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ROH: Death Before Dishonor
July 26, 2024

by Doc Allen

Live from Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas. WrestleTix estimates attendance at 1,157 (which is 70 tickets short of a sellout). Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman are on commentary.

The Beast Mortos vs. Komander (with Alex Abrahantes)

Komander insists on a handshake, Mortos pulls him into a flurry of offense. Komander flips around to avoid contact. Mortos reverses a somersault senton into a powerbomb onto Alex, thus making him the biggest babyface in Texas. Mortos blinds Komander with spray for the hell of it, prompting Komander to dig deep for a rana. Mortos answers with a press slam onto the top buckles. Komander blocks a second press slam, but his injured ribs slow him down too much to fly. Instead, he blocks a DVD on the apron and flies through the post for a tornado DDT. Fans chant "ROH!" Mortos retreats but Komander pops off his chest for a rana off the apron! Komander tightrope walks across the ring and hits an effortless springboard plancha! He follows with a springboard poison rana! Mortos blocks a corkscrew press and nails a mean Samoan drop for only 2. Komander recovers with a crucifix driver, and counters with a swinging Destroyer. Desperate spear by Mortos leaves them both down. Fans chant "Fight forever!" They fight on the top rope until Mortos nails a terrifying avalanche powerslam! Komander answers with a Destroyer. His ribs are too injured for a 450 splash, instead he badly misses a springboard SSP. Mortos easily hits a rib breaker and piledriver to win at 13:30! Red hot opener. Komander got his moveset over, would have been a good time to give him a win, ***½.
Winner: The Beast Mortos

Backstage interview with MxM Collection (previously the Maximum Male Models in WWE). They have their sights set on FTR.

ROH Tag Team Championship:
The Undisputed Kingdom © (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett) vs. The Conglomeration (Kyle O'Reilly and Tomohiro Ishii)

Ishii and Bennett must have studied Jericho vs. Suzuki on Dynamite, they start exchanging chops. Ishii ends it with a knee lift. Kyle and Taven mix it up with standard chain wrestling. Taven hits a dropkick, spends too much time gloating, and gets stuck in the Conglomeration's corner. Kyle and Ishii have a field day dishing out stiff offense on Taven. Ishii gets surprised by a roundhouse kick and gets stuck in the Kingdom's corner. Ishii gets blinded but stumbles over to give Kyle a hot tag. The match breaks down outside, they take turns ambushing each other with flying knees. Back to the ring, Taven tries to make nice with Kyle, when that doesn't work, Bennett drapes Kyle for a slingshot crossbody! Kyle absorbs a prolonged and well executed beatdown by The Kingdom. Unlike some heat portions, The Kingdom actually look like they are trying to WIN and not just fill minutes until the hot tag. It means that much more when Ishii gets that hot tag and runs wild with German suplexes. Bennett grabs Ishii's leg, allowing Taven to hit a KO enziguri for 2. The Kingdom deliver Hail Mary, but Ishii stands right back up (to an ovation). Sadly, the Kingdom swarm Ishii with a Spicoli Driver and penalty kick. Blind tag by Kyle, he ambushes Bennett with a knee bar. Sliding clothesline by Ishii, but Taven interrupts with a frog splash! Everyone goes down for a round of applause! They stumble up for a brawl. Ishii no sells superkicks and Kyle helps hit Total Elimination! Ishii gives Bennett an avalanche brainbuster, then Chasing the Dragon! Taven breaks the cover! Bennett complains to the ref about a knee injury. Kyle Fletcher and Don Callis arrive to stir up trouble. Bennett low blows Kyle and pins him at 19:42! That finish suuuuuuucks. What a shame, this was overdelivering big time. The Kingdom are functioning like a well oiled machine and looked to be in total control and also flailing into a possible upset at other times. Almost great, ***¾.
Winners and still ROH Tag Team Champions: The Undisputed Kingdom

Texas Death Match:
Leyla Hirsch vs. Diamante

The match starts on the ramp with a chair duel. Diamante throws Leyla off the ramp through a table! Leyla breaks the count at 9, so Diamante hauls her into the ring for more punishment. She puts Leyla in a tree of woe and dropkicks a stack of chairs into her face. Leyla blades and Diamante targets the wound. Leyla bonks Diamante into some propped chairs and pours thousands AND THOUSANDS of thumbtacks onto the canvas. Leyla nails a sunset flip bomb onto the tacks! She pours more tacks onto Diamante but then misses a moonsault! Leyla has tacks sticking out of her knees. Diamante duct tapes her to the rope for some easy weapon shots. She smashes a tacked flip flop into Leyla's forehead. Fans chant "Diamante!" Diamante builds a wired door bridge, Leyla reverses with a Samoan Drop through the bridge! Fans chant "holy sh!t!" Diamante won't stay down, so Leyla duct tapes her to a table. Leyla nails a moonsault from a tall ladder! Leyla looks hurt but beats the count and wins at 15:43! This was a pretty good grudge match, although I wasn't familiar with the feud going in. It was built around three big HOLY BLEEP spots and it delivered, ***¾.
Winner: Leyla Hirsch

ROH Pure Championship:
Wheeler Yuta © vs. Lee Moriarty

They start with some friendly chain wrestling, since this is a PURE rules match and all. Moriarty contorts the fingers and flexes, so forget what I said about this being friendly. Lee uses his first rope break to escape a kneebar. Yuta looks smug during another chain wrestling sequence, Lee leap frogs and forces him into a rope break with a Border City Stretch. Yuta wins another wrestling sequence and hits a slicing chop. Lee hits a blind closed fist, Yuta gets caught using a closed fist of his own, Moriarty goes to work on his previously concussed head. Lee uses his second rope break but then thrusts Yuta's arm over the ropes. Lee grabs a tight hammerlock and flexes. Missile dropkick to the arm gets 2 for Moriarty. Yuta sacrifices his arm with a desperation clothesline, but rolls on with a flurry of offense. Flying clothesline by Yuta, then a power slam. Yuta prepares to fly, Lee climbs up to contort his fingers and nail a superplex! Moriarty gets caught using a closed fist but slams Yuta in place for the Border City Stretch! Yuta uses his second rope break and smacks Lee's face. They jockey for position until Yuta rolls Moriarty out for a tope suicida! Frog splash gets 2! Moriarty hits a twisting driver for 2, then grabs a vicious head scissors variation. Yuta escapes via his final rope break. Desperation German suplex by Yuta gets 2, so he applies Cattle Mutilation for Lee's final rope break. Lee powerslams Yuta onto the ring frame! Moriarty hits a flatliner for 2. The fans are vocally behind Moriarty. Yuta applies a surprising armbar, Lee is out of rope breaks, but still uses the ropes to pull himself over to pin Yuta at 19:56! That finish is amazing. This was a total slowburner that made good use of the Pure stipulations, ***½.
Winner and new ROH Pure Champion: Lee Moriarty

Fans chant "You deserve it." Yuta wraps the Pure title around Lee's waist, even if that finish wasn't 100% clean. Moriarty accepts the respect and flexes for the fans. Cool moment and it was high time to put some gold on Moriarty.

ROH Women's TV Championship:
Billie Starkz © vs. Red Velvet

Billie is cosplaying as Trinity from The Matrix (I think) and shoots off realistic bubble guns. Billie is the champ but is still a teenager and has an experience disadvantage against pretty much everyone, Velvet pummels her early on. Billie answers with a nifty electric chair slam onto the buckles. Starkz wears Velvet down with a chinlock and Tree of Woe face stomps. Velvet tries to come back, Starkz hits a roundhouse kick. Velvet bonks Starkz into the buckles and nails a German suplex. Stunner by Velvet, then a DDT for 2. The fans get behind Velvet as she hits Meteora. Velvet hits a wild sunset flip bomb variation for a good nearfall. Starkz grabs a chicken wing chinlock, Velvet escapes with a snapmare, but Starkz hits some backbreakers for 2. Velvet counters with a poison rana. Starkz answers with a hanging sleeper on the post, but Velvet counters with a cool Stunner. Billie might be too injured to continue. Starkz doesn't care and nails an enziguri. She gloats and doesn't realize that Velvet is playing possum. Midnight Slam by Velvet ends it at 14:56! There were certainly some cool and memorable spots in this one, but ultimately felt a bit long winded. The live crowd and I really wanted to like this, **¾.
Winner and new ROH Women's TV Champion: Red Velvet

The Dark Order (Evil Uno, John Silver, and Alex Reynolds) vs. Dustin Rhodes and The Von Erichs (Ross and Marshall)

The Dark Order aren't so nice these days and reject the Code of Honor. Uno is dressed like Mankind and eats Ross' Sling Blade. Marshall dropkicks Uno and body slams Silver. Double dropkick by the Von Erichs gets 2. Dustin clotheslines Reynolds outside but then gets thrown into the stairs. Uno assaults Ross with a cowbell. The Dark Order work Ross over in their corner for a polite period of time. I'm not really buying The Dark Order as heels, they simply look like they're having too much fun and convey likability. Marshall gets the inevitable hot tag and runs wild to homestate crowd approval. Uno gets the Iron Claw, Reynolds breaks it up. Silver and Reynolds hit a tandem brainbuster outside. Uno splashes Marshall and hits a suplex for 2. Reynolds knocks Dustin into the steps. I'll give the Dark Order credit, the live crowd hates them. Uno mocks the cowboy hat and piledrivers Marshall for 2. Reynolds misses a moonsault, Dustin throws Uno into the stairs. Reynolds clocks Ross off the apron but then runs into Marshall's spinebuster. Dustin gets a HOT tag and runs wild. Cross Rhodes on Reynolds, Uno breaks the pin. The match breaks down, the Von Erichs get dumped into the front row. Silver and Reynolds swarm Dustin with rapid attacks but can't pin him. Reynolds taunts like Goldust, Dustin makes him pay with a Destroyer. Silver interrupts Shattered Dreams, the Von Erichs return with Iron Claws! Shattered Dreams and Brainbuster finishes Reynolds at 14:33! Big time crowd pleaser that delivered a feel good finish, ***½.
Winners: Dustin Rhodes and the Von Erichs

ROH TV Championship (Survival of the Fittest):
Atlantis Jr. © vs. Johnny TV (with Taya Valkyrie) vs. Shane Taylor vs. Lee Johnson vs. Brian Cage vs. Lio Rush

Only Atlantis and Cage are willing to shake hands. Rush capitalizes with a quick plancha on Atlantis. Taylor and Johnny attempt to team up but cannot agree on anything. Taylor removes Johnny and squares off against Cage in a HOSS FIGHT! Everyone else is napping at ringside. Cage flexes his suspiciously large muscles and Atlantis sneaks in and hits a rana. Rush wakes up for an attack but Atlantis gives him a Gory Special. Rush counters with a Stunner for 2. Johnson comes back to life and runs wild on Rush. Johnny pokes Lee in the eyes and hits a DDT. Taylor interrupts Johnny with a big sitout powerbomb for 2. Cage assaults Taylor but eats a Saito suplex. Cage answers with a springboard tornado DDT! Rush ambushes Cage with his own tornado DDT. Johnny hits Rush with a back flip Samoan drop and standing SSP for 2. Atlantis wakes up to gain some momentum and dives onto Taylor. That kicks off the consecutive diving sequence, the fans eat it all up. Taylor picks up the scraps and gives Cage a uranage. Shane misses a corner kick, Rush frog splashes him for the pin at 9:58! Rush tries to quickly put Johnny away, and drapes him for Lee's drive by stomp. Rush torpedoes Lee with a dive. Lee superkicks Rush and hits a patented brainbuster to eliminate him at 11:38. Johnny and Cage form a union and hit Lee with a high crossbody/suplex combo. Lee kicks out at 3, the ref calls it 2. Cage plants Atlantis for Johnny's Shining Wizard. They give Lee a powerbomb/enziguri combo (that Johnny totally whiffs on) and get the pinfall at 15:10. Atlantis is now alone against the two heels. Luckily for him, Johnny backstabs Cage and hits a twisting neckbreaker. Atlantis monkey flips Johnny and hits a Mexican Destroyer. Cage returns for a deadlift suplex on Atlantis. Taya gets into Cage's face, Johnny kicks his leg under her to low blow Cage! The happy couple make out before Johnny gives Cage a GTS. Cage answers with a lariat and Drill Claw to pin him at 18:41. I feel like TV's heel antics were wasted here. Cage hits a lariat, Atlantis counters with a victory roll to win at 19:41. This wasn't particularly interesting, the pinfalls were too rapid for my liking. Just a bunch of action that doesn't mean a whole lot, **½.
Winner and still ROH TV Champion: Atlantis Jr.

ROH Women's World Championship:
Athena © vs. Queen Aminata

Athena is the "Forever Champion" and gets a homestate ovation from the fans. Bell rings, Aminata hits a quick headbutt, then a suplex. Athena gloats after winning a grappling exchange. They exchange shoves, Aminata slaps the champ down. Athena answers with a flying crossblock into the barricade! Athena misses a head of steam and hits the steps. Aminata immediately hits a hip attack against the stairs. Athena hits a slam on the floor. Back to the ring, they exchange brutal blows until Aminata hits a backbreaker. Aminata rolls the dice for 2. Athena hits a glancing Codebreaker variation for 2. Aminata drapes Athena with a KO shot and then dropkicks the head. Double stomp to the wrist gets 2 for Aminata. Athena comes back with a KO blow for 2. Athena spends a bit too much time taunting and Aminata suplexes her into the buckles. Driving boot by Aminata, then an Air Raid Crash for only 2! Athena answers with an exploder suplex into the buckles! They exchange forearms until trading snapmares. Aminata unloads kicks to the back of the head, Athena counters into a half crab! Aminata responds with a clever hammerlock stretch using her legs. Athena reverses with a crossface, dramatic rope break by Aminata. They block finishers until Athena nails a piledriver on the stairs! Athena's (very) late cover gets 2. Fans chant "fight forever!" Aminata lands a brutal headbutt, then a butterfly piledriver! Billie Starkz runs in, Red Velvet cuts her off. Lexi Nair passes something to Athena. Weapon shot by Athena, then the O-Face to win at 20:14. The live crowd pops for the heel victory. This was a good match that I felt oddly disconnected from. I could have lived without another stupid finish, ***.
Winner and still ROH Women's World Champion: Athena

ROH World Championship:
Mark Briscoe © vs. Roderick Strong

They lock up, Roddy begrudgingly gives a clean break. They battle for wrist control. Mark plays mind games with redneck kung fu and pummels Strong at ringside. Mark leaps off a chair to cannonball Strong into the crowd! Fans love it. Back to the ring, Mark hits a rolling DVD, Strong blocks the froggy elbow. Backbreaker by Roderick gives him the upper hand. Mark makes a clubbing comeback and hits a baseball slide dropkick. Mark hits the Cactus elbow drop! Shotgun missile dropkick by Mark, then a Fisherman buster for only 2. Strong blocks a J-Driller on the apron and nails a backbreaker instead. Strong unloads chops and bonks Mark into the post, busting him open. Strong takes his time hitting a backbreaker and applying a chinlock. Mark tries a bit boot, but gets caught in another backbreaker and Boston crab. Mark gets the ropes, but Roddy hits a stolen J-Driller for only 1! Mark looks like a man possessed and makes a spirited comeback. Fisherman driver by Mark gets 2. Strong responds with an avalanche Olympic Slam, Mark kicks out! They slug it out until Mark hits a spinning forearm. Strong blocks a J-Driller, so Briscoe hits a suplex. Matt Taven runs in to stop the J-Driller, Mike Bennett clocks Mark with a belt. Strong's cover only gets 2! Mark kind of blocks the double knees gutbuster, but Strong hits the Sick Kick for a great nearfall. The Conglomeration run in to neutralize The Kingdom. Mark hits a mean lariat, blocks a superplex, and lands the froggy elbow to win at 19:34! Crowd loves the finish. Good main event that had me feeling nostalgic for a Jay Briscoe/Roderick Strong match from 2011. Mark is thriving in his current role as ROH Champion and is breaking out as a national star. Good way to end the night, ***½.
Winner and still ROH World Champion: Mark Briscoe

Final Thoughts: This was a good show full of matches mostly ranging between 3 and 4 stars. I don't feel like it made for a very good review, because I didn't have much to say about anything, besides it was "good." Mild recommendation, but nothing I feel all that passionate about.

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