ROH Supercard of Honor 2023 Review

Supercard of Honor is the weekend’s most hyped-up show and it’s easy to see why. Whether it’s the decade-long rivalry between Claudio and Eddie Kingston culminating in a world title match, a tag team ladder war, Vikingo vs Komander, and appearances from Hiroshi Tanahashi and Katsuyori Shibata - if you said that any of these parts were the reason you were excited for the show, I couldn’t blame you.

Given ROH’s history on WrestleMania Weekend (including last year’s show having arguably the Match of the Year on it), expectations are sky high. Let’s see if it lives up to these impossible expectations.

Zero Hour Match #1 – Tracy Williams vs. Jeff Cobb

This was a very short match, that Cobb wins handily with the Tour of the Islands. Not much to say about this one, it existed as something to look at while the commentators tried to sell you the PPV.

2.5 stars – Cobb is always good but this match was instantly forgettable.

Zero Hour Match #2 – Willie Mack vs. Konosuke Takeshita

Takeshita is coming off of an incredible main event match the day before at DDT Goes Hollywood against Yuki Ueno.

Takeshita looks fantastic here, and Willie Mack brings the heat as a credible threat for Takeshita to overcome by matching him on solid strikes (including a nasty-sounding lariat on the outside) and matching Takeshita’s big diving moves. These two have a fantastic sequence trading stunners and knees for a double down.

Takeshita is over like rover with the crowd and gets the win after dodging the Sky High, hitting a Blue Thunder Bomb and the V-Trigger for the win.

3.25 stars – A great back-and-forth match that over-delivered for its pre-show placement.

Zero Hour Match #3 – Willow Nightingale vs. Miranda Alize

Alize plays a great nasty heel here, and Willow is over with the crowd (though I think she’s still too green in the ring for me to fully understand it yet).

This was another wallpaper match that didn’t have many standout highlights but was some solid work between two good developing workers.

Willow picks up the win with the Pounce followed up by a sitout gutwrench powerbomb that looked great.

3 stars – A decent showcase for both wrestlers but not particularly memorable.

Zero Hour Match #4 – Slim J vs Stu Grayson

Slim J is a wrestler I don’t see much upside in, and Stu Grayson is the literal definition of a JAG (just a guy). He does everything your average indie midcarder does, to about the same quality and without any kind of interesting angle on it.

Even some duelling outside interference wasn’t enough to make anything about this match interesting. The work was fine, but this match represents the Dull Wrestling that this website crusades against.

Grayson gets the win with Canadian Backbreaker.

2 stars – Two boring wrestlers have a boring match.

Match #1 - El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Komander - AAA Mega Championship

On paper this is an incredible matchup between two guys who have built up hype in America from incredible showings on AEW TV in the last month. Both do spectacular things with dives and flips, and I cannot accurately recap everything they try here, but some highlights are below.

Vikingo jumps from the turnbuckle post, bunny hops onto the top rope and springboard into a massive powerbomb counter from Komander. Many huge dives and counters into counters that boggle the mind throughout. An insane powerbomb counter into a Destroyer on the apron. A double top rope avalanche Destroyer. Komander’s MASSIVE rope run springboard to the outside. Komander hitting an inverted Red Arrow.

Vikingo gets the win with a 630 for the win in an incredible match.

4.5 stars – An amazing showcase for modern lucha in a big-time spotlight. Highly Recommended.

Match #2 – The Embassy (Bishop Kaun, Brian Cage & Toa Liona) vs. AR Fox, Blake Christian & Metalik - ROH Six Man Championship

This had a tall order following the previous match, but it did a commendable job of starting hot, giving the crowd space to breathe, and then building them back up to stay hot for the rest of the show.

Metalik and Fox are both guys who deserve many more bookings than they get, and it’s nice seeing them get a lot of shine on a big show against large opponents. Shoutout to Blake Christian for getting Cage up for a rolling Death Valley Driver with ease.

This match is the epitome of “let me get my shit in”, and knows exactly what its role is. Fun, light, breezy and a delight to watch.

The Embassy gets the win with Cage hitting the suplex piledriver on Metalik for the win.

3.5 stars – A nice midcard back-and-forth match, to further establish The Embassy.

Match #3 - Athena vs. Yuka Sakazaki

While the entrances for both of these wrestlers were pure cringe (Yuka’s awful theme and presentation, and Athena channelling her best Bray Wyatt impression), this match was great where it counts - between the bells.

Yuka had a great showing, with some great dives and springboards right out of the gates to start this match off hot. However the revelation is Athena in ROH, who has found her niche for the first time in years as the pissed-off veteran powerhouse ass-kicker. Her violent triple powerbomb sequence was great, as was Yuka meeting Athena toe-to-toe when it comes to heavy strikes.

Athena gets the win after a ref distraction and a top-rope Avalanche Eclipse. Great stuff.

3.75 stars – A great match by two veterans re-establishing themselves in America. Recommended.

Match #4 - Samoa Joe vs. Mark Briscoe - ROH Television Championship

These two absolutely BRUTALISE each other with strikes throughout this match, and it’s very welcome as a change of pace from a show that so far has focused on high-flying action.

Mark Briscoe is such a fantastic babyface, and Joe is a great foil to help Mark work from underneath and get sympathy. A fantastic heartfelt moment was Mark Biscoe instinctively crawling to the corner to go for a hot tag, realising Jay isn’t there and then powering up with fighting spirit for a comeback.

Samoa Joe picks up the win with a Sleeper Suplex and Rear Naked Choke for the KO victory.

3.5 stars – Solid hard-hitting match to kick off Mark’s singles run in ROH.

Match #5 - Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Daniel Garcia

Garcia is the right opponent here for Tanahashi, getting the rub by working with a legend but has the slower, methodical style that will benefit the veteran who is slowing down a little.

This followed the usual Tanahashi-in-America formula of Garcia working over Tanahashi’s legs for an extended period of time, before powering up to fire off some dragon screen leg whips, a slingblade, and a High Fly Flow for the victory.

The match was fine, but was more for the spectacle of seeing Tanahashi play his greatest hits in ROH than for the match quality itself.

3 stars – A fine match that was most notable for seeing Tanahashi in TK-era ROH.

Match #6 - Top Flight (Dante Martin & Darius Martin) vs. The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) vs. The Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) vs. Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) vs. La Faccion Ingobernable (Dralistico & Rush) - ROH Tag Team Championship

This was, expectedly, chaos. Bodies and ladders flying all over the place, tables set up everywhere, and each team getting their shining moments.

For me the highlight team was Aussie Open, and Rush was the standout individual performer. Aussie Open performing multiple piledrivers to The Kingdom on the stage (busting them open) was great, Kyle Fletcher taking a nasty hurricanrana to the floor, Mark Davis taking a belly-to-belly through a ladder, as was their role as the bases for the flashier teams to play off of.

The spot you’ll see giffed after this one was the destroyer from the ladder through 4 tables stacked on the outside from Pent to Dante, but unfortunately Dante gruesomely broke his leg on this spot. It was hanging like Sid’s afterwards. Rey shortly thereafter put both of the Kingdom through ladders to get the win.

4.25 stars – Dangerous chaos that never stopped being fun. Recommended.

Match #7 - Wheeler Yuta vs. Katsuyori Shibata - ROH Pure Championship

Shibata is in of my top 5 all-time favourite wrestlers, but this match was in a hard position following a car crash spectacle with a methodical technical exhibition under rules that specifically constrict things further.

Yuta’s transformation into an effective heel has been what he was sorely needing, garnering some of the biggest heat of the night when he snuck a low blow onto Shibata. Shibata absolutely murdering Yuta with strikes only to have Yuta attempt a comeback with his soft-looking offence is so unintentionally hilarious that it makes the match even better for me.

Shibata gets the win with the PK to take the title.

3.75 stars - A great return to form for Shibata and sorely-needed character development for Yuta.

Match #8 - Claudio Castagnoli vs. Eddie Kingston - ROH World Championship

This match filled a void that was otherwise unseen on this show - a vicious grudge match between two people who absolutely hate each other. If you’re one of the few wrestling fans on earth who hasn’t seen it, watch Joseph Monticello’s incredible video essay covering the decade-long grudge between these two.

In the early moments Kingston instinctively grabs for a chair and has to be reminded he won’t win the title if disqualified. This sets up the story for the match where Kingston has to simmer his hatred to fit within the confines of the ruleset, leaving him vulnerable to Claudio.

Kingston buckles Claudio’s knee early on and this is the target for Kingston’s various comeback spots amongst Claudio’s incredible feats of strength. No one can get a crowd on his side as quickly or passionately as Eddie Kingston.

This hatred is seen in little moments of this match, like Claudio refusing to sell Eddie’s strikes until Eddie is out of eyeshot, refusing to concede and let Eddie know he’s actually a worthy opponent. Claudio laughing at the backfist, Eddie kicking out at 1 from the Neutraliser. It’s petty, and it’s great.

There are, of course, bigger expressions of malice like Claudio gutwrenching from the apron out to the floor and then smashing his prone body with the ringside barricade.

The finish comes with Claudio once again sneaking out a rollup victory, countering Eddie’s own rollup counter to the Ricola Bomb. This isn’t the last chapter in this story. In fact, it might be the first chapter in the sequel with their historical roles reversed.

4 stars – A great grudge match brings drama and venom to the table.

AVERAGE RATING: 3.42 of 5 stars (or 6.84 of 10)
SUMMARY: This was a wonderfully consistent show, with multiple matches worth your time. Probably the best in-ring show of the weekend.

WATCH THE SHOW HERE: FITE