A new match has been added to the ROH Death Before Dishonor 2024 lineup.
Leyla Hirsch vs. Diamante in a Texas Death Match has been announced for the show. This will be the rubber match for the two rivals, as Hirsh defeated Diamante in a singles match last month and Diamante defeated Hirsch in a Lights Out match on ROH TV this week.
Tony Khan announced the news on Saturday, writing: “After Thursday’s brutal Lights Out fight made the tally 1-1, the score between Diamanté/Leyla Hirsch will be settled at ROH Death Before Dishonor in a TEXAS DEATH MATCH”
After Thursday's brutal Lights Out fight made the tally 1-1, the score between Diamanté/Leyla Hirsch will be settled at ROH Death Before Dishonor in a TEXAS DEATH MATCH pic.twitter.com/wm4ONwnHTL
A new number one contender for the ROH World Championship has been crowned.
Roderick Strong defeated Dalton Castle on AEW Collision to become the new number one contender, countering the bangarang into a knee strike to win. Strong will now face Mark Briscoe for the ROH World title on July 26 at the Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
After Strong’s victory, a Mark Briscoe promo aired saying he had this week off, but there isn’t any week off when he has to prepare for both Blood & Guts and the ROH title defense. He wished Orange Cassidy and Kyle O’Reilly best of luck against the Undisputed Kingdom and told Strong he’ll see him at Death Before Dishonor.
#ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe has been putting in extra time to get ready for #AEWBloodAndGuts AND his championship match at #ROHDBD!
In recent weeks, The Undisputed Kingdom have set their sights on the Conglomeration, particularly Kyle O’Reilly. Despite having turned on him several months ago, Strong and The Kingdom have been attempting to recruit O’Reilly. This time around, O’Reilly has flatly rejected them and instead has sided with Briscoe and Cassidy.
Here is the updated lineup for Death Before Dishonor:
ROH World Championship: Mark Briscoe defends against Roderick Strong
Two title matches have been announced for the Friday, July 26 ROH Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view.
Women’s World Champion Athena is set to defend her title against Queen Aminata at Death Before Dishonor. The bout was announced during Thursday’s Ring of Honor TV episode. Athena has been out of action since May, and her in-ring absence has been attributed to injury in storyline. The Women’s World Champion suffered a legitimate injury scare in her last match in May, but that has been exaggerated in storyline.
Athena’s “minion” Billie Starkz will also defend her title at Death Before Dishonor.
Starkz defending the ROH Women’s TV Championship against Red Velvet at the July 26 pay-per-view was also made official during Thursday’s Ring of Honor TV episode.
Thursday’s episode also featured Lee Moriarty going to a time limit draw with Wheeler Yuta in an ROH Pure Championship Proving Ground match, so Moriarty has earned a shot at Yuta’s Championship. That match has not yet been made official for the PPV.
The announced card to this point for ROH Death Before Dishonor set for Friday, July 26 on Honor Club:
ROH Women’s World Champion Athena defends against Queen Aminata
ROH Women’s TV Champion Billie Starkz defends against Red Velvet
After nearly coming to blows while on the same AEW Blood & Guts team, Ring of Honor World Champion Claudio Castagnoli will defend the title against PAC at tonight’s ROH Death Before Dishonor in Trenton, New Jersey.
ROH Women’s Champion Athena will look to avenge her loss in the Owen Hart Foundation tournament semifinals when she defends against tournament winner Willow Nightingale.
ROH Tag Team Champions The Lucha Brothers will defend in a four-way against Aussie Open, The Kingdom and Best Friends.
ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata will defend the title against former champion Daniel Garcia while ROH TV Champion Samoa Joe defends against former champion Dalton Castle.
The Mogul Embassy will defend the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles against Ryusuke Taguchi, Master Wato & Leon Ruffin.
Dark Order faces The Righteous in a six-man Fight Without Honor while Komander takes on Gravity to round out the main card. Four matches are set for the Zero Hour pre-show.
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*****ZERO HOUR*****
Pure Rules Match – Josh Woods (w/ the Varsity Athletes) defeated Tracy Williams
The judges for this match were Christopher Daniels, Jimmy Jacobs, & Jerry Lynn.
After an early exchange, Woods rolled Williams into a double wristlock to force Williams to use his first rope break. Williams accidentally grabbed the ropes while Woods had his arm, thus exhausting his second rope break. Woods hung Williams on the ropes and hit a gutwrench suplex off the ropes for a nearfall.
After catching Woods in a rollup, Williams hit a high-angle suplex. Williams fired up, hitting a half-hatch suplex into the turnbuckles for a nearfall. Woods won a forearm exchange, but Williams caught his wrist and hit a fisherman’s suplex for a nearfall. Williams shrugged off a boot and hit a pump kick, following it with a piledriver. Woods used his first rope break to stop the pinfall.
Williams couldn’t hit a brainbuster due to the arm work Woods did earlier, allowing Woods to hit a gutwrench suplex and lock on the Gorilla Lock. Williams used his third rope break to escape, exhausting all of his rope breaks. They both ended up on the apron, where Woods hit a German suplex. Woods caught Williams in a guillotine submission in the ropes, forcing Williams to tap out with his foot.
Action Andretti & Darius Martin defeated The WorkHorsemen (Anthony Henry & JD Drake)
An awesome match for the free hour. Both of these teams have been highlights of the weekly show, and they took advantage of their time here and really impressed.
Henry and Drake got a jump start on Andretti and Martin, but Martin and Andretti quickly cleared the ring. After more back-and-forth, Henry caught Martin with a double stomp to cut him off, while Drake forearmed Andretti out of the sky. The Workhorsemen worked over Martin in the corner, pummeling him with double-team moves.
Martin fought to make the tag to Andretti, who ran wild on both Workhorsemen. He backflipped off of Drake’s back before hitting a double bulldog. Andretti hit a shooting star on both men for a nearfall. Andretti couldn’t finish Drake on his own, so he tagged in Martin to assist on a DDT for a nearfall that Henry broke up. Henry hit a diving stomp on Martin, with Drake following up with a moonsault. But Andretti dropped Henry with a DVD onto the pile to break up the cover. Andretti got Drake up onto his shoulders, allowing Martin to help hit an assisted neckbreaker for the win.
It was announced after the match that Andretti and Martin would take on Bullet Club Gold on Collision tomorrow night.
Leyla Hirsch defeated Trish Adora
Both women went after their opponent’s arm to start. Adora went for a submission, forcing Hirsch to bail out of the ring. Hirsch tried to rope-a-dope Adora in the ring, but it didn’t work, with both women ending in a standoff. Hirsch stood on Adora’s foot in the corner and took her knee out to get control. Hirsch went back to the arm, booting it before going for a cross-armbreaker. Adora powerbombed her way free.
Adora fired up, hitting a big boot and a crossbody for a nearfall. Adora hit a kneeling German suplex for a nearfall. Adora hit a pump kick, but Hirsch avoided a corner charge and hit a hesitation dropkick. Adora hit a backbreaker for a nearfall. Adora went for the Lariat Tubman, but Hirscch avoided it. After a scramble on the mat, Hirsch got the cross armbreaker in and got the quick tapout.
After the match, Hirsch feigned going for the Code of Honor before pulling Adora back into the armbreaker. Skye Blue ran her off, as it was announced that Blue would be wrestling Taya Valkyrie on Collision.
AR Fox defeated Shane Taylor
Another quality match on the Zero Hour. Taylor has earned a higher profile role in ROH with his performances lately, while Fox goes into his AEW International Title match on Dynamite with a great showing here.
Taylor dropped Fox early on with heavy strikes, but Fox used his agility to spread out his shots and sent Taylor to the floor. Fox followed him to the floor, first with a spaceman dive, then a no-touch senton. Taylor pulled Fox off the ropes, dropping him with an End of Days style move for a nearfall.
Taylor clubbered on Fox in the corner, hammering him with loud strikes before beeling him across the ring. Fox and Taylor ended up on the floor, with Fox getting on the apron and hitting an inside-out springboard senton. Back in the ring, Fox rocked Taylor with a stunner before hitting a kip-up enzuigiri. Taylor cut him off with a headbutt, followed by a uranage and a big splash for a nearfall.
Taylor sat Fox on the apron, but Fox avoided a legdrop. Fox hit a codebreaker and a DDT while Taylor was tied up in the ropes, but it only got a two-count. Fox hit a flurry of offense, but Taylor cut off a stunner and hit Welcome to the Land, but Fox got the ropes. This Is Awesome chants from the crowd as Taylor brought Fox to the top rope for a Marcus Garvey Driver. Fox fought out, walking Taylor to the middle of the ring to hit a Death Valley Driver. Fox followed with the 450 to score the win.
*****MAIN CARD*****
Gravity defeated Komander (w/ Alex Abrahantes)
This was a stellar opener to the card. Gravity impressed in the biggest spot of his career, and Komander continued to dazzle with his high-flying prowess. These two used to be a group in the Mexican independent scene alongside Bandido, and I would have no problem with AEW or ROH putting them back together.
Gravity is the younger brother of former ROH World Champion Bandido. The announcers noted that Komander looked up to Rey Fenix as a young wrestler, which is why Alex Abrahantes has joined him in recent weeks. Both men worked on the mat trying to score quick wins but ended in a stalemate. On commentary, Riccaboni let us know that these two used to be a regular team on the lucha scene, so they should know each other well.
Komander hit a dive to the floor, then followed it with a Shooting Star Press in the ring for a nearfall. Gravity sent Komander to the floor, then rolled to the top rope and hit a dive to the floor. Back in the ring, Gravity held onto an armdrag and rolled into a pin for a nearfall. Gravity ran right into a pair of boots from Komander, but Komander moonsaulted into a pair of boots himself. Gravity hit a powerbomb for a nearfall.
They traded strikes mid-ring before Gravity hit a one-armed powerbomb for a nearfall. Komander hit a misdirection kick to knock Gravity to the floor, then followed him with a multi-jump corkscrew dive to the floor. Gravity cut off another dive in the ring, hitting a falling wristlock takeover for a nearfall. Both men ended up on the apron, with Komander hanging Gravity over the turnbuckle and hitting a kick. Komander hit a rope walk moonsault for a nearfall, then followed it with a top rope rana. Gravity then caught Komander with a rollup to score the win.
After the match, it was announced that Gravity would wrestle PAC this Wednesday on Dynamite. If PAC wins tonight, it will be for the ROH World Title as well. Yes, Gravity will wrestle The Man That Gravity Forgot. I chuckled at that.
This was slow building, but the crowd got behind Castle late with his feats of strength. The finish has had some build to it, with Joe menacing Hathaway in backstage segments over the past few weeks. This pairing of Joe and Hathaway has some potential, and a rematch with Castle would be welcomed.
This is Samoa Joe’s 13th defense of the title.
ROH Board Member Stokely Hathaway joined the booth, sounding fearful of Joe. After some ringside shenanigans to start, Castle caught Joe with an elbow before hitting a pair of splashes to Joe’s back. Joe fought back with chops before hitting a big boot and a senton. Castle fought back, but Joe ran through him with a back elbow and resumed with the offense.
Joe sent Castle into the corner, hitting the back splash and the enzuigiri. Joe clubbered on Castle for a few minutes here, choking him on the ropes in front of the Boys. Joe sent Castle to the floor, but the Boys threw Castle back in the ring as Joe came to the floor. Castle got some shots in, but Joe shut him down again with a powerslam. Castle avoided a back splash, with Joe hooking Castle on the ropes. But the Boys pushed him back on the apron, allowing him to low bridge Joe to the floor.
The Boys caught Castle on a dive that Joe walked away from, allowing him to hit a rana to the floor. Castle hit another dive, after which the Boys helped bring Joe into the ring. Castle hit an overhead suplex to a big reaction. Castle fired up, hitting another German suplex to send Joe to the floor. Joe crawled to Hathaway on commentary, yelling at him to fix this. Hathaway forced the referee to eject the Boys from ringside. Joe hit a low blow while the referee was dealing with Hathaway. Joe locked in the Coquina Clutch to score the win. Joe shook hands with Hathaway and patted him on the head, which was very disrespectful.
This was fun chaos in the tag team division. The Lucha Brothers and Best Friends got more aggressive as the match went on, teasing a rekindling of their feud. Aussie Open getting a spotlight as ROH Tag Team Champions is a great call, winning the titles in their first tag match as contracted members of the company.
This is the Lucha Brothers’ 3rd defense of the titles.
The Kingdom held control of the Best Friends early on before Beretta tagged out to Fenix. Taven tagged in Fletcher, who engaged in a forearm battle with Fenix before hitting a massive bodyslam and tagging in Davis. Fenix avoided the squisher clotheslines, using Davis as a stool to hit a cutter on Fletcher. Penta tagged in, with both teams trading strikes until the Kingdom knocked the Lucha Brothers out of the ring. Bennett and Beretta tagged in, with the Best Friends running wild until Aussie Open sent them to the floor.
Aussie Open ran around the ring with the Best Friends, crashing them into each other. That started a dive train that ended with Beretta superplexing Bennett from the top rope to the pile on the floor. Taven hit a frog splash on Beretta, giving Bennett a nearfall. The Kingdom isolated Beretta while the other teams were down, scoring several nearfalls. Beretta hit a tornado DDT on Bennett, with no choice but to tag in Penta. The Lucha Bros ran wild on Taven, with Penta hitting Made In Japan on Taven for a nearfall.
Taven avoided the Package Piledriver but walked into a tag from Fletcher. Aussie Open ran wild, taking all the other teams out. They hit the Whirly Bird on Penta for a nearfall broken up by Taven. The Kingdom hit Rockstar Supernova on Fletcher for a nearfall broken up by Taylor. Taylor cut off a Taven dive, allowing Fletcher to tag out to Beretta. Best Friends hit an assisted superplex for a nearfall, then ran wild on Bennett.
We got a train of piledrivers that ended when the Lucha Brothers hit a double superkick on Davis and their double stomp package piledriver for a nearfall. The Kingdom hit a Hail Mary on Penta, but Penta kicked out at one. The Kingdom set up the Proton Pack, but Penta escaped. Beretta tagged in, and the Best Friends hit their double-team move. The Lucha Brothers pulled the referee out of the ring, and Penta hit Beretta with a chair. In the mayhem, Fletcher tagged in and helped Davis hit Coreolis on Beretta to score the win and the titles.
This was a fun six-man. The result was never in doubt, but the challengers worked well together, and it’s always nice to see the Forbidden Door opened.
This is the Mogul Embassy’s 5th defense of the titles.
Wato and Taguchi have held the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Titles in the past, with Wato going on to win this year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament in New Japan. Taguchi and Cage started, with Wato coming in and hitting some double-team offense on the Embassy. Cage dodged everyone and hit a double German suplex on Wato and Taguchi. Ruffin evaded everyone but ran into a Liona pounce. Liona suplexed Ruffin into the Embassy corner, allowing Prince Nana to get some shots in. The Embassy clubbered on Ruffin as Big Bill watched backstage.
After hitting a DDT to Kaun, Ruffin tagged out to Wato. Watomania ran wild, as Wato took down all three members of the Embassy. Wato locked both Kaun and Cage in submissions, but Liona broke it up. Taguchi tagged in and hit hip attacks on all three opponents. Taguchi avoided a charge from all three, then caught Kaun in an ankle lock. Liona broke it up, leading to an offensive flurry that included 619’s from both Cage and Taguchi. Nana distracted the referee, allowing Kaun to hit a low blow. But Taguchi caught Kaun low on the way down, getting a rollup for a nearfall.
Ruffin tagged in, taking down Cage with a cutter. He tried to hit the same cutter on Liona, but Liona cut it off and turned it into a backbreaker. The Embassy then won by throwing Ruffin in the air, letting gravity do the damage. No, gravity the concept, not the wrestler from earlier.
This was stellar. Garcia told the story of defiantly being an entertainer in the eyes of THE Wrestler so well. Garcia is reaching the level of pro wrestling prodigy at age 25 which makes you excited to watch his future.
This is Shibata’s 4th defense of the title. The judges for this match were Christopher Daniels, Jimmy Jacobs, & Jerry Lynn.
After a scramble for position, Shibata stopped Garcia from dancing and stomped on his hands. Shibata then locked on an inside Figure Four that forced Garcia to use his first rope break. Garcia went to the floor, baiting Shibata to the outside where he sent him into the barricade. Garcia mocked Shibata in the ring, sending Shibata after him. Shibata sent Garcia into the barricades repeatedly before booting him into the crowd.
Shibata went to bring Garcia over the barricade, but Garcia hooked Shibata’s arm over the barricade. Garcia sent Shibata into the post before slamming his arm into the apron. Garcia posed with the title before going to work on Shibata’s arm in the ring.
Shibata fired up, asking for more shots to the arm. Shibata rocked Garcia with a forearm, but Garcia sent Shibata into the mat shoulder-first. Garcia did his dance in Shibata’s face, but Shibata sat down. Garcia went to dance again, but Shibata slapped him and fired up. Shibata hit the shotgun dropkick and a suplex for a nearfall.
They traded submissions and suplexes before both falling down from exhaustion. They traded forearms and strikes until they collapsed again. Shibata booted Garcia, but Garcia caught a slap and locked on the Dragon Tamer. Garcia leaned too far back though, allowing Shibata to catch him in a choke. More slaps were traded before Shibata locked on a sleeper hold. Garcia defiantly danced until he faded out, with Shibata hitting the Penalty Kick to score the win.
– Backstage, Lexy Nair was with Aussie Open. They bragged about their victory and said that they would run the world.
Fight Without Honor – The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds, Evil Uno & John Silver) defeated The Righteous (Dutch & Vincent) & Stu Grayson
This exceeded my expectations, as these guys went all out here. This was vicious and violent, peaking with some wild high spots.
My feed froze during the Dark Order’s entrance. I came back in time to see Grayson spear Uno off the apron through a table. Dutch and Silver faced off with dueling 2×4’s, Dutch’s wrapped in barbed wire. Silver dropkicked the barbed wire board into Dutch’s face, lacerating him. After Vincent and Reynolds fought, Dutch dropped Reynolds face first into the 2×4. Vincent grinded the wire into Reynolds’ eyes.
Silver fought off Dutch and Vincent, introducing thumbtacks to proceedings. Grayson cut off Silver, walking him into a Bossman Slam from Dutch into the tacks. Uno laid into Grayson with a chair until Vincent shoved Grayson out of the way to take a shot. Uno set the chair up in the corner, but Vincent reversed Uno into the chair. Vincent tore Uno’s mask as Dutch and Grayson set up tables on the floor. Grayson punched a bloody Uno before Silver got involved. The Righteous set up Silver for a powerbomb through the tables, but Reynolds hit Dutch with a chair.
Reynolds and Silver hit their tag team combo on Dutch for a nearfall. Uno drilled Grayson and Dutch with the barbed wire board before dumping a bag of Legos into the ring. Dutch powerbombed Uno into the tacks and Lego, while Vincent and Grayson hit dives onto Silver that put him through a table. Dutch hit another powerbomb for a nearfall. Dutch and Grayson pulled out a table covered in barbed wire. Grayson got Reynolds on his shoulders, but Reynolds hit a DDT on the stage. Dutch came to help Grayson, but Reynolds sent Dutch through a table.
Silver came up with a tack-studded kickpad, landing Kawada kicks on Vincent who asked for more. Grayson took out Silver and laid Uno across the two tables. Grayson pulled out a massive ladder and set it up in the ring. Uno recovered, tipping the ladder and sending Grayson through the tables on the floor. The Dark Order isolated Grayson in the ring. They hit Grayson with the Ragnarok into the tacks to score the win.
This was a fantastic battle for the World Title. Both men being shades of grey muddied the waters as far as the babyface/heel divide went, but the work overcame that. This was hard-hitting and smartly worked, as you would expect from these two high-level wrestlers. Go out of your way to see this one.
This is Castagnoli’s 9th defense of the title.
Castagnoli charged PAC to start, hitting an uppercut and Swiss Death for a nearfall. PAC bailed out before a Neutralizer attempt. Castagnoli caught a PAC moonsault off the apron, dropping PAC into the barricade. PAC tried to bail out, but Castagnoli caught him on the stage and hit the Giant Swing. At the crowd’s request, Castagnoli hit another Giant Swing before attempting a Neutralizer on the ramp. PAC backdropped Castagnoli onto the stage, jamming Castagnoli’s knee. PAC then hit his apron moonsault to Castagnoli on the floor.
PAC set up a table on the floor, but Castagnoli uppercut PAC up and over the table before sending him into the barricade. Castagnoli charged PAC, but PAC moved, and Castagnoli jammed his knee again. PAC hit a shotgun dropkick for a nearfall. PAC brought Castagnoli to the top and brought him down with an avalanche brainbuster for a nearfall.
PAC taunted Castagnoli, but Castagnoli gorilla pressed PAC out of the ring through the table on the floor. Castagnoli went to the top rope and hit an elbow drop for a nearfall. Castagnoli dropped the hammer and anvil elbows before setting up the Neutralizer, but PAC hit an enzuigiri. PAC went for a springboard, but Castagnoli caught him and hit an Alley Oop before finally hitting the Neutralizer. It only scored a nearfall.
Castagnoli taunted PAC before drilling him with forearms. PAC came back and engaged in a strike exchange that Castagnoli got the better of with a lariat. Both men got to their feet, where PAC dropped Castagnoli with a pair of superkicks. PAC hit a stalling German suplex for a nearfall. PAC went to the top rope, but Castagnoli knocked him down with an uppercut. Castagnoli went for the outside-in deadlift superplex, but PAC cut him off and went for a super hurricanrana. Castagnoli stuffed it and went for the Ricola Bomb, but PAC ripped off the rana.
PAC went to the top rope but missed the Black Arrow. Castagnoli hit a lariat and went for the Ricola Bomb, but PAC locked on the Brutalizer. Castagnoli tried to slam his way out of it, but PAC clutched it back on. Castagnoli lifted PAC up again, this time onto the ropes, and hit an Air Raid Crash to escape the hold. After both men recovered, PAC went to take the turnbuckle pad off when Wheeler Yuta stopped him. Castagnoli then hit an uppercut before hitting the Ricola Bomb for the win.
After the match, the Lucha Brothers came out to help their Death Triangle partner. They beat down Castagnoli and Yuta until Best Friends made the save. Orange Cassidy came out to help the Best Friends. He went to hit an Orange Punch on Yuta, but Yuta ducked, and Castagnoli took the shot. The Best Friends stood tall to end the scene here.
– The announcers ran down the Collision card, noting that we will hear from FTR, Ricky Starks, and CM Punk. They ran down the Dynamite card, which will feature a three-way tag team match between Best Friends, the Lucha Brothers, and the BCC team of Castagnoli and Jon Moxley.
They billed the two World Title matches as a double main event. I went in believing this was just marketing, but this match lived up to the billing. These two put on one of the best World Title matches of the year, up there with Castagnoli and PAC, and rivaling Flair/Ripley from Wrestlemania as a Women’s Match of the Year. This was dramatic, had shoutouts to the women that built Women of Honor, and had the crowd rocking by the end. A fantastic main event to a show that out-delivered any reasonable expectations. I gave the ROH brass a lot of grief for their lack of build to this show. While I stand by my criticisms, I knew that the talent would still be put in positions to deliver. They delivered in spades, making this one of Ring of Honor’s best PPV events ever.
This is Athena’s 12th defense of the title.
Nightingale’s family is in the front row. Nightingale controlled early, hitting an enzuigiri. Athena went for quick pinfalls, but Nightingale kept kicking out. Both women ended up on the apron, with Athena dropping Nightingale on the apron with a back suplex. Athena clubbered on Nightingale in the corner and avoided a senton when Nightingale tried fighting back. Athena menaced the referee, which allowed Nightingale to surprise her with a Pounce.
Nightingale fired up, hitting a main event spinebuster – this time in the actual main event – for a nearfall. They traded strikes until Athena hit a strong forearm. Athena followed up with a side kick and her lungblower variant for a nearfall. Athena pulled Nightingale to the apron, but Nightingale elbowed her down. Nightingale hit a crossbody off the apron, then powerbombed her onto the apron. Athena fought off of Nightingale’s shoulders and dropkicked her.
Athena went for the double knees into the steps, but Nightingale moved. Nightingale then hit a cannonball into the stairs, getting Athena back into the ring for a nearfall. Athena hit a Shining Wizard and a standing moonsault, but Nightingale rolled up to her feet and hit Smash Mouth – ROH regular Sumie Sakai’s finisher – for a nearfall. Athena hit a rana, but Nightingale popped back up and hit the Royal Butterfly – Sara Del Ray’s old finisher – for a nearfall.
Nightingale went for the Babe With The Powerbomb, but Athena countered it with a Heart Punch and a Snapmare Driver – Daizee Haze’s old finisher – for a nearfall. Shoutouts to the women of ROH’s past in this first-time PPV main event. Nightingale hit a spinning DDT – Mickie James’ finisher she used in ROH – for a nearfall. Athena avoided a cannonball and hit an Obliterator – MsChif’s old finisher – and followed it up with a powerbomb for a nearfall.
Athena brought Nightingale to the top rope, but Nightingale hit a top rope DVD for a nearfall. My browser crashed for a moment but came back just in time to see Athena send Nightingale into the stairs. Athena hit the O-Face, but Nightingale kicked out to a massive reaction. Athena menaced the referee again, but that allowed Nightingale to roll Athena into the Babe With The Powerbomb. Athena kicked out at two. Nightingale brought Athena to the top rope, but Athena knocked her down and hit the O-Face again. Athena locked Nightingale in a crossface. Nightingale fought until she couldn’t fight anymore, passing out in the hold. Athena retained by referee stoppage.
A Fight Without Honor, plus two title bouts are among the four new matches made official for Friday’s ROH Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view.
In A Fight Without Honor, the issue between former tag team partners Evil Uno and Stu Grayson will come to a head, as Uno, John Silver, and Alex Reynolds face Grayson, Dutch, and Vincent of The Righteous.
After winning the TV title eliminator tournament finals on Thursday’s Ring of Honor TV episode, Dalton Castle is set to challenge Samoa Joe for the ROH World Television Championship at Friday’s pay-per-view.
A match for the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship has also been added to the lineup, with Mogul Embassy’s Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun, and Toa Liona defending the belts against Leon Ruffin & NJPW’s Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato.
Also announced, Gravity, the brother of AEW’s Bandido, will take on Komander. Gravity has wrestled once before for ROH in a bout against Rey Fenix at a June ROH taping, and also appeared as enhancement talent in a match against Kip Sabian at an AEW Dark taping in January.
The Death Before Dishonor Zero Hour pre-show kicks off at 7 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, July 21, with the main card set to begin at 8 p.m. Eastern time on pay-per-view.
The updated lineup for Friday:
ROH Death Before Dishonor, 8 p.m. Eastern time on pay-per-view —
ROH World Championship: Claudio Castagnoli defends against PAC
ROH Pure Championship: Katsuyori Shibata defends against Daniel Garcia
ROH Women’s World Championship: Athena defends against Willow Nightingale
ROH World Tag Team Championship: Lucha Bros (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) defend against The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett), Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis), and Best Friends (Trent Beretta & Chuck Taylor)
ROH World Television Championship: Samoa Joe defends against Dalton Castle
ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship: Mogul Embassy (Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona) defend against Ryusuke Taguchi, Master Wato & Leon Ruffin
Fight Without Honor: Dark Order (Evil Uno, John Silver & Alex Reynolds) vs. The Righteous (Vincent, Dutch & Stu Grayson)
Komander vs. Gravity
ROH Death Before Dishonor Zero Hour, 7 p.m. Eastern time on ROH’s YouTube channel & social media channels —
Pure Rules match: Josh Woods vs. Tracy Williams
Action Andretti & Darius Martin vs. The WorkHorsemen (JD Drake & Anthony Henry)
Four matches are set for Friday’s ROH Death Before Dishonor Zero Hour pre-show.
In a Pure Rules match, Josh Woods will face “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams at Zero Hour.
Also set for the pre-show, Action Andretti & Darius Martin will take on The WorkHorsemen’s JD Drake & Anthony Henry in tag team action.
In a women’s division battle, “Legit” Leyla Hirsch will face Trish Adora.
Television Championship Eliminator Tournament runner-up Shane Taylor will also be in action against AR Fox.
The four pre-show bouts join a lineup of eight main card bouts to round out Friday’s lineup.
Zero Hour will air on ROH’s YouTube channel and social media channels beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern time, with the pay-per-view card kicking off at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, July 21.
Friday’s card:
ROH Death Before Dishonor, 8 p.m. Eastern time on pay-per-view —
ROH World Championship: Claudio Castagnoli defends against PAC
ROH Pure Championship: Katsuyori Shibata defends against Daniel Garcia
ROH Women’s World Championship: Athena defends against Willow Nightingale
ROH World Tag Team Championship: Lucha Bros (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) defend against The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett), Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis), and Best Friends (Trent Beretta & Chuck Taylor)
ROH World Television Championship: Samoa Joe defends against Dalton Castle
ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship: Mogul Embassy (Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona) defend against Ryusuke Taguchi, Master Wato & Leon Ruffin
Fight Without Honor: Dark Order (Evil Uno, John Silver & Alex Reynolds) vs. The Righteous (Vincent, Dutch & Stu Grayson)
Komander vs. Gravity
ROH Death Before Dishonor Zero Hour, 7 p.m. Eastern time on ROH’s YouTube channel & social media channels —
Pure Rules match: Josh Woods vs. Tracy Williams
Action Andretti & Darius Martin vs. The WorkHorsemen (JD Drake & Anthony Henry)
With Blood & Guts on AEW Dynamite Wednesday and Ring of Honor Death Before Dishonor set for Friday, Tony Khan spoke to the media Tuesday afternoon about the difficulties in putting together Friday’s PPV, an update on Bryan Danielson, the potential of a third hour of AEW Dynamite, and more.
Due to technical difficulties, partial audio from the call is available below with the full audio available later today/tonight.
Bryan Danielson injury update
Khan said Danielson’s injury suffered at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door was a bit worse than they initially thought. There is no timetable for his return, but that he wants to come back as soon as possible. Danielson hasn’t been coming to shows or meetings since the injury, but Khan has been in contact with him frequently on ideas and thoughts.
DBD difficulties
In acknowledging the grumbling online about the lateness of the announced Death Before Dishonor card, Khan said putting Friday’s show together was up there with last year’s Forbidden Door PPV in terms of difficulty.
He opened up about the sequence of events that caused issues with the main event including his approval and blessing on letting Eddie Kingston travel to Japan for the annual NJPW G1 tournament — something he felt would be great for Kingston and that will put him in a much better position when he returns.
He intimated the initial direction was for Kingston and ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli, but they had to pivot to Mark Briscoe who was originally scheduled for something else on the PPV that had to change due to injuries. He had an idea of having Kingston and Briscoe have a moment together that would help add some emotion to Briscoe challenging for the ROH title.
However, Briscoe’s injuries were worse than he ever let on and were kept on the down-low, even from AEW doctors who were surprised when they arose. Khan said if Briscoe needed anything, he would do it and when Briscoe said the injuries were affecting his quality of life, a change had to be made. They had done a lot of pre-taped promos to help build to the match.
The new opponent for the Castagnoli match will be announced this week, according to Khan.
He also said he wanted to announce Athena vs. Willow Nightingale earlier, but the Owen Hard tournament changed that. He also said there’s been other changes to the card including for the TV title match due to issues “that you wouldn’t believe.”
All In
Khan will confirm in “due time and soon” about how to watch AEW All In. He says everyone will be able to watch it live in the evening in the UK/1 PM Eastern/10 AM Pacific in the “NFL Sunday” slot.
He said matches will begin to be announced in the next few weeks and that the show will be their greatest ever. He also said the success and current standing of All In as one of highest-grossing wrestling events ever has helped AEW become the “industry leader” in the UK.
Third hour of Dynamite?
Asked about interest in a third hour of Dynamite, Khan took a long pause and said, “It’s an interesting question.” This question came up in a tie-in to the ratings for both Collision and Battle of the Belts being strong for Saturday. Khan said he couldn’t comment on whether they will do more three-hour blocks in the future, but felt they have found a good weekly rhythm with Dynamite, Collision and Rampage but how those hours are allocated are to be discussed.
Banned moves
Khan downplayed the recent stories about the updated banned moves list, saying an informal list has always existed. He said requests for specific moves are on a case-by-case basis and that someone like Kenny Omega will have more leeway than a young wrestler who has come up through Dark.
The Ring of Honor Women’s World Championship will be on the line at Friday’s Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view.
As announced late Sunday, Athena will defend the ROH Women’s title against Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament winner Willow Nightingale at Death Before Dishonor on Friday, July 21.
In a video posted to their social media channels, ROH owner Tony Khan pointed to Nightingale’s win of the Owen and win over Athena in the tournament semifinals as establishing Willow as the top contender to the title.
Athena won their first bout in a classic title fight. Willow won the rematch this week on her way to winning the Owen Hart Cup! The rubber match is THIS FRIDAY! pic.twitter.com/rZ9EdW9duP
— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) July 17, 2023
Two matches are official for Death Before Dishonor, with another two set to be finalized after this week’s AEW & ROH television episodes. More matches are expected to be added throughout the week.
The updated card for Friday’s show:
ROH Death Before Dishonor, Friday, July 21, 8 p.m. Eastern time on pay-per-view —
ROH World Championship: Claudio Castagnoli defends against TBA
ROH World Television Championship: Samoa Joe defends against Dalton Castle or Shane Taylor
ROH Pure Championship: Katusyori Shibata defends against Daniel Garcia
ROH Women’s World Championship: Athena defends against Willow Nightingale
Mark Briscoe has been pulled from his challenge of Ring of Honor World Champion Claudio Castagnoli at next Friday’s Death Before Dishonor.
ROH head Tony Khan tweeted Thursday that Briscoe “cannot be cleared” for the match. Fightful later reported Briscoe suffered “a serious knee injury that will likely require surgery.”
According to Khan, they “will address Claudio’s ppv title challenger next week, following the highly anticipated Blood and Guts event on TBS.”
Briscoe last appeared in a late-June ROH on HonorClub three-way, picking up a win over JD Drake and Tony Nese in three-way from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He had won seven straight heading into next Friday.
The pay-per-view is set for Trenton, New Jersey, at the CURE Insurance Arena. As of this writing, no other matches were officially announced for the PPV other than a Samoa Joe TV title defense that was revealed during their Thursday HonorClub show.
Castagnoli will be looking for his ninth successful defense.
The Ring of Honor World Championship will be on the line at Death Before Dishonor on Friday, July 21.
As revealed during this week’s Ring of Honor TV episode, Claudio Castagnoli will defend his ROH World title against Mark Briscoe at the Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view.
In a promo segment during this week’s episode, presumed top contender Eddie Kingston announced that he would not be at Death Before Dishonor due to competing in NJPW’s G1 Climax 33 tournament. Kingston then encouraged Mark Briscoe to challenge Castagnoli for the title.
In a follow-up interview with Renee Paquette, Briscoe said that he would step up and follow in the footsteps of his late brother Jay, a former ROH World Champion. Castagnoli then entered and accepted the match, sealing the deal with a handshake with Briscoe.
The ROH title match is the first bout official for the Friday, July 21 pay-per-view.
The lineup to this point:
ROH Death Before Dishonor, Friday, July 21, 8 p.m. Eastern time on pay-per-view —
ROH World Championship: Claudio Castagnoli defends against Mark Briscoe
Ring of Honor is returning to pay-per-view next month for Death Before Dishonor.
As announced during Friday’s AEW Rampage episode, ROH Death Before Dishonor is set for Friday, July 21 in Trenton, New Jersey at the CURE Insurance Arena. The show will begin at 7 p.m. Eastern time.
The promotional image released for the pay-per-view includes all of Ring of Honor’s title holders, but no matches have been made official for the event to this point.
Tickets for the show will go on sale Friday, June 9 at 10 a.m. Eastern time.
ROH posted on their website:
Ring of Honor comes to Trenton, NJ with one of the hottest pay-per-view events, ROH: Death Before Dishonor. Featuring world-class talent in electrifying bouts, Death Before Dishonor storms into the CURE Insurance arena on Friday, July 21, at 7pm ET.
Tickets for this event will go on sale Friday June 9 at 10am ET.
ROH DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2023
CURE Insurance Arena
Trenton, NJ
July 21st, 2023
Bell time: 7:00pm ET
Last year’s Death Before Dishonor aired on Saturday, July 23 from Lowell, Massachusetts and was headlined by FTR vs. The Briscoes in a two-out-of-three falls match for the ROH World Tag Team Championship. Claudio Castagnoli also defeated Jonathan Gresham in last year’s opening contest to capture the ROH World Championship.
RIng of Honor TV airs Thursdays on the HonorClub streaming service.
Meltzer said 27,000 of the buys came from streaming while 9100 was via traditional cable providers.
The numbers are a big jump from April’s Supercard of Honor’s 19,200 buys (15,500 streaming/3700 traditional).
However, Meltzer noted that show was also available for HonorClub subscribers while last Saturday’s event was not. It was also on a Saturday night against no big wrestling competition while the Supercard show was on a busy Friday night during WrestleMania weekend.
The show drew 3100 (2900 paid/200 comps)to the Tsongas Center in Lowell, Massachusetts — the promotion’s fourth-largest crowd in history.
Meltzer also had the following notes about the crossover with AEW PPV buyers:
Of the fans who purchased Supercard, nearly 39% (about 7400) also purchased March’s Revolution.
Nearly 68% of Dishonor buyers (estimated at 24,300) also purchased AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door while 68% (24,600) also purchased AEW Double or Nothing.
Also from Meltzer:
“The digital buy number is important because the exclusive domestic distributor was Bleacher Report, a system owned by Discovery. So this show generated probably in excess of $400,000 for that system. The idea is that number would seem a positive in Khan’s attempt to make a deal with Discovery for a weekly television show based on the idea they can make money for Discovery doing multiple PPV shows a year along with the value of the programming itself.”
In a backstage interview during ROH Death Before Dishonor Zero Hour, Prince Nana appeared and told Lexy Nair that he has purchased Tully Blanchard Enterprises from Blanchard, which consists of ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham, Brian Cage, and The Gates of Agony (Toa Liona and Kaun). Immediately after, it was revealed that the group would be going under The Embassy name.
Cage and the Gates of Agony proceeded to wrestle on the ROH Zero Hour card, defeating Alex Zayne, Blake Christian, and Tony Deppen. Gresham will compete later in the show, defending the ROH title against Claudio Castagnoli.
The Embassy was a stable in ROH going as far back as 2004, led by Prince Nana. Notable names that were part of the stable at one time include Jimmy Rave, Alex Shelley, Abyss, Necro Butcher, Erick Stevens, and Tommaso Ciampa, among others.
Tully Blanchard Enterprises was formed at the ROH Supercard of Honor event in April, with Blanchard managing Gates of Agony and Cage. Two weeks ago on AEW Rampage, Gresham turned on tag team partner Lee Moriarty and joined forces with TBE. Blanchard was seen with the group as recently as this Friday’s Rampage, where they were shown in the crowd during a Castagnoli promo.
Six titles will be on the line at Saturday’s Ring of Honor Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view including the much-anticipated rematch between ROH Tag Team Champions FTR vs. The Briscoes in a two-out-of-three falls match.
The two teams battled at April’s Supercard of Honor with FTR picking up the win and the belts.
The ROH World title will be on the line as Jonathan Gresham defends against Claudio Castagnoli while ROH Women’s Champion Mercedes Martinez defends against Serena Deeb.
ROH TV Champion Samoa Joe defends against Jay Lethal while ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta defends against Daniel Garcia.
Rush takes on Dragon Lee in a battle of brothers.
Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Righteous return to defend against Dalton Castle & The Boys.
The pre-show will feature four matches: Willow Nightingale vs. Allysin Kay; The Trustbusters vs. Shinobi Shadow Squad; Brian Cage & Gates of Agony vs. Tony Deppen, Blake Christian & Alex Zayne; and Colt Cabana vs. Anthony Henry.
Saturday’s show emanates live from Lowell. Massachusetts.
**********
ROH Zero Hour Preshow
Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman welcomed us to the show before pitching us to Bobby Cruise.
Colt Cabana defeated Anthony Henry w/ JD Drake
Cabana used wristlocks on Henry, which got a pop and “Colt Cabana.” There were some issues with the FITE stream here, so I had to switch to the ROH YouTube to watch the preshow, causing me to miss part of the match. Henry did a neck twist with his legs on Cabana and began to work Cabana over.
Riccaboni and Coleman noted the feuds Cabana had in his ROH past with Homicide and others that resulted in neck injuries to Cabana. Henry hit some hard kicks to the chest of Cabana as he absorbed them and got fired up. Cabana went to pick the leg, but Henry responded with a piledriver that nearly got the 3 on Cabana, but Cabana got a foot on the ropes.
Henry hit some knees to Cabana’s head, but Colt caught the leg and hit a back suplex. Cabana hit a bionic elbow to a roar from the crowd before hitting some hard chops on Henry. Cabana hit a flying apple and then a lariat for a 2-count. JD Drake distracted Cabana and was able to drive him into the guardrails behind the referee’s back, which led to Henry hitting a run kick on the floor before hitting a beautiful frog splash for a 2-count.
Cabana dodged a dropkick of the top ropes and went for Billy Goat’s Curse, but Henry slipped out and went for a German suplex. Cabana dead weighted him and countered into a Billy Goat’s Curse again. JD Drake got on the apron to distract him, and Cabana decked him. Henry ran at Cabana, but he dodged and hit a back suplex before hitting a top rope moonsault for the pinfall.
Excellent opening match, and I hope to see talent like Anthony Henry used in ROH until there is space for him in AEW beyond being an opening act. Him and JD Drake are excellent workers, and it showed here. Cabana was excellent as he usually is.
–A fantastic hype video aired for FTR against the Briscoes, highlighting the storied career of the Briscoes and how they are the greatest tag team in ROH history. FTR knows that their legacy is at stake, and Caprice Coleman right pointed out that the Briscoes now know what they are dealing with, and they learn from their losses.
I never expected to see Slim J, of the stable Special K from the early days of ROH, being on an ROH show in 2022, but here we are. He was known for getting rag dolled in his matches, and I wonder if that will happen here.
Daivari and Slim J immediately started getting the heat on Cheeseburger. Isom tagged in, but was cut off fairly quickly with a throat thrust from Daivari. Cheeseburger tagged back in and locked a lucha submission on Slim J, but he got distracted by Daivari, leading to Slim J hitting a wheelbarrow flatliner. It appears Slim J has not lost his ability to do wacky moves.
Burger rolled under a clothesline from Daivari and tagged out to Isom, who ran wild hitting a big back suplex on Daivari. Burger put Slim J on the top rope, but Slim J did a tornado double underhook suplex on Burger. Slim J then hit a cutter on Isom. Daivari then hit a frog splash on Isom for the pinfall, leading to the crowd showering Daivari with boos.
This was a decent tag match, but predictable as Tony Khan is trying to establish the Trustbusters.
–Lexy Nair was backstage with Prince Nana, who made his return to Ring of Honor, and Prince Nana announced that he had purchased Tully Blanchard Enterprises! Prince Nana has returned to ROH, and brought his Embassy back!
The Embassy (Brian Cage, Kaun, & Toa Liona) w/ Prince Nana defeated Blake Christian, Tony Deppen, & Alex Zayne
All six men kept the Code of Honor, though reluctantly on the side of The Embassy. Tony Deppen, who was at a significant size disadvantage, went right after Tony Deppen. Deppen kicked Cage in the face, who no sold it. Cage hit a gorilla press slam on Deppen, leaving him laying on the mat.
Deppen tried to hit a code breaker on Cage, but Cage caught him, kicked him in the head, and hit a German suplex before tagging out to Kaun. Deppen managed to hit a leg trip and then stomped on the back on Kaun. Zayne tagged in and hit a series of forearms and a flipping legdrop on Kaun.
Kaun ducked under Zayne in the corner, flipped Zayne off, and baited him into the ring. Liona was able to tag in and attack Zayne. The Embassy got the heat on Zayne for the next few minutes, successfully isolating him to their corner. Kaun hit a sidewalk slam on the top turnbuckle, which had to hurt, but it only got worse for Zayne as Toa Liona hit a senton on the apron before he sent Zayne in to get deadlift superplexed by Brian Cage.
Cage hit Zayne with a wheelbarrow suplex and tried to knock Blake Christian off the apron, but Christian dodged him and Zayne tagged out, hitting big moves on Cage before hitting a Fosbury Flop to the floor, but Kaun and Liona caught him. Tony Deppen, who blind tagged in, hit a cannonball through the ropes to the floor.
Alex Zayne hit a moonsault to the floor on Cage, leading to Christian hitting a springboard 450, and Deppen hitting a running knee on Cage for a 2-count. All six men then hit big moves on each other, but as Cage went to powerbomb Deppen, Christian and Zayne hit enziguris on him. Tony Deppen fired up as he faced off against Liona and Kaun, but he couldn’t handle the big men before taking three massive moves ending with Liona hitting a Dominator while Brain Cage kicked Deppen in the face for the pinfall.
After the match, Prince Nana mockingly shook the hand of the unconscious Deppen. This was a great tag match, and I love Prince Nana, so this worked.
–A hype video aired about Daniel Garcia and Wheeler Yuta, and focused on Garcia being upset that Yuta talked about targeting Garcia’s legs that were injured in his car accident. Garcia talked about how Chris Jericho saved his life, because Jericho donated to his GoFundMe and kept him afloat while trying to rehab from his injury, and that this was personal for him and he was going to take that Pure title from Yuta. This was fantastic.
Willow Nightingale defeated Allysin Kay
Willow Nightingale got a massive pop from the crowd when she came out, and it’s clear the ROH audience has really embraced her as one of their own. The Code of Honor was kept, and the bell rang to begin the match.
Allysin Kay tried to lock on a kimura, the move she beat Nightingale with in the ROH Womens title tournament a few years ago, but Nightingale learned from it and hit a one handed slam on Kay to break it. Nightingale hit a hard clothesline in the corner and went for a kick, but Kay threw her between the ropes and hit a neckbreaker and a kick from the apron for a 2-count.
Kay hit a very hard chop to Nightingale in the corner, but Nightingale ducked another one and hit some hard chops on Kay. Kay hit a lariat on Nightingale for a 2-count. Both women hit some hard shots for the next few minutes before collapsing in the middle of the ring. Nightingale hit a middle rope dropkick on Kay for a 2-count.
Kay kept going for submissions, but Nightingale kept fighting out and countering with power to get out, learning from her previous match up with Kay. Kay finally managed to hit the Strong Zero for a 2-count and went for the AK-47, but Nightingale fought out and hit a Pounce on Kay before hitting a wheelbarrow powerbomb on Kay for the pinfall!
This was a great match. Allysin Kay sold the powerbomb well, remaining folded up in the middle of the ring while Nightingale celebrated with the audience, as the announcers speculated that Nightingale is working her way back towards a title shot.
–ROH Zero Hour closed with a hype video for Jonathan Gresham and Claudio Castagnoli. The video here was excellent, firmly establishing Gresham as a champion that deserves to be in the linage of CM Punk and Bryan Danielson. The video also highlighted history of Claudio Castagnoli in ROH, succeeding in tag teams, but failing with his world title attempts. Castagnoli last challenged for the ROH World title in 2007 and failed in his attempt, but now he has come home to ROH and he wants the gold that eluded him for all his career. This was an amazing hype video.
ROH Death Before Dishonor 2022
The PPV wasted no time, and opened up with the ROH World Championship match!
Claudio Castagnoli w/ William Regal defeatedJonathan Gresham to win the ROH World Championship
FITE continued to have issues as this show aired, cutting out and stopping the stream for no reason, however, Castagnoli started the match by attacking Gresham right away going for a European Uppercut, but Gresham dodged and the technical wrestling began between both men. I missed the next few minutes due to the issues with Fite, but came back with Claudio Castagnoli hitting a deadlift wheelbarrow suplex into the ring by Gresham.
Gresham, however, did not take that laying down, and hit a dropkick to the knee of Claudio before going for some submissions. Castagnoli countered with his strength, doing a wheelbarrow backbreaker on Gresham. Castagnoli went for the Sharpshooter, but couldn’t get it on due to his knee, so he gave up and hit a double stomp on Gresham for a 2-count.
Gresham is playing the long game, hoping to wear Castagnoli down and force him to expend energy while going back to the knee. However, Gresham was unable to hit a German suplex because Castagnoli hit a backbreaker on him earlier. Gresham responded with a shotgun dropkick and a hard forearm before going for an ankle lock, but Castagnoli made it to the ropes.
Gresham hit a hard chop, which only made Castagnoli mad. Gresham continued with those chops, but Castagnoli hit a hard European uppercut to drop him. Gresham chopped the knee of Castagnoli instead and blocked an uppercut before hitting an enziguri. Castagnoli went for a UFO but his knee gave out, so Gresham hit a Lionsault and then rolled into a German suplex for a 2-count.
Gresham and Castagnoli kept countering each other until Castagnoli was able to hit hammer elbows to Gresham before hitting the Ricola Bomb and pinning Gresham! Claudio Castagnoli is now the ROH World Champion! Castagnoli sat in the ring in shock, with tears in his eyes that he was finally a world champion. Now, the Blackpool Combat Club has two World Champions in its rank with Castagnoli and Jon Moxley.
This match was awesome. Jonathan Gresham kept the Code of Honor showing respect to the new champion, as Castagnoli celebrated with the fans. This was so great.
–Lexy Nair was with Daniel Garcia, and he talked about he hated the ROH Pure title because it no one wanted more rules in wrestling, and the Jericho Appreciation Society were going to take the belt to the big leagues and smash it into a million pieces. That was great.
Dalton Castle & The Boys (Brandon & Brent Tate) defeated The Righteous (Vincent, Bateman, Dutch) w/ Vita VonStarr to win the ROH World Six Man Championship
The Righteous had a significant size advantage over The Boys, and spent most of the early parts of the match using their size to get the heat on them. Bateman hit a knee and then a Twist and Shout on Brent Tate. However, Tate was able to roll under an attack and tag out to Dalton Castle. Castle hit a basement DDT on Bateman and suplexed people all over the ring to the delight of the crowd.
Castle grabbed each of the Boys and threw them over the top rope onto all the members of the Righteous. The crowd cheered their approval after several times. The Boys managed to dodge an attack from Vita VonStarr, but Dutch, of all people, hit a tope con giro on The Boys. The Righteous hit a series of moves on The Boys and nearly got a 3 count, but Castle broke it up to cheers from the crowd.
Vincent hit a tope on Castle, but Castle hit a rebounding hurricanrana on Vincent before tagging in and hitting a huge German suplex on Dutch and then that Bang-a-rang on Bateman for the pinfall! We have new Six Man Tag Champions!
Wheeler Yuta w/ William Regal defeated Daniel Garcia to retain the ROH Pure Championship
The judges for the title match were Josh Woods, John Walter, and Ace Steel, with Woods having his mouth guard in for some reason, which amused me. Yuta and Garcia went straight to grappling, but both of these men are familiar with each other, as they had a one hour draw last year on the indies.
Regal talked about his history with ROH and how he sent many young wrestlers to ROH while he worked for WWE because ROH was the foundation of professional wrestling, noting that he gave Bryan Danielson his tights and boots, which he wore for years, in ROH. As they were grappling, Garcia hit a headbutt on Yuta and then dumped him to the floor over the top rope.
Regal was great putting over Yuta and Garcia here, talking about the little things they are doing. Regal talked about how Garcia was among the best young wrestlers today, and he was pleased Yuta was facing it, as it forced him to work hard and learn more. Yuta managed to catch Garcia with a slam and a senton right in the middle of the ring.
Yuta transitioned from a single leg crab to a bow and arrow lock on Garcia. Yuta managed to hit a series of German suplexes on Garcia before transitioning to a double wrist lock and going for a kimura. To break out Daniel Garcia bit the ear of Yuta, to boos from the crowd. Garcia then rolled his elbows across the ear of Yuta, working over it.
Regal talked about how working the ear like that can create a cauliflower ear, which burns when attacked like that, even if you get it drained later. Garcia hit hard forearms to the ear of Yuta, continuing to work over the vulnerability he created. Yuta grabbed the ears of Garcia while they were on the top rope and hit forearms to knock him off before hitting a dropkick from the top rope.
Both men exchanged hard chops and slaps in the middle of the ring while on their knees before getting back to their feet and continuing to slap each other. Garcia went down after a hard shot, and Yuta asked for a 10 count because he thought he knocked him out. Garcia got up at 9, but Yuta hit a German suplex for a 2-count.
Garcia and Yuta exchanged a series of submission attempts, but Garcia went back too far on the sharpshooter, and Yuta caught him with a bulldog choke. Garcia went and locked on a Regal Stretch but wasn’t able to get it how he wanted. Yuta locked on the Liontamer on Garcia to a roar from the crowd, but Garcia had to make his first rope break to get out.
Garcia hit a piledriver on Yuta for a 2-count, but Garcia decided to do the Bryan Danielson stomps on Yuta, but Yuta dodged it and trapped the arms for a flash pinfall at about 17 minutes into the match.
Yuta didn’t have to use one rope break, and the crowd roared at the pinfall. This was excellent. Daniel Garcia refused the handshake after the match, flipping off Wheeler Yuta.
Rush w/ Jose the Assistant defeated Dragon Lee
Rush facing his brother for the first time here, showing respect that he wouldn’t normally show as it was his little brother. Rush and Lee engaged in mat wrestling to open, but Rush was frustrated fairly early on, and resorted to striking his younger brother. Lee responded by hitting a huge kick to the face of Rush. Rush responded by hitting a shotgun drop kick and a tope con giro, to a massive pop from the crowd.
Rush started taking Dragon Lee around the ringside smashing them into the guardrails in order to keep the advantage. Rush facewashed Dragon Lee before going for his corner dropkick, but Lee got his hands up. Rush paused then simply kicked him in the face, which fired Lee up, but Rush anticipated it and hit a bodyslam.
Dragon Lee ended up on the outside with Rush and sat him on a ringside table. Dragon Lee decided to lawn dart himself into the table through the ropes, crashing through it with Rush, which was insane. Lee hit a double stomp back in the ring for a 2-count. Rush and Lee proceeded to hit a series of hard strikes and suplexes leaving both men laying in the middle of the ring.
Rush hit a deadlift superplex into the ring for a 2-count. Dragon Lee and Rush exchanged hard chops on the apron, ending with a superkick from Rush and a flying knee on Lee. Lee then ran at Rush, and Rush hit a belly-to-belly suplex to the floor on Dragon Lee! That was insane. Rush argued with a fan and that gave Lee enough time to hit an over the top rope hurricanrana to the floor on Rush.
Lee and Rush exchanged strikes and chops in the middle of the ring, but Rush hit a belly-to-belly in the corner before hitting the huge corner dropkick on Lee, but Lee kicked out! I don’t think I have ever seen someone kick out of the Bull’s Horns before. Rush put Dragon Lee on the top rope and went for a superplex, but Lee cut him off and hit a double stomp on him for a 1-count! Dragon Lee responded with a Liger bomb, but Rush kicked out.
Dragon Lee hit Rush with the Incinerator, but Rush kicked out! Rush then pretended to be knocked out to lure Lee in and hit the Bull’s Horns for the pinfall. This match was awesome. Rush needed a high-quality match like this, and it showed how good he can be when he wants to be. Dragon Lee should be signed immediately, as he is fantastic.
Mercedes Martinez defeated Serena Deeb to retain the ROH World Women’s Championship
As one would expect, there was a lot of grappling in the early portions of this match, with Serena Deeb staying barely one step ahead of Martinez. Deeb blocked an O’Connor roll, but Martinez got up and hit a spinebuster then a dropkick that sent Deeb to the floor. Deeb hit a spear on the apron after a few exchanges, but Deeb crashed to the floor in the process, so both women were hurt.
Deeb and Martinez ended up battling while on the top rope, with Martinez getting dropped into the tree of woe, where Deeb kicked the back of Martinez repeatedly before hitting a dropkick in the corner. Deeb tried to transition into the Deebtox, but Martinez fought out and hit a wristlock takeover. Deeb tried to roll up Martinez, but Martinez countered into an cross armbar but Deeb maintained control over her own wrists, so Martinez gave it op and transitioned into a type of guillotine choke.
Deeb and Martinez exchanged kicks while on the ground before both fell backwards, exhausted. The crowd seemed to get behind Serena Deeb here a fair bit, chanting her name at this point. Martinez blocked the straight jacket piledriver and hit a running knee on Deeb, but was unable to capitalize. Martinez missed a corner charge and Deeb went to the top ropes, but Martinez cut her off and hit a spider German suplex into the ring. Deeb landed right on her head, which looked brutal.
Martinez went for an execution forearm, but Deeb fell face first to the mat, seemingly unconscious. Martinez went for a dragon sleeper, but Deeb baited her in and bit her arm to escape. Martinez went for a Landslide, but Deeb countered into a Twist and Shout. Deeb hit a tornado DDT and transitioned into the Serenity Lock right in the middle of the ring, but Martinez rolled out into a pinfall attempt for a 2-count.
Deeb hit a dragon screw on Martinez and went for the lock again, working over the knee by driving it into the mat. Matinez managed to roll out and sent Deeb into the middle turnbuckle. Deeb had her head trapped on the top turnbuckle, and Martinez hit the OG Drop on Deeb for a 2-count.
Martinez went for the Brass City Sleeper again, locking it onto Deeb in the middle of the ring, finally tapping out to Martinez. This one felt like Deeb should have won based on fan response, but they responded positively to the finish, and cheered as both women hugged in the ring. Another excellent match.
–The hype video before this match highlighting the long and storied history of Samoa Joe and Jay Lethal was fantastic. It’s clear Lethal thought he was living in Joe’s shadow in Ring of Honor for all this time.
Samoa Joe defeated Jay Lethal to retain the ROH World Television Championship
Before Lethal could even make it to the ring, Joe’s music hit and he came out and both men started brawling at ringside. Joe was fired up, hitting hard chops to drive Lethal to the floor. Lethal managed to hit three of his suicide dives on Joe before the bell even rang. Lethal hit some hard chops on Joe before putting Joe into the corner of the guardrails, calling for Joe’s Ole kick on the floor. Joe responded with a chop and then kicked Lethal to threw the guardrail in classic Joe style.
Samoa Joe went to put Lethal through the announce table, but Satnam Singh came out of nowhere and attacked Joe, and since the match hadn’t started yet, he could get away with it. Lethal wrapped a chair around Joe’s arm and then shoved him into the ring post before getting in the ring. The referee refused to start the match until Singh left, however, so he left with much protest.
It seemed Lethal’s efforts were for naught, as Joe hit his enziguri in the corner on Lethal for a 2-count. Lethal and Joe exchanged chops in the ring, ending with Lethal hitting a dropkick on Joe. Lethal hit a European uppercut on Joe, and Joe responded with a palm strike that nearly knocked Lethal out.
Lethal hit an enziguri on Joe before collapsing. Lethal tried again with the strikes, but Joe responded with an elbow and a his forearm dive to the floor on Lethal. The fans chanted for Joe as Joe went for a sunset flip and then nailed Lethal with a lariat for another 2-count. Lethal broke up a powerbomb attempt by attacking the injured arm of Joe, but ate a power slam after hitting the ropes for a 2-count.
Lethal ducked under an STO attempt from Joe and hit the Lethal Combination. Lethal put Joe on the top rope and went for the Muscle Buster, but Joe shoved him off. Joe hit a leg lariat from the middle rope for a 2-count. Joe went for the Muscle Buster, but Lethal slipped out and hit the Lethal Injection but Joe barely kicked out!
Joe stumbled to his feet and hit a dropkick that sent Joe into the corner. Lethal charged at Joe but ate an STO from Joe in the corner. Joe called for the Muscle Buster, but as he went for it Sonjay Dutt distracted the referee and Lethal hit Joe with the TV title. Joe kicked out again, to a roar from the crowd.
Lethal went for the Lethal Injection again, but Joe caught him and went for the Rear Naked Choke, but Lethal hit a jaw breaker and went for a Dragon Suplex, but Joe pulled Lethal back into the Rear Naked Choke and choked Lethal out! Excellent match with Samoa Joe and Jay Lethal here.
–Ian Riccaboni ran down the card for AEW Dynamite: Fight for the Fallen, with the huge announcement that Bryan Danielson was making his return against Daniel Garcia!
FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) defeated The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe) to retain the ROH World Tag Team Championship in a 2/3 Falls Match
The fans chanted ROH loudly as the bell rang and before the teams did anything. Dax Harwood and Mark Briscoe locked up to a roar from the crowd. Ian Riccaboni talked about how Harwood and Mark Briscoe both had children who have fought through health issues, with Briscoe’s son being born prematurely recently.
Harwood hit a shoulder block on Mark Briscoe while selling it a little bit, as he has a legitimate shoulder injury he has been dealing with for a fair bit. Wheeler tagged in, but Mark Brsicoe hit a Japanese armdrag before hitting a palm strike, doing his Redneck Kung Fu pose. Jay Briscoe tagged in and went face to face with Harwood, showing incredible intensity.
Jay Briscoe hit a back suplex on Harwood for a 2-count, which sent Harwood to the floor and the ringside doctor went there to check on him. The doctor indicated he was fine, as Harwood sold the move and his injured shoulder. Harwood tagged out to Wheeler to rest up after that blow that rocked him.
Wheeler and Jay Briscoe exchanged hard chops in the middle of the ring, and as Briscoe hit the ropes, Wheeler went low with a shoulder tackle that took the wind out of him. Briscoe went to the floor to reset, and the doctor tried to check on him, but Jay Briscoe shoved him away. Briscoe then tagged out to Mark Briscoe and the chopfest continued.
Jay Briscoe came back in, but was isolated quickly and FTR soon cut him off and Harwood hand Wheeler exchanged quick tags to keep him isolated. Wheeler hit a back suplex on Briscoe for a 2-count. Jay and Mark were able to use their synergy to finally shift the momentum in their favour after a hard chop and Wheeler trying to fight off both men.
Mark Briscoe picked up Wheeler by his nose, which had to suck, and chopped him before hitting a vertical suplex. Jay Briscoe tagged in and began to focus on the neck of Wheeler, setting him up for the Jay Driller later, presumably. Mark Briscoe ate a powerslam from Wheeler before Harwood tagged in and started running wild with chops and punches on Mark Briscoe before hitting a few German suplexes on Jay Briscoe.
Harwood’s advantage did not lost long, but as Mark Briscoe went for the Cactus Elbow on Harwood, Wheeler took his head off with a lariat on the apron. Harwood faked a punch and hit a DDT like Arn Anderson would on Jay Briscoe for a 2-count. Harwood was slingshotted into the corner, leading to Mark Briscoe being able to hit the Doomsday Device on Dax Harwood to finish the first fall.
Second Fall
Mark Briscoe hit a series of ridiculously hard chops on Harwood on the floor, with each one getting a louder reaction from the audience. Jay Briscoe went to the floor and drove Dax Harwood into the guardrail, as blood poured down Harwood’s chest from the hard chops moment before.
Bobby Cruise announced that 20 minutes have passed in the time limit, and that there was 40 minutes left in the time limit, with only one fall passing so far. Mark Briscoe kept Harwood locked in a headlock, but was eventually able to power up with a back suplex. Jay Briscoe came in and stopped the tag, but Harwood hit two German suplexes and put Jay Briscoe on the top rope.
Harwood went to tag out, but Jay Briscoe took Wheeler out earlier, so there was no one to tag. Harwood decided to hit a super back suplex on Briscoe instead, as he couldn’t tag out. By the time Wheeler was back on the apron, the move was done and Harwood. Harwood considered going for the cover by rolled over to go for the tag again, but Mark Briscoe pulled Wheeler off the apron.
The Briscoes hit Redneck Boogie on Wheeler next, but Wheeler managed to kick out at 2. Mark Briscle and Dax Harwood exchanged chops in the middle of the ring again, with Mark Briscoe continuing to get the best of those exchanges. Wheeler managed to lure Briscoe into sending him with an Irish whip, which allowed Harwood to run to Wheeler to tag in.
Wheeler then hit a belly-to-belly on Jay Briscoe before hitting a brainbuster on Mark Briscoe for a 2-count. Wheeler managed to hit a Gory Special on Mark Briscoe, but he managed to barely kick out. Jay Briscoe dumped Dax Harwood over the guardrail and started brawling in the crowd with him. Mark Briscoe and Cash Wheeler ended up brawling around the timekeeper’s table, but when they got back into the ring, Jay Briscoe hit Wheeler with the ring bell but only got a 2-count.
Cash Wheeler was bleeding after the bell shot and as Mark Briscoe hit the Froggy Bow on Wheeler, Harwood pulled Jay Briscoe off the pinfall and then hit a flapjack on Mark Briscoe into the ring steps. FTR managed to bait Jay Briscoe in at this point and hit the Big Rig on Jay Briscoe for the pinfall in the second fall.
Third Fall
Mark Briscoe made his way back to his corner, and he was bleeding as well from his crash into the ring steps earlier. Mark Briscoe tagged and went face to face with Cash Wheeler, and both bleeding men started to exchange chops and other strikes in the ring before Briscoe hit a capture suplex on both members of FTR.
Harwood and Mark Briscoe exchanged chops yet again on the apron, with Mark Briscoe winning the battle again and hitting a blockbuster to the floor on Harwood. Jay Briscoe tagged in and hit a superkick on Harwood before going for the Jay Driller, but Harwood fought out and hit a piledriver perfectly on Briscoe for a 2-count.
The Briscoes went for another Doomsday Device, but Wheeler shoved Mark Briscoe off. FTR went for the Big Rig, but Briscoe fought out and Harwood accidentally punched the referee right in the face. Jay Briscoe then picked up Harwood and hit the Jay Driller, but the referee was out. Jay Briscoe got a visual pinfall, but he referee was not there to count the pinfall.
Briscoe picked up Harwood and called for the Doomsday Device as Harwood called for Wheeler to save him. Wheeler complied and helped Harwood hit a Big Rig on Jay Briscoe! Wheeler shoved the referee, who was bleeding from the mouth, into the ring, but Jay Briscoe managed to kick out!
Harwood went for a superplex into the ring, but Mark Briscoe shoved Wheeler off the ropes as he got into position for the big splash from the top rope. Jay Briscoe fought out of the superplex and brought Harwood over to hit the Doomsday Device on Harwood, but Wheeler broke it up. Mark Briscoe and Wheeler started exchanging hard strikes again. Briscoe and Wheeler spilled to the floor after a suplex attempt from Wheeler as the 40 minute mark of the match was called.
Dax Harwood and Jay Briscoe started throwing punches in the middle of the ring, exchanging hard strikes, but Briscoe got the best with a single arm camel clutch. Wheeler was also locked in one by Mark Briscoe and both men refused to tap out as they held each other’s hands in solidarity before Harwood made the ropes.
Jay Briscoe setup for the spike Jay Driller with Mark Briscoe, but Wheeler hit a back suplex off the top rope to the floor through a table on Mark Briscoe! Jay Briscoe looked on in shock, but decided to hit a Jay Driller anyway, but Dax Harwood kicked out! Briscoe went for another Jay Driller, but Harwood fought out and put Jay Briscoe on the top rope, fighting with him before hitting a piledriver off the middle rope for the pinfall victory after a 45-minute war.
My goodness, this was one heck of a main event match. The first Briscoes/FTR match was one of the best matches in ROH history, and this one may have topped it. What an incredible match this was. FTR are on an all time great run at the moment, and the Briscoes remain one of the best tag teams of all time.
After the match, Cash Wheeler grabbed the mic and asked Mark and Jay Briscoe to come back into the ring to shake hands and be shown the appreciation they deserved. The Briscoes slowly came back in and kept the Code of Honor with them. Harwood cut a promo about how wrestling saved his life, and that he loves this. Caprice Coleman noted that he was scheduled to interview them, but they took it themselves, and he was more then happy to let them.
As the show closed, Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta walked out with William Regal, looking like they were going to challenge FTR next. The crowd chanted ROH as the show went off the air.
Final Thoughts
This was an incredible PPV, with every single match delivering to some degree. I don’t thnk there was one bad match on the card at all, and it’s clear ROH has potential to be a very successful brand if they keep producing shows like this. Tony Khan is in this for the long term, and if he keeps delivering true ROH shows like this, everyone will be happy. This is one of the best shows of the year, and anyone who missed out would do well to buy the replay and catch up.
In a battle of brothers and faction teammates, Rush vs. Dragon Lee has been added to Saturday’s ROH Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view.
According to Cagematch, this will be their first ever singles match against each other. No backstory or storyline was given for why the La Faccion Ingobernable teammates would wrestle.
This will be Lee’s first ROH match since last December’s Final Battle while this is Rush’s first ROH bout since a weekly ROH TV episode last September.
Rush is a former two-time ROH World Champion while Lee has held both the Tag Team and TV titles.
Three matches were announced for the Zero Hour pre-show as well.
Tully Blanchard’s faction will have a presence outside ROH Champion Jonathan Gresham as his Gates of Agony (Kaun & Toa Liona) & Brian Cage will battle ROH regulars Tony Deppen, Alex Zayne & Blake Christian in trios action.
In one match, The Trustbusters (Ari Daivari & Slim J) will take on the Shinobi Shadow Squad (Eli Isom & Cheeseburger). Daivari and Slim J debuted at last Saturday’s Dark TV tapings, but the introduction of their team has yet to air. It’s possible Parker Boudreaux (also introduced as part of the team last Saturday) also appears.
As hinted during Tony Khan’s Thursday media call, ROH stalwart Colt Cabana will be in action against Anthony Henry (with JD Drake).
Here’s the lineup for Saturday’s show from Lowell, Massachusetts:
ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham defends against Claudio Castagnoli
ROH Women’s Champion Mercedes Martinez defends against Serena Deeb
ROH Tag Team Champions FTR defend against The Briscoes in a 2-of-3 falls match
ROH TV Champion Samoa Joe defends against Jay Lethal
ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta defends against Daniel Garcia
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Righteous defend against Dalton Castle & The Boys
Rush vs. Dragon Lee
Zero Hour Pre-Show:
Willow Nightingale vs. Allysin Kay
The Trustbusters vs. Shinobi Shadow Squad
Colt Cabana vs. Anthony Henry
Gates of Agony & Brian Cage vs. Tony Deppen, Alex Zayne & Blake Christian
