New Japan Pro Wrestling and Ring of Honor head to New York for their biggest show of the year, the G1 Supercard tonight.
The jointly-run show is the first non-WWE wrestling event in decades to take place at the legendary Madison Square Garden.
In the headline bout, New Japan's IWGP Heavyweight Champion squares off with former champion Kazuchika Okada.
The show features a co-main event, with Britain's Marty Scurll aiming to become the ROH World Champion in a three-way ladder match against current champion Jay Lethal and Matt Taven.
Here is a match-by-match breakdown of the show - which is due to start at 12.30am on Sunday in the UK - from Mirror Sport's Tony Quant.
Honor Rumble
Only eleven contestants in the Honor Rumble have been confirmed in advanced of the show but it's hard to see any other option than having Japanese legend Jushin 'Thunder' Liger winning the Rumble. Incredibly, Liger - who has been wrestling since 1986 - has never worked in the Garden and with this being his final year as an in-ring performer, a victory here would serve as an incredible moment for him.
Elsewhere in the match, we can expect to see a majority of the ROH roster get an opportunity to perform inside the historic building but outside of that, there is no real background to this match or any feuds embedded, which are specifically going to be highlighted.
Predicted winner: Jushin Liger
Winner takes all match for NEVER Openweight and ROH World TV Championship
Will Ospreay vs. Jeff Cobb
It's quite bizarre that this is a first time meeting between the pair and this match has the ability to steal the show. A clash of styles, with Britain's Will Ospreay known for his high flying aerial attacks, in comparison to Jeff Cobb's strong technical wrestling base, which should make for a very interesting bout.
Both men have had decent reigns as champions and while the title stipulation certainly adds a good dynamic to the match, it also potentially gives away the result, with Cobb being featured across both promotions throughout the last 18 months, while Ospreay has not competed for ROH since September 2018. That aside, Cobb is incredibly athletic for a man of his size and this clash is likely to be full of crazy spots and put the rest of the card on notice.
Predicted winner: Jeff Cobb
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Singles match
Rush vs Dalton Castle
This match came together as part of the ROH 17th Anniversary show, in which former ROH World Champion, Dalton Castle, was on commentary during Mexican star Rush's match with Bandido. Since losing the world title in June 2018, Castle has been out with an injury, which definitely knocked out some of the steam which the promotion had been able to build behind him. Rush is currently undefeated in ROH since joining the company at the start of 2019 and is definitely someone that ROH see some stock in.
The match is another style clash, with Castle favouring a mat based, greco roman wrestling style, Rush hailing from south of the border adopts the luchador style. With ROH looking to build new stars, perhaps they will put Rush over Castle to give him a victory over a former world champion and push him throughout 2019.
Predicted winner: Rush
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Singles match for the ROH Women of Honor World Championship
Mayu Iwatani (c) vs. Kelly Klein
This will be the third time we will have seen this match and presumably the rationale behind putting this one on again is to put over Kelly Klein. Their previous encounters have been nothing to write home about, but that being said, there is every chance that given the location of this match, they could step things up a gear and put on their best encounter to date.
Predicted winner: Kelly Klein
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New York City Street Fight
Bully Ray vs. Juice Robinson
It was maybe not the surprise that everyone was hoping for when Juice Robinson answered Bully Ray's open challenge. For weeks, the tag team wrestling legend had been teasing a huge opponent and while Robinson is more than capable of putting on a solid match, you would have thought that given the historic nature of this card, ROH would have pulled out all the stops to deliver a huge reveal.
The only saving grace is that Ray usually puts on great matches with people who work a complete different style to him and, in Robinson, he definitely has that opponent. Juice has some stock behind him, so don't be surprised if we see some of his stablemates pop up in the match and help him overcome Bully for the victory.
Predicted winner: Juice Robinson
Three-way match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Taiji Ishimori (c) Vs Dragon Lee Vs Bandido
Now this is a match which caught fans' interest and is definitely a sleeper for not only match of the night but match of the whole WrestleMania weekend. This showdown is going to be competed at an incredibly high pace, with some crazy bumps and just lots of entertainment from the opening bell. Ishimori has had a solid run as champion since winning the title at Wrestle Kingdom and the right decision is keeping it on him for a bit longer, but viewers may not be overly fussed if either Dragon Lee or Bandido pick up the win here, given their respective qualities.
Predicted winner: Taiji Ishimori
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Winner takes all match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship and ROH World Tag Team Championship
Guerillas of Destiny (c) vs. PCO & Brody King (c) vs. Sanada & EVIL vs. The Briscoe Brothers
This one is going to be bonkers and is really going to showcase the strength of the tag team divisions across both promotions. Between the eight men there is such a variety of styles which will hopefully gel well in a match, which promises some wild spots throughout.
Chaos is almost guaranteed in this one and that will actually help the match. Being well and truly on the hype train of Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO & Brody King) this writer has a strong feeling that a PCO and Brody King victory could just be the start of the stable's gold collecting throughout the evening.
Predicted winners: PCO & Brody King
Singles match for the RevPro British Heavyweight Championship
Zack Sabre Jr (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
These two have a fantastic chemistry and this match is almost guaranteed to deliver. It is also pretty cool as a fan of British wrestling to see a promotion like RevPro get to put their top title on the line in such a high profile show. Sabre Jr has had a good run as champion but the tide is turning and we could see a new champion crowned.
Tanahashi is such a legendary performer and still such a huge name and, with the upcoming New Japan show in London in August, having a Japanese legend such a him carrying the RevPro strap would only add more weight behind it.
Predicted winner: Hiroshi Tanahashi
Singles match for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship
Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Kota Ibushi
Now if there is one match that you simply cannot afford to miss this evening, it is this one. Like peanut butter and jam, or pineapple on pizza, Naito and Ibushi just work! These two men are undoubtedly going to go all out in their efforts to steal the show. Fans will pray they are able to do it in a safe enough environment and not bring any long lasting injuries to each other.
Hot off the heels of their insane match at the New Japan Cup, there is just no possibility this match will be anything other than brilliant and it is easy to run out of superlatives to describe how excited fans should be for this one, in which Naito will likely retain his belt.
Predicted winner: Tetsuya Naito
Matt Taven on why he's ready to lead Ring of Honor after winning gold at G1 Supercard
Three-way Ladder Match for ROH World Championship
Jay Lethal (c) vs. Marty Scurll vs. Matt Taven
Fans love a good ladder match and this is a very interesting proposition. Matt Taven and Jay Lethal are coming off of the back of a 60-minute draw at the ROH 17th Anniversary show and Scurll earned his shot at the gold after winning the Survival of the Fittest tournament. The inclusion of the ladder match gimmick is slightly confusing, given that none of these men are renowned for their high flying or huge bumping.
However, looking at the three, this could potentially be a breakout performance for The Kingdom's Taven, who ROH are really pushing to be one of their top guys. British fans though will be fully behind Marty Scurll in this match and whether it's a way of ROH keeping him with them for a bit longer, The Villain could get his moment in front of the MSG crowd and take the victory.
Predicted winner: Marty Scurll
Singles match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Jay White (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada
In this writer's eyes Jay White has been a fantastic IWGP Champion, however, there are definitely some doubters out there who just won't get behind Switchblade. It does seem a bit too soon to have him drop the title, but, the visual of Okada dollars raining down from MSG has to be an incentive to make the championship switch. The fact that he is one of the best wrestlers on the planet certainly helps, but you just can't replicate potential moments like this.
This match will be very entertaining, and, given the pair's history, you would expect nothing else. A loss for White shouldn't hurt his reputation too much and New Japan have definitely make a star out of him. Truth be told, Okada has to win this match.
Predicted winner: Kazuchika Okada
Full Card:
Honor Rumble
Will Ospreay (NEVER Openweight) vs. Jeff Cobb (ROH TV) - Winner takes all match for both the NEVER Openweight Championship and ROH World Television Championship
Rush vs. Dalton Castle - Singles match
Mayu Iwatani (c) vs. Kelly Klein - Singles match for the Women of Honor World Championship
Bully Ray vs. Juice Robinson - New York City Street Fight
Taiji Ishimori (c) vs. Bandido vs. Dragon Lee - Three-way match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
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Guerillas of Destiny (IWGP) vs. Villain Enterprises (ROH) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. The Briscoe Brothers - Winner takes all for both the IWGP Tag Team and ROH World Tag Team Championships
Zack Sabre Jr (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi - Singles match for the RevPro British Heavyweight Championship
Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Kota Ibushi - Singles match for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship
Jay Lethal (c) vs. Marty Scurll vs. Matt Taven - Three-way Ladder Match for the ROH World Championship
Jay White (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada - Singles match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
ROH & NJPW present G1 Supercard on Saturday, April 6 from sold-out Madison Square Garden in New York City. The historic event airs LIVE at 7:30e/4:30p on traditional pay-per-view and streaming FREE for all HonorClub members. HonorClub content can be streamed via the ROH and FITE apps and at ROHHonorClub.com .
You can also watch G1 Supercard via New Japan's subscription service- NJPW World. You can subscribe for approximately £7 per month via https://njpwworld.com/signup .
