| War of the Worlds (2017) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
.png) Promotional poster for the New York City show | |||
| Promotion(s) | New Japan Pro-Wrestling Ring of Honor | ||
| Date | May 7, 10, 12 and 14, 2017 | ||
| City | Night 1: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Night 2: Dearborn, Michigan, U.S. Night 3: New York City, New York, U.S. Night 4: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||
| Venue | Night 1: Ted Reeve Arena Night 2: Ford Community & Performing Arts Center Night 3: Hammerstein Ballroom Night 4: 2300 Arena | ||
| Attendance | Night 1: 1,500[1] Night 2: 1,000[2] Night 3: 1,800[2] Night 4: 1,100[2] | ||
| Pay-per-view chronology | |||
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| War of the Worlds chronology | |||
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| New Japan Pro-Wrestling events chronology | |||
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War of the Worlds (2017) was aprofessional wrestling tour co-produced by the AmericanRing of Honor (ROH) and JapaneseNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)promotions.
The tour's four events took place on May 7 at theTed Reeve Arena inToronto, Ontario; May 10 at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center inDearborn, Michigan; May 12 at theHammerstein Ballroom inNew York City; and May 14 at the2300 Arena inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania.
The third night aired live onpay-per-view (PPV), while the fourth night was taped for four future episodes, including the 300th overall episode, of ROH's weekly television program,Ring of Honor Wrestling.[3] 2017 was the fourth year in which ROH and NJPW co-produced events under theWar of the Worlds name. During the third night of the tour, NJPW announced the creation of theIWGP United States Heavyweight Championship.[4]
In 2014, Japanese promotionNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) andRing of Honor (ROH) formally forged a relationship, which saw them present the firstWar of the Worlds show on May 17, 2014, at theHammerstein Ballroom inNew York City, New York. The following year,War of the Worlds was held over two days at the2300 Arena inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania and in2016 it was expanded to a three-show tour with shows taking place inDearborn, Michigan,Toronto, Ontario and New York City.[5] The 2017 War of the Worlds tour was officially announced in January 2017, when ROH put tickets on sale for the events. At that point, ROH announced a three-show tour with events taking place on May 7 in Toronto, May 10 in Dearborn and May 14 in Philadelphia with rumors of a fourth show to be added later.[6][7] The fourth show, taking place on May 12 in New York City, was officially added to the tour in March.[8] It was also announced that the show would air onpay-per-view (PPV) as well as theFITE TV application,PlayStation Network and ROHWrestling.com.[9][10] In Japan, the show would also air live on NJPW's internet streaming site,NJPW World.[11] These would mark the fourth annual shows co-promoted by NJPW and ROH.[7]
ROH began announcing the NJPW wrestlers for the tour on April 17, starting withIWGP Intercontinental ChampionTetsuya Naito andKushida.[12][13] ROH wrestlers announced for the tour includedROH World ChampionChristopher Daniels,ROH World Television ChampionMarty Scurll,ROH World Six-Man Tag Team ChampionsBully Ray andThe Briscoes (Jay Briscoe andMark Briscoe),Dalton Castle andJay Lethal in addition toROH World Tag Team ChampionsThe Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson),Cody andWill Ospreay, who work for both NJPW and ROH.[14] Over the following days, ROH continued announcing additional NJPW wrestlers for the tour, includingHirooki Goto,[15] theLos Ingobernables de Japón trio ofBushi,Evil andSanada[16]Gedo,[17] andHiroshi Tanahashi.[18] Also announced wasKenny Omega, who would, however, only work the Toronto show.[19]
The War of the Worlds tour featuredprofessional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds andstorylines. Wrestlers portrayedvillains,heroes, orless distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[20]
On April 14, ROH announced the first match for the tour, which would seeChristopher Daniels defend theROH World Championship againstMatt Taven on May 10.[21] Taven earned a title shot by winning the Honor Royale on March 4, announcing shortly thereafter his intention of challenging Daniels on the War of the Worlds tour. Daniels and Taven had a history involving theROH World Tag Team Championship with Taven andMichael Bennett winning the title from Daniels andFrankie Kazarian in 2015.[22] The Dearborn show would also feature a match for the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship with defending champions, Bully Ray and The Briscoes, defending against NJPW's reigningNEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team ChampionsLos Ingobernables de Japón (Bushi, Evil and Sanada).[23]
The May 12 show would be main evented by the ROH World Championship being contested in a three-way match with Daniels defending against Cody and Jay Lethal. Cody's challenge had been accepted by Daniels prior to the match with Taven,[24] while Lethal earned a spot in the match on April 8 by winning a four-way match, also involvingHangman Page,Jay White andSilas Young.[25] Cody and Lethal had been feuding with each other in the months prior to War of the Worlds with Lethal defeating Cody in aTexas bullrope match atSupercard of Honor XI.[26] Other title matches would include Marty Scurll defending the ROH World Television Championship against Matt Sydal and Bully Ray and The Briscoes defending the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship against theChaos trio ofBeretta, Hirooki Goto andRocky Romero.[27]
The tour concluding Philadelphia show would be headlined by aPhiladelphia Street Fight betweenAdam Cole and Marty Scurll.[3] Cole's ROH contract had expired on May 1 and it was reported that the Philadelphia show would be his final scheduled appearance for the promotion.[28][29] ROH set up the storyline behind the match at the New York City show, where theBullet Club stable turned on Cole and replaced him with Scurll.[4] Earlier in the Philadelphia show, Cole cost Scurll the ROH World Television Championship in his match against Kushida, leading to the main event street fight.[3] Instead of being taped forRing of Honor Wrestling, the main event was taped to be released later on ROH's official website.[3]
On May 22, 2017, ROH announced a second War of the Worlds tour, entitledWar of the Worlds UK, this time taking place in the United Kingdom, for which ROH and NJPW were joined by the MexicanConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and the BritishRevolution Pro Wrestling (RPW) promotions. The three shows take place on August 18 inLondon, August 19 inLiverpool and August 20 inEdinburgh.[30]
| No. | Results[35][36] | Stipulations | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1D | Kelly Klein defeated Jynx[34] | Singles match | ||||
| 2 | Dalton Castle (with The Boys) defeatedBobby Fish | Singles match | ||||
| 3 | Search and Destroy (Alex Shelley,Chris Sabin andJay White) defeated The Rebellion (Caprice Coleman,Rhett Titus andShane Taylor) | Six-man tag team match | ||||
| 4 | Silas Young defeatedKushida | Singles match | ||||
| 5 | War Machine (Hanson andRaymond Rowe) defeatedHiroshi Tanahashi andJay Lethal | Tag team match | ||||
| 6 | The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe andMark Briscoe) andBully Ray (c) defeatedLos Ingobernables de Japón (Bushi,Evil andSanada) | No disqualification six-man tag team match for theROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship | ||||
| 7 | Tetsuya Naito defeatedPunishment Martinez | Singles match | ||||
| 8 | Cheeseburger defeatedBeer City Bruiser,Frankie Kazarian,Gedo,Marty Scurll,Vinny Marseglia andWill Ferrara | "Proving Ground Instant Reward"seven-way match; the winner, if not Scurll, would earn an immediate shot at theROH World Television Championship | ||||
| 9 | Marty Scurll (c) defeated Cheeseburger (with Will Ferrara) | Singles match for the ROH World Television Championship | ||||
| 10 | Christopher Daniels (c) defeatedMatt Taven | Singles match for theROH World Championship | ||||
| 11 | Chaos (Beretta,Hirooki Goto,Rocky Romero andWill Ospreay) defeatedBullet Club (Cody,Hangman Page,Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) | Eight-man tag team match | ||||
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| No. | Results[4][37][38][39] | Stipulations | Times[40] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1D | The Kingdom (Matt Taven andVinny Marseglia) (withT. K. O'Ryan) defeatedThe Tempura Boyz (Sho andYo) | Tag team match | — | ||||
| 2D | The Rebellion (Kenny King,Rhett Titus andShane Taylor) (withCaprice Coleman) defeatedCheeseburger,Gedo andWill Ferrara | Six-man tag team match | — | ||||
| 3 | Dalton Castle (with The Boys) defeatedBobby Fish,Kushida andSilas Young (with Beer City Bruiser) | Four-way match | 07:48 | ||||
| 4 | Hangman Page defeatedFrankie Kazarian | Singles match | 04:43 | ||||
| 5 | War Machine (Hanson andRaymond Rowe) defeatedLos Ingobernables de Japón (Evil andSanada) and Search and Destroy (Chris Sabin andJonathan Gresham) (withAlex Shelley) | Three-way tag team match | 08:47 | ||||
| 6 | Will Ospreay defeatedJay White | Singles match | 13:11 | ||||
| 7 | The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe andMark Briscoe) andBully Ray (c) defeatedChaos (Beretta,Hirooki Goto andRocky Romero) | No disqualification six-man tag team match for theROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship | 12:45 | ||||
| 8 | Marty Scurll (c) defeatedMatt Sydal | Singles match for theROH World Television Championship | 11:24 | ||||
| 9 | The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) (c) defeatedLos Ingobernables de Japón (Bushi andTetsuya Naito) | Tag team match for theROH World Tag Team Championship | 13:35 | ||||
| 10 | Hiroshi Tanahashi defeatedAdam Cole | Singles match | 13:32 | ||||
| 11 | Christopher Daniels (c) defeatedCody andJay Lethal | Three-way match for theROH World Championship | 13:31 | ||||
| |||||||
| No. | Results[3][41] | Stipulations | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1D | The Tempura Boyz (Sho andYo) defeated Coast 2 Coast (LSG and Shaheem Ali) | Tag team match | ||||
| 2 | Josh Woods defeatedDavid Starr | Singles match | ||||
| 3 | Jay Lethal defeatedBeer City Bruiser (withSilas Young) by disqualification | Singles match | ||||
| 4 | Cody defeatedFrankie Kazarian | Singles match | ||||
| 5D | Gabby Ortiz andSumie Sakai defeated Bonesaw Jessie Brooks andTasha Steelz | Tag team match | ||||
| 6 | War Machine (Hanson andRaymond Rowe) defeatedCheeseburger andWill Ferrara | Tag team match | ||||
| 7 | Los Ingobernables de Japón (Bushi,Evil,Sanada andTetsuya Naito) defeatedThe Briscoes (Jay Briscoe andMark Briscoe),Bully Ray andDalton Castle (with The Boys) | Eight-man tag team match | ||||
| 8 | Hangman Page defeatedAdam Cole | Singles match | ||||
| 9D | Kelly Klein defeated Jenny Rose | Singles match | ||||
| 10 | Chuck Taylor andRoppongi Vice (Beretta andRocky Romero) defeatedBullet Club (Hangman Page,Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) | Six-man tag team match | ||||
| 11 | The Rebellion (Rhett Titus andShane Taylor) (withCaprice Coleman) vs. Search and Destroy (Jay White andJonathan Gresham) (withAlex Shelley) ended in a no contest | Tag team match | ||||
| 12 | Kushida defeatedMarty Scurll (c) | Singles match for theROH World Television Championship | ||||
| 13 | Beer City Bruiser andSilas Young defeatedBobby Fish and Jay Lethal | Tag team match | ||||
| 14 | The Kingdom (Matt Taven andVinny Marseglia) defeated The Boys (Boy 1 and Boy 2) | Tag team match | ||||
| 15 | Punishment Martinez defeatedJoey Daddiego | Singles match | ||||
| 16 | The Addiction (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian) andHiroshi Tanahashi defeatedChaos (Gedo,Hirooki Goto andWill Ospreay) | Six-man tag team match | ||||
| 17D | Marty Scurll defeated Adam Cole | Philadelphia Street Fight | ||||
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