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