Ring of Honor - 2024

[DreamBroken]

Fun quick 3 way opener with Taya vs Marina vs Robyn Renegade. Always enjoy seeing Robyn, her first match on Honor in a few months now. Similarly for Skye Blue, a nice home showcase squash for her.

Billie Starkz looked good as usual and Diamante wins her squash the quickest.  Athena caught seemingly faking her injury.

They announced Roderick Strong vs. Dalton Castle for Collision with the winner facing Mark Briscoe for the ROH title at Death before Dishonor

Big Shotty & The Infantry worked well together in trios defeating the Dark Order. 

[Matt D]

I’m playing catch up. The back third of the Yuta vs Moriarty was staged, unbelievable, inorganic dreck. 

[Curt McGirt]

What is supposed to be so special about Moriarty is what I want to know. You should know Matt, you're a Segunda writer, that's where the hype came from.

[porksweats]

25 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

What is supposed to be so special about Moriarty is what I want to know. You should know Matt, you're a Segunda writer, that's where the hype came from.

Twitter just loved the guy due to Taiga~~~~style

[Log]

I saw Moriarty do some cool stuff in Paradigm Pro pre-AEW. He just seems to be still finding his footing. I think he's a guy with a ton of upside, but he just needs to figure some things out.

[DreamBroken]

Lance Archer & The Righteous vs Dalton & the Outrunners went longer than I expected.  Cage of Agony get the trios squash for the night.

Red Velvet made quick work of Maya World. Aminata with the quickest squash of the night. I feel like Aminata is a great choice for next champ but don't love the idea of it happening in Athena's hometown reaction-wise.

Nice to see Shibata back in ROH to wipe out Evil Uno by ref stoppage, didn't realize Shibata had been off ROH since late last year.

Solid promo from Shane Taylor about coming for the ROH Championship, I'm down to see that.

Awesome main event from Diamante vs Legit Leyla in a Lights Out match. They went all out with thumbtacks, tables, Diamante with a bloody ear. Killer finish with Diamante's 2nd rope Code Red through a table. Surprised they didn't keep that until Death before Dishonor. EDIT - but now they've added a Texas Death rematch! which should rule. 

Edited July 20, 2024 by DreamBroken

[Matt D]

- Great to see that focus on Hirsch vs Diamante. They gave them a ton of time and they went very hard.

- Shame about Dalton. Even though they lost, it seemed like this was a big opportunity for the Outrunners.

- Athena will be super over at the PPV in Texas. Aminata is charismatic but it seems a tricky call. I would have had her face a tweener.

- The card has the matches built for months. He’ll pack on all the crazy stuff this week. 

[DreamBroken]

Paul Wight is now on the ROH Board of Directors! Hopefully this is used more than when Jerry Lynn/stokely were like dueling GMs. 

Solid opening tag of Yuta/Claudio vs Moriarty/Ogogo.   Fun final segment for the women's title matches. Leaning towards an Aminata win at the moment but being in Athena's home still gives me some doubts.

Nice debut for EJ Nduka.  Shane Taylor/Johnny TV vs. Atlantis JR/Lio Rush was good stuff.  10 man tag was fun with Fuego's return.  Pretty good Von Erichs/Dark Order main event. Didn't realize that vacating the trios titles also undid the unification too.

The PPV cards always come together strong in the end, looking like another good one.

 

Final card for Death Before Dishonor as of now:
 

Spoiler

ROH WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Athena(c) vs. Queen Aminata

ROH WORLDS HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Mark Briscoe(c) vs. Roderick Strong

ROH WOMEN'S TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Billie Starkz(c) vs. Red Velvet

ROH PURE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Wheeler Yuta(c) vs. Lee Moriarty

ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS MATCH
Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett)(c) vs. The Conglomeration (Kyle O'Reilly & Tomohiro Ishii)

ROH TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST
Atlantis Jr(c) vs. Shane Taylor vs. Johnny TV vs. Lio Rush vs. Lee Johnson vs. Brian Cage

TEXAS DEATHMATCH
Diamante vs. Leyla Hirsch

ROH WORLD SIX MAN TAG TITLE ELIMINATOR (Winners face Undisputed Kingdom to crown new ROH Six Man Tag Team Champions the next night at Battle of the Belts XI)
The Dark Order (Evil Uno, John Silver, & Alex Reynolds) vs. Dustin Rhodes & The Von Erichs

The Beast Mortos vs. Komander

ZERO HOUR PRESHOW
The Debut of MxM Collection (Mansoor & Mason Madden)

[DreamBroken]

Pretty decent Zero Hour. thought MxM Collection looked good in their debut, but surprised to see they're being immediately thrown in with FTR already tomorrow now.  Welcome in Melissa Santos to the backstage interview team.

Beast Mortos/Komander was an awesome opener as expected filled with crazy spots and Komander dives. Reminded me of the previous Mortos/Vikingo opener on ROH PPV. Good showcase win for Mortos to get and now he gets to be Hologram's 2nd opponent tomorrow night. Tag title match was really good. Kyle and Ishii's total elimination ruled. 

Leyla vs. Diamante was an absolutely epic bloodbath, definitely lived up to expectations.  Iconic hardcore performance from Leyla with her missed moonsault into the thumbtacks, then putting herself through barbed wire with an apron samoan drop, and ultimately finishing with a ladder moonsault through a table. Awesome brawl.

Yuta vs. Moriarty turned in a really great Pure title match. I was shocked by the title change as I didn't expect that at all as I figured this was more just Yuta getting back in to the mix of defending again. Moriarty dropping Yuta over the top straight down on the apron looked brutal. They got a lot of time and both using up all their rope breaks added to the drama. Nice crowd reaction for it.

Thought Velvet vs Billie was very good as well. Another I was shocked by the title change, didn't see any chance Billie would lose her first big defense but an epic win for Red. Thought it was a great finishing stretch with Billie trying to fake the injury again backfiring this time. 

Dustin & the Von Erichs make a fun trios, would be down with them as champs. Thought it was odd that Kyle Fletcher wasn't in Survival of the Fittest since he got involved earlier and never got a TV title rematch. The match was a pretty fun multi man spotfest. Loved the dive train ending with Brian Cage's big flip dive to a big pop and then a tease of a Shane Taylor dive. Was sad to see Taylor the first one eliminated though. Big Shotty's elimination looked killer. the Cage/Johnny TV sequences reminded me of their Impact feud. Nice win and retain for Atlantis overall. 

Billie losing her title and then Athena/Aminata not main eventing had me leaning more towards Athena retaining. Turned in to another pretty great Athena defense. In a different scenario I would've thought Aminata was the best choice if anyone was going to beat Athena, I'm good with the reign continuing towards 600 days but always wonder who else is left to challenge. Mark and Roderick put on a great main event as would be expected.  Overall another really good show, always love the ROH PPVs

 

ROH Death Before Dishonor full results:

Spoiler

ZERO HOUR:
*MxM Collection (Mansoor & Mason Madden) def. Angelico & Serpentico (9:02) after the Centerfold on Serpentico. After the match, Maria Kanellis appeared on stage as MxM left. 

*Marina Shafir def. Angelica RIsk (0:59) via Mother's Milk submission/ref stoppage

*The Infantry (Carlie Bravo & Capt. Shawn Dean w/ Trish Adora) def. Anthony Henry & Griff Garrison (w/ Maria Kanellis) (9:26)

*Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin w/ Action Andretti) def. The Outrunners (Turbo Floyd & Truth Magnum) (8:45)

ROH Death Before Dishonor - July 26, 2024 from Arlington, TX

*The Beast Mortos def. Komander (w/ Alex Abrahantes) (13:36) after Destination Hellhole

*Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett)(c) def. The Conglomeration (Kyle O'Reilly & Tomohiro Ishii) (19:12) to retain the tag team championships when Bennett pinned O'Reilly with a small package after a low blow following a distraction from Don Callis & Kyle Fletcher.

*Leyla Hirsch def. Diamante (15:47) after a moonsault off a ladder through a table in a Texas Deathmatch

*Lee Moriarty def. Wheeler Yuta (19:58) via rollup using the ropes to WIN the ROH Pure Championship.

*Red Velvet def. Billie Starkz(c) (14:56) after a flip cutter to WIN the ROH Women's TV Championship.

*Dustin Rhodes & The Von Erichs def. The Dark Order (14:25) when Dustin pinned Reynolds after the Final Cut to advance to Battle of the Belts. After the match, Katsuyori Shibata joined the winners in celebration.

*Atlantis Jr. def. Shane Taylor, Lio Rush, Lee Johnson, Johnny TV (w/ Taya Valkyrie), & Brian Cage (19:11) to RETAIN the ROH TV Championship
-Lio eliminated Taylor with the Final Hour
-Johnson eliminated Lio after the Big Shotty Drop
-Cage eliminated Johnson after a double team with Johnny TV
-Cage eliminated TV after the Drillclaw
-Atlantis eliminated Cage with a victory roll

*Athena(c) def. Queen Aminata (20:14) with the O-Face after hitting her with Lexy's microphone to RETAIN the ROH Women's Championship.

*Mark Briscoe(c) def. Roderick Strong (19:32) after the Froggy Bow to RETAIN the ROH Championship

 

[Curt McGirt]

I am totally going after the Texas death match. Time to crank up the ol' Russian bootleg machine. 

EDIT: And of course it isn't up yet *sigh*

Edited July 27, 2024 by Curt McGirt

[HarryArchieGus]

Aminata v Athena was nice piece of business. Aminata's star is bursting. She's primed and ready to destroy. Notable jeers for the blatant leg slapping spot. Athena's ROHPPV run has been pretty goddamn remarkable. Briscoe v Roderick was excellent. The crowd was sleepy by the end of this show, but Mark's encouragements brought them back up. I was hoping for Mark to drop the title and move on. I got the sense watching the show that they might be lining up exclusive to ROH champions. The Taiga style victory in the Moriarty v Yuta bout for example. I applaud this.  Red v Billie was okay. Red looked a bit out of place a few times. Certainly not a championship performance at times. I've long longed for Red to go heel. Her aura and energy have always felt heel to me, and her babyface reactions have never been remotely strong. I heavily skimmed the 6 way TV title match. I wish I had greater tolerance for multi-man matches. Ffwd most of Dustin/Von Erichs v Dark Order. It's hard to get interested in the Von Erichs. Dustin seemed to have the crowd going Banana for a minute there. Reynolds/Silver continue to be a grossly underatted team. I skimmed passed the long set-ups for Diamante v Hirsh, but did catch Leyla blatantly placing a fallen chair in her face for a lame multiple chair low dropkick spot. Some brutal sacrifices by both ladies. A lot of what I saw away from my skimming was strong. The 'Hardcore' look was a far better presentation for Hirsh. Maybe a few less zippers tho. I hope she didn't hurt herself at the end. Ishii/O'Reilly v Kingdom was pretty strong. Probably would've had another gear if there'd been a shred of build. Mortos v Komander was tremendous fun. I kept thinking how great it'd be to see Mortos go on a Joe-esque ROH run and carrying one of the titles with him. I ffwd most of the Zero Hour. Easily the worst one they've done. MxM were neat to see for the first time. Tho, I prefered their promo later. I wish Marina Shafir would be Roddy's Chyna. A fun ROHPLEPPV as per usual. Now back to your regularly scheduled ROH on Honorclub. 

Edited July 28, 2024 by HarryArchieGus

[Shartnado]

On the Death Before Dishonor 2024 Zero Hour The Outrunners came to the ring (at least to my ears) to an actual SynthWave classic track. I'm almost 100% sure that I have this track already on my playlists, but there are so many bands and artists that sound so similar that I can't put my finger on who the artist is, since so many of the tracks are instrumental, so no help from the lyrics. Could be Dance with the Dead, could be Fury Weekend or about two dozen others. I doubt getting the track cost very much compared to just about anything that isn't stock music or in-house production, but it was really nice touch for them to get this, even if they never win anything.

Edited July 29, 2024 by Shartnado
grammar

[Shartnado]

Hirsch vs Diamante was brutal as hell! Mortos vs Komander was typical for both guys and they seemed to gel pretty spectacularly, so the end result was pretty nuts. I was thinking, I would really like to see Mortos vs Matt Sydal, that would be interesting.

The tag title match got going by the end, but when O'Reilly and Ishii didn't win it with that crazy combo, after the top rope brainbuster, you just knew they weren't taking this one.

Yuta vs Moriarty seems technically very sound and tells a decent story, but I was more impressed with the story coming into the match, with Moriarty taking Yuta to the limit in the proving ground match and then outsmarting Yuta again within the rules.

Red Velvet winning the title was a surprise, but she didn't buy into Starkz's bullshit this time!

The 6-man tag match was good action. Nothing crazy, though.

Survival of the Fittest probably won't end the way I'd like it to. Yeah, so close, but no! Dammit! I was thinking Atlantis Jr. will retain, if he gets into the final two. I was rooting for Cage and he got to look really good!

Edited July 29, 2024 by Shartnado
more comments

[DreamBroken]

12 hours ago, Shartnado said:

On the Death Before Dishonor 2024 Zero Hour The Outrunners came to the ring (at least to my ears) to an actual SynthWave classic track. I'm almost 100% sure that I have this track already on my playlists, but there are so many bands and artists that sound so similar that I can't put my finger on who the artist is, since so many of the tracks are instrumental, so no help from the lyrics. Could be Dance with the Dead, could be Fury Weekend or about two dozen others. I doubt getting the track cost very much compared to just about anything that isn't stock music or in-house production, but it was really nice touch for them to get this, even if they never win anything.

Great catch! It is indeed Dance with the Dead's "The Man Who Made a Monster", awesome theme and definitely adds to their presentation.  

[Shartnado]

9 hours ago, DreamBroken said:

Great catch! It is indeed Dance with the Dead's "The Man Who Made a Monster", awesome theme and definitely adds to their presentation.  

Love that song and it's definitely on one of my older gym/running  playlists!

[Shartnado]

@DreamBroken who was the female manager they had on the outside? She added to their presentation, as well! Very good, 80's Aerobics Instructor energy!

Oh, and are you how familiar with Dance with the Dead's material in general? Really entertaining stuff!

Edited July 30, 2024 by Shartnado
Listen to DwtD at all?

[DreamBroken]

8 hours ago, Shartnado said:

@DreamBroken who was the female manager they had on the outside? She added to their presentation, as well! Very good, 80's Aerobics Instructor energy!

Oh, and are you how familiar with Dance with the Dead's material in general? Really entertaining stuff!

Erica Leigh, she's had a couple matches on Honor this year and on AEW Dark in previous years. Agreed definitely, she's appeared with them on and off, but hopefully the pairing sticks together.

I've heard not a ton but a decent amount and have enjoyed all that I've listened to of them, absolute jams for sure.

[evanknight]

On 7/27/2024 at 3:12 AM, DreamBroken said:

Pretty decent Zero Hour. thought MxM Collection looked good in their debut, but surprised to see they're being immediately thrown in with FTR already tomorrow now.  Welcome in Melissa Santos to the backstage interview team.

Beast Mortos/Komander was an awesome opener as expected filled with crazy spots and Komander dives. Reminded me of the previous Mortos/Vikingo opener on ROH PPV. Good showcase win for Mortos to get and now he gets to be Hologram's 2nd opponent tomorrow night. Tag title match was really good. Kyle and Ishii's total elimination ruled. 

Leyla vs. Diamante was an absolutely epic bloodbath, definitely lived up to expectations.  Iconic hardcore performance from Leyla with her missed moonsault into the thumbtacks, then putting herself through barbed wire with an apron samoan drop, and ultimately finishing with a ladder moonsault through a table. Awesome brawl.

Yuta vs. Moriarty turned in a really great Pure title match. I was shocked by the title change as I didn't expect that at all as I figured this was more just Yuta getting back in to the mix of defending again. Moriarty dropping Yuta over the top straight down on the apron looked brutal. They got a lot of time and both using up all their rope breaks added to the drama. Nice crowd reaction for it.

Thought Velvet vs Billie was very good as well. Another I was shocked by the title change, didn't see any chance Billie would lose her first big defense but an epic win for Red. Thought it was a great finishing stretch with Billie trying to fake the injury again backfiring this time. 

Dustin & the Von Erichs make a fun trios, would be down with them as champs. Thought it was odd that Kyle Fletcher wasn't in Survival of the Fittest since he got involved earlier and never got a TV title rematch. The match was a pretty fun multi man spotfest. Loved the dive train ending with Brian Cage's big flip dive to a big pop and then a tease of a Shane Taylor dive. Was sad to see Taylor the first one eliminated though. Big Shotty's elimination looked killer. the Cage/Johnny TV sequences reminded me of their Impact feud. Nice win and retain for Atlantis overall. 

Billie losing her title and then Athena/Aminata not main eventing had me leaning more towards Athena retaining. Turned in to another pretty great Athena defense. In a different scenario I would've thought Aminata was the best choice if anyone was going to beat Athena, I'm good with the reign continuing towards 600 days but always wonder who else is left to challenge. Mark and Roderick put on a great main event as would be expected.  Overall another really good show, always love the ROH PPVs

 

ROH Death Before Dishonor full results:

  Reveal hidden contents

ZERO HOUR:
*MxM Collection (Mansoor & Mason Madden) def. Angelico & Serpentico (9:02) after the Centerfold on Serpentico. After the match, Maria Kanellis appeared on stage as MxM left. 

*Marina Shafir def. Angelica RIsk (0:59) via Mother's Milk submission/ref stoppage

*The Infantry (Carlie Bravo & Capt. Shawn Dean w/ Trish Adora) def. Anthony Henry & Griff Garrison (w/ Maria Kanellis) (9:26)

*Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin w/ Action Andretti) def. The Outrunners (Turbo Floyd & Truth Magnum) (8:45)

ROH Death Before Dishonor - July 26, 2024 from Arlington, TX

*The Beast Mortos def. Komander (w/ Alex Abrahantes) (13:36) after Destination Hellhole

*Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett)(c) def. The Conglomeration (Kyle O'Reilly & Tomohiro Ishii) (19:12) to retain the tag team championships when Bennett pinned O'Reilly with a small package after a low blow following a distraction from Don Callis & Kyle Fletcher.

*Leyla Hirsch def. Diamante (15:47) after a moonsault off a ladder through a table in a Texas Deathmatch

*Lee Moriarty def. Wheeler Yuta (19:58) via rollup using the ropes to WIN the ROH Pure Championship.

*Red Velvet def. Billie Starkz(c) (14:56) after a flip cutter to WIN the ROH Women's TV Championship.

*Dustin Rhodes & The Von Erichs def. The Dark Order (14:25) when Dustin pinned Reynolds after the Final Cut to advance to Battle of the Belts. After the match, Katsuyori Shibata joined the winners in celebration.

*Atlantis Jr. def. Shane Taylor, Lio Rush, Lee Johnson, Johnny TV (w/ Taya Valkyrie), & Brian Cage (19:11) to RETAIN the ROH TV Championship
-Lio eliminated Taylor with the Final Hour
-Johnson eliminated Lio after the Big Shotty Drop
-Cage eliminated Johnson after a double team with Johnny TV
-Cage eliminated TV after the Drillclaw
-Atlantis eliminated Cage with a victory roll

*Athena(c) def. Queen Aminata (20:14) with the O-Face after hitting her with Lexy's microphone to RETAIN the ROH Women's Championship.

*Mark Briscoe(c) def. Roderick Strong (19:32) after the Froggy Bow to RETAIN the ROH Championship

 

I'd second nearly all of this.  The pure title was really good and who ever laid out that match should be commended. There were a lot of matches on the show that were really well put together.  The pro of Dustin offsets the con of the Von Erichs. Aminata I am not really feeling yet, so I am glad Athena got the win; it will be interesting to see what's next for her and how she eventually drops the title (Billie?)

Mark Briscoe is really great as this weird hybrid underdog/Hogan character that I am really loving the title reign. 

Other than the Fletcher oddness, there was not really any negatives to the show. (my shared distaste for Taylors elimination and personal confusion on why we never got the Outrunners/Infantry match they built up aside). 

[evanknight]

On 7/27/2024 at 7:51 PM, HarryArchieGus said:

...I got the sense watching the show that they might be lining up exclusive to ROH champions. The Taiga style victory in the Moriarty v Yuta bout for example. I applaud this...  Reynolds/Silver continue to be a grossly underatted team. .. Ishii/O'Reilly v Kingdom was pretty strong. Probably would've had another gear if there'd been a shred of build.... A fun ROHPLEPPV as per usual. Now back to your regularly scheduled ROH on Honorclub. 

They really do need to give ROH some standalone identity, and having the champs at the very least be part of a defined roster would be a huge start. Try as I might to try and accept ROH as something like an old territory under the NWA umbrella, it still just detracts from the show, the Kingdom tag match being the perfect example. The territory model worked because people were going to their local show and the thought of seeing something that aired on another show was a bonus, it isn't a good reason to pay $10 a month. 

Reynolds/Silver are an interesting thought. They are unarguably underutilized and seemingly dragged down by a Dark Order that doesn't bring much to the table at this point; however, if they were a standalone there's a good chance they would have faded into obscurity and been lost in the shuffle by now.   

[DreamBroken]

A solid first defense for the new six man champs opens this week.  

Leila Grey being the new manager of Top Flight was random but an interesting addition. 

Robyn Renegade vs. Maya World was quick but good.  Anthony Henry is joined by cousin BEEF.

Loving the Beast Mortos getting continuously increasing reactions. Pretty spectacular match here against AR Fox. Fox always delivers when he pops up at random and Mortos is on fire.

Yuta vs Anthony Henry was good stuff.  Nese & Daivari squashing Tommy Mars & Nikki Eight was amusing for Riccaboni & Caprice trying to make as many Motley Crue references as possible on commentary.

Brian Cage vs Rocky Romero was a nice longer main event match.

Sammy Guevara has arrived on ROH! Ending the show with a longer promo segment was different but a cool moment to have a return on ROH. 

[AxB]

Apparently Meltzer gave Diamante vs Leyla Hirsch 4 and three quarter *s. Meaning it's his highest rated Women's match in ages.

[hammerva]

I enjoy seeing "BIG BEEF" Gnarls Garvin getting a chance in Ring of Honor and if they are bringing back JD Drake man that is going to be a legendary hoss team.  Although not sure I am going to enjoy the concept of him being  Anthony Henry's hillbilly cousin 

 

[RazorbladeKiss87]

4 hours ago, AxB said:

Apparently Meltzer gave Diamante vs Leyla Hirsch 4 and three quarter *s. Meaning it's his highest rated Women's match in ages.

I'm sure the Twitter discourse is reasonable about this.

To me, it was really awesome. If you're not crazy and realize he rates matches in a vacuum, this is reasonable. I don't use Star ratings but I'd give it a "Watch this" rating. 

[odessasteps]

I guess only a matter of time before he gives an aew womens match a higher rating than classic AJW matches with Toyota et al. 

[DreamBroken]

Dustin & Sammy vs Dark Order was a pretty fun opener. Solid tag title match of Undisputed Kingdom vs the Infantry in the middle of the show.

Good to see Rachael Ellering back and Brooke Havok rules, so that was a nice quick match.  Liked the later future setup for Rachael and Harley Cameron. 

Awesome main event tag from Athena & Billie vs. Aminata & Red Velvet. Loved both teams' matching gear. Queen & Red looked amazing as a team, thought they might win it but Billie pulls it off.