Roy picked my up and we stopped at Val's Drive In for lunch on our way to Mikey's house. It was Wednesday where hamburgers are buy 1 get 1 free, so two burgers and their own Root Beer in a frosty mug was only $5.60. Can't beat it! Val's is an old school carhop drive in where you eat in your car and they make their own root beer. You can read more about it here on my other blog: Val's.
We jumped in Mikey's car and headed south, along the way we recorded for my podcast, Podcast of 1,000 Holds. We recorded after the show as well, check it on the Nerdy Legion Podcast Network.
When we got to the building we tried to park in the same lot behind the Auditorium that we always parked at and we couldn't. It was near 4pm and the lot wouldn't be available until five when the attendant arrived, only talent could park there. So Mikey moved the card to the street and we fed the meter. It was annoying at first but worked out for the best because it was only $2 for the meter and it would have been $10 to park in the lot.
The doors opened at 5:30pm and we were at the front of the line at out door so we got right to the meet and greet table to purchase out tickets and we all were just buying one to meet Jushin Thunder Liger. In the past ROH was charging $20 for a single wrestler and $30 for a tag team, at this even there were charging $30 - $40 for a single wrestler and for tag teams like Evil & Sanada there was no tag team discount. They are not two guys thrown together they are the current IWGP Heavyweight World Tag Team Champions. Liger was $30.
We got to Liger's table and I was the first person in line just after 5:30pm. Over the next several minutes everyone but Liger came out to their table. Jay White was sharing a table with Liger, Dalton Castle was to my left and Rocky Romero with Roppongi 3K were to my right next to Jay.
I had some great conversations with Dalton and Jay to pass the time, but didn't want to bother there. A couple times Jay White even asked someone where Liger was. At one point Dalton asked me to tell Rocky he said Hi, I did. Rocky asked me to say Hello, I did.
Dalton: Ask him what he's wearing
Rocky: Hot sweatpants, black underwear, and a Roppongi 3K t-shirt
Dalton: Tell him I'm wearing sweatpants with a mustard stain that I got from the YMCA lost and found and I'm using a frayed extension cord to hold them up
Rocky was impressed with my relaying skills.
Eventually Rocky went to find out where Liger was, it was getting close to 7pm and that was when the pre-show match started. He came back and let us know that Liger wasn't coming out until intermission and he and Jay genuinely felt bad that we had waited there for an hour and a half for nothing. We weren't the only ones that waited, Liger had a very long line.
Liger did come out at intermission and we raced to get inline. Good thing too because they did not extend intermission past the 15 minute mark and we made it back to out seats as Silas Young and company were getting in the ring.
I was frustrated earlier but man-o-man this picture is so awesome and was worth the wait. I doubt I will ever have the chance to meet Liger again or see him wrestle in person. We only get a short time with him but he was very kind and appreciative.
The set up in the venue was essentially the same for the two pay per views that we attended here, except there was no crane camera. This was a house show that was being streamed online for their streaming service Honor Club so there was a hard camera and two handhelds.
Pre-Show Match
The Dawgs: Rhett Titus & Will Ferrara defeated The Closers: Brad Hollister & Hammer Tunis when Titus pinned Tunis
Decent match to wet the crowds appetite for a night of professional wrestling.
Main Card
Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes: Jay & Mark defeated Jushin Thunder Liger & Flip Gordon when Flip was pinned
Great opening match for the main card huge ovation for Liger. It was amazing hearing his music kick on and seeing his entrance in person. It was a good match Liger still moves exceptionally well in the ring. The finish came when the Briscoes hit Flip with a combination top rope splash mountain neck breaker, it was pretty bad ass.
Women of Honor Champion: Sumie Sakai & Tenille Dashwood defeated Deonna Purrazzo & Skylar when Dashwood pinned Skylar
This match was just okay for me. It was great seeing local talent Skylar on this big show. I've seen her many times at Limitless Wrestling and she just keeps getting better everytime
Dalton Castle Promo
World Champion Dalton Castle and the boys came out. Dalton cut a promo that he has a stack of nagging injuries that have caught up with him and he can't defend his championship. He lead us all to believe that he was going to relinquish the title, instead he said he wasn't and that he would be back soon from injury.
This was reminiscent of back in 1997 when WWE aired Thursday Raw Thursday live from the very same building we were in and Shawn Michaels gave his famous "Lost my smile" speech before relinquishing the WWE Championship.
Coast 2 Coast: LSG & Shaheem Ali defeated The Kingdom: TK O'Ryan & Vinny Marseglia when LSG pinned Marseglia
Taven came out in the beginning of the match cutting a promo about how his opportunity to wrestle for the World title in his hometown has been stolen. This match was pretty good except for the antics of Marseglia climbing under the ring for way took long. That whole spot was garbage.
SoCal Uncensored ran out stealing back their Six Man Tag championships while Daniels distracted The Kingdom leading to Coast 2 Coast getting the win. Taven got on the mic post match and challenged them to a title match later, Daniels excepted.
Cheeseburger defeated Bully Ray by count-out
This was a squash where Bully Ray powerbombed Cheeseburger three times then let himself be counted out and then powerbombed Cheeseburger again. Not for nothing, but these were some weak ass powerbombs compared to what I've seen in the past.
Bullet Club: Cody, Hangman Page, & Marty Scurll with Bernard the Bear defeated Roppongi 3K: Sho, Yoh, & Rocky Romero when Cody pinned Romero
Big ovation for all the members of the Bullet Club and Bernard. Great match, lots of high flying spots and big moments. Marty appeared to be frustrated with Cody and Bernard even accidentally superkicking him.
The finish came when Cody reversed a standing suplex into cross rhodes. Cody celebrated like he just won the world title for a second time. Marty emptied a trash can of streamers onto Bernard and stormed away.
Intermission was next and we finally got to meet Liger
LIJ was SUPER over this entire match. Decent match where Naito took the majority of the beating until the hit Milonas with a triple powerbomb and then EVIL hit him with his STO finish
Triple Threat: Chuckie T defeated Jay Lethal & IWGP United States Champion: Switchblade Jay White when Chuckie T pinned Lethal
These three were supposed to team up against SoCal Uncensored but instead had a triple threat against each other. Chuckie and White started teaming against Lethal until they eventually turned on each other. Through-out the match Lethal showed hints of his impersonations of both Randy Savage and Ric Flair, it was great.
The surprise finish came when Lethal hit the lethal injection on Jay White and Chuckie rolled up Lethal in a Jack Knife pin.
The Kingdom: Matt Taven, TK O'Ryan, & Vinny Marseglia defeated ROH Six Man Tag Team Champions: Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, & Scorpio Sky when Taven pinned Daniels to win the championships
A very good match that was almost ruined by Marseglia's under the ring antics. It was cool seeing Taven win the titles in his hometown in front of his family.
The Young Bucks: Nick & Matt Jackson defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon: Hiromu Takahashi & Bushi when Matt pinned Bushi after the Meltzer Driver
Takahashi got a huge ovation when he came out but it was topped by the Young Bucks. My god the Bucks are simply amazing and such a treat to watch live. Tremendous match with great high spots, some comedy including Bushi spitting mist at Matt, who then superkicked everyone including his brother before putting the sharpshooter on the referee. His reaction when Nick washed his eyes out and he saw it was the ref was hilarious.
After the matches Mikey and Roy wanted a bite to eat so we headed to Applebees. After we were seated a bunch of the wrestlers came in. Sitting two tables down from us was The Young Bucks, Cody, and SoCal Uncensored. Directly behind the halfway behind us they sat Evil, Hiromu, Sumie, Yoh, and an unmasked Jushin Thunder Liger.
We didn't want to be "those guys" and bother the wrestlers but as we were leaving and because I only had to turn around I didn't think the New Japan talent for the great matches and from coming all this way. They were appreciative saying thank you.
I almost wanted to ignore Liger or pretend that I didn't know it was him, because you are not supped to know what masked wrestlers look like under their masks. But he was the most talkative saying "Thank you for enjoying the show" and even calling out "Have a good night" with a big smile and a wave as we were talking to the door.
Thanks for reading, please leave a comment, read my other posts, and like my blogs Facebook page and while you're at it check out my weekly podcast Podcast of 1,000 Holds on the Nerdy Legion Podcast Network.
Later Readers!
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