G1 Supercard

The G1 Supercard is an upcoming professional wrestling supershow co-produced by the American Ring of Honor (ROH) and Japanese New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotions. The event will take place on April 6, 2019, at the Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, United States. The events name refers G1 due to the G1 Climax tournament in NJPW and Supercard for ROH's annual event Supercard of Honor. The event will air live on traditional PPV outlets, Fite TV, Honor Club and the NJPW World streaming services, while the pre-show will air on Facebook Live. Wrestlers from Mexican based promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and Japan based women's promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom, with whom ROH and NJPW have a partnership with, will also appear at the event.

The show will be headlined by Jay White defending the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against the winner of the 2019 New Japan Cup, Kazuchika Okada, in a rematch from Wrestle Kingdom 13 in Tokyo Dome. The second match of the show's "double main event" will see Jay Lethal defending the ROH World Championship against Matt Taven and 2018 Survival of the Fittest winner Marty Scurll in a three-way ladder match. As part of a partnership between NJPW, ROH and the British Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW) promotion, the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship will also be defended at the event with Zack Sabre Jr. facing Hiroshi Tanahashi.

Five other title matches will also take place on the show with Tetsuya Naito defending the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Kota Ibushi, Taiji Ishimori defending the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against Bandido and Dragon Lee in a three-way match, Will Ospreay facing jeff Cobb in a "Winner takes all" match for the NEVER Openweight and ROH World Television Championships, Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa), The Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe), Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL and SANADA) and Villain Enterprises (PCO and Brody King) facing each other in a four-way "Winner takes all" match tag team match for the IWGP Tag Team and ROH World Tag Team Championships and Mayu Iwatani defending the Women of Honor World Championship against Kelly Klein. All in all, the event will feature twelve matches (including two on the pre-show).

The event is notable for being the first non-WWE promoted professional wrestling event to held in the Madison Square Garden since 1960 and the second professional wrestling event in the United States after All In to sell 10,000 tickets.

Background
On June 11, 2018, Sinclair Broadcast Group CEO Chris Ripley told on an interview on the Baltimore Business Journal that Ring of Honor would run a show at Madison Square Garden in 2019. According to Ripley, the plan was part of a strategy to move Ring of Honor to bigger venues. It was also noted that Madison Square Garden has been reaching out to other professional wrestling promotions, due to WWE not been running at the venue consistently and preferring to run Barclays Center, which MSG officials were upset about. Wrestling Observer Newsletter journalist Dave Meltzer reported that AAA also had a date to run Madison Square Garden in September 2018 and that WWE was trying to stop ROH from doing the event. Six days later, Pro Wrestling Insider reported that Ring of Honor had lost its date with Madison Square Garden. During an interview with ROH Chief Operating Officer Joe Koff, it was revealed Madison Square Garden was backing out of the event after communications from the WWE, which led Sinclair Broadcast Group legal team to work on finding a resolution.

On July 12, ROH and New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced the "G1 Supercard" a co-promoted supershow between the two promotions, with Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito and Hiroshi Tanahashi being advertised for the event. It was later revealed that under threat of legal action by Sinclair Broadcast Group, MSG officials agreed to the original deal following weeks of negotiations and terms were finalized two days prior to the announcement of the event. WWE would respond the allegations made by Joe Koff saying "MSG is [...] free to work with ROH [...] however they want". Pre-sale tickets went on sale on August 8 for ROH Honor Club subscribers, while MSG hosted their own pre-sale on August 9 and tickets went on sale for the general public on Ticketmaster on August 10, costing from $30 to $300. On August 8, Pro Wrestling Insider reported that sources within ROH told that the promotion had already sold out about half of MSG, which were later confirmed to be 12,000 tickets in pre-sale. On August 10, it was revealed that tickets for general public sold out in nineteen minutes and was also among the quickest sellouts for a professional wrestling event in the history of the arena. This led to on September 5, ROH announcing additional tickets to being put on sale, priced at $56.00. Additionally, on August 10, ROH announced the first group of wrestlers taking part in the event; Marty Scurll, Bully Ray, Matt Taven, The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe). On August 23, it was reported by Pro Wrestling Insider reported that NJPW had filled a trademark in the United States over G1 Climax, and G1 Supercard.

In February 2014, the Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion announced a partnership with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion, which led to the two co-producing the Global Wars and War of the Worlds events in Toronto and New York City, respectively, the following May. A year later, the partnership continued with War of the Worlds '15 and Global Wars '15, which were both two-day events, taking place in Philadelphia and Toronto, respectively. On August 21, 2015, representatives of NJPW and ROH declared that the relationship between the two promotions was stronger than ever, announcing another North American tour for May 2016, featuring new locations and wrestlers, as well as the first co-produced shows between the two promotions in Tokyo. The two-day event, entitled Honor Rising: Japan 2016, took place on February 19 and 20, 2016. Since July 2017, NJPW began promoting event independently in the United States selling out their G1 Special in USA and Strong Style Evolved events. Both ROH and NJPW would break attendance records in April and July 2018, with NJPW's G1 Special in San Francisco selling 6,333 tickets, while ROH's Supercard of Honor XII sold 6,100 tickets.

On February 7, 2019, NJPW and ROH announced a two-day fan festival named New Japan Matsuri and G1 Supercard Festival of Honor with the event being held on April 4 at the Japan Village and April 5 at the Hulu Theater. On February 21, it was announced would be broadcast on pay-per-view and also on the Fite TV, ROH and NJPW's streaming services Honor Club and NJPW World, respectively. On March 8, it was announced the return of the Honor Rumble (a match with WWE's Royal Rumble-style battle royals where entrants join the match at time intervals), with participants from both NJPW and ROH and was set for the pre-show of the event. Later, it was announced the meet and greets, including the talent from ROH, Bandido, Brody King, Bully Ray, Dalton Castle and The Boys, Flip Gordon, Jay Lethal, Jeff Cobb, Jenny Rose, Kelly Klein, Mandy Leon, Mark Haskins, Marty Scurll, Matt Taven, World Wonder Ring Stardom's Mayu Iwatani, PCO, Rush, Sumie Sakai, The Briscoe Brothers (Mark and Jay Briscoe), TK O'Ryan, Tracy Williams and Vinny Marseglia, and from NJPW, BUSHI, EVIL, Hirooki Goto, Jushin Thunder Liger, Kazuchika Okada, Kota Ibushi, SANADA, Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, Will Ospreay and Zack Sabre Jr.. On March 28, ROH announced that pre-show of the event would air on Facebook Live. Also, it was announced on April 3, a six-woman tag team match between Oedo Tai (Kagetsu and Kazuki) and Jenny Rose facing Sumie Sakai, Hana Kimura and Stella Grey.

Storylines
G1 Supercard will feature professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portray villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.

The G1 Supercard will be main evented by Jay White making his first successful title defense of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against 2019 New Japan Cup Kazuchika Okada. Since January 2018, White started feuding with Okada, after Okada welcomed White to CHAOS. White warned Okada to "not get too comfortable", but Okada didn't take him seriously. From July 14 until August 10, Okada and White took part in the 2018 G1 Climax. During the tournament, White and Okada faced each other in their head-to-head match, with White coming out victorious after cheating to defeat Okada with tactics such as attacking him with a chair, ref bumps or low blows. On September 23 at Destruction in Kobe, Okada unsuccessfully challenged Hiroshi Tanahashi for his Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight Championship match contract. After the match, White would lay out Tanahashi with a Blade Runner and immediately Okada attacked Okada. Yoshi-Hashi tried to make the save, but White overpowered him, Gedo came into the ring and turned on Okada, before laying him out with a Blade Runner. Afterwards, Gedo nominated White to face Tanahashi for his contract due to White previously defeating Tanahashi in the G1 Climax. On October 8 at King of Pro-Wrestling, White unsuccessfully challenged Tanahashi for his contract. Following his match, White attacked Tanahashi, but Okada made the save and tried to attack Gedo, but Bullet Club OG appeared in the ring and Jado also turned on Okada, and Gedo, Jado and White joined the Bullet Club OG, before laying him out with another Blade Runner. During the Road to Power Struggle, Tanahashi would be caught up in their feud, forming an alliance with Okada and their stables CHAOS and NJPW Home unit. White would challenge Okada to a match, which was later set to be at Wrestle Kingdom 13, with Okada saying the match wasn't worth being put on Wrestle Kingdom and he preferred the match to happen at Road to Tokyo Dome tour. On January 4 at Wrestle Kingdom 13 in Tokyo Dome, White would defeat Okada. Later that month, White would defeat Tanahashi to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. On February 12, NJPW announced that the winner of the 2019 New Japan Cup would get an opportunity for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. In March, Okada would take part of the 2019 New Japan Cup, defeating SANADA in the finals of the tournament, to earn a title opportunity at the G1 Supercard against White. The title match was confirmed on March 24. It was also announced that G1 Supercard would feature a double main event with the IWGP Heavyweight and ROH World Championship matches.

In the ROH World Championship match, Jay Lethal will make his fifteenth title defense against Marty Scurll and Matt Taven in a ladder match. On March 13 during the G1 Supercard press conference, Marty Scurll announced that he would cash in his Survival of the Fittest tournament title shot for the ROH World Championship at G1 Supercard. Three days later at ROH 17th Anniversary, Jay Lethal and Matt Taven faced each other in a 60 minutes time-limit draw and afterwards, Scurll stole the ROH World Championship belt. On March 18 at Ring of Honor Wrestling tapings, Scurll return the title to Lethal, after Taven and Scurll laid their claims for a title match, Lethal proposed a three-way match, but Taven and Scurll refused and both wanted a singles match for a title match, but Lethal instead proposed a ladder match between the three wrestlers at G1 Supercard, which was agreed. The title match was confirmed on March 24. It was also announced that G1 Supercard would feature a double main event with the IWGP Heavyweight and ROH World Championship matches. On March 31 at Road to G1 Supercard: Baltimore, Shane Taylor suggested on social media that he should replace him in the match and challenged him to a match where the winner would be in the match, where Scurll agreed and later that night defeated him to certify his status in the match.

In the IWGP Intercontinental Championship match, Tetsuya Naito will make his second title defense against Kota Ibushi. On March 10, 2019, Naito and Ibushi faced each other in a non-title match at the first round of the New Japan Cup, which was won by Ibushi. After Ibushi was eliminated of the tournament by Zack Sabre Jr., he would set his sights on the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, which later Naito taunted Ibushi during the other nights of the New Japan Cup Ibushi also expressed his disapproval on the conditions Naito treated the IWGP Intercontinental Championship belt and asked for a title match. The title match was confirmed on March 24.

The G1 Supercard will feature a double title match for the IWGP and ROH World Tag Team Championships in a "Winner Takes All" match. On February 22, 2019, at the first night of the Honor Rising: Japan, Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) and The Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe) took part in an eight-man tag team match against Tomoaki Honma, Toa Henare, Juice Robinson and David Finlay. Afterwards, the Guerrillas of Destiny turned on The Briscoe Brothers. The following day, the Guerrillas of Destiny defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL and SANADA) to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship. Later that night, The Briscoe Brothers defeated LifeBlood (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) to retain the ROH World Tag Team Championship. After the match, The Briscoe Brothers called out the Guerrillas of Destiny and challenged them to a "Winner Takes All" match at G1 Supercard, for both the IWGP Tag Team Championship and ROH World Tag Team Championship, which they accepted. Prior to G1 Supercard, The Briscoe Brothers had a scheduled title defense against Villain Enterprises (Brody King and PCO) on March 15 at ROH 17th Anniversary Show, instead, NJPW announced the winners of the match on March 16 would face the Guerrillas of Destiny at G1 Supercard. At ROH 17th Anniversary show, Villain Enterprises defeated The Briscoe Brothers to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship. However on March 22 at Road to G1 Supercard: Baltimore, The Briscoe Brothers invoking their rematch against Villain Enterprises for the ROH World Tag Team Championship. Two days later, NJPW announced a four-way tag team "Winner Takes All" match at G1 Supercard involving Los Ingobernables de Japón, The Briscoe Brothers, Guerrillas of Destiny and Villain Enterprises. On March 31 at Road to G1 Supercard: Baltimore, Villain Enterprises would retain their titles by disqualification after Brody King hit Jay Briscoe with a chair from behind, leading to a big brawl between the two teams.

The G1 Supercard will feature another double title match for the NEVER Openweight and ROH World Television Championships in a "Winner Takes All" match, where Jeff Cobb will face Will Ospreay. On March 16 at ROH 17th Anniversary show, after Jeff Cobb defended the ROH World Television Championship against Shane Taylor, ROH announced a double title match for the NEVER Openweight and ROH World Television Championships. Ospreay and Cobb had previously faced each other in a tag team match at Honor Rising: Japan, where Ospreay pinned Cobb to win the match. The title match was confirmed on March 24.

In the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match, Taiji Ishimori will make his third title defense against Dragon Lee and Bandido. On March 6, 2019, at NJPW's 47th-anniversary show, after Ishimori retained the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against Jushin Thunder Liger, Ishimori challenged anyone from Ring of Honor to face him in a match at G1 Supercard for his title. Afterwards, Ishimori's challenged was accepted by Dragon Lee, who confronted him and instead he would be representing Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). Later that day, Bandido, who is representing ROH, also announced he wanted to be added to the match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship at the event. The title match was announced on the following day.

In the British Heavyweight Championship match, Zack Sabre Jr. will make his third tile defense against Hiroshi Tanahashi. On March 21, 2019, Sabre and Tanahashi faced each other in a non-title match at the quarter finals of the New Japan Cup, which was won by Tanahashi. After Tanahashi was eliminated of the tournament by SANADA, Tanahashi and Sabre would meet each other in a tag team match, where Sabre teamed with his Suzuki-gun stablemate Taichi and Tanahashi teamed with Will Ospreay. After Sabre and Taichi won the match, they attacked Tanahashi and Ospreay and Sabre posed with the British Heavyweight Championship. In a backstage interview, Sabre challenged Tanahashi to a rematch at G1 Supercard for his British Heavyweight Championship. The title match was confirmed on March 24.

In the Women of Honor World Championship match, Mayu Iwatani will make her third title defense against Kelly Klein. On February 10, 2019 at ROH Bound By Honor, Mayu Iwatani defeated Kelly Klein to win the Women of Honor World Championship. During Klein's reign, she vowed to defend the championship in all of her singles matches. On March 15 at ROH 17th Anniversary, Iwatani defeated again Klein to retain the Women of Honor World Championship. Both Klein and Iwatani share two consecutive wins on one another, with Klein had previously defeating Iwatani during the semifinals of the Women of Honor Championship tournament in April 2018 and later in August during the 2018 5★Star Grand Prix. The title match was confirmed on March 24.

The event will include a singles match between Dalton Castle and Rush for the event. On March 16 at Ring of Honor Wrestling tapings, Castle challenged Rush to a match at G1 Supercard, which he accepted. Also announced was a New York Street Fight match, after Bully Ray made an open challenge to anyone at G1 Supercard. On March 31 at Ring of Honor Wrestling tapings, Ray and Silas Young attacked Mark Haskins, but Haskins' Lifeblood stablemates Bandido, Juice Robinson and Tracy Williams me the save. Afterwards, Robinson announced he would be facing Ray at the event.

Honor Rumble participants
9 of the 30 entrants have been announced as of August 28, 2024.


 * – NJPW
 * – ROH