Ring of Honor to host show with New Japan Pro Wrestling stars in May
Ring of Honor said that it would have a big announcement in store during its first-ever HonorCon and it delivered.
The promotion, which celebrated its 12th anniversary Friday night, announced a pair of shows featuring the stars of New Japan Pro Wrestling.
The first show, titled "Global Wars", is scheduled for Saturday, May 10 at the Ted Reeve Arena in Toronto. The second show is scheduled for Saturday, May 17 at the Manhattan Center at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City
The shows are scheduled to take place in New York City and Toronto in May.
Ring of Honor chief operating officer Joe Koff made the announcement with the help of fellow executive Delirious.
Koff then showed a video package, which unveiled the news.
After the video, Koff brought out New Japan Pro Wrestling chairman Naoki Sugabyashi and his translator Tiger Hatori to commemorate the announcement.
Before the big news, Koff announced a Futures of Honor show, which will feature the promotion's talent from its wrestling school. Koff said the show will take place within the next two months.
He also announced that Ring of Honor was the midst of some negotiations for increased licensing, that will include reading cards and action figures.
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Ring of Honor television taping notes
Ring of Honor taped three episodes of its television program Saturday night after HonorCon and the New Japan Pro Wrestling announcement. Here are some quick notes as to what took place:
- Nigel McGuinness announced that Adam Cole would defend his Ring of Honor World Champtionship against Jay Briscoe in a Ladder War at SuperCard of Honor April 4 in New Orleans. Briscoe's custom title will also hang above the ring along with Cole's.
- The first main event was Tommaso Ciampa defending his Ring of Honor World Television Championship against Jay Lethal. Ciampa retained the title, but it wasn't before the two combatants tore the house down with a great match. A situation between Matt Taven and Truth Martini distracted the official while Lethal had a pin on Ciampa, which protected Lethal a little bit in the end.
- The Decade and Adrenaline Rush had one of the most quickly-paced six-man tag team matches I've ever seen. Most of that was due to Arenaline Rush performing some insane spots, including a moonsault from the top rope to the outside of the ring. With that said, The Decade picked up the win.
- Jay Briscoe pinned Adam Cole in the second main event that pitted the Briscoe Brothers against Cole and Michael Bennett.
- One of the better matches just from a sheer entertainment standpoint was reDRagon beating Brutal Burgers ("Brutal" Bob Evans and Cheeseburger). Some people in the audience hadn't seen Cheeseburger yet and his very thin frame, but were surprised when he landed a decent amount of offense. It was actually a competitive match. However, reDRagon still came away with the victory.
- The final main event was a great match between AJ Styles and Michael Elgin. The two were given a significant amount of time to slowly build the match to a series of crescendos. Eventually, the television time ran out and the match ended in a time-limit draw. The finish made sense, as both men are too strong to be pinned right now. Since the match was on television, there didn't have to be a decisive winner. The crowd chanted for five more minutes and referee Todd Sinclair seemed as if he was ready to restart the match, but Cole ran down and beat up both men. Kevin Steen and Briscoe came down and chased Cole off to end the show.