Cero Reviews NJPW/ROH Honor Rising 2019 2.23

[cero2k]

NJPW/ROH Honor Rising 2019, Day 2
February 23, 2019
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan

Suzuki-Gun (Zack Sabre Jr & TAKA Michinoku) vs Jonathan Gresham & Toa Henare - 6/10
Once again, they gave Gresham a GREAT showing, this time against one of his arch-nemesis Sabre, who he can really show off, but in addition, he also got the submission win over TAKA.

"The Villain" Marty Scurl vs Robbie Eagles - 7/10
I'm really really glad to see Marty back to the Villain coats and no more doctor masks. Really good match, I don't remember ever seeing this pairing, but it worked out nicely. They did a standing headscissors takedown from the top rope, but it took too long to set up. Scurll won via Crossface Chickenwing. Crowd really missed Marty.

Delirious & Cheeseburger vs Toru Yano & Colt Cabana - 5/10
They did some chair comedy between Delirious and Yano that lead to Delirious wanting a Deathmatch, and I'll admit it, that made me laugh. Then Cabana and Cheeseburger tagged in and burger teased leaving because fans chanted for Cabana, what an attention whore. The rest was comedy, some good, some meh. Cabana won over Delirious with a press over the top turnbuckle. It was fun, but nothing else.

CHAOS (Hirooki Goto & Will Ospreay) vs Jeff Cobb & Dalton Castle - 7/10
Seeing Cobb and Castle, for a small second, made me thinking that Matt Riddle had bulked up. Match was back and forward, CHAOS worked over Castle a bit, but that was about it, we got to see more Cobb vs Goto, and what I'd say are hints of Cobb vs Ospreay for a future title challenge? Ospreay won with the Hidden Blade and an impressive Storm Breaker. Good match. Worth noting that Castle was good too, just not the best given the company.

Colt Cabana joined commentary at this point, and I have a feeling that KK asked for him, maybe having an issue with Chris because a match earlier, we accidentally had audio of Kelly sending a 'note' backstage, Chris asking about it, and Kelly kinda blowing him off.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi) vs The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Vinny Marseglia) - 7/10
If Taven is "The King" and Marseglia is "The Horror King", what is O'Ryan king of? I guess if they're going to have The Kingdom outclassed on the tour, you may as well outclass them to the three NJPW guys that would outclass literally anyone in the world. I appreciate that Kevin Kelly brought up Taven's involvement with CMLL's Ingobernables stable, but he is completely getting the story wrong about the hair vs hair match, Taven didn't sacrifice his hair to betray Volador, he betrayed Volador when he realized he was going to lose and hoped that betraying Volador would mean that Rush would let him keep his hair.

Having said all that, Taven and Marseglia actually looked ok in there. Shingo was the mvp of the match, his hot tag was great. The match I felt went longer than it needed. Naito won with Destino on Marseglia.

Post-match - Taven kinda challenged Naito to a hair vs hair match in Arena Mexico, but it was just him talking out of his ass, nothing planned.

ROH World Championship Match
Jay Lethal (C) vs T.K. O'Ryan - 6/10
Kingdom has been coming to a different song for the tour, and I think I like this song more. This was a nothing match with a pretty obvious winner. Lethal gave a lot to O'Ryan, but it was really just all Lethal, who at the end won with a Lethal Injection.

Post-match - Matt Taven attacked Lethal. Taven helped O'Ryan to the back like a good buddy.

IWGP World Tag Team Championship Match
Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL & SANADA) (C) vs Guerrillas of Destiny w/ Jado - 6.5/10
With this win, GoD become the second place in tag team title reigns in IWGP history; in addition, according to Chris Charlton, this was the first tag title change in Korakuen Hall since the 80's. Match was't that good until the final minutes, not their worst, but it just took forever to hit second gear. Half of the match was GoD working over EVIL, I think it was about half way through the match that SANADA finally got tagged in; but then, a third of the match was GoD working on SANADA. Last few minutes between Tama Tonga and SANADA were great, and if anything else, GoD looked like the better team tonight. SANADA letting go of the Skull End for the Moonsault or when LIJ focused on Jado and turned their backs on GoD are just two of the things that I can reference on how LIJ was just not wrestling a good match tonight. Weird to say it with GoD, but the right team won.

Bloodline (Juice Robinson & David Finlay) vs The Briscoes - 8/10
The match was really good, The Briscoes were completely dominant and vicious in there, and Bloodline as the never give up babyfaces was great. Coming in, i knew about David Finlay's injury, but I didn't know when it was coming, so I just kept cringing at most of the spots while he was babyface in peril. I do like how they handled the injury and actually used it to kill off Finlay with an elbow for the win. Best match so far, even with the finish.

Post-match - Jay Briscoe cut a promo, claiming to be the baddest team on the planet. Briscoe then made the challenge against Guerrillas of Destiny, titles vs titles at Madison Square Garden! Just yesterday I was saying that I wanted to see them go, and now it's titles vs titles. GoD came out and accepted the challenge.

OVERALL THOUGHTS
This was a completely throwaway show even with the title change and angle at the end. It was so throwaway that after the Briscoes vs GoD angle, I saw there expecting a main event with Okada, Tanahashi, or someone like that, and then everyone started walking out and I was like, wow, that's it? Anyway, it was an easy show to watch so I don't feel bad.