ROH Supercard of Honor VIII Review

Match 1: Cedric Alexander vs. Roderick Strong
Opening up the big wrestling weekend features The Decade's Roderick Strong taking on Cedric Alexander. Really great choice of opener that sets the pace for the show with Strong looking great but also makes Alexander look great in the process. Crowd was definitely hot and especially when Alexander basically took out the entire Decade team before Strong hit a backbreaker to pick up the win. Jimmy Jacobs then got on the mic and put themselves over. Fun match that was hard hitting and also fast paced at the same time. Great start to the show and hopefully, others can follow in its place. Can't help but wonder where the direction Strong is headed.
Winner: Roderick Strong
Rating: ***1/2

Match 2: The Decade vs. Adrenaline Rush & Andrew Everett
Following Strong's win, The Decade have Whitmer, Page, & Jacobs pitted against Adrenaline Rush & Everett. Very much what you would expect, some cool spots here and there but nothing that will steal the show. Crowd was still hot after the hot opener and the guys took advantage of it. Finish saw The Decade pick up the second win of the night. Good match that served its purpose and made sure not to take anything away from the next tag match that we will see later in the night.
Winners: The Decade
Rating: **1/4

Match 3: Silas Young vs. RD Evans
82-0. The streak that Evans is riding here against Young. I love a bit of comedy in wrestling and this streak that Evans has is great! He's such a goofy dude and is playing his character nicely. And him going up against a guy who is super serious in Silas Young is a great mixture. One thing I will say is that the commentary has been atrocious. I love both guys but when they ramble on about random things during a match, it's worse than WWE. Finish came when Evans tried to pull an Eddie Guerrero by tossing the belt to Young making referee Paul Turner think Young used the belt. However, Evans tried rolling up Young as he convinced Turner he did not hit Evans but to no avail. Young them clobbered Turner on accident with the belt. Young takes out Evans as a new referee slides in to give Young the win. However, out comes Turner and reverses the call. 83-0. Fun match with a cool ending, Young stays strong while the streak continues.
Winner: RD Evans
Rating: **

Match 4: No Disqualification - Mark Briscoe vs. Michael Bennett
Bad blood has been brewing between these two as they finally meet in a no disqualification contest. This match has stupid fun written all over it. They quickly take the fight to the outside where Briscoe dives off a little ledge onto Bennett and takes control of the match. They go back and fourth before Bennett finally gets the advantage by spearing Briscoe off the stage and through a table. Awesome. They take it back into the ring where they bring in chairs and sticks before Bennett locks in an Anaconda Vice to get the win over Briscoe as the referee called for the bell. Bennett is a great heel as he copies popular WWE moves which received a pretty good reaction from the audience. The match was nothing special but the show did need a little spark like this one before settling into the main events.
Winner: Michael Bennett
Rating: **1/4

Match 5: Forever Hooligans vs. Hanson & Rowe vs. ReDRagon
I am a sucker for these chaotic tag team matches and this one should be a dandy. Their styles nicely clashed against one another, you have the crazy Hooligans doing their fun thing, the big dudes looking to steamroll through everyone, and my favorites in ReDRagon just being awesome heels. Crowd was much hotter for this one and the action was always coming at a fast pace but not too fast for us to not be able to sink our teeth into. Great pacing and great action from top to bottom that saw Kyle O'Reilly roll up Alex Koslov with a handful of tights to secure the big victory. Bobby Fish then gets in the face of the commentators at ringside and lets them know who the best tag team in the world is. ReDRagon will be challenging The Young Bucks soon for the belts and that one should definitely be a good one. Great tag match here that separates itself from the tag match earlier in a better fashion.
Winners: ReDRagon
Rating: ***1/4

Match 6: ROH World Television Championship - 2 out of 3 Falls - Tommaso Ciampa (c) vs. Jay Lethal
Interesting start to the match as Lethal offered his hand for the shaking but Ciampa instead gives Lethal his knee brace which Ciampa uses since tearing his ACL. Back in 2012, these two had an amazing match at Border Wars that completely caught me off guard. They look to steal the show here again but this time, on a much more stacked card. 2 out of 3 falls matches are not typically my favorite since they do tend to repeat themselves but I like what they did here. Lethal scored the first pin after the two basically wrestled a full match. They then told the story of Ciampa doing all he can to tie the score. Lethal inadvertently knocked down referee Todd Sinclair which led to Truth Martini coming to Lethal's aid by tossing in Ciampa's knee brace. Lethal drills Ciampa with it but Ciampa kicks out! Lethal hits the Hail to the King from the top but Ciampa kicks out before Sinclair can even count! Lethal then lands a couple kicks to Ciampa's face that does no harm! However, a kick to Ciampa's knee leading into a Lethal Injection was enough to score the win and win the World Television Championship once again. These two have great chemistry and they made every count believable from start to finish. Great stuff.
Winner: Jay Lethal
Rating: ***3/4

Match 7: Michael Elgin vs. Kevin Steen
This is a #1 contender match for a chance at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in May. They have met against each other here and there as their bout a couple years ago in Canada comes to mind. But I loved this one, too. They both have such exciting styles that rely heavily on their big moves and they definitely brought them out here. The pacing was on point, not too fast and never a dull moment. They took the fight outside and in the ring where Elgin was able to display his incredible strength as Kevin Steen hung in right there with him. Crowd could not be any hotter for this one as Elgin hits Steen with a Package Piledriver to score the win and a chance at glory next month. The two abide by the Code of Honor and shake hands after the match. It was almost as if this was a story of Elgin avenging his loss for the ROH World Championship a couple years ago. Fantastic bout of two big guys going at it with everything on the line and everything to gain. Cool spots, close finishes, and a sweet finish. Very similar to their ROH World Championship match but also very different. Granted, the match was not as great as that one but this one was definitely a worthy sequel.
Winner: Michael Elgin
Rating: ****

Match 8: ROH World Championship - Ladder War - Adam Cole (c) vs. Jay Briscoe
One year removed from capturing the gold from Kevin Steen, Jay Briscoe finds himself looking to capture it once again in a Ladder War against his nemesis in Adam Cole. I love Ladder Wars and I also hate them. Most of the time, they are tough to watch and this is definitely the case here. The amount of unprotected chair shots these guys took to the head was too many to count. But you could feel the intensity here and the passion from both guys. They tore their bodies apart using tables, ladders, and chairs. Each spot more brutal than the next and while tough, it was still tons of fun to watch. Briscoe always tends to step up his game in these types of matches and he for sure brought the violence to this one. He got cut up early in the match and the blood kept flowing until the very end. The ending sequence may have been a bit too much as when Briscoe was ready to grab the belts hung up, Cole gave him the bird while on his back on the canvas. Briscoe then came down where he beat him down until Matt Hardy came to the scene and put a stop to things. Mark Briscoe then came out and looked to destroy Hardy by jumping off the huge ladder outside the ring through a table. But Michael Bennett comes out and drops Briscoe through the table! Jay was able to fight through everybody until Adam Cole beats Jay to the belts as he retains. Great war of a match until the cluster of a finish with all the interferences. If anyone has ever seen The Undertaker vs. Edge in a TLC match from 2008, this was the ROH version. Just on a much lesser scale and not as smoothly constructed. But all in all, it does not take away from what a cool main event that was.
Winner: Adam Cole
Rating: ****

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Not the best Supercard of Honor ever but it does live up to the name. Great matches from top to bottom with the three last final matches definitely being the highlights. Nothing here that was absolutely spectacular but there was still more great than good.
Rating: 8/10