Philadelphia, PA – 4.5.2024

Commentary is provided by Ian Riccaboni & Caprice Coleman.

Zero Hour

Premiere Athletes (Ari Daivari, Josh Woods & Tony Nese) vs. Adam Priest, Rhett Titus & Tony Deppen

Mark Sterling is in the Premiere Athletes corner. Woods punts Titus in his tricep after evading an armdrag. Nese digs his forearm into Deppen’s face. Deppen picks up the pace and takes down Nese with a dropkick. Nese thrusts Deppen in the throat and tags in Daivari, who helps pummel Nese down in their corner. Deppen flips out of a belly-to-back suplex attempt and tags in Priest. Daivari blind tags in, and Nese pump handles up for him and Daivari to pull off a Big Ending/Flying DDT combo. Priest also slips out of a suplex attempt, thai time from Daivari. Titus takes down Daivari with a ripcord belly-to-belly suplex for two. Woods reverses Titus’ attempt on him, and then takes down Deppen with a right angle slam/neckbreaker combo with Nese. Titus surprises Nese with an O’Connor Roll for two when Priest pulls Daivari to the floor. Nese snaps Titus’ neck across the top rope before landing a pescado onto Deppen. Woods German suplexes Titus and tosses Priest overhead with a release suplex. Daivari helps Nese suplex Deppen from the floor into Woods’ arms. Woods powerbombs Deppen, and Nese and Daivari land stereo flying fist drops from opposite corners for the pin at 8:17. This was treated as a rebrand and re-debut for Sterling’s team, and in that respect it was a success. They looked well orchestrated, refreshed, and Woods looked like a monster. The other team was off their game. The match ended strongly but it was a bit of a mess before that. **¼

The Beast Mortos vs. Blake Christian

Mortos is the re-branded Black Taurus. Christian scores the first significant offense by wheelbarrowing Mortos into a standing frog splash. A springboard uppercut follows for two. Mortos brings him out of the corner with a powerslam for two. Mortos wears down Christian in a bear hug (bull hug?) before turning him inside out with a clothesline. Christian stops Mortos in the corner with an enzuigiri. He baits Mortos into a headstand mule kick and a tornado DDT. Christian the spears Mortos off of the apron and to the floor, landing a tope con hilo afterwards. He gets two with a top rope elbow smash back in the ring. Mortos smashes Christian a reverse Slingblade. He then spikes Christian with a rolling crucifix driver and pops him up into a Samoan Drop for two. Christian side steps a corner attack and drops Mortos with a rolling Death Valley Driver. They roll out to the entrance ramp, which connects right up to the ring, and Christian moonsaults onto Mortos’ shoulders and brings him down with a DDT. He then lands a springboard 450 splash for two. Mortos cuts off Christian from climbing the ropes. He powerslams Christian off of the top rope and to the floor and follows that with Destination Hellhole (Omega Driver) for the pin at 8:41. Nice to see Taurus again, and while he and Vikingo stole the show at Final Battle, he and Christian had an uphill battle against an apathetic crowd, who finally perked up near the end. It reminded me of Christian’s TV title challenge against Angelico, where he got a lot of offense and the chance to show off, but you just knew he wasn’t winning. It was a very good showcase match for both dudes. Komander stares down Mortos after the match, and that match should be dope. ***

Spanish Announce Project (Angelico & Serpentico) vs. Cole Karter & Griff Garrison

Maria Kanellis-Bennett is in Karter and Garrison’s corner. She is holding Serpentico’s green mask in her hand, as they took it from him on a recent ROH episode. Garrison and Karter sneak attack SAP during their entrance. SAP take over quickly, with Serepentico wiping out both Karter and Garrison with a suicide dive. Maria taunts Serpentico with his mask, allowing Karter to club him with a forearm to the back of his head from behind and send him crashing into the barricades. Garrison puts on the mask and mocks Angelico’s dance as he and Karter beat down Serpentico in their corner. Karter makes a large tear in Serpentico’s left eye hole on his mask. Angelico kicks Garrison to the floor and headscissors Karter to get the space to tag Angelico. Angelico sends Garrison back out with a step-up clothesline. He capoeira kicks Karter from the mat abd jackknife pins him for two. Angelico Complete Shots Karter into a Swanton Bomb from Serpentico. Garrison breaks the cover and big boots Serpentico. He Sick Kicks Angelico into a flapjack from Karter, but Serpentico drops them both with a double Complete Shot. Referee Mike Posey ejects Maria from ringside when she attempts to bring a chair into the ring. She leaves the mask on the ramp. Angelico takes the bait, and Garrison sweeps out his legs from underneath him. In the ring, Karter pushes Serpentico to the ropes to kick out of an O’Connor Roll. Garrison pulls off Serpentico’s mask when he hits the ropes. Karter then rolls up Serpentico and holds his tights for the pin at 8:32. I appreciate that a midcard tag team angle got a chance to play out on this show, and the crowd genuinely seemed into it. I admit, I leave this match interested in seeing the next chapter of the story now that Maria has two of Angelico’s masks in her possession. It was a standard tag match generally speaking but totally fine for a kickoff show. **½

Mariah May vs. Momo Kohgo

This is Kohgo’s ROH debut. She is part of the STARS faction in STARDOM, and has wrestled for NJPW STRONG on multiple occasions. May decides not to uphold the Code of Honor, and mocks Kohgo after taking her down. Kohgo shows her up with a crossbody and dropkick. May sees a tiger feint kick coming and pounds on Kohgo’s shoulders after escaping. She then chokes Kohgo between the ropes and kisses her on the cheek before dropkicking her in the shoulder blades for two. A shotgun dropkick to the chest gets her two. Kohgo dropkicks May to the corner and then delivers a springboard dropkick. She connects with the tiger feint kick for two. May halts Kohgo on the top turnbuckle and brings hear down with a headstand headscissors. May then scores with a shotgun dropkick off of the top turnbuckle. Kohgo fires away with forearm strikes to May’s chest, but it only takes one shot from May to knock Kohgo down to her knees. Kohgo mule kicks May after breaking out of a waistlock and uses the ropes for a satellite DDT. May dumps Kohgo on her head with a Saito suplex, then waits for Kohgo to get to her knees before blasting her with a knee strike called “It’s Gonna Be May” for the pin at 6:14. May looked awesome in this match, completely dominating Kohgo with a hell of a lot of poise. She has potential to be a huge deal. I doubt she’ll be in ROH much ever again, but that is what it is. ***

Main Show

Former ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness joins Ian and Caprice on commentary for the main show.

ROH World Television Championship
Kyle Fletcher vs. Lee Johnson

Fletcher has been champion since 12.15.2023 and this is his fifth defense. Fletcher is wearing white and red tights and body paint, which commentary notes is Fletcher channeling Kishin Liger, the unhinged, aggressive alter ego of Jushin Thunder Liger. Johnson rattles the champion with a dropkick to the corner. He chops Fletcher in a few different corners. Fletcher reverses an Irish whip and pops Johnson into a sit-out swing out uranage. Fletcher wipes out with a running back elbow when Johnson attempts to fight back. Johnson surprises Fletcher with a schoolboy pin and then delivers running chops in opposite corners. Johnson pops Fletcher to the floor and follows him out with a tope con hilo. Fletcher, however, suplexes Johnson over the barricades and onto the concrete floor. Fletcher then uses a chair to propel himself over the barricade with a tope con hilo. In the ring, Fletcher double underhooks Johnson into a side slam for two. Johnson drops Fletcher with a neckbreaker after ducking a clothesline and lands a standing moonsault for two. Fletcher ends a waistlock exchange with a brainbuster. Johnson scoops Fletcher up into a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Johnson looks for a super Frankensteiner. Fletcher does the deal with a super Falcon Arrow to counter for two. Johnson counters a powerbomb with a huracanrana for two. Johnson’s feeling himself after a pair of superkicks and climbs to the top turnbuckle. Unfortunately, Fletcher kicks his legs out and he crashes down in the corner. Fletcher annihilates him with a running gamengiri and drops him with a brainbuster for two. The Last Ride also only gets Fletcher two. Johnson punches himself to fire up after Fletcher lands a chest kick. A barrage of chest kicks from Fletcher follows with a rolling forearm smash, with Johnson rolling to the apron to recover. On the apron, Johnson is able to land an elevated reverse DDT on the ring apron. Both men make it back in the ring just before the twenty count. An exchange in the ring leads to Fletcher delivering a tombstone piledriver, and Johnson kicking out right before three. Johnson pulls off an incredible super Destroyer. He immediately follows with a frog splash to Fletcher’s back, and then another to his chest, and Fletcher kicks out. He looks for the Big Shot Drop. Fletcher turns that into a Lawn Dart. After another wild gamengiri, Fletcher buts out the top rope brainbuster for the pin at 19:51. This could be a star-making performance for Johnson if they decide to capitalize on it. He won over the crowd with his endurance and very much had the crowd hoping he was going to pull off an upset. You could argue they went a bit overboard, because this certainly will be hard to top, but there’s no denying that this was really damn good. What a way to start the evening. ****

STARDOM Showcase Match
Queen’s Quest (AZM & Saya Kamitani) & Tam Nakano vs. Empress Nexus Venus (Maika & Mina Shirakawa) & Mei Seira

Maika is the current World of Stardom champion, as well as two-thirds of the Artist of Stardom champion with Shirakawa. Seira is one-half of the Goddesses of Stardom champions. Seira gets the better of AZM during their fast opening exchange, so Nakano knee strikes Seira in the back from the apron to lend her partner a helping hand. Seira’s partners are bum rushed off of the apron, resulting in her being isolated in the Queen’s Quest and Nakano corner. She counters a backdrop from Nakano with a rolling neckbreaker and tags in Maika, who muscles over Kamitani and Nakano with a double suplex. Nakano ducks a clothesline and rolls Maika into a basement dropkick. AZM shotgun dropkicks Maika before locking her in a Rings of Saturn. Maika muscles up AZM and crushes her in the corner to escape. AZM La Mistica’s Maika into an armbreaker, but Shirakawa makes the save. Maika rolls out of the way of a top rope dive. Shirakawa splashes onto AZM, and Maika follows with a Sliding D for two. AZM reverses a suplexes from Maika, but Maika takes her down with a fallaway slam. Shirakawa kicks out Kamitani’s leg and smashes her knee into the canvas. She does more damage to her knee, but Kamitana’s cuts her off with a spinwheel kick. AZM and Nakano double PK Shirakawa, and Kamitani suplexes her for two. Shirakawa uses the ropes for an enzuigiri to Kamitani as the other competitors fight on the floor. Maika ends up assisting Shirakawa with a double knee buster. Shirakawa slams her knee first off of her shoulders before locking in a figure seven. Her partners make the save, and Nakano wipes out everyone with a crossbody to the floor. Kamitani and Mirakawa then go at it for several minutes, enduring a lot of hard strikes, kicks, and nearfalls. Mirakawa eventually pins Kamitani with a leg capture reverse brainbuster 14:27. With Shirakawa interacting with Toni Storm at the STARDOM show yesterday and recently being on ROH, it stood to reason she would get the W. This was fun to watch, and if the first match had too many kickouts, this had WAY too many kickouts. This is about as good as a showcase match gets. ***½

Mariah May comes out with champagne to celebrate with her former Club Venus members. I was fully expecting a swerve here, but no, just an earnest reunion of joy.

ROH World Tag Team Championship
The Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) The Infantry (Carlie Bravo & Shawn Dean)

The Undisputed Kingdom have been champions since 12.27.2023 and this is their second defense. The Infantry earned this match by outlasting the 10 minute time limit in a Proving Ground match on yesterday’s episode of ROH on HonorClub. Trish Adora is in their corner. Dean’s left shoulder is heavily bandaged. The Kingdom attack the Infantry before the bell. Bravo gets the Kingdom together on the floor for Dean to wipe out with a tope con hilo. When The Infantry end up on the entrance ramp with Bennett, Taven bowls over them with a tope. He also sets up a table on the floor next to the ramp. The Kingdom take out Dean with Hail Mary on the ramp, leaving Bravo to fight off the Kingdom on his own. When Bravo is able to escape their grasp, Dean is ready to accept the tag, albeit damaged goods. He butterflies Bennett into a backbreaker for two. Bravo stuns Bennett into a German suplex from Dean for two. Taven puls Bravo to the floor. Dean kicks out of a Death Valley Driver/Just The Tip combo, so the Kingdom nails the Proton Pack. Bravo saves Dean from the pin attempt that time. The Infantry connects with Boot Camp on Taven. Bennett not only breaks the pin, but pulls Dean back to the entrance ramp. He sets him up for a piledriver, but Bravo comes to his aid. Bravo assists Dean with a uranage slam on the apron. Taven however does pull off the Climax on the apron on Dean. Bravo puts Taven through his own table with a splash off of the stage. Dean lands a Superfly Splash, but the referee has his hands full with Taven and Bravo. Wardlow interferes, wiping out Dean with a clothesline. Bennett then covers Dean and the referee comes back in to count at 13:54. I did not like that ending at all, but it could lead to something since we have two matches in a row where the Infantry had a visual pin on the Kingdom. I’m not going to hold my breath. These two teams have excellent chemistry and used the surroundings to tell a compelling story. Ending aside, I enjoyed this. ***¼

ROH Women’s World Television Title Tournament Final Round Match
Billie Starkz vs. Queen Aminata

The winner of this match becomes the inaugural ROH Women’s World Television champion. Starkz defeated Robyn Renegade, Diamante, and Mercedes Martinez en route to the finals, while Queen Aminata defeated J-Rod, Taya Valkyrie, and Red Velvet. This is also the first time I can ever remember commentary addressing a competitor (Aminata) fasting for Ramadan and how that could effect her performance. Aminata absolutely obliterates Starkz with a running kick to the face. She does more damage to Starkz’s back inside of the ring. Starkz avoids a hip attack and takes down Aminata with a follow through clothesline. Aminata ducks a rebound enzuigiri and German suplexes Starkz into another running punt for two. Although Aminata lands a heavy Complete Shot, Starkz is able to escape an Air Raid Crash and drive Aminata back first into the mat. Starkz knees Aminata in the jaw and gets two with Ushigoroshi. Aminata counters Starkz’s suplex with a rolling neckbreaker. Starkz roundhouse kicks Aminata, and Aminata throws a desperation clothesline. Aminata kicks the inside of Starkz’s knee when Starkz is in the corner. Aminata drop toe holds Starkz and looks for another hard punt to the head. Starkz moves out of the way this time and takes out Aminata with a suicide dive. Starkz misses a somersault senton on the apron. Aminata crushes her with a double stomp on the floor. She follows with a Swanton back in the ring, and Starkz kicks out at one. Aminata is blown away. Despite her deep cover, Aminata’s Air Raid Crash fails to yield a three count as well. Starkz kicks Aminata down from the middle rope. Aminata gets her knees up to block Starkz’s Swanton. She tells the referee her neck is injured and the doctor is called in to check on her. Aminata holds the rope open so the doctors can take her to the back, and of course, Starkz German suplexes Aminata and locks her in a sleeper hold aggressively. Aminata passes out at 17:42, making Starkz the inaugural ROH World TV Champion. That ending definitely portrayed that Starkz has been successfully warped by Athena in doing whatever it takes to win, but it’s not how I would’ve liked for a tournament to establish the first champion to end. Aminata for me was the tournament MVP, and I would’ve loved to have seen her win, so if there is any silver lining, she has a strong case for a rematch. MMV on that ending but the rest of the match was darn good. ***½

Lexy Nair interviews Top Flight and Action Andretti. Nair asks Dante Martin about breaking his leg last year and coming as far as they have since. This leads to Top Flight hyping up their AEW match against FTR tomorrow, which was already filmed and they lose. Maybe they should hype some ROH matches on AEW TV or PPV instead!

The ROH World Six Man Tag Team champions BULLET CLUB Gold of Jay White, Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn then make a surprise appearance. White says they’re going to prove they’re the best team by defending their titles right now. Lance Archer’s music hits and you anticipate him bringing The Righteous with him, but instead, he has his Monstersauce tag team partner Alex Zayne! He then introduces his other partner, the leader of the stable he was part of in Japan for a decade, and a former ROH TV champion, Minoru Suzuki! The crowd is amped.

ROH World Six Man Tag Team Championship
BULLET CLUB Gold (Jay White, Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn) vs. Monstersauce (Lance Archer & Alex Zayne) & Minoru Suzuki

BULLET CLUB Gold have been champions since 1.17.2024 and this is their first defense. Suzuki says White is still a young boy and damn near breaks his wrist in a lock. Suzuki smiles as White throws chops at him. The Gunns save White from Suzuki’s sleeper hold, pulling him to the floor. Suzuki laughs at Austin after calling him an Ass Boy, and makes him crumple to the mat with just one forearm shot. Colten resorts to eye poking Archer. Archer makes him pay with a suplex before he and Zayn double team him in the corner. Austin knee strikes Zayne from the apron, turning around into a dropkick from Colten. The champions maul Zayne in their half of the ring until he eventually kicks away the Gunns and tags in Archer. Archer walks through Gunn’s punches and takes him down with a ripcord chokeslam. He crossbody’s onto Colten and then launches Zayne feet first into him. Zayne then headscissors Archer into a cannonball to Austin. Archer chokeslams Zayne into a moonsault on Austin for two due to White interfering. Suzuki makes White pay by whipping him into the barricades. Archer looks for the Blackout on Austin. Austin escapes and delivers a Perfect neck snap. Suzuki snapmares White into a PK for two. Zayne tags in as Suzuki has White in a sleeper hold. Zayne takes out White after White gives Suzuki a dragonscrew leg whip. Zayne takes White down with a front flip Frankensteiner and then the Baja Blast for two. Suzuki sneaks in with another sleeper, only to be quickly pulled out by the Gunns. The Gunns take out Archer with 3:10 to Yuma. Zayne dropkicks the Gunns to the floor, but White sneaks in and pins him with the Blade Runner at 15:18. This was a vibes match anytime Suzuki was in the ring. Otherwise, it was a solid but unspectacular and too long six man tag team match. ***

The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass attack BC Gold afterwards, giving us more AEW story advancement on an ROH show. White lays out Anthony Bowens with a Blade Runner and then BC Gold runs for the hills. A lot of fans say keep ROH out of AEW. I say keep AEW out of ROH.

Fight Without Honor
Dalton Castle vs. Johnny TV

Taya Valkyrie is in TV’s corner. These two have been embroiled in a rivalry for months. Castle has been unhinged since TV won a Custody of the Boys match, taking Brandon and Brent away from him. Castle goes for the Bang-A-Rang early but TV escapes. TV stomps on Castle’s bandaged hand when he places it on the ramp and then Hot Shots him onto the barricades. Castle DDT’s TV back in the ring. Castle pulls off an apron assisted headscissors on TV. Valkyrie holds onto Castle’s foot when he tries to get into the ring, giving TV the room to land a springboard enzuigiri. Castle falls to the floor when TV side steps a knee attack. TV sets up a table ringside. Valkyrie gives TV a kendo stick, which TV uses to pull off a Side Russian leg sweep and to choke Castle. TV rolls to the entrance ramp when Castle wrestles the kendo stick away from him. TV parkours his way back in, only for Castle to deadlift him up into a suplex. Castle repeatedly cracks TV with the kendo stick. Valkyrie pulls TV to safety on the floor. When Castle walks over, she throws powder in Castle’s eyes and blows him with a leaf blower. TV gives Front Row Charlie and Vlad props before powerbombing Castle through the table he previously had set up. The crowd cheers when Castle kicks out from Starship Pain. He covers Castle with plunder before looking for a second Starship Pain. Castle cuts him off with a kendo stick shot. Castle pulls TV off of the middle turnbuckle for a German suplex. Castle calls for the stand-in Boys he used for his entrance and throws all six of them onto TV back-to-back, except the last one is too heavy to land on him. However, Jack Cartwheel comes out dressed as a Boy and lands a Sasuke Special onto TV. Paul Walter Hauser then appears in a Boy mask and perches in a corner. TV takes out all the other Boys and Castle with a corkscrew senton to the floor. Hauser gives TV a Sky High. The rest of the Boys carry out Valkyrie. Hauser presents Castle with a bag of thumbtacks that gets poured onto the middle of the ring. Castle Bang-A-Rangs TV onto the tacks for the pin at 22:06. I’m all for a Fight Without Honor that’s on the goofier side, and in that respect the match had some fun moments. But this went on and on and did not fill those 22 minutes in an interesting way. Paul Walter Hauser very quickly wore out his welcome in wrestling. Check out the highlights of this match on Twitter. **

ROH Women’s World Championship
Athena vs. Hikaru Shida

Athena has been the champion since 12.10.2022 and this is her twentieth defense. Shida has the champs number early on, partially due to Shida holding it over Athena’s head that she holds a victory over her. Shida punches Athena in the corner. Athena trips Shida so that he knee bend onto the middle rope and Athena attacks it repeatedly. Athena’s attitude turns around as she sees Shida is damaged goods. Athena jams Shida’s legs and Alabama Slams her into an ankle and knee lock. Shida picks up the pace upon escaping and gets two with a brainbuster. Athena comes back with a dropkick, and Shida cuts her off on the floor with a running knee strike. Athena lands with her head hitting the announcers table. Athena tries to fight back when they enter the ring. She kicks out Shida’s knee and gives her a Saito suplex. Shida blocks the O-Face. Athena goes back to an ankle lock after blocking the Katana. Athena rolls to the entrance ramp after escaping the lock by using the ropes. She knee strikes Athena to block Athena’s dive. Athena pulls Shida head first into the ring post. Shida blocks Athena’s powerbomb attempt and drives her into the ramp with a back to belly piledriver. Shida then hits Meteora back in the ring for two. Athena uses the ropes to pull off a Code Breaker. Shida kicks out of the Despicable Knee at one, to Athena’s shock. Athena then kicks out of a Falcon Arrow at one. Athena deadlifts Shidea into a powerbomb. Shida pulls Athena to the floor with her legs to try and stop a second powerbomb, but Athena maintains her grip and powerbombs Shida onto the floor. The O-Face back in the ring only gets Athena a two count. They fight for control on the middle turnbuckle. Shida wins with a backbreaker across the top turnbuckle. After another slam, Shida finally nails the Katana, but only gets two. Shida pulls down her knee pad and calls for it a second time. Athena catches the knee, so Shida pivots to a German suplex and clothesline. Athena ducks another knee strike, superkicks and forearm strikes Shida, and hits the O-Face one more time for the pin at 22:31 The match before this went forever and I think most fans were ready to see the World Title match. Then they built the match in a compelling manner and it woke the crowd up. They were very into the nearfalls. Major kudos to both Athena and Shida for pulling off what felt impossible. With a second Women’s title now in ROH, this really could be a never ending title reign for Athena, and as long as she keeps delivering I won’t complain. ***¾

ROH World Championship
Eddie Kingston vs. Mark Briscoe

Kingston has been ROH World Champion since 9.20.2023 and this is his twelfth defense. Kingston challenged Mark to this match, wanting to give Mark the title match he was supposed to get at Death Before Dishonor last Summer in the city where ROH was born. By coincidence, Mark is seeking his first ROH World Title exactly eleven years to the day his late brother Jay won his first ROH World championship at Supercard of Honor VII. Mark has a silhouette of his brother on his shorts and enters to “Gimme Back My Bullets” by Lynyrd Skynyrd, the theme best associated with Mark and Jay’s ROH tag team tenure. Mark’s parents, wife, and children are in the front row.

Kingston seems a little surprised by Mark taking him down with a shoulder block. He snaps back into the match and Saito suplexes Mark to the corner. Mark throws some karate at Kingston from the apron and takes him down with a boot. Mark boots Kingston in the side of the head and to the floor, following up with a spicy dropkick and tope suicida. Mark brings a chair in the ring for his usual dive attempt, but Kingston ends up chokeslamming Mark onto that. Kingston’s anger comes out on the floor as he bashes Mark’s face repeatedly into the ring announcer’s table, which busts Mark open. Kingston further opens the wound with headbutts, but Mark fights through it and trades chops with the champ. The crowd chants “man up!” as referee Paul Turner checks Mark’s wound. Kingston on the other hand digs his fingers into Mark’s wound and then unloads a barrage of chops with Mark’s blood on his hands. Kingston further digs into the wound after a belly-to-belly suplex. Mark also sits up after taking a lariat. Mark cuts off Kingston’s suicide dive attempt and bites his forehead. Mark shotgun dropkicks Kingston’s head into the corner barricade. Mark then lands the Cactus elbow on the floor. Kingston gets Mark hung upside down in the corner and baseball slide dropkicks him for two. Mark clotheslines Kingston and uses the energy of the crowd to get himself back to his feet. Mark takes Kingston off his feet with a flying forearm. Kingston’s showing signs of fatigue as he is whipped across the ring. Mark draws him out into a fisherman’s buster for two. Mark follows that up with a Blockbuster on the floor. Kingston sees the Froggy Bow coming and rolls away. Mark rolls through and puts down Kingston again with a rolling Death Valley Driver. The Froggy Bow lands but only gets a two count. Kingston reverses an Irish whip into a t-bone suplex. Mark quickly comes back with an exploder suplex, which he and Kingston exchange one more time before knocking each other out with stereo clotheslines. They fight on the ring apron, were Kingston ends up t-bone suplexing Mark to the floor! Mark makes it in before the twenty count just in time, but Kingston didn’t get in much sooner than he did. Mark lariats Kingston and goes for the Jay Driller. Kingston dragon suplexes Mark instead and nails the Backfist for two. Mark ducks a Sliding D and blasts Kingston with a rolling forearm. He pulls Kingston up for the Jay Driller. Kingston backdrops through. Mark ducks a Backfist but then takes a second. He Pele kicks Kingston, who then tries to surprise Kingston with an Emerald Flowsion. Mark busts out the Cut-Throat Driver to counter and gets a two count. Mark points to Jay on his shorts and to the sky before calling for the Jay Driller once again. He hits it this time, pinning Kingston and winning the title at 24:13.

What a moment, and what a match to get us to that moment. Mark had to fight tooth and nail and endure significant blood loss to earn the World Title. I couldn’t help but think of Jay vs Joe from “At Our Best”, the very first Mania weekend ROH show where Jay bled so much it clotted.While this was long, it was so much better paced than any other match on the show, and the emotional weight helped as well. I do think the match maybe overstated its welcome by a few minutes, but am I really going to be overly nitpicky in this case? I am not. I’m still not happy Mark lost to Samoa Joe at last year’s Supercard, so I’ll just say I’m glad he won this match and that they didn’t screw up again. ****

THIS SHOW WAS SO LONG. WHY WAS IT SO LONG? You could cut 5-10 minutes off of literally every match and it would’ve resulted in a more satisfying overall show. Instead, I leave the event like I do most AEW PPVs – exhausted. In some ways these ROH PPVs are like binge drinking – you do it, swear off ever doing it, and then the memory fades and you do it again 3 to 4 months later. See you in July.

Check out the TV title, Women’s Title, and World Title matches for sure.