A Perfect Time and Place: Strong vs. Tanahashi
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Roderick Strong vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (ROH/NJPW 5/13/15)
Perhaps one of the greatest crimes of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s 2010s renaissance period is the fact that while the famed cerulean blue was graced by many Ring of Honor representatives—such as Jay Lethal, reDRagon, The Kingdom, Adam Cole, and The Young Bucks—absent from that list of people to have a tour was Mr. ROH, Roderick Strong.
No truer testament to that fact is this match from the second night of the 2015 War of the Worlds tour in the hallowed halls of the 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia. You perhaps wouldn’t know it from its positioning on the card, opening the second half of the show after intermission, but this is a veritable dream match of the 2010s professional wrestling landscape. Especially the then-burgeoning partnership between NJPW and ROH.
Roddy at this point is nearly half a decade removed from completing the ROH Triple Crown of World, Tag, and TV titles. Well cemented at the top of the card, he has undeniably etched his place in the canon of America’s most prominent independent wrestling organization as a figurehead. Though 3 years removed from any ROH gold, he was presently in the midst of a legendary PWG World Championship reign, having a banner year from an in-ring perspective that ranks among the best of all time. His opponent standing across the ring should need no introduction to any of the paying patrons familiar with either organization.
The Ace of the Universe. The Once in a Century Talent. What is there left to be said about the man who saved NJPW from its dark ages that hasn’t been echoed a thousand times over? Hiroshi Tanahashi is a legend among legends in not just New Japan history but Japanese wrestling’s history as a whole. Here, in 2015, he was a former 7-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, also holding the single-reign defence record for New Japan’s top crown (achieving 11 defences across his legendary 5th reign). His popularity, built up across a bevy of stellar matches, helped spearhead the resurrection of his home promotion to the acclaim it was currently enjoying, being able to sell out entire venues in another country on the announcement of a single talent.
This is a clash of aces across these two partner promotions—two men who have seen their respective companies swing across the scale of prosperity to reach the destinations where they cross paths. Here they fight with nothing more than their pride, as well as the pride of their companies, at stake.
And, as Willem DeFoe would famously exclaim in the cult classic Boondock Saints, there was a firefight.
With a packed house that probably violated a few fire codes, it’s impossible to ignore the palpable excitement present. The sounds of duelling chants for each wrestler compete for supremacy with that of front row-goers slapping the barricades, as had long-since become custom for the promotion that got its start in the very city that plays host on this evening. All of this before the wrestlers have even shaken hands to abide by ROH’s Code of Honor, never mind any action taking place.
An extremely strong lockup, followed by some basic wrestling exchanges, starts the match off cordially. It’s a comparatively gentle opening exchange in the scheme of the match, feeling more like a typical Tanahashi main event than a Roddy sprint. There are glimmers of the latter that trickle in as Roddy cuts Tana’s opening shine off with an Olympic Slam, following up by nailing a signature backbreaker. These moments definitely read like Tanahashi, as the touring talent, wanting to give the homeboy Roddy the more memorable moments of the opening, saving his own more energetic offense for later on. Little does Tanahashi probably realize that Roddy is also only operating at a fraction of his power, even with the quicker and more high-impact offense he deploys. That’s just the Roderick Strong way.
Then, the mood changes. All it takes is an errand elbow from a forearm smash.
Roderick Strong is now busted open. The panicked rumblings of Steve Corino desperately searching for a towel are quickly drowned out by the excited murmurs of the crowd. Whatever plan this match had of being a friendly exhibition is firmly thrown out of the window, as are any plans Tanahashi may have had for an easy night’s work on his American holiday. This match has just become a ticking time bomb with a lit fuse.
The switch-up by Roddy in how he acts here is masterful. It’s not instantaneous as Roddy “sells” the effects of the elbow that granted Tanahashi this brief moment of control, likely at least a little legitimately rocked from it to some degree. But it is immediately evident from Roddy’s chops, driven home by the way he rushes a top-rope-bound Tanahashi, that he is a cornered animal. You can see the ideas formulating second-by-second in Roddy’s head as he takes a moment of respite in the corner after desperately shoving Tanahashi across the hypotenuse of the ring. It’s beautiful, it really is.
It hits around this moment that shackles have to come off and Tanahashi has to get the full Death by Roderick experience if there is any chance of victory for Mr. ROH. In this moment, with this realization, cemented with a sick backbreaker on the ring apron, the match scales up to the epic status it was perhaps always destined to reach. The time bomb has erupted.
Given Roddy’s gusher drawing your attention, it’s often easy to overlook how fundamentally solid pretty much everything Tanahashi does here is. Of course it’s fundamentally solid, it’s Hiroshi Tanahashi at what some would argue is the peak, if not only ever so slightly past that, of his powers. At the end of the day, this is a touring Tanahashi, so it does feel like most of what he does here could be a bit of the greatest hits. It’s not exactly, but you’re also not getting the multiple High Fly Flows, or even the outside variant here. With the incidental story that fate creates, that may actually be for the best. It allows the spotlight to be firmly on Roddy, what he does, and how he reacts to this corner he has been painted into.
Never mind that shit, though; we got a Roddy Strong match to get back to! A picture-perfect dropkick counter to a standing High Fly Flow leads to one of my favorite near falls in pro-wrestling history. Roddy sprints through damn near every move in his arsenal, aside from the End of Heartache, at a lightning pace. Dashing across the hypotenuse, he rocks Tana with a high knee in the corner. Before you know it, he’s rocketed lengthways across the ring, returning from hitting the ropes with a huge forearm. A dazed Tanahashi doesn’t know what’s happening when he gets dropped from the top turnbuckle with a big Superplex; no less how he got up there in the first place. Culminating in a Strong Buster followed by Sick Kick that carries freight train-like momentum, it just keeps building to a crescendo that I find myself biting on no matter how many times I go back and re-watch this match. Just seeing it again for the purposes of this review, I feel like I need a smoke break as the crowd breaks into frenzied chanting, unsure of who to truly thank for this spectacle.
Nobody would have batted an eyelid if that was a finish. But alas, it wasn’t to be the home team’s day. A spirited strike exchange only buys Roddy time before he’s dropped by a mean lariat, a rarity in Tanahashi’s arsenal, and the eventuality of the Sling Blade, High Fly Flow combo that has felled many of The Ace’s contemporaries brings the fall of our hero. He put up a valiant fight, but he was facing odds that go from improbable to insurmountable at the early turning point.
This feels like a perfect moment, in a perfect setting, at a perfect time, with a perfect combination of people. The blood adds so much to the match. It’s a great incidental tone shifter that floors the gas pedal beautifully. Without it, I’m not entirely sure what this match would have looked like. Both men are obviously capable of greatness, especially in this year. But on a US co-promoted tour, with its position on the card, it could easily have fallen to being a cool footnote in history.
Instead, what we get is one of my favorite matches ever, and one that gets me slapping the nearest solid object to me every single time.
****1/2
