Ring of Honor Review - May 24, 2017

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions Los Ingobernables de Japon def. Tiger Mask, Jushin "Thunder" Liger and Delirious

It's no secret that I hardly follow the Japanese wrestling scene, but I'm familiar enough with Los Ingobernables de Japon that this match wasn't completely foreign to me. The in-ring work was fine, albeit nothing special, nor did the titles ever feel like they were in jeopardy of changing hands. It was also weird that Delirious was protected in defeat considering he's a booker these days and no longer wrestles as a regular for Ring of Honor.

NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto def. Punishment Martinez

Martinez has impressed me more and more with every outing he's had in ROH in recent months and this affair was no exception. Goto is excellent in his own right, of course, but Martinez more than held his own and had a strong showing in defeat. The sinister smile Martinez shot Goto afterward was also a cool touch and allowed him to maintain his mystique. He has a very bright future ahead of him if he can stay the course.

The Bullet Club def. CHAOS

I believe this is the first time I've seen Kenny Omega, Cody and The Young Bucks team together and they obviously have crazy chemistry. The babyface team of The Briscoes, Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay was amazing as well, and putting all eight stars in one match resulted in an incredible main event. The focus was mainly on old rivals Okada and Omega from start to finish, but everyone shined at one point or another. The crowd was hot for the exciting action to boot and the finish was fantastic, so this was a blast all around.

Overall Show

If you couldn't already tell, these matches were a part of ROH/NJPW's Honor Rising event from back in February because ROH must have run out of original content before they start airing the most recent set of tapings from after War of the Worlds. Sure, the matches were extremely outdated, but they got better and better as the night went on. It isn't crucial you watch the entire episode, but definitely go out of your way to check out the eight-man tag team match.