Hello friends! Steve Cook here with you for the sixteenth presentation of ROH Supercard of Honor. I realize there are approximately seventy-eight wrestling events taking place this very moment, with several of them being covered on this very website during this very time period. I appreciate you joining me for some Honor-filled good times.
We’ve got eight matches listed for the actual Supercard itself, but because Tony Khan is Tony Khan, we’ve got four matches scheduled for the Zero Hour preshow that went unmentioned until the afternoon before. Gotta love the little scamp! Also feel the need to point out that it’s storming here in Northern Kentucky, so if I suddenly disappear it’s not due to any nefarious means. (Spoiler Alert: My feed only crashed once during this show, which is a pretty good night for me. Of course it was during the last match…)
Ian Riccaboni & Caprice Coleman are with us live from LA. Caprice admits to looking forward to “some” of the matches. High praise indeed!
Zero Hour Match: Jeff Cobb vs. “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams: A battle of former ROH World Television Champions! They shake hands & start it off. Chain rasslin ahoy, Williams scores the first near-fall and gets the applause. Fans chant “Jeff Cobb” as Cobb breaks a heel hook in the ropes. A headscissor attempt from Williams goes nowhere, so they shove. Williams tries a headlock takeover, but Cobb is too big and back suplexes Williams. Bodyslam by Cobb, shades of former ROH Champion CM Punk, gets two. Cobb with some strikes, Williams tries a response but gets chopped in the throat. Running delayed vertical suplex by the Cobbster. Cover gets two. Short-arm clothesline by Cobb, a standing moonsault misses and Williams goes for the Facelock. Cobb blocks, back to his feet, Williams tries some stuff and finally hits a Saito suplex. Williams misses in the corner, but fires back. Big forearm by Cobb, he runs into a boot, a divorce court DDT gets two for Williams. Williams rolls through a Tour of the Islands attempt and gets 2.8. Cobb with a German suplex to turn the tide. Clothesline takes Williams out of his boots. There’s the Tour of the Islands and the three count.
Winner: Jeff Cobb (5:18 via pinfall)
Match Rating: **
Hands are shaken afterwards. Pretty basic stuff here, but always nice to watch Cobb crush people.
After a video for Yuta vs. Shibata, Bobby Cruise introduces Nigel McGuinness, who will join Ian & Caprice on commentary! Had to figure it was a matter of time before Nigel returned to this company, it’s his home.
Zero Hour Match: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Willie Mack: Tieup goes nowhere and some trash is talked. Mack has some Razor Ramon-inspired trunks on. Both men go off the ropes and try to shoulderblock each other down. Willie has the advantage after three tries and strikes. Takeshita with a flying clothesline off the ropes, and Mack goes outside. Takeshita misses a dive, lands on his feet and runs into a clotheline from Mack. Mack with a rana back in the ring, runs into an elbow in the corner. Takeshita jumps off the middle rope & ranas Mack to the outside. Takeshita with the flip dive. Mack with one of his own after being sent back into the ring. LA with the “Holy S@#$” chant. Mack with the chinlock, Takeshita fights out. Mack with another clothesline. Takeshita with some shots, but it’s Mack off the ropes with a Shining Wizard. Samoan Drop by Mack, who kips up. Standing moonsault gets two for Willie. Takeshita hits more forearms and runs into a dropkick. Then Willie runs into a lariat from Konosuke and that gets two. Mack goes for the Stunner, Takeshita blocks. Mack with a Pounce, then a Stunner! Takeshita with a running knee and a Stunner of this own! Shining Wizard by Mack! Fans say this is awesome. Mack with a T-Bone suplex sending Takeshita into the corner…Mack with the hip pound! Mack up top, misses the frog splash! Takeshita hits the Blue Thunder, then the running knee strike gets a three count.
Winner: Konosuke Takeshita (9:30 via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***1/2
Takeshita pulls Mack up and shakes his hand. Good stuff! Takeshita continues his road to the top, while Mack continues being one of my favorites that never really gets a substantial push wherever he works.
Zero Hour Match: Willow Nightingale vs. Miranda Alize: How come the Lucha Baddie Miranda never applied to join Jade Cargill’s Baddies? Seems like it would have been a fit. Miranda isn’t really feeling Willow’s music as much as everybody else. Willow with the two amigoes into a fisherwoman’s suplex for two. Willow with a slam, then a crossbody. Miranda rolls outside, then Willow chases her around the ring. Miranda gets the upper hand, ranaing Willow’s head into the mat for two. Miranda works Willow over in the corner, but hard strikes by Willow turn the tide. Alize fights back and washes Willow’s face with her boots. Dropkick in the corner, then a double underhook suplex gets two for Alize. Willow cartwheels out of an Irish whip attempt and fights back. Hip attack in the corner, then a spinebuster gets two for Willow. Alize with a knee, then a neckbreaker gets two. Alize with a DDT to a kneeling Willow gets two. Alize goes for the cross armbreaker, Willow fights out, hits a kick and a Death Valley Driver for two. Willow misses a cannonball in the corner. Alize hits a cutter, but misses her Drive-by knee strike. Pounce Period by Willow! Down comes a strap, and a Doctor Bomb ends it in favor of Nightingale.
Winner: Willow Nightingale (6:57 via pinfall)
Match Rating: **1/2
I never thought I would see the POOOOUUUNNNCCCCEEE in two straight matches, but it is 2023.
Zero Hour Match: Stu Grayson (w/Evil Uno) vs. Slim J (w/Ari Daivari & “Smart” Mark Sterling): Grayson is a house of fire right away. He drives Slim into the corner and punches & knees away. Grayson runs into a boot, Slim runs into a suplex. Back in the ring, Slim J with a couple of headscissor takeovers. Grayson with a rana, a legsweep on the apron and a flip dive on said apron. Grayson takes Slim up top, but the distractions start and Slim hits a kick off the top rope. He tears his shirt & covers for two. Daivari chokes Stooo on the ropes while the referee is distracted. Reverse DDT gets two for Slim. Stu starts no-selling the strikes from Slim. Stu clotheslines Stu down, hits a urinagi, then a twisting Asai moonsault gets two. Slim goes for a sleeper, that doesn’t last. Grayson hits a powerslam for two. Lifts Slim up in the torture rack, but Slim fights out. Slim J with the standing Sliced Bread for a two count. Slim misses the moonsault, Stu picks him up & Sterling distracts. Uno intervenes and ends up clotheslining both of Slim’s guys. Stu racks Slim J, hits the Nightfall and gets a three count.
Winner: Stu Grayson (6:55 via pinfall)
Match Rating: **1/4
Stu & Uno celebrate, but then we see a video and hear Vincent’s music! Dutch is with him. The Righteous have returned to Ring of Honor! They stare down Uno & Stu. Here’s hoping Vita Von Starr shows up at a later date.
Cook’s ROH Supercard of Honor 2023 Review
Bobby Cruise welcomes us to the Supercard.
AAA Mega Championship Match: El Hijo del Vikingo (c) vs. Komander: Both of these guys are pretty crazy, so don’t expect much from anybody reviewing this match. (Y’all don’t expect much from me anyway.) Fans are a little jazzed for this one. Ian runs through any sporting rivalry he can think of. Komander gets the early advantage, ties Vikingo’s up into a pinfall attempt. Vikingo gets Komander in a surfboard position, and locks it in. Komander flips out of it. Vikingo takes Komander down. They exchange shots on the mat, then Komander & Vikingo run through similar attempts on moves. Vikingo with a rana, Komander catches Vikingo on the dive, they go through attempts on moves, back in the ring, Komander with a dropkick sending Vikingo to the other side. Komander with the flip dive, then he gets a table out from under the ring! Well why not? Komander goes to the stage, jumps off and hits a 450 on Vikingo! Not a very high stage, so that was a difficult landing. Komander walks the ropes, Vikingo avoids the shooting star. Vikingo with a kick in the corner..reverse shooting star into a rana! Double knees send Komander to the floor! Vikingo flips into Komander’s knees on the floor. Back in the ring, Komander walks and misses another shooting star. Vikingo ranas Komander after a blocked slam for two. Vikingo catches Komander, slams him down to the mat. Vikingo up top, on top of the post…springboards to the rope into a powerbomb by Komander! Two count! Komander climps up top, Vikingo sends him to the floor. Back to the post, springboard off the middle rope into a flipping hip attack on Komander on the floor? Good gravy! Vikingo on the middle rope, corkscrew 450 gets two! They’re on the apron now echanging chops. Vikingo wins that, but Komander’s kicks carry the day. Vikingo gets Komander in a powerbomb position, Komander with a Mexican Destroyer on the apron. Komander goes to the opposite side of the ring, runs down the rope and flips onto Vikingo! Holy hell! Komander back up top with Vikingo on the mat, walks the rope and hits that springboard shooting star press finally. It gets a two count. Komander walks the rope one more time and Vikingo shakes the rope. Vikingo & Komander meet up top and Komander runs into a Destroyer off the top rope are you kidding me? Komander is placed on the table and we know what that means… 630 on the table! The table no-sells, the heartless bastard! Vikingo hit the move, there just wasn’t enough weight for that table to break. Back in the ring, Vikingo up top…misses the 630! Komander climbs up top for his chance, pulls out the hidden Ace…I have no idea how many flips were in that particular dive, but Vikingo grabs the rope to break the count. Komander takes Vikingo up top, not sure who has the advantag here, it’s Vikingo and he hits a swinging slam off the top! Vikingo with the double knees in the corner, and there’s the 630! That’s all, folks!
Winner: El Hijo del Vikingo (15:41 via pinfall)
Match Rating: *****
I need a cigarette after that one. Goodness gracious! This kind of thing is either your kind of thing or totally not your kind of thing. It’s totally my kind of thing, so there’s a bunch of snowflakes. I’m sure nobody will be mad.
ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship Match: The Embassy (c) (Brian Cage, Kaun & Toa Liona w/Prince Nana) vs. AR Fox, Blake Christian & Metalik: A six way handshake ends in fisticuffs and a triple dive from the technicos. Metalik is caught and slammed down by Liona. Tag to Kaun, they slap each other then cut Metalik down. Cage tags in and drops Metalik. Metalik handsprings into a forearm. Tag to Fox, who hits a couple of cutters on Cage. Cutters for everybody, actually. Fox with the flip dive onto Liona, then one for Cage. Does this guy have partners? Never mind, here comes Metalik with a dive. Fox hits a centon onto Cage for two. Fox dives towards Cage, who blocks and hits an F-5. Toa tags in and gets enziguried by Fox. Christian tags in, spears Kaun on the apron, sends Liona outside and hits the Fosbury Flop. Tag to Metalik, who hits a splash off the top for one. Cage clotheslines folks down. Metalik gets back-broken. Kaun backbreaks Christian on the turnbuckle, then Liona centons Christian on the apron. Cage gets powerbombed off the ropes. Christian with a shot. Metalik with an elbow, it gets two. Metalik spins on the ropes and gets powerbombed by Cage. Christian with a DVD on Cage. (heh) Kicks are exchanged and Toa stands tall for a second. Metalik hits a tornado DDT on Toa. Christian hits a Destroyer on Cage. (heh) Christian gets clotheslined by Toa & Kaun, and gets slammed down. Fox gets smacked down on the outside. Cage & Metalik in the ring, Metalik hits a Code Red for two. Left arm clothesline sends Metalik down, and there’s the Screwdriver for the three count.
Winners: The Embassy (8:19 via pinfall)
Match Rating: **1/2
Not too bad, but just about anything was going to pale in comparison to the previous match. They tried their best, I can’t hate.
ROH Women’s World Championship Match: Athena (c) vs. Yuka Sakazaki: Athena steps on a porcelain doll on her way out, as she’s been calling Yuka something along those lines during the build to this match. I don’t get the comparison, but I don’t get a lot of things. Arm drags are exchanged, as are kipups. Athena dances around, as she loves to have fun! Yuka with some dropkicks, then a rana sends Athena outside. Yuka jumps on a couple of ropes, then cannonballs onto Athena on the floor. Athena looked to be heading over the guardrail, but Yuka breaks that up. Yuka up top, misses a dropkick. Athena with some punches to a downed Yuka, and the announcers speculate that she hurt herself on the dive earlier. Athena drives Yuka headfirst into the mat off the middle rope, then dances around before covering for two. Yuka fights out of a chinlock, misses a kick once but not a second time. A basement lariat gets two. Yuka up top, cartwheels off to avoid a charging Athena. Athena powerbombs Yuka a couple of times. Sits out on the third, referee counts two. Seems like Athena forced the kickout there. Athena waves to the crowd before hitting a powerbomb into a knee strike for two. Athena kicks Yuka to the outside and sends her into the steps. Yuka goes for the kick, Athena blocks and wheelbarrow slams Yuka on the floor. Athena misses a seated dropick, then Yuka slams her on the floor. Yuka sends Athena into those stairs, then climbs onto the stage… runs down the stage and dives onto Athena! Big splash off the top rope gets a two count. Yuka forearms Athena down, both women block moves before Athena knocks Yuka’s block off with a forearm. Gets two as Yuka grabs the rope. Athena climbs up top, Yuka follows. Yuka with the superplex, then spins Athena into the faceplant. Cover gets two. Yuka climbs the ropes, but Athena uses the referee to create a distraction. Athena goes up top, takes Yuka down with her in the O Face and gets the three count. I know that doesn’t sound right, I don’t name these moves.
Winner: Athena (11:37 via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***
Pretty solid showing here. Athena has been fun as a heel and it’ll be interesting to see who takes her down. Perhaps one of the people on the Zero Hour?
ROH World Television Championship Match: Samoa Joe (c) vs. Mark Briscoe: Mark’s wife & kids are in attendance for this one, there’s enough kids to fill a whole row of ringside. I kid…slightly. Fans chant for Dem Boys, and Joe immediately takes a powder to adjust his elbow wrapping. Fans want Joe to Man Up. Joe re-enters the ring and takes Mark into the corner. Misses a strike but Mark doesn’t. Joe with a kick & punch, Mark with some shots. Big boots from Mark. Mark springs into a chop from Joe, but fires right back into a chop exchange. Joe not the man I’d try that with, but I’m not Mark Briscoe. Some Redneck kung fu, then a Death Valley Driver! Mark heads up top, but Joe rolls outside. Mark runs towards Joe and gets overhead suplexed onto the floor. Joe continues on the offensive afterward. Big kicks from Joe, then a snap suplex gets two. Joe fires away with punches, but Mark fights back. Joe slams Mark down, Mark rolls out of the ring for a few seconds, but Joe maintains the advantage. Joe with the tope forearm to Mark on the floor. Mark back in the ring & Joe gets a chair out. That ends up with Mark using the chair to spring onto Joe on the floor. I thought that was Mark’s kids screaming at ringside, and he gives a daughter a kiss before getting a table. Joe sends Mark into the ringpost. Joe admires the table before getting blockbusted through it by Mark. Mark with the karate chop off the top in the ring, then some chops. Chops are exchanged by both men. Joe sends Mark into the corner, but Mark comes back with a forearm off the turnbuckle. Both men get up. Mark goes to the corner, doesn’t see Jay, then hits a urinaki on Joe for two. Joe with a headbutt off the Jaydriller attempt, then a powerslam gets two. Joe with the powerbomb, 1-2 into the STF. I just noticed referee Paul Turner wearing his Jay Briscoe armband for this match. Mark reaches the ropes. Joe’s got some blood coming out of his nose, and Mark hits some chops. Joe dumps Mark on his head, then Mark gets lariated for two. Joe sets Mark up for the Musclebuster, but Mark fights out. Big boot by Mark, Mark goes up and hits the Froggy Bow! Only two! Mark motions for the Jaydriller, Joe powers out. Joe blocks the Cutthroat Driver and locks in the Choke. Mark goes for the ropes, but Joe suplexes him over. Choke in the center of the ring, and Mark passes out.
Winner: Samoa Joe (14:25 via referee stoppage)
Match Rating: ***3/4
Joe pulls Mark up and shakes his hand after. The fans give Mark an ovation and he goes to embrace his family at ringside. Fans definitely wanted a different outcome here, but the announcers assure us that tonight isn’t the end of Mark’s story. It isn’t, but it’s hard to blame wrestling fans for being skeptical about it. Wouldn’t be the first time.
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Daniel Garcia: An International Dream Match if I’ve ever seen one. Garcia with an early cheap shot because he’s a sports entertainer. Garcia pulls Tanahashi’s wonderful hair because he’s an asshole. Tanahashi fights back, plays some bitchin’ air guitar and follows Garcia outside. Garcia drop toe holds Tanahashi into the steps. Garcia does a little dance on the steps, then works over Tanahashi’s knees. This is where not being a New Japan follower hurts me, this was very over with the announcers and I wasn’t sure what was going on. Garcia stomps Tanahashi’s knees in the surfboard position. The fans tell Garcia he’s a wrestler, which is quite the insult to Garcia. Garcia does the Shinsuke Nakamura pose! Tanahashi fights back, hits a cannonball off the middle rope for two. Garcia goes back to the knee, then a running kick to the head gets two. Kicks to knees are exchanged, with Garcia getting the upper hand. Garcia goes for the Sharpshooter, Tanahashi fights back and hits the ol’ Dragonscrew. Texas Cloverleaf is locked in and Garcia needs to get to the ropes. He does, then targets the knee again. German suplex, then the Busiaku knee gets two for Garcia. Garcia goes for the piledriver, Tanahashi blocks and hits a neckbreaker. Time for the sling blade, which gets two. Tanahashi up top, Hi Fly Flo! 1-2-3!
Winner: Hiroshi Tanahashi (11:57 via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***
Garcia doesn’t want to shake hands afterwards since he’s a sore loser. I mean, he is American, we’re all kinda sore losers. I wasn’t really feeling this one but others seemed to like it. I like it when people enjoy things.
ROH Tag Team Championship “Reach For The Sky” Ladder Match: Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix w/Alex Abrahantes) vs. The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett w/Maria Kanellis-Bennett) vs. Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin) vs. Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) vs. La Faccion Ingobernable (Rush & Dralistico w/Jose the Assistant): Dralistico is wearing white since he considers this one of the biggest matches of his career. For Rush, this is a normal Friday. I suppose it’d be tough to get ten people to adhere to the Code of Honor, so they just go in all directions. The Kingdom & LFI hang out in the ring. As you’d expect, they turn on each other pretty quick. Kingdom grab a ladder, but can’t do much damage to Top Flight. Dralistico with some kicks to the Martins. Codebreaker by Dralistico. Top Flight is placed in a corner with a ladder in front of them, the bull gets the horns, and Rush is Tranquilo. Aussie Open square off with LFI. Dralistico caught off the top, gets kicked down. Rush gets DDTed off the shoulders of Aussie Open, then laddered out of the ring. Lucha Brothers join the fray. Kicks & forearms in the corner. Aussie Open make a ladder sandwich, Lucha Bros squash it. Fenix runs the ropes for a PK, and Pena hits a dive onto a few people on the floor. LFI hit a couple of dives, Rush poses on the announce table. The Kingdom hit a Doomsday Device to Darius Martin on the floor, shades of what they did to the Briscoes in 2015. Rush tears at the mask of Penta before sending him into the ringpost. Tables are stacked, ladders are being brought down to the ring, the Kingdom are getting piledriven & tombstoned on the stage by Aussie Open. There’s a lot going on here. Aussie Open hit a Ladder Sandwich and seem on their way to climbing up & winning. Probably not, but work with me. Lucha Bros break that up. They start climbing, but LFI stop that and take them out. They take their time climbing up, so the Kingdom re-emerge to break that up. Bennett & Rush climb down the ladder and square off. Shots are exchanged and that was pretty fun! Taven kicks Rush down, but Dralistico suplexes him into the ladder. The Martins ascend the ladder opposite Dralistic. Dante nearly reaches the belts, but that’s broken up. Rush throws a chair, it gets caught & he’s kicked off the apron. Penta faces off with Aussie Open, he’s tossed into the ladder. We’ve got a ladder bridging the middle rope and another ladder, so Taven can get C4ed off of it. Mike Bennett is atop the ladder, but here comes Dante. There’s the ol’ sunset flip powerbomb! Dante’s stopped by Aussie Open and they hit their finish on him. Darius is still up, but he’s limping. There’s another ladder bridging the apron & guardrail, Darius can get spinebusted on that. The dust clears, Dralistico is alone in the ring, but he opts to climb the turnbuckle. He comes off the top rope and ranas Fletcher off the apron into the announce table. Bennett powerbombs Dralistico on the ladder bridge, Taven splashes Dralistico and breaks said ladder bridge. Well, the ladder gets broken more when Rush suplexes Fletcher through it. The managers get involved with each other. Fenix & Dante atop the ladder. Fenix tries a German through the ladder, but falls backward instead. Penta climbs up the other side, and he ends up Mexican Destroying Dante through all the ladders on the floor! Yeesh! Dante apparently messed his leg up on this, I didn’t notice it and I’m not going to look for evidence. Fenix climbs up the ladder, but here’s the Kingdom! Bennett gets knocked into a ladder, as does Taven, and Fenix grabs the belts!
Winners: Lucha Brothers (20:13 via retrieving ROH Tag Team Championship belts)
Match Rating: ***3/4
Mark Briscoe emerges from backstage to give his approval, as does FTR! Mark goes down to embrace Bennett & Taven. There was a moment where FTR was hanging out behind the Lucha Brothers that I thought something might have happened, but not tonight.
ROH Pure Championship Match: Wheeler Yuta (c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata: Jon Moxley accompanies Yuta to ringside before exiting when the match starts. Pat Buck, Madison Rayne & Christopher Daniels are our judges. Shibata gets the advantage on the mat, rides Yuta. Yuta gets up but can’t break the grip. Yuta can’t get much going, he tries a couple of different things but Shibata maintains an advantage. A headscissors keeps Yuta in check for awhile. Shibata locks in a figure four and Yuta doesn’t have much choice but to use a rope break. He doesn’t want to, and Shibata is happy to scoot away from the ropes. Yuta finally reaches those ropes after a minute or so. Shibata gets Yuta in position for some repeated elbows. Shibata covers for a one count. I’m happy that Nigel’s hatred for that clamdigger Bryan Danielson is still alive after all these years. Yuta with a wristlock, then he works the arm of Shibata. Shibata fights back and works Yuta over in the corner. Yuta goes for a suplex, ends up hitting a low blow and a closed fist! The referee did see the closed fist but not the low blow, so he only gets warned for the fist. The fans aren’t impressed. A vertical suplex gets two for Yuta. Shibata wins a chop exchange, then stomps Yuta down in the corner. Some mule kicks from Shibata, a running dropkick in the corner. Yuta ends up using a rope break to stop the pinfall and is down to one. Back suplex by Shibata gets two. Yuta goes to the eyes, once again the referee doesn’t see it. Shibata runs into a dropkick, then Yuta gets a cover for two. Big slap from Shibata, then the sleeper! PK! New Champion!
Winner: Katsuyori Shibata (13:12 via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***
Pretty successful night for ol’ NJPW, and now one of their wrestlers has the ROH Pure Championship. Yuta wants nothing to do with the handshake. So many sore losers tonight!
Ian runs down the AEW Dynamite card for next week. Excalibur has nothing to worry about there.
ROH World Championship Match: Claudio Castagnoli (c) vs. Eddie Kingston: The fans are solidly behind Eddie, as one would expect. Eddie starts off right away with some shots in the corner. Claudio with some shots of his own, knocking Eddie outside. Back in the ring, Eddie with a headlock, gets planted with a suplex but Eddie’s back up with a chop and goes to the headlock. Eddie targets the left knee of Claudio. Claudio ends up on the outside, and uppercutting Eddie when he tries a dive through the ropes. Claudio with the Bossman running charge, Eddie answers with some sign language. Claudio drags Eddie through the ropes and suplexes him to the floor. Back in the ring, Claudio with a double stomp to Eddie. Flying headbutt off the top rope gets two. Slaps are exchanged, which wakes Eddie up. Claudio takes Eddie down and it’s Swing time! Doesn’t last very long, as Claudio’s knee gives out. Claudio places Eddie up on the top turnbuckle, but Eddie keeps fighting. A dropkick knocks Eddie down to the mat. Back onto the turnbuckle, Claudio hits a superplex for two. Double stomp by Claudio, who goes for a cover but Eddie goes to his eyes. Eddie clotheslines Claudio over the top and hits a tope suicida. T-Bone suplex on the floor by Eddie. Back in the ring, a bulldog off the middle rope gets two for Eddie. Shots are exchanged. Eddie goes for a back suplex, but Claudio lands on top and hits some forearms. Eddie with the Stretch Plum! Claudio manages to reach the ropes. Eddie hits a backdrop driver for the two count. Eddie’s running out of moves here. Claudio hits a German suplex. Forearms are exchanged. The backfist from Kingston is blocked. Lariat from Claudio gets two. Ricola Bomb? No, Eddie blocks! Backfist to the Future! That only gets two! They’re on the apron now. Claudio blocks an Exploder, gutwrenches Eddie and suplexes him to the floor! They both get up, and Claudio rams the barricade off of Eddie’s body. I just now noticed they don’t have the old school signs on the ROH barricades, which is a shame. Those things made a great sound when wrestlers got thrown into them. Back in the ring, a running uppercut gets two for Claudio. 2 Backfists from Eddie, Claudio blocks a suplex and does a choke swing. Neutralizer gets a one count? Claudio knocks Eddie down with another uppercut and gets two. Fans chant for Eddie. Claudio with some strikes, uppercut, and one to the back of the neck. Ricola Bomb rolled through for a two count for Eddie, Claudio reverses that into a rollup for the three count.
Winner: Claudio Castagnoli (approximately 20:24 via pinfall, had some technical difficulties towards the end)
Match Rating: ****
Wheeler Yuta comes down for the post-match. Will Eddie & Claudio shake hands? Nah, it seems more like a 2 on 1 thing until Shibata’s music plays. They take turns raising titles & arms, and it looks like things have just started with these four. Eddie grabs the microphone and asks if we’re still on. He has one minute! Eddie drops some filthy words and puts the living legend Shibata over. Give it up for Tanahashi! MJF gets 30 minutes on TV, give him 5. He’s not going anywhere, and he’s gonna beat Claudio’s ass.
8.0
The final score: reviewVery Good
The 411
OK, so people are kinda mad about some of the finishes here. We wanted Mark Briscoe & Eddie Kingston to win championships, and the champions retained their titles instead. Bummer. Do we have faith that the stories will continue in a way where the good guys come out on top at the end? Here's the thing: It's tough to blame wrestling fans if they say "Hell no". How many times have we seen it happen? People lose, fans get upset, other fans tell them to let things play out and see where it goes, and it still doesn't go the way fans want. It's one of those arguments that I don't like to partake in, because I can't really say either side is right or wrong. So I'll side-step it and talk about the wrestling on the show. Which was fantastic! Nobody was following Vikingo & Komander, but everybody tried their hardest. I see people screaming about the sky falling, but I think there's a better chance of the sky falling when these storms hit Northern Kentucky as soon as I finish typing this. Good show, relax and enjoy the weekend.