Tag: Lio Rush

Three title matches part of ROH Supercard of Honor additions

Posted on by Josh Nason

AEW National Champion Mark Davis will continue his busy schedule at Friday’s Ring of Honor Supercard of Honor streaming special — one of three championship matches added Thursday.

Davis will defend the title against CMLL’s Xelhua who will be making his fifth ROH appearance and his first since late-January in a trios bout. This will be the first time they have shared the ring.

Davis defeated Jack Perry for the title last Saturday at AEW Fairway to Hell and was added to Team Ricochet for the Stadium Stampede match taking place at next Sunday’s AEW Double or Nothing. He’s had a slew of matches in ROH since 2023 and has won his last six singles matches there.

Also added to the show is an ROH Pure title defense as Lee Moriarty puts the title up against Ace Austin who is coming off a loss to Will Ospreay Wednesday. Moriarty has held the title for 658 days with 15 successful title defenses.

After finally breaking through and defeating Nick Wayne for the ROH TV title Thursday, AR Fox will put the title on the line against Lio Rush who called his shot directly afterward.

In another development, Zayda Steel defeated Hyan to earn the final spot in the Survival of the Fittest match for Athena’s ROH Women’s World title.

As of this writing, the Zero Hour pre-show matches have yet to be announced.

Current ROH Supercard of Honor card | This Friday | HonorClub

  • ROH World Champion Bandido defends against Blake Christian
  • Nigel McGuinness vs. Josh Woods in a Pure rules match
  • ROH Women’s Champion Athena defends against Maya World, Trish Adora, Yuka Sakazaki, Billie Starkz and Zayda Steel in a Survival of the Fittest match
  • ROH Women’s Pure Champion Deonna Purrazzo defends against Diamante
  • ROH Women’s TV Champion Red Velvet defends against Viva Van
  • AEW National Champion Mark Davis defends against Xelhua
  • ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty defends against Ace Austin
  • ROH Men’s TV Champion AR Fox defends against Lio Rush

Lacey Lane aligns with Lio Rush and Action Andretti in ROH

Posted on by Ian Carey

Lacey Lane has a new CRU.

The former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion accompanied Lio Rush and Action Andretti to the ring for their match on tonight’s ROH on HonorClub broadcast. Ongoing live coverage of the show, courtesy of Jeff Moss, is available here.

Rush and Andretti, who wrestle under the team name CRU, defeated Will Allday and Jay Alexander on the show.

Later in the show, the three were interviewed in the back.

“We’re not just back with Action Andretti, we’re not just back with Lio Rush, we’re back with new crew member Lacey Lane,” Dante Martin said backstage.

“I think I found my CRU,” Lane said.

Lane is coming off a loss to Red Velvet in a ROH Women’s TV title eliminator match at the December 6 tapings in Columbus. She also wrestled two matches for Ring of Honor in September when AEW/ROH ran its residency at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, losing to Mina Shirakawa and to Lena Kross in a dark match. Lane also dropped a TBS title match to Mercedes Mone on the October 7 episode of AEW Dynamite.

Lane was released from WWE in May 2025 after nearly seven years with the company.

‘Four million pesos four-way’ added to AEW Grand Slam Mexico

Posted on by Josh Nason

Three AEW competitors and one CMLL talent will battle for four million pesos on this Wednesday’s AEW Grand Slam Mexico from Arena Mexico.

Ricochet, Hologram, Lio Rush and Mascara Dorada will go at it for the U.S. equivalent of $211,674.15, announced by the promotion on Friday.

It continues a recent trend of multi-man matches with storyline dollars on the line.

Ricochet will be making his Arena Mexico debut in the match — his first since a stretcher match win over Mark Briscoe at May’s Double or Nothing. While Dorada will have home field advantage, Rush and Hologram have previously competed in the famed venue before.

AEW Grand Slam Mexico card | Wednesday, June 18

  • CMLL World Women’s Champion Zeuxis defends against Mercedes Mone
  • MJF vs. Mistico
  • Death Riders (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta) and Young Bucks (Matthew Jackson & Nicholas Jackson) vs. Swerve Strickland, Will Ospreay and The Opps (Samoa Joe, Powerhouse Hobbs & Katsuyori Shibata)
  • Adam Cole, Daniel Garcia, Brody King, Templario, Bandido & Atlantis Jr. vs. Dax Harwood, Cash Wheeler, Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, Josh Alexander & Hechicero
  • Ricochet vs. Hologram vs. Lio Rush vs. Mascara Dorada

Action Andretti & Lio Rush earn future Tag Team title match on AEW Collision

Posted on by Matt Boone

The next challengers for the AEW World Tag Team Championships are set.

During the December 14 taped episode of AEW Collision: Winter is Coming, a number one contender bout took place to determine who will be the next challengers for reigning AEW World Tag-Team Champions Private Party. The high stakes bout saw the new makeshift duo of Action Andretti & Lio Rush emerge victorious over the more established Top Flight. The finish saw Andretti hit a 450 splash on Darius Martin to score the pinfall victory for his team.

AEW did not announce when the Private Party vs. Action Andretti & Lio Rush tag-team title match will take place.

Private Party captured the AEW World Tag-Team Championships for the first time-ever by defeating The Young Bucks duo of Matthew and Nicholas Jackson back at AEW Fright Night Dynamite on October 30 to kick off their current reign. They defended the titles successfully at Full Gear last month, defeating Kings of the Black Throne, The Acclaimed, and The Outrunners in a four-way match.

AEW Rampage live spoilers from Manchester, NH

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: Josh Nason

The following are live spoilers for this Friday’s AEW Rampage, taped following Dynamite at the SNHU Arena in Manchester, NH.

Rampage:

Hikaru Shida defeated Viva Van

Shida picked up the win after hitting a Falcon Arrow. This was both her first appearance and win in AEW since a mid-September episode of Rampage.

Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) defeated Dark Order (John Silver & Alex Reynolds) and The Infantry (Shawn Dean & Carlie Bravo) (w/ Shane Taylor, Lee Moriarty and Trish Adora) in a three-way

Taven and Bennett got the pin on Reynolds after hitting their double-team finisher. After the match, Brian Cage came out to distract Taven and Bennett which led to Lance Archer attacking both men from behind. The heels dealt out a beatdown and left them both laying. After a few minutes, Roderick Strong then ran out and got the advantage on both guys, leading to Bennett and Taven recovering. The faces then sent the heels packing.

This was Dean & Bravo’s first AEW appearance since a Rampage match this past June. They joined Shane Taylor Promotions on last week’s ROH TV.

Top Flight (w/ Leila Grey and Action Andretti) defeated JD Drake & Beef

Darius and Dante Martin picked up the win after hitting their combo leg sweep/DDT on Beef. All four men were shaking hands afterward when Lio Rush came out and exchanged some words with the Top Flight crew.

Lio Rush defeated Komander (w/ Alex Abrahantes)

This was a rematch from their late-October bout that Komander won. This was fine, but the crowd had mainly left by the time this started which didn’t help. There were lots of near falls near the end, but the end came when Rush hit his rope-assisted stunner and frog splash to get the win. Afterward, Rush shook Komander’s hand and showed respect.

Afterward, Taven and Bennett (both New England locals with Taven hailing originally from Derry which is 15 minutes away from Manchester) came back out to send the crowd home happy.

Pre-show dark matches:

  • Satnam Singh (w/ Jay Lethal) defeated Colt Cabana
  • Nyla Rose defeated Lydia

Ring of Honor (pre-show):

  • Katsuyori Shibata defeated The Butcher

Notes:

  • A healthy amount of fans left before the taping started at 10:15 PM, just a few minutes after Dynamite ended. The exodus continued throughout the taping and was very quiet for the Rush vs. Komander rematch. None of the Rampage matches were announced to the crowd to entice them to stay.

Lio Rush vs. Komander rematch part of AEW Rampage lineup

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: AEW

A high-flying rematch, a three-way tag team bout, the return of a former AEW Women’s Champion, and a tag team contest are set for this Friday’s AEW Rampage.

After the two battled on the October 30th Rampage, Lio Rush (seen above) and Komander will go one-on-one again in a rematch. Komander picked up the win that night and Rush will be looking to even the score.

Rush’s allies in Top Flight will battle the reluctant duo of JD Drake and Beef in tag team action.

A three-way tag team match will see the Undisputed Kingdom’s Matt Taven and Mike Bennett take on Dark Order’s John Silver and Alex Reynolds, and new Shane Taylor Promotions duo The Infantry.

For the first time since September, former AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida will make her return as she battles Viva Van.

Here’s the full lineup, taped Wednesday after Dynamite in Manchester, NH:

  • Lio Rush vs. Komander II
  • Hikaru Shida vs. Viva Van
  • Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) vs. Dark Order (John Silver & Alex Reynolds) (w/ Evil Uno) vs. The Infantry (Shawn Dean & Carlie Bravo) in a three-way
  • Top Flight (Darius & Dante Martin) vs. JD Drake & Beef

Lio Rush vs. Komander one of five matches set for AEW Rampage

Posted on by Ethan Renner

A battle between two high-flyers is one of five matches set for this Friday’s AEW Rampage as Lio Rush takes on Komander.

Komander’s last AEW victory came in a trios squash match on the September 14th Collision where he teamed with Private Party in a win over Jon Cruz, Lord Crewe & Ren Jones. The luchador has one career victory in 18 AEW singles bouts, that being a July 2023 victory over Kip Sabian. He also will face Kyle Fletcher on Saturday’s Collision.

You have to go back even further for Rush’s last AEW victory which came on the August 31st Collision in a trios match. He has a 2-6 record in eight career AEW singles bouts with his last victory coming on the June 21st Rampage when he defeated Action Andretti.

The rest of the card will see LFI’s Rush, Beast Mortos & Dralistico in trios action agains the patchwork team of The Butcher, JD Drake & Beef; Taya Valkyrie against Zoey Lynn; Queen Aminata against Leila Grey; and a trios match between Top Flight & Action Andretti against the Dark Order.

Here’s the full lineup:

  • Lio Rush vs. Komander
  • LFI (Rush, Beast Mortos & Dralistico) vs. The Butcher, JD Drake & Beef
  • Taya Valkyrie vs. Zoey Lynn
  • Queen Aminata vs. Leila Grey
  • Top Flight (Darius and Dante Martin) & Action Andretti vs. Dark Order (John Silver, Alex Reynolds & Evil Uno)

Ricochet vs. Lio Rush set for AEW Collision

Posted on by Ethan Renner

The first match is set for Saturday’s AEW Collision and it features a matchup of two of the industry’s best high-flyers.

AEW’s Tony Khan announced in a social media post Thursday night that Ricochet vs. Lio Rush is set for the Saturday, October 26 AEW Collision.

Khan wrote:

“This Saturday Night, 10/26 Cedar Rapids, IA 8pm ET / 7pm CT on @tntdrama Saturday Night #AEWCollision Ricochet vs. Lio Rush 2 of wrestling’s greatest athletes collide Saturday:

@KingRicochet vs @IamLioRush for the first time in AEW! LIVE this Saturday on TNT at 8pm ET/7pm CT!”

Saturday’s bout will be the ninth for Ricochet since joining AEW and debuting at All In in the Casino Gauntlet match. He scored a win over AR Fox on last week’s Collision episode, then faced Nick Wayne on Wednesday in a match taped for this Friday’s AEW Rampage.

The announced card for the Saturday, October 26 AEW Rampage:

  • Ricochet vs. Lio Rush

Adam Cole appearance, Lio Rush vs. Shelton Benjamin set for AEW Dynamite

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Adam Cole’s Dynamite return is set.

AEW announced on Monday that Cole would be making his return this Wednesday.

“After shocking AEW Fans and @The_MJF with his appearance at #AEWWrestleDream, @AdamColePro makes his return to #AEW Dynamite, LIVE at 8pm ET/7pm CT on TBS, THIS WEDNESDAY!,” AEW’s post on X said.

Cole, who had spent much of 2024 on the shelf after injuring his leg during a run-in at last year’s AEW Grand Slam, made his surprise return at WrestleDream following MJF’s own return to the company. After Jack Perry blasted Daniel Garcia from behind with the TNT title, MJF went in for the attack until Cole’s music hit. MJF quickly bailed as Cole helped Garcia to his feet.

After his injury, Cole revealed himself as the mastermind behind attacks that took place toward the end of 2023, forming a new group called The Undisputed Kingdom. However, he spent most of 2024 away from TV, and with Wardlow also out of action, the stable has since reverted into a trio consisting of Roderick Strong, Matt Taven, and Mike Bennett.

It was also announced that Shelton Benjamin will make his AEW in-ring debut on Wednesday, taking on Li o Rush.

AEW later announced that Jay White would be taking on Christian Cage on Wednesday. Additionally, They put up a Dynamite graphic highlighting Jon Moxley’s AEW World title win at WrestleDream, with the graphic reading “Jon Moxley is the AEW World Champion. Nobody is safe.”

Here is the updated lineup for Wednesday:

  • Mercedes Mone vs. Queen Aminata
  • Shelton Benjamin vs. Lio Rush
  • Jay White vs. Christian Cage
  • Adam Cole returns
  • Jon Moxley is the AEW World Champion

Lio Rush confirms signing new AEW contract

Posted on by Ian Carey

Lio Rush is officially All Elite once again.

In an AEW digital exclusive released Sunday, Alicia Atout revealed that Rush has signed his second contract with the company. He’d previously been with AEW from September 2021 until announcing his free agency at the end of February 2022.

“This right here means a lot of people are getting put on notice,” Rush told Atout. “This officially means that I’m All Elite, that I’m back in AEW.”

MVP and Shelton Benjamin entered the room, interrupting the conversation. They asked if anyone knew where Tony Khan was but Rush told them whatever they were doing could wait. MVP then asked if Rush was available on Wednesday before leaving with Benjamin, possibly setting the stage for Rush vs. Benjamin on Dynamite.

The 29-year-old Rush is currently aligned with Top Flight’s Dante and Darius Martin, along with Action Andretti and Leila Grey. Outside of AEW, he recently won RevPro’s British J Cup and followed it up with a victory over Leon Slater in London last week.

AEW Rampage live results: Lio Rush vs. Rocky Romero vs. Kip Sabian vs. Nick Wayne

Posted on by Joseph Collins

A four-way match is the featured bout on tonight’s AEW Rampage as Lio Rush, Rocky Romero, Kip Sabian and Nick Wayne will square off.

Sabian has been trailing The Patriarchy in recent weeks which has raised the ire of Christian Cage and Wayne.

In a non-title match, ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe of The Conglomeration will also be in action against Bryan Keith of Chris Jericho’s Learning Tree faction.

After being challenged to defend the AEW Trios titles at Grand Slam by his teammates Claudio Castagnoli & PAC, Wheeler Yuta will face The Butcher.

After challenging her backstage in a social media segment, former AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida will face Harley Cameron. It’s Shida’s first match since losing to TBS Champion Mercedes Mone at this month’s All Out.

Roderick Strong of The Undisputed Kingdom will team with The Beast Mortos against enhancement talents Joe Keys & Marcus Mathers. Strong and Mortos will be part of a ten-man tag team match on Saturday’s Collision.

**********

Taped in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Excalibur, Ian Riccaboni and Matt Menard were on commentary.

Mark Briscoe defeated Bryan Keith (12:21)

Briscoe is ROH World champion, but this was non-title. Briscoe sent Keith to the floor, hit Keith with a dropkick through the ropes, then dropped a Cactus Jack style elbow on the floor. Back in the ring for some hard chops and redneck kung-fu. Briscoe tossed a chair in the ring to use as a springboard for a plancha, but Keith cut him off. While Aubrey Edwards got rid of the steel chair, Keith hit a low blow behind her back to take control.

When Keith was offense, it was pretty uninspired. Keith chopped away at Briscoe on the floor, then hit a snap suplex on the floor.

Aftert a split-screen break, Keith cut off a comeback from Briscoe with a boot and a headbutt. Keith went for Diamond Dust, but Briscoe countered with a face rake. Briscoe hit a top rope superplex. Kieth and Briscoe exchanged forearms mid-ring, then exchanged chops around the ring. Briscoe hit a flying forearm, but Keith came back with an enziguri. Briscoe came back with one of his own, then hit an exploder suplex. But Keith came back with an exploder suplex of his own!

Briscoe charged into a boot from Keith, but caught him with a death valley driver. Briscoe missed the froggy bow, and Keith hit a knee strike out of a tiger driver attempt for another near fall. Keith went for the Diamond Dust again, but Briscoe hit a pair of lariats to counter, then hit the Jay Driller to get the pinfall. Great opener for Rampage.

Before Briscoe could celebrate his victory, Chris Jericho ran in and attacked Briscoe with a bat. Orange Cassidy, Big Bill and Kyle O’Reilly all ran in, with Big Bill dominating O’Reilly and Cassidy.

Wheeler Yuta defeated The Butcher (4:02)

Butcher jumped a disinterested Yuta before the bell and dropped him with a backbreaker. On the floor, Butcher dropped Yuta against the ring barricade and clotheslined him against the ring apron. Back in the ring, Butcher hit a pair of short-arm lariats. Yuta tried for a German suplex, but got a back elbow. A couple of slaps woke up Yuta, who fired up with a shotgun dropkick and mauled Butcher in the corner with forearms and chops. Yuta took Butcher down with a high angle slam and rolling German suplexes. After the hammer and anvil elbows, Yuta locked in the Cattle Mutiliation and got the submission. Yuta held on the hold until well after the bell, and almost attacked the ref after the match. Yuta is playing up this new conflicted character great.

– The MXM Collection have stolen Max Caster’s “Best Wrestler Alive” jacket! And they’re planning to give it makeover.

Hikaru Shida v. Harley Cameron (w/ Saraya) (7:04 aired)

Two and half minutes of almost every women’s match on Rampage takes place during the picture in picture break, usually after the first two minutes of action. Then there’s a full commerical (no split screen) before the show starts back up again with the babyface making her comeback. The point of this is to say that off the seven minutes they gave the match, really only the last three mattered.

After the commercial, Shida hit a kneestrike for a near fall. Shida went for the Falcon Arrow, but Saraya distracted her and Cameron hit a blind side kick for a near fall. Cameron avoided an enziguri and exchanged pin attempts with Shida. Cameron went for a knee strike, but Shida blocked it and hit a question mark kick. Saraya distracted Shida again, and Cameron hit another knee strike for a near fall. Saraya grabbed Shida’s kendo stick to use as a weapon, but Jamie Hayter (still being dressed by Disco Inferno) ran out to chase Saraya away. Saraya hit the Falcon Arrow to get the pinfall.

After the match, Saraya challenged Jamie Hayter for Grand Slam in a “Saraya’s Rules” match, which Hayter accepts.

The Beast Mortos & Roderick Strong (w/ Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) defeated Joe Keys & Marcus Mathers (1:24)

Strong hit one of the Mathers with a knee strike and Mortos dropped Keys with a pop-up Samoan Drop and they got stereo pinfalls.

– Darby Allin v. Evil Uno and Mariah May v. Lady Frost has been added to tomorrow night’s Collision line up.

– Deonna Purrazzo has some wine and finds a friend in Taya Valkyrie.

Nick Wayne pinned Rockey Romero to win a four way match that also included Lio Rush (w/ Action Andretti) and Kip Sabian

Sabian tripped of Rush and hit an Arabian Press on Wayne and Romero on the floor. Rush caught Sabian with a back kick then took him out with a plancha. Rush tricked Romero into a rollup for a near fall. Sabian caught Romero with an enziguri and Rush with a knee strike. Nick Wayne then crotches Sabian on the ringpost.

Wayne hit a snap suplex on Romero and taunted the crowd. Wayne backdroped Rush and hit him with a kick while the rest of the Patriarchy looked on approvingly from the back.

Wayne dominated through the split-screen break. Rush faked Wayne out and caught him with a Spanish Fly for a near fall. Sabian sprung in with a dropkcik on Rush, then followed up with a cannonball. Romero hit a Northern Lights suplex on Sabian, then hit forever clotheslines on all his opponents in the corners. Romero hit the Sliced Bread on Rush for a near fall.

Wayne and Sabian dumped the other two the floor so they could have the ring for themselves. Wayne went for the Wayne’s World, but Sabian blocked it and hit a half-and-half suplex. Romero and Rush got back into it, and Rush went for a frog splash on Romero, but instead caught a cutter from Wayne.

Sabian went for a Burning Hammer on Wayne, but Wayne made the ropes. Sabian hit Romero with a Burning Hammer, but Wayne dumped Sabian to the floor, and then Wayne covered Romero to get the victory.

Ring of Honor TV live results: Sammy Guevara vs. Ari Daivari

Posted on by Jeff Moss

Ring of Honor Tag Team Champion Sammy Guevara will look to rebound from his Dynamite loss as he goes one-on-one with Ari Daivari — a theme for tonight’s ROH on HonorClub.

Guevara lost to Ricochet on Wednesday and will face Daivari for the first time ever as the Premier Athletes aim to get themselves in ROH championship contention.

ROH men’s TV Champion Atlantis Jr. will be in non-title action against Peter Avalon in a Proving Ground match. If Avalon can beat or draw the champion, he earns a future title shot.

Lio Rush will also be hoping to come back from a Dynamite defense as he takes on Rocky Romero. Rush lost to TBS Champion Jack Perry on Wednesday.

Queen Aminata also lost on Dynamite, dropping a title eliminator to AEW Women’s World Champion Mariah May. She will return to action against Harley Cameron.

Other ROH talents that are scheduled include Robyn Renegade, The Outrunners, The Righteous, Lady Frost, and the first time ever pairing of AR Fox & Komander.

**********

It’s Thursday and you know what that means! Yup, almost Friday! But before we get to that, we’ve got Ring of Honor on Honorclub episode 81 waiting for us!

ROH World Television Title Proving Ground Match: Atlantis Jr. [c] defeated Peter Avalon

For those not in the know, a Proving Ground match gives the challenger a 10-minute time limit to beat the Champion. If Avalon could last the 10 minutes or score a pin on Atlantis Jr, he’d earn a future shot at the ROH World Television Title.

Both men were evenly matched, so it wasn’t a shock when the match started off with some pretty standard lockups and holds. Avalon got the first big move, sending Atlantis to the mat with an arm drag and then bragging about it for a long time. It’s possible his strategy was to talk trash long enough for the clock to run out, but Atlantis wasn’t having it and silenced him with a falcon arrow.

After a few minutes, Avalon faked a knee injury, presumably to drain more time from the clock. Atlantis, ever the sportsman, let him recover, which he did with gusto delivering a running knee to the champion. Atlantis recovered and landed a high crossbody followed by a Chris Adams Superkick.

Avalon tried a quick rollup, but Atlantis was able to kick out. Same result with a big moonsault from the top rope. A suicide dive from Avalon got Atlantis’ attention though, and the luchadore decided enough was enough. Atlantis hit a huge frog splash from the top rope to get the pin and leave Avalon, unproven.

-Next up, Billie Starkz called an emergency MEM with the ROH Women’s Champion Athena. Starkz wanted to know what was going on to which Athena began gushing about how great Lexy Nair is. Athena suggested Lexy get a jacket that says “MINION NUMBER ONE” on it and Starkz lost her cool. Starkz complained that Lexy was getting credit for her work. Athena suggested that Starkz not let her jealousy overshadow her happiness. Also, not to snitch on Lexy. Athena left an upset Starkz to think about things.

Queen Aminata defeated Harley Cameron

The Outcast’s Harley Cameron has most recently been spending her time in ROH following Rachael Ellering around to make fun of her fashion sense. Aminata has been keeping Red Velvet’s back safe in their never ending feud with ROH Women’s Champion Athena and her newly demoted Minion-In-Training, Billie Starkz.

Aminata was aggressive off the top, working Cameron’s arm and neck. Cameron was able to reverse one of the holds though and Aminata ended up in a headlock. Cameron dragged Aminata to the outside and bounced her head off the ring apron (the hardest part of the ring!). Aminata returned the favour and tossed Cameron back into the Ring.

The two traded forearms with the hard-hitting Aminata coming out on top. She followed it up with a swinging neckbreaker, sending Cameron crawling to the corner. Aminata delivered a vicious running kick to Cameron, but it only resulted in a two-count. Cameron fought back with a headscissors and a backstabber. Then, out of nowhere, Aminata hit a lights out spinning back elbow knocking Cameron cold and got the pin.

Top Flight (Darious and Duante Martin) and Action Andretti defeated Vin Parker, Dante Leone and CD Bennett

Footage of Top Flight and Action Andretti at AEW All Out was shown as the match kicked off. Andretti started things off against Parker, tossing him around until Darious could tag in. That brought Bennett in off the bench, but he didn’t manage to fare any better. Dante tagged in and so did Leone, completing the trifecta for both teams.

Duante and Darious double teamed Leone for a while, until Parker tried to help. He was quickly dispatched of but the distraction opened the door for Leone to get in a bit of offence. Dante found himself double teamed by Parker and Bennett, but somehow hit a headscissor takedown on both of them at the same time! That brought in the Martins who cleaned house. Andretti planted Bennett with a sinning side slam and Duante was able to get the pin.

-Harley Cameron was interviewed backstage about her loss, but who should interrupt Rachael Ellering. Ellering mocked Cameron’s loss in a condescending manner usually used by Cameron. Cameron left in a huff.

The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd) (w/Erica Leigh) defeated Fly Def (Warren J & Zack Zilla)

The previous trios match was so much fun, ROH served up another helping! The Outrunners made a big splash on Dynamite this week in the Tag Team Casino Gauntlet Match to earn a shot at the Young Bucks AEW Tag Team Titles. They didn’t end up the winners there, so they had a lot of frustration to work out on J and Zilla. 

The OUtrunners had the crowd on their side from the start. Floyd started things off and immediately pulled J into a technical mat-based battle. Magnum tagged in and the Outrunners began double teaming Zilla. J tried to come back with some chops, but that just made Magnum angry. He showed the youngster what a real chop feels like and dragged him to the corner for a big right hand from Floyd.

In the end The Outrunners were able to over power J and Floyd got the pin. The standard posing began but was interrupted by Jacked Jameson and the Iron Savages! The trio attacked the Outrunners, knocking them from pillar to post, until the Infantry arrived to even the odds! The Savages were run back to Titty City as The Infantry and Outrunners shook hands and posed in the ring.

Robyn Renegade defeated Angelica Risk

It’s been a while since we’ve seen Renegade or Risk making themselves known in ROH. To be honest, I feel like they are a missed tag team opportunity. Renegade and Risk. Risky Renegades. R&R Connection. These things practically write themselves. For this episode though, they were opponents, and got down to it right away.  

Renegade began by mocking Risk’s height. To be fair, Renegade seemed to be a bout a foot taller, but Risk was having none of it and the two traded blows for what seemed like a really long time. Risk came out on top though until she tried to Irish Whip Renegade who simply reversed it and kicked her in the face.

Renegade hit a massive suplex but Risk refused to quit. Renegade tossed her onto the mat, in complete control. She took a little too much time though and Risk surprised her with a dodge. Renegade decided enough was enough and hit a pump handle slam to put Risk down for good.

-Next, Jacoby Watts cut a promo via “purchased” airtime. He called out EJ Nduka issued a challenge to him for next week on behalf of himself and Nick Comoroto.

The Righteous (Dutch & Vincent) defeat James Blackheart & JC Valentine

Last week, The Righteous (along with Lance Archer) annihilated three somewhat remembered wrestlers. This week they looked to do the same to Valentine and Blackheart. 

Vincent kicked things off by giving Blackheart a “hug of honor.” Then he kicked him in the stomach. Vincent caught him with a big knee next, driving Blackheart back into the corner. Valentine tagged in, so Dutch decided to get in on the action as well. Valentine lasted about 3 seconds before Dutch KO’ed him with a lariat and a brain buster. Blackheart tagged back in and tried to fight Dutch but the bigger guy no sold everything.

Vincent was tagged in and grabbed Blackheart in a carry. Dutch slammed them both, and the duo hit Orange Sunshine to pick up the win.

Sammy Guevara defeated Ariya Daivari (w/Mark Sterling)

One-half of the ROH Tag Champions (with Dustin Rhodes), Guevara has been pulling double duty the last little while, having matches on Dynamite as recently as yesterday when he took on Ricochet in a losing effort. Diavari and his cronies in the Premier Athletes have been getting mixed results in both tag and singles matches in ROH.

Mark Sterling ran the Texas crowd down on the way to the ring, mocking native Texan Guevara. The two men were on the same page in terms of size and speed, but Guevara’s timing seemed to be a little better that Daivari’s. The showboating was on display as usual though, with Guevara asking the crowd to quiet down so he they could hear him chopping Daivari on the outside.

Back in the ring, Daivari took control, throwing Guevara into the turnbuckle again and again. Daivari hit a Dory Funk-style drop toehold on Guevara then distracted the ref so that Sterling could choke a prone Guevara. A sleeper was applied and Guevara nearly passed out but fought back at two and sent Daivari into the ropes.

After a double clothesline a chop exchange began ending with Guevara getting some steam and knocking Daivari into the corner. One stalling suplex later Guevara got a two count on Daivari who’s head was now a disturbing shade of purple.

Guevara hit a high knee and climbed the ringpost only to be knocked off by the Premier Athletes! Daivari tried to capitalize, but Guevara kicked out. Guevara took out the Athletes with a backflip on the outside, and nailed Sterling for good measure. One GTH later and Guevara pinned Daivari for the win.

-Next, Lexy Nair reluctantly interviewed Red Velvet in the back. The two disagreed about what a Champion should be like. Velvet called Nair “bitter.” Velvet stated that now that she’s Champion, the “mean girl” era is over. Suddenly, Diamante appeared. She called Velvet “Captain Save-a-ho” which was really weird. The two had a really awkward conversation and that was it.

Lady Frost defeated Promise Braxton

Last week, Frost took on ROH Women’s World Television Champion Red Velvet in a Proving Ground match. She came up short in that bout, but didn’t seem to be letting that bother her while addressing Braxton. Braxton was last seen on the losing end of a match with Leila Grey. Both women here could use a victory.

They locked up with speed and duelling chants from the crowd. Braxton hit a really nice spinning backbreaker on Frost, but it only got a two count. Frost seemed a little on her heels, letting Braxton lock in a sleeper. Frost fought out of it though and took control with a flying forearm.

Frost hit a hurricanrana from the outside (yeah, I know!) and sent Braxton into the corner. Promise ducked and delivered an exploder suplex. Frost followed it up with a hard kick and went to the top of the ringpost. She landed a frostbite from the top and got the victory over Braxton.

Willie Mack defeated Exodus Prime

Mack arrived to a big ovation, and Prime arrived in the form of a truck.

Anyway, The match was a really fun one. Mack had the size advantage on Prime and used it to control most of the match pace. He didn’t really seem to take Prime seriously at first, but Prime’s killer speed got his attention. Mack countered by keeping Prime off his feet, tying him up in the ropes and delivering massive chops.

Mack went to the darkest timeline and gave Prime a double nipple twist in the corner. That seemed to fire him up more though and he actually suplexed the big man. Prime dropped a knee on Mack and hit a really cool slingshot legdrop through the ropes.

Mack hit a devastating running suplex that seemed to do more damage to him than Prime. The two nearly got counted out, but they were able to get to their feet at 8. Mack fired up and hit some running knees. He scooped up Prime and slammed him, setting him up for a standing moonsault that should not have been possible.

Mack caught Prime looking with a stunner, and climbed the ring post. He hit a big splash from the top and got the three-count.

-Anthony Henry cut a promo from the back about the status of the Workhorsemen. Beef arrived to interrupt with the power of enthusiasm. Henry asked him to chill and the concept seemed foreign to Beef. Henry begged him and Beef tried, but failed to be able to chill.

Preston Vance defeated KM

Vance felt like he has let down his mentor Brodie Lee, so he has come back to ROH to prove himself. KM happened to be there as well, so he seemed like a good opponent.

KM is huge, so the collisions between these two literally shook the ring. Vance hung him up in the ropes, and delivered some hard clubs to the chest. The fight moved to the outside where it quickly became a brawl. Vance was able to send him into multiple barricades and the steel steps for good measure.

KM broke the count and began stalking Vance up the entrance ramp. Vance countered a suplex on the 315-pounder and dropped him onto the ramp before dragging him back to the ring. Vance hit a spine buster and a big lariat and that was it for KM. A definite surprise win for Vance.

SAP (Serpentico and Angelico) and Fuego Del Sol defeated Ace of Space Academy (LSG and Colton Charles) and Joe Alonzo

This was a really fun match! Angelico and Serpentico have been teaming really well together for a ling time and Del Sol fit in perfectly. The trio delivered three-part and synchronous moves with ease, picking apart their opponents.

Serpentico got his eyes raked by Alonzo and LSG jumped in for a double team. Charles then tagged in for a big slam and roof raise. Serpentico managed to hit a hot tag to Angelico after a really, uh, interesting, exchange. Angelico cleaned house, fighting off all three and ending up battling LSG in the ring as the legal man.

Del Sol inserted himself into the match with a big DDT off the top rope. Angelico hit a flatliner and Serpentico hit a serpent splash on LSG. Angelico locked in the grapevine and got the very smooth win for his trio.

AR Fox & Komander (w/Alex Abrahantes) defeated Brilliante RB & Ariel Dominguez

The last time we saw Komander in ROH it was in a singles match win over KM. Prior to that, he experienced being thrown at the floor A LOT by The Beast Mortos back in July. Fox also shares the distinction of being thrown at the ground A LOT by Mortos. I guess they decided “safety in numbers” and paired up for this bout. 

Komander kicked things off against Dominguez and the two moved at lightning speed, getting in multiple pinning combinations and moves in just a few minutes. Komander caught Dominguez looking and the two mirrored each other through a double dropkick and kip-up.

Fox tagged in against Brilliante (in an outfit he bought that morning) and towered over the brightly-colored luchador. The size of Fox was too much and Dominguez tagged in only to br crushed by Fox. The two smaller men tried a double team but Fox laughed them both off. He caught Brilliante with a big cutter and tagged in Komander.

Komander climbed the ring post and hit a huge splash on Brilliante to get the hard-fought victory.

Lio Rush defeated Rocky Romero

The Main Event of the evening pitted teach against student. Romero mentored Rush over the years and taught him a lot. Rush was also on this past week’s Dynamite, taking on Jack Perry. Rush failed to win the TNT Title from the Scapegoat, but made an impression doing so. Romero last week bested Aaron Solo on ROH. 

Given their relationship, the two were really ready for each other. They knew what the other was going to do just as they decided to do it. Cause of this, the feeling out process went on for a while and the match began at a slow pace.

Things picked up a bit as the match moved into the “trading chops” phase. Romero seemed to have Rush on the ropes, but Rush was able to counter and dodge until he was able to catch Romero with a dropkick. Rush tried to dive through the ropes, but Romero saw it coming and Rush pulled up in time to avoid disaster.

Romero started playing mind games, playing like he was going to quit, but climbing back into the ring to slap Rush. Rush countered though, chopping Romero back into the corner. Romero caught Rush with a backbreaker followed by a spinning backbreaker. He tosssed rush out of the ring to slam him into the ring apron (the hardest part of the ring).

Back in the ring, Romero continued working the back of Rush, driving knees and kicks right between the shoulder blades. Romero even put Rush up into a surfboard, bending him in half. Romero really poured it on then with a recliner. Rush managed to stand and hit a jawbreaker though, stunning Romero.

Rush countered another backbreaker by Romero into a big DDT. The crowd got into it as Rush hit a big clothesline in the corner. Rush hit a falcon arrow but Romero kicked out a two. The two traded forearms in the middle of the ring until Rush got caught by Romero who delivered a modified GTS but only got the two count. Rush climbed the ringpost and hit a final hour splash to get the 1-2-3 on his mentor, Romero.

NJPW Capital Collision live results: Mercedes Mone vs. Momo Watanabe

Posted on by Corey Michaels

Mercedes Mone will make the first defense of her first reign as NJPW Strong Women’s Champion in tonight’s Capital Collision main event.

Mone puts the title on the line against Momo Watanabe in her first defense since June’s Forbidden Door.

NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Gabe Kidd defends his title against Lio Rush while Hiromu Takahashi faces Mustafa Ali in a rematch from April’s Windy City Riot.

Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions TMDK (Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls) defend against CMLL’s Hechicero & Virus, and IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito faces United Empire’s TJP in a non-title match.

G1 Climax 34 winner Zack Sabre Jr. will be in singles action tonight against Titan of CMLL.

Dirty Work (Fred Rosser & Tom Lawlor) battle Lawlor’s former allies in the West Coast Wrecking Crew while in trios action, YOSHI-HASHI, Rocky Romero & Kevin Knight take on Bullet Club War Dogs.

A match to decide the next challengers for Strong Tag titles opens the main card with Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Grizzled Young Veterans vs. TMDK’s Robbie Eagles & Bad Dude Tito.

Matt Vandagriff vs. Allan Breeze, plus Mina Shirakawa & HANAKO vs. Trish Adora & Viva Van are set for the kickoff show at 6:30 PM EST.

**********

Pre-Show

Matt Vandagriff defeated Allan Breeze

Capital Collision’s pre-show kicked off with both men on equal footing. Vandagriff soon got the upper hand, working the back and chest of Breeze, followed by a knee strike into the post. Vandagriff looked to almost have the match won following a spot at the turnbuckle, picking at Breeze like a vulture, failing a pin attempt after a thunderous cannonball. Breeze powered out of the offense, gaining spectacular momentum. Vandagriff countered this with his strikes, punctuated by a Bloody Sunday.

An excellent pre-show opener. Breeze has babyface spirit, but Vandagriff comes off as a future star. In-ring and character in him shows promise. I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing him as a future member of Bullet Club’s War Dogs.

Empress Nexus V (Mina Shirakawa & Hanako) defeated Viva Van & Trish Adora

Adora and Hanako began this match with utter speed and tenacity, but soon tagged Van and Shirakawa who proceeded with comedic antics. Adora soon tagged herself in; she and Van separated Shirakawa. Hanako put an end to it with Shirakawa isolating Van from Adora.

Hanako and Shirakawa continued picking Van apart, with Hanako halting Adora from making the assist as Shirakawa tapped Van out with a figure four leglock.

The dynamics of this match were cleverly planned, with Adora and Hanako serving excellently as the heavies while Shirakawa and Van’s personalities shone. The crowd was into Empress Nexus Venus. I love how Shirakawa knows how to work with American crowds.

Main Card

Tomohiro Ishii & Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated TMDK (Bad Dude Tito & Robbie Eagles) and Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson) in a #1 Contenders Match for the Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship

TMDK took Ishii and Tanahashi out in the early goings, leaving them to clash with GYV, until Tanahashi tagged himself in. The Ace stood his ground defiantly, but Eagles tagged himself in, but soon found himself in dire straits with Gibson and then Drake. Ishii then tagged himself in, bulldozing everyone until he and Tito stood toe-to-toe with The Stone Pitbull standing tall. Ishii then proceeded to singlehandedly overcome GYV’s attempts.

Tito tagged himself back in and toppled GYV for another standoff with an understandably frustrated and energetic Ishii. Tanahashi tagged himself in to whittle down Tito, but GYV swiftly ended his aspirations. Eagles soared into the ring, evening the odds with his brisk pace. Each team took turns with spot after spot until Tanahashi and Ishii isolated Tito, with Tanahashi securing a pin after a High-Fly Flow.

Phenomenal opener. Tanahashi’s been working better in tag matches and Ishii is evergreen in the ring. Though I rooted for GYV, I wasn’t mad at the result of this match. Two hungry younger talents against equally hungry, grizzled old veterans started the main card off right.

Rocky Romero, Kevin Knight, & Yoshi-Hashi defeated Bullet Club War Dogs (David Finlay, Clark Connors, and Drilla Maloney) in a Six-Man Tag Match

The War Dogs opened the match by barking at the audience, as is their tradition. Knight and Connors collided first, leading to Yoshi-Hashi and Romero cutting Connors off from his War Dogs. Connors fought out, tagging in Maloney, who followed up with a stiff exchange with Romero. Romero responded in kind, winding up for a simple eye poke. Winding up the crowd, Romero and Maloney sped around the ring, only for Maloney to knock Knight and Yoshi-Hashi out of the ring while Connors handled Romero.

Romero’s bad luck continued with The War Dogs biting at him with shots and kicks in their corner of the ring. After a hot tag, Yoshi-Hashi blasted The War Dogs with a barrage of offense. He then clashed against Finlay before Maloney and Knight tagged themselves in. With superb athleticism, Knight held Maloney and Connors at bay. Despite his agility, The War Dogs wore him down, leading to a frenzied Romero to get his revenge. Dispatching Romero with a Drilla-Killa, Maloney nearly did the same to Knight with an attempted pin, who reversed it with a backslide.

Post-match, The War Dogs assaulted Knight, undoubtedly bitter after their loss.

A bit slower than the previous match, this match followed a methodical route. Kevin Knight was the spotlight with his incredible abilities; I’m astounded by him every time. That said, I’m still not impressed by Finlay, but his cohorts in Connors and Maloney are impressive.

Dirty Work (Fred Rosser & Tom Lawlor) defeated West Coast Wrecking Crew (Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson) in a No DQ Tag Team Match

Dirty Work didn’t even let the match start before they assaulted West Coast Wrecking Crew from backstage to the ring. Once the dust settled, Rosser and Lawlor caused Nelson great suffering. Isaacs soon found the adrenaline to give WCWC a fighting chance by striking Lawlor. WCWC then followed this by clanging baking sheets on Rosser’s body.

Nelson delivered Lawlor into a Spinebuster onto some chairs before he and Isaacs catapulted him into the railing. Using steel chairs that Rosser introduced into the ring a short time prior, their opponents were left incapacitated. Plucking a white door from under the ring, WCWC sought to flip Rosser onto it, but he successfully fought back with renewed vigor. Another door was brought into the ring, where it leaned on a ring post. Placing a trash can on Lawlor, WCWC played tennis with him using the chairs, echoing loudly.

After a headshot by a chair, Rosser seemed doomed, but Lawlor came to his rescue, hoping to send Nelson through the door bridged on the outside. Thanks to a tug of war, Lawlor and Nelson fell through the outside door as Rosser sent Isaacs through the inside door for the win.

This was, as some would put it, some dirty work. Plunder matches are fun and the comradery between Lawlor and Rosser created a thick sense of drama. Isaacs and Nelson put up a great fight and continue to be an underrated part of NJPW STRONG’s shows.

Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Titán

Fresh off his appearance in the Casino Gauntlet Match at AEW’s All In, Sabre was warmly welcomed by the Washington DC crowd. Displaying his technical proficiency, Sabre found himself countered by the nimble Titán, as they rolled through the ring with Titán gaining advantage with his speed. The normally strategic Sabre’s difficulty in nailing his opponent was brief, however, as he grounded the acrobatic Titán, stretching and bending his legs – if he can’t outpace him, he could weaken his limbs. Tauntingly kicking Titán, Sabre met his karma after Titán sent him out of the ring and brought him back in to bend and stretch Sabre, who parried with a similar maneuver. Grappling for control, neither man gained from this exchange, instead softening each other into exhaustion.

Refueling each other through the adrenaline of chest shots, Titán found the most energy, breaking down Sabre, each wrestler trading hold for hold. Try as he might with his agility, Titán found one last reversal by Sabre stretched him in a submission hold until he tapped.

My match of the night so far. Sabre’s technical prowess is unmatched in the current landscape of wrestling, perhaps aside from Hechicero. Titán’s speed and strength and Sabre’s intelligence told an excellent story, thrilling from start to finish. For their first time together, Sabre and Titán have great chemistry together.

Tetsuya Naito defeated TJP

Unwilling to wait for Naito to fully undress, TJP immediately attacked him on the top rope. Targeting Naito’s well-documented weak knees, TJP mockingly nearly ran up the 20-count as Naito struggled to get on his feet, much to the referee’s justified annoyance. Not letting Naito get even a chance of recovery, TJP rubs further salt into Naito’s wounds by stealing his Los Ingobernables de Japon T-shirt. Naito finally stands up, delivering DDTs and gaining back his shirt. He kept up this momentum until TJP regained his strength.

After attempting a Tornado DDT on Naito, TJP failed but spat red mist into the eyes of Naito for a series of unsuccessful pins and submissions. After a failed Destino, Naito managed to secure a victory with a Corriendo for the 3-count.

Whenever Naito wears a shirt to the ring, I can usually tell he won’t put in much effort, but this match betrayed that expectation. Naito fighting as an underdog against the reprehensible actions of TJP provided a captivating narrative, bolstered by Naito’s notoriously weak knees.

TMDK (Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste) defeated Hechicero & Virus for the Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship

Nicholls hoped for a lockup between himself and Hechicero, but the Venus flytrap that is the lucha grappler snared him. Haste also struggled to keep up with Virus, infected with one hold after another. Sensing they couldn’t get a hold of their opponents by themselves, TMDK teamed up to trip Virus as they worked on his body, thus turning the tide of this match.

Hechicero, finally refreshed, gave Virus a moment of respite, nearly softening up TMDK in the process. This allowed Virus to place himself and Hechicero on equal footing with Haste and Nicholls. Luckily for TMDK, they got Hechicero out of the way long enough to drop a Tank Buster on Virus for a victorious pin to retain their championship.

Post-match, both teams shook hands. Tomohiro Ishii and Hiroshi Tanahashi entered the ring to greet their future opponents.

Leave it to TMDK to deliver some of my favorite matches of the night. With Nicholls and Haste having been a tag team for over a decade, contrasted to the multi-man tags that Hechicero and Virus are used to, had me on the edge of my seat. Though the CMLL wrestlers put up a valiant fight, the tag team chemistry inherent in TMDK secured their continued success.

Hiromu Takahashi defeated Mustafa Ali

Off to a frenetic start, Ali and Takahashi wrestled around the mat, rolling around until Ali attempted a pin. Arguing with Takahashi over the pin, the arrogant Ali mocked Takahashi with every bit of offense he could gain. After sending Ali into the rails, Takahashi teased introducing his plush cat Darryl into the match. Insulted by this, Ali threatened to harm the plush cat Darryl but decided not to.

Transitioning to the outside, Ali had Takahashi on the ropes but immediately was offset by a stiff arm clotheslining him. Flying too close to the Sun, Takahashi found his arm nearly broken on the rail with no chance to recover due to a flying Ali. Spending too much time bantering with the crowd, Ali suffered a suplex into the turnbuckle. Smartly taking advantage of Takahashi’s injured neck, Ali used a headlock, dropkick, and a Gory Special leading to a failed pin. After a 450 Splash, Takahashi got the win with a resounding Time Bomb. If Takahashi had lost, he would have had to publicly announce that Mustafa Ali was the best junior heavyweight wrestler in the world.

In the post-match angle, Ali and Takahashi agreed to have one more match, with Ali demanding it to be during next year, entering Ali into the BOSJ ahead of time.

This was a fine match that told a hilarious story. Ali’s tenacity mixed with Takahashi’s explosive unpredictability curated an atmosphere that was filled with comedy and intensity. That said, I’m content with waiting until the BOSJ rematch.

Gabe Kidd defeated “Blackheart” Lio Rush for the Strong Openweight Championship

While Rush entered the ring during a special performance, Kidd emerged with his standard fanfare; black-and-white robe and proudly carrying his title. Once the bell rang, all theatrics left the arena. Instantly, the match fell in favor of the speedy and seasoned Rush, darting like gunfire across the ring and overwhelming the Bullet Club’s foul-mouthed War Dog. Unforgiving and brutal in his approach, Kidd’s strength countered the quick pace of his challenger as he grew accustomed to Rush’s style and strategy.

Seemingly gaining some steam over Kidd, Rush attempted a Falcon Arrow to Kidd to no avail. Withstanding each flurry of offense Rush could muster, Kidd choked him out on the top rope and failed to slam him on the mat, reversed by an impromptu hurricanrana, followed promptly by a spear. Despite the shifting tides, neither can sustain momentum for long. After missing Rush with a chairshot and sustaining head damage because of it, Rush took advantage with a frog splash, though it bore no fruit.

Bleeding from the skull, Rush has withstood all that he could; even amid his immediate reaction time, his fighting spirit refused to give in. Ultimately, Kidd won thanks to a piledriver and a powerbomb for the 3-count to retain the Strong Openweight Championship.

I am astounded at the choreography on display in this match. Lio Rush’s superheroics contrasted nicely with the bullish attitude of Gabe Kidd. In my opinion, matches like this one indicate the high star power Kidd can reach if he sticks with NJPW long enough.

Mercedes Moné vs Momo Watanabe for the Strong Women’s Championship

The main event saw the crowd largely in favor of Moné, but Watanabe took joy out of riling them up. Noticing this, Moné played mind games of her own. Watanabe tried her best-underhanded tactics combined with Stardom’s brand of joshi wrestling, but Moné combined joshi wrestling with lucha libre to keep her off balance.

The H.A.T.E. member took advantage of a distracted referee to whack Moné in the ribs with her black metal bat, rejoicing in playing dirty. Overconfident and arrogant, Watanabe’s mockery, insults, and unfair direction only fueled Moné’s passion and anger. Kick after kick and elbow after elbow, the once-grinning Watanabe’s frustration and panic set in with every kick-out by Moné, who was equally exasperated at this point. A tug-of-war over Watanabe’s bat led to a hurt referee, which she poorly attempted to take advantage of, as Moné trapped her in a Statement Maker. Watanabe taps, and Moné retained her championship.

Post-match, Moné celebrated her defense reminiscing on the last time she stepped foot in a NJPW ring, and concluded with her signature CEO dance.

Moné preserved my confidence that her match with Britt Baker at AEW All In was an exception and that she’s still an incredible performer. Watanabe was no slouch either. I particularly enjoyed that Watanabe’s H.A.T.E. style against the multi-faceted inspirations that Moné draws from creates an interesting mixture. Matches like these keep me hungry for more Moné vs Stardom matches.

Overall, Capital Collision succeeded in its in-ring qualities. While the biggest overarching plot advancements are largely attributed to Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomohiro Ishii’s upcoming challenge to TMDK and Mustafa Ali announcing his entry to 2025’s BOSJ, the appeal of the show focused on well-developed and thought out performances that told their own stories in the typical NJPW fashion.

AEW Collision live results: All In go-home show

Posted on by Suit Williams

The final show before All In has arrived with Saturday’s Collision from Cardiff, Wales.

The taped show will feature a Wild Card in Cardiff match to determine the final spot in the London Ladders match for the AEW Trios titles at All In. Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta) and PAC will face Top Flight & Lio Rush to determine who makes it to Wembley Stadium.

Other matches will see The Conglomeration (Orange Cassidy, Mark Briscoe & Kyle O’Reilly) take on The Undisputed Kingdom (Roderick Strong, Matt Taven & Mike Bennett). Hook will face Big Bill, Willow Nightingale will square off against Harley Cameron, Jeff Jarrett will compete against Ariya Daivari, and Katsuyori Shibata will take on Jay Lethal.

Kris Statlander and Stokley Hathaway will also be in action ahead of their mixed tag match against Nightingale and Tomohiro Ishii on All In’s Zero Hour pre-show.

Additionally, TCM’s Ben Mankiewicz will narrate the story of Toni Storm and Mariah May ahead of their All In title match.

**********

AEW Collision comes to us this week live – to tape – from Cardiff, Wales, just one day before All In Wembley. Tony Schiavone & Nigel McGuinness were on the call as the Conglomeration made their entrance for the opening match.

The Conglomeration (Kyle O’Reilly, Mark Briscoe & Orange Cassidy) defeated The Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven, Mike Bennett & Roderick Strong)

While I don’t need any more of the Conglomeration/Kingdom pairing, this was a fun opener. The cut to a stoic, unmoving Ishii on commentary did make me laugh very hard.

Conglomeration member Tomohiro Ishii joined the booth, and he was a real chatterbox. Briscoe and Bennett started the match with chops. O’Reilly tagged in and brought the fight to all three of the Kingdom, including a train of leg whips to Bennett and Taven. Cassidy tagged in and continued the offense, taking Bennett and Strong down with tornado DDTs. Bennett and Taven caught Cassidy with a spike piledriver, but some confusion on the legal man allowed Cassidy’s partners to break up the cover.

Cassidy fought his way to the corner and tagged in Briscoe, who ran wild until Strong cut off a dive attempt. We got a dive train, ending with Strong dropping Briscoe on a chair as he went for his chair-assisted tope. The Kingdom was working on Briscoe in their corner after a commercial break. Briscoe fought to the corner and got a tag into O’Reilly, who ran wild. The Conglomeration hit a set of dives for a nearfall.

Bennett caught O’Reilly with a DVD, with Taven following with Just The Tip for a nearfall. Strong beat on O’Reilly for multiple nearfalls, but O’Reilly countered a Tiger Bomb into a guillotine. O’Reilly transitioned to an ankle lock, but the hold got broken up. We got a move train ending with Briscoe hitting his chair dive. O’Reilly caught Taven in a guillotine choke and scored the win.

We got a video package recapping the recent history of the Trios Titles, going over Death Triangle’s challenge of the Bang Bang Gang at Double or Nothing, The House of Black earning a Trios Title shot, and The Patriarchy cheating their way to the titles.

Willow Nightingale defeated Harley Cameron

Ishii is still sitting at the commentary desk, where Nightingale gave him a big hug during her entrance. Nightingale handled Cameron until she tried for the Babe With The Powerbomb, when Cameron fought out and hit a Side Russian Leg Sweep for a nearfall. Cameron hit Sole Food and a Shining Wizard for a nearfall.

Nightingale got a glimpse of Ishii on commentary and fired up, dropping Cameron with a forearm and hitting the Babe With The Powerbomb for the win. Ishii came into the ring and raised Nightingale’s hand in victory.

Private Party was backstage with Lexy Nair, where she announced that they were the official emcees for All In. They were excited, then got a call from their assistant and left. Nair welcomed the ROH World Tag Team Champions Sammy Guevara and Dustin Rhodes. There was an open challenge laid out for a ten-man tag match at Wembley, with Guevara and Rhodes teaming with the Von Erichs and Katsuyori Shibata. Shibata entered the frame and, through text-to-speech, said that he would lasso them a win at Wembley.

(I don’t need hosts for wrestling shows. I am excited about a little pre-show action with the ROH crew.)

Katsuyori Shibata (w/Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara) defeated Jay Lethal (w/Satnam Singh & Sonjay Dutt)

A professional encounter, if not a very heated one.

Lethal focused on Shibata’s leg, setting up a Figure Four, but Shibata kicked his way free. Shibata hit a pair of bicep stomps before kicking Lethal to the outside. After a commercial, Lethal caught Shibata with a Dragon Screw before locking on the Figure Four. Shibata got to the ropes and cut off a Lethal Injection attempt, but Lethal caught him with the Lethal Combination.

Lethal went for Hail To The King, but Shibata caught him in an armbar. Shibata sent Lethal to the corner and hit his hesitation dropkick. Lethal went for kicks to the knee before Shibata dropped him with an STO. Shibata hit the Rainmaker-style slap, locked on the Von Erich Claw, and then transitioned into an armbar for the submission win. Shibata offered a handshake after the match, and Lethal accepted.

We got a video package of MJF & Will Ospreay’s face-off from Dynamite.

Kris Statlander & Stokely Hathaway trained for their Wembley match at Create A Pro Wrestling Academy. Statlander said that she had been overlooked for too long and that it was their time now.

Kris Statlander & Stokely Hathaway defeated Kid Lykos II & Nina Samuels

Hathaway shook hands before Statlander clotheslined both of them. Hathaway tagged in and hit Lykos with a main-event spinebuster. Statlander tagged in and hit Lykos with an F-5 and a Babe With The Powerbomb. Statlander tagged Hathaway in and dumped him onto Lykos, with Hathaway getting the pin.

After the match, Hathaway said that this match was a preview of what would come at Wembley against Willow Nightingale & Tomohiro Ishii. Hathaway said that when they were done, Nightingale & Ishii’s careers would be like the food in England: absolutely rubbish. McGuinness made sure to note that they were in Wales.

We got a video package recapping the history between Toni Storm and Mariah May, narrated by Ben Mankiewicz of Turner Classic Movies.

Hook defeated Big Bill (w/Bryan Keith)

A wild atmosphere, as this rowdy crowd suddenly decided that Big Bill was the top babyface in the territory.

FTW Champion Chris Jericho joined commentary as Hook charged Bill to start. Bill dumped Hook with a fallaway slam. The crowd started cheering for Bill as he clubbered on Hook. After the commercial, we came back to the crowd giving Bill a standing ovation. Jericho said that the crowd was cheering Bill to spite him after he told the crowd to shut up. A decent attempt from Jericho to contextualize this.

Bill mocked Hook then told the crowd to shut up as they continued cheering him. Hook dodged a couple of charges from Bill, then hit a big suplex. Bryan Keith charged Hook, but Hook dumped him with a T-Bone suplex. Bill sent Hook into the corner, but Hook caught him with the Redrum and got the submission. Hook stared down Jericho at the desk.

We got a video package of Jack Perry with his TNT Title. He said that no one was worthy of holding his TNT Title, as no one had made the sacrifices that he had made. Perry told Darby Allin that the only way he would close the coffin on him was if he was dead.

We got a recap of the face-off between Swerve Strickland & Bryan Danielson from Dynamite.

Jeff Jarrett (w/Karen Jarrett) defeated Ariya Daivari

If Jeff Jarrett was this over at any point in the last 20 years, TNA would still be on Spike TV. This Wales crowd was fired up for some Double J.

Daivari came to the ring getting some cheap heat, noting that Wales doesn’t have a Premier League team. After both men hit the corners for cheers, with only Jarrett getting them, Daivari jumped Jarrett and mocked the Fargo Strut. Daivari mocked him again before Jarrett socked him in the face and sent him into the turnbuckles. The crowd chanted for Jarrett as we went to a commercial break.

Jarrett pinballed Daivari around the outside as we came back from the break. Daivari caught Jarrett with a baseball slide as he came back into the ring. Jarrett almost caught Daivari with a sleeper hold, but Daivari reversed into one of his own. Jarrett fought out and fired up, getting a nearfall with a Russian Leg Sweep. Jarrett hit an enzuigiri and the squisher before hitting the Fargo Strut. Jarrett ducked a high cross attempt and hit the Stroke for the win.

We got a Hologram highlight reel.

We got a rundown of the All In card, with a ten-man tag match added to the Zero Hour. It will be Dustin Rhodes, Sammy Guevara, Katsuyori Shibata, & The Von Erichs vs. The Cage of Agony, Mike Bennett, & Matt Taven.

Winning Team Enters London Ladder Match at All In – Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta & PAC defeated Lio Rush & Top Flight (Dante Martin & Darius Martin)

An odd way to get PAC his “Wembley Moment,” but he got there. Credit to Claudio Castagnoli, wrestling 20 minutes on Dynamite, working this match on the same taping, then flying to Mexico to wrestle in the CMLL Grand Prix before flying back to Europe to work All In. A fine main event, but the crowd did feel tired by this point.

Yuta and Darius started, with Dante tagging in and double-teaming Yuta with his brother. PAC tagged in to a hero’s response, matching speed with Dante until he got caught with a headscissors and a dropkick. Castagnoli and Rush tagged in, with Rush trying to catch Castagnoli in the Giant Swing and catching an uppercut for his troubles. Top Flight helped Rush triple-team Castagnoli as we went to a commercial.

Yuta dropped a knee on Darius as we came back from the break. Darius came back with a DDT/Death Drop combination on PAC & Yuta and fought through Castagnoli to get the tag to his brother. Dante ran wild, with Rush assisting with a moonsault off of the apron to Yuta. Rush tagged in and hit a pair of topes to PAC that almost destroyed the announce table. PAC and Rush traded strikes until Rush hit a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall.

We got a move train ending with Dante hitting a dive to Castagnoli. Rush hit a stunner to PAC, but PAC came back with a snap German suplex, but the Martins cut him off. Darius hit a second rope Stunner, with Rush and Dante following with frog splashes for nearfalls. Another dive train ended with Castagnoli drilling Rush with an uppercut. Castagnoli snatched Rush into the Giant Swing before Yuta hit the low dropkick to cut him down. PAC hit the Black Arrow to score the win and punch his ticket to Wembley Stadium.

Christian Cage & Mother Wayne made their entrance. Cage heeled on the crowd before calling himself the godfather of ladder matches. He told them to have eyes in the back of their heads, leading to Killswitch and Nick Wayne hitting them all with chairs. Christian went for the Con-Chair-To on PAC before the Bang Bang Gang came out and pulled tabled from under the ring. The House of Black arrived with a ladder on the stage. All the teams brawled as the show went off the air. I’ll note that my TNT feed went silent after the Bang Bang Gang came out, but I think that was just on my end.

Ring of Honor TV live results: Mark Briscoe vs. The Beast Mortos World title match

Posted on by Jeff Moss

In one of the more highly-anticipated matches in recent Ring of Honor history, ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe will defend the title agains The Beast Mortos on tonight’s ROH on HonorClub show.

Mortos goes into the match on a five-bout ROH winning streak while Briscoe is gunning for his fourth defense.

Lio Rush will return to battle Tony Nese where a win by Nese earns him a future ROH title shot.

Angelo Parker will make his return after becoming a father to team with Matt Menard against Jacoby Watts & Nick Comoroto.

ROH men’s TV Champion Atlantis Jr. will team with Fuego del Sol & Serpentico against former ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Cage of Agony.

ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Dustin Rhodes & The Von Erichs will team with Sammy Guevara against The Undisputed Kingdom & Dark Order.

Angelico will take on Aaron Solo in a Pure rules match while Marina Shafir faces Tiara James.

Other stars in action include EJ Nduka, Komander, Abadon, Trish Adora and MxM Collection.

*****

It was a big 120 minutes of wrestling on ROH this week, so it was fitting that it started with a many, many-person match.

ROH Six-Man Champions Dustin Rhodes & The Von Erichs and Sammy Guevara defeated Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) and Dark Order (Alex Reynolds & John Silver)

Last week, the show ended with all eight of these competitors (plus Evlio Uno)  in the ring, brawling. Dark Order and The Kingdom got the upper hand and left Rhodes, Guevara and The Von Erichs beat up in the ring. So this mega-sized grudge match was sure to be, as someone used to put it, a Slobberknocker. 

(It should also be mentioned that Rhodes and Guevara won the ROH tag titles on Collision. So there’s that too).

The match started with Rhodes, the Von Erichs and Guevara putting the Iron Claw on their opponents. That lead to the deterioration of everything as a brawl broke out and all eight men brawled around the ring. Eventually, the match started officially with Marshall and Silver squaring off.

Rhodes found himself isolated in enemy territory as he took on Bennett. Taven tagged in, but Rhodes with a significant size advantage fought his way out. The Order and the Kingdom were reluctant teammates, each team kind of ignoring each other until it was time for all out brawls. Even Evil Uno got involved on the outside. Fortunately the Von Erichs and Guevara were ready and waiting and managed to drive the action back into the ring.

Rhodes tagged in Guevara who entered via the top rope. He cleared the ring and hit a springboard cutter on Reynolds. Marshall tagged in and showed off his moonsault skills on Silver. Another brawl broke out at that point, and the Rhodes/Guevara/Von Erich team laid out their opponents and were about to lock in the Claw when low blows were delivered all around and all eight men writhed in the ring.

Eventually Marshall found himself in the ring with Silver. Everyone assumed they were the legal men, and Marshall hit a Claw slam on Silver to end the chaos and get the pin to win the match for his team.

Cage of Agony (Bishop Kaun, Brian Cage & Toa Liona) defeated ROH TV Champion Atlantis Jr., Fuego del Sol & Serpentico

This match pitted a team of bruising behemoths (811 lbs collectively) against a high-flying trio of luchadores. After losing an ROH World Six-Man Championship match via DQ last week, Cage of Agony is right back into the fight tonight and was in a terrible mood. At DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR, Brian Cage was pinned by retaining ROH TV Champion, Atlantis Jr. “The Machine” was definitely looking to even the score. A long-standing Trio, Cage of Agony had the size and experience advantage over their opponents, who were teaming together for the first time. 

Unlike the preceding match this one started off with just two men in the ring. Serpentico (in his classic green mask) started things off against Liona, who only had about 100lbs in size on him. Serpentico managed to land a DDT, but the rest was pretty brutally in Liona’s favor. Kaun tagged in to take a turn, and Serpentico made the tag to Del Sol.

Del Sol’s speed was a help as he was able to run circles around all three members of Cage of Agony. Kaun got on up on him though and isolated him in the CoA corner so Cage could tag in. Cage tossed the 200lbs+ Del Sol around like he was stuffed with packing peanuts until Liona tagged in. Del Sol appeared hurt, but that didn’t get him any mercy.

Del Sol finally made a hot tag to Atlantis, who headed straight for Cage. Cage was caught on his heels and Atlantis was all over him with power slams and superkicks. Even Cage’s Wolverine gear was hurting. Serpentico tagged in and hit a shooting star frog splash on the prone Cage, but it only got a two-count.

Cage caught Atlantis with a pop up powerbomb, and then caught Serpentico in midair to hit a massive driver and get the pin for Cage of Agony.

  • The MxM Collection joined us from back stage. Mansoor gave us great news: He and Mason will be in action tonight and were interrupted by their opponents: The Pillars of Destiny.

Abadon defeated Alejandra Lion

The Living Dead Girl, Abadon spent last week scaring the daylights out of the ROH Women’s Champion, Athena. Lion, didnt seem phased though until the bell rang and Abadon, for lack of a better word, pounced on her.

Lion fought back with some superkicks, but Abadon no-sold them and hit a cutter on her, before setting up a Gory Special. After that Lion, didn’t have much fight in her, and one Black Dahlia later, Abadon was the winner.

MxM Collection (Mansoor & Mason) defeated Pillars of Destiny (Hunter Grey & Paul Titan)

The guys of MxM have fast become crowd favourites in ROH. Pillars of Destiny were pretty much the opposite. Where MxM was all style and smoothness, the Viking-like Pillars were hard hitting and beastly. MxM offered their Tips to the Pillars, but Grey tried to bit Mason’s off.

Mansoor and Grey started things off, with Mansoor giving up at least 6 inches (not including the tip) to the bigger Grey, who resorted to biting at one point. Mansoor hit a big dropkick and tagged in Mason. The two of them double teamed Grey, focusing on the back.

Suddenly, the Collection ran to the top of the entrance ramp and posed, only to run down and spear their opponents. Tossing them back inthe ring, Mansoor and Mason pinned Titan to end the match,a nd begin the posing.

Who am I kidding? They posed throughout the whole match. A lot.

Angelico defeated Aaron Solo in a Pure rules match

Before the match, ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty and Shane Taylor joined us from backstage. Moriarty named this the Pure Era of ROH and Taylor called out Mark Briscoe, saying he was coming to get what was his.

This would be the first Pure Rules match for either competitor. Solo, a student of Lance Storm, is very technically proficient and now that his partner Serpentico has his mask(s) back, Angelico can get back to the style he’s very good at. Under Pure Rules, each man would get three rope breaks, and a panel of judges would award the win if there was no winner as the 15-minute time period ran out. A victory would be a step closer to a shot at Lee  Moriarty’s ROH Pure Championship. The judges would be Paul Wight, Jerry Lynn and Christopher Daniels.

Solo and Angelico work a similar lanky style, and they made for excellent foes. The two traded headlocks and whips off the top while the announce team talked very quietly. Like Golf.

Solo used his first rope break at 13:44 to get out of a submission hold. Angelico locked in a calf crusher causing Solo to use his second rope break just 30 seconds later at 13:04. With a lot of match left to go, Solo regrouped and took Angelico off his feet with a big ol’ punch to the face. That got him a warning from the ref at 11:57 for using a closed fist.

Solo used his third and final roper break at 11:09, while Angelico still had all three of his. Angelico caught a warning for a closed fist, which meant that if there was another one from either wrestler, the match would end.

Angelico got a standing grapevine into an ankle lock on Solo. Solo tried for the ropes but was out of rope breaks, leaving him no choice but to submit and give the win to Angelico.

Trish Adora defeated Erica Leigh

Infantry member Adora was looking to get back into the singles game after being eliminated in the first round of the ROH Womens TV Championship tournament by Mercedes Martinez. Leigh, a friend of the Outrunners, was a solid veteran in her own right.

Adora controlled everything off the top though. After a series of hammerlock and chickenwing forced salutes, Adora hit a snapmare and then a splits based submission move. Leigh set herself up for some chops, declaring loudly “I can take it!”

Ron Howard Voice: She could not.

Adora chopped her into next week and then hit a massive lariat to put Leigh on her back for good and get the win. She and the Infantry celebrated in their X-Men style gear.

-Backstage, the Righteous cut a rare promo. Vincent said that everything in ROH has changed. Egos and masks rule ROH now. Lance Archer stepped in and said “everybody dies” for no reason. I mean, he’s not wrong, but it made no sense. Vincent said that they have reached Nirvana, and then asked everyone in ROH how they could start, when the Righteous know how it ends?

Komander defeated KM

Komander had been out of ROH for the last little while, competing at AAA Triplemania 32 on August 17th, where he defended his Cruiserweight Title against Matt Riddle and Laredo Kid. UNfortunately for him, a BroDerek from Riddle cost Komander his title and now he’s back in ROH, trying to shake off the loss. 

KM’s deal was being huge. Like, really huge. He was twice the size of Komander.

Surprisingly though, KM was able to keep up with Komander’s speed, tossing the luchadore around like a rag doll. KM locked in a really creative submission move, but Komander was able to squirm out of it. KM got cocky though, and Komander ducked a corner splash to hit a senton from the top rope followed by a flip splash from the top to get a quick pin.

EJ Nduka defeated Deonn Rusman 

Former Toronto Argo and bodybuilder Nduka two weeks ago broke up a fight on a plane. Aside from hanging out with AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland, Nduka hasn’t had much else happen to him thus far in AEW/ROH.

Rusman clocked in a 6’3″ but Nduka towered over him. Both men had some speed in them though and the match moved really quickly. The two battled back and forth with neither on e gaining the upper hand until Nduka got caught in the corner and Rusman rained down a flurry of punches to the midsection.

Nduka fought back with some massive lariats and a huge bulldog before hitting an Exodus Drop and pinning Rusman with his foot.

The Iron Savages (Bronson and Boulder) and Jacked Jameson defeated Jay Alexander, Colton Charles and Rosario Grillo.

I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan of the Savages/Jameson team, and this match was a pointless squash from the top. Charles was murdered right off the bat, and Alexander was taken to (sigh) Titty City before being crushed by a Jameson lariat. No one had any idea who was legal as the Savages triple teamed Alexander and got a pin. Grillo never even entered the match. Pointless.

Marina Shafir defeated Tiara James

Shafir has been making herself a problem for the ROH Women’s division. Her aggressive and punishing style has led to several weeks of squash and easily won matches. James has only been doing this for a couple of years, but already earned nicknames like “Top Tier.”

Shafir offered a slightly modified Code of Honor from her back in the center of the ring. Of course, this was a clever ruse and she pulled in James and sat on her. James fought out and threw some chops at Shafir that she no-sold and then answered with a vicious kick to the face.

Shafir dug into her Judo bag of tricks and repeated took James to the mat. Dragging her to the center of the ring, Shafir locked in a surfboard and then transitioned into a sleeper hold. James didn’t go for it though, so Shafir transitioned into an armbar and then the Mothers Milk choke. James passed out and Shafir’s win streak continued.

  • Angelico and Serpentico cut a smoky promo back stage in which Serpentico suggested that Angelico challenge for the ROH Pure Title. Angelico mellowed out and did just that. He challenged Lee Moriarty for a Pure Title match.

Cool Hand Ang & Daddy Magic defeated Jacoby Watts & Nick Comoroto

New papa Cool Hand Ang is back in ROH to join his longtime partner, Magic as th begin their climb towards the ROH Tag Team Titles, currently held by The Undisputed Kingdom. Watts and Comoroto have had a… different, relationship that seemed to be going one way then stopped dead in it’s tracks.

Watts ran his mouth off the top, but Magic shut it with a fist. Ang and Magic double teamed Comoroto, but Comoroto’s Hulk-like strength (and chest hair) made it easy to fight them off. Ang and Comoroto became the legal men while Watts cheered from the corner.

Ang drove Comoroto into Watts, knocking him off the apron. Magic tagged in and rained fists on Comoroto in the corner. Ang and Magic hit a double DDT on Comoroto and were able to get the pin on the big man.

Lio Rush defeated Tony Nese (w/ Mark Sterling)

Last week, Rush defeated Blake Christian, but possibly at the coast of an arm injury. Nese accompanied his Premier Athlete buddy Aria Daivari in a losing effort against Katsuyori Shibata. Rush and Nese were both heavily featured in the ill-fated WWE “205 Live” Cruiserweight division, so they have plenty of history and this looked to be a banger of a match, booked by ROH Board of Directors member, Paul Wight. Wight said that if Nese wins they can talk about future opportunities, but beating Rush (who arrived in a coat so big, I’m sure even HHH was impressed) would prove easier said than done.

The match was fire right off the top. Nese using his strength and and Rush his speed. Nese sent Rush out of the ring and distracted the Ref while Mark Sterling stomped Rush on the outside. Back in the ring, Nese tried a suplex, but Rush saw it coming and the pair ran thr ropes until Rush got a big lariat on Nese.

Rush laid in a flurry of offense, but Nese picked his moment and returned a superkick. Both men exchanged speedy moves until a collision, leading to Nese punching Rush UFC style. From there, Nese had control, slamming Rush and exchanging chops. Sterling caused a distraction and Nese landed a back elbow on Rush.

Nese tried a few pinning attempts, but Rush kicked out. The crowd rallied around rush as he fought out of a leg scissor lock. Nese missed a triangle moonsault, giving Rush an opening, but Nese hit a pump handle slam before he could capitalize. Rush hit a springboard cutter and followed it up with a huge frog splash to get the 1-2-3.

Ring of Honor World Champion Mark Briscoe defeated The Beast Mortos to retain

Mark Briscoe is a busy guy. ​​This summer, he participated in Blood & Guts as part of Team AEW, defended his ROH World Championship at DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2024 two days later against Roderick Strong, then took on the Premier Athletes in a Trios Match just 24 hours later. Then, he was in an Eight-Man match, and a Trios match involving The Beast Mortos on July 31st and August 3rd respectively. As if that wasn’t enough, Briscoe beat Johnny TV last week on ROH, followed by a Conglomeration trios victory over The Butcher and The Outrunners one day later.

During the aforementioned Trios match on AEW Collision, Mortos managed to pin the ROH World Champion, marking the biggest win of his career (so far). That weighed heavily on Briscoe (and earlier in the evening, he even cut a promo to say so) and last week he issued this challenge to Mortos in the form of a Championship match. 

This match was great from the moment it was booked. Mortos is an incredible brawler an Briscoe’s Red Neck Kung Fu and absolutely unkillable spirit made for two really strong opponents.

Briscoe tried to go for the Jay Driller early, but Mortos was able to shake him off and land a power slam. Both men’s preference for violence led to some really hard strikes and really strong holds and submission attempts, but throughout, neither man could get the momentum on their side.

The chops from Briscoe began and Mortos was actually sent back on his heels. That’s a rare thing for the Beast, and Briscoe capitalized, continuing to pummel Mortos. Briscoe tried to pick up the pace, but that just unleashed Mortos’ unnatural speed.

After a fireman’s carry, Mortos climbed to the top rope, but Briscoe jumped up and joined him. The two exchanged punches and Mortos sent Briscoe flying with a big headbutt to the chest. Briscoe introduced a steel chair and used it to fly onto a prone Mortos on the outside. Briscoe climbed to the top rope and hit a corkscrew moonsault onto the Beast.

Back in the ring, Briscoe put Mortos on his back with a huge lariat, but couldn’t get the pin. Mortos staggerd to his feet and kicked off a Jay Driller into a Samoan Drop on Briscoe for a two-count. Mortos then hit a tilt-o-whirl backbreaker on Briscoe, but again, only a two count.

Mortos tried to get Briscoe up again, but he reversed it into a spiccoli driver. Briscoe climbed to the top rope for a Froggy Bow, but Mortos rolled away and caught him in a spear. Mortos tried a top rope move of his own and missed Briscoe who went for another Froggy bow, this time nailing it, but Mortos kicked out.

Finally, Briscoe managed to hit a Jay Driller and that was enough to put the Beast to bed, and retain the Championship.