Results, Recap, Review of ROH/NJPW G1 Supercard
In the thirty five year history no one has ever tried to run a major show on Wrestlemania Weekend that would rival what WWE does. This year that was not the cause, because Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling teamed up to put on G1 Supercard. People talk about how stacked Takeovers and Wrestlemanias are, but in terms of quality of wrestling cards this was promoted as good as anything you could ever see. Not only was this a stacked card, but it was in the most historical arena ever in Madison Square Garden. Could this show live up to the hype? Well before I answer that question, here are the results of G1 Supercard:
-Preshow: Kagetsu, Jenny Rose and Hazuki defeated Hana Kimura, Stella Grey and Sumie Sakai
-Preshow: Kenny King wins the Honor Rumble
-Jeff Cobb defeated Will Ospreay to retain the ROH Television Championship and captured the Never Openweight Championship
-Rush defeated Dalton
-Kelly Klein defeated Mayu Iwatani to win the Women of Honor Championship
-Flip Gordon, Mark Haskins and Juice Robinson defeated Bully Ray, Silas Young and Shane Taylor in a New York City Street Fight
-Dragon Lee defeated Bandido and Taiji Ishimori to win the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship
-Guerrillas of Destiny defeated Villian Enterprises, The Briscoes, and Evil/Sanada to retain the IWGP Tag Team Championships and capture the Ring of Honor Tag Team Championships.
-Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to retain the RevPro British Heavyweight Championship
-Kota Ibushi defeated Tetsuya Naito to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship
-Matt Taven defeated Jay Lethal and Marty Scurll in a Ladder Match to win the Ring of Honor Championship
-Kazuchika Okada defeated Jay White to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
The opening match of the night was for the ROH Television and IWGP Never Openweight Championships in a Winner Take All Match between Jeff Cobb and Will Ospreay. Cobb is such a powerhouse, Ospreay is a high-flyer, but both have technical abilities. This was a really awesome match for two competitors that had a hundred pound weight difference. Even though Will Ospreay went home empty handed you could tell the American crowd absolutely loved him. Jeff Cobb is an absolute animal in his own right and he is going to have a very big future ahead of him. The WWE had Goldust, NXT has The Velveteen Dream, but ROH has Dalton Castle in all of his charisma. Castle took on Rush and was defeated within 30 seconds, which was an absolute shock. When I did my G1 Supercard Preview show, I had said Castle has been hit or miss since he’s lost the ROH World Championship. After the match, Castle beat down The Boys and inevitably turned heel.
One thing that Ring of Honor has been trying to improve on is it’s Women’s division known as Women of Honor. The Women of Honor Champion Mayu Iwatani entered MSG to defend the championship against a formidable Kelly Klein. The Women don’t get a lot of time on TV when ROH airs on the local affliliates, so it’s hard to follow what’s going on sometimes. However, things got really interesting after Kelly Klein won the championship. Velvet Sky, Angelina Love and Mandy Leon made their way down to the ring and attacked Klein. I have not seen The Beautiful People in a long time, but it makes sense considering Sky is dating Bully Ray. Going into this event, Bully Ray threw down an open challenge for a New York City Street Fight. Originally, Juice Robinson accepted the challenge but was taken out backstage before the match. Bully Ray’s challenge was accepted by Flip Gordon who had been out with an injury. This match got turned into a 6-man tag when Shane Taylor and Silas Young came out to help to Bully, and Mark Haskins and Juice Robinson came out to help Flip. There was some really nasty things going on in this match, but in the end the good guys win the match.
At Wrestlemania, the Cruiserweights are being regulated to the preshow, but if you want great Lightweight pro wrestling action then please go back and watch the match between Bandido, Dragon Lee and Taiji Ishimori. These three put on a clinic for what lightweights, junior heavyweights and cruiserweights should be. The tag team division is another thing that ROH and New Japan do very well and tonight it was on display. It was The Briscoes, Villain Enterprises, Guerrillas of Destiny, and the team of Evil and Sanada. This match was so fantastic and so hard hitting I couldn’t stand it. At the end of this match, the Guerrillas of Destiny stood tall with all the gold. One match I was intrigued by was Zack Sabre Jr and Hiroshi Tanahashi because they have only faced each other twice and it was such a hard hitting battle. This battle was no different but this time it Sabre coming out on top.
The Intercontinental Championship match featured Naito and Kota Ibushi, which in my opinion are embodiment of New Japan Pro Wrestling. These two have created such a legacy in New Japan that might never be duplicated again. These two showed why NJPW is a premier wrestling company. The honor, the pride and the fighting spirit is what makes New Japan so great. In match one of the double main event, the ROH World Championship was decided in a Ladder Match between Jay Lethal, Marty Scurll and Matt Taven. Jay Lethal is the face of ROH, Marty Scurll is the most popular star in ROH and Matt Taven is trying to get to top in ROH. The fans did not like Matt Taven and it showed in this match. There was a lot of chaos in this match including a fan getting hit with a ladder at ringside. This match could have gone to any of the competitors, but in my opinion ROH made a bad booking decision here. Marty Scurll is arguably the most popular foreign wrestler in the states right now.
In the final match, the IWGP Heavyweight Championship was on the line between champion Jay White and challenger Kazuchika Okada. I have to say that Okada is also another one that is the embodiment of New Japan. His legacy, popularity and impact there will stand the test of time. It was due to all of those reasons that Okada is once again champion. Jay White had a great match and has nothing to be ashamed of. This will not be the end of Jay White. Ring of Honor and New Japan definitely made their mark on Madison Square Garden tonight. When ever you make a first impression you want it to be a good one and tonight they made a first good impression overall. I will give G1 Supercard in 8.5 out of 10. There were a couple of mishaps and bad booking decisions, but it’s things they can learn from. With all the history WWE has and all the hype AEW is getting they better both watch out, because the partnership of these two promotions is still a force to be reckoned with.
