ROH participants for the Wrestle Dynasty International Women’s Cup match have been revealed.
During AEW Full Gear Zero Hour, it was revealed that ROH Women’s Champion Athena, ROH Women’s Television Champion Red Velvet, Billie Starkz, and Leyla Hirsch will face off in a four-way match at an undetermined date. The winner of their four-way match will advance to another four-way match at Wrestle Dynasty on January 5 at the Tokyo Dome, where the winner will receive the International Women’s Cup.
Three other four-way matches in AEW, CMLL, and Stardom will determine the rest of the Wrestle Dynasty participants. Earlier this week, it was announced that CMLL’s four-way will take place on December 13 between Zeuxis, Reyna Isis, Persephone, and Sanely.
Wrestle Dynasty (Sunday, January 5) —
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ricochet
Kenny Omega vs. Gabe Kidd
Jack Perry vs. Yota Tsuji
Tomohiro Ishii challenges either Shingo Takagi or Konosuke Takeshita for the NEVER Openweight Championship (will be a double title match with the AEW International Championship also on the line if Takeshita is still champion going into Wrestle Kingdom 19)
Reigning Ring of Honor Pure Champion Lee Moriarty will put his title on the line against Preston Vance on tonight’s ROH on HonorClub.
It will be the second title defense for Moriarty since winning the belt at July’s Death Before Dishonor while Vance is looking for his first title in either AEW or ROH. He comes into the match having won his last two bouts.
Former ROH TV Champion Tony Deppen makes his return to the company for the first time since April when he goes one-on-one with Action Andretti.
ROH Women’s Champion Athena will team up with former Women’s TV Champion Billie Starkz in tag team action.
For the first time ever, Johnny TV will face Komander.
Other ROH stars in action against opponents to be named includes Brian Cage and Abadon.
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For the 83rd time, Ring of Honor on Honorclub blasted through the speakers and promised a great night of wrestling! Starting with Action! Action Andretti, that is!
Action Andretti (w/Lio Rush) defeats Tony Deppen
Andretti lacking his Top Flight pals and hanging out with Rush was a new development, but hey, the more friends the merrier. Deppen hasn’t been seen in ROH since the spring when he was a losing participant in a trios match against The Premier Athletes.
Deppen had some reps under his belt, being well-travelled around the indie circuit. Andretti had the speed and agility advantage though, tapping into a newfound aggressive streak. Deppen almost got a surprise rollup, but Andretti wriggled free and the two squared off.
Andretti did a really smooth walk and bounce off the top ropes, impressing the crowd and putting Deppen on his heels. In the corner, Andretti rained down chops and dropkicks keeping Deppen close, but not too close.
Deppen tried to gain some momentum with a big splash on the outside and some really hard elbows and strikes in the corner. He went too far though, trying to land a high flying move from the top rope. Andretti hit a springboard 450 and a shotgun dropkick to set up another springboard splash and get the win.
The Dark Order (John Silver and Alex Reynolds) w/Evil Uno defeated Boulder and Jacked Jameson w/Bronson Beefcake
Jameson and the Iron Savages cut a promo in the back on the Outrunners, who they attacked 2 weeks ago. The meat of the promo is that they don’t like the Outrunners, saying that they were “meat riders.” That means they rode the meatiness of the Savages into ROH, I think.
Reynolds and Boulder started things off, stomping around the ring. Reynolds tried a waistlock, but Boulder was about doubt his size so he wasn’t able to lock it in. Reynolds dodged a splash and tagged in Silver. Jameson jumped in as well and the posing began. Silver may be shorter, but he has the strength to match up against Jameson and even landed a big atomic drop.
Silver managed to send Jameson and Bronson to Titty City. That meant he pressed their faces into Boulder’s chest, cackling “you’ve got boobies in your face!” That gave some new life to the Savage-Jameson connection and Boulder and silver fought in the ring.
Later, Reynolds managed to catch Boulder in a cobra stretch but Jameson broke it up with a one armed slam. The beef was flying as Silver and Jameson both leapt in to break up pins. Silver and Reynolds double teamed Jameson with breakneck speed and managed to get the pin and the win.
Abadon vs Liviyah
Lately, Abandon has had her eyes on ROH Women’s Champion Athena. But that hasn’t stopped her from eating up the competition on her way to that inevitable confrontation. Liviyah was making her ROH debut, much to the chagrin of spelling enthusiasts everywhere.
Abadon drew Liviyah in for a code of honor and ended up biting her arm and then laying her out with a big lariat. Liviyah managed to get a bulldog on Abadon, exclaiming “You think you’re so cool because you’re weird!” Abadon, who is very cool, and very weird, responded with a backbreaker and some clubbing forearms.
Abadon beat up on Livihyah for a few more minutes before pinning her clean. She then stood and exclaimed “I’m coming for you Athena!”
-Red Velvet and Diamante joined us back stage. The Board of Directors banned violence from the interview (because they can do that apparently) so they spoke civilly to each other. Velvet gave Diamante her props, she’s at her prime, but shes old. Velvet became a champion after only 8 years wrestling and Velvet knows it bothers Diamante. Diamante responded by saying that she is in her prime, but she will still get better. Velvet doesnt know what she’s in for when she faces Diamante for the Women’s TV Title.
Brian Cage defeated Alec Price
Last week, the 12-0 Cage defeatedassaulted Rusman in a pretty one-sided affair. Now that Cage has begun adding submission moves to his massive power and strength, there’s really little hope for those that cross him.
The biggest problem with a wrestler who looks and moves like Cage is that it’s hard to look at some of his opponents and buy that they have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning. Price was about half the size of Cage, and any move he made, Cage just picked him up and threw him at the mat.
With all that said, it was a fun squash match. Cage watched himself pose on the big screen for a bit in between throwing Price in and out of the ring. Price screamed in pain while Cage admired his own biceps. Price showed some life with a springboard dropkick and running knee in the corner. However, Cage literally grabbed him by the trunks and pulled him up for 3 straight powerbombs and an “F-10” to get the victory.
ROH Women’s Champion Athena & Billie Starkz defeated Christina Marie and LMK
Last week, Athena became the longest reigning ROH Champion in the company’s history. But it’s not all celebrations and roses in the Minion camp. Starkz has been frustrated lately about her position as a low-number Minion-in-Training, while Lexy Nair gets all the accolades from Athena. Tensions, they do boil.
Starkz and Marie kicked things off and Starkz was hard-hitting off the top. Marie countered with a scoop slam. Starkz sent her to the outside where Athena threw her into the barricade. LMK tried to get a tag, but Athena isolated Marie in her and Starkz’ corner. Marie managed to get a hot tag to LMK who jumped in an clotheslined the champion.
LMK held her own for a while until Athena kicked her in the face. Marie jumped in to help and Athena side slammed them both. At the same time. Starkz took out Marie with a DDT and Athena locked the Hussy Clutch on LMK who gave up, handing Starkz and Athena the win.
Athena and Starkz beat up their prone opponents until Abadon’s music hit. The Living Dead girl stomped down to the ring and Athena bailed, leaving Starkz to face her on her own. Abadon beat up Starkz until she managed to escape, joining Athena in a quick exit from ringside.
Komander (w/Alex Abrahantes) defeated Johnny TV
In a surprising bit of news, it turned out that this would be the first time these two well-traveled veterans have met in the ring. TV has been enjoying a somewhat laid back time in ROH recently (and some new jackets!), while Komander has been on a hot streak as of late. Abrahantes would be the wild card here with TV’s wife and valet Taya Valkyrie off in AEW hanging out with Deonna Purazzo.
Komander gave up some size to TV, but both had the speed and agility to have a great match. TV tried to throw Komander off his game with some brawler strikes and moves. His pants were also covered with LED lights. That has nothing to do with the match, but should be mentioned.
Komander battled back and landed and around-the-world hurricanrana followed by a sunset flip. TV followed it up with a a shining wizard. TV switched tactics to keep Komander off his feet. TV stood on Komander’s neck and delivered several kicks to the midsection before trying a sleeper.
The two men battled around the ring until TV hit two 360 neckbreakers in a row. That got a two count, so TV went for Starshop Pain, but Komander rolled away, causing TV to miss. TV went for a Torture Rack but Komander reversed it into a mexican destroyer. Komander went to the top rope for his trademark flipping splash and put TV down for the pin.
ROH Pure Title Match: Lee Moriarty (c) defeated Preston Vance
Moriarty and Shane Taylor have been pushing hard to prove that Moriarty is the best ROH Pure Champion ever. Last week, Vance, undefeated in ROH, beat Brandon Cutlerin a one-sided, but fun affair. For those not in the know, Under Pure Rules, each wrestler gets three rope breaks, and one warning for a closed fist. Outside interference or lose a count-out battle results in a title change and suspension for the offending wrestler. Winning is by pinfall or submission and if there was no winner by the 60-minute time limit, a panel of judges would award the win. That panel was Christopher Daniels, Jerry Lynn and Jimmy Jacobs.
Vance got the upper hand on Moriarty off the top but got his warning for the use of a closed fist early, at 1:29. The fight moved to the outside where Vance tossed Moriarty into barricades, then back in the ring. Moriarty send Vance into the turnbuckle and then tried an armbar, forcing Vance to use his first rope break. Moriarty tried again, costing Vance his second rope break in quick succession.
Vance landed a shoulder block off the second rope and followed it up with a big powerbomb and submisson attempt. Moriarty was forced to use his first rope break, which bought him enough time to hit a massive lariat. Moriarty managed to roll up Vance in a quick move, and got the 1-2-3.
Honestly, what promised to be a good match was cut short. It also appeared that the timer jumped 10 minutes from about 2:30 to 12:30. I don’t know if that was because of a portion of the match that had to be cut, a technical issue, or what. That said, a pretty good show in spite of the weird ending!
Former Ring of Honor Women’s TV Champion Billie Starkz was pulled from an indie show this upcoming weekend due to an undisclosed injury.
Starkz was set to take part in the annual Vacationland Cup tournament for Maine’s Limitless Wrestling this Saturday, but the promotion announced Wednesday she would not be able to participate due to injury.
It’s unknown how and when the injury occurred, but it’s assumed it would have taken place after August 7th when her Limitless date was first announced. A source close to the matter indicated AEW made the decision to pull Starkz and that she might be out of action for several weeks as they evaluate the situation.
Starkz has yet to publicly comment on the injury on social media, but did post a story to Instagram Wednesday night from the lobby of a sports medicine facility with a caption of “Are you hurt or are you injured?”
Her last televised match was in late-July for ROH and their last set of tapings taking place this past weekend. There was no reports coming out of those tapings of anything apparent.
For the first time in both of their AEW & Ring of Honor runs, Lee Moriarty and Red Velvet can each call themselves ROH champions after Friday’s Death Before Dishonor.
Moriarty won the Pure title after pinning Wheeler Yuta while using the ropes which was legal due to both men using up their allotted rope breaks under Pure rules. After the match, Yuta showed Moriarty respect by handing him the title himself.
Moriarty earned the shot by taking Yuta to a ten-minute draw in a June Proving Ground match. They are now 1-1-1 against each other in ROH after Yuta defeated Moriarty in a November 2023 bout.
The win ends the 245-day third Pure title reign for Yuta which was elongated due to him being out of action for a considerable amount of time due to a concussion. He defended the title three times after winning it in November, but this was his first defense since January.
HE HAS DONE IT! @theleemoriarty is your NEW #ROH Pure Champion!
— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) July 27, 2024
Then in the next match, Velvet took out inaugural ROH Women’s TV Champion Billie Starkz to become the second-ever titleholder.
The closing sequence came when Starkz pulled out an old trick and pretended to be injured as she had against Queen Aminata in the TV title finals. She then sprung up and hit Velvet with an enziguri and began mugging to the crowd. Velvet then faked her own injury which threw Starkz off, allowing Velvet to hit Mama’s Recipe to get the victory.
Velvet is now 3-0 against Starkz in both AEW and ROH action and is on a four-match win streak. Starkz never defended the title after winning it at April’s Supercard of Honor.
#ANDNEW! Red Velvet is now your NEW #ROH Women's World TV Champion!
With one week to go before next Friday’s Death Before Dishonor, the pieces will continue to be put into place on tonight’s Ring of Honor on HonorClub.
ROH Women’s World Champion Athena and ROH Women’s TV Champion Billie Starkz will be on hand to share some thoughts ahead of Athena’s title defense against Queen Aminata and Starkz’s defense against Red Velvet.
Both Aminata and Velvet will both be in action as Aminata faces Mackenzie Morgan while Velvet takes on Maya World.
In trios action, Dalton Castle & The Outrunners will face The Righteous & Lance Archer while former ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Cage of Agony (Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona) will take on Austin Valtino, Cappuccino Jones & Harlon Hutchinson.
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With only two weeks until Death Before Dishonor (Friday, July 26th) Ring of Honor kicked things off with a recap of Dalton Castle Vs Roderick Strong on Collision last week. The winner faces Marc Briscoe at Death Before Dishonor. Strong won the match, and ROH World Champion Marc Briscoe cut a promo saying that he was looking forward to facing Strong.
The show proper actually began with a promo segment as well.
-ROH Women’s World Champion Athena and ROH Women’s TV Champion Billie Starkz joined the show. Athena suffered an injury several weeks back, but lately has been seen moving pretty well for someone who’s supposed to be walking with crutches. Starkz is set to face Red Velvet at Death Before Dishonor, and regardless of injury status, Athena is scheduled to face Queen Aminata.
Athena made excuses for being seen walking around without crutches last week, saying it was pure adrenaline. Starkz grabbed the mic and confirmed the injury, then called out Red Velvet saying she will outsmart her. Athena said that if she is forced to defend her title at Death Before Dishonor, she’ll do it and win.
Athena said that next week Lexy Nair will interview Queen Aminata for five minutes of “uninterrupted time.” Aminata and Velvet were on the night’s card, so it remained to be seen if this was the last we saw of the Minions.
Lance Archer & The Righteous (Vincent and Dutch) defeated Dalton Castle & The Outrunners (Turbo Floyd and Truth Magnum)
Before the match, previously taped footage was shown of Castle being approached by the Ourunners. They treated him like a Superstar, fanboying over Castle. They offered to be Castle’s partners and flexed to show they had the goods. Castle was impressed and the team was formed. New boys, perhaps?
Archer and The Righteous have been running through the ROH Trios division as of late and there was never a more opposite and yet perfect set of opponents than Castle and The Outrunners. It was Spooky vs Goofy with the added excitement that everyone was anxious to hit each other.
Castle and Vincent kicked things off while the Outrunners rallied the crowd to the cause. Vincent threw Castle out of the ring and he ran circles around it three or four times. Vincent tagged in the beefy Dutch and Floyd begged until Castle tagged him in. No wrestling had taken place thus far in the match.
When they got down to it though, Floyd and Dutch hossed it up with heavy strikes and a few big impact moves. Magnum jumped in to double team dutch which brought in Archer to clear the ring. Dutch continued to impress, moving like a man half his size and hitting with the strength of a man twice his size.
The match itself moved like molasses. Fortunately it featured some really great characters who know how to play to the audience, so the crowd was paying attention. Eventually, Castle and Vincent were in the ring as the legal combatants. Castle tried a Bangarang, but Archer interfered causing a sneak tag to Magnum. Archer quikcly hit a Blackout and got the pin to win the match for his team.
-Another vingette for the MxM Collection aired next. They represent the three “F’s:” Fashion, Fitness and Philanthropy. The rest of it was a lot of Blue Steele mugging for the camera.
Red Velvet defeated Maya World
Velvet was gearing up to face ROH Women’s TV Champion Billie Starkz at Death Before Dishonor and she was looking to make a statement in this match with World, who was a student of Athena. Coincidence?
World had a slight size advantage on Velvet, and was able to keep up with her on both offence and defence, but the real question was would Athena, Billie Starkz or another Minion interfere?
In the end, Aminata got the pin on World with reverse front DDT, capping off a solid outing, but was looking over her shoulder the whole time.
Katsuyori Shibata defeated Evil Uno
-Uno entered the ring in a Mick-Foley-esque shirt and tie combo and clearly had something on his mind. He grabbed a mic and cut a promo about how he’s been working hard for 20 years and has done it all. He said that the easiest way to be considered one of the greats is to battle the greats from around the world. He called out an open challenge and it was answered by former ROH Pure Champion, Shibata.
The impromptu match kicked off with a series of tieups and locks. Shibata used Uno’s tie against him, choking the masked man. Uno slid out of the ring to remove the tie and the two entered into a classic test of strength.
Uno threw Shibata into three sides of the barricades on the outside. Back in the ring, Shibata no-sold a series of big chops, at one point begging for more. Uno then as a no-sell of his own as a big boot from Shibata caught him right in the face.
Shibata caught Uno in a tight armbar in the centre of the ring and held him tight until the ref broke up the hold. Unfortunately, the hold injured Uno and the ref was forced to stop the match, awarding the win to Shibata.
Cage of Agony (Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun, Toa Liona) defeated Cappuchino Jones, Harlon Hutchinson & Austin Valtino.
Brian Cage on ROH was an excellent, excellent choice in this writer’s opinion. Cage is a fantastic worker, and getting to see him in this trios match was a treat. I was less familiar with his partners, but Liona has had some really great matches in ROH and Kaun is downright scary.
This was less of a match and more of an assault as Liona and Jones started things off. There were moments where there was genuine concern that Liona would eat the smaller man. Liona beat him from post to post, tagging in Kaun, presumably because he got bored.
Kaun then tagged in Cage who has his turn with Jones. He spent some time curling him like a barbell until Jones squirmed away and as he got a hot tag, the match devolved into Cage of Agony just beating up the other three men.
Eventually, Cage pinned one of them and the match was over.
Queen Aminata defeated McKenzie Morgan.
With the injury status of ROH Women’s World Champion Athena in doubt, Aminata was looking to put a metric ton of fear into Athena’s eyes before they clash at Death Before Dishonor. Morgan seemed like a pretty good opponent to give her a chance to do just that.
Aminata controlled things off the top, confidently strutting for the camera. Morgan was able to use her speed to keep up and managed to keep Aminata on her toes. Aminata delivered a massive boot in the corner that bent Morgan in half.
Aminata hit Morgan with an Air Raid Crash and got the pin. Afterwards she strut around the ring motioning to an imaginary belt around her waist.
Diamante defeated Leyla Hirsch in a Lights Out Match
The Main Event of the evening was a Lights Out match! What’s that, you ask? According to Wikipedia, “An Unsanctioned match is a match that has no rules and is not recognized as an official match. There is also a version called a Lights Out match where the lights in the arena are dimmed.” So, that’s what this contest between Diamante and Hirsch was, but the lights were not actually dimmed.
The ring was littered with chairs, kendo sticks, tables and other assorted weapons as Dimante in street gear went straight for Hirsch, tagging her with a garbage can. Hirsch fought back, jumping Diamante from the barricade. The brawl continued outside the ring, into the crowd, and back to the barricade where Diamante used a chair on Hirsch.
The ref made Diamante take Hirsch back into the ring to attempt a pin, but it was only a two count. Hirsch reversed an attack with a toilet plunger which she stuck on Diamante’s face. Hirsch took her turn with the chair, drop kicking two of them into Diamante’s face in the corner.
Hirsch grabbed a bag from under the ring that contained thousands of thumbtacks. She then succumbed to a drop toehold onto a chair, and Diamante narrowly missed suplexing her onto the tacks.
Hirsch drew Diamante to the outside with a kendo stick and laid her out on a nearby table. Hirsch climbed to the top rope and hit a moonsault on Diamante through the table!
Hirsch moved back into the ring to set up a fresh table. Diamante joined her along with a kendo stick. She choked Hirsch with the stick before setting her up on the top turnbuckle. The two battled until Hirsch pivoted over Diamante to attempt a suplex. Diamante stayed on the top rope and Hirsch climbed up as well and the two exchanged blows.
Diamante then delivered a massive Code Red to Hirsch, driving her through the able, and getting the pin!
New Ring of Honor TV Champion Atlantis Jr. will put his newly-won title on the line in the headliner for tonight’s ROH on HonorClub.
The CMLL star recently defeated Kyle Fletcher for the gold in Mexico and now, the reigning CMLL World Historic Light Heavyweight Champion will defend the title for the first time against Serpentico.
Ahead of her title defense against Red Velvet at this month’s Death Before Dishonor, Women’s TV Champion Billie Starkz will face Mackenzie Morgan in a Proving Ground match. Per usual, if the challenger beats Starkz or lasts the time limit, she earns a future title shot.
In a three-way, Taya Valkyrie takes on Robyn Renegade and Marina Shafir.
In trios action, Dark Order (Alex Reynolds, John Silver & Evil Uno) will go head-to-head with Lee Johnson & The Infantry (Carlie Bravo and Shawn Dean).
Skye Blue will face Laynie Luck in singles action while Diamante will take on an opponent to be named.
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With Death Before Dishonor coming up on July 26th, there was still a lot of room on the card to fill as this week’s ROH TV kicked off with triple threat action.
Taya Valkyrie (w/Johnny TV) defeated Marina Shafir and Robyn Renegade
The irresistible force faced off against the immovable object in this match and also Robyn Renegade was there. Valkyrie is very good at wrestling and Shafir has been on an aggressive tear through the ROH Women’s division. Their coexistence-ness was in doubt with Renegade caught in the middle.
Shafir had gotten used to punching and choking her way to victory, but had a hard time doing it to two women at once. Valkyrie took the high road and by that I mean she left the ring to hang out with Johnny TV and let Shafir and Renegade fight it out in the ring.
After tossing Shafir out of the ring, Valkyrie pulled Renegade to the outside as well and introduced her to a few barricades. All three women made it back into the ring, with Valkyrie and Shafir facing off against each other, allowing Renegade to try and get a quick pin.
Valkyrie and Shafir then took turns hurting Renegade while TV danced on the outside. Renegade fought back against the shaky alliance, but Shafir was able to lock in a Mother’s Milk submission, leading to Valkyrie knocking her out of the ring and putting Renegade to the mat for the 1,2,3.
-The Undisputed Kingdom joined the show from back stage to discuss their legacy at Death Before Dishonor events. Taven declared them the workhorses of AEW and ROH, so he thinks they should get the day off. Bennett added that there’s no one in ROH that can challenge them and suggested that Tony Khan should throw them a “Mercedes Mone” party. That would get them there.
ROH World Television Championship Match: Atlantis Jr. (c) defeated Serpentico
Atlantis Jr won the ROH World Television Title from Kyle Fletcher on June 28th, 2024 in Mexico. The CMLL stalwart is also the current NWA World Historic Light Heavyweight Champion and one-third of the CMLL World Trios Champions. So there was a lot on his plate, including this first title defence.
Serpentico has been chasing Maria, Cole Karter and Griff Garrison around trying to retrieve his stolen green mask. With Karter suffering a broken arm recently, this was a good chance for Serpentico to get out from under that story, and into a championship program.
The two Luchadores started things off with speed, lots of ropework and high-flying moves. “These guys wrestle like they are action figures” noted lead commentator, Ian Riccaboni. A big splash from Serpentico led to a near fall, but Atlantis Jr was able to turn the tables quickly with a rolling cutter.
The match was really evenly paced, neither competitor was able to get an upper hand and keep it for long. In the end, a huge splash from the top rope kept Serpentico on the mat, and let Atlantis Jr get the win to retain the title.
Skye Blue defeated Laynie Luck
Always nice to see Blue in ROH, but this match was a squash from the start. Luck had a couple of brief flirtations with offence (including a decent Spiccoli driver), but this was Blue all the way. The crowd was behind her, chanting Blue’s name as she dragged Luck around the ring.
To put a period at the end of the sentence, Blue hit a Code Blue and got the pin.
-A vignette for Mansoor and Mason (the MxM Collection) aired and promised that they would deliver the “biggest reach-around in ROH history.” Seriously. They really said that.
ROH Women’s World Television Champion Billie Starkz (w/ Athena) defeated Mackenzie Morgan in a Proving Ground Match
If Morgan could last 10 minutes or pin the champion, she would get a shot at Starkz’ ROH Women’s World TV Title. However, Queen Aminata and Red Velvet (who will be facing Starkz at Death Before Dishonor) have been spending the last few weeks making life miserable for Starkz and Athena and could be lurking anywhere.
This match had a much slower pace off the top than the previous matches of the night. Starkz bratted her way around the ring with Morgan in an armbar hold while Athena jawed at fans at ringside. Morgan tried to keep up with Starkz, but found herself stuck in Starkz’ holds over and over again.
Starkz toyed with Morgan, mugging with Athena on the outside. Seemingly getting bored, Starkz picked up the aggression and hung Morgan up in the ropes, where Athena was able to give her a cheap punch to the face thanks to help from Minion Security.
Starkz landed a stiff kick to the neck and locked in a submission hold, causing Morgan to tap out. Athena celebrated at ringside but jumping up and down, which was suspicious because she is supposedly injured…
Diamante defeated Nyxx
Another quick match in the women’s division. Diamante is on a collision course with Leyla Hirsch and a no holds barred match on a yet-to-be-determined date. Diamanted wanted to make an example out of Nyxx and put some fear in Hirsch’s eyes.
As such, this was pretty much just Dimante beating up Nyxx. Nyxx tried to grab quick rollups here and there, but the hard-hitting Diamante would go down. Diamante locked in an armbar, dedicating it to Hirsch. Nyxx quickly tapped out.
-Backstage, Athena, Billie Starkz and the Minion Security were filmed. Athena was shown being highly energetic until she noticed that there was a camera on her. She immediately dropped to the floor and wailed in “pain” as the security hurried the cameraman away.
Lee Johnson and The Infantry (Carlie Bravo and Shawn Dean) defeated The Dark Order (Evil Uno, John Silver, and Alex Reynolds)
The infantry “hosted” the July 4th edition of ROH last week, but they are back from those travels and ready to take on the Dark Order. Johnson has been all over ROH TV the last few months with impressive win streaks, but hasn’t been able to win the big one. This trios match was a good way for him to get back into the hunt for some gold, Trio’s gold that is, currently held by Bullet Club Gold.
The Dark Order are always welcome in an ROH Main Event and this match was no exception. The Crowd was definitely on their side as they made their entrance.
Bravo and Silver kicked things off and did so with speed. Silver took to posing after every move, which led to Bravo changing the momentum towards his team. Dean tagged in and isolated Silver in his team’s corner for some double teaming. Silver was able to break free and Reynolds was tagged in.
Johnson was finally tagged in for a brief rematch from two weeks ago against Reynolds. The Dark Order tried to storm the ring, but the Infantry backed up Johnson and cleaned house. The Order virtually disappeared as Reynolds was left to fend for himself against Johnson. Silver and Reynolds lured him to the outside though and hit a piledriver on the floor mat.
Uno tagged in and brought Johnson to his team’s corner so Silver and Reynolds could get a piece. The Infantry tried to rally the crowd, but Silver kicked Johnson’s sternum into next week and the Dark Order triple posed before triple teaming him.
Johnson hit a very hot tag on Dean and all six men entered the ring. When the dust settled, Dean and Reynolds were legal. Bravo jumped in and hit a stepover on Reynolds for a two-count. The Infantry tried to go for Boot Camp but Uno pulled the ropes, leading to Dean exiting the ring. Once again, all six men were paired off in the ring as the match descended into a pure brawl.
The Dark Order had an advantage in that they have teamed together for a long time. This led to a lot of synchronized moments and spots, but after another brawl, Johnson was able to climb to the top rope and hit a frog splash on Uno to get the pin and the win for his team.
The Ring of Honor World Championship will be defended on ROH TV tonight as Mark Briscoe puts the title on the line against ROH TV Champion Kyle Fletcher on HonorClub.
This will be Briscoe’s first title defense since winning the gold at April’s Supercard of Honor. Fletcher’s TV title will not be on the line.
ROH Women’s TV Champion Billie Starkz will wrestle Angelica Risk in a Proving Ground match. The inaugural champion has yet to defend the gold since winning it at Supercard of Honor.
Former title challenger Taya Valkyrie will face Trish Adora while Lee Johnson will look to rebound from his recent best-of-three falls loss to Fletcher as he faces Alex Reynolds.
The show will also see The Righteous & Lance Archer in trios action while Marina Shafir will also compete.
Matches for this week’s show were taped at the Covelli Center in Youngstown, Ohio, on June 15th.
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With a huge main event waiting in the wings, this week’s ROH TV kicked off with an emergency MEM (Minion Empowerment Meeting). Lexi Nair, ROH Women’s Champion Athena and ROH Women’s TV Champion Billie Starkz lamented last week’s attack by Queen Aminata and Red Velvet. Athena said she would be out for 8-12 months, and “doesn’t feel safe at work anymore.” She then introduced two new male Minions who will act as their personal security. Then they decided they needed to find a belt for Lexi Nair and left.
With that said, the show kicked off proper with singles action!
Lee Johnson defeated Alex Reynolds
Johnson fought ROH TV Champion Kyle Fletcher to the very end of a brutal 2-out-of-3 falls match last week, but ended up coming up short. Johnson has nothing but potential ahead of him, so this match against the Dark Order’s Reynolds (accompanied by Evil Uno) was an excellent way to start climbing that ladder again.
The two tied up to start things off and it led to a surprisingly slow pace to to the match. Johnson and Reynolds were pretty much the same size and both had the potential for explosive action. Johnson seemed to want to speed things up, but Reynolds balked at every turn.
The match played out pretty well, lots of high offense and back and forth exchanges, but an absolutely dead crowd. They had very little reaction to the action in the ring, and only really made noise when prompted by Evil Uno on the outside.
They did show some signs of life near the end of the match when Johnson countered a potential pedigree with a huricanrana pinning attempt, and when Reynolds executed a picture-perfect neckbreaker to try and get a pin of his own.
In the end, Johnson drove Reynolds’ face into the corner and superkicked Uno on the outside to create some separation and set up the Big Shot Drop and get the pin.
Marina Shafir defeated Erica Leigh
ROH has a problem and that problem is that I keep making the same joke about Shafir every week. So, this week it was all serious business when the hard-hitting Shafir took on Leigh.
As she’s done the last few weeks, Shafir utilized her mma and amateur wresting skills to keep Leigh at bay through most of the match. Shafir’s aggression and powerful strikes were at times over the top and the commentators speculated that the Ref might even stop things.
Shafir hit a shin-based modified 619 on Leigh and locked in a Mother’s Milk sleeper, causing Leigh to pass out and earn Shafir the win.
-Backstage the Undisputed Kingdom gave an interview in which they refused to believe that their interviewer’s name was “Arkity.” Bennett began lamenting the lack of real competition in ROH, and dropped to his knees to “pray to the booker-man” Tony Kahn for him to give them a team that might live up to their talent. They then called out every tag team in the universe to come talk to them. Bennett’s prayers were answered seconds later when it was announced that Komander and Metalik would face the Kingdom next week.
Lance Archer and The Righteous (Vincent and Dutch) defeated Duke Davis, Victor Benjamin and Ganon Jones jr
If ROH TV was an hour, I could watch 55 minutes of it featuring just Vincent and Dutch snapping their fingers and hossing it up. It’s not the case though, and this match with their pal Archer was more about making statements than entertaining folks such as me.
As for the match, it didn’t really matter. Davis and Jones Jr tried their best to take out the Righteous on the outside, but it had little effect. Archer and Vincent double teamed Benjamin in the ring, with Vincent ending up as the legal man. Vincent’s unorthodox style gave Benjamin nowhere to go and he ended up bailing out of the ring. Unfortunately for him, Dutch and Archer were waitng and drove him into the ring steps.
Dutch tagged in and levelled Benjamin, cutting him off from his partners. Ganon managed to tag in though and the two big men went at it. Archer and Vincent jumped into help and laid out Ganon. Vincent was legal and came close to a pin. Dutch nailed Davis with a Boss Man Slam and then Vincent hit Orange sunshine to get the victory.
After the match, Archer hit a blackout slam on Benjamin to put a period at the end of the sentence.
Taya Valkyrie defeated Trish Adora
No one talks trash like Taya talks trash and her skills were on full display in this match with Adora. The Infantry accompanied Adora to the ring, but left ringside after the entrance.
Valkyrie jumped Adora right off of the Code of Honor and the two began exchanging big chops. Valkyrie had a big ol’ smile on her face as she twisted and wrenched Adora’s elbow. Adora responded with a splits submission move that looked genuinely painful.
Ever the opportunist, Valkyrie took advantage of Adora being dazed and kicked her head into the mat, not once but twice. She then covered her up, getting the pin and the victory.
-Backstage, Leyla Hirsch discussed her match with Diamante last week. Diamante interrupted and said she was here for a fight! Hirsch challenged her to a No Holds Barred match and Dimante accepted.
ROH Women’s World TV Champion Billie Starkz defeated Angelica Risk in a Proving Ground match
In this Proving Ground Match, if Risk could last 10 minutes or pin ROH Women’s TV Champion Starkz, she would get a shot at that very title at a later date. Starkz had to keep looking over her shoulder though, as her BFF Athena suffered a brutal attack by Queen Aminata and Rev Velvet last week.
Starkz was her usually bratty self, but after the events of last week, she came with a lot more aggression than usual. Some of the stomps and strikes on Risk looked extremely violent. The Ref had to step in a couple of times as the was not a match, it was a fight.
Risk did her best to fight back, but Starkz threw her to the outside and drove her face-first into the barricade. Starkz called out “that’s for you, Boss” as she doled out the violence in Athena’s name. Risk managed to get a small flurry of offence in, but Starkz put an end to it quick with a big kick.
Starks put Risk in a Hammerlock submission and Risk tapped right out, walking away from a championship match.
ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe defeated ROH TV Champion Kyle Fletcher
This Champion-vs-Champion Main Event match came somewhat out of nowhere. Fletcher was hot off of winning a killer 2-out-of-3 falls against Lee Johnson last week and Briscoe hasn’t been seen much in ROH since capturing that World Title. This match promised to be a classic though, which makes one wonder why ROH didn’t promote it more. But honestly, once we were in it, that didn’t matter.
Fletcher’s crisp, technical style was a terrific match for Briscoe’s brawler antics and the match was a blast from the start. Right out of the lockup, Briscoe was mocking Fletcher, getting in his head with Karate Kid Crane Style moves. The crowd arrived in this match, chanting “Dem Boys” whenever possible in tribute to the Briscoes.
Briscoe’s strategy was to keep the match pace under his control so Fletcher couldn’t build up steam. Lots of headlocks and arm drags stymied Fletcher as Briscoe toughed things out. Fletcher tried to hard to overpower Briscoe, but the spirit of the World Champion would not be beat. Fletcher caught Briscoe looking though and hit a big backdrop on the Ring Apron (the hardest part of the ring).
Fletcher gained control of the match, suplexing Briscoe on the concrete. Jay Lethal held the ROH World and TV titles at the same time, so the possibility of a title change here was very prominent. Fletcher threw Briscoe back in the ring for the first pin attempt, but Briscoe kicked out at one.
From there, the match went back and forth. Fletcher gaining upper hands, and Briscoe fighting his way back to upend them. Eventually the match devolved into a brawl which definitely favoured Briscoe. A fisherman’s brainbuster and some Redneck Kung Fu put Fletcher on his back, but Briscoe was only able to get the two-count.
Briscoe hit a suplex from the top rope, but both men felt the impact. Fletcher rolled out of the ring for some recovery time, but Briscoe followed him and ate a superkick for his efforts. Briscoe fought back (as he does) and landed a Cactus Jack elbow from the ring apron.
Briscoe tossed Fletcher back into the ring and tried to hit a splash from the top rope, but Fletcher had it scouted and got the knees up to block. Briscoe caught Fletcher with a Spiccoli driver and hit a Froggy Bomb off the top rope, but Fletcher kicked out at two. Briscoe hit a big lariat followed by a Jay Driller and managed to get Fletcher’s shoulders to the mat for a three-count. An absolutely fantastic match and a rare loss for Fletcher.
Ring of Honor presents its weekly show on HonorClub tonight.
Matches scheduled for the show include Billie Starkz vs. Dream Girl Ellie in a Proving Ground match. If Ellie can go to a time-limit draw or defeat Starkz, she’ll earn a shot at Starkz’s ROH Women’s TV title.
Kiera Hogan vs. Ashley D’Amboise and Zicky Dice vs. Anthony Ogogo are also scheduled to air on the show. A trios match pits Taya Valkyrie, Diamante, and Mercedes Martinez against Leyla Hirsch, Lady Frost, and Abadon as well.
Matches for this week’s show were taped at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida on April 27. Spoilers from the show are available here.
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The show kicked off with a cold-open promo from ROH Tag Team Champions, The Undisputed Kingdom. Bennet and Taven ran down Cool Hand Ang, saying he should have retired instead of trying to be a father and presumably, a wrestler.
The show then started properly with a six-woman tag match.
This was an exciting match, but the real square-off that everyone (namely me) wanted to see was Valkyrie vs Abadon. Hopefully that comes in the future, but for now all six women in this match had axes to grind, and they ground them out, hard.
Valkyrie and Frost started off the match with some quick tumbling and gymnastics moves. Abandon quickly tagged in and sentoned Valkyrie. Hirsch then tagged herself in, much to the displeasure of her teammates. Martinez pulled Hirsch to her team’s corner, isolating her from Abadon and Frost. Diamante tagged in and she and Hirsch battled in the center of the ring.
There was a great mix of styles in this match, with high-flying mixing with technical mixing with brawling and some good ol’ fashioned trickery from Valkyrie. Frost was the standout in the match, taking Valkyrie to the limit not once but twice. Diamante managed to get Frost up on the top rope and deliver a flipping powerbomb from the top to get the one-two-three for her team.
-Later in the show, Hirsch’s friend Rachel Ellering had an interview interrupted by Maria in the back. Maria declared that women’s wrestling doesn’t sell tickets, and Ellering couldn’t sell anything. Ellering left, upset, and Maria twirled Serpentico’s mask as she laughed.
Anthony Ogogo (w/ Shane Taylor) defeated Zicky Dice
This singles match was the ROH debut of Ogogo and Dice had about 30lbs in size on him. This match had an interesting vibe, as the announce team mentioned, it felt like a trained boxer taking on a barroom hero.
Ogogo was all over Dice from the bell, using his speed and powerful kicks to knock him around. Dice did not get in any offense, and Ogogo hit Dice square in the face, knocking him cold.
-After the match, Ogogo grabbed a mic and demanded the ring be cleared and made sure the crowd knew he was a 10-time British Boxing Champion, Olympic Champion, London Champion, and so on. He can box, and he’s the newest member of the Shane Taylor Promotions squad.
Kiera Hogan defeated Ashley D’Amboise
This was a quick match to remind everyone that Hogan is very good at professional wrestling.
Hogan had control from the start, using every bit of her speed and strikes to keep D’Amboise on her heels the whole time. There was a bright spot in the form of a scoop slam into a pin for D’Amboise, but Hogan kicked out, dashing her hopes.
Hogan found herself caught off guard by the speed of D’Amboise but was able to power back to keep herself out of any real danger. D’Amboise made a mistake trying to overpower Hogan and Hogan exploited it with a big boot and a shotgun dropkick. Hogan dropped several corner attacks to wear down D’Amboise, and got the pin with a drop suplex.
-In the back, Nick Comoroto had an interview. He was wearing a shirt from the Rock 2023 collection, and let everyone know he’s joined up with Jacoby Watts to bring light to the world and forge a path to greatness! Watts joined in and invited all the ROH fans to join with them.
Lance Archer & The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch) defeated an unannounced trio of local talent
During this match, I came to the conclusion that Vincent is one of my favorite performers in ROH. He’s got a style and ability to move that’s truly unlike anyone else. Hopefully, these three will find themselves in the conversation for Trios Gold in the future. Tonight though, it was a down and out slobber knocker squasherino of a match.
Dutch, Vincent and Archer jumped their opponents before they could even have their names announced. They beat all three from pillar to post and Archer hit a blackout using one of his opponents as a weapon. Vincent pinned (read; sat on) the third man and the match was won.
ROH Women’s TV Champion Billie Starkz (w/ Athena) defeated Dream Girl Ellie in a Proving Ground match
Taking the prize for “Most ‘L’s’ In The Competitor’s Names,” This proving ground match was the closest match to a title defense that Starkz has had since winning the Women’s TV Title in controversial fashion. If Ellie could last 10 minutes or pin the Champion in this Proving Ground match, she’d become the first to get such a shot. But Athena lurking at ringside put that outcome into question right away.
Ellie was trained by Afa and Matt Bourne, so she was a great mix of street fighter and high flyer. Starkz was going to have to dig deep inter her bag of tricks to get by her, even though she had about 6 more inches in height on Ellie.
Elli dropkicked Starkz out of the ring, where Athena was waiting to rile her back up in support. Starkz took the hint and began stomping Ellie in the middle of the ring. Starkz then hung her in a tree of woe, kicking her in face while the ref was distracted. Starkz is a great heel because she loves to cheat and take shortcuts when she absolutely doesn’t have to.
In this case though, it was a simple neckbreaker that put Ellie down, ending the Proving Ground match around the 5 minute mark.
-The Premium Athletes had a promo in the back and called out every tag team in ROH that they could remember. Diavari and Nese declared that they deserve the ROH Tag Titles and are coming for The Undisputed Kingdom. Woods reminded everyone that he is one of the best technical wrestlers in the world, and he’s not stopping until he’s World Champion.
Now this was a grudge match if I ever saw one. Months ago, Maria and Co stole Serpentico’s green mask. Since then, he’s been trying to get it back (but honestly, not that hard). Garrison and Karter have been all over ROH, but the elusive mask was still in the possession of Maria.
Angelico and Serpentico jumped Karter and Garrison before they had even made it down the ramp, using barricades and stairs on Maria’s Boys before the bell even rang.
Serpentico in a very shiny new mask took Garrison to the mat after the match officially started. Angelico jumped in for a double team and the two isolated Garrison in their corner. This kind of aggression from Angelico and Serpentico was very unlike them, but after weeks of Maria’s taunting, it made sense that they were ready to do what had to be done to win.
Karter managed to trip Serpentico on the ring apron (the hardest part of the ring) and threw him back into the ring for Garrison to try and put him away. Maria circled the ring, amping up the mind games. Though, it was a little odd that she was taunting Serpentico with his green mask, while he was wearing a much nicer mask.
Masks aside though, Karter and Garrison were able to control the pace of the match until Serpentico was able to get a hot tag to Angelico. He cleaned house, taking out both Karter and Garrison. Karter was the legal man though, and Angelico was making no mistakes, getting a 2.5 count before Garrison broke up the pin. Angelico was able to wrap up Karter in a pinning cradle though, and got the win for his team, much to Maria’s chagrin.
Maria was so frustrated, she threw Serpentico’s green mask into the ring. He grabbed it and celebrated, but it was a ruse! Karter and Garrison attacked from behind. They set up a chair in the corner and threw Serpentico into it face-first, knocking him out. Maria retrieved the mask and the trio celebrated as the show ended.
Billie Starkz won the inaugural Ring of Honor Women’s TV title at Friday’s Supercard of Honor in a less than honorable way.
Starkz defeated Queen Aminata in the finals of a 16-woman tournament to take the title, her first in ROH.
The beginning of the end came when Starkz missed a swanton attempt off the top, landing hard on Aminata’s knees. Starkz immediately started pointing to her neck which led to ROH medical personnel and the referee tending to her.
She was crying in pain and put in a neck brace as the crowd was silent and as Aminata looked on in concern. Production even cut to the announcers’ desk twice to emphasis the seriousness of the moment.
As Starkz was about to be taken out, Aminata was holding the ropes open to help. Starkz then broke away, hit a belly-to-back suplex, and locked a sleeper on Aminata who eventually passed out, giving the win and title to Starkz.
The whole sequence was three minutes:
FULL ANGLE:
Billie Starkz pretends to break her neck, the entire arena is in shock and dead silent, the doctor comes and stabilizes her neck
The new champion defeated Robyn Renegade in the first round, Diamante in the second round, and then former ROH Women’s Champion Mercedes Martinez in the semifinals. Starkz has now won eight straight in ROH.
Aminata advanced to the finals with wins over J-Rod, Taya Valkyrie and Red Velvet. The loss is her first in ROH.
The ROH Women’s TV title tournament finals are official for Supercard of Honor.
Queen Aminata will face Billie Starkz in the finals of a tournament to crown the inaugural ROH Women’s World TV Champion at Supercard of Honor on Friday, April 5.
Aminata defeated Red Velvet in a tournament semifinal bout on Thursday’s Ring of Honor TV episode to advance, while Starkz was victorious over Mercedes Martinez in Thursday’s other semifinals match to punch her ticket to the finals.
Starkz picked up victories over Martinez, Abadon, and Robyn Renegade on her path to the finals, while Aminata defeated Velvet, Taya Valkyrie, and Leyla Hirsch on hers.
Three title matches are official for the Supercard of Honor event set for Friday, April 5 at 8 p.m. Eastern time in Philadelphia at the Liacouras Center on the campus of Temple University.
Here is the updated lineup for the show:
ROH World Champion Eddie Kingston defends against Mark Briscoe
ROH Women’s World Champion Athena defends against Hikaru Shida
ROH Women’s World TV Championship tournament finals: Queen Aminata vs. Billie Starkz
Athena vs. Billie Starkz for the Women’s World Championship headlines tonight’s ROH Final Battle 2023.
Athena has held the title for over 365 days after defeating Mercedes Martinez to kick off her reign at last year’s Final Battle, while this is by far the highest-profile outing to date for Starkz in a pay-per-view main event.
Four more titles will also be on the line tonight.
Wheeler Yuta defends the Pure title against “Filthy” Tom Lawlor, a Survival of the Fittest match will crown a new World Television Champion, the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles will be on the line, plus El Hijo del Vikingo defends the AAA Mega Championship against Black Taurus.
Blackpool Combat Club’s Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, & Claudio Castagnoli will face FTR’s Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler & Mark Briscoe.
Keith Lee will take on Shane Taylor in a grudge match, while Ethan Page faces Tony Nese in an I Quit match. The Von Erichs will also be in action against The Outrunners.
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ZERO HOUR
We got a video package hyping up the Women’s Title match main event between Athena & Billie Starkz. Athena said in this video that if she lost tonight, she would leave Ring of Honor forever.
Taya Valkyrie (w/ Johnny TV) defeated Jazmin Allure
Valkyrie booted Allure in the face after the Code of Honor. Allure fought out of an Irish Whip and threw strikes, but Valkyrie caught Allure in the ropes and hit a sliding German suplex. Valkyrie hit double knees in the corner for a nearfall. Allure fired up with strikes, but Valkyrie cut her off on the top rope and hit a superplex. Valkyrie hit a Butterfly Drop before hitting a Curb Stomp for the win.
Marshall & Ross Von Erich defeated The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd)
The Von Erichs came out to Stranglehold by Ted Nugent, the song their father Kevin came out to during his career. Ross started with Magnum, keeping him off of his feet with dropkicks and a headscissors. Marshall tagged in and got a dropkick on Magnum that forced him to the floor. Floyd tagged in but ended up getting sent to the floor in the same way, forcing the Outrunners to regroup on the outside.
Floyd baited Ross to a chase on the floor, leading to Ross getting sent into the apron. Ross evaded multiple attacks from the Outrunners, getting the tag to Marshall. Marshall ran wild, landing a cannonball on Floyd. The Von Erichs ran wild on both Outrunners before locking on dual Von Erich claws to score the win. Kevin Von Erich made his way to the ring to celebrate with his sons.
Survival of the Fittest Qualifying Match – Bryan Keith defeated Jack Cartwheel
This is the kind of match I want to see more in Ring of Honor, with top-of-the-line freelancers and independent stars having showcase matches. This had a ton of energy and got the crowd fired up for the show.
Keith came out to Still Tippin’ by Mike Jones, his walkout music on the independent scene. Cartwheel cartwheeled out of a few holds from Keith to start, then cartwheeled out of the way of Keith to land a pair of kicks and a standing moonsault for a nearfall. Cartwheel evaded Keith, but Keith stuffed a headscissors and landed a dropkick to the stomach to cut him off.
Cartwheel landed an enzuigiri, but Keith dropped him with a boot. Cartwheel cut off Keith with a cartwheeling Dragon Screw. Cartwheel hit a backflipping neckbreaker. Cartwheel got sent to the apron, but flagpoled on the apron to sweep Keith’s feet out from under him. Cartwheel hit a twisting elbow drop for a nearfall, then hit a cartwheeling powerslam for another nearfall.
Cartwheel went to the top rope, cartwheeling out of the way when Keith went to cut him off. Cartwheel hit a Death Valley Driver, then followed Keith to the floor with a Sasuke Special. Keith moved out of the way of a Shooting Star Press, with the men trading enzuigiris. Keith landed a knee strike on a single-leg attempt, then hit the Tiger Driver for the win and the final spot in Survival of the Fittest.
Tony Khan came to the stage. He talked about how last year’s Final Battle marked Jay Briscoe’s last match in ROH, as well as how he and Bryan Danielson had their only singles match against each other on Final Battle in 2003. He hyped up the show before announcing another match for the Zero Hour.
Daniel Garcia defeated Blake Christian
This match was odd, as it looked like they were a half-step off from each other at points. Garcia scoring a win here was nice.
Garcia won the early exchange, hitting a double underhook suplex for a nearfall. Garcia laid in stomps to Christian, but Christian caught the boot and swung Garcia down. Christian picked up the pace, misdirecting Garcia before landing a double stomp to the back of the head for a nearfall.
Christian clubbered on Garcia in the corner, landing a knee to the face. Garcia was on spaghetti legs as Christian pelted him with running forearms. Garcia fired up with punches and stomps in the corner. Garcia hit a butterfly suplex into the corner for a nearfall. Garcia tied Christian up in the Tree of Woe before hitting a hesitation dropkick for a nearfall.
Christian caught Garcia with an enzuigiri and a uranage before hitting an inverted senton. Christian hit a bottom rope 619 before landing a springboard forearm for a nearfall. They traded strikes, ending with Christian hitting a Spanish Fly for a nearfall. Christian landed on Garcia on a springboard dive, but Garcia locked on an ankle lock. Christian sent Garcia to the floor before landing a Fosbury Flop into a reverse DDT.
Christian hit a springboard 450 for a nearfall. Christian mocked Garcia’s dance, but Garcia reversed Christian’s curb stomp into the Dragon Tamer submission for the win.
Tony Khan was backstage, quickly being interrupted by ROH World Champion Eddie Kingston. He wanted a match tonight, even with being in a Continental Classic match tomorrow night. Anthony Henry of the Workhorsemen entered the frame, saying that he wanted to capitalize on the Workhorsemen’s recent momentum. Khan made a Proving Ground match official for the PPV.
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MAIN CARD
AAA Mega Title Match – El Hijo del Vikingo (c) defeated Black Taurus to retain
Allow me to catch my breath. This was absolutely spectacular, with Vikingo not only doing his spectacular flying but also letting Taurus batter him. You could tell Vikingo was fighting through some pain here, but he was able to pull it together to finish the match and score the win.
Taurus refused the Code of Honor, driving Vikingo into the corner before slapping him in the face. Taurus stuffed a headscissor attempt, sending Vikingo flying to the mat with a powerbomb. Vikingo attempted a double-jump shoulder block, but Taurus stuck him with a shoulder block. Vikingo avoided a corner charge, sending Taurus to the floor before following him with a dive. Unfortunately, Taurus caught the dive and powerbombed Vikingo on the floor.
Taurus gorilla pressed Vikingo back into the ring before clubbering on him in the corner. Taurus ripped Vikingo out of the corner into a powerslam for a nearfall. Taurus choked Vikingo before throwing him over the top rope to the floor. Taurus followed Vikingo to the floor with a corkscrew dive. Back in the ring, Taurus hit a flurry of offense on Vikingo, landing a crucifix bomb and a pop-up Samoan Drop for a nearfall.
Taurus went to the top rope, but Vikingo avoided a twisting senton. Vikingo fired up with kicks, driving Taurus into the corner. Vikingo hit an imploding headscissors before taking Taurus down with a pair of spectacular headscissors. Vikingo went for a double jump moonsault to the floor, but his knees kept bothering him, so he went for a single stride moonsault instead. Vikingo hit a missile dropkick back in the ring, but Taurus roared back with a Pounce that sent Vikingo into the corner.
Taurus pulled Vikingo to the top rope, but Vikingo ripped off an avalanche Frankensteiner that sent Taurus to the apron. Taurus pulled Vikingo onto the apron, but Vikingo hit an up-and-over powerbomb onto the apron to This Is Awesome chants. Vikingo sent Taurus back into the ring before hitting an inverted Phoenix Splash for a nearfall.
Vikingo balanced himself on the ringpost before hitting a double-jump missile dropkick. Vikingo set up the double knees in the corner, but Taurus got up and launched Vikingo into the corner. Taurus pulled Vikingo to the top rope and hit a Gorilla Press Slam to the mat for a nearfall. The two men traded strikes, ending with Taurus spearing Vikingo before both men needed time to recover.
Taurus caught Vikingo’s punches and landed a headbutt, but Vikingo sent Taurus to the floor. Vikingo followed Taurus to the floor with a ropewalk 630 splash. Vikingo brought Taurus into the ring, but Taurus cut him off on the top rope. Taurus hit a pair of backbreakers before landing a lariat for a nearfall. Vikingo reversed a backbreaker into a crucifix bomb before landing the double knees in the corner. Vikingo hit the 630 splash to score the win and retain the Mega Title.
ROH World Six Man Tag Team Title Match – Mogul Embassy (Brian Cage, Kaun, Toa Liona) (w/ Prince Nana) (c) defeated TMDK (Bad Dude Tito, Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste) to retain
This was fun stuff here. Bad Dude Tito shined in particular.
We got video of how TMDK earned this title shot, with the TMDK team Haste and Mikey Nicholls beating Kaun and Liona in New Japan’s World Tag League tournament. Kaun started with Fujita, dropping him with a back elbow as Fujita charged in off the ropes. The Embassy clubbered on Fujita until Tito got a tag in. He and Kaun traded chops until Tito hit an exploder suplex for a nearfall.
TMDK isolated Kaun until Kaun dropped Fujita with a lariat. Cage tagged in to big cheers as he dropped Fujita with a Gorilla Press Powerslam for a nearfall. Cage drilled Fujita in the corner with strikes before suplexing him for a nearfall. The crowd counted along with Cage’s lifts of Fujita before hitting a fallaway slam. Fujita hit a German suplex on Cage before tagging out to Tito.
Tito ran wild on the Embassy, taking out all three men before taking Liona down with a tornado DDT for a nearfall. TMDK ran wild on Liona, with Haste hitting a cannonball and a Shining Wizard for a nearfall. Liona fired up and caught Haste with a uranage. Kaun and Liona dropped Haste with a spear for a nearfall that Fujita broke up. A move train ensued, ending with Fujita hitting a springboard dropkick on Kaun for a nearfall.
Fujita and Kaun traded strikes before Kaun scored with a John Woo dropkick. Cage hit the outside-in superplex for a nearfall broken up by Tito. Another move train ensued, with Kaun and Liona hitting Open The Gates on Haste. Fujita was surrounded three-on-one and tried to fight out of it, but Liona drilled him with a headbutt. The Embassy hit the Pendulum Powerbomb on Fujita for the win.
I Quit Match – Ethan Page defeated Tony Nese (w/Smart Mark Sterling)
This was a great end to what’s been a solid midcard feud over the past few months on ROH. The crowd was on the ride with these guys, peaking at the finish with Page finally getting the win over Nese. Page is made to the ROH crowd, and a tag team run with Scorpio Sky can be good for both men.
Sterling was reluctant to get handcuffed to the post per the stipulations for the match, so Texas’ own Mark Henry made his way to the ring to persuade Sterling. Sterling agreed, but it allowed Nese to jump Page from behind. Page got in control quickly and went outside to menace Sterling, but Nese caught Page with a plancha.
They fought on the floor before Nese got control in the ring by ringing up Page on the top rope. Sterling and Nese went to powder Page’s nose with the protein powder, but Page ducked. Nese rolled to the outside with powder in his eyes. Page went after Sterling again, but Nese caught him again and sent him into Sterling’s handcuff chain.
Nese grabbed the mic and told a now-bloody Page to quit. Page refused, so Nese kneed him into the stairs. Page once again refused to quit. Nese went for the key to Sterling’s handcuffs, allowing Page to catch up to him with punches. They brawled around ringside before Page sent Nese over the barricade with an Irish Whip. Nese rang up Page on the barricade before hitting a flying chop off of the barricade.
Nese pulled out a weight plate from under the ring, which the commentary justified by saying it was used to keep the ring from shifting around. Page avoided a shot with the weight, but Nese kept control by whipping him with a jump rope. Page fired up and hit Nese with the rope repeatedly, forcing Nese to grab the mic. He feigned quitting before hitting Page in the neck with the mic.
Nese hit a Fosbury Flop before skipping rope on the floor. Sterling got a shot in while Page was close enough to him. Nese set up two tables on the floor before Page recovered and laid Nese onto the tables. Page went to the top rope, but Nese met him up top. Page dropped Nese down and hit the Headshot over the ropes. Page then hit the Headshot through the tables on the floor.
Nese refused to quit, so Page pulled out a pair of chairs. Page set Nese on the top rope and set the chairs up under him. Page then pulled Nese up for a powerslam, but Nese hit a hurricanrana that sent Page just over the chairs. Nese threatened the ring announcer for the keys, then shoved the referee down to unlock Sterling from the handcuffs. They laid the boots to Page before threatening to handcuff Page and hit him with the plate.
Scorpio Sky made his way to the ring to make the save for his old tag team partner Page, taking out Sterling on the floor. Page fired up, hitting Nese and Sterling with the weight before hitting Sterling with the Ego’s Edge. Sky dragged Sterling away, but Nese fought out of the Ego’s Edge and dropped Page.
Nese handcuffed Page and threatened to hit him over the head, but Page cursed at Nese. Page avoided the chairshot and made a comeback with no hands, hitting boots and shoulder blocks. The referee unlocked the cuffs, allowing Page to drill Nese with a chair. Page choked out Nese with the handcuffs, forcing Nese to quit. Scorpio Sky came back out to celebrate with Page.
Nyla Rose defeated VertVixen
Rose overpowered VertVixen to start, quickly going for the Beast Bomb. VertVixen fought out of it, but Rose chopped her in the throat. VertVixen swept Rose’s legs out from under her and hit a double stomp to the back. Rose caught VertVixen with a chokeslam off of a springboard but pulled her up on the pin. Rose landed the springboard knee to VertVixen’s back before hitting the Beast Bomb for the win.
Survival Of The Fittest 2023 Finals for the ROH World Television Title – Kyle Fletcher defeated Dalton Castle (w/ The Boys), Lee Moriarty, Komander, Lee Johnson, Bryan Keith
What an awesome match this was. Never a dull moment, these guys structured this match very well. The final stretch with Komander and Fletcher was a phenomenal breakout moment for both guys and Fletcher scoring the win will give him a great spotlight as a singles wrestler while his partner recovers from injury.
This is an elimination match.
Fletcher stole a tag from Castle and forced him out of the ring to wrestle Moriarty. Johnson snuck a tag in on Fletcher after Castle got sent to the floor again. Johnson sent Moriarty to the floor with a dropkick, then flung Castle to the floor again. Komander tagged in, with the announcers noting that it is his birthday today. Komander sent Johnson to the floor with a headscissors, then sent Castle to the floor.
Keith caught Komander with a forearm, leading to a strike exchange between the two. Keith caught Komander with a boot before sending Castle to the floor again. Fletcher dropped Keith with a big bodyslam. Keith came back with chops that forced Fletcher into the corner, but Fletcher cut him off with a back elbow. Castle finally got one up on someone, sending Fletcher to the floor before Moriarty sent him to the floor with a boot.
Moriarty kicked off a dive train, with Johnson following with a Fosbury Flop. Komander did his ropewalk dive past Fletcher who had set up a moonsault. Komander took Fletcher down with an avalanche hurricanrana. Everyone got their shots in before Moriarty snapped Johnson’s fingers. Moriarty locked Johnson in the Border City Stretch, scoring the submission and the first elimination.
Castle and Moriarty went after it, with Castle sending Moriarty and everyone else flying with suplexes. Castle caught Moriarty with another suplex before Johnny TV attacked the Boys on the floor. Johnny sent a Boy rolling in the ring, distracting Castle and allowing Moriarty to pin him with the pop-up flatliner.
Moriarty and Keith got into it, trading strikes until Fletcher and Komander got in and started throwing shots in. Komander dropped Keith with a tornado DDT, but Fletcher sent Komander off of the apron. Keith hit a rising headbutt to Fletcher, leading to a Tower of Doom that left everyone down. Moriarty sent Komander rolling away with a low dropkick. Keith and Moriarty got into it, with Keith scoring a nearfall with an Ushigoroshi.
Moriarty fired up, but Keith drilled him with a knee strike. Keith hit the Tiger Driver to eliminate Moriarty, but Fletcher almost eliminated Keith with a crucifix flash pin. Keith kicked out and avoided the Yakuza Kick. Keith hit a big running knee, but Fletcher reversed the Tiger Driver into the Hammerlock Tombstone to eliminate him.
The final two were Kyle Fletcher and Komander. Fletcher shrugged off Komander’s strikes until he landed a superkick. They traded running forearms until Fletcher went for the Hammerlock Tombstone again. Komander fought out and hit a springboard poisonrana to send Fletcher to the floor. Komander went for a hurricanrana on the floor, but Fletcher caught him. Komander fought out, but Fletcher caught him with an enzuigiri. Fletcher hit a tombstone on Komander on the apron as both men spilled to the floor.
A countout began, as Fletcher got to the ring. Komander fought up, making his way back into the ring at the 18-count. Fletcher hit the Yakuza Kick and the brainbuster for a nearfall, as somewhere El Generico gets a smile on his face. Fletcher set up Komander on the top rope, but Komander fought out and hit a springboard Destroyer for a nearfall.
The crowd chanted This Is Awesome as Komander hit a slingshot into the bottom rope, then hit a double stomp to Fletcher’s chest. Komander hit an unbelievable ropewalk 450 splash to Fletcher on the apron, then hit a 450 splash in the ring, but only got a nearfall. Komander went to the top rope again, but Fletcher kicked Komander’s legs out from under him. Fletcher hit a Brainbuster on the top rope, but Komander kicked out. Fletcher hit a running kick before landing the Hammerlock Tombstone for the win and the title.
ROH Pure Title Match – Wheeler Yuta (c) defeated “Filthy” Tom Lawlor
Another solid match. The crowd was into Lawlor toward the end, and Yuta slipping away with the belt works for him and his sneering coward character.
The judges for this match are Christopher Daniels, Jimmy Jacobs, and Jerry Lynn.
After early grappling, Lawlor caught Yuta with a cross-arm breaker that forced Yuta to use his first rope break. Yuta caught Lawlor on a corner charge with a knee to the waist, then hit a senton for a nearfall. Yuta tossed his elbow pad to distract the referee, then punched Lawlor in the face. Lawlor punched Yuta back, but that forced an official warning from the referee.
Yuta caught Lawlor with a chop block, then put Lawlor in a deathlock. Yuta moved towards the ropes and transitioned to a single-leg crab, forcing Lawlor to use his first rope break. The two men traded strikes in the ring before Lawlor cut Yuta down with a spear. Lawlor caught Yuta with a knee before spearing him in the corner. Lawlor hit a Northern Lights Suplex for a nearfall.
Lawlor went for a Kamigoye, but Yuta caught Lawlor with a Dragon Screw. Yuta locked on an Octopus Stretch before dropping down for a pin for a nearfall. Yuta went for the Right Angle Slam, but Lawlor caught Yuta with a waistlock slam for a nearfall. Yuta caught Lawlor in another single leg crab, but Lawlor monkey flipped out of it.
Lawlor went after Yuta’s arm, hitting a hammerlock Tombstone of his own before locking on an Anaconda Vice. Yuta had to use his second rope break to escape, then punched Lawlor in the face to get his warning. The two men jockeyed for position on the top rope, where Lawlor hit a hammerlock superplex before locking on a double wristlock on the mat. Yuta slid to the ropes, burning his final rope break.
Lawlor wrenched back on the arm, but Yuta transitioned into an Ankle Lock. Yuta hit a German suplex, but Lawlor caught the arm again. Yuta fought his way out and got the Seatbelt pin to win the match and retain the title.
After the match, Yuta shook Lawlor’s hand for the Code of Honor before kicking him low. Yuta went to DDT Lawlor on the title belt when Hook made his way to the ring to ward Yuta off. Yuta pretended to leave before catching Hook with a low blow. Yuta left Hook lying with a DDT.
Keith Lee defeated Shane Taylor
This match was a lot slower than the other matches on the card, which made sense with both men’s sizes. But it never really picked up until the final minute or so. Lee’s gas tank looks a little emptier than it used to be, which could just be father time catching up to him.
No Code of Honor was offered here. On commentary, Caprice Coleman talked about his experience with a tag team partner – Cedric Alexander – who had singles opportunities offered to him, noting that it was simply a difference of mindset being where they were in their careers. The two men fought to a stalemate early on until Lee sent Taylor flying with a shoulder block. Lee got sent to the apron, but he came back with a slingshot crossbody for a nearfall. Yes, a slingshot crossbody.
Lee went for another one, but Taylor caught him with a Tower of London for a one count. Taylor quickly followed with a splash for a nearfall. Taylor splayed Lee on the apron before landing a leg drop. Taylor laid on Lee in a chinlock. Lee fired up after a lariat from Taylor, but Taylor landed a strike combination to drop Lee again.
Lee got to his feet and landed a forearm that sent Taylor into the corner. Taylor came back with a headbutt, then followed with a second rope splash for a nearfall. Taylor set up the Marcus Garvey Driver, but Lee fought out and hit a strike combination and a lifting spinebuster for a nearfall. Lee chopped Taylor in the corner then teased a moonsault before Lee Moriarty got himself involved on behalf of Taylor.
Lee dropped Moriarty with a Spirit Bomb, but Taylor hit Lee with a knee to the back of the head for a nearfall. Taylor went to the top rope, but Lee cut him off with a headbutt. Taylor fought Lee off and hit the biggest Canadian Destroyer you’ll ever see for a nearfall. Taylor hit the knockout punch for a nearfall. Lee caught Taylor with the Big Bang Catastrophe to score the win.
After the match, both men shook hands to consider the score settled.
Bryan Keith was backstage with Tony Schiavone, who was making his ROH debut. Keith said that he was there to collect gold. Orange Cassidy entered the frame, telling Keith to collect his International Championship. The match was made official for Collision tomorrow night, which I will also be reviewing for this site.
Jay Briscoe Tribute Match – Mark Briscoe & FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) defeated Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli & Jon Moxley)
What a spectacle, and what a tribute to Jay Briscoe. This was bloody, emotional, and fantastic. The BCC team didn’t treat this like any kind of off night or extra work, they brought the fight here and made this a special match. This match by itself is worth the price of admission.
Harwood started with Moxley, who was making his televised ROH debut. Moxley left himself open for a chop, and Harwood obliged. After another chop, Castagnoli tagged in and drilled Harwood with an uppercut. He and Harwood traded strikes until Castagnoli caught Harwood with an elbow drop. Danielson tagged in to a big pop before Harwood chopped him to his corner to get Wheeler in the match.
Wheeler and Danielson traded chops and shoulder blocks until Danielson cut Wheeler off with a low dropkick. The BCC kept Wheeler in their corner until Wheeler countered a Giant Swing attempt with a rollup for a nearfall. Briscoe made his way into the ring and caught Castagnoli with some shots as the crowd chanted Dem Boys. Harwood tagged in, but Castagnoli avoided a corner charge and sent Harwood into the post.
Moxley tagged in and sent Harwood into the barricade. The BCC isolated Harwood and targeted the left arm of Harwood. Harwood tried to fire up with chops, but Castagnoli snatched him up into a Giant Swing to cut him off. Harwood ducked a corner charge from Moxley, but Castagnoli tagged in to cut him off. Harwood fought out of the BCC corner with chops and lariats before hitting Castagnoli with a German Suplex.
Danielson tagged in to stop Harwood, but Harwood got the tag out to Briscoe. Briscoe ran wild, laying in shots on everyone in the ring before landing an overhead suplex on Danielson. Briscoe and Wheeler hit Redneck Boogie on Danielson for a nearfall. Danielson fought out of a Shatter Machine attempt and laid everyone out with kicks, getting a nearfall off of a head kick to Harwood.
Danielson went to the top rope, but Harwood cut him off. FTR hit a Powerplex on Danielson, with an added Froggy Bow from Briscoe, for a nearfall. Harwood was bleeding near his eye as Briscoe called for the Doomsday Device. Danielson fought out of it, with Briscoe jumping into an uppercut from Castagnoli. That kicked off a move train that ended with Danielson and Briscoe colliding on dual crossbody attempts.
Moxley was bleeding from the head as everyone recovered. All six men fought to their feet and kicked off a Pier Six brawl. A Shatter Machine on Moxley was cut off with a Busaiku Knee and a Paradigm Shift. Briscoe fought Danielson and Moxley, but both men lifted him into a Swiss Death uppercut from Castagnoli. Castagnoli hit a Neutralizer for a nearfall.
Briscoe fought out of another Neutralizer and sent Moxley and Danielson out of the ring. Castagnoli came back and drilled Briscoe with repeated uppercuts and short-arm lariats. Castagnoli turned his back and ran into a three-man Shatter Machine for a nearfall. Briscoe called for the Jay Driller, but Moxley cut him off. The BCC ganged up on Briscoe before FTR came back in to save him.
The six men brawled around ringside until the bell rang for a countout. Briscoe grabbed a microphone, suggesting that the referee bumped his head one too many times. He said this was a match to honor his brother, so they were gonna finish this match, anything goes. The bell rang to restart the match, and Briscoe dived off of the stage onto the pile of wrestlers and security at stage side.
They brawled back to the ring, where Briscoe fired up and hit a chair-assisted dive to Castagnoli on the floor. Harwood pulled out a table, which Briscoe covered with tacks and barbed wire. Briscoe found a barbed wire-covered ladder, while Moxley went after Harwood’s eye with a fork. Briscoe set up Castagnoli on the barbed wire ladder, but Moxley hit him with a chair and sent him into the ladder. Moxley drilled Harwood with a chair before digging at Wheeler’s face with another fork.
The BCC drilled both Harwood and Wheeler with chairs as Moxley wrapped barbed wire across the eyes of Wheeler. Danielson locked on the LeBell Lock as Moxley held the wire on Wheeler’s face. Moxley went to lock Briscoe in a rear naked choke as the other two BCC members held FTR off. Harwood drove Danielson into Moxley and Briscoe to cut off the choke.
The BCC got chairs and tables strewn around the ring. Wheeler speared Castagnoli into the table on the floor while Harwood piledrove Moxley off the apron through the tack-covered table. Danielson laid in the middle kicks to Briscoe while shouting that it wasn’t his night. Danielson set up the Busaiku Knee, but Briscoe sidestepped it and hit the Jay Driller for the pin and the win.
ROH World Title Proving Ground Match – Eddie Kingston defeated Anthony Henry
This was a fine buffer match. Henry looked good here as the Workhorsemen usually do, but the crowd never really believed that the upset could happen here.
If Henry wins or lasts the time limit here, he will get the first shot against the Continental Classic winner for the Triple Crown Title. The two men swung at each other, with Kingston scoring with a body shot. Henry sent Kingston to the floor and booted him off of the apron. Henry raced across ringside to score with a single-leg lariat. Henry hit a double stomp off of the top rope for a nearfall, then hit a running forearm for another nearfall.
Henry repeatedly cranked Kingston’s neck and kicked at him until Kingston came back with chops. They traded kicks and chops until Kingston drove Henry into the corner. Kingston hit the machine gun chops, but Henry ducked the backfist and hit a bridging German suplex for a nearfall. Henry laid in Kawada kicks, but Kingston came back with palm strikes. Henry laid in more strikes and a piledriver for a nearfall.
Henry went for a double stomp, but Kingston moved and hit a backfist. Kingston followed with the half-and-half suplex before locking on the Stretch Plum to score the submission win. After the match, Daniel Garcia came out to confront his opponent tomorrow night on Collision, but Kingston blew him off.
ROH Women’s World Title Match – Athena (c) defeated Billie Starkz to retain
Athena once again rises to the occasion for a big title defense, staking her claim as one of the best big-match wrestlers in a promotion full of big-match wrestlers. Starkz lived up to her end of the bargain here, doing a great job of fighting from underneath and giving Athena every bit of fight she had. The post-match was odd, with Starkz simply agreeing to go back under Athena’s wing. But the match itself was a worthy PPV main event. Final Battle was an excellent show and is more than worth the $10 Honor Club subscription.
Lexy Nair was the special guest ring announcer for this match, as she’s been a third in this story with Athena and Starkz. Athena came out with a special protective face mask, as she had her nose broken by Starkz on ROH television.
No Code of Honor. Starkz hit Athena with a big forearm before dropkicking her into the corner. Starkz pulled Athena up and over with a sunset flip for a nearfall. Starkz went for a dive, but Athena caught her and sent her into the barricades around ringside. Athena threw Starkz into the barricade face-first multiple times before hitting running knees to Starkz as she was lying on the barricade.
Athena sent Starkz into the ring post, and Starkz came up bleeding from the head. Athena threw Starkz into the stairs before clubbering on her in the ring. Athena sent Starkz into the corner before blasting her with a forearm. Athena dug at Starkz’ face before Starkz rolled her up for a nearfall. Athena beat Starkz more, dropkicking her when she rolled to the apron.
Starkz started throwing forearms on the apron before Athena caught her with a uranage on the apron for a nearfall. Starkz rolled down from the Tree of Woe and suplexed Athena into the corner. The two evaded each other’s strikes before Starkz hit a Dragon Suplex for a nearfall. Starkz pulled Athena up, but Athena headbutted Starkz to put her down at her own expense.
Starkz hit a rebound kick to Athena in the corner, then vaulted over the corner into a spear. Starkz ripped the mask off of Athena before throwing forearms at Athena’s face. Starkz fired up, hitting a spinning heel kick before hitting a Swanton for a nearfall. Starkz sent Athena to the floor and hit a dive that drove Athena into the barricade. Starkz threw Athena into the barricade, but Athena moved out of the way of the double knees. Athena drove Starkz into the barricade with a shotgun dropkick of her own.
Athena set Starkz up on the announce table, but Starkz took Athena down with a superplex off of the table. Starkz suplexed Athena onto the plywood table cover before throwing Athena in the ring for a nearfall. Athena rolled to the floor and tried to lift Starkz up, but Starkz yanked Athena down by her hair. Athena rolled away again, but Starkz sent Athena over the barricade into the crowd. Athena drove Starkz head-first into the barricade, then brought her off the barricade face-first with a Slingblade Bulldog.
Athena brought Starkz up in Electric Chair position, then went to the top rope. She brought Starkz down with a German suplex for a nearfall. Athena and Starkz ran into the referee, giving Athena no count on her knockout forearm. Athena shouted at Lexy Nair to bring the title belt into the ring. Lexy hesitated, allowing Starkz to dropkick Athena, who went head-first into the title. Starkz hit Star-Ten for a nearfall.
Athena dragged Starkz to the apron and ran her into the turnbuckles to get out of a waistlock. Athena went to the second rope, but Starkz cut Athena off and hit an Electric Chair Driver on the apron. Starkz dragged Athena into the ring, but Athena rolled out of the way on a Swanton attempt and hit a knockout forearm. After recovering, both women traded strikes until Athena hit the Despicable Knee. Starkz kicked out at one.
Athena laid in kicks to Starkz before going up for the O-Face. Starkz caught Athena and rolled into a cover for a nearfall. They traded position before Starkz caught Athena in a cover for a nearfall. Athena rolled Starkz into a Ground Cobra submission. With nowhere to go, Starkz submitted, giving Athena the win.
Starkz blew Athena off after the match, but Athena dragged her back to the center of the ring. Athena showed Starkz respect, shaking and raising Starkz’ hand before embracing both her and Lexy Nair in the ring.
The main phrase for AEW & Ring of Honor head Tony Khan during Tuesday’s media call to hype this Friday’s ROH Final Battle streaming special was “something to consider.”
Khan used the phrase three times, once when asked about making a change with the ROH Tag Team titles considering both MJF and Adam Cole are injured, another when asked about the decision to have Samoa Joe vacate the ROH TV title instead of lose it in the ring, and again when discussing having MJF actually appear on ROH’s TV product on HonorClub.
In a largely non-newsworthy call, Khan did confirm that he met with officials from The CW in 2022 in Los Angeles about bringing ROH to their network. He felt that the time wasn’t right and hasn’t had a lot of detailed conversations about ROH’s TV future, saying he is excited for both AEW and ROH to hit the TV rights market in 2024.
Khan said the relationship between himself and WBD is strong, but that ROH is still a third party in the relationship. He said there is strong interest out there for both properties.
The match Khan talked about the most for Friday is ROH Women’s Champion Athena defending against Billie Starkz which will main event the show. It’s an angle he has been personally involved with on a week-to-week basis. When asked why Athena hasn’t defended her title on AEW TV, Khan simply said he would be open to it.
On the aforementioned Joe question, Khan said he wanted Joe to be a focus of AEW and that it would have been a challenge to have him defend the TV title while doing that.
Khan didn’t give any indication that the Tag Team titles would be stripped from MJF & Cole after they won it at August’s All In. Cole is out of action indefinitely with a broken ankle/foot while MJF is nursing several injuries before defending the AEW World title against Joe at this month’s Worlds End.
For Friday’s show, he said there might be more of a lucha presence to be announced and to stay tuned for the final entrant into the Survival of the Fittest TV title match.
Asked about an updated subscriber count for HonorClub, Khan talked around the question and said having Friday’s show on streaming vs. pay-per-view has helped subscriptions without any numerical indication as to how.
Athena vs. Billie Starkz for the Women’s World Championship will be in the main event spot of ROH Final Battle.
As announced during Thursday’s Ring of Honor TV episode, the Women’s World title bout will headline the Friday, December 15 show in Garland, Texas.
After a months-long storyline with Starkz serving as Athena’s “Minion in Training,” Starkz snapped on the November 30 edition of the show after being snubbed as the valedictorian of Athena’s MIT graduating class and the title match was made official for Final Battle.
A Survival of the Fittest six-way to crown a new ROH World Television Champion is also set for Final Battle, with five of the six spots in that bout now filled after this week’s Ring of Honor TV show.
Keith Lee vs. Shane Taylor, plus Ethan Page vs. Tony Nese in an I Quit match are also official for next Friday’s event.
Bryan Danielson also issued a challenge for FTR & Mark Briscoe to face Danielson, Wheeler Yuta, and another member of the Blackpool Combat Club in a trios match at the show in a tribute match to the late Jay Briscoe, although that match has yet to be made official.
Here is the current official lineup for the Friday, December 15 Final Battle show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern time on the Honor Club streaming service:
ROH Women’s World Champion Athena defends against Billie Starkz
Survival of the Fittest six-way elimination match to crown a new ROH World Television Champion: Dalton Castle vs. Komander vs. Lee Moriarty vs. Lee Johnson vs. Kyle Fletcher vs. TBD
The Women’s World Championship will be defended at ROH Final Battle.
As revealed during Thursday’s Ring of Honor TV episode, Athena is set to defend her title against her “minion” Billie Starkz at the show set for Friday, December 15.
Starkz defeated Marina Shafir in a bout on Thursday’s episode, then was embarrassed by Athena when the Women’s World Champion named Lexy Nair the valedictorian of the Minion In Training Class of 2023.
After being snubbed, Starkz attacked Athena and stood over the champion with her title belt. The match was then officially announced for Final Battle.
Two participants also qualified for the Survival of the Fittest six-way to crown a new ROH TV Champion at Final Battle on Thursday’s episode, with Dalton Castle & Komander becoming the first two official qualifiers for that bout.
Our report from Thursday’s Ring of Honor TV is here.
This is the current Final Battle card:
ROH Final Battle, Friday, December 15, 7 p.m. Eastern time on Honor Club —
ROH Women’s World Champion Athena defends against Billie Starkz
Survival of the Fittest six-way elimination match to crown a new ROH World Television Champion: Dalton Castle vs. Komander vs. TBD vs. TBD vs. TBD vs. TBD
Former WWE Raw & SmackDown Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey made her surprise Ring of Honor debut Friday in Los Angeles.
Rousey was the mystery partner for Marina Shafir against ROH Women’s Champion Athena & Billie Starkz in a match that is assumed is be airing on ROH TV this Thursday, coming out to Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation” as she had in WWE.
The match took place after Friday’s live AEW Collision & Rampage shows at The Forum.
The two teams went to a no contest on Thursday’s Wrestling Revolver event in Rousey’s first match since an October indie bout with Shafir against Brian Kendrick & Taya Valkyrie.
Rousey wrapped up a run with WWE at August’s SummerSlam where she lost to Shayna Baszler in an MMA rules match.
AEW & ROH head Tony Khan tweeted about the match without saying it was Rousey:
Rousey, the past UFC bantamweight superstar, made her in-ring debut at WrestleMania 34 in 2018 which kicked off a run that saw her win the Raw Women’s title, the SmackDown Women’s title twice, and the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles with Baszler.
