Last Week: The team of AR Fox, Darius Martin & Action Andretti failed to wrest the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship from The Embassy with Matt Sydal also falling to Samoa Joe in his quest to become the ROH World Television champion.
ROH on HonorClub Episode 17
Chicago, IL
June 22, 2023
– The ROH Board of Directors Jerry Lynn, Stokley Hathaway and Tony Kahn were here to present Samoa Joe with his new version of the ROH World Television Championship belt before the first episode of AEW “Collision”. Before Lynn could hand it off, Hathaway took the belt and gave it to TK who then did the same to Joe. Happy & satisfied, Joe promised to break the face of CM Punk heading into their match later in the night.
ROH World Tag Team champions Lucha Bros., El Hijo del Vikingo & Komander w/ Alex Abrahantes vs. Butcher, Blade, Serpentico & Kip Sabian w/ Angelico, Penelope Ford & Luther
It was the masked Serpentico trying to outmaneuver El Hijo del Vikingo. After a quick exchange where Serpentico countered a toss into a monkey flip against the turnbuckles, Vikingo showed incredible strength to stop a hurricarana by swinging him into a slam position. The masked man countered the slam with a power bomb; only for Vikingo to roundhouse kick him into a tag to Butcher. Komander flew into a big forearm after tagging in; getting knocked to the floor for a Kip Sabian Arabian moonsault. Komander was on the wrong part of town, getting picked apart by everyone but Serpentico who was playing cheerleader during back-based attacks from his partners. Using a double team Irish whip against Sabian and Blade, Komander pulled off a springboard hurricarana and DDT on his respective opponents.
Penta El Zero Meido became the legal man, bouncing Blade and Sabian around the ring before letting his brother take down the intervening Butcher & Serpentico. The ROH Tag champs were looking to finish off Kip when Butcher & Blade stopped a double team. Sabian recovered, double stomping Penta off Blade & Butcher’s Drain the Lake double team. Thankfully for Penta, Vikingo & Komander were there to break up the pin. The luchadors tripped their opponents, rowing their boats with their legs before Penta pulled off a Canadian Destroyer on Serpentico. Vikingo & Fenix cleared the ring with dives so Penta could finish off Serpentico with Fear Factor; gaining the three count for his team.
Winners: Lucha Bros., El Hijo del Vikingo & Komander
Match Review: Like so many lucha-based matches, the mileage of entertainment will vary especially in regards to the early portion where Vikingo and Serpentico were visibly waiting for each other to do things. But things settled down before roaring to a hot finish. Considering the amount of bodies, this didn’t get as much time as expected and probably would’ve benefited from five or more minutes.
Willie Mack vs. Gringo Loco
Big right hand from Willie Mack after trying to overwhelm his opponent with arm wringers. The pace quickened and hometown boy Gringo Loco found himself evenly-matched in regards to the lucha libre style. Big DDT by Mack after he leapt over his incoming foe. Loco found himself cornered and getting assaulted with strikes before Mack pulled off that inverted cannonball splash in the corner on his seated opponent.
Mack ducked a little too early for the back drop, but caught his adversary running with a Samoan drop. Loco couldn’t avoid the standing moonsault press, but did kick out of Willie’s subsequent pin attempt. Mack seemingly had a superplex in mind when Gringo started fighting back. Knocking Mack to the mat, Loco was able to execute a double jump moonsault. Mack rolled out of the ring, rising to discover a somersaulting Gringo that he couldn’t avoid. Spiral Tap missed for Gringo in the ring; giving Mack the chance to execute the Sky High … for a near fall!
Flying kick from Mack after an exchange of running strikes downed both men. Catching Mack climbing to the rope, Mack joined his opponent on the top rope to execute a Spanish Fly for the pin fall.
Winner: Gringo Loco
Match Review: A fun, lucha-infused hoss battle that had a somewhat surprising ending even if the hometown guy won as neither have been winning much, but Mack is seemingly going to be around more than Loco. Wouldn’t mind a rematch in the very near future.
Trish Adora vs. Allysin Kay
After avoiding a strike by using the ropes to force the referee to separate the two, Allysin Kay put herself in position to take a northern lights suplex used to cinch in a standing figure-four headlock. Kay dropped forward, using a modified stungun to break free. By attacking the neck & back of her opponent, Kay was in complete control. Adora avoided a roundhouse kick while on her knees, pulling off a German suplex from the low position. Adora grabbed her opponent’s left wrist, slinging her shoulder-first against the turnbuckles. Ducking Lariat Tubman, Kay pulled off a German suplex of her own into another bridging suplex. Trish somehow kicked out, catching Kay running with Lariat Tubman. Making the cover, Trish picked up a big win.
Winner: Trish Adora
Match Review: Trish Adora gets back to her previous winning ways in a very strong performance against an always-game Allysin Kay. They didn’t as much as they could with the time allotted and Adora is, seemingly, on the road to bigger things in ROH.
Kyle Fletcher vs. Silas Young
Silas Young wasn’t about doing the trading moves for cheers, almost running through Kyle Fletcher before Kyle exploded off the ropes with a shoulder block that put Young on the floor. Silas couldn’t avoid the big cross body block, but did have a stungun in his mind to stop Kyle’s momentum in the ring. Stopping a suplex, Fletcher found himself giving Young the back-breaking maneuver. Kyle got up swinging for the fences until Young was stumbling in position for a belly to back suplex. Snap double underhook suplex into the running kick-brain buster combo … ended in a near fall for Kyle!
“The Last Real Man” countered that corkscrew piledriver, hitting his springboard clothesline into the Last Real Combo/FYBFYF. Young had the Peegee Waja Plunge in mind, missing the moonsault portion. Fletcher hooked the stunned Silas, hitting that hammerlock Curtain Call to pin the former ROH World Television champion.
Winner: Kyle Fletcher
Match Review: Kyle Fletcher’s winning streak continues though the match wasn’t as good as his most recent outings mostly due to the lack of time and the fans not being as interested in the action like those in Universal Studios who have seen Fletcher really cook and win most recently. Like other fellow Sinclair Broadcast Group-era wrestlers, Silas Young is sadly placed in a position to get the new faces to a different level.
ROH World Six-Man Tag Team champions The Embassy w/ Prince Nana vs. Trenton Storm, Luke Kurtis & AJZ
Toa Liona refused the let go of the handshake with Luke Kurtis; running through the man before he could even remove his ring robe. Using his own robe to choke him, Liona sent Kurtis flying across the ring off the back drop. Stomping his opponent’s exposed feet, Kurtis was able to DDT his opponent … that didn’t hurt him at all. Belly to belly suplex by Toa almost ended this one with Trenton Storm breaking up a sure pin. Toa allowed Kurtis to tag out to Storm as Brian Cage became the legal man.
Unfortunately for Storm, Cage almost decapitated him with a clothesline. Big German suplex by Cage allowed Kaun to tag in. Kaun wanted a piece of AJZ and found himself taking a pop-up palm strike. The champ seemed staggered until he dropped AJZ over the top with a stungun. Running forearm smash on AJZ when his opposition hit the floor. Using that sidewalk slam on the top turnbuckle, Kaun put AJZ in position for Toa’s senton splash on the apron. All three champions picked up their opponents for a triple series of head-dropping maneuvers for a triple pin fall.
Winners: The Embassy
Match Review: An extended squash to reinforce what we already know: The Embassy is unstoppable at this point in the Six-Man division and there doesn’t seem to be a trio that can push them to that point; let alone defeat them.
Dalton Castle w/ The Boys vs. Josh Woods w/ Mark Sterling & Tony Nese
As expected, a grappling exchange between these two superb amateur wrestlers saw both tumbling into the ropes. By keeping his grip while the referee tried to separate them, Josh Woods was able to use the top rope to clothesline the former ROH World champion by yanking “The Peacock” forward. The Boys fanned Castle to his feet and Dalton got a running start to reenter the ring; catching Woods with a DDT. Running knee strike after dropping Woods across the top turnbuckle. Mark Sterling jumped onto the apron with The Boys removing him. But Tony Nese proved to be another distraction that ended with Woods knocking Dalton off the apron and against the barricades.
“The Peacock” had the fans behind him even though Woods was tossing him around with ease. Using forearms and chops after stopping another suplex, Castle got some momentum to start pulling off some suplexes of his own. Discovering Woods in the corner, Castle went for a running attack that Josh avoided. The former Pure champion sidestepped his incoming opponent, running after him; only for Castle to catch & German suplex Woods. Countering the Bang-A-Rang, Woods went for that gut-wrench power bomb. Castle also reversed a big maneuver, only for Sterling to leap onto the apron for another distraction. Woods took advantage of the numbers … gaining a near fall off the gut-wrench suplex-knee strike combo!
Castle stopped Woods’ next move, sending him to the floor before knocking Nese to the floor so he could toss The Boys off him. Woods’ Pearl Harbor job failed as he ran into the Bang-A-Rang. Making the cover, Castle pinned his fellow former ROH champion.
Winner: Dalton Castle
Match Review: Very good match similar to what was seen in ROH before the Tony Kahn era. This was the best Dalton has looked in quite a while on ROH programming with Woods also showing why he’s such an underrated talent; though the formulaic nature of Sterling & crew doing the interference thing has gotten so tired especially in a place like ROH where that was frown upon by both the talent and the fans.
The Kingdom w/ Maria Kanellis-Bennett vs. The Infantry
Last week, Stokley Hathaway were confronted by The Kingdom about not getting their Tag Team title rematch from “Final Battle 2021”. Hathaway didn’t care about the past, but what’s going to happen while he’s watching them. Mike Bennett dropped a big bomb that The Infantry were talking mad trash about “Big Stoke”. A confused Hathaway was left stunned over Maria’s whispered proclamation.
Later in the day, The Infantry found Hathaway. Revealing The Kingdom were taking bets on how long Hathaway will have a job, Carlie Bravo & Shawn Dean wanted the Board of Directors member that they believed in him and his good decisions. To prove The Kingdom wrong, they asked for a match with The Kingdom. Hathaway was fine with the idea before telling The Infantry how ridiculous they look wearing shades in-doors.
Mike Bennett found himself getting double teamed almost immediately, having to use a short right hand to stun Carlie Bravo so Matt Taven could tag in. Unfortunately for the former ROH World champ, Bravo’s flying back elbow rocked Taven and put him in the ropes for a slingshot ace crusher. Maria Kanellis-Bennett grabbed Taven’s left foot to put it on the bottom rope to stop a sure pin. An upset Bravo left himself prone to a double team forearm smash. Bennett spine buster into Taven’s asai moonsault almost ended Bravo’s night. Carlie had to duck & dodge the intended running attacks by his opponents, knocking them backward so he could tag out to Shawn Dean.
A fired-up “Captain” dropped both opponents with a cross body block. Tiger driver by Dean on Bennett ended into a two count. The Infantry’s modified Magic Killer didn’t win this one for them as Taven stopped a sure pin on his partner. Knocking Dean out of the ring, The Kingdom almost broke Bravo’s neck. Stopping another double team, Bravo used the axe kick on Bennett to set up Dean’s frog splash.
Taven prevented the three count in Dean’s favor, getting knocked to the floor so The Infantry could set up something. Maria jumped onto the apron, distracting the referee so Bennett could hit Bravo with the chair. The Kingdom had Hail Mary in mind when they saw Trish Adora coming down the aisle before Adora yanked Maria off the apron. This interference distracted them long enough for Bravo to trip Bennett into a jackknife pin as Dean held Taven on the top rope for the upset win.
Winners: The Infantry
Match Review: After losing six matches in a row, The Infantry finally wins and wins big against the former two-time ROH World Tag Team champions; mostly thanks to Trish Adora stopping the numbers game by adding to it on the other side. With their mutual military history, it makes sense Adora would join The Infantry and it’ll be interesting to see how this trio thrives going forward after this strong tag encounter.
Lee Moriarty & Big Bill vs. Blake Christian & Matt Sydal
A little surprising was the fact the veteran Matt Sydal found himself fighting from behind in the grappling department when first locking up with Lee Moriarty. It wasn’t until Sydal used an Irish whip to his advantage to flip around his foe to take him over with the side headlock. Big hurricarana into the leg sweep-moonsault press combo from Sydal allowed him to tag out. Blake Christian didn’t go to the sky immediately, trying to wear down his opponent. When Lee picked up the pace, Blake was right there with him, hitting the low 619 and a handspring back kick. Lee was getting tone apart by the lightning-quick attacks by his opponents; leading to him leaving the ring. Getting to his corner, Lee tagged out to Big Bill before Matt could stop him.
The fans were chanting for Big Bill and Bill did them proud by holding Sydal for a Lee dropkick when he blocked the hurricarana. Bill had to calm down his partner as he stomped a mudhole into Sydal as the referee tried to reprimanded Moriarty. Lee taking his eyes off the prize by trying to knock Blake off the apron allowed Sydal to recover and spinning heel kick Moriarty when he turned around. Blake got the tag, going wild with dives on everyone standing.
Christian’s springboard 450 splash crushed Lee, but Bill stopped the pin and got a blind tag. Double clothesline from Bill left Blake alone. Sydal too had to save his partner from a sure pin after Christian was almost driven through the mat with a Boss Man Slam. Blake recovered as Sydal tried to fight both men off, knocked them to the floor. Christian’s somersault on Bill at ringside saw BB move and chokeslam Blake across the ring’s edge. With Lee holding Sydal in an octopus stretch, Bill finished off Blake with the East River’s Crossing.
Winners: Lee Moriarty & Big Bill
Match Review: An unusual David vs. Goliath-style tag team encounter where the new team of Matt Sydal & Blake Christian tried to use their athleticism to their advantage and eventually it cost them. Bill & Lee worked really well as a unit mostly because they are so wildly different and it may be nice to see them eventually challenge for the ROH World Tag team title.
– The Kingdom was in the interview zone, lamenting over the loss and how Stokley Hathaway has forgotten what The Kingdom did for him & took care of him. Thinking about going to Jerry Lynn to complain, Bennett declared he’d lie about loving Lynn’s time in ECW to rectify things. But Maria had more haunting words as she reminded everyone that she got Trish Adora into the door in ROH. Maria warned that Adora’s opportunities in ROH will dry up if she keeps testing “The 1st Lady of Wrestling”.
The Dark Order (John Silver & Alex Reynolds) w/ -1 vs. Davey Bang & August Matthews
Davey Bang was in trouble early as John Silver muscled him around the ring with ease including a huge hip toss that set up Alex Reynolds’ power bomb. Reynolds allowed August Matthews to tag in so he could obliterate him with right hands and big boots. Using a power bomb, Silver drove Matthews across Alex’s erected knees. The finished off Bang in fast order with that patented steamroller combo with Reynolds pinning Davey.
The Righteous & Stu Grayson arrived on the tron with Stu asking if The Dark Order would bleed for Grayson. Vincent respected the aggression seen tonight and wanted to see it next week, too. An infuriated Reynolds ran forward, kicking Bang in the mouth before pulling off a piledriver into Silver’s UFO. -1 put out the challenge for The Righteous to step up to The Dark Order.
Winners: The Dark Order
Match Review: A very impressive squash for The Dark Order to continue the story of The Righteous changing The Dark Order’s happy nature into something brutal. Where this goes is the big question that may get answered as soon as next week.
– Diamante was in the interview zone to talk about her upcoming match with Leila Gray. Mark Sterling arrived with a proposal: No match, Diamante gets forty percent of the winner’s purse. Diamante didn’t like the offer and promised to take all the purse.
Diamante vs. Leila Gray w/ Mark Sterling
After hearing the fans supporting her opponent, Diamante apparently accepted the offer from Sterling by lying down. When Leila Gray went for the cocky cover, Diamante tripped her into a series of punches. Gray exited the ring, getting caught with a baseball slide. Diamante wanted to use the running kick off the apron when Gray caught the incoming foot to trip her opponent. Big boot to the side of Diamante’s head when she was draped across the apron left Diamante stunned and the momentum in Gray’s favor. Missing a running senton splash, Gray let Diamante turn the tides. Diamante’s German suplex set up the corner cannonball that didn’t put Laila down for the three count. A distraction from Sterling allowed Gray to cradle Diamante from behind. With her feet on the ropes, Gray held down Diamante to break her winning streak via pin fall.
Winner: Leila Gray
Match Review: Diamante’s winning streak comes to an end thanks to the numbers game. A rematch is a given after this rather rudimentary encounter.
Action Andretti, AR Fox & Darius Martin vs. Shane Taylor & The WorkHorsemen (Anthony Henry & JD Drake)
After Shane Taylor used the Code of Honor to dishonorably attack AR Fox, Darius Martin got picked apart by The WorkHorsemen until Action Andretti got the tag. Using a blistering series of moves, Action turned the momentum as Darius hooked JD Drake from behind. Handspring German suplex by Andretti on Drake ended with Shane running in and stopping a sure pin. Taylor’s Marcus Garvey Driver on Fox after AR tagged in also ended in a two count thanks to his partners saving him from defeat. After Action & Darius took Taylor & Drake to the floor with stereo cross body blocks, Fox countered the double stomp off the top rope by Henry to roll him up for the flash pin fall.
Winners: Action Andretti, AR Fox & Darius Martin
Match Review: Surprisingly short sprint between six men who could’ve stolen the show with each other. Similar to Silas Young, Tracy Williams & Rhett Titus, Shane Taylor feels like an afterthought in this version of ROH when he and Shane Taylor Promotions were one of the hottest things in ROH during the last year before the TK era. The winning trio is back on the road to a World Six-Man title opportunity and, considering how well they did even in defeat last week, we could be looking at the next Six-Man Tag champs.
– Leila Gray & Mark Sterling were in the interview zone, gloating over the win. Diamante arrived on scene to challenge Gray to a rematch. Leila wasn’t scared, accepting the challenge.
Pure Rules Match: Daniel Garcia vs. Rocky Romero
The judges for this one were ROH Board of Directors Jerry Lynn and Stokley Hathaway & Pat Buck Thankfully, the Pure Rules match graphics are still here.
A quick showcase from Daniel Garcia saw him backing Rocky Romero into the ropes where he said Romero was using a rope break. The referee agreed; angering Romero enough to go for the Diablo Arm Bar. Garcia scooted to the bottom rope to save himself while losing a rope break, too.
Never-ending series of clotheslines by Romero was stopped when Daniel pulled the ref in front of him. A halting Rocky got chopped in the throat for not colliding with the referee. The fans were all over Garcia as he used his hip gyration suplex. Garcia letting his mouth get the better of him saw the former Pure champion get swept into another submission where he had to use the ropes to stop a tap out.
Going for From Dusk Till Dawn, Romero got spun into an STF. Using his forearms, Rocky moved his way to the bottom rope for another rope break.
With five minutes down, Garcia was playfully kicking and painfully forearming Rocky in the corner. Taking too much time setting up a running attack in the corner, Daniel got caught with a flying knee. “Azucar” came off the middle rope after countering whatever Garcia had in mind from Bret’s rope to hurricarana Daniel across the ring. Garcia immediately went to the ropes to stop the Arm Bar.
Frantic, Garcia was defending his arm until he swept Romero into the Walls of Jericho. With his final rope break, Rocky saved the match.
Calling out Katsuyori Shibata, Garcia wanted to use the Sleeper-PK combo. Romero stopped the PK portion, but took a clothesline for his trouble. Countering the Dragon Slayer Sharpshooter with an unsuccessful small package, Romero exploded off the mat and then the ropes to tornado DDT his opponent. Garcia scooted to the ropes with his feet after getting caught into the Diablo Arm Bar. The leverage allowed Garcia to lock in the Dragon Slayer. Garcia fell back, using the ropes for leverage to really crank down on the hold. Rocky had no choice but to tap out.
Feigning a Code of Honor, Garcia went for the Dragon Slayer again. Orange Cassidy’s music hit to bring out the AEW International champion. Orange was ready for a fight, but Garcia wanted nothing of the titleholder as the crowd went wild.
Winner: Daniel Garcia
Match Review: Unlike last week’s Pure Rules bout where Garcia won as well, this match didn’t feel like it was just getting into that next gear when it ended as Rocky and Daniel worked incredibly hard to get over the match’s rules alongside their growing intensity during the homestretch. Orange arriving instead of Shibata was an interesting twist that got a big reaction from the rather apathetic crowd and it’ll be interesting to see if this obvious match set up on ROH programming actually occurs during a ROH event.
ROH Women’s World Championship (Chicago Street Fight): Athena (c) vs. Kiera Hogan
The challenger’s early offense was cut off by a Boss Man Slam. Struggling to her feet, Kiera Hogan got enough momentum to dropkick a ladder Athena was trying to push into the ring so the champ collided with another ladder propped up behind her. Hogan landed another dropkick that catapulted the champ against the aforementioned standing ladder. Athena recovered quickly, tripping Hogan so she landed back-first across the original ladder. Propping a table by the barricade cost Athena as Hogan recovered and the challenger clobbered her. Bringing the action back into the ring, Hogan made the mistake of entering the ring after her opponent allowed “The Fallen Goddess” to catch her with a trashcan lid to the head.
Placing Hogan in a trashcan, Athena beat the can with a kendo stick. Hussy Slap failed as Hogan tossed the trashcan to rock the champ. Hogan placed the trashcan in front of a seated Athena to dropkick the metal against the champ’s skull. Swinging fisherman’s neck breaker saw the champ’s body bounce off the trashcan. Exiting the ring, Hogan placed one ladder between the ring and a standing ladder with the intent of splashing Athena on this newly-made ladder bridge. Athena moved at the last second, causing the challenger to collide with the steel ladder instead of crushing her opposition!
The fans wanted tables and Athena was happy to oblige. Looking to send Hogan through the table she set up earlier, the challenger reversed the Irish whip so “The Fallen Goddess” went through the wood! Hogan grabbed the kendo stick, wearing the champ’s back out until Athena retrieved her own stick. Athena eventually won the battle of the kendo stick shots, grabbing a chair to set it up on the chair pyramid set up at ringside. Hogan caught Athena coming after her, knocking her atop a table standing at ringside. Coming off the ring steps, Hogan couldn’t put Athena through the table! Moving to Bret’s rope, Hogan splashing Athena with the intent of driving her through the table resulted in one of the legs breaking instead.
Pulling a table into the ring and setting it up in front of a corner, Hogan got bashed with a forearm for taking too long. But the same thing happened to Athena when she went to the ropes for something and Hogan caught her climbing the ropes. Athena and Hogan fought on the ropes, resulting in a super power bomb through the table against Kiera … for a near fall!
“This is awesome!” chants broke out as Hogan struggled to move. Placing a trashcan in the corner between the top & middle ropes, Athena suddenly left the ring to pull out a black bag. Of course there were hundreds of thumbtacks in the bag. Countering a power bomb into the tacks, Hogan avoided a running champion to cause her to spear the trashcan. Athena was stunned and prone to a belly to back suplex that slammed “The Fallen Goddess” into the tacks … for a near fall!
Athena was feverishly pulling tacks from her right arm before Hogan used her braids to put the champ in a choke hold. Athena gouged Hogan’s eyes to free herself. After licking her own blood, Athena hooked Hogan to superplex her opponent and herself through the chair pyramid!
Showing incredible strength & fortitude, Athena used a fireman’s carry to put Hogan back in the ring for the pin fall.
– Athena was in the interview zone wondering where is her big celebration. Looking to send a message to the entire ROH locker room, Athena snatched interviewer Lexi Nair before stating: “Step up or step out!”
Winner: Athena
Match Review: Similar to the opener, the level of enjoyment for this one will depend on what someone wants from a Street Fight. Though the intensity was there, it seemed like most of that feeling came from them trying to use weapons and do spots instead of just brawling and letting the weapon stuff come naturally. But that doesn’t take away the fact they worked incredibly hard and actually invigorated the crowd after a reportedly five-hour taping session between this episode and AEW “Collision”. Who’s next for Athena and, like The Embassy, who stands a chance of actually dethroning the champ?
Overall Review: Another rather bloated episode that didn’t feel like a slog to watch, thankfully. The final two bouts really capped off the show in great fashion by being totally different from everything else on the episode. The opening eight-man tag, Infantry-Kingdom, and Castle-Woods helped anchor the undercard while we actually got some character work & promo time to help establish the characters of The Infantry, what The Kingdom wants, and why the Kingdom-Infantry match happened after Taven & Bennett have been giving Bravo & Dean losses in the most recent past. Thankfully the pre and post-match promos weren’t reduced this week as feared and using backstage moments initially available only on social media is very smart to ensure the fans don’t miss out on something important to the episode.
There are a lot of interesting roads some characters and stories can go including the Dark Order-Righteous issues, The Infantry featuring Trish Adora, the next title challengers across every division, Kyle Fletcher’s winning streak, Garcia’s issues with Shibata and, now, Orange Cassidy, and if the likes of Willie Mack and Shane Taylor can turn things around.
The biggest fear about taping ROH programming around “Collision” was a rather apathetic and/or tired crowd watching everything mostly came true with this episode. The crowd reaction during the first hour or so was that of a bunch of fans ready to see what played out. The last ninety minutes were a struggle for those in attendance with the action reportedly being taped after “Collision”. Matches featuring wrestlers not seen frequently on AEW programming garnered little to no reaction while moments such as Orange Cassidy arriving lit the crowd up. Fans visibly yawning on the front row during a show’s main event is never a good look and TK and crew need to reevaluate their taping protocol going forward so the women & men of Honor get the best reactions possible.
In the end, this rather beefy episode represented the best and worst of ROH programming during the HonorClub era when not taped at Universal Studios with several entertaining matches smartly sprinkled throughout to make the solid, yet ultimately forgettable bouts more enjoyable.
