Welcome to another edition of The ROHbot Report – the only article you need for all the Ring of Honor news you have to know. Coming into last year’s “Supercard of Honor” – an event originally meant as a restart for the company after a hiatus organized by ROH’s previous owner Sinclair Broadcast Group – nothing was the same in the honorable realm mostly thanks to Tony Kahn purchasing ROH.
Last year’s “Supercard” began the long road to Ring of Honor returning in full with fresh ROH weekly programming airing on HonorClub (ROH’s streaming service) starting only a month ago. The culmination of so much hard work and patience will pay off in the city of bright lights during wrestling’s busiest weekend. Lets find out what will happen when all eyes on the original ROH mega-show coming back for another year.
Supercard of Honor Preview
March 31st, 2023
Los Angeles, CA
ROH World Championship: Claudio Castagnoli defends against Eddie Kingston
Ring of Honor’s initial purpose was to showcase the best of the best on the independent wrestling scene in an environment conducive to a hardcore audience looking for in-ring action mixing new age athleticism with an old school presentation. As the years progressed and those talents who helped forge ROH’s fan following – Samoa Joe, CM Punk, Paul London, Low Ki, Bryan Danielson, Christopher Daniels, Homicide, Amazing Red, and many others – came and went, so did the every-changing necessity of ROH’s existence in wrestling’s general scope.
Once the vanguard of innovation on an underground level, ROH evolved into the barometer of wrestling’s future; the foundation for a style that would influence and eventually infiltrate mainstream pro wrestling as we know it today. Yet, the importance of ROH in pro wrestling’s landscape began to wane by the end of the 2000s second decade for a variety of reasons.
This time last year, “uncertainty” was the word best used to describe ROH’s future as Sinclair Broadcast Group opted to put the company on hiatus in an effort to re-evaluate what ROH could provide to wrestling going forward. “Supercard of Honor” during “Wrestlemania 38” weekend was meant to be a new beginning for ROH under the SBG banner. Instead, more questions were raised as Tony Kahn – owner of All Elite Wrestling – announced on AEW’s most important television show, “Dynamite”, that he had purchased ROH prior to the pay-per-view.
Two stellar pay-per-views followed Kahn’s announcement, but the future of Honor was still uncertain in a saturated world of televised wrestling. But there was some type of stability that came from ROH’s second PPV during the Kahn era as Claudio Castagnoli finally achieved World champion status when he defeated Jonathan Gresham to win the Ring of Honor World Championship.
The former “Cesaro” went on a tear as ROH World champion by successfully defending the title against some incredible talent including Dax Hardwood, Konosuke Takeshita, and Dustin Rhodes. Between all of his working as an ambassador of Honor, Castagnoli was still in the middle of a feud featuring Claudio’s Blackpool Combat Club and the Jericho Appreciation Society. In a lot of ways, shortly after Castagnoli’s AEW debut when he & the BCC took on the JAS in “Blood & Guts II” where the future ROH World champion won the match for his team ignited Jericho’s want for revenge; and thus his quest for an eighth World championship. Jericho would dethrone Castagnoli at AEW’s “Grand Slam” edition of “Dynamite”, only for Claudio to use his Big Swing to submit “Le Champion” and regain the title in the main event of last year’s “Final Battle”.
But there was another issue re-ignited during “Blood & Guts II”. As the match reached its conclusion, both Eddie Kingston and Claudio Castagnoli were atop the cage with Eddie locking his rival Jericho in the Stretch Plum. For weeks, Eddie looked to prove himself better than “The Magician” and was only seconds away from doing so when the bell sounded. Much to Eddie’s surprise, it wasn’t Jericho tapping out that signaled the match’s end, but Claudio submitting “Daddy Magic” Menard. Eddie sat in disbelief; his back in shambles and his vindication lost yet again.
The issues between Claudio and Eddie didn’t start atop that steel cage last year. For years, the man with everything a wrestler should be and the outcast who should be either dead or in jail shared a common bond that kept them from seeing their world of differences: a love from professional wrestling. Across the United States, Castagnoli and Kingston shared a life together, trained together, fought together, and most importantly in this case, against each other in companies like IWA Mid-South, Combat Zone Wrestling, and, most prominently CHIKARA. But for all their time together, their different viewpoints and vices drove a wedge that has never been fixed mostly stemming from Kingston’s issues with Chris Hero and Claudio’s loyalty to the other half of The Kings of Wrestling.
It was during ROH’s days on HDNet that Kingston and Castagnoli finally fought in Ring of Honor. In their first ROH encounter, Kingston defeated Claudio for the first and, thus far, only time in singles competition. Unfortunately for Kingston, their rematch didn’t end in Eddie’s favor; a story old as time itself in terms of the “War King’s” tenure in both ROH and AEW. Leaving the elite landscape after his friendship with Ortiz deteriorated, Eddie returned to ROH with a single goal in mind: become the ROH World champion.
For Kingston, returning to ROH isn’t just a starting over point in his long-running career, but a chance to prove everyone who has doubted him wrong including the current ROH World champion. Showing his talents to knock people out or submit them with style, Kingston used his time on ROH’s streaming service HonorClub to call out Claudio. Castagnoli seemed unfazed by Kingston’s words & challenges until they were forced to sit down face to face.
Moderated by Caprice Coleman, this verbal confrontation between titleholder and would-be challenge ran the gamut of emotions with Kingston claiming he’s the next in line to continue the lineage set by his mentors like Low Ki, Xavier, and Homicide while Castagnoli reminded Kingston that his challenger is a man of constant excuses who can’t see that Eddie is his own worst enemy. Eventually quiet set in between the two after Castagnoli agreed to a title defense for “Supercard of Honor”.
Then Claudio gave his belief on an eventuality: Kingston will lose and blame everyone else but himself for his failure. Without a single word, Kingston retorted by simply staring at his latest obstacle in a long line of shortcomings in the world of pro wrestling – the thing that saved his life. When Eddie Kingston became CHIKARA’s first Grand champion, it was for Larry Sweeney and the memory of his friend who would’ve been a millionaire if life was truly fair. Now, winning the ROH World title is for Eddie Kingston – a poor mutt from the wrong side of the tracks that refused to give up even when people like Castagnoli have had just as many setbacks in their wrestling careers look down on him. The story is made for a Kingston victory, but there’s always that spoiler to ruin everything.
ROH World Tag Team Championship (Reach for the Sky Ladder Match): The Lucha Brothers vs. Top Flight vs. The Kingdom vs. La Faccion Ingobernable vs. Aussie Open
Last year’s “Supercard of Honor” was monumental for multiple reasons, but none more profound from an in-ring perspective than the first, highly-anticipated meeting between The Briscoes and FTR for the ROH World Tag Team title. As expected, the match turned out to be a classic with FTR becoming the new champs. Two iconic matches later and The Briscoes were thirteen-time ROH World Tag Team titleholders. Then tragedy struck and Jamin “Jay Briscoe” Pugh lost his life in a car accident that took a grand light out of this world that is still being felt by every community that knew and loved him. It would take a couple of months, but the decision was finally made what to do with the ROH World Tag Team Championship: hang the title belts above the ring and let some of the most impressive teams in the world fight while climbing ladders to retrieve said physical representations of being the best tag team in ROH & beyond.
First announced was the former AEW World Tag Team champions Lucha Bros. Though having not competed in ROH before, Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix are two of the most exhilarating competitors to step into any ring. The Lucha Brothers aren’t the only luchadors involved in this one as La Faccion Ingobernable representative RUSH and his brother Dralistico look to add another ROH World Tag Team title reign to the faction’s list of accolades.
Unlike The Lucha Brothers, LFI will come into this one ready to bash some heads instead of doing a bunch of impressive, daring maneuvers before scaling the rungs to potential glory. On the opposite end are two duos who aren’t blood related, but may as well be. Aussie Open of Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis wasted no time establishing themselves as not only a winning team in ROH, but also one of the most exciting while besting former ROH World Tag Team champions Rhett Titus & Tracy Williams and Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal in respective, stellar matches during ROH on HonorClub.
The only team to have won the ROH World Tag Team Championship involved in this bout is Mike Bennett & Matt Taven of The Kingdom. Having won the ROH World Tag Team title on two occasions, The OGK have a lot to prove as they haven’t been the most consistent in terms of winning on AEW and ROH programming as of late even though they are, visibly, one of the best units to step foot in a ring in years. Unfortunately for Taven & Bennett, one of the main reasons for their recent setbacks is also involved in this five-way encounter: Top Flight of Darius & Dante Martin. The awe-inspiring Top Flight are seemingly made for a match like this and could shock the world by becoming overachievers instead of underdogs.
This will mark only the second time in ROH history where a Ladder Match for ROH’s Tag Team Championship will be held not under the “Ladder War” brand as it is not meant to be the conclusion of a blood feud where the title is on the line; and the fifth time wrestlers will be fighting for the vacated championship in ROH’s existence. As with any Ladder match, especially with so many bodies involved and viable tandems who seem poised for champion status, this is anyone’s match to win with a duo like The Kingdom or Top Flight being victorious and turning their issues as of late into a full-blown title feud.
ROH World Television Championship: Samoa Joe defends against Mark Briscoe
There’s something so profound about carrying on a legacy. For Mark Briscoe, his original goal in Ring of Honor was to be one-half of the best tag team wrestling had to offer alongside his brother Jay. And even though they didn’t always see eye-to-eye, Mark and Jay Briscoe reached legendary prominence in ROH and, arguably, became a top five tag team from any generation. Though Jay found singles success by becoming ROH World champion on two occasions, his little brother struggled to make it over the figurative hurdle. Since the ROH World Television Championship’s birth, Mark has made it known he wants to be the face of ROH television; the “King of TV”.
Ironically enough, the self-proclaimed “King of TV” Samoa Joe beat Mark by becoming everything the man from Sandy Fork, Delaware envisions himself of being for over a decade in the same manner Joe abused a young version of Dem Boys almost twenty years ago. During the early days of ROH, then-ROH World champion Samoa Joe found himself attempting to be a double champion with various tag team partners including “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles and future ROH World titleholder Jerry Lynn. While The Briscoes did a masterful job making sure Joe couldn’t monopolize ROH’s titles, “The Samoan Submission Machine” prevented Mark’s earliest chance at single success.
Their first one-on-one match happened at the second “Final Battle” in 2003. The young “Sussex County Chicken” had a final flurry of offense that resulted in his failure to execute the Cutthroat Driver and be choked out in the eventually-dubbed Coquina Clutch. Nearly three years later during the final leg of their tag team feud where The Briscoes fought Joe & Homicide on almost every ROH event in late 2006, Mark and Samoa fought for the second and, until now, last time. Though Mark had flashes of greatness through their match during “The Chicago Spectacular: Night 2”, Joe dominated the youngest Briscoe brother by finishing him with a Muscle Buster-Lariat combo as a challenge to the biggest & baddest in the land; especially Pro Wrestling NOAH at the time.
A lot has changed since that night in 2006, but the one constant is Mark being unable to achieve a singles championship in ROH. Coming into this year’s “Supercard” (Joe’s first from an in-ring perspective since 2015 where he failed to wrest the ROH World title from Jay Briscoe), Mark is on a role with win after win including one over the only man to simultaneously hold the ROH World and World TV titles Jay Lethal.
The champ, on the other hand, finds himself at a crossroads of relevancy having lost the AEW TNT title to Wardlow in rather short order while picking up wins in ROH over the likes of Cheeseburger. For as much as this match is necessary to prove whether or not Mark can finally be a champion on his own, this is also a test for the man who once dominated the honorable realm for twenty-one months as World champion as he attempts to prove he’s still the most dangerous man walking the land today. If Mark can do the seemingly impossible and overcome the unconquerable, this will provide, easily, one of the most emotional and pure moments in ROH history; if not wrestling history.
ROH Pure Championship: Wheeler Yuta defends against Katsuyori Shibata
A former CHIKARA Young Lions Cup trophy holder, Wheeler Yuta spent his fundamental years under the learning tree of current WWE Superstar Drew Gulak and a certain lackadaisical AEW standout who once wrestled as “Fire Ant”. Yuta’s time gaining an exceptional base as a great hold-for-hold wrestler gave him the perfect opportunity to show off his skills in any environment including his future home promotion AEW after his time in ROH was cut short upon losing in the opening round of the Pure Championship tournament to eventual tourney winner “The Octopus” Jonathan Gresham. While his talents were greatly noticed after joining AEW, Yuta made a stand by confronting former ROH World champion Bryan Danielson, mega-star Jon Moxley, and one of the best to lace a pair of boots in William Regal.
This interaction between Yuta and Regal’s Blackpool Combat Club lit a fire underneath him that not only helped him become an official member of the BCC, but also saw him defeat Josh Woods for the ROH Pure Championship at last year’s “Supercard of Honor”. Yuta’s schedule picked up tremendously since that night in Dallas after winning the Pure title; allowing him to not only defend his title on AEW and eventually ROH programming & wrestling alongside his other BCC allies (forging a significant bond with Claudio Castagnoli in the process), but also had an impressive showing in the 2022 Best of the Super Juniors tournament where he overcame BUSHI, TJP, DOUKI, and Titan.
This tour of Japan changed something in Yuta as the Pure champion almost started lusting after the idea of beating the best of the best Japan has to offer even if it meant embarrassing would-be stars who were in the same position he once was when starting in CHIKARA. After overcoming Young Lions and those who progressed past the point of simply wrestling in black trunks and black wrestling shoes like Clark Connors in regards to the latter. After successfully defending his ROH Pure Championship on the third episode of ROH on HonorClub, Yuta took a seat in the ring’s middle to put out the challenge: it’s time to beat the teacher of these Young Lions, Katsuyori Shibata!
Considered one of the most prolific wrestlers of his generation, Shibata’s stoic aesthetic perfectly led into the violence his in-ring talents would produce on a nightly basis for years. The former New Japan NEVER Openweight champion debuted in ROH almost seven years ago; going 1-1 in his first appearances for the company. By 2019, things were completely different for Shibata and the wrestling world in general. ROH was on the road to holding an event alongside New Japan in Madison Square Garden. During ROH’s “Road to G1 Supercard” tour, Shibata watched his students attempt to do their mentor proud as Shibata himself couldn’t compete after a subdural hematoma put an end to his wrestling career. What seemed to be an unexpected conclusion to a monumental career, Shibata slowly worked his way back to wrestling beyond just being a coach.
Similar to meeting the BCC and realizing he has to make his own opportunities, Yuta has used his chance to challenge a man as dangerous as any other to a match under the brightest lights possible in regards to ROH competition. Though Shibata has never wrestled in a Pure Rules match, the stipulation is made for his style (limited rope breaks, no closed fists, time limit) and could prove the old saying true for the champ: Yuta may have bitten off more than he can chew.
ROH Women’s World Championship: Athena defends against Yuka Sakazaki
There’s something about loss that changes a competitor. For some, loss is a motivating factor in getting better; learning from one’s mistakes to avoid that same folly when the time potentially comes for success again. For others, loss lights a fire that ignites an inferno of rage. In the case of Athena, her inability to defeat Jade Cargill for the AEW TBS Championship resulted in “The Fallen Goddess” lashing out and abusing her opposition on AEW programming. Instead of using her talents to prove her superiority in the ring as she once did between the rope’s confines, Athena would unceremoniously sling opponents into the guard railings, test the referee’s count when performing illegal attacks like chokes, and even attack her fallen foes after the bell.
Athena’s acts enraged then-ROH Women’s World titleholder Mercedes Martinez; leading to their clash at last year’s “Final Battle”. Proudly declaring that she was the next champ, Athena lived up to her proclamation and won the gold in her hometown. Athena’s reign has seen her stick to what got her the title opportunity in the first place: winning by any means necessary with utter destruction of her opposition after the final bell to put an exclamation point on her status as the be all-end all of women’s wrestling in ROH.
Athena’s post-match dishonorable actions after the title win continued and, once again, drew the ire of someone. In surprising fashion, that someone was the usually happy-go-lucky Yuka Sakazaki. “The Magical Girl” saved Zeda Zhang from an Athena thrashing after failing to defeat “The Fallen Goddess”; setting up a tag match that Athena lost alongside Diamante against Yuka and Skye Blue. The loss sat with Athena since that night in January and finally bubbled to the top of her figurative volcano after she pushed back the intended challenges of Willow Nightingale and Hyan on ROH programming; putting out a challenge of her own to Yuka for “SCOH”.
This should be a wonderful clash of styles with Yuka’s flashy offense blending into some no-nonsense, hard-hitting striking as seen during her time as of late in her home promotion in Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling. Athena has not-so-quietly become one of the most impressive forces in women’s wrestling no matter the promotion. Though it’s not the most highly anticipated match on the card, expect it to leave a lasting impression in the best way possible.
ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship: The Embassy (Brian Cage & The Gates Of Agony [Kaun & Toa Liona]) defend against AR Fox, Blake Christian & Metalik
Since reforming his latest version of The Embassy with Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona, Prince Nana has seen his greatest accomplishment as a manager come to life as he now had champions in his stable. At “Death Before Dishonor” last summer, The Embassy defeated a game trio of Alex Zayne, Blake Christian & Tony Deppen. They followed up that big win at “Final Battle” in only their fifth match as a unit by winning the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team title from Dalton Castle & The Boys.
Ironically enough, Blake found a common bond with two different wrestlers than the ones who initially lost to The Embassy last year. AR Fox and Metalik made their ROH debuts during this era of Honor, finding allies to fight a common foe in Mark Sterling’s Trustbusters. Similar to The Embassy, the first outing of Fox, Christian & Metalik as a trio ended in victory over The Trustbusters; immediately putting them at the top of contenders’ list just in time for “Supercard of Honor”. This will be a perfect clash of styles with the titleholders looking to shut down their challengers’ high-flying offense while tossing them around like improperly used dumbbells. But if there’s one thing that may be in the contenders’ favor is the fact every ROH pay-per-view in the Tony Khan era has seen the title change hands. Will that trend continue in LA? Similar to the other Tag title match during this event, this match’s result feels like either team’s to win.
AAA Mega Championship: El Hijo del Vikingo defends against Komander
One of Ring of Honor’s best aspects when it comes to holding shows during wrestling’s biggest weekend of the year is the ability to bring international talent in for showcases that have the chance of being the most impressive thing seen throughout the entire cavalcade of events. From the Dragon Gate Six-Man, to the Bullet Club imploding, to last year’s dream matches coming true, “Supercard” can truly be wrestling’s grandest collection of talent in one setting – that tradition continues here as two of the most modern-day luchadors make their ROH debuts.
El Hijo del Vikingo has made waves thanks to the power of the internet with his flashy offensive topped by inconceivable balance. Making his AEW debut on “Dynamite”, Vikingo showed out against Kenny Omega in a losing effort; but the impressive was made and more and more people are ready to get on board with the AAA Mega titleholder being one of the best wrestlers in the world no matter the style. Not to be outdone in regards of being an impressive high-flier is Vikingo’s challenger. The masked Komander too has all the tools to become one of Mexico’s greatest of his generation from bell to bell. Coming to the United States and Japan, Komander has wowed audiences to the point he seems like the heir apparent to the figurative throne in AAA currently occupied by the son of Vikingo. Interestingly enough, this will mark only their second singles match and Komander actually has a record of 1-0 against the champ in non-title action and overall. Expect a magnificent showcase of lucha with history potentially being made as a new champion is crowned; though it’s hard to believe Vikingo will leave his ROH debut without a win.
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Daniel Garcia
Daniel Garcia prided himself early in his AEW tenure as a technician with a pitbull mentality. With 2Point0 by his side, Garcia talked a big game, but failed to really succeed in backing up his claims of beating any and everyone who crossed him. Like the Pure champion, it wasn’t until Garcia garnered the attention of a star beyond measure in the world of pro wrestling: Chris Jericho. Alongside the aforementioned 2Point0 and Jake Hager, Garcia accepted his new truth that with Jericho as their leader he is one of the best sports entertainers in the world today. In Garcia’s mind, sports entertainment includes catch-as-catch-can wrestling; as proven when he defeated Wheeler Yuta to win the Pure Championship last September. Though Garcia’s reign wasn’t incredibly long, it was enough to establish him as a future force in wrestling beyond AEW and ROH; something even Daniel himself recognized. So, what better way to prove himself right than by challenging one of the best to ever lace up a pair of boots?
“The Ace”, “The Once in a Generation Talent”, “The Savior of New Japan” – Hiroshi Tanahashi is everything they call him and then some. Once a young lion like many stars before and eventually after him, Tanahashi transformed himself into the man in not only New Japan, but in all of wrestling during the late 2000s and throughout the 2010s. Eight-time IWGP Heavyweight champion, three-time G1 Climax Tournament winner, two-time New Japan Cup victor, grand-slam titleholder in New Japan, winner of championships in Mexico, England, and even opposing Japanese companies like Pro Wrestling NOAH, Hiroshi Tanahashi has done so much in his career; but there’s always another first.
For Tanahashi this year, his latest first is competing in “Supercard of Honor” against someone he’s never fought before. Though the idea of wrestling Tanahashi seems daunting for anyone who has never been in the ring with a person of his status, Garcia is always up for not only a challenge, but also showing he’s better than so many of wrestling’s favorites. Though announced incredibly late for this card, the hype is already palpable for what should be a high quality clash of wrestling’s today and wrestling’s tomorrow.
And there you have it. Show that love, or like, for The ROHbot Report on its Facebook page. Here’s to a great week for you and yours; and as always, thanks for reading.
