Ring of Honor on HonorClub 8/24/2023 Episode #26

Ring of Honor on HonorClub 8/24/2023 Episode #26

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2023/08/ring-of-honor-on-honorclub-8172023.html

Dalton Castle and The Boys vs The Dark Order (Evil Uno, John Silver and Alex Reynolds)

Silver poses at Dalton then Dalton does a goofy pose back. Silver says he wants one of The Boys in. Brandon is tagged in  and taken down by Silver. Silver gorilla presses him and throws him neck first on the ropes. He then running euros him. Brent gets in and they dropkick him after a dropdown and leapfrog. The Boys take Alex down and Uno grabs Brent's boot. Alex spinning forearms Brent.

Brent is double stomped and triple teamed in the corner. Alex suplexes Brent and Brent and Silver exchange shots. Silver germans Brent then Uno delay suplexes Brent. Uno croner splashes Brent, then Brent takes a short arm lariat from Uno. Alex back elbows Brent against the ropes then Uno chops Brent. Brent fights out of the corner and tags in Dalton.

Dalton lariats Uno and Silver then exploders all 3 opponents.  Dalton says, "bring me a boy" then throws out Brandon onto Silver. Brent is then thrown out onto Alex. Brandon is then thrown onto Uno. Dalton falling splashes Uno. Dalton is lariated over then top then Alex diving ddt's Castle from the apron. Silver double stomps Dalton off the apron. Brandon cutters Uno and The Boys try to tope outside but are caught. Brandon is thrown into the rails by Alex. Brent then takes the triple team slam by The Dark Order and is pinned.

It went a little long but I liked it. Dalton and The Boys got beat up on, made their comeback and then were shut down. Simple but effective stuff.

Athena and Billie Starkz are interviewed. Athena said she saw tension last week and made Lexi and Billie shirts. Lexi thanks her then Athena orders them to put the shirts on. Billie is mad she's not a full minion then Athena is mad she doesn't get a thank you. She said she spent 14 hours making these shirts. Athena then says she and Billie will challenge the Renegade Twins to a match. 

Kiera Hogan vs Lady Frost

  

Frost armdrags her into a pin attempt. Frost back kicks her in the face and they high kick each other at the same time. Frost kicks her in the apron then handsprings into a kick on her. Fors corkscrews over her on the apron then is swept onto it.

Kiera misses a corner charge and 2nd rope dropkicks her. Kiera neckbreakers and superkicks her. Kiera running lariats Frost in the corner then Frost kicks her in the corner. Frost does her forward handspring into a cartwheel. Frost misses a corkscrew kick then takes a spinning neckbreaker. Kiera wins it.

I was curious about this one. I thought Frost had a chance. Look, Frost is way better than Kiera and really shouldn't be losing, but I'm not totally surprised. This wasn't bad at all with no real sloppy moments and Frost having a good outing.

Matt Sydal vs Serpentico

They counter basic holds to start then Matt armdrags him. Matt trips him and hits a standing corkscrew moonsault for 2. Serp headscissors him and does a jumping flatliner. Serp superkicks him in the head and hits a short ddt for 2. Serp suplexes him then Matt flying back kicks him.

Matt hits various kicks then spinning heel kicks him. Serp fisherman busters him for 2. Sydal rolls him up and tries to hurricanrana him while he's on the 2nd rope but falls short. Matt hits a lightning spiral and wins it.

It was short and kind of rushed. Serp got more offense in than usual and I was surprised to see Matt blow a spot.

Stokeley Hathaway is interviewed. He is in an arm sling and said someone was laughing at him when he said he was a rough rider. Stoke said people should be asking if he respects Samoa Joe instead of whether Joe respects him. Lexi said nobody respects him and Stoke said he was going to ask if she wanted to go to TGI Friday's since Tony Khan left his credit card out.

Leyla Hirsch vs Leila Grey

LH = Leyla Hirsch

LH rolls her around on the mat then snapmares her. Grey throws her down then armdrags and dropkicks her. LH germans her then hits clubs on the chest. LH suplexes her and we see Maria on the ramp. Grey hits back elbows then lariats her. Grey step up knees her in the corner then hits an F-U for 2. They botch some suplex then LH armbars her to win.

The crowd didn't care at all here to the point of being practically silent. I was going to say at least Grey didn't botch anything, then she did.

The Embassy are interviewed. Nana says Lexi is looking at the World 6-Man champions. Nana said they beat their opponents Lee Johnson, Action Andretti and Darius Martin so many times.  Cage asks, "again?". He said it doesn't matter how many times they look for a new partner, the result is the same. Cage says they are the best at what they do and while it might not be nice, it's d@mn cool. Toa then yells and drops his title, scaring Lexi.

Brandon Cutler vs Blake Christian

Colt Cabana is filming Cutler for some reason. Why is this on this show?

Cutler is wrestling in his full track suit. He grabs a headlock and shoulders over Blake. Blake kips up then headscissors him into a roll-up. Blake flips over him as he back rolls. Blake is popped up and bodyscissors him over. Blake then rolls him up into a splash.

They fight on the apron and Blake springboard dropkicks him. Blake then does a fosbury flop outside onto him. Cutler michinoku drivers him then elbow drops him. Cutler dances around and drops elbows on him. Cutler airplane spins him and both get dizzy. Blake flying shoulders him. Cutler tries to kip up but can't.

Blake pele kicks him then does a corkscrew spanish fly. Blake does a side rolling death valley driver and superkicks him in the face. Cutler pumphandle slams him then is knocked off the 2nd rope. Blake handspring back enzugiri's him then 619's him under the middle rope. Blake hits a 450 and wins it.

This was a joke and despite Blake winning, it still hurt him to be clowned around on by this goof.

Tony Nese and Mark Sterling are interviewed. Tony said he planned to only do group training last week and was tricked into wrestling. Nese pulls over an assistant and asks him what's in his cup. He says soda and Nese says sugar is in there and kills you. Nese tells him to go get water instead. Nese says he wants to see who is going to stop him if they think they can deprive him of giving us training.

 Athena and Billie vs The Renegade Twins

Athena and Billie hit stereo superkicks, dropkicks then do stereo kip-ups. Starks topes the Twins, gets caught then Athena cannonballs them all off the apron. Athena tells Billie to throw a twin into something. Billie throws the twin into the ring while Athena throws one into the post.

Billie high kicks Robyn and falls over. Robyn then falls over and tags Charlette. BIllie takes a running euro in the corner. Billie fights off a 2v1 then is crotched over the middle rope. Billie takes a double fisherman suplex.

Billie takes a spinning side slam then forearms her. Billie takes corner spears then does an upkick and tags out. Athena gets in and throws Billie into a twin. Athena spin kicks a twin then kicks them. Athena tells Billie to come here then Billie is powerbombed onto both twins. Athena alabama slams Billie onto a twin. Billie then takes a stiff cradle shock. Athena tries to roll up a twin while holding the tights but only gets 2.

Athena is thrown out then Billie takes a nasty pump kick + drop on her head with a samoan drop. Billie kicks out for 2. Athena takes a stiff double chokeslam then does a stiff forearm on one of the twins. Athena hits her top rope o-face. Billie tags herself in and hits a top ropw swanton for the win.

Athena is mad at Billie for taking the pin after. Athena then grabs one of the twins and bangs her head off the apron. Athena tells Billie to bang the twin's head off the title then the other twin pulls her out. Athena grabs Billie by the hair and walks her up the ramp after.

This had some real sloppy moments and Billie almost broke her neck. It was interesting and totally different though with Athena using Billie liked a 3rd arm. I don't know what dirt Athena has on Tony, but this is a run like I've never really seen before. She wins every time, often in the most dominant fashion. She beats up her opponents after the match. She bullies the announcers and is now bullying Billie around too. At least it has some direction to it now, but this is one of the strongest pushes of anyone in wrestling history.

We get a package on Adam Cole.

Ryan Nemeth comes out. He says it is Hunk Appreciation Night.  He tries to start a, "thank you, hunk" chant. He then invites anyone from the back who has a problem with him to come and fight. He said even a world champion can come out.

Ryan Nemeth vs Claudio Castagnoli

Claudio comes out and Ryan says he has no beef with him. Ryan turns his back then CC puts him in the giant swing. CC says "thank you, hunk" then euros him and picks up the win. CC never took off his shirt or title belt here in this quick squash.

CC then says, "Be careful what you wish for. Just because you don't see me, doesn't mean I'm not there".

They show clips of Metalik beating Tony Nese last week. They saw Metal will get the winner of Sabre Jr. vs Daniels.

NJPW World TV Championshio - Zack Sabre Jr. vs Christopher Daniels

Zack full nelsons him and Daniels side headlocks him. Zack ties his arms up then twists the arms. Daniels neckbreakers him twice then twists his neck. Zack is thrown into the buckles and bounces off. Daniels does an interesting neckbreaker then Zack guillotine chokes him.

Zack arm wringers him down into the mat then hammerlocks him and stomps the arm. Zack shoulders over Daniels then Daniels backdrops him. Daniels lariats him then does a stiff death valley driver. Zack pele kicks him in the arm and they trade forearms for euros. Zack running euros him in the corner then armbars him. Daniels rolls him up out of it then hits a flatliner into a koji clutch.

Zack tries to rolling hammerlock him but Daniels tries to pin him out of it. Daniels rolls him up then is caught in a double reverse armbar. Zack then taps him out.

It was a decent match with Zack working the arm and Daniels trying to pin him out of the various holds.

Overall thoughts: In-ring wise it was a decent episode, but as usual, it's still really lacking a purpose and any long term vision. I've never really seen the champ of a promotion do a gimmick where they aren't actually around without making it a heel thing. It really makes the whole promotion look bad. There's a Samoa Joe vs Shane Taylor match coming up that they didn't hype. The Pure Title hasn't been mentioned for a few weeks. The Trios title is going to be defended in a match that we've seen multiple times so far and there's still no sign of the next challenger for Athena. I've just never really seen a promotion like ROH before where there's no focus on building anything or promoting a big show down the line.