War of the Worlds '15

War of the Worlds '15

Promotional poster for the event, featuring wrestlers from both NJPW and ROH
Information
Promotion New Japan Pro Wrestling
Ring of Honor
Date May 12 and 13, 2015[1][2][3]
Venue 2300 Arena[1][2]
City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States[1][2]
Event chronology

(NJPW) Wrestling Dontaku 2015
(ROH) Supercard of Honor IX		 War of the Worlds '15 Global Wars '15
War of the Worlds chronology

War of the Worlds War of the Worlds '15 TBA

War of the Worlds '15 is an upcoming two-day professional wrestling supershow co-produced by the American Ring of Honor (ROH) and Japanese New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) promotions. The events are scheduled to take place on May 12 and 13, 2015, at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.[1][2]

War of the Worlds '15 is the second annual War of the Worlds event co-produced by ROH and NJPW, following War of the Worlds, which took place on May 17, 2014, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.[4]

Production

Background

On January 4, 2015, at their Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome show, New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) announced that it would for the second year in a row co-produce an event with Ring of Honor (ROH) in May. At that point, no specific dates were announced and only the United States was named as a location.[5][6] However, on February 25, ROH sent out a press release, announcing three co-produced events, as opposed to two shows in 2014, with War of the Worlds '15 taking place on May 13 in Philadelphia and Global Wars '15 on May 15 and 16 in Toronto, Canada.[7][8][9] On March 7, War of the Worlds '15 was also expanded to a two-day event, taking place at the 2300 Arena over May 12 and 13.[1][2] This was done due to the May 13 event quickly selling out.[3] ROH began announcing the NJPW wrestlers taking part in the events on April 1, starting with Hiroshi Tanahashi.[10] Over the next nine days, ROH announced the remaining NJPW participants; Kazuchika Okada,[11] Jushin Thunder Liger,[12] Tetsuya Naito,[13] Takaaki Watanabe,[14] Kushida,[15] Gedo,[16] and finally Shinsuke Nakamura.[17] On April 16, ROH announced that the Bullet Club trio of A.J. Styles, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson would also be taking part in the War of the Worlds '15 events.[18] The following day, ROH put additional standing room tickets on sale for the two events.[19] On April 20, ROH announced all eight matches for the first night of War of the Worlds '15.[20] All eight matches for the second night were announced the following day.[21]

Storylines

War of the Worlds '15 will feature eight professional wrestling matches each night that involve 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.[22]

Due to featuring wrestlers from two different promotions, the events will focus less on storyline rivalries and more on interpromotional matchups. However, one storyline introduced between the Bullet Club and The Kingdom stables is built across the two promotions.[23] The rivalry between the two stables started on March 1, 2015, at ROH's 13th Anniversary Show, where The Kingdom's Matt Taven and Michael Bennett defeated Bullet Club's Karl Anderson to win a three-way tag team match, after Anderson's stablemate Doc Gallows was unable to make the event due to travel issues.[24] This led to a match on April 5 at NJPW's Invasion Attack 2015, where Taven and Bennett defeated Anderson and Gallows to capture the IWGP Tag Team Championship.[25] The rivalry continued throughout the next month and came to include Maria Kanellis and Amber Gallows, the wives of Bennett and Gallows, respectively.[26] Anderson and Gallows are absent from War of the Worlds '15, working only the Global Wars '15 events,[18] leaving A.J. Styles and The Young Bucks to enter the rivalry.[23] War of the Worlds '15 will mark the in-ring return of the third member of The Kingdom, Adam Cole, following an injury break.[21]

The second night will feature the only title match of the two events, which will see Jay Briscoe defend the ROH World Championship against Bobby Fish.[21] Prior to the title match, Briscoe has gone over two years without being pinned or submitted in ROH; the last time he was pinned was on March 2, 2013, when Fish pinned him in a tag team match, where he and Kyle O'Reilly captured the ROH World Tag Team Championship from Jay and his brother Mark.[27]

Matches

Night 1
No. Matches[28][29] Stipulations
1 Delirious vs. Gedo Singles match
2 Kushida vs. Roderick Strong Singles match
3 Jay Lethal (with Truth Martini) vs. Takaaki Watanabe Singles match
4 The Addiction (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian) vs. The Kingdom (Matt Taven and Michael Bennett) (with Maria Kanellis) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) Three-way tag team match
5 Michael Elgin vs. Tetsuya Naito Singles match
6 Hiroshi Tanahashi and Jushin Thunder Liger vs. reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) Tag team match
7 A.J. Styles vs. TBA Singles match
8 The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe) vs. Chaos (Kazuchika Okada and Shinsuke Nakamura) Tag team match
Night 2
No. Matches[28][29] Stipulations
1 Adam Page vs. Takaaki Watanabe Singles match
2 Kushida vs. Michael Elgin Singles match
3 Kyle O'Reilly vs. Tetsuya Naito Singles match
4 Jay Lethal (with Truth Martini) vs. Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Shinsuke Nakamura Four-way match
5 Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Roderick Strong Singles match
6 The Addiction (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian) vs. Chaos (Gedo and Kazuchika Okada) Tag team match
7 Jay Briscoe (c) vs. Bobby Fish Singles match for the ROH World Championship
8 Bullet Club (A.J. Styles, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) vs. The Kingdom (Adam Cole, Matt Taven and Michael Bennett) (with Maria Kanellis) Six-man tag team match
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Caldwell, James (March 7, 2015). "ROH news: ROH adds fourth New Japan show to May tour". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Johnson, Mike (March 8, 2015). "ROH adds another combined show with New Japan". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Meltzer, Dave (March 8, 2014). "ROH announces another date with New Japan". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  4. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (May 17, 2014). "ROH/New Japan live coverage 5-17 New York". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Wrestle Kingdom 9 in 東京ドーム". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  6. ↑ Caldwell, James (January 4, 2015). "Tokyo Dome news: Tanahashi vs. Okada result, New Japan returning to the U.S. with ROH, three title changes, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  7. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (February 25, 2015). "ROH adds third New Japan show updated with press release". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  8. ↑ Caldwell, James (February 25, 2015). "ROH/NJPW news: Dates & Venues announced for New Japan returning to North America". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  9. ↑ Scherer, Dave (February 25, 2015). "Ring of Honor Wrestling® and New Japan Pro Wrestling® to present 3 super shows this May in North America, both Philadelphia and Toronto to host these events". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Ring Of Honor News: Hiroshi Tanahashi announced for May tour". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. April 1, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  11. ↑ Caldwell, James (April 2, 2015). "ROH news: Second major New Japan star announced for May tour". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  12. ↑ Caldwell, James (April 3, 2015). "ROH news: Ring of Honor announces third New Japan star for May tour". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  13. ↑ Caldwell, James (April 6, 2015). "ROH news: Recent G1 Climax winner announced for ROH vs. New Japan tour". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  14. ↑ Caldwell, James (April 7, 2015). "ROH news: Latest New Japan wrestler announced for ROH vs. New Japan tour". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  15. ↑ Caldwell, James (April 8, 2015). "ROH news: Time Splitter announced for ROH vs. New Japan tour". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  16. ↑ Caldwell, James (April 9, 2015). "ROH news: Latest New Japan star announced for ROH tour". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  17. ↑ Caldwell, James (April 10, 2015). "ROH news: Nakamura official for ROH vs. New Japan series; trio of top New Japan stars now official (w/Video)". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "The Bullet Club are coming to WotW & Global Wars". Ring of Honor. April 16, 2015. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
  19. ↑ Johnson, Mike (April 16, 2015). "Big ROH/New Japan in Philadelphia update". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Updated: Ring Of Honor announces lineup for May 12 New Japan Philly show". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. April 20, 2015. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Caldwell, James (April 21, 2015). "ROH news: Complete line-up for Night 2 of ROH vs. New Japan tour - former ROH Champ returning from injury, ROH Title match, matches for Tanahashi & Okada & Nakamura". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  22. ↑ Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Discovery Communications. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "WotW Night 2 Main Event - The Kingdom vs Bullet Club". Ring of Honor. April 21, 2015. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  24. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (March 1, 2015). "ROH live coverage from Las Vegas - four way for ROH title, Alberto vs. Lethal, Bucks vs. Fish & O'Reilly". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  25. ↑ "Show results - 4/5 NJPW "Invasion Attack" in Tokyo, Japan: A.J. Styles defends IWGP World Title in main event, ROH tag teams win both Tag Titles, Bullet Club in action, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. April 5, 2015. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  26. ↑ Caldwell, James (April 5, 2015). "NJPW news: Huge upcoming matches - Styles vs. Okada announced for July PPV, three title matches & historic six-person tag announced for next PPV in May, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  27. ↑ "The World title will be on the line at WotW Night 2". Ring of Honor. April 21, 2015. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 "Line ups for both nights of WOTW in Philly". Ring of Honor. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 "5月12日＆13日、フィラデルフィア大会カード決定!　中邑＆オカダvsブリスコ兄弟! 棚橋＆ライガーはレッドラゴンと激突!　渡辺高章も参戦!!". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). April 27, 2015. Retrieved April 27, 2015.

External links