Tag: Athena

AEW Collision live results: Owen Hart Foundation tournaments continue

Posted on by Suit Williams

Both the men’s and women’s Owen Hart Foundation tournaments will continue on tonight’s live AEW Collision from Springfield, Massachussetts.

In the men’s tournament, former AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita will battle Brody King with the winner moving on to face Will Ospreay in the semfinals.

On the women’s side, reigning ROH Women’s World Champion Athena faces Harley Cameron with the winner facing Mercedes Mone this Wednesday on Dynamite.

In another tournament bout, former AEW Women’s World Champion Jamie Hayter will face Billie Starkz with the winner facing Kris Statlander.

After turning on Adam Copeland at Dynasty, FTR will be in attendance to explain their actions.

Following his return at Dynasty to take out Max Caster, Anthony Bowens will begin his singles run as he challenges former ROH World Champion Blake Christian.

After unsuccessfully dethroning AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm at Dynasty, Megan Bayne will look to climb the ladder again in singles action.

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Sir Elton John played us in for this edition of Collision from Springfield, Massachusetts. I heard a rumor that the Simpsons were in the cheap seats. Tony Schiavone & Nigel McGuinness were on the call, and after running down tonight’s card, Schiavone announced that PAC’s injury suffered on this past week’s Dynamite will not allow him to defend his Trios Title in the near future. This Wednesday on the Spring Break Thru episode of Dynamite, AEW World Champion Jon Moxley will take PAC’s place alongside the Death Riders as they defend the World Trios Championships against The Opps.

(Hopefully PAC’s injury won’t put him out for too long. Meanwhile, can Mox fit two titles in that briefcase?)

FTR Town Hall

FTR walked to the ring to boos as Tony Schiavone continued to chide their actions. Cash Wheeler said that what happened between them and Adam Copeland wasn’t premeditated, and that his relationship with Copeland predated his partnership with Dax Harwood. Wheeler said that all of Copeland’s actions showed that he didn’t care about FTR, Copeland only cared about himself. Copeland didn’t respect Wheeler as a man, and he had to pay for disrespecting FTR.

Harwood took the mic and said that he saw a sign in the crowd that said Why FTR, Why? Instead of asking why, the fans should be thanking FTR for giving Copeland the relevance he was begging for. He didn’t sell out because he didn’t make any money off of it, and he didn’t have to justify his actions to anybody because they were right. Harwood gave an explanation anyway, as FTR’s only direction for four months was to be Copeland’s new Edge-heads while he chased his dream of being a World Champion one more time.

Harwood said that, like every wrestler in Copeland’s position, he was too damn selfish. He understood that there were a lot of people that weren’t happy with them and turned their attention to Tony Schiavone at the desk. They brought Schiavone into the ring and asked him to repeat his comments from Dynamite, which Schiavone did. Harwood asked Schiavone to repeat his comments regarding his daughter, and Schiavone once again asked how Harwood’s daughter would feel about his actions.

Harwood grabbed Schiavone, and FTR set up a spike piledriver. This forced Nigel McGuinness to rise from his seat to cheers and get in the ring to save Schiavone. Harwood told McGuinness that he signed his death warrant. Daniel Garcia came to the ring to settle things down, but Harwood shoved him down without looking. In a shot mirroring their deception of Copeland, FTR offered hands to Daniel Garcia before helping him up and giving him a hug. FTR left, and Garcia checked on Schiavone at the commentary desk before McGuinness warned Schiavone never to put him in that position again.

(My god, what an opening segment. This felt straight out of the territories, as the bully wrestlers crossed a line and forced McGuinness to make the save. The Daniel Garcia angle is a great short-term point of intrigue as they have an established team as well. I cannot put this segment over enough, just fantastic work from everyone involved.)

AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm was backstage and talked about all of the remaining women in the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament before saying that she would be at Double or Nothing to watch the finals.

Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Women’s Tournament Quarter Final Match – Jamie Hayter defeated Billie Starkz

(A stellar showing from both women here as they kicked the in-ring portion of this show off with a bang. Starkz needs some polish, but she’s got an impressive moveset and went blow-for-blow with Hayter here in this hard-hitting matchup. Hayter vs. Statlander in the next round, batten down the hatches.)

The winner of this match will wrestle Kris Statlander in the semifinal.

After watching out for a lariat, Starkz pulled Hayter in on a handshake and drilled her with a spin kick. Hayter knocked Starkz out on a dive attempt and pinballed her around ringside before dumping her in the timekeeper position. Starkz booted Hayter before hitting a Swanton Bomb off the barricade to Hayter’s back. After some back-and-forth in the ring, Hayter scored a nearfall with a main event spinebuster.

After a commercial break, Hayter had Starkz in a single-leg crab. Starkz rolled Hayter into the buckles and caught Hayter with a rebound kick. Starkz hit a high-angle German suplex for a nearfall. Starkz ducked a Hayterade attempt and hit a half-and-half suplex before locking Hayter in A HOLD. Hayter hit the Ushigoroshi and a sliding lariat for a nearfall.

Starkz ducked the rebound Hayterade that beat her in their last match and hit a brainbuster over the knee for a nearfall. Starkz hit a Swanton Bomb for a nearfall, then brought Hayter to the apron. Hayter hit a headbutt before suplexing Starkz from the apron to the floor to a big reaction. Both women beat the countout and traded strikes before Hayter caught Starkz with a backbreaker and a Hayterade for the win.

Match Result: Jamie Hayter def. Billie Starkz

During this match, it was announced that next week’s Spring Break Thru Collision will be live on Thursday. I’ll have to check my schedule for that.

The Death Riders Weren’t Mourning

The Death Riders were backstage. Claudio Castagnoli said that they expected casualties in this war but never mourned them as duty only ends in death. They wouldn’t hide, and they would accept the challenge of The Opps as they did not concede territory. Castagnoli handed PAC’s Trios Title to Marina Shafir as Jon Moxley entered the frame.

Moxley called this a learning experience for a generation of punk play wrestlers who don’t show up to work. There’s glory on the front lines, and you have to put yourself on the front lines to get it. Samoa Joe and Katsuyori Shibata knew that, but what were they teaching Hook? It’s the biggest match of Hook’s life, but he didn’t have to worry, as chicks dug scars.

The Gates of Agony (Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun) defeated two locals

The Gates have been on a winning streak in ROH, and they handled their business quickly here, dumping one guy on the other for the double pin.

Match Result: The Gates of Agony def. two local competitors

Backstage, Lexy Nair tried to talk to FTR as they were leaving before Matt Menard & Angelo Parker cut her off. 2.0 weren’t going to allow FTR to trick Daniel Garcia the same way they tricked Adam Copeland. They challenged FTR to a match tonight, which FTR accepted. Wheeler told 2.0 to give them a taste.

Anthony Bowens (w/Billy Gunn) defeated Blake Christian (w/ Lee Johnson)

(An effective re-introduction of Bowens to the TV audience. He’s a confident talker, and he’s got a nice complement of moves. He should do well as a singles.)

This was a Bowens showcase that went through a commercial break. A Lee Johnson distraction at ringside allowed Christian to get the advantage during the commercial, but Bowens came right back with a jumping Fameasser and a spinout facebuster he calls the Grand Slam for a nearfall. Christian clawed at Bowens’ eyes before hitting a dive through the turnbuckle.

Bowens caught Christian with a twisting DDT in the ropes, but Johnson put Christian’s foot on the ropes to boos. Christian caught Bowens with a Spanish Fly and a handspring kick before scoring a nearfall with a 450 Stomp. Christian caught Bowens with a Stunner off of the ropes but spent time jawing at Billy Gunn before getting caught with a superkick. Billy Gunn took out Johnson before Bowens hit the Mollywop rolling forearm for the win.

Bowens took the mic after the match and said that it was time for him to level up. He called himself AEW’s five-tool player, with the five tools being power, athleticism, intelligence, the look, and the It Factor. He called himself the Pride of Professional Wrestling, and he didn’t need a trademark to prove himself. He asked who would be the next one to step up to the plate.

Match Result: Anthony Bowens def. Blake Christian

Handicap Match – Megan Bayne (w/Penelope Ford) defeated LMK & Kelly Madan

Bayne trucked these poor girls, hitting the Fate’s Descent on Madan on top of LMK and pinning them together. She must’ve watched that Gates of Agony match and gotten an idea. She picked both of them up by the hair and told them to bow down before slamming them down on the mat.

Match Result: Megan Bayne def. LMK & Kelly Madan

Kevin Knight defeated AR Fox

(Another showcase win for Knight on AEW TV. He’ll be off to compete in New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors in a few weeks, as will Nick Wayne. You can feel Knight getting more confident on-screen with every appearance, and his dual AEW/New Japan contract will continue to get him the reps a budding talent like him needs.)

These two went to a ten-minute time limit draw on Ring of Honor TV in recent weeks and started off quickly here to avoid another draw. After a quick opening exchange left Knight on the apron, Fox rolled over the ropes to stomp Knight in the guts before hitting a post-assisted moonsault to Knight on the floor.

After the commercial, Knight caught Fox with a big dropkick before scoring a nearfall with the Sky High. Fox caught Knight on the ropes with a Lo Mein Pain before hitting a quick 450 Splash for a nearfall. Knight hit another big dropkick and a rolling DDT before hitting the big springboard lariat for the win.

Match Result: Kevin Knight def. AR Fox

The Gates of Agony were backstage, noting that they didn’t mind getting hurt. They called out The Hurt Syndicate and said that they broke people.

FTR defeated Matt Menard & Cool Hang Ang

(What a grand slam home run FTR have hit tonight. In about an hour, a tired act has become an act with energy and vigor. Tying together the threads with Daniel Garcia, Harwood’s issue with the referees, and the Undisputed Kingdom over the past few weeks is excellent television booking, and I applaud whoever put it all together over these past few months. If I had to have one negative about the scenario, it’s Daniel Garcia getting geeked out after a lackluster TNT Title run.)

Daniel Garcia came out to ringside as FTR got the jumpstart. Menard got bloody in the ring as Harwood pinballed him around the ring. Menard fired up with punches before Harwood dropped him with a lariat. Cool Hand Ang took a Shatter Machine, and Menard took the spike piledriver. They hit a second spike piledriver and set up for a third before Garcia talked them down. Harwood pinned Menard for the win.

FTR feigned leaving before stomping out Garcia as he was helping Menard up. They hit Garcia with a pair of spike piledrivers before security and referee Mike Posey came out to stop them. Harwood dropped another referee with a punch before setting up Garcia for a third spike piledriver. The Undisputed Kingdom came out to run off FTR and finally make sure they stayed away.

Match Result: FTR def. Matt Menard & Cool Hand Ang

Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Women’s Tournament Quarter Final Match – Athena defeated Harley Cameron

(Athena gets the win here to give us the big Mercedes Mone match on Dynamite. Athena never felt in trouble in this match, but I would have made her look even more dominant here ahead of the Mone match. Harley Cameron is perfectly fine where she is and wouldn’t have lost a thing putting over Athena strong. I would’ve had Athena knock Cameron out with one of her big knockout forearms to set that up as a big nearfall. As far as the Mone match is concerned, I think it’s smart to have the match on Dynamite. I don’t think Athena is as over as the most hardcore of AEW fans think she is, so doing the match on Dynamite and having a great showing against Mone in Boston would be huge for her.)

The winner of this match will face Mercedes Mone in the semifinals on the Spring Break Thru Dynamite in Boston.

Cameron tied Athena up in the ropes, but Athena pulled Cameron into the turnbuckle. Athena dropped Cameron with a backbreaker on the apron, then hit a wheelbarrow German suplex on the floor to take control into the commercial break.

After the break, Cameron rolled out of a bow-and-arrow for a nearfall. Athena hit a series of kicks for a nearfall. Cameron avoided a kick while in the Tree of Woe and fired up on Athena. She hit a crossbody, but Athena rolled through with her before Cameron rolled her way through with a headscissors. Cameron caught Athena with a punch before hitting a side suplex for a nearfall. Cameron went for Her Finishing Move, but Athena cartwheeled out of it. Athena caught Cameron with a pair of powerbombs and a spin-out knee strike before hitting the O-Face for the win.

Match Result: Athena def. Harley Cameron

Mercedes Mone was in a pre-tape, as she apologized for skipping the “pathetic” Springfield. She had a dream when she came into AEW to hold all the gold, and the Mone Train was only two stops away from making it happen. Athena was only a speed bump, and the best woman would win on Dynamite.

Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament Quarter Final Match – Konosuke Takeshita defeated Brody King (w/Julia Hart)

(What a freaking war, and what a freaking Collision this was. These two battered each other, with Takeshita eventually chopping down King and putting him away. Brody King can perform at a main event level, and I hope he gets more chances to as time goes on. Meanwhile, AEW is loading up Spring Break Thru, with Athena/Mone and an Ospreay/Takeshita rematch from the 2024 Revolution show. An excellent main event to a show I implore you to check out for yourself.)

The winner of this match will face Will Ospreay in the semifinals on the Spring Break Thru Dynamite this Wednesday.

We got footage of Takeshita beating Hiroshi Tanahashi at the New Japan Windy City Riot event last night in Tanahashi’s final match in the United States, and King beating Lance Archer on Dynamite a couple weeks ago.

Takeshita avoided chops as long as he could, but King brought him down with one early to barks from the crowd. The two men traded strikes before they ended up on the apron, where King dropped Takeshita with a Death Valley Driver. King lined up for the crossbody to the barricade, but Takeshita drilled him with a jumping knee and hit a big dive as we went to a commercial break.

Both men were down as we came back from the break, as we saw footage of a big superplex from King. King scored with a cannonball in the corner for a nearfall. Takeshita tried fighting back with chops, but a big forearm dropped him to a knee. Takeshita came back with a forearm of his own, but King drilled Takeshita with more chops. Takeshita landed a big forearm and collapsed onto King for a nearfall.

Takeshita herked King up for a big Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall, but King wouldn’t fall after repeated lariats and dropped Takeshita with a lariat of his own. King hit Dante’s Inferno for another nearfall. Takeshita got King up for the Bastard Driver, then pulled him up and over for a wheelbarrow German suplex. Takeshita hit a monster lariat for a nearfall. Takeshita hit a pair of Powerdrive knees for a nearfall, then lowered the knee pad to hit another pair of Powerdrive knees for the win.

Match Result: Konosuke Takeshita def. Brody King

During this match, it was announced that Hangman Page vs. The Wildcard was set for Wednesday’s Dynamite as well. That show is loaded to the brim.

Mercedes Mone, Athena among five new names declaring for AEW’s Owen Hart Cup tournament

Posted on by Matt Boone

Five new names have been officially announced for the 2025 Owen Hart Cup Women’s tournament.

During the March 29 episode of AEW Collision in Milwaukee Athena, Mercedes Moné, Jamie Hayter, Kris Statlander and Thunder Rosa all officially announced their participation in this year’s tournament.

Moné declared after an intense in-ring interaction with Athena, which saw the ROH Women’s World Champion finally confront “The CEO” after weeks of insults about the person who taught Starkz, which is none other than “The Fallen Goddess.”

After things got physical between the two, Moné avoided an O-Face from Athena, instead striking Mone’s opponent Robyn Renegade. It was later announced during a backstage segment that Athena would be entering the tournament as well, looking to do the same thing Moné has been doing, which is collecting more gold to add to her collection.

As Rosa and Statlander declared during a Lexy Nair interview segment, Rosa vowed to do whatever it takes to win and hold the Owen Hart Cup over her head. Statlander told her that wouldn’t happen if they crossed paths along the way.

With five new names now in the mix, they join rising star and the first-ever ROH Women’s World Television Champion Billie Starkz as the officially confirmed competitors on the women’s side of the tournament.

AEW has also confirmed that the 2025 Owen Hart Cup Tournament brackets for the men and women will be unveiled during the April 2 episode of AEW Dynamite in Peoria, IL. The winner will earn an AEW Women’s World Championship match at AEW All In: Texas on July 12 in Arlington, TX.

On the men’s side, the tournament is already shaping up to be a highly competitive affair. Former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jay White, former AEW World Champion “Hangman” Adam Page, and former AEW International Champion Will Ospreay have all thrown their names into the hat, setting the stage for an explosive showdown.

Ring of Honor TV live results: Athena teams with Diamante, CMLL stars in action

Posted on by Jeff Moss

Reigning “forever” Ring of Honor Women’s World Champion Athena will team with Diamante as part of tonight’s ROH on HonorClub from Las Vegas, Nevada.

The show will also feature more CMLL stars in action as Atlantis Jr., Titan and Fuego take on Volador Jr., Rugido and Barbaro Cavernario in a trios bout while Dark Panther battles Okumura.

In the continuation of a feud dating back to February, ROH Tag Team Champions The Sons of Texas (Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara) will team with Willie Mack against MxM Collection (Mansoor & Madden) and Johnny TV. MxM recently stole the title belts and have been making them their own.

Premier Athletes (Arya Daivari & Tony Nese) will go heads-up against Dark Order’s Evil Uno & Alex Reynolds as both teams jockey for position for a future title shot.

Queen Aminata will look to rebound from her trilogy defeat to Julia Hart in AEW as she takes on Viva Van.

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The number 109 is a perfect triangular super-prime number and the number of stops in the pipe organ in Paris’ famed Notre-Dame Cathedral. It’s also the episode number for tonight’s Ring of Honor on Honorclub action!

-The show opened with ROH Women’s Champion Athena firing up her tag partner and seemingly new Minion, Diamante. Billie Starkz was there as well and Athena made it very clear that the MiT Program needed some new blood and that Starkz might not be around much longer.

Dark Panther defeated Okumura 

I’m so excited for this match, I’m going to skip the usual jabbering and give you a few fun facts about the participants:

Dark Panther: “Approximately 36 or 35 years old in 2025,” 860+ career matches with a 53% win rate, lost a barn-burner of a match to ROH World Television Champion Komander last week. 

Okomura: 52 years old, 2300+ career matches, 42% win rate. One-half of the current MLW Tag Team Champions. 

Now let’s fight!

Panther tried to fire up the crowd off the top, but Okomura came charging out of the corner after the bell, laying him out with a clothesline. Okomura, a CMLL veteran wrestled a Japanese style, which kept the match speed low and Panther, confused.

Panther changed the course of the match with a big dropkick and tossed Okomura to the outside before following him with a springboard splash from the top rope. Panther knows a thing or two about hitting ahrd and he was able to match Okomura’s strength, blow for blow. It was only when the match slowed down that Panther seemed vulnerable.

Panther dropped his straps as “fight forever” chants broke out. After two suicide dives onto Okomura on the outside, Panther allowed the crowd to goad him into a third which drove Okomura into the barricade. Back in the ring, Okomura turned the tables with an attempted leg hold submission, but Panther was able to roll him onto his shoulders and pick up a quick victory!

Six Man Tag Team Match: The Sons Of Texas (Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara) & Willie Mack defeated Johnny TV & MxM Collection (Mansoor & Mason Madden)

One third of the Six Man Tag Team Champions, Dustin Rhodes engages in this six-man match with his two-man Tag Team Champion partner Guevara and I assume the first guy they saw at catering this morning who turned out to be Willie Mack.  Johnny TV and The MxM Collection are natural partners and it was teased a few months ago that they’d be looking to join forces, but then TV had to deal with the LA fires and MxM had to deal with their emerging petty theft and belt-alteration business. Nice to see them back together now though. 

Mack and TV kicked things off making me yearn for the days of Lucha Underground (which I do pretty much daily). Mack can move like he’s 100lbs lighter than he is so he hand TV were able to have a really fun exchange before Guevara tagged in. TV blocked a big chop and set Guevera on his butt to tag in Mansoor. Mdden went with him for a double team, but Guevara took them both out with a moonsault.

Rhodes tagged in and he and Guevara delivered double uppercuts to Mansoor. Madden hit Rhodes from behind though, giving Mansoor an opening for another double team. Madden and Mansoor put Rhodes’ head in between their butts and knocked him back and forth before TV tagged in. Rhodes, now isolated took punishment from all three in the corner.

Rhodes hit a snap powerslam on Mansoor and hot tags were landed on both sides of the ring, bringing Guevara in to face TV. Mack jumped in and took out Mansoor and Madden, but fell victim to TV’s kicking feet. Rhodes hit a Texas Destroyer and set up Mansoor for some Shattered Dreams.

Madden them tried to clean house, but Mack stopped him. Mack hit a standing moonsault on Madden and Guevara landed a GTH on TV to get the pin and the victory for his team.

After the match, Mansoor and Madden knocked the Tag Champs out of the ring and beat up Mack. TV joined the fun with a Starship Pain and then pretended to pin Mack. Mansoor counted three and madden stole one of the title belts again.

Athena & Diamante defeated Jordan Blu & Mazzerati

Athena has been ROH Women’s Champion for a staggering 836 days as of this writing. For context, when Athena won the title, ChatGPT was not a thing. Also during her (ongoing) reign: “Twitter” Became “X,” Elton John completed an EGOT andThe New England Patriots have had three head coaches. Not bad for the “Forever Champ.” During that same period, her partner tonight, Diamante had roughly 58 matches and won 29 of them. That doesn’t answer the standard wrestling tag team question of “CAN THEY COEXIST?!?!” but it’s interesting nonetheless. As for their opponents, Blu was making her ROH debut and Mazzerati’s last ROH win came in 2019. Yes, 2019. 

Diamante started off against Mazzerati and then Blu. Every time she knocked down an opponent, she turned to Athena for approval and offered her the chance to come in and finish them off. Athena declined and instead shouted instructions from the corner. Mazzerati got in a little bit of offense, but Diamante easily deflected it. Diamante took on both women two-on-one before Athena tagged in.

Athena laid out Mazzerati with a big ol’ punch to the face and pinned her to get the victory without having to break a sweat thanks to Diamante.

-Next, Footage was shown from AEW Collision where ROH World Champion Chris Jericho taunted and enraged Bandito, setting up a title match between the two. Jericho cut a promo and declared that he wants Bandito’s mask, so their match will be Title For Mask at AEW Dynasty.

The Premier Athletes (Ariya Daivari & Tony Nese) defeated The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds & Evil Uno)

The Premier Athletes and the Dark Order both share something in common: They are currently kind of lost in the shuffle in a red-hot ROH Tag Team Division. Both are entertaining in their own right, but seem to serve as stepping stones for other teams to move up a rung. Facing each other here kind of seems like putting a hat on a hat, but since both the Athletes and the Order know how to work a crowd, this match had the potential to be very, very fun. 

As the Premier Athletes did their schtick in the ring, The Frat House (Cole Karter, Griff Garrison, Preston Vance and Jakked Jameson) were shown watching from the crowd at ringside. Daivari went over and “cheers’ed” the Frat House who chanted “Dark Order Sucks!”

Nese and Daivari jumped Uno and Reynolds off the bell, but The Dark Order got the best of them with double running splashes in the corner. I mean, corners. Things settled down briefly after that, with Reynolds and Nese battling in the ring. Nese sent Reynolds to the outside where Daivari and Sterling stomped him.

Nese and Daivari tagged in and out, beating on Reynolds until he was finally able to battle back, but Nese took out Uno on the outside, so there was no one there to take the tag. The Frat House cheered loudly at ringside, leading duelling “Athletes Rule! Athletes Suck!” chants with the crowd.

Finally, Uno was able to tag in and began clearing house, hitting a double DDT on Nese and Daivari. Reynolds came back in for a Gory Special, but Nese broke up the pin. Daivari and Reynolds traded blows in the ring, with Reynolds sending Daivari to the outside and hitting both him and Nese with a dive.

Then, the Frat House threw a drink on Reynolds, hoping to cause a distraction. Reynolds didn’t fall for it though and tossed Nese at them as revenge. Back in the ring, Reynolds had Daivari pinned, but Sterling caused a distraction and the ref didn’t see it. Vance hopped the rail and knocked out Reynolds, allowing Daivari to get the pin and the stolen victory for the Premier Athletes. The Frat House then joined them in the ring, shaking hands with Sterling. Perhaps this is the beginning of a new supergroup?

-Up next, Renee Paquette talked to QT Marshall. Marshall threw a drink on Paul Walter Hauser at the AEW Revolution pre-show and Hauser, who has been sober for three years, was not impressed. He wants a match. Marshall said that Hauser is way overblowing it and doesn’t deserve a match until Hauser has the guts to ask him personally.

Queen Aminata defeated Viva Van

Still struggling to get her first ROH singles win, Van, fresh off a loss to La Catalina last week, seems to have drawn the short straw again and therefore has to take on her polar opposite in Aminata. Aminata has not lost in ROH since July of 2024 and in that process chalked up wins over Alysin Kaye, Lady Frost and Harley Cameron, just to name a few. Well, three, but you get it. 

Aminata, rocking her best Beyonce hair, exchanged wristlocks with Van until finally twisting her into an armbar. After getting out, Van ran the ropes and got Aminata into an armbar of her own. Aminata was able to get a leg on the ropes though and it was broken up.

Aminata then brought the strikes, hitting and kicking Van until she didn’t know which way was up. Aminata then threw her into the ropes, but Van bounced back with a spinning heel kick and half-crab submission hold.

The two then traded chops in the middle of the ring. Aminata came out on top and set up Van for a huge knee that knocked her through the ropes. Aminata dragged her back in and pinned Van for the victory.

-Backstage, the Premier Athletes cut a promo. Sterling assured everyone they are the best Tag Team in the industry and everyone knows it. They will be future Tag Team Champions because “Athletes Rule.” So there.

Atlantis Jr., Fuego & Titan defeated Barbaro Cavernario, Rugido & Volador Jr.

This week’s Crisis of Infinite Luchadores match features ROH mainstay Atlantis Jr, Titan and Fuego taking on Cavernario, Rudigo and Volador Jr. But you probably already knew that because you read the headline. Anyways, these Luchardore matches have been absolutely unreal and as someone who has only a passing familiarity with CMLL and the Luchadore scene, it’s been awesome seeing these performers every week. 

All six men started off in the ring. Superkicks were flying and when the dust settled it was Fuego and Cavernario in the ring. Cavernario bailed early and Volador jumped in against Titan. That was no fun, so Rugio came in to take on Titan, but Atlantis preferred it would be him, so he jumped in. Suddenly Cavernario was in the ring too, but Atlantis dispatched him and danced with Fuego.

Whew.

These luchadore matches are amazing, but sometimes so fast paced that these North American eyes can barely keep up!

Titan found himself alone in the ring facing a triple team while Fuego and Atlantis recovered on the outside. Volador and Rugido worked cohesively, but Cavernario landed the real hard hits on the prone Titan. Atlantis tried to save him, but inadvertently took his place in the three-on-one mayhem. Not to be left out, Fuego jumped in and met a similar fate.

Fuego, Atlantis and Titan all tagged in and out, but Cavernario, Rugido and Volador just stayed in the ring the whole time, triple teaming whoever tagged in. Why one team used tags and the others didn’t was beyond me, but that was their strategy and they stuck with it.

Cavernario tried to take Atlantis’ mask off with his teeth, but was unsuccessful. Atlantis hit a backbreaker on Cavernario and Fuego and Titan jumped in to handle Volador and Rugido. They were successful until Caverario took them both out. Atlantis then dispatched him and Fuego and Titan went for a double pin, that got a two-count.

Back and forth, back and forth, the match was still up for grabs with neither team able to get the high ground on the other. Titan and Volador ended up the legal men and traded blows in the middle of the ring. Titan hit a big hurricanrana then dove to the outside with Fuego taking his place. He took Volador to the outside and Atlantis and Cavernario battled in the ring. Atlantis hit a massive Mexican Destroyer on Cavernario followed by a frog splash to get the pin and the victory for his team!

That was amazing, incredible and exhausting! I need a nap, but a happy nap nonetheless thanks to great night of wrestling!

Ring of Honor TV live results: Athena vs. La Catalina Women’s title defense

Posted on by Josiah MacDonald

The Ring of Honor Women’s World title will be on the line as part of ROH on HonorClub as Athena will defend against CMLL’s La Catalina.

After competing on AEW Dynamite, former AEW Women’s World Champion Thunder Rosa will return to the red and black brand for only the second time this year.

In a CMLL trios showcase, Blue Panther will team with his sons Blue Panther Jr. and Dark Panther against Gran Guerrero, Euforia and Valiente.

Former ROH Women’s TV Champion Billie Starkz will be in action as will be reigning ROH Tag Team Champions The Sons of Texas (Sammy Guevara & Dustin Rhodes).

Two high-flying brothers — Bandido & Gravity — will battle The Infantry (Carlie Bravo & Shawn Dean) while the Gates of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona) will take on Bad Dude Tito & Che Cabrera.

Satnam Singh & Jay Lethal will be in tag team action in addition to The Beast Mortos.

**********

Chris Jericho was backstage with Renee Pacquette at Dynamite, talking to Big Bill and Bryan Keith about their losses to Bandido and Will Hobbs. Jericho talked about how there was huge opportunities to be main event players, and they were not living out to the potential and expectations that Jerich has for them. Keith and Bill walked away looking focused.

ROH Women’s World Champion Athena defeated La Catalina

Really solid opening match for ROH this week, with Athena and Catalina both looking good. Athena continues to be one of the best parts of these shows, and somehow still gets heat as a heel despite being their top champion for so long.

Catalina and Athena kept the Code of Honor, but it didn’t take long before Athena started mocking Catalina. Catalina won a test of strength with Catalina, but it was countered into a cradle. Catalina hit a dropkick after some misdirection, and hit a shotgun dropkick to send Athena to the floor. Athena hit a swinging uranage on the floor on Catalina and ordered Aubrey Edwards to check on Catalina.

 Catalina countered a handspring from Athena with a Basaiku knee and another dropkick. Catalina hit an electric chair drop for a 2-count. Catalina went for an inside cloverleaf, and attempted to get Athena to submit, but Athena got to the ropes and fought out. Athena blocked a German suplex and hit a popup powerbomb, held on, and hit another powerbomb on Catalina for a 2-count. Athena went for a modified gogoplata, but Catalina leaned forward and got a 2-count. Athena transitioned into a LaBell lock, but Catalina countered out and hit a Pedigree for a 2-count. Athena hit a hard elbow and went to the top rope to hit the O-Face for the pinfall.

–MXM was backstage with their own customized ROH World Tag Team Championship that they stole from Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara with custom faceplates with their faces on them. The claimed they did not lose their title in Australia because Australia isn’t real.

Jay Lethal & Satnam Singh (w/ Sonjay Dutt) defeated McCallion & Slade

Lethal started the match with McCallion, but Slade blind tagged in and they started getting heat on Lethal early on. Lethal flipped out of a back suplex attempt and rolled towards Singh and paused, smiled, and as the fans cheered for him to tag in Singh, the two heels tried to shush the audience, which was hilarious. The audience cheered, and Singh tagged in and massacred McCallion, who lost his mask as Singh repeatedly hit short chokeslams on him. Singh then chokeslammed both men, body slammed Slade on McCallion, and pinned them both. That was fun.

Billie Starks defeated Mylo

Starks was quite violent in this match, showing that Athena has had more of an effect on her than she would like to admit as she continues to be one of Athena’s minions. Mylo’s offence in this match did not look that great, but that didn’t stop Starks from looking good with her senton bomb finish.

–A hype video aired for The Outrunners as they hawked Outrunner merch. It was great.

The Sons of Texas (Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara) defeated Jon Cruz & Olumide

Guevara started the match with Olumide, sending him from the ring quickly to also throw Cruz across the ring. Dustin Rhodes tagged in and ate a punch from Cruz, which his funny given their size difference. Cruz ate a flying forearm from Rhodes, and Guevara hit a standing moonsault for a 2-count. Guevara hit a stalling suplex on Cruz, but Cruz raked the eyes of Guevara and tagged out to Olumide. Rhodes tagged in and took control, before setting up Guevara for a senton bomb for the pinfall.

–MXM Collection came out and attacked The Sons of Texas from behind, and attempted to double team Guevara by hitting him with the tag title, but Mansoor accidentally hit Mason Madden. Guevara setup Mansoor in the corner, superkicked Mansoor, and let Rhodes hit the shattered dreams. Guevara took back his tag title and ripped the stickers off the belt as Mansoor & Madden were infuriated.

The Beast Mortos defeated Sonico

Mortos swarmed Sonico fast, throwing him all over the ring. Mortos hit a popup Samoan Drop before spiking Sonico on his head and pinning him. There is nothing like a great squash match, and this was one of them.

Thunder Rosa defeated Brittnie Brooks

Rosa kept this match pretty simple, hitting a lariat and bodyslam after a few opening moves, but Brooks managed to hit a suplex after blocking one from Rosa. Rosa ducked a chop and hit a hard one of her own on Brooks, but Brooks did a corner charge, trash talked, and ate a dropkick for it. Rose hit a hip attack in the ropes and then a Northern Lights suplex for a 2-count. Rosa countered a reverse DDT with a package bomb for the win.

Gravity & Bandido defeated The Infantry (Cpt. Shawn Dean & Carlie Bravo)

Dean started the match exchanging holds with Gravity, who lured Dean in with his spacewalk, and Dean was obviously flustered. Gravity tagged out to Bandido, who got a nice reaction from the audience that treated him like a star. Bandido hit a dropkick on Bravo and tagged back out to Gravity. Dean blind tagged in, leading to Bravo being able to clip the knee of Gravity and smash his knee against the ring post.

The Infantry kept up their attack for a few minutes, relentlessly attacking the knee of Gravity. Dean hit a Tiger Bomb and then locked on a half crab. Gravity ducked under a clothesline from Bravo and rolled into a tag. Bandido gorilla pressed Dean and tossed him into Bravo, leading to both Gravity and Bandido hitting stereo tope suicidia dives. Bandido popped up Gravity into the air, and he landed with a splash on Bravo for a 2-count that Dean broke up.

Dean and Bravo hit a double team uranage but Gravity broke up the pinfall attempt. Bravo kicked the knee of Gravity, but Bandido shoved Gravity out of the way and hit a wacky knee to Bravo. Instead of hitting the 21-Plex on Bravo, Bandido hit a tope con giro onto Dean while Gravity hit the 21-plex instead for the win.

–Big Bill and Bryan Keith ran out and attacked Gravity and Bandido. Chris Jericho slowly made his way down to the ring and hit Gravity with the ROH World Championship ad Big Bill forced Bandido to look on. Jericho then nailed Bandido with the title as the crowd booed. Simple, effective angle, with Bill and Keith getting a measure of revenge on Bandido, while Jericho continues his campaign against Bandido.

–Athena was backstage with her Minions in Training, asking them to praise her, while Diamante shoved the minions away, claiming that she was minion #1 now.

The Gates of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona) defeated Bad Dude Tito & Che Cabrera

The audience was really into Toa Liona in this match as he basically massacred both men at the same time. I am not a fan of seeing Bad Dude Tito in a bit of a squash, but I can’t deny that I really enjoyed this match. Seeing a big guy like Liona crush his opponents was fantastic. Tito, thankfully, did not eat a pin here , with Cabrera taking Open the Gates and being pinned by Liona.

Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., & Dark Panther defeated Gran Guerrero, Euforia, & Valiente

This was a ton of fun. It was very much so a standard lucha tag, but since we see a true lucha style tag so rarely, this was delightful.

Blue Panther took his time going around to the front row, shaking hands and high fiving fans. A true babyface. This marked Blue Panther’s first time appearing in ROH, which is very cool. Blue Panther Jr. started with Valiente, with both men exchanging chops. Since the match was lucha rules, as soon a someone goes outside, a partner comes in. Blue Panther and Dark Panther hit a double flying headbutt on Valiente, and the Panther team hitting a wishbone split and a headbutt on Gran Guerrero.

Euforia was able to hit a powerbomb after an assist by Gran Guerrero and Valiente. Guerrero raised the roof and hit a basement slide dropkick that sent Blue Panther Jr. crashing to the mats on the floor hard. The fans started chanting at the heels, calling them dogs in Spanish, and they were very upset, despite their cheating and triple teaming Blue Panther causing it.

Gran Guerrero chopped Blue Panther as Euforia and Valiente held him, and he fired up to attack Guerrero, but ended up getting triple teamed. Eventually, Panther managed to escape and got a hot tag to Blue Panther Jr. and he ran wild. Blue Panther hit a flipping senton off the apron onto Valiente, while the others hit dives to the other opponents. Blue Panther hit a hurricanrana off the apron onto Euforia, which was impressive given his age. Dark Panther hit a powerbomb on Valiente for a 2-count. After a tope sucidia by Dark Panther, Blue Panther cradled Euforia for the win.

Blue Panther Sr., other CMLL wrestlers to debut at AEW Dynamite & ROH taping

Posted on by Josh Nason

The run of CMLL talent working AEW and Ring of Honor shows will continue next week with a slew of legends making their promotional debuts.

Announced Saturday, ROH Women’s World Champion Athena will defend against La Catalina at this Wednesday’s Dynamite and ROH combo taping in Oceanside, California. It will be their first ever match.

Also announced is a CMLL trios showcase as the 64-year-old Blue Panther Sr., Blue Panther Jr. and Dark Panther will battle Valiente, Gran Guerrero and Euforia.

For Catalina, Panther Sr., Panther Jr., Valiente, Guerrero and Euforia, it will be their AEW/ROH debuts. It’s assumed both matches will be part of the ROH portion of the show.

The news comes a day after Mistico was announced for the March 1st Collision/ROH taping in Oakland, California, and follows recent Texas AEW/ROH events that also featured CMLL talent.

AEW and CMLL have had a partnership for more than a year with talent working in both organizations with another example being the news that AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita and Taya Valkyrie will debut in Arena Mexico in the near future.

AEW/ROH Global Wars results: Three title defenses from Australia

Posted on by Arya Witner

For the first time since September 2019, the Ring of Honor brand (under the AEW banner) held a Global Wars event, taped before this past Saturday’s AEW Grand Slam Australia.

Unlike in 2019, this was a supershow that can best be described in today’s lingo as “Forbidden Door-esque” — a special edition of ROH on HonorClub where two outsiders attempted to walk away with ROH silver.

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Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman were wearing their invisibility cloaks at ringside.

Bandido & Los Outrunners defeated The Learning Tree (Chris Jericho, Big Bill & Bryan Keith)

Los Outrunners caused video distortion in their entrance to reminds us of the 1980s. Bill specifically was upset, saying they had a contract against The Outrunners and not Los Outrunners. Jericho did not follow the Code of Honor and, instead, waved at Bandido followed by a second attempt that led to Jericho flipping him off, Bandido kicking Jericho, and the match commencing.

Bandido and Keith really got the match started here with Bandido getting the best of it. Jericho got in and Bandido got the best of him too. El Truth got in and Jericho managed to knock his mask off. However, thankfully, Truth got the mask back and put it back on. You know, it’s impolite to take a luchador’s mask off. Bill was super over as Jericho tagged him in to square off with El Turbo. Turbo took hold of Bill’s hand in a wrist lock and walked the top rope around the ring. Jericho and Keith were setting up to yank him off, but Bandido and Truth ran over and yanked them down.

After completing his lap around the ring, Turbo celebrated to the crowd before Bill took his head off with a clothesline. Keith tried taking Turbo’s mask off but that would be a disqualification, so referee Aubrey Edwards stopped him. Bandido got the hot tag and ran wild, including press slamming Jericho onto Keith. As much as the fans liked that, they liked Big Bill taking him out even more.

The match led to Jericho getting the Liontamer on Bandido, but the former ROh World Champion got away from the current champion. Jericho tried to hit Bandido with the title belt but missed. Los Outrunners grabbed the belt from him and Bandido pinned Jericho with the 21-Plex.

After the match, the Learning Tree attacked the victors and Jericho hit Bandido with a chair. Before he could do it again, out ran Powerhouse Hobbs to clear the ring of the minions. Jericho hit Hobbs with a chair in the back, but Hobbs no-sold it, knocked the chair out of Jericho’s hands and then threw him down. Bill got in and they went face-to-chest before Bill walked off.

I know we just set up Jericho vs. Bandido, but it’s weird that the champion was a setup man for Hobbs to set up a match with Bill.

– Athena was backstage and reminded us that she is the Forever ROH Champion and said she is soon to be the world dominator. Tonight, Alex Windsor has invited herself in to get a title shot. Athena thinks that’s so wonderful, but this is a lesson for all the minions. She is underappreciated, overlooked, and is the best champion in all of wrestling.

ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty defeated IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champion Robbie Eagles to retain

The fans (jokingly) booed the rules being announced. Nigel McGuinness, Christopher Daniels and Jerry Lynn were announced as the judges, but they were watching from the production truck.

In the first minute of the match, Eagles, one half of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, went for a figure four and Moriarty scooted to the ropes for his first break. Moriarty was in a hammerlock and teased going into the ropes but instead stomped on Eagles’ foot. They ran near the referee which caused him to cover up. In the confusion, Moriarty punched the TMDK member with a closed fist. When the referee turned back around, Eagles punched Moriarty, earning a warning.

Moriarty slapped on a Border City Stretch and Eagles got the ropes for his first break. A minute later, after a bow & arrow, Moriarty transitioned into another submission attempt and Eagles got the ropes. That was almost immediately followed up by Eagles getting on a heel hook that forced Moriarty to get the ropes. So, barely five minutes into the match, both men were down to just one rope break.

Moriarty got on the Border City Stretch and you could see him debate whether or not to get the ropes, but he had to use his last break. Eagles came right back with a missile dropkick and another leg hold, which made Moriarty use his last break.

Eagles got a bunch of nearfalls, including from the Turbo Backpack. He used 4.5 on Moriarty’s leg, which was hurt earlier, but Moriarty bounced back and won with a schoolboy while holding the ropes — technically legal since neither man had rope breaks left.

This was a really good match, but I know I am not the only one who was hoping Eagles would win the belt.

Mark Davis pinned Tommy Knight

Despite being the newest member of the Don Callis Family, Davis was a babyface here and the crowd loved seeing him. This was a hoss battle as Knight is listed as 6’2″ 323 pounds, and looked every ounce.

We had a chop battle where unfortunately for Knight, not only did Davis shrug off them off but Davis had stiffer chops. Davis did the facewash with his fist instead of a running boot. Knight hit a Spicolli Driver, but only got a one count. Davis won with a Pendulum piledriver.

– Lexy Nair was with Alex Windsor, who said tonight was not the first time she’s wrestled tougher competition and if Athena underestimates her, let her, but we could be seeing the new ROH Women’s Champion as a result.

ROH Tag Team Champions The Sons Of Texas (Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara) defeated MxM Collection (Mansoor & Madden) to retain

Two weeks ago on HonorClub, MxM Collection stole Guevara’s title belt. Now all blinged out, MxM tries to win it legitimately in the first ever ROH Tag Team title match in Australia. Is there Honor among thieves?

Mason and Mansoor decorated the stolen tag belt with bedazzled jewels and pictures of themselves. Mansoor followed the Code Of Honor with Dustin, but only wanted the tips, not a full handshake.

Mansoor took an arm drag, kipped up and then challenged Rhodes to do the same. He didn’t take the arm drag or the challenge as he tagged out to Guevara which the crowd booed. He then tagged right back out, but this time Rhodes went down, but Mansoor went for an elbow drop, Rhodes rolled out of the way and the match was on. MxM teased doing a dive, but just bounced off the ropes. Rhodes then teased doing a dive, but angered MxM by stopping, doing a Spinnerooni and posing.

Guevara did a top rope 450 from the top rope to the floor. Inside the ring, MxM cut off Rhodes for the heat, working the lower back. Mason attacked his face with his butt and then MxM danced and bounced his head between their hips. Finally, Mansoor missed the top rope elbow and Rhodes made the hot tag. Guevara hit a dive to Mansoor and then gave a shoutout to his daughter. A four-way broke out and Mason used a spinning sidewalk slam for a near fall. They went for the Centerfold, but Rhodes broke that up and hit a Canadian Destroyer on Mansoor.

Mason accidentally distracted the referee so Rhodes could hit Golden Globes followed by him knocking Mason’s head into Mansoor’s groin. Guevara used a GTH on Mason and pinned Mansoor after a senton.

The referee went to give Guevara his title back, but Mason ran in, stole it, and ran away with it. This was a fun house show match.

ROH Women’s World Champion Athena defeated Alex Windsor to retain

Momo Watanabe shockingly stuck around after Grand Slam and sat ringside for this match as well. If you’re not familiar with Windsor, she was once upon a time the longest Rev Pro British Women’s Champion in history. Now, she has a chance to make more history as she challenges Athena on day 800 of her reign.

Billie Starkz was not here tonight due to Athena being disappointed in her performance on the Jericho Cruise, leading to her actually ripping up Starkz’s $2200 plane ticket. Athena hit the first big move of the match as after Windsor was dropped in the corner of the ring, using a baseball slide to knock her off the apron and onto the pretty grey mats followed by a spinebuster into the apron. In the ring, Windsor ran through Athena’s clothesline and hit one of her own. They took turns running the ropes but being stopped by a strike from the other. Athena went for a springboard crossbody, but got caught and dropped with the S.O.S. Slam.

Windsor got on the sharpshooter, but the problem was no one thought Athena was gonna lose the title here, so the crowd didn’t really get into it and Athena got out of it. Athena tried picking Windsor up, but Windsor tried backdropping out. However, Athena bounced back into position and hit a move that went from a power bomb into knees to the face. Windsor used a spinning fisherman’s buster from the middle rope, but Athena came back, used a shotgun dropkick and an O-Face for the win to remain YOUR forever ROH Women’s World Champion.

Final Thoughts:

This was an excellent example of what they should do with ROH. The weekly show is full of contracted ROH wrestler vs. local guy matches but there’s no effort put into making the matches special or stand out at all. On this show, you had two non-ROH wrestlers battling for championships and a third put in a position to look good against a contracted wrestler. Instead of just doing an hour of squash matches with two competitive matches bookending things, give us a reason to bite onto why the wrestler already in the ring has this opportunity before they get squashed and beaten in two minutes.

If you enjoy my writing, check out my book, 40 Years Of Pay-Per-View: Book 1: 1985-1990. It is unquestionably the greatest book ever written and is available on Amazon in both paperback and eBook formats.

AEW/ROH Global Wars matches announced for Australia debut

Posted on by Josh Nason

For the first time in years, Global Wars has returned to Ring of Honor as part of AEW’s first-ever visit to Australia this Saturday.

ROH Women’s World Champion Athena will defend against Alex Windsor as part of what is being called AEW/ROH Global Wars. It’s the first time that term has been referenced for the Brisbane show, done to distinguish it from the Grand Slam Australia portion being taped for TNT and Max.

Where these matches will be seen was not announced with ROH’s weekly HonorClub show as a strong possibility.

Athena has held the title for nearly 800 days while the UK native Windsor has competed in AEW twice, last seen being defeated by Toni Storm last June. This will be her first ROH singles match.

Reigning ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty will defend against native son Robbie Eagles. Moriarty has held the title for over 200 days with four title defenses. It will be his first time he has faced the NJPW regular who competed in ROH last July. He has unsuccessfully challenged for both the ROH World and men’s TV title in the past.

In another match, ROH World Champion Chris Jericho will team with Bryan Keith & Big Bill against former champion Bandido & The Outrunners. Since returning in late-December, Bandido has targeted Jericho and defeated Keith last Saturday in his first post-injury televised match in nearly 18 months.

A fourth match will see ROH Tag Team Champions Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara put the titles on the line against MxM Collection.

Global Wars, formerly Border Wars, was a series of shows between ROH and NJPW which began in 2012 and ended in the fall of 2019.

Here’s the current lineup for this Saturday:

Grand Slam Australia (TNT/Max following NBA All-Star Weekend activities) —

  • Kenny Omega & Will Ospreay vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher
  • AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada defends against Buddy Matthews
  • AEW Women’s World Champion Mariah May defends against Toni Storm
  • TBS Champion Mercedes Mone defends against Harley Cameron
  • Jay White & Cope vs. Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli in a Brisbane Brawl

AEW/ROH Global Wars (broadcast options TBA) —

  • Chris Jericho, Big Bill & Bryan Keith vs. Bandido & The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd)
  • ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty defends against Robbie Eagles
  • ROH Women’s World Champion Athena defends against Alex Windsor
  • ROH Tag Team Champions Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara defend against MxM Collection (Mansoor & Madden)

Ring of Honor TV live results: Women’s TV title match, Athena returns

Posted on by Jeff Moss

Red Velvet puts her Ring of Honor Women’s TV title up against Robyn Renegade in the headliner of tonight’s ROH on HonorClub show.

Velvet will be looking for the sixth defense of her title she has held for nearly 200 days with the challenger riding a two-match win streak with her last victory coming in August 2024.

ROH Women’s World Champion Athena will host a Proving Ground match against Carolina Cruz while ROH Tag Team Champion Sammy Guevara takes on Mansoor of MxM Collection.

Blake Christian will look to nab his sixth straight win as he battles Adam Priest while Lee Johnson takes on Jon Davis ahead of next week’s men’s TV title match against Komander.

In a four-way tag team match, it will be The Outrunners vs. Evil Uno & Alex Reynolds vs. Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Ari Daivari & Tony Nese.

Griff Garrison & Preston Vance will take on The Parea to round out the show.

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It’s Thursday and I just had a root canal! What mystical musings will the good drugs produce? Let’s find out as ROH on Honorclub episode #102 kicks off!

Blake Christian defeated Adam Priest

Christian has developed a real bad attitude over the last few months and has put it on full display in wins over Parker Li, Serpentico and Evil Uno. He’s on a hot streak and one has to assume that puts him in line for an ROH title sooner than later. Priest (the OTHER Priest), survived a beating at the hands of The Beast Mortos on Collision is making his ROH Singles debut, which I’m sure will go great for him. 

Christian gave a Code of Middle Finger to Priest off the top who grabbed it and tried to twist it off. From there, the two went back and forth with a technical, but speedy style. Priest turned out to be a pretty good foe for Christian, as they both had similar styles and sizes.

Christian bailed from the ring to reset and Priest took advantage with a big uppercut as he climbed back into the ring. Christian blocked some Irish Whip attempts and followed up with a flying forearm off the top turnbuckle.

Christian went up top again and Priest tried to throw him off, but Christian managed a big legdrop for a two count. They ended up on the outside, where Christian dragged Priest’s face around the barricade, followed by a back suplex onto the floor.

Christian tossed Priest back into the ring where he chopped him in the throat and mugged for the crowd. Priest reversed a pumphandle slam into a suplex and the two traded chops. Priest landed a huge DDT for a two count, almost getting the upset.

Speaking of getting upset, Christian got mad and laid Priest out with a big powerslam. Christian went up top again and hit a 450 Double Stomp. He then locked in a new submission move called Vanilla Choke Zero and Priest was forced to tap out.

Griff Garrison & Preston Vance (w/Cole Karter) defeated The Parea (Eli Theseus & Gabriel Aeros)

While Cole Karter continues his rehab from injury, Garrison has been hanging out/teaming with Vance. Oddly enough, that has formed a “cool guy” triad that for some reason Jacked Jameson really wants to be a part of. He approached the trio two weeks ago and they decided to straight up bully him about wanting to hang out with them, so I guess I like Jameson now? Anyways, Garrison and Vance were taking on the ROH-debuting The Parea who are currently double champions, holding both the WSW and MCW tag titles.  

Garrison kicked things off tying up with Theseus who was the beefier of the two, but Garrison is very, very agile and was able to keep control. Theseus tagged in Aeros and they used some double team offense followed by a huge knee to the face to keep Garrison away from a tag.

Aeros began dancing in the ring and that summoned Jacked Jameson who sauntered down to the ring to cause a distraction. Garrison sent Theseus to the outside where Vance beat him up against the barricade. Jameson hung around on the outside, getting in a sneaky shot on Aeros.

Vance became legal in the ring and was joined by Theseus. Vance got him up in a stalling suplex and drove him back to the mat. Garrison tagged in and they worked over Theseus, keeping from a hot tag. Jameson and Karter stayed to the outside, chilling and being shirtless.

Garrison scooped up Thesus with a slam and some mockery, but only got a two count. Theseus fought back with a big backdrop and got the hot tag to Aeros who actually managed to lay in a few big strokes to the now-legal Vance.

Garrison hopped in and he and Vance delivered duelling discus lariats to Theseus, which knocked him clean out and got them the pin. After the match, they let Jameson hang out and pose with them on the apron. How nice.

-Backstage, A somber Billie Starkz pretended to hold a mic in place of the excommunicated Lexy Nair. She sadly introduced Athena who informed Billie that their match tonight would not be a tag match, but a singles bout in order to teach her a lesson. Starkz rolled her eyes and said “fine” as Athena left.

Lee Johnson (w/EJ Nduka) defeated Jon Davis

Johnson and Nduka have been on a tear lately. A pouty, mean-spirited tear, but a tear none the less. They helped Shane Taylor Promotions beat up the Dark Order and Friends a couple of weeks ago and last week, Johnson lasted 10 minutes with Komander in a Proving Ground match to earn a shot at the ROH World Television Championship. Davis, still not the lead singer of KoRn, but is in his first ROH match since 2010 when he lost to Rhett Titus, who apparently worked there at the time. 

Davis actually would have had a good match with Nduka as he was much bigger than Johnson. That said, the veteran can work. He was able to overpower Johnson off the top and keep the match a slower pace. Davis powered out of a waistlock and twisted Johnson into a wristlock. Johnson begged off and Davis resumed pacing around the ring.

Davis picked up Johnson and threw him, not unlike a bale of hay or sack of proverbial potatoes. Johnson pretended to show respect in order to lower Davis in for a taunting slap to the face. Nduka lured Davis to the outside where he faced off with Nduka. Johnson dove through the ropes to take him out, claiming it was all “too easy.”

Johnson pulled him back into the ring for a rough looking knee to the face and a standing moonsault. Johnson called Davis a “nothing” and that seemed to wake the big man up. He threw elbows and big slams, planting Johnson with a huge suplex. Nduka grabbed Davis’ ankle and pulled him to the outside, crushing him.

Tossing him back in the ring, Johnson hit a big frog splash from the top and got the 1-2-3 (with Nduka getting the assist). Davis looked great though!

ROH Women’s World Title Proving Ground Match: Athena [c] (w/Billie Starkz) defeated Carolina Cruz

The ROH Women’s Forever Champion made her triumphant return after an international world tour! Starkz made her mopey return to being a minion and Cruz gets caught in the middle. It is a Proving Ground match though, so if Cruz can last that 10 minutes or pin/submit the champion, she’ll get a title shot. I cannot stress enough how unlikely that is though.

Athena started the match by yelling at Starkz before delivering a huge dropkick to Cruz. Cruz tried her best, but was gravely outmatched against Athena. She threw Cruz around the ring while Starkz sat quietly on the outside.

Athena hit a great front legsweep and rained down punches on Cruz. Cruz managed to get a forearm in which just made Athena madder. She hit a one handed powerbomb and stacked Cruz up to get the win. This was Athena’s 30th straight Proving Ground win. She may actually be champ forever…

After the match, Athena tried to smash Cruz’ face on the title belt while Starkz watched. Athena mercilessly beat up Cruz until Starkz tried to calm her down. Athena then turned her fury on Starkz, while the ref begged her to let up. Athena got ahold of herself and stomped off with her belt and Starkz in tow.

Sammy Guevara defeated Mansoor (w/Mason Madden)

While Guevara’s partner Dustin Rhodes takes care of some MJF-related business in AEW, Guevara is holding down the ROH Tag Team Championship business. MxM have declared that they need some new accessories to complete a Championship look, and the Tag Titles go with everything!

Poses were struck (six in fact!) and a tip was offered, but when Sammy went to touch his, Mansoor gave him the finger! A perfectly posed finger, but a a finger none the less.

Mansoor and Guevara were pretty evenly matched in size and speed, which made the slow start to the match a little puzzling. However, when things picked up, Mansoor was able to land some big elbows. Guevara responded with some poses of his own, dodging dropkick in the process.

Mansoor started ot lose his cool as Guevara had an answer for everything he threw at him. Madden feigned posing on the ring apron (the hardest part of the ring) but grabbed Guevara’s ankle, eading to Mansoor putting him in a figure four around the bottom rope.

Mansoor began working Guevara’s leg with a series of hamstring pulls and drop knees. Mansoor got Guevara in a Boston Crab, but Guevara worked his way out of it. Mansoor put on a stepover grapevine but Guevara was just barely able to get to the rope, his leg now really hurting.

Mansoor tried to set up a Shattered Dreams to taunt Guevara’s partner Dusting Rhodes, but Guevara was able to dodge it and land a dragonscrew takedown. Guevara returned the favor, working over Mansoor’s leg and knee. Madden got involved, but Guevara dodged his kick, hanging him up on the ropes.

Mansoor tried to take advantage, but Guevara caught him with a figure four and Mansoor had to tap out. After the match, Madden and Mansoor beat up Guevara in the ring, hitting a Centerfold and pretending to pin Guevara to send Rhodes a message. They then posed with Guevara’s ROH Tag Title Belt.

ROH Women’s World Television Title Match: Red Velvet (c) defeated Robyn Renegade

Red Velvet is fast becoming the fighting-est champion on the ROH Roster. She has successfully defended the ROH Women’s TV Title against Diamante, HANAKO, and a pair of Leylas (Leyla Hirsch and Leila Grey) just to name a few. She’s also held her own in a boatload of Proving ground matches. This will be Renegade’s first crack at the title and Velvet, so we’ll see if a fresh matchup hurts or helps the champ. 

Renegade stood about 6 inches taller than Velvet, but when wrestling Velvet, size is rarely a factor. The two locked up with Renegade coming out on top, slamming Velvet to the mat. Not phased, Velvet stood up and did the same thing back to her. Velvet went for a big kick, but Renegade had it scouted and caught her in midair, slamming Velvet to the ground.

Renegade delivered a punch that staggered Velvet in a way rarely seen. Velvet tried to retaliate, but Renegade seemed to have her number, countering everything Velvet threw at her. Velvet was playing possum though, as Renegade tried a baseball slide, but Velvet caught her in the ring apron (the aproniest part of the ring!) and delivered some heavy shots.

Velvet hit a double knee to the abck of Renegade’s head on the ropes. She began talking trash to the camera, and Renegade tried a quick rollup. Velvet kicked out and tried one of her own. Renegade kicked out and planted Velvet with a side slam.

Velvet got a sneak DDT in (kinda) and laid out Renegade. The two climbed up, face to face and traded punches. Renegade began talking her own trash, which woke up Velvet in a big way. She unloaded on her, sending Renegade to the corner. Renegade fought out though and went for a pumphandle slam that Velvet managed to counter into a Mama’s Kitchen and pick up the win to retain her title. A great, hard-hitting match!

The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd) defeat Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson) and The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds & Evil Uno) and The Premier Athletes (Ariya Daivari & Tony Nese) (w/Josh Woods & Mark Sterling)

If there is one thing that ROH loves its multiple teams in the same match. This one was more of a “four corners” situation though, with each team fending for themselves. All of these teams have had issues with one another at some point, except the Outrunners. Everyone loves the Outrunners. Everyone came to the ring with their usual schtick(s) and managed to get through the intros without chaos erupting.

Magnum and Daivari kicked things off, but Nese quickly tagged in. Magnum took a shot to the throat and stumbled into the corner of the Dark Order. Reynolds tagged himself in and flattened Nese with a crossbody. Gibson tagged in, and Uno and Reynolds doiuble teamed him.

Then the chaos broke out, with all 8 men brawling in the ring. The Order and Outrunners managed to get an opponent each in the corners and delivered synchronized punches. The ring was cleared, leaving Uno and Gibson as the legal men. The Athletes grabbed Uno and dragged him out of the ring, making Nese and Reynolds legal for some reason.

Reynolds managed to tag in Uno, but Daivari jumped in and he and Nese double teamed him. Uno fought back though, knocking them both against the turnbuckle. Magnum made a blind tag on Uno and he and Daivari mixed it up. Gibson tagged in and hit a back suplex on Magnum. Drake jumped in off a Gibson tag and the two double teamed Magnum. That brought in the Athletes who worked with the GYV to keep Magnum from making a tag.

Finally, Magnum dodged a big lariat and got the hot tag to Floyd. He cleared the ring of everyone. At this point, the Dark Order seemed to have disappeared. The Outrunners hit a big double elbow and set up for a Total Recall, but Nese interrupted. Reynolds appeared out of nowhere and dove through the ropes, taking out Sterling and crew.

The Veterans and Athletes found themselves in the ring with the Outrunners. Floyd and Magnum cleared out both teams and nailed a total recall on Drake. That gave them enough time to make the pin and get the victory!

Good times, Good show, good night!

Ring of Honor TV live results: Beast Mortos, Blake Christian, Red Velvet in action

Posted on by Jeff Moss

Tonight’s Ring of Honor on HonorClub has a mix of different stars competing as the slow road to April’s Supercard of Honor continues.

ROH Women’s TV Champion Red Velvet will be in Proving Ground action against Angelica Risk. If Risk can win or go to a draw, she earns a future title shot.

The Beast Mortos will take on Tony Nese while former GCW Champion Blake Christian will look to keep his recent win streak going.

After making her Stardom debut, ROH Women’s World Champion Athena will give an update on her world tour.

Former Ring of Honor Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata will be in action after unsuccessfully challenging AEW TNT Champion Daniel Garcia last Saturday.

Dark Order’s Alex Reynolds and Evil Uno will team with Boulder and Serpentico against Shane Taylor, ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty, EJ Nduka and Lee Johnson.

The Outrunners will compete ahead of their inclusion in a 12-man tag team match on Saturday’s AEW Collision.

**********

Here we go! This is the penultimate episode of ROH on Honorclub before #100 next week, and the card is stacked with some very big people who like hurting other people in very big ways!

But first, QT Marshall. Marshall beat Komander in a Proving Ground match last week and the Board of Directors decided that for Episode 100, Marshall will be taking his shot! Next week!

Eight Man Tag Team Match: Katsuyori Shibata, Komander & The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd) defeat Colby Carter, Rosario Grillo & The Stew Crew (Dylan Stewart & Zach Stewart)

When it was announced that Shibata and the Outrunners would be in action this week, it was not mentioned that it was in a match this big! Shibata, Komander and the Outrunners all going to be getting a workout against Carter, Grillo and (sigh) The Stew Crew. Terrible name for two decent workers.

Anyway, the match started with several feeling out processes. Komander toyed with Dylan for a while before isolating him and tagging in Floyd. Floyd and Dylan matched up better size wise, so tey began slobbering the knocker and punching and chopping each other before Magnum tagged in for a double atomic drop and some posing. Carter tried to help, but fell victim to an atomic drop as well.

At this point I should mention that the announce team did not seem to know which Stewart was which, so whoever was in the ring was referred to as “one half of the Stew Crew.” So, one half of the Stew Crew isolated Magnum away from his team and Carter locked in a sleeper. Carter was actually really impressive in this match, I hope we see more of him.

Grillo on the other hand, made the mistake of teasing Floyd on the outside, enraging the Outrunner who tagged in to teach him a lesson in powerslams. The other members of Grillos team tried to help, but they all recieved big body spam, er, slams as well.

Finally, Shibata was tagged in to show Grillo why they call him The Wrestler (spoiler alert: It’s because he’s a wrestler). Shibata knocked Grillo into the corner and Komander hit a big 450 splash on him. Shibata, still the legal man, rolled up Grillo and got the win for his team.

-A Shane Taylor promo aired next. Taylor rand down how he’s fought for his life all his life and it wasn’t over until someone quit. This is the Shane Taylor Era in wrestling and they are damn sure going to fight all comers.

The Beast Mortos defeated Tony Nese (w/Ariya Daivari, Josh Woods & Mark Sterling)

The Beast Mortos against Tony Nese means a whole lot of muscle in the ring. Neither of these guys have been seen recently on ROH. Mortos has been causing chaos on Collision and Dynamite since August when he lost to then ROH World Champion Mark Brisco. Nese was out for a while enjoying newfound fatherhood and his last singles match was on the very same taping. These guys both enjoy hitting people very hard, so this should please Shane Taylor and be a fight. 

Sterling came down to the ring yapping his usual yap, pushing the Premier Athletes shirt and trying to get the crowd to say the Athletes rule. The crowd missed the memo though and shouted “suck” instead of rule. Mortos entered growling like the beast he is.

Mortos was riled up off the top, stamping his feet in the corner and wasting no time in locking up with Nese. Mortos started throwing potatoes which left Nese a little confused as he’s used to a more technical style. He lowered himself to throwing a boot to the gut though. Mortos bounced back though, no selling a bunch of shoulder blocks from the ropes.

Nese changed his tactics and tried to take out Mortos’ legs. It did not work. Nese went to the top rope and tried a splash, but Mortos kinda caught him and Nese ended up on the mat. Mortos used that to his advantage and delivered some powerslams. Mortos went up top, but Nese was pulled out of the ring by his teammates on the outside. So Mortos changed direction and jumped from the top turnbuckle onto the whole group.

Mortos then began stalking Sterling on the outside, but Nese interrupted so Mortos turned his aggression to him. Mortos sent Nese into the steel steps and Woods stepped up. He was a little aafraid to engage Mortos though, so Mortos tossed Nese back in the ring. Nese slipped back out and Woods caused a distraction so Nese could hit Mortos with a superkick.

Back in the ring, Nese tried chopping Mortos, which is kinda like feeding a gremlin after midnight. Mortos only got madder and tried to hit Nese on the ropes, but Nese pulled it down and Mortos missed and ended up on the outside. Nese distracted the ref while Woods, Sterling and Daivari laid into Mortos.

Nese then pulled Mortos back into the ring and laid in a sleeper. I don’t think Beasts sleep, so it didn’t work. Nese went for a triangle moonsault, but missed. Mortos took advantage and delivered three straight backbreakers to Nese. A massive headbutt dazed Nese as Woods tried to grab Mortos’ ankle from the outside. The ref caught it this time and ejected Woods from ringside.

Mortos hit a terrifying modified spiked pile driver and mercifully Nese stayed down for the three count.

-MxM Collective joined us next from backstage. They congratulated the ROH Tag Team Champions the Sons of Texas on their title defense in the Tokyodome. MxM believe that they are next in line for a shot at the titles and they are deathly serious about it. They then stared deep into my soul as the segment ended. I need a shower.

Blake Christian defeated Parker Li

Christian has been rapidly rising in the ranks of ROH (boy that’s a lot of R’s) recently (one more!), having been in the Six Man Survival of The Fittest match at Final Battle for the ROH TV Title, and picking up wins over AR Fox and Aaron Solo respectively. Li, sadly, has not been out managing Elvis and has instead been making a name on the indies. This is Li’s second ROH match and his first solo outing. 

The crowd chanted for hometown hero Li, which just annoyed Christian. The word of the day in this match was SPEED. These two flew around the ring off the top with Christian getting the better of Li, who thought it would be a good idea to tease Christian. Christian responded by throwing him out of the ring and diving through the ropes.

Back inthe ring, Christian hit a springboard clothesline off the top rope and posed. He seems to have really embraced posing. Christian put Li in a headlock and dragged him to the mat. Li fought out, but left himself open for the extremely technical kick to the face. And more posing.

Li managed to get some offense in, matching Christian’s agility, but the resurgence was short lived as Christian set him up on the ropes and hit a big knee to the back of Li’s head. Christian dragged him to the middle of the ring and pinned him for the win to get his third victory in a row.

-Footage was shown next of ROH Womens Champion Athena’s latest match in Stardom over in Japan. She won, of course and told the Japanese fans that she has always wanted to wrestle for them and it’s a dream come true.

ROH Women’s World Television Title Proving Ground Match: Red Velvet (c) defeated Angelica Risk

ROH is the only place to find Proving Ground matches and I absolutely love them. For the uninitiated, a Proving Ground match has a ten minute time limit. If the challenger can last that long, or pin or submit the Champion in question, they earn a shot at said champion’s title at a future date. Most recently, QT Marshall won a Proving Ground match to earn a shot at the ROH TV Title currently held by Komander. As previously mentioned, we will see that next week on the 100th Episode of ROH on Honorclub. 

For tonight though, Red Velvet looks to extend her Proving Ground streak to 4-0 since capturing the Women’s TV Title. Risk for her part, is 0-7 in ROH matches since April 2023, including two Proving Ground losses.

The two women got in each other’s faces before Velvet’s music had even finished paying. Risk was shorter than Velvet, but definitely had a strength advantage over the Champ. They jawed at each other, both very good at trash talking.

Angelica had Velvet’s number off the top with a series of armdrags and a cross body. She laid in some punches on Velvet, talking smack the whole time. Risk choked Velvet out on the ropes and sent her to the outside. She tried a baseball slide, but Velvet saw it coming and wrapped her up in the ring apron, leaving Risk prone to some big punches.

The two traded blows on the outside until Velvet drove Risk’s head into the ring apron (the hardest part of the ring). A double knee shot to the back dazed Risk and Velvet turned up the juice, laying in some hard shots and sending Risk into the turnbuckle. Velvet put a high chinlock on Risk, grinding her face with her wrists. Risk fought out of it and laid Velvet out with a series of clotheslines.

Risk hit a 619 on Velvet, but only got a two count. The time of the match was about 6 minutes at this point. Velvet raked Risk’s eyes and loaded up the left hand for a big knockout punch. Velvet pinned Risk and got a three count, keeping Risk winless in ROH.

ROH Classic Match: Mark Briscoe vs Slim J (ROH on Honorclub, Episode 1, 25.02.2023)

To celebrate next week’s 100th Episode of ROH on Honorclub, this week’s Classic Content goes all the way back to ROH on Honorclub episode 1! Briscoe took on Slim J in the main event and as you can imagine, it was a pretty fun match!

Eight Man Tag Team Match: LEEJ (EJ Nduka & Lee Johnson) & Shane Taylor Promotions (Lee Moriarty & Shane Taylor) defeated Boulder, Serpentico & The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds & Evil Uno)

Pop quiz: How do you make a massive human like EJ Nduka even more terrifying? Answer: Team him up with a similarly large man named Shane Taylor. STP is the dominant faction in ROH right now and Taylor has been masterful at elevating both the Infantry and Trish Adora and utilizing Pure Champion Lee Moriarty to build an empire. Even if it’s just one one match, adding Nduka and Johnson to the fray is a substantial increase in power. 

The Dark Order has been stalling of late. There was some silliness with the Grizzled Young Veterans and their scarves, but that seems to have fizzled out. Serpentico is always cool and ready to go with the flow and Boulder… well, I’m sure he will rub someone’s face in his chest or something. There is no storyline or advertised reason for this match and to a casual viewer, that doesn’t give it a lot of stakes. This is one of the things that Tony Khan needs to fix about ROH if he hopes to land the promotion a TV deal.

To start things off, The infantry threw Reynold’s jacket on the ground, the ULTIMATE sign of disrespect. So, Reynolds started off against Moriarty which was great because they set a high tempo and fast pace. Moriarty, who I just noticed wrestles in a singlet with the straps pulled down, was able to get a bunch of nearfalls on Reynolds but he kept popping back up.

Johnson was tagged in to face off against Evil Uno. Uno tried to be nice with a code of honor but Johnson kicked him in the stomach instead. Uno hit an Atomic drop and sent Johnson into the corner. Reynolds tagged in and they double teamed him. Serpentico tagged in and Reynolds held Johnson so Serpentico could hit a double stomp from the top rope.

Serpentico was pulled to the outside by Nduka who threw the smaller man into the barricade a few times before tossing him back in the ring. Nduka tagged in for a sidewalk slam and dragged Serpentico to the STP corner. Taylor snuck in a quick shot to the head and Nduka tagged him in. Serpentico fought for his life, but Taylor easliy dispatched him with a huge slam and leg drop. Johnson tagged back in and put Serpentico in a head lock.

Taylor sent the Infantry over to take out Uno and Reynolds just as Boulder tagged in to face Johnson. Moriarty tried to help, but Boulder stacked them in the corner and hit a big splash. Boulder hoisted both men onto his shoulders and hit a samoan drop/fallaway slam combo. That brought in Taylor to face off against Boulder.

Taylor charged Boulder who actually caught him in midair! Boulder slammed Taylor, but it only got a two. Moriarty tagged in to face Reynolds and locked in a Border City Stretch. Reynolds reversed it and that brought in Nduka to levelled Reynolds with a shoulder. Uno Dropkicked Nduka out of the ring, then Taylor knocked Uno out, then Boulder and Taylor hossed it up in a spectacular display of beef.

Serpentico and Johnson hit duelling frog splashes on the bigger wrestlers and I guess(?) they became the legal men? The ref tried valiantly to sort out all the flying bodies, but it was hard to figure out. Serpentico and Moriarty found themselves in the ring and legal, so Moriarty locked in a Border City Stretch and made the Luchadore tap out.

And that was it! 99 down, one more to go!

Athena reflects on first Stardom tour: This has ‘reawakened my passion’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Athena is heading back home to the United States after starting off 2025 with a tour of Japan.

The ROH Women’s World Champion made a successful title defense for Stardom on Monday, retaining against Thekla. Following the match, Athena told Thekla that she respects her — and she wants Thekla to come find her in the U.S. for a rematch.

Athena made her Japan debut for Stardom on January 3 and wrestled four matches for the promotion during this brief tour. She also competed at the Tokyo Dome as part of NJPW’s Wrestle Dynasty card.

In post-match comments after her victory today, Athena got emotional when talking about how much this experience meant to her.

“I am very sad to go because I love Japan and I love Stardom,” Athena said. “It’s very difficult for me to leave because I have had so much fun here. And it has reawakened my passion — not only as a fighting champion but as a wrestler who’s been doing this for almost 20 years. And normally in America, no one sees me cry — never. I’m tough, but this is very special. This is my dream, and I finally got to come here. Hopefully I can come back and compete in front of the most amazing fans with the most amazing women from around the world.

“So Stardom, you will see me again. The Fallen Goddess, the American Joshi, the Minion Overlord, the inspiration to every women’s division — but most importantly, today, I finally lived up to my nickname of the American Joshi. Thank you Stardom. Thank you everyone. I will see you again soon.”

Athena is on a historic run as ROH Women’s World Champion, holding the title for more than 760 days. It’s the longest-ever title reign in ROH.

ROH Women’s title match set for upcoming Stardom event

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Athena’s next ROH Women’s title match is set.

Following the events of Wrestle Dynasty, Athena agreed to a title match against Thekla at an upcoming Stardom event at Korakuen Hall on January 13. The match was made during backstage interviews made following the International Women’s Cup four-way match.

During the Wrestle Dynasty opener, Thekla prevented Athena from covering stablemate Momo Watanabe. The distraction allowed Watanabe to strike Athena with a baseball bat, eventually giving Watanabe the win, becoming the first-ever International Cup winner and earning a future title match.

Athena and Thekla previously had a confrontation backstage after they teamed together successfully at Stardom New Year Dream on Friday, defeating Tay Melo and Mina Shirakawa. After Athena reiterated that she is the Forever ROH World Champion, Thekla requested a title match, which Athena rejected.

Athena successfully defended the ROH Women’s title last month, defeating Billie Starks at ROH Final Battle. She has been champion for over 750 days, first winning the title from Mercedes Martinez at Final Battle 2022.

Athena wins tag match in Stardom debut, Tay Melo returns to the ring

Posted on by Joseph Currier

ROH Women’s World Champion Athena had a successful debut for Stardom on Friday.

While in Japan ahead of Wrestle Dynasty, Athena had her first-ever match in the country at Stardom New Year Dream 2025, teaming with Thekla to defeat Tay Melo & Mina Shirakawa. The finish was Athena pinning Melo after hitting the O-Face.

Despite their victory, there was dissension between Athena and Thekla. And it looks like Thekla could be challenging Athena for the ROH Women’s World Championship in the near future. They argued backstage after the match and Thekla issued a title challenge to Athena, but Athena turned it down.

“Look here, you’re nothing but trash. A pawn on my chessboard,” Athena told Thekla. “And as far as this goes, you want an opportunity? You want to prove yourself? You want Athena to put you in the spotlight? Absolutely not.”

“We’ll see about that,” Thekla responded.

Athena now heads to the Tokyo Dome for Wrestle Dynasty on January 5, where she will compete against Willow Nightingale, Momo Watanabe, and Persephone in the Women’s International Cup four-way match. The winner receives a title shot of their choosing in either AEW, ROH, Stardom, or CMLL.

Friday’s match was also Melo’s Stardom debut — and it marked her first time back in the ring in nearly two years. It was Melo’s first time wrestling since she and Sammy Guevara welcomed their daughter Luna into the world.

An emotional Melo reacted to her return after the match, tearing up because she was so happy to be back. Melo said she’s “literally in love” with Japan.

ROH Women’s Champion Athena to make Stardom debut

Posted on by Joseph Currier

While in Japan for Wrestle Dynasty, ROH Women’s World Champion Athena will also be making her Stardom debut.

Athena is set to team with Thekla against two yet-to-be-announced opponents at Stardom’s New Year Dream 2025 at Tokyo Garden Theater on Friday, January 3. The announcement was made via a promo from Athena that aired during today’s Stardom event.

“It’s going to be me and Thekla against two porcelain hussies,” Athena announced. “But I am super exited to be here, because this is the world tour, baby. And I’ve been waiting for this my entire life.”

The Stardom event is happening two days before Wrestle Dynasty, where Athena is taking part in the Women’s International Cup four-way. That match will be Athena vs. Willow Nightingale vs. Momo Watanabe vs. Persephone. It features one representative each from ROH, AEW, Stardom, and CMLL with the winner getting a title shot from the promotion of their choosing.

Athena has been ROH Women’s World Champion for more than two years now and recently retained against Billie Starkz at Final Battle for the second straight year.

Wrestling Observer Live: ROH Final Battle, The Rock, ‘The Year of Griftmas,’ a holiday bonus

Posted on by Jim Valley

It’s a holiday (almost) weekend edition of Wrestling Observer Live.

ROH Final Battle from the Hammerstein Ballroom took place Friday featuring a strong main event from Athena and Billie Starkz, an excellent Survival of the Fittest match for the men’s TV title, and the pop of the night: Nigel McGuinness challenging Lee Moriarty for the ROH Pure title. Let’s discuss.

Als on today’s WOL: The Rock got roasted for a post on X and the annual reading of a Christmas tradition, AEW Rampage & Collision thoughts, WWE SmackDown, and I also provide a little holiday bonus content.

Happy Holidays! Check it out. Ho, ho, ho!

Click Here to Listen (sub needed)

ROH Final Battle media scrum notes: Athena, Komander, Tony Khan talk to press

Posted on by Bryan Rose

ROH Champions talked to the press following Friday’s Final Battle event.

Red Velvet, Komander, Lee Moriarty, Athena, and Tony Khan all spoke to the media following the event at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Here are the highlights:

ROH Women’s Television Champion Red Velvet

  • When asked who she’d like to face next, Red Velvet called out Mercedes Mone. Tony Khan brought up wrestlers from Stardom as potential opponents as well.

New ROH Television Champion Komander

  • Thanked everyone who stood behind him and deep down, that is what keeps him going.
  • When asked about ‘stealing the show’, Komander said that everyone works hard in ROH and AEW.
  • In his world, he says that he gives back everything he is given. He says he was a premature baby and almost died twice, so he has to keep going and help others. He said he would never give up and keep trying.
  • Tony Khan brought up the potential of a match between Komander and former TV Champion Atlantis Jr.

ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty

  • Moriarty said that wrestling Nigel McGuiness at Final Battle was a surreal moment, saying he never expected it to happen.
  • One person asked which ROH legend is next for him. Moriarty said it was hard to say but he’s had opportunities to wrestle Bryan Danielson, Katsuyori Shibata, and Adam Copeland so it’s something that he doesn’t take for granted.
  • He may have a potential solo show in the future for his artwork. 

ROH Women’s Champion Athena

  • Athena said she is looking forward to going to Japan for Wrestle Dynasty and may spend a little more time in Japan after the event.
  • Promoting the Boxing Day edition of ROH, Athena teased a member of her minions group may be expelled. Earlier in the interview, she praised Red Velvet for the way she retained the ROH Women’s Television title.

Tony Khan

  • Khan mentioned this was the first time he’s been to the Hammerstein Ballroom and would love to come back for future events.
  • When Bandido’s name was brought up, Khan said that he originally wanted Bandido when he launched AEW in 2019, but instead he made the choice to sign with ROH. Khan said he has since become a great asset to both ROH and AEW.
  • Mike Johnson of PWInsider asked about a television deal for ROH, asking Khan where they were in the yard line. Khan said that they’ve had a lot of great conversations regarding a potential ROH television deal. He pushed the simulcast of AEW Fight for the Fallen Dynamite before saying that he couldn’t say where a deal would be on a proverbial yard line.