WON ROH Supercard of Honor 2018

Ring of Honor ran the biggest show in its history on 4/7 at the University of New Orleans Lakefront Arena, built around the first meeting of Cody vs. Kenny Omega.

The show drew a paid attendance of 5,879 fans, sold out several days in advance, and had more than 6,000 in the building, breaking the company attendance record of 3,500 set in Lakeland, FL, over last year’s WrestleMania weekend for a Young Bucks vs. Hardys ladder match.

The show featured three outstanding matches, but was not a home run by any means. There were a number of problems. The show itself went too long. The main show went nearly five hours and with the preshow it was closer to five-and-a-half hours.

The decision was made to put the ROH title match with Dalton Castle vs. Marty Scurll on after Cody vs. Omega, which led to thousands of people leaving. Then, the title match went 31:39. Similar to the final match at WrestleMania, it was technically a good match, but the lack of crowd reaction killed it. Unlike Mania, where it was a crowd bound and determined to make sure the match didn’t get over, this was a crowd that had already seen the main event, were pretty much spent early on after the Kota Ibushi vs. Hangman Page and ladder match and after getting a second wind for Cody vs. Omega, there was pretty much nothing that could have been done after what had already been such a long show to get them back.

The other issue was the Honor Club streaming platform. For the biggest show in company history, it didn’t work live until late in the show, leading to the most hardcore fans being frustrated. Then, the video on demand was weird as well. There were people able to access the VOD, and others who couldn’t. It took several days before I was able to watch the show, and it wasn’t until the morning on 4/12, nearly five days after the show, that I was able to watch it without constant annoying buffering.

Because of the technical issues, ROH provided $40 coupons for merchandise at their pro shop to the VIP members and $10 for all other subscribers as make-goods.

The action was great but the body toll was scary. The ladder match had so many crazy bumps that you couldn’t even remember them all. There were also scary scenes in other matches, notably Dalton Castle being backdropped on the steps next to the stage and Punishment Martinez doing a running dive over the post, going way over the head of Tomohiro Ishii, and landing on his head on the floor.

Doing all kinds of table spots (and this felt like the old ECW where you had endless table spots in multiple matches) and ladder bumps is the standard for these type of ladder matches now on big stages, and the NXT match was the same. I guess here, just seeing how clearly injured Matt Jackson was (luckily Flip Gordon and Nick Jackson could more than take up the slack) and seeing him still do a few crazy spots was hard to watch. There was also a lot of interference up and down the show because they were looking at creating stories for the future. There’s a balance, because a lot of newer fans are into clean finishes and don’t like interference, and those are the fans who are the backbone of the underground boom. Even with NXT, which in many ways is ROH’s competition, there is interference at key spots when warranted, and limited to only the matches it is necessary in (Zelina Vega in the Andrade Cien Almas match).

Part of it was telling a story, that for some reason Bully Ray was not coming out to stop the interference as in the past, and then leading to the Bully Ray heel turn. The turn itself was well done but it just lengthened the show.

Cody beat Omega in 37:09 when the Young Bucks interference backfired after a ref bump. This was very different from a usual big Omega match. It was less about athleticism and creating the drama of a high-level sports contest and more about 80s territorial face vs. heel. It’s not Omega’s element really, although it still ended up an excellent match. But it was really about Cody as a heel, escaping a loss, getting over his character about being self-centered and not caring that his wife was injured while others, Omega and Flip Gordon did, and then winning. The idea of this was not one-match, but to do a long program, which means you can’t do all your moves in the first match, and the first match is to tell the story to where the face still has something to show and prove in rematches.

1. In the first semifinal of the Women of Honor tournament, Kelly Klein pinned Mayu Iwatani. Klein used a guillotine submission which Iwatani passed out to. This was sloppy at points.

2. Sumie Sakai beat Tenille Dashwood in the other semifinal. Sakai got the pin with a crucifix. Klein came out for a face-off with Sakai and punched her, to establish her as the heel later. It was a big surprise in the sense that Iwatani is the top star of Stardom and easily the best wrestler of the four, but she was eliminated. Dashwood was easily the biggest star to the fans, but she also was eliminated.

3. Chuckie T pinned Jonathan Gresham in 8:49. Gresham went for a tope early on, completely missed and landed on the floor. Trent Baretta was at ringside with T, with his left arm all wrapped up from his recent surgery. They also noted that T’s finisher, the awful waffle, was banned. Even though it was reported that WWE and ROH were exempt from the commission piledriver ban, either they weren’t or just decided to use that in storyline form (it played into the Bully Ray turn later). Taylor won with an inside cradle. **

4. Punishment Martinez pinned Tomohiro Ishii in 8:29. They pushed that Ishii had just won the British heavyweight title and if Martinez could win here, he could get a title shot. The height difference was huge here. Ishii is deceptively short, probably around 5-foot-4, and Martinez is closer to 6-foot-5. Ishii works really well with tall guys usually as noted by his recent U.K. bouts with Keith Lee and before that, Chris Hero. Early on, Martinez went for his running dive over the post, way overshot Ishii and crashed head first on the mats on the floor. Somehow, he seemed to be okay. The crowd went nuts for that spot. At first, even though Martinez has kind of been turned, the crowd booed him because Ishii was so popular. But after he crashed on the dive, they were into Martinez as well. Martinez then did a springboard flip dive and a spin kick off the top rope. He also did a Frankensteiner off the top rope. Ishii came back with a superplex. Martinez won clean with two high kicks and a choke slam. Martinez’s big moves were very impressive for a guy his size, but this wasn’t as solid as a usual Ishii match. **3/4

5. Kota Ibushi pinned Hangman Page in 15:12. This was excellent, among the best matches of the week. The crowd booed Page a lot when he broke up the first golden triangle. Page tried a shooting star press off the apron, but Ibushi moved and Page landed on his feet and drove Ibushi into the barricade. The big crazy move was Ibushi giving Page a German suplex as both were standing on the barricade and Page landing pretty much on his head on the floor. The crowd went nuts but that seemed dangerous as hell. Ibushi then did a top rope moonsault to the floor. At another point, Ibushi went for a tombstone but Page reversed into a forward rites of passage for a near fall. Page eventually gave Ibushi a backdrop on the apron and did a moonsault to the floor. They traded elbows and all kinds of slaps, before Ibushi used a last ride power bomb, a cross arm German suplex and the Kawagoe knee for the pin. ****1/4

6. Sumie Sakai pinned Kelly Klein to become the first Woman of Honor champion in 7:15. Most of the women in the tournament were at ringside to make this feel special. Klein took most of the offense. Sakai didn’t look good in this match which hurt with her being the first champion. Sakai missed a moonsault, but Klein sold it like it hit her and then pinned Klein with a DDT. The finish came off weak. *1/4

7. Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky beat Young Bucks & Flip Gordon in 24:20 to retain the six-man titles in a ladder match. This was a brutal high-end ladder match. Nick did a corkscrew dive over the top on Daniels. Sky did a flip dive onto a ladder. Kazarian did a diamond cutter off the top of a ladder on Gordon. Kazarian suplexed Nick on the ladder. Gordon came off the post and fell backwards onto the floor on everyone. Nick did a springboard off the ropes, onto a ladder in the ring, onto a second ladder, then onto the ropes on the side of the ring and springboarded off the ropes with a dive on everyone of them. The Bucks team had it won when the Kingdom, Matt Taven & Vinny Marseglia & T.K. O’Ryan interfered. The story is that they were banned from the building but there they were, and then it was pushed that Bully Ray never came out to kick them out. They tripled teamed Gordon and gave him the Super Nova, and then the Kingdom attacked Daniels & Kazarian & Sky. Taven did a running dive on Daniels. All six guys were fighting on three ladders. Gordon was on the top, Kazarian hit him and Gordon landed face first on the top of the ladder and then fell to the floor. Matt and Kazarian were the last two and each held the belt. Kazarian eye poked Matt. Daniels did a downward spiral off nearly the top of the ladder on Matt. Nick used a facebuster on Kazarian. Nick did a twisting flip dive on the Kingdom. Matt came off the top rope with a DDT on Kazarian on the apron. Sky gave Matt a diamond cutter on the apron. Gordon did a double blockbuster on Kazarian and Sky off the apron. Gordon and Nick each did 450s off the top rope onto I believe Kazarian and Marseglia, putting them through two different tables. Daniels and Matt climbed up the ladder and Matt ended up taking off his belt and whipped Daniels, and slammed his head on the ladder. Matt was on top and Daniels tipped over the ladder and Matt flew off with an elbow on Marseglia putting him through the table. Daniels then climbed up to grab the belts and win. After the match, Taven hit Daniels with a belt shot and The Kingdom grabbed the belts and left. ****½

8. Mark & Jay Briscoe beat Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jay Lethal to retain the ROH tag titles in 19:40. Coming off the previous match, the crowd wasn’t that into this one early. It turned into a good match with lots of near falls. Lethal sold most of the way and it was good. Mark kicked out of a Lethal injection. Tanahashi & Lethal set up the doomsday device, but Jay broke it up. Lethal went for a Lethal injection but Jay Briscoe turned it into a German suplex and then they hit the Doomsday device on Lethal for the pin. ***1/4

9. Silas Young beat Kenny King in a last man standing match in 15:56 to keep the TV title. Austin Aries was on commentary and wanted the winner. The story is that Aries is the belt collector and during his career he’s never held the ROH TV title. Young threw King over the top rope and he went through a table. King was selling his back the rest of the match. At one point when he tried to do the royal flush on Young, his back went out. Young hit misery on the ring apron and King finally hit the royal flush on a garbage can, but Young rolled out of the ring and in falling off the apron, landed on his feet, to break the ten count. King pulled out another table and Beer City Bruiser ran in. They again pushed that Bully Ray wasn’t coming out to run off Bruiser. King gave Young a belly-to-belly onto a ladder on the floor. King then did a shooting star press off the top rope and put Young through a table. The crowd exploded for that move. Bruiser had gone under the ring and he grabbed King’s feet and zip tied King’s feet together so he couldn’t get up. Young barely beat the ten count to retain the title. After the match, both were beating on Young until Aries ran down to make the save. ***

10. The Dawgs (Rhett Titus & Will Ferrara) went to a no contest with Bully Ray & Cheeseburger in 2:55. This was more an angle than a match. It was supposed to be The Dawgs against Cheeseburger & Eli Isom. The Dawgs destroyed both of them before the match. Bully Ray came out to stop the carnage. Bully told Cheeseburger that Isom was injured and if he couldn’t find a new partner he’ll have to cancel the match. Cheeseburger asked Bully to be his partner. He said it was the biggest show of the year, and that Bully was just inducted into the Hall of Fame last night and tonight he should have one final fight. Bully paused but then accepted. They started the match. After Cheeseburger hit Ferrara with the shote, they did the wazzup spot on Ferrara. Bully told Cheeseburger to get the tables. Bully then turned on Cheeseburger and choke slammed him. Most fans booed this and some cheered it. The match just ended at that point. Bully grabbed the mic and said, “How dare you put me ont he spot. You are what’s wrong with wrestling, you and all your kind, your entire generation, guys like you, Will Ospreay, Flip Gordon, Ricochet, you’ve destroyed this industry.” Joe Koff came out and Bully called him an old bastard. He said that the business sucks because of people like you. Flip Gordon came out but Bully then picked Cheeseburger up and told Gordon that if he stepped into the ring, he would give Cheeseburger a piledriver and the commission would shut down the show. He said he’d break Cheeseburger’s neck and if he piledrives him, you fans won’t get to see Cody vs. Kenny. Bully was great here. He told Gordon that he’s a veteran, he’s a WWE Hall of Famer and that Gordon was a nobody. He then power bombed Cheeseburger and left.

11. Cody pinned Kenny Omega in 37:09. Cody came out with a patch over his left eye, but took it off to work the match. He came out with both Brandi and Bernard the Business Bear, which was a guy in a bear costume wearing a tie. Cody’s eye was pretty bruised up from the spin kick at the Sakura Genesis show six days earlier from Omega. Omega teased the Terminator dive early but Bernard tripped him. Omega did a running dropkick from the ring to the floor knocking Bernard flying and his headpiece came off. Cody then hit Omega with a tope while ref Paul Turner kicked Bernard out from ringside. Brandi slapped Omega. Most of the match was Cody using heel tactics and riling up the fans, and Omega making short comebacks. Brandi threw some sort of a gimmick into the ring and Cody caught it. Turner took it away and when he had his back turned, Cody kicked Omega low. The crowd was very hot at this point. Omega sent Cody to the floor and did the Terminator dive. Later, Cody did a long figure four spot that Omega eventually reversed and Cody made the ropes. Cody pulled out a table. He went to do crossroads off the apron through the table, but Omega blocked it. Cody teased a piledriver on the apron but Omega escaped and hit the snap dragon on the apron. While on the floor, with the table now on it’s side, Omega went for a suplex but Cody blocked and picked up Omega for a suplex, but dropped him forward, with his ribs landing on the edge of the table. Cody then grabbed the table that Cary Silkin and Bobby Cruise were sitting at and set it up. Cody did a springboard missile dropkick, but Omega came back with a reverse huracanrana. He went for a V trigger but Cody moved and Omega hit Brandi, who fell off the apron backwards through the table. Omega then tended to Brandi. Cody took over and hit crossroads, but Omega kicked out. Gordon came out to help Brandi to the back. Cody acted like he didn’t care at all that his wife went through the table and was all shaken up, and only cared about beating Omega. Cody hit a top rope superplex and whipped Omega withy his weight belt. Cody missed a moonsault and Omega hit two V triggers. Cody then threw Turner into Omega. Omega hit two more V triggers but Cody kicked out. After another V trigger, Omega went for the One Winged Angel. Cody escaped and hit the vertebreaker. Cody charged and Turner ended up being crushed into the corner. He went down. The Young Bucks came out. First they teased going after Cody, then after Omega, and then went for a double superkick on Cody, who moved and hit Omega. This was timed perfectly. Cody then dropped Omega on his head with crossroads and got the pin. The Young Bucks tried to apologize to Omega, who walked out on them and the crowd chanted “You f***ed up.” In some ways I feel I’m underrating this match because the purpose wasn’t to have a classic match but to weave a storyline of a number of things together and it did that. ****1/4

12. Dalton Castle pinned Marty Scurll to retain the ROH title in 31:39. One thing for sure is at this point in the night this shouldn’t have gone nearly this long. Between much of the crowd leaving and the match everyone came to see being over, the crowd was quiet until the end. I think a lot of people expected a title change with the idea that Scurll as champion but Cody wanting the title would make for a good story. Really, because Cody is so clearly the focal point and top singles guy, the title hasn’t meant much since Castle got it and has become secondary. With Scurll being viewed as much more of a superstar, in theory that would have elevated it. It’s funny, because Castle seemed on the verge of becoming a really big deal and the title seems to have actually slowed his momentum. Nick Aldis, the NWA champion, was at ringside dressed in a suit and tie like he was 1985 Ric Flair. They pushed that he and Scurll were longtime friends. Castle lariated the post early and also had a bloody nose early on. The crowd was tired and dead. Castle at one point pulled Scurll out of the ring and German suplexed him on the floor. The heat picked up halfway through. Scurll hit a top rope superplex. He also backdropped Castle on the ramp stairs, which looked like a very bad bump to take. Castle took it on his left shoudler and was selling the shoulder. Aldis handed Scurll some type of clippers and Scurll used it to cut the padding off one of the turnbuckles. Scurll went outside the ring for a bag of powder. The problem was, he couldn’t find it. He looked in a couple of corners, and this went way too long, before he could find the bag with the powder underneath the ring. He brought the bag into the ring and Castle kicked his hand so the powder went into Scurll’s face. Scurll couldn’t see and grabbed the hand of ref Todd Sinclair and broke his fingers. Castle hit the bangarang, and Sinclair went to count, but after hitting the mat for the first time, started screaming in pain because of the broken fingers. With Sinclair going to the back, Scurll grabbed his umbrella and hit Castle in the head and did eight more umbrella shots to the head, back and shoulders with no ref in the ring. Scurll hit the brainbuster and covered Castle for a long time but there was no ref. Paul Turner ran in and counted as Scurll covered Castle but Castle kicked out. Fans booed the kick out as they expected it to be the title change. Scurll got the chicken wing but Castle got to his feet and fell backwards onto Scurll, breaking the hold. He got the chicken wing a second time. Castle tried to reach the ropes but Scurll broke his finger. Scurll let go and kept stomping Castle to the head. The announcers teased the idea that Turner would stop the match (a ref stoppage from stomping a guys’ head over-and-over should be done in promotions as an educational tool to get over the fact it can be a big match finish). The finish saw Scurll hit two superkicks, but Castle hit the bangarang and got the pin. **3/4