This week’s Ring of Honor hyped up Saturday’s Final Battle pay-per-view by featuring World Champion Bandido vs. PJ Black in a non-title match (with a twist) and Willow vs. Mandy Leon in a ROH Women’s title number one contender’s match.
Willow defeated Mandy Leon (w/ Angelina Love) in an ROH Women’s World title no. 1 contender’s match (11:30)
Current champion Rok-C was on commentary for this bout.
Leon tried to ground Willow as soon as the bell rang, but was met with strength and resilience from the “Power Babe.” After the two traded a few strikes, action spilled to the ringside area. Leon tossed Willow into the barricade right before the first ad break.
Leon was stomping on Willow in the corner when the match returned before applying a headlock in the center of the ring. Leon stayed true to her strategy of grounding Willow to the mat, but was still met with strong resistance.
Leon took a breather and allowed Willow to climb back into the match, hitting a momentum-changing spinebuster on Leon. Willow followed it up with a cannonball in the corner before going to the top rope and attempting a moonsault. However, she missed as Leon moved out of the way at the last second. Leon tried to capitalize shortly thereafter with a running dropkick, followed by an Astro Projection, but Willow kicked out of a pin attempt at the last second.
The finish was really overdone and didn’t need to happen. Leon called for Love to get a chair, but Quinn McKay ran down to the ring to stop Love from helping Leon. The rest of the women’s roster, separated by heels and faces, ran down and had a tug of war over this chair. Max The Impaler came down separately, threw Love into the heels, and seemed to turn face. Willow then struck Leon with a superkick and a Babe Bomb for the win.
Willow will challenge Rok-C for the title at Final Battle.
ROH World Champion Bandido (w/ Rey Horus) defeated PJ Black (w/ Flip Gordon) by DQ in a non-title match (6:03)
In a pre-match promo, Black hypnotized Gordon by saying that when he clapped twice, he would become “The Mercenary” again.
Black and Bandido wrestled to a stalemate early on with neither gaining a real advantage, despite having multiple wrestling exchanges that were very good. Bandido and Black eventually made their way on the apron where they traded a few strikes before hitting the floor.
Black showed frustration and asked Gordon to punch Bandido, but Gordon said that wasn’t “honorable.” When Black clapped twice, Gordon nailed Bandido with a punch, therefore awarding the win to Bandido by disqualification.
Referee Todd Sinclair discussed this with both “sides” before then making the encounter a tag team match.
Mexisquad (ROH World Champion Bandido & Rey Horus) defeated PJ Black & Flip Gordon (6:56)
Horus was isolated by Black and Gordon early on thanks to frequent tags. Gordon hit a Kinder Surprise that warranted a close two count into a commercial break.
As soon as the bout returned from the break, Horus nailed Black with a tornado DDT off the top rope. Instead of attempting a pin, Horus sprinted and tagged Bandido in. Bandido immediately planted two kicks to the midsections of both Black and Gordon which sent them stumbling to the outside of the ring. Bandido then assisted Horus with a lift-up dive to the outside while the “Most Wanted” prepared to hit a frog splash on Gordon once he was rolled back in the ring by Horus. When the move was hit, Gordon kicked out at the last moment.
Once Black regained his composure, he rushed the ring and isolated Horus again. After instructing Gordon to lift Horus up on his shoulders, Black went to the top rope and hit a South African Destroyer with the assist from Gordon, but the pin was broken up by Bandido.
The finish came quickly after with Bandido hitting a top rope Spanish fly on Black before following it up with a 21-Plex for the win.
Final Thoughts:
This week’s episode featured two very illogical booking finishes, but some good wrestling. I genuinely felt like I was watching a WWE pay-per-view. Although it was nice to see Willow win, the end of the match was completely unnecessary. I could have done without any of the Mexisquad/Black & Gordon stuff as well. My rating for this week’s episode is Avoid at all Costs.
The Women’s World Championship match for ROH’s Final Battle pay-per-view is now set.
On the latest edition of ROH TV, Willow Nightingale defeated Mandy Leon in a number one contender’s match. Willow will challenge Rok-C for the ROH Women’s World Championship at Final Battle this Saturday (December 11).
Willow and Leon both won triple threat matches to advance to the number one contender’s bout. Willow defeated Miranda Alize and Angelina Love, while Leon defeated Trish Adora and Allysin Kay.
Rok-C became the inaugural ROH Women’s World Champion by defeating Alize in the finals of a tournament at Death Before Dishonor this September.
A six-man tag team match with Brody King, Homicide & Tony Deppen facing Tracy Williams, Taylor Rust & Eli Isom has also been added to Final Battle.
Final Battle is being held at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore. The show will mark the end of an era for ROH. After Final Battle, ROH will go on hiatus for the first quarter of 2022 to “reimagine” the company. ROH talent won’t have their contracts renewed following the PPV.
Final Battle Hour One will stream for free on HonorClub, YouTube, and Facebook starting at 7 p.m. Eastern time this Saturday. The main card will then begin on HonorClub and PPV at 8 p.m. Eastern.
Here’s the updated card for the show:
ROH World Champion Bandido defends against Jonathan Gresham
ROH Women’s World Champion Rok-C defends against Willow Nightingale
ROH Tag Team Champions The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) defend against The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe)
ROH Pure Champion Josh Woods defends against Brian Johnson
Shane Taylor vs. Kenny King
Brody King, Homicide & Tony Deppen vs. Tracy Williams, Taylor Rust & Eli Isom
ROH Television Champion Dalton Castle defends against an opponent to be announced
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Shane Taylor Promotions (Moses, Kaun & O’Shay Edwards) defend against The Righteous (Vincent, Bateman & Dutch)
An ROH Six-Man Tag Team title match is the latest addition to the card for Final Battle.
On today’s edition of ROH Week By Week, it was announced that Shane Taylor Promotions (Moses, Kaun & O’Shay Edwards) will defend the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles against The Righteous (Vincent, Bateman & Dutch) at Final Battle. The pay-per-view is taking place at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore on Saturday, December 11.
Edwards, who is a member of Shane Taylor Promotions, is a substitute for Shane Taylor in the Six-Man Tag Team title match. Taylor is facing Kenny King in a singles match at Final Battle.
Shane Taylor Promotions have held the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles since winning them from Bandido, Flamita & Rey Horus this February.
Vincent has previously held the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles three times. All of those reigns came when he was a member of The Kingdom.
Before Final Battle, Shane Taylor Promotions (Taylor, Moses & Kaun) will have a Six-Man Tag Team title defense against Violence Unlimited (Homicide, Chris Dickinson & Tony Deppen). That match will premiere on ROH’s YouTube channel on Thursday, December 9.
Final Battle is ROH’s final show before the promotion goes on hiatus for the first quarter of 2022. ROH talent won’t have their contracts renewed after the PPV.
Here’s the updated Final Battle card:
ROH World Champion Bandido defends against Jonathan Gresham
ROH Women’s Champion Rok-C defends against Willow Nightingale or Mandy Leon (Willow and Leon will face off in a number one contender’s match on the Saturday, December 4 episode of ROH TV)
ROH Tag Team Champions The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) defend against The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe)
ROH Pure Champion Josh Woods defends against Brian Johnson
Shane Taylor vs. Kenny King
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Shane Taylor Promotions (Moses, Kaun & O’Shay Edwards) defend against The Righteous (Vincent, Bateman & Dutch)
Quinn McKay welcomed us to the show from the ROH studio and ran down the three match card for tonight’s show: Danhausen & PCO vs. The Briscoes, Jay Lethal vs. EC3, and a ROH World Women’s Championship match between Rok-C and Gia Scott.
The Briscoes defeated Danhausen and PCO (8:54)
Mark Briscoe distracted Danhausen as soon as the bell rang by grabbing Danhausen’s jar of teeth. Danhausen tried to argue with Mark, but was met with a right hand. Danhausen tagged out and instructed PCO to come in, which tempted Jay Briscoe to come in and exchange strikes with the big man.
When the break returned, Danhausen was being isolated by frequent tags from the Briscoe brothers. When Danhausen was able to make the hot tag, PCO malfunctioned and allowed the Briscoes to keep on the attack.
As the match went on, Danhausen came back in and poured the jar of teeth into Mark’s mouth before delivering a running kick — sending the teeth flying everywhere. When Danhausen tried to chokeslam Mark, PCO came in and helped complete the move. After the move, PCO malfunctioned again and the two partners got into a shoving match.
PCO was going to walk off to the back when Sledge appeared out of nowhere and the two began to fight into the ringside area. Danhausen was left without a partner, which resulted in a Jay-Driller on the pile of the teeth — allowing the Briscoes to pick up the win.
ROH Women’s World Champion Rok-C defeated Gia Scott in a title match (9:06)
Scott taunted Rok-C with the size difference early on as the two women exchanged shoulder tackles. Rok-C was dominated until she was able to string a series of moves that turned into a rolling pin that almost got her the three count. Rok-C tried to do a springboard arm-drag but lost her balance mid-move.
Scott continued her dominance, but began to lose control. Rok-C tried to apply a guillotine lock but Scott drove her right into the middle turnbuckle. Rok-C was unphased and tried to continue her onslaught of offense, but was bulldozed out of mid-air when attempting a standing moonsault.
In the final stages of the bout, Scott taunted Rok-C in the corner and was looking for a running maneuver. When she attempted it, Rok-C caught her with a knee to the face and followed it up with a cross face — which made Scott submit.
EC3 defeated Jay Lethal (15:11)
Lethal was overwhelmed by EC3 early on and rolled to the outside into the first commercial break.
Lethal looked like he had lost his confidence as he climbed back in the ring, but instead immediately turned on the jets and nailed EC3 with a dropkick. Although Lethal hit a few moves afterwards, he wasn’t able to sustain his momentum and EC3 took control shortly after.
After another short break, EC3 was still dominating Lethal after delivering a few chops in the corner. EC3 bent down on one knee and began “preaching” to Lethal — which lit a fire underneath “The Franchise” and gave him a second wind.
Both men went to the top rope and brawled before spilling the arena floor separately. After almost being counted out, both Lethal and EC3 rolled back in the ring and began to exchange strikes. Lethal hit a Lethal Combination, followed by a top-rope elbow drop. Lethal didn’t stop there and decided to attempt a Lethal Injection, but was ultimately stopped because his “I don’t like the Foundation” video was played on the video screen. EC3 used this as a distraction and locked in his signature “The Purpose” submission, causing Lethal to tap.
Next Week:
Taylor Rust vs. Chris Dickinson
Mandy Leon vs. Willow – ROH Women’s Title Number One Contender’s match
PJ Black vs. Bandido
Final Thoughts: This week’s episode of ROH TV was largely fine, but didn’t feature any standout matches or key storyline developments heading into the Final Battle pay-per-view that is only two weeks away.
ROH has added a new title match to the card for Final Battle.
Josh Woods will defend his ROH Pure Championship against Brian Johnson at Final Battle, which takes place at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore on Saturday, December 11. The pay-per-view will mark an end of an era for ROH as the promotion then goes on hiatus to “reimagine” the company in the first quarter of 2022. ROH talent won’t have their contracts renewed after Final Battle.
Woods won the Pure title from Jonathan Gresham at Death Before Dishonor this September. Gresham, who moved to the World Championship division after losing the Pure title, will challenge for Bandido’s ROH World Championship in the main event of Final Battle.
Johnson defeated John Walters in a Pure Rules match on the latest episode of ROH TV. ROH is hyping up Johnson’s match against Woods at Final Battle as one of the dirtiest wrestlers in the promotion challenging for the Pure wrestling title.
The updated card for Final Battle is listed below:
ROH World Champion Bandido defends against Jonathan Gresham
ROH Women’s Champion Rok-C defends against Willow Nightingale or Mandy Leon (Willow and Leon will face off in a number one contender’s match on the Saturday, December 4 episode of ROH TV)
ROH Tag Team Champions The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) defend against The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe)
ROH Pure Champion Josh Woods defends against Brian Johnson
Shane Taylor vs. Kenny King
Shane Taylor Promotions (Moses, Kaun & O’Shay Edwards) will defend the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles
ROH has also announced that, during the week leading into Final Battle, they’ll be uploading Road to Final Battle matches on their YouTube channel each day. Those matches are:
Monday, December 6: Jonathan Gresham vs. Dragon Lee
Tuesday, December 7: ROH Television Champion Dalton Castle & Dak Draper vs. PJ Black & Flip Gordon
Wednesday, December 8: Caprice Coleman vs. Beer City Bruiser
Thursday, December 9: ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Moses & Kaun) defend against Violence Unlimited (Homicide, Chris Dickinson & Tony Deppen)
Host Quinn McKay joined us from the ROH studio and ran down the three match card for tonight’s show that includes a Pure Rules match between Brian Johnson and John Walters, a contenders three way bout between Allysin Kay, Mandy Leon and Trish Adora, and a ROH Television Championship match between current champ Dragon Lee and Dalton Castle.
Brian Johnson defeated John Walters in a Pure Rules match (11:30)
This match never really clicked or reached that second level that I was hoping it would reach.
The match started with a Walters takedown before abruptly going to commercial break only a few seconds in.
When the bout returned, Walters had Johnson trying to avoid the onslaught of strikes he was delivering. Walters molded his strategy to take down Johnson to the mat and continue with a heavy emphasis on the arm. Johnson eventually found a way out of the ring and took a moment to recover.
Walters climbed to the top turnbuckle, but was knocked out by the “Mecca”. Johnson saw an opportunity and planted Walters with a draping neckbreaker for a two count. A cobra clutch was applied shortly afterwards by Johnson as the match went into another break.
As the match returned, Johnson used a closed fist and received a warning. This gave Walters an opportunity to will his way back into the match, hitting a series of clotheslines and focusing on the arm of Johnson again. As the match approached the 10 minute mark, Walters applied a few different submissions that would force Johnson to use all three of his allowed rope breaks.
As the match reached the final stages, Johnson was able to sneak in a poke to the eyes of Walters. After that, Walters tripped onto Johnson’s knee and was effectively knocked out. Johnson lifted him up and hit his signature neckbreaker before pinning him afterwards.
Mandy Leon (with Angelina Love) defeated Allysin Kay (with Marti Belle) and Trish Adora in a Contender’s Match (6:58)
Chelsea Green joined commentary for this match.
This was fine, but way too short. The result was also frustrating.
Leon retreated from the ring as soon as the bell rang, leaving Kay and Adora to fight it out. Kay applied a headlock to Adora and worked her to the mat. When Adora began to fight back, Leon came in and tried to take out both women, but failed.
Kay and Adora began working together to take down Leon, but seemed to struggle. There was a cool sequence where Kay cinched in a kimura lock on Leon while Adora worked on the ankle, but the hold broke down quickly after Kay and Adora traded strikes in the submission.
Kay positioned Adora on the top turnbuckle and was looking for a superplex, but Leon came to pick the bones again and turned it into a powerbomb combination. Adora rolled to the outside and looked to be in pain, causing the referee to get distracted and check on her. While this was happening, Love came in and clocked Kay with a forearm strike, allowing Leon to hit her signature pumphandle driver for the win.
Leon will face Willow in the coming weeks to determine Rok-C’s championship challenger at Final Battle.
Dalton Castle defeated Dragon Lee to capture the ROH Television Championship (11:34)
Dak Draper joined commentary for this bout.
This was a great championship main event bout and even seemed to re-ignite the “old” Dalton Castle.
Castle tried to take Lee off his feet but would be met with hard resilience and speed. Castle wrestled back with a speed that he normally doesn’t perform at anymore, controlling the waist of Lee.
When the match returned, Castle planted Lee with a German suplex before following it up with a kick to the face. The bout spilled to the outside and went awry quickly when Lee clotheslined Castle over the barricade but when Lee went to attempt a dive, Castle’s “boys” got in the way and took the dive.
Both competitors made their way back to the ring and Lee looked for the Incinerator knee strike, but Castle turned him inside out with a clothesline. Lee popped up quickly and looked for another knee strike when Kenny King came down to the ring. King almost got involved but was stopped by Shane Taylor Promotions. When the referee was distracted, Draper ran in from commentary and pushed Lee into Castle, who hit the Bang-A-Rang for the cover and the three count.
Next week:
Rok C vs. Gia Scott – ROH Women’s Championship match
Jay Lethal vs. EC3
Final Thoughts: This week’s episode of ROH TV featured some good in-ring action, but also a few questionable finishes. There’s not much benefit to Mandy Leon winning the contender’s match as Adora or Kay deserved that spot much more. Castle winning the TV title is a-ok in my book, but I’m unsure of where Lee and LFI (minus Kenny King) fit in on the Final Battle card.
This week’s episode of ROH TV is: Recommended Viewing
The following contains spoilers for this week’s Ring of Honor TV episode.
On the new Ring of Honor TV episode that began airing on Sinclair affiliates and several regional sports affiliates this weekend, Dalton Castle defeated Dragon Lee for the TV title.
As has been the case in recent months, no fans were in attendance at the set of tapings where the title match took place.
This is the first TV title reign for Castle and his third ROH title overall as he previously held the World title and the Six-Man titles with The Boys.
Lee held the title for more than 100 days after defeating Tony Deppen in July at Best in the World. He only defended it once, defeating Eli Isom as part of a TV taping that aired in the late-summer. Lee and Kenny King lost the Tag Team titles to Matt Taven and Mike Bennett at this month’s Honor for All special, leaving him beltless for the first time in ROH this year.
The company has one final event left this year with next month’s Final Battle pay-per-view. After that, ROH will go dark for three months as they evaluate how to navigate their future.
We will have a full report of the match and TV show on Monday following its debut on Honor Club.
Two championship matches have been made official for ROH’s end of an era Final Battle pay-per-view.
The ROH World Championship will be on the line as Bandido defends against Jonathan Gresham at Final Battle on Saturday, December 11. An ROH Tag Team title match has also been confirmed for the PPV, with Matt Taven & Mike Bennett defending against The Briscoes.
Gresham announced last month that he was leaving ROH’s Pure division and entering the World title division. He was set up as Bandido’s challenger for Final Battle by defeating Brody King at Honor for All on Sunday.
Bandido won the ROH World Championship from Rush at Best in the World this July.
Taven & Bennett defeated Kenny King & Dragon Lee to win the ROH Tag Team titles at Honor for All. On ROH Week By Week, Taven called The Briscoes the greatest tag team in ROH history and said that, if this is the end, there would be no greater honor than facing them at Final Battle.
ROH is going on hiatus after Final Battle and taking the first quarter of 2022 to reimagine the company. Talent won’t have their contracts renewed after Final Battle and are able to work wherever they want immediately.
Final Battle is taking place at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore. Here’s the updated card for the PPV:
ROH World Champion Bandido defends against Jonathan Gresham
ROH Tag Team Champions The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) defend against The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe)
Quinn McKay joined us from the ROH studio and welcomed the fans to the show. McKay ran down tonight’s three-match card that features a six-man tag between The Righteous and The Foundation, a singles bout between Caprice Coleman and Beer City Bruiser, and a tag match pitting PJ Black & Flip Gordon against The OGK.
Caprice Coleman defeated Ken Dixon (w/ Brawler Milonas and Beer City Bruiser) by DQ
Although Caprice Coleman’s opponent was supposed to be Beer City Bruiser, he pulled out of the match at the last second and gave the opportunity to Dixon. Bruiser stated that if Coleman beat Dixon, he could have a shot at him.
Coleman and Dixon went right to a collar-and-elbow tie-up that nobody got the advantage from. Coleman was in control of the bout until Brawler Milonas distracted the ref, allowing Bruiser to interfere. Dixon hit a fallaway slam that took us into a commercial break.
When the show returned, Coleman started to fire up and took Dixon down with a few running clotheslines. Bruiser got involved again and slowed down the momentum of Coleman for a moment, but a second wind was found by Coleman as he hit a Cobra Clutch leg sweep takedown. When Coleman went for the pin, Bruiser interfered again and punched him in the mouth, bringing the match to an end by disqualification.
The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) defeated PJ Black & Flip Gordon
There was a pre-match segment where Flip Gordon’s memory loss issues with PJ Black continued.
Gordon and Matt Taven started the match. Taven tried to talk some sense into Gordon, but Gordon continued to act nonsensical and wrestled his old style. Tags between both teams were frequent, with Black and Mike Bennett being the legal men before the break.
Gordon and Bennett were legal when the match returned. Bennett and Taven attempted their spike piledriver combination, but Black knocked Taven off the top rope just in time. Black and Bennett started going back at it, with Bennett delivering a boot to The Darewolf. Bennett then hit a brainbuster and went for a pin, but it wasn’t successful.
The closing sequence of the match saw all four men get involved at the same time. Black hit a Canadian Destroyer on Taven, who was positioned on Gordon’s shoulders. Bennett broke up that pin and as they stood up, Gordon accidentally superkicked Black. This led to Bennett and Taven hitting their spike piledriver for the win.
The Righteous (Vincent, Bateman & Dutch) (w/ Vita VonStarr) defeated The Foundation (Jonathan Gresham, Tracy Williams & Rhett Titus) (w/ Jay Lethal)
Vincent grabbed a microphone as the bell rang and played a video of Jay Lethal saying that he didn’t like The Foundation. This started an argument between Lethal and his stablemates, leading to The Righteous jumping them from behind.
This led to Bateman taking control of Jonathan Gresham, both of whom were the legal men. Bateman beat down Gresham with a flurry of strikes and had frequent tag outs with Vincent and Dutch. Once Gresham rolled to the outside, Dutch sent him crashing into a barricade. The Foundation had full control of the match into a break.
Gresham fought back valiantly and eventually was able to make the tag to Rhett Titus. Titus hit a hydraulic dropkick on both Vincent and Dutch on the apron before suplexing Bateman. Tracy Williams came in and helped Titus with a few double-team moves in an attempt to put Bateman away, but nothing earned the three count.
Dutch eventually got a chance to go toe-to-toe with Titus. After a jackhammer and a clothesline, Dutch hit a swinging side slam and picked up the three count over Titus.
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Next Week —
ROH Television Champion Dragon Lee defends against Dalton Castle
Trish Adora vs. Allysin Kay vs. Mandy Leon (winner advances to face Willow Nightingale in an ROH Women’s Championship number one contender’s match next month)
Pure Rules match: Brian Johnson vs. John Walters
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Final Thoughts —
This week’s episode of ROH TV featured three good matches, but it had some puzzling results. I don’t really see the benefit of extending the Caprice Coleman/Beer City Bruiser feud out because quite frankly, it should have been a one-and-done type deal. I’m also not sure why The Righteous defeated The Foundation because, in my opinion, The Foundation lose way too many matches.
This week’s ROH TV gets a grade of: Recommended Viewing.
Matt Taven and Mike Bennett won the Ring of Honor Tag Team titles at Sunday’s Honor for All, defeating LFI’s Dragon Lee and Kenny King for the belts.
This is the second reign for Taven and Bennett, known as The OGK, who first won the titles at September 2015’s All-Star Extravaganza in San Antonio, Texas, in a three-way that included Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian, and the Young Bucks.
The end came after all four men hit their finishers, leading to Amy Rose and Max the Impaler coming out to distract both King and Bestia Del Ring who was at ringside with LFI. Taven rolled up King to get the pin and win.
Lee and King held the titles since July, but only defended them once in an October title defense over SOS.
ROH will put on their final show of the year with Final Battle, a pay-per-view set for Saturday, December 11th in Baltimore, Maryland. Following the event, the company will go dark for three months as they figure out what their future holds.
Ring Of Honor’s second to last special event of the year will see a main event between ROH World Champion Bandido and Flamita, as the two former Mexi-Squad partners clash in a No Disqualification non-title affair.
The show also features two championship matches – both of which are for separate Tag Team Titles. ROH World Tag Team Champions La Faccion Ingobernable (Dragon Lee & Kenny King) will defend their titles against the OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett), while The Briscoes will defend their recently-won GCW Tag Team Championships against GCW stars Effy & AJ Gray. This will be the first time that Gray, Effy, or any GCW Championship has appeared on Ring Of Honor programming.
The war between Violence and Pure is set to come to a end, as the leaders of their respective stables, Jonathan Gresham and Brody King, will collide in singles action.
In women’s action, we’ll see a four way bout between Quinn McKay, Holidead, Trish Adora, and Vita VonStarr.
A rematch from 2020’s Pure Tournament will resurface as well, with Tracy Williams taking on Taylor Rust.
Our live coverage begins at 7 p.m. Eastern time.
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The announce team of Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman and Brian Johnson welcome the viewers to the show. They ran down the six match card and introduced the opening match.
Taylor Rust defeated Tracy Williams in a Pure Rules match
This was a great opening match that saw both guys come out looking strong.
Williams and Rust exchanged strong strikes in the beginning stages of the bout, with Williams gaining the upper hand. Williams targeted the arm of Rust and worked tirelessly to apply a cross arm breaker and once he cinched in the hold, Rust used a rope break and rolled out of the ring.
Once Rust recovered, Williams went right back and targeted the arm with a few stomps and holds — to which Rust never found a good way to counter it. There were a few instances where Rust got some offense in, but it wasn’t much as the match stretched into the eight minute mark.
Rust used another rope break to escape a Williams headlock, which gave him a second wind. Rust threw a few kicks and punches as the two positioned themself in the corner. Rust escaped an armbar on the ropes and applied his own armbar to Williams, who used his second rope break.
As the bout reached its final stage, Williams and Rust began throwing forearms and kicks in a back and forth exchange. Rust eventually took the fighting to the mat and applied a double hook stretchy, which made Williams verbally give up.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Holidead defeated Vita VonStarr, Quinn McKay and Trish Adora
This match never really picked up a consistent pace, but saw all four women shine in their own way.
The match was contested under Lucha Rules.
Holidead and Adora started off the bout. Holidead tried to take Adora off her feet but was met with strong resistance. Once Holidead rolled out of the ring, the “legal” women began to change rapidly with VonStarr and McKay getting a good chunk of action in.
Holidead began to dominate McKay, slamming her into the turnbuckle multiple times and delivering a suplex. McKay hurt her shoulder at one point, to which Holidead followed up with a powerbomb. Adora came in after McKay rolled out, but was also planted with a powerbomb. Holidead tagged out to VonStarr, who began to trade forearms with Adora.
Adora got the upper-hand in that exchange, which led to McKay coming back in. McKay tried a monkey flip on Adora, but ran straight into a back breaker. The match broke down at this point, with all four women getting in the ring and hitting moves. McKay hit a gorilla press slam on VonStarr and almost scored a victory, but Holidead broke up the pin.
McKay lost her focus and dove onto Adora on the outside, which allowed Holidead to hit a underhook slam on VonStarr and pin her for the win.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
GCW World Tag Team Championship Match – The Briscoes defeated AJ Gray & Effy to retain the titles
This was a great weapon fest of a match, but was way too short for my liking.
Effy and Jay started the match and immediately started throwing haymakers. Jay got overwhelmed and tagged out to Mark, who made Effy tag out after a chop. The match spilled to the outside for a short amount of time, but got back in order once Gray suplexed Mark on a chair in the ring.
The weapons began to spill out as a table was introduced. The Briscoes started just throwing chairs at both of their opponents faces, before slamming Gray into a chair positioned in the corner. A table was set up in the ring by Jay, but Effy jumped off the top rope and hit a blockbuster neck breaker – which didn’t break the table surprisingly. The move resulted in a two count after the pin was broken by Mark.
Another table was set up on the outside, which Effy ended up on. Mark hit a froggy bow elbow drop to the outside onto Effy, while Jay hit a Jay-Driller on AJ Gray which resulted in a three count and a pin.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Jonathan Gresham defeated Brody King
This was a really good match and told the “David vs. Goliath” story to a tee.
King immediately planted Gresham with a gonzo bomb and tried to end the match within seconds, but Gresham kicked out of the pin at the very last second. King took the match to the outside and began beating down Gresham and taunting him. King slammed Gresham into two ring posts, before setting up “The Octopus” against the barricade and throwing his entire body into him.
Gresham somehow recovered and found a way to slow down King, hitting him with multiple dives to the outside. King was almost counted out, but made it back at a nineteen count.
Gresham started capitalizing off of King’s mistakes, moving out of the way when King attempted a cannonball in the corner. King attempted a senton shortly after, but Gresham moved out of harms way at the last second. Gresham unleashed a fury of offense, including a series of rapid fire MMA-like strikes. After that, King was introduced to a running forearm from Gresham that essentially knocked out him out — as he was pinned shortly after.
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ROH World Tag Team Championship match – The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) defeated LFI (Dragon Lee & Kenny King) to win the titles
Both teams had really good pre-match promos. Kenny King said that The Kingdom used to be just Matt Taven and Mike Bennett polishing Adam Cole’s crotch, while Taven had some passionate words about wanting to win the tag titles and take them home forever.
This was a very story driven match with a lot of great action, and it tied up some loose story ends.
The legal man was kept fresh early on, with there being frequent tags between both teams. Taven dove onto both Lee and King on the outside before heading to the top rope. Taven went to attempt a spike piledriver with Bennett, but was shoved off the top at the last second.
Lee and King cut off the ring and isolated Taven. King saw most of the action, mostly resorting to submissions and wearing him down. After Taven eventually tagged out, Bennett and Lee had a fun exchange where they threw multiple forearms and German suplexes. When Lee got a chance to tag out, King planted Bennett with a powerbomb – but immediately ate a running knee strike from Taven which broke up a pin.
The match broke down and saw a lot of confusion about who the legal men were. All four men got to hit their finishers at one point, but nobody was able to capitalize. Amy Rose and Max The Impaler came to the ring and distracted King and Bestia Del Ring, which allowed Taven to roll King for the three count and the win.
After the match, Max speared King on the outside as the OGK celebrated.
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ROH World Champion Bandido defeated Flamita in a non-title no DQ match
This was a great way to close the current chapter of the Bandido/Flamita rivalry.
Flamita dominated Bandido from the start, keeping him down in the corner and using a chair to keep the advantage. Flamita specifically targeted the knee of his former partner, but that was a non factor when Bandido snatched back control after hitting a fosbury flop to the outside.
Bandido set a table up on the outside and rolled Flamita back in. Flamita superkicked Bandido and went to the top rope, but flipped off the camera and hopped down. The energy began to drain from both competitors after a spanish fly, but they both managed to roll to the outside and keep the match going.
Bandido tried to put Flamita through the table with a back drop bomb, but the table refused to break. Bandido rolled Flamita back in the ring and had a standoff before the action began to pick up speed again.
In the closing stage of the match, Flamita low blowed Bandido and rolled up him – but the “Most Wanted” was able to kick out. Bandido then positioned Flamita in the corner and went for a 21-Plex but when he got to the springboard part of the move, he low-blowed Flamita and completed the move – which resulted in the three count and the win.
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Final Thoughts:
This “pit-stop” show before Final Battle was an enjoyable watch that hosted six different matches and kept things short and sweet, clocking in at two hours on the dot.
The appearance of AJ Gray and Effy was surreal, given that ROH hasn’t participated in any of the “forbidden door” stuff. Although their match with The Briscoes was shorter than I would have liked, I enjoyed it for what it was.
The OGK winning the tag belts at the hands of an Amy Rose distraction was a cool way to tie up that story – which has been left untouched for a while.
Brody King vs. Jonathan Gresham was just a fantastic match, with an always interesting “David vs. Goliath” story.
Every other match on the card was at least good, which made the entire show a good watch overall.
One of the top stars from Ring of Honor has arrived in AEW.
Former ROH World Champion Jay Lethal made his AEW debut at Full Gear on Saturday night. It was announced that Lethal will challenge for Sammy Guevara’s TNT Championship on Dynamite this Wednesday.
Lethal appeared on stage at Full Gear after being introduced by Tony Schiavone. Lethal declared that he’s now All Elite, and he challenged Guevara to defend the TNT title against him on Wednesday’s Dynamite in Norfolk, Virginia. Guevara then came out to the stage and accepted Lethal’s challenge.
Lethal is a former ROH World Champion, Pure Champion, Television Champion, and Tag Team Champion. He also previously wrestled for TNA and held their X-Division and Tag Team titles.
Lethal was part of the card at All In in 2018. He retained the ROH World Championship against Flip Gordon at the show.
It was announced last month that ROH is going on hiatus after their Final Battle pay-per-view this December. ROH wrote that it “will be taking the first quarter of 2022 to work internally to reimagine” the promotion. ROH talent won’t have their contracts renewed and are able to work wherever they want immediately.
In July 2020, Lethal issued a statement amid the #SpeakingOut movement saying that he’s never sexually harassed or abused anyone. The statement was in response to Kelly Klein alleging that multiple women had brought complaints and evidence of sexual assault/harassment by Lethal to ROH. Klein said that ROH ignored it or covered it up.
The first match is official for this December’s Final Battle pay-per-view, the final ROH show before the promotion goes on hiatus.
Shane Taylor vs. Kenny King will take place at Final Battle on Saturday, December 11. The PPV is being held at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.
Taylor vs. King is a grudge match between former friends. Taylor lost an ROH World Championship match against then-champion Rush this February after King hit him with a steel chair. King acted like he was going to stop Rush from hitting Taylor with a chair, but King then hit Taylor with the chair himself.
Shane Taylor Promotions (Taylor, Moses & Kaun) are the current ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions, while La Faccion Ingobernable’s King & Dragon Lee are the ROH Tag Team Champions.
ROH Women’s World Champion Rok-C is set to defend her title at Final Battle. Leading into the PPV, a number one contender’s match to decide her challenger will take place on ROH TV. Willow Nightingale has already advanced to the number one contender’s match. A triple threat match between Trish Adora, Allysin Kay, and Mandy Leon will determine Willow’s opponent.
ROH announced last month that it is going on hiatus after Final Battle. They’ll be taking the first quarter of 2022 to “work internally to reimagine ROH.” ROH talent won’t have their contracts renewed and are able to work wherever they want immediately.
Quinn McKay started off the show and hyped up the card for this Championship Edition of ROH TV. McKay went through the history between Bandido and Alex Zayne to preview their ROH World Championship match, as well as talking about the Pure Championship match between Josh Woods and LSG.
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ROH Pure Champion Josh Woods defeated LSG to retain his title (10:37)
This was a fantastic showcase of both wrestlers’ skills and a great way to start off Woods’ title reign.
The match started quickly, with both guys exchanging arm drags and pinning counters before they transitioned to a mat submission style. Woods applied a kimura, but LSG was able to maneuver his way out of it in a fast manner.
Woods continued to target the arm in a multitude of ways as the match went on. LSG used his first rope break to break an arm-based hold, but Woods went right back on the attack. LSG was eventually able to lock in a Muta Lock, but Woods used his first rope break and escaped.
The fight spilled to the outside as the two exchanged forearms. Woods got fed up with LSG and just launched him over his head with a belly-to-belly suplex as the match went to break.
The momentum turned in LSG’s favor when the bout returned, as he hit a tough clothesline that resulted in a near fall. LSG would follow it up with a few of his signature maneuvers, including a Rocket-By-Baby slam. But none of these were enough to put away Woods. Woods fired back with a Beast Slam and a leg lock that made LSG submit.
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As commentary was talking about the Bandido vs. Zayne match, Beer City Bruiser, Ken Dixon, and Brawler Milonas approached. Bruiser took issue and ripped off Ian Riccaboni’s headset before pushing Caprice Coleman. Bruiser challenged Coleman to a match before the group walked off.
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ROH World Champion Bandido defeated Alex Zayne to retain his title (10:15)
This was absurd and even crazier than their first encounter back in 2020.
Bandido worked the arm of Zayne early, which prompted a few kip-up spots. Bandido clocked Zayne with a forearm that made him weary, allowing Bandido to hit a standup Code Red for a very close near fall.
This didn’t slow down Zayne though, as he charged at Bandido once both men got to their feet. Bandido lifted up Zayne with both hands and hit a wild combination of a Falcon Arrow and a gorilla press slam. Bandido hit a standing Shooting Star Press shortly after, but it only warranted a two count.
After Bandido positioned himself on the top rope, Zayne jumped and took him right off with a headscissors. Bandido recovered quickly and hit a reverse Alabama slam for another near fall.
As the bout winded down, the competitors began exchanging open-handed chops. Zayne baited Bandido to the second rope, where he hit a reverse side slam that nearly put away the champion. Bandido was able to pull his signature X-Knee strike out of nowhere, then followed it up with the 21-Plex for the three count.
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Next Week —
The Righteous (Vincent, Bateman & Dutch) vs. The Foundation (Jonathan Gresham, Tracy Williams & Rhett Titus)
The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) vs. Flip Gordon & PJ Black
Caprice Coleman vs. Beer City Bruiser
Final Thoughts —
The second Championship Edition of ROH TV was a great watch. Both matches were great, there weren’t any weird swerve booking choices, and everything made sense. Bandido vs. Zayne II lived up to the acclaim of the first one, while Woods vs. LSG exceeded expectations for me personally.
This week’s episode of ROH TV is: Go Out Of Your Way to watch.
Honor for All will air for HonorClub subscribers on Sunday, November 14. The six-match card for the show is listed below:
No DQ match: ROH World Champion Bandido vs. Demonic Flamita
ROH Tag Team Champions La Faccion Ingobernable (Kenny King & Dragon Lee) defend against The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett)
GCW Tag Team Champions The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe) defend against Effy & AJ Gray
Quinn McKay vs. Vita VonStarr vs. Trish Adora vs. Holidead
Taylor Rust vs. Tracy Williams
Brody King vs. Jonathan Gresham
The Briscoes won the Game Changer Wrestling Tag Team titles from The Second Gear Crew (Mance Warner & Matthew Justice) at GCW’s War Ready show on October 23. Neither Effy nor Gray have wrestled for ROH before.
ROH announced last week that it’s going on hiatus after December’s Final Battle pay-per-view and will take the first quarter of 2022 to “work internally to reimagine ROH.” ROH talent won’t have their contracts renewed after Final Battle and are able to start working wherever they want immediately.
Honor for All won’t have fans in attendance. The promotion has television tapings this month and then Final Battle in December before going on hiatus. Final Battle is being held at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore on Saturday, December 11.
