After a rough start of the year and a lot of their most relevant figures leaving, New Japan Pro Wrestling and Ring of Honor present one of their biggest shows to date at the legendary Madison Square Garden. With a card that most people wouldn't have expected just a couple of months ago, the function that will take place at New York is a mixed bag when it comes to the quality we would expect from the matches, mostly because ROH is really shit.
P.D: Serg's back to give his view on this particular show. He doesn't give a shit about ROH either so I thought he was a good pick for this.
Fuck the Honor Rumble, too.
Oedo Tai (Kagetsu & Hazuki) & Jenny Rose vs Hana Kimura, Stella Grey, and Sumie Sakai
I have no fucking idea who Jenny Rose and Stella Grey are, so I'm gonna guess they are some WOH girls who for some reason needed to be on the card. Sumie is boring, Hana can be pretty alright one day and downright terrible the next one, I don' expect much out of these two. Kagetsu and Hazuki are pretty great, so if they get to do some of their usual moves and some Oedo Tai shenanigans this should watchable at least. Given that this is pretty much a Stardom showcase, I want to say that Oedo Tai and the other girl win. Man I really wish Natsu would go instead of Jenny.
Serg: Let's start off with the dark match as Kagetsu and the other woman that looks creepy team up with Gaijin trash to take on Hana and more Gaijin trash, I dont care who wins, I just want to sniff Hana's panties.
Rush vs Dalton Castle
This is the sleeper hit on the card. El Toro Blanco has been a great signing for ROH, and is easily the best worker on their roster and one of the most charismatic guys they have. Dalton had a rocky 2018, but he's still fun to watch and, even if he's not what most people would call an "elite worker", he delivers in the ring and character work. If the chemistry is there, this could easily be a match that puts Rush and Dalton in the eyes of every wrestling fan in the world, and maybe even in the eyes of the higher ups of both ROH and NJPW, especially Rush that would go into a pretty nice position with a win.
Serg: Now for the main show, I do not know what order it's going but I do know ROH is booking Rush against Dalton Castle, you have the best talent from Mexico and you fuck it up, jesus christ Delirius you fucking retard.
New York Street Fight: Bully Ray vs Juice Robinson
Why is Bully Ray allowed to have a singles match in here? This is a total waste of Juice who could be facing some interesting ROH promise, but there aren't many of those in ROH so whatever. Bully isn't a wrestler I like or think about too much, but he knows how to work a garbage brawl, Juice is also great, maybe this actually ends up being a fun match. Meaningless and inconsequential, but fun. If Bully wins this goes from inconsequential to stupid.
Serg: Boomer Ray is taking on Juice, I don't know why this is happening or who thought this was a good idea but I heard rumors Suzuki might show up, let's cross our fingers.
Women of Honor World Championship: Mayu Iwatani(C) vs. Kelly Klein
You guessed right, I don't know much about nor I care too much about Kelly Klein. I'm guessing that she's the better wrestler on WOH, not that it means too much. Either way, I'm praying to every God known that she turns out to be good and that she has a really good match with Mayu. I don't even want to think on the chance that this match isn't good. This is the biggest chance Mayu has had (and probably the biggest chance she will ever have) to show how good she is to a global audience. Out of the Stardom Threedom she is the one that's always been overlooked the most, not only by the fans but also about the Stardom higher ups and hell WWE higher ups too. Not even now that Io and Kairi are gone are the Stardom higher ups willing to give her the ace spot. So a good showing could raise her stock a lot, maybe then Rossy realizes what he has on his hands. She has pretty much no chance of walk out as champion, but to me it's enough that she shows everybody why she's one of the best wrestlers in the world today.
Serg: I forget ROH has a women's championship because no one gives a shit about it, well the least attractive member of the team Kairi and Io where with Mayu is taking on Kelly Klein, a women who when I went to an ROH meet and greet show had a non existing line, I hope Mayu wins but she needs to stop smiling, its creepy.
RPW British Heavyweight Championship: Zack Sabre Jr.(C) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi
It wouldn't be a big NJPW show without the eternal ace. This is a pair that needs no introduction, and at least on paper this should be one of the best matches on the whole card. An usual match-up on NJPW shows, ZSJ and Tana rarely have a dissapointing match together, but at least to me their series lacks one true classic. I wouldn't expect it to happen on this particular time, but if Tana doesn't phone it in like most of the times he goes to America, we could see a match that at worst it's really fun. Zack is clearly the favorite to win, but I wouldn't count Tanahashi out. After all, the RPW championship is just a way to give directionless NJPW uppercarders something to do.
Serg: Tanahashi wants ZSJ's RevPro title, I dont know why Tanahashi wants a garbage belt from a garbage promotion but hey, nice of NJPW to help its retarded little cousing from the UK.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Taiji Ishimori(C) vs Dragon Lee vs Bandido
Not a fan of making this a triple threat, I was looking forwad to a singles match between Taiji and Lee. Still, Bandido is a nice addition and this should be a fun spotfest. As long as they don't overdo it, this may be a nice way to see Taiji out of his comfort zone, though he has some experience on multiman clusterfucks. Bandido will be in his natural environment, and Lee should also be comfortable working a match like this. Before Bandido's inclusion, I was kinda doubtful about the result, but now that he's in it's clear to me that Taiji will have one more successful defense.
Serg: What's this? A good match? Well all the matches we are having seem good, except the Kelly Klein one because it has Kelly Klein and the Boomer Ray one, but I expect Taiji vs Dragon Lee vs Bandito to be a banger, though It feels weird to have a Triple threat for an event like this, maybe we are getting a return at the end of this match? Hopefuly.
Winner Takes All Match: IWGP and ROH World Tag Team Titles: Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa)(C) vs Villain Enteprises (Brody King & PCO)(C) vs Los Ingobernables de Japón (EVIL & SANADA) vs The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe)
Both titles on the line, four of the best tags on both companies, the stakes couldn't be any higher in this match that no one gives a shit about. You know better than this, you know that when NJPW books a tag team championship like this is because they just want to get as much people as possible in the card, and at best they are just gonna give them like 10 minutes or less. Given the time, most of the wrestlers will just go through the motions, except two or three participants that still want to do the things right (praying that this time that someone is PCO). I'm guessing that SANADA and his thicc goth bf walk out as champions. I don't see another reign for the Briscoes in both ROH and NJPW, Villain Enterprises haven't even appeared at one NJPW show, and at this point we should just accept that the tongans are just not interesting.
Serg: Brody King looks like Post Malone, PCO told me not to commit suicide while he was hanging himself, the Briscoes still call people faggots and that's cool, Sanada still has a shit beard, EVIL is probably related to Momo Watanabe in some way, all those people I mentioned had one interesting factor to them whether negative or positive... GOD has non of that, Tama just pretends to be a hardcore gangsta rapper but is shit and his brother is forgettable background character no.63.
Winner Takes All Match: NEVER Openweight & ROH TV Title: Will Ospreay(C) vs Jeff Cobb(C)
This really is the weekend of the winner takes all matches. In what's probably the most unpredictable match on the card, Ospreay and Cobb collide for both titles, titles that they both have some history with. This is the first time these two will face each other, more reasons to be excited. The mix between Cobb's power and Ospreay's athleticism should create an interesting dynamic to follow, while also having in mind that Cobb is also really athletic and that heavyweight Ospreay is more focused on power and striking hard. I expect them to have a healthy amount of time to show their talent and put on a good match. No idea about the winner, so I'll just say Ospreay in hopes of Taichi challenging him for both titles and beating him.
Serg: Ospreay is taking on Cobb, I saw Ospreay while he was with his GF taking pictures of Stardom girls, Tam Nakano is so cute in real life and so does Utami and Hazuki has some nice thick legs I wish she would squeeze me head with... I am getting off topic, Cobb is winning.
IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Tetsuya Naito(C) vs. Kota Ibushi
Another usual match-up on NJPW, Naito and Ibushi fight one more time, now with the second most important belt on NJPW on the line. There are enough precedents to see what kind of match can we expect: fast paced, lots of big moves and even more head drops. Though this time it seems like Naito is fully embracing the heel role, which should lead to a more interesting story if Kota is in the mood to sell whatever Naito does. It can also go the usual way, but on roids. It wouldn't even be illogical, this is a show for a global audience and a match like the ones these two are used to have would blow the minds of every person that doesn't follow NJPW regularly. I hardly see most of the audience disliking this match, but I'm getting kinda tired of this pairing. Drop this burden of a title so you can go for the big one daddy Tetsuya, please.
Serg: NAITO. KOTA. NEED I SAY ANYTHING ELSE?
Ladder Match for the ROH World Championship: Jay Lethal(C) vs. Marty Scurll vs. Matt Taven
Who gives a shit? Also, Scurll will and should win.
Serg: No one cares about the ROH title.
IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Jay White(C) vs. Kazuchika Okada
Switchblade couldn't even dream of a best chance for his first defense of the most prestigious title on the world. Not only is he going against the most important man on NJPW, he's doing it at the legendary Madison Square Garden. The two precedents are really different from each other, but still fun to watch and I'm particularly fond of their WK match. Jay has been showing a clear progress through the whole year, but he still doesn't seem to be comfortable working the NJPW main event style, and Okada is not the guy to guide him through a match like that. Or maybe he is and Okada brings his A game to make Jay and himself look good. On that sense, this match can go any way. And regarding to the winner it can also go any way. According to the >dirtsheets, the original plan was Okada beating Omega until AEW happened. If the plans stayed the same Okada should leave NY as the IWGP hebbykiu champion, but it isn't crazy to think that White stays the champ. That many title changes in such a short time is pretty unusual on NJPW, and White is someone that they are putting all their hopes in and want to consolidate as a main event player, no better way to do that than beating Okada at the MSG. This is easily one of the most important matches of the whole weekend, and Jay better have the match of his life, New Japan's future rests on his shoulders.
Serg: I expect Okada to lose but there is gonna be alot of close calls, also sadly this is America and this is an ROH show aswell, so expect WWE Tier bullshit interferences
A show with high and lows, with the lows being ROH's fault. Either way, New Japan will try and show its best face for this. It's vital for them to show that the departure of Kenny and his friends has not hurted the product on a critical way. It's vital for New Japan to keep its expansion going on, but preferably not at the expense of everyone that is loyal to the company.
Serg: There you go, Harold Meij is a fucking shitty boss and Gedo needs to stop having boners for punk ass cracker gringos and focus more on Japan and Mexico, I would rather have healthy fit and non autistic fans than the fat easily offended masses of America and the UK.
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