New Japan Pro Wrestling and Ring of Honor has released the full cards for their joint promoted events, Honor Rising.
The first show goes down at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on Friday, February 22 while the second show takes place at the same venue the following night where they will be broadcasted to the world live on NJPW’s streaming service, New Japan World.
Night one is set to be headlined by Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada & Jay Lethal facing The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan). The next night will see The Briscoes defend the ROH Tag Team Titles against Juice Robinson & David Finlay.
February 22 Event
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada & Jay Lethal vs. The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan)
ROH Television Champion Jeff Cobb defending against Hirooki Goto
NEVER Openweight Champion Will Ospreay defending against Dalton Castle
NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Togi Makabe, Toru Yano & Ryusuke Taguchi defending against Cheeseburger, Delirious & Colt Cabana
Juice Robinson, David Finlay, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare vs. Jay Briscoe, Mark Briscoe, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa
Jushin Thunder Liger & Jonathan Gresham vs. Taiji Ishimori & Robbie Eagles
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shota Umino
Marty Scurll vs. Ren Narita
February 23 Event
ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes defending against Juice Robinson & David Finlay
IWGP Tag Team Champions EVIL & SANADA defending against Guerrillas of Destiny
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal defending against TK O’Ryan
Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi vs. The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Vinny Marseglia)
Hirooki Goto & Will Ospreay vs. Jeff Cobb & Dalton Castle
Marty Scurll vs. Robbie Eagles
Jonathan Gresham & Toa Henare vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taka Michinoku
Ring Of Honor (ROH) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) have announced their fourth annual Honor Rising show for 2019. The two-night affair will kickoff from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan on February 22nd. The official announcement teased usual first-time-ever matches between NJPW and ROH with “top competitors” from each brand.
The show will take place seven weeks before the historic G1 Supercard from Madison Square Garden on WrestleMania 35 weekend. Check out ROH and NJPW’s official statement on 2019’s Honor Rising show here below:
“For the fourth consecutive year, Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro-Wrestling will join forces to present Honor Rising, two nights of incredible action featuring the stars of ROH and NJPW at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on Feb. 22-23.
“Honor Rising traditionally features first-time-ever matches pitting top competitors from the two companies against one another, as well as tag matches in which ROH and NJPW stars team together. The ROH World Championship has been defended every year at Honor Rising events, which have all been held at Korakuen Hall.”
No matches have been officially announced for the card as of this writing. However, we’ll keep you updated as more news becomes available.
Will you be tuning in for ROH and NJPW’s Honor Rising show in February?
The second and final night of NJPW Honor Rising has arrived.
In the main event, Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi try their luck as the Golden Lovers once again to take on Cody and Marty Scurll. Last night, Cody made the bold claim that he is the new Bullet Club leader. Will we find the true answer tonight?
The co-headliner will feature a major world title bout. ROH World champion Dalton Castle will put his gold on the line against Beretta. Also, NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team champions Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, and Tanga Loa will put their titles on the line against Cheeseburger, Delirious, and Jushin Thunder Liger.
Of course there are some undercard matches to look forward to as well. The action begins at 4:30 a.m. ET. Keep refreshing the page for updated results below:
Singles Match: Toa Henare vs. The Beer City Bruiser
Henare tried to sink in a headlock, but Beer City Bruiser demanded a fight. He slapped Henare and kicked him in the corner. They got into a chopping battle. Henare went for a shoulder block, but no one was home. Beer City Bruiser spat beer in his opponent’s face.
Henare went to lift his opponent up, but couldn’t. On a second try, Henare was able to land his shoulder block. He went up the top turnbuckle and landed the flying shoulder for a two-count.A full nelson into DDT was there for Beer City Bruiser. He went up the top turnbuckle and hit his frog splash for the win.
Winner: The Beer City Bruiser
Six-Man Tag Team Match: David Finlay, Juice Robinson, & Jay Lethal vs. HIKULEO, Chase Owens, & Yujiro Takahashi
Bullet Club attacked their opponents before the bell rang. Chase went to work on Finlay in the ring. Eventually, Chase was triple teamed. BC soon got the edge back.
Juice broke up HIKUEO’s pin on Finlay. Juice and Finlay hit a double dropkick, followed by a double flapjack. Lethal threw Chase and Yujiro to the outside. He took turns hitting suicide dives on both men.
Chase kicked Yujiro by accident. He was then hit with Lethal Injection. HIKULEO got hit with a Stunner, Pulp Friction and Hail to The King, eating the pin.
Winners: David Finlay, Juice Robinson, & Jay Lethal
Tag Team Match: Ryusuke Taguchi & Flip Gordon vs. Bushi & Hiromu Takahashi
Flip and Hiromu got the match started. Gordon escaped with his flips. Hiromu couldn’t find a way to catch him. With Hiromu on the outside, Flip teased a dive. He was attacked from behind by Bushi.
The action spilled to the outside. Bushi sent Taguchi crashing into a wall. Hiromu did the same to Flip. Hiromu then threw Flip into the guardrail. Bushi worked on Flip’s knee inside the ring.
Flip was able to tag in Taguchi and the Funky Weapon was loose. He hit a double DDT on Hiromu and Bushi. Taguchi locked in the ankle lock on Bushi. He couldn’t hold onto it for long. Bushi hit a rebound kick and Hiromu and Flip were the legal men.
Flip landed a springboard dropkick. He then landed a huge senton with Hiromu on the outside. Flip hit a springboard into a modified backbreaker.
Taguchi missed his hip attack. Hiromu and Bushi landed double kicks on Flip. Hiromu’s Time Bomb was countered into a pin attempt. Hiromu and Bushi landed the MX for the victory.
Winners: Bushi & Hiromu Takahashi
NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Title Match: Bad Luke Fale, Tama Tonga, & Tanga Loa (C) vs. Cheeseburger, Delirious, & Jushin Thunder Liger
The champions went after the challengers before the bell rang. In the ring was Fale and Cheeseburger. Delirious came in for the distraction and Cheeseburger hopped on Fale’s back. Despite this, Delirious and Liger were still shoulder blocked.
Tama Tonga easily landed a suplex on Cheeseburger and laughed. Liger was left in the ring with no one in the corner. He got double teamed in the corner. Tonga was accidentally hit by Loa. Delirious was tagged in and kept running the ropes to frustrate Loa.
Loa hit a Jackhammer and tagged in Tonga. Cheeseburger was tagged in and his forearms did absolutely nothing. Cheeseburger landed a hurricanrana and a DDT for a two-count. He went for Shotei, but ate a dropkick.
Tonga, Loa, and Fale all ran into Liger’s Shotei. Cheeseburger tried a small package, but Tonga blocked it. He went for it again and got a near fall. Tonga countered Shotei with the Tongan Twist, but his pin was broken up. Cheeseburger was hit with Guerilla Warfare and the champions retained.
Winners & STILL NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions: Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, & Tanga Loa
After the match, Tonga hit Gun Stun on Cheeseburger.
Six-Man Tag Team Match: Chuckie T, Yoshi-Hashi, & “Switchblade” Jay White vs. The Young Bucks & Hangman Page
Chuckie T and Nick got the match started. Nick landed an arm drag and tagged in Matt. Chuckie T tagged in White. Page was then tagged. The did traded shots. White chopped Page down in the corner.
White was in and the numbers game was two much. Page hit a chop on White. The Young Bucks landed a double dropkick on White and Page followed up with a standing moonsault. White mounted an offense with a huge DDT to Matt.
The Young Bucks and Page tried going for a super Rite of Passage, but they were cut off. Matt and Nick dove on Yoshi-Hashi and Chuckie T on the outside. White went for the Blade Runner, but was superkicked by The Young Bucks. Page hit Rite of Passage for the win.
Winners: The Young Bucks & Hangman Page
After the match, Page grabbed a chair and was going to blast White with it. The Young Bucks stopped him. They left and Page ignored his teammates and hit Rite of Passage again, but this time on the chair.
ROH World Title Match: Dalton Castle (C) vs. Beretta vs. The Beer City Bruiser
Before the match, The Beer City Bruiser said he wanted to bring back some gold to the United States. He demanded to be put in the match. Castle grabbed a mic and demanded to add the Bruiser. Now it’s a three-way.
Castle hit a suicide dive on Bruiser. Beretta blasted Castle with a chair. In the ring, the ROH world champion caught Beretta and landed a German Suplex. Bruiser went for the injured arm of Beretta.
Bruiser got on the top rope, but Castle cut him off. He ran on the apron and dropkicked Bruiser to the outside. The champion rammed a series of knees into the head of Bruiser. Beretta hit a swinging DDT on Castle. He was then shoulder blocked by Bruiser.
Castle and Beretta teamed up to nailed Bruiser with a superplex. Beretta went for a piledriver on Brusier on the ring apron. Instead, Bruiser hit the Death Valley Driver. Bruiser and Castle then tumbled to the outside.
Beretta moved out of the way of a frog splash attempt. He hit a shining wizard to the back of the head. He hit the Piledriver for a two-count. Bruiser hit a dropkick and went back up for the frog splash. He landed it and Beretta barely kicked out.
Castle’s finisher was countered into a pin attempt by Beretta. Shockingly, Castle landed the dead lift German Suplex on Bruiser to retain his ROH World title.
Winner And STILL ROH World Champion: Dalton Castle
Tag Team Match: Golden Lovers vs. Cody & Marty Scurll
Ibushi and Scurll got things underway. The two exchanged arm holds. Scurll chopped Ibushi in the corner. Ibushi rebounded with a leapfrog followed buy dropkick. Omega was tagged in and Cody ran into the crowd.
Scurll went for a sunset flip on Omega, but he broke the grip and landed a springboard dive into Cody on the outside. Cody picked his spot and met Omega in the ring. Omega landed a hard chop on Cody. Omega kicked Cody in the face and stomped him. The Golden Lovers then doubled teamed Cody.
Cody hit a springboard on Ibushi and landed awkwardly. He appeared to be fine and sent Ibushi back in the ring. Scurll hit a stalling suplex. He then double stomped Ibushi’s arm. Cody landed Disaster Kick on Omega. Ibushi was able to counter Cody and hit a powerslam.
Omega hit a crossbody on Cody. Ibushi hit a springboard dropkick on Scurll. The Golden Lovers hit a new tag move. Omega hit the steamroller, Ibushi hit a standing moonsault, then they both took turns hitting mooonsaults from the middle rope.
Cody exposed the floor and went for Crossroads from the ring apron. Omega hit the V-Trigger. Scurll hit Omega with his umbrella and then connected with Crossroads for a two-count. He then locked in the Chicken Wing. Meanwhile, Cody locked in his leg submission. Omega lifted Scull up and slammed him down on Cody.
Cody ran into a V-Trigger. Omega went for another one, but Scull kicked Omega. Ibushi went for his sitdown powerbomb, but was eventually hit with a lariat. The Golden Lovers hit a powerbomb into a German Suplex on Cody. With their opponents on the outside, Omega and Ibushi hit Cross Slash.
Cody ask Scurll to pick up Ibushi to kiss his opponent. That’s exactly what he did. This enraged Ibushi and he landed the chop and kick from hell. He then landed a powerbomb. Scurll ate a V-Trigger. The Golden Lovers hit the Golden Trigger for the win
Winners: The Golden Lovers
After the match, Omega grabbed a mic and said he’s had one of the best weekends of his life. He thanked the reunion of The Golden Lovers for that. Omega said he and Ibushi are the best tag team in the world.
The Young Bucks came out and took issue with Omega’s claim. The Young Bucks said they’re drawing the line with Omega claiming The Golden Lovers are the best tag team in the world. They announced they’re moving up to the heavyweight tag team division and said they’ll see The Golden Lovers around.
Omega said a few more words in Japanese to close the show.
ROH TV airdate: May 22nd 2017 (Fite App) Tokyo, Japan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgEJH88oFA8
This week on Ring of Honor television, matches were from the company’s shows from Tokyo in late February. In addition to wrestlers from ROH, many NJPW stars were featured as well.
1. NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships
Delirious, Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Sanada, Bushi, & Evil (Los Ingobernables)(c)
Surprisingly, the only ROH wrestler in this match was Delirious, and he’s actually the ROH booker. He likes to wrestle when they go to Japan though, so he was on the card here.
Sanada and Delirious ended up being the two legal wrestlers in the ring at the end of the match. Delirious looked like he was a little too unorthodox for Sanada, but Evil bashed Delirious in the head with a chair when the refs back was turned.
After that, Sanada put him in the “Skull and Bones” and made him tap for the win.
Winners: Los Ingobernables ( 1st title defence- later lost titles to “Taguchi Japan”)
2. NEVER Openweight Championship Hirooki Goto (c) vs. Punishment Martinez
35 year-old Luis “Punishment” Martinez is a 13-year pro who is just now starting to get a break. Originally trained at the Monster Factory in New Jersey, Martinez wrestled the indies until heading to Ring of Honor’s school for additional training in 2015. He has since had a short-lived alliance with Kevin Sullivan that boosted his name value some.
He got a big opportunity here in a match against a well-known NJPW champion. While Goto has since dropped the title to Minoru Suzuki, he is a 3x NJPW Cup winner, 1x IWGP Intercontinental champion, and multi-time tag team champion as well.
Goto countered the “South of Heaven Chokeslam” into the GTR to retain the championship.
Winner: Hirooki Goto (1 of 3 successful title defences he had before losing the title to Suzuki on April 27th 2017)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6IIURNdHlI
3. Kenny Omega, Cody & the Young Bucks (Bullet Club) vs. The Briscoes, Will Ospreay & Kazuchika Okada (CHAOS)
There were lots of really innovative spots between the Young Bucks and Will Ospreay early. When Ospreay was dazed on the apron the Bucks would both super-kick him off, only for him to fall into the arms of Cody and Omega, who placed him back on the apron to be super-kicked again. This happened a few times.
Ospreay ended up taking a lot of Bullet Club offence before making a hot tag into Okada, who cleaned house, followed by Mark Briscoe doing the same. As with most Young Buck matches, there was a lot to keep track of.
Mark Briscoe and Okada gave Omega consecutive elbows from the top, leading to Okada attempting a rainmaker clothesline on his challenger from WrestleKingdom 11. Omega countered the rainmaker with a jumping knee however, but then ran right into a standing spanish fly by Ospreay. Okada tagged in Ospreay and Omega tagged in Cody, and they would be the final two legal wrestlers in the match.
Ospreay hit a hesitation dropkick in the corner followed by a Falcon Arrow for a near-fall. After dodging a diving attack however, Cody countered Ospreay’s springboard cutter into the Cross Rhodes and got the pin.
Jado and Silas came out with “Real Man” shirts on again for this show. Silas cut a promo before the match again, just saying that the audience should give Jado and him a standing ovation cause they are real men. Jado and Young attacked Finlay and Kushida before the bell.
After a back and forth match, Silas Young hit Misery on Finlay and pinned him.
Not bad for Silas Young, picking up the pin at one of the Korakuen Hall shows. Not even kidding, there was a “thank you Silas” chant after the match. They like him in Tokyo! Silas might be making a case for him to get invited back to further NJPW shows.
Winners: Silas Young and Jado (Young pinned Finlay)
Dalton Castle, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask, Jushin Liger and Delirious vs. SANADA, Bushi, EVIL, Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi (Los Ingobernables)
Dalton and Taguchi combined comedy acts here. Two NJPW young boys served as the boys tonight, unlike last night when Castle’s tag partners filled that role.
Delirious did his normal thing where he goes crazy after the bell rings to start the match.
At one point Naito tied Delirious’ tassels to the barricade on the outside, though he was eventually able to get free. Finish came when Evil pinned Delirious with an STO.
Naito ripped off Tiger Mask’s mask and threw it in the crowd, but they covered his head as he went to the back.
Taguchi tried to get at Takahashi after the bell, but the jr heavyweight champ ran from him. Kevin Kelly mentioned that he thinks Takahashi knows Taguchi has his number, as that builds towards their eventual title match continues.
Naito then attacked the referee for a little bit as he is one to do.
Winners: Los Ingobernables (Evil pinned Delirious)
Guerrillas of Destiny (Tonga Loa and Tama Tonga)(Bullet Club) vs. War Machine (Ray Rowe and Hanson)
War Machine beat the Young Bucks last night which should put them in line for an ROH tag championship match somewhere down the line in ROH.
Rowe ended up pinning Tama Tonga after Fallout. That’s twice in two nights War Machine has beaten an established tag team.
After the match Rowe cut a promo saying they want to win the IWGP heavyweight tag team championships.
Good “War Machine” chant after the match as well.
Winners: War Machine (Rowe pinned Tonga)
Juice Robinson, Jay Lethal, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi and Hangman Page (Bullet Club)
Finish of this match came when Page countered the Lethal Injection with an inside out clothesline ad pinned him. Kelly played up that Page defeated a former ROH champion. After the match Takahashi attacked Juice Robinson, perhaps building a future match there.
Kelly and Romero also mentioned that Page will be back for the New Japan Cup in March.
Winners: Bullet Club (Page pinned Lethal)
Never Openweight Championship Hirooki Goto (c) (CHAOS) vs. Punishment Martinez
It seemed like this was going to be a nothing match, seeing as Martinez is barely on ROH television. Martinez got a lot of nice looking offence in however, including a few near falls.
Goto eventually won with a GTR. Kelly played it up as if Goto “survived” with his title.
Winner: Goto (2x title defence)
ROH Championship Adam Cole (c)(Bullet Club) vs. Yoshi-Hashi (CHAOS)
Last night Cole and Kenny Omega ended the night by teasing dissension amongst the two of them. If there is a storyline building there it could mean a split in the Bullet Club or one of Omega or Cole leaving the group.
Much like the match that came before it, this match involved a lot of the challenger getting offence and near falls. Eventually Cole hit the Last Shot for the win.
Winner: Adam Cole
Kenny Omega, Cody (Rhodes), and the Young Bucks (Bullet Club) vs. the Briscoe Brothers, Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay (CHAOS)
Crowd LOVES Omega for the second night in a row. This will be the first time Okada and Omega will be in the ring with each other again since their WrestleKingdom main event match on January 4th.
To start the match Okada didn’t want to take on Omega and instead pointed at Cody. Omega wouldn’t tag in Cody so Okada tagged Briscoe, then Omega tagged Cody.
The match went some time before the 2 of them were in the ring together. When it was finally Omega and Okada in the ring they each countered the other’s finisher until the Young Bucks came in to help Omega. They eventually had to tag out as everyone else had hit the ring.
Finish came with Cody hitting the Crossroads on Ospreay and getting the pin.
After the match Omega cut a promo asking the fans “what is a good guy? bad guy? heel? babyface?” and then basically says it doesn’t matter because they are the elite. He again said that 2017 would be his year. Nothing further on the potential split with Adam Cole, though Kelly and Romero mentioned that Cole wasn’t out there to celebrate with Omega, Cody and the Bucks (though neither was Fale, Takahashi, or the Guerrillas of Destiny..).
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)
For the second year in a row Ring of Honor is holding two shows in two nights at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall. The shows last year played an important part in ROH angles for several months afterwards.
Last year’s shows involved 2 titles changing hands. Tomohiro Ishii defeated Roderick Strong for the ROH TV Championship in the main event of night 1 last year. The next night Omega and the Young Bucks defeated the Briscoes and Yano for the 6-Man Tag Team Championships.
Honor Rising 2017 Night 1 (Feb. 26th 6:30pm Tokyo time, 4:30AM est.)
David Finlay, Juice Robinson, and Kushida vs. Gedo, Jado (CHAOS) and Silas Young
Finlay and Robinson have both been moving up in the rankings as of late, but Juice more than Finlay. In the short time that the former CJ Parker has been in NJPW he has gone from the bottom of the ranks to a solid mid-carder. He now regularly tags with Hiroshi Tanahashi and other big name NJPW guys.
Never Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships Bushi, Evil and Sanada (Los Ingobernables)(c) vs. Delirious, Justin Liger and Tiger Mask ROH booker, Delirious, likes to get involved in these shows. In previous years he had wrestled Gedo, who just so happens to be NJPW’s booker.
The 6-man championships change hands frequently. No team has held onto the belts for more than 2 title defences. Los Ingobernables won the belts on February 11th after defeating Tanahashi, Nakanishi and Taguchi.
Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tanga Roa and Takahashi (Bullet Club) vs. Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay and Yoshi-Hashi (CHAOS) A good old fashioned CHAOS vs Bullet Club match. There isn’t really any upcoming NJPW or ROH match this is setting up for down the line. It’s just a match.
War Machine vs. the Young Bucks The Young Bucks are the ROH Tag Team Champions, but this match appears to be non-title. If War Machine wins they’ll get a title shot down the road however, ROH rarely fails to follow through on such things. The live reaction to this match should be interesting, as NJPW fans don’t see heavyweight tag teams take on jr heavyweight tag teams too often.
Dalton Castle, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Taguchi vs. Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito (Los Ingobernables) and Punisher Martinez Kevin Sullivan’s protege, Punisher Martinez, joins forces with Naito’s Los Ingobernables. We’ve seen Naito be less than receptive to ROH wrestlers trying to join forces with his faction in the past however. Jay Lethal seemed to want to align with the group, but Naito turned on him in the end.
Dalton Castle and Taguchi will probably do a lot of comedy here.
Cody (Rhodes) and Hangman Page (Bullet Club) vs. Jay Lethal and Katsuyori Shibata Cody still hasn’t done much in Japan, so it’ll be interesting to see what the reaction to him is like. Shibata is preparing for an eventual match with Minoru Suzuki, which was played up recently on the Togi Makabe anniversary show.
Hangman Page sure has moved up the rankings in ROH and NJPW this last year. He even beat Jay Briscoe clean on a PPV.
Adam Cole and Kenny Omega (Bullet Club) vs. the Briscoe Brothers Adam Cole, leader of ROH’s Bullet Club, tags with the leader of NJPW’s Bullet Club, Kenny Omega. Neither guy really refers to themselves as the leader, but they are clearly the top guy from the faction in their respective organizations. Omega lives in Japan and is a full-time NJPW guy, and Cole lives in the states and is a full time ROH guy. This match will most likely be played up as ROH vs. Bullet Club, seeing as the Briscoes are ROH originals.
For the second straight year Ring of Honor will be running two shows from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. This year the events will be held on February 26th and 27th. Each show will feature members of the ROH and NJPW rosters.
3 different championships will be on the line.
The NEVER Openweight 6-Man Championships will be on the line in the first night of the tour, with Los Ingobernables defending against Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask and ROH booker Delirious.
Goto will defend his NEVER Openweight championship against Kevin Sullivan protege Punisher Martinez on the second night.
On the second night Adam Cole will defend his ROH World Title against CHAOS’s Yoshi-Hashi.
The full lineup for the shows are as follows:
Honor Rising Night 1 (Feb. 26th)
– David Finlay, Juice Robinson, and Kushida vs. Gedo, Jado (CHAOS) and Silas Young
Never Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships
– Bushi, Evil and Sanada (Los Ingobernables)(c) vs. Delirious, Justin Liger and Tiger Mask
– Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tanga Roa and Takahashi (Bullet Club) vs. Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay and Yoshi-Hashi (CHAOS)
– War Machine vs. the Young Bucks
– Dalton Castle, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Taguchi vs. Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito (Los Ingobernables) and Punisher Martinez
– Cody (Rhodes) and Hangman Page (Bullet Club) vs. Jay Lethal and Katsuyori Shibata
– Adam Cole and Kenny Omega (Bullet Club) vs. the Briscoe Brothers
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.
Kevin Kelly and Mr. Wrestling 3 introduce us to the show, “Re-living all the great action from the Honor Rising events, taped back in February from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. As we ramp up towards Global Wars, Sunday May 8, live on pay-per-view.”
Jay Lethal (with Truth Martini) and Tetsuya Naito (with Bushi and Evil) vs Chaos (Kazuchika Okada and Yoshi-Hashi) (with Gedo)
Tetsuya Naito is out first, taking his time on his way to the ring with Evil and Bushi, Naito messes with Red Shoes. Out next is the ROH World Champion Jay Lethal, Truth Martini follows behind holding the Book of Truth. KK, says, “After Naito came back from CMLL in Mexico, he brought back a bizarre attitude, seeming like he doesn’t want to work with anybody.” MW3 tells us, “In this match, we have the two most important world champions in professional wrestling.” Next out is Yoshi-Hashi and Okada with his manager Geto. MW3 says, “Okada is one of the most popular athletes in Japan right now and maybe the entire world.”
Lethal and Naito argue about who will start the match, Lethal wins the argument. The two world champions start it off, they circle each other, collar-and-elbow tie up, wrist lock by Lethal, armringer by Okada, Lethal rolls through back flips and locks in the wrist lock again, Okada rolls through and locks in an armringer again. Lethal with a snapmare takeover, goes for the rear chinlock, Okada counters into the hammerlock, Lethal to his feet, transitions into a side headlock, Okada with two shots to the gut, throws Lethal off the ropes, shoulder tackle by Lethal, Lethal runs the ropes, Okada ducks under leapfrog, but catches a boot to the gut. Lethal goes for the Lethal Injection, but Okada pushes out, Okada goes for Rainmaker, but Lethal ducks out, and the fans cheer. Okada with 2 forearms, Lethal with an armdrag, cartwheel dropkick, cover, but Okada kicks out at 2. Lethal goes for the tag, but Naito does not want to tag in, and we go to commercial.
When we return, Naito tags in, delivers stomps to Yoshi-Hashi, but as Lethal exits the ring, Naito slaps him on the back, tagging Lethal right back in. Lethal with a suplex on Yoshi-Hashi, but Yoshi-hashi kicks out. Lethal tags in Naito, Naito shoos him away, Lethal gets out of the ring, Naito whips Yoshi-Hashi into the corner, running push kick to the chest by Naito, jumps over the top ropes for a basement dropkick, cover, Yoshi-Hashi kicks out. MW3 asks of Evil, “He looks familiar. Do we know him?” KK, “That’s Takaaki Watanabi, he used to wrestle for ROH.” MW3 says, “Oh, I wasn’t in the company back then.” KK replies, “I would have hoped Corino would have given you some notes.” MW3 says, “He did, he said he likes Subway, kind of a jerk.” Yoshi-Hashi to his feet, 3 forearms by Yoshi-Hashi, 1 forearm smash by Naito, Yoshi-Hashi goes for a kick, get caught, hits him with the second kick, and then nails a codebreaker, and both men are down.
Yoshi-Hashi gets the tag to Okada, running forearm to Naito, Okada takes out Lethal, kick to Naito, Lethal with a shot to the back, and then Okada hits a running DDT on Lethal. Okada hits a running back shoulder into the corner on Naito, kick to the gut, DDT spikes him, Okada springboards back to his feet, Okada with a running uppercut, pin attempt, but Naito kicks out. Okada picks up Naito, bodyslam to the mat, climbs to the top turnbuckle for the elbow, but Naito to his feet, Okada jumps over him, meet a double boot from Naito, back elbow by Okada, inverted Atomic drop by Naito, tornado DDT by Naito, and both men are down.
Naito tags in Lethal, Lethal with a bodyslam to Okada, climbs to the top turnbuckle, jumps off and catches Okada’s foot, and then rocks him with a roaring elbow, runs in, meets a boot from Okada, and then a Lethal Combination by the champion, cover, but Okada gets his shoulders up. MW3 says, “Both of these men would love to score a fall on each other, because both believe they are best in the world, bost believe their title is the most important title in professional wrestling right now. Naito whips Lethal to the ropes, Okada comes out gets caught in a full nelson, Lethal goes for a kick, but kicks his partner. Okada with a clubbing blow to the back of Lethal, throws him off the ropes, and then hits a dropkick that staggers Lethal, and he crumbles to the mat.
Okada tags in Yoshi-Hashi, Yoshi-Hashi with forearms, knife edge chop, whip reversal off the ropes, Lethal misses a back elbow, and then a swinging neckbreaker from Yoshi-Hashi. Yoshi-Hashi sets him up for the brainbuster, Lethal lands on his feet, and then Yoshi-Hashi reverses into back neckbreaker, Yoshi-Hashi covers, Lethal kicks out. Okada tags in, whips Lethal to the corner, whips Yoshi-Hashi into Lethal and then runs in with a back elbow of his own, Yoshi-Hashi comes off the top rope with a reverse neckbreaker, Naito breaks up the pin attempt, Okada sends him to the outside and runs him into the steel rail.
Back in the ring, Yoshi-Hashi goes for a suplex, but gets backdropped by Lethal, Martini throws in The Book of Truth to Lethal, he swings and misses, and then a running lariat from Yoshi-Hashi, quick slams Lethal to the mat, climbs to the top turnbuckle, Martini holds onto his leg, but Yoshi-Hashi kicks him out of the way. Evil climbs up onto the apron while Bushi is distracting the referee, and Lethal dumps Yoshi-Hashi to the mat, Naito hits Okada with the Book of Truth, Lethal nails the Lethal Injection on Yoshi-Hashi, and this one is over.
Winners: Jay Lethal and Tetsuya Naito
After the match, Naito reads the Book of Truth, MW3 says, “Well it is in Japanese.” Naito climbs into the ring and beats down Yoshi-Hashi with the Book of Truth as the bell rings. The referee raises the hands of Naito and Lethal, they stare at each other, Lethal points at Naito, Naito puts on his hat, Lethal offers a handshake, Naito fakes a punch, and then shakes his hand. They pose and fist bump in the middle of the ring. Naito puts his hat on Lethal, Lethal hands Naito the Book of Truth, they pose, and it’s time for our sponsors.
Kushida vs Frankie Kazarian
Out first is the “Heavy Metal Rebel” Frankie Kazarian, one half of The Addiction. KK says, “No stranger to New Japan, and no stranger to getting fined by the front office I understand.” MW3, “A foul mouth on this guy.” Kushida’s music hits, and KK says, “There is no language barrier when understanding the motivation, the popularity of Kushida.” He comes out to the ring in his purple life preserver. MW3 tells us, “Kushida is a lifelong fan of NJPW, it was like a dream to finally be a contracted wrestler with NJPW, trained with Tajiri, spent alot of time in the Hustle promotion, met his wife there, she was an office employee, living the true professional wrestling dream.” The referee is Tiger Hattori, who KK tells us has 40 years in professional wrestling.
The two wrestlers size each other up, finger lock. MW3 says, “Kazarian looks like he missed a spot when he shaved this morning,” Kazarian and Kushida exchange leverage in the test of strength, Kushida bridges down, Kazarian puts his knees on Kushida’s midsection pressing down with the weight, Kushida goes for the hoverboard lock, but Kazarian meets the ropes. Kushida with a go behind, Kazarian reverses into a pickup suplex, Kushida with a headlock, Kazarian tries to get out, but Kushida keeps holding on and rolling through, Kushida spins around his back several times, and then slaps him in the back of the head, and we go to commercial.
When we return, Kazarian is on the outside, climbs to the apron, duck a shot by Kushida, pokes him in the eye, snaps his neck on the ropes, jumps over the rope and nails a DDT on Kushida. Kushida holds his neck and shoulder in pain. Kazarian kicks him in the shoulder, picks him up by the hair, whips him into the corner, Russian leg sweep, and Kazarian grinds his crotch to the fans. MW3 “I don’t know what that was, but it’s better than usual stuff that Kazarian says.” Kazarian chokes Kushida on the ropes with his foot, picks him up, runs him into the corner, sets him on the middle of the rope, and then a double knee backbreaker, cover, but Kushida kicks out.
Kazarian smacks Kushida in the head, Kushida fights out, knee to the gut, goes off the ropes, sunset flip, but Kazarian drives a knee to the neck. Kazarian whips Kushida into the corner, runs in but meets a boot, runs in again meets another boot, Kushida flips over the rope to the apron, and then a kick to the head, springboard missile dropkick, knocking Kazarian out of the ring. Kushida climbs to the top turnbuckle, hits a front-flip on Kazarian to the floor, then Kushida stands on the apron and grinds to the fans like Kazarian. MW3 says, “Riding the pony, feeling the flow.”
Kushida picks up Kazarian, throws him back into the ring, runs into the corner, but Kazarian gets out of the way, kick to the gut by Kazarian, goes over the top rope for a DDT, but Kushida catches him in a cross-armbreaker, syncs in the triangle choke, Kazarian tries for the deadlift twice, but Kushida rakes the eyes. The two men exchange forearms, Kazarian doubles up, Kushida hits four or five kicks, then a right hand knocking Kazarian to the mat, whip reversal, handstand, execution chair drop, Kazarian pin, bridges, but Kushida kicks out. MW3 asks KK, “Who is your favorite Japanese baseball player?” KK answers, “I’m not well-versed in Japanese baseball, I’m an American baseball fan.” MW3 replies, ”If Corino were here, we could talk Japanese baseball.” KK says, ”Corino is a New Japan announcer now, he got a well-deserved opportunity.”
Both men climb to the top turnbuckle, Kazarian goes for the suplex, Kushida with shots to the ribs, goes for the flux capacitor, hits a flying Divorce Court off top rope, Kushida with a kick to the face, hits the ropes, tilt-a-whirls around his shoulder, rolls through, syncs in the hoverboard lock, Kazarian tries to fight out, but Kushida rolls him back to the center of the ring, adds pressure and extra leverage, there is no escape for Kazarian, and he taps out.
Winner: Kushida
KK says “Great effort by Kazarian.” MW3 says next, “It’s going to be a SUPERKICK PARTY (with Kenny Omega).” and we go to commercial.
Mark Briscoe is walking around the streets of Japan. “We’re so close to finding him, I can smell him, he must be around here somewhere. Oh this way, excuse me sir, question, have you seen him, no you have not seen him, Godzilla? Have you seen him, Godzilla, have you seen him? No, the search continues, I don’t know where he could be, I thought that guy would know. Time to eat in Japan, what do I want? The noodle, the noodle, the noodle, the noodle, the rice, the rice, the noodle, noodle, noodle, the rice, the rice, the noodle? I think I’ll go with the rice.” Mark continues to ask people on the street, “Thank you. No they don’t know, they’re scared of Godzilla. Little known fact, the historic legendary Mount Fuji was actually named after the historic legendary professional wrestling manager Mr. Fuji. Japan is great, Japan is fun, Japan is okay, but sometime Japan can be dangerous, sometimes there are earthquakes that hit Japan, but everybody here knows, what do you do in case of earthquakes?” And he hides under the bus stop terminal. “Maybe this fellow would know, arigato excuse me you know dojo, redneck kung fu?” A pedestrian points to the New Japan sign and we get a tour of inside the New Japan facilities. Back outside, “Oh my Lord.” Mark looks at a sign showing chickens. “How do you say home in Japanese?”
The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) vs Katsuyori Shibata and reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly)
When we return, Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks make their way to the ring to Omega’s spooky horror music. They give the fans headbands and too sweet gestures. The ring announcer announces YB, and MW3 says, “Oh, The Jacksonsons.” KK says, “That’s not Bobby Cruise is it?” MW3 says, “Thank goodness, no. He still waiting for his flight.” Out next is the NEVER Openweight Champion Shibata to entrance music that has a somewhat punk rock sound, he stands in the ring and Omega shows him the IWGP Intercontinental belt. Out next is reDRagon, the three-time ROH World Tag Team Champions, and multi-time IWGP Junior Tag Team Champions. MW3 says, “You love that Bobby Fish don’t you?” KK, “He’s great on commentary, he’s a great wrestler.” MW3 says, “This is why Corino used to get upset.” Kushida joins on Japanese commentary. MW3 continues, “You would probably enjoy him joining our commentary, sitting with you too. You’re that type of guy.“ KK says, “I invited Kushida to join us for commentary.” MW3 explains, “This is a two man team.” KK suggests, “Maybe we’ll have Kushida for Global Wars.” MW3 says, “He’s busy.”
All 6 men go at it, Shibata takes Omega to the outside, double kick by the YB on reDRagon, Omega runs Shibata into the dressing barricade, reDRragon syncs in double cross arm breakers on YB. Omega comes in, kicks to O’Reilly, kicks to Fish, but Shibata gets a cross armbreaker on Omega. Matt picks up O’Reilly and throws him on Fish, then Omega throw Shibata on O’Reilly, Nick with a baseball slide kick to O’Reilly, Matt with a baseball slide kick to Fish, Omega goes for baseball slide but Shibata ducks out of the way and then takes out Omega. Shibata climbs back up to the apron, YB take him out with a handstand by Matt kick by Nick, then YB do a dual suicide dive on the outside to reDRagon. Omega is in the ring, the YB pat the mat, 12-345, Omega runs the ropes and frontflips with some crash-and-burn onto reDRagon. Omega takes off his shirt, grinds his hips and two sweets the camera, and we go to commercial.
When we return, Omega has Fish in the ring, Nick wraps a t-shirt around his head, Nick does a Road Dogg dance along the apron, Omega tags in Matt. Omega hits Fish with a backbreaker drop onto the knee, Nick holds Fish, Matt hits a swinging neckbreaker, Nick with a pin attempt on Fish, but Fish kicks out. Nick rakes the back, kicks Fish in the gut twice, suck it, stomp, suck it, stomp, suck it suck it suck it to the crowd, and then does a bunch of suck its to the ref. Nick tags in Matt, YB whip Fish to the corner, he catches himself, swings with one kick that misses, then kicks Matt in the gut, kicks Nick in the gut, and then toss suplexes Matt into Nick. Fish gets the hot tag to O’Reilly, O’Reilly runs in with the clubbing forearm, Fish with the clubbing forearm, O’Reilly with the running knee, backbreaker on Matt, O’Reilly with a stomp to the chest off the top rope, pin attempt, but Matt kicks out, O’Reilly goes for Chasing the Dragon, but Nick trips Fish and pulls him to the outside, and both men are down.
Shibata and Omega come in, Shibata with 10 elbows to Omega, and then Omega with a flying back elbow, and 8 forearms to Shibata, Shibata stands up and asks for more. Omega rakes the eyes, boot pushes Shibata to the corner, Shibata comes out with a flying boot to Omega, and then pushes a boot into Omega’s face, switches feet and another boot into the face. Shibata runs the corner and nails a running dropkick to Omega, picks him up, snapmare suplex, MW3 says, “I like to call that the Andre the Giant suplex,” pin attempt, but Omega kicks out. Shibata with a rear-naked choke on Omega, YB come in and club him in the back, but he won’t break the hold. YB look at each other like WTF, and then Shibata stands up and then nails them both with a bunch of forearms, runs the ropes, sets up for the Penalty Kick, and gets superkicked. Omega up and now Shibata gets superkicked by all three men, Omega stacks him for the pin, but Fish in to break it up. YB send Fish to the outside, Nick with a tornado DDT from the apron but bumps his own elbow on the railing, Omega sets up to the One Winged Angel, but Shibata with a go behind, Omega with 3 back elbows, runs the ropes, Shibata with a standing dropkick, and O’Reilly pounds the turnbuckle wanting the tag.
Hot tag to O’Reilly, forearms to YB, Matt goes for a kick, leg whip into Nick, and then a double dragon screw leg whip and both YB are down, running forearm into the corner on Omega, running kick to Omega, goes for the rope assisted DDT, but Omega drops him on his head. YB with a superkick to Fish off the apron, Nick goes to superkick O’Reilly, he gets out of the way, and Omega gets superkicked instead. Kicks by O’Reilly, Nick backflips, O’Reilly catches his kick and swings it into Matt. O’Reilly with kicks to the back, superkick by Matt, and then a double lariat by O’Reilly, but Omega hits a running knee. Omega puts O’Reilly up on his shoulder for the One Winged Angel, but O’Reilly gets a guillotine headscissors, Matt comes in with shots to O’Reilly’s head, he won’t break the hold, rear naked choke on Matt by Shibata, superkick by Matt to Shibata. Nick throws the spraycan to Matt, he sprays O’Reilly in the face, YB nail the Metzler Driver, now Omega with a deadlift pick up, O’Reilly tries to fight out, but can’t, Omega nails the One Winged Angel, cover and O’Reilly is finished.
Winners: The Elite
KK talks about upcoming episodes, “Next week more Bullet Club action, as Honor Rising continues, you’ll see Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson, the Machine Guns, back on ROH TV, they will tangle with The Briscoes. Plus we’ll also see a huge 8 man tag team match, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin, Moose and Tomoaki Honma vs. Bad Luck Fale, Cody Hall, Tama Tonga and Yujiro Takahashi. Coverage from Honor Rising continues next week,” and the end graphic rolls.
Recap of Ring of Honor TV for the week of March 27, 2016
Kevin Kelly and Mr. Wrestling 3 introduce the show from Sam’s Town Live, Las Vegas Nevada. Tonight we kick things off with a four corner survival match.
Roderick Strong vs. Adam Page vs. Moose vs. Matt Sydal
Out first is former ROH World Television Champion, Roderick Strong, who lost his belt to Tomohiro Ishii at Honor Rising. The lights go out, the Clockwork Purple video entrance plays, and Adam Page poses on the ramp. Next the ‘Moose Nation’ music hits and Moose walks to the ring, led by Stokely Hathaway. Competitor number four is “Reborn” Matt Sydal, wearing the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship he won with his partner Ricochet from The Young Bucks at The New Beginning in Osaka. Adam Page refuses the code of honor, and we’re underway.
Sydal and Strong start off, arm rake, reversal, headscissors takeover, headlock, Sydal throws Strong off the rope, Strong knocks Sydal down, ducks under, leapfrog, ducks under, spinning side kick. Sydal gets in a kick, another kick, Irish whip to the corner, but meets an elbow, and then Strong catches Sydal with a backbreaker, cover 1-2, Sydal kicks out. Strong flips Sydal over his shoulder and Page tags himself in, slam to the corner, leapfrog, Page gets in a boot, and then a dropkick. Page pushes Strong to the other corner, and then rakes a forearm across the face and nose. Page looks for a suplex, but Strong reverses, flops Page across the ropes, dumping him to the outside. By the rules of a four corner survival match, Moose is able to declare himself legal with Page now on the outside. Moose is in the ring and wants some action punching and chopping with his orange and white football gloves, and then Moose with a sit-down powerbomb on Strong, pin attempt, but Page in to break it up. Moose dropkicks Page with his orange and white, size 16, boots. Sydal back in the ring hits the ropes, headscissors, spins around Moose, and then an ugly drop thigh hold and Moose. Sydal goes flying to the outside, Moose catches him and delivers a powerbomb on the apron, Strong comes through with a baseball slide taking Moose out, and then Page hits a running shooting star press on Strong. Page throws Strong back into the ring and we go to commercial.
After the break, Page and Strong in the ring, Page delivering chops and then a running dropkick in the corner. Pin attempt 1-2, but Strong kicks out. Page picks up Strong on his shoulders, Strong grabs the rope and makes it to the apron, Moose climbs the apron trying to get back in the ring, but receives a kick and then a side slam across the apron. Back in the ring, Sydal and Page do a roll up, bridge, and kickout. Moose comes in with the “Moose punches” until he gets caught by Strong. Moose comes back with a forearm to Strong, now to Page, then running forearms in each corner that turns Page inside out. Moose sits Page up on the top rope, then sits Sydal on the top rope, and delivers a standing dropkick to both of them, knocking them to the outside. Strong comes back and delivers a kick to Moose, and now sets Moose up on the top rope. Sydal runs in does a springboard off the rope into a hurricanrana, flipping Moose to the mat. Strong picks Moose up on his shoulders, delivers to go-to-sleep, then Page flips over the rope and delivers a running clothesline and DDT on Strong. Sydal in, catches Page by the boot, then gets a boot of his own.
But all of the sudden, running down the ramp is BJ Whitmer, who grabs the leg of Page. Page gets back in the ring and gets a kick from Sydal. Sydal hits an enziguri on Strong, jumping knee to Page, Sydal climbs to the top rope, and hits a shooting star press on Page, Strong breaks up the pin attempt. Strong hits a vertical back breaker that flips Sydal inside out, and then Strong connects with a running knee that knocks Page out, 1-2-3. Strong wins.
Winner: Roderick Strong
After the break, Adam Cole’s “Something for you” music hits, he walks to the ring, stands on the apron, and points at the high hair bun on his head. Cole takes the mic, “Are you ready for story time with Adam Cole, bay bay? I’m assuming that a lot of you expect me to come out here and talk about this downward spiral I was on, losing to Matt Sydal on world television, losing in the main event at ROH’s 14th Anniversary, dropping the ball and not getting the job done. I confidently stand here before you, the best pro wrestler on the planet. The reason being, there’s not a man in that locker room or anybody watching Ring of Honor around the world that can deny I am the undefeated Ring of Honor Champion. A guy like Kyle O’Reilly should not even have been in my rematch. I beat Kyle O’Riley at Final Battle and I will continue to beat Kyle O’Reilly. Sad news everybody, Kyle O’Reilly will never be Ring of Honor Champion. That’s a promise I will keep, another promise I will keep is that I will be the man who dethroned Jay Lethal for the ROH World Championship. His days are numbered, it’s done it’s finished, in a one-on-one situation with Adam Cole, bay bay, he don’t stand a chance. Jay Lethal always has the House of Truth watching his back, O’Reilly has Bobby Fish over his shoulder. Me? I have my Kingdom. With or without my Kingdom, I can promise you, one day, very, very soon, this face is your next ROH World Champion.”
The Kingdom’s music hits and it’s the surprising return of Matt Taven. Taven hobbles to the ring on a crutch, microphone in pocket. Cole helps him through the ropes and they hug. Taven speaks, “For the first time in 2016, The Kingdom is back on Ring of Honor television. We are going to pick up right where we left off in 2015, dominating professional wrestling. Not just here in ROH, not just in Japan, but all around the world, exceeding more than we ever have in our careers. Everyone except for you.” Taven turns and looks at Cole.
Kelly and MW3 are in shock, “What? What in the world!” Cole ask, “Matt, what are you talking about?” Taven interrupts, “No no no, you had two chances to win the ROH World Title and what did you do? You blew them both. And to think, I joined the Kingdom because I thought Adam Cole… he’s a big star, Adam Cole…I should attach my name to you, it’ll boost my stock. But what are you doing? You got hurt and I had to keep you relevant. Adam, you’re not better than me. And the only real star of The Kingdom was me.”
Cole on the mic, “You have a lot of nerve to be saying…” Taven interrupts, “I have a lot of nerve? I have a lot of nerve? The last time we were in this room together, you said that I dropped the ball. I blew my knee out a minute into Final Battle and continued wrestling for another 10-12 minutes. It probably cost me another 6 months of my career. But the thing is Adam, the thing is, this is the end. I don’t want to hear it. Adam, what I hear from you, you think things are finished, but they have only just begun. The Kingdom will be rebuilt in my image, and the only thing finished with The Kingdom is you.” Taven drops the mic and walks out of the ring. Kelly wonders “What will Adam Cole do now?” and we go to commercial break.
Backstage promo by Dalton Castle on Silas Young, “Rules. I’ve never been a big fan of the rules. Signs that tell me how fast I can go, restaurants that tell me what to wear. I’m a clothing-optional man! So I can relax, because Silas agreed to a fight without honor, for you will no longer be protected by rules.”
After the break, the announcers continue to talk about the Cole/Taven split.
Cheeseburger vs. Foxx Vinyer
Cheeseburger music hits and he comes out posing with the Shotei palm strike. In the ring already is Foxx Vinyer. Foxx has blue and white face paint, is wearing a black singlet with blue splotches and a blue wolf, he has on leg tassels, his head is half shaven, and a patch of hair is hanging off the side of his head. He offers to shake CHZB hand and then he smashes him over the head. Cheeseburger fights back with chops, then palm strikes to the chest, then a Mongolian chop. MW3 says, “He’s learning!” Then a boot to the midsection, Cheeseburger hits the ropes, but Foxx slams him to the mat, and hooks the leg 1-2, but CHZB kicks out. MW3 says, “Foxx looks like the love child of The Missing Link!” Foxx runs to the corner, Cheeseburger gets out of the way, climbs to the top rope, knee to the head. CHZB sets up for the Shotei palm strike, a move taught to him by Jushin Thunder Liger, and the fan start clapping. However, running down the ramp is the All Night Express. They beat up Foxx, throw him to the outside, pick him up together, and backdrop him into the apron.
Winner: No contest
ANX goes over to the announce table, grabs some microphones, point at Cheeseburger and climb into the ring. Titus is first on the mic, “Whoa whoa whoa, be easy cheesy. Put away the Shotei. We’re not here to do that to you, because we like you Burger. You’re like one of us, you are not like one of them.” King cuts in, “Juicy Burger, even though they cheer for you and chant ‘Cheeseburger!’ for you, they don’t like you. You’re out here risking your life, breaking your back, while they’re sitting in their seats and thinking ‘I could beat up Cheeseburger. That boy better eat a cheeseburger.’ They don’t put their bodies at risk like you do, like we do. They don’t know what it’s like going through a table. At the ROH 14th Anniversary show, my daughter sat in the first row and watched as my spine got bent over a ladder. I could see her tears in her eyes, but I can’t walk over to her, because my damn legs are numb. They don’t care about you Burger. Simple fact is, Cheeseburger, you got more heart in this little, teeny, tiny, minuscule, spaghetti string bicep than the most of you got your whole damn body. When we were the World Tag Team Champions, you loved us, you threw streamers for us, you popped champagne with us. And now we’re back, and damn well know we’re better than everybody. We’re Rhett Titus and Kenny King, the best damn tag team in the world.”
Titus says, “Now we’re going to do a segment called, ‘Wrestlers read mean tweets.” ‘All Night Express came out, and it was a mass exodus to the bathroom.’” Kenny points someone in the crowd, “You were probably the one who said that.” Titus continues, “We also got this one, ‘The All Night Express always remind me of a terrible overrated tag team.’” Titus points at someone in the crowd, “Was that you boy?” King address CHZB, “Cheeseburger, we’re the same dudes, we haven’t changed. I’m still carrying on as the Emperor of the City.” Fans boo. King responds, “How dare you treat me like that?” Titus says “You should have been throwing rose petals at his feet, when he walked into the building, that’s right!”
King continues, “Titus has got, and you might not be able to see this because he’s wearing the All Night Express t-shirt, available only at ROHWrestling.com, but Titus has got abs! Which now you ARE going to see, cuz he’s taking his damn shirt off. He’s got shoulders, he’s got eyes that hypnotize. Titus woah, don’t take your pants off in here! We’re still the same. But no, you’d rather cheer for spot monkeys with tassels on their legs like the Young Bucks. You’d rather cheer for those damn farmer rednecks the Briscoe Boys. You all look like you smell just like those bearded stinky chumps War Machine. Y’all even like Cheeseburger more than us.” Fans chant “Cheeseburger!” King says, “And that kind of means that you’re like us, but you’re also kinda like them. You’re smart dude, you know our catch phrase, read it on the back of the shirt, ‘If you ain’t runnin with us, you better run from us.’ And your ass ain’t running with us.” King turns around and decks CHZB, Titus joins in with stomps.
Kelly says, ‘You ran away from this company when you were the champ! And it’s not the fans fault, you can’t beat War Machine!” They go to leave, but come back in, pick CHZB up again, throws him in the air, and King nails a sidewalk spinning backbreaker. Titus connects off the top rope and Cheeseburger is not moving. War Machine runs to the ring, the Briscoes run to the ring, ANX to the outside. King says “There’s your damn heroes, look at this.” All 4 men stand in the ring yelling at ANX as ANX walks up the ramp. The Briscoes pick up War Machine’s ROH Tag Team belts and stand there looking at them. War Machine slowly turn, grab their belts back, and both teams exchange shots as we cut to commercial.
A rerun of the same promo from last week is shown, in which Jay Lethal and Truth talk about Hirooki Goto.
Hirooki Goto vs Jay Lethal for the ROH World Championship
After the commercial, it is main event time! Goto’s image appears on the screen. Kelly tell us, “Opportunities at the IWGP Championship have slipped through his fingers, leaving Goto to wonder which way he should go, what path he should take with his career.” MW3 says, “I don’t always agree, I don’t like the things he says or does, but when truth Martini does Jay Lethal is the greatest, there is no denying it. He’s the champion for a reason.” Jay Lethal hits the apron, poses with the belt, and streamers litter the ring. We go to Bobby Cruise for the introductions. “This is your main event, scheduled for one fall, for the ROH World Championship. Introducing first, the challenger out of Kuwana, Mei, Japan, Hirooki Goto. Accompanied by Truth Martini & Taeler Hendrix, wrestling out of Elizabeth, New Jersey, weighing 230 pounds, he’s the greatest first generation wrestler, Jay Lethal.” And we go to commercial.
When we return from break, the bell rings, and we’re off. Lethal grabs Goto and sends him to the corner, delivers stomps to the midsection, throws Goto off the ropes, Goto ducks a clothesline and then hits a shoulder block. Goto throws Lethal, reversal, armdrag, reversal, Lethal goes down. Goto kick, chop to the back, and then flips Lethal over, hooks the leg, cover 1, kickout. Kelly tells us, “Goto is attempting to become the second Japanese-born ROH champion (Takeshi Morishima). In the coming weeks, we will see Kenny Omega vs. ACH, plus the YB and reDRagon will be in action.” Goto is in full control, drops a forearm, Irish whip, but then runs into a boot by Lethal, and clothesline. Taeler Hendrix is on the outside, cheering on Lethal in her low-cut dress. Goto sets Lethal up on the turnbuckle, delivers three forearms, climbs to the top rope, but Hendrix climbs up on the apron. As Goto is distracted, Lethal slides underneath, drops Goto’s head to the turnbuckle, and then throws him to the outside. Lethal with a suicide dive through the middle rope, knocks Goto onto the ramp. Truth enters the ring, Hendrix poses on the apron, and Truth does a Truth-a-rooni. Lethal slides back into the ring to break the count, then goes back to the outside to get Goto, and throws him in the ring. Lethal covers Goto with a lax pin attempt without hooking the leg, and Goto kicks out. Lethal sends Goto to the corner and delivers about 10 stomps. Lethal goes back to the middle of the ring and poses for the crowd. Lethal picks up Goto, snapmare takeover, Lethal hooks in a headlock, and we cut to commercial.
We are back, Jay Lethal in control. Lethal delivering forearms to Goto’s head, until Goto stands up and gestures “Hit me again!” Chop chop, Lethal runs the ropes, Goto runs the ropes, and turns Lethal inside out with a clothesline. Goto delivers forearm, forearm, forearm, Irish whip to the corner, and then a spinning heel kick in the corner. Goto goes for the Saito suplex, Lethal fights out, goes for Lethal Injection, Goto fights out and hits a suplex, cover, 1-2, Lethal kicks out. Goto picks Lethal up on the shoulders, Lethal fights out, nails a big forearm, but Goto returns with a headbutt that knocks Lethal out cold. Lethal is dead on his feet. Goto picks him up on his shoulders, delivers an AA-style backbreaker on the knee, but Lethal somehow kicks out again. Hendrix reaches into the ring and grabs for Goto’s leg, but Goto turns around and steps on her hand. Lethal throws Goto into the ropes, Truth goes to smash him with the Book of Truth, but Goto stops him, stands up and turns around, but it met by a dropkick by Lethal, handstand DDT Lethal Injection, 1-2-3.
Winner and still ROH World Champion: Jay Lethal.
As the HoT poses in the ring, a returning Donovan Dijak runs down the ramp. He gets into the ring and exchanges forearms with Lethal, as the bell rings calling for the extracurricular action to stop. Lethal runs the ropes, but Dijack clotheslines him to the outside. Truth climbs in the ring and slams the Book of Truth across Dijack’s back. Dijack smiles, laughs and does the slow turn, as Truth apologizes and begs for his life. As Truth is backing up, he runs into Prince Nana, Truth turns back around around, and catches a big boot to the jaw from Dijack. The fans chant “You just killed him.” Dijack stands tall as the announcers say, “We have to get some help for Truth.”
The following are results from Saturday’s ROH vs. NJPW “Honor Rising” Night 2 show from Tokyo, Japan:
– Jay White defeated David Finlay, Jr.
– Matt Sydal & Jushin Liger defeated Delirious & Gedo
– Dalton Castle beat Kazarian
– Shibata & Goto and ReDragon defeated The Bullet Club’s Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga in an eight-man tag match. After the match, Gallows and Anderson said farewell to NJPW.
– Michael Elgin, Roderick Strong & Tanahashi defeated IWGP World Hvt. champion Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI in a six-man tag match.
– The Elite (Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks) captured the NEVER Openweight 6-man tag titles from Toru Yano & The Briscoe Brothers.
– ROH World Champion Jay Lethal defeated Honma. Afterward, Lethal & Martini aligned with Naito, EVIL, and BUSHI as part of the “Los Ingobernables de Japon” faction.
– IWGP Jr. Hvt. champion KUSHIDA defeated Kazarian (non-title match).
– Tanahashi, Honma, Michael Elgin & Moose defeated The Bullet Club’s Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Yujiro Takahashi & Cody Hall in an eight-man tag match.
– Bullet Club members Kenny Omega & the Young Bucks defeated Shibata & ReDragon in a six-man tag match.
– The Briscoes defeated Bullet Club’s Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows.
– ROH World Champion Jay Lethal & Naito defeated IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI.
– Tomohiro Ishii defeated ROH TV champion Roderick Strong to capture the ROH TV Title. Ishii won with a brainbuster.
The final lineups have been released for this weekend’s ROH: Honor Rising shows from Tokyo, Japan, which will feature top talent from NJPW and will stream live on NJPWWorld.com at 4:30am EST.
Honor Rising Night 1 (Friday 2/20):
ROH TV Champion Roderick Strong vs. Tomohiro Ishii
ROH Champion Jay Lethal & Tetsuya Naito vs. YOSHI-HASHI & Kazuchika Okada
The Briscoes vs. The Bullet Club’s Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson
Katsuyori Shibata & ReDragon vs. The Young Bucks & Kenny Omega
Frankie Kazarian vs. KUSHIDA
Tomoaki Honma & Hiroshi Tanahashi & Moose & Michael Elgin vs. The Bullet Club’s Cody Hall & Yujiro Takahashi & Tama Tonga & Bad Luck Fale
Jushin Liger & Matt Sydal vs. Dalton Castle & Ryusuke Taguchi
Delirious vs. Gedo
Honor Rising Night 2(Saturday 2/20):
ROH champion Jay Lethal vs. Tomoaki Honma
NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team champions Toru Yano & The Briscoes vs. Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks.
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Elgin & ROH TV champion Roderick Strong vs. YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada
ReDragon & Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Bullet Club’s Tama Tonga & Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson & Bad Luck Fale
Dalton Castle vs. Frankie Kazarian
KUSHIDA & Moose vs. Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI
Jushin Liger & Matt Sydal vs. Gedo & Delirious
David Finlay vs. Jay White
Please note: We are looking to hire someone to cover ROH & NJPW here at SEScoops. If you’re interested in this paid position, drop us a line at SEScoops@gmail.com!
