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Part 1 The beginning of 2007 was an interesting time for Nigel McGuinness; he once again won over the fans with those bouts against Bryan Danielson despite failing to defeat Danielson for the ROH World Championship, but got to experience a ROH without “The American Dragon” for several months. Danielson, after losing the title to “The Notorious 187” Homicide at FINAL BATTLE 2006, took a sabbatical from wrestling to heal from injuries sustained months earlier at GUT CHECK in a two-out-of-three falls bout with Colt Cabana. During the four months of Bryan's absence, McGuinness engaged in a tremendous rivalry with the late Jimmy Rave, culminating in a Fight Without Honor at FIFTH YEAR FESTIVAL: FINALE as part of ROH's return to London. That FIFTH YEAR FESTIVAL series of shows also marked the final events for ROH Legend Samoa Joe's original run, and as one of Joe's biggest rivals, McGuinness was actually tapped to be one of Joe's final opponents before he bid farewell to ROH. Joe's departure at the conclusion of FYF coincided with the arrival of another individual to the ROH landscape, Pro Wrestling NOAH's Takeshi Morishima. A product of the All Japan Pro Wrestling dojo under the tutelage of Mitsuharu Misawa and Akira Taue, two of the legendary Four Pillars of Heaven, Morishima left AJPW alongside Misawa with the formation of NOAH, and at the time of his arrival in ROH, he had already been a 3-Time GHC Tag Champion. Morishima's initial impression on ROH audiences came at September 2006's GLORY BY HONOR V, N2 when he and Samoa Joe nearly came to blows in the aisle following a ceremony to honor the legendary Bruno Sammartino. So by February 2007, when Morishima stepped into a ROH ring for the first time with Joe as his opponent, fans were beyond excited to see what Mori had to offer: With an agility that belied his size, a willingness to come flying off the top rope with a missile drop kick, and a Backdrop Driver finish that put everyone down, Morishima was an absolute monster in the ring. Though he lost that first match against Joe, he quickly recovered to dethrone Homicide as the ROH World Champion, and thereby tie his future to that of both Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness. Given their mutual ties to NOAH, Nigel and Morishima started as allies, with McGuinness even speaking on behalf of the champion on several instances, and the two actually teaming up to defeat Samoa Joe and Homicide at FYF: CHICAGO. It was that mutual victory that earned Nigel his first shot at Morishima's World Title during the FIGHTING SPIRT event on 4/14/08, but sadly that was not his night to finally wear the crown. Following that loss Nigel return to England, winning the 2007 King of Europe Cup, and actually defeating PAC along the way, and competed in the prestigious wXw 16 Carat  Gold Tournament before returning to the States. Meanwhile, during that same month, Danielson returned to active competition with a lengthy tour of NOAH before coming back to Ring of Honor at REBORN AGAIN on May 11, 2007, and actually competing in three separate matches on that night. Coincidentally Nigel was not there on the night of Bryan's return, flight problems prevented his participation and changed his scheduled match, but he was there the following night for one of ROH's biggest nights to date: RESPECT IS EARNED. That night ROH taped pay-per-view for the very first time, and in the main event of that milestone show it would be ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima and Bryan Danielson facing KENTA and Nigel McGuinness. That night any semblance of a friendship between Nigel and Mori fell by the wayside as Bryan and the World Champion united to assault Nigel earlier in the night,  but it didn't represent a bond between Danielson and Morishima either. After he and Bryan won the match, Danielson had the audacity to lay his hands on the World Title, enraging the behemoth enough to dump Bryan on his head with a Backdrop Driver and then when Nigel attempted to show respect to Mori, he too got taken out for his troubles. Clearly both Nigel and Bryan were on the wrong side of the World Champion, but that did not mean they necessarily partners in their mutual endeavor to dethrone Morishima, though they did combine forces at UNITED WE STAND in June 2006 to defeat Mori and Naomichi Marufuji. In fact that night in Dayton, Nigel became the first man in ROH to pin Morishima and thereby secure himself a future title opportunity. That title opportunity came on July 17, 2007 during ROH's first-ever event in Japan dubbed LIVE IN TOKYO. Coming on the heels of a lengthy NOAH tour that Nigel and Bryan both participated in, and were even made to team up multiple times during its course, McGuinness was again unable to dethrone Morishima, That brought Danielson to the ring to mock Nigel, claim that he should be World Champion, and even slap Morishima in the face only to turn around into a European Uppercut from Nigel. Unlike RESPECT IS EARNED, Morishima actually showed respect and returned Nigel's handshake after that tiff with Danielson. Despite their rivalry with one another, despite each man's designs on being the next ROH World Champion, they were still thrust together as partners at RACE TO THE TOP TOURNAMENT: NIGHT 1 in a World Tag Team Championship match opposite The Briscoes, then ending up on opposite sides of an eight-man tag the following night. All either man wanted was to dethrone Morishima, but they could not get away from each other no matter how hard they tried, meaning the comparisons between the two among the ROH faithful were perpetual. More often than not the fans sided with Bryan Danielson as the superior wrestler between the two, a fact that no doubt ate at Nigel as their rivalry intensified. Then there are nights like MANHATTAN MAYHEM II where Nigel was engaged in a Trios match far from the World Title while Danielson was getting the championship fight with Morishima; it wasn't that Bryan won the belt that night, in fact he ended up in an emergency room with a detached retina and fractured orbital bone, it was that Bryan and Morishima were being lauded as having the best match in ROH history, that Bryan was again being boosted up over Nigel no matter what McGuinness accomplished, and even in defeat “The American Dragon” was being praised.  To make matters worse, at ROH's DRIVEN PPV event that aired in September 2007, the two faced off in their first ROH singles match since EPIC ENCOUNTER II, only this time rather than a championship, it was a future World Title match on the line. A bloody Bryan Danielson managed to secure Cattle Mutilation to score the victory and the title shot, but come MAN UP when he actually got the opportunity, Bryan lost the match via referee stoppage when Morishima elected to brutalize Danielson's still healing eye. Though there were so many intangible similarities between Nigel and Bryan (their love for wrestling, their commitment to improvement, their never-give-up attitudes), it looked more and more likely that they'd also share the inability to defeat Takeshi Morishima. Then UNDENIABLE happened, and Nigel McGuinness, with his barrage of brutal lariats, found a way to put Mori's shoulders done long enough for a three count, and he was declared the new ROH World Champion. It didn't take long for Danielson to try and spoil the jubilation, but the whole of the ROH locker room stopped that tantrum as Morishima himself handed the belt over to McGuinness in an ultimate sign of respect. Nigel McGuinness finally accomplished something Bryan Danielson had not when he defeated Takeshi Morishima, and now their 2006 roles were reversed with Danielson as challenger to Nigel's crown. Their first meeting after Nigel's title victory took place during the SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST 2007 tournament rather than as a championship bout, and ended in a 20 minute draw where neither advanced to the Elimination Finals. Their clash seemed an inevitability though, but then something happened, Nigel suffered a torn tricep muscle during a tour of England, and with the options either being to take a few shows off to let it heal on its own, or get surgery and risk a whole lot more time than that, Nigel chose the former. Though unscheduled, he fought Chris Hero at GLORY BY HONOR VI, N1 in Philadelphia in his street clothes, but the following night in New York City, when he informed the fans he would not able to compete, a small portion of the crowd vociferously booed him. Unfortunately the same song would play just a month later at FINAL BATTLE 2007 when, after being concussed while defending his ROH World Title the night prior, Nigel was forced to sit on the sidelines for ROH's year-end event. The boos from the New York crowd were even stronger this time around, particularly when Nigel told them all he would not vacate the title due to this injury, and though in front of the fans he wore a face of defiance in response to their jeers, internally he was torn up about the fans who'd so rabidly cheered ahis scent now calling for his head because he was hurt doing what they supposedly loved to see him do. He knew Samoa Joe didn't receive that response when he was hurt in 2006 and was unable to compete on several shows, including FINAL BATTLE 2006, or when Bryan Danielson was hurt and left the company for four months to heal up. Nigel missed three nights of fights in one month's time as a result of two completely different situations, but the fans turned on him like he was the worst of humanity for showing some sense of self-preservation. It slowly unraveled Nigel's psyche, and by his 6th ANNIVERSARY SHOW defense against Danielson, there was nothing but blatant hostility between Nigel, the ROH fans, and the ROH locker room. Earlier in the night, he goaded Danielson into agreeing to a “no head shots” rule for the bout, and when Bryan hit a back suplex, McGuinness accused him of targeting the head, and tried to walk out of the match. Showing solidarity, members of the locker room blocked Nigel's path of escape up the ramp and ROH's then-owner Cary Silken called for the match to be restarted immediately. The defending champion went on the offensive, but no matter what Nigel did, Bryan refused to go for his head even when the opportunity presented itself. McGuinness, on the other hand, drilled Bryan with an unexpected headbutt, rained down Bryan's own signature elbows into his challenger's skull, then slapped on his London Dungeon arm submission on the already unconscious Danielson. Just as happened at UNIFIED, the referee had no choice but to stop the match, but this time in favor of Nigel McGuinness. As heated as their rivalry got in 2006, this subterfuge on Nigel's part signaled a new aspect to their issues, and showed the world a darker side of McGuinness. In his days as Pure Champion, Nigel was capable of stretching the rules in order to maintain his championship status, but he still played within its unique set of restrictions. This was outright deceit on Nigel's part, abusing the willingness of Danielson to “play fair” in this fight and not take advantage of the champion's clearly exaggerated weakness in order to garner an advantage. He played off the sympathy of a fellow wrestler, someone who knows the kind of effect head trauma can have on a person, even in 2008 when our understanding of the situation was nowhere near as developed as it is today. Nigel broke that gentleman's agreement with Bryan, and in turn demonstrated how little he thought of the ROH faithful and any concern they had for his well-being. From that point forward, Nigel had an enemy in Bryan Danielson, rather than a rival, and had made himself unquestionably a villain in the eyes of the Ring of Honor fans. A few weeks after the two would end up on opposite sides of a tag team match at DOUBLE FEATURE, an event that played host to scenes filmed for Darren Aronofsky's movie The Wrestler, and a contest where Danielson and Austin Aries defeated McGuinness and Go Shiozaki. They remained reluctant partners in tours of Pro Wrestling NOAH, put together due to their status as the gaijin talent on the tour, but the reality at that point was nothing but bad blood. It would be four months before Bryan and Nigel met in the ring again one-on-one, though that was during a sojourn to Germany's wXw, with their next ROH bout occurring at DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR VI inside the historic Hammerstein Ballroom. That night Nigel McGuinness successfully retained his title over Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, and Tyler Black, with Bryan's elimination coming at Nigel's hand but only due to the vicious assaulted perpetrated on him by Claudio after his elimination at Bryan's hands.  Another tag match at NIGHT OF THE BUTCHER II gave Bryan a victory over Nigel, this time with Claudio as his partner, and they'd meet once more in singles competition, albeit without Nigel's ROH World Title on the line, during Ring of Honor's Battle of the Best event in Tokyo. Bryan scored another victory over Nigel that evening, earning himself one more title shot, a bout at the RISING ABOVE 2008 pay-per-view event where Nigel retained, and whose outcome was heavily influenced by the involvement of Castagnoli. The two men would have one more tag bout at the WRESTLING AT THE GATEWAY event, but the hostilities between Jerry Lynn/Nigel and Bryan/Claudio were more the driving force of that match than the Nigel/Bryan issues. However that match is notable because the two men would not face each other in the ring again until GLORY BY HONOR VIII: THE FINAL COUNTDOWN on September 26, 2009, the final Ring of Honor match for both men.  In the nine months between that tag bout and their mutual farewell to the house that built them, Nigel lost the ROH World Championship to Jerry Lynn at SUPERCARD OF HONOR IV in April 2009, and frankly struggled with injuries incurred during his reign for the remaining five months of his ROH tenure. Wrestling just nine matches after losing his title, Nigel did have a pair of opportunities to regain the World Title during that time frame, but failed on both occasions. Danielson, following that RISING ABOVE loss to Nigel, was not only part of Lynn's first World Title defense, he would get three other World Championship opportunities before his exit, as well as three World Tag Title matches. And put in 26 matches in that same time frame.  Then when the news broke on 8/24/09 that Danielson had signed a deal with the largest wrestling company in the world, a dream that Nigel had held dear to his heart since leaving Wembley Stadium 17 years prior, ROH announced an entire FINAL COUNTDOWN TOUR devoted to recognizing Bryan's contributions to the company, and where they allowed him to handpick his final six matches. On September 4th, just six days before the FINAL COUNTDOWN TOUR was set to commence, ROH also announced that Nigel McGuinness had come to an agreement with that company “in principal”, meaning the basic details were discussed rather than specifics, and nothing had been set in stone. Despite the same day being both men's departure, the tour name did not change from one synonymous with “The American Dragon”, after all the commemorative t-shirts had already been printed, and the nature of Nigel's nagging injuries meant he was only available for three matches rather than the six Bryan would take on. Fans certainly questioned why it was still dubbed FINAL COUNTDOWN despite both men leaving ROH, Nigel himself did as well, and it no doubt took its toll on his already nagging sense of insecurity where Danielson was concerned, but the reality was that the wheels were already in motion, and the process of merchandise and advertising was already too far along to change. It was never meant as disrespectful to McGuinness, not after all he contributed to Ring of Honor, but sadly that reality wasn't necessarily seen by Nigel. Two years later, when he returned to ROH in 2011 to work initially as a color commentator but eventually as an authority figure over the company, Nigel could be heard making comments about that 2009 series of events. Suffice to say even as they bid farewell to ROH, with the belief they were going to take on the world together, there were high levels of jealousy and insecurity but they only traveled Nigel to Bryan not the other way around. The statistical reality of their time spent in ROH is this: Nigel:  ROH World Champion: 545 Days, 38 Defense ROH Pure Champion: 350 Days, 17 Defenses Bryan ROH World Champion: 462 Days, 38 Defenses ROH Pure Champion: <1 Day, 0 Defenses One-On-One ROH Record 5-3-2 (Bryan) Multi-Man ROH Record (Trios/Four Corner Survival) 1-1 (Nigel) Other ROH Records (Tag/Trios/Multi-Man) 6-2 (Bryan) Non-ROH One-On-One Records 3-0 (Bryan) Non-ROH Multi-Man Record (Trios/Four Corner Survival) 1-0 (Nigel) Interestingly enough, in the eleven matches they worked together as a team for NOAH, they went 6-5, and split their two attempts at working together in ROH. Imagine the force they could've been as a tag team if the two men were able to work together, instead they gave Ring of Honor one of the greatest rivalries of its 22 year existence, produced genuinely epic matches that were widely influential on the generation of professional wrestlers that followed them, and yet so few got to see what Nigel McGuinness brought to the table as an in-ring combatant while the eyes of the world were on Bryan Danielson for the better part of the last fifteen years. See while Danielson would go on to compete for the aforementioned wrestling company for the next seven years, engaging in memorable moments and matches, as fans rallied behind him with one simple three letter affirmation. Even when he had to retire from the sport in 2016, fans continued to support him no matter what, be it serving as an authority figure on that television program, or as a host for various shows, his fans were there with him every step of the way, so calling it a joyous moment in 2018 when Danielson returned to the ring would be quite an understatement.  After two years of fighting for his career, of his family supporting him as he did everything he possibly could to get back to doing the only thing he loved besides them, Bryan was finally cleared to step between the ropes again, and for three years he competed in a collection of amazing bouts that only further cemented his status as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all-time, and that was before he came to All Elite Wrestling at ALL OUT 2021.  As for Nigel, he didn't make it onto that stage, at least not as a professional wrestler, and not for several years after Danielson arrived on that international platform. For Nigel that “in principle” part of his agreement turned out to be crucial as he failed the required physicals largely due to the injuries he sustained in ROH as World Champion, thus his dream of competing on that stage was dashed and he had to travel a different path than his greatest rival. For those who'd watched Nigel throughout his career, there was something noticeably different about him from that point on, as if the spark inside had been dimmed by that perceived failure. Nigel continued competing for another year until a viral infection shelved him from in-ring competition for fourteen months, the longest he'd gone without competing inside a squared circle since the day he started, but once that was treated, he'd return to fighting in November 2011 with the intent of closing the book on his wrestling career at the end of the year. McGuinness documented this journey in The Last of McGuinness , a crowd-funded documentary that he produced himself, and is one of the most emotional, gut-wrenching looks at the journey of a professional wrestler imaginable. Over the course of its run time, Nigel lets it all out, every joy and frustration, every bit of pain and any happiness he found. Nigel lets the fans see him, warts and all, and experience the cycle of loss and (partial) acceptance that came with the end of his in-ring career. There's even a touching moment shared between Nigel and Bryan, albeit via text, that tied into Bryan's first World Championship victory for that wrestling promotion. In the context of the film, it felt like a good moment, a moment of recognition and appreciation, but looking at it now, with everything Nigel has said about Danielson since coming to AEW, perhaps it was rather something that settled in Nigel's brain only to continue eating away at those feelings of jealousy. Nigel eventually came back to Ring of Honor to serve as color commentator and an authority figure, but that ended in 2016 when McGuinness finally got his opportunity to walk onto that big stage, but as a commentator rather than professional wrestler. McGuinness excelled at that job, putting his all into it and learning at the side of some true commentary greats, but it still always felt like his heart was in the ring, and he longed to return to the days of taking people's heads off with his cornucopia of lariats. Though he and Bryan were technically working for the same company at the same time, Nigel never had an opportunity to call any of Danielson's matches, but the two did find common ground in seeing their dreams taken away as their own bodies betrayed them. But where Bryan found his way back to the inside of the ropes, Nigel did not, instead serving as commentator until October of 2022, where upon he was released from that gig, and sent the wrestling fandom into a tizzy about where he may end up next. As recent history tells us, it was a return home to ROH with SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023 and then the transition to COLLISION later that year, but all serving as a commentator though it was quite obvious Nigel himself was in tremendous condition.  The other thing quite obvious with Nigel back in the same sphere as Bryan Danielson, and actively calling matches in which Bryan was involved, was that the animosity and jealousy Nigel carried through their Ring of Honor tenure didn't mellow. In fact it came across like Bryan's successes had only stoked those flames of insecurity, that watching Danielson rise like a phoenix from career-ending injuries only made the disdain more intense, and Nigel let the world hear it every chance he got. Bryan didn't even have to be on-screen for Nigel to find a way to take a dig at “Clamdigger Danielson”, and when Eddie Kingston defeated Bryan at REVOLUTION 2024 in their Continental Crown bout, Nigel jumped out of cheer in the biggest outburst of joy one could imagine, not because of Eddie's success but rather in response to Bryan's failure. That, more than anything, told the tale of just how Nigel stands in regards to Bryan in 2024, but it didn't seem like it would ever be anything more than just verbal jousting until McGuinness, in the best shape of his life, achieved his life-long dream of fighting at Wembley Stadium when he entered the Casino Gauntlet: Nigel didn't win the bout, that reward went to Christian Cage, but it showed the world that McGuinness was once again in it to win it, and the reception he got from the fans in Wembley was deafening to be sure. Fans had clamored for this moment for a dozen years, and they finally got it on the biggest event of AEW's year. Just being involved may have been enough for Nigel, the ability to say he got to wrestle in Wembley if only Bryan Danielson hadn't won the World Title from Swerve Strickland later in the night. In that moment Nigel's failure to win the Casino Gauntlet meant he may never get an opportunity to fight Bryan again, but more than that, it's possible that in Nigel's eyes, Danielson found a way to upstage him once again. Instead of talking about Nigel's return, it became all about “Brittle Bryan”, and McGuinness became an afterthought. Then, just over the course of the last week, with the combination of Jon Moxley's assault on Bryan and his challenge to Darby Allin for GRAND SLAM 2024 opportunity presented itself to Nigel. He went to AEW President Tony Khan about it, he went in front of the world to and made a challenge for the match, and if Danielson is cleared to compete by AEW Medical, it will be “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson versus Nigel McGuinness one-on-one at Arthur Ashe, one day shy of the 15th anniversary of their last match together! We don't yet know if Bryan will be there on September 25th in any condition to fight, hopefully we learn more about that this week with AEW in Wilkes-Barre, PA and Springfield, MA. However this goes down at GRAND SLAM 2024, Nigel McGuinness has gotten some small victory over the last month. Between getting back in the ring at Wembley, watching Danielson suffer at the hands of men he thought were his brothers, and getting the chance to make this grandstand challenge, he has found little successes. If Bryan gets in the ring, Nigel has the chance to decimate him on international television, and show the world why he was such an influential figure on the wrestling landscape.  If Bryan doesn't fight, then Nigel gets the bragging rights of being the man Danielson was too scared to face; either way, Nigel is in it to win it... ATTN: HONOR CLUB SUBSCRIBERS Just added to the BEST OF ROH Section, the “Danielson vs. McGuinness” compilation highlighting their epic rivalry across the landscape of Ring of Honor. This is one of the most definitive collection of history-making matches Ring of Honor ever created, and it is now available here for Honor Club subscribers!

“The Fallen Goddess” Athena breaks a milestone record THE FOREVER CHAMPION... “The Fallen Goddess” Athena breaks a milestone record On March 22, 2003 at the NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS event, Samoa Joe defeated the late-Xavier to become the 3rd ROH Champion. For ROH that night meant the restoration of honor to championship that had been held for six months by one of the company's most loathed individuals. As talented a wrestler as “The All Around Best” Xavier may have been, his standing as a member of Christopher Daniels' Prophecy meant he did not uphold the Code of Honor, nor respect what it represented to Ring of Honor. With Joe as champion, the title was thrust to the forefront of the company, becoming the prize every competitor fought to claim and he elevated it from a regional promotion's marquee title to a true World Championship. For 645 days, Samoa Joe dominated the competition, securing 29 championship victories over men like “The Notorious 187” Homicide, Colt Cabana, Bryan Danielson, both Mark and Jay Briscoe, as well as engaged in one of the most legendary trilogy of bouts ever held in a ROH ring. His title reign came to an end at FINAL BATTLE 2004 in Philadelphia, and for 7,203 days it has remained the benchmark in ROH history. Only Nigel McGuinness remotely come close to touching that benchmark as ROH World Champion, and even he was 100 days shy of tying Joe's record.  As far as the other championships in Ring of Honor, the ROH Women's World TV Title is too new to even come close, the Men's World TV Title record is held by Joe at 574 days, the World Tag Title record is in the camp of The Foundation with 441 days, and the World Six-Man Title record stands at 405 days with MexiSquad. All of those are a far cry from Samoa Joe's milestone, but if you notice, there is one championship missing from that list, the ROH Women's World Championship, and that is because as of the end of day on 9/15/24, “The Fallen Goddess” Athena has eclipsed Joe's nearly-twenty year record! The fourth champion in the title's history, Athena defeated Mercedes Martinez at FINAL BATTLE 2022 to take the Women's Division crown and in the 646 days since, she has defended her title on 22 occasions against 18 different opponents, with Willow Nightingale and Miyu Yamashita both failing twice, and Kiera Hogan falling to Athena in three bouts. She's put down challenges from former AEW Women's World Champions Nyla Rose and Hikaru Shida, as well as women like Marina Shafir, Skye Blue, Emi Sakura, and Yuka Sakazaki.  Then there is her record in Proving Ground and Eliminator contests; during these last 646 days, Athena has turned away four Eliminator challenges and 27 on the Proving Ground. Of all those challengers attempting to last ten minutes with the champion, the benchmark by which one could earn a future World Title match, Trish Adora lasted the longest at 7:11 with Roxanne falling in just 0:33 when she tried her hand against “The Fallen Goddess”.  Save competitors over the last 22 years who had one or two matches inside a ROH Ring, Athena likely has the strongest winning percentage in ROH's history. With 59 matches on her ROH resume, Athena has only lost twice, and both of those were in tag team competition where Billie Starkz lost the bout for their team. That means 57 victories, a perfect 54 in one-on-one competition, and an overall 96.6 win percentage. She has truly lived up to her self-imposed moniker of “The Forever Champion” given that every one who has stepped to her has been stepped on, stepped over, or smashed to pieces. The record Athena has produced begs the question: is there anyone left? Will “The Fallen Goddess” truly reign over this division forever? For 646 days no one has been able to take the ROH Women's World Championship away from her, will we next see her eclipse Jay Lethal's record of 707 days across two World Title reigns or his 798 days as World TV Champion between two reigns? Can Athena take one title reign and surpass the 1486 days The Briscoes spent as World Tag Champions over their 13 reigns on top? At the rate she is going, all these things seem possible...

On August 25, 2024, after nearly thirteen years away from active competition, Nigel McGuinness returned to the ring during ALL IN: LONDON 2024's Casino Gauntlet Match, all in hopes of earning an AEW World Championship match, and in the case of McGuinness, hoping it also came with “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson defeating Swerve Strickland to claim the AEW World Title, thereby setting up a match a large of group fans had been hoping might come to fruition ever since Nigel first arrived under the AEW umbrella at ROH's SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023 and even more so when he was tabbed to be one of the announcers for COLLISION upon its debut in June 2023.  Given that it had been 4,634 days since Nigel had his last professional wrestling match inside a Volunteer Fire Department located in Clarksburg, WV, there is an entire generation of fans who may only know Nigel McGuinness by his voice rather than from the amazing body of work he produced around the world from September 1999 until December 17, 2011. There are those unaware of his experience watching wrestling inside Wembley Stadium on August 29, 1992 and how it inspired him to chase that dream in his own life. There are those oblivious to Nigel's journey from England to Ohio where he trained at Heartland Wrestling Association under the watchful eye of Les Thatcher, the same man who helped break Jon Moxley into wrestling several years later. There are those who aren't aware that Nigel broke in back in 1999 sharing the ring with AEW competitors like The Blade, as well as competitors fresh off television like Mark Jindrak, Jason Jett, Shannon Moore, and others on that track such as the late Lance Cade, the late Matty Anoai (aka Rosey), and Charlie Haas.  But that wasn't all Nigel did; he returned to England where he toured with Brian Dixon's All-Star Wrestling, tours that gave him experience with men like Doug Williams, Jonny Storm, and Ricky Knight (Saraya's father). Upon returning to the States, Nigel branched out beyond the rings of HWA and first encountered the likes of Chris Hero, Colt Cabana, Jimmy Jacobs, and got the attention of the promotion that changed the track of his professional wrestling career: Ring of Honor.  Debuting at WRATH OF THE RACKET on 8/9/03, an event taking place at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Dayton, OH that HWA essentially called home, Nigel impressed enough that he was brought to New Jersey several months later for MAIN EVENT SPECTACLES, and invited back for BATTLE LINES ARE DRAWN in Wilmington, OH that January.  Beginning with AT OUR BEST in March 2004, an event in which he took on Jerry Lynn, Nigel became a regular presence on Ring of Honor events around the country, quickly becoming part of the Pure Title mix in late-summer 2004, and having his first meeting with “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson as part of a trios bout at TRIOS TOURNAMENT 2005. Who could've suspected that inauspicious bout would mark the first meeting of those two ROH icons, and that the rivalry that blossomed in the following year would prove to be one of the most definitive in ROH's history? Before they finally found one another as rivals, the path of Bryan and Nigel took very different routes. Danielson walked away from ROH for several months during the Summer of 2005 after failing to win the ROH World Championship, meanwhile Nigel engaged in a very heated rivalry with Colt Cabana that culminated in an unforgettable Soccer Riot Match at NIGHT OF THE GRUDGES II, and just one week later, at DRAGON GATE INVASION, Nigel would take the ROH Pure Title from Samoa Joe. At GLORY BY HONOR IV just a few weeks later, Bryan Danielson would return to wrest the ROH World Championship from James Gibson on the same night Nigel would defeat Roderick Strong in a match for his championship, and over the course of the next several months, each man would solidify their position as the best at what they did.  The unique nature of the Pure Title rules allowed Nigel to find creative ways to defeat Christopher Daniels, Jay Lethal, and Claudio Castagnoli, just to name a few, while Danielson was proving himself the better of challengers like Daniels, Lance Storm, Roderick, Naomichi Marufuji, and Chris Hero, for a few examples. Then came April 29, 2006 and WEEKEND OF CHAMPIONS: NIGHT 2, that night at the Grey's Armory in Cleveland, World Champion faced Pure Champion in a Title vs. Title match with the Pure Rules in effect. What took place that night was magic, a nearly 30-minute battle between two of professional wrestling's finest technicians, that ultimately came down to Bryan attempting a springboard dive into the crowd, McGuinness greeting him with a chair while in-flight, and Bryan being unable to get back to the ring before the 20-count. Under the Pure Title rules, that title could change hands on a countout or disqualification but only that championship, meaning while Nigel won the bout, he only retained his Pure Title. Three months passed before the two met inside the squared circle again, this time at GENERATION NOW only the ROH World Championship was at stake despite Nigel still maintaining his grip on the Pure Title between their two clashes. Just like the first meeting in April, this July '06 contest was red-hot and showed once again that McGuinness was more than capable of hanging in the ring with Danielson, a wrestler even in 2006 people already considered one of the best to ever do it. In fact, Bryan only escaped that match with the World Title by using a bit of trickery, hiding under the ring only to pop out the other side and roll up Nigel into a Small Package pin after 25 minutes of fighting. That was the moment Danielson arrogantly dubbed himself “Mr. Small Package” to rub it in Nigel's face, but their record stood at 1-1 as ROH was on the verge of running their first events in England, an event dubbed UNIFIED slated to feature a Unification Match between these two champions. Undoubtedly the most famous, or perhaps infamous, of their battles inside a ROH ring, this August 12th bout between Danielson and McGuinness took everything they'd done in the previous two contests, and amplified the aggression a hundredfold. Perhaps it was due to Nigel fighting in his home country, and the energy the fans brought to the fight, but it truly seemed like McGuinness dethroning Danielson that night was inevitable. The level of violence in this fight is difficult to watch, the sound of Nigel's head cracking against the ring post is not for the squeamish, and the blood oozing across his skull from the impact hampers him the rest of the bout. As Bryan and Nigel crash their heads together like two bighorn sheep fighting for dominance, it's hard not to wonder just what it will take to make either of these men relent this battle. Ultimately it is Nigel who succumbs to the pain and punishment, or rather it is the referee who makes that choice for McGuinness as he's unable to respond to Bryan's onslaught of elbows. That night the Pure Championship that Nigel McGuinness had truly made through his hard work as champion was retired, unified with the World Title, and it would remain as such until September 11, 2020 when the tournament to crown a new Pure Champion began. That may have marked the end of the Pure Title, but it wasn't the end of the Danielson/McGuinness story. In fact just two weeks after their UNIFIED epic, the two would meet in a 2/3 Falls bout at EPIC ENCOUNTER II, a match that saw Danielson survive as champion with a 1-1 draw after 60 minutes. After their match, in a sign of respect, Bryan returned the Pure Title to Nigel in recognition of all he accomplished carrying that title for 350 days and it felt like a a moment of closure on their rivalry. Sure they shared the ring three more times before the close of 2006, but no one-on-one matches, it seemed as if that chapter in each man's life was closed, but the new year brought a new aspect to their rivalry when both men were in the hunt for the ROH World Championship... ***TO BE CONTINUED*** ATTN: HONOR CLUB SUBSCRIBERS Just added to the BEST OF ROH Section, the “Danielson vs. McGuinness” compilation highlighting their epic rivalry across the landscape of Ring of Honor. This is one of the most definitive collection of history-making matches Ring of Honor ever created, and it is now available here for Honor Club subscribers!

It is Thursday night and that means Ring of Honor is back in action! Dropping at 7pm ET/6pm CT, this week's edition of ROH ON HONOR CLUB features ROH World TV Champion Atlantis Jr. in Proving Ground action against “Pretty” Peter Avalon, Lio Rush facing Rocky Romero one-on-one, Queen Aminata battling Harley Cameron, and it seems Billie Starkz has called an Emergency M.E.M! Plus one-half of the ROH World Tag Team Champions Sammy Guevara will be in action against Premier Athletes' Ariya Daivari, and we will see The Outrunners, Preston Vance, Lady Frost, and many others compete inside that ROH ring as well! The action begins at 7pm ET/6pm CT exclusively on Honor Club ( www.watchroh.com ), the home for Ring of Honor Wrestling's weekly show as well as the home for its 20+ years of wrestling history, including epic clashes between Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness who look to renew their rivalry at DYNAMITE: GRAND SLAM 2024 in less than two weeks!! PROVING GROUND MATCH... ROH World Television Champion Atlantis Jr. vs. “Pretty” Peter Avalon As Atlantis Jr. prepares for a return to CMLL tomorrow to compete on their 91st Anniversary event, he first must square up with a very game “Pretty” Peter Avalon in a Proving Ground match with a future shot at his ROH World Television Championship at stake! It has been 77 days since Atlantis Jr. dethroned Kyle Fletcher at CMLL's June 28th SUPER VIERNES event, and in that time he's successfully defended his title against Serpentico and Robbie Eagles in singles matches, as well as against five simultaneous challengers in DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2024's Survival of the Fittest elimination match. This bout tonight marks the first Proving Ground match of Atlantis Jr.'s reign, as well as Peter's first Ring of Honor bout since HONOR CLUB #45 back in January. That last ROH bout saw Avalon fall to former World Champion Dalton Castle, but he's hoping to bounce back strong here by earning a future World TV Title opportunity against Atlantis Jr. Remember, Peter doesn't have to beat the champion to earn his championship bout, he just has to survive the 10-minute time limit and the match will be his! We witnessed it take place when The Infantry took Undisputed Kingdom to the time limit in a World Tag Title Proving Ground match to earn their SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2024 opportunity, and when Lee Moriarty did it against ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta en route to ending Yute's third title reign at DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2024. It can be done, but with the ROH World Television Title, it hasn't happened since Rocky Romero won a Three-Way Proving Ground over then-champion Jeff Cobb and Dalton Castle at ROAD TO G1 SUPERCARD: NIGHT 2 on 1/25/19.  Can Avalon be the first  to earn a TV Title shot this way in nearly six years, or will he be shut down by Atlantis Jr. just like so many other hopeful challengers since the inception of the Proving Ground concept in November 2011? SINGLES MATCH... Lio Rush vs. Rocky Romero It's been three and a half years since the last time Lio Rush locked horns with Rocky Romero in singles competition, a qualifying bout in the New Japan Cup USA back on March 5, 2021 won by Lio. Aside from that one outing, all of the engagement between the two men has been as allies fighting together on NJPW STRONG, and then later on New Japan's CAPITAL COLLISON 2023 event while both were members of the CHAOS faction.  The two have also teamed in All Elite Wrestling, first on the 1st anniversary edition of COLLISION back in June, and then during the ALL IN: LONDON 2024 ZERO HOUR, so suffice to say they know one another quite well. Will that knowledge prove beneficial to either man tonight in their HONOR CLUB fracas? ONE-ON-ONE... ROH World Tag Team Champion Sammy Guevara vs. Premier Athletes' Ariya Daivari Five days ago during the ALL OUT 2024: ZERO HOUR, ROH World Tag Champions Dustin Rhodes and Sammy Guevara united with the red-hot Hologram to defeat Ariya Daivari, Josh Woods, and Tony Nese in Trios actions. The Premiere Athletes and “Smart” Mark Sterling are not ones to let anything go, and that is why tonight during HONOR CLUB Ariya Daivari will go head-to-head with “The Spanish God” Sammy Guevara! If Daivari scores the victory here, will it get him and his compatriots closer to a future World Tag Title bout? AN EMERGENCY M.E.M! With just four days to go until ROH Women's World Champion Athena breaks Samoa Joe's 20-year old record as the longest reigning champion in Ring of Honor history, former ROH Women's World TV Champion Billie Starkz has called an emergency Minion Empowerment Meeting! What is this in regards to? Is it about Abadon and her clear interest in the title around The Fallen Goddess' waist? Is it about what Starkz has experienced since losing the TV Title to Red Velvet at DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2024? Tune into HONOR CLUB tonight starting at 7pm ET to find out just what this emergency may be! SINGLES MATCH... Harley Cameron vs. Queen Aminata Coming off her Eliminator loss to AEW Women's World Champion Mariah May last night on DYNAMITE, Queen Aminata is back in action for the first time since HONOR CLUB #76 one month ago and looking to bounce back from that loss. Aminata has won eight of her last ten singles matches in Ring of Honor, with the two losses both coming in title fights while Harley Cameron comes into this 2-0 in ROH competition. Will tonight be the night of The Outcast or The Queen? FEATURING: -Preston Vance vs. KM -Willie Mack vs. Exodus Prime -Robyn Renegade vs. Angelica Risk ALSO IN ACTION: -AR Fox & Komander! -Lady Frost! -The Outrunners! -The Righteous! -Top Flight & Action Andretti!

Thursday is upon us once again, and with it comes the latest edition of ROH ON HONOR CLUB, exclusively available at WatchROH.com, the home for Ring of Honor Wrestling's weekly show as well as the outlet for its 20+ years of history. This week we've got a tremendous show on tap with Stardom's Mina Shirakawa taking on Taya Valkyrie, Josh Woods and Katsuyori Shibata going one-on-one, The SAP versus Iron Savages, ROH Women's World Champion Red Velvet in a Proving Ground bout, and so much more going down on this loaded-up edition of ROH programming! Tonight's edition of ROH ON HONORCLUB brings to you a collection of best professional wrestlers competing today, and it all beings at 7pm ET/6pm CT exclusively on Honor Club! Honor Club is the home for ROH's weekly episodes that premiere every Thursday evening, but it's also the spot to experience over 20 years of ROH's rich history including bouts featuring the likes of Samoa Joe, Claudio Castagnoli, Mark Briscoe, Tomohiro Ishii, Hangman Page, Kenny Omega, and so many more! ONE-ON-ONE... Katsuyori Shibata vs. Premier Athletes' Josh Woods HONOR CLUB 23, August 3, 2023, that was the night Josh Woods challenged then-ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata for the title. As a former Pure Champion himself, if there was anyone adequately prepared to take on “The Wrestler” on those terms it was “The Technical Beast”, but after 11 minutes of action, it was Shibata who ended the match still Pure Champion.  The two would meet again just two months ago when Shibata, HOOK, and Samoa Joe took on the full Premier Athletes trio, a bout won by Shibata's contingent, but tonight during HONOR CLUB 80 they will face off in singles competition once more! Unlike their previous bout, this one will be contested under traditional pro wrestling rules, but will that be enough of a game changer to get Josh Woods the victory he's looking for? SINGLES MATCH... “La Wera Loca” Taya Valkyrie vs. RevPro Undisputed British Women's Champion Mina Shirakawa Last week RevPro Undisputed British Women's Champion Mina Shirakawa came back to Ring of Honor for the first time since SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2024's amazing Stardom Trios bout, defeating Racheal Ellering in a hard-fought bout, but falling victim to an assault from Taya Valkyrie just moments after.  Was it an assault prompted by jealousy over Shirakawa getting the TV time that Taya wants, or was it more geared towards the championship that Mina wears around her waist? Whatever La Wera Loca's motivations, she's getting her shot at facing the RevPro champion tonight during ROH ON HONOR CLUB. Could a victory here lead to Valkyrie getting a future title fight? It's been four years since she had a brief taste of RevPro competition, but this could be the way Taya gets another opportunity at that.! TAG TEAM BOUT... Spanish Announce Project (Angelico & Serpentico) vs. Iron Savages (Bronson & Boulder) With Serpentico riding high after reclaiming his mask from Griff Garrison and Maria, but Angelico dejected after losing his ROH Pure Championship bout with Lee Moriarty last week, the two members of Spanish Announce Project unite in tag team action to take on Iron Savages! Though this is a first-time bout for this particular combination, both Angelico and Serpentico have some experience with Bronson and Boulder over the last several years with other partners. Unfortunately for SAP, their combined four bouts against Bronson and Boulder amounted to exactly zero victories for either man. Yet Angelico and Serpentico come into this fight having won three of their last four tag team bouts in ROH while Iron Savages are working to get back into the title picture after a frustrating championship loss to Undisputed Kingdom earlier this year. Which team will rise up to the moment tonight in Arlington and get that much needed victory on their resume? ONE-ON-ONE... Aaron Solo vs. Rocky Romero It's been over seven years since the first time Rocky Romero and Aaron Solo met inside the squared circle. That night it was in tag team action, Rocky with Trent Beretta while Solo was with Ricky Starks, and it was the Roppongi Vice pair that scored the victory in Austin, TX. Fast forward to 2024 and 200 miles up the road into Arlington, and these two competitors are set to meet in their very first singles match!   Solo heads into this after being topped by Angelico in a Pure Rules Match in his last ROH match while Romero, a 3-Time ROH World Tag Champion, comes in off a loss to “The Machine” Brian Cage in his last Ring of Honor outing. Suffice to say both are looking to use the other to bounce back into the win column, but will it be Solo or Romero who gets that elusive “W” in Arlington? SINGLES MATCH... “Cool Hand” Angelo Parker vs. Griff Garrison Three weeks ago Griff Garrison stepped into singles competition against Serpentico with the Spanish Announce Project member's mask on the line and came up short.  The week after that, in an attempt by Maria to build a bridge with MxM Collection, she introduced Griff to Mansoor and Mason Madden but the moment didn't exactly go as hoped. This week Maria's baby boy gets back into singles competition to face “Cool Hand” Angelo Parker, the first-ever ROH singles match for Cool Hand Ang, and his first singles match since a loss on the April 12th edition of AEW RAMPAGE. Parker is looking to get himself on a roll with this bout, to score that victory that gets it all started; can he pull it off tonight during ROH ON HONOR CLUB? ALSO FEATURING: -Nick Comoroto vs. “Big Shotty” Lee Johnson!! -Fuego Del Sol vs. Dark Order's John Silver!! -Lance Archer & The Righteous in Trios combat! -Abadon in action! -Anthony Henry & Beef in tag team competition! -Premier Athletes (Ariya Daivari & Tony Nese) in action! -Rachael Ellering competes! -And more!

Thursday night is upon us one again, that means an all-new episode of ROH ON HONORCLUB is coming your way! ROH was strongly represented at ALL IN: LONDON 2024 with Dustin Rhodes, Sammy Guevara, The Von Erichs, and ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe all in action, but now its back to the grindstone after that epic pay-per-view presentation and it starts tonight with the ROH Pure Championship on the line! Angelico, after getting a win in his first-ever Pure Rules bout, has already challenged Lee Moriarty to a title match and the champion has readily accepted! Plus ROH Women's World Champion Athena will be in action on the Proving Ground, Mina Shirakawa returns to take on Rachael Ellering, Johnny TV welcomes Sidney Akeem to ROH, Ariya Daivari faces Tomohiro Ishii, and so much more!!! Tonight's episode of ROH ON HONOR CLUB is ready to showcase some of the best athletes in professional wrestling today, and it gets underway at 7pm ET/6pm CT exclusively on Honor Club! In addition to ROH's weekly episodes that drop every Thursday evening, Honor Club is also the home for 20+ years of rich wrestling history featuring competitors such as new AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson, new AEW International Champion Will Ospreay, new AEW World Trios Champions PAC and Claudio Castagnoli, as well as appearances from men like Shinjiro Otani, Jushin Liger, Great Muta, Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, and more!! ROH PURE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH... Shane Taylor Promotions' Lee Moriarty(c) vs. The SAP's Angelico Last week on Honor Club, Angelico and Aaron Solo competed in each man's first-ever Pure Rules match. It's not always the easiest rule structure to grasp the first-time around, but each handled themselves well, though it was ultimately Angelico and his llave style that won the day. Clearly this has given the Negro Navarro trained Angelico a boost of confidence because he and Serpentico feel Angelico is prepared to step up to title contender based off that one Pure victory. That's fine by ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty, he's not going to back down from any challenge now that he's finally acquired the prize he's been chasing for as long as he's been in Ring of Honor. Inspired by former Pure Champions like Nigel McGuinness, Jay Lethal, and yes even Wheeler Yuta, Moriarty made it a point to hone his mat skills to a killer edge until he finally claimed the Pure Championship for his own. Moriarty turned away the Proving Ground challenge of Action Andretti two weeks ago, but in this dance with Angelico the championship will be on the line! Can TaigaStyle be successful in his first title defense, or will Angelico put his llave stylings to work to claim his first ROH title? ONE-ON-ONE... Premier Athletes' Ariya Daivari vs. The Conglomeration's Tomohiro Ishii Ariya Daivari and the Premier Athletes have been a thorn in the side of The Conglomeration for weeks now; be it in Trios competition several weeks ago on COLLISION when Mark Briscoe, Kyle O'Reilly, and Tomohiro Ishii defeated the lot of them, or just a few weeks ago when Tony Nese fell to Ishii in singles competition, “Smart” Mark Sterling's unit will just not fade away. Tonight during ROH ON HONOR CLUB another of those men will step up to the plate to try and knock down “The Stone Pitbull”, the ultra-athletic Ariya Daivari! It's been a rough go for Daivari as of late here in ROH, after scoring a tag victory with Tony Nese during HONOR CLUB 75, he had his head kicked off by Katsuyori Shibata two weeks later, and now two weeks after that he's going after Big Tom! Throw in his AEW antics, taking on Hologram and Mistico in tag action, the fight with Jeff Jarrett, and that wild 16-Man during the ALL IN: LONDON 2024 ZERO HOUR and he's been quite the busy man. Then again, Ishii has been as well, getting his own ZERO HOUR work in with that Mixed Tag against Stokely Hathaway and Kris Statlander, then throwing down bombs with Hangman Page just last night on DYNAMITE in their singles match. “The Stone Pitbull” has got to feeling it after that fight with the former AEW World Champion, but he's ready to go again tonight in Ring of Honor action! Can this Conglomeration member finally put an end to Premier Athlete involvement in their lives? PROVING GROUND MATCH... ROH Women's World Champion Athena vs. Aleah James On the August 10th COLLISION, Aleah James made her first impression on the AEW audience when she faced Hikaru Shida one-on-one. Tonight during HONOR CLUB #79, she gets into an ROH ring for the very first time with another World Champion as her foe, none other than “The Fallen Goddess”, your forever champion, the ROH Women's World Champion Athena! A native of Essex, England, Aleah James has been honing her craft for the last five years primarily in the UK, but recently made her first excursions to the United States for competition, and thus her answering the Proving Ground challenge against Athena! We know that Abadon has eyes on the “The Fallen Goddess”, and could be lurking around any corner, but will that distract Athena from success in her 31st Proving Ground/Eliminator Match? SINGLES MATCH... RevPro Undisputed British Women's Champion Mina Shirakawa vs. Rachael Ellering After watching the Toni Storm/Mariah May dynamic finally explode at ALL IN: LONDON 2024, Mina Shirakawa has to get her head back in the game tonight during ROH ON HONOR CLUB when she faces the double-tough Rachael Ellering one-on-one! Coming into this bout 1-0 in ROH singles competition, we have not seen Mina in action under the ROH banner since that amazing Stardom Trios bout at SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2024 back in April while Ellering, after healing up from some lingering issues, is coming off a victory over Brooke Havok three weeks ago and looking to work into title contention. A victory over the RevPro Undisputed British Women's Champion would be a huge boon to the career of Ellering, but it's going to be a tough fight to score that victory, ain't no doubt about it! ONE-ON-ONE... Johnny TV vs. Sidney Akeem Johnny TV is always ready for his television time, but tonight during HONOR CLUB #79 he's got quite a tough task on hand when he welcomes Sidney Akeem to Ring of Honor for the very first time! Akeem has been making waves on the independent circuit for the last several months, traveling from Florida to Cleveland to LA to Atlantic City, and wowing audiences wherever he goes, and his background training with Cirque de Soleil is going to make this bout with the parkour-inclined Johnny TV quite the intriguing contest. Will Akeem make an impact on Mr. TV Ready in his ROH debut, or will Johnny squash that dream in its infancy? ALSO FEATURING: -Dark Order's Evil Uno vs. Jacoby Watts -Premier Athletes' Josh Woods in action! -Top Flight & Action Andretti in trios competition!! -Leila Grey vs. Promise Braxton! -Blake Christian vs. Rosario Grillo!!! -And we will hear from Shane Taylor Promotions!!

Thursday night is upon us once more which means ROH ON HONORCLUB is back exclusively at WatchROH.com! This week is loaded up with action including ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe defending his title against a man who pinned him in trios action on AEW DYNAMITE several weeks ago: The Beast Mortos! Plus, after the chaotic conclusion to last week's episode, it will be Undisputed Kingdom and Dark Order uniting to face Dustin Rhodes, the Von Erichs, and Sammy Guevara in a huge eight-man tag! Lio Rush will take on Tony Nese, Angelico and Aaron Solo will lock up in a Pure Rules match, and we've got plenty of Women's Division action on tap with Trish Adora, Abadon, and Marina Shafir all competing! Tonight's edition of ROH ON HONOR CLUB is loaded up with action and it begins at 7pm ET/6pm CT exclusively on Honor Club, the home for ROH's weekly episodes each Thursday evening, as well as the place to enjoy ROH's twenty-plus years of wrestling history with bouts from Bryan Danielson, Kyle O'Reilly, The Kings of Wrestling, Matt Taven, Lacey, MsChif, Homicide, and more!! ROH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH... Mark Briscoe(c) vs. The Beast Mortos On the July 31st edition of DYNAMITE, The Conglomeration of ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe, Orange Cassidy, and Tomohiro Ishii fell to the combination of The Beast Mortos, Roderick Strong, and RUSH. The most difficult part of that loss though fell on the shoulders of the ROH World Champion though as his were the ones pinned to the mat by The Beast Mortos. It was the biggest victory the monstrous luchador had scored during his AEW career, and though Mark was able to get a little bit of redemption on COLLISION a few days later, it was as part of an eight-man tag and neither man was involved in the finish of the fight.  Yet clearly the pinfall to Mortos has been lingering in Mark's mind because, after defeating Johnny TV, he issued the challenge to The Beast Mortos for a championship fight tonight during Honor Club! Mark  has been a busy man the last month, going from winning Blood & Guts as part of Team AEW to defending his ROH World Championship at DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2024 two days later against Roderick Strong to defeating the Premier Athletes in a Trios Match just 24 hours after that! But that was just the beginning of Mark's wild month; he had the aforementioned Trios and Eight-Man involving The Beast Mortos on July 31st and August 3rd respectively, then last week's fight against Johnny TV, followed by a Conglomeration trios victory over The Butcher and The Outrunners one day later, and now he will step into the ring with The Beast Mortos for this championship clash! With all that mileage on his body in such a short time, does Mark Briscoe have enough fight in him to stave off the challenge of an individual as powerful as The Beast Mortos? We will find out tonight on Honor Club!   EIGHT-MAN TAG... ROH World Six-Man Champions Dustin Rhodes, Marshall Von Erich, & Ross Von Erich, and ROH World Tag Champion Sammy Guevara vs. Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) and Dark Order (Alex Reynolds & John Silver) In the main event of last week's ROH ON HONOR CLUB, Dustin Rhodes and The Von Erichs put their ROH World Six-Man Titles on the line against Cage of Agony, and though it was an extremely hard-fought contest for the champions, they seemed to have a victory all wrapped up when Alex Reynolds, John Silver, Evil Uno, Matt Taven, and Mike Bennett all hit the ring to disrupt the proceedings. Dustin and the Von Erichs technically got the victory via disqualification, but the relentless assault continued despite Sammy Guevara, Angelico, Serpentico, and Fuego del Sol all trying to even the odds. One-by-one they all fell, so too did any security that tried to assist, it was only the arrival of officials like Jerry Lynn and Christopher Daniels that brought an end to the attack.  It's not surprising that Undisputed Kingdom and Dark Order both want a piece of this Texas quartet, after all it was Dark Order who lost to Rhodes and the Von Erichs at DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2024 in the ROH World Six-Man Eliminator Match, and it was Undisputed Kingdom who they beat at BATTLE OF THE BELTS XI to claim the vacant titles as their own. That may have been the impetus for that assault, but now factor in how Undisputed Kingdom also lost their ROH World Tag Titles to Dustin and Sammy Guevara last week on COLLISION, just two days after that attack, and now the hostilities have really amped up! Dustin, Sammy, Ross, and Marshall are aiming to even the score for what happened last Thursday night while Dark Order and UK are aiming for a repeat performance of their show-closing assault! Will the gold-laden quartet from the Lonestar State give their foes their comeuppance tonight? ONE-ON-ONE... Tony Nese vs. Lio Rush Tony Nese and Lio Rush are no strangers to one another, their first bout went down almost eight years ago in Philadelphia, and in the years since they've gone one-on-one a total of three times. Nese holds the edge in that trio of bouts 2-1, but it's been more than four years since their last encounter, and the careers of both men have undergone a great deal of change in that time. Despite all that's taken place, after all this time Nese and Lio Rush find themselves back inside the same squared circle once again, and tonight, at the behest of Paul Wight, they will have their fourth ever singles bout. For Nese this is a match that could very well determine his championship future in Ring of Honor, Wight himself said that if Tony wins then they will have a conversation about what that future holds, but taking down Lio is easier said than done. Lio picked up a big victory over long-time rival Blake Christian last week on Honor Club while the week prior Tony Nese was on the wrong end of a Tomohiro Ishii beating, so if there's momentum to be had it is certainly on the side of Lio Rush. Can he keep it going in another bout with an old rival, or will Nese (and likely his Premier Athlete cohorts) find a way to achieve victory? PURE RULES... Angelico vs. Aaron Solo What we have here is a first for both competitors; neither Angelico or Aaron Solo have ever competed in a Pure Rules match, but tonight during Honor Club they will share the experience together! Given the in-ring stylings of Angelico, this seems like a bout custom made for the man, but Aaron Solo is no slouch in the world of technical wrestling himself. Fourteen years of experience, training at Lance Storm's school in Canada, he's learned a thing or two about the mat wars, and he's going to have to put it all to use against the llave game of Angelico! Will a victory here lead the winner down the road towards fighting ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty? TRIOS MATCH... Cage of Agony (Bishop Kaun, Brian Cage, & Toa Liona) vs. ROH World Television Champion Atlantis Jr., Fuego del Sol, & Serpentico After their frustrating ROH World Six-Man Championship disqualification loss last week, a loss caused by Dark Order and Undisputed Kingdom mind you, Cage of Agony is right back into the fight tonight on Honor Club with this Trios bout! Brian Cage and Atlantis Jr. were the final two competitors in the ROH World TV Championship Survival of the Fittest match at DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2024, with the defending champion pinning “The Machine” to retain his title, so Cage is looking forward to an opportunity to even that score from the July event. Cage of Agony certainly has the experience advantage of their opponents who are uniting for the first time, but that unfamiliarity with one another also means opponents won't know who they gel together either. That unpredictability may be the key to Atlantis Jr's team pulling out the victory over Ring of Honor's trio of behemoths! ALSO IN ACTION: -EJ Nduka! -Komander! -Cool Hand Ang & Daddy Magic! -And Trish Adora! -Plus Marina Shafir vs. Tiara James!!