Last Week: The stars of New Japan made several appearances including Los Ingobernable de Japon falling to The Embassy in six-man action prior to both Athena and Claudio Castagnoli winning Proving Ground matches to prevent future challengers in KC Spinelli and Chuck Taylor respectively.
ROH on HonorClub Episode 19
Hamilton, ON
July 6, 2023
Komander w/ Alex Abrahantes vs. Gringo Loco
Code of Honor followed before the bell as the fans chanted for both men. Gringo Loco showcased his technical skills early, slinging the masked man around the ring with an arm drag and waist locks. When Komander responded with an arm drag of his own, Loco made a big mistake of letting his opponent get some momentum to set up a rope-assisted head scissors. Loco used the cartwheel to avoid hitting the mat, leading to an alley-oop where Gringo sent Komander careening against the turnbuckles face first. Loco was in complete control after the maneuver, causing Alex to rally the fans behind his latest client.
Using an Irish whip across the ring against him, Komander pulled off a takedown that only stunned Loco for a couple of seconds as Komander’s follow-up attack ended with him being slammed face first against the canvas. Some illegal chokes in the corner by Loco had the referee reprimanding him. Turning a Samoan drop against Loco by executing a head scissors, Komander almost fell before pulling Loco out of the ring with an arm drag.
Crazy dive by the masked luchador wiped out Loco. Rolling Gringo back in, Komander took too much time climbing the ropes where Loco was able to stop his ascent. Komander fought through Loco’s grip, leading to a fistfight in the corner. Komander jumped off the top, only for Loco to counter and hit the Spanish Fly. Both men bounced to their feet with Komander turning a flapjack against himself into an ace crusher. Komander signaled for a springboard maneuver, but Loco slipped underneath him to power bomb him off the apron against the steel barricade.
Loco was feeling good as he came off the top with an ace crusher of his own when Komander was shoved into the ring, but the luchador refused to stay down for the three count. Loco seemingly had a super electric chair in mind when Komander slipped down and ran up the ropes to pull off a super hurricarana. Loco left the ring, but found no haven as Komander came propelling off the top rope with a moonsault. Rolling Loco back in, Komander pulled off a double jump springboard 450 splash to pin Loco.
Winner: Gringo Loco
Match Review: Like so many lucha-based matches, the mileage of entertainment will vary especially in regards to the latter portion where they went into some of the more coordinated spots. The crowd ate it up by the end and, hopefully the people watching at home really enjoyed this weekly dose of lucha action on ROH programming.
– Big Bill & Lee Moriarty were in the interview zone with Lexy Nair. The reason: to explain how that now The Firm is dead, they’ve found a new place to run roughshod over the competition including The Boys tonight. Big Bill promised to squash The Boys like the bugs they are on the road to ROH World Tag Team gold.
Christopher Daniels vs. Daniel Garcia
Daniel Garcia was all about the hips in the early going until the former ROH World champion tripped him up for a little dance of his own as if he was hot & spicy. Big chops in the corner from Christopher Daniels set up a running attack that Garcia avoided and knocked “The General” to the floor. Sweeping Daniels into an STF saw him pulling off a little dishonorable action by pulling back on Daniels’ nose for leverage. The focus became Daniels’ left leg. Catching Garcia running with the blue thunder bomb, Daniels couldn’t follow up as planned.
Instead, Daniels had to rely on clotheslines to gain some momentum. Iconoclasm connected for Daniels, but didn’t get a three count. Garcia lured the veteran into a forearm exchange that ended with him feeling an STO. The fans were actually booing as Daniels called for Angel’s Wings. Garcia countered the maneuver and a uranage, but ran into the Angel’s Wings on the second attempt. Garcia rolled out of the ring, only to reenter and and kick the bottom rope into Daniels’ face as he tried to follow. Single underhook DDT by Garcia finished this one and allowed him to dance with an unwilling referee Aubrey Edwards.
Winner: Daniel Garcia
Match Review: A solid, though somewhat short encounter that would’ve been great under Pure Rules. One of the most disappointing aspects had nothing to do with the match, but the crowd with this show being taped in before “Collision”, the AEW crowd was more supportive of the villain seen on AEW programming than the ROH legend.
– Willie Mack was in the interview zone to state he plans on winning the $25,000 Six-Man Mayhem. With his winnings, Mack has a lot of plans including going to Jamaica with Lexy.
ROH World Six-Man Tag Team champions The Gates of Agony (Kaun & Toa Liona) w/ Prince Nana vs. Action Andretti & Darius Martin
Cornering and abusing Action Andretti’s chest didn’t help Kaun as he was taken over with a head scissors. Darius Martin tagged in, only to get backed into the corner where Toa Liona tagged in. Double team dropkick by Martin & Action after avoiding a double clothesline to both champions. Toa caught a diving Action, sending him against the barricades. When Martin attempted to help his partner, Kaun ran through Darius at ringside. It was all the champions as they isolated Action; with Prince Nana getting some cheap shots in behind the referee’s back. Kaun played a little too much with Action, running into a big pair of boots.
Martin tagged in as Toa did the same with the prior pulling off a springboard complete shot. Hitting the ropes, Martin ran into a pop-up Samoan drop by Toa before he was double team splashed. Action stopped his partner from being pinned, getting knocked into Toa’s clutches at ringside. Darius used the tope to help his partner down Toa.
Action went for the 450 splash in the ring when Kaun got his knees up. Action recovered quickly as Darius was yanked to the floor by Toa. Spanish Fly by Action to Kaun didn’t end in a pin as Prince Nana jumped onto the apron. Action tried to knock Nana off the apron, but ended up stuck between his opponents. Double team face buster slam/“Opening the Gates” put Action down for the three count.
Winners: The Gates of Agony
Match Review: A fun David vs. Goliath tag bout where the momentum Action & Darius gained last week winning against United Empire was halted by the champs. The seesaw treatment of wins & losses with Andretti & Martin after their Fight Without Honor win all those weeks ago is a little confusing especially with the PPV coming up and how they could’ve been easily slotted for a Tag title match against the Lucha Bros.
The Righteous & Stu Grayson vs. Rip Impact, Mark Macre & Zak Patterson
Of course, the newcomers got knocked down and stomped into the mat with Stu Grayson slamming Mark in position for a triple team T-Gimmick into the face buster. With his ring jacket still on, Vincent made the cover for the pin fall.
Winners: The Righteous & Stu Grayson
Match Review: A squash is a squash. While it would’ve been nice to see some type of Dark Order appearance to continue the story, the point was made that this trio of Vincent, Dutch & Stu are a formidable force.
Lee Moriarty & Big Bill vs. The Boys
Lee Moriarty locked up with Boy Brent, finding himself having to chop his way out of a wrist lock. Boy Brandon set up a springboard cross body after Lee found himself on the wrong part of town. The fans were behind The Boys after a double team hip toss. Boy Brent tagged in, looking for an attack in the corner when he got tripped and his leg stomped. Big Bill became the legal man, forcing Brent to sit on Brandon’s shoulders to match Bill’s height. Bill just kicked both Boys down. Big boot to Brent after avoiding a diving attack allowed Bill to show off his dancing skills.
Lee made a big mistake of getting tripped and dropped on his head with an inverse Code Red. The Boys were on a roll, diving on Lee at ringside until Brandon flew into Bill’s apron chokeslam. In the ring, Lee used a flying leg lariat to knock out Brent for the three count.
Winners: Lee Moriarty & Big Bill
Match Review: Though a little more competitive than expected, this match was essentially an extended squash with Lee & Bill proving to be a perfect pairing whose strengths play off well with each other.
Proving Ground Match: ROH Women’s World champion Athena vs. Seleziya Sparx
Athena started wearing out the former hoopla hottie until she caught the champ during a cross body block attempt. After slamming Athena, the would-be challenger hit a running clothesline. Stopping a big boot, the champ pulled off a t-bone suplex before doing a little dance. Sparx tried to run through Athena, but ended up getting knocked out by a forearm. The pin fall was elementary after the strike, giving Athena another win.
As per the norm, Athena attacked her fallen competitor after the match; slamming Seleziya face first against the title belt.
Winner: Athena
Match Review: Nothing that hasn’t been seen in the recent past with Athena Proving Ground matches. While Athena’s antics are fun and Sparx looked good in this short sprint, this feels like something from the beginning of the HonorClub era. Only two shows until “Death Before Dishonor” and it seems like she’ll be having another open challenge for a title match at the big show instead of a well-built contender challenging.
Mark Briscoe vs. Tony Nese w/ Mark Sterling vs. JD Drake
Of course, Tony Nese wanted to help get JD Drake in shape. Drake took the microphone to insult Canada’s food before warning Nese about getting his butt whooped by a fat guy. Mark Briscoe’s music hit to bring out the ROH legend. Why was Mark out here? To make this a three-way dance!
The once opponents attack Mark immediately, only for Briscoe to use some of that Redneck Kung Fu to fight back. Sick Kick to Drake caused Sterling to jump onto the apron for an intended distraction. Nese’s attempt to attack Briscoe with a chair backfired as Mark sent Tony to the floor for a somersault plancha over the top to wipe out both opponents at ringside. Rolling Nese back in, Mark’s Froggy Bow failed as Drake clotheslined him.
Nese and Drake argued over what was the best way to hurt Briscoe as the fans rallied behind the fan favorite. Briscoe used a mix of calisthenics and Redneck Kung Fu to rattle his opponents. Enzuguri to Nese followed by a uranage to Drake, Mark climbed the ropes for the Froggy Bow. Using JD’s body as a springboard, Nese palm struck Mark on the top rope. Drake pulled Nese down, only to get sunset bombed by Tony. Briscoe jumped over Nese to Froggy Bow Drake. Nese attempted to steal the pin, only to get spiked with the Jay Driller. Briscoe made the cover to pin Nese and get another big win.
Winner: Mark Briscoe
Match Review: After missing from ROH programming for weeks, Mark Briscoe returned and had a really fun match to establish him as a title contender even if the outcome was definitely not out of the question.
– Last night during New Japan Strong’s “Independence Day”, Eddie Kingston became the Strong Openweight champion. With his NJPW Strong belt in his lap, Kingston informed everyone he can’t be at “Death Before Dishonor” to challenge ROH World champion Claudio Castagnoli. So Eddie wanted Mark Briscoe to step up and challenge for the title. According to Kingston, it’s Mark’s time.
– In the interview zone, Mark Briscoe joined Renee Paquette to take on the challenge and state it’s time to follow in his brother’s footsteps. ROH World champion Claudio Castagnoli arrived to warn Mark to not listen to Eddie. Castagnoli saw Mark had grown weak in time by wanting to be like his brother instead of his own man like he once was. Claudio gladly stated he’d pulled Mark out of the sky to show him and men like him their limits. Claudio offered the Code of Honor as agreement to the match, and, of course, Mark agreed to the title bout.
Diamante vs. Vanessa Kraven
Diamante seemed a little leery about confronting “The Mountain”, going after Vanessa Kraven’s legs in hopes of downing her. Diamante ran into a body block from the 6’0” tall competitor. Fall away slam by Kraven sent Diamante out of the ring. The plucky Diamante had to avoid a chop so Kraven hit the post instead. Kraven reentered the ring, running into a drop toe hold into the turnbuckles. A pair of shotgun dropkicks in the corner didn’t end this one in Diamante’s favor. Countering the choke bomb, Diamante pulled off the Code Red to pin another adversary.
Winner: Diamante
Match Review: Diamante gets back on a winning streak with her overcoming someone who towered over her. It would seem like Diamante vs. Athena for the title is the go-to match for “Death Before Dishonor”.
$25,000 Six-Man Mayhem: ROH World Six-Man champion Brian Cage w/ Prince Nana vs. Josh Woods w/ Mark Sterling vs. Willie Mack vs. Dalton Castle w/ The Boys vs. Shane Taylor vs. Trent Seven
It was Josh Woods and Trent Seven locking up as Shane Taylor and Dalton Castle fought to the floor alongside Willie Mack and Brian Cage. Using a chop to Woods’ knee, Seven executed a DDT. Mack kicked Seven after Trent sent Castle out of the ring. Mack did the same to Castle before hitting his standing moonsault press on Seven. Poor Castle got sent to the floor yet again after Taylor knocked Willie out of the ring. Springboard tornado DDT to Taylor by Cage. After Castle was thrown to the floor by Cage, Woods used the suplex to send Cage out of the ring. A disoriented Castle actually turned a hip toss by Woods against him.
Everyone was throwing bombs until Seven pulled off that ripcord lariat on Taylor. Woods stopped a sure pin with the Doctor bomb on Seven. Willie disposed off Woods, leading to Cage dumping Mack on his head. Castle got behind Cage, using a suplex to put him at ringside. Seven wanted to dive on everyone when Cage grabbed and superplexed him to the floor atop everyone to a big reaction.
Mack came running across the ring to plancha Cage. Rolling the champ back in, Mack pulled off a frog splash on Cage with Nana putting Brian’s right foot on the bottom rope to stop a sure pin. Frustrated, Mack got caught off guard by Seven’s sidewinder slam. Mack survived the attack, pulling off a Stunner on Trent, then Taylor, then Castle, the Woods, and then an attempt on Cage. But the champ blocked the maneuver, slipping behind and cradling Willie to pin Mack out of nowhere for the win and the money (though we don’t see Cage getting the money).
Winner: Brian Cage
Match Review: Definitely a fun encounter that went into the final stage of these matches off the bat – no teasing alliances or tagging in and out, just crazy action from bell to bell. Dalton Castle really got the crowd behind him due to his antics and it would’ve been nice to see someone unexpected to win; though having a victorious champion can’t be a bad thing.
The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) & Leyla Hirsch vs. The Infantry & Trish Adora
While Maria Kanellis-Bennett was scheduled to be a part of his bout, “The First Lady of Wrestling” had a big announcement: she’s not medically cleared. But Maria had a replacement: “Legit” Leyla Hirsch
Mike Bennett decided he should start off with Shawn Dean. Knife-edge chop exchange ended with Bennett cornered and being worn out with right hands from both Dean and Carlie Bravo until they made a wish. It seemed the women were going to get some action when Maria and Matt Taven decided it was time for the former ROH World champ to try his hand. Unfortunately for The Kingdom, Bravo was one-step ahead of everything Taven had in mind; forcing him to tag out in frustrating to Leyla Hirsch. Trish Adora entered, taking the shooter down and putting her in a submission until Hirsch slipped free for a German suplex. “Legit” quickly went after Adora’s left arm, only to get caught with Lariat Tubman.
Instead of pinning Hirsch, Adora tagged out to Bravo so he could be a house of fire taking out both opponents with right hands before using Bennett to javelin spear Taven in the corner. Bennett found himself on his opponents’ shoulders, slammed down soon after with Taven being the only thing stopping a sure three count. Bennett freed himself from Dean’s grip, tagging out. Adora took Bennett out of the ring with a clothesline to set up the men to dive on Bennett. Taven kicked Bravo to the floor, giving himself a chance to dive on every man at ringside.
In the ring, Adora got Hirsch on the canvas. Maria jumped onto the apron using a hotshot on Adora. Pulling Adora to the mat, Hirsch cinched in an arm bar for the submission victory.
Winners: The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) & Leyla Hirsch
Match Review: While a solid main event, it was slightly confusing with The Kingdom oddly wanting to keep Hirsch out of the ring until they go desperate when they initially seemed so gung ho about being Leyla replacing Maria. Having The Infantry & Trish lose on their first outing as a unit is strange, but Leyla couldn’t lose in her return, either. It’ll be interesting to see where all these participants go and if there will be more intergender tag matches in the near future.
– Lexy Nair caught up with Leyla Hirsch. According to Leyla, she’s ready to dominate in ROH being the shooter that she is.
Overall Review: This episode turned out to be one of the easiest to watch in quite some time mostly thanks to its shortened nature of ninety-six minutes. Couple that with some entertaining, though ultimately forgettable matches including the Six-Man Mayhem, the Triple Threat, and the first three bouts, and you have a fine episode. Even the lesser matches played a nice role in keeping the episode’s momentum. The crowd, as expected with ROH being taped before “Collision”, was inconsistent in their response and reacting heavily to wrestlers mostly associated with AEW than ROH (though the Six-Man Mayhem hooked them and probably should’ve been the main event).
We actually got some build to the pay-per-view that is only two weeks away. With Eddie unavailable, Mark is given the shot at Claudio and their short confrontation was some of the best drama seen on ROH programming in quite some time and it’s rooted in what has always made ROH great: two men who feel they are the best trying to win the company’s most important prize. Hopefully more of the card is announced before the last week in fulfilling fashion. Definitely a strong episode compared to what’s been seen in recent weeks; but other than the now-announced main event for the PPV, there is still a lot lacking in encouraging people to put down another forty dollars for a premium show.
