NJPW and ROH Present G1 Supercard: A Tale of Two Promotions

ROH Goes Off the Rails

In many ways, Ring of Honor went on to give us great matches at G1 Supercard and position talents as the future of their promotion, but they simultaneously failed to capitalize effectively on the potential in their talent and the very stories they had been telling. The next match of the night saw recent international signing Rush take on former ROH World Champion Dalton Castle. Rush destroyed Castle in a mere 15 seconds, sending former fan-favorite Dalton Castle spiraling out of control as he attacked his valets The Boys.

The next match of the night was for the Women of Honor World Championship, and was the only women’s match on the entire show. Women of Honor Champion Mayu Iwatani captured the title from Kelly Klein back at Bound By Honor on February 19, 2019, and helped add prestige to the championship the moment she held it. Iwatani is a veteran of Stardom, the most prestigious women’s promotion in Japan, and a multi-time champion in that company.

After less than two months with the title, Iwatani fell to previous champion Kelly Klein. Not only that, but it was clear shortly after the match that Iwatani was no longer the focus. Instead we saw Velvet Sky, Angelina Love, and Mandy Leon enter the ring. After a moment of looking like they might be on her side, the trio suddenly attacks Klein. As they exited the arena after the successful ambush, the faction name “The Allure” came on the screen to announce their arrival.

On the surface, it seems like a logical choice to bring Angelina Love and Velvet Sky, who were part of The Beautiful People during their tenure with TNA Wrestling, into ROH to form a similar group with Mandy Leon. Then again, it makes significantly less sense when you realize that previous ROH star Madison Rayne had left the company specifically over pushback for her idea to introduce a group like this. Rayne, also a member of The Beautiful People in TNA, had proposed the group but ROH reportedly wanted Mandy Leon to replace one of the members.

After the disagreements hit an impasse, Rayne came to terms with her release from Ring of Honor and instead returned to Impact Wrestling and signed a multi-year deal with the company. Now, with Rayne out of the company, ROH has instead decide to follow through on the exact idea that Madison Rayne had, but to do so without her, putting Mandy Leon with Sky and Love and giving them the new name “The Allure.” It was yet another illogical decision by Ring of Honor.

After that match, we got an appearance by nerdcore rapper Mega Ran who had written an exclusive song just about G1 Supercard. He then proceeded to perform the song live, which felt extremely out of place for an arena packed to the brim with die-hard wrestling fans. G1 Supercard sold out in mere minutes, and it’s no secret the fans wanted to see wrestling, not live music performances. The audience clearly made sure that was clear, and Mega Ran’s performance was interrupted a few minutes in by ROH’s Bully Ray.

After a brief altercation, Ray knocked Mega Ran out of the ring and kept the show going. Ray was initially scheduled to face Juice Robinson, but Robinson had been attacked backstage and wasn’t ready to compete. After spending some time on the shelf, Flip Gordon made his return from injury to challenge Bully Ray in Robinson’s place. Their New York City Street Fight commenced, but it didn’t take long for Silas Young and Shane Taylor to appear and attack Gordon.

Juice Robinson and his Lifeblood stablemate Mark Haskins finally came out on stage, Robinson looking ready to compete now, and things turned into an impromptu Six-Man Tag Team Match. What followed was fun chaos, and proved to be one of ROH’s better moments at G1 Supercard.