It's Thursday night and that means an all-new episode of ROH ON HONOR CLUB drops tonight for the ROH faithful! We have multiple Proving Ground matches on tap, including ROH Women's World Champion Athena facing an old foe in Nicole Matthews, ROH World Television Champion Kyle Fletcher welcoming Canada's own Mentallo to ROH, and the ROH World Tag Champions The Undisputed Kingdom also stepping onto the Proving Ground! Plus, Skye Blue faces Rachael Ellering, Jay Lethal and Satnam Singh face The Dark Order, and so much more for your viewing pleasure!
The fights begin at 7pm ET/6pm CT exclusively on Honor Club, the only home for ROH's rich twenty-plus year history featuring some of the greatest pound-for-pound professional wrestling ever seen, as well as bouts from competitors who continue to mold the sport of professional wrestling each and every week!
PROVING GROUND...
ROH Women's World Champion Athena vs. Nicole Matthews
Nicole Matthews first stepped into a ROH ring nearly fifteen years ago at CLASH OF THE CONTENDERS, an event held in Collinsville, IL at the Gateway Center, just across the bridge from legendary wrestling city St. Louis, MO. At that point, Matthews was barely three years into her wrestling career. Competing almost exclusively in Canada, it was Nicole's introduction into SHIMMER in October 2007 that introduced her to a larger audience, and allowed her to garner experience unlike any other. For nearly 700 days Nicole, along with Portia Perez, reigned as SHIMMER Tag Team Champions, and when that came to its end, Matthews would fight her way to the SHIMMER Championship, earning the title at VOL. 68 by defeating the legendary Cheerleader Melissa, Madison Eagles, and Athena in a Four Way Elimination. In fact, Matthews was directly responsible for eliminating Athena from that match, marking the second time Nicole pinned Athena in SHIMMER competition, the first taking place two years prior at VOL. 46.
Matthews, fourteen years after her lone appearance, finally returned to Ring of Honor Wrestling in July 2023, losing to Leyla Hirsch during ROH ON HONOR CLUB #21, and though many hoped it would be the beginning of more ROH apperances for Nicole Matthews, that was unfortunately not to be. So it is with great excitement that ROH welcomes Nicole Matthews back to competition, and with the potential to step right into title contention with a Proving Ground match against “The Fallen Goddess” Athena! It's been nearly ten years since these women last met in that aforementioned Four Way bout, and it's unlikely either has forgotten their previous encounters, especially in the case of Athena who lost both of those SHIMMER outings.
Can Matthews repeat the success she had in the past with Athena and earn herself a championship fight? Survive the time limit or beat the champ, that's how it gets done on the Proving Ground, will Matthews be the first to pull if off against the “Forever Champ”?
PROVING GROUND...
ROH World TV Champion Kyle Fletcher vs. Mentallo
For twenty-six years the masked Winnipeg native known as Mentallo has been competing inside the squared circle, with matches against the likes of Kenny Omega, Jimmy Jacobs, Matt Taven, Vincent of The Righteous, and Chase Owens, not to mention the best the Canadian independent scene has had to offer during his nearly three decades as a competitors.
Yet the closest Mentallo ever came to Ring of Honor competition was November 16th of 2018 when Matt Taven, Vincent, and TK O'Ryan brought the ROH World Six-Man Championship to Canadian Wrestling's Elite STRUTTIN' AND CUTTIN' TOUR and defended them against Mentallo, Rekka, and Roy Flash.
That changes this Thursday night when Mentallo competes in his first proper Ring of Honor match, and under the auspices of the Proving Ground no less! ROH World TV Champion Kyle Fletcher comes into this fight on the heels of DYNAMITE's tag team loss against The Blackpool Combat Club and that no doubt means he'll be fighting angry, looking to bounce back with a vengeance at Mentallo's expense!
Can this veteran of the ring wars earn himself a ROH World TV Championship match this Thursday night, or will this Don Callis Family member continue on his twelve match winning streak that dates back to ROH ON HONOR CLUB #35 last October?
ONE-ON-ONE...
Skye Blue vs. Rachael Ellering
Let's just put it out there right away, after listening to her comments in the clip embedded above, if there was any doubt about it, Maria's words to Rachael Ellering just clarified that she is not a good person.
With that out of the way, Ellering needs to pull her focus back onto doing what she does best, stepping between the ropes and fighting, and using her wrestling gifts to get to the top of the Women's Division. Racheal felt like the Women's World TV Title Tournament was going to be her path, but that journey was derailed by her own partner Leyla Hirsch in the very first round, and Ellering's attempt to bounce back against Hikaru Shida a few weeks later was also stiffled by the former 3-Time AEW Women's World Champion.
Still it's a new day, and that means a new opportunity to work towards title contention, but Racheal starts it off with stiff competition in the form of Skye Blue! Skye comes into this fight 7-1 in ROH singles competition, her lone loss coming at the hands of Athena just about a year ago, and with an 11-1 record overall. The vindictive, vicious attitude that Julia Hart brought out of Skye Blue has served her well in both ROH and AEW, and its going to make Thursday night a rough return to action for Rachael Ellering!
Can Ellering take those words uttered by Maria and shove them back down her throat, or will Skye Blue take home the victory on Honor Club?
TAG TEAM CLASH...
Jay Lethal & Satnam Singh (w/ Sonjay Dutt) vs.
Dark Order (Evil Uno & John Silver w/ Alex Reynolds)
And speaking of individuals with their work cut out for them, on Thursday night The Dark Order have the honor of welcoming Satnam Singh to Ring of Honor competition for the very first time! ROH competition is old hat for Jay Lethal, after all he's a former ROH Grand Slam Champion and the second longest reigning TV Champion of all-time, but for Satnam Ring of Honor is a new playground where he gets to toss some bodies around!
It's going to be a tough road for Evil Uno and John Silver come Thursday night, but if they can isolate Jay Lethal from his partner, and keep Satnam out of the ring, perhaps they can not only survive this tag team battle, but actually pick up a win over the 7'2” monster and “The Franchise of ROH”!
ALSO FEATURING:
-Proving Ground: ROH World Tag Team Champions Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) vs. Jason Geiger & London Lightning
-Darius Martin & Action Andretti vs. Jon Cruz & Levi Night
-“The Star of the Show” Anna Jay in action!
-And More!!!
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