ROH Pure Championship
Lee Moriarty vs. Komander
ROH on HonorClub #147 – New York, NY – 12.26.2025

Moriarty has been champion since 7.26.2024 and this is his eleventh defense. Komander earned this title shot by outlasting the time limit in a Proving Ground match last month. The Pure Rules can be found here. Komander uses his first rope break about 90 seconds in to escape the Border City Stretch. Komander rolls Moriarty onto his shoulders to escape a rear-naked choke. Moriarty digs a claw into Komander’s ribs while he has him in a grounded abdominal stretch before rolling him up in a crucifix pin for two. Komander hip tosses his way out of a standing abdominal stretch. He throws a few shots to Moriarty’s midsection before using the ropes to pull off a Frankensteiner. However, Moriarty rolls through and gets the Border City Stretch reapplied, forcing Komander to use his second rope break to escape. Moriarty does release the hold, but also throws multiple knees to Komander’s ribs. Komander kicks out Moriarty’s knee, tags him with a few kicks, and then delivers a DDT for two. Moriarty is issued a warning when he gives a closed fist strike to Komander’s face, although it looks like he hit his mid-section. Either way, Komander is able to slip out to the apron ane enzuigiri Moriarty. He walks to the middle rope and comes off with a crossbody, clearly in pain after doing so. Komander takes too much time to capitalize, and when he leapfrogs over Moriarty, Moriarty drops him with FANG! Komander uses his third and final rope break to stop the pin attempt. A second FANG! leads directly into another Border City Stretch. Komander gets the ropes and Moriarty lets go, a rare mental mistake from Moriarty, allowing Komander to fold Moriarty up for a two count. Komander also gets two with a standing Spanish Fly. Moriarty rolls to the floor after taking a thrust kick. Komander follows with a step-up stalling moonsault. Back in the ring, Moriarty kicks out of both a reverse Frankensteiner and the Skayde Special. Komander puts on a cross armbreaker, and Moriarty uses his first rope break to escape. Moriarty gets his feet up to block Cielito Lindo. Moriarty then blocks a double boot from Komander. Moriarty stretches Komander out in a Gory Special in the ropes until Komander taps out at 14:37. This is even better when you look at their Proving Ground and how they adapted. With that match ending in a time limit, though, neither of them got a chance to utilize their bigger offense, and that’s when we saw Moriarty’s excellent counters and Komander’s pacing make the difference in the ending stretch. I am still a sucker for creative offense in the ropes when the rope breaks have been exhausted, and the ending was very reminiscent of when Doug Williams and John Walters won the title. Another great defense for Moriarty, and Komander continues to kill it too. ***½

ROH Pure Championship
Lee Moriarty vs. Xelhua
CMLL Fin De Semana Internacional Night 2 – Mexico City, Mexico – 1.17.2026

Moriarty has been champion since 7.26.2024 and this is his twelfth defense. This is a rematch from last year’s “Death Before Dishonor.” The Pure Rules can be found here. Moriarty kicks Xelhua away after Xelhua gives him a spinning knee hold and holds onto an ankle twist afterwards. Xelhua rolls him across the ring in a figure four leg lock body stretch. Moriarty looks at the ropes before grabbing them in reluctance and anger, using his first rope break. Xelhua rolls Moriarty onto his shoulders to break a rear chinlock. Moriarty takes delight in knocking down Xelhua with an enzuigiri, and then repeatedly stomps on his shoulder. Xelhua uses his first rope break to escape a Cobra Twist. Moriarty kicks him in the shoulder upon releasing the hold. Xelhua uses his second rope break to break a grounded hammerlock stretch, which Moriarty hyperextended by wrapping his thigh around Xelhua’s neck. Moriarty dances out of the corner after mule kicking Xelhua to a seated position. Xelhua takes advantage of Moriarty’s showboating, catching him off guard with a headscissors takedown from the apron. After a second headscissor, Xelhua catches him with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and pulls him into a modified parachute stretch. Moriarty uses his second rope break to escape yet another body stretch. Moriarty knocks Xelhua to the floor and follows with a pair of suicide dives. Back in the ring, however, Xelhua is able to maneuver Moriarty into a hammerlock cradle drop. Moriarty maneuvers to the ropes and jams Xelhua’s shoulder over the top rope. After Xelhua kicks out from a springboard clothesline, Moriarty puts him in a Regal Stretch. He converts into the Border City Stretch. Despite pulling Xelhua’s arm away, Xelhua extends his leg, using his third and final rope break to escape the hold. Xelhua surprises Moriarty with a small package for two. He drop toe holds him into a double leg hold cradle for another two count. Xelhua whips Moriarty to the corner. Moriarty catches Xelhua coming in after him, putting him in an Anaconda Vise in the ropes. Xelhua taps out at 15:41. This was a bit more reigned in than their first encounter, keeping mostly to the ring and not utilizing many of the Pure Rules outside of the rope breaks. Moriarty has really mastered the story of exhausting an opponent’s rope breaks and using that to his advantage. I don’t think this crowd was as engaged as the ROH crowd was either, but just on output alone, this was almost just as good as their first match. ***¼

ROH World Tag Team Championship
La Facción Ingobernable (Sammy Guevara & The Beast Mortos) vs. Top Flight (Dante Martin & Darius Martin)
ROH on HonorClub #154 – Arlington, TX – 2.12.2026

LFI have been champions since 12.5.2025 and this is their first defense. Christopher Daniels is in Top Flight’s corner. Daniels challenged LFI on their behalf, calling out LFI for not defending the titles enough and not against quality challengers. Dante and Darius stated that Guevara has been an embarrassment to the tag titles, and it’s time for LFI to step up, or take flight. The crowd was very anti-Guevara and he embraced that wholeheartedly. Plenty of showboating and tagging in and out with Mortos, with the crowd cheering anytime Mortos was the legal man. Top Flight was all business. A switch flipped with Guevara after he was taken out with an atomic drop/shoulder tackle combo for a two count. Dante had Guevara scouted, ready to attack when Guevara was about to enter the ring. When he knocked Guevara off of the apron with a gamengiri, he looked to hit the ropes. Mortos distracted Dante, giving Guevara the opportunity to re-enter the ring and attack Dante from behind. LFI wear down Dante’s shoulder and neck until Dante counters a back suplex from Mortos into a DDT. Darius takes out Guevara with a standing Spanish Fly and a slingshot Complete Shot. Mortos surprises Darius with a Sling Blade and headbutts an oncoming Dante in the chest. Darius uses Dante to pull off a tornado DDT on Mortos for two. Guevara pulls the referee to the floor, faking as if he has a leg injury. Although Dante takes out Guevara with a suicide dive, Mortos is able to low blow Darius without the referee’s knowledge. Mortos then pins Darius with a pop-up Samoan Drop at 8:48. This felt even shorter than it was because of all the stalling at the beginning. The action was solid, it just didn’t build to a climatic point where Mortos cheating felt necessary or as if we were being cheated out of something. It was just kind of there. **½

ROH Women’s World Television Championship
Red Velvet vs. Zayda Steel
ROH on HonorClub #156 – Oceanside, CA – 2.26.2026

Red Velvet has been champion since 12.5.2025 and this is her first defense. Christopher Daniels is in Steel’s corner. Steel evades a right hand from Velvet by ducking and dodging. She also goes for repeated pin attempts, which Velvet reverses, leading to a stalemate with both women dizzy. Velvet caught Steel on the apron with a splits into a boot to the side of the head. Steel avoided the running knees against the ropes, and instead took down the champ with a back cracker and a lungblower. They follow each other into the corner with step-up knee strikes. When Steel goes for a second, Velvet counters into a powerbomb for two. Steel comes back with a ripcord koppu kick for two. Velvet cuts Steel off on the top turnbuckle and brings her down with an Iconoclasm, a staple of Daniels, for two. Steel tags Velvet with a rolling forearm before giving her a TKO for two. Velvet ducks a couple of strikes from Steel and headbutts her in the chin. The Chef’s Kiss (rolling roundhouse kick) gets Velvet the pin at 6:02. They kept a great pace throughout the entire match and made the most of the time allotted. Steel especially looked strong getting multiple nearfalls on the champ. A really solid first defense for Velvet. ***

ROH Women’s World Pure Championship
Deonna Purrazzo vs. Trish Adora
ROH on HonorClub #156 – Oceanside, CA – 2.26.2026

Deonna Purrazzo has been champion since 12.5.2025 and this is her first defense. The Pure Rules can be found here. Earlier in the night, Adora acknowledged that Deonna defeated her in the Pure Title tournament, but also claimed that Deonna got lucky. Adora has won her last three matches with Lariat Tubman, and says when she hits it tonight, it’s over for the champion. Adora also does not abide by the Code of Honor to start the bout. After Purrazzo attacks her elbow, Adora strategically steps to the apron when Purrazzo puts her in a wristlock. Adora pulls Purrazzo into the ropes to break the hold. Adora loses a rope break, but does not seem bothered, capitalizing with a pump kick to the champion. She then puts Purrazzo in a modified Cerebro Lock, converting into a top wristlock takedown. A strike exchange ends with Purrazzo ducking a lariat and pulling Adora into a short-arm clothesline. Purrazzo side Russian leg sweeps Adora into a Fujiwara armbar. Adora uses her second rope break to escape. Adora avoids the Queen’s Gambit. As Purrazzo comes off of the ropes, Adora weaves Purrazzo into a fallaway kick to the shoulder. Adora gives Purrazzo a kneeling bridging German suplex for two. Purrazzo fights off of Adora’s shoulders. She kicks her arm away before giving her a modified Ganso Bomb for two. Purrazzo wants another Fujiwara armbar, but her own arm is in too much pain to keep hold. Adora throws Purrazzo down by her arm once again before clobbering Purrazzo with Lariat Tubman. Purrazzo rolls to the floor before Adora can go for a cover. Adora rolls Purrazzo back into the ring. She sets up for a second lariat. Purrazzo falls forward when Adora goes for it. When Adora goes for another German suplex, Purrazzo maneuvers Adora into a high shoulder stretch, about half of a Venus de Milo. Purrazzo elbows Adora in the back of the head while her shoulder is still hyper extended until Adora taps out at 9:15. Time has shown that a key to being a successful Pure pro wrestler is adaptability, and Purrazzo shifting from one submission into another shows that she possesses that instinct. Adora, on the other hand, had a game plan she gave away before the match even began and held firmly to that plan even when she maybe shouldn’t have. It was fun to see that dichotomy play out. I’d take a threematch. ***

After this match, both Diamante and Billie Starkz attacked Purrazzo. We’ll see how that develops in a future write-up.

The episode ended with ROH women’s champion Athena addressing Maya World, a fellow Texas wrestler who Athena mentored. World signed with AEW at the end of 20205. World also defeated Athena, Starkz, and Diamante along with Purrazzo and Hyan at “Global Wars Texas” earlier in February. Athena claims World embarrassed her by using everything she was taught and using it against her. She is going to put World in her place when they meet in a Proving Ground match for her World Title two weeks later.

On February 24th, it was announced that ROH would be holding a free TV taping in Jacksonville, FL at the WJCT TV Studios, on March 1st. During that taping, Tony Khan announced that this studio would be the new home of ROH tapings going forward. I much preferred ROH when it was taped from the former Impact Zone in Orlando back in 2023, so seeing them get back to a studio taping I am hopeful will result in a better weekly show. I will say, they have done a lot better of late making the show more cohesive than in years past, and going to a studio format will only tighten things up more.

What this change has also yielded is a significant increase in title defenses. Just that first set of tapings produced 7 title matches.

But first, the Proving Ground match between Athena and Maya World:

ROH Women’s World Championship Proving Ground Match
Athena vs. Maya World
ROH on HonorClub #158 – Jacksonville, FL – 3.12.2026

If Maya wins this match, or lasts the ten minute time limit, she will earn a future Women’s World Championship match. Athena blasts Maya with a forearm out of the Code of Honor handshake, yelling at her that she taught everything she knows. World comes back with kicks, including a nice boot on the floor, but Athena rocks her with double knees in the corner back inside of the ring for two. World slips out of a pin into the Eye of the Hurricane for two. Athena forearms Maya over the top rope and follows up with a suicide dive. Back in the ring, World rolls out of the way out of a senton. She lands a series of forearm strikes before cazadora rolling Athena into a double stomp. Athena escapes a slam. She sweeps out Maya’s legs, kicks her in the side of the head, and lands a rolling forearm right after for two. World bodyscissors Athena into a quick pin attempt. Athena is able to roll through her sunset flip attempt and land a sit-out powerbomb for two. Bobby Cruise gives the one minute warning as Maya rolls Athena up into a Falcon Arrow for two. With thirty seconds, Maya plants Athena with a Black Tornado Slam. Mike Posey makes the count when Maya covers Athena. Posey is about to count 3 when the 10:00 time limit expires. This match was designed to make Maya look tenacious, and the fact that she becomes the first person to outlast or defeat Athena in a Proving Ground match, with Athena’s Proving Ground record being 33-0 going into this bout, did just that. World didn’t necessarily look formidable against Athena – her strikes are not as strong and she does not move as quickly – but she now will enter the title match with a mental edge over the champion. If nothing else, I do look forward to what the title match looks like, even if I am still unconvinced the title is in jeopardy. Deonna Purrazzo and Hyan celebrate with World after the bell, which is a nice touch. **¾

ROH Women’s World Television Championship
Red Velvet vs. Hyan
ROH on HonorClub #158 – Jacksonville, FL – 3.12.2026

Red Velvet has been champion since 12.5.2025 and this is her second defense. The champion is quite cocky as she takes down the challenger with a boot to the head and a scissors kick. Velvet avoids a suplex, but Hyan shows off her strength later by picking up Velvet out of a crucifix pin attempt and driving her into the corner twice. A Sick Kick and knee strike to the corner leads to a Falcon Arrow, getting Hyan a two count. Velvet swipes away a second Sick Kick attempt and blasts Hyan with a rolling elbow. Hyan evades the Kitchen Sink kick and lands a Busaiku Knee for two. Velvet uses the ropes to turn a double underhook from Hyan into a pin attempt. Velvet then pins Hyan with The Chef’s Kiss for the pin at 5:11. I like a quick defense now and again, especially against a challenger whose viability is questionable. This was Hyan’s first ROH singles match in over a year, after all. I also like the Chef’s Kiss continuing to be established as a finisher. **¼

ROH World Tag Team Championship
La Facción Ingobernable (Sammy Guevara & The Beast Mortos) vs. The Colóns (Eddie Colón & Orlando Colón)
ROH on HonorClub #158 – Jacksonville, FL – 3.12.2026

LFI have been champions since 12.5.2025 and this is their second defense. The former WWE tag team champions are answering the open challenge LFI put out last week, and this is their ROH debut. Mortos wrestle in his lawyer jacket and tie. He takes both off after the Colóns get the better of him, angrily headbutting Orlando before tagging in Guevara. Guevara tries to bail to the floor to regain some momentum, but LFI both end up taken out by double pescados. Mortos grabs Orlando’s foot from the floor, allowing Guevara to crack him in the chin with a jumping knee strike. He knocks Eddie to the floor before he and Mortos double team Orlando in their half of the ring. Eddie is able to jump in and save Orlando from being pinned by Guevara’s springboard cutter. Orlando escapes the GTH and drops Guevara with a Complete Shot, giving him the opening to tag in Eddie officially. He gets two on Mortos with a back cracker thanks to Guevara interjecting. Guevara pulls Eddie off of the top turnbuckle. Orlando wipes out Guevara with a suicide dive in response, but in the ring, Mortos pops Eddie up into a Samoan Drop for the pin at 8:11. The Colóns were a fun surprise and worked very well against LFI. The match was nothing special. **½

ROH Pure Championship
Lee Moriarty vs. Josh Woods
ROH on HonorClub #158 – Jacksonville, FL – 3.12.2026

Moriarty has been champion since 7.26.2024 and this is his thirteenth defense. The Pure Rules can be found here. This is a rematch from DEAN~!!! 3. Last week, Woods defeated Nathan Cruz in a Pure Rules match. Moriarty uses his first rope break to free himself from Woods’ barrage of German suplexes. Woods snaps and pump kicks Moriarty’s left leg in the ropes. He continues attacking Moriarty’s leg, forcing the champion to use his second rope break to escape the Beast Lock. Moriarty finds respite when he catches Woods with a single arm DDT onto his shoulder. He manipulates Woods’ fingers before applying a hammerlock, which Woods spends his first rope break to escape. Woods has to use his second rope break to escape another hammerlock variation, with Moriarty wrapping his leg around Woods’ head. After a forearm battle that ends with double pump kicks, Moriarty attempts the same European Clutch that pinned Woods in September. This time, Woods escapes the pin. Moriarty takes down Woods with a springboard clothesline. He puts Woods in an ankle lock, converting that into an STF. When he puts on the Border City Stretch, Woods uses his third and final rope break to escape. Moriarty stomps on Woods’ wrist while Woods is still holding onto the bottom rope. Woods reverses an Irish Whip into a corner suplex. He gutwrenches Moriarty across the ring before hitting him with a bicycle knee strike. Moriarty uses his third and final rope break to escape Woods’ short-arm scissor, the hold that Woods used to defeat Cruz. Woods step-up knee strikes Moriarty in the corner. Moriarty rolls away from another corner attack, sending Woods shoulder first into the ring post. Moriarty leg lariats Woods and pins him. Woods grabs the bottom rope, being too worn down to break the pin any other way, but since he is out of rope breaks, the three count is rendered and Moriarty retains at 11:18. It is rare for Moriarty to exhaust all of his rope breaks, especially before his opponent, and also win a match via pinfall rather than a submission. In both of his matches, Woods made Moriarty feel like an underdog, and it made for a very interesting bout. I give the first bout a slight edge above this, mostly for atmosphere, but I thoroughly enjoyed this follow up. ***¼

ROH World Six Man Tag Team Championship
Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Carlie Bravo & Shawn Dean) vs. TMDK (Mikey Nicholls, Robbie Eagles & Shane Haste)
ROH YouTube Special #5 – Tucson, AZ – 3.13.2026

Shane Taylor Promotions have been champions since 8.29.2025 and this is their fourth defense. Eagles defeated Dean in a singles match in Australia, and STP got revenge by attacking Haste and fellow TMDK member Bad Dude Tito a couple of weeks later. The rivalry concludes tonight with the sides evened. STP attacks TMDK before the bell and looks to isolate Eagles. Eagles however sticks and moves, sending all of STP outside, and wiping all three of them out with a tope suicida. This leads to TMDK triple teaming Bravo in their corner until Dean trips Eagles as he hits the ropes. He drives Eagles’ sternum into the ring apron, which Bravo follows up with a diving elbow drop, and Taylor with a leg drop. Eagles finally escapes their grasp with a fallaway enzuigiri to Bravo. Haste takes out Dean with a Falcon Arrow and Nicholls drops Bravo with a spinebuster. A doomsday powerbomb gets TDMK a two count on Dean, thanks to Taylor making the save. Eagles is turned inside out with a lariat from Taylor. Eagles escapes the Marcus Garvey Driver and gives Taylor a standing shiranui. Taylor haymakers him into a superkick from Dean. Bravo then drops Eagles with a rolling Complete Shot. Nicholls and Haste drop Bravo with Thunder Valley and look for the Tank Buster. Bravo shoves Nicholls into Haste, resulting in Haste spilling to the floor. Taylor shoulder tackles Haste. Dean and Bravo pin Nicholls with double curb stomps at 8:38. This was pretty much just both teams going through their tandem offense rolodex. Granted, it’s a relatively cold rivalry and they didn’t have a ton of time, so that approach worked just fine. I’m glad TMDK stuck around for the TV tapings, as I’ve missed seeing Haste and Nicholls in New Japan. ***

ROH Women’s World Pure Championship
Deonna Purrazzo vs. Billie Starkz
ROH on HonorClub #159 – Jacksonville, FL – 3.19.2026

Deonna Purrazzo has been champion since 12.5.2025 and this is her second defense. This is also a rematch from the finals of the tournament to determine the inaugural Women’s Pure champion. The Pure Rules can be found here. Starkz offers a left-handed handshake, which the commentators not is disrespectful. She knee strikes Purrazzo in the stomach during the handshake, though the champ sends her packing with a short-arm clothesline right after. She boots Starkz down into a Fujiwara armbar attempt, which Starkz uses his first rope break to escape. Starkz pulls Purrazzo into the ropes from the apron so she can come back in with a step-up tornado DDT. Starkz is issued a warning for using a closed-fist strike to the fist as she is pummeling Purrazzo on the mat. Starkz though follows that up with a corner clothesline into a DDT. Purrazzo and Starkz knock each other down with stereo pump kicks, effectively resetting the bout. When Starkz attempts a shoulder block from the apron, Purrazzo counters with a rope-assisted DDT for two. Starkz jackknife pins Purrazzo to counter the Queen’s Gambit. She then knees Purrazzo in the face and applies a sleeper hold. Purrazzo breaks it in the corner, but after a rope-assisted enzuigiri, Starkz reapplies the hold. Purrazzo pushes Starkz into the corner, using her first rope break to release the hold. She cuts off Starkz with a chinbreaker. She uppercuts Starkz’s arm thrice. Starkz forearms Purrazzo away and goes for a Swanton after a roundhouse kick. Purrazzo pulls Starkz off of the top turnbuckle, with the back of Starkz’s head hitting the turnbuckle. Purrazzo powerbombs Starkz into a Fujiwara armbar. Starkz tries to pin Purrazzo to escape, but Purrazzo pivots back into the Venus de Milo. Starkz verbally submits at 7:59. Starkz picking up the aggression made sense given that Purrazzo had the mental advantage of besting her in their previous bout. Her targeting Purrazzo’s head was a strong, smart tactic, and was a good contrast to Purrazzo’s assertive submission game. However, when Purrazzo utilized some of those same aggressive tactics Starks was using, it aided in her victory. A really solid and unique match. ***

Later on in the episode, Starkz stablemate Diamante defeated Rachael Ellering in a Pure Rules match and declared herself the top Pure wrestler in ROH.

ROH World Television Championship
Nick Wayne vs. Komander
ROH on HonorClub #159 – Jacksonville, FL – 3.19.2026

Nick Wayne has been champion since 4.17.2025 and this is his sixth defense. It’s also his first defense since August, as he was out of action with a foot injury. Komander is who Wayne defeated for the title eleven months prior. Mother Wayne is in Wayne’s corner. Wayne reluctantly shakes Komander’s hand, sneaking him into a schoolboy pin after. Komander picks up the pace, taking out Wayne on the floor with a suicide dive. When he tries for Cielito Lindo, Wayne shoves Komander off of the top rope and to the floor. Wayne takes notice of Komander hurting his knee upon landing. He takes down Komander with a dragonscrew leg whip back in the ring and focuses his offense on the left knee. Komander uses the ropes to break free from a figure four leg lock. He kicks Wayne with his right foot from the mat and uses the ropes to gain his footing. Komander nurses his knee as he fights back against Wayne, including a springboard crossbody into a DDT for two. Wayne drives Komander to the corner. Komander uppercuts Wayne to the apron, but Wayne cuts off Komander with a dragonscrew leg whip in the ropes. Komander fires up after taking a German suplex and spikes Wayne with a reverse Frankensteiner, leaving both men laying. They end up on the top turnbuckle where Wayne pulls off a superplex. He follows up with a frog splash for two. Wayne unfurls his wrist tape after kicking out Komander’s knee, feeling confident. He goes for Wayne’s World but Komander grabs ahold of his ankle. He forearms Komander away and looks for it again. This time, Komander uses a tiger feint kick to take out Wayne’s legs and springboards in with a Destroyer. Komander crashes and burns on a Cielito Lindo attempt, thanks in part to a distraction from Mother Wayne. Wayne dropkicks out his leg and looks for a figure four leg lock. Komander small packages Wayne to counter for two. Wayne then superkicks Komander before dropping him with the Prodigy Plex for the pin at 13:48. In the match where Wayne defeated Komander for the title, Komander had Wayne’s World scouted and Wayne pivoted to the Prodigy Plex to win. History repeated itself, but it made complete sense, and I really admired that. I also admired that no matter what offense he pulled off, Komander always brought attention to the hurt knee, either before or after executing the move, if not both. This was just as good yet very distinct from their first match, even with the similar ending. ***½

ROH Women’s World Television Championship
Red Velvet vs. Trish Adora
ROH on HonorClub #160 – Jacksonville, FL – 3.26.2026

Red Velvet has been champion since 12.5.2025 and this is her third defense. Christyan XO of Shane Taylor Promotions is in Adora’s corner. Adora attacks Velvet as she is getting into the ring. She Irish whips Velvet face first into the ring post. When Velvet comes back in the ring, Adora stretches her out in the Cerebro Lock and then stretches out both of Velvet’s shoulders behind her own back. Adora mocks Velvet as she chokes her in the corner, and Christyan also chokes Velvet on the bottom rope behind referee Stephon Smith’s back. Adora cuts off Velvet’s comeback attempt with a uranage backbreaker. Velvet shifts her body weight to turn a back suplex into a lateral press pin. Adora kicks out at two and mows down the champion with a running shoulder block. Velvet counters a waistlock into a DDT, and finally is able to string together a series of strikes and kicks to Adora in the corner. Christyan distracts Velvet. When she turns around, Adora evades her roundhouse kick and gives her a kneeling bridging German suplex for two. Velvet counters a tombstone with a stunner, but Adora comes back with a pump kick for two. Velvet inside cradles Adora to block a suplex. She superkicks Adora before giving her the standing Diamond Dust. Christyan distracts Stephon to prevent him from counting Velvet’s pin, so Velvet takes matters into her own hands and forearms Christyan off of the apron. Adora comes in from behind and delivers a running powerslam for two. Adora calls for Lariat Tubman. Velvet ducks and sunset flips Adora. Adora counters momentarily into a cradle, but Velvet folds her back into the sunset position and gets the pin at 9:05. Most of Velvet’s defenses see her cocky and in control, so watching the total opposite occur was a real treat. Adora is a very convincing bully which helped. The way she won made it feel like Velvet escaped by the skin of her teeth, which makes me think a rematch down the line is a possibility. I also think it is possible Adora would walk away with the title if they did. ***

After the match, Christyan XO drops Velvet with End of Days. Zayda Steel runs out with a chair to save Velvet from a 2 on 1 beatdown.

ROH Women’s World Championship
Athena vs. Maya World
ROH on HonorClub #160 – Jacksonville, FL – 3.26.2026

Athena has been the champion since 12.10.2022 and this is her thirty-fourth defense. We’ve seen Athena utilize the ring steps in past defenses, and World tried to give her a taste of her own medicine by setting up the ring steps on their side. Athena however countered World’s offense, giving her a facebuster waterwheel slam onto the steps instead. Athena wears down World back in the ring. At one point, Athena is landing repeated hip attacks against World in the corner. World catches her one time and gives her a Complete Shot into the middle turnbuckle. She also double stomps Athena into the mat as Athena comes charging toward her. Athena kicks out of a pumping knee into a German suplex. Athena catches World with a superkick as World comes off of the second rope and baseball slide dropkicks her to the floor. World gets her foot on the rope to escape a Koji Clutch. Athena proclaims World is “nothing without her” after slapping her across the face. World fights back with forearms but ends up being kicked to the floor. World cuts off Athena’s suicide dive attempt with a kick. Athena fights off World’s apron piledriver attempt and suplexes her to the floor! Athena seems content to take a count out, and is not happy when she hears referee Mike Posey stop the count at nineteen when World rolls back in the ring. They engage in a series of pin attempts, ending with Athena curb stomping World for a close nearfall. Athena is poised for the O-Face. World evades and snaps off a headscissors, sending Athena to the corner. A Jon Woo dropkick and cartwheel forearm smash follow. World ascends the ropes when Athena distracts referee Mike Posey. Both Billie Starkz and Diamante come out to distract her. World climbs down and takes out Diamante, and Hyan runs out and cracks Starkz with a forearm strike. In the ring, World kicks out of Athena’s small package attempt. Athena ducks a clothesline and wipes out Hyan with a suicide dive. World weaves under a forearm smash and tries to Black Tornado Slam, the move that almost got her the three count in the Proving Ground match. Athena waistlock rolls World to counter and delivers a Destroyer for two. World follows Athena to the second rope and brings her down with a sunset bomb. She muscles Athena up into a modified Big Ending for two. World looks to hit the O-Face herself. Athena swipes her out of mid-air. She angrily punts and pummels World for stealing her move. After a dragon suplex, Athena pump-handles World into a tombstone piledriver for two. Athena composes herself before taking World to the floor. Hyan blocks her from throwing World into the steel steps. Starkz throws Hyan into the ring and stomps on her in the corner. As Posey is dealing with her, Diamante hands Athena the title belt. Athena wallops World with the title behind Posey’s back. Everyone clears out, and Athena puts down World with the O-Face for the pin at 19:52. World’s performance in this match was a huge improvement from the Proving Ground bout. Athena also does a tremendous job making challengers who on paper do not appear to be capable look so over the duration of the match. The bells and whistles with the minions and Hyan were also well incorporated. It feels like Athena has become more desperate to hold onto her title as her reign continues, and it makes me wonder just how much more steam this reign actually has. Another strong defense from the forever champ. ***¾

None of this “Road to Global Wars” has anything to do with the actual show, but I am happy to see so much title activity between Final Battle and Global Wars. With the format change in tapings, I hope to see the trend continue.