Roderick Strong will attempt to become the Ring of Honor World Champion for the first time since 2011 when he challenges current titleholder Mark Briscoe on tonight’s ROH Death Before Dishonor card from Arlington, Texas.
ROH Women’s World Champion Athena will aim to keep her record-long title streak going as she defends against Queen Aminata.
ROH TV Champion Atlantis Jr. will defend his title in a Survival of the Fittest bout against Lio Rush, Shane Taylor, Johnny TV, Brian Cage and Lee Johnson while ROH Women’s TV Champion Billie Starkz will defend against Red Velvet.
ROH Tag Team Champions Mike Bennett & Matt Taven will defend against Tomohiro Ishii & Kyle O’Reilly, and ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta defends against Lee Moriarty.
The rest of card features Leyla Hirsch vs. Diamante in a Texas Death Match; an ROH Six-Man Tag Team title eliminator with Dustin Rhodes, Ross Von Erich & Marshall Von Erich vs. Alex Reynolds, John Silver & Evil Uno; The Beast Mortos vs. Komander, and MxM making their promotional in-ring debut on the pre-show.
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All right, friends! Here we go with Death Before Dishonor! Ring of Honor’s first special event since April’s Supercard of Honor. Much like that show, this one is packed with two World Title Matches, two TV Title Matches, tag and six-man action, a Texas Death Match and more! But first, the pre-show, Zero Hour.
ZERO HOUR: MxM Connection (Mason and Mansoor) defeated Spanish Announce Project (Serpentico and Angelico)
This was The MxM Connection’s big debut on ROH TV after several weeks of Zoolander-esque teases and vignettes.
After a very sexy Code of Honor Serpentico kicked things off against Mansoor. It was a slow start which was a bit of a surprise, but the two went back and forth in between Model poses. Sadly they weren’t executed by Serpentico, which would have been great given his mask.
Mason tagged in and it was then that I realized he as about a foot taller than Serpentico. Mason no-sold some chops and Serpentico gave up and tagged in his taller partner Angelico. Angelico caught a butt to the face from Mason, leading to a great pose from Mansoor. They tossed out their opponents and then danced and, yes, posed.
After a while, the posing caught on and Serpentico tried out his own set. This upset the MxM’ers and they jumped in to take both he and Angelico out. Mason nearly broke him in half with a spinebuster. That led to a nice bridge, but Angelico was able to break it up.
Serpentico laid out Mansoor with a big dive through the ropes and tossed him in to Angelico. A big splash led to a two-count and ref Aubrey Edwards made sure everyone knew it. Mason took on both Angelico and Serpentico, slamming them into opposite corners. The MxM Connection’s aggressive streak was on full display. After a double lateral press, the Connection both pinned Serpentico and got the win in their debut.
As they were walking to the back, who should appear but Maria. With Kole Karter out for a while, is she looking for new clients? We shall see!
-After the opening match, the Death Before Dishonor card was run down, complete with recap vignettes. That brought us to the second Zero Hour match, and it was a problem.
ZERO HOUR: Marina Shafir defeated Angelica Risk
Shafir has been embracing her agressive side as of late, taking down opponents with jujitsu and submission moves that look exceptionally painful. She taunted Risk off the top, but once the bell rang it was all business.
Risk came out agressive, landing huge chops across Shafir’s chest. She no-sold them all though and picked up the smaller woman and immediately locked in her Mother’s Milk submission. Risk passed out, and that was that.
ZERO HOUR: The Infantry (Sean Dean and Carlie Bravo) w/Trish Adora defeated Griff Garrison and Anthony Henry w/ Maria
The Infantry traded their usual camo for X-Men costumes for the match, which was very cool. Dean had some killer Cyclops glasses as well. Garrison and Henry had… Maria.
Bravo and Henry kicked things off, and it was a speedy affair. The Infantry isolated Henry right away and landed a series of splashes in the corner. Garrison tagged in and managed to get one up on Bravo with a big back elbow. Maria seemed pleased.
The momentum switched, and Henry stomped and chopped Dean in the corner. Henry went for a series of submission holds, including a Rings of Henry, but Dean wouldn’t give up.
The infantry had a bit of an advantage as they gelled really well like they always do, but Garrison and Henry didn’t have the same kind of history and cohesiveness as a team. At one point, Garrison was looking for his partner who was up on the ropes, rallying the crowd and didn’t notice.
After a couple of hot tags, Garrison ate a big flapjack from Bravo and Dean jumped in to clean house. They tried to land a Boot Camp on Garrison, but Henry grabbed Dean and tripped him up. After a superplex from Garrison and a double stomp from Henry, Bravo looked like he was done, but kicked out at two.
Maria jumped up on the apron to cause a distraction, but ended up getting knocked off into Garrison’s arms. The confusion let the Infantry hit Boot Camp on Henry and get the 1-2-3.
After the match, Top Flight came out and congratulated The Infantry on their win. They then continued to the ring.
ZERO HOUR: Top Flight (Darius and Duante) defeated The Outrunners (Turbo Floyd and Truth Magnum)
This match was the last match before the start of Death Before Dishonor. Ian Ricabonni let us know that if it ran over time, they would transition into the big show and keep on going!
Giving the MxM Connection a run for their posing money, The Outrunners controlled things off the top. Darious managed to fend off Magnum, and went to a quick cover, but there was a kickout.
Floyd tagged in and he and Magnum hit a double body slam on Darius. Darious fought back against Floyd, but a sneaky tag was made and Magnum reversed the momentum easily. The Ref became distracted by Duante and it allowed the Outrunners to double team Darious in their corner.
Darius fought his way out of the corner, but couldn’t make it past Floyd to get the tag. Floyd locked in a sleeper, grinding the match to a halt. Darius countered with a back suplex and the crowd was begging for the hot tag, which both teams made.
Duante laid into Magnum with a flurry of punches and a huge splash off the top rope. Magnum tried to help his partner, but Duante saw it coming and laid him out, or rather on top of his partner. A few quick kicks later and Magnum was on the shoulders of Darius who deliverd a massive slam while Duante took out Floyd to get the win and remain undefeated in ROH in 2024.
-With Zero Hour out of the way, it was time for Death Before Dishonor!
The Beast Mortos defeated Komander
This match had all the ingredients to be absolutely crazy. Putting Komander in the ring with Mortos is like putting a Frog in the ring with a Rhino. Komander’s speed and high-flying bag of tricks against the brutal violence of Mortos was an excellent juxtaposition and made for a really exciting match up.
Mortos grabbed Komander by the head and threw him into the ground for an opening move. Kmander tried a springboard to counter but Mortos caught him in the air and threw him into the ground.
Then Mortos caught Komander in the air again, outside of the ring this time, and threw him into the ground. There seemed to be a theme developing.
Back in the ring, Mortos delivered some hard chops, keeping control of the match pace. Komander wouldn’t go down though, coming back again and again only to face more pummelling.
After Mortos caught Komander and threw him into the ring post for a change, Komander writhed on the mat until Mortos picked him up and did it again. Komander’s high-flying offense was of no use against the Beast.
Komander tried to go high again, but Mortos rolled out of the ring to avoid it. Jumping down, Komander started getting some offense in with a big hurricanrana off the ring apron (the hardest part of the ring). With Mortos incapacitated, Komander ran along the ropes and delivered a huge splash on the outside. He followed that up with a near fall after a poisonrana.
Mortos fought back though and delivered a back drop that was so brutal it knocked MY wind out. A swinging mexican destroyer and a spear from Komander left both men on their backs as the match built to it’s conclusion.
Mortos then hit a series of backbreakers and slams driving Komander into the mat and picking up the victory.
-The MxM boys joined Lexy Nair to announce that they will be facing FTR on Collision tomorrow. But they did it with a lot more smoldering looks than you might think.
ROH Tag Team Champions Mike Bennett & Matt Taven defeated Tomohiro Ishii & Kyle O’Reilly
It was just a couple of weeks ago that long-time Tag Champs Bennett and Taven were lamenting the lack of “real competition” in ROH. They begged Tony Khan to deliver them some opponents and he has in the form of Ishii and O’Reilly. Amongst their international accolades, O’Reilly is a former ROH World and Tag Champion, and Ishii has held the ROH Television Title.
The real story here though was that Bennett and Taven weren’t sure piledriving Ishii would work, since he didn’t appear to have a neck.
Ishii and Bennett kicked things off and even though Ishii gave up a few inches to Taven, he managed o take some chops without blinking. He then returned the favour to Bennett and the chopfest began. Bennett broke first and fell to his knees. Ishii, chest bleeding like a stuck Jericho, tagged in O’Reilly which brought in Taven.
Taven had the advantage on O’Reilly until he was taken down by a double leg, uh, takedown. O’Reilly pulled Taven to the corner and tagged in Ishii who delivered a few of those chops to Taven so he matched his partner. O’Reilly tagged back in and locked Taven in an abdominal stretch. O’Reilly and Ishii chopped Taven until he crumbled. Bennett tried to help his partner, but was quickly dealt with.
After a few minutes, Ishii stopped selling just about anything until Bennett poked him in the eye. Ishii tagged in O’Reilly who took out both Bennett and Taven, wrenching the former’s knee on the ropes. O’Reilly and Ishii brawled with the champs on the outside, leading to all 4 men being laid out.
Back in the ring Taven took a series of hard kicks from O’Reilly. He obliged and then locked in a kneebar. Taven worked his way out though, throwing O’Reilly to the outside and hitting him with a springboard dive, possibly dislocating O’Reilly’s shoulder. Taven and Bennett double teamed O’Reilly while Ishii recovered, but weren’t able to get the pin.
O’Reilly managed to battle back just as Ishii returned and a hot tag was made. Ishii essentially assaulted both Taven and Bennett, but also couldn’t get a pin. Bennett grabbed Ishii from the outside, opening him up for big kick from Taven into a Hail Mary Piledriver, but Ishii popped up! He began punching both men until O’Reilly tagged in a s the legal man. He hit a big knee from the top and locked in a knee bar on Bennett. Taven responded with a frog splash from the top and Ishii punched him. Hard.
Ishii delivered a brainbuster on Bennett from the second rope and then occupied Taven while O’Reilly went for the pin. Taven and Ishii fought outside, while Bennett in the ring called for the Ref to check his knee.
Suddenly, Kyle Fletcher and Don Callis arrived at ringside. Callis distracted the Ref allowing Bennett to get a low blow in on O’Reilly without her seeing. He went for the pin and got the win, retaining the titles for his team.
Leyla Hirsch defeated Diamante in a Texas Death Match
This was the first-ever Women’s Texas Death Match in ROH. A couple of weeks ago, these two had a stellar Lights Out (aka Hardcore) match but it was clear that their issues were far from over. Diamante brought that street fighter swagger and Hirsch was tough as nails, so high hopes were had for this match.
Hirsch arrived in all black and awaited Diamante at the top of the ramp. The two women began swordfighting with chairs and Diamante threw Hirsch off the stage through a table. Hirsch got to her feet after a 9.5 count and Diamante joined her at the base of the stage. She dragged Hirsch to the ring and set her up in a tree of woe. Diamante then brought in four chairs while Hirsch hung helpess. Siamante set up the four chairs in front of her face and dropkicked them into her head.
Hirsch began bleeding from the forehead and Diamante propped a chair between the ropes and attempted to dropkick Hirsch into it. Hirsch dodged though and Diamante took herself out with the chair, causing a crimson mask of her own.
Hirsch pulled a bag from under the ring and emptied it, spreading thumbtacks all over the mat. HIrsch hit a twisting suplex off the second rope, land Diamante flat on her back in the tacks, jack. A second bag was poured over the prone body of Diamante and Hirsch tried to splash her from the top rope. Diamante dodged though, and Hirsch ended up in her own pile of tacks.
Diamante found a roll of duct tape and taped Hirsch to the second rope. She then beat Hirsch with the deadliest object known to man: A croc shoe she found under the ring. A second shoe was found and it was laced with tacks and Diamante ground them into Hirsch’s head.
Hirsch tried to break free, but was still bound by the duct tape as Diamante set up a group of chairs on the outside. It took too long though, and Hirsch was able to unwrap the tape. Diamante wasn’t bothered, and set up some barbed wire boards on the chairs. Hirsch fought back and used a big backdrop to drive Diamante through the boards and chairs from the ring apron.
A limping Hirsch then searched under the ring until she found a ladder. She tossed it in the ring and then followed up with a table.
Hirsch set up her toys in the ring while Diamante slowly climbed in. Hirsch laid Diamante on the table, and taped her in using the duct tape. She then climbed the ladder and landed a massive moonsault form the top of the ladder, crushing Diamante and the table. Hirsch was able to make it to her feet before the 10-count, but Diamante couldn’t so Hirsch was declared the winner.
Lee Moriarty Defeated Wheeler Yuta to win the ROH Pure Championship.
I love the Pure Championship and was very happy to see it being defended at Death Before Dishonor. Moriarty achieved what few have a few weeks ago and actually won a Proving Ground match to earn this title shot. Now he’s got a chance to do something even rarer and earn a title thanks to that win.
The judges were announced as Jerry Lynn, Paul Wight and Christopher Daniels. Each wrestler would get three rope breaks and no closed fist punches or outside interference were permitted in the match. The match would go for 30 minutes and if neither man got the win, the judges would award it.
The match began with a feeling out process, with Moriarty ending up using his first rope break to regroup on the outside. He climbed back in the ring and the two locked up. Moriarty found himself fighting out of an armbar and grabbing Yuta in a submission hold, forcing him to use his first rope break. The men entered into a classic test of strength which Yuta broke to apply an octopus hold. Moriarty broke the hold and Yuta used a closed fist which earned him a warning from the Ref.
Moriarty was forced to use his second rope break at the 7-minute mark after Yuta worked his shoulder. Moriarty responded with a swingaround hammerlock. This made him a little cocky and he posed over Yuta and then delivered a missile dropkick. Yuta fought back, but Moriarty remained in control until Yuta caught him with a clothesline.
At the 12-minute mark, both men were exhausted. Moriarty threw a punch that was determined to be a closed fist, earning him a warning as well. Moriarty locked in a crossface and Yuta inched towards the ropes. Moriarty dragged him to the center of the ring and cinched in the hold. Eventually, Yuta found the ropes and used his second rope break, leaving both men with one apiece.
Both men found themselves on the outside (which did not cost either a rope break). Yuta hit a big splash, and began wearing Moriarty down with some hard elbows. Moriarty fought back though and planted Yuta with a twisting slam. He then locked in a neck wrench submission forcing Yuta to use his third and final rope break at 17 minutes.
Yuta locked in a cattle mutilation leading to Moriarty using his final rope break as well. Now, there would be no more rope breaks and submission do not get broken up with the ropes. Moriarty hit a fallaway slam on the ring apron (the hardest part of the ring) and dragged Yuta back in for a flapjack and a two count.
Yuta collapsed in the ring, but was playing possum in order to lock in an armbar. Moriarty managed to roll Yuta into a pin and used the ropes (which is legal now that the breaks had been used) get the win and the ROH Pure Championship!
Yuta grabbed the belt and respectfully presented it to Moriarty. Respect and a great match with a new champion to boot!
Red Velvet Defeated Billie Starkz to win the ROH Women’s TV Championship
This match had history dating back to shortly before Supercard of Honor during the tournament to crown the ROH Women’s TV Champion that Starkz eventually won through nefarious means. Velvet was a participant in that tournament and did not like the end result, so she and Starkz have been at each other’s throats ever since. Starks had done well defending her title, but Velvet has some extra motivation going into the match, so it was a toss up as to who would come out on top.
Starkz arrived with a new Harley Quinn-ish look and Velvent jumped her immediately, getting the upper hand. Starkz responded by reversing a move into a vicious snake eyes on the turnbuckle. Starkz then put Velvet in a chin lock, and set up a tree of woe in the corner. Velvet wiggled out and Starkz deployed some chops in the corner.
Valvet fought her way back, putting Starkz in a corner for some chops of her own. Starks reversed a lock and took control again, attempting a squatting pin. Velvet kicked out though and powered up, delivering a high knee in the corner. Starkz staggered as Velvet laid her out with big punches.
Velvet put Starks up on the top rope and hit a sunset move to slam her into the mat. A two count was the result, as Starkz kicked out a little slower than previous attempts. Starks managed to reverse Mama’s Recipe into a chinlock chicken wing submission move. Velvet broke free, but Starkz followed up with a back breaker.
Starkz tried a hanging sleeper, standing on the top rope and letting Velvet hang. Velvet kicked her off though, leading to Starkz falling to the outside, seemingly injured, just like in the match that won her the TV Title. The refs and doctors checked on Starkz while Velvet waited in the ring.
Starkz made it back into the ring, but the Ref held Velvet off while the doctor checked Starkz out. Starks spring back up, obviously faking, and hit an insuguri knocking Velvet to the ground. While Starkz mugged to the crowd, Velvet played up an injury of her own, faking Starks out at her own game. Velvet hit Mama’s Recipe to get the pin and win the ROH Women’s TV Title!
ROH Six-Man Tag Team title eliminator: Dustin Rhodes, Ross Von Erich & Marshall Von Erich defeated Alex Reynolds, John Silver & Evil Uno
Always cool to see the Von Erich clan in ROH, and they brought Dustin Rhodes with them? Color me stoked! The Dark Order had a pretty good chance of walking away with this one, as they’ve been circling the ROH Six-Man titles for a while now and have great cohesion as a team. It’s kind of strange that it’s an Eliminator match for ROH titles that will be decided on an AEW show, but that’s just how things work in ROH sometimes.
The crowd was behind the Von Erichs, chanting for them before the bell. A brawl on the outside broke out, with all six men involved. The officials gained control eventually and Uno and Ross started things off officially.
It didn’t last long though, with Rhodes jumping in to help Ross, and being beat up for his trouble. With the ref distracted, Uno grabbed Rhode’s ropes and whipped Ross with them. Reynolds tagged in and Ross was immediately isolated in the Dark Order’s corner. Silver claimed the he invented The Claw (actually made famous by Fritz Von Erich) to a shower of boos.
Ross managed to fight off the Dark Order and make a hot tag to Marshall. Marshall cleaned house, ending up one-on-one with Silver. He loaded up a lariat and delivered to Silver in the corner. He followed that up with a cannonball and a two-count.
Marshall locked the Claw in on Uno, but Reynolds sprinted over a broke it up. Silver and Reynolds double teamed Marshall on the outside, utilizing their cohesiveness as a team. The Order dragged Marshall to their corner like they did Ross and Uno went for a two count. On the outside, Reynolds drove Rhodes’ knee into the ring steps, keeping him out of the fray.
Uno stole Marshalls hat and Reynolds and Silver spat in it, driving the Texan crowd nuts. The Order continued playing to the crowd, causing Reynolds to miss a moonsault on Marshall. Uno charged Rhodes on the outside, but Rhodes caught him and sent him into the ring steps. Rhodes stood waiting for a hot tag from Marshall. Once he got it, he threw Reynolds around like a rag doll. Rhodes started spamming powerslams, taking out the whole order in succession.
Shades of his brother, Rhodes it a Crossrhodes on Reynolds, but Uno and Silver broke up the pin. The Von Erichs jumped in and another brawl broke out in and outside the ring. When the dust settled, Reynolds tried to pin Rhodes, but only got a two. Reynolds then tried to set up Rhodes for a shattered dreams, but Rhodes fought out with a Canadian Destroyer and set up some shattered dreams of his own. Silver interfered though until Marshall locked the Iron Claw on him. Ross then got Uno in the Claw and Rhodes hit Reynolds with a huge slam, getting the pin and advancing his team to the six-man finals on Collision.
ROH TV Champion Atlantis Jr. defeated Lio Rush, Shane Taylor, Johnny TV, Brian Cage and Lee Johnson in a Survival of the Fittest elimination match
This will be the second defense for Atlantis Jr, having won the ROH TV Title from Kyle Fletcher a few weeks ago, and it promised to be a doozy. The six-way elimination match would be won by the last Pinfall or submission and there are some heavy hitters in the group. Rush, seemingly making a comeback in wrestling. Taylor looking to reach that next level. TV and Cage trying to use their experience and size to win some ROH gold, and Johnson; ROH’s resident “amazing but not quite able to win the big one” wrestler.
This match was amazing but absolute chaos. With six talents like this in the ring, it’s virtually impossible to give a blow-by-blow of the match, so here are the eliminations and high spots:
-The only ones to adhere to the Code of Honor were Cage and Atlantis.
-At one point, everyone ganged up on Taylor, but the 300+ pounder was able to fight them off and clear the ring. TV was able to get him off his feet, and Rush hit a big frog splash to eliminate Taylor.
-Johnson was able to catch Rush while he was flying by and pin him for the elimination.
-TV and Cage formed an alliance to take out Atlantis and Johnson. Cage hit a huge powerbomb on Johnson to eliminate him, leaving Atlantis, TV and Cage as the final three.
-TV turned on Cage before Cage could turn on TV and Atlantis took advantage of the distracted opponents to land a monkey flip on TV. Atlantis hit a Mexican Destroyer but was only able to get a two count on TV.
-Cage hit a second rope superplex on Atlantis and Taya Valkyrie jumped in for a distraction allowing TV to kick Cage right in the machines. TV hit a modified GTS but Cage bounced back and drilled TV into the mat to eliminate him.
-Atlantis and Cage were all the remained. Cage had a significant size advantage but Atlantis was able to catch him with a rollup and win the match, retaining his ROH TV Title.
ROH Women’s World Champion Athena defeated Queen Aminata
This match has been a long time in the making with several twists and turns along the way. First, Aminata lost to Athena’s #1 Minion, Billie Starkz though deceptive means in the ROH Women’s TV Title Tournament. Then Athena was injured, supposedly very severely and was looking to be out for several months.
So it seemed strange when Athena wasn’t stripped or forced to relinquish the title and instead, was booked for a title defense vs Aminata at Death Before Dishonor. Over the last few weeks we’ve seen that Athena’s injury might not have been as bad as it seems, as she’s been jumping around and celebrating when she thought the cameras were off. Is Athena really injured? What role will the Minions play as Athena tries to stretch her title reign to 594 days, or forever. Whatever comes first.
To settle the big question, Athena stomped to the ring with confidence, seemingly recovered from her injury (if there ever was one in the first place). The crowd chanted “Forever” as the bell rang and the contest was under way.
Aminata had the height advantage, but Athena is a lot of power in a little package. Aminata tried hard to get momentum, but Athena was there matching her at every step. Aminata ended up on on the outside via a missed dive and Athena tossed her into the barricades and steel steps. She flew too close to the sun though and ended up going face-first into the steps herself via a drop-toe hold.
Athena continued using the stairs, setting them up on their side next to the ring. Aminata staggered to her feet and the two battled on the outside. Aminata slid back into the ring and Athena followed, wrenching her neck. Aminata reversed the hold and began raining down big strikes on Athena, sending her reeling. Athena reversed a powerbomb into a hurricanrana though, regaining the upper hand.
Aminata hit a massive knee leaving Athena hanging from the ring apron, dazed. Aminata threw her back in the ring and went up top for a double stomp and a near fall. Athena ducked a kick and delivered a big one of her own, getting a two-count of her own and slowing the pace of the match so she could deliver those hard strikes.
Aminata reversed a back handspring into a suplex, driving Athena’s skull into the turnbuckle. She followed it up with an Air Raid Crash and almost got the pin, but Athena wasn’t done yet. Athena caught a big boot and reversed it into an exploder suplex into the corner. The two women staggered to their feet and began exchanging forearms.
Athena managed to lock in a crossface submission on Aminata, but Aminata was able to get the rope break. The damage was done though as Athena just started slamming Aminata’s head into the mat. Aminata staggerd to her feet, favouring her leg and grabbed Athena on the ring apron. Athena reversed it and landed a massive piledriver on the steps that she set up earlier.
Tossing Aminata back in the ring, Athena went for the pin, but the challenger kicked out to the shock of the Champion. Aminata used a big headbutt and a butterfly pike driver, which brought out Starkz, followed by Velvet who brawled at ringside.
While the ref was distracted, Lexy Nair slipped Athena a microphone and Athena clocked Aminata with it, kocking her silly and eking out a victory, to push her title reign to 594 days. The Minions stood tall as we headed into the Main Event.
ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe defends against Roderick Strong
This match had main event greatness written all over it. Briscoe has been riding high all over AEW recently. He had a major role in this past Wednesday’s Blood & Guts match on Dynamite in which he got very physical as he’s known to do. Would he be at 100% to take on his old pal, Strong?
Strong was no slouch himself, as an official ROH Triple Crown Champion. He’s held the World Title, The Tag Titles and TV titles and this would be his first match in ROH since 2016. Strong has also unsuccessfully challenged Swerve Strickland for the AEW World Title and knocked Dalton Castle out of action in their match on Collision to become the ROH World Title #1 Contender.
The match began with a good dose of headlocks and Redneck Kung Fu. Briscoe seemd to be confident and in control as the match moved to the outside. Briscoe chopped Strong and threw him around the barricades, leading to Strong reversing momentum and gaining the upper hand until Briscoe tossed him into the crowd.
Briscoe took Strong back into the ring and tried to go fro a splash, but Strong moved out of the way. Briscoe tried a big elbow from the top rope, but Strong got his shins up and blocked it, throwing Briscoe around into a backbreaker.
Briscoe battled back with a little Redneck Kung Fu, taking control and causing Strong to bail out of the ring. Not deterred, Briscoe followed him and delivered a big Cactus Jack elbow off the apron onto strong on the ground. Briscoe tossed Strong back in the ring and climbed up top for a missile dropkick.
“Dem Boys” chants rained down as Briscoe tried to land a Jay Driller on the ring apron (the hardest part of the ring). Strong squirmed out though and managed to catch Briscoe with a back breaker on the ring apron (again, the hardest part of the ring). Strong, in control, chopped and punched Briscoe before driving his head into the steel ring post, busting him open.
Back in the ring, Strong began to pick apart Briscoe. First with some truly gruesome fishhooking, then a big back breaker. Strong rolled Briscoe into a Boston Crab, making Briscoe look like Steve Austin at Wrestlemania 13. Briscoe dragged himself to the rope and the hold was broken. Strong hit a big underhook pile driver, but Briscoe kicked out at one, wide eyed and ready to fight.
Briscoe caught his second wind and drove Strong into the mat for a Two-count. He climbed to the top rope, but Strong follwed and dropped him on the turnbuckle, before hitting a right angle slam from the second rope. A double clothesline sent both men to their backs and Briscoe began to regain steam first.
Briscoe and Strong exchanged weary blows with Briscoke setting up for a Jay Driller when suddenly Matt Taven arrived to cause a distraction. Strong took adventage and nailed Briscoe with the title belt, but Briscoe managed to kick out at two. O’Reilly and Ishii arrived at ringside to even the score and run off Taven.
Briscoe delivered a series of lariats to set Strong up for the Froggy Bow, and nailed him right in the chest to win the match and retain the title! O’Reilly and Ishii returned to the ring to congratulate him as the show came to a close.
What a great night of wrestling!
