Last Week: Dalton Castle and Komander earned their spots in the Survival of the Fittest finale to crown the next ROH World Television champion after Billie Starkz finally stood up for herself to challenge Athena for the ROH Women’s World Championship.
ROH on HonorClub Episode 41
Erie, PA
December 7, 2023
Billie Starkz vs. Dani Mo
Dani Mo put the mouthpiece in before following the Code of Honor. Showing her strength advantage didn’t help Dani much as Billie freed herself from Mo’s grip and unleashed a roundhouse kick. Dani couldn’t stop a pair of German suplexes or the Swanton Bomb for a quick victory via pin fall in Billie Starkz’s favor.
But the champ was here with Athena attacking her future challenger from behind. Pitching Starkz to the floor, “The Fallen Goddess” found herself getting sent against the barricades and suplexed on the thinly-protected floor. Security came out in an effort to stop the fight when Athena shotgun dropkicked Billie, back hand slapped the security guards, and utilized a suplex against the steel ring post on her former Minion. Athena felt she did enough damage after the suplex, taking her leave.
But the getting was too good for Athena as the champ rushed back toward Starkz. Billie caught Athena running with the spear! Athena rolled to her feet, knocking down the security trying to hold her back so she could forearm smash Billie. Starkz got up swinging for the fences that saw her level security members as well. Running toward Athena again, Billie got popped up and power bombed on the floor! Athena hastily rolled Billie back in to perform Billie’s own Starkz End on the Women’s World title belt.
Winner: Billie Starkz
Match Review: Not much to say about the match as it was just a squash to get fans ready for title challenger Billie, but the post-match stuff was fantastic. Rarely is there a good, extended, pull-apart brawl in wrestling; but it happened here and reinforced why the Athena-Starkz story is the best thing ROH has to offer right now.
– The Blackpool Combat Club’s Bryan Danielson and Pure champion Wheeler Yuta were backstage for a promo. The champ spoke up, stating the BCC is looking for a fight with Bryan Danielson putting out the challenge for the BCC versus FTR & Mark Briscoe for “Final Battle”! Now we’re talking!
Dalton Castle w/ The Boys vs. Johnny TV
After taking a short break on the floor, Dalton Castle found himself getting taking down by a roundhouse clothesline after he attempted to push the ROH-debuting Johnny TV across the ring. The Boys fanned Castle up; giving “The Peacock” the type of energy needed to DDT an opponent off a clothesline. Unfortunately for Castle, his momentum was halted by being dumped over the top rope and feeling a moonsault on the floor. Continuously shoving Castle out of the ring cost him as TV’s predictable dive saw him getting knocked to the floor left-shoulder first instead. After sending his opponent against the steel ring steps, Castle took Johnny to Suplex City to the point TV rolled out of the ring for a time-out.
The Boys blocked Castle from taking a dive from TV when Johnny shoved Castle against the ring’s edge. Glad his Boys saved him from the plancha, Castle lit TV up with his patented strikes to set-up the Bang-A-Rang. Suddenly, Taya Valkyrie’s music hit to bring out TV’s wife. Taya double speared The Boys as TV turned a sunset flip into the shining wizard.
Castle found himself in position for Starship Pain, moving at the last second and stumbling into Taya. Castle was infuriated with Mrs. TV’s presence, leaving himself open to feel the Disaster Kick. Kiera Hogan arrived to pull Taya off the apron. The distraction left TV prone to the Bang-A-Rang. Castle made the cover, pinning the former king of Lucha (Underground).
Winner: Dalton Castle
Match Review: While a big win for Castle heading into his title match at “Final Battle”, the closing moments were downright messy and did no one any favors. Hopefully there’s a follow-up with some mixed tag action to make the very non-ROH-like ending worth something.
Rachael Ellering w/ Leyla Hirsch & Maria Kanellis-Bennett vs. Nikki Victory
Some smooth moves from Rachael Ellering allowed her to not only control her opponent, but even block counters like a deep arm drag or her attempt to trip Ellering off the drop-down. Showing some incredible strength, Rachael walked her opponent around to gut-wrench suplex her. Rising slowly, Nikki Victory couldn’t avoid the flying forearm. Hoisting Nikki up, Ellering got shoved away after Nikki freed herself. Hitting the ropes was Ellering, only to be tripped by Maria.
Ellering was surprised about what just happened, confronting her supposed ally who claimed she was looking at the ramp for some reason instead of watching Rachael. Nikki tried to take advantage of the distraction, almost pinning her off the cradle. Ellering kicked out, getting kicked into the stunner. Sadly for Nikki, her subsequent attack saw her run into the Boss Woman Slam ending in Ellering getting the pin fall.
Winner: Rachael Ellering
Match Review: A rather one-sided encounter with Ellering only getting into trouble due to Maria’s blatant interference in an effort to cost Ellering the match. Where this story is going will most likely move past “Final Battle”, but, hopefully will actually have a closing.
– The Women’s World champion was in the interview zone with Lexy Nair with Athena forcing her to admit that she enjoyed the beating Billie got tonight. Athena informed Lexy that Athena and Billie will headline “Final Battle” and Lexy will be the special ring announcer for the bout. That sounds perfect.
The Infantry vs. The WorkHorsemen
It was Shawn Dean of The Infantry taking the fight early to Anthony Henry as he set up some early double teams off quick tags focusing on the left arm of their smallest opponent. Forearming his way to JD Drake, Henry knocked Carlie Bravo into a JD DDT. Big belly-to-belly suplex by JD allowed him to keep Bravo on the wrong part of town. Cutting the ring off didn’t last long for Drake & Henry as Carlie jumped to his partner for a tag so the fired-up Dean could super kick JD after knocking Henry out of the ring. Bravo tagged himself in when Dean used the Stinger Splash on JD. Carlie helped his partner double back drop Henry before using the scissor kick to put JD in position for Dean’s frog splash.
JD kicked out before the three count, tagging out for Henry to get dropped immediately. Dean wanted Boot Camp, but JD had other thoughts in mind by pulling Bravo out of the ring. Dean found himself alone, looking to roll up his way to victory until Bravo tagged himself in. Bravo had the snap DDT/BNT in mind when Henry sent Carlie into a super kick from Dean. Stunned over the miscommunication, Bravo got whipped into Drake’s flatliner off Henry’s enzuguri for the three count in JD’s favor.
Winners: The WorkHorsemen
Match Review: A fine bout with The WorkHorsemen actually getting a winning streak going. It would mean a lot more if there were some stakes to be had in ROH’s Tag Team division like the World Tag Team Championship.
The Renegades vs. Trish Adora & Lady Frost
It was Lady Frost colliding with Robyn Renegade at the sound of the bell with the pace seeing Lady jumping over her opponent to set up a flipping neck breaker off the back kick to Robyn’s stomach. Charlette made her way toward Lady after Frost got back dropped over the top rope, tripping her opponent face first against the ring’s edge. The Renegades took control after the trip, focusing on busting Frost’s face up while using quick tags to keep the other sister fresh.
Blocking a double team suplex, Frost punched and kicked her way to a tag so Trish Adora could unleash a series of running attacks. Deep German suplexes for both Renegades. The Ice Corkscrew Kick landed for Frost on Charlette before Trish pulled off the Bubba Bomb to Robyn. Lariat Tubman against Charlette allowed Lady to execute Frost Bite on the Renegade for the pin fall.
Winners: Trish Adora & Lady Frost
Match Review: Once again, the long-term team loses even if it’s nice to see the very talent Adora and Frost actually win a bout. What this means to ROH’s Women’s Division is yet to be seen as Adora and Frost seemed poised to grow as title challengers on their own post-“Final Battle”.
– Rachael Ellering confronted Maria Kanellis-Bennett in the interview zone about the trip, but Leyla Hirsch stuck up for Maria. Hirsch promised to have Rachael’s back going forward.
Survival of the Fittest Tournament Qualifier: Josh Woods vs. Lee Johnson
The winner of this one will join Dalton Castle, Kommander, and three others at “Final Battle” to fight to become the new ROH World Television champion in a six-way Elimination match.
Lee Johnson found himself both out-wrestled and out-powered in the early going. The former ROH Pure champion failed to suplex his opponent, taking a dropkick topped by a deep arm drag into the arm bar. Making his way to the ropes, Woods used a hip toss to pitch Lee over the top rope to the floor. Using the barricades, Woods slung Johnson against the steel. When the action returned inside, Woods honed in on his opponent’s abdomen. Elbowing and kicking his way out of the corner, Johnson started unleashing clotheslines to set up the neck breaker. Springboard back flip into another neck breaker didn’t put Woods away. Running into a stiff right, Lee had to kick Woods in position for something off the top rope. Countering whatever Lee had in mind, Woods executed the corkscrew superplex … to earn a near fall!
Johnson countered Chaos Theory with a victory roll. Though Lee didn’t pin Woods, he survived the knee strike-power bomb combo. Avoiding a running attack in the corner, Lee used the enzuguri to frog splash Woods for the pin.
Winner: Lee Johnson
Match Review: That was somewhat unexpected. If Wheeler Yuta is involved in the BCC six-man at “Final Battle”, that means Woods is most likely out of luck in regards of being a part of the show after being on a winning streak prior to the loss to Lee. Johnson still feels like a work in progress, but could shine come “Final Battle”.
The Righteous vs. The Outrunners
No waiting around from Vincent as he took the fight to Truth Magnum at the sound of the bell. But the big man was able to take what the former Six-Man Tag champ dished out to knock Vincent into The Outrunners’ corner. Blind tag by Dutch allowed him to come in and wipe out Magnum via the cross body block. Truth found himself on the wrong part of town, getting punched in the face over and & against. Clawing at Truth’s eyes, Vincent seemed to relish in what he just did. Basement flatliner by Vincent gave Dutch the belief this was over. But Truth countered a shoulder-based attack, slipping his way to Turbo Floyd for the tag.
Punches in bunches by Turbo allowed himself suplex Vincent as well. Running through his opponents, Dutch called for Vincent to drop Turbo with Autumn Sunshine. Vincent pinned Turbo for a very emphatic win.
Winners: The Righteous
Match Review: The Outrunners winning ways in ROH didn’t last long with The Righteous dominating the competition. Once again, this would mean a lot more if, say, the ROH World Tag team Championship was around to be defended.
Survival of the Fittest Tournament Qualifier: Lee Moriarty vs. Tracy Williams
After a nice grappling exchange, they started chopping the life out of one another. Getting backed into the corner, Lee Moriarty was given some breathing room thanks to the referee doing his job. Lee back elbowed Tracy, setting up some suplexes and simple stomps. Lee’s onslaught saw him stop Tracy’s attempted comebacks after every step until he ran into a big slam. Chopping Lee into a Saito suplex, Williams had that turnbuckle DDT in mind. Lee fought him, but still took the DDT against the top turnbuckle. Lee stumbled out of the corner into a clothesline … that ended in a near fall!
Williams wanted to end this one with the Piledriver. Lee countered the maneuver, only to be swept into a crossface. Using Williams’ broken fingers against him by snapping them again, Lee pulled off a release suplex into the flatliner to pin “Hot Sauce”.
Winner: Lee Moriarty
Match Review: This is one of those bouts that would’ve benefited from happening earlier in the show so they could have more time to work because the chemistry was there. The outcome was expected though as Williams has been toted for all of his accolades in ROH, only to lose every time he’s appeared on HonorClub.
– Dalton Castle was all over the place in the interview zone. A champion made for TV in his mind, Castle wanted Lexy Nair to ask who is made for TV. Johnny TV arrived to tell “Bland Man” that he is the equivalent of a loser found behind the couch after passing out watching re-runs of “Seinfeld”. They had a “Name the TV show”-off interrupted by Taya Valkyrie who said Castle only won tonight because of his “army” of helpers. Taya pulled her husband away as TV shouted, “In Living Color!” Okay, TV won this round.
The Butcher & The Blade vs. The Boys
The Butcher found himself confronting Boy Brandon. Muscling Brandon around the ring, The Butcher was all over the Boy; even swatting him away after feeling a pair of dropkicks. Kicking his way off Butcher’s shoulders, Brandon clipped the big man to tag out. The Butcher felt a double team dropkick that actually dropped him. Boy Brent made a big mistake trying to strike Butcher.
The Blade entered after his partner almost took Brent’s head off. Flipping out of The Blade’s suplex attempt, Boy Brent got a tag out to prepare some twinning action where they caused several miscommunications between their opponents that resulted in The Butcher & The Blade ending up at ringside. But they stopped The Boys from flying through the ropes with forearms.
With his brother stuck on the floor, Boy Brent stopped another suplex; looking to slide through for the tag. Instead, he had to enzuguri The Butcher to make it to his brother. Flying clothesline all around from Brandon allowed him to hit the legal Blade with a flatliner. Sadly for Brandon, The Butcher ran in to used a half-nelson backbreaker that resulted in B & B’s double team power bomb on Boy Brandon. Holding down Brandon allowed them top pick up another win.
Winners: The Butcher & The Blade
Match Review: While an enjoyable tag match for the time that it lasted, with the show running long and the crowd not invested, this was better served for another day and, once again, may or may not mean anything for ROH’s Tag division in the near future or “Final Battle”.
– Lexy Nair wanted to know if Griff Garrison & Cole Karter actually have any chemistry. Karter explained that they are stuck. Maria Kanellis-Bennett pulled out her phone to sing lyrics to a song she’s written to make their new entrance theme. Griff & Lexy seemed stunned by Maria’s voice as Karter chased behind Maria.
Christopher Daniels vs. Angelico w/ Serpentico
Serpentico jumped onto the apron to follow the Code of Honor as well. When Christopher Daniels accepted the handshake, the masked man shouted, “We’re the good guys!”
Big shoulder block by Daniels stunned the former World title challenger as did the subsequent headlock. No matter what Angelico did, Daniels caught him in the side headlock. Landing a stiff forearm, Angelico finally stopped the headlock onslaught; almost kicking “The Fallen Angel” into submission before locking in that modified Indian deathlock. Daniels recovered quickly, almost winning off a flash pin when Angelico stopped the pinning predicaments by simply forearming him on the jaw.
Ducking another strike, Daniels pulled off a suplex that gave him the momentum needed for a comeback series of strikes. STO connected for Daniels, but didn’t result in a pin fall. Serpentico grabbed Daniels’ legs to stop him from performing Iconoclasm; resulting in the former ROH World champion getting pulled in position for that modified Indian Deathlock. Daniels had no choice but to tap.
Daniels attacked a bragging Serpentico, only for Angelico to start a two-on-one beating. Orange Cassidy’s music hit, bring out Cassidy and Danhausen. Danhausen cursed Serpentico; leaving him open for an Orange Punch. Angelico slipped in from behind, chop blocking Orange before scurrying up the ramp.
Winner: Angelico
Match Review: Like Tracy Williams, Christopher Daniels is heralded as one of the all-time greats in ROH, but can’t win to save his life even if that losing comes from being cheated. The post-match stuff may actually set up a match for “Final Battle” with Cassidy & Danhausen vs. The SAP.
– It was time to sign the contract for Tony Nese versus Ethan Page at “Final Battle”. Mark Sterling wanted to bring up the past of Ethan Page not being a ‘Premier Athlete” because he’s a quitter who quit on his tag team partners, his vlog, and multiple professional journeys, and quit being fat (at least temporarily). Of course “All Ego” couldn’t just sign the contract; needing to retort. For Page, his plan was win ROH gold for his daughter. Understanding how great Nese is as a wrestler, Page didn’t care about losing; but being cheated. According to Page, Nese will have to live with having his sole victory over someone who will steal the spotlight from him. Page signed the contract for what is now an I Quit match for their rubber bout.
Nese spoke up to stop Page from leaving to explain that he’s always known Ethan for being a loser. Tossing freedom powder at Page, Nese pounced and beat “All Ego” while calling him a, “…fat loser!” With Sterling setting up the table in the corner, Nese drove Page through said wood to end the segment standing tall.
Survival of the Fittest Tournament Qualifier: Kyle Fletcher vs. Gravity
Not following the Code of Honor, Kyle Fletcher shoved his opponent against the ropes; only for Gravity to arm drag him out of the ring. Big plancha from Gravity bent Kyle in half. In the ring, Gravity almost won off a modified cradle. Sadly for Gravity, he got driven into the mat via a sidewalk slam. Gravity threw out a big chop, only to feel a flying forearm.
Kyle had a power bomb in mind, getting spiked with the hurricarana instead. Gravity almost won off a power slam topped by the moonsault press. Kyle felt a head scissors out of the corner, using the Michinoku driver on an incoming Gravity ended in a two count for Fletcher. Countering the Tombstone Piledriver didn’t help Gravity as he took a super kick into said Tombstone Piledriver that allowed Kyle to end this one in rather short order via pin fall.
Winner: Kyle Fletcher
Match Review: At least this week had a main event that actually had some visible implications for “Final Battle”. The match’s biggest problem was the time as it ended up being one of the episode’s shortest with Kyle essentially squashing someone who was on a winning streak and challenging for said TV title just a few months ago. A disappointing end to another long-winded episode.
Overall Review: And, yet again, an episode that should be precise and focused on encouraging viewers to get excited for “Final Battle” and maybe even convince non-subscribers to give HonorClub a try, proved too long and had a majority of matches that, most likely, won’t have much influence on ROH’s biggest show of the year. Three out of eleven matches actually meant something for “Final Battle” in the form of the Survival of the Fittest qualifiers; with the post-match action following Billie Starkz and Angelico’s bouts producing more heat for the “Final Battle” main event and potentially adding a match to the card in the form of Cassidy & Danhausen vs. The SAP respectively.
Beyond the aforementioned qualifiers, the episode’s other matches paled in comparison to several interviews and talking segments emphasizing how great “Final Battle” could be including the BCC challenging Mark Briscoe & FTR to a six-man tag in honor of Jay Briscoe, the contract signing that would’ve benefited from being in front of a crowd that either knew why Nese and Page are feuding or were shown a highlight package before the signing, and Athena announcing in an interview segment that barely lasted a minute that the Women’s title match will headline another major ROH event (two in a row!).
There are still a lot of questions heading into the go-home episode for “Final Battle” including whether or not the ROH World, Pure, Tag Team, and Six-Man Championships will be defended at the big event, what is the final SotF qualifier (why weren’t the fans informed about the participants prior to the qualifiers or even an explanation of the tournament’s history), and will Johnny TV (should be “Johnny Honor”) and Dalton Castle continue their “Name That Show” competition?
But when it comes to the penultimate episode, this one doesn’t get the highest of recommendations thanks to not a single match being must-see and the best moments happening before or after the bells (segments that, most likely, will be posted on ROH’s social media and/or YouTube channel before you read this review). The road to “Final Battle” has been a rather uninspired one beyond the Women’s title, but there’s hope the event itself is actually worthy of the “Final Battle” name.
