slaps Diack, they exchange forearms, Dijack goes for a clothesline but misses, Lethal goes for the Lethal Combination but his knee gives out. Lethal with the right hand, Dijack with a kick, belly-to-back German suplex by Lethal. Dijack is to his feet first, goes for a chokeslam, but Lethal flips and lands on his feet, hits a spinning enziguri, but then a boot by Dijack turns Lethal inside out. Both men are down, Hendrix pounds on the mat. Dijack is up first, Nana says, “You’re making too much noise.” Taeler says, “You want some? Come and get it.”
Dijack is up first, Lethal hits the Lethal Combination, cover, kick out. Lethal gets to his feet, highly favoring the knee, positions Dijack, goes to the top rope looking for the Hail to the King elbow, NM says, “Taking way too long in my book, 5-6-7 seconds, at least. Dijack laying prone, but has he got one eye on Lethal?” Lethal jumps off, but Dijack catches him with a hand around the throat, Lethal tries to fight out, Dijack picks him up, and Lethal reverses into a pin attempt, Dijack picks him up wheelbarrow style transitions into Feast Your Eyes, but Lethal lands on his feet, Dijack with a kick to the face. Dijack punches Lethal in the face, picks him up, starts jawing at him, runs the ropes, but Lethal hits a superkick, goes for the Lethal Injection, but Dijack picks him up on his shoulders and nails a powerbomb, weak cover, Lethal kicks out. KK says, “Prince Nana very upset with Todd Sinclair about that count.” NM says, “He should be upset with Dijack for not hooking the legs.”
Dijack goes for the springboard moonsault off the top rope and misses, Lethal goes for the Lethal Injection, but Nana climbs up on the apron, Hendrix pulls him off, throws his scarf at him, she goes to slap him, but he catches her hand. Dijack tries again for Feast Your Eyes, but he turns around and gets super kicked by Kenny Omega and Matt Jackson. KK says, “The superkick was intended for Lethal, but he got out of the way.” Lethal pushes The Elite out of the ring, nails the Lethal Injection, and this one is over, 1-2-3.
Winner: Jay Lethal
After the match, GoD come down to the ring again and take out Lethal, punches to the face, stomps, punches to the gut, clubbing blows to the back, until the Briscoes run in to make the save. They throw the GoD out of the ring, the fans chant, “Man up!” as Mark runs the ropes and front flips onto the GoD. Jay Briscoe stands alone in the ring with Lethal, Hendrix hands Lethal the title, but Briscoe takes it from him. Lethal has a streamer on his head, stands up, the fans chant, “One more time!” Briscoe extends the belt, Lethal grabs his belt away and they stare at each other. KK calls the Briscoe v. Lethal rematch, one year in the making, “The biggest rematch in ROH history.” and then continues, “Fans next week, one-on-one, Kushida vs Kyle O’Reilly, and more, as we countdown to Best in the World. We’ll see you then.”
Ring of Honor star Moose is in the Orlando area, setting off speculation that he could be attending tonight’s NXT Takeover: The End event.
Moose is one of two top ROH wrestlers that WWE is reportedly interested in signing this summer. It’s believed that he’s still under contract with ROH, but a tweet he sent out this morning is curious to say the least:
Later in the day, WWE Superstar Apollo Crews noted on social media that Moose picked up him up from the airport in Orlando. Moose then followed up with this photo of them together:
ROH stars Moose and Roderick Strong will have their current contracts expire in the next few weeks. With WWE filling their rosters up with new talents for the brand extension and NXT, there is once again talk that some ROH stars may be picked up.
WWE has had interest in Strong and Moose in the past, with interest Moose as recent as 2015. There have been some recent rumors going around about WWE and Moose, a former NFL player, but nothing “official” could happen until his ROH deal expires.
A video recap of the Bullet Club run-in during the main event at Global Wars is shown. Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness welcome us to the show (no Mr. Wrestling 3) from Ted Reeve Arena in Toronto, Canada, and talk about tonight’s main event, a six-man tag featuring The Elite against Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin, Yoshitatsu. KK says, “You thought Adam Cole joining BC and taking over Global Wars was a shock? Wait till you see what the BC did in Dearborn, Michigan. Those pictures tonight. But first, we kick it off with singles action.”
Leo Rush vs ACH
Leo Rush’s video plays, he walks to the entrance way, poses on the ramp, and points a finger gun in the air. KK says, “Tons of promise and potential with this young man.” Nigel says, “Sometimes a guy comes through the door and he’s just got superstar written all over him.” ACH is out next, wearing a flowered shirt with streamers and a sombrero, he flips over the ropes, and poses on the turnbuckle.
We cut away to highlights from War of the Worlds on 5/9/16 with ACH in the ring on the mic with Matt Sydal. ACH says, “Matt Sydal, this past year, you taught me way too much. You even had my back when people didn’t want you to have my back. And I feel, at this point in my career right now, I can’t allow you to hold my hand no more. So here today, I start my own path, I become my own man, and more importantly I just let it flow and I become myself, so thank you,” and they shake hands and hug.
The tale of the tape shows Rush at 5’6”/160 (Cruz said 165) vs ACH 5’9”/190 (Cruz and the video graphic matched up here). The competitors shake hands, the bell rings, and we are off. Rush is wearing Kinesio tape on his arm. Silas Young joins on commentary, KK says, “We’re thankful that you’re here, but what’s on your mind?” Silas says, “Just out here to check out the action a little bit. To be honest with you, I’m just sick of, everytime I come to the building, there’s ACH sitting there playing video games”.
Rush and ACH circle each other, collar-and-elbow tie-up, headlock by ACH, Rush reverses into a headlock of his own, ACH throws him off the ropes and nails a shoulder block. ACH laughs until Rush trips him up with a leg sweep. Rush hits the ropes, jumps over, ducks under, and then ACH lands a somersault dropkick to Rush, and ACH shoots a basket. Silas says, “Exactly my point. That’s all these guys are a couple of video game wrestlers. A couple of children.” KK says, “Obviously they’re not children, they’re adults. You know, they pay taxes, they rent cars.”
ACH with a chop, Rush with a whip reversal into the corner, boot by ACH, Rush jumps over, runs the ropes, ducks a clothesline, springboard hurricanrana up the second rope, kick to the gut, kick to the back of the head, and ACH goes to the outside. Rush runs the ropes, frontflips onto ACH on the floor, then Rush shoots a basket himself. Young asks, “What is this Leo Rush, about 17 or 18 years old?” KK explains, “He’s 21, and one of the finest amateur wrestlers in the mid-atlantic region in the US.”
Rush runs the ropes and hits a tornado DDT to ACH, cover, kick out. Rush with a kick to the quad, throws ACH to the corner, but he slides and then hits a bicycle kick from the mat, throws Rush into the other corner, and then runs the ropes and hits a lariat on Rush. ACH flips to his feet, go-behind, tries to pick up Rush, Rush get out and then nails a forearm clothesline, ACH hits the ropes, ACH snap german belly-to-back suplex, bridge cover, kick out.
ACH goes outside to the apron, leaps through the ropes, but Rush moves out of the way, forearm, ACH misses a back elbow, Rush hits a kick, cover, but ACH kicks out. Rush is up first, he sizes up ACH, runs and flips over, and then ACH hits a superkick, and then Powers up Kamehameha-style, nails a spirit bomb, climbs to the top rope, and hits the Midnight Star for the victory.
Winner: ACH
Silas Young comes into the ring, stalking a fallen Rush, jawing at him and slapping him in the head, but ACH confronts Young and backs him off. Young obliges and acts like he’s getting out of the ring, as soon as ACH turns around the check on Rush, Young comes back in and nails ACH from behind. Young with stomps to ACH, throws Rush out of the ring, chop to ACH, picks him up and nails the Misery fireman’s carry cutter, picks back up his ball cap, and walks out of the ring, and we go to commercial.
When we return, we see footage from the ROH Tag Team Title bout at War of the Worlds on 5/9/16. Daniels throws Rowe into Hanson knocking Hanson to floor, then nails Rowe with the belt. Daniels calls for the referee Paul Turner to count, cover, but Rowe kicks out. The referee takes the belt away from Daniels, Rowe nails Daniels with a superman punch, Kazarian comes in, and nails Rowe with the belt, Daniels covers for the 1-2-3, and The Addiction are your NEW ROH Tag Team Champions. Kazarian rolls a knocked out Daniels to the outside, and grabs the belts from the referee.
Back to tonight’s action, The Addiction’s music plays and they make their way down to the ring. KK says, “That’s how they became the ROH World Tag Team Champions. Let’s say this about War Machine, 3 title defenses in 24 hours, 2 matches that were made because WM wanted to be fighting champions and put the belts on the line, and last title defense with Ray Rowe having absorbed The Rainmaker from Okada earlier in the night. But now The Addiction can stand and crow, after WM had just finally conquered the Briscoes, and said their reign can truly begin, but that reign was short as The Addiction snuffed it out.
Back to tonight’s action, Daniels and Kazarian make their way down to the ring, Daniels grabs the mic, “Toronto, Canada, if you woke up this morning and your food tasted better, if your water tasted cleaner, if you walked outside and it seemed like the sun was shining a little bit brighter, it’s because today all is right with the world. Because ROH still has the best wrestling on the planet, Toronto still has the laziest lamest people in the world, and The Addiction are the World Tag Team Champions…” he points to the belt hanging from the crotches, “…of the world. And I can be no prouder than I am right now knowing that we are a better team than the YB, a better team than the MCMG, a better team than the Briscoes. I come before you to tell you, that we are the undisputed, undefeated, that’s right, we’ve never been pinned in a ROH ring.” KK says, “What?” as the camera shows KK shaking his head no (funny bit). Daniels continues, “undefeated World Tag Team Champions of the world.”
MCMG come out to their song ‘All Ghosts to Medicine Counter Four’ by Christian Fitness. Sabin speaks, “Wow wow huh, Motor City in the house. You guys, you guys, I mean you’re nothing more than just a couple of sad middle-aged douchebags, aren’t you? Hey, if memory serves me correctly, the two matches that we’ve had in the ROH ring, we’ve beaten you both of those times, you guys lost, much in the same way, by the looks at things, you’re losing your battle with male pattern baldness. So, if it’s okay with Toronto, Ontario, Canada, how about we take on The Addiction, tonight, for the Ring of Honor titles? Is that okay?”
Roppongi Vice interrupts, Rocky Romero dances at the camera and pulls out a mic from his jacket, “Hold up just a second, there’s no way you think you’re going to have a party in Toronto, without Roppongi Vice?” Beretta takes the mic, “Alright, so I think this is the part where we say something about how we should get title shots too. Maybe, maybe we would call you guys cowards or something, but I mean when you think about it, you guys kind of have reasons to be cowards, because we’re like the young cool new tag team here, and you guys, you’re kind of getting old.”
Daniels cuts him off, “What did you say? What did you say? That’s it, that’s it, I’ve had it with the disrespect from you, and the disrespect from you. I’m not old, I’m not bald, you people shut your mouths, we are the best tag team in this biz-i-ness, and we’ll settle this right now. I’m sick of being called a coward, I’m sick of being called names. Let’s do a match right now, you will respect me, all three teams, and if either one of you teams can beat us, we’ll give you a title shot at Best in the World,” and we go to commercial.
Roppongi Vice vs. MCMG vs The Addiction (c) (Non-Title #1 Contender’s Match)
When we return, Romero (who is wearing Kinesio tape), Sabin, and Kazarian are in the ring, Sabin waves Kazarian out and Romero and Sabin start it off. They circle each other, collar-and-elbow tie-up, go-behind by Romero, wrist lock by Sabin, reversal into an armbar by Romero, Sabin jumps up and out, reverses and then an arm drag takeover by Sabin, armdrag takeover by Romero, and they square off. The fans start to clap, but Kazarian comes in and takes out Romero, Daniels throws Sabin into the corner, KK says, “When The Addiction say they never lost in an ROH ring, they must not even be looking at recent history. Leading up to War of the Worlds, they hadn’t won a match in about 2 months.” Romero gets kicked by Kazarian, whip reversal as Romero throws Kazarian into the corner, and then hits 2 of his running yelling clotheslines, before Kazarian gets out of the way, Daniels comes in, and then he hits a double clothesline on both of them.
Snapmare takeover by Romero, tags in Beretta, Beretta dances around on the apron, jumps over the rope and then rakes a boot to Kazarian’s jaw, as the fans cheer. Beretta with a chop to Kazarian, whip reversal off the ropes, Kazarian ducks down, Beretta kicks him in the face, and then Shelley comes in and takes out Kazarian, ducks a clothesline forearm by Daniels, and then Sabin comes in and they double-team him to the outside, double team whip to Kazarian in the corner, forearm to Sabin, kick 2 Shelley, and then 3 kicks by both men to Kazarian.
Shelley picks up Kazarian, he pokes him in the eye, kicks him in the gut, waves his crotch at him and then cut the string, runs the ropes, Shelley trips him, back elbow to Daniels knocks him off the ropes, Shelley grinds his crotch at him, but Kazarian comes over, ducks a shot to the gut, rolls over, hits the ropes, Daniels hits him and then a neckbreaker by Kazarian. Kazarian sets up in a mount position raining blows, Beretta tries to come in, the referee stops him, and then Daniels comes in without tagging while the ref’s back is turned. Daniels with stomps to the back, he tags back in Kazarian, Kazarian rakes a foot on Shelley’s face, Kazarian grinds his crotch to the crowd, grinds a right forearm to Shelley’s throat. Beretta tries to come again and the referee throws him out, Kazarian runs Shelley’s head into the turnbuckle, tags in Daniels, double whip to the corner, back elbow by Kazarian, inverted atomic drop by Daniels, knee by Kazarian, and then an STO by Daniels, cover, but Sabin comes in to break up the count. Todd Sinclair warns Sabin. Daniels back Shelley into the corner, stomps to the gut, and then presses a foot to the throat until Sinclair calls for the break. Daniels whips Shelley into the corner, knocks Shelley down to the mat, double fisted chinlock by Daniels, Shelley fights to his feet, punches to the gut, elbows to the gut, and we have to take a commercial break.
Video footage is shown of Bobby Fish fighting Tomohiro Ishii for the ROH TV Championship, advertising the Global Wars is now video on demand (cut from the Comet re-broadcast). Fish delivers forearms to the jaw of Ishii, Ishii rolls him over, and then Fish reverses into a sleeper as Ishii passes out. Bobby Fish is the new ROH TV Champion by referee stoppage.
When we return, Daniels has in a headlock, Shelley fights out with elbows, runs the ropes, before Daniels takes him down. Daniels stomps Shelly in the corner, Kazarian tags in, joins in with stomps, and tags Daniels back in. Double whip to the corner, Shelly jumps with a boot to Kazarian, throws Daniels into Kazarian, rolls up Daniels, Daniels throws him off into a spear on Kazarian, and then drop toehold sends Daniels’ head into Kazarian’s crotch. Sabin comes in, ducks a clothesline from Daniels, knocks RPGV off the apron, kick to the gut of Daniels, hits the ropes, baseball slide through under the legs, and then a bicycle kick to the back of the head. Sabin runs into the corner, goes for a jumping knee to both Addiction, but Daniels gets out of the way, and then Sabin monkey flips Kazarian into Daniels. Beretta comes in, RPGV with the double whip off the ropes, they go for a double clubbing blow to the chest, Daniels ducks, and then Sabin knocks both men down. Now Shelly holds the ropes while Sabin suicide dives through his legs onto Addiction.
Sabin rolls Daniels back into the ring, fireman’s carry, Daniels fights out and drops him on his jaw. Beretta tags in, belly-to-back flip suplex on Kazarian turns him inside out, runs into the corner, hits a flying back elbow on Daniels, drapes him across the ropes, and then Romero with a dropkick to the back, Beretta with a kick to the face, cover, but Shelley breaks it up. Romero throws Shelley out of the ring, Daniels comes in, RPGV hit a double jumping knee, Beretta picks up Daniels for the Strong Zero, but Kazarian with a push kick. Romero comes in and misses a kick, but connects with Kazarian on the rebound kick, Daniels throws him to the mat and hits the Best Moonsault Ever. Shelley with an atomic drop on Daniels, Sabin kicks him in the leg while Shelley holds him, and then Sabin kicks him in the face. Sabin and Shelley with a double corner kick on Daniels, Sabin sets up for a fall away neckbreaker, as Shelley comes off the top rope with a crossbody as MCMG nail the Skull and Bones finisher, and Shelley covers Daniels for the pin.
Winners and NEW #1 Contenders for the ROH Tag Team Championships: Motor City Machine Guns
With the victory, MCMG get a title shot on June 24th at Best in the World. KK says, “Coming back, a huge announcement concerning Best in the World. Plus we will show you how the BC got even stronger and perhaps more dangerous than ever.”
Roderick Strong cuts a backstage promo (this was cut from Comet re-broadcast), “Jay Briscoe, have I offended you? Has something I’ve done offended you? Because when you speak my name, it sounds like I’ve offended you, but in reality Jay, I’m the person who should be offended. I’m the man that has helped saved this company, and carried it on my back for almost 13 years. You talk about since day one, when the company needed you the most Jay, where were you? You and your brother ran home to the chicken farm and licked your wounds. So Jay Briscoe, you walk around claiming that you’re the face of the company, you’re the franchise player, well my friend you’re wrong. What you are Jay Briscoe is a great tag team wrestler, and a very mediocre singles wrestler. Well in Columbus, Ohio, I will remind you of that, that I am the best to ever step in this ring.”
After commercial, YB and Adam Cole cut a backstage promo. Matt speaks, “In Chicago, Illinois, we finally showed the world what it means to have a superkick party. What was that 51 superkicks? Good God almighty, those kids, they have families!” Nick says, “Remember guys, when we did the Indytaker on the floor? Holy crap, what a party. With that being said, welcome to the BC, Adam Cole,” Cole takes the lead, ”and welcome to our world, ROH. The BC is hotter than ever. It’s new, it’s improved, and the chaos is just getting started. You make the rules, and we will break them. There’s not a thing you could do to stop us. Trust me, trust me, the YB and Adam Cole and the rest of BC, ROH is our world, it will always be our world, and the chaos we create is just getting started.”
Matt Taven has joined on commentary. KK says, “Nigel, I know Best in the World is just around the corner, Friday June 24. You have made another match-up, but are you sure we are we really going to do this?” Nigel says, “It’s difficult, bottom line is BJ Whitmer wouldn’t let it go, I had no choice but to make the match. You’ve seen the the footage, based on the footage he posted on YouTube of Steve Corino and his wife and son, I have made the decision that this has to end. I’ve done some questionable things in my career, but when you threaten a man’s wife and child, you step over that line, so I made the decision, at Best in the World June 24, it will be BJ Whitmer taking on Steve Corino in a Fight Without Honor.” Matt Taven applauds. KK says, “But speaking about going too far, if what you think what BC did when Adam Cole joined, when they completely took over Global Wars was something, but fans, what they did and Dearborn, is they grew the ranks even stronger. We’ll take you to some exclusive footage, right here, right now.”
Previously, Adam Page says, “I don’t mind sticking my nose in the BC’s business, if you want a partner I’ll be your man.” Before the match, Cole says, “It looks like Adam Page may or may not have been invited to an early superkick party.” Colt Cabana comes out and joins the faces, the YB superkick the referee, Page runs in with a chair and everyone exits the ring, he low-fives Briscoe and then low-blows him. Cut to later, Page gives Lethal the Rite of Passage through a table on the floor (which doesn’t break). Mark is tied to the ropes, Cabana is tied to the ring post, Sabin has a hangman’s noose around his neck, they all superkick him, and the BC too sweet in the middle of the ring.
KK continues, “We can’t even show you, because of broadcast standards, all that the BC did, all that Adam Page did to Chris Sabin, but it is available video on demand at ROHWrestling.com, you can judge for yourself.”
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin, & Yoshitatsu vs. The Elite
The Elite come out to the entrance way, the NEVER Openweight 6 man Champions make their way to the ring, Nick fakes a superkick to the cameraman, Matt sprays the cold spray can, Omega sweeps with the broom. KK says, “Being from the Kingdom, having wrestled the BC many times, while you are rehabilitating your knee injury, I thought it would be pointed for you to describe what this group is all about, how far will they go.“ Taven says, “Nice to see that Kenny Omega sent Adam Cole some used t-shirts and luckily for Cole they fit.”
Yoshitatsu, ‘Unbreakable’ Michael Elgin, and Hiroshi Tanahashi make their way to the ring next. Taven says, “Oh would you look at that, Elgin has little dumbbells on his robe, in case you don’t know he works out, just ask him. And there’s the coolest man to ever walk the earth (Tanahashi).” KK agrees, “He is awesome, the ace of New Japan.” The fans are already chanting, “Young Bucks!” as Tanahashi poses on the turnbuckle and we go to commercial.
When we return, all three members of The Elite give a suck it, swing and miss clotheslines, a donnybrook ensues, the faces get whip reversed off the ropes but they all hold on, give a suck it back, Elite run in, and the faces hold the top rope down sending The Elite to the floor. Yoshitatsu flies with a crossbody over the top rope, Elgin picks up Tanahashi and throws him onto the YB, Elgin claps his hands above his head, and then Elgin runs the ropes for a front flip onto everybody. Fans chant, “Big Mike!”
KK asks Taven, “When will we see this new Kingdom built in your own image?” Taven says, “Don’t you worry your pretty little fat face, KK.” Matt is back in the ring, Elgin hooks him for a vertical brainbuster, but Nick comes in and kicks him in the quad, Elgin lifts Matt back up again, Nick pulls him back down, and then Elgin suplexes both of them. Omega flies off the top rope with a crossbody, Elgin catches him, tosses him up on his shoulders, Omega gets out, Omega with a go-behind, Elgin with a back elbow, and then Omega hits a dragon suplex.
Matt comes in, handstands and holds Yoshitastu’s head with his feet as Nick kicks him. Tanahashi comes in and tries to fight all three men with kicks and forearms. Elite surround Tanahashi, Omega takes control with a kick to the gut and a clubbing blow to the back, Matt rakes his back, Omega and Nick whip him the corner, Tanahashi gets out of the way, Nick and Omega splash into each other, drop toe hold on Matt, dragon screw leg sweep on Omega. Tanahashi grabs Omega by his legs, but gets superkicked by both members of the YB. And then all three members of the Elite pound the ring and nail the Triple Toffee suicide dives. Afterwards, Matt and Nick entertain the fans.
Nick throws Tanahashi back in, Omega runs into the corner with a back elbow, while the YB superkick Tanahashi. Omega with fireman’s carry roll through, jumps up to the second turnbuckle moonsault, cover, kickout. Picks up Tanahashi by hair, rakes his back, sends him into Nick’s boot in the corner. Matt comes in, Nick holds him face-first on the turnbuckle, while Matt runs in with a somersault backflip, then somersault backflips back out, then somersault backflips back in, poses for the crowd, and then rakes Tanahashi’s back. Taven says, “I’ve never seen that in a bar fight before.” Cover, kick out, Matt stands on neck, and the fans chant, “This is awesome!” Matt with a headlock and we go to commercial.
When we return, Tanahashi rakes Matt’s back, rakes Omega’s back, Nick goes for a springboard move, Tanahashi moves out of the way and then rakes his back. The fans chant, “This is awesome!” Elgin gets the tag, runs into the corner with a splash to Matt’s chest, whips him into the other corner, splash to Matt’s back. Elgin with belly-to-back german suplex, holds on and goes to roll into a second one, but Nick comes in and stops it, Nick goes for a clothesline, Elgin ducks and then he belly-to-back suplexes both of them. Taven says, “Is that really impressive though, because the two of them combined weigh, like, 1 average wrestler.” Elgin hits the ropes, Omega is on the apron, and then Elgin uses the ropes to slingshot flip him up and over. Elgin climbs up to the second rope and delivers the Falcon Arrow deadweight stalling superplex on Matt, cover, but Omega comes off the top rope with a dropkick to the back to break up the count.
Yoshitatsu with a clubbing blow to Omega, throws him out of the ring, and then Tanahashi climbs to the second turnbuckle as Elgin puts him on his shoulders. Yoshitatsu goes after Nick, but then Nick yells, “You’re dead!” and hits superkicks Yoshitatsu and Elgin. As Matt holds Tanahashi, they go for the Meltzer Driver, but Elgin comes in, grabs Nick, and throws him to the outside. Matt tries to fight out, until Elgin hits him with the lariat, and tags in Yoshitatsu. Elgin and Tanahashi whip him into the corner, and then send Yoshitatsu in with a back elbow, splash by Tanahashi, forearm by Elgin, knee by Yoshitatsu, and then Omega comes in to break it up.
Elgin and Tanahashi throw Omega and Nick to the outside, Yoshitatsu with a kick to Matt, he reverses out, and then Matt cold sprays Yoshitatsu in the face while Tiger Hattori is distracted, as Nick and Omega pull Elgin and Tanahashi to the outside. The camera gets a close-up of the cold spray can, which has the words ‘The Elite Rule The World’ printed on it. Taven says, “Ridiculous, how many fat dorks, you think, are in their mom’s basement with a BC shirt on, spraying hairspray in the air thinking they’re cool?” Omega tags in, takes off his elbow pad, dances around the ring, yells “Too sweet!”, and then all 3 of them superkick Yoshitatsu, cover, kick out. Finally, Nick jumps over the top rope and takes out Elgin, while Omega hits the One Winged Angel on Yoshitatsu for the victory
Winners: The Elite
Taven says, “You know what it looks like to me? It looks like the BC needs some competition.” KK says, “Well Matt Taven, I know there’s a lot of guys in ROH, including the Briscoes, include Colt Cabana, including Jay Lethal probably, they want to get their hands on the BC,” Taven replies, “A lot of guys might want to get their hands on the BC, but it doesn’t mean they’re Kingdom worthy. You see, I’m looking for better than The Elite. I’m looking for guys that are going to make this group inside the BC, The Elite, look like a bunch of teenage dorks, just like they are.” The Guerrillas of Destiny and The Hangman Adam Page come out to celebrate with The Elite. Taven asks, “What do we got going on here? That’s weird, where is Adam Cole? Adam Cole knows I’m out here, why doesn’t he come out?” KK says, “I think that question has its own answer, and we know the answer to that. But the strength of the BC is on display.” KK continues, “Fans next week, World Champion Jay Lethal against Donovan Dijak, the match that everybody has been waiting for, as we count down to Best in the World.” Taven gets in a “I’m going to put an end to these cartoon characters,” before the show fades out.
Kevin Kelly provides voiceover for a Bullet Club video package, “A faction reeking havoc overseas has found its way into ROH Wrestling. This week we look at Bullet Club, from its founding members to its newest recruits.”
KK introduces the show from backstage, “Red hot, super controversial, and more dominant than ever, for the next 60 minutes, it’s all about BC. What BC did at Global Wars has the entire wrestling world talking, but we will also take you back in time and show you how the club formed, how it has changed through the years, and how it’s now poised to become stronger and more dominant than ever. Since BC was formed in 2013 in New Japan, they have been popular, but have also seen members come and go. But one thing that has remained the same, BC is always trying to put everyone’s buttons to gain every edge they possibly can. They made their presence felt In New York City, at War of the Worlds 2014. At the time, their leader was Machine Gun Karl Anderson. He and Gallows were IWGP tag team champions, but how they would fare against the 8 time ROH Tag Team Champions, Dem Boyz, the Briscoes?”
Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson (Bullet Club) vs. The Briscoes (IWGP Tag Team Championship Match from War of the Worlds 5/17/14)
When we pick up the action, uppercut by Anderson on Jay, Jay returns with a fist, Gallows back body drops Mark on the floor, whip from Anderson to Jay, but Jay meets him with a boot, Jay hooks for the Jay Driller, but Gallows comes in and slaps him in the face. Anderson with a running kick to the face, Gallows with a back shoulder block, clothesline by Gallows, sitting senton by Anderson, splash by Gallows, Gallows picks him up into a fireman’s carry, Anderson comes off the ropes and kicks him in the face, cover, kick out.
Gallows and Anderson set up for the Magic Killer, until Mark comes in with a kick to Gallows, 3 Mongolian chops to Gallows, a fury of Kung Fu chops to the shoulder, then a running clubbing blow knocks the big man down. Mark tags in officially, and then goes after Anderson. Mark misses with a chop, hits a bunch of Kung Fu chops to the chest, push kick to the chest, running kick to the chest by Jay, clothesline by Mark, spinning forearm by Jay, and then Mark goes off the top and nails the Froggy Bow, but Anderson kicks out.
The Briscoes call for their springboard Doomsday Device, but Gallows runs off the ropes with a boot to the chest of Jay, Mark comes off the top rope, Anderson catches him mid-air and nails the Ace Crusher, and then a sitting slam by Gallows on Jay, BC pick up Mark, hit the Magic Killer, and this one is over, 1-2-3.
Winner and still IWGP Tag Team Champions: Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson (Bullet Club) (War of the Worlds 5/17/14)
On WotW commentary, KK says, “For the first time tonight, BC is victorious over RPH.” MW3 replies, ”You jinxed it.” KK says, “I might have.” MW3 says, ”You dummy, you blew it for Briscoe!”
After the commercial break, KK says, “If you love throwing them up, or too sweeting your friends, or joining a superkick party, then this is the hour for you, because we’re talking all about BC. The wars between BC and ROH didn’t begin at this year at Global Wars, in fact last year at the big event in Toronto, it was an amazing 10-man tag, BC taking on the ROH All-Stars.”
AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Young Bucks (Bullet Club) vs. Strong, War Machine, The Briscoes (ROH All-Stars) (Global Wars 5/15/15)
When we pick up the action, Hanson sets up for a front flip onto everybody and lands it. MW3 says, “Holy… you know the rest!” Hanson rolls Matt back into the ring, then throws in Anderson. Strong delivers knees to Matt, AJ, and Anderson. Strong hits the running knee to Matt, hooks Matt for the superplex and nails it. Strong with running knee to AJ, hooks AJ for the superplex and nails it again. MW3 says, “Jeez Louise!” Strong hits the running knee on Anderson, hooks Anderson for the superplex, MW3 says, “Cheese and crackers, Roderick Strong is on fire!” and nails it for the third time. Strong hits a running knee on Gallows, set him up for a 4th superplex, MW3 says, “No way!” Nick comes up on the apron and pulls Strong down, Strong fights out with forearms and a kick to Nick, Gallows tumbles to the floor, Strong then sets up Nick for a 4th superplex but in the direction of the floor, MW3 says, “Guys guys, too dangerous, oh for god’s sake!” then launches Nick onto the floor onto everyone and the fans go berserker.
Gallows is up first, he climbs back into the ring with Hanson, spinning back heel kick by Hanson, sit down chokeslam powerbomb by Gallows, hits the ropes but Rowe with a sidewalk slam, Anderson with a cutter and AJ with a suplex. “Did AJ styles just curse? I think he cursed!” AJ hooks Rowe for the Styles Clash, but Strong runs the ropes and delivers a kick to AJ, Anderson gets thrown to the outside, MW3 says, “We need 32 camera angles for this.” Nick gets knocked off the apron, Matt gets superkicked by Jay, flipping backbreaker by Strong, and then Jay hooks for the Jay Driller before Mark comes off the top rope with Froggy Bow to Matt, 1-2-3, and the ROH All Stars win.
Winners: Roderick Strong, War Machine, The Briscoes (ROH All-Stars) (Global Wars 5/15/15)
KK continues backstage, “You can’t talk about the BC and their dominance in New Japan Pro Wrestling without focusing on the fact that they have held every belt in that company, and most recently capturing the newly-minted NEVER Openweight 6-man Championship at Honor Rising.”
Kenny Omega & Young Bucks (Bullet Club Elite) vs. Toru Yano & The Briscoes (c) (NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship Match from Honor Rising 2/20/16)
Before the bell, Hall comes in with blatant interference and takes out the Briscoes from behind. Yano is alone in the ring with all four men and scared, they stomp him down. The referee throws Hall out of the ring. KK says, “Red Shoes doing all that he can to send the son of the bad guy out, now the bell sounds, now it’s an official contest.”
Nick jumps over turnbuckle and runs the apron with a kick to Yano. Elite pose in the middle of the ring before the Briscoes come in and nail YB from behind. Mark with forearms to Omega, kicks to the gut, whip reversal into the corner, Mark jumps over, rolls through, and then suplexes Omega. Jay throws Matt into the other corner, splash, snapmare takeover, running dropkick to the chest, and then Mark throws him out of the ring. Yano throws Nick back into the ring, Nick turns around slowly, and then gets kicked by the Briscoes. Mark with a punch, Jay with a headbutt, and then they launch him with a front flip up-and-over the top turnbuckle onto the floor as he crashes into on Hall, Omega, and Matt (but mostly Hall), very impressive.
Omega gets back in at 14, he tries to punch Yano, but Yano ducks in the ropes like Yano does, the crowd chants, “Break!” Hall grabs him by the legs, holds him on the ropes and the YB superkick him. Nick crawls out and rolls Yano and his shenanigans back in the ring, Omega throws him out the other side, and then The Elite too sweet each other, before doing synchronized suicide Triple Toffee dives. Nick looks at the camera and says, “The best on planet Earth.” Omega says, “I never knew that one. My God, that was good.” The fans chant, “Young Bucks!“ Matt crotch chops along with the chants, punches to Jay, Nick throws Yano back in the ring, Omega covers, kick out. Omega slams Yano on his head into the turnbuckle, kick to the gut, and then pushes a boot to the jaw, but the referee calls for the break. KK tells us, “Toru Yano is a very interesting athlete, you wouldn’t know it from looking at him. He even ran a marathon, and then wrestled that night. He had a decent time 5-6 hours, but still would take me 5-6 days.” Matt does a You Can’t See Me to Yano while he’s laying in the corner, drags him back to the center of the ring, stomps him in the back and shoulder, drops a forearm, leg drop, cover, kick out, and we go to commercial.
When we return, Omega has an abdominal stretch on Yano, he grabs Hall who is holding Matt’s hand on the outside, while Matt is holding the rail, and all three of them stretch Yano. Cover by Omega, kick out. Omega positions Yano face-first standing against the turnbuckle while Nick and Cody hold him, and then Omega rolls through and rakes his back. Nick does a handstand somersault flips over and rakes Yano’s back. Matt comes in and says, “Come on Yano, what do you got Yano, what do you got Yano, nothing nothing,” and punches him in the face, picks him up off the mat and runs his head into Nick’s foot, pushes him to the turnbuckle, and Nick tags in. YB whip Yano into the corner, Nick runs in, Yano throws them up and over, and then Omega lands a running back shoulder block, while the YB superkick him.
Yano begins to tear off the turnbuckle, Matt holds Briscoe while Nick runs over and kicks him, Yano gets up slowly, YB stomp the mat for the superkick, but he turns around with the turnbuckle, blocks both kicks, baseball swings the turnbuckle and takes both of them out. Omega kicks him in the gut, whip reversal off the ropes, and then he baseball swings Omega with the turnbuckle. Yano crawls over and gets the hot tag to Mark.
Mark with a running corner turnbuckle kick to Nick’s jaw, sets Nick on the turnbuckle, grabs him by the hands and flips him over the top for a suplex, cover, Matt comes in the break it up. Matt fights out with forearms, Jay comes in, they whip him to the corner, and then they kick Matt to the mat. Forearms by Mark to Nick, Mark slides under, give him the Kung Fu pose, goes to kick him, Nick flips him, he grabs Nick’s foot, and then Omega comes in with the superkicks assist. Jay runs in with a boot to Omega, a boot to Nick, closed hand punches to Omega, whip reversal off the ropes, and then Jay connects with a shoulder to the gut, Jay hooks Omega for a neckbreaker, but Matt comes in and superkicks Jay. Omega tags in, Matt with a running turnbuckle bomb into the corner on Mark while Nick kicks him in the back of the head. Omega with a running back elbow, Matt with a cannonball in the corner, then Matt holds Mark on the ropes while Nick swantons onto him, Omega covers, but Mark kicks out. Matt pulls Mark to his feet, snap dragon suplex by Omega, and then all 3 of them superkick Mark, Omega covers, but Jay comes in to break it up. Omega picks up Mark by his hair, knife edge chop, whip off the ropes, flips Mark over his shoulder, he lands on his feet and tags in Yano.
Yano comes in, Omega kicks him in the gut, Matt kicks him in the gut, another kick, and then all three of them setup to whip Yano into the exposed turnbuckle, Yano pleads for mercy, they send him in, but he stops himself, Matt runs into the exposed turnbuckle as Yano gets out of the way, Yano atomic drops Nick with a knee to the crotch, Omega misses a clothesline, Yano ducks a second clothesline, kicks Omega. Omega runs up the exposed turnbuckle, leaps over Yano, Yano gets out of the way, drop toehold sends Omega’s head into the exposed turnbuckle, and then Yano nails a double low blow to the YB, Yano shrugs and looks surprised like “What did I do?”
Hall comes in with a full nelson, Omega uses the spraycan but Yano ducks and Omega spraycans Hall, Yano covers, kick out. Omega with a double clubbing blow to the arm, Yano reverses into a roll-up cover, but Omega spraycans him in the face. Then Matt spraycans both Omega and Nick in the crotch and his own as well.
Jay and Mark comes in with kicks and forearms to Omega and Matt, Jay with 2 headbutts, uppercut to Omega, while Mark nails Matt, and then they hit the ropes, but Elite kick Briscoes, then Omega and Matt set up for dual Indytakers/ Meltzer Drivers as Nick springboards of the top rope and connects. The YB kick the Briscoes out of the ring, Omega with the rolling fireman’s carry slam, handsprings off his head to the ropes, moonsault off the ropes, Nick swantons, Matt hits a 450 splash, and then Omega covers for the victory on Yano.
Winners and NEW NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions: Young Bucks & Kenny Omega (Bullet Club Elite) (Honor Rising 2/20/16)
After we return from commercial, KK says, “BC has certainly had their fair share of transition, members coming and going over time. When one leaves someone else steps up, but what would happen when 2 members would leave at same time? We want to show you from Honor Rising, 2 of the mainstays of BC, the last match for machine gun Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows, 8-man tag team action.
Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Tama Tonga, & Bad Luck Fale (Bullet Club) vs Katsuyori Shibata, reDRagon, & Hirooki Goto (Honor Rising 2/20/16)
BC are out first, Fale shoves down the ring announcer before the introductions are made. KK says Anderson and Gallows “definitely want to go out on a winning note here tonight.” The softly-beginning punk music for Shibata, ‘Takeover’ by Low IQ 01 (awesome song), leads the faces to the ring.
Anderson kicks a young boy in the back, knocking him off the apron and then jaws at O’Reilly. BC attacks before the bell, Anderson stomps O’Reilly, whips him into the corner, O’Reilly jumps over, rolls back to his feet, runs the ropes, kicks to the gut, kick to the chest, and a leg sweep puts Machine Gun to the mat. Armbar by O’Reilly, then a pump handle. KK mentions that “BC has seen the likes of the former Prince Devitt and AJ styles come and go.” Goto tags in and we go to commercial.
When we return, Fale slams Goto to the mat, and then sits on him for a cover, but Goto kicks out. Gallows tags in, pushes Goto to the corner, punches to the gut, and then an uppercut to the jaw, snap suplex by Gallows, cover, kick out. Gallows drops 3 elbows to the chest, cover, kick out again. KK says, “Not many men that size can move with that agility.” Gallows runs Goto’s head into the corner, and tags in Anderson. KK reminds us that “Of course, Karl Anderson had a tag team partner, before the formation of BC actually, Giant Benard. Able to plug in Doc Gallows, 3-time champs.” Snapmare takeover, headlock, Goto gets to his feet and fights out with elbows to the gut, runs the ropes, but Anderson with a jumping leg lariat, cover, kick out, cover, kick out, cover, kick out. KK says, “Marty Asami’s arm is getting worn out.”
Anderson tags in Tonga, 3 punches to the gut, runs around, slides around, jumping forearm to the chest, and then jumping dropkick to the chest, cover, but Shibata comes in to break it up with a kick to the back, Shibata then kicks his tag team partner Goto in the back to wake him up and for a little motivation, Goto looks pissed. Tonga with a stomp, punch to the chest, whip reversal, and Godo nails a clothesline, goes over to his team’s corner, Shibata asks for the tag, but Fish tags himself in instead.
Fish hits a kick to Tonga, and then clubbing forearms knocks the rest of the BC off of the apron, go behind by Tonga, but Fish backs him into the corner, and then reDRagon do their running kicks into the corner, Fish flips him up over his knee, and O’Reilly comes off the top rope with a stomp to Tonga, Anderson comes in to break up the pin. O’Reilly throws him to the outside and then does a crossbody over the top rope onto the floor. Back in the ring, Fish with 3 forearms to Tonga and then a kick to the leg, runs in, Tonga picks him up into a fireman’s carry, Fish fights out with a forearm to the jaw, punch to the gut, kick to the leg, whip but Tonga reverses into a fireman’s carry, and then a spinning airplane face slam by Tonga to Fish, Fish gets the tag to Shibata and Gallows tags in as well. Shibata throws Gallows into the corner, connects with a bunch of forearms, drops him to the mat, he runs in, but Gallows gets to his feet, and uncoils right hand to the jaw, throws Shibata off the ropes, but Shibata kicks the legs, knocking the big man to the mat, Shibata goes to lock in a figure four, but Anderson breaks it up. Anderson then lands blows to the head of Shibata (about 10 of them), dares Shibata to hit him, and Shibata returns with one big strike that knocks Anderson down.
Anderson, Fale, and Tonga come in and clear the ring, Tonga with a splash on Shibata, Anderson with a running kick, Fale with a splash, and Gallows with a splash, Gallows and Anderson nail the reverse neckbreaker, KK says, “It’s not the Magic Killer, but is it a win?” Pin attempt, but everybody comes in, it’s a melee, Gallows sets up Fish between his legs, but O’Reilly kicks Gallows, Tonga takes O’Reilly out with a back shoulder elbow, and then Fish lands a fireman’s carry backdrop on Tonga. Fale with a clubbing forearm to Fish, then Goto with a forearm to Fale, knocking him to the outside. Anderson with an uppercut to Goto, Anderson and Gallows hook Shibata for the Magic Killer, but Goto breaks it up. Anderson goes for the Gun Stun, but Goto fights out, runs the ropes, Anderson jumps over then ducks, goes for another Gun Stun, but Goto fights out again, hooks into a fireman, and then Goto nails a neckbreaker to Anderson, Gallows with a boot to Goto.
Gallows and Shibata in now, right hand by Gallows, Shibata runs the ropes into a boot from Gallows, but Shibata won’t go down, Shibata runs the ropes a second time, meets another boot, finally he goes down. Gallows picks him up with a sitting slam, cover, and Shibata kicks out. Gallows picks him up for a vertical suplex, but Shibata transitions into a rear naked choke, and Gallows begins to go to sleep, Shibata drops him to the mat, and then nails the PK Penalty Kick for the victory.
KK says, “Bullet Club has certainly raised a lot of thoughts in the minds of wrestling fans throughout the world. Were they looking to take over and have a good time? Or were they setting a course to take over the entire world professional wrestling? After what expired at Global Wars, I think we might have some insight of what the future of BC is all about.”
When we pick up the action from Colt Cabana vs. Jay Lethal, Cabana has an Boston Crab on Lethal, Hendrix pulls the referee Todd Sinclair to the outside, and then YB superkick ref and superkick Hendrix. MW3 yells, “I’m going to get the shirt!” They roll into the ring, hold up two Bullet Club shirts, offer them to Lethal and Cabana. MW3 says, “But I’ve worked so hard!” Suddenly, the lights go out, and when we return Adam Cole is in the ring wearing a BC T-shirt and chewing gum. “That’s Adam Cole! Adam Cole! He’s got a BC shirt on!” He yells, “Adam Cole baybay!” and then the YB superkick both Lethal and Cabana.
He grabs the mic and say, “My name is Adam Cole baybay! And we are the BC! Breaking news ladies and gentleman, this is our house, bitches!” and then he and the YB stomp a mudhole in Lethal. Three security guards run to the ring and gets superkicked, then Cole does the crotch chop. One of the security stands up and get super kicked again, Lethal gets superkicked. Guerrillas of Destiny come out, they continue to beat up security and ring crew, Nick with a Indytaker on the floor, another superkick.
GoD spraypaint BC on the table, and then powerbomb a security guard through the table. YB connect with a superkick to the back of the head of Kevin Kelly. MW3 stands up and yells, “KK’s down, KK’s down, woohoo!” and then gets superkicked himself. YB put on the headset, Matt imitates Jim Ross, “Oh dear God, dear God, every one of these people have families, for the love of God, for the love of God, for the love of God! Oh my goodness what does he have, he has the title belt!” Cole knocks Cabana off the apron, Tonga zipties Lethal to the ropes. “I can’t believe it King, what do you think of this, look at these guys with the face paint.” Cole with 3 superkicks to Lethal, picks up the belt and runs around the ring.
We cut to later on, the BC look at the cameraman, he asks to put the camera down first, they wait for it, then superkick him. BC crawl down on the mat, and look at the camera. Cole says, “This is our world now, this is our world now, nobody can touch us, nobody can stop us”, as YB kiss him on the cheeks.
Present day, Cole cuts a backstage promo, “This, this has been a long time coming. Because unlike those kids in the Kingdom who are trying to play catch-up, myself and the BC, we have a lot in common. We do what we want, we say what we want, and we take what we want. Speaking of taking Jay Lethal, this one is for you, because you’ve been spilling lies lately, you’ve been saying there are no more challenges left for you, come on Jay. Jay you know, the fans know, everybody in this locker room knows, that I’m the guy here, and it’s only a matter of time before I get my ROH Championship back, so how about you grow a set champ, and give me a shot. Just know, if you do, I will take the championship from you, and why? Because I can,” he smiles and the show ends.
Kevin Kelly provides voiceover for a Jay Lethal video package. “Becoming a champion is achieved by rising above all obstacles. With perseverance, passion, and drive. Being a champion does not require perfection, it requires the insatiable desire to achieve perfection, day in and day out. Not everyone can be a champion, but for those who are, they hold onto it with their whole life. Tonight we take a close look at the ROH World Champion and his rise to greatness.”
KK introduces the show from a backstage locker room. “Welcome to a very special edition of Ring of Honor wrestling where we focus on ROH World Champion Jay Lethal. For over the past 2 years, there has not been a day where Jay Lethal has not had gold around his waist. The dominance began at SuperCard of Honor 8, where Lethal accepted help from Truth Martini and defeated Tommaso Ciampa to become the first 2 time holder of the ROH World TV Title,” and we pickup footage from that match.
Jay Lethal vs Tommaso Ciampa (c) (ROH World TV Championship match from SuperCard of Honor 8 on 4/4/14)
Truth throws in a knee brace to Lethal, Lethal nails Ciampa in the head, Ciampa kicks out. Lethal climbs to the top rope and delivers Hail to the King forearm to the chest, but Ciampa kicks out again. Ciampa to his feet, 2 superkicks by Lethal, Ciampa flips him off, Lethal kicks him in the knee, hits the Lethal Injection, and gets the pin.
Winner and NEW ROH World TV Champion: Jay Lethal
KK continues, “Jay Lethal, now in the House of Truth, began his reign as the greatest World TV Champion in history. Facing fierce competition from the likes of Matt Sydal, the legendary Jushin Thunder Liger, ACH, and many others, including one of his most memorable defenses at ROH 14th Anniversary.”
Alberto El Patron vs Jay Lethal (c) (ROH World TV Championship match from ROH 14th Anniversary on 3/1/2015)
When we return from break, we pick up footage from the ROH 14th Anniversary event and his title defense against Alberto El Patron (Alberto Del Rio). Patron kicks J. Diesel from the apron to the floor, dropkicks Lethal to the outside, then suicide dives through the middle rope to the floor onto Lethal. Patron whips Lethal into the barricade, Lethal gets back up and counters with a kick, knee, chop to the chest, whip reversal, but Lethal gets sent into the barricade again. Patron rolls Lethal back into the ring, nails him with a double clubbing blow to the chest off the ropes, cover, kick out.
Side headlock, Lethal gets to his feet and delivers 2 knees, before Patron returns with a knee of his own, and whips Lethal into the corner. Patron runs in, but Lethal throws him up in the air, Paton lands on his groin straddling the ropes. KK notes, “Accidental, says referee Paul Turner. Of course, a blatant foul would lead to disqualification.” Lethal with a running dropkick up the turnbuckle, knocks Patron to the mat, Lethal in a mount position raining closed right fists, stands up and chokes Patron with his foot on the bottom rope, then Martini chokes him on the rope while the Paul Turner is distracted. 2 knife-edge chops by Lethal, sets Patron on the turnbuckle, right hand, chop, right hand, chop, and then Alberto grabs a rope-assisted leg scissors wrist lock on Lethal’s arm, the referee calls for the break at 3, and we go to commercial.
When we return, Lethal has a leg scissors on Patron’s arm, Lethal clotheslines him to the outside, then Lethal nails 3 suicide dives, the third of which knocks Patron over the barricade into the first row. MW3 comments on a fan nearby says, “I think I played craps with that guy earlier today. I like that dude.” Lethal has a bloody mouth, climbs back in the ring, as the ref begins the count on Patron. Patron gets back in at 15, Lethal with stomps to the chest, Patron gets to his feet, Lethal sets him on the top turnbuckle, knife-edge chop, Lethal climbs up, punches to the gut, hooks him for a superplex, but Patron fights out with shots in the ribs, Lethal falls down sitting on the ropes, 2 right hands by Patron, Lethal catches himself hanging upside on the ropes, and then a double stomp to the chest by Patron as Lethal’s head bounces off the mat, cover, but Lethal kicks out at 2.
Patron lines up for the kick as the fans chant “Si!”, Lethal catches him, they exchange right hands, Patron gets the better of it, hits the ropes, but Lethal nails the Lethal Combination, cover, but Patron kicks out. Martini can be heard yelling from the outside, “Stay on him!” Lethal points to the turnbuckle, takes off his elbow pad, climbs up to the top rope, but Patron is up to his feet and hits a running enziguri up the ropes. Martini runs in with the Book of Truth, but Patron kicks him and syncs in a wrist lock, Martini taps but as KK recognizes, “It doesn’t affect the outcome.” Lethal jumps off the top rope for the Hail to the King elbow, but Patron catches him in a wrist lock with a leg scissors around the head, Lethal picks up the Book of Truth and slams Patron in the skull, cover, 1-2, kickout by Patron. MW3 asks, “What is in that book?” KK says, “Far from light reading.” J. Deisel and Martini are walking around the outside. Patron gets to his feet and hits a dropping armbar, goes for kick, then gets bicycle kicked by Lethal. Lethal goes for the Lethal Injection, but his arm is too weak and he collapses. Patron with a rollup, Lethal pushes him off, Martini hits him with the Book of Truth, and this time Lethal hits the Lethal Injection for the win.
Winner and still ROH World TV Champion: Jay Lethal
KK says, “We live in a result-driven industry, and while the result will say Lethal is still the champ, I have a problem with the way I got done.” Mr. Wrestling 3 responds, “Of course you have a problem, you’re a nice guy.” and KK replies, “Yeah, I’m a square.” MW3 explains, “But in the world of professional wrestling, a win is a win is a win.” KK says Patron had to fight 3-on-1 odds, plus KRD on the outside of the ring, and somehow he still almost became the champion. But Lethal gets another win and another title defense.”
KK from the locker room, “Shortly after that victory, Jay Lethal began to proclaim himself as the ROH Champion, going so far as to have a new belt minted that simply said ‘ROH Champion.’ You knew that was going to get the attention of then World Champion Jay Briscoe. Eventually these 2 champions would meet but it was anyone’s guess as to how it would turn out,” and we go to commercial.
KK welcomes us back, “By now, Lethal had held the TV title for over a year, but at the same time, Jay Briscoe had not been pinned in over 2 years. And you knew that these 2 men would collide and they would indeed, at Best in the World 2015, in a winner take all showdown, it was the battle of the belts, and it was one of the greatest matches in Ring of Honor history.”
Jay Lethal (c) vs Jay Briscoe (c) (Champion vs. Champion match, winner take all, from Best in the World on 6/9/2015)
When we pick it up, Lethal is on the mat, Briscoe picks him up, Briscoe with a forearm, goes for a whip, Lethal reverses, kick, back forearm, goes for the Lethal Injection, but Briscoe hits a double underhook slam, cover, and Lethal kicks out. Briscoe with the headlock choke, but Lethal crawls to the ropes. Briscoe with a knee to the gut, goes for the Jay Driller, but Lethal gets out, kick to the gut, goes for the Jay Driller again, but Lethal fights out and hits the Lethal Combination on Briscoe, cover, but Briscoe kicks out.
KK comments on the unique setting of Terminal 7, “Fans are basically hanging over the ring from the balconies above, and they are dead-even split, dueling chants for each great champion,” as the fans yell, “Let’s go Lethal! Let’s go Briscoe!” Lethal with a power slam, slowly climbs up to the top turnbuckle, Nigel McGuinness says, “It would look like Lethal has it, but he’s taking his sweet time getting up there, in my mind, way too long. Is Briscoe playing possum? Looks like it.” Briscoe to his feet, catches him, Lethal perched on the turnbuckle, Briscoe hooks him for the superplex, but Lethal is dead weight and blocks twice, 3 punches to the gut by Lethal knocks Briscoe to the mat, but Briscoe lands on his feet, comes back and nails a running dropkick to Lethal. Briscoe climbs back up again, MW3 comments, “You can see the sweat pouring off both of these warriors.” Briscoe hooks for another superplex, but Lethal counters again with shots to the ribs. Briscoe climbs back down as Lethal lands clubbing punches underneath the pec muscle, and then a big right hand to the head knocks Briscoe to the mat. Lethal nails the Hail to the King top rope elbow, cover, kickout, and then right away Lethal locks in the Koji Clutch, until Briscoe finds the ropes.
Now both men are on the apron, KK comments that, “Both the timekeeper & Bobby Cruz have moved.” Lethal hooks, Briscoe fights out, Briscoe pushes Lethal away, hooks him for the Jay driller, but Truth Martini distracts Todd Sinclair on the other side of the apron, and Lethal lands a low blow. Nigel McGuinness crawls up onto the apron next to Truth and says, “What are you doing?” and throws Martini out of the building, Martini stomps around and throws a chair on his way out. Both men to their feet, kick by Briscoe, then Briscoe nails the Jay Driller on Lethal through the table, and we go to commercial.
When we return, Lethal goes for the Lethal Injection, but Briscoe nails a running forearm to the head, cover, kick out. Lethal gets to his feet, and Briscoe nails a huge clothesline, cover, kick out again. Both men are down, Lethal is flipping around on the mat like a fish out of water. The cameraman shows both Lethal’s parents and Briscoe’s parents. They get up, but Briscoe meets a boot from Lethal, back forearm by Lethal, springboard cutter off the second rope, nails the Lethal Injection, but somehow Briscoe kicks out.
Lethal can’t believe it, laying in the corner asking what happened, shaking his head in his hands. The fans chant, “This is awesome!” Briscoe is laid out flat, Lethal gets to his feet, picks up Briscoe, hooks for Briscoe’s own move the Jay Driller, but Briscoe blocks twice dropping to a knee and running his shoulder into the gut, sunset flip by Briscoe, goes for the Jay Driller, reversal by Lethal into a Jay Driller on Briscoe, then Lethal hits a second Lethal Injection, cover, 1-2-3, and Lethal becomes double champion.
Winner and still ROH World TV Champion and NEW ROH World Champion: Jay Lethal
MW3 calls the victory, “He has done it! A dream that started 14 years ago, tonight Jay Lethal is the World Champion.” Lethal pounds the mat in celebration as Truth Martini comes in the ring and congratulates him. Lethal is in shock, they hand Lethal both belts, he lifts them high in the air and lets out a victory yell in the middle of the ring. Commercial.
Back in the lockerroom, KK says, “Amazing to think Lethal has held the ROH World Championship for close to one full year. However, not only did the competition gets stronger when Lethal became a double champion, but so did the workload. At All Star Extravaganza VII, Jay Lethal made history by successfully defending both belts in different matches on the same night. One of the greatest wrestlers ever in ROH, Roderick Strong pushed Lethal to the limit at Death Before Dishonor in an epic 60-minute draw that had the whole wrestling world talking. And in the much anticipated rematch, Lethal was able to defeat Strong with a huge assist from Truth Martini. Strong wanted for one more chance, and was named #1 contender for ROH TV Championship.” We pick up footage of that match.
Roderick Strong vs Jay Lethal (c) (ROH World TV Championship match at Glory By Honor XIV on 10/23/15 and as seen ROH TV on Episode 218)
Lethal with 3 covers, but Strong kicks out each time, they exchanged blows, 2 superkicks by Lethal and then a jumping knee by Strong that hooks Lethal around the back of the head, fireman’s carry into a double knee gutbuster, and then a running sick kick that turns Lethal inside-out. Strong picks up Lethal and delivers a double knee spine buster, and then locks in the Strong Hold and Lethal taps out. (In the video, you can see KK pointing and marking out at ringside as Lethal taps, very cool.)
Winner and NEW ROH World TV Champion: Roderick Strong
KK tells us, “Strong picked up the victory, ending Lethal’s 18 month reign. With close to 30 defenses over that span of time, Lethal holds all records associated with the ROH TV Championship, and it will be a long time before anyone comes close to breaking it.” Commercial.
After the break, KK continues, “After losing the ROH TV Championship, Jay Lethal was still the number one wrestler in the world because after all, he was still the ROH World Champion. And he has still has not been beaten. But Lethal was stung over losing to Strong, and set out to prove that he was indeed the number one wrestler in all the world of professional wrestling, and he challenged anyone and everyone to try to take that title away from, including a match against The Phenomenal AJ Styles at Final Battle 2015.”
AJ Styles vs Jay Lethal (c) (ROH World Championship match at Final Battle 2015 on 12/18/15)
When we pick up the action, Lethal with a suicide dive knocks Styles into the front row. As the fans gather around Styles, Lethal yells, “You might want to move back,” and then taps a fan on the shoulder who is not paying attention and says “Get off of him.” After the fans clear way, Lethal climbs back into the ring, watches and waits until AJ gets to his feet, goes for another suicide dive, but Styles counters with leaping Phenomenal Forearm off the barricade. Taeler Hendrix and Truth Martini, dressed all in white, kneel nearby in shock. Styles and Lethal get up and roll back into the ring at the same time.
They get to their feet, exchange forearms, AJ gets the better of it, before Lethal drops him to the mat and locks in the Koji clutch, roll through, Styles reverses into the calf cutter submission, but Lethal crawls to the ropes and breaks the hold. AJ to his feet, Lethal connects with a boot to the face, gets to his feet and then a bicycle kick to the back of the head by Styles. Styles climbs to the top rope, but Lethal with a right hand to the face, climbs up with AJ, goes for the superplex, but AJ slides under, back elbows by Lethal, and then a second rope springboard cutter takes out AJ. Lethal goes for the Lethal Injection, but AJ gets to his feet, and Lethal rolls over his back, Pele kick by AJ, Bloody Sunday, Styles points at Lethal and yells to the fans, goes for the Styles Clash, but Lethal picks him up and throws AJ over the top to the outside through the table. The fans chant, “This is awesome!” KK says, “The table turned to literal sawdust, just to our left.”
Styles climbs back in at 19, Lethal waits until he gets to his feet, goes for the Lethal Injection and nails it, cover, 1-2, but Styles kicks out. NM says, “I do not believe it and nor does anyone else in Philadelphia tonight. Mandy Leon was ready to ring the bell. Somehow AJ Styles dug deep inside, found that faith in himself.” Lethal grabs him by the hair and yells, “Let me tell you something AJ, this is my time! You hear me? Screw you!” before AJ fights out with forearms, chops, kicks, goes for the Pele kick and misses it, goes for the Styles clash, but Lethal reverses into a cradle piledriver (Jerry Lynn’s move, who is on commentary) and then hits the Lethal Injection for the second time and AJ is out cold, cover, 1-2-3.
Winner and still ROH World Champion: Jay Lethal
After the commercial, KK welcomes us back, “A very special look at Jay Lethal. Think about the greatness of Lethal, all the records he set as the longest ROH TV Champion in history, now holding the ROH World Title for almost 1 year. Lethal has taken the title all around the world, to England, as well Japan, where he wrestled Michael Elgin in front of 40,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome at Wrestle Kingdom 10. He then returned to Japan earlier this year to face off against Tomoaki Honma at the famous Korakuen Hall at Honor Rising.
Tomoaki Honma vs Jay Lethal (c) (ROH World Championship match at Honor Rising 2/20/2016)
Lethal goes for a kick, Honma catches him, throws him up in the air, but Lethal lands on his feet, pushes him off the ropes and then nails the Lethal Combination, cover, kickout. KK tells us, “Todd Sinclair was brought over exclusively to referee championship matches here at Honor Rising. That’s the importance of these events, MW3.” Lethal climbs to the top turnbuckle and nails the Hail to the King elbow drop from the top rope, cover, but Honma kicks out. Lethal tells Honma to get up, slaps him in the head, goes for the Lethal Injection, but Kokeshi by Honma to the back of Lethal and he tumbles out to the apron. They exchange forearms at the apron, and then a headbutt knocks Lethal into the railing, Honma delivers a powerslam on the floor, climbs the ropes as the fans begin to cheer, and then Honma lands the Kokeshi from the top turnbuckle on Lethal on the floor (KK and MW3 say he lands it, but he totally missed) and both men are down.
Honma is up and he looks dazed, Honma hears the referee count, stands up and rolls Lethal back into the ring, cover, but Lethal kicks out at 2-and-a-half. Honma picks Lethal up by his hair, but Lethal is slow to rise, so Honma pulls on his hair really hard, hits the ropes, but Lethal nails a superkick, and then Honma hits a lariat that turns Lethal inside out, cover, kick out by Lethal. Honma hits a brainbuster, cover, Lethal kicks out again. MW3, “Can Honma do it? Can he become the 2nd Japanese wrestler to win the ROH World Title.” KK says, “Takeshi Morishima was first. Honma looks to add his name.” Honma goes for the tombstone piledriver, but Lethal gets out, and hits an enziguri to the back of Honma’s head.
Truth Martini yells, “You’re the ROH World Champion! Show everybody here what you’re made of!” as the crowd at Korakuen Hall chants, “Honma!” Lethal runs into the corner, but meets a boot, and Honma hits a second rope diving headbutt, running fall away headbutt, power slam, goes to the top rope for the Kokeshi and leaps off, but Lethal moves out of the way. Honma is out flat, with spit coming from his mouth. Both men get to their feet, Honma runs in, but nails Todd Sinclair by accident as Lethal gets out of the way. Suddenly, Los Ingobernables run in with clubbing blows to the back and stomps to Honma, they hold him as Truth Martini nails The Book of Truth on Honma’s head, but you can’t hurt Honma in the head, he’s like a Samoan. Honma stands up and takes out all three men, Naito comes in tosses him up in the air, nails a low blow kick, and then Lethal hits the Lethal Injection as Todd Sinclair wakes up and counts the 1-2-3.
Winner and still ROH World Champion: Jay Lethal
KK closes out the show, “Thank you for joining us for this special look at Jay Lethal. Next week here on ROH Wrestling, we took a very special look at Bullet Club. Don’t you dare miss it.” End of show.
Ring of Honor & New Japan Pro Westling present War of the Worlds: Night 1 of 3, May 9, 2016 from the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center in Dearborn, Michigan
Kamaitachi defeated Will Ferrara in a dark match
Matt Sydal and ACH defeated Beer City Bruiser and Silas Young
Roderick Strong defeated Lio Rush
War Machine (Hanson and Ray Rowe) defeated Chaos (Kazuchika Okada and Gedo)
Kushida defeated Dalton Castle (w/ The Boys). After the match, Rhino, who is running for Michigan’s House of Representatives, made an appearance and delivered a few gores.
Michael Elgin and Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated The All Night Express (Kenny King and Rhett Titus)
The Addiction (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian) are your NEW ROH World Tag Team Champions after defeating War Machine (Hanson and Ray Rowe)
reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly) defeated ROH World Champion Jay Lethal (with Taeler Hendrix) and IWGP Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito in a tag-team match.
Bullet Club (Adam Cole, Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson, Tama Tonga and Tanga Roa) defeated Adam Page, Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe (10-man tag team match). Adam Page was absent to start the match, Bucks said he met a superkick party in the back. Later on, Page came down with a chair and nailed Jay Briscoe, becoming the newest member of the Bullet Club.
Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian of The Addiction defeated War Machine at Monday night’s ROH War Of The Worlds live event from Dearborn, Michigan to capture the ROH Tag Team Championships.
Adam Cole was revealed as the newest member of NJPW’s Bullet Club faction during the ROH Global Wars show. The Young Bucks interfered during the main event between Jay Lethal/Colt Cabana and teased that both were joining the prestigious faction. The lights went out and returned moments later to reveal Adam Cole in the ring with a Bullet Club shirt, he and the Bucks then attacked everyone at ringside with Superkicks to close out the show.
This is a major acquisition for the Bullet Club brand after losing key members to the WWE in recent years.
Bobby Fish is the NEW ROH World Television Champion after defeating Tomohiro Ishii via submission
Bullet Club Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson)/Guerrilas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa) defeated Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Matt Sydal, & Kushida
ROH World Heavyweight Champion Jay Lethal retained against Colt Cabana as the match ended in a no contest when The Young Bucks superkicked Taeler Hendrix, offered Lethal and Cabana Bullet Club t-shirts, before the arena went dark. When the lights came back on, Adam Cole was in the ring wearing a Bullet Club t-shirt. All 3 of them superkicked Lethal and Cole, more members of the Bullet Club ran-in, and then everyone at ringside got a superkick (51 superkicks total) including Kevin Kelly, Mr. Wrestling 3, and the Young Bucks’ dad.
Kevin Kelly and Mandy Leon introduce the show. KK says, “Over the next 60 minutes, we will count you down and get you set for Global Wars, Sunday May 8th. Tonight’s ROH TV is a special Global Wars preview edition.”
Bobby Fish vs Tomohiro Ishii (c) (ROH World Television Championship)
We cut to footage of a match between Bobby Fish against Roderick Strong. Strong taps out, Fish thinks he won and celebrates. Fish climbs back down off the turnbuckle, asks Todd Sinclair what happened, and then Strong hits the running knee, cover, and scores the victory.
Next, footage from Ishii vs. Strong, Ishii hits the ropes and nails are running lariat, and Strong kicks out. Choshu-style lariat, goes for the sliding lariat misses, Roderick lands 2 jumping knees, forearm, headbutt, back elbow, and then a headbutt by Ishii knocks Strong to the mat. Ishii hits the sliding lariat, stacks up Strong for the pin, but Strong kicks out. Ishii nails a stalling vertical brainbuster on Strong, cover, and becomes the new ROH World Television Champion.
Next KK says, “All three competitors would head to Vegas for the ROH 14 Anniversary show, to compete in a 3-way match for the ROH World Television Title,” and we see footage from the match. Ishii hits a sliding Lariat, but Strong kicks out and then Ishii hits a vertical drop brainbuster, gets the pinfall, and records his second win in the row. After the match, Fish gets in the ring, which has led us up to Texas, where Fish and Ishii faced off in a 2-out-of-3 falls match.
Fish throws Strong back into the ring, Strong pushes ref out of the way, and run hits a jumping knee, and then nails flipping backbreaker The End Of Heartache and scores the 1st fall. Later in the match, Fish gets the 2nd fall on a quick roll up in the corner. We pick up action, moments later, with the match tied at 2, Strong with a knife edge chop, Fish with a kick, then they exchange forearms, Fish gets 2 kicks, then Strong fights with forearms, back elbow, Fish goes for a kick, Strong catches him, and then Fish gets a heel hook and strong taps out.
This feud continues at Global Wars, Fish vs. Ishii, and we go to commercial.
Kyle O’Reilly vs IWGP Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito (Non-Title)
When we return, Mandy Leon tells us, “O’Reilly has kind of had a tough the last couple of months.” KK explains, “When Adam Cole derailed O’Reilly’s title shot, it all came to a head at SuperCard of Honor in Dallas, Texas,” and we cut to footage from that match.
Both men are on the top turnbuckle, O’Reilly with punches to Cole’s head, and then O’Reilly suplexes Cole through the table in the middle of the ring. The referee counts to 6 as both men are incapacitated, O’Reilly crawls over, puts his arm across Cole, but Cole kicks out. Later in the match, 2 chairs are set up in the ring, O’Reilly with a kick to the chest, Cole gives him the double bird, O’Reilly with kicks to the head and then Cole sits down on the chair. Cole stands up and fights out with elbows and O’Reilly sits on the other chair. They exchange forearms, until both men sit down in the chairs. They grab each other by the head and both land close-handed shots, Cole with a kick the leg, goes for a kick to the gut, but O’Reilly catches him and lands a vertical brainbuster. O’Reilly gets mad and throws the chair out of the ring, grabs the steel chain that is hooked to the rope, ties Cole up with the chain, and then locks in a cross armbreaker. The harder O’Reilly pulls on the arm, the more he strangling Adam Cole with the chain, Cole starts to make it back to his feet, tries to pick up O’Reilly, but Cole passes out, O’Reilly wins.
KK informs us, “Since the loss in Dallas, no one has seen or heard from Adam Cole. O’Reilly is really in a dangerous state of mind right now,” and we go to commercial.
Michael Elgin & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada & Moose W/ Gedo & Stokely Hathaway
KK tells us, “Stokely Hathaway was the one who announced this matchup in Dallas.” and we cut to Stokely’s in-ring promo from Supercard of Honor X. KK reminds us, “While Moose and Okada might seem like a very unlikely pairing, Vegas is where Moose earned the respect of The Rainmaker, and we cut to footage for the ROH 14th Anniversary Show.
Okada with 3 forearms, Moose with a big right hand, Okada with 2 forearms and then an uppercut, Moose with an open-handed shot, Moose punch, and then an uppercut. Moose hits the ropes, Okada ducks, picks him up, reverse piledriver on the knee, cover, kickout. Okada climbs to the top rope and connect with an elbow, calls for The Rainmaker as the camera pans out. Okada goes for The Rainmaker, but Moose ducks, runs up to the turnbuckle ropes, and hits a flying crossbody. Okada is slow to get up, Moose sets up for the spear, Okada jumps over, ducks a clothesline, misses The Rainmaker again, Moose spins around, and then a jumping dropkick sends Moose off the ropes, Okada nails a second drop, kick, picks Moose up and finally nails The Rainmaker for the win.
KK says, “Okada and Moose will face Elgin and Tanahashi who have been solidifying their tag team partnership in New Japan”, and we go to commercial.
Alex Shelley/Chris Sabin/Matt Sydal/Kushida vs Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson)/Guerrilas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa)
KK says, “To get an idea of the insanity you’ll see in the 8-man tag team match at Global Wars, we go back to the ROH 14th Anniversary, where the 6-man tag-team match stole the show.”
Omega runs into the corner, Matt runs into the corner, Matt drapes Sydal across the second rope, and Nick hits a swanton. Omega hits a double underhook suplex, Sydal stands up slowly and gets SUPERKICKED by all 3 members of The Elite. Omega stacks him up for the pin, but ACH comes in to break it up. Elite throw a ACH out of the ring, Omega points, Mr. Wrestling 3 says, “They name this move after Tiger Hattori, and he’s not very happy about it.” Fireman’s carry roll over, but Sydal gets out, Nick misses and then a top rope suplex by Sydal on Matt. Then Kushida and ACH with double moonsault, 1 off the top rope, 1 standing. Nick comes into break up the pin attempt, Omega gets thrown to the outside, Kushida leaps over but Omega catches him, sets him up for the piledriver. Sydal is conflicted about what to do, but can only watch as Kushida gets nailed with a piledriver on the floor. Nick kicks Sydal off the ropes, spikes him on his head, and Nick runs over and kicks ACH. All 3 members of The Elite have Sydal alone in the ring, 5-star Meltzer Driver turns Sydal inside out, and then Omega hits the One Winged Angel, and covers for the victory.
Mandy Leon says, “Wild, Kevin. That was only 6 men, imagine adding in 2 more guys at Global Wars,” and we go to commercial.
Mark & Jay Briscoe vs War Machine (Raymond Rowe & Hanson) (c) ROH World Tag Team Championship
KK tells us, “War Machine is coming off recent successful tag team defenses against Roppongi Vice and the All Night Express, but attitudes have been boiling over with the Briscoes.” Footage is shown from Episode 236 of the Briscoes picking up War Machine’s belts. Mandy Leon tells us, “This feud dates back many years, but was on temporary hiatus when Raymond Rowe suffered a life-threatening motorcycle accident.” KK reminds us, “War Machine have never been able to beat the Briscoes, and Hanson and Rowe have said themselves, they will never consider themselves to be the number one team until they beat the Briscoes.”
Footage from Conquest Tour is shown, Jay with punch, uppercut, kick but Rowe takes control and goes for the Fallout. MW3 reminds us, “Jay Briscoe hasn’t been pinned in over two-and-a-half years.” Jay gets out, back elbows, picks Rowe up into a fireman’s carry, Rowe fights out with back elbows, Jay turns around with a forearm, picks him up in the execution chair for the Doomsday Device, but Hanson knocks Mark off the apron. WM throw Jay up with a double chokeslam, cover, but Jay kicks out. Rowe with forearms on the outside to Mark, Mark picks up Rowe, and sends him into the steel barricade. Hanson nails a sit down splash in the corner, Mark comes off the top rope, but gets power slammed, and then Hanson picks up his partner Rowe and drops him on Mark. WM goes for Fallout, but Jay gets out, and runs Rowe into Hanson, clubbing blow to the back, picks him up on his shoulders, and then Mark comes off the top rope for Doomsday Device. Mark with a running neck breaker off the apron on Rowe, Jay is left alone in the ring with Hanson. Hanson with the Mongolian shop, goes for the deadlift brainbuster, but Jay wiggles out and nails the Jay Driller on Hanson, cover, but Hanson kicks out. Jay gets back up and hits to 3 running boots to Hanson, nails him with a second Jay Driller, cover, and the Briscoes win.
KK tells us, “Cabana has a luxurious career in ROH, he was ROH Tag Team Champion with CM Punk, held victories over Kevin Steen, and now has the opportunity to make a name for himself with newer ROH fans. Let’s take you back to 2005, Cabana faced his best friend CM Punk at Final Chapter.
They hit the ropes, Punk with an arm drag, headscissors by Cabana, Punk flips to his feet from his backside, Cabana drops into the mat, jump over, Punk goes for a monkey flip, but Cabana stomps him in the face. Punk gets back up, slaps him in the chest, and yells at him. We are reminded that Cabana is always funny, CM Punk is always serious. Cabana with a headlock, both of them run the ropes, Cabanas stops and says, “Look up. There there’s a bear up there.” Punk says no. Cabana says, “If you won’t look up, then look down,” and stomps on his foot. Later in the match, Cabana is on the turnbuckle, knife edge chop by Punk, hurricanrana, roll thru, Boston crab by Cabana. Referee is checking on Punk’s condition, Punk finds the ropes. The match is a 2-out-of-3 falls, tied at 1 fall a piece. Cabana with 2 uppercuts, Punk with 2 forearms, whip reversal off the ropes, and then CM Punk with a reverse hurricanrana spiking Cabana on his head, and we go to commercial.
When we return, Cabana is on the map, Punk first to his feet, slaps him in the face, back elbow kick, goes off the ropes, shining wizard from a standing position, cover, kick out. Punk climbs to the top turnbuckle, Cabana catches him, and then an inverted DDT off the top rope. But Cabana is worn down not, able to follow up. (Todd Sinclair was still calling the action way back then!) Whip reversal, Punk grabs the arm for the Anaconda Device on Cabana, but Cabana gets his foot on the ropes. Punk calls for the Pepsi Plunge, slams Cabanas head into the turnbuckle, climbs the ropes, hooks the arms butterfly-style but Cabana fights out, fireman’s carry by Cabana and then a Samoan drop off the top rope. CM Punk with a quick roll-up, crucifix pin attempt, but only gets 2 on Cabana. Both men get back to a standing position, exchange close handed strikes. Punk yells, “Come on Cabana!” and they keep exchanging close handed strikes, Punk hits 3 kicks to the back of the knee, a kick to the chest, runs the ropes, and connect with a kick to the head, cover, but Cabana grabs the ropes. Punk goes for a vertical suplex, Cabana reverses pin attempt, roll through pin attempt, another reversal, 1-2-3 and Cabana beats CM Punk.
KK tells us, “That was Chicago 11 years ago. 11 years later, Colt Cabana will challenge Jay Lethal for the ROH World Championship May 8th on Global Wars,” and the show ends.
Welcome to another edition of Ring of Honor, Kevin Kelly and Mr. Wrestling 3 introduce us to the Honor Rising events taped back in February from Korakuen Hall. KK tells us that Korakuen Hall was built in 1962 and has housed every great pro wrestler throughout the years.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin, Moose and Tomoaki Honma vs. Bad Luck Fale, Cody Hall, Tama Tonga and Yujiro Takahashi (Bullet Club) (8 man tag team match)
Moose comes down to the ring, making his New Japan debut. Next out is Big Mike, KK says, “Moose wants to be where unbreakable Michael Elgin is, a former ROH World Champion, a great pro wrestler all around the globe.” MW3 says, “Seems like Elgin has found a new home here in NJPW.” Honma is third out, KK describes him as “the true underdog, what an overachiever he has been.” Finally, Tanahashi, MW3 describes him as, “the number 1 star of the last 10 years in NJPW,” KK asks, “Is he still the ace?” MW3 replies, “Absolutely.” KK informs us Tanahashi is nursing a shoulder injury caused by The Elite. MW3 says, “His shoulder is all taped up, but he can still play an air guitar. Now, all 4 members of Bullet Club, the more Japan-based members, walk down the aisle making their ROH TV debuts. MW3 reminds us, “2 second generation superstars in Tonga and Hall, Takahashi has basically renounced his Japanese citizenship, and Fale is a former rugby star. He is really the equivalent of Moose.”
Moose and Fale start it off. Both men hit the ropes, double shoulder block, and they stare at each other. Moose hits the ropes, another double shoulder block, and they stare at each other again. Fale hits the ropes, a third double shoulder block, and third stare down. Punch to the gut by Fale, forearm to the face, clubbing elbow to the back, hits the ropes, and then a standing dropkick by Moose. MW3 says Moose, “gave a little shimmy. That’s how babies are made.” Fale lands a knee to the midsection and tags in Tonga, Moose tags in Honma, Tonga hits a dropkick on Honma, and we go to commercial.
When we return, Tonga has Honma on the mat, Tonga goes for a jumping back elbow but misses, and Honma tags in Tanahashi. Double whip by Honma and Tanahashi off the ropes, double shoulder block on Tonga. Now everyone comes in, the faces clear the ring, and all 4 flex like Hulk Hogan. Tonga crawls back in, Tanahashi hits back elbow, 2 forearms, whip reversal, Takahashi kicks Tanahashi in the back. Now everybody brawls, the fight spills to the outside, Takahashi runs Tanahashi into the steel rail and then nails him with a chair, Hall knocks Honma down, Takahashi chokes Tanahashi with the chair, then crawls back in the ring, the ref starts the count, and Tanahashi gets back in at 16.
Fale tags in, stands on Tanahashi, picks him up by his neck, throws him into the corner, and tags in Hall. Hall enters by jump stomping over from the second rope as he does, back elbow, short arm shoulder tackle, short arm elbow, puts Tanahashi’s arm on the ropes, and then kicks him in the elbow, clubbing blows to the chest, pin attempt, but Tanahashi gets his foot on the ropes. MW3 tells us, “One of Hall’s best moves is the iron claw, very Kerry Von Erich-like.”
Hall tags in Tonga, 2 forearms to the jaw, whip reversal off the ropes, Tonga slides and skirts around on the mat, and then delivers a standing dropkick, steps on his face, tags in Takahashi. Tanahashi fights out with 3 elbows, Takahashi rakes the eyes, tries for a running boot, but Takahashi catches him and then a dragon screw leg sweep takes him to the mat.
Tanahashi gets the hot tag to Elgin, his tag team partner here in New Japan, and Elgin gets a lot of cheers from the crowd. He climbs to the top turnbuckle, flying shoulder on Takahashi, runs into the corner with an elbow, Irish whip reversal into the corner, German suplex, rolls through for a second one, but Tonga comes in and pulls Taka to safety. Elgin picks Tonga up in the air with a one handed overhead press, and we go to commercial.
After the break, Elgin picks up Takahashi into a stalling vertical brainbuster, Hall comes in and kicks Elgin in the gut, but Elgin does not break the hold, Hall pulls down Taka, clubs Elgin in the back, Bullet Club go for a double suplex, but Elgin reverses into a double suplex of his own. Elgin hits a deadlift German suplex on Takahashi, bridge cover, kick out. Takahashi with a kick to the gut, Elgin screams, standing switch, goes for suplex, Takahashi grabs the referee Tiger Hattori, and looks like Elgin’s going to suplex both of them, but the ref wiggles out, while Takahashi hits a low blow.
Moose and Hall in, Moose ducks a clothesline, hits his Moose punches, and then Hall with a fall away slam, stands up turns around and meets a lariat, cover, but Hall kicks out. Moose lines up for the spear, but Hall connects with a knee to the head, picks up Moose, tries for the Razor’s Edge, but Moose slides out, and then Hall hits a spinning lariat. Bullet Club comes in and takes out the faces, gut punches by Tonga, running boot by Takahashi, splash by Fale, a splash by Tonga, Hall nails a chokeslam, cover, kick out. Hall goes for the Razors Edge again, but Honma comes in and nails Hall with the Kokeshi, Takahashi with a fisherman’s buster, Elgin with a double suplex on Tonga and Takahashi, Tanahashi comes in with a running dropkick knocking Fale off the apron, and then Elgin throws his partner Tanahashi onto all three members of the Bullet Club. Moose is left alone in the ring with with Hall, Moose runs in with a splash, whip reversal, Moose runs to the top turnbuckle and lands a cross body slam. Moose nails Hall with the spear, and this one is over, 1-2-3.
Winners: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin, Moose and Tomoaki Honma
KK asks, “Can we say a star is born here at Korakuen?” MW3 responds, “I think he was a star already in Ring of Honor, but now he’s a star in the Land of the Rising Sun.” and it’s time for our sponsors.
After the break, we are shown a video package of Jay Lethal and Truth Martini walking around outside, Lethal says, “Tokyo, Japan. I can’t wait, I can’t wait to get one of those massages we talked about, right?” Martini replies, “Yeah yeah, and especially if we’re going to get one of those endings that are kind of happy.” Lethal pulls out some change, “I brought some money, I got some yen here, do you think this is enough to get a nice massage?” Martini says, “Champ, that’s not enough for the kind of ending I’m talking about.” And they laugh, Truth says, “Let’s go. I got it.”
KK talks about Leo Rush winning the Top Prospect Tournament by defeating Brian Fury and getting a shot at the ROH contract and a guaranteed shot at the ROH TV Championship. He tells us that match was scheduled to take place at SuperCard of Honor X in Dallas, Texas, but because ROH TV Champion Tomohiro Ishii had other commitments in Japan, Nigel McGuinness instead gave Rush the rare opportunity for a world title match in his first official ROH match, and we see the closing moments of that match.
Lethal is out cold, draped across the top turnbuckle, slap to the chest by Rush, Rush climbs up for a one-man Spanish fly that he calls Rush Hour, forearm, Lethal has his eyes closed, but out of nowhere, Lethal reverses and delivers a top rope cutter, then Lethal Injection, cover, and pin.
After the match, KK says ROH fans saw “the long-awaited, some say long-overdue return of a ROH pioneer.” Lethal is on the mic, “Someone go tell Nigel McGuinness, KK go tell him NM, JL said there’s nobody left. Do you hear me? There’s nobody left. This is ridiculous.” And Colt Cabana’s music hits. Cabana walks down the aisle, climbs in the ring, “You say that there’s nobody left JL, you say it now, you say it on TV, and it makes me think about myself, about my legacy, what I want to be remembered as. Sometimes you have to look yourself in the mirror, and know exactly what you want to be. I don’t, I don’t want to be known as somebody’s friend. I love what I’m doing, I love that I’m an independent wrestler, I love that I’m DIY, nobody owns me, nobody’s tells me what to do, JL. Everybody still wants to see me, Jay. I’m still booked, I’m still doing what I do, and you know who can’t fire, and you know who can’t reject me? These people. And I should have done it a long time, I should have been kicked out, I should have been gone, but the reality is I’m not, because they’re still chanting my name.” And the fans chant “Colt Cabana!”
Jay gets on the mic, “Woah woah woah woah, let me stop you right there, because the fact of the matter is, these people here can’t make you the greatest wrestler in the world. This does.” He holds up the title, “This does Colt, and I have it. In fact, you haven’t been here in 5 years. For 5 years, you’ve been avoiding this place, because you know I’m the greatest. For 5 years, you’ve traveled the world on small local indie shows in India, in Germany, all over the world, but you avoided this place for 5 years, because you know why, because I’m the greatest. But there’s another reason, and it’s because me and that entire locker room, and whether they believe it or not, they don’t want you here and neither do I.”
Cabana responds, “I like what I’m doing, I like going to India, I like going to Japan, I like going to Germany. I travel all over, and these people are from all over the world, and I don’t make them come to me. I have literally been to every single place, where everybody single person has been, so I can wrestle as an independent wrestler, Jay. It’s not cuz of the money and it’s not cuz of the TV, because when I look back on my career a long long time, and I won’t be able to live with myself unless I’m able to wear that around my waist.” He points at the ROH World Title.
KK tells us, “The world champion was furious. The following day, Lethal claimed that because of Cabana’s 5 year absence, he didn’t deserve a title shot. He went on to claim Cheeseburger as a more worthy challenger, and gave him a world title match on the spot. After the match, Cabana comes down to the ring, “You’re dressed and ready to go, I’m dressed and ready to go, the idea is, we do it right now. Truth might have said no, but the reality is you’re seg now, because you can’t call your own shots. Do you think you can beat me, because I don’t think you can beat me.” Lethal replies, “You want, you want a match right now damn it, you got it,” and Lethal punches him, they exchanged blows, fast forward to later in the match, kick by Lethal, small package roll up, and Cabana wins. KK informs us, “As a result of that impromptu match, live on Global Wars in his hometown of Chicago, IL, Colt Cabana returns to challenge for the one title that has eluded him his entire career. Cabana vs. Lethal for the ROH World Championship.” Commercial.
Martini and Lethal are outside the massage parlor door, “Champ, it’s time to get what you deserve.” Lethal replies, “I’m a little nervous there’s no pictures around. Seems a little shady,” “No, it’s alright, this is a special kind of place.” Lethal says, “I got the end you were talking about, I’m tired of talking,” and then Delirious comes out of the massage parlor. Martini says, “He looked pretty happy to me,” and they laugh. Back outside, Lethal says, “This is it, we came all this way? This is a great NJPW door? Look at that stupid picture by the awning. Where’s my picture? They have Okada up there? If you want a picture of the greatest wrestler in the world, where’s the picture of the ROH World Champion?” Martini says, “Think of it this way, we are overseas and if everybody doesn’t recognize you as the best, they are overseeing that you are the #1 wrestler in the world. That means we’re over, see?” Lethal says, “You know what, I’m just going to go break all of Okada’s stuff right now.” Martini replies, “Champ, hold on, give me one second, I gotta grab this real quick,” and then he bumps a vending machine and an item falls out. “It works every time,” Video of Jay Briscoe and Dalton Castle exploring Tokyo Dome City. Martini and Lethal are in a mask shop, Lethal says, “This is a pretty cool store, look it’s dedicated to everybody I beat. Look at this, I beat him twice, i definitely beat him, oh I remember beating him pretty badly.” And then we see Delirious’s head among the masks on the rack. Moose taking pictures. Lethal recaps, “Champ and Truth Martini, we got one of those happy massages, we destroyed some stuff in the New Japan store, and that’s what they get for not having my pictures in there. Look at this sign you can’t smoke here,” Martini replies, “Champ, I can’t read Japanese.” Roderick Strong and Mark eating. Martini looks at the no smoking sign with a line through it, says “They ruined a perfect picture of a cigarette.” Dalton Castle playing with cats.
Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson (Bullet Club) vs The Briscoes
MW3 says, “You have the Multi time IWGP Tag Team Champions, Machine Guns, against the greatest tag team in ROH history, The Briscoes. They got their work cut out for them here tonight. But Gallows and Anderson know Japan, they’ve been here a long time.” Anderson says, “Look, this is my hot Asian wife, here in the front row.” MW3, “Of course, that is Karl Anderson’s hot Asian wife, as he says.” Gallows has on a mask and face paint and a singlet that says #bizcliz. The camera shakes as Anderson shoot his gun. Out next are Dem Boys, KK tells us, “At the time of these events, The Briscoes were two-thirds of the NEVER Openweight 6-man Champions.” MW3 says, “With Yano. Ya know, they’re looking to regain those titles.”
Before the bell, as Briscoes pose on the apron, Machine Guns attack, Anderson and Jay to the outside, Gallows with 2 punches to Mark, running knee by Mark, Jay comes back into the ring and clotheslines Gallows over the top rope to the outside, Mark hits the ropes and baseball slides through the middle rope on Anderson, and then hits a swinging neckbreaker blockbuster off of the apron onto the floor, and commercial.
Gallows with a punch to the jaw, runs Jay into the barricade, Mark throws Anderson back into the ring, Jay kicks Gallows, Mark with a stomp to Anderson, forearm, knife-edge chop, kick to the face, Irish whip reversal, Mark jumps over, rolls back to his feet, redneck kung fu, Anderson goes for cutter but flips him, and then standing kick by Mark, cover, but Anderson kicks out. Mark hits a Mongolian chop, kicks Anderson, another kick to the gut, tags in Jay. Jay with a headbutt, suplex, cover, kick out.
Tags in Mark, Mark with a punch to the ribs, Russian leg sweep, cover, kick out. 3 forearms, runs the ropes, Gallows trips him, kick to the head by Gallows, and then a leg drop on the apron by Anderson. MW3 says, “Size 24 boot by Gallows.” KK protests, “24?” MW3 replies, “I’m guessing, is that wrong?” KK says, “I’m not going to argue with either you or him, certainly do not want to take a measurement.” Jay comes over, Anderson takes him out, Gallows throws Mark through the barricade, opening up the gates, throws a chair to his back as they fight in the crowd. Jay comes over, kick and a punch by Gallows, MW3 says “Oooh, scary face Gallows,” the referee begins to count, but Mark gets back in.
Anderson sets him up on the ropes, rakes the eyes and neck, tags in Gallows. Kick by Mark, and then close handed strikes by Gallows, the referee tells him to stop it, he runs over knocks Jay off the apron. MW3 notes, “It’s an interesting tradition that the announcer always says the numbers English. It’s not just because it’s a ROH event, it’s a tradition in Japan to count in English. As you said earlier, Korakuen Hall opened in 1962, started to house boxing in 1964 for the Summer Olympics, every major wrestling from Hulk Hogan and beyond has been in Korakuen Hall.” Kick by Gallows, shoulder block by Mark, headbutt by Gallows, runs the ropes, drops an elbow, cover, Mark kicks out. Headlock by Gallows, and we go to commercial.
Gallows throws Mark in to corner, Mark fights out, knocks Anderson off the ropes, enziguri to Gallows, knocks Anderson off the ropes again, flips over Gallows and rolls through tags and Jay. Jay nails Anderson off the ropes, forearms to Gallows, runs the ropes, forearm to Gallows, but can’t knock him down, ducks a clothesline and then a boot finally knocks the big man off his feet. Fireman’s carry by Jay, Death Valley driver, red shoes in position, kick out. Headbutt by Jay, whip reversal off the ropes, kick by Gallows to the face, tags in Anderson. Anderson with a running back elbow knocks Mark off the apron, jumping kick by Anderson on Jay, splash by Gallows, and then a back drop neck suplex by both men, Mark comes in to break up the pin. Gallows throws Mark out, fireman’s carry by Gallows on Jay into a front face plant, cover, kick out.
Machine Guns go for the Magic Killer, Mark breaks it up, right hand by Gallows, runs in but Mark holds the ropes sending the big man to the outside. Gallows goes for a Gun Stun, Jay pushes him away, Gallows goes for a second Gun Stun, Jay blocks, Jay goes for Jay Driller, but Gallows breaks it off, and then Mark with a one-legged dropkick off the top rope. Anderson misses a clothesline, Jay goes for the double-arm hook, but Anderson gets out and then gets lariat by Jay. Neckbreaker by Jay, Froggy Bow by Mark, Mark makes sure that Gallows doesn’t come in the ring, and Jay gets the pin on Anderson.
Winners: The Briscoes
Young boy attendees come in with the ice packs for Gallows and Anderson. KK says, “It is clear that the fans here in Japan love the stars of Ring of Honor, but the stars of Ring of Honor also love the fans in Japan.” Another video package is shown of fans getting their picture taken, buying merchandise, and getting autographs from the ROH stars. Lethal says, “Every time I step into the ring, I prove that I’m the greatest wrestler in the world.” More shots of fans cheering and meeting ROH stars, and that’s the show folks.
Ring of Honor, New Japan and PWG Stars The Young Bucks were guests on this week’s edition of Ring Rust Radio. Here are some highlights, sent in by Donald Wood:
Ring Rust Radio: Ring of Honor’s next pay-per-view will be Global Wars on May 8 in Chicago Ridge. The Young Bucks will be part of an eight-man tag team match. For casual Ring of Honor fans, what can they expect from you two in the match and how do you prepare for what is sure to be a wild matchup?
Nick Jackson: Man you know what, it’s always a blast when Ring of Honor does pay-per-view shows. There’s always an element where Matt and I say, ‘Hey you know what? Let’s go balls to the wall,’ so to speak, and do a lot more because a lot more eyeballs are on the product. So, for a pay-per-view match, we’ll do a little more, a little more crazy I guess you could say. I don’t know, you want to add on that?
Matt Jackson: Yea. We’ve got my mom and dad coming too, they’ve never been to Chicago, and so it’s going to be a really special night, just in that aspect. It’s always fun to perform in front of our parents, who are just so proud of us. They are the biggest Young Bucks supporters in the world, so having them out there in the audience will be extra cool. Also, another element of the match is we’re teaming up with guys, a tag team that we have never really teamed with, with Guerillas of Destiny, GOD. That’ll be interesting.
Matt Jackson: A couple of guys who have crazy, animalistic features and painted faces, along with us, it might be kind of funny. We’ll add a different element and style to the match. And then the guys were wrestling. I mean, we’re talking about some of the best wrestlers in the world, so it’s going to be fun and interesting, and we’re looking forward to it!
Ring Rust Radio: Free agency is something that big names in the business don’t necessarily get to experience that often, but you guys went through it not too long ago. Looking back, how did you enjoy that free-agent process, and what did you learn about the interest level in and perception of you and your brand?
Nick Jackson: Oh man that’s a good question. We knew that we were pretty hot when we started getting feelers out from pretty much every company that exists. So we pretty much said to ourselves, ‘Hey, let’s accept an offer,’ because at this point in time, we were pretty burnt out doing the independent schedule that was pretty much nuts. We were doing triple shots literally every weekend. Flying out of Los Angeles Thursday night, getting home Monday morning. So it wasn’t much time at home at all so we figured, ‘Hey, let’s sign somewhere where we could make some good money, but in the meantime spend the time with our families, you know?’ With that being said, Ring of Honor came up to us with a deal that we pretty much couldn’t refuse. They also said, ‘Hey, we know New Japan is about part of your career. We’ll keep that on the table as well as PWG.’ That was pretty much set in stone, we said, ‘Alright, this feels like what’s right.’ It was the best offer financially that we were given, that was on the table, so we figured let’s try it out for a year and see what’s up. We’re what, five months in?
Nick Jackson: And we were fearful of signing anywhere because we’re known as the do-it-yourself Young Bucks. We’re the punk rock band that goes from small town to small town. So if we’re going to sign any type of exclusive deal, it’s almost like you’re going corporate. So we were afraid people were going to think we weren’t staying true to our word and stuff, but you know what? I feel like we’re not even under a deal, because ROH is so good to us and we have so much freedom to express ourselves, so I still feel we are the same Young Bucks. I was afraid we were going to cool off, and if anything, I feel we’ve actually gotten even hotter, and I think it has to do with us having more time to put into our brand. To be home and to refresh and not to be so burnt out on the road. I mean, we’re still on the road a lot, don’t get me wrong, but were not having to go from town to town to town. Sometimes we’re only doing one show a weekend.
Nick Jackson: Like Matt says, we can focus now on three companies, not doing 20.
Matt Jackson: And we were spreading ourselves thin, man. And now we feel that we’re at the top of our game. I watched back a match that we had last weekend against Delirious and Cheeseburger, and I told Nick this is everything I love about pro wrestling. I feel we’ve reached the peak of our act. We know what The Young Bucks are, and we’re finally being able to display what we are. This contract helped us understand who we are as performers.
Nick Jackson: And it teaches us what type of value we bring to a company when we’re signed. In eight months, we feel like we’re going to be even hotter free agents by then because our stock has risen from what we’ve been doing this year with guys like Kenny Omega and what we’ve been doing with Ring of Honor. Like we were just saying, free agency was fun and we’re just happy to be where we are now.
Ring Rust Radio: I think one of the biggest reasons fans appreciate the Young Bucks is because you two truly embrace tag team wrestling. As one of the most popular tag teams in the world, what do you guys find to be the most important aspect of building the Young Bucks brand. Is it the ring gear, the double team moves or something else you contribute to your success?
Matt Jackson: I mean it’s a combination of all those things. It’s not the fact that Nick and I are both singles wrestlers and then we happen to be a team. No. Everything we do is cohesive. It’s a tandem. It’s from the way we look, to the way we walk to the ring, to the way our attitudes are, to the way that everything happens in the ring. We set up the psychology in our hot tags. Everything we do is geared towards tag team wrestling. I’m not out there trying to get myself over; I’m out there trying to get The Young Bucks over, and same goes for Nick. We never looked at ourselves as ‘Oh, one day we’ll break up and one of us will be a singles star.’ That’s never going to happen. We’re never going to split up. I’ll tell you right now, I have no interest in being a singles wrestler and neither does Nick. Maybe we are where we are in tag wrestling because we both know that this is what we want to do, and there’s nothing else that we want to do. And our entire attitude, everything we do in wrestling is geared towards tag team wrestling.
Nick Jackson: Yep, you pretty much nailed it. I don’t think I could even add anything to that.
Ring Rust Radio: While you have found success in the United States, your time with New Japan has really made you international stars. What has working overseas taught you about the wrestling business and how much of what you learned there carries over to American wrestling?
Nick Jackson: Man, it’s taught us a lot. We’ve been in new Japan for just about three years now and I’ll tell you this; the last three years in our career—not just Japan, in North America as well—I feel the last three years have been the strongest work that we’ve put on during our career. I don’t know if that’s just because we keep growing as wrestlers or if Japan has indeed helped that, I’m not too sure. What it has taught us is more of the wrestling style, the Japanese style of wrestling. I guess you could call it the strong style. It’s taught us how to perform in front of seven-to-10 thousand people a lot better. To do certain things for not just for the front row to see, but the people all the way in the nosebleeds section. I don’t know if that makes any sense.
Matt Jackson: Yea. We have learned how to make our act larger than life, bigger, so that it comes across on pay-per-view and television and in arenas and stadiums instead of just a gym or a smaller place where independent wrestling is held. One thing I think we’ve gotten better at because of Japanese wrestling and wrestling in Japan so much is being on tour, wrestling in front of a crowd that doesn’t speak a lick of English. So it’s one thing to go out there in a U.S. crowd in front of U.S. people, or people that speak your language, but when you’re out there and they can’t understand anything you’re saying and there’s that language barrier, the cultures so different, and you’re getting over in front of people that don’t really know you. That’s truly how you get good. Nowadays they know who we are, but in the beginning, the first year, we go to these country towns in Japan, these people don’t know who we are. So we’re almost re-teaching these people who we are, and to re-teach these people that were The Young Bucks and this is our act, it’s almost like we’re starting all over again from scratch every single night on the tour. Having to do that every night on these long tours in Japan for the first couple years really helped us grow as performers. We just learned so much out there and we brought that to the U.S., and our entertainment value is up. It’s not just pro wrestling now. We have more character things. Sometimes we get bigger reactions having Nick say ‘Suck it’ to the crowd in a funny voice and the crowd is engaged right away. Or a silly antic we do with the cold spray. We just try to think so outside of the box now, and I think wrestling in front of people who don’t speak your language. It’s like a fast course to get you to become better.
Nick Jackson: Yea, totally agree.
Ring Rust Radio: You guys have the opportunity to work in different companies and experience all different kinds tag teams and tag-team wrestling styles. With that in mind, how would you describe the current state of tag-team competition across the entire wrestling world as a whole, and how does it compare to where it was earlier in your careers?
Nick Jackson: Oh I definitely think that there is a surge of better tag teams nowadays in comparison to when we first started. When we first started, tag team wrestling wasn’t even around. Especially in the bigger markets, like WWE. Ten years ago, there wasn’t much at that point, but with that being said, Matt and I both said, ‘Look let’s make this as big as possible, and let’s make tag team wrestling relevant again.’ And I feel like we’ve achieved that with the likes of The Motor City Machine Guns, guys like Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels, ReDragon, Roppongi Vice. There are a lot of great tag teams right now, and you know what? WWE has a few good ones as well, on the rise. with them signing Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson and The Usos and The New Day, and The Dudley Boyz are there again. I feel like right now, we have proved that tag team wrestling makes money. I feel like we proved that in Japan, I feel like we proved that in America, and I think finally, WWE is seeing that light, and I’m hoping that it’ll be a big part of their plan nowadays; so I don’t know.
Matt Jackson: And you know as Nick said, we proved that tag team wrestling draws money. I mean, Nick and I have been working on top everywhere we’ve been going pretty much for the last three or four years, and we’ve been selling more merchandise than most wrestlers that probably aren’t signed to WWE. We’re probably the top of the list.
Nick Jackson: And that proves that there is money in tag team wrestling. I don’t know the last tag team that drew the money we have on merchandise. Maybe the Hardy Boys? I’m so proud of that, and so humbled by that, but I think it’s proof that there is money in tag team wrestling. It’s not this dead thing that died with the Rock and Roll Express in the eighties. It’s still around. I think it peaked during the TLC era, back in the 2000’s, but I think it’s definitely on the upswing again.
Matt Jackson: Just to add a little comment, I think it was 2014 when we worked the Hardy Boyz for the first time, but it was reported that that was the largest, biggest indie crowd of the year, which was the Hardy Boyz vs. The Young Bucks in the main event, so that shows you that it draws money.
Ring Rust Radio: The Elite has taken wrestling by storm recently and is becoming one of the most popular factions of all time. How important has the The Elite, and the Bullet Club in general, been to the development of the Young Bucks in and out of the ring?
Nick Jackson: Oh man, the Bullet Club is probably the biggest thing that we will ever do. All the members originally talked about it too. We knew it was huge when it was starting to get momentum in its first year and a half, and we were like, ‘Guys, we have to try to enjoy this movement, this moment because it is bigger than us.’ We really felt that way. And we realized it was growing our brand as well when the merchandise sales were just going nuts. Probably our number one selling shirt of all time is the superkick party parody of the Bullet Club logo. And man, we’ve sold thousands of them, which is just crazy. But it’s because of how popular the Bullet Club brand is and was.
Matt Jackson: And the Bullet Club thing, it’s like we were all buddies, we all traveled together, we had this undeniable chemistry, so whenever any of us were together, we always brought out the fun side or edgy side out of each other. I had never seen that side of AJ Styles until he came out and became Bullet Club and he hung out with us at ringside, and we would just bounce ideas off each other and just act silly or goofy or whatever. Gallows and Gun, the same thing. Those guys are naturally charming, hilarious dudes, so just being out there and screwing around with them is funny. Kenny is a real quirky guy, so I think Bullet Club has even brought out more on his silly side. When we were all together, it was like this magic; we created cool almost. And I think it resonated when people would watch it, because if you’re having fun, then the people watching are having fun with you. And that skull logo represents everything of that era, that era of Bullet Club where we were just tearing it up every night in Japan, cutting the silliest promos, going to sponsor dinners and superkicking the guests. It was one of the most fun times of my career, and like Nick said, I don’t know if we’ll do something bigger than that ever again. Then The Elite thing. The Elite thing is something that Nick, myself, and Kenny created on our own, years ago. We would talk about it on the bus. ‘Well, who do you guys think is the elite of wrestling?’ And we would put together our lists…
Nick Jackson: But the list always included the three of us.
Matt Jackson: Of course of course. So one day, when AJ Styles was leaving and we kicked him out of The Bullet Club. On the fly, we were done doing what we had scripted, and Kenny says to us, ‘Should I go back in the ring and give him a Styles Clash and you guys superkick him?’ All the other Bullet Club guys had left at this point, and he asked that to Nick. And Nick said, ‘Um, how about you ask Matt.’ And I’m always down for anything. So Kenny goes, ‘Matt, should we do it?’, and I go, ‘I’m right behind you.’ So Kenny slides in the ring and picked up AJ, held him up for the styles clash, we gave him the double superkick, and he gave him the Styles clash, place went nuts and that was the birth of The Elite. And right then and there, I told him we need a shirt, we need to brand this thing. We branded this thing on our own, we didn’t ask permission, we decided to be The Elite, and now it feels New Japan is jumping on board with it. It was just the last time we came out to the ring and I saw The Elite on the big screen and I said, ‘OK, they’re accepting this thing.’
Nick Jackson: We felt like people were writing off the Bullet Club as a whole, and we figured, ‘Hey, it’s a different era of the Bullet Club, let’s add this little twist within the actual group.’ And you know, when people say the Bullet Club is done, I don’t like that, because now it challenges us. Now Matt and I are saying, ‘OK, you think it’s done? Let’s make it even bigger than what it was.’
Matt Jackson: Wait until we come up with more ideas, and what were going to do next. And Kenny—the three of us—we’re real life best friends. He’s one of my best friends in professional wrestling and we have a group chat where we talk in every day and we’re talking wrestling all the time. We love the business. We love pro wrestling. We are three professional wrestlers, we’re so much alike. Of any members in the Bullet Club, the three of us have the most in common and we just gravitate towards each other. We ride together, we eat together, and so The Elite was going to be a thing either way, whether it was going to be called The Elite or not, the three of us gravitate towards each other. And I think Gedo, who’s booking this thing, naturally sees that we’re a natural fit, and he’s starting to book it. It’s just perfect because the three of us make these silly videos, have a good time and I think that’s the future of the Bullet Club, The Elite.
Ring Rust Radio: You have wrestled some of the greatest tag teams in history during your careers. Which tag teams did you look up to as you were getting into the business and are there any teams in the current wrestling landscape that you’d like to get in the ring against?
Nick Jackson: Yea, The Hardy Boys number one. The Rockers number two, but we never got a chance to wrestle them. I would say number one would be The Hardy Boys because we knew that there was a small percentage, a small chance that within our career we would wrestle them, and we eventually got to. We had the opportunity to wrestle them three times. So three times wrestling the guys that we pretty much looked up to and wanted to model our career off of what they did, but to wrestle them it was just eye opening. It was awesome. They taught us a lot because they’re just phenomenal guys.
Matt Jackson: I told this to Nick, I told them too after the match, I said they’re the best tag team I had ever been in the ring with. And it comes down to everything, I’m not just talking, ‘Oh they’re the best guys, they have the best moves.’ It’s just everything. Their presence, their timing, fan interactions. They just get it. And I think wrestling them did make us better wrestlers. We picked up a lot from that. As far as who we would continue to like wrestling, the ROH tag team division is out of this world, that’s one of the reasons we decided to sign here.
Nick Jackson: I’m thrilled that the Motor City Machine Guns are back. They’re probably our greatest rivals that we’ve ever had, along with Frankie and Christopher Daniels, ReDragon and The Briscoes.
Matt Jackson: And even tonight we’re wrestling the All Night Express
Nick Jackson: War Machine. You name it. Ring of Honor has the top tag teams. That’s what makes it such a good mix for us being here.
Matt Jackson: And then if we’re talking possible down the line dream matches, I hear there are a couple good tag teams down in NXT that I’d love to wrestle. On Raw, I’d love to wrestle New Day, I’d love to wrestle The Usos, man it would be fun to wrestle Machine Gun and Gallows. We never even got to do that. That would be the Bullet Club colliding. There’s a lot of interesting matches that I’m sure that will happen down the line.
Nick Jackson: And we got to wrestle the Dudley Boys a couple times too, which was another just crazy thing, because as Matt said earlier with the TLC era, that was the golden age for tag team wrestling, and for us to wrestle two of those tag teams from that era, it was pretty cool.
Ring Rust Radio: The Young Bucks are currently one of the most popular tag teams in the world, and you’ve enjoyed a lot of championship success, but fans are seemingly always looking ahead. So when you guys look ahead, what do you view as the next step? Is it continuing to build up your legacy as a tag team? Is it going your separate ways at some point? What’s the end game and the ultimate goal?
Nick Jackson: We have a window we realize that because of the style that we do is so crazy that last year we said, ‘Hey we got probably ten more good years in us.’ So currently, we’re at nine years left, and we’re thinking, “Hey, in that nine year window, let’s make as much money as possible.’ We don’t care where it is. It could be in someone’s backyard as long as they’re paying me a good salary. You know what I mean? I’d be fine and happy with that. I don’t care about going anywhere to make my living as long as my family is fed and I’m saving money and I’ll be able to retire in that nine years, then I say, ‘Hey, we had a hell of a career.’
Matt Jackson: Another thing I love because I love professional wrestling is I want that instant fulfillment. As long as I’m having fun and can be an artist, it doesn’t really matter where it’s happening, but if I’m doing that, I’m happy. I’m making a good living, I’m selling a crapload of T-shirts, my kids are both happy and healthy and my wife is the same. I’m a happy man. So I don’t know what the end game is. Right now, I’m so happy with where we’re at, what we’re doing. We do things on our own terms. We have all the freedom in the world to be ourselves and to be artists, I can’t see it getting any better. I just want things to continue, whether it happens in the WWE or NXT or we stay in Ring of Honor or if it happens to be in my neighbor’s back yard, as long as I’m happy and my family’s happy, I’m happy.
Nick Jackson: Yep, but never say never with any type of possibility. You always have to be open to whatever because you don’t what directions things will go in this wrestling business.
Matt Jackson: Right? Wrestling in 2016 is so unpredictable, so I could never say never about anything.
Ring Rust Radio: It’s obviously rare that you two would wrestle each other, so I was curious if you guys have thought about what it would be like to wrestle each other again?
Matt Jackson: I just don’t think there’s any interest man. I think people dream about that being a fun match but I think if we got to the ring, people wouldn’t know if they want to see this. People want to see the Young Bucks tag team act.
Nick Jackson: I was just going to this. I think the only way that that would happen is during the super junior tournament in Japan where we have to do singles matches. That would be the only opportunity that match would happen. And if that did happen, I bet you it would be a great match, and hopefully it wouldn’t make the fans think, ‘Hey, they should have a program together because it ain’t happening.’ But I think that would be the only way that would happen. It would be fun too because the times that Matt and I have had singles matches, they’ve been very fun because we have a lot of chemistry obviously together, working as a team for the last twelve thirteen years. I remember we wrestled in Germany one-on-one during a tournament and I felt that we had a really good match. And then we had one on TNA on Impact one night, which was only given six minutes I think, but I feel like we tore the house down with those six minutes that we had.
Ring of Honor announced earlier today that there will be a Four Corner Survival Match at the NJPW Co-branded Global Wars show taking place on May 8th. The match sees Roderick Strong, Adam Page, Dalton Castle and ACH compete to decided a number 1 contender to the ROH TV Championship.
