Tetsuya Naito will be returning to ROH next month for their upcoming Global Wars tour.
ROH made the announcement this afternoon, with Naito being the first name announced for the upcoming tour. This year’s Global Wars tour consists of the following dates:
November 7 in Lewiston, ME
November 8 in Lowell, MA
November 9 in Buffalo, NY
November 11 in Toronto, Ontario Canada
Global Wars is an annual tour featuring both Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling talent. Last year’s tour had the likes of Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI, Minoru Suzuki, Killer Elite Club, KUSHIDA, Hiromu Takahashi and Kenny Omega. Some notable bouts from last year included Minoru Suzuki defeating Silas Young, Hiromu Takahashi defeating Christopher Daniels, KUSHIDA defeating Hangman Page and the team of Cody, Kenny Omega and Marty Scurll defeating Toru Yano, Will Ospreay and YOSHI-HASHI.
In the main event of the final show in Chicago, Kenny Omega successfully defended the IWGP United States title against YOSHI-HASHI.
Global Wars will be streaming next month on ROH’s streaming service Honor Club.
Kenny Omega makes his first stateside defense of the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship as Ring of Honor’s Global Wars tour reaches its final stop tonight.
YOSHI-HASHI will be challenging for Omega’s title in Chicago, which was set up when YOSHI-HASHI challenged Omega after NJPW’s Destruction in Kobe event last month. Omega’s only other title defense was against Juice Robinson at that show.
Members of the Bullet Club will also be involved in another key match tonight. Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks & Hangman Page will team against the Search and Destroy team of Motor City Machine Guns, Jonathan Gresham & Jay White in an eight-man tag match.
Elsewhere on the show, Marty Scurll faces Hiromu Takahashi, Will Ospreay takes on Flip Gordon, Suzuki-gun will be in action in a six-man tag match, KUSHIDA teams with Cheeseburger against The Addiction, Colt Cabana faces off with Toru Yano in what’s sure to be a comedy match, and Trent Barreta & Chuck Taylor team up against Silas Young & Beer City Bruiser.
We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
Our live coverage starts at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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Cody did an interview. He said this has been the most financially lucrative tour in ROH history. Cody cut a promo about Roman Reigns saying he wears a vest to hide hit gut and to hide his failed drug tests. He said it’s really hiding envy. He said ROH isn’t an indie, it’s a club. He asked Cary Silkin to kiss the ring. Silkin didn’t want to kiss the ring. He then said he was going to bring a fan into the ring to kiss the ring. He bought in a planted fan in a mask with a Cody T-shirt. The fan acted like he couldn’t get into the ring. Cody wanted to film it for “Being the Elite.” They were filming it for video. The fan unmasked and it was Dalton Castle. Castle suplexed Cody. Castle took him down and started ground and pounding him. Cody ran off. The crowd was loving Cody but the way the segment was done it worked really well. I don’t think the fans knew it was Castle until he unmasked.
CHUCKIE T & BARETTA VS. SILAS YOUNG & BEER CITY BRUISER
Good match. Bruiser hit Chuckie with a beer keg and then Young gave him misery for the pin. A lot of big moves on both sides. Bruiser did a bodyblock off the apron on Baretta after backdropping out of a piledriver on the apron. T & Baretta did a double dive spot.
MARTY SCURLL VS. HIROMU TAKAHASHI
Scurll won by reversing the time bomb into a chicken wing. Out of the 107 ROH vs. NJPW matches, it’s now 53-53 with one draw. Very good match with lots of near falls and a lot of comedy mixed in. It was worked more like an entertaining prelim match as opposed to a major main event. They did several spots with Darryl. Darryl’s wedding to Carol was brought up. Takahashi did the sunset flip out of the ring and power bomb on the floor spot. Both were really over so they took advantage of that.
KUSHIDA & CHEESEBURGER VS. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & FRANKIE KAZARIAN
Daniels & Kazarian won by pinning Cheeseburger with the Best Meltzer ever. Some rough spots early. Unfortunately, the stream went out right before the finish. Fairly short match. Kushida looked good based on what we could see. Kazarian was about to put Cheeseburger through a table after the match, but Bully Ray showed up and put Kazarian through the table. This led to an ECW chant. Kazarian was checking his fingers. .
Bully Ray is cutting a promo about wrestling in this building in 1999 and lighting a table on fire in ECW. Bully Ray did the teasing retirement interview he’s been doing all week. He said it was time and the fans were chanting “No.” He said for the first time he has to worry about himself and his own health. The crowd gave him a standing ovation. Thank were chanting “Thank You Bubba.” He said “Thank you.” Said Chicago was one of his favorite places to wrestle. He grabbed a piece of a broken table. They brought a fan in a Cody shirt into the ring. Bully said tonight you represent every single fan I’ve been in front of. He said he can’t thank every single person so he’ll represent everyone in the world and said “Thank you.” Bully claimed this was the last table he’ll ever break and told Chase (the kid) to hold the piece of the table high in the air. Fans were chanting “Chase.” He then apologized if he was taking too much time. He said ROH was always a place he wanted to go and if this is his last day, he wants to Thank God he got to set foot in an ROH ring. The announcers played it up like this was his last match.
CHRIS SABIN & ALEX SHELLEY & JONATHAN GRESHAM & JAY WHITE VS. YOUNG BUCKS & ADAM PAGE & CODY
This was a crazy match. Page used the last rites to pin Gresham. The Young Bucks worked as the babyfaces here, as they got heat on Nick and then heat on Page and then they went crazy with move in the last three-and-a-half minutes. There was a Bullet Club crazy dive sequence which led to a flip stage dive by Matt on everyone. A lot of shtick early including a teased four-way sharpshooter spot by the Bullet Club except White got Cody in it so they broke it up and all superkicked White and Cody put White in the sharpshooter. Crowd was super hot for just about everything. Page & Matt did a shooting star Meltzer driver on the floor.
THE DAWGS WILL FERRARA & RHETT TITUS VS. BRIAN JOHNSON & JUSTIN PUSSER
The crowd wasn’t into this. The Dawgs won with a combination front suplex and crossbody on Johnson.
After the match Jay Briscoe came out and destroyed Johnson & Pusser including a J Driller on Johnson. Jay talked about Mark Briscoe. He said we’ve got to get back to being the baddest tag team on the planet. He said Mark has been worried about singles matches, TV title, six man titles and told him to ice the elbow, heal up quick and it’s time for the Briscoes to take this stuff over.
Shane Taylor did an interview. He said he gets paid to take people out and put people down. He’s replacing Mark Briscoe in the six-man tag match. He said ROH officials have made him the tag team partner.
MINORU SUZUKI & LANCE ARCHER & DAVEY BOY SMITH JR. VS. JAY LETHAL & KENNY KING & SHANE TAYLOR
Long match. The crowd was really into Suzuki, especially in with Lethal. King’s stuff was off but he did a lot of flying moves. The last few minutes was built around Suzuki trying to do the Gotch piledriver on Taylor, who is way over 300 pounds. Suzuki would choke him, but not choke him out because he wanted to beat him with the Gotch piledriver. Time after time it failed until he finally hit it for the pin. Suzuki kicked ref Paul Turner in the gut and threw him out of the ring after. Suzuki just said “We are Suzuki-gun, Ichiban.”
COLT CABANA VS. TORU YANO
They had a comedy match. It was entertaining but the feed went down before the finish. Yano did all his shtick. The crowd liked this a lot.
WILL OSPREAY VS. FLIP GORDON
So this was the match of the show. Ospreay won with the Robinson kick and Oscutter. This was meant for a showcase to get Gordon over. Gordon has unbelievable flying moves with the highlight being a double springboard flip plancha. The beginning was Ospreay doing his cat shtick, but it got going with Ospreay doing a space flying tiger drop and springboard forearm and a shooting star to Gordon’s back as Gordon was draped over the top rope. The crowd was doing the “Fight Forever” at the end.
KENNY OMEGA VS. YOSHI-HASHI FOR U.S TITLE
This was very different from any Omega matches this year. The match featured a ton of interference including all of The Bullet Club, as well as Chaos, which included Flip Gordon and Chuckie T, all after ref Todd Sinclair got bumped. Omega did some of his usual big match stuff like the moonsault off the guard rail and Terminator dive, and the snap dragon suplex. Yoshi-Hashi worked hard but never connected and nobody saw him as having a chance to win. What really made the match was the interference, and it was everyone doing their big moves ending with Ospreay doing a springboard shooting star press to the floor and Nick doing a 450 off the top rope to the floor onto Gordon since Gordon had used a sueprkick earlier in the sequence. Omega did the One Winged Angel at one point but Yano pulled Sinclair out of the ring. The ending saw Omega get his knees up after a swanton, and Omega hit the V trigger and One Winged Angel.
Cody asked the people to raise their hands if they’re life long wrestling fans. Almost everyone did. He said you remember 95-96 when wrestling got cool again, it wasn’t 1995 for sure, more like 96. He said remember that, because wrestling has never been cooler. Cody said he wanted to thank New Japan Pro Wresting. He said we should thank Atlas, the man who carries New Japan on his back and introduced Omega. Omega thanked everyone for the lucrative merchandise sales. Omega said he doesn’t sell merchandise to impolite people and everyone was such a joy. He said that he’s not a full-time member of ROH, that “I represent New Japan by contract only, really I represent Bullet Club and Being the Elite.” He said Being the Elite is everyone who subscribes and even those who leave disparaging remarks on our page. He said Yoshi-Hashi tried hard, but he’s nothing more than try-harder. Omega said he’s suffering form jetlag and it’s after my bed time. Matt took the mic and said we have to take a Bullet Club selfie. But nobody in the ring had a phone. He asked the fans if they have a phone. Everyone did. So he went into the crowd and there was Jimmy Jacobs. Jacobs shot the photo with Bullet Club while people chanted his name. Nick said sorry we got your ass fired. Omega got the mic and asked no profanity, Matt said I’m a Christian boy but we need one more F bomb and we had yet another :F*** The Revival” chant, at least the third one of the night. Kenny bid adieu.
– The Addiction (Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian) defeated Search and Destroy (Jonathan Gresham & Jay White)
Daniels cut a promo before the match, claiming that he and Kazarian are responsible for ROH’s success. He said Motor City Machine Guns are dodging them — so they’ll beat up the other half of Search and Destroy as punishment.
The Addiction ended up winning with Celebrity Rehab, though the match was a good showcase for Gresham as he shined here.
– Kenny King came out to say that his tag team partner Mark Briscoe is injured with a dislocated elbow. King put over Ohio State since they were in Columbus, then called Marty Scurll and Hangman Page the Bullet Club “B Club.” King challenged both since he didn’t have a partner.
Scurll fired back by saying King couldn’t get a date on a TV reality show (King was on The Bachelorette) and couldn’t get a partner because no one likes him. Scurll said King could even choose a fan, referee, or commentator as his partner, which led to Colt Cabana being brought out as King’s partner.
– Jay Lethal defeated Hiromu Takahashi (w/ Daryl)
Everyone involved in this match was really over, including Daryl.They ended up having the best match on the show, which ended when Lethal hit the Lethal Injection. These two had great chemistry.
– ROH World Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns defeated Silas Young & Beer City Bruiser to retain their titles
Will Ferrara and Rhett Titus joined Ian Riccaboni on commentary for this. Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin were posing on the turnbuckles before the match, then they were jumped by Young and Bruiser.
These teams worked well together and had a great match, with Motor City Machine Guns retaining after a combo top rope crossbody/neckbreaker on Bruiser.
– Chaos (Will Ospreay, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI) defeated Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.)
BJ Whitmer came out to do color commentary for the rest of the show in place of Cabana. Suzuki-gun offered the Code of Honor to start, but that didn’t end well for Chaos.
The story of the match was that Suzuki-gun had Chaos completely outmatched except for Ospreay’s high-risk moves, YOSHI-HASHI refusing to quit, and Yano’s self-survival skills. Archer and Smith were setting up for the win, but Ospreay hit Archer with a springboard forearm into a roll-up by YOSHI-HASHI for the pin. Chaos then got the heck out of there while Suzuki-gun tried to figure out what happened.
– Sumie Sakai defeated Holidead in a Women of Honor match
Holidead was making her Women of Honor debut here. She dominated with power moves and hit a Samoan drop that looked to finish it, but Sakai caught her with a small package for the pin.
– Shane Taylor defeated Josh Woods
This had plenty of power and strikes. Woods gave his much larger opponent a German suplex but got caught trying a running forearm. Taylor made him pay by hitting a sit-out tombstone for the win.
– ROH World Television Champion Kenny King & Colt Cabana defeated Marty Scurll & Hangman Page
The story of the match early was that Scurll and Page weren’t expecting Cabana, who got in their heads. Scurll and Page played to the crowd a lot. At one point, Scurll went for the finger-break spot, but Cabana had an oven mitt stashed in his tights to keep Scurll from snapping his fingers. Cabana then slapped Page around and out of the ring with the mitt.
King got the pin on Page with the Royal Flush. He celebrated after by holding up the TV title with the oven mitt. There was an interesting dynamic where King played it mostly straight in the match while the others did comedy.
– ROH World Champion Cody defeated KUSHIDA to retain his title
Cody did a lot of stalling early, using the kiss-the-ring gimmick and arguing with fans. He appeared to be walking out of the match at one point. KUSHIDA had the advantage early and kept wanting Cody to engage, but Cody would bail out of the ring whenever he was in trouble.
KUSHIDA had Cody set up for the small package driver, but Cody reversed it into the Cross Rhodes to retain. The match was getting hot towards the end.
– The Elite (Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks) defeated Trent Barreta, Chuck Taylor & Flip Gordon to retain the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship
The Bullet Club again said they were using “Bullet Club rules,” meaning any members of the stable can defend The Young Bucks & Hangman Page’s six-man tag titles.
This match could have been its own episode of “Being the Elite” as Barreta and Taylor kept having to keep Gordon from getting suckered into a handshake rib, which is a storyline on the YouTube show. They kept the gag going as one of the Bucks would pretend to be his partner in the corner and grab his hand.
The match was a great showcase for Gordon, who was impressive the entire time. There was a lot of comedy and a lot of playing to the crowd, but it picked up towards the end. Cody, Scurll, and Page all came out at one point to interfere, but they were kicked out of the ringside area.
Barreta and Taylor set up a table to double chokeslam one of the Bucks off the stage, but the rest of The Elite came in for the save — with triple superkicks putting Barreta and Taylor through the table.
Gordon was left alone and took a Meltzer Driver on the floor as one of the Bucks jumped from the stage. They brought him into the ring for the One Winged Angel Meltzer Driver to get the pin. The rest of the Bullet Club came out to celebrate after. They cut a promo saying nothing will stop them from being more creative than the competition and they’ll carry on as long as the fans are with them.
ROH was in Buffalo, New York for the first night of their Global Wars tour last night. Here’s a rundown of the event:
– Deonna Purrazzo defeated Sumie Sakai in a Women of Honor match
Purrazzo hit a gourdbuster into an armbar for the submission win. Sakai tried to shake her hand after the match, but Purrazzo declined to a chorus of boos.
– Bobby Cruise came out to start the main portion of the show with a lot of people still in line for the Kenny Omega meet and greet. Cruise said that they’re taping the show for VOD.
– Rhett Titus & Will Ferrara defeated Coast to Coast
Titus hit a superkick and they followed it up with a top rope suplex/splash combo to get the win.
– KUSHIDA defeated Hangman Page
The crowd went crazy for Page when the Bullet Club’s music hit. He tried to Too Sweet the crowd, but shook his head before their fingers touched. The crowd started a big “One Sweet” chant.
KUSHIDA won with the Hoverboard Lock after holding onto the submission when he hit a superplex.
– Jay Lethal defeated Frankie Kazarian
Kazarian got a mixed reaction, but Lethal got maybe the biggest non-Bullet Club pop of the night. They had an excellent match with a lot of near falls. Lethal won with the Lethal Injection and the crowd popped huge for the finish.
– Minoru Suzuki & Killer Elite Squad defeated War Machine & Mark Briscoe
Silas Young came out to a nice reaction before the match. He cut a promo hyping his match with Suzuki in Pittsburgh tomorrow, drawing “What about us?” chants from the crowd. Young said that he was going to do commentary with Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana.
War Machine were pretty over and Briscoe got “Man up” chants. KES didn’t get much of a reaction and Suzuki only got a respectful pop, but there were eventually chants for Suzuki-gun and the crowd got more into him.
These guys beat the snot out of each other immediately. Eventually, Suzuki got a choke on Briscoe into a delayed Gotch-style piledriver for the win. Silas Young demanded for Suzuki to notice him while they were celebrating, but Suzuki completely ignored him. The crowd thanked War Machine and Briscoe as they stood in the ring and bowed after their loss.
– Unannounced, Bully Ray walked out and the crowd lost their minds. He got huge “ECW” chants and a huge pop. Bully Ray was tearing up, then said he was injured at Death Before Dishonor last month and doesn’t know what the future holds, but he hasn’t been feeling good. The crowd chanted that they love Bully and thanked him as he choked up in tears again.
Bully said this is the first time he’s been at a loss for words. He mentioned ECW and said something about ROH doing what they did 20 years ago. He said he loves Buffalo, and if nothing else he just wants to thank the city for all they’ve meant for him. He got on his knees and said thank you and started to tear up again. If this is an angle, this alone was worth running in Buffalo. The crowd just ate everything up.
– Mandy Leon defeated Jenny Rose in a Women of Honor match
Neither got much of a reaction as the crowd was burnt out after the Bully Ray segment. The crowd picked up a bit as the match went on, with Leon winning with a modified pumphandle driver. She hugged Rose after the match and raised her arm.
– Hiromu Takahashi defeated Christopher Daniels
There were “Daryl” chants (for Takahashi’s stuffed cat) and a lot of people had their own Daryls. There was even a “Daryl’s gonna kill you” chant. Daniels tried to shush the crowd, leading to massive chants for Takahashi. Daniels stalled for a bit before the match got going.
Daniels mocked the “Adam Cole Bay-Bay!” pose to boos during the match. Daniels grabbed Daryl and started biting him, which the crowd was horrified by. He used Daryl to hit Takahashi, but Takahashi hulked up from it. Daniels kissed Daryl and tried to roll-up Takahashi, with Takahashi countering with a hurricanrana into a triangle for the submission win.
Referee Todd Sinclair raised Daryl’s paw after the match. The crowd started chanting “Shake his paw” before Daniels and Takahashi embraced, but Daryl struck Daniels to get his revenge. Daniels then stumbled out and tried to attack one of the Daryls in the crowd before being restrained by security.
Yano seemed surprised by how over he was, but his pop was nothing compared to what his opponents got. Cody received the biggest pop of the night so far aside from Bully Ray. The crowd wanted to see Cody and Yano start, and they obliged. They forced Yano to kiss Cody’s ring, then Yano went for a low blow as the match started.
Seeing Yano live was more fun than I thought it would be. He finally got the turnbuckle off, but the referee stopped him from using it. While that happened, Cody hit a low blow and the Cross Rhodes for the win.
– Punishment Martinez defeated Will Ospreay
This was the sleeper match of the night. They made it work with the size difference, and there were too many excellent spots to mention. Martinez eventually got the win with his finisher. There was a huge “That was awesome” chant after the match, with Martinez yelling damn right it was as he left.
– The Young Bucks & Kenny Omega defeated The Kingdom to retain the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team titles
Chants for The Elite started as soon as everyone knew it was time for the main event, with them making us wait and building the anticipation. The venue was shaking as the crowd did the Terminator claps. The Kingdom’s music hit first to collective groans, but their music was abruptly cut and The Young Bucks’ music started. The crowd erupted for that.
The pop for Omega was unreal. There were “One Sweet” chants again as the Bucks got on the mic. They said they’ve modernized the Freedbird rule, and the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles will be on the line here with Omega stepping in for Hangman Page.
Matt Taven is perfect as a heel. Omega wanted to shake his hand, but Taven wanted a Too Sweet. That resulted in a “You can’t do that” chant. Page, Scurll, and Cody came out at one point before the referee kicked the rest of the Bullet Club out and we were left with it being three-on-three.
There were lots of unique and creative spots in the match. The Bucks got a “cease, cease, desist” chant going to the tune of their Elite chants at one point and the crowd was totally into it. Cody came back out to make the save, then the finish was The Elite doing a One Winged Angel into a Meltzer Driver for the win.
That was a great and chaotic match. After it was over, all of the “Being the Elite” crew celebrated the victory as Omega grabbed the mic. A “Jimmy Jacobs” chant started and The Elite said what’s up to him.
Omega talked about how shocked he was at the reception he got tonight. He said he was only suppose to work the Global Wars tour show in Chicago, but supply and demand takes precedence and he goes where he’s needed and wanted. Matt Jackson took the mic and mentioned the Bullet Club “invasion” of Raw to a huge pop. He talked about having the freedom to do what he wants and said he won’t get fired for taking a selfie with a friend or fan.
Matt mentioned how we help feed their families before Nick interrupted to say that they’ll see their families on Christmas, referencing WWE having Raw live on Christmas this year. That drew a huge “F*ck Vince” chant. Matt said Vince McMahon takes fun away from fans and told the fans to tell Vince what we think — with the entire audience giving a Too Sweet.
Omega quoted the movie “Braveheart” about never taking away their freedom, then he said goodbye and goodnight to the audience. The Bullet Club’s music played and they jumped into the crowd to end the show.
Kenny Omega’s first stateside defense of the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship will be available to watch live on iPPV.
Ring of Honor announced today that they would be broadcasting Global Wars: Chicago on ROHWrestling.com for $19.99. That show will take place on October 15th, with Omega putting his US title on the line against YOSHI-HASHI as the most heavily promoted match.
The main event of the Chicago show will be the Bullet Club team of Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks & Hangman Page facing Motor City Machine Guns, Jonathan Gresham & Jay White. Marty Scurll vs. Hiromu Takahashi is advertised as well.
ROH also revealed that their Ringside members would be able to stream the Global Wars tour stops in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Columbus, Ohio for free on their website. They’ll be in Pittsburgh on October 13th (with Cody, Omega & Scurll facing Will Ospreay, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano in the main event) before coming to Columbus on the 14th (with Cody defending the ROH World Championship against KUSHIDA).
Before those stops, the Global Wars tour will kick off in Buffalo, New York on October 12th. No broadcast plans have been announced for that show.
UPDATE: While Omega will be wrestling at the event, ROH issued a correction on Tuesday morning saying that the title defense isn’t confirmed: “It was announced in error that Kenny Omega would be defending the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. However, at this time, there is no confirmation on the US title being defended on October 15th.”
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Kenny Omega’s first announced defense of the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship is officially set.
Ring of Honor revealed today that they’ve added a stop in the Chicago area to their Global Wars tour, which is in collaboration with New Japan Pro Wrestling, on October 15th. Along with that, they noted that Omega would be defending his title on the show. His opponent will be revealed in the coming weeks.
The Global Wars: Chicago show will take place at the Odeum Expo Center in Villa Park, Illinois. It will be ROH’s debut at the venue.
Omega became the inaugural IWGP US Champion at NJPW’s shows in Long Beach, California earlier this month. He defeated Michael Elgin, Jay Lethal, and Tomohiro Ishii in tournament matches to win the title.
NJPW chairman Naoki Sugabayashi said before the weekend in Long Beach that they would want the title to be defended on future NJPW events in the US and in ROH.
The Global Wars tour also includes stops in Buffalo, New York on October 12th, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on the 13th, and Columbus, Ohio on the 14th. ROH hasn’t clarified whether Omega will only be working the Chicago show or not.
Image: Revolution Pro Wrestling. Results submitted by reader Jan Buxton from Walthamstow, London, England.
– Charlie Garrett & Joel Redman defeated EVIL & BUSHI by DQ
Decent match with Garrett as a standout. Obviously not wanting either team to do the job so LIJ were DQed when BUSHI used the mist.
– Drew Galloway came out to cut a promo. He put over the UK scene and he was clearly upset to be missing this show, he had hoped this would be his first match back. He explained that Japan had always been a goal as yet unrealized and he had asked to be on this show. He had a confrontation with Josh Bodom as he left, presumably setting something up down the line.
– Josh Bodom defeated Tomoaki Honma
This was a good match. One thing Bodom brings is some genuine heel heat to his matches. Bodom was physically sick just after getting the win.
– Yuji Nagata defeated Trent Seven
This was really good. Nagata had better chemistry with Seven than with Dunne last night. Seven is a big crowd favorite. Dave Mastiff came out after the match and attacked Seven.
– Will Ospreay defeated Jushin Liger
Ospreay dressed as “Dark Liger” in a black Liger costume. This was really fun, it had some good comedy and Ospreay dressing up gave the proceedings a new twist.
– Tomohiro Ishii defeated Pete Dunne
A lot of people liked this match but it was underwhelming for me for quite a while. It did however pick up towards the end. Dunne hit a low blow but was foiled by Will Ospreay coming out to distract both him and the referee allowing Ishii to hit a low blow of his own and get the win.
– Tetsuya Naito & SANADA defeated Zack Sabre Jr. & Marty Scurll
Like the first LIJ tag match, this had too much referee Chris Roberts being really bad at his job narrative but that gripe aside it was very good. Both Naito and Scurll come across as such stars. Naito pinned ZSJ after hitting a Destino.
Scurll cut a promo saying that he was leaving the territory and had signed for ROH and Sabre Jr. was moving to the states. He said we should say our goodbyes and that the LDRS were forever. He got a standing ovation but…swerve! Scurll gave ZSJ a low blow from behind and it looks like we will get that match at some point. Interesting dynamic as heel Scurll is pretty beloved at this point, and some of the crowd had turned on Sabre.
– British Heavyweight Champion Katsuyori Shibata defeated Chris Hero to retain his title
This was perhaps a bit shorter than ideal at 13 minutes but was still a great match. Both guys were over with the crowd and there were some incredible strikes. Shibata kicked out of a piledriver and the elbow/Gotch piledriver combination. Shibata won with the PK. I really hope Hero gets a run in NJPW in 2017.
Submitted by Pat Laprade from a sold-out Terminal 5 in NYC
– Dark match: Cheeseburger & Davey Vega b J. Diesel & Juan Francisco de Coronado when Cheeseburger hit the Shotei on Coronado
Kevin Kelly and BJ Whitmer on commentary.
– reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) defeated All Night Express (Rhett Titus & Kenny King) using the Chasing the Dragon in a good opener.
– Dalton Castle (w/ The Boys) beat Michael Elgin, Moose (w/Stokely Hathaway) & Lio Rush when he pinned Rush after an inverted Whirlybird.
Very good match and very cool spots, including Castle doing a German suplex to Elgin followed by one on Moose, which got a huge “Holy s**t” chant. All four guys were over with the crowd, Castle being the most over guy. Moose is improving every time I see him and Rush, at only 21, is one heck of a prospect.
– Kushida defeated Silas Young with the Kushida Lock
Kushida is the IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion but it was a non-title match. Weakest match so far. Perhaps Young wasn’t the best match up for Kushida. Not bad though, but not on par with the first two.
– Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) beat Trent Baretta & Gedo (w/Rocky Romero)
The Guns pinned Gedo after hitting the Dream Sequence on Gedo and then the stereo boots in the corner on Baretta. Solid match, not as good as the opener but still good.
– Jushin Liger & Mark & Jay Briscoe beat Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa & Adam Page after Liger hit the Liger Bomb on Tonga and Mark finished him with a big elbow from the top.
Good match. Crowd chanting “too sweet” at the Tonga, Loa and Page. Always special to see Liger live and the fans showed respect as he got a big reaction when his music hit and he got a huge chant before leaving.
– During intermission, Taeler Hendrix attacked Mandy Leon at ringside. She got in the ring with a chair and hit Leon with a DDT on it.
– BJ Whitmer got in the ring and cut a promo on Steve Corino. He said that he wasn’t a good father and a good husband and that the video footage he had wasn’t the only one. Corino got in the ring with a chair. Whitmer called him a bitch. Corino said he would beat the s**t out of him on 6/24 and called him a bitch to which the crowd chanted “you’re a bitch!”
– Veda Scott took Whitmer’s spot at commentary.
– Donovan Dijak (w/ Prince Nana) beat Cedric Alexander with his backbreaker rack into a knee lift.
Finish felt really flat. No one actually reacted and the fans were not happy with how the finish came out. After the match, Dijak raised Alexander’s arm and the crowd chanted “Thank you Cedric” and “Please don’t go” as it was Alexander’s ROH’s farewell before heading to WWE. According to PW Insider’s Mike Johnson, Prince Nana has signed a contract with ROH.
– War Machine (Ray Rowe & Hanson) defeated the ROH World Tag Team champions The Addiction (Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian) by DQ when Daniels broke a pin using one of the belts.
Match was ok, different from the first two tags. They did a ref bump. Kazarian tried to use the belt but nailed Daniels by accident instead.
– Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Matt Sydal with the high fly flow.
Very good match. Only 10-12 minutes, but I guess they are protecting Tanahashi who’s still injured. Crowd was really into him. Sydal was great too though. I don’t know if underrated is the right word, but he’s definitely one of the best on the indies right now and not getting the push he should have.
– IWGP Heavyweight champion Tetsuya Naito beat ACH in a non-title match with this Destino.
I’m glad Naito could actually wrestle because this was the best match of the show. A lot of dual chants “Let’s go Naito, ACH!” and lots of cool moves from ACH including a crazy kick while Naito was on the top rope. After the match, Naito attacked referee Todd Sinclair and got a huge pop for that.
– ROH Champion Jay Lethal (w/Taeler Hendrix) & Roderick Strong beat Adam Cole & Matt Jackson (w/Nick) and Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii when Strong hit his jumping high knee on Ishii.
Great match. I liked the Naito/ACH match better but someone could make a case this was the best match tonight. Okada and the Bucks got the biggest reaction out of the entrances. Even after 4 hours of wrestling, the crowd was super hot. They were really into everything Jackson, Cole and Okada, especially, were doing.
On Sunday night in Chicago Ridge, IL, the stars of Ring of Honor will battle the stars of New Japan Pro Wrestling at Global Wars, part of a unique series of early-spring events between the promotions that have been running for the past few years here in the U.S. and Canada.
Tonight’s PPV lineup is a strong one, headlined by a title match with the longtime champion Jay Lethal defending against a returning and popular challenger in Colt Cabana. You can email feedback to the show (positive/negative/neutral) to [email protected]
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RODERICK STRONG VS. ADAM PAGE VS. ACH VS. DALTON CASTLE – WINNER GETS A TV TITLE SHOT
Crowd was weak early, but picked up when ACH did a flip dive. The match kept moving with a lot of good moves. The finish saw Strong use a superplex, gutbuster and sick kick on Page, but then Castle used the bang a rang, dropping Strong onto Page and Castle pinned Page.
After the match, Strong got mad saying that he’s the best wrestler in the company and had the TV title shot.
JUSHIN LIGER & CHEESEBURGER VS. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & FRANKIE KAZARIAN
They did the big upset finish as Daniels was being cocky and doing finishers on Cheeseburger when Cheeseburger pinned Daniels with a front rolling cradle. Right before the finish, Daniel & Kazairan laid out Liger with Celebrity Rehab and Liger landed on his head. He was selling the neck but it was clearly a sell spot but he was out for the rest of the match.
Daniels and Kazarian laid out Cheesebuger as Daniels gave him a low blow. They used the Best Meltzer Ever after the match, which is a combination tombstone piledriver and Daniels coming off the top rope onto him.
ROH TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS WAR MACHINE VS. MARK & JAY BRISCOE
War Machine retained when Hanson gave Jay a spin kick and then they used the Fallout on Mark — a move where Hanson came off the top rope while Rowe held Mark up. Hanson pinned Mark. This was a wild match. The crowd miking on this show is weak or the crowd is real quiet. The match wasn’t smooth at all, but there were a lot of big moves and the crowd did give them a “This is awesome” chant. Jay put Hanson through a table with a double foot stomp. There were several dives and they did a lot of big stuff. Hanson also kicked out of both Froggy Bow (elbow off the top) by Mark and the Jay driller by Jay. Fans chanted “Thank you” when it was over.
IWGP CHAMPION TETSUYA NAITO VS. KYLE O’REILLY (NON-TITLE)
This was the best actual wrestling so far on the show, very good and Naito came across like a superstar but the crowd miking issue took this match down. O’Reilly did all of his stuff with the various submissions and Naito did his usual spots and mannerisms. The crowd at points lightly booed O’Reilly, but mostly were into the match. O’Reilly got a near fall with a bridging back suplex but Naito used a spinebuster and Destino for the pin. After the match, Naito used a low blow on O’Reilly and then threw the belt in the air. Before the match, Naito also dropped the belt down and showed no respect for it.
HIROSHI TANAHASHI & MICHAEL ELGIN VS. KAZUCHIKA OKADA & MOOSE
This was a significant result because Tanahashi & Elgin are a regualr New Japan tag team and they lost this match. Moose speared Elgin and Okada then hit Elgin with the Rainmaker to win. The fans were really into Tanahashi vs. Okada when they were in together. A lot of good stuff here including Okada and Moose both doing the dropkick with Tanahashi and Elgin sitting on the middle rope. Moose did a dive off the top rope to the floor on both Tanahashi and Elgin. Elgin did a delayed vertical suplex on Moose. The crowd knew most of the spots, even chanting “Ace” when Tanahashi did the Moose arm deal. People were on their feet a lot and did another “This is awesome” chant but it still felt quiet a lot. Good match.
TV CHAMPION TOMOHIRO ISHII VS. BOBBY FISH
They put over that Fish is 39 years old and this may be his last big chance. This was weird because Ishii worked the same kind of match he’d work if it was a Japanese big show and Fish was right with him but the crowd was so quiet. Fish won the title clean in the middle by choking Ishii all the way out. Ishii never tapped but went out. The crowd was shocked tHat was the ending. You can tell the place is porly miked beause everyone is standing, you can see people chanting but can barely hear it. This was the best match so far. Really hard hitting from start to finish, hard chops & hard kicks by Fish, Ishii did his headbutt spots and a delayed superplex spot.
YOUNG BUCKS & TAMA TONGA & TANGA LOA VS. KUSHIDA & MATT SYDAL & CHRIS SABIN & ALEX SHELLEY
This was a fast paced match with all kinds of big moves. The match was built around the Bucks setting a record for the world’s largest superkick party for a superkick record. Mr. Wrestling III had a superkick counter, but it totaled zero superkicks. This had the most reaction of anything on the show. Kushida and Sydal are two of the best wrestlers in the world, and Shelley did a lot of unique moves. The Bucks mostly were selling stuff while Tonga & Loa played monsters no selling stuff. After Kushida did a flip dive over the post onto Tonga & Loa, the Bucks used the Meltzer Driver on Shelley for the pin.
They had a confrontation at the desk with Mr. Wrestling III and B.J. Whitmer, who came out wearing a Masked Superstar mask since Superstar was a big rival of Wrestling II. Whitmer handed him a flash drive and told him to go to his hotel room and watch what’s on it after the show — clearly the next stage in the Corino vs. Whitmer feud.
They noted that they didn’t introduce the new Bullet Club member. That is still to come.
ROH CHAMPION JAY LETHAL VS. COLT CABANA
They were out there having a good match. Cabana was really over with the crowd, being it was in Chicago. Taeler Hendrix interfered and Nigel McGuinness and ref Todd Sinclair ejected her, McGuiness dragging her to the back. Cabana had Lethal in the Billy Goat’s Curse when Hendrix came back out and dragged Sinclair out of the ring. The Bucks came out, seemingly to superkick Hendrix for interfering, but she moved and they nailed Sinclair. But then they nailed Hendrix anyway.
The Bucks had two Bullet Club shirts and gave them to Lethal and Cabana. Then the lights went out. Adam Cole was in the ring with a Bullet Club shirt when they came on and they all superkicked Lethal and Cabana and a million security guards. Everyone was superkicking everyone, including Kevin Kelly, Mr. Wrestling III, a camera man and even Mr. Massie (the Bucks’ father). He jumped in the ring and they stopped Cole from superkicking him, but then they superkicked him.
Tonga & Loa spray painted BC on a table and Loa powerbombed a security guard through the table. This was all very reminiscent of an NWO-era Nitro show. The crowd kind of booed them as it was designed as a heel turn. They put zip ties on Lethal, and Cole kept superkicking him. Cole grabbed the belt, clearly teasing the idea that Cole was going after the title next.
At another point, after they took out the announcers, Matt got on the headset and pretended to be Jim Ross doing “This man has a family” and “stomping a mudhole” and called Nick “King.” So, the show ended with a ring and floor with more than a dozen people laid out and the Bucks, Cole, Tonga, and Loa left standing.
Worth it at half the price, the original alternate is back with the GRATIS edition to help get you in the mood for Tuesday morning’s New Japan Dontaku show. After we talk for 13 minutes about other random things like the state of women’s hockey, we get into NJPW-ROH in Chicago, Zeus matches, Junior Fujita, lying about attendance, the ballad of Ryusuke Taguchi, spotlights on SANADA, snowflake predictions for Tuesday morning’s Naito-Ishii main, and much more.
