Csonka’s ROH War of the Worlds Grand Rapids Preview

WELCOME back to column time with Larry! Today, I am going to discuss and preview the ROH War of the Worlds Grand Rapids event,, which is the weakest show on paper on this tour. This is the third stop on the annual ROH/NJPW joint War of the Worlds tour, which will be headlined by Yuji Nagata, Jeff Cobb, Jay Lethal, Hirooki Goto, & Satoshi Kojima vs. Silas Young, Bully Ray, Shane Taylor, & The Briscoes. So today, I will break down and preview the show; thanks for reading! It’s wrestling, we love it and will disagree. The only rules are “have a take, be respectful, and don’t be a dick.”

Women of Honor Champion Kelly Klein vs. Stacy Shadows: I don’t mean to come off as disrespectful here, but, will all due respect, this match looks bad on paper, potentially horrible. Kelly Klein looks like she works really hard, but she moves in slow motion and doesn’t have the overall skill set to be the top star in the division. The only times I’ve seen Shadows in ROH, she’s not been good at all. It feels like they are shoehorning this onto the tour, a match no one asked for and that doesn’t make sense when you should be delivering the best shows possible on this tour. If I had to guess, I’d imagine that this will be the worst match on the tour overall. Klein retains. WINNER: Champion Kelly Klein

Cheeseburger vs. Clark Connors: In our next match, Cheeseburger battles LA Dojo young lion Clark Connors. I’ve talked in other previews, these appearances are important ones for the LA Dojo guys because they aren’t as far along as their Japanese counterparts due to not working ass often and not getting to work with the top talents like the Japanese lions get to. While Cheeseburger is far from a top star, his matches are always fun and the crowds are always into him. Cheeseburger should take this one. WINNER: Cheeseburger

Coast to Coast vs. Alex Coughlin & Karl Fredricks: This is another match where the LA Dojo lions are getting a big chance as they work with the very good, but underutilized team of Coast to Coast. The lions have shown to be really solid, but as I have said before, the thing that they are lacking is the overall amount of work that their Japanese counterparts get as well as the fact that the Japanese lions get to work with established talents all the time. The match will likely be fun and good, with Coast to Coast winning. WINNER: Coast to Coast

The Kingdom vs. The Sons of Haku: We move onto trios action as The Kingdom battle the Sons of Haku. It’s not a very exciting match on paper, it’s heel vs. heel, and both groups can be really be hit or miss. The more I get into this show, I have to question what poor Grand Rapids did to ROH to deserve this lackluster lineup. WINNER: The Kingdom

Mark Haskins vs. PCO: OK, now we’re getting into something that could be a lot of fun. Haskins has been really good in ROH so far and PCO is just a blast and a great story. Haskins will bring the fight for sure, but PCO will be coming off of a loss to Taven, so I imagine that he picks up the rebound win here. WINNER: PCO

EVIL & SANADA vs. The Bouncers: We move onto tag team action as EVIL & SANADA face The Bouncers. EVIL & SANADA are a great team and extremely talented performers, but often times don’t work very hard on these shows and will be coming off of a long Dontaku tour. The Bouncers aren’t a great team, but they are over and can be fun. The crowd will likely be into this, but I see EVIL & SANADA winning here. WINNER: EVIL & SANADA

#1 Contender’s Match: Tracy Williams vs. Rush vs. Eli Isom vs. PJ Black: And now we move onto our #1 contender’s four-way. The ROH four-way matches have been really good this year, and this one features Tracy Williams who has been really strong, Eli Isom who they have high hopes for and has shown potential, PJ Black who has been really solid and Rush who has been pushed as the big time star that he is. This one seems academic to me, as Rush is being heated up for a potential world title shot vs. Taven, which would play well on their history in CMLL. He’s undefeated and has been rolling along well, and a win here for him could likely set up the Best in the World main event. I’d be shocked if anyone other than Rush won this one. WINNER: Rush

Yuji Nagata, Jeff Cobb, Jay Lethal, Hirooki Goto, & Satoshi Kojima vs. Silas Young, Bully Ray, Shane Taylor, & The Briscoes: We close things out with what could be a fun 10-man tag, with a great looking babyface team (Yuji Nagata, Jeff Cobb, Jay Lethal, Hirooki Goto, & Satoshi Kojima) with a good looking heel team… and Bully Ray. I think that there is another talent here to deliver a good and fun match, and that the crowd will be into it, which will hopefully add to things. I think that the babyfaces take this one to close out the live tour events (Chicago the next night is a TV taping) and send the crowd home happy. WINNER: Yuji Nagata, Jeff Cobb, Jay Lethal, Hirooki Goto, & Satoshi Kojima

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 18. On the show, 411’s Larry Csonka is joined by Steve Cook. Today, the guys will discuss their time as a fan during the Monday Night Wars, the initial reaction to the news that WWE was buying WCW, and then look back on the final WCW Monday Nitro and how it showed how the invasion would go and then talk the missed opportunities of the Invasion angle. Finally, the guys discuss the Dark Side of The Ring specials on Bruiser Brody & The Von Erichs. The show is approximately 102–minutes long.

* Intro
* Being a fan during the Monday Night Wars: 2.30
* Initial Reaction of WWE Buying WCW: 12.20
* Review/Look Back on The Final Nitro: 23.10
* Dark Side of The Ring on Bruiser Brody & The Von Erichs: 110.00

You can subscribe and listen to the 411 on Wrestling Podcast via the
above player on Transistor, or on the following platforms:

* iTunes
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