Bully Ray walked out on Young during a tag match against Trent Barreta & Chuck Taylor at ROH’s television tapings in July. In a post-show angle, Bully Ray said he did it to motivate Young and bring out the old version of him. Bully & Young then faced Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham at last month’s tapings.
The Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada will host Death Before Dishonor on September 28 and a set of TV tapings on September 29. Here’s the updated card for the PPV:
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal defending against Will Ospreay
Bullet Club (Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks, Marty Scurll & Hangman Page) vs. Chaos (Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Rocky Romero, Trent Barreta & Chuck Taylor)
Women of Honor Champion Sumie Sakai defending against Tenille Dashwood
ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes defending against Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian
ROH Television Champion Punishment Martinez defending against Chris Sabin
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Kenny King
Flip Gordon & Colt Cabana vs. Bully Ray & Silas Young in a tables match
Episode #359 of Ring of Honor television was taped in Fairfax, Virginia at the end of June.
ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes defeated The Bouncers (Brian Milonas & Beer City Bruiser) in a non-title match
This was a non-title tag team match featuring the largest team in ROH history. The Bouncers weighed in at 772 pounds. This is the ninth title reign for The Briscoes.
The size of the Bouncers was too much for The Briscoes to overcome at first. Jay Briscoe and Beer City Bruiser then had a stiff forearm exchange. The Briscoes sent The Bouncers to the floor, and each Briscoe brother landed a flip dive. Jay did a running flip over the top rope and Mark landed a twisting flip off the top turnbuckle to the floor.
After the break, The Bouncers were squishing Mark with big man moves, which included a combo slam and leg drop. A sandwich by the big men sent Jay to the floor, but Beer City Bruiser missed a flip dive. That allowed The Briscoes to double up on Milonas and lay him out. Jay hoisted the Bruiser up on his shoulders and landed a DVD for a two count.
Mark hit a blockbuster from the apron to the floor on Milonas, which allowed Jay to connect with a neckbreaker, followed by a Froggy Elbow from Mark. That combination earned The Briscoes the pin on Bruiser.
The Briscoes then called out SoCal Uncensored. All three members of SCU came to the ring. Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian attacked The Briscoes. This brought out security members to separate the teams.
Madison Rayne defeated Tenille Dashwood, Kelly Klein, and Karen Q in a four corner survival number one contender’s match
A pre-taped promo aired for each wrestler as they came to the ring.
Karen Q immediately bailed and let Klein take over on her own. Rayne and Dashwood had a quick exchange with a few pin attempts. Q came in and took a double suplex for her efforts. Rayne hit a head scissors on Dashwood. Q jumped on Rayne and hit a snap suplex, but Dashwood broke up the pin.
They did a four-woman stack up spot in the corner, which resulted in Klein landing a double powerbomb and suplex on the other three.
After the break, Dashwood had all three in separate corners and was able to connect with the Taste of Tenille on each. Klein had Q on her shoulders and caught Rayne in a crossbody and slammed both at once.
Dashwood hit the Spotlight on Klein. Q attempted to steal the pin, but Klein kicked out. This allowed Rayne to hit the Rayne Check on Q for the win.
Rayne is now the number one contender for the Women of Honor Championship. Sumie Sakai came out to stare down Rayne.
Cody and Brandi Rhodes came to the ring for a promo. Cody said he was unlucky in his last two ROH title opportunities. He called out Burnard the Business Bear, but Nick Aldis came out instead.
Aldis asked what was in it for him — in reference to their NWA Championship match at All In. Cody then baited Aldis to accept the challenge by offering his “Ring of Honor” ring as collateral. They got into each other’s faces after Cody said that all Aldis did was beat a 53-year-old history teacher (Tim Storm) for the NWA title, but the Bullet Club came out to separate them.
This was supposed to be a six-man tag team match, but Bully Ray jumped Flip Gordon on his way to the ring, which made it a handicap match to start things off.
Woods was able to get in some early offense on Taylor. Cheeseburger demanded to be tagged in to face Ray. Taylor cheated to cut off Cheeseburger with a distraction. Taylor landed an immense chop on poor Cheeseburger.
Taylor knocked Woods off the apron, which made time for Cheeseburger to hit a tornado DDT. Cheeseburger had no one to tag, so Colt Cabana came down from the announce table to accept the tag. He ran wild and landed a springboard moonsault on Taylor and stuck Ray with a spear.
Cheeseburger tagged back in and landed a double stomp on Ray. Cabana did a dive to the floor, but that allowed Taylor to hit a sit-down piledriver on Cheeseburger for the win.
Ray and Taylor beat down Cabana and Cheeseburger with a chain until Gordon made the save with a steel chair. The bad guys fled before Gordon could get his hands on Ray.
Colt Cabana (Scott Colton) has filed a lawsuit against CM Punk (Phil Brooks) over legal fees from Dr. Chris Amann’s defamation suit against them.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported today that Cabana is suing Punk for breach of contract and fraud, with Cabana alleging that Punk texted him that he would be “100% covered” in the Amann suit. Cabana is seeking $200,000 in general damages and $1 million in punitive and exemplary damages.
Cabana claims that Punk’s assurance that he would be covered is the reason that he didn’t comply with the letter he was sent by Amann’s counsel demanding that he take down the November 2014 episode of the Art of Wrestling podcast that Punk appeared on. It also demanded that Cabana issue a retraction for Punk’s critical comments about the lack of care he received from Amann while in WWE.
Cabana’s lawsuit states that he and Punk employed the firm Loeb & Loeb to defend them in March 2015, with their retention agreement saying that it was understood that Punk would be responsible for paying for the invoices.
The following email from Punk to Cabana in April 2016 is then included:
“To date I have spent $513,736 dollars on this Amman lawsuit. My outstanding current bill is at least 300k. Half of all this is yours. Divide the 513,736 by 2 and that is what you owe me and what I expect you to pay me. Starting now I will no longer be paying your bills. You are on your own. Whatever my bill is currently, will be cut in half, and half will be yours. If you choose to make this all ugly, that’s fine too. I hope you won’t, but I gave up on you doing what is right a long time ago.”
Cabana notified Loeb & Loeb that he was prepared to retain separate counsel, but he says they came to an agreement for them to continue representing both Punk and Cabana with Punk covering the fees going forward. Loeb & Loeb then withdrew as Cabana’s counsel in March 2017, with Cabana believing that Punk caused them to do so.
The jury ruled in favor of Punk and Cabana in the Amann trial this June. Cabana hired Carey Stein of Ashman & Stein after Loeb & Loeb withdrew from representing him. Following the trial, Cabana’s counsel notified Punk’s of Cabana’s demand for reimbursement of approximately $200,000 in fees and net costs. Loeb & Loeb informed them that Punk refuses to do so.
Two matches have since been announced for that broadcast, which will be called “All In: Zero Hour” and will start at 6 p.m. Eastern time on September 1. The Briscoes are set to face Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky, and there will be a 15-participant “Over Budget Battle Royale.”
Moose, Rocky Romero, Colt Cabana, Jordynne Grace, and Ethan Page are the first five wrestlers announced for the battle royal.
The All In main card will then begin at 7 p.m. Eastern and will air live on pay-per-view, Fite TV, and HonorClub, though further details on the HonorClub option have yet to be announced. Fite TV lists the price for the show at $39.99.
Here’s the updated card for All In:
NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis defending against Cody Rhodes
Kazuchika Okada vs. Marty Scurll
The Young Bucks & Kota Ibushi vs. Rey Mysterio, Fenix & Bandido
“Arrow” star Stephen Amell vs. Christopher Daniels
Hangman Page vs. Joey Janela
15-participant Over Budget Battle Royale (All In: Zero Hour)
The Briscoes vs. Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky (All In: Zero Hour)
The three year legal battle between C.M. Punk, real name Phil Brooks, and longtime friend Scott Colton, Colt Cabana, as defendants in a defamation lawsuit brought on by WWE physician Dr. Christopher Amann ended on 6/5 with the jury ruling against Amann, ruling he was entitled to no damages.
Amann’s attorneys, earlier that morning in their closing remarks, asked for $3,989,000, coming up with the number based on $1 per listener of the podcast in question.
Punk, 39, and wife A.J. Lee, real name April Mendez, who testified for him in the case, broke down and cried as the verdict was read, just four days before Punk was scheduled to fight in a UFC PPV s
Being in court for a week had to wreak havoc on his fight preparation during the most crucial part of camp. Punk said that even with spending most of the day in the courtroom, that he was able to get two training sessions in during the trial, just had to rearrange things, but with his camp usually in Milwaukee, and not Chicago, it had to have had an effect.
The jury in the case of Dr. Christopher Amann vs. Phil Brooks (CM Punk) and Scott Colton (Colt Cabana) ruled that neither man were liable for any damages against the WWE physician in the defamation lawsuit.
The jury took only two hours to deliberate. Punk and wife AJ Lee (April Mendez) began crying in court when the verdict was read. Amann was stoic.
Amann’s attorneys were asking for $3,989,000 in damages, claiming $1 for every listener of the Art of Wrestling podcast that the Punk show supposedly had.
Punk’s attorneys noted that WWE’s medical records were not reliable because they never listed any of Punk’s antibiotic prescriptions, and that the plaintiff’s argument from WWE doctors that there was no lump was ridiculous given four witnesses coming forward who described it in detail besides Punk.
The key to the case appeared to be the testimony of Punk’s massage therapist, who described the lump in detail, and of his wife, who said she noticed it starting at a zit-like size in August 2013 and it grew and changed color over the months.
While there was no proof the lump was a staph infection, let alone MRSA staph, as Punk had stated on the show, the jury evidently felt that Punk either misheard the doctor or of not, his exaggerations did not damage Amann’s professional standing.
Lawyers for Dr. Christopher Amann in closing arguments this morning have asked for in excess of $4 million in damages from defendants Phil Brooks (CM Punk) and Scott Colton (Colt Cabana).
The lawyers for Amann broke it down as $3,989,000 in damages — as in $1 for every person who downloaded the Art of Wrestling podcast episode, plus additional punitive damages.
The WrestleZone website covered the story from the courthouse, and Observer sources close to the case confirmed the plaintiffs were seeking in excess of $4 million.
The defamation trial itself ended yesterday with testimony from AJ Lee (April Mendez), the wife of Punk, who testified she had seen the lump in question as early as August of 2013, when the two first got together and testimony from Punk’s massage therapist who said she saw the lump on January 30th, 2014, and described it as golf ball or tennis ball sized.
Even though one of the legal combatants is set to compete in the UFC in less than two weeks, the trial of Phil Brooks (CM Punk) and Scott Colton (Colt Cabana) vs. WWE doctor Chris Amann began Tuesday in the Cook County courthouse in Chicago, IL.
Amann filed a defamation suit against Brooks and Colton in February 2015 following comments the two made on Cabana’s podcast in November 2014. Brooks claimed, among other things, that Amann dismissed a growth on his back that eventually turned into a staph infection.
While there were no cameras, Chicago Tribune City Hall reporter Gregory Pratt dropped by to check out some of the proceedings. Below are some notes from his Twitter feed:
– There wasn’t a crowd in the gallery. In fact, Pratt said he was the only one in attendance while he was there.
– The jury heard the entire episode of the podcast in question Tuesday including all of the plugs, etc.
– Pratt said that he was unsure how long the trial was going to last, but that both sides were very thorough.
– From what he heard, Pratt said he expected Amann to return to the stand Wednesday.
– Pratt said Brooks was serious and attentive for most of the day, but did appear “visibly amused” and laughed a bit at some parts of the podcast.
– Pratt thought Brooks appeared to be in shape and was wearing a nice suit.
Brooks is set to open up the PPV portion of UFC 225 against Mike Jackson on Saturday, June 9th.
– Women of Honor: Kelly Klein, Veda Scott & Britt Baker def. Mandy Leon, Crazy Mary Dobson & Faye Jackson
Klein choked out Mary via a guillotine.
– ACH def. Will Ferrara after a 450 splash to the back.
– Jon Gresham def. Delirious with a rolling crucifix pin.
– Frankie Kazarian def. Chris Sabin
Kamaitachi distracted Sabin. Kazarian gave Sabin a vertical suplex, and pinned Sabin while Kamaitachi held Sabin’s feet down.
– Alex Shelley def. Kamaitachi with a side cradle after hitting him with a reverse Russian legsweep into the second turnbuckle.
– The Briscoes def. Silas Young & Beer City Bruiser, Rowe & Hansen and Rhett Titus & Kenny King (w/The Cabinet) in a four-way tag match
Titus and King knelt during the Code of Honor to protest the oppression they experience in ROH (a nod to the recent Colin Kaepernick U.S. anthem kneeling controversy) which led to them being assaulted by everyone. Jay Briscoe hit Bruiser with a neckbreaker, and Mark Briscoe pinned him after a Froggy Bow.
– Cheeseburger def. Chris LeRusso after a running palm strike
After the match, BJ Whitmer and a large flunkie attacked Cheeseburger and LeRusso. Colby Corino tried to make the save, but was laid out. Steve Corino arrived and had a bizarre, quiet confrontation with BJ and his son.
– Lio Rush def. Caprice Coleman (w/The Cabinet)
The Cabinet took another knee during the Code of Honor. Rush pinned Caprice with the Rush Hour.
– Jay White def. Christopher Daniels with something resembling a Michinoku Driver
– Jay Lethal, Dalton Castle (w/ The Boys) & Colt Cabana def. The Bullet Club (ROH Champion Adam Cole/Young Bucks)
Colt dropped Nick Jackson on the top turnbuckle. Lethal hit the Lethal Injection, and Castle finished him off with the Bang-a-Rang.
This week, Ring of Honor television featured a world title match with Colt Cabana challenging Jay Lethal to headline the first in a series of episodes taped in Philadelphia. The underlying focus of the episode was building towards the upcoming Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view.
The show opened with a recap of the head shaving perpetrated by Bullet Club when they shaved Lethal bald.
In the first bout of a two match show, Jay White shined in his second televised match in ROH.
Jay White defeated Will Ferrara
Though the match was a showcase for White, it was far from one-sided. Ferrara got a lot of offense, starting early on when White kept trying to escape a wristlock. Later in the match, White grounded Ferrara and applied a wristlock, wrenching and pushing the limits of hyperextending it.
White then eased on the arm, only to hyperextend Ferrara’s fingers. On commentary, Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness put over the skills of White and his knowledge of the fundamentals. White would soon explode with a flurry of offense that led to a brainbuster and missile dropkick.
Ferrara more than held his own and did a tope dive through the ropes at one point. He even got several near falls that included using a la magistral cradle and later a tornado DDT. Playing off the joint lock earlier on, Ferrara found himself unsuccessful in a slugfest with a wounded hand.
White tried to finish Ferrara but Ferrara kicked out at two. White then hoisted him up and executed the Kiwi Crusher to score the pinfall.
In an announcement that accompanied a video hyping Katsuyori Shibata, Silas Young was revealed as the opponent for Shibata at Death Before Dishonor.
Fish Tank or Chicken Shack?
Mark Briscoe and Bobby Fish took part in an odd talking segment. Though it was billed as the Fish Tank, Mark stormed to the ring first, saying that was communist propaganda and other whatnot. So, he was taking over and dubbing it the Chicken Shack.
A dapper Bobby Fish entered the scene wearing a suit and holding his TV title belt. He noted the difference in appearance between himself and Mark. Fish boasted about how he was dressed and said Mark looked like “an unmade bed.”
The conversation was still fairly jovial until Mark mentioned their upcoming title match at Death Before Dishonor. Fish unleashed a scathing promo on Mark, referring to him as “Jay Briscoe’s little brother.”
As Mark appeared ready to fight, security stepped in to hold Mark back. Fish kept cutting a promo on Mark. He concluded by vowing to retain his title and emphasized that he was the WORLD TV champion.
In a backstage promo, The Addiction bragged about themselves and threatened War Machine.
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal defeated Colt Cabana to retain his title
Though this was a rematch from Global Wars, the dynamic between the two was much different than their last encounter. With Jay Lethal now the top babyface instead of the lead heel as he was previously, it was a different match. Likewise, their first match had a non-finish while this ended decisively.
Lethal played a role more akin to a touring NWA world champion from a bygone era. Though his moves and style were contemporary and he was a babyface, he displayed a subtle cocky side that allowed the audience to rally around Cabana down the stretch.
Despite being typecast as a comedy act, Cabana proved in this match he is so much more than that.
Cabana displayed his knowledge of the British style early on, doing some reversals and counters. They started off methodical, but quickened the pace from there and gradually upped the intensity leading to a tope dive trifecta by Lethal.
At one point, Cabana went to apply the Billy Goat’s Curse. Lethal countered and Cabana leapt into a splash for a two count. Lethal cut off Cabana and hit the Lethal Combination, which led into Hail to the King (elbow off the top). Cabana kicked out of the subsequent cover for a near fall.
Just as Lethal seemed victorious upon hitting the Lethal Injection, Cabana withstood Lethal’s finisher and kicked out. Moments later, Cabana dropped Lethal across the top rope with the Chicago Skyline Drop for another near fall.
After a slugfest developed, Cabana smacked Lethal with a hip attack for a two count. Soon after, Lethal finished Cabana with a Lethal Injection for the pinfall win.
Following the match, Lethal wanted to speak with matchmaker Nigel McGuinness about possibly granting him a match with Adam Cole, who McGuinness previously banned from receiving a title shot. Nigel refused to lift the ban and said it would look hypocritical.
Cole interrupted them, claiming this was a farce, and speculated it was all a plot to make Lethal look like a fighting champion. Cole ran Lethal down some more before calling him a “little bitch.”
Lethal freaked out, turned to McGuinness, and began pleading for the match. Lethal got down on his knee to beg McGuinness. Finally, McGuinness agreed and the match was made for Death Before Dishonor.
On the next episode of ROH, the contract signing with Adam Cole and Jay Lethal, plus a tag team title match.
– Veda Scott defeated Solo Darling in a taping for Women of Honor.
– Jay White defeated Will Ferrara
– There was an in-ring segment with Mark Briscoe and Bobby Fish to set up their TV title match at the Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view in August.
– ROH World Champion Jay Lethal defeated Colt Cabana
These two finally went at it after the Bullet Club ruined their match at Global Wars. Lethal beat Cabana clean with the Lethal Injection. It was made official after the match that Adam Cole would challenge Jay Lethal for his title at Death Before Dishonor.
– There was an in-ring segment with the Addiction, the Young Bucks and Roppongi Vice with the latter two teams wanting a title shot. Nigel McGuinness decided that they would face off with the winner earning the shot later tonight.
– The Young Bucks defeated Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Trent Barreta)
– There was a contract signing for the Cole vs. Lethal title match.
– Lio Rush defeated Donovan Dijack
– Jenny Rose & Nanae Takahashi defeated Solo Darling & Sumie Sakai in a Women of Honor taping match
– Kamaitachi defeated Stuka Jr. with help from Christopher Daniels
– BJ Whitmer and Punisher beat down everyone in a multi-person match to cause a no contest.
– Jay Briscoe vs. Jay White ended in a 30-minute time limit draw
There was an angle after the match where McGuinness wouldn’t add more time to the match because White was suffering from a possible concussion.
– Shane Taylor & Keith Lee defeated War Machine
– Hangman Page defeated Jonathan Gresham
– The Cabinet (Kenny King, Rhett Titus, & Caprice Colemean) defeated Dalton Castle & The Boys
– ROH Tag Team Champions The Addiction defeated The Young Bucks
Kamaitachi was helping the Addiction during the match, which led to the Motor City Machine Guns making the save. There was a brawl after the match that ended with the Young Bucks standing tall on top of a ladder, likely signifying a ladder match for the tag titles at Death Before Dishonor.
– Cheeseburger defeated Some Canadian Guy With A Fanny Pack. Cheeseburger was super over. The guy’s fanny pack was more over than the guy himself.
Main Show:
– Steve Corino promo on Whitmer, who was on commentary.
– ROH Tag Team Champions The Addiction defeated Kamaitachi and Juice Robinson via Best Meltzer Ever. Juice was super over.
– Dalton Castle defeated Will Ferrera via Deadlift German Suplex.
– Motor City Machine Guns defeated Lio Rush and Moose. This was a fun match. Rush is very impressive. MCMG put Lio over after the match by giving him the ring for the crowd to cheer him.
– Donovan Dijak defeat Trent Baretta. Prince Nana accompanied Dijak to the ring. Dijak is a decent heel.
– Four Corner Survival: Kyle O’Reilly defeated Roderick Strong, Michael Elgin and ACH via submission. This match ruled. Every sequence was jaw dropping. Elgin and Kyle had a great sequence of Germans and kicks. Roddy was great, per usual, as was ACH.
– BJ Whitmer promo. Two random dudes brought out a hog-tied Corino.
– War Machine destroyed two local talents.
– ROH TV Champion Bobby Fish defeated Rocky Romero via leg submission. Great match. Fish is awesome. Dalton Castle was on commentary for this match and they had a stare down after the match.
– Beer City Bruiser and Silas Young defeated The Briscoes and ANX in Tag Wars finals. BCB and Silas hit their finishers on ANX. Crowd celebrated like Milwaukee won the World Series.
– Colt Cabana and ROH Champion Jay Lethal defeated The Young Bucks via Double Lethal Injection. Crowd was super hot for this match. Bucks looked good after returning from injury. They hit an Indie Taker, but no Meltzer Driver. No disrespect to the Bucks, but they looked gassed and/or didn’t want to risk another injury. After the match, Colt had Lethal’s title and hinted he wanted a rematch. Lethal grabbed his belt and left.
