Ring Of Honor
Date: May 2, 2024
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

Things have been getting back more towards the pre-Supercard Of Honor ways around here and that has not made for the most entertaining shows. What matters is getting some interest going, which will likely be centered around Athena/Billie Starkz vs. Queen Aminata/Red Velvet. Other than that, there is work to be done. Let’s get to it.

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

Of note: the sun is setting at Daily’s Place so the whole venue looks really, really cool.

We run down the card.

We recap the Outrunners and the Infantry copying each other’s stuff for weeks.

Outrunners vs. Infantry

Laser Linda (debuting) and Trish Adora are here too. Adora runs Linda over to start and the Outrunners are dropkicked out to the floor before we get the opening bell. We settle down to the Infantry working on Floyd’s arm, followed by a double hiptoss to Magnum as commentary is impressed by the basic offense. Everything breaks down and Bravo hits a slingshot dive onto Magnum, followed by an old Valiant Brothers middle rope fist drop to Floyd.

Magnum is back in with a cheap shot on Bravo though and the villains (I think?) take over. Floyd grabs the leg to Magnum can hook a headlock, setting up the Outrunners’ double hiptoss as the blatant copying continues. Bravo gets up and manages a slingshot Stunner of all things, allowing the tag off to Dean to pick up the pace. Everything breaks down again and Dean hits a top rope splash, with Magnum’s save hitting Floyd by mistake. The Outrunners load up Boot Camp but get it broken up, allowing the Infantry to hit the real thing for the pin on Magnum at 8:50.

Rating: B-. The action was good, but what made this more interesting than usual was it had a story/some stakes to it. These teams have a reason to be mad at each other and I wanted to see the Infantry get the win. It wasn’t a classic or anything close to it but I’ll definitely take a good match with a reason to see the teams fight.

Nyla Rose vs. Camron Branae

Branae is better known as Amari Miller from NXT and slugs away at Rose to start. This goes very badly as Rose launches her into the corner but Branae manages to knock Rose to the floor. Back in and Rose hits a knee, setting up the Beast Bomb for the pin at 1:24. Branae showed some fire but Rose crushed her in the end.

Angelo Parker says he was going to retire when Ruby Soho told him he was going to be a dad. Now Parker has something to fight or and Matt Menard thinks it’s time to come after the Ring Of Honor Tag Team Titles.

Undisputed Kingdom vs. The Qrown

Non-title Proving Ground match, meaning that if the Qrown wins or survives the ten minute time limit, they get a future title shot. Bennett slugs away at Leonis to start and the Kingdom takes turns stomping away in the corner. Leonis blocks a double suplex attempt and snaps off a belly to belly but it’s too early for the tag to Maximus. Some hard clotheslines allows the tag to Maximus and house is quickly cleaned. That doesn’t last long though as the Kingdom is right back with the Hail Mary to finish Maximus at 4:17.

Rating: C+. The Qrown were a big deal in OVW when they were known as King’s Ransom, which might not be a good name but it’s a heck of a lot better than Qrown. The team definitely has potential as they are a good looking power team and I could go for seeing more of them. For now though, it was just a quick cameo and it worked pretty well.

JD Drake talks about being lost in the last month, to the point where his bowling game was messed up. He has a $2 bill and that means he has two choices. Now he is ready to come back and give a $2 bill worth of a beating as a Workhorseman.

Toa Liona vs. Jimmy Wild

Liona runs him over and chokes on the ropes, setting up an overhead belly to belly. Wild’s comeback is cut off with a superkick and a backsplash on the apron makes it worse. Liona hits a Pounce for the pin at 2:14. Total squash.

Dark Order vs. Zicky Dice/Sean Maluta/Adam Priest

Silver runs Maluta down with some shoulders to start and backdrops a charging Dice. The Order triple team Maluta for two but Dice gets in a cheap shot to Uno from the apron. Dice comes in for some mocking kicks to the head, only to have Uno neckbreaker his way out of trouble. Reynolds gets the tag to clean house and a butterfly powerbomb gets two on Priest. Everything breaks down and a Canadian Destroyer into the triple flipping slam finishes Priest at 4:42.

Rating: C. The Dark Order being on the show in Daily’s Place is a fine way to go as they were beloved here during the pandemic shows. Let the fans have something of a treat in a six man tag that isn’t going to hurt anyone. It’s not a match that took up any significant time and it was perfectly watchable so this was a fine addition to the card.

The Iron Savages are tired of being goofy without having success, so it’s time for a change of pace. They’re done trying to win over the stupid fans.

Aaron Solo vs. Jon Cruz

Solo wastes not time in stomping him into the corner and suplexing him right back out. Cruz is back with a slam as commentary praises Tony Khan for appearing at the NFL Draft in a neck brace. Solo shrugs it off and hits a spinning kick to the head for the pin at 1:31. Pushing Solo is a choice and he only looked so good here.

Queen Aminata vs. Robyn Renegade

They fight over a headlock to start with Aminata taking her down. Renegade gets up for a kick to the head into a Backstabber but Aminata drops her with some clotheslines. A running kick against the ropes knocks Renegade silly for two but a faceplant gets Renegade out of trouble. Renegade’s Death Valley Driver gets two, only for Aminata to German suplex her into the corner. The hip attack and an Air Raid Crash finish for Aminata at 5:14.

Rating: C. Aminata gets a win on the way to her likely title shot against Athena. That should make for a good showdown whenever we get there and this was her warmup. Other than that, there wasn’t much to it, though Renegade was firing back and had her usual intensity to make it decent.

Overall Rating: C+. They cut way back on the time this week and for the most part that was a good thing. While the opener is by far the best part of the show, it was nice to have things wrapped up so quickly. They featured some lower level stars this week but kept the show moving well enough that nothing overstayed its welcome. As usual, the brisk pace helps a lot around here and that was certainly true this week.

Results
Infantry b. Outrunners – Boot Camp to Magnum
Nyla Rose b. Camron Branae – Beast Bomb
Undisputed Kingdom b. Qrown – Hail Mary to Maximus
Toa Liona b. Jimmy Wild – Pounce
Dark Order b. Zicky Dice/Sean Maluta/Adam Priest – Triple flipping slam to Priest
Aaron Solo b. Jon Cruz – Spinning kick to the head
Queen Aminata b. Robyn Renegade – Air Raid Crash

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Ring Of Honor
Date: April 25, 2024
Location: Indiana Farmers Coliseum, Indianapolis, Indiana
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

Things have been getting longer around here again and that has not often been the best thing for Ring Of Honor. It often results in matches that are just there to make the show longer and I’m still not sure how that makes for better weekly events. Odds are we’ll get more on Queen Aminata coming after the Women’s Title this week so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

We run down the card.

Isiah Kassidy vs. Komander

Kassidy takes him down to start and fires off some dancing as commentary talks about Shaquille O’Neal. Komander grabs an armbar into a rollup but gets dropped throat first onto the top. Stomping in the corner keeps Komander in trouble until he comes out with a kick to the face. Kassidy cutters him across the top to send Komander outside but he comes back in with a running hurricanrana.

An Asai moonsault takes out Kassidy on the floor and a springboard Swanton connects for two. A poisonrana plants Kassidy again but he’s right back with a Spanish Fly for two of his own. Back up and Komander grabs a waistlock, only to have Kassidy kick him low. A reverse Twist of Fate finishes for Kassidy at 7:42.

Rating: C+. This was in fact a high flying match between a perennial jobber and one half of a tag team. They both have athletic abilities and I certainly wasn’t bored with what I was seeing. At the same time though, it’s a little hard to get invested in seeing something between people that AEW has made feel so unimportant. That’s a big problem with ROH and I don’t see it being cured anytime soon.

We look at Bullet Club Gold unifying the two sets of Six Man Tag Team titles.

The Club brags about their win but they don’t have room for all of the gold.

Dark Order vs. Top Flight/Action Andretti

Silver and Darius start things off with Darius slipping out of a wristlock and grabbing a cravate. Andretti comes in to work on the arm before everything breaks down, meaning a triple superkick to send the Order outside. Back in and the Order takes over on Dante, who flips over to hand it right back to Andretti.

Everything breaks down again and an assisted tornado DDT puts Reynolds down. Andretti’s running shooting star gets two with the Order having to make the save. The Order isolates Darius and strike away at him until Dante makes a save of his own. Darius and Andretti grab a double spinebuster to finish Reynolds at 6:58.

Rating: C+. This was the match designed to warm up Andretti and Top Flight before their shot at Bullet Club Gold this weekend. Andretti and Top Flight work well enough together but it feels like they are up and down all the time around here. Giving them a win is nice, but it doesn’t feel like anything more than getting them ready for their latest loss against better competition. It makes sense, but it’s not the most engaging stuff.

Anna Jay vs. Allysin Kay

Kay powers her into the corner to start but Jay knocks her into the corner to cut that off. A spinning kick is countered into a suplex, only to have Jay stomp her down in the corner without much trouble. Kay grabs a hotshot into a chokebomb for two but Jay is right back with a middle rope Blockbuster for the same. The Queenslayer finishes for Jay at 3:44.

Rating: C. Believe it or not, Jay goes from losing on Dynamite to winning on Ring Of Honor. That’s the story of her career, as she is so all over the place with her wins and losses that it is not wonder she can never get any kind of traction. Yes she’s on a winning streak around here, but it only means so much when she loses any big match she has.

We recap Queen Aminata seemingly coming after Athena for the Women’s Title.

Athena has an emergency Minions meeting and offers a beating to Aminata and Red Velvet.

Johnny TV vs. Will Austin

Taya Valkyrie is here with Johnny, who takes Austin down without much effort. A springboard hurricanrana into a dropkick works well for Austin, with Ian saying “Make your name Austin!” I’m thinking that might not be the best idea as it’s already taken. Taya offers a distraction so Johnny can get in a shot from behind and work on the arm. A spinning knee to the face sets up the Flying Chuck into Starship Pain for the pin at 3:16 (….hey).

Rating: C. As usual, there’s only so much you can get out of what was just a step ahead of a squash. TV is back after his loss at Supercard Of Honor and now he can find something else to do. I’m not sure what that is, but it’s better than having him sitting around waiting for something to happen.

Mogul Embassy vs. 1 Called Manders/Beef/Calvin Tankman

No Prince Nana with the Embassy as they’re getting it right. Beef gets taken into the corner to start the beating in a hurry, with Toa hammering away. Kaun backbreakers him onto the turnbuckle and Cage hits the apron superplex for two. Beef finally gets in a shot of his own and hands it off to Tankman, who gets to clean some house. The numbers catch up with him though and it’s a triplebomb to give Cage the pin at 4:06.

Rating: C+. This was more than I was expecting with Tankman getting to show what he could do if given the chance. The guy can be a wrecking ball when he is in there and that worked for a little while. At the same time, not having Nana out there with the Embassy is a good sign, as the face turn continues.

Video on the Premiere Athletes, focusing on Ariya Daivari.

Mark Sterling is impressed with how many people it took to stand up to the Premiere Athletes.

Leila Grey vs. Yuka Sakazaki

Sakazaki takes her over with a headlock to start before hitting a spinning kick to the chest. A running dropkick misses though and Grey drops a backsplash for two. Grey gets two off a bulldog and there’s a Hennig necksnap to drop Sakazaki again. They go up top, where Grey grabs a sunset bomb for two more before it’s time to trade forearms. We go to a random replay of the sunset bomb, which has me wondering if they needed to edit something out. Sakazaki grabs a spinning hammerlock slam and hits the Magical Girl Splash for the pin at 4:44.

Rating: C-. This was a weird one with that replay/seemingly an edit feeling really out of nowhere. I’m not sure what was going on here but the ending felt like they were told to go home in a hurry. Grey has done well enough in some limited roles and was working here, but the chemistry was pretty far off with this one.

Griff Garrison and Cole Karter are upset at their recent losses. Maria Kanellis comes in to say she is disappointed too but says it’ll work in the end. This team’s existence continues to confuse me.

Kingdom vs. Outrunners

Non-title Proving Ground match, meaning if the Outrunners win or last the ten minute time limit, they get a future title shot. Floyd works on Bennett’s arm to start but it’s quickly off to Taven for a cheap shot to take over. Back up and Magnum fights back and manages to clear the ring but Bennett drops him again. Taven chokes away and Bennett gets two off a suplex.

The chinlock keeps Magnum down but he atomic drops his way to freedom and hands it back to Floyd to pick up the pace. A spinning suplex drops Taven and Magnum hits a top rope forearm. Boot Camp is loaded up but Bennett reverses into a rollup with tights for the pin at 7:18.

Rating: C+. The extra time helped this one, along with the fact that we saw the champs go to a time limit in a Proving Ground match a few weeks back. It adds just enough drama to make this work better than that is great to see. It wasn’t a great match, but the Outrunners are always fun and the champs get a win, meaning they are at least here for a change.

Queen Aminata and Red Velvet are ready for Billie Starkz and Athena.

Taya Valkyrie vs. Laynie Luck

Taya goes with the power to start and chokes away on the ropes but Luck strikes away. That earns her the running knees in the corner, followed a double underhook drop for two. The STF makes Luck tap at 3:26.

Rating: C. Pretty much a squash for Taya, though Luck got in a few shots of her own. That isn’t the biggest surprise as Luck is something of an indy mainstay around this area and is a step above some of the jobbers you’ll see. Taya is still someone who could be used in a bigger spot but she seems pretty stuck in the midcard gatekeeper heel spot at the moment.

The Infantry wants more but the Outrunners interrupt and brag about their own success. The challenge is on for next week, with the Outrunners repeating what the Infantry says.

Lance Archer/Righteous vs. GPA/Ren Jones/Jon Cruz

Vincent punches GPA down to start as Ian talks to students. Dutch comes in for some clotheslines before running Jones over for a bonus. It’s off to Archer, who gets annoyed at Jones’ dropkick. A full nelson slam plants Jones, who kicks Vincent away and hands it off to Cruz. It’s back to Jones all of ten seconds later but the villains are tired of this and wreck everyone. The Blackout sends GPA onto Jones to give Dutch the double pin at 3:43.

Rating: C. Archer and the Righteous are doing well with these squashes but it’s hard to believe that they’re going to get a title shot. I base this on the idea that we have seen them do something similar to this for a good while now and they have never been near the titles. That’s how Ring Of Honor works with a lot of this stuff and it can be rather frustrating.

Abadon vs. Nova

Nova takes things into the corner to start for a running shoulder to the ribs but Abadon is right back with some clotheslines. The Meteora in the corner sets up a running knee and Black Dahlia finishes Nova at 1:35.

Johnny TV and Taya Valkyrie (the latter of whom got a shower and changed in record time) are happy about their reality series when Aaron Solo interrupts. Taya isn’t impressed and Johnny mocks his win/loss record so Solo promises to win next week. Now we’re getting an Aaron Solo story?

Blake Christian vs. AR Fox vs. Beast Mortos

Mortos runs them both over to start but gets sent to the corner as commentary talks about the things Christian has been doing with Missy Hyatt in GCW. Mortos is back inside and takes out Christian before powerslamming Fox for two. A shinbreaker puts Fox down again and we hit a leglock. Christian comes in off the top for the save and Sling Blades Mortos, who is back with a Samoan drop for two.

The pace picks up and Christian takes Mortos down for a quick splash. Fox is back in to double team Mortos to limited avail but they manage to knock Mortos down into the corner. With the other two up top, Mortos pulls them back down for a big crash but Fox kicks him out to the apron. Christian’s spear puts Mortos on the floor and a springboard 450 into a Swanton connects back inside. Christian goes after Fox but Mortos is back up with a spinning piledriver to finish Fox at 6:52.

Rating: B-. Best match of the show as it was more competitive but it’s not like this was anything great. There were no stakes to this and Mortos already beat Christian at Supercard Of Honor. That didn’t leave much in the way of drama here, though it was nice to see a match that had a bit more time and all three were putting in some energy.

Overall Rating: C. That was Ring Of Honor all right, with a bunch of people doing a bunch of stuff and very little of it standing out. The last few weeks have gotten away from the focused version and have been back to being little more than getting as much content out there as possible. As usual, that’s great for the wrestlers who get more work, but it doesn’t make for an entertaining show. It’s almost impossible to have this much content while also having the wins and losses matter for the sake of title shots, especially when those shots are few and far between. Ring Of Honor is proving that and it’s not working well.

Results
Isiah Kassidy b. Komander – Reverse Twist of Fate
Top Flight/Action Andretti b. Dark Order – Double spinebuster to Reynolds
Anna Jay b. Allysin Kay – Queenslayer
Johnny TV b. Will Austin – Starship Pain
Mogul Embassy b. 1 Called Manders/Beef/Calvin Tankman – Triplebomb to Tankman
Yuka Sakazaki b. Leila Grey – Magical Girl Splash
Kingdom b. Outrunners – Rollup with tights to Floyd
Taya Valkyrie b. Laynie Luck – STF
Lance Archer/Righteous b. GPA/Ren Jones/Jon Cruz – Double pin
Abadon b. Nova – Black Dahlia
Beast Mortos b. Blake Christian and AR Fox – Spinning piledriver to Fox

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Ring Of Honor
Date: February 15, 2024
Location: Dollar Loan Center, Henderson, Nevada
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

In theory the slow march towards Supercard Of Honor continues, though we still have no announcement that the show is taking place. Assuming it is going to be held the Friday of Wrestlemania Weekend, we would be looking at fifty days from this broadcast. That is starting to run rather low for an announcement but maybe they can cover it here. In more current news, the Women’s TV Title Tournament starts tonight. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Women’s TV Title Tournament First Round: Queen Aminata vs. J Rod

Aminata chops her down to start and snaps off a suplex as commentary previews the rest of the first round matches tonight and clarifies that there are sixteen participants overall. Rod fights up and kicks her into the corner, setting up a hard whip into the buckle. A suplex gives Rod one but she misses a frog splash. Aminata makes the clothesline comeback, setting up a pair of hip attacks in the corner. Rod avoids a charge in the corner and strikes away, only to get caught with a German suplex. A headbutt finishes for Aminata at 6:06.

Rating: C. They kept this pretty quick and to the point but Rod did get in some offense rather than being squashed. Aminata has been getting a lot of attention (with commentary pointing out how frequently she is featured) and I’m not stunned to see her getting a win here. She’s won in ROH before so this is far from some stretch, though I’m not expecting her to go that far in the whole thing.

Infantry vs. Midnight Heat

Dean shoulders Pearl down to start and it’s a backbreaker/middle rope legdrop for two. Bravo hits a slingshot cutter for two but Gibson comes in to drop Bravo with a DDT. The chinlock doesn’t last long so it’s an over the shoulder backbreaker/top rope elbow for two more. Bravo gets over to Dean for the tag so house can be quickly cleaned. Everything breaks down and a backslide/middle rope legdrop combination for two on Dan. Back up and Boot Camp finishes Pearl at 6:46.

Rating: C. This was an example of a match that felt like it went long for the sake of going long. Midnight Heat might be a team who has done well on the independent circuit (as commentary mentioned) but the Infantry has been presented as a team who could be title contenders around here. Why is it taking them almost seven minutes to beat a pretty generic team making their debut? Again: it’s ok to let a match be a squash, especially if the winners are regulars.

Queen Aminata says she didn’t come all the way to Africa to be average. She looks good in gold but she’ll take the silver in the Women’s TV Title.

Women’s TV Title Tournament First Round: Rachael Ellering vs. Leyla Hirsch

They hug to start and trade takedowns into covers and a standoff. Hirsch’s big knee is blocked and Ellering grabs a gutwrench suplex to take over. Hirsch is right back with her own suplex before grabbing something like an abdominal stretch on her back. With that broken up, they bump fists and slug it out until Hirsch snaps off a German suplex. Back up and Ellering fires off some chops into an STO, followed by a running back elbow for two.

Hirsch goes after the arm and hold on as the medic needs to check on Ellering’s shoulder/elbow. Said medic pops the arm back in and let’s keep going. Hirsch doesn’t want to do this now but Ellering pushes her in the face, earning a Saito suplex for two. Some stomping has Ellering in trouble but she says bring it, meaning Hirsch knees her in the face. Ellering reverses the cover into a cradle for two, which earns herself another running knee to give Hirsch the pin at 10:49.

Rating: C+. The story of the match is the elbow/arm and that’s not a bad way to go. You have the chance of Ellering blaming the arm for the loss and Hirsch not wanting to hurt her friend, which means there are different ways to go. What matters here is they had more going on than just the title and that made it much more interesting.

Post match Hirsch checks on Ellering with the bad arm.

We look at Athena and Nyla Rose putting each other through tables.

Rose is waiting for Athena, who jumps her from behind with a piece of the table. Rose fights back and hits her in the head with the table to leave Athena laying.

Outrunners vs. Lights Camera Faction

Magnum headlocks (Ice) Williams to start and hands it off to Floyd for a shot to the head. Some elbows, including a jumping version, setting up a running shot in the corner to (Jeaux) Braxton. That’s broken up and an elbow to the face lets Williams come back in. Everything breaks down and it’s a powerslam/running neckbreaker combination each to both Williams and Braxton. For some reason Floyd pulls Williams up at two, setting up the Infantry’s Boot Camp to finish him off at 3:52.

Rating: C+. The ending seems to be setting something up between the Outrunners and the Infantry and sure why not. It’s not like either of them have anything of note going on at the moment and odds are they’re not going to get a major title shot. Not a bad match, with Lights Camera Faction being a rather snazzy team name.

Commentary points out that it was indeed Boot Camp.

The Infantry is happy with the win but Lee Moriarty comes in to say the Outrunners just used Boot Camp. The Infantry is no longer happy.

Bryan Keith vs. Slice Boogie

Keith strikes away against the ropes to start and boots Boogie down. A t-bone suplex into Diamond Dust finishes Boogie at 1:53. And that’s how you do a squash.

Women’s TV Title Tournament: Trish Adora vs. Mercedes Martinez

They go with the grappling to start, with Martinez stomping on the foot to escape a headlock. Adora cranks on the arm and rolls her up for two as this is certainly starting slowly. Martinez takes her down for a double arm crank but Adora headscissors her down and does some pushups.

That doesn’t sit well with Martinez, who takes her to the floor and starts in on the back again. A knee in said back with a chinlock has Adora in more trouble but Adora is back up to escape the third Amigo. Adora hits a Thesz press and slugs away, setting up a backsplash for two more. The torture rack is loaded up but Adora’s back gives out, allowing Martinez to grab the Brass City Sleeper for the win at 9:45.

Rating: C. They were going for a technical exchange here and while that part worked well enough, it wasn’t very engaging as they were just kind of doing moves to each other. I liked the back work from Martinez and it played into the finish, but I was bred for most of the match, which isn’t saying much when they didn’t even have ten minutes. Martinez can still go with anyone and she did fine here, but not much in the energy department here.

Rachael Ellering is upset about the loss and Leyla Hirsch comes in to say she didn’t want it that way. Ellering knows it wasn’t intentional and they’re cool.

Lance Archer/Righteous vs. Jon Cruz/JC Valentine/James Blackheart

Dutch knees Valentine in the ribs to start but Valentine is back with a dropkick. For some reason Valentine tries a monkey flip and is promptly planted. Archer comes in to chop Blackheart in the corner, setting up Dutch’s powerbomb into a middle rope headbutt. Blackheart finally ducks a right hand and dives over to Cruz for the tag. Everything breaks down and Orange Sunshine hits Cruz, with Archer Black Outing Blackheart onto Cruz for the pin at 5:16.

Rating: C-. It’s a shame this couldn’t have been yesterday or it very well could have been Valentine’s day. Total squash here, but again it didn’t need to go that long when you could have the monsters crush them even faster. Then again, Archer and the Righteous aren’t exactly doing anything so it’s not like they’ll be hurt by the longer match.

Infantry yells at the Outrunners over stealing Boot Camp and threaten to knock them back to the 70s.

Kenny King vs. Dalton Castle

The Boys are here with Castle, who is still more than a bit off (even by his standards). King pulls him into a headlock and sends Castle to the floor, where it’s time for some fanning. Back in and Castle misses a charge to the outside again, this time with King following to get in another shot. A cartwheel kick to the head rocks Castle…who grabs the Bang A Rang for the pin (it’s as sudden as it sounds) at 4:54.

Rating: C. They got in and out of here rather quickly with Castle hitting all of one move for the win. That makes sense for Castle, who has nothing left to lose at the moment and is as basic as you can get. All that matters is having him get the big match against Johnny TV and that has to be coming sooner rather than later.

Post match Castle says he has nothing left but wants Johnny TV. Cue TV (with Taya Valkyrie) who says Castle still isn’t TV ready. Castle is willing to give up anything, so TV agrees to a match….in exchange for the Boys. Castle is perplexed as TV and Taya walk away.

Athena is sitting on the floor and isn’t sure what she is going to do next. She is the minion overlord and the protector of the women’s division, so next week she wants Nyla Rose in a tables match.

Women’s TV Title Tournament First Round: Diamante vs. Kiera Hogan

Diamante misses some big swings to start before ducking a clothesline and getting in a spank. Back up and Diamante pulls her off the ropes and hammers away on the mat. Some choking on the ropes sets up a chinlock but Hogan is back up with a suplex. Hogan misses the running hip attack but grabs a Side Effect for two instead. Now the hip attack can connect and the running corner dropkick makes it worse. A hangman’s neckbreaker gives Hogan two more but Diamante Stunners her over the ropes. Hogan hits a superkick but walks into the rolling cutter to give Diamante the pin at 6:31.

Rating: C+. This was a bit more of an intense, back and forth match with either feeling like they could pull it off. That made for a better match and Diamante has been on a bit of a roll in recent months. Good way to wrap up the show here with a little more time making things even better.

Nyla Rose accepts for the Women’s Title match next week and we’ll make it 2/3 tables.

Overall Rating: B-. WHERE IN THE WORLD HAS THIS BEEN? This was by far the easiest ROH show I’ve watched in a long time and it’s really easy to see why: most of the stuff felt like it mattered. It really is as simple of that. Don’t make me feel like I’m wasting my time and have something that matters in most of the matches and the show goes way up in quality. The wrestling wasn’t anything special but my goodness this was a massive step in the right direction and if this is where it’s going, I’m rather pleased.

Results
Queen Aminata b. J Rod – Headbutt
Infantry b. Midnight Heat – Boot Camp to Pearl
Leyla Hirsch b. Rachael Ellering – Running knee
Outrunners b. Lights Camera Faction – Boot Camp to Williams
Bryan Keith b. Slice Boogie – Diamond Dust
Mercedes Martinez b. Trish Adora – Brass City Sleeper
Lance Archer/Righteous b. Jon Cruz/JC Valentine/James Blackheart – Blackout to Blackheart
Dalton Castle b. Kenny King – Bang A Rang
Diamante b. Kiera Hogan – Rolling cutter

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Collision
Date: February 10, 2024
Location: Dollar Loan Center, Henderson, Nevada
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness

We’re less than a month away from Revolution and that feels like a rather long time away. The good thing is you can see a lot of the card from here and they’re starting to get closer to putting everything together. That still leaves a good number of things to cover and we should get some of them out of the way here. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.Opening sequence.

Blackpool Combat Club vs. Esfinge/Star Jr.

Moxley and Star start things off by going to the mat and Star gets him into something like a bow and arrow. Castagnoli comes in and a double superkick puts him on the floor. The Club walks away before the dives can launch and it’s Castagnoli coming back in to swing Esfinge. Moxley hammers away in the corner but Esfinge flips over and brings in Star for a double knockdown. Stereo flip dives take the Club out on the floor but they’re right back up to take over.

We take a break and come back with Moxley bleeding and Star taking Castagnoli down to make the tag back to Esfinge. Everything breaks down and Esfinge’s spinning leglock cover is broken up by Castagnoli. Star takes Castagnoli down with a corkscrew dive to the floor, leaving Moxley and Esfinge to strike it out. Back in and Castagnoli tosses Star into a cutter for two. A toss powerbomb drops Esfinge and Moxley cross armbreakers Star for the win at 12:46.

Rating: C+. This has been the latest match in this rivalry between the Blackpool Combat Club and CMLL and….yeah it’s certainly a thing that’s happening. It doesn’t feel important in the slightest and this was another example of two people from CMLL being put out there with no reason to be interested in what they’re doing. I need a bit more of a reason to care about this feud other than “they’re from a different company” and I’m not quite getting that (yet).

Post match Moxley says take that message back to CMLL and tell them that anyone who steps up gets stepped on. Cue FTR for a staredown with the Club and they quickly get in a brawl.

Daniel Garcia vs. Shane Taylor

Matt Menard is on commentary and Lee Moriarty is here with Taylor. Garcia works on the arm to start but has to duck the big right hand. Taylor runs him over with a shoulder and even gets in his own Garcia dance. One heck of a chop wakes Garcia up and he snaps off a dragon screw legwhip.

Garcia starts in on the leg and we take an early break. Back with Taylor dropping him with a headbutt, only to miss the apron legdrop. Garcia kicks him into the corner and stomps away, setting up a running dropkick to the leg. Taylor is back up with the big forearm for two but Garcia takes out the leg again. We hit the kneebar…and Taylor actually taps at 9:05.

Rating: C+. This worked well enough with Garcia picking apart the monster and then winning with a hold he worked on throughout. Garcia getting a clean singles win is a good sign and he seems to be on his way to a TNT Title shot. This did exactly what it needed to do and there actually wasn’t much to criticize about it (my goodness that’s weird to say).

We look at Sting and Darby Allin winning the Tag Team Titles before being attacked by the Young Bucks.

Eddie Kingston finds what the Bucks did to be disgusting, just like what Bryan Danielson did when he took the attention from Bryan Keith last week. Kingston wants to face Danielson at Revolution and if he wins, Danielson has to shake his hand. No word on the title being on the line.

Brian Cage vs. Outrunners

The Outrunners have the Las Vegas Golden Knights’ mascot with them. Cage throws Floyd into the corner to start and hammers away before suplexing both of them at once. A powerbomb into a modified Texas Cloverleaf gives Cage the win at 1:12.

Post match the mascot dances with Prince Nana but gets jumped by Cage. Hook comes in for the brawl.

The Undisputed Kingdom tell Tomohiro Ishii that they’re coming for him if he wins the International Title tonight.

Here is Adam Copeland for a chat. Since he is ranked #3, he can pick to go after the TNT or International Title. Copeland likes the idea of going after Eddie Kingston’s dozens of championships but you probably know where he is leaning. Cue Daniel Garcia to say he means no disrespect but he wants the title as well. Copeland respects him but how about they face each other for the title shot. Garcia is currently not in the top 5 but apparently beating Taylor and Copeland is guaranteed to get him into the top 3? I think?

Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale, with Stokely Hathaway, are in the back with Hathaway comparing themselves to the cast of Full House. He doesn’t think much of Skye Blue and the women aren’t pleased with Blue turning on them. Nightingale wants a match with Blue but Stokely can’t do it because Tony Khan has blocked his number. He’ll work on it.

Brody King vs. Mark Briscoe

Julia Hart is here with King. Briscoe hammers away to start but gets launched out of the corner with raw power. A backsplash gives King two but Briscoe knocks him to the floor. The chair is brought in for a step up dive and now let’s get a table. Instead Briscoe tries a dive, which is pulled out of the air so King can send him through a chair.

We take a break and come back with King getting two off a Boss Man Slam. King fights up and hits a running boot in the corner, followed by a bunch of right hands. Briscoe knocks him to the floor and goes up top for a flipping dive but King runs him over with a hard lariat back inside. Briscoe is back up again and tries the Froggy Bow, only to have Hart offer a distraction. King shoves him off the top and through the aforementioned table at ringside. Back in and the Ganso Bomb finishes for King at 12:58.

Rating: B. Unnecessary table spot aside, this was two hard hitting people hitting each other hard. King feels like he is in line for some kind of a monster run at some point and if he isn’t, he should be. Briscoe loses so much that it makes me wonder if that’s what he wants to do, because otherwise it feels like AEW is completely wasting him.

Post match Hart comes in and hits Briscoe in the head with a spike.

Bryan Keith is looking for big matches and wants to climb the ranks to collect his bounty.

Deonna Purrazzo vs. Kiera Hogan

They fight over arm control to start until Hogan sends her into the ropes for a running hip attack. Purrazzo is right back up to take over on the arm before grabbing a cross arm choke. A Backstabber gives Purrazzo two but Hogan fights up. That’s cut off almost immediately and Purrazzo grabs the Venus de Milo (double arm crank) for the tap at 4:34.

Rating: C. Nice short win for Purrazzo here as she is turning into a formidable star on the way to Revolution. That being said, the Mercedes Mone tease is going to change everything and I’m not sure how big of a deal Purrazzo is going to be once Mone debuts. For now though, she picked Hogan apart and won so they’re at least starting off well with her.

Queen Aminata vs. Toni Storm

Non-title. Storm takes her down by the arm to start and then marches around the ring with a headlock. A Thesz press puts Aminata down and we take a break. Back with Aminata hitting a running kick to the chest for two. Storm grabs a DDT for the same but Aminata hits an Air Raid Crash for two more. That’s enough for Storm, who is back up with Storm Zero for the pin at 8:54.

Rating: C. This got more time than the previous one and the way commentary was talking, Aminata was the featured attraction. I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen AEW (or any promotion for that matter) decide that someone was going to be a thing and run with it this much. Aminata isn’t bad at all but I have no idea why she’s getting this much time and attention.

Post match Storm lays in the ring and says she’ll be releasing a new film on “Die-nah-mah-tay.” She also doesn’t think much of Purrazzo.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

International Title: Orange Cassidy vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Ishii is challenging and powers him up against the ropes to start. Cassidy is sent outside and wants Ishii to join him but has to come back inside to shoulder Ishii instead. Some forearms in the corner just annoy Ishii, who drops Cassidy with a single chop. We take a break and come back with Cassidy hitting a Stundog Millionaire.

The tornado DDT plants Ishii again and a second one gets two. A top rope DDT gives Cassidy two more before they trade running shouts to the face. Ishii Pounces him down and they both get a breather. A hard shot to the face gives Ishii two and he suplexes Cassidy hard. Cassidy tells him to chop before collapsing, allowing Ishii to hit a powerbomb.

The sliding lariat misses though and Cassidy gets some rollups for two each. The Orange Punch and Beach Break give Cassidy two but Ishii clotheslines him for the same. Ishii’s brainbuster is escaped but the Orange Punch won’t put him down. With nothing else working, Cassidy small packages him to retain at 15:24.

Rating: B. The action was good and such but this was the latest in the “here’s a title match against a random opponent and Cassidy survives again”. I liked it a bit more in the first twenty or so times they did it rather than the most recent forty or so. I get that there’s a history between them because of their time in a faction in Japan but I’m going to need more than that to be interested in a match here.

Post match the Undisputed Kingdom runs in to beat Cassidy down but Ishii makes the save.

Overall Rating: B. The usual good wrestling helps and there were some stories being advanced, but AEW still has a bad tendency to lean on “oh well it’s a good match, we don’t need much more than that”. It can work for awhile, but at some point I could use more in a lot of cases. The opener and main event would fit that description here, as the CMLL invasion (if it counts as one) is just there and Cassidy doing the same thing he’s done for more than a year now isn’t interesting. Good action on the show, but it’s hit and miss in the storytelling department.

Results
Blackpool Combat Club b. Esfinge/Star Jr. – Cross armbreaker to Star Jr.
Daniel Garcia b. Shane Taylor – Kneebar
Brian Cage b. Outrunners – Texas Cloverleaf to Magnum
Brody King b. Mark Briscoe – Ganso Bomb
Deonna Purrazzo b. Kiera Hogan – Deonna Purrazzo
Toni Storm b. Queen Aminata – Storm Zero
Orange Cassidy b. Tomohiro Ishii – Small package

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Collision
Date: February 3, 2024
Location: Bert Ogden Arena, Edinburg, Texas
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness

It’s another Saturday night and this time around we have a guest star as CMLL’s Hechicero is here to face Bryan Danielson. That alone should be more than enough for a main even as we are getting ready for Revolution. I’m not sure what else to expect this week but you can get all kinds of things on this show. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Eddie Kingston vs. Bryan Keith

Non-title Proving Ground match, meaning if Keith wins or survives the twenty minute time limit, he gets a future Continental Crown title shot (for some reason the preview before the show said the title was on the line). Feeling out process to start with Kingston powering him up against the ropes. Keith takes him up against the ropes as well before Kingston fires off some chops. An exchange of headbutts goes to Keith before neither can get a suplex.

Kingston gets fired up off an exchange of chops until Keith manages to knock him down. A kick to the face knocks Kingston to the floor and Keith sends him hard into the barricade. Back in and Keith drops a knee for two but Kingston gets in a knockdown of his own and we take a break.

We come back with Keith knocking him out to the floor and then hitting a big boot to send Kingston back to the floor. A Falcon Arrow gets two back inside but Kingston manages to exploder his way to freedom. Keith hits his own exploder and a tiger bomb gets two more. Kingston backfists him down for two and there are the rapid fire chops in the corner. An enziguri staggers Keith but he gets pulled into the sleeper and then a DDT for two. Back up and another spinning backfist knocks Keith silly for the pin at 15:17.

Rating: B. They got cooking by the end and it was a heck of a fight where Kingston had to work to avoid Keith getting a better shot. This felt like a good place for the non-champion to make it through the time limit and set up a title match later but that’s not what Proving Ground matches are all about. Either way, heck of a match from Keith in his best AEW/ROH performance to date.

Post match Kingston thanks the fans and says go talk to Keith. That lets Tony Schiavone make the announcement: Keith is All Elite. Bryan Danielson interrupts the celebration because it’s time for his match, though Kingston isn’t pleased.

Jon Moxley isn’t happy with the CMLL stars attacking him but the Blackpool Combat Club is waiting on them. He even teases coming to Arena Mexico.

Bryan Danielson vs. Hechicero

They go to the mat with a knuckle lock and ram heads together but neither can get anywhere. It’s back to the mat with both of them working on a leglock and they slap it out as a bonus. Hechicero rolls him up for two but Danielson is right back with a surfboard. That’s fine with Hechicero, who reverses into one of his own and even rolls him around. Danielson goes to the ropes and really isn’t sure what to do here.

Back up and Danielson fires off some kicks in the corner before starting in on the leg. Hechicero comes back with a running headscissors into a leg lariat (that’s a new one) before flipping Danielson into a choke, sending him straight to the ropes. We take a break and come back with Hechicero striking away in the corner until Danielson flips over him, only to get dropkicked down. Danielson headbutts his way off the top but dives into a…rather twisting arm lock.

Danielson manages to get out but is knocked outside, where Hechicero hits a dive. Back in and Danielson gets in a shot of his own, setting up the LeBell Lock. Hechicero slips out and ties up the legs while cranking on the arm as well. That’s broken up and Hechicero misses a running knee in the corner, allowing Danielson to snap off a dragon screw legwhip. Hechicero pulls him into a reverse Koji Clutch but Danielson reverses into a cradle for the pin at 15:10.

Rating: A-. This was about Danielson escaping rather than winning as he couldn’t figure Hechicero out and was even being out wrestled multiple times. It made for a heck of a showcase as Danielson had to get in what he could when he could before escaping in the end. This was great stuff and a side of Danielson you do not often see, which made it an awesome showcase for Hechicero.

Post match Hechicero jumps him but Claudio Castagnoli runs in for the save.

FTR and Daniel Garcia didn’t expect their team to work but they’ll keep it going. The three of them made the trios rankings so tonight, they’re facing the Patriarchy.

Hook vs. Outrunners

Hook throws Magnum around to start and Floyd has to break up an armbar. A slam puts Hook down but a suplex attempt is broken up. Hook pops up again and hits a double clothesline, followed by Redrum for the win at 2:36.

Here is Mark Briscoe for a chat. Briscoe puts over Tony Schiavone, who was always on the TV talking to some of the best ever. Last week Briscoe was ready to fight with FTR against the House of Black but they jumped him and took him out of the match. This has been the hardest year of his life but he’s going to keep getting up because we fight until we can’t fight anymore and then we fight some more. The House of Black pops up with Malakai Black promising to eradicate Briscoe from wrestling.

Video on the Cope Open.

Serena Deeb vs. Queen Aminata

Deeb grabs a headlock takeover to start but Aminata starts in on the arm. That earns her a quickly broken surfboard so Deeb pulls her into a half crab instead. Aminata slips out and grabs a suplex for two as we take a break. Back with Deeb hitting a running elbow and a discus lariat drops Aminata again.

A neckbreaker over the ropes and a swinging neckbreaker give Deeb two more. Deebtox is broken up so Deeb spins her around, only to get dropped with a headbutt. The running hip attack connects but the running knee misses, allowing Deeb to grab the Figure Four around the post. The Serenity Lock finishes Aminata at 10:00.

Rating: C. So you remember how Aminata has had match after match and still hasn’t really done anything of note and there hasn’t been much to make her stand out? Well that is all still true, as this was another decent match that isn’t going to make her feel like a star. She’s far from bad, but I could go for a reason to care about her after the weeks (and now approaching months) of her being around a lot without doing much of anything.

Here is Swerve Strickland, with Prince Nana, for a chat. Swerve says it’s Black History Month and talks about the people who paved the way for him, like Ron Simmons, Kofi Kingston and Athena. Soon he’ll add his name to that list of World Champions but Tony Schiavone asks about what Hangman Page said: Swerve can’t beat him without the Mogul Embassy. Strickland doesn’t buy it because he’s beaten Page twice so now he’s going to do it again and become Black history. He’s winning the World Title at Revolution, but he tells Nana no interferences so there are no excuses. That was a face promo if I’ve ever heard one.

Toni Storm is mad at Deonna Purrazzo and no, she still didn’t see Mariah May’s match. Now though, she wants a public workout. And cranberry juice.

Red Velvet vs. Vertvixen

Velvet leg lariats her down to start and hits a sitout bulldog. She tries it again but this time Vertvixen reverses into a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Back up and Velvet hits some running knees to the back, setting up the Mix for the pin at 2:19.

FTR/Daniel Garcia vs. Patriarchy

Wayne and Harwood take turns flipping out of wristlocks to start and it’s quickly off to Cage. Harwood grabs some fast rollups for two each and then does it again for a bonus. Wayne comes in and gets shouldered down by Garcia, followed by some quick trips for two each. Back up and Garcia sends Cage outside, meaning we get a standoff to send us to a break.

We come back with Garcia in trouble in the corner and Matt Menard on commentary. Cage grabs a chinlock, only to miss a top rope splash. The tag brings in Wheeler to clean house but Killswitch comes in to cut FTR off. Harwood is back up with a top rope belly to back superplex on Wayne but Killswitch counters a piledriver attempt. Killswitch hits a chokeslam so Wayne can get two as we take another break.

Back again with Harwood hitting a backdrop but Wayne is in with a chinlock. Harwood fights up and breaks out of Cage’s Killswitch (move, not person) before they ram heads. The big tag brings in Garcia to clean house as everything breaks down. Wheeler even hits a nice suicide dive to drop Killswitch, leaving Garcia to hit a brainbuster for two on Wayne. Back up and Wayne drops Garcia but he’s right back with a neckbreaker for two more. Cage plants Harwood on the floor and everything breaks down, with Wayne having to save Cage from a Sharpshooter. Garcia grabs Wayne with a rollup for the pin at 23:03.

Rating: B+. Take six wrestlers and let them go nuts with a build to a hot finish. It’s wrestling 101 and they made it work very well here in a heck of a main event. They’re really building Garcia up and so far so good, so maybe they have something with him this time. Awesome match here as FTR continues to be incredibly good at just about anything.

Overall Rating: A-. Sweet goodness what a show with two outstanding matches and a third which was rather good in its own right. The only match that got significant time and wasn’t great was a perfectly acceptable Deeb vs. Animata match and if that’s the only negative, they did rather well. Excellent show this week and one of the better TV shows I’ve seen in a good while.

Results
Eddie Kingston b. Bryan Keith – Spinning backfist
Bryan Danielson b. Hechicero – Rollup
Hook b. Outrunners – Redrum to Floyd
Serena Deeb b. Queen Aminata – Serenity Lock
Red Velvet b. Vertvixen – The Mix
FTR/Daniel Garcia b. Patriarchy – Rollup to Wayne

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Ring Of Honor
Date: January 25, 2024
Location: Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis, Missouri
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

The very slow build towards the yet to be announced Supercard Of Honor continues, including what is likely to be another build towards the Women’s TV Title tournament. We still don’t have anything for a start date for the tournament, or any other details for that matter, but maybe we can find out something this week. Let’s get to it.

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

Commentary runs down part of the card.

Righteous vs. Camaro Jackson/Anaya

Dutch shrugs off a shoulder from Jackson to start and takes him into the corner so Vincent can come in. Jackson manages a suplex but Vincent sends him into the corner, with Dutch coming in for a splash. Vincent’s low Downward Spiral connects but his elbow hits raised knees. Anaya comes in and drops Vincent for two, only to have Dutch come in to set up Autumn Sunshine for the pin at 3:44.

Rating: C. The Righteous looked dominant enough here as Jackson and Anaya only got in so much offense before falling short. It does help having the Tag Team Titles around here again, as the Righteous, while not on the top of the list of challengers, have something to fight over. That being said, if you have the Righteous as the weird cult people, why not have them doing….cult stuff?

Nyla Rose vs. Laynie Luck

Rose crushes her hand in the Code Of Honor and hits a clothesline. Luck’s kicks don’t get her anywhere as Rose sends her into the ropes for some far harder kicks. A powerslam cuts off Luck’s running headscissors and the Beast Bomb finishes at 2:00. Exactly as it should have gone.

Zak Knight vs. Aaron Solo

Solo hammers away to start and manages a dropkick out to the floor. Back in and Knight hits a clothesline, followed by a toss across the ring. Knight hits a delayed vertical suplex, with some squats thrown in, but Solo breaks up a springboard. Solo hits his own clothesline for his own two and we hit the chinlock.

Back up and Knight catches him on top for a delayed vertical superplex, followed by a Samoan Driver for two. As Ian says Knight usually makes short work of his opponents (his shortest ROH match is 4:15), Knight misses a Swanton, allowing Solo to hit a double stomp for two. Knight has had it with him and hits the Razor’s Edge bomb into the corner, followed by the running forearm for the pin at 8:02.

Rating: C+. I’m assuming the idea is for Knight to be in the ring longer to get a better look at him, as there is pretty much no reason to have Knight take eight minutes to beat Solo. On top of that, Solo got in quite a bit of offense before Knight took him out, which is kind of a weird way to go. I could still go for more of Knight though and it’s nice to see him getting more shots out there.

We recap Griff Garrison/Cole Karter vs. the Spanish Announce Project.

Griff Garrison/Cole Karter vs. Spanish Announce Project

Maria Kanellis-Bennett is here with Garrison and Karter. Angelico and Garrison start things off with an exchange of wristlocks until Angelico pulls him to the mat. That’s enough for Garrison to bail to the floor before coming back in to shoulder Angelico down. Karter gets to stomp away in the corner and then does it again for good measure. Angelico breaks that up and hands it off to Serpentico for a top rope stomp to the arm. Serpentico knocks them both to the floor for the big dive but Maria offers a distraction.

That lets Garrison send Serpentico’s long injured knee into the steps so the villains can take over again. Karter comes back in but Serpentico jawbreaks his way to freedom, allowing the tag off to Angelico. A breakdancing kick to Garrison’s head gets two and we hit the leglock. With that broken up, Karter offers a cheap shot and spinebusters Serpentico for a bonus.

Everyone is down for a breather, allowing Angelico to get over for the tag to Serpentico. A running cutter drops Garrison but Maria’s distraction lets Garrison clothesline Serpentico down. Maria tells them to try something, which results in heel miscommunication. Not that it matters as Karter steals Serpentico’s mask and Garrison hits a discus forearm for the pin at 11:09.

Rating: C+. On one hand, it’s nice to have a match with a feud and something of a history to it. On the other hand, forgive me for not getting interested in an eleven minute match between Serpentico/Angelico and Griff Garrison/Cole Karter. There’s a reason they were at the bottom of the AEW totem pole and have been more or less relegated to Ring Of Honor. The match wasn’t bad, but it’s between four people who aren’t that interesting and it was showing here.

Post match Angelico covers Serpentico’s face but gets beaten down anyway.

Outrunners vs. Blake Christian/Willie Mack

Christian starts with Floyd, who runs him over with a shoulder. An exchange of headlocks doesn’t do well for Magnum, who gets shouldered down by Christian. Magnum is sent outside and there’s the Fosbury Flop to put him down again. Back in and it’s off to Mack for the house cleaning, including a double noggin knocker. The dancing moonsault gets two on Floyd and the Stunner into the frog splash is enough to give Mack the pin at 5:14.

Rating: C. This was very much in the “we have to get them on the show” style and it didn’t exactly do much beyond that. Mack and Christian are another thrown together tag team and they beat one of the goofy regular teams. It’s not a bad match, but when a show is over two hours and fifteen minutes long, this isn’t exactly must see content.

Lady Frost/Kiera Hogan/Trish Adora vs. Taya Valkyrie/Leila Grey/Diamante

Johnny TV is here with Valkyrie and company. Valkyrie shoves Hogan into the corner to start but she’s back up with a right hand. The basement superkick drops Valkyrie, who comes back with a knee to the face. Adora comes in to crank on Grey’s arm, meaning it’s quickly of to Frost for a sunset flip on Diamante.

Frost gets taken into the corner and Grey takes her down with a Sling Blade. Something like an STF goes on but Frost fights up and brings Adora in to clean house. Everything breaks down and Valkyrie is low bridged to the floor. Frost goes up top and moonsaults onto Valkyrie and Grey, leaving Diamante to hit the rolling cutter for the pin on Adora at 6:58.

Rating: C. This was the latest match between people who are probably going to be in the TV Title tournament or competition or whatever it is, but at some point it would be nice to start the thing. I’m assuming they’re setting up the finals for Supercard Of Honor, but that is a heck of a long time to stretch things out. If nothing else, give us something resembling details about the whole thing, as these tag matches are feeling more and more like filler every week.

Leyla Hirsch and Rachael Ellering have been working on chemistry by going to dinner and even joining a book club. They’re both ready to try to win the TV Title though. For now though, sushi.

Iron Savages/Jacked Jameson vs. Infantry/Lee Johnson

Johnson and Bronson start things off with Bronson blocking an armdrag to start. Jameson comes in so Bravo starts working on his arm. Boulder breaks that up and cleans house, with Dean being sent face first into the chest hair. Dean slips away and brings in Bravo to pick the pace way up. A TKO Stunner gets two on Bronson and it’s off to Jameson, who gets caught with a reverse inverted DDT to give Johnson the pin at 5:36.

Rating: C. The Iron Savages are rapidly reaching the point where I don’t need to see them again for a long time. It’s the same stuff every week and they lost again here, at least with the manager taking the fall. That’s one of the biggest problems with Ring Of Honor: you see the same people so often and it stops mattering when they’re on the show week in and week out. That’s the case with the Savages, who only had so much to go on in the first place.

Red Velvet vs. Heather Reckless

They fight over a lockup to start with Velvet sending her to the apron. Reckless kicks her away though and hits a shot off the top for two. Velvet shrugs it off and hits The Mix for the pin at 2:22.

Nyla Rose throws away/steals a bunch of Athena’s stuff. Lexi Nair comes in to ask what she’s doing so Rose lists off her resume. Rose declares herself the new Minion Overlord because Athena isn’t coming back. She has Nair grab the camera and then powerbombs the cameraman through a table. So is Rose the heel in all of this? Because making Athena the face is a weird way to go.

Billie Starkz vs. Tootie Lynn

Starkz takes her into the corner to start and pulls her back out, setting up a kick between the shoulders for two. More kicks put Lynn down and a Swanton finishes for Starkz at 3:04.

Rating: C-. Just a quick match here as Starkz, another name in the mix for the TV Title, gets a spotlight. At this rate the tournament is going to have all kinds of stars in there, though Starkz might have to help Athena deal with Nyla Rose. Starkz is starting to get a bit of a build back up after Final Battle, which is exactly what she needs here.

Ethan Page vs. Kody Lane

Page grinds away on a headlock to start but gets dropkicked into the corner. Ego’s Edge is broken up and Lane knocks Page down, only for Page to come back with Ego’s Edge for the pin at 2:00.

Dalton Castle interrupts Jerry Lynn and demands to face Johnny TV. Cue TV out of his locker room to say not until Castle is TV ready. Then TV slides away on his knees (with an assist from Taya Valkyrie).

Abadon vs. Robyn Renegade

Abadon headbutts Renegade down to start and hits some running knees in the corner. Renegade is back up with a kick to the head for two and a face first drop onto the turnbuckle. A Codebreaker gives Renegade two but Abadon is back with a Stunner for two more. Sean O’Haire’s old Widowmaker gives Renegade two more but Abadon grabs the Black Dahlia for the pin at 3:54.

Rating: C. Hey look: another match where commentary talks about building momentum towards the TV Title tournament. It might have meant a bit more if not for the three other times I’ve seen it in the last 40 minutes or so. Abadon seems to be one of the heavy hitters/big stars on the way to the tournament and that isn’t exactly instilling me with hope.

Jon Cruz vs. Jack Cartwheel

Cartwheel starts with cartwheels and flips, with one of them including a kick to the head. A missed flip of the top lets Cruz run him over, while asking where Cartwheel’s cartwheel is. Cruz hits a side slam for two and we hit the seated abdominal stretch. Back up and Cartwheel sweeps the leg and hits a slingshot flipping splash before flipping into a standing corkscrew moonsault for two. Cartwheel takes him down again and hits a top rope corkscrew Swanton for the pin at 4:34.

Rating: C+. When commentary is counting the number of cartwheels you’re doing in a match, it might be time to vary things up a bit. One of the common criticisms of modern wrestling is that it’s built on a bunch of flips, but Cartwheel is leaning all the way into it. He’s quite acrobatic, but my goodness can we just end this show already without cramming in everyone they can find?

Action Andretti vs. Anthony Henry

They fight over a lockup to start with Henry going after the arm. Andretti is sent outside and the arm goes straight into the steps as Henry has an early target. Back in and Andretti hits a corner splash and rains down some right hands, followed by a springboard clothesline for two. Henry hits an enziguri but misses a top rope double stomp. Instead Andretti is back with a Spanish Fly, only to have Henry crank away on the arm again. They forearm it out until Andretti hits a shotgun dropkick into the corner. The split legged moonsault finishes for Andretti at 7:33.

Rating: C+. They had one of the better matches of the night here as Henry worked over the arm and Andretti had to fight from underneath. Andretti is still one of the better high fliers, but when his match comes after Jack Cartwheel, it loses some of its impact. I’ll take what I can get here though as this was a step up from recent matches.

Slim J vs. JD Drake vs. Rocky Romero vs. Josh Woods

Woods and Drake clear the ring to start and trade heavy forearms until Woods grabs a German suplex. The two of them go outside with Romero and J following them with stereo dives. Woods suplexes J on the floor, leaving J and Romero to beat up Woods inside. Drake gets kicked back to the floor so Romero takes down Woods and J at the same time. With everyone else on the floor, Romero dives onto all three but gets suplexed by Woods back inside. Drake suplexes Woods and hits the moonsault, with J making the save. Romero is back in with the running Sliced Bread to finish J at 7:27.

Rating: B-. It was the fun, almost all action match and that worked out well here. Romero getting the win isn’t shocking as he’s the biggest star in the match and feels like an important name. At the same time, it’s not like Romero is going to go anywhere, so this was just another match for the sake of putting four people in the ring.

The Kingdom vs. Gravity/Gringo Loco

Non-title Proving Ground match, meaning if Gravity and Loco win or survive the ten minute time limit, they get a future title shot. Taven jumps over Loco to start and hits a dropkick, followed by a springboard armdrag. Loco takes Taven into the corner though and it’s off to Gravity for two off la majistral.

The champs are sent outside and the non-champs both hit dives. Taven takes over on Loco outside though and a running flipping neckbreaker drops him inside. Bennett adds a clothesline and spinebuster but Loco gets over for the tag. Gravity takes Bennett down and a moonsault gives Loco two. Bennett superkicks Loco though and the Hail Mary is good for the pin at 6:52.

Rating: C+. You know, it is ok for the Kingdom to squash someone every so often. So far, the Kingdom has mainly had difficulty against thrown together teams rather than destroying someone, but that might make the Undisputed Kingdom dominant or interesting or something like that. The match itself was fine, but I have no idea what the deal is with the Undisputed Kingdom, because introducing a new monster heel group and then having them struggle in matches like this one is bizarre.

Overall Rating: D+. This show was one of the worst presentations I’ve seen from a company with a budget. The wrestling was completely fine and even good in parts. The problem with this whole thing is it’s not an interesting or well put together show. The show just keeps going and going with matches that either don’t advance anything or have a bunch of people who have nothing going on.

Two hours into a show is not a good time to have a four way between random wrestlers with nothing on the line, which came two matches after a Jack Cartwheel match. I have no idea why this show is supposed to be entertaining, either for fans watching at home or watching in the arena, but this was a wretched setup for a show and a waste of some good action. Fix this already, because this was a big negative despite the positives from the wrestlers.

Results
Righteous b. Camaro Jackson/Anaya – Autumn Sunshine to Anaya
Nyla Rose b. Laynie Luck – Beast Bomb
Zak Knight b. Aaron Solo – Running forearm
Griff Garrison/Cole Karter b. Spanish Announce Project – Discus forearm to Serpentico
Willie Mack/Blake Christian b. Outrunners – Frog splash to Floyd
Diamante/Leila Grey/Taya Valkyrie b. Lady Frost/Kiera Hogan/Trish Adora – Rolling cutter to Adora
Infantry/Lee Johnson b. Iron Savages/Jacked Jameson – Reverse inverted DDT to Jameson
Red Velvet b. Heather Reckless – The Mix
Billie Starkz b. Tootie Lynn – Swanton
Ethan Page b. Kody Lane – Ego’s Edge
Abadon b. Robyn Renegade – Black Dahlia
Jack Cartwheel b. Jon Cruz – Corkscrew Swanton
Action Andretti b. Anthony Henry – Split legged moonsault
Rocky Romero b. Slim J, Josh Woods and JD Drake – Running Sliced Bread to J
The Kingdom b. Gravity/Gringo Loco – Hail Mary to Loco

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Final Battle 2023
Date: December 15, 2023
Location: Curtis Culwell Center, Garland, Texas
Commentators: Caprice Coleman, Ian Riccaboni

It’s the biggest Ring Of Honor show of the year and that could mean all kinds of things. The main event is again about the Women’s Title, as Athena, in her hometown, defends against Billie Starkz. Other than that, we’ll be getting a new TV Champion in a six way match with five wrestlers announced. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Taya Valkyrie vs. Jazmin Allure

Bonus match and Johnny TV is with Valkyrie. A hard shot to the face puts Allure down to start and it’s time to choke on the ropes. Allure’s right hand doesn’t get her very far as Valkyrie hits the sliding German suplex. The running knees in the corner hit Allure for two and we hit the chinlock. Allure fights up and slugs away but gets caught up top, meaning it’s a top rope superplex. The curb stomp finishes Allure at 4:26.

Rating: C. So this week on Ring Of Honor, Valkyrie won a match over a bigger name but on the pay per view Kickoff Show, she beats someone who has only popped up here and there. Not much to see with this one but having Valkyrie around is a good thing. She’s a talented veteran and that adds a lot to the division. I’m not sure why this needed to be on the show, but at least Valkyrie was pretty dominant.

Zero Hour: Von Erichs vs. Outrunners

The Von Erichs in Dallas and you don’t advertise it better than this? Ross (which I know because commentary is smart enough to say which Von Erich is which since they aren’t known in Ring Of Honor) takes Magnum down to start and hits a dropkick, followed by a standing hurricanrana for two. Marshall comes in and clears the Outrunners out, meaning it’s time for a meeting on the floor.

Back in and Ross scares the Outrunners back to the floor where they hit…something on Ross that the camera misses. The beating is on back inside but Floyd has to cut off a hot tag. Ross kicks his way to freedom anyway though and it’s Marshall coming in to clean house. Monkey flips have the Outrunners flying and stereo Claws make the Outrunners tap at 6:11.

Rating: C. The match wasn’t very good but this was as much of a layup as you could get. You have the most famous family in the history of Dallas wrestling in a match close enough to Dallas and they won with their family’s signature move. This couldn’t have been an easier idea and they went exactly as they should have with it. Aside from the Outrunners losing of course, because that should never happen.

Zero Hour: Survival Of The Fittest Qualifying Match: Bryan Keith vs. Jack Cartwheel

Keith grabs a headlock to start and grinds away until Cartwheel reverses into one of his own. Cartwheel cartwheels away but a headscissors is broken up so Keith can kick him down for two. An enziguri staggers Keith, who boots Cartwheel in the face for his efforts. Back up and a cartwheel into a dragon screw legwhip drops Keith and a slingshot spinning elbow gets two.

A cartwheel into a powerslam plants Keith and a cartwheel Death Valley Driver is good for another near fall. With Keith on the floor, Cartwheel hits the big rolling flip dive but misses a shooting star press back inside. Keith avoids a shooting star press though and hits a Tiger Driver 97 for the pin at 7:04.

Rating: C+. Having something on the line here helped a lot as that hasn’t been the case with the other two so far. I’m not sure why Johnny TV didn’t get this spot as he’s been feuding with Dalton Castle and is named TV but I guess we needed some Texas flavor to it instead. Keith has done well in the appearances I’ve seen from him over the years while Cartwheel is incredibly athletic, even if it seems like he’s just adding stuff to moves that would already be good on their own.

Tony Khan comes out to talk about his history around here and Jay Briscoe’s legacy at this event. For now though, we have one more bonus match.

Zero Hour: Daniel Garcia vs. Blake Christian

Feeling out process to start and they take turns driving each other into the corner for some dancing. They strike it out a bit until a butterfly suplex gives Garcia two. One heck of a chop puts Christian down again and the fans want it one more time. Christian motions for Garcia to bring it and then hits a basement dropkick.

Something like stereo kicks to the back keep Garcia down but he fights out of a rear naked choke. Garcia gets knocked into the corner and kicked in the face but he’s fine enough to suplex Christian into the corner. A backbreaker gets Christian out of trouble so he does it again and hits Garcia in the back of the neck.

They trade kicks to the face until Christian hits a running Spanish Fly for two more. Garcia is right back with a leglock into an ankle lock but Christian sends him outside for a big flip dive. A springboard 450 gives Christian two but Garcia pulls him into the Dragon Tamer for the tap at 12:15.

Rating: B-. Good stuff here, which might be due to the amount of time they received. It made the match feel a bit more important, but at the same time, there is only so much that you can get out of this kind of a match. There was no story and it was added with no notice, meaning it was only going to be so interesting, especially with a newcomer like Christian.

Tony Khan has another announcement but Ring Of Honor World Champion comes in to say he wants to be on the card. Anthony Henry comes in to say he’ll fight so the Proving Ground match is on. That’s how the World Champion is booked for the biggest show of the year, less than two minutes before the show starts.

And now, the show proper.

AAA Mega Title: El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Black Taurus

Taurus is challenging and isn’t interested in the Code Of Honor. The much smaller Vikingo is sent flying to start and Taurus knocks him out of the air. Back up and Taurus misses a running knee in the corner but the big running flip dive is countered into a powerbomb. They head back inside where Taurus hits a ripcord powerslam for two as the pace slows down again.

A clothesline puts Vikingo over the top, with his head bouncing off the apron on the way down. Taurus follows with the rather large flip dive and a reverse Sling Blade back inside. One heck of a pop up Samoan drop plants Vikingo but he avoids a big dive. Vikingo gets two fight back with a big flip to send Taurus outside.

Vikingo loads up two springboard flip dives but has to bail out and hits a standard dive, with Taurus standing there waiting the entire time (my goodness people just don’t do the dive if it takes that long). Back in and Taurus runs him over and they go upside, with Vikingo snapping off a super hurricanrana. They strike it out on the apron until Vikingo hits a not great looking running sunset bomb. Vikingo springboard dropkicks him into the corner but misses a charge into the corner.

A top rope gorilla press plants Vikingo (geez) but Vikingo kicks him in the face a few times. Vikingo hits a moonsault Samoan driver (because someone can do that) but Taurus spears him down for a double knockdown. Taurus is sent outside for a 720 (yes a 720), which thankfully doesn’t land on his head. Back in and one heck of a backbreaker plants Vikingo but he’s able to knock Taurus into the corner. The running knees and the 630 retain the title at 16:30.

Rating: B. Yes they botched quite a bit and it went a bit long, but my goodness I wanted to see Vikingo beat the monster put in front of him. This was a heck of an opener and Vikingo, despite being rather small, can get a crowd behind him like few others. This was about the entertainment value rather than the quality (which wasn’t exactly terrible) and I had a heck of a time with it. Just don’t stand there waiting on a dive like that again. Ever. That was terrible.

Commentary runs down the card.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Mogul Embassy vs. TMDK

TMDK (Shane Haste/Bad Dude Tito/Kosei Fujita) is challenging. Kaun and Fujita start things off with Kaun taking over and dropping him with a kick to the chest. Fujita is back up with a spinning kick to the face, allowing the tag off to Tito to take over on Kaun. It’s back to Fujita, who gets taken into the corner for the tag to Cage.

One heck of a powerslam plants Fujita for two and his right hands don’t do much good. Fujita does manage to punch his way out of trouble and everything breaks down. Haste kicks Toa into the corner and Haste nails a running kick to the face for two. The Gates aren’t having any of this and run Fujita over but Tito makes the save. Haste knees his way out of trouble but Toa cuts him in half with a spear for two.

Tito counters Cage’s discus lariat into a Death Valley Driver for two and Fujita springboard dropkicks Kaun for the same. Cage grabs the apron superplex to plant Fujita for two more with Tito making the save this time. Open The Gates hits Haste, leaving Fujita all alone against the champs. Running shots in the corner set up a toss sitout powerbomb to give Cage the retaining pin at 12:01.

Rating: B-. Nice match here as everything went nuts in a smart move. At the same time, and much like earlier, there is only so much you can get out of the champs defending against a team that got their build in a tournament in Japan which was only mentioned before the match. It wasn’t a bad match, but this really could have been dropped from the card without much being lost.

We recap Tony Nese vs. Ethan Page in an I Quit match. Page was on a winning streak but Nese and his friends cut it off and then got on Page’s nerves. Now it’s time for an I Quit match, which is quite the escalation after one match. Also of note, commentary calls them former friends, which certainly hasn’t been a major part of the story.

Tony Nese vs. Ethan Page

I Quit match and Mark Sterling is here with Nese but is handcuffed to the ring. Well he is eventually that is, complete with Mark Henry coming out to make sure it happens. Nese jumps Page from behind to start fast and hammers away, only to get elbowed in the face to cut him off. They head outside where a Sterling distraction lets Nese get in another cheap shot to take over again. Hold on though as Sterling grabs some protein powder, which is thrown into Nese’s eyes by mistake.

They fight outside again, where Page is sent face first into the handcuffs for a fairly creative spot. Nese grabs the mic and tells Page to quit on behalf of the people. That’s not happening so Nese stomps away at the bloody Page, who fights back again. That means Nese is knocked over the barricade but comes back with a weight (as in the kind you put on a bench press).

The big shot misses but Nese sends him into the barricade to take over. Back in and Nese grabs a jump rope for some whipping, only to have Page fight back without much trouble. Nese teases quitting but uses the distraction to hit page with the microphone. That sets up the big flip dive to the floor, meaning some tables can be set up. Page gets in a shot to break things up and heads to the top, where he is knocked back down.

Not that it matters as Page grabs the slingshot cutter to send Nese through the tables. Back in and some chairs are set up with Nese hurricanranaing Page….completely over the chairs. Thankfully commentary acknowledges that it didn’t make contact and Page doesn’t quit. Nese goes to grab the keys to the handcuffs and, after taking out the referee, unlocks Sterling.

The stomping is on and then it’s time to handcuff Page so Nese can smash him with the weight, with Sterling promising to show the tape to Page’s daughter. Well that’s the plan at least as Sterling explains the idea without actually doing anything, allowing Scorpio Sky to come in for the save. Page is able to stomp Nese’s fingers underneath the plate and then DDT him into it.

Sterling gets hit in the face with the plate (probably should have killed him) and the Ego’s Edge drops him again. Sky takes Sterling to the back but Nese is back up with a chair to the head, meaning Page can indeed be handcuffed. Nese gives him one last chance to quit but Page shouts “F*** YOU” and makes the no hands comeback. The referee uncuffs Page, who hits Nese with the chair and chokes him with the handcuffs for the win at 20:01.

Rating: C+. I have no idea what to think of this, but the thing that stands out the most is how overbooked this was. It felt like they weren’t sure if they wanted to have the violent, bloody brawl or some kind of goofy match with all of the exercise equipment. While I wouldn’t call it bad, they could have cut out a lot of this and had a tighter match. It never felt like the biggest match ever as Nese has never been more than a midcard star at best, but at least Page gets a signature win over someone other than a jobber.

Nyla Rose vs. Vertvixen

Another bonus match. Rose starts fast and loads up the Beast Bomb in less than a minute but Vertvixen punches her way to freedom. Another hard shot drops Vertvixen but Rose pulls her up at two. The top rope knee to the back and the Beast Bomb finish for Rose at 2:39. Well that happened.

We recap the TV Title match, which is the result of Samoa Joe vacating the title. Therefore Survival Of The Fittest was brought back with the winner being the new champion.

TV Title: Survival Of The Fittest Finals

Dalton Castle, Lee Moriarty, Kyle Fletcher, Lee Johnson, Bryan Keith, Komander

Elimination rules but only two are in the ring at once. Castle and Moriarty start things off with a handshake before going to the mat. Fletcher comes in and gets beaten up without much effort, meaning it’s off to Johnson vs. Moriarty. It’s Johnson cleaning house and sending Castle outside but getting headscissored by Komander. Keith comes in and cuts off Komander, meaning it’s time for a showdown with Castle. That’s broken up by Fletcher, who tells Castle to bring it.

The fans are way behind Castle as he throws Fletcher outside, much to the fans’ delight. Komander and Fletcher both go up and stare at each other until Komander walks the ropes to dive onto everyone else. Back in and Johnson takes over on Keith but Moriarty slips out of a powerbomb attempt. Moriarty pulls Johnson into the Border City Stretch for the tap and the elimination at 8:47.

The Boys warm Castle up so he can take Moriarty down, followed by a suplex. Cue Johnny TV to drop…someone the camera misses on the floor. Apparently he dropped the Boys, which distracts Castle enough for Moriarty to hit a suplex Downward Spiral for the elimination at 11:17.

The fans are NOT happy, even as Moriarty, Keith and Fletcher slug it out. Komander is back in as a mini tag match breaks out, resulting in the Tower Of Doom leaving all four down. Keith is up with a fireman’s carry backbreaker for one on Moriarty, followed by a tiger driver to get rid of Moriarty for the pin at 15:39. That leaves Fletcher, Keith and Komander, with Keith kneeing Fletcher down. The tiger driver is blocked though and Fletcher Tombstones Keith for the pin at 16:54.

Fletcher and Komander slug it out with Fletcher getting rocked up against the ropes. The spinning Tombstone is broken up and Komander kicks the leg out, setting up a poisonrana. A slingshot hurricanrana to the floor is countered as well and Fletcher hits the jumping Tombstone on the apron to leave them both on the floor. Komander barely beats the count and it’s a brainbuster to give Fletcher two.

Fletcher puts him on top but Komander kicks the leg out and hits a springboard Canadian Destroyer for a rather near fall. A rope walk 450 onto the apron sets up a regular 450 for two and they’re both down. Komander goes up again but gets caught, setting up a brainbuster onto the turnbuckle for another near fall. Another jumping Tombstone gives Fletcher the pin and the title at 26:03.

Rating: B. The big positive here was they got the Survival part right. Fletcher felt like he survived against the others and that was a heck of a finishing sequence. That being said, it was another long match on a show that is going to go late into the night and it features another heel champion. Ring Of Honor needs to give us something more to cheer about and that is rarely the case when it comes to titles. Very energetic match, but dang some of those kickouts were a bit ridiculous.

Pure Rules Title: Wheeler Yuta vs. Tom Lawlor

Lawlor is challenging in his ROH debut. They go to the mat to start with Lawlor getting the better of things and leaving Yuta a bit shaken. Lawlor’s armbreaker has Yuta going to the ropes for his first break and Lawlor seems pleased. Yuta gets in a right hand behind the referee’s back so Lawlor punches him back, earning his official warning.

Yuta takes over again and goes for the leg, sending Lawlor over to the ropes for his first break. They strike it out, with Lawlor favoring his leg, including as they trade discus forearms. Lawlor is back with a spear but Yuta goes straight back to the knee to take over again. An Octopus Hold into an abdominal stretch into a rollup gives Yuta two but Lawler suplex slams him down for the same.

A monkey flip breaks up another leglock attempt and Lawlor starts in on the arm, including a hammerlock piledriver for another near fall. Something like an Anaconda Vice sends Yuta to the ropes for another break, followed by a right hand to drop Lawlor again. They go up top with Lawlor grabbing a Kimura, which he holds while superplexing Yuta back down.

Another Kimura has Yuta using his final rope break so Lawlor goes with Becky Lynch’s Disarm-Her. Yuta reverses that into an ankle lock, which is reversed into another Kimura. That’s escaped as well and Yuta grabs the seatbelt for the…..pin at 13:12, despite Lawlor’s shoulder being a good foot off the mat and his feet being in the ropes.

Rating: B-. This was a technical battle between two rather skilled technical wrestlers and it worked well, aside from the terribly screwed up ending. The Pure Rules thing can work very well and it was good enough here, but this was another match with no backstory and an outsider getting a random title match. Hook is already feuding with Yuta, but here is Lawlor instead. That can get old fast and I wasn’t a fan of it here.

Post match Yuta stays on Lawlor but Hook makes the save. Yuta low blows Hook before leaving.

We recap Shane Taylor vs. Keith Lee. They were a monster team back in the original ROH but Lee went on to WWE and left Taylor to start over. Now Taylor wants revenge. That’s an actual story and I could have gone for it getting some more development than it received.

Shane Taylor vs. Keith Lee

They stare each other down to start before going to the test of strength. Taylor’s headlock has Lee in some trouble but he breaks out so they can run the ropes. One heck of a shoulder drops Taylor and he’s more than a bit stunned. Lee chops away and hits a slingshot crossbody for one.

Taylor is back with a Tower Of London for two and the apron legdrop crushes Lee again. We hit the chinlock back inside, followed by a knee to the face to give Taylor two. Back up and the forearm exchange goes to Lee, who hits a splash in the corner. Taylor knocks him back down and hits a middle rope splash for two more.

Lee knocks him down again and goes to the corner, only to have Lee Moriarty pop up for a distraction. The sitout powerbomb drops Moriarty but Taylor gets in a knee to the back of the head for two. Taylor goes up top and hits a super Canadian Destroyer….for two more. Back up and Keith grabs the Big Bang Catastrophe for the pin out of nowhere at 14:33.

Rating: B-. It was a good hoss fight with some big heavy shots, but again it ran longer than it needed to. There were too many times where they were slowing way down and it would have been better with a few minutes less. I’m not sure how much sense it makes for Keith to win here, but it won’t matter if he doesn’t get a stronger push than he has had in recent months.

Post match Keith pulls Taylor up and Taylor acknowledges the crowd.

Bryan Keith wants gold so Orange Cassidy comes in to say come collect the International Title on Collision.

We recap the Blackpool Combat Club vs. Mark Briscoe/FTR, which is a big tribute to Jay Briscoe and little more.

Blackpool Combat Club vs. Mark Briscoe/FTR

After Dax Harwood goes over to glare at a fan on her phone, we start with Harwood vs. Moxley with neither getting very far. Castagnoli comes in to drive Harwood into the corner before it’s off to Danielson to strike it out with Wheeler. Briscoe gets to come in to a rather strong reaction and hammers away in the corner. It’s back to Harwood, who gets caught by the arm (now bleeding) with Danielson cranking away.

Castagnoli’s Swing has Harwood in more trouble but he German suplexes his way out of trouble. Wheeler gets the tag to clean house, including Redneck Boogie for two on Danielson. Back up and Danielson loads up the Swan Dive but gets caught with the PowerPlex into the Froggy Bow. The Doomsday Device is broken up so Danielson loads up a superplex on Briscoe. That’s broken up as well but Briscoe’s second Doomsday Device attempt lands on Castagnoli’s uppercut.

Moxley is back in with a cutter but Wheeler brainbusters him down. The Shatter Machine is broken up and it’s the running knee to Wheeler. Briscoe fights up to slug away at Moxley and Danielson but Castagnoli comes in with a Neutralizer for two. FTR is back in and a triple Shatter Machine gets the same on Castagnoli. The Jay Driller is broken up and the triple stomping has Briscoe down again.

The Club tries its own Doomsday Device but it gets broken up, meaning the brawl heads to the floor….where it’s a double countout at 19:17. Briscoe is NOT having that though and yeah we’re restarting it….as a Fight Without Honor (street fight, which I believe it was advertised as in advance). The fight is on in the crowd until Briscoe and Moxley head inside. The bloody Briscoe sends him outside and uses a chair for a step up flip dive. FTR loads up a table but let’s bring out a barbed wire ladder instead.

Moxley uses a fork on Harwood’s eye, followed by a curb stomp onto a chair back inside. Danielson is back in for a LeBell Lock to Wheeler, with Moxley adding barbed wire across the eyes. Briscoe makes the save but Moxley grabs a choke. Harwood makes the save this time so let’s throw in a bunch of chairs. A spike piledriver onto the chairs is broken up so Moxley is piledriven off the apron through a board covered in tacks. Danielson kicks away at Briscoe, who isn’t overly impressed. Briscoe fights up and hits a Jay Driller onto the chairs to finish Danielson at about 31:15 overall.

Rating: B. Yeah it was a mess and I’m not sure what was going on with the rules, but my goodness this was an entertaining fight. Much like the opener, they weren’t going for some classic match here as this was more about people beating the fire out of each other until one of them couldn’t get up anymore. At the very least, it’s great to see Briscoe getting a big win and I’m sure Danielson was more than happy to let him get something that big. Heck of a fight here, which was what they were trying to do.

Eddie Kingston vs. Anthony Henry

Non-title Proving Ground match, meaning if Henry wins or survives the ten minute time limit, he gets a future title shot. They start fast and fight out to the floor, where Henry hits a running boot against the barricade. Back in and a double stomp gives Henry two, followed by another kick for two. Kingston gets up and they chop it out, with Kingston snapping o the rapid fire corner chops. Henry is right back with an enziguri into a German suplex for two and they both need a breather. A top rope double stomp misses though and Kingston hits the spinning backfist. The stretch plum finishes Henry at 5:42.

Rating: C. It was a fine match but it’s a Proving Ground match, which has so far been a guaranteed win for the champion. I like the idea of Kingston being on the show, but it would have been nice to have something better for him than a midcard tag wrestler. It wasn’t exactly must see either, but at least they kept it short.

We recap the main event, with Athena defending the Women’s Title against Billie Starkz. Athena was training her as a minion but Starkz rebelled, setting up the title match. Athena has also added that she’s gone if she loses.

Ring Of Honor Women’s Title: Athena vs. Billie Starkz

Athena, the hometown star with a broken nose, is defending. Starkz knocks her fast into the corner and they fight out to the floor. Athena sends Starkz face first into the barricade a few times, with Starkz coming up bleeding. Back in and Athena keeps up the beating, including a neck crank as the blood continues to flow. Starkz gets sent to the floor as this has been much more of a brawl than a match so far.

Athena cuts off a comeback attempt but Starkz fights out of the Tree of Woe and suplexes her into the corner. They both mix kicks to the face before Starkz grabs a dragon suplex. Starkz spears her down and pulls off the mask, setting up some less than great looking forearms. The Swanton connects for two so Athena goes outside, with Starkz hitting a suicide dive into the barricade.

Athena gets in a shot of her own and loads up the announcers’ table but Starkz suplexes her down to the floor. A fireman’s carry is escaped and Starkz pulls her down by the hair. They fight onto the barricade again and it’s a reverse Sling Blade to send Starkz face first onto the floor. It’s time to really try something new so they head back inside for a top rope German superplex for two on Starkz. Back up and the ref gets bumped so Athena asks guest ring announcer (and head Minion) Lexi Nair to hand her the title.

Starkz dropkicks Athena into Nair and Starkz’s End gets two. Back up again and they fight to the apron, where Starkz hits an electric chair driver to knock Athena silly on the floor. The Swanton misses back inside and Athena punches her in the face for a double knockdown. Athena wins a slugout and hits Despicable Knee for two. They trade some rollups for two each until Athena ties her up in something like a modified Octopus hold for the tap to retain at 28:21.

Rating: B. I would bet that this had to be more of a brawl than a match due to the injury, as the style let Athena take a few long breaks in there. Other than that….my goodness who is left to take the title from Athena? This is the match that has been built up for months now and, again, Athena just retains. I’m not sure who in the world is supposed to take the title from her, but it might not be happening for a bit. It’s cool to see a milestone like the women headlining, but it would also be cool to see a heel lose a major title match around here.

Post match Starkz goes to leave but Athena pulls her back. Starkz shows respect and poses with Athena and Nair to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Wow indeed. This show, counting the Zero Hour (which I do as it was advertised and played a role in the show, plus it’s playing if you go to watch Final Battle on Honor Club), was over five hours and, as tends to be the case, the good guys/women didn’t do very well in title matches. Ring Of Honor has a really bad record of pulling the trigger on a big title change (the biggest they’ve had in months, with Eddie Kingston, wasn’t even in ROH) and that was the case again here. There were some nice moments like the six man and Lee/Taylor making up, but those were pretty few and far between.

As has been the case for months, the wrestling is far from the problem around here. Instead, the problem is in how everything is thrown together with SO MUCH CONTENT included. This show had five matches added the day of the show and even more that were only added within the last two days. That doesn’t leave me wanting to see more ROH, but rather hoping that they never do that again. The weekly show continues to feel mostly disconnected to the PPVs and there is no reason to believe that will change.

Overall, it’s a good show because the wrestlers are so talented, but this was another pay per view that felt like it was thrown together at the last minute, with Tony Khan adding whatever came to his head in the car that morning. Ring Of Honor isn’t enjoyable to watch most of the time and a lot of the reasons why were on display here. As usual it isn’t about the action, which is strong, but the way that action is presented. Fix that and you have a heck of a show, but otherwise, you have a big mess which just keeps going.

Results
Taya Valkyrie b. Jazmin Allure – Curb Stomp
Von Erichs b. Outrunners – Double Iron Claws
Bryan Keith b. Jack Cartwheel – Tiger driver
Daniel Garcia b. Blake Christian – Dragon Tamer
El Hijo del Vikingo b. Black Taurus – 630
Mogul Embassy b. TMDK – Toss sitout powerbomb to Fujita
Ethan Page b. Tony Nese – Choke with handcuffs
Nyla Rose b. Vertvixen – Beast Bomb
Kyle Fletcher won Survival Of The Fittest last eliminating Komander
Wheeler Yuta b. Tom Lawlor – Seat belt
Keith Lee b. Shane Taylor – Big Bang Catastrophe
Mark Briscoe/FTR b. Blackpool Combat Club – Jay Driller to Danielson on a pile of chairs
Eddie Kingston b. Anthony Henry – Stretch plum
Athena b. Billie Starkz – Octopus hold

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Ring Of Honor
Date: December 14, 2023
Location: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

It’s the go home show for Final Battle and there are only six matches set for the pay per view card. While the card will almost be guaranteed to be expanded, the question is whether the new matches will be announced tonight or if they will be thrown out there the day of the show. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Eddie Kingston vs. Evil Uno

Non-title Proving Ground match, meaning if Uno (with the Dark Order) wins or survives the ten minute time limit, he gets a future Ring Of Honor World Title shot. Granted I’m not sure how that works because of the Triple Crown deal but there is a good chance it won’t matter in the slightest. The fans are behind Uno (hometown villain) as Kingston rams him with a shoulder.

Uno snaps off a hurricanrana to send him outside but the hard chop only hits the post. Kingston goes after the arm but Uno snaps off a suplex as commentary points out that this is now for a shot at the Triple Crown Title. They chop it out again with Kingston getting the better of things until Uno elbows him in the face. Uno strikes him down and gets two off a twisting brainbuster. The piledriver gets two more but Kingston is back up with a pair of spinning backfists for the pin at 6:50.

Rating: C+. I’m no Uno fan but you could tell he was having a blast out there in front of his hometown fans and was putting in extra effort. At the same time though, Kingston hitting him in the face for the pin probably took away that energy. If only AEW/ROH had a huge roster with people Uno could have beaten for an easy win here instead of losing to the champ. Who doesn’t have his title and won’t be defending on the biggest show of the year because of the Modern American Triple Crown.

Respect is shown post match.

Leyla Hirsch vs. Katrina Creed

Rachael Ellering and Maria Kanellis-Bennett are here with Hirsch. Leyla takes her down by the leg to start before pulling her into an armbar. Creed misses a dropkick and gets gutwrench suplexed for two. Maria gets in a cheap shot and a suplex gives Leyla two more. Back up and Creed dropkicks her into the corner, only to have a spear cut off by a knee to the head to give Leyla the pin at 4:15.

Rating: C. The fans were into Creed here and the energy helped, but there was only so much to be gotten with Hirsch mainly wrecking her. The whole Hirsch/Ellering/Kanellis-Bennett deal isn’t interesting but we’re likely going to be seeing it go on for a good bit longer. Hirsch getting something to do is nice, but it would be nice if they actually picked up the pace.

The Outrunners are ready to rule the tag team division because if you haven’t seen them, you ain’t seen nothing yet. These guys are too fun.

Wheeler Yuta vs. Jason Geiger

Pure Rules Proving Ground match. Yuta takes him into the ropes a few times, with Geiger using a rope break. Back up and an exchange of shoulders gives us an exchange of knockdowns. A dropkick gives Yuta two, with Yuta leaning him into the ropes for the second break. Yuta ties up the legs so Geiger has to use his third rope break but Geiger’s kneebar sends Yuta over for his own rope break. That’s fine with Yuta, who grabs a guillotine choke in the ropes for the knockout at 4:24.

Rating: C. This was another match that was just shy of being a squash, as Yuta was only in the slightest bit of trouble near the end. The Pure Rules can go well, but I’m still not sure they need a full division and title around the concept. Granted the division is all of three or four people most of the time, but it’s one of those ideas that sounds cool but only works so well in execution.

Dalton Castle/The Boys vs. Iron Savages/Jacked Jameson

Castle and Bronson start things off with Castle easily getting the better of a wrestle off. The Boys come in and are rammed into each other, allowing the quick tag to Boulder. A double suplex drops the Boys and it’s Jameson coming in to power Brandon into the corner. Boulder drops him for two as well and the alternating beatings continue. Boulder drives Brandon into Bronson’s beard, but Castle goes over to steal the Savage Sauce.

In what can’t be a good idea, Castle drinks said sauce and an enziguri is enough to bring him in off the diving tag. Suplexes abound but Boulder is able to carry Castle and the Boys around at the same time without much trouble. The double Samoan drop/fall away slam connects but Castle is right back up and demands a Boy. Said Boy (and the other) are thrown onto the Savages, setting up the Bang A Rang to finish Jameson at 7:26.

Rating: C+. While this might not have exactly gone a long way towards building up Castle for his title shot tomorrow night, this is exactly the kind of fun match that I love seeing him have. Castle drinking the sauce and then going nuts was hilarious and he knows how to sell that kind of comedy as well as anyone. Very entertaining match, though it might have been better suited at any other time besides a day before Castle’s TV Title shot.

Post match Johnny TV comes out to the stage for a staredown with Castle.

Butcher and the Blade want to rip people and get titles.

Rachael Ellering vs. Taya Valkyrie

Leyla Hirsch, Maria Kanellis-Bennett and Johnny TV are all here too. They fight over arm control to start with neither being able to get very far. Ellering manages to send her outside though and that means it’s time for a meeting with TV. Back in and Ellering hammers away, meaning Valkyrie bails right back to the floor.

This time TV gets in the way and Valkyrie gets in a cheap shot to take over for the first time. The beatdown is on back inside but Valkyrie stops to dance, allowing Ellering to get in some shots to the face. A TKO gives Ellering two but Valkyrie’s spear is good for the same. Valkyrie curb stomps her for the pin at 6:49.

Rating: C+. This one was a bit strange as Valkyrie is a newcomer around here and she got a pretty definitive win over Ellering. While Ellering might not be a top level star, she’s certainly someone who has a bit of status. I could go for more Valkyrie, but I have a feeling this is going to be about Maria and company more than anything else, because that hasn’t gotten enough time to go around in circles yet.

Back at Collision, Ethan Page was disappointed by his loss to Kenny Omega but he wasn’t expecting bad ribs. Or five V Triggers for that matter. He had a lot of options but lost and now he has to get ready for Tony Nese at Final Battle in an I Quit. Omega beat him by pin, but he’s not giving up against Nese. Those words will not come out of his mouth…and here is Nese for the shouting match. Very fired up promo from Page here.

Cole Karter/Griff Garrison vs. Bobby Sharp/Shaun Moore

Maria Kanellis-Bennett is here with Karter/Garrison. Karter shakes Sharp’s hand to start but pulls him in, only to get caught with a dropkick. That earns Karter a hard clothesline and it’s off to Garrison for a drop down dropkick. The villains keep taking turns with the beating until Sharp flips over and brings in Moore. Not that it matters as some misdirection into a blind tag lets Garrison punch him down for the pin at 2:47. Pretty much a squash.

The Workhorsemen are ready for the four way.

Shane Taylor vs. Channing Decker

Lee Moriarty is here with Taylor. Decker slugs away to start and gets dropped with a clothesline for his efforts. Taylor unloads in the corner but charges into a boot to the face. A release Rock Bottom gets Taylor out of trouble and the Marcus Garvey Driver finishes Decker at 3:44.

Rating: C. Just a squash here before Taylor faces Keith Lee at Final Battle. That’s one of the first matches that feels like it is building towards a match at the pay per view, which says a lot when it was a match with no drama and went less than four minutes. Taylor vs. Lee might not be the biggest match, but it’s better than nothing, which sums up Ring Of Honor quite well at the moment.

Video on how we got to the Survival Of The Fittest match. We still don’t know the last entrant.

Righteous vs. Australian Take Over

Vincent gets caught with an early backbreaker from Julian Ward, meaning Kaz Jordan can come in and get caught in the wrong corner. Dutch comes in to whip him hard into the corner, allowing Vincent to pull him face first into the post. A missed charge staggers Dutch though and Kaz scores with a dropkick. Ward comes back in and is quickly taken down, with Kaz being sent outside. Autumn Sunshine finishes Ward at 4:35.

Rating: C. The night of pretty ok at best matches continues with another squash. They’re trying to set up the tag team division, but that is only going to last so long with the champions being nowhere in sight. At the same time, commentary keeps talking about Jake Roberts mentoring the Righteous. Wouldn’t it be nice to see them together again outside of that initial appearance?

The Infantry is ready for the four way tag, which will be a war.

Brian Cage vs. Gravity

Prince Nana is here with Cage, who powers Gravity into the corner to start. Some chops put Gravity down, allowing Cage to stand on his head for some extra pain. Back up and Gravity manages a double springboard hurricanrana, with Cage being sent outside. That means the big dive but Cage avoids the 450 back inside.

Cage is annoyed enough that he grabs a half nelson slam for two but the apron superplex is broken up. Instead Gravity grabs a crucifix bomb for two, only to have Cage come back with a flipping Downward Spiral for the same. Gravity drops him again though and the top rope splash gets two. Cage shrugs it off and hits a pop up powerbomb, setting up something like a Prism Trap for the win at 6:39.

Rating: C+. As usual, power vs. speed is one of those ideas that is almost impossible to screw up and they made it work here. Gravity knows how to fly around well enough and Cage knows how to throw people around with that rather impressive power. Not a classic by any means, but it was the entertaining match you would have expected.

Maria Kanellis-Bennett mocks Rachael Ellering for her loss but Leyla Hirsch tries to cheer Ellering us.

Infantry vs. Workhorsemen vs. Butcher and the Blade vs. Outrunners

Magnum runs Dean over with a shoulder to start but Bravo comes in for a jumping neckbreaker. Henry tags himself in but gets backed up to the ropes by Bravo. Another blind tag lets Drake come in for a neckbreaker, only to get into a slugout with the Butcher. An elbow to the face puts Drake down so it’s off to Magnum, who gets caught in a side slam/legdrop combination.

Back up and Floyd loads up a rather big bicep pose but Henry tags himself back in to take over on Blade. Floyd misses a bunch of right hands to just about everyone in the corner so Blade plants him with a DDT. Everything breaks down and an ax kick into a frog splash gives Bravo two on Floyd. Dean hits a big flip dive to the floor as commentary admits they have no idea who is legal. Not that it matters as Butcher and the Blade hit their powerbomb/neckbreaker combination to finish Floyd at 6:38.

Rating: B-. The match was quite energetic and they kept things moving throughout, which is the key to something like this. At the same time, and as has been the case for months now, almost none of this matters without the Tag Team Titles being a factor. If you have something for these teams to fight over then fine, but that hasn’t been the case for a good while and it’s starting to show.

Final Battle rundown.

Athena vs. Roxanne

Non-title Proving Ground match. Right hand ends Roxanne at 32 seconds.

Post match Billie Starkz runs in to go after Athena and the fight is on, with Starkz sending her into the barricade over and over. Starks sends her face first into various things and Athena looks to have a broken nose to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. The wrestling was good, but other than the main event and one or two other matches, this did next to nothing to make me care about Final Battle. This was their last chance to draw interest and they had a pretty much run of the mill show. There were a bunch of tag matches and near squashes, which don’t so much make me want to see Final Battle as much as want to see what’s on at the same time. I liked most of the wrestling well enough, but if this is the best they have to make me want to see Final Battle, they missed pretty hard.

Results
Eddie Kingston b. Evil Uno – Spinning backfist
Leyla Hirsch b. Katrina Creed – Knee to the head
Wheeler Yuta b. Jason Geiger – Guillotine choke
Dalton Castle/The Boys b. Iron Savages/Jacked Jameson – Bang A Rang to Jameson
Taya Valkyrie b. Rachael Ellering – Curb stomp
Cole Karter/Griff Garrison b. Bobby Sharpe/Shawn Moore – Right hand to Moore
Shane Taylor b. Channing Decker – Marcus Garvey Driver
Righteous b. Australian Take Over – Autumn Sunshine to Ward
Brian Cage b. Gravity – Prism Trap
Butcher and the Blade b. Outrunners, Infantry and Workhorsemen – Powerbomb/neckbreaker combination to Floyd

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Ring Of Honor
Date: December 7, 2023
Location: Erie Insurance Arena, Erie, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

We’re eight days away from Final Battle and the card is finally kind of starting to come together. This week should see more of the Survival Of The Fittest participants announced, plus likely some stuff that has little to do with Ring Of Honor. I’m almost scared of the wonders this show is going to have so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

We run down the card.

Billie Starkz vs. Dani Mo

Mo takes her into the corner to start and gets run over for her efforts. A snap German suplex sets up the Swanton to end Mo at 1:10.

Post match Athena runs in to beat Starkz down but Starkz fights back on the floor. Athena manages to suplex her into the post until it’s broken up…..and then they keep fighting anyway. Then it’s broken up again and they break free to keep fighting again. They go at it a third time until Athena manages a powerbomb on the floor, followed by a Starkz’s End to plant Starkz on the title to finally wrap it up. They’ve set this up well, but Athena has to finally drop the title already.

Wheeler Yuta and Bryan Danielson want to team up with a mystery partner to face FTR and Mark Briscoe as a tribute to Jay Briscoe. So not only are they bringing in another AEW star who has little to nothing to do with anything going on in Ring Of Honor, but another title won’t be defended on the show. Barring a shocking MJF Tag Team Title defense, we’re likely looking at the Women’s Title and TV Title being the only belts on the line. That’s quite a choice for a promotion with quarterly pay per views.

Johnny TV vs. Dalton Castle

The Boys are here with Castle, who is knocked outside with a shot to the face. Back in and a spinning clothesline puts Castle down, setting up a standing shooting star press for two. That means Castle needs a fan up before coming back in with a clothesline and DDT. TV knocks him right back to the floor though and drops down onto him for two. They go outside again but this time the Boys toss Castle back inside, where Castle sends him to the floor for a change.

The suplexes put TV down a few times before, believe it or not, they go outside again, this time with TV missing a charge. Castle kicks him in the face and hugs the Boys before loading up the Bang A Rang. Cue Taya Valkyrie or a distraction/a spear to take out the Boys, allowing TV to slip out. A running knee to the face sets up a missed Starship Pain but Castle goes outside to yell at Taya. Back in and TV kicks him in the face but cue Kiera Hogan to take out Taya. That’s enough for Castle to grab the Bang A Rang for the pin at 9:12.

Rating: C+. It was a fresh matchup and I can go for having Taya and TV around here, but it also wasn’t exactly great. The constant going to the floor didn’t help and there was quite a bit going on here. In theory this sets up a mixed tag, but maybe they could have waited on Castle to be done with Survival of the Fittest before starting something new for him?

Rachael Ellering vs. Nikki Victory

Leyla Hirsch and Maria Kanellis-Bennett are here with Ellering. After a handshake, Ellering takes over on the arm to start and muscles her over with a gutwrench suplex (Maria approves). Some chops put Victory down again but Maria accidentally (in theory at least) grabs Ellering’s leg. Not that it matters as the Boss Woman Slam finishes Victory at 3:11.

Rating: C. As has been the case with the Maria stuff for months: anytime they would like for this stuff to go somewhere, it would be appreciated. Between Ellering and the Griff Garrison/Cole Karter stuff, I’ve pretty much lost interest in people doing her thing/doing their own thing while she glares. It stopped being interesting a long time ago and it feels like we’ve been in this same spot for months.

Athena is happy with beating up Billie Starkz because Starkz turned on the Minions. Tony Khan has announced that they are going to main event Final Battle and Lexi Nair gets to be guest ring announcer! Now off to TGI-Fridays to celebrate!

Infantry vs. Workhorsemen

Henry and Dean fight over a wristlock to start before Bravo comes in to stay on the arm. It’s off to Drake for a DDT and the big chop puts Bravo down again. A belly to belly gives Drake two and a slingshot hilo gets the same. Bravo finally slips between the legs and brings Dean back in to clean house. Everything breaks down and a double DDT puts Henry down. Boot Camp is broken up but Drake misses a Cannonball in the corner. Bravo kicks Dean by mistake though, setting up the assisted Downward Spiral to finish Dean at 7:09.

Rating: C. It was a perfectly fine match but I cannot come up with a single reason to care about what they were doing here. There was no interest here, which might be due to these teams being on the show so frequently. There’s nothing special to seeing them in the ring and it’s really hard to imagine them going very far, especially with the Tag Team Titles not being a factor around here. Not a terrible match or anything, but I could go for something interesting instead of just four guys doing stuff.

Renegades vs. Trish Adora/Lady Frost

Frost and Robyn jump over each other to start until Frost grabs a running flip neckbreaker for two. Charlette grabs the leg from the floor though and Robyn hits a basement dropkick for two of her own. An assisted slap gives Charlette two more and we hit the chinlock. That lasts as long as the average chinlock and Frost gets over to Adora for the hot tag. Everything breaks down and the Lariat Tubman into Frostbite finishes Robyn at 5:07.

Rating: C. Another perfectly fine match which isn’t likely to mean much going forward. The Renegades lose far more often than not and it’s not like Adora and Frost have anything to fight for as a team. In other words, this was another of those matches that Ring Of Honor includes each week to extend the show without adding much value.

Rachael Ellering argues with Maria Kanellis-Bennett for almost costing her that match. Maria says it was a mistake and leaves. Leyla Hirsch and Ellering seem to make peace though.

Survival Of The Fittest Qualifying Match: Josh Woods vs. Lee Johnson

They go with the grappling to start and Johnson bails over to the ropes in a smart move. A headscissors has Woods down for a bit and a dropkick into an armbar makes it worse. Back up and Woods hiptosses him to the floor, setting up a ram into the barricade. They get back inside where Johnson gets an elbow up in the corner, followed by a jumping neckbreaker for two. Woods reverses a superplex into a twisting superplex (that was cool) for two of his own. A running knee to the face and gutwrench powerbomb give Woods two more but Johnson scores with a kick to the face. The frog splash finishes for Johnson at 7:35.

Rating: C+. This was one of the better matches of the show so far and for once it actually played a role for Final Battle. Johnson is probably the biggest underdog to win the title as anyone but at least he’s getting a chance. At the same time, Woods will likely bounce back and go after the Pure Rules Title in a story that has started and stopped all kinds of times over the last few months.

Righteous vs. Outrunners

Vincent hammers on Magnum to start but Magnum is right back with some chops. The Outrunners even manage to get in a double pose, which has to put them ahead on points. Dutch comes in off a blind tag and runs Magnum over with a crossbody. Vincent gets in a few shots of his own but Magnum fights up and brings Floyd in to clean house. A spinning suplex drops Vincent but Dutch is back with the spinning Boss Man Slam. Autumn Sunshine finishes Floyd at 4:19.

Rating: C. While these tag matches are coming off as filler, they are at least building up some teams. At the end of the day though, those matches need to actually lead somewhere and as long as MJF has the Tag Team Titles, I’m not sure I can imagine that happening. For now though, at least the Righteous won something, even if Jake Roberts wasn’t here (again).

Survival Of The Fittest Qualifying Match: Lee Moriarty vs. Tracy Williams

Moriarty grabs a headlock to start but Williams technicals his way to freedom and a standoff. A big boot puts Williams down and it’s time to work on the arm. Williams breaks it up so Moriarty easily kicks him down again and fires off more kicks to the arm. They go to the corner where Williams manages a DDT onto the top turnbuckle. The crossface has Moriarty in trouble but he goes to the bad arm to escape. A suplex spun into a Downward Spiral finishes Williams at 6:27.

Rating: C+. Given that I don’t think Williams has won a match or two at most since returning to Ring Of Honor, there was only so much doubt about the result here. Moriarty is someone who could have a nice run if given the chance, but I can’t imagine he wins the title. Other than that, it’s another pretty nice Williams match where he still can’t win.

Respect is shown post match.

Dalton Castle is happy to go to Final Battle (which he was doing before this week) because no one is more ready for TV. Cue Johnny TV and they get in an exchange of TV show titles. Castle seems to win with Hey Dude but Taya Valkyrie comes in to say TV is a better action star.

Butcher and the Blade vs. The Boys

Brandon and Butcher start things off with Butcher ignoring some dropkicks. Brent comes in for a double dropkick to put Butcher down but it’s off to Blade for the chops in the corner. A standing Sliced Bread gets Brent out of trouble as everything breaks down. Butcher and Blade collide but are fine enough to beat up Brent on the floor. Back in and Brandon gets knocked down, setting up the chinlock. Brandon enziguris his way out of trouble though and it’s Brent coming back in to pick up the pace. Everything breaks down and the powerbomb/neckbreaker combination finishes Brent at 5:58.

Rating: C. This was another on a too long list of tag matches this week and it’s not a great sign that Butcher and the Blade took almost six minutes to beat the Boys. That being said, I can go for Butcher and the Blade being around as they have the talents to do something. Other than that though, nice enough match, but the show is already running long and this didn’t help things.

Cole Karter and Griff Garrison complain about not doing anything in four months so Maria Kanellis-Bennett suggests new music. With her singing.

Christopher Daniels vs. Angelico

Serpentico is here with Angelico, who works on the arm to start. Daniels switches that into a headlock and cranks away for a good while. With that broken up, Angelico chokes on the ropes before grabbing a leglock to keep Daniels down. Daniels fights up and drops Angelico with some elbows, followed by the right hands in the corner. The STO gives Daniels two but Serpentico breaks up the Iconoclasm out of the corner. Angelico’s leglock makes Daniels tap at 7:29.

Rating: C+. This was the technical match with Angelico tying Daniels up and Daniels trying to keep up with him. That has been the case for a lot of Daniels matches as of late and now we get to see what is left for him. At the same time, Angelico gets a bit of a boost after losing his big title match, which he might have needed with Serpentico dragging him down as part of a team.

Post match the beatdown is on but Orange Cassidy and Danhausen make the save.

Here is Tony Khan to emcee the contract signing between Ethan Page and Tony Nese. The two of them, plus Mark Sterling, come to the ring. Khan announces that the match will be an I Quit match because Sterling says Page has quit everything he has ever started. Like his partners, his vlogs and like he’ll do with his fitness journey. Page says he’ll win but Nese says Page is just like all of these losers here: beyond helping. Nese tells him to always take your protein and some powder to the eyes blinds Page. The beating is on and Nese puts Page through the table.

Survival Of The Fittest Qualifying Match: Kyle Fletcher vs. Gravity

Gravity wastes no time in taking him outside and there’s the big running flip dive. Back in and Fletcher grabs a swinging Side Effect to take over, followed by the stomping in the corner. A hurricanrana and standing moonsault give Gravity two each as commentary talks about the history of Survival Of The Fittest. Fletcher is right back with a Michinoku Driver for two, followed by the spinning Tombstone for the pin at 5:29.

Rating: C+. They didn’t have time to do much here and the match felt like it was kind of tacked on at the end. Fletcher being added to the title match is fine enough as there will certainly be an interesting field in there and he could be a dark horse to win the thing. Gravity going in might make a bit more sense, though Komander will already be in there for the flips.

Overall Rating: C+. And that’s one of the last editions of Ring Of Honor before Final Battle, with a bunch of stuff that feels like it has nothing to do with the pay per view and a bunch of midcarders being added to the TV Title match. As usual, there is a good show buried under all of the extra stuff that makes the show feel so long. They did a really good job with building towards the Women’s Title match and Page vs. Nese was good enough, but the TV Title match doesn’t feel important and the rest of the card is either just there or doesn’t exist yet. Final Battle needs a lot of work and I don’t think we’ll be getting it in time.

Results
Billie Starkz b. Dani Mo – Swanton
Dalton Castle b. Johnny TV – Bang A Rang
Rachael Ellering b. Nikki Victory – Boss Woman Slam
Workhorsemen b. The Infantry – Assisted Downward Spiral to Dean
Lady Frost/Trish Adora b. Renegades – Frostbite to Robyn
Lee Johnson b. Josh Woods – Frog splash
Righteous b. Outrunners – Autumn Sunshine to Floyd
Lee Moriarty b. Tracy Williams – Suplex Downward Spiral
Butcher and the Blade b. The Boys – Powerbomb/neckbreaker combination to Brent
Angelico b. Christopher Daniels – Leglock

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Dynamite
Date: November 8, 2023
Location: Moda Center, Portland, Oregon
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Tony Schiavone

We are a week and a half away from Full Gear and that means we should be getting the final push towards the show. This week that includes MJF defending the World Title against Daniel Garcia and an interesting main event of Jay White vs. Mark Briscoe. Other than that, we have a heck of a showdown between Keith Lee and Samoa Joe for the ROH TV Title. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Tony Schiavone brings in MJF to talk about his lost last week but MJF says it will never happen again. Adam Cole calls him so MJF throws it to a video screen and says MJF should take Samoa Joe up on his offer. MJF isn’t sure why but here is Daniel Garcia (challenging MJF for the title tonight) to laugh a bit. Garcia says tonight, MJF is getting the professional wrestler. With Garcia gone, the Kingdom wheels in Roderick Strong, who offers MJF some tips. MJF walks off, which Strong says is what the devil would do. It’s time to remind people who Strong is.

Opening sequence.

AEW World Title: Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Daniel Garcia

Garcia, with Matt Menard and Angelo Parker, is challenging. MJF hits him in the face to start so Garcia does the same, only to have his friends break up the dance (as tends to be their custom as of late). An armbar has Garcia down and a rollup gives MJF two. We take a break and come back with Garcia hitting a one armed German suplex and dancing a bit.

MJF is right back on the arm before a hammerlock DDT gets two. Garcia kicks the leg out and hits a one armed piledriver for two. They’re doing something there with the arm not working at full strength. The Dragontamer goes on but MJF escapes and grabs the Salt Of The Earth to retain the title at 10:38.

Rating: B-. Not too bad at all here, though Garcia continues to not exactly be the most interesting star in the world. He’s a strong technician, but that doesn’t do much to help his charisma. Thankfully they didn’t let this go on too long, as there was no way to make Garcia feel like a serious threat to the title.

Post match MJF wants to shake hands but Garcia’s friends won’t allow it.

Mark Briscoe is ready for Jay White.

Sting/Darby Allin vs. Outrunners

Allin headlocks Magnum to start but gets take into the corner for a stomping from Floyd. A suplex is broken up and String comes in to clean house. The Scorpion Deathlock finishes Floyd at 2:58. That’s how it should have gone.

We have a sitdown interview (in black and white) between Hikaru Shida and Toni Storm. Shida promises to beat her again as usual but Storm doesn’t seem to buy it. They sign the contract and go face to face.

Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Swerve Strickland

Feeling out process to start until Swerve takes him into the corner for a kick to the leg. Swerve bites the fingers but Penta is back with some chops. A Backstabber sends Swerve outside, where he is able to drop Penta face first onto the steps. Penta strikes away and hits a big running flip dive as we take a break.

Back with Made In Japan and the JML Driver both being blocked, leaving us with a double knockdown. A Death Valley Driver gets Penta two and he drops Swerve hard onto the apron to leave Swerve on the floor. Back in and Swerve reverses a headscissors out of the corner by flipping Penta into the corner. A 450 is blocked and Made In Japan gives Penta two. Swerve is back with his own Death Valley Driver and snaps Penta’s arm. The Swerve Stomp gives Swerve the pin at 13:33.

Rating: B. One of AEW’s greatest strengths is being able to take any two wrestlers out of a huge number available and have them put on a good match. That’s what they did here as these two came pretty close to tearing the house down. If you can get Penta away from doing his CERO MIEDO line over and over again and let him do his thing, he can put in a heck of a performance and that was the case here. At the same time you have Swerve continuing to showcase just how good he really is as his roll continues.

Post match Swerve goes for the mast but Hangman Page runs in to lay Swerve out with a Deadeye off the stage and through some tables. It seems WAY too early for that as it could have come during their Full Gear match instead.

Jay White is ready to beat up Mark Briscoe tonight and hopes MJF is watching.

The Don Callis Family is ready for serious violence next week against Chris Jericho and pals.

Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega are ready to fight next week, but the Young Bucks come in to bring up an idea of the Elite. They think Jericho is just here to get a paycheck, but Jericho thinks he and Omega are a better team. They agree to fight at Full Gear, with Jericho wanting the Bucks’ Tag Team Title shot on the line. That works with the Bucks, but if they win, Jericho and Omega are done as a team and they get back to being the Elite. Omega says he’s beaten the Bucks before so he can do it again.

Ring Of Honor TV Title: Samoa Joe vs. Keith Lee

Joe is defending and grabs a headlock to start. Lee isn’t having that and runs Joe over with a shoulder. Some choking on the rope keeps Joe down but he’s back up with the snap jabs in the corner. Back up and Lee leapfrogs over him and knocks Joe outside to send us to a break. We come back with Joe taking out the leg, including hitting a dragon screw legwhip. Lee manages a pop up powerbomb for a delayed two but Joe is right back up. Joe pulls him into the Koquina Clutch to retain the title at 11:26.

Rating: B-. This was the hoss match it was advertised as being and that made for a good fight. While I could go for more of Lee being a monster who runs people over, there is little shame in losing to someone as dominant as Joe. That being said, this felt like a match that could have been built up a lot better, but that is the case for a lot of things on AEW TV.

Post match Joe says he’s vacating the title to go after the AEW World Title. After a year and a half and Joe retaining the title when it seemed perfect for Joe to lose, he just walks away from it without putting anyone over? And not even on the ROH show. This has been your weekly reminder that RING OF HONOR MEANS NOTHING.

Orange Cassidy, with Hook, is rather serious and says he has to beat Jon Moxley.

Gunns b. Bollywood Boyz

3:10 To Yuma finishes Gurv at 42 seconds.

Post match the Gunns promise to beat up MJF and win the Ring Of Honor Tag Team Titles.

Jon Moxley says he’s in for the Full Gear title shot against Orange Cassidy, but he and Wheeler Yuta might crush Cassidy and Hook before they get there.

Wardlow is ready to end MJF.

Julia Hart vs. Red Velvet

This is Velvet’s return after nine months on the injured list. Velvet snaps off some armdrags to start and strikes away in the corner. Hart knocks her out of said corner though and we take a break. Back with Velvet making the clothesline comeback and hitting some running knees. An Iconoclasm out of the corner gives Velvet two but Hart kicks her down. The moonsault finishes for Hart at 8:26.

Rating: C+. Hart gets some momentum back after losing at WrestleDream and still looks like she’s keeping most of her momentum. She seems to have turned a corner in recent months and that moonsault looks good every time. It’s also nice to have Velvet back as you never want to see someone on the shelf, especially for that long.

Post match Hart goes after Velvet but Skye Blue comes out for the staredown. Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale come in to break it up before things get physical.

Mariah May is ready to debut in AEW and is excited about Toni Storm being here.

Jay White vs. Mark Briscoe

The rest of Bullet Club Gold is at ringside. Mark sends him outside to start and White needs an early breather. Back in and Mark chops away, setting up a suplex to put White down again. Redneck Kung Fu puts White on the floor and there’s the Bang Bang Elbow to make it worse. The Club knocks Mark off the top though and we take a break.

Back with White kicking the knee out but getting cut off with a middle rope dropkick. They strike it out with Mark getting the better of things and hitting a fisherman’s buster for two. A dragon screw legwhip over the ropes hits White again and there’s a Death Valley Driver. The Froggy Bow gets two but White snaps off the swinging Rock Bottom. White goes for the knee but the Blade Runner is countered into an exploder suplex. More chops have Mark down again and the sleeper suplex drops him hard. The Blade Runner finishes for White at 14:00.

Rating: B. Another good one here, though I’m not wild on having Briscoe lose so soon after his comeback. Granted it’s against a big name in White who has a major match coming up, but it’s still a bit of a weird choice. That being said, Mark getting to showcase himself is a good thing as he really is one of the better hands in the ring around here.

Post match MJF comes out with the diamond ring to chase White off but he still can’t get the belt back. For the first time ever, MJF has a reason to fight for everyone in the arena and wants to know if White can pull the trigger.

The lights go out and we cut to the back where the masked men are attacking Billy Gunn and the Acclaimed. Anthony Bowens is sent through some glass as we see the person in the devil mask watching. MJF runs to the back, where Samoa Joe pops up to say MJF is running out of friends.

Overall Rating: B. Better show than last week and it’s nice to see things getting a bit back to normal. They had more of a focus this week as they get ready for Full Gear and things got more interesting with the angle at the end. Throw in some good wrestling up and down the card and it made for a good Dynamite. Now just get to Full Gear with the same efficiency and everything should work very well.

Results
Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Daniel Garcia – Salt Of The Earth
Sting/Darby Allin b. Outrunners – Scorpion Deathlock to Floyd
Swerve Strickland b. Penta El Zero Miedo – Swerve Strickland
Samoa Joe b. Keith Lee – Koquina Clutch
Gunns b. Bollywood Boyz – 3:10 To Yuma to Gurv
Julia Hart b. Red Velvet – Moonsault
Jay White b. Mark Briscoe – Blade Runner

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.