Last week's edition of ROH ON HONOR CLUB saw ROH CEO Tony Khan name former ROH World Champion Jerry Lynn and Stokely Hathaway to the Board of Directors, as well as Willow Nightingale successfully defend her NJPW Strong Women's Championship against Rachael Ellering, The Mogul Embassy victorious in a Proving Ground match, Matt Sydal make a challenge towards Samoa Joe, and much, much more!
This week, two Ring of Honor championships will be at stake when Samoa Joe answers the challenge of Matt Sydal and The Mogul Embassy will face the trio of AR Fox, Action Andretti, and Darius Martin with the World Six-Man Championship at stake! Plus ROH Women's World Champion Athena welcomes another competitor onto the Proving Ground, and Daniel Garcia looks to send a message to ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata when he faces The DKC, one of Shibata's students, in a Pure Rules battle! The action begins at 7pm ET/6pm CT only on Honor Club, where for just $9.99/month, you've got access to Ring of Honor's 20+ years of history, plus brand-new weekly episodes showcasing great talent from around the professional wrestling world!
ROH WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH...
Samoa Joe(c) vs. Matt Sydal
For the first time in their careers, this Thursday night on Honor Club, Matt Sydal will step into the squared circle to fight Samoa Joe one-on-one! Despite the several years they simultaneously spent in ROH from 2004-2007, not to mention occupying space on other assorted independent promotions early in their careers, these two veterans of the mat wars have never gone head-to-head. Their only time even sharing a ring prior to this new era of honor took place in Dayton, OH on April 28, 2006 at ROH's WEEKEND OF CHAMPIONS: NIGHT 1 event in a situation where they operated as partners in a Tag Team Title challenge against Sydal's Generation Next stablemates Austin Aries and Roderick Strong.
So it will be that this Thursday night, after having failed in a tag team battle against Joe and ZSJ with Christopher Daniels at his side, Matt Sydal will challenge Samoa Joe for the ROH World Television Championship. This fight will mark Matt's fourth attempt at capturing the title, his first bid since a 2017 bout at ROH/NJPW WAR OF THE WORLDS: NIGHT 3, as well as his first ROH title fight of any kind since that May night inside the Hammerstein Ballroom.
As for Joe, this bout marks his 12th title defense since topping Minoru Suzuki nearly 430 days ago on the April 13, 2022 edition of DYNAMITE, and his resume includes failed challengers like Christopher Daniels, Trent Beretta, Colt Cabana, and Mark Briscoe, just to name a few. At this point, Joe is the third longest reigning TV Champion since the title's inception in 2010, falling only behind Dragon Lee and Jay Lethal, with the former's reign going uncontested for the majority of 2020 due to COVID-19 protocols. Still, another 40 or so days and Joe will eclipse Dragon Lee's reign as well, but would still sit some 100 days shy of Lethal's 567 spent as World TV Champion.
So if Sydal cannot stop the ROH Legend this Thursday, is there anyone who actually can put an end to this reign? Will Joe endure long enough to become both the longest reigning World Champion and World Television Champion in Ring of Honor's history? Joe's already a ROH Hall of Famer, he's already a legendary figure with that 645 day World Title run, and yet he's found a way to continue building that legacy into something greater.
Matt Sydal could become legend himself this Thursday with a victory over Samoa Joe, or he could end up just another victim of the Samoan Smashing Machine...
ROH WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PROVING GROUND MATCH...
Athena(c) vs. Trish Adora
Clearly Athena and Kiera Hogan are destined for a fight far beyond the scope of a standard wrestling match, the hostility between the two women continues to escalate week-after-week, and eventually the scales will tip into a violence that cannot be contained by the rules. But that moment hasn't quite come, and that fight will not be this Thursday night during ROH ON HONOR CLUB.
Instead Trish Adora will step onto the Proving Ground to earn a shot at the ROH Women's World Championship that Athena has held since FINAL BATTLE 2022. In the time since toppling Mercedes Martinez, “The Fallen Goddess” has racked up 10 championship defenses and twenty-five consecutive wins, turning away contenders such as Willow Nightingale, Miyu Yamashita, Skye Blue, and Kiera Hogan on two previous occasions. Athena has become the most successful champion since the title's creation at DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2021, and is a little over thirty days away from becoming the longest reigning champion in its history as well. Meaning there are few individuals in pro wrestling on a hotter streak than Athena, and meaning if someone can end it, than that woman's stock will skyrocket in ROH as well as, in this case, put said woman right in contention for the ROH Women's World Championship.
And by the standards of the Proving Ground, Trish Adora doesn't have to defeat Athena to earn that title match, she “merely” has to survive for ten minutes to become a contender, a feat only four women have managed to accomplish since Athena became champion, and none of those in Proving Ground bouts. The longest anyone held out there was Madison Rayne at 08:27, so if Trish Adora can even pull off that accomplishment, it would be a landmark moment for her career.
Less so for that of the reigning ROH Women's World Champion...and there's no doubt Kiera Hogan will be watching to see how this one unfolds.
PURE RULES MATCH...
The J.A.S' Daniel Garcia vs. The DKC
Former ROH Pure Champion Daniel Garcia clearly wants himself a piece of reigning Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata, the man who beat the man that beat Garcia at FINAL BATTLE 2022. After “The Wrestler” topped Lee Moriarty on RAMPAGE two weeks back, the Jericho Appreciation Society member confronted Shibata, and then made overtures about the Pure Championship once again this past Wednesday on DYNAMITE when also fishing for an AEW International Championship fight with Orange Cassidy.
But before that tag match goes down, Daniel Garcia looks to send a message Shibata's way by taking on one of his NPW LA Dojo students, The DKC. First beginning his career in March 2018 under his full name of Dylan Kyle Cox, DKC began his time under Shibata's learning tree in 2021 after competing on the NJPW Lion's Break events and then NJPW STRONG programming. Last seen in AEW at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2022, this Pure Rules bout will mark DKC's first foray into Ring of Honor competition, and he's doing it with the eyes of Shibata on his work.
Will DKC end up as a message from Daniel Garcia for Shibata, or will he show the former ROH Pure Champion what it means to be put through the ring by “The Wrestler” and what representing the LA Dojo means?
ROH SIX-MAN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP...
The Mogul Embassy (Brian Cage, Kaun, & Toa Liona w/ Prince Nana)(c) vs. Action Andretti, AR Fox, & Darius Martin
Reigning as ROH World Six-Man Champions since FINAL BATTLE 2022, The Mogul Embassy trio of Brian Cage, Kaun, and Toa Liona will make their third defense of the championship this Thursday night against the nascent trio of AR Fox, Action Andretti, and Darius Martin. Now Fox is already familiar with what Prince Nana's trio brings to the table, having challenged for these titles at SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023 back on March 31st, so at least he has some knowledge he can share with his partners heading into ROH ON HONOR CLUB.
And these three men will need every bit of help they can get, after all this is just their second match together as a trio, with their first only happening last week in that victory over The Trustbusters. Fox, Martin, and Andretti are a trio with Darius sitting at the center, his individual relationships with AR Fox and Action Andretti being the tie that binds it all together, but is it a tie strong enough to stop the most dominating version of The Embassy that's ever existed?
SIX-MAN MATCH...
Stu Grayson & The Righteous (Dutch & Vincent) vs. Dalton Castle & The Boys
It is now quite clear that Stu Grayson has fully thrown in with The Righteous of Dutch and Vincent, so much so that he even fought, and beat, his own Dark Order brothers alongside The Righteous. From his words included above, Stu absolutely sees weakness when he looks at what The Dark Order has become since 2019, and it infuriates him to know (at least in his mind) that his “brothers” have fallen so low.
This Thursday night, Stu Grayson continues to delve further into what The Righteous have offered as he unites with them once more to take on the former 2-Time ROH World Six-Man Champion unit of Dalton Castle and The Boys! Dalton and The Tate Twins are quite familiar with The Righteous, having defeated Vincent, Dutch, and Bateman at DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2022 to begin their second reign as Six Man Champs, but they are especially familiar with Vincent as their rivalry dates back to the man's days with The Kingdom alongside Matt Taven and TK O'Ryan.
Over their history, the balance of victories tilt in favor of Vincent when it comes to bouts with Dalton and The Boys, will that continue to be the case in this burgeoning alliance with Stu Grayson, or will the Trios experience edge of the former 2-Time Six-Man Champs be the key to victory?
ALSO FEATURING:
-The Workhorsemen's Anthony Henry vs. Mark Briscoe
-The Varsity Athletes' Tony Nese vs. The SAP’S Serpentico
-Skye Blue vs. Viva Van
-Nick Comoroto vs. The House of Heathen's Deimos
-Miranda Alize vs. Notorious Mimi
-The Iron Savages (Boulder & Bronson w/ Jacked Jameson) vs. Rhett Titus & Tracy Williams
-Diamante vs. The House of Heathens' Teal Piper
ROH ON HONOR CLUB premieres this Thursday night at 7pm ET/6pm CT, and features Samoa Joe defending his ROH World TV Championship against Matt Sydal, The Mogul Embassy defending their ROH World Six-Man belts against Fox, Andretti, and Martin, Athena in a Proving Ground contest, Daniel Garcia in Pure Rules action, and more!!!! ROH ON HONOR CLUB can only be seen on Honor Club, the place for fans to experience ROH's rich history for just $9.99/month, including the WEEK IN ROH HISTORY playlist updated every Monday, BEST IN THE WORLD 2011, the Women of Honor collection, and so much more!