After the opening sequence, Ian and Caprice welcome us to the show and run down the card. Lots of tag matches, as tomorrow is Death Before Dishonor! And being in Texas, The Von Erichs are in the house!
After the card rundown, we go back to last Saturday at Collision, as Mark Briscoe and Kyle O’Reilly save Tomohiro Ishii from a beat-down by The Kingdom. Then Mark goes into Blood and Guts. Backstage after the match, Mike Bennett tries to talk to Mark about providing for his family, but it was all a ruse as Taven attacks, and Roderick comes on the scene, to tell Mark that he may be the champion for now, but he will never be Mr. ROH.
Now backstage, Lexy is with the Undisputed Kingdom, who are convinced that because they haven’t heard back from Tony Khan, it means they have the day off. In the process, Taven also calls Lexy “Renee.” Tremendous. Paul Wight comes onto the scene, announces that he is now on the ROH board of directors, and says that The Undisputed Kingdom will defend against Kyle O’Reilly and Tomohiro Ishii at Death Before Dishonor. Taven laments that Ishii has no neck and therefore is not neck strong, while Bennett wonders how he’ll be able to piledrive him.
MATCH 1 – Lee Moriarty & Anthony Ogogo vs. Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta
During the opening feel out session between Yuta and Moriarty, Ian reiterates what we’ve just seen with Paul Wight is now on the Board of Directors, and…nope. Still doesn’t make any sense to me. Moving on. Claudio eventually tags in at Ogogo’s insistence. Claudio has been on ROH TV one time since Final Battle–on the January 18, 2024 episode. This was a pretty by the numbers preview tag, setting up Yuta vs. Moriarty for tomorrow night, which should be good, and hopefully gets us a new Pure Champion.
Blackpool Combat Club def. Shane Taylor Promotions (Claudio pins Ogogo) following a Giant Swing and lariat in 11:24.
Post match, Yuta and Moriarty are in each other’s face, and Taylor sucker punches Yuta, before STP walks off.
Taped before Blood and Guts, Lexy Nair brings out Queen Aminata and Red Velvet for their promised interview time. Lexy asks leading, biased questions, and as soon as Aminata takes the microphone to point out “the bitch got what she deserved,” Athena emerges. With crutches and (non-MIT) security, whom she rides piggyback style to the ring. Says Lexy tried her best, but these two are just too uncultured to do an interview segment. Athena says tomorrow night they’re not ready for this. Aminata and Velvet go to attack, but Billie Starkz (with new blue hair!) attacks. Then Lexy takes off Athena’s walking boot and IT’S A MIRACLE, SHE CAN WALK! The boot is used as a weapon to lay out both challengers, and the champs leave standing tall.
MATCH 2 – Spanish Announce Project vs. Gates of Agony
This is actually the first time Gates of Agony have appeared in a straight tag match (read: not as a trios) since Ep. 43 (December 2023). It’s only their fourth appearance total on Honor Club since Final Battle. Solid speed vs. power match, with both Angelico and Serpentico taking an absolute beating whenever they’re legal. Serpentico gets a hot tag and holds his own for a bit, but the power is too much and he falls to Open the Gates.
Gates of Agony def. Spanish Announce Project (Kaun pins Serpentico) following Open the Gates in 7:02.
MATCH 3 – Jon Cruz vs. E.J. Nduka
Nduka has what appears to be meteors on his trunks, which is apropos, since this is likely an extinction level event for Cruz. And yeah, this is just…an evisceration. Nduka picks up the win with a back suplex into a powerbomb.
EJ Nduka def. Serpentico via pinfall after a back suplex into a powerbomb in 2:57.
MXM Collective says the time has come, and tomorrow at Death Before Dishonor, the MXM Collection make their grand entre. Dinner is served.
MATCH 4 – Johnny TV & Shane Taylor vs. Atlantis Jr. & Lio Rush
All four of these men are in the Survival of the Fittest match tomorrow night for Atlantis Jr.’s ROH World TV Title, along with Lee Johnson and Brian Cage. Johnny TV instantly bails outside to make out with Taya. Lio Rush takes out Johnny with a low dive, and while he’s celebrating, Shane Taylor runs through him. Lio Rush is very much playing the face in peril, and the dynamic just changes so much when Taylor is in. He has that Samoa Joe/Takeshi Morishima monster vibe and I would love to see them lean into it more. Johnny TV pops me when as Taylor is talking to Rush in the corner, Johnny walks over to yell “That’s my partner!” Taylor gets a big right hand and the Marcus Garvey Driver to score the pin on the champ for the win and some momentum heading into tomorrow night.
Johnny TV and Shane Taylor def. Atlantis Jr. and Lio Rush (Taylor pins Atlantis) following the Marcus Garvey Driver in 9:53.
MATCH 5 – Abadon vs. Dulce Tormenta
Abadon was last seen on Honor Club about a month and a half ago–episode 68, June 13. This is Dulce’s ROH debut. She’s worked a few shows for GCW recently in the Texas area. Either way, this doesn’t last long.
Abadon pins Dulce Tormenta after Black Dahlia in 1:57.
MATCH 6 – Iron Savages, Jacked Jameson, Anthony Henry and Nick Comoroto vs. Top Flight, Action Andretti, Fuego del Sol, and Komander
Ian gets on my good side immediately by wondering where Jacoby Watts is. Comoroto’s last televised match was a sub-90 second loss to Daniel Garcia on Dynamite on June 12. Big pop for Fuego del Sol’s return. It’s been a year and a half since he was last seen on AEW TV. It’s a ten man tag to get a lot of folks on TV, not much of a throughline. Some fun bits, as Bronson fakes a standing moonsault only to hit Fuego with a vertical splash. Action Andretti keeps Komander from going to Titty City, leading to stereo dives from the babyface team. Fuego hits his tornado DDT on Comoroto, then Andretti’s running shooting star, and finally, Dante hits his crossover frog splash for the win.
Top Flight, Action Andretti, Fuego del Sol and Komander def. Iron Savages, Jacked Jameson, Anthony Henry, and Nick Comoroto (Dante pins Comoroto) after a crossover frog splash in 9:24.
We head to the back where the challengers for the women’s titles, Queen Aminata and Red Velvet promise revenge tomorrow night.
Ian and Caprice run down the card for tomorrow night.
**Athena(c) vs. Queen Aminata – ROH Women’s World Title
**Billie Starkz(c) vs. Red Velvet – ROH Women’s World TV Title
**The Undisputed Kingdom(c) vs. Kyle O’Reilly/Tomohiro Ishii – ROH World Tag Team Title
**Wheeler Yuta(c) vs. Lee Moriarty – ROH Pure Title
**Diamante vs. Leyla Hirsch – Texas Death Match
**Atlantis Jr.(c) vs. Lee Johnson vs. Lio Rush vs. Shane Taylor vs. Johnny TV vs. Brian Cage – Survival of the Fittest for the ROH World TV Title
**Komander vs. The Beast Mortos
**Dark Order vs. Dustin Rhodes/The Von Erichs – ROH World Six Man Title Eliminator (winners face Roderick Strong/Mike Bennett/Matt Taven to crown new ROH Six Man Champions)
**Mark Briscoe(c) vs. Roderick Strong – ROH World Title
There’s also talk that MXM will wrestle on the Zero Hour, but no opponent as of yet.
MATCH 7 – Dark Order (Alex Reynolds and John Silver) vs. The Von Erichs
Well, the Von Erichs aren’t coming out to “Stranglehold,” as I imagine that would get expensive pretty quick. I still don’t know if the Dark Order are supposed to be heels or not, but putting them against the Von Erichs in Texas does kind of give a hint. Marshall busts out the Iron Claw on Evil Uno to a nice pop. But the distraction works, for a moment. Reynolds gets cocky and talks smack to Kevin Von Erich, and turns around into a Marshall lariat for the win.
The Von Erichs def. Dark Order (Marshall pins Reynolds) with a lariat in 7:52.
Post match, the Dark Order goes to beat down the Von Erichs but Dustin Rhodes makes the save. Dark Order escapes, save for Reynolds, and as he stands three-on-one, Kevin Von Erich gets in the ring to deliver the Iron Claw to Reynolds to a big pop. The Von Erichs and Dustin Rhodes celebrate as Ian wishes us HAPPY WRESTLING, EVERYBODY.
THE NUMBERS
Total Episode Time: 1:35:09
In-Ring Time: 48:32 (51%)
Avg. Match Time: 6:56
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