Final Battle 2022
Date: December 10, 2022
Location: College Park Center, Arlington, Texas
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

It’s the third or so Ring Of Honor event of the year, assuming you don’t count a good chunk of the Rampages from earlier this year. The main event of the show is (probably) Chris Jericho defending the Ring Of Honor World Title against Claudio Castagnoli, with a bonus feature of FTR vs. the Briscoes in a dog collar match for FTR’s Tag Team Titles. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Mascara Dorada vs. Jeff Cobb

Dorada (better known as Gran Metalik) gets nowhere off a shoulder so a springboard flip is enough to put Cobb on the floor. The dive is pulled out of the air though and Cobb posts him hard to take over. Back in and Cobb stands on his back for a surfing pose, followed by a heck of a shot to the face for two. Cobb misses a charge into the corner though and Dorada sends him outside again, this time for the big flip dive.

Back in again and a rope walk senton gives Dorada two but Cobb knocks him out of the air. A standing moonsault gives Cobb two but Tour of the Islands is countered into a rollup for two on Cobb. Dorada puts him on top for a rope walk bulldog and a near fall of his own, only to get blasted in the back of the head. Tour of the Islands finishes Dorada at 7:04.

Rating: C+. Cobb is a total wrecking ball and he did wrecking ball style things here. They went with the power vs. speed formula and that is something that will work every single time. It’s a fine choice for an opener to get the fans going, though it doesn’t exactly mean much if Cobb isn’t going to be around more than once every few months.

Shinobi Shadow Squad vs. Jericho Appreciation Society

This would be Cheeseburger/Eli Isom vs. Matt Menard/Angelo Parker. Isom and Parker shake hands for a good while to start, trade armdrags, and then shake hands again. Cheeseburger comes in and gets to do the TOO SLOW thing when Parker offers the handshake. Parker insists but then gets his kick to the ribs cut off. It’s off to Menard for a backbreaker with Parker adding a running knee to the head for two as the villains take over.

Parker gets in a Garvin Stomp as the fans want Burger to go. A step up elbow to the back rocks Cheeseburger again but he avoids a charge and brings Isom in to clean house. Everything breaks down and Cheeseburger’s Shotei palm strike doesn’t get the chance to launch. With Cheeseburger outside, a double inverted DDT finishes Isom at 5:54.

Rating: C. Another perfectly watchable match which could have been on any given Rampage. Isom was starting to put something together before Ring Of Honor went on hiatus and it’s a bit sad to see him losing to a pair of comedy goofs. Still though, the Society is far bigger right now and it makes sense for them to get a win like this.

Zero Hour: Willow Nightingale vs. Trish Adora

The fans like Nightingale as she takes Adora down, only to get reversed into a headscissors. That’s reversed into a headscissors from Nightingale, apparently the favorite of both commentators’ wives. Back up and Nightingale sends her into the corner for some running hip attacks, only to have Adora come back with a northern lights suplex.

Adora scores with an enziguri and they both slowly pull themselves up. Nightingale hits some hard chops and a middle rope dropkick gets two on Adora. A powerbomb is loaded up but Adora lifts her up and bends it into a failed submission attempt (that was cool). Back up and Nightingale hits a heck of a Pounce, setting up a Doctor Bomb to finish Adora at 6:15.

Rating: C. I know it’s said a lot but Nightingale is so bubbly and fun to watch every time that it is hard to ignore her anytime she is in the ring. That was the case here, against someone as talented as Adora. Nice enough, hard hitting match here and the fans are always going to be into someone with Nightingale’s charisma.

Zero Hour: The Kingdom vs. Top Flight

Maria Kanellis is here with the Kingdom. Dante sends Bennett into the corner to start and it’s off to Taven rather quickly. That doesn’t exactly go well as Dante gets sent outside, with Bennett hitting a bouncing clothesline to take over again. Back in and Dante drives Bennett into the corner, allowing Darius to hit a kick to the head.

Bennett is fine enough to suplex Darius for two as we slow right back down. A Kimura has Darius in even more trouble but he flips his way out for the escape. Darius slugs away to fire up the crowd, which is cut off with a poke to the eye. A quick Spanish Fly gets Darius out of trouble though and the hot tag brings in Dante to clean house.

Everything breaks down and Bennett Death Valley Drivers Dante, setting up Just The Tip for two. Darius hits a big dive onto Bennett but Taven Flight of the Conquerors both of them down. Dante…slips on his attempt at a dive so Maria yells a lot, earning herself an ejection. Back in and the Hail Mary is broken up, allowing Top Flight to hit a powerbomb/Nose Dive combination for the pin at 11:13.

Rating: B-. Best match of Zero Hour, with Taven’s dives continuing to look good, but not being quite as smooth as Top Flight. Yeah Dante slipped once in there but that’s a bit understandable when you are flying around like a crazy person like that. Good stuff here, and it’s nice to see Top Flight A, winning and B, healthy for once.

On to the show proper.

AR Fox/Blake Christian vs. La Faccion Ingobernable

That would be Rush/Dralistico (his debuting brother). Christian and Dralistico start things off with an exchange of flips before Dralistico punches him down for offering a handshake. Rush comes in to forearm Fox and everything breaks down fast. La Faccion takes it outside and sends them into the barricade over and over for some pain. Back in and La Faccion beats on Christian, even taking turns on him for a change.

Christian finally gets away from a charge and brings Fox in to pick up the pace. That means some running flip dives to take out La Faccion on the floor. Rush is fine enough to send Christian into the barricade, setting up Dralistico’s dive to take them both out. Back in and Lo Mein Pain sets up the middle rope flip DDT to Dralistico. Fox adds a 450 for the pin at 10:32, though everyone seems surprised at the ending.

Rating: C+. That ending didn’t do the match any favors but there is only so much that can be done here. La Faccion losing didn’t feel like the original plan and it doesn’t make the most sense, so maybe we can write some of this one off. It’s cool to see Fox on a show like this though, as he has certainly earned the spot.

Post match La Faccion wrecks Fox and Christian to blow off some steam.

Video on Mercedes Martinez defending the Women’s Title against Athena. Martinez returned from an injury to deal with the bully Athena, meaning it’s time for a title match.

Women’s Title: Mercedes Martinez vs. Athena

Martinez is defending and takes her into the corner for some early forearms to the head. Athena gets fired up and hammers Martinez down, including a backhand to the jaw. Back up and Martinez hits a spinebuster (the fans do not approve) to start the rather early comeback. That doesn’t last long as Athena shoves her off, setting up a basement superkick for two.

Martinez is right back up with some suplexes into a brainbuster for two more. A Prism Trap is broken up though and Athena plants her hard on the apron. They head outside with Athena missing some running knees into the barricade so Martinez can grab a hanging neckbreaker off the barricade. Back in and the Brass City Sleeper is broken up so Athena gets to pull the turnbuckle pad off. A shotgun dropkick sends Martinez into the exposed buckle and the O Face gives Athena the pin and the title at 12:55.

Rating: C. That was the only way to go, as Martinez has been away for a long time but while Athena is in the middle of a rather nice heel turn. Also, Athena had to win something outside of NXT at some point to make her feel more important and this is as good as anything else. Decent match, but the right call is much more important.

Shane Taylor isn’t happy with Keith Lee forgetting him so let’s have a tag team grudge match.

Shane Taylor Promotions vs. Swerve In Our Glory

That would be Shane Taylor/JD Griffey vs. Swerve Strickland/Keith Lee. Swerve and Griffey grapple into the corner to start with Griffey taking him down for a choke. With that broken up, Lee comes in, earning a serenade from the crowd. Lee shoves Griffey around and the fans want Shane. That is what they get, but Swerve tags himself right back in to cut the fans off again. The villains (I think?) take over on Swerve and Taylor hits a huge apron legdrop to crush him hard.

Swerve is fine enough to get over for the tag to Lee and NOW we get the showdown. They forearm it out with Taylor getting the better of things, only to have Lee pull him out of the air. Taylor is sent outside and Lee hits Griffey in the face, only to have him counter the powerbomb/Swerve Stomp combination. Griffey sends Lee outside but Lee pulls the dive out of the air. Swerve yells at Lee for not crushing him, leaving Taylor to catch Swerve in a hanging Stunner for two.

Back in and Griffey hits a brainbuster onto the knee, setting up a triangle choke. Lee looks at them but goes over to just Taylor instead of making the save. With that taken care of, Lee moonsaults onto Griffey for the save and it’s back to Lee vs. Taylor. Actually make that a double slugout, with Lee accidentally forearming the heck out of Swerve. Taylor muscles Lee up for Welcome To The Land. Lee glares up at Taylor…who Griffey accidentally kicks in the head. A quick Big Bang Catastrophe gives Lee the pin on Griffey at 13:35.

Rating: B-. This had a bigger match feel and the Lee vs. Taylor section came off like a showdown. It also had me wondering why we needed Griffey and Swerve in there, but that is more about this being an AEW story than an ROH story. We can get to that showdown later, but for now it was a good match with kind of a weird ending.

We recap the Six Man Tag Team Titles. Dalton Castle and Boys have the titles and the Embassy want them.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: The Embassy vs. Dalton Castle/The Boys

The Embassy (Brian Cage/Gates of Agony, with Prince Nana) is challenging. Castle and Kaun start things off but hold on as Castle needs to run around ringside for a bit. Back in and the Boys trip Cage up to take over. Toa comes in so Castle sends him outside, where the stereo dives are pulled out of the air.

We settle down to Brandon getting caught in the wrong corner so the villains can start taking turns on him. A big toss sends Brandon flying but he’s able to DDT his way to freedom. Castle comes in and starts cleaning house, including a variety of suplexes. It’s back to Brent, who gets pulled out of the air, allowing Toa to Samoan drop both Boys at once, because that’s a thing.

Brent slugs his way out of trouble though and Cage/Kaun clothesline each other by mistake. Everything breaks down and Cage Drill Claws Brent, only to have Castle make a save. Nana offers a distraction though and Toa drives Brent into Castle. Brent gets tossed into a sitout powerbomb from Cage for the pin and the titles at 10:06.

Rating: C+. This is exactly what it should have been as there is no need for Castle and the Boys to have the titles (which don’t exactly need to exist in the first place). Castle is ready to be a breakout singles star (as he has been for a long time now) and the Embassy needed to win something so they wouldn’t come off as even bigger losers. Good enough match with the absolute right result.

Video on Daniel Garcia defending the Pure Title against Wheeler Yuta. Garcia took the title from Yuta recently and it’s time for the rematch.

Top Flight is ready to go but the Jericho Appreciation Society interrupts, setting up a brawl. The four of them come into the arena with Dante hitting a big flip dive. With Top Flight cleared out, Angelo Parker asks why Ring Of Honor died if it was so great. There were too many flippy guys like Top Flight, so it’s going to take Chris Jericho to save it. Menard asks if we know what makes his nipples hard before pulling out Jake Hager’s hat. They promise a clean sweep but Wheeler Yuta cuts them off.

Pure Title: Wheeler Yuta vs. Daniel Garcia

Garcia is defending under Pure Rules. Feeling out process to start before they slug it out with forearms. They’re on the floor fast with Garcia grabbing a suplex. Garcia sends him hard into the post, with commentary making comparisons to Randy Savage crushing Ricky Steamboat’s throat. With Trent Seven watching from the crowd, Yuta is thrown back inside, where he has to use his first (of three) rope break.

A surfboard in the ropes forces Yuta to use another break so Garcia grabs a cravate. Garcia ties up the legs for a curb stomp but Yuta is back up with an enziguri. That’s fine with Garcia, who pulls him into a dragon sleeper, sending Yuta to the ropes for the third time. This time Yuta is up with a top rope forearm to the head but Garcia is right back with the Dragonslayer.

Yuta grabs the head to slam it into the mat for the escape and counters another attempt into a small package for two. They slap it out from their knees until Yuta grabs a German suplex. Garcia is back with a piledriver and Yuta is in more trouble. The Dragonslayer goes on again so Yuta pulls himself into the ropes, which brings Garcia down enough for Yuta to pull him outside for a break. Garcia’s piledriver on the apron is blocked, leaving Yuta to hit his own piledriver for two. Yuta knocks him silly with elbows and the referee stops it to give Yuta the title back at 14:51.

Rating: B. These guys know how to do this stuff very well and that was the case again here. They have figured out the style and know how to work it, even with some slightly odd ref decisions on rope breaks. The title is pretty much just between these two, but if they can keep doing this, I think I can live with it. At the same time, it’s amazing how much more tolerable Garcia is without having him be focused on so often.

Post match Garcia hands the title to Yuta before leaving.

We recap FTR vs. the Briscoes. They’ve fought twice before with FTR winning, so let’s do it again in a dog collar match.

Tag Team Titles: FTR vs. Briscoes

FTR is defending in a double dog collar match. They collar up and we’re ready to go with Harwood and Jay fighting to the floor, leaving the other two to fight on the apron. We go split screen with Cash and Mark fighting on the stage as Harwood and Jay break things in the crowd. We’ve already got blood as Harwood and Jay get back inside, with Harwood snapping off some suplexes.

Mark gets choked on the post but is fine enough to go back inside to slug at Harwood (who might be missing a tooth). Jay wraps the chain around his fist to hammer on Harwood as Cash is down on the floor. The fans are split (like Harwood’s forehead) but Wheeler uses the chair to cut Mark off. Jay gets knocked outside so FTR gets to whip Mark for a bit. Back in and Jay gets caught in a Gory Stretch with the chain until Mark makes the save.

A Froggy Bow with the chain gets two on Wheeler, leaving Mark to set up a table and a pile of chairs on the floor. That takes too long though, allowing Harwood to make a save. Back in and Harwood wraps a chain around his head for the middle rope headbutt to knock Jay silly. Harwood accidentally punches the referee though and even he is busted open this time.

With the new referee in, Mark fights off the table at ringside but the Doomsday Device takes too long. That leaves Wheeler to pull Mark off the top and onto the pile of chairs at ringside (GEEZ). Jay is back up with a Jay Driller onto the chain for a VERY close two to Harwood and we keep going. A hard chair shot to the back rocks Harwood again but he’s back up with a piledriver onto the chair for two of his own.

Harwood chops Jay on top but a super piledriver onto the chairs is broken up (thankfully preventing a nasty case of death). Jay superplexes Harwood down onto the chairs for a rather delayed two. With that not working, Jay wraps the chain around Harwood’s face and chokes him out for the titles at 22:20.

Rating: A. If that isn’t the Match of the Year, it’s pretty close. These teams have some of the best chemistry I’ve ever seen and it feels like they can do no wrong no matter what they’re doing. This was an absolute war and I was cringing at the violent spots, which is entirely the point of something like this one. Outstanding match and a different kind of fight from them, with the Briscoes finally leaving with the titles. Watch this if you’re a fan of violence.

Post match the Briscoes leave, allowing the Gunn Club to run in and beat down FTR. The Gunns promise to kill FTR’s legacies but the Briscoes run in for the save. With Harwood on the mat, he promises vengeance on the Gunns, who aren’t scared. Respect is shown, as it should be.

We recap Samoa Joe defending the TV Title against Juice Robinson. Joe has the title, Robinson popped up to say he wanted it, match made.

TV Title: Samoa Joe vs. Juice Robinson

Joe is defending. Feeling out process to start with Joe working on the wrist but getting caught with the snap jabs to the face. They head outside for a chop off, with Joe peeling back the floor mat. Robinson gets caught in the Koquina Clutch, which is broken up with a hard ram into the barricade. Joe is back up with a ram into the barricade of his own and they head back inside, with Joe looking moderately annoyed.

We hit the neck crank for a bit until Robinson fights up, setting off the slugout. Joe kicks him in the chest but Robinson is back up with chops and punches in the corner. That doesn’t last long as Joe powerbombs him into the STF into the Crossface, sending Robinson into the rope. Robinson knocks him back down but gets crotched on top. The MuscleBuster retains the title at 13:01.

Rating: C+. This match was in a rough spot and they made it work anyway. What mattered here was giving the fans a breather after an epic battle and a lot of that was due to Joe’s popularity. Fans know they are getting something special with him and that kept the energy up. Robinson was pretty much a challenger of the week and even then he was quite fine in his spot. Good match here, but making it work after the previous match is more impressive.

We recap Claudio Castagnoli vs. Chris Jericho for the latter’s World Title. Jericho wants to destroy Ring Of Honor and Castagnoli is fighting for it. I think you can get the rest from here.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Chris Jericho vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Jericho is defending and if he wins, Castagnoli has to join the Jericho Appreciation Society. Castagnoli starts fast and they head to the floor, where commentary is wiped out. Back in and the hammer and anvil elbows have Jericho in trouble but he’s right back up. The Judas Effect misses and the Neutralizer gives Castagnoli two as we’re not even two minutes in. They’re back on the floor with Jericho sending him into some hard objects to take over.

Back in and Jericho makes some rude gestures before suplexing Castagnoli down. Castagnoli goes for some elbows but his back is rather banged up. A whip into the corner and a clothesline have Castagnoli in more trouble before Jericho rains down some right hands. The super hurricanrana is blocked for some forearms to Jericho’s chest (Ocho of them in fact!”) but Jericho pulls him down anyway.

Castagnoli’s back is too banged up for the Swing so they head outside again with Castagnoli being whipped into the steps. Back in and the slug it out until a double clothesline puts both of them down. They slug it out again until another Swing is countered into the Walls. Castagnoli slips out and hits an uppercut but here is the Society for a distraction. Jericho gets in a bat shot for two and the Codebreaker cuts Castagnoli off again. Back up and Castagnoli grabs the Swing, with the fans chanting to OCHO again. The Swing keeps going….and Jericho taps while swinging at 16:53. Well that was clever.

Rating: B. There was only so much drama here as it was a little hard to imagine Jericho winning to end the show built around saving the company. Castagnoli winning kind of gets us right back where we were when the Jericho stuff started, but it was a good main event to wrap things up. Jericho can move on to whatever else and Castagnoli can face challengers in awesome matches, which is better for everyone involved.

Commentary praises Tony Khan for saving the company as Castagnoli gets the big celebration to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This was a show carried by a few matches but one of them carried it a VERY long way. The Ring of Honor TV material is hardly the most thrilling but as usual, it works a lot better when they are able to get in the ring and do everything else. Granted a lot of that is due to the Briscoes and FTR tearing the house down every time, though the rest of the show was certainly good enough. Not a masterpiece and there were some slow spots, but the top stuff was VERY good and that’s all you needed to make this work

Results
Jeff Cobb b. Mascara Dorada – Tour of the Islands
Jericho Appreciation Society b. Shinobi Shadow Squad – Double inverted DDT to Isom
Willow Nightingale b. Trish Adora – Doctor Bomb
Top Flight b. Kingdom – Powerbomb/Nose Dive combination to Bennett
AR Fox/Blake Christian b. La Faccion Ingobernable – 450 to Dralistico
Athena b. Mercedes Martinez – O Face
Swerve In Our Glory b. Swerve In Our Glory – Big Bang Catastrophe to Griffey
The Embassy b. Dalton Castle/The Boys – Powerbomb to Brent
Wheeler Yuta b. Daniel Garcia via referee stoppage
Briscoes b. FTR – Chain choke to Harwood
Samoa Joe b. Juice Robinson – MuscleBuster
Claudio Castagnoli b. Chris Jericho – Giant Swing

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It’s time to wrap up the Ring Of Honor year with its third event, as Final Battle closes us out. As you might expect, this is mainly going to be about AEW stars as Ring Of Honor is less a promotion than a really big and loosely connected angle on AEW TV at the moment. We have a double main event of FTR defending the Tag Team Titles against the Briscoes in a double dog collar match, plus Claudio Castagnoli challenging Chris Jericho for the Ring Of honor World Title. Yeah that should work. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Jericho Appreciation Society vs. Shinobi Shadow Squad

This is one of the several added matches to flesh out the card, or in this case the card that happens before the card. The Squad is one of those teams who pops up all the time in Ring Of Honor but rarely gets to do anything important. In other words, they are perfect to face a pair of goofs like Menard and Parker in a match with absolutely nothing at stake in a spot like this.

In what is probably going to be a trend, I’ll take the AEW guys to win here as the Society gets to do their catchphrases and such and win early. It’s a match that means nothing, but the Society feels like the bigger stars because they have been around more than once in the last few months. That is about all you can ask for here in another match that is added onto the card for the sake of content.

Zero Hour: Jeff Cobb vs. Mascara Dorada

Cobb is a much bigger deal in New Japan these days and Dorada is better known as Gran Metalik. This is another match with no story that has been thrown onto the show, but power vs. speed is the easiest wrestling formula in the world. It’s always fun to watch Cobb throw someone around and Dorada is good enough to put up quite the fight against him if they can have a little time.

As good as Dorada can be, there is no reason to have him go over someone like Cobb, so we’ll go with the logical choice of Cobb winning. Cobb is someone who could be a star in AEW if he was given the chance, but for some reason he only makes an odd appearance in either AEW or ROH. Maybe it is the Japan schedule, but he should be fine to win here in one of those appearances.

Zero Hour: Willow Nightingale vs. Trish Adora

This is an interesting one as you have two women who have a good bit of charisma each. They’re both fun to watch and catch your attention every time they are in the ring so we certainly shouldn’t be having a boring match. Adora is someone better known for her independent stuff, though she was part of ROH’s women’s division (whatever that might be worth).

In another case of “well, one of them works for AEW”, Nightingale gets the win here as she is around a lot more often than Adora. Nightingale is someone who feels like she is ready to break through to the other side and steal the show in a big match, but for now she can beat Adora and use that incredible charm to give the fans a good time. That is more than a lot of people can do and it should work fine here.

Zero Hour: The Kingdom vs. Top Flight

Now this one is interesting as I could see it going either way. The Kingdom showed up a few months ago and promptly disappeared again, because that’s how AEW works for a lot of people. Top Flight is a team that can put on one entertaining match after another, but they haven’t had the time to really establish anything because of injuries. I’m not sure where this one is going and that is a nice feeling.

Since they need the win more, I’ll go with the Kingdom, as they haven’t actually done anything in a long time. Top Flight is a team that already has some fan support and can absorb a loss a bit better, but the Kingdom could go pretty far in Ring Of Honor’s tag division. In other words, it should be a good match, but sweet goodness I’m lost over whose momentum means what where as the whole thing is so all over the place.

Swerve In Our Glory vs. Shane Taylor Promotions

This was set up on Dynamite as Shane Taylor made a surprise appearance to confront his old partner Keith Lee. Instead of setting up what should have been a pretty easy single match, we’re treated to this instead, as we tie it into the AEW story. That isn’t a bad idea, but it seems like Lee vs. Taylor would be a more logical way to go, as Taylor’s partner (JD Griffey) isn’t exactly a household name in either promotion.

This seems like a good way to introduce Shane Taylor Promotions rather quickly, even if that means Swerve In Our Glory brings the loss on themselves by not being able to get along. We should be in for a nice match either way as a power and speed team like Lee and Strickland can do well against anyone, even a mostly unknown entity like Griffey. Just get to Taylor vs. Lee eventually though and this should work out.

TV Title: Samoa Joe(c) vs. Juice Robinson

The build for this one is more or less non-existent as Joe has been feuding with Wardlow, even taking the TNT Title from him at Full Gear. Robinson on the other hand just showed up (via pretape) and said he was coming for the title, match made. It’s not the best story and while normally I would say it’s better than nothing, I’m not even sure if there is something to this or not.

Give me Joe to win here, as Robinson shouldn’t be beating someone who has gotten as much focus as Joe in recent weeks. Save for Wardlow interfering and costing Joe the title, this should be Joe beating the talented Robinson after a good match. Joe is building up a list of enemies, but he should at least be able to hold onto both of his titles for a little while longer.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Dalton Castle/The Boys(c) vs. The Embassy

Yes Ring Of Honor has Six Man Tag Team Titles and yes the Embassy is still supposed to be a thing that matters despite them losing so often. Castle has come off like a star every time he has appeared on AEW TV and the Boys are the perfect compliment to him. It makes sense to put him on a show like this, but anyone against Brian Cage and the Gates of Agony is asking for trouble.

You know what? Change the titles here. The Embassy is the most worthless stable in AEW/ROH but at least they’re around on a somewhat regular basis. Castle and the Boys being champions is the most forgotten detail in the entire promotion right now so get the belts off of them and move on to Castle getting to be a solo act with the Boys as his backup. It makes more sense, even if these titles have all the value of an expired coupon for free soup.

Blake Christian/AR Fox vs. La Faccion Ingobernable

This is the match I’ll point to if the show runs long and it just so happens to interfere with NXT. There is no reason for this match to exist, let alone be on the main card, yet here we are as Christian and Fox face Rush and his brother Dralistico (making his debut in either ROH or AEW). Now we’re getting what should be a one sided match, but you never can tell with something like this.

I’ll take La Faccion to win here, as they’re facing Christian and Fox in a match that feels like it belongs on Rampage at best. Rush is someone that has been pushed over and over and maybe this is the spot where he finally starts to click. Other than that you have Fox, who has a lot of talent but needs to actually win something around here. That won’t be the case here, but maybe it can happen somewhere. La Faccion wins here.

Women’s Title: Mercedes Martinez(c) vs. Athena

This match has actually gotten a bit of build, as Athena has turned into quite the bully as of late. Martinez doesn’t seem to like that so now it’s time to fight. Martinez has not been around over the last few months but once she is actually in the ring, things get a lot better rather quickly. The question now is how well that will work with Athena so maybe they have something here.

I’ll go with Athena to win the title, as there is no need to keep the title on Martinez. She is very talented but already has a great reputation. Let Athena win something to establish herself a bit better and then build up a star to take the title from her. That’s the kind of thing that should work well, assuming Athena is actually allowed to win something outside of NXT for a change.

Pure Title: Daniel Garcia(c) vs. Wheeler Yuta

Man Garcia certainly seems to have cooled off a lot in recent weeks, as he was the focal point of multiple shows and now is just kind of there. That being said, if there is ever a way for him to shine, it is by being in a Pure Rules match against someone like Yuta, who can easily hang with him. This should be good if they are given some time, which tends to be the case in a Pure Rules match.

I have long since stopped trying to figure out the thinking behind either of these two so I’ll say Yuta wins, more or less on a coin flip. The Blackpool Combat Club needs a win after everything that happened with William Regal so maybe this is the place where they get something back. Garcia winning wouldn’t surprise me either, but I’ll go with a new champion here.

Tag Team Titles: FTR(c) vs. Briscoes

This is a double dog collar match, as it does seem like the Briscoes vs. FTR is thrown into every major ROH show to pick up the interest. That seems to be the case here and yeah, that’s not a bad idea whatsoever. These teams can do amazing things with each other and have done so throughout all of their matches so far. Now just let them get crazy violent for a change.

I’ll go with FTR winning here, even if the Briscoes need to beat these guys at some point. That being said, the idea of FTR losing one of their titles probably means a big drop off for them as their entire deal is holding all three titles. I’m thinking they’ll keep the titles for now, though a title change wouldn’t surprise me. Either way, this is probably going to be another classic, which isn’t even a surprise here.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Chris Jericho(c) vs. Claudio Castagnoli

So here we go. After two and a half months of Jericho being treated as the greatest thing ever in Ring Of Honor and having him run through one former champion after another, this should be the time where he finally gets what is coming to him. Jericho needs someone to take the title from him and Castagnoli being that man is as good of an option not named Bryan Danielson that they have available.

In case it isn’t clear, Castagnoli wins here, putting things right back where they were before the Jericho reign began. The Ring Of Honor World Title still has some value to it and the Jericho story has been the best thing from the entire ROH universe in AEW. Now give us the big feel good moment to end the show (assuming the dog collar match doesn’t headline) and let everything be done.

Overall Thoughts

This show hasn’t been built well and some of the matches (especially Zero Hour) have been thrown together with little or no story. You kind of have to expect that when there is n TV show, but now they need to execute. Most of the matches, especially the two on top, should go very well, but it’s still a bit hard to get fired up over a bunch of stuff that has been put together either off camera or at the last minute. Either way, we should be in for at least a mostly good show, as tends to be the case with Ring Of Honor.

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Rampage
Date: December 2, 2022
Location: Indiana Farmer’s Coliseum, Indianapolis, Indiana
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

We are eight days away from Final Battle and the card is in need of some work. There are a few matches set but nowhere near enough to carry a full pay per view. Maybe we can get something new added tonight, but you never can tell with this show. At least the wrestling tends to be fun so let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Darby Allin vs. Cole Karter

Before the match, Allin beats up Nick Comoroto with the baseball bat to cut him off. With that not being enough, Allin dives onto Karter on the floor but an apron powerbomb cuts him off. Back in and a buckle bomb rocks Allin again as we take a break. We come back with Karter missing a Stinger’s Splash but hitting a jumping knee to the face. Allin goes after the knee though and grabs a Code Red for two, leaving them both down. Karter drops him again and goes up, only to miss a 450. A hammerlock Scorpion Death Drop sets up the Coffin Drop to finish Karter at 7:41.

Rating: C+. Well they certainly did get rid of the loose end from a bad segment from a few weeks ago. Karter is the definition of “I’m not sure why he’s here”, as he has a good physique and nothing else that makes him stand out in any way. He’s certainly ok, but bringing him in felt like just an excuse to sign someone else. Pretty decent match though, as Allin does his signature style and as usual, it works.

Keith Lee is in the back when his former partner Shane Taylor comes in to interrupt. Taylor accuses Lee of always walking away, so let’s do it at Final Battle: Taylor/JD Griffey vs. Lee and whomever he can find. Taylor leaves and a grinning Swerve Strickland comes in. Lee hopes he can trust him. Why Taylor didn’t want to do this one on one isn’t clear, but having Taylor around is a good thing.

We recap 10 turning his back on the Dark Order and joining Rush last week. The Dark Order is crushed and La Faccion Ingobernable is rather pleased.

Here is the Acclaimed, with Billy Gunn, for a chat. After a rap of various topical statements, Bowens talks about how everyone wants a title shot, but there is one team that has been waiting for a very long time to get a chance. The fans think that might be FTR and since the Acclaimed are fighting champions…..and here is the Gunn Club to interrupt. The Gunns don’t think much of the champs but Jeff Jarrett, Sonjay Dutt, Jay Lethal and Satnam Singh interrupt. The villains argue but Billy cuts them off, saying they want the best. Cue FTR for the handshake with the Acclaimed and a match seems set.

Video on Hikaru Shida vs. the Bunny, who will face off next week for Shida’s Regina Di Wave Title next week.

Private Party vs. Jay Lethal/Jeff Jarrett

Singh, Dutt and Matt Hardy are here too. As commentary reminds us that Jeff Jarrett last wrestled on TNT 21 years ago, Kassidy flips out of Lethal’s headlock and armdrags him down. That earns Kassidy a trip into the corner so Jarrett can come in to stomp away. Jarrett gets taken into the corner as well and it’s time to start in on the arm. As the seconds get in a staredown on the floor, Kassidy is sent into the steps and we take a break.

Back with Quen getting the hot tag to clean house, including a suicide dive to Jarrett on the floor. There’s the Silly String to Lethal but he avoids the 450. Quen is fine enough to grab a rollup but Jarrett makes the save, setting up a Stroke/Lethal Injection combination for the pin at 7:07.

Rating: C. So we have Lethal and Jarrett having a perfectly competent tag match that wasn’t much in the way of interesting and probably drew more TNA chants than AEW would like. I’m still not sure why Jarrett is wrestling on this or any AEW show, but it had been a full 21 years since he had wrestled on this channel and thankfully that has been rectified.

Saraya sits down with Renee Paquette and still can’t believe that she got back in the ring at Full Gear. She was amazed that her brother could be there for the match and will be back in the ring soon. Not much to say here.

Athena vs. Dani Mo

Athena decks her to start and hits Two Amigos into a swinging neckbreaker for two. Mo’s superkick has no effect so Athena forearms her in the face, setting up the over the shoulder backbreaker spun into a Codebreaker for the pin at 1:27. Total squash to get Athena ready for her ROH Women’s Title match at Final Battle.

Post match Athena sends her out to the floor and beats her up some more. This is FAR better from Athena than whatever she was doing before.

Juice Robinson wants Samoa Joe for the ROH TV Title at Final Battle. There’s your “you know this guy and now he’s getting a random title match” random title match.

The Factory is ready for the lumberjack match with Orange Cassidy. The Best Friends, dressed as lumberjacks, seem to be more ready.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows, including FTR vs. the Acclaimed for the Tag Team Titles on Dynamite.

Darby Allin wants the TNT Title and gets a shot on Dynamite, with promises of no Sting.

All-Atlantic Title: Orange Cassidy vs. QT Marshall

Cassidy is defending in a lumberjack match…but the Best Friends and Danhausen can’t bring their axes to the ring. Eh they’re lumberjacks and they’re ok without them. Cassidy starts fast with the dropkick and Marshall is on the floor ten seconds in. The Best Friends throw him back inside, where he throws Cassidy outside too. That earns the Factory some lazy kicks but Marshall pulls Cassidy’s high crossbody out of the air back inside. Some backbreakers drop Cassidy and he gets thrown outside again.

Hold on though as Ethan Page stares at Matt Hardy and then ejects him. Does he have lumberjack rights over Hardy too? We take a break and come back with the lumberjacks coming in and getting cleared out. The distraction lets Marshall hit a handspring enziguri, only to get caught with the Stundog Millionaire.

A pop up right hand rocks Cassidy but he’s fine enough to hurricanrana his way out of a powerbomb. Marshall loads up a powerbomb on the apron but gets cursed by Danhausen. Another lumberjack brawl breaks out on the floor, leaving Cassidy to hit a heck of a springboard dive. Cue Penelope Ford (JR approves) for a distraction so Kip Sabian can push Cassidy into a cutter for two. Not that it matters as the Beach Break retains the title at 9:32.

Rating: C+. Fun match, but nothing that Cassidy hasn’t done before. The stuff with the lumberjacks was the usual for a match like this but I’m not exactly going to get excited over the prospects of Kip Sabian getting a title match. Fine for a Rampage main event, even if it was hardly a classic.

Post match Cassidy goes after Sabian, because it’s his turn to be reheated again. Everyone brawls until the lights go out and the House of Black appears. Carnage ensues and the House stands tall to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. Rampage is an interesting subject, as the wrestling is usually completely watchable, but you need to accept that most of it means absolutely nothing. This show’s goal tends to be to set up things for either Dynamite or the next pay per view, which doesn’t exactly seem to be the best use of one third of your weekly television time. We got some stuff set up for next week’s Dynamite/Rampage/Final Battle and if that is what Rampage is for, good for it. I’m not sure if that’s the best use of the show, but I guess you can call it a direction. Maybe?

Results
Darby Allin b. Cole Karter – Coffin Drop
Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal b. Private Party – Lethal Injection/Stroke combination to Quen
Athena b. Dani Mo – Backbreaker spun into a Codebreaker
Darby Allin b. QT Marshall – Beach Break

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Rampage
Date: September 16, 2022
Location: MVP Arena, Albany, New York
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Chris Jericho, Tony Schiavone

The road to normalcy continues this week but there might not be as much to get hyped about with this show. The problem is that with no tournament matches for this week, there is only so much that can be done to bring in the interest. Rampage has a tendency to not feel the most important but maybe they can pull it off. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Matt Hardy vs. Darby Allin

They shake hands to start and it’s Allin grabbing a headlock takeover. Hardy fights up so Allin crucifix bombs him for two. With Hardy on the floor, Allin’s dive is cut off but he drives Hardy into the steps to knock him silly again. Allin goes Jeff/PCO by trying a Swanton, which only hits apron because people like him never learn.

We take a break and come back with Hardy hitting a Side Effect out of the corner for two. The Twist of Fate is countered and a suplex is as well, with Allin grabbing a Scorpion Death Drop to put them both down. Allin loads up the Coffin Drop but gets powerbombed out for two. Hardy misses a moonsault and gets Code Reded for two, followed by the Last Supper to give Allin the pin at 10:00.

Rating: C. Well at least Hardy didn’t go over. If Hardy can go at a pace like this then he’s fine to keep around, as long as he isn’t given a story to go with it. Allin winning is of course the only way to go here, even if he doesn’t have much going on. They didn’t exactly go extreme here, which was the point, but it could have been worse.

Post match Allin leaves so the lights go out. Cue Brody King and Julia Hart to run Hardy over, with King calling out Allin and Sting. The challenge is on for a No DQ match next week, so King chokes Hardy (playing off Sting’s longtime association with Matt) until the lights go out again and King disappears. This is a feud that was wrapped up and is continuing, which is rarely a good idea.

Eddie Kingston wants Sammy Guevara next week in New York. The match is already made.

Here is Claudio Castagnoli, flanked by Wheeler Yuta, for a chat. Claudio says the title represents what he can do and the Blackpool Combat Club represents the new symbol of excellence. Last week, Yuta lost the Pure Title to Daniel Garcia but you learn the most by losing. Then last week, Castagnoli defended his title against Dax Harwood, who was one of the toughest opponents he ever faced.

Next week is a great week for the Club though as it’s two members of the team fighting for the AEW World Title. Next week, the Club will have two World Champions in its ranks….but Chris Jericho interrupts. Jericho wants to talk about the Jericho Appreciation Society’s great week, including how he should be fighting for the World Title. Castagnoli reminds Jericho for tapping so the fans get on him, with Jericho saying he wishes he was in Albany, Georgia. Jericho brags about his World Title wins and now he wants #8 to be the Ring Of Honor World Title. Castagnoli was hoping for that so it’s on.

Jade Cargill and the Baddies were cut off by Diamante, who challenges her for the title. Note that Excalibur said Diamante was “red hot”, despite that she has lost her last two matches.

Penelope Ford vs. Willow Nightingale

Kip Sabian is here with Ford, who sees to have caught JR’s eye. Ford slugs away to start but gets caught in a headlock for her efforts. Nightingale takes her down for some rollups and we pause for Excalibur to rapid fire the matches for next week. A basement crossbody lets Nightingale get a rather smiley two, only to miss a Pounce. Some middle rope knees crush Nightingale and we take a break.

Back with Nightingale getting fired up and hitting a spinebuster for two. Ford is fine enough to Matrix away from a clothesline and hit a jumping cutter for two of her own. A kick to the face rocks Nightingale and something like a Stroke sets up a Muta Lock for the tap at 8:27 (as Sabian talks to the box helmet).

Rating: C. Ford is being reheated after her long absence but dang it is depressing to see Nightingale lose so often. She has so much charisma and is rather fun to watch every time she’s out there, but I do get why AEW wants to push Ford so much more. Decent enough match too, as Ford gets her footing back.

Hangman Page and the Dark Order are ready for the Golden Ticket Battle Royal at Grand Slam for, say it with me, a future World Title shot. La Faccion Ingobernable comes in to glare and shout.

Danhausen vs. Ethan Page

Stokely Hathaway is here with Page, who isn’t having anything of this being cursed. A big boot and running shoulder sets up the Ego’s Edge for the pin at 1:27.

Ricky Starks tells Powerhouse Hobbs to think about everything that is about to happen to him because Hobbs has his undivided attention. They’ll see each other in New York.

Josh Woods and Mark Sterling are ready to send Samoa Joe on a permanent vacation. Joe doesn’t buy it.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

Ring Of Honor TV Title: Samoa Joe vs. Josh Woods

Joe is defending and drives him into the corner to start for an exchange of grins. Woods cranks on the arm so Joe reverses into a cravate. With that not working, it’s time for the big forearm exchange, because that’s what so many AEW matches become. Joe sends him outside but Tony Nese snaps Joe’s arm across the top as we take a break.

Back with Joe rolling him up for two but not being able to get the Koquina Clutch. Joe puts him down and hits a backsplash for two but his arm is giving out. Nese and Sterling offer distractions so Woods can escape the rollup. A knee to the face rocks Joe and a pin into another knee to the face gets two more. Back up and the Rock Bottom out of the corner cuts Woods off, followed by the MuscleBuster to retain at 10:09.

Rating: C+. This felt like a Ring Of Honor match with Joe doing his usual stuff to win. I can go with more and more Joe so this was one of those fun matches that will work almost every time. It worked for a Rampage main event, even if the ROH TV Title feels like it has no value whatsoever.

Post match the triple teaming is on but Wardlow comes in for the save. Sterling escapes the Powerbomb Symphony and we get a Wardlow/Joe staredown to end the show. Unify some titles and I’m thrilled.

Overall Rating: C. The main thing that this show did was prove how easy it would be to have a regular Ring Of Honor show. This week featured two Ring Of Honor champions, including a title defense in the main event. There’s no reason to have Dark and Dark Elevation, so turn one of them into a Ring Of Honor show and keep all that stuff there. As for the show itself, this was little more than the final table setting show for Grand Slam, which is going to be huge. Not a must see show, but it gets us to the must see shows.

Results
Darby Allin b. Matt Hardy – Last Supper
Penelope Ford b. Willow Nightingale – Muta Lock
Ethan Page b. Danhausen – Ego’s Edge
Samoa Joe b. Josh Woods – MuscleBuster

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

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Dynamite
Date: August 31, 2022
Location: Now Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Taz

We’re four days away from All Out and it would be nice to have a main event announced. I would certainly hope we know who that is this week, but the question now is which way they go. There is a good chance that it is a rematch with CM Punk, but other than that, is there another option outside of maybe Hangman Page? Let’s get to it.

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

Here is Jon Moxley to get things going. Moxley says let’s talk about it: he had 57 minutes left in him last week but CM Punk didn’t. Last week, we found out what Punk was made of and it turned out that Moxley didn’t care. Champions never fold and it just didn’t work out for him. Moxley knows this is Punk’s town but he has no sympathy. That’s last week though and now he has a signed open contract for All Out, which he will leave in the ring. He’s not sure who he’s going to face and he really doesn’t care. Cue Ace Steel, Punk’s mentor, who grabs the contract and takes it to the back.

Chris Jericho is ready for Bryan Danielson on Sunday. Daniel Garcia comes in to say that he is loyal to the Jericho Appreciation Society and wants to see Jericho crush Danielson at All Out. Works for Jericho.

Jake Hager vs. Bryan Danielson

Chris Jericho and William Regal are on commentary. Hager hits him in the face to start but charges into a boot in the corner. The guillotine goes on but Hager powers out without much trouble. They head outside with Danielson’s suicide dive being cut off and Hager hitting a running spinebuster through a table. Back in and Danielson can’t grab a kneebar as Hager elbows him in the face.

We take a break and come back with Danielson firing off the kicks to the chest but getting hammered with more heavy forearms. That’s pulled into the guillotine, which is countered into something like a powerbomb to drop Danielson again. Danielson is fine enough to pull him into the LeBell Lock, which sends Hager over to the rope. Back up and Danielson hits the running knee for the pin at 10:45.

Rating: B-. That’s what Danielson does best, as he got the most out of Hager by playing to his strength and making the match that much better. Hager does not exactly have the best track record in AEW but Danielson made it work. Nice match, as Danielson continues to show what a master he is every week.

Post match the Jericho Appreciation Society runs in for the beatdown but the Blackpool Combat Club makes the save. Jericho tries to come in with a chair but Daniel Garcia takes it away. The distraction lets Danielson hit another running knee.

Here are the Wingmen to complain about not being around much lately. From now on, Dynamite is their show, but here is W. Morrissey (better known as Big Cass) to wreck things. Stokely Hathaway comes out and seems to have a new client. Tony Schiavone stops them in the aisle and asks Hathaway what’s up with all of the business cards. Hathaway says none of his business and grabs Tony for daring to say it is AEW business. Morrissey had a Sid like energy in Impact Wrestling but I don’t know if that is going to work in AEW.

Will Ospreay and Aussie Open are in the back when Don Callis comes in to praise him a lot, saying he knows it’ll be different than the last time Kenny Omega gave him the One Winged Angel.

Britt Baker/Jamie Hayter vs. Hikaru Shida/Toni Storm

Rebel is here with Baker/Hayter. Shida hammers on Hayter to start so it’s off to Storm, who gets taken down with a jawbreaker. Baker comes in and we take an early break. Back with Shida getting the hot tag to start cleaning house but Baker takes her down with a neckbreaker for two. A basement superkick nails Shida but the Stomp misses. Shida gets in a shot of her own though and goes outside to distract Hayter. Storm comes in with a running hip attack and takes out Hayter again. Shida’s spinning kick to the head finishes Baker at 7:34.

Rating: C+. This didn’t have time to do much as a good chunk of it was in the commercial. Shida getting the pin boosts her up a bit for the title match but I don’t exactly see her having much of a chance on Sunday. Having her win in a tag match is a good way to go, even if there wasn’t much to see here.

Kip Sabian talks about how brilliant his box on the head plan was and how he took it out on Pac. Now they are meeting on Sunday for the title.

Miro/Sting/Darby Allin are ready for the House Of Black.

Here is CM Punk, looking rather emotional. Punk talks about breaking his foot on June 1 and wrestling a match on it anyway. His doctor said he “pulverized” the bones so he had a bunch of plates and screws put in his foot during a June 8 surgery. After saying the number of screws he had put in his foot is more times than this fat guy in the front row has been screwed in his life, he talks about his loss last week. His foot was completely cleared last week but it’s a new 100%. What he doesn’t know is if that 100% is good enough and he doesn’t want to let his fans down.

Maybe that love just isn’t enough anymore, but here is Ace Steel to interrupt. Steel explains who he is (thank you) and doesn’t know what Punk is doing here. The two of them are family and Punk didn’t let his family down last week. Punk filled an arena up on a rumor last year and now he is going to get up and fight on Sunday.

Steel pulls out the contract for Sunday and says sign it (possibly dropping an F bomb in there). Punk takes off his jacket and says people have been trying to kill him since he was born with a cord around his neck. Moxley isn’t a man who can do it because THIS IS CHICAGO and, as Punk goes into the crowd, he declares WE ARE CHICAGO and signs. So yeah, this whole story has been about the live crowd instead of the people watching at home, which is one of those AEW tropes that needs to go away.

Earlier today, Jim Ross sat down between Christian Cage and Jungle Boy with the rule of no physicality. Christian says he is here to make money instead of being Jungle Boy’s father. Jungle Boy isn’t looking for a father, and on Sunday, Christian is going to fight Jack Perry. Good closing line there and the name change would not be a bad idea.

Wardlow/FTR vs. Silas Young/Ren Jones/Victor Capri

Wardlow and Jones start things off and we don’t waste much time getting to the dominance. After Harwood takes over on Capri, a two movement Powerbomb Symphony finishes him off at 1:59.

Here is Moxley to say that if that is what Punk wants, that’s what he can have.

10 is injured and out of the Trios Title match so here is Andrade to offer to buy him if he’ll take the mask off. Evil Uno says no, so Andrade hits him with a crutch. Then Jose the Assistant….either tazes 10, who doesn’t move, or just threatens to do it. I think it’s the latter, which would be a lot better.

Rush vs. Rey Fenix vs. Dante Martin vs. Wheeler Yuta

William Regal is on commentary. Rush powerslams Fenix to start and Martin snaps off a Code Red for two. The big series of dives is on, with Rush wiping out Fenix on the landing. We take a break and come back with Fenix spinning Martin into a knee to the face, followed by a spinning powerbomb for two. Rush makes the save but gets sent outside, leaving Martin to drop Fenix with a poisonrana. Fenix pops up to catch Yuta on top, only to get sent outside. Yuta misses a top rope stomp to Martin but pulls him into the Seat Belt for the pin at 7:57.

Rating: B-. I know I say this a lot for a match like this but you know exactly what you’re getting with this style. Everyone not named Rush can wrestle that style just fine and he was there for the power to offer a different way to go. I was thinking Martin would get the pin here but at least they didn’t talk about the idea of building momentum for ten minutes.

The Dark Order needs a partner and Hangman Page is willing. You knew that was coming.

Trios Titles Tournament Semifinals: United Empire vs. Elite

That would be Will Ospreay/Aussie Open vs. Kenny Omega/Young Bucks. Omega and Osprey slug it out to start and everything breaks down. The Bucks’ dives onto Aussie Open on the floor are pulled out of the air, leaving Ospreay to hit a VERY twisting dive to take them out.

We take a break and come back with Aussie Open beating on Matt, who hurricanranas his way to freedom. The hot tag brings in Omega to start cleaning house but the V Trigger is blocked. The Oscutter is blocked as well and Ospreay snaps off a hurricanrana to send Omega outside. Ospreay misses the Space Flying Tiger Drop and gets kicked down, leaving Aussie Open to hit a double delayed vertical superplex for two on Omega.

We take another break and come back with Nick cleaning house but having his 450 hit Ospreay’s raised knees. The snapdragon drops Nick and it’s Omega vs. Ospreay with the forearm slugout. A sitout powerbomb plants Omega HARD, leaving Aussie Open to load up the assisted Oscutter but Matt countered into a cutter of his own. Omega is back up for the triple knees to the head but Ospreay makes a save. A shooting star Meltzer Driver (just go with it) gets two on Matt but Omega’s V Trigger is broken up. The spike Indytaker gets two more and there’s the V Trigger into the One Winged Angel to finish Davis at 18:53.

Rating: A-. This is a great example of a match that isn’t for me but I get why it is taking place. This was tailor made for the AEW audience and the fans are going to eat it up. The flips and dives worked very well and it was incredibly high energy, which is the kind of match you had to expect take place here. I don’t think there was much in the way of question about the winner, but Omega vs. Ospreay is going to be a big match down the line and it should be a blast.

Overall Rating: B+. They got this one right and built up All Out rather well. I’m not wild on how they got to Punk vs. Moxley II and AEW still has issues with rushing through things as fast as they can, but it is certainly not boring and that is a great thing to see. Very fun show this week and it got some stuff done, so it’s quite the success.

Results
Bryan Danielson b. Jake Hager – Running knee
Hikaru Shida/Toni Storm b. Britt Baker/Jamie Hayter – Spinning kick to Baker
Wardlow/FTR b. Victor Capri/Silas Young/Ren Jones – Powerbomb Symphony to Capri
Wheeler Yuta b. Rush, Rey Fenix and Dante Martin – Seat Belt to Martin
Elite b. United Empire – One Winged Angel to Davis

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

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Dynamite
Date: August 17, 2022
Location: North Charleston Coliseum, Charleston, West Virginia
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We’re closing in on All Out and the big story from last week saw AEW World Champion CM Punk return after a two month absence. You can probably pencil in Punk vs. Jon Moxley for the main event of All Out, but that is still a few weeks away and we have something big tonight. In this case, that would be a mystery partner in the Trios Tag Team Titles tournament, which will absolutely be a surprise and not the most obvious reveal in recent memory. Let’s get to it.

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

Since this show is a crossover with HBO’s House Of The Dragon, the opening video is tied together with clips of the series.

Here is CM Punk to get things going. Punk says he’s trying trying to keep his tough guy face on tonight but the fans are making him too happy. For now though, he has something to deal with so he wants Hangman Page out here right now for a rematch. No one comes out so Punk dubs it coward s*** instead of cowboy s***.

Punk talks about how everyone talks a lot until it’s time to do champ s*** so now let’s move on to Jon Moxley. He knows what it means to be in a big match situation and there is always a guy who has someone’s number. Punk is Moxley’s guy and Moxley is the third best guy in his group, which is a reoccurring theme in his career. Moxley talks about breaking bones and drinking blood but in the last six months, the only person to break bones is Punk, and those were his own.

Moxley’s best friend Eddie is the third best Eddie he’s been in the ring with and the second best Kingston he’s ever shared a locker room with. He’s looking forward to beating Moxley in Chicago, but that won’t even be the best John he has beaten in Chicago for a title. Cue Moxley, who says Punk’s mouth is writing checks that his body can’t cash. The title on Punk’s shoulder isn’t worth anything and neither is this one that he’s carrying, at least until he beats Punk.

Moxley says he is the heart and soul of AEW but Punk says he’ll be the dollars and cents. Moxley: “We both know you only came to AEW because you ran out of money.” The fight is teased but Punk would rather wait for the pay per view so Moxley doesn’t bleed all over him. The fight is on and they slug it out until security breaks it up…which takes a few attempts but they finally get them apart. They both had some great lines here and I’m more into the match than I was before.

Powerhouse Hobbs says he doesn’t like Ricky Starks and has something planned for him. The Factory will get theirs too.

Ricky The Dragon Steamboat (as opposed to Ricky The Tupperware Salesman Steamboat) is the guest timekeeper.

Daniel Garcia vs. Bryan Danielson

2/3 falls and Chris Jericho is on commentary. Feeling out process to start with Jericho hyping up what a technical showdown we’ll be seeing. Both of them try for some grappling but neither can get very far. We go to a standoff and take a break. Back with Danielson hitting a running dropkick in the corner and going for a cross armbreaker.

That’s blocked so Danielson switches to something like a Regal Stretch but they get to the ropes for the break. Garcia suplexes him on the floor and brings him back inside, setting up a piledriver to plant Danielson. A dragon sleeper has Danielson knocked out for the first fall at 9:19.

Garcia isn’t done and hits a chop in the corner, does Danielson’s pose, and hits the running corner dropkick as we take a break. Back again with Danielson (bleeding) grabbing a rollup to reverse a hold for the second fall to tie things up at 15:07 (total). Danielson ties him in the Tree of Woe and fires off some kicks, setting up a German superplex to rock Garcia.

The missile dropkick rocks Garcia again and he is sent outside, where they have a tug of war over a posting. That goes badly for Danielson, who gets sent into said post and has to beat the count back in at nine. We take another break and come back again with Danielson winning a slugout but getting taken down for some stomps to the head. Those are broken up and Danielson pulls him into the LeBell Lock for the tap at 25:52.

Rating: B. Heck of a fight here as Danielson gets his win back, but Garcia saves some face by winning the first fall. Garcia is getting a push as of late and losing a 2/3 falls match to one of the best AEW has to offer isn’t going to hurt him. Danielson needed the win and should be set for his All Out match wit Jericho. Rather good stuff here and the time flew by, which is always nice.

Danielson shows respect post match and Garcia accepts it, but Chris Jericho runs in to jump Danielson from behind. Garcia pulls Jericho off and the fans tell him that he’s a wrestler.

Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland are ready for Private Party, who are now ranked #5. They’ll fight on Rampage.

Tony Nese comes out for a match but Jon Moxley jumps him from behind. Moxley calls out CM Punk to fight right now so here is Punk for the first. The brawl is teased but security and the Blackpool Combat Club breaks it up (with Claudio Castagnoli manhandling Moxley).

Chris Jericho isn’t pleased with Daniel Garcia and wants a face to face meeting with him next week to see where he stands. Ricky Steamboat comes in to rehash his issues with Jericho and suggests that Bryan Danielson would be a better mentor to Garcia. Angelo Parker gets in Steamboat’s face and gets chopped.

Gunn Club vs. Varsity Blonds

Colt 45 finishes Garrison at 27 seconds.

Post match Billy Gunn talks about how great that was and how proud he is of his sons. Cue Stokely Hathaway to smile at the Gunns….who turn on Billy. The Acclaimed run in for the save. Scissoring ensues.

Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt and Satnam Singh are ready for Wardlow and FTR.

Death Triangle is ready for the United Empire next week.

Here is Jungle Boy for a chat. He wore a shirt a few weeks ago and was told to never wear it again (it involved Christian and a bit of a derogatory term), but he is too preoccupied with trying to hit Christian. Over the weeks, he has tried to hit Christian Cage with his fist, a chair and a car but can’t make it work. So how about he hits Christian at All Out?

Cue Christian to say no match but he wants to make this work. He wants everything to be ok with them and make amends. The hug is teased but Jungle Boy takes him down and hammers away. Jungle Boy stomps him on the steps and then rams Christian’s head into them over and over. Security makes the save. Good stuff from Jungle Boy once the action started, but he would be better suited by going with something like Jungle Boy Jack Perry, as Jungle Boy isn’t the most serious name.

FTR and Wardlow are ready for Jay Lethal and company. Dax Harwood will take Jay Lethal next week.

Toni Storm vs. KiLynn King

They go to the mat to start until King drops her over the top rope for a top rope knee to the face. That sends Storm outside, where King has to block a tornado DDT and drives Storm back first into the apron. We take a break and come back with King hitting a powerbomb for two but Storm sends her into the corner. The running hip attack, now dubbed Sweet Cheeks Music (no) sets up a pendulum DDT to finish King at 6:46.

Rating: C. I’ve always liked King so it was nice to see her getting a spot here. Storm seems to have righted the ship a bit and odds are she is going to be getting the title shot at All Out against Thunder Rosa. I’m not sure how well that is going to go, but Storm needs a big win at some point or the potential she has is going to fade in a hurry.

Video on the Trustbusters vs. Best Friends.

Here’s what’s coming on future shows, including Jon Moxley vs. CM Punk….next week on Dynamite. Ok then.

Trios Title Tournament First Round: La Faccion Ingobernable vs. Young Bucks/???

The mystery partner is…..Kenny Omega, who is in very little way a mystery. Nick takes Dragon Lee into the corner to start and hammers away before Matt comes in to for the double team takedown. Omega (in a compression shirt and shoulder brace) comes in to hammer away in the corner, with the fans being rather pleased. Lee gets Omega into the wrong corner though and the triple teaming is on as we take a break.

Back with Matt not being able to hit his rolling suplexes, so both sets of brothers fight over them instead. Andrade comes in to stomp on Matt some more and we take another break. We come back again with the hot tag bringing in Omega to clean house, including on Andrade, who seems to be favoring his shoulder.

Everything breaks down and the Bucks hit the dives to the floor. Omega loads up the Rise of the Terminator but Lee breaks up the dive (which might be a good thing). Jose the Assistant breaks up another dive attempt and Omega gets held up on the barricade for a SCARY dive from Lee. Back in and Andrade hits his double moonsault for two on Omega with Matt shoving Rush into the pile for the save. The V Trigger knocks Lee silly and a not so great One Winged Angel finishes Lee at 20:49.

Rating: B-. This is a weird one to grade as it was all about Omega, and that made it tricky. Omega did look rusty and that is completely fair given how long it has been since he has been in the ring. Completely healthy or not, he hasn’t wrestled a match in front of people in over nine months and that is going to take some time to get back to normal.

Other than that, there was a grand total of no way the Bucks and Omega were losing here, meaning it was a good bit of waiting until the expected finale. It also doesn’t help that Andrade seems to have hurt his shoulder/arm, so things might have been even slower than usual. Not a bad match at all, but they were working with some serious limitations.

Omega and the Bucks celebrate as Andrade and Rush turn on Lee (whose mask comes off) with about five seconds left in the show.

Overall Rating: B. This was a rather good show and I liked most of what I saw with the whole thing. What we got here was a few rather strong matches and a big surprise match set up for next week, along with some build to All Out. They did what they needed to do here, but I’m really curious about what is going to headline All Out with Punk vs. Moxley taking place next week. Overall, positive show here as they did what they needed to do.

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Rampage
Date: August 12, 2022
Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Commentators: Jim Ross, Bryan Danielson, Taz

It’s still Quake By The Lake week and that means a lot of talking this time, as Bryan Danielson is back after getting beaten up by Daniel Garcia a few weeks back. Other than that, we have Orange Cassidy in action and that can oddly work. Rampage hasn’t been great in recent weeks so maybe they can pick it up tonight. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Here is Bryan Danielson to get things going. Tony Schiavone asks him about Daniel Garcia calling himself the Dragon Slayer. Danielson talks about how he has been wrestling for 23 years and now he needs to live to the fullest. That means he can never stop wrestling and his career is not ending next Wednesday.

Cue Garcia to interrupt and call Danielson his hero, but it sounds like his hero is ready to lose. Garcia is ready to make Danielson call him the greatest sports entertainer alive. That’s too far for Danielson, who doesn’t like what Chris Jericho is putting in Garcia’s head. Danielson talked about Garcia being a founding member of the Blackpool Combat Club because he remembers seeing Garcia wrestle for 60 minutes in front of 250 people. With a grab of Garcia’s face, Danielson asks if he wants to be a sports entertainer or a wrestler before walking out. Garcia looks a bit shaken.

We look back at CM Punk’s return and showdown with Jon Moxley on Dynamite.

AAA Mixed Tag Team Titles: Tay Melo/Sammy Guevara vs. Dante Martin/Skye Blue

Melo and Guevara, the newlyweds, are defending. It’s a brawl to start with the women brawling on the floor and Martin hammering away on Guevara inside. We settle down to Melo saving Guevara from a whip into the ropes and comes in, complete with a kiss. Said kiss takes too long though and Blue comes in with a high crossbody, setting off a beating. Melo pulls her into…some kind of a stretch on the mat but Blue is back up with a running knee into a spinning kick to the face. Guevara grabs Blue’s foot though and a pump kick drops her as we take a break.

Back with the guys coming back in to start the strike off with Martin sending Guevara outside for a dive. Melo comes back in for a distraction so Martin uses her as a launchpad into a Canadian Destroyer for two more. Back up and Melo plants Martin with a floatover DDT (Tony is WAY too impressed by that) but Skye takes out Guevara with a high crossbody. Not that it matters as the TayKO finishes for Melo at 7:18.

Rating: C+. Guevara’s dives are often worth a look and there is a bit of a history here to keep it somewhat more interesting. More importantly though, it is nice to have Martin walking after that scare a few weeks ago. The match was good enough, but you can imagine Guevara and Melo were still adjusting to their new normal.

The Lucha Bros are excited about Pac being back so the Death Triangle can be at full strength.

Parker Boudreaux vs. Sonny Kiss

Slim J is here with the debuting Boudreaux, better known as Harland in NXT. Boudreaux runs Kiss over to start and slugs away in the corner but gets caught with the handspring slap. A chokeslam drops Kiss and a belly to back slam finishes for Boudreaux at 1:01.

La Faccion Ingobernable yells at Private Party, who aren’t having it. Private Party is ready for Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland next week.

Gunn Club vs. Danhausen/Erick Redbeard

Billy Gunn is here with the Gunn Club. Redbeard shoves Colten down to start so Austin comes in, earning himself a hard shoulder down. Danhausen comes in and gets thrown into the corner as we take a break. Back with Danhausen slipping between Austin’s legs and handing it back to Redbeard for the house cleaning.

Everything breaks down and Redbeard hits a running crossbody to drop the Club on the floor. Back in and a slingshot hilo connects, setting up a spinning kick to the face for two on Austin with Colten making the save. Redbeard suplexes both Gunns but Billy low bridges him to the floor. The Fameasser gives Austin the pin at 7:00.

Rating: C. Well, the regular team beat the makeshift team by pinning someone who is usually cannon fodder, so at least they went with what makes sense. Redbeard is someone who looks good and is fine for an enforcer, but the Gunn Club should be picking up wins so they went with the right decision here.

Post match Billy yells at his kids and says he misses the Acclaimed. They need to toughen up a bit and do what he taught them. They can prove themselves next week on Dynamite, opponents unknown. Billy walks off but Stokely Hathaway pops up in the crowd with his business card, but the Club walks off.

Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland are ready for Private Party, who aren’t even in the top five. They can get a chance anyway.

Here’s Hook for a chat and he actually says something: YEP, when asked if the title is really going to be up in an open challenge on Dynamite. Cue Zack Clayton from Jersey Shore to say he’s taking the title next week.

Ari Daivari is ready for Orange Cassidy, even if Cassidy won’t join the Trustbusters. Cassidy does Mark Henry’s line so Henry cuts him off and does it properly.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

Ari Daivari vs. Orange Cassidy

The Trustbusters and Best Friends are here too. Hold on as Daivari gives Cassidy one more chance to join the Trustbusters and all he has to do is lay down. Cassidy does, but then rolls over before the cover. After a hug from the Best Friends, they go back inside for some grappling, including Cassidy using his hands in the pockets to knock Daivari away. The dropkick and nip up keep Daivari down but he manages a shot of his own. A Trustbusters hug on the floor sends us to an early break.

Back with Daivari holding a sleeper until Cassidy makes the rope…and gets put right back into the sleeper. That’s smarter than most wrestlers. Cassidy gets out again and they collide for a double knockdown. Back up and Cassidy’s spinning DDT is blocked and Daivari hits a running neckbreaker.

Cassidy tries the Orange Punch but gets caught in a Rock Bottom for two. Another spinning DDT works better for Cassidy, followed by the top rope DDT for a rather near fall. Everyone gets in a fight on the floor so Cassidy hits a dive to break it up. Back in and Daivari catches him on top with an Iconoclasm for two, only to get caught with the Orange Punch for the pin at 13:05.

Rating: C. This is one of the places where Cassidy can shine. Cassidy beat someone who didn’t exactly come off as a threat to become a major star and got to do his fun offense at the time. As long as AEW can avoid going too far with Cassidy, he’s one of the more consistently popular and oftentimes entertaining guys around here. Plus he beat the still mostly worthless Daivari and that’s always a good thing.

Post match Boudreaux gets to clean house but Sonny Kiss comes in and jumps Cassidy so Boudreaux can lay him out. Kiss is a Trustbuster to end the show.

So yes, the stable is actually Daivari (not even the best known Daivari in wrestling), Boudreaux (Joe Gacy’s lackey), Slim J (who looks like he would fit in great at any independent show in 2001) and Kiss (who has never won a match on Dynamite/Rampage and until tonight, hasn’t wrestled on either since September 2020). For some reason that lineup is not only in the tournament, but just got half of the matches on this show. What a great week.

Overall Rating: C-. I really wasn’t feeling this one as it continues to seem like AEW has given up on this show. Other than Danielson/Garcia, this was a bunch of lower to midcard stuff at best and that doesn’t make for the most interesting hour. I’m not sure why I’m supposed to be interested in Daivari and company, leaving the Gunn Club and the newlyweds to carry most of the night. The show wasn’t terrible, but it really wasn’t compelling and in a lot of ways that’s worse.

Results
Tay Melo/Sammy Guevara b. Skye Blue/Dante Martin – TayKO to Blue
Parker Boudreaux b. Sonny Kiss – Belly to back slam
Gunn Club b. Erick Redbeard/Danhausen – Fameasser to Danhausen
Orange Cassidy b. Ari Daivari – Orange Punch

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Dynamite
Date: August 10, 2022
Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Commentators: Taz, Excalibur, Jim Ross

It’s another themed show with Quake By The Lake, though in this case it seems to just be a name instead of anything specific. The card is pretty stacked as we have Jon Moxley defending the World Title against Chris Jericho, plus a coffin match and a tornado tag. That should be enough so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Darby Allin vs. Brody King

Coffin match. Allin pops up out of the darkness to start fast, including some thumbtacked skateboard shots. They fight around the ring with Allin getting punched out of the air and being sent over the table. King breaks the skateboard over his knee, which has Allin diving right back at him. Back in and Allin fights his way out of trouble on top and hits a super Code Red, with King being sent outside again (there is a trail of blood on the floor). This time King whips him HARD into the barricade as we take a break.

Back with King missing Allin with a middle rope splash to the floor but hitting the table clean. Allin loads up a big dive but the lights go out, meaning it’s House Of Black time. Julia Hart trips Allin down and the beating is on, allowing King to hit a running flip dive through a table in the corner.

The coffin is loaded up, but Sting is inside. House is cleaned but Sting throws Malakai Black the bat. Black thinks about it but leaves, allowing Allin to hit a big cannonball suicide dive to drop King on the floor. It’s not enough to get him into the coffin though as King drops Allin onto the steps. Allin manages to get in a few chain shots though and chokes King on the apron. King falls off the apron and falls into the coffin to give Allin the win at 13:24.

Rating: B-. That was a lot of blood from King, who was gushing by the end of the match. The good thing here is that Allin won, which is pretty overdue for him in a big match. Odds are that isn’t it for him with the House of Black as Sting and Malakai still need to have their showdown, but for now, it’s a good win for Allin.

Jon Moxley says that since we have the FTW Title, his title might as well be the FYI Title. Tonight, he is going to push the last survivor of the Hart Dungeon and the Lionheart and see what happens.

Chris Jericho promises to win the title tonight because the Lionheart, complete with the leather vest, is back. Jericho talks about how he is going to stretch Moxley tonight and tonight he is going to win the title again.

We have brackets for the Trios Titles tournament:

Death Triangle
Will Ospreay/Aussie Open

Andrade El Idolo/Dragon Lee/Rush
Young Bucks/???

House Of Black
Dark Order

Trustbusters
Best Friends

La Faccion Ingobernable vs. Lucha Bros

Tornado tag with Jose and Alex Abrahantes here too. La Faccion starts fast and Fenix is suplexed hard into the corner. Penta is back up with a Sling Blade though and Fenix hits a suicide dive to send Rush into the barricade. There’s the running flip dive to drop Andrade again, leaving Penta to hit Made In Japan for two on Rush. Back in and Rush breaks up the spike Fear Factor and drops Fenix onto Penta for a double two. La Faccion hits stereo flip dives to the floor and we take a break.

We come back with the Bros hitting their own big flipping dives, setting up Fenix’s Eddie dance and frog splash. That only hits knees (spent too much time dancing) but Penta hits a rolling cutter to drop Rush, leaving all four down. Back up and Andrade ties Penta’s mask to the ropes (JR: “NOT THE DOUBLE KNOT!”), leaving Rush to piledrive Fenix. Penta rips the mask off and makes the save, leaving Andrade to throw the mask into the crowd. As the fans chant THROW IT BACK, Rush hits the Bull’s Horns and El Idolo finishes Fenix at 13:52.

Rating: C+. In a way, I can go with the idea of just throwing up your hands and not even bothering with the tags anymore. These matches exist for nothing more than a bunch of chaos, so just throw away the tagging part and get to what everyone is waiting on. They do the style well, but my goodness, enough with the Bros losing their masks.

The Young Bucks come up to Hangman Page and the Dark Order. The Bucks praise Page for everything he has done over the years and reminisce about their great times together, saying it was the best time of their careers. One more time: they can reunite the team and win the Trios Titles. Page is grateful for their time together but turns them down for the Dark Order, because they have had his back. They’ll get together later though, with the Bucks not being overly pleased but not arguing.

Anthony Henry vs. Luchasaurus

Jungle Boy is on commentary. Henry charges at him, gets beaten up, and walks into the Fossilizer (Sean O’Haire’s Widowmaker for those O’Haire fans out there) for the pin at 37 seconds.

Post match Christian Cage pops up on screen in the back….and Jungle Boy actually goes running after him because he knows where the interviews take place (as logical as it gets around here). Security keeps Jungle Boy from Christian but Luchasaurus comes in to take them out. Christian escapes and Luchasaurus headbutts agent Pat Buck.

Miro isn’t sure what to do about the House of Black but Julia Hart comes up to tell him to embrace their gift. She isn’t the woman allowed to touch his face, but he’ll accept their help.

Powerhouse Hobbs is interrupted by QT Marshall and the Factory. They’ll take care of Ricky Starks, which seems to have Hobbs’ approval.

Here are Jay Lethal, Satnam Singh and Sonjay Dutt. They brag about taking out Wardlow on Saturday and Lethal wants another shot. Cue Wardlow to say he’s taking them all out right now, with FTR coming out join them. The villains bail but come back in, with Wardlow and FTR clearing the ring.

The Jericho Appreciation Society is ready for Chris Jericho’s win tonight and even have a little bit of the bubbly waiting on them. Daniel Garcia calls himself the Dragon Slayer for taking out Bryan Danielson, which sends Anna Jay off to choke someone who doesn’t seem to like that. That would be Leva Bates (formerly known as Blue Pants).

Aaron Solo vs. Ricky Starks

The Factory is here too but get ejected for trying to interfere. Starks takes Solo down but the Roshambo is countered with a hurricanrana. Starks misses the spear but then hits the spear (almost from the side) for the pin at 2:02.

Post match Nick Comoroto comes in to go after Starks but he gets away from a chair shot. Then Starks runs away into the crowd when the rest of the team comes in.

Stokely Hathaway interrupts the Gunn Club and recruits the younger generation. Billy doesn’t like it, so Stokely calls him old. Danhausen comes in and a match seems to be made for Rampage.

The Trustbusters interrupt the Best Friends because Orange Cassidy won’t answer Ari Daivari’s texts or calls. Cassidy says no, so threats are made.

TNT Title: Madison Rayne vs. Jade Cargill

Cargill is defending and misses a charge into the corner to start. A middle rope dropkick sends Cargill outside. They head outside and Madison has to counter a powerbomb into a hurricanrana. Back in and Jade hits a heck of a spear as we take a break. Back with Rayne grabbing a neckbreaker and hitting a not great enziguri. The Baddie distraction lets Jade kick her down and, after countering a counter, hit Jaded to retain at 7:34.

Rating: C. This could have been worse, but Rayne is going to hit a pretty solid ceiling of just ok most of the time. At the same time, Jade isn’t going to lose in a mostly cold match on Dynamite so there was only so much drama. Rayne is a veteran who can wrestle a competent match, but this seemed more about giving Jade a win over a name, whatever that is worth in Rayne’s case.

Post match Athena, previously disguised as a Baddie, comes in to take Jade out and clear the ring.

Thunder Rosa and Toni Storm, now #1 contender due to Kris Statlander getting hurt, are cool with each other but ready to fight. Storm wants to keep her momentum going.

Here’s what’s coming on a bunch of shows.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho, in his WCW/ECW/NJPW look as the Lionheart, is challenging and William Regal is on commentary. Feeling out process to start as Jericho (with ponytail) armdrags him down a few times. Jericho takes him down to crank on the neck but Moxley is back up with some chops and trash talk. A snapmare drops Moxley and Jericho rips out the earring, with Regal saying fair enough, as he would have done it too.

We take a break and come back with a rather bloody Moxley working on an armbar but Jericho breaks that up. Jericho grabs the Hartbreaker Figure Four around the post, which lasts as long as it can. Back in and Moxley grabs a crossface, which is reversed into the Walls. We take a break and come back with Moxley still in the hold but crawling over to the rope for the break. Jericho tries the triangle dropkick but gets sent outside, allowing Moxley to go up top, only to dive into the Codebreaker for a close two.

With that not working, Jericho takes a turnbuckle pad off for a distraction, allowing Sammy Guevara to throw in a baseball bat (overthrow that is). A heck of a shot gives Jericho two and a ram into the buckle sets up the Judas Effect for a very close two. With nothing else working, Jericho goes for the belt but misses a charge into the exposed buckle. Moxley grabs a choke but Jericho (now bleeding too) reverses that into a Liontamer. That’s reversed into another choke and Jericho finally taps at 22:34.

Rating: B. This was a good enough big match feel, though the blood was a bit excessive after the opening bloodbath from Brody King. Jericho is still a big enough win that this boosts Moxley, as he continues to be able to stop Jericho each time. Rather good TV main event here, though Moxley is going to need someone for All Out.

Post match the beatdown is on but the Jericho Appreciation Society, followed by the Blackpool Combat Club and more of the Society run in for the big dive. Cue the returning CM Punk for the ring clearing save and showdown with Moxley. A middle finger from Moxley and a brushing off leave Punk alone to pose to end the night. It was about time for Punk to be back, as the interim thing was getting a bit ridiculous after two plus months. It’s the only thing that would make sense for All Out too, so this is about as perfect as you can get.

Overall Rating: B-. The opener and main event were both good but the middle dragged pretty badly here. What matters is that they now have a big main event set for All Out, which had been sorely lacking over the last few weeks. They still need some better work in the midcard and All Out needs a bit of a better focus, but the last half hour of this show was the important part and they covered it well.

Results
Darby Allin b. Brody King – Allin knocked King into the coffin
La Faccion Ingobernable b. Lucha Bros – El Idolo to Fenix
Luchasaurus b. Anthony Henry – Fossilizer
Ricky Starks b. Aaron Solo – Spear
Jade Cargill b. Madison Rayne – Jaded
Jon Moxley b. Chris Jericho – Choke

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

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Death Before Dishonor 2021
Date: September 12, 2021
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

It’s back to pay per view and it’s actually out of Baltimore for a change. As tends to be the case in Ring of Honor, the show has not exactly been built up well, but the company has the ability to throw out a bunch of stuff and make it work. The main event is a four way elimination match for the World Title so let’s get to it.

In Memory of Daffney. That’s a nice touch.

Pre-Show: Honor Rumble

Fifteen man Royal Rumble with ninety second intervals and the winner gets a future World Title shot. Brian Johnson is in at #1 (and gets to talk about how amazing Philadelphia, his hometown, really is) and Brian Milonas is in at #2. The fans are behind Johnson, which has commentary very confused. The much bigger Milonas grabs a front facelock and takes him over to the ropes as he thinks this is a Pure Rules match. Johnson has to escape but it’s Beer City Bruiser in at #3 to put Johnson in real trouble.

A few shots in the corner don’t get Johnson very far as he charges into a side slam/running boot to the face combination. There’s a Vader Bomb elbow to crush Johnson as Danhausen is in at #4. Danhausen seems to curse (without swearing of course) Milonas, who accidentally gets crushed by Bruiser’s charge in the corner. A double chokeslam is countered into a double spinebuster to crush Danhausen as Caprice Coleman leaves commentary to be in at #5.

The Bouncers miss Coleman and crash into each other, leaving Coleman to kick Johnson in the face. Danhausen is confused about Coleman being in the ring but gets shut up by a cutter. Brian Zane joins commentary to replace Coleman, who knocks out Bruiser. Everyone gets together to toss Milonas as well as Sledge is in at #6. Johnson tosses Coleman as Sledge and Danhausen team up. A running boot sends Johnson through the ropes (not eliminated) and it’s PCO in at #7 (out of sixteen apparently, despite everything saying fifteen otherwise).

Johnson is knocked down again but Danhausen tries to break up PCO vs. Sledge. PJ Black is in at #8 as the ring is starting to fill up again. Black cleans a bit of house and joins forces with Johnson to clean some more house. Dak Draper (Zane’s pick) is in at #9 and it’s time for people to pair off. Silas Young is in at #10 but can’t quite get rid of Danhausen. Draper is sent to the apron but manages to backdrop Sledge out. Rey Horus is in at #11 and it’s time to pair off again. With nothing else happening, Dante Caballero comes in at #12 to clean house.

Johnson gets rid of Danhausen and the fans aren’t sure what to do. Everyone gets together to go after PCO, who knocks them all away….and eliminates himself. Flip Gordon, back in his old look, is in at #13 and tosses Young in a hurry. No one can get rid of anyone else and it’s Joe Keys in at #14. Keys and Caballero get together to go after Draper before fighting among themselves. Then they reunite to superkick Gordon and it’s World Famous CB in at #15.

Palm striking abounds and Draper gets rid of Keys and Caballero. The final entrant is Alex Zayne in at #16, giving us a final field of Johnson, Black, Draper, Horus, Gordon, CB and Zayne. We start fast with Zayne going after Draper but getting caught in the Mile High Muffler. That’s reversed into a hurricanrana though and Draper is out as Zayne is already rolling. Johnson Stun Guns Zayne, leaving Horus and CB to slug it out. Horus gets rid of CB but Johnson tosses him as well to clear out more of the ring.

That leaves us with Johnson, Black, Gordon and Zayne and the fans are VERY behind Zayne here. Gordon and Zayne superkick the other two down but neither can get very far by flipping the other. Johnson is back in to take the two of them down but spends too long going after Black, allowing Gordon to get in a quick elimination.

Black elbows Gordon and Zayne in the corner and everyone winds up on the same corner. That means a double hurricanrana from Zayne (egads) but Gordon is back up with the reverse Regal Roll to Black. The running shooting star press makes it worse but Gordon’s Kinder Surprise is countered into an elimination to get us down to two. Black gets a running charge at Zayne but crashes out to the floor to give Zayne the win at 32:07.

Rating: C+. They kept this moving well enough despite the long run time. Zayne returning and winning is fine, as he can have his title match at a one off event somewhere. The rest of the match was just kind of there, but it is always fun to see who is coming out of that curtain when the clock runs out.

Opening sequence.

The opening video focuses on the wrestlers coming into the building and how this is a historic venue. If the walls could talk, they would choose death before dishonor.

Dalton Castle vs. Eli Isom

Castle has the Dancing Boys with him but no Dak Draper, who is listed on his chiron (but winds up on commentary). An early takedown attempt doesn’t work for Castle as Isom strikes away and dropkicks him out to the floor. The Boys (or the Dancing Chickens, according to commentary) offer a distraction though and Castle gets in a cheap shot. Back in and Isom snaps off a suplex but gets dropkicked off the top and out to the floor. There’s a knee against the barricade and we hit a ten second chinlock back inside.

Castle throws him down with a suplex and gets two off a knee to the head. Isom slips out of another suplex though and scores with a running forearm in the corner. A Sidewinder slam gives Isom two and it’s time to slug it out. That means a trip to the floor, with Castle trying something like a 619 onto the apron into a hurricanrana to drop Isom (that wasn’t bad). Hold on though as Draper comes out to deal with the Dancing Chickens so Isom moonsaults onto all of them. Isom has to kick an invading Draper low, allowing Castle to hit the Bang A Rang for the pin at 9:38.

Rating: C. The more I see of Isom, the more I like him and the more over the top villainy we get from Castle, the better he is. It was a good choice for an opener as Castle is a big name around here. Isom got in some offense too and had to deal with the numbers game so this went pretty well for everyone.

Jake Atlas vs. Tyler Rust

They’re both newcomers and recently released from WWE. Commentary makes it clear they are fresh out of the company, which still feels weird to hear (though there is no reason to not mention it). Feeling out process to start with Atlas taking him to the mat and getting in a slap to the face. They trade arm cranking until Atlas grabs a crucifix for two.

Rust’s ankle lock sends Atlas bailing to the floor for a breather, only to get caught with the Shayna Baszler arm stomp back inside. Rust spins him around by the arm but Atlas comes back with a superkick. The chinlock goes on for a bit but Atlas’ arm gives out on a fireman’s carry attempt. Rust loads up the Perfect Circle (bulldog driver) before settling for the Rings of Saturn with his legs to make Atlas tap at 6:55.

Rating: D+. This was little more than a squash for Rust and it wasn’t exactly interesting either. Atlas didn’t do much here and the match was mainly Rust working on the arm until Atlas gave up. I get that this was supposed to be a showcase for both of them, but it felt like something that should have been a warmup for the live fans. Not long after this match, Atlas announced he was stepping away from wrestling, seemingly retiring. I mean….the match wasn’t THAT bad (and yes I know there was probably way more to it than that).

Violence Unlimited vs. Lee Moriarty/LSG/John Walters

It’s Tony Deppen/Homicide/Chris Dickinson for Violence Unlimited here. Moriarty has been on fire as of late and was signed by AEW less than a week before this show. The fans are VERY happy to see Deppen here, as he is the hometown boy. Homicide and Walters start things off with Walters grabbing a headlock to keep him down. Back up and Homicide tries an STF but gets pulled right back into the headlock. Dickinson comes in and gets caught by the arm, allowing LSG to come in and trade rollups.

LSG’s ankle lock is broken up so Deppen comes in to go technical with Moriarty (which seems like a bad idea). Deppen’s leapfrog is pulled out of the air and the abdominal stretch goes on. That’s broken up by Dickinson, who gets caught in an abdominal stretch as well. The rapid fire tags bring Walters and Homicide back in, with Walters tying up Homicide and Deppen in separate holds at the same time.

That’s broken up and it’s a double elbow to drop Walters for a change. Back up and Walters wins a slugout with Homicide, setting up a Backstabber. LSG comes back in to Stun Dickinson and Moriarty gets two off a sunset flip. Rocket By Baby knocks Dickinson silly but Deppen knees LSG in the face to cut him off. Moriarty is right back up with a suicide dive to Deppen and a springboard clothesline for two on Dickinson.

Everything breaks down and Walters ties up Dickinson and Homicide in a double Muta Lock. Deppen breaks that up but gets taken down by LSG as everyone is down again. Back up and Dickinson slugs it out with Moriarty but Homicide sends Moriarty outside. A big running flip dives takes down every non Violence member, leaving Dickinson to Death Valley Driver Moriarty for the pin at 10:57.

Rating: C+. Take a bunch of people and let them go nuts for a good while. It has worked before and it always will, even when you have a team who doesn’t have much of a change at winning. Moriarty and company were outmatched but still managed to hang in there, with Walters looking like a step above everyone else. Nice stuff here, even if it felt like a TV main event.

Post match the losers are left in the ring when the Foundation comes in. Jay Lethal praises all three of them, because they are the kind of guys who make the future bright. Lethal talks about people like Eli Isom and the upcoming new Women’s Champion. He puts over each member of the team on their own, even though Moriarty is leaving. Lethal talks about loving wrestlers like Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Samoa Joe and AJ Styles.

We’re still not done as Lethal talks about Reckless Youth and Alex Shelley. They all love professional wrestling, including Jonathan Gresham. Lethal doesn’t get why the Pure Rules division is considered exciting and new when it is what they all grew up on. the Pure Rules division comes out to applaud from the stage. Pretty awesome speech here, even if it came a bit out of nowhere.

OGK vs. Briscoes

It’s a brawl to start with Mark having to save Jay from the Climax. Things settle down to Taven taking Mark down but missing an elbow to the head. A discus forearm rocks Bennett and it’s time for some Briscoes double stomping in the corner. Mark adds a running forearm and it’s Jay coming in to chop Bennett down. Bennett gets in a shot to the face though and Taven comes in with a missile dropkick to the face. Jay sneaks in off a blind tag and scores with a running big boot as everything breaks down.

OGK loads up a Doomsday Device on the floor but Jay cuts Taven off in a fast save. Taven has to cut off the same thing and then moonsaults down onto Jay (and Bennett, while sticking the landing). Mark isn’t done and dives onto everyone, setting up a big boot for two on Taven back inside. Jay’s neckbreaker gets the same but Taven scores with a knee to the face. That means a seated armbar can keep Jay in trouble, at least until Mark comes in to clean house.

There’s a dropkick through the ropes to drop Taven and another does the same to Bennett. Back in and the Froggy Bow gives Mark two on Taven with Bennett making the save. A chair is thrown in but Bennett breaks up Redneck Boogie, which would have given Taven an extreme case of pain. Mark uses the chair for a springboard flip dive onto Bennett but Taven rolls Jay up for the pin at 13:21.

Rating: B. Ring of Honor knows how to do big tag team matches and the Briscoes are as good as anyone else going right now. That makes a win over them like this feel like such a big deal and OGK got something out of this. It was a hard hitting, back and forth match so well done on doing exactly what they should have done. I liked this and I’m not even a bit surprised.

We recap Josh Woods vs. Jonathan Gresham for the Pure Wrestling Title. Woods is an amateur wrestling champion and Gresham has been Pure Wrestling Champion for the better part of ever. This is a dream match in this kind of wrestling so it wasn’t hard to set up.

Pure Wrestling Title: Jonathan Gresham vs. Josh Woods

Woods is challenging. The fans are split to start and believe it or not, they start with some grappling. Woods takes him down by the arm but gets pulled into a test of strength, meaning it’s time to flip around with the hands interlocked. Back up and they fight over some grappling with neither being able to get anywhere. They go over to the ropes and we’ll call that a double rope break, which doesn’t sit well with either of them. Woods takes him down again and goes for the leg, which is broken up in a hurry.

Another try, this time with Woods going after the arm, is countered into a headscissors. Back up and Gresham scores with a kick to the arm but Woods is fine enough to suplex him out of the corner. They grapple into the ropes and the referee yells a lot over them not breaking. For some reason that isn’t another rope break so they trade armbars until they both go to the ropes again, which this time calls for their second break each. That means another standoff until they fight over a small package…until it’s a double pin at 11:46.

Yeah that’s not happening, as Gresham says we’re not done yet. The bell rings again and they slap it out until they go to the mat and grab each others’ legs. A roll to the ropes means they both use their third and final break. Gresham gets two off a sunset flip and a cradle but Woods pulls him into a sleeper with a bodyscissors. That’s broken up as well with a shot to the arm and a headscissors but Woods knees him in the face for a double knockdown.

Gresham goes right back to the arm and drives in elbows to the neck. They fight over an ankle lock until Woods grabs Rolling Chaos Theory for two as…..it looked liked Woods just dropped the cover. A slugout goes to Gresham with a bridging German suplex into an armbar. Woods reverses that as well into a Tombstone, which he flips backwards into a suplex to pin Gresham for the title at 20:01.

Rating: B-. I get the appeal of a match like this but I wasn’t feeling the mirroring each other deal. That doesn’t feel so much like a classic match as much as it feels like two people having a match they put together really intricately backstage and then performed it out here. Throw in the rope breaks being a little weird (especially with the referee not calling it every time) and this was only good when it could have been great. Gresham had to lose the title at some point and Woods gets a heck of a rub from the win too.

Respect is shown post match.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Shane Taylor Promotions vs. La Faccion Ingobernable

Shane Taylor/Soldiers of Savagery (with Ron Hunt/O’Shay Edwards) are defending for the Promotions against Dragon Lee/Kenny King/La Bestia del Ring, under Lucha Rules. Hold on though as King jumps Taylor with a chair, meaning Edwards will be taking his place. Khan takes Lee down to start and it’s already time for the slugout. That goes badly for Lee, who gets hammered down in the corner but Lee knocks him outside for a breather.

Moses comes in and kicks Lee in the face so it’s off to Bestia to drop Moses with a shoulder. That isn’t enough of a slugout so we’ll try Shane vs. King for a change. They trade hard shots to the jaw until Shane plants him with a spinebuster. Everything breaks down until Lee takes over on Khan in the corner. King adds a legdrop for two as the villains take over…for at least a few seconds as it’s back to Moses to really clean house.

Everything breaks down again and Lee knees Khan in the head for two with Shane making the save. King gets caught in the old MNM Snapshot but Bestia dives onto Shane. Lee hits a heck of a running dive onto Khan and King tries his own running corkscrew dive, which hits Lee by mistake. We settle back down to King spinebustering Moses and adding a springboard Blockbuster. Cue Shane to chair King in the head though and Moses gets the retaining pin at 11:33.

Rating: C+. This was your required faction war and, as usual, it was entertaining but not the most interesting. It feels like we have been doing these things for the better part of forever now and that gets repetitive in a hurry. The match was fun and Shane interfering made sense, but factions trading wins and losses over and over again gets a little old.

We recap the Women’s Title match between Rok-C and Miranda Alize. It’s a tournament final to crown the next inaugural champion so it’s back to back “we worked hard to get here” speeches.

Women’s Title: Miranda Alize vs. Rok-C

For the vacant title so we get the Big Match Intros. Feeling out process to start as they head to the mat, with Rok-C grabbing a headlock….and let’s look at commentary for a bit for some reason. Rok-C cranks on a hammerlock before switching over to the leg. That doesn’t last long either but Alize escapes the Fujiwara armbar, giving us a standoff. Rok-C flips out of a headscissors and takes a quick bow, followed by a cartwheel to escape again, meaning it’s another bow.

Alize pulls her out of the corner for a crash though, allowing her to chop away in another corner. Some running kicks in the corner rock Rok-C for two and we hit the chinlock (with Alize mocking some LET’S GO ROK-C chants). Back up and a hurricanrana gives Alize a slightly delayed two and it’s time for a double arm crank. Rok-C fights up and hits a middle rope Thesz press (with an actual press for a change).

Alize knees her down for two more, setting up a Go To Sleep for the same. A hanging DDT out of the corner gets another near fall and it’s off to something like a Crossface in the middle of the ring. The feet on the ropes get Rok-C out of trouble so they head outside with Rok-C hitting a suicide dive. Back up and Alize hits a running dropkick off the apron and another suicide dive leaves them both laying.

They dive in to beat the count and Rok-C wins a slugout, only to walk into a cutter. Rok-C is right back with a running shot to the face, leaving both of them down. The Crossface goes on again but this time Rok-C reverses into one of his own. That’s broken up as well so Alize hits back to back superkicks but Rok-C kicks her right back, setting up Code Red for the pin and the title at 18:15.

Rating: B. This started slowly but they did an amazing job of turning a match with virtually no story into a heck of a back and forth fight. I was into this by the end with the young prodigy getting the big win. Good stuff here and one of the better matches of the night. The division has a LONG way to go but at least they had a heck of a match to crown the first champion.

Maria Kanellis-Bennett presents Rok-C the title and her parents come in for the celebration.

We recap the main event. Bandido is World Champion, Demonic Flamita is his former stable mate, and Brody King/EC3 are top challengers. Go have a four way for the title.

Ring of Honor World Title: Bandido vs. Demonic Flamita vs. Brody King vs. EC3

Bandido is defending and this is under elimination rules (as it should be). They stare at each other for a bit until Flamita drops outside, leaving the other three to fight among themselves. Bandido is sent outside as well so EC3 hammers on King. A Cactus Clothesline puts them on the floor so Bandido and Flamita take their places to pick up the pace. Bandido spins around Flamita into a headscissors to the floor, setting up the big running flip dive. Bandido isn’t done so he hits a big dive onto EC3, only to keep going and land in the crowd.

We settle down to EC3 brainbustering Bandido and it’s off to the neck crank. Flamita breaks that up (because reasons) so EC3 clotheslines him down for a change. Bandido comes back in and gets suplexed for his efforts so King is back in as well. That earns him a powerbomb out of the corner and EC3 powerbombs Bandido onto King for a bonus. Flamita’s chair shot to EC3 has no effect so he takes it away and chairs Flamita….which is a DQ to eliminate EC3 at 8:57. IN A FOUR WAY??? Flamita thinks it’s brilliant, which I’ll take as it gets rid of EC3.

We get the big sad walk off from ECW, leaving Flamita and Bandido to reform Mexiblood to take King down. Unfortunately this means the return of the Floss Dance but King isn’t having any of this and punches both of them in the face. A Doomsday Canadian Destroyer takes King down but Bandido turns on Flamita (as he should) for a near fall. Flamita is then launched at King on the floor, leaving Bandido to moonsault onto both of them. King saves Bandido from the MuscleBuster and it’s the All Seeing Eye to finish Flamita at 13:47.

Bandido and King shake hands and then start the brawl in a hurry. King drives Bandido’s pile for two and then chops the heck out of him on top. That just earns King a top rope hurricanrana for two and the crucifix bomb is good for the same. A shooting star press gives Bandido one and King turns him inside out with a lariat. The Ganso Bomb is loaded up but Bandido rolls around about thirty seven times until la majistral retains the title at 17:12.

Rating: B-. The action was good, but the match felt rather tacked on and that’s not a good thing. I couldn’t begin to tell you why these three people were getting a title shot in a four way elimination match and that’s one of the places where Ring of Honor needs some work. They are very light in storylines (which is a fine direction to take), but it can make for some weird moments when people aren’t wrestling on TV for months at a time and are suddenly getting pay per view title shots. Bandido is still awesome, but this wasn’t the most thrilling main event.

Post match the Foundation comes out to congratulate Bandido, with Jonathan Gresham taking a long look at the title. Cue the Righteous to applaud as well, because stables are cool.

Overall Rating: B-. As much as I wasn’t thrilled with it coming into the show, the Women’s Title match should have headlined here. It really was a good match and felt like a big deal, which was not the case with the main event. There wasn’t anything truly bad on the entire show and I liked what I saw for the most part, but there was nothing on here, save for maybe the Women’s Title match, that I am going to remember in just a few days.

Ring of Honor is in a weird place at the moment, as they still have rather good TV, but there is nothing going on that would make me want to see what happens next. You know you’re going to get some solid action, but they haven’t had a hot story in years. The stable/faction wars are beyond stale and seeing two more of them coming out at the end made me roll my eyes more than anything else. Overall it’s a good show because of the wrestling itself, but some upgrades in the stories would be a very welcome change.

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Ring of Honor
Date: September 15, 2021
Location: UMBC Event Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

It’s Death Before Dishonor weekend and that is a heck of a show. It’s such a heck of a show that Ring of Honor has barely spoken about the card so far outside of a few matches here or there. That is typical of Ring of Honor, but it has not exactly made things that much better over the years. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Quinn McKay gives us her usual welcome and rundown.

Briscoes vs. Bandido/Rey Horus

This could be good. Honor is shown before the match as we hear about the Briscoes’ history of troubles against luchadors. Bandido and Jay circle each other to start with Jay fireman’s carrying him to the mat for an armbar. That’s broken up and Bandido shows Jay the finger gun and starts flipping around to send us to a standoff/break.

We come back with Mark bringing Jay back in to elbow Rey in the face. A trip to the outside goes badly for the luchadors but Bandido comes back in with a springboard high crossbody to the Briscoes. Rey’s basement dropkick into a running shooting star press gives Bandido two on Mark but Jay is back in to run Bandido over. Mark kicks Bandido in the mask for two and then plants him down for a bonus. Bandido gets away for the tag to Horus though and the pace picks up.

A double chop into a double superkick gives Horus two with Jay having to make the save. Everything breaks down and we get a four way knockdown for a quadruple breather. Mark grabs an Iconoclasm for two on Horus but gets caught with a pop up cutter from Bandido. A Fosbury Flop takes Jay down and Horus flips Mark off the top for two. Back up and Jay sends Bandido outside, leaving Horus to get Doomsday Deviced for the pin at 12:10.

Rating: B-. Take two teams and let them get in there for a fun match. That’s what you should be doing on a show like this and they made it work here. If nothing else, it is nice to see the Briscoes finally getting somewhere against some luchadors. The match itself was a good power vs. speed match and it was a rather nice TV outing all around.

Will Ferrara vs. Josh Woods

Pure Rules with Jonathan Gresham on commentary. Woods powers him down into the corner to start and we’re already on the mat for the grappling. Ferrara reverses into a wristlock but gets tossed hard across the corner for the break. Back up and another armbar has Woods down, or at least it does until he reverses into a kneebar to send Ferrara to the rope.

We take a break and come back with Ferrara being gutwrench suplexed around without much effort. Ferrara tries a short armscissors until Woods uses the only counter ever to a short armscissors. Woods goes after him again, sending Ferrara over to the ropes for the third and final rope break. That’s enough for Woods, who grabs rolling Chaos Theory out of the corner for the pin at 6:19.

Rating: C. This was quick and to the point, which is probably better for a situation like this one. What mattered here was making Woods feel like a star and they made that work very well. I’m not sure how much longer Jonathan Gresham can hold the Pure Rules Title and it would make sense to finally change the titles at the pay per view. Good and mostly dominant match here, meaning they know what they’re going for at the moment.

Post match, Woods and Gresham have the big staredown in the aisle.

Video on Rok-C vs. Miranda Alize for the vacant Women’s Title.

Tag Team Titles: La Faccion Ingobernables vs. Violence Unlimited

Kenny King and Dragon Lee are challenging Homicide and Chris Dickinson. Both teams promise to win here and it’s King vs. Homicide to start. King shoulders him down and snaps off some armdrags into an armbar. It works so well that King does the same thing again but Homicide gets up and brings in Dickinson.

We take a break and come back with Dickinson suplexing Lee for two. A camel clutch into a basement dropkick rocks Lee again but he is fine enough to send Homicide outside. The baseball slide misses though and the champs beat both of them down without much trouble. Back in and Lee clotheslines Homicide with King coming in to do the same. Lee’s Boston crab with a boot on Homicide’s head keeps him down as the violence is starting to emerge.

King grabs a chinlock with a knee in the back but misses a splash in the corner. Homicide misses a top rope splash but King misses a springboard legdrop, allowing the tag off to Dickinson to clean house. A Death Valley Driver gets two on Lee, with Dickinson having to kick King in the face. Everything breaks down again and a dragon suplex gives King two on Homicide.

Lee is back up with the Alberto Double Stomp to Homicide and a suicide dive onto Dickinson. Back in and the Royal Flush gives King two on Dickinson, setting up a slingshot corkscrew dive onto Homicide on the floor. That leaves Lee and Dickinson to forearm it out until Dickinson twists the knee. The knee is fine enough to go smashing into Dickinson’s head for the pin and the titles at 14:08.

Rating: C+. Good match here, though it’s a bit of an odd title change right around the time you have the pay per view coming up. The problem here though is the fact that these stable wars are just a bunch of interchangeable matches and moments like this one. It was fine enough, but how much of an impact are these matches and even title changes having?

The Death Before Dishonor rundown wraps us up.

Overall Rating: C+. It’s hard to call a show with a title change skippable, but that’s how this felt. There was nothing on here that you really needed to see, as the Briscoes winning a good tag match is hardly noteworthy. It also didn’t do much for Death Before Dishonor, though I’d be curious to know how much of the card was set/announced when this show was filmed.

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