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Csonka’s ROH Honor Rising Review 2.24.18

February 24, 2018 | Posted by Larry Csonka
ROH Honor Rising NJPW N2
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Csonka’s ROH Honor Rising Review 2.24.18  

Csonka’s ROH Honor Rising Review 2.24.18

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Beer City Bruiser defeated Toa Henare @ 4:20 via pin [**½]
– Jay Lethal, Juice Robinson, & David Finlay defeated Yujiro Takahashi, Chase Owens, & Hikuleo @ 6:48 via pin [**¾]
– Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI defeated Flip Gordon & Ryusuke Taguchi @ 10:17 via pin [***]
NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Title Match: Champions Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, & Tanga Loa defeated Jushin Thunder Liger, Delirious, & Cheeseburger @ 9:20 via pin [**¼]
– The Young Bucks & Hangman Page defeated Jay White, Chuck Taylor & YOSHI-HASHI @ 12:40 via pin [***½]
ROH Title Match: Champion Dalton Castle defeated Trent & Beer City Bruiser @ 16:12 via pin [***¼]
– Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi defeated Cody & Marty Scurll @ 20:15 via pin [****½]


– Follow all of my reviews at this link.

– My Honor Rising preview is at this link.

– You can read my night one review at this link.

Toa Henare vs. Beer City Bruiser: Bruiser yells at Henare to “fight him,” because he doesn’t want to wrestle. Bruiser attacks, works him over in the ropes and lays in chops. Henare fires up but misses a running cross body, allowing Bruiser to maintain control. Bruiser spit beer in his face, and this fires up Henare as he starts to fire up and put some offense together. He starts to run wild, heads up top and hits the big shoulder block for 2. Clotheslines follow, but the Bruiser counters into a DDT. He heads up top and hits the frog splash for the win. Beer City Bruiser defeated Toa Henare @ 4:20 via pin [**½] That was a fine opener, it was hard-hitting, there was no messing around and they kept the action going; a nice start to the show.

Jay Lethal, Juice Robinson, & David Finlay vs. Yujiro Takahashi, Chase Owens, & Hikuleo: Bullet Club attacks at the bell, and we get some floor brawling as Owens & Finlay work back and forth in the ring. Juice joins in, takes down Owens and the faces work quick tags, taking control. Yujiro trips up Finlay and Bullet Club rushes the ring, taking control back. Yujiro and Finlay are in now. He works him over in the corner until jay makes a save. Owens backing, working the Juice jabs, and then tags in Hikuleo. The running powerslam gets 2. Finlay fires up, and he and Juice hit double dropkicks on Hikuleo and jay gets the hot tag. He runs wild with clotheslines and suicide dives until Hikuleo cuts him off. Finlay flies in with a missile dropkick, but Bullet Club cuts him off with double teams. It breaks down until Finlay hits the stunner on Hikuleo, pulp friction follows and Jay hits the elbow drop to finish him. Jay Lethal, Juice Robinson, & David Finlay defeated Yujiro Takahashi, Chase Owens, & Hikuleo @ 6:48 via pin [**¾] This was a pretty good match, and like the opener, all action and no messing around. It was fin.

Flip Gordon & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI: Flip is coming off of huge win on night one. Takahashi & Flip start us off. Flip does his wacky kip up spot, confusing Takahashi. The head scissors follows, and teases a dive to the floor, allowing BUSHI to attack. Takahashi takes him to the floor and slams him to the barricade. They all brawl into the crowd, with LIJ controlling. Back into the ring and Takahashi covers Flip for 2. He then lays the boots to him, and BUSHI tags in and attacks the knee of Flip. He then chokes him out with his shirt. Flip hits a desperation PELE, and tags in Taguchi. He runs wild with ass attacks, and DDTs. Rolling suplexes follow, and gets the ankle lock on BUSHI. The la magistral cradle follows for 2. BUSHI escapes the dodon, and hits an enziguri. Takahashi tags in and gets cut off with as ass attack. Flip tags in and hits a missile dropkick and tope. The springboard sling blade follows for 2. BUSHI cuts him off and LIJ works double teams, covering for 2. Taguchi send to the floor, Flip fights by himself, but gets cut off with superkicks. BUSHI hits a suicide dive, and Takahashi hits the blu-ray. Flip counters the time bomb into a cradle for 2, and Takahashi comes back with a German. LIJ hits a doomsday MX and Flip is done. Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI defeated Flip Gordon & Ryusuke Taguchi @ 10:17 [***] This was a good little sprint right here, and again, it was all action, with no messing around. Everyone feels motivated tonight.

NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Title Match: NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, & Tanga Loa vs. Jushin Thunder Liger, Delirious, & Cheeseburger: The champions attack and we’re underway. Fale targets Burger, Delirious tries to make the save but Fale fights them both off. Liger tags in and he and Burger attack Fale, hitting shoteis, but Fale just runs them over. Loa tags in and beats down Liger in the corner. Tonga tags in and the Guerrillas double team him and send Delirious to the floor. The champions isolate Liger, working him over in their corner, using quick tags. Miscommunication from the Guerrillas allows Liger to tag out to Delirious. He fires up and works over Loa, and the clothesline follows until Tonga cuts him off. Delirious gets something resembling a roll up. Loa now hits a suplex, and tags in Tonga. The dropkick follows, Burger tags in and lays in strikes, but Tonga no sells him but Burger hits a RANA. The tornado DDT follows for 2. Tonga cuts him off with a dropkick, Fale clears out the other faces and the champions lay the boots to Burger. Liger in with shoteis to make the save, and Burger gets a roll up for 2. Tonga cuts him off, but Burger gets another rollup for 2. The Tongan twist gets 2 as Delirious makes the save. Loa cleans house, and Guerrilla warfare finishes Burger. Champions Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, & Tanga Loa defeated Jushin Thunder Liger, Delirious, & Cheeseburger @ 9:20 via pin [**¼] This was fine, the crowd liked the challengers, but it was basically an extended squash for the champions.

– Post match, Tonga lays out Burger with a gun stun. Kitamura carries Cheeseburger to the back.

The Young Bucks & Hangman Page vs. Jay White, Chuck Taylor & YOSHI-HASHI: This is part of the build to the upcoming Page vs. White US Title match. Nick and Chuck start us off, Nick hits the lucha arm drag, tags in Matt and they work double teams. White tags in now, as dopes Page. They brawl; White takes control with forearms and chops in the corner. White follows with the dropkick, and Chuck tags back in. He follows with a dropkick, covering for 2. HASHI in and hits a suplex, covering for 2. page battles back, hitting the dropsault and the Bucks clear the ring. The Bucks now work double teams on White, and Matt grounds him. White fights off the suplex and hits a DDT. Wholesale changes to Page and HASHI, HASHI hits the blockbuster, and then hits the draping DDT on Nick. The dropkick to Page follows for 2. Page fires up with chops, and then the buckshot lariat connects. Chuck and Nick tag in, Chuck tosses Matt and fights them both off until Nick fires up and the Bucks run wild. Superkicks follow, and then double teams on Chuck follow for 2. Chuck makes the comeback, hitting suplexes and soul foot. White in and hits snap Saito suplexes, he and page battle back and forth, and Page hits the buckle bomb. CHAOS fights off the MDK rite of passage, but the Bucks cut off HASHI with superkicks, and take Chuck to the floor. Page and White back in, and White counters the buckshot lariat into blade runner. The German follows, but the Bucks hit superkicks, and Page hits the rite of passage for the win! The Young Bucks & Hangman Page defeated Jay White, Chuck Taylor & YOSHI-HASHI @ 12:40 via pin [***½] This was a very good tag match, again, no messing around and all action. Page getting the pin on White is huge to make him a viable contender, and it also continued the Bullet Club angle with Page snapping and the Bucks really wanting no part of it.

– Post match, Page snaps and attacks CHAOS with chair shots as the Bucks look stunned and then stop him. The Bucks leave, and Page hits last rights on White into the chair. He’s been fully corrupted by Cody.

– Beer City Bruiser arrives and says he’s in this match. Um ok. Thanks Lizard man.

ROH Title Match: ROH World Champion Dalton Castle vs. Trent vs. Beer City Bruiser: Trent is working with a torn biceps and torn pec. They found some boys for Castle tonight. Jay Lethal is on commentary. They brawl on the floor to begin. Bruiser takes control on the floor until Castle fights back and hits a suicide dive. Trent follows with a chair shot on the Bruiser, and slams Castle to the barricade. Trent and Castle back in, Castle hits a German, but the Bruiser is back and hits corner splashes. Bruiser grounds Trent, attacking the injured arm. Bruiser dumps Castle, and continues the heat on Trent. They spill to the floor, with Bruiser continuing to work the arm. Bruiser heads up top, Castle cuts him off with a running knee strike and sends him to he floor. The RANA follows, and Castle then attacks Trent. Back in and Castle works over Bruiser with knee strikes, but Bruiser fights off a German, so Castle takes him down and lays in strikes. Trent returns, hitting a tornado DDT on Castle, but Bruiser cuts him off. Bruiser heads up top, Trent cuts him off, Castle joins them up top and they superplex the Bruiser. Trent and the Bruiser to the apron, and Trent looks for a piledriver, but Bruiser counters into an apron DVD. Bruiser hits the Cactus clothesline and he and Castle fall to the floor. Bruiser rolls Trent backing, heads up top, and misses the frog splash. Trent hits a running knee strike, and piledriver. The cover gets 2. Castle back in, runs wild with strikes and Trent is down. Bruiser sends Castle to the floor and Bruiser hits Trent with a dropkick, Bruiser up top and hits the frog splash for a good near fall. Trent keeps fighting, putting in a great babyface performance, Castle takes out Bruiser, but Trent cradles him for 2. Castle now hits a bridging German on the Bruiser for the win. Champion Dalton Castle defeated Trent & Beer City Bruiser @ 16:12 via pin [***¼] The Bruiser was likely added due to Trent being too injured to deliver in a one on one match. On the surface, this whole situation was such a fucking mess, Trent being so hurt, adding the Bruiser cold with no build and then totally changing the initial plans; this should have been a complete shit show. But this ended up being a good match, with some great near falls, and Trent playing the ultimate babyface. They made the best out of a horrible situation for sure.

Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi vs. Cody & Marty Scurll: In the pre-match trash talk, Scurll tells Omega that he left him behind for Ibushi, and hurt Bullet Club. Ibushi and Scurll to begin. They work some fun back and forth, Scurll with some nice heel antics until Ibushi cuts him off with a dropkick. Cody tries to be a dick and stop the tag, but Ibushi fights him off and tags in Omega; Cody runs to the floor. Omega & Scurll in, Omega fights him off and hits a springboard dive into the crowd and onto Cody. They brawl, but with the help of Scurll they cut off Omega. Cody tags in now that they have control, but Omega fights back as Cody begs off. Ibushi tags in, double teams follow and Scurll is knocked to the floor. Cody and Scurll cut off cross slash, and take control back on the floor. They isolate Ibushi, Cody goes for a springboard dive, but his feet catch the apron on the way down. He looks to be fine thankfully. Back in and Cody takes the heat on Ibushi, Scurll tags in and continues the attack. Ibushi is a great Ricky Morton on here; his selling and facial expressions are great. Cody back in, punishing Ibushi and doing it right in front of Omega. Ibushi makes the comeback with the snap slam. Hot tag to Omega, and he flies in with a high cross and runs wild. The RANA follows, Scurll in and Ibushi takes him out with a missile dropkick. Omega and Ibushi run wild with a great series of double teams and the crowd is going wild. They have Scurll isolated, but Cody cuts off the golden trigger, and drags Ibushi to the floor. Cody and Ibushi battle on the floor and then to the apron. Cody had peeled back the padding on the floor, but Omega makes the save. Scurll takes out Omega with the umbrella, and hits cross Rhodes for 2. Cody hits the doomsday missile dropkick. Scurll follows with the chicken wing as Cody locks on the American nightmare on Ibushi. Omega fights to his feet and sentons he and Scurll onto Cody to save Ibushi. Cody & Omega trade strikes, V trigger by Omega and Scurll makes the save, but Ibushi takes him out. Scurll counters the powerbomb into superkick and kills him with a lariat. Omega hits snapdragons, and the powerbomb/German combo follows on Cody. The cross slash follows. Back in and Omega hits the neck breaker on Scurll, but Cody is in and hits cross Rhodes on Omega. He and Scurll double team Ibushi, he makes Scurll pick up Ibushi and Cody kisses Ibushi. Ibushi is pissed and fires up with slaps and kicks, the powerbomb follows. Scurll rolls him up for 2, but eats a V trigger. The golden trigger finishes Scurll. Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi defeated Cody & Marty Scurll @ 20:15 via pin [****½] This was a completely awesome match, a beautiful blend of great wrestling, a compelling angle, and great character work from all involved. Cody is finally hitting his stride and is an amazing asshole heel, and no longer feels as if he’s “playing bad guy wrestler.” Scurll has gone from unsure about fighting Kenny to drinking Cody’s Kool-Aid, buying in and following the leader. Ibushi is an amazing babyface, completely sympathetic, and of course amazingly athletic. Omega is the former villain, reunited with his best friend, atoning for his sins and trying to do the right thing as he gets the second chance he thought he’d never get. You take a great story, with great characters, and let them do their thing in the ring and it all falls in place as the crowd is fully invested into the story, the work, the match and everything they do. Make sure you take the time to watch this for sure, because all four guys were awesome.

– Omega & Ibushi close the show. Omega says that this has been one of the best weekends of his life, because the golden lovers are back. In 2017 he thought he peaked, but now, his dream to become the best tag team in the world. The Young Bucks arrive and take issue with this. Matt says they had no issues, and thought they made peace. Matt says that the Bucks are the best tag team in the world. Matt announces that the Bucks are now heavyweights, and that they’ll see them around. Shit just got real. Book that shit for Strong Style Evolved.

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

 photo fe36ffd0-0da4-4e3b-a2d3-b026b341dd87_zps41ef5d61.jpg
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

8.0
The final score: review Very Good
The 411
Night one of the ROH Honor Rising was a good show, but they topped themselves on night two. Flip looked good again in his NJPW audition weekend, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he made this year’s BOTSJ. They did a good job of heating up Adam Page for his US Title shot, and also made the best out of a bad situation with the ROH Title match and Trent’s injury. The main event is must-see stuff in terms of a great match that not only adds tom but also advances the great Kenny vs. Cody Bullet Club split angle, which is also leading to the Golden Lovers vs. Bucks, which will kick all of the asses.
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