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ROH SUPERCARD OF HONOR
APRIL 1, 2022
AIRED ON PPV, FITE TV, HONOR CLUB
REPORT BY CHRISTOPHER MAITLAND
ROH Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman
Pre-show
-Ian and Caprice preview the show.
(1) BLAKE CHRISTIAN vs COLT CABANA
Colt Cabana won with the Chicago Skyline in 8:03
(2) AQA vs MIRANDA ALIZE
AQA won in 7:18 with the Shooting Star Press.
The Foundation (Jonathan Gresham, Josh Woods, & Jonathan Gresham) cut a promo about their title defenses.
(3) SHINOBI SHADOW SQUAD (CHEESEBURGER & ELI ISOM) vs GATES OF AGONY (KAUN & TOA LIONA)
Gates of Agony won with the Samoan Spike in 2:30
(4) JOE HENDRY vs DALTON CASTLE
Dalton Castle win with the Bang A Rang in 9:48
Bandido told Chavo Guerrero that he didn’t want any cheating in the main event.
Main Show
(5) ALEX ZAYNE vs SWERVE STRICKLAND
Swerve Strickland comes out first with Alex Zayne coming out second. Zayne and Swerve trade athletic moves. They psyche each other out. Swerve trips Zayne but Zayne recovers and hits a Swanton for a one count. Swerve goes for a half Nelson but Zayne escapes. Swerve is on the top rope, blocks a hurricanrana and hits a TKO. Zayne ends up outside. Swerve sends Zayne back inside and hits an elbow to the back for a two count. Swerve puts Zayne in a chin lock. Zayne escapes and slaps Swerve. They trade strikes. Zayne hits Swerve with a leg sweep and an elbow. Zayne puts Swerve on the top rope and hits a hurricanrana followed by splash for a two count. Swerve goes for a half Nelson again but Zayne escapes. Swerve hits an axe handle to the knee of the top rope and follows with a drop kick. Swerve goes for a knee bar but Zayne gets the ropes. Zayne and Swerve fight on the apron until Zayne hits a Poisoned Hurricanrana ono the floor. Both men are down. Swerve gets back into the ring and hits the Crunchwrap Supreme for a two count. They trade slaps. Zayne tries for the Cutthroat Driver but Swerve headbutts Zayne and takes out his knee. Swerve hits a rolling Flatliner and a Swerve Stomp for a two count. Zayne blocks a kick and Swerve hits the JML Driver to win in 11:40.
(Maitland’s Thoughts: Good opening match for the PPV with a lot of action. The Poisoned Hurricanrana on the outside should have ended the match but it looked like the goal was to get in as many moves as possible. This match was announced before Tony Khan’s takeover so it may not have any future implications for ROH.)
(6) NINJA MACK vs BRIAN CAGE
Ninja Mack comes out first. Tully Blanchard comes out second and says the mystery opponent is Brian Cage. Mack tries a Saskue Special but Cage dispatches him. The bell ring and Cage takes Mack down. Mack gets in a few kicks but Cage counters with a clothesline. Mack kicks Cage but Cage hits him with a German Suplex, throwing Mack into the corner. Blanchard gives Cage instructions and he throws Mack with another German Suplex. Cage elbows Mack and throws him into the ropes. Mack escapes and hits Cage with a few kicks but Cage plants him with a slam. Cage hits the Drills Claw for the victory in 2:46.
Kaun and Toa Liona join Cage and Blanchard to celebrate after the match.
(Maitland’s Thoughts: This match was a squash. Ninja Mack was one of the first wrestlers signed to the show due to his popularity with the fans but that was under previous management. Brian Cage, who has been absent from AEW for quite some time, coming in and getting a huge push is an ominous sign for the future of ROH.)
A preview of Jay Lethal vs Lee Moriarty is shown.
(7) JAY LETHAL vs LEE MORIARTY with MATT SYDAL
Lee Moriarty comes out first accompanied by Matt Sydal. Jay Lethal comes out second and they shake hands before the match. They start grappling for control. Lethal goes for a Figure Four but Moriarty kicks him off. They reach a stalemate. Lethal goes for a hip toss but Moriarty blocks Lethal’s drop kick and hits an arm drag. Lethal begins to show frustration. Lethal goes for the Lethal Injection but Moriarty blocks it leading to more frustration from Lethal. They trade strikes in the corner. Moriarty hits a series of chops but Lethal reverses an arm drag and hits a drop kick. Lethal hits a chop for a one count. Moriarty hits a wrist lock takeover and kicks Lethal for a one count. Moriarty knees Lethal in the skull and kicks him in the back for a two count.
Lethal hits a back breaker and a Dragon Screw leg whip. Lethal continues to work over the knee. Lethal kicks Moriarty outside of the ring. Lethal hits a drop kick to the outside followed by two dives. Moriarty makes it back inside and dives on Lethal but favors his knee. They get back in the ring and trade strikes. Lethal gets the advantage and kicks Lee is the hamstring. Moriarty hits Lethal with a chop and blocks a suplex. Moriarty hits a lariat for a two count. Lethal puts Moriarty on the top rope. Moriarty breaks out but misses a strike. Lethal hits the Lethal Combination for a two count.
Lethal goes for the Figure Four but Moriarty kicks him. Lethal hits a superkick and an Ace Crusher. Lethal attempted an elbow off the top rope but Moriarty turns it into a pin. Lethal and Moriarty trade several pinning attempts. With the referee’s back turned Lethal low blows Moriarty and hits the Lethal Injection for the win in 14:51.
Matt Sydal argues about the low blow with Lethal and Lethal attacks Sydal. Sonjay Dutt and two referees intervene and convince Lethal to leave.
(Maitland’s Thoughts: I enjoyed this match and the story was excellent but it seemed more like a set up for an angle in AEW. I envisioned ROH being a platform where Lee Moriarty would get a platform to shine but that doesn’t appear to be the case.)
A preview of Willow Nightingale vs Mercedes Martinez is shown.
(8) INTERIM ROH WOMEN’S CHAMPION: WILLOW NIGHTINGALE vs MERCEDES MARTINEZ
Deonna Perrazzo is the ROH Women’s Champion and presumably the winner of this match will face her in the near future. Willow Nightingale comes out first followed by Mercedes Martinez. The match begins and they trade moves until Martinez slaps Willow. Willow slams Martinez and hits a splash for a two count. Willow charges Martinez and misses. Martinez hits two butterfly suplexes. Willow blocks the third but Martinez turns it into a submission. Willow reaches the ropes. Martinez applies the Dragon Sleeper. Willow escapes and hits two short arm clotheslines. Martinez counters with a knee to the face for a two count. Martinez mounts Willow and punches her. Willow gets out of a suplex and hits two superkicks. Both competitors are down. Willow and Martinez trade kicks on the ground. They get up. Martinez hits a forearm but Willow counters with a clothesline.
Both competitors are down but they get up and trade strikes. Willow slaps Martinez but Martinez escapes and hits a series of clotheslines followed by a back elbow. Martinez hits a back suplex and the Air Raid Crash for a two count. Martinez repeatedly elbows Willow but Willow traps Martinez’s arm and hits an Angle Slam for a two count. Willow hits the Pounce and a Cannonball. Willow goes for a pin but Martinez grabs the rope. Willow climbs the ropes but Martinez grabs her and hits the OG Drop for a two count. Martinez hits Willow in the corner and places her on the top rope. Martinez goes for a waist lock but Willow elbows out of it. Martinez ends up in the Tree of Woe and Willow sends Martinez to the mat. Willow hits a moonsault for a two count. Willow goes for a gut wrench suplex but Martinez blocks and puts Willow in a Brass City Sleeper. Willow submits at 12:39. Mercedes Martinez is the Interim ROH Women’s Champion.
(Maitland’s Thoughts: This match was slower than the other matches on the show. Willow started to gain momentum and hit a series of moves so the finish came out of nowhere. Most of the matches had dueling chants but the crowd was solidly behind Willow. I think she would have been a better choice as the interim champion.)
A promo video is shown for The Briscoes vs FTR for the ROH Tag Team Champions.
(9) ROH TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS: THE BRISCOES (MARK & JAY BRISCOE) vs FTR (DAX HARWOOD & CASH WHEELER)
FTR comes out first followed by the Briscoes. The crowd cheers for the first minute of the match before they lock up. Wheeler and Mark start. They trade moves until Wheeler gets an arm lock. Wheeler whips Mark into the corner but Mark hits him in the jaw and applies a front face lock. Mark tags Jay and Wheeler tags Harwood. Jay and Harwood go nose to nose and then lock up. Harwood gets a head lock but Jay counters with a head scissors. Harwood gets out by spitting on Jay. Jay hits a shoulder tackle but Harwood counters with a series of uppercuts. Jay hits a hurricanrana and clotheslines Harwood over the top rope. Jay won’t let Harwood back in. Harwood gets frustrated and throws a chair into the ring which is caught by referee Paul Turner. Harwood gets in hits Jay and tags Wheeler. Wheeler gets hits with a back elbow and Mark tags in. Mark chops Harwood repeatedly and follows up with a suplex. Wheeler hits Mark and tags Harwood. Harwood suplexes Mark and hits a leg drop for a two count. Harwood chops Mark but Mark returns the favor. Mark and Harwood trade chops. After losing the advantage, Harwood punches Mark and tags Wheeler. Jay blind tags in and clotheslines Wheeler and works him over in the corner. Mark tags in and chops Wheeler. FTR gets sent to the outside and Jay does a Cannonball Dive over the top rope. Mark hits an elbow off the ring apron onto Wheeler but gets sent over the barricade It’s an all-out brawl on the outside. FTR neutralizes Jay and snaps him headfirst into the bottom of the table. Jay is bleeding. Back in the ring, Harwood punches Jay in his wound repeatedly. Wheeler kicks Jay. Harwood does a snap mare and a chin lock. Harwood places Jay on the top rope and chops him. Jay fights out but Harwood is able to hit a superplex. Both competitors are down.
Harwood tags Wheeler and hits a slam. Harwood tags back in. Jay fights out of the corner and tags Mark. Mark tags in and chops both members of FTR. Harwood Irish whips Mark into FTR’s corner but Mark kicks Wheeler and hits a Urange on Harwood. Mark hits an Iconclasm for a two count. Wheeler hits a Blind Tag but Harwood hits the post and the Briscoes hit Redneck Boogie for a two count. Mark tags Jay. The Briscoes put Wheeler on the top rope. Wheeler shoves of Mark. Harwood recovers. Wheeler sends Jay into Harwood who hits a powerbomb followed by a Wheeler splash for a two count. FTR goes for the Big Rig but it is blocked and Jay small packages Harwood for a two count. The Briscoes hit the Big Rig for a two count. Wheeler hits a DDT on Mark. Jay hits a Death Valley Driver on Wheeler. Harwood and Jay fight on the ring apron and Jay suplexes Harwood to the outside. The doctors check in the competitors.
All the competitors say they can still wrestle. The Briscoes get in first. Wheeler helps Harwood get into the ring. They stand up and trade strikes. Wheeler charges Mark but gets sent over the top rope. Mark climbs the tope rope and hits a Corkscrew Splash onto Wheeler. Jay and Harwood trade elbows. Jay gets the advantage and hits a neck breaker. Mark hits the Froggy Bow for a two count. Jay tags Mark as the Briscoe set up the Doomsday Device. Wheeler recovers and shoves Mark leading him to fall to the mat. Wheeler sends Jay to the outside. FTR hit the Big Rig on Mark and win the ROH Tag Team titles in 27:23. The teams shake hands after the match and FTR leaves. The crowd chants for the Briscoes but are attacked by the Young Bucks. FTR made the save and they challenge the Young Bucks to a match tonight. The Young Bucks said if you want to see them wrestle you have to turn into TBS to see them wrestle FTR on Wednesday.
(Maitland’s Thoughts: This match was incredible. One of the best tag team matches I have ever seen. If this incredible match is just a set up for the Young Bucks I will be livid.)
(10) ROH WORLD TV TITLE: RHETT TITUS vs MINORU SUZUKI
Minoru Suzuki comes out first and the crowd is able to sing along to his theme song. Suzuki doesn’t shake Titus’ hand and Titus slaps him. Suzuki responds with a slap. They wrestle and try to maintain control. Titus goes for a half crab but Suzuki grabs the ropes. Suzuki puts Titus in an armbar on the ropes and drags Titus to the outside. They trade strikes. Back inside, Suzuki grabs a Fujiwara armbar but Titus reaches the ropes. Suzuki grabs a headlock but Titus reaches the ropes again. Titus hits a series of elbows to the back followed by a belly to belly suplex. Titus hits a series of kicks and a back suplex for a two count. Suzuki goes for a knee bar but Titus grabs the ropes. Titus back body drops Suzuki out of a piledriver and hits a drop kick for a two count. Suzuki reverses an Irish whip into a headlock and hits a Gotch style piledriver to pin Titus in 5:53. Minoru Suzuki is the new ROH TV champion.
(Maitland’s Thoughts: Match seemed mostly to transition the title away from someone who doesn’t appear to be in ROH’s. I assume Suzuki will lose this title before he heads back to Japan. Good match for what it was.)
A highlight package for the ROH Pure Title is shown.
(10) ROH PURE TITLE: JOSH WOODS (c) vs WHEELER YUTA
Wheeler Yuta came out first.The three judges were shown who would decide who wins if the match ended up being a draw, BJ Whitmer, Christopher Daniels, and Colt Cabana. Code of honor adhered to and Yuta rolls up Woods for a quick two count. Both grapple for control until Woods grabs a submission causing Yuta to use his first rope break. Yuta goes for a bow and arrow but Woods tries to fight of it. Woods gets Yuta down and rolls him up. They stand up and trade pinning predicaments. Yuta grabs a head lock then transitions to a head scissors. Woods gets out but Yuta grabs a waist lock. Woods escapes, grabs a wrist lock and Yuta grabs the ropes for his second rope break. Woods goes for a handshake but Yuta slaps Woods and hits a srop kick. They trade slaps until Yuta gets Woods in a submission causing Woods to use his first rope break. Woods works over Yuta’s arm. Yuta hits forearms while Woods hits Yuta’s arm. Yuta breaks free but Woods hits him with an open hand. Woods puts Yuta in the ropes but Yuta escapes and hits a DDT. They trade strikes until Yuta hits an enziguri, a splash, and a forearm off the top rope. Woods rolls outside and Yuta dives on him. Yuta rolls him back in and jumps off the top rope. Woods hits him with a knee for a two count. Woods hits a German Suplex. Yuta blocks a TKO and hits a German suplex. Woods breaks out and suplexes Yuta into the turnbuckle. Woods goes for the pin but Yuta puts his foot on the rope for his third and final rope break. Yuta rolls through a Gorilla Slam attempt, hits Woods with forearms, and rolls up Woods for the victory in 12:47. Wheeler Yuta is the new ROH Pure champion.
(Maitland’s Thoughts: I enjoyed this match though I missed the graphics of the time and the rope breaks. The crowd was not as into this match as I have seen in other Pure matches.)
Ian and Caprice go over matches for AEW Dynamite on Wednesday and show a highlight package for the main event
(10) ROH UNDISPUTED WORLD TITLE: BANDIDO vs JONATHAN GRESHAM with CHAVO GUERRERO
Jonathan Gresham comes out first. Bandido comes out second with Chavo Guerrero. Guerrero discourages Bandido from giving the Code of Honor. Bandido does it anyway. The crowd chants for both wrestlers. They fight for control. The crowd chants for Eddie Guerrero. They trade moves and reach a stalemate again. They go for a test of strength and Gresham gets down on one knee. Gresham leverages back into control. Bandido fights out and they trade arm wringers.
They fight out of the corner. Gresham hits a Mexican arm drag and kicks Bandido after faking him out. Gresham poses. Bandido hits a dropkick and a hurricanrana and poses. Gresham sweeps the legs and Bandido sits on the apron. Gresham dropkicks him out of the ring. Guerreo tries to encourage him. Bandido gets back inside the ring and Gresham works over Bandido’s wrist. Bandido escapes and puts Gresham in a surfboard. Gresham sits down and gets a two count. Gresham goes for an ankle lock but Bandido gets the ropes. Gresham goes for the Octups Stretch but Bandido gets to the ropes. Gresham goes for a hammer lock but Bandido hits a wrist lock take over. Bandido gets to the top rope and hits a splash followed by a deadlift suplex. Bandido holds up Gresham for a count of 60 and suplexes him. Bandido pins Gresham for a two count, Bandido charges Gresham but gets hit with a back elbow. They run the ropes and trade strikes until Gresham hits a lariat. Gresham hits a German suplex for a two count. Gresham hits a straight jacket German suplex for a two count. Gresham hits an enziguri and another German suplex for a two count. Gresham hits a series of hammer fists and rolls up Bandido for a two count. Gresham applies the cross face. Bandido gets out but Gresham goes for the Octopus Stretch. Gresham hits Bandido in the neck and he falls into the ropes.
Bandido ends up outside. Gresham goes for a dive but Guerrero pulls Bandido out of the way and Gresham hits the ground. Back inside, they trade strikes. Bandido hits a suplex for a two count followed by a Shining Wizard for a two count. Gresham attempts a series of pinning attempts but Bandido kicks out at two. They get up and trade strikes until Bandido hits a superkick and Gresham hits referee Paul Turner. Guerrerro hits Gresham with the title belt upsetting Bandido who asks Turner to send Guerrerro to the back. Bandido puts Gresham on the top rope but Gresham kicks him and hits a high cross body. Gresham cradles Bandido for a two count. Bandido hits a top up Ace Crusher for a two count. Bandido goes for the 21 Plex but Gresham counters and rolls up Bandido for a two count. Bandido hits a superkick, a Fosbury Flop Dive, and the X Knee. Bandido hits the 21 Plex but Gresham kicks. Bandido hits a series of superkicks but Gresham hits a springboard moonsault followed by a dive to the outside. Gresham gets back in the ring, traps Bandido and pins him at 24:43 to become the Undisputed ROH World Champion.
Bandido gives Gresham his belt and they shake hands. Gresham says it was his life’s goal to stay with Ring of Honor. Jay Lethal interrupts him to say that he should be the first person to challenge for the ROH World Championship. Gresham says his current actions showed Gresham he has changed. Lethal says no one would know who Gresham is if it wasn’t for Jay Lethal. Sonjay Dutt runs out and helps Lethal attack Gresham. Lee Moriarty runs out and is taken out by Dutt and Lethal. Lethal grabs both belts but Samoa Joe comes out. Joe goes face to face with Lethal. Joe chokes out Dutt. Lethal and Dutt leave and Gresham, Joe, and Moriarty celebrate in the ring as the show ends.
(Maitland’s Thoughts: Excellent match that was let down by the crowd when they worked slowly at the beginning. Samoa Joe was a great surprise at the end but since he was announced for AEW will he appear again in ROH?)
Overall Thoughts: From a work rate perspective, this was a great PPV. The Tag Team and World Title matches are the clear stand outs. From a booking stand point there were a lot of head scratching decisions. If you were someone who watched ROH in 2020 and 2021 you would have not been happy to see a lot of your favorites. A majority of the people who won are people who are after thoughts in AEW and if that is the future for ROH, it isn’t very bright. Justin McClelland and I will be discussing this show in depth on Honor Speak.
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