ROH & NJPW “G1 Supercard” Review 04/06/2019

Hello Misfits! It’s the Wrestling Classic here with my review for the Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling “G1 Supercard” that took place in the historic Madison Square Garden over the busiest wrestling weekend of the year. This was a historic event as this is the first time in 60 years that any other wrestling promotion other than the WWE hosted an event at the world’s most famous arena. It has been on my wrestling bucket list to attend a wrestling show in the Garden. I always thought it would be a WWE event due to the circumstances but I could not be happier to be in attendance for such a historic night for the world of wrestling. Not only was I in attendance but I was there as media to cover to event and make sure it got as much exposure as it could through my multiple channels. I got to witness and feel the excitement from everyone involved with this show from the talent to backstage personnel. This was a big one and you could feel it in the atmosphere. For so many of these wrestlers, they may have thought they would never be able to work in the Garden because they might never work for the WWE but with this event, they were given that opportunity. I think this was especially special for those wrestlers participating from NJPW who may never have thought they’d be able to work the Garden being a company based out of Japan.
This show sold out prior to the announcement of AEW and the Elite was still working in both ROH and Japan. Many people thought once The Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes, Kenny Omega and the rest of the guys left to do their own thing, that this show would suffer. Although, many fans might have backed out once they found out those guys wouldn’t be there, the place was still packed with fans hanging from the rafters. NJPW and ROH did a great job of still providing us with a stacked card with the talent that still remained.
This night told a tale of two show as the matches were split between ROH storylines and NJPW storylines. There is an argument there that one company made this night more special than the other but lets get to my review to find out why.

This years G1 Supercard came to us live from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.

– The commentating team consisted of Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cobana for ROH, Kevin Kelly and Chris Charlton for the english NJPW and guest commentators Toru Yano, Mandy Leon, Caprice Coleman and Nick Aldis.

30-Man Honour Rumble
Kenny King Wins
in 42:41 by last eliminating Jushin “Thunder” Liger
This battle royal was fun but pretty long. There were surprising moments and it was stacked with talent that didn’t have any other purpose to be on the card. Participants included Rocky Romero, Chase Owens, PJ Black, Colt Cabana, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Gato, Jonathan Gresham, Bad Luck Fale, Cheeseburger, Beer City Bruiser, Delirious Ryusuke Taguchi, Rhett Titus, Minoru Suzuki and Kenny King to name a few. There were some awesome surprises as well like King Haku, Jushin “Thunder” Liger and the one that really made my night, The Great Muta. This was what you would expect from a battle royal and people got excited being able to count down for the next entrant. For a lot of wrestlers involved in this match this would be there first time wrestling in the Garden. I think it was really special for the likes of Liger and Muta who are legends in their own right but may have gone their entire careers without wrestling in Madison Square Garden. It was also cool to see Colt Cabana leave the commentary desk to get involved with the battle royal. The final four came down to Liger, Muta and the two members of The Kingdom. Eventually it came down to Liger and Muta which the crowd popped for but eventually Kenny King appeared and eliminated both of them for the surprise victory. I was okay with King winning but I think subconsciously I wanted to see Muta or Liger actually stand victorious. I MEAN I GOT TO SEE GREAT MUTA LIVE IN THE GARDEN? I was already satisfied.

Winner Takes All
ROH TV Championship & NEVER Openweight Championship
Jeff Cobb (C) def. Will Ospraey (C)
in 12:52 by pin fall
This was a solid match between two really talented guys who fight different styles. Cobb is more a of a powerhouse who relies more on his strength and agility whereas Ospraey is more of an aerial assassin who relies more on his speed and unique offence. This was a great match to open the actual show as these two are both work horses and they had the crowd going. The pacing of this match was great too. It got started and never really slowed down. There was a spot where Cobb went for a delayed suplex on Ospraey and it created such an amazing visual for the live crowd. These two both had near falls but in the end Cobb’s got one over on the UK sensation. This was a great opening match and I think the right guy went over. I’ve all around North America in the last year and everywhere I go, Jeff Cobb has been booked on the card of the independent shows I attend. I don’t dislike Ospraey but I can tell you that I am a Cobb fan.

Rush def. Dalton Castle
in 00:15 by pin fall
The Dalton Castle entrance really portrayed how ROH and NJPW really went out of their way to make this feel like a spectacle. Rush is new to me but he bulldozed through Castle and finished him super fast. Castle is former ROH Champion but I lost interest in him mid-way during his reign so this is great way to build Rush as a star on a major stage over a former champion that has already lost momentum. Following the match Castle beats up his boys.

Woman of Honour Championship
Kelly Klein def. Mayu Iwatani (C)
in 10:38 by pin fall
I’ll be honest, going into this match I was not that familiar with either woman. I’d have to watch this match back to give you a real opinion on it too. This match happened at the same time Bret Hart got tackled on stage at the Hall of Fame, as someone who talks about wrestling on social media, I was distracted as was most of my section which was dedicated to wrestling media personnel. Kelly Klein picked up the victory after hitting the K-Power for the finish. This is Kelly’s second reign as the WOH Championship. The highlight of this for me was what followed the match. Angelina Love and Velvet Sky made their way to the ring. This also brought Mandy Leon who left the announcers table to make her way to the ring to attack Klein from behind while she was distracted by “The Beautiful People.” Two other women from Stardom came to the aid of Klein but got taken out. Love drew on Klein’s forehead with lipstick while Leon took a selfie of the group. Leon, Love, and Sky posed in front of a big screen graphic that identified their new faction as “The Allure” before exiting the arena. I was just glad to see my girl Mandy Leon back in the mix. I got nothing but love and unconditional support for her.

– Mega Ran comes out to boos to perform for the fans. Bully Ray comes out while Mega Ran tries to kindly tell Bully to back off and let this end calmly. The fans want Bully to beat up Mega Ran, so he does. I couldn’t be happier for my boy Mega Ran on doing big things such as performing in Garden on such a historic evening.

Six-Man Street Fight
Flip Gordon & Lifeblood (Juice Robinson & Mark Haskins) def. Bully Ray, Shane Taylor and Silas Young
in 15:01 by pin fall
Bully Ray cuts a promo and says that his open challenge for a street fight was still on even though his original opponent Juice Robinson was laid out earlier in the night. A returning Flip Gordon answers the challenge. Shane Taylor and Silas Young, who had not been booked on the G1 Supercard, entered the ring to help Ray. Juice Robinson and Mark Haskins then surprisingly entered the arena with a dumpster full of hardcore match weapons. This quickly turned into a six-man street fight instead of the one-on-one street fight that was promoted. I was cool with it, as it got more guys on the card. This was a fun hardcore match with some hard-hitting spots. The finish came with the three babyface’s getting the best of Bully Ray. Flip Gordon would hit the 450 for the win. This was the first gimmicky match on the main show. It is really evident to tell what is ROH booking on this show and what is NJPW booking.

Three Way Match
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Dragon Lee def. Taiji Ishimori (C) & Bandido
in 08:54 via pin fall
This was a great match that really brought the action back to the show after the last two matches which kind of had the people tuned out. This was a non-stop sprint to the finish with these three guys pulling out all the stops. I was rooting for Bandido going into this match but not disappointed with the finish at all. These guys were given under ten minutes to give us a helluva match and I think they did a great job with the time allocated to them. It reminded me of the glory days of the cruiserweights in WCW. I can only imagine what they could have given us if they were just given a few more minutes. The moonsault slam that Bandido hut on both guys popped the crowd just as it should have. The reverse rana Lee hit on Bandido looked painful and was followed by the Desnucadora for the win. A really fun match.

Winner Takes All Four Way Match
ROH Tag Team Championship & IWGP Tag Team Championship
Guerrillas Of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) (C) def. Villain Enterprises (PCO & Brody King) (C), Los Ingobernables de Japan (Evil & Sanada) & The Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe)
in 09:45 via pin fall
It’s another winner takes all match with four badass teams. There was not a team in this match that I am not a fan of. This match could have went any way and I would not have been disappointed in the result. PCO’s entrance involved him coming out on a rolling electric chair where he was electrocuted before making his entrance. This was another match that once it kicked off in a higher gear it never slowed down. All six guys are workhorses and it showed. Tiger Hitori was trying to keep control here but it wasn’t going to happen. Everyone was getting their stuff in. Brody King and Mark Briscoe both took to the air to take out their opponents. PCO took some nasty bumps including the one near the finish where he got power bombed outside of the ring right on to the floor. LIJ tried to turn this match into a brawl. Jay got a near fall after a Jay Driller. However, it was Tama and Tanga played the smart game by picking their spots and saving the match time and time again to eventually pick up the victory by taking out the Villain Enterprises. This match played to everyones strengths and was entertaining as hell. 

– Enzo Amore and Big Cass run in from the crowd and start brawling with the Briscoe Brothers. This was played as if it was a shoot rather than a work. They were out there as GOD was still in the ring celebrating which made it seem like more of a shoot. They didn’t even show Enzo and Cass on the live feed or on camera which made it seem like something that wasn’t supposed to happen which we’ve seen be the case with Enzo like the time he tried to hijack the audience at Survivor Series from the crowd. However, as the days have passed it looks more and more like a work. Bully Ray made his way out to fight them off as well. Once again this wasn’t shown on the live broadcast feed but it was by the live crowd and really got social media talking. I’ll say it was interesting to say the least.

British Heavyweight Championship
Zack Sabre Jr (C) w/ Taka Michinoku def. Hiroshi Tanahashi
in 15:14 via submission
I knew this match was going to bring us back down to technical wrestling and I enjoyed the change of pace. I will also mention it was really cool to see a legend like Tanahashi be able to compete in the Garden. Its also great to see Zack Sabre get the opportunity to wrestle in the Garden as well as its unsure if he’d ever make that WWE jump full-time as he has formerly participated in the cruiserweight classic. There was a lot of storytelling here through wrestling and submission holds. Both guys were fighting off the others technical skill and experience through creative transitions and fighting out of holds. It was all the little details and things they did between moves and transitions that that stood out. In the end Sabre was able to make Tanahashi tap out to retrain his championship. 

IWGP Intercontinental Championship
Kota Ibushi def. Tetsuya Naito (C)
in 20:53 via pin fall
Two of my favourite NJPW professional wrestlers facing off against each other in Madison Square Garden for a championship that has a lineage of workhorses. The visual of these two staring each other down from across the ring under the MSG ceiling was something special. I dont think either guy ever expected to work in this venue and it sure as hell felt historic. These two gave us exactly what we would expect from them. It was a very back and fourth match for the most part with both guys trying to get the upper hand on the other and getting frustrated when they couldn’t. The fans were really into this match and I feel like this is where they really woke back up after being confused from the entire Enzo and Cass situation. The chemistry between these two is off the charts. They hit us with a ton of false finishes heading into the finish. It was done in the best way though because you actually did believe that any one of the sequences and finishers that were hit could be the finish. Ibushi kicked out of a reverse rana followed by Destino and it really had the crowd going crazy. Naito tries going for it again but Ibushi counters and quickly pays tribute to Nakamura by hitting two bom a ye’s aka as a “kinshasa” these days for a near fall. Ibushi got another near fall with a last ride but eventually picked up the win after a Kamigoye to finally become the IWGP Intercontinental Champion. What a match! NJPW is really showing up tonight and stealing the show. The crowd was hot for this and rightfully so.

Three Way Ladder Match
ROH Championship
Matt Taven def. Jay Lethal (C) & Marty Scurll
in 29:35 by obtaining the championship
The promo before this match did a good job on catching me up with the build up. To be honest I haven’t watched ROH in a couple of months and I was really intrigued to see how Matt Taven had gotten to this position where he is fighting for ROH Championship. It’s nothing against Matt Taven as a talent because I do think he’s really talented but I missed his entire rise to the top of the card clearly. For those who know me, you are well aware that I was rooting for Marty but would have been totally fine with Jay Lethal winning as well. The finish came as a shock to me but the match was really good. The thing that really stood out to me about this match is that they found ways to get innovative with the ladders in a ladder match which seems harder to do as every years passes since there has been so many ladder matches in the past 25 years. All three guys shined and got their stuff in. All three guys looked like they had the match won. There was of course a spot where Marty stopped Taven from grabbing the belts by snapping his fingers from the top of the ladder and where he tried using his umbrella to retain the belts but it didn’t work. The entire making an X with the ladders was something I don’t remember seeing before. I can’t rule out that it hasn’t happened before but I don’t remember seeing it. Scurll suplexes Taven onto the X shaped ladders. Lethal throws the ladders out and hit a fan. This starts a lawsuit chant but the fan played it cool and seemed to be okay. They end up bringing out a very large purple ladder and in the end Matt Taven became a Grandslam ROH Champion by winning the belt. I think the fans were really surprised by this result as well but it is very deserving. I can only imagine Lethal will be champion again one day. Scurll is inevitably heading to AEW once his contract expires. This match was the best thing I think ROH provided on the card. This entire night feels like a fresh start for ROH.

IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Kazuchika Okada def. Jay White (C) w/ Gedo
in 32:33 by pin fall
It’s time for the main event and its fitting that Okada is the main event of this historic night in Madison Square Garden. This was my second time seeing The Rainmaker live but it was something special to see him live again especially in the garden. Okada has really cemented his legacy in the past decade and he has really earned this spot in the main event in the Garden. Jay White is young, hungry and building his legacy as we speak in Japan. He has been the token Gajin since the exit of Omega and the rest of the Elite. White has also taken the role as the leader of the Bullet Club. These two absolutely stole the show and capped off the night perfectly. Regardless if people were getting tired at this point, the fans were invested in seeing if Okada could once again become the IWGP Champion. Gedo got involved a bunch of times trying to distract Okada and there is clearly still some bad blood there because Okada would get distracted. After some back and fourth action, Okada would be able to take out both guys with a crossbody over the barricade on to both guys. There was a part of me that felt like Okada was getting a lot of offence that there was no way he was going to win. White looked defeated mid-way into the match. The match really went into the back and fourth close call spots that are notorious in big NJPW matches. There were a couple of near falls, followed with some trading shots in between until we got back to a couple of more near falls. Gedo got involved one more time allowing White to get a low-blow in but it didn’t seal the deal. The finish came when Okada hit a tombstone followed by a rainmaker for the win. This was a HUGE title change for such an important show for both companies and the wrestling world in general. It concludes this great story of Okada losing himself, finding himself and then finding his way back to the top of the card. Finally Okada finds himself as champion again in the world’s most famous arena. I’m sure this isn’t the last time we see Jay White in the main event but this was the best way to send the fans home happy on this significant show. This was a REALLY good match.

Final Thoughts
This show had its highs and lows. I really do feel like the NJPW matches and talent really saved this show. If ROH tried going into this alone, I dont think it would have been as successful as it was. I can’t say the same if things were vice versa because the NJPW stuff on this show told a way better story than the ROH stuff. I am pretty confident that this could have survived if it was just a NJPW show. Regardless, the combination of both companies gave us the best of both worlds and proved that the promotion on the header does not need to say “WWE” for their to be a successful wrestling show in Madison Square Garden. ROH told us more sports entertainment like stories whereas NJPW reminded me why I call professional wrestling, the greatest form of art and athleticism. The last three matches were great. There technically wasn’t a bad match on the card as everything offered something different but there were some matches on this card that don’t stand out as much as others but that’s okay. This show will always be in the history books with seven championship title changes. I’ll also always remember this as the night I first got to witness a wrestling in the Garden. It was also the time I got to see the legendary Great Muta live for the first and potentially my only time. Overall, it was a solid show. It could have been better maybe but it could have also been a lot worse. They also were able to satisfy the sold out audience that didn’t bail once the Elite was no longer on the card which makes me appreciate the show even more. I enjoyed it thoroughly. If you haven’t checked it out, I recommend you do.
Final Rating – 8/10

What were your final thoughts on ROH/NJPW G1 SuperCard? What final grade would you give the event? Where would you rate it on a scale of ten? Do you agree with my review? Leave your comments, opinions and thoughts below in the comments section.