WrestleRant
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Store
  • About
  • Contact
Picture

ROH Supercard of Honor Review - March 31, 2023

3/31/2023

0 Comments

 
Picture
By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Zero Hour: Jeff Cobb def. "Hot Sauce" Tracy Williams

It was the battle of former ROH World Television Champions. Cobb has had a hell of a week between this bout, challenging Kenny Omega for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship on Wednesday's Dynamite, and beating Moose at IMPACT/NJPW Multiverse United on Thursday night. More of Cobb is always a positive. This was well wrestled, but it was a pretty average outing. Then again, I wouldn't expect them to go all out on the pre-show.

Zero Hour: Konosuke Takeshita def. Willie Mack

Mack's contract status is still unclear as far as I know, but if I was Tony Khan, I'd be locking Mack down to a ROH deal (unless Mack just isn't interested). I'll also never complain about getting Takeshita in action, regardless of whether it's ROH or AEW. This was much more competitive than Cobb vs. Williams and the crowd rallied behind both men. They had a damn good match in the time they were allotted.

Zero Hour: Willow Nightingale def. Miranda Alize

Nightingale is consistently a treat. I'm stoked that she continues to appear regularly for both AEW and ROH. She's been booked strong in the new ROH with her only loss coming at the hands of the undefeated Athena for the ROH Women's World Championship, so fingers crossed that's revisited down the road. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary here, but it was a nice match and both women had solid showings.

Zero Hour: Stu Grayson def. Slim J

What a random match to do on the pre-show. That isn't to say I would've done it on the main card, I'm saying I wouldn't have booked it at all. I understand it set up the post-match return of The Righteous (only Vincent and Dutch, no Bateman), but the match itself was a waste of time. I would've rather they devoted more time to the other matches. This was fine, though. Grayson's talented and I'd be all for him getting more singles opportunities, but I don't care about him and The Dark Order feuding with The Trustbusters beyond this.

AAA Mega Champion El Hijo del Vikingo def. Komander

You had to know this wasn't going to be anything but a wild spot-fest given who was involved, so while there was no sense of a story, the action and their athleticism was obviously incredibly impressive. The crowd was into everything they did and it definitely opened the event on a high note. Both guys getting exposure on AEW TV recently helped as well, and I'm sure we haven't seen the last of either of them in AEW or ROH.

ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Embassy (Brian Cage and The Gates of Agony) def. AR Fox, Blake Christian and Metalik

This was probably the flattest match on the show because no one cares about the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship, but I applaud their effort. Unfortunately, it just felt like a bunch of high-flying moves thrown together and that resulted in several poorly-timed spots, specifically from Cage. Speaking of whom, it was heavily rumored that his contract was up here and thus I figured he'd lose, but apparently he'll be sticking around based on the outcome.

ROH Women's World Champion Athena def. Yuka Sakazaki

This feud has been primarily been furthered on Dark in the last few months. I guess Sakazaki wasn't available to appear on ROH TV prior to this pay-per-view to build it up more. She's likable, but this crowd certainly did not see her as a threat to the title. It was a nice match albeit predictable. Athena continues to excel in the heel role, but she'll need more credible competition in order for her run to remain interesting.

ROH World Television Champion Samoa Joe def. Mark Briscoe

It really felt like it was Briscoe's night, but maybe it would have been too rushed for him to become champ so soon after the passing of his brother. Either way, this was a terrific match. Joe is a brilliant heel and Briscoe was an awesome babyface foil for him. They had the crowd invested and had wonderful chemistry together. The post-match focus on Briscoe selling the loss was very well done.

Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Daniel Garcia

I've lost a lot of interest in Garcia due to his involvement in Jericho Appreciation Society this past year, but the guy can go and was the perfect opponent for Tanahashi on this show. This had no story and was announced out of nowhere, but it was an enjoyable affair and Tanahashi is a pleasure to watch wrestle, so I can't complain too much. This reminded me of when ROH used to use top names from New Japan Pro-Wrestling for some of their big shows and I'd love to see that trend continue.

The Lucha Brothers def. The Kingdom, Top Flight, Aussie Open, and La Faccion Ingobernable (Rush and Dralistico) in a Reach for the Sky Ladder Match to Win the Vacant ROH World Tag Team Championship

This managed to be as crazy as the opener and I expected nothing less. I have Ladder match fatigue at this point, but at least the people in them never cease to deliver. All five teams had time to shine and some of the spots were just insane. I'd argue too insane because Dante Martin suffered a scary injury from one of them. Otherwise, this was a blast. It helped that any team could have realistically won, but Lucha Brothers were the best choice to go over. They had a nice moment afterward celebrating with Briscoe and FTR.

Katsuyori Shibata def. Wheeler Yuta in a Pure Rules Match to Win the ROH Pure Championship

I don't follow NJPW too closely, but I believe Shibata still hasn't wrestled over there and only in AEW. Now that he's ROH Pure Champion, I assume he'll be wrestling at least a few matches for ROH and that's pretty cool. The Pure Rules matches aren't the most exciting and the crowd was quiet for a majority of it, but it worked well with the in-ring styles of both of these guys and there was a big pop for the title change.

ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli def. Eddie Kingston

This was similar to Joe vs. Briscoe in that the fans desperately wanted to Kingston to win because he's such a fan favorite. Ultimately, it wasn't to be, and that really surprised me, but I get the feeling that this isn't the end of the line for this feud. Castagnoli's new aggressive edge now that he's a heel is appreciated, so I have no issue with him holding the title for however much longer. This was a strong main event and the crowd was super into the nearfalls down the stretch.

Overall Show

Nigel McGuinness joined the broadcast team during Zero Hour and he did an excellent job, as only he could. Here's hoping he's back in ROH full-time if not AEW in some role. I was bummed I didn't attend Supercard of Honor last year despite being in the area for WrestleMaina weekend, so I made it a point to attend this year and I'm happy I did because this was an excellent event. It was a roller coaster of emotions with a few unexpected finishes, but I mean that as a compliment. We'll see if ROH TV gets any more eyes on it going forward or the brand will fly under the radar until these quarterly pay-peer-views come around.
SEE MORE: ROH Reviews
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.


    Categories

    All
    #AskGSM
    Battle Of The Belts
    Cruiserweight Classic
    Halftime Heat
    Hidden Gems
    Interviews
    Lists/Rankings
    Mae Young Classic
    Mixed Match Challenge
    News
    NJPW
    NWA Shockwave
    NXT PLEs
    Opinion
    Previews
    Retro Reviews
    Reviews
    RJ's Two Cents
    Satire
    Slammy Awards
    SNME
    SummerSlam Recall
    The Deadly Draw
    The World Is A Vampire
    Tribute To The Troops
    Women's Eliminator
    Worlds Collide
    WrestleMania Recall
    WWE Draft
    WWE Network Specials
    WWE PLEs
    WWE Starrcade


    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    RSS Feed

©2025 WrestleRant. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Store
  • About
  • Contact