In the next twenty-four hours Delirious will make his return to the United States following an extremely successful tour of Pro Wrestling NOAH that saw the masked man come so close to challenging for the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title.
As part of the Junior Heavyweight League tournament, Delirious was part of the A-Block that included Kotaro Suzuki, Ricky Marvin, Katsuhiko Nakajima, and KENTA. Dropping his first match of the tournament to Nakajima, Delirious rebounded with back to back wins over then-GHC Jr. Champion KENTA and Ricky Marvin. For Delirious, it all came down to a match with Kotaro Suzuki to determine if he would go on to the final two rounds of the tournament, but unfortunately Delirious feel victim to a Suzuki Tiger Driver.
Even with the loss, Delirious found himself in a position to get into the finals of the tournament. A very unfortunate injury to KENTA in a match with Suzuki forced officials to stop the match and award the contest to Suzuki, placing him one point ahead of Delirious in the standings, and giving him the right to challenge Jushin “Thunder” Liger in the semi-finals.
Fate stepped in once more, as Suzuki was unfortunately stricken with a terrible bout of influenza, and Delirious found himself back in a position to get to the finals of the Jr. Heavyweight League. With the injury to KENTA, NOAH officials were also forced to vacate the title, and the winner of the League would be crowned the new champion. Delirious was now in a position to become the 2nd Gaijin on the ROH roster to capture the GHC Jr. Title.
Unfortunately for the masked man, the legendary Liger pinned Delirious, ending his aspirations of becoming champion. Even with that loss, the tournament and the tour were extremely successful for Delirious. The level of competition he faced forced him to elevate his game, and that is something that will only serve to make Delirious that much tougher when he returns to action here in ROH. We’ve seen it before with others like Chris Hero, Eddie Edwards, and most importantly for Delirious, Roderick Strong.
Why is that important? Because ROH officials have made the match for November 7th in Edison, NJ: Delirious vs. Roderick Strong!!! Both men were a big part of “Survival of the Fittest 2009”, and both men have felt the rigors of a Pro Wrestling NOAH tour. Will that experience prove as crucial for Delirious as it did for Roderick Strong? We will found out at the Inman Sports Club in just a few days!
