ROH / NJPW - Honor Rising Tour 2018

[Papa Pillman]

The next two days, ROH and NJPW will return the most legendary wrestling venue in the world, Korakuen Hall, to present their co-branded Honor Rising Tour.

The cards have upped the interesting quotient this year from the past years:

Night One (2/23)

Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi & Chase Owens vs. Cody, Marty Scurll & Hangman Page

NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto defending against Beer City Bruiser

Dalton Castle, Jay Lethal & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Jay White, Beretta & Chuck Taylor

Hiromu Takahashi vs. KUSHIDA vs. Flip Gordon

The Young Bucks vs. Juice Robinson & David Finlay

Jushin Thunder Liger, Delirious & Cheeseburger vs. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Hikuleo

Toa Henare & Katsuya Kitamura vs. Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi


Night Two (2/24)
Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi vs. Cody & Marty Scurll

ROH World Champion Dalton Castle defending against Beretta

The Young Bucks & Hangman Page vs. Jay White, Chuck Taylor & YOSHI-HASHI

NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa defending against Jushin Thunder Liger, Delirious & Cheeseburger

Flip Gordon & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI

Jay Lethal, Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. Yujiro Takahashi, Chase Owens & Hikuleo

Toa Henare vs. Beer City Bruiser



I actually love all of the interesting notes from this card that go into making this tour must-see for the first time...
The Golden Lovers first matches since their reunion

The first teases of Kenny/Cody between the ropes following the unbelievably excellent angle that has played out between New Year's Dash/New Beginning/Being the Elite

Kenny picking his former regular BC tag-mate Chase Owens for the 6-man(Owens has partnered with Kenny in both the Junior and heavyweight tag leagues) and where Chase will stand in the conflict

An awesome title match on paper between Castle and Beretta

A tease of the Bucks possibly jumping to Heavies in NJPW by facing a NJPW heavyweight tag team that went 8-3 in 2017 as a pairing(including a 7-1 mark against BC HW's)

Flip Gordon getting his shot to Wow Korakuen(which he will and have the fan base in Japan begging for him to get a BOSJ spot later this spring)

And last but definitely not least- One of the most professionally presented and polished pro wrestlers you'll ever find in Hirooki Goto squaring off in one of the most peculiar pairings possible against a guy who is his antithesis in every way- The Beer City Bruiser, in the biggest match in the Bruiser's career and a chance I expect him to take full advantage of with a performance that will surprise everyone with limited knowledge of what he's capable of pulling off when given the stage to do so(don't judge a book by its obese, and probably a little drunk, cover)


Who else is planning to check out Honor Rising? and what are your thoughts on the very interesting cards that have been booked?

 

[JoeMallard]

I watch all the New Japan and ROH shows and I'll definitely be watching these shows. I'm more interested in both of these shows more than Elimination Chamber and Fastlane combined. I'm excited to see where the Bullet Club story will go with these shows. Being the Elite is completely shitting on whatever bullshit WWE storyline is happening now.

 

[Papa Pillman]

I watch all the New Japan and ROH shows and I'll definitely be watching these shows. I'm more interested in both of these shows more than Elimination Chamber and Fastlane combined.

I wouldn't go quite that far personally; both these two promotions still have some shows coming up that this tour will just work as set up for, and while the cards look intriguing, this tour has been more of a throwaway event in the past. As for the upcoming WWE PPVs they do hold some intrigue as well, considering a fair amount of the Mania card is still seemingly unresolved, and I'm expecting the talent to deliver some hard work on those shows(plus, full disclosure, I'll be at Fastlane so I have an added interest there).

I'm excited to see where the Bullet Club story will go with these shows. Being the Elite is completely shitting on whatever bullshit WWE storyline is happening now.

Being the Elite really has been appointment viewing lately for anyone who cares about the Bullet Club at all.



As for Night 1, I'll run through my thoughts:
I was hoping for confirmation that Kitamura would be having his excursion in ROH, but that didn't seem to happen.

The Bucks looked awesome, and not out of place at all facing a regular New Japan Heavyweight tag pairing; and combining getting the victory with the conjecture on commentary and the storyline playing out on BTE, it would appear The Bucks will be making the jump sooner than later.

The three way was awesome, and Flip getting the victory would seem to assure him a spot in this year's BOSJ. I was surprised by the match though, Flip seemed to have the least offense and really didn't get adequate opportunities to get all of his shit in, but he looked great, the big spots he did whip out were well executed, and he was over almost instantly. KUSHIDA and Hiromu were what you'd expect- ridiculously good. I had that match at three and a half stars.

The Bruiser was super over with the Korakuen crowd, and Goto let him take the vast majority of the offense(and sold fucking hard for him). This was the biggest moment for BCB's career hands down.

The main event was awesome, mostly due to Marty's incredible character work, playing the situation; and Chase Owens doing some of the same and frankly just busting his ass all match long. This was an angle disguised as a four star match, and that's what it needed to be. They left so much on the table for the Night 2 main event, it could get nuts. Also Cody has mega heat, and the Golden Lovers are as over as any act I've ever seen in hundreds of Korakuen shows that I've watched through the years. Cody's post match promo is worth checking out too.

I dug Night one, looking forward to Night two.