ROH Death Before Dishonor Media Scrum Highlights

Tony Khan and ROH Stars Speak Following Death Before Dishonor 2026

Tony Khan and several ROH and AEW stars spoke with the media following Ring of Honor Death Before Dishonor on August 21. The post-show media scrum featured comments on championship goals, future matches, Japanese wrestling, ROH’s media plans and several of the night’s major developments.

ROH Death Before Dishonor Media Scrum Highlights

Deonna Purrazzo

Deonna Purrazzo discussed the Battle of the Brave event she organized with her husband, Steve Maclin. She said the experience taught her a lot about promoting a wrestling event and praised Tony Khan for helping provide replacement talent when some wrestlers became unavailable.

Purrazzo added that she hopes to run another Battle of the Brave show next year.

Regarding Athena, Purrazzo said she believes the two will eventually meet and determine who is the better wrestler. She also praised Steph De Lander for choosing to “bet on herself” by leaving another company.

Red Velvet

Red Velvet was asked whether she believes she is currently in the prime of her career. She appeared to agree with that assessment while discussing the impact of her knee injury.

Velvet explained that returning from knee surgery represented a new chapter for her. She had never previously experienced the challenge of fighting back from such a serious injury. Although she admitted there were difficult moments along the way, she was proud that she managed to overcome them.

Action Andretti

Action Andretti was asked whether he had spoken with Samoa Joe following his alignment with The Opps. Andretti said Joe is a busy man but believes fans will see him again very soon.

After winning the ROH World Television Championship from Lio Rush in a Fight Without Honor, Andretti said he wants to defend the title everywhere against anyone.

The victory was particularly meaningful because Philadelphia is his hometown. Andretti said competing in a Fight Without Honor match at the 2300 Arena, the former ECW Arena, made the occasion even more special.

Andretti also addressed Lio Rush, saying Rush can challenge him again whenever he wants. He added that he wanted to remove Rush’s television title design and bring back the design associated with Samoa Joe’s reign.

Athena

Athena was asked whether winning AEW championship gold remains one of her goals. The ROH Women’s World Champion said she is ready to take on that responsibility but stressed that she cannot lose sight of Ring of Honor.

Athena said she needs to find the right opportunities and believes her time will come. She also teased future opponents waiting for their chance to challenge her.

When asked what being the “forever” ROH Women’s Champion means to her, Athena gave a simple answer:

“Forever to me is forever.”

Athena also spoke extensively about her love for Japanese wrestling. She mentioned wrestlers including Manami Toyota, Aja Kong, IYO, Kairi and Kana among the performers who have influenced her.

She said she always wanted to wrestle in Stardom and learned a great deal during her time there. Athena also made it clear that she would like to return to Japan and wrestle there again.

Tony Khan

Tony Khan repeatedly hinted that ROH could have additional media opportunities beyond the current HonorClub paywall. He did not provide specific details but said the changing media landscape could create new opportunities for ROH television in the future.

Khan also praised the quality of ROH pay-per-views, including Death Before Dishonor.

When asked about Ilja Dragunov, Khan said he was not certain about Dragunov’s current contractual situation but described him as a “tremendous” wrestler.

Khan also praised Nick Wayne following his ROH World Championship match against Bandido. He called Wayne a true prodigy and explained that Darby Allin was the person who introduced him to Wayne.

Khan said Wayne continues to improve and described his performance against Bandido as “absolutely tremendous.” He also said he would like to see the two wrestlers have a rematch in the future.

Khan believes the 2300 Arena is an excellent home for both AEW and ROH. He also pointed out that Jay Lethal has now held every men’s championship in ROH following his latest title victory.

The AEW president reiterated his desire to put ROH television in front of a larger audience. However, he noted that the media landscape continues to change and suggested there could be more opportunities for the promotion.

Khan was also asked whether football players have ever approached him about moving into professional wrestling. He said some football players have expressed interest and mentioned meeting Mason Madden of mXm when Madden was part of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Finally, Khan discussed his demanding travel schedule. He explained that he loves both football and professional wrestling and that his passion for both sometimes means getting very little sleep. Despite the demanding schedule, Khan said he loves what he does.

The media scrum provided several notable updates following Death Before Dishonor, particularly regarding ROH’s future media plans, Athena’s ambitions, Andretti’s championship goals and the possibility of future matches involving some of the promotion’s top stars.