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THE ROH DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2022 TIP SHEET

Ring of Honor will present the 2022 Death Before Dishonor in Lowell, MA tonight at the Tsongas Arena.  Here is our take on what will happen.

ROH Champion Jonathan Gresham vs. Claudio Castagnoli.

Dave: I won't lie.  I meant to start this yesterday and the Vince McMahon story happened.  Sorry it's late.  As an aside, I really hope that Joe Koff and Cary Silkin are there and paid tribute to on camera.  They both deserve it.  Claudio is a big part of AEW and Gresham so far, not so much.  Could have have Gresham retain?  Well, this is the same guy who booked Wardlow vs. Orange Cassidy so sure, he could make that mistake.  Will he?  I hope not.

Mike: I have heard zero about Silkin or Koff being there, but it would be nice!  I hope they give this a ton of time and while I like Gresham a lot, I REALLY like the idea of Claudio as the Ring of Honor Champion.  I expect this to be something tremendous from a pure wrestling standpoint and I expect a really hard-hitting physical bout but I am calling a titlle change here.

Richard:  Did something happen with Vince?  This is a great match up and I think these are two styles that will mesh well for the match.  Are they going to keep the Ring of Honor stuff separate from AEW or will there be overlap until there is a separate Ring of Honor show?  If they give Claudio the title, some will see it (and I think incorrectly) that Tony is giving Claudio the title to show that WWE dropped the ball with him over the years.  I would keep the title on Gresham but Claudio comes very close many times (which will probably be a theme of the overall show with at least 100 'OMG that was 3' moments).  Since there is no news at this time of the next ROH endeavor, I would love to see Danielson come out after the match to check on Claudio, but also to tease a potential Danielson/Gresham match.

ROH Tag Team Champions FTR vs. The Briscoes - Best of Three Falls.

Dave: This is THE match.  The first was a classic and I expect this to be as well.  I see FTR winning 2 falls to 1 but there will no losers here.

Mike: They are going to have to work to overcome the legend of what they created at Supercard of Honor, which was the best match out of everything Wrestlemania 38 weekend.  I expect this to be awesome.  The Best out of Three falls scenario gives them (hopefully) a lot of time to craft a storyline that weaves through all three falls.   So who goes over?  No one.  Let them run the time limit and have each team still wanting to fight when it's over to set up the next rematch.

Richard:  The best tag team in the world against the best tag team of the last 2 decades.  Their last match is considered by many to be the best match in the US in 2022.  Will this one match it?  This should be the match of the night.  While the 'belt collector' gimmick for FTR is a great thing, would it be so wrong to put the belts on Briscoes?  Then we can get a promo where Jay tells Dax, 'you may fight like an 8 year old girl, but we are grown men'.  Would a 2-0 result be a 'disappointment' for the fans?  I think if they give the falls enough time, a sweep by one of the teams would not be a bad thing.

ROH Women's Champion Mercedes Martinez vs. Serena Deeb.

Dave: The booking for this has been like a lot of Tony's recent stuff, kind of head scratching.  I think Mercedes needs the win here.  She has been yoyo'd a lot and a good win here would help her a lot.

Mike: Mercedes should get the win here makes sense so that she continues to build her credibility with the masses as champion.  

Richard:   This is a match that needs Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard on commentary to give it the SHIMMER feel that it evokes.  This should be a good match, but I think it will be overlooked because of everything else going on tonight.  I agree with Dave about the way Martinez has been booked so I would give the title to Serena.  

ROH TV Champion Samoa Joe vs. Jay Lethal with Sonjay Dutt.

Dave: I think the way to go here is to have Joe with the match in hand when interference leads to a Title change and these two can feud going forward.  They are both great so I would love to see them go at it for a while.

Mike: This has a lot of history and the Lethal/Dutt combination has been a lot of fun lately.  But, I don't see Joe losing here. 

Richard:  These two men have a history of fighting over titles in Ring of Honor and this should be a good match, but Joe is the factor as to whether the match is good or very good.  With Joe not being on TV recently, it makes sense to give the title to Lethal.  Let ROH Shanky/Shera/Khali interfere while Sonjay Dutt plays the 2022 version of Scott D'Amore as he celebrates Jay's victory.

ROH Pure Wrestling Champion Wheeler Yuta vs. Daniel Garcia.

Dave: It's way too soon to take it off of Yuta, way too soon.

Mike: Just let them have a great match and allow it to show how Garcia can shine.  Yuta should get the win here.

Richard:  This should be a sleeper match.  If this is BCC Yuta fighting move for move with Daniel Garcia (not the JAS version), this will be a very good match.  I would have Yuta retain but he will have to do a lot and get Garcia to use him all of his rope breaks to win.

ROH  Six Man Tag Team Champions The Righteous vs. The Boys & Dalton Castle.

Dave: Given Tony's love of Marko Stunt back in the day, it scares me to think he will put titles on little guys.  I will go with he resists the urge and The Righteous prevail.

Mike: I smell title change here.  Vincent isn't a regular anymore and is with Impact.  I suspect this may be the passing of the torch.

Richard:   I don't see a title change in this match.  This feels like the come down match of the show compared to everything else.  Good to see Dalton Castle and Bateman on a PPV.

Dragon Lee vs. Rush.

Dave: This should be good.  It's too soon for Rush to lose.

Mike: It's crazy that the first time ever meeting of these two was announced less than a day before it happened.  This is a legit dream match in Mexico with two brothers fighting for the first time.  Lee is awesome.  Rush can be very good at times.  I suspect a strong bout here.  I am just amazed it was tossed out there like this, but I am excited we are getting it.

Richard:  This could be a good way to add Dragon Lee to the Los Ingobernables faction if this is booked like an old school ROH match.  Treat this like the Harwood/Wheeler match on Dynamite where it is two men who want to prove who is best but there are no heel/face dynamics.  Give Rush the win because we haven't see Lee in AEW.

Allysin Kay vs. Willow Nightingale.

Dave: Since Tony doesn't have any skin in the game with these two, I would put Kay over here.

Mike: Nightingale has been on Dynamite consistently.  I think she's the winner here.

Richard:  Since Willow is on AEW television, I can see her getting the victory.  I am a huge fan of AK's work in Shine so I would love to see her get the win.  Let this be the start of Kay's run for the Women's Title.  I also want to see Willow with an edge in this match.  

Colt Cabana vs. Anthony Henry.

Dave: I think Colt comes out on top here.

Mike: Make the younger guy.  Henry should go over.

Richard:  If they plan to use Henry in the future, I would give him the victory.  Henry's style is so well made for the ROH product.  Cabana will be able to bump for him and it should be a good match.  I think Cabana ends up winning this match.

Cheeseburger and Eli Isom vs. The Trustbusters.

Dave: Cheeseburger should win just because he is Cheeseburger.

Mike: I REALLY popped to see Eli Isom booked as he's always worked super hard to improve and get better.  My feeling is this will be more of an introductory bout for the TrustBusters than anything else.

Richard:  I got to see the creation of the Trustbusters at the last AEW Dark tapings, even though it doesn't appear that anything has aired yet on Dark.  I like the way that Eli Isom has developed towards the end of ROH's pre-Khan run.   Can they 'SEND IN DARK CITY' for old time's sake?

Brian Cage and The Gates of Agony vs. Blake Christian & Alex Zayne & Tony Deppen.

Dave: Cage lives!  Who knew?  Maybe he gets a win and he can get back on the radar again?  Maybe?

Mike: This could be fun but Cage might be odd man out here.  My guess is he's there to be the base for a lot of dives.  I like the idea of team Black winning but I suspect Tully Blanchard Enterprises goes over.

Richard:  Tully's guys aren't losing this one.

 

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