On May 7th, 2017, I had the honour and privilege of attending a fantastic show hosted by Ring of Honor (ROH) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). The show, which was part of their combined War of the Worlds tour, was the second show as part of the ROH/NJPW tour to come to Toronto.
Because of that, it was a rare opportunity to see some of wrestling’s most high-profile stars up close and in person.
Seeing a wrestling show live is always a different experience from watching it on TV. You’re in a more intimate environment, the acoustics are completely different, and you’re closer to the action. As a result, your experience as a wrestling fan changes considerably.
NJPW and ROH aren’t necessarily accessible to many parts of the world, especially since WWE does far more international tours and travels to more countries overall. That said, their wrestling products and even their approaches to dealing with wrestling fans are fundamentally different from WWE’s nonstop entertainment machine.
I arrived for the show a good hour before the doors first opened, and a good three before the first match started. The line to enter the building stretched well around the corner. Given what I experienced at this event, it wouldn’t surprise me if this happened again next year.
#5 Smaller does not mean less popular
The War of the Worlds Show emanated from a small community centre in Toronto called the Ted Reeve Arena. It had a maximum capacity of about 1,000 people, though it didn’t look like that many people showed up. As the matches took place, there were some parts of the ‘General Admission’ section that were still empty.
But that didn’t mean that the show wasn’t ‘bad’ by any stretch of the imagination. On the contrary; the smaller venue gave those of us in attendance, a better view of the ring. Even those in the worst possible seats or those that were standing (like myself) saw everything very clearly, down to the smallest details of what was happening in and around the ring.
Shows like this are something of a throwback to wrestling’s heyday when it took place in smaller venues of louder and more loyal fans. Because of this smaller environment, fan chants were louder, we could all hear when wrestlers shouted at the fans without microphones, and the sounds of wrestlers hitting each other (and the mat) were all MUCH louder than what you hear on TV.
This made the matches more exciting and made even the weakest of wrestling moves look like they hurt much more than they probably did in reality.
#4 There was something for everyone
Wrestling fans are a diverse bunch, with everyone wanting something different out of the promotions they follow. Thankfully, both ROH and NJPW understand this, and so they put on a myriad of different matches to keep the audience happy.
If you wanted to see a traditional power struggle between two strong wrestlers, you got it in the form of Hirooki Goto vs. Shane Taylor. If you wanted crazy brawling and weapons, that came in the form of a triple threat between Bully Ray, Hangman Page & Punishment Martinez. I
f you’re the kind of fan that likes serious, technical wrestling, this was there in the form of KUSHIDA vs. Jay Lethal & Cody vs. Will Ospreay. Finally, if you wanted ridiculous, comedy-centric wrestling, we got that in the main event and in all segments involving The Elite (more on them later).
This is how you structure a good wrestling show; you give something for everyone to enjoy. That way everyone goes home satisfied and are more likely to return in the future. It’s said that variety is the spice of life. Well, that’s very true when it comes to creating a wrestling card that leads to the fans leaving the show happy and wanting more in the future.
#3 A lot of NJPW/ROH guys could give WWE’s Superstars a run for their money
War of the Worlds featured many great wrestlers that could become big stars in any top wrestling promotion. I’m not talking specifically about the main-eventers at this event (yet), but I’m referring to various mid-card wrestlers that worked the undercard.
KUSHIDA is one of the best junior heavyweight wrestlers around today and is a fantastic technician as well. Due to his MMA experience, he’s one of the few smaller guys that has some legitimacy outside of pro-wrestling, which makes him much more of a threat than one might initially believe.
Jay Lethal carries himself like a true world champion and wrestles like one as well. It’s amazing that WWE still hasn’t signed him, especially since he has already proven that he can wrestle well and cut fantastic promos.
Cody (Rhodes/Runnels) is also a fantastic performer that was criminally underrated while in WWE. I don’t understand why they were so adamant on keeping the Stardust gimmick; his current role as ‘the American Nightmare’ is better in every single way.
Tetsuya Naito was arguably the most popular Japanese wrestler on this card. People loved the way he threw his championship around and did not give a damn about his opponent. They also went nuts whenever he did his trademark pose, which proved that you don’t have to cut promos to get the crowd behind you.
Of course, the other wrestlers involved were fun to watch as well, but these ones stood out the most.
#2 The wrestlers are all approachable and willing to take photos with fans
This is one thing you won’t find at a major WWE event. Because of the enormity of scale of their shows and how many of them they do, it’s virtually impossible for an average fan to meet and greet WWE Superstars before the shows for photos and autographs unless you pay for a special package beforehand.
This wasn’t the case at the ROH/NJPW show.
Doors opened at around 5:30 pm, and the first wrestling match started ay 7:00 pm. For that first hour and a half, fans got to buy merchandise and meet with various pro wrestlers that were there.
For any wrestling fan, the opportunity to meet their favourite wrestlers in person is a dream come true. At this event, several wrestlers were there offering signed photographs. Top stars like Hiroshi Tanahashi, Bully Ray, KUSHIDA, Tetsuya Naito, The Addiction, Cody (Rhodes) and several more were more than willing to shake hands and take photos with the fans.
For me personally, it was a great opportunity to get a picture taken with Naito, Hirooki Goto and Bully Ray, all of whom seemed genuinely grateful to the fans in attendance. But as for who was the biggest draw on the show, that honour goes to...
#1 Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks are insanely popular
- The line to meet Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks was easily the longest at the event. The Elite started signing autographs and taking photos along with all the other wrestlers. But their line was so long that they kept greeting fans well after the first match had started.
And when they actually wrestled, the entire place became unglued.
In the main event match, The Elite (Omega and the Bucks) faced the team of Tanahashi, Christopher Daniels and Kazarian. From the very beginning, I watched in amazement at how popular this trio had become.
No matter what their opponents did (including Tanahashi, who was a clear-cut babyface), the Elite were cheered for every single move. Even random taunts and gestures were met with roaring approval from the people around me.
For the longest time, I was curious and sceptical about what made The Elite so popular and beloved. Then I saw them wrestle in person, and have concluded that they manage to walk the line between serious and wacky perfectly.
Their match was so hilarious that I couldn’t stop laughing at the absurdity of it. At one point, all six of the wrestlers tried to dropkick each other in a circle, and everyone in attendance started laughing.
Another key point here is that I’ve noticed that the Elite sometimes tweak what they do based on what the fans chant. At one point, the Elite had Daniels in their corner and held their boots to the turnbuckle, and Omega smashed Daniels’ head into their boots.
After this, the audience around me started chanting ‘Four Boots’ out of nowhere. In turn, the Young Bucks both put both their boots into that same turnbuckle, and Omega did the same move again, causing the audience to cheer wildly.
This wasn’t the technical wrestling match that’s meant to wow the audience with its seriousness and precision (we had gotten that earlier in the show anyway). This was a glorified comedy match that has become the staple of some of The Elite’s matches.
And that isn’t a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination. This was high-quality wrestling entertainment, so much so that it puts a lot of what’s seen on Monday nights to shame.
If WWE were to ever sign these three wrestlers, I hope that they don’t ever force these three to make any changes to how they wrestle. Because if they did, all three of them would be robbed of that magical ‘it’ factor that makes them so unique.
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