ROH World Tag Team Championship
MJF vs. The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch)
AEW WrestleDream 2023 – Seattle, WA – 10.1.2023

Adam Cole & MJF have been champions since 8.27.2023 and this is their first defense. Cole incurred an injury at AEW Grand Slam on September 20th, and MJF decided to defend the titles in a handicap match against The Righteous, who earned this title match by winning a fatal four way contenders match. Much like the All In match with Aussie Open, this match was MJF doing unfunny humor and burying a tag team in the process. He brought back the kangaroo kick, but also built up a body slam on Dutch and shoving Vincent’s dreadlocks into Dutch’s ass. Whether you’re a fan of the Righteous or not, consider that AEW spent the past month building them up for this match, including a victory over the Hardys, and it’s pissed away so MJF can get his dorky, unfunny bullshit over for ten minutes at the expense of his opponents. This trend needs to stop. Nobody who wrestles MJF comes out better than when they came in. The finish was cool, with MJF using the ropes to assist with a piledriver onto Dutch (at 9:35), but that is the only positive thing I have to say about this. Atrocious and embarrassing. DUD

NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship & ROH World Championship
Eddie Kingston vs. Katsuyori Shibata
AEW WrestleDream – Seattle, WA – 10.1.2023

Eddie Kingston has been the NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion since 7.5.2023 and this is his fourth defense. Eddie Kingston has been the ROH World Champion since 9.20.2023 and this is his first defense. Kingston causes Shibata to crumple with chops. Shibata snapmares Kingston into a back kick and throws his own chops. Kingston defies the strikes, even pulling down his straps and egging Shibata on, and Shibata takes the opening to kick him right in the chest. He looks for a short arm scissor, and Kingston gets his foot on the ropes before it is fully applied, and goes to the ropes again to escape an ankle lock. Shibata does more damage to his legs with a figure four leg lock, as well as tying up his legs before applying a Bow and Arrow. Kingston finally gets a respite when he counters a side headlock into a Saito suplex. Shibata however knocks him down with repeated forearm strikes in the corner and nails him with a hesitation dropkick. They break down into a battle of strikes versus kicks, bringing both men to their knees. Shibata approaches, and Kingston takes him down with an exploder suplex. Shibata takes him down with an Osoto Gari trip, leaving both men laying. Shibata controls Kingston by his left wrist as he strikes him. He ducks a wild backfist and puts Kingston in a Cobra Twist. Kingston falls to the mat when he transitions to an Octopus Stretch, and just as he looks to be fading, Kingston lunges at the ropes to break the hold. Kingston surprises Shibata with a Backfist. Shibata strikes back before taking a second Backfist, and then PK’s Kingston out of desperation. They exchange strikes when they get to their feet. Kingston ends it with a Backfist. He only gets a one count from that, so he lands the Northern Lights Bomb for two. Kingson Backfists him once again and powerbombs him into a folding press for the pin at 10:58. I like that Shibata controlled the match the same way he does his Pure Title defenses, and even commentary mentioned that Kingston would’ve been out of rope breaks if it was a Pure Title match. But I was surprised that it wasn’t capitalized on, it isn’t as if Kingston then got a fourth rope break after that. It did make for a unique instance where the champion felt like the underdog, a position where Kingston excels. Shibata paying homage to Inoki and Kingston once again harnessing the Kawada powerbomb when the Northern Lights Bomb didn’t pay off were really nice touches on a good, hard hitting match. ***½

ROH Women’s World Championship
Athena vs. Leyla Hirsch
ROH on HonorClub #32 – Seattle, WA – 10.5.2023

Athena has been the champion since 12.10.2022 and this is her fourteenth defense. Billie Starkz is in Athena’s corner. Hirsch doesn’t give Athena any breathing room when she attempts to celebrate an armdrag. Hirsch surprises her with a shotgun dropkick to the corner, and then uses the ropes to pull off a hesitation double stomp and follows up with a suicide dive. Athena gets the upper hand by shotgun dropkicking Hirsch into the ring steps, only for Hirsch to pull her face first into the ring steps afterwards. Hirsch then tries a brainbuster on the ropes, but Athena throws her down to the mat out of a Gourd Buster position. Athena works over Hirsch’s back and damn near knocks her out cold with a forearm smash after Hirsch sneaks in a schoolgirl pin attempt. Hirsch evades a corner attack and drops Athena with a Saito suplex. Another throw and a lariat firmly turns the match in the challenger’s favor. Athena surprises Hirsh with a headscissors from the mat, and then uses the ropes to bounce her into a Finlay Roll. Hirsch evades an O-Face and rolls Athena into a cross armbreaker attempt. Athena clasps her hands together to avoid hyperextension, but Hirsch converts into a triangle choke. Athena muscles her up into a powerbomb for two. A wild strike exchange concludes with Athena pulling down a dazed Hirsch into a crossface. Hirsch maneuvers her into a cross armbreaker attempt, this time successfully getting it applied. Athena quickly turns up and kicks herself free. She then blasts Hirsch with a hard forearm strike before laying in repeated forearms to the face. Athena halts Hirsch on the top turnbuckle, but Hirsch twists her way down and German suplexes Athena off of the middle turnbuckle! Hirsch looks for a moonsault press, only for Athena to superkick her out of mid-air. Athena then drops her with the Wrath of the Goddess for the pin at 12:13. This match was so awesome but made me mad. It made me wonder why a match this great couldn’t have had any build-up, especially when Hirsch had been quietly amassing wins and being positioned as a threat. It made me wonder why this was barely promoted by ROH themselves after it happened. It makes me wonder why Athena isn’t featured on the AEW shows like every other ROH champion, especially when a match like this would’ve been the best bout on whichever show in which it would be featured. This was intense, exciting, had really creative momentum swings, and the Seattle crowd rocking. Seek this match out, and then condemn TK for not featuring Athena and Leyla Hirsch on shows people actually watch. ****

ROH World Championship
Eddie Kingston vs. Komander
AEW Collision #17 – Salt Lake City, UT – 10.7.2023

Eddie Kingston has been the ROH World Champion since 9.20.2023 and this is his second defense. Komander earned this title match the previous evening on “Rampage”, defeating Penta El Zero Miedo, Johnny TV, and Lince Dorado in a four way #1 Contendership match. Ian Riccaboni that the Lucha style was an Achilles Heel for Kingston in CHIKARA. Arguable, but it works for the story they told. Komander’s speed allows for him to get a submission on the champion, but a hard chop from Kingston turns the match in his favor. After multiple chops in the corner, he tosses Komander overhead with an exploder suplex. Komander begins to fire back with his own strikes, so Kingston brings him back to the corner and takes him to his knees with another hard chop. Komander absorbs another onslaught of chops and takes him down with a twisting crossbody. He lands a roundhouse kick before landing a standing shooting star press for two. After a tope con hilo to the floor, Komander delivers a 450 splash back in the ring for two. Komander also counters a superplex mid-air into a falling crossbody for two. Kingston comes back with a uranage slam and short-arm lariat for two. Kingston catches a backhand spring from Komander, but Komander spikes him with a DDT. Kingston cuts back on a Magistral cradle and blindsides Komander with a Backfist to the Future for the pin at 10:02. This was a totally solid match but nothing special. It was cool seeing Kingston against someone who stylistically is so different from him, and I appreciate him getting up those defense numbers, but it is nothing to go out of your way for. ***

NXT and AEW Dynamite went head-to-head on Tuesday the 10th, so a special 30 minute Buy-In was added to Dynamite. Once again, TK brought in Minoru Suzuki to entice viewers to tune in early, pitting him against Eddie Kingston in a double title bout. Kingston and Suzuki have met twice before in tag team action, with Kingston winning on his home turf and Minoru Suzuki in a rematch in Philadelphia, and then again in trios action at the inaugural Forbidden Door PPV.

NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship & ROH World Championship
Eddie Kingston vs. Minoru Suzuki
AEW Dynamite #210; The Buy In – Independence, MO – 10.10.2023

Eddie Kingston has been the NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion since 7.5.2023 and this is his fifth defense. Eddie Kingston has been the ROH World Champion since 9.20.2023 and this is his third defense. Kingston lights up Suzuki with chops, with Suzuki responding with overhand chops. A forearm strike across the chin takes the champion off of his feet, and two more result in referee Rick Knox checking to see if Kingston is knocked out. Suzuki twists Kingston’s left wrist and fingers. Kingston once again tries to chop down Suzuki, but he’s knocked down to a seated position in the corner with another forearm. Suzuki lets him get back to his feet, only to knock him back down and twist on his fingers and wrist. Kingston fires himself up, finally able to stun Suzuki with one of his chops. He capitalizes with rapid fire chops in the corner, which Suzuki walks right through as his chest becomes more and more red. Kingston continues the onslaught in another corner and then brings Suzuki out of the corner with an exploder suplex for two. Suzuki blocks the Backfist, yakuza kicks Kingston in the corner, and then snapmares him into a PK. Kingston sits up, so Suzuki delivers another, and Kingston sits up once again. As they exchange strikes, Suzuki throws multiple jabs to his body before surprising Kingston with a right hand shot to the jaw. Suzuki looks for the GSP after a sleeper hold. Kingston backdrops his way out of it and lands the Backfist for a two count. Suzuki tries another sleeper, but Kingston Backfists him. Suzuki kicks out of that pin at one. He remains standing after a third and fourth Backfist, so Kingston nails a jump-up enzuigiri before dropping him with the Northern Lights Bomb for the pin at 10:38. I like where this match seemed to be going, with Suzuki enduring Kingston’s strikes and letting the champion tire himself out. The idea seemed to be that this strategy would backfire, but it didn’t completely work as Suzuki’s weariness and fatigue just seemed to go away in the final moments of the bout. It’s a match where the atmosphere was good and people enjoyed seeing these two slug it out, but I wish there was just a little more meat on the bone. Then again, that’s my criticism of every Suzuki U.S. match. ***

ROH World Television Championship
Samoa Joe vs. Willie Mack
AEW Collision #18 – Toledo, OH – 10.14.2023

Joe has been champion since 4.13.2022 and this is his fourteenth defense. Mack getting this title match despite not winning a singles match in ROH or AEW in five months, and last seen losing a Six Man Title match, shows the care they take with challengers these days. Mack initially resists Joe’s shoulder block. This angers Joe, who picks up more momentum before taking Mack down with a second shoulder block. He pummels Joe down in the corner, but Mack comes back with an inside arm drag and a running gamengiri. Joe takes a breather outside, only for Mack to follow with a pescado. Even though Joe is able to get the better of Mack on the floor, Mack is able to shut him down with a dropkick back in the ring. He surprises Joe with a double nipple twister in the corner before clobbering him with a running forearm smash and a bicycle kick. He then lands a shooting star cannonball splash for two. Joe catches Mack coming off of the middle rope with a Manhattan Drop. He follows that up with a big boot and senton splash for two. Joe cuts off Mack’s comeback attempt with a snap slam. Mack is able to block a boot to the stomach and drop Joe with a stunner for a close two count. Joe halts Mack on the top turnbuckle and brings him down with the Muscle Buster for the pin at 9:07. I like Mack, and I am happy the crowd enjoyed this match, but what on Earth is Joe doing having a competitive nine minute match with him right now? Isn’t he trying to get back on track to fight for the AEW World Title? If he has difficulty taking down someone who is a mid-carder at best for ROH, what chance does he have against the AEW World Champion? Does nobody think about these things before booking matches? In a vacuum, this was a perfectly cromulent match, but in the grand scheme of things, this didn’t do anybody any good. **¾

ROH World Television Championship
Samoa Joe vs. Tony Nese
AEW Battle of the Belts VIII – Memphis, TN – 10.21.2023

Joe has been champion since 4.13.2022 and this is his fifteenth defense. “Smart” Mark Sterling is in Nese’s corner. Now this was more like it. Nese only got in a series of strikes due to interference from Sterling, and then Joe put him down with a lariat and a Muscle Buster in a brisk 1:17. That’s exactly how Joe should be treating people with a roughly .500 record on ROH while he is pursuing the AEW World title. That’s just the reality of the two brands.

ROH World Six Man Tag Team Championship
The Elite (Adam Page, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs. The Hardys (Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy) & Isiah Kassidy
AEW Dynamite #212 – Philadelphia, PA – 10.25.2023

The lazy open challenge trope gives us the Elite’s first title defense. The champions beat up on Kassidy to start. Matt Hardy takes down Matt Jackson with a Side Effect, and Kassidy wipes out Nick and Page on the floor. The challengers wear down Hardy in their half of the ring. Matt takes down Kassidy and Matt Hardy with stereo Northern Lights suplexes and tags in Page, who clotheslines Hardy to the floor and tosses Kassidy out of a fallaway slam. Page wipes out Matt Hardy with a pescado, and gives Kassidy a Death Valley Driver for two. Jaff Hardy saves Kassidy from Dead-Eye, assisting him with the Silly String DDT (a move Kassidy used to do with Marq Quen). Kassidy takes out the Young Bucks with a double dropkick. Kassidy launches off of Matt Jackson’s back with a dive onto Nick and Page. Both Hardys give Matt Jackson a Twist of Fate, and Jeff lands a Swanton Bomb. Page and Nick save their partner from being pinned. Kassidy jumps in and is blindsided with the Buckshot Lariat from Page. The Bucks superkick The Hardys off of the apron and then lay out Kassidy with the BTE Trigger for the pin at 10:04. The first part of this match felt like everyone was going through the motions, but the last few minutes were great. It was nice seeing Kassidy get some moments to shine. Not a bad first defense at all, it’s just a shame no effort is put into this title, and probably should go away. **¾

ROH World Television Championship
Samoa Joe vs. Rhett Titus
AEW Collision #20 – Uncasville, CT – 10.28.2023

Joe has been champion since 4.13.2022 and this is his sixteenth defense. This match was first mentioned earlier in the episode, hence no proper match graphic. Titus was of course the final TV champion of the Sinclair era, losing it to Minoru Suzuki at “Supercard of Honor 2022.” Joe then defeated Suzuki a couple of weeks later to win the title and has been champion ever since. Anyways, Joe ran through his usual rolodex of offense, blocked a third corner boot from Titus with an STJoe, and pulled him into the Coquina clutch for the submission victory at 2:04. Another solid squash for Joe.

This company stinks.