Two stablemates will face off for the ROH Pure Championship at Glory By Honor night one.
ROH has announced that Jonathan Gresham will defend his Pure title against Rhett Titus at Glory By Honor night one. The show is taking place at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Friday, August 20.
Gresham and Titus are part of The Foundation with Jay Lethal and Tracy Williams.
Titus & Williams formerly held the ROH Tag Team titles together. With Williams injured, Gresham filled in for him at ROH’s Best in the World pay-per-view earlier this month. Titus & Gresham lost the titles to Violence Unlimited’s Homicide & Chris Dickinson in a Fight Without Honor.
The Tag Team title match was Gresham’s second match of the night at Best in the World. He also retained his Pure Championship against Mike Bennett at the PPV.
Gresham became Pure Champion by winning a tournament for the title when it was reintroduced last year.
An eight-man tag match with Violence Unlimited (Brody King, Tony Deppen, Homicide & Dickinson) facing La Faccion Ingobernable (Rush, ROH Television Champion Dragon Lee, Kenny King & Bestia del Ring) has also been added to Glory By Honor night one.
Glory By Honor nights one and two are both being held at the 2300 Arena and will air live on HonorClub. Here are the updated lineups for both shows:
Glory By Honor night one (Friday, August 20) —
ROH World Champion Bandido defends against Flip Gordon
ROH Pure Champion Jonathan Gresham (w/ Jay Lethal) defends against Rhett Titus (w/ Tracy Williams)
Violence Unlimited (Brody King, Tony Deppen, Homicide & Chris Dickinson) vs. La Faccion Ingobernable (Rush, Dragon Lee, Kenny King & Bestia del Ring)
Glory By Honor night two (Saturday, August 21) —
Steel cage match: Matt Taven vs. Vincent Marseglia (Taven’s future ROH World title shot is on the line)
The fallout from Best in the World continued with three eventful and very different bouts.
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The show started with The Foundation in the locker room consulting Jonathan Gresham about a knee injury. Gresham revealed that he tweaked his knee while sparring with Joe Keys, to which Tracy Williams took concern with. Williams offered Keys a spot in the eight-man tag main event to allow Gresham some rest.
Not Quinn McKay, not Ian Riccaboni, but Brian Johnson joined us from the ROH studio. Johnson did his usual insult shtick and ran down the card.
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Rey Horus defeated Fred Yehi (7:02)
Yehi’s swagger was unmatched to start off, casually brushing off any offense that Horus had to offer. Yehi would keep Horus grounded to the mat and applied a Koji Clutch about three minutes in, but Horus escaped quickly. A commercial break ensued shortly after.
When the match resumed, Horus cleared the top rope to dive onto a staggering Yehi on the outside. Horus took control for the moment and capitalized with a rotating frog splash for a close near fall.
Yehi took back control after trying to snap Horus’ neck. He locked in the Koji Clutch, but Horus broke the hold with a rope break. Yehi continued to hammer away at Horus with his brutal offensive style, eventually going to the second rope.
Yehi perched and positioned for a move, but Horus ran at him full speed and jumped up to Yehi’s level. Horus then took Yehi back down to the mat with a bodyscissor driver, pinning him to get the win.
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Mandy Leon (w/ Angelina Love) defeated Quinn McKay (8:49)
If McKay wins, she gets the final spot in ROH’s Women’s World Championship tournament.
Right as the Code of Honor was adhered to, Leon clocked McKay with a cheap shot forearm. Leon grabbed a microphone and told McKay that she didn’t belong in The Allure’s ring.
McKay would muster up some offense, but Leon shut it down rather quickly. They also had a nice mat wrestling exchange that resulted in Leon on top.
After a short commercial break, Leon remained in full control. McKay was a sitting duck at ringside when Leon did an awesome running dropkick from the apron.
Leon’s trash talk would finally catch up to her when McKay delivered a great float-over neckbreaker. McKay got some more offense in and eventually locked in a sleeper hold.
Once McKay had the hold applied firmly, Angelina Love jumped up on the apron and distracted referee Joe Mandak. Leon tapped multiple times while Mandak was distracted. Once McKay realized what was happening, she screamed at Mandak, which allowed Love to slip brass knuckles to Leon.
McKay showed some more fight and lifted up Leon for a powerbomb, but Leon nailed her in the cranium with the brass knuckles and followed up with a pin for the win.
Maria Kanellis-Bennett, who was on commentary for the match, said Mandak may only be able to call what he sees — but she’s on the ROH Board of Directors and can do what’s necessary.
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Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Moses, Kaun & O’Shay Edwards) defeated The Foundation (Jay Lethal, Tracy Williams, Rhett Titus) & Joe Keys (16:54)
Edwards and Keys started off the match. Edwards attempted multiple power moves on Keys, but he seemed to reverse them easily — much to the applause of The Foundation. Taylor asked for an opportunity at Keys and took advantage of it by clocking him with a clothesline.
After a short commercial break, Lethal tagged himself in. Lethal and Taylor had a short encounter that saw Lethal tag out once he barely dodged the freight train of a knee strike that Taylor threw.
Moses and Williams got their turn afterwards and had a great striking battle. Williams draped Moses’ arm over the ropes and cinched in an armbar for a moment before referee Todd Sinclair broke it up.
At this stage in the match, frequent tags began. Kaun and Lethal had a small interaction that led to a Taylor and Lethal square-off. It resulted in Lethal being knocked out of the ring by a forearm.
Titus and Moses got great hot tags, allowing Titus to hit a few of his signature moves, including an inverted Sky-Splitter. Edwards tried to get involved to help out his teammate, but he ate a great belly-to-belly suplex from Titus instead.
Titus’ hot streak would result in another really cool moment that saw him dropkick Moses right into a half-and-half suplex from Keys. This almost resulted in Moses getting pinned, but Edwards broke it up at the last second.
The final minutes of the match saw Keys get a lot of shine. He was able to fend off three members of Shane Taylor Promotions by himself while The Foundation recovered at ringside. Keys did his best but ultimately fell short in the end, succumbing to Taylor’s strikes.
The final sequence saw the ring get cleared of all members of the match except for Edwards and Keys. Keys hit a few moves before eventually being crumbled by a Edwards’ powerbomb, allowing Edwards to score the win via pinfall.
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Final Thoughts —
It’s quite nice to see Shane Taylor Promotions back on my television screen. Considering their last appearance on ROH TV was around two months ago, I genuinely appreciate when they get the screen time they deserve. They had a great bout with The Foundation & Joe Keys that really allowed each individual their own shine.
Rey Horus and Fred Yehi had a good match. Yehi’s swagger really jumps off the screen, and I’m loving his work in multiple companies. Horus seems to be in line for a title match soon.
I liked the story that Quinn McKay vs. Mandy Leon told, but that was the wrong result. ROH really played into the fact of McKay getting one more shot at her dream, but still had her lose this match. Leon didn’t really need this win and I felt like the result takes away a lot of steam from the feud.
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
Recommend Viewing
Watch YouTube Clips
Avoid At All Costs
This week’s episode of ROH TV is: Go Out Of Your Way
Note: This episode of ROH TV debuted on Fox affiliates last Friday, therefore it’s technically behind Best in the World in terms of storyline.
Quinn McKay welcomed us to the broadcast and hyped up Best in the World. McKay revealed that tonight’s card features some big bouts including a huge triple threat tag match pitting LFI against The Foundation against VLNCE UNLTD.
Also, PJ Black vs. Flip Gordon and The Briscoes vs. Joe Keys and Dante Caballero are also on tap.
The Briscoes defeated Joe Keys and Dante Caballero (6:06)
This was everything you could expect it to be: the Briscoes’ first match teaming together in over two months, taking out their ring rust on Keys and Caballero.
Keys got worked on early and while the Briscoes slaughtered him with multiple double team maneuvers, Caballero stood on the apron in fear of what was to come. Eventually, Keys tagged himself out, allowing his Dojo partner to come in.
Caballero was actually able to get some shots in on Jay and even hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Jay put an end to Caballero’s string of offense quickly, dropping him on his head and forcing him to tag back out to Keys.
Keys and Mark came in at the same time and had a good back and forth. Both Briscoe brothers eventually hit a Redneck Boogie, but Keys surprisingly kicked out at the last second. Jay followed up with a neckbreaker while Mark hit a Froggy Bow elbow drop for the three count and the win.
Flip Gordon defeated PJ Black (13:05)
Brian Johnson sat in on commentary. He sounds so much different when he’s not screaming into a mic.
The match was average, but despite both guys holding their own, there was never a good pace that developed. Black hit a nice headscissors takedown that sent Gordon reeling to the outside about three minutes in. Gordon would retaliate with a superkick on Black that sent us into a commercial break.
Back from the break, Gordon was perched on the top turnbuckle with Black. Gordon shoved Black off and hit a backflip shooting star press for a two count. Gordon became more frustrated and poked Black in the eyes which referee Joe Mandak didn’t catch. Gordon followed it up with the Flip 5 and the STF to make Black submit.
La Faccion Ingobernable (Dragon Lee & Kenny King) defeated VLNCE UNLTD (Brody King & Tony Deppen) and The Foundation (Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham) (10:42)
King and Lee retreated to ringside as soon as the bell rang, citing a lack of interest because it wasn’t for the Tag Team titles.
Gresham and Deppen started out and immediately took it to the mat. Gresham shrugged off a lot of Deppen’s offense with commentary noting that Gresham seemed to have a chip on his shoulder.
After a short commercial break, Brody and Lethal became the legal men. Kenny and Lee pulled Lethal out of the ring and suplexed him on the floor before inviting Brody to finish the attack. Brody continued inflicting damage on Lethal in the ring before tagging out to Deppen.
Deppen received the same treatment from LFI that Lethal did, but Brody chased them off after the fact. Gresham eventually came in for Lethal and had a small run of offense before getting pummeled by Brody.
After another short break, Lee became the legal man for the first time. He and Gresham had a really good exchange before King came in and picked the bones of “The Octopus.” The match reached its closing stages and saw Gresham power bomb Brody who was on the top turnbuckle. While Gresham was recovering, Deppen nailed him with a shining wizard. Deppen went for the pin, but King nailed him with a kick and stole the cover on Gresham for the win.
Final Thoughts:
Seeing this episode after the BITW PPV made it quite meaningless despite there being some fun wrestling.
A gripe I have with the current faction war between LFI, The Foundation and VLNCE ULTD is that a lot of losses are being dealt out. While commentary will often hype how Gresham is undefeated in singles action at the moment, he’s 9-7 overall and it takes away from the importance of him being undefeated. This also severely affects a guy like Jay Lethal, who is 3-9 overall this year.
In recent weeks. I have introduced a scale in order to let you know if the current week of TV is worth your time given how much wrestling is out available to watch: Must Watch TV, Go Out Of Your Way, Recommend Viewing, Watch YouTube Clips, Avoid At All Costs
This week’s episode of ROH TV: Watch YouTube Clips
Ring of Honor has revealed the date and location for their next pay-per-view.
Death Before Dishonor 2021 will be held at RP Funding Center in Lakeland, Florida on Sunday, September 12. The show will air live on HonorClub and PPV.
A new ROH Women’s World Champion will be crowned as the finals of ROH’s Quest for Gold tournament take place at Death Before Dishonor. The bracket for the tournament was announced at last night’s Best in the World PPV. The tournament kicks off on the ROH TV episode that premieres the weekend of Saturday, July 31.
Tickets for Death Before Dishonor will go on sale to HonorClub members at 10 a.m. Eastern time on Friday, July 16. Tickets will then go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Eastern on Friday, July 23.
“Tickets will be priced at $50 and $30, plus all applicable fees,” ROH wrote. “During the HonorClub presale members will receive a $10 discount on each ticket purchased.”
Best in the World was the first ROH event with fans in attendance since February 2020. Glory By Honor 2021 will take place at Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena on Friday, August 20 and Saturday, August 21, with both nights airing live on HonorClub.
A former two-time ROH Tag Team Champion was backstage at ROH’s Best in the World pay-per-view on Sunday night.
Post Wrestling reported on Monday that Chris Hero was backstage at Best in the World and believed to be working as an agent for the show. Post Wrestling’s report stated that they weren’t able to confirm Hero’s status with ROH past that he was at Best in the World.
ROH COO Joe Koff issued a statement to Post Wrestling confirming that Hero was at the PPV: “Chris was there and is always home at Ring of Honor.”
Hero (real name Chris Spradlin) was released by WWE during their April 2020 roster cuts. He was known as Kassius Ohno in WWE, wrestling for NXT and NXT UK.
Hero hasn’t wrestled since being released by WWE.
This was Hero’s second stint with WWE. He was initially with the company from 2012-2013.
Hero last appeared for ROH in 2014. He held the ROH Tag Team titles twice with Claudio Castagnoli as The Kings of Wrestling in 2006 and 2010-2011.
Sixteen competitors will compete this summer and fall for the Ring of Honor Women’s Championship and the full bracket was revealed at Sunday’s Best in the World.
Joining the field to replace Vita VonStarr is Chelsea Green who debuted on Sunday’s show. Released in April by WWE, the former Impact Knockouts Champion will make her ROH in-ring debut later this summer.
The tournament will kick off on ROH TV on July 31st with the finals set for September’s Death Before Dishonor. Lenny Leonard will return to the company to call the action, his first for ROH in 12 years.
The upper left side of the bracket will see Sumie Sakai take on Rok-C while Green will face Mandy Leon. The bottom right side will see Max The Impaler against Holidead while Angelina Love has a first round bye.
On the right upper side, Miranda Alize will face Alex Gracia while Nicole Savoy will battle Mazzerati. On the lower right side, Allysin Kay will face Willow Nightingale while Trish Adora takes on Marti Belle.
Formerly known as the Women of Honor title, it went defunct in January 2020 after champion Kelly Klein left the company. Several of the women in the tournament earned their spot through competing on Women’s Division Wednesday and earning “Tickets to Gold” from Maria Kanellis-Bennett.
Bandido defeated Rush to win the ROH World Championship at tonight’s Best in the World pay-per-view event.
The finish of the match had Rush kicking out of the 23-plex and going after Bandido, ripping off the top of his mask. Rush and the referee, Todd Sinclair, started to argue. Bandido took advantage of Rush being distracted and rolled him up to win the championship for the first time. This ends Rush’s second reign with the title which lasted nearly 500 days, dating back to Gateway of Honor back in February of 2020 when he defeated PCO.
After the match, Rush and the rest of La Faccion Ingobernable (Bestia del Ring, Dragon Lee, Kenny King) came out and attacked Bandido. Rush laid him out with the title and dropped it on Bandido’s chest. The show closed with Rush placing his foot on top of Bandido and the title.
Other title changes on the show had Chris Dickinson and Homicide defeating Jonathan Gresham (subbing for Tracy Williams) and Rhett Titus to win the ROH World Tag Team titles and Dragon Lee defeating Tony Deppen to regain the ROH TV title.
While rumors had her joining Impact Wrestling, Chelsea Green’s first stop post-WWE will be in Ring of Honor as she debuted during Sunday’s Best in the World.
In her promo, the “Hot Mess” said she wanted to wrestle tonight but the Maryland Athletic Commission deemed her unfit to compete. She said when her cast came off in a month, we wouldn’t have to wait 90 days to see her in action. Fightful had reported that she had requested an early release from WWE.
She will not be part of the upcoming Women’s title tournament which kicks off on July 31st on ROH TV. Quinn McKay can earn the spot left open when Maria Kanellis-Bennett removed Vita Vonstarr if McKay can beat Mandy Leon in an upcoming match.
Green was released by WWE in April as part of a group of cuts that included Samoa Joe and The Iiconics. Green suffered a broken wrist last November while making her Smackdown debut and hasn’t been in the ring since.
Dragon Lee became the fifth wrestler in Ring of Honor history to hold the TV title for a second time Sunday as he defeated Tony Deppen for the belt at Best in the World.
Lee got the clean pin on Deppen following his running Incinerator knee strike, a blow that closed a hard-hitting and competitive match between both men that included an impressive sequence of German suplexes.
Lee last held the title in February, but couldn’t make his title defense against Tracy Williams at March’s 19th Anniversary PPV due to a ruptured eardrum. Lee’s factionmate teammate Kenny King defended the title for Lee that night and lost it to Williams.
Lee returned to action last month and he and King lost the Tag Team titles to Rhett Titus and Williams. He was unable to take the TV title from Deppen in a three-way that included Williams and got the shot due to the fact he wasn’t pinned.
Deppen won the title on ROH TV in April by defeating Williams and only defended it once.
Matt Taven and Vincent will face each other in a steel cage match on the second night of ROH Glory by Honor on August 21.
On tonight’s ROH Best in the World pre-show, Taven held his talk show, “Trending with Taven”. He brought in Vincent, who came in the rest of his stable The Righteous, which includes Dutch, Bateman, and Vita Von Starr. Taven proposed the match, saying he wanted to be done once and for all with Vincent after the match took place. Vincent said he would agree to the match if Taven put up his ROH World title shot, and also proposed the match to be held in a steel cage. Taven agreed to the stipulations, setting up the match.
After the agreement, Taven decided to go after Vincent, but was quickly taken down by the rest of The Righteous, who proceeded to lawn dart Taven into the Trending with Taven logo, sending Taven to the floor.
The second night of Glory By Honor will take place at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Tracy Williams is off tonight’s ROH Best in the World pay-per-view event.
It was announced during the Best in the World pre-show that Williams would be off of his scheduled match, where he was to team with Rhett Titus to defend the ROH World Tag Team titles against Violence Unlimited (Chris Dickinson and Homicide) in a Fight Without Honor match. Jay Lethal, who is already scheduled to fight Brody King on the show, will pull double duty and team with Titus instead.
Williams has not wrestled since being involved in a hit and run car accident back in June. He wrote at the time:
Firstly, I’ll be okay. I got full on hit by a car yesterday x-ing the street. Guy blew a red going ~25mph. I flew for what felt like a full second, landed high on my back. Just so unbelievably lucky & grateful that my dog who was walking with me was somehow not hit & she’s okay. I’d take the hit for her any day & it could’ve been so much worse. There are a lot of things about it that were lucky in that weird way. Like, it’s lucky this asshole idiot driver hit a 32 y/o pro wrestler & not the old couple that was crossing from the other side in front of me.
ROH Best in the World will be the first show back with fans for the company since February of 2020. The show is headlined by an ROH World title match between champion Rush and Bandido.
For the first time since February 2020, Ring of Honor will host a show in front of live fans with tonight’s Best in the World pay-per-view from Baltimore, Maryland.
The eleven-match card is headlined by World Champion Rush vs. Bandido. This will be Rush’s first title defense since March and the first time they have clashed in a singles match since March 2019. Bandido earned the shot by winning the Survival of the Fittest tournament.
The show will also feature four other title matches: Tag Team Champions Rhett Titus and Tracy Williams vs. Chris Dickinson and Homicide in a fight without honor; Six Man Tag Team Champions Shane Taylor, Kaun and Moses vs.. Dak Draper, Dalton Castle and Eli Isom; Pure Champion Jonathan Gresham vs. Mike Bennett; and TV Champion Tony Deppen vs. Dragon Lee.
Best in the World will also feature Brody King vs. Jay Lethal; Josh Woods vs. Silas Young in a last man standing match, Danhausen and PCO vs. Brian Milonas and Beer City Bruiser; Rey Horus vs. Demonic Flamita; EC3 vs. Flip Gordon and The Briscoes vs. Brian Johnson and PJ Black.
Our live coverage kicks off at 7 PM Eastern.
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The show started with an announcement concerning Tracy Williams. The Maryland State Athletic commission will not allow Williams to compete in his Tag Team Title match tonight. Jay Lethal will take Williams’ spot and join Rhett Titus to take on Homicide and Chris Dickinson. Lethal will be pulling double duty as he also has a bout with Brody King.
Rey Horus defeated Flamita
Horus blasted Flamita off the apron right as the bell rang, and took it to his former MexiSquad partner at ringside. Flamita was able to recover rather quickly and toss Horus back in the ring, and began a slow pace afterwards.
Flamita shrugged a lot of Horus’ offense off but eventually paid for it when Horus’ hit a great tope suicida. Horus would follow it up with a satellite DDT that absolutely drilled Flamita into the mat.
At this point in the match, the intensity turned up a notch. Both luchadors exchanged some stiff strikes and both guys eventually ended up on the top turnbuckle. Flamita lifted up Horus for the musclebuster/lungblower combination and was successful in hitting it, but Horus powered out at two.
Flamita went to attempt a powerbomb afterwards, but Horus flipped through and was able to roll up Flamita for the three count and the win.
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Kenny King came out and cut an OK promo. He told the crowd to be loud and that the people in the back are eager to perform in front of a crowd. King then took a dig at the local Baltimore Ravens, and guaranteed Dragon Lee would regain the ROH TV Title tonight.
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Trending With Taven with Vincent
Matt Taven is out and he has A LOT of hair. Taven recalls his successes and failures in the past number of years and The Righteous interrupt. Taven offers Vincent a contract that entails that him and Vincent have one more match. Vincent said he would only agree if Taven puts up his World Title shot on the line.
Vincent had a metaphor about a cage which led to Taven proposing a Steel Cage match. Vincent agreed and both men brawled, but The Righteous had Taven outnumbered. Bateman and Dutch threw Taven headfirst into his neon sign to end the segment.
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PCO and Danhausen defeated The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser and Brawler Milonas) (w/ Ken Dixon)
Milonas shoved PCO off the apron and started throwing around Danhausen. Bruiser and Milonas tagged in and out, both taking turns at working down Danhausen. Danhausen eventually hit a release German Suplex on Bruiser, which was impressive on its own, but then made the tag to PCO.
PCO had a great hot tag that saw a swanton on Bruiser who was laying on the apron, followed by a dive on the outside to Milonas. Sledge emerged from backstage and stood at ringside. Bruiser hit a springboard elbow drop on PCO, but was met by Danhausen when he got back in the ring. Danhausen slammed Bruiser on a spilled pile of teeth, followed by a PCOsault from PCO for the win.
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The Briscoes defeated PJ Black and Brian Johnson
Brian Johnson ran down the Baltimore crowd, who actually cheered back at him. Johnson also said Black has been to more countries than The Briscoes can count to, which I popped for.
The Briscoes cleared house quickly and took the fight to ringside. Jay held Brian Johnson in place as Mark hit a topè off of a steel chair. The high intensity continued from the Briscoes as they pounced on Black after rolling Johnson in the ring.
Johnson and Jay ended up having a really intense forearm exchange, to which Johnson held his own. Mark tried to lift Johnson up for the redneck boogie but Black broke it up.
The Briscoes just continued their onslaught of momentum as Jay would hit the Jay-Driller piledriver on Black, followed by a Froggy Bow from Mark for the win.
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EC3 defeated Flip Gordon
This bout started off quite slow to my suprise. Gordon targeted the knee of EC3 with a few chop blocks, but it didn’t seem to affect the “Essential Character”. Gordon continued a limb-targeting based offense, which fits his heel character a lot more than what previous work did.
EC3 got very little offense up to this point but despite his knee injury, he was able to muster enough power to hit a butterfly facebuster. EC3 followed it up with a crossface and made Gordon submit quickly.
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Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Moses and Kaun) defeated Dak Draper, Dalton Castle and Eli Isom to retain the ROH Six Man Tag Team Titles
Kaun and Draper began the bout. The two weren’t in for even a minute before Isom and Moses came in. Moses overpowered Isom with ease, causing Isom to tag out to Castle.
Castle did his usual showboating shtick, to which the crowd played up. Moses tagged out to Taylor, who mowed him over with a forearm. Isom came in and Taylor planted him into the canvas with a one-handed spinebuster.
Castle recovered and hit a few moves on Kaun, but refused to go for a cover and continued to showboat. Isom shoved Castle down, but then Moses shoved Isom into Draper. Chaos kept erupting while Isom had a few nearfalls on Taylor.
Isom went to the top rope in an attempt to jump on Taylor, but Castle tried to do the same. Isom shoved Castle off the top rope which allowed for enough of a distraction for Kaun to suplex Isom off the top rope. Taylor planted Draper with a “Welcome To The Land” piledriver for the win.
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Josh Woods defeated Silas Young in a Last Man Standing match
Woods jumped Young from behind during his entrance. Both guys wasted no time and almost instantly introduced a chair, a table and a ladder to the match. Woods took it to Young by throwing him groin first into the steel turnbuckle. A few short minutes after, Young speared Woods into a table set up in the corner of the ring.
Woods would eventually apply a gorilla lock to Young who tapped quite fast, but it didn’t matter due to stipulation. Woods set up two tables on the outside of the ring and tried to lure Young to that area, but the “Last Real Man” kicked him in the groin. Young sat Woods in a chair and tried to charge at him, but Woods caught him and powerbombed him into the ladder.
Both guys eventually made their way on the apron, dangling over the set-up tables. They teased a German Suplex spot a few times before actually doing it. A “Holy Sh*t” chant emerged from the building as the referee began his count. Woods emerged at a ten count to win the match.
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Brody King defeated Jay Lethal (w/ Tracy Williams)
Lethal and King have a stare down before the bell. There’s a lot of tension here so both guys wasted no time going right after each other. Lethal hit a Lethal Injection almost immediately, but King kicked out at one. King went to recover on the outside, but Lethal hit four (!) dives in a row. None of the dives kept King down as he just climbed back in the ring.
King laid in a few “frying pan chops” as Ian Riccaboni called it and slowed down the pace. Commentary played this up as a giant downfall for Lethal as King continued to dominate him. King set up Lethal in a chair against the barricade and hit a running crossbody, crushing Lethal. Lethal tried to show some fight, but King kept hammering him with chops and brutal forearms.
King planted Lethal with not one, but two gonzo piledrivers for the win. A really good display of strength for King.
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Jonathan Gresham defeated Mike Bennett to retain the ROH Pure Championship
Gresham and Bennett grappled and exchanged a few waist and wrist locks for the first two minutes. Bennett caught Gresham in a hold that forced Gresham to use his first rope break. Gresham would then target the arm of Bennett and begin showboating, even starting a few clap-alongs while smacking Bennett’s arm.
Gresham would get a bit cocky and afforded Bennett a opportunity to swing at him, but the Champion rolled to the outside. Bennett followed and Gresham would jump back in the ring and spring onto Bennett. Bennett caught him but Gresham transitioned it into a standing kiruma on the outside. Bennett tapped multiple times but since it was on the outside of the ring, it didn’t count.
Bennett and Gresham both eventually made their way back into the ring and the match picked up speed. Bennett would try a few different moves but his arm gave out multiple times. Gresham would keep picking on the same arm and eventually made Bennett use his final rope break. Both men would engage in a war of forearms and it would allow Bennett to get an adrenaline rush at a key point in the match.
Bennett planted Gresham with a great powerbomb followed by a piledriver which almost resulted in a new champion, but Gresham’s foot was underneath the rope during the pin attempt. Bennett celebrated thinking he won the title, but Gresham would sneak up behind him and apply a leglock and make Bennett tap for the win.
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Dragon Lee defeated Tony Deppen to win the ROH Television Championship
Lee and Deppen went right after each other, exchanging super stiff forearms and slaps. Deppen sent Lee to the outside and hit a wonderful cannonball candian destroyer. Lee recovered rather quickly and both guys went to war inside the ring.
Multiple german suplexes, knees, and stomps were exchanged between Lee and Deppen before Lee hit a piledriver for a near fall. Lee was able to eventually nail Deppen with a Dragon’s Breath knee for the win.
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VLNCE UNLTD (Chris Dickinson and Homicide) defeated The Foundation (Jonathan Gresham & Rhett Titus) in a Fight Without Honor to win the ROH Tag Team Championships
When Dickinson and Homicide rushed to the ring to check on Tony Deppen, Gresham and Titus followed behind quickly. The bell rang and everything fell apart quickly. Dickinson tossed Titus off the top rope spine-first into a chair, and only moments later Titus put Homicide through a table with a Falcon’s Arrow.
Dickinson worked on Gresham in the ring while Homicide and Titus brawled on the outside. All four guys eventually made their way back in the ring and while Gresham was out of breath, he kept his fight alive. Dickinson and Homicide took a dominant position at this point in the match. Dickinson had Gresham in a STF and when Homicide was about to stab him with a fork, Titus sprung back to life and suplexed him. Dickinson would waste no time and powerbomb Titus off the top rope into a table, while Homicide would hit the Cop Killer on Gresham for the win.
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Maria Kanellis Bennett revealed the ROH Women’s Tournament bracket
Bennett introduced Lenny Leonard to the crowd and revealed the bracket for the upcoming ROH Women’s Tournament. With one spot left, Bennett introduced Chelsea Green. Green said she is ready to prove herself worthy after spending two years being deemed not worthy. Green made it known that she is entering the upcoming tournament that starts on July 31st.
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Bandido defeated RUSH to win the Ring Of Honor World Championship
Rush blasted Bandido as soon as the bell rang and hit his signature running corner stomp immediately. Rush stood over Bandido’s body and covered him with his foot, but released the pinfall at a one count. Bandido rolled out of the ring to try and recover, but Rush followed him out and started hitting him with cables.
Bandido was completely lifeless at this point as he rolled to the outside, to where Rush followed him. Bandido would gain a burst of energy and toss Rush back in the ring, and follow it up with a stunning shooting star press. Bandido would continue to gain momentum slowly, but when he attempted his X-Knee finisher Rush reversed it easily.
Rush introduced a table to the bout shortly after and set it up at ringside. When he went to climb back in the ring, Bandido launched himself over the top rope and took Rush with him in the process as both men crashed into the table. As a twenty count from the referee approached, both men made it back in the ring.
Bandido and Rush kept finding more and more momentum to continue the bout. Bandido hit a moonsault slam for a near fall, followed by a 23-Plex for another near fall. Rush got very frustrated at this point and ripped the top of Bandido’s mask off, and also shoved referee Todd Sinclair down. Bandido would take advantage of Rush’s distraction and roll him up for the win. Bandido is the new Ring Of Honor World Champion.
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Final Thoughts:
Despite the whole Pay-Per-View feeling rushed at times, I enjoyed ROH’s return back to live crowds. Almost every match made itself different from another, which is what I look for in a 12 match card like this one. I wasn’t a fan of the Baltimore crowd at all, but it could have just been mic-ing issues. Or again, the fact that there were TWELVE matches.
Besides a fun Flamita/Horus opener, the first few matches lacked a PPV-type feeling. I don’t think the “Get everybody On The Card” strategy has ever paid off for any company, but I understood it for ticket-moving logistics. If I was cutting the proverbial fat off of the PPV, I would shave off the first two tag matches between PCO/Danhausen/The Bouncers and The Briscoes/Brian Johnson/PJ Black.
I don’t know if something happened early in their match, but EC3/Gordon was quite terrible. Definitely expected a better match from those two. Shane Taylor Promotions getting a great reaction is the stuff i love to see, as they were one of my favorite acts throughout the pandemic tapings.
The Josh Woods/Silas Young match is where the show got really, really good. Young and Woods had a good last man standing bout that had a satisfying finish. Brody King absolutely mauled Jay Lethal and it was a sight to behold to say the least. Following up the near-murder was a fantastic Mike Bennett and Jonathan Gresham Pure Title match that had a heart-breaking near fall at the end. This match only furthered my belief that Gresham is a Top 10 wrestler on the entire planet.
After that bout was a Dragon Lee and Tony Deppen match that despite going under ten minutes, was my match of the night. It’s hard to put it into words, but I’d highly recommend watching it if you haven’t already.
After a great 15+ minute match with Bennett, Gresham had to defend the ROH Tag Titles with stablemate Rhett Titus against Dickinson and Homicide in a very fun match. It was a Fight Without Honor, so there were a lot of cool weapon related spots. Homicide even threatened to stab Gresham with a fork, to which Ian Riccaboni pointed out that this wasn’t a CZW event.
Chelsea Green showed up! It gets more eyeballs on the product, so I’m cool with it.
The main event saw Bandido and Rush add onto the slate of great matches. Bandido winning the title was a really cool moment and genuinely unexpected on my part. I hope he’s around a lot more than RUSH was.
Overall, a really great effort put forward by the whole ROH roster. They continue to trend in the right direction and gain some fans back from the past.
All but one of the entrants for ROH’s Women’s World Championship tournament have now been revealed.
ROH has announced that Sumie Sakai, Holidead, and Marti Belle will be participants in this summer’s Women’s World Championship tournament. Sakai was presented with a Ticket to Gold by Maria Kanellis-Bennett on this week’s Women’s Division Wednesday episode, granting her a spot in the tournament. Kanellis-Bennett then presented Holidead and Belle with Tickets to Gold in a video that ROH uploaded on Thursday night.
Allie Recks was also going to be given a Ticket to Gold by Kanellis-Bennett on this week’s Women’s Division Wednesday, but Recks is unable to compete in the tournament due to undergoing knee surgery. Recks said she’ll be out of action for 8-9 months.
Sakai competed in ROH’s first-ever women’s match in 2002 and became the first Women of Honor World Champion in 2018.
Holidead has regularly teamed with Thunder Rosa as The Twisted Sisterz during her career. She made her AEW Dark debut on last week’s episode and has wrestled for ROH several times previously.
Belle has formerly wrestled for the NWA and TNA/Impact Wrestling. She was also an entrant in WWE’s inaugural Mae Young Classic in 2017. Belle appeared for ROH in 2019 when she unsuccessfully challenged Allysin Kay for the NWA Women’s World Championship.
The ROH Women’s World Championship bracket will be revealed at this Sunday’s Best in the World pay-per-view. The tournament will kick off on ROH TV the weekend of Saturday, July 31.
But before the tournament starts, Quinn McKay will face Mandy Leon on the ROH TV episode that begins airing on Saturday, July 17. If McKay wins, she’ll get the final spot in the tournament.
McKay, who is part of ROH’s broadcast team, lost her first shot to be in the tournament when she was defeated by Angelina Love this May. Leon interfered to help Love win that match. As a stipulation of her win, Love is getting a first-round bye in the tournament.
The ROH Women’s World Championship is a new title that’s replacing the former Women of Honor World Championship. Here’s the updated list of entrants for the title tournament:
Two more Tickets to Gold were given out, but one recipient couldn’t accept due to injury. A great tag team bout also took place on the show.
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Lenny Leonard announced that two Tickets to Gold would be given out tonight. He also announced that Maria Kanellis-Bennett and himself would be revealing the Women’s World Championship tournament bracket this Sunday at ROH’s Best in the World pay-per-view.
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Ticket to Gold: Sumie Sakai
Kanellis-Bennett praised Sakai’s work and tenure in ROH, and said they couldn’t host a tournament without her. Sakai was the first-ever Women of Honor World Champion and expressed that she’s looking forward to becoming champion again.
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Allie Recks & Gia Scott defeated Sumie Sakai & Willow (9:30)
Willow and Recks started the bout. Recks couldn’t match Willow’s strength, so Scott tagged herself in. After a few exchanges of strikes and counters, Sakai came in. Sakai sent Scott into the corner and Scott seemed to have a knee injury. When the referee blocked Sakai’s view, Scott popped up and nailed her with a kick.
Scott slapped Recks on the shoulder and demanded she enter the match, which she did reluctantly. Recks and Sakai had a nice little exchange and Recks was able to show off some of her offensive repertoire.
Recks and Scott eventually both got in the ring and tried to double team Sakai, but she was able to make a tag to Willow. Willow came in and bulldozed Recks, then followed it up by planting Scott with a spinebuster. Willow had the momentum until Scott dropped her with a powerbomb that would have secured the win if Sakai didn’t break up the pin.
The final seconds of the match saw Scott plant a kick on Willow’s jaw while the referee was distracted. Recks followed up with a spear for the win.
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Ticket to Gold: Allie Recks
Kanellis-Bennett applauded Recks for the heart she’s shown in her Women’s Division Wednesday matches. Kanellis-Bennett offered a Ticket to Gold to Recks, but Recks revealed that she injured her knee in her match with Max The Impaler a few weeks ago. Recks respectfully declined due to the injury, but Kanellis-Bennett assured her that there will be future opportunities.
Lenny Leonard revealed after the call that two more Tickets to Gold will be awarded on Thursday night via ROH’s social media platforms.
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Final Thoughts —
Very unfortunate news for Allie Recks. I was looking forward to seeing her in the tournament. Sumie Sakai was an expected entrant from the very beginning. I just hope ROH lets a fresh face win the belt.
I enjoyed the tag match thoroughly, although I didn’t like Willow taking the pin. She’s a wonderful wrestler and was the star of this match.
The ROH Tag Team titles will be on the line in a “Fight Without Honor” at Best in the World.
ROH Tag Team Champions The Foundation (Tracy Williams & Rhett Titus) will defend their titles against Violence Unlimited (Homicide & Chris Dickinson) at Best in the World. The pay-per-view is taking place at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore, Maryland this Sunday.
The announcement of the Tag Team title match was made on Tuesday’s edition of ROH Week By Week. A Fight Without Honor is an anything goes match that must have a winner.
The Foundation’s Jay Lethal is also facing Violence Unlimited’s Brody King in a singles match at Best in the World.
ROH has also announced that The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe) will be in action against PJ Black & Brian Johnson at Best in the World. Plus, there will be a new edition of Matt Taven’s “Trending With Taven” interview show on the PPV. Taven is feuding with Vincent Marseglia and Vincent’s The Righteous stable.
Best in the World will be the first ROH event with fans in attendance since February 2020. Here’s the updated card for the show:
ROH World Champion Rush defends against Bandido
ROH Television Champion Tony Deppen defends against Dragon Lee
ROH Pure Champion Jonathan Gresham defends against Mike Bennett
Fight Without Honor: ROH Tag Team Champions The Foundation (Tracy Williams & Rhett Titus) defend against Violence Unlimited (Homicide & Chris Dickinson)
Brody King vs. Jay Lethal
EC3 vs. Flip Gordon
Last Man Standing match: Josh Woods vs. Silas Young
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Moses & Kaun) defend against Dalton Castle, Eli Isom & Dak Draper
The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe) vs. PJ Black & Brian Johnson
Demonic Flamita vs. Rey Horus (Best in the World Hour One)
PCO & Danhausen vs. The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brawler Milonas) (Best in the World Hour One)
Best in the World Hour One will air for free starting at 7 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday. It will be available on platforms including HonorClub, YouTube, and PPV channels carrying Best in the World. The Best in the World main card will then begin on HonorClub and PPV starting at 8 p.m. Eastern.
