ROH On HonorClub starts NOW!
Gates of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona) defeated The Infantry (Carlie Bravo & Shawn Dean)
With ROH TV Champion Brian Cage occupied elsewhere, his Cage of Agony partners reverted back to “Gates” to take on the Infantry. Dean and Bravo came in off of losses to STP and The Outrunners, so they were looking to right the ship here. Kaun and Liona for their part have to go back to August for their last win as a duo. Both teams had things to prove and it showed.
Kaun and Bravo started things off and it was an immediate case of strength vs agility. Kaun was twice as wide as the lighter Bravo, but the speed factor kept the two pretty even in the early going. Liona tagged in and flattened Bravo who desperately looked for a tag to Dean. Once he got it, Dean was all over Liona… right up until he ran face-first into a superkick.
From there the Gates took control. A series of sentons crushed Dean in the middle of the ring. Dean caused a distraction, allowing Bravo to throw Kaun into the barricade on the outside, softening him up. The Infantry isolated him from Liona and began raining down chops in the corner.
Off of a hot tag, Liona jumped in and cleaned house. At one point he had BOTH members of the Infantry on his shoulders for big powerslams. A miscommunication caused Liona to knock Kaun off the ring apron and the Infantry tried a double team, but Liona was too much for them. Kaun got back in and put Dean down for the count, extending the Infantry’s losing streak.
Reyna Isis defeated Viva Van
Poor, poor Viva Van. Van debuted in ROH on May 27th, 2022. She has had matches against Athena, Harley Cameron, Red Velvet and just last week, Yuka Sakazaki. All losses. In fact, Van has yet to win a match in ROH. Isis was actually in the same boat, but had an excuse as this was her ROH Debut. No matter what though, one woman was going to erase the “0” from the win column in her stats with this match.
The two were pretty evenly matched in size and power. Holds and strikes were exchanged during a prolonged feeling-out process until Van ate a big knee, causing my six year old to exclaim “Oh, Viva Van!”
Isis hung Van up in a tree of woe and driver her knees into her midsection. Van tried to get back into it with a spinning heel kick, but couldn’t land anything that kept Isis down for any length of time. Van changed her tactics and tried a reverse surfboard, but Isis wouldn’t quit.
Isis caught Van with a high crossbody followed by dual headbutts to regain momentum. A big guillotine leg drop finished off Van, who’s still looking for her first win in ROH.
-Backstage Leyla Hirsch cut a promo, revealing that she has been recovering from a shoulder injury. She’s coming back though, so everyone get ready because she wants championships.
Rocky Romero (w/Dunkson, mascot of the Stockton Kings basketball team) defeated Brandon Cutler
Romero was taking a break from his Conglomeration duties this week after his group beat The Elite on Dynamite in a trios match on the Oct 16th edition of Dynamite. Cutler on the other hand has been racking up the losses since getting a win over Evil Uno, back in May. Preston Vance, Colt Cabana, Katsuyori Shibata and even Jacoby Watts have managed to get Cutler’s shoulders to the mat.
Cutler jawed off the top, begging Romero to shake his hand. He did that, and then crushed him with a lariat. Cutler was able to keep up with Romero, but Romero was clearly in control. He had a counter and an offensive move for everything Cutler had in his bag of tricks.
Cutler managed to worm his way into control of the match with a sleeper hold. Romero fought out of it though, but Cutler missed a move from the top ropes and tried to bail to the outside. Romero followed with a big splash and threw him back into the ring.
Cutler tried to use the ropes to steal a pin, but Dunkston pointed it out to the Ref. Cutler began yelling at Dunkston, allowing Romero an opening to hit a flipping DDT and get the 1-2-3 for the win.
LEEJ (Lee Johnson and EJ Nduka) defeated Jiah Jewell and Bret Hankins
Johnson and Nduka have been pals for a long time, but this will mark the first time they have teamed up in ROH. Questionable team names aside, this promised to be a barn burner, showing off Johnson’s technical skills and Nduka’s sheer power. Nduka got a huge pop from the crowd as the two headed to the ring. Jewell and Hankins, who were either two local wrestlers, or part of the ring crew, looked comically small and thin in the ring with LEEJ.
Surprising no one, Johnson started off with Hankins and wrestled cicles around him. Nduka then tagged in to face Jewell and he hit him so hard his hairline receded. This wasn’t a David vs Goliath story it was more like a small twig vs Goliath.
Jewell and Hankins actually managed to isolate Johnson in the corner and get a little bit of offense in. It didn’t last long though as a hot tag to Nduka resulted in the spontaneous explosion of both competitors. Not really, but he hit them so hard both appeared to do 450 spins in midair. Johnson and Nduka hit a spinebuster/neckbreaker combo on what was left of Jewell and got the pin.
Record-Breaking Celebration for ROH Women’s World Champion Athena
Back in September, Athena broke Samoa Joe’s record of 684 days (as of this writing) as champion in Ring of Honor. Since then, Minions Lexy Nair and Billie Starkz have been planning a massive celebration for the Forever Champion (that Athena really wanted Ja Rule to be part of for some reason). Unfortunately, work kept getting in the way with matches, Starkz’ tumbling down the Minion Rankings and Abadon stalking Athena with her eyes on the title.
To start things off, ROH showed a Classic Match: Athena vs then-ROH Women’s Champion Mercedes Martinez. The match was from December 10, 2022 at that year’s Final Battle PPV event. Obviously, Athena came out the winner and began her 684+ day reign as Champion and it was a really fun match!
Back in the here and now though, Billie Starkz had used the time to set up a ton of balloons, a store-bought cake (that per Wrestling Law, must end up on someone’s face) and decorations in the ring. Athena came down to her celebration still locked to Lexy Nair for “her protection” from Abadon. The MIT’s in the ring broke into a dance party and Athena called out that it was a pretty weak party. Where was Ja Rule?!? Athena sent all minions except Starkz and Nair to the back in disgust.
Athena lamented that she doesn’t get the respect she deserves, even from her own mother who shose to have “major surgery” instead of coming to her daughter’s Celebration. Athena clamied she was under-appreciated and deserved more than the crummy party. Athena blamed Starkz for all of it, saying she was jealous. Athena got in Starkz face and she grabbed the mic from her.
Starkz pushed Athena over and proclaimed “I’m done!” before leaving the ring and the party! Nair then tried to get the party back on track by unveiling a modified ROH Women’s Title with Athena’s picture on it. AND IT SPINS!
Suddenly, Abadon’s music hit and Nair dove out of the ring. Athena got ready to be jumped, but… nothing happened. The music faded out, and when Athena went to pull Nair back into the ring via chain, it was ABADON who appeared in the other cuff!
Abadon beat up the champion with a Black Dahlia, then smashed the cake on Athena’s face, fulfilling the prophecy and leaving her laying in the ring.
ROH World Television Title Match: Brian Cage (c) defeated Komander (w/Alex Abrahantes)
I’m beginning to think that Cage just doesn’t like Luchadores. Or at least someone on the booking team doesn’t like luchadores, because they keep getting sent to be thrown at the ground repeatedly by Cage. In this match, Cage’s ROH TV Title was on the line though, and Komander, who picked up a win over Willie Mack last week, would love to add that title to his list of accomplishments.
Cage arrived in a rather subdued manner, in plain black trunks. He wasn’t wasting time though, throwing Komander into the corner and drilling him with some big elbows. Kmander tried to battle back but every time he got a little momentum, Gage threw him at the ground a bunch.
Cage began showing off, as he does, catching Komander mid air and curling him like dumbells (or he was cuddling him. It was hard to tell). Cage then picked up Komander and threw him out of the ring like a sack of potatoes, causing my six year old to exclaim “Oh no, Brian Cage!!”
Cage then reversed his own move by picking up Komander and throwing him back INTO the ring. Taking his time and doing a little posing on the way back into the ring, Cage accidentally gave Komander an opening for some spinning kicks. That enraged, uh, Cage, and he got sloppy letting Komander land a 360 hurricanrana.
Komander had one last burst of energy, hitting a 450 splash from the top rope, but Cage kicked out at one. Komander tried moonsault instead, but Cage caught him and powerbombed him a half dozen times, ending with a modified F-5 (aka, he threw him at the ground a lot). Komander was done after that, and Cage got the pin and retained the title.
(Results by Jeff Moss and F4WOnline.com)
