Last Week: El Hijo del Vikingo tore the house down against a debuting Gringo Loco before Samoa Joe successfully defended the ROH World Television title by besting Colt Cabana.
ROH on HonorClub Episode 9
Pittsburgh, PA
April 27, 2023
Proving Ground Match: ROH Women’s World champion Athena vs. Lady Frost
ROH’s version of a title contender eliminator where the potential title challenger has to either defeat the champion within ten minutes or survive until the time limit expires. Unfortunately there was no onscreen clock or the announcer giving time warnings.
Using the side headlock to her advantage early, Athena controlled her would-be challenger until Lady Frost got up and started using her gymnastics to avoid and eventually head scissor the champ. Catching Frost coming in with a kick to the stomach, Athena regained control by aiming for Frost’s midsection including whipping her in the middle rope so her torso wrapped around the cable. Adding insult to injury was Athena as she clawed Lady’s abdomen while holding her in a back breaker. “The Fallen Goddess” spent too much time mouthing off at the fans and allowed Frost to recover.
Catching Athena with a roundhouse kick, Frost had the champ in position for a cartwheel cannonball splash in the corner. Instead of going for the pin, Frost climbed the ropes. Athena tripped Frost, kicking her in the back while holding her in a tree of woe. Once again it was Athena’s mouth that got the better of her as she taunted Frost. Lady exploded with a spinning roundhouse kick, setting up and executing the twisting moonsault. Athena wisely rolled toward & grabbed the bottom rope. The referee had to stop Frost from attacking Athena while the champ was in the ropes. When Athena got up, she knocked Frost out cold with a rolling forearm; picking up the three count in the process.
Attacking her defeated opponent, Athena bashed Frost face-first against the title belt.
Winner: Athena
Match Review: As expected considering the talent – a solid opener. Athena winning was a given, but she got a greater challenge this week that may be showing that her ego is starting to get the better of her during advantageous moments.
– The Kingdom, in a pre-taped promo, talked about how “Final Battle” last year was meant to be the beginning of their rise back to prominence. But Top Flight ruined that night in hopes of making a name for themselves at The Kingdom’s expense. For Matt Taven & Mike Bennett, people like Top Flight have stolen their moment to honor Jay Briscoe. From this day forward, The Kingdom is looking to get revenge on everyone in that “Reach For the Sky” Ladder Match where The Lucha Brothers became the new ROH World Tag Team champions. According to Maria Kanellis-Bennett, it was time for The Kingdom to show the new faces of ROH what it means to be in the honorable realm.
La Faccion Ingobernable (RUSH & Preston Vance) w/ Jose the Assistant vs. The Infantry (Shawn Dean & Carlie Bravo)
Preston Vance wasn’t wasting any time, shoulder ramming Carlie Bravo into the turnbuckles and catching Carlie with a pump kick when he tried to fight back. From corner to corner, Bravo was being clotheslined before feeling a spine buster. RUSH wanted in, but Vance had other plans as he locked in the full nelson. Making the save didn’t work for Shawn Dean after he yanked RUSH off the apron and broke up the submission as he and his partner were double clotheslined soon after. After putting Bravo in the corner, Vance tagged out to a fired-up RUSH who obliterated Bravo’s face with the Bull’s Horns. RUSH made the cover for the pin fall.
Winners: La Faccion Ingobernable
Match Review: A grand display for Vance. While RUSH and Dralistico are a great team, this one looks like future champions with a dominating show like this. But here’s hoping The Infantry pick up a win soon as they are not only a good team, they also have the special intangible that makes them instantly likeable.
Best Friends vs. Joe Ocasio & Mookie Summers
It was Trent Beretta and Joe Ocasio starting this one with the latter actually getting an early advantage thanks to a cheap shot of a punch. Beretta made Joe pay quickly, slamming and suplexing his opponent before beating him with forearms while he was stuck in the ropes. Chuck Taylor followed his partner’s lead after Joe was knocked to the floor, whipping him against the barricades. Big power bomb to Mookie Summers when he tried to confront Taylor in the ring after tagging himself in. A pair of piledrivers for each opponent ended with Mookie going up and combing down with the Doomsday Knee for the elementary three count.
Winners: Best Friends
Match Review: A dominant showing from Best Friends that gave the people what they want in the end.
ROH World Six-Man Tag Team champion Brian Cage w/ Prince Nana vs. Leon Ruffin
Brian Cage didn’t give the former North American champion a chance to breathe as he was shoulder rammed and suplexed across the ring. Getting out of the delayed vertical suplex, Leon dove into the World’s Strongest Slam. Countering the F5 with a tornado DDT, Ruffin found himself doing everything in his power to avoid Cage’s grip as the fans rallied behind him. Coming off the middle rope, Ruffin drilled “The Machine” with an ace crusher. Ruffin had the fans ready to see an upset when Leon ran into a sick lariat. A power bomb-power bomb across his knee combo allowed Cage to Texas cloverleaf Ruffin while standing on his neck for a submission victory.
Winner: Brian Cage
Match Review: Another week, another squash for Cage. Ruffin was a feisty and got the fans behind him, but the end was inevitable. Also, where are the rest of the Six-Man champs and why haven’t we had a six-man tag on ROH programming since “Supercard of Honor”?
Dark Order (Evil Uno & Stu Grayson) vs. Jeeves Kay & Sonny Kiss w/ Slim J
The Righteous came out to watch from the top of the ramp. What they initially saw was Jeeves Kay attacking Evil Uno from behind. Uno took a bad flying back elbow between his shoulder blades before feeling a slingshot split leg drop from Sonny Kiss. Handspring hussy slap by Kiss set up a waist lock for his partner on Uno. The masked man muscled his way toward his corner, only for Kiss to jump on his back. Uno showed some incredible strength by taking both opponents over. Tagging out to Stu Grayson saw Stu dominating both opponents until Kiss ran in. Stu hoisted Kiss up before pitching her into Uno’s power bomb. Kay was still the legal man and felt a PK from Stu into Uno’s piledriver that resulted in Evil Uno getting the pin fall.
The Righteous was greatly impressed with the win, refusing to leave when the Dark Order came up the ramp.
Winners: Dark Order
Match Review: Though the result wasn’t out of the question, Kay & Kiss got a lot more in than expected. Still don’t know where the Dark Order-Righteous story is going, but it definitely has some actual intrigue.
– Christopher Daniels was in the interview zone with Dasha to explain what’s next for “The General”. At one of his all-time career lows, Daniels explained how his laurels have gotten him no advantage in the ROH peaking order. But he’s ready to swing for the fences: Samoa Joe and the ROH World Television Championship. Daniels is ready to face a man he has so much history with; a man who has spilled his blood numerous times. But Daniels isn’t afraid to bleed as soon as next week for the TV title if Joe is man enough.
Skye Blue vs. Diamante
Using the Code of Honor in hopes of whipping Diamante into something didn’t work as Skye Blue almost got caught in a pumphandle. The action reset when Skye yanked Diamante into an extended pinning combination exchange. Rolling onto the apron, Diamante lured Blue into a hotshot that left he prone to a dropkick that sent Skye flying to ringside. Rallying to her feet after getting pitched into the ring and chine locked didn’t work as Blue ran into a back breaker. Slipping behind Diamante, Blue used a dropkick to set up the cross body off the top rope. Running up the ropes after stopping a German suplex counter, Blue knocked Diamante onto the apron that led to a forearm exchange. Diamante unleashed a German suplex on the apron!
Dropkick on the seated Blue in the corner didn’t end this one in the prior’s favor. Countering a suplex, Blue dropped down to pin Diamante out of nowhere.
Athena arrived, stepping on Blue’s hat.
Winner: Skye Blue
Match Review: Definitely a rough match where it’s obvious they were trying to pack a lot of things into a short amount of time. Skye’s inexperience showed a lot more because of them trying to do so much and things like a huge spot like a German suplex being just as effective as an arm drag didn’t do them any favors.
Rocky Romero vs. Lee Moriarty w/ Big Bill
It didn’t take long for Rocky Romero to get his opposition in the ropes for a flying dropkick as Lee Moriarty dangled across the middle rope. Rocky had a springboard attack in mind when he saw Big Bill coming his way. This distraction allowed Moriarty to knock Romero off the apron. Dancing in the ring, Lee distracted the referee so Bill could clobber a prone Rocky at ringside. Dislocating Rocky’s fingers fired up Romero when he reset his digits. Unleashing a European uppercut to create some distance, Romero unleashed a tornado DDT.
Knocking Lee into the corner, Romero had the Forever Clothesline series stopped as he ran into a Death Valley driver. Lee went for a submission instead of the pin, Turning Lee’s Border City Stretch into a pinning combination, Romero got free and stated landing strikes until Lee fell to the floor. Avoiding Big Bill, Romero unleashed a hurricarana off the steps at ringside. Countering whatever Rocky had in mind, Lee used the power bomb to send Rocky over the top. Romero used his legs to pull Lee over the rope. Romero slipped into the ring after knocking Lee backward. Rocky went for the tope, only to fly into Big Bill. As Lee held the referee from counting out his opponent. But this was a distraction so Bill could choke slam Rocky across the ring’s edge! Rocky got unceremoniously shoved into ring for a Lee leg lariat and the subsequent pin fall.
Winner: Lee Moriarty
Match Review: The best match of the show thus far with them getting some time to really work. As expected, there was some great chemistry between these two chameleons in the ring. The ending was somewhat expected, but didn’t hurt the overall encounter as they left some questions that need to be answered for the rematch.
– Rocky Romero was in the back, actually not upset about the loss. But Rocky is ready for a rematch: a Pure Rules match next week.
Blake Christian vs. Gringo Loco
The early exchange of American lucha saw some impressive counters including Blake Christian turning a back drop over the top into an arm drag by landing on the ropes and springboard off. Knocking Gringo out of the ring didn’t give Blake the chance to hit the Sasuke Special when Loco reentered the ring. Blake landed on his feet, turning around to see Loco coming over the top to somersault atop him. Blake recovered quickly, using a dropkick to send Loco to the floor for that Sasuke special.
Working his way off the mat when caught in a rear chin lock in the ring, Loco sent Blake onto the apron. Christian jumped over Gringo, using the ropes to handspring for a roundhouse kick. Loco was ready for the next handspring attack, power bombing Christian for a two count.
Blake caught Loco climbing the ropes, pulling him off the top rope. Gringo got underneath Christian, using an inverted Olympic slam off the top to earn a two count. Placing Blake on his shoulders and climbing the ropes again, Gringo couldn’t pull off what he had in mind and had to land on his feet in the ring to avoid devastation. Loco rushed Blake, running into a Spanish fly. Christian quickly sprung off the top rope, springboard 450 splashing Loco for the pin fall.
Winner: Blake Christian
Match Review: While nowhere near as impressive as Loco’s match from last week with Vikingo, this was another fun lucha-infused clash with Christian getting a much-needed win in ROH. Wouldn’t mind seeing a rematch or even a Triple Threat with Vikingo involved.
Overall Review: After a rather forgettable episode last week, this show was definitely a rebound; though only slightly. One of the biggest positives was some character direction, potential story advancements, and mission statements being made by The Kingdom, Christopher Daniels, and Rocky Romero. Add that to the fact Athena confronted Skye Blue and The Righteous is still haunting Stu Grayson, and you have at least some reason as to why certain matches are about to or will happen.
The matches themselves, however, definitely left something to be desired as they squeezed eight bouts in an hour. Other than the final two matches, none made it past the five-minute mark and stuff like both women’s matches could’ve benefited from some more time (the short time for taping this episode was possibly attributed to it being taped during before AEW programming). While this episode doesn’t have any must-see encounters, it’s a solid hour that flies by and actually sets up some action for the near future – a wonderful change from last week’s episode.
