The following are spoilers from Friday’s pre-AEW Rampage Ring of Honor TV taping in Kingston, Rhode Island — assumed to be for this Thursday’s HonorClub show.
ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli, ROH Women’s Champion Athena and ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata were all in action as was Alex Coughlin who appeared in the company for the first time since 2019’s War of the Worlds series.
Skye Blue defeated Kelly Madan
Mark Briscoe defeated Ari Daivari. The Varsity Athletes attacked afterward and FTR made the save
ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli defeated Metalik to retain the title
Robyn Renegade defeated Madison Rayne. Rayne appeared to injure her ankle and they went right to the finish.
Wheeler Yuta defeated Tracy Williams
ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata & Alex Coughlin defeated The WorkHorsemen
Darius Martin defeated Mike Bennett by DQ when Matt Taven ran in. Action Andretti made the save.
Willow Nightingale defeated LMK
Stu Grayson defeated Tony Nese. After the match, The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch) came out and stared down Evil Uno and Grayson.
ROH Women’s Champion Athena pinned Ashley D’Amboise in a Proving Ground match
They also taped an AEW dark match afterward.
Best Friends, Isiah Kassidy & Matt Hardy defeated The Butcher and the Blade, Kip Sabian & Zack Clayton
Two title matches make up tonight’s Supercard of Honor fallout edition of Ring of Honor TV on HonorClub.
New Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata will have his first title defense as he faces former ROH World Champion Christopher Daniels.
After defeating Yuka Sakazaki at the pay-per-view, ROH Women’s Champion Athena will look to continue her run as she defends against Miyu Yamashita.
Thursday’s lineup will feature a slew of matches taped Wednesday that includes new ROH Tag Team Champions The Lucha Brothers & Mark Briscoe defending against The WorkHorsemen & Shane Taylor and former Pure Champion Daniel Garcia in action against Tracy Williams.
Regular AEW roster member Ortiz will be in singles action against ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champion Brian Cage while Darius Martin heads to the singles division against Jay Lethal.
After returning last Friday, The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch) will be in action as will former title challenger Willow Nightingale.
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This week’s ROH was taped after this past Wednesday’s Dynamite from Long Island, New York. Some people call Long Island the most magical place on Earth, a claim that I cannot personally confirm. Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman, & Nigel McGuinness were on the call.
ROH World Tag Team Champions The Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) & Mark Briscoe (w/Alex Abrahantes) defeated The WorkHorsemen (Anthony Henry & JD Drake) & Shane Taylor
Briscoe and Taylor start in the ring, with Briscoe using redneck kung fu to force Taylor to tag out. The Lucha Brothers ran wild on the rudo team until Penta tried to hit Taylor with a package piledriver. Taylor forced Penta into the corner, allowing Henry and Drake to work him over.
Penta eventually fought to get the tag to Briscoe, who ran wild on everyone. The match broke down into a pier-six brawl, ending with Taylor hitting Welcome To The Land on Briscoe. The Work Horsemen hit a series of strikes for a nearfall that was broken up by both Lucha Brothers. Penta hit a Destroyer on Drake to take him out of proceedings. Briscoe booted Henry out of the air and hit the Jay Driller to score the win. In the crowd, Powerhouse Hobbs and QT Marshall looked on as they challenge the Lucha Brothers for the ROH Titles tomorrow at Battle of the Belts VI.
ROH Pure Title Match: Katsuyori Shibata defeated Christopher Daniels to retain
This was fine. The work was professional and solid, but the crowd was almost silent for it. This is where ROH piggybacking off of AEW tapings hurts the product. It’s a crowd generally unfamiliar with the Ring of Honor acts watching them after seeing all the AEW stars on Dynamite. Whether it’s at Universal Studios or at their own dedicated tapings, Ring Of Honor would be better off with a crowd specifically there to see Ring of Honor.
Jerry Lynn, Dean Malenko, & BJ Whitmer were the judges for this one.
After a feeling-out process, Shibata locked Daniels in a Figure Four. After trying to fight out, Daniels relented and used his first rope break. Shibata lined up a Penalty Kick, but Daniels ducked and landed a forearm to the back of the head. Daniels worked on Shibata’s neck, landing a neckbreaker for a nearfall. Daniels caught a Shibata strike and dropped him with a facebuster before transitioning into a Koji Clutch. Shibata fought toward the ropes, but instead rolled Daniels to his shoulders and forcing Daniels to break.
Shibata laid in the forearms in the corner, but Daniels followed him to the opposite corner and cut him off. Shibata absorbed some chops before dropping Daniels with a forearm. Shibata hit the hesitation dropkick in the corner before locking on a rear-naked choke. Daniels fought to the ropes to use his second rope break.
Daniels caught Shibata with an STO, but Shibata popped back up and hit an STO of his own. Shibata hit a set of forearms before locking on another rear-naked choke. He released it and followed it with a Penalty Kick to win the match and retain the title.
– Backstage, Claudio Castagnoli was interviewed by Dasha Gonzales. He celebrated his win over Eddie Kingston at Supercard of Honor, saying that he did exactly what he said he would do. He said that he would defend the title against anyone who stepped up.
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champion Brian Cage (w/Prince Nana) defeated Ortiz
Ortiz fought off Cage with speed, as the New York crowd rooted on their hometown guy. Ortiz hit a cannonball off the apron to Cage on the floor and sent him into the steps. Back in the ring, Cage cut Ortiz off and hit the outside-in superplex. Cage caught Ortiz on a charge and sent him up and over with a fallaway slam.
Ortiz caught Cage with a small package on a Drillclaw attempt for a nearfall. He followed with a tornado DDT to take Cage down. Ortiz fired up with chops before herking Cage up with a Dog Valley Driver for a nearfall. Cage hit the GMSI pumphandle slam for a nearfall. Ortiz spun Cage into the corner with a frankensteiner, but Cage cut Ortiz off with a superkick. Cage went up for another superplex, but Ortiz got in the ring and powerbombed him for a nearfall. Cage caught Ortiz and dropped him with the Drillclaw to win.
Jay Lethal (w/Satnam Singh & Sonjay Dutt) defeated Darius Martin
The Kingdom joined the commentary booth, with Maria Kanellis-Bennett donning a headset. Maria wondered where Dante Martin was, noting that the Kingdom were the ones that set up the tables that Dante sort of went through at Supercard of Honor.
Martin opened up with a dive, but Lethal cut him off in the ring and hit a dive of his own. Lethal hit the Fargo strut on the floor, with Singh and Dutt joining him. Back in the ring, Martin fought off a Figure Four attempt before sending Lethal to the floor. Lethal and Martin traded strikes on the apron before Martin clotheslined Lethal into the ring and hit a facebuster for a nearfall.
Lethal won a forearm exchange, but Martin cut off a Lethal Injection attempt. Lethal cut off Martin with a superkick. As both men were down and as Singh took the referee, Matt Taven went down to the ring and superkicked Martin, allowing Lethal to hit the Lethal Injection and win. After the match, Bennett and Taven taunted Martin – while wearing Satnam Singh’s overcoat. They looked like Chris Farley in Tommy Boy.
The Infantry (Carlie Bravo & Shawn Dean) defeated La Faccion Ingobernable (Dralistico & Rush) (w/Jose The Assistant & Preston Vance)
Dean kicked off with Dralistico. You wonder if beating Dralistico here would put Dean in line for a future International Title match, as Dralistico challenges Orange Cassidy tomorrow at Battle of the Belts. After a hurricane kick to Dean, Bravo tagged in. He laid in the shots to Dralistico, but Rush cut him off from outside the ring, allowing Dralistico to hit a knee and take him down. Rush tagged in and set up the Bull’s Horns but chose to taunt Bravo instead. After taking out Dean, Dralistico pinned Bravo with a double underhook codebreaker.
Daniel Garcia defeated Tracy Williams
Williams controlled Garcia on the mat as the crowd chanted Garcia’s job title at him. Garcia hit a throat thrust to try and cut him off, but Williams hit a suplex that sent Garcia into the corner. Williams went to the second rope, but Garcia hit another throat thrust that sent Williams to the floor. The crowd randomly chanted for tables, so Garcia went to the floor and feigned getting one before flipping them off.
Williams fought back and landed a high angle backdrop suplex. He hit a DDT on the top turnbuckle and a lariat before locking on a facelock. Garcia got to the ropes, and after a scramble for position, Garcia hit a lifting Codebreaker-style move to score the win.
Willow Nightingale defeated Notorious Mimi
After some frivolity, Nightingale dropped Mimi with a shoulder block and a senton. Mimi caught a kick and rolled Nightingale into a roll-up but only got a one count. A crossbody got a two count for Mimi, but Nightingale caught her with a Pounce and hit the Babe With The Powerbomb for the quick win.
The Righteous (Dutch & Vincent) defeated Even Stevens (Stephen Azure & Steve Somerset)
McGuinness compares Even Stevens to the Mulkey Brothers, which got a chuckle out of me. Their match went a lot like old Mulkey Brothers matches went, with The Righteous completely trucking them. Dutch hit a Bossman Slam, with Vincent following with a top-rope senton and the Autumn Sunshine for the win.
Konosuke Takeshita defeated Tony Nese (w/Ari Daivari, Josh Woods & Mark Sterling)
Nese got an early advantage on Takeshita with a series of quick kicks that floored Takeshita. Takeshita answered with a running clothesline. Nese sent Takeshita over the ropes, but as Takeshita went to skin the cat, Woods cut him off and allowed Nese to dropkick him to the floor. Nese sent Takeshita into the steps and into the apron before rolling him into the ring for a nearfall.
Takeshita caught Nese with a small package on a suplex attempt, but Nese quickly answered with a spinning back kick. Takeshita cut off a facewash attempt with a lariat, then followed it with a pair of big boots. Second rope senton from Takeshita scored a nearfall. Nese avoided the running knee but ran right into the Blue Thunder Bomb. Takeshita set up a running knee, but Woods and Daivari yanked Nese out of the ring.
Takeshita hit a dive onto all three Varsity Athletes. Takeshita went for an outside-in superplex, but Nese cut him off and hit a triangle moonsault for a nearfall. Nese went for a pumphandle slam, but Takeshita maneuvered himself into a Bastard Driver for a nearfall. Sterling got a distraction, followed by Woods and Daivari holding onto Nese’s arms on a German suplex attempt. Nese hit a pumphandle driver for a nearfall. Nese went for the Running Nese, but Takeshita countered it into the Chaos Theory for the win. Takeshita has now beaten all three Varsity Athletes in Ring of Honor.
ROH Women’s World Title Match: Athena defeated Miyu Yamashita to retain
This was a solid main event. The match got this tepid Long Island crowd interested in the work, as Yamashita brought the fight to the champion with heavy strikes. Another quality title defense from Athena.
Athena avoided a series of kicks, but Yamashita hit a triangle kick out of the corner to get control. Yamashita lived up to her nickname of the Pink Striker by hammering Athena with kicks that drove her into the corner. Athena held onto the apron as Yamashita dragged her out of the ropes, pulling the apron into the ring. Athena then used the apron to pull the floor out from under Yamashita before dragging her to the floor.
Athena hit a Knee-DT on the floor before sending Yamashita back in the ring. Athena worked on Yamashita’s legs, locking on a variant of an Indian Deathlock that forced Yamashita to forearm her way out. Yamashita low-bridged Athena out of the ring – pulling the wrong rope, but regardless – and kicked her on the apron. Yamashita hit a second kick on the apron, but Athena caught her on the third time. Athena pulled her into a fireman’s carry before sending Yamashita head-first into the ring post. Athena tried to follow with a senton, but Yamashita moved and hit another big kick to the chest.
Back in the ring, Yamashita got thrown off the top rope by Athena, but met her back on the top rope. Yamashita hit a top rope Death Valley Driver for a nearfall. Yamashita went to hit a Penalty Kick, but Athena rolled through into a single-leg crab. Athena transitioned into an ankle lock, but Yamashita rolled Athena into the ropes and hit a running kick. Yamashita went for a spinning heel kick, but Athena ducked and walked up the ramp.
Yamashita charged at Athena and caught her near the stage, hitting a big kick. Yamashita hit a Death Valley Driver on the stage. As Yamashita tried dragging Athena back to the ring, Athena threw Yamashita off the stage to the floor. Athena followed her to the floor with a running cannonball. Back in the ring, Yamashita hit a spinning kick for a nearfall. Yamashita went for a head kick, but Athena caught her in a crossface. Yamashita went for the ropes, but Athena dragged her back to the middle of the ring and made Yamashita pass out to win and retain the title.
ROH has announced the lineup for tonight’s show on HonorClub.
The Pure Championship will be on the line when new champion, Katsuyori Shibata, faces Christopher Daniels. Shibata recently defeated Wheeler Yuta for the title at Supercard of Honor.
As previously announced, the ROH Women’s World Championship will also be defended this week. Athena will look to pick up her eighth successful title defense when she wrestles TJPW’s Miyu Yamashita.
Thursday’s episode was filmed last night at AEW’s show from the UBS Arena in Long Island, New York. Spoilers are available here.
ROH TV on HonorClub lineup:
ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata defends against Christopher Daniels
ROH Women’s World Champion Athena defends against Miyu Yamashita
Brian Cage vs. Ortiz
Daniel Garcia vs. Tracy Williams
Jay Lethal w/Sonjay Dutt & Satnam Singh vs. Darius Martin
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Tony Nese w/Mark Sterling & The Varsity Athletes
Mark Briscoe & ROH Tag Champions The Lucha Bros vs. The Workhorsmen & Shane Taylor
Katsuyori Shibata is the new Ring of Honor Pure Champion.
Shibata defeated Wheeler Yuta at Supercard of Honor to win the title after a penalty kick, cementing one of the greatest comeback stories in the history of the industry.
Following an NJPW career that included three NEVER title reigns and an IWGP Tag Team title reign, Shibata won the 2017 New Japan Cup and challenged Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight title at Sakura Genesis in April 2017. In that match, Shibata suffered a subdural hematoma, a brain bleed that required hospitalization and an emergency surgery.
Shibata was later named the head coach at NJPW’s LA Dojo in California, a position that he still holds, but embarked on an in-ring comeback beginning with a five-minute exhibition match against Zack Sabre Jr. at the G1 finals in October 2021.
The Pure title match against Yuta was just the fifth match of Shibata’s comeback, after wrestling three times in 2022.
Yuta’s Pure title reign ends at 111 days and four successful defenses.
Following the Supercard main event match between Claudio Castagnoli and Eddie Kingston for the ROH World title, Shibata made the save for Kingston as Castagnoli and Yuta menaced him in the ring. Kingston then cut a promo praising Shibata, and the two left the ring together at the close of the pay-per-view.
Katsuyori Shibata is officially heading to ROH Supercard of Honor.
Tony Khan has confirmed that Shibata will challenge Wheeler Yuta for the ROH Pure Championship at Supercard of Honor this Friday night (March 31). The pay-per-view is taking place at the Galen Center in Los Angeles.
This will be the fifth time Shibata has wrestled since 2017. He returned to the ring in 2021 after suffering a life-threatening subdural hematoma during a match against Kazuchika Okada at NJPW Sakura Genesis 2017.
In November of last year, Shibata unsuccessfully challenged Orange Cassidy for the AEW All-Atlantic Championship on Rampage.
Yuta is a two-time ROH Pure Champion. His current reign with the title began when he defeated Daniel Garcia at Final Battle 2022.
Here’s the updated lineup for Supercard of Honor:
ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli defends against Eddie Kingston
AAA Mega Champion El Hijo del Vikingo defends against Komander
Reach for the Sky ladder match for the ROH Tag Team titles: Lucha Bros vs. Top Flight vs. The Kingdom vs. Aussie Open vs. Rush & Dralistico
ROH Television Champion Samoa Joe defends against Mark Briscoe
ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta defends against Katsuyori Shibata
Ring of Honor Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta has issued a challenge to Katsuyori Shibata.
At the conclusion of this week’s ROH TV episode, Yuta issued a challenge to the head trainer of NJPW’s LA Dojo. After defeating LA Dojo product Clark Connors in a Pure title match, Yuta stated that he was ready to face the LA Dojo trainer.
While not officially announced, a Yuta-Shibata Pure title match for Supercard of Honor on Friday, March 31 appears to be the direction.
Shibata made his return to the ring in 2021 after a four-year retirement forced after suffering a subdural hematoma brain bleed in a match against Kazuchika Okada. In his first match back, he went to a five-minute time limit draw with Zack Sabre in a UWF Rules grappling match.
Shibata faced his LA Dojo protege Ren Narita at Wrestle Kingdom in January 2022, then made his AEW debut against Orange Cassidy on Rampage in November 2022.
Shibata’s most recent bout was a UWF Rules match against “Filthy” Tom Lawlor at an IGF show in December.
Filthy Tom Lawlor and Bryan Alvarez is back with tons to talk about in our look at Smackdown, New Japan Strong in one of its apparent final shows, and Tom vs. Shibata which you can now see as a standalone match on New Japan World! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Figure Four Daily with Bryan Alvarez and Filthy Tom Lawlor is back with tons to talk about including Tom’s match with Shibata last week which nobody outside of Japan can possibly see, Smackdown with the return of John Cena, lots of Stardom notes from the PPV this weekend, and more! A fun show as alway so check it out~!
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including everything we know about Mandy Rose, AEW Dynamite tonight, your NXT TV report, New Japan updates leading into the Tokyo Dome, Filthy Tom vs. Shibata, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Tom Lawlor and Katsuyori Shibata will meet later this month.
It was announced Tuesday evening that Tom Lawlor vs. Katsuyori Shibata has been added to the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye x Ganryujima event set to take place December 28 at Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan. The match will be contested under UWF rules.
According to an article in Tokyo Sports, Antonio Inoki instructed in his will that his Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye event be resurrected. It will be held in conjunction with the Ganryujima mixed martial arts event. Inoki died back in September.
Shibata made his return to pro wrestling earlier this year, facing Ren Narita in a match that originally was set to be under UWF rules at Wrestle Kingdom 16 back on January 4. However, the match soon turned into a regular pro wrestling match, with Shibata picking up the win. On the November 4 edition of AEW Dynamite, Shibata returned to the ring, losing to Orange Cassidy in a match that was for the AEW All-Atlantic Championship.
Lawlor competed in NJPW’s G1 Climax tournament this past summer. He also teamed with Syuri at NJPW and Stardom’s Historic X-Over event in November, losing to Zack Sabre Jr. and Giulia.
Katsuyori Shibata has commented on returning to the ring after 10 months to face Orange Cassidy on AEW Rampage.
Shibata suffered an acute subdural hematoma in 2017 following his match against Kazuchika Okada at NJPW Sakura Genesis. He collapsed backstage and required emergency surgery. It was believed his wrestling career was over but he would return for a grappling match against Zack Sabre Jr. in 2021 and later defeated Ren Narita at Wrestle Kingdom 16 earlier this year.
Shibata was defeated by Orange Cassidy in an All-Atlantic Championship match on AEW Rampage last Friday. He recently spoke with Tokyo Sports about the experience.
“It’s frustrating, really. The result is the same, and I have a lot of things to reflect on in terms of movement. I felt that I was back on the battlefield and that the ring is special. Sometimes things go well, and sometimes things don’t go well. I really felt alive,” a translation of his comments reads.
“I always wanted a chance,” Shibata continued. “I thought that if I waited in Japan, I would never get a chance. I didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity I have now. I wanted to give it my all.”
Shibata continued to say that attending Antonio Inoki’s funeral last month motivated him to return to the ring.
“There were many things I thought about. If it weren’t for Mr. Inoki and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, I wouldn’t have been born. That is the level I am talking about. I realized that Mr. Inoki is one of the reasons for my existence. I realized that I must not extinguish the fire of my fighting spirit.”
Shibata also reacted to Mike Tyson working on commentary for his match against Cassidy.
“I watched a lot of Tyson’s videos when I was doing mixed martial arts. I respect him. I never thought that five and a half years after my injury, I would be competing in the U.S. and Mike Tyson would be commentating. I thought that if you work hard and live life to the fullest, things like dreams can come true.”
Shibata also said he plans on wrestling again in the near future.
“I think I will have a match in the near future. I’ve started to make a move,” he said.
According to our own Dave Meltzer, Shibata requested to have two matches in AEW: one against Cassidy and the other against Bryan Danielson.
The Bryan & Vinny & Craig Show is back with tons to talk about including Rampage with Shibata vs. Orange Cassidy, our weekly live Q&A with questions from our chat and Bryan’s Super Followers, and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
WWE announced its third quarter financials on 11/2, with $304,640,000 in revenue and $41,620,000 in profits.
Revenues solidly beat Wall Street expectations of $280.1 million, but profits were slightly below the expectations of $43.3 million.
Last year in a similar quarter the revenues were $255,853,000 but profits were $43,486,000.
Revenues were up 19.1 percent from the third quarter of last year, while profits were down 4.3 percent. The revenue increase was largely $15.4 million in contractual increases for distribution for Raw, Smackdown, and NXT and another $14.6 million for production of other original programming (reality shows, A&E shows, etc), as well as the combination of the live gate, merchandise, and site fee paid by the city of Cardiff for the Clash of the Castle show, which as a live event, did numbers almost identical to each night of WrestleMania in Dallas.
It was the largest third quarter for revenue in company history, as would be expected, as with most of the revenue coming from guaranteed media contracts that have annual escalators written in, every quarter should be expected to set a new record.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including JEFF JARRETT, KATSUYORI SHIBATA AND COLT CABANA all appearing on Dynamite, tons of notes in our full review of the show, a quick look at WWE finances (made money) and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
The surprising match made for Friday’s AEW Rampage between AEW All-Atlantic Champion Orange Cassidy and NJPW’s Katsuyori Shibata was a request from Shibata.
Dave Meltzer revealed the news on Wednesday night’s Wrestling Observer Radio.
According to Meltzer, Shibata told AEW that he wanted two matches in the company: one of them against Cassidy and the other being against Bryan Danielson. Shibata was free this week and thus, they made the Cassidy match for Friday’s live show from Atlantic City, New Jersey. It’s unknown if there is a planned date for the Danielson match.
WOR: Dave gives an update on the two matches Katsuyori Shibata has requested in AEW.
Shibata made a surprise appearance on Wednesday’s Dynamite, appearing after Cassidy’s three-way title defense victory over Rey Fenix and Luchasaurus. He made the save for Cassidy as PAC was beating him down after the match. Because Cassidy won, he got to choose his dream opponent for Friday. Shibata pointed at Cassidy and the title, and Cassidy handed him the contract to sign.
There is a history between the two in AEW as in another surprise appearance, Shibata saved Cassidy from a beatdown from United Empire following Cassidy’s loss to Will Ospreay at June’s Forbidden Door.
At April 2017’s Sakura Genesis, Shibata collapsed backstage following his match with then-IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada. It was later learned Shibata suffered a subdural hematoma and was temporarily paralyzed on the right side of his body. The hematoma was serious enough for many to believe his in-ring career was done.
Shibata did return to the ring on the final night of the 2021 G1 Climax tournament in a surprise, wrestling Zack Sabre Jr. in a five-minute exhibition match under UWF rules. He then took on Ren Narita at January’s Wrestle Kingdom 16 in his first official match since the Okada bout. Friday will mark his first match since then.
