Global Wars 2017

**Global Wars 2017** was professional wrestling tour co-produced by the American Ring of Honor (ROH) and Japanese New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotions. The tour's four events were scheduled to take place on October 12 at the Buffalo Riverworks in Buffalo, New York, October 13 at Stage AE in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 14 at Express Live! in Columbus, Ohio and October 15 at Odeum Expo Center in Villa Park, Illinois. This was the fourth year in which ROH and NJPW co-produce shows under the Global Wars name.

## Production

### Background

In 2014, the American Ring of Honor (ROH) and Japanese New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) announced a partnership as part of which they held the first Global Wars show on May 10, 2014, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Global Wars, along with War of the Worlds, became an annual tradition. In 2015, the promotions held two Global Wars shows, both in Toronto. In 2016, Global Wars was held as a one-night pay-per-view (PPV) in Chicago Ridge, Illinois. While all the previous Global Wars had taken place in May, in 2017, the event was moved to October and turned into a tour. Originally it was announced on July 14 as a three-show tour, taking place in Buffalo, New York; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Columbus, Ohio, before a fourth show in Villa Park, Illinois was added on July 31.

The first batch of wrestlers announced for the tour included Hiromu Takahashi, Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer), KUSHIDA and Yoshi-Hashi from NJPW and The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe), Bully Ray, Cody, Dalton Castle and the Boys, Jay Lethal and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) from ROH. On July 31, ROH added NJPW wrestler Kenny Omega to the tour's final event in Villa Park, Illinois. Originally, the promotion announced that Omega would be defending the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship at the show, but later retracted the title match announcement. The Omega announcement led to the final show becoming the fastest selling event in ROH history with 1,875 tickets being sold the first day. On September 22, ROH announced that Omega would work all four of the Global Wars events. Three days later, ROH again announced that Omega would defend the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship on October 15. On September 29, ROH announced that Minoru Suzuki would take part in all four shows of the tour, which was followed by similar announcements for Will Ospreay and Toru Yano the following day. On October 2, ROH announced that the final night of the tour would air live on internet pay-per-view (iPPV). In addition, the second and third night of the tour would be available on free live streams for all members of ROH's Ringside service.

### Storylines

The Global Wars 2017 shows featured professional wrestling matches 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.

On September 26, 2017, ROH announced the first match for the tour, which would see Kenny Omega defend the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship against Yoshi-Hashi on October 15. The match was set up on September 24 at NJPW's Destruction in Kobe show, where Yoshi-Hashi challenged Omega after he had successfully defended his title against Juice Robinson. Omega initially dismissed the challenge, but then accepted it, considering Yoshi-Hashi "great warm up". The history between the two dates back to 2016, when Yoshi-Hashi defeated Omega during the 2016 G1 Climax. The two later had a rematch, where Omega successfully defended the Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight Championship challenge rights certificate against Yoshi-Hashi. This match marked the first time the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship was defended in the United States.

## Matches

### Global Wars: Buffalo

 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
 10

* (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
* – refers to the video of that match
* **P** – indicates the match took place on the pre-show

### Global Wars: Pittsburgh

 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9

* (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
* – refers to the video of that match

### Global Wars: Columbus

 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9

* (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
* – refers to the video of that match

### Global Wars: Chicago

 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
* (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
* – refers to the video of that match

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 ROH Announces Global Wars 2017! . *Ring of Honor* (2017-07-14). Retrieved on 2017-09-13.
2. ↑ Caldwell, James 2014-02-22. ROH news: Saturday's announcement - New Japan coming to ROH later this year . *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved on 2017-09-13.
3. ↑ Caldwell, James 2014-05-10. Caldwell's ROH vs. New Japan iPPV report 5/10: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of iPPV from Toronto - ROH Title match, IWGP Jr. Tag Titles, Styles, Tanahashi, Okada, top NJPW stars . *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved on 2017-09-13.
4. ↑ Smith, Caleb 2015-05-16. ROH & New Japan deliver a wild night in Toronto . *Slam! Sports*. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved on 2017-09-13.
5. ↑ Burgess, Mike 2015-05-17. 5/16 ROH Global Wars Night Two live report (TV taping spoilers) . *Pro Wrestling Insider*. Retrieved on 2017-09-13.
6. ↑ Caldwell, James 2016-05-08. 5/8 ROH Global Wars PPV Results – Caldwell's Complete Live Report . *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved on 2017-09-13.
7. ↑ Global Wars Comes to the Chicagoland Area on October 15th, With a Huge Match Announcement . *Ring of Honor* (2017-07-31). Retrieved on 2017-09-13.
8. ↑ Radican, Sean 2017-08-23. NEVER Openweight Champion Minoru Suzuki, Kushida added to ROH “Death Before Dishonor” weekend in September, talent announced for October NJPW & ROH joint tour (w/Radican’s Analysis) . *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved on 2017-09-13.
9. ↑ Currier, Joseph 2017-07-31. Update: Kenny Omega scheduled for ROH Global Wars: Chicago . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Retrieved on 2017-09-13.
10. ↑ Johnson, Mike 2017-08-01. ROH Global Wars Chicago update . *Pro Wrestling Insider*. Retrieved on 2017-09-13.
11. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (August 14, 2017). "August 14, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Takayama paralyzed, WWE financials examined, tons more". *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Campbell, California: 70. ISSN 1083-9593.
12. ↑ Radican, Sean 2017-09-22. Radican's 9/22 ROH "Death Before Dishonor XV" PPV report – Cody vs. Suzuki, Young Bucks vs. MCMG, Kushida vs. King . *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved on 2017-09-22.
13. ↑ Omega to Appear on all Global Wars Stops, will Defend IWGP US Title . *Ring of Honor* (2017-09-25). Retrieved on 2017-09-25.
14. ↑ Minoru Suzuki To Appear On All Four Nights Of The Global Wars Tour . *Ring of Honor* (2017-09-29). Retrieved on 2017-09-30.
15. ↑ Minoru Suzuki added to all four ROH Global Wars shows . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter* (2017-09-30). Retrieved on 2017-09-30.
16. ↑ Will Ospreay Signed To Compete On All Stops Of The Global Wars Tour . *Ring of Honor* (2017-09-30). Retrieved on 2017-09-30.
17. ↑ Toru Yano signed to the entire Global Wars Tour . *Ring of Honor* (2017-09-30). Retrieved on 2017-09-30.
18. ↑ Currier, Joseph 2017-10-02. ROH Global Wars: Chicago to stream live on iPPV . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Retrieved on 2017-10-02.
19. ↑ Johnson, Mike 2017-10-02. ROH Global Wars Chicago to be iPPV, additional dates of tour to stream free for ROH Ringside members . *Pro Wrestling Insider*. Retrieved on 2017-10-02.
20. ↑ Grabianowski, Ed. How Pro Wrestling Works . *HowStuffWorks, Inc.*. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on 2013-11-18. Retrieved on 2017-09-13.
21. ↑ Johnson, Mike 2017-09-26. Omega at ROH Global Wars update . *Pro Wrestling Insider*. Retrieved on 2017-09-26.
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Rose, Bryan 2017-09-26. Kenny Omega to defend IWGP US title at ROH Global Wars: Chicago . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Retrieved on 2017-09-26.
23. ↑ Omega to Defend IWGP US Title Against Yoshi-Hashi at Global Wars: Chicago . *Ring of Honor* (2017-09-26). Retrieved on 2017-09-26.
24. ↑ Barnett, Josh 2017-10-12. Bullet Club vs. The Kingdom: 10/12 ROH Global Wars in Buffalo, NY report . *Pro Wrestling Insider*. Retrieved on 2017-10-13.
25. ↑ ROH Global Wars Buffalo live results: The Elite cuts a promo on WWE . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter* (2017-10-13). Retrieved on 2017-10-13.
26. ↑ Carapola, Stuart 2017-10-13. Complete ROH Global Wars - Pittsburgh coverage . *Pro Wrestling Insider*. Retrieved on 2017-10-13.
27. ↑ Johnson, Mike 2017-10-14. Bullet Club vs. Best Friends & Flip Gordon, Cody vs. Kushida, Lethal vs. Takahashi & more: complete ROH Global Wars: Columbus coverage . *Pro Wrestling Insider*. Retrieved on 2017-10-14.
28. ↑ ROH Global Wars Chicago live results: Kenny Omega vs. Yoshi-Hashi . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter* (2017-10-15). Retrieved on 2017-10-15.
29. ↑ Johnson, Mike 2017-10-15. Jimmy Jacobs returns, Bullet Club rally and more: complete ROH Global Wars: Chicago coverage . *Pro Wrestling Insider*. Retrieved on 2017-10-15.

## External links

* Official New Japan Pro-Wrestling website (Japanese)
* Official Ring of Honor website