Cary Silkin On If ROH Or NJPW Should Close G1 Supercard
The former owner and a current ambassador for Ring of Honor, Cary Silkin, recently spoke with our own WINCLY Podcast about the upcoming ROH/NJPW G1 Supercard event that takes place at Madison Square Garden this Saturday.
Silkin told the WINCLY that he believes the three-way ladder match for the ROH World Title between champion, Jay Lethal, Matt Taven, and Marty Scurll should close the G1 Supercard. Even so, whatever the outcome, Silkin will be looking forward to the main event.
"I think Ring of Honor should close the show," Silkin said. "In all due respect to New Japan, they have been such a great partner. Back in my era, we did a lot of business with NOAH, and NOAH was great. They were so cool and such good hosts, and we went to Japan twice under my ownership. What do you think, we're gonna go there and sell tickets? They made all the arrangements for us... If it was New Japan closing the show, I wouldn't be upset."
Silkin is close, personal friends with the current ROH World Champion, Jay Lethal, and he can remember all the way back to the exposition of Lethal's career. He's thrilled to see how far Lethal has come since TNA days, and now he'll be able to watch his friend main event MSG.
"I have personal bias because he's become a really close friend of mine and he's just such a great guy, besides being one of the best wrestlers on the planet. If you did a top ten, I think you've got to put him in there without a shadow of a doubt; at least in my top ten," Silkin explained. "I remember Lethal coming to the Ring of Honor shows with his parent, and I sort of remember his first couple of matches. And then he started getting good and he really wasn't in ROH that long it seemed before he went to TNA. They saw a good thing with him and he was there for a year and a half. He and I were growing up close to each other... To have Jay in the main event, it's so fu–ing cool. I am so happy for him and he's the man."
One person that genuinely surprised Silkin after the ROH 17th Anniversary show ended was one of the # 1 contenders to Lethal's title, Matt Taven. After reaching a 60-minute draw in a match against Lethal, Silkin admitted that Taven has grown exponentially and he is "ready".
"I had my doubts; As good as Matt Taven is, and the ascension that he's had- I've seen him come in from day one and seen him get better, and better, and better. But honestly, I was like, I don't know if this guy's ready," Silkin said. "It might be him and Lethal at the Garden, who know, and I was wrong. That hour match – talk about going back to the CM Punk – Samoa Joe trilogy, or the Flair – Steamboat you can bring up, but these great hour draws that are rarely done anymore.
"I told him after the match, 'Dude, you were so good.' And I told him just what I said, and he's a good man and he's really coming to his own," Silkin continued. "And then you throw Marty Scurll in to the mix. This is going to be an amazing – it's going to be a spectacle with the ladder match rules... From what I saw in Vegas and what I've seen, I didn't give [Taven] enough credit. I'm ashamed really because the last year, he's been so damn good. And he's good such good charisma, and such good personality – he's just good and he's ready. I don't think he's gonna walk out champion as my selection, and I don't really know who is but that's just my opinion. But yeah, Taven is good."
Another person Silkin has watched grow throughout the years is the current IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Jay White. Silkin is glad that White is seeing so much success in NJPW but he thinks the three-way ladder match for the ROH World Title will still cap the night as the finale.
"We had a good dose of Jay White for a little while a couple years ago, and obviously he's grown," Silkin stated. "His stock has risen quite a bit. [If they put White and Okada] on top, God bless it. But I got a feeling that ladder match will close the show, and I have no knowledge at all [if it will]."
ROH and NJPW present their G1 Supercard this Saturday night from Madison Square Garden. The event will stream live via FITE and will be available to ROH HonorClub members.
The full audio from Wrestling Inc's exclusive interview with Cary Silkin was included in a recent episode of our WINCLY podcast. It can be heard in the embedded audio player below. In it Cary discusses ROH and NJPW's huge G1 Supercard this Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, watching ROH grow to this historic moment, the message ROH and NJPW's success at MSG sends to Vince McMahon, if ROH will run MSG in the future, Marty Scurll's Elite friends exiting ROH, the young talent in ROH looking to fill the void The Elite left, underestimating Matt Taven and more.
You can check out past episodes of the WINCLY here.
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