6 Ups & 2 Downs From ROH Supercard Of Honor 2024

by Michael Sidgwick

1. Main Event Is Nothing Short Of Perfect

Mark Briscoe beat Eddie Kingston for the ROH World title in a match that can only be described using one word: perfect.

Tony Khan bought the rights to Give Me Back By Bullets by Lynyrd Skynyrd, stationed Papa Briscoe at ringside, and was never not going to strap Mark up. What was so awesome about this match is that, through those two choices, it deepened the sense that Mark couldn't lose - who would want him to?! - and yet it was so well executed that it never once felt like a formality. Kingston played situational heel to superb effect. He's just so great on that authentic level few others share (Briscoe is one of them, incidentally).

When Eddie got hot and threw a chair in Mark's direction, it was easy to believe that he'd snapped because he's capable of snapping. He's done that before, once too often, and that's why he needed desperately to hold onto the ROH title. He spent too many years screwing up on the path towards it. Mark juiced an absolutely gusher, and Eddie was magnificent in drawing more from the wound and making the wound feel anything like a superficial run of the razor. A real sense of distress laced the match. These two men are just levels above. Even during a simple and familiar chop exchange, of which there were many, they proved it.

The steady, mature determination in Eddie's approach. The sheer indefatigable energy of Mark's lunging replies. Eddie pulling down the straps because he knew he had to dig deeper, how long he took to do it because his chest was so tender. They told the story perfectly through the chop exchange before the big bomb trade-off spiked the electricity of a crowd that didn't care how knackered they were. They were red-hot for this, but if anybody felt themselves drifting, the noise of the chops would have woken them. They were disgusting. Beautiful. Mark won with the Jay Driller.

It was the perfect finish to a perfect, emotionally powerful match that was more dramatic than it had any right to be.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!