ROH, NJPW Carrying The Industry

It has been almost two weeks since I went to the UMBC Event Center and sat third row for Ring of Honor Wrestling’s Best in The World pay-per-view event. When I got home, I couldn’t help but tell everyone I knew about the experience and how much of a great time it was. Currently, I have four other family members committed to going with me when they return on October 13th for Glory by Honor.

It was during this whole span of time that I remembered why I became a wrestling fan. Starting in January with New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom, the action this year has been nothing less than stellar. In most cases, the independent scene is much better than the global juggernaut based out of Connecticut.

From Young Bucks defending the ROH Tag Team Titles against the Briscoes at Best in the World to Kenny Omega finally winning the IWGP Heavyweight Title from Okada during Dominion, the in-ring drama hasn’t been this compelling since Jay Lethal was a double champion holding the ROH World and Television Titles in 2015.

Speaking of Lethal, he recently regained the ROH World Heavyweight Championship during Fairfax Excellence. He has already revealed that he wants his current reign to last longer than his previous one, which lasted an impressive 427 days. With a talent pool of challengers that includes Cody, Marty Scurll, Matt Taven, Punishment Martinez, Silas Young amongst others, the next few months of ROH TV and live events leading up to Decembers Final Battle is going to be very exciting.

In New Japan, the recent wrap up of the G1 Special in San Francisco sets the stage for the annual G1 Climax Tournament. Recent winners like Tetsuya Naito and Kenny Omega enter the tournament again alongside the elite of Japan including Okada, Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tama Tonga. The month-long tournament matches have been fully laid out day by day and fans are salivating over these combinations:

“Golden Lovers” collide when Omega and Ibushi face off on August 11. The Chaos faction lives up to its name when “Switchblade” Jay White faces Okada on July 14. The festivities conclude with a rematch of last years’ finals between 2017 winner Tetsuya Naito and 2016 winner Kenny Omega. Last year’s tournament presented us with the best wrestling of the year, and the road to Wrestle Kingdom starts with the G1 Climax Tournament.

I have seen so many great matches over the past 28 years, the most recent being Omega and Okada at Dominion in June. Much like how Okada and Omega at Wrestle Kingdom last year set the tone for what was to come; the month of June for both ROH and NJPW has created anticipation for the remainder of 2018. The G1 Climax, Death Before Dishonor, the new championship reigns of both Jay Lethal and Kenny Omega, the upcoming Honor by All live event next week exclusively on HonorClub, and of course, All In in September…it is the perfect time to be a wrestling fan.