Cole was in a match with Jay Lethal, Naito and Tanahashi. Cole won the match, ergo he defeated all three men. To say otherwise is merely twisting the facts to suit your argument.
Kinda like acting like he beat both of those guys outright. He pinned Lethal. Naito and Tanahashi weren't pinned, meaning they didn't get beat. That's the exact reason New Japan let the match happen, because ROH wasn't going to beat two of the top guys.
As for your other argument. EVIL's learning excursion was done by this point, as evidenced by him returning to New Japan to wrestle and being part of New Japan's top stables: Los Ingobernables de Japan.
Lethal's TV Title defense vs. Watanabe was in September 2015. Watanabe wasn't EVIL yet and hadn't returned to New Japan.
He'd also gotten a victory over Ishii as well, so he was far from an underneath guy.
Find me one time EVIL/Watanabe has ever beaten Ishii in a singles match, or a match of any actual importance.
Jushin Liger. Japanese legend.
A legend in the juniors division who hasn't been anyone's idea of a top card wrestler in at least a decade and has also lost to guys like Chase Owens. In terms of name value he's the biggest name on the list but in terms of beating a guy who's actually above him? Give me a break.
Tetsuya Naito. Leader of Los Ingobernables des Japan and one of the top guys in New Japan.
Lethal defended against Naito in May 2015, before Naito started to really switch heel, months before he had anyone else in his stable and nearly a year before Naito became a legitimate top guy. Nice try.
Tomoaki Honma. The only low card guy on the list.
Liger is a low card guy and trying to pretend he isn't is insane.
Satishi Kojima. Japanese legend.
And just like with most legends in Japanese wrestling, he has been moved down the card and into tag matches mostly. Name value is only part of the story, he didn't actually beat someone on the same level as him in terms of where he's placed on the cards.
Seems a pretty decent line up to me, given that Naito is a main eventer in New Japan and wins over Liger and Kojima are still considered a big deal there.
Naito wasn't a main eventer when Lethal defended the TV Title against him. Liger and Kojima are guys that can do jobs because they've moved down the card and the match still has appeal because they're legends, it's not like he beat 1995 Liger or 2004 Kojima in the sense that he really got a huge win over a top star. Watanabe was still on an excursion and Honma is a jobber. It's not like he went in and took the scalps of actual top guys.
Good job ignoring my points regarding O'Reilly beating Shibata by the way.
I actually didn't. I mentioned that he's one of the guys on the list that would lose matches.
COh I forgot to mention, when O'Reilly defeated Shibata on the ROH show previously mentioned, Shibata was the NEVER Openweight Champion. So not only is Shibata NOT an "underneath" guy he's a friggin champion in New Japan!
You do realize that the NEVER Title isn't exactly a main event level title, right? Not that KOR beating Shibata isn't a big deal because Shibata's a name, he didn't exactly beat the friggin' Heavyweight Champion. Also, find me where I said Shibata was an underneath guy. I said
So in summary, the myth that ROH guys are being treated poorly by New Japan is just that, a myth.
Except they are portrayed as being second-class, even the top ROH guys, and that's a problem for ROH after the relationship ends unless something seriously changes and maybe it will.
EDIT: Looking at it, I only called Kojima and Honma undercard guys....and that's because they ARE undercard guys. Kojima isn't a main eventer anymore. FYI he defended against KUSHIDA as well but that was before KUSHIDA's first Jr. Title win and well before he was established as the new junior ace.
