Last Week: Another tournament to determine Samoa Joe’s next Television title challenger began with Gravity, Christopher Daniels, Shane Taylor and Tony Nese advancing to the semi-finals after Josh Woods challenged Katsuyori Shibata to the Pure Championship match.
ROH on HonorClub Episode 23
Hartford, CT
August 3, 2023
ROH World Television Championship Contender Eliminator Tournament Semi-Final Match: Christopher Daniels vs. Shane Taylor
A big “Fallen Angel!” chant from the fans before the initial lock up that resulted in the former ROH World champion not only getting cornered, but also punched in the abdomen that knocked the wind out of him. The body block accomplished the same thing for Taylor after sending Daniels off the ropes. Taylor’s heavy right hands kept Daniels grounded and the fans out of this one. Using an Irish whip to his advantage, Daniels came off the ropes with a neck breaker that actually dropped the big man.
Rising, Taylor found himself feeling clubbing forearms to his chest in the form of clotheslines. Taylor refused to drop; causing Daniels to come off the middle rope to hurricarana Shane in position for the sliding northern lariat that gave him a two count. Another leaping attack from Bret’s rope cost Daniels as he got caught and slammed in position for the running splash … that gave Taylor a two count!
Taylor had something in mind from the middle rope himself when Daniels caught him with an enzuguri that was intended to be the precursor to the iconoclasm. Taylor fought out of Daniels’ grip, coming off the ropes with a cross body block. “The Fallen Angel” was understandably stunned and prone to the Marcus Garvey Driver and the three count.
Winner: Shane Taylor
Match Review: Very dominant performance by Shane Taylor even against a game former grand slam ROH champ. It’ll be interesting to see where Daniels goes from here as he’s been shut out of every title division as of late other than the Pure Division.
– Lexy Nair was in the back with Jacked Jameson & The Iron Savages. Jameson made it known they are gunning for Aussie Open and the ROH World Tag Team title after failing to win the Six-Man title last week.
ROH World Tag Team Championship: Aussie Open (c) vs. The Iron Savages w/ Jacked Jameson
Before they made it through the Gorilla position, Aussie Open cut a promo on their way to the ring. In a show of their confidence that they won’t lose, Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis left the belts in the back with Tony Kahn & Stokely Hathaway.
Bronson squared off with Fletcher at the bell’s first sound. The early seconds witnessed Kyle’s grappling ability be negated by Bronson’s superior power. So Kyle just threw a forearm to initiate an exchange that ended with Fletcher running into a back elbow. Countering a slam with one of his own, Kyle tagged in his partner for a failed double team as Bronson tagged out after holding onto the top rope. The big men locked up with challenger Boulder actually shoving Mark Davis into the ropes. Running through a chop, Boulder took Davis off his feet with a shoulder tackle.
The challengers were in complete control, double team both champions with slams and splashes. Taking too much time playing to the crowd, The Iron Savages allowed their opponents to recover and send the challengers to the floor for a double team catapulting of Bronson into Boulder. The champions had regained control, cornering Bronson. Having another double team in mind failed as Bronson used his newfound perch on the middle rope to cross body both opponents prior to tagging out.
Boulder was on fire, tossing both champions overhead at the same time. Signaling for the end, Boulder climbed the ropes. Kyle avoided the double jump moonsault by Boulder, only for Aussie Open’s intended finish saw an interruption by Bronson wiping them out. The Iron Savages had Davis by himself, hitting a double team spine buster … to gain a near fall!
Boulder tagged back in, setting up a double team tower splash, but Davis kept rolling away with Boulder in hot pursuit with Bronson on his shoulders until Kyle came flying off the top with a clothesline to unintentionally Doomsday Device Bronson. Feeling the champs’ Dental Plan didn’t knock Boulder out, but the Corealis did; allowing AO to retain their title via pin fall.
Returning from the back, AO picked up their belts; giving Tony a big kiss on his head.
Winners: Aussie Open
Match Review: It’s hard to find a bad Aussie Open match over the last year or so, and this one was no different. This should be a breakout match for The Iron Savages if followed up on properly (similar to what didn’t necessarily happen after Action Andretti & Darius Martin’s Fight Without Honor didn’t catapult them to a Tag title shot).
The biggest issue with this bout was logic as the challengers just lost a title match and haven’t been in a two-on-two match since, yet get a title shot by simply making a challenge when the Board of Directors exist to determine who can and can’t fight for a championship at a particular time. Why this wasn’t a Proving Ground match is very questionable, but the match itself was really enjoyable.
– Stokely Hathaway was in the interview zone, putting over his tournament for Samoa Joe’s next challenger. Dalton Castle’s voice rang out to bring “The Peacock” and The Boys. Castle wanted to know how he wasn’t in the tournament after being robbed by Hathaway. Hathaway assumed it was a conspiracy. Samoa Joe arrived, ready to make things right: two weeks it’ll be The Boys versus Samoa Joe & Stokely Hathaway! A stunned Hathaway promised to whoop The Boys with a voice of someone way in over his head.
Pure Championship: Katsuyori Shibata (c) vs. Josh Woods w/ Mark Sterling
The judges for this one were former ROH World champion Jerry Lynn, World Tag Team champion Jimmy Jacobs & the third Pure champion in ROH history John Walters.
The fans were behind the champ as Katsuyori Shibata avoided a takedown and used a single-leg trip to set up a knee bar. Josh Woods immediately countered, almost using a waist lock for a pinning combination. The grappling was second to none as both seemed poised to get a flash pin or arm-based submission. Both men ended up getting a hold of the other’s left leg, rolling underneath the bottom rope to land on the floor. Releasing the hold, “The Wrestler” swung for the PK at ringside.
Woods ducked, leading to another tie-up in front of the announcers’ table. The referee was counting them down as they struggled to attain a solid advantage. Realizing how close they were to getting counted out, they reentered the ring where Shibata went for an O’Connor roll up. Using the top rope to stop the pinning combination, Woods seemed stunned over the debate if his action was a rope break. Mark Sterling argued in his client’s favor, allowing Woods to attack a distracted Shibata. The champion found himself getting knocked to the floor and left shoulder-first sent against the barricades.
The challenger’s focus was destroying Shibata’s arm. Hammerlock gut-wrench suplex by Woods had him believing the end was near. Woods followed up with the Doctor Bomb that set up the PK … that Shibata rolled through and went off on his opponent!
Woods felt the hesitation dropkick in the corner as the fans chanted in support of the titleholder. Looking for the Sleeper, Shibata found himself getting slung backward after Woods used the top rope to stop the submission. The former Pure champion got up and started going strike for strike with “The Wrestler” until he won a clothesline duel. Woods went stomp heavy on Shibata’s left arm, leading to him feeling confident in performing a shoulder-based maneuver. Shibata slipped behind Woods, putting him in the Sleeper. Woods collapsed, leaving himself prone to the PK and the subsequent three count.
Winner: Katsuyori Shibata
Match Review: As good as excepted considering the talent and styles involved. Everyone knows how good Shibata is, but Woods is so underrated in this environment and Pure Rules matches. A rematch needs to happen.
Dalton Castle w/ The Boys vs. Zack Clayton
After neither got a solid advantage off the initial collar & elbow tie-up, Dalton Castle demanded to be fanned by his Boys. The method worked for the former ROH World champion until Clayton lured him toward the ropes for a big shot to the jaw. In didn’t matter to Clayton where Dalton was, he was punching him until “The Peacock” exploded with knife-edge chops. “The Reality” stopped Dalton’s comeback, executing a suplex to land some more punches and a clothesline. Using the ropes to choke Castle didn’t hinder Dalton from finding his wind and fighting back when Clayton gave him some room. Clayton ran into a pair of suplexes topped by that running high knee in the corner. Clayton was out on his feet and easy prey to the Bang-A-Rang. Castle folded “The Reality” up for the pin fall.
Winner: Dalton Castle
Match Review: Though the outcome was pretty much out of the question considering who was in this match, Clayton got in a bit of offense as generic and underwhelming as it was. It may be because Zack shared the ring with someone so over the top and downright good as a wrestler that Clayton looked underwhelming in comparison.
– Josh Woods had to address his loss in the interview zone with Lexy Nair. Questioning what’s gone wrong in his career after becoming a champion so many times before this, Woods simply stated that something has to change with his career to get it back on track.
The Infantry vs. Nick Comoroto & Jora Johl
Jora Johl confronted Carlie Bravo, leading to a quick exchange where Bravo’s high flying ability opposition in the corner for some right hands topped by a clothesline. Reversing an Irish whip, Johl sent Bravo into Nick Comoroto’s clutches. With Bravo getting yanked to the canvas, Johl was able to control the match’s pace for the first time. Slipping out of a suplex, Bravo ducked a super kick so Jora hit his own partner as Carlie tagged out.
Coming in like a tornado, Shawn Dean was hitting anything moving in his direction including Comoroto who was sent into Bravo’s leg drop across the apron. Hooking Johl from behind, Dean held Jora for Bravo’s Sick Kick into the side Russian leg sweep. Dean made the cover, picking up the win for his team.
Winners: The Infantry
Match Review: Similar to the match that occurred directly before it, the outcome was a given while The Infantry stood out and their opponents (who have no explanation as to why they’re teaming) didn’t seem too impressive even though they had a moment of dominance. With that being stated, at least The Infantry finally got a much-needed win.
Leyla Hirsch vs. Miranda Vionette
Kicking her opponent’s hand out of the way instead of following the Code of Honor, Leyla Hirsch set the stage for domination as she gator rolled her opponent, used the front face lock to land a knee, and turned a running counter against her opponent by sending her against the turnbuckles. Miranda Vionette took suplex after suplex topped by some ground & pound. Maria Kanellis-Bennett arrived at the top of the ramp to watch the action. Using Leyla’s arrogance against her, Miranda almost pulled her opponent into a pin. Hirsch rose from the canvas, seeing Miranda running in her direction for a clothesline. Catching the incoming arm, Hirsch put Miranda in an arm bar for the submission victory.
Winner: Leyla Hirsch
Match Review: A squash is a squash, but at least the newcomer – who looked real good for the amount of time she was trying to come back – got some offense in before the inevitable.
ROH World Television Championship Contender Eliminator Tournament Semi-Final Match: Tony Nese vs. Gravity
Not surprisingly, Tony Nese took the opportunity to talk about how his body is worthy of a championship before mocking the poor health of the people in Connecticut and those who are allowing cheeseburgers to destroy the country. So what would Nese do to help the crowd? Group exercise. Thankfully for those annoyed in attendance, Gravity’s music hit.
After showing off his strength & agility, Gravity decided to do his slow motion walk that angered Tony enough to spinning back kick him in the abdomen. Just went it seemed Gravity’s momentum was lost, he sent Nese to the floor with a clothesline in preparation for a dive. Mark Sterling jumped onto the apron, using the distraction to give his client a chance to recover and clothesline Gravity when the luchador turned around. The fans rallied behind the masked man, giving Gravity the energy to fight out of a chin lock. Unfortunately for Gravity, he got chin checked, or throat checked. When Nese went for a follow-up attack, Gravity knocked him to the floor for a double jump springboard plancha.
The action returned inside with Gravity putting Nese in the ropes for another springboard attack. Nese rolled to his feet, landing the uppercut in preparation for the rolling back kick to Gravity’s jaw. Somehow, Gravity stopped a pin fall, turning Nese’s attempted arm bar into a power bomb. Torpedo splash by Gravity allowed him to pin Nese and advance to the finale.
Winner: Gravity
Match Review: A solid encounter that was missing that one thing to take it to the next gear before it ended. Gravity versus Shane Taylor should be very fun.
ROH Women’s World Championship: Athena (c) vs. Diamante
The champ was having a blast out-wrestling her latest challenger including using a cartwheel to stop a head scissors after landing an arm drag. The fans were actually in support of the champ as she offered a free punch. Diamante fell for the trap, but quickly countered with a back elbow topped by two dropkicks. With Athena lying underneath the bottom rope, Diamante used another dropkick to catapult the champ at ringside. Diamante’s subsequent cross body ended with her taking a power slam on the floor. As if that wasn’t enough to knock the wind out of Diamante, Athena pitched her challenger against the steel barricade.
“The Fallen Goddess” kept the attack on the torso & back; mixing strikes with submissions like a surfboard and illegal hair pulls while her challenger was stuck in the ropes. Big Side Effect on the apron by Athena ended in a two count and visible frustration began showing on the champ’s face. Diamante avoided the knockout forearm strike, pulling off a head scissors that left Athena in the corner for the monkey flip. Sliding clothesline connected for Diamante, but didn’t end this one in the challenger’s favor. Unable to German suplex the champ, Diamante got swung into a backbreaker. In a shocking show of awareness, Diamante blocked the O-Face to hit Chaos Theory … for a near fall!
Climbing the ropes for something, Diamante jumped into a front kick that left her prone to the crossface. Diamante countered the submission, only for Athena to slip around and hook her opponent’s body with a takedown into the cradle for a pin fall out of nowhere.
Athena feigned smashing Diamante’s face against the title belt, but chose not to and showed some mercy.
Winner: Athena
Match Review: Similar to the previous title matches on this episode, stellar talents produced a stellar match. While it would’ve been nice to have something like a video package highlighting both Athena’s dominant title reign and Diamante’s winning ways in ROH alongside something of a career rejuvenation for the night’s challenger, or even a promo from Diamante, they made up for the lack of build with a fine match. Who will be the next to step up and face the champ and where does Diamante go from here?
ROH World Six-Man Tag Team champions The Gates of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona) w/ Prince Nana vs. The Boys
After not following the Code of Honor, Bishop Kaun immediately cornered and wore out Boy Brent until he failed to slam the former champion. Brent exploded off the ropes, running into a lariat. Toa Liona tagged in, getting a little motivation from Kaun in the form of a slap to his face before splashing Brent in the corner. Prince Nana took the chance to lay in some right forearms on Brent as he lay against the ropes. Kaun’s intention of knocking the wind out of Brent was working well, but The GoA’s attempt at a double team failed thanks to Brent slipping, sliding, and avoiding incoming attacks to eventually tag out to Brandon after a successful enzuguri.
Boy Brandon was jumping and somersaulting atop his opponents until he brother recovered so they could double team dropkick Toa. Just when The Boys had everything going their way, Kaun pulled Brent out of the ring to slam him against the barricades. Toa wiped out Brandon; leading to Opening the Gate against him and a Liona pin on Brandon.
Winners: The Gates of Agony
Match Review: Once again, the outcome wasn’t in question, but the fans enjoyed seeing The Boys try as they might to overcome the devastating champions.
– Diamante was in the interview zone with Lexy Nair who wanted to know why Diamante wasn’t attacked post-match. Athena arrived to state she is the only one with that answer. According to the champ, Diamante is like a younger version of herself that is missing that special something. Athena demanded her fallen challenger stay out of her way until she finds her killer instinct.
Cole Karter vs. LSG
Big disrespect from Cole Karter off the Code of Honor, but it was LSG who impressed as he used some misdirection to knock Cole down. Using LSG’s waist lock against him, Karter sent his opponent throat-first into the top rope. LSG got whipped across the ring, hitting the turnbuckles chest-first to give Cole a chance to do an Randy Orton-esque pose just like he did during his entrance. The camera suddenly showed Maria Kanellis-Bennett watching from the ramp’s top yet again. Just as the focus returned to the ring, LSG came off the ropes to forearm Karter after Cole did some more posing. LSG’s follow-up springboard attack got kicked out of midair; leaving him prone to a shoulder breaker into the DDT. Karter made the cover, picking up a win.
Winner: Cole Karter
Match Review: A quick, rather unnecessary encounter where Karter felt like ROH’s answer to 2003 Randy Orton without the push or Intercontinental title.
– After their Fight Without Honor with The Righteous at “Death Before Dishonor”, The Dark Order thanked Vincent & his crew. Why? That’s something viewers may or may not find out on ROH programming.
Robyn Renegade w/ Charlette Renegade vs. Christina Marie
Using the side headlock to add insult to injury by rubbing her face, Robyn Renegade actually empowered her opponent when Christina Marie fought through the hold and slammed Robyn until the point she had to leave the ring. Charlette attacked Marie from behind as Robyn distracted the referee. Robyn’s dropkick-double knee combo when Marie got back in the ring led to her landing a dropkick on her seated opposition. The fans weren’t too into Robyn, getting excited when Marie almost pinned her off a surprise cradle.
Marie found herself able to land some elbows before getting caught in that seated abdominal stretch into the modified Koji clutch. Marie had no choice but to submit.
Winner: Robyn Renegade
Match Review: Formulaic encounter that was just fine for as long as it lasted. It just didn’t feel necessary this late in the episode considering the more important matches had already occurred.
El Hijo del Vikingo & Komander vs. The Workhorsemen
The fans were excited about some lucha libre as Anthony Henry put Komander on the mat for some stomps. Coming off the ropes, Komander pulled an arm drag. JD Drake downed Komander with El Hijo del Vikingo entered the ring, sending Henry to the floor before tripping Drake in position for a frog splash. A crazy head scissors didn’t help Vikingo keep the momentum as Henry intervened and tripped the luchador into a JD slingshot senton.
Henry tagged in, mocking the fans while kicking his opponent. Missing the spin kick, Henry felt a corkscrew kick from Vikingo. Drake ran in, stopping Komander from tagging in as Vikingo felt Henry’s lung blower. Shining wizard by Drake after he tagged in, but that didn’t put Vikingo away. Drake had a power bomb in mind when Vikingo countered with the Code Red.
Instead of holding the big man down, Vikingo tagged out so Komander could go wild until both opponents were at ringside for stereo dives by the luchadors that failed thanks to Drake clotheslining Komander and Drake using the anarchist suplex on Vikingo in the ring when Vikingo went to help his downed partner. The luchadors recovered quickly after Vikingo took a double stomp, sending The Workhorsemen to the floor. Running across the same top rope, the luchadores dove on their opponents. Grabbing Drake and rolling him back into the ring, Komander & Vikingo pulled off simultaneous 450 splashes for the three count.
Winners: El Hijo del Vikingo & Komander
Match Review: Beyond the question as to why on an episode featuring three title matches and two tournament bouts that this was the main event – essentially an exhibition match that may or may not have any bearings on the bigger picture of ROH’s title divisions – this match delivered a fun clash of styles even if the victors’ comeback seemed to come almost out of nowhere before it was all over.
Overall Review: An interesting mix of positive and negative in this episode with the latter mostly being connected to lacking logic like title opportunities out of nowhere, having unnecessary extra matches to pad the episode’s time considering their placement on the card, and the odd placement of said matches in correlation with the episode’s bigger bouts.
From the positive perspective, all three title matches got the time they deserved and delivered in fine fashion. The main event, which could’ve been a nice opening contest, did provide an enjoyable experience; as did the tournament matches. One of the episode’s better aspects had to be the fact there were more interview segments to set up future matches and, most importantly, potential character developments for Josh Woods, Diamante, and maybe even Stokely Hathaway due to Samoa Joe getting him involved in a match.
While it’s nice to see some story seeds being planted, hopefully they’re tended to properly so future episodes can truly become must-see beyond a match or two being announced for upcoming shows. But not looking too far into the future, this was one of the better episodes of ROH programming in some time that would’ve been top tier if not for several unnecessary bouts (at least from a short-term perspective) between the Women’s title and main event matches.
