Quinn McKay welcomed us to the show and ran down the card for tonight’s show. McKay promoted a “protege vs. mentor” match between Brian Johnson and PJ Black, as well as a four corners survival match between Brody King, Jay Lethal, Kenny King and Shane Taylor.
Brian Johnson defeated PJ Black in a Pure Rules match (10:58)
Black and Johnson exchanged some mat wrestling in the early stages of the bout, but Black was able to come out on top and take control in the match.
Johnson would eventually escape from the clutches of Black by using his first rope break. Johnson rolled to the outside and looked to catch a breather, but was met with a dive from Black.
After a short commercial break, the broadcast returned as Johnson was in a cradle submission. Johnson immediately used his second rope break as Black taunted.
In the final stages of the match, Johnson and Black traded multiple chops and strikes. Black grabbed Johnson by the beard and suplexed him before following it up with a springboard splash. Once Black went to attempt the pin, Johnson used his third and final rope break. Black tried to capitalize on a weary Johnson, but was met with an eye poke and Johnson’s signature “The Process” neckbreaker which resulted in a pin.
Brody King defeated Jay Lethal, Kenny King, and Shane Taylor (9:21)
Lethal and Brody started the match. Brody attempted to use the same strategy that he beat Lethal with previously, but was met with a fire of rapid defense from the former ROH World Champion.
Taylor tagged himself in and had a short exchange with Lethal, which resulted in him hurting his leg. Kenny tagged himself in and squared off with Lethal. Kenny replicated a few of Lethal’s signature maneuvers, including his signature cartwheel dropkick.
Kenny was still in full control of the match after a commercial break. Brody came in for Lethal and exchanged frying pan chops with Kenny, before Kenny was able to slip to the outside and hit a blockbuster neckbreaker on Brody.
Kenny went for a running maneuver but Taylor tripped him up, allowing Brody to clothesline him. Taylor tagged himself in and went face to face with Brody. Taylor clocked Brody with a devastating forearm that sent him reeling to the outside, which allowed Kenny to slip in the ring and try to take advantage of a distracted Taylor.
Kenny was able to lift up Taylor for a blue thunder bomb, to which Brody came in and picked the bones. Brody threw out Kenny and hit Taylor with a clothesline on the jaw, which allowed him to pick up the win.
Final Thoughts: Both matches on this week’s ROH TV were good matches that had purpose behind them. Black/Johnson was good and advanced the storyline of Johnson joining the Pure division. The four way match was also good for a few reasons, including Taylor getting his hands on Kenny King (but not too much) and despite losing the match, getting some shine. It seems as if the company is building to a Bandido/Brody King match, which should be really good.
Weekly ROH TV (along with MLW and a few others) proves week in and week out that one hour wrestling shows are the best.
In recent weeks I’ve introduced a scale in order to let you know if the current week of TV is worth your while. The scale is as followed:
Must Watch TV
Go Out Of Your Way
Recommend Viewing
Watch YouTube Clips
Avoid At All Costs
This week’s episode of ROH TV is: Recommended Viewing
The Big Takeaway: Coming off the heels of a great Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view, ROH hosts a special “Pure” episode of ROH TV.
Quinn McKay welcomed us to the broadcast from the ROH studio. McKay revealed that this week’s episode of ROH TV would be themed after pure wrestling in celebration of the one year anniversary of the division returning. McKay announced the return of the Pure Rules gauntlet match for tonight’s episode, as well as a main event clash between Mike Bennett and Rhett Titus.
Brian Johnson won a Pure Rules gauntlet match
World Famous CB defeated Eric Martin (3:13)
CB and Martin started with a standard lockup that saw CB get the advantage. CB tripped Martin into the ropes and hold him there, costing Martin one of his rope breaks. After CB repeated the trick two more times and cost him all of his rope breaks, Martin found some momentum and hit a few clotheslines.
CB ran circles around Martin after recovering and eventually locked in a backbreaker-like submission, which Martin would submit to quickly.
Delirious defeated World Famous CB (5:32)
Delirious immediately targeted the lower half of CB, but was met with great resistance. CB responded to Delirious with a scissors takedown, followed by a scissor headlock on the mat.
CB ran the ropes and hit a German suplex on Delirious, who recovered rather quickly and nailed CB with a lariat. Delirious capitalized on the lariat with a triangle choke/armbar combination that made CB submit quickly.
LSG defeated Delirious (5:20)
Delirious was in control of LSG for the first portion of their encounter, but LSG fought back valiantly. As the match progressed, the two traded big moves back and forth but eventually LSG applied a Muta Lock to Delirious and made him submit.
LSG defeated Joe Keys (4:37)
After exchanging a few headlocks and takedowns, the two men came to a stalemate. Keys locked in an abdominal stretch and beat on the chest of LSG before tossing him over his head.
Keys showed a glimmer of hope when he hit a fantastic backbreaker and followed it up with a Boston crab submission. Keys stayed in full control as he perched LSG on the top rope and seemed to be looking for a brainbuster, but LSG reversed it into a crossbody pinning combination which warranted the three count.
Brian Johnson defeated LSG (1:04)
Johnson took advantage of a weary LSG and tried to go right after him, but LSG still had a bit of a fight in him and hit a Rocket-Baby slam for a near fall that was broken up by a Johnson rope break.
Johnson struck LSG with a closed fist and while the referee was distracted. Johnson pinned LSG with his feet on the ropes for a three count.
Mike Bennett defeated Rhett Titus via judge’s decision (15:00)
Bennett tried to out-power Rhett Titus to the mat with a knuckle lock, but was met with resistance from “The Professional”. Titus continued to attack Bennett into the commercial break.
When the break returned, Titus had a leg-lock applied which caused Bennett to use his first rope break. As the match progressed, Titus had control of Bennett as he transitioned between different submissions into the middle portion of the match.
Bennett eventually found a second wind and overwhelmed Titus with a series of strikes. Bennett applied his own leg-lock in the corner, which caused Titus to use his first rope break.
As we returned from another commercial break, Titus nailed Bennett with a running boot in the corner. Titus applied his foot to the neck of Bennett, which caused him to use his final rope break.
As Titus was catching his breath in the corner, Bennett slipped out from underneath him and applied an ankle lock. Bennett seemed like he had Titus trapped in the hold, but Titus was able to use his second rope break.
Once Titus and Bennett rose to their feet, Titus attempted his signature running German suplex but ultimately failed due to his knee giving out. Bennett capitalized on the hurt knee and heavily targeted it in the final stages of the match.
In the final minute, Titus and Bennett exchanged multiple strikes but neither could capitalize as the time limit in the match expired.
Per the Judge’s decision, Bennett was crowned the winner due to landing more submissions and strikes, as well as reversing more moves.
Final Thoughts: ROH TV this week was a mixed bag. While I thought the Pure Rules gauntlet match was a bit dull at times, Rhett Titus and Mike Bennett had a fantastic main event match that further submitted Bennett’s status in the Pure division.
In recent months, I’ve introduced a scale in order to let you know if the current week of TV is worth your while. The scale is as followed:
Must Watch TV
Go Out Of Your Way
Recommended Viewing
Watch YouTube Clips
Avoid At All Costs
This week’s episode of ROH TV is: Recommended Viewing
Johnson reported DBD was the last scheduled one with fans this year and that several house shows were scrapped due to concerns over COVID-19.
They are taking a week-to-week approach to running in front of fans again which includes Final Battle, tentatively scheduled for December in Baltimore, Maryland. Dave Meltzer said later that ROH said that report was not correct and that Final Battle will indeed be taking place in front of fans in that city in that month.
They will tape their next round of TV both today and Tuesday in Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena with no fans with another round scheduled for November in Baltimore.
Jay Lethal, Rhett Titus and Tracy Williams are only injured in storyline and will work the TV tapings along with Jake Atlas, Alex Zayne and Taylor Rust.
Atlas was banged up after his match with Rust Sunday, but is fine.
Chris Hero was once again backstage working as a producer.
Lenny Leonard is not scheduled to announce on this week’s tapings and was just brought in for last night’s Women’s title match.
She defeated Miranda Alize in the finals of the tournament to crown the first-ever ROH Women’s Champion. The finish of the match had Alize go for a crossface, but Rok-C reversed it into one of her own. Rok-C when struck Alize with a kick then connected with a code red for the win. Maria Kanellis then presented Rok-C with the championship as she celebrated with her family in the ring.
ROH previously had another women’s championship, the Women of Honor World Championship. That title was retired in early 2020 after Kelly Klein was stripped of the championship after ROH declined to renew her contract. It was announced in March that a tournament would begin in the summer that would crown the first ever ROH Women’s Champion.
Rok-C defeated Sumie Sakai, Quinn McKay, and Angelina Love to make it to the finals. Alize defeated Alex Gracia, Nicole Savoy, and Trish Adora.
Josh Woods defeated Jonathan Gresham for the Pure title at Ring of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view Sunday, one of four title matches on the show.
In a spot where the two exchanged inside cradles for a double pin, the referee was going to call the match a draw before Gresham demanded it be restarted.
Gresham was attempting a move when Woods caught him in a piledriver position, launching him over his head via a rotating German suplex for the pin and title change.
The win ends a long title reign for Gresham who won the title in a tournament filmed last summer that aired in October. He was looking for the eighth defense of the title.
A fixture in the promotion since 2016, this is the first ROH gold for Woods, the 2017 Top Prospect tournament winner. It was also a bit of revenge as Gresham defeated him in the semifinals of last year’s aforementioned tournament.
Alex Zayne returned to Ring of Honor tonight, winning the Honor Rumble.
Zayne was the final enrant of the match at number 16. He and PJ Black were the final two men in the ring. Black attempted a crossbody, but Zayne ducked and sent Black over the top rope to eliminate him. As a result of winning the Honor Rumble, Zayne has earned a shot at the ROH World Championship.
Tonight’s Death Before Dishonor event was among the first Zayne has competed in since being released by WWE back in August. He had signed with WWE in December of 2020 and had been wrestling mostly on 205 Live under the name Ari Sterling. Zayne has already been announced for New Japan Strong’s October tour in Philadelphia.
Death Before Dishonor takes place tonight at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Bandido will defend the ROH World title in a fatal four-way against Brody King, Demonic Flamita, and EC3.
Ring of Honor returns to the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to present their third pay-per-view of the year: Death Before Dishonor. The nine-match card will feature four championship matches.
The main event is a four-way World title match pitting current champion Bandido against Demonic Flamita, Brody King and EC3. This will be Bandido’s second defense of the title after he captured it from Rush at Best In The World.
Pure Champion Jonathan Gresham will defend against Josh Woods in a Pure rules match; Six-Man Tag Team Champions Shane Taylor Promotions (Taylor, Moses and Kaun) defend against La Faccion Ingobernable (Dragon Lee, Kenny King and Bestia Del Ring); and finals of the Women’s Championship tournament will take place pitting block A winner Rok-C against block B winner Miranda Alize.
Death Before Dishonor will also feature Dalton Castle vs. Eli Isom; The Briscoes vs. The OGK (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett); VLNCE UNLTD (Tony Deppen, Chris Dickinson and Homicide) vs. LSG, John Walters and Lee Moriarty; and Tyler Rust vs. Jake Atlas.
Hour one will air for free on ROH’s social platforms and will feature a 15-man Honor Rumble with the winner earning a World title shot. Participants announced include Danhausen, Rey Horus, Silas Young, Dak Draper and Brian Johnson.
Our live coverage kicks off at 7 PM Eastern.
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The show started off with wrestlers and staff crowded around the ring to do a ten bell salute to the late Daffney Unger.
Alex Zayne wins the 16 Man Honor Rumble:
Brian Johnson was the first entrant in the Honor Rumble. He cut a promo hyping himself up and his hometown of Philadelphia. He compared himself to Allen Iverson before being interrupted by the second entrant, Brian Milonas.
Entrant number three was the Beer City Bruiser. Bruiser worked on Johnson in the corner before Danhausen made his entrance as entrant four.
Danhausen got double chokeslammed by the Bouncers before entrant five came out. Entrant five turned out to be commentaries own, Caprice Coleman.
Coleman hit a Coleman Cutter on Danhausen and exchanged slugs with the Beer City Bruiser. Coleman eliminated Milonas, but shortly after he was eliminated by Brian Johnson. Sledge was entrant six.
Sledge and Danhausen cleared the ring (although not eliminating Johnson) and were left standing with entrant seven looming. PCO came out as entrant seven and the three men took turns beating up Brian Johnson.
Sledge and PCO tried to go to blows, but Danhausen tried to get both guys to stop fighting. PCO pushed Danhausen out of the way as entrant eight, PJ Black, made his way to the ring.
Dak Draper was entrant nine.
Silas Young was entrant ten. He came in and clotheslined Danhausen and almost eliminated him, but he was able to hold on from the will of the crowd. Draper eliminated Sledge by ducking a kick on the apron, but he was replaced in the match immediately by entrant eleven – Rey Horus.
Horus came in and traded a few shots with multiple people. Entrant twelve was Dante Cabenaro, who immediately targeted Danhausen. Johnson eliminated Danhausen shortly after.
PCO eliminated himself after malfunctioning. Entrant thirteen was Flip Gordon, who came out to his old music and old attire.
Entrant fourteen was Joe Keys. Cabenaro tried to eliminate him immediately, which led to the two friends going against each other. Flip Gordon tried to two sweet them, but he was double superkicked by the Dojo team.
Entrant fifteen was the World Famous CB.
Entrant sixteen was Alex Zayne. Zayne eliminated Draper after reversing his Mile High Muffler submission.
The final four were Gordon, Zayne, PJ Black and Johnson. Zayne was perched on the top when Gordon met him up there, but Zayne shoved him to the floor to eliminate him. Black and Zayne slugged it out for a few minutes before Black attempted a crossbody, to which Zayne ducked and sent Black over the top rope.
Dalton Castle defeated Eli Isom
Dak Draper joined commentary.
Castle and Isom traded chops immediately, which sent Castle rolling to the outside. Isom took advantage and dove onto an unexpecting Castle at ringside to a massive reaction.
After recovering, Castle began beating down Isom at ringside. The match would make its way back in the ring slowly, but Castle was still in firm control. Isom willed his way back into the match and delivered a running forearm in the corner to Castle, followed by a sidewinder for a near fall.
The crowd was split in their support between Isom and Castle. Isom began hitting big move after big move, which prompted Dak Draper to run in from commentary and help Castle. Dak got in the ring and tried to clothesline Isom, but Isom would duck and kick Draper in the groin.
Castle used Isom’s distraction to hit a bang-a-rang for the win.
Taylor Rust defeated Jake Atlas
Atlas and Rust started off at a very fast pace, exchanging a ton of holds and moves. The first retreat to the outside came when Rust locked in an ankle lock on Atlas, causing Atlas to retreat to the outside.
Rust began targeting the arm of Atlas as he took over the match. The longer Rust targeted the arm, the harder Atlas began to try and strike back. Atlas had virtually no chance though as Rust eventually locked in a double arm submission, to which Atlas gave up immediately.
Something was off for this match. It seemed as if the match’s time was cut due to a Atlas injury.
VLNCE UNLTD (Tony Deppen, Homicide and Chris Dickinson) defeated LSG, John Walters and Lee Moriarty
Homicide and Walters started off the match. Walters applied a headlock and took Homicide to the mat for a good amount of time. Homicide would eventually tag out to Dickinson while Walters would tag out to LSG. Dickinson targeted the leg of LSG before tagging out to Deppen, while LSG would tag out to Moriarty.
Moriarty had a fun, pin based exchange with Deppen that sent him reeling to the corner where Homicide tagged himself in. Homicide was met with a fresh John Walters, who applied a chin lock to Homicide. Homicide would tag out to Dickinson after escaping the hold, while LSG would get a hot tag from Walters.
LSG hit a stunner on Dickinson before the match broke down all together. Moriarty had a great exchange with both Dickinson and Deppen, while Walters applied a double muta lock to Homicide and Dickinson. Deppen came off the top rope to stomp on Walters, breaking the hold.
Chaos continued to ensue, with nobody knowing who the legal men were. Dickinson would eventually hit a McCully driver on Moriarty with a Deppen assist to win the match.
Jay Lethal, Tracy Williams and Rhett Titus came out after the match and showed respect to Walters, Moriarty and LSG. Lethal cut a passionate promo about wrestling and the Pure division.
The OGK (Mike Bennett and Matt Taven) defeated The Briscoes
The Briscoes tried to jump both members of the OGK before the bell, but it didn’t yield the results the Briscoes were looking for.
Taven and Jay exchanged a few fast paced holds and strikes, causing Taven to tag out to Bennett. Bennett would be isolated quickly by the Briscoes as they cut the ring in half, preventing Taven from getting back in the match.
Mark had a few close calls where he was almost disqualified for not obeying the referee’s orders, including a spot where he drove his elbow into the throat of Bennett, who was trapped in the ropes.
Taven eventually was able to will Bennett into making a tag, but he was immediately taken to the mat by Jay’s hard hitting offense. Mark and Jay used the same strategy that they did for Bennett, isolating Taven while Bennett was recovering at ringside.
Mark got an opportunity to tangle with Taven, which saw him immediately send Taven to the outside and hit a running blockbuster neck breaker from the apron. Jay tossed Taven back in the ring while Mark went to the top rope and hit a froggy bow elbow drop for a near fall.
Mark introduced a chair to the match and set it up in the middle of the ring. Mark set up for a redneck boogie, but Bennett saved Taven. Jay would attempt a Jay-Driller, but Taven would turn it into an inside cradle pin for the win.
Josh Woods defeated Jonathan Gresham to win the ROH Pure Championship
Woods and Gresham immediately went to a collar and elbow tie up, but it was broken up immediately as well. Woods outpowered Gresham’s attempt at a knuckle lock, so much so that he turned it into a military press pinning attempt.
Gresham would pop back up with little effort and go right back at Woods. They wrestled into the ropes but the referee thought it was too close to cost either man one of their rope breaks. Both guys continued to wrestle into the ropes despite the referee’s warnings, which ended up costing both of them a rope break.
Gresham would apply a head scissors and keep Woods down for a good two minutes or so, but Woods eventually found his way out of the hold. Both Gresham and Woods made it back to a standing base, but would yet again wrestle into the ropes, prompting another stern warning from the referee.
Following a small striking exchange, they wrestled into the ropes again. This time, referee Joe Mandak would take both guys’ second rope break away.
Gresham and Woods exchanged inside cradles, but it resulted in a double pin. Referee Joe Mandak tried to call the match a draw, but Gresham refused and the match restarted.
Gresham applied a leg lock on the ground near the ropes, which resulted in, you guessed it, both guys rolling into the ropes. When the hold wasn’t broken, the referee called to take away both guys’ third and final rope break.
Woods slapped Gresham and applied a sleeper hold that almost saw “The Octopus” pass out. Gresham would find a second gear after this, and began the attack on Woods’ ankle. Woods would retaliate with an attack on Gresham’s ankle as well, but would quickly shift his attention when he hit a Chaos Theory for a very close near fall.
Woods and Gresham had a slug fest at about the nineteen minute mark. Gresham would attempt to use multiple of his previous match-winning maneuvers, but Woods caught him in a piledriver position. Woods would launch Gresham over his head in a rotating German suplex, allowing him to pin Gresham for the win.
Shane Taylor Promotions (O’Shay Edwards, Moses and Kaun) defeated La Faccion Ingobernable (Dragon Lee, Kenny King and Bestia Del Ring) to retain the ROH Six-Man Tag Team Championships
Kenny King blasted Shane Taylor with a chair multiple times before the match. Taylor was helped to the back while O’Shay Edwards took his place.
Kaun and Lee started the match. Lee and Kaun exchanged stiff strikes but Lee’s speed was the story of their encounter, allowing Lee to get the best of him.
Bestia and Moses went at it for a second, before King and Edwards mixed it up. Edwards nailed King with a great spinebuster and a close near fall.
Due to the match being contested under “Lucha Rules”, Lee came in and was met with a powerbomb from Moses. Edwards tried to fend off a three-on-one attack from LFI, but subcame to the numbers game.
Kaun was the next focus, but only King was in the ring to target him. Moses would rescue Kaun and send King packing to the outside, where he would deliver a running cannonball off the apron onto LFI.
King and Moses still ended up being the two guys in the ring after the smoke cleared. Taylor returned to the ring and delivered a chair shot straight to the skull of King while the referee was taken out at ringside, allowing Moses to pin him and retain the titles.
Rok-C defeated Miranda Alize to become the first ROH Women’s World Champion
Alize refused a handshake from her opponent as the bell rang. Alize oozed confidence after she hit the first strike, but Rok-C wasn’t phased.
Both women went to the mat and exchanged submissions before Alize decided to be more aggressive and start delivering strikes. Alize gained full control of the match after hitting a running knee on Rok-C in the corner.
Alize trapped Rok-C in the ropes and held her down with a knee as the crowd tried to will her back into the match. Alize attempted a few pins and began getting frustrated with the referee’s counting speed.
Rok-C was able to snatch control from Alize after delivering a pair of knees in the corner, but it only resulted in a two count. Alize continued to taunt Rok-C after the near fall, which would see Rok-C shift gears and develop a new attitude.
Rok-C was met with a Miranda Rights attempt quickly though, and although she almost tapped, she was able to break the hold with a rope break and slide to the outside. Alize followed her to the outside, but Rok-C immediately threw her into the barricade. Rok-C followed it up with a lopè dive that would take both women out for a nineteen count.
After both women rolled back in the ring, they started a stiff strike exchange. Alize would hit a cutter, but Rok-C responded with a knee strike. Alize applied a Miranda Rights crossface, but Rok-C reversed it into her own crossface within seconds.
Rok-C would strike Alize with a kick, followed by a Code Red for the win.
Bandido defeated EC3, Demonic Flamita, and Brody King to retain the ROH World Championship
EC3 and King went after each other quickly and had a great hoss exchange, but it resulted in nothing after both men tumbled with one another over the top rope.
Bandido and Flamita had a stare off before Bandido tried to hurricanrana Flamita, who hit a handspring backwards and nailed Bandido with a kick. EC3 got in the ring and tried to work down Bandido’s neck with a few chin locks, followed by a few suplex attempts here and there as well.
EC3 perched Bandido on the top turnbuckle and as he began to climb, King broke up the maneuver and looked to capitalize off Bandido’s position. EC3 would powerbomb King shortly after, following by tossing Bandido off the top rope onto King.
While the referee was distracted, Flamita smacked EC3 with a chair. When EC3 went to retaliate with the chair, the referee noticed, which led to EC3 being disqualified and eliminated.
Bandido and Flamita began to work together to wear down King, hitting many of their former Mexisquad tag team moves. This wouldn’t work, as King would eliminate Flamita with a piledriver type maneuver shortly after.
Bandido and King were the final two men in the match. King would immediately drill Bandido with a piledriver for a near fall. Bandido would climb his way to the top rope for a snap-rana for a near fall, followed by a snap crucifix for another near fall. Bandido climbed to the top rope and hit a shooting star press, but King kicked out at one in a display of strength.
Bandido would roll around and attempt multiple pinning combinations, but King found a way out of all of them. Bandido would lock a crucifix pin in, which would warrant the three count he was looking for.
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Final Thoughts: Ring Of Honor’s third pay-per-view of the year was a enjoyable watch all the way around. Despite a few miscues with refereeing and a few questionable finishes here and there, the show was well-rounded and fun.
Rok-C vs. Miranda Alize was easily my match of the night. I’m really glad they gave the women the time to construct a great match, driven by a story of Alize being overconfident. The match had very vocal fan support and it feels like they’re going in a great direction with the women’s division.
There wasn’t a bad match per say, but the Honor Rumble lacked any real structure or purpose and was clearly used just to bring back Alex Zayne. I’ll give the extremely short Rust/Atlas match the benefit of the doubt because it seemed like Atlas was injured.
Woods/Gresham was a close second for my favorite match, but the weird false finish really threw me out of the match. Although I would have been fine with Gresham continuing his reign, Woods was the right man to take it off of him.
The main event world title match felt underwhelming and short. There was a few highlights here and there, but nothing of substance really ever came about.
OGK vs. Briscoes was a fun tag, with OGK scoring an unexpected victory. The six man tag between VLNCE UNLTD and Walters/LSG/Moriarty was good and I enjoyed Moriarty getting a spotlight.
The story of STP vs. LFI ended up coming to a great conclusion with Taylor getting revenge on King. STP should hold the belts for a very long time.
I’ve introduced a pay-per-view scale in order to let you know if the show is worth your time or not. The scale is as followed:
Buy The PPV (twice)
Buy The PPV (only once)
Watch It On HonorClub
Watch YouTube Clips
Avoid At All Costs
ROH Death Before Dishonor 2021 gets a: Buy The PPV (only once)
New Tag Team Champions were crowned on the pre-Death Before Dishonor episode of ROH TV.
On the ROH TV episode that premiered this weekend, Dragon Lee & Kenny King defeated Homicide & Chris Dickinson to win the ROH Tag Team titles. Lee pinned Dickinson after hitting his Incinerator knee strike to the face. Homicide was taken out when King hit a tornillo to the outside leading into the finish. King prevented him from getting back in the ring and breaking up the pin.
Lee is now a double champion in ROH. He also holds the ROH Television title.
This is the second time La Faccion Ingobernable’s Lee & King have held the ROH Tag Team titles together. They won the titles this February but then lost them to Tracy Williams & Rhett Titus at ROH’s 19th Anniversary pay-per-view in March. La Bestia del Ring was filling in for Lee in that match due to Lee suffering a ruptured eardrum.
Homicide & Dickinson won the ROH Tag Team titles from Titus & Jonathan Gresham in a Fight Without Honor at Best in the World this July. Gresham was replacing Williams in that match.
Lee, King & Bestia del Ring are challenging Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Moses & Kaun) for the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles at this Sunday’s Death Before Dishonor PPV.
Violence Unlimited’s Homicide, Dickinson & Tony Deppen are facing John Walters, LSG & Lee Moriarty in a six-man tag match at Death Before Dishonor.
Quinn McKay joined us from the ROH studio and revealed that this week’s episode of TV is themed as a bonus prior to the Death Before Dishonor show, as the main event features a World Tag Team Championship match with the current champions Chris Dickinson and Homicide defending against Kenny King and Dragon Lee.
McKay revealed that The Briscoes vs. ROH World Champion Bandido & Rey Horus and Josh Woods vs. Will Fererra are also scheduled for the show.
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The Briscoes defeated ROH World Champion Bandido & Rey Horus (12:10)
Bandido and Jay started off the match. Jay tried to wrestle Bandido to the mat, but the “Most Wanted” would respond with a handspring arm drag. They would trade some more moves but eventually came to a stalemate that led into a commercial break.
When the broadcast returned from the break, Jay and Mark were isolating Rey Horus in their corner. The match would spill to the outside where both luchadors were thrown into the barricade. Mark would toss Bandido back in the ring and began draining the stamina of the world champion.
The match broke down eventually and everybody got to hit their big move, but it left all four men on their backs in the middle of the ring. Bandido was the first man up and he immediately caught fire, hitting a fosbury flop on Jay Briscoe on the outside. Bandido was down on the outside which allowed Mark to scoop up Horus and give time for Jay to climb to the top rope and hit a doomsday device for the win.
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Josh Woods defeated Will Ferrara (w/ Eric Martin) in a Pure Rules match (6:18)
Jonathan Gresham joined commentary for this bout.
Woods virtually had control of Ferrara for the entire duration of this match. Ferrara had a couple spots here and there, but it never amounted to anything tide-shifting.
This was a showcase for Woods headed into his Pure Title match at tomorrow’s Death Before Dishonor. He played all of his “greatest hits” and made Ferrara exhaust all of his rope breaks within the first five minutes of the match.
There was a cool spot in the match where Woods had Ferrara in a waist lock, hoisting him in the air while staring dead into Jonathan Gresham’s eyes. Woods would eventually win with a bridging German suplex.
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La Faccion Ingobernable (Dragon Lee & Kenny King) defeated Violence Unlimited (Chris Dickinson & Homicide) to win the ROH Tag Team titles (14:08)
King and Homicide started off the bout. King had Homicide in an arm lock headed into a commercial break.
When the show returned, Lee and Dickinson tagged themselves in. They had a great, counter-based exchange that led to Dickinson getting the upper hand. The match broke down shortly after. Lee and Homicide would be the legal men after the smoke cleared.
King and Lee hit a few double team maneuvers after they took Dickinson off the apron. LFI had a stranglehold on Homicide and it seemed like the match would cease, but Dickinson would come in with freight train-like speed and clear the ring.
Dickinson would have another great exchange with Lee, but Lee would win the battle again. Lee tagged out to King, who hit a Royal Flush on Dickinson for a very close near fall.
The final stages of the match saw Lee and Dickinson yet again facing off. Lee would pull his knee pad down and attempt an Incinerator strike, but Dickinson blocked it and twisted his knee into a heap. Lee would recover quickly and deliver not one, but two Incinerator knee strikes, which allowed him to pin Dickinson for the win.
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Final Thoughts —
This was a fantastic go-home episode of Ring Of Honor television that reminded me of one thing: One hour wrestling shows are the best.
All three matches felt very different from one another, and all three matches did exactly what they were supposed to do.
I didn’t expect King and Lee to win the Tag Team titles, but the element of surprise was really nice to see. The few exchanges that Dickinson and Lee had were fantastic and I hope they face off in a singles match sooner rather than later.
In recent weeks I’ve introduced a scale in order to let you know if the current week of TV is worth your while. The scale is as followed:
Must-Watch TV
Go Out Of Your Way
Recommended Viewing
Watch YouTube Clips
Avoid At All Costs
This week’s episode of ROH TV is: Go Out Of Your Way
Another one of the participants from ROH’s Women’s World Championship tournament has signed with the company.
It was announced today that Max The Impaler has signed a contract with ROH. Max made it to the quarterfinals of the ROH Women’s title tournament before losing to Angelina Love by disqualification. Max got disqualified when they wouldn’t let go of a choke in the ropes.
Max debuted for ROH on the premiere episode of Women’s Division Wednesday this April.
Max is managed by Amy Rose in ROH.
ROH also announced earlier this week that Rok-C and Miranda Alize have signed contracts with the promotion. At this Sunday’s Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view, Rok-C and Alize will face off in the finals of the Women’s title tournament. The winner will become the first-ever ROH Women’s World Champion. The title is replacing the former Women of Honor World Championship.
ROH’s full announcement regarding Max The Impaler signing with the company is available below:
Ring of Honor is pleased to announce that Max The Impaler has signed with the company.
You know who probably isn’t pleased that Max has signed with ROH? The rest of the women’s division roster.
The monstrous Max has been a dominant force in the division since debuting several months ago.
Max has competed in six matches in ROH, and the lone blemish is a loss by disqualification to Angelina Love in the quarterfinals of the ROH Women’s World Title Tournament.
Max debuted in pro wrestling in 2018 and held several regional titles before coming to ROH.
Both participants in the ROH Women’s World Championship tournament finals have signed contracts with the company.
Ahead of the Women’s title tournament finals taking place at Sunday’s Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view, it was announced today that Rok-C and Miranda Alize have signed contracts with ROH. Death Before Dishonor is being held at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.
Rok-C and Alize each made their ROH debuts earlier this year.
During the Women’s title tournament, Rok-C defeated Sumie Sakai in the first round, Quinn McKay in the quarterfinals, and Angelina Love in the semifinals. Alize defeated Alex Gracia, Nicole Savoy, and Trish Adora.
ROH’s full announcement is available below:
Ring of Honor is pleased to announce that ‘The Prodigy’ Rok-C and ‘The Lucha Baddie’ Miranda Alize have signed with the company.
Rok-C and Alize will meet in the ROH Women’s World Title Tournament final on the Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view this Sunday in Philadelphia.
They’ll each enter the historic match with an ROH contract in hand, but only one of them will leave the 2300 Arena with the championship belt around their waist.
Both women have been extremely impressive through three rounds of the tournament. Rok-C scored bracket-busting wins over former world champions Angelina Love and Sumie Sakai, while Alize knocked off former Shimmer Champion Nicole Savoy.
Rok-C, 19, began her pro wrestling training when she was just 13. She furthered her training under the tutelage of Hall of Famer Booker T and went on to become the Diamonds Division Champion in Booker’s Reality of Wrestling promotion.
Alize, an eight-year pro, has wrestled extensively in Mexico, Japan and the UK in addition to working for a number of U.S. promotions. Like Rok-C, Alize also trained under Booker T and competed in ROW.
ROH has revealed the two former WWE wrestlers who will be facing off at Death Before Dishonor.
On today’s episode of ROH Week By Week, it was announced that Jake Atlas vs. Taylor Rust will be taking place at Death Before Dishonor this Sunday (September 12). ROH had been hyping that two top free agents who were recently released by another organization would be facing each other at the pay-per-view.
Atlas and Rust (formerly known as Tyler Rust in WWE) were both released by WWE during August’s NXT roster cuts. Rust was part of the Diamond Mine stable in NXT prior to being released.
Atlas has wrestled for ROH once previously, while Rust has wrestled for the promotion twice.
ROH has also announced 10 of the 15 participants who will be taking part in the Honor Rumble on Death Before Dishonor Hour One. The battle royal will feature Beer City Bruiser, PJ Black, Dak Draper, Rey Horus, Brian Johnson, Joe Keys, Brian Milonas, Sledge, and Silas Young.
The winner of the Honor Rumble will get a future shot at the ROH World Championship.
Death Before Dishonor is taking place at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. Hour One will air for free on HonorClub, ROH’s YouTube channel, and ROH’s Facebook page starting at 7 p.m. Eastern time. 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 Brody King, EC3, and Demonic Flamita in a four-way elimination match
ROH Women’s World Championship tournament finals: Rok-C vs. Miranda Alize
ROH Pure Champion Jonathan Gresham defends against Josh Woods
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Moses & Kaun) defend against La Faccion Ingobernable (Dragon Lee, Kenny King & Bestia del Ring)
Jake Atlas vs. Taylor Rust
Violence Unlimited (Homicide, Chris Dickinson & Tony Deppen) vs. John Walters, LSG & Lee Moriarty
The Briscoes vs. The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett)
– Quinn McKay returned to the broadcast center and welcomed us to the show. McKay announced that the two semifinal matchups in the ROH Women’s Championship tournament would take place on tonight’s episode, as well as an eight-man tag match between Shane Taylor Promotions and La Faccion Ingobernable.
ROH Women’s title tournament semifinal match: Miranda Alize defeated Trish Adora (12:16)
Chelsea Green joined commentary for this bout.
Trish Adora’s overwhelming size advantage had Alize reeling on the outside very early on. Adora attempted a Cattle Mutilation, but Alize locked her fingers, not allowing the submission to be completed. Alize got ahead of herself quickly, which led to a few mistimed moves into a commercial break.
Alize focused on her striking abilities to try and wear down Adora, but Adora was able to match anything Alize had for her. Both women made their way to ringside and started an intense brawl heading into another commercial break.
As we returned from break, Adora was nailing Alize with some very stiff strikes. Adora still had a massive size advantage, allowing her to just pull Alize out of thin air into a rear naked choke. Alize was close to submitting, but she eventually escaped the hold.
Alize gained some momentum with a few strong running kicks. That eventually opened the door for her Drive By knee strike, followed by her Miranda Rights crossface hold. Adora hesitated to tap for about 20 seconds before she eventually submitted.
Alize is headed to the finals of the ROH Women’s Championship tournament this Sunday, September 12 at Death Before Dishonor.
**********
ROH Women’s title tournament semifinal match: Rok-C defeated Angelina Love (6:44)
Rok-C tried to shake Angelina Love’s hand before the match, but Love refused.
Rok-C didn’t hesitate to go after the injured shoulder of Love, to which Love had a major issue with. Love didn’t taunt much and just focused on multiple body parts of Rok-C heading into a commercial break.
Love attempted her signature pump kick as we returned from the break, but Rok-C ducked. Love would try to follow up with a flurry of moves, but Rok-C had a counter for almost everything.
The final moments of the match saw Love and Rok-C exchange a few pinning combinations before Rok-C locked in an armbar, making Love submit quickly.
Rok-C will face Alize in the tournament finals.
**********
La Faccion Ingobernable (Rush, Dragon Lee, Kenny King & Bestia del Ring) defeated Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Moses, Kaun & O’Shay Edwards) (7:28)
STP met LFI at the ramp and began brawling. Commentary called for a quick commercial break as order was restored.
Back from the break, Moses and Kenny King were the legal men. Chaos ensued almost immediately and the match broke down, but Dragon Lee and O’Shay Edwards were legal after order was restored.
Every time that LFI tried to pull one of their underhand tactics, STP had a rebuttal and showed that they weren’t going to fall for the tricks of the villainous stable.
The match was building up to an eventual clash between Shane Taylor and Rush. Taylor clocked Rush with a few strikes, but Rush returned them easily and got the upper hand. These two have great chemistry and should wrestle more matches against each other.
The finish saw Taylor in the ring with former friend Kenny King. When the referees were distracted with Bestia del Ring, King low blowed Taylor and pinned him for a three count.
**********
Final Thoughts —
Headed into this weekend’s Death Before Dishonor PPV, ROH put on an average episode of television. Although I enjoyed Alize vs. Adora, the other two matches were rather short and never really developed a rhythm or a consistent pace.
In recent weeks I’ve introduced a scale in order to let you know if the current week of ROH TV is worth your while. The scale is as follows:
Must-Watch TV
Go Out Of Your Way
Recommended Viewing
Watch YouTube Clips
Avoid At All Costs
This week’s episode of ROH TV is: Watch YouTube Clips
The finals of ROH’s Women’s World Championship tournament are now set.
Rok-C and Miranda Alize will face off in the finals of the Women’s World Championship tournament at ROH’s Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view on Sunday (September 12). The PPV is taking place at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.
Rok-C and Alize both won semifinal matches on the latest episode of ROH TV. Rok-C defeated Angelina Love, while Alize defeated Trish Adora.
To get to the finals, Rok-C defeated Sumie Sakai, Quinn McKay, and Love during the tournament. Alize defeated Alex Gracia, Nicole Savoy, and Adora.
Rok-C and Alize both made their ROH debuts this year.
The winner of Rok-C vs. Alize will become the first-ever ROH Women’s World Champion. The title is replacing the former Women of Honor World Championship.
Here’s the updated card for Death Before Dishonor:
ROH World Champion Bandido defends against Brody King, EC3, and Demonic Flamita in a four-way elimination match
ROH Women’s World Championship tournament finals: Rok-C vs. Miranda Alize
ROH Pure Champion Jonathan Gresham defends against Josh Woods
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Moses & Kaun) defend against La Faccion Ingobernable (Dragon Lee, Kenny King & Bestia del Ring)
Two “top free agents” who were recently released from another promotion will face off against each other
Violence Unlimited (Homicide, Chris Dickinson & Tony Deppen) vs. John Walters, LSG & Lee Moriarty
The Briscoes vs. The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett)
The Honor Rumble is returning at ROH Death Before Dishonor.
ROH has announced that an Honor Rumble match will take place on Death Before Dishonor Hour One. The Hour One broadcast will air for free on HonorClub, ROH’s YouTube channel, and ROH’s Facebook page starting at 7 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, September 12. The main card will then begin on HonorClub and pay-per-view at 8 p.m. Eastern.
The Honor Rumble is a battle royal with Royal Rumble-style rules. The winner will receive a future shot at the ROH World Championship.
Danhausen is the first entrant announced for the Honor Rumble. ROH also teased that there may be a surprise entrant or two.
The last Honor Rumble prior to this took place on the pre-show for G1 Supercard at Madison Square Garden in April 2019. It was won by Kenny King.
Death Before Dishonor is taking place at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. Here’s the updated card for the show:
ROH World Champion Bandido defends against Brody King, EC3, and Demonic Flamita in a four-way elimination match
The finals of ROH’s Women’s World Championship tournament
ROH Pure Champion Jonathan Gresham defends against Josh Woods
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Moses & Kaun) defend against La Faccion Ingobernable (Dragon Lee, Kenny King & Bestia del Ring)
Two “top free agents” who were recently released from another promotion will face off against each other
Violence Unlimited (Homicide, Chris Dickinson & Tony Deppen) vs. John Walters, LSG & Lee Moriarty
The Briscoes vs. The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett)
