RoH Supercard Of Honor 2026 Review

At one point, Supercard Of Honor was the biggest show of the Ring Of Honor calendar year.

From the first Supercard Of Honor in 2006 to 2024, the show was held during WrestleMania weekend, taking place somewhere in the Mania host city.

Last year’s edition was the change of a tradition, with the show being moved to mid-July and taking place as a standalone event. This year’s version was moved to mid-May (in case you weren’t aware of today’s date), and is also a standalone event.

Personally, I don’t like the decision. I get that Supercard Of Honor had to compete with a ton of other shows during WrestleMania weekend, but the Ring Of Honor name was always big enough in the industry to keep fans coming back every year. The spotlight that is on Mania weekend shows is something that these companies can’t replicate otherwise.

Either way, the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center in Salisbury, Maryland is ready for what should be a fun show. Two hours before showtime, WrestleTix reported that there were exactly 200 tickets left for purchase, and the venue is set up to hold 1,752 fans here.

Let’s have some fun.

 

Nigel McGuinness vs Josh Woods – Pure Wrestling Rules Match

In the initial run of the RoH Pure Title, nobody had a better and more legendary reign than Nigel McGuinness. He had a 350-day reign that featured 17 successful defenses, which was only one defense less than the previous five champions combined. Since the title returned in 2020 after a 14-year hiatus, Josh Woods has proven himself to be one of the top Pure wrestlers in RoH. He has a Pure Title reign of his own, holding the belt for 201 days, and was the champion when Tony Khan purchased Ring Of Honor.

LOL @ Nigel leaving the ring and going to the announce table, putting on a headset and saying that the early part of the match isn’t going the way he thought it would. Then, another voice is heard, and the camera cuts to Josh Woods also having a headset on, saying that the match is going exactly how he thought it would go. Just then, yet another voice is heard, and Referee Mike Posey also has a headset on, and is telling the wrestlers to get back in the ring.

I like that the younger Woods is using his clear strength advantages here, forcing the grizzled vet Nigel to lean even more on his intelligence and wily nature. It’s such an easy story to tell, but it’s also a tried-and-true successful story.

As we approach the 15-minute mark in the match, things hit a major wall. Nigel is a 50-year-old man that obviously doesn’t move anywhere near as quickly and as smoothly as he used to, but Josh Woods seems to have completely ran out of gas. Both men are moving like they’re in a pit of quicksand.

As soon as I type that, Nigel hits the Jawbreaker Lariat, and Mike Posey is heard saying something like “stay there” or “stay down,” and sure enough, it’s enough for Nigel to get the pin and the win.

That was a thing that happened. It was never bad, but nothing ever stood out. The Pure rules matches usually aren’t fast-paced and wild to begin with, but that seemed extra slow, especially down the final stretch, as I mentioned. A quiet crowd only made things worse. You could constantly hear individual fans talking during the match, and there were a few times when you’d hear a fan say something to one of the wrestlers, followed by the wrestler responding from the ring. That’s not ideal.

2.75 Stars, I guess. It’s something that would’ve been decent enough on television, but in a pay-per-view setting, it stands out in a negative way.

 

Red Velvet vs Viva Van – RoH Women’s Television Title Match

Well, it doesn’t seem like the crowd is going to be much better here. We’re only about two minutes in, but I think I just heart a mouse fart.

Viva Van goes for something of a feint kick, but she completely misses, and as she lands on the mat, Red Velvet just stomps on her out of anger. Yikes.

This has not been a good match for Viva Van. On top of that earlier botch, she has missed the mark on a few of her strikes, looks like she’s moving in slow motion, and is doing a lot of aimless walking around the ring. I’ve seen much better work from her.

Apparently, I’m alone in my thoughts of this one, as the crowd went from being deathly silent to chanting “fight forever” for some reason. Please, don’t.

Red Velvet gets the win and retains her title. I just… didn’t enjoy it. As I said, I’ve seen much better work from Viva Van. This wasn’t her night in more ways than one. I think this match would’ve been much better served taking place on television. 2.5 Stars

 

AR Fox vs Lio Rush – RoH Television Title Match

Fox is the brand new champion, only taking the title from Nick Wayne on the RoH television episode that aired last night. Rush, on the other hand, had sex with a Gremlin after midnight and has now lost his mind altogether.

This should be interesting. It’s their first singles match against each other since a CZW show in July 2016.

To the surprise of nobody, this match is a lot more fast-paced than the first two matches on the show, and again, to the surprise of nobody, the crowd is appreciative of that.

Lio’s new character is pretty creepy. The black blood/goo pouring out of his mouth, him half-crawling around, speaking to himself in that high-pitched voice… it’s all weird, but it grabs your attention right away.

I like that AR Fox is getting this spotlight. He has been so good for so long, and he deserves love. I do wish it was happening in AEW, though, instead of RoH. The amount of people who are witnessing the RoH product in mid-2026 is so small.

These guys are putting in work so far. Lots of back-and-forth action. Fox is trying to kick things into a higher gear, while Lio is trying to ground him.

Another “fight forever” chant after Fox kicks out at 2.999 after a Final Hour Frog Splash from Lio. That’s more like it.

Lio looks to go up top again, but as the Referee is distracted, Action Andretti (who made his way to ringside halfway through the match) turns on Lio, knocking him down. Fox takes advantage of things and eventually lands a 450 for the win. The new champion retains his title.

I could’ve done without the finish. Nobody cares about Action Andretti anymore, and this will do nothing to change that. Outside of that, though, this was a lot of fun. 4 Stars. Fox and Lio have a lot of in-ring chemistry together.

 

Deonna Purrazzo vs Diamante – RoH Women’s Pure Title Match

I like Deonna Purrazzo, but man, do you remember when she made her official debut for AEW at the very start of 2024? There were fans saying that she was going to be a “game-changer” for AEW. Here we are today, and it has been nearly 15 months since Deonna has even wrestled on an AEW show, and 17 months since she has won a match on an AEW show. As I said before, the amount of people that watch RoH these days is so small, so success on that brand today is hardly considered anything that would be changing the game in any way.

The crowd is back to being nearly silent for this after somewhat waking up for AR Fox vs Lio Rush.

My WatchRoH feed is getting a little spotty at times. It isn’t quite enough to keep me from seeing what’s happening, but it’s enough to make things annoying. I don’t like backing out of a live feed during a match unless I absolutely have to, so I’m going to wait and see if things improve.

I like Diamante’s strategy here. She has been swarming the champion, barely giving her time to breathe.

Well, she gave her time to breathe, after all. I type that, and then the momentum swings back in Deonna’s way. She locks Diamante in her Venus de Milo finisher, and Diamante taps out. It was another slower-paced match, but it wasn’t due to wrestler limitations. It was physical, and both women did a good job here. Not a classic or anything, but it served its purpose. 3.25 Stars

 

Lee Moriarty vs Ace Austin – RoH Pure Title Match

I love me some technical wrestling just as much as the next guy, but there’s no reason that three out of the first five matches here need to be under Pure rules. That’s overkill.

The video package for this match ends, and I kid you not, one person is heard clapping in the crowd. Ouch.

Moriarty is in the middle of a 658-day reign as the Pure Champion, making him not only the longest reigning Pure titleholder, but the longest reigning men’s champion of any kind in RoH history. He’s another name that deserves so much more than he receives. I’d love to see him have success in AEW, but Tony Khan doesn’t seem to have any interest in having RoH names shine on AEW programming.

Ace wants to pick the pace up, but Moriarty is far more interested in grinding things down and working his technical wizardry.

Moriarty staggers against the ropes, and several fans are heard yelling “rope break” at the Referee, who doesn’t call for a rope break (you only get three of them per match under Pure rules)… because it isn’t a rope break. It literally wasn’t a “break,” with him grabbing the ropes to get himself out of a hold or a submission attempt. He was selling exhaustion and collapsed against the ropes on his own. This isn’t rocket science, Salisbury. Do you think a “rope break” simply happens when a wrestler touches the ropes for any reason? That’s not how pro wrestling works.

Even though you wouldn’t be able to tell by listening to this awful crowd, these two are having themselves a fun match.

I jinxed it again. As soon as I type how fun the match is, it comes to an end within seconds. Moriarty gets a trap pin by using the ropes for leverage, and since neither man had any rope breaks left, it was legal. The champion retains his title, and his record-breaking reign continues on. 3.5 Stars. Nice back-and-forth action with both men looking good in their own ways. Moriarty’s Taiga Style offense is so much fun to watch.

 

Shane Taylor, Capt. Shawn Dean & Carlie Bravo vs ??? – Open Challenge for the RoH Six-Man Tag Team Title Match

The Outrunners come out as the first two mystery opponents, and they come out to a deafening reaction from a total of four people. Their tag partner, Dalton Castle, was able to get AT LEAST a dozen people to react for his arrival. I hope I never see another wrestling event take place in Salisbury, Maryland.

I think I’ve said this in every RoH review column I’ve done, but Shane Taylor Promotions is another RoH act that I would love to see get a chance to shine in AEW. They’re so much fun to watch, and they have worked hard to build up such an insane amount of in-ring chemistry together. Tony Khan has made such a clear distinction between AEW and RoH, though, and these men are damn near stuck in purgatory.

Dalton Castle and The Outrunners, on the other hand, are two acts that have outlived their usefulness at this stage. The Outrunners had their moment in the sun, competing for the AEW Tag Team Titles not all that long ago, and Dalton Castle also had his chance, winning the RoH World Title at the end of 2017 (beating Cody Rhodes, no less), but they need to step aside for three other wrestlers now.

Impressive German Suplex from Castle to the 315-pound (which is probably very generous) Shane Taylor.

Of course the titles changed hands. After what I said about Dalton Castle and The Outrunners, of course they went on to win this match to become the new Six-Man Tag Team Champions.

After the match, Shane Taylor Promotions attack the new champions, but they’re interrupted by Orange Cassidy and Mark Briscoe, who go to the ring and chase the heels off. Cassidy got the biggest pop of the night, which isn’t saying much, but then Briscoe’s pop was even bigger. It makes sense, as Briscoe is from about 15 miles away in Laurel, Delaware.

2.75 Stars. Too much of nothing going on, but things were at least entertaining when STP were in control. I guess that balances itself out.

 

Mark Davis vs Xelhua – AEW National Title Match

This is the only AEW championship that has ever been defended on RoH programming (for the second time, after Ricochet defended it against Dalton Castle at Final Battle 2025 a little over five months ago), so that tells you where the AEW National Title ranks in the grand scheme of things.

Xelhua is a 22-year-old youngster from CMLL, but he is more of a throwback, focusing on technical wrestling and submission work. He had a great match against Lee Moriarty at RoH’s Death Before Dishonor event last August, so I’m excited to see what he gives us here against one of the more underrated workers on the AEW roster.

Davis gets the biggest heel heat of the night… again, not a high bar to clear… by attempting to remove Xelhua’s mask.

Another clash of styles here. Xelhua continues to want to use his technical ability, but Davis is looking to do nothing but beat his opponent to a pulp.

Well, the champion retained his title. If you thought that an AEW wrestler was going to go to an RoH show and drop his title to a CMLL wrestler, you’re a fool. The match was decent enough, I suppose, albeit a little disappointing with what these two are capable of. 3.25 Stars

 

Bandido vs Blake Christian – RoH World Title Match

I keep talking about wanting to see RoH wrestlers get chances on AEW programming. Throughout the night, we’ve heard that Sammy Guevara, Red Velvet, and STP will be making appearances on tomorrow night’s episode of Collision. Unfortunately, all of them are being placed in matches that they will obviously be losing, so… there’s that.

With Athena’s insanely long RoH Women’s Title reign, it doesn’t surprise me that she gets the main event spot here instead of this. The fact that Blake Christian is the challenger here doesn’t help things in that area, either. I like Blake Christian, but he’s not main eventing a Ring Of Honor pay-per-view.

Bandido won the title last April, and he is currently having the sixth-longest RoH World Title reign of all-time. If he retains here, he’s only about three weeks away from passing Jay Lethal for fifth-place on that list. If you’re curious, Samoa Joe is at the top spot there, holding the title for 645 days between March 2003 and December 2004.

The strength and speed combination that Bandido possesses is insane. One minute, he’s able to fly all over the ring with dizzying offense. The next minute, he’s lifting his opponent in the air with a one-armed press. It’s why some feel he is the best wrestler alive today, and is on such a ridiculous hot streak in the ring.

Blake goes to perform something on Bandido that would put him through the announce table, but Bandido reverses it immediately, hitting a suplex on the table that has both men land with a loud thud. That’s quite the strong table.

Unintentionally funny moment just now, with both men exhausted on the mat after an impressive flurry of offense from both men, but the camera zooms out to catch a fan in the front row with a deeeeep yawn. To be fair, it’s currently 11:10pm in Maryland, and that man looked to be in his 50’s or 60’s, so he’s well beyond his normal bedtime.

The match isn’t over yet, but it is definitely the best match of the show so far.

After a Styles Clash that led to a 21 Plex, Bandido gets the pin and the win to retain his title. That was a blast. The challenger looked really good in defeat, but Bandido is just special, and it’s going to take another very special performer to put an end to this title reign. 4.25 Stars

As Bandido celebrates after the match, Swerve Strickland shows up out of nowhere and attacks him. Bandido and Swerve will be facing each other at Double Or Nothing next weekend in a first round match in the Owen Hart Tournament, so this makes sense. Swerve ends his attack by setting a chair up in the center of the ring and then dropping Bandido on it with a Cop Killa. Bandido’s body crumples in disgusting fashion. Sheesh.

 

Athena vs Trish Adora vs Maya World vs Billie Starkz vs Zayda Steel vs Yuka Sakazaki – Survival Of The Fittest Match for the RoH Women’s World Title

Survival Of The Fittest is RoH’s name for an elimination bout. The odds are against Athena here, but we’re also at the 1,253-day mark of her title reign, so are the odds ever truly against her? She won the title back on December 10th, 2022.

Athena, Billie, Maya, and Yuka run a quadruple criss-cross from side-to-side, but they don’t have their timing down, and all four women have to seemingly stop and avoid one another. To make it worse, that came after Billie threw some of the weakest looking strikes you’ll ever see in a wrestling match. She appeared to be looking elsewhere and blindly swinging her arm in punch attempts, and it looked awful. Not a strong start to the match.

Zayda brings a chair in the ring, and she goes to send Athena into the chair after wedging it in the corner, but Athena reverses it. Ms. Steel tastes the chair, and it leads to her elimination mere minutes in. Thanks for showing up, I guess.

Athena goes to hit Yuka with the chair, but she stands there holding the chair in the air for multiple seconds. It’s because of Maya being late to the ring with a kendo stick to break things up, and Athena looked like an idiot. I guess Yuka also looked like an idiot for just standing there and waiting for a chair shot that never came.

Trish just hit Maya with one of the weakest kendo stick shots here. It literally made zero noise when it connected with Maya’s back. Sigh. This has been an ugly match.

In a wide camera shot, Billie is shown throwing forearm strikes that even my seven-year-old daughter would laugh at. Am I being pranked? Why is this happening?

After I say all that, Athena is slammed atop a pyramid of about ten stacked chairs at ringside. That looked painful as all hell.

Trish Adora is the next woman to be eliminated, sent packing after a pin by Yuka. We’re down to Athena, Billie Starkz, Yuka Sakazaki, and Maya World now.

Well, we’re down to three now, as Billie just pinned Yuka to eliminate her.

Athena and Billie hit Maya with kendo sticks, and sure enough, Billie is being extra gentle. What the fuck is she doing out there tonight?!?

Billie is thankfully eliminated after being pinned by Maya World. If Billie would’ve ended Athena’s title reign after this dog shit performance, I would’ve sent at least one angrily worded tweet. We’re down to Athena and Maya World.

Billie grabs a towel and is teasing throwing it in as Athena is locked in a submission, and the crowd groans in disappointment. No boos, no cheers… just wanting her to get the fuck out of here with this. Athena grabs Billie’s arm to prevent her from throwing it in.

After climbing almost to the top of a super tall ladder, Athena hits the O-Face on Maya and pins her to win the match. Athena’s title reign continues on. It made Maya look dumb, though, because she had to stand facing away from the ladder, while looking back over her shoulder to wait for Athena to finish climbing and jump off.

Man, that was a train wreck, and not in a good way. Six women were involved… one of which (Zayda Steel) had no purpose, one of which (Billie Starkz) wrestled an absolutely atrocious match, one of which (Trish Adora) had no business attempting weapon shots, and one of which (Yuka Sakazaki) messed up her own move so bad that she nearly overshot a ringside table on a dive from the top rope.

If you like plunder, then there was at least a lot of it for you to look at, but otherwise, this was the worst match of the night by a country mile. 1.75 Stars

 

What a disappointing finish to the show. I’m literally shaking my head as I type this. Athena deserves better than that.