Last Week: Willow Nightingale made a successful defense of the New Japan Pro Wrestling Strong Women’s Championship by overcoming Rachel Ellering prior to another luchador clash featuring Rey Fenix overcoming the debuting Gravity.
ROH on HonorClub Episode 16
Orlando, FL; Colorado Springs, CO
June 15, 2023
– Earlier in the day, Matt Sydal was in the interview zone with Dasha. Taking the microphone, Matt Sydal stated he’s been chasing Samoa Joe since he was a kid. But Matt’s a man now – a man ready to dethrone the ROH World Television champion.
In an opposing interview, Samoa Joe gladly accepted the challenge because he needs to make a statement. A promise of destruction comes from the champ as he plans to teach Sydal the biggest lesson: all fall to the king.
ROH World Television Championship: Samoa Joe (c) vs. Matt Sydal
Nonchalant Code of Honor from the champ before they locked up. Cornering his challenger almost immediately, Samoa Joe punched Matt Sydal into the canvas. Going for that double knee spine buster didn’t work as Sydal slipped behind and eventually kicked Joe out of the ring. Sydal went for a dive, but Joe was ready by moving out of the way. The challenger was aware of Joe’s avoidance, landing on the apron before using a flying knee strike to down the champ. Sadly for Sydal, his momentum was halted almost immediately in the ring with some of those patented jabs. Snap suplex by Joe was a precursor to the nerve hold. Elbowing his way out of the submission, Sydal ran into that snap power slam that gave the champion a two count.
Taking knife edge chops and retaliating in kind, Sydal actually rocked the champ enough that he was able to land another knee strike after avoiding a corner attack. Spinning heel kick by the challenger set up a big hurricarana. Sydal landed on his knees and it hobbled him enough that he couldn’t immediately follow up with a pin. Meteora from the top drilled Joe … giving Sydal a near fall!
Another knee strike from Sydal didn’t keep Joe down for long as the champ crotched his challenger on the top rope when he went for the Shooting Star Press. Joe quickly snatched Sydal off the top turnbuckle, hitting the Muscle Buster to vanquish another challenger via a pin fall.
Winner: Samoa Joe
Match Review: As solid as one could expect considering the talent. While the outcome was pretty much out of question, they did a good job in the closing moments to really tease that Sydal was going to walk out with the title. Would’ve loved to see them go another five or even ten minutes to really cook.
Deimos w/ Teal Piper vs. Nick Comoroto
Getting the fans behind his motions, Nick Comoroto threw his lollipop in his opponent’s face; to which Deimos responded with a clothesline. Stopping a running attack in the corner after being splashed against the turnbuckles, Nick knocked Deimos backward with an elbow. Both men struggled to slam the other, resulting in Deimos sending Comoroto out of the ring. Nick took advantage of the ringside environment by sending Deimos into the steel ring steps.
Running power slam by Nick didn’t end this one. An inverted Attitude Adjustment worked for Nick, but resulted in a two count when he went for the pin. Ducking a clothesline, Deimos executed a spine buster. Signaling for the end, Deimos’ power bomb was thwarted; but not his version of the Sick Kick. Kicking out before the three count, Nick rolled onto the apron to lure Deimos into a hotshot. Alabama slam from Comoroto allowed him to stack up Deimos with his legs on the middle rope for extra leverage out of the ref’s sight for the pin fall.
Winner: Nick Comoroto
Match Review: A relatively bland hoss battle. Both guys looked rather inexperienced and/or didn’t lay in some of their strikes to give off the aura expected of people their size. Comoroto is definitely trying in terms of getting over as a character, but he isn’t on this show enough for people to care; let alone being put in matches worth anything.
– Dasha was in the back with Mark Sterling, Ari Daivari & Tony Nese with the prior telling Dasha that Nese was going to get something off his chest in the ring’s middle tonight.
Rhett Titus & Tracy Williams vs. The Iron Savages w/ Jacked Jameson
Jacked Jameson came out with his rap about sipping on the “Savage Sauce” while introducing his allies. It was Tracy Williams kicking off with Bronson. Unfortunately for the former ROH World Tag Team champion, he got cornered quickly and knocked into a tag for Boulder to take over. Using his grappling acumen, Williams avoided a knock down to the floor by barring Boulder’s arm. But the submission had little effect as Boulder press slammed Williams as Bronson did the same to Titus after Rhett tagged himself in.
Titus had to fight off the onslaught of two people, using the belly-to-belly suplex on Bronson. Stopping a Death Valley driver, Bronson tagged out so Boulder could sidewalk slam Titus while slamming an incoming Williams at the same time. Titus & Williams got underneath Boulder, using a double team Death Valley driver … to gain a near fall thanks to Bronson’s interference!
Bronson was getting double teamed, kicked in position for Williams’ Piledriver. Boulder ran in to save his partner, pitching Titus into a Michinoku driver where Boulder landed on Williams while dropping Titus on his head. Williams could barely breath as Bronson came crashing down with a splash from Boulder’s shoulders. Holding down Tracy, The Iron Savages won another one.
Winners: The Iron Savages
Match Review: Another Titus & Williams match where they work incredibly hard, impress, then lose. The commentators continuously put them over as former champs, yet they always lose even against relative newcomers. The Iron Savages have a unique presence, but it’s hard to tell if fans should cheer or boo them mostly thanks to Jacked Jameson. Like Comoroto, The Savages aren’t on ROH programming enough to really get the fans invested in their presences (as evident during their entrance where they tried to get the fans to chant alongside their names and the crowd had no idea what to do).
– Furious over the fact the last time they were in tag action, FTR stuck their noses in The Workhorsemen’s business. Since FTR aren’t here, Antony Henry challenged Mark Briscoe to a match.
Diamante vs. Teal Piper w/ Deimos
Big clotheslines off the Code of Honor from Teal Piper. Stopping short during an Irish whip, Diamante got Teal caught in the ropes for a neck breaker. Using a sliding dropkick, Diamante sent Piper sailing off the apron to the floor. Diamante was stomping a mudhole into Teal to set up that basement dropkick. Crossface forearms by Diamante actually had the fans booing. The fans were rallying behind Piper. Roundhouse kick from Piper led to a PK. Piper’s sidewalk slam was meant to lead to the Sleeper. Diamante stopped the submission, using her own choke by hooking Piper’s left arm to put Teal out cold.
Winner: Diamante
Match Review: Another bout that was rough around the edges. Piper is still visibly inexperienced, but got the crowd behind her as Diamante turned up the heat. It’ll be interesting to see where people like Diamante and Mercedes Martinez fall in the title picture as their winning ways should guarantee them championship opportunities in the near future.
Tony Nese w/ Mark Sterling & Ari Daivari vs. Serpentico
Before Serpentico could arrive, Mark Sterling grabbed the microphone to give Tony Nese a chance to express himself. In an effort to earn the fans’ respect, they had to do some real soul searching to figure out why. The “why” is the fans can’t relate to in-shape personal trainers like The Varsity Athletes. So the goal is now for the crowd to participate in a group exercise. The fans actually got into the stretching session. Sadly, the squats is where the fans gave up on his exercise session. Serpentico’s music hit just as Tony wanted everyone to start doing push-ups.
Big slam off the waist lock by Tony Nese really helped him put his masked opposition on his heels early. Slapping Nese, Serpentico got some breathing room to pull off a head scissors. Infuriated, Nese almost took the mask off Serpentico’s head with a back elbow. Spinning back kick to Serpentico’s face after stopping a sunset flip, Nese questioned hos his opponent was still moving. Nese was figuratively eating Serpentico alive. Macho Man style hotshot by Nese didn’t set up the springboard moonsault as planned thanks to his opponent moving. Serpentico was on fire until Nese stopped him from running and used a German suplex against the turnbuckles. Serpentico couldn’t stop the shotgun knees in the corner or the subsequent three count in Nese’s favor.
Winner: Tony Nese
Match Review: Tony Nese finally wins in a match that got a lot more time than expected, though was ultimately forgettable. The pre-match stuff worked, but went on a little too long before Serpentico’s arrival. If they continue the whole pre-match crowd workout, Nese could be one of the biggest villains in ROH considering the reaction here; but for that to work it needs to constantly occur on ROH programming.
– Wearing a blue wig, Athena arrived in the interview zone mocking Kiera Hogan until the actual Hogan knocked the champ to the floor with a warning, “Keep my name out yo damn mouth … period!”
Miranda Alize vs. Notorious Mimi
A slap-fest broke out early with the veteran in Miranda Alize winning out before knocking her opponent into the corner for a face wash. Basement dropkick connected for Alize, but Notorious Mimi refused to stay down for the three count. Alize’s basement hurricarana driver also didn’t end this match. Blocking a kick after getting verbally assaulted, Mimi hit a flapjack off the shoulders. Mimi’s clothesline got turned into an ace crusher against her. Staggering to her knees, Mimi couldn’t sop the Drive By or the three count that followed in Alize’s favor.
Winner: Miranda Alize
Match Review: Similar to Tony Nese, Alize finally gets a win on ROH programming; but it much shorter order than “The Premiere Athlete”. Once again, a short, unremarkable encounter.
Dalton Castle & The Boys vs. The Righteous & Stu Grayson
It was Dalton Castle confronting fellow former Six-Man champion Vincent until Boy Brent exploded out of the corner after tagging himself in. Apparently, Brent was the one attacked by The Embassy several weeks ago. Brent couldn’t even get out of the gate as Vincent ran through him. Recovering quickly, Brent used a pair of arm drags to reset this bout and allow both Stu Grayson and Boy Brandon to tag in with the latter coming off the top rope with a cross body block. Stu recovered hastily; catching Brandon and tossing him over ahead. Brandon was on the wrong part of town, getting picked apart. Using a failed cradle to his advantage, Brandon propelled him into a tag from Brent … who got wiped out almost immediately by Stu. It was Dutch doing the heavy lifting until Brandon slipped to freedom and tagged out.
Dalton became the legal man; using slams and suplexes until his opponents ended up on the floor where they turned the tides by sending Castle & Brent against the barricades. T-Gimmick into the triple power bomb on Brandon ended this one in definitive fashion via a pin fall.
Winners: The Righteous & Stu Grayson
Match Review: The former Six-Man title contenders and the only trio with a story meant to challenge for the championship got mostly decimated by their opponents in an okay bout. The fans love Dalton & The Boys and, hopefully, they start doing something interesting with them in the very near future.
– The Dark Order were in the interview zone with Dasha. John Silver expressed his lack of impression with The Righteous. Silver was ready to go crazy, while Alex Reynolds stated a sleeping lion has been awoken. Evil Uno questioned if Grayson really believed The Righteous had Stu’s best interests in mind. Instead of challenging the trio to another match, Uno just wanted to wait and see.
Proving Ground Match: ROH Women’s World champion Athena vs. Trish Adora
The champ took pride in a very vocal section of fans supporting her before they finally tied up. Clean break by Athena after they ended up against the turnbuckles; leading to a shoulder block exchange that Trish stopped by motioning for the test of strength. Athena actually went along with the knuckle lock, getting broken down almost immediately before using the grip to sling “The Fallen Goddess” against the turnbuckles. Adora made a big mistake going after the exiting champion, getting caught in the ropes and dropkicked against the steel ring steps.
The work began for Athena as she tied up her would-be title challenger’s legs. Clawing her way to the ropes, Trish saved herself before it was announced five minutes in the ten-minute time limit had elapsed. Adora avoided a big haymaker, using a German suplex from her knees to turn the tides. Power slam from Adora ended this one. Sidestepping a kick, Athena got Trish hung in the ropes leg-first. Using the ropes to snap Adora’s leg, Athena had Trish limping around and prone to the O-Face. Athena made the cover, ending another night in victory.
Athena found Adora approaching her for the Code of Honor, clobbering Trish. Before Athena could do some more damage, Kiera Hogan with a trashcan lid in hand, hit the ring. Athena tackled her former challenger, beating her with the trashcan lid until security ran out. Hogan got a hold of the lid, bashing Athena after the champ knock down some of the security. When Athena’s attention returned to Hogan, Kiera cracked her with the lid. Hogan left the ring, pulling out a table and setting it up against the turnbuckles. Hogan turned around, getting speared through the table! Security had to help Hogan out of the ring as a hurt Athena left the ring to continue the fight that was abruptly cut off by the next match’s promo card.
Winner: Athena
Match Review: Like the TV title match, the result was out of question considering Adora’s recent roller coaster win-loss record. And similar to the opener, the closing moments made it seem Trish would walk out the victor. The post-match stuff was fun, just ended oddly.
Mark Briscoe vs. Anthony Henry w/ JD Drake
Mark Briscoe started off hot with some Redneck Kung Fu after getting free from a headlock off the Code of Honor. Spicy dropkick from Briscoe put Anthony Henry at ringside for a plethora of offense. Rolling DVD from Briscoe, but his follow up Froggy Bow was avoided. Dropkick from Henry caught Briscoe on the jaw. The fans were behind Mark as he took a pair of DDTs including a tornado version that he used to set up the double arm bar. Big boot from Mark after countering an Irish whip resulted in him taking a German suplex in retaliation. Henry’s straightjacket choke into the backstabber put Mark in the corner. Turning an Irish whip against Henry, Mark came off the top after a springboard to dropkick Anthony.
Chops & forearms from Mark was topped by a single-leg dropkick. Fisherman’s buster for Mark didn’t end this one. Calling for the Jay Driller, Briscoe found himself getting back dropped and his neck twisted with a dragon sleeper. Mark used everything in his power to make it to the ropes. Henry missed the big double stomp, getting into a fistfight with Briscoe that ended with a concussive lariat. Jay Driller connected for Mark, giving him the three count.
Mark fell across the middle rope to look at the nearby camera and tell everyone he’s next for Samoa Joe and the TV title.
Winner: Mark Briscoe
Match Review: It’s hard to not have a fun Mark Briscoe match. Henry gave him a good fight, but the end was inevitable and Briscoe should be, as he stated, next in line to challenge for the TV title. It also must be noted that, thankfully, there was no interference in this match even though JD was at ringside. That’s what should be the case nine times out of ten in ROH.
Pure Rules Match: Daniel Garcia vs. The DKC
This match was Colorado Springs taped during an episode of “Dynamite” with Excalibur and Daddy Magic taking over as the commentators. The judges for this one were ROH Board of Director Jerry Lynn, Christopher Daniels & Dean Malenko. Thankfully, the Pure Rules match graphics are back.
The DKC was lighting up the former Pure champion early, leading to Daniel Garcia using a short back elbow to halt the aggression. Letting DKC get some momentum cost Garcia as he was taken down by a head scissors that set up the chop drop. Like lightning, Garcia struck to shove DKC from Bret’s rope to the floor!
Butterfly suplex worked for Garcia; leading to a STF that DKC had use his first rope break to stop. Doing his hip gyrations cost Garcia as he got chopped for his trouble. Flying side kick from DKC allowed him to set up some neck chops for another chop drop. Seated crucifix stretch by DKC forced Garcia to use his first rope break.
Using DKC’s hair against him, Garcia cinched in the Walls of Jericho. The crowd was behind DKC; giving him the will to counter the hold into a pinning combination. Garcia kicked out, yanking DKC into the Codebreaker … for a near fall because Garcia stopped the count!
Instead, Garcia wanted to and did submit DKC with the Dragon Tamer sharpshooter.
Garcia mocked Pure champion Katsuyori Shibata by doing his pose in celebration.
Winner: Daniel Garcia
Match Review: A lot of positives before the bell sounded including the returning match graphics and the crowd actually being into the action even though it was unlike anything else seen on AEW programming. Sadly, the match felt like it was just getting into that next gear when it ended. It’ll be interesting to see if they save Shibata-Garcia for ROH’s upcoming “Death Before Dishonor” pay-per-view, or if it’ll be added to the “Forbidden Door” card.
– The Embassy were in the interview zone with Kaun stating he’s getting bored. Prince Nana agreed that the competition has be completely weak. Brian Cage also ran down how simple it’ll be to overcome their latest challengers: AR Fox, Action Andretti & Darius Martin.
Skye Blue vs. Viva Van
Back in Orlando for this one as the debuting Viva Van lost her grip of the wrist to feel a head scissors. Sliding kick connected on the kneeling Van before she got whipped across the ring. Viva countered whatever Blue had in mind, landing a spinning heel kick to the jaw of Skye. Van’s bow & arrow lock didn’t force the submission; giving Blue the chance to avoid Van’s subsequent attack. Running knee strike into the Sick Kick from Blue ended in a two count for her. Blocking the bulldog, Viva pulled off a wheelbarrow German suplex that set up a running knee strike on her seated opposition. Looking for an electric chair maneuver, Viva unintentionally put herself in position for a hurricarana. Crescent kick into Skye Fall gave Blue the pin fall.
Winner: Skye Blue
Match Review: They tried to cram a lot into a three minute bag; doing an admirable job while giving Blue another win as she tries to climb the mountain to another title opportunity. Once again – a solid, yet forgettable match.
ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship: The Embassy (c) w/ Prince Nana vs. AR Fox, Action Andretti & Darius Martin
AR Fox ran into the brick wall that was Brian Cage incredibly early; opting to hit & run until he jumped into a swinging side slam. Darius Martin tagged himself in, avoiding everything Cage threw until he dropkicked the champ. Kaun tagged himself in, using a running chop to stop Martin’s momentum. Toa Liona tagged in, using Kaun to fire him up for a running back elbow against Martin’s head. Using a jawbreaker, Martin tried to fight his way to a tag. Kaun caught him running, only to feel a Martin DDT. Action Andretti got the tag, kicking the life out of Liona. Just when it seemed Action had something going, Toa knocked him off the ropes; to the floor. Kaun went off, whipping Action against the ring’s edge over & over again.
Throwing Action back in, Kaun set up Toa’s running senton splash. The Embassy had regained absolute control yet again, cornering Andretti on the wrong side of the ring. Allowing Action to get his legs underneath him off the Irish whip, Cage put himself in position for a springboard Canadian destroyer.
Action tagged out to Fox as Toa became the legal man. Fox was on fire, kicking and tripping all of his opponents both in the ring and out. Fox cleared the way for Martin to dive on Toa as Action pulled off the Arabian moonsault on Kaun. Cage got dove on by AR both out of the ring and then in as Fox almost ended “The Machine’s” night with a swanton bomb that gave him a two count. Hoisting Cage up, Action & Darius held Brian for AR’s springboard ace crusher. Toa ran in, almost knocking Martin inside-out before using a cross body to down Action & AR at the same time.
Things were breaking down fast as everyone tried to hit a standing opponent with a big move. Cage found himself being double super kicked by Action and AR. Kaun and Liona reentered with Fox taking out Kaun and Toa taking a handspring back elbow from Andretti into Martin’s missile dropkick. Cage got up, super kicking Action after trapping the leaping opponent in the ropes. Cage hooked Action, executing Weapon X to pin Andretti.
Prince Nana ran in, putting the boots to Action before celebrating with his crew.
Winners: The Embassy
Match Review: Similar to Samoa Joe, The Embassy got tested in a major way in this fast-paced main event. The Embassy had to pull out all the stops, but, in the end, they were the better trio in a match that, just like the opener, could’ve really gotten the crowd molten if they had about twenty minutes to go all out. Still a really strong main event and, arguably, the Match of the Night.
Overall Review: After last week’s strong first hour and ho-hum second sixty minutes, this episode proved more evenly-paced with some nice peaks including the three heavily promoted title and Proving Ground matches that all could’ve benefited from more time given if not for the fact this show had the usual one-off outings featuring rarely-used AEW talent looking to find themselves as stars and characters like Nick Comoroto and The Iron Savages.
Beyond the marquee matches standing out for their quality was Briscoe-Henry and the Pure Rules bouts offering some fire and something different to the episode respectively. Another positive from this episode was the amount of promo & interview segments. These simple and short moments gave reasons why certain matches happened, wrestler motivations, and anticipation for next week’s main event. This is the type of stuff ROH needs right now to help add depth to matches and, essentially, the wrestlers themselves.
It’ll be interesting to see how ROH programing in presented going forward as this episode featured a mixture of what was taped before AEW “Dynamite” and the remainder of the Universal Studios taping. Hopefully whatever happens in the very near future with the ROH tapings, the fans are hot and they don’t abandon some of the things that helped this episode including interview segments, rivalries & feuds getting some spotlight, and some quality wrestling. Definitely an easy watch and one of the better all-around episodes of the last few weeks even if it feels like they’re throwing stuff at the wall to see if it sticks with certain bouts.
