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Ring of Honor returned to Philadelphia for its annual Supercard of Honor show. The card had five title matches, including the crowning of the inaugural ROH Women's Television Champion.
Things kicked off at the Liacouras Center with the Zero Hour. The Premier Athletes (Tony Nese, Josh Woods, and Ariya Daivari) made their return to ROH to face Tony Deppen, Rhett Titus, and Adam Priest. Guided by "Smart" Mark Sterling, the Premier Athletes got the win and perhaps will have their sights on the ROH Six-Man titles.
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Winner: Premier Athletes
The former Black Taurus is now known as The Beast Mortos. He had a good match with Blake Chrisitian (Christian would then make his way to Joey Janela's Spring Break 8 to defend the GCW World Championship against Janela).
Winner: The Beast Mortos
Griff Garrison and Cole Karter have been feuding with Spanish Announce Project (Serpentico and Angelico) for months. In another chapter in their story, SAP got the victory and Angelico got Serpentico's mask back that Maria has been carrying around for weeks.
Winner: Spanish Announce Project
Mariah May faced Momo Kohgo in the final match of "Zero Hour". May returned to her STARDOM roots on Thursday. The rivals had a hard hitting bout with May picking up the win.
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Winner: Mariah May
Kyle Fletcher vs. Lee Johnson- ROH Television Championship
Kyle Fletcher defended the ROH Television Championship against "Big Shotty" Lee Johnson. Johnson had won his last nine matches coming into the match and called his shot against Fletcher. In the 30 minute affair, Johnson has his best match to date. It wasn't enough to dethrone Fletcher.
Winner: Kyle Fletcher
Team AZM vs. Team Shirakawa
STARDOM had even more of a presence during a six women match. Team AZM (AZM, Tam Nakano, and Saya Kamitani) faced Team Shirakawa (Mina Shirakawa, Maika, and Mei Seira). The women put on a clinic while showcasing STARDOM's hard hitting matches.
May came out to celebrate Team Shirakawa with champagne.
Winner: Team Shirakawa
The Undisputed Kingdom vs. The Infantry – ROH Tag Team Championships
On Thursday's episode of ROH, The Infantry (Carlie Bravo and Shawn Dean) faced The Undisputed Kingdom (Mike Bennett and Matt Taven) in a Proving Ground match. The challengers must either win or last ten minutes to get a future title shot. They lasted ten minutes and chose to have their tag team title shot at "Supercard". (Fun fact: The Undisputed Kingdom are the first in ROH history to ever lose a Proving Ground match).
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The Infantry was fresh off of a loss to FTR in the AEW Tag Team Championship tournament. Bravo put Taven through a table and Dean pinned Bennett, but there was no ref. Wardlow came from the crowd to ensure that Undisputed Kingdom retained their titles, just like Adam Cole asked.
Winner: The Undisputed Kingdom
Queen Aminata vs. Billie Starkz – ROH Women's Television Championship
Following a 16 person tournament, Billie Starkz and Queen Aminata advanced to the final round. The two women had a fantastic match with both women looking like they'd become the inaugural champion.
Late in the match, Starkz appeared to hurt her neck after Aminata hit a senton. Referee Mike Posey called for Doc Sampson. Aminata looked distraught as they put a neck brace on her opponent. Starkz was helped to her feet as Aminata held the ropes for her. Starkz then stunned everyone by hitting her opponent with a German Suplex. She choked Aminata to get the win and become the first ever ROH Women's Television Championship.
Winner: Billie Starkz
Bang Bang Gang Open Contract Challenge
Bullet Club Gold finally figured out how to make it to Honor Club after winning the Six-Man titles on AEW "Dynamite" in February. Since there aren't many six man teams in ROH, they held an impromptu Open Contract challenge.
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Lance Archer came out and introduced his tag team partner, Alex Zayne. MonsterSauce have competed in NJPW and the indies. The Gunns pointed out that they needed a third partner. Enter Minoru Suzuki, Archer's former Suzuki-Gun partner. (Suzuki was in the opening match at Janela's Spring Break 8.)
The Bang Bang Gang were close to losing their titles several times, but were able to retain. Then, The Acclaimed's music hit. AEW's Trios Champions gave chase to the ROH Six Man champions. Unfortunately, it looks like this story has spread to another promotion.
Winner: Bullet Club Gold
Dalton Castle vs. Johnny TV – Fight Without Honor
Dalton Castle lost his Boys to Johnny TV and Taya Valkyrie several weeks ago. Last week, they told Castle that they were eaten by bears. A variety of Boys accompanied Castle to the ring in his Fight Without Honor match.
The early part of the match took time to get going, but the second half had some fun spots, including various weapons. Castle commanded "bring me a Boy!" and there was a supply of Boys that came to the ring to be used as weapons. The last Boy was none other than EMMY-award winning actor, Paul Walter Hauser. Castle got the win and celebrated with Hauser.
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Winner: Dalton Castle
Athena vs. Hikaru Shida – ROH Women's Championship
Athena has been champion for over 480 days. She has run through the roster, so who could face the "American Joshi"? Enter one of the top Joshi wrestlers, Hikaru Shida. Shida is a former three-time AEW Women's Champion.
The two had an incredible match. "The Fallen Goddess" focused on her opponent's knee throughout. They wrestled for over 20 minutes. Athena hit the O-Face to remain your #ForeverChampion.
Winner: Athena
Eddie Kingston vs Mark Briscoe – ROH World Championship
The main event saw Eddie Kingston make his return to Honor Club. Since winning the Continental Championship, he hasn't been on ROH programming since November, save for a few videos. April 5 was 11 years to the day of the late Jay Briscoe winning his first singles championship in ROH.
Kingston and Briscoe have been friends for decades and have faced off in the ring many times. Neither held back with Briscoe getting busted open early on. The two tried everything they could think of to outsmart their opponent and get the win.
Briscoe hit the Jay Driller for the win. It was expected, but powerful nonetheless. The moment was made even more emotional when Briscoe celebrated in the ring with his family while colorful streamers rained down. Some of the locker room came to celebrate, recreating the scene from over a decade prior. Briscoe and Kingston hugged in the ring before "The Mad King" departed to let the new champion celebrate.
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Winner: Mark Briscoe
