Madison Square Garden. It is truly the mecca of entertainment. For the WWE it was always their home base. So it was quite a shock when last year New Japan and Ring of Honor announced a huge show at the Garden the night before WrestleMania. But can they deliver on what should be both promotion’s biggest show in the United States to date? The G1 Supercard will have eleven matches, a ladder match, and ten titles on the line. It is a stacked card for the busy New York/WrestleMania weekend. Let us look at this exciting night of pro wrestling: Here we present our Preview: for the NJPW & ROH G1 Supercard.
Honor Rumble
It is pre-show time! It is a 30 man Rumble with superstars from Ring of Honor and New Japan. We only have a few announced names likes PJ Black, Cheeseburger, Kenny King and Beer City Bruiser. But there really is one reason to watch the pre-show match. It is likely the final United States wrestling appearance of Jushin Thunder Liger.
Liger, the greatest junior heavyweight of all time, announced he would retire at Wrestle Kingdom 2020. I am sure Liger will last a long time in the Rumble match so the Madison Square Garden can appreciate the great champion one last time.
Winner Take All match for the NEVER Openweight and ROH World Television Championships : Will Ospreay (c) vs. Jeff Cobb (c)
It is time for two titles to be on the line! Will Ospreay and Jeff Cobb will be a true clash of styles on Saturday night. Both have been on quite the successful winning streak in recent months.
Jeff Cobb joined Ring of Honor full time in Summer of 2018. In his first official match with Ring of Honor he defeated Punishment Martinez for the ROH Television Title. He has run through the roster well until losing to Ospreay at Honor Rising in February.
Ospreay, on the other hand, has finally joined the heavyweight ranks in New Japan. He won the NEVER Openweight title against Ibushi at Wrestle Kingdom 13. He had a lot of success making the quarterfinals of New Japan Cup and then responded to Cobb’s challenged for a title versus title match. Who will be wearing thes two titles going forward after Saturday?
Preview: NJPW & ROH G1 Supercard
Rush vs. Dalton Castle
It is Ring of Honor’s newest star versus the former World Champion. Dalton Castle, one of the most charismatic wrestlers in Ring of Honor, has had some difficult luck with injuries in the last few months. It is nice to see him challenge Rush after the recent Ring of Honor Anniversary Show.
Rush has been in CMLL since 2009. He became a founding member of Los Ingobernables in 2014 and was a major part of CMLL for years. In 2019 he joined Ring of Honor getting a major win over Bandido at the Anniversary Show. Will Dalton Castle be able to slow down Ring of Honor’s rising star? It should be fun to watch.
Women of Honor Championship: Mayu Iwatani (c) vs. Kelly Klein
It is the fifth match between these two in their long-lasting feud. Kelly Klein has been the top heel in Ring of Honor for years and finally won the title at Final Battle 2018. That is when Mayu Iwatani, the Stardom star and one of the best wrestlers in the world, took the Women of Honor title in February 2019. Who will win the Rubber Match on one of the biggest stages possible?
New York Street Fight: Bully Ray vs. Juice Robinson
It can’t be New York with a proper street fight right? Bully Ray un-retired recently and has been played the old, mean wrestler well. He sent an open challenge for a street fight. The surprise was it was answered by IWGP United States Champion Juice Robinson. He isn’t exactly known for hardcore matches so it should be an interesting match-up to say the least.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Taiji Ishimori (c) vs. Dragon Lee vs. Bandido
What a match. Taiji Ishimori has quickly established himself as the new face of the New Japan’s Junior Heavyweight Division defeating Kushida and Liger this year. After Ishimori retained the title at the Anniversary Show, he offered an Open Challenge for Supercard. Enter Dragon Lee.
CMLL’s Dragon Lee famously has fought another New Japan Star Hiromu Takahashi in the past. It seemed like a perfect Junior Heavyweight match for New York. However, we had a late addition of Bandido to make it a Triple Threat match. Bandido is the newest Ring of Honor star and at twenty-three years old has become one of the fastest rising stars in the world. It should be a high flying encounter you don’t want to miss.
IWGP Heavyweight Tag and ROH World Tag Team Championship Match: Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) (c) vs. Villain Enterprises (Brody King and PCO) (c) vs. Evil and Sanada vs. The Briscoe Brothers (Mark and Jay Briscoe)
It was a long and winding round to get to the second title versus title match of the night. The Briscoe Brothers challenged Guerrillas for a title versus title match at Supercard. However, The Briscoes had to defend their Ring of Honor title first at the Anniversary Show against Villain Enterprises and they surprisingly lost. However since The Briscoe Brothers where the one who set up the original match, they were included in the Tag Title Match anyway.
Evil and Sanada, who lost the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Championship, wanted a rematch against G.O.D. so they were added to the match as well. It is a bit chaotic but with eight talented wrestlers it should be a lot of fun.
Preview: NJPW & ROH G1 Supercard
RPW British Heavyweight Championship Match: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
It is two long time rivals fighting over the British Heavyweight title. Zack Sabre was attempting to be the repeat winner of the New Japan Cup. Enter “The Ace” Tanahashi who eliminated Sabre in the quarterfinals.
Sabre Jr. did not take it well and attacked Tanahashi in multiple tag matches after the fact. That lead to this challenge between two of the best wrestlers in the world.
IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match: Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Kota Ibushi
This is one of the most anticipated matches on the cards between two of the best wrestlers in the world. Kota Ibushi has fully committed to New Japan and pulled off the big upset defeating Naito in the first round of the New Japan Cup.
Naito has been showing a lot of disrespect for the title and Ibushi wants to put the respect back on the prestigious title. These two have quite a history of crazy matches and will likely put it all on the line in the potential match of the night.
Preview: NJPW & ROH G1 Supercard
ROH World Championship Three-Way Ladder match: Jay Lethal (c) vs. Matt Taven vs. Marty Scurll
A lot of this feud is a long time in the making in Ring of Honor. Jay Lethal is the longest reigning champion in Ring of Honor history. He has two legitimate challengers for Saturday night. Marty Scurll earned his way into this match by winning Survival of the Fittest and taking his title opportunity at G1 Supercard.
It was going to be a one on one match but Anniversary Show changed that. Matt Taven fought Jay Lethal to a sixty minute time limit draw. That rare occurrence led to a triple threat match. If you make it a ladder match as well? Then you have the makings of a classic match of Ring of Honor’s biggest prize.
IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match: Jay White (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada
It is the perfect main event for this show. Jay White has quickly moved his way into being the top heel of New Japan. This year alone he has defeated Okada at Wrestle Kingdom and Tanahashi for the Heavyweight Championship at New Beginning. That is quite an achievement for any wrestler in New Japan.
Okada had to win the biggest New Japan Cup in history. Okada defeated Sanada to earn the title shot at Madison Square Garden. It makes sense for New Japan’s biggest star to get another shot against “The Switchblade”. I am excited to see what these two can do in a Wrestle Kingdom rematch.
