Tag: ROH

Tony Khan reveals bracket for ROH Women’s Pure Championship tournament

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The brackets for the Women’s Pure title tournament is finally out.

Tony Khan revealed the participants for the upcoming tournament, which begins with Death Before Dishonor tonight when Queen Aminata takes on Taya Valkyrie. The winner of the tournament will be crowned the first-ever ROH Women’s Pure Champion.

The winner between Valkyrie and Aminata will face the winner between Deonna Purrazzo and Trish Adora. On the other side of the brackets, Billie Starkz will take on CMLL’s Olympia while Serena Deeb will face Yuka Sakazaki. It has not been announced when the finals will take place.

A tournament to crown the first-ever champion was announced back in April. However, various injuries in the AEW/ROH women’s roster has prevented the company from holding the tournament, with Tony Khan choosing to push the tournament back. The first-ever champion was set to be crowned back at Supercard of Honor in May.

Purrazzo, Aminata, Valkyrie, and Deeb were originally announced for the tournament. Leila Grey’s name was also mentioned, but was not featured in the brackets.

Sammy Guevara to have mystery partner for ROH Death Before Dishonor title match

Posted on by Joseph Currier

With Dustin Rhodes out of action for a while, Sammy Guevara will have a new partner starting with ROH Death Before Dishonor.

Tony Khan has announced that Guevara and a yet-to-be-revealed partner will defend the ROH Tag Team titles against The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd) at Friday night’s event in Philadelphia. This won’t be the only title defense for Guevara that night, though, with Khan also confirming that Guevara will join Ross & Marshall Von Erich for an ROH Six-Man Tag Team title defense against Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Shawn Dean & Carlie Bravo).

Rhodes — who has not wrestled since the end of July — underwent a double knee replacement last week. He was a double champion in ROH, holding the promotion’s Tag Team titles with Guevara and the Six-Man belts with The Von Erichs.

Despite the injury, the 56-year-old Rhodes has promised that this will not be the end of his in-ring career.

Death Before Dishonor is taking place at the 2300 Arena in Philly amid AEW’s ongoing residency at the venue. The show will stream live for Honor Club subscribers starting at 8 p.m. Eastern.

ROH Death Before Dishonor 2025 —

  • ROH World Champion Bandido defends against Hechicero
  • ROH Women’s World Champion Athena defends against Mina Shirakawa
  • ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty defends against Xelhua
  • Fight Without Honor: QT Marshall vs. Paul Walter Hauser
  • ROH Tag Team Champions Sammy Guevara and a mystery partner defend against The Outrunners
  • ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Ross Von Erich, Marshall Von Erich & Sammy Guevara defend against Shane Taylor Promotions

Scotty 2 Hotty on competing with son at AEW taping: That was ‘special’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Scott Garland — the former Scotty 2 Hotty — had a special experience this week competing alongside his son at an AEW taping.

At Wednesday’s Dynamite in Scotland, Garland teamed up with his son Keagan on the ROH TV taping portion of the show. They took on Jon Cruz & Bret Levi in a tag team match.

In a tweet, Garland thanked everyone at AEW who made this moment possible for him.

“Last night was special!,” he wrote on Thursday. “My son, @KeaganGarland and I were able to team up in a match before the cameras started rolling for AEW Dynamite at the OVO Hydro arena in Glasgow, Scotland. Thank you to @AEW and everyone that played a part in making this moment happen for us.”

Garland started working as a coach and producer for AEW on a tryout basis in 2023 after previously working behind the scenes in WWE. He then took on the role full-time at the beginning of 2024.

This was Garland’s second time ever competing at an AEW event. The former WWE Tag Team and Light Heavyweight Champion first wrestled for AEW in a dark match in December 2023.

Keagan Garland is an indie wrestler who recently became the first graduate of Ace Steel’s Foundation of Wrestling school after starting in the program as a beginner.

New ROH Death Before Dishonor match added

Posted on by Ethan Renner

A fourth match has been added to next Friday’s Death Before Dishonor special on ROH’s HonorClub streaming service, this one a Fight Without Honor.

The storyline between QT Marshall and Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning actor Paul Walter Hauser will continue at Death Before Dishonor in a Fight Without Honor. The match was made official in a segment on Thursday’s Ring of Honor TV episode:

Death Before Dishonor will take place at the former ECW Arena, now the 2300 Arena, in Philadelphia on Friday, August 29. Four matches are now official for the show, including the Fight Without Honor, an ROH World title bout, an ROH Women’s World title match, plus an ROH Pure Championship tilt. The updated card:

ROH Death Before Dishonor, Friday, August 29 —

  • ROH World Champion Bandido defends against Hechicero
  • ROH Women’s World Champion Athena defends against Mina Shirakawa
  • ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty defends against Xelhua
  • Fight Without Honor: QT Marshall vs. Paul Walter Hauser

ROH spoilers from Glasgow: Scotty 2 Hotty & son in tag team action

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: Limitless Wrestling

Former WWE star and current AEW producer Scotty 2 Hotty made his return to Ring of Honor for the first time in 15 years on Wednesday, teaming with his son for the first time in the promotion.

S2H and the debuting Keagan Garland were part of the ROH tapings prior to the Dynamite taping at the OVO Hydro in Glasglow, Scotland. The two defeated Jon Cruz & Bret Levi which is expected to air on a future ROH TV broadcast.

Garland, trained by Ace Steel, has teamed with his father several times in his very young career including two appearances for Maine’s Limitless Wrestling. S2H is a native of the state.

S2H’s only ROH match before Wednesday was a two-minute defeat to Larry Zbyszko at SoCal Showdown in January 2010.

Here’s the full results from the ROH taping:

  • Trish Adora defeated Alexxis Falcon
  • Scotty 2 Hotty & Keagan Garland defeated Jon Cruz & Bret Levi
  • Lance Archer (w/ Rocky Romero) defeated two local wrestlers. Grado appeared afterward and brawled with Archer, getting a low bridge on him before exchanging blows with Rocky Romero.

Daily Update: Naomi, Becky Lynch, Action Dean 3

Posted on by Bryan Rose

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Two title matches added to ROH Death Before Dishonor

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Two new title matches are official for the Friday, August 29 ROH Death Before Dishonor event.

As revealed during Thursday’s Ring of Honor TV, Athena will put the Women’s World Championship on the line at Death Before Dishonor against Mina Shirakawa. Shirakawa will be returning after being out of action with an injury since the Casino Gauntlet match at AEW All In last month.

In another new title bout, Xelhua will challenge Lee Moriarty for the ROH Pure Championship at Death Before Dishonor. Xelhua took Moriarty to a time limit draw in a Proving Ground match on Thursday’s ROH TV episode to earn the title shot.

Already announced for the show, Bandido will defend the ROH World Championship against Hechicero.

The HonorClub streaming special will air from the former ECW Arena in Philadelphia on Friday, August 29.

ROH Death Before Dishonor, Friday, August 29 on HonorClub —

  • ROH World Champion Bandido defends against Hechicero
  • ROH Women’s World Champion Athena defends against Mina Shirakawa
  • ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty defends against Xelhua

AEW & ROH star to hold solo art exhibition in Los Angeles

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Lee Moriarty is holding his own art exhibit next month.

It was announced via press release on Wednesday that the ROH Pure Champion will be holding an exhibit titled Balance. It will run at Night Gallery in Los Angeles, opening on September 27 and running through October 18. The exhibition is curated by Adam Abdalla, the founder of Orange Crush: The Journal of Art & Wrestling.

“Moriarty’s portraits reveal a different side of luchadors, known for their elaborate masks and larger-than-life personas typically seen in the ring,” the press release reads. “Here, they’re shown in quiet, everyday moments: one lounges in a beach chair beneath the sun; another builds a snowman on a quiet winter afternoon; a third peers through binoculars, birdwatching in a peaceful clearing.”

Image: Lee Moriarty

Moriarty previously showed his work at NADA Miami last year. The press release notes that one of Moriarty’s works was later acquired by the Perez Art Museum in Miami.

On this week’s Collision, Moriarty will be in action to take on Daniel Garcia, Nigel McGuiness, and Hechicero in a four-way bout with the winner facing Zack Sabre Jr. for the IWGP World Championship at Forbidden Door.

AEW reveals location for Final Battle 2025, December Collision

Posted on by Joseph Currier

This December, AEW will be in Columbus, Ohio for back-to-back events.

It was announced today that, for the second straight year, AEW will be part of the GalaxyCon Columbus convention. ROH will present its Final Battle 2025 pay-per-view at Battelle Grand on Friday, December. The venue — which is a ballroom at the Columbus Convention Center — will also host AEW Collision live on Saturday, December 6.

Tickets for the shows are set to go on sale to the general public next Monday (August 18) at 10 a.m. Eastern time.

AEW was first part of GalaxyCon Columbus in December 2024, putting on an episode of Collision that featured matches from last year’s Continental Classic tournament.

Final Battle has been ROH’s year-end PPV since the event was first introduced in 2002. Last year’s edition was held at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City with Athena vs. Billie Starkz and Chris Jericho vs. Matt Cardona as the top two matches.

GalaxyCon calls itself a “festival of fandom” that celebrates comic books, pop culture, sci-fi, fantasy, anime, gaming, cosplay, and more with events across the United States. The Columbus convention is happening from December 5-7.

AEW off-air notes and ROH TV spoilers from Cleveland

Posted on by F4W Staff

Some off-air notes and ROH TV spoilers from Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite taping in Cleveland.

Dark matches —

Before Dynamite:

CMLL’s Okumura defeated Sigma —

The Beast Mortos defeated AR Fox —

Afterwards LFI attacked Fox and stood tall, raising their fists over his body. 

ROH TV spoilers —

After Dynamite:

Hechicero defeated Jay Lethal —

Hechicero won by submission.

Athena defeated Diami —

Afterwards, Toni Storm came running out, laid out Billie Starkz and gave the Thesz press to Athena. Billie pulled Athena out of the ring before The Fallen Goddess could get hit with the hip attack.

On the mic, Toni Storm told Athena to “get back here so I can give you a Cleveland steamer!” Which, of course, led to chants.

Mistico, Mascara Dorada and Neon defeated Adam Price and The Work Horsemen (Anthony Henry and JD Drake) —

After the match, Mistico was going to speak to the crowd when MJF, wearing a Mistico mask, attacked Mistico from behind. MJF said, with his title, he owned Mistico and Mexico. If Mistico wants it back he better be prepared to put everything on the line, “perro!” 

Mike Bennett reflects on reaching eight years sober from painkillers

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Mike Bennett recently reached a big personal milestone, crossing the eight-year sober mark in his battle against painkiller addiction.

The AEW & ROH wrestler shared a message with fans today saying that, as of last week, he is now more than eight years clean from painkillers. Despite this being such a huge milestone, it’s one that Bennett didn’t even take note of on the day of the anniversary. He feels like it’s probably a good thing that his current self is moving further away from that part of his life.

The 40-year-old Bennett added that, while the last eight years have had their ups and downs, he’s proud of who he’s become and appreciates everyone who has been with him on this journey.

“Last week was my 8 year anniversary of being clean of pain killers. I totally forgot about it. I was visiting my parents in Massachusetts with my kids and it never crossed my mind. I said to Maria ‘I think it’s a good thing that I didn’t remember.’ My struggles back then will always be a part of me but I refuse to let it define me,” he wrote.

“I wish I could say the past 8 years have been sunshine and bliss but that would be a lie. I’m in a much better place but life will always do what life does. In the last 8 years I’ve lost my job twice, had 2 kids with a third on the way, my wife was in and out of the hospital w a tumor, moved the family to Tennessee. Lots of stress. Lots of love. Lots of tears. Lots of laughs. I’m proud of the man I’ve become and the man I continue to grow into. Lord knows I’m not perfect but everyday I become a little bit better. I love everyone who’s been on this journey with me. Thank you.”

Bennett’s most recent match took place on an ROH episode in May. His wife Maria Kanellis-Bennett had also been with AEW before announcing her departure from the promotion at the end of January. The couple recently revealed that they’re expecting their third child.

ROH Women’s Championship match set for next AEW Collision

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The ROH Women’s title is on the line next week.

During AEW Collision, it was announced that next week’s show will see Athena defend the ROH Women’s Championship against Alex Windsor. This comes following a short interaction between the two where Athena appeared on the balcony and dismissed Windsor, who had just picked up a win in her AEW debut against Taya Valkyrie.

After Windsor left, Athena addressed Toni Storm, who soon came to the ring and demanded Athena sign the contract she won at All In so they could have their title match right then and there. Athena rejected the idea and instead promoted the upcoming match between Storm and Athena’s minion Billie Starkz on this upcoming Dynamite. Storm pointed out that if Starkz won, she’d get a future title match, something Athena didn’t like. Storm then entered through the crowd to go after Athena, who fled from the balcony to end the segment.

A match featuring Anthony Bowens was also teased for next week, though it wasn’t specified which show it would be on or against who. As friction ensued between Bowens and Billy Gunn backstage, Gunn on this week’s Collision told Bowens he had a match set up for him. Bowens responded by saying he trusted Gunn.

AEW Collision lineup:

  • ROH Women’s Championship: Athena defends against Alex Windsor

Ring of Honor TV spoilers from Chicago

Posted on by F4W Staff

The following are spoilers for future Ring of Honor TV programming.

Three matches were taped for Ring of Honor TV prior to Wednesday’s live AEW Dynamite in Chicago at the Aragon Ballroom.

AEW kicked off their three-week residency at the Aragon on Wednesday night. The residency continues with a Collision taping on Thursday, July 17, a live Dynamite on Wednesday, July 23, a live Collision on Saturday, July 26, a live Dynamite on Wednesday, July 30, and a live Collision on Thursday, July 31.

**********

Ring of Honor TV spoilers from Chicago taped Wednesday, July 16 —

The Beast Mortos defeated Serpentico —

Mortos pinned Serpentico after an over the shoulder backbreaker into a piledriver.

Lee Johnson and Blake Christian defeated David Ali and Isaiah Moore —

Johnson pinned Ali after Christian jumped off the top rope onto Ali who was in the Torture Rack on Johnson’s shoulders. Ali and Moore are Chicago-area indie workers.

Nick Wayne (w/Mother Wayne and Kip Sabian) defeated Gringo Loco —

Wayne pinned Loco after hitting the Unprettier.

WOL: Has wrestling counterprogramming become counterproductive?

Posted on by Jim Valley

There are so many wrestling shows to cover, that we couldn’t do it in 48 minutes, so today’s Wrestling Observer Live with Jim Valley had to go into overtime.

Most of these shows exist because of WWE counterprogramming which I think might be counterproductive.

From Friday, we had Jelly Roll on WWE SmackDown, ROH Supercard of Honor with a match of the year candidate, and many more great matches.

For today, WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event promises to be the most newsworthy one yet, there’s WWE Evolution on Sunday, today’s NXT Great American Bash and the reason for many of these shows: AEW All In Texas.

Check it out.

Click Here to Listen (sub needed)

Syuri vignette airs during ROH Supercard of Honor

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Syuri is coming.

During ROH’s Supercard of Honor event on Friday, a vignette aired highlighting the Stardom star’s background in karate and her striking abilities, with a voiceover saying that Syuri would be coming. It wasn’t specified if she was coming to AEW, ROH, or both rosters.

Earlier this month, Syuri and Stardom announced that she would be ‘taking a break’ from the company to wrestle overseas. Her announcement came shortly after losing the IWGP Women’s Championship to Sareee.

“I have been wrestling for 17 years. I thought about it long and hard, but I have decided to take a break from #STARDOM,” she said in a statement. “I will train overseas and level up my game even more. My loss to Sareee was really frustrating. I won’t go out like this. I want to hold the IWGP again. That’s why I made this decision. I’m sorry to everyone who was looking forward to my appearances in the ring. I will be back in a STARDOM ring one day.”

Syuri is a former MMA competitor, amassing a 6-3 record with all of her losses taking place in the UFC. She returned to Stardom in 2020 and quickly rose to the top, winning the World of Stardom Championship in 2021 and holding it for one year.