8/17 ROH Results – Here are the match outcomes and highlights from the twenty-fifth episode of Ring of Honor’s new era, which aired on Thursday, August 17, 2023, exclusively on ROH Honor Club, courtesy of f4wonline:
Gravity defeated Gringo Loco
Poor Gravity got crushed twice in this match with the full weight of Loco on him, but somehow survived to win the match. This was a spot fest all the way, but a fun one.
Gravity decided to use his name to his advantage, hitting a splash early on for a two count. Loco used his size to his advantage, pressing Gravity into the air and then catching him in a fallaway slam for a two count. Loco hit a chop and played to the crowd before hitting another chop in the corner and Irish whipping Gravity to the corner. Gravity ran up the ropes and back flipped off before turning around and powerslaming a charging Gringo Loco. That was cool.
Loco shoved Gravity to the floor and hit a double jump springboard moonsault to the floor on Gravity. What a loco spot, pardon the pun. Loco then absolutely crushed Gravity with a brutal springboard twisting senton, causing Gravity to become victim to his own name. Gravity, somehow not a pancake, shoved Loco to the outside and then rolled up the to the top rope, launched himself over the post, and hit a hurricanrana on Loco on the floor.
Gravity missed a 450 splash and Loco countered into a standing Spanish fly as Gravity got back up. Gravity tried to float over into a sunset flip bomb, but he lost his grip and was crushed again by Loco falling backwards and landing right on his face. Gravity and Loco went to the top rope and Loco hit some sort of a torture rack suplex off the top rope for a 2-count. Gravity and Loco went to the ropes again and Gravity hit a Samoan drop off the middle rope before hitting a splash for the pin.
Josh Woods defeated Silas Young in a Pure Rules match
Good technical match from Woods and Young with an awesome finish.
Woods refused a handshake from Young, who applauded because he was in favour of Woods having an attitude now. Young and Woods locked up and Young hit a drop toe hold causing Woods to grab the ropes as he went down, which counted as a rope break. Young and Woods locked up again, and Woods was able to take him down, but Young did counter out of a Chaos Theory for a 2-count.
Woods sent Young crashing into the ropes and then drove him shoulder first into the turnbuckle. The announcers noted that Woods was way more focused without Mark Sterling in his corner, and while using the rough tactics that Young and Sterling had taught him over the years, he was looking far stronger here. Young, trying to avoid further damage to the arm, kept going for pinfall attempts to keep Woods at bay.
Woods stood up and punched Young right in the face to break up the pinfall attempts, getting his one warning, and then hit a running twisting vertical suplex into the corner dropping Young right on his head for the win. That was a brutal finish, and the crowd reacted strongly to it. They got something with Woods here, I think.
–Maria Kanellis Bennett was backstage, saying she was scouting for an army to protect her kingdom. Leyla Hirsch walked in and said that there was nothing Maria could do for her, but Maria said that she could provide some real competition for her, and said Hirsch would face Rachel Ellering later.
Athena defeated Brittany J in a Proving Ground match
This was an awesome squash match, as Athena continues to be awesome in ROH.
Athena got rolled up early as she played to the crowd, but Athena made her pay soon thereafter pulling Brittany J from the apron to the floor and then brutally throwing her into the guardrail with a crash. Athena screamed at Ian Riccaboni before returning to the ring and countering a headscissors with a cartwheel and hitting a pop-up powerbomb and a brutal forearm for the win.
–Robyn & Charlette Renegade ran down after the match and started beating on Athena. Billie Starkz ran down to the ring to make the save and drive the twins out of the ring.
Samoa Joe & Stokley Hathaway defeated The Boys (Brandon & Brent)
Stokely wanted to get involved in the match, so Joe let him a few times between the easy beating Joe was giving The Boys. Stokley claimed he wanted to get the win when Joe went for the muscle buster, so Joe held one of the Boys and then walked away with said boy as Stokely flew off the ropes and crashed and burned before choking out said Boy. Joe wins. So does Stokely. Sort of.
–Billie Starkz was with Lexy Nair and it was announced she would be facing Charlette Renegade. The Renegade Twins walked up and trash talked Starkz before the end of the interview.
The Gates of Agony (Toa Liona and Bishop Kaun) (w/ Prince Nana) defeated Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal
The Gates of Agony briefly got the heat on Daniels, but he was able to hit a drop toe hold and tag out to Sydal, who hit a standing twisting senton on Kaun for a 2-count. Daniels and Sydal then hit a drop toe hold. Daniels was ready to go for the Best Moonsault Ever, but Kaun was able to shove Daniels away, and Liona hit a clothesline on Daniels to get the advantage.
Liona crushed Daniels as Kaun hit a backstabber and Liona hit a splash, but Sydal broke up the pinfall. Kaun locked on a sleeper before hitting a uranage into a backbreaker on Daniels. Daniels was able to tag out Sydal, but it didn’t go very well over the next few minutes, as Daniels came back in and ate a fireman’s carry into a gutbuster for the pin.
Madison Rayne defeated Dani Mo
This was not very good. Rayne looked a bit rough. Rayne went for a neckbreaker on Mo, but Mo fell a bit early and may have actually whiplashed her neck on the way down. Mo faked Rayne out with a kick to the head only to hit the stomach. Rayne then just grabbed Mo and hit a Cross Rayne for the win. This was not good.
The Dark Order (Evil Uno, Jon Silver, & Alex Renyolds) defeated Corey Calhoun, Isaiah Broner, & Lord Crewe
Evil Uno started the match with Broner. As The Dark Order was beating on Broner, Stu Grayson came out to the ramp and distracted them, leading to Calhoun being able to roll Renyolds up for a 2-count. This did not last long as Dark Order took Calhoun to the dark realm for the pinfall.
–Claudio Castagnoli was backstage, saying that while he was not in the arena tonight, he was very much there, and that no one he has faced has given him a run for his money. Castagnoli talked about when he lost the ROH World Championship to Chris Jericho, and how he took the title back from Jericho, learning that the only thing that mattered was that he had a simple job – to keep the ROH World Championship from people who were not worthy of it, like Eddie Kingston, PAC, and Mark Briscoe, and he was really good at his job. This was a great promo.
Cole Karter defeated Griff Garrison
Garrison had some fire in this one, going right after Karter, hitting a series of hard chops, strikes, and then a falcon arrow for a 2-count. Karter looked rough in this one, but showed some good heel instincts despite the rough offence. As Karter hit a weird dominator type slam for the win, Maria Kanellis walked down to the ring and whispered something in Karter’s ear before leaving.
Billie Starkz defeated Charlette Renegade
Charlette did not abide by the Code of Honor, hitting a hard forearm in the handshake, before beating on Starkz for a bit. Starkz tried to escape to the floor but got distracted by Robyn, and Renegade jumped off the apron to continue the attack. Charlette grabbed Starkz by the nose and pulled back with a camel clutch.
Starkz hit a kick to Charlette, but was cut off on the ropes by Robyn, who did so right in front of the referee. Oops. Charlette hit a superplex, but Starkz rolled through into a Last Shot for a 2-count. Renegade managed to hit a landslide for a 2-count, but Starkz was able to hit a neutralizer type move for the win.
–Robyn Renegade ran in and the Renegade Twins started beating on Starkz, but Athena ran down and made the save. As they faced off, Athena told Starkz to duck, and then both women hit a dive on the twins. Athena challenged Starkz to a fight in a joking way, and Starkz offered a handshake, but Athena refused. Athena then said, “Come on, minion! Let’s go!” Starkz followed with hesitation, as the announcers noted she might not be able to trust Athena.
–Ari Davari & Tony Nese were backstage, and Nese talked about why he was trying to get the fans to do work outs with him, and how frustrating it is that he gets interrupted by someone as he tries to make the lives of the fans better. Nese said Mark Sterling promised he would have the floor tonight, and they were going to have a full group training session as the fans needed it badly with how out of shape they were.
Lee Johnson, Action Andretti, & Darius Martin defeated Lee Moriarty & The Workhorsemen (JD Drake & Anthony Henry)
This was a really good match with a finish that the crowd didn’t seem to expect.
Johnson & Moriarty started the match with a really nice exchange. Moriarty tried to escape the grasp of Martin and Andretti but fell victim to several double team moves that also took out Drake and Henry. Moriarty and Johnson resumed their exchange, but Henry hit a knee to the back of Johnson letting Moriarty tag out to Drake, who leveled Johnson with a Bossman slam. Henry tagged in and hit some very hard kicks to Johnson. Johnson ducked an attack and tagged out to Andretti, who ran wild hitting a dive on Henry on the floor but missing a 450 splash on Moriarty.
Andretti hit a standing Spanish fly instead, but was soon falling victim to Drake and Henry hitting a pop-up powerbomb for a 2-count thata was broken up by Martin. Martin ate a massive twisting butterfly suplex from Drake but Andretti broke it up. Andretti countered an O’Connor roll with a bridge and got the pinfall on Henry.
–Athena was with Lexy Nair and she brought in Billie Starkz. Athena assigned a minion number to Starkz, but Starkz said it wasn’t what was important as they had to deal with the Renegade Twins, challenging them to a tag match next week. Athena said that Starkz shouldn’t think, since that was not her roll, and she intimidated Nair into agreeing with her before demanding that Starkz drive them to the mall.
Lady Frost defeated Trish Adora
Frost looked good in this match, especially at the finish with the corkscrew moonsault for the win.
Frost slipped slightly on a handspring, but they played it right, letting Adora take it as an opportunity to kick Frost in the head and get the advantage. Adora then did a stretch behind Frost before putting her foot on the back of Frost’s head and driving it to the mat. Adora then did the splits on the shoulder of Frost, driving her head down to the mat while she was seated. That looked brutal.
Adora hit a standing crossbody for a 2-count before hitting a German suplex. Adora hit a sternum breaker in the corner for a 2-count. Frost ducked a clothesline and hit a spinning kick for a 2-count before hitting a Frostbite for the pin.
–Kiera Hogan was with Lexy Nair and talked about how she has been keeping her eyes on Lady Frost. She said she was going to put her fire against Frost, melting the ice.
Leyla Hirsch defeated Rachel Ellering
This was a short match, but I liked it.
Ellering was given a lot in this match, hitting a nice brainbuster while selling her arm that Hirsch worked over with an armbar earlier in the match. Hirsch, I think, was a heel, but the crowd seemed to wanting to root for her. Hirsch floated over onto the back of Ellering after a corner charge, locking on a sleeper and then transitioning to an octopus stretch. Ellering fought out, but Hirsch was able to counter a pinfall attempt after a Bossman slam into a crucifix pin before transitioning into an armbar for the submission.
Dalton Castle defeated Peter Avalon
Dalton Castle is the best, and he should be on TV every single week on every show.
Avalon looked very shocked at the charisma of Dalton Castle. Castle yelled at Avalon as he tried to escape Castle’s grasp, saying, “You wiggle away from me again and I’ll rip your face off!” I laughed. Castle proceeded to suplex Avalon around the ring. Castle got the win soon thereafter and yelled to the camera that he was going to take the ROH Television championship before long.
–Shane Taylor was with Lexy Nair, and talking about how in the past with ROH, he was established as the greatest TV champion, greatest six-man champion, and greatest stable of all time in ROH, but people only wanted to talk about the old guard, and he was going to finally put that to rest when he got to fight them, and specifically Samoa Joe because he wanted his ROH Television championship back. Awesome promo.
–Tony Nese came out and claimed that his match was cancelled, so he was going to lead the crowd in the workout. The crowd actually started to participate before Metalik made Jerry Lynn came out and informed Nese that his lawyer was wrong, and that Tony Khan was a bit tired of Nese trying to avoid wrestling, so he was facing someone who he was familiar with tonight.
Metalik defeated Tony Nese
Metalik is such a fantastic wrestler, and I really hope he is given a chance to get over in ROH and AEW.
Metalik and Tony Nese reunite as 205 Live lives on in ROH. After some early heat from Nese, Metalik hit a Asai Moonsault to the floor on Nese, kicking Nese right in the back off the head hard as they went down. Both guys seemed fine, but both landed hard there. Nese fought out of a fireman’s carry and hit a powerbomb on Metalik for a 2-count. Metalik hit a superkick on a running Nese before hitting a landslide on Nese for the win.
Final Thoughts
Good episode of ROH on HonorClub tonight. I’m not sure if the show really needed to be 2 hours and 14 minutes long, but the angles they advanced were good, and the matches were largely good too. I think they are trying to find a balance with the shows after Dark and Elevation were cancelled, providing chances for younger stars to get reps while also trying to advance angles for the bigger stars. They definitely achieved that tonight.
8/17 ROH Results
