Tag: Katsuyori Shibata

Ring of Honor TV live results: Sammy Guevara, Katsuyori Shibata in action

Posted on by Jeff Moss

This week’s Ring of Honor on HonorClub will feature a smorgasbord of talent and several key matches as December’s Final Battle begins to form.

ROH Tag Team Champion Sammy Guevara will be in singles action against Preston Vance. The assumed next challengers to Guevara and Dustin Rhodes’ titles — The Righteous — will also be in action.

In what should be a hard-hitting bout, former ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata will battle The Butcher.

ROH Women’s World Champion Athena will hold an emergency meeting of her minions following last week’s title defense over Abadon.

AR Fox will take on former Pure Champion Josh Woods while past title challenger Diamante goes heads-up with Rachael Ellering.

After pinning Chris Jericho on Wednesday, Tomohiro Ishii continues his march toward an ROH World title match as he faces Aaron Solo.

The rest of the card is rounded out by The Infantry, the returning Leyla Hirsch, Angelico & Serpentico, Lee Johnson & EJ Nduka, and The Patriarchy’s Nick Wayne.

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With absolutely nothing of interest or importance happening in any part of the USA, all eyes were fixed firmly on Ring of Honor on Honorclub Episode 89!

The Infantry (Carlie Bravo & Shawn Dean) (w/Lee Moriarty & Shane Taylor) defeated Tom Mitchell & Trace Parker

Last week, the Infantry shocked everyone by signing up with Shane Taylor Promotions. This immediately helped them get a somewhat shady win over Spanish Announce Project, which possibly signalled a heel turn for the group. This week, they have significantly less imposing foes in Mitchell and Parker who… well, they were there.

Bravo started off against Parker, taking the greener wrestler to the woodshed quickly. The Infantry’s newfound agression was on full display as Dean grabbed Parker from the outside, choking him behind the ref’s back. Taylor was very pleased by this. Mitchell jumped in to help his partner and ate a Boot Camp but Parker was the legal man, so the Infantry gave him a “Two To The Head” to pin him. Mitchell never legally entered the match.

Spanish Announce Project (Angelico & Serpentico) defeated LSG & Shawn Donavan

As mentioned, last week Serpentico and Angelico lost in dubious fashion to The Infantry. It’s cool though, and the laid-back duo looked to right the ship with a win over the first-time pair, LSG and Donavan. LSG has been popping up this year as part of the horribly-named Ace of Space Academy, but professional Dax Harwood impersonator Donavan hasn’t been seen in ROH in over 5 years. 

It was beef vs bean (string bean that is) as Angelico and Donavan kicked things off. The shorter Donavan had the density of a dying sun, so Angelico wasn’t able to get him off his feet, allowing him to lock in the longest wrist lock I’ve ever seen. Donavan was so dialed in, Serpentico had to break it up from the top rope.

From there, the tandem offence of SAP was the story. They were able to keep both Donavan and LSG on their heels and making sloppy mistakes. LSG and Donavan got some decent work in against Serpentico, but Serpentico’s speed was able to deke them out and bring in Angelico.

Even though his partner is Serpentico, Angelico might be part snake the way he was able to slide and slither around LSG. He locked him into a crazy hammerlock/abdominal stretch/airplane spin that caused him to tap out.

-ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty cut a promo from backstage. He called out Matt Taven, who had entered the Pure Division for the first time last week, in advance of their inevitable PURE Championship match in the future. Spoiler: Moriarty does not think Taven will win.

Sammy Guevara (w/Dustin Rhodes) defeated Preston Vance

Last week, Guevara and Rhodes, the reigning ROH Tag Champions were called out, confronted and then jumped by The Righteous, Vincent and Dutch. They are looking to take those titles and being The Righteous, they don’t care if they do it in a strictly “legal” way. But it remained to be seen if they would cause some chaos in Guevara’s match with Vance.

Guevara gave up a bit to Vance in terms of muscle, but right off the top Guevara’s speed had him in control. That speed came back to bite him though as Vance caught him with a back elbow while he was running the ropes. That didn’t slow Guevara down though as he took Vance to the outside a drove him in to the guardrails, while Rhodes watched diligently for any sign of The Righteous.

As much fun as it was watching a guy named Vance get punched in the face, it came to an end when Guevara hit a big cutter followed by a GTH for the win. Rhodes joined him in the ring, still standing guard with a steel chair. Suddenly, the lights got all weird and the sound of snapping was heard. Vincent and Dutch were nowhere to be found though.

EJ Nduka & Lee Johnson defeated The Philly Marino Experience (Marino Tenaglia & Philly Collins)

Now that Nduka and Johnson have officially joined forces, it’s gotta make a lot of other teams in ROH nervous. Especially The Philly Marino Experience (which sounds like a hip new Tapas spot, by the way) who were making what appears to be their ROH Debut. Excellent way to do it, I’m sure it’ll work out great for them. 

[Ron Howard Voice]: It did not.

Johnson started the match against Tenaglia which was a nice matchup in terms of size and speed. Johnson’s experience gave him the advantage though and he was able to keep Tenaglia off his feet and firmly in a chin lock.

Nduka then tagged in and to his credit, Tenaglia didn’t burst into terrified tears. He took a swing ot two and Nduka picked him up like a loaf of bread and threw him across the ring. Several times in fact. Collins tagged in and even though he had a bit more size, didn’t fare much better. Nduka kicked, punched and threw both of them around with ease.

Johnson tagged back in and hit a frog splash, pinning what was left of Collins to get the win. These guys are fun to watch, but Nduka needs to expand his move set a bit just to keep things interesting.

-ROH Women’s Champion Athena called an emergency MEM (Minion Empowerment Meeting) in the back. Athena managed to barely hold onto her title against Abadon last week, so she has some things to say to her MiT’s (Minions In Training). Athena said the she is ready to take on porcelain hussies all around the world. Suddenly, Billie Starkz appeared. While Lexy Nair has been loyal to the Forever Champion, Starkz has been pretty moody and uninterested in helping the champion out. Athena left in a huff, leaving Nair to deal with Starkz. Nair put Starkz in Minion Time Out and walked out after the champ.

Diamante defeated Rachael Ellering

Ellering has been trading fashion tips with Harley Cameron and this match is her return to the ROH ring for the first time since August. Ellering’s Tag Team Partner, Leyla Hirsch has had beef with Diamante for a long, violent time. Speaking of which, Diamante failed to capture the ROH Women’s TV Title a few weeks back, but did pick up a win last week against Aminah Belmont.

Diamante had the adventage off the top because though she be wee, she be very, very strong. Ellering was able to hold her own though, as well as hold Diamante by the waist in a gut wrench suplex. Ellering tried a senton, but telegraphed it and Diamante was ready with knees up. Diamante’s mean streak was on display as the dragged Ellering’s face along the rope between turnbuckles.

Ellering caught Diamante with a huge back elbow and landed her Squish senton, but Diamante wasn’t done yet. She raked the eyes while the ref couldn’t see and landed a huge DDT to make Ellering’s night a bad one. Afterwards, Diamante called out ROH Women’s TV Champion Red Velvet who appeared in the ring and hit her with a big spinning kick. Diamante retreated up the ramp while the two debated the places they were from.

Leyla Hirsch defeated Tina San Antonio

Leyla Hirsch is back! Hirsch’s last match was the excellent Texas Death Match against Diamante at Death Before Dishonor back in July. Hirsch won that match, but injury put her on the shelf for a bit. Now that she’s back, will she still have trouble with Diamante? Or will she start the climb towards a bigger prize, namely ROH Women’s Champion, Athena? And will San Antonio get a surprise upset in her ROH Debut? So many questions, so much time to answer them. 

HIrsch looked good off the top. She wrestles a fast, technical style and it looked like her injury hadn’t cost her a step. San Antonio had a bit of a height advantage, but Hirsch was fired up and managed get out of everything San Antonio threw at her.

Hirsch managed to catch San Antonio with a huge knee to the head and get the pin to win, looking like she had never left in the first place.

-Backstage, Matt Taven responded to Lee Moriarty’s earlier promo. Taven has won every title in ROH except the Pure title. So Moriarty better be ready because Taven’s bringing it home to the Kingdom.

Tomohiro Ishii defeated Aaron Solo

Ishii, a proud member of the Conglomeration, stomped down to the ring to face former Nightmare Family member Solo. Presumably, Ishii would then stomp on Solo, and stomp back to the locker room. The man likes to stomp. Solo has not won a match in ROH since April. So this will work out fine for him, I’m sure. 

It almost seemed mean to put Solo up against Ishii. Solo, tall and thin, had very little defence against the sheer strength and power of Ishii. Every punch and attempt to send Ishii to the ropes was shrugged off, frustrating Solo. Ishii unleashed the chops and Solo was lucky his lungs didn’t pop out.

Ishii tried to pin Solo off of a side suplex, but Solo, a glutton for punishment, kicked out at two. Solo tried to take the match to the air with a big double stomp from the top rope, but took too long to pin Ishii, who crushed him with a big lariat. Ishii got Solo up and then brought him down with a big Brainbuster and got the pin.

-The Righteous headed out to the ring for a match and were immediately jumped by Rhodes and Guevara in payback for the attack by Vincent and Dutch last week. Security came down to break up the melee, but Dutch got busted open in the process. Everyone seemed to forget that there was a match scheduled and the ROH Tag Champs, Rhodes and Guevara stood tall as the Righteous exited up the ramp.

Nick Wayne (w/Kip Sabian & Mother Wayne) defeated Ryan Clancy

Wayne has been making some noise for The Patriarchy in ROH recently, this time bringing Mother Wayne and Kip Sabian with him. A couple of weeks ago Wayne came out on top in a match against Brian Cook. This week, he’s up against (checks notes) “Fancy” Ryan Clancy, who is (checks notes again) a wrestler. 

Clancy ended up being a pretty decent bruiser, wrestling a “classic” style and keeping up with Wayne in both speed and intensity. Wayne had him beat in the posing department though, hands down.

After a very impressive flurry of Clancy offence, Wayne picket up speed with a series of near falls. Clancy responded with a few near falls of his own, making it seem like an upset was close. Wayne kicked out every time though while Mother Wayne looked on.

Clancy climbed to the top rope, but Wayne pushed the Ref into the ropes causing him to fall. Wayne hit a dragon suplex followed by a huge cutter from the corner to get the win.

-The Infantry and STP entered the ROH locker room backstage. They were met byt 4 NPC’s dressed in black. Taylor asked if they had seen Rhodes and Guevera. When no one had, The Infantry and STP beat up the men. Taylor then called out the ROH Tag Champs, saying that STP wants those titles back. Guevara and Rhodes have several targets on their backs now.

ROH Classic Match: ROH World Six Man Tag Team Title Match: Shane Taylor Promotions (Kaun, Moses & Shane Taylor) vs MexiSquad (Bandido, Flamita & Rey Horus)(c) (Baltimore, Maryland, USA, Feb 19, 2021)

With Taylor and company hunting down the Tag and Six Man Tag belts in ROH, it made sense to see this classic match from the Pandemic era of pro wrestling and, well, life. Maria Kanellis joined the commentary team for this match and she added some really fun color. It was a hard-hitting affair and definitely worth 9 minutes of your time.

AR Fox defeated Josh Woods (w/Ariya Daivari & Mark Sterling)

Fox got his first ROH singles win three weeks ago against the one and only Jack Cartwheel. He’s looking to add to those stats against the Premier Athlete and Very Large Dude, Woods. Not that he needs the help, but Wood’s teammates Daiavari and Sterling accompanied him to the ring, while Tony Nese is still out relentlessly celebrating the birth of his twins. 

Sterling added “flogging our new shirt” to his opening schtick as the Athletes came down to the ring. Fox, in what can only be assumed was a move of protest, came down to the ring with no shirt on at all. Woods and Fox stood at about the same height, but Woods had the upper pectoral in the muscle department.

Woods tried to keep things technical and on the mat where he excels. Fox wasn’t used to that and he seemed confused as to how to proceed. Finally, he settled on a headlock while he figured out his strategy. Fox figured out he had the high-flying advantage and hit a big splash on the outside.

As the match progressed, Fox tried to leap over a running Woods but caught his foot on his opponent and smashed his face into the match. That gave Woods an opening to club a prone Fox. Sterling got involved behind the Ref’s back and hung Fox up on the ropes for Woods to pick apart.

Woods went for a cocky cover, but Fox kicked out and spiked Woods on his head with a big second rope DDT. Fox got his second win and hit a swanton. The fight moved to the outside where Fox drove Wood’s head into the mat. Back in the ring, Fox went for a springboard from the top rope, but hit his face on Woods’ knee on the way down.

Fox tried again, but Woods attempted to knock him off the top rope. The agile Fox rolled through though and hit a 450 splash to pick up the surprise win! Then a wild Nick Wayne appeared and took Fox apart. Fox and Wayne have a match coming up on Collision.

Katsuyori Shibata defeated The Butcher

This match was taped way back in June of this year, but only made it to air now. One can only assume it fell behind a filing cabinet or something. The Butcher was making his ROH Singles debut here while his partner, The Blade, recovers from back fusion surgery. Shibata is, well, The Wrestler. That’s because he’s very good at wrestling and hasn’t lost a match in ROH in 2024. 

Butcher had about 50 lbs and 6 inches on Shibata, but see above. Shibata drove him into the corner off the top, leading to Butcher moving into a more technical strategy. It was a big risk taking on one of the best technical wrestlers in the world in his preferred style, but Butcher had a plan. He drew Shibata out of the ring and then drove him into the ring apron (the hardest part of the ring!).

Back in the ring, Butcher’s powerful strikes kept Shibata on the ground and Butcher locked in a one-legged crab hold. Shibata wrigged under the ropes to break the hold, and sent Butcher to the corner to take a big double dropkick.

Butcher fought back and tried to set Shibata up for brain buster, but Shibata countered and put on a sleeper hold followed by a big PK to put the Butcher down for good, closing out the show.

Two title matches, Darby Allin open challenge added to AEW WrestleDream

Posted on by Josh Nason

Two title matches and an open challenge by Darby Allin have been made for this month’s AEW WrestleDream pay-per-view — all made during Wednesday’s fifth anniversary episode of Dynamite.

One of those matches will see Ring of Honor World Champion Mark Briscoe defend against Chris Jericho, made during a Jericho Learning Tree segment.

Jericho pinned Briscoe in a tornado trios match on this past Saturday’s Grand Slam Collision and then called Briscoe out Wednesday, offering up a challenge for Briscoe’s title. Briscoe came out and things got heated when Jericho evoked the name of Mark’s late brother, Jay. Mark laid out Jericho with an uppercut and accepted for the PPV.

This will be their first-ever singles match. Jericho will look to reclaim the ROH title he held for 80 days in 2022 while Briscoe is gunning for his fifth title defense.

Right afterward, Darby Allin was featured during a pre-taped promo — his first since losing his AEW World title shot to Jon Moxley on last Wednesday’s Grand Slam Dynamite. After discussing his disappointment about the loss, he offered up an open challenge for anyone in the locker room to step up and try to make their name against him.

After Katsuyori Shibata came out to aid Minoru Suzuki after his defeat to TNT Champion Jack Perry on this past Saturday’s AEW Collision, the two agreed to a title match for the Saturday, October 12th PPV.

Perry was entering the building when Shibata found him and used his phone to issue the challenge. Perry said he would think about it and then jumped Shibata, laying him out. With Shibata incapacitated, Perry then said he accepted.

Perry has five title defenses under his belt while Shibata has yet to win AEW gold. This will be their first-ever singles bout.

Here’s the current lineup for Saturday, October 12th in Tacoma, Washington:

  • AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson defends against Jon Moxley
  • TNT Champion Jack Perry defends against Katsuyori Shibata
  • ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe defends against Chris Jericho
  • Darby Allin vs. TBD

Ring of Honor TV live results: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Josh Woods

Posted on by Jeff Moss

Tonight’s edition of Ring of Honor on HonorClub won’t feature any title matches, but will see several former champions in action.

In a clash of former ROH Pure Champions, Katsuyori Shibata will rematch with Josh Woods after they did battle in late-July with Shibata picking up the victory.

Coming off a recent victory over Rachael Ellering, Mina Shirakawa will return to face former AEW title challenger Taya Valkyrie.

Lee Johnson will return to singles action for the first time since losing to then-ROH TV Champion Kyle Fletcher in June as he challenges Nick Comoroto.

Other official matches include Angelo Parker vs. Griff Garrison, John Silver vs. Fuego Del Sol, Rocky Romero vs. Aaron Solo, and the Iron Savages vs. Spanish Announce Project’s Serpentico & Angelico.

Other stars in action but without announced opponents includes Abadon, Ariya Daivari & Tony Nese, The Righteous & Lance Archer in trios action, Anthony Henry & Beef, and the aforementioned Ellering.

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Thursday and 7pm EST arrived precisely when they meant to and Episode 80 of Ring of Honor on Honor Club arrived with ’em! And it arrived hot! Kinda…

Rocky Romero defeated Aaron Solo

Rocky Romero is a wrestler who works at ROH/AEW. Aaron Solo is also employed as a wrestler for ROH/AEW. That seemed to be pretty much the only reason that these two locked up. It was a little surprising to see this match kick off such a jam-packed show, but it gave these two a chance to show the kind of workers they are.

Solo was a little lighter on his feet and managed to trade holds with Romero until Romero got a little silly and began tapping the back of Solo’s head. Romero started taking Solo seriously though as Solo was able to get some lighthearted taps of his own in.

According to Ian Riccaboni, Solo is one of the top contenders for the ROH TV Title, so a win over Romero would help his case in the regard. That showed as Solo controlled the pace of the match until Romero caught him in a abdominal stretch. Romero held his own, bringing some energy to the match and going for high-impact offence like hurricanranas and multiple big back elbows in the corner.

Solo hit a double stomp from the top rope, but it wasn’t enough to put Romero down. Romero answered back with a super bulldog off the top rope! That put Solo on his back, and Romero was able to get the pin and win the match.

-In the back, Lady Frost cut a promo. She claimed her last match was too easy. She wants a shot at the Women’s World TV Title and called out Red Velvet asking for a Proving Ground match.

Lee Johnson defeated Nick Comoroto (w/Jacoby Watts)

This match was taped prior to Comoroto getting injured and having to step back until well into next year. That said, it was a bittersweet match for the big man, but up against Moriarty, it was going to be a good one. Johnson nearly became ROH TV Champion on two occasions this year, so he was not just going to lay down.

Watts slapped Comoroto to, motivate him? I guess? Johnson took advantage and sent Comoroto out of the ring. The big man fought back though, sending Johnson into the ring post head first, like so many Rey Mysterios being “lawn-darted” by the NWO.

Back in the ring, Comoroto’s size was becoming a problem for Johnson. Comoroto whipped Johnson from post to post, hurting is lower back. Watts got involved to the chagrin of the crowd and Johnson looked like he was about to give up a rare loss. Everytime Johnson would start a comeback, Comoroto clubbed him back down to his feet.

Johnson finally countered a suplex into one of his own, sending Comoroto crashing into the mat. It didn’t last long though as Comoroto regained the momentum. But then Watts got up in the ring apron and distracted Comoroto enough to allow Johnson to get a quick rollup and the win.

After the match, Comoroto and Watts started a beatdown on Johnson, but EJ Nduka arrived from the crowd to make the save and send the heels running.

-Afterwards, there was an announcement from Tony Khan: Tonight, Red Velvet would face Lady Frost in a Proving Ground match, just like she asked!

Rachael Ellering defeated Gigi Rey

Ellering lost last week to RevPro Women’s Champion Mina Shirakawa in a hard fought battle, so this week she was looking to get that momentum back on her side. Ellering has also been dealing with a snarky Harley Cameron lurking about, insulting her fashion sense.

Rey actually had Ellering on her heels off the top of the match. Rey worked the arm, but Ellering was able to reverse it, causing Rey to re-reverse it. Rey made a mistake when she tried to outpower Ellering, and found herself on the receiving end of a big shoulder tackle for her trouble.

From there, the aggression of Ellering was unleashed. Lots of hard strikes and devastating kicks. Rye tried to use her speed to get one over on Ellering, but Ellering’s experience and strength were too much for her. A spinning Bosswoman slam took out Rey for good, giving Ellering the win.

Anthony Henry & BEEF defeated Jay Lucas & Terry Yaki

Yeah, you read that right: BEEF vs Terry Yaki. But, ridiculous names aside, in his last outing with his cousin Henry, Beef showed some skill that led us to believe he’s not just a wild, sweaty fan at heart.

The crowd chanted “Beef!” as the match began. Henry sent his cousin to the outside and started things off. As soon as the bell rang, Beef hit a blind tag so that he got to start things off against Lucas. Beef’s enthusiasm and strength had him in control, but also caused him to make rookie mistakes when facing Yaki, who double teamed him, isolating him from Henry.

Eventually, Beef powered through and brought Yaki to his and Henry’s corner, tagging in his cousin. Henry worked the neck of Yaki like a horse (see what I did there?) and then the same against Lucas. Beef called for the tag and immediately tried to pin Lucas, which confused Henry who was expecting a double team.

Henry and Beef started to miscommunicate, missing tags and moves. Beef begged for a tag and Henry obliged. Beef climbed the ring post and delivered a big splash on Lucas to get the pin. Henry was happy they won, but a little concerned about Beef’s over-enthusiasm, leaving up the ramp to let him celebrate in the ring.

Spanish Announce Project (Angelico & Serpentico) defeated Iron Savages (Boulder & Bronson) (w/Jacked Jameson)

This match pitted some really high-energy and beefy citizens of Titty City against the smooth and laid back jams of the Spanish Announce Project. It was an interesting clash of styles with the winners inching ever closer to a shot at Dustin Rhodes and Sammy Guevara’s ROH Tag Titles. 

Jameson did a great Scott Steiner ’99 promo on the way down to the ring that was full of energy and catchphrases, but made no sense whatsoever. Angelico kicked things off against Bronson and right away it was a great juxtaposition of speed and agility vs brawn and brutality.

Angelico had the upper hand, but while he was admiring it, he got punched in the face. Serpentico tagged in and so did Boulder, bringing in the fastest man int he match vs the strongest man in the match. Serpentico managed to avoid the big man at first, but was caught between a Boulder and a Bronson place. he ducked and the two Savaged collided though, dazing themselves. Jameson took the opportunity to throw Serpentico at the barricade on the outside.

Back in the ring, Boulder hit a big splash on Serpentico, but Angelico broke up the pin. Serpentico got a hot tag into Angelico who cleared the ring. Angelico hit a flatliner on Bronson and Serpentico followed it up with a big frog splash, but it only got a two count. Angelico got a toehold on Bronson and flipped him over, causing Bronson to tap out.

PROVING GROUND MATCH: ROH Women’s Television Champion Red Velvet defeated Lady Frost

This surprise match was booked by Tony Khan himself earlier in the evening. If Frost could last 10 minutes or pin the Champion, she would earn a shot at Velvet’s ROH Women’s TV Title. Winning a Proving Ground match would be huge for Frost.

The two were pretty evenly matched with neither women getting the jump on the other off the top and each move being met with a countermove. Frost kept the pace of the match slow, knowing that the clock was on her side. All she had to do was last 10 minutes and she’d get her title shot. Velvet seemed unconcerned with the time, and seemed to be taking her opponent seriously, but meticulously.

Frost began to overpower Velvet with some handspring strikes in the corner. Frost locked in a chinlock with Velvet in the middle of the ring, eating up more time. Velvet reversed it into an abdominal stretch, taking more time off the clock.

Frost landed a standing moonsault, but only got a two count. Frost planted Velvet with a cartwheel powerbomb, but again, only two. Velvet hit a hip-toss neckbreaker out of nowhere and the two rolled around in pinning combinations until Velvet finally got the three-count on Frost, dashing her title hopes.

-Taya Valkyrie joined us backstage and hyped up her match later with Mina Shirakawa. Valkyrie was offended by Shirakawa being in ROH. That brought out the RevPro Women’s champ herself who shook her money makers at Valkyrie who walked off in a huff.

Lance Archer & The Righteous (Dutch & Vincent) defeated Lights. Camera. Faction.

When last we saw Archer, he was beating up someone named “Ozzy” for reasons known only to him. Tonight, he re-joins his compatriots Dutch and Vincent. These three haven’t exactly been known to follow rules and seem more interested in hurting their opponents, so who knows what we would get here. 

No one bothered to mention the names of the members of Lights Camera Faction, so the one I’ll call Lights* kicked things off against Vincent. He didn’t last long though as Archer tagged in, terrifying his opponents. He no sold some strikes from Camera** before absolutely levelling him. That brought in Dutch and Faction*** who dutch laid out and setup Orange Sunshine. Archer delivered a Black out to Faction and scored the pin.

Another great match for this trio, even though it was somewhat pointless and chaotic.

*His name was Watson. **Real name Ice Williams. ***They never said his real name.

Diamante defeated Tiara James

In another unannounced matchup, Diamante took on James in a singles bout. Diamante planted James on her fast about thirty seconds into the match to get the pin in a textbook squash.

Diamante beat up James a bit after the match, but Red Velvet made a triumphant return from 15 minutes ago to break it up and run Diamante off.

-Lee Johnson was interviewed backstage about EJ Nduka saving him from Comoroto and Watts. Johnson called him a friend and NDuka joined him in a sweet Kylo Ren t-shirt. Nduka said that he was The Judge and Johnson getting jumped after matches was over because he was here to protect his back.

Griff Garrison (w/Maria) defeated Angelo Parker

Two men without their tag team partners went head to head in this singles bout. The wild(est) card would of course be Maria. She no longer has Serpentico’s mask to keep her company, so she pushed Garrison hard to win this match and give them a reason to keep going. 

Garrison tried to mock Parker for being short (which was kind of laughable as he only had about an inch of height on him) and Parker took that opportunity to kick him in the shins. Garrison responded with some stiff uppercuts, driving Parker into the corner while Maria chirped on the outside.

Garrison seemed to have everything under control, peppering Parker with suplexes and chops, as well as taking some pinning liberties. Parker managed to dodge Garrison and deliver a big clothesline and running neckbreaker. Parker hit a big elbow on Garrison and Maria jumped up on the apron. She pretended to toss her boot in the ring, and while the ref was distracted she hit Parker with the other one.

Garrison capitalized and pinned the dazed Parker, 1-2-3.

The Premier Athletes (Ariya Daivari & Tony Nese) (w/Mark Sterling) defeated Joe Alonzo & Josiah Jean

Mark Sterling has been pushing the Premier Athletes down our throats the last few weeks. Singles matches, Tag matches, anything to get his team some airtime. Unfortunately, this hasn’t led to a lot of wins, with Nese losing to Lio Rush and Daivari taking a pin from The Conglomeration’s Tomohiro Ishii last week. 

Nese started thing off by throwing Alonzo to the mat as if he was a bag of feathers. Nese dragged him to Daivari in the corner and the two double teamed Alonzo. Nese and Daivari had the advantage of being teammates and their cohesion was hard for Alonzo and Jean to get around.

Jean tried to help his partner but was clothselined to the outside for his trouble. A lawn dart cutter combo led to a big splash from Daivari and a pin to get the Premier Athletes the win.

John Silver (w/Alex Reynolds & Evil Uno) defeated Fuego Del Sol

The Dark Order has been cranky as heck the last few weeks, furious that Dustin Rhodes and the Von Erichs have been able to hold on to their ROH Six-Man tag titles. With Del Sol working “Del Solo” (sorry, I had to), it was pretty much three on one before the match even started.

After a very tender Code of Honor, the two locked up with Del Sol coming out on top and Silver sliding out of the ring to get some advice from Uno and Reynolds. Del Sol hit a big moonsault on Uno and Reynolds to break up the party and brought things back into the ring with Silver.

Silver got the momentum on his side with a series of kicks, but Del Sol wasn’t done yet. He fought back until Silver silenced him with a suplex. He then locked in a chinlock to try and get Del Sol to tap, but no dice as the luchadore fought out and delivered some European uppercuts in the corner.

Silver used his power to catch Del Sol and suplex him. Del Sol fought back with a stomp to the head though and set up a tornado DDT. Reynolds got involved, distracting everyone so Uno could attack from behind unnoticed. Once the ring cleared, Silver hit a spinning backbreaker and pinned Del Sol for the win.

Abadon defeated Rache Chanel

Abadon has had her spooky sights on the ROH Women’s Championship, and the woman who forever-holds it, Athena. She’s driven legit fear into the heart of the champion on more than one occasion, so the notion of Athena looking to spread some fear of her own was on everyone’s mind as the match kicked off. 

Chanel, a Reality of Wrestling regular, had a ton of experience, but had never faced anything quite like Abadon. Right off the tip, Abadon rained down big punches. Chanel wasn’t able to get any kind of momentum in against Abadon, with the Living Dead Girl no-selling all of Chanel’s offense.

Abadon hit a devastating cutter and a Black Dahlia to pin Chanel and get the win.

Katsuyori Shibata defeated Josh Woods (w/Mark Sterling)

Last week, Woods, the lone singles winner amongst the Premier Athletes lately, easily defeated Barrett Brown. Tonight though, he’d be looking down the barrel of a former ROH Pure Champion in Shibata. “The Wrestler” was a specifically boring create-a-wrestler I used to make in Wrestlemania 2000, but in this case the name means action, speed and much more when applied to Shibata.

The two locked up and Woods’ strategy seemed to be to keep Shibata off his feet. The two engaged in a really fun technical swapping of holds and moves, with Shibata coming out on top, locking in an arm hold on Woods. A frustrated Woods knocked Shibata to the outside, where Sterling contributed a stomp or two.

Woods tossed the smaller Shibata back into the ring and began stomping a Texas-sized mudhole on him in the corner. Shibata switched on the aggression and managed to reverse Woods into the corner and hit a big dropkick. Shibata went for a suplex, but Woods reversed it, regaining control of the action.

Woods tried to overpower Shibata, landing a big backbreker. Shibata reversed a suplex into a sleeper though and Sterling jumped up to cause a distraction. Shibata ran him off and hit an STO on Woods followed by a cross armbreaker, causing Woods to tap out.

Mina Shirakawa defeated Taya Valkyrie (w/Johnny TV)

This Main Event match was a grudge match, the grudge of which started last week. As Shirakawa was celebrating her win over Rachael Ellering, Valkyrie attached the Stardom star, leaving her lying in the ring. Tonight, Shirakawa was looking for revenge, but the fly in the ointment was Valkyrie’s husband, the one and only Johnny TV. 

Shirakawa’s dancing seemed to enrage Valkyrie, which in her defense, there was a lot of it. Valkyrie sent Shirakawa to the corner for some big stomps, putting her on her heels right from the start. Valkyrie dig into her bag of dirty tricks early, biting the arm of Shirakawa, who fought back with some big spine kicks.

Putting her Stardom experience to use, Shirakawa worked the knee of Valkyrie, leaving her hobbling and trying to get a quick pin. Moving from leg to leg, Shirakawa locked in a figure four on Valkyrie who pulled herself to the ropes to break it.

Valkyrie took control of the match, clubbing and pounding on Shirakawa while TV cheered her on. Stopping for a quick makeout on the outside with TV, Valkyrie tried to throw Shirakawa into the barricade, but Shirakawa ducked it and headed back to the ring.

Valkyrie slowed the pace right down, hanging Shirakawa on the ropes, bit it was a possum play as Shirakawa was able to grab Valkyrie’s leg when she came in for a kick. On the outside a miscommunication between husband and wife saw TV and Valkyrie crash into each other, giving Shiarakawa a chance to hit a big splash on them both from the top rope.

Back in the ring, Shirakawa hit a massive kick on Valkyrie’s jaw, but Valkyrie, favouring her leg, responded with a big lariat. Shirakawa set up Valkyrie for a big splash from the top of the ringpost, but only got a two count. Valkyrie poppe dup and hit a spear, followed by a blue thunder bomb for a two-count.

Valkyrie tried to get Shirakawa up for a surfboard, but Shirakawa reversed it into a second Figure Four. She held it on Valkyrie in the middle of the ring until Valkyrie was forced to tap. As the TV family slunk away Shirakawa celebrated with the crowd as the show when off the air.

Ring of Honor TV live results: Three title matches

Posted on by Jeff Moss

This week’s Ring of Honor on HonorClub TV show will feature three title matches in addition to a Proving Ground match.

ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe will look for the third defense of his title as he faces Johnny TV who is still in search of his first AEW or ROH title.

The ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles will be on the line as Dustin Rhodes & The Von Erichs defend against former champions Cage of Agony.

ROH men’s TV Champion Atlantis Jr. will defend against NJPW’s Robbie Eagles as he looks for the third title defense in his young reign.

Reigning ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty will face Action Andretti in a Proving Ground match where if Andretti can win or take Moriarty to a draw, he earns a future title match.

Other action includes Lio Rush vs. Blake Christian, Katsuyori Shibata vs. Ari Daivari, and ROH Women’s Champion Athena will be on hand to share some thoughts as to what’s next for her.

**********

It’s Thursday and you know what that means! Title Matches (times three)! Six Man Action! Grudge Matches! It was all here and waiting in the 77th episode of ROH on Honorclub!

-The show kicked off with a segment with the former Big Show, Paul Wight, who is in charge of ROH now it seems. He was quickly interrupted by Johnny TV and Taya Valkyrie. TV requested an ROH Championship match, and Wight considered it for a second and say “ok.” Then it was over. That’s just how things work in ROH.

ROH WORLD CHAMPION Mark Briscoe defeated Johnny TV w/Taya Valkyrie

Last week, Johnny TV defeated Fuego Del Sol. This week, he got a shot a Mark Briscoe’s ROH World Championship, in the first-ever meeting between these two. Briscoe retained the title against Roderick Strong at Death Before Dishonor and recently attempted to murder Jack Perry with a chair in AEW’s Blood and Guts. But TV is, of course, TV Ready (and so is Taya!) and would love to cash in on this opportunity for gold.

The match itself was very fun, if not a little predictable. These two are both excellent at in-ring action, as well as working the crowd. TV looked a little more polished next to Briscoe, but the Master of Redneck Kung Fu has made a career out of adapting to his opponent’s style. That said, TV had control of the match early on, keeping the champion on his toes with big kicks and a little help from Valkyrie on the outside.

Briscoe turned the tables though with a missile dropkick from the top rope. The crowd responded and Briscoe laid in a whole bunch of chops and a dropkick through the ropes on TV. Valkyrie attempted to interfere but was caught and was banned from ringside by the ref. TV took advantage and hit a Starship Pain, but Briscoe kicked out.

After a rope-bouncing back and forth, Briscoe was able to land a Jay Driller on TV and get the pin to retain his ROH World Title.

-Robbie Eagles cut a promo in the back, demanding harder and more meaningful matches. He’s won all over the world, and now he wants ROH Gold. He challenged ROH World TV Champion Atlantis Jr to a match, which would happen later in the show!

Lio Rush defeated Blake Christian

Christian is back in ROH, fresh off the Best of the Super Juniors tournament in Japan. Back in February, Christian fought Zak Sabre Jr. for the NJOW World Television Championship in a losing effort. He’s also been part of quite a few six-man and tag team matches in ROH. In July, having not succeeded in the rap game quite as he’d expected, Rush made his return to ROH after a seven year absence.

Both men worked a very fast and high-flying style, so this match moved at about mach 5. Rush was like a greased trout in the ring and Christian had a hard time getting ahold of him. That said, when he had the upper hand, he was able to dish out the punishment on the smaller Rush. The pair wrestled a full match just in the first couple of minutes and showed no signs of slowing down.

Rush appeared to hurt is arm early on, selling really, really well and giving Christian an opening to take control of the match. Christian went for a big, big spinebuster and worked the shoulder and arm of Rush some more. Rush tried to hit a Rush Hour, but with only one arm, it only had half the impact. Christian wrenched the injured arm of Rush on the edge of the ring apron (the hardest part of the ring) but Rush refused to quit.

Christian hit a pile driver on Rush outside the ring and tossed him back in to attempt a cover. He nailed a springboard 450 off the top rope, but Rush wasn’t done and kicked out. Rush hit a springboard back move off the bottom rope and managed to catch Christian with a rollup and win the match, one arm and all.

Rush as a bit of a reputation in the business, but when he’s focused in the ring, he’s one of the best high-fliers working today.

-Billie Starkz and ROH Women’s World Champion Athena came down to the ring. Athena, with mic in hand. Starkz got demoted to “Minion In Training” after Death Before Dishonor and has been sulking about it ever since. Athena declared that this was the first “live” Minion Training Session and set Starkz to the task of doing situps in the background while she talked. Athena declared that Lexy Nair was her new Minion BFF, and Starkz asked why she wasn’t doing situps? Athena reminded Starkz that she was the one who lost “their” ROH Womens TV Title. She then continued bigging up Lexy and running down Starkz. Athena said that there was no one who could beat her and who should appear behind her? The living dead girl, Abadon! Athena shrieked in terror and then slinked (slunk? slunked?) away with her title belt and Starkz.

-Mark Briscoe joined us from the back with Tomohiro Ishii of the Conglomeration. Briscoe let us know that the Beast Mortos pinned him a while back, and he respects that. Briscoe wants Mortos and is offering a chance at the ROH title to do it. He left to find Paul Wight to make the match official. Ishii also left. He may not have known where he was to begin with.

Katsuyori Shibata defeated Ariya Daivari w/ Mark Sterling & Tony Nese

Last week, the Premier Athete’s Tony Nese got a singles match to show what he could do. This week, Ariya Daivari was in the ring against a man known as “The Wrestler,” Shibata. That implies that Shibata is very, very good at wrestling, so Daivari had his hands full. It also remained to be seen if Mark Sterling or another member of the Premier Athletes would factor into the match.

Daivari wasn’t in a hurry to hook up with Shibata, exiting the ring as soon as the bell rang to get some advice from Sterling. Nese hopped up on the ring apron to distract Shibata, but he was dealt with quickly, leading to Shibata locking in a figure 4 on Daivari. Daivari managed to make it to the ropes to break the hold, and jumped out of the ring again to regroup.

Back in the ring, Daivari was able to gain control while Sterling drove the crowd crazy on the outside. Diavari sent Shibata to the outside and then distracted the ref so Nese and Sterling could work him over. They threw him back in, and Daivary peppered Shibata with chops, but Shibata no-sold them all. A massive dropkick and suplex later and Shibata was firmly in the drivers seat. The Ref caught Sterling and Nese trying to interfere and sent them to the back.

In the chaos, Shibata locked in The Claw and then transitioned to an arm bar, causing Daivari to tap out.

-Backstage, the MxM Collection addressed their “tip-touchers” but were interrupted by the First Lady of Ring of Honor, Maria (along with Griff Garrison). She suggested they accept Garrison as a third partner and make a run in the trios division. They presented their tips, and instead of touching, Garrision grabbed them, leading to the MxM Collection to leave in disgust.

Harley Cameron defeated Viva Van

Last week, Cameron made her presence known in ROH by running down Rachael Ellering’s fashion sense. This week, she would be in the ring with Van, a PWI top-50 ranked competitor, looking to make a name for herself. 

Cameron had about a six inch height advantage on Van and took control right off the bell. Cameron has a really mean and nasty way about her and her strikes hit hard. Van was able to reverse into an ankle lock, but Cameron fought out of it, wrenching in a body scissor.

Van came into her own in the latter half of the match, wracking up offence in the way of big dropkicks and knife edge chops. Also screaming. Cameron was able to battle back with a Backstabber, but neither woman could get a three count.

Finally, with a big running knee, Cameron was able to get the pin on Van. The crowd was deadly silent during this match.

​​Serpentico defeated Griff Garrison (w/ Maria)

A long time ago, in an ROH galaxy far away, Serpentico wore a green mask. Then, it was quite rudely stolen from him by Griff Garrison, his partner Cole Karter and of course, Maria. They have held onto that mask for what seems like years (but is more likely to be months) and Serpentico and his partner Angelico have failed to get it back. Now, with Karter on the shelf and Serpentico taking on Garrison one-on-one, this would be an excellent opportunity to finally get that mask back. 

(As an aside, the black mask that Serpentico adopted in lieu of his green one is far superior, but that’s just my opinion.)

Serpentico set the tone for the match right off the bat by jumping Garrison and working him over on the outside before the bell even rang. Garrison managed to flapjack Serpentico on the steel steps (twice) and then threw him into the ring so the match could officially begin.

Garrison was in control, resorting to as many dirty tricks as he could, including eye gouging. Serpentico flailed until he was able to get a big back elbow on Garrison. Maria cheered on the outside as Garrison went for a torture rack bomb and pin, but Serpentico kicked out at two.

Maria screamed instructions at Garrison who tried to get a dazed Serpentico up for another tourture rack bomb. This caused an issue when Serpentico fell over, leading Garrison to clock the Ref, knocking him out. Maria took advantage and slid a chair in to Garrison who set it up in the corner. That brought out Serpentico’s tag partner Angelico to even the odds.

Serpentico reversed Garrison into his own chair and destroyed his testicles with a second. Unfortunately, there was no ref though and a three could not be counted. Serpentico shook him awake, but by then Garrison had enough in him to kick out.

Garrison removed Serpentico’s mask while he was down, but not to worry, Serpentico had a third mask on underneath. He hit a huge splash on Garrison from the top rope and got the pin to win the match and regain custody of all three of his masks.

-Backstage, Athena had calmed down from her Abadon fright earlier. She sent Starkz to get the car while declaring that she isn’t afraid of anyone, especially not a “spooky zombie… thing.” She then left in a huff.

Anthony Henry and Beef defeated Vinnie Massaro and Dante Leon

So, Anthony Henry has a cousin. His name is Beef. He really wants to be a wrestler. That’s about all there is to know about Beef.

Henry started off against Leon in a series of solid, but typical holds and throws for a match opening. The crowd began chanting for Beef, so Henry tagged him in to take on Massaro. Beef showed a lot more speed and energy than I was expecting, taking our Massaro and stomping Leon in the process.

Henry tagged in to a dazed Leon and hit a bridge suplex to get a three count and win the match for he and Beef, who celebrated with beefy gusto!

PROVING GROUND MATCH: ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty defeated Action Andretti

For those just arriving in the ROH Universe, this is a Proving Ground match. That means, If Andretti could last ten minutes or pin Moriarty, he will earn a future shot at the Pure Championship! It’s rare that the challenger actually wins Proving Ground matches, but Moriarty did just that against Wheeler Yuta to earn his successful shot at the title in the first place. Moriarty and Andretti have a long history, having battled on ROH and Collision over the last few months. 

So, there was some confusion up until match time, but this Proving Ground match was contested under Pure rules, which meant that in addition to the regular Proving Ground rules, each man would get three rope breaks, and a panel of judges would award the win if there was no winner as time ran out.

Andretti seemed to have a little trouble adjusting to this and it cost him a rope break early. Moriarty did a great job of keeping the high-flying Andretti on the ground and keeping the match pace to his liking. Three minutes in, Andretti had used his second and third rope breaks, leaving him without one for the remainder of the match.

Moriarty caught a warning from the ref at 4:13 for using a closed fist. At the halfway point of the match, Andretti locked Moriarty into a Texas Cloverleaf. Moriarty was able to use a rope break to get out of it before he tapped. Moriarty locked in a crossface in the center of the ring, and with no rope breaks left for Andretti, his only recourse was to tap out at about 6 minutes.

ROH WORLD TV CHAMPION Atlantis Jr. defeated TMDK’s Robbie Eagles

Atlantis Jr went through five competitors at Death Before Dishonor before pinning Brian Cage to retain his title. Eagles had his first ROH match in over a year last week. A former IGWP Jr Heavyweight champion, Eagles was no slouch, and Atlantis Jr took that threat seriously. 

These two were a really great matchup. Both had speed and agility to spare. Atlantis Jr got the upper hand first with a big knee to the face. Eagles fought back though, forcing Atlantis Jr to the outside where he worked him over and threw him back in the ring. Eagles gave into his own ego though, allowing Atlantis Jr to find an opening for some big punches.

Eagles tried to take off Atlantis Jr’s mask, but the champion was able to wriggle away before he got it off. Eagles began working the leg, trying to set up a submission finish, but Atlantis Jr fought back and landed a pile driver on Eagles. He followed that up with a back suplex and a two-count.

Eagles got in a flurry of offence, ending up with a Ron Miller Special locked in on Atlantis Jr. After a few minutes, Atlantis was able to fight his way to the ropes to break the hold. Eagles charged, but Atlantis caught him with a spinning backbreaker.

The two men caught their second winds at the same time and Eagles and Atlantis Jr traded holds and moves at breakneck speed. Atlantis ended up on the mat and Eagles went to the top rope, but missed the landing. Atlantis caught him in a tilt-o-whirl torture rack and Eagles was forced to tap out, allowing Atlantis Jr to retain the ROH TV Title.

-Paul Wight joined us from the backstage area to tell us that he’s making it official. Next week, The Beast Mortos would take on Mark Briscoe for the ROH World Championship. This brought out Tony Nese and Ariya Daivari who complained that everyone is being given title shots but them. Wight said that if Nese can beat Lio Rush, Wight would find them a match of their liking. Nese accepted and the pain left.

ROH WORLD SIX-MAN CHAMPIONS Dustin Rhodes & The Von Erich (Marshall & Ross) defeated Cage of Agony (Brian Cage, Toa Liona, & Bishop Kaun)

Last week, it was a tag match for Rhodes, teaming with Sammy Guevara in a win against the Dark Order. Back in the Six-Man fold, Rhodes and the Von Erichs took on the very beefy and very dangerous Cage of Agony, 2-time Six Man Champions in their own right. They held the belts for a combined 351 days, and defended them 11 times. If COA was able to get one over on the champs, they would become the 3-Time Six Man Champions, a feat only accomplished by one other team, The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Maseglia and TK O’Ryan). 

Ross started things off against Kaun, with Kaun taking the lead until Marshall came in for a save. Kaun absolutely crushed Marshall with a lariat bringing in his partners for a triple team. The legal tag went to Cage, who dragged Marshall to the corner, isolating him in the Corner of Agony. Marshall fought out of the corner and managed to tag in Ross. Cage caused a distraction, and Kaun threw Ross out of the ring. Cage beat him up on the outside and tossed him back in for a Liona and Kaun double team.

Cage, in his X-Men gear that had to be making The Infantry jealous, tagged in and beat up on Ross. Cage’s raw power was pretty hard to match, but Ross just couldn’t get the tag to one of his partners. Cage of Agony started wrestling with real arrogance. Standing covers, stopping for pushups, etc. Ross found an opening and got a tag to Rhodes, at the same time Cage got a tag.

Rhodes played his greatest hits on Cage, hitting him with bulldogs, powerslams and even a crossRhodes. At this point, the match devolved as all six men were in the ring taking and giving signature moves. Cage and Rhodes remained the legal men and Rhodes hit a sneak Texas Destroyer that got a very close two count.

Siuddenly, the ring was flooded with bodies. The Dark Order and the Undisputed Kingdom stormed the ring, causing a no contest and wreaking havoc. Sammy Guevara ran down to join the fray along with Fuego Del Sol, Serpoentico and Angelico. The heels beat down on the faces and even took out the security that was sent to the ring to regain order.

Cage hit a Gory Flatliner on Del Sol and Bennett and Taven took out Rhodes with a Hail Mary driver. Then Christopher Daniels, Jerry Lynn and more referees hit the ring representing the Board of Directors. They broke up the 8 vs 4 melee as the show came to an end.

MJF vs. Kyle Fletcher, Bryan Danielson vs. Jeff Jarrett set for next AEW Dynamite

Posted on by Josh Nason

Three matches are on tap for next Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with one involving the former AEW World Champion and another featuring a first-time-ever match between two legends.

AEW American/International Champion MJF will face Kyle Fletcher in a non-title match following the latter coming out to aid former partner Will Ospreay from an MJF post-match attack.

Ospreay had just defeated Lance Archer when MJF followed up on a show-opening promo by beating down Ospreay. Fletcher then prevented a Dynamite diamond ring punch before cutting a promo on MJF, challenging him to a match right there. MJF pretended he was going to do it and then said he would do it next week instead.

Ospreay and Fletcher were part of the United Empire faction in NJPW in addition to the Don Callis Family before Ospreay and Callis parted ways this year.

MJF and Fletcher squared off at last year’s All In when MJF & Adam Cole defeated Fletcher & Mark Davis for the ROH Tag Team titles.

Another match will see Bryan Danielson take on Jeff Jarrett for the first time ever.

The bout was made after Wednesday’s in-ring promo with Danielson and AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland where Danielson offered up his career if he cannot beat Strickland at All In. Danielson walked backstage and Jarrett was rooting him on as a follow-up to last week’s pump-up speech that he gave him.

Danielson wasn’t in the mood and then issued the challenge for next Wednesday.

Another match made for next week will see Katsuyori Shibata taking on Bryan Keith as the feud between their respective groups continues.

Shibata returned last week to disrupt The Learning Tree’s plans. Chris Jericho said in a backstage promo celebrating 102 days as FTW Champion that since his finger was broken last week in his bout with Minoru Suzuki, Keith would take care of Shibata for him.

Here’s the current lineup for Winston-Salem:

  • Bryan Danielson vs. Jeff Jarrett
  • AEW American/International Champion MJF vs. Kyle Fletcher in a non-title match
  • Bryan Keith vs. Katsuyori Shibata

Samoa Joe issues trios match challenge to Chris Jericho for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door

Posted on by Bryan Rose

A new trios match has been added to Forbidden Door.

After Chris Jericho and Big Bill defeated Private Party on AEW Collision, the two along with Bryan Keith continued to attack Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy until Samoa Joe, Hook, and Katsuyori Shibata came out for the save.

Joe then cut a promo saying that Jericho’s learning tree sucks, and they come from different backgrounds and different school of thoughts. He then issued the trios challenge for Forbidden Door. The match, however, has yet to be made official.

Jericho has debuted a new persona since taking the FTW Championship away from Hook, taking Big Bill and Bryan Keith under his “learning tree”, often giving patronizing advice to those he comes across.

Since his loss to Jericho at Double or Nothing thanks to Bryan Keith, Hook has been looking for revenge. He and Samoa Joe have since agreed to have each other’s backs, with Shibata joining them to form a trio. Earlier on Collision, the trio defeated Ari Daivari, Tony Nese, and Josh Woods of the Premier Athletes.

Katsuyori Shibata challenging for FTW title on next AEW Dynamite

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Katsuyori Shibata challenging for the FTW Championship is one of three items official for the Wednesday, May 1 AEW Dynamite. 

Shibata issued a challenge to the FTW Champion Chris Jericho for a title match on next week’s show during Wednesday’s Dynamite in a backstage interview segment with Renee Paquette. 

Jericho won the FTW title from Hook at last Sunday’s Dynasty pay-per-view, and teased an alliance with Big Bill in his first appearance as champion on Dynamite this week. 

New AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland’s Double or Nothing title challenger will also be revealed during next week’s Dynamite. 

Strickland defeated Kyle Fletcher in a World title eliminator bout on this week’s Dynamite in his first match since winning the title from Samoa Joe in the main event of last Sunday’s Dynasty.

As already announced, Kenny Omega will make his Dynamite return in Winnipeg on next week’s show. Omega has been sidelined since late last year while battling diverticulitis.

The announced lineup for the Wednesday, May 1 Dynamite: 

  • FTW Champion Chris Jericho defends against Katsuyori Shibata
  • Swerve Strickland’s AEW World title challenger for Double or Nothing revealed
  • Kenny Omega appears 

Ospreay vs. Shibata set for next week’s AEW Dynamite

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Will Ospreay vs. Katsuyori Shibata is one of three matches announced for the March 27 AEW Dynamite. 

In something of a dream match, Ospreay and Shibata will go one-on-one for just the second time ever, and for the first time since 2017 on next Wednesday’s Dynamite as the build continues to Ospreay vs. Bryan Danielson at AEW Dynasty on April 21.

Ospreay laid out the challenge to Shibata on this week’s Dynamite during an in-ring promo, noting that Danielson & Shibata put on a pro wrestling clinic in their match on last week’s Collision. Ospreay said that as he prepares to wrestle Danielson, he feels the need to walk in Danielson’s shoes by taking on Shibata. 

Shibata & Ospreay last wrestled at NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka in February 2017 with Shibata coming away with the victory in that bout. 

Swerve Strickland will also be in action on next week’s Dynamite, with the top contender to Samoa Joe’s AEW World title taking on Konosuke Takeshita. 

The AEW Tag Team title tournament will also continue on Dynamite with a quarterfinals matchup between The Young Bucks and Private Party. 

The announced card for the Wednesday, March 27 AEW Dynamite: 

  • Will Ospreay vs. Katsuyori Shibata
  • Swerve Strickland vs. Konosuke Takeshita
  • AEW Tag Team title tournament quarterfinals: The Young Bucks vs. Private Party

AEW Collision live results: Bryan Danielson vs. Katsuyori Shibata

Posted on by Suit Williams

Another dream match featuring Bryan Danielson is set for Collision.

Danielson this week will face former NJPW star Katsuyori Shibata in a first-time ever match. In recent weeks Danielson has defeated the likes of legend Jun Akiyama and CMLL’s Hechicero, all on Collision. Shibata is making his first AEW appearance since losing the ROH Pure Championship at the end of last year.

Kyle O’Reilly will make his in-ring return, taking on Bryan Keith. O’Reilly told Roderick Strong and The Kingdom on Dynamite that he needed to do this by himself. They all shook hands, agreeing.

The start of the AEW Tag Team title tournament will begin, as The House of Black will face The Infantry in a wildcard bout. Other matches will see PAC take on Komander and Julia Hart defend the TBS Championship against Trish Adora under Open House rules. Adam Copeland will also speak just days prior to his I Quit match against Christian Cage.

Join us for live coverage starting at 8 pm ET.

***

Sir Elton John got the week off as we went right into the action for this week’s Collision. Tony Schiavone and Nigel McGuinness were on the call.

Bryan Danielson defeated Katsuyori Shibata

An unbelievably great match. Easily the best match of Shibata’s career post-injury, as this was the first time he had the feeling and the aura of the Shibata of old. What else can be said about Bryan Danielson? He’s had an all-time great career, and this may just be the best run of his life so far. This was a MUST-SEE match.

If you told me in 2017, when both of these men were retired due to injury, that this match would happen someday, I’d have called you crazy. But here we are. They jockeyed for position to start, as McGuinness talked about both men’s previous head injuries. This was to eventually brag about beating Danielson with a headbutt once upon a time. After a stalemate, the two locked hands and traded kicks before Danielson transitioned to a surfboard stomp on the knees.

Danielson transitioned to the arm with repeated armbreakers as Shibata tried to escape with forearms and kicks. Danielson transitioned to an armbar attempt, but Shibata countered it into a bow-and-arrow lock. Danielson transitioned to a bow-and-arrow of his own before Shibata slid out and went for a double wristlock. The two traded chops before Danielson shot for a single leg and returned to the arm. Shibata rolled to the apron, then caught Danielson with a suplex to the floor before booting him in the chest as we went to our first commercial break.

After the commercial break, Danielson dropped Shibata with a missile dropkick. They traded corner dropkicks before Shibata hammered Danielson in the corner with Genichiro Tenryu-style strikes. Shibata hit the hesitation dropkick before scoring a nearfall with a half-hatch suplex for a nearfall. Shibata locked on a sleeper hold, but Danielson fought out. The two traded ankle lock attempts until Danielson hit a leg-trap German suplex. Danielson went for a rolling elbow, but Shibata caught Danielson with an STO.

The two elbowed each other in the guts before Shibata hit a Death Valley Driver for a nearfall. Shibata laid in the hammer-and-anvil elbows, then went for the Rainmaker Slap. Danielson ducked it and hit the Busaiku Knee for a nearfall. Danielson locked on the LeBell Lock, and despite trapping the free arm as well, Shibata reached the bottom rope to break the hold.

Danielson laid in the middle kicks, but Shibata defiantly sat cross-legged and invited more. Shibata got up and traded big boots with Danielson before laying in middle kicks of his own. Danielson sat cross-legged in defiance, and Shibata sat with him to trade slaps. They fought to their feet before Danielson laid in a kick to the arm and the head. Danielson went for a Busaiku Knee, but Shibata countered it with a Rainmaker Slap. Shibata locked on the Cobra Twist, but Danielson just barely reached the rope with his foot. Danielson ducked the Penalty Kick and entered into a pinning predicament, one that saw Danielson score the win with a crucifix pin.

Post-match, both men shook hands and hugged as the crowd gave them a standing ovation.

We got a video recap of Mercedes Mone’s AEW debut on Big Business. We got clips of the main event segment with Willow Nightingale – cut with video of Nightingale’s win over Mone in New Japan last year – and Mone saving Nightingale from Julia Hart & Skye Blue.

AEW TBS Title Open House Match – Julia Hart defeated Trish Adora to retain

Adora has interesting and unique offense, which is good to stand out as an enhancement talent.

The Open House Rule for this match is that the loser will be banned from ringside for the House of Black vs. The Infantry match, as both women are in those units.

Adora caught Hart in a double-arm submission, doing the splits on top of Hart to get a reaction from the crowd. Adora locked on another wild-looking submission before Hart escaped to the floor, where she sent Adora into the steps and into the barricade. After a commercial, Adora fired up with strikes and a bodyslam into the knee for a nearfall. Hart evaded a couple of charges and hit a pair of charges into the corner.

Hart went for the Hartless submission, but Adora turned it into a pin cover for a nearfall. Hart laid in more shots before hitting the moonsault to score the win and retain the title. After the match, it was announced that Hart & Skye Blue would take on Kris Statlander & Willow Nightingale in a street fight on Rampage, which is immediately following Dynamite this Wednesday night.

Zak Knight & Harley Cameron were backstage with Lexy Nair, who asked about Cool Hand Ang’s challenge for tonight. Knight denied the challenge, saying that he didn’t want to give Parker the home country advantage. Knight said that the match would happen on his terms. I was kind of hoping that Zak Knight would wrestle on the same show as Katsuyori Shibata. That would’ve been a hell of a fun fact.

Daniel Garcia defeated Lee Moriarty (w/ Shane Taylor)

A nice little showcase for two of the young technicians on the roster.

Matt Menard was on commentary as these two got off to a quick start. Garcia got the advantage by feigning a punch before kicking the knee. Garcia sent Moriarty to the floor with a dropkick, and as Garcia sent him back in, Taylor provided a distraction to allow Moriarty to hit a blindside tope. Taylor laid in a cheap shot as Moriarty held control. Moriarty provided some damage control with a belly-to-belly suplex before wrenching on Garcia’s arm.

Garcia fired up with punches and stomps, forcing Moriarty into the corner. Garcia laid in a chop block and did damage to the knee before landing a backdrop driver for a nearfall. Moriarty caught Garcia by the head for a roll-up but couldn’t go for a corner charge due to the damage to the knee. Moriarty caught a charging Garcia with a double stomp to the chest for a nearfall, but Garcia kicked out and caught Moriarty in a heel hook for the submission win.

We got a recap of Darby Allin vs. Jay White on Dynamite and the Bullet Club Gold attack on him and The Acclaimed. They broke Allin’s foot, costing him his climb of Mount Everest and a couple of months of action in the ring.

PAC defeated Aaron Solo

PAC is a welcome re-addition to an already unbelievably stacked roster.

Solo got a quick start, hitting a big overhead throw and a dive to the outside before PAC shut him down with a boot to the face and stomps in the corner. The crowd chanted Welcome Back and He’s A Bastard as PAC worked over Solo. PAC crushed Solo with the Black Arrow before locking on the Brutalizer for the win.

After the match, PAC reiterated his statement that he was back for trouble. Solo wasn’t who he had in mind, so PAC asked Tony Khan to find him some trouble before he found some himself.

Bryan Danielson was meditating in the back before talking about how grateful he was to wrestle Shibata tonight, as both men were once medically unable to compete. Danielson heard Will Ospreay say that he wasn’t planning to die at Dynasty, and Danielson learned that Ospreay would be unable to walk in his shoes. Danielson has been on death’s door because of pro wrestling. He said that despite Ospreay knowing what he’s willing to do, he’s not ready for what Danielson is willing to do.

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Lance Archer ended in a no contest

A fun battle of the big men before the rare run-in DQ from the re-introduced Righteous, setting up an interesting trios scenario for down the line.

The two big men traded shoulder blocks as the crowd chanted BEEF. McGuinness brought up Castagnoli’s bodyslam of Paul Wight over the top rope back at Wrestlemania 30, although he didn’t mention the show of course. Castagnoli clubbered Archer against the ropes before finally sending him over the top with a clothesline. Archer caught a charging Castangoli on the floor and went for a chokeslam on the apron, but Castangoli got on the apron. Archer ducked a clothesline before crushing Castagnoli with a cannonball off the apron as we went to the commercial.

After the commercial, Archer hit a ripcord uranage for a nearfall. Archer talked trash before going for a DDT, but Castagnoli herked Archer up into a vertical suplex. Archer came back quickly with a lariat to a charging Castagnoli. Archer went for a ropewalk move, but Castagnoli yanked him into an uppercut. Castagnoli hit a double stomp that sent Archer to the outside, where Castagnoli followed him with a running uppercut.

Archer cut Castagnoli off with a rising knee before landing a chokeslam for a nearfall. Archer loaded Castagnoli up for the Blackout, but Castagnoli countered it with a Death Valley Driver. Castagnoli clubbered Archer with uppercuts, sending him to the second rope before hitting a Tower of London-style cutter for a nearfall. Archer countered out of a Neutralizer, but Castagnoli caught him with a springboard uppercut for a nearfall.

Castagnoli loaded up Archer for the Giant Swing, but The Righteous came out and attacked Castagnoli to cause the disqualification. Bryan Danielson came out to help, but The Righteous quickly hit him with Autumn Sunshine to take him down. Katsuyori Shibata came out with a chair to even the odds and run off Archer and the Righteous.

Angelo Parker & Ruby Soho were backstage with Lexy Nair, who asked about Zak Knight’s denial of his challenge. Parker was upset that he wouldn’t get his match with his mom in the crowd and threatened to find Knight for a fight. Soho refused, saying that would be playing into their hand. Cooler heads prevailed, and Parker said he wouldn’t fight Knight tonight.

Kyle O’Reilly defeated Bryan Keith

This won’t make any match of the year lists, but I adore how this match was worked. O’Reilly allowed his injuries and the long layoff to get in his head early on but overcame them to beat a game Bryan Keith here. Credit to both men for the effort here, as Keith was the right opponent to highlight and match O’Reilly’s strengths.

Keith shook O’Reilly up with a headlock, then forced O’Reilly to the floor with a shoulder block. O’Reilly got back in the ring and initiated a strike exchange that Keith cut off with a boot to the gut. O’Reilly came back with a rising knee and a slap to the face. Keith caught O’Reilly in a Cobra Twist before landing a hook kick and a DDT as we went to a commercial.

Keith had O’Reilly in a cravate as we came back from the commercial. Schiavone sent well wishes to MMA legend Mark Coleman after his heroic rescue of his parents from a burning house this past week. O’Reilly dropped Keith with a kitchen sink knee before firing up with strikes. O’Reilly hit a back suplex before snatching on a kneebar that sent Keith into the ropes. Keith hopped over a leg kick to get some offense in, but O’Reilly transitioned his way into a triangle choke before landing a Penalty Kick.

O’Reilly went to the top rope, but Keith headbutted O’Reilly down. O’Reilly went for the leg again, but Keith hit a knee, then a second knee as O’Reilly was falling for a nearfall. Keith went for Diamond Dust, but O’Reilly ripped Keith off the ropes by the arm. O’Reilly hit the Axe and Smash kicks, but Keith came back with an enzuigiri. They blocked each other’s strikes before O’Reilly hit the pendulum lariat and a brainbuster for a nearfall. O’Reilly immediately transitioned into a cross armbar he called Armageddon to score the win in his return match.

Roderick Strong & The Kingdom came out to celebrate with O’Reilly, with the Kingdom lifting O’Reilly onto their shoulders.

Thunder Rosa & Deonna Purrazzo were backstage with Lexy Nair ahead of their tag team match against Toni Storm & Mariah May on Dynamite. Purrazzo said that the two of them had the same enemy in Toni Storm, so they could trust each other. Rosa reminded everyone that she never lost the Women’s Title and that they would cut all the jokes on Dynamite.

AEW World Tag Team Title Tournament Wild Card Match – The Infantry (Carlie Bravo & Shawn Dean) defeated House Of Black (Brody King & Buddy Matthews) (w/ Julia Hart)

This was less about the tag team tournament and more about keeping the flame lit on the Briscoe/House of Black feud. The Infantry got their asses kicked but will get a chance to impress more next week against FTR.

The winner of this match will face FTR in the Round of Eight.

The House jumped the Infantry before the bell and hit charging attacks to both men against the barricades. Matthews and King then calmly took their place in the ring as the Infantry crawled to their corner. The bell rang and King immediately drilled Bravo with a cannonball for a nearfall. After a commercial, Dean got the hot tag and immediately slipped off the top rope.

Dean recovered and fought two-on-one until King shut him down with a lariat. Bravo got dropped with a pop-up knee and King hit Dante’s Inferno on Dean for…a nearfall as Bravo broke up the pin. Matthews knocked Bravo off the apron into King, who hit a Death Valley Driver into the announce table. Matthews fed Bravo to King on the announce table before King hit a piledriver on the table to take him out.

Matthews got in the ring and hit a curb stomp on Dean but pulled him up at the count of two. Hart wanted Matthews to do more damage, so Matthews went to the top rope. But as the referee dealt with Hart on the apron, Mark Briscoe came out and hit Matthews with a chair. As King chased Briscoe away, Dean rolled on top of Matthews to score the shock win. Malakai Black came out, unhappy at his team taking the loss.

We got a video package hyping the I Quit match between Christian Cage vs. Adam Copeland for Wednesday’s Dynamite.

Adam Copeland Speaks

The reveal of Spike as the super-weapon of doom was effective as part of this solid go-home promo for Dynamite on Wednesday.

Copeland came out with his mystery box. Copeland talked about how for a long time, he didn’t think he’d get to wrestle in Canada again. Copeland said that Christian Cage bought into his own hype and forgot who he was. Copeland believed that he and Cage would look back on their lives and be proud of achieving their dreams. He came to AEW to end his career with Cage as friends, but Cage didn’t want that.

He earned his way to Worlds End to win the TNT Title but lost the title right after. He started the Cope Open and earned his way to a title shot before the Patriarchy took him out with a Con-Chair-To. While he was laid up, Copeland got a call from someone in his past who reminded him of who he was. He took a page out of their book, and while this wasn’t Barbie or Janice, this would work just fine. He opened the box to reveal a 2×4 with nails stuck to the end of it that he called Spike. The phone call from “Mrs. Foley’s Baby Boy” worked because he remembered who he was. He and Spike were going to change Christian Cage, taking away his pride and his ego. He was going to make Cage say I Quit, and 40 years of history would come to an end in their hometown.

Bryan Danielson vs. Katsuyori Shibata dream match set for AEW Collision

Posted on by Josh Nason

Bryan Danielson’s personal dream match run through AEW will continue on this Saturday’s Collision as he faces former NJPW star Katsuyori Shibata.

This will be their first ever time in the ring together with the storyline being that Shibata is returning in order to gain revenge on the Blackpool Combat Club.

The 42-year-old Danielson is preparing for another dream match in April as he faces Will Ospreay at AEW’s Dynasty pay-per-view. As continues what he has said is his last full-time year in the business, he has faced Kazuchika Okada, Yuji Nagata, Hechicero, Zack Sabre Jr., Eddie Kingston and Jun Akiyama this year alone.

For the 44-year-old Shibata, this is his first match anywhere since losing the Ring of Honor Pure title to BCC member Wheeler Yuta on a late-November edition of Rampage. It’s also his first match since signing an AEW contract in December.

Danielson is coming off a win last Saturday over Shane Taylor.

Here’s the updated card for Saturday’s show from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada’s Canadian Tire Centre:

  • Bryan Danielson vs. Katsuyori Shibata
  • Kyle O’Reilly vs. Bryan Keith
  • Open House match: TBS Champion Julia Hart defends against Trish Adora
  • The AEW Tag Team title tournament begins

Katsuyori Shibata signs with AEW

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Katsuyori Shibata is All Elite.

Tony Khan announced shortly before Saturday’s Collision that Shibata had signed with AEW. In his announcement, he thanked New Japan Pro Wrestling for making it happen.

Khan also shared a letter that Shibata sent him, where he wrote the following:

Dear Tony Khan

Today, I have signed the contract with AEW under a permission from New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

In the past year, I worked for AEW/ROH and I learned how wonderful the AEW is.

This is the best environment where wrestlers can focus only on fighting in the ring.

And the love for professional wrestling is overflowing from Tony and all the people who work for him.

I want to make AEW’s ring the last end point of The Wrestler’s career.

I dedicate my wrestler life to Tony Khan, and AEW.

Thank You

Katsuyori Shibata

After the announcement, NJPW thanked Shibata for his contributions in a post on X, wishing him “the very best in the future”.

Shibata resumed his wrestling career in late 2022 where he began making appearances for AEW. At Supercard of Honor earlier this year, he captured the ROH Pure Championship, defeating Wheeler Yuta. On the November 25 edition of Rampage, he lost the title back to Yuta.

Wheeler Yuta wins ROH Pure title on AEW Rampage

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Wheeler Yuta has regained the ROH Pure Championship.

Yuta won the title by defeating Katsuyori Shibata on AEW Rampage, which aired on Saturday due to NHL coverage. The finish of the match had Yuta shove Shibata into the referee, giving him a low blow during the confusion then pinning Shibata to win the title for the third time.

After the match, Yuta pretended like he was going to shake Shibata’s hand but attacked him instead, dropping Shibata with a DDT. Hook came down to the ring to make the save as announcers speculated that Shibata wasn’t alright, noting his previous injuries to the head.

Shibata had held the ROH Pure Championship for over 240 days. He won the title at ROH Supercard of Honor back in April, defeating Yuta.

Tony Khan had made the match on Friday, noting that both had won Pure Rules matches on this week’s ROH television. Shibata defeated Trent Beretta to retain the ROH Pure title while Yuta defeated Lee Moriarty.

AEW Rampage live results: ROH Pure Championship match

Posted on by Suit Williams

A Ring of Honor Pure Championship match headlines tonight’s live AEW Rampage episode. 

Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata will defend against former title holder Wheeler Yuta in a rematch from Supercard of Honor in March of this year. 

Shibata defeated Yuta to win the Pure title at Supercard of Honor on March 31, kicking off his title reign. Yuta never received a rematch, but has since scored one tag team victory over Shibata in a Yuta & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Shibata & Eddie Kingston bout at the All Out pay-per-view on September 3. 

Yuta defeated Daniel Garcia for the Pure title at last December’s Final Battle pay-per-view and defended the title four times before dropping it to Shibata. 

Shibata has made seven successful title defenses, with his most recent coming against Trent Beretta in a match that aired on this week’s Ring of Honor TV episode. 

Rampage tonight kicks off a three-hour block of AEW programming from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as Collision airs in its regular time slot immediately following Rampage.

**********

Tony Schiavone, Kevin Kelly, & Nigel McGuinness were on the call this week as FTW Champion Hook made his entrance.

Hook defeated Rocky Romero

According to Cagematch, Hook has only had 43 matches in his career. Getting reps like this will be essential for his growth as a wrestler. You could see him and Romero working through the match as it was happening, but things like that will go away as Hook becomes more comfortable in-ring. Meanwhile, it’s always good to see Rocky Romero.

This match was announced on social media after Romero made a challenge for AEW to give him their youngest and brightest stars. After an opening exchange, Romero chopped Hook to escape a series of arm wringers. The men traded chops until Hook hit an El Camero suplex. They crossed each other until Hook dropped Romero with a lariat. Hook hit a German suplex that sent Romero rolling to the apron.

Hook went for a suplex on the apron, but Romero hit a rising knee before landing a suplex of his own on the apron. Romero hit a double stomp to Hook on the floor as we went to commercial. Romero hit the Forever Clotheslines as we came back from the break, but Hook caught Romero and threw him into the corner with an Exploder suplex.

Hook fired up until Romero sent Hook onto the apron, where Romero hit a springboard dropkick for a nearfall. Romero hit a running Sliced Bread for a nearfall as the crowd chanted for Hook. Hook hit an STO to take Romero down. Romero recovered and went for a traditional Sliced Bread, but Hook countered it into the Redrum to score the win.

We got a video package for the Katsuyori Shibata vs. Wheeler Yuta Rampage main event tonight.

Kris Statlander defeated Diamante

After an opening exchange, Diamante took down Statlander with a headscissors. Statlander countered a corner charge into a powerslam for a nearfall. Mercedes Martinez, Diamante’s tag team partner, made her way to the stage. Statlander hit a running knee into the corner as Martinez came closer to the ring.

Diamante hit a charging Statlander with an overhead suplex as we came back from a break. Diamante hit a facebuster for a nearfall. Statlander pulled Diamante into position for Saturday Night Fever, but Diamante rolled it into a flash pin for a nearfall. After a pinning predicament, Diamante hit an Asai DDT for a nearfall. Statlander hit a charging Diamante with a rolling lariat for the win, but she was jumped after the bell by Martinez. Willow Nightingale made the save for Statlander.

Daniel Garcia spoke earlier in the night to AEW cameras. He was happy to drive into the show tonight, a drive he made multiple times during his time on the independent scene. He admitted his confidence was low after several high-profile losses, but he was ready to prove that he wasn’t a loser.

The Kingdom defeated Duke Davis & Danny Jones

Mike Bennett spoke on their entrance about Roderick Strong getting hurt by Action Andretti last week on Rampage, but his being Neck Strong kept him from being more hurt. Taven talked trash on MJF before saying that they wanted their ROH Tag Team Titles back. This was a quick match, as Bennett took out Davis on the ramp with a piledriver. In the ring, Taven hit the Climax before hitting the Aurora Borealis frog splash for the win.

ROH Pure Title Match – Wheeler Yuta defeated Katsuyori Shibata to win the title

A solid match, on the better end of Shibata’s output after his return. It’s interesting that they chose this time to change the title with Final Battle coming up soon, but the Hook/Yuta issue has been simmering for a while now. Yuta as a sneering bully is a good direction for him, and the Hook match will get some interest for, I assume, Final Battle.

The judges for this match were Christopher Daniels, Jimmy Jacobs, and Jerry Lynn.

After the opening exchanges, Shibata held onto the ropes on an Irish whip and caught Yuta in a bow-and-arrow hold. He held onto Yuta’s legs and locked on a deathlock before returning to the bow-and-arrow. Yuta flipped into a pin cover to escape, but Shibata transitioned into a kneebar to force Yuta to the ropes for his first rope break. Yuta punched Shibata in the face, earning a warning from the referee.

Yuta chopped Shibata going into and coming out of the break, but Shibata fired up and rocked Yuta with elbows and chops. Shibata drove Yuta down in the corner with chops before hitting a hesitation dropkick. Shibata hit a half-hatch suplex for a nearfall. Shibata caught Yuta in an ankle lock, before transitioning into an STF, reminiscent of Masahiro Chono. Yuta used his second rope break to escape.

Shibata locked on the sleeper hold, but Yuta forced Shibata to the floor and hit a dive to the floor. Yuta sent Shibata into the barricade, but Shibata fired out and booted Yuta against the guardrail. Yuta avoided the Penalty Kick and rolled Shibata up for a nearfall. Yuta rolled up Shibata and put his feet on the ropes for a nearfall. Yuta shoved Shibata into the referee before hitting Shibata with a low blow. Yuta dropped Shibata with a DDT before locking on the Seatbelt pin to score the win and the title.

After the match, Yuta mockingly offered his hand for the Code of Honor, but kicked Shibata low again and dropped him with a DDT. Hook made his way to the ring to run off Yuta.

ROH Pure title match set for AEW Rampage

Posted on by Ian Carey

The ROH Pure Championship will be defended on AEW Rampage. 

Tony Khan announced on social media today that Katsuyori Shibata will defend his title against former champion Wheeler Yuta on tomorrow night’s show. 

Khan wrote:

After both earned Pure Rules wins yesterday on ROH, Shibata will fight former champ Yuta on a special SATURDAY Rampage before Collision TOMORROW!

No other matches or segments have been announced for the show thus far. 

This will be the second singles match and third overall match between Shibata and Yuta. Shibata defeated Yuta for the Pure Championship at Supercard of Honor back in March. However, Yuta and Claudio Castagnoli defeated Shibata and Eddie Kingston at All Out on September 3. 

AEW Rampage will air at 7 p.m. Eastern time tomorrow on TNT rather than in its usual Friday at 10 p.m. timeslot. This is due to TNT’s NHL coverage tomorrow night. 

Both Rampage and Collision will take place from the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, PA. Collision will air at its normal timeslot at 8 p.m. immediately following Rampage. 

AEW Rampage on November 25 announced lineup:

  • ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata defends against Wheeler Yuta

AEW Collision on November 25 announced lineup:

  • Continental Classic Blue League match: Daniel Garcia vs. Claudio Castagnoli
  • Continental Classic Blue League match: Eddie Kingston vs. Brody King

Pure title defense announced for Ring of Honor TV

Posted on by Josh Nason

Ring of Honor Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata will put his title on this line this Thursday against Trent Beretta as part of ROH TV on HonorClub.

Shibata will be looking for the seventh defense of the title he won at March’s Supercard of Honor while Beretta is looking for his first ROH title of any kind. This will be their first-ever match against each other.

Shibata rolls into Thursday with a 7-1 mark this year while Beretta is just 2-6. He is coming off a loss to TNT Champion Christian Cage on last Friday’s AEW Rampage while this is Shibata’s first match since a loss to Eddie Kingston at October’s AEW WrestleDream.

Also announced for Thursday’s show was a rematch between Tony Nese and Ethan Page. Nese recently pinned Page with his feet on the ropes to set up the rematch.

Here’s the current card with more expected to be announced soon:

  • ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata defends against Trent Beretta
  • Tony Nese vs. Ethan Page