| Honor Rising: Japan 2016 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Promotional poster for the event, featuring bothNJPW andROH wrestlers | |||
| Promotion(s) | New Japan Pro-Wrestling Ring of Honor | ||
| Date | February 19-20, 2016 | ||
| City | Tokyo,Japan | ||
| Venue | Korakuen Hall | ||
| Attendance | 1,367 (February 19)[1] 1,718 (February 20)[2] | ||
| Event chronology | |||
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| Honor Rising: Japan chronology | |||
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Honor Rising: Japan 2016[3] was a two-dayprofessional wrestling "supershow" event co-produced by theJapaneseNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) andAmericanRing of Honor (ROH)promotions.[4] The event took place on February 19 and 20, 2016, atKorakuen Hall inTokyo,Japan. Both shows aired live through NJPW's internet streaming site,NJPW World.[5] Matches from the shows also began airing onRing of Honor Wrestling in April 2016.[6]
Continuing the partnership between NJPW and ROH, these were the first co-produced shows between the two promotions to take place in Japan. In 2014 and 2015, the two held joint shows, entitledGlobal Wars andWar of the Worlds, inCanada and theUnited States.
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| Commentators | Chris Charlton (English-language announcer) |
| Don Callis (English-language announcer) | |
| Kevin Kelly (English-language announcer) | |
| Ring announcers | Makoto Abe |
| Referees | Kenta Sato |
| Marty Asami | |
| Red Shoes Unno | |
| Tiger Hattori |
On August 21, 2015, at aRing of Honor (ROH) show inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, ROH'schief operating officer Joe Koff, ambassadorCary Silkin and on-screenauthority figureNigel McGuinness were joined byNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)chairman Naoki Sugabayashi andrefereeTiger Hattori for an announcement about the continuation of a working relationship between the two promotions.[7] The relationship originally started in 2014 with theGlobal Wars andWar of the Worlds shows, co-produced between the two promotions in May,[8] which were followed byWar of the Worlds '15 andGlobal Wars '15 in May 2015.[9] The relationship also included NJPW wrestlers making sporadic appearances in ROH and vice versa.[10][11] It was announced that in 2016, the two promotions would hold joint shows in Japan in February and in North America in May.[7] On November 19, 2015, ROH announced that the Japanese shows would be held on February 19 and 20 inTokyo'sKorakuen Hall.[12] These would mark ROH's first shows in Japan since 2008, when they held shows in Tokyo as part of their then relationships with bothDragon Gate andPro Wrestling Noah.[13] On December 8, NJPW announced the name of the shows as "Honor Rising: Japan 2016".[3]
On January 30, 2016, NJPW announced the eleven ROH wrestlers taking part in the event;Adam Cole,Bobby Fish,Dalton Castle,Delirious,Jay Briscoe,Jay Lethal,Kyle O'Reilly,Mark Briscoe,Michael Elgin,Moose andRoderick Strong.[14][15] It was also reported thatDoc Gallows andKarl Anderson would take part in the event, which mark their final NJPW appearances before leaving the promotion forWWE.[16] On February 12, ROH announced that Adam Cole would not be able to make the shows due to "personal family issues" and replaced him withFrankie Kazarian,[17] and also addedMatt Sydal andThe Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson), who were regulars for both ROH and NJPW.[18]
NJPW released the cards for the shows on February 15.[19][20] Both shows would feature eight matches each with three of them being contested forchampionships. The February 19 show would be main evented by Roderick Strong defending theROH World Television Championship againstTomohiro Ishii.[21][22] The February 20 show would feature Jay Briscoe, Mark Briscoe andToru Yano defending theNEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship against theBullet Club trio ofKenny Omega and The Young Bucks, while the main event saw Jay Lethal defend theROH World Championship againstTomoaki Honma.[21][22]
| No. | Results[23][24][25][26] | Stipulations | Times[1] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jyushin Thunder Liger andMatt Sydal defeatedDalton Castle (with Brandon Tate and Brent Tate) andRyusuke Taguchi | Tag team match | 08:20 | ||
| 2 | Delirious defeatedGedo | Singles match | 07:53 | ||
| 3 | Kushida defeatedFrankie Kazarian | Singles match | 09:47 | ||
| 4 | Hiroshi Tanahashi,Michael Elgin,Moose andTomoaki Honma defeatedBullet Club (Bad Luck Fale,Cody Hall,Tama Tonga andYujiro Takahashi) | Eight-man tag team match | 11:38 | ||
| 5 | The Elite (Kenny Omega,Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) defeatedBobby Fish,Katsuyori Shibata andKyle O'Reilly | Six-man tag team match | 10:16 | ||
| 6 | The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe andMark Briscoe) defeated Bullet Club (Doc Gallows andKarl Anderson) | Tag team match | 08:23 | ||
| 7 | Jay Lethal (withTruth Martini) andTetsuya Naito (withBushi andEvil) defeatedChaos (Kazuchika Okada andYoshi-Hashi) (with Gedo) | Tag team match | 12:56 | ||
| 8 | Tomohiro Ishii defeatedRoderick Strong (c) | Singles match for theROH World Television Championship | 20:07 | ||
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