Ring of Honor presents its weekly show on Honorclub tonight.
The ROH World Women’s and Tag Team champions will be in action on the show. Athena wrestles Viva Van in a Proving Ground match while Matt Taven & Mike Bennett are set to face Nick Comoroto & Jacoby Watts.
Matches for this week’s episode were taped primarily in Vancouver and Portland, although Top Flight vs. The Workhorsemen was taped this weekend in Las Vegas.
To open the show, the card was run down and then Athena ran down! To the ring, that is.
ROH Women’s World Champion Athena defeated Viva Van in a Proving Ground match
With both women in the ring, this was a Proving Ground match where Van had to last 10 minutes, or pin the Champion in order to secure a future title shot.
Athena was confident off the top though, taunting and teasing Van, even going so far as to offer up a vintage “test of strength.” Van held her own and gave as good as she got, with a tight armbreaker, forcing Athena out of the ring.
Back inside, Athena tried to put Van away quick with a heavy kick to the head, but was beginning to lose sight of the clock, which ticked away. There wasn’t a lot of urgency in Athena’s movements, but they worked and she held control through most of the match.
Eventually, Athena great tired of toying with Van and clubbed her down for the 1, 2, 3.
ROH World Tag Team Champions The Undisputed Kingdom (Mike Bennett & Matt Taven) defeated Nick Comoroto & Jacoby Watts in a Proving Ground match
Following that up was the second Proving Ground Match of the night. Comoroto and Watts needed to pin, or wrestle the champions to a 10 minute draw to lock in a shot at the ROH Tag Team titles.
Comoroto gave two really nice Code of Honor handshakes to his opponents and the match began. Comoroto was the biggest guy in the ring and his heavy strikes worked well against the smaller Taven. Comoroto tried to tag Watts, but Watts convinced him that he could handle it without him, which was interesting.
Taven did gat a tag though and Bennett entered to knock Comoroto around. Comoroto fought back though, keeping both Bennett and Taven on their heels. Watts again convinced Comoroto he didn’t need to tag him in, and Bennett scooped him up for a spiccoli driver to get the win. Watts never even entered the match and yelled at Comoroto after the match, manipulating Comoroto into cheering for him.
Serpentico defeated Brady Roberts
A solo outing for Serpentico this week to debut a new mask. Also debuting this week, Brady Roberts, his opponent.
Both competitors were about the same size, so it was a fast-paced match with lots of really smooth action. Brady had the upper hand several times in the match, including a really tough looking knee to Serpentico’s back. A terrific surfboard (literally) had Serpentico face down and close to tapping as well.
Serpentico came back though with some devastating chops in the corners. Despite Brady’s 5-ster effort, he fell victim to a bulldog which allowed Serpentico to hit a big senton and get the pin.
-Marina Schafir was interviewed in the back by Lexi Nair. They discussed Shafir being a problem that no one in ROH can solve. Shafir mentioned that if you don’t take care of a problem, it gets worse.
Red Velvet defeated Kel
Velvet entered to a good cheer from the crowd. Kel was a former basketball player and was several inches taller than Velvet. Her inexperience was a factor though, and Velvet was able to keep her off her feet, cutting out the advantage.
Velvet kept Kel on the mat with a series of shoulderblocks and knees. Eventually, she wore her down and picked up the pin.
Suddenly though, Athena’s music hit. Velvet turned to face her and fell victim to a sneak attack from Billie Starkz. Starkz bashed Velvet’s face into the ROH Women’s TV Title belt, knocking her out. Starkz bolted as the Ref attended to Velvet in the ring.
Zak Knight defeated Sebastian Wolfe
The undefeated Knight is having a great run through ROH and on Rampage as well. Knight took his time getting his gear off for the match, frustrating the crowd and his opponent.
Knight immediately tossed Wolfe to the mat and rained blows down on him. Wolfe fought back and tried to chop Knight, but had little to no effect. Kinght pounded and kicked Wolfe in the corner, making this seem way more like a bar fight than a match.
Knight hit a big stalling suplex, got the two count and yanked Wolfe up. He tossed him around a hit him with a massive lariat for another 2- count and pull up. Finally Knight laid a knock out punch on Wolfe and allowed the three count.
Lee Johnson defeated Aaron Solo and Action Andretti in a Three-Way Match
Johnson, Solo and Andretti are something like three sides of the same triangle in the squared-circle, so this match had a high-energy feel from the start.
Solo tried to get the jump on his opponents via fake sportsmanship, but it backfired and Andretti sent him out of the ring. Johnson and Andretti traded moves until Solo rejoined them. He was quickly superkicked out of the ring, and it was back to Johnson and Andretti.
Solo managed to get Johnson out of the ring, and took on Andretti. Solo tried to slow things down to put Andretti off his game, but Johnson re-inserted himself in the match and the three men knocked each other about. Solo tried for a big stomp off the top rope, but only got a two count of Andretti. Johnson and Solo had their face-off next, leading to a big dive out of the ring by Johnson.
Andretti tried a standing moonsault on both Solo AND Johnson, but it only resulted in a two-count on the two men. Several near-falls and momentum changes later, Andretti ate an errant superkick from Johnson, who slammed Solo and got the pin for the win.
The Premier Athletes (Ariya Daivari & Tony Nese) defeated The Bollywood Boyz (Gurv & Harv Shira)
Mark Sterling rand down the Vancouver hockey team, The Canucks, to the crowds dismay. Then, they cheered up as the Bollywood Boyz entered wearing Canuck’s jeresys to a huge ovation!
The WWE release of the Bollywood Boyz was a dark time for their fans (who I count myself amongst). So it was great to see them in ROH, and against two great opponents in The Premiere Athletes.
Nese and Daivari jumped the Boyz off the top, but Harv and Gurv were ready for it. They fought the Athletes off, sending them out of the ring to regroup. Harv and Daivari ended up the legal men and Daivari let his mean streak out on the smaller Harv, isolating him from his brother. Nese tagged in and continued the beatdown.
Harv managed to get a hot tag to Gurv, who leapt into the ring and went toe-to-toe with Nese, clearing the ring while his brother recovered. The two sent Nese and Daivari out of the ring so they could do their signature dance.
Nese managed to land a pump handle driver on Gurv though and the Premiere Athletes took home the victory. They dragged the Bollywood Boyz back into the ring to dish out some punishment until The Infantry came to the ring with chairs to even the odds! They chased the Premiere Athletes out of the ring and stood tall with the Boyz.
-A vingette aired promoting Dalton Castle vs ROH World TV Champion Kyle Fletcher for next week’s show!
Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin) defeated The Workhorsemen (JD Drake & Anthony Henry)
It’s the main event spot for Drake and Henry this week. They have a lot on their plates though with Top Flight, who came to the ring with Action Andretti who had just completed a costume change so quick, it could have been on the Eras Tour.
Henry and Darius kicked things off with some quick exchanges. The match felt really exciting off the top, with all these guys having great presence in the ring. Drake entered the match, asserting his presence by no-selling some big chops from Darius. Duante tagged in and did an amazing backflip OFF of the back of Drake.
Drake used his size to isolate Duante from tagging. A double stomp from Henry right on Duante’s back ended up in a two-count, but no pin for the Workhorsemen. Darius flew in off of a hot tag and cleaned house, getting the big man, Drake, off his feet. Henry broke up a pin and kept his team in the match, causing a distraction for Drake to land a low blow in the ring. Only a two count though as Darius kicked out, bringing everyone back into the ring.
Duante took advantage of Henry’s surgically-repaired jaw and landed a series of hard punches on his chin. Henry and Duante were the legal men, and Duante managed to land a side slam on Henry and get the pin for Top Flight.
Next Week: ROH TV Champion Kyle Fletcher vs Dalton Castle!