![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The Elite had cut ties with ROH & New Japan in late 2018 to form their own promotion, All Elite Wrestling. Scurll – a former ROH Television champion who became one of ROH’s most popular figures mostly thanks to his association with The Bullet Club and “The Elite” of Kenny Omega, Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks & Adam “Hangman” Page – found himself too in the middle controversy. After the thrilling bout that really solidified Taven as a main event star for the company, Marty Scurll staked his claim at being the next in line for a title shot. The belief was Taven being the odds-on favorite to walk away as the new ROH World champion only for the two to wrestle sixty minutes resulting in a draw. The rivalry over the ROH World title boiled over between Lethal and Taven culminating in a match at the company’s “17 th Anniversary” pay-per-view. Heading into this once-unbelievable show, ROH established a story featuring Matt Taven declaring himself as the “Real ROH World champion” having gotten a visual pin fall over then-ROH World champion Dalton Castle during a Four Corner Survival match that resulted in Jay Lethal walking away as the new ROH World champion instead of Taven. After much friction and even some interference from WWE in hopes of stopping something monumental in the arena long associated with the New York territory, it was announced ROH & New Japan would be hosting the “G1 Supercard” inside Madison Square Garden one night before WWE’s yearly premiere event: “Wrestlemania”. Heading into 2019, the companies joined forces once again but this time behind the scenes by contacting the management of Madison Square Garden with the intent of holding an event inside its hallowed halls. For New Japan, their time in the American live event spotlight allowed them to gain a foothold in the United States for their future endeavors of running their own shows stateside. ROH gained a boost in popularity as dream matches were starting to come true and even men like KUSHIDA and Tomohiro Ishii won ROH titles. Ring of Honor’s relationship with, arguably, the second biggest promotion in wrestling at the time New Japan Pro Wrestling opened the doors for many opportunities on both sides. Today I ask: “What if Marty Scurll won the ROH World Championship at ‘G1 Supercard’?” And just like any wrestling promotion, there have been decisions made and circumstances play out leaving this ROHbot wondering, “What if…?” Being a fan of ROH since its inception in February 2002, I’ve witnessed a majority of the company’s moments both significant and less-so live or through video. Instead, ROH turned into one of the premiere wrestling organizations in North America by capitalizing on the fall of wrestling’s “Attitude Era” with a product more similar to mixed martial arts than Extreme Championship Wrestling. Ring of Honor was meant to be a true showcase for all the budding or solidified indie wrestling talent. Using monthly issues of “Pro Wrestling Illustrated”, various websites usually connected to, and the trading of VHS tapes, I became familiar with names such as “Reckless Youth”, “The Fallen Angel”, Cheetah Master, and Trent Acid just to name a few. Ring of Honor – three words that became synonymous with the independent wrestling boom of the early to mid 2000s that saw the rise of not only future wrestling superstars, but also the changing of pro wrestling’s very in-ring dynamic presentation.
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