Tag: ROH Supercard Of Honor

As part of a busy WrestleMania weekend in Philadelphia, Tony Khan’s Ring of Honor holds Supercard of Honor tonight from the Liacouras Center — home of AEW shows in the past.

ROH World Champion Eddie Kingston defends his title against Mark Briscoe in a first-time-ever match. The champion is looking for his 12th title defense while Briscoe is trying to win his first singles World title.

Currently on an extensive winning streak in the promotion, ROH Women’s World Champion Athena will defend against former multi-time AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida.

The inaugural ROH Women’s TV Champion will be crowned as Queen Aminata faces Billie Starkz while men’s TV Champion Kyle Fletcher defends against Lee Johnson.

The Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) will defend the ROH Tag Team titles against The Infantry (Shawn Dean & Carlie Bravo).

The show will also feature Dalton Castle vs. Johnny TV in a Fight Without Honor, a six-woman Stardom showcase bout, and more.

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It all comes down to tonight! Titles! Showcases! Boys! It’s all (mostly) happening on Supercard of Honor, Live. But first, we count things down with the Zero Hour Pre-show.

Zero Hour – The Premiere Athletes (Josh Woods, Tony Nese and Ari Daivari) Defeated Tony Deppen, Rhett Titus and Adam Priest.

A surprise addition to the Zero Hour card, this six-man was an excellent kickoff match. Each participant got a chance to shine, with Nese’s athleticism on display in this technical clinic. Lots of chain moves and fast paced exchanges. In the end though, a dominant Nese scored the pin for his team The Premier Athletes.

Zero Hour – Beast Mortos defeated Blake Christian

It was Heart vs a literal Beast-man and Mortos had not only the size advantage on Christian, but also strength and Cool mask advantages. What was surprising though was Mortos’ ability to keep up with Christian when he began some high-flying offense. Mortos responded with a series of powerslams, dazing Christian and allowing the bigger man to take control. Christian fought back though, and tried to pick up the pace, but Mortos was having none of it and ground him down to the mat. Christian hit a spear on Mortos on the ring apron (the hardest part of the ring) and threw him back into the ring. After a battle up the ramp and back, Mortos hit a pump handle piledriver and put Christian away for the win, in a hard-hitting affair.

-After the match Komander appeared at the top of the ramp to salute Mortos. It was unclear if this was a challenge, or a friendly wave.

Zero Hour – Cole Karter and Griff Garrison (with Maria) defeated Spanish Announce Project (Angélico and Serpentico)

Karter and Garrision were tricked into this match on ROH TV by Serpentico, who asked them to sign a paper without reading it. Maria wasn’t around to advise them, so they did and find themselves facing off on Zero Hour.

Maria had Serpentico’s stolen green mask with her as she escorted her boys to the ring. Serpentico wore his backup black mask to the ring, and the bout got underway as Garrision and Karter jumped the SAP as soon as they got to the ring. Angelico and Serpentico fought back quickly though and the match settled into a back and forth affair, both inside and outside the ring. Maria taunted Serpentico with his mask, and Angelico suffered what appeared to be a knee injury leaving Serpentico to get double teamed by Garrison and Karter. 

The two isolated Serpentico and tore up his black mask, adding insult to, well, mask-tearing. Serpentico made a hot tag to the revitalized Angelico who cleared house in the ring. Maria tried to introduce a chair, but was stopped by the Ref who ejected her from ringside. Maria was not happy, but the threat of a DQ convinced her to leave, leaving Serpentico’s mask on the ramp for some reason. In the ring, Karter grabbed a handful of tights and pinned Serpentico, ripping off his mask. Maria came back and retrieved the green mask.

Zero Hour – Mariah May defeated Momo Kohgo

Another surprise addition to the Zero Hour show, these were two women were rekindling a feud started in Stardom. May spent the opening minutes mocking her opponent. That did not pay off as it lit a fire under Kohgo who showed up with some high-flying moves to get May off her feet. May fought back, utilizing her size to keep Kohgo on the mat. 

Kohgo’s speed was the difference maker in this match though and May was often on her back before she even realized she was hit. Kohgo tried to out-strike May, but May’s strength was not to be trifled with. May delivered an insane suplex and a hard knee strike and was able to pin Kohgo, right in the middle of the ring.

-With the Zero Hour behind us, Supercard of Honor officially began and kicked off with the Television Title Match!  But before that, Nigel McGuinness made his ROH return to join the commentary team.

Kyle Fletcher defeated Lee Johnson to retain the ROH World Television Championship

Johnson has been on a hot streak in ROH, winning his last 8 matches in dominant fashion. Fletcher has been in AEW. I’m sure he did some great things there, but tonight was all about his ROH World Television Championship and the fact that he had never lost in ROH. One man was going home with the title, the other very disappointed.

Strictly speaking of ROH matches, Johnson had the edge here as Fletcher’s been spending most of his time with the Callis Family in AEW. That said, Fletcher wasn’t going to go out easily, and the two battled pretty evenly off the top.

Johnson’s hard chops echoed throughout Philly as he tried to out-power Fletcher. Fletcher battled back though, planting Johnson with a swinging side slam and few chops of his own. Determination flooded Fletcher’s face as he outpowered Johnson.

On the outside, Fletcher suplexed Johnson onto the barricade, leaving him writhing in the crowd. As he staggered to his feet, Fletcher met Johnson with a big senton over the barricade, driving Johnson into the concrete before dragging him back to the ring.

Johnson made the first mistake as Fletcher reversed an attack on the top rope into a devastating super falcon arrow. Fletcher went for his signature pile drive, but Johnson flipped it into a hurricanrana for a quick two count.

Fletcher then took it to Johnson, who kicked out of piledrivers, suplexes, big kicks and a massive powerbomb. Fletcher, growing frustrated, resorted to heavy kicks to the chest, trying to put Johnson down, but the challenger refused. Johnson reversed a piledriver attempt into a Big Shot Drop onto the ring apron (the hardest part of the ring). Both men lay dazed outside the ring.

This match was fantastic, with lots of near falls and both men making a great case as to why they deserve the title. In the end though, a twisting brainbuster from Fletcher ended Johnson’s win streak, and kept The Television Title around Fletcher’s waist.

Mei Seira, Mina Shirakawa, and Maika defeated Tam Nakano, Saya Kamitani, and AZM (Stardom Showcase)

A surprise addition to Supercard of Honor, this trios match showcased some of the best that the Japanese Stardom promotion has to offer. Stardom is a massive women’s wrestling organization and anyone who’s anyone has made a stop or two there in their careers.

Seira, Shirakawa and Maika all held Stardom Championships, and their opponents did not. The match kicked off with AZM and Seira. True to Stardom, they put on a fast-paced exchange of moves, ending in a double kip up. Nakano was tagged in, and isolated Seira for a triple team in the corner. Seira battled back for a hot tag to bring in the heavy-hitting Maika, who hit an impressive double suplex on Nakano and AZM.

AZM climbed to the top rope, but missed a dive onto Shirakawa. Maika and AZM were the legal competitors and managed to knock each other silly while their teams regrouped. Hot tags put Shirakawa and Kamitani in the ring together, and they bounced around the ring taking shots at each other until Shirakawa landed a big shin breaker.

Shirakawa locked a figure four onto Kamatani while the other four battled outside. AZM managed to break up the hold and double superkicks put Maika and Seira down. Nakano launched herself off the top rope and laid out all five of the wrestlers in the match. Things settled down a bit after that and the bushido fighting spirit was on full display as Shirakawa laid out Kamitani to get the win for her team.

This was a really impressive match, showcasing just how good Stardom matches can be. High flying, hard hitting and fast paced with great back and forth action. More Stardom in ROH, please!

-At the end of the match, Mariah May stomped down to the ring to try and intimidate her former Stardom compatriots…but then they all gave each other big hugs! The winning trio and May toasted each other with champagne in the ring.

The Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) defeated The Infantry (Shawn Dean & Carlie Bravo) to retain the ROH Tag Team titles.

The Infantry took the Kingdom to a 10–minute draw in a Proving Ground match on the last episode of ROH TV to earn a shot at the ROH Tag Team Champions.

The Kingdom jumped the Infantry right off the bat, before the bell had even rung. They beat them from pillar to post to set the challengers on their heels to start the match. The bell rung, and the Kingdom was looking to make a statement with Taven manhandling Dean. Dean fought back though, trading dozens of hard chops with Bennett.

Shades of the Briscoes, Dean and Bravo took Bennett and Taven to the outside, brawling their way around and up onto the ramp. A big dive from Taven took out all four men, and Taven dropped Bravo hip-first onto the barricade, while Dean reversed a piledriver on the ramp from Bennett.

Bennett told Taven to “kill him”, and the two nailed a spiked piledriver on Bravo on the rampway. Back in the ring, the double team continued as Taven and Bennett absolutely clobbered him in the corner. The crowd was not amused, as they did not like the Champions, who they may not have recognized because the ROH Tag Titles have been rarely defended on ROH TV.

A hot tag brought in Dean, but Bravo disappeared and Dean had to take on Bennett and Taven by himself. Finally, Bravo returned and they double teamed Bennett after disposing of Taven on the outside. All four men got in the ring and some brawling ensued until they were all laid out in the ring. Bravo went for a cover on Taven, but Dean missed the block on Bennett who dove in to break up the pin.

Earlier in the match, Taven had set up a table next to the rampway. This came back to bite him as Bravo put him through it with a leap off the rampway. IN the ring, Dean hit a salute splash on Bennett for the 1-2-3-4-5… the ref didn’t see! The Ref also missed Wardlow sneaking into the ring to deliver a huge slam to Dean, knocking him out. Bennett crawled over him for the pin to retain the ROH Tag Titles for The Kingdom.

Billie Starkz defeated Queen Aminata to become the inaugural ROH Women’s World Television Champion

This was the culmination of a 16-woman tournament that saw Aminata and Starkz battle through the best ROH has to offer. The winner tonight would be crowned the inaugural ROH Women’s World Television Champion and both these women have earned the right to wear that title.

This match took place during Ramadan and Aminata, a devout muslim, had been fasting in accordance with the time of year. The commentary team wondered if this would be a factor in the match. It didn’t seem like it during the start of the match, where Aminata held her own against the spunky Stakz. The two women felt each other out in a slow start, but Aminata eventually landed a really crisp snap suplex. She followed that up with an absolutely deadly knee to Starkz’ face.

Aminata went the submission route, locking Starkz into a series of holds and locks, but Starkz was able to escape to the corner. Starkz tried to pick up some offense with whips and a big lariat, but Aminata wasn’t going down easy. She grabbed Starkz in a German suplex that left the younger competitor staring up at the lights.

Aminata began toying with Starkz, who did not take it well. Starkz hit a twisting ushigaroshi, seemingly damaging the neck of Aminata. Aminata wasn’t all out, as she hit a rolling dice counter to a facelock attempt by Starkz. Dueling chants erupted from the crowd as the two women staggered to their feet to exchange hard forearms.

Starks climbed to the top rope to try a swanton onto Amimata on the ring apron (the hardest part of the ring) but Aminata managed to dodge, and Starks did more damage to herself than anyone else. Aminata threw Starkz around outside until she was practically limp. Putting her back in the ring, Aminata climbed to the top rope and hit a swanton of her own, but Starkz kicked out at two.

Aminata seemingly had the match won, but Starkz, who looked dazed and out of it, managed to kick out time and time again. After multiple decimating strikes in the corner, Starkz could barely see straight. Starkz missed a second swanton when Aminata put up her knees to block. Starkz landed hard and refs and doctors dove into the ring.

Starkz wailed in pain in the ring and was attended to by doctors. Aminata and the crowd held their breath. The medical staff wrapped Starkz’ neck in a brace and she was able to stand. Everyone waited to hear if the match would continue, but as Starkz was about to be taken from the ring, Starkz slapped in a sleeper hold on Aminata! She was playing Possum!

Aminata Passed out, and Starks tore her not-needed brace off to celebrate as the inaugural ROH Women’s World Television Champion! Wow, what a psyche-out in a great, great match!

-Backstage, Lexi Nair had a chat with Top Flight. On Collision, Top Flight will face FTR in the AEW Tag Team Title Tournament. Top Flight said that they will overcome because that’s what they do. They will win the match, and head to Dynasty for the Finals.

-Next up, The ROH 6-Man Champtions the Bang Bang Gang arrived in the ring. Jay White grabbed a mic while the Gunns danced in support. White announced that they would be defending their titles RIGHT NOW!

The Bang Bang Gang (Jay White, Austin and Colton Gunn) defeated Monster Sauce (Alex Zayne and Lance Archer) and Minoru Suzuki to retain the ROH 6-Man Tag Titles

To say that the Bang Bang Gang were surprised to see Suzuki would be an understatement. This impromptu match immediately became more important with the addition of Suzuki.

The dream pair of Suzuki and White started things off and the crowd was hyped for this unannounced match. Suzuki called White a “young boy” and slapped on several really painful looking finger holds. He immediately put White in the sleeper, and the Gunns broke things up to save their friend. The Bang Bang Gang regrouped behind the announce table, seemingly very afraid of Suzuki.

Austin Gunn took the next shot at Suzuki who called him “Ass boy.” Hopefully a reference to Gunn’s father, Mr Ass Billy Gunn. Suzuki seemed unstoppable though, and folded Austin in half, leading him to tag in Colton. Archer jumped in though and the two exchanged holds.

Archer tagged in Zayne and he drove Colton into the corner. Austin tagged in and stomped a proverbial mudhole in Zayne. The Bang Bang Gang proceeded to lead the match both in terms of hitting devastating moves, as well as body glitter that was pretty much everywhere.

Zayne tagged in Archer, who ran through all three members of the Bang Bang Gang. Archer Choke-flipped (you read that right) Zayne onto Austin, but Austin recovered and bulldogged Archer to the mat. Hot tags brought in White and Suzuki much to the crowd’s delight.

Suzuki beat up White, then Austin, then Colton and stood tall in the ring as the crowd chanted his name. White thumbed Suzuki’s eye, but Suzuki countered into a sleeper. Zayne tagged himself in and leveled White with a lariat. White battled back though, and hit a bladerunner on Zayne to get the win and retain the ROH 6-man Titles.

This match was a great balance of veteran dominance by Suzuik and entertaining, innovative moves from the Bang Bang Gang. Super fun and fun to watch!

 -White grabbed a mic and re-iterated that The Bang Bang Gang  were the best. Suddenly the Acclaimed  arrived and a massive brawl broke out. The Bang Bang Gang escaped leaving Billy and The Acclaimed in the ring. 

Dalton Castle defeated Johnny TV (Fight Without Honor)

OK, follow me here: Dalton Castle and Johnny TV hate each other. Castle wants to smash TV’s face, and TV hates Castle’s face because it will “never be TV ready.” The two had a match that resulted in TV and his wife, Taya Valkyrie, gaining custody of Castle’s Boys. Sadly, TV and Valykrie then lost The Boys during a mountain outing where they were doing manly things (there was a bear involved). This enraged Castle, and now the two will meet in only the 15th ever Fight Without Honor match.

Castle entered with a new jumpsuit and a baker’s dozen of brand new Boys to try and soften the loss of his original Boys. The crowd was clearly behind Castle, chanting his name as the bell rang.

Castle seemed to have TV’s number, knocking him to the outside repeatedly. TV Taunted Castle and Castle chased him around the ring, until TV stomped on his hand on the rampway. With no countouts to worry about, the two battled on the outside until TV dragged Castle back into the ring. Castle bumped into Valkyrie, which caused TV to become enraged and hammer him with some hard strikes.

TV searched under the ring and pulled out a table. He and Valkyrie set it up while Castle writhed in the ring. Valkyrie handed TV a kendo stick and the couple wailed on Castle with them. The ring filled with debris, as TV hit Castle again and again with the Kendo stick. Castle finally caught some offense, hitting TV with a big Olympic-slam style suplex. Castle then considered the weapons he could use on TV, ultimately choosing the kendo stick. Before he could do much though, TV sprayed some powder in Castle’s eyes, and Valkyrie attacked him with a leaf blower. TV then powerbombed Castle through the table and tossed him back in the ring.

Setting up a chair, TV locked Castle’s shoulder and arm in the legs. He then spammed the chair shut, crushing Castle’s arm. TV placed two kendo sticks and three chairs on Castle’s body and went for a Starship Pain. Castle came to life though and nailed TV with the kendo stick.

In the ring, Castle screamed “Bring me a boy!” and one of his boys ran out to the ring. Castle threw the Boy onto TV, and a second boy came out! Castle threw that boy onto TV too, and then it was just a stream of Boys running out and being tossed onto TV on the outside.

Suddenly, a very familiar looking Boy CARTWHEELED his way to the ring and right into TV. Another boy walked to the ring in street clothes and an ROH t-shirt. This new Boy laid out on the ropes and watched. The Mystery Boy then hit a Sky High and we realized it was Paul Walter Hauser!

The Boys on the outside then kidnapped Valkyrie and dragged her to the back! TV was left alone with Castle and Hauser as they spread thumbtacks all over the ring. Castle hit a Bangarang on TV, driving him face first into the tacks and getting the pin to win the match.

Athena (c) defeated Hikaru Shida to retain the ROH Women’s World Championship

This match came to be because Athena, riding a 49-match win streak and 400+ days as chamption, felt like the ROH Women’s Division was lacking in real competition. She ran through them all, and was bored, darn it! That request caught the attention of former AEW Women’s Champion, Shida. She arrived with determination and violence and this match promised a hearty helping of both.

Athena (decked out in red, not a red outfit mind you, just painted red for some reason) started the match by ducking out of the ring. After pumping herself up a bit she jumped in and the match actually began.

The pace began to pick up with neither woman really gaining an advantage, but the wheels were definitely in motion in both of their minds. Athena went the mind games route, trying to lure Shida in for a Code of Honor handshake. Shida saw through the ruse though and hit Athena with a series of lariats into a backbreaker.

After a few twists and turns, Athena began working Shida’s knee, wrapping it in the rope and stomping it, trying to tear ligaments. After an Alabama slam, Athena put Shida in an ankle lock, wrenching Shida’s knee even more. Shida fought back though, catching Athena in a big backbreaker.

The pace of the match slowed significantly, with both women taking turns hitting kicks and corner slams, trying to gain the advantage. Athena managed get Shida in another ankle lock, twisting her damaged knee. Shida crawled to the ropes, but the Champion took her time in breaking the hold.

Shida got Athena up and piledrove her into the rampway outside the ring. Shida threw her into the ring and landed a meteora from the top rope. “This is awesome” chants were aplenty.

Athena began spamming powerbombs, trying to throw Shida over the top rope. Shida managed to reverse into a hurricanrana to the outside, but almost simultaneously, Athena reversed and powerbombed her onto the concrete. Athena put Shida back in the ring and bullseye Shida with a top rope neckbreaker, but Shida kicked out.

Shida tried a flurry of moves ending in a Katana, but Athena kicked out. Shida tried another Katana, but Athena caught her knee. The two pounded on one another until Athena was able to get to the top rope and hit an O Face to put Shida down and get her 50th win, continuing her reign as ROH Women’s Champion.

This match was really fun, but suffered by being near the end of the show. Supercard entered it’s 4th hour (including Zero Hour) during this match and the crowd was beginning to show some fatigue.

Mark Briscoe defeated Eddie Kingston to become the ROH World Champion

The only word to describe this matchup was “emotional.” Kingston, fresh off of losing his Continental Title, was near the end of his rope and questioned whether he could hold onto his sanity and even sobriety should he lose. Briscoe had just as much on the line, looking to honor his late brother Jay 11 years to the day that Jay won the ROH World Championship. Both men promised each other they’d be bringing their best and the stakes were high.

As was expected, this was a hard-hitting match. The arena seemed to shake with every slam and strike. Kingston had control in the beginning, but Briscoe used some of his redneck kung fu to keep himself in the running.

One the outside, Briscoe hit a cannonball to plant Kingston against the barricade. Briscoe introduced a chair to the ring, making it legal for Kingston to chokeslam Briscoe right through it. Kingston pounded Briscoe’s head against the announce table, busting him open. Blood poured from Briscoe’s face as Kingston waited for him in the ring. Briscoe jumped right back in and the two exchanged punches and chops.

The ref checked on Briscoe, making sure he could continue while bleeding. Kingston took advantage and raked the open wound on Briscoe’s head. A series of strikes from Kingston left him covered in Briscoe’s blood. On the outside, Briscoe took a big bite of Kingston’s head and set him up in a chair to drive him into the corner barricade. Briscoe then dropped a Cactus Jack elbow on the champion from the ring apron.

Blood absolutely poured from Briscoe’s head as the ref checked on him for the fourth time. He checked again after Kingston nailed Briscoe in the face with a baseball slide.

Briscoe began to fight back, taking Kingston’s chops and laying out a few of his own. Briscoe’s face looked like hamburger meat but he refused to go down. Some more Redneck Kung Fu gave Briscoe an opening and he began to take it to Kingston. These two were in a war, not a wrestling match.

Briscoe hit a Froggy-bow from the top rope, but Kingston kicked out at two. The men began trading suplexes and powerbombs trying to find an opening to come out on top. Eventually though, both men were down, in pools of Briscoe’s blood.

Kingston hit a t-bone suplex from the ring apron (the hardest part of the ring) onto the concrete below leaving Briscoe dazed as the crowd chanted “man up” at the competitors. Both men escaped the 20-count by sliding back into the ring, Briscoe managing to do it at 19 and a half.

Bloodied and beaten, both men swung at each other from their knees. Rising to their feet Briscoe got a big clothesline and began to gain momentum over the sluggish Kingston. Kingston fired back though, and tried a pin which Briscoe kicked out of at 2.

Briscoe reached deep into his bag of tricks, pulling out a cutthroat driver. Signaling to the his brother in the sky, Briscoe droppe Kingston on his head with a massive driver and pinned him for the 1-2-3! Mark Briscoe is your new ROH World Champion, 11 years to the day his brother won the same title!

The ring filled up with Briscoe’s family and ROH wrestlers hugging and congratulating Briscoe on his well deserved victory, and Kingston on his hard fought loss. The two men embraced into the ring as the confetti and streamers rained down. What an incredibly emotional and hard-hitting match. A perfect way to end Supercard of Honor 2024.