RoH Supercard Of Honor 2025 Review

For most of the event’s history, Supercard Of Honor has been Ring Of Honor’s top event. It was usually held during WrestleMania weekend, when the wrestling world has their eyes, hearts, and wallets prepared for all sorts of wrestling action.

This year is a bit different, with the event taking place during Y’all In weekend instead. While there aren’t as many people in town as there would be for WrestleMania, this is still a smart move, as everything taking place in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas metro area this weekend is AEW centric. Like it or not, AEW is much more focused on giving their fans what they want to see, instead of looking to steadily attract new fans. This type of move fits right in with that mentality.

There are eight matches on the main card here, six of which are championship bouts. The bout has a real Texas/Mexico flavor, with every match featuring a wrestler from Texas, a wrestler from Mexico’s CMLL promotion, or both. Should be a fun night of action, so let’s get to it.

Michael Oku vs Hechicero

I’ve been saying this for a couple years now, but Michael Oku is an absolute STAR that is deserving of more people watching his work. On multiple occasions, it has been teased that he was going to sign with AEW, but nothing has come of it yet. He has “future World Champion” written all over him if he does sign, though.

Loud dueling “Hechicero” and “Michael Oku” chants from the crowd. Hechicero is involved with the Don Callis Family, so it says a lot about where the show is taking place from that he’s getting some face reactions.

These two are really showing out so far. This was a late addition to the card, and these guys are wrestling with chips on their shoulders. Very fast-paced action in the opening minutes.

Man, that was a lot of fun. Really good choice to open the show. As I said, they wrestled with some added motivation, and it showed. A nice clash of styles, and absolutely zero slow spots. Hechicero picks up the victory in what might be viewed as a minor upset to some, but with Hechicero involved more with AEW, it probably makes sense to give him the win here. It was still a nice showcase for Oku, though, who continues to show why he is one of the best wrestlers alive. 4 Stars

Adam Priest vs Lee Johnson vs AR Fox vs Atlantis Jr. – $50,000 Four-Way Match

Tony Khan REALLY loves going to the “put a bunch of random wrestlers in one match and say that the winner receives an arbitrary amount of money” well.

The previous match would’ve been a nightmare to do play-by-play for, and I have a sneaking suspicion that this one would be, as well. As I always say, I’m really glad that isn’t my job.

As soon as I finished typing the previous sentence, we start the match with a sequence that sees everyone flying all over the pace. In the ring, out of the ring, into the ring… these guys came to play.

Not only are the wrestlers working hard tonight, but this crowd in Arlington has been red hot so far. They’re excited for everything.

I haven’t even been able to keep track of everything that is happening. If I even think of looking away from the screen for a second, it’s like I miss multiple spots. AR Fox is $50,000 richer after picking up the win here, much to the crowd’s delight. They were behind Fox from the very beginning. 3.5 Stars

Lee Moriarty vs Blue Panther – RoH Pure Title Match

Blue Panther is damn near 65 years old, and is competing for a North American championship on pay-per-view. That’s crazy. His wrestling career began nearly 47 years ago. That’s also crazy. If you’re not someone all that familiar with Lucha Libre, Blue Panther is one of the most legendary luchadores of the last 50 years, largely considered a household name in Mexico.

Blue Panther is the rare luchador that focuses more on a mat-based style. Lee Moriarty is one of the better technical wrestlers in the business today. These two are having a gritty and grimy match so far, trying to out-wrestle one another. I’m digging it, and especially so after the previous two matches and how they went.

I’ll say it again… Lee Moriarty is one of the better technical wrestlers in the business today. He is so good at so many different things, and I wish he had a bigger and brighter spotlight on him than being “stuck” in Ring Of Honor.

Shoutout to the person with the “RIP El Generico” sign in the crowd. What a tragedy.

Moriarty picks up the win to retain his title. After Blue Panther exhausted his rope breaks (RoH Pure Rules give wrestlers three breaks per match), Moriarty was able to lock him in the Border City Stretch under the bottom rope. With nowhere to go, Blue Panther was forced to tap out. The match was good, albeit a bit slow when Blue Panther was on offense. He’s good, but again, he’s nearly 65 years old, and he moves like it. 3.25 Stars

Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara vs Capt. Shawn Dean & Carlie Bravo – RoH Tag Team Title Match

“Super” Sammy Guevara is dressed up like Superman, while “Green Natural” Dustin Rhodes is dressed up like Green Lantern. Cute.

I said this about Lee Moriarty, but it’s worth saying about the RoH Tag Team Champions, too… I really wish they had a bigger and brighter spotlight on them these days. They’re basically “stuck” in Ring Of Honor, with not a lot of people getting to see them on a regular basis. Now that word has come out that Dustin signed a SIX-YEAR (!!!) contract extension at the end of 2024, that will keep him in the company until he’s approaching 61 years old, maybe he’ll still get the chance. At the rate he’s going, he’ll still be putting on entertaining performances at that age.

Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman are doing a great job on commentary here, talking about the in-ring chemistry that Dean and Bravo have built up. They talk about the type on non-verbal communication that the duo has, that is normally only seen in teams that are siblings, by pointing out that both men are military veterans, and therefore, they’re used to the type of non-verbal and coded communication that only they can understand. Great insight.

I have no idea when it happened, but Dustin’s left hand looks like it’s covered in blood. Nobody is visibly bleeding that I’m aware of, so something happened to his hand itself. Strangely enough, as soon as I typed that, Shane Taylor hit Dustin in the head with one of the title belts, and that busted Dustin’s forehead open. Now, he’s bleeding from two different places. Meanwhile, Sammy’s chest is all sorts of battered and bruised.

The champions retain their titles in a really fun match. All four men had a chance to look great here, and the crowd was excited for all of it. After the match, all of Shane Taylor Promotions attack the champions, including a returning Anthony Ogogo, but they are interrupted by Marshall and Ross Von Erich. It leads to the creation of an eight-man tag on the Y’all In pre-show… Dustin, Sammy, Marshall and Ross vs Taylor, Lee Moriarty, Dean, and Bravo. Okay then.

Anyway, fun stuff here. 3.75 Stars. I really enjoyed this, and the title reign of the champions continues to be a good one.

Nick Wayne vs Titán – RoH Television Title Match

Me thinks we’re going back to the wild, non-stop pacing here.

The crowd chants “happy birthday” to Nick Wayne, who turned 20 years old yesterday. Mother Wayne, at ringside, acknowledges the chant and claps, basically breaking character. Such a mom move.

I didn’t get to watch the pre-show, but I’m assuming something happened involving glitter. Everybody that has wrestled during the main card so far has more glitter all over them than an Atlanta stripper. It’s pretty comical.

Smart strategy by Nick Wayne, working on the knee of Titán. It has slowed the pace of the match a bit, but certainly not in a negative way.

A “Mother Wayne” chant breaks out, and Mother Wayne again acknowledges the crowd, saying “I like that.” This crowd has been embracing the heels tonight. Interesting trend.

The trend continues… Mother Wayne breaks up a pin attempt by putting her son’s foot on the bottom rope, but she is caught by ref Rick Knox, who throws her out of the ringside area to loud boos. There are some people cheering, but the boos are definitely louder.

With Mother Wayne out of there, Kip Sabian runs out and interferes, attacking Titán behind the back of Rick Knox. It initially goes nowhere, but was enough of a distraction for the champion to pick up the victory. Really good stuff here. Exciting stuff from both men. 3.75 Stars

To give the show a bit of star power, Christian Cage’s music hits after the match, and Christian comes out to a nice pop. He hugs his “son” and raises his arm, allowing the crowd to give them a nice pop.

Mina Shirakawa vs Miyu Yamashita vs Yuka Sakazaki vs Persephone – Four-Way Match for the Interim RoH Women’s Television Title

Red Velvet, the reigning RoH Women’s Television Champion, suffered an injury and was unable to compete tonight. She’s at ringside to watch the match, but we’re crowning an interim champion while she’s out of action.

I will admit that I’m not super familiar with Persephone’s work. This is only the second (perhaps third) time I’ve seen her wrestle, but I know she’s bringing a power game to this match that will play well against the speed and athleticism of her opponents here.

Yuka Sakazaki is so wholesome. She’s such a polar opposite of Mina Shirakawa, but they’re both so entertaining and good at what they do.

Persephone was on the outside for long enough to order an Uber, wait for the Uber, take the Uber somewhere for dinner, eat dinner, order another Uber, wait for the Uber, take the Uber back to the arena, and then return to the ring. The other three damn near wrestled an entire match while Persephone took a break.

Mina Shirakawa picks up the victory, to the delight of the crowd. That was another really fun match. Mina and Yuka shined with their in-ring work and their personalities. Miyu, even though she doesn’t have the personality or the character of her Japanese counterparts, spent the match beating the hell out of people. Persephone, when she wasn’t on a guided tour of Dallas, seemed to enjoy throwing people around. Everyone shined. 4 Stars

Athena vs Thunder Rosa – RoH Women’s World Title Match

Today is the 944th day of Athena’s title reign. That’s insane. On commentary, Ian Riccaboni pro wrestling’s the number, saying it’s a 950-day reign. That’s not necessary, Ian. 944 is crazy all on its own. We don’t need to “Hulk Hogan lifted the 900-pound Andre The Giant in front of 200,000 fans at the Pontiac Silverdome” the number.

“Big fight” feel for this one. The crowd is amped, cheering for both women. Athena was born and raised in Garland, Texas, which is approximately 40 miles away from where this show is taking place. Thunder Rosa has been living in San Antonio, Texas for a while now, and that’s about 275 miles away. Bit of a “home game” for both women.

I missed the announcement live, as I was grabbing a drink from the kitchen, but Syuri is heading to the United States, coming over from Japan’s Stardom promotion, and will be working for both AEW and RoH. She is one of the best workers, male or female, on the planet today, and will be a tremendous addition to Tony Khan’s portfolio. Awesome news.

This has been a really physical match so far. Both women are bringing the pain, and are working as if they feel they deserved the main event spot tonight. Athena’s arm and shoulder have taken a beating, while Thunder Rosa’s back has been on the receiving end of some major damage.

Well, Athena will live to see her title reign reach at least 945 days. She picks up the submission win. Lots of disappointed fans, but it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that Rosa, an AEW wrestler, lost a match for an RoH Title. In my opinion, there wasn’t enough of a story attached to this match to justify a title change. Still entertaining to watch, though. 3.5 Stars

Bandido vs Konosuke Takeshita – RoH World Title Match

I mentioned that an AEW wrestler losing an RoH Title match shouldn’t be a big surprise. That will be put to the test here, with Takeshita rarely losing. He only has two singles losses in North America this year, following a total of four singles losses in North America in 2024 and five singles losses in North America in 2023.

Even though this match is on last, and the crowd is still amped up for it, I wouldn’t say this has the same feel as the previous match did. I completely understand the idea of putting this one in the official main event slot, but Athena and Thunder Rosa really had an argument to be made that they should’ve been here. That’s not a knock on Bandido or Takeshita, by the way. It’s more of a commentary on Athena and the title reign that she has built up.

Big size difference here. The challenger is listed as being seven inches taller and 68 pounds heavier than the champion, and the difference looks to be even more than that on the eyeball test.

Takeshita is tearing away at Bandido’s mask. That bastard!

Bandido does a dive to the outside, but instead of connecting with Takeshita, he connects with a steel chair to the dome piece behind the referee’s back. Now, the torn up mask looms large visually, as we can clearly see Bandido’s bloody face on the torn half. Good visual.

There have been more than a few “fuck Don Callis” chants during the match. The crowd has been enjoying the heels tonight, but even they have to draw the line somewhere. Callis is hated everywhere he goes.

Bandido and Takeshita have a standing strike battle, rattling each other with slaps, chops, and kicks. Takeshita looks to be winning it, but he eats a pimp slap backhand to the face that damn near knocks him out on his feet. That was fun.

“Fight forever” chant. A well-deserved one. This has been a blast.

BANDIDO KICKS OUT AT ONE! He just ate a flurry of Takeshita’s best offense, and kicked out at one, causing the crowd to explode. I JUST wrote about how a well-placed kick out at one can be an amazing thing in wrestling, and there was a prime example of it. The kick out leads to Bandido getting the roll-up to get the win. What a match. A Match Of The Year contender, without a doubt. I’m giving it 4.5 Stars, but I think some are going to feel that’s too low. Great, great stuff from Bandido and Takeshita.

Overall, this was a really entertaining show. When 3.25 Stars is your “worst” rated match of the night, you’re doing something right. While Ring Of Honor still isn’t anywhere near what it used to be in the mid-to-late 2000’s and the early-2010’s, this was still a show worth checking out if you didn’t already do so.