The ROH World Champion will be in action tonight on HonorClub.
In his first match on ROH TV since January, Mark Briscoe will wrestle Griff Garrison in a Proving Grounds match on this week's show. If Garrison goes the time limit or is able to defeat Briscoe, he'll earn a future shot a the title.
Lee Johnson will try to get back in the win column after a loss to Kyle Fletcher at Supercard of Honor. He'll wrestle JD Drake on tonight's show.
The former Taurus, now known as The Beast Mortos, is scheduled to wrestle Nick Comoroto this week as well.
Other matches scheduled for the show include Abadon vs. Allysin Kay, Lady Frost vs. Marti Belle, and Bryan Keith vs. Aaron Solo.
With the Ring of Honor World Champion in this house, this show promised to be a big one. The show started with Mark Briscoe addressing his opponents at AEW Dynasty, the House of Black. He warned them to be afraid. Be very afraid.
Bryan Keith defeated Aaron Solo
Keith, my new favorite wrestler, entered to a great ovation from the crowd. Both Solo and Keith had some serious technical skills and this match put them both to the test.
Solo controlled early on, but Keith managed to take back the momentum with a big stalling suplex. Solo relied on a strategy that would take away Keith’s skills including luring him to the outside and driving Keith into the ring steps.
Keith tried to keep Solo off his feet with a series of big chops and strikes. Solo’s speed was a factor as well, often leaving the slightly larger Keith scrambling in between moves. When he was able to make contact though, Keith was able to dominate with explosive moves like t-bone slams and punishing forearms.
Keith tried to finish things with an emerald tiger driver, but Solo was able to wriggle free and land a t-bone of his own. Keith stunned Solo with a big headbutt and then landed a flipping stunner to get the victory.
Lance Archer & The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch) defeated Jon Cruz, Savion Truitt, Chambers
Vincent and Dutch have been teaming with Archer for a while now and always put on a good show.
Archer, standing at least a foot taller than Truitt, just mercilessly beat him. Dutch tagged in and continued the assault. This seemed to be the strategy of the Righteous and Archer: Isolate, quick tags, and hard, hard shots.
To put a point to this squash, and Orange Sunshine and a Blackout were landed, and that was about it. Cruz never even entered the match (officially).
-Mark Sterling appeared via a pre-taped segment promoting the Premiere Athletes. It was closer to a commercial for a gym than a wrestling promo but it did a lot to pump up the group, spotlighting Tony Nese.
The scene shifted to a backstage promo, where Sterling continued bragging about his team and their physical prowess. Daivari, Woods and Nese stood silently, giving Sterling’s rant a very “head coach at a press conference” feel. He promised that their win a Supercard was Phase 1 of his plan, and Phase 2 starts… tonight.
Lee Johnson defeated JD Drake
Drake does not look like he would be as fast as he is. Combine that with Johnson’s explosive style, and this was set up to be a killer match. Johnson lost to TV Champion Kyle Fletcher at Supercard of Honor and was looking to bounce back here against Drake.
Drake’s size advantage was a big factor early on as Johnson felt out his opponent. As mentioned, Drake was faster than he looked and was able to counter Johnson’s attempt at quickening the pace.
Johnson kept trying to get Drake up for bodyslams three times, so often in fact that even Drake was questioning why he was bothering. Switching gears, Johnson tried to rely on hard strikes to get the big man off his feet, but had little success. Drake for his part laid back and let Johnson come to him for doling out some big power moves of his own.
Drake made Arn proud with a picture perfect spinebuster, but Johnson wasn’t out yet. Johnson got Drake up on the top rope and hit a sunset bomb and a frog splash to get the hard-earned win.
Abadon defeated Allysin Kay
Abadon screamed her way to the ring to a great ovation from the crowd. Kay looked a little nervous standing across from Abadon, but frankly, who wouldn’t?
Abandon tried to bite Kay right off the top, but Kay was able to dodge and actually put Abadon on the ground with a big kick. Kay even went for a cover, but barely got a one-count. Kay had size on Abadon, but it wasn’t enough to keep Abadon down.
Abadon changed the momentum of the match with a big bulldog. Abandon hit a Black Dahlia out of nowhere and just like that the win was hers.
The Infantry (Shawn Dean and Carlie Bravo) defeated The Iron Savages (Bronson and Boulder w/ Jacked Jameson)
Looking like Scott Steiner had three babies, The Savages entered first promising all the sauce and city travels that the audience could handle. The infantry was next, with less sauce.
In what was a bit of at theme of this episode, this match was very much about high fliers versus the meatiest of meat men. This was apparent as Boulder and Bravo tried to get one up on each other in the ring. Bronson and Boulder actually found themselves unable to keep up with the speedier Infantry, and had to duck to the outside to regroup.
A distraction on the ring apron from Jameson led to Bravo getting caught in a massive slam and the Savages took control. Jameson continued to get up on the ring apron (the hardest part of the ring) to cause distractions. Dean responded with a big slam onto him and Boulder on the outside.
With Boulder isolated, the Infantry was able to double-team him with a big Boot Camp and take the victory.
- After the match, The Premiere Athletes ran to the ring and began a 3-on-2 beatdown on Dean and Bravo. Suddenly, Dalton Castle’s music hit and he arrived to even the odds! Not only that, but Mark Briscoe, Bryan Kieth and Lee Johnson bolted to the ring to run off the Premiere Athletes, to the crowd’s delight.
Leyla Hirsch, Kiera Hogan, & Trish Adora defeated Taya Valkyrie, Leila Grey, & Diamante
-Earlier in the show, Lexi Nair interviewed Valkyrie backstage. Nair asked Valkryie where JOhnny TV was. Valkyrie said he was rehabbing his abs, so that he could look his best. Tonight, she plans to carry the weight of the TV Family in her trios match.
That aforementioned match was a who’s who of the ROH Women’s division. Valkyrie started things off for her team against Hogan, both peppering the other with hard strikes off the middle rope. Diamante tagged in to deliver corner kicks to the isolated Hogan.
Hirsch got into the ring and traded locks with Diamante. Diamante used a quick tag to Adora to flip the momentum and drop some UFC-style fists. Grey tagged into get a piece, and she and Valkyrie double-teamed a prone Adora.
The match was fast-moving, with tags happening after only a few moves from each woman. Valkyrie tripped up Hogan from the outside and ate a suicide dive from Hirsch. Back in the ring, Hogan landed a bridge suplex on Grey to get the win.
The Beast Mortos defeated Nick Comoroto
This match won the award for most “o’s” in competitor’s names. Not a big honor, but an exclusive one.
Comoroto had a significant size advantage over Mortos, but Mortos being a literal beast helped even the odds. Mortos tried to get things moving early on, but Comoroto simply let the smaller man bounce off of him. Mortos’ agility kept him out of Comoroto’s arms for the most part, but the bigger man connected with a huge lariat.
Comoroto looked to end things quickly, but Mortos wriggled free and delivered some quick kicks, stunning Comoroto. A dropkick to the knee took Comoroto off his feet and Mortos added a dropkick from the top rope to the beating for good measure.
Mortos ended up getting the win with a side over shoulder moonsault that knocked Comoroto to the mat for the pin.
-Later, Lexi Nair tried to interview Comoroto. They were interrupted by Jacoby Watts who said virtually nothing of substance, but was clearly working on recruiting Comoroto.
Lady Frost defeated Marti Belle
Frost iced out Belle right from the jump, refusing a code of honor. The cold shoulder continued as Frost did not appreciate some showboating from Belle, and put her in a headlock. Bell fought back though, chipping away at Frost, trying to keep momentum on her side.
Belle was actually in control through most of this match, melting away Frost’s offense. Frost crept back though, freezing Belle in her tracks. Belle continued showing off for the crowd while Frost chilled out in the corner.
Getting her energy back, Frost began turning down the heat (which is a good thing for her), kicking and tossing Belle into the corner for a Snowbomb. Frost connected with an ice cold kick and landed a Temperature drop to get the win and put Belle on ice.
Dark Order's John Silver & Evil Uno defeated Frank Milano and Zak Patterson
Fan favorite Uno started off against Milano who cheap-shotted in during the Code of Honor.
Uno’s size and evil advantages made Milano not much of a threat, and Uno quickly gained control of the action. Silver tagged in to pose (which was appreciated by the crowd) and Patterson jumped in just in time to get planted on his back by Silver.
Milano hit a sling blade on Silver for a quick two-count. He dragged Silver to Patterson in the corner for a quick tag and a snapmare. Patterson sent Silver across the ring with a fallaway slam, but Silver fought back, reversing a suplex to get a hot tag to Uno.
Uno took out Patterson and Milano with many, many forearms to the head in the corner. Patterson rolled out, leaving Uno and Milano in the ring. Uno hit something evil on Milano and won the match.
ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe defeated Griff Garrison in a Proving Ground match
-Earlier in the show, Lexi Nair interviewed Garrison, Karter and Maria backstage. Nair asked about Serpentico’s mask and if they ever plan to give it back. Spoiler alert: No. Maria then said that Garrison needed to focus on his match and they left.
This match was a Proving Ground match, meaning if Garrison could last 10 minutes or beat Briscoe, he’d get an ROH World Title match at a future date.
Briscoe entered to a hero’s welcome from the crowd. This being his first title defense, Briscoe was fired up and so was the audience. Briscoe also showed off his brand-new ROH World Title belt, complete with custom camo pattern on the leather.
One doesn’t really wrestle Mark Briscoe, one just survives him. This was evident as Briscoe had Garrison on his back before he knew what hit him. Garrison retreated to the corner to collect himself, and Briscoe showed off some Redneck Kung Fu moves.
Briscoe unleashed his hard-hitting fighting style all over Garrison, leading to both men being on the outside. Garrison recovered, Briscoe stole a fan’s hat. After returning it, Briscoe hopped up on the ring apron (the hardest part of the ring) and Maria stepped in to protect Garrison. Briscoe got back in the ring, but was distracted by Karter, letting Garrison double axe handle the Champ, knocking him off his feet.
Briscoe fought back as he does, dumping Garrison to the outside. Karter checked on his partner, and Briscoe dove onto both of them. Back in the ring, Briscoe hit a huge lariat followed by a Jay Driller and Garrison’s title shot hopes were crushed, 1-2-3.