Last Week: In an episode featuring nineteen matches, Claudio Castagnoli and Athena won their respective Proving Ground matches before Television champions Samoa Joe and Zack Sabre Jr. overcame Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal.
ROH on HonorClub Episode 14
Las Vegas, NV
June 1, 2023
The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) w/ Maria Kanellis-Bennett vs. The Infantry (Sean Dean & Carlie Bravo)
Just as commentator Ian Riccaboni questioned if The Kingdom had turned over a new leaf, they attempted to use the Code of Honor as a way to land dishonorable kicks. The Infantry caught the incoming legs, making a wish before isolating Matt Taven. Finding himself on the wrong part of town after an errant Irish whip in the wrong direction considering The Infantry’s strategy of cutting off the ring, Carlie Bravo failed to fight off both men from the apron, taking Taven’s Kick of the King before Bennett almost knocked him out with the Boston Bayonet on the floor. Bravo recovered after taking a big chop from Bennett, only to get his momentum stopped by a hotshot. Big suplex from Bennett set up Taven’s frog splash that ended with Taven getting a two count thanks to the intervening Sean Dean. Bravo still had his wits about him, avoiding Taven’s Just the Tip knee, using a failed cradle to tag out to a fired-up Dean.
Sadly for Dean, after he downed both opponents, his attempt to get a running attack in was hindered by Maria tripping him. The referee never saw the interference, but did see The Kingdom hit Dean with the Proton Pack after Taven’s roundhouse kick almost took Sean’s head off. Taven made the cover after the Proton Pack to pick up a pin fall for his team.
Winners: The Kingdom
Match Review: As expected considering the talents, a really good opener with the right team winning as it seems they are building up The Kingdom for, potentially, a Tag Team title match. Hopefully we’ll actually see The Lucha Bros. defend the gold on ROH programming if that match happens considering they still haven’t done so in ROH since winning the title.
Skye Blue vs. Trish Adora
Slipping behind each other in an attempt to get an early advantage saw Skye Blue going after her opponent’s head while Trish Adora wanted to control Blue’s arms. Adora’s plan won out as she yanked Blue in position for a big kick while she was in a seated position. Recovering fast, Blue got to kicking from low to high until Trish was stuck in the corner. Avoiding whatever Blue had in mind, Trish hung her opposition in the ropes for a backbreaker. Blue found herself upside down in position for the air raid crash into the stretch muffler. Losing her balance, Adora found herself getting forearmed in position for a head scissors. Once again, Blue’s kicks were rocking Trish; leaving Adora open for a springboard attack. Catching and reversing whatever Skye had in mind, Adora pulled off a deep, bridging German suplex. Reversing another suplex, Blue landed a super kick to set up a wheelbarrow Code Red … to earn a near fall!
A desperate Adora rushed forward when she got up, throwing Lariat Tubman. Ducking the devastating Lariat, Blue executed Skye Fall to pin her opponent.
Winners: Skye Blue
Match Review: A very, though woefully short encounter. Skye Blue is growing into one of the top players in ROH’s Women’s Division and is getting better as a performer as the weeks progress. Trish seemed poised to be one of the breakout stars of the division, but, unfortunately, that momentum has shifted as of late. Hopefully that changes soon because Adora is fantastic and would easily give Athena one of her better title defenses.
The Dark Order (Evil Uno, John Silver & Alex Reynolds) vs. The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch) & Stu Grayson
Evil Uno immediately decked Vincent at the sound of the bell, only for Vincent to tag out to Stu Grayson. No hesitation from Stu as he leveled Uno into a tag from John Silver. Silver, unfortunately, got taken into The Righteous’ corner so Vincent could get a piece of the action. Alex Reynolds became the legal man after Silver muscled Vincent across the ring for a double team. Reynolds clobbered Stu when he rushed him. When Reynolds jumped off the apron in hopes of taking out Dutch, the big man caught him for a Boss Man Slam on the floor!
Reynolds was being double and triple teamed until Stu got kneed in the mouth when attempting a back drop. Evil Uno tagged in, going wild on Vincent and Dutch; almost ending this one with a brain buster on Vincent. John Silver became the legal Dark Order competitor, pulling off a German suplex on Dutch! Stu broke up John’s pin attempt; causing a chorus of boos before Stu tagged himself in to fight Uno. But before they could clash, Vincent knocked Uno out of the ring. Vincent took Reynolds & Silver out of the ring so Dutch could somersault atop them. In the ring, Stu demanded Uno to fight. Uno finally had enough, knocking his old partner upside his head. The crowd was going wild as Uno lit Stu up with punches. Stu demanded Uno to finish him. Vincent ran in, knocking down Uno. Hoisting Uno up, a seemingly conflicted Stu hit Uno with Nightfall. Almost in tears, Stu tagged Vincent in so the latter could get the pin for his team.
Grayson was still looking at his fallen former ally in concern until Vincent reminded Stu that his work led to this and he was now, “One of us!”
Winners: The Righteous & Stu Grayson
Match Review: One of the few stories currently going in ROH has taken a potential big turn or may be coming to an end depending on whether or now Stu is truly one of The Righteous. The crowd was really into this one in the end and further proof that actual stories with known faces are more important than just random matches if fan investment is what you want to achieve.
– Dasha was in the interview zone with Samoa Joe and Zack Sabre Jr. Apologizing for not being the warmest of welcomes to ZSJ, but he did enjoy teaming with Zack. Though Sabre Jr. noted they were island boys, Joe wanted Zack to confirm that they know who is really the superior TV champion. When ZSJ seemed to be thinking it is him, Joe objected before the two agreed that this question needed to be settled very soon.
Diamante vs. Promise Braxton
Showing her grappling acumen early, Promise Braxton took advantage of the hammerlock to chop Diamante. Stopping a cradle, Diamante almost took Braxton down with the clothesline that put her in the corner for a perfect hesitation dropkick. Countering a running attack, Braxton pulled off a Northern lights suplex. Using the referee’s poor positioning to her advantage, Diamante thumbed her opponent in the eyes. Shoulder rams in the corner worked for Diamante until Braxton moved. Some crisp forearms from Braxton set up a reverse meteora that gave Promise a two count. Elbowing her way out of a fireman’s carry, Diamante used the German suplex to set up a half straightjacket submission. Nodding to the referee, Promise submitted.
Winner: Diamante
Match Review: The veteran picks up another much-needed win as Diamante is one of the most underrated talents on the ROH roster right now. Braxton looked even better this week than her previous appearance and, hopefully, will pick up a win in the very near future.
ROH World Six-Man Tag Team champion Brian Cage w/ Prince Nana vs. Willie Mack
Willie Mack’s early offense was cut off short by not only a belly to back suplex, but also a trip that slammed him on the back of his head when he tried to climb the ropes. Saito suplex from Brian Cage gave the champ an early two count. After a snap suplex, “The Machine” hoisted Willie onto his shoulders. Mack reversed whatever Cage had in mind, dropping him in position for that inverted cannonball in the corner. Samoan drop into the standing moonsault press from Mack ended in a two count as well. Reversing a clothesline and catching a roundhouse kick, Cage threw the lariat. Mack kicked his way out of the lariat, taking a German suplex before giving one of his own. Both men got up thinking clotheslines and caused a double down. When they got up, Mack kicked Cage into the Stunner. Instead of going for the pin, Mack came off the top with the frog splash … for a near fall thanks to how long it took him to make the cover!
Getting free from Mack’s grip, Cage sent Willie against the turnbuckles. Mack turned around, getting turned inside-out with the discus lariat. The champ made the cover, getting another singles in in ROH.
Winner: Brian Cage
Match Review: The PWG homegrown stars went into their Reseda-crafted bag for this one with not as much time to really cook like they would all those years ago while having the chemistry to steal the show. The outcome was expected, but what does it mean for either man as Cage is the Six-Man champ who, seemingly, is in a continued feud with Dalton Castle & The Boys, and Willie just declared a week ago that he was going to make sure his team with Ninja Mack rebounded after their first loss.
New Japan World Television Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Rocky Romero
The champ seemed a little impressed by his challenger’s grappling abilities while planning to overwhelm Rocky Romero soon got tripped when he tried to keep his momentum, finding his legs pressed. Working his way off the mat, Romero got the pace going his way, knocking Sabre to the floor for three topes. Sadly for Romero, the third dive saw him get caught in the cravat. The champ had this match going his way until he started mouthing off and allowed Rocky to get some chops off. Reversing a second cravat, Rocky pulled off a rewind roundhouse kick.
On one leg, Romero pulled off the tornado DDT to earn a two count as well. Using the ropes to arm bar the champion didn’t help Rocky as he got his submission reversed and ZSJ locked him up until the referee demanded he break as they ended up in the ropes. Romero was aiming for the champ’s left arm while blocking leg kicks. Romero caught ZSJ with the shiranui with five minutes left in the fifteen-minute time limit. Pulling the champ into the Diablo Arm Bar, Rocky sealed his own fate by putting himself on the mat with Zack’s hands free as he converted the bad position into a seated abdominal stretch that forced Rocky to submit.
Winner: Zack Sabre Jr.
Match Review: A very good grappling-based encounter different from anything else on the episode thus far that, once again, would’ve really got some high marks if they had more time. Beyond a good match between two very talented competitors, it’s odd this match happened as the narrative being told about Romero was his want to regain the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight title as himself instead of his old Black Tiger persona. But any time ZSJ is on TV is a win for the people.
Darius Martin & Action Andretti vs. The Workhorsemen (Anthony Henry & JD Drake)
Similar to The Kingdom, Anthony Henry attempted to use the Code of Honor as a way to blindside Darius Martin. Martin was ready, ducking the punch and avoiding a leg sweep, but not a kick to the chest. JD Drake ran through Darius, only to get his legs dropkicked. Action Andretti sprung off the top rope to dropkick Drake. JD tagged out, only for Henry to being taken down by arm drags and side headlocks. Double team kick into Darius’ crucifix almost ended this one. Martin got shoved to the floor, trying to avoid an illegal attack from Drake. Sadly for Martin, Henry shoulder tackled Darius into a Drake right hand as he sailed to the floor.
Martin held on, turning an attempted double team into a miscommunication where The Workhorsemen collided so he could tag out. Just when Action got some momentum, Drake took him down running knee after Henry’s German suplex. Missing a running splash in the corner on Action was Drake as Martin kicked Henry in position for a takedown. Handspring heel kick to Drake knocked him out of the ring before Action & Martin finished off Anthony with that double team spin cycle spine buster for the three count.
Winners: Action Andretti & Darius Martin
Match Review: Another win for Action & Darius against a very impressive Drake & Henry, but it feels like there should be more momentum for the winning pair considering just two weeks ago they won a great Fight Without Honor. What are their goals going forward? Can they get some promo time to explain how much the Fight Without Honor changed and/or motivated them to reach that next level in the Tag Team division? Just a little character development would be nice to really get the fans – who were kind of apathetic to them – into their journey.
Butcher, Blade & Kip Sabian w/ Penelope Ford vs. Bryce Saturn, Jakob Austin Young & Shogun
In surprising fashion, the newcomers attacked their fearsome opponents. Sadly for Young & Shogun, they got dumped out of the ring before Saturn took the double team power bomb-neck breaker combo from Blade & Butcher. Butcher stacked up Saturn for the pin.
Winners: Butcher, Blade & Kip Sabian
Match Review: A squash is a squash. The winners make for an interesting trio that would definitely benefit from a new scenery. There are a lot of heel trios going right now in ROH, though.
El Hijo del Vikingo, Komander & Bandido vs. Spanish Announce Project (Angelico & Serpentico) & Jack Cartwheel w/ Luther
It was Komander and Angelico starting this one off, giving the fans the lucha-infused action expected as they traded arm drags before the pace quickened thanks to the masked man’s head scissors allowed both men to tag out to Bandido and Serpentico respectively. Head scissors by Serpentico didn’t down Bandido as he flipped through it to land on his feet, leading to a standoff between the two after they couldn’t pin one another. Jack Cartwheel confronted Vikingo, using that rope-assisted leg sweep to pull off a very acrobatic senton splash after they spent a good twenty seconds countering attacks as they ran. Things broke down after Vikingo super kicked Jack. Luther tripped Komander as Cartwheel pulled off a cartwheel moonsault plancha. In the ring, Cartwheel almost pinned Komander after the back handspring moonsault splash. Quick tags in team Cartwheels’ corner saw Komander having to counter a power bomb by Jack into a Code Red.
Bandido got the tag from a woozy Komander. With one hand, Bandido almost press slammed Angelico. Serpentico saved his elevated partner, only to get pitched to the floor so everyone on team SAP got dove on by their opponents. A triple team pop-up doomsday dropkick with Vikingo pulling off the kick on Jack proved incredible & effective. Serpentico entered, only to get tossed atop Luther before Bandido dove on both men at ringside. Komander ran across the top rope, somersaulting onto Angelico. In the ring, Cartwheel was duking it out on the middle rope with Vikingo. The AAA Mega champion countered whatever Jack had in mind, spiking him with the poison-rana. Taking the double knees in the corner, Cartwheel couldn’t stop Vikingo’s 630 splash or pin fall the followed.
Winners: El Hijo del Vikingo, Komander & Bandido
Match Review: Definitely a match that will appeal to certain fans. Those who love lucha action will enjoy this one, but, to come across as repetitive, given more time this could’ve been a recent classic in the style as all six men were firing on all cylinders and worked exceptionally well together without a bunch of botches or moments of wrestlers standing around for their opponents to dive on them.
ROH Pure Championship: Katsuyori Shibata (c) vs. Alex Coughlin
The judges for this one were former ROH World champion Jerry Lynn, former ROH Tag Team champion BJ Whitmer, and former Knockouts champion Madison Rayne. No match graphics to state how many rope breaks each wrestler had or time limit remaining, unfortunately.
The knuckle lock set the stage for an exchange between the champion teacher and his protege with Alex Coughlin going for the ropes early after being arm barred. Losing his first rope break, Coughlin ended up on his back and mounted. The challenger got away from the terrible position, only to be swept into a triangle choke. Coughlin’s right foot found the bottom rope, resulting in the loss of another rope break.
Getting himself all twisted up and ridden, the challenger found himself grabbing the ropes to lose his final rope break.
The champion refused to let up, cornering and forearming Alex into oblivion. Just when it seemed Shibata had done enough high impact stuff, he pulled off the hesitation dropkick to the seated Coughlin. Going back to the submissions, Katsuyori went from leg locks to the kimura. With his legs free, “The Android” was able to move from a seated position until he was upright with Shibata in a suplex position. Dropping back, Coughlin executed a big suplex that finally gave him a chance to dish out some major strikes. Going for a submission off the gut-wrench slam, Coughlin inadvertently put himself in a triangle choke. Alex had to power bomb his way out of the submission to practically reset this battle.
Shibata had enough, trying to knock out his student when Coughlin almost turned him inside-out with the shoulder tackle. Reversing a suplex, the champ cinched in the Sleeper. Coughlin collapsed, prone to the PK and the subsequent three count.
Winner: Katsuyori Shibata
Match Review: One of the more anticipated matches to be featured on ROH programming the last few weeks redelivered in fine fashion. As expected, Shibata’s skills made it easy for him to put his protege in positions where he would use rope breaks and efficiently broke him down from that point forward as Alex fought as hard as he could to stop the inevitable, but came up short. The match’s only flaw had nothing to do with the action, but the lacking match graphics that returned a couple of months ago and haven’t been shown since.
ROH World Women’s Championship: Athena (c) vs. Kiera Hogan
Kiera Hogan couldn’t even get out of the gate as Athena not only knocked her down immediately following the Code of Honor, she almost knocked her out with a big boot in the corner. Stopping a power bomb, the challenger was able to land an enzuguri. Looking for that step-up leg drop to the back of Athena’s head resulted in her hitting nothing but canvas. Hogan stumbled to her feet, getting taking a divorce court that almost snapped her left arm. Adding injury to injury, the champ whipped Kiera shoulder first against the steel barricade. Asking if Hogan thought this was a game, Athena started brutalizing Kiera ‘s left arm. One very vocal fan was trying to rally behind Hogan as “The Fallen Goddess” tried to pop her opponent’s left shoulder out of its socket. Mouthing off to the fans, Athena lost her focus and her submission that allowed Hogan to super kick her in position for that step-up leg drop.
Just when it seemed Hogan had something going, her cross body block was turned into a swinging backbreaker. Pulling the challenger over, Athena cinched in the Fujiwara arm bar. Hogan’s saving grace was how high the champ was and prone to a modified crucifix. Athena kicked out, looking to superplex her opponent when she got a hold of a leaping Kiera. Hogan fought through the maneuver, super kicking and pump kicking Athena before and after a hurricarana. The tornado DDT connected for Hogan, but it didn’t end this one in her favor.
The challenger wanted to get some feeling back in her arm; giving Athena the chance to recover and turn an O’Connor roll against the challenger while hooking a fistful of tights. Hogan couldn’t kick out in time, giving Athena another successful defense.
Hogan was infuriated, attacking the champ at ringside. From the barricades to the steps, Hogan was beating the champ until security stopped her from using a steel chair. One of the security members got super kicked by Hogan as Athena tried to make an escape. Catching Kiera with a forearm, Athena pushed Hogan into the ring for something. Hogan was ready, dropkicking her as security & referees entered the ring to separate them. The fans wanted them to keep fighting, but it wasn’t going to happen tonight.
Winner: Athena
Match Review: Very interesting encounter where they didn’t start slow as Athena overwhelmed Kiera for the match’s majority. Then something flipped and Kiera was actually pushing the champ to the point it seemed she actually had figured out the formula to beat the seemingly unbeatable. And just when Hogan had everything going her way, Athena snatched victory from the jaws of defeat through nefarious means. The post-match fight makes it seem this isn’t over, but we’ve seen stuff like this between Athena and her previous challengers including Willow and Skye and those have proven to be one-shot-deals so far.
Overall Review: After last week’s exhausting episode, eleven matches felt like a dream to sit through. Built on the premise of three marquee matches with three titles on the line, this episode ended on a high note thanks to the last two encounters that were wildly different from not only one another, but also each other. There are fewer wrestlers that could be so perfect for a championship than Shibata is with the Pure title. Then there is Athena still running the Women’s Division even if her schedule may be catching up to her as her challengers are getting closer & closer to defeating her.
The TV title match was fun and in line with the Pure title bout in terms of action, while we also got some solid tag team action with, ironically enough, former rivals The Kingdom and Action & Darius getting wins respectively. The six-man bout featuring the luchadores was very fun, but deserved more time. And we also got some potential major story progression involving The Dark Order, Stu and The Righteous with Grayson possibly choosing a new family.
It also must be noted that this episode being taped before an AEW “Dynamite” caused the crowd to start of rather weak in terms of reception & sound because they had, obviously, not really entered the building en masse. These kind of presentations don’t do ROH any favors as it doesn’t provide an episode the energy it deserves. Thankfully, this weekend ROH will have official taping at Universal Studios, so the episode(s) to follow shouldn’t be as quiet (hopefully). A good episode in line with what ROH programming has been providing as of late mostly thanks to the final two matches.
