ROH/NJPW G1 Supercard fallout: Okada reigns at MSG

Saving the crowd

The final two matches we’ve yet to talk about had their work cut out for them, both having to wake up a crowd that had been worn out by the preceding match.

Dragon Lee vs. Bandido vs. Taiji Ishimori for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship was all-out bedlam for just under 10 minutes. They should have taken all the excess ROH stuff no one cared about and given that time to this match, because it was over way too quickly. One memorable sequence featured, in quick succession, Bandido hitting a springboard hurricanrana on Dragon Lee, Ishimori hitting in a twisting bulldog on Bandido, and Dragon Lee hitting a running Canadian Destroyer on Ishimori. Insanity. Later, Bandido delivered a top rope, flipping fall-away slam-type of move. The fact that it cannot be adequately described in words should tell you how out of this world it was. In the end though, Dragon Lee got the surprising win, pinning Bandido. Seek this match out, it ruled, and got the crowd rolling again after the interminable street fight.

The task was even harder for Tanahashi and Zack Sabre Jr., as the crowd was basically in a fugue state after the WWE-also rans’ attack. They had to revive us like we were PCO. Tanahashi got turned into a very handsome pretzel in this one, with Sabre working over the Ace’s left arm and limiting his offense. Counters abounded as Sabre had an answer for just about everything, as that slippery string bean usually does. Sabre got the win, forcing Tanahasi to verbally tap out to one of his submissions where he somehow hooks three limbs at once. After completing the comeback and ascending to the top of the company, Tanahashi again looks to be headed downward. Still, another match from NJPW talent-via RevPro that completely delivered.