Welcome to another edition of The ROHbot Report – the only article you need for all the Ring of Honor news you have to know. Last year’s “Anniversary” was canceled due to the beginning of the pandemic. One year later and it’s time to try again with a completely different card, but one still brimming with potential to be great. Lets find out what’s going to happen when ROH returns to pay-per-view.
19th Anniversary Preview
March 26th, 2021
Baltimore, MD
ROH World Championship: RUSH defends against Jay Lethal
Jay Lethal is considered “The Franchise of ROH” – the man who has done it all & then some from defeating ROH legends, to main eventing the biggest shows ROH has to offer, to having classic encounters with a variety of opponents, to being the only man in wrestling history to hold both the ROH World and Television Championships at the same time. From the time he debuted as “Hydro” while goofing off in the faction known as “Special K”, Lethal has also figured out power comes in numbers.
Lethal’s time in ROH has seen the former multi-time champion embrace being a part of a faction that, in his hope, becomes a dominant force. First there was Special K, then The House of Truth; now for Lethal nothing matters more than spreading the philosophy of The Foundation. With Jonathan Gresham, Rhett Titus & Tracy Williams by his side, Lethal looks to purify the world of Honor in the image of The Foundation: an image rooted in the catch-as-catch-can grappling style those like Bryan Danielson, Nigel McGuinness, and even Samoa Joe prided themselves in mastering both in ROH and internationally. For Lethal & The Foundation, pure wrestling is the only way to go.
For La Faccion Ingobernable and its leader RUSH there is no honor, only victory. Like Lethal, RUSH has found great success in big title matches; becoming a two-time ROH World champion in less than a year after one hiccup cost him the goal at “Final Battle ’19”. Since ROH’s return during the pandemic, RUSH and his faction have proven that their way is a path to success considering that every title other than the Pure Championship is in the group’s possession including the ROH World title. But RUSH hasn’t coasted on his laurels, gladly fighting top contenders like Brody King and Shane Taylor while utilizing the power of his familia to win be it thanks to his father Bestia or his “brother” Kenny King.
But the difference between former would-be champions Brody & Taylor and Lethal is the fact RUSH’s prior challengers had no issues embracing the brawling nature of the champion’s style. Lethal will be looking to do the opposite of King & Taylor by working toward a wrestling match instead of a brawl. If RUSH assumes Lethal can’t hang in a fight, though, he’ll be sorely mistaken considering some of the wars Lethal has been involved in including a Bullrope match where he defeated Cody Rhodes during one of ROH’s biggest events ever. If Lethal can adapt & force RUSH to wrestle his style it will be one of the most interesting, and potential highly entertaining RUSH’s match in the champ’s ROH tenure. No matter what Lethal does, it’s hard to believe a new champion will be crowned as a chance for interference unfortunately finding itself in a ROH World title match yet again could and most likely will be the reason why Lethal takes a pin fall loss after feeling the Bull’s Horns.
ROH World Television Championship: Kenny King defends against Tracy Williams
When ROH returned during the pandemic, Tracy Williams was a man alone as his Lifeblood faction fell by the wayside thanks to Mark Haskins being unable to travel from Europe, Bandido leading his new team of MexiSquad, and FinJuice of David Finlay & Juice Robinson focusing on their home promotion of New Japan. Williams centered his mind on becoming the first Pure champion in ROH’s history since 2006; making it to the title tournament’s final before falling to Jonathan Gresham. The loss opened a door for Williams to align himself with his former opponents & allies alike – resulting in The Foundation being born. “Hot Sauce” changed his goal from winning the Pure title to the Television Championship after Gresham’s victory; picking up win after win in singles competition until he earned this title shot following a big triple threat victory over former stablemate Bandido and LSG.
Williams came into this show thinking he’d have to face someone stylistically opposed to himself in Dragon Lee, but the TV champion had a surgery that stopped him from being able to travel. ROH officials have allowed La Faccion Ingobernable member and former Kenny King to stand-in for the titleholder. This will mark only their second singles match in ROH history with King winning that bout several years ago. Like any match featuring a member of The Foundation, the challenger will be looking to out-grapple his opponent with the intent of cinching in a submission for the tap out victory.
Like Lee, King is as explosive as anyone else on the roster; landing counter attacks almost out of nowhere even when it seems he’s the worse for wear. The biggest flaw in King’s skill set is his penchant for wanting to embarrass his opposition; leaving Kenny open for a pinning combination – something seen recently on ROH TV where Tony Deppen surprised the very nonchalant Tag Team champion. While it seemed like a given that Lee would retain, now things don’t look so cut & dry with “Hot Sauce” having a good chance of actually walking out as the new Television title.
ROH Pure Championship: Jonathan Gresham defends against Dak Draper
Jonathan Gresham created a campaign to restore Pure Wrestling in ROH. After months of teasing the return of ROH’s first secondary championship, Gresham finally found himself squaring off with the best grapplers wrestling had to offer for the chance to become the first ROH Pure champion since 2006 when Bryan Danielson defeated Nigel McGuinness to unify the title with the ROH World Championship. Gresham made it through Wheeler Yuta, Matt Sydal, Josh Woods and fellow Foundation member Tracy Williams to claim his spot on the top of the Pure mountain. Interestingly enough, Dak Draper – a man with amateur credentials and someone who watched the Pure division return from afar– didn’t compete in the tournament; listed as a potential substitute that was never needed.
Since the tournament’s conclusion, Draper has found himself overcoming everyone put in front of him; going 3-0 in Pure Rules matches including his most recent victory over Fred Yehi. It was after that successful match with “The Savageweight” that Draper showcased his superiority in a different form by offering the loser a “Participation” ribbon. If “The Mile-High Magnum” can dictate the pace of his upcoming title bout and utilize his strength & size advantages over the champion, Gresham may walk away with the aforementioned ribbon as his only prize. Though outmatched in terms of size, “The Octopus” is one of the most resourceful & tactical wrestlers going today; being able to snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat without warning. This will be a major proving ground moment for Draper as he tries to take that next step toward glory in the honorable realm. While Gresham will most likely walk away the victory, this could be a bout more important to Draper’s career even in defeat as it opens so many eyes to his limitless talent.
ROH World Tag Team Championship: La Bestia del Ring & Kenny King defend against Tracy Williams & Rhett Titus
Following “Final Battle ’19”, Kenny King confronted RUSH and Dragon Lee about aligning. The luchadors took King up on the offer; resulting in the birth of La Faccion Ingobernable. Though a unit, the trio mostly wrestled on their own. That all changed at the turn of 2021. With the mounting force of The Foundation breathing down their necks – not to mention contenders looking to end RUSH and Lee’s respective reigns as ROH titleholders – LFI united in battle with no qualms about doing things dishonorably if it meant victory. No better example of LFI’s ways being the polar opposite of what ROH represents came the night King & Lee challenged for the ROH World Tag Team Championship. Then-defending champions Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham were somewhat embarrassed and eventually outnumbered before failing in their quest to retain the gold. Now looking to rectify what went wrong on ROH TV’s “Championship Edition” episode are none other than the other members of The Foundation.
A very interesting aspect of this one has to be the fact this match will see former partners collide again in the form of King and Rhett Titus. Once known as “The All Night Express”, King and Titus went from a comedy team to ROH World Tag Team champions in less than three years. Their title reign ended abruptly due to King leaving for Impact Wrestling, only for the pair to reunite when Kenny returned. Their partnership didn’t reach the heights of success as it did before, causing a wedge that turned into a schism; producing a feud that ended with King victorious.
This is Titus’ chance to avenge that loss to King at “Final Battle ’19” while restoring a piece of purity to the division The Foundation claims LFI are ruining with their “win by any cost” ways – a way of life that Lee’s replacement for this match in La Bestia del Ring has been helping craft for the faction since “FB ’19” where Bestia helped RUSH defend the ROH World title against Brody King. Sadly for The Foundation, those same dishonorable ways will most likely be the reason why LFI reigns supreme yet again over The Foundation in a bout that could be the sleeper hit of the evening.
ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship: Shane Taylor Promotions vs. MexiSquad
Shane Taylor is determined to be a man who dictates his worth in wrestling. By creating “Shane Taylor Promotions”, Taylor has slowly gained clients, allies and, most importantly, respect from those who always looked at him as the lesser part of the Pretty Boy Killers alongside Keith Lee. By Taylor’s side are two men who too are looking to prove themselves as men who can call their own shots in wrestling: Kaun & Moses, The Soldiers of Savagery. The SOS left a lasting impression prior to “Final Battle 2020” by taking The Briscoes to the limit; almost defeating the record-breaking ROH World Tag Team champions. Though The SOS came up short, the match proved they have the tools to become titleholders.
MexiSquad – the first Mexican-born Six-Man Tag champions in United States wrestling history – joined forces in late 2019 and almost immediately turned their union into championship glory by overcoming Villain Enterprises during ROH’s first event of 2020. MexiSquad, sadly, didn’t have a chance to prove themselves as a champion-worthy unit as the world shut down and the trio were stuck in Mexico. Their planned return to the States was hindered by Bandido and Flamita testing positive for Covid-19; putting MexiSquad’s intended title defense against Shane Taylor Promotions on hold until the February 3rd episode of ROH TV. It was on that night in Baltimore that Shane Taylor Promotions put everything together and did what they claimed they could do for months: become champions if given the same opportunities as other ROH competitors.
This will mark STP’s first defense of their newly-won title against a trio whose did the unexpected the first time they challenged for the Six-Man Tag title at the beginning of 2020. The biggest difference between this match and their previous encounter has to be Taylor’s attitude. Shane was cheated out of winning the ROH World Championship on ROH TV. Taylor’s focus better be on nothing more than retaining the Six-Man gold because if he isn’t mentally in the game to be the leader that his allies need him to be this could mark the shortest title reign in the division’s history with MexiSquad reestablishing themselves as the trio to beat in ROH. But if STP is all in one accord it’s hard to believe MexiSquad will overcome their most recent conquerors in a match that should be just as good, if not better than their ROH TV encounter.
Unsanctioned Fight: Matt Taven vs. Vincent
There’s nothing more disheartening in not only wrestling, but in all human relationships when it appears a bond forged by hardship, stress & even blood is broken due to apparent jealously & greed. Following “Death Before Dishonor XVII”, The Kingdom couldn’t catch a break with Taven having lost the ROH World Championship to RUSH and TK O’Ryan & Vinny Marseglia failing to push back the force of The Bouncers. Then O’Ryan & Marseglia were attack by an unknown assailant(s). Taven took the devious act as both a sign of attrition & cowardice. Marseglia seemed beside himself trying to discover the truth; creating a united front that literally blinded Taven to the truth like a spotlight to the face. In Columbus during “The Experience”, Taven stood in the ring trying to get a fight with the person responsible for hurting his friends when the spotlight suddenly shown into his face. Blinded, Taven couldn’t stop an attack by someone who soon revealed as Vincent himself.
The sadistic “Horror King” used that infamous axe he’s been carrying around for months to slice open Taven’s forehead and drink the blood that came forth. Marseglia gave no answer as to why, but his actions forced Taven’s hand; culminating in a match at “Final Battle”. During the match’s closing moments Taven retrieved Vincent’s axe, only for Vincent to stop a slashing with Sliced Bread #2 that allowed him to pin the former ROH World champion. Bateman shockingly arrived and laid out Taven with his tombstone piledriver “This is a Kill” to showcase his allegiance with Mr. “You Know What I’m Saying?” As if that wasn’t enough they went full blown “Misery” on Taven’s legs; shattering his ankle.
ROH would temporarily shut down alongside the rest of the world, returning in September with wrestling purity in mind, But bloodshed still lurked in the shadows as Vincent reminded everyone that Taven brought the wrath of The Righteous upon himself by never giving credit to Vincent for saving Matt’s career by accepting a position in The Kingdom when everyone Taven aligned himself with left for “greener pastures.” Taven under the guise of a new mantra – “Follow the Trend” – made his ROH return and immediately came after Vincent. Their brawls on ROH TV resulted in the two fighting until security & ROH officials had no choice but to separate them. One of those uncontrollable fights came after Taven pinned Bateman. Bateman and eventually Vincent took out their aggression on Taven; only for one of those men Vincent claimed left Taven high & dry being the only person able to save him: Mike Bennett.
“The Miracle” returned in prime condition and ready to to go war – something he displayed on ROH TV when he and Vincent fought after the latter was disqualified for choking Bennett beyond the referee’s five count. The ensuing melee featuring the aforementioned Bennett and Vincent saw Bateman and Taven join the fray before they were separated by security & ROH officials. With an ally by his side that he can trust, Taven returned to the site of his then-most recent greatest defeat with revenge in mind and a fire in his heart that allowed the original members of The Kingdom to overcome The Righteous.
But in victory came another loss for Taven as The Righteous performed the same ankle-breaking technique on Bennett after the match. Refusing to fight Taven in a ring, Vincent laid out the challenge: lets do battle at where it all began. Sitting inside PAL Hall in Fall River, Massachusetts, Vincent put out the word that if “The Trend” wanted to settle their issues once & for all it would only happen in PAL Hall. This will most likely be a cinematic formatted match that has become all the rage in wrestling since the pandemic began; marking ROH’s first attempt at this presentation style. There are very few feuds in ROH history that have lasted this long and taken as many turns, and it seems that either man could be victorious if they’re able to walk away at all. In truth the most interesting aspect about this one won’t be the winner, but the execution of the match’s presentation.
Jay Briscoe vs. EC3
One of the biggest names in the history of ROH is none other than Jay Briscoe – a man always having aspirations for success as a singles star. After multiple tries against various champions, it wasn’t until 2013 – over eleven years after officially opening ROH’s inaugural event – that Jay Briscoe earned his first World title by himself. From that moment on Jay went on a tear that resulted in him only suffering a pin fall loss in over two years of active competition. Jay Briscoe’s winning way between 2013 & 2020 left a lasting impression on both fans and wrestlers including those not even in ROH at the time like EC3. The former Impact Wrestling Heavyweight champion of the world has gone through a transformation since his days of being the arrogant, luxurious nephew of Dixie Carter.
Following his second stay in WWE, EC3 found a fire within himself unlike anything he imagined; wanting to dictate the narrative of his career going forward instead of simply being a cog in the machine. Entering the realm of Honor allowed for EC3 to question everything about the company Jay Briscoe has called home a majority of his career including whether or not the former two-time ROH World champion is worthy of being called a ROH legend. The tension between Briscoe and EC3 came to a boiling point after they failed to defeat Shane Taylor & The Soldiers of Savagery. A few weeks later when Dem Boys overcame Kaun & Moses, EC3 silently confronted The Briscoes to which Jay took great exception to even though Mark didn’t seen the issue.
Jay’s pride – a folly of his for years including during his wars with the likes of Samoa Joe and Adam Cole – wouldn’t let go of EC3 showing no respect for the former multi-time Tag Team titleholder. Jay and EC3 clashed for the first time in ROH during an episode of ROH TV prior to “Final Battle ’19”; resulting in Jay being disqualified for not breaking a choke while both men were in the ropes. EC3 didn’t take the win lightly, gladly engaging in a post-match brawl before offering his body for a thrashing to test Briscoe’s honor: attack him from behind like a coward or opt to walk away. A confused Jay Briscoe chose the latter, but wasn’t done with the controlled rage of EC3. Before they could settle their differences at “Final Battle”, EC3 tested positive for Covid-19.
When EC3 returned he immediately confronted Briscoe while reminding Jay that the former two-time ROH World champ’s future was solely in his own hands: choose revenge & fight EC3 or choose glory & stick with trying to become a ROH champion again. Jay chose both as himself and EC3 were involved in a ROH World title top contender match. Briscoe – who EC3 screwed out of earning a ROH World Tag Team title shot a few weeks earlier on ROH TV by paying “The Mercenary” Flip Gordon to interfere in The Briscoes’ top contender match against Dragon Lee & Kenny King – spent a majority of his time fighting EC3 on that night instead of focusing on winning the match & earning his spot in the “19th Anniversary” main event. Eventually they fought all the way to the backstage area where security was forced to separate the two.
They gave fans a taste of what will occur at the “19th Anniversary” with their short exchanges on ROH TV; potentially being the craziest traditional fight of the evening if given enough time. Though EC3 is a formidable opponent, it’s hard to believe Jay won’t pick up his first singles win at an “Anniversary” event since 2015 when it’s all said & done.
Mark Briscoe vs. Flip Gordon
When ROH completed its most recent pay-per-view “Final Battle”, both Mark Briscoe and Flip Gordon walked out of Baltimore title-less after unsuccessfully challenging for the ROH World Tag Team and Pure Championships respectively. While Briscoe attempted to get his house in order by realigning with his brother in hopes of attaining a twelfth ROH World Tag Team title reign, Gordon as been banned from the Pure division for not following the Code of Honor & cheating to win. But “The Mercenary” has a World title shot waiting for him to cash-in. Ironically enough it was Gordon cashing in on his moniker that started this whole mess between the two future competitors. During an episode of ROH TV where Gordon teamed with La Faccion Ingobernable, Flip found himself being abused by his opponents including The Briscoes.
Understandably upset about the thrashing Dem Boys dished out on him during the match, Gordon took EC3’s payoff to interfere in The Briscoes’ top contender match against Kenny King & Dragon Lee that resulted in Mark being kicked in the face by Gordon and Jay left prone to a match-ending cradle. Mark paid Gordon back a few weeks later by using a chair to crack Flip’s head and put him in prime position for a pin courtesy of Flamita. They’ve been nipping at each others’ heels for weeks and now both have the opportunity to get a much-needed PPV win over the other. Considering Gordon has reduced the high-flying portion of his style, expect a brawl to break loose not long after the bell rings; resulting in Mark actually coming up short when Gordon catches him off guard with something like that Kinder Surprise that knocked him down on ROH TV.
Dalton Castle vs. Josh Woods
Top Prospect Tournament winner Josh Woods found himself close to becoming a ROH champion for the first time courtesy of the Pure Wrestling Championship Tournament. Woods, who has spent the better part of his ROH career simply trying to prove his worth, found a kinship with Silas Young that seemed to be fostering a ROH World Tag Team title reign. But with the Covid-19 pandemic came Woods switching his goals to something a lot more in his wheelhouse. Woods impressed thoroughly during the tournament; only failing to overcome eventual overall winner and current Pure champion Jonathan Gresham.
Instead of being deterred, Woods kept working hard and saw himself continuing to beat former titleholders; one of those champions just so happened to be Dalton Castle. “The Peacock”, who too suffered a loss in the Pure Title Tournament, kept finding his shoulders on the mat or his hand slapping the canvas in submission. With his back against the figurative wall, Castle realized that winning by any means necessary is a necessity if you want to stay in any wrestling promotion.
That realization came for Castle in his rematch with Woods on ROH TV. Dalton’s back injury has been known for quite a while, so when Woods saw Castle suffering during their match “The Goods” took a step back. That one moment of concern for his fellow grappler resulted in Woods being rolled up & pinned; much to the chagrin of Silas Young – another former ROH champion looking to restart what seemed to be a championship-quality team alongside Woods. But before Woods can decide if he wants to continue on his own or restart 2 Guys 1 Tag he has to exorcise the demon that is “The Peacock”.
It’ll be very interesting to see if Woods can learn from where things went wrong for him on ROH TV or Castle can finally get back into the winning ways that set him on the course of being able to retain the ROH World Championship at ROH’s “16th Anniversary” three years ago. Their matches on ROH TV were good, but this one on a grander stage should make for a fantastic encounter that will mean a lot in regards to the future of ROH’s Pure, Television & Tag Team divisions.
LSG vs. Danhausen vs. Brian Johnson vs. Eli Isom
Danhausen has not only become one of the oddest characters in all of wrestling, he’s also amassed a cult-like following of fans who want nothing more than to see him at the top of the mountain. But Danhausen’s ridiculous contractual demands (not to mention a worldwide pandemic) put a halt to the negotiation process between himself and ROH. Thankfully ROH finally settled on Danhausen’s demands and signed him to a temporary contract that could become permanent if and only if he could win a single match in ROH in 2020. With the clock against him, Danhausen used the cunning of a cult-like leader looking forward a trip to Blisstonia to overcome the self-proclaimed “Number 1” Brian Johnson. Since that night Johnson has wanted nothing more than to avenge that loss to Danhausen while almost moving closer to the status he believes he deserves.
Johnson’s belief that he needs one opportunity to prove himself as everything he claims to be also exists in LSG. LSG’s early ROH success came courtesy of being one-half of Coast 2 Coast alongside Shaheem Ali. After the two agreed to take their careers in their own hands without the other in their corner, LSG immediately bet on himself by challenging Jay Lethal. The match didn’t end in LSG’s favor, but only due to the bout reaching the fifteen-minute time limit and the judges declaring that Lethal had done enough to win. LSG is rightly still soar about the loss and could use that anger to fuel him in during a match that will allow to do what he couldn’t when he was in the Television title top contender Four Corner Survival match at “Final Battle”.
On the opposite end of the spectrum compared to Johnson & LSG is Eli Isom. Another tag team performer looking to do his own thing, Isom made his ROH return recently on ROH TV where he faced Rey Horus; shockingly pinning the former Six-Man Tag Team titleholder. It was hard to believe Isom would be the favorite to win this bout when it was announced until his actions on ROH TV proved he is truly a star on the rise. Like several non-title bouts on this card this has the potential of meaning a lot to the title divisions with all four having as much chance as their opponents walking away victorious.
And there you have it. Show that love, or like, for The ROHbot Report on its Facebook page. Here’s to a great week for you and yours; and as always, thanks for reading.
