Despite the fact that so many wrestlers who would be a big guest star here are already signed to AEW/ROH, we’re getting another one of these shows. There are some stars here from New Japan, Stardom and CMLL, which doesn’t exactly make for a unique experience. In addition we do have some title (shots) on the line and that’s other big focal point, which is only so thrilling. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Women’s Tag Team Titles: Megan Bayne/Lena Kross(c) vs. Olympia/Thunder Rosa

This is Rosa and Olympia being thrown together for a random title shot because that’s what the titles have already reached. Rather than building up a team to be regular challengers, we’re getting a makeshift, thrown together team instead. At least this is just on the pre-show and not the main card so maybe this won’t get as much time otherwise. It’s another title match that feels tacked on for the sake of playing to the show’s theme and that’s hardly a great way to go.

Naturally I’ll take the champions to retain here, as they’re being treated as the monsters who shouldn’t be losing their titles anytime soon. That’s especially true with a team comprised of Rosa, who hasn’t won anything important in a good while, and Olympia, who tapped out clean in her match this week on ROH to really make her feel important. It should be fine as a warmup but that’s about all.

Zero Hour: Survival Of The Fittest Qualifying Match: Skye Blue vs. Maika

Here we have another guest star getting a random spot on the card for the sake of filling out the card. At least in this case it’s just for a spot in a six way match for the TBS Title rather than filling out a bracket, but it still only means so much. Maika hasn’t actually wrestled in AEW before but at least that means she hasn’t lost over and over again, which puts her ahead of some wrestlers.

I’ll take Maika to win here, as it allows one of the outsiders to get a victory that only means so much. Blue is hardly a big name but she has been around long enough that beating her might have a bit of an impact for Maika. It’s not like Maika is going to win the title in the end so let her get some kind of a victory and build her up a bit, as it’s not like anyone would buy Blue as a threat to win the whole thing anyway. Maika wins here.

Continental Title: Jon Moxley(c) vs. Bandido

Let’s get this one out of the way early, as there is a grand total of no reason to think that Bandido has even the first chance to win the title. This is just what Bandido does, as he is put in matches against big AEW stars, none of whom give any indication that they care about the Ring Of Honor World Title, and then Bandido loses. That’s what we’ll be seeing here again, of course.

I’m not even bothering to suggest that this is up in the air whatsoever as there is just no point. Moxley is the most successful star AEW has ever had and he isn’t about to lose to Bandido, who might be talented but doesn’t win big matches. I’m sure the match will be good, but if Bandido is going to keep doing this kind of stuff, can he lose the title already to keep whatever value it might still cling to?

Women’s Title: Thekla(c) vs. Starlight Kid

I’m going to make this clear rather quickly: I do not care about Thekla’s issues with Stardom. I do not care about Stardom. I do not care about Kid’s quest to defend Stardom from Thekla. She’s already the AEW Women’s Champion and that title reign has basically been put on ice for the last month while we deal with whatever issue she has coming out of a promotion she doesn’t work for anymore. It feels like a Stardom story which is coming over here instead and that’s not exactly must see material.

Naturally I’ll take Thekla to retain so we can move back to the women of AEW getting their chance at the title. The problem here isn’t Kid, who is a rather talented star. The problem is that the whole thing has been about Stardom and Thekla’s issues with its owner. That’s not what I watch AEW to see and it’s basically seen a title locked down for weeks while we wait on this show to be over. Stop doing that.

Tag Team Titles: Adam Copeland/Christian Cage(c) vs. The Dogs

So Copeland and Cage won the titles for their big moment and now they need someone to come after those titles. This is as good as anyone else for a first major title defense, as the Dogs have come after them more than once to set up the match. It’s a fine enough idea and that’s all it needs to be. This is little more than a pit stop before the champions are likely going to be climbing a ladder against the Young Bucks and FTR in Wembley.

Of course the champs retain here, as the Dogs are hardly a big enough team to get the titles off of them at this point. It’s not a bad thing to go with a title defense that will make the champions sweat for a bit and that’s what we’ll get here. This should work out well enough, as the Canadians are more than talented enough to get something out of the Dogs, especially if this doesn’t go on too long.

Young Bucks vs. Sky Team vs. Unbound Co.

This is the AEW vs. CMLL vs. New Japan match and that’s not a bad idea. It’s one of the few matches here that feel like it should be on a Forbidden Door card and that’s nice to see after everything else. If nothing else, it should be nice to see the Bucks and Sky Team fly around and do all of their stuff. It’s worked before on their own and it should work out rather well here.

I’ll take Sky Team to win, as Mistico is a big enough star that you do not want him losing in a match like this. The whole point of this match is to do a bunch of high flying and big spots and that’s going to work out rather well. Sky Team going over is the right call and they might even beat the Bucks to do it. If nothing else, at least we’ve seen the Sky Team a few times so they won’t be out of nowhere, which is a good attribute to have here.

IWGP Global Title: Shota Umino(c) vs. Pac

This is a match that could wind up being a potential show stealer, with Pac being able to work well with anyone and Umino being good enough most of the time. Pac has become someone you can depend on to have a heck of a match most of the time and while I’m not sure on him winning the title, at least it should come with one of the better matches on the show.

While I think Pac at least has a chance to win the title, I’ll take Umino to retain here. The good thing is they should beat the living daylights out of each other on the way there, as tends to be the case in Pac’s matches. I’ve only seen a bit of Umino but his time with Moxley was good enough and it might even tie into the match here. Hopefully this one does as well as it could, as the show could use the boost.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Kenny Omega

Here’s your dream match of the show and this should work out rather well. Sabre is one of the best technical wrestlers in the world today and Omega is AEW’s living legend. It’s not a match that needs much of a story and they haven’t given it one, which is how this should go. This is one of the matches where you just put the names up there and the match sells itself, which is how Forbidden Door worked back in its early days.

For this one, I’ll go with Omega as again, it makes sense for the star who is sticking around to get the big win. Sabre is an established name and beating him should get Omega ready for whatever his big deal is going to be this summer. Omega can put in the work to make this a success and Sabre can do various horrible things to Omega’s limbs in the process. At the end of the day though, Omega wins after a rather hard fought battle.

Team MJF vs. Team Briscoe

Here we have a twelve man tag inside a cage, because that’s an idea that is going to work. I’m assuming the idea here is that MJF’s knee is a bit too banged up and he can’t wrestle a singles match at the moment. That’s perfectly fine and understandable, though I’m not sure how that means we need to have twelve people in the same match. Then again if it wasn’t be stuffed to the gills, it wouldn’t belong in AEW.

There is no reason to think that Team MJF has much of a chance here so we’ll go with Briscoe and company winning. The win will give Briscoe the World Title shot at whatever the next pay per view (or maybe Beach Break) and that has to be set up somehow. The match is likely to be a big mess but at least it sets something up and can have other consequences in the Don Callis Family. Hopefully some of the people fight off here though, as the ring is going to need the extra space.

Women’s Owen Hart Cup Finals: Mercedes Mone vs. Maya World

I’m not sure what to think about this one. In theory, Mone wins the tournament again because she’s Mone and has to win everything because she’s the biggest star in the history of ever. On the other hand though, I’m not sure I get why World would be put into this spot if she was just going to lose in the end. It’s not like Mone gets much out of beating World, who is playing with the house’s money, but I also can’t picture World going on to All In.

Therefore, I’ll take Mone winning in an underwhelming result. Mone has been here before and I don’t quite get the appeal of seeing her in this spot again, but I guess she hasn’t won a title recently enough so it’s time to set her up to do it again. World winning would be an absolute shock and I’d prefer to see it happen, but I just can’t picture that being the case here.

Men’s Owen Hart Cup Finals: Will Ospreay vs. Swerve Strickland

Finally we have the next step of one of the odder stories in a long time, as the Death Riders broke Ospreay’s neck but are now training him to get better from his neck injury. Therefore, he can have a rather physical match against Strickland with the winner moving on to the likely main event of the biggest AEW show of the year. That’s quite a way to go, but we have a few months between now and then to make it even stranger.

There is a grand total of no reason to believe that Strickland has a chance here and that has been obvious from the second Ospreay was announced for the field. This isn’t a subtle story and while that makes sense in theory, it could make for quite the lengthy wait before we finally get to the result. Ospreay wins here and while it should be a heck of a match, it really shouldn’t be in doubt.

Overall Thoughts

The biggest issue here is how little most of this show seems to matter. The three most important matches on the show are all about title shots which are going to happen later on, leaving this with a bunch of midcard titles matches and guest stars. It should be a good show as most AEW pay per views tend to be, but my goodness it does not feel overly important and that’s becoming a bigger issue with Forbidden Door year after year.

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Ring Of Honor
Date: June 11, 2026
Location: WJCT Studios, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

We’re a week away from Global Wars and that means Athena has a big time title defense set for next week against Syuri. Other than that, more guest stars are likely to show up though we’ll still need to get some names set. That’s good enough for a big show around here and hopefully it helps things out. Let’s get to it.

Here is Tuesday’s show if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Premiere Athletes vs. Top Flight

Darius and Daivari start things off with a battle over wrist control. Darius grabs a front facelock and switches to a wristlock, with Daivari’s spinning escape being countered into a rollup for a smart two. It’s off to Nese vs. Dante, with the former being bulldogged onto Dante’s knee. Daivari comes back in to grab Darius’ arms so Nese can get in a cheap shot and things slow back down.

The chinlock goes on for a bit, followed by a neckbreaker for two. Darius fights up and gets back to Dante, who fights up at his usual fast pace. A tornado DDT drops Nese but it’s already back to Darius. That means an assisted swinging neckbreaker for two on Darius so Dante comes back in with a high crossbody. Top Flight’s double lifting DDT finishes Daivari at 13:03.

Rating: B-. It’s a fine match and the perfect example of a match between two teams who feel like they have been in the same place for years now. Neither have anything going on and Top Flight happened to win the match. It’s not like they can get a title match in the United States at the moment anyway so enjoy their continuing time on the Ring Of Honor treadmill.

Angelico is ready to face Bandido and insists he is a very dangerous man.

Los Colons/Serpentico vs. Shane Taylor Promotions

Serpentico and Bravo start things off and walk around a bit to start. Serpentico picks up the pace and sends Bravo flying so it’s Taylor tagging himself in to send Orlando straight to the apron. Back in and Taylor gets taken down, only to grab a hanging Stunner on Orlando. Bravo comes back in and hammers on Orlando in the corner, even hurting his own hand in the process.

Orlando is suplexed into the corner and a Bronco Buster hits him again. That just wakes Orlando up and it’s off to Eddie to pick up the pace. Serpentico adds a Swanton for two and takes out the Infantry, only to run into Taylor. The Marcus Garvey Driver finishes Serpentico at 8:52.

Rating: C. I still have no idea why the Colons are here but thankfully it doesn’t seem like their team with Serpentico is going to be a thing. The Promotions are at least doing something in AEW at the moment, though it’s still hard to get overly interested in them when they’ve been around here in the same spot for such a long time. This wasn’t anything all that interesting but Taylor smashing Serpentico at the end was nice.

Mason Madden vs. Terry Yaki

Madden shoves him down to start and hits some elbows in the corner. The big side kick has Yaki in trouble but he’s back up with a missile dropkick. Madden isn’t having this and plants him on the floor, setting up a middle rope elbow for the pin at 2:13.

Post match Mansoor gets on the mic and says he’ll be dessert.

Mansoor vs. Ace Austin

Mansoor throws a jacket at him to start fast but gets knocked down for his efforts. Austin loads up the squatting fireman’s carry but gets raked in the eyes for the break. That lets Mansoor go after the leg in the corner and then does it again in another corner. Austin is back up with some chops but Mansoor goes right back to the leg. A running dropkick to the knee misses though and Austin strikes away. The knee is fine enough for a springboard crossbody and a squatting powerbomb, followed by the Fold for the pin at 6:54.

Rating: C+. It’s nice to see Austin win a match, even if it isn’t likely to mean much. Mansoor running his mouth and then getting beaten clean is a good thing, though Austin has a history of losing any match that matters. At least he’s getting in the ring regularly though, which should help the fans take notice of his rather abundant talents.

Zayda Steel and Red Velvet are ready to team together. Velvet even gives Steel her own apron.

IInspiration vs. Zayda Steel/Red Velvet

Steel rolls Lee up to start and everything breaks down with Steel and Velvet cleaning house. They even mock the Iinspiration’s poses before Velvet gets in a posing choke in the corner. That’s broken up and Velvet is knocked down for an IInspiration pose. It works so well that they kick Velvet down again for more posing. Velvet gets up and kicks her way to freedom, allowing Steel to come in and clean house. A spinning Unprettier drops Lee onto McKay for the pin at 6:32.

Rating: C-. Yeah fine. What else is there to say here? The IInspiration are little more than a comedy act who lose all the time while Steel and Velvet aren’t a team. The point here was more about the posing, which isn’t exactly a big surprise. There’s nothing to be seen here, making the match just something that extended the show. As usual.

We look at AR Fox retaining the TV Title on Tuesday. Fox is defending against Lio Rush and Action Andretti next week.

Soleil vs. Action Andretti

Andretti flips out of a headscissors to start and gets stomped down, only to kick him into the corner. Back up and Soleil chops away in the corner, with Andretti going to the floor for a breather. That doesn’t last long as Andretti takes him down and hammers away back inside. Soleil knocks him down again and goes up top, only to get pulled down.

A kind of pumphandle Side Effect gets two, as does Andretti’s falcon arrow. Soleil kicks him down again but misses a frog splash, allowing Andretti to come back with a Spanish Fly. Soleil flips over into a neckbreaker for two but Andretti flips over for a Stunner. The torture rack neckbreaker finishes Soleil at 10:25.

Rating: C+. This is a perfect example of a match that showcases the issues with this show. Andretti is getting a title match next week. Fine, cool, as long as you ignore his hit and miss win/loss record in recent weeks (including a loss a few months ago to the champion himself). That being said, there was no reason whatsoever for him to go out and go 50/50 with someone like Soleil. All I saw here was Andretti having trouble winning a match, which doesn’t make me interested in seeing him get a shot at a title. He would have been better off with a thirty second promo, but the ROH way is to give him a ten minute match instead.

Top Flight thinks they’re treading water in the tag division. NO! IMPOSSIBLE! Anyway they want the Tag Team Titles.

The ROH Tag Team Titles will be defended tomorrow in CMLL against a CMLL team. That’s obviously the best way to deal with Mortos’ visa issues than stripping the titles or having them face an ROH team anywhere else. This means we’ll be coming up on four months since the titles have been defended in ROH.

Billie Starkz vs. Robyn Renegade

Renegade rolls her up for an early two so Starkz is back up with the stomping in the corner. Starkz’s powerbomb is countered into a backdrop and a reverse Sling Blade out of the corner drops Starkz again. Back up and Starkz drives her into the corner, setting up the pancake for the pin at 5:25.

Rating: C. The more I see of Starkz, the less interested I am in anything she’s doing. She’s not bad for the most part, but I have absolutely no idea why she is anywhere near the Women’s Title picture. Renegade continues to feel like she could be something if she was given the chance, but that hasn’t happened in any way whatsoever and doesn’t seem likely anytime soon.

Action Andretti brags about proving himself out there and has no problem being the bad guy in next week’s title match.

Video on Eddie Kingston/Ortiz vs. the Workhorsemen. If there has ever been a match that did not need a hype video, this was it.

Eddie Kingston/Ortiz vs. Workhorsemen

Drake and Kingston trade shoulders to start before an exchange of chops takes Kingston down. Henry comes in and gets taken into a chinlock, which doesn’t last long for a change. It’s back to Drake, who fires off some chops but gets knocked down as well. Ortiz comes back in and gets Vader Bombed for a trip to the floor, with Henry staying on the ribs. Back in and a falling headbutt sets up a chinlock, which stays on for longer than expected.

Back up and Ortiz fights out, allowing Kingston to come back in. House is quickly cleaned and it’s already back to Ortiz, who avoids a moonsault. Kingston comes back in to fire off the chops in the corner but Henry gives him the Kawada kicks. Those are shrugged off for a shot to Henry’s face but he knocks Kingston right back down. A top rope double stomp connects with Ortiz making the save and Kingston’s DDT finishes Henry at 12:08.

Rating: B-. It was a hard hitting match but forgive me for not getting interested in anything involving a tag team around here. You’ve seen that the champs are gone and have been for months, but the solution is to have a match in Mexico for CMLL, leaving these matches feeling even more useless. That’s been the case forever around here, dating all the way back to the Sons Of Texas days, so why should I be interested here?

Bandido vs. Angelico

Non-title Proving Ground match. They take their time to start with neither of them getting anywhere until Bandido takes him down by the arm. Angelico switches places to take him down by the arm instead so Bandido tries a sunset flip. That’s reversed into a double stomp and Angelico keeps the pace slow as we get to the halfway point.

A choke with the leg sends Bandido over to the rope and a leglock does the same. Bandido gets up and hits a spinning high crossbody for two but Angelico is back with a kick to the head. Angelico goes after the arm but gets taken down with a headscissors. The 21 Plex is blocked but Bandido pops back up with a standing hurricanrana for the pin at 8:55.

Rating: B-. It’s another match that had nice enough action but it was also another match that had no particular reason for taking place and was just thrown out there. Angelico never wins important singles matches but now he’s possibly in line for a #1 contendership? It’s something Ring Of Honor does on a regular basis, even if it doesn’t exactly make sense.

Overall Rating: C. This was a shining example of why ROH’s bonus shows are more trouble than they seem to be worth. After seeing ROH for an hour and a half on Tuesday, I really did not need to see a show that went almost twenty minutes longer on Thursday. It’s clear that they do not have the storyline depth to make the double shot idea work and yet here we are, with matches being thrown out there to fill time and even more of the nonsense of “the tag division is hot right now”, which they’ve been trying to convince us of for over a year. As usual, ROH has no concept of “leave them wanting more”, as this just dragged on. Again.

Results
Top Flight b. Premiere Athletes – Double lifting DDT to Daivari
Shane Taylor Promotions b. Los Colons/Serpentico – Marcus Garvey Driver to Serpentico
Mason Madden b. Terry Yaki – Middle rope elbow
Ace Austin b. Mansoor – Fold
Zayda Steel/Red Velvet b. IInspiration – Spinning Unprettier onto McKay
Action Andretti b. Soleil – Torture rack neckbreaker
Billie Starkz b. Robyn Renegade – Pancake
Eddie Kingston/Ortiz b. Workhorsemen – DDT to Henry
Bandido b. Angelico – Standing hurricanrana

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Ring Of Honor
Date: May 28, 2026
Location: WJCT Studios, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

We’re done with Supercard Of Honor and now we’re probably past the fallout as well. That means we could be in for more of the norm around here, which means a bit of a slower pace. I’m not sure how well that’s going to go week to week, but the wrestling being as good as it usually is should help. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Athena is rather proud of her win at Double Or Nothing and warned everyone this was going to happen.

Opening sequence.

AEW National Title: Mark Davis vs. Adam Priest

Davis is defending and Priest shoulders away to start, which really doesn’t work so well. A hard whip sends Priest crashing out to the floor and Davis beats him up against the barricade. Back in and Davis fires off some corner clotheslines before knocking him outside for a crash into the barricade. Priest gets smart by pulling Davis’ hand into the post, allowing him to go after said hand back inside.

The double arm crank goes on but Davis fights out and takes him up top. A diving tornado DDT plants Davis and Priest gets the cross armbreaker. That’s reversed with a sitout powerbomb and they’re both down again. Priest goes to the hand to escape a sleeper attempt and takes out the leg, setting up a quick STF. Davis makes the rope and hits a big clothesline from the apron. Back in and another clothesline sets up the piledriver to retain the title at 11:40.

Rating: B. It was a random match with a challenger who had no chance of winning the title, but they had a heck of a match here. Priest was fighting against the monster every chance he could and knocked him down a few times, making this a lot more entertaining than I was expecting. Davis has been on a roll in recent months and it is rather fun to see.

Anthony Ogogo vs. Darian Bengston

The rest of Shane Taylor Promotions are here with Ogogo. Bengston grabs an armbar to start and gets thrown down rather quickly. A knee lift staggers Ogogo and Bengston bails out to the floor, where he seems to annoy the Promotions. Back in and Bengston decides to try swinging, which isn’t a good idea against a former Olympic boxer. A powerslam gives Ogogo two but Bengston gets in a quick shot, setting up a Whisper In The Wind for two of his own. Something like a Rings Of Saturn is reversed into a spinning slam to give Ogogo two so he knocks Bengston out for the win at 6:09.

Rating: C-. I would assume this was Bengston getting a tryout, as it was much more about him than anything Ogogo was doing. Bengston did well enough in his chance, though he needs someone better than Ogogo across the ring from him. Ogogo’s matches are pretty much “do basic stuff, get frustrated, punch opponent for win”. That isn’t interesting and a big reason Ogogo has never taken off in any way.

Mance Warner wants the Pure Rules Title. Sure. He’s getting a shot at Lee Moriarty next week, though it is at least just a Proving Ground match.

Viva Van vs. Rachael Ellering

Pure Rules. Blanchard takes her down by the arm to start but Van reverses into an armbar of her own. Van’s Fujiwara armbar is broken up and Ellering has another armbar. Back up and Van flips forward into a pose but gets sent to the apron. Ellering knocks her down again, setting up a backsplash for two.

The double arm crank has Van using her first rope break and something like a Tequila Sunrise has Ellering getting to the rope as well. Ellering escapes an electric chair out of the corner and gets two off a running elbow. The Boss Woman Slam is countered into a spinning backfist and Van’s bridging electric chair suplex gets the pin at 7:16.

Rating: C. This was a good example of a match that didn’t need to have Pure Rules and they didn’t add much of anything. Van is at least getting somewhere around here and just having her win some matches is a way to shake off some of her bad reputation. She has a long way to go, but at least she’s not losing over and over.

Angelico vs. Oro

Oro charges at him with a running spinwheel kick in the corner to start. Angelico strikes away to come back but gets dropped again. Something like a Downward Spiral out of the ropes gives Oro two but Angelico’s lifting Downward Spiral gets two more. Oro hits a kind of Pele off his shoulder, only for Oro to pull him into a leglock for the tap at 5:07.

Rating: C+. I get that Angelico has talent and he can make others look good, but it’s really hard to get interested in his matches. He’s been established as someone who is not going to do anything beyond put other stars over and that doesn’t help on shows that are just match after match most of the time. Angelico certainly has talent, but he’s been doing the same thing for what feels like forever in Ring Of Honor.

Athena sits down with Caprice Coleman, who praises her quite a bit to start. She talks about how she started her reign as this innocent girl but then she realized how great she was and became what she is now. Now she has become the person people think of when they think of Ring Of Honor and she doesn’t want to be disappointed with her career. You should watch her and when someone better comes along, they’ll get the title, but that isn’t happen.

Maya World vs. Trish Adora

World flips over her to start and snaps off a running hurricanrana. World goes up and gets chopped down to the floor, followed by the double arm crank back inside. That’s broken up and World kicks her in the head, only to get butterfly suplexed for two. A Sling Blade and springboard moonsault give World two of her own and Adora goes outside.

That works rather well as World charges into a pump kick, meaning Adora can hit a brainbuster for two back inside. World’s springboard back elbow gets two but she walks into a spinning backbreaker for a double down. The German suplex drops World, who is right back with a small package for the pin at 8:32.

Rating: C+. Adora wrestles a rather unique style and you can see some wrestlers having to adjust. That was the case here and it wound up being a good enough match. World is still someone who could be put back into the title picture sooner than later, even if it doesn’t have to be another shot at Athena.

Stori Denali vs. Brooke Havok

Mark Sterling is here with Denali, who mocks Havok’s lack of size. Havok gets sent hard into the corner and booted down, setting up Snake Eyes. Another knockdown has Havok in more trouble and Denali boot chokes her in the corner. Havok connects with a few kicks to the leg but gets sent flying. The chokeslam finishes for Denali at 4:03.

Rating: C. At some point, Denali has to get in the ring on her own like this and learn how to have matches. That’s why you put her in something short like this and she was….well she was a giant squashing someone. The match was just what you would expect, and while Denali is a long term project, at least she’s getting started.

Queen Aminata is back next week.

Frat House vs. Dalton Castle/Outrunners

Non-title Proving Ground match. Karter knocks Magnum into the corner to start and the House starts taking turns firing off the chops. Floyd (wearing the belt) comes in off a blind tag to clean house but the House takes him into the corner. Karter steps onto Magnum for a low blow in the Tree Of Woe but Magnum kicks Garrison down. The tag brings in Castle to clean house (again) but the Bang A Rang is broken up. The Mega Powers Elbow is broken up as well, only for the second attempt to connect for the pin on Garrison at 5:38.

Rating: C. It certainly does help to have a regular team coming after the champions as it gives you the change that they could pull off the upset. At the same time, it was nice to see Castle and the Outrunners getting a win shortly into their title reign. They still need some opponents, but we can get to that soon enough.

Post match the Lethal Twist runs in to beat the champions down. The Twist brags about their uniqueness and abilities and seem to want the titles. For now though, they’re just getting a match.

Lethal Twist vs. Il Cartello Grillo

Christian kicks Seal to the floor at the bell and it’s off to Johnson for a basement running forearm. Seal manages a suplex though and it’s off to Grillo, who gets caught with a Helluva Kick. The Twist takes turns striking away at Grillo in the corner, with Christian adding a moonsault to the floor to take out Impala. Lethal’s Figure Four, plus Christian’s springboard 450, make Grillo tap at 3:25.

Rating: C+. If you’re going to have the Twist, who are already an established team, jump the champs, you don’t need to have them win a short match as well. We got the point after seeing them jump the champs and then it was just another match. Let the angle stand instead of doing something else to make the fans forget about it.

From last week in Mexico City.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Volador Jr. vs. Bandido

Bandido is defending. Stereo flips give us an early standoff so Bandido sends him outside for an early suicide dive. Volador fights up back inside and knocks Bandido outside for a dive of his own. Back in and Bandido runs the ropes to get in his finger gun pose. Volador knocks him back down and yells a bit, meaning it’s time to stomp Bandido down in the corner.

More posing ensues but Bandido gets up a boot to cut off the charge. A spinning high crossbody sends Volador outside for the big running flip dive as Bandido gets to take over again. Volador snaps off a running hurricanrana from the apron and the referee is rather concerned. Bandido is fine enough to block a hurricanrana and swing him into the barricade.

Back in and Volador powerbombs him out of the air for two more but Bandido counters a charge into a flipping faceplant. Bandido powerbombs him down for two more but gets backdropped out to the floor. The slingshot hurricanrana connects for Volador but Bandido sends him over the barricade for a running flip dive. Another hurricanrana brings Bandido crashing off of the barricade and they go back inside, where Volador’s frog splash gets two.

A Code Red gives Volador another near fall but he walks into a pop up cutter to leave them both down. Back up and Bandido’s German suplex out of the corner sets up a shooting star press for two more. The X Knee into the 21 Plex gives Bandido two, as does Volador’s running Canadian Destroyer. Volador takes too long to go up and it’s a reverse super fall away slam (with Volador landing on his face). The 21 Plex retains the title at 21:17.

Rating: B+. This was definitely a different style from Ring Of Honor and they had a rather entertaining match, which was quite the treat to see. Bandido can adjust to any style and he certainly knows what to do here. Volador is a big enough star to come after the title and worked well here, with Bandido actually defending the title more than once for a change.

TV Title: Dezmond Xavier vs. AR Fox

Fox is defending and Xavier seems honored to be in there with him. They fight over wrist control to start with Fox taking over. Xavier works on the arm and a rollup sends Fox bailing out to the floor. We pause for Fox to look at the title and then go back inside, where Xavier sends him right back outside. The suicide dive sends Fox crashing into the barricade, followed by a slingshot hilo for two back inside.

Xavier ties up the leg for a bit until he knocks Fox into the corner for an enziguri. Fox hits his own enziguri and clotheslines away in the corner. A basement cutter gives Fox two so Xavier hits him in the face. The Cardiac Kick gets two more but Fox is back with a DDT into the springboard tornado DDT into a spinning suplex for two of his own. Xavier kicks him back down but slips on the top and crotches himself. Lo Mein Pain and the 450 retain the title at 12:29.

Rating: B-. This was another good match from Fox, even with Xavier dominating for a big chunk. You can bring in challengers like Xavier for the TV Title as it’s kind of the random match championship. Xavier, a member of a trio, wasn’t likely to win the title here but letting him fly around with Fox for a bit was a fun way to go.

Respect is shown to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The last two matches were good but, say it with me, this was far too long. There were so many things that could have been cut off to get this down to a more manageable length. As usual, there are so many matches that a lot of them are forgotten so quickly. Hopefully they get the time issues under control, because dang this show could be so much better if it got things down to an hour a week or so. Just focus a bit more and trim some time off and it’s that much better.

Results
Mark Davis b. Adam Priest – Piledriver
Anthony Ogogo b. Darian Bengston via knockout
Viva Van b. Rachael Ellering – Bridging electric chair suplex
Angelico b. Oro – Leglock
Maya World b. Trish Adora – Small package
Stori Denali b. Brooke Havok – Chokeslam
Dalton Castle/Outrunners b. Frat House – Mega Powers Elbow/ax handle combination to Garrison
Lethal Twist b. Il Cartello Grillo – Figure Four to Grillo
Bandido b. Volador Jr. – 21 Plex
AR Fox b. Dezmond Xavier – 450

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Double Or Nothing 2026
Date: May 24, 2026
Location: Louis Armstrong Stadium, New York City, New York
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Nigel McGuinness

We’re back with another big time pay per view and that means the card is stacked. That’s a good thing as the card does look appealing, though there is always the chance that it is going to go all the way into tomorrow. The main event if MJF challenging Darby Allin for the World Title in a hair vs. title match. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Lena Kross/Megan Bayne vs. Zayda Steel/Viva Van

Non-title match with a five minute time limit. Steel gets smart and bails outside to run away from Bayne and burn some clock. Back in and Bayne reverses a DDT attempt but Steel bails outside as we’re already over a minute in. Van scores with a springboard spinwheel kick and knocks Bayne outside, followed by a throat snap across the top. Kross isn’t having that and superkicks Van, allowing Bayne to unload in the corner.

It’s off to Kross for a basement clothesline and the alternating elbows in the corner. An enziguri gets Van out of trouble though and it’s off to Steel, who snaps off a headscissors. A pump kick misses for Kross and Steel tornado DDTs her with less than a minute to go. Bayne comes in for a kick to the face and German suplex, followed by the Divine Intervention to pin Steel at 4:46.

Rating: C. This was pretty much in the vein of “what else were you expecting” as it was the dominant team against a makeshift pair of opponents. The match was more about Steel trying to stall, which isn’t a bad way to go. It just would have made more sense for her to do it again later in the match rather than going for a pin, as it’s the same result. Either way though, having Bayne wreck Steel at the end was fine.

Post match Bayne lays out Christopher Daniels and give Van a Divine Intervention of her own. Anna Jay and Tay Melo run in armed for the save.

Kickoff Show: Opps vs. Death Riders

Always nice to throw in a six man tag. Yuta slips out of Bowens’ armbar to start and gets him into a backslide. Bowens gets the same off a small package but gets sent into the corner for some shots to the face. Yuta insists that HE HAS TIL FIVE and gets hit in the face for his efforts.

Hook and Garcia come in with Hook sending him flying off a suplex. Shibata and Castagnoli come in to trade some rapid fire forearms, with Shibata knocking him into the corner for a running dropkick. Hook comes back in and has his suplex blocked, allowing Castagnoli to send him into the corner. Yuta gets atomic dropped but the Riders get together for a triple boot to Shibata.

Garcia tries to come in and hammer away, which just isn’t working for Shibata, who grabs an STO. It’s Hook coming in and getting caught in the wrong corner for some running elbows and a two count. A missed charge lets Hook snap off some suplexes though and he rolls underneath a double clothesline to bring Bowens in. That means house can be cleaned but Castagnoli makes a save and Bowens is left on his own. A faceplant puts him down and a running uppercut gives Castagnoli the pin at 10:34.

Rating: B-. This is exactly what you would have expected from what would likely be on Collision most of the time. They had a pretty fast paced match, but I’m not sure why you would have had Bowens take the fall when Hook is around. Is Hook really still supposed to be that important? Are we still pretending that’s the case?

Kickoff Show: Boom & Doom/Conglomeration vs. Shane Taylor Promotions

The good guys have Harley Cameron, Big Justice and the Rizzler with them. Marshall handspring kicks Bravo in the face to start and it’s off to AJ for some right hands in the corner. The good guys get to keep alternating for right hands to Bravo in the corner. Well right hand from Cassidy. Everything breaks down and Cassidy gets caught in the wrong corner for a running Bronco Buster from Dean.

Cassidy fights back but gets punched down, leaving him to grab a Stundog Millionaire on Moriarty. The tag brings in AJ to clean house as Cameron has to save Rizzler from Christyan XO. Briscoe comes in to wreck the Promotions, including using the chair for the big step up flip dive. The Tower Of Doom brings Bravo down for the pin at 6:31.

Rating: C. Yeah fine. As usual, you’re only going to be able to get so much out of a match like this one with so many people involved but it was hardly bad. The idea here was to get some popular stars on the show and they did just that, along with Marshall. I don’t get the appeal of AJ and company these days, but I can only get so annoyed about him being in a six and a half minute wacky tag match.

Post match Eddie Kingston, Ortiz and Mance Warner come in to chase off the Promotions, who they’ve been fighting a bit in Ring Of Honor.

Mick Foley and Renee Paquette are in the ring to hype up the main event when MJF interrupts. MJF doesn’t want to hear from someone whose entire career was built on failing. He mocks the New York Knicks and Darby Allin before saying Foley would always lose when the chips are down. Foley thanks MJF for letting him have this moment one last time and agrees that yes, he did lose a lot of matches. Granted he did beat the Rock a few times, but none of those losses were in 2:15.

Unless MJF wants his matches to be compared to how long it takes to fry an egg, he better get ready for Allin. Foley sees a lot of himself in Allin, but it’s a more athletic Allin who wants to be World Champion. Foley says MJF has wavy hair and tonight it’s waving goodbye. MJF kicks him low but here is Allin to chase MJF off. Foley talks about how he inspired Allin’s career and how he saw Allin at a small show and knew there was something there. Tonight, Foley wants Allin to win one for the weird ones. To quote one of Foley’s friends, BANG BANG!

And now, the show proper.  Also: points for lightening up on the Kickoff Show.  21ish minutes of wrestling and a big promo in an hour is fine and nowhere near as crammed as usual.

Tag Team Titles: Adam Copeland/Christian Cage vs. FTR

FTR, with Stokely, is defending in an I Quit match and if they win, Copeland and Cage can never team together again. They stare each other down to start and the double brawl is on, with Cage and Harwood being left in the ring. Cage hits a clothesline but it’s way too early for the Killswitch. Stokely slips Harwood some barbed wire, which Cage takes away just as fast. The wire is wrapped around the middle rope so Cage can send him throat/face first into it, followed by standing on his back.

Back in and Copeland whips the champs with the barbed wire before Cage hangs Harwood over the rope. Wheeler makes the save but Copeland is back up with a ladder. Harwood is suplexed onto said ladder so of course it’s time for a table. That’s enough of a delay for FTR to fight back but Cage uses pliers on Harwood’s I believe nose and Wheeler’s…well the front of his trunks.

That’s broken up and Copeland is sent outside for a spike piledriver onto the announcers’ table (dang). A cinder block to Cage’s bad arm misses so the arm is put inside the block. Cage: “I….I….I BANGED YOUR MOTHER!” The chair crushes the block on the arm on the steps but Cage is back up to bite Harwood’s head. A Killswitch drops Wheeler so Stokely starts unhooking the turnbuckle.

The buckle is unhooked and Cage gets choked into a Shatter Machine, only for Copeland to come back with a pair of spears. Copeland unloads with chair shots to both champions and Harwood begs for mercy, but doesn’t quit. Wheeler asks him to stop but Stokely is up with a wrench to knock Copeland into a Shatter Machine. Cue Beth Copeland, who is immediately sent into the steps.

Harwood is back up with lighter fluid and the table is set on fire. Wheeler misses Beth though and spears Stokely through the fire instead (as the tributes are on). Beth is up to save her husband from a Conchairto (six months off a piledriver, a minute off being rammed into the steps) and Adam hits a piledriver. Cage gets a Sharpshooter and Cage adds the Grindhouse with Spike to make Harwood quit for the titles at 19:34.

Rating: B. They hit most of the notes here, though I’m not sure how much they needed to draw this one out for an extra month. What matters the most is that the titles are off of FTR, who were ready to lose the things already. It’s a big nostalgia moment, but Cage and Copeland are still able to have a good match and this was a nice win in the end.

We recap Konosuke Takeshita challenging Kazuchika Okada for the International Title. They’re both part of the Don Callis Family but have been having issues for months. Okada beat him back in December in the Continental Classic but this is more personal.

International Title: Kazuchika Okada vs. Konosuke Takeshita

Takeshita is challenging (and not defending his New Japan TV Title) and dang the fans certainly like him. They stare each other down to start and trade forearms until Takeshita charges into a boot to the face. Raging Fire is broken up though and it’s an early standoff. The fans get all over Callis as the two of them get into a shove off, with Takeshita hitting a jumping shoulder.

Okada is right back with a dropkick out to the floor, where Takeshita is driven into the barricade a few times. Back in and Okada suplexes him for a cocky one, followed by a neckbreaker for the same. Takeshita manages an exploder suplex but the middle rope backsplash hits raised knees. Okada charges into a jumping knee to send him outside, where Takeshita is right there with the big running flip dive.

Back in and Okada drops him down as well, setting up the top rope elbow. The build to the Rainmaker takes too long though and they fight over a Tombstone, with Takeshita planting him. A wheelbarrow suplex is shrugged off and Okada pops up with a dropkick into the Rainmaker and they’re both down. They slug it out on the apron until Okada hits another Rainmaker and Takeshita is down on the floor. Okada DDTs him on the floor but Callis calls off a Tombstone.

That’s enough for Okada to take a breather, allowing Takeshita to hit the brainbuster on the floor. Callis freaks out and Takeshita flips him off, followed by something like a very high German suplex for two. Okada’s Tombstone gets two but Takeshita gets all fired up and wins a slugout.

The Blue Thunder Bomb looks to set up the running knee, which is countered into a Rainmaker attempt, which is countered into a rollup for two. The Rainmaker connects but Okada holds onto the arm, only for Takeshita to hit his own Rainmaker. Takeshita’s running knee gets one and Raging Fire gives him the pin and the title at 19:04.

Rating: B+. I’m hardly surprised this was intense, with the result being the best way it could go. What matters the most is that Takeshita seems to be done with Callis for good, as there is no need for someone that talented and popular to be stuck with Callis for so much longer. They beat each other up and it felt like a showdown, with Takeshita dropping Okada on his head outside being quite the violent moment. Some of the quick kickouts got a bit annoying but they got the result absolutely right.

Post match the Don Callis Family comes in and Takeshita stares Okada down…as Kyle Fletcher returns. Fletcher stands with Takeshita and gives him a hug as the Family leaves. And of course Fletcher lays Takeshita out, then does it again with the brainbuster. Okada hands Fletcher the title and Takeshita is knocked colder.

We look at the Women’s Owen Hart Cup, which starts here with Athena vs. Mina Shirakawa. They’ve had some issues in Ring Of Honor to set things up a bit.

Women’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Mina Shirakawa vs. Athena

Athena’s Ring Of Honor Women’s Title isn’t on the line and she backs Shirakawa into the corner to start. Shirakawa ducks a charge and gets in her shake but Athena knees her off the top. They go outside, with Athena’s running knee hitting the steps. A running dropkick against the barricade knocks out a video screen has Shirakawa in trouble but she’s right back as they go inside again.

Shirakawa starts in on the leg but dives into a Wasteland for two. Back up and Shirakawa hits a Sling Blade before knocking her out to the floor. The slingshot corkscrew dive connects and it’s an electric chair drop back inside. The Figure Four is broken up though and Athena sweeps the leg (it works in No Mercy and it works here) but a middle rope O Face is broken up. Shirakawa’s seatbelt gets two and she gets the Figure Four, sending Athena over to the rope. Athena pumphandles her into a Tombstone and now the O Face finishes Shirakawa at 10:46.

Rating: B-. This was another Collision level match and Athena gets her latest win that isn’t likely to result in her finally breaking through on the main roster. She’s been such a star in Ring Of Honor for so long now and there is no reason, at least in front of the scenes, for her to not jump up. Hopefully it happens here, but I have no reason to believe that is the case, as we’ve been here for years now.

We recap Jon Moxley defending the Continental Title against Kyle O’Reilly. They went to a time limit draw on Dynamite and now it’s a no time limit rematch for the title. O’Reilly has made him tap a few times before so Moxley might be in danger.

The Conglomeration gives O’Reilly a pep talk.

Continental Title: Kyle O’Reilly vs. Jon Moxley

Moxley is defending and there is no time limit. They go with the grappling to start and O’Reilly’s armbar doesn’t go anywhere. Moxley knocks him down and grabs a snapmare for a kick to the back, with O’Reilly popping right back up. O’Reilly strikes away and grabs a guillotine choke, with Moxley firing off right hands. That doesn’t work for Moxley as he gets sent outside for a running knee from the apron.

Some kicks to the chest and rams into the steps have Moxley in more trouble but O’Reilly’s big kick hits the post. Back in and they trade forearms until O’Reilly tries a kick, which hurts him even more. The leg is wrapped around the rope for a dropkick to the knee and Moxley grabs a leglock. O’Reilly grabs the rope so Moxley bites him in the head. They go to the corner, where O’Reilly snaps the arm over the top and hits a middle rope knee to said arm.

The cross armbreaker is reversed into a half crab, with Moxley shifting it into a leglock. O’Reilly gets out and grabs an ankle lock, with Moxley escaping but getting kicked out to the floor. Back in and Moxley shrugs off a Curb Stomp and hits a cutter for a double down. A double clothesline gives us the same result and they punch it out from their knees. Moxley clotheslines him into the Death Rider into a bulldog choke but O’Reilly reverses into an ankle lock. That’s reversed into a grapevined ankle lock and O’Reilly taps at 18:44.

Rating: B. I saw them do this for twenty minutes earlier in the week so I was only so interested in seeing them to it for another eighteen minutes here. Some of the two of them popping up made my eyes roll, but you have to expect that on occasion. It was incredibly physical and a way for the two of them to show off their skills, but doing it twice in a week was too much.

Post match their teams come out and we get a big handshake.

We recap Will Ospreay vs. Samoa Joe in the first round of the Owen Hart Tournament. Ospreay is back from his neck surgery and picked to train with the Death Riders over the Opps. That doesn’t work for Joe and that’s just not a good idea.

Men’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Samoa Joe vs. Will Ospreay

Ospreay Oscutters him at the bell and hammers away in the corner but Joe hits a heck of an elbow. Ospreay’s drop down into the dropkick sends Joe outside and there’s a suicide dive. Back in and a 450 looks to set up a cross armbreaker, with Joe going straight to the rope. Joe bails to the floor and is ready for a moonsault, instead choking Ospreay and sending him into the steps.

Back in and Joe goes after the neck before winning an exchange of forearms. Ospreay tries to chop back but gets knocked down again, this time for a backsplash. The MuscleBuster is broken up though and Ospreay stomps on Joe’s arm. A handspring kick to the head gets two but Joe walks away from the Oscutter. Joe goes into his string of holds, followed by a hard kick to the chest.

Ospreay Hulks Up and strikes away, with a Styles Clash connecting for two. The Hidden Blade gets two more but another Hidden Blade is cut off with a powerslam. The Koquina Clutch is countered but Joe plants him down and grabs it again, with the third arm drop seeing Ospreay grab the rope. Another MuscleBuster is countered into another Hidden Blade for one, followed by another Hidden Blade for the pin at 13:53.

Rating: B. As much as I can’t stand that “kick out at one off a finisher, then the same thing finishes you” stuff that we’ve seen twice now, this was a hard hitting fight. Joe is always just enough of a threat to beat anyone, though Ospreay going forward was by far the better way to go. He’s on the road to Wembley (in theory) and Joe was a heck of a first step there.

Post match Joe shows some respect before leaving.

We recap Bandido vs. Swerve Strickland in another Owen Tournament match. Strickland has attacked him a few times and Bandido is ready to fight back.

Men’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Swerve Strickland vs. Bandido

Bandido’s Ring Of Honor World Title isn’t on the line (of course) and Prince Nana is here with Strickland. Bandido goes right at him to start and dropkicks the knee but Strickland is right back up to take over. A big boot misses though and Bandido flips up into an Eddie Dance. Strickland is sent outside for a running dropkick and a superkick.

With Strickland sat in a chair, Bandido hits a running dive to knock him back out of it in a big crash. Back in and Strickland suplexes him into the corner before cranking on the neck. Bandido fights up but his leg is twitching. That’s shrugged off and Bandido kicks him out of the corner into a nifty German suplex.

The frog splash gets two but Strickland gives him a House Call into a Swerve Stomp for two more. They go to the apron where Bandido somehow poisonranas him out to the floor for the big crash. Back in and the 21 Plex connects but Bandido’s neck gives out, meaning we get more twitching. Bandido is able to try a Code Red but backflips up into a hurricanrana. The 21 Plex is loaded up again, only to be reversed into a Vertebreaker. The House Call finishes Bandido at 15:17.

Rating: A-. Yeah this was rather awesome and I don’t think that’s much of a surprise. Bandido is more or less guaranteed to have a great match no matter what he’s doing and that was certainly the case here. They beat the fire out of each other but it always felt like Strickland was playing from ahead. That allowed Bandido to fight from underneath and that is where he works best. Outstanding match here from two of AEW’s most exciting stars.

We recap the Women’s Title match. A bunch of women want the title and Thekla isn’t worried. Well she might be but you can’t tell as she’s kind of nuts.

Women’s Title: Thekla vs. Hikaru Shida vs. Kris Statlander vs. Jamie Hayter

Thekla is defending. Hayter cleans house to start and hits a double clothesline but Thekla fights back in a hurry. Statlander and Hayter have the big power standoff, which is broken up by Shida. With everyone else on the floor, Thekla hits a big dive onto the pile to put everyone down.

Back in and Statlander bites the hand to get out of Thekla’s Rings Of Saturn and Alabama Slams her into the corner to escape the Upside Down. Thekla knocks her down again but spends too much time posing, allowing Shida to get in a shot of her own. Shida and Statlander grab a suplex each and all four are down. They slug it out from their knees until Statlander and Hayter crossbody each other.

Back up and Thekla shoves Statlander into a suplex from Hayter, who Haytebreakers Thekla. That’s reversed into a Black Widow to Hayter, who reverses into the Hayterade. Shida breaks it up at two and there’s the Falcon Arrow. Shida tries to grab Hayter’s leg but Statlander cuts that off in a hurry. Staturday Night Fever hits Hayter but Shida is in with a kendo stick for a save of her own. Thekla knocks Shida outside and Stomps Statlander to retain at 14:03.

Rating: B. They went from bell to bell with pretty much non-stop action as they beat each other up. Shida and Statlander have their issues to build things up even more and it made for a good mini feud. Thekla needed to keep the title at the moment as she’s on fire and I could go for seeing whatever else she can do.

The villains in Stadium Stampede arrive. The idea here is pretty simple: Chris Jericho was feuding with Ricochet and the Demand. It’s Double Or Nothing so we have Stadium Stampede so they both built up teams of seven people for a wild fight.

The good guys all get together in the back, complete with music and graphics which are likely out of a movie I haven’t seen.

Chris Jericho/Elite/Hurt Syndicate vs. Don Callis Family/The Demand/The Dogs

Stadium Stampede, meaning anything goes and they’re going to go nuts everywhere. It’s a huge brawl to start and we go to a quick quadruple screen to keep track of everyone. Ricochet gets caught in the wrong corner for some running knees and then Lashley spinebusters him onto the pile on the floor. Back in and Andrade rolls some suplexes to Perry but gets kneed out to the floor by Benjamin.

Perry hits a piledriver to drop Benjamin on the chair and Liona Samoan drops both Bucks at once. Ricochet is up with a dive and the Demand stands tall. Liona grabs an abdominal stretch on Omega and all six of his partners pull together. Believe it or not, it’s a bad idea to leave all of Omega’s partners free and it’s broken up pretty quickly. Finlay is backdropped onto the pile at ringside and Omega is fine enough for his own flip dive. Benjamin’s dive makes it even worse and there’s Jericho with a dive of his own.

Back in and the good guys hit a string of four super hurricanranas, followed by a quadruple submission attempt. Perry hits Davis with something that leaves a lot of smoke near the ring and the holds are broken. The Bucks set up tables on the floor as the Hurt Syndicate and Gates Of Agony brawl to the back.

They fight up an aisle and Lio Rush pops in to freak Lashley out. Rush jumps on Liona’s back and they go through a door as we come back to the arena. Omega and Jericho beat up Andrade as the Bucks and the Dogs are brawling in the concourse. Andrade fights back and takes a photo with a woman, only for Luchasaurus to pop in and go after him instead. Back in the ring and Jericho pours out a bag of tennis balls for a suplex to Ricochet but the Walls are broken up.

Davis and Perry brawl near catering with Davis being went eye first into a table. Andrade joins them but has to run from Satnam Singh, triggering a food fight. The Dogs and the Bucks fight on the stage, with Connors being put in a trashcan and in a shopping cart for a ride down the aisle. Liona is back in to clean house and hits Benjamin in the head with some kind of a stick or baton.

Connors spears Lashley and we cut to the back, where Ricochet beats Jericho up with a tennis racket. Cue Luther to give Jericho a BIG tennis racket and Jericho beats on Ricochet before throwing tennis balls at him. Back in the ring and Nick and Benjamin roll different kinds of suplexes before the Bucks superkick a variety of people.

We cut to the back where Davis, with his eye taped up, finds a golf cart with a knife and a note. Cue Perry to drive his bus through the cart (and another car) with Davis running off. Back inside and Omega V Triggers Andrade and Benjamin suplexes Kaun through a table. Omega One Wing Angels Andrade off the apron through a table and it’s Ricochet left alone inside. The parade of finishers is on until Kaun makes the save, earning himself a septuple (yes septuple) superkick. The Lionsault gives Jericho the pin at 31:12.

Rating: B+. This was a nice balance of insanity, brawling, fun moments and goofiness, mainly because it didn’t feel like a lot of it was scripted. Now of course it was, but it felt naturally enough that you could believe it was made up on the fly. Heck of a spectacle here and better than I was expecting, which is a nice relief.

Post match the Syndicate joins Jericho for the big thumbs up. Then Jericho puts himself through a table, seemingly in a tribute to Sabu. Nothing wrong with that.

We recap Darby Allin defending the World Title against MJF. After MJF ran his mouth about how awesome he was as champion, Allin got his title shot and won the belt in about two minutes. MJF demanded a rematch and finally put his hair on the line to get a shot. Allin has been defending all over the place and is wearing down fast though.

AEW World Title: Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Darby Allin

Allin is defending, title vs. hair. We get a video of a guy getting in a cab to try to make it to the show for the main event. The camera pans below the street and Allin is skateboarding through the sewers. Well there’s nothing wrong with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles tribute. We get the Big Match Intros and MJF insists on being introduced from “a mansion none of you can afford” and not from “one of the bulls*** boroughs”.

Some early headlock takeovers give Allin two each and he dropkicks MJF through the ropes. The suicide dive gets caught in the ropes though and Allin crashes out to the floor. Back in and the Heatseeker is broken up so MJF slingshots him in for a cutter instead. The chinlock is broken up but MJF forearms him out of the air. MJF tries a super Tombstone but gets reversed into the Diamond Dust to leave them both down.

It’s too early for the Coffin Drop though and MJF crawls outside, where Allin hits the suicide dive. The Coffin Drop only hits apron though and believe it or not, Allin is in big trouble on the floor. A package piledriver on the side of the steps knocks Allin sillier, but he’s right back with a low blow into a headlock takeover for two back inside. The Scorpion Deathlock goes on but MJF makes the rope, followed by raising his knees to block another Coffin Drop.

Another slingshot cutter is countered into a Scorpion Death Drop and they’re both down. They trade the headlock take for two each before trading rollups for one each. A Code Red gives Allin two more and they’re both down again. They pull themselves up and MJF is sent outside, where he pulls the cameraman in the way of Allin’s dive. MJF drags him up to the stage and tries to give Allin a hair cut but Allin reverses into a choke.

Allin puts him on a well placed table and climbs the scaffolding for the Coffin Drop to leave both of them down. Back in and another Coffin Drop gets two so Allin, who is bleeding from the back of the head, grabs the Scorpion Deathlock. Allin collapses again but is fine enough to grab the Scorpion Death Drop. Another Coffin Drop is broken up though and the super Tombstone into the headlock takeover finishes Allin to give MJF the title back at 24:02.

Rating: B+. These guys beat the heck out of each other and it felt like a match that could have gone either way. They had something with the idea of Allin fighting with everything he could and finally coming up short. I’m not sure about MJF getting the title back so soon but Allin couldn’t hold it that long given what he was doing as champion.

Post match Allin is stretchered out so MJF goes after him. Kevin Knight runs in for the save…and attacks Allin as MJF gives an “I’ll take it” look from the stage to end the show. If this gets Knight away from Mike Bailey, I’ll take that too.

Overall Rating: A. Yeah this was pretty outstanding, with one awesome match after another. It’s a good example of a show where you can pick multiple matches as your match of the night and be fine with any of them, from the Tag Team Titles to the International Title to the Continental Title to Stadium Stampede to Bandido vs. Strickland. That’s a heck of a lineup and watching it over two days helped. This was rather awesome stuff, as AEW gets back to its top level pay per view offerings. I have no idea if it lasts going into Dynamite, but I’ll absolutely take this here.

Results
Megan Bayne/Lena Kross b. Zayda Steel/Viva Van – Divine Intervention to Steel
Death Riders b. Opps – Running uppercut to Bowens
Boom & Doom/Conglomeration b. Shane Taylor Promotions – Tower Of Doom to Bravo
Adam Copeland/Christian Cage b. FTR – Sharpshooter/Grindhouse with Spike to Harwood
Konosuke Takeshita b. Kazuchika Okada – Raging Fire
Athena b. Mina Shirakawa – O Face
Jon Moxley b. Kyle O’Reilly – Ankle lock
Will Ospreay b. Samoa Joe – Hidden Blade
Thekla b. Hikaru Shida, Kris Statlander and Jamie Hayter – Stomp to Statlander
Chris Jericho/Hurt Syndicate/Elite b. The Dogs/The Demand/Don Callis Family – Lionsault to Kaun
Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Darby Allin – Headlock takeover

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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We’re back to what might be the signature AEW pay per view and the card is certainly big enough. As usual there are a lot of matches and people on this show, with quite a few of them involving high stakes. That includes the main event, which is the rare mask vs. title match. We also have some wacky gimmickery on the docket so let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Megan Bayne/Lena Kross vs. Zayda Steel/Viva Van

This is one of the non-title five minute deals as Bayne and Kross get to toy with the two of them for a bit before destroying them. That doesn’t make for the most interesting matches, but it does help when the match is guaranteed to be relatively short. Van and Steel could be any two breathing humans here and it wouldn’t make much of a difference, which is kind of the point.

Of course I’ll take Bayne and Kross to win, as there is no reason to suggest that a makeshit pair, including Van with her one win ever in Ring Of Honor, is going to score the upset. Kross and Bayne are waiting on real challengers to show up and there is a good chance that won’t be until we get to Wembley with the Brawling Birds. For now, they run through another thrown together team in short order.

Kickoff Show: Death Riders vs. Opps

This is a fine example of the “let’s get everyone on the show” match, as there is little reason for the match to be happening other than to fill in time on a pre-show. At least the teams have been having some issues, but it is a little difficult to get excited over a match involving Wheeler Yuta and Hook. It’s a match that feels like it could open any given edition of Collision and that only means so much.

We’ll flip a coin and say the Opps win here, as they could use the victory. This is especially true of Anthony Bowens, who is still new to the team and would benefit from picking up a win. It’s not like Yuta or Daniel Garcia are going to be hurt by taking a loss and Claudio Castagnoli will be there to keep things from getting too dull. The match should be ok, though it’s something that could easily be dropped.

Kickoff Show: Boom & Doom/Conglomeration vs. Shane Taylor Promotions

And we’ll wrap up the pre-show with ten more people in a match, including a way to get QT Marshall of all people on the card. I’m really not sure how much value there is to have Big Boom AJ on the show again but he’s here one more time, likely with his son again as well. Other than that we have the Promotions, who might as well be AEW’s version of the Job Squad given their success rate.

Naturally I’ll take the good guys to win here, as there is really no reason to suggest something else is going to happen. Hopefully they keep this quick, as it’s a match that doesn’t serve much of a purpose on an already crowded show. I’m not sure what the appeal is if having AJ around anymore, but at least it’s mainly just once in awhile and rarely outside of something like this.

Men’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Samoa Joe vs. Will Ospreay

So here we have one of the first matches of the tournament and as usual, the two of them have been doing something to set up the match. Joe wanted Ospreay to join the Opps but Ospreay has been training with the Death Riders instead. That’s a fine enough way to go and hopefully they have enough of a story to make this work. Ok to be fair, there is almost no way that Ospreay vs. Joe won’t work in the first place.

I’ll go with Ospreay to win here, as he is fresh off the new training with the Death Riders and is going to be doing some fresh things in the ring. Joe is someone who can work with anyone and it should be a blast to see these two wreck each other for a good while. I can’t imagine Ospreay losing in a tournament with the right to challenge for the World Title in his home country on the line so I’ll go with Ospreay winning here.

Men’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Bandido vs. Swerve Strickland

We might as well do the other first round match as well and as usual, the Ring Of Honor World Title hasn’t been mentioned in the slightest. That’s hardly a surprise, as Bandido’s match at Dynasty didn’t see it mentioned whatsoever either. Hopefully the title either moves on or becomes a thing people actually want. Anyway, this is about moving forward towards All In and that should be going in one way.

I can’t imagine this goes anywhere other than Strickland going over, as he’s that much of a bigger star in AEW. Bandido can do just about anything in the ring with anyone but Strickland is someone who should be going forward. It’s going to be a rather awesome match either way due to their impressive talent, though it winds up with Strickland beating Bandido and moving on.

Women’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Athena vs. Mina Shirakawa

These two have had some recent interactions in Ring Of Honor, which is better than nothing. This is one of the trickier matches, as both of them tend to lose their bigger matches in AEW. That leaves this as a more of a sad tossup than anything else, as I could see either moving on to lose in the next round. They both need a win of their own though and one stands out more than the other.

I’ll take Athena to win here, as she has the crazy long title reign to make her seem important. Unfortunately that tends to mean absolutely nothing in the long run, but at the moment she’s higher up than Shirakawa. Neither is going to win the whole thing, but Athena going over makes a lot more sense. Now just find a way for Athena to get up to the main roster already because GOOD GRIEF ALREADY!

Women’s Title: Thekla(c) vs. Hikaru Shida vs. Kris Statlander vs. Jamie Hayter

Ah yeah we have title matches on this show too. This is kind of a weird way to go but there is something about having so many challengers trying to take the title. Thekla has done rather well for herself in recent months and become one of the best things in all of AEW. I could go for seeing her keep the title for a good bit longer, though I’m not entirely sure that’s going to happen.

While I could see one of the other three taking the belt here, I’ll go with Thekla retaining. If nothing else, that’s partially due to wanting to see her do her insane yet entertaining promotions from week to week. She’ll have to lose the title one day and that might not be until All In, so for now we’ll go with her stealing the win to retain, possibly with an assist from the rest of the Triangle Of Madness.

Tag Team Titles: FTR(c) vs. Adam Copeland/Christian Cage

This is an I Quit match after FTR beat Copeland and Cage in Canada earlier this year. Since it’s a rematch, Copeland and Cage are putting up their careers (as a team) and that should make it a bit more interesting. In theory it should guarantee how the result goes, though that isn’t always the way AEW goes. I’m kind of curious to see how it goes, which is more than I could say about their first match.

I’ll go with the sake of sanity here and say that Copeland and Cage win the titles and get their big moment. If nothing else, FTR has held the titles for a very long time now and there isn’t much for them to do at the moment. It’s time for someone new to get in the title picture and naturally that means giving the titles to a team who are almost a hundred years old combined. The Canadians win here after things get rather violent.

Chris Jericho/Hurt Syndicate/Elite vs. Demand/Don Callis Family/The Dogs

Oh boy here we go. We have fourteen people in this version of Stadium Stampede and I’m not exactly looking forward to this. These matches wind up being fun, but at the same time it might as well be a short film. This is AEW’s version of a cinematic match as it’s all about doing whatever insanity they get together and think of this time around. Hopefully they don’t go insane with the time, but it’s an AEW pay per view.

I’ll go with the good guys winning here, even if it’s a total guess as to who is going to win this thing. The match is designed to be a big spectacle and nothing more, so hopefully they don’t go too far (ok you know better) and then we move on. If nothing else, Jericho can actually get a win without having to get the win himself. It could be fun, though I’m more than a bit uninterested.

International Title: Kazuchika Okada(c) vs. Konosuke Takeshita

This is one of the longer built matches on the card, as it has been teased for the better part of ever. They had a match back in the Continental Classic, about five months ago, though that was part of a tournament rather than the grudge match they’ve both been wanting. I’m curious to see how it goes, as Okada is capable of having a rather good match if he’s trying. If that’s the case, it should work here.

I’m expecting one of them to be kicked out of the Don Callis Family and that person is going to leave without the title. In this case, I’ll take with Okada retaining the title here, likely with Don Callis turning on Takeshita and setting up a third match down the line. Okada has already held the title for way too long and ultimately Takeshita will take it from him, but I’ll go with AEW waiting a bit longer to pull the trigger.

Continental Title: Jon Moxley(c) vs. Kyle O’Reilly

Here we have another AEW trope: a rematch from a long match from less than a week ago with possibilities of the rematch going even longer. That’s the case here, as we’re just waving the title’s time limit rule (again) after the two of them went to a twenty minute time limit draw on Dynamite. That’s not the most promising thing, though I’d bet on seeing a lot of forearms exchanged, which must be good right?

I’ll go with Moxley retaining here, as the solution for Moxley seems to be “he can have long matches and wins because he’s awesome”. Last year Moxley kept tapping out to O’Reilly but not he even better so he won’t do that again. That seems to be the story here and odds are Moxley needs to get his win back. It should be hard hitting, but you kind of know what you’re getting with Moxley most of the time.

AEW World Title: Darby Allin(c) vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

Title vs. hair and…I have no idea where to go here. The idea seems to be that Allin is wearing himself out with the title defenses, though I’m still not sure I can imagine MJF getting the title back so soon. That’s one of the things that makes a match that much more interesting, though Allin’s title reign has already worn me down on him. The matches have been fun, but I don’t really need to see him going crazy long again. So who wins here?

Geez where does this go? The logical way to go would see to be MJF but I’ll go with the twist of Allin retaining and MJF losing his hair. Maybe Allin loses the title soon after, but him losing here seems so simple. MJF losing his hair has some great potential and I could see him going there, but I’m not sure I need to see him get the title back. I’ll take Allin retaining here, though with a grant total of no confidence.

Overall Thoughts

This is a heck of a card and there could be some rather good matches on it, though as usual the idea of how long these matches are going to go is just draining. I’m interested in some of them though and Double Or Nothing does tend to be one of the better shows on AEW’s calendar. The wrestlers will definitely put in the work though, and that’s going to help this go a long way.

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Ring Of Honor
Date: May 21, 2026
Location: Wicomico Youth And Civic Center, Salisbury, Maryland
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

We’re done with Supercard Of Honor and that likely means a return to normal around here. Bandido and Athena retained their titles while the Tag Team Titles continued their tradition of not being defended. Other than that, we’re likely back in the deep freeze until the next big show is announced. Let’s get to it.

Here is Supercard Of Honor if you need a recap.

We open with a quick preview of the show. That’s a new way to go.

Opening sequence.

Action Andretti vs. QT Marshall

Before the match, Andretti mocks the fans and says it started with Marshall. Andretti cuts off Marshall’s introduction and asks for some applause. The thing is, Andretti used to be a dreamer like him but then the fans booed him. The reality is that Lio Rush turned on him and now Marshall does all kinds of things just to get attention. Now Andretti is going to embarrass Marshall like he embarrassed Rush. I really hope this doesn’t mean that Rush, who is basically a monster, is supposed to be the good guy in all of this.

Anyway, Andretti headlocks him down to start but gets reversed into a headscissors. Back up and Andretti snaps off a running headscissors, followed by a springboard clothesline. A springboard corkscrew splash gives Andretti two and a handspring elbow cuts off Marshall’s comeback. The second attempt works a bit better as Marshall scores with a handspring kick to the head.

A rolling Stunner gives Andretti two but Marshall knocks him back down, setting up a Lionsault for two. Andretti dropkicks him into the corner for a split legged moonsault and he blocks a running cutter. Another springboard is countered into a cutter but Marshall misses a nice moonsault. A tornado DDT and the torture rack neckbreaker finish for Andretti at 8:51.

Rating: B-. They got into a nice groove here and it was good to see Andretti win a match for a change. Since we’re apparently getting into a Rush vs. Andretti feud, he needed to win something to give him at least the tiniest of value after so many losses. Marshall as a good guy is kind of weird but he’s actually making it work well enough thus far.

Hyan/Maya World vs. Allie Katch/Kaia McKenna

Hyan and McKenna start things off with Hyan taking over, allowing World to come in for a double clothesline. Katch comes in for a rollup but World takes her down for a double stomp. World actually gets taken into the corner for some stomping so it’s a double neckbreaker to get her out of trouble. Hyan comes back in to clean house and spears McKenna, setting up Around The World (wheelbarrow slam/running Downward Spiral combination) for the pin on McKenna at 4:35.

Rating: C. This wasn’t quite a squash as Katch and McKenna got in a bit of offense but it was never in doubt. Hyan and World are fine as a team and could wind up going after the Women’s Tag Team Titles at some point. Katch and McKenna were ok here as well and I could go for having them around more often.

Shane Taylor praises AR Fox but it’s the wrong place and wrong time for him to win his first title. Tonight, Taylor is getting his title back.

Rush vs. Ryan O’Neil

Bull’s Horns in 1:00. The post match catchphrase makes this exactly the same thing he did on Collision.

We look at the Kingdom returning at Supercard Of Honor to confront Bustah And The Brain. Not wrestle them mind you, but they did in fact confront them.

Premiere Athletes vs. Bustah And The Brain

The rest of the Athletes are here too. Oliver and Nese start things off with Nese pausing for some posing. They start running the ropes until Oliver stops and just walks over him in a funny bit. Daivari comes in for a double suplex but Price easily escapes and goes after the arm. Oliver and Price are sent outside where a distraction allows the rest of the Athletes to get in some stomping.

Back in and Oliver jumps over Daivari but Nese pulls Price off the apron in a smart move. Nese grabs the Randy Savage neck snap on Oliver, who is back up with a crossbody to Daivari. Price comes back in and cleans house, including running up the ropes for a spinning Blockbuster (that looked good).

Mark Sterling trips Price from the floor though and everything breaks down. Price gives Daivari the Tyler Bate head bounce off the ropes rebound lariat but Nese is back in to kick him in the head. Back in and Oliver kicks Nese down and then hits a dive on the floor. The Price Is Right (top rope double stomp Doomsday Device, also known as OUCH) finishes Nese at 9:51.

Rating: B-. What matters the most here is that Bustah And The Brain are getting a steady rise up the ranks. That’s a lot more than most teams around here get and if Ring Of Honor can figure out the whole Tag Team Title situation (which would be a change after the last year and a half or so), they should already be near the title situation. On the other side you have the Athletes, who were built up and then put someone else over, as they should.

Eddie Kingston and Ortiz sit down with Caprice Coleman. Kingston is back to get better and he wants to see people prove they want it. Everyone wanted to come to Ring Of Honor when he was breaking in and he wants that back. As for Ortiz, they’re friends and business partners. Kingston: “I get to pay off my home and I get to have YouTube with no commercials.” Coleman asks Ortiz what Kingston isn’t telling them, which is apparently that they want to change the wrestling business. Kingston thinks this place is better than the AEW locker room and they want to make things better.

Dalton Castle and the Outrunners are happy about winning the Six Man Tag Team Titles and now they’re ready to face everyone.

Dalton Castle/Outrunners vs. Danny Grandview/Chulo Montana/Ykies

Non-title Proving Ground match. Montana chops Magnum in the corner to start and gets chopped down for his efforts. It’s off to Floyd, who is wearing the title as he knocks everyone down and poses. Castle fires off the suplexes and the Bang A Rang sets up the Mega Powers Elbow/ax handle drop for the pin on Ykies at 2:40.

AR Fox is ready to face Shane Taylor, who only had to ask for a title shot. Isn’t that what Taylor did?

We look at Fox winning the TV Title last week.

Lio Rush vs. Aaron Solo

Solo is scared to shake Rush’s hand and gets sent into the ropes for his efforts. Rush chases him around the ropes and then crawls around a lot. Solo is knocked outside as the black goo is coming out of Rush’s mouth. The chase goes up the aisle until Solo hits a superkick and they go back inside. Some chops just wake Rush up again and he hits a spinning kick to the head. They run the ropes until Rush grabs a powerbomb and sends Solo outside. The suicide dive connects and Black Thunder gives Rush the pin at 5:39.

Rating: C+. This was your latest reminder that “Rush is weird but really athletic”. That’s about all there is to this as the details of why he’s suddenly a monster haven’t been explained. Odds are that’s better as this is hardly something that I want to see explained after how it has gone so far.

Post match Rush sounds like he says something about someone being strong and promising to reign supreme.

Deonna Purrazzo is proud of beating Diamante and is ready for her next challenger.

Deonna Purrazzo vs. Janai Kai

Non-title Proving Ground Pure Rules match. They wrestle around to start with neither getting very far. Purrazzo goes after the arm but gets caught in an Eye Of The Hurricane. Kai kicks her in the chest and back for two but Purrazzo breaks out of a sleeper. Another big kick puts Purrazzo down for two more and the sleeper goes on again. Purrazzo breaks it up again and grabs the Fujiwara armbar, which is actually reversed into a rollup for two. That’s enough for Purrazzo, who knocks her down and grabs the Fujiwara armbar for the win at 7:00.

Rating: C+. This was fairly long and just reminded us that the most successful women’s Pure Rules wrestler ever is still the best women’s Pure Rules wrestler ever. There is no one on the horizon coming for the title, but that could change rather quickly as it’s not like there is much of a process to set up challengers. Kai got in her usual strikes and kicks and that’s about all, as tends to be the case in her matches.

Video on Swerve Strickland vs. Bandido.

Billie Starkz/Diamante vs. Queen Aminata/Mina Shirakawa

Diamante and Shirakawa start things off with Shirakawa knocking her down and hitting her slingshot corkscrew splash. Aminata comes in for her hips to the face while Shirakawa kicks Diamante in the back. Diamante jawbreaks her way out of trouble and brings Starkz in to take over. A double suplex puts Shirakawa down and it’s back to Diamante for a chinlock. Shirakawa fights up and hits a basement dropkick, allowing the tag off to Aminata.

A Helluva Kick and running shot in the corner get two on Starkz, setting up Shirakawa’s missile dropkick. The top rope Sling Blade gets two with Diamante making the save but stereo Figure Fours are reversed into small packages. Shirakawa is right back with the Figure Four on Starkz until Diamante…well actually doesn’t make the save as Aminata knocks her away. That leaves Starkz to tap at 8:44.

Rating: C+. Athena’s goons losing again isn’t much of a surprise, though Shirakawa getting a win out of the thing is nice to see. She’s someone who could easily be put into a higher level on the card but it’s hard to figure out how that goes around here. You also have Starkz’s downfall continuing, which is likely going to result in her getting yet another big title shot.

Post match (and I mean maybe a tenth of a second after it’s over) Athena shows up to choke Shirakawa (who Athena is facing in the Women’s Owen Hart Tournament) with a towel. Aminata cuts that off but the villains beat Aminata and Shirakawa down.

TV Title: Shane Taylor vs. AR Fox

Taylor, with his Promotions, is challenging and spits on Fox’s hand to start fast. Fox gets knocked into the corner and his high crossbody is caught. That’s escaped and Fox sends him outside for the big dive, only for Taylor to punch him right in the face. There’s the apron legdrop for a rather delayed one and we hit the chinlock.

Fox is sent into the corner but avoids a legdrop for a breather. Taylor gets kicked to the floor and there’s the big running flip dive. Back in and a Swanton gives Fox two but Taylor is back with a chokeslam and splash for the same. The Marcus Garvey Driver is countered into a cutter and Fox dives at Taylor while kicking Anthony Ogogo at the same time. Back in and a 450 retains the title at 9:05.

Rating: B-. This was a perfectly acceptable title defense for Fox, as he got to beat a monster with a reputation. As usual, Fox’s dives looked good and it felt like he was working his way through getting around Taylor throughout. It made for a good main event and it’s great to see Fox getting this kind of a chance.

Overall Rating: C+. Well that was long. This was just a step above the regular weekly show, with a bunch of content that didn’t feel like it was doing anything more than getting people on the show. That’s fine once in awhile, but it seems to be the case more often than not. I do like that some of these things feel like they’re building to something, though we need them to actually pay off before without having to wait months on end.

Results
Action Andretti b. QT Marshall – Torture rack neckbreaker
Hyan/Maya World b. Allie Katch/Kaia McKenna – Around The World to McKenna
Rush b. Ryan O’Neil – Bull’s Horns
Bustah And The Brain b. Premiere Athletes – The Price Is Right to Nese
Dalton Castle/Outrunners b. Danny Grandview/Chulo Montana/Ykies – Mega Powers Elbow/ax handle drop combination to Ykies
Lio Rush b. Aaron Solo – Black Thunder
Deonna Purrazzo b. Janai Kai – Fujiwara armbar
Queen Aminata/Mina Shirakawa b. Billie Starkz/Diamante – Figure Four to Starkz
AR Fox b. Shane Taylor – 450

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Dynamite
Date: May 20, 2026
Location: Cross Insurance Arena, Portland, Maine
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We’re getting another three hour block this week as Collision is taking place tonight in a one hour version due to this weekend’s Double Or Nothing event. As has been the case with recent shows, Darby Allin is defending the World Title again, this time against Mike Bailey. That could be quite the showdown so let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Earlier today, Chris Jericho and the Young Bucks were outside near a lighthouse to talk about tonight’s six man tag match and the biggest Stadium Stampede of all time this weekend. They imply having a special team name too. It’s going to be Bucks Of Jericho isn’t it?

Chris Jericho/Young Bucks vs. Don Callis Family/Ricochet

Yeah it’s Bucks Of Jericho. On the other side you have Andrade El Idolo/Mark Davis for the Family. Ricochet tags out immediately (that has been done WAY too often lately and it could use a long break) so it’s Andrade vs. Jericho to start things off. Naturally Andrade bails out to the floor for a photo with some women, earning chops from Jericho. Back in and Andrade gets taken into the corner, setting up a Risky Business/fish drop combination.

Matt gets driven into the corner as well but fights out rather quickly, allowing Nick to come in and clean house. The Bucks hit stereo dives and Jericho hits a top rope version of his own and we take a break. We come back with Nick fighting out of trouble and bringing in Jericho, meaning Ricochet bails again. Everything breaks down and Jericho and the Bucks hit a bunch of right hands on top, setting up three straight super hurricanranas.

Ricochet runs in to make a save so the Bucks start firing off the superkicks. Andrade is back up but gets low blowed into a step up Canadian Destroyer. Jericho knocks Ricochet to the floor for a baseball slide and they crash through some tables. Back in and More Bang From Your Buck is broken up by Davis. The Bucks take out Andrade but here are the Dogs to take Nick out. A foreign object shot knocks Matt cold for the pin at 13:58.

Rating: B-. This was the usual “here’s everything going nuts and people doing all kinds of stuff”, meaning it was entertaining but little more than a preview for Stadium Stampede. That makes sense and thankfully they didn’t go too long or have too many people involved. I’m not wild on Stadium Stampede, but the preview version went well enough.

Post match the beatdown is on but Jack Perry makes the save with…a bag of onions. Yeah of course. Anyway the Hurt Syndicate comes in to help clear the bad guys out with some of the brawls going into the crowd. Jericho and company stand tall.

Video on Konosuke Takeshita vs. Kazuchika Okada.

Darby Allin says he keeps taking these title matches because he feels it. He basically says he can’t wait to get to Double Or Nothing, more or less treating Mike Bailey as the nothing challenger that he really is.

Video on MJF vs. Darby Allin.

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Mark Briscoe

Anything goes. Briscoe throws in a trashcan full of weapons to start but Ciampa gets in a shot to the back to put him down. Ciampa goes under the ring to find his own trashcan full of weapons…including a mousetrap, which catches his own hand. A chair is sat up at ringside, with Ciampa being sat down for a Blockbuster. The Froggy Bow through the table is broken up and Ciampa sends him through the table instead. The cheese grater slices open Briscoe’s head (ignore that his head seemed to be bleeding first) and we take a break

We come back with Ciampa covering a stuffed chicken but Briscoe pulls the referee out. Briscoe whips out a fire extinguisher to spray Ciampa (and the air around him) and then staples barbed wire to a table. Believe it or not, that takes WAY too long and Ciampa is back up to staple a piece of paper to Briscoe’s head. Loading up a kneepad covered in thumbtacks takes way too long as well as Briscoe sends him into the ladder in the corner.

Briscoe uses a screwdriver for some stabbing but Ciampa suplexes him through the ladder for two. Back up and they slug it out, with the rather bloody Ciampa getting the better of things again. The super Air Raid Crash through some open chairs is broken up so Briscoe puts them back to back for an Iconoclasm onto their edges. A Jay Driller through the barbed wire table and the Froggy Bow finish Ciampa at 14:16.

Rating: C+. Yeah ok. This was just carnage for the sake of carnage and they lost me a few minutes into it. Much like what I’m expecting from Stadium Stampede, you could pretty much picture the two of them mapping out the stunts. It was violent and intense, but it didn’t feel like they were really fighting, which isn’t a good sign.

Tony Schiavone is in the ring to talk about the Owen Hart Tournament but Prince Nana interrupts and says he has this. He brings out Swerve Strickland but here is Bandido to jump Strickland. Bandido goes after Nana though and Strickland gets in a shot to the knee. The Vertebreaker on the chair is broken up and Bandido gorilla presses him instead. Strickland bails from the threat of said chair.

Willow Nightingale talks about some of her great moments, including a recent title defense against Red Velvet. Unfortunately she injured her shoulder and is out of the Owen Hart Cup and has to vacate the TBS Title. GAH that’s a bad one as she was having the run of her career. She doesn’t know when she’ll be back but she’ll be back on top.

Jon Moxley vs. Kyle O’Reilly

Non-title eliminator match. O’Reilly goes after the arm to start and gets reversed into a headlock takeover. This lets Taz talk about leverage and control, which is what he does best. They get up and grapple again, with Moxley getting him into the corner to take him down. Moxley starts stomping on the fingers but wins another strike off. O’Reilly kicks away in the corner, followed by a snap suplex.

They strike it out again with Moxley getting in a body shot to put O’Reilly down. Moxley puts him against the ropes and hammers away but gets backdropped out to the floor instead. O’Reilly’s ribs/body won’t let him dive though and Moxley knocks him down again as we take a break. We come back with Moxley holding a bodyscissors until O’Reilly goes for the eyes to break it up. O’Reilly kicks the leg out and they trade some running shots against the ropes.

Some knees to the face let O’Reilly flip him over and a running boot puts Moxley on the floor. They go outside and trade a bunch of kicks to the chest until O’Reilly goes up top. Moxley bites the head and rakes the back, setting up a superplex to leave them both down again. O’Reilly escapes a choke and grabs the ankle lock, which is reversed into the bulldog choke. The rope is reached for the break and O’Reilly gets to the apron to twist the arm down.

A running dropkick has Moxley in more trouble but Moxley is back with a cutter gets two. O’Reilly grabs a choke of his own, setting up a t-bone suplex. One heck of a PK drops Moxley again but he pops up and, say it with me, they trade forearms. We have less than a minute to go as Moxley misses a Stomp and gets ankle locked again. The grapevine goes on but Moxley manages to make it through the time for the draw at 20:00.

Rating: B. That’s our Moxley. He’s tapped to O’Reilly before but he won’t do it again because he’s this awesome tough guy who doesn’t tap anymore because now he’s just too tough. This is a rather basic way to set up a rematch at the pay per view and while I’m not sure why I’d want to see them do it again so soon after a twenty minute draw, it does make sense and I’ll take that. Just imagine how many times they can trade forearms in a rematch!

Hold on though as O’Reilly says Moxley survived him so he wants a no time limit title match.

Kris Statlander is upset over Willow Nightingale but Hikaru Shida interrupts, saying they’re here to watch and want the women to fight hard in their upcoming match.

Rush wants Darby Allin next week if he survives his next title defenses.

Athena/Triangle Of Madness vs. Thunder Rosa/Mina Shirakawa/Brawling Birds

Athena wins a wrestle off with Rosa to start and shakes a bit before handing it off to Blue. Windsor comes in and gets caught in a headlock but Hayter tags herself in and, after accidentally kicking Windsor, boots Blue down for one instead. Shirakawa comes in to take over on Thekla and hits a slingshot spinning splash.

We take a break and come back with Blue pulling Shirakawa down by the hair and a Tarantula in the corner. Hayter tries to make a save and gets caught in an Upside Down, leaving Shirakawa to get beaten up even more. Shirakawa fights out of the corner and brings in Rosa to clean house, including a running shot to Blue in the corner. Everything breaks down and Athena gets to clean house until she is the only one left standing. Shirakawa tornado DDTs Athena on the floor and Blue kicks Rosa down inside. Thekla’s belt shot is cut off but Hart mists Rosa, allowing Thekla to roll her up for the pin at 9:43.

Rating: B-. There was a lot going on here and there is only so much you can do with that many people and a somewhat limited amount of time. Athena got to showcase herself while she could but as usual, she feels like someone who AEW tolerates rather than wants to push. Hopefully she gets to do something in the tournament, but I wouldn’t bet on it. The match was pretty good as a preview for Sunday and the tournament, so at least it accomplished its goals.

Kevin Knight gives Mike Bailey a pep talk and wants a shot at the World Title. Works for Bailey.

The Death Riders do group pushups and he’s ready for Kyle O’Reilly in their no time limit match at Double Or Nothing. Moxley thanks O’Reilly for giving him a chance to practice what he preached. O’Reilly survived tonight and on Sunday he gets to try his odds and see if he can go double or nothing (thankfully Moxley does acknowledge that it’s kind of a lame line).

AEW World Title: Mike Bailey vs. Darby Allin

Allin is defending and before the bell, here is MJF to join commentary. Bailey hits…I think a kick but the camera was on MJF as we start. The Tornado Kick connects less than fifteen seconds in and Allin has to go to the apron to avoid the Ultimate Weapon. The triangle moonsault hits Allin on the floor and Bailey slams him outside as well. That means a double knee drop off the steps but Allin crotches him on the barricade. The Scorpion Death Drop plants Bailey onto the barricade and we take a break.

We come back with the two of them still on the floor and Allin using the steps to crush Bailey’s foot. They get back inside with Bailey knocking him down again but missing the Ultimate Weapon. The Coffin Drop connects but MJF puts the foot on the rope. Cue Kevin Knight to yell at MJF, who backs off and sits back down. Bailey kicks Allin the head a few times for two before the moonsault knees connect as well. The Flamenco Driver is countered into a Scorpion Death Drop but the Scorpion Deathlock sends Bailey to the rope. A Coffin Drop sets up another Deathlock to retain the title at 11:00.

Rating: B. The best thing here is they didn’t go as insane with Allin surviving stuff. That has been an issue with some of his title defenses and thankfully it wasn’t quite so badly. Bailey never felt like he was a real threat to win the title and they didn’t spend nearly as much time on a match that didn’t need it. Allin got beaten up, made a comeback and retained. Simple, yet effective here.

MJF storms off to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This was a good example of a show where my bigger issues were more around the style being presented. The main portion of this show felt like it was all about the insanity or violence and more the people just getting to do what they liked. That being said, the last two matches were better and Moxley vs. O’Reilly had some moments. I can accept that some of the things they did accomplished what they were trying but I’m just not a fan, as that’s not the same thing as being bad. I didn’t have a great time for a lot of this, but it did get better by the end.

Results
Don Callis Family/Ricochet b. Young Bucks/Chris Jericho – Foreign object shot to Matt
Mark Briscoe b. Tommaso Ciampa – Froggy Bow
Jon Moxley vs. Kyle O’Reilly went to a time limit draw
Athena/Triangle Of Madness b. Brawling Birds/Thunder Rosa/Mina Shirakawa – Mist to Rosa
Darby Allin b. Mike Bailey – Scorpion Deathlock

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Collision
Date: May 16, 2026
Location: Wicomico Civic Center, Salisbury, Maryland
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness

We’re back to the usual time and schedule for the show as we have the World Title on the line again. This time Darby Allin is defending against Sammy Guevara, who issued the challenge at last night’s Ring Of Honor Supercard Of Honor. That’s in addition to a few other matches set up at last night’s show. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

We run down the card.

After Dynamite, Jon Moxley, with the Death Riders, complained about not being able to beat Kyle O’Reilly. In theory, that means O’Reilly will be the next Continental Champion but Moxley is going to find a way. Claudio Castagnoli is ready to face Brody King in the Owen Hart Tournament. The rest of the team is ready to face the world. If it’s Wheeler Yuta against the world, the world doesn’t have much to worry about.

Conglomeration vs. Shane Taylor Promotions

Non-title Eliminator Match. Bravo and Briscoe trade headlocks to start with Briscoe knocking him into the corner. That means it’s off to O’Reilly vs. Moriarty, with O’Reilly taking him down to taking him down into a rollup for two. The cross armbreaker is blocked but everything breaks down, with O’Reilly being left alone to hammer Moriarty in the corner. Cassidy comes in for one right hand and Moriarty falls down.

Dean comes in and gets armdragged by Cassidy, who is sent to the apron and beats up the Infantry anyway. A slingshot spear finally takes Cassidy down and Taylor (not in the match) drops a leg on the apron as we take a break. We come back with Cassidy getting in his spinning DDT but Moriarty grabs an abdominal stretch.

The other members of the team all pull until they get caught, meaning Cassidy can bring O’Reilly back in. The Infantry’s belly to back neckbreaker puts O’Reilly down for two and everything breaks down. Taylor cuts off Briscoe’s step up chair dive so O’Reilly takes Taylor down. That leaves Briscoe to Froggy Bow and Jay Driller Dean for the pin at 13:33.

Rating: B. This was the usual good match that turned into a fairly wild brawl by the end. That worked out well, with the Conglomeration always working, even in the altered lineup. Both teams were mixing it up a bit here and that’s fine enough, as it’s not like the titles were on the line in the first place.

Will Ospreay is ready for the Owen Hart Tournament. He respects Samoa Joe, but no one is stopping him from winning the whole thing.

The Conglomeration is happy with their win (it wasn’t a title defense, despite what the interviewer says). O’Reilly is ready for Moxley and Briscoe is ready for Tommaso Ciampa. Willow Nightingale wants all the gold, including the Women’s Title.

TBS Title: Willow Nightingale vs. Red Velvet

Nightingale is defending (Velvet’s ROH Women’s TV Title isn’t on the line) and say it with me: it’s an open challenge. Nightingale backs her into the corner and smiles to start so Velvet kicks the leg out. Velvet’s arm cranking doesn’t work so Nightingale gets up and offers a (left) hand(ed) shake.

Velvet tries and fails to crank on the arm and Nightingale sends her into the corner for the rapid fire clotheslines. A sitdown splash misses for Nightingale and Velvet rolls her up for two. They head outside, with Velvet striking away, only to get caught with a suplex. We take a break and come back with Nightingale missing her flip dive off the apron for a nasty crash. A bulldog gives Velvet two but she charges into a spinebuster for the same.

Nightingale drops her with a powerslam but the Babe With The Powerbomb is countered into a hurricanrana. Velvet hits some running knees, only to flip into a full nelson slam for two more. Back up and Nightingale wins a strike off but gets flipped off the top. The Final Slice gives Velvet two, only for Nightingale to Pounce her out of her skin. The Babe With The Powerbomb retains the title at 13:03.

Rating: B-. Velvet has been on a roll since she came back from her injury and it’s nice to see her getting to showcase that on the bigger stage. At the same time, it feels like all Nightingale does anymore is defend the title in open challenges. It really shouldn’t be hard to find her a regular challenger and hopefully that is coming up sooner than later.

We look at the Women’s Owen Hart Cup brackets.

Video on Sammy Guevara, who is ready to challenge Darby Allin for the World Title.

Guevara knows he can beat Allin, as he’s done it four times before. Then he’ll beat MJF and shave him bald, but he’ll leave a fade.

Darby Allin isn’t surprised MJF isn’t here. He’s here to defend the title though because he loves this. If Mike Bailey wants a title shot, bring it on Dynamite.

Tommaso Ciampa is attacking Mark Briscoe in the back and they brawl into the arena, where Briscoe whips him into the barricade. Briscoe throws in some chairs, along with Ciampa, but the Jay Driller is broken up with a low blow. Ciampa chairs him down and takes Briscoe up top but the Conglomeration runs in for the save. Briscoe wants their match on Dynamite No DQ.

We look at the Men’s Owen Hart Cup brackets.

Opps vs. Lethal Twist

Lethal wants to start with Joe and gets his wish, with a chop just annoying Joe a bit more. It’s off to Bowens and Johnson, with Bowens sending him hard into the corner and stomping away. Bowens drives Lethal back first into the apron a few times as he’s being rather aggressive here. Back in and a Russian legsweep sets up Joe’s backsplash for two but a Blake Christian distraction lets Lethal hit a missile dropkick.

We take a break and come back with Johnson hammering on Joe. The beating doesn’t last long as Joe is up for the tag off to Bowens, who cleans house. A spinning torture rack faceplant gets two on Johnson, who Death Valley Drivers him into Hail To The King from Lethal. The Figure Four is blocked and Bowens clotheslines his way out of trouble. Joe comes in and yells at Lethal for clotheslining him, meaning it’s the Koquina Clutch to Lethal and a twisting armbar to Johnson for the double tap at 11:48.

Rating: B-. I can go for Bowens getting to do something of note after so many months of just floating around. The more aggressive style worked well for him here and the armbar is a fine way to go. This has me intrigued to see more and that’s not something I’ve gotten to say about a Bowens match for a long time. Nice fit here, which I didn’t see coming.

Post match Bowens talks about how confused he was for a long time, but then he found the Opps and it’s a perfect fit. He is the pride of professional wrestling and your hero, crediting Joe with his change of attitude. Joe tells Will Ospreay that decisions have consequences and while Ospreay sees it as a dream match, it’s going to be a nightmare.

We look at Swerve Strickland attacking Bandido last night at Supercard Of Honor.

Brody King threatens Strickland with violence but Bandido says he has to do this one himself.

Megan Bayne/Lena Kross vs. Allie Katch/Kaia McKenna

Non-title Eliminator match with a five minute time limit. Bayne knocks Katch into the corner to start and it’s off to Kross for the rapid fire elbows to the face. Everything breaks down and the non-champions get slammed into each other. The Divine Intervention finishes Katch at 1:50.

Video on the Double Or Nothing Women’s Title match.

Athena and Mina Shirakawa bicker before their Owen Hart Cup match.

We look at Nigel McGuinness beating Josh Woods at Supercard Of Honor.

We look at Lio Rush’s “star making performance” from last night. Not exactly no.

Rush, being rather normal, says “these things happen”, when asked about Action Andretti costing him the match. He insists it’s fine, but when interviewer Nigel McGuinness leaves, he takes off his sunglasses to reveal red eyes as black goo drips out of his mouth. Anything in wrestling involving “black goo” is not a good idea. Free lesson of the day.

The Dogs/Mark Davis vs. The Rascalz

Clark Connors beats up a production worker for dropping something. The Rascalz triple team Davis to start and manage to knock him down in the corner. Everything breaks down and the Rascalz get to strike Davis down inside. The Dogs make a save and Wentz gets triple teamed down as we take a break.

We come back with Connors running over to break up a tag attempt as Wentz is still in trouble. Wentz fights up a few seconds later and gets the tag off to Reed to clean house. The Dogs cut that off and it’s back to Davis, who takes too long setting up a double Doomsday Device. That’s broken up with a double superplex and the Rascalz hit a triple dive. Reed cutters both Dogs but gets piledriven by Davis, setting up the Last Clip to give Finlay the pin at 11:33.

Rating: B-. The match was entertaining, but I could really go for more tag matches with, you know, tags throughout. I get that things are going to break down eventually as almost all tag matches do, but it shouldn’t be this much of the match. Davis and the Dogs worked well enough here and the Dogs certainly need the wins.

Anna Jay has a lot left to do and Tay Melo is here with her. Their team seems to be back.

AEW World Title: Darby Allin vs. Sammy Guevara

Allin is defending and it’s No Countout again. Allin looks down at the title…and Guevara stomps him onto it for a smart move. The bell rings and Guevara goes outside to set up the table (because No Countout means No DQ) and a ladder (because of course). Guevara’s Swanton off the ladder sends Allin through the table and we’re less than two minutes into the match.

Back in and the GTH is countered into the Scorpion Deathlock but Allin collapses with the hold on. For some reason that’s not a stoppage and Guevara drops a springboard splash for two. Allin knocks him off the top but the Coffin Drop is broken up and Guevara sends Allin crashing out to the floor. Back in and Three Amigos give Guevara two and we hit the chinlock.

We take a break and come back with Guevara diving into a choke but making the rope. Guevara is back up with a shot to the face but Allin kicks him in the face and hits a springboard shoulder. A pair of GTH’s and a frog splash give Guevara two so he puts Allin on a table at ringside. The 630 misses for Guevara and a Coffin Drop retains the title at 17:06.

Rating: C+. I get what they’re going for with Allin but I’m at the point where I really could go for a break from him. Seeing the same person headline show after show in a 15-20 minute match is losing its charm. The match was far from bad, but I’m looking forward to Allin losing the title just so he’s away for a little while. Throw in him reaching Super Cena levels of surviving stuff and it’s even worse.

Overall Rating: B-. I liked the show for the most part, as it felt more like a show that was focusing on setting things up while also doing some stuff here. That’s not usually the case with Collision but they have been doing a bit better in recent weeks. If that’s becoming the new norm, Collision will get a lot more useful in a hurry. For now, good stuff, even if I’m rather over the Allin stuff.

Results
Conglomeration b. Shane Taylor Promotions – Jay Driller to Dean
Willow Nightingale b. Red Velvet – Babe With The Powerbomb
Opps b. Lethal Twist – Double submission
Megan Bayne/Lena Kross b. Allie Katch/Kaia McKenna – Divine Intervention to Katch
The Dogs/Mark Davis b. The Rascalz – Last Clip to Reed
Darby Allin b. Sammy Guevara – Coffin Drop

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Supercard Of Honor 2026
Date: May 15, 2026
Location: Wicomico Youth And Civic Center, Salisbury, Maryland
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

It’s time for another big show and there are some important matches this time around. In this case, we have the World Title being defended for the first time since December, along with a six way elimination match for the Women’s Title. Basically we have a bunch of title matches up and down the card with a few other things included. Let’s get to it.

The opening video, with the audio not working (though you can hear the production team talking about the issues) looks at the bigger matches on the card. Nothing wrong with that.

Thankfully the audio is fine for the show itself.

Kickoff Show: Sammy Guevara vs. Action Andretti

So I guess the Tag Team Titles aren’t being defended. Thanks for wasting months talking about how teams are moving up the ranks and all that jazz. The answer is Beast Mortos “can’t be here tonight”. And that’s fine enough for the titles not being defended since March I guess.

Anyway, Guevara flips Andretti off instead of shaking his hand before the bell and gets his wrist cranked instead. Some rollups give Andretti some near falls and Guevara isn’t sure what to do early on. Another offer of a handshake lets Guevara slick back his hair, which Andretti then messes up. A clothesline sends Guevara outside for a suicide dive, only for Guevara to hit a fast dropkick back inside.

The big running twisting dive connects but Andretti is back with a running dive of his own. Back in and Guevara’s knee knocks Andretti out of the air for two and it’s time for Guevara to get cocky again. The Samoan drop, with squats, drops Andretti and Guevara says he should be getting the World Title shot. Andretti is back up with a backflip into a Stunner and they’re both down. They trade shots to the face until Andretti comes back with a handspring elbow.

Guevara rolls outside before Andretti can come off the top…so Andretti bounces to the apron and hits an Asai moonsault in a pretty awesome sequence. Back in and the running shooting star press gives Andretti two but the torture rack neckbreaker is broken up. A flipping powerslam gives Andretti two more but Guevara flips him into a DDT. The GTH finishes for Guevara at 11:30.

Rating: B-. Nice opener here, though finding out that the Tag Team Titles won’t be defended is quite the disappointment. The titles have basically disappeared for a long time now and this isn’t going to help things. At least both of them got to fly around and pop the crowd a good bit, which is why you have a match like this as the opener.

Post match Guevara introduces Rush, who beats up Andretti before starting his match.

Kickoff Show: Rush vs. LSG

Bull’s Horns finish LSG in 42 seconds.

Kickoff Show: Lacey Lane/Janai Kai vs. Mina Shirakawa/Queen Aminata

Kai rolls Shirakawa up for two to start but Shirakawa gets to slide into the dancing. Shirakawa takes over before it’s off to Aminata to suplex Lane. The sliding knee gives Aminata two and Shirakawa grabs the Figure Four. The other two get in a fight, which breaks things up and everything breaks down.

Aminata headbutts the heck out of Lane and they all need a breather. Back up and Aminata and Shirakawa win a forearm off but Aminata gets double teamed to the apron. That’s broken up as Shirakawa comes in with a dropkick, setting up the Figure Four to make Kai tap at 7:43.

Rating: C+. This was another added on match which did little more than let Shirakawa and Aminata be out there. Lane and Kai were fine enough but they were more or less glorified crash test dummies. It was completely acceptable, but it was only there to fill in a spot on the card.

Kickoff Show: Rascalz vs. Premiere Athletes

Xavier blasts Nese with a dropkick to start and busts out some jumping jacks. It’s off to Reed, who gets sent into the corner and hammered down to put the Athletes in control. That doesn’t last long as Xavier fights back and hits a running shooting star press. Mark Sterling offers a quick distraction though and a DDT puts Xavier down.

A bunch of choking on the floor gives Daivari two on Xavier as the massive cheating is on. Xavier fights up and hits a heck of a right hand, allowing the tag off to Reed. Everything breaks down and Xavier gets elevated DDTed. An other the shoulder Tombstone gives Nese two on Reed but Daivari knocks Nese down by mistake.

The Athletes are sent outside for Reed’s big running cutter off the apron. Wentz cutters Mark Sterling on the floor and Reed kicks Daivari down. Back up and the hammerlock DDT into the Magic Carpet Ride gives Daivari two, with Wentz flipping in for the save. Nese gets put in a fireman’s carry, with a top rope double stomp setting up a reverse Samoan driver to give Reed the pin at 11:26.

Rating: B-. It’s another fast paced and entertaining match, though it’s also a match that didn’t add much. I’m not sure what the point was in having the Athletes lose here after they were on a winning streak, but at least it was to a talented team like the Rascalz. As usual, the key is to do something with them and you never know if or when that might happen.

And now, the show proper.

Nigel McGuinness vs. Josh Woods

Pure Rules. McGuinness can’t get a wristlock to start and his front facelock earns him a trip into the corner. McGuinness grabs the ears of all things and Woods goes to the ropes for his first break. A short armscissors makes McGuinness use his own first break but he’s right back to work on Woods’ arm. That’s reversed into a sleeper and McGuinness has to go to the rope again. McGuinness rolls outside and grabs a headset, saying this isn’t going how he was expecting.

Woods gets on a headset and says this is going EXACTLY as he was expecting. Referee: “Gentlemen, I don’t know how you expected this to go. If you don’t get in the ring by the time I get to 20, you can expect to be counted out.” Hahahahahaha! They do in fact get back inside where McGuinness gives him a quick forearm (legal), which has Woods driving the two of them into the corner. McGuinness grabs a guillotine choke and Woods has to use his second rope break, causing McGuinness to do pose in celebration.

Woods charges at him and accidentally burns his third rope break as McGuinness outsmarts him again. They go outside and Woods rams him into the barricade to take over, followed by a backbreaker for two back inside. The ankle lock makes McGuinness use his last rope break but he hits something like a Tower Of London (more like a reverse Sling Blade than a stunner) on the floor.

They forearm it out on the floor and then keep it going inside until stereo boots to the face leave both of them down. Woods backbreakers him into a hard lariat for two and the ankle lock goes on again. McGuinness sends him into the corner for the break but can’t get the London Dungeon. The rebound lariat gives McGuinness the pin at 14:53.

Rating: B. Uh, ok then. This felt like it was going to be Woods beating the legend to finally get another Pure Rules Title shot and end Moriarty’s crazy long reign. Instead, McGuinness outsmarts him and scores something of an upset. I like the idea of McGuinness outsmarting him, but Woods losing here is quite the surprise.

Post match respect is shown.

We recap Viva Van challenging Red Velvet for the Women’s TV Title. Velvet is on a roll and has been rather awesome since her return. Van won one match and got the title shot. Literally her first win in ROH after seventeen losses. Commentary explains that a lot of it is due to her success outside of ROH, which basically says that promotions outside of ROH are more important.

Women’s TV Title: Viva Van vs. Red Velvet

Velvet is defending and dances a bit to avoid a test of strength. Van pulls her into a cross armbreaker but Velvet reverses and sends her out to the apron. Back in and Van grabs a dragon screw legwhip, followed by a Brock Lock to stay on the leg. The bow and arrow is broken up and they trade forearms from their knees, with Van doing a cool sit up to get back in Velvet’s face.

Velvet sends her into the corner and hammers away but gets caught in an electric chair. That’s reversed into a hurricanrana and they trade spinning shots to the face for a double near fall. Velvet’s basement superkick connects but Straight Outta Your Mama’s Kitchen is blocked. They go into the corner where Velvet has to escape an electric chair and grabs an Iconoclasm for two. Van’s implant DDT gets two and they trade rollups for two each, only for Velvet to hit the spinning kick to the head and retain at 11:18.

Rating: B-. It was a pretty nice match but there was zero reason to believe that Van was going to win here. I get the idea of “she’s done well everywhere else” but that means very little in ROH. There are all kinds of other people who could have gotten the title shot here and while Van is talented, she needed a MUCH better build up to get the title shot.

We look at AR Fox winning the TV Title last night and immediately being challenged by that wacky Lio Rush.

TV Title: Lio Rush vs. AR Fox

Fox is defending and gets suckered into the corner by the rather out there Rush. A cheap shot doesn’t get Rush very far as Fox sends him into the corner for some creepy speaking into the camera. Back up and Rush hits a running clothesline to send Fox out to the apron. Rush charges into a boot though and the running flipping double stomp on the apron connects for Fox.

Some elbows in the corner have Rush in more trouble so he bites Fox’s ear. Fox is sent outside for a big dive and a hard whip into the barricade. Back in and Rush hammers away, with an elbow to the face getting two. The chinlock goes on until Fox fights out and grabs a swinging DDT. A suplex neckbreaker drops Rush for two and here is Action Andretti at ringside.

Fox’s rolling cutter gets two more but he has to bail out of the 450. Rush spears him for two of his own and a springboard Stunner sends Fox outside. Of course that means a suicide dive, followed by a running Spanish Fly back inside. The Final Hour gives Rush two and it’s time to grab the belt. The referee doesn’t approve and takes it away, allowing Andretti to shove Rush off the top. Fox drops the 450 to retain at 15:41.

Rating: B. I was digging this a lot more until Andretti got involved. Fox wasn’t beaten, but I’m not wild on having someone help him in his first title defense. At the same time, at least Fox keeps the title and Rush seems to be spun off into something of his own. Andretti vs. Rush isn’t the most thrilling feud, but I’ll take something with a personal story over a bunch more random matches any day.

Sammy Guevara is upset about not defending the Tag Team Titles so he wants the World Title. The AEW World Title that is, as why would he want the Ring Of Honor version?

We recap Diamante challenging Deonna Purrazzo for the Women’s Pure Rules Title. Purrazzo is the inaugural champion while Athena wants her minions to hold all of the titles. Therefore, Diamante is trying to steal the Fujiwara armbar to get the title.

Women’s Pure Rules Title: Diamante vs. Deonna Purrazzo

Purrazzo is defending under Pure Rules and takes her into the corner to start. The short armscissors sends Diamante to the ropes for her first break and she pulls Purrazzo outside to strike away. Back in and Diamante fires off some chops in the corner, with Purrazzo having to use her first break to escape an ankle lock (interesting as she was already holding the rope when it went on, which feels like it could be a loophole).

A right hand earns Diamante a warning but she ties Purrazzo’s leg over the top rope. That means a running dropkick to the back can send Purrazzo crashing out to the floor for a crash. Back in and Purrazzo hits a desperation boot to the face and they’re both down. Diamante’s German suplex gets two and she gets the Fujiwara armbar.

Purrazzo is right back up with her own right hand, followed by a DDT for two. Purrazzo’s Fujiwara armbar has Diamante burning through her second break and she escapes again, earning herself a piledriver for two more. Diamante flips her off so it’s a powerbomb into the Venus de Milo to retain the title at 13:01.

Rating: B-. This worked well enough and a lot of that is because they had built up a story between the two of them. There was a reason to want to see Purrazzo beat Diamante and get some revenge, particularly by hurting the arm. I’m not sure who is supposed to beat Purrazzo, but I can go with the idea of building someone up instead of just a random title match.

Action Andretti says he turned on Lio Rush because Rush wasn’t there for him earlier tonight. He felt forgotten and that isn’t working for him. Cru is done.

We recap the Pure Rules Title match, which is the opposite end of the spectrum. Lee Moriarty is the seemingly unbeatable champion and he’s just giving Ace Austin a shot (yes they have a history elsewhere, but not around here so it’s basically cold).

Pure Rules Title: Ace Austin vs. Lee Moriarty

Moriarty is defending under Pure Rules. Moriarty takes him to the mat but his headscissors is reversed into a leglock. That’s countered into an armbar but Austin nips up and gets in a knockdown of his own. Moriarty’s armbar has Austin using his first break but he pulls Moriarty into a Muta Lock. A snap of the fingers gets Moriarty out so Austin drives him into the corner.

Moriarty twists the neck and works on the arm, with a suplex connecting for two. They fight over a cross arm choke until Moriarty goes back to the fingers. That’s reversed as well and Austin pulls him into a Koji Clutch, with Moriarty using his first break. A Death Valley Driver rocks Moriarty again but he cuts off a charge and snaps Austin’s arm over the top. Back in and the Border City Stretch goes on, with Austin reversing into a rollup for two more.

A leg trap cradle gets two as Moriarty has to use his second break. Back up and one more armbar makes Austin use his last rope break so Moriarty goes for the arm again. This time Austin sends him crashing out to the floor for the break and a breather. Back in and the Koji Clutch makes Moriarty use his last break, allowing him to grab a chickenwing. With Austin escaping, Moriarty switches into a European Clutch while grabbing the rope to retain at 16:07.

Rating: B. Heck of a match here as Austin is on an absolute roll. At the same time, I have no idea what is next for the title. Josh Woods lost and we’ve done Nigel McGuinness vs. Moriarty. That’s the problem with basically a three person “division” and a bunch of thrown out there challengers. Either way, rather good match here, with Austin needing to get a big win sooner or later. He has stood out when he gets a chance, but he needs to turn that into something.

Red Velvet is annoyed that she’s not in the Women’s Owen Hart Tournament. Willow Nightingale is, so Velvet is coming for the TBS Title on Collision.

Bustah And The Brain want the Tag Team Titles. For now though, they’ll settle for facing anyone who wants a piece of them. This brings out the Kingdom of all people for quite the surprise. They’re in for the challenge.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Shane Taylor Promotions vs. ???

The Promotions are defending in an open challenge (which came after Bustah And The Brain’s open challenge and Red Velvet accepting an open challenge) with….Dalton Castle and the Outrunners accepting. Thank goodness, as they’re the absolute most logical challengers. Bravo knocks Floyd into the corner to start and gets elbowed in the face for his efforts. It’s off to Castle vs. Dean, who has to grab the ropes to escape Castle’s suplex attempt.

The Bang A Rang is blocked as well so it’s Magnum coming in and welcoming Bravo’s chops. A slingshot cutter works a bit better for Bravo and the champs crush Magnum on the apron. Back in and a clothesline gives Bravo two and Dean grabs a front facelock. The backdrop gets Magnum out of trouble but it’s too early for the tag, as Bravo pulls Floyd off the apron. A flip over the back allows the tag off to Floyd though and house is quickly cleaned.

Taylor breaks up the Mega Powers elbow (that monster) and one heck of a right hand knocks Floyd silly. Dean hits a Bronco Buster and some elbows get a quick two. Taylor even crotches Floyd against the post to keep him in trouble. The delayed suplex drops Floyd again and Taylor comes in for an even more delayed suplex. Floyd atomic drops his way out of trouble but Magnum is knocked off the apron again.

Taylor plants Floyd for two and we hit the chinlock. Back up and Taylor misses a charge into the corner, allowing Floyd to hit a slam. Castle gets back up for the tag and manages a German suplex on Taylor. The Bang A Rang is blocked again and Christyan XO’s distraction sets up a Marcus Garvey Driver for two. The Outrunners cut the Infantry off though and it’s a Bang A Rang to Taylor. That sets up the Mega Powers Elbow for the pin and the titles at 17:46.

Rating: C+. This was rather long but absolutely the right result, as the Promotions are hardly the most thrilling team in the world and it was time for them to lose the titles. Castle and the Outrunners have been built up as a successful three man team and then they beat the champions. They missed the peak of the Outrunners’ overness and didn’t give them anything then, but at least they finally got something. This isn’t rocket science and they made it work just fine here. Just maybe trim the match down a bit, as seventeen minutes was a good while too long.

Post match the rest of the Promotions come in for the beatdown but Orange Cassidy and Mark Briscoe make the save. Cassidy and Floyd do the big handshake.

We recap Mark Davis defending the AEW National Title against CMLL’s Xelhua. The match was announced earlier this week. End of recap.

AEW National Title: Mark Davis vs. Xelhua

Davis is defending. Feeling out process to start until Davis kicks him into a headlock. A hammerlock sends Davis over to the rope so Davis knocks him down for a backsplash. Back up and Xelhua ties up the arms and poses, with Davis having to bail out to the floor. That means Davis can hit a running shoulder and fire off the rather loud chops. Back in and a hard kick to the chest gives Davis two, followed by the hard shots in the corner.

Xelhua is sent crashing out to the floor, with Davis throwing him back inside and going for the mask. That fires Xelhua up for a high crossbody and a northern lights suplex for two. A hammerlock drop gives Xelhua two more but Davis enziguris him into the ropes. The lariat is reversed into an ankle lock, sending Davis over to the ropes for the break. Xelhua slams him down but misses a top rope backsplash. Davis hits the piledriver and running clothesline for the pin at 14:15.

Rating: B-. It was a fine power vs. power match but it was ice cold coming in and that’s not the best way to go. I get the idea of the National Title being the traveling title, but that doesn’t mean much when you have so many other people jumping back and forth between ROH and AEW. It doesn’t feel special and that needs to change if this title is supposed to mean something around here.

Shane Taylor Promotions want the AEW Trios Titles and the challenge is on for Collision.

Here’s what’s coming on Collision.

The Conglomeration is ready to fight on Collision so the Promotions’ challenge is accepted. Mark Briscoe’s word of the day is “home town a** whupping”. That’s…never mind.

We recap Bandido defending the World Title against Blake Christian. Bandido won Survival Of The Fittest to retain the title over five challengers, including Christian. Now Christian wants his one on one title shot. Ignore that we are five and a half months removed from Survival Of The Fittest.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Bandido vs. Blake Christian

Bandido is defending and Lee Johnson/Jay Lethal are here with Christian. Naturally Christian bails to the floor to start before coming back in so Bandido can flip around him. Bandido knocks him into the corner for the chops, which seem to hurt his own hand. A headscissors sends Christian outside for the suicide dive but he’s right back up with one of his own.

Back in and Christian starts in on the leg, including a double knee stomp. Bandido fights up and heads to the top, where Lethal grabs his leg. That means a double ejection but Christian uses the distraction to hit a Death Valley Driver for two. Christian grabs a short armscissors but Bandido rolls away as Christian goes up top. Bandido gets tied in the Tree Of Woe for the double stomp and a triangle choke has him in more trouble.

That’s reversed into the sitout powerbomb and Bandido jumps up top for the corkscrew crossbody. A running knee gives Bandido two but the 21 Plex is blocked. Christian goes after the leg but Bandido muscles him up for a suplex. Some rolling northern lights suplexes give Bandido two but an exchange of kicks goes to Christian. Bandido is knocked outside for a suicide tornado DDT, followed by the Lethal Injection for two back inside. Christian knocks him back to the floor and let’s load up the announcers’ table.

That earns him a suplex onto the table and they go back inside, where the 21 Plex gives Bandido two. They go up top, where Christian hits a super poisonrana into a springboard 450 for two more. Christian’s 21 Plex is blocked and Bandido knocks him down again. The shooting star press his raised knees though and they’re both down.

Bandido avoids another Lethal Injection but gets superkicked into a Spanish Fly for two. With nothing else working, Christian grabs the belt and uses the distraction to hit Bandido low. A double stomp to the head gives Christian two but Bandido is back with a Styles Clash. The 21 Plex, with Christian on the mat instead of on the ropes, retains the title at 26:03.

Rating: B+. It felt like a big match and Bandido continues to deliver while he’s around. The problem is simply that he isn’t around very often and that makes for a weird World Title situation. This match should have happened a few months ago to really hit the peak of the story, but it was SO refreshing to have a story built up rather than just throwing it out there. Heck of a match here, which shouldn’t be a surprise at all given who was out there.

Post match Swerve Strickland runs out to beat down Bandido before their match at Double Or Nothing.

We recap Survival Of The Fittest. Athena has been Women’s Champion for about 28 years now and is defending against five women at once. It’s not like most women feel like a threat to her so this is the best they can do.

Women’s Title: Athena vs. Zayda Steel vs. Maya World vs. Trish Adora vs. Yuka Sakazaki vs. Billie Starkz

Athena is defending under elimination rules. Steel is rapped to the ring and Athena gets a highlight video. Athena yells at Starkz to start and they go outside, which is broken up rather quickly. Back in and we get a four way crisscross until Adora spears Steel and World. That doesn’t do much as World is up for an Asai moonsault onto everyone else.

Back in and Steel’s top rope double stomp gets two on Adora, leaving Athena to toss World and Sakazaki at the same time. Steel throws a chair at Athena’s face and then uses it to clean house (remember No DQ). The chair is wedged into the corner but Steel is sent head first into it to give Athena the elimination at 5:03.

Athena kicks the chair out but World is there to kendo stick her down. Adora gets the stick and cleans house as Athena throws in a trashcan. Adora’s suplex drops World and everyone heads outside, with Starkz loading up a table (of course). Sakazaki is sent into the barricade and Adora is sent into Athena for a spear to put Athena down. Starkz’s slingshot piledriver gets two on World and Adora chokeslams Athena through a pile of open chairs at ringside, leaving Athena looking rather dead.

Starkz clears off the announcers’ table but Adora plants her with a Death Valley Driver. Sakazaki hits the Magical Girl Splash to put Athena through a table but walks into a backbreaker back inside. The Lariat Tubman hits Athena…and Sakazaki cuts off the cover, with commentary calling that out as a dumb move. Sakazaki gives Adora a spinning faceplant for the pin at 15:39.

A Magical Girl Splash with the trashcan hits Athena but Starkz makes the save (which makes a bit more sense). Starkz gives Sakazaki a super Pancake for the pin at 17:25 and we’re down to Starkz, World and Athena. A Canadian Destroyer gives Starkz two on World so Athena grabs some kendo sticks. Athena and Starkz use the sticks to unload on World and then bury her in chairs. Naturally it’s ladder time but World dropkicks it into Athena. Starkz goes up and gets punched by Athena by mistake, allowing World to hit a sunset bomb onto the chairs for the pin at 21:47.

The two of them head outside, where Athena misses a belt shot and gets planted onto the apron for two. An over the back faceplant gives World two and she grabs an ankle lock. Athena blocks Starkz from throwing in the towel and plants World onto the chair. An O Face off the ladder drops World and retains the title at 26:12.

Rating: B-. I could have gone for a lot fewer weapons here, with the ladder for the O Face being the only real highlight. The problem is we’ve seen so many weapons based matches around AEW in recent months that this really doesn’t mean as much. Athena winning is something of a surprise, as I have no idea how she is supposed to lose. As long as it isn’t to Starkz, it should be ok, but good grief that would be a lame ending to the title reign. For now though, good enough match, but not quite as awesome as I was expecting.

Post match Diamante comes out to celebrate but Starkz and Athena argue. Starkz leaves to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. There’s a lot of really good stuff on here, but as usual at the end of a Tony Khan produced pay per view, I do not want to see these people again for a long time. This show was really, really long and came after two other Ring Of Honor shows this week. The action was rather good throughout, but they could have easily dropped the National Title match and trimmed some others. As usual, too much going on, but that might be outweighed by the matches actually feeling important for a change. Just fix the Tag Team Title situation and it’s a lot better. Good show, and with some tweaks it could have been great.

Results
Sammy Guevara b. Action Andretti – GTH
Rush b. LSG – Bull’s Horns
Mina Shirakawa/Queen Aminata b. Lacey Lane/Janai Kai – Figure Four to Kai
Rascalz b. Premiere Athletes – Top rope double stomp/reverse Samoan driver combination to Nese
Nigel McGuinness b. Josh Woods – Rebound lariat
Red Velvet b. Viva Van – Spinning kick to the head
AR Fox b. Lio Rush – 450
Deonna Purrazzo b. Diamante – Venus de Milo
Lee Moriarty b. Ace Austin – European Clutch while holding the ropes
Mark Davis b. Xelhua – Running clothesline
Bandido b. Blake Christian – 21 Plex
Athena won Survival Of The Fittest last eliminating World

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Ring Of Honor
Date: May 14, 2026
Location: SoFi Center, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

It’s the night before Supercard Of Honor and this is the second Ring Of Honor show of the week. The bonus show from Tuesday was a big preview for Supercard and it worked out pretty well. There is a good chance that this will be a slightly longer version of that, though the TV Title is on the line here. Let’s get to it.

Here is Tuesday’s show if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Maya World/Lacey Lane/Yuka Sakazaki vs. Marina Shafir/Athena/Billie Starkz

Athena flips out of Sakazaki’s hiptoss to start and they’re already in a standoff for a handshake. Shafir comes in and easily takes Sakazaki down so it’s off to Lane, who has to escape a choke. We get the fight over a six woman suplex with Athena’s team getting the better of things. Everything breaks down and Athena holds up World and Lane at the same time until a superkick knocks them all down.

Sakazaki gets caught in the wrong corner and Athena hammers away but also runs over to the corner to knock the other two off. Starkz comes in for two but Sakazaki fires off some elbows to Athena. That’s not enough for the tag though as Sakazaki gets pulled back into the middle.

A discus forearm drops Athena so Shafir comes in, leaving World and Athena to brawl on the floor. Sakazaki gets over for the tag to Lane, who cleans house and Death Valley Drivers Lane for two. Shafir and World brawl on the floor until Sakazaki takes them both out with a dive. Lane and Starkz trade kicks to the head with Starkz getting the better of things. The Swanton connects but Athena tags herself in and steals the pin at 11:28.

Rating: B-. Take a bunch of people in a title match and put them into a six woman tag with a few others thrown in to fill out the card. It’s a good preview for the match and Athena gets to look strong on her way into what is probably her toughest title defense to date. Athena almost has to lose tomorrow night I’ve been saying that for….years now?

Tommy Billington/Adam Priest vs. Death Riders

Of course it’s Wheeler Yuta/Daniel Garcia and Jon Moxley/Pac are with them. Garcia takes Billington down and gives him a quick kick, which has Billington annoyed. Priest comes in and Garcia hands it off to Yuta, likely out of fear. A double suplex drops Billington ribs first onto the top rope and a knee drop gives Garcia two. Yuta ties up the leg and Priest gets knocked off the apron to prevent a tag that wasn’t even being attempted.

Billington pops up and runs over for the tag (that was sudden), allowing Priest to clean house. The half crab goes on and Yuta’s kicks just annoy Priest, who grabs the same hold on him instead. Priest lets go to slug it out with Garcia and Yuta’s running knee misses. Billington gets piledriven and an STO/running knee combination finishes Priest at 10:37.

Rating: B-. This is a good example of a technically acceptable match which wasn’t overly interesting because neither team is doing anything. Billington and Priest had that feud with the Lethal Twist to boost them up a bit and now they’re stuck in the same place as so many other teams. On the other hand you have Garcia and Yuta, who are on every hand because the Death Riders have to be involved in everything.

Added to Supercard Of Honor: Mark Davis defending the AEW National Title against Xelhua.

Satnam Singh vs. CD Bennett/James Tapia

Singh throws them around and hits the double crossbody before shrugging them off again. The double chokeslam finishes for Singh at 1:32. This is something that is mainly for the live audience so they can see the giant but since EVERYTHING MUST BE FILMED AND AIRED around here, this is what we get.

Angelico vs. Josh Woods

Pure Rules. They fight over arm control to start with Woods spinning around and grabbing a snapmare. Angelico grabs the arm and that makes Woods accidentally back into the ropes for the first break. Woods is mad enough to drive Angelico into the corner and then plant him down, where Angelico gets in a kick to the head. That’s shrugged off and Rolling Chaos Theory finishes Angelico at 3:44.

Rating: C+. Yeah cool. Now that Woods has been built up as the most amazing technical wrestler anywhere, how many months do we wait before he gets his title shot? I’m going to go with fewer than whomever gets the random title match at the pay per view, because Ring Of Honor likes to play the REALLY long game with title shots. Or they do the opposite and hand them out at random. Either way, there is pretty much no need for one Pure Rules Title, let alone two.

Post match Woods goes after the arm and beats up Serpentico as well. Nigel McGuinness runs in for the save, but Woods bails from the threat of a fight.

Red Velvet talks about going way back with Viva Van and knows how hard Van has worked to get here. Velvet has carried this division on her back (What division?) and it’s time for Van to step in the ring with the backbone of this division (WHAT DIVISION?). Yeah that’s all well and good. Forgive me for not thinking that someone who is 1-17 in Ring Of Honor is a threat to the title.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Eddie Kingston/Ortiz/Mance Warner vs. Shane Taylor Promotions

The Promotions are defending and it’s a big brawl before the bell. Ortiz and Bravo start things off and it’s off to Warner for some Snake Eyes. Kingston comes in to shoulder Taylor to no avail so Kingston goes with a shot to the face instead. A suplex doesn’t work though and Taylor takes him into the corner for some clubberin.

Dean adds a Bronco Buster into a chinlock, with Kingston getting back up. Kingston chops away at Taylor and manages to plant him off a charge. Warner comes in to clean house, including the big poke to Bravo’s eyes. Everything breaks down and Warner’s running knee gets two on Bravo. Christian XO offers a distraction though and it’s a belly to back suplex neckbreaker combination to finish Warner and retain the titles at 8:52.

Rating: C+. This was every “champions vs. thrown together team” title match that you would see. It’s the same idea of most of the Pure Rules Title matches: the champions are more experienced and know how to do this kind of match so they retain the titles. If only there were a few challengers who had done this same kind of match over and over as well, they might actually have some more interesting challengers.

Video on Blake Christian vs. Bandido.

Blake Christian vs. Evil Uno

This is Christian’s first singles match in Ring Of Honor this year and he has the rest of the Lethal Twist with him. Christian jumps him to start fast and gets knocked into the corner for some rapid fire clotheslines. Uno’s piledriver is countered with a backdrop though and Christian gives him a basement dropkick out to the floor.

Back in and a springboard elbow puts Uno down and Christian gets to talk trash. Uno comes back with a running boot into a DDT for two, only for Christian to send him into the ropes. Christian puts on the Bandido mask but the 21 Plex is blocked. Instead it’s a Lethal Injection into a Shining Wizard into the Vanilla Choke Zero to give Christian the win at 4:15.

Rating: C. Well, it’s better than not having him wrestle before the title match. I have no idea why I’m supposed to care about Christian’s singles success when he hasn’t done it for about five months but that’s the likely co-main event for the show. Uno was just cannon fodder here and that’s what he should be in bigger matches.

Post match Christian promises to win the World Title.

Lee Moriarty gives Ace Austin a Pure Rules Title shot.

Austin is undefeated in Ring Of Honor and even though he’s lost in AEW, he’s getting better! It’s inevitable that he’ll be a champion and it will happen tomorrow.

Deonna Purrazzo vs. Kaci Lennox

Non-title Pure Rules Proving Ground match. The bigger Lennox tries to go with the power to start but has to get out of a piledriver attempt. Back up and Lennox knocks her into the corner for some trash talk, followed by a clothesline for two. Purrazzo has had it with this though and pulls Lennox into the Fujiwara armbar for the win at 3:36.

Rating: C-. This was in fact Purrazzo doing the Pure Rules thing that she has proven she’s great at for…like a year plus now? I’m really not sure why we needed to see her do it again and the match didn’t have time to get anywhere. At least Purrazzo has an actual feud coming up at Supercard, which puts her further than most of her other title defenses.

Post match Diamante runs in and hits Purrazzo with the belt before giving her a Fujiwara armbar.

Outrunners/Dalton Castle vs. Baby Keef/Charlie Malachite/Xander Maddox

Magnum and Malachite fight over a headlock to start until Magnum chops him into the corner. For some reason Keef comes in to try some shots to the back, meaning the Outrunners get to beat up all three of them at once. Castle comes in to fire off the suplexes and it’s a triple slam to Malachite. There’s the Mega Powers Elbow to give Castle the pin at 3:14.

Rating: C. Cool now the Outrunners and Castle, who have been winning six man matches for months on end, get their title match right? I mean of course they probably won’t because that’s not how Ring Of Honor works, but it’s certainly the logical way to go. Otherwise, it’s just the same win that they get ever time, albeit against an opponent named Baby Keef this time.

Athena is ready to win but Billie Starkz comes in to ask what that was about. Athena doesn’t want to hear about this because she has kept Starkz around for three years now and it’s time for everyone to acknowledge what she has done. Starkz is annoyed but thanks her, with Athena telling her to follow the plan tomorrow night.

Survival Of The Fittest Qualifying Match: Hyan vs. Zayda Steel

Maya World and Christopher Daniels are here too. They trade small packages to start and pop up for a standoff. Hyan nails a basement dropkick but gets sent face first into the buckle. Steel knocks her outside, where Hyan blocks a suicide dive and hits a suplex on the floor. Back in and Steel pulls her into an STF so Hyan crawls to the rope, which she grabs with her teeth. That lets them trade rollups for some near falls until Hyan blocks an Unprettier attempt. Instead Steel grabs a swinging Unprettier for the pin at 5:04.

Rating: C+. This was a case where something had to be covered and they did it in a rather simple way. That’s not a bad thing either, as Steel or Hyan going forward is fine. If nothing else, it was nice to have a match that felt like it had some stakes, as it’s hard to imagine that Athena leaves with the title. Why not Steel? I mean other than she’s still relatively new and feels like a longer term project, but at least she’s in there.

Post match respect is shown.

TV Title: AR Fox vs. Nick Wayne

Fox is challenging and Wayne’s associates are here with him. They start fast with an exchange of rollups for two each until Fox slingshots in for an anarchist suplex. Wayne bails to the floor where he catches Fox with a shot to the ribs. That just earns him a step up moonsault from the middle rope, allowing Fox to clothesline away back inside. Kip Sabian crotches Fox on top though and Sliced Bread off the steps drops Fox on the floor. Mother Wayne adds some choking and Nick’s legdrop gets two.

The seated abdominal stretch keeps Fox in trouble but he’s right back up with a running hanging DDT. Fox pulls him into a cutter and hits a package powerbomb for two more. Nick is right back with a standing Sliced Bread for two of his own and a shot to the back keeps Fox in trouble. Code Red gives Nick two more but Fox seems to get ticked off. Fox knocks him outside for the big running flip dive but the Swanton hits raised knees back inside. Back up and Fox grabs a small package out of nowhere for the pin and the title at 12:58.

Rating: B. Cool. I was wrong about Ring Of Honor never doing anything with Fox and it’s nice to see him get some gold. That’s a nice surprise and rather long overdue, but it also gives you a reason to believe that someone could get a title win out of nowhere. It’s not like Nick was doing anything with the title so this is a nice change of pace.

Post match Lio Rush (he’s crazy again) pops up issue the challenge for the title for Supercard and the match is immediately made. Please don’t put it on Rush. Please?

Premiere Athletes vs. Ernest R. Alexander/Jacey Love/Ricky Martinez

Because this show can’t just end already. Nese backs Alexander into the corner to start and gets in some quick jumping jacks. Alexander tries to do the same and gets clotheslined down, allowing Daivari to come in to hammer away. Denali drops Love onto the turnbuckle but Love gets over to Martinez. That earns him a beatdown of his own and Denali chokeslams Love for the pin at 3:29.

Rating: C-. The Athletes are the perfect example of “they’re just kind of here” in Ring Of Honor. They don’t have feuds and they don’t have anything to go after at the moment, but they’re around almost every week. I have no idea why anyone would want to see them that often, but that has been the case since Ring Of Honor came back.

Bandido vs. Action Andretti

Non-title Proving Ground match and this is Bandido’s first singles match in Ring Of Honor since September. Bandido flips around to start but Andretti sticks the landing on a hurricanrana attempt. Back up and Bandido sends him into the corner, earning a handshake from Bandido. Andretti sends him into the corner and does a quick dance before knocking Bandido outside.

That means the big flip dive can connect and Andretti grabs a belly to back suplex for two. Bandido muscles him up and over with a suplex though and adds a corkscrew high crossbody. The frog splash misses for Bandido so Andretti gives him a hurricanrana for two more. Back up and Bandido grabs the one armed gorilla press for two and Andretti flips into the X Knee for the pin at 7:45.

Rating: B-. Oh yeah Bandido works here. Given that he hadn’t wrestled in Ring Of Honor for nearly four months, it was kind of hard to remember. The match was fast paced enough, but dang it’s hard to get interested in this after two hours tonight alone. Bandido vs. Christian doesn’t feel important, but at least Bandido was here to promote the match.

Post match Blake Christian comes out to throw Bandido the mask, because he only cares about the title.

Overall Rating: C. This was a Ring Of Honor show and while it felt important for the sake of the big push towards Supercard, this and Tuesday’s show combined for about three hours. That doesn’t make me want to watch the pay per view, but rather take a break from Ring Of Honor. It was like they had to cram the build for Supercard into the last two shows and that doesn’t make for a fun way to go. This show felt WAY more important than usual, but trim off a good forty five minutes (it wouldn’t be hard) and maybe do some of this stuff over the last two weeks instead of two days. You know, what Ring Of Honor won’t do.

Results
Marina Shafir/Athena/Billie Starkz b. Maya World/Lacey Lane/Yuka Sakazaki – Swanton to Lane
Death Riders b. Tommy Billington/Adam Priest – Running knee/STO combination to Priest
Satnam Singh b. CD Bennett/James Tapia – Double chokeslam
Josh Woods b. Angelico – Rolling Chaos Theory
Shane Taylor Promotions b. Mance Warner/Ortiz/Eddie Kingston – Belly to back suplex neckbreaker combination to Warner
Blake Christian b. Evil Uno – Vanilla Choke Zero
Deonna Purrazzo b. Kaci Lennox – Fujiwara armbar
Outrunners/Dalton Castle b. Baby Keef/Charlie Malachite/Xander Maddox – Mega Powers Elbow to Malachite
Zayda Steel b. Hyan – Swinging Unprettier
AR Fox b. Nick Wayne – Small package
Premiere Athletes b. Ernest R. Alexander/Jacey Love/Ricky Martinez – Chokeslam to Love
Bandido b. Action Andretti – X Knee

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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