More than 50 non-WWE wrestling events have taken place in New York and New Jersey this WrestleMania weekend, but none were bigger than Saturday night's G1 Supercard.
A joint promotion between New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and Ring of Honor (ROH), the 11-match card was the first non-WWE wrestling event to take place in Madison Square Garden since 1960.
It was expected to be one of the hottest shows of the weekend with several exciting matches- and sure enough, it delivered.
Here is our match ratings man, Mo Chatra, with his assessments of G1 Supercard's 11 wrestling contests.
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Honor Rumble
Following the same format as the WWE's Royal Rumble – but with entrants arriving approximately every minute – this 30-man pre-show Rumble was good fun. Stars from both NJPW and ROH took part including Jushin 'Thunder' Liger, Tomohiro Ishii and Minoru Suzuki. There were surprise entrants, too, with Haku and The Great Muta popping the sold-out crowd with their appearances. The finish came when Kenny King - who hid under the ring for the final few minutes of the match - snuck back into the ring to eliminate Liger and Muta. An enjoyable Rumble, but the fans hated the finish.
Match Rating: ***
Winner takes all match for NEVER Openweight and ROH World TV Championship
Will Ospreay vs. Jeff Cobb
This was the first of two matches on the show where titles from both promotions were at stake, with Will Ospreay defending his NEVER Openweight strap and Jeff Cobb putting the ROH Television belt on the line. To the surprise of nobody, the match was exciting and saw some scintillating back-and-forth action. Cobb won with his Tour of the Islands finisher. A superb opener to the main card- had the match gone five minutes longer than the thirteen minutes it lasted, it would have been a contender for match of the night.
Match Rating: ****
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Singles match
Rush vs Dalton Castle
This match lasted only fifteen seconds- CMLL superstar and relative newcomer to ROH, Rush, overwhelmed Castle and pinned him following two Bull’s Horn dropkicks. After the bout, Castle – who held the ROH World title last year – turned on his valets, The Boys. Needless to say, a match so short cannot be rated.
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Singles match for the ROH Women of Honor World Championship
Mayu Iwatani (c) vs. Kelly Klein
Iwatani – who beat Klein for the title on February 10 – is a star of Japan’s Stardom promotion. The pair went just shy of 11 minutes but the match never got going and was the weakest full contest of the show. Klein regained the title following two K-Power Drivers. Post-match, the new champ was attacked by former TNA knockouts Angelina Love and Velvet Sky as well as ROH veteran Mandy Leon.
Match Rating: **
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Six-man street fight
Juice Robinson, Mark Haskins & Flip Gordon vs. Bully Ray, Shane Taylor & Silas Young
This was originally supposed to be a singles bout between Bully Ray and Juice Robinson, but eventually turned into a six-man street-fight. A lively, energetic brawl, this saw all manner of weapons used, all six stars held little back. Nice variety from some of the serious wrestling we were treated to elsewhere on the card, the bout ended after Flip pinned Bully following a 450 splash.
Match Rating: ***1/4
Three-way match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Taiji Ishimori (c) Vs Dragon Lee Vs Bandido
A sprint from start-to-finish, champ Taiji Ishimori and Mexican challengers Bandido and Dragon Lee didn’t pause for breath in this nine-minute encounter. Some of the exchanges were sublime, including an amazing double moonsault powerslam from the middle rope by Bandido. The finish to this speedfest came when 23-year-old Dragon Lee hit his Desnucadora finisher on Bandido to pull off an upset and become the new champion.
Match Rating: ***3/4
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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
Both NJPW and ROH’s primary tag team titles were on the line in this four-way tag team battle. PCO was the star of this contest, both for his fantastic electric chair entrance as well as his electrifying moves- which included a crazy senton bomb on Mark Briscoe. A super-powerbomb by Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa of the G.O.D. on King brought this contest to an end, however, to result in the night’s fourth title change thus far. Highly enjoyable.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Singles match for the RevPro British Heavyweight Championship
Zack Sabre Jr (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Great Britain’s Zack Sabre Jr. defended his Revolution Pro Wrestling British Heavyweight belt against NJPW legend Hiroshi Tanahashi. The champion made the contest a highly technical one with a fantastic display of holds and counter-holds. This was an excellent scientific match and a nice contrast to the more frenetic three contests that preceded it. Sabre Jr. retained the title with his Orienteering with Napalm Death submission.
Match Rating: ****
Singles match for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship
Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Kota Ibushi
This bout drew the strongest reaction of any match on the show; not surprising given Naito and Ibushi are hugely popular with this fanbase. Champion Naito and challenger Ibushi assembled a twenty-minute classic and pulled out all the stops- including Ibushi kicking out of Naito’s Destino finisher. Ibushi eventually captured the title after landing the Kamigoye knee strike. Dramatic and exhilarating in equal measure, this was one of the best matches of the weekend.
Match Rating: ****3/4
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Three-way Ladder Match for ROH World Championship
Jay Lethal (c) vs. Marty Scurll vs. Matt Taven
Two-time and current ROH World champ Lethal, Taven and Scurll brought back memories of the famous WrestleMania X ladder match in the same venue between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon. The trio made frequent use of the many ladders around ringside to try and retrieve the ROH World title that hung above the ring. Needless to say, all three endured some punishment courtesy of the ladders but it was Matt Taven who used one to greatest effect when he retrieved ROH’s biggest prize to become the new champion. Though most fans were disappointed with the outcome (Scurll was the big crowd favourite), this was still a marvellous ladder match.
Match Rating: ****
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Singles match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Jay White (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada
In his first defence of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, White took on four-time former titleholder, Kazuchika Okada. As the most hyped match on the show, the reaction towards White was somewhat subdued- likely because many fans still do not see him as a bona fide headliner. Despite this, the pair put together an exciting main event, but it fell short of the heights reached by the TakeOver finale 24 hours earlier. Okada regained the title to a huge reaction, though, pinning White after a Rainmaker.
Match Rating: ****1/4
Featuring five matches that were four stars or better, and another four good matches, G1 Supercard was a very fine show. Though not as consistently great from top-to-bottom as the NXT TakeOver New York event from the night before, this still gave fans their money’s worth and added to what has been an exceptional festival of wrestling this WrestleMania weekend.
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You can watch ROH & NJPW G1 Supercard 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 .
