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This Friday Ring of Honor Wrestling returns to pay-per-view for the first time in 2023, and with it comes one of ROH's most hallowed traditions: SUPERCARD OF HONOR! Nearly every year since 2006, Ring of Honor has presented this showcase of the greatest pound-for-pound professional wrestling on the planet, and 2023 will be no different! During one of professional wrestling's most important weekends, ROH is coming to Los Angeles and the Galen Center, home of the USC Trojans, to once again show the world why ROH is the most influential professional wrestling organization of this generation! After watching events unfold over the last five weeks of ROH ON HONOR CLUB, we head into LA with multiple championships at stake, including the crowning of new ROH World Tag Team Champions with the Reach for The Sky Ladder Match being held in honor of Jay Briscoe! Plus, Claudio Castagnoli will put the ROH World Championship on the line against Eddie Kingston while his Blackpool Combat Club ally Wheeler Yuta will risk his Pure Championship against the much-feared Katsuyori Shibata! ROH Women's World Champion Athena will put her title on the line against Yuka Sakazaki, Samoa Joe will renew an old rivalry when Mark Briscoe challenges him for the ROH World Television Champion, the ROH World Six Man Titles will be at stake, and El Hijo del Vikingo puts the AAA Mega Championship on the line against Komander! The action goes down on Friday afternoon, March 31st, starting at 4pm PT/7pm ET, and if you can't be there live, don't you worry, don't you fret, because it will all be available on Bleacher Report and FITE+, with the ZERO HOUR absolutely free on on FITE and at the official ROH YouTube Channel! ROH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP... Claudio Castagnoli(c) vs. Eddie Kingston The story of Claudio Castagnoli and Eddie Kingston dates back nearly two decades, to the earliest days of their wrestling careers, and their first time sharing the ring in front of an audience taking place in Evansville, IN in October 2004. From that point forward, the two men spent time training together, fighting each other, even fighting together, and actually living together for an extended period of time at their “Wrestle House” in Pennsylvania. Their first singles match on record took place in Detroit of all places, back in January 2006, but it would be far from their last. All told, Kingston and Castagnoli went head-to-head on eleven occasions across five different wrestling promotions, with the final clash taking place on March 13, 2011, and the record is heavily in favor of Claudio at 9-2. They fought in a Respect Match where Eddie should have told Claudio he respected him after the loss, but instead told Castagnoli he did not respect him prior to leveling him with a spinning backfist. Eddie's words to the unconscious Claudio as he left the ring that night were “I know you”, and later that night Double C would actually betray the entire promotion they were working for at the time, proving Kingston's words to be true. Their last one-on-one bout actually ended with Claudio defeating Eddie with a chain-assisted European Uppercut, and then proceeding to whip him with a belt. Kingston never had the opportunity to even that score, so when Claudio arrived in All Elite Wrestling as the newest member of The Blackpool Combat Club, and thus immediate ally of Kingston's in the Blood & Guts II Cage Match, it didn't not sit well with “The Mad King”. Reluctantly, as a promise to Mox, Eddie played nice with Claudio throughout this entire scenario, despite his disappointment with the end result of Blood & Guts where Castagnoli got the win for their team rather than Kingston. Still, Eddie kept his word to Mox during their mutual tenure in AEW and left Claudio to his own devices despite his personal disdain for the 2-Time ROH World Champion. But this isn't All Elite Wrestling...this is Ring of Honor, and as such the promise to Jon Moxley no longer means anything. Kingston is free, free of obligation to anyone other than himself and his own desires, and what he desires is the ROH World Championship held by Castagnoli. Now Claudio may feel Kingston is a dishonorable man, or at least not the type of honor Castagnoli recognizes, but it's not the first opportunity Eddie has had to represent ROH as champion. Over a decade ago, when the ROH World Championship was held by Kevin Steen, Kingston faced the champ at BOILING POINT 2012 but came up short after nearly 20 minutes of fight. This Friday, at SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023, it's as if all the disparate paths Kingston and Castagnoli have walked are converging once again, but now there is a prestigious singles championship at stake for the very first time. All the animosity, all the bitter history, it's all coming to a head in Los Angeles with the ROH World Championship at stake, and after Claudio's comments about Kingston always giving up when the road gets too hard, along with the two decades of personal history, there is a great deal of personal stake as well. “REACH FOR THE SKY” ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP LADDER MATCH... The Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) vs. The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) vs. LFI (Dralistico & Rush) vs. Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin) vs. Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) At FINAL BATTLE 2022, Jay and Mark Briscoe continued to make history as they defeated FTR in an epic Double Dog Collar Match to become 13-Time ROH World Tag Team Champions. Unfortunately, Jay's life was tragically cut short by an automobile accident on January 17, just days before his 39th birthday, and the wrestling world lost, not only one of its most beloved figures, but also one of its most talented competitors. Remarkably, with a strength that comes from his family and faith, Mark Briscoe elected to stay in the game, and has been on a remarkable roll ever since he and Jay Lethal paid tribute to Jamin in an extremely emotional contest on the January 25th edition of AEW DYNAMITE. But that roll has been in solo competition, although Mark has still been recognized as one-half of the World Tag Team Champions, but it wasn't until just recently that Mark himself made a decision about the future of the championship. As seen in the video from AEW RAMPAGE embedded above, effective March 31st Mark Briscoe will vacate the ROH World Tag Team Championship and in a match dubbed the “Reach For The Sky Ladder Match”, a new championship team will be crowned! Mark himself picked The Lucha Brothers as the first time to be entered into the fray, and on the March 23rd edition of ROH ON HONOR CLUB we found out who else would fill the field! Former 2-Time ROH World Tag Team Champions The Kingdom will take part in this Ladder affair, but so too will their recently earned enemies in Top Flight! Plus, the LFI duo of Rush and Dralistico will be involved in the fight, attempting to claim their first ROH World Tag Team Championship, as will the unbeaten duo of Aussie Open, who've looked extremely impressive in their ROH victories over Rhett Titus/Tracy Williams and Christopher Daniels/Matt Sydal. Obviously there is plenty of tension between Top Flight and The Kingdom heading into this one, especially after Taven's recent victory over Darius Martin, but they can't just be focused on each other if either team hopes to become the 65th champions. LFI has proven extremely dangerous in their two ROH ON HONOR CLUB bouts, as have Aussie Open, and for the Lucha Bros, well this marks their debut in ROH, and what a way to make that first impression it would be to add the ROH World Tag Team Championship to their trophy case. Penta and Fenix are quite adept at Ladder Matches, just check out their Escalera de la Muerte fight at AEW's ALL OUT 2019 with The Young Bucks to see, and that experience may have swung the advantage in this environment into their corner, but Aussie Open also has their share of Ladder Match experience during Kyle and Mark's time as a team. But as for The Kingdom, Top Flight, and this LFI pair, there's not one Ladder match between the teams; individually there may be a few Ladder match situations, Matt Taven won the ROH World Championship in Madison Square Garden in a Ladder Match for example, but as teams, none of those three have competed in this environment. Will that be the deciding factor in this tribute to Jay Briscoe set to crown new ROH World Tag Team Champions? On top of that, Thursday night during ROH ON HONOR CLUB, the quartet of The Kingdom and LFI beat The Lucha Bros and Top Flight in an eight-man tag, putting some momentum in their court as this historic match draws near! ROH WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP... Samoa Joe(c) vs. Mark Briscoe It has been 19 years, and a few months, since the very first time that Mark Briscoe went one-on-one with Samoa Joe at FINAL BATTLE 2003, and it has been 16 years and change since their last head-to-head at CHICAGO SPECTACULAR: NIGHT 2 on 12/9/06, and what both of those had in common was Joe defeating Mark. Now there were been plenty of other encounters between the two men in tag and trios situations, and even an instance where they stood on the same side of the ring, but those two singles encounters definitively swung in Joe's favor, especially that ROH World Championship fight in December 2003. But that was a long time ago, in a time when The Briscoes were primarily tag team competitors, but in the years since, Mark, just as his brother Jay did, ventured into the singles division, and for him it was all about pursuit of the ROH World Television Championship. The first time he challenged for the championship was against Eddie Edwards on the 89th episode of ROH ON HDNET back on January 3, 2011, but it would not be the last. He challenged Christopher Daniels, Matt Taven, Jay Lethal twice, Bobby Fish, and Kenny King. 25 different ROH World Television Champions, Mark has challenged six of them, in seven different matches, and that says nothing for the #1 Contender situations in which he has competed. The ROH World Television Championship has been Mark's individual goal since it was first introduced in March 2010, but sadly it has been one that has eluded him all these years. But it seems rather appropriate that Mark's next shot at the championship be fighting the man against whom he had his first-ever singles championship match in Ring of Honor: Samoa Joe. Joe enters into this match as one of ROH's Triple Crown Champions, a man who has held three separate titles in the company, in his case the ROH World Championship, the ROH Pure Championship, and now the ROH World Television Championship. After defeating Minoru Suzuki back on April 13, 2022, making him the 3rd longest reigning champion in the title's history, Joe has successfully smashed his way through seven different opponents including Juice Robinson, Jay Lethal, Trent Beretta, and most recently Cheeseburger, but now has to contend with someone with whom his career is tied back to its early days. These are men who came up together in ROH's earliest days, who helped mold the company into the most influential one of the last 20 years, and now they are helping to shape the new era of honor. Will Mark Briscoe finally achieve his dream of becoming ROH World Television champion, or will Joe make it to the one year mark as champion as he aims to make his TV Title reign resemble his record-setting 645 days ROH World Championship one? ROH WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP... “The Fallen Goddess” Athena(c) vs. “The Magical Girl” Yuka Sakazaki After successfully defending the championship against Emi Sakura on Thursday night in quite the hard-hitting affair, “The Fallen Goddess” Athena will officially face “The Magical Girl” Yuka Sakazaki this Friday at SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023! It's a fight weeks in the making, with hostilities rising to the point Athena actually called Yuka out for a match knowing very well that Sakazaki was in Japan at that moment. Well assumed by many to be a sure-thing for this Friday night, Emi Sakura did her level-best to throw a curveball into the best laid plans and take Athena's championship as her own. Still Athena found a way to survive Sakura's onslaught, and force her to tap out last night in their championship fight during ROH ON HONOR CLUB, but as is par for the course with the ROH Women's World Champ, just winning the match was not enough, and she just had to attack her fallen foe after the bout had concluded. Although Mei Suruga tried her best to stop the attack, she too ended up knocked down and out by Athena, leaving only the arrival of Yuka Sakazaki to stave off the beating. The brawl that erupted from that took an entire crew of referees and staff security to separate, and even after the two competitors were pulled apart, Yuka still tried to come after her SUPERCARD foe. Well this Friday night there won't be any reason to hold Athena and Yuka apart when they collide live on pay-per-view with the ROH Women's World Championship at stake! But if “The Magical Girl” can't stop the tear that “The Fallen Goddess” has been on since becoming champion, is there anyone else who can? ROH PURE CHAMPIONSHIP... Wheeler Yuta(c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance, and it is reasonable to say that based on his actions over the last several weeks, ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta is straddling that line. His championship victories over Timothy Thatcher and Clark Connors, as well as his standing as the only 2-Time Pure Champion in history, have fueled this arrogance in Yuta, and his alignment with The Blackpool Combat Club has only served to bolster the defending champion's ego. Why else would Wheeler Yuta have the audacity to not only run down New Japan's LA Dojo, but also its head trainer, Katsuyori Shibata! Shibata, even during his medically forced retirement, stood as one of the most feared men in professional wrestling over the last 20 years. His relentless physical assaults, the pleasure he took in inflicting punishment upon his foes, the ruthless nature in which he fought, it all added up to make “The Wrestler” one of New Japan Pro Wrestling's most dangerous competitors. One can't help but speculate the levels of greatness he have achieved already if not for his collapse following an IWGP Heavyweight Championship match with Kazuchika Okada in April 2017 and the subsequent discovery of a subdural hematoma that not only required emergency surgery, but effectively brought an end to his wrestling career. At least that's what everyone thought, everyone except Shibata himself as on October 21, 2021, Shibata stepped into the ring to fight Zack Sabre Jr. in a 5-minute Grappling contest. It wasn't a full-blown pro wrestling match, but it was a start, and three months later, at WRESTLE KINGDOM 16, Shibata would compete against Ren Narita in a full-blown professional wrestling match. It was a triumph for Shibata, just getting back into the ring in the first place, but in this case it was also a victorious return to action for the 3-Time NEVER Openweight Champion. Though it would be 10 months before Shibata returned to the fights, it would be a match that brought him to All Elite Wrestling for a second time. The first came at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2022 when he arrived to assist Orange Cassidy against Will Ospreay, but this time around it resulted in an All-Atlantic Championship bout between Shibata and Orange Cassidy, a championship match actually won by “Freshly Squeezed”, and perhaps there-in lies the purpose in Yuta's brazen call-out. See, just about a month ago, Yuta went to war with his former friend for that All-Atlantic Championship and was found wanting, just as Shibata was several months prior. That loss to OC marked a turning point in the attitude of Wheeler Yuta, one that has tilted him towards this increasingly violent, arrogant place in which he currently resides, a place that emboldened Wheeler to make the challenge. Perhaps his ego needs to accomplish the same thing Orange Cassidy once did, perhaps it's about showing the dominance of The BCC in both ROH and AEW, or perhaps it's just about Wheeler Yuta responding to that notion Ian Riccaboni put out weeks ago when he called Yuta the “junior member” of The Blackpool Combat Club. Yuta needs to prove he's just as worthy of respect as his BCC fellows, needs to prove it by defeating one of the most revered men in the sport, and needs to do it when the eyes of the wrestling world fall on SUPERCARD OF HONOR! That drive to be the best, that need to prove himself the best, it led Yuta to put the title on the line less than 24 hours before this battle, and although he defeated Leon Ruffin, any match takes a toll on the body, and if that tense staredown between Yuta and Shibata after the match is any indication, this one is going to be a very physically taxing one both men involved! ROH WORLD SIX MAN CHAMPIONSHIP... The Embassy (Brian Cage, Kaun, & Toa Liona w/ Prince Nana)(c) vs. AR Fox, Blake Christian, & Metalik AR Fox, Blake Christian, and Metalik united for the very first time on the March 23rd edition of ROH ON HONOR CLUB, defeating The Trustbusters in trios action, but the victory was rather pyrrhic thanks to Prince Nana's Embassy. See, when the newborn trio first accepted the challenge to face Ari Daivari's crew, they made an off-handed comment about pursuing the ROH World Six Man Championship once they were done with Trustbuster business. Clearly that did not sit well with Brian Cage, Kaun, and Toa Liona as they assault Fox, Christian, and Metalik following their victory on the 23rd. They heard the words spoken by the group, and this display of violence was their response. If they wanted an opportunity to dethrone the champs, then this it what AR Fox, Blake Christian, and Metalik had to look forward to if and when the six men met inside the squared circle. As it turned out, they would not have to wait long as AEW/ROH CEO Tony Khan announced just days later that at SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023 the ROH World Six Man Championship would be on the line with The Embassy defending against AR Fox, Blake Christian, and Metalik! It's a huge get for the challengers, this being just their second time out as a unit, but The Embassy isn't going to let any challenge go unanswered, whether they're as experienced a trio as Dalton Castle and The Boys, or as new to this style of competition as their challengers this Friday. But the fact that the challengers are so new to competing as a unit could swing things in their behavior because there's not tape to game plan for what they bring to the table, there isn't loads of footage to prep for AR Fox, Blake Christian, and Metalik. They are quite unpredictable, that makes them dangerous, and that danger could bear fruit in the crowning of new ROH World Six Man Champions! AAA MEGA CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH... El Hijo Del Vikingo(c) vs. Komander Fans worldwide bore witness to what AAA Mega Champion El Hijo del Vikingo is capable of last week on DYNAMITE when he battled Kenny Omega in one of the most spectacular matches AEW has ever offered on Wednesday night. While the bout did not go the way of Vikingo, it earned the man a well-deserved ovation from the AEW faithful in attendance, and drew plenty of eyeballs to the television screen to see just what this man had to offer. Komander, Vikingo's foe this coming Friday, also made his AEW debut quite recently, as part of the Face of the Revolution Ladder Match on March 1st to be exact, and while it was a wild situation in which to make his first AEW appearance, it only gave fans a small glimpse into what this man is capable of doing. That is why this contest taking place at SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023 is such an intriguing addition to the stacked pay-per-view event! It features to of Lucha Libre's finest athletes, competing against each other for the first time, and for a championship that Vikingo has held for over 480 days! He's defended the Mega Championship on eight instances after defeating four other men to claim it, and those challenges have come from as varied foes as Rey Fenix, John Hennigan, Laredo Kid, and Bandido. It should also be noted that immediately following that bout with Kenny, Vikingo returned to AAA two days later for a Trios contest, and then competed for Warrior Wrestling the very next day in Grand Rapids, MI! He's a busy man who never stops competing, but the same could be said for his upcoming foe. See Komander, since his AEW debut, well he's traveled to Germany for wXw's three night 16 Karat Gold Tournament, then headed to Japan to compete on an All Japan Pro Wrestling event as well as a GLEAT show, all before returning back to Mexico for AAA and an Invasion Indy bout. Suffice to say, Komander has been just as busy as the defending Mega Champion, and though they may be hurting from their experiences, neither man is going to hold back come Friday at SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023! ONE-ON-ONE... Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Daniel Garcia The last time Hiroshi Tanahashi competed inside a ROH ring was April 6, 2019 when they, along with New Japan Pro Wrestling, presented the G1 SUPERCARD from Madison Square Garden. That night, “The Ace” challenged Zack Sabre Jr. for the RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship, but unfortunately for him, it would not be a title added to his already impressive trophy case. While that may have been the last time in Ring of Honor for Tanahashi, it was far from the only; the man has challenged for the ROH World Tag Team Titles, he's attempted to claim the ROH World Six Man Championship, he's taking a shot at the ROH World Television Title, and even tried to become the ROH World Champion in 2016 during Adam Cole's reign. And now it is the challenge of a former ROH Pure Champion that brings Hiroshi Tanahashi back to Ring of Honor this Friday night for SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023! Daniel Garcia issued the challenge on Wednesday night, and it was promptly answered by the multi-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Coming off a loss to the returning Adam Cole during DYNAMITE, “Red Death” is looking to rebound in the biggest way, and toppling Tanahashi in his match would be the ultimate return to form for Garcia. This is a man who has beaten “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson, Brody King, and Ricky Starks, he's been learning under the tree of Chris Jericho for months now, “The Ocho” being a man who beat Tanahashi back in January 2020 at WRESTLE KINGDOM 14. But will all that experience Garcia has amassed since coming into AEW, particularly since joining The J.A.S., be enough to conquer “The Ace of New Japan”? SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023 comes your way on Friday, March 31st, beginning at 4pm PT/7pm ET, and if you can't be there live, don't you worry, don't you fret, because it will all be available on Bleacher Report and FITE+, with the ZERO HOUR absolutely free on on FITE and at the official ROH YouTube Channel!

With SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023 just one day away, Ring of Honor returns to Honor Club for the latest edition of the best pound-for-pound wrestling on the planet! We know that Claudio Castagnoli will defend his ROH World Championship against Eddie Kingston on Saturday, that new ROH World Tag Team Champions will be crowned in the Reach For the Sky Ladder match, that the ROH Pure Championship will be at stake between Wheeler Yuta and NJPW's Katsuyori Shibata, and that The Embassy will put their ROH World Six Man Titles on the line as well! We also know Mark Briscoe will attempt to finally achieve his dream of becoming ROH World Television Champion when he faces Samoa Joe in head-to-head combat, but there is still more to be determined in the hours before ROH takes over Los Angeles on March 31st! This Thursday night, when the latest edition of ROH ON HONOR CLUB debuts at 7pm ET, the final pieces of the SoH puzzle will be placed! ROH WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH... “The Fallen Goddess” Athena(c) vs. Emi Sakura Although she has never competed inside a ROH ring, Emi Sakura has more than earned her ROH Women's World Title opportunity over a 27-year career filled with championship success. During the course of her career, Sakura has held 16 different championships on 32 occasions, while currently reigning as the DEADLOCK Pro Wrestling Women's Champion in North Carolina, and as for Emi's AEW career, since her debut at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2019, Sakura has competed in a total of 96 AEW matches while scoring 51 wins along the way. It's a number that puts her in the top ten of all women in AEW history, but unfortunately for Emi, none of those 51 are against the reigning ROH Women's World Champion Athena! Point of fact, in their lone singles encounter on the 9/12/22 edition of DARK: ELEVATION, it was Athena who scored the victory over Emi, just as her trios team did on the 8/9/22 edition of DARK. In the case of both women though, it could be said that that was a long time ago, and both have evolved into something a little bit different than they were before. Athena has transformed into one of the most ruthless, most aggressive competitors in either the Men's or Women's locker room in All Elite Wrestling, and that has parlayed into 15 consecutive victories in Ring of Honor competition, 5 successful title defenses, and turning away nine different women attempting to earn a title opportunity in Proving Ground matches. Factor in a wildly impressive AEW win streak, and Athena has won 27 straight singles matches dating back to October 11th of 2022, and she's secured most of them with wanton disregard for the well-being of her opponent, above and beyond just what it takes to win that particular match, but she may have found a match for that in the Emi Sakura that's risen to the surface since her January 27th RAMPAGE fight with Jamie Hayter. That AEW Women's World Championship Eliminator bout brought out an aggressive, violent side of Emi Sakura that All Elite Wrestling had not experienced over the last several years. It was a mean streak, the kind that has helped Emi amass the championship history she's built to date, and one that may prove absolutely necessary if she wants to become the 5th ROH Women's World Champion, and move on to SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023 this Friday night to defend said title! Just days ago, Emi made it clear on DARK: ELEVATION that she's coming for Athena's crown: The one thing for certain about this collision is that both Emi Sakura and Athena are going to beat the tar out of one another as each tries to be the one heading to Los Angeles as ROH Women's World Champion! Don't miss out on what is going to be a truly hard-hitting affair! REACH FOR THE SKY PREVIEW... The Kingdom(Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) and LFI (Dralistico & Rush) vs. Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin) and The Lucha Bros (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) Ahead of their collision at SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023 in the Reach For The Sky Ladder Match to crown new ROH World Tag Team Champions, four of the five teams involved will collide in a huge 8-Man Tag thus Thursday night on Honor Club! Top Flight has gotten the best of The Kingdom on nearly every instance they've collided, save the night Taven bested Darius, so that is one factor playing into this equation, as is the history between LFI and The Lucha Brothers, a history that saw masks torn and blood shed. Suffice it to say that there is a lot wrapped up in this battle, and that's before Aussie Open is thrown into the mix and the ROH World Tag Team Championship belts are hoisted high above the squared circle! This is a chance for two teams to garner a small advantage before Friday night, a psychological edge perhaps, before Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis are thrown into the mix, and the ladder introduces utter chaos into the equation! ONE-ON-ONE... Eddie Kingston vs. “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels It has been 13 years since the last time Eddie Kingston and Christopher Daniels collided in a singles bout at CHIKARA's KING OF TRIOS 2010 event; they've been in tags in ICW and House of Hardcore, but even the last of those took place nearly nine years ago. A lot has changed since then, both men have experienced a multitude of life-altering events, won and lost championships, lost friends and loved ones, seen the highest of highs, and experienced the lowest of lows. It wasn't all that long ago that Christopher Daniels broke down in tears, unsure of what his wrestling future would be, and it was even more recent that Kingston walked out of All Elite Wrestling, quitting after the dissolution of his relationship with Ortiz pushed him to the breaking point, and showed up in Ring of Honor basically waving his 1099 flag as a free agent able to do whatever he wishes with his wrestling career. So with that in mind, with Kingston looking at a championship fight with Claudio Castagnoli 24 hours after this bout with a former ROH World Champion, and Christopher Daniels wanting to have the impact on this new era of honor that he did on the original, both these men need to make an impact this Thursday! Claudio will no doubt be watching closely, sizing up this opponent he's known for many years but hasn't faced since March 13, 2011, and readying himself for SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023. Can “The Fallen Angel” upset the whole apple cart with a victory over Kingston? What would that do for Daniels' own aspirations to perhaps become a 2-Time ROH World Champion like “The Swiss Superman”? And what would a loss so close to ROH's Los Angeles trip do to Eddie's morale? ROH Pure Championship Match... Wheeler Yuta(c) vs. Leon Ruffin Just 24 hours before facing Katsuyori Shibata at SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023, the ROH Pure Champion will put his title on the line against Leon Ruffin, and while it may be Leon's debut for ROH ON HONOR CLUB, it's not his first dance for the championship. Back on the November 14th edition of DARK: ELEVATION, Leon challenged Daniel Garcia for the title, and though he did not claim victory, it did give Ruffin a taste of what competing in ROH's Pure Division feels like. So it is with that experience that Leon Ruffin hopes to score a major upset and snatch the Pure Championship from Yuta's wicked grip before he even steps into the ring with Shibata. Yuta is taking a risk by taking on a title challenge so close to the biggest fight of his career, but with the rate his ego seems to be expanding, it's likely the defending Pure Champion sees this fight as little more than a cakewalk to keep him warm for the bout with “The Wrestler” coming up at SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023. Will that pride be Yuta's downfall, or will Leon Ruffin become little more than a message directed at Katsuyori Shibata? IN ADDITION: - Miyu Yamashita vs. Shazza McKenzie - The Embassy (Brian Cage, Kaun, & Toa Liona) vs. Arjun Singh, Dak Draper, & JD Griffey - Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) vs. Varsity Athletes (Ari Daivari & Tony Nese) - AR Fox & Metalik vs. The Infantry (Carlie Bravo & Shawn Dean) - El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Blake Christian We are on the cusp of SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023 going down in Los Angeles on March 31st! Every ROH championship will be on the line come Friday, but we won't know who will be defending the ROH Women's World Championship until after Emi Sakura and Athena get done with one another! This Thursday night marks the last stop on the road to SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023 and it all goes down on latest edition of ROH ON HONOR CLUB, premiering at 7pm ET/6pm CT exclusively on Honor Club, the home for ROH ON HONOR CLUB every Thursday night, an archive of classic ROH events dating back to 2002, and even Straight Shootin' with Christian Cage!

SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023 is just over a week away, and the matches that will shape it are taking form with each and every moment! We know there will be the first-ever Reach For The Sky Ladder Match designed to crown new ROH World Tag Team Champions and that former AEW World Tag Team Champions The Lucha Brothers will be involved! Clearly there are other teams with their eyes on that prize, Daniels and Sydal, Aussie Open, Top Flight, and The Kingdom just to name a few, so who else will join the fray? Plus, we saw ROH Women's World Champion Athena call out “The Magical Girl” Yuka Sakazaki for a match on March 31st, a rare instance of the champ making the challenge to a potential foe, but given Athena's 14-match unbeaten streak in Ring of Honor competition, she has a copious amount of confidence. Plus, Eddie Kingston continued to pursue the ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli, the issues between Top Flight and The Kingdom got even more heated, as did those between The Trustbusters and Blake Christian/Metalik! Oh yes, and Mark Briscoe wants a little piece of Tony Nese before heading into his ROH World Television Championship match with Samoa Joe at SUPERCARD '23! SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023 is just eight days away, and ROH's first pay-per-view extravaganza of 2023 is going to be a wild ride! And the road to get there is just as crazy as ROH ON HONOR CLUB gives fans the best in-ring action in pro wrestling, and that will again be the case this week when Samoa Joe puts his ROH World Television Championship on the line in an open challenge, Mark Briscoe collides with Tony Nese, Matt Taven and Darius Martin lock horns, and former ROH World Tag Team Champions Matt Sydal & Christopher Daniels lock up with Aussie Open! Plus, another pair of former World Tag Champs, Rhett Titus and Tracy Williams, will go head-to-head with LFI while Billie Starkz is in action, as is Skye Blue! The action takes places this Thursday night starting at 7pm ET/6pm CT exclusively on Honor Club! ONE-ON-ONE... Mark Briscoe vs. Tony Nese (w/ Josh Woods & “Smart” Mark Sterling) Mark Briscoe defeated Josh Woods on AEW DYNAMITE back on February 15th, then he stopped The Trustbusters Slim Jon the debut of ROH ON HONOR CLUB, and then he and The Lucha Brothers toppled Ari Daivari and The Varsity Athletes in trios action during the REVOLUTION 2023: ZERO HOUR, a match where Mark pinned Ari, but this issue isn't buried just yet. Not until the 13-Time ROH World Tag Team Champion finishes one last piece of business with Mark Sterling's clients: facing Tony Nese. Having topped both Daivari and Woods, Nese is all that's left for Mark to handle, and this Thursday night, before he tackles the mountain that is ROH World TV Champion Samoa Joe at SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023 come March 31st. Mark is definitely on a roll the last couple months, having won six straight matches beginning with he and Jay's Double Dog Collar World Tag Title victory over FTR at FINAL BATTLE 2022, and that's the momentum he needs to keep going if he hopes to finally best Samoa Joe in Los Angeles. Can “The Premier Athlete” be the one to derail the train this Thursday night on Honor Club, and get a little revenge for all the hits that Mark Sterling's clients have taken at Mark Briscoe's hands? Or will this be another “W” for Chicken as he prepares for the biggest fight of his solo career come March 31st? TRIOS GRUDGE MATCH... AR Fox, Blake Christian, & Metalik vs. The Trustbusters (Ari Daivari, Jeeves Kay, & Slim J) In just a matter of weeks, the ROH faithful have seen this rivalry escalate rather rapidly. In the first week of action on Honor Club, Ari Daivari bested Metalik with a little help from his friends, the same week Blake Christian came up short in his NJPW World TV Title bout with Zack Sabre Jr. The following week, after their victory of Jake Crist and The Man Scout, Ari Daivari bragged about his victory over Metalik, which in turn brought out the luchador, who then fell victim to the numbers game of The Trustbusters. It was only the save of Blake Christian that brought a halt to the assault before it got worse, and that led to the tag team bout last Thursday night where Metalik and Christian topped The Trustbusters in tag team competition. The incensed Ari made the challenge, and as can be seen in the interview embedded above, Blake and Metalik have found their third man in the form of AR Fox! Now AEW fans have seen Fox compete alongside Top Flight in several AEW World Trios Championship bouts, and know he's quite adept at this form of competition. Add into that the success, albeit a pyrrhic one, he and Blake Christian had as a tag team back at FINAL BATTLE 2022 with LFI, and Fox is a perfect compliment to what Christian and Metalik bring to the table! This one is going to be a tremendous battle, and there is a very good chance that whoever wins this bout, well they will likely have some designs on the ROH World Six-Man Championship currently in the clutches of The Embassy! Which unit will rise and prove this Thursday night? SINGLES MATCH... The Kingdoms Matt Taven vs. Top Flight's Darius Martin The issues between The Kingdom and Top Flight only escalated last week when, after Mike Bennett was beaten by Dante Martin, Matt Taven attacked, only to be run off by Darius. Clearly the former ROH World Tag Team Champions weren't just going to take the loss with grace, especially not when they've got designs on becoming champions for a third time sooner rather than later, and when compounded with the humiliation they feel from being beaten by the less-experienced team, The Kingdom are not going to lay down easy. That is why this Thursday night, as a result of what happened last week, Matt Taven will go one-on-one with Darius Martin! Given that Top Flight has beaten The Kingdom in tag team competition, and Dante's toppled Bennett in singles action, this may be the last stand for the Taven and Bennett when it comes to the Martin brothers. If Darius takes this one, it's a clean sweep for Top Flight, and The Kingdom really doesn't have a leg to stand on in looking for more. But if Taven can take this one over Darius, then this rivalry is likely not at its end! And there's still a matter of the Reach for The Sky Ladder Match at SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023, and which teams will join Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix in that fray to determine the new ROH World Tag Team Champions! It's likely both The Kingdom and Top Flight want in on this one, and the results of this could certainly color how that unfolds. ALSO FEATURING: -TAG TEAM CONTEST Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal vs. Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) -SINGLES MATCH Lady Frost vs. Skye Blue -TAG TEAM CHALLENGE LFI (Dralistico & Rush w/ Jose The Assistant) vs. Rhett Titus & Tracy Williams -ONE-ON-ONE The Embassy's Brian Cage vs. Tony Deppen -FORMER TV CHAMPIONS COLLIDE Shane Taylor vs. Silas Young -SINGLES MATCH Billie Starks vs. Miranda Alize -ROH World TV Title Open Challenge Samoa Joe vs. Cheeseburger ROH ON HONOR CLUB's fourth edition continues the new era of honor's amazing output of matches as SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023 draws near on March 31st! We know who will challenge for the ROH World Television Championship, we know one team in the Reach for the Sky Ladder Match, and we know who wants to fight for the ROH World Championship! But the only way to see how everything else shapes up in advance of ROH's trip to Los Angeles is to sign up for Honor Club where not only can you watch all the action on Thursday nights, but it is also the home for 20+ years of the pound-for-pound best professional wrestling on the planet! Not only is FINAL BATTLE 2022 now available for your viewing pleasure, but so are classic events like the 15TH ANNIVERSARY where Christopher Daniels battled Adam Cole for the ROH World Championship, the AJ STYLES: THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME compilation, and other historic ROH events dating all the way back to 2002!

Last week's edition of ROH ON HONOR CLUB saw three top-tier championship bouts with Athena topping Willow Nightingale for the Women's World Championship, Wheeler Yuta being pushed to the brink by Timothy Thatcher in their ROH Pure Championship match, and Samoa Joe smashing down the ROH World TV Championship challenge of Tony Deppen! Plus, ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli addressed Eddie Kingston's desire for a championship match, The Kingdom had words for Top Flight, and former ROH Tag Team Champions Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal reunited with designs on recapturing the titles they held many years ago! All roads lead to SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023 and everyone is jockeying for their position on ROH's next pay-per-view extravaganza! Every week, ROH ON HONOR CLUB has presented the premiere competition in pro wrestling, and it continues this week with the ROH Pure Championship at stake, as well as both the Men's and Women's World Champions in action in Proving Ground matches! Plus former ROH World Tag Team Champions are in action, as well as Eddie Kingston, The Trustbusters, Top Flight, The Kingdom, and more! It goes down this and every Thursday night beginning at 7pm ET/6pm CT exclusively on Honor Club! ROH PURE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH... Wheeler Yuta(c) vs. Clark Connors Last week, though pushed to his limits by Timothy Thatcher, Wheeler Yuta managed to retain the ROH Pure Championship for the second time since reclaiming it from Daniel Garcia at FINAL BATTLE 2022 (now available on Honor Club). As the only 2-Time Pure Champ in ROH's history, and member in good standing of the Blackpool Combat Club, Yuta has every right to be proud of his accomplishments. He's earned it all the hard way, nothing has been handed to him, and he's done it while surrounded by three of the absolute best competitors in modern pro wrestling. But perhaps in response to comments like Ian Riccaboni's “junior member” the other week, Yuta's pride in his accomplishments has slowly become an arrogance. His words after defeating Thatcher are testament to that, as was his unexpected call out of the “track suit boys”, the students of New Japan's LA Dojo, as well as taking a shot at their trainer, the one and only Katsuyori Shibata. Enter: Clark Connors. As a student under that dojo system, one who has since graduated from the track suit, black trunks, black boots life, of course Connors is going to take umbrage to Yuta's words. It was an insult blanketed across all who have come through that L.A. Dojo under Shibata, men like Connors, Kevin Knight, The DKC, and Karl Fredericks, but it was “The Wild Rhino” who was in earshot to step up on behalf of his fellows. Connors recently challenged ZSJ for the New Japan World Television Championship, and though he was unsuccessful in that bid, it only bolstered his need to win the first championship of his wrestling career. Factor in the disparaging words from Yuta, and Connors has plenty of motivation to hand the arrogant Pure Champion a beating. Will Yuta back up his put-downs of the “track suit boys” by defeating Connors, or will “The Wild Rhino” finally win a championship en route to also defending the place that birthed him as a wrestler? ROH WORLD SIX-MAN CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH... The Embassy (Brian Cage, Kaun, Toa Liona w/ Prince Nana)(c) vs. Dalton Castle & The Boys (Brandon & Brent) At FINAL BATTLE 2022, Prince Nana's Embassy knocked off Dalton Castle and The Boys from their perch as the reigning ROH World Six-Man Champions, one they'd sat upon since DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2022, and had successfully defended against challenges from Primal Fear and The Trustbusters. Then they ran into the massive wall of muscle that is The Embassy, and their championship reign came to a screeching halt after 140 days. But now Dalton and the Tates have a chance at redemption this Thursday night when they face The Embassy in a DBD '22 rematch! They've got plenty of fire, plenty of motivation, and are aiming to make a huge impact on this Honor Club landscape as we near SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023! Across the trios landscape, there may not be anyone else as suited to dethroning The Embassy as Dalton Castle & The Boys, no unit that operates as smoothly together and has as much experience in this environment. But if they can't stop Brian Cage, Kaun, and Toa Liona, is there anyone who can? ONE-ON-ONE... Dante Martin (w/ Darius Martin) vs. Mike Bennett (w/ Maria Kanellis-Bennett & Matt Taven) The issues between Top Flight and The Kingdom have been lingering since FINAL BATTLE 2022 where, during the ZERO HOUR, the Martin Brothers ruined The Kingdom's return to Ring of Honor. As former 2-Time ROH World Tag Team Champions, Mike Bennett and Matt Taven, with Maria Kanellis-Bennett at the helm, likely expected a heroes welcome as they came back home, but instead were stifled by Top Flight, who were competing in their first match on a ROH event, and their second ROH-branded bout after having faced FTR for the World Tag Team Championship back in November. So this Thursday night is an opportunity for Mike Bennett to even the score on behalf of The Kingdom, and right the ship of the former 2-Time World Tag Champs, but so too is it Dante Martin's opportunity to continue solidifying Top Flight's position in this new era of honor! And, with the Reach for The Sky Ladder Match coming up at SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023, one has to imagine both of these teams want to be in the mix as Ring of Honor looks to crown new ROH World Tag Team Champions! As ROH heads towards Los Angeles on March 31st, every team around the ROH landscape will be looking for their spot in the Ladder Match, and this match here will certainly have an impact on how Top Flight and The Kingdom factor in! Also featured this week: -ROH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PROVING GROUND MATCH Claudio Castagnoli(c) vs. Willie Mack -ROH WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PROVING GROUND MATCH Athena(c) vs. Hyan -TAG TEAM GRUDGE MATCH The Trustbusters (Ari Daivari & Slim J) vs. Blake Christian & Metalik -ONE-ON-ONE Eddie Kingston vs. Jeeves Kay (w/ Slim J) -SINGLES MATCH Silas Young vs. Marcus Kross -HEAD-TO-HEAD Trish Adora vs. Madison Rayne -FORMER CHAMPIONS REUNITE “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal vs. The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd) Two championship matches are on the line this week, with two more individuals getting a chance to earn their shot! ROH ON HONOR CLUB's third episode is absolutely stacked, and will certainly color the face of SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023on March 31st! Who will fight their way to prominence as that date draws near? Be sure to sign up for Honor Club not only to catch all the action from the New Era of Honor, but it also to enjoy 20+ years of rich wrestling history from the most influential professional wrestling promotion of this generation! FINAL BATTLE 2022 is now available for your enjoyment, as is the 2020 Pure Championship Tournament, the KEVIN STEEN: ASCENSION TO THE TOP compilation, and classic ROH events dating back to its inception in 2002!

The premiere edition of ROH ON HONOR CLUB ended in shocking fashion when “The Mad King” Eddie Kingston returned to Ring of Honor television for the first time since May 2014 and made a beeline for ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli. There is no love lost between these two men, something Kingston made quite clear when Castagnoli was brought into The Blackpool Combat Club last June and Eddie had to team with him in BLOOD & GUTS II, but it's a hate that dates back nearly two decades to the infancy of each man's wrestling career. Claudio clearly had no interest in accepting Eddie's challenge, walking away from “The Mad King” without a spoken answer, but knowing Kingston, especially now that he's apparently walked away from AEW, there's no chance he's letting this challenge just fade out. And while that moment may have been a shocker, it would be a disservice to not mention the amazing effort AR Fox put forth in trying to claim the ROH World Championship from Claudio, coming close on multiple occasions to pulling the upset of his lengthy career! And Fox wasn't the only one on the verge of an upset; Blake Christian nearly pulled one off as well in his NJPW World Television Title fight with Zack Sabre Jr earlier in the night. Plus we witnessed Mark Briscoe open the new era of honor with a victory over Slim J, Willow Nightingale challenge Athena to a ROH Women's World Championship Match, and Wheeler Yuta see his Pure Championship invitiation answered by the vicious Timothy Thatcher! This week there will be THREE championship matches going down with the Women's, Pure, and Television Titles all at stake, as well as the return of former ROH World Tag Champions Rhett Titus and Tracy Williams as they take on Aussie Open! Plus Eddie Kingston will be in action, LFI is back in ROH taking on The Spanish Announce Project, and former World Six Man Champions Dalton Castle and his Boys are back in the house! The premiere episode of ROH ON HONOR CLUB showcased just why Ring of Honor has endured for more than two decades, and why it was the most influential professional wrestling company of the last twenty years. With this new era of honor, ROH will continue to demonstrate each and every week how it is the home for pure professional wrestling at its finest, and it takes place this and every Thursday night beginning at 7pm ET/6pm CT exclusively on Honor Club! ROH WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP Samoa Joe(c) vs. Tony Deppen In October 2nd of 2020, Tony Deppen made his debut for Ring of Honor Wrestling, taking part in the tournament to crown a new Pure Champion as the title was reinstated 14 years after its unification with the ROH World Championship. Unfortunately for Deppen, he was knocked out of contention in the first round by PJ Black, but left a lasting enough impression that just two months later, he earned his way into a ROH World TV Championship opportunity at FINAL BATTLE 2020. While Deppen failed to dethrone Dragon Lee that night, it made him hungry for success in Ring of Honor, and actually led him into a faction known as VLNCE ULTD alongside Brody King and ROH Legend, former World Champion, “The Notorious 187” Homicide. That proved to be the key ingredient as just a month after their formation, Deppen defeated The Foundation's Tracy Williams to become the 25th Television Champion, holding the title for 72 days before Dragon Lee reclaimed it. Deppen's tenure in ROH would last until FINAL BATTLE 2021: END OF AN ERA, and he would participate in several memorable bouts, including a World Six Man Championship fight against Shane Taylor Promotions, a wild Street Fight at GLORY BY HONOR 2021, and a tremendous eight-man tag at that aforementioned FINAL BATTLE event. Deppen would appear on the DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2022: ZERO HOUR in a Six Man bout against The Embassy, but it was his presence at FINAL BATTLE 2022 that raised some eyebrows. That night Deppen appeared not as a competitor in a match, but rather a spectator whose attention was fixed on the ROH World Television Title match between Samoa Joe and Juice Robinson. Without saying a word, the intent was clear: Tony Deppen had designs on reclaiming the championship he'd lost many months before. Well this Thursday night during ROH ON HONOR CLUB's loaded second episode, Deppen will have his chance when he squares off with ROH Legend, the longest reigning World Champion in company history, and Triple Crown Winner (World/Pure/TV), the incomparable Samoa Joe! What a beginning to ROH ON HONOR CLUB it would be to see Deppen rise up and knock down Joe this early in the programs run, and just weeks before SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023 (https://www.rohwrestling.com/live/events/supercard-honor-2023) goes down in Los Angeles! ROH PURE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH Wheeler Yuta(c) vs. Timothy Thatcher Wheeler Yuta put out the call last week for a worthy challenger to step up this week and try to end his ROH Pure Championship reign, but it is highly unlikely he expected Timothy Thatcher to be in the zone that night, much less be the man to answer the call! As was witnessed on DYNAMITE when Thatcher brutalized Yuta's BCC mate Bryan Danielson, this is a man who relishes in violence and delights in inflicting pain on his foes, and not just the pain necessary to secure victory, but rather above the call of duty simply to hear an opponent break. Thatcher answering Yuta's call marked the man's debut appearance for Ring of Honor, and thus this Thursday will mark his first-ever match, but it is not the first outing for Yuta and Thatcher as foes. In August 2022, just after Thatcher's first tour of Pro Wrestling NOAH, the two men would meet at the White Eagle for Beyond's AMERICANRANA 2022: BLACKOUT event, and after fifteen minutes of combat, it would be Yuta who defeated the then-GHC Tag Team Champion. Thatcher would return to NOAH following that battle only to lose the GHC Tag Team Titles, as well as unsuccessfully challenge for the GHC Heavyweight Championship. His return to the States led to that collision with Danielson, followed by a brief return to NOAH to participate in the KEIJI MUTO GRAND FINAL PRO-WRESTLING LAST LOVE HOLD OUT event. Now he's back from NOAH, a promotion with whom ROH had a tremendous working relationship with for several years, for this first-ever bout under the Ring of Honor banner, and he's aiming to end this second Pure Championship reign of Wheeler Yuta! As the only two-time Pure Champion in the title's history, Wheeler Yuta is already a part of ROH history, but he wants to go down as the greatest Pure Champ in history as well, he wants to surpass men like Nigel McGuinness and Samoa Joe, arguably the two greatest to ever hold and defend the title, and be the name most associated with said title. In addition, as can be heard in Yuta's response to Ian Riccaboni calling him the “junior member of the Blackpool Combat Club”, there is certainly a level of needing to prove just how wrong that label is, of how he's every bit as world class as the men he associates with, otherwise he would not be standing with the BCC letters emblazoned on his soul. Yuta is in for a tremendous fight in this second defense of his second reign, can he have the same success against Thatcher that his BCC partner did several weeks back? Or will Thatcher take the Pure Championship back to NOAH and defend it as McGuinness and Takeshi Morishima did with the ROH World Championship many years back? ROH WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH Athena(c) vs. Willow Nightingale One would be hard-pressed to find a woman on a hotter streak than ROH Women's World Champion Athena. Between AEW, ROH, and a ROH Women's Championship defense against Miyu Yamashita from Prestige Wrestling's VENDETTA show on IWTV, Athena has won more than 25 consecutive matches! With 90 days as champion, four successful defenses under her belt, and numerous victories in Eliminator/Proving Ground matches, it is getting to the point where one has to wonder if there's any women in ROH or AEW capable of putting a stop to this roll? Well, Willow Nightingale is going to step up and try! With victories in Ring of Honor over Allysin Kay and Trish Adora on 2022 pay-per-view events, as well as last week's over Lady Frost, Nightingale feels ready to challenge the women she once called an ally in All Elite Wrestling! Willow will absolutely have the fan support in this one; with that infectious smile, bubbly personality, and most importantly, hard-hitting style in the ring, it's hard not to rally behind Willow even if she's facing another fan favorite combatant. And when it's someone like “The Fallen Goddess” who has earned the ire of the ROH and AEW faithful, there's no question who the people are rooting for on Thursday night! But if Willow can't stop the rampage of Athena, just who can? PLUS: Eddie Kingston in action! Dalton Castle & The Boys in action!! Rhett Titus & Tracy Williams vs. Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) Trish Adora vs. Billie Starkz The TrustBusters (Ari Daivari & Slim J) vs. Jake Crist & Man Scout LFI (Dralistico & Rush) vs. Spanish Announce Project (Angelico & Serpentico) With three championship matches, ROH ON HONOR CLUB's second episode is as loaded as it gets! Who will step up and stake their championship claim as ROH looks towards SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023 on March 31st? Will Kingston get the championship shot he's demanding? The only way to watch is to sign up for Honor Club, but it isn't just the home for all-new Ring of Honor, it's also the place to peruse twenty years worth of history from the most influential professional wrestling promotion of this generation, including the new “This Week in ROH History” playlist, the BRYAN DANIELSON: WORLD CHAMPION compilation spotlighting his reign as ROH World Champion, and a rich event archive dating back to THE ERA OF HONOR BEGINS!

This is the moment that ROH faithful have been waiting for since March 2, 2022 when it was first announced that AEW CEO Tony Khan had purchased Ring of Honor Wrestling and that it would continue to operate moving forward. Fans witnessed the various Ring of Honor championships defended on All Elite Wrestling programming, saw Chris Jericho become one of the most impressive ROH World Champions in the title's history, Wheeler Yuta become the first 2-time Pure Champion in ROH history, and The Briscoes claim the World Tag Team Titles for the 13th time with their epic Dog Collar Match against FTR at FINAL BATTLE 2022. ROH fans have seen the TV Title carried by ROH Legend Samoa Joe, making Joe a Triple Crown Champion some 17 years since he last held a ROH championship, and watched Athena defeat Mercedes Martinez to become the current ROH Women's World Champion, a position she has relished using to abuse any women coming for her championship. Through a trio of pay-per-view presentations in 2022, Ring of Honor continued to present the wrestling that has shaped the industry over the last two decades, and through it all fans kept speculating when Ring of Honor would return to some form of weekly programming. Tony Khan told the world after FINAL BATTLE 2022 that ROH's Honor Club service would be host to a weekly programming in the new year, and it is finally happening this Thursday night beginning at 7pm ET/6pm CT exclusively on Honor Club With the first edition of Ring of Honor on Honor Club, it only felt right to pay tribute to the origins of ROH while simultaneously looking to the present and future of what's to come in this new era of honor! So while there have been so many exciting ROH events and moments that have taken place over the last year, sadly there has also been tragedy as we lost Jay Briscoe earlier this year following an automobile accident. But his memory lives on through the moments he made, the fans he touched, the wrestlers he influenced, and the family who loved him, and in honor of his contributions to ROH, just as Jay Briscoe was part of the first official match in ROH history back on 2/23/02, so too will Mark Briscoe be part of this first Honor Club match! ONE-ON-ONE ROH World Tag Team Champion Mark Briscoe vs. Slim J At THE ERA OF HONOR BEGINS twenty-one years ago, Jay Briscoe defeating The Amazing Red in the first official match in Ring of Honor history. From that moment forward, and for nearly the entirety of ROH's existence, The Briscoe Brothers were the foundation of the entire promotion. They claimed the ROH World Tag Team Titles on 13 occasions, including three unforgettable 2022 battles with FTR that culminated in the must-see Double Dog Collar Match at FINAL BATTLE 2022. Jay claimed the ROH World Championship on two instances, and although Mark never acquired a singles title of his own during the first 20 years of ROH's existence, he was a consistent contender for the World Television Championship. So with this new era of honor continuing to unfold with the first episode on Honor Club, it only seemed appropriate that ROH pays tribute to Jay by having Mark Briscoe be in the first match fans will see on Thursday night! Twenty-one years ago Mark was relegated to (reluctantly) supporting his brother from ringside for the first ROH match, but with this first match he will be in action against another man whose ROH credentials date back to Year One as well! Once a part of the Special K faction that included Jay Lethal, Slim J made his own ROH memories during those early days, competing in multiple Scramble Matches with the likes of The S.A.T, The Carnage Crew, and even fighting The Briscoes on occasion. His original tenure with Ring of Honor ended in 2004, but at DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2022, as part of the Zero Hour presentation, Slim J returned to the fold alongside Ari Daivari as part of his TrustBusters unit! This is a moment for Mark Briscoe and Slim J to set the tone, not just for the future of their respective ROH careers, but also for the future of ROH on Honor Club and for what's to come on April 1st at SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023! NJPW WORLD TV TITLE MATCH Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Blake Christian At New Japan Pro Wrestling's annual WRESTLE KINGDOM event on January 4th, Zack Sabre Jr. become the first-ever NJPW World Television Champion, defeating Ren Narita in a tremendous 11 minute battle. Immediately following that match, he was offered membership in TMDK (The Mighty Don't Kneel) by Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste, an offer ZSJ readily accepted after bidding farewell to his SUZUKI-GUN stable a few weeks prior. In the two months since claiming the NJPW TV Title and aligning with TMDK, Zack Sabre Jr. has experienced a great deal of success, including retaining his championship on two outings, first against Tomohiro Ishii on February 5th and then opposite Clark Connors on the 18th. Now the submission master returns to ROH for the first time since the G1 SUPERCARD event and brings the nascent championship with him as ZSJ continues to establish the title's value. For Blake Christian, this is a huge opportunity as both his Ring of Honor and New Japan careers are in their relative infancy. Blake's very first ROH match was only at SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2022 as part of the ZERO HOUR presentation, but he was gifted a championship opportunity against Claudio Castagnoli earlier this year. As for his NJPW career, that first began in August 2020, and has been fought primarily under the California-based NJPW STRONG banner. He took part in the 2020 Super J Cup Tournament, attempted to qualify for the New Japan Cup in 2021, and has been in the ring with fighters like Hiromu Takahashi, El Desperado, David Finlay, and Juice Robinson during his time with STRONG. But this championship challenge against ZSJ is the biggest opportunity he's had to date in either ROH or NJPW, and Blake Christian aims to make the most of it on this premiere edition of ROH ON HONOR CLUB! ROH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH... Claudio Castagnoli(c) vs. AR Fox A 2-Time World Champion during the course of 2022, Claudio Castagnoli is ready to lead Ring of Honor into this new era as the kind of honorable, respectable champion that the promotion deserves, the kind of champion ROH sorely needs after suffering through Chris Jericho's persistent denigration of Ring of Honor throughout his championship reign. Jericho may have been having spectacular defenses during his title run, but he had nothing positive to say about Ring of Honor, even rechristening it “Ring of Jericho” and treating it like a second-class organization. Since FINAL BATTLE 2022, when Claudio reclaimed the championship from “The Ocho”, it has been Double C's mission to represent Ring of Honor as it deserves to be, and that means defending the title whenever possible against top challengers from all corners of professional wrestling. It goes without saying that the very first edition of ROH ON HONOR CLUB needs to feature the ROH World Championship, and the man stepping up to the challenge is well-traveled AR Fox! Now AR Fox and Claudio Castagnoli have never crossed paths in a singles match, but it was the trio of Fox and Top Flight who cost The Blackpool Combat Club $300,000 in that Three Kings Trios Battle Royale on the 12/23 edition of AEW RAMPAGE, a victory that Fox and the Martin Brothers also parlayed into a pair of failed AEW World Trios Championship title bids. Coming out of that, and with Claudio willing to face any man with designs on the ROH World Championship, the main event of this Thursday's premiere presentation will be AR Fox challenging Claudio Castagnoli for the ROH World Title! Between this fight and the NJPW TV Title match, Ring of Honor is definitely the land of opportunity, and AR Fox would love nothing more than to close out the first Honor Club episode by dethroning The Swiss Superman in his 4th championship defense. Just as Mark Briscoe and Slim J have the opportunity to make that first impression, so too does it fall on either Claudio Castagnoli or AR Fox to lead Ring of Honor as we move forward in this new era of honor! In addition to those featured bouts, fans tuning into the very first addition of ROH ON HONOR CLUB will also see: - ROH World Six Man Champions The Embassy (Brian Cage, Kaun, & Toa Liona) in action! - Metalik vs. Ari Daivari - The Renegades (Charlette & Robyn) vs. Madison Rayne & Skye Blue - The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennet) vs. The Infantry (Carlie Bravo & Shawn Dean) - “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels vs. Rohit Raju - Konosuke Takeshita vs. “The Technical Beast” Josh Woods - Willow Nightingale vs. Lady Frost This new era of honor began one year ago when it was announced to the world that AEW CEO Tony Khan had purchased Ring of Honor, and now it advances to the next level with the premiere of ROH ON HONOR CLUB! It all begins again this Thursday night at 7pm ET/6pm CT on Honor Club as we head towards SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023, but Honor Club isn't just the home for this premiere, but also for twenty years worth of history from the most influential professional wrestling promotion of this generation!

This Thursday, March 2, the New Era of Honor will begin! ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli defends the title vs. the man who cost him $100,000 at Christmas: AR Fox! Don’t miss the first episode of ROH HonorClub TV: subscribe today at http://watchROH.com!

On January 17th, the wrestling world lost one of its most beloved family members when Jamin Pugh, known professionally as Jay Briscoe, tragically lost his life in an automobile accident. A member of the Ring of Honor family from the very beginning, Jay became a multi-time ROH World Champion, a 13-time ROH World Tag Team Champion, and a first-ballot ROH Hall of Famer with his brother Mark. Together, The Briscoe Brothers were a part of ROH's foundation, the heart and soul, and were essential in building that company into the most influential wrestling promotion of the last twenty years. But more than that, the Pugh family lost a husband, a father, a brother, a son, and in an effort to both honor Jay's memory as well as support those left behind, we are offering this “Reach For The Sky” t-shirt with 100% of the proceeds going to benefit the Pugh family as they cope with this tragic loss. Visit ShopHonor to purchase the Jay Briscoe "Reach for the Sky" memorial t-shirt. Please also consider contributing to the GiveSendGo campaign to support the Pugh family.

It is with a heavy heart that we mourn the tragic passing of Jamin Pugh, known to wrestling fans around the world as Jay Briscoe. Our thoughts are with his family, his friends, and his fans.

Tony Khan Announces Relaunch of Ring of Honor’s HonorClub Platform -- More than two decades of Ring of Honor Content Now Available For $9.99/Month,With New PPV and TV Content To Come -- December 11, 2022 – On the heels of a momentous Ring of Honor Final Battle pay-per-view from College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, Tony Khan announced that the company’s HonorClub streaming platform has officially relaunched, featuring more than 2,500 hours of premium professional wrestling content dating back to 2002, with new weekly television episodes coming soon to the platform. The announcement was made during an afternoon filled with title changes, as Claudio Castagnoli regained the ROH World Championship from Chris Jericho, Athena taking the ROH Women’s World Championship from Mercedes Martinez, The Briscoes winning the ROH World Tag Team Championships back from FTR in their third matchup this year, Wheeler Yuta winning the ROH Pure Championship back from Daniel Garcia and the Gates of Agony defeating Dalton Castle & The Boys for the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championships. Fans can sign up immediately for HonorClub for just $9.99 per month by visiting WatchROH.com. HonorClub is accessible via the ROH app on iOS, Android, Roku and Amazon FireTV. The relaunched platform features updated functionality, where fans will be able to enjoy thousands of hours of Ring of Honor content including classic matches from the full ROH television archive and hundreds of pay-per-views and special events. Khan also announced plans for a weekly ROH television show to be solidified at the top of next year. Pay-per-view events will be available for viewing on HonorClub 90 days after they happen live, with live broadcasts still airing via Bleacher Report. About Ring of Honor Wrestling Entertainment, LLC Ring of Honor (ROH) is a professional wrestling promotion recently acquired by Tony Khan, CEO of AEW, Chief Football Strategy Officer of the Jacksonville Jaguars and GM/Sporting Director of Fulham F.C. The acquisition, which was completed through an entity that is wholly-owned by Tony Khan, included ROH’s extensive video library dating back to 2002, brand assets, intellectual property, production equipment and more. ROH features numerous championships, including the ROH World Championship, ROH World Television Championship, ROH Pure Championship, ROH World Tag Team Championship, ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championships and ROH Women’s World Championship. For more info, check out: rohwrestling.com; facebook.com/ringofhonor; twitter.com/ringofhonor; instagram.com/ringofhonor; youtube.com/user/ringofhonor

Final Battle 2022 Results **CONTAINS SPOILERS** ROH: FINAL BATTLE 2022 was broadcast live on December 10, 2022, from the College Park Center on the campus of the University of Texas-Arlington! The event began with the ROH: Zero Hour preshow kicking things off on the official ROH YouTube Channel! Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman were the commentary team for tonight’s event. United Empire’s Jeff Cobb vs. Mascara Dorada! “I’m grateful to be part of this new era,” said Caprice. “The King of Ropes” Mascara Dorada jumped off the ropes with a Mexican arm drag takeover on Cobb. Outside the ring, Cobb caught Dorada and smashed him into the steel ring post! Cobb went to work on the ribs and back of Dorada, trying to neutralize him. Dorada ducked a clothesline and hit Cobb with a spectacular tornillo over the top rope on Cobb! Dorada followed up with a springboard senton onto Cobb for a near fall! Cobb yanked Dorada off the top rope and squashed Dorada with a standing moonsault for a two-count. Dorada countered the Tour of the Islands for a near fall on Cobb. Mascara Dorada nailed Cobb with a bulldog off the top turnbuckle. Dorada clocked Cobb with a clothesline. Cobb fired back with a pop-up Tour of the Islands and pinned Dorada! Jericho Appreciation Society’s “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard & “Cool Hand” Angelo Parker vs. Shinobi Shadow Squad—Cheeseburger & Eli Isom! Isom cradled Parker off the bat but Parker quickly kicked out. Cheeseburger tagged in but Parker and Menard used a backbreaker-knee combination for tandem offense on Cheeseburger. Parker unloaded with a Garvin stomp on Cheeseburger, and then went to work on Burger’s wrist. Menard and Parker double teamed Cheeseburger. Finally Burger got the tag to Isom and Isom speared Menard and Parker in the turnbuckles. Parker and Menard planted Isom with a double DDT and then Parker pinned Isom! Willow Nightingale vs. Trish Adora! Willow applied head scissors to Adora. Trish Adora used a rolling catch on Willow but Willow quickly kicked out. Willow knocked Adora to the mat with a running shoulder tackle. Willow hit Adora with running hip attacks. Adora fired back with a great Northern Lights suplex. “They’re not wasting any time or movement,” said Ian. Willow attacked Adora with quick chops in the corner. She followed up with a shotgun dropkick to Adora. Willow pounced Adora out of nowhere. Willow spiked Adora with the Doctor Bomb and pinned her! The Kingdom—Matt Taven & Mike Bennett (with Maria Kanellis-Bennett) vs. Top Flight—Dante & Darius Martin! The Kingdom blindsided Darius at the start of the match. Darius dropkicked Bennett and made the tag to his Darius. Taven inadvertently booted Bennett. Dante knocked Bennett off the apron with a running dropkick off his brother’s back! Darius came in and cleaned house on the Kingdom! Maria stood on the apron, attempting to distract Darius. Taven rocked Darius with the Purple Thunder Bomb! Bennett applied a double wrist lock to Darius. Darius escaped and he and Bennett traded strikes in the center of the ring. Darius unloaded on Bennett and then shocked Bennett with a Spanish Fly! Dante tagged in and splashed Taven with a standing shooting star press. Top Flight used top level tandem offense on Taven. The Kingdom went to work on Darius, with the momentum of the match quickly shifting. Maria jumped up on the apron again, trying to distract Dante. Maria shoved the ref and the ref ejected Maria from the ringside area. Darius hoisted up Bennett and then Dante spring boarded off the top rope, wiping out Bennett and allowing Darius to grab the pin! “Top Flight is definitely here to stay. I’m impressed,” said Caprice. The pay-per-view portion of the event kicked off with the opening contest of Final Battle… AR Fox & Blake Christian vs. Dralistico & Rush (with Preston Vance & Jose the Assistant)! “Dralistico is making his Ring of Honor debut tonight,” said Ian. Rush and Fox chopped away at each other and then traded forearms. Rush rocked Fox with a stiff forearm. Fox fired back with a kick to the back of Rush’s head. Rush tagged in and whipped Blake into the guardrails. Rush grabbed the auxiliary cords and whipped Blake with it. Meanwhile Dralistico powerbombed Fox onto the ring steps! Black t-boned Dralistico and made the tag to Fox. AR Fox jumped over the top rope and splashed Rush. He followed up with a dive to Dralistico! And then another to Rush! Fox smashed Dralistico with a senton off the top rope for a near fall! AR Fox splashed Dralistico with the 450 and pinned him! After the match, Rush and Dralistico attacked Fox and Blake with steel chairs! ROH Women’s World Championship Match! Mercedes Martinez (c.) vs. “The Fallen Goddess” Athena! The champ and Athena slugged it out in the center of the ring until Athena went for the eyes. Athena unloaded with hammer strikes on Mercedes. Athena drove Mercedes to the mat with double knees. Mercedes rallied back, looking for a spider German suplex but Athena had it scouted. Athena powerbombed Martinez from the corner! She followed up with a running thrust kick to the champ for a near fall! Mercedes nailed Athena with a brainbuster for a two-count! “Athena is in a lot of trouble,” said Caprice. Mercedes grapevined Athena’s legs but Athena escaped. Athena swung for the fences, planting Mercedes on the ring apron! Athena went for the shotgun dropkick but Mercedes moved out of the way. Mercedes walloped Athena with the Anarchist’s Suplex on the arena floor! Mercedes attempted to put Athena in the Brass City Sleeper but Athena bit the champ. Athena finished off Mercedes with the O-Face and pinned Mercedes! Your new Ring of Honor Women’s Champion…Athena! Swerve In Our Glory—Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland vs. Shane Taylor Promotions—JD Griffey & Shane Taylor! Griffey used his MMA to kick Keith lee in the ribs. Shane Taylor tagged in but Swerve tagged himself in before Keith Lee and Shane Taylor could lock up. Swerve used a head scissors takeover on Shane Taylor. Keith Lee and Shane Taylor slugged it out like two behemoths. Taylor delivered a right haymaker. Swerve’s adrenaline kicked in but Griffey grabbed him and dropped him across his knee. Griffey applied a triangle choke on Swerve. Instead of helping his partner, Keith Lee went after Taylor. Keith Lee squashed Griffey with a moonsault! “Keith Lee welcome back to Ring of Honor!” said Ian. Both teams brawled in the center of the ring. Swerve swarmed Shane with his signature combination. Shane Taylor spiked Keith Lee and Lee managed to kick out! Griffey followed up with a kill shot and Lee kicked out of that too! Swerve Strickland deserted his partner, leaving Keith Lee high and dry. Griffey attempted a knock out kick but Lee ducked it and the kick landed on Shane Taylor! Keith Lee finished off Griffey with a jackhammer and Swerve In Our Glory won! “Against all odds Keith Lee showed the world what he is capable of,” said Caprice. ROH World Six-Man Championship Match! Dalton Castle & The Boys (c.) vs. The Embassy—“The Machine” Brian Cage, Kaun, & Toa Liona (with Prince Nana)! The Boys tried to swarm Brian Cage, switching in and out. The Boys flew out of the ring but were caught by Toa and Cage. Brian Cage tossed Brent and then hit a lariat on Brandon spinning him inside-out. Brian Cage suplexed Brandon into the ring after Toa splashed Brandon on the apron! Cage used a knee strike on Dalton and tagged in Toa. Toa picked up both Boys and dropped them with a double Samoan backdrop! Brian Cage ate a back elbow from Dalton Castle. Castle followed up with a running bulldog on Cage. The Gates of Agony hurled Brent into Cage who then powerbombed Brent and pinned him! New Six-Man Tag Champions…The Embassy! Lexy Nair was backstage to interview Top Flight! Angelo Parker and Matt Menard interrupted the interview. They challenged Top Flight to a fight and Top Flight didn’t back down. Both teams began to brawl around the arena! Angelo Parker grabbed a microphone and said only Chris Jericho could resurrect Ring of Honor! Matt Menard pulled out a purple bucket hat and said that Claudio would tag with Jake Hager after Jericho beat Claudio. ROH Pure Championship Match! Daniel Garcia (c.) vs. Wheeler Yuta! Pure Match Rules: Each wrestler has three rope breaks to stop submission holds and pinfalls. 1.After a wrestler exhausts his rope breaks, submission and pin attempts on or under the ropes by his opponent are considered legal. 2.No closed-fist punches to the face permitted. 3.Open-handed slaps or chops to the face are permitted. 4.Punches to the rest of the body are allowed, excluding low blows. 5.The first use of a closed fist to the face receives a warning. 6.The second use of a closed fist to the face results in disqualification. 7.The title can change hands via disqualification and count out. 8.Outside interference will result in automatic termination from the roster for the wrestler that interferes. The judges at ringside where Christopher Daniels, Jerry Lynn, and BJ Whitmer. Yuta and Garcia traded forearms. Garcia used his first warning for a closed fist to Yuta’s face. Wheeler Yuta hit back with a closed fist to Garcia’s face. “I don’t think we’ve ever seen this in under a minute,” said Ian. Garcia suplexed Yuta on the arena floor and then whipped Yuta into the steel ring steps. Garcia booted Yuta in the face. Garcia removed the protection from the turnbuckle hinge but Yuta hit a headbutt to Garcia. Daniel Garcia kicked Yuta and Yuta fell throat-first across the unprotected turnbuckle connector. Trent Seven was watching from the front row. Garcia wrapped Yuta into the ring ropes and told the ref that Yuta was using his rope break. The ref used his discretion and counted it as an official rope break for Yuta. Garcia wrapped Yuta around the ropes with a surfboard submission and the ref counted it as another rope break for Yuta. “Garcia has targeted the windpipe of Yuta,” said Caprice. Daniel Garcia grabbed Yuta’s arms and stomped on Yuta’s back. Yuta rallied back with a splash on Garcia in the corner. Garcia grabbed the Dragon Sleeper on Yuta out of nowhere, focusing on Yuta’s neck. Before Garcia could turn it into the dragon sleeper, Yuta touched the bottom rope with his boot, forcing the rope break, but exhausting all of his rope breaks for the match. “This changes the trajectory of the match, and Garcia has all of his rope breaks available,” said Caprice. Garcia grabbed an inside catch on Yuta and locked him in a sharpshooter in the center of the ring. Yuta transitioned into a cross face on Garcia. Yuta escaped and he and Garcia traded open hand strikes. Yuta dropped Garcia with a brainbuster. “This is wrestling!” said Caprice. Yuta planted Garcia with a high angle slam for a near fall. Garcia came back, spiking Yuta with a piledrive for a two-count. Garcia went back to a sharpshooter but Yuta didn’t have any rope breaks left. Yuta and Garcia got tangled up in the ropes, both men tumbling to the arena floor. “Fans are seeing a master class in wrestling here,” said Ian. Yuta fought his way out of a piledriver and backdropped Garcia on the ring apron. Yuta trapped Garcia’s legs and nailed Garcia with a piledriver. Yuta blasted Garcia with elbows and the ref stopped the match as Garcia was unconscious. Your new ROH Pure Champion…Wheeler Yuta! ROH World Tag Team Championship Dog Collar Match! FTR—Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood (c.) vs. Mark & Jay Briscoe! “The dream match has turned into a nightmare scenario,” said Ian. Cash and Mark were chained to one another, while Dax and Jay were chained up to each other. The fans chanted “Holy s—t! Holy s—t!” before the match even began. Dax grabbed a double leg takedown and he and Jay began to brawl outside the ring. Mark tried for a double ax handle off the apron but Cash grabbed the chain and whipped Mark with it. Mark was busted open! Harwood hurled a steel chair at Jay Briscoe and then they began to brawl in the stands. Jay blocked a chair from Harwood and countered it. Dax had the chain wrapped around Jay and Dax suplexed Jay. Jay landed on the chains! Mark cracked Cash with the Redneck Kung Fu, hitting Cash in the ear drum! The Briscoes double teamed Dax inside the ring. There were dueling chants of “Top Guys! Dem Boys! Top Guys! Dem Boys!” Dax held Mark back while Cash whipped him with the chain! “FTR kicking it into another gear here,” said Ian. FTR spun Mark inside-out with the doomsday device for a near fall! “All four men are busted open,” said Ian. Cash had Mark draped over the top rope. Cash was pulling on the rope, with Mark getting deprived of oxygen. Jay nailed Cash with a neck breaker and Mark followed up with the Froggy Bow for a two-count. “The blood is just pouring out,” said Ian. Mark piled up steel chairs on the arena floor. Mark propped a table next to it. Mark suplexed Cash onto the arena floor. “They’re literally putting their lives on the line for these titles,” said Caprice. Dax wrapped a chain around his head and rocked Jay with a falling headbutt off the turnbuckles. Dax attempted to hit Jay with the steel chain wrapped around his fist, but Jay pulled ref Mike Posey in the way. The ref was busted wide open! Jay boxed Dax with jabs and followed up with a suplex on Dax. Mark and Cash duked it out on the ring apron. Cash grabbed Mark and planted him on the edge of the ring. “We’re watching masters of the craft,” said Ian. Mark climbed to the top rope so he and Jay could finish off Cash with the Doomsday Device but Cash jumped up onto the apron. Wheeler grabbed the chain and yanked on it, sending Mark crashing down from the top rope to the pile of steel chairs on the arena floor! “Unbelievable!” said Ian. Jay smashed Dax with the Jay Driller on the chain but Dax kicked out at the two-count somehow! Jay hit Dax Harwood with steel chair shots. Dax came back and spiked Jay with a piledriver on a steel chair! Cash slid steel chairs into the ring. Dax propped Jay onto the top turnbuckle. Dax attempted to piledrive Jay off the top rope onto the steel chairs, but Jay escaped and yanked the chain, using it against Dax. Jay superplexed Dax onto a sea of chairs! Jay had the chain wrapped around Dax’s head and kept yanking back until Dax was rendered unconscious, leaving the ref with no choice but to stop the match! And new ROH World Tag Team Champions…The Briscoes! The Briscoes are now 13x ROH World Tag Champions! After the match, Austin and Colten Gunn ambushed FTR in the ring, taking advantage of the exhausted FTR. The Briscoes came back out to the ring to even up the odds and make sure the Gunns didn’t touch FTR. ROH World Television Championship Match! “King of Television” Samoa Joe (c.) vs. Juice Robinson! Tony Deppen was seen scouting the match from the stands. Samoa Joe and Juice Robinson exchanged chops outside the ring. Joe removed the padding from the floor. Joe tried to grab Juice in a submission but Juice kicked off the edge of the ring, pushing Joe headfirst into the guardrail. Juice splashed Joe with a running cannonball! Samoa Joe ran, jumped through the ropes and landed on Juice outside the ring! Samoa Joe smashed Juice in the mouth with a running boot. Juice boxed Samoa Joe but Joe shrugged it off and countered with a senton. Juice rallied back with a spinebuster. Juice went back to the jabs and chops on Joe in the corner. Juice rocked Joe with a running cannonball in the corner! Juice jumped off the top rope with a flying press for a near fall on Joe! Samoa Joe planted Juice with a powerbomb and then grabbed an STF on Juice! Joe transitioned into a cross face in the middle of the ring. Juice crawled with Joe on his back and managed to grab the bottom rope to force the rope break. Samoa Joe attempted the Muscle Buster but Juice countered with a sunset flip. Juice kicked Samoa Joe, shades of Booker T. Juice climbed to the top rope but Joe jumped to his feet and rammed into Juice, forcing Juice to lose his balance. Samoa Joe wasted no time, dropping Juice hard to the mat with the Muscle Buster and then pinning Juice! “Samoa Joe is must-see TV and he is the King of Television,” said Ian. Main Event Time! ROH World Championship Match! “The Ocho” Chris Jericho (c.) vs. Claudio Castagnoli! If Claudio Castagnoli loses, he must join the Jericho Appreciation Society! Claudio tried to shake Jericho’s hand but Jericho wouldn’t adhere to the Code of Honor. Jericho jumped out of the ring and sprinted to attack Ian at the broadcast booth, but Claudio cut off Jericho with a European Uppercut! Claudio blasted Jericho with the hammer and anvil elbow strikes. Jericho was looking for the Code Breaker but Claudio countered with an uppercut and then the Neutralizer for a near fall! Claudio planted Jericho with a gut wrench suplex off the second turnbuckle. “The Swiss Superman” press slammed Jericho onto the ring ropes! Jericho drove Claudio into the metal ring post! “Say what you want about Jericho but he is a fighting champion,” said Caprice. Jericho chopped at Claudio’s chest. Claudio popped-up Jericho with a European uppercut. Jericho delivered a driving clothesline to Claudio. “The champion has neutralized the Swiss Superman,” said Caprice. Jericho hit a hurracanrana off the top rope on Claudio! Claudio blocked a Code Breaker from Jericho, but Jericho fired back with a lariat to Claudio, sending Claudio over the top rope and to the cold arena floor! Claudio countered the springboard dropkick from Jericho. “Claudio has definitely done his homework,” said Caprice. Chris Jericho suplexed Claudio off the ring apron and onto the arena floor! Claudio’s conditioning paid off, though. Angelo Parker and Matt Menard snuck down to the ring, with Parker distracting the ref while Menard slipped Jericho the baseball bat. Jericho whacked Claudio with the bat! Jericho covered Claudio but Claudio kicked out at two! Ref Paul Turner ejected Menard and Parker from ringside. Jericho got Claudio with the Code Breaker. Jericho signaled for the Judas Effect. Claudio blocked it and countered with the Swing! Jericho tapped out while he was in the Swing! And new Ring of Honor World Champion by submission…Claudio Castagnoli! “Unbelievable! The cloud of dishonor has been lifted from the ROH ring!” said Ian. Wheeler Yuta and Jerry Lynn came out to the ring to help the new champ celebrate! Missed out on this historic afternoon of ROH action?! There’s still time to order the replay of Ring of Honor: Final Battle 2022! It’s available on Bleacher Report, FITE TV, PPV.com, and all traditional pay-per-view providers! See it for yourself!

FINAL BATTLE 2022 comes your way this Saturday afternoon LIVE on pay-per-view from the College Park Center on the campus of the University of Texas-Arlington! With every Ring of Honor championship on the line, this is going to be one explosive event true to the tradition of ROH's longest-running, unbroken event! Every year since 2002, without fail, Ring of Honor has presented FINAL BATTLE and it has been home to many of the promotions most memorable events. 2002 can be remembered as the night Jay Lethal first stepped into an ROH ring and when four of pro wrestling's finest battled to a 45-minute draw. 2003 saw The Great Muta, Satoshi Kojima, and Kaz Hayashi make their ROH debuts while 2004 was the night Samoa Joe's historic 645-day World Championship reign came to an end. 2005 welcomed KENTA and Naomichi Marufuji, 2006 bore witness to Homicide finally becoming ROH World Champion, 2010 and 2012 put a spotlight on one of pro wrestling's greatest rivalries between Kevin Steen and El Generico, 2015 saw Jay Lethal continue to cement his “Franchise” moniker with victory over AJ Styles, and 2018 gave fans an epic Ladder Match between The Young Bucks, The Briscoes, and SCU. Last year's edition was billed as the end of an era, with the future of ROH uncertain heading into 2022, but this new year has breathed new life into the most influential wrestling promotion of the 2000's, and FINAL BATTLE 2022 is a celebration of this new era of honor with every championship at stake! The festivities kick off at 3pm ET/2pm CT with the FINAL BATTLE 2022: ZERO HOUR on the official YouTube channel, and continue on Bleacher Report, PPV.com (CANADA ONLY), FITE (INTERNATIONAL) and traditional pay-per-view providers! ROH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH... “The Ocho” Chris Jericho(c) vs. Claudio Castagnoli ***IF CLAUDIO LOSES, HE JOINS THE JAS*** Jericho himself said it; in his efforts to desecrate the legacy of Ring of Honor, he has become one of the best champions the company has seen in its 20-year history. Well “The Ocho” actually said the best, which is debatable as he's only been champion for 80 days, but that begs the question of which is more important: the length of the reign or the substance of it? In his 80 days, Jericho has successfully defended the ROH World Championship in six matches, and every challengers save Sammy Guevara was a former ROH champion in their own right. But even that match with Sammy that took place at AEW's FULL GEAR 2022 event contained two former champions in Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli. Bryan, Claudio, Colt Cabana, Bandido, and Dalton Castle all fell to Jericho, and none can forget that brutal war “The Ocho” went through against Tomohiro Ishii en route to defeating that former ROH World Television Champion. Jericho has faced more former ROH champions than anyone else in that time frame, and although he's dipped into his bag of tricks to score some of the victories, he's still performed at a top level in each bout. Clearly it was not his intention, but through these matches Chris Jericho has only elevated the profile of the already prestigious ROH World Championship to the next level. Despite that, at the root of Jericho's reign is a disdain for Ring of Honor and a desire to make his Ring of Jericho something built upon feeding his own ego. Chris doesn't care about raising the prestige beyond how it bolsters his ego, he doesn't care about beating former champions beyond how it boosts his need to say he's the best ROH champion ever, all this is about is feeding Jericho's ego and, as he did with The Inner Circle, if someone doesn't take the ROH World Championship away, Jericho will just discard it when he feels he's used it for all it's worth. Claudio Castagnoli is not going to sit back and let that happen... Even though it means risking his place within The Blackpool Combat Club and being forced into The Jericho Appreciation Society, redeeming his loss to Jericho at DYNAMITE: GRAND SLAM 2022 and reclaiming that championship for Ring of Honor means everything to “The Swiss Superman”. As a former World Tag Team Champion, as well as the man Jericho took the ROH World Title form, Ring of Honor means everything to Claudio. ROH helped make him who he is today, it helped mold him into the world-class professional wrestler that faces Chris Jericho this Saturday afternoon, and it is the reason he is taking a stand as the man to end the Ring of Jericho once and for all. Who will carry Ring of Honor forward into 2023? Claudio Castagnoli and The Blackpool Combat Club or Chris Jericho and his Appreciation Society? The future of ROH hinges on this battle... ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP DOG COLLAR MATCH... FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood)(c) vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe A Double Dog Collar Match; four men with leather collars wrapped around their throat and steel chains binding them to one another, there can be no escape, nor cessation to the hostilities, just unadulterated violence from bell-to-bell and given the history between the four men involved in this ROH World Tag Team Championship fight, it really can be no other way! It began with FTR assaulting Jay and Mark Briscoe one year ago after they defeated The OGK of Mike Bennett and Matt Taven at FINAL BATTLE 2021: END OF AN ERA to claim the titles for the 12th time, and only escalated from there. Words were exchanged on social media, plenty of trash talking and challenges, until the fight finally happened at SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2022 on April 1st. For nearly 28 minutes, Dax, Cash, Jay, and Mark engaged in one of the greatest tag team bouts in modern professional wrestling, possibly the best Ring of Honor has ever experienced (which is saying a lot given the teams that have come through those ropes), but when it finally came to a conclusion, it was FTR who stood as the new ROH World Tag Team Champions, adding that championship to the AAA Tag Titles they already held. Given how that contest went down, round two felt like an inevitability, and it would come in the form of a 2 Of 3 Falls match as a result of a Briscoe challenge, and take place at DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2022. Having added the IWGP Tag Titles to their trophy cases between the two events, FTR were riding high going into that fight, but it would take nearly 44 minutes before Dax and Cash emerged from the fray still Ring of Honor World Tag Team Champions. The Briscoes scored the first fall after sixteen minutes of hard-fought action, but FTR would take the next two and manage to escape DBD '22 with the titles around their waist. For the second time in less than a year, FTR and The Briscoes had competed in a match that ranks among the best in ROH history, if not the best in modern tag team wrestling, but none of that matters when there are no championship titles to go along with it. And that is the position The Briscoes have been in since April's SOH '22 event; these 252 days are not the longest Jay and Mark have gone without being ROH World Tag Team Champions, but they just may be the most painful. They've had to watch Cash and Dax run around on AEW programming claiming to be the best tag team in the world, sporting the titles that The Briscoes spent years validating as the most important in tag team wrestling, and face teams like Roppongi Vice, The United Empire, and old Briscoe foes, The Young Bucks. Clearly it has been eating away at the brothers Briscoe, and as speculation began about who FTR would defend the ROH World Tag Titles against at FINAL BATTLE 2022, it is safe to say Jay and Mark got themselves an idea that they used Colton and Austin Gunn to convey last Wednesday, and followed up with themselves via Twitter. Be warned, the content of the Briscoe tweet below is not for those offended by a plethora of four letter words: So it will be these four men will experience something none of them ever have before with this Double Dog Collar Match, and it just feels apropos that they go through this hell together. Four men who have dedicated the bulk of their careers to tag team wrestling putting their bodies, not to mention the longevity of their careers, on the line for the right to be called champion. History shows that on five occasions FINAL BATTLE has been the site of The Briscoes becoming new ROH World Tag Team Champions, will 2022 make it number six? Will thirteen (as in 13th championship reign) be a lucky number for Dem Boys, or will FTR's seventh defense be their lucky number? Tune into FINAL BATTLE 2022 this Saturday at 4pm ET to see the next chapter in the greatest tag team rivalry in professional wrestling today! ROH PURE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH... Daniel Garcia(c) vs. Wheeler Yuta Pure Rules Each wrestler has three rope breaks to stop submission holds and pinfalls. 1.After a wrestler exhausts his rope breaks, submission and pin attempts on or under the ropes by his opponent are considered legal. 2.No closed-fist punches to the face permitted. 3.Open-handed slaps or chops to the face are permitted. 4.Punches to the rest of the body are allowed, excluding low blows. 5.The first use of a closed fist to the face receives a warning. 6.The second use of a closed fist to the face results in disqualification. 7.The title can change hands via disqualification and countout. 8.Outside interference will result in automatic termination from the roster for the wrestler that interferes. A bit of a history lesson right off the bat: in the history of the Pure Championship, dating back to its original incarnation as the Pure Wrestling Championship won by AJ Styles in February 2004, no man has ever been a 2-Time Champion. Three former champions have attempted to reclaim the title after their losses: Samoa Joe from Nigel McGuinness at BUFFALO STAMPEDE in October 2005, Jay Lethal when he faced Jonathan Gresham some 16 years after his reign ended, and Josh Woods when he fought Wheeler Yuta on the May 17th edition of AEW DARK following his SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2022 defeat. There were plenty of challengers who received more than one chance to dethrone a champion, but of those three former champs who received a second opportunity, all came up short in their return bouts. So with that being said, Wheeler Yuta stands on the precipice of history as another former Pure Champion with an opportunity to become the first 2-Time Pure Champion; all he has to do is win this rubber match with Daniel Garcia on Saturday afternoon. No easy feat by any means, especially with everything each man has experienced since their last clash on September 7th's DYNAMITE that resulted in Garcia's title victory. It was a night that “Red Death” actually achieved his greatest success without the help of The Jericho Appreciation Society, a triumph many fans had hoped would put Garcia on the path to joining The Blackpool Combat Club, or at least divorcing himself from Chris Jericho. Instead, it would prove one more step in pushing Garcia back into the J.A.S. fold while simultaneously driving a wedge into The BCC, at least between Yuta and Bryan Danielson, when “The American Dragon” actually strapped the Pure Championship around the waist of Garcia right in front of his BCC teammate. That moment lit a fire under Yuta for sure, watching his supposed mentor recognize his enemy in such a fashion, and since then Wheeler has had a burning desire to reclaim that which he lost three months ago. For Wheeler, it is about the Pure Championship but it is also about putting an end to this perpetual drama with The J.AS. and with Daniel Garcia, it's about definitively showing Danielson how he made the wrong choice that night in Buffalo, NY, and about reclaiming the Pure Championship for those who love professional wrestling as a sport. Much like Yuta, Garcia wants to be quits with Wheeler and The BCC, and wants to move on with his career as ROH Pure Champion. He's had two impressive title defenses thus far, and could go down as one of the great Pure Champions alongside Danielson, McGuinness, and Samoa Joe given his abilities inside the squared circle, but for Daniel it seems to be about rubbing it into everyone's faces that a man who calls himself a “sports-entertainer” is walking around as Pure Champion. At times it feels as if his ownership of the Pure Championship is more about that than any actual pride in what being Pure Champion actually means. Can Wheeler Yuta make history and become a 2-Time Champion this Saturday afternoon? Everything he has gained from his tutelage under Regal, Castagnoli, Moxley, and even Danielson has provided him with all the tools to be one of the greats, now it is up to Wheeler to put it all together and reclaim that which was taken from him. Can Garcia retain the title? He clearly has the tools as well, but he also has the J.A.S at his side who will, quite possibly, look for some way to skirt the rules of the Pure division and interfere on his behalf. This could be a beautiful wrestling exhibition or it could be a knockdown drag out fight. It could be technical brilliance, or violent business between two men who loathe one another; which ever way it swings, it is sure to be a must-see collision at FINAL BATTLE 2022! ROH WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH... Samoa Joe (c) vs. Juice Robinson Samoa Joe's history with Ring of Honor has been well-documented; coming into ROH at the first GLORY BY HONOR on 10/5/02, he established his violent tendencies in rapid fashion through competition in the first Fight Without Honor against Low Ki. That ultra-physical affair showed the ROH faithful what Joe was all about, and by March 2003 he was standing atop the mountain as ROH Champion. He was the man who took the belt internationally to make it a World Championship, he was the won who dominated for 645 days as champion and put down twenty-nine challenges to his throne before it ended at FINAL BATTLE 2004. Joe was the man who had no problem crushing his own protege Jay Lethal to become the ROH Pure Champion, he was the man who made history fighting Kenta Kobashi on 10/1/05, and who had the guts to look into the Ring of Honor cameras and declare to that world “My name is Samoa Joe and I am pro wrestling!”. Even after Joe left ROH in 2007, his legacy loomed large and every champion that followed has been compared to the standards set by Samoa Joe both as a champion and as a representative for ROH. During some of hard times in those early years, Joe put ROH on his back and carried the banner everywhere he went, believing with all his heart that Ring of Honor was the home for professional wrestling. So when Joe returned to the fold at SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2022, well quite frankly there is nothing comparable to what it meant for Ring of Honor, especially given the new era of honor that the company was just starting to begin. And when Joe smashed his way through Minoru Suzuki to claim the ROH World Television Championship, the first ROH title he had held since Nigel McGuinness took the Pure Title in August 2005, it made Joe part of the illustrious Triple Crown Club, and it also heralded to the wrestling world that Samoa Joe had returned home. Trent Beretta, Jay Lethal, Josh Woods, and Brian Cage have all come for the ROH World TV Title since Joe's April victory over Suzuki and all have fallen before the self-proclaimed King of Television, a sobriquet he bequeathed on himself after claiming the TNT Championship from Wardlow. The Samoa Joe that stands before us today is the scariest version of the man that has ever stood inside the squared circle, it's as if all the experiences of his last 20 years have coalesced into this entity of rage and destruction, and it has been unleashed upon both AEW and ROH. So what's equally scary is how Juice Robinson has witnessed all this play out, albeit from a distance, and still called out Samoa Joe for this fight on Saturday afternoon! Now Juice has his own history with Ring of Honor, first debuting for the company during GLOBAL WARS 2016, and taking part in the joint shows with NJPW that followed the next two years. He even challenged for the ROH World Television title on the 1/28/17 edition of ROH's television program, but failed in achieving championship status that evening in Atlanta. In 2019 he would bring together a collection of like-minded individuals to form a group that included TracyWilliams, Bandido, and David Finlay, among others, but Lifeblood's existence would prove short-lived as Juice focused on his NJPW career coming out of the G1 Supercard event in April 2019. So as much as this challenge to Joe is about Juice immediately establishing his bonafides in the United States after building his name in NJPW as a 3-Time IWGP United State Champion, it is also about returning to ROH for some unfinished business. Samoa Joe helped to establish Ring of Honor with his World Championship reign, he gave it a credibility that remained long after he left, and now he is doing the same for the World Television Champion in this new era. What that means is a championship victory over Samoa Joe is instant credibility, and that is what Juice Robinson is chasing at FINAL BATTLE 2022. Eighteen years ago, Austin Aries got it when ended Joe's historic ROH World Championship reign at one FINAL BATTLE; can Juice repeat history at another FINAL BATTLE? TAG TEAM GRUDGE MATCH... Swerve In Our Glory (Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland) vs. Shane Taylor Promotions (JD Griffey & Shane Taylor) On September 16th of 2017, a relationship that had been built-up over the last three years abruptly came to an end, coincidentally enough, right in Arlington, Texas. Shane Taylor and Kieth Lee, collectively known as The Pretty Boy Killers, had defeated Homicide and Low Ki in a successful defense of the VIP Wrestling Tag Team Championship titles they'd won five months earlier from War Machine. Then like so much dust in the wind, their partnership was over and Shane Taylor was left high-and-dry as Keith Lee explored his own options in professional wrestling separate from his PBK partner. It was shocker to Taylor, they'd been making waves around the independent circuit for several years by that point, and since May 2015 had been competing under the Ring of Honor banner against teams like The Briscoes, The All Night Express, Colt Cabana & Dalton Castle, and had even toppled War Machine in a No Rules contest during SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST 2016. Then it was over, the partnership that is, because while Keith Lee went about evolving his career, finding a team with Shane Strickland that has persevered to this day and competing around the independents before signing his name to contract elsewhere, Shane Taylor stayed true to Ring of Honor. He founded The Rebellion with Rhett Titus, Caprice Coleman, and Kenny King, a unit that brought Taylor his first FINAL BATTLE win in 2016, but was ultimately forced to disband after losing to the Search & Destroy unit of The Motor City Machine Guns, Jonathan Gresham, and a young Jay White. He had the honor of fighting Hirooki Goto during the WAR OF THE WORLDS 2017 events with New Japan Pro Wrestling, went on the hunt for championship gold that year as well as part of the SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST 2017 finals and in the ROH World Television Championship bout at that year's FINAL BATTLE event. Neither would lead to titles for Shane Taylor, but they amped up his hunger to become someone greater on the ROH landscape. He collected the experiences, as both partner and foe, being in the ring with members of The BULLET CLUB, with competitors like EVIL, Jay Lethal, Jeff Cobb, and Bandido, before finally achieving his championship dream during the 2019 WAR OF THE WORLDS tour when he defeated Jeff Cobb, Hirooki Goto, and Brody King to become the 22nd World Television Champion. But the work was just beginning, and for 218 days across 10 successful defenses, Shane Taylor was a dominating champion until Dragon Lee ended his reign at FINAL BATTLE 2019. He beat Bandido, a young Danhausen, Joe Hendry, and survived multiple Four Corners matches with title still around his waist. He founded Shane Taylor Promotions, bringing together Kaun, Moses, Reverend Ron Hunt, and O'Shay Edwards to form one of ROH's most dominant factions of the last several years. For 295 days, Taylor reigned as ROH World Six Man Champions with Kaun and Moses as his partners, with O'Shay Edwards being allowed to pinch-hit on a few occasions for STP. They defended the titles more than any other trio, eleven instances to be exact, and while MexiSquad may be the longest reigning champions thanks to pandemic travel restrictions preventing them defending the titles for over 400 days, it was STP that ended that reign and brought the titles back to prominence in ROH, even defending them in outside promotions. Shane Taylor fought his way onto Ring of Honor events, from the dark matches to the main events, and along the way established a true force in wrestling with Shane Taylor Promotions, a force that has grown bigger than ROH, and that has now brought JD Griffey into the fold. But who is JD Griffey to Keith Lee? Why this choice of partner for Shane Taylor on Saturday afternoon? Because JD Griffey is a man with his own Keith Lee history, one dating back over a decade to their early wrestling days in Texas, where they were both partners and foes, and even trained together for a period in Muay Thai. Shane Taylor made this choice of partner, not just because Griffey is a supremely talented athlete, but also because of its personal nature. This entire situation is rife with tumultuous history, just as Keith's present with Swerve Strickland is tumultuous, so the question is if Keith's past or his present will decide this contest? Can Swerve In Our Glory patch over their issues to leave Arlington, TX as the victors? Or will Shane Taylor make it three years in a row where he leaves FINAL BATTLE in victorious fashion? ROH WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH... Mercedes Martinez(c) vs. “The Fallen Goddess” Athena It has been more than eleven years since the first time these two women locked up inside the Eagles Club in Berwyn, IL for the first of three extremely physical matches. As both women described in the ROAD TO FINAL BATTLE, it was Athena looking to prove herself against one of the women who had blazed the trail “The Fallen Goddess” was now treading. Athena was only a few years into her career by the time they met while Mercedes had been grinding it out for a decade by that point, fighting in front of fans who may have started with no respect for women's wrestling, but who had no choice but to give it once they saw the fight Martinez brought. Mercedes crawled, she learned how to walk, so that the women who followed in her footsteps could run, and she's never forgotten the grind it took to bring women's wrestling where it is today in the United States. But those clashes in SHIMMER, those weren't about the growth of women's wrestling, those were about the growth of Athena and quite shockingly, of those three matches, the only one that had a definitive winner was their final battle in March of 2012 where Athena bested the “OG Badass”. It could come as no surprise that their rivalry followed both women to Florida and into the next stage of their careers. A singles match in 2017 went in Athena's favor, as did a tag team match almost nine years to the date of their last SHIMMER bout, and now their paths have intersected once more on the AEW/ROH landscape. Athena's unleashed violent streak has brought her fourteen consecutive victories, twelve of those in singles matches, and seen her stoop low enough to actually strike referee Aubrey Edwards after defeating Madison Rayne. Meanwhile, Mercedes is freshly back to the action after spending the last several months recovering from injury, last competing at DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2022 before her in-ring return on the 11/21 edition of DARK: ELEVATION following her confrontation with Athena on the 11/18 RAMPAGE. But instead of just jumping into the fray this Saturday cold, Mercedes actually traveled to Australia and New Zealand to get herself prepared for this championship fight with Athena at FINAL BATTLE 2022. And that is exactly what this match will be, a fight, not a catch-as-catch-can or technical wrestling exhibition, but a fight between two women with lots of bad blood between them, further enhanced by the opportunity to represent ROH in this new era of honor. It's not an opportunity that existed for Athena in 2013 when she last competed under the ROH banner, and what a career highlight it would be for her to claim that crown at the expense of Martinez. It may not be a Wednesday night, but this match is pure dynamite and it's primed to explode in Arlington live on pay-per-view! ROH WORLD SIX MAN CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH... Dalton Castle & The Boys(c) vs. The Embassy (Brian Cage, Kaun, & Toa Liona) Dalton Castle and his Boys, with their second ROH World Six Man Championship reign, have proudly carried the titles since defeating The Righteous at DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2022 back in July. They've got two successful defenses in their pocket against Primal Fear and The TrustBusters, but this Saturday afternoon they are faced with monstrous opposition unlike anything they've faced in their entire time together. Sure they've battled The Briscoes and Shane Taylor, The Kingdom, the BULLET CLUB, but as good as those trios were, none of them were the freakish physical specimens Prince Nana has amassed for the latest iteration of The Embassy. Brian Cage, Kaun, and Toa Liona are three of the most imposing and intimidating forces under the banner of either ROH or AEW, and while their experience as a trio is limited, they make up for that with sheer destructive power, and an athleticism that defies their size. It's rare to see men as muscular as these three, as utterly powerful as these three, be the kind of athletes they demonstrated, but here we are with this Embassy standing as Prince Nana's most terrifying collection of talent in the 19 years since he first began collecting talent with the late former ROH Champion Xavier at FINAL BATTLE 2003. Dalton and The Boys know they're at a disadvantage from a physical standpoint, but there is no substitute for experience and this trio has that in spades. The Boys know how Dalton thinks, they are willing to sacrifice themselves at his behest, and all the theatrics aside, they've spent several years gelling into a championship trio. That being said, the defending champions are going to have to pull out every trick they have in their playbook to survive this defense and escape Arlington with the ROH World Six Man Championship titles still in their camp. Prince Nana has always said The Embassy is forever, and for nineteen years, through a tremendous line-up of talent, it has lived up to that decree. Will Brian Cage and The Gates of Agony bring championships back to Prince Nana this Saturday in Texas? TAG TEAM BOUT... AR Fox & Blake Christian vs. Dralistico & Rush It's been more than five years since Dralistico stepped inside a ROH ring, during the massive 2017 WAR OF THE WORLDS: UK tour that involved ROH, NJPW, CMLL, and RevPro to be exact. Those bouts, fought under the Mistico name, were but a tease of what Dralistico brought to the table, but now he's coming back to Ring of Honor and joining his older brother Rush in tag team competition! Now Rush and Blake Christian had themselves a solid bout back in August on AEW DARK in which the former ROH World Champion bested Christian in six minutes, but Blake has a chance for a little revenge here with this tag team bout! Blake's partner for this pay-per-view outing is none other than one of AEW's newest acquisition's, the ultra-impressive AR Fox, and while these two men are quite familiar with one another, the history is as foes rather than allies. This will be their first time teaming up, and they're faced with a duo in Rush and Dralistico who have the bond of family, as well as the bonds of sharing the ring together on a multitude of occasions. It's a tremendous opportunity for AR Fox and Blake Christian to score a major upset, and shake up the world according to LFI. If they can pull it off remains to be seen, but there's no doubt Fox and Chrisitan have a fight on their hands come FINAL BATTLE 2022 when Rush and Dralistico stand across the ring! THE ZERO HOUR... The FINAL BATTLE 2022: ZERO HOUR kicks off FREE on the official YouTube channel starting at 3pm ET/2pm CT and it is absolutely loaded! Four huge match-ups featuring former ROH champions, new faces to Ring of Honor, and some of the best talent All Elite Wrestling has to offer as well! ONE-ON-ONE... Jeff Cobb vs. Mascara Dorada This Saturday's FINAL BATTLE 2022: ZERO HOUR will see Jeff Cobb return to an ROH ring for the first time since his GATEWAY TO HONOR 2020 Four Corner Survival defeat. Prior to that, Cobb was in a position to challenge for the ROH World Tag Team Titles after he and Dan Maff defeated Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham in a Proving Ground Match, but because of the pandemic shutdown, it never came to pass, and Cobb parted ways with ROH. Now he has a chance to remind the ROH faithful why he was such a dominant World Television Champion for 222 days, scoring victories over foes such as Hangman Page, Will Ospreay, Hirooki Goto, and Shane Taylor during his reign. He can remind them why he was such a threat when he faced Matt Taven and Rush during their ROH World Championship reigns, and show them why he has become such an impactful player in New Japan Pro Wrestling as part of The United Empire. As for his opponent, this will be the first ROH match in Mascara Dorada's 17-year career, and thus it is not one he will take lightly. A multi-time champion in CMLL, Dorada returned to the independent wrestling landscape in the beginning of 2022, and has been tearing it up everywhere he has gone. Be it GCW, IMPACT, NJPW STRONG, or New Japan proper, Mascara Dorada has been in top form in 2022, and now he gets to display that during the ZERO HOUR! Will Cobb be victorious in his return to the fold, or will Mascara Dorado's Ring of Honor debut be a triumphant one for the luchador? ONE-ON-ONE... Willow Nightingale vs. Trish Adora Rewind 13 months to November 10, 2021 and bear witness to what could've been the birth of a wonderful tag team for Ring of Honor as Willow Nightingale and Trish Adora partnered up for the first time in a victorious effort. Now both were fairly new to the ROH ring, having started competing for Ring of Honor just a few months prior, and both competing in the ROH Women's World Championship Tournament eventually won by Rok-C. In fact, they could have been opponents in the Quarter-Final round had Willow bested Allysin Kay in the opener, instead their lone one-on-one meeting took place in May 2021 and it was Adora who picked up the victory Can Willow even the score with a victory during ZERO HOUR, or will Adora be the dominant one yet again? TAG TEAM ACTION... Jericho Appreciation Society (“Daddy Magic” Matt Menard & “Cool Hand” Angelo Parker) vs. Shinobi Shadow Squad (Cheeseburger & Eli Isom) Not only will The Jericho Appreciation Society be in the house to support their man in his ROH World Championship match, but “Daddy Magic” and “Cool Hand” will also be in tag team competition against two of ROH's staples in Cheeseburger and Eli Isom. Now it's not the first time Menard and Parker have competed under the ROH banner, but it has been nine years since the last time they've done so, and Saturday afternoon on the ZERO HOUR, they aim to start The J.A.S' day off on the right foot with a victory over The Shinobi Shadow Squad! TAG TEAM BOUT... The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett w/ Maria Kanellis-Bennett) vs. Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin) Mike Bennett and Matt Taven, collectively known as The Kingdom, make their return to the Ring of Honor stage this Saturday afternoon during the ZERO HOUR! Together these two warriors are former 2-Time ROH World Tag Team Champions, while Taven himself stands as a Grand Slam winner with multiple Six Man Championships to his credit, as while as a World Television Championship reign, and a ROH World Championship run that began in the hallowed halls of Madison Square Garden. They, along with Maria, aim to reclaim ROH as their territory, and it begins with this bout here. Top Flight had their first taste of ROH action when they faced FTR for the ROH World Tag Team Championship recently, and now they'll get a proper welcoming with this first appearance on a Ring of Honor event. It's a huge opportunity for Dante and Darius to make their mark on the company as we head into 2023, can the Martin brothers score the victory over The Kingdom on Matt and Mike's home turf? With six championship matches, the return of Shane Taylor Promotions to the fold for a grudge tag team match, and a loaded ZERO HOUR event, FINAL BATTLE 2022 is going to be another historic day in two decade history of ROH's signature event! The fights kick off at 3pm ET/2pm CT on the official YouTube Channel with the FINAL BATTLE 2022: ZERO HOUR, and the pay-per-view proper starts at 4pm ET/3pm CT over on Bleacher Report, PPV.com (CANADA ONLY), FITE (INTERNATIONAL), as well as on traditional pay-per-view providers! The new era of honor is just getting started, but to use an old phrase born in ROH, do not miss out on the greatest pound-for-pound professional wrestling on the planet today!