Welcome back to Wrestlemania Week-the annual grandest tradition for a professional wrestling fan. This week leading up to Wrestlemania has become a professional wrestling holiday. Throw a quarter in the air in New Orleans, Louisiana for the next seven days and you won’t help but hit a wrestler, a wrestling ring, a wrestling event or a wrestling fan.
As independent wrestling fans know, aside from all of the WWE-sponsored special events preceding The Big Show (that is, Wrestlemania, not the wrestler), there are dozens of other promotions running shows or wrestling-related activities.
Of course, Ring of Honor is involved in running shows on this weekend and for the second year in a row branding the Wrestlemania weekend showcase on Friday, April 4th at the Bayou Segnette Sports Complex as “Supercard of Honor”. Also there is a television taping in the same venue the following afternoon.
The term Supercard of Honor indicates Ring of Honor’s attempt to create a massive showcase of specialty matches and attractions worthy of taking place especially during the Wrestlemania weekend (though a few times Supercard has taken place outside of that time and place). It usually works. Supercard of Honor VIII seems to fit that description, though it took longer than usual (and longer than expected from some fans) to reveal the card for the weekend shows.
Fans did know about the main-event for the show long before the undercard-and clearly this match was meant to have that extra attention and hype because of the circumstances surrounding it.
ROH World Champion Adam Cole will wrestle the self-proclaimed “Real ROH World Champion” Jay Briscoe in a Ladder War match. Both the official ROH championship belt and Jay’s custom-made belt will be put up in the air and the person who can take a ladder and climb up to grab both titles will be the official, true, and rightful World Champion.
It is only the fifth time in the company’s history that a Ladder War will take place. It is one of the rarest stipulation matches the company has to offer. They are physical, oftentimes bloody and quite risky in nature for the wrestlers involved.
Jay Briscoe has participated in two previous Ladder War matches including the first one ever, but they were both tag team situations. Jay will have to wrestle this one without his long-time tag partner and brother Mark. This means the burden is on him directly. That’s okay though, because the burden was squarely on his shoulders last year, when he won the ROH World Title from Kevin Steen.
As most ROH fans know by now, the build to this match has been a long time coming, with Jay claiming he’s been the real champion ever since Cole won the title in a tournament held for the belt declared vacant due to Jay’s shoulder injury. Cole superkicked Jay in the back of the head after Jay presented him with the title.
Cole didn’t just turn heel and didn’t just attack from behind, he bashed Jay in the head with the newly won ROH World Title.
What fans may not realize is that while this moment may have begun the road to get to this match, Cole vs. Briscoe was inadvertent. It was a result of both Jay Briscoe’s lingering shoulder injuries and his ultimately not leaving for WWE around the summer of 2013. Jay and Mark Briscoe returned to the ROH fold during this time-frame and the new direction for Jay was the obvious one. Jay became a man fueled by the insistence (or by delusion) that because he never lost the title directly that this meant he was still the champion.
Jay Briscoe has defeated Adam Cole in matches twice in two months. First he put up his version of the title against Cole in the opener to State of the Art. He “defended” that title by pinning Cole after a Jay Driller. Then Jay pinned Cole clean in a tag team match just last week at Flyin’ High.
Two wins in a row gives the impression that Jay has Adam Cole’s number and pushes the idea that Cole won’t be able to take him at Ladder War. However, Cole doesn’t have to pin Jay to win the ladder match. He just has to beat him up enough to get to the title first.
Upon further reflection, that result, though it will unify the titles and create an “undisputed” champion, may not solve the dispute between the two men with any finality. Jay Briscoe would have one further argument-that he has never been pinned or submitted even still. It should be wondered then that, though both men go to war at Supercard of Honor VIII, if the war will truly be over at the end of the show.
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Also set up for Supercard of Honor 8 on Friday April 4th: Kevin Steen and Michael Elgin reprise their awesome in-ring adventures, with the winner moving on to wrestle IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada at War of the Worlds on May 17th; reDRagon, The Forever Hooligans of Alex Koslov and Rocky Romeo and the new tag team of Raymond Rowe & Hanson wrestle it out to determine who gets a an ROH World Tag Team Title shot at War of the Worlds; Mark Briscoe wrestles Michael Bennett in a no-disqualification match; Tomasso Ciampa defends the TV Title against Jay Lethal in a 2-out-3 falls match (a reprise from their Boiling Point 2012 effort where Ciampa was injured badly and soldiered on in amazing fashion); Cedric Alexander tries to prove he deserves Roderick Strong’s respect in a singles match; Matt Taven wrestles a mystery opponent of former manager Truth Martini’s choosing;
Currently announced for the ROH TV tapings on Saturday April 5th: a number of unique and first-time encounters main-evented by a six-man tag team WAR with Kevin Steen & The Briscoes teaming up (when did you think you’d ever see that?) to wrestle against the team of Adam Cole, Matt Hardy and Michael Bennett; Michael Elgin vs. Rocky Romero; Jay Lethal vs. Alex Koslov; Cedric Alexander vs. BJ Whitmer; Tomasso Ciampa vs. Roderick Strong; Andrew Everett vs. ACH.
Stay tuned for the newest episode of Podcast of Honor which will be released this week (or may be available already) with myself, Chris GST and Jerome Cusson previewing the full event cards for both ROH’s Supercard event and the TV tapings.