NJPW Strong: The New Beginning in USA 2022 continued from Seattle with Ian Riccaboni on commentary filling in for Kevin Kelly who is still in Japan doing English commentary for the Golden Series tour.
The Midnight Heat defeated Kevin Knight and The DKC
The Midnight Heat (Eddie Pearl & Ricky Gibson) are DEFY Wrestling’s current and longest reigning Tag Team champions. They’ve been active on the Pacific Northwest indie scene for the past couple years.
Gibson and Young Lion Knight started the match off, but as soon as Knight grabbed hold of Gibson for a wristlock, Gibson broke the hold and immediately tagged out to Pearl.
Once Pearl was in the ring, DKC began firing up on the apron and insisted Knight tag him in. He shouted “DK FIRE!” at Pearl upon entrance. How could anyone dislike this guy? His energy alone is infectious.
DKC took Pearl out with a hard karate chop to the chest, knocking him off his feet. Pearl rushed over to Gibson for consolation and hugged him around the waist. Gibson called for a timeout, but the ref did not oblige.
DKC and Pearl grappled on the mat with DKC getting the better of the exchange before tagging Knight back in. The LA Dojo duo double-teamed Pearl, laying him out with a double shoulder tackle. Gibson took a double hip toss from the Young Lions next. DKC chopped Pearl up some more with knife edge karate chops to the neck and chest.
The Midnight Heat made a quick and crafty comeback next, laying the DKC out with Back Sabbath, the team’s side Russian leg sweep/back cracker double team maneuver.
The Heat kept DKC in their corner and continued on with their double-team strategy, constantly tagging in and out while keeping DKC grounded and away from the red corner where a frustrated Knight waited for the tag.
Gibson held DKC in position as Pearl was coming off the ropes with a double axe handle, but DKC shoved Gibson into harm’s way, which led to Pearl accidentally taking out his partner. DKC saw his chance to tag out to Knight, but Pearl ran across the ring and decked Knight, knocking him off the apron to the floor, ruining any chance DKC might have had at tagging out.
Pearl caught DKC with a Bobby Eaton-esque right hand to the face. DKC then caught Pearl running off the ropes with a high leg lariat and finally tagged out to Knight. The crowd was getting louder in support of the Young Lions from here on out.
Knight cleaned house, taking Pearl out with a Stinger splash in the corner and landing a switch-around standing frog splash on Gibson for two. Pearl tried breaking up the pin with an elbow drop, but Knight moved out of the way so Pearl dropped the elbow on Gibson instead. The Midnight Heat were really good at playing the fool for the babyfaces and getting the crowd as into the match as possible.
Knight took Pearl out with a mega-high dropkick. I swear, this guy gets a half inch higher on his dropkicks every time I watch him. I urge anyone who hasn’t caught this guy throw a dropkick yet to do so now. Hops, he has.
The finish saw Knight attempt a sunset flip in the corner, but Gibson trapped his arm while holding the rope for leverage to score a dubious three-count on Knight as the referee didn’t see Gibson cheating. The crowd booed, but the Midnight Heat sure looked happy. This was a fun opener.
Fred Rosser defeated Gabriel Kidd
This match was great, but even I felt sore after watching it.
To say both Kidd and Ross were amped up for this might be an understatement. They jaw jacked at each other during the ring introductions before the bell sounded.
The two locked up after the bell sounded, but neither could gain the upper hand up front. Kidd muscled Rosser to the ropes. They traded shoulder tackles next though neither really budged. Kidd was able to take Rosser out with a backdrop early, but Rosser was up seconds after and laid Kidd out with a running lariat. Both rolled to opposite sides of the floor for a breather.
Back in the ring, the trash talk continued. They bashed each other with forearms and started exchanging stiff open hand strikes where you could see sweat flying off both of their bodies with each shot they threw.
They traded headbutts next before launching into what felt like a never-ending chop-for-chop sequence that had me wincing at times. The violence was relentless.
For those keeping tabs, this match felt like a marker for how far Rosser has strayed from the WWE in-ring style many of us were used to seeing from him. He’s shed pretty much all of what once was “Darren Young” in becoming who he is now: a really big, really tough, really mean dude.
They exchanged more hard strikes in the corner. Kidd got the better of the exchange, fell to the mat and sat cross-legged ala Katsuyori Shibata, his trainer, and shouted at Rosser to bring it on.
Rosser crawled to the center of the ring and sat across from Kidd, declaring the ring was “his house.” The two started slapping each other in the face while seated. Kidd looked to have bashed Rosser in the ear with one of the shots.
Back on their feet, Kidd boxed Rosser into the corner with more palm strikes. Kidd’s wrist tape started flying off. On commentary, Alex Koslov said this match would take years off their lives.
Rosser halted Kidd’s onslaught with pure power, hoisting Kidd into the air with a fireman’s carry and bringing him down with a gutbuster, stopping Kidd’s momentum. Rosser’s wrist tape began coming off, too, when he threw left and right lariats to Kidd’s back and chest. Kidd later answered with a big brainbuster.
Kidd went to the top rope for a moonsault, which looked beautiful, but no one was home as Rosser moved out of the way before Kidd crashed to the mat. He caught Kidd with another big running lariat and scored a near fall from it. Next was a running death valley bomb for another two count. He finally put Kidd down for good with an Emerald Frosion to pick up the hard-earned victory; strong style indeed.
Kidd got on the mic afterwards and, while pointing to the NJPW Lion mark logo, said that it was the reason why everyone had been brought together there. He thanked the crowd before declaring that New Japan was “the best professional wrestling company on the planet.” He thanked DEFY for allowing NJPW into their house and once again declared NJPW the best in the world, and in Japanese, to boot.
“U.S. of Jay” Open Challenge Series: Jay White (w/ Hikuleo) defeated Jay Lethal
White is everywhere these days. Outside of Strong, White has recently appeared on AEW Dynamite and Rampage, has made appearances with Bullet Club on Impact and was even featured on a recent “greatest hits” edition of NJPW on AXS TV which aired his match against Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight title in Osaka in 2020.
White came out to the ring with Bullet Club cohort Hikuleo, who we saw on last week’s edition of NJPW Strong against Cody Chhun.
The next mystery opponent in White’s U.S. of Jay open challenge series turned out to be former ROH Champion and AEW roster member Lethal. The two actually faced off once before in ROH in 2017 when White was on excursion from NJPW with Lethal coming out victorious.
When the bell rang, White walked to the center of the ring and pointed at the NJPW lion mark and shouted that Lethal was now in his house, his territory. Lethal didn’t bite. The crowd was excited as the two circled each other. They didn’t touch for almost a minute or so before locking up.
The two mixed it up on the mat. They traded holds although anytime Lethal grabbed a hold, White would strong arm his way out or at least make things uncomfortable for Lethal as he held control. Fans were chanting “Let’s go, Jay!” but I’m not sure which Jay they were supporting.
Lethal later caught White with a Chris Jericho-style springboard dropkick that knocked White from the apron to the floor. White tried following up with a dive through the ropes, but Hikuleo stood in harm’s way and held his hand out, ordering Lethal to stay inside the ring.
After another exchange in the ring, White was able to catch and drill Lethal with a snap backdrop suplex. He taunted Lethal, mashing his face with his boot.
Lethal was later able to pull off a suicide dive through the ropes that he attempted earlier before rolling White back into the the ring. He went for Hail To The King, his own version of Randy Savage’s diving elbow drop, but White blocked it, using an inside cradle for two.
Lethal used a reverse fireman’s carry roll on White, which I hadn’t seen done before tonight. Imagine Finlay’s fireman’s carry roll but starting from the torture rack position. He connected with the diving elbow on his second try. White took Lethal down with a quick flatliner before planting him with a release german suplex. He used a Blade Buster on Lethal for two.
Later, White would go after Lethal’s knee, stomping at it and wrenching it over his own neck at one point. Lethal connected with a superkick moments later, but he grasped at his knee after landing it, so he wasn’t able to capitalize on the moment.
Lethal called for Lethal Injection, but White blocked it and went for a half-and-half suplex. Lethal blocked that and slapped on a figure four leg lock in the center of the ring. White would eventually make it to the ropes for a break.
They traded more chops next. Lethal wobbled on his injured knee. They traded forearms at a rapid pace until Lethal caught White with a cutter out of nowhere. He went for Lethal Injection, but White rolled out of the way and Lethal sold his knee as though it buckled after he’d bounced off the ropes.
White went for the Blade Runner, but Lethal escaped. He went for Lethal Injection once more, but White used a chop block as Lethal was bouncing off the ropes to take out his worn-out knee.
White spiked Lethal with two half-nelson suplexes before pinning Lethal with the Blade Runner to pick up the win. White is now 2–0 in his open challenge series.
In his post-match promo, he said that he and Lethal were now 1–1 and if they wanted to even the score, maybe they could run it back once more and lightly hinted at it happening in AEW. He said the U.S. of Jay challenge is still open and awaited any of the latest free agents in wrestling to step up and take him on. He finished with his usual Switchblade Era spiel before the show wrapped, capping another solid episode of Strong.
Final thoughts:
This was a top shelf episode of NJPW Strong. Each match had a distinct flavor, completely differing from one and other. The tag team opener was fun and intense, while Rosser vs. Kidd was one of the more violent matches in the show’s short history.
The main event, or the Battle of the Jays, was one of the best main events the show has had, as well. Because of how talented both Lethal and White are, they turned in a quality match that is as good (if not better) than much of NJPW proper’s upper-card. If they do have a rematch in AEW, I assure you they’ll tear the house down.
Next week sees NJPW Strong Openweight champion “Filthy” Tom Lawlor take on former Team Filthy member Taylor Rust.
It’s Monday and you know what that means: a seven-match AEW Dark: Elevation that was taped last Wednesday at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Excalibur and Mark Henry were on the call this week.
Lee Moriarty & Matt Sydal defeated JR Miller & Marcus Kross
Sydal and Kross started with an exchange of kicks that Sydal obviously won. Later, Kross targeted one of Sydal’s legs and isolated him for a while until a Moriarty hot tag. A Moriarty Border City Stretch on Kross picked up the win for Moriarty and Sydal.
Tay Conti defeated Ameera
This was Ameera’s AEW debut In a short match, Conti dominated with several judo throws, corner kicks and a boss man slam. Conti picked up the win with the TayKO, improving her career record to 52-9.
Gunn Club (w/ Billy Gunn) defeated JB Cole & T.I.M.
This was the AEW debut for Cole and T.I.M. The crowd distracted Gunn Club with “Ass Boys” chants throughout the match, giving T.I.M. and Cole an opportunity to take advantage. In the end, Colten hit the Colt 45 on T.I.M. to pick up the win, upping their record to 40-1.
Frankie Kazarian defeated LaBron Kozone
Kazarian worked Kozone’s neck throughout as a prelude to the chicken wing. Kazarian rolled here with a lot of chops to Kozone’s chest. Kazarian (33-7) eventually got the crossface chicken wing to get the submission victory.
Ruby Soho defeated Kenzie Paige
Soho (12-3) won this short match after hitting No Future. This was an important win for her after losing in the TBS title tournament final to Jade Cargill.
Private Party defeated Chase Emory & Patrick Scott
This was the AEW debut for Emory and Scott. Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy isolated Scott and used it to their advantage. Emory tried to clean house after a hot tag, but Private Party stopped that very quickly and won after hitting Gin and Juice — their first of 2022 as they haven’t been in the ring together since September 2021.
Jay Lethal defeated Alexander Moss
Moss tried to ground Lethal, but the experience of the latter turned things around. Lethal went for a Macho Man-esque elbow drop, but Moss was able to kick out at the last second. The Lethal Injection gave him the win to keep his record spotless in the early goings of 2022.
Ruby Soho will return to action on Monday’s AEW Dark: Elevation in her first singles match since unsuccessfully winning the inaugural TBS title in the tournament final against Jade Cargill.
Soho will face Kenzie Paige in action taped last Wednesday in Raleigh, North Carolina.
As he prepares for his feud with Team Taz to begin in earnest, Jay Lethal will take on Alexander Moss. The former ROH star is 2-1 in AEW action thus far.
Private Party will return to traditional tag team wrestling for the first time since September 2021 when they face Chase Emory and Patrick Scott.
Here’s the full seven-match card for Monday’s YouTube show:
– Ruby Soho vs. Kenzie Paige – Jay Lethal vs. Alexander Moss – Frankie Kazarian vs. LaBron Kozone – Gunn Club (Austin and Billy) vs. JB Cole and T.I.M. – Lee Moriarty and Matt Sydal vs. JR Miller and Marcus Kross – Private Party vs. Chase Emory and Patrick Scott – Tay Conti vs. Ameera
Two AEW wrestlers are set to face off at the debut show for Jonathan Gresham and Baron Black’s Terminus promotion.
It was announced today that Jay Lethal vs. Lee Moriarty will take place at Terminus’ debut show in Atlanta on Sunday, January 16. It will be the first-ever singles match between Lethal and Moriarty.
Terminus’ first show is taking place at Atlanta’s Kroc Center. “Modern Age Grappling” is the theme of the promotion.
It’s also been announced that Impact Wrestling Digital Media Champion Jordynne Grace will defend her title against Kiera Hogan at Terminus’ debut event. Here’s the updated card for the show:
Jay Lethal vs. Lee Moriarty
Impact Digital Media Champion Jordynne Grace defends against Kiera Hogan
Moose vs. Alex Coughlin
Liiza Hall vs. Janai Kai
Gresham, Black, Daniel Garcia, Bandido, Dante Caballero, Fred Yehi, Joe Keys, JDX, Adam Priest, Tracy Williams, and Invictus Khash have also been announced for the show.
One era ended and another began at tonight’s ROH Final Battle event, where four titles changed hands, including the ROH World Championship.
Jonathan Gresham defeated Jay Lethal to win the title after submitting Lethal with the octopus stretch. The entire locker room had emptied out prior to the finish. Jordynne Grace, Gresham’s wife, entered the ring as Gresham was presented with the old ROH World Championship and had his hand raised by former ROH owner Cary Silkin. The show closed with Gresham celebrating his first title win.
The main event for tonight’s pay-per-view was originally set to be ROH World Champion Bandido facing Gresham. However, the company announced two days prior to the show that Bandido had to pull out due to testing positive for COVID-19. As a result, Lethal, who is now signed to All Elite Wrestling, took Bandido’s place. It was announced during the first hour of Final Battle that the winner would be awarded the ROH World Championship.
The ROH Six-Man, Tag Team, and Television titles also changed hands.
Vincent, Bateman, and Dutch defeated Shane Taylor Promotions (Moses, Kaun, and O’Shay Edwards) to win the ROH Six-Man titles after Vincent hit Orange Sunshine on Edwards for the win. This marks the end of Shane Taylor Promotion’s run with the titles, having won them on the episode of Ring of Honor television that aired on February 10 of this year.
Rhett Titus won the ROH Television Championship, defeating Champion Dalton Castle, Silas Young, and Joe Hendry in a four-way match, pinning Young with a dropkick after he dodged a springboard splash. Castle had only won the title recently, defeating Dragon Lee on the episode of ROH TV that aired on November 21.
The Briscoes won their twelfth ROH World Tag Team Championship tonight, defeating OGK (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett). After the match, the team cut a promo, saying they would take on any challengers. This led to the lights going out, and when they came on, AEW’s FTR appeared on the apron. Both teams soon engaged in a pull-apart brawl, eventually having to be separated.
Tonight marks the end of an era for Ring of Honor.
Final Battle 2021 will be held at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore tonight. It’s the final live ROH event before the promotion goes on hiatus for the first quarter of 2022. ROH will be taking that time to “reimagine” the company, and talent won’t have their contracts renewed.
Bandido was scheduled to defend his ROH World Championship against Jonathan Gresham in the main event of the pay-per-view, but that won’t be happening due to Bandido testing positive for COVID-19. AEW’s Jay Lethal will now make his return to ROH for a match against Gresham.
The situation with the ROH World Championship will be addressed on Final Battle Hour One. That Hour One broadcast airs for free on HonorClub, YouTube, and Facebook at 7 p.m. Eastern time. The main card then begins at 8 p.m. Eastern.
Five title matches have been made official for tonight. As part of a double main event with Gresham vs. Lethal, The OGK will put their ROH Tag Team titles on the line against The Briscoes.
Rok-C will defend her ROH Women’s Championship against Willow Nightingale, Josh Woods puts his Pure title up for grabs against Brian Johnson, Dalton Castle defends his TV title against Rhett Titus, Silas Young, and Joe Hendry in a four-way match, and Shane Taylor Promotions (Moses, Kaun & O’Shay Edwards) defend their ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles against The Righteous (Vincent, Bateman & Dutch).
Also set for the show are: Shane Taylor vs. Kenny King in a Fight Without Honor, Brody King, Homicide & Tony Deppen vs. Tracy Williams, Taylor Rust & Eli Isom, Dragon Lee vs. Rey Horus, Chelsea Green, Allysin Kay & Marti Belle vs. Angelina Love, Mandy Leon & Miranda Alize, and a wildcard 10-man tag match.
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Hour One —
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Championships: The Righteous (Vincent, Bateman, & Dutch) (w/ Vita Von Starr) defeated Shane Taylor Promotions (Moses, Kaun, & O’Shay Edwards) (c) [10:57]
This was okay, but the botched bell put a dent in the match’s momentum.
Dutch and Moses started things, showing off some nice athleticism for their size. It quickly broke down into a six-way with Vincent and Kaun tagging in and meeting each other with simultaneous crossbodies. Kaun took down Vincent with a running back elbow and a gutbuster for two. Moses tagged back in, and he and Kaun landed a double team for another two. Vincent came back with a Side Effect for two of his own.
Bateman tagged in for his first action of the evening. Moses hit a Samoan drop for two, then tagged in Edwards., who hit a German and a Liger bomb for a near fall. Vincent sent Edwards to the floor and landed a tope but took a dive from Kaun. Bateman then came off the top with a big springboard onto the pile. Von Starr tried to get involved but was easily dispatched by Moses, then Dutch flew over the top with a flip dive onto everyone. Von Starr landed an Asai moonsault for good measure.
A powerbomb from Dutch followed by a Redrum from Vincent got a near fall. Edwards hit a top-rope moonsault on Bateman for two, but the bell rang in what looked to be some unfortunate miscommunication. We got a parade of big moves in the ring, then Vincent hit Orange Sunshine for the win.
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Jay Lethal was interviewed by Quinn McKay. He said it was a privilege and an honor to wrestle in the main event of Final Battle.
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It was made official that Gresham vs. Lethal would be for the original Ring of Honor World Championship.
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Rocky Romero was backstage with Quinn McKay. He said he was here representing New Japan Pro Wrestling and that he would be on commentary. VLNCE UNLTD walked up and Brody King recommended that Rocky get in the ring.
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The Allure (Angelina Love & Mandy Leon) & Miranda Alize defeated Chelsea Green & The Hex (Allysin Kay & Marti Belle) [6:39]
This was pretty rough, but I thought Alize was by far the most impressive member of the match.
Kay and Belle are the NWA and SHINE women’s tag team champions. Alize and Belle had a quick exchange before Kay and Leon tagged in. Green quickly entered the match but was taken down by Leon and the latter’s team isolated her in the corner. Alize landed a nice running knee into the corner and then a suplex for two. Love hit a Complete Shot on Green for two more.
Green eventually used evasive maneuvers to tag in Kay, who hit a sidewalk slam on Love. She and Belle hit Hex Marks The Spot on Leon for two, but Alize broke up the pin. We got a parade of big moves, concluded with Green landing a dive on all three opponents. Love cut off a dive from Belle, then Leon hit a pumphandle slam for the win.
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The Briscoes discussed their history in Ring of Honor.
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EC3 tried to cut a promo backstage, but then the Pure team from later on tonight walked up and said they were down a man, asking EC3 to fight with them. He accepted.
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Danhausen joined commentary for this match.
Flip Gordon, PJ Black, World Famous CB, & The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas) defeated Max The Impaler, Sledge, Will Ferrara, Demonic Flamita, & LSG (w/ Amy Rose) [10:24]
This was all crowd-pleasing high spots to get everyone on the card.
Ferrara and CB started off with an extended technical exchange. Flamita and Flip tagged in with a display of acrobatics. They looked like they would shake hands, but Flamita flipped Flip the bird. LSG and Black tagged in, and LSG cradled Black for two. Max tagged themselves in and called for Milonas, who obliged, but Bruiser took out Max with a cheap shot. They traded strikes in the ring until Sledge tagged in to face off with Bruiser.
Sledge hit Bruiser with a Blue Thunder bomb, but then Black came in and took down Sledge with a thrust kick. We got our third parade of big moves in as many matches. Max and Milonas were the final two standing. Max cornered Milonas with a Vader-style forearm flurry and a corner spear. They hit another spear in the center of the ring, but then Bruiser pulled Max out of the ring and sent them into the barricade.
Milonas landed a crossbody on Black on the floor, then Flip landed a tope con giro. Bruiser climbed to the top but was taken out by Sledge, who hit a big-time Orihara moonsault onto the pile. CB wanted a dive but was cut off by Max, who suplexed him onto the pile. Flamita cut off a Black dive and looked to land a dive of his own, but he flipped off the crowd instead.
Bruiser picked up Flamita for a powerbomb, but the smaller man fought out. Flamita then landed a tornillo dive. Flip cut off an LSG springboard with a cutter, then he and Black hit a doomsday destroyer for the win.
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I normally wouldn’t include this on the report, but Riccaboni and Caprice gave an incredible impassioned speech imploring fans to buy the show that just has to be seen.
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ROH Final Battle Report —
A great, simple video package opened the show.
Dragon Lee defeated Rey Horus [11:21]
This was a great match from two of ROH’s most consistently excellent post-pandemic performers.
They performed a nice choreographed sequence early on until Lee surprised Horus with a tope out of nowhere. He dumped Horus over the barricade and drove Horus spine-first into the ring post before slamming him on the floor. Back in the ring, Horus got a flurry of offense but was immediately cut off with a spinebuster. Lee then locked on a half-crab, forcing Horus to fight to the ropes.
Lee went for the corner dropkick, but Horus landed a diving cazadora takeover and dropkicked Lee to the floor. Lee avoided a dive, but Horus kept the momentum up and re-directed with a great tope con giro onto Lee. Horus sent Lee into the turnbuckle with an overhead throw, then a single-leg dropkick got two.
Horus tried to keep up the attack but was cut off by Lee, who continued to target Horus’ back. They had a fighting spirit spot trading forearms in the center of the ring. Lee hit a snap German but ran into a discus forearm. He came back with a pump kick, but Horus won the exchange with a Spanish Fly.
Lee climbed the ropes, but Horus cut him off before he could attack. Horus hit the top-rope cazadora driver for a good near fall. Lee got the knees up on a twisting splash, but Horus countered again into a DDT for two. Lee powered Horus up into a Falcon Arrow for a near fall. He then hit the Incinerator for another close near fall.
A ripcord pump knee followed by an Incinerator to the back of Horus’ head was enough for Lee to win.
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Current IMPACT talent Eddie Edwards shared a video where he thanked Ring of Honor for giving him the chance to show what he could do inside the wrestling ring.
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Dak Draper joined commentary for this match.
ROH Television Championship four-way: Rhett Titus defeated Dalton Castle (c), Silas Young, and Joe Hendry [8:30]
This had some good action and a nice finish, but it was very much a two-in, two-out four-way style and the ref bump was contrived.
Castle immediately ran out to the crowd and celebrated. The remaining three fought it out before Castle and Young faced off in the ring. The former took Young down and then hit a nice overhead suplex and celebrated, allowing Titus to cover him for two. Titus avoided a dive from Young, but the latter redirected and took Titus out with a cannonball senton. He then hit the FYB and then the FYF on Castle, but Titus broke up the pin.
Hendry entered the fray and landed a big lariat. Titus caught a slingshot from Young and turned it into a bridging suplex for two. Castle went for the Bangarang, but Titus turned it into a roll-up for two. Castle was sent crashing to the floor, as was Young, as Titus and Hendry were the last two in the ring. Hendry caught a dive and hit a press slam on Titus. He then picked up both Titus and Young and hit a fallaway slam, but Castle stole the cover for a near fall.
Titus ran into a powerbomb from Hendry for two. Castle hit Bangarang, but there was a contrived ref bump spot where the official didn’t make contact at all — that looked terrible. Hendry hit Castle with the belt, then Draper ran down from commentary to take down Hendry. Young rolled Titus up for a near fall, then they traded forearms. Titus avoided a springboard splash from Young, then hit a straight dropkick on Young to win the championship.
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Current AEW World Champion Hangman Page sent his well wishes to Ring of Honor, saying it allowed him to travel the world for the first time.
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Johnson cut a promo before the match saying everyone who made this event possible could “get bent.”
Brian Zane joined commentary for this match.
ROH Pure Championship: Josh Woods (c) defeated Brian Johnson [12:59]
It was not a mat classic, but I enjoyed the “no amount of cheating can overcome pure wrestling” story.
Woods immediately forced Johnson to burn two rope breaks. He dominated with hard strikes and locked on a sleeper over the ropes, so Johnson dropped Woods across the ropes. He followed it up with a suicide dive. Back in the ring, Woods went for another rear naked choke, but Johnson fought out and hit a springboard shoulder tackle. A rebound lariat followed for two.
Johnson hit a spike cutter with Woods draped off the apron to the floor. He climbed the ropes, but Woods popped up and tossed him to the mat and cut him off with a spear. They battled for a suplex, with Woods suplexing Johnson over the ropes, sending both crashing to the floor. They traded forearms on the outside but had to re-enter the ring to break the count.
Woods overpowered Johnson, who responded with an open hand slap. Woods came back with one of his own and locked on a standing head-and-arm choke, forcing Johnson to use his third rope break. With the official’s back turned, Johnson poked Woods’ eye and hit The Process for a good near fall.
Johnson picked up the belt and the official wrestled it away. He tried to take off the top turnbuckle pad, but Woods popped up and hit a German suplex bridge for a near fall. Johnson then grabbed brass knuckles and whacked Woods with them, but Woods kicked out again.
They fought on the top rope, but Woods locked on a front sleeper and Johnson passed out for the stoppage.
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The next legend video was from Jimmy Jacobs. He discussed how he used to room with guys like the Young Bucks, Tyler Black, and El Generico. All of them have loads of success, and it wouldn’t have been possible without Ring of Honor.
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Fight Without Honor: Shane Taylor defeated Kenny King [17:47]
The “music between the notes” wasn’t really there, but the high spots were so impressive that it was impossible not to get into this.
King spat in Taylor’s face right away, so Taylor sent him to the floor and into the barricades. Taylor swung with a chair, but King avoided it. King was sent crashing to the floor with a back body drop. Taylor set up tables, but King used the time to recover and baited Taylor into a fight in the ring. Taylor overpowered King.
They fought on the top rope, where King hit an insane blockbuster through two tables to the floor. King was the first to get back to his feet, and he whacked Taylor with kendo stick shots. He forced Taylor into the corner and smacked him over the head with a trash can. Taylor caught a corner attack and slammed King onto the can.
Taylor got a measure of revenge with kendo stick shots of his own. He propped King onto a table on the floor and put him through it with a running splash. Taylor then brought out another table, propping this one up in the ring. He tried to lawn-dart King into it, but King escaped and put Taylor through it with a rolling Death Valley driver for a near fall.
Out on the floor, King bridged a ladder between the ring and the barricade. They both brought more ladders into the ring until King hit Taylor with more kendo stick shots, then Taylor did the same to King. They bridged a ladder between to propped-up ladders in the ring, and King placed Taylor onto it. He then dove off a ladder, sending Taylor through a ladder for another near fall.
Taylor caught a boot and laid in a strike combination followed by Welcome to the Land for two. They both moved to the outside and fought on top of the bridged ladder, where Taylor put King through the ladder to the floor with a package piledriver in an absurd spot. In the ring, King kicked out at two for a great false finish.
It appeared as if Taylor was hesitant in using a chair, so King implored him to “f*cking do it,” and Taylor obliged. The Marcus Garvey driver onto the chair followed for the win.
– After the match, all of ROH’s Black talent stood together in the ring.
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AEW superstar CM Punk was the next alumni video. He said ROH felt like lightning in the bottle, and told people to not be sad it’s over, but happy it happened. The business today would be drastically different if ROH didn’t exist.
The crowd had a tough time getting into it after the wild previous match, but I thought these women were great here. The crowd loved Willow.
Willow out-wrestled Rok-C early on as she had the champ scouted. Rok-C came back with moonsault knees, but Willow reversed them and tried to catapult Rok-C into the ropes. Rok-C blocked it and went for an escalera but was smashed with a corner splash from the challenger. Willow followed it up with a cannonball.
Rok-C countered the third of the Three Amigos, but Willow kept the arm clutched into an Olympic slam for two. The champion laid in forearms and followed it up with an escalera hurricanrana. A Thesz press followed by a Russian legsweep got two for Rok-C. She locked on a crossface, but Willow turned it into a cradle for two.
Willow sent Rok-C flying with a pounce. They traded stiff strikes to each other’s chests. Willow countered the Code Rok into a belly-to-back piledriver for a near fall. Willow climbed the ropes, but Rok-C cut her off and turned it into a powerbomb for two. Rok-C then climbed the ropes, but Willow popped up and turned it into a superplex. She then hit a top-rope moonsault for a good near fall.
Rok-C escaped the Babe Bomb and caught a kick, returning fire with a rising knee and a spin kick. The Code Rok followed for the win.
– After the match, Deonna Purrazzo came out with the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship. She said that if she beats Mickie James for the Knockouts championship, she will challenge Rok-C in a “winner takes all” match.
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Adam Cole was the next alumni to send in a video. He said that ROH changed the landscape of the industry, and he became the wrestler he is today thanks to ROH.
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VLNCE UNLTD (Brody King, Homicide, Tony Deppen) & Rocky Romero defeated EC3 & The Foundation (Tracy Williams, Taylor Rust, & Eli Isom) [13:32]
This was ROH Appreciation: The Match. The post-match angle was cool but also fairly baffling.
Rocky and Williams started things off, with the former quickly going for the forever clotheslines and then the cross armbreaker. Next in was Deppen and Rust, who performed a technical exchange with some nice cradles. Deppen hit both Williams and Rust with a double hurricanrana, then tagged in Homicide, who immediately ran into a crossface. EC3 tagged in, and he and Homicide traded strikes. King tagged in and he and Homicide worked together to take down EC3.
The last man to enter the match was Isom. He went for a sleeper by hopping on King’s back, but King powered out of it and hit a big running senton for two. Homicide tagged in and it was noted that he was wearing the exact same jumpsuit he wore on the very first ROH event. Isom tried to escape out for a tag and eventually did reach EC3. Deppen tried to take out EC3 with a dive, but EC3 caught him with a suplex. Homicide then took out EC3 with a tope.
Isom landed an Orihara moonsault onto Deppen and Homicide. Rust and Williams cut off a King dive and hit Total Elimination, but King popped right back up and sent them to the floor. He then hit a tope suicida on everyone. Back in the ring, King hit a big lariat on EC3 followed by a piledriver for two. Rust and Rocky had an exchange where Rust powerbombed Rocky onto chairs.
Back in the ring, Homicide attacked EC3 with a fork. Isom and King tagged in, and the latter hit a muscle buster EC3 then hit a piledriver. We got a parade of big moves that all had references to finishers from ROH legends like CM Punk, Jerry Lynn, Homicide himself, Brian Kendrick, Nigel McGuinness, El Generico, KENTA, and Bryan Danielson. They were too fast to list, but that was an awesome sequence.
Isom and Homicide faced off in the center of the ring, and Homicide hit the Cop Killa for a great near fall. Isom hit Homicide with a superkick, but King tagged in. King went for a big lariat, but Isom collapsed. King caught a lariat attempt and hit Isom with the Gonzo Bomb for the win.
– EC3 and Isom were the only two left in the ring. EC3 cut a rather obtuse promo, saying they paid homage to the past, and told Isom to stand. He then said that there is no honor in this ring, as it’s just corporate wrestling. They give everything to the ring, and they get nothing. Brian Johnson and Dak Draper came out and were heated. EC3 said this was a call to arms, saying they could take back this industry block by block. He told them all to use their power and said they could use their freedom.
Two wrestlers (one of whom was Wesley Blake) appeared on the ramp, then EC3 said “Free the Titan,” and Adam Scherr (the former Braun Strowman) stormed out. EC3, Scherr, and the two goons sent Isom, Johnson, and Draper packing.
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The Young Bucks reminisced on their time in Ring of Honor.
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Cary Silkin joined commentary for this match.
ROH World Tag Team Championships: The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe) defeated The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) (w/ Maria Kanellis-Bennett) (c) [15:56]
This was an absolutely stellar tag team match and unquestionably the best match of the night thus far. I’d be shocked if there’s a better Matt Taven or Mike Bennett match out there. The Briscoes winning was the only possible ending here.
Jay and Taven started off, then Mark and Bennett tagged in. Bennett cut Mark off and tagged in Taven, who dropkicked Jay to the floor and then followed it up with a tope suicida. He then went for a wild dive over the top rope, but the Briscoes moved out of the way and Taven was sent crashing into his partner. Mark set up a chair in the ring and used it to hit a step-up flip dive onto the OGK.
The Briscoes isolated Taven in their corner until Taven tagged in and the OGK hit a combination for two. Mark fought off both of the OGK and hit exploder suplexes on both opponents. The Briscoes hit a quick Redneck Boogie for two. Jay was busted open. He went for the Jay Driller, but Taven cradled him for two and reached Bennett for the tag.
Bennett laid in machine gun chops and a brainbuster. He hung Jay off the apron over the floor, and Taven hit a splash all the way to the floor. Taven hit the Climax in the ring after a parade of big moves, leading to everyone being down. Mark landed a pescado to the floor and then Jay landed a tope suicida. Mark kept up the offense with a blockbuster to the floor.
Mark climbed the ropes and hit a top-rope elbow drop, but Maria pulled the official out of the ring to stop the count. Bennett accidentally speared Maria. The Briscoes wanted a Doomsday Device on the floor, but Bennett escaped and hit a piledriver on Jay. The OGK then hit an unbelievable suicide Doomsday Device for a great near fall.
The OGK hit the Hail Mary, but Jay broke up the pinfall at the last second. Jay hit Bennett with the Jay Driller, Taven hit a spinning heel kick on Jay and a running knee on Mark. Taven went for a frog splash, but Mark got the knees up and Jay hit the Jay Driller for an awesome near fall.
The Briscoes then hit the Doomsday Device for yet another close near fall. A third Jay Driller followed by the Froggy Bow gave the Briscoes the win and the championships.
– After the match, Jay said that this might be the end of an era, but it’s not the end of the Briscoes. He said any tag team could come and challenge them.
The lights went out and current AEW wrestlers and AAA tag team champions FTR showed up. They brawled with the Briscoes and security had to come out and break it up.
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Bryan Danielson was the final video message. He talked about being on the very first ROH show and said that without ROH, he wouldn’t be where he is today. He thanked ROH and its fans.
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ROH World Championship: Jonathan Gresham defeated Jay Lethal [15:11]
This was perfectly worked. Both men are ring generals, but I fear they were short on time as they had to finish by 11pm eastern. The ROH locker room coming out to watch was lovely.
Neither man could establish an advantage early on. Gresham was eventually able to dropkick Lethal to the floor and maintain control upon re-entry to the ring. They had a nice technical exchange until Lethal began to lay in chops. Lethal hit an enziguiri, sending Gresham to the floor, and followed it up with a tope suicida.
Back in the ring, Lethal caught a crossbody and hit a fallaway slam. He slapped Gresham across the face and followed it up with a leg-trap facebuster. Gresham countered Lethal Injection into an O’Connor roll, but Lethal stopped a missile dropkick. Gresham reversed a figure four into a cradle before cradling Lethal multiple other times for close two-counts.
They traded chops for a long time until Lethal hit a snap powerslam. He climbed the ropes, but Gresham rolled out of the way. They kept countering each other’s moves and we got another extended cradle exchange. Lethal got Gresham in the torture rack and rolled through with a senton. Hail to the King was next.
Lethal wanted the Lethal Injection, but his injured arm gave out. Gresham capitalized with a moonsault and went for a chickenwing, locking it on with a body scissors. As Lethal was about to escape, Gresham turned it into a cutter.
The full ROH locker room ran out to watch the match at ringside. Gresham and Lethal traded strikes in the center of the ring. Gresham popped up with an enziguiri and a snap German for two, followed by the Bayonet for two. He hit a second one for another near fall. Lethal cut him off with a superkick, but he couldn’t hit the powerbomb, and Gresham hit a third Bayonet for another near fall.
Gresham went for a fourth Bayonet but was cut off with a lariat. Gresham countered the Lethal Injection into a backslide for a near fall, then locked on the octopus stretch for the win.
– After the match, Gresham celebrated with his wife, fellow professional wrestler Jordynne Grace.
A recent addition to the AEW roster is returning to Ring of Honor to take part in Final Battle: End of an Era.
ROH has announced that Jonathan Gresham vs. AEW’s Jay Lethal will take place at Final Battle this Saturday night. Bandido was originally scheduled to defend his ROH World Championship against Gresham in the main event of the pay-per-view, but Bandido had to be pulled from the show due to testing positive for COVID-19.
The situation with the ROH World Championship will be addressed during Final Battle Hour One, which airs for free on HonorClub, YouTube, and Facebook at 7 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday. The main card will then begin on PPV and HonorClub at 8 p.m. Eastern.
“ROH would like to publicly thank AEW for allowing Lethal to wrestle at Final Battle: End of an Era,” ROH wrote. Lethal departed ROH when he signed with AEW last month.
“This match is about more than winning or losing, more than who’s the best or what championship we hold,” Lethal said. “This match is about showing the world what this era of Ring of Honor is and I can’t wait to get back into the ring with one of the best wrestlers I know tomorrow night, Jonathan Gresham.”
Gresham and Lethal formerly held the ROH Tag Team titles with each other and have been stablemates in The Foundation. They were recently involved in a storyline where Vincent Marseglia created dissension between Lethal and The Foundation by playing a video where Lethal said that he doesn’t even like The Foundation. Lethal claimed Vincent had taken what he said out of context.
ROH is promoting that Gresham vs. Lethal will be part of a double main event at Final Battle. The other main event is The OGK’s Matt Taven & Mike Bennett vs. The Briscoes for the ROH Tag Team titles.
Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore is hosting Final Battle. It will be the final ROH live event before the promotion goes on hiatus for the first quarter of 2022. ROH talent won’t have their contracts renewed after the PPV.
Here’s the updated card for the show.
Jonathan Gresham vs. Jay Lethal
ROH Tag Team Champions The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) defend against The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe)
Brody King, Homicide & Tony Deppen vs. Tracy Williams, Taylor Rust & Eli Isom
ROH Women’s World Champion Rok-C defends against Willow Nightingale
ROH Pure Champion Josh Woods defends against Brian Johnson
ROH Television Champion Dalton Castle defends against Rhett Titus, Silas Young, and Joe Hendry in a four-way match
Fight Without Honor: Shane Taylor vs. Kenny King
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Shane Taylor Promotions (Moses, Kaun & O’Shay Edwards) defend against The Righteous (Vincent, Bateman & Dutch)
Dragon Lee vs. Rey Horus
Chelsea Green & The Hex (Allysin Kay & Marti Belle) vs. The Allure (Angelina Love & Mandy Leon) & Miranda Alize
Quinn McKay welcomed us to the show from the ROH studio and ran down the three match card for tonight’s show: Danhausen & PCO vs. The Briscoes, Jay Lethal vs. EC3, and a ROH World Women’s Championship match between Rok-C and Gia Scott.
The Briscoes defeated Danhausen and PCO (8:54)
Mark Briscoe distracted Danhausen as soon as the bell rang by grabbing Danhausen’s jar of teeth. Danhausen tried to argue with Mark, but was met with a right hand. Danhausen tagged out and instructed PCO to come in, which tempted Jay Briscoe to come in and exchange strikes with the big man.
When the break returned, Danhausen was being isolated by frequent tags from the Briscoe brothers. When Danhausen was able to make the hot tag, PCO malfunctioned and allowed the Briscoes to keep on the attack.
As the match went on, Danhausen came back in and poured the jar of teeth into Mark’s mouth before delivering a running kick — sending the teeth flying everywhere. When Danhausen tried to chokeslam Mark, PCO came in and helped complete the move. After the move, PCO malfunctioned again and the two partners got into a shoving match.
PCO was going to walk off to the back when Sledge appeared out of nowhere and the two began to fight into the ringside area. Danhausen was left without a partner, which resulted in a Jay-Driller on the pile of the teeth — allowing the Briscoes to pick up the win.
ROH Women’s World Champion Rok-C defeated Gia Scott in a title match (9:06)
Scott taunted Rok-C with the size difference early on as the two women exchanged shoulder tackles. Rok-C was dominated until she was able to string a series of moves that turned into a rolling pin that almost got her the three count. Rok-C tried to do a springboard arm-drag but lost her balance mid-move.
Scott continued her dominance, but began to lose control. Rok-C tried to apply a guillotine lock but Scott drove her right into the middle turnbuckle. Rok-C was unphased and tried to continue her onslaught of offense, but was bulldozed out of mid-air when attempting a standing moonsault.
In the final stages of the bout, Scott taunted Rok-C in the corner and was looking for a running maneuver. When she attempted it, Rok-C caught her with a knee to the face and followed it up with a cross face — which made Scott submit.
EC3 defeated Jay Lethal (15:11)
Lethal was overwhelmed by EC3 early on and rolled to the outside into the first commercial break.
Lethal looked like he had lost his confidence as he climbed back in the ring, but instead immediately turned on the jets and nailed EC3 with a dropkick. Although Lethal hit a few moves afterwards, he wasn’t able to sustain his momentum and EC3 took control shortly after.
After another short break, EC3 was still dominating Lethal after delivering a few chops in the corner. EC3 bent down on one knee and began “preaching” to Lethal — which lit a fire underneath “The Franchise” and gave him a second wind.
Both men went to the top rope and brawled before spilling the arena floor separately. After almost being counted out, both Lethal and EC3 rolled back in the ring and began to exchange strikes. Lethal hit a Lethal Combination, followed by a top-rope elbow drop. Lethal didn’t stop there and decided to attempt a Lethal Injection, but was ultimately stopped because his “I don’t like the Foundation” video was played on the video screen. EC3 used this as a distraction and locked in his signature “The Purpose” submission, causing Lethal to tap.
Next Week:
Taylor Rust vs. Chris Dickinson
Mandy Leon vs. Willow – ROH Women’s Title Number One Contender’s match
PJ Black vs. Bandido
Final Thoughts: This week’s episode of ROH TV was largely fine, but didn’t feature any standout matches or key storyline developments heading into the Final Battle pay-per-view that is only two weeks away.
Jay Lethal will have his second AEW outing on Monday’s seven-match Dark: Elevation while Tony Nese will look to keep his unbeaten streak alive ahead of his TNT title challenge Friday.
Lethal will face Trenton Storm, a 26-year-old who works as Storm Grayson on the indies. Lethal’s debut came in a loss to TNT Champion Sammy Guevara on the November 17th Dynamite.
Nese will face Vic Capri ahead of his own title challenge of Guevara this Friday on Rampage. Nese is 3-0 since debuting in October.
Santana & Ortiz will look for their tenth straight tag team win as they face Brayden Lee and Isiah Moore while TayJay (Tay Conti and Anna Jay) will team up once again, facing Missa Kate and Alice Crowley.
In a pair of eight-person tag team matches, Nyla Rose, Emi Sakura, Diamante and The Bunny will face Julia Hart, Skye Blue, Ryo Mizunami and Leyla Hirsch while The Acclaimed and Chaos Project will take on Dark Order’s John Silver & Alex Reynolds and the Varsity Blonds.
Dark Order will also be in trios action as Evil Uno, Stu Grayson and Alan “5” Angels face Matt Hardy, The Blade and Isiah Kassidy of Hardy Family Office.
All matches were filmed last Wednesday prior to AEW Dynamite in Chicago.
Here’s the full lineup, set for YouTube on Monday.
Jay Lethal vs. Trenton Storm
Tony Nese vs. Vic Capri
Nyla Rose, Emi Sakura, Diamante and The Bunny vs. Julia Hart, Skye Blue, Ryo Mizunami and Leyla Hirsch
Dark Order (John Silver & Alex Reynolds) and Varsity Blonds vs. The Acclaimed and Chaos Project
Dark Order (Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, Alan “5” Angels) vs. Hardy Family Office (Matt hardy, The Blade, Isiah Kassidy)
A new member of the AEW roster has been added to the Mega Championship match at Lucha Libre AAA’s Triplemania Regia.
AAA announced today that Jay Lethal will be part of the multi-man match for the vacant Mega Championship at Triplemania Regia on Saturday, December 4. El Hijo del Vikingo and Samuray del Sol (formerly known as Kalisto in WWE) have also been confirmed for the match.
There are two more wrestlers left to be announced for the multi-man title match.
Kenny Omega was originally scheduled to defend the Mega Championship against Vikingo at Triplemania Regia, but Omega had to relinquish the title due to injury.
Lethal cut a promo saying that this opportunity gives him the chance to add his name to AAA history by winning the Mega Championship. Lethal said he feels bad for Omega, but what’s bad for him is great for Lethal.
Lethal made his AEW debut by appearing at Full Gear earlier this month. He unsuccessfully challenged for Sammy Guevara’s TNT Championship on the post-Full Gear episode of Dynamite.
Triplemania Regia is taking place at Estadio de Beisbol Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico. Cain Velasquez, Psycho Clown & Pagano vs. LA Park, Rey Escorpion & Taurus is among the other matches set for the show, along with FTR defending their AAA Tag Team titles against The Lucha Brothers.
One of the top stars from Ring of Honor has arrived in AEW.
Former ROH World Champion Jay Lethal made his AEW debut at Full Gear on Saturday night. It was announced that Lethal will challenge for Sammy Guevara’s TNT Championship on Dynamite this Wednesday.
Lethal appeared on stage at Full Gear after being introduced by Tony Schiavone. Lethal declared that he’s now All Elite, and he challenged Guevara to defend the TNT title against him on Wednesday’s Dynamite in Norfolk, Virginia. Guevara then came out to the stage and accepted Lethal’s challenge.
Lethal is a former ROH World Champion, Pure Champion, Television Champion, and Tag Team Champion. He also previously wrestled for TNA and held their X-Division and Tag Team titles.
Lethal was part of the card at All In in 2018. He retained the ROH World Championship against Flip Gordon at the show.
It was announced last month that ROH is going on hiatus after their Final Battle pay-per-view this December. ROH wrote that it “will be taking the first quarter of 2022 to work internally to reimagine” the promotion. ROH talent won’t have their contracts renewed and are able to work wherever they want immediately.
In July 2020, Lethal issued a statement amid the #SpeakingOut movement saying that he’s never sexually harassed or abused anyone. The statement was in response to Kelly Klein alleging that multiple women had brought complaints and evidence of sexual assault/harassment by Lethal to ROH. Klein said that ROH ignored it or covered it up.
Before Quinn McKay appeared, cameras caught Vincent backstage. Vincent was standing in the mirror and asking himself and his fellow The Righteous stablemates if he looked good enough for a certain somebody.
Then, McKay appeared and gave her usual spiel. She then ran down the card of this week’s episode, which features a special Violence vs. Pure theme pitting members of Violence Unlimited against members of The Foundation. The matches scheduled are: Homicide vs. Jay Lethal, Brody King & Chris Dickinson vs. Jonathan Gresham & Tracy Williams, and Tony Deppen vs. Rhett Titus.
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Tony Deppen defeated Rhett Titus (12:23)
This match was a great display of the strengths of both wrestlers and gave Deppen a much-needed win in ROH.
Deppen tried to get cocky with Titus very early on, but Titus took him to the mat with a front facelock. Titus shifted the submission around and tried to keep Deppen’s head on a swivel. As the first commercial break ensued, Titus still had full control of Deppen after administering a few pin attempts.
When the bout returned, Titus picked the ankle of Deppen, sending both guys right back to the mat. After delivering a boot to the jaw, Deppen applied his own front facelock on the mat.
The match picked up steam at this point, with Deppen and Titus hitting their signature moves. Deppen ducked a few clotheslines from Titus but was met with Titus’ belly-to-belly suplex. Homicide came down to the ring to support Deppen, which lit a fire underneath the former ROH Television Champion.
After a second break, Titus attempted a running corner kick but got hung up. This prompted Deppen to springboard dropkick Titus to the arena floor, where he was met with a diving senton. Deppen would capitalize on this after throwing Titus back in the ring, where he delivered a chair shot to the mid-section of Titus while referee Todd Sinclair was busy with Homicide. Deppen followed it up with a running knee strike to get the win.
In a backstage promo after the match, Titus showed frustration with the fact that The Foundation didn’t help out when he was getting attacked.
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Violence Unlimited (Brody King & Chris Dickinson) defeated The Foundation (Jonathan Gresham & Tracy Williams) (12:52)
This was a really fun tag match that didn’t feature the usual tag match formula of the heels dominating everything.
Before the match, Violence Unlimited cut a promo. Chris Dickinson basically challenged ROH to bring Karl Gotch back from the dead to stop the faction’s current run.
Shortly before the bell rang, The Foundation jumped Violence Unlimited from behind. The chaos didn’t last for long as Brody King and Jonathan Gresham became the legal men. Gresham was isolated by both King and Dickinson as they exchanged a multitude of tags. Tracy Williams eventually snuck his way in the match and immediately planted Dickinson with a superplex before the commercial break.
Williams had a cool sequence where he practically square danced on both of Dickinson’s ankles. This was a turning point in the bout, as Gresham came in and applied a few ankle-based submissions. After a few more tags, the match went to a second break.
As the break returned, King hit an inverted atomic drop on Williams before turning it into a Boston Crab. King tagged out to Dickinson and took Gresham off the apron, making it a two-on-one affair yet again. Dickinson would go on to put Williams in a sleeper hold, prompting Williams to pass out.
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Jay Lethal defeated Homicide (5:37)
This was fine for what it was — but given the history, I would have had the match go longer.
The two competitors stayed out after the previous tag match and immediately went to war with each other.
Jay Lethal took out Homicide with a springboard dropkick and a trio of dives to the outside. Homicide responded with his own diving senton before both men crawled back in the ring.
The two traded big strikes to the midsection before climbing to the top rope. Lethal used the positioning to toss Homicide off the middle rope and hit a dropkick. Lethal went to attempt a Figure Four leglock and found a fork taped to the inside of Homicide’s boot. Homicide jumped up and tried to stab Lethal with the fork, but instead planted it inside of the turnbuckle.
As the match progressed, Lethal became more targeted with his strikes. After nailing Homicide with a superkick, Deppen made his presence known at ringside. Deppen went to hand Homicide a chair, but he was bulldozed by The Righteous’ Dutch who came out of nowhere. Shortly after, Lethal hit a Lethal Injection for the win.
As the show went off the air, The Righteous stood on the stage and applauded Lethal to much confusion.
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Next Week —
ROH Six Man Tag Team Champions Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Moses & Kaun) defend against Danhausen, PCO & Sledge
Quinn McKay & Rok-C vs. Miranda Alize & Max The Impaler
Wildcard Trick or Treat Halloween four corner survival tag team match (all of the teams will be drawn at random out of a jack-o’-lantern)
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Final Thoughts —
Aside from a main event that I wasn’t crazy about, this week’s episode of ROH TV was one of the better ones in recent memory. The show followed a consistent theme and wasn’t just packed with nonsensical tag team bouts. Every match was good or better, meaning:
This week’s ROH TV gets a grade of: Go Out Of Your Way to watch.
Quinn McKay welcomed us to the show and ran down the card for tonight’s show. McKay promoted a “protege vs. mentor” match between Brian Johnson and PJ Black, as well as a four corners survival match between Brody King, Jay Lethal, Kenny King and Shane Taylor.
Brian Johnson defeated PJ Black in a Pure Rules match (10:58)
Black and Johnson exchanged some mat wrestling in the early stages of the bout, but Black was able to come out on top and take control in the match.
Johnson would eventually escape from the clutches of Black by using his first rope break. Johnson rolled to the outside and looked to catch a breather, but was met with a dive from Black.
After a short commercial break, the broadcast returned as Johnson was in a cradle submission. Johnson immediately used his second rope break as Black taunted.
In the final stages of the match, Johnson and Black traded multiple chops and strikes. Black grabbed Johnson by the beard and suplexed him before following it up with a springboard splash. Once Black went to attempt the pin, Johnson used his third and final rope break. Black tried to capitalize on a weary Johnson, but was met with an eye poke and Johnson’s signature “The Process” neckbreaker which resulted in a pin.
Brody King defeated Jay Lethal, Kenny King, and Shane Taylor (9:21)
Lethal and Brody started the match. Brody attempted to use the same strategy that he beat Lethal with previously, but was met with a fire of rapid defense from the former ROH World Champion.
Taylor tagged himself in and had a short exchange with Lethal, which resulted in him hurting his leg. Kenny tagged himself in and squared off with Lethal. Kenny replicated a few of Lethal’s signature maneuvers, including his signature cartwheel dropkick.
Kenny was still in full control of the match after a commercial break. Brody came in for Lethal and exchanged frying pan chops with Kenny, before Kenny was able to slip to the outside and hit a blockbuster neckbreaker on Brody.
Kenny went for a running maneuver but Taylor tripped him up, allowing Brody to clothesline him. Taylor tagged himself in and went face to face with Brody. Taylor clocked Brody with a devastating forearm that sent him reeling to the outside, which allowed Kenny to slip in the ring and try to take advantage of a distracted Taylor.
Kenny was able to lift up Taylor for a blue thunder bomb, to which Brody came in and picked the bones. Brody threw out Kenny and hit Taylor with a clothesline on the jaw, which allowed him to pick up the win.
Final Thoughts: Both matches on this week’s ROH TV were good matches that had purpose behind them. Black/Johnson was good and advanced the storyline of Johnson joining the Pure division. The four way match was also good for a few reasons, including Taylor getting his hands on Kenny King (but not too much) and despite losing the match, getting some shine. It seems as if the company is building to a Bandido/Brody King match, which should be really good.
Weekly ROH TV (along with MLW and a few others) proves week in and week out that one hour wrestling shows are the best.
In recent weeks I’ve introduced a scale in order to let you know if the current week of TV is worth your while. The scale is as followed:
Must Watch TV
Go Out Of Your Way
Recommend Viewing
Watch YouTube Clips
Avoid At All Costs
This week’s episode of ROH TV is: Recommended Viewing
Chris Dickinson and Homicide captured the ROH World Tag Team titles on tonight’s Best in the World pay-per-view event.
Dickinson and Homicide defeated Jonathan Gresham and Rhett Titus in a Fight Without Honor match, with many weapons being used throughout the match. Homicide picked up the win for his team after pinning Gresham, who had already wrestled once on the show, following the cop killer vertebreaker.
The match was originally supposed to be Tracy Williams and Titus defending the titles. However, the storyline was that Williams was unable to be cleared by the Maryland State Athletic Commission. Jay Lethal was named as Williams’ replacement, but was taken out of the match by the state athletic commission after taking two Ganso bombs from Brody King earlier in the night.
The ROH TV title also changed hands on tonight’s show, with Dragon Lee defeating Tony Deppen to regain the title. Jonathan Gresham successfully defended the Pure title earlier in the show against Mike Bennett.
Tracy Williams is off tonight’s ROH Best in the World pay-per-view event.
It was announced during the Best in the World pre-show that Williams would be off of his scheduled match, where he was to team with Rhett Titus to defend the ROH World Tag Team titles against Violence Unlimited (Chris Dickinson and Homicide) in a Fight Without Honor match. Jay Lethal, who is already scheduled to fight Brody King on the show, will pull double duty and team with Titus instead.
Williams has not wrestled since being involved in a hit and run car accident back in June. He wrote at the time:
Firstly, I’ll be okay. I got full on hit by a car yesterday x-ing the street. Guy blew a red going ~25mph. I flew for what felt like a full second, landed high on my back. Just so unbelievably lucky & grateful that my dog who was walking with me was somehow not hit & she’s okay. I’d take the hit for her any day & it could’ve been so much worse. There are a lot of things about it that were lucky in that weird way. Like, it’s lucky this asshole idiot driver hit a 32 y/o pro wrestler & not the old couple that was crossing from the other side in front of me.
ROH Best in the World will be the first show back with fans for the company since February of 2020. The show is headlined by an ROH World title match between champion Rush and Bandido.
