UPDATE: ROH has also announced Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham vs. LifeBlood’s Mark Haskins & Bandido for Summer Supercard.
**********
Rush and Dalton Castle are officially set to face off at Summer Supercard.
ROH has announced Rush vs. Castle in a no DQ match for Summer Supercard, which is taking place at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on Friday, August 9. Earlier this week, ROH posted a video where Rush challenged Castle to the match.
Rush and Castle’s storyline began with Rush defeating Castle in seconds at G1 Supercard in April. Castle disguised himself as a fan and attacked Rush at Manhattan Mayhem last weekend. They had a match at Mass Hysteria the next night, with Castle getting himself disqualified by using a low blow. He then attacked Rush with a chair.
Summer Supercard will air live on HonorClub. The updated card for the event is listed below:
ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes defending against Guerrillas of Destiny in a Ladder War
ROH World Champion Matt Taven defending against Alex Shelley
Rush vs. Dalton Castle in a no DQ match
Women of Honor World Champion Kelly Klein defending against Tasha Steelz
Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham vs. Mark Haskins & Bandido
Caristico, Soberano Jr. & Stuka Jr. vs. Barbaro Cavernario, Hechicero & Templario
Dragon Lee is Rush’s brother, and his match against Castle at Best in the World plays off of Castle’s feud with Rush. Rush defeated Castle in seconds when they faced off at G1 Supercard in April.
Gordon defeated PJ Black, Castle, and Rush in a four corner survival match at this past weekend’s ROH TV tapings. The match aired live on HonorClub, with Gordon pinning Black to get the win. Castle then attacked Gordon and cut a promo on Rush. He challenged Rush to get into the ring with him, then backed off when Rush did. Castle said he’ll face Dragon Lee at Best in the World.
Rush vs. Gordon was also set up for Best in the World after that four corner survival match. Gordon told Rush that he’ll face him if Castle won’t. Gordon said he’ll kick Rush’s ass. He offered Rush a handshake, but Rush struck him instead.
As was previously announced, Matt Taven will defend the ROH World Championship against Jeff Cobb at Best in the World. Bandido will challenge for Shane Taylor’s Television title.
A Tag Team title change with G1 Supercard implications took place at Friday’s ROH 17th Anniversary pay-per-view.
Villain Enterprises (PCO & Brody King) defeated The Briscoes in a no disqualification match to win the ROH Tag Team titles. With that, PCO & King are currently set to face IWGP Tag Team Champions Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa in a title vs. title match with both sets of championships on the line at G1 Supercard.
In other developments for G1 Supercard, ROH Television Champion Jeff Cobb challenged NEVER Openweight Champion Will Ospreay to a title vs. title match, Dalton Castle challenged Rush, and Bully Ray said he’ll be having a New York City street fight.
Castle was on commentary for Rush vs. Bandido and then got into the ring after Rush won. Castle challenged Rush to a match at G1 Supercard, with the storyline being that Castle wants to get back on track by facing someone who’s undefeated in singles matches in ROH.
Bully Ray interrupted rapper Mega Ran’s performance at the 17th Anniversary PPV, talked about wrestling at Madison Square Garden, and issued an open challenge to anyone in the professional wrestling business to face him in an NYC street fight at G1 Supercard. Bully Ray said the person he wants to face knows that he’s talking about them.
At one point, the crowd chanted for Flip Gordon. Bully Ray mentioned that he didn’t say “I Quit” in the I Quit match he lost to Gordon at Final Battle.
G1 Supercard is taking place at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, April 6.
Three more matches have been added to the lineup for this month’s Ring of Honor television tapings.
In his second match for the promotion and his first since signing with them, Rush will be facing Tracy Williams at ROH’s TV tapings in Lakeland, Florida on Saturday, February 9. Rush debuted for ROH at December’s post-Final Battle tapings, while Williams made his ROH debut in last November’s Survival of the Fittest tournament.
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham vs. Coast 2 Coast (Shaheem Ali & LSG) and Dalton Castle vs. Kenny king have also been announced for the Lakeland tapings. Here’s the updated card:
ROH Television Champion Jeff Cobb defending against Silas Young
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan) defending against Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO & Brody King)
Lethal & Gresham vs. Coast 2 Coast
Castle vs. Kenny King
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Rocky Romero
Rush vs. Williams
The tapings are part of ROH’s Bound By Honor weekend in Florida, which also includes an HonorClub show in Miami on Sunday, February 10.
Honor Reigns Supreme 2019 takes place at Cabarrus Arena tonight in Concord, North Carolina.
After winning a four-corner survival match on ROH TV last week, Dalton Castle will receive the first title shot of the new year as he challenges ROH World Champion Jay Lethal tonight.
Newly crowned Women of Honor World Champion, Kelly Klein, will also defend her title against Jenny Rose in a street fight.
The recently signed PCO and Brody King will appear, teaming with Marty Scurll as Villain Enterprises against The Briscoes & Silas Young.
Also on the card: ROH TV Champion Jeff Cobb faces Shane Taylor, Jonathan Gresham and Rhett Titus in a four corner survival match (if Cobb doesn’t win, the winner will receive an instant TV title shot), new ROH signee Bandido takes on PJ Black, Flip Gordon faces Tracy Williams, Mark Haskins faces Beer City Bruiser, NJPW’s Juice Robinson & David Finlay wrestle Best Friends (Chuckie T & Beretta), and ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Kingdom take on Shane “Hurricane” Helms, Delirious & Luchasaurus in a proving ground match.
Hollis cut a promo on the ROH announce team before the match. They challenged any three other men to have a match with them. The Shinobi Shadow Squad Cheeseburger, Nova and Isom came out and the match began.
A solid opener. Isom was most impressive. It is insane that he has only been wrestling for about a year.
Everyone in the match shined a bit despite the match’s length, which was under 10 minutes. 3S won the match with Oyasumi.
Mark Haskins defeated Beer City Bruiser
Not the greatest match in the world but not the worst either.
After the bell, Bruiser shouted about “having a fight” and didn’t want to take part in Haskins’ “British crap.” He also told Haskins not to use any submissions, because apparently that doesn’t count.
Bruiser did his “I can’t bite, I ain’t got no teeth” spot he always does.
Haskins’ striking and submissions looked great throughout the match. He landed a stiff closed-fist into Bruiser’s jaw at one point.
The crowd was silent for good portions of this match. Whenever BCB would yell things about beer or “his bar,” it seemed to fall flat. He wouldn’t get heat unless he was doing power moves or missing high spots from the top rope.
Haskins won the match with a diving double stomp. The two shared a beer after the match.
Juice Robinson & David Finlay defeated Best Friends (Beretta & Chuckie T)
Robinson gave his hat and sunglasses glasses to a young fan in the front row before the match. This was a sweet babyface moment.
The crowd woke up a bit for this one. I’m not sure what exactly it was, but these four wrestlers had a much different presence than the guys in the matches before. A stronger, more believable presence. Take that for what it’s worth.
Beretta and Robinson continued building their NJPW U.S. title program during this bout. Beretta looked very good throughout and hit a very nice double stomp onto Finlay as Finlay hung over the guardrail outside the ring.
Best Friends did a double elbow drop spot and the ROH production crew did a hard zoom out, parodying what NJPW does with Kazuchika Okada when he does his ”Rainmaker” pose.
The announce team put Beretta over as being more aggressive than usual. Obviously indicative of a future NJPW storyline direction.
Robinson used a forward-fall snap DDT, something I haven’t seen him use much before. Beretta took a gnarly bump on his head for this.
At this point in the match the crowd was at its most voluminous, lots of “Juice” chants and clapping.
Many of the final sequences in this match were between Beretta and Juice, possibly answering what I questioned earlier. They had good chemistry together.
Finlay took the surprise win with a suplex into a shoulderbreaker on Chuckie T. This was another solid one.
Beretta and Juice jawjacked a bit over the NJPW U.S. title but then they shook hands. No one shook Finlay’s hand, which he looked to be bummed about.
– Colt Cabana and Ian Riccobani announced that ROH will be working with vettix.org is this year. This means that if you’re a veteran you’ll be able get free tickets to ROH shows.
Tracy Williams defeated Flip Gordon via referee stoppage
Kenny King joined Riccobani and Cabana on commentary for this match. He trash-talked Flip Gordon and said he wasn’t ready to challenge Jay Lethal for the ROH World Heavyweight title.
Again, the crowd was either silent for much of this match or this event was poorly attended.
Gordon sold his knee hard early on after a springboard dropkick. He rolled out of the ring early on and referee Todd Sinclair called the match.
Kenny King talked a lot of trash on Gordon on commentary. It seems like they’ll be working a program together soon.
Proving Ground Match: ROH World Six-man champions The Kingdom defeated Luchasaurus, Delirious and Hurricane Helms
The Green Team vs. The Purple Team. Delirious ran around the ring before the match. Taven wiped is rear-end with a piece of Delirious’ gear.
Luchasaurus used a few high kicks on TK O’Ryan. Not all of them connected, and he missed as many kicks as he landed. Once the novelty of a big man doing small man moves wears off it just gets hard to watch.
Delirious did comedy spots. Helms looked solid anytime he was in but he is very out of shape these days.
Marseglia used a stomach claw on Delirious. The last time I saw this move used seriously was while watching an old Gorilla Monsoon match.
Taven was the star of this match in that he was barely in it but got reactions to pretty much everything he did. Every move was sharp, every dig at the crowd responded too.
Delirious severely botched a suplex and dropped TK O’Ryan on his head. This looked scary.
Luchasaurus used a great looking moonsault to the floor towards the end of this match.
O’Ryan and Marseglia hit House of 1,000 Corpses for the win.
This was mostly bad. Taven and (sometimes) Helms were the highlights.
Bandido defeated PJ Black
PJ Black, a man who once pinned John Cena, walked to the ring to almost zero reaction.
People were excited for Bandido before the bell. Once the match began both began rapid-fire lucha-esque sequences.
Bandido did a backflip into a headstand, later followed by a plancha, a tope suicda and a Fosberry Flop where he landed on his feet. That was the sequence, a lucha buffet.
Black looked great. These two complement each other well, and I feel if they work together for a month or two they could develop an excellent program.
The crowd finally gave Black some heat as he slowed the pace of the match with some submissions and flexing. He mirrored the “Set of Three” sequence Bandido hit earlier, including a drfopkickthrough the ropes and a tornillo.
After Bandido hit a springboard corkscrew body press into the ring, the crowd came to their feet.
Bandido botched one of his innovative twisty moves. It’s one of the biggest dangers with the style both wrestlers are applying; if you screw it up, it becomes so much harder to suspend general disbelief in the match itself.
Black botched a top rope Frankensteiner but it still looked cool. The crowd chanted “This is awesome” for the first time afterwards.
Bandido won the match with a moonsault fall away slam from the top rope. Both tried to do a lot in this match but ended up botching a number of spots. Kudos to Riccobani and Cabana for quickly covering up almost every time.
Despite the botches, the crowd seemed to like this match the best so far, and it was quite entertaining overall. A good match with Bandido getting very over.
ROH Television Champion Jeff Cobb defeated Rhett Titus and Jonathan Gresham
Shane Taylor, originally booked for this as well, cut a promo beforehand. He essentially said he’s too good for the match, verbally downsized everyone in the ring and then walked to the back. The match became a three-way from this point, apparently.
Gresham tried using a flying cross body block on Cobb who no sold it completely. It sounded like someone threw a steak at another bigger steak. Gresham sold it hilariously.
Cobb used a hanging superplex on Titus. Aside from big high spots like this, the crowd was mostly silence, waiting for their cues.
Cobb won the match after using an impressive deadlift piledriver and Tour of the Islands on Titus. This was all very good, despite the somewhat confusing Shane Taylor booking. Each wrestler brought their above-average games tonight.
Silas Young walked out after the match, but Taylor snuck into the ring and ambushed Cobb before Young did anything of note. TV Title program between those two looks to be coming soon.
WOH World Title Streetfight: Kelly Klein (c) defeated Jenny Rose
Kelly Klein came out with Camp Klein, her training posse.
This was a fresh change of pace on the card in that it was a pure brawl, much more of a “real fight” than whatever Beer City Bruiser was clamoring for earlier.
The wrestling itself wasn’t pretty but it didn’t need to be here. Both wrestlers worked hard and mostly brawled around the ring.
Klein choked Rose with a bungee cord, then put her in a cravat using the weapon. Rose fought back and used a number of excellent looking suplexes both in and out of the ring. She tried hard to engage the relatively shy and/or small crowd.
Rose later tried to splash Klein through a table but the table wouldn’t break. Rose then jumped onto Klein’s back while they were both on the apron and they both crashed through the table.
While the spot was wild, it was painfully obvious that Klein was setting up and calling the spot on camera. I’d say this was more of a production faux pas than anything; they should have switched angles.
Rose superplexed Klein onto a pile of chairs. This received an “R-O-H” chant.
Moments later, Klein used K-Power onto a pile of chairs on Rose to retain. Good match overall that featured some brutal spots.
Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO & Brody King) defeated The Briscoes & Silas Young
One thing that really brings ROH shows like this down is when the production crew abruptly ends a wrestler’s music and begins another’s. It comes off as very amateurish.
PCO and Mark Briscoe had a seemingly endless chop battle in the beginning of this match. He and the other Villains were highly over with this crowd.
Scurll and King did a cool superkick-gourdbuster combo on the apron. PCO then took a massive somersault bump onto the apron after Mark Briscoe flipped him from the top turnbuckle. It was one of the spots you watch and can’t help but cringe or squint your eyes in pain.
Both Briscoes were fantastic as per usual; their consistency should be noted and praised. Young added a nice heel flavor to their team and throughout the bout.
King did some insane big-man flying, then assisted PCO in a high somersault senton to the floor, all extremely impressive.
Jay Briscoe was cut under his eye halfway through this match. It looked like hardway blood.
Young did a nasty, nasty looking Canadian Destroyer to PCO on the apron. PCO is taking Mick Foley level bumps these days.
Brody King press slammed Mark Briscoe off the top rope through a table which got a loud reaction. The match finished with PCO landing a massive, almost delayed moonsault onto Mark Briscoe for the pin.
PCO was so over with this crowd that they were chanting his name even after the spot. This was an exciting, almost late-90s ECW style bout of mayhem.
ROH Heavyweight Title Match: Jay Lethal (c) defeated Dalton Castle
Fans were essentially split between the two with Lethal sounding to have a slight edge.
The two dashed at each other after the bell. Castle landed a huge German suplex within the first 20 seconds.
Lethal whipped Castle into the guardrail and looks to have smashed into a ring crew member.
Lethal used Lethal Injection very early on for only a two-count. I’m not sure why they chose to do this spot so early. Was it to get Castle over as a really strong challenger, or is the move just not that effective anymore in kayfabe terms?
The pace slowed in the middle of this match, something I’ve noticed Lethal employing in his past few big-card matches. Despite the aforementioned mostly-silent crowd, he was in total control of the bout’s tempo, controlling the ups and downs clearly and with conviction.
Aldis did a good job on commentary introducing the narrative that Lethal might have been playing rope-a-dope early on, adding nice depth to this rather mild match.
The crowd eventually heated up towards the end of this match, somehow. Castle reversed Lethal Injection into a high angle release German suplex for a close two-count, but Lethal finished Castle off with one last Lethal Injection for the win.
This felt more like a decent TV match than a prestigious world heavyweight title match. The match itself was mechanically tight but the crowd was dead for the majority of it. The final sequence was very good and both wrestlers got good reactions, but overall it was unfortunately underwhelming.
The two shook hands after the match as the crowd chanted “R-O-H.”
This was a sometimes good but mostly lackluster show. There were a few noteworthy moments and they seemed to all involve weapons, innovative spots or wrestlers taking sick bumps.
It’s hard to see the finish line at Madison Square Garden from here. Keep an eye on ROH’s roster as they rebuild in advance of what could be one of their most important years to date.
Ian Riccaboni was in the ring to kick off the first episode of 2019. He had four wrestlers in the ring with him, all of whom have earned a ROH World Championship match.
The first man, Chris Sabin, took ROH World Champion Jay Lethal to a time limit draw in a proving ground match. The next wrestler, Flip Gordon, won the Sea of Honor tournament to earn his shot. After that was Marty Scurll, who won Survival of the Fittest and a chance to challenge for the title. Finally, there was Dalton Castle, who had a contractually obligated rematch after being bested by Lethal.
Riccaboni then called out Lethal, but Matt Taven came out instead. Taven said that he in fact did retain his “real” World title at Final Battle. Then he proceeded to run down all four men saying that none were worthy.
Lethal was in the house and had heard enough smack talk. He came down to confront Taven. The two got into a brawl that ended when the referees and officials separated them.
ROH Television Champion Jeff Cobb defeated Luchasaurus in a proving ground match
Luchasaurus got the early advantage with a spinning heel kick that put Cobb down for a near fall. His edge didn’t last long as Cobb caught him in mid-air and launched him with a suplex. Cobb then took the half-man/half-dinosaur to the top rope and launched him with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex, which he followed up with a standing moonsault. Luchasaurus kicked out at two.
Not to be outdone, Luchasaurus fought back and landed a standing moonsault of his own. Luchasaurus tried some other lucha style offense — but it was to no avail as Cobb again caught him and connected with the Tour of the Islands for the the win.
Women of Honor World Champion Kelly Klein defeated Nikki Addams to retain her title
Addams was already in the ring as Klein made her way down. Klein got on the microphone and announced that she would be a fighting champion in 2019 and that every one of her singles matches would be a title bout.
Instead of following the Code of Honor, Addams punched Klein in the mouth and went right after her. Klein used her experience to keep her foe at bay. Addams was able to get in some offense, which included a running chop, but Klein was too savvy for her. Ultimately, it was Klein who got the pin after a knee strike that knocked out Addams.
After the match, Jenny Rose came out to remind Klein that the two of them have some unfinished business. They’ll be facing each other in a title match, but Rose wanted to add a stipulation to it, making it a street fight. Klein accepted — and so it will be a “Concord Street Fight” for the WOH Championship at Honor Reigns Supreme this Sunday.
Brian Milonas found Beer City Bruiser drinking and told him that it was time to move past the betrayal by Silas Young.
Christopher Daniels came to the ring dressed in a suit. He said he was there to say goodbye. He recalled his first match in the main event of the first ROH show, which was a 60-minute Iron Man match between himself, Low Ki, and Bryan Danielson. He thanked everyone, and with a tear in his eye, he said goodbye.
Joe Koff then came out and said that the two of them have had their differences, but due to Daniels being selfless when he defended Cary Silkin at Final Battle, his feelings for Daniels have changed. Because of Daniels’ courage, Koff offered him a contract for 2019.
As Koff was presenting Daniels with the new contract, Shane Taylor jumped the barricade and laid out Daniels. He tossed him around, slammed him into the ring post, and went after him with a folding chair. To finish him off, Taylor gave Daniels a Greetings from the 216 on top of the chair, then tore up the contract.
Dalton Castle defeated Chris Sabin, Marty Scurll, and Flip Gordon in a four corner survival match to earn the first title shot
Lethal joined Colt Cabana and Riccaboni on commentary for the main event.
Gordon and Sabin hit tandem dives onto Castle and Scurll. Sabin followed it up with a big missile dropkick. Gordon also landed one on Castle. The two of them then shook hands, seemingly forming an alliance. Their grappling cooperative didn’t last long as both men inevitably attacked each other.
After the break, Scurll and Gordon were in a heated chop exchange. There was a unique multi-man submission hold involving everyone. Scurll was using a toe hold on Gordon, Castle was using a chinlock on Gordon, and Sabin used an abdominal stretch on Scurll.
Scurll, Gordon, and Castle were fighting, and that allowed Sabin to go up top and land a crossbody. Sabin then hit a running tornado DDT, kicking off of his opponents. That put everyone down again. However, Castle caught him with a slam.
Next, Castle ran into Gordon, who cut him off. Gordon did a reverse fireman’s carry slam onto Castle and used the momentum to pop to his feet. Sabin got back in and thought he had Gordon with a top rope hurricanrana, but again Gordon landed on his feet.
Scurll caught Gordon from the outside, but Sabin landed a Scurll-esque kick. Sabin turned around right into Castle, who hit the Bang-A-Rang on Sabin to get the win. Castle will get his title shot against Lethal at Honor Reigns Supreme this Sunday.
When Daniel Bryan announced his emotional return to the ring, it was fairly inconceivable that he’d end up being a vicious and pompous environmentalist heel just eight months later. But the character change has revitalized Bryan and taken him to the highest points since the immediate aftermath of announcing his comeback. With Bryan completely buying into the change, “the new Daniel Bryan” has been far better in execution than it would have sounded on paper.
A look at New Japan going into the Tokyo Dome, notes on lots of new television deals and a story on the life of Larry Hennig heads up this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Our lead story is a preview of the Wrestle Kingdom 13 show, with the lineup, storylines, tag team tournament rundown, this weekend’s shows and full coverage of the tag team tournament finals with match-by-match coverage, star ratings and poll results.
Look at the glory days of the AWA with a story on the life of Larry Hennig. Start with his legit sports background, why he never wrestled or played football in college, how he got started in pro wrestling, and his rise to fame as a heel in the AWA.
Look at one of the 60s most successful tag teams, Harley Race & Larry Hennig, and their feud with Dick the Bruiser & The Crusher. Also look at the rest of Hennig’s career all over the world.
Also look at the future of Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt, George Bush’s connection to pro wrestling, WWE week on USA, WWE rules for what U.K. talent can do, injury and illness updates, John Cena talks on future, notes on and WWE tryouts.
Also look at ONE attempting to become a significant player on the U.S. scene with its deal with TNT, its big signings, but also a look at the company’s real economic numbers.
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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
Next week’s Christmas day edition of SmackDown is being taped at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California after tonight’s episode.
Today is Steve Austin’s 54th birthday, Trish Stratus’ 43rd birthday, and RVD’s 48th birthday.
Dixie Carter congratulated EC3 on being called up to the main roster: “So proud of you E! Congrats to @wwe too… Can’t wait to watch you hold those major titles in the air. Love you, Aunt D #toponepercent #wwe #raw #smackdown”
Today’s Hidden Gem is a Christmas night 1983 match from Mid-South Pro Wrestling, with then tag team champions Butch Reed and Jim Neidhart defending the titles against Magnum TA and Mr. Wrestling II.
WWE Network News reported that tomorrow’s Hidden Gems addition will be an AWA Christmas night event from 1983 featuring a Nick Bockwinkel vs. Mad Dog Vachon AWA title match. Just over an hour of the show will be uploaded.
After it was set up at their TV tapings over the weekend, ROH announced that Jay Lethal will defend his ROH World Championship against Dalton Castle at Honor Reigns Supreme in Concord, North Carolina on January 13.
Jon Jones’ coach Brandon Gibson feels that the constant layoffs that Jon Jones had had due to various problems actually benefits him in terms of competition. “He’s not getting concussions,” he told Luke Thomas. “He’s taking care of his body and his mind, and this is such a — at this top one percent, these guys are tough. That’s not an aspect that comes with sparring or anything like that. The time off where we’re not having impact, where his body’s not getting beaten up and broken down, where we’re just continuing to evolve the skill and the technique and the strategy and develop Jon that much more as a martial artist is key. And you said he’s 31, he has a long fight career ahead of him still, and he really feels like this time off has prolonged his career that much more.
Conor McGregor says he’s “launching rockets in 19’”.
A featherweight match between Jeremy Stephens and Zabit Magomedsharipov has been confirmed for UFC 235.
Marina Rodriguez has pulled out of a scheduled February 2nd strawweight fight in Brazil against Alexa Grasso due to what is being reported as a hand injury. It isn’t known if she will be replaced or if the match will be scrapped.
JacksonWink and American Top Team’s Instagram accounts have been taken down due to UFC content.
Former UFC fighter Chris Leben was on the Comedy Suplex Podcart episode 78 promoting his upcoming appearance for FIST Combat, this Thursday, December 20, at “Jolt’n Joes” in La Mesa, CA.
The show opened with a recap of last week’s announcement by Christopher Daniels that Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky had new contracts, but that he did not. His last match on his current contract will be at Final Battle against Marty Scurll, and should he lose, he will be out of the company. Scurll’s future ROH World Championship shot will be on the line.
Before a match between them, Flip Gordon challenged Silas Young to man up and make it an I Quit match. Young booted Gordon and started the pummeling immediately, then grabbed the microphone and declared that he accepts.
Flip Gordon and Silas Young went to a no contest in an I Quit match
It was an intense game of cat and mouse as Young chased Gordon, but Gordon had the speed edge and out-maneuvered him. Gordon landed a moonsault to the floor on Young to gain control.
After the break, Gordon pulled a table out and set it up in the corner. As he went to get his opponent, Young tossed a chair at him and gained the advantage.
Young continued to beat Gordon with a chair inside the ring. Young landed the Anarchist suplex and applied a full-nelson stretch, but Gordon fought out and landed a superkick. Gordon then missed with a dive. That gave Young the opportunity to grab a Singapore cane.
Seeing the cane fired up Gordon. He cut off Young with a chair, laid waste to Young, and picked up the cane himself. This brought Bully Ray down. Bully choked Gordon with a chain. Young speared the helpless Gordon through a table. The match was thrown out by the referee due to interference.
A preview for ROH Television Champion Jeff Cobb vs. Hangman Page at Final Battle aired. Page called Cobb’s run in ROH so far a disappointment.
ROH Tag Team Champions Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky, representing SoCal Uncensored, came to the ring. Sky got the microphone and — just as he was about to say Pittsburgh was the worst town he’s ever been in — they were jumped from behind by The Briscoes.
The Young Bucks came down to cut off The Briscoes and save SCU. They exchanged a respectful handshake, but as the Bucks turned away, The Briscoes shoved SCU into them. The Bucks returned the favor with superkicks on both teams. They then pulled a ladder out from under the ring, but before they could set it up, Kazarian dropkicked it into the Bucks and Sky landed a flip dive on The Briscoes. SCU stood tall on the ladder holding their belts to end the segment.
Daniels discussed his last opportunity to claim a contract with ROH. He must defeat Scurll at Final Battle, and should he be successful, he will not only win a title shot down the line, but he will also gain a new lease on life with a new ROH contract.
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal, Cody Rhodes & Dalton Castle defeated The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan)
Castle is returning from his “concussion-like symptoms” after he received a three-man con-chair-to by The Kingdom a few weeks ago.
This one started quickly as The Kingdom triple teamed Castle and Cody and Lethal bickered. Castle fought off The Kingdom while wearing his amazing “ugly” purple sweatshirt. He tagged in Cody, and Cody took over on O’Ryan.
Taven had seen enough and got involved. He took over and led the charge on Cody. He tagged in O’Ryan — who tossed Cody down by the hair. Cody swung the momentum with a powerslam and tagged in Castle. Castle came in with a fury. The Kingdom cut him off and put a hurting on him on the outside as the referee was distracted.
Marseglia got in with Castle and kept The Kingdom in control. He tagged in Taven — who antagonized Lethal. Castle finally fought back and tagged in Lethal.
Lethal ran wild until the numbers game caught up with him. Taven got a chair involved and looked to connect with a con-chair-to, but Castle came in and went after Taven. Both spilled into the crowd as Castle chased Taven. That left Lethal and Cody in against Marseglia and O’Ryan.
Lethal and Cody couldn’t work together and it looked like Cody was about to fall victim to The Kingdom, but Lethal made the save and that allowed Cody to land the Cross Rhodes on O’Ryan for the win.
Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman, and Colt Cabana called the action from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
ROH TV Champion Jeff Cobb defeated Shane Taylor in a non-title match
A battle of the big men started off with a shoulder block exchange. Cobb was able to get the edge and toss Taylor, but Taylor then suplexed Cobb. However, Cobb stood right up and a back-and-forth forearm fest garnered Cobb control.
After the break, Taylor had taken over, but Cobb fought back with some flying uppercuts. A huge dropkick from Cobb stunned Taylor as he was perched on the top rope. Cobb followed that up with a delayed vertical suplex and a standing moonsault.
Not to be outdone, Taylor landed his version of the Canadian Destroyer that he calls the Cleveland Destroyer. Amazing. The fans chanted “This is awesome.” Cobb snatched up Taylor with a huge German suplex and followed it up with the Tour of the Islands for the win.
After the match, Hangman Page came out to confront Cobb. Security followed to keep the peace, but these two were not interested in peace, as they laid out security. Cobb hoisted the TV title. One unfortunate security guard was left behind, so Cobb nailed a superkick and another Tour of the Islands.
Jay Lethal cut a promo on The Kingdom for the six-man tag team main event, which will be Lethal, Gresham, and a mystery partner against all three members of The Kingdom.
Marty Scurll recounted his feud with Hurricane Helms.
Brian Milonas found his partner Beer City Bruiser sitting at a bar backstage drinking a beer. Bruiser was depressed because the last time they were in Philadelphia, Silas Young walked out on them.
The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas) defeated Cheeseburger & Eli Isom (w/ Ryan Nova)
The announcers made all sorts of cheeseburger-related puns. The Bouncers worked together to isolate Cheeseburger. Bruiser lost his hold on Burger — which allowed him to tag in Isom.
Isom fired off some rapid offense — including a high crossbody off the top turnbuckle. He tagged Cheeseburger back in, leading to Cheeseburger landing a DDT on Milonas and then Isom was actually able to suplex him. Isom went up top but got cut off. Milonas hoisted him up for a superplex and then Bruiser hit the splash, their finishing combination known as Closing Time. It got the job done and The Bouncers picked up the win.
SoCal Uncensored came out and said that they wanted to end the reign of terror of The Briscoes. They said they will change Joe Koff’s mind by winning the ROH Tag Team Championship.
After SCU had finished speaking and were headed to the back, Mark Briscoe came from behind and waffled Scorpio Sky with a chair. Jay Briscoe then dropped Christopher Daniels with a Jay Driller on the ramp before a commercial.
During the break, Daniels was helped to the back by ROH personnel, jeopardizing next week’s main event where The Briscoes will defend against SCU and The Young Bucks.
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal, Jonathan Gresham, & Dalton Castle defeated The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan)
Castle got the better of The Kingdom, but they regrouped on the floor and tossed all three of their opponents into the guardrails. However, Lethal fought back and set up Taven in a chair before referee Todd Sinclair stopped the attack. Sinclair was pulled underneath the ring. This allowed Taven to hammer Lethal with the chair. Just after that, Sinclair emerged to count the fall — but Lethal kicked out.
Lethal was in big trouble and looked to make a tag, but The Kingdom came in to prevent it. Gresham finally tagged in and handled his foes and made the tag out to Castle. In the corner, Castle landed a running knee and a huge bulldog. There were more knees for everyone from Castle and an assist by Gresham with a dive to give his team the edge. Gresham went up for a Shooting Star Press, but Marseglia got his knees up.
Lethal came in and landed a Lethal Injection on O’Ryan — who rolled to the floor. That left Castle in the ring with Marseglia. Castle hit the Bang-a-Rang on Marseglia for the win.
Ring of Honor came to the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Sunday night for a set of television tapings.
– Cheeseburger, Eli Isom & Ryan Nova defeated Brian Johnson, Ken Dixon & Joey Keys in a Future of Honor match
– Women of Honor Champion Sumie Sakai, Madison Rayne & Jenny Rose defeated Britt Baker, Karen Q & Kelly Klein
– Cody Rhodes defeated Kenny King by DQ
King faked that Cody hit him with the IWGP United States Heavyweight title. Todd Sinclair came out to tell the referee what happened, and King shoved Sinclair for the DQ.
King kicked Cody in the groin, then ROH World Champion Jay Lethal came out to make the save for Brandi Rhodes. King hit Lethal with Cody’s title. Cody and Lethal got up and held each other’s belts before giving them back and shaking hands.
– ROH Television Champion Jeff Cobb defeated Shane Taylor
Cobb and Hangman Page had a staredown after the match. They beat up ring crew guys who came out.
– The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas) defeated Cheeseburger & Eli Isom
– SoCal Uncensored did a promo segment to set up them challenging for the ROH Tag Team titles later in the night. The Briscoes attacked them, with Christopher Daniels being given the Jay Driller on the stage.
– ROH World Champion Jay Lethal, Jonathan Gresham & Dalton Castle defeated The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan)
Castle returned from injury as Lethal and Gresham’s mystery partner.
– Brandi Rhodes defeated Ashley Vox
– Silas Young defeated The Sandman
The stipulation for this match was that Bully Ray and Gordon each picked wrestlers to represent them. If Young won, Bully could do whatever he wanted to Gordon. If Sandman won, Gordon could do whatever he wanted to Bully.
Bully gave Gordon shots with a Singapore cane as part of the stipulation and then low blowed him.
– Dalton Castle did a promo about being back and wanting to win the ROH World Championship again. It led to The Kingdom laying out Castle and The Boys.
– Hangman Page defeated Rhett Titus
– Marty Scurll defeated Hurricane Helms in a no DQ match
This was the fourth match in their series, with Scurll and Helms each having a win over each other and one match having ended without a clear winner. They shook hands after the match and Scurll praised Helms on the mic.
– SoCal Uncensored (Scorpio Sky & Frankie Kazarian) defeated The Briscoes and The Young Bucks in a three-way match to win the ROH Tag Team titles
Daniels came out in a neck brace after the match due to The Briscoes’ attack from earlier in the show. After the tapings, a segment with SCU and The Young Bucks closed the night.
“Left My Wallet” returns for a chat with Ring of Honor superstar Dalton Castle!
Dalton and I talk about his love for the Ottawa Senators and his passion as a hockey fan, training for the US Bobsled team combine, his amateur wrestling background, why there should be a post-Stanley Cup celebration documentary, hockey in Switzerland, eating Mcdonald’s in other countries, and a few other random tidbits from the former Ring of Honor World Champion.
It’s an offbeat and eclectic episode as only “The Party Peacock” could deliver. Enjoy!
Episode #357 of Ring of Honor television was taped in Fairfax, Virginia and picked up where last month’s Best in the World pay-per-view left off.
The show opened with a video package highlighting the PPV.
Jay Lethal started off in the ring issuing a challenge for Dalton Castle’s ROH World Championship. Matt Taven then chimed in and said he deserved a title match as well. This brought out Cody Rhodes, who said the same thing. Then, ROH World Champion Dalton Castle showed up and granted them a four-way title match for tonight.
Women of Honor Champion Sumie Sakai defeated Hazuki to retain her title
Hazuki threw Sakai all around ringside. Hazuki was firmly in control, trying to get a notch on her belt by upsetting the champion. A TJ Special hit for Sakai, but Hazuki kicked out. Sakai hit a fisherman buster for a close two count. Hazuki landed a double knee to the face of the prone Sakai. However, Sakai battled back and landed her Smashmouth finish.
Backstage. Gregory Helms irritated Marty Scurll. He put a beating on Helms, including doing the finger-break spot.
Jay Lethal defeated Dalton Castle, Cody, and Matt Taven to win the ROH World Championship
Castle took the early lead, strutting until Taven sent him over the ropes. Lethal was ready to dive and did so like a dozen times. Back in the ring, Castle got his mojo back until Cody sunk on the American Death Lock. Taven broke up the lock with a dive on Cody.
Lethal locked the figure four on Castle. Lethal then chopped Taven 22 times. Castle went for the Bang-a-Rang, then Taven rolled up the champion and pinned him for like an eight count — but referee Todd Sinclair was busy checking on Lethal.
Cody hit the Cross Rhodes on Taven and got a near fall. Lethal landed a double Lethal Injection and then another, but Taven pulled the ref out.
Castle and Lethal swung wildly and exchanged blows. Castle hooked him for the Bang-a-Rang, but Lethal rolled through and Castle walked right into the Lethal Injection for the win. The two upheld the code of honor and shook hands as Castle handed the belt over to Lethal.
Jay Lethal has captured the Ring of Honor world title for a second time.
Lethal defeated Cody, Matt Taven and defending champion Dalton Castle in a fatal four way match at tonight’s television tapings in Fairfax, Virginia. It boiled down to Lethal and Castle following a tower of doom spot that took out Taven and Cody. The two traded near falls, but Lethal caught Castle with the Lethal Injection and pinned him to become the new champion.
Castle held the title for 198 days, defeating Cody back at Final Battle 2017. He has been battling a number of injuries in the last few months since winning the title, battling both a bad back and wrist. He had previously retained the title Friday night at ROH Best in the World, where he defeated Cody and Marty Scurll in a triple threat match.
Honor Club subscribers can check out the fatal four way match in full here. It will also air on television in the coming weeks.
One of CMLL’s biggest stars will be next to challenge the Ring of Honor champion.
It was announced on Ring of Honor’s website that Ultimo Guerrero will challenge Dalton Castle for the Ring of Honor world title at New York City Excellence on June 2. It would be the first time a CMLL star has challenged for the title since the company forged a relationship with Ring of Honor back in 2016.
They did an angle back at the 16th anniversary show where Ultimo Guerrero stole the ROH title during a match with him and Volador Jr. against Jay Lethal and Dalton Castle. He later handed it back, with announcers speculating that he might want a title match down the line.
Titan, also from CMLL, has been signed for the event. He is set to face Cody. Other names signed for the show include The Kingdom, Silas Young, The Briscoes, Sumie Sakai, The Young Bucks. Kenny King, Jay Lethal, Adam Page, Bully Ray and a host of other talent.
New York City Excellence, a television taping, will be held at the Hammerstein Ballroom on June 2 in New York City.
A change in the card led to new champions last night at the first ROH War of the Worlds event in Lowell, Massachusetts.
During the show Castle came out and said that due to accumulating injuries, he would be unable to defend the ROH championship tonight. He reiterated that he was not relinquishing the title, but would instead take time off to heal injuries. It was reported in the newest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Castle has back and hand injuries, including a possible break in the hand.
An angle was set up during the Coast 2 Coast/Marseglia and O’Ryan bout where SoCal Uncensored came out from the back and took the ROH six man tag team titles from The Kingdom, who in storyline had recently stolen them. This set up a new match for later that night, where The Kingdom regained the six man titles from SoCal Uncensored, ending their two month reign with the titles.
The main event of the show had the Young Bucks defeat the Los Ingobernables de Japon team of BUSHI and Hiromu Takahashi.
