ROH Death Before Dishonor: Athena and Willow deliver a Classic

Boris Roberto Aguilar

ROH Death Before Dishonor: Athena and Willow deliver a Classic

Greetings and Salutaions! Its time for the ROH PPV. I feel weird about this show as I know that as a show it will be some great wrestling, but I felt so underwhelmed with the build. Moreso, with MarK Briscoe’s injury, I felt one of the matches I was personally looking forward to the most was off the card, therefore, the rest of the card felt meh. That said, I expect a great night of wrestling and without further ado, let’s get to the action.

Zero Hour

Pure Rules Match: Josh Woods vs Petey Williams

Very fun a quick pure rules match. I am a huge fan of these real fight feel matches and that is what we got from this match. Both men looked great but Woods gets the win via submission.

Winner: Josh Woods

Anthony Henry and JD Drake VS Martin and Andretti

The Workhorsemen had control of the match until they didn’t see eye to eye, giving Martin and Andretti the advantage. Henry takes a dropkick turned into a German Suplex, that sends him out the ring. Andretti lifts Drake and Martin hits a Whirlybird Neckbreaker for the eventual win.

Winners: Action Andretti & Darius Martin

Leyla Hirsch VS Trish Adora

Hirsch is back and then some! Both women came here to make a name for themselves in ROH. After a very technical fight, both women found themselves trading pin ups, but Hirsch ends it by finding a transition from a pin to an armbar for the win.

After the match, Hirsch puts Adora in another armbar and doesn’t want to let go. Sky Blue is out for the save.

AR Fox VS Shane Taylor

This was your typical clash of styles match. We had speed versus power. Taylor was able to out power Fox through the match and no matter what Foc did, Taylor had an answer. Taylor and Fox are in the corner and Fox hits a Rolling Death Valley Driver, then he goes to the top rope and delivers a 450 splash for the win.

Winner: AR Fox

Death Before Dishonor PPV

Gravity VS Komander

This was a place where both Luchadores could show off, and that is exactly what they both did. After seeing some absolutely insane moves that I never though were even possible, Komander hits a Suplex on Gravity that sends him over the ropes. Komander then walks the ropes for his patented moonsault. Komander sends Gravity back to the ring for a 2-count. Komander hits a Super Rana on Gravity then sets hi up near the corner. Komander is off the ropes and Gravity is able to counter this into a roll up for the surprise win.

Winner: Gravity

ROH World Television Championship: Samoa Joe VS Dalton Castle

Castle had the crowd at the palm of his hands as they were firmly behind him through the match. Joe overpowered Castle through the entire match but Castle was able to find his openings to put the boots to Joe. The Boys also inserted themselves in the match. Castle with a series of Suplexes on Joe, but Joe was smart and left the ring to regroup. The Boys inserted themselves too much and this caused Stokely Hathaway who was on commentary to get the ref to eject them. This gave Joe the opening to get that breather, come back into the ring give Castle a Low Blow kick and put him in a Coquina Clutch to force Castle to give up.

Winner: AND STILL ROH TV Champion, Samoa Joe

ROH World Tag Team Championship: Aussie Open VS Lucha Bros VS The Kingdom VS Best Friend

This match was four team match that only saw two legal men at a time. after your typical multi-men match, Best Friends hit a Flying Stomp combo for a 2.9-count. The Lucha brothers save the day and their title reign as they managed to pull the ref out of the ring. Penta is in the ring and hits Trent with a chair as Fenix distracted the ref. Taven is in as the legal man and goes for the pin, but Davies from Aussie Open breaks the count. Both members of Aussie Open are in the ring and they hit a Clotheslines on Trent. They hit the Corealis for the win to become ROH Tag Team Champions!

Winners: AND NEW ROH Tag Team Champions; Aussie Open

ROH World Six-Man Championship: Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun, & Toa Liona VS Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi, & Leon Ruffin

Team NJPW had the advantage in the middle of the match. Prince Nana jumps on the apron for the distraction and Kaun hits a Mule Kick on Taguchi. Taguchi hits Kaun in the balls, then pushes him knocking Nana off the apron, and goes for a small package for a 2-count, but Liona breaks up the pin. Ruffin is in the ring and is on a role until Liona catches hi mid-air and delivers a Swinging Slam. Ruffin is out at a 2-count. Cage and Kaun make easy work of Wato and Taguchi leaving Ruffin in the ring to fend for himseld. The Embassy literally toss Ruffin high and hard. Liona sits on his chest for the win.

Winners: AND STILL ROG Six-Man Champions: The Embassy

ROH Pure Championship: Katsuyori Shibata VS against Daniel Garcia

Christopher Daniels, Jimmy Jacobs, and Jerry Lynn are the judges for this Pure Rules match. Garcia is dancing circles around Shibata. Shibata sends Garcia down to the mat and locks in a Figure-Four, causing Garcia to use his first (and only) rope break. Both men are going ha on each other. After tons of back and forth strong style action, Garcia send Shibata to the mat and is looking to lock in a Sharpshooter. As Garcia locks the Sharpshooter in, he leans so far back that Shibata is able to escape by grabbing his neck. As both men are up, Garcia is chopping the living daylights out of Shibata. Garcia with a Suplex. Both men are up again and Shibata has his turn to unload on Garcia. Shibata with a Sleeper on Garcia. As Garcia fades, he dances. Shibata lets go and hits a Penalty Kick for the win.

Winner: AND STILL ROH Pure Rules Champion, Katsuyori Shibata

Fight Without Honor: Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds, & John Silver VS Vincent, Dutch, & Stu Grayson

This was indeed a match without honor as we saw all the typical weapons we are used to in wrestling including LEGO. EVERYONE ended up bleeding in this match. Uno gets taken down and is placed on a few tables. Grayson climbs a ladder that was set up earlier in the match and goes for a splash but Uno gets up and tips the ladder causing Grayson to go through all the tables. Dark Order are all in the ring and they go to town on everyone. They end up sending Grayson hard on LEGO and Thumbtacks. Uno covers Grayson, his former partner and gets the win.

Winners: The Dark Order

ROH World Championship: Claudio Castagnoli VS PAC

This was a very solid and tough match. Both men took their opponent to the edge. PAC hits a submission of sorta on Castagnoli that has to be seen. Claudio fights his way out of the hold. They keep fighting back and forth until Castagnoli literally picks up PAC who is on his back and hits an Air Raid Crash. Wheeler Yuta comes in and distracts PAC. Castagnoli hits a Ricola Bomb via distraction to sore the win after a hard hitting match.

Winner: AND STILL ROH Champion, Claudio Castagnoli

After the match, The Lucha bros are in for the save and make the BCC retreat. During this brawl, Orange Cassidy is out and ends up hitting a Superman punch on both PAC and Castagnoli.

ROH Women’s World Championship: Athena VS Willow Nightingale

This might be the best women’s match that Tony Khan has put on since he became a promoter. This match was an ohmage to ROH of women’s past with both Athena and Nightingale hitting moves from women who have wrestled in ROH before. After an incredible back and forth match, Athena hits the O-Face but Nightingale somehow kicks out and goes on the offensive until she hits a huge Powerbomb on Athena. Nightingale powers Athena up and sits her on the trunbuckle, but Athena fights this off, sending Nightingale hard to the mat. Athena with a second O-Face, then puts Nightingale in a Crossface. Nightingale is fighting hard, but the Crossface was too much as she eventually passes out to give Athena the win.

Winner: AND STILL ROG Women’s Champion, Athena

After the match, Athena shows some respect to Willow Nightingale as she raises her hand. What a match!

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