ROH/New Japan Relationship: “Best for Business”

Beginning this Sunday, one of my favorite weeks of the wrestling calendar kicks off, we get to see the next chapter in the blossoming Ring Of Honor/New Japan Pro Wrestling relationship with the “Global Wars” PPV and the subsequent “War of the Worlds” tour in Dearborn, Michigan, Toronto, and New York City later next week. This happens to be the 3rd installment of the tour, and on paper looks to have it’s finest lineup yet.

Let’s start with “Global Wars” on Sunday evening from Chicago, headlined by the ROH World Heavyweight Championship match between the champion, Jay Lethal and his challenger, Colt Cabana. With all the talent on ROH’s and New Japan’s rosters, I am a little bummed to see Colt Cabana getting a world title shot. I know Cabana did a lot for ROH in their early years and is a former NWA World champ himself, but we as fans can’t get a Lethal-Okada or Lethal-Moose main event???

Lethal’s been on quite the run on both continents and nobody expects Cabana to get the title. Also for Sunday, I am very curious to see how the new tag team “The Raining Moose” Okada and Moose look against Hiroshi Tanahashi and Michael Elgin. Okada-Moose had an excellent match at the 14th Anniversary Show and this team has been made out of a show of respect for each other. My hope is that Okada would stay longer in the U.S., especially after dropping the IWGP title or Moose gets an extended stay in Japan and they become either ROH or IWGP tag champs. Speaking of tag teams, War Machine and “Dem Boys” the Briscoes resume their hellacious rivalry. This time it’s for the ROH tag titles.

In previous matchups, these 2 teams beat the tar out of each other and I’m very surprised that this wasn’t made to be a No-DQ match. I expect The Briscoes to put over War Machine and they’ll be a made team. The 1st ever New Japan contracted star to win a ROH title, Tomohiro Ishii is also coming over on the tour. He defends the TV title against Bobby Fish. To me, this is just a match to get Ishii over Fish, who does have a valid argument to having a 1-on-1 TV title match with the champ. If you look further down the card, we have a 4-corner survival match for the next contender for the TV title between ACH, Adam Page, Dalton Castle, and Roderick Strong. I am a MASSIVE mark for both ACH and Dalton Castle, and if there is ever a time to put one of those 2 over and then put them over Ishii for the TV title, this would be the perfect opportunity. Castle would be my guy because he is SO over with everybody that he deserves the title.

Later next week, cards in Dearborn, Michigan (May 9th), Toronto (May 11th), and New York City (May 14th) will take place. These will also act as TV tapings for ROH going into “Best in the World 2016”. These cards have not been completed as of yet, but there already have been some news to come out that has me curious about the direction of the company going forward. On May 11th, in Toronto, the main event will be Jay Lethal vs. Donovan Dijak in a non-title match. I have been screaming for a year that Dijak is a main event player and just needs to stop being Truth Martini and Jay Lethal’s hired muscle. That moment finally happened at the first of the year and outside of an appearance at the tv tapings after the 14th Anniversary show, he’s been MIA. I expect Dijak to go over Lethal and be the #1 contender for the World title and be in the main event of the “Best in the World” PPV.

For me, the relationship between ROH and NJPW is the best thing going in pro wrestling today. We get to see the 2nd and 3rd best wrestling promotions in the world, wrestlers that very few of us in the United States get to see in New Japan wrestlers, and fresh new matchups. I don’t doubt for a minute that in the very near future we could see a guy like Moose or Kyle O’Reilly become the IWGP Heavyweight Champion or Okada or Hirooki Goto becoming ROH World Champion. And to steal the tagline from another wrestling company, that would be “Best For Business”.

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