(Note: Make sure you read my six-month evaluation of Ring of Honor since its weekly programming began airing on HonorClub: Ring Of Honor 6-Month Evaluation: The Tony Khan Era).
Last Week: Zack Sabre Jr. successfully defended his NJPW World Television Championship against Metalik before The Mogul Embassy followed suit by overcoming Action Andretti, Darius Martin & Lee Johnson.
ROH on HonorClub Episode 28
Chicago, IL
September 7, 2023
– Last Sunday during AEW’s “All Out: Zero Hour”, ROH Women’s World champion Athena reprimanded her minion Billie Starz for not stopping Willow Nightingale for winning their tag match. Allysin Kay arrived to challenge Athena to a match. When the champ stated Kay hadn’t earned a shot, only for Billie to question if Athena was scared. Refusing to be called a scaredy cat, Athena agreed to the match before dragging Starz and her bestie interview Lexy Nair out of the picture.
– Before her match, Allysin Kay reminded everyone she’s been looking to break through the pack in ROH since 2012. Promising to show that “AK don’t play,” Kay looked to finally achieve World champion status in ROH.
ROH Women’s World Championship: Athena (c) w/ Billie Starkz vs. Allysin Kay
Commentators Ian Riccaboni & Caprice Coleman noted their record against each other is 2-2 with their last bout happening eight years ago. Big right forearm to stop the collar & elbow tie-up let Athena celebrate herself. Coming off the ropes for a cross body block, Athena flung herself into a fall away slam topped by the sidewalk slam. The champ left the ring after feeling a big boot, using Starkz as a human shield when Kay came after her. Athena slipped from behind her minion, sending Kay into the barricades. Athena demanded Starkz put the boots to Kay as the champ distracted the referee. Poor Billie was unable to do the dishonorable and interfere; allowing the challenger to reenter the ring to an awaiting “Fallen Goddess”.
Taking some spin-rattling strikes, Kay found the crowd rallying behind her opposition. Wasteland connected for Athena after she got dragged to the canvas via a crucifix. Ducking under a running Athena, Allysin sent the champ into the top turnbuckle face-first. Sky High from Kay that didn’t put the titleholder away. Losing an eyelash, Kay found herself cinching in the Ankle Lock off a face buster. Athena wanted Billie to push the bottom rope closer to her, but Starkz didn’t understand.
Kay pulled Athena from the nearby ropes, only for the “Fallen Goddess” to kick her challenger away. Athena made her way to the top rope, hitting the O-Face after stopping Kay from climbing the corner in hopes of superplexing the champ. Athena made the cover, pinning another would-be champion.
Athena wanted innocent Billie to slam Kay’s face against the title belt. When Billie refused, Athena did her own dirty work and left Kay lying after slinging her against the title belt before telling Billie to think about what she didn’t do.
Winner: Athena
Match Review: A really good opener thanks to the champ’s chameleon-like ability to have an enjoyable match with almost anyone of any style. Though the match itself was solid, the most interesting aspect was whether or not Billie would give into Athena’s evil encouragement.
– In the interview zone, interviewer Lexy Nair stood with Maria Kanellis-Bennett and Cole Karter with Nair questioning what Cole said to Griff Garrison last week. Karter was informed by Maria that there’s a chance Garrison may start teaming with Karter in the near future, but tonight it’s about Cole doing things on his own.
Tony Nese w/ Mark Sterling vs. Silas Young
Trying to get the cheap shot off the Code of Honor didn’t work for Tony Nese, but tripping an incoming Silas Young into the turnbuckles face-first did. Avoiding a rushing Nese saw Young pull off the springboard clothesline out of the corner when Nese landed on the apron. Tumbling to the floor, Nese lured Silas into an attack by using Mark Sterling as a target. Sterling choking Young behind the referee’s back resulted in Nese getting a chance to pose and set up some left arm-based attacks including a missile dropkick.
Stopping a suplex, “The Last Real Man” pulled off a big clothesline with his right arm. Hot shot by Young allowed him to slingshot double stomp the downed athlete. Young uncharacteristically was looking for support from the crowd; giving Nese the chance to recover and send Silas left shoulder-first against the ring post. Tripping a staggered Young so he was seated in the corner, Nese pulled off that running double knee strike to put Young down for the three count.
Winner: Tony Nese
Match Review: Silas Young attempting to work as a fan favorite made this something of a weird encounter, but the fundamentals were great and the wrestling was fine for what it tried to accomplish including establishing Nese as a threat.
– Dalton Castle was in the interview zone with Lexy Nair as a flustered “Peacock” expressed his concern over not being able to give the ROH viewers a true Television champion. With roadblock after roadblock, Castle was almost hyperventilating even as Nair tried to put over his new t-shirt. Castle had no idea where to go or who to fight first to get closer to becoming the new Television champion.
The Spanish Announce Project (Serpentico & Angelico) w/ Luther vs. Adam Priest & Schaff
Angelico opted to start things with Adam Priest, showing off just how skilled his is when it comes to grappling. Smooth as butter was Angelico in his method to control Adam by his arms. Serpentico tagged in, setting up a double team where the luchador landed a big back elbow. Kneeing his way out of Serpentico’s clutches, Priest tagged in the massive Schaff who wiped out his masked opposition with ease for a cannonball splash in the corner topped by a released suplex-running senton splash combination.
Serpentico recovered quickly, stopping a sure pin and rolling his way to a tag so Angelico could clothesline both opponents in and out of the ring. Bicycle kick connected for Angelico; setting up a roundhouse kick for the Indian death ankle lock. Serpentico grabbed an incoming Adam to prevent him from breaking up the submission so Schaff had no choice but to tap out.
Winners: The Spanish Announce Project
Match Review: Angelico & Serpentico get another win in a rather uninspired encounter that did what was necessary for this week: giving them two wins for two in two weeks.
– Kiera Hogan was in the interview zone with Lexy Nair to admit she didn’t know her and Leila Grey had an issue. No matter the opponent, Hogan is looking to light up the Women’s Division in ROH … on period.
Willow Nightingale & Skye Blue vs. The Renegades
Charlette found herself being outmaneuvered early by the hometown girl, getting cornered for a Willow Nightingale clothesline in the corner followed by a Blue neck breaker and a Willow senton splash. Blue slid off Charlette’s bent body when going for Code Blue; resulting in Robyn blind tagging herself in. Robyn’s big knee to the back of an unsuspecting Blue allowed The Renegades to cut the ring off. Deep bridge off the northern lights suplex by Charlette after she reentered off a tag, but no three count. Blue ducked a clothesline by Robyn, tagging in Willow. Willow was going clothesline crazy herself; cornering both sisters before using the Pounce … period on Robyn!
Charlette rushed Willow, taking a spine buster for her trouble. Stopping the Babe With the Power Bomb, The Renegades double rolling forearm Willow. Blue ran in to help her partner; giving her enough break to recover and Death Valley drive Robyn in position for Skye’s Code Blue. Blue held Robyn down for the pin fall.
Winners: Willow Nightingale & Skye Blue
Match Review: Another good match given some time to let all four showcase their talents. The most important aspect is Willow finally getting some revenge for the post-match beating The Renegades gave her months ago.
Proving Ground Match: ROH World Six-Man Tag Team champions The Mogul Embassy (c) vs. Metalik, Griff Garrison & Gravity
Bishop Kaun saw himself in the ring with Griff Garrison with the latter showing his agility early before getting run through by a back elbow. Griff found his way out of the champions’ corner, only to get caught by a lung blower by Kaun into Toa Liona’s belly to belly suplex. Brian Cage joined Toa to double team flapjack Griff. Cage’s suplex attempt failed; allowing him to kick “The Weapon” before tagging out to Gravity.
Gravity was slipping, sliding, flipping & rolling in hopes of taking Brian Cage down. When Cage countered what Gravity had in mind, the luchador tagged in Metalik after getting knocked backward. Metalik put Cage in prime position for a springboard somersault senton splash. Kaun & Toa Liona ran in to dispose of Gravity and Metalik before doing the same to Griff Garrison. With Metalik alone to fight off three men, the would-be title challenger saw himself getting hoisted up by Kaun & Cage while Toa came off the middle rope for a big splash to pin the masked man.
Winners: The Mogul Embassy
Match Review: A solid sprint of an encounter with another Proving Ground Match not providing a future title challenger.
Kiera Hogan vs. Leila Grey
Code of Honor followed before the two locked up. The former Women’s World title challenger found herself getting cornered and elbowed in the chest when she attempted to break clean. Kiera Hogan made her opponent pay for the dishonorable action by slipping behind her for a double knee dropkick both while she was standing and when she fell against the ropes. Hogan’s step-up leg drop to her opponent’s back didn’t end this one.
Leila Grey recovered quickly, using the front of Kiera’s tights to send her face-first against the turnbuckles. Using Hogan’s long braids, Grey sent Kiera across the ring for some illegal chokes. Hogan chopped her way off the mat, only to run into a back elbow. Using her own back elbows to send Grey into the corner, Hogan pulled off two dropkicks in the corner. A rough looking spear from Grey stopped a running Hogan; giving her the chance to grab the fan she carries to the ring. Hogan ducked the illegal act, pulling off the swinging fisherman’s suplex for the three count.
Winner: Kiera Hogan
Match Review: Kiera gets back on a winning streak in a solid, though forgettable encounter. Leila tries hard, but still needs a lot of ironing out of the rough edges that makes her performances seem clunky.
– In the interview zone, interviewer Lexy Nair stood with Maria Kanellis-Bennett who stated she had an opportunity for Griff Garrison. When Cole Karter dragged Griff to the area, Maria expressed her feelings that Garrison is full of raw potential who may reach said potential by being with the right people. Leaving Garrison to think about the proposal, Maria and Cole exited the scene.
The Infantry & Willie Mack w/ Trish Adora vs. August Matthews, Jax-C & Davey Bang
Starting off for his team was Carlie Bravo as he worked over the newcomer in Jax-C to set up a double team enzuguri-neck breaker combo alongside Shawn Dean. Tagging out to Willie Mack, the deceptively agile heavyweight used a big hip toss to set up the shining wizard on August Matthews. Taking the big kick from Willie sent August into his corner for a tag to Davey Bang; who didn’t fair much better than his partners as he was knocked into Willie’s Sky High courtesy of Bravo’s fake-out right hook. Triple team super kick from The Infantry & Mack. Grabbing Bang, The Infantry pulled off the Bootcamp (a running big boot into the side Russian leg sweep) for the three count.
Winners: The Infantry & Willie Mack
Match Review: The debuting trio was no match for three highly entertaining talents that should be in title contention very soon (hey, how about them winning a Proving Ground Match to get the shot?).
– Lee Johnson stood with Lexy Nair in the interview zone, hungrier than ever to earn a World title shot in a Proving Ground match. According to Lee, all he needs is one shot to take over ROH by beating ROH World champion Claudio Castagnoli tonight.
Leyla Hirsch vs. Lady Frost
No Code of Honor from Leyla Hirsch, causing an intense collar & elbow tie-up sequence where Hirsch whipped her opponent across the ring. Lady Frost used the momentum to trip Hirsch, only for Leyla to kick Lady’s left arm out of her arm. Maria Kanellis-Bennett & Cole Karter arrived to watched the festivities including Leyla pulling off a pendulum dropkick in the corner before locking in an arm bar.
Using an arm wringer to roll to her feet, Frost started throwing kicks that eventually connected and put Leyla in the corner for a handspring cannonball splash in the corner that caused her to sacrifice her arm. The moment to recover cost Lady as Hirsch avoided the subsequent roundhouse spin kick to yank Frost into the arm bar for a submission victory.
Maria & Cole came to the ring with the prior offering Leyla her hand. Hirsch gave her the cold shoulder, stating, “I don’t need you. I’m doing just fine.”
Winner: Leyla Hirsch
Match Review: As expected, Leyla wins another match that was a lot more competitive than what she’s be involved with as of late. Similar to the opening contest, the most interesting aspect was what happened beyond the action with Hirsch apparently turning down Maria’s offer for her managerial services.
ROH Pure champion Katsuyori Shibata & NJPW Strong Openweight champion Eddie Kingston vs. Gringo Loco & Blake Christian
Though the fans were chanting for Eddie Kingston and Gringo Loco, it was Katsuyori Shibata and Blake Christian locking up first with the latter getting caught in a figure four leg lock almost immediately. When Blake pulled himself to the ropes to stop the submission, Shibata put Christian in the corner for chops from both champions that bloodied Blake’s chest. Failing to suplex Blake, Eddie felt a back handspring enzuguri. Gringo tagged in, initiating a chop exchange that ended with a running Eddie feeling a leg lariat. Standing moonsault press-running senton splash combination kept Kingston down for two seconds. The fans didn’t care for Christian knocking the Pure champ off the apron so Gringo could moonsault Eddie’s legs before Blake used the springboard 450 splash on Kingston … for a near fall due to Shibata’s interference!
Blake’s follow-up frog splash resulted in him hitting Eddie’s knees. Kingston got the tag, bringing in a fired-up Shibata who started tossing Blake around the ring. Gringo and Eddie attempted to enter, but were taken out by the legal competitors; resulting in Shibata using Blake’s back handspring against him by catching Christian in the Sleeper. Blake collapsed; prone to the PK and the subsequent pin fall.
Winners: Katsuyori Shibata & Eddie Kingston
Match Review: Another sprint of a tag match that really could’ve been a special bout if given more time as it was the first match since the opener that the fans were really enthused about throughout.
– Josh Woods & Mark Sterling were in the interview zone with Lexy Nair; the latter asking what’s next for the successful “Technical Beast”. Sterling put over Chicago witnessing greatness during Michael Jordan’s run – something they won’t see with the best pure wrestler in the world in competition tonight. Instead, Woods has an open challenge for an unannounced date (possibly next week) to fight the best pure wrestlers the world has to offer.
Proving Ground Match: ROH World champion Claudio Castagnoli w/ Wheeler Yuta vs. Lee Johnson
Lee Johnson would not be bullied, refusing to take an insulting slap when backed into the corner behind him. Claudio Castagnoli made his would-be title challenger pay for standing up for himself by wearing him out with forearms that set up a pair of huge slams. Lee used the ropes to flip out of a third slam, looking for a moonsault. Claudio caught and swung Lee, only to feel a tornado DDT. Big buzzsaw kick from Lee stunned the champ.
Castagnoli demanded Lee bring a fight and Johnson ended up running into a European uppercut. Blocking the second uppercut, Lee almost won with the backslide. Claudio kicked out, almost clotheslining Johnson inside-out. Johnson couldn’t recover in time to stop the MMA elbows. Lee was out and the referee wanted to call the match when the champ decided otherwise by grabbing the official’s arm. Claudio stopped the elbows to hoist Lee for a pop-up European uppercut. The pin fall was elementary for the World champ.
Winner: Claudio Castagnoli
Match Review: A game Lee Johnson was, expectedly, no match for the dominant ROH World champion in, yet again, another Proving Ground Match where a new contender wasn’t determined.
The Iron Savages w/ Jacked Jameson vs. Caleb Konley & Brent Jones
Poor Caleb with a “C” got power slammed by Bronson before Boulder tagged in. Boulder caught and slammed both Konley & Jones at the same time after Jones tagged in. The Stand finished off Jones in short order.
Winners: The Iron Savages
Match Review: Sheer, unadulterated slaughter by The Iron Savages. It would’ve been nice if they didn’t give them a Tag title shot so early in their run to let them get more wins like this one so the fans had a reason to believe they had a chance of becoming champions when the title match did happen.
– Lexy Nair was with Athena and Billie Starkz yet again. After Lexy revealed she had her bestie shirt on, Athena questioned why Billie won’t follow orders like a good minion. Promising “Minion Training”, Athena took Billie to who knows where.
Best Friends, Darius Martin & Action Andretti vs. The Outrunners & The WorkHorsemen
Jumping their opponents from behind, The Outrunners & The WorkHorsemen sent their opponents to the floor for a thrashing. The brutalizing of Chuck Taylor, Action Andretti & Darius Martin resulted in Trent being isolated and almost pinned off a JD Drake DDT. Double team face plant by The Outrunners ended in a two count thanks to an intervening Chuck. Stealing the tag from Drake, Turbo Floyd called for the end with his frequent partner. Trent freed himself from Turbo’s grip, sending The Outrunners into one another.
Darius tagged in, on fire with chops and kicks until he double reverse DDT’ed The Outrunners. Drake ran in, taking a double team bulldog by Action & Darius. Henry got much of the same, putting him out of the ring before Chuck & Trent entered so Best Friends, Darius & Action could hug. Turbo was left to feel the Best Friends’ Strong Zero to conclude this match with a pin fall by Trent on Turbo.
Winners: Best Friends, Darius Martin & Action Andretti
Match Review: Beyond the obvious reason that Best Friends are recognizable faces to get the fans excited, this was an utterly strange choice for a main event that didn’t get much time to really deliver a match worthy of its spot on the show. Also, why were The WorkHorsemen teaming with The Outrunners when just last week their focus was on the Six-Man Tag title alongside Lee Moriarty?
Overall Review: After last week’s unusually short episode, this show was more in line with the usual; though it must be stated a majority of every match presented had a reason to happen except, ironically enough, the main event that proved something of a let down considering the talent involved mostly due to the lack of time given. Really, the main event could’ve been the opener with any of the dominant World champions (Claudio, Athena or Mogul Embassy) occupying the final bout’s slot. Both Castagnoli and the Mogul Embassy obliterated wannabe title contenders in expected fashion; though it would’ve been nice to see what has now become the unexpected with a champion either losing or failing to defeat an opponent in the time limit during a Proving Ground Match.
Athena defending her title against Allysin Kay proved to be one of the show’s better matches mostly thanks to the interesting story of an unwilling Billie Starkz failing to find her inner darkness no matter how hard Athena tries to convince her “The Fallen Goddess’s” way is the right way for success. The sad part about their storyline is it’s not happening on a show people can freely see every week and aren’t hunting down their backstage segments usually put on ROH’s social media accounts. If and when Billie stands up for herself, the crowd may not be as explosive as they should having not seen all the ebbs & flows of their relationship.
Though the Mogul Embassy stopped one trio from getting a title shot in the near future, the new team of Willie Mack & The Embassy seem poised for a clash with the champs down the line. If they’re patient and wisely build up Mack & The Infantry as contenders instead of doing the usual of sticking them in a title match a week or two after teaming, the fans will have a real reason to believe that new champions will actually be crowned when the trios inevitably clash.
Another pair of contenders shown to be focused on their goals are Josh Woods and Dalton Castle with varying degrees of planning. Castle is beside himself trying to fight the power without understanding how and Woods has Sterling guiding his way to opponents that will guarantee him another crack at Shibata (Woods’ interview segment wisely occurred after Shibata’s match). The other story advancement coming from this episode was Maria’s growing stable with Cole Karter obviously on board, Griff Garrison left to contemplate the benefits of being managed by “The First Lady of Wrestling”, and Leyla Hirsch – who had a rather competitive encounter instead of a typical squash – opting to stick to doing things by herself.
It was nice to see Willow back on ROH programming and her finally getting a measure of revenge against The Renegades after she was laid out by them months ago (though the latter may not have been on purpose as there was no mention by anyone including the commentators about the last time Nightingale interacted with the sisters). Serpentico & Angelico are actually on a winning streak and may become one of the most unlikely Tag title contenders in recent ROH history. And Tony Nese continues to struggle in getting any type of significant heat while having solid matches every time he’s in action.
Though it wasn’t a perfect episode, this one was more in line with both what’s expected of the product and how ROH should mostly be handled with a mixing of new and old stars, some storyline progression, and building toward future clashes. The episode’s only issue is one that is the norm with “ROH on Honorclub”, unfortunately, and that’s putting too many matches on an episode so the bouts that could’ve benefited from more time to really produce memorable encounters don’t live up to their potential (in this episode’s case: the main event, Shibata & Kingston vs. Christian & Loco, and the six-man Proving Ground). Still, episode twenty-eight ended up being an easy watch and one of the better episodes in quite some time.
