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<p>ROH TV and Honor United Recap</p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><strong><span style="color:#FF0000;">ROH TV and Honor United Recap</span></strong></span></p></div><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="WDgbg6w.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/WDgbg6w.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> With only two weeks separating <strong>Death Before Dishonor</strong> and Ring of Honor's return to the UK with <strong>Honor United</strong> we had an abbreviated tv session with only two episodes. </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="N99ns65.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/N99ns65.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">ROH TV, Week 1, October 2019</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p> The first episode kicked off with <strong>Cary Silkin</strong>'s State of the Union speech that was published here earlier. Immediately following that we kicked off the <strong><em>Crockett Cup</em></strong> with <strong>The End</strong> annihilating <strong>The Fraternity</strong> in a quick bout. The End looks strong, and now, without Matt Taven, appear free to destroy as they please.</p><p> </p><p> We then got a promo backstage of <strong>No Gimmicks Needed</strong> rewatching the Death Before Dishonor Television Title bout. <strong>Lethal and Low-Ki</strong> both blamed each other and the tension between them continued to boil but ultimately seemed to be just another crack in the road.</p><p> </p><p> Back in the ring, <strong>Lifeblood (PJ Black, Bandido, and Tracy Williams)</strong> got back on track with a win against <strong>Kenny King, Brian Myers and Shane Taylor</strong>. </p><p> </p><p> Backstage <strong>Flip Gordon</strong> encounters<strong> Davey Boy Smith Jr </strong>and seems to be discussing with him what happened at Death Before Dishonor and why <strong>Scurll and Smith</strong> seemingly helped him to win the bout... Smith merely chuckles and walks away.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Colt Cabana</strong> is out for the main event with an open challenge. He calls out anyone in the back and is surprised when <strong>Fred Yehi </strong>answers. The bout itself was unspectacular but helped showcase <strong>Yehi</strong> and his technical ability. He caught <strong>Cabana</strong> in a Koji Clutch and secured the victory to end the first episode.</p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="N99ns65.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/N99ns65.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">ROH TV, Week 2, October 2019</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p> </p><p> The second episode started with two <strong><em>Crockett Cup</em></strong> bouts. In the opener <strong>The Workhorsemen (JD Drake and Anthony Henry, with BJ Whitmer ringside)</strong> defeated the team representing CMLL of <strong>Gran Guerrero and Guerrero Maya Jr.</strong> <strong>Drake and Henry</strong> controlled the bout physically, but the <strong>Guerreros</strong> displayed impressive technical skills and shouldn't be forgotten in this tournament.</p><p> </p><p> We got a preview for the <strong>Honor United</strong> event with multiple matches being announced! This exclusive pay-per-view marks Ring of Honor's long anticipated return to the UK and will be one to watch even if it doesn't necessarily fit any of the long-term story-telling taking place!</p><p> </p><p> In the second <strong><em>Crockett Cup</em></strong> bout we had a hoss fight that saw <strong>The Bouncers</strong> defeat the<strong> Gods of War</strong> in a really bad bout. <strong>Beer City Bruiser and Mauler Milonas</strong> are rarely in the ring with two men that can almost match them in size, but this one was close.</p><p> </p><p> We get a sit-down interview with <strong>The Top Guys</strong>, they discuss why they brought back the <strong><em>Crockett Cup</em></strong> and what Pure, Old-School, 'rasslin means to them. They bring up the old NWA and say that while the territory days may be over it doesn't mean that old school battles are and that this Crockett Cup will bring them a contender truly worth fighting at Survival of the Fittest in November. They finish the sit-down by informing the audience that they will make a title defense at Honor United against a team that is taking the UK by storm, <strong>Aussie Open</strong>.</p><p> </p><p> In the penultimate bout, <strong>Bandido</strong> scored an upset victory over <strong>Joe Hendry</strong>. Bandido has been on a nice little run of late, and this win was frankly pretty surprising, especially since Hendry will be facing Bandido's Lifeblood mate, <strong>PJ Black</strong> at Honor United!</p><p> </p><p> Up next we go to the Sussex County Farm home of the Briscoes for a pretaped Championship coronation with <strong>Jay Briscoe</strong>. Jay tells the audience that he's a fighting champion, and a World champion, so that means at Honor United he'll take on the RevPro Champion, Ryan Smile. He also says that as Honor Rises again, he'll be the one to lead the company into the new era.</p><p> </p><p> In the main event, <strong>Davey Boy Smith Jr</strong> defeated <strong>Mark Haskins</strong> in a hard-fought bout that set-up what will serve as the opener at Honor United. We know that at Honor United, Smith and Scurll will take on Haskins and Aldis in a tag bout.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> --------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="N99ns65.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/N99ns65.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="color:#FF0000;"><span style="font-size:18px;">Ring of Honor and Revolution Pro Wrestling present: Honor United</span></span></strong></p></div><p></p><p> </p><p> Live from the United Kingdom, Ring of Honor is making it's first stop outside of the USA in two years. The Garage a small 600-seat venue in North London is sold-out and packed with wrestling fans as we head to the ring for the opener!</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Nick Aldis and Mark Haskins</strong> make their triumphant return to the UK to take on fellow brit, <strong>Marty Scurll</strong> and the son of the British Bulldog, <strong>Davey Boy Smith Jr</strong> in what promised to be a brutally hard-hitting bout. This one definitely delivery as the ROH Television champ, Aldis led his team to victory when he hit the Tormentum on Smith for the victory in a bout that really opened this show well. All four men impressed and the crowd was hot for these four favorites, Aldis keeping the TV title picture strong with the victory makes sense here. <strong><strong>Mark Haskins and Nick Aldis defeated Davey Boy Smith and Marty Scurll (***1/2).</strong></strong></p><p> </p><p> Backstage we see the <strong>Briscoe Brothers</strong> arriving in London. </p><p> </p><p> Back in the ring, <strong>Low-Ki and Jay Lethal</strong> work together for long-enough to secure a victory over the NJPW excursion squad of <strong>Hikuleo and The Great O'Kharn</strong>. Everything Lethal and Low-Ki touch turn to gold and they pulled a really, really solid bout out of these two. <strong>No Gimmicks Needed defeat The Great O'Kharn and Hikuleo (*** 1/2)</strong>.</p><p> </p><p> Backstage, <strong>Rocky Romero</strong> makes his first non SoCal Uncensored 2.0 appearance and immediately finds <strong>Team Filthy</strong> backstage. <strong>Romero</strong> tells <strong>Lawlor</strong> that he's brought the NJPW LA Dojo Young Lions, <strong>Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors and Karl Fredericks</strong> with him to the UK and they'll be challenging for the Six-Man belts tonight. He also mentions that they'll be making a couple additional ROH appearances stateside, and that NJPW will be running two shows in the US next week that they'll be featured on as well...</p><p> </p><p> In the bout itself, the ROH Six-Man champs, <strong>Team Filthy (Tom Lawlor, Fred Yehi and Josh Woods)</strong> easily retained against the<strong> LA Dojo Young Lions (Alex Coughlin, Karl Fredericks and Clark Connors)</strong> when Lawlor submitted Connors. <strong>Team Filthy retains the ROH Six-Man Tag Titles over LA Dojo Young Lions (**)</strong>.</p><p> </p><p> We get a repeats of the sit-down interview with the <strong>Top Guys</strong> that aired on television this week. This leads into the title defense against <strong>Aussie Open</strong>. <strong>Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher</strong> have been on the rise out here in the UK, but they have limited familiarity in the USA. This didn't stop the <strong>Top Guys</strong> from defeating them easily in a bout that should have been better. As the <strong>Top Guys</strong> wait for their next ROH challenger, this was a nice tune-up. <strong>The Top Guys defeated Aussie Open to retain the ROH Tag Titles, (** 1/2).</strong></p><p> </p><p> Backstage, <strong>Dalton Castle</strong> is cutting a promo about being loyal to ROH and taking advantage of the opportunities created by the departures... <strong>Rhett Titus</strong> interrupts him and says that while they were "teammates" last month, it's time for Titus to remind the fans that he is still a star, so next week on ROH TV, he wants Castle. </p><p> </p><p> We then get a promo with the <strong>Kings of the Night</strong> out enjoying the London nightlife. <strong>Kenny King</strong> taunts all things "Britain" and says that this cities nightlife "sucks" in comparison to Vegas... this naturally leads to him getting bounced from a bar...which results in the expected brawl to close out the segment.</p><p> </p><p> Back in the ring, <strong>Will Ospreay</strong> took on <strong>Jeff Cobb</strong> in a bout between two main eventers who will certainly feature prominently in the Survival of the Fittest. <strong>Ospreay'</strong>s homecourt advantage came into play here as he surprised Cobb with a flurry of kicks and strikes that led to an OsCutter for the victory in a really fun bout! <strong>Will Ospreay defeated Jeff Cobb via OsCutter (***1/2).</strong></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Colt Cabana </strong>made a big entrance as he joined the announce table for the Crockett Cup bout up next.</p><p> </p><p> With the <strong><em>Crockett Cup</em></strong> kicking off the last two week this was a bout featuring the final two teams in the competition. Ring of Honor's <strong>Coast 2 Coast </strong>and the National Wrestling Alliance's <strong>Thomas Latimer (FKA Bram) and Royce Isaacs</strong>. <strong>Latimer</strong> is extremely well known in London, "The Chesterfield Plague" drew a big pop. His partner, <strong>Royce Isaacs</strong> is an unknown from the western half of the USA. He's only 24 and has a Cowboy-ish/old school look to him. His traditional gear is festooned with frills and he carries a no nonsense attitude with him to the ring. He's a regular in the Pacific Northwest and works as a Main Eventer for companies like DEFY in Seattle. Here in London the crowd didn't know him at all, but thanks to his partner they were the clear favorites. The announcers referred to their team as Genesis, but this may be a work in progress name. In the end, the crowd went home happy as Latimer delivered the deathblow to LSG for the victory. <strong>Thomas Latimer and Royce Issacs defeated Coast 2 Coast (**).</strong></p><p> </p><p> Prior to the next bout, we get a replay of <strong>Bandido</strong> defeating <strong>Joe Hendry</strong> on ROH TV. "The Prestigious One" interrupts the replay to challenge PJ Black and state that he's going to redeem himself.</p><p> </p><p> The bout itself was sloppy as neither man vibed. Despite both having a strong UK following, the fans seemed turned off by the story told here. In the end, <strong>PJ Black defeated Joe Hendry (**)</strong>.</p><p> </p><p> Backstage <strong>Jeff Cobb</strong> is talking to the cameraman about what Survival of the Fittest means to him and how he can redeem his loss tonight and earn another shot at the ROH World Championship... <strong>No Gimmicks Needed</strong> show up next, semi-arguing, but they cut Cobb off and say they will be winning the title shot and the belt. This brings <strong>Will Ospreay</strong> into the scene. He kindly reminds all three men that the last time he's faced each of them, he's defeated all three of them and so at Survival of the Fittest... he'll defeat everyone and then at Final Battle, capture the title...</p><p> </p><p> Speaking of the title, <strong>Jay Briscoe</strong>'s first ROH World Championship defense was the main event as he took on the RPW Champion, <strong>Ryan Smile</strong>. I think this bout was likely to try to help RPW legitimize their world champion and further push this partnership, but Briscoe stood head and shoulders above Smile and really wasn't challenged here. He delivered a Jay Driller and then made the cover to make his first defense. <strong>Jay Briscoe secured a quick victory against Ryan Smile to retain the ROH World Championship (***).</strong></p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Overall Rating: (**3/4).</span></strong> Glad they returned to the UK, but this was a one-off show with little build-up. With five television shows prior the Survival of the Fittest, I think we are about to see the final storylines of 2019 begin to take place, so this show served as a nice bridge between the departures of nine key names in Ring of Honor and the new way of superstars to come! We will continue to recap TV, and before we hit Survival of the Fittest, we will have a full preview and then the full card review like we did with Death Before Dishonor! Stay Tuned!</p>

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="The Lariat" data-cite="The Lariat" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="44489" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>The TPT is always a favorite, as it can introduce new talent that some might not be aware of.<p> </p><p> Hoping for SoCal talent to really shine this year, as Brody did great so far. Jake Atlas is my personal choice since he’s been blowing up as of late.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Had a chance to see some of the SoCal/Vegas talent in person recently and I'm really in on some of them. The scene is great across the country/globe and I love using the TPT to highlight them. Trying to line it up now, as it is only three game months away. Leaning towards expanding the tournament to 12 this year. 6 locked in spots and then 6 guys battling to two three-ways for the final two slots. </p><p> </p><p> Thinking i'm going to line it up like this:</p><p> </p><p> Locked-In (Our Six Strongest Regions, likely will highlight a guy from indy places in each region):</p><p> Southwest </p><p> Southeast </p><p> Mid-Atlantic </p><p> Tri-State</p><p> Northeast</p><p> Midsouth </p><p> </p><p> Wildcards (Six regions/areas that are the next six in our path/size/partners):</p><p> Northwest</p><p> Canada</p><p> Mexico</p><p> UK</p><p> Japan</p><p> Australia</p>

Appreciate that. Really wanted to wrap up the AEW summer storyline with a bang and maybe a bit of a twist. Sounds like it came across well, and that I love. Really appreciate the notes on the write-ups too. I tend to try to convey what is necessary and let the reader decipher the rest as they please. I also aim to fill in the story for readers who are just jumping in, or may follow here and there, because frankly, that helps me keep track of stories. Technically the NWA doesn't exist in-game (at least yet), but they are promoting the Crockett Cup since it is their "thing" and frankly it fits the classic wrestling style that The Top Guys bring. I wanted to bring some names people may know (Tommy Mercer AKA Crimson + Thomas Latimer AKA Bram) and pair them with their actual current partners who some may not know (Jax Dane, fun fact was Ray Rowe of War Machines original partner, and Royce Isaacs, a up and coming classical style wrestler from the South West that I find solid). This also gives me a 3-4 match window to test these guys out in front of my audience and see how it goes. I will say, I've always really liked Latimer. Thought his original Ascension promos (pre-Viktor/Konnor edition) really made him as a visceral star. I know their are some demons in the past that led to the release from WWE, but ultimately, really solid act and character... agree he's perfect for ROH... and after the Crockett Cup we may see more of him... but... that's still TBD! Currently debating a couple routes with the NWA. For hardcore fans of the real world they are aware that Billy Corgan is relaunching the NWA as a 1980's style studio show this coming week. But in this game Corgan owns Beyond Wrestling, so I may opt to just go the route of NWA existing in a neutral state popping up here and there in various states. This would also allow me to use James Storm, who happens to be one of my favorites. In this game he was a big star with AroLucha until their closure in June 2019 and is now bouncing around the indies... With all that said, TV and Honor United is booked and will be the next post. These were just two quick TV tapings and a quick UK PPV so it'll be an easy/semi-vanilla write-up as we launch the path to Survival of the Fittest, and more importantly, Final Battle. Beyond that, I've started scouted for 2020 Top Prospect Tournament (generally involves me watching Youtube matches or reading about guys that have an "indy" name in reality and also checking in on the various small promotions in the game that might have guys that are popping up as stars. It is always one of my favorite parts of the year and thus far our version has produced some decent names for this: Fred Yehi, Austin Theory, Tom Lawlor and Odinson for example. For 2020 I've already got a shortlist of six names, and one of them is a lock (hint, Pacific Northwest). Part of me wants to expand the TPT to 12 or 16, but for now it is going to be eight like it has been in reality. Really excited about the new direction; and think it'll be fun to share it.

Ring of Honor State of the Union Ring of Honor: State of the Union Following months of speculation and innuendo, Ring of Honor's CEO Cary Silkin has agreed to speak to the media about the state of the company, and the future direction of the company. Prior to starting he has provided the media with a current "Ring of Honor Roster" broken down by Champions, Upper and Lower Card. Champions ROH World Champion: Jay Briscoe ROH Tag Champions: KC McKnight and Steven Walters (The Top Guys) ROH Television Champion: Nick Aldis ROH Six-Man Champions: Fred Yehi, Josh Woods, and Tom Lawlor (Team Filthy) Upper Card Alex Shelley Colt Cabana Dalton Castle Davey Boy Smith Jr Hammerstone Jay Lethal Jeff Cobb Low-Ki Mark Haskins "The Villain" Marty Scurll Odinson Will Ospreay Midcard Anthony Henry Brian Myers Brody King Flip Gordon JD Drake Joe Hendry Kenny King LSG PJ Black Shaheem Ali Tracy Williams Lower Card Bandido Cheeseburger Eli Isom Jonathan Gresham Mauler Milonas Rhett Titus Ryan Nova Shane Taylor Silas Young The Beer City Bruiser TK O'Ryan Will Ferrara Hiatus (Injury/Story Change/Etc) Matt Taven (Out since July 2019) Impending Debuts ??? (Former ROH Champion) ??? (Manager) On Loan From Partners For Crockett Cup Channing Decker (SMASH) Gran Guerrero (CMLL) Guerrero Maya Jr (CMLL) Jax Dane (NWA) Royce Isaacs (NWA) Thomas Latimer (NWA) Tommy Mercer (NWA) Trent Gibson (SMASH) Crockett Cup Speaking of the Crockett Cup, in conjunction with the National Wrestling Alliance, it will launch this week and will feature bouts all the way until the championship is crowned at Survival of the Fittest in November. We have assembled eight teams, four representing Ring of Honor and four representing various partners. There are two pools of four, and in the pool each team will face each other. The team with the best record will earn the pool bid. In the result of a tie, there will be tie-breaker. The team that wins will receive a Tag Title shot against The Top Guys at Ring of Honor Final Battle! Pool A: The End (Odinson and Hammerstone) Workhorseman (JD Drake and Anthony Henry) The Fraternity (Channing Decker and Trent Gibson) Los Guerreros (Gran Guerrero and Guerrero Maya Jr) Pool B: Gods of War (Jax Dane and Tommy Mercer) Royce Isaacs + Thomas Latimer Coast 2 Coast (LSG and Shaheem Ali) The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser and Mauler Milonas) Upcoming PPV Events: October 2019: Honor United, Live From The UK in conjunction with RPW. November 2019: Survival of the Fittest December 2019: Final Battle There has been some speculation that Ring of Honor will switch the style of their schedule (currently four TV episodes and one PPV per month) in the future. We can confirm that this will be evaluated at the end of Q4. Until then, expect the same schedule. With that said, there has been a slight change to the PPV schedule. In the past, October has been a Global Wars event on American soil. This year, Ring of Honor will return to England for the first time in two plus years as we will present Honor United, live from England in conjunction with our partners, Revolution Pro Wrestling. We know that our product has been difficult for our fans in England to see of late, but with Honor Club becoming available in the UK we are ready to take a chance and promote a show on UK Soil once against. And with that said, we've secured what we believe to be a stellar card for that event and we've lined it up for you below. Ring of Honor Presents: Honor United Card Subject To Change ROH Champion vs. RPW Champion: Jay Briscoe {C} vs. Ryan Smile ROH Tag Titles: Top Guys {C} vs. Aussie Open ROH Six-Man Titles: Team Filthy {C} vs. NJPW LA Dojo Young Lions Crockett Cup: Royce Isaacs/Thomas Latimer vs. Coast 2 Coast PJ Black vs. "The Prestigious One" Joe Hendry Mark Haskins/Nick Aldis vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr./Marty Scurll Will Ospreay vs. Jeff Cobb Women of Honor We've heard from many fans regarding the status of the Women of Honor division. After Tony Khan's investment over the summer, we were able to shore up our expenses. We were approached by two former ROH alumni, Dave Prazak and Allison Danger about the opportunity to support their SHIMMER promotion. As we look to expand our catalog with the Honor Club. SHIMMER runs a once monthly showcase of the best women wrestling and we are honored to support that. With that in mind, we've reassigned the entire division to SHIMMER, while also hiring a couple new names, Maria Manic, Kamilla Kaine and Victoria Crawford. They will join existing WOH, Mandy Leon, Kelly Klein, and Priscilla Kelly. Nattie Neidhart, our most recent WOH champion, along with Allison Danger will lead the training and development of future stars in the women's division. Every months event will be available via the Honor Club!

<p>Any one tried this:</p><p> </p><p> Playing a multiplayer game, player 1 creates a network (say WWE Network-esque), and player 2 then has his show air on that network. Does Player 1 receive revenue?</p><p> </p><p> Also still curious: I feel like I know this answer, but is it possible to make an existing belt an alliance title? Or if I create a new alliance do I need to create a belt for said alliance.</p>

I feel like I knew this answer, but is it possible to make an exist belt an alliance title? Or if I create a new alliance do I need to create a belt for said alliance.

ROH Death Before Dishonor IX Ring of Honor: Death Before Dishonor IX Prior to the show going live we had two Honor Club exclusives that showcased some of ROH's talent. In the opening bout Jonathan Gresham defeated former ROH Pure Champion John Walters. ROH Insiders Note: Before we secured another former champion for the five on five bout we offered Walters a tryout to see what he had and if needed he could be the final participant... By using him here, he'll obviously not be on the PPV. In the second Honor Club exclusive bout, Coast 2 Coast defeated Cheeseburger and Will Ferrera. Post-match Coast 2 Coast announced they were entering the Crockett Cup and were ready to boost their stock to the moon... 3... 2... 1... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The State of the Union post (up next) will highlight the current roster, the upcoming schedule. Some changes to the company, brand and style. It will answer the question, Where are the Women of Honor? It will hopefully lay out what is next! As for The Dawgs, I think we've seen the last of them as a team. Hoping to relaunch Rhett Titus as a mid card type that could even contend for a future TV title shot. If that fails... well who knows. These were tough decisions, and this gets us through the summer of AEW. I originally wasn't going to launch AEW, but I think this brings a totally new story direction and I really liked the way this went in my head... This new-ish review style will likely stay with various tweaks as it makes match reporting quick/easy while still telling the whole story. I'll also likely keep the ROH Insider Notes as a bonus to the reader telling my thoughts here and there. We will likely also peek in at other brands, companies and things around the world. If anyone wants to know how someone is doing, let me know... remember this game started in December of 2019, so a lot has changed... in fact... Lucha Underground is one of the top promotions in the world... which is annoying.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Exclusive Review of All Out, and Ring of Honor TV Wrestling Observer Newsletter Exclusive Review of All Out, and Ring of Honor TV Leading Into Death Before Dishonor With All Out landing right in the the middle of the six episode sequence leading into Death Before Dishonor this review is a bit tricky... but I think we've handled it well! So let's take a look at the major storylines leading into Death Before Dishonor! August Week 3, 2019 The show opened up with Bobby Cruise trying to get a hold of ROH World Champion, Cody, as he and his wife, Brandi, walked into the location of the show. Cody looks at Cruise and simply says I have nothing to say to you as they walked away. The first bout of the night saw one-third of the Six-Man champs, Fred Yehi defeat Tracy Williams in a technical bout. Post-Match, Team Filthy showed Williams respect and shook his hand. The next bout saw The End quickly demolish Ryan Nova and Eli Isom. The End have been on a role since kicking Matt Taven to the curb at Glory By Honor and this furthered that along nicely. Backstage, Jeff Cobb issues a challenge to "The Elite". He said this goes beyond Ring of Honor, he'll put together a team and they'll take down The Elite and begin to restore honor to Ring of Honor. Next weeks main event will be Jeff Cobb and three teammates taking on Cody, The Young Bucks and Hangman Page. One of Cody's Royalty mates, Marty Scurll defeated Jonathan Gresham in another technical bout. We got another promo for "The Prestigious One" and his impending debut! In the main event, we had a triple threat bout featuring PJ Black, Silas Young and Kenny King. Black secured the victory when he hit Deep Black on Young. ROH TV August Week 4, 2019 This episode kicked off with Low-Ki and Jay Lethal sharing an icy stare... things appeared to be getting a bit hot but suddenly Joe Hendry walked into the frame making his formal debut... he said that he's heard that Ring of Honor was about prestige, and so tonight, he believes that he should join Low-Ki, Jay Lethal and Jeff Cobb in the main event.... The first bout featured Brody King defeating Bandido, post-match, SCU tried to celebrate with Brody, but he just walked straight past them and headed to the back, leading to some speculation that Brody King resents Daniels and Kazarian for showing off AEW. The Top Guys made quick work of The Fraternity to defend their ROH Tag Titles, which led to McKnight and Walters announcing that they were in search of new contenders so they've talked to Ring of Honor officials and they are reinstating the Crockett Cup, with details to come! The eight-man tag was the main event and this one was a doozy for television as the team of Jeff Cobb, Low-Ki, Jay Lethal and the debuting Joe Hendry defeated Cody, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson and Hangman Page when Jeff Cobb hit the Tour of the Islands on Hangman Page. Solid showing for all involved. ROH TV, September Week 1, 2019 The show opened with Jeff Cobb calling Cody out, he says that Cody is a climber and has been using Ring of Honor to launch the next step in his career. He says that Cody's time with the title and in the company are about to come to an end and it'll be Jeff Cobb standing on top of the mountain... The opening bout saw BJ Whitmer and Anthony Henry (The Workhorsemen) defeat The Dawgs when Henry hit Will Ferrara with the Spinebuster. Backstage we see Marty Scurll wandering aimlessly, seeming to talk to himself muttering something about "All my friends are dead, but I'm ok" as he murmurs to himself, Brody King walks by on his way to the ring. That bout saw Brody King quickly demolish Channing Decker of the Fraternity. Backstage, Bobby Cruise catches up with The Workhorsemen, who announce they will be in the Crockett Cup tournament. Whitmer says that he's knows what it means to be a Ring of Honor Tag champion and The Workhorsemen will not only prove they are the best and will capture the cup and the titles. Tom Lawlor defeated Tracy Williams in a solid back and forth bout. Williams had Lawlor trapped in a submission, but Lawlor's MMA skills came in handy and he reversed it into a triangle choke hold for the victory. Post-match, Lawlor again mentions that he and his crew have been impressed with Tracy Williams, so he tells Williams to find two partners and at Death Before Dishonor, Team Filthy will grant them a title shot... We get a video from the farm with the Briscoes. Mark and Jay mention that Jay holds the Defy or Deny contract and whenever they want they can cash it in and capture those titles they always covet... In the main event, Jay Lethal defeated Mark Haskins in a really fun bout. The announcers made mention that Lethal has now defeated both Nick Aldis (at Sea of Honor), and Mark Haskins here. ROH TV September, Week 2, 2019 Wham, bam, thank you ma'am, this episode kicked off with PJ Black securing another victory by defeating one-third of the ROH Six-Man champs, Josh Woods. Post-bout, Tracy Williams comes down and shakes hands with PJ Black, announcers state that Williams has the title shot at Death Before Dishonor and will need two partners, and that after tonight it was clear that PJ Black would be a solid one. Back in the ring, The Bouncers (Mauler Milonas and Beer City Bruiser) defeated Ryan Nova and Eli Isom. Post-bout The Bouncers announce they will be participating in the Crockett Cup, which prompts the rest of the Kings of the Night to celebrate with champagne and cigars. Back to the ring for the third bout, Fred Yehi defeats Bandido in fun bout that matched Bandido's natural aerial skill with Yehi's ground and pound. Backstage, Joe Hendry walks past Marty Scurll who is talking to himself. Hendry tries to say hi to his "Ol' Chap" but Scurll freaks out and goes into a diatribe about how "All his friends are dead, but I'm ok" even Hendry looks weirded out as we head back to the ring. No Gimmicks Needed put their differences aside for a couple minutes and defeat Rhett Titus and Will Ferrara when Lethal hits Ferrara with the Lethal Injection. Post-match, Lethal has a microphone and calls out Aldis saying he's earned the title shot at Death Before Dishonor, Low-Ki is in the ring during this, but he walks out of the ring as Lethal is challenging Aldis which the announcers bring up. ROH TV, September Week 3 A mere day away from AEW's All Out Pay-Per-View, there was a clear nervous energy among the stars of Ring of Honor. The show opened with Dalton Castle defeating Jonathan Gresham in a bout that really disappointed, these two just didn't click and while Castle looked good, Gresham looked rusty. Post-match, Dalton Castle grabbed a microphone and cut an impassioned promo about how a couple months ago he thought he found his "Bestest" Friends and after the loss of his "Boys" he needed a group like Chuckie T and Beretta, but when he saw them proudly wearing AEW shirts he knew they were frauds, just like the ROH World Champion, Cody! He laid out a challenge for Death Before Dishonor... ROH vs. AEW, you are either with us or you are against us... and he said that he'd already recruited four "champions" of Ring of Honor for his team but that we'll have to wait to find out who they are. Up next The End destroyed the "Shinobi Submission Squad" of Eli Isom, Ryan Nova and Cheeseburger in a 2 on 3 handicapped match. Odinson and Hammerstone made quick work of them despite the numbers disadvantage, further solidifying their growth in the tag division. Post-match Hammerstone announces that The End was not only entering The Crockett Cup, but that they would win the Crockett Cup... and then single handily dismantle the Top Guys. Speaking of the Crockett Cup, we go backstage to BJ Whitmer and Anthony Henry... Whitmer says that when he returned to Ring of Honor he did so to help boost talent like Anthony Henry and with the Crockett Cup looming he realized that his heart wasn't 100% in the ring, but rather 100% with supporting the next wave... so while The Workhorsemen would still be in the Crockett Cup it would not be Whitmer wrestling, it would be Whitmer managing, the "TRUE" Workhorsemen of professional wrestling as Anthony Henry would team with a man he knew well from their time together in EVOLVE, and a man who had the "traditional" values that would make him an instant fan favorite here in Ring of Honor, J.D. Drake... Drake walks into the frame and embraces Henry... the two of them then shake hands with Whitmer and head to the ring... Back from break the new "Workhorsemen" of JD Drake and Anthony Henry defeated Brody King and Rocky Romero when Brody King refused to tag in and walked out on Romero... Daniels and Kazarian tried to reason with Brody but he just continued up the ramp and left the scene. Backstage, Jeff Cobb is approached by Cody and Davey Boy Smith... Cody says that next week Cobb will face Smith... and then turns to face Smith and says "When you win, I'll give you one of these..." the announcers mention that Cody appears to be holding a black shirt and that it is likely an AEW shirt... In the main event, Royalty's Austin Theory seems a bit distracted as he shockingly loses to Flip Gordon. Post-match, Theory flips out and destroys Gordon, sending him through the announce table as we go off the air... We get word immediately that Austin Theory has challenged Flip Gordon to a rematch at Death Before Dishonor and that we've heard rumors that Theory wants it to be a Loser Leaves Town bout......but for more on that we will need to tune in next week..... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ And now with those five episodes out of the way, let's take a look at what happened during the third Pay-Per-View of All Elite Wrestling, All Out! Prior to the pay-per-view beginning, we had a very, very mediocre bout between Kip Sabian and Sonny Kiss. Sabian won, but man this was a dud. The show kicked off with the Semi-Finals of the Tag Tournament. The Young Bucks defeated Los Gueros Del Cielo in a great bout, Jack Evans and Angelico are great workers, but don't exactly have that "it factor" when it comes to facial expressions. The bout was really fun and moved The Young Bucks into the finals... As that bout wrapped up, we saw a mystery man head to the ring... he revealed himself to be the son of a billionaire and was named "Tony Khan". Khan said that he was the man behind the propping up of Ring of Honor and when he did that, he was approached by "The Elite" with the idea to start their own promotion. Tony said he thought it over and after watching "Independents Day" realized it wasn't just a good idea, it was a great idea and so he started making some calls... well today he has loads of great news... 1) All Elite Wrestling will begin live television on Wednesday October Week 1, on the same network that once broadcast the Monday Night Wars, TNT!!! and 2) The only way to create a company that changes it the world is to make sure you have the best talents in the world and have them secured on WRITTEN deals... so with that... he pulls a stack of contracts out of his briefcase... here are the official contracts for the TOP talents in All Elite Wrestling.... Fresh off that earth-shaking announcement from Tony Khan, The Lucha Brothers defeated A Boy and His Dinosaur to ensure that they will do battle with The Young Bucks once again, with the the AEW Tag Titles on the line in the debut episode of AEW on TNT. Backstage, PAC is standing by and discusses his reasons for choosing AEW and what he is here to accomplish. Back in the ring, Leva Bates defeated Nyla Rose and Penelope Ford to clinch her spot in the AEW Women's Title bout during one of the upcoming AEW on TNT episodes. We see a cut-scene with Brandi and her monster, Awesome Kong, watching this bout in the back and the announcers hype that Kong and Bates will do battle soon. Cody and PAC head to battle next with both men nearly securing the victory, in the end, Cody captured the victory with the Cross Rhodes and proved why he is one of the best in the world at the moment. We get a hype piece announcing that Joey Janela will face Sammy Guevara in the debut episode of AEW on TNT. Up next, we got another DUD as MJF defeated Marko Stunt. Backstage we see Tony Khan sitting with Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky, he brandishes contracts and the three of them gleefully sign their written deals... Back in the ring, Shawn Spears made his AEW debut but was defeated by Adam Page in a bout that didn't live up to the hype. Backstage we see The Best Friends chatting when suddenly The Dark Order attacks them from behind. Evil Uno stares through the camera and proclaims that The Dark Order will not be left behind, and they will be heard... In our main event, Jon Moxley became the first ever AEW World Champion defeating Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega in a great bout. Moxley pinned Omega, leading to Jericho and Moxley having a long "WWE-Esque" staredown as we went off the air with the announcers hyping "WE WILL SEE YOU ON TNT!!!!" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So... with the reveal of Tony Khan as the investor who both propped up Ring of Honor and now has funded All Elite Wrestling, we head into the final television episode of ROH TV prior to Death Before Dishonor... ROH TV Sept 2019, Week 4 ... One day before Death Before Dishonor... The final episode before Death Before Dishonor saw No Gimmicks Needed working together to defeat ROH Television champion, Nick Aldis and Mark Haskins (both members of the Honor Guard) in a 4-star opening bout. Lethal hit the Lethal Injection, but Low-Ki actually tagged himself in when Lethal hit the ropes and this led to Low-Ki pinning Aldis and securing the win for his "team"...post-match, Lethal and Low-Ki have their icy stare down but both seem "happy" with a victory and now both men have pinned the ROH TV champ... Cody is out next carrying a black bag over his shoulder, he is completely alone, no Brandi, no Royalty. He calls out Jeff Cobb and says that he knows Cobb was watching AEW last night and knows that Cobb is jealous but Cody says that "contracts" don't matter to me... these do... he drops the bag and pulls out the titles he currently holds from around the World... He says when he left the WWE he set-out to prove he's the best in the world and that doesn't end with Death Before Dishonor. ... Backstage, Flip Gordon comes across Austin Theory and Priscilla Kelly. Gordon tells Theory that last week was no fluke... and that at Death Before Dishonor, he will end Theory's career... in other words he gladly accepts the challenge for a Loser Leaves Town bout... As we return to ringside the announcers state that Marty Scurll and Joe Hendry, who have a long history in England, has been booked for Death Before Dishonor! Back in the ring, Dalton Castle's crusade against "AEW" continued with a defeat of Hangman Page... post-match Castle reiterates that he has four ROH Champions ready to stand beside him at Death Before Dishonor and two of them are here now... The Top Guys step out and cut a quick promo about how they are always willing to fight the Young Bucks and this seems like as good of a reason as they are going to find... We get another promo from "The Farm" with the Briscoes training outside, Mark and Jay mention the Crockett Cup and say that as 10-time Ring of Honor champions it only seems logical that they continue to prove they are the best in the world... The announcers speculate this was their way of announcing they were entering the Crockett Cup, but this was unconfirmed. Backstage, PJ Black and Tracy Williams are standing by, they say that they've found a third member who "hasn't had a ton of success here in Ring of Honor, but has found it all over the world, and while Ring of Honor seems to be in need of a fresh talent injection, this guy needs to be showcased..." Bandido joins them and PJ Black formally names the group "Lifeblood". They'll face Team Filthy at Death Before Dishonor! In the main event, Jeff Cobb defeated Davey Boy Smith Jr in a solid, three star bout. Cody was on the announce table during this one and seemed slightly perturbed that his "Royalty" enforcer couldn't further weaken his Death Before Dishonor opponent... ------------------------------------------------------- Death Before Dishonor IX Preview Death Before Dishonor World Championship Cody, the second longest reigning Ring of Honor World Champion, behind only Samoa Joe's 21 month reign, is set to put his title on the line once again against Jeff Cobb in what many are speculating will be Cody's final appearance for Ring of Honor. Jeff Cobb won last months Sea of Honor tournament to earn this shot and this will be his third opportunity one on one against Cody this year. He failed to capture the title at both Manhattan Mayhem and Supercard of Honor, but now seems poised to cash-in on Cody's recent distractions. Cody meanwhile has been bouncing around the world, featuring heavily on AEW's push towards television and even capturing the ZERO1 World Title during a recent stint in Japan. He's said that Titles are all that matter to him, but many fans point out that he is listed as an EVP for AEW and many speculate he's received one of those Written Contracts Tony Khan flaunted at All Out... Loser Leaves Town The 2019 Top Prospect, Austin Theory made an instant impact on Ring of Honor when he not only won the tournament, but promptly captured the Television title and aligned with Cody in joining his Royalty faction. Recently Austin Theory has stumbled a bit but the 22-year old remains one of the brightest future stars on this roster. His shocking loss to 24-year old Flip Gordon last week served as a reminder that not everything is easy when it comes to climbing to the top... Theory though doesn't seem to like other "Young Guns" aiming for him and has challenge Flip Gordon to a rematch with their ROH contracts on the line. With all that we've seen about AEW, one has to expect that one of these guys may be jumping ship and this is a nice way to write them off, but our sources don't give us any leads and neither man has featured at all on Being The Elite or at any AEW shows... So this is a wild card bout. ROH "Champions" vs. AEW Defectors Dalton Castle openly stated that he felt betrayed when he saw his "Bestest Friends" Beretta and Chuckie T don AEW shirts last month. Dalton Castle, one of ROH's homegrown stars, has issued a challenge to take on The Best Friends, The Young Bucks and Hangman Page, all five of whom have held ROH titles, but have pledged themselves to AEW. For his own partners, Dalton Castle has promised that he'll bring his own ROH Champions, and introduced current Tag Champions, The Top Guys as his first two partners... Who will he find for his final two "Champions" and will they be able to defeat their opponents? British Scrappers Do Battle "The Villain" Marty Scurll has found himself as the fourth member of Royalty for many months now and that seems to have shaken him. Recently we've seen Scurll wandering around mumbling about how all "his friends are dead, but I'm ok"... this led to a run-in with a man who he is all to familiar with from his time in England, "The Prestigious One" Joe Hendry. Hendry debuted in ring a few weeks back, helping his team to victory over a team comprised of "The Elite". Last week Hendry and Scurll had a slight run-in and that leads to this match. With Scurll seemingly listless, and Hendry on the rise, who will capture the bout... SoCal... Uncensored. A few months back, Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian and Rocky Romero, known as SoCal Uncensored 2.0, recruited one of the recent breakout stars of Cali Independent wrestling as their heavy metal Bodyguard, and that is exactly what Brody King has been up until recently... As Kazarian and Daniels began their dalliance with AEW and Romero has turned his focus back to NJPW and their expansion, Brody was left behind to fend for himself. He's blossomed without them and when the crew tried to take credit, Brody took exception. Ignoring the group and frequently going about it without them led to Christopher Daniels stripping Brody King of his SoCal Uncensored jacket and challenging him to a one on one bout at Death Before Dishonor. Team Filthy Takes On Lifeblood The Six-Man tag titles have been held by a ton of different units during their relatively short existence, but Team Filthy may be one of the strong technical units we've seen. Over the last six weeks they've picked out Tracy Williams as a man they both had interest in and respect for. That led to Tom Lawlor telling Williams to pick two partners and do battle for the titles... During this time, Williams recruited PJ Black and Bandido and formed a unit they are calling "Lifeblood". This unit will challenge Team Filthy for the belts in what will be their official debut as a team... will they capture them? Tune-in... Dreams of Television Gold Thaw Friendships For months now, Low-Ki and Jay Lethal's tenuous friendship has seemed to be on the verge of destruction, but everytime the two ROH originals seem to find themselves together again. Now with Nick Aldis defending his ROH Television title against both men in a triple-threat we are bound to see them come to blows! This originally seemed like it would just be Lethal vs. Aldis, but Low-Ki secured a pinfall over Aldis yesterday as we wrapped television and now he's been added. On the surface it seems like the champion is actually the underdog, but as we've learned, The National Treasure, Nick Aldis should NEVER be counted out, and Lethal and Low-Ki are bound to destroy eachother before they destroy him... This one will be fun! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And with that we are almost all caught up. I'll write-up Death Before Dishonor similar to the last two PPV's and then we will have a Ring of Honor STATE OF THE UNION as we kick off October 2019. This state of the union will help reset the whole story and allow anyone to jump in at this point. There will be a roster post, champions update, Honor Club details, an update on the seemingly MIA women's division, a schedule update, and more... One thing I will say, I feel like I have a couple too many "tournament" style events (Calle Del Dorado, Survival of the Fittest, Sea of Honor etc) so the Crockett Cup will actually be formatted a bit more like a "World Tag League", eight teams, in two pools, winners of each pool face off.

Chris Jericho's Rock N Rager at Sea! Chris Jericho's Rock N Rager at Sea! Volume Deux: Second Wave Live from somewhere near Hawaii, aboard the Jericholic Bubbly... Hey, hey fans, back again with a quick recap of the Sea of Honor tournament and the Chris Jericho Rock N Rager at Sea that just took place. Coming to you live from the ship, so apologies for any errors... Live from the Pacific Ocean, somewhere near Hawaii on a cruise ship packed with Jericholics and general wrestling fans. This here is the second edition of the cruise, and this time the waters rough for Ring of Honor, especially after the recent revelation that Chris Jericho would be joining All Elite Wrestling and would headline their major pay-per-view next month against Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega. Jericho though honored his contract to host the Sea of Honor tournament, and here on the cruise fans would be treated to seven bouts to determine the new #1 Contender for the ROH World Title. Days before the show though, Jericho threw a wrench in the plans of ROH having an "uncontested" night when he announced that the show would also feature two All Elite Wrestling showcase bout featuring some of the stars of All Elite Wrestling! This once again felt like a slap in the face of Ring of Honor, who had agreed to an exclusive broadcasting deal with Jericho for the cruise, but also stated that all "production decisions" were up to Jericho. The tournament itself kicked off with CMLL's "El Toro Blanco" RUSH defeating Chris Jericho's wildcard, Brian Myers. This bout was really solid given that Myers hasn't had a great run in ROH yet. This really did showcase Myers ability as a wrestler, but ultimately RUSH was too much for him to handle... We then went to one of the live podcast segments, where the hosts were talking to Royalty. During the conversation Cody was asked about what it means to be World Champion, but before he could answer Austin Theory interrupted him and talked about what it will mean when they capture all the belts and rule the world of wrestling. Davey Boy Smith was next and gave a bit of a run-on speech about how Royalty is conquering everything. Cody ultimately bid adieu to the group during this segment to go "prepare" for his next big interview. Strange segment, but it did show that there might be some turmoil bubbling in Royalty. In the second bout of the night Low-Ki defeated Fred Yehi in a really solid bout between two undersized grapplers. Low-Ki's Stomp proved too much for Yehi, but both men seemed to have mutual respect for each other and this was a bout I'd love to see again when the company is on stable ground. Up next was scheduled to be a live "Talk is Jericho" segment, but before it could begin, Kenny Omega made an appearance and interrupted Jericho. They talked about their history and how they have a strange mutual respect and hatred for one another. Omega said that when he and "the boys" were talking about starting "All Elite Wrestling" they knew they needed more star-power... Jericho took over at this point and mentioned that he wasn't just "star-power" he was the STAR. The segment ended with both men in a staredown and Atlas Security forcing them apart. In the third first round bout we got a bit of storytelling, and a nearly **** bout out of Jay Lethal and Nick Aldis. Lethal defeated the television champion with the Lethal Injection and the announcers speculated that he was likely now first in line for a TV Title shot back in Ring of Honor. They also pointed out that with one more win each, Low-Ki and Lethal would have to face each other in the finals of the event. This brought the "The Elite" crew of Kenny Omega, Cody, The Young Bucks and Hangman Page for a quick little Q&A. Obviously, much of this was focused on All Elite Wrestling and what it meant for their respective careers as "independent" wrestlers. Cody took the lead here and said that "While we are starting a brand-new company, with a brand-new focus, we are still driven to be the best in the world. I, for example, will be in Japan for Pro Wrestling ZERO1 next week as I will do battle with Ryoji Sai for the ZERO1 World Heavyweight title, which I will capture and bring to All Out along with the Ring of Honor World Heavyweight championship." ... Ultimately Chris Jericho came out again and had this to say... "As most of you know, I've promised you fine folks two All Elite Wrestling showcase bouts... well... Hangman Page, you and I are going to be doing battle right here in this very ring after the next bout... so you better go get your gear on buddy..." Back in the ring the first round wrapped up with Jeff Cobb defeating Will Ospreay in another near **** bout. This tournament may feel a bit rushed, but it is certainly proving that Ring of Honor still has top of the barrel level wrestling and that is great to see. Cobb moves on and will face Jay Lethal in the second round... We get a promo for the soon to be debuting "Prestigious One" Joe Hendry. This same promo aired on ROH TV last week and just seems to be reminding fans that new faces are on the way. Back in the ring the first AEW Showcase bout took place as Chris Jericho defeated Hangman Page in a bout that was used to showcase that Jericho can still go, and has a legitimate chance to capture the AEW World title at their All Out show in just three weeks time. Backstage again Cody walks into the Royalty suite proudly wearing his AEW shirt. Marty Scurll approaches him and says that "Royalty is a family, and we are all such a close-knit group... we are all ready to commit to..." but before he can finish Cody stops him and tells him that he may be an EVP of AEW and while Royalty is "family" he can't just be giving out AEW shirts without consulting the rest of the crew... This seems to chap Scurll who just walks out muttering something about "all my friends are dead but I am fine"... The second round of the Sea of Honor kicks off with Jeff Cobb inching closer to the title shot as he defeated Jay Lethal in a true **** classic. Both men looked like they had a shot to win, but ultimately Cobb's strength and perhaps the view of the Hawaiian islands propelled him to victory with a Tour of the Islands suplex. On the way out of the ring, Jay Lethal passes the entering Low-Ki, Low-Ki smirks and says, he's going to get this done... We then pan to another podcast segment with The Top Guys on the Top Deck. The Top Guys cut a promo about being the best team in the world and how they proved it to the Young Bucks so much so that Matt and Nick felt like they needed to create their own promotion to avoid continuing to lose to them. In the other Semi-Final bout, CMLL's RUSH scored the upset over Low-Ki in another **** bout. RUSH's victory came as a surprise to most seeing as he is a member of the CMLL roster. This also further cemented the fact that neither Low-Ki or Jay Lethal could reach the finals as a solo act. Up next we saw a gritty, training camp style promo with the Briscoe Brothers live from "The Farm". Jay stares into the lens and mentions how the Defy or Deny match gives him the right to claim any title shot he wants... he says he and his brother are officially putting all of Ring of Honor on notice. Dem Boyz are coming for gold. The second AEW showcase bout featured two teams that are very familiar to Ring of Honor fans as SoCal Uncensored's Daniels and Kazarian defeated The Best Friends. Fun *** match here, but nothing special. Nice tag-team showcase... Post-match, The Elite (Omega, Cody, Young Bucks, Page) comes out to the ring carrying AEW shirts, they are joined in the ring by Scorpio Sky and they pass out the shirts to the guys signifying they are formally part of the "roster"... In the finals of the Sea of Honor tournament Jeff Cobb defeated RUSH in a sloppy bout that honestly disappointed. Cobb looked a bit gassed and RUSH and he just didn't connect. That said, this meant that next month at Death Before Dishonor, Jeff Cobb officially had secured his title shot against Cody. As the match ended Jeff Cobb called for a microphone but instead was greeted by the AEW crew, led by Kenny Omega, who congratulated him on a great bout and offered him a spot on the All Out Pay-Per-View! Jeff Cobb nodded his head to seemingly approve and then spoke.... "Boys... that's quite an honor coming from you.... Especially immediately I won the right to take the big gold belt off of Cody's waist at DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR... And I'd like to think that name is apropos... Ring of Honor gave me life... This means, I'll take DEATH... BEFORE DISHONOR... He then immediately laid into Cody but was instantly overwhelmed by the much larger AEW contingency. The Ring of Honor crew that participated in the Sea of Honor tournament and some of the others who just happened to be on the cruise (like the Top Guys) all rushed the ring and we had 20+ men throwing punches as security rushed the ring to try and separate the groups.................... Recap: Well, this show in the traditional sense wasn't a "Ring of Honor" show. While it aired on Honor Club and will be promoted on the website, it was designed more to find the #1 contender for Death Before Dishonor and further push this developing AEW vs ROH angle that has been brewing since the private investor who helped launch AEW, helped prop up Ring of Honor after their financial short-comings early this summer. Jeff Cobb's refusal to join the AEW crew and Cody telling Royalty they weren't automatically in AEW are the first signs that ROH may be fighting back and helping to push this story to the media. Long-term I think it is becoming obvious that AEW and ROH will be going separate directions, but for now we haven't heard if any of the contracts that either company has issued are "Written" or if they are willing to work together for the betterment of pro wrestling.... With All Out now just three weeks away, and Death Before Dishonor looming in six weeks were are bound to see this continue to shake out... That's all we have today, next-up we will recap the next few weeks of ROH Television and likely have an update on AEW All Out, stay tuned!

Interesting spin after a killer finish to the season "finale". Should be a fun 2020.

Build-Up To The Sea of Honor and the Path Beyond Wrestling Observer Newsletter Mid-August 2019 Ring of Honor and The Elite's Questionable "Partnership" WON Staff Immediately following the tumultuous finish to Ring of Honor's Glory By Honor looming largely over the fans of the company, All Elite Wrestling officially promoted their second card the next week. This card was coming one month off the heels of the very successful Independents Day promoted by The Elite and partially assisted by Ring of Honor, this card, known as Double or Nothing was set to capture the eyeballs of the country as it promised to be the first show truly promoted by this crew and without help from an established company. Let's take a quick look at that event especially at how it impacted Ring of Honor. WON Quick Review of AEW's Double or Nothing Event To kick-off their second official "show" they aired two bouts on YouTube for free prior to the official start off the card, this started with a comedy bout featuring Orange Cassidy defeating Michael Nakazawa and then a women's battle royal that was won by Awesome Kong. That victory we were told, guaranteed her something big that would be announced on the main card... As we transitioned to the main card, we were greeted by The Young Bucks, Cody and a surprise guest, Dustin Rhodes. They mentioned that tonight they would do battle, but this match wasn't just a "match" it was the start of something much bigger. It was the start of an eight-team Tag Tournament that would lead to the first All Elite Wrestling Tag Team Champions being crowned at a future show. This began the cementing that this group wasn't going anywhere... Brandi Rhodes immediately doubled down saying that Awesome Kong has secured her place in the Women's Title match, and her opponent will be determined next month at the next official event... ALL OUT. The first official bout of the night was a bout without rules, promoted as the "Cracker Barrel Clash" as Darby Allin, Jimmy Havoc and Joey Janela went at it for a solid 15 minutes, all three took a large amount of damage, with Allin taking a psychotic bump off the top rope, through a barrel filled with thumbtacks on the ground. Janela wound up pinning Allin and winning the bout. We got a promo announcing "Perfect10n" Shawn Spears was All Elite, it ended with a quick shot of the former Tye Dillinger wearing the same AEW t-shirt we saw Cody and crew put on at the end of Glory by Honor. Further confirming this was a real company and would be going straight for the jugular. In the next bout we saw two of the brightest young stars in the company do battle as Sammy Guevara, who recently has been pushed as Konnan's disciple and potential main event superstar in MLW, defeating Hangman Page. I'll be honest, this match wowed me, these guys are both destined to be stars in this industry, and while Page hasn't been used phenomenally well in Ring of Honor, it seems his friendship with "The Elite" is really going to help him. Backstage we see MJF antagonizing the "Fun Size" Marko Stunt... Stunt looks rattled and it rolls into his awful bout with "The Librarian" Peter Avalon. Avalon wins after "The Librarian" Leva Bates, distracts Stunt by reading a book to the childish star... DUD. Who thought The Librarian was a gimmick we needed... though it is unique. Up next we see SoCal Uncensored, Christopher Daniels mentions that some have been saying father-time has gotten the best of him, but he wholeheartedly disagrees. With that said though, in the tag tournament it'll be Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky representing SCU! In the first tag tournament bout, A Boy and His Dinosaur (Luke Perry's son Jungle Boy and the utterly bizarre Luchasaurus) defeated Private Party (a team that appears to be a take on the short-lived NXT Street Profits that popped the crowd for a bit until Angelo Dawkins took off for the main roster). Perhaps the whole reason this write-up is necessary for Ring of Honor fans occurred next as Alex Shelley made a shocking appearance at this event. Shelley walked out in a Ring of Honor shirt with a live microphone and called Cody out for treason. He said a champion should also represent the company that gave him the opportunity to be a "WORLD CHAMPION" and not promote his own interests... He produced a contract from his pocket signed by ROH's CEO Cary Silkin, he told Cody that tomorrow night, on Ring of Honor Television, Cody would be in a Fatal-4-Way known as "Defy or Deny". If Cody won, all three other competitors would not be able to challenge for the title for as long as Cody held it. But if he didn't win... then the winner would receive any title shot he wanted, at any time! He also added that if Cody was pinned, then whoever pinned him would immediately become the new Ring of Honor Champion, and if Cody wasn't pinned, then whoever was would also be unable to challenge for the World Title until it changed hands... And this bout will feature Cody, Shelley, and two of Ring of Honor's finest, Jay Briscoe and Jeff Cobb. This led to the next tag tournament bout, which featured the Lucha Bros, and the Best Friends. The former Ring of Honor six-man champions, Chuckie T and Trent surprised the audience when the walked out wearing matching AEW shirts, signifying they had joined the group committed to AEW. The bout itself was another great one, and saw Rey Fenix hit a huge Destroyer on Chuckie T for the victory. Let's just say this, the in-ring product here has a shot to be the best on the air. Post-match, The Dark Order, most famously known as the Super Smash Bros, laid waste to The Best Friends and left them in a wreckage of bodies just like they did at Independents Day. The Dark Order has made a point here, they aren't just here to be lip-service to the "bigger name" teams. In the third tag tournament bout we saw the victims of The Dark Order's first attack, Jack Evans and Angelico (Los Gueros del Cielo) surprise everyone when they defeated Kazarian and Scorpio Sky in an average bout. Up next we got another surprise AEW addition as PAC was announced as being "Elite". In the main event The Young Bucks defeated The Brotherhood (Cody and Dustin Rhodes) in a wonderful bout that showed a depth of story-telling we haven't seen in a long while. Post-match all four men embraced and donned AEW shirts. Kenny Omega made his entrance and joined them and they all headed to the back, celebrating the success of the show... As the fans were leaving, Omega stepped back out from behind the curtain and made a curtain call of sorts... only to be interrupted by.... <iframe width="187" height="105" src=" https://www.youtube.com/embed/lqURPBtGJzg" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe> "Judas" by Fozzy plays Chris Jericho came out to a huge and shocked reaction. Omega called for an AEW shirt, but Jericho stopped him and did his usual spiel about how he's the world's best and no "company" can be launched without a "BIT OF THE BUBBLY" he called for some champagne, and of-course some "Non-Alcoholic" Cider for Omega but instead of champagne.... <iframe width="187" height="105" src=" https://www.youtube.com/embed/TMeI87nEyv0" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe> Jon Moxley came out and immediately began brawling with both Jericho and Omega... all three men were separated by Atlas Security, but Moxley had a microphone and he dropped this bomb.... "Well, well, well... Kenny Omega, you may think your the best in the world.... and Chris Jericho.... you may think it is you.... but last week I received a call from the man with the money... and well... Next Month, at All Out... We are going to crown our first-ever champion and it's going to be us three doing battle until we are all nearly dead, and I am standing on-top of the mountain." Oh my... All Elite Wrestling is for real and well... they aren't to be messed with... But I am very curious to see how this will change the next few months for Ring of Honor. We've already seen nine of their performers don AEW t-shirts, but will they still perform for ROH? We shall see... We have confirmed that All Out is booked for the final day of September, meaning we have eight TV episodes of ROH and two pay-per-views prior to that event... Could this be the end for some of the critical stars of ROH? Well... let's take a look at how they handled it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ring of Honor Television August 2019 Week 1 and 2 review With a quick transition from Glory By Honor, into two weeks of television then straight to the cruiseship for the second annual Chris Jericho Rock and Rager at Sea we were bound to see some forced storylines, but this year's Rager took a new tone when Chris Jericho not only debuted at All Elite Wrestling's Double or Nothing, but was named to their Main Event for their biggest show yet in eight weeks... until then though, he was still booked to promote the Sea of Honor event on his private cruise... Television kicked off with one-third of the ROH Six-Man tag champions, Fred Yehi defeating Bandido in a solid, but unspectacular bout. Bandido is a solid wrestler, but it's more flash than anything right now. As for Yehi, he's really found a foothold, and really looks like the star behind the mouthpiece that is "Filthy" Tom Lawlor and his fight team. Up next we see a highlight from Glory By Honor with The End "crippling" Matt Taven and ending their relationship with him. This led into a quick neutering by The End of The Dawgs. The End really looks like a team that might be able to make the jump from lackeys to the forefront in the future. Up next we see a highlight from last night's Double or Nothing and go over the Defy or Deny announcement. All four competitors are interviewed with only Cody truly objecting. Cody said he has put this company on his back for two years and this is how they repay him. He says that it is ludicrous to think he'll lose, but that he shouldn't even be in this scenario. Up next PJ Black scored a win over Kenny King after Silas Young was seen making some "deal" with the Kings of the Night security at ringside. This clearly impacted King, and allowed Black to secure the win. Post-Match, Brian Myers had to walk King to the back and promise him that there was still a party awaiting them in this s***-hole town. Austin Theory and Davey Boy Smith Jr., make a rare "solo" appearance, representing Royalty, but without Cody. They call out the Honor Guard and target ROH Television champ Nick Aldis. Theory says he wants his revenge and his title back and he and Davey Boy will be seeing to it... Aldis comes out but he isn't alone as Mark Haskins and Will Ospreay join him... this prompts "The Villain" Marty Scurll to come out and even things up, all three men have a stare-down before Marty speaks he says next week, he wants to face Haskins, one on one... and if he wins... then Davey Boy Smith and Austin Theory will face Nick Aldis and Will Ospreay, and WHEN, not if, they win, then both Smith and Theory will get a television title shot. Scurll called himself the "Dealbroker" of Royalty and said this deal was done... Back from the break, we ran down the details of the Defy or Deny bout and then saw all four men make their entrance. Cody played it safe throughout this one and really avoided much of the battle. It was clear he was content with not losing his title and just watching three of the best ROH has to offer do battle. He did try to a steal a pinfall when Cobb was laid out, but was unceremoniously tossed from the ring by Jay Briscoe. This was one of the best televised bouts ROH has put on in a bit and the finish really shocked me... Jeff Cobb delivered a Tour of the Islands to Alex Shelley, but Jay Briscoe snuck-up from behind Cobb and managed to hit him with the Jay-Driller. With both Cobb and Shelley out, Cody could have chosen to battle Briscoe, but he instead high-tailed it up the ramp, leaving Briscoe to pick a fallen body to cover... he chose Alex Shelley and made the cover for the win. Jay Briscoe won the Defy or Deny bout, and the announcers immediately mentioned that Jay and Mark have both discussed wanting to recapture the ROH Tag Titles, that is their primary focus and as such, they speculated that this victory was two-fold for Cody as well as Jay Briscoe. First, Alex Shelley can no longer challenge for Cody's title and two, Jay Briscoe will likely use his Defy or Deny contract to challenge "The Top Guys" with his brother, rather than Cody. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- August Week 2, 2019 Television Recap Two Honor Club Exclusives were taped pre-show. TK O'Ryan defeated Eli Isom in a bout that actually showcased that Isom may have a shot at being a star in the future, and Coast 2 Coast defeated The Fraternity in a bout that showcased both teams. Television kicked off with Marty Scurll defeating Mark Haskins in a solid bout that proved Scurll self-appointed nickname the "Dealbroker" as his victory secured his Royalty mates Davey Boy Smith Jr and Austin Theory would be able to challenge Will Ospreay and Nick Aldis in the main event. Up next we get a video hyping the upcoming debut of "A Real Man's Man", "The Prestigious One" Joe Hendry. Hendry has recently been on Impact! Wrestling and has been a fan favorite in the North American market with his extremely charismatic personality. This promo highlighted that a bit, and really was a solid promotion of a soon-to-debut star. Something we haven't seen a ton of from Ring of Honor. In the next bout, PJ Black defeated Silas Young, last week it seemed like "The Last Real Man" Silas Young was making a deal with the Kings of the Night Security, but they weren't anywhere to be see... in fact, after the bout, King, and his Security Detail ran to the ring and beat down both competitors... well, King and Shane Taylor did. Brian Myers joined in but was there more for star-power. Beer City Bruiser and the newly renamed Mauler Milonas seemed more interested in some beer that a fan in the front row shared with them... needless to say, this bout clearly was building to a bigger conflict between Kenny King, Silas Young and PJ Black, while also continuing to promote "The Bouncers" Milonas and Bruiser as fun-loving drunks and Shane Taylor as the true muscle... should be interesting to see this develop. Up next we get a video formally announcing the eight competitors for the Sea of Honor tournament that will be held during the Rock and Rager at Sea. This felt rushed, but Ring of Honor clearly wanted to make sure Chris Jericho still wanted them before promoting something only to be hi-jacked by The Elite. We were first told that the winner of the tournament would get to face the Ring of Honor World Champion, Cody, at Death Before Dishonor, in September. The eight competitors were announced with a snazzy video. Six were handpicked by Ring of Honor officials as they felt they represented the best interests of "the brand moving forward"... 1) Low-Ki (The Original Ring of Honor champion) 2) Jay Lethal (The Ring of Honor Grand-Slam Man) 3) Nick Aldis (The current ROH Television Champ) 4) Will Ospreay (One of the proud members of the Honor Guard and a true threat) 5) Fred Yehi (The strongest member of the ROH Six-Man Champs, a true submission magician) 6) Jeff Cobb (The lone survivor, a man that has wrecked havoc in ROH but hasn't quite reached the top). They also announced that the contract they had gave Chris Jericho one wildcard as part of their contract with him... with that he selected a man he was familiar with from the WWE.... 7) Brian Myers (Part of the Kings of the Night, and widely seen as a poor pick) They also granted their partners CMLL/NJPW/RPW the right to name one wildcard... that man... was selected, and will represent CMLL.... 8) RUSH (El Toro Blanco, one of the best wrestlers in the world will represent the strength of the ROH alliance of partners that is still strong!) We also got a first glance at the bracket... Fred Yehi vs. Low-Ki Brian Myers vs. Rush Jay Lethal vs Nick Aldis Jeff Cobb vs. Will Ospreay As we processed this it became clear... there was a chance Low-Ki and Jay Lethal's questionable alliance could be put to the test in the finals if both made it that far!!! But also that there was a legitimate chance that the next Ring of Honor World Champion was in this group... In the main event, Will Ospreay and Nick Aldis defeated Austin Theory and Davey Boy Smith Jr., Smith appeared frustrated with Theory's arrogance, perhaps the first crack in Royalty's armor during this whole AEW debacle... and with the victory, Aldis and Ospreay prevent Theory and Smith from getting a crack at the TV title. Overall, solid two episodes that moved forward a couple storylines and promoted the rushed Sea of Honor tournament... Which speaking of... in our next release we'll have an exclusive quick preview of... We've been told that Chris Jericho is honoring his pre-existing contract with Ring of Honor, but will be using the show to also promote two All Elite Wrestling showcases. All told there will be nine bouts, and we will have those details in our next Wrestling Observer update. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Thank you! This is the exact reason I write. It is fun to tell stories, and throw in random details about the lower mid-card. In fact as this story we are currently telling progresses through the next set of TV tapings (from the Sea of Honor until Death Before Dishonor) I'm planning to fully detail the roster and where we are at as we head into October 2019... It is funny to think, I started this in December 2017, but thanks to some delays (both intentional and unintentional) we are on virtually the same-timeline. That has allowed me to take from reality and mix it with the game into what I think is a really unique/semi-different story. I like to add details and build off both reality and what I want to tell and I think the BCB/Milonas stuff highlights that in a very minor way. Glad you caught it! Funny enough I glanced at ROH this week for their real shows and they had Bruiser and Milonas enter from the bar. Not sure if they've been doing this, but it's a perfect entrance.

This is a fun read. Love diaries that push people you don't necessarily know as much. Keep it up.

ROH World Championship [ROH] Jeff Cobb © vs. [NJPW] Minoru Suzuki WOH World Championship [ROH] Kelly Klein © vs. [sHIMMER] Mercedes Martinez ROH World Tag Team Championships [CMLL] Dragon Lee & Rush © vs. [ROH] Brody King & PCO ROH World Six Man Tag Team Championships [ROH] Lethal & Lifeblood (Haskins & Williams) © vs. [NJPW] Bullet Club (Chase Owens, El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori) ROH Honor Club Championship [ROH] Jonathan Gresham © vs. [RevPro] Chris Brookes [ROH] Jay Briscoe vs. [Free Agent] ??? Going with A-Double, Austin Aries making a shocking return to ROH... and then stealing a shocking victory. [NJPW] KENTA vs. [ROH] Matt Taven [ROH] Flip Gordon vs. [NJPW] Jushin Thunder Liger [ROH] Dalton Castle vs. [The World] ??? Who will accept Dalton Castle’s pre-show Open Challenge? Ryusuke Taguchi... make a bit of a comedy bout? I have no clue really... Castle wins.

<p>Ring of Honor Issues Statement On All Elite Wrestling</p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Ring of Honor Issues Statement on All Elite Wrestling</span></span></strong></p></div><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>From The Desk of ROH CEO Cary Silkin</em></p><p> </p><p> In 2002 we were founded as the young, punchy, upstart that faced an uphill climb. 17 years later we are still punchy, and still willing to prove to the fans that we have what it takes to continue to earn their eyeballs. Earlier this year, as many of you have heard, we made a poor financial decision and that required us to take on investment from outside sources... and well, that is true. We needed an investment to stay afloat through the summer and fortunately, with many thanks to Cody, and the Young Bucks, we found that investor really quickly. We will keep the financial details private, but we took on the investment and feel confident that we received enough to stay afloat and once again reach the pinnacle. As part of that deal we agreed to broadcast and produce the Independents Day show that "The Elite" put on, that show was a massive success and congratulations is due to all involved. Fortunately for us, it also demonstrated that there is a global demand for more and more wrestling. </p><p> </p><p> We have always prided ourselves on developing the next wave of superstars and we will continue to do that. We believe that performers should all have the ability to control their own destinies, but honestly we never imagined any of them taking it to the level that we saw at Glory By Honor. Cody, Matt and Nick Jackson, Hangman Page, Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian have all been critical to our recent growth and we are optimistic that they will continue to perform at their peak levels for us while we work to figure out the current contract situation, but their defiant act of introducing a new company on our airwaves was one that truly struck a chord with many in the back. As many die-hards know, historically Ring of Honor has never issued "Written" contracts as we believe that workers should and will build their brand, but we've also never faced such a threat as seeing our current Ring of Honor World Champion announce that he is part of another group that will potentially be promoting cards against our own. Inherently, while we wish All Elite Wrestling well, we are hereby announcing that we will no longer be promoting cards with them and will not be working directly with them. And with that said, we'd are proud to announce that the day after "Double or Nothing", <strong>Cody</strong> will be in a <em>Defy or Deny</em> match with three of Ring of Honor's finest. If Cody wins, all three men can not challenge for the title as long as Cody remains champion. If one of the other three men win, they receive a title shot of their choosing, and whomever they pin will not be able to challenge for any title until that title changes hands... The other three competitors, I can now announce, for our first television taping after Glory By Honor will be <strong>Jeff Cobb, Alex Shelley and Jay Briscoe</strong>. We are also willing to state that thanks to a previous agreement with Chris Jericho, we will still be promoting the second annual Chris Jericho's Rock and Rager at Sea "Sea of Honor" tournament with the winner receiving a World Title shot on our September Pay-Per-View, <strong>DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR</strong>. So with that, "All Elite" we say, bring it on!</p>

Ring of Honor Presents: Glory By Honor Ring of Honor Presents: Glory By Honor Live on Pay-Per-View

Ring of Honor July 2019 Television Recap Ring of Honor July Television Recap Ring of Honor's July 2019 Television consisted of four episodes leading into the Glory by Honor Pay-Per-View, there were a number of storylines progressed here, and these are the highlights of the shows... Alex Shelley Calls Out Cody; Asks Him Who His Friends Really Are?! Following the major announcement that Cody would be in one of the Co-Main Events at the independently promoted Independents Day event facing his brother, Dustin Rhodes, Alex Shelley made a point to come out and immediately calls out Cody for no representing the Ring of Honor brand as its champion and always putting his own interests ahead of the companies. Shelley says that in a time of need, he has always been there for Ring of Honor, and that Cody was here as more of a personal project. Shelley says he knows he has failed before, and knows that he has let Ring of Honor down before, but now in the face of immense adversity, he would be here to take home the Ring of Honor World Championship and would show Ring of Honor what a real champion looks like. The next week Cody and Royalty made their appearance, fresh off a hugely successful Independents Day event, that was available to Honor Club subscribers, where he defeated his older brother Dustin Rhodes in a brutal, and bloody bout, Cody came out to say that he's been here nearly two years and the whole time he's always said that he's a Free Agent and a man who will travel the world to face the best and beat the best. He said that Independents Day was merely a statement that only the elite of us are bigger than this business and that here in Ring of Honor, Royalty reigns supreme...and that is because of HIM. He said that Alex Shelley felt like making a surprise appearance (which you can read about in our recap below) at Independents Day in an effort to insult Cody and ruin a moment, so much so that at Glory by Honor he will not only dismantle Alex Shelley, he will pick him limb from limb, and once again prove he is the Best WORLD Champion. The next week, two weeks away from the PPV, Alex Shelley was out to challenge any member of Royalty to face him in the television main event. His open challenge was answered by Davey Boy Smith Jr. and he and Shelley had a pay-per-view worth bout to close out this episode. Smith beat Shelley down for much of the match, but the #1 Contender took home the victory with a solid comeback sequence and the Sliced Bread #2. With Glory by Honor looming, Shelley showed he could withstand a beating and still win. In the final episode, Cody once again had words for Shelley... He pointed out that he had faced Shelley one on one twice in 2018, and beat him both times. He played highlights from both victories. He said that now, Cody was bigger, better, stronger and Shelley was on his last legs. He said he felt like this was Shelley's last shot to prove he wasn't a has-been. So at Glory by Honor the Ring of Honor World Championship will be defended by Cody against Alex Shelley. This is a bitter rivalry and now with Ring of Honor heading into a new era it's a challenging time. Cody clearly has bigger plans and his recent performance at Independents Day further proves that idea. In fact, many of us have heard the murmurs that he and the rest of the Being the Elite crew have been actively soliciting offers... The Top Guys and The Briscoe Brothers Tag Titles Fresh off the victory over the Young Bucks in the Watts Rules bout at Best in the World, The Top Guys were in the main event against The Best Friends, after delivering another strong victory, KC McKnight and Steven Walters called out the Briscoe Brothers and laid out the challenge for what would be a dream-match for many. The next week it was the Briscoe Brothers turn in the main event as Jay and Mark demolished the fun-loving Fraternity (Channing Decker and Trent Gibson). After the bout The Briscoes immediately accepted the challenge and stated they wanted to tear the house down and prove who the real "Top Guys" in Tag Team Wrestling are. We saw some video highlights to hype the bout over the next two weeks, but both teams were held off the air to help build the rivalry. At Glory By Honor arguably the two best teams in all tag team wrestling The Top Guys and The Briscoe Brothers will lock horns for the Ring of Honor Tag Team Titles. The King of the Television Title Kenny King is a multiple-time Ring of Honor Television champion, not to mention a bonafide reality TV star. During week three, the Honor Guard (minus Shelley, who was prepping for the main event) was assaulted in the back by the Kings of the Night. Nick Aldis was left bloodied by Kenny King and with that in mind Kenny King earned himself a Television title shot when in the Main Event of Week Four he and his teammates (Shane Taylor and Brian Milonas) secured a victory over Mark Haskins, Will Ospreay and Nick Aldis. King pinned Haskins, but made it very clear he had his eyes on Aldis and the TV title. To make matters worse, as the Honor Guard was leaving, Brian Myers, Shane Taylor, The Beer City Bruiser and Brian Milonas laid waste to the three-men, while King yelled at his charges. He proudly announced that at Glory By Honor not only would he face Nick Aldis for the Television Title, but The Bouncers (Milonas and Beer City Bruiser) would face Will Ospreay and Mark Haskins... Honestly this felt a bit forced, but the TV Title bout should be good, and the tag match feels like a way to showcase some potential new partnerships... The End and Workhorsemen Square Off Fresh off a defeat at Best In The World, Matt Taven and his mercenaries, The End, looked to pick a new fight as Matt Taven defeated Juice Robinson during week one of the television tapings. Immediately post-match The End laid waste to Juice, prompting David Finlay to attempt to make the save, only to meet the same demise. This was the end of this stint for Finlay and Juice and was a nice way to write them off for now... The next week Taven continued his winning ways defeating BJ Whitmer with a bit of help from Odinson and Hammerstone. As the post-match 3-on-1 started, Anthony Henry tried to save his mentor/partner but was met with the same fate as both men were left down and out. This led into week three, where Anthony Henry managed to even the score securing a victory over Matt Taven. In week four we saw Matt Taven in the back telling The End that at Glory By Honor he would see to it that his men, ended the careers of "That Melvin" BJ Whitmer, and that "skinny freak-show" Anthony Henry. Live on PPV it'll be The End vs. The Workhorsemen. Team Filthy Takes On All Comers Team Filthy's reign as six-man tag champions began with an Honor Club Web Exclusive bout filmed during the pre-show of Week 1 TV. As they defeated the aptly named Shinobi Submission Squad of Cheeseburger, Ryan Nova and Eli Isom. This was clearly a showcase for Lawlor, Yehi and Woods and all three men looked really good here. This led to Week Two with Jeff Cobb coming out with a big rant specifically targeting SoCal Uncensored, and how he perceives them as lazy and more interesting in promoting their web series and online life. He mentions that Christopher Daniels hasn't been able to even show up for the majority of Ring of Honor's shows, rather sending in online promos from his couch. He says that in this new era of Ring of Honor, Christopher Daniels was more interested in booking "a dream match" against CIMA at Independents Day. He says that all of SCU can get lost. He then turns his attention to Team Filthy, he says they've shown up here and just felt like they could run the trios division. But as Cobb points out, he's established that he runs "EVERYTHING" and while he may not have the current opportunities he wants, he's going to set out to destroy anyone that gets in his way... The next week we get a "in-person promo" from SCU 3.0 where Daniels and Kazarian say that had no interest in being in the "Worst Town Ever, Philadelphia" but since Jeff Cobb feels like he can openly call them out, he can face their muscle, Brody King, this week. As such Jeff Cobb went one on one with Brody in a solid bout. Both men impress with their size and aptitude, but it was Cobb who scored the win... clearly having struck a chord last week, Team Filthy comes out and says Jeff Cobb better find some partners, because Team Filthy never backs down from a fight, in fact they've requested that these "Six-Man" titles be defended in a "Nine-Man" bout, as it'll be a three-team title defense at Glory By Honor... they want to face Cobb and two partners of his choosing... and the SoCal Uncensored 3.0 team of Daniels, Kazarian and Rocky Romero. To finish this out, in Week Four Coast 2 Coast defeated The Best Friends in an uninspired bout, with Jeff Cobb on commentary. Post-match Cobb announced that he'd been "scouting" for partners and decided that he was going to help "elevate" Coast 2 Coast by making them his partners for the title shot. Jay Lethal and Low-Ki, A Tenuous Alliance For the last few months the alliance of Low-Ki and Jay Lethal has felt tenuous at best. After the loss at Best In The World to the Briscoe Brothers, Lethal felt like Low-Ki could have made the save or have helped in another way. Backstage in Week 1's tapings the two men crossed paths, but Low-Ki wouldn't look at Lethal, walking right past him and out the door. The next week in a one on one bout Low-Ki defeated Hangman Page in a very solid bout. Lethal provided commentary on the bout but walked off before the finish, very clearly in the eyesight of Low-Ki. In the fourth week, Jay Lethal also faced Hangman Page to open the show, also defeating him in a bout that was even better than Low-Ki's match-up... after the match The Young Bucks made their first appearance in four weeks (since Best In The World) and challenged Jay Lethal and "Whoever he wants"... before he could answer, Low-Ki appeared and said we accept.. So at Glory By Honor, The Young Bucks will be facing No Gimmicks Needed! Other Action From The Tapings In a one-on-one bout, Dragon Lee defeated Flip Gordon in a bout that actual disappointed given the nature. It was sloppy with numerous botches and really didn't sell either man. This was the end of Dragon Lee's latest stint with ROH as he'll return to CMLL. Silas Young made his return to Ring of Honor with a more narcissistic character than we've seen before. He dismantled company punching bag Cheeseburger during a week two bout, and beat Jonathan Gresham in a Week Three Honor Club Exclusive. His new character is being developed as a narcissist and will likely be on TV more in August and moving forward. In the opening bout of Week Three, The Best Friends secured a victory in a tag bout against local talents, this was a way just to keep the Best Friends relevant and make their week four loss to Coast 2 Coast have more impact. So with that let's look at the Glory By Honor card, --------------------------------------------------- Being The Elite Present: Independents Day, A Quick Review Meanwhile we've been getting a lot of requests for a quick review of Independents Day, which was streamed live at the end of July Week 1. This show, while promoted/aired on the Honor Club and other streaming networks, was not produced by Ring of Honor, rather Cody, The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega self-funded this show and used it to "promote" the best wrestling in the world. Many wonder if their was an ulterior motive, but for now it appears these long-time friends were just proving they could really produce and sell a show. In front of a packed, Sell Out crowd in Lowell, MA, Independents Day was a major success... Here's a look at the event itself Pre-Show: Sonny Kiss defeated "The Librarian" Peter Avalon (DUD) Kenny Omega kicked off the show announcing that he wanted to showcase some of the best women's wrestling in the world! Hikaru Shida defeated Riho (**) in a bout that showcased some of the best Joshi-Stars in the world. Joey Janela was out next and he made the statement that this proves that wrestling doesn't need to be based on "promotions" and that this is for the fans... so he's not afraid to step on some toes and announce that we will be doing this again next month, and next month it'll be a hardcore classic between himself, Jimmy Havoc and Darby Allin. Up next we were scheduled to have a triple-threat women's bout, but Brandi Rhodes made an appearance and said that the only way you can see the best in the world is if this woman is in the match... and with that Awesome Kong made a shocking return to professional wrestling. She defeated Britt Baker, Nyla Rose and Kylie Rae in another (**) women's bout. Backstage we got a Cody promo saying that this show is about what Pro Wrestling should be... This is by wrestlers, for the fans. He mentions how their isn't any corporate "BS" getting in the way and says that this bout against his brother is truly what wrestling should be about. The Best Friends defeated Angelico and Jack Evans in a bout that showcased what all four men can do, this was a solid (***) but not amazing bout, however it did showcase that the Best Friends can do more than just be a comedy team. Post-match though a surprise occurred when The Dark Order (Evil Uno and Stu Grayson) along with a group of masked henchmen attacked all four men. Evil Uno spoke while sitting on a throne of bodies and said that when "we do this again, it'll be the Dark Order sitting on top of the world" In a bout showcasing some of the young talent in the wrestling world, Sammy Guevara defeated Kip Sabian (**1/2). Guevara has recently been paired with Konnan in Major League Wrestling and has been really clicking with audiences. He has a very popular online blog, and fits the brand that the "Elite" seem to be promoting. After the bout Hangman Page made an appearance stating that, "Next month, you and I are gonna tear the roof down" In the match-up of the Brotherhood, Cody defeated Dustin Rhodes in a long, slow-build, with a traditional wrestling elements including blood, distractions and long-drawn out sequences. Dustin is basically retired, and this match suffered a bit from that, but overall this was a great story, (**3/4). Post-match the brothers cut a promo stating that their father always told them to change the world, and they wanted the fans here and the hundreds of thousands streaming this around the world to know that their is a change brewing in professional wrestling. And this kind of interaction and accessibility is part of the reason why. Cody formally announced what had been mentioned multiple times before on this show... that next month, they'd be heading to Chicago and once again promoting a show that will tear the roof off... it'll be called... DOUBLE OR NOTHING. In the penultimate match, Christopher Daniels and CIMA had a match that frankly didn't fit with the rest of the show, it seemed to be more of a showcase for the two older wrestlers and really didn't connect (*3/4) Daniels stated that he and his friends Scorpio Sky and Frankie Kazarian would be heading to China to help CIMA train a group of new wrestlers and he hoped that one-day those wrestlers would change the world! In the main event The Young Bucks defeated The Lucha Brothers in a fun, high-paced bout (***), both teams have skills and both teams have huge fanbases, this one left a bit to the imagination, but more than anything it cemented the Young Bucks as the real face of this "revolution", after the match they called Kenny Omega, Hangman Page and Cody to the ring. With those five in the ring they said this was because of the fans, and the millions who have watched their home-produced YouTube show, Being the Elite. They said they know some fans might not like the way they do things, but they know that most fans now are more in-tune with wrestling than every before... They said they felt like the traditional model was changing and they wanted to be at the forefront of that change... So next month, let's do it again, DOUBLE OR NOTHING!... Before we went off the air though, Alex Shelley to make a shocking, unannounced, appearance. Shelley called out Cody for his two-faced lies to the fans and the audience. He called out the Bucks saying they've been robbing from companies for years as they built this enterprise for themselves. He said that he knows they were a playing characters, but to him this is real and to him this is treason. This promo felt raw and really promoted the upcoming Glory By Honor main event, while also giving the Elite something to promote on their series! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A lot to unpack here, but Independents Day was a great show, and I love that their are wrestlers who are taking things into their own hands. We've recently heard that Ring of Honor has been struggling financially but that they've recently taken a big investment from an unknown source. On that token, we've heard that Cody, Omega and The Young Bucks fully-funded this first show, but are reportedly open to investment for the second show, Double or Nothing. Some in the business feel like the same investor who is propping Ring of Honor up, may make an investment into "The Elite"... keep an eye on that. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OOC: Continuing to rush through the Summer months to prepare to build to the major storyline, which I think is starting to become a bit more clear... The next few posts will wrap up Glory by Honor and introduce the investor, as well as further flesh out this "side-project" of the Elite.

Oof! I’ve had that happen a couple of times as well, hate that you have to lose a main event, but love the randomness it adds. Really really love your take on ROH

This was one of my favorite time periods of TNA. Just enough of the classic guys and just enough of the new wave. I've always oddly liked David Young... Ideal Jobber. Great Spinebuster though... Beyond that, Love AJ, love Elix, love Daniels. Really glad to see Sean O'Haire get some love here too... Always LOVED Raven/Abyss, so that's a natural fit. The Jericho signing would have been awesome in that time-period, so it's great to see here. Lots of fun names here.

Ring of Honor Presents: Best In The World Ring of Honor Presents: Best In The World Live on Pay-Per-View ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OOC As I work to catch-up with this story, and fill in the blanks on the summer plans, I wanted to try a different style "report" of the show using the Wrestling Observer style that blended a bit of character-play with a bunch of impartial "fan" reporting. I will likely bounce between styles, but I liked the way this one came out... let me know what you think if you so desire! We roll into July 2019 next where this new storyline will begin to further reveal itself... BHK1978: Big thanks for the continued loyalty, and support. Though the Beer City Bruiser couldn't secure a victory, I hope you'll appreciate the fact that he took a cigar break mid-match... I do have some thoughts for the Bouncers/Kings of the Night that will be positive for their fans, so stayed tuned. 3/7 overall, which frankly, shouldn't be disappointing... I think this show was slightly unpredictable... this new path the game dealt me, paired with the vision I've had for this makes this "summer" kind of new and fun... I suspect the direction we are going is semi-obvious, but I think the route we take will be unique and fun... Thanks Sinclair for suing me... Probably will edit this post to add the wrestler images and some quick results, but I'm really happy with this "return" show. !!!!

June 2019 Recap As we begin to catch back-up and get this diary updated we are going to look at this through a different lens... what has occurred, where are we at... June Television Recaps and Storyline Progressions (Weeks 2, 3, 4) The World Cup of Wrestling The World Cup of Wrestling was a really a solid idea, but the execution was a bit sloppy and as Ring of Honor prepares for a new-ish direction, it was a cross platform thing with matches taking place on ROH TV as well as NJPW, SMASH, RPW and CMLL. In Week Two we showcased the English team of Kid Lykos and Chris Brookes taking on the World team on Adam Bridle and PJ Black, and in week 3 on ROH TV, Mexico's Bandido faced Canada's Pepper Parks in a match that was a nice showcase for two upstarts. While these matches were interesting and a good showcase of the talent ROH brings in from around the world, it was ultimately used to shill the Honor Club and highlight the availability of the other matches on the network. If you watched those matches you would know that the finals will be Japan vs. Mexico at Best In The World, as EVIL and SANADA will take on Dragon Lee II and Bandido. Young Bucks and The Top Guys, Throwing It Back As seen in June, The Young Bucks and The Top Guys (KC McKnight and Steven Walters) have been furthering their feud that started over the internet and ultimately spilled to Ring of Honor when The Top Guys (FKA The Revival) left the WWE and immediately made an impact. Over this series of tapings, The Top Guys laid out the challenge for Best in the World for a "Watts Rules" bout where the rules follow the laws laid out in the 70's and 80's, the rules are pretty simple and frankly traditional to Ring of Honor. No Flips, Just Fists. No moves can come off the turnbuckles and outside the ring is a "safe-space". This severely limits the Young Bucks and favors the Top Guys, but the Bucks willingly took the challenge to prove they are more than just spot monkey's. In the final episode prior to Best In The World, Matt Jackson proved his mettle as he beat KC McKnight one-on-one and never once left the ground for more than a basic dropkick... Team Filthy and The Bestest Friends In early 2018 "Filthy" Tom Lawlor made his Ring of Honor debut during the Top Prospect Tournament ultimately won by now ROH mainstay, Odinson. During that first stint "Filthy" had a direct issue with the officials of Ring of Honor. When he returned in April 2019, it was as a trio with Fred Yehi and Josh Woods involved. The egotistically named, "Team Filthy" took direct umbrage with the Ring of Honor Six-Man Tag Champions The Bestest Friends (The Best Friends and Dalton Castle). After Yehi secured a victory via Koji Clutch to start the month over Chuck Taylor, he proceeded to beat Dalton Castle in week 3 with the same maneuver. This led to the formal challenge in Week 4, and set-up the ROH Six-Man Title bout at Best In The World as Team Filthy challenges the Bestest Friends. The Kings of the Night and Flip Gordon Kenny King, a long-time ROH fixture, formed the Kings of the Night, a group that loves to have fun and throw parties in April 2019 when "The King of Queens" Brian Myers joined forces with King and they required some "Bouncers" to protect them. Those bouncers, Beer City Bruiser, Brian Milonas, and Shane Taylor provide 900 pounds of security and over the last month have been antagonizing and bullying Flip Gordon so much that Flip has vowed to get revenge on the group at Best In The World. In Week 3 Flip was assaulted once again only for the Workhorseman, Anthony Henry and BJ Whitmer to run in wielding chairs and chase off the Kings of the Night. In between the weeks Flip Gordon announced on Honor Club that he'd recruited Coast 2 Coast as his allies and at Best In The World they would take on the Kings of the Night in a 5 on 5 bout. In Week 4 though The Kings of the Night reigned supreme as Milonas and The Beer City Bruiser defeated Coast 2 Coast, and Kenny King and Brian Myers defeated The Workhorseman. Can Flip exact his revenge at Best In The World? The End is only the Beginning? Jeff Cobb stormed onto the scene in Ring of Honor destroying everything in sight and ultimately capturing the TV Title and challenging for the World Title in his first few months with the company, even having a Match of the Year contender with Cody. But in April at Supercard of Honor he was cut down to size as he lost to both Austin Theory (losing his TV title in the process) and Cody (failing to capture the World title), while also suffering a massive amount of blood-loss. He was then knocked down the pedestal a bit when Will Ospreay took the next shot at Cody. Cobb then set-out to prove he was still the man in Ring of Honor and challenged NJPW to send their best to face him at War of the Worlds. There he defeated David Finlay Jr, and was called out by Juice Robinson afterwards. He faced Juice at the PPV and took him down but after the bout Matt Taven and his psychopathic associates "The End" (Hammerstone and Odinson) brutally assaulted Juice, which led to Cobb making the save, and ultimately set Cobb on the path he is on now. In Week 2, The End defeated Juice and Finlay when Odinson delivered the huge F10 to Finlay, and as the match ended we panned to the back where the cameras found Jeff Cobb out-cold with Matt Taven lounging in a chair next to his body. The next week, The End easily defeated ROH Dojo graduates Ryan Nova and Eli Isom, but post-match Jeff Cobb dragging a lifeless Matt Taven to ringside... before The End could save their leader, Finlay and Juice snuck in from the crowd and took The End down. This led to Week 4 where the show opened with Jeff Cobb and Odinson doing battle in a bout that saw Cobb take the win, but Odinson hold his own... at Best In The World it'll be The End and Matt Taven vs. Jeff Cobb, Juice, and David Finlay. ROH Originals Do Battle In 2018, ROH's first ever champion, Low-Ki returned to the company and did battle with one of its most prolific champions, Jay Lethal. During this time the two men formed a friendship that led to them teaming up as the no-nonsense team "No Gimmicks Needed". They captured the Tag Titles as a team and held them until an unfortunate injury to Low-Ki led Lethal to team with another partner and ultimately lose the titles to the now 10 time ROH Tag Champion, Briscoe Brothers. At War of the Worlds last month Low-Ki returned from injury after the Briscoes defended the title against the makeshift team of Lethal and Kota Ibushi. Low-Ki stormed the ring but merely stared the four men down before leaving. He and Lethal then had a number of awkward run-ins with each other that reminded fans of when they saw their ex-girl in a supermarket, but ultimately led to Week 2 in June when Jay Briscoe defeated Jay Lethal in the main event, and The Briscoes proceeded to boots the boots to Lethal. This led to Low-Ki making the save, clearing the ring but ultimately not helping Lethal back his feet. Then in Week 4, Jay Lethal and Low-Ki agreed to team-up once again and challenge for the Tag Titles they felt they never truly lost. So at Best In The World it'll be The Briscoes vs. No Gimmicks Needed for the Tag Titles Royalty Reigns Supreme? Or Will The Honor Guard Restore Honor? Cody has held the ROH title for 16 months now. He's defeated all comers from Kenny Omega to Jay Briscoe to Jeff Cobb. Tetsuya Naito, Alex Shelley, and even Cheeseburger... ok well maybe Cheeseburger wasn't a threat. Over that time his ego has only grown and in October of 2018 he formed one of the most dominant factions Ring of Honor has ever seen known as Royalty. The group as it stands presently features Cody, Austin Theory, Marty Scurll and Davey Boy Smith Jr. Davey Boy made his debut in December but was promptly felled by a Torn ACL. He is only recently returning the ring and provides the group with true muscle...for the last two months though the group has had an actual threat in the form of The Honor Guard, a group collectively led by Will Ospreay and new ROH Television Champion, Nick Aldis, that set out to restore Honor to Ring of Honor and rid the company of the parasite that is Royalty. At War of the Worlds in May, Cody and his group tried to take advantage of Osprey, which led to Nick Aldis, Zack Sabre Jr and Mark Haskins making the save, only to see Davey Boy return to the ring and clear house. This naturally should have led to a four on four elimination bout between the two factions... but as we would find out Royalty had more tricks up their sleeves. During week 3 the Main Event saw Marty Scurll defeat Mark Haskins cleanly, and the announcers put over that these two units would face each other, but during the 4th weeks show something was amiss. During your standard face to face conflict, the Honor Guard was missing Zack Sabre Jr... the announcers had speculation as to what was going on but Cody insisted that at Best In The World it'll now be Four on Three... and when Royalty wins, The "Honor Guard" must leave Ring of Honor, for good. So folks, that catches you up on the June storylines, so without further adieu, let's preview Best In The World Ring of Honor Presents: Best In The World June Week Four, 2019 Pay-Per-View Preview ROH Six Man Tag Titles The Bestest Friends {C} (Berreta, Chuckie T and Dalton Castle) vs. Team Filthy (Tom Lawlor, Fred Yehi and Josh Woods) Five on Five, First Fall Wins The Kings of the Night (Kenny King, Brian Myers, Brian Milonas, Shane Taylor and the Beer City Bruiser) vs. Flip and Friends (Flip Gordon, Anthony Henry, BJ Whitmer and Coast 2 Coast) Watts Rules The Top Guys (KC McKnight and Steven Walters) vs. The Young Bucks Six-Man Tag Jeff Cobb, David Finlay Jr, and Juice Robinson vs. The End (Hammerstone and Odinson) and Matt Taven World Cup of Wrestling Finals (Japan vs. Mexico) EVIL and SANADA vs. Bandido and Dragon Lee II Four vs. Three Handicapped Match, If Honor Guard Loses They Must LEAVE ROH Royalty (Cody, Austin Theory, Marty Scurll and Davey Boy Smith Jr) vs. Honor Guard (Will Ospreay, Nick Aldis and Mark Haskins) ROH Tag Titles The Briscoe Brothers {C} vs. No Gimmicks Needed (Low-Ki and Jay Lethal) After a six-month hiatus I'm not exactly expecting the same crowd we had in the past, but I am hoping that this Summer 2019 storyline will draw in new fans... so here are the quick picks for Best In The World; I'm honestly really exciting about this storyline that will begin to reveal itself at this event. I think it'll make for a fun reboot of this diary and fun new direction for this. After-all, for those who have followed this since it launched (December 2017), this is a slow-moving, cult-following diary... just like the real ROH. I think the new storyline the game threw at me (as hinted at in the last post) really revives this, and I think that paired with some real world advances will draw some interest...

<p>Wrestling Observer Newsletter Exclusive</p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>Wrestling Observer Newsletter, June 2019</strong></span></p></div><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><span style="font-size:14px;"><em>Exclusive: Ring of Honor Loses Sinclair Broadcasting Backing, on Financial Thin-Ice</em></span></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="WDgbg6w.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/WDgbg6w.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="44489" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div style="text-align:center;"><div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;">In an exclusive to WOR, our sources have informed us that </div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong>Ring of Honor</strong></div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> and </div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong>Sinclair Broadcasting Group</strong></div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> have had a falling out over a contract that was signed with </div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong>WGN TV</strong></div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> while Sinclair was in the process of purchasing the network last summer. As you may have heard the FCC objected to the sale and by the fall Sinclair had pulled out of the deal. However, during this time Ring of Honor was scheduled to begin airing on WGN stations across America. Naturally, Sinclair Broadcasting did not allow this and ultimately this led to a lawsuit which was reportedly settled out of court in April 2019. As a direct result of this Sinclair Broadcasting Group has opted to no longer directly invest in Ring of Honor but will retain the right to first refusal for cable television. Former COO, </div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong>Joe Koff</strong></div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;">, who led the acquisition of Ring of Honor by Sinclair in 2011 has been removed from his post with Ring of Honor.</div></div></div></div></div><p></p></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> As a result of these changes Ring of Honor no longer has the financials they previously had and sources say they’ve been actively looking for investors to help keep them on the right track. Internal sources tell us that the company has not been profitable for the last ten months, losing large amounts of money, frequently in the six figures monthly, while attempting to secure their biggest talents, host and produce a weekly live show and of course put on their monthly pay-per-view events. The company is reportedly exploring a number of options and has reportedly had interest from outside parties. Many of ROH’s stars have well-established personalities outside of the ring including </div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong>Cody, Marty Scurll, and The Young Bucks</strong></div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> who are frequently seen on their YouTube shows. Perhaps Ring of Honor could take advantage of that, though in order to do that they’ve need to acknowledge kayfabe directly. As Ring of Honor heads into the Summer it feels like change is in the air, but it will be interesting to see where it goes from here.</div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> </div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong>Ring of Honor</strong></div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> has not formally commented on this story, but did confirm that </div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><strong>Cary Silkin</strong></div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"><div style="margin-left:25px;"> remains as the CEO and will have full responsibility for the companies direction moving forward.</div></div></div></div></div></div><div></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p> As I dove back into the game some things occurred (breach of contract lawsuit) that sparked some ideas. Then I let the real world develop a bit, and I came up with a storyline that I am really looking forward to diving into. The passion to tell that story is what pushes this forward! I think we have a really exciting story to move forward with some twists and turns that are a bit fun too. I may tinker a bit with the format to get this back on track, but I'll keep telling the story the way I enjoy.</p>

Chapter 3: Sometimes The Middle Is The Best Place To Be Chapter 3: Sometimes The Middle Is The Best Place To Be We learned pretty quickly that The Fight Club would be a place for serious fighters when it was announced that James Storm was the first official member of the Middleweight division. And with yesterday's introduction of the Heavyweight division it must now be time to take a deeper look at the locks for the Middleweight division, and look at the six men who will do battle in two triple threats at Episode 1 to determine who will earn spots seven and eight. First and foremost, "The Highway Man" James Storm is the man to beat in the division. Taking center stage on the marquee but there are other names that are more than happy to steal that limelight from them. Let's take a look at them in a couple small groups.[/center] The Hardhitters "The Gatekeeper" Kevin Kross Recently notable for a short but successful run with both Impact and Lucha Underground as well as a stint in Mexico with AAA, "The Gatekeeper" Kevin Kross is a dark and twisted individual who views himself as the man that controls the universe. He's powerful, and lethal, and you'll never see him coming. "Bambikiller" Chris Raaber Austrian-born, but German trained. Bambikiller is a gentle soul outside of the ring, but as soon as the bell rings, something inside of him snaps and he turns into a killer that will not be stopped. Once viewed as the next big thing, Raaber has seen his career stall over the last decade after a failed stint in WWE developmental. He has the size and look, and this opportunity is a shot to restart his climb and get that next big shot. "Bad Bones" John Klinger Another Europen, Klinger has had opportunities in America before, but he's never quite clicked with the audience. Now Bad Bones has returned stateside with a even more experience and the attitude to match. The world is against him, and he is against it. AKA the perfect candidate for The Fight Club. The Former WWE Champions "Mr. 305" MVP 305 Til I Die, MVP started his adult-life in prison but ultimately turned his life around and turned to wrestling, where he made a name for himself in the WWE. A two-time WWE US Champion and a one-time tag champion. MVP has been popping-up all over the world since his departure from the WWE, and while he's participating as a competitor here, we've heard rumblings that he's actively looking for his promoters license so that he can represent other fighters here. Mr. Anderson Another former WWE US Champion, and a two-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion. Ken Anderson has recently moved away from the ring and transitioned into an announcer role in professional boxing, but the lure of being able to step back through the ropes and represent only himself was more than enough to bring Mr. Anderson out of the woodwork. Much like MVP, we aren't sure how long he'll be here, but for now, everyone better watch out. "The French Phenom" Rene Dupree A two-time WWE Tag Champion with 22-years of in-ring experience, Rene Dupree is still only 36 years of age. And while his WWE career stalled out in the mid-2000's, Dupree established himself in Japan and started his family with a Japanese woman. Now a global assassin for hire, Dupree has wrestled all over the world and returns stateside a different, more vicious, man. Jayson "Just That Gangsta" Paul So maybe the WWE champion part is a bit loose here. Paul never captured a WWE title, but he did steal the WWE Tag titles a time or two. Plus he managed to stay "employed" well past his expiration date. After a couple years chasing the hollywood dream, Paul reunited with his partner Shad Gaspard and has returned to the ring. With Gaspard as part of the heavyweight division, Paul will give it a go in the Middleweight group. "The Lord of the Ring" Nick Dinsmore Before becoming a household-name as Eugene, the mentally disabled "nephew" of Eric Bischoff, Nick Dinsmore was a rising star as a technical wrestler with size and power on his side. He was widely known as one of the best technical wrestlers in the late 90's, early 2000's but took the opportunity presented to him and chased the WWE dream. Now back on his own, Dinsmore is here to prove that he is the true Lord of the Ring. The Longshots "The Night Marcher" Taiyo Kea Ancient Hawaiian beliefs state that any mortal looking upon or being seen in defiance toward the nightmarchers will die violently, and Taiyo Kea proudly proclaims that he will carry forth the traditions of his family into the ring will eliminate all challengers in the name of Pele. "The Professional" Mike Mondo Known as a lunch-pail type worker, Mondo is always ready for a fight and never afraid of men that stand taller than him, which is good since he stands only 5'9". Mondo is pretty well known for his time in the Spirit Squad as Mikey, so this stands out as an opportunity to break-away from a comedy gimmick and show his fighting chops. "Death Match Dragon" Ryuji Ito Perhaps known only to the die-hard deathmatch fans and the Japanese, Ito is a genuine psycho. Called by many as the best true deathmatch wrestler ever. Ito brings a level of violence to The Fight Club that will be hard to replicate. And while the rules aren't 100% clear, the matchmaker has said that Ito will be able to fight to his style...so his opponents will likely have to adapt to a style many of them haven't fought before in order to stop Ito. With that you've now seen a detailed preview of both the Heavyweight and Middleweight divisions and those are the two divisions that will be featured on the first Episode of The Fight Club. What we do know is that five of these men will be joining James Storm on the main card, and the other six will face off in two triple threats to earn the last two ranked slots in the Middleweight division. Stay tuned as the next chapter will be a preview of the debut Episode.

Chapter 2: Hoss Fight Chapter 2: Hoss Fight The concept behind The Fight Club is simple really, be the best wrestler in your weight class and defeat all comers. At all times there will be eight ranked competitors, the man ranked #1 is well... simply put... #1. Three divisions, strict limits, no crossover. Middleweights are certainly the most flexible of the divisions, with competitors able to add or subtract weight to join either the lightweight or the heavyweight divisions. The lightweights tend to feature more of the quick, aerial-types, but also present a different challenge in that they tend to have the most varied styles. In fact so much so that the lightweight divisions initial eight competitors won't even be finalized prior to the first event. Rumor has it The Fight Club will instead feature a show dedicated entirely to figuring out the Top Eight lightweights. The heavyweights on the other hand, didn't have the same issue. The group that represent that division at the launch is diverse, with combatants from Europe and the USA represented, and features multiple former World Champions. In fact, the initial top eight was easier than most and already locked in. With that said... let's meet them... "The Last of a Dying Breed" Bull James Famously known for his stint with NXT as Bull Dempsey, James has resurfaced as a take no prisoners badass in the form of his trainer, Tazz. James calls himself the "Last of a Dying Breed" because he believes that wrestlers shouldn't be entirely about the NO BS, hard-nosed, hard-knock attitude he brings to the fight. "Avalanche" Robert Dreissker Rarely seen on US soil, "Avalanche" Robert Dreissker is an Austrian-born HOSS mostly known for his work in WXW in Germany. While he isn't the tallest, standing in at 5'10" he carries 260 pounds and is a human-wrecking ball with sneaky strength capable of pushing him to new heights here in The Fight Club. "His Highness" Mike Knox Known for multiple stints with the WWE and Impact! Mike Knox has been off the scene for the last few years and recently re-emerged as a self-proclaimed "New Man". Referring to himself as "His Highness" Knox believes he is holier than thou and has stated that the only way to make others see the light as he has is to force them into a state of no return. "The Freak" Rob Terry A genetic beast, Rob Terry burst onto the scene as part of the British Invasion but the Welsh giant didn't exactly win over many fans in his stints with Impact. Most recently seen in the Menagerie with the aforementioned Knox, Terry has faded from the limelight to focus on his bodybuilding and proving he is more than just a side-show. "Da Beast" Shad Gaspard Yo yo yo, it's Crime Time was once one of the biggest comedy acts in the WWE but for "Da Beast" Shad Gaspard it also represented his roots. Having bounced from home to home and gang to gang as a kid, the 6'7" Gaspard learned the hard way that it was put-up or shut-up on the streets. Now known as more of a Hollywood stunt double, Gaspard is here to make his name remembered in Squared Circle once again. "The All-American" Jake Hager Fromt he highest of highs, capturing a World Championship with the WWE. To the lowest of lows occurring when he was arrested before a show for a DUI, Hager has withstood the ups and downs of life as a pro wrestler... All the while he was looking for a chance to prove he was more than a big bodied, former College All American Wrestler. Hager recently took to the MMA circuit where he joined Bellator and has two submissions to his name. Fresh off his last fight, Hager is transitioning back to the ring to show that he can handle being a true "Two-Sport Fighting" champion. And while these six men are all unique and each bring a specific dimension to The Fight Club, this next fighter well... Let's let his words do the talking... Scott Steiner is the newest member of The Fight Club heavyweight division ... And what about the eighth fighter you ask? Unfortunately he's forced us into signing a Non-Disclosure Agreement due to his role as an "Executive Consultant" to The Fight Club and the creation of this brand. So you'll just have to tune in and find out who he is when he makes his debut at our first official event: Episode 1.

Just opened this up and really enjoy what your doing. Like the roster build out and how you are doing it. Piqued my interest for sure.

Chapter 1: The Highway Man Chapter 1: The Highway Man The road is hard and in my 22 years as a professional wrestler, I’ve crossed it more times than I can count. I’ve won big matches all over the world, Japan, the UK, and of course the US of A. And yet I’ve watched as opportunities that I had earned were given to lesser-men. I’ve bet on myself and sometimes that hasn’t paid off, bet you can bet your ass I am always true to myself… There is one thing that never gets old in this game, and that’s kicking ass and taking names. I’ve held some of the most prestigious titles in the game and I even proved my worth and climbed the mountain to become a World Champion; Only to have my partner and then best friend strike me over the damn head with a beer bottle a week later and take my title. Honestly, after that I was a bit listless, I tried to be the cool kid, I tried to do what everyone wanted… but you know what… That’s not who the Tennessee Cowboy is. I am the pedal to metal, boots to the road, Highway Man, and I am going to turn The Fight Club into my own personal playground! So if you get in my way… well then, Sorry About Your Damn Luck! James Storm is the first official member of The Fight Club ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Going to roll out part of the roster in this format, won't always be one at a time. Might do a huge group. Won't reveal everyone, just characters that I want to create a story/voice for. Crafting the roster was fun and I think this is a cool way to introduce some of the names. Here's where I'm at, I've signed and locked in the eight heavyweights. That division is complete. The middleweights I have eleven names floating around right now with six confirmed. The lightweights, well... You'll see what I have in mind when we get there, but it won't be in episode one. Next post will introduce the Heavyweight division as a whole.