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 has made some major announcements not only regarding some of its upcoming shows, but also the state of ROH’s Women’s division. Lets find out what’s going on.
A four-way tag match featuring Dalton Castle & Joe Hendry, PJ Black & Brian Johnson, LifeBlood’s Mark Haskins & Tracy Williams, and Vincent & Bateman has been signed for “Bound By Honor” in Nashville, TN on Feb. 28.
Four teams will be jockeying for a chance to challenge for the richest prize in ROH’s tag team divisions during a first-time Four Corner Survival bout. The recent teams of Vincent Marseglia & Bateman and Joe Hendry & Dalton Castle have yet to gain a significant groove like their opponents that has resulted in either golden glory or a taste of what it means to challenge for ROH’s second oldest title. LifeBlood’s Mark Haskins & Tracy Williams almost saw gold come to their faction thanks to their success over the summer last year, but came up short when the lights were on bright. Ironically enough it was the other member of LifeBlood – Bandido – that failed to win alongside his stablemates, yet has found success alongside Rey Horus and Flamita with them becoming the Six-Man Tag Team champions at the start of 2020.
Originally scheduled for this match, Bandido & Flamita had to opt out due to Flamita tearing his meniscus; giving the new tandem of mentor & protege featuring PJ Black & Brian Johnson a chance of a lifetime. The ever-disgruntled Johnson has wanted nothing more than an opportunity to show why he’s the “Mecca” of wrestling. Unfortunately almost every chance for Johnson to prove himself has ended in either failure or embarrassment (or both) as seen during “Free Enterprise” when his impressive display during the battle royal that included eliminating Black ended with an unceremonious elimination of his own. This could be a night of redemption for the likes of Hendry & Castle or the unusual team of Marseglia & Bateman proving they have what it takes to subdue their primal nature to actually win. Haskins & Williams, who’ve had their issues with Bateman & Vincent as of late, are in need of a big win and could kill two birds with one stone by defeating Marseglia & Bateman to do so. Originally the favorites to win were Bandido & Flamita, but now it seems like it’s anyone’s match to win. This will definitely be one of, if not the wildest match of the evening with an end result that could see a team like Hendry & Castle stealing the victory when no one expects.
ROH matchmakers are wasting no time putting recent signee Slex in marquee matches. The Australian star will face “The Villain” Marty Scurll and Bandido in a Triple Threat match at “Bound By Honor”.
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.
Like his opponents, Bandido was one of the most exciting unsigned talents in all of pro wrestling before he became a member of LifeBlood and considered a potential top contender for the ROH World Championship. Originally meant to be a singles match between Scurll and Slex, Bandido was added to the bout following an injury to Flamita. An interesting statistic is the fact Scurll enters this one with an undefeated record against Slex. Slex also comes into this one with a 0-1 overall record in ROH; something that he is definitely looking to change. Bandido is one of the men responsible for Scurll’s recent trek back up the mountain having dethroned him as one-third of the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team champions – this victory came after months of battles between LifeBlood and Villain Enterprises that even saw Bandido pin “The Villain”. Slex versus Scurll looked amazing on paper; this bout looks like a classic in the making with Slex potentially getting his first win in ROH over a pair of men considered two of the best ROH has to offer.
A huge match for the ROH World Tag Team title has been signed for “18th Anniversary” as Villain Enterprises’ Marty Scurll & Flip Gordon will challenge for the championship in Las Vegas on March 13th.
Using ROH TV as a platform to discuss his future intentions heading into “Final Battle ‘17”, Jay Lethal came face to face not with his believed destiny – another crack at the ROH World title – but a villain. In front of a pro-Bullet Club crowd, Marty Scurll entered the ring to confront Lethal – or, to paraphrase Scurll, the shell of Lethal’s former self. According to Scurll, the Jay Lethal who won both the ROH World Television and Heavyweight titles then wasn’t the man who had been competing over that past year. In Scurll’s opinion, Lethal denying himself of who he really was hampered his title aspirations. Before Scurll signed with ROH, Lethal ruled with a “by any means necessary” attitude – something his future rival admitted to admiring to the point that Lethal became a dream opponent. That dream match came true at “Final Battle” with Lethal cheating his way to victory; setting the stage for a second World title win six months later while establishing his superiority over Scurll that night. Ironically enough it was Lethal’s tag team partner Jonathan Gresham that opened Lethal’s eyes yet again to what it would take to achieve victory in ROH: forgoing honor with the intent of attaining golden glory.
It worked for Lethal & Gresham as they became the ROH World Tag Team champions at ROH’s biggest show of the year. Their challengers for ROH’s “18th Anniversary” celebration are very similar to the champs themselves: two individual stars once featuring two different mindsets finding a bond in & out of ring that have allowed them to become a force to be reckoned with. “The Villain” and “The Mercenary” have proven to be worthy adversaries of anyone ready to face them including men they’ve overcome in the past like their opponents as seen at “Glory By Honor XVII” when Scurll defeated Lethal and during “Global Wars ’18: Toronto” when Gordon overcame “The Octopus” in their most recent of three ROH singles matches (2-1 in favor of Gordon). Though this somewhat spoils the potential outcome of any other Tag title matches pre-pay-per-view, the match itself should be exceptional with the likely outcome being a retention of the gold.
Adam Brooks will take on fellow Australian star Slex in his debut at ROH “18th Anniversary” in Las Vegas on March 13.
Rumored for a few weeks, but now official is the ROH signing of Adam Brooks. Another Australian standout has been traveling across the world for the past year; delivering must-see encounters against a variety of opponents currently signed to ROH including Marty Scurll, Brody King, Rey Horus, Bandido & fellow Australian Slex thanks to his hard-hitting approach to compliment his impressive grappling acumen. As noted by ROH when announcing the signing, Brooks is currently the Melbourne City Wrestling Heavyweight champion having defeated, ironically enough, Slex for the gold and could bring it with him when he makes his in-ring debut. “The GLOAT” is a big get for ROH and it’ll be interesting to see if Slex can spoil his rival’s ROH debut or if Brooks can keep his winning ways alive against Slex in a match that could steal the show no matter the winner.
On Saturday, March 14, ROH presents a very special event, “ROH: Past vs. Present” at Sam’s Town Live Las Vegas. Delirious and Grizzly Redwood join forces to face Dalton Castle and Joe Hendry.
Dalton Castle & Joe Hendry’s effort to become the most entertaining team in wrestling today has been something of a mixed bag of success. Doing well during ROH’s UK tour prior to “Final Battle”, Castle & Hendry fell to 2G1T at the big event in Baltimore. 2020 has too been peaks & valleys for Hendry & Castle featuring wins followed by a crushing loss such as winning a Triple Threat match in Concord that included The Briscoes, only to fall short against The Righteous during “Free Enterprise”. While Castle & Hendry are not only the favorites to win here, they can at least state that as a unit they’ve actually picked up some significant victories in their short tenure as a unit unlike their opponents. Delirious, a former ROH World title contender over a decade ago, standing with the returning “Littlest Lumberjack” & ROH Dojo graduate Grizzly Redwood. Recognized as a comedy figure similar to what Cheeseburger would become, the small wrestler who embraced the dichotomy of someone of Redwood’s stature and his gimmick. It’ll be great to see Redwood back in a ROH, but it’s hard to believe anything other than a definitive victory for his opponents.
The Havana Pitbulls – Rocky Romero and Ricky Reyes – will team together for the first time in nearly thirteen years when they face MexaBlood (Bandido and Flamita) at ROH “Past vs. Present”.
In 2004 when future ROH World champion Homicide formed a unit in ROH alongside Low Ki to showcase their out-of-the-ring friendship could translate into success, Ricky Reyes & Rocky Romero were fresh-faced newcomers looking for an opportunity to showcase their tag team talents. Ki & Homicide opened the doors for The Havana Pitbulls and Reyes & Romero didn’t let their future allies down; forming The Rottweilers faction while attaining the ROH World Tag Team Championship by defeating the Second City Saints of CM Punk & Colt Cabana. Generation Next, Punk & Steve Corino, Carnage Crew, and Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer all fell to The Havana Pitbulls before their tenure as a team came to its end in 2007 – their last ROH appearance occurring in January the same year. From a style perspective, their opponents couldn’t be any different as two-thirds of the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team champions are highflyers ready to soar at any given moment as opposed to The Pitbulls’ more technical brawling move-set similar to what Homicide & Low Ki did during their heyday. The biggest question coming into this one is how healthy Flamita will be. Projected to be ready to wrestle by the event after suffering a torn meniscus, The Havana Pitbulls have surgical precision when comes to isolating injured opponents; potentially producing the most shocking result from this special event as MexaBlood fall to The Havana Pitbulls.
A new Ring of Honor Women’s World Championship has been created. This title will replace the Women of Honor Title and carry the utmost prestige as only the best competitors will earn its gold. The tournament to crown the inaugural champion begins with eight first-round matches at “Quest For Gold” on Friday, April 24 at Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena.
At “Final Battle 2017” it was announced the re-branded Women of Honor division would see its first champion crowned in 2018. Sumie Sakai won the title tournament by pinning Kelly Klein to become the inaugural & longest reigning Women of Honor champion in history. Between those two & a half years of existence, four women held the title amidst an outcry from fans who felt the company either underutilized talent or didn’t retain the women who many believed could carry the division beyond all expectations. But it never came to be with Klein being removed from the company during one of the most controversial out-of-the-ring moments in ROH history. ROH looks to hit the reset button again on its women’s division without the return of the division’s original title, but a brand new, more form-fitting addition to the company’s list of championships. As of now only the former & first Women of Honor champion Sumie Sakai has been announced for another title tournament, but it’s hard to believe the likes of fellow former Women of Honor champion Angelina Love, Women of Honor resurrector Mandy Leon, recent signing Session Moth Martina, former SHIMMER champion Nicole Savoy, perennial Women of Honor title contender Jenny Rose, reportedly signed Kellyanne from Australia, and other unsigned talent won’t get a chance to shine with the intent of honor finally being restored to ROH’s Women’s division.
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