In front of a raucous public, April 5th saw the pre-match press conference for the G1 SuperCard take place from Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater. New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Ring of Honor’s stars all gave their final statements ahead of Saturday’s historical event.
You can watch the G1 SuperCard LIVE at: https://njpwworld.com ,with coverage starting at 6:30PM EST.
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The first contract signing was for the triple-threat match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, featuring the reigning champion, Taiji Ishimori, lucha star, Dragon Lee and young international sensation, Bandido. Speaking first, Bandido thanked everyone in attendance and talked about how hard he had been training for the match which he hoped would be a personal highlight of his career. Dragon Lee talked about how he was fighting for his people and for Mexico. In dedicating his upcoming match to the the people of Mexico, he struck a cord with the Spanish-speaking members of the assembled crowd who cheered loudly at these words. Finally, Ishimori’s comments were characteristically self-confident, talking about how he didn’t understand his challengers words, or care what they had to say. Despite this he felt that it was inevitable that he would emerge as the champion tomorrow, ending with his catchphrase “It’s reborn.”
In response Dragon Lee angrily replied that he felt insulted by Ishimori’s comments and that the people of Mexico will be able to celebrate tomorrow when he would walk out the victor. Bandido himself also expressed irritation and told the assembled fighters to sign the contract already, whereon the contract was duly signed by all three, with NJPW chairman Naoki Sugabayashi serving as official witness.
Next up was a signing for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship match featuring the 20th champion, Tetsuya Naito and the Golden Star, Kota Ibushi. Speaking first, Ibushi reflected on the excitement of performing at Madison Square Garden. Not only was he excited about the location, but his opponent, Tetsuya Naito was one that has deep personal connection with. Despite his respect for the un-governable one, he questioned the champion’s commitment to the championship (‘there’s a different title you want,’ Ibushi would surmise) and mentioned that he was going to take the ‘dirty’, Intercontinental title and make it a ‘pure white belt’
For his part, Naito opened by greeting the crowd in Spanish, which, like with Dragon Lee, drew whoops from the crowd. What endeared him less to the fans was Naito’s staement that he was less excited about the upcoming match than Ibushi, feeling that his first job was to retain the title. He said that he didn’t have the passion that Ibushi had for the occasion, instead this was simply another match for him and he was looking forward to defeating Ibushi, embarrassing his opponent in a match that was very special for him.
The IWGP Heavyweight Championship contract signing closed out NJPW’s part in proceedings. The 68th champion, Jay White and his challenger, 4-time champion Kazuchika Okada had a typically terse exchange. The Switchblade brought with him a restored IWGP Heavyweight Championship belt which glinted in the spotlight, looking every bit the awesome prize it is. Speaking first, the Rainmaker said that this week there were many fantastic matches coming in New York, but would come out to prove that New Japan was the greatest wrestling promotion. Okada acknowledged that the ROH Championship match, taking place before he and White battled in the main event, would be fantastic. That said, Okada would be doing everything he could to make the final match the best of the night. Finally he commented that it was only fitting that he would be ending the night as the 69th Champion.
A clearly irritated Jay White started out by claiming he had been disrespected by the IWGP Championship committee. Whilst the championship belt has been lovingly restored in advance of G1 Supercard, but the name plate had been left blank. This was emblematic, White said of a lack of respect, and of fans and officials still being convinced Okada would come out on top after Saturday, despite White being 3-0 up on the Rainmaker. White commented that he thought that Okada was getting weak and mocked him for crying in his post-match comments, overwhelmed by the support of Katsuyori Shibata when he won the New Japan Cup. Jay futher needled the Rainmaker, saying that he was focusing on the wrong things and was too invested in putting on an entertaining match rather than getting the job done.
He went on to mock the fans, saying there was a hopeful buzz about the idea of Okada winning and that he couldn’t wait until he won at Madison Square Garden, and that he would suck the atmosphere out of the arena. He went on to the comment that it was a verifiable fact that he was a verifiable fact that he was the best and that the Championship belt in front of him was proof positive of that. The contract was then signed by both men as well as the Chairman, thus concluding the official contract signing ceremony.
The final press conference was for the triple threat match for the ROH World Championship; champion, Jay Lethal entering into a battle of words against Matt Taven Marty Scurll. The first to speak was The Kingdom’s Matt Taven, whose opening comments were greeted with a chorus of boos. This welcome drew the ire of Mr. Taven who mocked the crowd’s dietary habits, calling them “Melvins” and declaring himself the real ROH World Champion. Conversely, Marty Scurll was met with loud cheers. He said that last year’s ROH Supercard match was a disappointment, claiming that his loss to Dalton Castle in the main event was down to both a lack of focus, but also a destiny to become ROH World Champion in the most famous arena in the world. He admitted ladder matches were not his speciality, but he would nevertheless emerge victorious, adding that he “fricking deserved it.”
Finally the reigning champ, Jay Lethal, said that the time for talking was now over. Tomorrow in the greatest stage in the world, Jay Lethal would be entering as the ROH World Champion, but also leaving as the Champion. He promised the fans, his family and “God himself” that he would be starting and ending the event as the Champion.
Closing out the event, both Harold Meij and Joe Koff gave their thoughts. Harold Meij started off by saying that this was the biggest event that NJPW had done outside of Japan, with Madison Square Garden was the place all wrestlers aspired to appear in. Mr. Koff for his part said that he wanted to emphasize the fact that the sense of trust, integrity and unity that the two companies have, has elevated the two to something even greater than the sum of their parts. He closed out proceedings by thanking Harold Meji and NJPW for their partnership.
