Two championships changed hands during tonight’s ROH 19th Anniversary show.
Tracy Williams walked out of tonight’s show a double champion. He defeated Kenny King to win the Television championship for the first time. King was defending the title for Dragon Lee, who was unable to compete following minor surgery for a broken eardrum. This ends Lee’s run after over 470 days with the title, winning it at Final Battle 2019.
The ROH World Tag Team titles also changed hands, with Williams and Rhett Titus defeating Bestia del Ring and Kenny King. Bestia replaced Dragon Lee, who was also one half of the Tag Team champions. Titus submitted Bestia with a full nelson to win the match and the titles.
After the match, Bestia and King confronted manager Amy Rose, blaming her for the loss after the referee took away a steel chair she tried to introduce into the match. She gave the middle finger to King and started to leave, but King grabbed her and told her that she was done, allowing Bestia to spear her.
A Television title match has been added to the card for Ring of Honor’s 19th Anniversary pay-per-view.
ROH has announced that Dragon Lee will defend his ROH Television Championship against Tracy Williams at the 19th Anniversary PPV. The show will air on PPV and HonorClub on Friday, March 26.
Dragon Lee is currently a double champion in ROH. La Faccion Ingobernable’s Lee & Kenny King defeated The Foundation’s Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham last month to win the ROH Tag Team titles. Williams is part of The Foundation with Lethal, Gresham, and Rhett Titus.
Williams defeated LSG and Bandido in a three-way match that aired on the latest edition of ROH Week By Week. After the match, Williams declared that he’s coming after Dragon Lee’s TV title.
Dragon Lee has been ROH Television Champion since winning the title from Shane Taylor at Final Battle 2019. His most recent title defenses have been against Brian Johnson, Rey Horus, and Tony Deppen.
A match between La Faccion ingobernable and The Foundation members will also headline ROH’s 19th Anniversary PPV. ROH World Champion Rush is defending his title against Jay Lethal in the main event of the show.
Here’s the updated card for the 19th Anniversary PPV:
ROH World Champion Rush defends against Jay Lethal
Grudge match: Jay Briscoe vs. EC3
ROH Television Champion Dragon Lee defends against Tracy Williams
Tracy Williams has signed a new contract with Ring of Honor.
ROH announced on Sunday that Williams has re-signed with the promotion. Williams is part of The Foundation with Jay Lethal, Jonathan Gresham, and Rhett Titus. At Final Battle last month, Williams & Titus defeated Fred Yehi & Wheeler Yuta in the first-ever Pure Rules tag match.
Williams made it to the finals of ROH’s Pure Championship tournament in 2020 before losing to Gresham.
Williams signed with ROH after debuting for the promotion in 2018. He formerly wrestled for EVOLVE.
Here’s ROH’s full announcement regarding Williams’ new deal:
Ring of Honor is pleased to announce that ‘Hot Sauce’ Tracy Williams has re-signed with the company.
One of the top pound-for-pound grapplers and strikers in pro wrestling, Williams is among those at the forefront of the pure wrestling revolution in ROH and is coming off the best year of his 11-year career.
He made it to the finals of the recent Pure Title Tournament, where he engaged in a technical wrestling classic against Jonathan Gresham. Williams had defeated two-time former ROH World Champion Jay Lethal in the block finals.
Subsequently, Williams, Gresham, Lethal and Rhett Titus formed The Foundation, a faction committed to restoring honor to ROH.
Williams made his ROH debut at Survival of the Fittest in 2018 and signed with the company shortly thereafter.
ROH has also announced over the past several days that Mark Haskins, Bandido, Amy Rose, Bateman, Brian Johnson, and Sumie Sakai have signed new deals with the promotion.
Ring of Honor has made two more announcements for Final Battle 2020.
In the first-ever Pure Rules tag match, The Foundation’s Tracy Williams & Rhett Titus will face Fred Yehi & Wheeler Yuta at Final Battle. The match has the following rules:
The Code of Honor is required.
A legal tag requires the wrestler on the apron to reach over the top rope and tag his partner hand-to-hand while holding the tag rope with his other hand.
Each wrestler has five seconds to exit the ring after a tag is made.
Each team has three rope breaks to stop submission holds and pinfall attempts. After a team exhausts their rope breaks, submission and pin attempts on or under the ropes by the opponent are considered legal.
Each time a team breaks up a pinfall or submission, that team will lose a rope break. Breaking up a pinfall or submission when a team is out of rope breaks will result in a disqualification.
Closed-fist punches to the face are not permitted — only open-handed slaps or chops to the face are allowed. Punches to other parts of the body are permitted excluding low blows. The first use of a closed fist will get a warning. The second will be a disqualification.
Interference from any wrestler will result in automatic termination from the roster for the wrestler that interferes.
Matches that reach the time limit will go to a judges’ decision.
There’s a 20-second count on the floor.
The Foundation’s Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham will be in action as they defend their ROH Tag Team titles against Mark Briscoe & PCO at Final Battle. With every ROH title on the line at the pay-per-view, Gresham is pulling double duty at the show and also defending his Pure Championship against Flip Gordon.
Danhausen also announced that he’ll be facing Brian Johnson at Final Battle. Danhausen is currently involved in a storyline where he’s been offered an ROH contract but has to win a match in 2020 to make the deal official.
Final Battle is airing on PPV and HonorClub on Friday, December 18. Here’s the updated card for the show
ROH World Champion Rush defends his title against Brody King
ROH Pure Champion Jonathan Gresham defends his title against Flip Gordon
ROH Tag Team Champions Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham defend their titles against Mark Briscoe & PCO
Matt Taven & Mike Bennett vs. Vincent Marseglia & Bateman
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Bandido, Flamita & Rey Horus defend their titles against Shane Taylor & The Soldiers of Savagery (Moses & Kaun)
Tony Deppen vs. Dak Draper vs. LSG vs. Josh Woods (winner will challenge Dragon Lee for the ROH Television Championship later in the night)
Jay Briscoe vs. EC3
Pure Rules tag match: Tracy Williams & Rhett Titus vs. Fred Yehi & Wheeler Yuta
The Big Takeaway: Mike Bennett defeated Vincent via DQ in a brutal match. John Walters made his return to Ring Of Honor in a losing effort versus Tracy Williams, and Mark Briscoe found a new tag partner in PCO for ahead of his World Tag Team title match at Final Battle.
We started off tonight’s episode with Quinn McKay. She recapped the main event contest from last week which saw Brody King defeat Shane Taylor. McKay then gave us a clip of King’s post match comments, with him saying he was coming for Rush and his ROH World Championship.
McKay then transitioned to a recap of Josh Woods defeating Jay Lethal in a Pure Rules contest. Woods commented on his win, saying he’s going to bring pure rules back to ROH.
*****
Mike Bennett defeated Vincent via DQ (11:34)
Code Of Honor wasn’t adhered to. Vincent got the upper hand early, backing Bennett in the corner and delivering punches and knees. Bennett came back and got into a chopping war with Vincent before taking him down with a clothesline. Vincent rolled out to the apron and lured Bennett into a neckbreaker through the ropes.
We returned from break. Vincent and Bennett engaged in a war of strikes before Bennett delivered a superkick for a two count. Vincent recovered quickly and got back to his feet and delivered a side effect to Bennett. Bennett began holding his neck in pain. Bennett recovered and got on his feet and delivered a superkick to the knee, then to the face. Bennett set Vincent on the top rope, but Vincent fought out and dove off onto Bennett, locking in a guillotine.
Bennett fought out of the hold, and lifted up Vincent for a suplex. Bennett brought Vincent to his feet afterward, and both men engaged in a slugfest.
Bennett ended up getting the best of the slugfest, and delivered a spear afterwards. Instead of going for the pin, he picked up Vincent and attempted a piledriver. Vincent instead pushed him into the corner and began beating him down. The official counted to five and Vincent still wouldn’t stop beating Bennett down, so Vincent was disqualified.
After the match, Vincent continued to beat down on Bennett. He threw him into the entrance stairs, but Matt Taven came flying off the stage onto Vincent. Bateman came out and fought off Taven before a ton of security guards got involved and separated all of the guys.
*****
A promo aired for Rhett Titus. Tracy Williams and Jay Lethal talk him up, complimenting his hard work of 15 years in wrestling. They called him under appreciated and under utilized. The package ended with Rhett Titus taking off his mask and saying “I am the Foundation”.
*****
A promo aired for Mark Briscoe. He says he’s locked in on the ROH Tag Team titles, and it’s a shame that his brother Jay isn’t. Briscoe says he’s okay with it, because he’s found another partner. PCO walks in behind Briscoe and they go crazy, declaring their shot at Final Battle against Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham.
*****
Another promo aired, this time for Tracy Williams. Williams said his ultimate goal was to win the ROH Pure Championship, but he failed. He then went on to say he knew he was gonna meet Jonathan Gresham in the finals, and they both decided to rebuild the company based on the foundation no matter which man won. He said that on his list of names of who originally built the Pure division, John Walters is at the top.
*****
John Walters spoke next. He called his Pure Championship win in 2004 the most prestigious moment of his career. Walters said while he hasn’t been in the public eye for a while, he’s been training and scouting for a long time. Walters said he’s going to convincingly beat Williams and make his way back to the ROH Pure Championship.
Tracy Williams pinned John Walters in a Pure Rules contest (11:40)
Flip Gordon joined the commentary team for this contest.
Code Of Honor was adhered to. Gordon commented on his amateur background and how he’s excited to show it off. Williams and Walters exchanged control early with arm locks. Williams got Walters to the ground with a slight armbar, but Williams wasn’t locked in all the way. Walters used his first rope break to break the hold. Williams rapidly followed up and began targeting the knee of Walters. We went to a commercial break.
Walters and Williams were back on their feet, but Walters sprung off the ropes and clipped Williams’ knee. Walters smartly goes to work on the left knee of Williams, locking in a sharpshooter. Williams quickly got to the ropes, costing him his first rope break. Walters wasn’t paying attention, so Williams took advantage and locked in a heel hook on him.
Walters quickly reached for the ropes, costing him his second rope break. Williams went to the corner and perched Walters on the top rope before suplexing him off, then transitioned into the crossface. Walters maneuvered his feet and got them on the rope, costing Williams his third and final rope break.
Williams tried to apply the face lock again, but Walters rolled out. Williams ducked a clothesline from Walters and spiked him with a piledriver, giving Williams the pinfall victory.
After the contest, both men shook hands. Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman ran down what’s on tab for next week, including Flip Gordon vs. Josh Woods in a Pure Rules contest and The Bouncers vs. Mark Briscoe and PCO.
*****
Final Thoughts:
This week’s episode of ROH TV was fine. It was a step down from the past couple of weeks, but still an eventful episode.
Seeing Mike Bennett back in ROH wrestling was a pretty cool thing, even though I think he should have outright beaten Vincent. I wasn’t a fan of PCO becoming Mark Briscoe’s tag partner, it feels extremely random and thrown together.
The action in the ring was good, with Walters and Williams being the best match by far. I’m coming around on Rhett Titus being the man behind the red octopus mask. Not a fan of Flip Gordon just randomly showing up and being announced for a Pure Championship match, someone like Josh Woods deserved that spot more. All in all, I’ll give this episode a solid C+.
Looking Ahead: For the first time in 14 years, we will crown a new Ring Of Honor Pure Champion. Also on tab, Shane Taylor Promotions takes on the trio of EC3 & The Briscoes.
Quinn McKay welcomed us to the show. We get a promo package hyping up Tracy Williams vs. Jonathan Gresham. McKay notes that this is Gresham’s match to lose. She also reviewed last week’s encounter between Matt Taven and Vincent. She revealed that ROH will not tolerate another incident like this, and both men would be punished if it happens again.
McKay then replayed last week’s promos from EC3 and Shane Taylor to set up the six-man tag match.
Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Moses Maddox, & Jasper Kaun) defeated EC3 and The Briscoes after Taylor pinned Mark Briscoe (9:16)
EC3 started the match with Kaun. After an early lock up, EC3 immediately took Kaun down. Kaun rolled out, but baited EC3 right back in the ring. EC3 continued to dominate Kaun before tagging in Mark Briscoe. After some back and forth, Kaun sent Briscoe into the corner and hit a running splash, followed by Moses tagging himself in. After both men ran the ropes, Jay Briscoe tagged himself in and hit a double team maneuver on Moses.
We came back from break and all hell had broken loose. Kaun ran and ate a clothesline from EC3. Moses took advantage and smushed EC3 in the corner. Moses then ate a springboard dropkick from Mark Briscoe. Taylor and Jay made their way back in the ring, to which Taylor hit a V-Trigger type knee strike which only got a two count.
Taylor tagged out to Moses, who repeatedly stomped Briscoe in the corner, causing EC3 to enter the ring. The referee backed EC3 out of the ring while Moses tagged back in Taylor. Taylor knocked EC3 off the apron. Jay made the hot tag to Mark Briscoe, to which Briscoe double drop kicked Moses and Kaun off the apron. Briscoe went to the top and attempted a frog splash, but nobody was home. Taylor followed up the missed maneuver with his piledriver finisher for the win.
******
We shift our focus to the main event. We first heard from Tracy Williams, who admitted his time in ROH so far has been flawed by failures. He also admitted he has failed to restore honor. Williams said he called Gresham before the tournament began and told him he’d meet him in the finals. Williams called his shot and says he’d be the one holding the Pure Championship over his head by the end of the night.
Gresham talked about this phone call as well. He says this tournament is more than just the championship, but it’s based on the principle of The Foundation. Gresham said it’s his job to bring attention to the men and women who view the sport the way he does. Gresham also said that ROH had lost honor and identity. Gresham said that no matter who wins, The Foundation has achieved their goal in restoring Honor.
Jonathan Gresham submitted Tracy Williams to win the Ring Of Honor Pure Championship (14:36)
Williams wore a cast on his left shoulder, selling the injuries from last week’s match with Jay Lethal. Both men adhered to the Code Of Honor. Gresham and Williams exchanged holds and twists early, which resulted in both men rolling out of the ring. Gresham hit an arm drag on Williams on the hard ringside floor. Williams recovered rather quickly and gawked down Gresham. Gresham and Williams mutually agreed to get back in the ring. As Gresham worked on Williams’ ankle, we went to break.
Back from break. Gresham sprung off the rope and kicked Williams bare arm. Gresham got Williams on the ropes, which cost Williams his first rope break. Williams takes advantage and begins to work on the neck of Gresham. Williams worked Gresham down to the mat for a series of near falls. Gresham used his first rope break. Gresham and Williams made their way back to their feet, where Williams began to work on the neck of Gresham again. Williams applied a front face lock to Gresham, but Gresham countered with a brainbuster.
Williams popped back up very fast and chopped Gresham in the chest, which dropped him to the mat. Gresham made his way back to his feet quickly, and pounced on Williams, nailing his shoulder with an Engurazi. He followed it up with a bridging German suplex, which warranted him a two count. Both men got up fast, to which Williams stiffly clotheslined Gresham for a two count.
Back from break and Williams and Gresham are laying on the ringside floor from a body scissors maneuver that took both men out of the ring. Williams was the first one back in. Gresham tried to spring through the middle rope, but Williams caught him and planted him with a brainbuster. Williams immediately followed it up with a crossface. After being in the submission for 25 seconds, Gresham used his second rope break.
Gresham sprung up as quickly as possible and hit a series of running forearms onto a grounded Williams. Williams fought through the pain and spiked Gresham with his signature piledriver, which got him a two count after Gresham used his third and final rope break. Williams, clearly frustrated, brought Gresham to his feet. Gresham blocked a chop from Williams, spun him around, and locked in The Octopus for the win.
Jonathan Gresham is the new ROH Pure Champion!
Jay Lethal makes his way to the ring to celebrate with Gresham after the match. Williams shook hands with Gresham and exited the ring. Lethal straps the title on Gresham and exits the ring as well.
Final Thoughts:
ROH rolls on with another great show. The six-man tag match was excellent. Shane Taylor has improved SO much over his tenure in Ring Of Honor, He’s quickly becoming one of my favorites. It was refreshing to see The Briscoes back in action as well. Also impressed by Kaun and Moses, they have the potential to be a great tag team.
I honestly expected the finals of the Pure Championship tournament to be a longer match, considering the time limit being 60 minutes. The story was excellent though, and the odds on favorite of the whole tournament, Jonathan Gresham, won. He deserves it, he’s worked his ass off to become one of the best in the world.
The ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles will be on the line at Honor for All later this month.
ROH has announced that Six-Man Tag Team Champions Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO & Brody King) will defend their titles against LifeBlood (Bandido, Mark Haskins & Tracy Williams) at Honor for All. The show is taking place at the Nashville Fairgrounds Sports Arena in Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday, August 25 and will air live on HonorClub.
Villain Enterprises were supposed to defend their titles against LifeBlood at Mass Hysteria last month, but Brody King couldn’t wrestle at the show due to an ankle injury. The night before Mass Hysteria, LifeBlood & PJ Black defeated Villain Enterprises (Scurll, PCO, King & Flip Gordon) at Manhattan Mayhem.
Villain Enterprises retained against Haskins, Williams & Black at June’s Best in the World pay-per-view. LifeBlood then defeated Villain Enterprises in a non-title street fight at the post-PPV television tapings.
Scurll vs. Bandido has been confirmed for ROH’s tapings at Center Stage in Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday, August 24. ROH announced last month that the top matches from their TV tapings will be live streamed on HonorClub going forward.
The ROH Television title will be on the line at Summer Supercard in Toronto.
ROH has announced that Shane Taylor will defend his TV title against Tracy Williams at Summer Supercard, which is taking place at the Mattamy Athletic Centre on Friday, August 9. The match was set up by Williams defeating Silas Young, Josh Woods, and Taylor in a proving ground match at this month’s Manhattan Mayhem TV tapings.
Williams pinned Young to win the proving ground match.
Taylor has been TV Champion since defeating Brody King, Hirooki Goto, and Jeff Cobb in a four corner survival match at War of the Worlds: Toronto in May.
Summer Supercard will air live on HonorClub. Here’s the updated lineup for the show:
ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes defending against Guerrillas of Destiny in a Ladder War
ROH World Champion Matt Taven defending against Alex Shelley
ROH Television Champion Shane Taylor defending against Tracy Williams
Rush vs. Dalton Castle in a no DQ match
Women of Honor World Champion Kelly Klein defending against Tasha Steelz
Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham vs. Mark Haskins & Bandido
Caristico, Soberano Jr. & Stuka Jr. vs. Barbaro Cavernario, Hechicero & Templario
ROH has announced that Six-Man Tag Team Champions Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO & Brody King) will defend their titles against LifeBlood (Bandido, Mark Haskins & Tracy Williams) at Mass Hysteria. The show is taking place at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium in Lowell, Massachusetts on Sunday, July 21 and will air live on HonorClub.
Villain Enterprises retained their titles against Haskins, Williams & PJ Black at Best in the World in June. After the match, Flip Gordon was revealed as the newest member of Villain Enterprises. A brawl between Villain Enterprises and LifeBlood ended with Gordon hitting a 450 splash through a table on Williams.
Scurll, PCO, King & Gordon will face Bandido, Haskins, Williams & Black at ROH’s Manhattan Mayhem TV tapings on Saturday, July 20.
Here’s the current lineup for Mass Hysteria:
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO & Brody King) defending against LifeBlood (Bandido, Mark Haskins & Tracy Williams)
Rush vs. Dalton Castle
The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brawler Milonas) challenging for the ROH Tag Team titles (The Bouncers will challenge the team that wins the Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa vs. The Briscoes NYC street fight from Manhattan Mayhem)
The Kingdom (ROH World Champion Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan) vs. Jay Lethal, Alex Shelley & Jonathan Gresham
ROH Television Champion Shane Taylor defending against Eli Isom
Two more matches have been added to the card for ROH’s Best in the World pay-per-view.
ROH has announced that Six-Man Tag Team Champions Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO & Brody King) will defend their titles against Mark Haskins, Tracy Williams & PJ Black at Best in the World. Women of Honor World Champion Kelly Klein will be in a tag match at the PPV, teaming with Jenny Rose against The Allure (Angelina Love & Mandy Leon).
Villain Enterprises have been ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions since winning the titles from The Kingdom in March. Black has recently been aligned with Haskins & Williams, with them defeating Shinobi Shadow Squad (Cheeseburger, Ryan Nova & Eli Isom) on this week’s episode of ROH television.
The Allure (Love, Leon & Velvet Sky) debuted by attacking Klein after she won the Women of Honor title from Mayu Iwatani at G1 Supercard in April. Sky will be in Love & Leon’s corner at Best in the World.
Love & Leon attacked Klein & Rose before a tag match could get started on this week’s ROH TV.
The UMBC Event Center in Baltimore, Maryland is hosting Best in the World on Friday, June 28. Here’s the updated card for the PPV:
ROH World Champion Matt Taven defending against Jeff Cobb
ROH Television Champion Shane Taylor defending against Bandido
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO & Brody King) defending against Mark Haskins, Tracy Williams & PJ Black
The Briscoes vs. Nick Aldis & Colt Cabana
Rush vs. Flip Gordon
Dragon Lee vs. Dalton Castle
Kelly Klein & Jenny Rose vs. The Allure (Angelina Love & Mandy Leon w/ Velvet Sky)
Jonathan Gresham vs. Silas Young in a Pure Rules match
ROH made their Pacific Northwest debut on Saturday night as they held a set of television tapings at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington.
– Flip Gordon defeated PJ Black, Rush, and Dalton Castle in a four corner survival match
Gordon pinned Black to get the win. Castle attacked Gordon after and cut a promo, calling Rush a “beefy moron.” He challenged Rush to get into the ring with him, then backed off when Rush did. Castle said he’ll face Rush’s brother Dragon Lee at Best in the World on June 28.
Gordon told Rush that he’ll face him if Castle won’t. Gordon said he’ll kick Rush’s ass. He offered Rush a handshake, but Rush struck Gordon instead.
– NWA National Champion Colt Cabana defeated Mark Briscoe to retain his title
The Briscoes laid out Cabana following the match.
– Silas Young defeated Hijo de Squid Jr.
Playing off his storyline with Jonathan Gresham, Young submitted his opponent, who was wearing a squid mask, with an abdominal stretch.
– PCO defeated Jay Briscoe by DQ
Jay used a chair for the disqualification. The Briscoes then put PCO through a table, but he Frankenstein’d up and fought with them.
– ROH TV Champion Shane Taylor & Bully Ray defeated Coast 2 Coast (LSG & Shaheem Ali)
– Best-of-three series match: Jay Lethal defeated Kenny King by DQ
King was disqualified for hitting Lethal with a microphone. He attacked Lethal after the match and noted that they were 1-1 in their best-of-three series.
– The Allure (Mandy Leon, Velvet Sky & Angelina Love) did an in-ring segment where they claimed that they were going to give a free T-shirt to the loudest fan, but they ended up not giving it to anyone.
– The Kingdom (Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan) defeated The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brawler Milonas)
– Josh Woods defeated Brian Johnson
– Jeff Cobb defeated Mark Haskins
– ROH World Champion Matt Taven defeated Tracy Williams to retain his title
Williams and Haskins cut the show-closing promo after the match.
Isom put up a tough fight against the savvy veteran in the early going, landing a huge knee, but inevitably, Black’s experience edge earned him control as he caught Isom in a Boston crab.
After the break, Isom was trapped in a rocking horse style submission by Black. Isom fought out and managed to get back in the fight with an arm-trapped German suplex. A striking exchange occurred, but Isom connected with a step-up enzuigiri, which allowed him to hit a modified driver. Black then bailed to the floor and Isom followed with a suicide dive.
Isom threw Black back into the ring and went for some sort of springboard maneuver, but he slipped and nearly landed on his head. Black took control back from the rookie and hit a hurricanrana off the top rope.
Black then used a springboard 450 and went for the pin, but Isom kicked out at two. Black went up top again and landed a moonsault double stomp — and that kept Isom down for the three count.
– Rhett Titus was at the announce table flexing for Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman.
Women of Honor World Champion Kelly Klein defeated Ray Lyn
Before the match, Lyn told Klein that she doesn’t like or respect her, and she will never shake her hand.
Klein disrespected Lyn right back in the early going, but Lyn grabbed a handful of hair to get the advantage. She put the boots to Klein, beat her up, and went up top. Lyn came off with a crossbody but was caught by Klein, who threw Lyn with a fallaway slam.
Klein fired up and nailed some hard strikes, finishing with a big boot. Klein then hit K-Power for the win.
After the match, Klein picked up Lyn and shook her hand. She declared that she was a fighting champion and that she was proud to defend the Women of Honor Championship. She then talked trash on Allure. She said Women of Honor is about wrestling.
This brought out Allure’s Mandy Leon and Velvet Sky. Meanwhile, Angelina Love slid in behind Klein and nailed her with the running boot. Jenny Rose came in to make the save, but she got laid out as well. Allure used lipstick to tag an “A” on the forehead of Rose.
– Dalton Castle came to the ring and called out The Boys, saying that he owed them an explanation for his attack on them. The Boys hesitantly came to the ring. Castle said that what happened at Madison Square Garden was a mistake. He said he was frustrated and took his frustrations out on them. Castle said he wanted to move past this mistake and go forward.
The Boys hugged Castle, and Castle said that the three of them are stronger than ever. He then declared that he would never put his hands on his Boys again. Castle paused and then added that these are no Boys of his. Castle attacked The Boys and left them laying. He took their masks off as well.
The Kingdom jumped LifeBlood at the bell, but bailed almost immediately.
Once the referee had control, it was Marseglia who took over on Haskins. Marseglia tagged in O’Ryan, and he began chopping away. Williams was able to make a sneaky blind tag to get LifeBlood back in the fight. Williams blocked the interference from Marseglia. LifeBlood trapped the feet of O’Ryan and Marseglia and then used a double Camel Clutch on the Kingdom.
After the break, The Kingdom had isolated Williams and were targeting his already injured shoulder. The Kingdom cut the ring off from Williams and stopped him from being able to reach Haskins. O’Ryan cranked a shoulder lock on Williams and followed it up with a double underhook suplex.
O’Ryan tagged in Marseglia, who walloped Williams in the corner. However, Williams landed on his feet off of a back suplex attempt and nailed Marseglia with a leg drop. That allowed him to get to Haskins for the tag. Haskins came in and ran wild until hooking an arm lock on O’Ryan. Marseglia pulled O’Ryan’s foot on the ropes to cause the break.
LifeBlood continued to attack O’Ryan. Williams went up top, but Marseglia distracted him. It didn’t matter though as Williams managed to drop O’Ryan with a DDT on the top turnbuckle.
Marseglia came in for the save. The Kingdom went for the House of 1000 Horses, but O’Ryan took too long and Williams escaped. Williams hoisted up O’Ryan and dropped him on his knee. Haskins came in and put O’Ryan into a Sharpshooter submission. O’Ryan had nowhere to go and had to tap.
Williams grabbed the microphone after their win and said that Ring of Honor was all about taking care of business. He called out Bully Ray and called him a company cancer. He invited Bully Ray to the ring. Bully Ray came out onto the ramp, said “go to hell,” and walked away.
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s three-show New Beginning USA tour wrapped up at the War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee on Saturday night.
– Katsuyori Shibata did the pre-show welcome with Clark Connors in the ring with him.
– Karl Fredericks defeated Alex Coughlin in 9:48
Fredericks submitted him with a Boston crab right as the 10-minute time limit was coming up.
– Shane Taylor & Lance Archer defeated Colt Cabana & Jonathan Gresham in 11:12
Taylor got the pin on Cabana after hitting a modified piledriver.
– The Great O-Kharn defeated Harlem Bravado in 10:34
The Iron Claw slam got the win for O-Kharn.
– Marty Scurll defeated Clark Connors in 13:51
Scurll submitted him with the crossface chicken wing.
– Jeff Cobb defeated Brody King in 22:27
The Tour of the Islands got the win for Cobb.
– IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Juice Robinson, David Finlay & Tracy Williams defeated Beretta, Chuckie T & Rocky Romero in an elimination tag match in 31:26
Eliminations could occur via pinfall, submission, or being thrown over the top rope. It came down to Robinson and Romero, with Robinson hitting Pulp Friction to win.
The eliminations were:
Finlay threw Chuckie T over the top rope
Romero sent Williams over the top rope
Finlay pinned Beretta
Romero threw Finlay over the top rope right after he pinned Beretta
Robinson pinned Romero after hitting Pulp Friction
Robinson got on the microphone and thanked the fans to close the show. Both teams showed each other respect.
Three more matches have been added to the lineup for this month’s Ring of Honor television tapings.
In his second match for the promotion and his first since signing with them, Rush will be facing Tracy Williams at ROH’s TV tapings in Lakeland, Florida on Saturday, February 9. Rush debuted for ROH at December’s post-Final Battle tapings, while Williams made his ROH debut in last November’s Survival of the Fittest tournament.
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham vs. Coast 2 Coast (Shaheem Ali & LSG) and Dalton Castle vs. Kenny king have also been announced for the Lakeland tapings. Here’s the updated card:
ROH Television Champion Jeff Cobb defending against Silas Young
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan) defending against Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO & Brody King)
Lethal & Gresham vs. Coast 2 Coast
Castle vs. Kenny King
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Rocky Romero
Rush vs. Williams
The tapings are part of ROH’s Bound By Honor weekend in Florida, which also includes an HonorClub show in Miami on Sunday, February 10.
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s New Beginning USA tour began at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles, California on Wednesday night.
The three-show tour was affected by the United States’ government shutdown, with NJPW unable to get visas for their Japanese wrestlers in time.
– Katsuyori Shibata did the pre-show greeting with Karl Fredericks (from NJPW’s dojo in California) in the ring with him. He apologized for the issue with the visas but said they and the U.S. dojo all have NJPW in their soul.
– Alex Coughlin vs. Clark Connors ended in a 10-minute time-limit draw.
– Jonathan Gresham defeated Tyler Bateman via pinfall in 11:36
– Colt Cabana defeated Shane Taylor via pinfall in 10:22
– Killer Elite Squad (Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.) defeated Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll & Brody King) in 13:09
KES pinned King after hitting the Killer Bomb.
– Jeff Cobb defeated Karl Fredericks in 6:57
Cobb hit Tour of the Islands to win.
– David Finlay defeated Chuckie T in a no DQ match in 15:31
Finlay superplexed Chuckie T through a stack of chairs and hit Trash Panda for the win.
– IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Juice Robinson & Tracy Williams defeated RPG Vice (Beretta & Rocky Romero) in 32:20
This was promoted as a one-night reunion of Beretta & Romero as RPG Vice. Robinson hit Pulp Friction on Romero and pinned him.
Robinson and Beretta went face-to-face after but shook hands ahead of their title match in Charlotte on Friday. Robinson closed the show by apologizing for the visa issues and thanking the fans.
