PWG returned to the Globe Theater in Los Angeles, California for tonight’s Threemendous VI event.
New Tag Team Champions were crowned, as Brody King and Malakai Black defeated Black Taurus and Flamita for the titles. In the main event, Bandido successfully retained the PWG Championship against Davey Richards. Alex Shelley earned a future PWG World Championship match, pinning Jonathan Gresham in the undercard.
Here are the full results from tonight’s show:
AEW’s Chuck Taylor joined Excalibur on commentary.
Evil Uno defeated Tony Deppen
Uno won following a piledriver and a twisting inverted vertebreaker.
Dragon Lee defeated Aramis
Lee won after a piledriver into a running knee.
Alex Shelley defeated Jonathan Gresham in a number one contender’s match
Shelley won after submitting Gresham with the Rings of Saturn. As a result, Shelley is the new number one contender for the PWG World title.
Jack Cartwheel, Dante Martin, and Alex Zayne defeated Lee Moriarty, Trey Miguel, and Myron Reed
Cartwheel won the match for his team following a red arrow.
JD Drake defeated AJ Gray
Drake won following a top rope moonsault.
Brody King and Malakai Black defeated Black Taurus and Flamita for the vacant PWG World Tag Team titles
King pinned Flamita with a piledriver to win the titles.
Bandido defeated Davey Richards to retain the PWG World Championship.
PWG resumed shows starting last month when they ran their Mystery Vortex VI event.
ROH has added two title matches to the card for its next pay-per-view.
The ROH World Championship will be on the line in a four-way elimination match at Death Before Dishonor on Sunday, September 12. Bandido will defend his title against Brody King, EC3, and Demonic Flamita.
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Moses & Kaun) defending their titles against La Faccion Ingobernable (Rush, Dragon Lee & Kenny King) has also been confirmed for Death Before Dishonor.
Bandido won the ROH World Championship from Rush at ROH’s Best in the World PPV last month. At Glory By Honor night one last Friday, Bandido retained the title against Flip Gordon.
Shane Taylor Promotions defeated Bandido, Flamita & Rey Horus this February to win the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles. Taylor, Moses & Kaun retained the titles against Incoherence (Delirious, Hallowicked & Frightmare) at Glory By Honor night two on Saturday.
Death Before Dishonor is taking place at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Here’s the updated card for the PPV:
ROH World Champion Bandido defends against Brody King, EC3, and Demonic Flamita in a four-way elimination match
The finals of ROH’s Women’s World Championship tournament
ROH Pure Champion Jonathan Gresham defends against Josh Woods
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Moses & Kaun) defend against La Faccion Ingobernable (Rush, Dragon Lee & Kenny King)
Two “top free agents” who were recently released from another promotion will face off
The Big Takeaway: Matt Taven and Vincent met in the main event, while various ROH Champions competed throughout a very fun card.
Dalton Castle defeated Danhausen
Dak Draper joined commentary for this bout.
Castle started off with his usual antics, taunting Danhausen with his “boys” at ringside. After Danhausen was distracted by the “boys”, Draper jumped off commentary and helped orchestrate a sneak attack with Castle.
Both guys eventually found their way back in the ring where Danhausen was able to hit a few German suplexes. Castle was losing steam and confidence when he resorted to pouring a bottle of Danhausen’s teeth onto the ring canvas. Castle would follow it up with his signature Bang-A-Rang onto the teeth for the win.
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LSG defeated World Famous CB in a pure rules match
The offense between both men was immediately taken to the mat and it led to some fun exchanges. CB targeted the arm of LSG and nearly every form of attack that CB performed was based on the arm.
CB was clearly overwhelming LSG because he used all three of his rope breaks within the first seven minutes of the match. LSG got his offense in when he could and hit a surprise “Rocket By Baby” butterfly suplex, followed by a surprise pinning combination which was able to muster a three count.
CB refused to shake LSG’s hand afterwards.
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Rok-C and Miranda Alize defeated Willow & Chelsea Green
Willow and Alize started out the match. Alize threw some strong strikes at Willow but couldn’t seem to match the power or intensity that her opponent was giving out, so she tagged out to Rok-C.
Rok-C came in and had a fantastic exchange with Willow, one that included a top rope arm drag. Willow was shaken up so she tagged out to Chelsea Green. Green and Rok-C had a fun exchange that saw Green tag back out to Willow pretty quickly.
Willow came back in and missed a moonsault on Rok-C, which allowed the latter to hit a massive code red and pin Willow for the three count.
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Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Moses, and Kaun) defeated Incoherence (Delirious, Hallowicked, and Frightmare) to retain the ROH Six Man Tag Team Championships
Incoherence was joined by Ultra Mantis Black, who joined commentary after their entrance.
Delirious and Kaun started off the match and while Delirious went for a few takedowns, none of them manifested. Frightmare and Taylor came in after which got a massive reaction from the crowd.
Frightmare slapped Taylor, which prompted Taylor to clock him with a forearm strike. The match broke down for a minute and all of Incoherence sent STP reeling to the outside, which allowed Incoherence to regroup. This would end up favoring STP, who took over the match shortly after.
Moses had Delirious down and out when Hallowicked came in. Hallowicked slammed down Moses, and hit a great standing knee-based moonsault. When Hallowicked went for the pin, Taylor came running out of nowhere and bulldozed him.
Taylor and Delirious became the legal men. Taylor went to the second rope and was going to dive onto Delirious, but Frightmare pulled Taylor off the top rope with a cutter. This was the result of a very close near fall, but when Frightmare became legal, Taylor bulldozed him with a knee strike and followed it up with a package piledriver for the win.
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Brian Johnson & Mark Briscoe defeated Demonic Flamita and Flip Gordon
Johnson and Flamita started out and Flamita absolutely handled him easily. Gordon came in and Johnson had better luck with him, having a fun slug fest. Flamita and Briscoe came in and had a really fast paced exchange that slowed down Briscoe’s energy significantly.
Flamita and Gordon took turns tagging in and out and beating down Briscoe in their corner. Briscoe eventually made a massive hot tag to Johnson, who got a great reaction.
After the hot tag, Johnson and Briscoe miscommunicated and crashed into one another. This led to Johnson telling Briscoe to kick rocks and he walked out of the match to a chorus of boos.
Flamita perched on the top rope for a 450 on Briscoe, but flipped off the crowd and jumped down instead. Flamita went to grab a chair but when Gordon encouraged him to use it, Flamita flipped off Gordon and tagged himself out. Gordon started to yell at his partner which allowed Briscoe to pick him up and piledrive him into the chair for the win.
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The Foundation (Jonathan Gresham, Jay Lethal, Rhett Titus and Tracy Williams) defeated VLNCE UNLTD (Brody King, Chris Dickinson, Tony Deppen and Homicide)
Kenny King joined commentary for this bout.
Deppen and Titus started off the match. Both guys exchanged a headlock or two and once Deppen got cocky, he backed away from Titus and tagged out to King. King called for Gresham, but once Gresham came in, Lethal tagged himself in. Homicide came in afterwards, leading to Lethal and Homicide being legal.
Lethal’s chops had Homicide reeling quickly and made him tag out to Dickinson. Williams came in and exchanged a few shoulder tackles with Dickinson. Williams perched Dickinson on the top rope and hit a masterful butterfly suplex that warranted a near fall.
Dickinson was able to eventually tag out to Deppen, who became a target for The Foundation. They all took turns tagging in and out and targeting Deppen’s knee. Deppen would see an opening and fight off a double team from Lethal and Gresham, but it led to Gresham hitting a fantastic jumping cutter.
The Foundation had full control of their opponents until King eventually got the hot tag. King went absolutely insane and started throwing people into other people and diving onto others. Eventually King and Gresham went face to face and had a great striking exchange, but when distracted, Dickinson would pick Gresham and drive him through a table with a falcon arrow.
The final stages of the match saw Lethal and Deppen as the legal men. Deppen would try to fend off Lethal’s offense but couldn’t and eventually ate a Lethal Injection, which allowed Lethal to win.
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La Facción Ingobernable (Dragon Lee & Rush) defeated Mexisquad (Bandido & Rey Horus)
Rush attacked Bandido with a chair as he was making his entrance.
With Bandido being hurt and out, Rush and Dragon Lee resorted to double teaming Horus. Horus wouldn’t lay down and take a beating though and valiantly fought back until Bandido was able to help him.
LFI would still be in full control when Bandido returned. A ton of double team moves ensued and the crowd eventually willed Bandido back into the match. Bandido had a fantastic exchange with Dragon Lee where he countered a pop up DDT into a Canadian Destroyer.
Rush showed weakness and favored his knee in the late stages in the match, but eventually was able to hit his signature running dropkick in the corner on Horus for the win.
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Vincent defeated Matt Taven in a Steel Cage match
When Taven was trying to enter the cage, Vincent smacked him with the cage door and the match spilled to the outside.
Vincent and Taven fought all over the 2300 arena before eventually making their way into the cage, where the match officially began. Taven wasted no time and went to the top rope with Vincent, where Taven was able to hit a swing neckbreaker. Taven followed that up with multiple running knees into Vincent’s face.
Taven would lift Vincent up for a suplex but Vincent would counter with a erungai submission. Taven escaped quickly and began an assault on Vincent again. Bateman would come down to the ring with barbed wire and slide it into the ring, but Mike Bennett would run in from commentary and try to eliminate the problem.
Vincent took the barbed wire and weaved it throughout the cage walls, which allowed him to rub Taven’s forehead straight into it and cause him to bleed profusely. Taven would fight through the blood and start to wrap barbed wire around Vincent’s head like a crown.
Once Vincent started bleeding, Taven pulled out a purple hatchet and rubbed it on Vincent’s head. Taven followed it up with multiple running knee strikes but he refused to go for a pin.
Vita VonStarr would come to the ring with a bag of thumbtacks. VonStarr would climb to the top of the cage and attempt to dive onto Taven, but missed completely and hit Vincent instead. Taven would follow up by back body dropping VonStarr onto a pile of thumbtacks, and then hit a “Climax ” DDT on Vincent onto the pile of thumbtacks as well.
Dutch, the final member of The Righteous, came down to the ring afterwards. Dutch climbed to the top of the cage and Taven pushed him off into two tables. Vincent took advantage of a distracted Taven and hit a cutter off the top of the cage. Vincent hesitated for a moment before pinning Taven for the three count.
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Final Thoughts: I enjoyed Glory By Honor Night Two a lot more than I enjoyed night one. The show featured a great variety of matches that all told a different story and had different variations to it. My favorite bout was the LFI vs Mexisquad tag team match followed closely by the Six Man Tag Team Championship match, although I don’t think there was necessarily a bad match on the card.
PWG has announced the card for their next show, Threemendous VI, on September 26.
Bandido will defend the PWG World title against Davey Richards, who in the last year has made a return to the independent scene. Richards is a former PWG World Champion, defeating Kenny Omega for the title back on February 27, 2010 at As The Worm Turns.
Malakai Black and Brody King will face Demonic Flamita and Black Taurus in a tag match that was set up at Mystery Vortex VII earlier this month.
Dante Martin of AEW will be making his debut on the show. Alex Zayne and Jake Atlas, who were released earlier this month from WWE, will be making their returns. A six man tag match has been announced, with Martin, Zayne, and Jack Cartwheel facing Atlas, Trey Miguel, and Myron Reed.
Alex Shelley will also make his return to the promotion, facing Jonathan Gresham.
Here is the card for Threemendous VI, which will be held at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles:
Bandido vs. Davey Richards for the PWG World title
Malakai Black and Brody King vs. Demonic Flamita and Black Taurus
Alex Shelley vs. Jonathan Gresham
Dante Martin, Alex Zayne, and Jack Cartwheel vs. Jake Atlas, Trey Miguel, and Myron Reed
AJ Gray vs. JD Drake vs. Lee Moriarty
Aramis and Rey Horus vs. Dragon Lee and Laredo Kid
Bobby Eaton, one of the all-time greatest between the ropes
Jody Hamilton and the legend of the Assassins
Bray Wyatt and Ric Flair’s WWE departures
An update on how the biggest WWE & AEW shows upcoming are doing
WWE says AEW isn’t competition publicly and at the same time what was happening not publicly
Dragon Gate’s biggest shows of the year and the retirement of Masato Yoshino
A.J. McKee and the problems with the current set up in MMA
PWG returns
More detail on the ratings than any other source, how many different viewers the shows had, breakdown of who watches the shows, how they watch, DVR numbers and how long the average fan watches
Results of the major pro wrestling events of the past week
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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Raw and the latest wrestling news. You can send questions to the show to [email protected]
The debut of Rampage on Friday will not air on television in Canada. It will air on TSN Direct, which is TSN’s streaming service. We’re not sure if it’s just this week or going forward. TSN will be airing CFL coverage every week and this week they’ve got three CFL games, plus the PFL and MLS soccer which covers their five television channels. Funny thing is that AEW would easily outdraw PFL and MLS. (thanks to Drew McConnell)
AEW has also closed a new deal with the Space Channel in Latin America, which is the station AAA is also on. Those who used to buy the FITE live international package were told today that as of 9/6, the package is no longer available in Latin America because Space has exclusive rights to the shows. Space has not said if AEW would air live, as it has been on a four-hour delay, nor have they said anything about getting Rampage. (thanks to Alberto Buckley).
Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy, Xia Li, Aliyah, Odyssey Jones, Austin Theory and Dakota Kai are all at Raw tonight. Orton is scheduled to open the show. Hardy is back from battling COVID. The others are there and may work Main Event or dark matches or not at all. PWInsider also reported that Riddick Moss, who had knee surgery, is backstage.
SB Kento, who just won the Open the Brave gate title yesterday, was stripped of the title today after a show in Osaka where he went to a no contest with Keisuke Okuda. A match for the vacant title takes place with Kento vs. Okuda on 9/11 in Osaka.
New Japan runs tomorrow at the Yokohama Budokan for New Japan World:
Dick Togo & Evil & Gedo vs. Sho & Yoh & Togi Makabe
Shingo Takagi vs. Yujiro Takahashi
Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi defend the Never Trios titles against Tetsuya Naito & Sanada & Bushi.
In a trivia note regarding Markie Post of Night Court fame, who passed away over the weekend. Post was at one point the girlfriend of Mark Dawson, the son of Family Feud & Hogan’s Heroes Richard Dawson. The Dawson family were all big wrestling fans, particularly Mark. She used to attend matches at the Olympic Auditorium with Mark in the mid-70s but I’m told she was by no means a wrestling fan.
New Japan ticket sales for Autumn Attack on 9/25 and 9/26 at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, TX, got off to very weak starts today, like first reports of under 150 each night (thanks to William Zdon).
Bandido was banged up in his Sunday match with Black Taurus at PWG and missed a big singles match with El HIjo del Vikingo on Friday night in Neza. It ended up as Vikingo vs. Dave the Clown. Bandido said he has to get checked up but he thinks he just needs a rest and will be on the 8/20 and 8/21 ROH shows. Vikingo himself has an ankle injury.
Irma Gonzalez, the Mexican wrestling legend and pioneer who is like the Moolah or Mildred Burke of that culture, along with daughter Irma Aguilar, a big star herself, are both battling COVID.
The movie “Notorious Nick,” about Nick Newell, a one-armed MMA fighter, will open at theaters and on demand on Friday. A trivia note on Newell is that he was the college roommate of Brian Myers and that he became interested in MMA watching fights with Myers, who was already a fan.
AEW
AEW today added more than 700 new tickets for sale for the 8/18 Dynamite show from the Fertitta Center in Houston. They also put about 500 new tickets on sale for 8/20 in Chicago for the show that had been sold out.
As of today, the Wednesday Dynamite show has 4,762 tickets out and Friday’s Rampage debut has 4,643. (thanks to William Zdon)
UFC
Marc Raimondi reported that Amanda Nunes has been cleared of COVID and returned to the gym today. Dan Lambert said that Nunes hopes to fight Julianna Pena before December.
Alex Perez vs. Matt Schnell has been moved from the 8/28 show to the 9/4 show.
Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Nassourdie Imamov are scheduled for 11/6 in Madison Square Garden.
OTHER NOTES
People are raving about a Wheeler Yuta vs. Daniel Garcia 60:00 draw that aired over the weekend on IWTV.
Odds from BetOnline.ag regarding what Gable Steveson does next?
Wrestle this coming season at the University of Minnesota -150
Wrestle for WWE +100
Do an MMA fight +800
Sign with an NFL team +2500
NSPW from Saturday night in Canac Stadium in Quebec City, Quebec before 1,500 fans: Pee Wee b Stephen Sullivan, Dave the Justice b KGB, Kevin Blanchard b Dylan Donovan, Ivan Sullivan b LuFisto, Matt Falcon b Channing Decker, TDT b South Shore Wrecking Crew, Marko Estrada b Toxic Mat Dars to keep the TV title (thanks to Pat Laprade)
XICW from yesterday in Marine City, MI: Aaron Orion b Cody Deaner, Soultaker b Kyler Coleman, Tommy Vendetta b Jake Something, Jonte Keit b Solo, Jack Price & Alex Weir b Malcolm Monroe III & Adam Wick, Mongo b Dre Jacobs & Brutus Alwell, Chuck Wagon b Royce Carney III, Kevin Kalloway & Sean Tyler b Billy Ray Daniels & LJ Lawrence, Jaimy Coxxx b Zach Thomas, DBA b Dread King Logan
Combate Global has an eight-women tournament on Friday night on Univision and Paramount + for a Strawweight title shot. Paramount + coverage starts at 11 p.m. Eastern on Friday. The first round has Yasmine Jauregui (5-0) vs. Stephanie Frausto (8-7), Criszaida Adames (4-0) vs Yajaira Cunningham, Paulina Vargas (4-1) vs. Claudia Diaz (1-2) and Karen Cedillo (4-2) vs. Clair Lopez. Stephanie Frausto is the younger sister of former Bellator champion Zoila Frausto.
KSW on 9/4 in Warsaw, Poland has Roberto Soldic (18-3) defending the welterweight title against Patrick Kinci of the Czech Republic (24-9).
Stardom results from Kissei today: Tam Nakano won over Mina Shirakawa and Hina, Konami b Unagi Sayaka, Maika b AZM, Saki Kashima & Starlight Kid & Ruaka & Rina b Mayu Iwatani & Koguma & Hanan & Lady C, Utami Hayashishita & Momo Watanabe & Saya Kamitani b Giulia & Syuri & Natsupoi
CMLL starts back with weekly Monday night shows at Arena Puebla tonight. Mistico & Volador Jr. & Caristico vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Gran Guerrero & Templario headline.
Yota Tsuji starts on 9/4 with RevPro in the U.K., so that tells you where he’s going and it’s not the U.S. or Mexico.
559 Fights returns on 8/14 at the Valley Strong Ballpark in Visalia,CA.
Ian Riccaboni welcomed us to the broadcast. Riccaboni is filling in for Quinn McKay, who has a first-round Women’s World Championship tournament match against Mandy Leon scheduled for this episode.
Riccaboni recapped the matches that have taken place in the tournament so far, including a great Allysin Kay vs. Willow bout from the previous installment of Women’s Division Wednesday.
Other matches scheduled for this episode of ROH TV include Trish Adora vs. Marti Belle and ROH World Champion Bandido teaming up with Rey Horus to take on Violence Unlimited’s Brody King & Chris Dickinson.
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ROH Women’s title tournament first-round match: Quinn McKay defeated Mandy Leon (7:12)
As Leon was taking off her entrance gear, McKay launched herself and speared Leon with ease. Commentary played up on the fact that Leon did the same thing in their last bout.
Leon and McKay fought on the outside for a short amount of time, which allowed McKay to suplex Leon on the ringside floor.
Both women eventually made their way back into the ring, which allowed the momentum to shift in Leon’s favor. Leon did her combination shtick of beating down McKay and slowly talking trash before capitalizing on her dominance with a running facebuster.
Leon was running at McKay from the corner when McKay caught her with a big powerslam for a near fall. McKay tried to lock in a sleeper hold after, but Leon would eventually lift herself up and plant McKay with a backpack stunner.
Leon looked like she was setting up a pumphandle driver when McKay sprung her way out with Leon’s hand intact. McKay twisted up Leon in a roll-up pin that commentary called a “Bowtie,” which resulted in McKay getting the three count.
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ROH Women’s title tournament first-round match: Trish Adora defeated Marti Belle (7:19)
Chelsea Green joined commentary for this bout.
Adora and Belle started off with a traditional lock-up. Both women took turns trying to outsmart one another, but things got physical and dirty fast.
Belle threw some really good strikes and took control of the match for a short amount of time. Belle’s strike-based offense had Adora reeling from a constant stream of punishment. But the second Belle took her eyes off the prize, she paid the price for it.
Adora was able to regain her composure and begin beating down on Belle. She wasted no time in locking in a Cattle Mutilation submission that made Belle give up almost instantly.
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ROH World Champion Bandido & Rey Horus defeated Violence Unlimited (Brody King & Chris Dickinson) (10:49)
Silas Young joined commentary for this bout. He’ll face Rey Horus at Glory By Honor night one on Friday, August 20.
King and Dickinson double teamed Horus to start off until Dickinson became the legal man. Dickinson kept Horus on the mat and tried to severely limit the lucha libre style of Horus. Dickinson and King worked down Horus into a commercial break and kept him cut off from Bandido.
Coming back from the break, Dickinson and King continued to double team Horus. Horus eventually had an opening and spiked King with a tornado DDT, allowing him to tag out to Bandido.
Bandido had a great exchange with King, including a great tope over the top rope onto both King and Dickinson. But once Horus was taken out of the equation again, Violence Unlimited resorted back to beating down Bandido two-on-one.
Dickinson and Bandido had a fun back and forth which saw Bandido attempt a 23 Plex, only to be denied by Dickinson the first time. Bandido would try it again — this time with a Horus assist — and successfully execute it to pin Dickinson.
Rush, Dragon Lee, Bestia Del Ring, and Kenny King rushed the ring afterwards, beating down both the winning and losing teams. Rush ripped the mask off Bandido while the rest of La Faccion Ingobernable brawled with various members of Violence Unlimited and Horus to end the show.
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Final Thoughts —
I genuinely enjoyed everything that this week’s episode of ROH TV threw at me. Quinn McKay vs. Mandy Leon was a fun way to again showcase the brilliant selling skills of McKay and give her a good mid-way payoff to a story that surely isn’t over yet.
Trish Adora vs. Marti Belle was great. I hope Adora goes far in the tournament.
The main event tag match between Bandido & Rey Horus and Violence Unlimited was fun as well. Not much in terms of story advancement — just an overall fun match.
In recent weeks I’ve introduced a scale in order to let you know if the current week of ROH TV is worth your while. The scale is as follows:
Must-Watch TV
Go Out Of Your Way
Recommended Viewing
Watch YouTube Clips
Avoid At All Costs
This week’s episode of ROH TV is: Recommended Viewing
A major angle took place at the end of tonight’s PWG Mystery Vortex 7 event that set up possible matches for next month’s Threemendous VI.
The angle had Super Dragon making an appearance, attacking PWG World Champion Bandido, who was already laid out by Black Taurus and Demonic Flamita. After Brody King and Malakai Black made the save for Bandido, he issued a challenge to Super Dragon. Black asked King if he was bust on September 26, the night of Threemendous. King said he wasn’t.
Dragon, one of the founders of PWG, has not wrestled since 2015, when a new version of the Mount Rushmore stable consisting of himself, The Young Bucks, and Roderick Strong, defeated Angelico, Fenix, Rich Swann, and Ricochet.
Tonight’s card consisted of matches that were not announced prior to the start of the show. In the main event, Bandido retained the PWG World Championship after defeating Taurus. Notable names that appeared on the card included Orange Cassidy, Evil Uno, Jonathan Gresham, JD Drake, Tony Deppen, and Trey Miguel.
Bandido defeated Rush to win the ROH World Championship at tonight’s Best in the World pay-per-view event.
The finish of the match had Rush kicking out of the 23-plex and going after Bandido, ripping off the top of his mask. Rush and the referee, Todd Sinclair, started to argue. Bandido took advantage of Rush being distracted and rolled him up to win the championship for the first time. This ends Rush’s second reign with the title which lasted nearly 500 days, dating back to Gateway of Honor back in February of 2020 when he defeated PCO.
After the match, Rush and the rest of La Faccion Ingobernable (Bestia del Ring, Dragon Lee, Kenny King) came out and attacked Bandido. Rush laid him out with the title and dropped it on Bandido’s chest. The show closed with Rush placing his foot on top of Bandido and the title.
Other title changes on the show had Chris Dickinson and Homicide defeating Jonathan Gresham (subbing for Tracy Williams) and Rhett Titus to win the ROH World Tag Team titles and Dragon Lee defeating Tony Deppen to regain the ROH TV title.
For the first time since February 2020, Ring of Honor will host a show in front of live fans with tonight’s Best in the World pay-per-view from Baltimore, Maryland.
The eleven-match card is headlined by World Champion Rush vs. Bandido. This will be Rush’s first title defense since March and the first time they have clashed in a singles match since March 2019. Bandido earned the shot by winning the Survival of the Fittest tournament.
The show will also feature four other title matches: Tag Team Champions Rhett Titus and Tracy Williams vs. Chris Dickinson and Homicide in a fight without honor; Six Man Tag Team Champions Shane Taylor, Kaun and Moses vs.. Dak Draper, Dalton Castle and Eli Isom; Pure Champion Jonathan Gresham vs. Mike Bennett; and TV Champion Tony Deppen vs. Dragon Lee.
Best in the World will also feature Brody King vs. Jay Lethal; Josh Woods vs. Silas Young in a last man standing match, Danhausen and PCO vs. Brian Milonas and Beer City Bruiser; Rey Horus vs. Demonic Flamita; EC3 vs. Flip Gordon and The Briscoes vs. Brian Johnson and PJ Black.
Our live coverage kicks off at 7 PM Eastern.
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The show started with an announcement concerning Tracy Williams. The Maryland State Athletic commission will not allow Williams to compete in his Tag Team Title match tonight. Jay Lethal will take Williams’ spot and join Rhett Titus to take on Homicide and Chris Dickinson. Lethal will be pulling double duty as he also has a bout with Brody King.
Rey Horus defeated Flamita
Horus blasted Flamita off the apron right as the bell rang, and took it to his former MexiSquad partner at ringside. Flamita was able to recover rather quickly and toss Horus back in the ring, and began a slow pace afterwards.
Flamita shrugged a lot of Horus’ offense off but eventually paid for it when Horus’ hit a great tope suicida. Horus would follow it up with a satellite DDT that absolutely drilled Flamita into the mat.
At this point in the match, the intensity turned up a notch. Both luchadors exchanged some stiff strikes and both guys eventually ended up on the top turnbuckle. Flamita lifted up Horus for the musclebuster/lungblower combination and was successful in hitting it, but Horus powered out at two.
Flamita went to attempt a powerbomb afterwards, but Horus flipped through and was able to roll up Flamita for the three count and the win.
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Kenny King came out and cut an OK promo. He told the crowd to be loud and that the people in the back are eager to perform in front of a crowd. King then took a dig at the local Baltimore Ravens, and guaranteed Dragon Lee would regain the ROH TV Title tonight.
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Trending With Taven with Vincent
Matt Taven is out and he has A LOT of hair. Taven recalls his successes and failures in the past number of years and The Righteous interrupt. Taven offers Vincent a contract that entails that him and Vincent have one more match. Vincent said he would only agree if Taven puts up his World Title shot on the line.
Vincent had a metaphor about a cage which led to Taven proposing a Steel Cage match. Vincent agreed and both men brawled, but The Righteous had Taven outnumbered. Bateman and Dutch threw Taven headfirst into his neon sign to end the segment.
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PCO and Danhausen defeated The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser and Brawler Milonas) (w/ Ken Dixon)
Milonas shoved PCO off the apron and started throwing around Danhausen. Bruiser and Milonas tagged in and out, both taking turns at working down Danhausen. Danhausen eventually hit a release German Suplex on Bruiser, which was impressive on its own, but then made the tag to PCO.
PCO had a great hot tag that saw a swanton on Bruiser who was laying on the apron, followed by a dive on the outside to Milonas. Sledge emerged from backstage and stood at ringside. Bruiser hit a springboard elbow drop on PCO, but was met by Danhausen when he got back in the ring. Danhausen slammed Bruiser on a spilled pile of teeth, followed by a PCOsault from PCO for the win.
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The Briscoes defeated PJ Black and Brian Johnson
Brian Johnson ran down the Baltimore crowd, who actually cheered back at him. Johnson also said Black has been to more countries than The Briscoes can count to, which I popped for.
The Briscoes cleared house quickly and took the fight to ringside. Jay held Brian Johnson in place as Mark hit a topè off of a steel chair. The high intensity continued from the Briscoes as they pounced on Black after rolling Johnson in the ring.
Johnson and Jay ended up having a really intense forearm exchange, to which Johnson held his own. Mark tried to lift Johnson up for the redneck boogie but Black broke it up.
The Briscoes just continued their onslaught of momentum as Jay would hit the Jay-Driller piledriver on Black, followed by a Froggy Bow from Mark for the win.
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EC3 defeated Flip Gordon
This bout started off quite slow to my suprise. Gordon targeted the knee of EC3 with a few chop blocks, but it didn’t seem to affect the “Essential Character”. Gordon continued a limb-targeting based offense, which fits his heel character a lot more than what previous work did.
EC3 got very little offense up to this point but despite his knee injury, he was able to muster enough power to hit a butterfly facebuster. EC3 followed it up with a crossface and made Gordon submit quickly.
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Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Moses and Kaun) defeated Dak Draper, Dalton Castle and Eli Isom to retain the ROH Six Man Tag Team Titles
Kaun and Draper began the bout. The two weren’t in for even a minute before Isom and Moses came in. Moses overpowered Isom with ease, causing Isom to tag out to Castle.
Castle did his usual showboating shtick, to which the crowd played up. Moses tagged out to Taylor, who mowed him over with a forearm. Isom came in and Taylor planted him into the canvas with a one-handed spinebuster.
Castle recovered and hit a few moves on Kaun, but refused to go for a cover and continued to showboat. Isom shoved Castle down, but then Moses shoved Isom into Draper. Chaos kept erupting while Isom had a few nearfalls on Taylor.
Isom went to the top rope in an attempt to jump on Taylor, but Castle tried to do the same. Isom shoved Castle off the top rope which allowed for enough of a distraction for Kaun to suplex Isom off the top rope. Taylor planted Draper with a “Welcome To The Land” piledriver for the win.
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Josh Woods defeated Silas Young in a Last Man Standing match
Woods jumped Young from behind during his entrance. Both guys wasted no time and almost instantly introduced a chair, a table and a ladder to the match. Woods took it to Young by throwing him groin first into the steel turnbuckle. A few short minutes after, Young speared Woods into a table set up in the corner of the ring.
Woods would eventually apply a gorilla lock to Young who tapped quite fast, but it didn’t matter due to stipulation. Woods set up two tables on the outside of the ring and tried to lure Young to that area, but the “Last Real Man” kicked him in the groin. Young sat Woods in a chair and tried to charge at him, but Woods caught him and powerbombed him into the ladder.
Both guys eventually made their way on the apron, dangling over the set-up tables. They teased a German Suplex spot a few times before actually doing it. A “Holy Sh*t” chant emerged from the building as the referee began his count. Woods emerged at a ten count to win the match.
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Brody King defeated Jay Lethal (w/ Tracy Williams)
Lethal and King have a stare down before the bell. There’s a lot of tension here so both guys wasted no time going right after each other. Lethal hit a Lethal Injection almost immediately, but King kicked out at one. King went to recover on the outside, but Lethal hit four (!) dives in a row. None of the dives kept King down as he just climbed back in the ring.
King laid in a few “frying pan chops” as Ian Riccaboni called it and slowed down the pace. Commentary played this up as a giant downfall for Lethal as King continued to dominate him. King set up Lethal in a chair against the barricade and hit a running crossbody, crushing Lethal. Lethal tried to show some fight, but King kept hammering him with chops and brutal forearms.
King planted Lethal with not one, but two gonzo piledrivers for the win. A really good display of strength for King.
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Jonathan Gresham defeated Mike Bennett to retain the ROH Pure Championship
Gresham and Bennett grappled and exchanged a few waist and wrist locks for the first two minutes. Bennett caught Gresham in a hold that forced Gresham to use his first rope break. Gresham would then target the arm of Bennett and begin showboating, even starting a few clap-alongs while smacking Bennett’s arm.
Gresham would get a bit cocky and afforded Bennett a opportunity to swing at him, but the Champion rolled to the outside. Bennett followed and Gresham would jump back in the ring and spring onto Bennett. Bennett caught him but Gresham transitioned it into a standing kiruma on the outside. Bennett tapped multiple times but since it was on the outside of the ring, it didn’t count.
Bennett and Gresham both eventually made their way back into the ring and the match picked up speed. Bennett would try a few different moves but his arm gave out multiple times. Gresham would keep picking on the same arm and eventually made Bennett use his final rope break. Both men would engage in a war of forearms and it would allow Bennett to get an adrenaline rush at a key point in the match.
Bennett planted Gresham with a great powerbomb followed by a piledriver which almost resulted in a new champion, but Gresham’s foot was underneath the rope during the pin attempt. Bennett celebrated thinking he won the title, but Gresham would sneak up behind him and apply a leglock and make Bennett tap for the win.
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Dragon Lee defeated Tony Deppen to win the ROH Television Championship
Lee and Deppen went right after each other, exchanging super stiff forearms and slaps. Deppen sent Lee to the outside and hit a wonderful cannonball candian destroyer. Lee recovered rather quickly and both guys went to war inside the ring.
Multiple german suplexes, knees, and stomps were exchanged between Lee and Deppen before Lee hit a piledriver for a near fall. Lee was able to eventually nail Deppen with a Dragon’s Breath knee for the win.
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VLNCE UNLTD (Chris Dickinson and Homicide) defeated The Foundation (Jonathan Gresham & Rhett Titus) in a Fight Without Honor to win the ROH Tag Team Championships
When Dickinson and Homicide rushed to the ring to check on Tony Deppen, Gresham and Titus followed behind quickly. The bell rang and everything fell apart quickly. Dickinson tossed Titus off the top rope spine-first into a chair, and only moments later Titus put Homicide through a table with a Falcon’s Arrow.
Dickinson worked on Gresham in the ring while Homicide and Titus brawled on the outside. All four guys eventually made their way back in the ring and while Gresham was out of breath, he kept his fight alive. Dickinson and Homicide took a dominant position at this point in the match. Dickinson had Gresham in a STF and when Homicide was about to stab him with a fork, Titus sprung back to life and suplexed him. Dickinson would waste no time and powerbomb Titus off the top rope into a table, while Homicide would hit the Cop Killer on Gresham for the win.
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Maria Kanellis Bennett revealed the ROH Women’s Tournament bracket
Bennett introduced Lenny Leonard to the crowd and revealed the bracket for the upcoming ROH Women’s Tournament. With one spot left, Bennett introduced Chelsea Green. Green said she is ready to prove herself worthy after spending two years being deemed not worthy. Green made it known that she is entering the upcoming tournament that starts on July 31st.
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Bandido defeated RUSH to win the Ring Of Honor World Championship
Rush blasted Bandido as soon as the bell rang and hit his signature running corner stomp immediately. Rush stood over Bandido’s body and covered him with his foot, but released the pinfall at a one count. Bandido rolled out of the ring to try and recover, but Rush followed him out and started hitting him with cables.
Bandido was completely lifeless at this point as he rolled to the outside, to where Rush followed him. Bandido would gain a burst of energy and toss Rush back in the ring, and follow it up with a stunning shooting star press. Bandido would continue to gain momentum slowly, but when he attempted his X-Knee finisher Rush reversed it easily.
Rush introduced a table to the bout shortly after and set it up at ringside. When he went to climb back in the ring, Bandido launched himself over the top rope and took Rush with him in the process as both men crashed into the table. As a twenty count from the referee approached, both men made it back in the ring.
Bandido and Rush kept finding more and more momentum to continue the bout. Bandido hit a moonsault slam for a near fall, followed by a 23-Plex for another near fall. Rush got very frustrated at this point and ripped the top of Bandido’s mask off, and also shoved referee Todd Sinclair down. Bandido would take advantage of Rush’s distraction and roll him up for the win. Bandido is the new Ring Of Honor World Champion.
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Final Thoughts:
Despite the whole Pay-Per-View feeling rushed at times, I enjoyed ROH’s return back to live crowds. Almost every match made itself different from another, which is what I look for in a 12 match card like this one. I wasn’t a fan of the Baltimore crowd at all, but it could have just been mic-ing issues. Or again, the fact that there were TWELVE matches.
Besides a fun Flamita/Horus opener, the first few matches lacked a PPV-type feeling. I don’t think the “Get everybody On The Card” strategy has ever paid off for any company, but I understood it for ticket-moving logistics. If I was cutting the proverbial fat off of the PPV, I would shave off the first two tag matches between PCO/Danhausen/The Bouncers and The Briscoes/Brian Johnson/PJ Black.
I don’t know if something happened early in their match, but EC3/Gordon was quite terrible. Definitely expected a better match from those two. Shane Taylor Promotions getting a great reaction is the stuff i love to see, as they were one of my favorite acts throughout the pandemic tapings.
The Josh Woods/Silas Young match is where the show got really, really good. Young and Woods had a good last man standing bout that had a satisfying finish. Brody King absolutely mauled Jay Lethal and it was a sight to behold to say the least. Following up the near-murder was a fantastic Mike Bennett and Jonathan Gresham Pure Title match that had a heart-breaking near fall at the end. This match only furthered my belief that Gresham is a Top 10 wrestler on the entire planet.
After that bout was a Dragon Lee and Tony Deppen match that despite going under ten minutes, was my match of the night. It’s hard to put it into words, but I’d highly recommend watching it if you haven’t already.
After a great 15+ minute match with Bennett, Gresham had to defend the ROH Tag Titles with stablemate Rhett Titus against Dickinson and Homicide in a very fun match. It was a Fight Without Honor, so there were a lot of cool weapon related spots. Homicide even threatened to stab Gresham with a fork, to which Ian Riccaboni pointed out that this wasn’t a CZW event.
Chelsea Green showed up! It gets more eyeballs on the product, so I’m cool with it.
The main event saw Bandido and Rush add onto the slate of great matches. Bandido winning the title was a really cool moment and genuinely unexpected on my part. I hope he’s around a lot more than RUSH was.
Overall, a really great effort put forward by the whole ROH roster. They continue to trend in the right direction and gain some fans back from the past.
The following contains spoilers for this weekend’s ROH TV.
Ring of Honor World Champion Rush will defend the title against Bandido in the main event of the Best in the World pay-per-view on July 11th.
Bandido earned the shot by winning the Survival of the Fittest elimination tournament six-way final this weekend on ROH TV. The match also involved Demonic Flamita, Eli Isom, Brian Johnson, Chris Dickinson, and Rhett Titus.
Rush (seen above) won the title in February 2020 in a three-way at Gateway of Honor and has title defenses against Brody King, Shane Taylor and Jay Lethal to his credit. This will be his first title match since March.
The two have clashed before in ROH with Rush picking up a win at the March 2019 17th Anniversary PPV.
Best in the World will be held in Baltimore, Maryland, and will be their first show with fans since February 2020.
Here’s the full PPV lineup as currently announced:
ROH World Champion Rush vs. Bandido title match
ROH Television Champion Tony Deppen vs. Dragon Lee title match
The winner of this year’s Survival of the Fittest tournament will be determined on the next episode of ROH television.
ROH has announced that the Survival of the Fittest finals will take place on the ROH TV episode that premieres this weekend (Saturday, June 26). The finals are a six-way elimination match where the winner will receive a future shot at the ROH World Championship.
Demonic Flamita, Eli Isom, Bandido, Brian Johnson, and Chris Dickinson have already advanced to the Survival of the Fittest finals. Danhausen vs. Rhett Titus is the final first-round match. Danhausen vs. Titus will air on this Tuesday’s edition of ROH Week By Week on YouTube.
Flamita defeated Rey Horus in the first round of the tournament, Isom defeated Dak Draper, Bandido defeated Bateman, Johnson defeated Sledge, and Dickinson defeated O’Shay Edwards. ROH said the participants for the tournament were chosen because they’ve all never held the ROH World Championship and aren’t currently in the World title rankings.
The ROH World Championship is currently held by Rush.
Matt Taven vs. Dutch will also take place on this weekend’s episode of ROH TV. Dutch (Bill Carr) is a member of Vincent Marseglia’s The Righteous stable and is making his ROH in-ring debut in the match.
Federacion Wrestling has announced Andrade for their debut pay-per-view event on June 19.
It was announced during an online press conference that Andrade will join ROH talent Rush, Bestia del Ring, and a surprise partner against Matt Taven, PJ Black, and two of their own surprise partners. Andrade’s first post-WWE booking was announced earlier this week against Alberto el Patron, however that is not scheduled to take place until July 31.
In addition to ROH talent, AEW stars Penta El 0 M and Rey Fenix will take on Bandido and Dragon Lee. Red Velvet and Tay Conti will also be on the show, competing in a six-woman trios match with a mystery partner against Miranda Alize, Zeuxis, and Ayako Hamada.
Other matches include Futuro and Brillante Jr. vs. Shoko and Barabas and a triple threat match with Rey Horus facing Flamita and a mystery opponent. A Torneo Copa Federacion Wrestling has also been announced and will feature 20 participants, which will be announced throughout the month of May.
Ordering information for the show is located here, with options for cryptocurrency and PayPal.
CMLL has announced that they and Bandido have mutually agreed to part ways.
The company announced Bandido’s departure in a tweet posted this evening. Bandido wrestled for CMLL as recently as April 3, where he teamed with Caristico and Diamante Azul to defeat Euforia, Ultimo Guerrero, and Templario in a trios match. He had been working regularly for the company since 2019.
Bandido’s departure comes as a long-awaited match between Volador Jr. and Bandido was finally held on March 26, where Volador defeated Bandido to retain the NWA World Historic Middleweight title. The match had been scheduled twice, but was delayed due to Bandido contracting COVID-19, as well as new COVID restrictions in Mexico preventing CMLL from holding any shows.
Despite the departure, Bandido is a regular for Ring of Honor, who have a working relationship with CMLL and New Japan Pro Wrestling. Bandido most recently appeared at the ROH 19th Anniversary event that aired on March 26, where he defeated Flamita and Rey Horus in a three-way bout.
A title match that was originally scheduled for Final Battle will now take place on ROH television later this month.
ROH has announced that Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor & The Soldiers of Savagery) will challenge for Bandido, Flamita & Rey Horus’ ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles on the ROH TV episode that premieres the weekend of Saturday, February 20.
Shane Taylor Promotions were set to challenge for the Six-Man Tag Team titles at December’s Final Battle pay-per-view, but Bandido and Flamita were removed from the show due to pre-travel COVID-19 testing. Taylor and The Soldiers of Savagery (Moses & Kaun) were interviewed at Final Battle and refused to win the Six-Man Tag Team titles by forfeit. Taylor said they wanted to win the titles the right way.
Taylor instead defeated Jay Briscoe at Final Battle. Horus defeated Dalton Castle at the PPV.
Shane Taylor Promotions defeated The Foundation (Jonathan Gresham, Jay Lethal & Tracy Williams) in a six-man tag match on an episode of ROH TV in January.
Taylor is also challenging for Rush’s ROH World Championship on the ROH TV episode that premieres the weekend of Saturday, February 27.
Bandido, Flamita & Horus have been ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions since January 2020.
Mike Bennett vs. Bateman will also air on the February 20 episode of ROH TV.
Ring of Honor has announced a new contract for another member of their roster.
Ring of Honor is pleased to announce that international star Bandido has re-signed with the company,” ROH announced on Tuesday. “The announcement comes on the heels of UK star Mark Haskins signing a new contract to remain with ROH. The signings exemplify the company’s commitment to securing the best wrestlers on the planet.”
Bandido first signed with ROH in December 2018. He currently holds the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles with Flamita & Rey Horus.
Bandido, Flamita & Horus were supposed to defend their Six-Man Tag Team titles against Shane Taylor Promotions (Taylor & The Soldiers of Savagery) at last month’s Final Battle pay-per-view, but Bandido and Flamita were among the wrestlers pulled from the PPV prior to it taking place. ROH announced ahead of Final Battle that Bandido, Flamita, EC3, and Kenny King were off Final Battle as a result of pre-travel COVID-19 testing.
At Final Battle, Shane Taylor Promotions did an interview where they refused to be awarded the Six-Man Tag Team titles via forfeit. Taylor said they want to win the titles the right way.
Final Battle was set to be Bandido’s first appearance for ROH since the promotion returned to television production in August following their hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the latest episode of ROH television, Flip Gordon defeated Bandido in a match that was filmed during the week that ROH’s 18th Anniversary PPV was supposed to take place in March. The match had never aired until now.
