A new match has been signed for the Ring of Honor (ROH) 17th Anniversary PPV. On Tuesday, The Baltimore-based promotion announced that Marty Scurll will face Kenny King in a singles match.
The ROH 17th Anniversary pay-per-view event is scheduled to take place on March 15 at Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas. The promotion will also be holding a television taping in the same venue the following night.
Ring of Honor is expected to add more matches to this show in the coming weeks. ROH World Champion Jay Lethal defending against Matt Taven is likely the headliner of this event. Here’s the updated card:
ROH 17th Anniversary Card
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal defending against Matt Taven
ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes defending against Villain Enterprises (PCO & Brody King)
Rush vs. Bandido
Marty Scurll vs. Kenny King
ROH World TV Champion Jeff Cobb, ROH Women of Honor World Champion Kelly Klein, ROH World Six-Man Champions The Kingdom, Dalton Castle & The Boys, Mark Haskins, Shane Taylor, Silas Young, and Jonathan Gresham are also advertised to appear at this show.
ROH World Heavyweight Champion Jay Lethal recently did an interview with Brian Fritz of SportingNews.com where he talked about a wide range of topics. This includes making history by surpassing Samoa Joe’s record of 645 days for having the most combined days as champion.
“When I was pulled aside and they said you know, you’re about to beat Joe’s record of holding the belt for a certain amount of time, I said, ‘No way! That’s insane!’” Lethal exclaimed. “I remember being in Ring of Honor when Joe was champion and I was his protégé and I would come to the ring holding his towel. I didn’t think anyone would ever beat his record.”
Since the beginning of this year, there have been some big names that have left the company that includes the likes of The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson), Cody Rhodes, and Adam Page for AEW (All Elite Wrestling).
This has been something that ROH has had to face for years now as in the past, Seth Rollins, Cesaro, Samoa Joe, Daniel Bryan, AJ Styles, and Adam Cole made their names known in Ring of Honor before signing with WWE.
Lethal understands this and thinks that ROH needs to keep doing what they’re doing which is to continue to make new stars.
“I feel that Ring of Honor has always been in the rebuilding phase,” said Lethal. “Ring of Honor, in all the time I’ve known it, it’s never been fully settled. It’s always in this rebuilding phase because other rosters out there constantly pluck from the Ring of Honor roster to make their roster better. Look at all of the companies out there and their champions. Most of them came through and from Ring of Honor. I think the winning formula is you don’t try and replace those guys.”
PJ Black officially signed with Ring of Honor two weeks ago. The 38-year-old from South Africa recently spoke to journalist Chris Van Vliet about his recent free agency period, Lucha Underground, and his idea for Vince McMahon to play Adam Rose’s bunny.
“Right before Ring of Honor, I actually got an offer from NXT,” Black said. “They wanted me to go back there. There were a couple of other offers too, from TNA and stuff, and I chose Ring of Honor because they give me freedom and it’s a great deal financially. It’s only for 12 months too. After that, it becomes like a 30-day notice deal. I have a feeling it’s gonna be like two or three years, but let’s see what happens. Also, merchandise royalties on that — it’s unheard of.”
Black spoke positively about his time with Lucha Underground but also expressed he had to work to get out of his contract.
“Who knows, man? It was such a great ride,” he continued. “I’m very sad about that. I personally feel like it’s not going to come back. That’s why I had to fight to get out of my contract — and it was a lot of fighting. I know a lot of the guys are trying to get out of their contracts right now. I guess I was lucky with that.”
Black continued to say that if Lucha Underground does return for a 5th season he can go back to tie up loose ends with his character.
“I did have them put in my Ring Of Honor contract that if (Lucha Underground) does come back, I’ll go back for a couple episodes and tie up some storyline ends,” he said.
Black would continue to say that working for NJPW has been a goal of his even before working for WWE was.
Black also mentioned he pitched the idea for Vince McMahon to be revealed as Adam Rose’s bunny.
“The bunny becomes really grizzled. He becomes like a hardcore champ, kind of like in the Attitude Era. There’s shots of him backstage smoking a cigar, dried blood on his fur and just dirt. He keeps losing matches, but he’s always there doing crazy stuff,” Black continued. “They take the mascot head off, and it’s Vince. I said to Vince — if it was anybody else in the world, everyone would be like ‘aw, yeah, that’s cool…’ But if it was him, how could would that have been?”
One ROH (Ring of Honor) star will not be part of the upcoming Honor Rising Tour, which is jointed promoted by the Baltimore-based promotion and NJPW. This exciting talent is PCO.
He wasn’t featured in the lineups that were announced earlier this week and later took to his official Twitter account to address the reason for his absence. It turns out that he couldn’t get his visa for Japan in time.
The first show goes down at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on Friday, February 22 while the second show takes place at the same venue the following night where they will be broadcasted to the world live on NJPW’s streaming service, New Japan World.
February 22 Event
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada & Jay Lethal vs. The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan)
ROH Television Champion Jeff Cobb defending against Hirooki Goto
NEVER Openweight Champion Will Ospreay defending against Dalton Castle
NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Togi Makabe, Toru Yano & Ryusuke Taguchi defending against Cheeseburger, Delirious & Colt Cabana
Juice Robinson, David Finlay, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare vs. Jay Briscoe, Mark Briscoe, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa
Jushin Thunder Liger & Jonathan Gresham vs. Taiji Ishimori & Robbie Eagles
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shota Umino
Marty Scurll vs. Ren Narita
February 23 Event
ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes defending against Juice Robinson & David Finlay
IWGP Tag Team Champions EVIL & SANADA defending against Guerrillas of Destiny
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal defending against TK O’Ryan
Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi vs. The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Vinny Marseglia)
Hirooki Goto & Will Ospreay vs. Jeff Cobb & Dalton Castle
Marty Scurll vs. Robbie Eagles
Jonathan Gresham & Toa Henare vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taka Michinoku
On March 15th, 2019 ROH will hold its 17th Anniversary show at Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas. The promotion has just booked Rush vs Bandido for the show. It will be the first time the two luchadors have ever faced each other.
Challenge made and accepted! @rushtoroblanco faces off with @LuchadorBandido at #ROH17!
Rush and Bandido are both recent signings with Ring of Honor. Bandido signed with the promotion in December after reportedly being courted by both WWE & AEW.
There has also been speculation that Rush was warned against signing with WWE by Andrade. Rush signed with ROH last month. This was addressed by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter recently.
“In the case of Rush, he’s very close with Andrade, who pretty much warned him and Dragon Lee about going to WWE,” wrote Dave Meltzer. “Andrade’s advice was that WWE wasn’t what it was cracked up to being.”
ROH 17th Anniversary PPV – March 15th – Sam’s Town Live – Las Vegas
Only two other matches have been confirmed for the show thus far. Jay Lethal will look to defend his ROH World Championship against the leader of the Kingdom, Matt Taven. Taven has been claiming to be the real ROH champion in recent months. Lethal will also defend his title on night 2 of Honor Rising against TK O’Ryan later this month.
PCO & Brody King will also challenge for the ROH tag-team titles on the PPV. They won Tag Wars 2019 to earn a shot against the Briscoes.
Jay Lethal will look to defend his ROH World Championship on March 15th from Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas against Matt Taven. The show takes place just 3 weeks before Ring of Honor and NJPW present the G1 Supercard From Madison Square Garden on April 6th.
Matt Taven had been claiming himself to be the real ROH Champion for some time with Lethal recently reacting to the insult on ROH TV. The match will air on FITE and Honor Club for subscribers.
Also scheduled for the upcoming PPV will be PCO & Brody King challenging the Briscoes for the ROH tag team titles. The Villain Enterprises team earned the title match by winning Tag Wars 2019 on a recent ROH 3-night tour of Texas.
Lethal recently passed Samoa Joe’s previous record of 645 days spent as ROH World Champion. Joe’s days spent as champion occurred throughout one long title run from 2003-04.
Lethal is also one title defense away from breaking the record of 38. He’ll get that chance at Honor Rising night 2 in Korakuen Hall against TK O’Ryan from the Kingdom.
Honor Rising Lineups:
Here are the lineups for ROH’s upcoming shows in Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
February 22 Event
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada & Jay Lethal vs. The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan)
ROH Television Champion Jeff Cobb defending against Hirooki Goto
NEVER Openweight Champion Will Ospreay defending against Dalton Castle
NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Togi Makabe, Toru Yano & Ryusuke Taguchi defending against Cheeseburger, Delirious & Colt Cabana
Juice Robinson, David Finlay, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare vs. Jay Briscoe, Mark Briscoe, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa
Jushin Thunder Liger & Jonathan Gresham vs. Taiji Ishimori & Robbie Eagles
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shota Umino
Marty Scurll vs. Ren Narita
February 23 Event
ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes defending against Juice Robinson & David Finlay
IWGP Tag Team Champions EVIL & SANADA defending against Guerrillas of Destiny
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal defending against TK O’Ryan
Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi vs. The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Vinny Marseglia)
Hirooki Goto & Will Ospreay vs. Jeff Cobb & Dalton Castle
Marty Scurll vs. Robbie Eagles
Jonathan Gresham & Toa Henare vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taka Michinoku
New Japan Pro Wrestling and Ring of Honor has released the full cards for their joint promoted events, Honor Rising.
The first show goes down at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on Friday, February 22 while the second show takes place at the same venue the following night where they will be broadcasted to the world live on NJPW’s streaming service, New Japan World.
Night one is set to be headlined by Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada & Jay Lethal facing The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan). The next night will see The Briscoes defend the ROH Tag Team Titles against Juice Robinson & David Finlay.
February 22 Event
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada & Jay Lethal vs. The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan)
ROH Television Champion Jeff Cobb defending against Hirooki Goto
NEVER Openweight Champion Will Ospreay defending against Dalton Castle
NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Togi Makabe, Toru Yano & Ryusuke Taguchi defending against Cheeseburger, Delirious & Colt Cabana
Juice Robinson, David Finlay, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare vs. Jay Briscoe, Mark Briscoe, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa
Jushin Thunder Liger & Jonathan Gresham vs. Taiji Ishimori & Robbie Eagles
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shota Umino
Marty Scurll vs. Ren Narita
February 23 Event
ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes defending against Juice Robinson & David Finlay
IWGP Tag Team Champions EVIL & SANADA defending against Guerrillas of Destiny
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal defending against TK O’Ryan
Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi vs. The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Vinny Marseglia)
Hirooki Goto & Will Ospreay vs. Jeff Cobb & Dalton Castle
Marty Scurll vs. Robbie Eagles
Jonathan Gresham & Toa Henare vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taka Michinoku
New Japan Pro Wrestling has issued that the winner of the annual New Japan Cup tournament will receive only the IWGP Heavyweight Championship title shot at Madison Square Garden on the G1 Supercard show. It will take place on April 6, with ROH and NJPW co-producing the show.
The company said that 68th IWGP Heavyweight Champion Jay White will be defending his title against the New Japan Cup winner. Previously, the winner of the Cup was able to receive a title shot of their choosing, but this year, the winner could only challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
Jay White captured the Heavyweight title from Hiroshi Tanahashi on the New Beginning in Osaka show on February 11.
The New Japan Cup is a single-elimination tournament held annually since 2005. Zack Sabre Jr. was the winner of the 2018 cup and he went on to challenge Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight title at Sakura Genesis in a losing effort.
This year’s New Japan Cup will begin on Friday, March 8 and end on Sunday, March 24.
ROH General Manager Greg Gilleland spoke with CBS New York ahead of shows in Lakeland and Miami this past weekend where he spoke about a wide range of topics.
First up was the departures of talents such as The Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes, Hangman Page, and SoCal Uncensored as they joined AEW (All Elite Wrestling). In the eyes of Gilleland, he doesn’t think that 2019 marks a rebuilding year but rather another year of growth which is something that they have done for the last five years.
He also brought up how their departures had been rumored while leading up to the new year so they weren’t surprised. Gilleland also addressed a potential partnership with AEW.
“Everything definitely ended amicably. We’ve talked to them since. Right now, there’s nothing to explore. There are three events, potentially, and there’s the rumored potential of the TV deal. We would have to know what we’re exploring, to answer that. Joe [Koff, ROH Chief Operating Officer] and I are businessmen first. We would never turn down an opportunity, but the opportunity has to make sense for us and for our brand. I think probably the best answer I can give you is that we’ll explore every opportunity, and we’ll do what’s best for our brand and, more importantly, our fans.”
Another topic that was talked about was the upcoming G1 Supercard event is being co-promoted by Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling at Madison Square Garden in New York City this year during WrestleMania 35 weekend.
Gilleland was asked when they first decided to run this venue if ROH envisioned having Cody and The Young Bucks for the show and them building the card around those talents.
“Honestly, it wasn’t really a factor in the decision. Madison Square Garden is something that we firmly believed in. It was an opportunity that arose for us. We decided to include our partner, New Japan, into it, because we wanted to give the fans something really big, and really massive. Obviously, we wanted those guys to be in it, but if you go back and look at all of our marketing materials, we never marketed anybody that we didn’t know we had. We don’t market anything that we don’t have.”
He added that the notion of going to MSG and making history is what they went with as it was their dream and goal. He vowed that it’s going to be huge.
Ring of Honor star Mark Haskins was recently interviewed by the company, discussing a variety of topics. Haskins recently signed for the company alongside the likes of PCO, Brody King and Bandido. The former PROGRESS World Champion talked about his recent calf injury, embarrassing in ring moments and more.
When asked about his injury, Haskins responded “It happened mid-match at a live event. I took a kick to the calf and it twinged a little, nothing too major. I thought nothing of it. I finished the match and then as I’m strolling around backstage I realized I was in a tremendous amount of pain, which wasn’t fun.”
Haskins was also asked what the best advice he had received whilst training. Mark stated “Keep your mouth shut and your eyes and your ears open. Quite a few people told me that. Looking back, maybe they just wanted me to be quiet. Oh well, it ended up being sound advice in the end, as I learned a lot.”
Finally, Haskins was asked what the most embarrassing moment he has ever had in-ring. Haskins responded that there’s “Eurgh, so many. Once Dalton Castle tried to deadlift German suplex me and he squeezed me so tight I farted down his chest.”
LifeBlood (Juice Robinson, Mark Haskins, Bandido & Tracy Williams) w/ Tenille Dashwood defeated The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas) & Coast to Coast (LSG & Shaheem Ali)
PCO defeated Mark Briscoe
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan) defeated ROH World Champion Jay Lethal, Jonathan Gresham & Rush in a non-title match
Silas Young has been a full time member of the Ring of Honor roster since 2012. Young recently appeared on The Roman Show and discussed his current role with ROH and why he’s turned down opportunities to head to WWE.
“This isn’t the type of business that you can work like a regular job that you can work for 30 years in the same place, God-willing, that he would allow my body to survive that long,” Young stated. “I’d love to wrestle as long as my body allows me to, but at the end of the day it is a business. Money is important, but money is not everything in life. Being comfortable enjoying what you do and having creative freedom allowing to see my family regularly and happiness is a big key to life.” Young continued, saying “you can make all the money in the world, but if you are not happy what good is that money?”
Young also made comments regarding WWE’s creative restrictions, saying “you see guys that work for WWE regularly asking for a release because they are not allowed that creative freedom. For me, a huge part of Ring of Honor is having the creative freedom after all this wrestling is an art and we are artists.”
ROH held TV tapings on Saturday night (February 9th) in Lakeland, FL at the RP Funding Arena. Here are the spoilers from the tapings, courtesy of Fightful.com:
ROH TV Tapings Spoilers
– Vinny Pacifico defeated Beach Body Ryan
– ROH TV Champion Jeff Cobb defeated Silas Young
– Rush defeated Vinny Marseglia
– The Kingdom come out. Matt Taven cuts a promo on Jay Lethal, wondering why ROH puts him on a pedestal. Taven says he will defend his Real ROH World Title against anyone not named Jay Lethal.
– Jonathan Gresham defeated Matt Taven by DQ when Vinny Marseglia and TK O’Ryan interfere. Post-match, Jay Lethal and Lifeblood make the save. Lethal destroys Taven’s World Title with a bat and axe.
– Mayu Iwatani defeated Holidead. Post-match, Kelly Klein confronts Mayu
– Kenny King defeated Dalton Castle. Post-match, King calls out Lethal and announces he will face Marty Scurll at the 17th Anniversary show.
– Taven cuts another promo on Lethal, which led to Lethal walking out and is attacked by Marseglia and O’Ryan.
– The Briscoes & Silas Young defeated Cheeseburger, Eli Isom, & Ryan Nova
– Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas defeated Joe Keys & Brian Johnston
– Madison Rayne defeated Thunder Rosa
– Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Rocky Romero
– Women of Honor Champion Kelly Klein defeated Stella Grey
– Nick Aldis comes out to the ring where he cuts a promo about how he wants Marty Scurll to be his partner in the Crockett Cup. However, Scurll declines and wants to face Aldis for the NWA World Heavyweight Title at the Crockett Cup event. Aldis agrees.
– Bandido, Tracy Williams, & Juice Robinson defeated Dalton Castle & The Boys
– NWA National Champion Willie Mack defeated Rhett Titus
– Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham defeated Coast 2 Coast
– PCO and Marty Scurll defeated Vinny Marseglia and TK O’Ryan
New matches have been announced for the Ring of Honor “Bound by Honor” event in Miami, FL at the Watsco Center on February 10th.
The Baltimore-based promotion has announced the following matches: ROH World TV Champion Jeff Cobb vs. Rocky Romero, Marty Scurll vs. Silas Young vs. Kenny King vs. NWA Champion Willie Mack, and PCO vs. Mark Briscoe.
ROH will hold Meet & Greets for fans at 5pm while the show kicks off two hours later. The Baltimore-based promotion is expected to announce more matches for this show in the coming days.
The company will also hold a “Bound by Honor” event in Lakeland, FL at the RP Funding Arena on February 9th. This will serve as a TV taping. Here’s the updated card:
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal, RUSH and Jonathan Gresham against ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Kingdom (Matt Taven, TK O’Ryan and Vinny Marseglia)
WOW World Champion Kelly Klein vs. Mayu Iwatani
ROH World TV Champion Jeff Cobb vs. Rocky Romero
Marty Scurll vs. Silas Young vs. Kenny King vs. NWA Champion Willie Mack
Ring of Honor (ROH) has announced the following dates and locations for the upcoming War of the Worlds tour. It all kicks off on Wednesday, May 8 in Buffalo, NY at the Buffalo RiverWorks and wraps up Sunday, May 12 in Chicago, IL at The Odeum in Villa Park.
The annual tour features talent from New Japan Pro Wrestling. Here’s the full slate of shows:
Wednesday, May 8 – Buffalo, NY – Buffalo RiverWorks – 7:30pm
Thursday, May 9 – Toronto, ON – Ted Reeve Arena – 7:30pm
Saturday, May 11 – Grand Rapids, MI – DeltaPlex – 6pm
Sunday, May 12 – Chicago, IL – The Odeum in Villa Park – 7pm
As of this writing, the Baltimore-based promotion has yet to announce talent appearing or matches scheduled to take place at these shows. However, they did hype, “Don’t miss your opportunity to witness the best in professional wrestling do battle. Keep it locked into ROHWrestling.com for the full list of NJPW stars headed stateside and for match signings.”
Tickets for the four shows go on sale Wednesday, Feb. 13 at 10 a.m. eastern for HonorClub members, and Friday, Feb. 15 at 10 a.m. eastern for the general public at ROHTickets.com.
This year’s War of The Worlds tour will feature the fallout from the sold-out G1 Supercard event from Madison Square Garden.
ROH (Ring of Honor) is preparing for their next TV taping, which is being titled, “Bound by Honor,” in Lakeland, FL at the RP Funding Arena on February 9th.
The Baltimore-based promotion has announced a slate of matches heading into the show. Some of these matches include Rush vs. Tracy Williams, Shinobi Shadow Squad vs. The Briscoes, Mayu Iwatani vs. Holidead, and NWA National Champion Willie Mack vs. Rhett Titus.
ROH will hold Meet & Greets for fans at 5pm while the show kicks off two hours later. The company will also hold the “Bound by Honor” event in Miami, FL at the Watsco Center on February 10th. Here’s the updated card:
ROH TV Champion Jeff Cobb vs. Silas Young
ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Kingdom (Matt Taven, TK O’Ryan & Vinny Marseglia) vs. Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO & Body King)
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham to take on Coast 2 Coast
Jay Lethal has now spent more days as ROH World Champion than any other person on the planet. Today is the 646th-day Lethal has spent as ROH Champion spread out over the course of 2 reigns with the belt.
He passed Samoa Joe today on the all-time combined days spent as champion statistic. Joe spent 645 days as champion all in the course of one reign with the title. Joe won the title on March 22nd, 2003 and held it until Final Battle on December 26th, 2004. He lost the title to Austin Aries on that night.
Jay Lethal won the title the first time at Best in the World 2015, beating Jay Briscoe. He would hold the title for 427 days and defend it 28x during his initial reign. Lethal won the title back by beating Cody, Matt Taven, & Dalton Castle on June 30th, 2018 and has held it ever since.
There is no shortage of contenders for Lethal’s ROH World Championship at the moment. On the most recent Road To G1 Supercard tour, Lethal successfully defended his title against the Kingdom’s Vinnie Marseglia. Marty Scurll is owed a title match for winning Survival of the Fittest last year. Flip Gordon is also owed a title match due to his winning the Sea of Honor tournament on Chris Jericho’s Rock N Rager at Sea. Gordon will be on the injured list until this spring, however.
Lethal’s 38 all-time title defenses are tied for the ROH record. Nigel McGuiness and Daniel Bryan each had 38 title defenses during their only reigns with the belt as well.
PJ Black, also known as Justin Gabriel in WWE, has announced on his Twitter account that he has officially signed with Ring of Honor. He would start working there from March 16 in Las Vegas.
Black also mentions that independent promotions looking for him should contact him now, because he has signed an exclusive deal with ROH and won’t be able to appear anywhere else after March 16.
“So I just officially signed with ROH! I start March 16th in Las Vegas. So any promoters running shows before that I could possibly make it!”
So I just officially signed with ROH! I start March 16th in Las Vegas. So any promoters running shows before that I could possibly make it!
PJ Black had previously signed for a number of dates with Ring of Honor last month and appeared at the ROH Honor Reigns Supreme event where he lost to Bandido.
Black would make a great addition to the roster, as anyone who has followed his career would know. The 37-year old has made rounds over independent promotions around the world and was a major player in Lucha Underground. He has also captured the Tag Team Championship three times during his time in WWE.
Mark Haskins recently signed for Ring of Honor and made his company debut back in January. Haskins teamed with Bandido, David Finlay and Juice Robinson to defeat Dalton Castle, Flip Gordon, Jay Lethal, Jeff Cobb & Jonathan Gresham.
Haskins has been making several more appearances for the company since then. His latest bout for ROH saw him in a losing effort against fellow Brit Marty Scurll. The ‘Underrated’ Haskins took to Twitter to discuss facing his longtime colleague. The tweet read “Started wrestling the same year, trained together, wrestled all over the UK, Ireland, Germany, BOLA in LA. From on camp sites to o2 Brixton Academy and now ROH. I can honestly tell you kicking Marty Scurll as hard as you can is one of the most enjoyable experiences in life.”
Haskins and Scurll’s careers are very closely intertwined. Scurll lost to Haskins at PROGRESS Wrestling’s Brixton Academy event a few years ago. This gifted Haskins his first ever PROGRESS World Championship. Both are considered future world title contenders for ROH and are on an upward trajectory, Scurll recently debuted his new stable alongside Brody King and PCO.
Started wrestling the same year, trained together, wrestled all over the UK, Ireland, Germany, BOLA in LA, from on camp sites to o2 Brixton Academy and now ROH & I can honestly tell you kicking Marty Scurll as hard as you can is one of the most enjoyable experiences in life pic.twitter.com/IvPrGJ0hjS
ROH (Ring of Honor) is gearing up for their next TV taping, which is being titled, “Bound by Honor,” in Lakeland, FL at the RP Funding Arena on February 9th.
The Baltimore-based promotion has announced a slate of matches heading into the show. Some of these matches including ROH TV Champion Jeff Cobb defending the title against Silas Young, ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Kingdom defending the straps against Villivan Enterprises, and ROH World Champion Jay Lethal teaming up with Jonathan Gresham to take on Coast 2 Coast.
ROH will hold Meet & Greets for fans at 5pm while the show kicks off two hours later. The Baltimore-based promotion is expected to announce more matches for this show in the coming days. Here’s the updated card:
ROH TV Champion Jeff Cobb vs. Silas Young
ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Kingdom (Matt Taven, TK O’Ryan & Vinny Marseglia) vs. Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO & Body King)
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham to take on Coast 2 Coast
Kenny King vs. Dalton Castle
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Rocky Romero
Rush vs. Tracy Williams
The company will also hold the “Bound by Honor” event in Miami, FL at the Watsco Center on February 10th.
Ring Of Honor (ROH) has been on a mission recently to lock down future talent to their roster. This has come in the wake of All Elite Wrestling, which saw The Elite leave ROH’s ranks.
However, it’s not just in-ring talent that ROH wants to keep. Their efforts have also extended to on-air personalities.
According to PWTorch, Ring Of Honor has managed to lock down their lead commentator, Ian Riccaboni in a new multi-year contract.
Riccaboni signed with the promotion last April but had an opt-out clause written into his contract. This clause would have allowed him to negotiate deals with other companies next month. He would end up staying with the company, where he has become a mainstay since first joining in 2017.
Taking to his Twitter account, Ian had the following to say:
“@ringofhonor means the world to me; the wrestlers, the crew, and the fans. We’re a family. I approached our office and producers about staying. They shared the same sentiment. I am excited to announce that I signed a mult-year deal to stay with ROH. Happy wrestling, indeed!”
He would follow it up saying, “I guess this means I’m #goingtothegarden?” in reference to ROH’s upcoming event, G1 Supercard. This show is a co-promoted event between ROH and New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Ring Of Honor (ROH) has been making strides in locking down talent. In recent months we have reported on the company signing Bandido, Brody King, PCO, and more to their expanding roster.
Unfortunately, the company have also been impacted by a recent bout of injuries to some of their top, and up-and-coming, stars, including the newly signed Mark Haskins.
Haskins took to Twitter to reveal that he has recently “suffered a partial tear” in his calf. Thankfully, according to him, “It’s already getting better so shouldn’t be out for more than a few weeks.”
Suffered a partial tear in my calf recently. It's already getting better so shouldn't be out for more than a few weeks. Still going to be in Florida next weekend @ringofhonor Got Lifeblood peeps to represent ? #Squad
He promises that he will still be in Florida next weekend, ending his update by saying he’s “Got Lifeblood peeps to represent #Squad”
LifeBlood is ROH’s latest stable, featuring Juice Robinson, Tenille Dashwood, Bandido, Mark Haskins, Tracy Williams, and David Finlay.
Recent ROH Injuries
During their Honor Reigns Supreme weekender earlier this month, both Flip Gordon and Chris Sabin would suffer injuries whilst performing.
Gordon suffered an injury to his right knee during a match against Tracy Williams. It is reported he may be out for around 4 weeks due to an MCL sprain. Sabin’s prognosis, however, was more serious. He suffered a torn ACL in his right knee during a six-man matchup, which will take a lot longer to heal and rehab.
The main event, as well as a title match, have been announced for the Ring of Honor “Bound by Honor” event in Miami, FL at the Watsco Center on February 10th.
Those matches are ROH World TV Champion Jeff Cobb vs. Rocky Romero and a six-man tag match pitting ROH World Champion Jay Lethal, RUSH and Jonathan Gresham against ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Kingdom (Matt Taven, TK O’Ryan and Vinny Marseglia).
ROH will hold Meet & Greets for fans at 5pm while the show kicks off two hours later. The Baltimore-based promotion is expected to announce more matches for this show in the coming days.
ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes, WOH World Champion Kelly Klein, Mayu Iwatani, Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO, & Brody King, Dalton Castle, Bandido, Mark Haskins, Zack Sabre Jr., Shane Taylor, Silas Young, Colt Cabana, Willie Mack, and more stars are slated to appear at this show.
The company will also hold a “Bound by Honor” event in Lakeland, FL at the RP Funding Arena on February 9th. This will serve as a TV taping.
MVP is now part of the Ring of Honor family as he recently made his promotional debut with the Baltimore-based company.
During Friday’s Road to G1 Supercard event in Houston, TX at the NRG Arena, he made a surprise appearance once being revealed as the tag team partner of Kenny King. This led to them beating Willie Mack & Colt Cabana as part of the Tag Wars Tournament.
If you recall, the two stars were part of the Beat Down Clan, which is something that they created during their time with TNA.
– Brian Milonas & Beer City Bruiser def. ‘The Boys’ – Tag Wars Tournament
– Sumie Sakai def. Thunder Rosa via DQ
– ‘Twisted Sisters’ (Thunder Rosa & Holidead) def. Madison Rayne & Sumie Sakai
– ‘Coast 2 Coast’ (Shaheem Ali & L.S.G.) def. Cheeseburger & Eli Isom – Tag Wars Tournament
– Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO & Brody King) def. Clark Connors, Karl Fredericks & Alex Coughlin
– TK O’Ryan def. Jonathan Gresham
– ROH World Champion Jay Lethal def. Vinny Marseglia to retain the title.
– Women Of Honor World Champion Kelly Klein def. Britt Baker to retain the title.
– Kenny King & MVP def. Willie Mack & Colt Cabana – Tag Wars Tournament
– Three-Way Match: Rocky Romero def. Dalton Castle and Jeff Cobb
– ‘Lifeblood’ (Bandido, Mark Haskins, “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams, Juice Robinson & David Finlay) def. Bully Ray, Shane Taylor, The Briscoes & Silas Young
Jeff Cobb was a guest on the Wrestling Epicenter podcast earlier this week. Ring of Honor’s World Television Champion spoke about a broad range of topics, including his time in ROH, what it’s been like backstage following the departure of The Elite, who he wants to wrestle at the G1 Supercard at Madison Square Garden and more. Here are some highlights sent in by host James Walsh.
Winning the ROH TV Title In His Debut
“It was great, man! I wasn’t expecting that right off the bat. I’m grateful for the opportunity. I’m definitely going to do my best and try to elevate it, get my name out there, get the company’s name out there, and hopefully put some prestige back into that TV championship.”
His Time As Matanza in Lucha Underground
“I had a fun playing that character,” Cobb said. “It was something different from what I’m used to. I still get, to this day, that don’t know that’s me. It has taken a while, you know, because of the mask. But, if you follow my move set, it is pretty much the same. (laughs)”
As for why ROH has not acknowledged his past work as Matanza, Cobb understands the company’s position.
“I just think the focus should be on Ring of Honor. Unless we work with those other companies, I don’t see why we need to mention it.”
He continued, “I think throughout history, it shows that wrestlers do better when they are themselves. I just feel more comfortable being myself and being able to use my facial expressions to tell a story. It is harder under a mask. I don’t not like what I did. but, I feel like it is better as myself.”
The Loss Of The Elite Creating New Opportunities in ROH
“It is always a blow to any company when an athlete leaves. You can relate that to pretty much any sport. I’m a basketball fan. When Michael Jordan left to go play baseball, the Chicago Bulls were still good. They refilled the talent pool. I feel that is the same with Ring of Honor.”
Cobb said that ROH has dealt with countless former world champions moving on over the years, including Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, Samoa Joe and many more. ROH knows how to rebuild and that’s already being demonstrated with the new talent that’s joined the roster in recent weeks.
“Villain Enterprises, Juice Robinson, Bandito. There’s going to be voids to fill and I feel like our new signings are going to step up and take the company into the future.”
Cobb later reiterated that ROH is a great company with a great locker room. “We’re on par with all the other wrestling companies out there – Hint hint, New York!”
Who He Wants To Face At MSG For ROH/NJPW’s G1 Supercard
Cobb said The Garden is the mecca of pro wrestling and it would be tremendous honor to work there. He actually had an amateur wrestling match there back in 2003 and said he’ll probably cry on his way to the ring if he gets a chance to be part of G1 Supercard. As for who he wants to face, he said:
“It is a joint production so I don’t know if they are going to do cross-promotional matches. If they do, Okada would be a good one. If they would put their title on the line against mine and Naito is still Intercontinental Champion, I think that is the secondary belt in New Japan. Why wouldn’t the secondary belt go against the secondary belt?”
Listen to Jeff Cobb’s appearance on Wrestling Epicenter here:
