Ring of Honor has announced several matches set to air this week on HonorClub.
Ethan Page will try to keep his five-match winning stream going on Thursday’s show. He will wrestle Tony Nese in singles competition.
The storyline involving ROH Women’s World Champion Athena and her minion Billie Starkz will continue this week as well. Starkz and Athena were attacked last week by Mercedes Martinez and Diamante. Starkz will wrestle Diamante on Thursday’s show.
Hittin a Pearl Harbor on Billie & Athena was fun and all, but come Thursday we are face to face and imma still beat that ahh. Gonna turn your pro wrestling dreams into nightmares chiquita ! https://t.co/dFGVbnoPWr
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including the Dynamite preview for tonight, NXT loading up the show for next week, your world famous NXT TV report and more, then Billie Starkz joins us to talk the Revolver Women’s Grand Prix coming up this Sunday on FITE.tv! A fun show as always so check it out~!
ROH Women’s World Champion Athena & Billie Starkz have challenged The Renegade Twins for next week’s Ring of Honor TV.
Athena & Starkz formed an unlikely alliance on this week’s Ring of Honor TV episode, each saving the other from a Renegade Twins attack after matches.
Athena defeated Brittany J on Thursday’s show in a Proving Ground match, and The Renegade Twins ran in to attack the Women’s World Champion after the match. Starkz then made a run-in for the save.
Later in the show, Starkz wrestled Charlette Renegade and picked up the victory. Robyn Renegade ran in and joined Charlette in an attack on Starkz after the match, and Athena reciprocated Starkz’s save from earlier in the show.
Athena then attempted to enlist Starkz as one of her “minions,” and the duo issued a challenge to The Renegades in a backstage promo segment with Lexy Nair later in the program.
Starkz defeated Robyn Renegade on last week’s Ring of Honor TV, and now holds victories over both twins in singles competition.
Athena last defended her Women’s World title against Diamante on the August 3 Ring of Honor TV, and has won Proving Ground matches on consecutive episodes since, so an eventual Athena vs. Starkz program for the Women’s World title looks to be the future direction for the Champion.
As the debut of another teenager approaches in July, AEW has apparently signed another one as their youth movement continues.
According to AEW senior producer and special advisor to talent Tony Schiavone, the company has signed 18-year-old Billie Starkz.
As of this writing, there has been no announcement of the signing from either side or any details as to what type of contract.
Speaking on his What Happened When podcast with Conrad Thompson, Schiavone said, “Speaking of 18-year-olds, we just signed another 18-year-old. Billie Starkz, the girl that wrestled Jade.”
Starkz is coming off a loss to TBS Champion Jade Cargill on this past Friday’s AEW Battle of the Belts IV. She made her debut at a Universal Studios taping for AEW Dark last December and has wrestled seven matches, going winless in all of them. She has also wrestled twice for Ring of Honor, going 1-1.
The Starkz news came up when Schiavone was talking about the July Dynamite debut of 17-year-old phenom Nick Wayne who, after winning the DEFY title this past Saturday, learned he would face former champion Swerve Strickland in his AEW debut in Saskatoon, Canada.
Wayne was signed when he was 16 with his deal fully going into effect when he turns 18 years old — days before his AEW debut.
This week’s MLW Underground was from action taped in February and saw both the MLW title and Featherweight titles on the line. Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker were on the call.
MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone defeated Jacob Fatu to retain the title
This match has been building ever since Fatu won last year’s Battle Riot and it did not disappoint. Early on, the commentators planted the seeds as they revealed Hammerstone has never been able to hit his finisher on the mighty Fatu. Not only did Hammerstone hit it, but had to hit it twice to put the resilient “Samoan Werewolf” away.
Fatu out strong, but it was the champion who ended up hitting a plancha to the floor and then dropping Fatu headfirst on the apron. Fatu was the clear fan favorite as they cheered on his comeback and booed the champion’s advances.
Hammerstone had “RH” on his wrist tape in a message to past rival/teammate Richard Holliday who is out of action fighting non-Hodgkin lymphoma. After a break, the champion hit Fatu with an exploder suplex into the corner to start his hulking-up comeback.
Hammerstone hit a running kick, a belly-to-belly release suplex and a Northern Lights suplex for a two count but moments later, he was knocked over the top rope to the floor after a suplex.
Fatu then had a burst of high-flying moves as he hit a headfirst dive through the ropes, a moonsault from the middle rope to the floor, and then a top rope senton bomb inside the ring.
The pace quickened and the moves intensified. Hammerstone hit a big running clothesline and a death valley driver on the ring apron. Inside the ring, he entered by jumping three-quarters of the way across with a huge jumping dropkick and a TKO in a callback to their last match where Hammerstone used that move to win the title. However, Fatu kicked out at the last minute.
Fatu hit his pop-up Samoan drop and his springboard top rope moonsault, but the champion also kicked out at the last minute.
The referee was letting things slide a bit as the commentators told us there had to be a winner. A chair was brought in by Fatu, but it ended up in the hands of the champion who teased using it, but it took too much time and ate another superkick.
Fatu tried to capitalize with another top rope moonsault, but Hammerstone got his knees up and hit his Nightmare Pendulum, but Fatu kicked out to the shock of everyone in the arena.
More weapons made their way into the ring as Hammerstone set up a wooden board in the corner of the ring. A quick exchange followed, but Fatu ended up getting thrown headfirst through the board with an overhead release German suplex.
Hammerstone then hit a second and final Nightmare Pendulum to pick up the win in a great match.
Afterward, there was a nice showing of respect between the two as Fatu raised the champion’s hand as the Philadelphia crowd did eventually come around to cheer the champion.
As Hammerstone started to celebrate, it was short-lived as the lights went out and Raven’s calling card attackers, known now as The Hive, circled the champion and beat him down. AKIRA and Ricky Shane Page got their shots in as six other masked men duct taped the champion to the ropes so they could get their shots in.
– Sam Laterna welcomed Mance Warner to the stage, who quickly welcomed his friends the Second Gear Crew: 1 Called Manders and Matthew Justice. Justice said they are there to take the Underground to a new level, but were interrupted by The Hive via the video wall. Warner said they were going to drink light beers and beat people up.
– This year’s Battle Riot will be shown on Reelz as that situation continues to develop.
– Laterna then interviewed Mister Saint Laurent who issued a challenge to Real1 on behalf of Microman in an attempt to get revenge for Real1’s bullying.
– There was a recap of Cesar Duran being kidnapped by his own henchmen last week. This week, Taya Valkyrie and John Hennigan tried to get answers from MLW management, but were told they would be breaching their contract if she didn’t get to the ring for her match.
MLW Featherweight Champion Taya Valkyrie (w/ Sam Adonis and John Hennigan) defeated Billie Starkz to retain the title
Valkyrie looked to be taking Starkz lightly early on, but soon changed her tune as the challenger took she and Hennigan out with three consecutive dives to the floor. But Valkyrie was right back on top as Hennigan pushed Starkz off the top rope behind the referee’s back.
Valkyrie sent Starkz headfirst into the ring post before taking control and landing knees first on Starkz’s face in the corner. The commentators talked up Starkz being the youngest person to headline Korakuen Hall as she fired up with a spinning kick and a German suplex.
Starkz kicked Valkyrie before dropping her with a Gory bomb. Hennigan got on the apron again and distracted Starkz briefly before being kicked off by the smarter challenger.
Valkyrie then came close with a curb stomp but when she attempted her Road to Valhalla finisher, Starkz rolled through and got a close two count of her own. Starkz continued with another spin kick but was quickly caught and dropped with a successful Road to Valhalla, giving Valkyrie the win.
After the match, Laterna asked Valkyrie where Duran was but Valkyrie just pleaded for the fans to call their number (1-900-Lucha) “and bring my Jefe home.”
This week’s AEW Dark matches were taped in Orlando, Florida, at Universal Studios in February.
Juice Robinson defeated Leon Ruffin
Ruffin had some big energy from the crowd early on, which allowed him to trip up Robinson and apply a side headlock. Robinson escaped after lifting Ruffin up and sitting him on the top rope. Robinson then tossed Ruffin out of the ring before tossing him right back in.
Ruffin gained back some momentum after taking Robinson down with a jumping neckbreaker. Moments later, Ruffin followed that up with a lariat and a cutter. When Ruffin attempted to pin Robinson, “Rock Hard” rolled out of the ring.
The late stages featured Ruffin in control, nailing Robinson with a roundhouse kick. However, Robinson would put away Ruffin moments later after hitting him with a short arm lariat and a facebuster DDT. He now awaits his future match with Ricky Starks.
Leila Grey defeated Kiera Hogan
After trading strikes in the early stages of this battle of the Baddie vs. former Baddie, Grey dragged Hogan to the outside and hit her with a pump kick while she was draped across the ring apron.
The match continued in the ring as Grey continued to wear Hogan down with a few suplexes. With the will of the crowd, Hogan escaped one of Grey’s offensive attempts and tried to nail her with a roundhouse kick. Instead, Grey rolled her up with a handful of tights to secure the victory. We will see what is next with her, Jade Cargill and Taya Valkyrie.
Iron Savages defeated The Wingmen
Boulder and Cezar Bononi started things off and after some back and forth, Boulder was drilled into the mat. Ryan Nemeth came in next, which allowed Boulder to regain the advantage.
Bronson then entered and delivered a backbreaker to Nemeth, followed up by another variation of a backbreaker. The Iron Savages had control until Bononi re-entered and began to beat down Bronson.
Bronson eventually tagged out to Boulder who took out Bononi in the corner with a splash and Nemeth with a clothesline. Bronson then further damaged Bononi with a chokeslam before delivering a powerslam to Nemeth.
Moments later, Boulder lifted Bronson up and sent him crashing into Nemeth, which allowed the team to score the pin and win.
The Renegades defeated Avery Breaux & Mafiosa
After starting off with each other, Breaux hit Charlette with a pump kick and took Robyn off the apron. Breaux’s advantage didn’t last long as Robyn came in and hit a double elbow drop alongside her sister.
Mafiosa entered and got taken out by a Robyn superkick. Seconds later, the Renegades hit a Hart Attack on Mafiosa to score the win.
Toni Storm defeated Billie Starkz
Storm charged Starkz in the corner as soon as the bell rang and stomped on her multiple times. Storm then threw Starkz around the ring by her hair which prompted her to roll out of the ring.
Storm didn’t let up once the match made it to the outside as she laid in multiple forearms and elbows to Starkz as she tried to recover.
Once the bout resumed in the ring, Starkz found a second wind and delivered a series of kicks. Starkz followed up with a dive onto Storm on the outside which fired up the crowd in a big way.
Storm continued to disrespect Starkz as she shoved or kicked her at every possible occasion. Starkz tried to go to the top rope, but Storm swept her leg out and sent her crashing to the mat. Moments later, Storm blasted Starkz with a hip attack, followed by a Storm Zero for the pin and win.
Storm moves on to face Skye Blue on Wednesday’s Dynamite.
This week’s AEW Dark matches were taped recently at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, and was headlined by Trent Beretta vs. Tony Nese.
It also saw the AEW debut of the former Bodhi Hayward in WWE NXT.
Matt Sydal defeated Slim J (w/ Sonny Kiss & Jeeves Kay)
Sydal and Slim J started out with a shoving match. Slim J then bailed from the ring in frustration, but Kiss and Kay calmed him down before he got back in the ring.
Sydal and Slim J began to trade counters, but Sydal eventually caught him with a kick on the jaw. Later, Kiss and Kay proceeded to distract Sydal, allowing Slim J to take him to the mat and lock in a leg scissor submission.
Slim J would go on to further hurt Sydal, planting him with an impressive springboard reverse DDT. Sydal would respond moments later with a great roundhouse kick which went Slim J crashing to the canvas.
Sydal had momentum at this point, laying in a few more kicks. After nailing Slim J with two more roundhouse kicks, Sydal planted his opponent with a lightning spiral and picked up the win shortly after.
After the bout, The Trustbusters tried to further injure Sydal, but Top Flight and AR Fox made the save.
Julia Hart defeated Devlyn Macabre
Macabre was able to sneak in a forearm early on, which only sent Hart to a dark place. After stomping Macabre into the mat, Hart rained down about fifteen stiff elbow strikes into her chest and neck area. Macabre tried to regain her footing, but Hart tripped her and proceeded to submit her with her signature Heartless submission for her 18th straight win.
The WorkHorsemen (JD Drake & Anthony Henry) defeated Oliver Sawyer & Jay Malachi
Sawyer and Henry started out. After getting in a few licks on Sawyer, Henry tagged out to Drake, who did the same. The WorkHorsemen continued to work in tandem, tagging in and out frequently as they worked down Sawyer, who had got in no offense at this point.
Sawyer found some life as he moved out of the way of a Drake headbutt. Malachi, who came in off the hot tag, splashed Drake in the corner. Moments later, Drake sent Malachi over his head with a German suplex. Drake and Henry hit a double flatliner on him to get the win.
The Renegades jumped The Blairs as the bell rang. Robyn and Charlette exchanged tags as they beat down Peyton. Lizzy came in off the hot tag, but was immediately met with an assisted spinebuster combo from The Renegades for the pin and win.
Preston Vance (w/ Jose The Assistant) defeated Blanco Loco
Vance had control of this bout from the get-go as he squashed Loco in the corner with a number of running splashes. Loco was subject to a spinebuster moments, giving Vance the win.
Tony Deppen defeated Caleb Konley
Deppen laid in a few kicks and knee drops in the early going. Konley tried to fight back with a few chops, but Deppen gouged his eyes and shoved his head into the turnbuckle.
Konley would eventually find his footing, allowing him to plant Deppen with a fantastic fisherman’s buster. Deppen responded with a half and half suplex, which was followed up by a running knee strike and a pin for Deppen.
Iron Savages (Bronson & Boulder) defeated Chris Sandson & Terry Kid
Early on, Kid tried to jump on the back of Boulder, but he was thrown off by being cannonballed onto Sandson, who was taken down with a big boot. Seconds later, Boulder tagged Bronson in and assisted him with a splash onto both men, giving the Savages the win.
Brady Booker defeated Dak Draper
This was the debut for the former Bodhi Hayward in WWE NXT. Draper had control early on, hitting a nice cartwheel into a knee drop to punctuate things. He continued with his hard-hitting offense until Booker hit a powerslam counter to regain control. He eventually got the tapout after getting Draper in a torture rack.
Raju and Cannon started out, but Johl came in shortly after and ripped both of Cannon’s shirts off after planting him with a delayed suplex. Raju came back in the match, which gave Cannon the time to tag out to Springs. The former Impact X-Division Champion nailed Springs with a running knee strike, followed by Johl hitting him with his signature pump kick to score the win.
This was great as Starkz and Sakura made the most out of their time here.
Starkz quickly slammed Sakura into the mat after a lock-up. Sakura popped back up rather quickly and began to beat on Starkz after shoving her in the corner. Starkz responded with some heavy shots of her own, but Sakura doubled the intensity and responded with even heavier shots.
Starkz drilled Sakura with a pump kick which got a two count. Starks then tried to lift her up, but it was countered into a dragon sleeper from Sakura. After nearly passing out, Starkz popped up and planted Sakura into the mat with a tombstone piledriver which got another near fall. Starkz then landed on Sakura with a diving senton for yet another near fall.
Starkz lost her momentum when she tried to do another diving senton on Sakura on the apron after Sakura moved. After delivering a sliding knee strike to Starkz on the arena floor, Sakura got her back in and drilled her into the mat with a butterfly piledriver. Sakura ended the match after hitting Starkz with a moonsault.
The Wingmen (Peter Avalon, Cezar Bononi & Ryan Nemeth) defeated Jay Marte, Jarett Diaz & Rich Adonis
Avalon and Adonis started out, but The Wingmen quickly entered the ring and jumped all three of their opponents.
Bononi went to work on Adonis as he beat him down with various strikes. Nemeth came in and did more showboating than anything, which allowed Adonis to tag out to Diaz. Bononi came back in and slammed Diaz into the mat.
Seconds later, Nemeth and Bononi hit an assisted fireman’s carry driver on Diaz. Avalon came off the top rope with a splash on Diaz for the win.
Jeff Jarrett & Satnam Singh defeated The Boys (Brandon & Brent)
Jarrett and Brandon started out. After trapping him in the ropes and hitting his signature strut, Jarrett allowed Brandon to tag out to Brent. Singh came in and practically tackled Brent with a crossbody. Singh would proceed to chokeslam both Boys and double pin them to score the victory.
Trent Beretta defeated Tony Nese (w/ Mark Sterling)
This match lagged early, but once it got going, it was pretty good.
Beretta and Nese locked up at the bell, but Nese gained control after backing Beretta in the corner with ease. The match quickly spilled to the outside where Beretta beat down Nese with a few chops. After he was distracted by Sterling for a split second, Beretta had his face covered by Nese with the ring apron.
Nese took back control and with Beretta favoring his knee, Nese had a clear target. The tides turned for Beretta after Nese missed a springboard moonsault. Beretta would then launch Nese over his head with a suplex, but Nese responded by throwing Beretta stomach-first into the top rope. That was followed by Nese successfully hitting the springboard moonsault that he had tried earlier.
Nese tried to go to the top rope, but Beretta met him up there. After some back and forth, Beretta sent him crashing to the mat with a fantastic superplex. Beretta then hit Nese with his signature corner DDT, but Nese kicked out of the pinfall attempt at the last second.
In the final stages, Nese tried to hit put away Beretta with a frog splash, but the referee’s count came up short once again. Nese then tried to hit Beretta with a 450 splash, but he crashed and burned. Beretta put Nese away seconds later with the Dudebuster.
MLW Women’s Featherweight Champion Taya Valkyrie will now defend her title at Saturday’s SuperFight in Philadelphia against Billie Starkz.
Valkyrie was originally scheduled to defend against Delmi Exo. In the announcement, it was said that Azteca Lucha matchmaker Cesar Duran orchestrated the change for reasons that are unknown. As of Monday morning, Exo was still promoting as if her title shot was still on but she was later announced to be taking on the debuting B3CCA instead.
MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alex Hammerstone defends against Jacob Fatu
Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Alex Kane in a no ropes catch wrestling match
Lio Rush vs. Davey Richards
Real1 vs. Microman vs. Mance Warner vs. TBA in a dumpster match
John Hennigan vs. Willie Mack
DragonGate Open the Twin Gate Champions Big Boss Shimizu & Kzy defend against TBA
MLW Featherweight Champion Taya Valkyrie defends against Billie Starkz
Rickey Shane Page vs. 1 Called Manders in a hardcore match
Popular indie wrestler Billie Starkz will make her AEW debut on Tuesday’s nine-match edition of Dark.
The 18-year-old will face Red Velvet in the latter’s first singles match since June due to an injury. She returned in trios action along with TBS Champion Jade Cargill and Lelia Grey earlier this month.
After recently debuting in Japan this year, Starkz will also make her MLW debut this January.
Standout tag team The WorkHorsemen (JD Drake & Anthony Henry) will look to pick up a needed win as they face The Hughes Brothers, the sons of WWE Hall-of-Famer D-Von Dudley.
The Iron Savages (the former Bear Country) will make their AEW return for the first time since October as they face Brandon Bullock & Jameson Ryan.
In one of the show’s featured matches, newly-signed AR Fox will face Slim J of The Trustbusters.
Here’s the full lineup, taped earlier this month at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida:
Indie favorite Billie Starkz will make her MLW debut at the company’s first show of 2023.
Starkz will face the debuting Kayla Kassidy at Blood & Thunder, an MLW Fusion TV taping taking place in Philadelphia, PA’s 2300 Arena on Saturday, January 7th.
Both women are entering the company’s women’s featherweight division that currently has Taya Valkyrie as the champion.
The 18-year-old Starkz is coming off her AEW debut as she took on Britt Baker and Red Velvet during last Saturday’s Dark tapings at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. She also recently had her first tour of Japan and has been busy on the indies with well over 100 matches this calendar year.
Kassidy has appeared in two NWA matches and primarily has been working in the Midwest indie scene.
The two are both Kentucky natives and have a history together as opponents in both singles and multi-woman matches.
Here’s the updated card for the show:
MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alex Hammerstone defends against Yamato
MLW Tag Team Champions EJ Nduka & Calvin Tankman defend against The Samoan Swat Team (Lance Anoa’i & Juicy Finau)
MLW National Openweight Champion Davey Richards defends against Johnny Fusion
Bryan Alvarez is returning to the ring All Out weekend.
Game Changer Wrestling confirmed Monday night that Alvarez will team with Billie Starkz to take on the team of Tom Lawlor and Killer Kelly. The show, which will be a collaboration between Black Label Pro and GCW, will take place at the Grand Sports Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois on September 2 during All Out weekend.
The match was made following events that took place on Monday’s Filthy Four Daily. Lawlor took offense to Alvarez claiming responsibility for his victory over Toru Yano in the G1 Climax tournament. Lawlor eventually challenged Alvarez to a match where he would team with Debbie Malenko to take on Alvarez and Starkz.
Alvarez texted Malenko to offer her the match. However, Alvarez calimed that she couldn’t be in Chicago that weekend. Lawlor said he would have a new tag team partner by the end of the show, eventually revealing Kelly as his teammate.
*4 CUPS STUFFED UPDATE*
Just Signed:
As heard on Figure Four Radio…
BRYAN ALVAREZ & BILLIE STARKZ vs FILTHY TOM & KILLER KELLY
Alvarez last wrestled in 2019, where he and Lawlor teamed up in a losing effort against Nick Gage and Thomas Santell at Beyond Wrestling Americanrana on July 28.
