ROH Supercard of Honor 2023 Post-Show Media Scrum: Katsuyori Shibata, Athena, Mark Briscoe, Dante Martin, More

Ring of Honor owner Tony Khan held a media scrum following Friday’s ROH Supercard of Honor 2023 event in Los Angeles, California.

During his portion of the media scrum, Katsuyori Shibata gave his thoughts about defeating Wheeler Yuta for the ROH Pure Championship at the event and his current career goals for AEW and ROH. Shibata stated via his translator Michael Nakazawa :

“By winning this title, I feel like I got one step closer to making the chance to wrestle Bryan Danielson. Step by step …

I’m from New Japan, but I wrestle a lot here because I want to challenge myself and because of the pandemic, the crowd went silent and were small in Japan for New Japan. Staying there…I want to get my view wider and wrestle at many places. In AEW or ROH ring, there is a big dream. A wrestlers job is showing dreams to the fans. This is where I can make the dream come true. I keep wrestling after the injury, so many fans worry about my injury and condition, but I keep wrestling not to kill myself or die in the ring, but to keep living my life.”

On the topic of his status with ROH, Shibata stated that he currently not under contract with ROH but wants to continue to wrestle for the company.

During her portion of the media scrum, Athena stated that she is currently hopeful of being able to have a match with former WWE talent Naomi one day in ROH. Athena stated:

“Absolutely. Trin is one of my really good friends, we talk on a daily basis. When we both found out that we were in LA, it was really awesome. She is one of my very close friends and she wanted to come out and support. Very cool moment. I hope to have a match with her in the future, I never had the opportunity in WWE to have that match. Absolutely.”

On the topic of future opponents, Athena stated that her current goal is to wrestle Stardom talents, New Japan talents, Masha Slamovich, Mercedes Mone, Trish Adora, Toni Storm, and others. Athena also stated that she is currently open to any challenge that steps in her way and wants to take on the pressure to show that she can deliver in every single match.

During his portion of the media scrum, Mark Briscoe gave his thoughts about competing in his first ROH pay-per-view match since the passing of his brother Jay Briscoe this past January. Briscoe stated:

“May 20 would be 23 years that me and my brother had been professional wrestlers. It was the first time after we had the dog collar match with FTR at Final Battle, we had an indie show in Queens against Mane Event at House of Glory later in December. After that, it was the first time in so long that we didn’t have a match booked. We knew Supercard was coming and we knew we were going to be on Supercard defending the tag team titles, but we didn’t have anything on the indies. It was a strange moment of, as weird as it sounds, peace. My brother, when we had a match coming up, I don’t want this to sound wrong, but he didn’t have peace. He was always so ready to go. He called me up, ‘we gotta cut this promo, let’s put a tweet out,’ whatever it may be. This was a weird little season where we knew Supercard was a few months away, but we didn’t have a match yet. He was chilling. Jay Briscoe, this is no knock because of his passion, he was rarely chillin. He was always focused on the next match and next opponent and next promo. What was next was Supercard and it was yet to be known what Supercard was going to entail for the Briscoe Brothers. Here we are, Supercard wrapped up. We’re about winning, we’re about championships, we’re about making the family proud and the legacy.

One thing that I’m not going to do is sit here and pout. Samoa Joe is a hell of a fighter. If you think I’m done with Samoa Joe because he beat me tonight, you can forget about that. I can feel my brother. It’s not like I wonder about him because I can feel him. Even more so than before, ‘you always hear the commentary, the Briscoe Brothers, they don’t even have to speak words, they grunt and snarl and know what each other is talking about.’ Now, more than ever, Jay is in me. It might sound weird, but it’s the God’s honest truth. I felt him out there tonight, just like I do every day in my life, but especially when I’m between them ropes. That’s something we shared since we were three, four, five years old. Now, it’s like, where do we go from here? That’s where he’s like, ‘Pick yourself up, let’s go.’ It’s strange and I’m just starting to learn how this new thing works, but he’s right here with me.”

On the topic of which moment from his career with his late brother Jay was his favorite, Briscoe stated that he can’t choose since its like trying to chose which of his seven kids are his favorite. Briscoe did praise the matches he and his brother had with FTR in ROH.

On the topic of Dante Martin’s injury at the event, Khan stated that Martin was taken to the hospital following the match for medical treatment. Khan also stated that Martin’s brother Darius went with him and is currently at his side at the hospital. Khan also stated that he currently believes Martin will be out of action for “some time.”

On the topic of El Hijo del Vikingo, Khan praised Vikingo for his great work recently in AEW and ROH. Khan also stated that he is currently hopeful of being able to bring back Vikingo and Komander at some point the future.

On the topic of Goldberg, Khan stated that he is currently not interested in the idea of Goldberg potentially working for ROH but is open to the idea for AEW.

On the topic of Brian Cage’s status in ROH, Khan stated that he really likes Cage and would like him to stay in ROH if possible. Khan also praised The Embassy for their work in ROH.

On the topic of Nigel McGuinness status in ROH, Khan stated that he is currently looking forward to having talks with McGuinness for a potential contract with ROH. Khan stated that the reason why he brought in McGuinness for the event was due to him wanting to work together and introduce each other for the first time. Khan stated that this is part of his current vision to honor ROH’s past while evolving it for the future.

On the topic of ROH TV, Khan stated that the currently plan is for a hybrid taping schedule between Universal Studios and at AEW Dynamite tapings.

ROH Supercard of Honor 2023 post-show media scrum full video:

Source: PWInsider.com, Fightful.com 1, 2, & 3