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A review of ROH Supercard of Honor 2023 PPV
It happens every year on WrestleMania weekend: The ROH Supercard of Honor PPV. This was the 16th Supercard of Honor, which came to you from Log Angeles California. Here are your Top 5 Takeaways from this event...
#1 They Definitely Reached for the Sky
For me this was the match of the night, before the event even started. We had guaranteed new champions, 5 incredible tag teams, a ladder match, and of course, all in memory of Jay Briscoe. And this match delivered as expected. We saw Aussie Open, LFI, The Kingdom, Lucha Brothers & Top Flight duke it out to become #AndNew.
As with any ladder match, it came with it’s insane spots, we saw Alex Abrahantes take a tumble off the apron, The Kingdom were busted open from piledrivers on the stage, Darius took a heinous double team manoeuvre from The Kingdom... but perhaps the biggest spot, was one which ended in disaster for young Dante Martin. Perched on a horizontal ladder balanced on the top rope, Penta El Zero M drove Dante Martin through a stack of four tables, with a Canadian Destroyer. The move, as always, was beautiful, but Dante landed really awkwardly blowing out his knee. Refs and medical stage rushed over immediately.
It was the Lucha Brothers who were the last ones standing claiming the Brand New Tag titles for themselves. Before Mark Briscoe & FTR came out to congratulate them, and of course relinquish the old titles on behalf of his brother, Jay.
#2 An Upset. Figuratively & Literally
Speaking of the Briscoes, Mark looked to slay a dragon that he has never been able to beat, and that dragon was ROH World Television Champion, Samoa Joe. It was well documented during the build up to this match that Mark has never been the Television champion throughout his storied career, and as mentioned – has also never beaten Joe in 1 on 1 competition.
It looked as though all the pieces were in place for Briscoe to strike out both of these stats, and as Ian Riccoaboni so eloquently put it “He’s got a lot of help, and that help ain’t on earth right now”. With his family also at ringside, Briscoe took it to Joe, and Joe fired back just has hard.
There was a touching moment in the match, where Mark made his way to the corner to tag out to his brother, and although he wasn’t there, this seemed to fire up Briscoe even more. Unfortunately for Mark, Joe doused this fire with a sleeper in the middle of the ring, resulting in a referee’s stoppage. A disappointing loss for Briscoe, who consoled his crying children at ringside.
#3 He Didn’t #FinishTheStory
Everywhere he goes, it’s always pointed out, that Eddie Kingston has never been a world champion. Last night, the Mad King had an opportunity to become just that, but to do so, would have to de-throne Claudio Castagnoli. We’re used to seeing this sort of build up with Eddie, where his opponent runs him down for being a “quitter” or for “losing the big one”, and how it took him longer to reach the “bright lights”.
This story was just the same, except that the history between Claudio & Eddie spanned 15 years this time, with the added controversy/confusion of Eddie walking out of AEW. For Eddie, this story continues, despite hitting Claudio with his signature moves (Stretch Plum and Spinning Back Fists) the Swiss Superman retained his ROH World title.
Claudio does what he’s good at and shown off his sheer strength during the match, literally throwing Eddie around the arena, before pinning him with a basic roll-up reversal. Post match Wheeler Yuta came out to celebrate with Claudio, before setting their sights on beating Eddie down even further that was until the newly crowned Pure Champion; Katsuyori Shibata came out to assist Kingston.
#4 A British Legend Returns
It was during the Zero Hour pre-show, that Ian Riccaboni & Caprice Coleman revealed that this PPV won’t have a 2-man commentary team, instead they will be welcoming a third man to the booth for the rest of the event. That third man turned out to be the longest reigning Pure Champion in ROH History – Nigel McGuiness!
McGuiness provided his colour-commentating skills throughout every match of the night, just as he done so on NXT. He politely reminded us of his illustrious reigns as Pure & World champion at every opportunity. It wasn’t confirmed if this was a one-night special, or whether McGuiness will be returning to regular ROH commentary, but I guess we will find out this Thursday!
#5 What an Opener
It’s always a good sign when a card is opened up with an absolute banger. ROH did just that, by opening the main card with El Hijo del Vikingo defending his AAA Mega Championship against Komander. Any Indie wrestling fan will already be familiar with Vikingo, but now the world is being introduced to this insane high-flyer. Hot off the heels of facing Kenny Omega on Dynamite, Vikingo found himself defending his championship on ROH’s biggest annual event.
As impressive at flying, as Vikingo is, his opponent is certainly no slouch either. Komander can walk through ropes as good as anyone, and is just as comfortable in the air as Vikingo. This match was a Lucha libre style master class, with breath taking moves from both men. It was Vikingo though, who walked away victorious, and still AAA Mega Champion.
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