Welcome to another edition of The ROHbot Report – the only article you need for all the Ring of Honor news you have to know. ROH is getting ready for its first free event in history that has a card looking to be just as historic & memorable. Lets find out some of the big matches announced for ROH’s return to Baltimore and more.
The main event at “Free Enterprise” in Baltimore on Feb. 9 pits ROH World champion PCO & Marty Scurll against NWA World champion Nick Aldis & RUSH in a huge tag match.
Coming out of ROH’s return to Atlanta for the company’s first event of 2020, RUSH found himself being assisted in dismantling PCO by NWA World’s Heavyweight champion Nick Aldis. Aldis’ actions were purely on behalf of supporting NWA and not La Faccion Ingobernable, but the assault left PCO prone to a thrashing. Marty Scurll – perennial NWA & ROH World title challenger, leader of Villain Enterprises, and one of Aldis’ best friends – has taken exception to “The National Treasure’s” invasion of ROH; an invasion that was actually retaliation by Aldis when Scurll shockingly appeared at NWA’s “Into the Fire” pay-per-view in an act seen by the NWA champ as purely disrespectful.
Scurll, who failed to wrest the NWA title from Aldis last April, now has the opportunity to gain a measure of revenge and potentially put himself as a top contender for the ten pounds of gold (or maybe the ROH World Championship currently held by fellow VE stablemate PCO). As noted in the match’s announcement, RUSH isn’t pleased with teaming alongside anyone not a part of his faction and could be at odds with Aldis throughout. Considering how much damage they did to PCO without an alliance, Aldis & RUSH actually working with a common goal could be more dangerous for PCO & Scurll than RUSH & Kenny King/Dragon Lee. It’s hard to believe this won’t be a tag match that breaks down into a gigantic brawl where the sight of Scurll taking another fall in a ROH ring in 2020 becomes the likely result.
Also signed for “Free Enterprise” is a first-ever tag match featuring The Briscoes taking on Bandido & Flamita.
Two-thirds of the new ROH World Six-Man Tag Team champions will join forces once again in two-on-two action to take on the most heralded team in ROH history. 2019 ended in wonderful fashion for Bandido & Flamita as they overcame Marty Scurll & Flip Gordon of Villain Enterprises to set the stage for a bout in Atlanta during ROH’s first 2020 event. The end result of that six-man encounter featuring VE and their title-challenging opponents was Bandido, Flamita & Rey Horus walking out of Center Stage as the new ROH World Six-Man Tag Team champions.
The Briscoes, however, didn’t have the best end to a historic 2019 as they fell to Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham; concluding their eleventh ROH World Tag Team title reign. The Briscoes are understandably determined to get back in the Tag title picture, but this bout could be a gateway to them challenging for the Six-Man title if they can find a like-minded partner similar to what happened over three years ago when they started teaming with the then-recently debuted Bully Ray. While all signs point to Bandido & Flamita’s tag record staying perfect, it wouldn’t be shocking in the least to see Dem Boys walk away victorious after a thriller of an outing that most likely will steal a stacked show.
New Six-Man champion Rey Horus will take on former champion Brody King during ROH’s return to Baltimore.
Rey Horus entered ROH with something to prove after several successful showcases across the country including in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and Lucha Underground. It didn’t take long before Horus found himself discovering the formula needed to win in singles competition as well as a unit, joining forces in Atlanta to face Villain Enterprises featuring Brody King. At the behest of the group’s leader, VE put their Six-Man title on the line that proved to be a massive error in judgment by Marty Scurll as the new trio of Horus, Bandido & Flamita actually bested Scurll, King & Flip Gordon to become the new World Six-Man Tag Team champions.
Now Body King is out for blood as the agile bruiser of VE has a message ready to be sent to his conqueror in the most physical form legally possible. This genuine David vs. Goliath affair should be absolutely phenomenal with King being the favorite to win after the execution of his patented Ganso Bomb. If Horus somehow does win it’ll happen via a flash pin combination similar to the days of Samoa Joe falling in non-title affairs due to the technical mastery & speed of someone like Colt Cabana.
Dalton Castle & Joe Hendry team up again to take on Vincent & Bateman at “Free Enterprise”.
After a grand showcase against Jake Atlas during “Death Before Dishonor” weekend, Bateman made his presence known in the life & career of Tracy Williams. This set the stage for Williams vs. Bateman for the first time at “Final Battle Fallout” – a match that ended with Bateman victorious after executing his This is a Kill tombstone piledriver. But this wasn’t the only thing so profound about Bateman’s win, but the post-match antics with the arrival of Vincent Marseglia’s Ring of Horror faction stood out more as Bateman stood alongside his leader as Marseglia spoke his gospel.
Another man coming to grips with a newfound personality in his life was Dalton Castle after being confronted by Joe Hendry. Originally disgusted with “The Prestigious One”, Castle saw the light and has become determined to make himself & Hendry the most entertaining tag team in wrestling today. Castle & Hendry enter this one following a big win over The Briscoes and Brian Johnson & PJ Black while Marseglia’s menagerie displayed that wins & losses don’t necessarily matter to them as long as enough damage is done to their opponents. Considering this personalities involved this one seems like it could go a more comedic route before the victors are declared in the form of Marseglia & Bateman.
The ROH World Championship will be on the line in Nashville at “Bound By Honor” on February 28 when PCO defends against Dragon Lee.
PCO has been nothing short of a fighting champion be it as a tag team, trio or, most recently, by himself as the ROH World titleholder. PCO’s first title defense ended in controversy unfortunately thanks to interference from Kenny King and Dragon Lee as they attempted to help fellow member of La Faccion Ingobernable RUSH. The end result was PCO being driven through a table courtesy of a double team power bomb accented by Lee’s double stomp off the top rope. The ROH World Television champion now enters the ring with PCO for one-on-one competition for the first time in history.
Like Jeff Cobb, Shane Taylor and many others before him, PCO enters this bout with the size advantage over the masked man. But what Lee lacks in size he makes up in speed & strikes that can knock someone out in a flash like his Incinerator Knee strike that ended Taylor’s reign, gave Cobb his third pin fall loss in his ROH tenure, and helped Dragon retain the TV title in Atlanta. But if there’s one thing PCO has displayed in every ROH encounter thus far it’s the fact he can take as much offense as his opponents can dish out and retaliate in kind. This clash of styles could produce a sleeper hit that sees Lee take a rare ROH loss.
RUSH & Kenny King of La Faccion Ingobernable will take on Villain Enterprise’s Flip Gordon & Brody King at “Bound By Honor”.
Since forming following 2018’s “Final Battle”, Marty Scurll’s Villain Enterprises have dominated ROH’s Six-Man division after winning the title. VE overcame The Kingdom on night two of ROH’s “17th Anniversary” celebration, with their reign as champions lasting ever since with impressive defenses against the likes of LifeBlood in various forms including alongside PJ Black, a star-studded trio featuring Jeff Cobb, Yuji Nagata & Satoshi Kojima, and even teams that include their opponents in this upcoming encounter. Then came “Final Battle ’19” where PCO defeated RUSH to become the new ROH World champion. The loss put into gear something RUSH felt needed to happen: The rising of a new force in ROH.
Alongside his blood brother Dragon Lee and his brother-in-arms Kenny King, RUSH organized La Faccion Ingobernable with the intent of destroying everything VE has achieved over the past year-plus; starting off strong in their mission during “Honor Reigns Supreme” where Mart Scurll took the pin fall loss for his team in six-man action against RUSH, Lee & King. Now the former ROH World champion alongside the previous holder of two Television Championships will attempt to keep the momentum in LFI’s favor by overcoming a team rooted in ruthlessness. Considering the damage LFI attempted to do to King’s ankle in Atlanta by Pillmanizing him there’s a great chance Brody will come into this one less than 100% and could shockingly be the weak link in a match that should fantastic.
The Briscoes will collide with Jeff Cobb & Dan Maff once again in Nashville.
The former eleven-time, history-making ROH World Tag Team champions The Briscoes are back on the figurative horse in an attempt to get their next crack at beating their own record again by regaining said title. Dan Maff & Jeff Cobb – one being a former ROH World Tag Team champion and the other a World Television titleholder – have found themselves bonded over the fact they love colliding with each other when the bell sounds. These two tandems collided in Triple Threat action during ROH’s return to Atlanta with Jay getting the fall for his team that didn’t involve either member of Maff & Cobb. It’s hard to believe this won’t be a slugfest from bell-to-bell with either team being next in line to challenge whomever holds the gold after this weekend of action. The actions of champions Lethal & Gresham as of late to avoid a rematch with Dem Boys may be the determining factor in whether or not Cobb & Maff are standing across the ring from their recent one-off partners or The Briscoes get another crack at the gold they’ve held for over a cumulative 1000 days.
Slex will have a major challenge in his second ROH match when facing Marty Scurll in Nashville.
Former ROH World Television & Six-Man Tag Team champion Marty Scurll has been all over the wrestling news world as of late for his actions outside of the ring, but now the leader of Villain Enterprises is looking to make big business for himself & VE across multiple promotions including ROH and the NWA. But when it comes to getting it done no one handles his business better than Slex. While Slex is a fresh face in ROH, the Australian has been wrestling for over a decade & a half; making waves throughout his native continent and beyond including having must-see matches with SoCal Uncensored, Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay, Austin Aries, and Marty Scurll himself. Scurll enters this one with an undefeated record against Slex, but that could easily change considering Slex’s natural ability & growth as of late while Scurll has been mentally occupied with trying to become a World champion and protecting his VE stablemates against the mounting force that is La Faccion Ingobernable. While it doesn’t have the build or anticipation of a must-see encounter, expect many a fan to be talking about this one when it’s all over for the best of reasons.
ROH’s return to Missouri for “Gateway to Honor” will see PCO defend the ROH World Championship against RUSH and Mark Haskins on February 29th.
Coming into “Masters of the Craft” last year, The Kingdom of Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan had the chance to continue their winning ways while making Villain Enterprises finally bow to them. Instead, PCO pinned the World champion in a wild Six-Man Tag Team Championship defense that set the stage for him, at fifty-one years old, to earn a ROH World Championship opportunity. PCO came up short on that night through controversial means; putting him on the journey back to another ROH World title shot. One night later it was Mark Haskins who got his second crack at the ROH World Championship after failing to defeat Jay Lethal the year prior; too failing to win like PCO due to interference. With Haskins shuffled out of the World title picture last spring, PCO found somewhat unexpected success by defeating Kenny King in the opening round of a tournament to become the top contender to the ROH World Championship at “Final Battle”, PCO continued winning until he was standing across the ring from Marty Scurll at “Glory By Honor”.
The battle was that of one made for Scurll to win thanks to interference from King and Flip Gordon, but it was PCO’s night to reign as the premier villain in ROH. PCO continued that momentum by winning all the way up to “Final Battle” where he finally faced of with the undefeated “Bull” in a match that became one of the wildest in ROH history featuring broken doors, sick chair shots, and PCO actually being electrocuted so he could continue. All the pain, setbacks & suffering were worth it as PCO overcame when few thought he would and became the new ROH World champion. But before PCO was crowned the new World champion, Haskins also went to war with Bully Ray; surviving & winning a brutal Street Fight featuring barbed wire, tables & even a cheese grater. This could produce one of the most chaotic World title matches in ROH has ever had in Triple Threat form with the chance of a new champion being crowned not necessarily being that unlikely with RUSH standing tall yet again.
Bandido & Rey Horus will team again to challenge for the ROH World Tag Team Championship against defending champions Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham.
When LifeBlood formed last January, Jay Lethal was targeted by the faction not as an enemy, but as an example of who used to be type of people used to epitomize ROH. Lethal found men like Jonathan Gresham and Jeff Cobb also having a similar mentality as his own, teaming with them frequently throughout 2019 until something snapped in “The Franchise”. Lethal soon saw that winning by any means if necessary is the only way to succeed in today’s ROH; figuring out that “The Octopus” Gresham – who too saw the “light” in regards to ROH glory – was right; resulting in them winning the ROH World Tag Team Championship at “Final Battle ’19”.
A month later, Lethal & Gresham were on the same side of the ring with Cobb yet again and won yet again; though the tension between the champions and their ally for the evening resulted in Lethal and Cobb actually fighting. On the opposite end of the spectrum are the World Six-Man champions – a trio who had never teamed before in ROH prior to “Saturday Night at Center Stage” being able to do the seemingly impossible by winning gold in impromptu fashion. This will mark the champions’ first defense and most likely won’t be their last considering the challengers have all the makings of imploding before the final bell rings. If, somehow, Cobb gets along with the ROH Tag Team champions long enough there may be another big upset in the Six-Man division, but that is the most unlikely thing to happen throughout the night.
Ring of Honor has begun its 18th year of delivering the best professional wrestling on the planet and the company will celebrate its birthday with two huge events in the fight capital of the world – Las Vegas, Nevada. The weekend begins on Friday, March 13 with the “18th Anniversary” pay-per-view at Sam’s Town Live. Then on Saturday, March 14, the company presents a very special event, “ROH: Past vs. Present” also at Sam’s Town Live.
Beyond the typical “Anniversary” pay-per-view is the more exciting announcement of the night that will follow when ROH’s past meets its present. ROH has already announced that former ROH World champion Homicide, former Tag Team champion Matt “Evan Bourne” Sydal, former Pure champion Doug Williams, hardcore wrestling legend Necro Butcher, and one of the most important figures in independent women’s wrestling Allison Danger will all be a part of the March 14th event. For long-time ROH fans this is something to truly be excited for and could produce one of the most entertaining nights of 2020 in ROH depending on the match-ups and what other ROH alumni show up to take on the likes of Villain Enterprises, LifeBlood, Nicole Savoy, Jay Lethal (an old rival of Homicide) & Jonathan Gresham.
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