ROH Summer Supercard will take place tomorrow, August 9th, from the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at 7:30 pm ET (12.30 PM BST the next day). The show will stream on FITE and for ROH HonorClub subscribers.
When Tasha Steelz put the entire Women of Honor locker room on notice last month, it was hard to take her too seriously. After all, she had only had a handful of matches in WOH over the past two years. The “Boricua Badass” quickly made good on her bold pronouncement, however. As seen on this past weekend’s episode of “Ring of Honor Wrestling,” Steelz won a Four Corner Survival Match to earn a title shot against WOH World Champion Kelly Klein at Summer Supercard on Aug. 9 in Toronto. In the No. 1 Contender’s Match, Steelz prevailed over six-time world champion Angelina Love, perennial contender Jenny Rose and up-and-coming competitor Stella Grey. After the match, when powerhouse newcomer Maria Manic entered the ring, Steelz showed no fear and stepped right up to her. Steelz proved that she is both dangerous and fearless. In Klein, however, Steelz will be facing a champion who thrives on competition. Klein, the only two-time WOH World Champion, recently surpassed the 100-day mark as the current titleholder. She has made it clear that she will defend her title anytime, anywhere against anyone. Will Klein thwart the hungry challenger? Or will Steelz pull off the upset and leave with the gold?
Despite their long tenures in ROH, Shelley and Taven have never had a singles match against one another, and they’ve only faced each other in tag matches a handful of times. Shelley shocked everyone a year ago by announcing that he was stepping away from pro wrestling. He resurfaced at the ROH TV taping in Philadelphia last month with another shocking announcement: Shelley said he was returning to the ring and he’s coming after the world championship. In his first match back, at Mass Hysteria, Shelley looked to be in great shape and showed no signs of ring rust. He teamed with Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham to defeat The Kingdom (Taven, TK O’Ryan and Vinny Marseglia) in the main event. Shelley scored the win for his team by forcing O’Ryan to tap out.
Shelley, who has been wrestling for 17 years but is still just 36, has won championships all over the world, including the ROH World Tag Team Title (with Chris Sabin as The Motor City Machine Guns), New Japan Pro Wrestling’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title (three times), X Division Title, and the heavyweight title for German promotion wXw. For all his success, however, Shelley has only received two shots at the ROH World Title. Shelley’s lack of world title opportunities is due largely to the fact that he has concentrated more on tag team wrestling than singles competition.
After a year off to recharge, Shelley believes the time is right to go for the richest prize in the sport. He’ll be facing a champion who continues to silence his doubters. Since winning the title at G1 Supercard in April before a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden, Taven has successfully defended it against two-time former ROH World Champion Jay Lethal and Kenny King in a Triple Threat Match, PCO, Jeff Cobb, Flip Gordon, Mark Haskins and Tracy Williams. He handed PCO and Cobb their only pinfall losses in ROH. Will Shelley make history in Toronto? Or will Taven turn back another challenger to his crown?
Here’s the complete card of the event:
- ROH World Championship Match: Matt Taven (c) vs. Alex Shelley
- ROH World Tag Team Championship Match: Guerrillas of Destiny vs. The Briscoes (c)
- ROH Women of Honor World Championship Match: Kelly Klein (c) vs. Tasha Steelz
- ROH World TV Championship Match: Shane Taylor (c) vs. Tracy Williams
- Caristico, Soberano Jr., and Stuka Jr. vs. Barbaro Cavernario, Hechicero, and Templario
- No DQ Match: RUSH vs. Dalton Castle
- Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham vs. Bandido & Mark Haskins
- TK O’Ryan & Vinny Marseglia vs. Brody King & PCO
- PJ Black vs. Silas Young
All pics courtesy of Ring of Honor