Thursday evening means Ring of Honor is back in action exclusively on Honor Club, and the action gets underway at 7pm ET/6pm CT featuring the ROH World Championship on the line between Mark Briscoe and ROH World TV Champion Kyle Fletcher, ROH Women's World TV Champion Billie Starkz in Proving Ground action, as well as “The Problem” Marina Shafir back in the ring, The Righteous and Lance Archer in Trios competition, and kicking off with The Dark Order's Alex Reynolds facing “Big Shotty” Lee Johnson!
ROH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH...
Mark Briscoe(c) vs. ROH World TV Champion Kyle Fletcher
In recent weeks ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe and ROH World TV Champion Kyle Fletcher have had their run-ins on AEW television. In fact, it was just two weeks ago that Fletcher pinned Mark in a Trios bout, a situation that often results in the champion putting their title on the line against the individual who pinned them. Yet that's not all Kyle Fletcher has on his resume to justify a championship match, it also goes even deeper than his status as ROH World TV Champion, though he's been an exemplary one in both title fights and Proving Ground bouts. Fletcher's worthiness as a World Championship challenger is also bolstered by the fact he's unbeaten in singles competition in Ring of Honor, a winning streak dating back to May 2022 and ROH ON HONOR CLUB #11 where he bested former ROH World TV Champion Tony Deppen, and currently standing at eighteen consecutive victories including the six-way Survival of the Fittest elimination bout where he own the World TV Title, and last week's 2/3 Falls championship victory over Lee Johnson. “The Protostar” has demonstrated his in-ring prowess time after time here in ROH, but now he's faced with the biggest challenge of his tenure in this ROH World Championship fight with Mark Briscoe!
Mark's ROH accolades speak for themselves, thirteen times over a World Tag Champion with brother Jay, former World Six-Man champion, a man who has been part of the company since day one, but only captured his first singles title at SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2024 when he bested Eddie Kingston. After taking some time for his family and the latest addition to the Briscoe lineage, Mark got embroiled in House of Black business along with Adam Copeland and Eddie Kingston, got wrangled into Don Callis Family affairs as well, and even earned his way into Sunday night's TNT Championship Ladder Match at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2024, but through it all he's never taken his mind off ROH business, even engaging in a war of words with Shane Taylor over social media.
But tonight's ROH World Championship battle is no war of words, it's a battle for the heart and soul of ROH, and the risk of its twenty-plus year history now being held under the umbrella of the Don Callis Family. Mark isn't about to let that happen without giving the biggest fight of his life, and he's not about to let this title he's worked so hard to earn slip away on his first defense. That being said, Kyle Fletcher is going to throw everything he's got at Chicken in order to join the ranks of ROH Triple Crown winners, as well as become just the second man (after Jay Lethal) to simultaneously hold the ROH World and TV Championships.
Will we wake up Friday morning to find a new day has dawned under the shadow of Kyle Fletcher or will Mark Briscoe keep the ROH World Championship in Sandy Fork as he then moves towards adding the TNT Championship to his trophy case?
PROVING GROUND...
ROH Women's World TV Champion Billie Starkz vs. Angelica Risk
Making her fourth appearance inside a ROH ring, Angelica Risk steps onto the Proving Ground for the second time in her set of matches. Coincidentally her very first match for ROH was also that first PG match, and it was against ROH Women's World Champion Athena! Now Risk did her level best to earn that title shot against “The Fallen Goddess”, actually surviving five minutes of the ten minute time limit, which is better than many of the Proving Ground challengers accomplished against Athena. That was May 4th of 2023, ROH ON HONOR CLUB #10 to be exact, and though Risk would step into the ring with Marina Shafir and Leyla Hirsch, she wouldn't score a victory in her trio of 2023 matches for ROH. Well it's been nearly a year since her ROH ON HONOR CLUB #27 appearance, and Angelica Risk has amassed plenty of experience in that time! Will it be enough to overcome Billie Starkz, or at least last the time limit to earn a title shot? And given how last week went with Queen Aminata and Red Velvet, one can't help but wonder if Starkz will have her mind focused on this fight or be more concerned with the whereabouts of the women who have their sights set on the M.I.T!
ONE-ON-ONE...
“Big Shotty” Lee Johnson vs. The Dark Order's Alex Reynolds
A week ago “Big Shotty” Lee Johnson had the opportunity of a lifetime when he challenged Kyle Fletcher for the ROH World Television Championship in a 2/3 Falls match. Though the bout did not go Johnson's way, he managed to score a fall on the defending champion roughly fifteen minutes into the bout, proving he was capable of beating “The Protostar”. Unfortunately Lee would fall to Fletcher five minutes later, leaving the challenger rather unsatisfied, but with a taste of what it would feel like to defeat Kyle to claim the World TV Title as his own.
Now he wants more, after facing Kyle in that bout and their previous SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2024 fight, Lee Johnson wants another shot at becoming a champion in Ring of Honor, but that means earning his way back into contention with victories. “Big Shotty” hopes to begin another road to the title tonight on Honor Club when he faces The Dark Order's Alex Reynolds in singles competition! Singles bouts are a rare thing for Reynolds since joining The Dark Order, more often competing in tags, trios, and other multi-man bouts over the past several years, but that doesn't mean Alex isn't a threat in the singles games just as he is those formats.
This is quite the exciting clash set for tonight on Honor Club that could make a real impact on future contention for the World Television Championship!
ALSO FEATURING:
-Taya Valkyrie vs. Trish Adora!
-“The Problem” Marina Shafir in action!
-Lance Archer & The Righteous in Trios competition!
DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2024 is a month away and everyone in the ROH locker room wants to be a part of the extravaganza in Arlington, TX! Will we have a new ROH World Champion heading into the twenty-first year of DBD? Who will earn contendership for the other champions in Ring of Honor? There are a whole lot of questions to be answered as July 26th draws near and those answers can be found every Thursday night only on Honor Club!