DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2024 is twenty-two days away and the champions of Ring of Honor (most of them at least) are looking to see who will step up to challenge them in Arlington, TX! Last week then-ROH World TV Champion Kyle Fletcher tried to be the one heading into that tentpole event as both TV Champion and ROH World Champion, but Mark Briscoe turned away his challenge last Thursday during ROH ON HONOR CLUB, and then Atlantis Jr. defeated him for the ROH World TV Title in CMLL on Friday!
In the realm of the two women's championship in ROH, we witnessed Women's World TV Champion Billie Starkz turn away another Proving Ground challenge and heard Women's World Champion Athena claim she would now be out eight months thanks to Red Velvet and Queen Aminata, but we will hear more from them tonight during the show. The ROH World Tag Team Champions are on the lookout for new challenges, so they'll be in Proving Ground action against Komander and Metalik, while ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta returns to ROH competition for the first time since FINAL BATTLE 2023 to meet Lee Moriarty on the Proving Grounds!
It all begins at 7pm ET/6pm CT exclusively on Honor Club (www.watchroh.com), your home for all ROH programming, both the weekly program and pay-per-view events like the upcoming DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2024, as well as more then twenty years of the best pound-for-pound wrestling on the planet featuring men like Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe, The Briscoes, Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, The Kings of Wrestling, and more!
THE M.I.T HAS WORDS TO SHARE...
ROH Women's World Champion Athena claimed she was injured so it would be several months before she'd return to action, now she claims that the actions of Red Velvet and Queen Aminata two weeks ago caused further damage and it will be up to eight months before she's able to compete. Regardless of if there is any truth in any of her claims, Athena refuses to relinquish the ROH Women's World Title she's now held for 573 days while her compatriot Billie Starkz keeps knocking down potential challengers on the Proving Ground.
With DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2024 right around the corner, and both Red Velvet and Queen Aminata gunning for those titles, we will hear from the M.I.T contingent tonight on HONOR CLUB!
PROVING GROUND...
ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta vs. Lee Moriarty
It has been six months since the last time ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta defended his title, seven months since he last appeared on ROH programming at FINAL BATTLE 2023, but that is all no fault of his own. Injury put him on the shelf following his Continental Crown bout with Eddie Kingston at AEW's RAMPAGE: HOMECOMING 2024 event, and it has been just one month since Yuta returned to action in All Elite Wrestling. He has had four matches in that time; a tag, a trios bout, and two eight-man tags, so that makes this Proving Ground match tonight Yuta's first singles since 1/12/24 and his first Pure Rules bout since the 1/5/24 defense against Komander.
It seems appropriate that it is Lee Moriarty who Yuta meets in this situation, theirs is a rivalry dating back five years, and one of Yuta's first matches as a BCC member actually include Moriarty in the opposing trio. The two men even fought in a Pure Rules match during ROH ON HONOR CLUB #39 back in November of last year, a bout won by Yuta that set him up for winning his third Pure Title just two days later on RAMPAGE when he beat Shibata.
That's another tie that binds these two actually, the only Pure Championship challenge Moriarty has experienced was against Shibata on the 6/2/23 edition of RAMPAGE, a loss that has haunted Lee ever since as he feels this is a title custom made for his particular skill set. Well tonight during ROH ON HONOR CLUB, Moriarty will have a chance to earn his another shot at the title when he faces Yuta in a Proving Ground match contested under Pure Rules! This is just the second time a Pure Championship opportunity has been made possible via Proving Ground, the first taking place during HONOR CLUB #42 last December, also featuring Yuta as the champion putting it on the line.
Will Lee Moriarty succeed where Jason Geiger failed? All he need do is last the ten minute limit with Yuta to get his shot, but an actual fall on the champ would be so much sweeter!
PROVING GROUND...
ROH World Tag Team Champions Matt Taven & Mike Bennett vs. Komander & Metalik
The Undisputed Kingdom of Matt Taven and Mike Bennett have reigned as ROH World Tag Team Champions since December 27th, and in that time have successfully defended their titles on three occasions. Now some may look at three defenses in 190 days as avoiding challenges, but it doesn't take into consideration the nine Proving Ground matches in which they've faced potential challengers, or the eight times they've prevented teams from earning a future title opportunity. The Infantry were the only team Taven and Bennett faced that were capable of taking them to the time limit draw, but Carlie Bravo and Capt. Shawn Dean were unsuccessful in claiming the belts in their title fight at SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2024.
So now The UK continues to search for another team capable of giving them a challenge, of conquering the Proving Ground, and earning a ROH World Tag Team Championship bout. In that quest to find challengers as DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2024 draws near, Taven and Bennett welcome one man familiar to Proving Ground competition and another new to the opportunity. Komander, alongside Bryan Keith, faced Taven and Bennett in the first Proving Ground match of their third championship reign and fell just ninety seconds shy of lasting the ten minute time limit. Metalik, on the other hand, has never been in the ring with Bennett or Taven in any capacity despite being part of this new era of honor since FINAL BATTLE 2022, and his prior Proving Ground experience was in World Six-Man mode against The Mogul Embassy. Clearly the UK have the experience advantage, this is just the second time Metalik and Komander have been a tag team, but their unpredictable offense could be the ticket to being the second team to overcome Taven and Bennett on the Proving Ground!
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