Thought Zero – We are still revisiting the joint ROH/NJPW Honor Rising shows from February. I am glad I am getting to see these matches, but part of me wishes I was seeing current things. But let me relax and enjoy some good wrestling.
1) The first match is the 8-man match featuring Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomoaki Honma, Michael Elgin and Moose versus Bullet Club members Yoshiro Takahashi, Tama Tonga, Cody Hall and Bad Luck Fale. This is going to be my first look at Honma and a few of the Bullet Club guys. From looks alone, Tama Tonga looks cool with his face paint, but Cody Hall looks like he is trying too hard to just mimic his dad. That would be a bad move.
2) The crowd is big into the Moose chant. Moose is great because he is not just big and intimidating but can move like a cruiserweight at times. He really is fun to watch. And this match seemed designed to feature him to the Japanese crowd. I wonder what NJPW’s plan is for him in future joint events with ROH.
3) Damn, Tonga is fast as hell. Wow. Plus, the dude is athletic as well. Case in point, before going to commercial break, Michael Elgin picked up Tonga in a Gorilla Press, then turned it into a Gorilla Press with ONE HAND. Just imagine the strength of Tonga’s core to basically plank himself up there to balance on Elgin’s one hand. Good gracious, I need to see more of Tonga.
4) I’m still not a huge fan of Michael Elgin, but he definitely works better in Japan as the strong monster than I ever thought he does in ROH. Moose gets tagged in, all hell breaks loose and big moves are hit all around. Moose finishes things with his weak ass flipping spear on Cody Hall, but really the top rope twisting bodypress to set it up should have been the finish.
5) We get bonus footage from Supercard of Honor in April with Lio Rush versus Jay Lethal. I wasn’t impressed by Rush in the Top Prospect tournament, but I am always up for some Jay Lethal awesomeness. They only show about a minute towards the end of the match, and on cue, Lethal hits a top rope Cutter on Rush and a Lethal Injection to kill him dead. Afterwards, we see the return of Colt Cabana to challenge Lethal. I hate to admit it, but I only know Colt Cabana by CM Punk name-dropping him in promos. I guess I need to check out YouTube to catch up.
6) By the way, I might have mentioned it before, but Taeler Hendrix is amazingly hot and has the best facial expressions. But tonight her skin looks like it is pure porcelain. It can’t be real.
7) They show a little more from the following night when Lethal gives Cheeseburger a title shot because he is a more worthy challenger than Cabana. After Cheeseburger is beaten, Cabana comes out to challenge Lethal on the spot. I hate that, since it is totally not fair. I mean, Lethal just had a grueling battle. But, Lethal, being the true sportsman that he is, accepted Cabana’s cowardly challenge. And Cabana won with a roll-up and probably a handful of tights. So we are going to have Cabana versus Lethal for the title coming soon.
8) More shenanigans with the ROH crew in Tokyo. Two bits got a true laugh from me. First, Jay Lethal and Truth Martini were talking outside the NJPW store and Lethal is pissed off because there are banners with Okada and Tanahashi outside the store, but none of him. So he walks off camera and says, “I’m going to go break all of Okada’s stuff.” Hey, feuds have been started by lesser things. The second bit was just a little insane. Dalton Castle visited a Cat Cafe. I am not sure I really want to know what that is exactly, but it looked funny.
9) Main event time with Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows versus the Briscoes. I like Gallows during his initial WWE run, both as Festus and as part of the Straight Edge Society, but he should have brought his mask here back to WWE with him. That thing is scary looking. 
10) The Briscoes are always fun. I am still not sold on Gallows and Anderson though. I know they were dominant champions for quite a while, but I would like to see a bit more from them. Of course, given that the Briscoes went over doesn’t help me see the Bullet Club guys as too intimidating.
Overall, a very enjoyable three weeks of television. The working relationship between Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling is such a boon to both companies. Hopefully they will keep it up. And I may be tempted to write a Fantasy Book at some point about how it could work out.
Please check out a new Fantasy Book later this week. If all goes well, I will finally give in to my better devils and try to fantasy book an invasion angle. Lord help me.
Until next time…
