ROH SUPERCARD OF HONOR XII [Preview]: Bullet Club is…

…certainly NOT fine. Just yesterday, the world’s biggest heel in professional wrestling also pulled the world’s biggest troll-job; Cody announced that the classic Bullet Club logo will be retiring, with a new logo set to unveil next week. Dick. Despite my initial thoughts of the whole “gun regulation” thing that no one sporting BC gear seems to blink at — you know, despite a logo skull crossed with AR-15’s and shell casings — I can’t imagine all that Hot Topic money the Young Bucks so triumphantly earned going to waste. Remember, the nWo only altered its O.G. logo from black and white to black and red, so there’s no way the B.C. logo changes form unless there’s any sort of pressure from Japan (which doesn’t have a gun problem and would likely give zero shits about the “dangers” of the logo). That said, we’re missing the fuckin’ point with this match. Cody v Kenny Omega has the potential to be the best match of the weekend, and — thus far — it’s certainly the most hyped, arguably more-so than AJ Styles and Nakamura. Even if NXT TakeOver: New Orleans looks like the far better Saturday Night show on paper, the main event at Supercard of Honor 12 should be enough to sway one mark’s preference in the Ring of Honor direction.

PREDICTION: Oh, fuck. If Cody, known more for his inside-and-outside-the-ring antics, brash heel persona and smoking hot wife than pure wrestling pedigree, can have great matches with Okada and Ibushi, there’s no question the son of a plumber can rock the house with the “GOD of Wrestling”. I feel like Cody, being ROH royalty, will steal this 4.5-Bible Match (which will easily garner him the highest grades of his career), finally putting him on the wrestling plateau he so desperately needs all the while building towards a possible Chicago Street Fight or steel cage rematch at All In.

-Travis Moody

As a full-fledged member of the Villain Club, I’m loving that the Villain is finally getting a shot at the World Title. Unfortunately, I don’t see a reason to put the strap on Scurll. I mean, BULLET CLUB IS FINE. Cody is unveiling a new logo and all things are peachy. Dalton Castle hasn’t had time to flourish in his role as champion yet, although he did put on a great match against Jay Lethal at 16th Anniversary. I think Castle needs a few more great matches under his belt before he drops it (no pun intended). Putting him against Marty Scurll should give him another great match, and it would cause quite a spot of bother in Bullet Club if The Villain walked out of Supercard of Honor your NEW ROH World Champion. Would that catapult Scurll into position as a possible leader of the group? I mean, the man with the title makes the rules right? No, no, no. Bullet Club is fine and that’s all nonsense.

PREDICTION: With the Boys outside to make sure the Biz Cliz doesn’t get involved in this one, we’ll see another great match from Castle, another Bangarang and another successful title defense.

-Shawn Puff

Speaking of everything “fine” in the Bullet Club, this contest should be an action-packed spot-fest. This 6-man title match is only happening because The Kingdom were taken off the card due to their recent behavior and are barred from ringside. I expect some insane spots between 6 guys that know each other oh-so-very well. Obviously, Taven and Co. will make their presence felt in some way and, to the dismay of Cody, I also wouldn’t be surprised if Flip Gordon officially joins the BC at Supercard Of Honor XII as well (maybe Flip will face Cody at All In?). This has all the makings of a show-stealer, even the most exciting match of the weekend–which is a pretty insane thought.

PREDICTION: The “Flippy Bucks” will be the victors in this one despite The Kingdom doing their damnedest to prevent that from happening.

-Tony Valenti

Back in September we saw Kenny King get his first Television title reign when he defeated Kushida. Since then, Kenny has been nothing short of dominate, despite his loss of the title to Silas Young in a fatal four-way match at Final Battle In New York. He quickly went to work to get it back, doing so in February on ROH TV to become a 2x TV Champ. Of course, the “Last Real Man” would like nothing more than to get his hands on that belt for a second time, as well, come Mania Weekend’s Saturday night in an aptly named Last Man Standing match (no DQ, no rules). This plays right into Silas’ favor. I mean, does anyone NOT expect to see the Beer City Bruiser and Brian Milonas get involved somehow?

PREDICTION: I expect the Collector of Belts to be somewhere close by to make sure it turns out fair since he’s already stated his claim for the title. That said, Kenny King should the last man standing, standing face-to-face with the Greatest Man To Ever Live.. that is.

-Shawn Puff

The Briscoes have returned to proving smarks that they are the best tag team in Ring of Honor, if not in all of wrestling. Having unleashed a violent side not seen in years on their way to a ninth Ring of Honor World Tag Team Championship (!!), Mark and Jay Briscoe will face two of the biggest singles champions in the history of ROH and New Japan Pro Wrestling, respectively. They have a history, as well. Jay Lethal and Hiroshi Tanahashi have formed a mutual respect and a friendship that has crossed international waters over the last few years. The duo teamed with KUSHIDA and Michael Elgin twice in the fall of 2016 to twice defeat Los Ingobernables de Japon before teaming with Juice Robinson at Honor Rising 2017. The two have teamed-up once before and did so in Dearborn as part of last year’s War of the Worlds Tour against War Machine.

PREDICTION: Despite one of the greatest ROH World Champions ever in Jay Lethal and the Ace of the Universe in Tanahashi forming a Super Marvel Team-Up, they meet the Greatest Tag Team in ROH history. I find it difficult to see any tag team–especially one of two individual Superstars–beating The Briscoes. It might have to come down to a new pair in needing of a push for Delaware’s Finest to drop the straps, perhaps not all the way until Final Battle.

-Philip Abraham

Bullet Club is perfectly fine, folks. Every Hot Topic has merch with the new logo ready to go. And Hangman is on a winning streak! I mean, except for when he challenged Switchblade Jay White for the US Championship at Strong Style Evolved. And when he showed up at Bar Wrestling to take out the “Penis Pretender.” But this is absolutely going to be his night, right? It’s not like ROH has a history of jobbing out their talent to NJPW stars or anything…

PREDICTION: Yeah, Ibushi is winning this. I’ve said for a while that Page has been doing great work that’s being overshadowed by everyone else in his stable. Paired with Kota Ibushi who can make anyone look good, this has the potential to be a 4-Bible match.

-Destiny Edwards

Has Ishii ever been involved in a bad singles match? If so, not too many come to mind. I can’t fault the rest of the Apostles for not wanting to pick this match to write about, though, despite the Strong Styled underdog prowess of the Stone Pitbull– for Punishment Martinez has been a mostly hit-or-miss talent. But hey.. I thought the guy made up for that terrible blunder from Manhattan Mayhem with a very solid outting against the Villain at 16th Anniversary. If nothing else, both of these guys like to work stiff; between Martinez’ deathly high-spots and Ishii being way over no matter what, this might be just enough of a hard-hitting crowd-pleaser to set off a superb night of action.

PREDICTION: Although the general rule is to put over the New Japan guy (since, in NJPW’s eyes, ROH might be “lucky” enough to borrow said company’s talents), I just don’t see both Ibushi and Ishii winning. Punishment needs a win like he needs some crowd heat, so beating Ishii may finally give the guy the credibility he so sorely needs.

-Travis Moody

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