Summer is heating up and here in the pro wrestling world, that heat is coming through not just in temperature but in the great quality of wrestling coming our way as part of SummerSlam week in Toronto. Among those putting on shows is Ring Of Honor Wrestling whose Summer Supercard promises to be the most diverse and exciting card of the weekend. With nine matches already announced, this show is sure to provide a helluva night of pro-wrestling and is sure to be talked about thereafter. Here’s a look at the card.
Ladder War For The ROH World Tag Team Titles – The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe) vs. The Guerillas Of Destiny (G.o.D. – Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) (C)
The global tag team scene has never been hotter, but among teams from all different promotions, there are none right now that have more animosity with each other than Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) and the Briscoes (Jay and Mark). The two teams have had tensions with each other since ROH’s Honor Rising tour back in February, an event meant to be for the two teams to face off so that one team could be called the best tag team in the world.
The two teams had their first battle back at the G1 Supercard from Madison Square Garden, sharing the ring with two other teams as well in a winner-take-all match for both the ROH and IWGP tag team titles. The match saw the Guerillas of Destiny winning the ROH titles from the Briscoes that night while retaining their own, though they didn’t pin the Briscoes in doing so. For many weeks thereafter, both teams would continue to go back and forth on social media until they met each other briefly at the War Of The Worlds tour on May 8th in Buffalo, New York, and then having their second match at the War Of The Worlds tour where G.o.D. would retain their ROH titles.
In round three at Manhattan Mayhem, The Briscoes would finally get the upper hand on G.o.D. and regain their ROH Tag Team Titles. However, the match itself would foreshadow what was to come, as a bevy of weapons would be used in this match, one in specific, the ladder. At the conclusion of the match, Mark Briscoe came off the top of the ladder onto Tama Tonga to win the match. One day later at Mass Hysteria, after a successful title defense against The Bouncers, G.o.D. would sneak attack the Briscoes and leave them in a pool of their own blood while challenging them to a Ladder Wars match.
All roads lead to the Summer Supercard as the teams face off for the fourth time to determine who is the best tag team. This match while for the titles is not just about the titles. It’s more than that. It’s a battle to ultimately decide the ongoing war between these two teams and it may be the final battle between them. The last time the Briscoes were involved in a ladder war, they came out successful. Will we see the same result this Friday night? Or will G.o.D. be able to put an end to the Briscoes and walk-away the double tag champs again?
ROH World Heavyweight Championship – Matt Taven (C) vs. Alex Shelley
The ROH world title is up for grabs as the champion and leader of The Kingdom, Matt Taven faces the returning Alex Shelley. It was weeks ago when Alex Shelley made his return on a recent edition of ROH T.V. and used his “veterans card” to challenge the winner between Matt Taven and Jay Lethal at Manhattan Mayhem. However as luck would have it, the match ended up in a three-way match between Taven, Lethal and Kenny King. In the end, the result was still the same and Taven defeated both men.
Now, Taven moves on to face a legend of ROH as Shelley has been affiliated with the company since 2003, having over 150 matches with the company. Shelley, a former ROH World Tag Champ, comes into the match as a singles competitor but has the experience edge over Matt Taven. Wrestling for 17 years and still at the young age of 36, Shelley may very well have the advantage against the champ. Will Shelley, after all his years, realize his dream of becoming world champ? Or will Matt Taven shutdown Shelley’s quick return and send him back on another hiatus from the company?
ROH World Television Title Match – Shane Taylor (C) vs. “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams
Tracy Williams has been on a roll since his debut with ROH. The former “catch point” member brings his ground game and grappling style to the organization in what looks to be the perfect fit for “Hot Sauce”. The ten-year veteran recently got into the title picture by winning a Proving Ground Four Corner Survival Match against Silas Young, Shane Taylor and Josh “The Goods” Woods.
Shane Taylor comes in with great momentum as he’s determined to be the longest-reigning ROH TV champion of all time. While that’s a tall order to attain, he’s surely started off on the right foot by successfully defending his title against Bandido and Eli Isom. Will Summer Supercard be another night of victory for Taylor? Or will LifeBlood get its first title with Tracy Williams becoming the new ROH Television Champion?
No-Disqualification Match – RUSH vs. Dalton Castle
These two are destined for a brutal and bloody war as Dalton Castle has been obsessed with getting a victory over RUSH since his embarrassing loss at the G1 Supercard at Madison Square Garden. RUSH beat Castle in just 15 seconds. This began an avalanche of misery for the peacock. Castle would fire his “Boys”, keep calling out RUSH, then challenge the brother of RUSH, Dragon Lee to a match at Best In The World, only to humiliate Lee in order to get RUSH’s attention.
Castle did just that and the two would wind up facing each other at Mass Hysteria a couple of weeks back. However, the match ended in a disqualification when Castle went for a low blow on RUSH, ending the match from there and then attacking RUSH right after. An enraged RUSH quickly challenged Dalton Castle to a No-Disqualification match, stating that he didn’t come to ROH to play games and would get his hands on Castle soon enough and on Friday the two finally square off.
RUSH is infamous for getting disqualified quite often in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre during his matches with Los Ingobernables. RUSH is no stranger to brawling and may have the edge here over Castle. Will RUSH be able to punish Dalton Castle for all he’s done and get payback for the way the last match at Mass Hysteria ended? Or will Castle be able to find a way to overcome El Toro Blanco, while handing him his first-ever singles loss in ROH?
WOH Women’s Championship – Kelly Klein (C) vs. Tasha Steelz
Tasha Steelz, a four-year veteran, with nearly 100 matches under her belt, has quickly made her name known in the industry with earning a title shot against the dominant Kelly Klein. Tasha made her name known when she won a Four Corner Survival Match on a recent episode of Ring Of Honor Wrestling, overcoming Angelina Love who is a former six-time TNA Knockouts champion, Jenny Rose, and Stella Grey. Steelz comes into the match with zero fear as proven when Maria Manic came to the ring to destroy but wasn’t able to put fear in Tasha’s eyes.
Tasha has wrestled for such promotions as IMPACT Wrestling, North East Wrestling, BCW, WWR, HOG, and many others. A resident of New Jersey, Steelz comes to the match with everything to gain, and little to lose, as she has a very promising career ahead of her. But to do that, she must go up against The Pretty Bad Ass, Kelly Klein. With more than a decade of experience, Klein comes in with all the advantage against Steelz.
With over 200 matches under her belt and at only 28 years of age, Kelly Klein has dominated some of the more top names in the game such as Sumie Sakai, Tenille Dashwood, Karen Q, Madison Rayne, and many more. Klein, a two-time women’s champ, has been the champ in her second stint since the G1 Supercard of Honor, defeating Mayu Iwatani. Since 123 days later, Kelly Klein prepares for her next challenge in Tasha Steelz. Will Kelly Klein continue her successful title reign and move on to her next challenge? Or will Tasha Steelz be able to shock the world and do the unthinkable by winning her first Women Of Honor Championship?
Bandido & Mark Haskins vs. Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham
In a first-time-ever dream tag match, these four superstars will square off. The story here is that there’s been a change in attitude in Jonathan Gresham which began at the Best In The World pay-per-view when he used a low blow to beat Silas Young in what was to be a Pure Rules Match. If that wasn’t enough, he used a foreign object in a Four Corner Survival Match on ROH T.V. showing very little honor. Gresham seems to be in a different place. While his partner Jay Lethal is trying to get through him, Gresham feels that everyone cheats and lies and as the old saying goes, “if you can’t beat ’em, join em.”
Lifeblood was formed in order to bring honor back to ROH and since the formation of the group, they’ve been committed to doing so. Will we be able to see Lifeblood go over the troubled team of Lethal and Gresham at Summer Supercard? Or will Gresham find a way to win the match by not so honorable ways? And what about Jay Lethal? Will he be able to talk Gresham out of his new attitude and bring him back to back to a more positive conscience?
The Kingdom (Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan) vs. Villain Enterprises (Brody King & PCO)
In their second encounter, Villain Enterprises go up against The Kingdom at Summer Supercard. The first time these two teams faced off was back in January during Tag Wars when the two faced off in the first round with Villain Enterprises going off and ultimately winning the tournament. The team of PCO and Brody King has been a force to be reckoned with as they’ve been nearly unbeatable, defeating all the top teams in ROH. While the team lost their titles back at the G1 Supercard, they’re on their way back to the tag team title scene.
However, The Kingdom has proven to be a dominant team themselves with TK O’Ryan and Vinny Marseglia holding the Six-Man Tag Team Titles with Matt Taven on three separate occasions. The two Kingdom members also look at getting their win back from PCO and Brody King. Can The Kingdom walk out successful on Friday night as a unit? Or will PCO and Brody King continue their path of destruction and soon challenge for the ROH Tag Titles?
Caristico, Sobrano Jr. & Stuka Jr. vs. Barbaro Cavernario, Hechicero & Templario
The partnership of CMLL and ROH strengthen as six of CMLL’s top performers grace their presence at ROH’s Summer Supercard. It was recently announced that Global Wars would have a heavy CMLL involvement in it, and what better way to get a sneak peek of the stars of CMLL than at this Fridays show. Caristico is one of the aces of CMLL and is the promotions current NWA World Historic Middleweight Champion, holding the title for nearly a calendar year. He has been wrestling for nearly 20 years and has had over 1700 matches in his career.
With over a decade of experience, Soberano Jr. is a third-generation luchador at only 25 years of age. He is the current Mexican National Welterweight Champion. The young Tecnico looks to impress the ROH fans this Friday night. Soberano carries close to 700 matches and has been wrestling for eight years. His partner, Stuka Jr. is a 19-year veteran with nearly 1500 matches. Stuka Jr. holds the NWA World Historic Light Heavyweight Championship and has held the title for 358 days thus far.
On the other side, we have Barbaro Cavernario, which translates to Barbarian Caveman. Cavernario has wrestled nearly 800 matches and is only 25 years of age. He is the current Mexican National Light Heavyweight Champion and has held the title for close to 300 days. Barbaro is considered to be one of the best Luchadors in the world with one of his matches being against King Fenix at last year’s “La Leyenda De Plata” tournament at Arena Mexico which had rave reviews and had Barbaro Cavernario winning the match and the tournament.
Hechicero which translates to Magician has been wrestling since 2002 and has wrestled for CMLL since 2014. Hechicero has had over 600 matches and is the current PyH (Poder y Honor – Independent Lucha Promotion) Champion for close to 3600 days. Templario which translates to Templar has been wrestling since 2009 and has wrestled for CMLL since 2016. He is the current Best Cara Lucha Champion and has held the title for close to 1000 days. Templar is a regular with CMLL as he appears on close to a weekly basis with the promotion.
This match promises to impress as we’ll see authentic Lucha libre take place in Toronto this weekend. Will the match wind up being a show-stealer? How will the ROH fans receive the match and will there be any feuds that come out of this match?
Silas Young vs. PJ Black
Silas Young and PJ Black will wrestle their second match within the span of a few weeks as the two first met at Mass Hysteria. While Young came out with the win, Black looks to even the score and come out the victor against the Last Real Man. Young has been known for a long time to win by any means necessary, but Black, who is now affiliated with Lifeblood, looks to bring honor to Ring Of Honor and win the match without any shenanigans, unlike his opponent. Who will come out on top the second time around? Will it be “The Darewolf” or will it be “The Last Real Man”?
ROH Summer Supercard can be seen on Honorclub for members and on Fite.tv. this Friday night, August 9th, beginning at 7:30 pm EST.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. Tickets are still available for the event so if you’re in the area check out this loaded show.
