Csonka’s ROH War of The Worlds (Night I) Preview

WELCOME back to column time with Larry! Today, I am going to discuss and preview tonight’s ROH War of The Worlds (Night I) event. This is one of the many ROH events that will be steaming live on the Honor Club service this year, and this time; some of the stars of NJPW are along for the ride. Feel free to make your picks in the comment section. 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.”

Deonna Purrazzo and Skylar vs. Tenillle Dashwood & Brandi Rhodes: I am all for bringing in people for a look and have heard positive things about Skylar, but I can’t be the only one who wanted this to just be Deonna Purrazzo vs. Tenillle Dashwood. I am hoping that is a match we get sooner rather than later. Hopefully this is a fun tag that helps build to that desired singles match, but if I had to guess, Skylar is here to take the pin, likely to Tenille. WINNERS: Tenillle Dashwood & Brandi Rhodes

Bully Ray vs. Cheeseburger: This was a last minute addition to the card, but a feud they have been working on for a while. Bully Ray was the ROH enforcer/authority figure, and got pissed at Burger for being an entitled millennial and putting him on the spot. One night Burger was in need of a tag partner and asked for Bully’s help, because he respected him. Bully initially helped and then turned on him and kicked his ass. Bully has been making Burger’s life hell and has also taken his anger out on Flip Gordon. It hasn’t been a very entertaining feud, and I wish Burger would win to just end things, but with no real build in terms of hype for the match, Bully wins and this feud much continue. WINNER: Bully Ray

The Kingdom vs. Coast to Coast: Nice to see Coast to Coast on the card, especially considering they have been getting a push. The same could be said for The Kingdom. Coast to Coast have amazing babyface potential as they slowly rack up wins and keep momentum. I really think if they play things right, that they can be developed into great challengers for the Briscoes. But for that to happen, they need to keep winning, and while the Kingdom are far from my favorite act, they are higher on the food chain and the win here, combined with the recent win over the Machineguns, would be huge for Coast to Coast; they should win here. WINNERS: Coast to Coast

Rocky Romero, Sho, & Yoh vs. Cody, Adam Page, & Marty Scurll: This has potential to be a really fun match, as Romero, Sho, & Yoh work really well together when they aren’t tethered to the Suzuki-gun Z team like on the Road to Dontaku events. Cody will have his #1 in Page along his side, who has supported him in the split with Omega since day one. Marty has largely been on Cody’s side, but has shown signs of trepidation, and their issues manifested at the ROH Bound by Honor Night Two event, where Cody stole the win over Castle in an 8-man tag, to ensure everyone knows that despite the fact that Marty has an ROH title shot in his pocket, that he still has the ROH title in his sights. So the big question is, “Is Bullet Club fine?” remember guys, Cody plays the kind and giving leader, but at the end of the day, it’s all about him and his goals. I think that he and Marty continue their issues here, with Romero, Sho, & Yoh taking advantage of the issues and picking up the win ahead of their six-man title shot. WINNERS: Rocky Romero, Sho, & Yoh

SoCal Uncensored vs. Jay Lethal, Jay White, & Chuckie T: We’re building a very NJPW undercard with some six-man tags. It’s not really a complaint, as I love that it gets Lethal & Chuckie T on the card. Looking at the lineup here, this comes off as one that could either be a disjointed mess (due to Lethal, White, & Chuckie not being a regular trios unit) or a match that may be way better than we expect, simply for the fact that there is a ton of experience and skill. I’d like to think that experience and skill will win out here, and that we get a really fun and quality tag match. With SoCal Uncensored being the current, reigning, and defending ROH world six-man champions of the world, and with their opponents being a fun, but thrown together team, our champions should walk away with the win here. WINNERS: SoCal Uncensored

The Briscoes vs. Jushin Liger & Flip Gordon: Flip Gordon is about to go and work the 2018 BOTSJ tournament, and so he gets to work with NJPW Junior dad, the legend, Jushin Liger. It feels like Liger will take a mentorship role over Flip during this tour, which I feel is a great idea. Flip is a really fun and evolving pro wrestler but is still an incomplete performer. My hope is that working the grind of the BOTSJ tour, with so many matches and different opponents, will be a tremendous growing experience for him as a worker. Jushin Liger may be 53, his hair may be wig hair, and he’s not the same guy he was years ago. But he gets a huge pop, he plays the legend role very well, and for his age, can still deliver good wrestling matches, especially in the tag format. With The Briscoes being the current, reigning, and defending tag team champions and in a real roll right now, they should pick up the win after a good fight from Flip & Liger. This should be a ton of fun. WINNERS: The Briscoes

Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, & SANADA) vs. Silas Young, Beer City Bruiser, & Brian Milonas: To be completely honest with you, I find this to be a huge waste of Los Ingobernables de Japon. It takes a lot to get Naito motivated for these US shows, he doesn’t give a fuck and works with even less effort than he does at the small road to shows. And you expect him to actually give a fuck working guys like Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas? I like Silas, Bruiser is ok in short outings, but I find Milonas to be a rather bad professional wrestler. I am in no way looking forward to this match. Naito won’t muster a single solitary fuck, and will likely work the entire match in his hat and hoodie if possible. This feels like a poor booking decision.WINNERS: Los Ingobernables de Japon

The Young Bucks vs. BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi: This has the chance to be a great match. The Bucks are great, and BUSHI & Hiromu have developed into a great team. I expect this to be a fast-paced, balls to the wall sprint style match, which would play to the strengths of both teams. In all honesty, this isn’t hard to book, and should be an, “everyone get their shit in” athletic exhibition to please the crowd. This one has show-stealing potential if they don’t overbook things and just let these guys do what they do best. WINNERS: The Young Bucks

ROH Title Match: Champion Dalton Castle vs. Matt Taven: Dalton Castle’s title win was a great surprise considering ROH’s history of waiting too long to make a move to a hot act. But while the move to Castle was a surprise and a movie am glad they made, Castle’s run has felt largely disappointing. It’s not all on him as his run hasn’t been booked particularly well. Most of his title defenses, outside of the excellent Lethal match, have been solid to good. But again, part of that comes down to the booking, lackluster opponents, and lack of drama surrounding his title matches. On the other hand, ROH has been playing up the Kingdom conspiracy while building up Taven as a world title contender and potential grand slam champion. The sub-plot to that has been the positioning of Scurll & Cody, Bullet Club teammates, as title contenders as well. I don’t think that Castle’s run has been a flop by any means, but I don’t think it’s been nearly as good or fun as it could have been. I have speculated for a while that the title change to Taven was going to happen, as it gives him the ROH grand slam, and it sets the stage to bring his program with Cody full circle, where I see Cody winning the title back, possibly as soon as Best in the World in June. I have the feeling that ROH is looking to make the War of The Worlds tour a big deal, and as unlikely as it may seem, a title change here would do that. WINNER: Matt Taven

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