Zayda Steel’s rise in Ring of Honor moved quickly from a pre-show introduction to one of the promotion’s biggest stages. Less than half a year after making her ROH debut at Final Battle, Steel was competing in the main event of Supercard of Honor with the ROH Women’s World Championship at stake.
That rapid progression brought an understandable mix of anticipation and nerves for Steel, who entered the first-ever Women’s Survival of the Fittest Match. Speaking on Muscle Memory, Steel described the occasion as a surreal milestone, especially because it marked both her first pay-per-view appearance and her first time wrestling in a main event.
“It felt surreal,” Steel said. “I had to have my mentor [Christopher Daniels] rep me out as such. He repped me out on the indies. Would he not do it on a live pay-per-view, my first pay-per-view? I was first eliminated. We’re not going to talk about that, but it was first pay-per-view jitters. It was my first time main-eventing. I was a kid in a candy store.”
From Final Battle pre-show to Supercard of Honor main event
Steel’s ROH journey began last December, when she appeared on the Final Battle pre-show. Five months later, she had a chance to challenge for the company’s top women’s prize in a match designed around endurance, survival and the ability to seize an opening under pressure.
For more background on this topic, read Steph De Lander Embraces ROH Opportunity, Addresses TNA Exit and Contract Status.
The Women’s Survival of the Fittest Match featured six competitors, with the championship only available to the wrestler who outlasted the entire field. For Steel, the stipulation meant there was no gradual easing into the pressure of the night. Every participant entered with the same goal: remain in the match longer than five other wrestlers and leave as ROH Women’s World Champion.
Athena entered the bout as defending champion, and her presence was a major factor in Steel’s night. Steel became the first wrestler eliminated after Athena sent her crashing through a chair. Athena ultimately retained the ROH Women’s World Championship, last eliminating Maya World to close the match.
Steel did not get the long title-match run she had hoped for, and she was candid in joking about being the first participant out. Still, her recollection makes clear that the result did not overshadow the broader significance of the moment. The match was her first ROH pay-per-view, her first pay-per-view main event, and a major opportunity to perform in a championship setting.
Christopher Daniels’ role in a career milestone
One especially meaningful part of Steel’s Supercard of Honor experience was the involvement of Christopher Daniels. Steel identified Daniels as her mentor and recalled that he introduced her on the independent scene. Having him do the same for her first live pay-per-view gave the occasion a personal connection beyond the championship match itself.
For a wrestler reaching a new level of visibility, familiar support can be significant. Steel’s comments did not focus only on the anxiety that came with the event; they also highlighted her excitement at sharing a defining step with someone who had been present earlier in her career. Her “kid in a candy store” description captured the enthusiasm of a performer taking in a new environment while still processing the scale of the opportunity.
That enthusiasm also puts her brief elimination in context. Steel did not present the night as a disappointment despite the result. Instead, she framed it as a case of first-pay-per-view jitters during an unprecedented personal milestone. The nerves were part of the experience, but so was the excitement of reaching the main-event level in ROH so soon after her debut.
Athena survives the inaugural match
The inaugural Women’s Survival of the Fittest Match offered a difficult path to the title, and Athena proved capable of navigating it. Her elimination of Steel through a chair established the champion’s physical edge early in the contest. By the end of the match, Athena had also eliminated Maya World, preserving her reign as ROH Women’s World Champion.
For Steel, drawing the defending champion’s attention immediately was a harsh introduction to pay-per-view title-match competition. Athena’s victory ensured that the championship remained with the wrestler who entered the match holding it, while Steel’s first elimination made her experience one of sudden adjustment rather than a prolonged battle for the finish.
Yet the structure of Survival of the Fittest means every wrestler is placed in a high-pressure situation. It is not simply a one-on-one match where a challenger can focus on a single opponent or build toward a conventional finishing sequence. Six wrestlers are attempting to survive, and one mistake or one impactful attack can alter the entire contest. Steel’s chair crash at Athena’s hands was decisive, but it was also part of the volatile environment created by the match’s format.
The fact that Steel was in that environment at all remains notable. A debut on the Final Battle pre-show and a pay-per-view main event within five months are markedly different positions on an ROH card. Steel’s presence in the title match showed that she was included in a marquee championship scenario during a pivotal event.
Steel on working for Tony Khan
Steel currently wrestles for both ROH and AEW, promotions run by Tony Khan. In the same interview, she spoke warmly about Khan’s enthusiasm for professional wrestling and said that shared passion is part of what makes the working relationship enjoyable for her.
“He’s literally the biggest wrestling fan,” Steel said of Khan. “He is. He loves it. I’ll listen to him like in Gorilla react to the [moves]. He’s in love with wrestling there. I love wrestling. So it’s great working for him. He loves this just like I do. And what you see is what you get with Tony.”
Steel’s remarks paint Khan as someone whose affection for the product is visible behind the scenes as well as in his role running AEW and ROH. Her reference to hearing his reactions in Gorilla focused on his immediate engagement with what is happening in the ring. For Steel, that apparent investment resonates because she described herself as someone who loves wrestling too.
Her comments also connect the scale of the Supercard of Honor moment with the atmosphere surrounding the companies where she performs. Steel’s first ROH pay-per-view main event was not treated by her as simply another booking. It was a chance to compete for a major championship in front of a live pay-per-view audience, under the umbrella of a promoter she sees as deeply invested in wrestling.
A formative night despite the early exit
There is an honesty to Steel’s memory of Supercard of Honor. She does not ignore that she was the first elimination, nor does she try to turn the result into something it was not. Athena eliminated her, retained the title, and Steel’s time in the Women’s Survival of the Fittest Match ended earlier than she wanted.
But a wrestler’s first experience at a new level is not defined solely by the final result. Steel’s own account emphasizes the range of emotions attached to the event: nerves, excitement, gratitude toward her mentor and the feeling of being overwhelmed in the best possible way by a first pay-per-view main event.
Her ROH timeline has already included two very different landmarks. Final Battle gave her a debut on a pre-show. Supercard of Honor gave her a spot in the main event and an opportunity to contend for the ROH Women’s World Championship. The latter ended with Athena’s chair-assisted elimination, but it also gave Steel a firsthand taste of championship-level stakes on a major ROH event.
Steel’s description of the night as surreal is fitting. In five months, she went from introducing herself to the ROH audience to standing in an inaugural Survival of the Fittest Match with the promotion’s women’s title on the line. Even with first-pay-per-view jitters and an early exit, the experience was one she clearly viewed as a memorable step forward.
In pictures
Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.