Thoughts on Ring of Honor: SuperCard of Honor from a fan

Ring of Honor Supercard of Honor was the right PPV to welcome fans back into the Ring of Honor world.

First, let me come out and say I’ve been a pro-wrestling fan since 2007–2008ish. I have been a fan of Ring of Honor since 2016. However, from 2016 on, I have never decided to buy or watch a Ring of Honor PPV.

Why? Your best guess is mine. It makes me sad that I didn’t buy their last show, which was the late, great Jay Briscoe’s final match, but that’s life for you.

Nevertheless, I decided to finally stop being a cheapskate and buy my first Ring of Honor PPV and watch it with my beautiful girlfriend next to me and a bottle of mango-flavored mimosa.

I honestly only had an interest in three matches:

• Eddie Kingston versus Claudio Castagnoli
• The Reach for the Sky Ladder Match
• Athena vs Yuka Sakazaki

Now, this isn’t a jab at every other performer, these are just the matches that caught my eye, and I was not disappointed with them. But was I disappointed that the OGK( Mike Bennett, Matt Taven, and Maria Kanellis-Bennett) didn’t walk out with the ROH Tag Titles? Hell yes! But that’s another rant for another article.

I could go on and on about the match and the ring psychology and whatnot, but instead, I’m gonna do a bit of a deeper dive.

HISTORY OF RING OF HONOR

If you’re a newbie in professional wrestling, Ring of Honor has been around probably longer than you’ve been born. The current GOATs of professional wrestling have graced its ring, such as AJ Styles, Seth Rollins, Brodie Lee, Bryan Danielson, and many more.

But even all that star power couldn’t stop the financial hardships and many other problems that came with running a pro-wrestling promotion.
Through all those troubles and uncertainties, it still appeared as if the Ring of Honor was invincible and never going away. That is until October 27, 2021, when they announced they would go on hiatus after their Final Battle PPV.

Many online article writers, such as myself, assumed the worst and that All Elite Wrestling or World Wrestling Entertainment would buy their video library, and the name and legacy would be left to die. But lucky for us, Tony Khan played savior and announced he had bought the company and planned to relaunch it in hopes of obtaining its old glory.

Many were skeptical, as it could be argued he could barely keep his first pro-wrestling company afloat. Still, nonetheless, he made good on his word putting out 3 PPVS, a tribute special, and eventually new episodes.

THOUGHTS ON SUPERCARD OF HONOR

This brings me to the ROH SuperCard of Honor 2023. While watching this, I didn’t see a company relying on nostalgia and the names of the old. I didn’t see men and women trying to copy the popular American style WWE has perfected.

I saw men and women fighting to bring a new type of honor to life. One that paid tribute to the other types but at the same time said:

“Hey, watch this!”

The whole PPV was mesmerizing and a nice change of pace from AEW and WWE. It focused more so on professional wrestling than any other wrestling show I have known and seen in a long time.

The crowd was entertained and on board from the beginning of Zero Hour to the end, where we saw Claudio Castagnoli retain his ROH championship against Eddie Kingston.

All of this action, plus the promo from Eddie Kingston at the end, made me happy I tuned in and subscribed to the new and improved Honor Club to watch a new episode every Thursday night.

If you haven’t watched this PPV, you need to! If you are a fan of professional wrestling and believe in the power of love and a lasting relationship with the fans, you need to go and support all the brave men and women who put their bodies on the lines to show it.

As pro-wrestling fans, we need Ring of Honor to stay alive because it reminds us that we don’t always need flashy pageantry, long-winded promos, or even longer entrances. Sometimes all we need are two men or women beating the absolute piss out of each other and shaking hands afterward.