After undergoing surgery, former ROH World Champion Rush will be out of action for the remainder of the year.
ROH announced on Wednesday that, due to undergoing knee surgery, Rush will be out of action for the rest of 2021. Rush suffered the injury while teaming with Dragon Lee against Bandido & Rey Horus at Glory By Honor night two on August 21.
Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio over the weekend that Rush’s contract with ROH is set to expire at the end of this year.
A message posted on Rush’s social media accounts yesterday confirmed that he had undergone surgery. It was stated that further details will be revealed at a press conference next Thursday.
Rush lost the ROH World Championship to Bandido at Best in the World this July.
La Faccion Ingobernable’s Rush, Dragon Lee & Kenny King were set to challenge Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Moses & Kaun) for the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles at Death Before Dishonor on Sunday, September 12. Rush’s father Bestia del Ring will be replacing him in the match.
Rush, Dragon Lee, King & Bestia del Ring vs. Taylor, Moses, Kaun & O’Shay Edwards will still air on the ROH TV episode that premieres this Saturday. The eight-man tag match was taped prior to Rush’s injury.
Former ROH World Champion Rush is out of action after undergoing surgery.
In a message posted on his social media accounts on Tuesday, it was announced that Rush has undergone surgery. It was noted that further details will be provided at a press conference next Thursday.
ROH announced last week that Rush had suffered a knee injury while teaming with Dragon Lee against Bandido & Rey Horus at Glory By Honor night two. It was stated that the exact nature of the injury was unknown and his recovery time was to be determined.
La Faccion Ingobernable’s Rush, Dragon Lee & Kenny King challenging Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Moses & Kaun) for the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles had been set for ROH’s Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view. A graphic that aired on the latest episode of ROH TV listed that Bestia del Ring will be replacing Rush in the match.
Death Before Dishonor is taking place at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia on Sunday, September 12.
Rush lost the ROH World Championship to Bandido at ROH Best in the World this July. It was Rush’s second reign with the title.
An eight-man tag match with Rush, Dragon Lee, Kenny King & Bestia del Ring facing Shane Taylor, Moses, Kaun & O’Shay Edwards will air on the ROH TV episode that premieres this Saturday.
ROH has revealed Violence Unlimited’s opponents for Death Before Dishonor.
On Tuesday’s edition of ROH Week By Week, it was announced that Violence Unlimited (Homicide, Chris Dickinson & Tony Deppen) will face John Walters, LSG & Lee Moriarty in a six-man tag match at Death Before Dishonor. Homicide, Dickinson & Deppen issued a challenge for three Pure wrestlers to face them at the pay-per-view.
ROH hyped that Violence Unlimited’s challenge had been accepted by a Pure wrestler from the past, one from the present, and one who is considered part of the future. Walters held the ROH Pure Championship from August 2004 to March 2005. Moriarty is making his ROH debut at Death Before Dishonor.
Moriarty wrestled on an AEW Dark episode earlier this month, losing to Dante Martin. Moriarty also made his MLW debut at July’s Battle Riot tapings.
Homicide & Dickinson are the current ROH Tag Team Champions. They’re defending their titles against La Faccion Ingobernable’s Dragon Lee & Kenny King on the ROH TV episode that premieres the weekend of Saturday, September 11.
Violence Unlimited’s Brody King will challenge for the ROH World Championship in the main event of Death Before Dishonor. Bandido is defending his ROH World title against King, EC3, and Demonic Flamita in a four-way elimination match at the PPV.
Death Before Dishonor is taking place at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia on Sunday, September 12. Here’s the updated card for the PPV:
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)
Ian Riccaboni welcomed us to the ROH studio and immediately gave a shout out to Quinn McKay and her dedication to the Women’s Championship tournament. Although McKay has been officially eliminated, Riccaboni gave her a warm message about this just being the beginning.
Riccaboni also ran down the card for tonight’s episode. Dragon Lee will defend his ROH World Television Championship against Eli Isom, while two more quarterfinal matchups will take place in the Women’s Championship tournament.
Angelina Love defeated Max The Impaler (with Amy Rose) via disqualification (5:53)
Love tried to punch Max in the back, but it had no effect on them. Love had a terrified look on her face and slid out of the ring, where she started talking trash to Amy Rose outside of the ring.
Max followed Love to the outside and began beating her down. Max was toying with Love at this point with a slow, methodical pace before she rolled her back in the ring.
Love tried to escape out of Max’s grasp to the apron, but Max caught her in a chokehold on the ropes and wouldn’t let go. Max repeatedly was warned by referee Joe Mandak to let go of the hold, but they refused. As a result, Mandak disqualified Max.
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Trish Adora defeated Allysin Kay (13:50)
Kay applied a standing headlock to Adora and eventually took it down to the mat, which resulted in Adora reversing it into a head scissor lock.
Both women hit a stalemate eventually and rose to their feet. Kay focused on Adora’s arm to try and prevent a lariat and had her reeling heading into a commercial break.
Kay was in full control when the match returned. Kay nailed Adora with constant kicks to the chest and was taunting her afterwards. At this point in the match, Kay would start talking trash and shoving Adora’s face into the mat.
Adora eventually developed a second gear and began unloading a number of strikes onto Kay. Kay would try to lock in an octopus stretch, to which Adora rolled out of, bounced off the ropes and hit a Lariat Tubman for the win.
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Dragon Lee defeated Eli Isom to retain his ROH Television Championship (12:25)
Dalton Castle joined commentary for this bout.
Lee offered Isom a handshake, to which Isom accepted but also gave Lee a kick to the gut. Lee immediately made Isom pay for it by dumping him to the outside and diving onto him on the floor.
Lee stuck his foot on Isom’s skull and applied a single leg crab whenever he got back in the ring. Isom was only motivated more by this, and got up in a fury of rage.
Isom and Lee traded strikes before trading back-to-back-to-back german suplexes. Lee followed it up by spiking Isom with a poison rana, but Isom popped right up and hit a lariat which resulted in a very good near fall.
The final minutes of this match were insane, with both guys just trading move after move. Lee nailed Isom with multiple knee strikes to where he was practically knocked out, to which Lee followed up with a falcon’s arrow for a great near fall. Lee would eventually put away Isom with his signature incinerator knee strike, allowing him to score the pinfall victory.
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Final Thoughts: This edition of ROH TV started off with what I think was one of the most questionable booking choices that the company has made since their return from their pandemic hiatus. Max The Imapler was made to look really dumb with that finish and for what we’ve seen from them so far, they obviously aren’t dumb and they know how to win matches and get the job done. Max was undefeated in the company up to this point and I think this was a terrible way to beat her.
Besides that, I thoroughly enjoyed both Adora/Kay and Lee/Isom.
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: Go Out Of Your Way
Two new matches have been added to the card for ROH’s Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view.
It was announced on the latest episode of ROH TV that The Briscoes vs. The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) will take place at Death Before Dishonor. Eli Isom vs. Dalton Castle has also been added to the PPV.
Death Before Dishonor is being held at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia on Sunday, September 12.
While running down the Death Before Dishonor card, ROH listed that Bestia del Ring will be replacing Rush in the Six-Man Tag Team title match at the PPV. Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Moses & Kaun) will defend their ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles against La Faccion Ingobernable (Dragon Lee, Kenny King & Bestia del Ring).
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
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. three Pure wrestlers in a six-man tag team match
The Briscoes vs. The OGK
Eli Isom vs. Dalton Castle
Homicide, Dickinson & Deppen’s opponents will be revealed on ROH Week By Week this Tuesday. ROH noted that one of the Pure wrestlers is from the past, one is from the present, and one is considered part of the future.
ROH’s Women’s World Championship tournament is down to its final four wrestlers.
Rok-C vs. Angelina Love and Miranda Alize vs. Trish Adora will be the semifinal matches in the Women’s title tournament. Both matches will air on the ROH TV episode that premieres this Saturday (September 4).
Love and Adora advanced to the semifinals by winning matches on the latest edition of ROH TV. Love defeated Max The Impaler by disqualification when Max wouldn’t let go of a choke in the ropes. Adora defeated Allysin Kay in their quarterfinal match.
In the first round of the tournament, Adora defeated Marti Belle. Love had a first-round bye.
Rok-C defeated Sumie Sakai and Quinn McKay to get to the semifinals. Alize defeated Alex Gracia and Nicole Savoy.
The ROH Women’s World Championship is a new title that’s replacing the former Women of Honor World Championship. Love is a former Women of Honor Champion, while Rok-C, Alize, and Adora all made their ROH debuts this year.
The finals of the tournament will take place at ROH’s Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view on Sunday, September 12. The PPV is being held at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.
ROH has set a date for Violence Unlimited’s first Tag Team title defense.
Homicide & Chris Dickinson will defend their ROH Tag Team titles against La Faccion Ingobernable’s Dragon Lee & Kenny King on the ROH TV episode that premieres the weekend of Saturday, September 11. Homicide & Dickinson won the titles by defeating The Foundation’s Rhett Titus & Jonathan Gresham (filling in for the injured Tracy Williams) in a Fight Without Honor at July’s Best in the World pay-per-view.
Dragon Lee & King formerly held the ROH Tag Team titles together. They were champions going into ROH’s 19th Anniversary PPV this March, but Dragon Lee had to miss the show due to injury. La Bestia del Ring replaced Dragon Lee at the PPV, and he and King lost the titles to Titus & Williams.
For ROH’s Death Before Dishonor PPV, Homicide, Dickinson & Tony Deppen have issued a challenge for three Pure wrestlers to face them in a six-man tag match. The challenge has been accepted by a team consisting of one Pure wrestler from the past, one from the present, and one who is considered part of the future. The identities of Violence Unlimited’s opponents will be revealed on ROH Week By Week next Tuesday.
Death Before Dishonor is taking place on Sunday, September 12.
Ian Riccaboni was our host yet again as usual host Quinn McKay has a match tonight. Riccaboni recapped last week’s episode of TV and ran down the card for tonight’s show. Rok-C vs. McKay and Miranda Alize vs. Nicole Savoy will take place as the ROH Women’s World Championship tournament continues, while the main event will see Rey Horus face Demonic Flamita in a no DQ match.
McKay wrestled Rok-C to the mat early and focused on her head, transitioning back and forth between a headscissors and a headlock.
As the match went on, McKay started showboating the same way Rok-C does. Rok-C showed signs of struggling with McKay’s constant offense, but the two were still at a stalemate into the commercial break.
As the match returned from the break, McKay hurt her knee on a drop down. Rok-C tried to let McKay get back to her feet, but shortly after that she began targeting the knee.
Later on in the match, Rok-C tried a double knee strike in the corner. McKay moved at the last second, sending Rok-C knee-first into the turnbuckle. This wouldn’t affect Rok-C as much as McKay’s injury would in the closing stages of the match.
McKay tried to lift up Rok-C in a fireman’s carry, but her knee buckled. Rok-C took advantage of the situation and hit her signature move, a Code Red, for the win.
**********
ROH Women’s title tournament quarterfinal match: Miranda Alize defeated Nicole Savoy (13:04)
Savoy and Alize exchanged holds on the mat in the early stages of the bout, but nothing came from it. They followed it up with exchanging a few pinning combinations — but yet again, they came to a stalemate.
After a short commercial break, the two women resorted to a striking exchange. Savoy would strike harder, allowing her to start a chain of suplexes.
After a few near falls, Savoy began showing severe frustration. This allowed Alize to pick her spot and hit a draping DDT, followed by her Drive By knee strike for the win.
**********
Demonic Flamita defeated Rey Horus in a no DQ match (12:08)
Both guys wasted no time in getting straight to the action, nailing each other with chops. Flamita slid to the outside and grabbed a chair, but Horus dropkicked him through the ropes. When Horus went to dive onto Flamita, he was met with a chair straight to the face.
Flamita kept full control of the match after whipping Horus head-first into a chair positioned on the turnbuckle. Flamita rolled Horus to the outside and tried to beat him down more, but Horus was able to spike Flamita with a rotating DDT on the floor. As Flamita recovered, a commercial break ensued.
When the action returned, Horus and Flamita made it back in the ring. Flamita’s trash talk fired up Horus and gave him the motivation to hit another satellite DDT.
Both wrestlers made their way out to the apron. After a small exchange of strikes and counters, Flamita and Horus headed to the top rope. Flamita got the advantage and hit a Spanish Fly through a table on the outside, but Flamita got the worst of it.
Flamita rolled Horus in the ring and tried to pin him, but Horus kicked out. Flamita followed up with a rotating 450 splash for the win.
**********
Final Thoughts —
This great episode of ROH TV capped off a excellent weekend for the company in general. I enjoyed all three matches, and while I expected Savoy to defeat Alize, it’s nice to see a surprise every now and then.
I’ve recently 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:
ROH has added two title matches to the card for its next pay-per-view.
The ROH World Championship will be on the line in a four-way elimination match at Death Before Dishonor on Sunday, September 12. Bandido will defend his title against Brody King, EC3, and Demonic Flamita.
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Moses & Kaun) defending their titles against La Faccion Ingobernable (Rush, Dragon Lee & Kenny King) has also been confirmed for Death Before Dishonor.
Bandido won the ROH World Championship from Rush at ROH’s Best in the World PPV last month. At Glory By Honor night one last Friday, Bandido retained the title against Flip Gordon.
Shane Taylor Promotions defeated Bandido, Flamita & Rey Horus this February to win the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles. Taylor, Moses & Kaun retained the titles against Incoherence (Delirious, Hallowicked & Frightmare) at Glory By Honor night two on Saturday.
Death Before Dishonor is taking place at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Here’s the updated card for the PPV:
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 (Rush, Dragon Lee & Kenny King)
Two “top free agents” who were recently released from another promotion will face off
The Big Takeaway: Matt Taven and Vincent met in the main event, while various ROH Champions competed throughout a very fun card.
Dalton Castle defeated Danhausen
Dak Draper joined commentary for this bout.
Castle started off with his usual antics, taunting Danhausen with his “boys” at ringside. After Danhausen was distracted by the “boys”, Draper jumped off commentary and helped orchestrate a sneak attack with Castle.
Both guys eventually found their way back in the ring where Danhausen was able to hit a few German suplexes. Castle was losing steam and confidence when he resorted to pouring a bottle of Danhausen’s teeth onto the ring canvas. Castle would follow it up with his signature Bang-A-Rang onto the teeth for the win.
**********
LSG defeated World Famous CB in a pure rules match
The offense between both men was immediately taken to the mat and it led to some fun exchanges. CB targeted the arm of LSG and nearly every form of attack that CB performed was based on the arm.
CB was clearly overwhelming LSG because he used all three of his rope breaks within the first seven minutes of the match. LSG got his offense in when he could and hit a surprise “Rocket By Baby” butterfly suplex, followed by a surprise pinning combination which was able to muster a three count.
CB refused to shake LSG’s hand afterwards.
**********
Rok-C and Miranda Alize defeated Willow & Chelsea Green
Willow and Alize started out the match. Alize threw some strong strikes at Willow but couldn’t seem to match the power or intensity that her opponent was giving out, so she tagged out to Rok-C.
Rok-C came in and had a fantastic exchange with Willow, one that included a top rope arm drag. Willow was shaken up so she tagged out to Chelsea Green. Green and Rok-C had a fun exchange that saw Green tag back out to Willow pretty quickly.
Willow came back in and missed a moonsault on Rok-C, which allowed the latter to hit a massive code red and pin Willow for the three count.
***********
Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Moses, and Kaun) defeated Incoherence (Delirious, Hallowicked, and Frightmare) to retain the ROH Six Man Tag Team Championships
Incoherence was joined by Ultra Mantis Black, who joined commentary after their entrance.
Delirious and Kaun started off the match and while Delirious went for a few takedowns, none of them manifested. Frightmare and Taylor came in after which got a massive reaction from the crowd.
Frightmare slapped Taylor, which prompted Taylor to clock him with a forearm strike. The match broke down for a minute and all of Incoherence sent STP reeling to the outside, which allowed Incoherence to regroup. This would end up favoring STP, who took over the match shortly after.
Moses had Delirious down and out when Hallowicked came in. Hallowicked slammed down Moses, and hit a great standing knee-based moonsault. When Hallowicked went for the pin, Taylor came running out of nowhere and bulldozed him.
Taylor and Delirious became the legal men. Taylor went to the second rope and was going to dive onto Delirious, but Frightmare pulled Taylor off the top rope with a cutter. This was the result of a very close near fall, but when Frightmare became legal, Taylor bulldozed him with a knee strike and followed it up with a package piledriver for the win.
************
Brian Johnson & Mark Briscoe defeated Demonic Flamita and Flip Gordon
Johnson and Flamita started out and Flamita absolutely handled him easily. Gordon came in and Johnson had better luck with him, having a fun slug fest. Flamita and Briscoe came in and had a really fast paced exchange that slowed down Briscoe’s energy significantly.
Flamita and Gordon took turns tagging in and out and beating down Briscoe in their corner. Briscoe eventually made a massive hot tag to Johnson, who got a great reaction.
After the hot tag, Johnson and Briscoe miscommunicated and crashed into one another. This led to Johnson telling Briscoe to kick rocks and he walked out of the match to a chorus of boos.
Flamita perched on the top rope for a 450 on Briscoe, but flipped off the crowd and jumped down instead. Flamita went to grab a chair but when Gordon encouraged him to use it, Flamita flipped off Gordon and tagged himself out. Gordon started to yell at his partner which allowed Briscoe to pick him up and piledrive him into the chair for the win.
************
The Foundation (Jonathan Gresham, Jay Lethal, Rhett Titus and Tracy Williams) defeated VLNCE UNLTD (Brody King, Chris Dickinson, Tony Deppen and Homicide)
Kenny King joined commentary for this bout.
Deppen and Titus started off the match. Both guys exchanged a headlock or two and once Deppen got cocky, he backed away from Titus and tagged out to King. King called for Gresham, but once Gresham came in, Lethal tagged himself in. Homicide came in afterwards, leading to Lethal and Homicide being legal.
Lethal’s chops had Homicide reeling quickly and made him tag out to Dickinson. Williams came in and exchanged a few shoulder tackles with Dickinson. Williams perched Dickinson on the top rope and hit a masterful butterfly suplex that warranted a near fall.
Dickinson was able to eventually tag out to Deppen, who became a target for The Foundation. They all took turns tagging in and out and targeting Deppen’s knee. Deppen would see an opening and fight off a double team from Lethal and Gresham, but it led to Gresham hitting a fantastic jumping cutter.
The Foundation had full control of their opponents until King eventually got the hot tag. King went absolutely insane and started throwing people into other people and diving onto others. Eventually King and Gresham went face to face and had a great striking exchange, but when distracted, Dickinson would pick Gresham and drive him through a table with a falcon arrow.
The final stages of the match saw Lethal and Deppen as the legal men. Deppen would try to fend off Lethal’s offense but couldn’t and eventually ate a Lethal Injection, which allowed Lethal to win.
**********
La Facción Ingobernable (Dragon Lee & Rush) defeated Mexisquad (Bandido & Rey Horus)
Rush attacked Bandido with a chair as he was making his entrance.
With Bandido being hurt and out, Rush and Dragon Lee resorted to double teaming Horus. Horus wouldn’t lay down and take a beating though and valiantly fought back until Bandido was able to help him.
LFI would still be in full control when Bandido returned. A ton of double team moves ensued and the crowd eventually willed Bandido back into the match. Bandido had a fantastic exchange with Dragon Lee where he countered a pop up DDT into a Canadian Destroyer.
Rush showed weakness and favored his knee in the late stages in the match, but eventually was able to hit his signature running dropkick in the corner on Horus for the win.
**********
Vincent defeated Matt Taven in a Steel Cage match
When Taven was trying to enter the cage, Vincent smacked him with the cage door and the match spilled to the outside.
Vincent and Taven fought all over the 2300 arena before eventually making their way into the cage, where the match officially began. Taven wasted no time and went to the top rope with Vincent, where Taven was able to hit a swing neckbreaker. Taven followed that up with multiple running knees into Vincent’s face.
Taven would lift Vincent up for a suplex but Vincent would counter with a erungai submission. Taven escaped quickly and began an assault on Vincent again. Bateman would come down to the ring with barbed wire and slide it into the ring, but Mike Bennett would run in from commentary and try to eliminate the problem.
Vincent took the barbed wire and weaved it throughout the cage walls, which allowed him to rub Taven’s forehead straight into it and cause him to bleed profusely. Taven would fight through the blood and start to wrap barbed wire around Vincent’s head like a crown.
Once Vincent started bleeding, Taven pulled out a purple hatchet and rubbed it on Vincent’s head. Taven followed it up with multiple running knee strikes but he refused to go for a pin.
Vita VonStarr would come to the ring with a bag of thumbtacks. VonStarr would climb to the top of the cage and attempt to dive onto Taven, but missed completely and hit Vincent instead. Taven would follow up by back body dropping VonStarr onto a pile of thumbtacks, and then hit a “Climax ” DDT on Vincent onto the pile of thumbtacks as well.
Dutch, the final member of The Righteous, came down to the ring afterwards. Dutch climbed to the top of the cage and Taven pushed him off into two tables. Vincent took advantage of a distracted Taven and hit a cutter off the top of the cage. Vincent hesitated for a moment before pinning Taven for the three count.
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Final Thoughts: I enjoyed Glory By Honor Night Two a lot more than I enjoyed night one. The show featured a great variety of matches that all told a different story and had different variations to it. My favorite bout was the LFI vs Mexisquad tag team match followed closely by the Six Man Tag Team Championship match, although I don’t think there was necessarily a bad match on the card.
A fantastic Bandido vs. Flip Gordon World championship match headlined Friday’s Glory By Honor event in Philadelphia that had its ups and downs.
Silas Young defeated Rey Horus (7:54)
Young came out first and was leaning into cutting a babyface promo before he started running down Philadelphia.
This first portion of this match was dominated by Young who kept Horus grounded for the most part despite a few flashes here and there. Young beat down Horus outside the ring and had complete control until Horus sent Young headfirst into the barricade with a bodyscissors.
Both guys eventually made their way back in the ring where Horus would start pushing the match in his favor. He hit a rotating powerbomb for a two count and when he brought Young to his feet, Young twisted his mask around and hit his Misery finisher for the three count.
Demonic Flamita defeated Dak Draper, Eli Isom, Danhausen, Mike Bennett and PJ Black in a six-man mayhem match (11:47)
Dalton Castle came down to the ring before the match to cheer on Draper. This was contested under lucha rules, meaning only two men can be in the ring at the same time.
Flamita and Black started out and had a really fun, fast paced exchange. Black planted him with a spiral DDT that sent both guys out of the ring, allowing for Danhausen and Draper to get in there. Draper tossed Danhausen out of the ring and sent him head first into the barricade.
Eventually, Flamita and Isom became the legal men. Flamita won a striking exchange and went to the top rope shortly after and teased a high flying maneuver but then flipped off the crowd and jumped down. Draper came in for Isom and immediately ate a Flamita boot to which Flamita followed up by going to the top rope again.
Once he was perched on the top, Isom came out of nowhere and shoved Flamita off, causing him to hit the floor. Isom slid in the ring and had a standoff with his longtime foe in Draper. They had the longest exchange of the match before everybody else in the match got involved.
After the smoke cleared, Danhausen and Bennett became legal. Bennett tried to piledrive Danhausen but when he failed, Flamita came in and threw Bennett out. Flamita set Danhausen on the top rope and hit a lungblower for the win.
Vita VonStarr & Max The Impaler defeated The Allure (Angelina Love & Mandy Leon) (6:39)
This match was simply here to showcase Max. After Leon and VonStarr started out, Max came in and bulldozed both Leon and Love like it was nothing.
Max tagged out eventually and let VonStarr get some action in, but when she started getting double-teamed by The Allure, Max came back in and yet again destroyed both Leon and Love.
Max and VonStarr won after Max had hit a Thesz Press on Leon, followed by VonStarr tagging in and rolling her up for the win. After the match, Max set up a table in the ring while VonStarr choked out Leon with a chain. Max just tossed Leon through the table and walked off with VonStarr.
EC3 defeated Brian Johnson (12:48)
Johnson, a Philadelphia native, came out before the match to massive cheers. Johnson rolled out a Liberty Bell replica with his signature moniker “Mecca vs. Everybody” on it.
EC3 applied a headlock, but Johnson was able to escape with motivation from the “Let’s Go Mecca” chants. EC3 continued to try and simply work down Johnson, but Johnson had a counter for everything. EC3 eventually found Johnson’s weak spot and began working on his upper back. After a few Irish whips and multiple submissions, Johnson finally found the momentum to initiate a comeback.
Johnson hit a few stiff clotheslines that sent EC3 reeling to the outside which allowed Johnson to hit a dive. Johnson hurt his hand in the process, which became EC3’s focus in the latter stages of the match.
EC3 found himself working Johnson’s hand before hitting his signature underhook slam, followed by his Promise submission hold which made Johnson tap.
Mark Briscoe defeated Bateman (6:19)
This match was originally supposed to be The Briscoes taking on The Righteous, but commentary informed us that somebody in that match didn’t make it through COVID-19 protocols.
Both guys started out by blasting each other with strikes which turned out to be a good portion of the match. Briscoe had some strong forearms for Bateman to which Bateman responded with a few strong knee strikes.
Bateman dumped Briscoe on his head a few times before Briscoe made a comeback, hitting a few clotheslines and climbing to the top for a froggy bow elbow drop which got him the win.
ROH Pure Champion Jonathan Gresham defeated Rhett Titus to retain (14:43)
Josh Woods joined commentary for this bout.
Titus tried to apply a front facelock and roll into a few different pinning combinations, but Gresham just laughed it off. Titus got frustrated and eventually started overpowering Gresham with his size difference.
As time went on, every attempt that Titus made to overpower was countered by Gresham. Gresham used whatever opportunity he got to work on Titus’ legs, trying to take him off his feet.
In the closing sequence, Gresham and Titus began exchange multiple pinning combinations. They rolled around the ring doing this for a solid sixty seconds before Gresham was able to pin Titus’ shoulders to the mat for the win.
VLNCE UNLTD (Brody King, Chris Dickinson, Homicide and Tony Deppen) defeated La Faccion Ingobernable (Dragon Lee, Kenny King, La Bestia Del Ring and Rush) in a street fight (15:35)
After Homicide and Dragon Lee started the match, Deppen tagged in. After Deppen spit on Lee’s jacket, chaos ensued and everybody started brawling. After the referee couldn’t restore control, the match was thrown out. Shortly after, Brody King said that nobody came to see a two minute match and demanded it be restarted and turned into a Philadelphia street fight.
Lee and Deppen resumed their battle in the ring while the other members of LFI and VLNCE UNLTD fought on the outside. Deppen and Lee had an excellent exchange, as they always do, which Lee won. Weapons started spilling out from under the ring with LFI introducing a trash can, a ladder and a table.
Deppen dodged a few ladder attacks from Kenny King and Bestia before hitting a springboard dropkick on both men. Homicide put the ladder on his head and began spinning around which allowed the rest of VU to throw each member of LFI in the ring one by one so they could get hit by the spinning ladder.
Dickinson had a highlight moment as well as he put a trash can on Brody King’s head and just nailed it with a few stiff kicks. Brody King got revenge on Dickinson shortly after when he dove over the top rope onto Dickinson into a table.
LFI positioned Deppen on a table in the ring shortly after. Bestia went to the top rope, but Brody King got in the ring and power bombed him into the table after Deppen rolled out of the way. After the rest of LFI was cleared out of the ring, Brody King pinned Bestia for the win.
Shane Taylor tried to blindside Kenny King after the match, but LFI stopped it. The rest of Shane Taylor Promotions ran down as the two groups brawled into the back.
ROH World Champion Bandido defeated Flip Gordon to retain (17:18)
EC3 joined commentary for this match.
Gordon tried his usual outsmarting tactics, but Bandido wouldn’t fall for them. Gordon took control after a fast paced, counter-based exchange and began beating down Bandido at ringside. Gordon bounced Bandido’s head off of his championship belt and rolled him in the ring. Gordon began looking for various weapons under the ring which Bandido took advantage of by diving onto an unsuspecting Gordon.
Bandido got Gordon back in the ring and kept his momentum going by hitting a rip crucifix bomb for a near fall. Gordon retaliated with a springboard satellite DDT for another near fall. Gordon followed that up quickly with a Flip-5 that Bandido kicked out of.
Bandido and Gordon found themselves on the top rope where Bandido did a bodyslam moonsault for a very good near fall. Bandido followed it up with his signature 21-Plex for the win.
EC3 had a staredown with Bandido after his win and then Brody King came down to the ring and berated EC3. King said he was next in line for a championship shot and had a pull-apart brawl with EC3. Flamita then jumped Bandido from behind to end the show.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, Glory By Honor night one was a solid show. The final two matches saved face from some underwhelming bouts like Johnson vs. EC3 and the six-man mayhem match. Although I enjoyed the Gresham match, I felt that it didn’t live up to some of his previous defenses against the likes of Mike Bennett and Fred Yehi. Saturday’s night two seems to have a better lineup in store, so I’m excited for that show.
Ring of Honor and New Japan Strong talent Brody King revealed that he recently tested positive for COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated.
While on the Wrestling Inc. podcast, King said that had the virus last week but tested negative last Sunday.
The head man of VLNCE UNLTD was set to appear in a ten-man tag match at NJPW Resurgence last Saturday, but was pulled on the day of the show due to “unforseen circumstances.”
King said that it started with him experiencing a bad head cold and that he immediately got tested because “you just can’t assume anything anymore” and blow it off as allergies or a cold.
After testing positive, King quarantined in his basement for a week and was relieved to know that both his wife and children have continued to test negative.
On the recent location change for ROH Death By Dishonor, the former Six-Man Tag Team Champion said he was bummed out by the change because he was looking forward to performing there and to see his friends at the shows.
He is scheduled for both of this weekend’s ROH Glory by Honor shows in Philadelphia, PA.
Ian Riccaboni joined us from the ROH studio and gave a quick rundown on the progress of the ROH Women’s World Championship tournament. Riccaboni also previewed the upcoming matches on tap for tonight, including the final first-round matchup in the tournament that sees Max The Impaler facing Holidead. Also, the big Champions vs. All-Stars 10-man tag is returning on this episode as well.
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ROH Women’s title tournament first-round match: Max The Impaler (w/ Amy Rose) defeated Holidead (9:18)
Holidead showed zero fear going into the first few seconds of the match, standing up to everything Max threw at her. Holidead tried to overpower Max with her own strength, but Max brushed off everything thrown at them as well. Commentary played up the fact that the longer the match went, Holidead would have more of an advantage. Max was in full control heading into a commercial break.
Coming back from the break, Holidead was able to plant Max with a swinging DDT, but it only resulted in a one count. Holidead would continue to try to wear down Max, even hitting a great German suplex. Holidead refused to go for a cover and instead went to the top rope, where she missed a leg drop. Max followed up shortly after with the Wasteland backbreaker for the win.
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All-Stars (EC3, Flip Gordon, Josh Woods & The Briscoes) defeated Champions (ROH World Champion Bandido, ROH Pure Champion Jonathan Gresham, ROH Television Champion Dragon Lee, and ROH Tag Team Champions Chris Dickinson & Homicide) (13:29)
Woods and Gresham started the match off. Commentary played up the fact that this could be a potential matchup for the Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view. They exchanged a few arm drags before Dickinson tagged himself in. Woods and Dickinson had a short exchange that didn’t amount to much. Dickinson tagged out to Dragon Lee and Woods tagged out to Mark Briscoe.
Mark handled Lee with ease, tossing him around like it was nobody’s business. Mark would eventually tag out to EC3, who got some small offense on Lee before Gordon tagged himself in. Gordon hit a standing moonsault on Lee while making direct eye contact with EC3.
The match broke down at this point with bodies flying everywhere. After the smoke cleared, EC3 and Gresham became the legal men. EC3 had Gresham in a facelock when Gordon tagged himself in again. The two tried to do a tag team maneuver, but it resulted in EC3 spearing Gordon.
Bandido got his first opportunity in the match after the miscommunication, having a small exchange with Gordon that included a great twisting moonsault. The match broke down yet again. And after the chaos ended, Homicide and Gordon were the legal men. Homicide caught a running Gordon with a overhead belly-to-belly suplex that only got a two count.
Gordon hit a Flip-5 shortly after, but he only got a near fall yet again. Gordon got frustrated and looked like he was on the verge of tears, which prompted him to piledrive Homicide. While making the successful pin, Gordon never lost eye contact with EC3.
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Final Thoughts —
As we approach Glory By Honor, I thought this was a mediocre go-home episode for the two back-to-back HonorClub specials. While I enjoyed the women’s bout, the 10-man tag seemed to just exist for the purpose of continuing a Flip Gordon-EC3 feud that I’ve not been a fan of thus far.
I appreciate the fact that seeds were planted for other future matches, but other than that, I didn’t really care for the Champions vs. All-Stars match.
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 quarterfinals of Ring of Honor’s Women’s World Championship tournament are now fully set.
On the latest episode of ROH TV, Max The Impaler defeated Holidead to advance to the quarterfinals of the Women’s title tournament. Angelina Love will be Max’s quarterfinal opponent.
This will be Love’s first tournament match. She received a bye in the first round of the tournament.
Here’s the full list of quarterfinal matchups:
Left side of the bracket —
Rok-C vs. Quinn McKay
Max The Impaler vs. Angelina Love
Right side of the bracket —
Miranda Alize vs. Nicole Savoy
Allysin Kay vs. Trish Adora
The quarterfinals will begin with Rok-C vs. McKay and Alize vs. Savoy airing on the ROH TV episode that premieres this Saturday. Kay vs. Adora and Max The Impaler vs. Love will then air on the following week’s edition of ROH TV.
The finals of the tournament will take place at ROH’s Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view on Sunday, September 12. The PPV was originally set to take place in Lakeland, Florida but has been moved to the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania due to the surge of COVID-19 cases in Florida.
Josh Woods is getting a Pure title shot at ROH’s next pay-per-view.
ROH has announced that Woods will challenge for the ROH Pure Championship at Death Before Dishonor on Sunday, September 12. Jonathan Gresham is the current Pure Champion. He’s defending the title against Rhett Titus at Glory By Honor night one on Friday, August 20.
Woods is the top-ranked challenger in the Pure division rankings. He defeated Silas Young in a Last Man Standing match at last month’s Best in the World PPV.
Gresham retained his title against Mike Bennett at Best in the World.
Gresham and Woods faced off in the semifinals of ROH’s Pure Championship tournament last year. Gresham defeated Woods and then advanced to defeat Tracy Williams in the finals.
Death Before Dishonor is taking place at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The PPV was originally set to be held at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland, Florida, but ROH announced that they were moving the location of the show due to the current surge of COVID-19 in Florida.
The finals of ROH’s Women’s World Championship tournament will also take place at Death Before Dishonor.
