Honor Rising 2017 Night 1
Korakuen Hall,
Tokyo, Japan
February 26th 2017
Full results from Honor Rising 2017 Night 1 https://t.co/uL1mnIJaUR pic.twitter.com/rqkBmhDAUe
— ROH Wrestling (@ringofhonor) February 26, 2017
Juice Robinson, Kushida, and David Finlay vs. Silas Young, Gedo and Jado
Kelly and Romero talked a lot about how fast Juice Robinson has moved up the rankings. They also noted that David Finlay is returning from a torn labrum.
Silas, Gedo and Jado came out with shirts that read “Real Man”.
It looked like Juice got his nose broken by a kick by Gedo (or a cutter by Silas) late in the match.
Juice pinned Gedo after “Pulp Friction”. After the match Juice celebrated in the crowd.
Winners: Juice Robinson, David Finlay and Kushida
Never 6-Man Tag Team Championship Match
Sanada, Bushi and Evil (Los Ingobernables) vs. Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask and Delirious
These titles change hands frequently in this division. No team has defended the titles more than twice in a row. Los Ingobernables get their first successful title defence here.
Delerious got some near falls, but then Evil hit him with a chair and Sanada made him tap out to the “Skull End”.
After the match Sanada attacked one of the young boys at ringside and taunted a member of the Japanese announce team (Akihito Sawafuji) as there is something building between Los Ingobernables and him. Sawafuji, 40, was forced to retire in 2010 due to an eye injury.
Winner: Los Ingobernables (1x title defence)
Takahashi, Guerrillas of Destiny (Tonga Loa and Tama Tonga) and Bad Luck Fale (Bullet Club) vs. Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Will Ospreay, Yoshi-Hashi (CHAOS)
Yoshi-Hashi will be challenging Adam Cole for the ROH championship tomorrow so he got the win and looked good here. Goto will also be defending his Never Openweight championship tomorrow against Punishment Martinez.
Hashi pinned Takahashi to get the win for his team.
Winners: CHAOS (Yoshi-Hashi pinned Takahashi)
War Machine vs. the Young Bucks
The Bucks do so much it’s hard to keep up with. A lot of really creative spots in this match, as there are in most Young Bucks matches. The Bucks let Kelly and Romero know they had sold 500 t-shirts that night.
Finish of the match was Hanson pinning Matt Jackson after War Machine landed “Fallout”.
Considering the Young Bucks are the ROH tag team champions, this should mean War Machine get a title shot soon. After the match War Machine bowed to the crowed.
Winners: War Machine (Hanson pinned Matt Jackson)
Dalton Castle, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Punishment Martinez, Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi (Los Ingobernables)
Tanahashi and Taguchi were dressed up as “the boys” and went through with Dalton’s entire entrance, even fanning him down. Dalton was very over in this match. There were several “Dalton Castle” chants.
Takahashi defends his junior heavyweight title against Taguchi next, so they were together a lot in this match. Dalton did a lot of comedy, with Taguchi and Tanahashi fanning him and pretending to be his boys.
Martinez pinned Dalton with a choke slam. Punishment Martinez had been Kevin Sullivan’s protege on ROH awhile back, but we have seen much of him since Whitmer and Corino’s feud ended. He was staring down Naito and Takahashi after the match and Naito flipped him off.
Martinez looked good here, which makes sense considering he is challenging for a title on the next show, against Goto for the Never Openweight belt.
Winners: Punishment Martinez, Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi (Martinez pinned Castle)
Katsuyori Shibata and Jay Lethal vs. Cody (Rhodes) and Hangman Page (Bullet Club)
The early part of this match was Lethal wanting to get at Cody but Cody avoiding him. Then Bullet Club beat down Lethal for much of the match. Finish came when Shibata took out Cody with his Penalty Kick and Lethal hit the Lethal Combination on Page for the win.
Shibata and Cody brawled on the outside after the match and had to be separated.
Winners: Shibata and Lethal (Lethal pinned Page)
Main Event
Adam Cole and Kenny Omega (Bullet Club) vs. the Briscoes (Jay and Mark Briscoe)
This was Kenny Omega’s first match back since his loss to Okada at WrestleKingdom. Crowd LOVED Omega.
The finish came when Cole pinned Mark Briscoe with the the Last Shot.
Omega started to cut a promo after the match, but Cole stole the microphone from him after just a few moments. Cole talked about how 2017 was his year and Omega looked insulted standing next to him.
Omega and Cole argued for a bit in the ring but then shook hands. I’m sure those two will work things out and we’ll never hear anything else about it again….
They are definitely teasing a split between Omega and Cole, which could make things in Bullet Club interesting for a bit.
Winners: Cole and Omega (Cole pinned Mark Briscoe)
