Rampage
Date: January 19, 2024
Location: North Charleston Coliseum, North Charleston, South Carolina
Commentators: Excalibur, Ian Riccaboni, Don Callis

There is some star power around this week as we have both Chris Jericho vs. Matt Sydal and Jeff Hardy vs. Darby Allin. The latter could be quite the showcase if both of them are capable of moving, while Jericho can face a talented opponent. I’m sure there will be some other stuff as well so let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Chris Jericho vs. Matt Sydal

The fans seem to be behind Jericho as he grabs a headlock to start. A hurricanrana takes Jericho down and a running clothesline puts him on the floor. Back in and Jericho runs Sydal over and chops away in the corner, setting up the Walls. The rope is grabbed so Jericho hits the triangle dropkick to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Sydal kicking away, including kicking Jericho out of the air. A standing moonsault gives Sydal two as Callis is screaming for Sydal to finish Jericho. Sydal dives into a Codebreaker (albeit not a great one) and Jericho hits an FU. The Lionsault lands on raised knees though and Sydal hits an Air Raid Crash for two of his own. Sydal hammers away in the corner but Jericho does the same, setting up the Judas Effect for the pin at 10:37.

Rating: B-. Perfectly watchable match here and it worked out well. At the very least, Jericho didn’t get booed out of the building so AEW might be able to call it a win right off the bat. Sydal is someone who isn’t going to be a breakout star but he is able to be put in the ring with just about anyone. That made him a good choice to face Jericho here and it worked pretty well.

Post match Konosuke Takeshita comes out to go after Jericho. Christopher Daniels tries to help break it up and gets decked by Takeshita.

Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Anthony Henry

Penta hits him in the face to start and grabs a spinning Death Valley Driver for an early two. Made In Japan is broken up and Henry kicks him down for two of his own. They trade kicks to the legs with Henry getting the better of things. Penta suplexes him into the corner though and the Fear Factor finishes for Penta at 3:52.

Rating: C. This didn’t have much time to go anywhere but it was still a nice win for Penta. That being said, I’m not sure why Penta needed a singles win as he’s mainly been in tag matches in recent months. At least they didn’t stay on it too long though, as this wasn’t exactly an interesting match in the first place.

Saraya and Ruby Soho are arguing when Harley Cameron comes in. Soho chokes her up against the wall and asks WHY HIM, with Cameron blaming Anna Jay for the idea. Soho is off to find Jay as Renee Paquette glares at Saraya.

Kris Statlander vs. Queen Aminata

Stokely Hathaway is here with Statlander (she doesn’t seem thrilled), who grabs a headlock to start. They trade legsweeps and rollups for two each until Statlander hits a running shoulder. Aminata grabs a snapmare into a kick to the back before a missed charge puts Statlander on the floor. Aminata hits a big dive to the floor and we take a break.

Back with Aminata’s hip attack and a kick to the head getting two. Aminata grabs a crossface but Statlander powers out. A discus lariat gives Statlander two of her own but a running knee misses in the corner. Aminata blasts her with a running knee against the ropes, only to have Statlander snap off a powerslam. A spinning fisherman’s driver finishes Aminata at 8:48.

Rating: C+. Aminata is getting into the Skye Blue territory of “ok, who else do you have”, as she’s popping up on multiple shows recently. She seems pretty good in the ring, but AEW has a tendency to run people into the ground at times. I’d hope they don’t do that here as she’s still new and over exposing her isn’t a good idea.

Post match Statlander does not seem pleased with Hathaway celebrating with him.

Jay Lethal is annoyed that Jeff Jarrett isn’t here for their talk. Lethal is glad in a way because he can get back to strong wrestling. Sonjay Dutt agrees: it’s time to get rid of Karen Jarrett. Lethal storms off, saying he might want singles gold.

Stokely Hathaway interrupts a Kris Statlander interview when Willow Nightingale comes in. Her travel arrangements were canceled and she seems to blame Hathaway. Statlander says they’ll figure this out and leaves, with Nightingale not being pleased with Statlander not shutting Hathaway down.

Darby Allin vs. Jeff Hardy

This is under relaxed rules. Allin starts fast and sends him outside for the big flip dive and a near fall inside. Hardy takes him to the floor this time and sends Allin over the announcers’ table before a double knockdown gives us a breather. Hardy misses Poetry In Motion from the steps to the barricade but Allin misses a dive and crashes onto the ramp.

We take a break and come back with Hardy hitting a sitout gordbuster. He puts Allin on the top, where a rake to the back and a super Code Red plants Hardy for two. They go up top again but this time Hardy hits a hanging neckbreaker onto the apron. It’s time for a table on the floor but Hardy misses the Swanton through said table. Back in and the Coffin Drop hits Hardy’s raised knees, only to have Allin grab a rollup for the pin at 13:45.

Rating: C+. Well, they certainly didn’t waste time here, but my goodness it’s hard to watch these two beating the fire out of each other like this knowing how banged up they both are. Then again, the two of them seem to be perfectly fine with breaking every bone they can so it’s not like they’re going to be stopped. Hardy on his own still feels like something of a star so having him put over someone like Allin over is a good move. But could they maybe, not try to kill themselves in the process?

Overall Rating: C+. This a slightly different version of Rampage as it had some bigger names, but it still felt like a show that was little more than some AEW stars having matches. You had some minor advancements from some stories but it’s definitely not a show that needs to be there. If you watch it you won’t be bored, though it’s completely skippable. Rampage could use its own identity and that doesn’t seem to be happening anytime soon.

Results
Chris Jericho b. Matt Sydal – Judas Effect
Penta El Zero Miedo b. Anthony Henry – Fear Factor
Kris Statlander b. Queen Aminata – Spinning fisherman’s driver
Darby Allin b. Jeff Hardy – Rollup

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

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Rampage
Date: January 5, 2024
Location: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Ian Riccaboni

We’re done with Worlds End and that might mean a little something around here. The question becomes what we might be getting with this show, as Rampage has a tendency to be all over the place with fairly random matches. Hopefully we get another of the entertaining matches that tend to take place on this show. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Hardys/Mark Briscoe vs. Butcher and the Blade/Kip Sabian

Sabian works on Briscoe’s arm to start and then runs him over for a bonus. Briscoe is back up to take over on Sabian and the Hardys come in for a double suplex. Blade comes in but gets caught by the leg, meaning he’s already handing it off to Butcher. Matt’s middle rope elbow gets two but Butcher counters the Twist of Fate and hits a hard clothesline. It’s back to Sabian, who is quickly neckbreakered so Mark and Butcher can come back in. Everything breaks down and Sabian hits an Arabian moonsault onto Briscoe. Back in and the villains take turns beating on Briscoe as we take a break.

We come back with Briscoe and Blade trading forearms until Briscoe snaps off a neckbreaker. The double tag brings in Jeff to beat on Sabian, including the basement dropkick for two. A middle rope splash gives Jeff two more and Matt comes in for Poetry In Motion. Everything breaks down again and Sabian’s springboard dropkick accidentally takes out his partners. The Twist of Fate into the Swanton into the Froggy Bow finishes Sabian at 11:13.

Rating: B-. This wasn’t a match that broke any new ground but they did what they needed to do and did it rather well. That’s what you need to do sometimes and it worked for an opener. If nothing else, I can go for the Hardys filling in a six man tag over having them get some kind of focus, as it tends to hide their limitations these days. Nice opener here as a good six man can go a long way.

Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara have a Tag Team Titles hot coming but Guevara is ready for Ricky Starks next week. Guevara knows that Starks is good but he’s not that good. Jericho will be ready to take care of Big Bill too.

The former Jericho Appreciation Society is ready for Anna Jay’s match, but she thinks it’s time for a change because things are feeling stale. She’ll go out there by herself tonight, but here is Harley Cameron to interrupt. She wants to help all of them and whispers something to Parker, who seems intrigued.

Willow Nightingale/Kris Statlander vs. Notorious Mimi/Kennedi Hardcastle

Hold on though as Stokely Hathaway steals the microphone to handle the introductions. Statlander gets a bit more praise than Nightingale (“Thicker than a Snickers and quicker than a cat with whiskers.”), possibly due to Hathaway thinking she’s rather fetching. Statlander takes Mimi into the corner to start but Hardcastle gets in a cheap shot from behind. That’s fine with Nightingale, who suplexes both of them down at once. Statlander comes back in with clotheslines to run them over, followed by Nightingale hitting a spinebuster for the pin on Mimi at 2:36.

The Hardys want a match on Dynamite so here is Private Party to share some respect. No match is set though, oddly enough.

Anna Jay vs. Hikaru Shida

Jay slugs away against the ropes to start but Shida ducks some shots to the face and grabs a neckbreaker. Shida’s running knee connects and we go outside for the chair, which takes too long to set up. Instead Jay runs her over and then wraps Shida’s ribs around the post for a rather nasty visual. We take a break and come back with Jay yelling a lot and Shida unloading with forearms. A brainbuster gives Shida two but Jay hits a pendulum kick out of the corner. The Queenslayer goes on but Shida lips out and scores with a running knee for two more. The top rope Meteora into the Katana finishes Jay at 9:10.

Rating: C+. Shida winning makes sense as she’s one of the biggest stars the division has ever seen, but it’s weird to see Jay going back and forth with the wins and losses. She has potential and it seems that AEW wants to push her, but that’s not going to work when she keeps losing her momentum. Nice enough match, though Jay losing again is almost disappointing these days.

Sonjay Dutt yells at the Jarretts and Jay Lethal, demanding that they get back on the same page. Karen Jarrett wants the team to have a name but Jeff Jarrett says it needs to have LOSER in it because of Lethal. Jeff and Lethal have to be held apart.

Video on the Christian Cage/Adam Copeland ordeal at Worlds End, plus Cage intentionally not thanking Killswitch on Dynamite.

Ring Of Honor Pure Rules Title: Wheeler Yuta vs. Komander

Yuta is defending and they fight over arm control to start. A double wristlock has Komander using his first rope break barely a minute in. La majistral into a half crab sends Yuta to his first rope break as they’re certainly starting fast. Komander’s hurricanrana sends Yuta outside but it’s too early for a dive. Instead Yuta takes him down by the arm as we take a break.

Back with Yuta holding him in a Gory Stretch but Komander rolls him into the corner for the break. A springboard kick to the face drops Yuta again and a springboard tornado DDT gets two. Komander misses a twisting moonsault though and it’s an Angle Slam to put him down. Yuta grabs a Kimura so Komander has to use his last rope break. They trade kicks to the face until Yuta gets two off a bridging German suplex. The hammer and anvil elbows set up another Kimura to retain the title at 10:54.

Rating: C+. Yuta has something of a formula to his title defenses and it was on display here. He takes away the rope breaks and then usually wins by submission, which might make sense but doesn’t make for the most thrilling stuff. I get that the idea is to have a title match, but Yuta’s style is only so interesting and doesn’t exactly scream big time featured showcase. It also didn’t help that even commentary was pointing out how strange it was for Komander of all people to get a shot at this title, but AEW’s title shot logic has always been a bit all over the place.

Overall Rating: C+. As is usually the case these days, Rampage is just kind of there for the most part. You know what you’re going to get most weeks and that was the case again here. It’s not a bad show, but it’s a show that you could skip a good chunk of the time. Even the best match on here was just pretty good, with the big attraction being things announced for Dynamite. The show is easy enough to watch, but it’s also something that could be dropped without much being lost, which puts it in a very weird place.

Results
Hardys/Mark Briscoe b. Butcher and the Blade/Kip Sabian – Froggy Bow to Sabian
Willow Nightingale/Kris Statlander b. Notorious Mimi/Kennedi Hardcastle – Spinebuster to Mimi
Hikaru Shida b. Anna Jay – Katana
Wheeler Yuta b. Komander – Kimura

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

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Rampage
Date: December 22, 2023
Location: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Chris Jericho, Excalibur

We’re just over a week away from Worlds End and that means things are starting to come together. This week’s show is a bit different though as we are in between the Continental Classic shows, meaning some other things should be getting some focus. That could make for an interesting show so let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

International Title: Rocky Romero vs. Orange Cassidy

Cassidy is defending. They start fast to start with Cassidy taking him down and doing Romero’s dance. Cassidy teases a big wind up punch but puts his hands in his pockets instead, only to get taken down by a hurricanrana. Back in and Cassidy rolls away, only to get taken down by another hurricanrana on the floor. The Forever Clotheslines have Cassidy in more trouble and a backbreaker gives Romero two.

Cassidy manages the tornado DDT but Romero drapes him over the top. The jumping knee misses but Romero settles for a suplex on the apron. We take a break and come back with the exchange of forearms until Cassidy hits the Orange Punch. Cassidy stomps away but has to counter Strong Zero into a sunset flip. Romero knees him out of the air and Strong Zero gets two. Cassidy is right back with the Orange Punch into the Beach Break to retain at 10:54.

Rating: C+. This was exactly what you would have expected from Cassidy against a perennial midcarder in a Rampage title defense. Cassidy has done this match more times than I can count during his reigns as champion and it only has so much impact here. Decent match, but it was only going to be so good.

Hugging ensues post match.

Kris Statlander is happy about the win in a tag team street fight on Collision. Cue Stokely Hathaway, who comes in to recruit her, though he incorrectly calls her Kristen.

Brian Cage is ready to beat Keith Lee up on Collision.

Hardys vs. Kingdom

Roderick Strong is here with the Kingdom and calls some fans stupid on the way to the ring. For the sake of simplicity, I’ll only refer to Matt Hardy as Matt and Matt Taven as Taven. Matt takes Taven into the corner to start and hammers away before Jeff comes in for the flip splash/fist drop combination for two. Bennett comes in to punch Matt down but it’s right back to Jeff for Poetry In Motion.

A cheap shot sends Jeff outside though and we take a break. Back with Matt Side Effecting Bennett onto the apron, allowing Jeff to bring Matt back in. House is cleaned and the Side Effect gets two on Taven. The Twist Of Fate is broken up though and the fight heads outside. Jeff takes off his boot to beat on Bennett but Taven gets a rollup to pin Matt at 9:24.

Rating: C+. It’s nice to have the Hardys back in the ring here as they haven’t gotten to do much in recent months. They’re only doing so much here and the Kingdom needs some wins to go anywhere in the future. I’m not sure how far either team is going to be going anytime soon, but at least the Kingdom has Strong around to keep them active.

Angelo Parker interrupts Ruby Soho and invites her out for a drink tonight. Saraya comes in to say she supports this before sending Soho and Renee Paquette away. With the two of them gone, Saraya says she hates Parker and Soho is all hers. Soho pops back in and Saraya says she loves Parker.

Skye Blue vs. Prince Aminata

The much larger Aminata sends her outside to start but Blue gets in a knockdown on the apron to take over. Back in and Aminata hits a suplex into a running hip attack in the corner for two. Blue superkicks her way out of trouble though and it’s a TKO into a dragon sleeper for the tap at 3:42.

Rating: C. Aminata wasn’t bad here, especially for someone coming back after a bad knee injury. Blue wasn’t about to lose after her big official turn last week though and it’s not like it took her long to pick up the win. These women’s matches going short aren’t really helping anyone, but at least Blue got a quick win to boost her up a bit.

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

Vikingo is defending and slips out of a powerbomb attempt to start. Taurus shoulders him down so Vikingo snaps off some armdrags. Back up and we get a standoff, as the fans are declaring this awesome about two weeks in. The pop up Samoan drop gives Taurus two and we take a break.

Back with Taurus blocking a poisonrana but missing a charge to crash out to the floor. Taurus is right back up for a dive, only to get posted by Vikingo. Somehow Vikingo manages a powerslam and the rope walk twisting flip dive drops Taurus again. Back in and a rope walk running poisonrana plants Taurus, who is back up to run Vikingo over. Taurus sends him crashing down with the super gorilla press and a discus lariat gets two. Vikingo flips over him into a sunset bomb, followed by the running knees. More running knees set up a 630 to retain the title at 14:10.

Rating: B-. It was a good back and forth match but I just saw these two have a better, longer match on a bigger stage just a week ago. Now that being said, these two could seemingly have a solid match in their sleep as it’s a pretty easy dynamic to make work no matter what. Vikingo feels like a mega star despite his smaller stature and having Taurus there to bounce off of makes it even easier.

Overall Rating: B-. That’s as Rampagey of a Rampage as Rampage could be. Very little happened in the way of advancing any stories and it was more “here are some AEW wrestlers doing things” for forty five minutes before a good main event helped it out a lot. Rampage is an entertaining hour most of the time but it’s a show that could disappear without much being lost. Good enough show this week, but don’t expect much of anything that matters in the bigger pictures.

Results
Orange Cassidy b. Roocky Romero – Beach Break
The Kingdom b. The Hardys – Rollup to Matt
Skye Blue b. Prince Aminata – Dragon sleeper
El Hijo del Vikingo b. Black Taurus – 630

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

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Ring Of Honor
Date; November 2, 2023
Location: Mohegan Sun Arena, Unvasvillee, Connecticut
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

We’ve had another Ring Of Honor title change on AEW TV and this time around it might actually matter. We might be seeing the new Six Man Tag Team Champions around here for once, though that will not be happening until next week at the earliest. Other than that, we have less than two months to go before Final Battle and that means it should be time to start getting things ready. Let’s get to it.

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

Stokely Hathaway announced that Eddie Kingston is suspended for attacking him. If he tries to touch Hathaway again, he’ll be fired. First: Kingston has wrestled two matches in Ring Of Honor since March so that’s not exactly a huge loss. Two: As long as Kingston has been away, Jerry Lynn has been away even longer and hasn’t been mentioned in the better part of ever.

Here’s a quick preview of what is coming.

Christopher Daniels/Matt Sydal vs. The Righteous

Daniels and Dutch start things off with Dutch taking him into the corner for an overly clean break. As Ian gets in the required “the winners of this might be in line for a title shot”, Daniels sends him into the ropes for a running hip attack and it’s off to Vincent vs. Sydal. Vincent is quickly taken down and Daniels adds a running clothesline to the back of the head for two.

Something like a slingshot Meteora gives Sydal two but Vincent sends him into the corner. Dutch gets in a cheap shot from the apron and the villains take over. Vincent’s basement Downward Spiral gets two but Sydal avoids a charge. That’s enough to get over to Daniels for the tag into the house cleaning, with a Death Valley Driver getting two on Vincent. Everything breaks down and Sydal is sent outside, leaving Daniels to get caught with Autumn Sunshine for the pin at 7:24.

Rating: C+. Daniels and Sydal are not the most successful team these days but they are always good for putting someone over in a good match. The Righteous continue to be the resident creepy guys but they aren’t exactly going anywhere at the moment. Granted it might help if they had champions around for them to go after but that isn’t likely to be the case for a good while.

Ethan Page is ready for Josh Woods tonight but he also wants to get his hands on Tony Nese again. The old Ethan Page would get more violent but he’s trying to be a different version. He wants Nese to be watching tonight though because he’ll be thinking of hurting him very badly.

Robyn Renegade vs. Leyla Hirsch

Charlette Renegade is here with Robyn. Hirsch takes her down without much effort to start but Robyn hits some chops in the corner. That’s reversed for some rather hard forearms to the face but Robyn gets two off a faceplant. A rolling German suplex sets up Hirsch’s armbar for the tap out of nowhere at 1:43.

Post match Charlette comes in to jump Leyla but Rachael Ellering makes the save.

Lee Moriarty vs. Darius Martin

No Shane Taylor here after he helped Moriarty beat Martin last week. Moriarty works on a headlock to start but Martin takes him down for an early two. An elbow to the face lets Moriarty send him to the apron and a kick to the ribs makes it worse. Back in and Moriarty starts working on the arm before switching to an abdominal stretch.

Another arm snap seems to wake Martin up and he hits a bulldog into a kick to the head. Martin gets caught up top but misses something, setting up an arm trap neckbreaker for two. The Border City Stretch is countered into some rollups to give Martin two. A release German suplex followed by a frog splash gives Martin the pin at 7:39.

Rating: C+. This is what Ring Of Honor has been needing to do more often: have a match that ties into what they did last week. Moriarty vs. Martin isn’t exactly a red hot feud but they’ve got a little story going, which is a lot better than just random matches that lead nowhere. I’ll take what I can get from these two and they had another perfectly fine match here.

Final Battle ad. They’re hammering home the idea that the show is available for free with an Honor Club subscription which is a very good idea.

Josh Woods vs. Ethan Page

Mark Sterling is here with Woods. They fight over wrist control to start and can be heard conversing in the process. Page armdrags him into an armbar but Woods is right back by sending the arm into the corner. A hammerlock slam gives Woods two but Page gets in a shot for a breather. Cue Tony Nese to watch as Page hammers away and hits a big boot. The Ego’s Edge is blocked though and Woods snaps the arm over the rope to cut Page off. Page is right back with another shot but this time it’s a Sterling distraction to break up Ego’s Edge. Page grabs a small package but Nese turns it over so Woods gets the pin at 5:55.

Rating: C. This didn’t have the time to go very far but it keeps the Page vs. Sterling N Pals feud going. That being said, Page felt like he was on a roll and now he’s fighting Nese and company, which doesn’t feel like that interesting. Nese hasn’t been presented as anything all that impressive (despite being on the show so frequently) and I’ve lost a good bit of interest in Page since this feud began. Hopefully things turn around, but at least there is a story here and that is a lot better than nothing.

We look at the Mogul Embassy winning the Six Man Tag Team Titles on Dynamite.

Slim J vs. Gringo Loco vs. Angelico vs. Metalik

So Slim J and Loco were in a four way last week while Angelico and Metalik had a singles match so this is kind of a merger of two matches. The fans are behind Loco to start and it’s a brawl early on with J and Loco clearing out the other two. Loco sends J outside though and there’s the big running flip dive. Metalik dives onto the pile but Angelico breaks up a springboard.

Back in and Angelico suplexes J for two before cranking on J’s arm. Angelico grabs a nasty looking bridging leglock on J but Metalik makes the save and hits a reverse Sling Blade for two. Loco comes back in and gets caught with Metalik’s rope walk hurricanrana for two more. A series of covers and saves leaves everyone down until J hits Loco with Zack Ryder’s old Zack Attack for another near fall. Everyone gets another two until Angelico and J are the only two left. Angelico rolls J out of the corner and gets a wacky crucifix variation for the pin at 5:45.

Rating: B-. This wasn’t as fun as last week’s insane four way but dang it was entertaining while it lasted. Angelico gets to showcase a bit of his submission prowess, but that might have been better suited in another singles match as he’s getting ready for his World Title shot. Other than that, very fast paced match here and that’s a good thing to put onto a show, especially with this kind of talent.

Sonjay Dutt has known Jay Lethal and Eddie Kingston for a long time and knows the talent Lethal has always had. Kingston on the other hand is a garbage wrestler and here is Stokely Hathaway to say he wants to be there with Lethal beats Kingston. Hathaway will look into when the title match takes place. He’ll email Dutt so look for the Angelfire address.

Rachael Ellering vs. LMK

LMK is Little Mean Kathleen, a popular local star. They fight over wrist control to start until LMK’s running shoulder has no effect. Ellering’s shoulder works just fine, though the fans are not pleased. A gutwrench suplex (LMK screams) gets two but LMK manages a headscissors into the corner. LMK misses a Cannonball though and it’s an uppercut into the Boss Woman Slam to give Ellering the pin at 2:41. LMK certainly had some fire in there.

Wingmen vs. Gates Of Agony vs. Infantry vs. Iron Savages

The Wingmen come out first and keep trying to talk but the other entrances cut them off in a funny bit. We get a nice save from commentary as we’re told the Six Man Tag Team Titles are off being cleaned and polished (as this was taped before the title change). Boulder runs Avalon over to start but misses an elbow, allowing Avalon to get three straight near falls. It’s off to Dean vs. Kaun with the former charging into an elbow in the corner.

Toa sends Dean outside though and it’s back to Avalon as these tags are rather rapid fire. Nemeth’s pendulum DDT gets two on Dean but a clothesline gets him out of trouble. The tag brings in Bravo to clean house as the Gates drop to the floor to avoid tagging Avalon. Bravo hits a wind up DDT on Avalon but the Gates are back in to clean house. Everything breaks down and there’s Boot Camp to Nemeth. The Savages come back in and wreck the Infantry but the Gates tag themselves in and Open The Gates finishes Avalon at 6:24.

Rating: C+. This was similar to the four way from earlier as it was pretty much all action throughout. That’s a lot of fun and the Gates continue their roll, though I do wonder if the Six Man Title win will dethrone the whole thing. Otherwise it would seem to be building to the Gates winning the regular Tag Team Titles, which would at least be an improvement for the division. Either way, fun match here, as ROH seems to want to get as many people on these shows as possible.

We look at Mark Briscoe returning at Rampage.

Nick Comoroto vs. Lee Johnson vs. Action Andretti

Johnson and Andretti go after Comoroto to start and a low bridge sends Comoroto to the floor. The other two trade rollups for two each until Comoroto is back in for the save. Comoroto hits a DDT to Andretti and a one armed gorilla press to Johnson at the same time for an impressive crash. A missed charge doesn’t slow Comoroto down as he suplexes both of them at once. Comoroto gets knocked down though, leaving the other two to slug it out. That’s broken up by a double crossbody but Johnson is back up with a middle rope forearm. Andretti makes the save with a springboard missile dropkick though and pins Comoroto at 5:00.

Rating: C+. That’s quite the choice as Comoroto was looking like a monster throughout this whole thing. I’d assume this was to get Andretti back on the winning ways after his loss to Miro but if you’re going to have Comoroto look that dominant, just let Johnson take the fall. Another action packed match, but the lack of time hurt it.

Charlette Renegade vs. Kiera Hogan

Robyn Renegade is here with her sister. Charlette works on a headlock to start and then runs Hogan over. A flapjack gives Charlette two and we hit the camel, uh, face pull. Hogan is back up with a hip attack and a running dropkick in the corner for two of her own. Charlette gets a rollup with feet on the ropes for two but Hogan grabs Face The Music for the pin at 3:23.

Rating: C. Another short match here as Hogan gets a win despite not doing much lately. The Renegades have not been doing so well lately and they could use a win or two to give them a bit more value. For now though, there wasn’t much to this one but Hogan has improved a bit in recent months.

Rachael Ellering checks on Leyla Hirsch, who doesn’t want to see her. Ellering says no one else was there to help her but Hirsch seems to insist that Maria Kanellis-Bennett has her back. Hirsch says Ellering was wrong and leaves.

Workhorsemen/Cole Karter/Griff Garrison vs. Dalton Castle/The Boys/Gravity

Well this is something and Maria Kanellis-Bennett is here with the villains. Gravity (in a peacock mask) avoids Henry’s charge to start and gets two off a slingshot rollup. Karter comes in and gets elbowed down by Brent, who is powered straight into the corner. A dropkick hits Brent and it’s off to Drake to hit some hard chops.

The Workhorsemen strike away until Drake’s DDT gives Henry two. Brent avoids a charge though and the diving tag brings Gravity back in to pick up the pace. Garrison sends Gravity into the corner though and it’s the Workhorsemen getting to beat Gravity up for a change. That’s escaped with a few rolls though and it’s Castle coming back in to pick up the pace.

Suplexes drop the Workhorsemen and Castle gets to throw some Boys around. Hold on though as Gravity wants Castle to throw him around too, only for Henry to break it up. Drake runs Castle over but the Boys make the save. NOW Gravity gets thrown onto the Workhorsemen, setting up the Bang A Rang to finish Drake at 7:25.

Rating: B-. This was another match where what we got was fun but there was too much going on for it to really work. That being said, I don’t quite get how this is the best use of Castle. He’s still good in the ring and the fans love him, so unless his injuries are still bugging him, he should be a heck of a lot higher than being stuck in this kind of match. Gravity being the willing and enthusiastic partner worked well for him, but Castle felt a level above everyone else here.

Women’s Title: Athena vs. Mercedes Martinez

Martinez, with Diamante, is challenging and there is no Billie Starkz to be found. Athena forearms away to start and they go outside, where Athena rips up a sign held by Martinez’s sister. They go back in, where Martinez hammers away in the corner but Athena flips out of a spider suplex. A baseball slide puts Martinez on the floor and there’s a suicide dive to send her into the announcers’ table.

Diamante offers the distraction though and Martinez scores with a right hand to take over. A chair is loaded up and Athena is laid on it, only to kick her way to freedom. Athena superplexes her off the barricade (that’s not something you see very often) and they both beat the count (after waiting around a bit so the referee can get to 19).

They strike it out with Athena getting the better of things until Martinez’s Saito suplex puts them both down. The O Face is broken up and the OG Drop gives Martinez two. Athena blocks the Brass City Sleeper with a bite of the arm though and one heck of a forearm puts Martinez down.

Now the O Face connects but Diamante offers a distraction. Athena takes her out as well and rips off a turnbuckle, only to have Martinez send her into the exposed steel. A fisherman’s driver gives Martinez two (that’s a bit much) but here is a woman in a hoodie to deck Martinez. That’s enough to set up the Wing Splitter to retain the title at 13:30.

Rating: B. Easily the match of the night here, even with the rather obvious Billie Starkz interference at the end. Other than that, the match was the kind of hard hitting fight you would expect from these two. Martinez is dangerous enough to feel like a threat to the title and that is what they needed here. This worked as a main event as the women steal another ROH show.

It’s Billie Starkz, who hands Athena the title as commentary treats this like a big heel turn to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This show had it usual ups and downs, including some rather odd choices. First of all, the main event was rather good and it feels like they are stringing more stories together from week to week. The latter is very good as there have been too many one off matches that don’t go anywhere and rarely feel like they matter when the next show airs. Fixing that would give you more of an incentive to watch the next week’s show and that has been lacking for a long time.

At the same time, I’m not sure what was with all of the multi-person matches but my goodness it was overload this week. This week’s show featured a four way, a four way tag, a triple threat and an eight man tag, plus all of the regular matches. That’s 23 wrestlers in four matches, none of which got a significant amount of time. It was a good bit too much and felt like they were trying to get as many people on the show as possible without doing a battle royal of some kind.

Overall, it was a good enough show, but the longstanding underlying problem continues: there is way too much going on in any given show. There were multiple matches that could have been trimmed off of this show without losing anything overly important. The shows are too long and it takes away from the impact some things can make. This week’s show was good and had some improvements, but after a few weeks of shorter shows, that near two hour run time was a bit of a punch to the stomach.

Results
The Righteous b. Matt Sydal/Christopher Danielson – Autumn Sunshine to Daniels
Leyla Hirsch b. Robyn Renegade – Cross armbreaker
Darius Martin b. Lee Moriarty – Frog splash
Josh Woods b. Ethan Page – Small package
Angelico b. Slim J, Gringo Loco and Metalik – Crucifix to Metalik
Rachael Ellering b. LMK – Boss Woman Slam
Gates Of Agony b. Infantry, Wingmen and Iron Savages – Open The Gates to Avalon
Action Andretti b. Lee Johnson and Nick Comoroto – Springboard missile dropkick to Comoroto
Kiera Hogan b. Charlette Renegade – Face The Music
Dalton Castle/The Boys/Gravity b. Workhorsemen/Cole Karter/Griff Garrison – Bang A Rang to Drake
Athena b. Mercedes Martinez – Wing Splitter

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

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Rampage
Date: October 6, 2023
Location: Stockton Arena, Stockton, California
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone

We’re back to Friday and on the way to one heck of a Dynamite next week. There is a good chance that Dynamite will get some special attention this week and that could shake things up quite a bit. Other than that, we have a four way #1 contenders match for a Ring Of Honor World Title shot, because that kind of thing doesn’t happen on the Ring Of Honor show. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Hardys/Best Friends vs. Jake Hager/Angelo Parker/Matt Menard/Daniel Garcia

Brother Zay and Anna Jay are here too. The Best Friends waste no time in beating up Parker before handing it off to Jeff. Garcia comes in as well and it’s time for….a dance off. Schiavone does not sound impressed but Menard gets in a cheap shot to take Jeff down as the villains take over. Jeff manages to fight out of trouble and bring Beretta in for some shots to Garcia’s face. Everything breaks down and the good guys clear the ring, only to be run over by Hager on the floor.

We take a break and come back with Matt Hardy getting to clean house but the Twist of Fate is broken up. The Hager Bomb gets two with Jeff making the save and we hit the parade of secondary finishers. Matt Hardy can’t hit the Twist of Fate on Garcia, who is sent into Jay by mistake. The Twist of Fate into the Swanton finishes Garcia at 11:27.

Rating: C+. The energy was there and the fans are always going to be into the Hardys and the Best Friends. That doesn’t make for a great match, but at least they started fast and had an entertaining enough match. At the same time, it’s kind of funny that the Jericho Appreciation Society is now just a Society without anyone to appreciate.

Eddie Kingston is ready for any opponent but Jeff Jarrett and company come in. Jay Lethal was so annoyed at Kingston calling him out that he isn’t here tonight. Sonjay Dutt calls Kingston out for disrespecting a former Ring Of Honor Champion. Kingston is more than willing to give Lethal a shot…if Lethal proves himself to be more than a clown these days. With Kingston gone, Stokely Hathaway comes in to offer Dutt a deal, which he seems to like.

Danhausen is returning soon. Makes sense for Halloween.

Claudio Castagnoli/Wheeler Yuta vs. Levi Shapiro/Wise Guy Ruiz

Yuta stretches Shapiro’s abdominals to start before hitting something close to an Angle Slam. Castagnoli comes in and cranks on the neck, while also shrugging off a boot to the face from Ruiz. The Swing into a dropkick from Yuta knocks Shapiro silly and a Fastball Special (Rocket Launcher) finishes for Yuta at 2:42. Total squash.

The former Jericho Appreciation Society isn’t happy with Daniel Garcia, but they’re going to get Anna Jay to the doctor as a FAMILY.

Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Lince Dorado vs. Johnny TV vs. Komander

For a Ring Of Honor World Title shot against Eddie Kingston, on commentary. Penta shoves Johnny into a superkick from Komander to start before Penta clears out Komander and Dorado. Johnny and Penta exchange armdrags and nipups but get dropkicked out to the floor. That leaves Komander and Dorado to flip around a bit, with Dorado landing on his feet. Eddie: “Oh like a cat. I get it.” Excalibur: “Lince Dorado does mean The Golden Lynx.” Eddie: “…..oh.”

Back in and Penta tags Johnny down again, setting up a dive to the floor. Johnny decks Penta from behind though and we take a break. Back with Johnny hitting a standing moonsault for an arroagant two on Dorado (Eddie: “That’s not a good pin.”) before powerslamming Komander. Dorado hurricanranas Komander into another hurricanrana to Johnny before sending Penta outside. A moonsault takes out Johnny and Penta on the floor, leaving Komander to hit his rope walk flip dive onto all three. Back in and Komander hits a 450 to pin Dorado at 10:51.

Rating: B-. Well what else were you expecting here? This was a situation of putting a bunch of high fliers together and letting them go nuts. What matters here is to have someone new coming after Kingston’s title, even if it shows that the matches on Ring Of Honor’s weekly show mean nothing as these four just get a #1 contenders match out of nowhere.

Ortiz is ready to hurt Santana and take out his other knee.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

Kris Statlander/Hikaru Shida vs. Nyla Rose/Marina Shafir

Statlander and Shida get jumped before the bell, with Statlander being knocked out to the floor. Shafir kicks away at Shida and we finally get the match officially started. Rose comes in and drops a leg or two on Shida as Statlander is still trying to get up. Shida punches her way back up and puts Shafir down to one knee, setting up a running elbow for two. Statlander gets knocked off the apron again and we take a break.

Back with Shida crossbodying her way out of trouble, allowing Shida to come in and clean house. Statlander can’t quite slam Rose though and the crash landing gets two. Rose runs Statlander over with a clothesline for two more but Shida dives onto both villains on the floor. The Falcon Arrow gets two on Shafir and Rose is loaded up into a Doomsday Device (with Shida jumping all of a foot and a half for the clothesline). The Katana hits Shafir but she hits Saraya’s Nightcap for the pin at 11:08.

Rating: C. Somehow that’s the main event, which was little more than a match to set up the women’s Title match on Dynamite. It’s not a bad match by any means, but it had three other people who had nothing to do with the title match. Saraya didn’t even make an appearance, making for a pretty flat finish to the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This show did nothing to help the reputation that Rampage means very little. The show featured one match with storyline implications and that was for the Ring Of Honor World Title. Other than that we had an eight man tag that featured a dance off, a squash tag match, and a tag match designed to build towards another match down the line. As tends to be the case, there were some fun enough matches to keep me interested throughout an hour, but it’s not a show that you need tow watch in any way.

Results
Hardys/Best Friends b. Jake Hager/Angelo Parker/Matt Menard/Daniel Garcia – Swanton to Garcia
Claudio Castagnoli/Wheeler Yuta b. Levi Shapiro/Wise Guy Ruiz – Fastball Special to Shapiro
Komander b. Lince Dorado, Penta El Zero Miedo and Johnny TV – 450 to Dorado
Hikaru Shida/Kris Statlander b. Nyla Rose/Marina Shafir – Nightcap to Shafir

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

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Ring Of Honor
Date: August 24, 2023
Location: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville Tennessee/Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

Last week’s show was another long edition and that didn’t exactly make for the most thrilling edition. The biggest story seems to be Athena and Billie Starkz teaming up, or at least Starkz becoming Athena’s new minion. That likely ends in a Women’s Title match and we are probably well on the way there. Let’s get to it.

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

Dalton Castle/The Boys vs. Dark Order

Silver (with his back covered with those weird suction spots) and Castle start things off, meaning Castle gets to pose a bit. Hold on though as Silver wants a Boy so he gets to wrestle Brent down. A hot shot drops Brent again and it’s Reynolds coming in to take Brent into the corner. Uno chops away and Silver snaps off a German suplex to cut off a comeback bid.

A hard clothesline gives Reynolds two and we hit the chinlock. Brent fights up and elbows his way out of the corner, allowing the hot tag off to Castle. House is quickly cleaned, with Castle firing the Boys outside onto the villains. The falling splash gets two on Uno but Reynolds and Silver double team Castle down on the floor. The triple flipping slam finishes Brandon at 10:11.

Rating: C+. So Castle, who seems to be on the way to a TV Title shot, loses a match (not by getting pinned, but on the losing team) to the Dark Order. I’m not sure why Castle needed to be involved here, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see the Dark Order getting pushed towards a Six Man Tag Team Title shot. Then again I’m not sure why they’re regularly featured or why those titles continue to exist in the first place.

Athena thinks there is tension between Lexy Nair and Billie Starkz so she makes them shirts! Nair’s says Athena’s Bestie while Starkz’s says Minion 400,237 ¾. As for tonight, they’re fighting the Renegades.

Lady Frost vs. Kiera Hogan

They both miss kicks to the head to start until Frost knocks her out to the floor. Back in and Hogan hits a running elbow in the corner but gets kicked in the face for her efforts. Hogan shrugs it off and hits a fisherman’s neckbreaker for the pin at 2:51 (Coleman: “That was fast!”). Kind of a weird one here as Hogan just beat her out of nowhere.

Matt Sydal vs. Serpentico

Serpentico gets tripped down to start and a standing moonsault gives Sydal two. A hurricanrana out of the corner into a jumping Downward Spiral drops Sydal for two more Serpentico misses a top rope double stomp though and Sydal kicks him in the face. A fisherman’s buster gives Sydal two of his own, followed by the Lightning Spiral finishes Serpentico at 4:33.

Rating: C. They didn’t have time to do much here and Sydal is only so interesting most of the time in the first place. At the same time, Serpentico seems to be getting a bit better, but after so many losses, it’s a little hard to get invested in anything he’s doing. This was another match between two people without much going on and that’s not exactly interesting.

Stokely Hathaway wants an apology from Lexy Nair after he and Samoa Joe won last week. Nair doesn’t think anyone around here respects him and walks off. Hathaway: “D***. I was going to ask you to go to TGI Fridays. TK left his card on the table.” As usual, his one liners are great.

Video on CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe. After one of the matches they had and how much they put ROH on the map, they get about thirty seconds here.

Leila Grey vs. Leyla Hirsch

Hirsch kicks away the offer of a handshake before the bell and wrestles her down into a waistlock without much effort. Grey is back up with a shotgun dropkick but Hirsch takes her right back down. Cue Maria Kanellis-Bennett to watch as Hirsch grabs a waistlock. Grey fights up with some clotheslines and a Death Valley Driver, only to have Hirsch cross armbreaker her for the tap at 3:50.

Rating: C. The Maria stuff continues for Hirsch and as tends to be the case, that is taking its sweet time to get anywhere. I approve of Hirsch getting to do some more though, as it would make sense for her to go after the Women’s Title at some point. Other than that, it’s nice to see Grey getting to do something other than being Jade Cargill’s lackey, as she’s a bit better than that.

The Mogul Affiliates are ready to beat up Action Andretti/Darius Martin/Lee Moriarty because they’ve beaten them up so many times already. That’s not the best way to hype up a feud. Why Lexy Nair changed clothes in between interviews isn’t clear.

Blake Christian vs. Brandon Cutler

Colt Cabana is here with Cutler. A headlock doesn’t get Cutler very far as Christian snaps off a running hurricanrana to send him into the ropes. They head to the apron where Cutler can’t hit a piledriver. Instead Christian knocks him outside for the big flip dive. Back in and Cutler hits a Falcon Arrow, setting up a dancing elbow for two.

An airplane spin leaves them both dizzy (Ian thinks Bob Backlund did it better) so Christian hits a Death Valley Driver. Some kicks to the chest are countered into a pumphandle slam, followed by the Superman Pin for two (so not a pin). Christian is right back with a 619 into the springboard 450 for the pin at 7:05.

Rating: C+. Well at least Cutler didn’t win here. Christian is someone who has done well elsewhere and it wouldn’t be the worst idea to see him getting to do more around here. Then you have Cutler, and as usual with the non-Omega Elite members, they’re not exactly the most thrilling people, though at least he isn’t around very often.

Tony Nese and Mark Sterling still want to do group training, with Nese yelling at a production worker for drinking a soda.

Athena/Billie Starkz vs. Renegades

Apparently it’s Charlette rather than Charlotte. Since when? Anyway, the Renegades are sent outside to start and get taken down with dives. Athena tells Billie to throw Robin “into something” and like a good minion, Billie does just that. Back in and a double suplex sets up a swinging Boss Man Slam for two. Billie kicks Charlette away and brings in Athena for a kick to the head.

Everything breaks down and Athena Alabama Slams Billie onto Charlette. Athena’s rollup (with tights) gets two but Robin tosses her outside. Billie gets dropped on her head for two and a double chokeslam gets two on Athena. Back up and Athena drops Robin again, setting up the O Face. Billie tags herself in though and hits a Swanton for the pin at 8:40.

Rating: C+. It’s nice to have this match get some time as Athena and Billie are probably the best thing going on the show right now. They’re one of those wacky teams that are good for a chuckle while pretty clearly setting up for something bigger down the line. That’s all you can ask for here, save for maybe the Renegades losing a bit less often.

Post match Athena isn’t done and grabs Charlette, but Billie won’t get a cheap shot. Athena yells at Billie for disobeying.

Video on Adam Cole. Again, thirty seconds.

Here is Ryan Nemeth to say it’s his appreciation night so get him someone out here to fight. Even a World Champion!

Ryan Nemeth vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Non-title Proving Ground match, meaning if Nemeth wins or lasts the ten minute time limit, he gets a future title shot. Nemeth didn’t realize Castagnoli was here and tries to back out of it, earning himself the Swing. The uppercut finishes for Castagnoli at 1:05.

NJPW TV Title: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Christopher Daniels

Daniels is challenging and the winner defends against Metalik next week. An early grapple exchange doesn’t last long and doesn’t go anywhere so Daniels grabs a headlock takeover. Sabre slips out and starts twisting the wrist to damage the grip. Daniels comes back with a cravate and a neck twist, as Sabre apparently has a bad neck (as commentary does its job by telling us about that).

Sabre is right back with a nasty arm crank before pulling him into a hammerlock. It’s quickly off to Daniels’ leg (as explained by commentary, who said Sabre will switch body parts if a wrestler doesn’t give up in 3-5 seconds of a hold) but he fights up with a Death Valley Driver.

Sabre takes him right back down by the arm and gets in a stomp before they slug it out. A quick Downward Spiral into the Koji Clutch has Sabre in more trouble. With that broken up, Sabre twists the arm again but Daniels slips out as well. The Angel’s Wings doesn’t work as the arm gives out, allowing Sabre to pull him into a double arm crank to retain at 9:35.

Rating: B-. This was a technical display with the neck vs. the arm working just fine, as Daniels got in a lot of damage but couldn’t hang with Sabre as a submission master. Daniels is still someone who is perfect as a challenger like this as he can still go and offers just enough of a threat to win something, but ultimately comes up short. Best match of the show here.

Respect is shown to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. As is usually the case when they go in this direction, the show being that much shorter (less than 90 minutes this week) makes all the difference in the world. They only had eight matches and a few of them were rather short. It makes the show so much easier to watch and I can absolutely appreciate the change. I know it’s not likely to last once the London trip is over and they can get back to the usual hour and forty minute tapings because quantity equals quality around here, but I’ll take what I can get for now.

As for the show itself, Athena and Billie Starkz are by far the most entertaining thing on the show, as Athena being a little goofy for a change is rather entertaining. Other than that, there isn’t much in the way of stories on this show, save for Maria Kanellis-Bennett coming out to stare at various wrestlers. The rest of the stories are often rather quickly put together and ended, but at least there is one nice thing going on and as usual, the wrestling was completely fine at worst. Much easier show to watch this week.

Results
Dark Order b. Dalton Castle/The Boys – Triple flipping slam to Brandon
Kiera Hogan b. Lady Frost – Fisherman’s neckbreaker
Matt Sydal b. Serpentico – Lightning Spiral
Leyla Hirsch b. Leila Grey – Cross armbreaker
Blake Christian b. Brandon Cutler – Springboard 450
Athena/Billie Starks b. Renegades – Swanton to Robin
Claudio Castagnoli b. Ryan Nemeth – Uppercut
Zack Sabre Jr. b. Christopher Daniels – Double arm crank

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

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AND

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So I reviewed this as usual last week and then forgot to publish it for some reason.  I’m not sure what happened but I’m sorry about that.

Ring Of Honor
Date: August 17, 2023
Location: Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina
Commentators: Caprice Coleman, Ian Riccaboni

We continue our build towards…whenever the next big show is going to be around here, which might not be happening for a fairly good while. For now though, we have a new #1 contender to the TV Title as Shane Taylor won a tournament to earn the shot last week. As for this week, Joe is teaming up with Stokely Hathaway to face the Boys, as what feels like the build to Joe vs. Dalton Castle continues. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Gravity vs. Gringo Loco

Gravity starts fast with a springboard hurricanrana and an armdrag to frustrate Loco again. The frustration is alleviated by a right hand to the mask but Gravity snaps off a scoop powerslam but Loco shoves him off the top for a crash. The big flip dive takes Gravity down again, followed by a twisting senton for two back inside. Gravity sends him outside and runs up the corner, flips into a seat, and then flips forward into a hurricanrana (that was awesome).

Back in and Gravity hits a delayed top rope Vader Bomb for two but Loco’s standing Spanish Fly gets the same. Loco threatens to kill him but Gravity gets in a kick to the head. They both stand on top and flip over in….well they call it a torture rack superplex but it also looked like a flipping DDT. Either way it gives Loco two but Gravity catches him with a super Samoan drop. The top rope splash finishes for Gravity at 10:16.

Rating: B-. This was the “he lost last week so here’s a win to make sure the fans still care” match for Gravity and it worked well. Gravity is starting to put together better offense and is becoming a fun guy to watch so nice choice for an opening match. Loco is another person who has worked well in most of his appearances and he did well again here.

Silas Young vs. Josh Woods

Pure Rules and Mark Sterling is…not here with Woods for a change. Woods grabs a headlock to start before they both avoid an armdrag. Young’s handshake offer is turned down and Woods picks the ankle to take it to the mat. They fight over a wristlock until Young blocks a Chaos Theory attempt. The fight over the armbar doesn’t work for either of them so Woods snaps the arm over the rope. Back in and Woods sends the arm into the buckle before getting in some rather aggressive stomps. Young gets two off a sunset flip so Woods punches him in the face. The anarchist suplex into the corner finishes Young at 6:53.

Rating: C+. The match itself was fine enough but I’m getting tired of these Pure Rules matches. The rules don’t really change much about the match and they seem to just be there for the sake of setting up whoever gets to lose to Katsuyori Shibata next. Young knowing Woods so well made for a nice story, but it’s still just the Pure Rules division and that’s not the most interesting stuff. Oh and why are these the only matches that get on-screen clocks?

Maria Kanellis-Bennett talks about everything she has given to wrestling but she’s still here. Now she wants an army to protect the Kingdom. Leyla Hirsch is mentioned but comes in to rant about how she doesn’t like to be scouted. Maria has granted her request for more competition with a match against Rachael Ellering.

Athena vs. Brittany J

Non-title Proving Ground match, meaning if J can survive the ten minute time limit or win, she gets a future title shot. Athena poses to start and gets rolled up for two. Brittany sends her outside but Athena grabs a leg for a pull to the floor. For some reason Athena yells at Riccaboni before hitting a pop up powerbomb inside. The right hand finishes Brittany at 1:50. Of all of the Athena wins in Proving Ground matches, this was the most recent.

Post match the Renegades jump Athena but Billie Starkz runs in for the save.

Samoa Joe/Stokely Hathaway vs. The Boys

During the entrances, Stokely talks about how he’ll be right here on the apron if Joe needs him. The Boys jump Joe to start but he knocks them both down without much effort. Stokely comes in and gets punched in the face as the Boys take over without much effort. Back up and Stokely manages to get over to Joe, who quickly cleans house. The Muscle Buster is loaded up but instead Joe lets Stokely come off the top with an ax handle. Instead of connecting though, Joe turns away (taking Brandon with him) and lets Stokely crash in a funny spot. The Koquina Clutch finishes for Joe at 3:53.

Rating: C. Other than the step aside crash, there wasn’t much to see here. I’m assuming this is going to be setting up Joe vs. Dalton Castle, but beating up the Boys with the help (or close to it) from Stokely isn’t exactly a hot angle. At least they kept things moving here and Stokely was funny as usual.

Billie Starkz doesn’t know what is going on with Athena but the Renegades come in for a staredown.

Matt Sydal/Christopher Daniels vs. Gates of Agony

This is from a Dynamite taping. Daniels grabs a headlock on Toa to start before getting run over with a shoulder. Kaun comes in and gets taken down with a drop toehold. It’s off to Sydal for a kick to the head before Daniels comes back in. As was the case earlier, Daniels gets beaten down, including a running splash in the corner. The chinlock doesn’t last long so Kaun switches to a side slam for two instead.

Daniels has to bite his way out of a bearhug and there’s the STO, allowing the tag off to Sydal. Everything breaks down and Sydal gets caught with the stereo clotheslines. Daniels makes the save, allowing Sydal to dive over for the tag to bring Daniels back in. Angel’s Wings hits Kaun but Toa makes the save this time. Back up and Kaun hits a fireman’s carry gutbuster to finish Daniels at 10;12.

Rating: B-. They managed to take two less that interesting teams and get an engaging match out of them. That’s hard to do and it’s nice to see the Gates starting to actually win matches against some decent competition. Daniels and Sydal aren’t exactly on the all time list of great ROH tag teams, but they’re former champions and work well enough so this could have been worse.

Dani Mo vs. Madison Rayne

Still at Dynamite and Rayne is the hometown girl. Mo elbows her way out of a hammerlock to start before Rayne charges into a boot in the corner. A cartwheel sets up a kick to Rayne’s face but she’s back with a dropkick. Rayne hits a neckbreaker into a northern lights suplex for two, followed by CrossRayne for the pin at 3:22.

Rating: C. It’s nice to have Rayne back as she is someone with enough of a reputation to be able to put some people over. She’s not likely to tear up the mat in a classic most of the time but she’s a good enough steady hand. Mo was unique enough to get another look and I could go with having her back somewhere in the future.

Dark Order vs. Corey Calhoun/Isaiah Broner/Lord Crewe

Uno takes Broner into the corner for the rapid fire stomps to start before Reynolds comes in to hammer away. Silver is in for the kicks to the chest and a near fall, followed by Reynolds’ knee drop. Cue Stu Grayson to watch, allowing Calhoun to come in of the tag. Not that it matters as the Darker Realm finishes Calhoun at 3:49.

Rating: C. Yeah they’re still the Dark Order, meaning it’s John Silver and an ok Alex Reynolds plus the mostly useless Evil Uno. I still don’t get what is supposed to be so special about these guys but they aren’t likely to go away anytime soon. At least they kept it short here and didn’t bother doing anything too important here, but that’s probably coming.

Claudio Castagnoli says he’s always watching, even if he isn’t on the show. He won the title over a year ago and cared, but then he lost it to Chris Jericho, who didn’t care. Now he’s a two time champion and he won’t let go of something he has cared about for so many years. His job is to keep people like Eddie Kingston, Mark Briscoe and Pac away from the title. He will step in the ring with anyone and this is still just a job. Come be better than him. Not much from Castagnoli here, but then again he didn’t have anything or anyone to talk about.

Cole Karter vs. Griff Garrison

Back in North Carolina as Garrison gets driven into the corner to start. A big boot staggers Karter though and a Falcon Arrow gets two on Karter. Back up and a dropkick hits Garrison and the chinlock goes on. Karter snaps off some suplexes but Garrison scores with a discus forearm to knock him silly. A rake to the eyes gets Karter out of trouble though and the belly to back spinning faceplant finishes Garrison at 4:29.

Rating: C. Remember all those other matches where Karter was just a guy in tights not doing anything that made him stand out in the slightest? This was another one of those, but for some reason he is being presented with Maria Kanellis-Bennett. I guess this is trying to find a way to use him, but he’s still nothing special in the slightest.

Post match Maria Kanellis-Bennett comes out to leave with Karter.

Charlotte Renegade vs. Billie Starkz

Robyn Renegade is here with Charlotte, who takes Billie down and hammers away to start. Starkz is sent outside for a beating from Robyn, followed by a face pull and choking back inside. Charlotte grabs a suplex but Starkz reverses into a brainbuster onto the knee. Robyn offers a distraction though and Starkz misses a Swanton, allowing Charlotte to hit a Samoan driver for two. Back up and Starkz grabs an arm trap faceplant (like a Neutralizer) for the pin at 3:40.

Rating: C. Well they’re trying with Starkz, who is indeed someone new. It seems that they’re setting up something for her against Athena and I’ll take that over one more random match after another. That being said, I could also go with less of the Renegades losing, as they feel like a pair who could be something, either together or on their own.

Post match the beatdown is on with Athena making the save. Athena won’t shake her hand but does say “come on minion, let’s go”, with Starkz following her out.

Tony Nese, with Ari Daivari, is annoyed at his group training being interrupted every week.

Workhorsemen/Lee Moriarty vs. Action Andretti/Darius Martin/Lee Johnson

Well this is a 2023 ROH match if I’ve ever seen one. Moriarty and Johnson start things off with Moriarty cranking on the wrist but getting armdragged into an armbar. Andretti comes in and helps send the villains outside as the fast start continues. Back in and we settle down a bit with Moriarty bringing Drake in for a swinging Boss Man Slam on Johnson.

Kicks and chops keep Johnson in trouble but he rolls over for the tag off to Andretti to clean house. Everything breaks down and Andretti is tossed into Drake’s sitout powerbomb. Andretti is back up with a springboard spinning kick to Drake’s face. Henry tries an O’Connor roll but Andretti rolls through and sits down on it for the pin at 7:05.

Rating: C+. Commentary talked about how the winner of this might be in line for a Six Man Tag Team Title shot and I’m not sure why I should believe that. The tradition for determining title shots seems to be throwing random opponents at the Embassy, even if they have never wrestled here before. At least they did pick up the pace after a string of dull matches, but I’ve seen Andretti and Martin team together with a variety of partners more than once now and it’s not like this was anything new.

Athena brings in Billie Starkz to say how proud she is but Starkz wants to face the Renegade Twins next week. This has been another story that could have been stretched out over about a month but instead they blitzed through it in about an hour.

Lady Frost vs. Trish Adora

Feeling out process to start until Frost misses a charge in the corner and gets kicked in the head. They go outside with Frost doing a handstand on the apron and then kicking Adora down. Back in and Adora kicks her into a crossbody but the Lariat Tubman is countered into a rollup for two. Frost hits her own kick to the head and goes up top for a corkscrew moonsault (Frostbite) for a pretty big upset at 4:06.

Rating: C+. Ok they got me with the surprise there, as I wouldn’t have bet on Frost winning. Much like Starkz, it’s cool to see someone fresh getting a chance, though unfortunately it’s at the expense of Adora. I’ll take what I can get with the unexpected ending though, as those can be nice every so often.

Kiera Hogan wants Lady Frost. This was less than thirty seconds after the match was over, because again, everything must go as fast as possible.

Rachael Ellering vs. Leyla Hirsch

Hirsch kicks a hand away rather than shake before taking Ellering down. Back up and Ellering chops away in the corner, only to get taken down by the arm. Ellering has to block a Fujiwara armbar and powers out of another armbar. A spinning uppercut drops Hirsch but she gets on Ellering’s back for the third armbar in a row. Hirsch rolls her up for two, followed by a cross armbreaker for the win at 4:49.

Rating: C. Hirsch picks off another one and in theory that should impress Maria a bit more. I’m not sure what Maria is setting up but at least Hirsch is getting to do something that might matter in a bit. It’s not a great match or anything, but it might matter going forward and I’ll take that around here.

Dalton Castle vs. Peter Avalon

Avalon is rather impressed by Castle’s over the top entrance. Castle wrestles him down to start but Avalon grabs a headlock takeover. A t-bone suplex cuts Avalon down and the Bang A Rang finishes for Castle at 2:35.

Shane Taylor is tired of hearing about the old guard. Now it is his chance to fight one of them himself and he’s back to establishing his own legacy. Good promo.

Metalik vs. Tony Nese

Ari Daivari is here with Nese, who does his usual bit before Jerry Lynn cuts him off. He’s tired of hearing this too, so here is someone from Nese’s past. Commentary being surprised despite introducing the match is a bit odd but far from new around here. Metalik stars fast with his rope walk dropkick to knock Nese outside but Nese trips him down.

Back in and Metalik gets tied in the Tree of Woe for the rapid fire kicks to the chest before grabbing the bodyscissors. Metalik is sent to the apron where he avoids a charge and hits an Asai moonsault. Back in and Metalik hits a reverse Sling Blade into the rope walk dropkick for two. Nese sends him hard into the corner but walks into a superkick and the Metalik Driver for the pin at 7:09.

Rating: C+. Commentary mentioned that these two had wrestled 34 times before and if that is the case, I’m not sure it’s something you want to brag about. This was hardly a noteworthy main event, but they seem to think they have something with this YOU’RE ALL FAT thing. Nese is one of those people who is going to be here no matter what, and while that can get old, it doesn’t seem likely to change anytime soon.

Overall Rating: C-. Unless you will take any wrestling you can get, there is no point to watching this show. Between the match quality ranging from pretty good to incredibly dull, stories going either glacially slow or faster than anyone could need them to and the same wrestlers doing the same thing week after week, you could probably skip months of this show without missing anything.

At the end of the day, I just sat through almost two hours and fifteen minutes for a main event featuring a match that was played out when it was on 205 Live years ago. This show doesn’t build to anything most of the title, matches are just trotted out there for the sake of extending the show, and there is nothing to indicate that it is going to change because Tony Khan has decided that this show is A, good and B, necessary for some reason. Another complete waste of time, which might as well be ROH’s motto since its return.

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Ring Of Honor
Date: August 3, 2023
Location: XL Center, Hartford, Connecticut
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

We’re back after a not so great fallout show from Death Before Dishonor. The show featured a bunch of the same things that we have seen for months, plus the start of another TV Title #1 contenders tournament but minus the new Tag Team Champions. Maybe things can be better here so let’s get to it.

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

Quick rundown of the show.

TV Title #1 Contenders Tournament Semifinals: Christopher Daniels vs. Shane Taylor

Daniels can’t get a drop toehold to start but he can avoid a charge in the corner. The right hands don’t work for Daniels though as Taylor blasts him with a clothesline. Taylor runs him over with a shoulder and then hits a heck of a right hand. The chinlock goes on but Daniels is back up with a quick neckbreaker. The middle rope hurricanrana sends Taylor flying but he’s back with a release Rock Bottom and the slam for two. A middle rope crossbody of all things crushes Daniels again and the Marcus Garvey Driver finishes him off at 6:40.

Rating: C. Daniels couldn’t get much going here as Taylor was that much bigger. The good thing about someone like Taylor is that while he’s big, he can also move around enough to make himself more dangerous. I could go for a bit more of him, though seeing Daniels lose this decisively is a little weird.

The Iron Savages want the Tag Team Titles from Aussie Open.

Tag Team Titles: Aussie Open vs. Iron Savages

The Savages, with Jacked Jameson, are challenging. Fletcher and Bronson start things off and they do a shouting forearm exchange. A slam plants Bronson and it’s off to Davis, who gets the big power showdown with Boulder. An exchange of shoulders doesn’t go anywhere but Boulder’s second attempt manages to knock him down. Bronson is back in with a backsplash as everything breaks down.

The Aussies send them outside and score with dives for a bonus. A running kick into a backsplash gets two on Bronson, followed by a loud chop in the corner. Bronson manages a high crossbody of all things and Boulder gets to come in and clean house. The running powerslam gives Boulder two but Bronson has to break up a double something. There’s a double spinebuster for two on Davis so Boulder puts Bronson on his shoulders. All that does is set up an inadvertent Doomsday Device, followed by some kicks to the head for two. The Coriolis finishes Boulder at 10:28.

Rating: C+. I still like the Savages a good bit but this was more an instance of them being monsters to be slayed by the new champions. The Aussies are already being featured more than the Lucha Bros around here so maybe some things are getting better. This worked for a first title defense and as usual, the Aussies work so well together.

Post match the Aussies go to the back where they run into Tony Khan, who congratulates them. What kind of a nothing cameo was that?

Stokely Hathaway likes the feedback on the tournament so far and they might make another one. Dalton Castle comes in to say he should be in the tournament, with Hathaway hinting that he took Castle out. Cue Samoa Joe to say he’s tired of Castle and makes a tag match between himself/Hathaway and the Boys in two weeks. Hathaway’s reaction is as expected. I can go for Castle chasing Joe, as at least it’s a story.

Pure Rules Title: Josh Woods vs. Katsuyori Shibata

Shibata is defending and Woods has Mark Sterling with him. They go to the mat to start until Shibata takes the leg out. Shibata wrestles him down until cranking on the kneebar. They roll outside with the hold still on to keep up the damage. Back up and they fight around the outside with a lockup before having to come in to beat the count.

The fight over arm control is on back inside with Woods getting the better of it but making the mistake of trying the PK. Shibata fires up and hits a running corner dropkick into a butterfly suplex for two. The sleeper goes on and Woods has to use the first rope break. They forearm it out until stereo kicks put both of them down. Woods actually gets the better of things and kicks away, only to get sleepered into the PK to retain the title at 11:12.

Rating: B-. These matches are hit and miss most of the time but this was one of the better ones. The idea of this division being more about wrestling is fine, but the problem is there isn’t much difference between this and what you see in most matches. Shibata is rather nifty in the ring, though Woods hasn’t been that interesting in a long time. Good enough match, but Shibata’s title rarely feels like it is in jeopardy.

Respect is shown post match, with Sterling not being happy.

Dalton Castle vs. Zack Clayton

The Boys are here with Castle. Clayton starts fast and stomps him down in the corner, setting up some trash talk. Back up and Castle slugs away but the suplex is blocked. Castle isn’t having this and comes back with forearms to the face. The Bang A Rang finishes Clayton at 3:50.

Rating: C. It wasn’t quite a squash but at least they got to the point here and let Castle look good in his win. Castle seems ready to go after the TV Title (again) sooner than later so hopefully we are on the way to something bigger for him in the coming weeks. Castle has long since been in need of more exposure around here and it would be nice to have this be the start.

Respect is shown post match.

Josh Woods talks about his resume but he is tired of all the losing and something has to change.

The Infantry vs. Nick Comoroto/Jora Johl

Trish Adora is here with the Infantry. Bravo suplexes Johl to start and hammers away in the corner. A few hard shots stagger Bravo though and a suplex puts him down. Back up and Bravo ducks a superkick, which hits Comoroto by mistake. Dean comes in off the hot tag and it’s a Russian legsweep/big boot combination to finish Johl at 4:37.

Rating: C. Much like the Castle match, this wasn’t a squash but it was designed to make someone look good. That worked out well as the Infantry can certainly use a win, though it’s a bit difficult to imaging them rising up the card after being destroyed so often. For now though, a quick win is better than nothing.

Leyla Hirsch vs. Miranda Vionette

The volume gets a lot louder for Hirsch’s entrance for some reason. A gator roll has Miranda in trouble to start but she’s back up with a small package. Cue Maria Kanellis-Bennett to watch from the stage as Hirsch unloads with right hands. A running kick into the Saito suplex sends Miranda into the corner. Miranda’s one move comeback is countered into a cross armbreaker for the tap at 3:19.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t as entertaining or effective of a squash as the previous two matches, but the Maria stuff is a bit more interesting. Hirsch has felt like someone ready to move up and being aligned with Maria is one of the more intriguing options that she could have. Granted it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t go anywhere, but it’s better than nothing.

TV Title #1 Contenders Tournament Semifinals: Tony Nese vs. Gravity

Mark Sterling is with Nese. Gravity interrupts Nese’s group training deal and hits a gorilla press as commentary points out Gravity’s recent loss to Samoa Joe. A Sterling distraction lets Nese knock him outside, where Sterling gets in a cheap shot for a bonus. Gravity fights up, ignores a Sterling distraction, and hits a big dive to the floor to drop Nese. Back in and a splash gives Gravity two but Nese kicks him in the face. Gravity scores with a quick powerbomb though and the top rope splash finishes Nese at 5:34.

Rating: C+. Gravity overcome the odds here and put in a solid performance, though they’re going to have to come up with a pretty special idea to find a way to get me interested in Joe vs. Gravity II. Commentary even pointed it out so it wouldn’t surprise me to see it being some overcoming the odds/redemption story. Other than that, Nese is still an acceptable villain for Gravity to conquer.

Women’s Title: Athena vs. Diamante

Diamante is challenging after winning three matches in a row (simple and effective). Athena toys with her to start but gets kicked to the apron and baseball slidden to the floor. That’s fine with Athena, who whips her hard into the barricade to take over. Back in and Athena grabs a surfboard but misses a running boot to the head.

Athena doesn’t seem to mind as she hits a Side Effect onto the apron, followed by a spinning backbreaker for two. The O Face is blocked though and Diamante hits the Chaos Theory for two. Athena knocks her out of the air and grabs a crossface. Diamante slips out, only to get rolled up to retain Athena’s title at 9:19.

Rating: C+. This was another match where it wasn’t quite a squash but it was pretty one sided for a long stretch. Athena is still by far the most dominant champion the women’s division has ever seen but I’m really wondering who is supposed to come after her. Barring someone coming over from AEW (which is likely), she has completely cleaned out the division and there isn’t much of anyone left to come after her.

Post match Athena actually shows some respect.

The Boys vs. Gates Of Agony

Prince Nana is here with the Gates. The fans are rather behind the Boys, even as Kaun stomps Brent down in the corner. Kaun pulls him out of the air and sends him flying so Toa can come in for a splash in the corner. Nana gets in some cheap shots and Kaun adds a backsplash but Brent manages to enziguri his way to freedom. Everything breaks down and Toa hits a Samoan drop, followed by Open The Gates to finish Brandon at 4:17.

Rating: C. I’ve long since lost interest in Dalton Castle/The Boys vs. the Embassy as they are two of the only longstanding six man teams around here. They did a nice job with the layout of the match though as there is little reason to believe that the Boys can have a chance against these two monsters. And hey the Gates are actually winning some regular tag matches!

Diamante isn’t sure what Athena was doing but Athena comes in to say she saw her younger self in Diamante out there. So figure out what’s missing and stay away from her.

Cole Karter vs. LSG

Karter dropkicks him at the bell but LSG is back up with a waistlock. That earns him a throat first shot into the rope and Karter hits another dropkick. A snap suplex drops LSG again as Maria Kanellis-Bennett is here again. LSG makes the comeback but gets kneed out of the air. A Razor’s Edge spun into a DDT finishes LSG at 2:58. Thank goodness we got a Cole Karter feature match.

The Dark Order thanks Stu Bennett after their Death Before Dishonor match.

Robyn Renegade vs. Christina Marie

Charlotte is here with Robyn. Marie actually takes over with a slam for two to start but stops to chase Charlotte, allowing Robyn to get in a cheap shot. Robyn’s basement dropkick gets two so she yells at Marie a lot. One heck of a clothesline gets two on Marie, who is back up with a clothesline of her own. Robyn doesn’t seem to mind as she grabs an abdominal stretch and pulls her down into something like a Koji Clutch for the tap at 3:57.

Rating: C. I still like the Renegades and they can do well on their own, but this is another example of a match that could have been cut to let the show breathe a bit. As usual, there is too much being crammed into this show and while the Renegades are interesting prospects, they could have done this elsewhere. Or maybe against a team, if ROH can scrape one together.

Workhorsemen vs. Komander/El Hijo del Vikingo

Oh you thought you were getting a week without the Workhorsemen didn’t you? Henry grabs Komander’s arm to start but can’t get very far with it. Instead Komander is back up with a dropkick before Drake comes in to shrug off some forearms. Vikingo comes in with a springboard missile dropkick and a frog splash (with Eddie dance) gets two on Drake. A crazy headscissors takes Drake down but since it’s just a headscissors, he’s right back up with the chops.

We settle down to a Russian legsweep/big boot combination getting two on Vikingo but he’s back up with a kick to the head. Komander gets cut off before the tag though and Henry hits a Shining Wizard for two. Vikingo is fine enough to hit a Code Red and now Komander comes back in to pick up the pace. House is cleaned and it’s quickly back to Vikingo, who is pulled out of the air for a swinging butterfly suplex. Vikingo’s step up dropkick connects and the stereo rope walk moonsaults take the Workhorsemen down. Stereo 450 splashes finish Drake at 8:09.

Rating: B-. Good match with the luchadors doing their crazy high flying, but Caprice Coleman summed up the issue. Coleman said he had never seen this before, which made me think “I have, because I saw it on Dynamite”. It’s exciting, but it might be more exciting if it wasn’t something that had happened the day before. I’m not sure why they needed to be on this show to get their win back, but that has long since been a Tony Khan thing.

Overall Rating: C+. This show was better than last week, but it’s still full of the same problems it has always had. I do like the Maria scouting stuff and Athena encouraging Diamante, but those things are in the middle of so many matches that don’t feel like they’re going anywhere. As usual the match quality isn’t the problem, but rather how much of it there is and how long it goes.

Results
Shane Taylor b. Christopher Daniels – Marcus Garvey Driver
Aussie Open b. Iron Savages – Coriolis to Boulder
Katsuyori Shibata b. Josh Woods – Penalty Kick
Dalton Castle b. Zack Clayton – Bang A Rang
The Infantry b. Nick Comoroto/Jora Johl – Russian legsweep/big boot combination to Johl
Leylah Hirsch b. Miranda Vionette – Cross armbreaker
Gravity b. Tony Nese – Top rope splash
Athena b. Diamante – Rollup
Gates Of Agony b. The Boys – Open The Gates to Brandon
Robyn Renegade b. Christina Marie – Abdominal stretch neck crank
Komander/El Hijo del Vikingo b. Workhorsemen – Double 450 to Drake

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Ring Of Honor
Date: July 27, 2023
Location: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

We’re done with a high quality but mostly skippable pay per view with Death Before Dishonor. The biggest change from the show saw Aussie Open becoming the new Tag Team Champions while everyone else retained. That should lead to something interesting, though there is no word on when the next major show is going to be. Let’s get to it.

Here is Death Before Dishonor if you need a recap.

The show is back up to just shy of two hours, the longest in about a month. I’m sure what’s what was missing from the build towards Death Before Dishonor.

Josh Woods vs. Eli Isom

Pure Rules, with Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata as a guest judge (alone with Jerry Lynn and Jimmy Jacobs). Mark Sterling is here with Woods (along with the rest of the Varsity Athletes), who would rather wrestle in front of real New Yorkers rather than fake ones in Newark. Woods wrestles him into the ropes to start and that’s Isom’s first break. Back up and Isom takes him down into an armbar, only to get kicked hard out of the corner.

Another running shot to the face rocks Isom and Woods sends him shoulder first into the buckle. Isom intentionally uses a rope to escape the beating before using some forearms to stagger Woods. A swinging belly to back suplex gives Isom two but Woods armbars him over to the ropes for the final rope. Woods grabs a sleeper into a PK into the Gorilla lock for the tap at 7:55.

Rating: C. This was more or less a pure rules squash as Woods would seem to be the next challenger for Shibata. That doesn’t make for the most interesting match but that is the case with a lot of the Pure Rules matches. They work well from a technical standpoint, but seeing a lot of the same people having not the most thrilling matches in the world doesn’t do a lot o good.

Post match Sterling challenges Shibata for a title match against Woods.

Trish Adora is ready to get back on track.

Trish Adora vs. Vita Vonstarr

Vita shoves her away to start so Adora grabs a headlock. The Air Raid Crash is loaded up but Adora switches into the kneeling stretch instead (that needs a name). Back up and Vita grabs a Black Widow but Adora isn’t having any of that and runs her over with ax handles for two. Vita’s Michinoku driver gets two, only to have Adora come back with the Lariat Tubman for the pin at 4:20.

Rating: C. Vonstarr got in some offense here, which isn’t a surprise as she used to be a regular for Ring Of Honor before everything changed. Adora gets some momentum back and still seems like someone who could be put into a heck of a title feud if given the chance. Granted it might be a bit with Leyla Hirsch back, but at least Adora didn’t lose again here.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Mogul Embassy vs. Iron Savages/Jacked Jameson

The Embassy, with Prince Nana, is defending. Commentary points out that Cage has been on 17/22 episodes of ROH thus far, because I guess we just haven’t gotten the point already. Jameson and Boulder take turns being thrown at Cage in the corner but Jameson gets taken into the champs’ corner to start the chops. A fireman’s carry is escaped though and it’s Bronson coming in to clean house.

Kaun wastes no time in cutting him off though and it’s Loa coming in to elbow Braun in the face. A superplex drops Bronson for two but he’s back up with a shot to the face, allowing the tag off to Boulder. Everything breaks down and Boulder powerslams Kaun for two but Toa is back in to wreck things. Bronson chokebombs Cage for two but he’s back up to suplex Jameson. Kaun hits a Pedigree of all things to pin Jameson at 10:10.

Rating: B-. The match was the kind of mostly wild power brawl that made for an entertaining ten minutes. At the same time though, the fact that Cage has been around that often doesn’t exactly keep him feeling interesting. It feels like these titles are being defended almost every week against one thrown together team after another. It’s not like the matches are exactly great, so why put them on over and over?

Leyla Hirsch vs. B3cca

Hirsch runs her over without much trouble to start and then chokes with the boot in the corner. A gutwrench suplex sets up a waistlock on B3cca but she’s back up with a shotgun dropkick. B3cca’s running knee in the corner sets up a missed middle rope dropkick, allowing Leyla to hit a running knee for the pin at 3:37.

Rating: C. This was a rather Ring Of Honor match with Leyla mostly dominating and shrugging off almost whatever B3cca throws at her. Leyla continues to feel like one of the stars ready to break through to the other side but, much like Adora, you have to let her move up a bit. Leyla has been back in the ring for a few weeks now and her feet should be adequately watered. Let her do something other than squash people already.

Athena wants someone to step up already because she’s tired of beating “local jobbers”.

Renegades vs. Tiara James/JC

JC slugs away at Charlotte to start but makes sure to knock Robyn off the apron. Robyn is right back up for a double suplex and the double stomping is on in the corner. That’s broken up and the tag brings in James to clean house, including a bulldog to Charlotte. That doesn’t last long though and it’s a Sling Blade Hart Attack to finish James at 3:57.

Rating: C. I still like the Renegades but like many women’s tag teams, there isn’t much for them to do right now. There is no women’s tag division and while one of them can be fine on their own, it’s a little weird to see one without the other in the ring. Find something for them to do and let the talent play out, but that might be a little trickier than expected.

Athena vs. Christina Marie

Non-title Proving Ground match, meaning that if Marie either wins or survives the ten minute time limit, she gets a future title shot. Marie kicks her in the back to start and adds a Hennig necksnap for one. Athena gets up and blasts Marie with a forearm before hammering away on the mat.

As we hear about Tony Khan only giving title shots to people in the top five or top ten (like Aussie Open and the Best Friends, who hadn’t wrestled here in three months before getting a title shot last week), Athena knocks her outside and then chokes on the ropes. A bunch of forearms to the back set up a kick to the head, followed by the big right hand to finish Marie at 3:21.

Rating: C. Remember how Cage has been around for all but five Ring Of Honors? I’d be surprised if Athena didn’t have him beat. It’s getting really hard to get invested in Athena slaughtering someone else, especially after she beat her best challenger last week. It’s a good example of how leaving her off a show or two would help a lot, but for some reason she, and several others, are on almost every show. Marie’s minute or so looked good but what is she supposed to get out of that?

Post match Athena gives her the usual post match beatdown.

The Kingdom vs. Rhett Titus/Tracy Williams

Maria is here with the Kingdom. Bennett and Williams chop it out to start and it’s quickly off to Taven for a change. A quick middle rope dropkick takes Williams down but Titus comes in to pick up the pace. Titus gets caught in a backbreaker/middle rope elbow combination but he gets the knees up to block a Lionsault.

Williams comes back in and hits a reverse Death Valley Driver to slam Taven’s knees into the mat (that’s a new one). Bennett and Williams grab stereo holds and sit down on them, setting up the slap off. With those broken up, Titus comes in to knock Taven silly but picks him up instead of covering. The delay lets Taven hit Just The Tip, setting up the Proton Pack to finish for the Kingdom at 7:34.

Rating: B-. Another good match here as the Kingdom continues their roll, but why should I believe that this means anything? When you can get a title match at random, these matches lose the interest that they have. I still like the Kingdom a good bit, but for some reason they’re stuck either here or on Rampage while the tag division in both companies isn’t exactly deep.

Stokely Hathaway and Samoa Joe announced a new #1 contenders tournament for the TV Title. Like the one that ended last week?

#1 Contenders Tournament First Round: Christopher Daniels vs. JD Drake

Daniels flips him over into an armbar to start before hitting a dropkick to put Drake down. Back up and Drake hits a clothesline, setting up the chinlock with a knee in the back to keep Daniels in trouble. A swinging Boss Man Slam gives Drake two before it’s time for a chop off. Daniels kicks the knee out and hits a clothesline to the back of the head, setting up a top rope Downward Spiral for two. Drake crushes him with a cannonball in the corner for two of his own The moonsault misses though and the Best Moonsault Ever finishes for Daniels at 6:06.

Rating: C+. This was about what you would have expected from a match between these two and that means it was decent enough. What mattered here was having Daniels get a win after fighting from underneath a bit, which he can still do rather well. Him winning the whole thing isn’t out of the question and it wouldn’t surprise me at this point.

Big Bill/Lee Moriarty vs. Gabriel Hodder/Adrien Soriano

Moriarty takes over on Soriano to start but gets hit in the face for his efforts. Hodder comes in and is dropped just as quickly so it’s off to Bill for a double clothesline. The chokeslam finishes Hodder at 3:09.

Rating: C-. I’m not sure what the deal is going to be for Big Bill, as he is suddenly in two teams, both of whom are treated as a threat to win something. At the moment though, the team with Brian Cage seems to be a bigger deal and that is likely a better place for him to go. The Moriarty team is fine, but there is something about a big power team that works rather well.

#1 Contenders Tournament First Round: Tony Nese vs. Cheeseburger

Before the match, Nese does the same “you people are fat so we’re going to do group training” speech he has been doing for the last few weeks. Nese whips him into the corner to start but Cheeseburger slides away and climbs on top of him for an arm crank. With that broken up, Cheeseburger is tied in the Tree of Woe for some rapid fire kicks to the ribs. Cheeseburger knees his way out of a suplex and grabs one of his own, setting up a bulldog. The Shotei palm strike gets two on Nese, followed by a DDT for two. Mark Sterling offers a distraction though and Nese grabs a pumphandle driver for the pin at 5:53.

Rating: C. Nese will be fine as a second round villain to be vanquished and that should be enough for him in the whole thing. The health nut/mocking others’ looks is a classic way to draw heat, but Nese needs something else to back it up in the ring. For now though, a win over Cheeseburger is a good way to go for him and should set him up for a better second round match.

#1 Contenders Tournament First Round: Anthony Henry vs. Gravity

Gravity takes him down to start and then does the rapid fire nipups to escape a wristlock. Henry is back up with some forearms only to be sent outside for the big dive over the top. Back in and Henry hits a Death Valley Driver, setting up some shots to the back to keep Gravity down.

Gravity is back up with a dropkick before pulling him into kind of a reverse Koji Clutch. That’s broken up and Henry hits a PK for two, followed by a Razor’s Edge spun into a DDT for the same. Gravity shrugs it off and hits a powerslam into a top rope splash for the pin at 8:00.

Rating: C+. Gravity seems to be Tony Khan’s Flavor of the Week now as he is around on quite a few shows as of late. He’s talented enough and it’s nice to see him getting a win here and there, though I could also see him pulling a miracle run here and winning the tournament. This wasn’t exactly a classic, but as a way to give Gravity a win, it worked well enough.

#1 Contenders Tournament First Round: Shane Taylor vs. Serpentico

Serpentico strikes away to start until a forearm knocks him silly. There’s a big toss to send Serpentico flying and then Taylor does it again. A big clothesline gives Taylor two but Serpentico flips him off. Taylor gets staggered by a kick but a release Rock Bottom puts Serpentico down again. The big splash finishes for Taylor at 4:21.

Rating: C-. Another match without any serious doubt for the winner and that isn’t exactly something that gets my interest up this late into a very, very long show. There was nothing to make me believe that Serpentico was going to win here and it felt like waiting around until Taylor beat on him enough before getting the win.

Trustbusters vs. Dalton Castle/The Boys

Ari Daivari is here with the Trustbusters. A double hiptoss takes Kay down to start so Kiss comes in to choke away in the corner. It’s off to Castle to take Kiss in the corner, where castle gets slapped in the face. They both miss clotheslines until Brent comes in and backflips out of a pair of belly to back suplexes, allowing the hot tag back to Castle. The Boys are thrown outside and onto the Trustbusters (that’s always a cool spot) and the Bang A Rang finishes Kay at 5:19.

Rating: C. I could watch Dalton Castle all day and he looked good here, but I’m not exactly going to get invested in the idea of Castle and the Boys going after the Six Man Tag Team Titles again. I can get the idea of sending the fans home happy with these guys though, as they are about as entertaining of a team as you’re going to get.

Overall Rating: D. Before I’m told that “a bunch of B’s and C’s doesn’t make a D”, that’s not the point of this show. The problem here is that this was not an entertaining wrestling show. It was a bunch of stuff that you get almost every week with the first round of a not exactly interesting tournament added in. Commentary even flat out said something to the effect of “yeah Brian Cage is here A LOT”. See also Athena, Tony Nese, the Workhorsemen and more.

This show was long, not interesting, and felt like it could have come from any point in Ring Of Honor’s history with almost no changes. There were probably three shows crammed into one here for no reason, as the pay per view card shows how little this show means for important shows down the road.

Ring Of Honor’s wrestling is usually pretty solid to good, but the structure, the presentation and everything else is about as bad and boring as you can get in wrestling. I could not stand this show and if not for some talented people on the card, it would have been one of the worst shows that I have seen in a long, long time. Dreadful stuff this week.

Results
Josh Woods b. Eli Isom – Gorilla lock
Trish Adora b. Vita Vonstarr – Lariat Tubman
Mogul Embassy b. Iron Savages/Jacked Jameson – Pedigree to James
Leyla Hirsch b. B3cca – Running knee
Renegades b. Tiana James/JC – Sling Blade hart Attack to James
Athena b. Christina Marie – Right hand
The Kingdom b. Rhett Titus/Tracy Williams – Proton Pack to Titus
Christopher Daniels b. JD Drake – Best Moonsault Ever
Big Bill/Lee Moriarty b. Gabriel Hodder/Adrien Soriano
Tony Nese b. Cheeseburger – Pumphandle driver
Gravity b. Anthony Henry – Top rope splash
Shane Taylor b. Serpentico – Big splash
Dalton Castle/The Boys b. Trustbusters – Bang A Rang to Kay

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

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AND

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Ring Of Honor
Date: July 20, 2023
Location: Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

It’s the go home show for Death Before Dishonor and we have a handful of matches. The World Title match was announced earlier today, as Pac will be getting the shot against Claudio Castagnoli. Other than that, we need a #1 contender to the TV Title, so tonight it’s Shane Taylor vs. Dalton Castle for the shot. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a video on Daniel Garcia challenging Katsuyori Shibata for the Pure Rules Title at Death Before Dishonor. This gets the talking heads treatment.

Opening sequence.

Daniel Garcia vs. Jason Geiger

Pure Rules and they grapple against the ropes to start until Garcia pats him on the head. Garcia takes him down and dances, only to have Geiger do exactly the same. Geiger cranks on the arm and Garcia actually uses his first rope break. More arm cranking ensues but Garcia drops him again. This time Geiger muscles him up with a suplex and a butterfly variation gets two. Back up and Garcia drops him again, setting up the Boston crab (in a nod to Shibata). With that not working, the Dragontamer finishes Geiger at 7:08.

Rating: C+. Garcia gave him a lot here and that’s a bit weird to see the night before Garcia gets a title shot under these same special rules. That being said, Garcia did win in the end and that is what matters more than anything else as the momentum is there going into tomorrow. That also being said, this is probably the weakest title feud going in ROH today as it’s just not that interesting and there isn’t much of a way to hide it. I’m sure the match will be good, but it’s not exactly drawing me in.

Post match, Katsuyori Shibata comes out for the staredown.

Trish Adora vs. Utami Hayashishita

The Infantry is here with Adora, who grabs a headlock takeover to start. Adora cranks on the arm and rolls her over for two before loading up an Air Raid Crash. Instead of crashing though, Adora kneels down and cranks on various things at once. Utami escapes but can’t slam the bigger Adora, who comes back with some forearms to the ribs.

A kick to the arm slows Utami again but she counters the Lariat Tubman into a German suplex for two. Utami’s Air Raid Crash is broken up and Adora kicks her in the face, setting up a backsplash for another near fall. Back up and Utami grabs a torture rack spun into a powerbomb for two, followed by James Storm’s Eye of the Storm for the pin at 9:19.

Rating: B-. Commentary was hyping up Utami as a big deal from Stardom so there is definitely something to her. At the same time, Adora isn’t really doing anything at the moment so the loss only does so much damage. They were beating each other up rather well too so this was a pretty nice one off match.

TV Title #1 Contenders Tournament Finals: Dalton Castle vs. Shane Taylor

For the shot at Samoa Joe at Death Before Dishonor and I would have bet on this being the main event. The Boys clear out but Taylor scares Castle outside to start. Taylor powers him into the corner back inside but Castle slips away and grabs a DDT. You don’t do that to Taylor, who knocks him down and hits a Tower Of London on the floor.

A side slam gets two back inside and Taylor starts in on the always damaged back. Castle fights up and manages a low bridge to the floor, setting up the hurricanrana. Back in and Taylor goes simple by punching him in the ribs, only to have Castle snap off a suplex. The Julie Newmar bulldog gets two and one heck of a Bang A Rang (he spun Taylor around a few times sends Castle to Death Before Dishonor at 8:32.

Rating: B-. I’m tempted to go higher than that just because of how impressive that ending really was. Castle going forward was the only option as he is a far more interesting challenger than Taylor. While I can’t really picture a title change, I’ll take almost anything that has Castle on screen more often, as he really does have the charisma to make it work every time. Good match here, and dang that ending worked.

Josh Woods vs. James Stone

Pure Rules again and Woods has Mark Sterling and the Varsity Athletes with him. Woods starts fast and takes him into the ropes for the first break. Stone gets rocked again and has to use a second break, only to have Woods grab an anarchist suplex for the pin at 2:38. Total squash and I’m not sure why this needed to be Pure Rules, but it was so quick that it doesn’t really matter.

Tony Khan announces that Willow Nightingale is getting a Ring Of Honor Women’s Title shot against Athena at Death Before Dishonor. Willow is ready for the title match and she is ready to bring her big smile, big hair and a big fight.

Athena yells at Jerry Lynn and Stokely Hathaway about how she isn’t going to have this match. Tony Khan comes in to say oh yes you are. This segment served to remind you that Lynn and Hathaway are still in fact people on this show.

Athena vs. Nikita

Non-title Proving Ground match, meaning that if Nikita wins or survives the ten minute time limit, she gets a future title shot. Athena is in street clothes here and shakes her head in the corner to start. For some reason Nikita comes in and shoves her in the face. A right hand, the only move of the match, finishes Nikita at 56 seconds.

Post match the destruction is on but Willow Nightingale makes the save.

The Righteous vs. The Boys

Stu Grayson is here with the Righteous. Vincent runs Brandon over to start and sends him chest first into the corner. Dutch comes in and a basement Downward Spiral gets two. Brandon rolls under a clothesline though and dives over for the tag to Brent. Some dropkicks stagger Dutch but he runs Brent over with a clothesline. Vincent grabs Autumn Sunshine for the pin at 2:14.

Nicole Matthews vs. Leyla Hirsch

Hirsch headscissors her down for some posing to start before they fight over wristlocks. Matthews knocks her into the corner and hits a neckbreaker, followed by some forearms to the face. Hirsch isn’t having that and nails a running knee for the pin at 4:04.

Rating: C. They didn’t waste time here and Hirsch gets a fine win. She very well could be the next major challenger for the title, though the idea of her facing Willow Nightingale is a little strange. Matthews is a weird case as she was in that group of independent women who were stars in their time but were kind of forgotten after the Women’s Revolution. That’s a shame as she was quite good, but she feels like a blast from the past here.

Here’s what’s coming on Zero Hour, because the Death Before Dishonor card can’t be announced until days before the show but Zero Hour can be thrown together all at once.

Death Before Dishonor rundown.

Video on the Tag Team Title match, which has two teams who have not won a match in Ring Of Honor in over three months.

Video on Pac vs. Claudio Castagnoli, which was set up the night before this show (fair enough due to the Mark Briscoe injury).

Kingdom vs. Bollywood Boyz vs. Workhorsemen vs. Darius Martin/Action Andretti

Drake and Bennett knock some of the others off the apron before firing off the chops. Martin pulls Bennett off the apron to take over though and more people are knocked off the apron to clear things out again. We settle down to Martin getting double teamed until Bennett hits a dropkick for two.

Drake breaks up a cover off Just The Tip, allowing Martin to come back with a double DDT. The Workhorsemen and the Kingdom get in a fight on the floor so Andretti hits a big flipping dive. Back in and a top rope Hart Attack (elbow instead of clothesline) gets two on Bennett as the Boyz get to take over for a change. A Demolition Decapitator gets the same and it’s time for the parade of kicks to the face. The Proton Pack lets Bennett pin Harv at 6:23.

Rating: C+. It was fun while it lasted, but the Tag Team Title match at the pay per view is such a mess. Why not have Andretti and Martin, who have actually been around, in there instead? At least the Kingdom won here, furthering the idea that they should be in a regular title match instead of this four way stuff. This was the usual insane mess, with four teams being spread out over six minutes, so how is anyone supposed to stand out?

Overall Rating: C+. The shorter shows continue as this clocked in at about an hour and twenty minutes. That’s the third straight week within that range so maybe they have figured out the proper timing. Other than that though, there was enough on here that worked, but Death Before Dishonor is feeling as slapped together as any show could possibly be and that’s not good. I would say maybe they can get better organized after this, but that doesn’t seem likely. Decent show this week, though not exactly must see.

Results
Daniel Garcia b. Jason Geiger – Dragontamer
Utami Hayashishita b. Trish Adora – Eye of the Storm
Dalton Castle b. Shane Taylor – Bang A Rang
Josh Woods b. James Stone – Anarchist suplex
Athena b. Nikita – Right hand
The Righteous b. The Boys – Autumn Sunshine to Brent
Leyla Hirsch b. Nicole Matthews – Running knee
The Kingdom b. Workhorsemen, Action Andretti/Darius Martin and the Bollywood Boyz – Proton Pack to Harv

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.