Arlington, TX – 7.26.2024

Commentary is provided by Ian Riccaboni & Caprice Coleman.

Zero Hour

MxM Collection (Mansoor & Mason Madden) vs. Spanish Announce Project (Angelico & Serpentico)

After weeks of hype videos on the weekly ROH program, the MxM Collection debuts tonight. For a company that’s for “the sickos” who just want “bangers”, the Vince McMahon created tandem sure did get a hell of a reaction for their entrance. The crowd loved everything they did – from the posing, to the tandem offense, and just their general demeanor. It’s a package that works. Serpenetico mocking Mason with some Clifford style voguing made it all the more sweet when Mason overhand chopped him into Mansoor’s Manhattan drop/spinebuster combo. Angelico then had to save Serpentico from a chokeslam/German suplex combo. SAP looked to have Mansoor out with an elevated Complete Shot/frog splash combo, but Mansoor persevered. Mansoor as the agile athlete that gets beat down and Mason as the heavy who cleans house upon tagging in is a tried and true formula, and it worked for this match as well. Madden wiped out Angelico with a Harlem side kick and speared Serpentico. MxM then put away Serpentico with a spike double underhook brainbuster called The Centerfold for the pin at 9:07. About as perfect of a debut as you could want for the MxM Collection. Angelico and Serpentico were great foils for them. **½

Maria meets MxM in the aisleway, applauding their victory. They give her a glance as they walk past to the backstage area.

Marina Shafir vs. Angelica Risk

Risk pissess off Shafr with open hand strikes to the chest. Shafir catches a crossbody attempt, drives her knee into Risk’s ribs twice, and then pulls her into the Mother’s Milk submission until referee Mike Posey stops the match at 1:00. Hell yeah.

The Infantry (Carlie Bravo & Shawn Dean) vs. Anthony Henry & Griff Garrison

Trish Adora is in the Infantry’s corner while Maria is in Henry and Garrison’s corner. Henry and Garrison’s partners (Cole Karter and JD Drake) are on the shelf, so they decide to team up in the meantime and give it a go. The Infantry have sick X-Men TAS/97 inspired attire. The match followed the classic tag formula and fortunately the crowd was very much behind the Infantry. While Garrison and Henry didn’t have the tag team chops the Infantry did, they both agreed on taking shortcuts. Things fell apart when Maria got in Henry’s face because Henry tagged himself into the match because Garrison was recovering on the mat. Henry then accidentally knocked Maria off of the apron, but Garrison caught her. Henry then fell to the Infantry’s Boot Camp finisher (big boot into a side Russian leg sweep) for the pin at 9:17. Solid but unmemorable. The Infantry getting a win is good, but I don’t foresee any fallout from this Garrison/Henry duo. **¼

Top Flight (Dante Martin & Darius Martin) vs. The Outrunners (Turbo Floyd & Truth Magnum)

Erica Leigh is in the Outrunnners’ corner. Top Flight are in firm control when Magnum distracts the referee so Leigh can grab Darius’ foot from the floor and Floyd can double axe him in the back from behind. The Outrunners pose and preen as they pummel Darius in their corner. Darius back suplexes his way out of a sleeper hold from Floyd and tags out to Dante, who unloads with forearm strikes on Magnum. He drop toe holds Floyd into Magnus and Magistral cradles Magnum for two. Dante nails both of the Outrunners with leaping knee strikes, with one of them sending Floyd to the floor. Top Flight nail Magnum with a gamengiri/enzuigiri combo. Dante wipes out Floyd with a spicy dropkick as Darius puts away Magnum with a Death Valley Complete Shot for the pin at 8:43. Really not much to this one. It was nice to see Erica Leigh alongside the Outrunners, though. **¼

Having so many tag matches on the pre-show made it difficult for any one of them to stand out. Easily the weakest Zero Hour of the TK era.

Main Show

Komander vs. The Beast Mortos

Alex Abrahantes is in Komander’s corner. Komander thought he was going to have the match in his favor after he took Mortos to the floor, but Mortos only further asserted his dominance when he caught a tope con hilo attempt and then powerbombed Komander into Abrahantes. Back in the ring, Komander takes Mortos off of his feet with a headscissors. When he charged at Mortos, Mortos press slammed him stomach first right onto the metal part of the top turnbuckle. Mortos takes the padding of the buckle, but is hoisted by his own petard when Komander shoves Mortos chest first into it. This allows Komander to then deliver a through the buckles brainbuster on the floor akin to El Generico. Mortos rolls to the apron when he sees Komander perched on the top turnbuckle. Komander comes down, and though Mortos pops him up, Komander uses his chest to land a Frankensteiner off the apron and to the floor. He then tight rope walks across the top rope into a floating moonsault. In the ring, he pops off of the middle turnbuckle into a reverse spike Frankensteiner for two. Mortos gets his feet up to block a dive and then pops Komander up into a Samoan Drop for two. Komander counters a torture rack into a crucifix driver. Komander then uses the ropes to maneuver Mortos into a Destroyer. Mortos spears Komander to reach a stalemate. When they go to the top rope, Mortos brings down Komander with an avalanche press slam for two. After pulling off another Destroyer, Komander goes back to the top rope. He misses a rope-walk shooting star press, and Mortos pulls him up into a torture rack backbreaker. Destination Hellhole gets Mortos the pin at 13:31. This was fun as heck, but also basically the same match Mortos and Vikingo had at Final Battle. Nothing wrong with copying a great match, as Mortos destroying Komander was great fun, and Komander’s offense is so cool. I’m glad Mortos is finding his footing in AEW/ROH because he is tremendous. ***¾

Melissa Santos interviews MxM and asks about their debut tonight. They use a lot of acronyms to describe tonight as successful and challenge FTR to a match tomorrow night. MxM would lose that match, of course.

ROH World Tag Team Championship
The Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) vs. The Conglomeration (Kyle O’Reilly & Tomohiro Ishii)

The Undisputed Kingdom have been champions since 12.27.2023 and this is their fourth defense. This is O’Reilly’s first ROH match since December of 2016, and since losing the ROH World Title at Wrestle Kingdom 12. He is also a three time ROH World Tag Team Champion. This is Ishii’s first ROH match since G1 Supercard in 2019, and he is a former ROH World Television Champion. The first few minutes of this match mostly consistent of Ishii chopping the hell out of the Kingdom. Credit where it’s due, it’s Bennett who drew blood on Ishii with the chops. The Kingdom get their groove together after this, with Taven wiping out Ishii with the Flight of the Conqueror. Bennett then pulls O’Reilly out of the ring when he looks for a rebound lariat, holding him upright so Taven can land a slingshot crossbody, with O’Reilly and Taven crashing into the mat. Ishii recovers as the Kingdom continue to beat down O’Reilly. O’Reilly finds the energy to kick out of the Proton Pack. He then dropkicks Bennett’s knee out from under him, sending him crashing face first into the middle turnbuckle, and then escapes Taven’s grasp to tag in the Stone Pitbull. Ishii gets two with a Saito suplex on Taven. Taven comes back with the Kick of the King for two, then tells Bennett to set him up for the Hail Mary. Ishii gets on his feet before they can even go for a pin after the move. Ishii sends Taven to the apron where O’Reilly knocks him out. O’Rielly gets Bennett in a kneebar, which Taven breaks using Aurora Borealis. The Conglomeration take out Taven with a version of Total Elimination. Ishii is the perfect person for O’Reilly to bust out Chasing The Dragon with, and that’s exactly what they do to Bennett after Ishii gives him a super brainbuster. Ishii then chases Taven to the floor after Taven breaks their pin. Kyle Fletcher and Don Callis appear. Callus distracts referee Aubrey Edwards as Fletcher jumps on the apron. With him distracted, Bennett low blows O’Reilly and pins him in a small package at 19:41. That was a perfectly enjoyable tag team match until the stinky ending. O’Reilly and Ishii had immediate chemistry and worked very well against the Kingdom. I wouldn’t have gone nearly twenty minutes for that ending, but it was good overall. ***½

Texas Death Match
Diamante vs. Leyla Hirsch

This is a threematch, with Leyla winning their first match on June 20th, and Diamante winning a Lights Out match on July 18th. The only way to win this match is submission, or to knock your opponent out for a ten count. Hirsch purposefully waits for DIamante on the top of the stage with two chairs. They joust with those for a moment before Diamante throws Hirsch off of the stage and through a table! In the ring, Diamante busts Hirsch open by dropkicking chairs into her head in a tree of woe position. Hirsch busts Diamante open by throwing her skull first into chairs set up in opposite corners. She also German suplexes Diamante onto a pile of thumbtacks, but when she goes for a moonsault onto the tacks, Diamante moves and Hirsch lands knee first onto the tacks. Diamante uses electrical tape to tape Hirsch’s left wrist to the ropes and then beats her down with a chancla. She then pulls out a chancla with thumbtacks in it and smashes it into Hirsch’s forehead. Diamante sets up four chairs with two barbed wire boards on them. In the meantime, Hirsch has freed herself, and she puts Diamante through the two boards with a Samoan Drop off of the ring apron. Hirsch uses the electrical tape to keep Diamante on a table in the ring, and then lands a moonsault off of the ladder through the table. Hirsch gets to her feet by the count of ten, and Diamante does not, making Hirsch the winner at 15:42. This was a violent tornado with enough connective tissue to make it great. The beauty of Hirsch missing a moonsault earlier in the match, Diamante then introducing electrical tape into the match, and Hirsch using that tape to secure Diamante to a table so she could pull off a moonsault and win the match is the kind of stuff in wrestling that makes me swoon. The violence also escalated perfectly, ending with the most impressive moment, and it felt like a hugely earned win for Hirsch. It also goes to show that matches that are exclusively built on the ROH program can work on PPV, and should be a large percentage of what makes up these shows. Hirsch could now be the person to unseat Athena, but I have doubts. Awesome match. ****

ROH Pure Championship
Wheeler Yuta vs. Lee Moriarty

Yuta has been champion since 11.25.2023 and this is his fourth defense. Moriarty earned this title shot by outlasting the 10 minute time limit in a Proving Ground match on the July 4th episode of ROH on HonorClub. The Pure Rules are as follows:
The competitors are to obey the “Code of Honor”, shaking one another’s hand before and after the match.
*Each wrestler has 3 rope breaks to stop submission holds and pinfalls. After a wrestler has used all 3 of their rope breaks, submission and pin attempts on or under the ropes by the opponent are considered legal.
*Closed-fist punches to the face are not permitted. Overhanded slaps and chops to the face are permitted. Punches to the rest of the body are permitted, excluding low blows. The first use of a closed fist results in a warning. The second use of a closed fist to the face results in a disqualification.
*If the match goes past the undetermined time limit, three judges will determine the outcome. The judges for this match are ROH alumni and former champions Christopher Daniels and Jerry Lynn, and ROH Board of Directors member Paul Wight. Oh yeah, Big Show is on the Board of Directors now.

Moriarty uses his first rope break to escape a kneebar. Moriarty then gets Yuta to spend his first rope break by applying a Border City Stretch. Yuta gives him a sarcastic round of applause for getting him to do so. The referee gets in between them to break a lock-up in the corner. Moriarty uses a closed fist strike while the referee can’t see. Yuta retaliates with one of his own and gets caught. As the referee is telling Bobby Cruise that Yuta has been issued a warning, Moriarty strikes with yet another closed fist that goes unseen. It doesn’t take long until Yuta has Moriarty grounded again, and he gets Moriarty to use his second rope break by applying an armbar. Moriarty catches Yuta’s arm on the opposite side of the ring and snaps it across the top rope. Moriarty keeps a hammerlock applied and then lands a dropkick off of the second turnbuckle for two. Moriarty pokes Yuta in the eyes to end a strike exchange. Yuta comes back with a flying clothesline and a forearm splash, and then a diving clothesline for two. Moriarty comes back with a superplex. During an exchange, Moriarty cracks Yuta with a closed-fist, but this time he is caught and issued a warning. Moriarty drops Yuta face first and reapplies the Border City Stretch. Yuta uses his second rope break to escape. Yuta schoolboys Moriarty to the floor and sends him crashing into the guardrails using a tope suicida. Back in the ring, however, Moriarty throws Yuta’s shoulder into the mat. He uses his legs to put Yuta in a neck wrench that also pulls back on his shoulder. Moriarty pulls on his right leg, so Yuta has to use his left leg to use his third and final rope break. Yuta then puts Moriarty in a Cattle Mutilation to get him to spend his third and final rope break. Moriarty fights out of a side headlock by releasing Yuta out of a back suplex onto the ring apron. Moriarty dives onto Yuta before bringing him back into the ring for an elevated Complete Shot. Yuta grabs Moriarty’s wrist and pulls him into a Fujiwara armbar. Moriarty grabs the ropes, rolls Yuta onto his shoulders, hooks his left leg underneath Yuta’s leg, and places his own right foot on the bottom rope for leverage to pin Yuta at 19:56. Yuta points to the ropes after the fall to point out the infraction, but with no rope breaks left it was perfectly legal. This went a little long and got a little repetitive but overall was very good. Moriarty was the clear focus, which was essential considering he is featured less than Yuta across the board. As much as I am a fan of Pure Rules matches, it was a bit tough to get into after the Diamante and Hirsch battle, and I think the crowd felt the same way. I’m very glad Moriarty has the title and hope the Pure division will be featured more consistently going forward. ***½

ROH Women’s World Television Title Match
Billie Starkz vs. Red Velvet

Starkz has been champion since 4.5.2024 and this is her first defense. Starkz ends Velvet’s early advantage with a reverse waterwheel slam face first into the top turnbuckle. She facewash kicks Velvet repeatedly while she is hung up in a tree of woe. Velvet kicks the top turnbuckle to turn a backdrop attempt from Starkz into a pin, but Starks kicks out and takes her down with a roundhouse kick. Velvet kicks Starkz to the corner after kicking out of an O’Connor Roll and takes her down with a Saito suplex. Velvet ducks a back elbow and DDT’s Starkz for two. Velvet also stops Starkz on the top turnbuckle and brings her down with a super cazadora driver for two. Starkz gets Velvet in a chicken wing chokehold. Velvet snapmares her way free. Starkz side steps an attack and takes down Velvet with an Ushigoroshi for two. Starkz puts Velvet in an electric chair, which Velvet escapes using a reverse Frankensteiner. After fighting for a German suplex on the apron, Starkz shoves Velvet into the ring post. Starkz pulls Velvet up to the middle rope back into the chicken wing chokehold. Velvet uses a stunner to snap her neck onto the top turnbuckle. She calls for the referee to check on her, who also calls for the doctor, but because of what she did, Velvet was ready for her sneak attack. She plays possum, which allows for her to slam Starkz off of the middle rope and stuff her with a grounded Diamond Dust for the pin and the title at 14:55. Starkz losing the title in her first defense is an interesting contrast to Athena’s ensuring World title reign. The match itself was good but struggled to stick out amongst the other great matches that preceded. Starkz re-hashing the fake injury from Supercard didn’t land as well to the live crowd as I think they anticipated, but it did make Velvet’s victory more cathartic. I am happy for Velvet, but also wish that Starkz’s reign was more robust. How did she not defend the title one time between PPV’s? ***

ROH World Six Man Tag Team Championship Eliminator Match
Dustin Rhodes & The Von Erichs (Marshall von Erich & Ross von Erich) vs. The Dark Order (Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds & John Silver)

The winner of this match faces the Undisputed Kingdom on tomorrow’s AEW Battle of the Belts XI program to determine the new ROH World Six Man Tag Team champions. Kevin von Erich is in Dustin and his son’s corner. A brawl ensues between the two teams to start. While Aubrey Edwards is busy with other participants in the match, Uno strikes Ross in the head with Rhodes’ cowbell on a bull rope. Reynolds also throws Rhodes into the guardrails, The Dark Order then beatdown Ross in their half of the ring until he flips out of a double back drop attempt from Uno and Silver and tags in Marshall, who hip tosses and backdrops Silver, pinning him with a cannonball senton for two. Uno cuts off Marshall, and Marshall puts him in the Claw. Reynolds saves Uno and throws Marshall outside. Reynolds and Silver take down Marshall with a brainbuster/tope suicida combo. Reynolds throws Dustin into the steel steps as the Dark Order beats down Marshall, including spitting into his cowboy hat. Reynolds misses a moonsault and Marshall drops him with a moonsault. Rhodes side steps attacks from Uno and Silver, and he finally gets tagged into the match for the first time. He passes out powerslams to all of the Dark Order and the Texas crowd goes wild. He has Reynolds pinned with Cross Rhodes when Uno makes the save. Dustin kicks out of a stunner into a German suplex. Reynolds mocks Rhodes as he puts him in position for the Unnatural kick. Rhodes not only escapes, but spikes Reynolds with a jumping Destroyer. Marshall puts Silver in the Claw when he stops Rhodes from delivering the Unnatural Kick. Ross then puts Uno in the Claw to prevent him from hitting Rhodes with the cowbell. Rhodes successfully delivers the Unnatural Kick to Reynolds and follows up with the Final Reckoning for the pin at 14:28. This match very much hinges on you being excited about two classic Texas wrestling families teaming together. The live crowd did, and they did a good job building up the hot tag to Dustin, but quality wise it was more befitting a TV show than a PPV. It also irks me that they used the ROH PPV to build up an ROH title match on AEW television the next day, but that is what it is. **¾

ROH World Television Championship – 2024 Survival of the Fittest Elimination Match
Atlantis Jr. vs. Brian Cage vs. Johnny TV vs. Lee Johnson vs. Lio Rush vs. Shane Taylor

Atlantis Jr. has been champion since 6.28.2024 and this is his second defense. Taya Valkyrie is in TV’s corner. Speaking of things that irk me, a six man elimination match on its own is not a Survival of the Fittest match. I already accepted that they do six singles matches as qualifiers for the Survival of the Fittest over the course of multiple shows rather than all on the same night (they’re not really “surviving” anything when they do it this way), but to call an elimination match without any qualifying matches whatsoever Survival of the Fittest is just further diminishes the match’s importance. You couldn’t just call this a Six Man Mayhem?

Taylor found himself the last man standing in the ring. He had Johnson eyed up for a cannonball senton in the corner. He missed, and once he got to his feet, he was met by a superkick from Atlantis and a springboard enzuigiri from TV. Rush then put away Taylor with the Final Hour for the pin at 9:56. Rush wipes out Johnson with a suicide dive on the floor. He tries the Final Hour back in the ring, but Johnson rolls to his feet and superkicks Rush. Johnson pulls him up into the Big Shot Drop (a reverse brainbuster) for the pin at 11:32. Cage and TV gang up on Johnson and Atlantis. Johnson managed to fight them off on his own for a moment, but ultimately, a powerbomb/springboard enzuigiri combo put away Johnson at 15:05. While it looked like Atlantis Jr. would be easy pickings for the remaining challengers, TV got greedy and tried to surprise Cage with a schoolboy. It only got him a two count and ended their partnership. A distraction from Valkyrie allowed for TV to low blow Cage. Cage angrily came back with a discus lariat and then pinned TV with the Drill Claw at 18:39. Cage looked for another Drill Claw on Atlantis, but Atlantis countered into a prawn hold and pinned him at 19:12 to win the match and remain Television champion. There was not much at all to sink your teeth into with this match. The strange bedfellows pairing of TV and Cage was the only story of note throughout the entire bout and it wasn’t particularly interesting. It was mostly just uninspired action that resulted in Atlantis wiping out five potential challengers in one fell swoop. It was an odd choice to do that, and an odd choice to waste this year’s Survival of the Fittest thoughtlessly. ***

ROH Women’s World Championship
Athena vs. Queen Aminata

Athena has been the champion since 12.10.2022 and this is her twenty-second defense. Athena drops Aminata with a Gourd Buster onto the floor after Aminata misses a hip attack into the ring steps. Chekov’s stairs are placed ringside before Athena brings Aminata back in the ring, controlling her by the neck. Aminata forearm smashes Athena before giving her a backbreaker and mowing her down with a clothesline. She then pins Athena with a neckbreaker for two. Athena muscles up Aminata into the Despicable Knee for two. Aminata knocks Athena out with a running knee into the ropes and then comes off of the top turnbuckle with a double stomp for two. Athena ducks another running knee, coming up from the mat with a superkick and a forearm smash to get yet another nearfall. Athena mocks Aminata before attempting a cartwheel back elbow, but that gives time for Aminata to counter Athena’s attack with a German suplex. Aminata then blasts her with a hip attack before landing an Air Raid Crash for two. Athena ducks Aminata’s yakuza kick attempt. She keeps Aminata’s leg over her shoulder as she sends Aminata into the corner with an overhead suplex. They trade shots as they get to their feet, with Athena ultimately getting the better of the exchange by countering Aminata’s running knee strike into a single leg crab. Aminata escapes into a double hammerlock stretch using her legs and pushing the back of Athena’s head forward. Athena reverses into a crossface until Athena uses the ropes to escape. Aminata blocks an O-Face and ducks an enzuigiri. She kicks Athena right to the apron right by the stairs. Athena rakes Aminata’s eyes so she can pull her to the apron and give her a tombstone piledriver onto the stairs! Aminata kicks out of the subsequent pin. She mouths to Athena that she fucked up as she blasts her with a headbutt. She drops Athena with a Tiger Driver. Billie Starkz runs out, with Red Velvet on her heels, and the two of them brawl ringside. Athena has Lexy Nair hand her a microphone. When Aminata approaches, she cracks Aminata in the head with the microphone and then pins her with the O-Face at 20:15. Having a referee distraction that leads to cheating which directly leads into the finish of the match in two title matches on the same show (this and the tag title match) is lazy and dilutes both instances. On top of that, who greenlit a Tiger Driver being used in this match when that move has been central to a top story in AEW for months? I liked this match and like these two wrestlers a lot, but man did those last few minutes really make me hot. Hopefully a rematch and a title change is in the near future. Aminata is awesome. ***¾

ROH World Championship
Mark Briscoe vs. Roderick Strong

Briscoe has been champion since 4.5.2024 and this is his second defense. Strong won a #1 Contenders match against Dalton Castle on the July 13th episode of AEW Collision to earn this title bout. Strong’s second to last ROH match was a loss to Briscoe at “Best In The World 2016.” Briscoe goes for Froggy Bow fairly early in the contest after wiping out Strong with a dive into the crowd. Strong got his knees up to block the maneuver, striking Briscoe square in the ribs. He sends Briscoe crashing hard ribs first into opposite corners. Briscoe then follows Strong to the floor with a spicy dropkick and lands a Cactus elbow off of the apron. They end up fighting on one of the other aprons, ending with Strong dropping Briscoe ribs first onto the edge of the ring. Strong then sends him face first into the ring post which busts him open. Strong further wears down Briscoe’s ribs with two backbreakers and a Camel Clutch before putting him in a Boston Crab. Briscoe crawls to the ropes to escape. Mark is dripping blood as Strong double underhooks his arms, and while Briscoe initially fights him off, Strong manages to pull off a Jay Driller to his own delight. Mark is so violated by this that he kicks at one. He fires up one Strong, taking him down with a ratchet neckbreaker. He then gives Strong a fisherman’s brainbuster, which is how he pinned Strong back in 2016, for two. Strong stops Briscoe on the top turnbuckle and brings him down with a super Angle Slam for two. Briscoe wins a strike battle with Strong. Strong however weaves out of a Jay Driller attempt, though right into an overhead suplex from Mark. Mark then fights off Matt Taven who interferes, but turns around into a belt shot from Mike Bennett. Mark is able to kick out from that, as well as a Gibson Driver and Sick Kick combo. Kyle O’Reilly and Tomohiro Ishii run out and fight Taven and Bennett to the back. Mark sideswipes a Sick Kick and turns Strong inside out with a lariat. Strong follows Briscoe to the top turnbuckle. Mark kung fu strikes him back down to the mat and lands the Froggy Bow for the pin at 19:35. Just like the Women’s title match, I was really digging this until the overbooking brought things to a screeching halt. At least they took a different path with the interference with the babyface ultimately persevering, but it’s been so much to digest over the course of one show. Strong and Mark have had three other singles matches in ROH (How We Roll, Relentless, and BITW 2016) and this was their best by a wide margin. Gripes aside, this was a really fun and energetic way to end the night. ****

I ended my review of the last PPV saying the show was way too long. I share the same sentiment with this PPV, and it actually left me more exhausted than Supercard did because of how overbooked it was. Way too much interference, way too much cheating, and too much building to stuff on AEW shows the next day rather than being locked in on its own world. It’s probably a show where the sum of its parts is stronger than the whole. I’d give the opener, Diamante vs. Hirsch, and the last two matches a watch, and maybe the Pure title change if you’re a fan of Moriarty.

As an epilogue, here’s what happened in the World Six Man Tag Team title match the following night:

ROH World Six Man Tag Team Championship Match
Dustin Rhodes & The Von Erichs (Marshall von Erich & Ross von Erich) vs. The Undisputed Kingdom (Roderick Strong, Matt Taven & Mike Bennett)
AEW Battle of the Belts XI – Arlington, TX – 7.27.2024

The winners of the match will become the new ROH World Six Man Tag Team Champions. Kevin von Erich is in Dustin and his sons’ corner. It’s unclear when Dustin and the von Erich’s had to earn their spot in this match while the 2-2 Kingdom triumvirate did not. Dustin and the von Erich’s celebrate taking out the Kingdom with double dropkicks and a big boot. As they look to bring them back in the ring, Bennett blasts Dustin with the Boston Bayonet. Taven and Strong take out the brothers while Bennett gives Dustin a piledriver on the entrance ramp. Marshall succumbs to a beatdown back in the ring while Dustin is out cold and Ross is being helped to the apron by his father. Ross is being worn down by Taven when we return from commercial break. Just as he is poised to break away and tag out to Marshall, Bennett knocks Marshall off of the apron with a forearm smash. Ross takes down Strong with a Sling Blade. Dustin has pulled himself to the apron just in time to get the tag from Ross. He wipes out Taven with a Destroyer and Bennett with the Cross Rhodes. He then pulls Bennett up into a piledriver, but Strong and Taven break up the pin just in time. Dustin is triple teamed by the Kingdom, and it’s the von Erich’s who have to save him from being pinned by a Sick Kick. Taven and Strong try bringing title belts into the match. As referee Aubrey Edwards disposes of them, Bennett cracks Rhodes with his cowbell, but Rhodes still manages to kick out at two. Katsuyori Shibata comes out to neutralize Taven and Strong who start bringing chairs out from under the apron. Both Shibata and Kevin give Iron Claws to Taven and Strong. Meanwhile, Ross nails Bennett with a knee strike and Marshall follows with a discus lariat. Rhodes then pins Bennett with the Final Reckoning for the pin at 13:27. So it seems clear they un-unified the ROH and AEW Six Man and Trios titles to give these guys a feel good moment in Texas. I’m not saying they don’t deserve it, and it most certainly worked for the crowd, but it is a decision that seemingly lacks foresight as to what happens once this Dallas residency is over. Watching this right after DBD was a mistake, as it more or less felt like a blended rehash of everyone’s match from that show. I actually think people who didn’t watch the PPV may have enjoyed this more. It was a feel good moment than a great match, and honestly, that’s fine. ***