By Sam Robinson, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@altaine)
Ring of Honor on HonorClub (Episode 29)
Taped September 9 in Cleveland, Ohio at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse
Streamed September 14, 2023 on HonorClub
Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman were on commentary, and Bobby Cruze was the ring announcer…
*Unless otherwise noted, all matches started and ended with the Code of Honor handshake.
1. Claudio Castognoli vs. Rocky Romero for the ROH Championship. During the entrances the announcers played up that Rocky was looking to play spoiler to Eddie, yeah that’s gonna happen. At least they are hyping up the ROH title match for Grand Slam. The lights are on in the crowd, so they haven’t left yet.
Rocky tried really hard to take down Claudio with some chain wrestling, but Claudio just overpowered him. Rocky hit a flying mare and got moving with a head scissors that dumped Claudio outside. Rocky hit two suicide dives on Claudio but got cut off with an uppercut when he went for the third. Back in the ring, Claudio pressed Rocky over his head and hit a snake eyes and a big boot for a two count. Claudio ground Rocky with a chin pull submission for a rest hold. Rocky tried to fight out and Claudio put him in the swing and got 11 rotations. Claudio got a one count on a cocky cover.
Rocky fought out of a stalling suplex attempt and hit a huracanrana that dumped Claudio to ringside. Rocky hit a suicide dive that pushed Claudio over the empty announce table. Back in the ring, Rocky hit a rope hung double stomp off the top. Rocky hit a springboard tornado DDT and got a two count. Rocky hit a rewind kick and a 619. Rocky hit his finisher, a standing sliced bread, but he only got a two count.
Rocky went up top but Claudio cut him off, Rocky fought Claudio off and went for a cross body. Claudio caught him and hit a backbreaker for a two count. Claudio beat up Rocky in the corner until the ref pulled him off. Claudio hit a lariat but got a two count. Claudio hit the hammer and anvil elbows, but Rocky fought out and hit a popup huracanrana and got a two count. Rocky tried his finisher again but Claudio fought out and hit a pair of uppercuts for the pinfall.
Claudio Castognoli defeated Rocky Romero by pinfall to retain the ROH Championship.
Robinson’s Ruminations: Fine match that made Claudio look strong. Rocky is always fun to watch.
2. “The Outrunners” Turbo Floyd and Truth Magnum and Kevin Ku vs. Willie Mack and “The Infantry” Capt. Sean Dean and Carlie Bravo. Mack hit an arm drag and a flying head scissors on Ku. Dean tagged in and he and Mack hit a flapjack bulldog combo and got a one count. Floyd tagged in and Infantry hit some double team moves on both Outrunners. Magnum got the knee up and Floyd got a rollup for a two count. All the heels got dumped and Dean flip dove onto them at ringside. Another Magnum distraction got Floyd in control of the match and The Outrunners cut off the ring.
Ku tagged in and hit some strikes on Dean. Quick tags from the heels as they worked over Dean. Floyd threw Dean to the outside and then they hung Dean on the top rope and Ku flew off the top with a knee to the head. The heels were posing and Dean tagged in Bravo who posed and then took out The Outrunners with his big right hand. Bravo hit a sister Abigail DDT and got a two count that was broken up. Bravo hit a scissor kick and Dean hit a frog splash for a two count that was broken up. Outrunners got run into each other and they got dumped to ringside and The Infantry dove onto them. Mack and Ku traded big kicks. Mack hit a stunner and Infantry hit Boot Camp for the three count.
The Infantry and Willie Mack defeated The Outrunners and Kevin Ku by pinfall.
Robinson’s Ruminations: Way too much posing shenanigans from The Outrunners tonight. Still a huge fan of The Infantry, sad to see them stuck in the trios division.
Backstage Lexi welcomed Ethan Page back to ROH. Page said that he let his ego take control of his career and that he was chasing money. Page said he needs to get back to competition. Page said he’s here to prove it to the people and himself. Babyface promo?
3. Mercedes Martinez vs. Zoey Lynn. No entrance for Lynn. No code of honor from Martinez. Crowd was behind Lynn. Martinez shorted an arm drag attempt and then kneed Lynn in the face. Martinez hit three amigos but the last suplex was a stalling suplex that lasted nearly 30 seconds or more. Martinez got a one count on a cocky cover. Lynn ducked out of a clothesline attempt and tried a roll up but it didn’t work. Martinez worked a ground and pound. Lynn got a leg trip and hit a drop kick. Lynn hit a couple of straight kicks but got cut off by a spinebuster. Martinez got a two count and pulled Lynn up. Martinez hit a forearm to the back of the neck and then locked in her surfboard dragon sleeper for the win.
Mercedes Martinez defeated Zoey Lynn by submission.
Robinson’s Ruminations: A squash win for Martinez with plenty of heel work. Where are the faces they are building up? Lots of heels recently in the women’s division.
4. “Gates of Agony” Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona (w/Prince Nana) vs. Matt Brannigan and Cole Radrick. No entrance for the jobbers. Kaun blasted one of them with a running knee right out of the gate and tossed him to Liona while scaring off his partner. Radrick got blasted by the mack truck of Toa on the outside into the barricade. Brannigan got hit by their combo offense and then a big smashing forearm. Radrick snuck in behind them and tried a double headlock but Gates just turned that into Open the Gates onto Brannigan for the pinfall.
“Gates of Agony” Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona beat Matt Brannigan and Cole Radrick. by pinfall.
Robinson’s Ruminations: Total squash. Nothing to see here.
We got a video package about the Athena and Zoey Starkz program. Then we cut backstage to Lexi interviewing Starkz where Lexi gave Athena a minion checklist. Lexi said that if she didn’t get the list done, it wasn’t going to be good for them. Lexi seems like a hostage and I’m here for all of this…
5. Christopher Daniels vs. Darius Martin (w/Action Andretti). The men traded arm work and arm drags until Martin hit a dropkick that got him a one count. Daniels hit a russian leg sweep and got a series of one count roll ups before hitting Martin with a back suplex. The men fought on the apron before Martin got hung up on it and Daniels hit a leg drop from the middle to get a two count.
Daniels hit a neckbreaker and got a two count. Daniels hit a clothesline that Martin sold with a backflip. Daniels tried his STO but Martin flipped out and made a comeback. Martin went up top and hit a crossbody for a two count. Martin tried his outside in DDT but Daniels countered with his STO Koji clutch combo. Martin got his foot on the rope. The men traded roll ups and Martin got a three count during the exchange.
Darius Martin defeated Christopher Daniels by pinfall.
Daniels was upset about getting caught but raised the hand of Martin in the end.
Robinson’s Ruminations: Very interesting finish. It left both men better off. The match was fine, but not to the gear that Martin usually works. Daniels has slowed down a good bit as the years are catching up to him.
7. Lee Johnson vs. Shane Taylor. The lights have dimmed on the crowd, I guess they started filing out finally. Taylor seemed pretty over on his entrance. Johnson used his speed to lay in a few right hands and tried a sunset flip, but Taylor pulled him up and put him down with a left jab. Taylor blasted Johnson in the corner with more jabs. Taylor Beil tossed Johnson across the ring, followed him across with a lariat and tossed him across again. Taylor dumped Johnson to the outside and ran him into the barricade. Taylor hit a leg drop on the apron and got a two count. Johnson fought back with some chops and right hands.
Taylor put him down with a huge lariat and got a two count that even the announcers were surprised Johnson kicked out of. Johnson fought out of a rest hold and tried a chop, only to have Taylor reciprocate and knock the wind out of Johnson. Johnson fought back with right hands and Taylor put him down with a headbutt. A uranage and big splash only got Taylor a two count. Johnson tried another sunset flip, Taylor tried to sit down on him but Johnson got out of the way. Johnson fought back with punches and some clotheslines. A pop up dropkick got Taylor down to one knee. Johnson hit a pendulum DDT for a two count.
Johnson went to the top but Lee Moriarty appeared at ringside and caused a distraction. Taylor knocked Johnson down and hit his package piledriver for the win.
Shane Taylor defeated Lee Johnson by pinfall.
After the match, Moriarty and Taylor shook hands at ringside…
Robinson’s Ruminations: A Taylor showcase match that let Johnson show his heart by taking a beating. The new pairing should be interesting.
8. Lady Frost vs. Willow Nightingale. Frost tried to use her speed but Willow hit a shoulder block. Willow hit a senton splash for a two count. Willow missed an enzuigiri and Frost hit a dropkick in response and got a two count. Frost worked over Willow in the corner. Frost hit some knees and a rewind kick for a two count. Willow fought out of a rest hold and hit a POUNCE. Willow hit a couple arm held clotheslines and an enzuigiri for a two count. Frost rolled up Willow for a two count. Frost hit a spinning kick and hit her moonsault and got a two count. Willow came back with a spinebuster and the doctor bomb for the pinfall.
Willow Nightingale defeated Lady Frost by pinfall.
Robinson’s Ruminations: Frost has some slow plodding heel offense, so much so that Willow brought the speed to the match when she was on offense.
Backstage Lexi interviewed Shane Taylor and asked what’s up with Moriarty. Taylor said he’s been carrying ROH for the last three years. Taylor said it’s time to start making history and that Moriarty is the newest recruit of Shane Taylor Promotions…
9. Josh Woods (w/ Mark Sterling) vs. Dominic Garrini. Woods took Garrini down and they traded submission attempts until Woods stacked up Garrini for a one count. The men traded gut wrenches and then arm wringers until Woods hit Garinni with a chop. Woods suplexed Garinni around the ring a few times. Woods hit his anarchist suplex (a twisting suplex into the turnbuckle) for the pinfall.
Josh Woods defeated Dominic Garinni by pinfall.
Robinson’s Ruminations: A slow match that the crowd wasn’t into. That anarchist suplex is a scary looking thing.
10. Griff Garrison vs. Ethan Page. Page said he’s starting from scratch on the way to the ring. Griff put Page down with a shoulder block and he looked to the stage where Maria and Karter were standing. The distraction gave Page an opening and he hit a stalling vertical suplex that lasted ~25 seconds and it got a two count. Griff came back with a big boot and knee drop for a two count. Page came back with a clothesline. Page hit a running powerslam for a two count. Page went for Ego’s Edge but Griff fought out and hit a big discus forearm for a really close two count. Page hit a slingshot cutter and got the three count.
Ethan Page defeated Griff Garrison by pinfall.
After the match Page looked at the stage and then Maria smirked before they left…
Robinson’s Ruminations: I have a feeling that Page is going to play into the Maria story, but it looks like it’s going to be a slow burn.
11. “The Workhorsemen” Anthony Henry and JD Drake vs. “The Boys” Brandon Tate and Brent Tate. The Workhorsemen used the Code of Honor to blast The Boys. The Boys fought back and hit a cutter on Henry for a two count. Henry lured Brandon into a trap that Drake had set. Drake hit a vader bomb for a broken up two count. Henry tagged in and stomped on Brandon before locking in an abdominal stretch and used Drake for leverage. The referee caught them and kicked their arms.
Brandon rolled up Henry for a visual pinfall as the ref argued with Drake. Drake fought off a sunset flip attempt and Brandon used his speed to make the hot tag. Brent hit a couple of clotheslines and a wheelbarrow faceplant for a two count. Boys hit a straightjacket on Henry but got plastered by a double clothesline by Drake. Drake hit Brent with a spinebuster and Workhorsement hit a catapult double stomp combo for the pinfall.
The Workhorsemen defeated The Boys by pinfall.
Robinson’s Ruminations: I’m happy to see the Workhorsemen get a win. There was not a lot to the match, as The Boys are jobbers to the stars.
Backstage Lexi said that Griff fought hard against Page. Maria came into the frame and said she told you so. Maria said Griff needs friends. Karter complimented Maria’s pearl necklace and she told Griff to look up what that meant…
12. Tony Nese (w/Mark Sterling) vs. AR Fox. Nese and Sterling did their group training bit. Once the match got started, the men traded some roll ups early and Nese did some jumping jacks to taunt Fox. Fox hit some kicks and a neckbreaker and then returned the jumping jacks. Sterling grabbed a foot but the distraction didn’t work and Fox hit his skin the cat dropkick for a one count. Nese got an eye rake and then did his Macho Man hot shot. A clothesline got Nese a two count. Fox got dumped outside and Sterling got a few kicks in. Nese came out and ran Fox into the apron.
Back in the ring, Nese put Fox on the top turnbuckle. Nese tried a huracanrana but Fox held on. Fox tried a sunset flip but Nese kicked him in the head for a two count. Fox fought out of a body scissors and hit a DDT for a double down. The men traded right hands before Fox hit a twisting suplex. Fox hit a stunner and a roll through cutter and got a two count. Fox tried his roll through cutter again, but Nese reversed with a German suplex. Fox hit a springboard Spanish Fly kind of move and got the three count.
AR Fox beat Tony Nese by pinfall.
Robinson’s Ruminations: A fine match to close things out, but still nothing to write home about. Very much a TV match. This show had a few OK matches and a bunch of squashes. If you read this report, you’ve gotten your money’s worth of ROH for the week unless you really need some new wrestling content to have on in the background.
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