Ring of Honor is back on HonorClub tonight.
This week’s episode was taped at the WJCT Studios in Jacksonville, Florida.
The ROH World Championship will be on the line tonight as Bandido puts his title on the line against Volador Jr.
The AEW National Championship will also be on the line as Mark Davis defends against Adam Priest.
The ROH World TV title will be on the line as AR Fox defends against Dezmond Xavier of The Rascalz.
In singles competition, it will be Maya World vs. Trish Adora of Shane Taylor Promotions. In a Pure Rules match, Rachael Ellering will face Viva Van.
Also booked for the show, Stori Denali of the Premier Athletes will be in singles competition. The Lethal Twist, Blake Christian, Lee Johnson, and Jay Lethal will be in trios action. Caprice Coleman will “chops it up” with Athena.
Our live coverage kicks off at 8 p.m. Eastern.
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– Our show opened with a recap of Athena after her victory against Mina Shirakawa in the women’s Owen Hart Tournament at Double or Nothing this past Sunday.
– After the opening, we got right into the action as the incomparable Ian Riccaboni introduced himself and Caprice Coleman while Adam Priest made his entrance.
AEW National Championship: Mark Davis (c) vs. Adam Priest
“Dunkzilla” competed in Stadium Stampede at Double or Nothing on Sunday, as well as an Owen Hart Foundation men’s tournament match last night on Dynamite.
The bell rang as Priest attempted to chop at Davis’s chest, but it had very little effect. Priest then opted to use some of his speed to try and take down Davis with a shoulder tackle or two. But, that had little effect as Davis took down Priest with a scoop slam and a running senton, followed by the vicious chop to the chest.
Priest escaped the corner, but Davis threw him on the opposite corner with enough force to send him barreling over the corner and out of the ring. At ringside, Davis stalked Priest and tried to hoist him up for a powerbomb, but his foe used the apron to escape it. Priest brought Davis back into the ring, but immediately found himself literally chopped down. The cover, but Priest kicked out at two. Priest headbutted Davis’ chest, but that did him little good as he got felled by another scoop slam from the AEW National Champion. Davis threw Priest into the corner and battered him with repeated forearms, followed by a running clothesline that sent Priest from the apron and into the guard rails. Priest grabbed Davis’ arm outside the ring and sent him shoulder first into the ringpost. He then put Davis’ hands into the joints that held the turnbuckles and kicked at them to cause maximum pain.
Priest continued to target the hand of Priest with a couple of stomps before he took a bite out of that hand out of the referee’s view. Priest wrenched at Davis’s hand, but the big man broke the hold momentarily. An arm wringer from Priest took Davis down as the challenger transitioned into an arm-wringer submission. Davis created some separation with a hard kick to the ribs of Priest as he then hoisted him up to the top turnbuckle. Davis’ superplex attempt was stopped as Priest went after the hurt right hand, which led to a leaping DDT. Priest reversed a Samoan Drop into a crossarmbreaker, which left the National Champion in no man’s land. Davis had to use his sheer strength to break up the subsequent triangle choke with a one-armed powerbomb.
As Priest recovered, he was taken down with a weak-arm lariat, as Davis trapped him in a sleeper. Priest turned that into a pinfall attempt, but Davis managed to kick out. Priest missed an enzuigiri kick, as Davis nailed one of his own. Davis had a head of speed, but Priest clipped him, which led to an STF locked in. The straitjacket hold was applied, but Davis just managed to crawl to the ropes to break the hold. Davis crawled to the apron and got himself back to his feet, as he took down Priest with a weak-arm lariat. This led to a standing avalanche suplex from Davis, followed by the vicious right hand. Davis then wrapped this defense up with the gutwrench piledriver and the three.
Mark Davis def. Adam Priest via pinfall to retain the AEW National Championship
This was a solid opener. Both men continue to impress me the more I see them in action and this was right up my alley as a result. Davis’ run as National Champion has been terrific so far, and Priest gets better and better with every match.
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Anthony Ogogo (w/ Shane Taylor Promotions) vs. Darian Bengston
The current ACTION Wrestling champion looked to have the upper hand early, but Ogogo got him with a scoop slam. Bengston escaped a second scoop slam attempt and got the take down. After a llittle showboating, Bengston used his speed to blast Ogogo in the face before he slid out of the ring and taunt the Infantry at ringside. As Bengston got back in the ring, Ogogo took him down with a big boot, as he followed that with stomps in the corner. With the referee distracted, Carlie Bravo choked Bengston while Capt. Shawn Dean taunted the crowd.
Bengston’s attempt at a hurricanrana was turned into a powerslam by Ogogo, but that wasn’t enough to pick up the win. Ogogo lifted Bengston, but his opponent deadweighted himself, which led to a running spinning kick into the corner by Bengston. Ogogo was taken down by a diving splash from Bengston for the near-fall. Bengston sized up Ogogo and sent him outside the ring, which led to an attempted dive to the outside. However, Ogogo caught him and turned it into a Northern Lights suplex. Ogogo brought Bengston back into the ring and decided to take flight in a rare display. Ogogo whiffed on the splash, as Bengston almost got the win with the crucifix pin. Bengston tried for another crucifix, but the British strongman turned that into a spinning slam. Somehow, Bengston kicked out at two.
Bengston showed some fight as he got Ogogo a couple of kicks, but the hard right put him out of commission as the referee called for the stoppage.
Anthony Ogogo def. Darian Bengston via referee stoppage
I thought this was a good match and I liked that Darian Bengston got a chance to get his stuff in and it wasn’t a total Ogogo domination match. I think ROH is at its best when the “enhancement” talent get their chance to shine.
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– We got remarks from Mance Warner, who called out Lee Moriarty for a shot at the ROH Pure Championship. We learned that we’ll see the two in a Proving Ground match on next week’s show. As well, Isla Dawn will take on ROH Women’s Pure Champion Deonna Purrazo in a Proving Ground match.
Pure Rules Match: Rachael Ellering vs. Viva Van
As was tradition with Pure Rules, this match got underway with Ellering and Van engaging in a chain wrestling battle. Ellering had Van caught in an arm submission, but Van reversed it into a Fujiwara armbar until Ellering escaped. Van was taken down with a shoulder block as she again focused on Van’s arm with a submission. The wristlock from Ellering kept Van grounded until she did her unique dodge maneuver. Van looked to have the momentum with a low spinning wheel kick, but Ellering kicked out at two. In the corner, “The Northstar” chopped away at Van, as she followed that with shoulder attacks. Gutwrench suplex by Ellering, led to the running senton and the near-fall. Ellering applied a dragon sleeper, which forced Van to exhaust one of her three rope breaks. This allowed Van to apply a single leg hammerlock grab. This led to Ellering to burn a rope break to break the hold.
Van and Ellering traded strikes until the latter drove her foe down with a powerful lariat as the match reached the six-minute mark. In the corner, Van hit Ellering with a double-foot kick but she couldn’t hit an electric chair move. Ellering hit Van with a closed fist out of the referee’s view, which led to the Collapse suplex, but only a near-fall there. Van hit Ellering with a backfist as she hoisted her up for the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex and the bridging pin for the victory at 7:16.
Viva Van def. Rachael Ellering via pinfall
I enjoyed this match, and the Pure Rules really worked well in showcasing the strengths of both Van and Ellering.
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“Main Man” Oro vs. Angelico
Oro ran out of the gate strong with a spinning wheel kick in the corner to Angelico. Another heel kick from Oro forced Angelico to kick out at two. Angelico responded with a kick of his own as he struck Oro with jabs and kicks to the legs. Oro hit responded with another spinning kick as he targeted the back of Angelico with a knee, followed by a whip to the corner. Angelico fired back with punches to the face, but he got sent to the apron by Oro. The quick pump kicks, followed by the rope-assisted Flatliner from Oro only got a two-count.
Angelico attempted a reset with clotheslines, and the capoeira kick to the skull of Oro for a near-fall. Angelico nailed the jumping Flatliner on Oro but that only got yet another near-fall. Angelico attempted some sort of leg submission, but Oro pushed him away for the clothesline, as he connected with the pop-up bicycle kick. That couldn’t put this match away. The high-velocit kick was missed by Oro, as Angelico applied his modified ankle lock submission to get the tapout win.
Angelico def. Oro via submission
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Caprice Coleman ‘Chops it Up’ with Athena
Caprice had a sit-down interview with Athena, as he started it off by congratulating the “Forever Champion” for her longevity and defenses as the ROH Women’s Champion.
Athena said she appreciated that as Caprice asked her about her reign and if it surprised her for how long it’s gone. Athena answered that there was a shift in her persona, stating that she was tired of being a team player and not moving past the point of doing her matches on the dearly-departed AEW Dark and Dark Elevation. It allowed Athena to focus on herself to become the most dominant champion in not just Ring of Honor, but also in all of wrestling.
Athena said that when people think about Ring of Honor, they don’t think about Bryan Danielson or Nigel McGuinness or Samoa Joe, people think about Athena being the Forever Champion. She said that people should be happy that they have a job because of her.
Athena stated that the achillies injury has forced her to look at her match as if it was her last. She said that when the right person comes along and proves to her that they can be champion, they will deserve the gold.
Caprice said that we’d see Part Two of his interview with Athena next week.
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Trish Adora (w/ The Infantry) vs. Maya World
Adora refused to shake Maya’s hands as the two got into a collar-and-elbow battle. Maya took out Adora with a kick, followed by the acrobatic hurricanrana. The running hip attack into the corner by Maya, but Trish chopped her at the top rope, which sent Maya crashing out to the mat below at ringside. Adora continued the punishment by driving her knee to the back of Maya as she applied a split-legged arm submission afterwards. Adora held Maya by one arm and stomped on that hand.
Adora dropped Maya on her knees shoulder-first and applied another submission hold for a brief moent. Adora continued to target Maya’s neck and head area with strikes and kicks. The front facelock was reversed by Maya, who hit Adora with a kick to the jaw. Adora threw Maya into the corner and then hit a butterfly suplex. The cover, but Maya kicked out at two. Adora sized up her Lariat Tubman lariat, but May a did a Matrix dodge to avoid it. A pump kick by Maya was followed by the Slingblade. In the corner, Maya hit the springboard moonsault, but Adora kicked out at two.
Maya went for a charging attack, but Adora rolled out to avoid it, Another dodge outside as a big boot took out Maya. In the ring, Adora hit the brainbuster on Maya, but could not get the three. Maya absolutely blasted Adora with the rolling elbow, followed by the back elbow for the near-fall. Double stomp from Maya, but the spinning backbreaker from Adora stopped all hope. Adora hit the low German suplex, but she couldn’t hang on on the bridge.
Adora again sized up the amazingly-named Lariat Tubman, but Maya got the surprise rollup for the victory, which gave her momentum ahead of her match against Hazuki on Collision this Saturday.
Maya World def. Trish Adora via pinfall
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Stori Denali (w/ “Smart” Mark Sterling) vs. Brooke Havok
Stori easily brushed aside Brooke, but her much smaller foe attempted to use her agility to avoid any sort of damage. The running clotheslines from Brooke failed to take down Stori, who hit a huge clothesline of her own. The Snake Eyes from Stori was followed by a big boot. Black Hole Slam by Stori kept Brooke grounded. In the corner, Stori choked at Brooke with her boot, then following that up with strikes and punches to the face. Brooke attempted to create some separation by avoiding Stori’s running strike, followed by the shotgun dropkick. Brooke tried for a diving attack, but Stori caught her and slammed her down hard. This was followed by the giant’s staple of a chokeslam for the easy win.
Stori Denali def. Brooke Havok via pinfall
Stori Denali is alright, and I do admire the push that they’re giving her, so there’s that. Aside from that, this match wasn’t really much to write home about.
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Proving Ground: The Frat House (Preston Vance, Jacked Jameson, Griff Garrison) vs. The Outrunners (Turbo Floyd & Truth Magnum) & Dalton Castle
Truth Magnum & Preston Vance got this match started as the Frat House got the early advantage with quick tags and keeping Magnum away from his corner. One third of the ROH Trios Champions fought out of the Frat House corner as Turbo tagged in and hit a nice double team move with his fellow Outrunner. Turbo attempted the big body slam, but Preston raked the eyes, which allowed Jameson to tag in. He stomped at Turbo’s groin behind the referee’s back. The “Jacked” one missed with the knee strike, but the advantage was still firmly in the Frat House’s corner.
Turbo got his feet in between Jameson’s groin, which allowed him to get some separation. However, Garrison and Jameson took out Castle and Truth as Preston was in the ring taking a neckbreaker. Finally, a recovered Castle got the hot tag as he delivered suplexes for the three members of the Frat House. Castle then looked for the Bangarang, but Vance grabbed a hold of Jameson. This led to the Frat House shelling Castle with consecutive lariats, butg the Outrunners broke up the count. With five minutes remaining, Jameson was all alone as Turbo and Floyd nailed the “You Son of a Bitch” handshake, followed by the triple elbow alongside Castle for the victory.
Post-match, The Lethal Swirl ambushed Castle and the Outrunners
The Outrunners & Dalton Castle def. The Frat House via pinfall
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Ian Riccaboni interviews The Lethal Swirl
Almost immediately, the voice of ROH got into the ring and admonished Jay Lethal, Lee Johnson, and Blake Christian for their actions.
Christian said that he and his partners were the most creative and most exciting team in Ring of Honor, even moreso than the current Ring of Honor World Six-Man Tag Team Champions, and they were ready to prove that against any six men right here and right now.
The Lethal Swirl (Blake Christian, Lee Johnson, Jay Lethal) vs. Il Cartello Grillo
Christian kicked Cartello as he and Johnson shelled him with double team moves in the ring. Legal man Johnson punched away at the debuting Cartello, but the suplex created some separation. Rosario Grillo tagged in and was a house of fire, but the Swirl snuffed out the comeback. KJ Impala was trapped and dropkicked out of the ring. The Lethal Swirl was on fire as they kept Grillo completely isolated with a fast and furious offesnse. Lethal applied the Figure Four, followed by a 450 Splash from Christian, as The Lethal Twist picked up the win via submission.
The Lethal Twist def. Il Cartello Grillo via submission
The six-man Proving Ground match with the World Six-Man Champions was fun, and the set-up of the feud betwen the Outrunners & Dalton Castle vs. Lethal Swirl should be fun.
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ROH World Championship: Bandido (c) vs. Volador Jr.
This match was contested last week at Arena Mexico.
Volador Jr. and Bandido started off fast, but it was the ROH Champion who got the advantage early with a dive to the outside. In the ring, Volador headed up top and hit Bandido with a dropkick that sent him out. Between the ropes, the suicide dive from Volador connected, which sent Bandido into the railings. High crossbody from Bandido was followed by him taunting Volador, who responded with some clotheslines of his own. Volador stomped away at Bandido in the corner to keep him stunned. The Arena Mexico faithful let Volador hear as they jeered him loudly.
Bandido hit Volador with a pump kick, followed by the tornillio from the top rope. As Volador rolled out of the ring, Bandido soared over the top rope with a diving swanton. Volador kicked Bandido from the apron as he then took off with a hurricanrana that sent Banddio crashing right into the Roshfrans-branded guard rail. Volador looked to see if lightning would strike twice, but Bandido caught him and threw him into the railing instead.
Back in the ring, Volador intercepted a diving Bandido with a dropkick for the near-fall. Volador ran right into a flipping powerbomb for a near-fall. Bandido hoisted Volador up for a stalling suplex, but he couldn’t capitalize. The handspring by Volador was caught by Bandido, who hit the back suplex. Volador sent Bandido out of the ring as he hit the rana to the outside, which sent him down to the mat. As Bandido recovered, he whipped Volador with enough force to send him over the barricade. The ROH Champion then followed that up with a dive over the barricade as he barreled right into Volador Jr. Bandido stood up on the apron and looked for some sort of move, but Volador turned that into another rana into the floor. Volador then threw Bandido back into the ring as he headed up top.
The Frog Splash by Volador Jr. on Bandido nearly won him the ROH World Title, but the champ kicked out at 2.99999999. As Bandido recovered into the corner, he blocked Volador’s running attack and lifted him from the corner for a deadlift suplex. Inside left hook cover by Bandido, but Volador Jr. kicked out at two. Bandido recovered and looked like he was going to hit the 21-Plex, but Volador countered with a superkick, as he followed that with a Destroyer. One, two…. 2.99999999 again! Volador and Bandido traded strikes, as they then got a double down with a stereo dropkicks that hit right on the button.
‘Referee Aubrey Edwards counted both Volador and Bandido down as both men got up just as she reached nine. Bandido fired himself up and hit Volador with a kick in the corner, followed by the German Suplex. He headed to the top rope and went for the Shooting Star Press. It landed flush, but Volador Jr. kicked out at dos. Volador got himself back up, but he immediately got hit with Bandido’s X-Knee, as he then followed that up with the 21-Plex. Uno, dos…. 2.99999999!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mexican Destroyer by Volador on Bandido was still somehow not enough to win. With Bandido down on the canvas, Volador Jr. ascended to the top rope, but he probably took too much time taunting the crowd, as Bandido recovered. He lifted him up, but Volador countered and looked for a poison-rana. Bandido struggled free and lifted up Volador for an avalanche reverse fallaway slam. He then followed that up with a modified 21-Plex from the ground and that’s it, over. Bandido retains the ROH World Title in one heck of a match.
After the match, Volador Jr. showed respected to Bandido as he handed him the ROH World Title.
Bandido def. Volador Jr. to retain the ROH World Title
Tremendous, tremendous match. I really enjoyed seeing this CMLL match on this week’s ROH show. Bandido is on a generational run and he just gets better and better in every match.
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ROH World Television Championship: A.R. Fox (c) vs. Dezmond Xavier
As Fox and Xavier adhered to the Code of Honor to get this match started, the two got into a chain wrestling duel. Fox pushed Xavier off with a kick and turned it into a sunset flip for an early pinfall attempt. Both men showed some great agility with the acrobatic dodges, but Xavier hit Fox with a mule kick and began trying to get the pin attempts early. Fox rolled out of the ring and took time to recover.
Fox stepped back into the ring and kicked at Xavier, but he missed with the double stomp. Xavier then hit a dive between the ropes to the outside. Xavier punched at the ribs of Fox before he put him back in the ring and hit the double knees to those ribs. The cover, but Fox kicked out at two. Xavier put Fox in a grapevine surfboard submission, which forced Fox to try and struggle towards the ropes. A stomp put an end to that. Fox remained shelled by the attack of Xavier, who kept punching him in the face. Fox tried to mount a comeback with a shot to the midsection of Xavier, but the World TV Champion found himself under siege again. A running forearm was dodged by Fox as he then hit Xavier with the enzuigiri.
Both men got back to their feet as Fox hit Xavier with the clothesline in the corner. This was followed by the roll into the two superkicks, the basement cutter and the pull-through cutter for a near-fall. Fox looked for a suplex, but Xavier turned it into an inside cradle for a two. Donkey punch by Xavier, followed by the crescent kick and the around the world DDT. Somersault kick by Xavier left Fox out cold, but long enough for the three-second tan. Xavier walked to the corner and targeted Fox for the Meteora, but Fox dodged it at the last second. From the apron, Fox blasted Xavier with the kick, as he followed that up with two DDTs and the suplex for a near-fall.
Fox headed to the top and missed with the 450 Splash, as Xavier took him down with a couple of kicks. Xavier now headed to the top, but he apparently lost his balance, which allowed Fox to capitalize with the straitjacket brainbuster, followed by the 450 Splash to retain the World TV Championship.
Xavier and Fox showed respect for one another as we wrapped this week’s edition of ROH on HonorClub.
AR Fox def. Deszmond Xavier via pinfall to retain the ROH World Television Championship
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A great main event between Fox and Xavier to put a nice bow on a great week of action over on Ring of Honor. I think ROH’s biggest strength is when the “marquee” matches are mixed in with those involving enhancement talent, especially if they get their chance to shine and it’s not a complete squash. It’s a nice balance that I think ROH manages to nail quite well.
The Bandido/Volador Jr. match was a nice treat to see and definitely served as a great way to entice viewers to check out CMLL’s weekly Friday show, especially with the significant AEW/ROH crossover going on at times.
One aspect of these weekly shows that in my opinion doesn’t get enough praise is the commentary duo of Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman. They are a terrific duo and are always on top of the action and it certainly helps viewers follow along as they call the moves when they happen. Great stuff from these two.
