This week’s Ring of Honor on HonorClub TV show will feature three title matches in addition to a Proving Ground match.
ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe will look for the third defense of his title as he faces Johnny TV who is still in search of his first AEW or ROH title.
The ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles will be on the line as Dustin Rhodes & The Von Erichs defend against former champions Cage of Agony.
ROH men’s TV Champion Atlantis Jr. will defend against NJPW’s Robbie Eagles as he looks for the third title defense in his young reign.
Reigning ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty will face Action Andretti in a Proving Ground match where if Andretti can win or take Moriarty to a draw, he earns a future title match.
Other action includes Lio Rush vs. Blake Christian, Katsuyori Shibata vs. Ari Daivari, and ROH Women’s Champion Athena will be on hand to share some thoughts as to what’s next for her.
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It’s Thursday and you know what that means! Title Matches (times three)! Six Man Action! Grudge Matches! It was all here and waiting in the 77th episode of ROH on Honorclub!
-The show kicked off with a segment with the former Big Show, Paul Wight, who is in charge of ROH now it seems. He was quickly interrupted by Johnny TV and Taya Valkyrie. TV requested an ROH Championship match, and Wight considered it for a second and say “ok.” Then it was over. That’s just how things work in ROH.
ROH WORLD CHAMPION Mark Briscoe defeated Johnny TV w/Taya Valkyrie
Last week, Johnny TV defeated Fuego Del Sol. This week, he got a shot a Mark Briscoe’s ROH World Championship, in the first-ever meeting between these two. Briscoe retained the title against Roderick Strong at Death Before Dishonor and recently attempted to murder Jack Perry with a chair in AEW’s Blood and Guts. But TV is, of course, TV Ready (and so is Taya!) and would love to cash in on this opportunity for gold.
The match itself was very fun, if not a little predictable. These two are both excellent at in-ring action, as well as working the crowd. TV looked a little more polished next to Briscoe, but the Master of Redneck Kung Fu has made a career out of adapting to his opponent’s style. That said, TV had control of the match early on, keeping the champion on his toes with big kicks and a little help from Valkyrie on the outside.
Briscoe turned the tables though with a missile dropkick from the top rope. The crowd responded and Briscoe laid in a whole bunch of chops and a dropkick through the ropes on TV. Valkyrie attempted to interfere but was caught and was banned from ringside by the ref. TV took advantage and hit a Starship Pain, but Briscoe kicked out.
After a rope-bouncing back and forth, Briscoe was able to land a Jay Driller on TV and get the pin to retain his ROH World Title.
-Robbie Eagles cut a promo in the back, demanding harder and more meaningful matches. He’s won all over the world, and now he wants ROH Gold. He challenged ROH World TV Champion Atlantis Jr to a match, which would happen later in the show!
Lio Rush defeated Blake Christian
Christian is back in ROH, fresh off the Best of the Super Juniors tournament in Japan. Back in February, Christian fought Zak Sabre Jr. for the NJOW World Television Championship in a losing effort. He’s also been part of quite a few six-man and tag team matches in ROH. In July, having not succeeded in the rap game quite as he’d expected, Rush made his return to ROH after a seven year absence.
Both men worked a very fast and high-flying style, so this match moved at about mach 5. Rush was like a greased trout in the ring and Christian had a hard time getting ahold of him. That said, when he had the upper hand, he was able to dish out the punishment on the smaller Rush. The pair wrestled a full match just in the first couple of minutes and showed no signs of slowing down.
Rush appeared to hurt is arm early on, selling really, really well and giving Christian an opening to take control of the match. Christian went for a big, big spinebuster and worked the shoulder and arm of Rush some more. Rush tried to hit a Rush Hour, but with only one arm, it only had half the impact. Christian wrenched the injured arm of Rush on the edge of the ring apron (the hardest part of the ring) but Rush refused to quit.
Christian hit a pile driver on Rush outside the ring and tossed him back in to attempt a cover. He nailed a springboard 450 off the top rope, but Rush wasn’t done and kicked out. Rush hit a springboard back move off the bottom rope and managed to catch Christian with a rollup and win the match, one arm and all.
Rush as a bit of a reputation in the business, but when he’s focused in the ring, he’s one of the best high-fliers working today.
-Billie Starkz and ROH Women’s World Champion Athena came down to the ring. Athena, with mic in hand. Starkz got demoted to “Minion In Training” after Death Before Dishonor and has been sulking about it ever since. Athena declared that this was the first “live” Minion Training Session and set Starkz to the task of doing situps in the background while she talked. Athena declared that Lexy Nair was her new Minion BFF, and Starkz asked why she wasn’t doing situps? Athena reminded Starkz that she was the one who lost “their” ROH Womens TV Title. She then continued bigging up Lexy and running down Starkz. Athena said that there was no one who could beat her and who should appear behind her? The living dead girl, Abadon! Athena shrieked in terror and then slinked (slunk? slunked?) away with her title belt and Starkz.
-Mark Briscoe joined us from the back with Tomohiro Ishii of the Conglomeration. Briscoe let us know that the Beast Mortos pinned him a while back, and he respects that. Briscoe wants Mortos and is offering a chance at the ROH title to do it. He left to find Paul Wight to make the match official. Ishii also left. He may not have known where he was to begin with.
Katsuyori Shibata defeated Ariya Daivari w/ Mark Sterling & Tony Nese
Last week, the Premier Athete’s Tony Nese got a singles match to show what he could do. This week, Ariya Daivari was in the ring against a man known as “The Wrestler,” Shibata. That implies that Shibata is very, very good at wrestling, so Daivari had his hands full. It also remained to be seen if Mark Sterling or another member of the Premier Athletes would factor into the match.
Daivari wasn’t in a hurry to hook up with Shibata, exiting the ring as soon as the bell rang to get some advice from Sterling. Nese hopped up on the ring apron to distract Shibata, but he was dealt with quickly, leading to Shibata locking in a figure 4 on Daivari. Daivari managed to make it to the ropes to break the hold, and jumped out of the ring again to regroup.
Back in the ring, Daivari was able to gain control while Sterling drove the crowd crazy on the outside. Diavari sent Shibata to the outside and then distracted the ref so Nese and Sterling could work him over. They threw him back in, and Daivary peppered Shibata with chops, but Shibata no-sold them all. A massive dropkick and suplex later and Shibata was firmly in the drivers seat. The Ref caught Sterling and Nese trying to interfere and sent them to the back.
In the chaos, Shibata locked in The Claw and then transitioned to an arm bar, causing Daivari to tap out.
-Backstage, the MxM Collection addressed their “tip-touchers” but were interrupted by the First Lady of Ring of Honor, Maria (along with Griff Garrison). She suggested they accept Garrison as a third partner and make a run in the trios division. They presented their tips, and instead of touching, Garrision grabbed them, leading to the MxM Collection to leave in disgust.
Harley Cameron defeated Viva Van
Last week, Cameron made her presence known in ROH by running down Rachael Ellering’s fashion sense. This week, she would be in the ring with Van, a PWI top-50 ranked competitor, looking to make a name for herself.
Cameron had about a six inch height advantage on Van and took control right off the bell. Cameron has a really mean and nasty way about her and her strikes hit hard. Van was able to reverse into an ankle lock, but Cameron fought out of it, wrenching in a body scissor.
Van came into her own in the latter half of the match, wracking up offence in the way of big dropkicks and knife edge chops. Also screaming. Cameron was able to battle back with a Backstabber, but neither woman could get a three count.
Finally, with a big running knee, Cameron was able to get the pin on Van. The crowd was deadly silent during this match.
Serpentico defeated Griff Garrison (w/ Maria)
A long time ago, in an ROH galaxy far away, Serpentico wore a green mask. Then, it was quite rudely stolen from him by Griff Garrison, his partner Cole Karter and of course, Maria. They have held onto that mask for what seems like years (but is more likely to be months) and Serpentico and his partner Angelico have failed to get it back. Now, with Karter on the shelf and Serpentico taking on Garrison one-on-one, this would be an excellent opportunity to finally get that mask back.
(As an aside, the black mask that Serpentico adopted in lieu of his green one is far superior, but that’s just my opinion.)
Serpentico set the tone for the match right off the bat by jumping Garrison and working him over on the outside before the bell even rang. Garrison managed to flapjack Serpentico on the steel steps (twice) and then threw him into the ring so the match could officially begin.
Garrison was in control, resorting to as many dirty tricks as he could, including eye gouging. Serpentico flailed until he was able to get a big back elbow on Garrison. Maria cheered on the outside as Garrison went for a torture rack bomb and pin, but Serpentico kicked out at two.
Maria screamed instructions at Garrison who tried to get a dazed Serpentico up for another tourture rack bomb. This caused an issue when Serpentico fell over, leading Garrison to clock the Ref, knocking him out. Maria took advantage and slid a chair in to Garrison who set it up in the corner. That brought out Serpentico’s tag partner Angelico to even the odds.
Serpentico reversed Garrison into his own chair and destroyed his testicles with a second. Unfortunately, there was no ref though and a three could not be counted. Serpentico shook him awake, but by then Garrison had enough in him to kick out.
Garrison removed Serpentico’s mask while he was down, but not to worry, Serpentico had a third mask on underneath. He hit a huge splash on Garrison from the top rope and got the pin to win the match and regain custody of all three of his masks.
-Backstage, Athena had calmed down from her Abadon fright earlier. She sent Starkz to get the car while declaring that she isn’t afraid of anyone, especially not a “spooky zombie… thing.” She then left in a huff.
Anthony Henry and Beef defeated Vinnie Massaro and Dante Leon
So, Anthony Henry has a cousin. His name is Beef. He really wants to be a wrestler. That’s about all there is to know about Beef.
Henry started off against Leon in a series of solid, but typical holds and throws for a match opening. The crowd began chanting for Beef, so Henry tagged him in to take on Massaro. Beef showed a lot more speed and energy than I was expecting, taking our Massaro and stomping Leon in the process.
Henry tagged in to a dazed Leon and hit a bridge suplex to get a three count and win the match for he and Beef, who celebrated with beefy gusto!
PROVING GROUND MATCH: ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty defeated Action Andretti
For those just arriving in the ROH Universe, this is a Proving Ground match. That means, If Andretti could last ten minutes or pin Moriarty, he will earn a future shot at the Pure Championship! It’s rare that the challenger actually wins Proving Ground matches, but Moriarty did just that against Wheeler Yuta to earn his successful shot at the title in the first place. Moriarty and Andretti have a long history, having battled on ROH and Collision over the last few months.
So, there was some confusion up until match time, but this Proving Ground match was contested under Pure rules, which meant that in addition to the regular Proving Ground rules, each man would get three rope breaks, and a panel of judges would award the win if there was no winner as time ran out.
Andretti seemed to have a little trouble adjusting to this and it cost him a rope break early. Moriarty did a great job of keeping the high-flying Andretti on the ground and keeping the match pace to his liking. Three minutes in, Andretti had used his second and third rope breaks, leaving him without one for the remainder of the match.
Moriarty caught a warning from the ref at 4:13 for using a closed fist. At the halfway point of the match, Andretti locked Moriarty into a Texas Cloverleaf. Moriarty was able to use a rope break to get out of it before he tapped. Moriarty locked in a crossface in the center of the ring, and with no rope breaks left for Andretti, his only recourse was to tap out at about 6 minutes.
ROH WORLD TV CHAMPION Atlantis Jr. defeated TMDK’s Robbie Eagles
Atlantis Jr went through five competitors at Death Before Dishonor before pinning Brian Cage to retain his title. Eagles had his first ROH match in over a year last week. A former IGWP Jr Heavyweight champion, Eagles was no slouch, and Atlantis Jr took that threat seriously.
These two were a really great matchup. Both had speed and agility to spare. Atlantis Jr got the upper hand first with a big knee to the face. Eagles fought back though, forcing Atlantis Jr to the outside where he worked him over and threw him back in the ring. Eagles gave into his own ego though, allowing Atlantis Jr to find an opening for some big punches.
Eagles tried to take off Atlantis Jr’s mask, but the champion was able to wriggle away before he got it off. Eagles began working the leg, trying to set up a submission finish, but Atlantis Jr fought back and landed a pile driver on Eagles. He followed that up with a back suplex and a two-count.
Eagles got in a flurry of offence, ending up with a Ron Miller Special locked in on Atlantis Jr. After a few minutes, Atlantis was able to fight his way to the ropes to break the hold. Eagles charged, but Atlantis caught him with a spinning backbreaker.
The two men caught their second winds at the same time and Eagles and Atlantis Jr traded holds and moves at breakneck speed. Atlantis ended up on the mat and Eagles went to the top rope, but missed the landing. Atlantis caught him in a tilt-o-whirl torture rack and Eagles was forced to tap out, allowing Atlantis Jr to retain the ROH TV Title.
-Paul Wight joined us from the backstage area to tell us that he’s making it official. Next week, The Beast Mortos would take on Mark Briscoe for the ROH World Championship. This brought out Tony Nese and Ariya Daivari who complained that everyone is being given title shots but them. Wight said that if Nese can beat Lio Rush, Wight would find them a match of their liking. Nese accepted and the pain left.
ROH WORLD SIX-MAN CHAMPIONS Dustin Rhodes & The Von Erich (Marshall & Ross) defeated Cage of Agony (Brian Cage, Toa Liona, & Bishop Kaun)
Last week, it was a tag match for Rhodes, teaming with Sammy Guevara in a win against the Dark Order. Back in the Six-Man fold, Rhodes and the Von Erichs took on the very beefy and very dangerous Cage of Agony, 2-time Six Man Champions in their own right. They held the belts for a combined 351 days, and defended them 11 times. If COA was able to get one over on the champs, they would become the 3-Time Six Man Champions, a feat only accomplished by one other team, The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Maseglia and TK O’Ryan).
Ross started things off against Kaun, with Kaun taking the lead until Marshall came in for a save. Kaun absolutely crushed Marshall with a lariat bringing in his partners for a triple team. The legal tag went to Cage, who dragged Marshall to the corner, isolating him in the Corner of Agony. Marshall fought out of the corner and managed to tag in Ross. Cage caused a distraction, and Kaun threw Ross out of the ring. Cage beat him up on the outside and tossed him back in for a Liona and Kaun double team.
Cage, in his X-Men gear that had to be making The Infantry jealous, tagged in and beat up on Ross. Cage’s raw power was pretty hard to match, but Ross just couldn’t get the tag to one of his partners. Cage of Agony started wrestling with real arrogance. Standing covers, stopping for pushups, etc. Ross found an opening and got a tag to Rhodes, at the same time Cage got a tag.
Rhodes played his greatest hits on Cage, hitting him with bulldogs, powerslams and even a crossRhodes. At this point, the match devolved as all six men were in the ring taking and giving signature moves. Cage and Rhodes remained the legal men and Rhodes hit a sneak Texas Destroyer that got a very close two count.
Siuddenly, the ring was flooded with bodies. The Dark Order and the Undisputed Kingdom stormed the ring, causing a no contest and wreaking havoc. Sammy Guevara ran down to join the fray along with Fuego Del Sol, Serpoentico and Angelico. The heels beat down on the faces and even took out the security that was sent to the ring to regain order.
Cage hit a Gory Flatliner on Del Sol and Bennett and Taven took out Rhodes with a Hail Mary driver. Then Christopher Daniels, Jerry Lynn and more referees hit the ring representing the Board of Directors. They broke up the 8 vs 4 melee as the show came to an end.
