Ring of Honor presents the go-home show for Supercard of Honor tonight.
This week’s show is dubbed Supercard Showdown and will feature two title matches, including ROH World Television Champion Nick Wayne defending against AR Fox.
The ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions Shane Taylor Promotions will defend their titles against Eddie Kingston, Ortiz, and Mance Warner.
Blake Christian will go up against Evil Uno. ROH Women’s Pure Champion Deonna Purrazzo will wrestle Kaci Lennox. Dalton Castle and The Outrunners will be in action. ROH World Champion Bandido will wrestle Action Andretti in a Proving Ground match.
In a Survival of the Fittest qualifier, Hyan will wrestle Zayda Steel. Also on the show, Athena, Billie Starkz, and Marina Shafir will wrestle Maya World, Yuka Sakazaki, and Lacey Lane.
Adam Priest and Tommy Billington will wrestle Daniel Garcia and Wheeler Yuta.
Angelico vs. Josh Woods in a Pure Rules match is scheduled as well.
Satnam Singh will be in action.
Our live coverage kicks off at 8 p.m.
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– Tonight’s Supercard Showdown kicked off with Ian Riccaboni welcoming us from the SoFi Center in West Palm Beach, FL, the site of AEW Fairway to Hell last Saturday.
Maya World, Lacey Lane, Yuka Sakazaki vs. Athena, Billie Starkz, Marina Shafir
Sakazaki and Athena kicked it off for this match. Sakazaki too Athena down with a shoulder tackle, but the ROH Women’s Champion answered with one of her own. The two exchanged hip-tosses and dropkicks, but neither got the clear advantage here. Sakazaki struck Athena with a hard elbow to the face as Marina Shafir forced herself to enter the match in Starkz’s place.
Shafir held onto Sakazaki’s arm and tried to work it over, but got hit with a kick to the face instead. Sakazaki attacked Shafir in the corner before Lacey Lane tagged in. Lane and Maya hit Shafir with attacks in the corner, as Maya continued the attack with a dropkick on her foe. Maya attempted a suplex, but Shafir blocked it. Sakazaki entered and tried to help Maya with the suplex. Soon all the remaining competitors entered and we got a suplex tug-of-war of sorts. However, it was Athena, Shafir, and Starkz who got the better of their opponents in this exchange as they nailed the suplex.
Athena and Shafir got into a bit of an argument as we had all six women in the ring at the moment. Shafir shoved Lane away before she held Sakazaki in a gutwrench position. Starkz struck Sakazaki with a running knee afterwards. Shafir kept Sakazaki isolated from her corner as Athena blind tagged into the match, much to Shafir’s consternation. Athena took control and pummeled Sakazaki with strikes as Starkz was now the legal woman for her team. Starkz went for the cover, but Sakazaki kicked out at two. That moment of solace was brief as Athena re-entered the match and kept the damaging assault on Sakazaki going. Athena tried to play defense to prevent Sakazaki from making the tag with a scoop body slam for the near-fall. Athena applied the cravate on Sakazaki, who tried to fight ouf the hold. Sakazaki missed with the kick, but not the elbow. However, she couldn’t get the tag as Shafir stopped her at the pass. Sakazaki hit the dropkick on Shafir, while Athena and Maya World took each other out with clotheslines.
Back in the ring, Lacey Lane got the tag and she took it to the Minion-in-Training with a fierce kick. Athena got a capoeira kick from Lane, but she responded with the pumphandle driver. Maya took Athena out with the dropkick, as Shafir then began to fight with her outside the ring. Sakazaki leapt from the top to take out both Shafir and Maya. In the ring, Starkz hit Lane with the knee to the face as she then put her foe down with a snapmare. As Starkz headed up the top rope, Athena blind tagged just as Starkz connected with a swanton bomb. Athena then slid in and got the pin and win, much to Starkz’s frustration.
Athena, Billie Starkz, & Marina Shafir def. Lacey Lane, Maya World, & Yuka Sakazaki vai pinfall
This was a solid opener, and the story beat of Athena stealing Starkz’s pin was a good one to set up Billie’s inevitable rising up against her “master”.
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Tommy Billington & Adam Priest vs. The Death Riders (Daniel Garcia & Wheeler Yuta) (w/ Jon Moxley & PAC)
Yuta and Billington opened the match with some nice chain wrestling action as Garcia took over with the tag afterwards. Billington countered with the short arm scissors into the wrist lock as Priest got the tag. Yuta rejoined the match with the tag and faced off with Priest. The pace began to quicken with a Priest shoulder tackle. Priest offered a handshake, but Yuta answered with a cheapshot. Yuta paid for it with a clothesline from Priest as Billington then tagged in. Priest and Billington hit a double team backbreaker on Yuta. Garcia intercepted an attempted suplex from Billington and caught Yuta. The two then attacked the isolated Billington, but not before the took Priest out from the apron.
Garcia applied the chinlock on Billington as Moxley and PAC looked on at ringside. Billington got out of it, but immediately got sent down on his back by Garcia as Yuta kept him isolated from his corner. Yuta applied the deathlock on Billington for maximum pain. Garcia delivered repeated European uppercuts to Billington as he and Yuta then shelled him with repeated running splashes, followed by a double dropkick. Yuta kept Billington grounded momentarily, but a snap suplex put a stop to that. Garcia tried to stop Billington, but he ate a snap suplex for his troubles. Billington dodged a double clothesline as Priest finally entered the match.
Priest hit Garcia and Yuta with a double clothesline of his own as he followed that up with a German Suplex on Yuta. Priest hit the superplex on Garcia, followed by a Billington diving headbutt for the near-fall. Priest and Billington tried for the double German Suplex, but Yuta caught Billington in a sleeper. Meanwhile, Priest applied the seriously-strong single-leg crab. We then got a double submission as Yuta and Priest were caught in separate submissions. Garcia countered Billington and applied the Dragon Tamer while Priest had the single-leg crab. The two broke their own holds and began to fight in the middle of the ring. In the ring, Billington hit a modified Olympic Slam on Billington and had him in sight for the Busaiku Knee. Instead, Billington got him with the clothesline. Priest tried to go up top, but Garcia tripped him up. This left Billington at the mercy of a piledriver from Garcia. Priest slid in and immediately got finished off with the Busaiku Knee as the Death Riders got the win here.
The Death Riders def. Adam Priest & Tommy Billington via pinfall
A terrific technical showcase between these two teams. Priest and Billington continue to impress me the more and more I watch them.
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Satnam Singh vs. James Tapia & CD Bennett
Tapia and Bennett sized up their giant foe to start. Both men got thrown around as they failed at their respective chances to knock Singh off his feet. Tapia and Bennett tried to go at Singh together, but it didn’t work, either. Scoop slam by Singh on Tapia, as Bennet found himself thrown right into this partner by the giant. Double crossbody by Singh on his two hapless foes, but he relinquished the pin. Singh tried to lift Bennett up, but Tapia clipped him. The two tried a double suplex, but they were overpowered easily by Singh. Bennett stumbled back to his feet as Singh grabbed at his throat. Tapia tried to stop it, but to no avail. Singh then made no mistake with the double chokeslam as he then stacked Bennett and Tapia for the pin and win.
Satnam Singh def. James Tapia & CD Bennett
Just your standard big man squash match from Singh. If that’s not your cup of tea, then this match will probably not be your cup of tea.
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Pure Rules Match: Josh Woods vs. Angelico (w/ Serpentico)
The match kicked off with Angelico appliying the chinlock that he turned into a pin attempt. Woods answered with an arm wrench, as he and Angelico got into a methodical duel early in this Pure Rules contest. Angelico worked on wrenching the wrist of Woods as the two then traded standing switches. Woods used the first of his three rope breaks, perhaps inadvertently, to break Angelico’s hold. This seemed to put Woods into another zone as he aggressively went after Angelico with strikes in the corner, followed by a backbreaker into a beastly lariat. Woods attempted an O’Connor Roll German Suplex, but Angelico turned that into a pin attempt for the near-fall. Woods tried for the Chaos Theory again and then got the win. After the match, a crazed Woods applied the Key Lock on Angelico as Serpentico tried to save his partner. Woods angrily called out Nigel McGuinness, who soon came out.
McGuinness took the mic and said that he and they didn’t have to wait until Supercard of Honor, they could do it tonight. Woods refused, stating that he wanted to do it in front of the whole world. McGuinness concluded by declaring that he might take some liberties himself tomorrow.
Josh Woods def. Angelico via pinfall
Short match, but I think it worked in establishing Woods as a dangerous threat and I’m looking forward to his match with Nigel McGuinness tomorrow night.
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– We got remarks from ROH Women’s Television Champion Red Velvet, who addressed her Supercard of Honor opponent, Viva Van.
ROH World Six-Man Championship Match: Shane Taylor Promotions (Carlie Bravo, Shane Taylor, “The Captain” Shawn Dean) (c) vs. Eddie Kingston, Ortiz, & Mance Warner
We didn’t waste any time as the bell rang and all six competitors went after each other immediately. In the ring, Ortiz scoop slammed Bravo, followed by the leg drop. Bravo responded with a crossover punch in the corner, but that did him little good as the Snake Eyes from Ortiz allowed him to tag in Warner. Dean tagged in to face off against Warner, but he got lit up with chops to the chest, followed by the running boot. Warner took a bite out of the Captain’s hand before he tagged in Kingston. Dean got shellshocked by a double shoulder block from Kingston and Warner. The namesake of Shane Taylor Promotions tagged and we got some big men slapping meat action between Taylor and Kingston.
Kingston tried to hit the uranage on Taylor, but he couldn’t lift him up. The left jab and the headbutt from Taylor left Kingston at the mercy of The Infantry in the S.T.P. corner. Bravo tagged in and hit a running jab to a prone Kingston. Capt. Dean hit a running bronco buster on Kingston as S.T.P. kept the advantage in this ROH Six-Man Tag title match. Kingston escaped Dean’s hold, but a thumb to the eye from The Captain snuffed out that comeback attempt. Shane Taylor continued the onslaught on Kingston, who refused to go quietly without a fight. Kingston fired up with chops, as he managed to lift Taylor with a huge T-Bone Suplex. This allowed Mance Warner to enter the fray with a hot tag.
Warner absolutely pasted Bravo with a clothesline, as Capt. Dean ate jabs, followd by the shot to the eyes. Taylor interjected with a clothesline as he held him up for a leapfrog attack from both Bravo and Dean. Kingston and Ortiz broke up the count. With Taylor disposed of outside, Warner hit Dean with a running knee, but Bravo broke up the count. Ortiz was thrown into the corner, while Warner was hit with a double neckbreaker in the ring to retain.
Shane Taylor Promotions def. Mance Warner, Eddie Kingston, and Ortiz via pinfall to retain the ROH Six-Man Championships
I thought this match was alright. It could’ve been a bit better, but what we got was good. It’s a joy to see Mance Warner in action, and I do like the Shane Taylor Promotions aesthetic as a stable.
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Evil Uno vs. Blake Christian (w/ Jay Lethal & Lee Johnson)
Blake entered to the match wearing a mask he stole from Bandido. Before the match, Blake told Jay Lethal and Lee Johnson to head to the back before he took a cheapshot at Uno. The brainchild of Mystery Wrestling responded with clubbing strikes in the corner followed by a one-armed clotheslines. Uno attempted a powerbomb, but Blake countered that into a rolling dropkick. Uno headed out to the ring and found himself flattened by Blake’s dropkick and suicide dive. Christian threw Uno into the steel steps before sending him back to the ring and leaping off the rope for a springboard forearm to his opponent. Blake taunted Uno as he slapped him in the face. That seemed to fire Uno up as he answered with a slap, followed by a running DDT for the near-fall. Uno then tried for another powerbomb, but Blake countered. He then put on the Bandido mask and looked like he was going to do the 21-Plex, but Uno countered that. Back suplex reversed by Blake, who pushed Uno in the referee’s path. Blake then hit the Lethal Injection, followed by his counterfeit 21-Plex, a Shining Wizard, and finally the amazingly-named Vanilla Choke Zero submission for the tapout win.
After the match, Blake addressed Bandido directly. He said that he was proving week in and week out that he was going to take Bandido’s ROH World Championship. Blake declared that we’d find out soon that Vanilla Baby would be the next ROH World Champion.
Blake Christian def. Evil Uno via pinfall
It’s great to see Evil Uno in action, and Blake Christian being on the cusp of being ROH Champion tomorrow night is honestly good for him. He’s a promising young talent that I think would do great as ROH World Champion.
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– We got remarks from ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty and Ace Austin ahead of their title bout tomorrow night at Supercard of Honor.
ROH Women’s Pure Championship Proving Ground: Deonna Purrazzo vs. Kaci Lennox
With a ten-minute time limit and the Code of Honor adhered to, this match got underway. Purrazzo and Lennox exchaged standing switches, as the Women’s Pure Champion got ahead of things with a big boot to the face. Purrazzo tried for the piledriver, but Lennox blocked it and grabbed her by the hair to slam her down to the mat. A very cocky Lennox trashtalked her championship foe and punched at her face. Lennox kept up the slander as she chopped Purrazzo in the corner. A punch to the face seemed to fire Purrazzo up as she went after her foe with punches of her own. Lennox got ahead of that with a clothesline.
Lennox lifted Purrazzo up, as she then connected with the straight pump-kick. Purrazzo blocked Lennox in the corner and targeted the arm with the side Russian Leg Sweep followed by the Fujiwara Armbar for the pin and win with 6:24 left in the match.
After the match, Purrazzo’s celebration was interrupted by Diamante, who attacked her from behind. Diamante took Purrazzo’s Womens’s Pure Championship and smashed her in the face with it. For added insult to injury, Diamante applied the Fujiwara Armbar as she stood tall with less than 24 hours to go until her match against Purrazzo for the Women’s Pure Championship.
Deonna Purrazzo def. Kaci Lennox via submission
I thought this was a good match, if a bit short. Obviously, the post-match with Diamante attacking Purrazzo was important and that did a good job to build towards their Women’s Pure Championship match tomorrow night.
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Dalton Castle & The Outrunners (Turbo Floyd & Truth Magnum) vs. Baby Keef, Xander Maddox, & Charlie Malachite
As Castle walked down to the ring, he talked to the camera, upset that he didn’t get to go to an arboretum.
Truth and Malachite opened the match for their teams, and it seemed the cocky Malachite had Truth’s number… at least for a bit. Standing armdrag by Truth stopped that momentum, as did the chop to Malachite’s chest. Turbo tagged in and powered up his guns before he hit the elbow on Malachite. Xander Maddox tagged in and couldn’t take down Turbo with strikes, as Keef tagged in, to similar successes. The Outrunners showed a little vintage teamwork at Keef’s expense, as Malachite tagged in and demanded that Dalton Castle get into the match. Castle tagged in and took his foes for a ride with consecutive overhead throws. We then got triple-stereo scoop slams from the Outrunners and Castle. Turbo and Truth then did the “You Son of a Bitch” handshake and elbow to pick up the win in short order.
The Outrunners & Dalton Castle def. Charlie Malachite, Baby Keef, and Xander Maddox via pinfall
Really fun trios match. The Outrunners and Castle tandem makes for really fun stuff as a team. Plus, the beauty of these shows introducing me to new undiscovered talents continues here.
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– Athena’s backstage interview was interrupted by an angry Billie Starkz, who was upset that the ROH Womens Champion was once again making everything all out her. Athena angrily responded that she kept Starkz relevant and that Ring of Honor’s women’s division would not exist without her. Starkz begrudgingly said thanks to Athena, who warned her M.I.T. to listen to her, or face the consequences.
Survival of the Fittest Qualifying Match: Hyan vs. Zayda Steel (w/ Christopher Daniels)
Hyan and Steel started quick by trading pins as the latter dodged a kick from Steel. Some really nice work from Hyan year with the roll, followed by standing faceplant and the dropkick. Steel answered with a leg sweep and a dropkick of her own. Outside the ring, Hyan suplexed Steel onto the mat outside. Both women rolled back into the ring and traded some heavy strikes. Steel and Hyan exchanged elbows to the face as the former exhibited a nice rollthrough into a chinlock and transitioning that into a single-arm straitjacket hold. To break the hold, Hyan literally took a bite of the bottom rope before she hit Steel with a spear for a near-fall.
Hyan lifted Steel, but it turned into a pin reversal. The two then traded more pins with nobody able to get the three. Steel nearly got the win on a unique throw that sent Hyan head-first. Hyan’s Gory Special nearly won it, but Steel picked up the win with a rolling facebuster to earn a spot in Survival of the Fittest.
Zayda Steel def. Hyan via pinfall to qualify for Survival of the Fittest
These two made the most of the time they got and we got a fantastic match out of it. Steel and Hyan got a chance to shine and they capitalized on i.
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ROH World Television Championship: Nick Wayne (c) (w/ Mother Wayne & Kip Sabian) vs. AR Fox
Our Supercard Showdown main event got underway with Wayne and Fox got into each other’s face as the hatred between the two was palpable. Fox avoided a strike from Wayne as the two then traded pinfall attempts. Fox used his speed to elude Wayne as he then hit a unique rolling swinging suplex from the apron and into the ring. Wayne grabbed the ropes to avoid a Fox kick as he left the ring. He hit Fox in the midsection, but he got hit with a boot to the face. Fox then showed his incredible agility with a moonsault off the ringpost and to a stunned Wayne.
In the ring, Fox battered Wayne with elbows, but a timely interference from Sabian saved his Patriarchy ally from any further arm. Fox was sent crashing out to the ring by a running attack from Wayne. The World Television Champion then hit Sliced Bread, using the steel steps as a launching pad. As Fox struggled to get back up, Sabian huddled with Wayne to give him advice. Fox entered the ring and got choked by Mother Wayne with the ref’s back turned. Legdrop from Wayne was followed by an Eastern Stretch on Fox. The challenger broke the hold with a shinbreaker as he tried to mount a comeback. With Wayne on the apron, Fox showed some more of that innovative offense of his with a middle-rope DDT. That gave Fox a second win with a clotheslines, and an amazing double wristlock into a cutter. Powerbomb by Fox was somehow not enough to get the win here.
Wayne blocked Fox’s attempt at the Spicolli Driver, but that only earned him a kick to the gut. The World Television Champion got back onto the swing of things with a Shiranui for a near-fall. As Fox used the ropes to get back up, Wayne intercepted him and blasted him right in the ribs with the knee. Wayne squeezed at the ribs of Fox, but the challenger broke out of the grip. Fox countered with a wrsitlock, followed by the enzuigiri. Rolling cutter was blocked and turned into a suplex, followed by a Code Red for a 2.999999 near-fall.
Wayne blasted Fox with repeated kicks to the left bicept as he took time to mock his foe. Fox responded with a spit, then the basement cutter. Things quickened as he hit another cutter on the champion. As Wayne rolled outside, Fox hit paydirt with the Fosbury Flop. Sabian got blasted with a dive. In the ring, Wayne blocked Fox’s dive, which opened him up for a kick, but before Wayne could get his move in, Fox quickly rolled him up, and that’s it, over. We have a new Ring of Honor World Television Champion.
After the match, the very creepy face of Lio Rush interrupted the celebration of Fox, simply saying “tomorrow”. We learned from Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman that AR Fox would be defending his newly-won World TV Title against Lio Rush tomorrow night.
AR Fox def. Nick Wayne via pinfall to win the ROH World Television Championship
Incredible, incredible match. AR Fox is an amazing talent and giving him the ROH World TV Title waes the right call here. Fox and Nick Wayne had what I believed was the match of the night here.
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The Premier Athletes (Tony Nese, Aria Daivari, Stori Denali) vs. Jacey Love, Ricky Martinez, and Ernest R. Alexander
Tony Nese and Alexander started off for their teams, as the Premier Athletes took control with Daivari helping out his pal Tony Nese in attacking Alexander. Ernest was left alone as he tagged Jacey Love in. This brought the massive Stori Denali into the match. Stori hit Love with a fierce pump kick followed by an F10. Love avoided a Stori clothesline and tagged Martinez in. Similar results for Alexander’s partner, as the Premier Athletes feasted on their foe with an assisted DDT. Love was then brougth in for the chokeslam from Stori as the Premier Athletes got the win.
The Premier Athletes def. Jacey Love, Ricky Martinez, & Ernest R. Alexander via pinfall
This is my first of seeing Stori Denali in action, and I’m impressed with what I saw. There’s room for improvement for sure, but I think I liked what I saw out of her.
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ROH World Championship Proving Ground: Bandido vs. Action Andretti
Andretti and Bandido did the Code of Honor Handshake as this ten-minute bout got underway. Andretti’s side headlock on Bandido had little sucecss, as a standing shoulder block brought him down afterwards. Banddio showed great agility, but Andretti countered the hurricanrana with a handstand press. A springboard arm drag from Andretti was blocked by Bandido and we’ve got some nice CMLL-style lucha action here tonight.
Bandido flew out of the ring after Andretti avoided an attack from his opponent. Andretti then followed that with a diving attack over the ropes that hit its target. Springboard forearm from Andretti on Bandido couldn’t put this match away. Andretti applied a side headlockd, followed by a running neckbreaker. The ROH World Champion was kept on his toes with a back suplex from Andretti, but a suplex attempt was blocked twice. Bandido used his sheer strength to hit a strong suplex. Bandido answered with a flapjack as he then headed up top for a frog splash. Andretti dodged and nearly got the win on a hurricanrana. He then hit a handspring back elbow on Bandido, followed by the standing moonsault splash. Andretti’s attack was intercepted by BandiDo, who planted him with a one-hand military press. Handspring attack from Andretti was countered into the XD by Bandido, who picked up the win in our Supercard Showdown main event.
Blake Christian and The Twist appeared after the match, as the challenger for the ROH World Title stepped onto the apron and threw the mask he stole from Bandido at him. Christian gestured that he was coming for Bandido’s world title as tonight’s show came to an end.
Bandido def. ActIon Andretti via pinfall
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That was a great main event to end what was a jampacked night of action just 24 hours before Supercard of Honor. Bandido continues to show his stuff in the ring, which made him a standout for me last year. I’m happy to see that continue into this year, and the match with Blake Christian tomorrow should be a heck of a bout.
As for the rest of Supercard Showdown, it was a buffet of great in-ring action and nearly every match delivered in their own way, with my favorite being the Nick Wayne/AR Fox ROH TV Title match and the Death Riders vs. Priest/Billington tag matches. I also enjoyed the story development we got with Billie Starkz seemingly reaching her breaking point with Athena’s belittling and gaslight, so I’m interested to see that play out tomorrow, if it happens.
All in all, Ring of Honor set the table for what should be a great Supercard of Honor show with an action-filled prelude tonight.
