ROH issued the following:
The anticipation for Ring of Honor’s inaugural Soaring Eagle Cup continues to build with the announcement of two star-studded first-round matches that exemplify the prestige of the eight-man, one-night tournament.
None other than the ROH World Champion, Cody, will compete for the Cup, as he faces the man he won the title from, Christopher Daniels. In the other first-round match that was announced, former ROH World Champion Jay Lethal takes on The Kingdom’s Matt Taven.
The best wrestling on the planet’s debut at the Soaring Eagle Casino in Mt. Pleasant, Mich., Oct. 28 certainly is shaping up to be a night of history-making, hard-hitting, high-flying action that no one in attendance will ever forget.
Other top stars signed to appear on the show include: Newly crowned ROH World Tag Team Champions The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley), and “The Last Real Man in Professional Wrestling” Silas Young, The Young Bucks’ Nick Jackson, Frankie Kazarian, and Flip Gordon.
The match between Cody and Daniels pits the No. 1 man in the sport against one of the all-time greatest competitors in ROH history, but it’s actually even more than that. The bad blood between these two runs deep, and capturing the Soaring Eagle Cup would be that much sweeter for each of them by having eliminated their hated rival in the first round.
Bitter over what he felt was a show of disrespect toward him by the crowd during the match in which he lost the ROH World Title to Cody at Best in the World in June, Daniels — along with his partner in “The Addiction, Frankie Kazarian — has demonstrated a ruthless streak, and it’s clear that he will stop at nothing to get his hand raised over Cody on Oct. 28. Daniels already has won one eight-man tournament this year, as he emerged victorious in the Decade of Excellence Tournament to earn a shot at then-ROH World Champion Adam Cole at the ROH 15th Anniversary show in March, and he went on to defeat Cole for the title.
Defeating Cody is a tall order for anyone, however — even one of ROH’s “Founding Fathers.” Since winning the ROH World Title from Daniels, the second-generation superstar and member of pro wrestling’s hottest faction, Bullet Club, has successfully defended his championship against all challengers — both in and out of ROH. Will Daniels be the next competitor Cody forces to kiss his “ring of Honor?”
The other announced first-round match features two of the most decorated competitors in ROH. In addition to having held the ROH World Championship for 427 days in 2015-2016, Lethal is a two-time former ROH World Television Champion and the only man to hold those titles simultaneously.
The world title is the only championship in ROH that has eluded Taven, who is a former ROH World Television Champion and ROH World Tag Team Champion, and his Kingdom won a tournament last year to crown the first ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions. Taven also won the ROH Top Prospect Tournament in 2013.
Who will square off in the remaining first-round Soaring Eagle Cup matches? Stay locked into ROHWrestling.com and ROH Social for more match announcements!
SOARING EAGLE CUP
Saturday, Oct 28, 2017 8:00pm EDT
Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort
6800 Soaring Eagle Blvd
Mt. Pleasant, Michigan 48858
