Coming out of FINAL BATTLE 2023, available only to Honor Club subscribers, we've got a brand new ROH World Television Champion in Kyle Fletcher after a must-see Survival of the Fittest battle. That Six Way Elimination fight showed the world just how much each man wanted that title, introduced the ROH faithful to “Bounty Hunter” Bryan Keith, saw Lee Moriarty step up big time with his two eliminations, and demonstrated just how much heart Komander has in his body.
In addition, ROH Women's World Champion Athena had a hellacious fight with Billie Starkz that saw the “Forever Champ” remain just that, but not without having to survive everything Starkz brought to bear. Plus Wheeler Yuta faced “Filthy” Tom Lawlor with the Pure Championship at stake, TMDK traveled from NJPW to challenge The Mogul Embassy for the ROH World Six-Man Titles, and so much more that needs to be seen on the FINAL BATTLE 2023 replay only on Honor Club!
ROH ON HONOR CLUB is exclusively available at WatchROH.com, and gets underway at 7pm ET/6pm CT with all the fallout from FINAL BATTLE 2023! How will the athletes of ROH rebound from the annual year-end extravaganza and begin to shape their 2024? We will find out when ROH Women's World Champion Athena gets right back to work in the Proving Ground, while The Gates of Agony compete in tag team action, El Hijo del Vikingo & Komander battle Jack Cartwheel & Gringo Loco, Dante Martin goes solo against Lee Johnson, and so much more!
PROVING GROUND MATCH...
ROH Women's World Champion Athena vs. Maya World
In one of the most unforgettable bouts of her amazing title reign, ROH Women's World Champion Athena defeated Billie Starkz last Friday night at FINAL BATTLE 2023! The former Minion-in-Training gave “The Fallen Goddess” everything she had, but ultimately Billie had to give up the fight and submit to her former leader.
Well, how former is it when following the match, after some back-and-forth that seemed like it could come to blows, ended with Starkz and Athena embracing. What that will mean for the future of their relationship remains to be seen, but one thing we do know is that “The Fallen Goddess” will be in Proving Ground action this Thursday night on Honor Club! Can young Maya World, with just a year of experience under her belt, shock the world and be the first woman to survive Athena's Proving Ground?
ONE-ON-ONE...
Lee Johnson vs. Dante Martin
Lee Johnson came into Survival of the Fittest with high hopes to become the new ROH World Television Champion, especially after beating former ROH Pure Champion Josh Woods to qualify for the elimination bout. Instead, “Big Shotty” found himself the first man eliminated just shy of nine minutes into the championship match. It was disappointing, that's for sure, but Lee Johnson is undaunted in his desire to achieve championship success, and perhaps he can now focus on going at Kyle Fletcher in a one-on-one bout after stringing together some victories.
That starts this Thursday night on Honor Club when Johnson welcomes Dante Martin back to Ring of Honor, the Top Flight member's first ROH bout since that horrific injury at SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023, and his first singles since beating Mike Bennett back at ROH ON HONOR CLUB 3!
So as important as this bout is for Lee Johnson's desire to get himself into the TV Championship picture, it's just as important for Dante Martin to get reassert himself in the ROH landscape! Which young man will claim victory this Thursday night at WatchROH.com?
TAG TEAM ACTION...
AAA Cruiserweight Champion Komander & AAA Mega Champion El Hijo del Vikingo
vs.
Jack Cartwheel & Gringo Loco
While three of these men participated in FINAL BATTLE 2023, only one had a triumphant night, that being El Hijo del Vikingo as he successfully defended his AAA Mega Championship against Black Taurus, drawing him ever closer to breaking Kenny Omega's 765-day record holding that title. Komander, though he looked utterly superb as one of the last two men in the Survival of the Fittest Elimination bout, ultimately fell to Kyle Fletcher, watching the Aussie Open member become the new ROH World TV Champion. And speaking of SOTF, Jack Cartwheel had an opportunity to land the sixth, and final, spot in the Elimination Finals, but that slipped through his fingers as “Bounty Hunter” Bryan Keith topped Cartwheel in Keith's ROH debut.
Gringo Loco was the only one of the four who was not part of the FINAL BATTLE 2023 festivities, though much like Cartwheel, he had an opportunity when he faced Komander in a SOTF Qualifier back in Chicago during ROH ON HONOR CLUB #40.
Now these four men will meet in a tag team bout this Thursday night with the two AAA Champions uniting once again after experiencing great success in bouts against The Workhorsemen and the team of Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal. Loco and Cartwheel are quite familiar with one another, both as partners and as foes, last teaming in July for GCW's CLEAN UP MAN event, so it will be quite interesting to see how that partnership plays out in their ROH debut as a team! On top of that, Vikingo has to keep in mind that this Friday on RAMPAGE he's set to battle Black Taurus in a FINAL BATTLE 2023 rematch; how will that effect the focus of the AAA Mega Champion in this tag team bout? Could that provide Cartwheel and Gringo Loco the opening they need to score a victory?
ALSO FEATURING:
-The Outrunners vs. The Infantry vs. Action Andretti & Darius Martin
-Charlette Renegade vs. Rachael Ellering
-Taya Valkyrie vs. Vertvixen
-Iron Savages & Jacked Jameson vs. The Righteous & Lance Archer
-The Gates of Agony vs. Blake Christian & Willie Mack
-AND MORE!!!