Category: ROH

Mark Briscoe doesn’t think ROH World Championship ‘gets the credit it deserves’

Mark Briscoe says he almost quit after losing brother Jay, but resumed wrestling for AEW and ROH and is glad he did.

When Mark Briscoe tragically lost his brother Jay in a car accident early last year, his first thought was a simple one: “I’m never wrestling again.” But after a little time to reconsider and feeling it was what Jay would want him to do, Mark resumed wrestling as a singles competitor in AEW and Ring of Honor.

Now, Mark stands only a few days away from potentially becoming ROH World Champion if he can defeat Eddie Kingston, a longtime friend, at ROH Supercard of Honor April 5 in Philadelphia. It’s a title Jay held twice, in-between runs with Mark as one of the greatest tag teams of this century.

The Briscoes are as synonymous with Ring of Honor as any of the wrestlers who came through the company, both in its original incarnation and as a subsidiary of AEW, so it’s not hard to understand why holding its top prize would mean a lot to Mark. Yet as he told Under the Ring host Phil Strum, it’s a championship that still may not get its proper due.

“It’s mean a lot, man, it’d be cool,” Mark Briscoe said about the prospect of becoming ROH World Champion. “Ring of Honor, from 2002, and the stages and the ages and eras of Ring of Honor, it’s amazing.

“I don’t think the Ring of Honor world title gets the credit it deserves for its significance in the history of professional wrestling.”

It’s not hard to see where he’s coming from. Along with Kingston, the ROH World Championship has been held by an incredible array of talent that includes CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins (when he was known as Tyler Black), Bryan Danielson, Kevin Owens (as Kevin Steen), Samoa Joe and Adam Cole.

That’s a virtual who’s who of top stars across several different companies. While Mark has never been able to count himself among them during two-plus decades in the pro wrestling business — many of them in ROH — he might be able to come Friday night.

“Obviously, it’d be a total honor and it’d be really cool, especially after being here from day one,” Mark Briscoe said. “Singles gold has eluded me to this point, but you know, I’m feeling real good about this. I’m training hard, I got my mind right. You know, I’ve been watching tapes, I’ve been studying Eddie, I know Eddie. And I know he’s gonna try and bring it, but I got something for him.”

You can hear the entire interview between Strum and Mark Briscoe above, or check out the latest episode of Under the Ring on YouTube.

ROH Supercard of Honor is set to take place Friday, April 5 at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, and will be streamed live on HonorClub.

The top pro wrestling stories to watch in 2024

Here’s your guide for what to watch for in WWE, AEW and the pro wrestling industry in the year ahead.

To say 2023 was an eventful year in professional wrestling would be an understatement.

However, there is plenty of intrigue on the horizon in 2024. Here are the stories to watch as we enter a new year.

The biggest professional wrestling stories of 2023: CM Punk, TKO and more

From WWE to AEW and beyond, here were the things that stood out most in an eventful year in pro wrestling.

Take a deep breath, wrestling fans. The year 2023 is almost over.

It is understandable if you haven’t done that a whole lot over the last 12 months, as the industry has not provided many opportunities to take in a soothing sigh of relief.

There were many ups, quite a few downs, but all in all, 2023 was a banner year for professional wrestling that in hindsight will be fondly remembered as one of the most impactful in the history of the industry.

But before we look ahead to 2024, let’s take one last look back on the year’s biggest stories in professional wrestling.

Tony Khan is ‘open to Athena appearing in AEW’ … and she agrees

Should ROH Women’s World Champion Athena be on AEW TV more often? Both she and Tony Khan seem to think so.

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Currently in the midst of the longest ROH Women’s World Championship reign of all time, Athena has had one heck of a year. The only caveat to that is how relatively few wrestling fans have experienced it.

Despite the fact that other ROH titles are routinely defended on AEW programming, Athena hasn’t had a title defense on any of the parent promotion’s weekly shows in 2023. She did have a non-title match against Willow Nightingale on a July episode of Rampage (which she lost), and performed in multi-person tag matches at All Out and WrestleDream. But that’s it.

This suggests that Tony Khan is unwilling to have Athena on AEW shows, but he insisted during his media call ahead of ROH Final Battle — where Athena will put her championship on the line against Billie Starkz — that he’s in favor of using her wherever it makes sense.

I’m certainly open to Athena appearing in AEW and other places. I think it’s really great to have somebody who is a great ambassador for the company like Athena. One thing that has been consistent and great about ROH is that Athena has been very much a part of that show and focused on that show. Her work has been one of the strongest things about the show. If Athena is focused on ROH and AEW, that’s great too.

Khan noted that Starkz, should she win at Final Battle, would also bring a lot to ROH and AEW as champion. He also put over the work of both women in their current program, as well as that of Lexy Nair, on another part of the call.

What does Athena think? She told Wrestling Junkie’s Phil Strum, host of the Under the Ring podcast, that she’s more than ready to be back on AEW TV.

I think the next step for me would be to take a crack at AEW TV again. My first time around was not great, and I lost to the all powerful Jade Cargill. I think now, with me being the forever ROH Women’s Champion, I want to be a triple crown champion by the end of 2024. I’m going after all of the belts, the TBS Championship, Julia Hart. the AEW Women’s Championship, Toni Storm. I’m not content with just beating up these fragile broads left and right.

We’ll see if 2024 sees Athena, win or lose, on AEW broadcasts more often. Check out more from Athena with Under the Ring in the video above, or listen to the entire podcast episode below.

ROH Final Battle 2023 card: Matches confirmed for Texas

Athena vs. Billie Starkz and a six-man Jay Briscoe Memorial match will be highlights of ROH Final Battle 2023.

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There’s something pretty fitting about a wrestling show called Final Battle taking place toward the very end of the year. ROH Final Battle has done exactly that for years, from the first edition in Philadelphia in 2002 all the way to the present.

And while Ring of Honor has undergone its ups and downs over that time, there’s no question that keeping the event on the calendar was something Tony Khan was invested in doing once he acquired ROH. This year’s show is being offered exclusively on HonorClub, making it something of a test for that streaming service and a way to potentially drive more subscriptions.

An even bigger question surrounding this show is whether it shows ROH at a crossroads moment. For one of the few times in Final Battle history, the show will not feature the ROH World Championship in its main event, as that title is currently wrapped up in AEW’s Continental Classic tournament. The ROH World Tag Team Championship, held by MJF (and the injured Adam Cole), will also not be defended in Garland, Texas.

But that could allow a greater share of the spotlight to fall on one of the top women’s wrestling stars in any promotion, as Athena defends the ROH Women’s World Championship in the culmination of a long-running storyline with challenger Billie Starkz. Other highlights include FTR teaming with Mark Briscoe to face the Blackpool Combat Club in a match to honor the late Jay Briscoe, as well as a six-man Survival of the Fittest showdown to crown a new ROH World Television Champion.

While there could still be additional matches added before the show, here’s how the card looks right now.

Last update: Dec. 13, 10:15 p.m. ET.

ROH Final Battle 2023 card:

  • Dalton Castle vs. Komander vs. Kyle Fletcher vs. Lee Johnson vs. Lee Moriarty vs. TBD – Survival of the Fittest Finals for the vacant ROH World Television Championship
  • Keith Lee vs. Shane Taylor
  • Ethan Page vs. Tony Nese – “I Quit” match
  • FTR and Mark Briscoe vs. Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli and Jon Moxley) – Jay Briscoe Memorial Fight Without Honor
  • Athena (c) vs. Billie Starkz – ROH Women’s World Championship match
  • El Hijo del Vikingo (c) vs. Black Taurus – AAA Mega Championship match

Ronda Rousey makes surprise ROH debut

Has Ronda Rousey just jumped to the top of the candidate list for AEW’s new signing at Full Gear?

While the wrestling world waits to see who the mystery signing is that Tony Khan has teased for AEW Full Gear, a very well-known former WWE star snuck up and surprised everyone by showing up at the Ring of Honor taping in Inglewood.

As captured by Justin Ashton on X, Ronda Rousey made her ROH debut on Friday night.

Rousey was there to team with her friends Marina Shafir to take on ROH Women’s World Champion Athena and Billie Starkz. It’s expected that the match could air on the next episode of ROH on HonorClub, which will air on Thursday, Nov. 23.

Rousey’s appearance followed multiple reports earlier in the night that she was backstage for the AEW Collision/Rampage taping.

The fact that the ROH episode was taped for later broadcast adds credence to the idea that Rousey could be the big name signing Khan referred to during the week. That said, Khan would also know that word would get out about Rousey appearing on ROH, so he may still have someone else in his back pocket for Full Gear.

Rousey’s last WWE appearance was at SummerSlam in early August, where she lost to Shayna Baszler (also a close friend of hers) in an MMA Rules match. It was widely expected that she might leave the wrestling business altogether.

But her ROH debut puts a definite monkey wrench into things, and despite her sometimes divisive nature among pro wrestling fans, there’s bound to be plenty of interest to see if she has signed with AEW to appear on either that brand or ROH going forward.

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Claudio Castagnoli doesn’t believe in dream matches but admits ‘Bret Hart would be pretty cool’

Claudio Castagnoli joined the Under the Ring podcast to talk dream matches, versatility, jaw-dropping moments, Eddie Kingston and more.

ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli is a wrestler’s wrestler, the type who never stops learning, admires (and incorporates) styles from all over the world and won’t back down from any challenge.

So surely, he must have a list of dream matches he’d still like to be in, right?

The answer may surprise you. Castagnoli sat down this week to chat with Under the Ring host Phil Strum and explained why the concept of dream matches depends on the setting, and most of all, on the fans.

“I’m not the dream match kind of guy, I’ll let the fans decide that,” Castagnoli said when asked who he’d like to face from any era of pro wrestling if he could. “To me, a dream match is usually determined by the time, the place and which two guys are on top of their game.

“It’s usually something that just organically happens.”

After taking a moment to let that sink in, the Swiss strongman added, “I mean, Bret Hart would be pretty cool,”

Yes, yes he would.

Check out the entire interview above for Castagnoli’s thoughts on:

  • What attracted him most about signing with AEW last year
  • What the original ROH meant to his career
  • The possibility of facing Eddie Kingston at Supercard of Honor, and how he feels about Kingston at the current time
  • Who he studies and why it’s important that “you never stop learning”
  • How the members of the Blackpool Combat Club push each other to be better, and why is like an uncle or stepdad to Wheeler Yuta
  • Why it’s important to him that he still do at least one “jaw-dropping” thing in every match
  • The one word that makes for good tag teams
  • What goes into a great cup of coffee

Under the Ring drops new episodes every week, usually on Mondays, with Strum calling upon his longtime love for and coverage of pro wrestling to have an in-depth conversation with a wrestler or other notable personality. Recent guests have included pioneering women’s wrestler Madusa, entertaining and mercurial MLW wrestler Real1 and the current AEW World Tag Team Champions, The Gunns.

To make sure you don’t miss an episode, subscribe to Under the Ring on Apple Podcasts or your podcast provider of choice, or check out the Under the Ring YouTube channel to see all of the interviews in video form.

Eddie Kingston says ‘I quit AEW’ after Dynamite loss

Goodbye AEW, hello ROH?

Eddie Kingston had a chance to become the Face of the Revolution during the Ladder match this week on AEW Dynamite. He didn’t manage to capture the (literal) brass ring, watching Powerhouse Hobbs do it instead while he spent his time brawling with Ortiz instead.

Kingston didn’t take that development too well: He quit AEW.

At least that’s what AEW will have us believe. In a video posted to social media after the show (one that would have probably have been a lot more effective had it aired during the show, but hey), Kingston was asked for his comments and said simply, “I quit AEW, thanks” before throwing up the deuces on his way out the door.

So what gives? It’s likely that with Ring of Honor starting up its own weekly TV again — the first episode drops on HonorClub tonight, March 2 — Kingston is making the move to that brand. He’d provide an instant, legitimate challenger to ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli, as well as simply injecting some extra star power to ROH’s newest incarnation.

It’s worth noting that there’s also a ROH pay-per-view card, Supercard of Honor, coming up at the end of the month in Los Angeles. Only one match has been announced for that show so far, leaving plenty of time for Kingston to be worked into the mix.

While it’s inevitable that some talent will continue to cross over between AEW and ROH going forward, it would probably do the latter brand some good to have at least a few stars it can call its own. Kingston has a history with the promotion but has never really had an extended run as one of its focal points despite his status as an indie star.

He might be on his way to change that now, but at the very least, we shouldn’t expect too much of him on Dynamite or Rampage for a bit.

ROH weekly TV will return March 2 on HonorClub

ROH TV tapings begin before the end of the month, and tickets are on sale now.

Of all the questions that AEW boss Tony Khan has been asked over the past year or so, one has come up more consistently than any other: When is Ring of Honor going to gets its own television show again?

Khan has always said a weekly ROH show was a priority, but he didn’t want to jump the gun before the specifics were worked out. Now, as revealed in an interview with Sports Illustrated, he has an answer.

“Ring of Honor TV is coming Thursday, March 2 on HonorClub,” Khan said to SI. “We’ll have our first tapings on Feb. 25 and 26 at Universal Studios in Orlando, and we’re going to put tickets on sale for the inaugural taping on Thursday. Those will be the first-ever tapings of the new Ring of Honor.”

Those tickets are on sale now at AEWTix.com and include a taping on Saturday, Feb. 25 and two different sessions on Sunday, Feb. 26.

Under its previous ownership, Sinclair Broadcast Group, ROH had its own TV show, “Ring of Honor Wrestling,” though its broadcast day and time varied according to the schedules of Sinclair affiliates. The promotion was hit hard by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, and went on hiatus in October 2021.

Khan purchased the company in March 2022, but to date has only held pay-per-view events — one edition each of Supercard of Honor, Death Before Dishonor and Final Battle. ROH championships have been defended on AEW programming as well, and the rosters have been pretty fluid for the most part. Current ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli, for example, is a regular on AEW TV.

That could change with the weekly ROH shows, which promise to give more of the spotlight to talent who hasn’t been on Dynamite or Rampage much. It will be interesting to see if the titles gradually migrate to wrestlers who are featured primarily on Ring of Honor.

Khan was quick to point out that HonorClub subscribers also have access to the full 20-year history of past ROH content, perhaps to calm any qualms about fans paying for weekly shows when AEW and WWE have their regular content on broadcast TV. For the time being, he’s probably just happy to not have to answer the same question about when ROH TV was coming back, and fans, hopefully, will be happy to see it.

ROH Death Before Dishonor 2022 live results

Check out ROH Death Before Dishonor live results, with six championship matches on the card.

All men die, but does every man truly live? That seems relevant when considering an event called Death Before Dishonor, which implies that the competitors on the Ring of Honor pay-per-view card from the Tsongas Center in Lowell, Mass. would rather die than lose.

That’s figurative, of course, but everyone involved should be putting it all on the line to ensure a great show for the second event since AEW acquired ROH. There are six championship matches in all, so it should be a fun night, highlighted by the much anticipated rematch between FTR and the Briscoe Brothers.

Let’s get to it!

ROH Death Before Dishonor quick results:

  • Claudio Castagnoli def. Jonathan Gresham by pinfall to become the new ROH World Champion
  • Daniel Garcia mocks the idea of a wrestling match with more rules, and says he’ll take the title back to “the big leagues of AEW”

Scroll down for more detailed match results throughout the evening.