Tag: Katsuyori Shibata

Kenny Omega return, champion vs. champion match set for next AEW Dynamite

Posted on by Josh Nason

Kenny Omega will return to AEW next Wednesday on the Full Gear go-home extended edition of AEW Dynamite from Boston.

What Omega will be doing is unknown, but it will be his first appearance since October’s WrestleDream where he aided Jurassic Express from an attack by the Don Callis Family following the Express’ match with the Young Bucks.

Omega will team with Jack Perry and Luchasaurus against the Jackson brothers and Josh Alexander a week from this Saturday at the PPV with a storyline $1 million on the line.

One match was made official for the three-hour combined Dynamite/Collision as AEW World Champion Hangman Page will face AEW Trios Champion Katsuyori Shibata in a non-title match.

The first time ever match comes after Shibata attacked Page Wednesday following his falls count anywhere win over Powerhouse Hobbs. Page will defend his World title against Shibata and Hobbs’ Opps teammate Samoa Joe in a steel cage match at the PPV.

Current AEW Dynamite lineup | Wednesday, November 19 | Boston, MA

  • Hangman Page vs. Katsuyori Shibata
  • Kenny Omega appearance

Ring of Honor TV live results: Pure rules showcase

Posted on by Jeff Moss

Pure rules will be showcased in three matches on tonight’s Ring of Honor on HonorClub.

Former Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata will take on Matt Mako while in two women’s matches, CMLL’s Olympia battles Viva Van and Yuka Sakasaki challenges former MLW Featherweight champion Janai Kai.

Formerly of the Dark Order, Alan Angels makes his return to the Khan companies for his ROH debut against The Beast Mortos.

Ahead of his mask vs. title match with MJF on Friday for CMLL, Mistico will be in action against Mansoor.

In a mixed tag team match, Wheeler Yuta teams with Marina Shafir against Man Like DeReiss and Aleah James.

The show is rounded out by singles matches featuring Satnam Singh and Lance Archer.

**********

It’s Thursday and you know what that means! If it was 30 years ago, Friends would be on! But in the here and now, we’ve got ROH on Honorclub and the man with the best theme song in all of wrestling:

Mistico (w/Alex Abrahantes) vs Mansoor (w/Johnny TV, Mason Madden & Taya Valkyrie)

Tomorrow night, Mistico will meet MJF in a Title vs Mask match at the 92nd Anniversay of CMLL show. Mansoor will probably be doing something tomorrow night too, but I’m afraid to speculate in case they make it into more gross merch. MxMxTV entered with Madden wearing even shorter shorts than Valkyrie, which is hard to do and deserves a mention.

The match kicked off with Mistico actually giving up a few inches in size to Mansoor. Usually it’s the other way aound. Anyway, Mansoor kicked Mistico in the gut and Mistico responded by running circles around him.

Mansoor made the mistake of stopping to pose, and Mistico took advantage with a poke to the ribs and a flip slam. Mistico took control from there, hitting Mansoor with springboards and wristlocks. Mansoor slapped Abrahantes through the ropes, causing a distraction and then raking the eyes.

Mansoor sent Mistico to the outside where Madden, TV and Valkyrie stomped him repeatedly.

Suddenly, Jon Cruz appeared at ringside in a top hat a tuxedo. Ian Riccaboni seemed pretty convinced that it wasn’t Cruz though.

Back in the ring, Mansoor went up top, but Mistico dodged and hit a springboard crossbody followed by a headscissor. Mistico scooped Mansoor up for a, well, scoop slam, and Mansoor tried to make a tag to Madden. Realizing it wasn’t a tag match, he turned and set Mistico up on the ropes to get spraed with (ugh) Seed. The ref stopped it though and Mistico hit a stalling crossbody followed by La Mistica to get the win.

Match Result: Mistico defeated Mansoor

Abraham Cruz then went to ringside and make motions like he was going to remove Mistico’s mask, referring to the match with MJF tomorrow. So that’s what that was about.

Pure Rules Match: Olympia vs Viva Van

Our first Pure Rules match of the night featured CMLL star Olympia, as a warm up for the Tournament to Crown The First Ever Women’s Pure Rules Champion in Ring of Honor, or the TCTFEWPRCROH for short. Olympia will face Billie Starkz in the tournament soon.

Olympia had a clear strength advantage over Van, but Van’s had some really aggressive matches in the last little while. She managed to keep up with Olympia through the first minute of the match, locking a knee stretch that looked really painful.

Olympia responded with a Muta lock, forcing Van to grab the ropes and use her first break at 2:01. Olympia hit a pedulum bronco buster in the corner, but Van was able to respond with a spinning heel kick. Olympia then got her up on her shoulders and did squats for a while before hitting a samoan drop.

Van went up top for a big crossbody next, but only got a two count. Olympia landed a German suplex, but got caught by an elbow when she charged Van in the corner. Van tried another crossbody, but Olympia caught her and hit a spinning slam to pick up the victory.

Match Result: Olympia defeated Viva Van

The Beast Mortos vs Alan Angels

Angels ran with the Dark Order in AEW when the first hit the scene, but this would be his ROH debut. He has the misfortune of facing The Beast Mortos who I heard declined catering just so he had room to eat Angels alive. That may not be true, but it could be.

Angels didn’t even get a lockup before Mortos knocked him across the ring. Angels came back with a high knee, but Mortos hit him in the face with his fist. Angels sent Mortos out of the ring and then nailed him with a baseball slide dive.

Tossing Mortos back in the ring, Angels went up top, but Mortos caught him and tried for a slam. Angels got free and landed a kick. Mortos got Angels up for a backbreaker followed but a lariat and massive samoan drop. That was it for Angels and Mortos picked up the win.

Match Result: The Beast Mortos defeated Alan Angels

-Backstage, Jon Cruz cut a promo about Mistico’s mask. He’s rooting for MJF as you can imagine. Cruz told Mistico that MJF is better than him and then switched to Spanish, so I lost track.

Pure Rules Match: Katsuyori Shibata vs Matt Mako

The second Pure Rules match of the night featured a former Pure Rules champion and NWO World Tour create-a-wrestler, Shibata.

After a feeling out, Shibata won the battle of the waistlocks with a wristlock. Mako rolled around, but Shibata was able to get a scissor lock on. Mako squirmed free and found himself in a headlock, which Shibata transitioned into a chin lock.

Shibata went back to working Mako’s wrist and arm, but Mako was able to use his legs to get out of it. In response, Shibata hit him with the figure four in the center of the ring. Mako managed to turn it over though, with neither man able to reach a rope. Shibata rolled back into control, but Mako got him over again. Finally, Mako made it to the ropes at 3:15 to break the hold and use up one of his rope breaks.

Shibata turned to strikes and chops to try and wear Mako down, hitting him with a missile dropkick in the corner. Shibata hit a suplex and went back to the arm bar. He transitioned into a triangle choke. Mako worked out of it and hit a butterfly slupex, followed by an arm bar.

Mako transitioned to a body scissor with a choke, but Shibata turned it into an ankle lock with kneebar as the clock ticked towards the 10 minute time limit. Mako used his second rope break at 6:25, but Shitbata put that leg lock right back on, forcing him to use his final break at 6:56.

Mako tried to get back into it with a suplex, but Shibata put a sleeper on him, followed by his big kick to get the pin.

Match Result: Katsuyori Shibata defeated Matt Mako

Mixed Tag Team Match: Death Riders (Marina Shafir & Wheeler Yuta) vs Aleah James & Man Like DeReiss

Yuta and his hair are partnering with Shafir to face two people I’ve never heard of and didn’t get an entrance, so I’m sure it will go fine for them.

Shafir and Yuta jumped James and DeRiess off the top, with Yuta and DeReiss starting things off. DeReiss got some momentum, putting Yuta in the corner and doling out some street justice in the form of multiple stomps.

Yuta did what he does and bit him, giving Yuta the chance to tag in Shafir. DeReiss tagged in James who immediately ate the foot of Shafir. James got a headscissor on, but that just made Shafir mad and she kicked her across the ring.

Shafir laid out James with a flurry of judo throws then stepped on her mouth. Shafir put a knot hold on James and flipped off DeReiss at the same time, showcasing her multitasking skills. James got a kick in and then tagged DeReiss in.

Yuta found himself flipped by DeRiess and then taking a shotgun dropkick and a 619. DeReiss allowed Shafir to distract him and Yuta hit an atomic drop followed by a German suplex. DeReiss wouldn’t go down though and hit a big cutter, sending Yuta out of the ring.

James tagged in and hit a crossbody on the charging Shafir. She tried to strike Shafir, but a strike war is not something you want to have with Shafir. She threw James and locked in Mother’s Milk, forcing James to give up.

Match Result: Death Riders defeated Aleah James & Man Like DeReiss

-Next, this week’s edition of Lance Archer Kills The ROH Universe took place in the parking lot. Archer beat up a bunch of extras, but then here came the BEEF! BEEF got a couple of shots in before Archer sent him into a barricade. Rocky Romero flashed some cash and they both left.

Satnam Singh vs CPA

Speaking of massive squashes, Singh was up next and took on CPA aka Carl Patrick Alabaster aka Corner Pocket Abbott aka the long lost son of VK Wallstreet.

CPA tried to pick up Singh off the top, which was pretty dumb. Singh picked him up with one arm and threw him to the mat. Then Singh ripped off CPA’s tie and he took off his shirt to reveal a SECOND TIE!

Singh found this amusing, as did the rest of us, but also, picked up CPA and threw him to the mat to get the pin and presumably 20% off his tax return.

“Match” Result: Satnam Singh “defeated” CPA

-Next QTV aired it’s latest episode. Aaron Solo compared QT Marshall to a bunch of celebrities and Harley Cameron made a Fisting joke. As always, she was the best part of this segment. They discussed Don Callis and some other stuff that happened in AEW and then Cameron left so the segment ended.

Pure Rules Match: Yuka Sakazaki vs Janai Kai

She’s the wrestler that’s fun to say, YUKA SAKAZAKI!

Kai started the match with a tie-up, but Sakazaki mat wrestled her way out of it. The two traded arm drags next, with Sakazaki getting a dropkick through the ropes, sending Kai to the outside. She followed that up with a springboard press to the outside and tossed Kai back into the ring.

Kai caught Sakazaki with a kick to the face and then started stomping her shoulder. She sent Sakazaki to the corner and landed some really stiff kicks. Kai tried a reverse chinlock, but Sakazaki was able to get to the ropes and use her first beark at 2:37.

Kai kept up with her “kick her in the face” plan and got a near fall, but Sakazaki lured her into the corner and a tarantula. The ref counted that as a rope break and Kai was docked one at 3:22. Sakazaki tried a hammerlock, but Kai went back to the kicks for another near fall.

Sakazaki dodged the next flurry of kicks and hit a reverse bulldog. Sakazaki got the hammerlock into a spinning slam and picked up the pin, 1-2-3.

Match Result: Yuka Sakazaki defeated Janai Kai

ROH Six-Man Champions Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Carlie Bravo and Shawn Dean) /w Trish Adora and Anthony Agogo vs AR Fox and The Kingdom (Mike Bennett & Matt Taven)

Last week at ACTION DEAN Taylor beat the heck out of Fox because, well, he could. So I guess that sets up this match for the Six Man titles.

STP jumped their opponents off the bell and everyone brawled. Bravo and Bennett ended up legal and Bravo sent Bennett into the STPO corner, Isolating him and setting him up for a three on one beat down.

Dean, now legal, put on a chinlock, but Bennett’s beard provided enough cushion to let him puch his way out of hit. That brought in Taylor though who’s punches could be stopped by no facial hair. Taylor jawed at Taven and then made the mistake of taking trash about Maria, Bennett’s wife.

Bennett owered back and hit Taylor with a shockingly stiff elbow and then a clothesline. That gave him the chance to tag in Taven, who met Bravo in the ring. Dean tried to get involved, but Taven sent him out and hit a neckbreaker on Bravo. Taven went for a spingboard moonsault, but Bravo dodged and tagged in Taylor.

That brought in Fox who cleaned house, taking out the Infantry and Taylor with a series of cutters and cannonballs. Taven joined him and they hit stereo dives over the top rope. Bennett hit a spiccoli driver, Taven just the tip, and then a swanton from Fox all on Bravo, but it only got a two count.

Bravo tried to steal one by using the ropes in a pin, but the ref saw it. The Kingdom hit rockstar supernova and Fox came off the top, but again just a two count. Dean then planted Taven with a DDT and after a quick tag, Bravo tried a rollup on fox.

Taylor came back in and hit Fox with a knockout punch, giving Bravo the chance to get the pin and retain the titles.

Match Result: Shane Taylor Promotions defeated AR Fox and The Kingdom

New matches added to AEW All Out Tailgate Brawl pre-show

Posted on by Josh Nason

Two new matches have been added to the Tailgate Brawl pre-show airing prior to Saturday’s AEW All Out pay-per-view on HBO Max/TNT.

Announced during Wednesday’s September to Remember edition of Dynamite, Daniel Garcia will take on Katsuyori Shibata for the third time.

It came about via separate backstage promos from reigning AEW Trios Champions The Opps and former champions The Death Riders accompanied by Garcia. Samoa Joe, Shibata and Powerhouse Hobbs took umbrage with Garcia’s move to the Jon Moxley-led group with Garcia saying if they had an issue, they could come see him Saturday.

The two squared off at 2023’s ROH Death Before Dishonor with Shibata successfully defending his then-Pure title. They rematched in AEW this past January on Collision with Garcia successfully defending his then-TNT title.

Also announced were Joe and Hobbs taking on The Workhorsemen’s JD Drake and Anthony Henry.

The show begins at 2 PM Eastern with the PPV kicking off at 3 PM Eastern from Toronto, Canada. A separate Zero Hour show with no matches will air per usual on YouTube and other outlets.

Current AEW All Out card | Saturday, September 20 | Toronto, Canada

  • AEW World Champion Hangman Page defends against Kyle Fletcher
  • Adam Copeland & Christian Cage vs. FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler)
  • TBS Champion Mercedes Mone defends against Riho
  • AEW Unified Champion Kazuchika Okada defends against Konosuke Takeshita and Mascara in a three-way
  • AEW World Tag Team Champions Brodido (Brody King & Bandido) defend against The Young Bucks and two TBD teams in a ladder match
  • The Hurt Syndicate (Shelton Benjamin, MVP & Bobby Lashley) vs. Ricochet and the Gates of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona)
  • Jon Moxley vs. Darby Allin in a coffin match
  • AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm defends against Thekla, Jamie Hayter and Kris Statlander in a four-way
  • Tables ‘n’ Tacks match: MJF vs. Mark Briscoe
  • Tailgate Brawl pre-show: Willow Nightingale, Mina Shirakawa, Harley Cameron & Queen Aminata vs. Julia Hart, Skye Blue, Megan Bayne & Penelope Ford in a tornado tag match
  • Tailgate Brawl pre-show: Daniel Garcia vs. Katsuyori Shibata
  • Tailgate Brawl pre-show: Samoa Joe & Powerhouse Hobbs vs. The Workhorsemen (JD Drake & Anthony Henry)

Ring of Honor TV live results: Athena in action

Posted on by Jeff Moss

Days after she successfully defended her ROH Women’s World title and on the doorstep of her 1000th day as champion, Athena will return to action on tonight’s ROH on HonorClub.

In a non-title match, she will face Dayami in a bout taped nearly a month ago. She defeated Mina Shirakawa at last Friday’s Death Before Dishonor.

Hologram & Tomohiro Ishii will team up against to battle Tony Nese & Arya Daivari of the Premier Athletes.

AEW Trios Champion Katsuyori Shibata will take on GCW’s Jordan Oliver in search of his first promotional win.

Wheeler Yuta will challenge John Silver in a match of longtime Northeast wrestlers.

The card is rounded out by the Spanish Announce Project, Lance Archer, and Swirl (Blake Christian & Lee Johnson) in action against opponents to be announced.

Matches tonight range in location from Cincinnati, Cleveland and Chicago.

It will be the first of two ROH shows in two days.

**********

Death Before Dishonor is in the rear view, but Ring of Honor Action continues!

ROH Women’s World Champion Athena vs Dayami

The show wasted no time in kicking right into this Proving Ground match According to internet sources, today is in fact, Athena’s 1000th day as Ring of Honor Women’s World Champion. According to Ian Riccaboni, it’s 999. Either one is pretty impressive though!

Dayami didn’t have much of a chance at the start. Athena went at her hard right off the bell, sending her to the outside. There, Athena caught a kick and slammed Dayami into onto the ring apron. Dayami crawled back into the ring and Athena put on the Koji Clutch. Dayami passed right out and that was it!

Match Result: Athena defeated Dayami

Kind of a strange way to start the show with no card rundown, no build up, no entrances and about :45 seconds worth of wrestling. But, it’s Athena, so all is forgiven.

Blake Christian & Lee Johnson vs Joe Alonzo & Thomas Hein

Christian and Johnson have been calling themselves “The Swirl” despite my objections, so that’s something that’s happening.

Johnson started off against Alonzo who had multiple pictures of his own face on his tights. That didn’t help him though as Christian took out HInes and the two double teamed Alonzo with some speedy kicks and dueling slams.

Christian tagged in and ate a turnbuckle as Alonzo ducked a splash. That brought in Hein who was picked up by Johnson and thrown at Christian who hit him with a drop kick. They then set him up for a spicolli driver and that was it.

Match Result: Blake Christian & Lee Johnson defeated Joe Alonzo & Thomas Hein

Wheeler Yuta (w/Marina Shafir) vs John Silver

Silver gets a rare singles match here against the Death Rider’s worst haircut. Silver is a literal fire hydrant of a human. He reminds me of a much more personable Taz. Yuta still can’t find a barber, which may hinder him in this bout.

Silver’s strength served him well as he got the drop on Yuta off the top. Yuta got back into it though coming back at Silver with some chops. Silvers chops back put Yuta on his heels and the following kicks put him on his back.

Silver then punted Yuta and picked him up and dropped him in a powerbomb. Yuta was completely off his game here as Silver sent him to the outside and bounced him off the barricades. Shafir watched disapprovingly. At least I think she did. She doesn’t have a lot of facial range.

Back in the ring, Silver kept up the pressure until Yuta hung him up on the ropes. Silver fell back out of the ring and Shafir hit him with a Judo throw. That brought out Evil Uno and Alex Reynolds. The Ref separated them and the action moved back into the ring.

Yuta began a comeback, throwing knees into Silver’s back and working a headlock. He hung Silver up on the ropes, but took too long to capitalize and Silver met him with a superkick. The two began brawling, trading kicks for punches with Silver getting the upper forearm.

Silver hit a big DDT, but Yuta kicked out at two. Shafir began getting annoyed at ringside and suddenly, Jon Moxley appeared. He joined Shafir at ringside while Yuta locked in a half-crab on Silver’s previously injured knee.

Silver turned the tables into a straight jacket crossface and that brought Shafir up on the apron. Reynolds pulled her down and Uno got in Moxley’s face. Mox tried to tear Uno’s mask off, but Silver dropkicked him to get him to stop. That opened up Silver for a Buseko knee fro Yuta who pinned him to get the victory


Match Result: Wheeler Yuta (w/Marina Shafir) defeated John Silver

That was a good match, I really like Silver. I was surprised to see Moxley get involved, I figured he had better things to do.

Lance Archer (w/ Rocky Romero) vs Marcus and Adam King

Tonight’s Lance Archer Murderfest featured not one, but two opponents that had absolutely no chance of winning. I won’t bore you with the details, but it ended with Archer hitting a Blackout using one of the King’s as a weapon.

Match Result: Lance Archer defeated Marcus and Adam King

After the martch, Archer continued the beatdown until security arrived. They both ate a chokeslam and then a recap of the Tag Team Championship match from Death Before Dishonor aired.

Honestly, I pre-wrote that recap and then just added in the names. That’s how predictable the “Lance Archer Kills The ROH Universe” thing has become.

Spanish Announce Project (Angelico & Serpentico) vs Philly Collins and Marino Tenaglia

Yes, you read that right.

Angelico and Tenaglia kicked things off, with Angelico’s agility offsetting the brawn of Tenaglia. Serpentico got involved and after a quick double team, Serpentico became legal and ran circles around Tenaglia. Tenaglia felt it coming in the air tonight and tagged in Phil Collins, isolating Serpentico.

Collins danced into the light of a big side slam on Serpentico before Tenaglia decided that they shouldn’t live separate lives and tagged back in. He tweaked the neck of Serpentico, before tagging Collins back in, no jacket required.

Collins and Tenaglia tried for a double team, but Serpentico hit a double DDT to buy some time to get the hot tag to Angelico. Angelico showed Collins and Tenaglia a groovy kind of love with a clothesline, sending Collins out of the ring.

At this point, Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman started adding Phil Collins puns of their own which was a very surreal thing for me. Just another day in paradise.

Any way, back in the ring, Angelico locked in a grapevine ankle lock on Tenaglia, who tapped out giving SAP the win.

Match Result: Spanish Announce Project defeated Philly Collins and Marino Tenaglia

You know, given Phil Collins’ extensive catalouge of smooth, soft-rock hits, a match against the laid-back SAP makes perfect sense.

Katsuyori Shibata vs Jordan Oliver

I misread the headline and was very disappointed when a small angry British man in glasses didn’t come to the ring to face Shibata.

At any rate though, these guys both have some great technical backgrounds that they put on display right off the top. Shibata put Oliver in a wristlock and stomped his twisted arm repeatedly. Oliver got away, but was lured back into a lock up that ended with him on the receiving end of a headlock.

Shibata had control from there, hitting Oliver with smacks and chops in between working the arm with various submission holds. Oliver found a second wind though and hit a dropkick that sent Shibata into the corner. Oliver followed that up with a side kick.

Shibata managed to wrangle an ankle lock on Oliver, but Oliver made it to the ropes to break the hold. Shibata sent him to the corner and hit a dropkick that knocked Olver loopy. Shibata tried a sleeper, which dazed Oliver enough for Shibata to kick him in the face and pick up the victory.

Match Result: Katsuyori Shibata defeated Jordan Oliver

The Conglomeration (Hologram & Tomohiro Ishii) vst The Premier Athletes (Ariya Daivari & Tony Nese)

Before the match, footage was shown from Collision that teased (are you ready for this?) that a CLONE of Hologram may be imminent in AEW/ROH.

Do it, you cowards.

Anyway, the Athletes came down to the ring with Mark Sterling and their usual attempts to get the crowd to say that they ruled instead of sucked. Hologram came down to the ring with his usual Tomohiro Ishii.

Hologram and Nese kicked things off with Nese getting a headlock off the top. Hologram reversed it into a leg lock and the two went back and forth exchanging holds until Nese got an elbow in Hologram’s face in the corner.

Nese got cocky though and Hologram made him pay with a hurricanrana into an Armbar. Ishii tagged in and Daivari followed suit. Ishii no-sold a bunch of chops and punches and Daivari was forced to resort to trying to rake the eyes. Ishii got mad at that and he and Hologram double teamed Daivari for a bit.

Hologram sent Nese to the outside and tried for a dive, but Nese grabbed his ankle and dropped him on the mat. Daivari, the legal man gave Sterling a chance to choke Hologram with the ropes. Daivari sent Hologram into the corner where he and Nese tagged in and out. Nese ended up legal and hit a huge legdrop through the ropes.

Hologram started to come back, but Nese put a stop to hit with a headlock. Nese dragged Hologram back to his corner and tagged in Daivari. Hologram finally got the hot tag to Ishii who did a great Miley Cyrus impression and entered like a wrecking ball.

Ishii hit a suplex on Nese that got a two count. Nese and Daivari set him up for a double team but Ishii put them both down with a double clothesline and tagged hin Hologram. Hologram went up top, but Sterling caused a distraction, allowing Daivari to knock him off the ringpost.

Daivari then hit a Magic Carpet Ride on Hologram, using an actual carpet (I kid you not). Hologram got the tag to Ishii who cleaned house and knocked Sterling off the apron. That allowed Hologram to hit a 450 on Daivari and pick up the win.


Match Result: The Conglomeration defeated The Premier Athletes

After the match, Nese and Daivari screamed at the camera over Sterling being pushed off the apron. They are sick and tired of seeing their manager get taken out. Sterling claimed to have a torn bicep and for him, that means he can no longer live a normal life. Sterling then said that they need a contingency plan and the show faded out.

Shibata vs. Rush, Dustin Rhodes promo part of AEW Collision lineup

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Saturday’s AEW Collision lineup includes Katsuyori Shibata vs. Rush, plus a promo from the new TNT Champion.

As announced during Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite, Shibata and Rush will go one-on-one on the Saturday, July 19 Collision in a first-time-ever singles matchup.

Also set for Saturday’s show, TNT Champion Dustin Rhodes will address the audience after his emotional All In title win.

The recent issues between TayJay and the Megan Bayne & Penelope Ford duo will be settled on the show as well, as Tay Melo faces Bayne in a singles match with everyone banned from ringside.

Alex Windsor will make her Collision debut on Saturday’s episode facing Taya Valkyrie in a one-on-one match.

Ricochet will square off with AR Fox in another singles match announced for the card.

In an eight-man tag, The Don Callis Family’s Trent Beretta, Rocky Romero, Josh Alexander, and HEchicero will face Kevin Knight, Mike Bailey, Bandido, and Mascara Dorada.

Saturday’s Collision will be taped Thursday night, July 17 in Chicago as part of AEW’s three-week residency at the Aragon Ballroom. The card:

AEW Collision airing Saturday, July 19 —

  • Katsuyori Shibata vs. Rush
  • TNT Champion Dustin Rhodes speaks
  • Megan Bayne vs. Tay Melo — Everyone banned from ringside
  • Alex Windsor vs. Taya Valkyrie
  • Ricochet vs. AR Fox
  • Kevin Knight, Mike Bailey, Bandido & Mascara Dorada vs. Trent Beretta, Rocky Romero, Hechicero & Josh Alexander

All Star eight-man tag, Mercedes Mone & Toni Storm final face-to-face set for AEW Dynamite

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Matches and segments have been announced for the next episode of AEW Dynamite.

An All-Star 8 man tag will take place just days before next weekend’s All In. Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and The Young Bucks will take on Hangman Page, Will Ospreay, Katsuyori Shibata, and Powerhouse Hobbs. It will be the last time Moxley and Page meet before their Texas Death match at All In.

A four-way match will determine the number two spot in the Women’s Casino Gauntlet match. Thekla, Queen Aminata, Tay Melo, and Megan Bayne will compete to see who faces number one pick Kris Statlander next Saturday.

Additionally, MJF and Mark Briscoe will have a “talky-talk” as they prepare to face each other in the men’s Casino Battle Royal. Mercedes Mone and Toni Storm will have one final face-to-face before their Women’s title match. And Samoa Joe will face Wheeler Yuta as Joe and The Opps continue to set their sights on the Death Riders.

Here is the updated card for AEW Dynamite:

AEW Dynamite for Wednesday, July 9:

  • Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and The Young Bucks vs. Hangman Page, Will Ospreay, Katsuyori Shibata, and Powerhouse Hobbs
  • For the number 2 spot in the Women’s Casino Gauntlet: Thekla vs. Tay Melo vs. Queen Aminata vs. Megan Bayne
  • Samoa Joe vs. Wheeler Yuta
  • Mercedes Mone, Toni Storm face-to-face
  • MJF and Mark Briscoe have a ‘talky-talk’

AEW crowns new Trios Champions at Dynamite Spring BreakThru

Posted on by Ethan Renner

New AEW Trios Champions have been crowned.

The Opps team consisting of Samoa Joe, Katsuyori Shibata, and Powerhouse Hobbs — substituting for Hook, defeated The Death Riders team of Jon Moxley — substituting for PAC, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta in the main event of Wednesday’s Dynamite Spring BreakThru special in Boston, becoming the new World Trios Champions.

The originally advertised Joe, Shibata, and Hook vs. Moxley, Castagnoli, and Yuta matchup was changed following an angle on Wednesday’s Dynamite. It was announced at the top of Wednesday’s telecast that The Death Riders had attacked Hook prior to the show, and that he was out of the match.

Taz, Hook’s father, was not in his customary position at the commentary desk for the show, with announcers Excalibur and Tony Schiavone explaining that Taz had accompanied Hook to the hospital after the attack from The Death Riders.

Hook was seen vomiting in the ring during his match on last week’s Dynamite, but it has not been made clear whether or not tonight’s angle was to cover for a legitimate illness or injury suffered last week.

In Wednesday’s title match, Joe choked out Moxley with the Coquina Clutch for the finish. The bout featured run-ins from Willow Nightingale and Swerve Strickland on behalf of The Opps, while The Young Bucks got involved in the bout on behalf of The Death Riders as those two groups continue to tease an uneasy alliance.

After the victory from The Opps, the babyface locker room emptied to celebrate The Death Riders’ defeat:

Our full report from Spring BreakThru in Boston is available here.

Ring of Honor TV live results: Mistico & Atlantis in CMLL trios action

Posted on by Jeff Moss

The stars of CMLL will once again be part of Ring of Honor on HonorClub.

Mistico will team with the legendary Atlantis and Esfinge to battle Gran Guerrero, Euforia and Rocky Romero in the night’s featured bout.

Ahead of his AEW International title eliminator bout against Ricochet Saturday, former ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata will take on Lee Johnson.

CMLL’s Dark Panther will go one-on-one with Aaron Solo while Blake Christian will look to run his singles winning streak to eight when he takes on indie star Titus Alexander.

In women’s action, Lady Frost and Leila Grey will do battle while The Frat House (Cole Karter & Preston Vance) will team with the Premier Athletes (Arya Daivari & Tony Nese) against Top Flight and the Gates of Agony.

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Sing along with me, won’t you?

Ring-Of-Honor (clap clap, clap clap clap)

One-Oh-Seven (clap clap, clap clap clap)

Is-On-The-Air (clap clap, clap clap clap)

Spanish Announce Project (Angelico & Serpentico) defeated Alpha Zo & CSJ

… and it kicked off in style with the return of Spanish Announce Project! In recent months, SAP have been, y’know, chillin.’ Serpentico and Angelico were last seen teaming to pick up a win way back in November of 2024. Angelico has been out of action with injury, but Serpentico has been keeping the porch lights on, picking up wins over the likes of Brandon Cutler, and losses to the likes of Ricochet. They made their return against Zo (a former Hoodslam INTERGALACTIC Tag Team Champion) and the current IZW Heavyweight (but Earthly) Champion, CJS (aka Can’t Stop Jamaal). 

Angelico kicked things off against Zo and he looked like he hadn’t missed a step while he was off. The taller Angelico was able to take whatever the beefier Zo threw at him and shake it off with style. He even showed an uncharacteristic aggressive streak, grabbing dreadlocks of Zo to keep him in an arm hold.

Serpentico tagged in for a double team or two (as well as some smoooooth dancing) an d clearly had the veteran’s advantage over Zo. Serpentico’s agility lets him move fast, but stop on a dime. He controlled the pace of the match until Zo caught him with a backbreaker.

Zo tagged in CSJ and of the two, Zo was the more impressive talent. CSJ was a competent brawler, and isolated Serpentico early on, but did not have the speed of his partner to keep up with the luchadores. Serpentico hit a big double DDT and got a hot tag to Angelico who cleared the ring with ease.

Angelico caught Zo with a spinning heel kick, but CSJ broke up the pin. CSJ and Zo tried to double team, but Angelico was able to get the grapevine on CSJ causing him to tap out and give SAP the win in their big return. I’d love to see these guys take on Rhodes and Guevara for the titles.

-ROH World Champion Chris Jericho joined us from the past at Revolution and cut a promo about his “match” with Gravity and ongoing feud with Bandito. This was a darker Jericho. During that match he almost assaulted Gravity’s mother and sister, and instead of his usual schtick, Jericho sat in a chair and talked with gravitas, calling Bandito out. There was no cheery “thanks guys!” so maybe this is a bit of a turn for Jericho.

Blake Christian defeated Titus Alexander

Christian has been mean, belligerent, awful and really, really good at wrestling for months now. His newfound attitude has racked up a string of wins, but hasn’t gotten him closer to any kind of ROH gold. Alexander has yet to pick up a win in ROH, but to be fair this is only his second bout in the promotion. His finisher is the “Big Ugly” which I personally don’t get because he’s a handsome man. 

Christian had a spiffy new haircut and lured Alexander into some big stomps off the top. What followed was a clinic in how to beat someone up at great speed. Christian flew around the ring, keeping Alexander confused and off his feet.

Eventually though, Alexander got a really stiff shot in that sent Christian to the outside. He was waiting for Alexander though and sent him head first into the barricades. Christian threw Alexander back into the ring and began working him over, stomping his arm and raking his eyes.

Alexander for his part seemed like he was able to keep up with Christian in terms of speed and agility. The problem was, Christian wasn’t giving him enough time to get set, so Alexander was always on defence, trying to recover from all kinds of kicks and holds.

Christian, a killer heel in the traditional style, got under the crowd’s skin so much they were fully, fully behind Alexander, erupting in cheers whenever he managed to get some momentum. Christian turned the tables though and hit a modified curb stomp into Vanilla Choke Zero, forcing a submission to get the win under a chorus of boos.

Leila Grey defeated Lady Frost

Before the match, a vignette for Grey aired, seemingly revealing her new “Baddie” persona. Grey has put together a decent 4-2 record in ROH since last fall. Her only singles losses coming at the hands (and feet and knees and elbows, etc) of ROH Wormen’s World Champion Athena in a Proving Ground Match, and ROH Women’s TV Champion Red Velvet. Frost, on the other hand, has not won a televised singles match in ROH since July of 2024. She is currently on a 7-match losing streak, but hey, maybe this will be different?

Frost was looking absolutely jacked as she entered the ring, but Grey was able to keep up with her, trading strength for control in the way of a very long headlock. Grey put Frost in a backslide for a 2-count, and that seemed to empower Grey who took it to her in the corner.

Frost for her part showed what she always shows: That she’s a very very good wrestler who tends to make a single mistake that her opponents can capitalize on. It’s not so much that she loses, as mich as she just doesn’t win.

Grey put a knee into Frost’s face and locked in a Dragon Sleeper. Frost struggled for the ropes, but Grey didn’t let up. Frost sent Grey to the mat with a backdrop, and Grey caught her in a rollup to get the pin and continue Frost’s impressive losing streak.

Gates Of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona) & Top Flight (Dante Martin & Darius Martin) defeated The Frat House (Cole Karter & Preston Vance) & The Premier Athletes (Ari Daivari & Tony Nese) (w/Jacked Jameson & Mark Sterling)

This week’s Traditional ROH “Everybody Into the Pool” match comes to us with two tag team duos of… duos. Gates of Agony recently ate up and spat out challengers such as Terry Yaki and Bad Dude Tito, but Top Flight have been grounded as of late with their Flight Attendant (are we still calling her that?) Leila Grey picking up more wins than they have, one as recently as this show. On the other side The Frat House and Premier Athletes share a certain amount of douchebaggery between the four of them. They teamed together in Feb in a 12-man match, but lost, so perhaps this scaled-down version of that teaming will yield better results. 

The Frat House have a bunch of new gear with their logos prominently displayed on their crotches. For that alone, they deserve what they got in this match. Gates of Agony were met with a huge ovation and went straight for the Frat House, beating up Vance and Karter on the outside. In the Ring, Top Flight took it to the Athletes and somewhere in there a bell rang and the match was on.

Nese and Dante battled in the ring with the dust had settled and it was a great matchup. Nese has always been excellent in the ring with both strength and speed. Dante sent him to the corner though which brought in Karter to face off against Kaun who flattened him.

It was hard to keep track of who was legal because people kept jumping in and out and there were multiple assaults on the outside by Sterling and Jameson. Toa grabbed a chair though and ran them off while Daivari and Darius fought in the ring.

No matter how much momentum the Frat-thletes got though, all it took was 10 seconds in the ring with either Liona or Kaun and the momentum would shift back to Top Gates. Kaun sent Karter over the top rope and it looked like he smashed his knee on the ring apron on the way down (the hardest part of the ring!). Kaun then used Dante as a weapon, throwing him out of the ring onto all four members of the Frat-thletes, much to the crowd’s delight.

Jameson tried to cause a distraction for Vance, but ended up distracting Vance himself. That let the Gates of Agony hit, well, the Gates of Agony and Liona sat down squarely on Vance’s chest for the win.

Honestly, the tag scene in ROH is HOT right now and there are about half a dozen teams that could line up for a shot at the titles.

Dark Panther defeated Aaron Solo

The great CMLL/ROH: Crisis of Infinite Luchadores crossover continues with Dark Panther taking on workhorse Aaron Solo. Panther has a TV title match next week and was in a Panther, Panther, Panther match last week which his team won (probably because of all the panthers) and Solo lost to Adam Page on Dynamite two weeks ago in :54 seconds. So he’s got that going for him. 

ROH TV Champion Komander was at ringside to scout Panther for their match next week and was probably a little nervous watching Panther absolutely manhandle Solo. Solo was not ready for Panther’s speed and ended up eating a big chunk of the ring apron (the most delicious part of the ring!)

Solo had a one high spot (literally) with a double stomp off the top rope that seemed to slow Panther down. Panther wasn’t out though, responding with a bit tilt-o-whirl backbreacker. The two traded chops after that, which was not a great decision on Solo’s part, given he was giving up about 50lbs to Panther.

Panther caught him with a really vicious armbar until the ref yelled at him in Spanish to break the hold. The crowd was on Panther’s side as he set Solo up for a Suicide Dive on the outside and throwing him into the barricade in front of Komander before tossing him back in the ring.

Panther hit a big missile dropkick from the top rope and followed it up with another one for good measure. That put Solo away, giving Panther the win and impressing Komander, who he faces next week for the ROH TV Title.

After the match, Panther unwrapped his wrist tape and threw it at Komander who hopped the rail. The Ref stepped in though and kept the two separated.

Katsuyori Shibata defeated Lee Johnson

Shibata makes his return to ROH here against the “Lee” in LEEJ, Lee Johnson. Shibata was last seen back in January defeating Shane Taylor and has since made a play for the AEW International Title then held by Konosuke Takeshita, but came up empty. Johnson has been hanging out with EJ Nduka and is fresh off a rest after losing to ROH World Television Champion Komander about a month ago. 

This was a first-time matchup for these two and a test of strength was in order off the top. I never know who actually wins those things, so we’ll say it was Shibata because Johnson ended up in a headlock. Shibata began working Johnson’s right arm as the two went through a really technical series, ending up with Johnson in a Figure Four.

Johnson managed to get free but Shibata began chopping him in the corner. At this point, Johnson was limping from the figure four, had a dangling arm and a swollen chest. He rolled out of the ring and Shibata followed, but Johnson was able to get the advantage and throw him into the barricades.

Back in the ring, Johnson talked a lot of trash and even went for Shibata’s eye, nearly causing a DQ. Switching to running chops, Johnson woke the beast in Shibata who began no-selling them and getting right into Johnson’s face before throwing a dozen chops of his own, knocking Johnson silly.

Johnson fought back though, saying that Shibata had “nothing” and then hit a really scary looking driver on Shibata’s head. Shibata was ok though and popped up to lick in an Iron Claw followe dbut a back suplex and big kick to the jaw. That was it for Johnson and Shibata got the pin.

-Lexy Nair interviewed the Frat House in the back. Jameson arrived with red solo cups allegedly containing beers and they chugged them. Vance declared that “win or lose, they booze!” That conjured 2/3rds of the Dark Order. Evil Uno confronted Vance and told him to grow up. Life is about more than partying. Vance thew his solo cup at Alex Reynolds and Uno assured him that the Frat House would get theirs.

Atlantis, Esfinge & Mistico defeated Euforia, Rocky Romero & Valiente

The Main Event of the night featured another CMLL/ROH: Crisis of Infinite Luchadores crossover match, but, like, with more of them. Atlantis (A legend, who once held the NWA Light Heavyweight Championship for a staggering 1353 days) teams with current Mexican National Light Heavyweight Champion, Esfinge and Mistico who is the current MLW Middleweight Champion. Across the ring is 1/3rd of the CMLL Trios Champions, Euforia and Valienta who held that very same title with a few different teammates for over 1500 collective days. Also, Rocky Romero was there. 

This match was under Luchadore Rules, which meant that if someone rolled out under the bottom rope, it counted as a tag and a new team member could jump in. Euforia, taking a break form playing drums for Carlos Santana, started it off against Mistico, with a helping hand from Romero.

To try and keep up with who was legal when was a fools errand, but the match was full of amazing spots. Euforia hit a big splash from the top rope on Atlantis. Romero and Valiente double teamed Mistico until he hit a headscissor on Euforia. Esfinge and Valiente had a spirited exchange until Romero jumped in and Esfinge cleared the ring of them both.

Esfinge tagged in Atlantis to the crowd’s joy but Euforia tooke their breath away by knocking him silly. Atlantis fought back and landed a big backbreaker on Euforia, then dished out a couple to his teammates as well. Mistico and Valiente faced off next, with the former facing a lot of boos from the crowd.

A twisting wristlock takedown sent Valiente to the ouside and brought in Euforia. Mistico dispatched him the same way and then catapulted onto Euforia over the top rope on the outside. From there all six men brawled, with Esfinge left legal against…. one of the other guys. Everyone was simply choosing the opposing luchadore nearest to them and fighting them. In the ring, Mistico and Euforia battled until Mistico caught Euforia with an armbar, forcing the lucha legend to tap out.

Another great night of wrestling in ROH!

Shibata wants to challenge for IWGP World title at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Katsuyori Shibata dreams of challenging for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door this summer.

While speaking with Tokyo Sports, Shibata stated his desire to challenge either Hirooki Goto or Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. Goto is the current champion, recently winning the belt from Zack Sabre Jr. at the New Beginning in Osaka. His first title defense will be against Tanahashi at NJPW’s 53rd Anniversary show this Thursday.

Goto and Shibata have been friends since high school, and the two were once IWGP Tag Team Champions together. Shibata told Tokyo Sports that he and Goto have always envisioned themselves facing off for the IWGP World title. Now that Goto is champion, this is the time that dream can become a reality.

“It’s probably only possible at this point in time that Goto has. If there is a possibility, it would be Forbidden Door and if he could hold it to that point, the possibilities would come all at once,” Shibata said. “I don’t want to give up on my dream, because my dream is to make it come true. The rest depends on Goto’s efforts.”

Forbidden Door 2025 is taking place in London on Sunday, August 24. It’s the fourth straight year that AEW and NJPW have collaborated together for the pay-per-view.

A member of the NJPW roster for more than two decades, this is Goto’s first reign as IWGP World Champion. Shibata has never held the title before. His most recent time challenging for IWGP gold was against Kazuchika Okada in 2017, when Shibata suffered a life-threatening subdural hematoma during the match.

Shibata is now signed to AEW and competes in both AEW and ROH. He’s part of a trio called The Opps with Samoa Joe and Hook.

In an interview with NJPW’s website after winning the IWGP title, Goto was asked if he had heard from Shibata.

“Just ‘I’m waiting in America!’ [laughs],” Goto responded. “I got a few messages from other wrestlers, foreign wrestlers over there I wrestled before. I was surprised how happy so many foreign fans were for me.”

Yuji Nagata has also challenged Goto to a future title match if he’s successful in his defense against Tanahashi.

Wrestling Weekly: WWE Royal Rumble predictions

Posted on by Victor Sosa

Image: WWE

This weekend is all about the WWE Royal Rumble.

On the new Wrestling Weekly, Les Thatcher and I make our predictions and speculate on who is in the fastlane on the road to WrestleMania 41. We also go through this week’s AEW Dynamite.

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!

Click here to listen (sub needed)

Konosuke Takeshita vs. Katsuyori Shibata added to AEW Collision

Posted on by Josh Nason

A new match has been added to this Saturday’s Homecoming edition of AEW Collision featuring International Champion Konosuke Takeshita.

Takeshita and Don Callis offered a challenge to former Ring of Honor Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata, delivered via a backstage promo following Shibata’s win over Shane Taylor on ROH TV. The match was later made official on social media.

It will be their first-ever match against each other and will be for Takeshita’s International title.

It will be Takeshita’s first AEW match since December’s Worlds End when he defended the title against Powerhouse Hobbs. Shibata was last on AEW earlier this month when he unsuccessfully challenged TNT Champion Daniel Garcia.

Here’s the current lineup for Saturday in Jacksonville, Florida:

  • Mariah May & Toni Storm meet face-to-face
  • Big Bill vs. Powerhouse Hobbs
  • Daniel Garcia, Matt Menard & Angelo Parker vs. Undisputed Kingdom (Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong)
  • Buddy Matthews & Brody King vs. The Gates of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona)
  • AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita defends against Katsuyori Shibata

TNT title defense part of updated lineup for AEW Collision

Posted on by Ian Carey

A TNT title defense is one of several new matches for tonight’s AEW Collision.

Reigning champion Daniel Garcia will put the title on the line against Katsuyori Shibata after picking up his first defense last Saturday over Mark Briscoe. The past partners have gone one-on-one just once at last July’s ROH Death Before Dishonor for Shibata’s then-Pure title.

AEW Trios Champion PAC will take on current ROH TV Champion Komander. It will be PAC’s first match since December 18, 2024, as Dave Meltzer noted in Friday’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that he had been given a few weeks off.

The new additions are rounded out by The Outrunners vs. PAC’s fellow Trios titleholders Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta. The Outrunners were taken out by the Death Riders at the end of last week’s Collision.

Khan also noted that tonight’s show in Athens, Georgia, may be impacted by weather-related travel issues. However, he mentioned that AEW Women’s World Champion Mariah May was in a limo on her way to the venue. May will wrestle Harley Cameron in a non-title match on tonight’s show.

Here’s the updated lineup for Athens, Georgia:

  • AEW Women’s World Champion Mariah May vs. Harley Cameron in a non-title match
  • ROH World Champion Chris Jericho vs. Dax Harwood in a non-title match
  • Cope vs. Big Bill
  • TNT Champion Daniel Garcia defends against Katsuyori Shibata
  • PAC vs. Komander
  • Wheeler Yuta & Claudio Castagnoli vs. The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd)

Wrestling Observer Live: Fumi Saito talks Wrestle Kingdom 19

Posted on by Jim Valley

In the middle of two big Tokyo Dome shows, that means a special edition of Wrestling Observer Live.

Journalist and Pacific Rim podcast co-host Fumi Saito joins me from Tokyo to give his first person perspective of last night’s Wrestle Kingdom 19. We talk all the results and give our thoughts on the matches.

Stateside, it’s a new year with a new hour added to WWE SmackDown with the first three-hour show of 2025 featuring a WWE Women’s title change

Plus, the 2026 Royal Rumble is going international and I explain why the location shouldn’t surprise you.

All that and more awaits you below.

Click Here to Listen (sub needed)

AEW wrestler challenges Hiroshi Tanahashi for Wrestle Dynasty

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Katsuyori Shibata is wrestling at Wrestle Dynasty.

In a surprise appearance on Saturday, Shibata ran in for the save after EVIL and the rest of House of Torture attacked Hiroshi Tanahashi following their match. Shibata ran them off and helped Tanahashi to his feet. He asked for a match tomorrow at Wrestle Dynasty. Tanahashi accepted, setting up the bout.

Shibata has not wrestled for NJPW in exactly three years. His last match for the company was at Wrestle Kingdom 16, when he defeated Ren Narita in a singles match. The following year, he signed with AEW where he has been a regular since, previously holding the ROH Pure Championship.

Tanahashi wrestled EVIL in a lumberjack match on Saturday. Despite interference from the rest of House of Torture, Tanahashi managed to pick up the win by cradling EVIL as he was looking for a pin after hitting Tanahashi with his finishing move twice.

Here is the updated lineup for Wrestle Dynasty:

  • Kenny Omega vs. Gabe Kidd
  • Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ricochet
  • Shota Umino vs. Claudio Castagnoli
  • David Finlay vs. Brody King
  • Yota Tsuji vs. Jack Perry
  • NEVER Championship: Either Shingo Takagi or Konosuke Takeshita defends against Tomohiro Ishii. Will be a double title match if Takeshita remains AEW International Champion on January 4
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata
  • IWGP Tag Team titles: Great-O-Khan & a mystery partner vs. The Young Bucks
  • NJPW Strong Women’s & RPW Undisputed Women’s British double title match: Mercedes Mone vs. Mina Shirakawa
  • Lucha gauntlet match featuring CMLL and NJPW talent
  • Kickoff match for ROH Tag Team titles: Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara defend against Yoshinobu Kanemaru & SHO
  • Kickoff match for the Women’s International Cup: Persephone (CMLL) Vs. Momo Watanabe (Stardom) vs. Willow Nightingale (NJPW) vs. Athena (ROH)

Ring of Honor TV live results: Chris Jericho makes a Final Battle announcement

Posted on by Jeff Moss

Ring of Honor World Champion Chris Jericho will appear on tonight’s HonorClub show to talk more about who his opponent will be for this month’s Final Battle.

Jericho announced his TV Time segment during Wednesday’s Dynamite.

Ahead of her opportunity to qualify for the International Women’s Cup at Wrestle Dynasty, former Women’s TV Champion Billie Starkz will take on Lady Frost.

Former ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata will face Alex Reynolds of the Dark Order while Rachael Ellering takes on Trish Adora.

The show will feature plenty of tag team action as well as the Gates of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona) challenge Griff Garrison & Preston Vance while JD Drake & Beef will be in action against opponents to be named.

In six-man action, Shane Taylor & The Infantry (Carlie Bravo and Shawn Dean) will battle Top Flight (Darius and Dante Martin) & Action Andretti.

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It’s Thursday and it’s only two weeks away from ROH Final Battle 2024 on Dec 20th! The only match made official so far is ROH Women’s World TV Champion Red Velvet defending against “Legit” Leyla Hirsch. Aside from that, there’s nothing official for the Pure Championship held by Lee Moriarty (though Matt Taven has been chasing him), Brian Cage and the ROH World TV Title or Athena’s ROH Women’s World Championship. The Righteous are gunning for the ROH Tag Titles, there a ton of teams in contention for the 6-Man Titles but neither have been added to the card. Finally, the ROH World Champion “The Nueve” Chris Jericho will be at Final Battle to defend his championship, but against who? Hopefully Episode 93 of ROH On HonorClub has some answers!

-The Grizzled Young Veterans kicked off the show with a promo lamenting that the extras get to eat before the talent does! They approached one such extra and smashed some cake in his face.

Katsuyori Shibata defeated Alex Reynolds (w/Evil Uno)

According to the detailed records kept on the internet, Shibata has gone 16-2 since returning to ROH in 2023. He’s only suffered defeats at the hands of Wheeler Yuta and Eddie Kingston. Earlier this year, he beat on the Dark Order’s Evil Uno and hopefully will get a trifecta match against John Silver in the future. Reynolds for his part has never won a singles match in Ring of Honor. But the Dark Order jackets still look cool, so he’s got that going for him! 

Reynolds has had a taped up midsection for the last couple of weeks, but Shibata didn’t really need the advantage. Shibata was clearly the better technical wrestler here and once he got Reynolds on the mat he was able to completely control the match. Reynolds did his best to keep up but could only get out of it via rope break.

Uno got involved, grabbing the leg of Shibata to give Reynolds an opening. He brought a bit more hard hitting style to Shibata, getting a neckbreaker and a near fall followed by a DDT. Shibata fought back though, waking up after Reynolds dared to chop him. Shibata no-sold a series of chops before driving Reynolds into the corner with a series of his own.

Shibata planted Reynolds with a Spicolli driver followed by an octopus stretch. Reynolds held on as long as he could, but was forced to tap out.

BEEF and JD Drake defeated Waves and Curls (Jaylen Brandyn & Traevon Jordan)

BEEF’s enthusiastic displays of pro wrestling have won over the audience, but not so much Drake. I’ve never seen a person get so upset when his tag team partner is happy to be a wrestler and often gets the win! That said, they took on (sigh) Waves and Curls.

The match wasn’t really much more than a squash. Jordan started things off with Drake, who beat him up a lot. Then Brandyn tagged in and BEEF beat up him a lot. Then BEEF pinned Brandyn. Not exactly a match to send BEEF and Drake to the top of the tag division, but a win none the less.

-Jay Lethal and QT Marshall had a conversation in the back that was half action figure commercial, half challenge on the part of QT. Lethal declined the match and that was about it. But hey, new action figure for Lethal!

Trish Adora defeated Rachael Ellering

Adora has been pulling double duty as of late, wrestling matches (most recently a win against Erica Leigh) and managing The Infantry as part of Shane Taylor Promotions. Joining STP has given Adora a chance to explore her violent side and Ellering knows all about violence. Ellering is 3-7 this year in singles competition, but has been leaning into a newfound aggressive streak lately, but her most recent win is from back in August against Maggie Lee. 

The match began with what seemed like an exceptionally long tie up grapple. Then Ellering moved into a wristlock. Tired of doing nothing at this point, Adora punched Ellering in the face. That woke her up and she levelled Adora with a huge shoulder off the ropes.

Adora rained down some hard strikes and kicks on Ellering, not giving her room to get set. Adora kicked Ellering’s shoulder out from under her and followed up with a drop down arm bar. Adora then stomped on Ellering’s wrist to drive home the point.

Ellering is kinda like the Juggernaut in that once she gets moving, she’s hard to stop. After reversing a suplex, she threw Adora around the ring hitting her with kicks, fists, shoulders and using sheer momentum to keep Adora off her feet.

Adora got her stride back though and hit a Lights Out lariat to put Ellering on the mat for good and pick up the win.

TV Time with ROH World Champion “The Learning Tree” Chris Jericho

Jericho won the ROH World title from Mark Briscoe several weeks ago in a Ladder War and successfully defended it against old foe Tomohiro Ishii. All this without actually stepping into an ROH Ring. The question of who Jericho will face at Final Battle has been on everyone’s mind. This ROH edition of TV TIme would hopefully give us some answers.

Jericho kicked off the segment by introducing Bryan Keith who demanded the crowd respect Jericho. Jericho said that he has some information on his Final Battle opponent. Jericho said that he came up with something special, someone from New York City. Someone with the Warrior Attitude of the Windy City. Suddenly, music hit and who should come walking out?

As the internet (that he was once champion of) spoiled 24 hours ago, it was the one and only Matt Cardona!

Cardona climbed into the ring and trashed the TV Time set. Jericho seemed to be confused, and Cardona grabbed a Mic to declare that he would fight and win in NYC and become the new ROH World Champion. He knocked Jericho’s hat off and then left.

While I am stoked to see Cardona vs Jericho at Final Battle, one does have to ask, was there not one person on the ROH Roster who’s there every week that would deserve a title shot? I know ROH is very faction and team-heavy these days, but surely someone like Lee Johnson or Shane Taylor or even a rematch with Mark Briscoe would make a great Main Event of Final Battle. That said, Woo woo woo! 

-Alex Reynolds and Evil Uno talked in the back. John Silver joined them revealing he had stolen the scarves of the Grizzled Young Veterans in retaliation for how they treated those extras earlier.

Gates Of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona) defeated Griff Garrison & Preston Vance

Garrison and Vance are still trying to find their footing as a team but did manage to pick up a win over Waves and Curls a couple of weeks ago. Kaun and Linoa, out of fresh meat in their troughs, have come looking to choose violence. It’s kind of all that’s on the menu for Gates of Agony who are currently 17-1 since arriving in ROH in 2022. 

Vance and Garrison got the upper hand off the top by jumping Liona and sending him to the outside before double teaming Kaun. That gave them a chance to keep him isolate in their corner, working him over while Liona paced on the opposite side of the ring.

Kaun literally leapt across 3/4ths of the ring to dropkick Garrison and get a tag to Liona. Liona shasmed his way through both Garrison and Vance. Liona got Vance on his shoulders, but Garrison jumped in to try and break it up. Without missing a beat, Liona flattened them both.

Kaun tagged back in and he and Garrison battled while Vance threw Liona into the stairs on the outside. Garrison tried a torture rack bomb, but Kaun kicked out. Linoa returned from the stairs and took out Vance so Kaun could land a big slam on the legal man, Garrison, and get the pin.

-Lexy Nair interveiwed Rachel Ellering in the back but before she could say anything, Harley Cameron showed up. She passive-aggressively made fun of Ellering, and then produced a small trophy with a dog on it, saying that Ellering was “Top dog!’ Ellering was touched, and the two women awkwardly hugged with Nair in between them.

Billie Starkz defeated Lady Frost

Starkz and Frost have two things in common: They both like to beat people up and they both have something of a “tense” relationship with the ROH Women’s World Champion, Athena. Frost lost a Proving Ground match to the Champion back in October and Athena and Lexy Nair have been giving the demoted-to-Minion-in-Training Starkz the bums for months. With Athena’s dance card at Final Battle still open, this match had the potential to set something up for either of these women.

Starkz has been coming out in darker gear and with darker purple hair lately, signalling her ennui. That didn’t stop her from Bratting her way around Frost though, setting her into a tight choke hold. Frost did a bunch of gymnastics style moves, but failed to notice that Starkz was just standing there watching for the most part.

A giant kick from Starkz knocked Frost on her back a gave Starkz the opening she needed to get her into the corner. Frost tried to fight back with kicks of her own, but another face kick from Starkz stopped that offensive surge in it’s tracks. Starkz then caught Frost with a quick rollup and got the win.

-A graphic made it official: At Final Battle, The Righteous will try and take the ROH Tag Titles from Dustin Rhodes and Sammy Guevara!

ROH Classic Match: ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness vs Naomichi Marufuji (ROH Final Battle 2008 @ Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, New York, USA)

It’s easy to forget that Nigel McGuinness was once ROH World Champion. Not because he’s a bad or unimpressive wrestler, but because I can barely remember last week, let alone 16 years ago. Marufuji is still wresting today, working in Pro Wrestling NOAH as recently as last week. He’s current one-half of the GHC Tag Team Champions in fact! A great match and worth a watch if you’ve got 18 minutes to get rid of!

-Back in the present, Matt Taven cut a promo in the back, calling out ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty. Taven said that next week, the powers that be have made it official: Matt Taven vs Lee Moriarty for the Pure Championship! Seems like an odd time to do that with a major event on the horizon, but who am I to judge?

Action Andretti & Top Flight (Dante Martin & Darius Martin) (w/Leila Grey) defeated Shane Taylor Promotions (Carlie Bravo, Shane Taylor & Shawn Dean) (w/Trish Adora)

It’s a heavyweight Main Event this week and one that the current ROH Six-Man Tag Champions (Dustin Rhodes and The Von Erichs) would be keeping a close eye on. With so many teams in ROH right now, it’s kind of strange that the 6-Man Championships have been on the back burner, but when they return, it should be to a hot feud. Top Flight and Andretti have been solid in the past few months and once The Infantry joined up with STP they’ve been on a whole new level. 

Andretti and Dean kicked off the match, each shoving the other, probably because they couldn’t decide who’s hair had more bounce. Martin tagged in quickly and he and Andretti double kicked Dean. Top Flight were all over Dean and Bravo as both teams tagged in and out in a flurry of moves. ON the outside, Dean dropped Andretti on his head on the apron (the hardest part of the ring!) and Taylor followed it up with a huge legdrop.

Andretti found himself trapped in the STP corner taking shots from Dean and Bravo one after the other. Finally he got a hot tag to Darious, which brought in Taylor. All three members of Top Flight triple teamed him, until Bravo and Dean caught some feet and threw Andretti and Dean to the outside. They hit Boot Camp on Bravo, but it wasn’t enough to finish him off.

A mele broke out and after a bit of brawling, Andretti cleared the house, and Duante climbed the top rope to hit a huge splash on a prone Dean int he ring. 1-2-3 and it was over with Top Flight getting the win.