Supercard of Honor has been done three times before. Each show is pretty damn epic. Will this show live up to the hype? It has a world title match, a GHC title match, and Kamala!!! Read on to find out…
The show starts with a very serious promo from Nigel McGuinness who talks about all of the pain he is in from a day to day basis. He talks about how he thinks about just giving in, but he doesn’t because he wants to prove all of the haters and “wankers†wrong. He says he will keep defending the champion as long as there are still people out there doubting him.
Rhett Titus vs. Erick Stevens
Titus has his character and mannerisms down amazingly. His game in the ring is coming along but has not caught up to his character work. Stevens goes to work early with some clubbering. Titus does his best to keep up using some underhanded tactics to get the advantage, and actually controls a lot of the match. Color me shocked. Still, Stevens’ strength proves to be too much and he wins with the lift up clothesline thing…that I am going to call the Stevens Line. Yay. Still, it was a pretty bland match.
Winner: Erick Stevens via pinfall, **
Chris Hero, Eddie Edwards and Incognito w/ Shane Hagadorn vs. Kevin Steen, Jay Briscoe, and Magno
I find it odd that a masked man is named Incognito, I mean it’s kind of obvious. Steen charges the ring ahead of his team and attacks Eddie Edwards. Things settle down and we have a six man tag team match. They run through pairings and when Magno gets in against Incognito, he is so full of fire that the top rope comes loose. Well, you don’t see that every day. No ropes is a real problem in a match with two luchadores, but they make due. The ropes breaking does suck a lot of the steam out of this match, though. Honestly, they do a good job of working without the rope even doing a few spots off of the second rope. Steen gets absolutely destroyed by the bad guys before FINALLY making a tag to Jay Briscoe. Magno shows off with some dives but succumbs to the magic green elbow pad from Chris Hero. This match was ok for being derailed by the ring malfunction.
Winners: Chris Hero, Eddie Edwards, and Incognito via pinfall, **
Dlo Brown is backstage, and I don’t care. He does have a t-shirt that says HEEL on it in big letters. That is kind of awesome.
Roderick Strong vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima
This one is fast, violent, and laden with kicks and chops. It’s pretty much what you would expect, and it’s a ton of fun. Nakajima works the leg to take away Roddy’s backbreakers, but it won’t stop Strong’s freaky retard strength. The finishing sequence in this match is absolutely nuts. Roderick and Katsuhiko throw everything at each other. Roddy eventually hits a back breaker, the fireman’s carry gutbuster, the sick kick, and the Gibson Driver to put away Nakajima. That was truly awesome. The match was a little on the short side, but it was a ton of fun.
Winner: Roderick Strong via pinfall, ***1/2
Sweet and Sour Challenge Match: Bobby Dempsey vs. The Ugandan Giant…KAMALA!!!
The crowd pops huge for Kamala…who is wearing Tevas. Well I guess they finally opened that Uganda story. Bobby Dempsey rips off his shirt to reveal the stars and crescent moon just like the Ugandan giant. Hagadorn puts his hands on Kim Chee which is a no no, and Kamala takes out his frustrations with a big splash in the corner. Dempsey follows with a cannonball. This was awesome.
Winner: No Contest, eleventy billion stars.
We get a promo from Alex Koslov in Russian. I don’t speak that commie talk. USA! USA!!
Four Corner Survival Match: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Blue Demon Jr. vs. El Generico vs. Brent Albright
This one is contested under lucha rules meaning that no tags are necessary. That means the match goes dive crazy pretty quickly. They run through the pairings, and the underlying story here is the feud between Albright and Claudio. Claudio is able to hit the low blow and score the pinfall with no reason for the other guys not being there to break it up. Dumb,
Winner: Claudio Castagnoli via pinfall, *
“American Dragon†Brian Danielson vs. Alex Koslov
Honestly, I am not a huge Koslov fan, but if anyone can make him look good, it’s Danielson. The crowd informs Koslov of what will happen to his head. Man, I love that chant. They start of slow. Koslov proves he is slightly stronger. Danielson is superior in every other way, though. Dragon really seems like he is toying with the Russian for most of the match. Ivan Drago, he is not. Koslov does have his moments, though, including a sweet frog splash and Cattle Mutilation!?!?! Koslov even has the unmitigated temerity to go for the Elbows. That doesn’t sit too well with Dragon, though. He comes at him with elbows of his own and the Cattle Mutilation done the right way for the submission victory. This was fun, but totally inconsequential.
Winner: “American Dragon†Brian Danielson via submission, ***
If you want RoH Merchandise you need to go to RoHwrestling.com . I know because they told me.
Dlo Brown vs. Colt “Boom Boom†Cabana
We have two Chicago-land natives in this one. Cabana despite being the less experienced wrestler wows the former Euro-continental champion with crazy roll ups and his wacky European style. This is a contrast in styles in the worst way possible. They are like a half step off of each other and it really shows. It’s too bad. Colt is one of my favorites, and Dlo still has a place in wrestling. I just don’t think it’s in Ring of Honor. This match is really bad. They do make a kind of interesting spot where Colt locks in the Billy Goat’s Curse only for Dlo to tap out beyond the view of Paul Turner. That was neat. Dlo sneaks in a shot with some knucks and gets the win. This was awful. After the match Dlo takes the knucks he was hiding in his trunks and puts them in his mouth…gross.
Winner: Dlo Brown via pinfall, ½* for the submission spot
GHC Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Davey Richards with Eddie Edwards vs. KENTA
We get the GHC music. It is awesome that in Japan, belts get their own music. These guys start off changing speeds and trading moves, it is pretty awesome. They hit each other like they mean it every time. Not surprisingly the dynamic is teacher vs. student who hates the teacher for kicking him in the head so much. The match is kick heavy, but what were you expecting…I mean c’mon? Davey Richards hits a crazy tope` suicida and he lands right in a chair in the second row. That was cool as hell. I was loving this match before they kicked it into high gear, and then they did, and…wow. This match is really Davey’s coming out party as a wrestler. He never once leaves his character behind, and always has his head completely in the match despite getting repeatedly kicked there. KENTA finally hits goes to sleep and escapes with the victory. This match was everything that is awesome about hard hitting pro wrestling. Davey has arrived as one of the top talents out there. KENTA is his usual awesome self. Just a great match all the way around. This is the best thing I have seen all year besides maybe Undertaker and HBK at Wrestlemania.
Winner: KENTA via pinfall, ****1/2
Austin Aries and Jimmy Jacobs vs. The Necro Butcher and Tyler Black
And these four are pretty much in the Jazz vs. Trish Stratus position. Luckily they are better than that, but still they have the toughest act to follow of any RoH match all year. They brawl on the outside to start the match and hype the crowd that can’t help but be a little burnt out. Necro and Tyler have more passion, but Jacobs and Aries prove to be much smarter than their overzealous opposition. As smart as Jacobs and Aries are, they don’t get along very well and their egos get in the way. This is definitely a fun match, but it wears out its welcome a little bit. However, they do a great job of teasing a table spot through the entire match. Aries is able to score the win for his team with the kick to the head and brainbuster combination. After the match, Jacobs and Aries try to get some extra credit on Tyler Black, but they get run off by the Necro Butcher. I enjoyed this match a lot.
Winners: Jimmy Jacobs and Austin Aries via pinfall, ***
We get a hype video for the upcoming title match.
RoH World Championship Match: Nigel McGuinness © vs. Jerry Lynn
Those in the know are aware that Nigel is in pretty rough shape for this match. The circulating rumor is that both of his biceps have tears. Not surprisingly, Lynn tries to capitalize on the champ’s injuries. It’s just good strategy. Nigel proves that despite his injuries he is a more than formidable opponent. Still, injured biceps severely limit the effectiveness of the champ’s signature lariat based offense. These two, of course, have wrestled a lot in recent months, and Lynn demonstrates a learning curve that few have against McGuinness. They trade near falls and London Dungeons again showing Lynn’s learning curve. The drama at the end of this match is really quite amazing. It is also oddly prophetic. It seems that Nigel has won the entire crowd over with his heart and resilience. Just as that happens, he gets crushed with the cradle piledriver and loses the championship. This was an amazing match. KENTA/Richards is probably the better match, but I am giving them the same rating. Jerry Lynn wrestled an amazingly smart match and it told a great story.
Winner and NEW RoH Champion: Jerry Lynn via pinfall, ****1/2
After the match we get Jerry Lynn talking on the microphone and celebrating his win. Nigel gets the microphone afterwards and cuts an emotional promo about the moments that make wrestling special. I liked Nigel’s promo, but the show really should have ended with the new champion.
Big Andy Mac’s Big Andy Final Thoughts: Davey Richards said it best after his match with KENTA: This is what Ring of Honor is all about. Two matches are well over four stars, a bunch of other stuff is super entertaining. There was some dreck, but you take the good with the bad sometimes. In previous years this would be an upper echelon show, but with the way things have been, this show is by far the best so far this year. If you want a different perspective on this show check out Pulse Glazer’s review. This is show is as must buy as anything RoH has released this year. Also it is historic for the title change.
