Welcome to another edition of The ROHbot Report – the only article you need for all the Ring of Honor news you have to know. Since 2011, “Best in the World” has provided ROH historical moments aplenty including the company’s first iPPV under the Sinclair banner, ROH’s first live traditional cable pay-per-view in 2014, Jay Lethal winning the ROH World title from Jay Briscoe while holding the Television Championship a year later, and the 2019 edition featuring the last Pure Rules match until the championship was reinstated in 2020. What will this year’s edition bring forth in terms of history-making moments? Lets find out what will go down in Baltimore in front of a live audience for the first time since March 2020.
“Best in the World” Preview; July 11th, 2021; Baltimore, MD
ROH World Championship: RUSH defends against Bandido
The night after “Final Battle ’18” unknowingly changed ROH as fans knew it thanks to the debut of RUSH. RUSH – then a ten-plus-year veteran – began an undefeated streak that would lead him coming face-to-mask with another luchador who too was undefeated in singles competition since debuting in ROH one event following RUSH’s first ROH appearance, Bandido. It was at ROH’s “17th Anniversary” pay-per-view where “The Most Wanted” locked horns with “El Toro Blanco” and they didn’t let up from bell to bell; tearing into each other like long-time rivals in a sprint of a match that went nearly fifteen minutes. With two unbeaten stars fighting someone’s streak had to come to an end. On that night in Las Vegas, Bandido found his shoulders pinned to the mat for the first time in ROH; setting the stage for RUSH’s eventual first of two ROH World Championship wins.
Bandido, though deterred from singles success by RUSH on that night, wasn’t stunted in terms of championship inclinations & glory. After losing the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship and the implosion of MexiSquad, Bandido refocused on what seemed to be his destiny before RUSH derailed him over two years ago: becoming the ROH World champion. Making it through Bateman in a singles match, Bandido entered the 2021 Survival of the Fittest tournament finale. Bandido’s issues with former ally Flamita almost cost him everything as the infuriated Demonic Flamita attacked Bandido following a pin at “The Most Wanted’s” hands. Bandido would have to fight through the pain dished out by Flamita that was capitalized up by the likes of fellow SotF finalists Chris Dickinson and Eli Isom. Showing incredible tenacity & ingenuity, Bandido eventually submitted Isom to win the SotF tournament and earn his first ROH World title shot; his second chance to overcome RUSH.
The ROH World champion is actually more dangerous a competitor than he was in 2019 – living by a mantra where winning by any means is necessary including getting help from his La Faccion Ingobernable stablemates like his father who bashed former title contender Brody King with a chair to ensure his son didn’t lose the gold at “Final Battle”. But RUSH’s in-ring talents haven’t diminished due to him using shortcuts to win as seen during ROH’s “19th Anniversary” show where he cleanly defeated Jay Lethal.
The biggest advantage Bandido has coming into this one is activity. RUSH’s recent actions during his faction’s issues with The Foundation and VLNCE UNLTD resulted in the ROH World titleholder being suspended while Bandido, obviously, competed at a very high level during that same time. Bandido has also shown a more ruthless side since his feud against Flamita and it will be necessary to contend with someone who loves to overwhelm his opponents like RUSH. Though the thought of RUSH losing seems like an improbability almost every time the bell rings, Bandido may be the one who can solve the formula and shock the world by officially becoming the best in the world following another thriller of an encounter between two of lucha’s finest.
ROH World Television Championship: Tony Deppen defends against Dragon Lee
Very few times in the history of ROH has a title had to be vacated or defended by someone else. One of those instances happened prior to the “19th Anniversary” pay-per-view where Dragon Lee’s Television Championship reign came to an end after fifteen months in a match that didn’t involve the member of La Faccion Ingobernable. Instead of being in Baltimore for the PPV, Lee found himself in his home country getting surgery that would prevent him from returning to ROH for several months. When Lee returned, the Television division had change dramatically. Lee’s original opponent for the “19th Anniversary” in Tracy Williams had won the TV title from Dragon’s fellow Faccion member Kenny King; only to lose said title to Tony Deppen in Williams’ first defense.
Ironically enough, Deppen actually fought for the TV title at “Final Battle” several months earlier; coming up short against Lee. Entering episode 509 of ROH TV, Lee and Williams had the chance to rectify a wrong by overcoming Deppen in a Triple Threat match. As the match reached its conclusion, Lee – who was very apprehensive about getting damaged in the bout in general – stepped back and allowed Deppen to pin Williams after a low blow Dragon administered. Through Kenny King, Lee revealed the reasoning behind his actions, stating he was still in TV title contention by not getting pinned like “Hot Sauce”; demanding his one-on-one title opportunity at “Best in the World”.
There are two big dissimilarities between Deppen-Lee at “BitW” and Lee-Deppen at “Final Battle”. The obvious difference is Lee is coming in as the challenger instead of the champion. The not-so-obvious contrast is the fact this will be Deppen’s first match of the evening come “Best in the World”. To earn his unsuccessful TV Championship opportunity at “Final Battle”, Deppen had to win a Four Corner Survival match during the pay-per-view’s pre-show; meaning Tony wasn’t fresh like the champ when their fight occurred. This will be a major test for Deppen as he is still coming in as the underdog even though he’s the titleholder. While many probably expect Deppen to lose here, very few expected him to even win the title when he challenged Williams. The easy choice is Lee walking out as the new champion, but to doubt Tony would be absurd considering how much grit & tenacity the current champion has; not to mention unmatched technical acumen.
ROH Pure Championship: Jonathan Gresham defends against Mike Bennett
Once known as “The Prodigy”, Mike Bennett entered ROH with all eyes on him as he was promoted as the be all end all, and the future of Ring of Honor. But Bennett’s in-ring style and relative inexperience compared to the then-top stars of Honor made it a lot more difficult for the future “Miracle” to succeed in the way he was promoted similar to the likes of Drew McIntyre in WWE following his debut. Then Bennett found himself mostly thanks to his alliance with The Kingdom and Matt Taven. The two formed a championship-level tandem that saw them win gold in ROH and New Japan.
A terrible injury to Taven and Bennett signing with Impact Wrestling ended The Kingdom; putting Mike on a journey that would take him five years to return to ROH. Though he has been occupied with helping Taven against The Righteous, Bennett hasn’t forgotten his goal of becoming a ROH singles champion. By winning the seven-man Pure Rules Gauntlet match on a recent episode of ROH “Week By Week” on Youtube, last overcoming PJ Black, Bennettt earned his shot at the Pure champion Jonathan Gresham – who recently defeated top contender Fred Yehi in a thriller of an outing.
After his successful defense, Gresham issued a warning that his upcoming challenger wouldn’t last long in the Pure Division. And who is to doubt Gresham – the face of ROH’s Pure Division at this time and someone who campaigned for the Pure title’s reinstatement before winning said championship in a single-elimination tournament? Since attaining the Pure Championship, Gresham has showcased his talents against the likes of Flip Gordon, Dak Draper, the aforementioned Fred Yehi, and even the former two-time ROH World champion & fellow Foundation stablemate Jay Lethal. Though Bennett has been on a roll having not lost since returning to ROH last year, the idea of anyone overcoming Gresham in a Pure Championship match seems almost impossible. Though Bennett may lose, this should be an eye-opening experience for many who have doubted his versatile abilities for far too long.
ROH World Tag Team Championship (Fight Without Honor): The Foundation (Rhett Titus & Tracy Williams) defend against VLNCE UNLTD (Homicide & Chris Dickinson)
This time fifteen years ago, Homicide was on the road to becoming the ROH World champion. “The Notorious 187” transformed from a tag team wrestler into one of the most beloved fighters ROH had to offer. But the greener pastures of TNA and his stellar union with Hernandez saw Homicide leave ROH less than a year after his most glorious time to shine in ROH came to an end. Sporadic appearances throughout the next few years saw Homicide go from singles star back to what he began as in ROH, a tag team competitor. Through being a part of ROH for multiple years, Homicide never gained a Tag Team title in the company that helped establish him as a face of the independent scene when Strong Style was all the rage. Someone who was inspired by Homicide’s take no prisoners, hard-hitting in-ring style was none other than Rhett Titus.
Arguably the most successful ROH Dojo student in ROH history, Titus went from ring crew member to two-time ROH World Tag team champion. Titus has not only seen what Homicide can do, he’s experienced it first-hand including a bloody match for Rhett a little over ten years ago. Also inspired by Homicide is Chris Dickinson. The New York native got his start in wrestling the same year ROH debuted and Homicide did the same in the company. Dickinson, like Titus, witnessed with his own eyes the influence Homicide had on the independent wrestling world at that time and inspired to be just as monumental a figure. Now Dickinson has joined the master of the Cop Killa in hopes of bringing more gold to a faction rooted in the same philosophy of violence breeding honor that Homicide cultivated during the early days of Honor.
But the unit of Titus and another man from New York in Tracy Williams have shown just how good they are as a team in a short period of time. Since winning the Tag title from La Bestia del Ring & Kenny King in March, The Foundation have been successful in nothing short of bangers including an overcoming of The OGK, and Kenny King & Dragon Lee with the latter being contested under Pure Rules; and that could mean the biggest difference in if The Foundation wins against their latest challengers or not.
Fight Without Honor encounters not only forgo the Code of Honor, the match stipulation also allows for wrestlers to do whatever they want in the arena’s confines. Though technically inclined, “The Dirty Daddy” Dickinson has been involved some brutal wars just like his partner. But the champions are not without their badges of blood-soaked honor. During his time in other companies under a different persona, Williams showcased his abilities to brawl with the best of them while Titus has spilled blood with the likes of The Briscoes, Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team, and, as mentioned, Homicide himself. This unique tag team encounter is another bout that could go to anyone and should be absolutely incredible even if it doesn’t last too long.
ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship: Shane Taylor Promotions defend against Dalton Castle, Dak Draper & Eli Isom
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.
The SOS lived up to that belief during 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 when they defeated MexiSquad to become the new ROH World Six-Man Tag Team champions. While STP have been going around the country spreading the good word of taking opportunity into your own hands, Dalton Castle has been busy with undisclosed business.
That business came at the extent of a match between Eli Isom and Dak Draper on ROH TV that resulted in both men getting kicked in the groin by Castle after the former World champion talked about being so impressed by them. Their rematch also saw Castle appear. This time, however, Dalton left during the match’s final minutes and distracted Draper in the process; giving Isom the chance to win with finisher, “The Promise”. “The Peacock”, though walking out on Isom-Draper II, seemed dazzled enough with them that he personally challenged Shane Taylor to put the Six-Man title on the line against this new trio headed by Castle – something neither Eli or Dak knew he was doing until the match was officially announced. It’ll be interesting if Castle can go two for two in becoming one-third of the most unlikely Six-Man Tag Team champions ever as he won the title alongside The Boys in 2017 from The Briscoes & Bully Ray.
It’s hard to believe Castle’s trio won’t implode considering the rivalry building between Isom and Draper and Dalton’s inability to keep his allies in order especially if his busy schedule gets the better of him.
Jay Lethal vs. Brody King
ROH’s “19th Anniversary” event shook up the honorable world. After RUSH overcame his latest challenger in none other than the former two-time ROH World titleholder Jay Lethal, Brody King arrived to “congratulate” RUSH – the man who dashed his dreams of winning the ROH World Championship at “Final Battle” three months earlier. But King wasn’t just there to put out another challenge or anything in the like – Brody was ready to bring violence to ROH unlike anything seen since the days of The Carnage Crew, Maff & Whitmer, and Homicide.
Ironically enough, the former ROH World champion Homicide would arrive alongside Chris Dickinson – an independent wrestler who has been making waves throughout North America including in New Japan USA – and recent free agent-turned-consistent ROH performer Tony Deppen. Siding with Brody King, the trio attacked La Faccion Ingobernable before doing the same to The Foundation. VLNCE UNLTD was born in Baltimore that night and they were ready to take over. Under Brody’s watch, Tony Deppen shocked everyone by ending The Foundation’s Tracy Williams’ Television title reign during his first defense. VLNCE UNLTD has gone to war in tag team action with the most prominent factions ROH contains on ROH TV and stood victorious including King most recently pinning Lethal to stop a stellar encounter.
This will only mark the third time these two have shared a ring in ROH or elsewhere, and the first chance for these two vanguards of opposing wrestling philosophies to fight in singles competition. This match not only means a lot to the equity of The Foundation and VLNCE UNLTD, but also the World title rankings. In ROH’s two most recent pay-per-views, King and Lethal have unsuccessfully challenged for the ROH World title. Both would love another shot at RUSH or whomever is the ROH World champion to prove themselves worthy of being called the best in the world. This should be a wonderful clash of styles with the winner shooting up the ranks to, potentially, establish himself as the next in line to challenge for ROH’s biggest prize. King and Lethal need a big victory and this is anyone’s match to win on ROH’s grandest stage in over a year.
Last Man Standing Match: Silas Young vs. Josh Woods
In wrestling history there have been times when people beat the respect into one another to the point they form an unexpected bond – that was the story of 2 Guys 1 Tag. Silas Young, the grizzled veteran who struggled to work well with others, didn’t appreciate the fact Top Prospect Tournament winner Josh Woods wanted to sit under his learning tree. Young eventually relented on ignoring Josh when he discovered how well they gelled as a team. 2G1T would unsuccessfully challenge for the ROH World Tag Team Championship shortly before the world shut down in correlation with the pandemic, but the potential was obviously there for them to be ROH titleholders. But when ROH returned during the pandemic it was Woods looking to become a ROH champion on his own. Woods came up short in attaining championship glory in ROH’s Pure Division, but his skills were obvious enough that he could win the Pure title on another try. Then the unexpected happened.
At ROH’s “19th Anniversary”, Silas Young clobbered Woods during Josh’s tie-breaking bout with Dalton Castle – another rival of Young. Standing over his fallen protege, Young explained how Woods had gotten too big for his britches and needed to learn to stay in his place as the rookie. So Woods looked to prove Silas wrong on ROH TV. Their first singles encounter since 2019 had the same result as that one with Young walking out victorious. Unfortunately for Woods, the loss didn’t come from a lack of talent in comparison to his mentor, but due to “The Last Real Man” using the ropes for leverage during a pinning combination out of the referee’s view. Enthusiastic about his win, Young’s mouth got him in a predicament made for “The Technical Beast” as he stated he could defeat Woods in a Pure Rules encounter. And just like he had done in other Pure Rules matches including against former ROH World champion Jay Lethal, Woods overcame Young on ROH TV in an intense thirty-minute time limit Pure Rules encounter. Since Woods got his match stipulation, Young now wants his.
Though he’s been using the “Last Real Man” moniker for years, Silas is truly ROH’s “Mr. Last Man Standing”. Young has been involved in both of ROH’s most recent LMS matches. In those bouts, Young overcame Kenny King to win his second Television title and put down Jay Lethal in the UK respectively. Woods has never been involved in a match like this, let alone a genuine Last Man Standing bout in ROH. Truly finding himself as an in-ring competitor over the last few months, Woods could be the man who breaks Young’s LMS winning streak as he tries to get back in the Pure title hunt; or go for even more prominent gold.
Flip Gordon vs. EC3
When “Final Battle 2020” wrapped up, Flip Gordon walked out of Baltimore title-less after unsuccessfully challenging for the ROH Pure Championship. Gordon was almost immediately banned from the Pure division for not following the Code of Honor & cheating to win following “Final Battle”. But “The Mercenary” still 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. After ROH’s “19th Anniversary” pay-per-view where Gordon cheated Mark Briscoe out of a singles victory over him, Flip teamed with EC3 to battle their respective rivals Mark and Jay Briscoe. On that night it was Gordon using a steel chain to illegally attack Mark and knock him out for an EC3 pin fall. Though Gordon & EC3 won against the former eleven-time ROH World Tag Team champions, EC3 took the victory as anything but. When Gordon attempted to call out RUSH for his inevitable World title shot, EC3 answered the call; putting out the warning that Gordon and himself are on a collision course. Why?
Simply put – EC3 has discovered honor exists in not only Ring of Honor, but pro wrestling in general thanks to his unsuccessful battle with Jay Briscoe at the aforementioned “19th Anniversary”. This will be nothing short of a clash of styles as EC3 is rooted in brawling mixed with strong grappling. But during his quest to become the Pure champion, Gordon showcased his technical abilities that compliment the high-flying technique that made him so popular during the “Elite” days of ROH. A victory here for EC3 could also mean him leapfrogging Gordon and several others in challenging for the ROH World Championship. This is definitely anyone’s match to win and could signal the next challenger for the ROH World title following “Best in the World”.
Demonic Flamita vs. Rey Horus
The best laid plans of mice & men, and so was MexiSquad. Bandido, Flamita & Rey Horus found themselves working in the same company for the first time in the United States and immediately formed a trio that, almost instantly, became champions by defeating Villain Enterprises for the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship. But like so many great teams in the past, ego got the better of MexiSquad after Flamita blamed his teammates for losing the Six-Man title, failed to regain the gold, and losing to the former ROH World Tag Team champions Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham. Flamita had enough and attacked Bandido during the bout with Gresham & Lethal; leading to a singles encounter between himself and Bandido where Flamita used a low blow behind the referee’s back to win.
Flamita found himself tired of being in the shadow of his former allies and would gladly do anything to win – no better example of that happened during the qualifying round of ROH’s 2021 Survival of the Fittest tournament. Sporting a new look & name, Demonic Flamita put the pressure on Rey Horus in their first ROH singles encounter; overcoming his former ally with a roll up following a unique muscle buster in to the Codebreaker. Now Horus has a second opportunity to avenge what Flamita’s done to him and what was once their champion-quality trio. Throughout his career, Horus has found himself needing to take a few steps back before making a gigantic leap forward. Though Flamita has overcome him in their recent past & is ready to win without regard of honor, this should be Rey’s time to shine with his first pay-per-view victory in 2021.
The Briscoes vs. PJ Black & Brian Johnson
The last year has been pretty rough for all of these men. For The Briscoes, their inability to regain the ROH World Tag Team Championship and Jay Briscoe’s feud with EC3 caused dissension between the brothers that resulted in them recently fighting in two wild matches including a “Fight on the Farm” in front of their father. After brutalizing each other on the same land they grew up on, The Briscoes have found themselves in good standing with each other and begin their hopeful journey back to the top of ROH’s Tag Team division.
Brian Johnson has been making waves in ROH as of late mostly thanks to his gift for gab that is ridiculously underrated in the landscape of pro wrestling. Though big of mouth, Johnson isn’t lacking of skill; almost winning the 2021 Survival of the Fittest tournament. But Johnson’s ROH tenure has been a story of one step forward like defeating rival Danhausen and two steps back like the aforementioned SotF loss & failing to defeat former ROH World champion PCO when he had the opportunity. PJ Black’s luck has to be the worst of the three with him suffering a severe leg injury that put him out of action from November 2020 until last month. The former Justin Gabriel took Johnson under his wing before the pandemic and looks to turn this mentor-protege relationship into a championship-level tandem; and there’s no better way to do that than by overcoming The Briscoes. While this seems like a given win for Dem Boys, who’s to say they really are back on the same page after fighting each other so much as of late. If the brothers have buried the hatchet there’s no way Black & Johnson can overcome the Sandy Fork-bred violence The Briscoes bring every time the bell rings.
The Bouncers vs. PCO & Danhausen
When Vincent spoke to Beer City Bruiser following The Bouncers loss to The OGK last year, something inside of him awoke that had been hindered by booze & simply having fun alongside his tag partner Brian Milonas. Bashing Matt Taven on the head with a beer bottle, BCB left Milonas to temporarily align with someone who saw things the Bruiser’s way; resulting in ROH Dojo student Joe Keys failing to impress his tag team partner. But seeing BCB tagging with someone else sparked Milonas’ feelings and his aggression. After seeing Bruiser & Keys fail to defeat The OGK and Taven gaining a measure of revenge by busting BCB’s head with a bottle, Milonas went on the rampage and unceremoniously bounced Keys out of his partnership with Bruiser while reforming The Bouncers. On their first ROH pay-per-view since “Death Before Dishonor” in 2019, The Bouncers will share a ring with a new tandem.
Following his hiring of PCO as someone to beat up Brian Johnson, Danhausen saw the chance to find someone who could help the very nice & very evil competitor make more money. With the offer on the table, PCO opted to do what made him a success in ROH initially by becoming one-half of a tag team. Through Danhausen is nothing like Brody King, PCO does have an ally willing to go above & beyond to achieve victory including pouring a jar of teeth down someone’s throat. This will be a major challenge for the new duo of PCOHausen and could be the beginning of something special for a union made in Hell; though The Bouncers will most likely walk out 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.
