Five years ago today, G1 Supercard at MSG

[chrom]

A show of two halves, New Japan put on a good show with exciting and entertaining matches.

Whilst Ring of Honor killed any chance they had of ever being a major promotion with poor booking and blunders.

[Natural Born Farmer]

I don't think ROH was wrong to want to capitalize on the buzz Enzo & Case had at that time.

I do think it was exceptionally stupid to not clue NJPW in, especially given that like... They were the only reason ROH had any business running that building...

After all that did they ever even have a match in ROH?

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

Here’s the review I wrote for it:
www.freakinawesomenetwork.net/2019/04/i-have-some-thoughts-about-the-recent-g1-supercard-in-new-york-city-a-blow-by-blow-review/

[chrom]

Apr 6, 2024 19:50:06 GMT -5 Natural Born Farmer said:

I don't think ROH was wrong to want to capitalize on the buzz Enzo & Case had at that time.

I do think it was exceptionally stupid to not clue NJPW in, especially given that like... They were the only reason ROH had any business running that building...

After all that did they ever even have a match in ROH?

No

[Convoy]

I was there, and agree completely on how rough the ROH portions were. We actually got food during the ROH World Title ladder match, because caring about any of the competitors was impossible on my end. The best part about the Enzo & Cass angle was Tama tossing the ROH tag belt against the wall post-match. The worst part about it was the crowd was in a funk for ZSJ/Tana.

Negatives aside, I have never felt a crowd reaction like when Naito's music hit. It remains so clear in my mind. Ibushi comes out and the crowd pops the loudest I've ever heard, and then Naito's theme starts...

Best way I can describe it is that MSG was so loud that there were waves of pops that vibrated my chest at a frequency not felt before or since.

[Mozenrath]

Apr 6, 2024 19:50:06 GMT -5 Natural Born Farmer said:

I don't think ROH was wrong to want to capitalize on the buzz Enzo & Case had at that time.

I do think it was exceptionally stupid to not clue NJPW in, especially given that like... They were the only reason ROH had any business running that building...

After all that did they ever even have a match in ROH?

Trying to do some weird "shoot" shit with it with Bully Ray was also stupid.

Not putting the title on Marty was probably a bad move at the time, though time ended up making it less egregious because... reasons.

I do think that, while Matt Taven was a weak choice for champion, it was preferable to if Jay Lethal successfully defended, given how tired him as world champion had become by then.

[This Player Hating Mothman]

Apr 6, 2024 19:50:06 GMT -5 Natural Born Farmer said:

I don't think ROH was wrong to want to capitalize on the buzz Enzo & Case had at that time.

I do think it was exceptionally stupid to not clue NJPW in, especially given that like... They were the only reason ROH had any business running that building...

After all that did they ever even have a match in ROH?

Enzo had been out for over a year and Cass out for eleven months, they really had zero buzz. It was part of what made it such a bad thing, honestly; these two very un-ROH guys who weren't even fresh out of WWE and with momentum, and even minus the 'didn't tell New Japan' stuff it was another mark of the Bully Ray era of ROH that further put distance on people's interest. Nobody was happy to see those dudes in there.

[Rave]

Taven was a pretty poor choice at the time, but I think he's been vindicated by history since then.

I still remember the Muta/Liger squareoff that they had f***ing Kenny King of all people ruin.

[Muskrat]

Apr 6, 2024 21:58:44 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Apr 6, 2024 19:50:06 GMT -5 Natural Born Farmer said:

I don't think ROH was wrong to want to capitalize on the buzz Enzo & Case had at that time.

I do think it was exceptionally stupid to not clue NJPW in, especially given that like... They were the only reason ROH had any business running that building...

After all that did they ever even have a match in ROH?

Trying to do some weird "shoot" shit with it with Bully Ray was also stupid.

Not putting the title on Marty was probably a bad move at the time, though time ended up making it less egregious because... reasons.

I do think that, while Matt Taven was a weak choice for champion, it was preferable to if Jay Lethal successfully defended, given how tired him as world champion had become by then.

Hindsight’s obviously 20/20, but at that time it felt like such an insanely stupid move to put in on Taven instead of Scurll. It wasn’t “f*** you Taven” heat it was “f*** you ROH” heat and that is never good.

[DSR]

Apr 6, 2024 23:21:02 GMT -5 Rave said:

Taven was a pretty poor choice at the time, but I think he's been vindicated by history since then.

As a fan of Taven's I'd like to believe he's been vindicated, but I also remember Josh Alexander's promo in Impact about "When you win a championship, the company goes under!"

[Muskrat]

Apr 8, 2024 0:00:17 GMT -5 DSR said:

Apr 6, 2024 23:21:02 GMT -5 Rave said:

Taven was a pretty poor choice at the time, but I think he's been vindicated by history since then.

As a fan of Taven's I'd like to believe he's been vindicated, but I also remember Josh Alexander's promo in Impact about "When you win a championship, the company goes under!"

I don’t know if retroactively being declared the right choice due to the other option being outed as a sex pest is really “vindication”. Because if Scurll hadn’t turned out to be a twat there’s a damn good chance we’re talking about Taven winning over Scurll as “the beginning of the end of ROH”

And I like Taven, but using the information we had at the time of the show, that was such a terrible call

[callmekc]

Marty Scurll being a pedophile was one of the worst kept secrets in BritWres though. I heard about it like two or three years before Speaking Out, and I've never been to a show.

It's not that the information wasn't out there, it's that people felt comfortable that 'its just rumours, there's nothing to it' until it wasn't.

That's not to say Taven beating him was a good/bad thing. It's just that Marty should not have had a career by that point.

[Georgina's Fancy Water]

One of the most agonizing shows that I've ever watched on ROH's end. I know that the Enzo run-in is the most remembered bit, but this shit drained my will to live in 2019.

[Cyno]

I never forgave Bully Ray for that era of ROH.

[ANuclearError]

Apr 14, 2024 9:05:19 GMT -5 Georgina's Fancy Water said:

One of the most agonizing shows that I've ever watched on ROH's end. I know that the Enzo run-in is the most remembered bit, but this shit drained my will to live in 2019.

How long did Lifeblood even last? Such a weird group of random guys.

[Hulkshi Tanahashi]

Why would anyone give Enzo Amore a chance after what he did at the 2018 Survivor Series?

[The Dark Order Inferno]

Bully Ray tried to book a WWE show because of the venue, and completely ignored the fact that nobody in attendance had any expectation of seeing that and weren't likely to tune in to see anything involving Enzo and Cass.

[FinalGwen]

What is it with people who booked diabolical eras of ROH and bad podcasts criticising other people's booking?

[Soultastic]

Apr 14, 2024 9:48:06 GMT -5 Cyno said:

I never forgave Bully Ray for that era of ROH.

There's a lot of good reasons to be mad at and not forgive Bully Ray.

[Starshine]

Apr 14, 2024 13:49:00 GMT -5 FinalGwen said:

What is it with people who booked diabolical eras of ROH and bad podcasts criticising other people's booking?

It’s an easy grift if you can get it.