We are two weeks away from the first ROH pay-per-view of 2023, SuperCard of Honor! This episode gave us multiple storylines heading into the upcoming show and even some dream matchups that we will see in upcoming episodes, so here we go with episode three.
Willie Mark vs Claudio Castagnoli: WILLIE MACK! Please use him more. This was a great showing by the ROH Champion, Castagnoli as we are building to Supercard of Honor. After the match, Castagnoli flaunts the title in Willie Mack’s face reminding him that he is the ROH World Heavyweight Champion. Winner: Claudio Castagnoli
Mike Benett vs Dante Martin: Bennett can GO. This was the perfect example of the new era of ROH against the older version of ROH. This match went back and forth and could have been anyone’s win. The Kingdom vs Top Flight feud is prepping Top Flight to get huge momentum going into this new era and potentially an ROH Tag Team Title Win. Winner: Dante Martin.
After the match, Matt Taven attacked Dante and Darius claiming that they are still the better tag team and that they can not defeat the Kingdom in a regular tag team match.
Slim J and Ari Davari vs Metalik and Blake Christian: Christian and Metalik make a great tag team because they wrestle a similar style. The TrustBusters are going to be a huge part of ROH because of the great teacher in Ari Davari. This match was fine, but it builds to something further in the show for the stellar team of Metalik and Christian. Winners: Metalik and Blake Christian
Mark Briscoe Video Promo: Trying to immortalize his legacy and win the TV Title for the first time. Briscoe says he is ready for battle and prepared to defeat Joe for the TV title.
Ladder Match was announced for Supercard of Honor for the ROH Tag Team Championships entitled “Reach for the Sky.” The first team announced is the Lucha Brothers, this is a smart idea because of the history The Briscoes have in Ladder War.
Jeeves Kay (Representing the TrustBusters) vs Eddie Kingston: Claudio Castagnoli was at ringside for this match to build up their match at Supercard of Honor. This episode is very Trustbusters-heavy, which is good because they are finally getting used on TV and not just on Dark and Elevation. All of these matches are a great way to build up Eddie Kingston to wrestle for the ROH Championship and make him a viable contender for the gold. Winner: Eddie Kingston
Trustbusters Promo: Sterling is upset that they all lost, but he believes they all have hope to win a huge match down the line. Davari claims he is sick of losing over and over again. He sets up a challenge to Blake Christian Metalik and a mystery partner to a six-man tag match next week.
Hyan vs Athena: Big fan of Hyan, please keep on using her. Athena’s heel turn has been such a pleasure to watch on ROH TV. This is perfect for her and she executes it so well. Hyan also got a lot of offense throughout the match, which goes back to my original point of them using her more. Athena kept yelling at the ref and beat up Hyan at the end of the match to assert her dominance. Winner: Athena
Metalik and Blake Christan promo: They accept the Trustbusters six-man tag team match, with the addition of AR Fox. They say they are ready to teach the Trustbusters a lesson and they are keeping their eyes out for those six-man titles.
Silas Young vs Marcus Kross: One of the faces of the old ROH! Young was very underutilized in the old ROH, so it was nice to see him here in the brand-new era of ROH. This match was a statement-maker for Young as he truly showed what he can do in the ring. Winner: Silas Young
Silas Young Promo: Young says that it has been one year since he wrestled in ROH and now he is back. He calls out the locker room saying that no one can match up to him. Shane Taylor comes out and calls Young to a match saying that Young can not match Taylor. This is a match between two former ROH TV champions, this should be a fun one next week!
Athena Promo: Athena calls out Yuka Sakazaki. Athena claims Sakazaki is scared of her because she went all the way to Japan to get away from her and she won’t step up to face Athena in the ring one on one. Athena says that she is going to beat the living hell out of her at Supercard of Honor if she accepts the challenge.
ROH World Six-Man Team Championship: The Embassy (Brian Cage, Kaun, and Toa Liona) vs Dalton Castle and The Boys (Brandon and Brent Tate): Another six-man title match… yay. The interesting thing is going to be what is going to happen after Supercard of Honor because Cage’s contract is up. This match went, still not a fan of the six-man titles, but here we are. Winners: “And Still” The Embassy (Brian Cage, Kaun, and Toa Liona)
The Embassy beats down Dalton Castle and The Boys until Blake Christian, AR Fox, and Metalik break up the fight. They stare down the six-man tag team champions in hopes of a future title shot.
Madison Rayne vs Trish Adora: Trish Adora is a future ROH Women’s Champion, mark my words. Adora got a huge win over veteran Madison Rayne in an amazing match. If Adora is not signed to ROH yet, Tony Khan better get on that quickly. Winner: Trish Adora
Darius and Dante Martin call out the Kingdom saying that they have unfinished business with them. They say that this is their kingdom now and that next week Dante Martin will defeat Matt Taven.
The OutRunners (Truth Magnum and Turbo Floyd) vs Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal: Daniels has not missed since stepping into the ring. This was a quick match to get the momentum toward Sydal and Daniels. Winners: Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal
Aussie Open comes out after the match and calls out Daniels and Sydal to a future match. Aussie Open wants to prove that they are one of the best tag teams in the world, and the only way they can do that is by defeating a veteran team like Daniels and Sydal. Daniels and Sydal accept.
ROH Pure Championship: Wheeler Yuta vs Clark Connors: Connors has been a show out in 2023, and this match proved it. He was able to hang with Yuta and at multiple points could have won the Pure title. Yuta retains in a great main event. Winner “And Still” Wheeler Yuta.
After the match, Yuta calls out Shibata to a match for the ROH Pure Championship at Supercard of Honor. He says that after defeating some of the best the LA Dojo has to offer and he is ready to finally defeat the teacher. The show ends with Yuta and Castagnoli raising titles as proud champions.
Overall: We are on the road to Supercard of Honor and we finally are building up a card. These episodes fly by and you really can’t tell these episodes are two hours long. This was a good episode to build up to the card we have coming up in two weeks.