Welcome to our live coverage of the ROH and New Japan G1 Supercard from Madison Square Garden.
The pre-show kicked off at 6:15 pm with a six-woman tag involving talent from Ring of Honor and Stardom.
QUICK RESULTS:
*Jenny Rose, Hazuki & Kagetsu over Sumie Sakai, Stella Grey & Hana Kimura in 6:45
*Kenny King won the Honor Rumble in 42:20
*Jeff Cobb over Will Ospreay to win the NEVER Openweight title in 12:53
*Rush over Dalton Castle in 0:17
*Kelly Klein over Mayu Iwatani in 10:38 to win the Women of Honor title
*Flip Gordon, Juice Robinson & Mark Haskins over Bully Ray, Silas Young & Shane Taylor in 11:20
*Dragon Lee over Taiji Ishimori and Dragon Lee in 8:56 to win the IWGP junior heavyweight title
*Guerrillas of Destiny over PCO & Brody King, The Briscoes and Sanada & EVIL in 9:50 to win the ROH tag titles and become double champions
*Zack Sabre Jr. over Hiroshi Tanahashi to retain the British heavyweight title in 15:14
*Kota Ibushi over Tetsuya Naito in 20:52 to win the Intercontinental title
*Matt Taven over Jay Lethal and Marty Scrull in 29:34 of the Ladder match to win the ROH title
*Kazuchika Okada over Jay White to win the IWGP heavyweight title in 31:48
JENNY ROSE, HAZUKI & KAGETSU VS STELLA GREY, HANA KIMURA & SUMIE SAKAI
Grey, Kimura, and Sakai applied simultaneous submissions early. It was quiet in the arena, although a fair amount of people had shown up for the pre-show. It livened up when Hazuki and Kagetsu hit dives to the floor together. Kagetsu scored the fall for her team.
WINNERS: Jenny Rose, Hazuki & Kagetsu at 6:45
HONOR RUMBLE
Kenny King was the first entrant, which was set up on the Road to G1 Supercard event last weekend in Baltimore. The second entrant was Minoru Suzuki, and everyone went crazy. Below is the order of the entrants:
1. Kenny King
2. Minoru Suzuki
3. Cheeseburger
4. Beer City Bruiser
5. SHO
6. Shingo Takagi
7. Bushi
8. YOH
9. Shaeem Ali
10. Rhett Titus
Titus entered and did a posing routine in the center of the ring and looked like he fell asleep in a tanning bed for a week.
11. Lio St. Giovanni of Coast 2 Coast
12. Ryusuke Taguchi
Taguchi received the second-loudest reaction after Suzuki, so far in the match. He came out his rugby ball and helmet as the audience chanted his name. Takagi took the ball away.
13. Will Ferrara
14. Chase Owens
15. Rocky Romero
Romero started the Forever clotheslines to all corners, followed by Taguchi directing traffic and everyone went nuts for the trademark spots. It ended with Bushi being tossed to the floor.
16. Brian Milonas
17. Bad Luck Fale
He received a huge reaction. Fale eliminated Roppongi 3K together. He tried to dump out Cheeseburger, but he was caught and returned to the ring.
18. Jonathan Gresham
Suzuki eliminated Takagi, which was the first big elimination.
19. Tracy Williams
20. Yoshi-Hashi
21. PJ Black
22. Justin Thunder Liger
As expected, an enormous reception for Liger.
23. TK O’Ryan
24. Vinny Marseglia
25. Delirious
26. Tomohiro Ishii
Ishii was not announced ahead of time. All the key New Japan stars are receiving enormous reactions and it’s clear they are the big stars to the audience.
Ishii eliminated Black quickly.
27. Toru Yano
Yano came out and gave up his spot to Colt Cabana and replaced him on commentary.
The entire arena chanted “Colt Cabana” was the most over of the ROH stars, so far.
28. Hirooki Goto
Everyone worked together to dump Fale out.
29. King Haku
Haku is on the short list of talent on tonight’s show that has previously worked the building.
Haku applied the Tongan Death Grip onto Cabana, who waved in Yano for assistance.
30. The Great Muta
The arena exploded for the surprise entrant, biggest pop of the match.
Yano missed Suzuki with the turnbuckle padding, nailed Cabana and Suzuki tossed both out.
Suzuki and Ishii began a striking battle, Suzuki applied the armbar in the ropes and then got eliminated by Ishii as the audience booed. Marseglia and O’Ryan eliminated Cheeseburger and then dumped Haku out, which angered the crowd and finally threw out Ishii together.
It’s down to Liger, Muta, Marseglia, and O’Ryan.
Liger eliminated Marseglia with a shotei and Muta eliminated O’Ryan leaving the two legends in the ring.
Kenny King returned as he had never been eliminated and dumped both Muta and Liger to the floor.
WINNER: Kenny King at 42:20
King took the mist from Muta and was dispatched afterward.
Liger stood in the ring as they chanted “Thank you, Liger”.
The match never dragged despite the time and got over tremendously well to the audience.
WILL OSPREAY VS JEFF COBB FOR THE NEVER OPENWEIGHT AND ROH TELEVISION TITLES
Ospreay hit the Space Flying Tiger Drop, which Cobb was supposed to catch him from, but lifted him again and Ospreay hit a DDT to the floor. Cobb overpowered Ospreay in the ring, catching a kick and tossing him across the ring.
Cobb did a kip up into a standing moonsault for a two-count. Cobb came off the ropes for a lariat and was caught with a standing Spanish Fly as both went down as the audience cheered. Ospreay landed an Otani-style missile dropkick to the back of Cobb’s head. Ospreay countered Tour of the Islands into a Code Red for a near fall.
Ospreay had the OsCutter blocked, was thrown onto the turnbuckle and leaped back to hit the OsCutter to set up an enormous near fall.
They fought on the turnbuckle, climaxing with a Tour of the Islands off the second turnbuckle and another in the middle as Cobb pinned Ospreay.
WINNER: Jeff Cobb at 12:53 to win the NEVER Openweight title
Excellent opening match, the audience is red-hot and they worked so well together. This could be a fantastic series of matches and clearly opens the door for Cobb to go over to New Japan more frequently and defend the title.
DALTON CASTLE VS RUSH
Rush stormed Castle, hitting two running baseball slide dropkicks into the corner and pinned him in 17 seconds.
WINNER: Rush in 0:17
Castle sold the effects of being embarrassed and the focus was more on Castle than Rush afterward. The Boys tried to console him and he destroyed them for the big turn. He hit one with the Bang-a-ran. This was an overdue turn for Castle.
Mandy Leon joined the commentary team for the next match.
They cut to the back and Juice Robinson had been attacked and was unconscious.
MAYU IWATANI VS KELLY KLEIN FOR THE WOMEN OF HONOR TITLE
The audience took a while to get into the match but reacted loudly when Iwatani landed a high cross to the floor.
Iwatani reversed on Klein’s shoulders to land a reverse huracanrana.
Klein came back to win the match after hitting a pair of K-Powers.
WINNER: Kelly Klein in 10:38 to win the Women of Honor championship
The crowd was down for this match and the finish didn’t seem to get over very effectively.
After the match, Angelina Love and Velvet Sky walked down the ramp. They were joined by Mandy Leon and attacked Klein. The audience reacted better to the attack than the match. Their group is called “The Allure”.
Mega Ran came out to perform “Going to the Garden” and the audience booed it loudly. He was interrupted by Bully Ray, who was met with loud “ECW” and “We Want Tables” chants. Bully shoved him down and Mega Ran stood up to him and got whipped with his chain. He said the Open Challenge is still open after Juice Robinson was attacked.
Flip Gordon answered the challenge.
BULLY RAY VS FLIP GORDON IN A NEW YORK CITY STREET FIGHT
A table was brought into the ring as Silas Young and Shane Taylor ran down to help Bully Ray. Mark Haskins came out with Juice Robinson and a dumpster full of weapons to make it a six-man tag.
BULLY RAY, SHANE TAYLOR & SILAS YOUNG VS FLIP GORDON, JUICE ROBINSON & MARK HASKINS
The heels surrounded Gordon with kendo sticks, he stood and challenged them to hit him. They took turns and Gordon kept standing up as he did the Tommy Dreamer spot. Robinson and Haskins entered with their own sticks and there was a big standoff. Bully Ray backed down and left after it became 3-on-1 for the babyfaces.
Later in the match, Gordon was powerbombed through a table off the turnbuckle by Bully. Young hit Haskins with a twisting suplex onto a chair. Two chairs were set up, Young was placed on them and took a double foot stomp from Haskins off the top.
The babyfaces held Bully Ray’s legs open for the wuzzup spot and pinned him.
WINNERS: Flip Gordon, Juice Robinson & Mark Haskins at 11:20
This relied on lots of weapons and brawling around the ring. It was average, not great and not bad. The show started off on a big high and has hit a lull.
TAIJI ISHIMORI VS DRAGON LEE VS BANDIDO FOR THE IWGP JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE
Bandido sent Lee to the floor with flying head scissors and hit him with a Fosbury Flop. Lee came back, leaping over the top and landing a rana off the apron to the floor onto Bandido. Ishimori then hit a Golden Triangle to both on the floor. They were working at an incredible pace out of the gate.
They went down after Ishimori hit La Mistica onto Bandido and Lee hit a Destroyer to Ishimori. Bandido pressed Ishimori in the air and landed a cutter coming down.
Bandido lifted both on the top turnbuckle for a double fallaway slam/moonsault off the top and tore down the house with that spot.
Ishimori was sent to the floor as Lee hit Bandido with Desnucadora to pin Bandido, so he wins the title but didn’t pin the champion.
WINNER: Dragon Lee at 8:56 to win the IWGP junior heavyweight title
This was off the charts. They didn’t have a lot of time but made every second count and they tore the house down.
PCO & BRODY KING VS GUERRILLAS OF DESTINY VS THE BRISCOES VS EVIL & SANADA FOR THE IWGP AND ROH TAG TITLES
PCO got this enormous entrance on a giant electric chair with Destro jolting him to life. PCO was a mega star when his entrance began.
EVIL placed a chair around Tama Tonga’s neck and nailed it with another chair.
Jay Briscoe hit Sanada with the Jay Driller and King broke up the cover. Jay was draped on the edge of the apron and PCO finally landed the somersault off the top onto his back. PCO followed with a top rope moonsault with King piling on, Tanga Loa was late making the save.
The Guerrillas lifted PCO and powerbombed onto the floor, PCO sat up and the place went insane.
Tonga hit King with a Gun Stun and Loa powerbombed King off the turnbuckle and they won.
WINNERS: The Guerrillas of Destiny at 9:50 to become IWGP and ROH tag champions
PCO was the big star of the match with several insane moments.
Toru Yano came out after the match and he stole the IWGP tag titles.
The big angle followed with Big Cass and Enzo showing up and positioned it like they were crashing the show. Bully Ray ran down to join The Briscoes and make it feel like the locker room was kicking them out. The audience reacted loudly as they tried to get the chaos over and it worked.
ZACK SABRE JR. VS HIROSHI TANAHASHI FOR THE BRITISH HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE
Tanahashi attacked Zack’s right knee and applied the cloverleaf. Tanahashi went to the top and was stopped by Zack, who manipulated the wrist and targeted the left arm.
Zack used the European clutch and Tanahashi kicked out. Zack attempted a guillotine and Tanahashi broke out of it with a pair of Twist & Shouts. Zack came back and applied a Fujiwara armbar, he locked both arms and then applied Orienteering with Napalm Death and Tanahashi submitted.
WINNER: Zack Sabre Jr. at 15:14 to retain the British heavyweight title
The ending sequence got a big reaction. I didn’t think this reached the level of their past great singles matches, including the New Japan Cup match a few weeks ago.
TETSUYA NAITO VS KOTA IBUSHI FOR THE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE
They were on the floor and Naito Irish whipped Ibushi who ran into a production member on the floor and Naito got into his face for being in the wrong position.
Ibushi lifted Naito for the power German on the edge of the apron but Naito countered. They were both on the apron, Naito ran at him and Ibushi leaped into the air and hit a rana to the floor. The crowd chanted “Mama Mia” after that spot.
Back in the ring, Naito recovered and hit Gloria for a two-count.
On his next attempt, Ibushi hit the power German and Naito landed on his neck and kicked out. The replay looked brutal for Naito upon landing.
Naito blasted Ibushi in the face, he paused and came back with a huge strike. Naito hit a reverse rana and then the Destino but Ibushi kicked out for a huge pop. Naito went for another Destino, it was blocked and Ibushi landed a head kick and both went down.
Ibushi hit a Bom a Ye to the back of the head and a proper version for a near fall. Naito took the Last Ride powerbomb and kicked out of that. Ibushi finally beat him with a Kamigoye.
WINNER: Kota Ibushi at 20:52 to win the Intercontinental title
Spectacular match and right on par with their classic last month in the opening round of the New Japan Cup. This opens a lot of directions they can go with both individuals. Ibushi sold the magnitude of the title victory by clutching the championship and treated it as a major accomplishment. This was great.
JAY LETHAL VS MARTY SCURLL VS MATT TAVEN IN A LADDER MATCH FOR THE ROH TITLE
Nick Aldis joined Riccaboni and Cabana on commentary.
Lethal was placed in a tree of woe with a ladder wrapped around his head with Scurll swinging at the ladder with chair shots. Scurll climbed the ladder with his umbrella to retrieve the title and was cut off by Taven.
Scurll was on the ladder and Lethal applied a figure-four through the rungs as Taven began to climb and forced Lethal to relinquish the hold.
A ladder was set up horizontally on the aisle, Taven lifted Lethal off the apron and drove him through it with a running powerbomb.
Scurll called for the chicken wing and was kicked low by Taven, who the audience hated. Taven avoided his fingers being snapped and landed a spinning neck breaker to Scurll onto the ladder. They climbed a ladder in the corner and Scurll hit a superplex to Taven.
Lethal climbed and reached, Scurll came from behind and applied the chicken wing on top of the ladder. Lethal was sent down, Taven climbed and had his fingers snapped. He knocked down Scurll but couldn’t grab the title because of his fingers.
Lethal Injection was hit to Scurll after Taven was dropped onto two ladders crisscrossing. The ladders were joined and formed an “X”, Lethal dumped the contraption to the floor and it appeared to hit a fan in the front row. Officials checked on him and he appeared to be okay and remained in his seat.
Taven speared Scurll off the apron and through a table on the floor.
Lethal set up a gigantic ladder on the floor with Taven set up on a table below it. Lethal climbed and hit the elbow drop off the ladder onto Taven.
Taven introduced a large purple ladder as Scurll and Lethal fought on the regular sized one in the ring. Lethal and Scurll were dropped onto ladders attached to the purple one. Taven climbed with Lethal on the purple one. Taven hit Lethal with the title and he fell onto the ladder back first. Taven grabbed the title and won the match.
WINNER: Matt Taven at 29:34 to win the ROH title
Taven was really over as a heel throughout the match, they worked super-hard but it was a long match this late in the show with the main event still to come. Taven and Lethal felt like the focal points of the match while trying to incorporate Scurll throughout.
The Kingdom came down and celebrated with Taven.
JAY WHITE VS KAZUCHIKA OKADA FOR THE IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE
White hit a snap suplex sending Okada into the guardrail early in the match. White generated a lot of heat and played to it effectively. It led to a prolonged period of White in control until Okada fired back for his comeback. Okada placed White on the turnbuckle and dropkicked him to the floor. Okada proceeded to toss White and Gedo over the guardrail and leaped over taking both down with a flying crossbody.
Okada hit the top rope elbow and called for the Rainmaker as the audience roared. White sent Okada over the top and dumped onto the edge of the apron. Back in the ring, Okada cut off White and hit a tombstone. Okada finally landed the big dropkick, and everyone cheered. He then hit a follow up one and White ducked the Rainmaker.
Okada blocked the Blade Runner, Okada dropkicked him in the back of his head, Okada avoided another Blade Runner and landed the spinning Rainmaker. He lifted White and hit the proper Rainmaker and White kicked out. Everyone bit.
White recovered and hit the Blade Runner.
Gedo distracted Red Shoes and White hit Okada low.
Okada made his comeback, it climaxed with the Rainmaker countered to the Blade Runner, but Okada countered that with a tombstone and hit the final Rainmaker to win.
WINNER: Kazuchika Okada at 31:48 to win the IWGP heavyweight title
