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LAST STOP BEFORE ROH FINAL BATTLE: RING OF HONOR ON WATCHROH.COM REPORT

ROH Episode 42: Proving Our Way to Final Battle

Tomorrow night ROH will present Final Battle, which has some amazing matches on the card. Before we get there we had another episode of ROH TV. Most of the matches on this episode were to set up matches for tomorrow, and also hype up a lot of the bigger stars before the show tomorrow. 

ROH World Heavyweight Championship Proving Grounds Match: Eddie Kingston vs Evil Uno

So, Kingston will not be defending his title at Final Battle. I love seeing the Dark Order used on ROH. It should be a continued thing. Uno lasted for seven out of the 10-minute time limit, one of the longer proving grounds matches we have seen ROH. Kingston gets the win.

Winner: “And Still” Eddie Kingston

Leyla Hersch vs Katrina Creed

Kannellis tried to help Hersch take advantage in the match similar to what she did to Ellering last week. Hersch dominated most of this match to get the win. Ellering and Kanellis both celebrated with Hersch after the match.

Winner: Leyla Hersch

Outrunners Promo

The Outrunners say that after this match they will prove why they are the most dominant tag team in ROH. They say they are excited to get in the ring with three other great teams, but at the end of the day, they will be the victorious team.

Pure Rules Championship Proving Grounds Match: Wheeler Yuta vs Jason Geiger

Yuta also dominated most of this match. The disappointing thing about the Pure Championship is the sudden ending to Shibata’s reign because he had to leave for Japan. Given last week’s challenge with him and Danielson I would have thought he would have been in the Fight Without Honor match tomorrow, but looks like they are going with Moxley. Geiger had a good showing, but ultimately this was Yuta’s night.

Winner: “And Still” Wheeler Yuta

Iron Savages (Bear Bronson, Beefcake Boulder, and Jacked Jameson) vs Dalton Castle and The Boys (Brandon and Brent Tate)

This was more of a comedic match, than anything else but this was fun. The main component of this match was the special sauce that fuels the Iron Savages and Jameson used to hype themselves up. Castle was able to steal the sauce to fuel himself up to run through all three of his opponents. Castle pinned Jameson to get the win as he heads into the Survival of the Fittest match tomorrow. After the match was over Johnny TV came out to confront Castle as the two exchanged words. Johnny hinted at coming down to the ring, but he just walked away.

Winners: Dalton Castle and The Boys (Brandon and Brent Tate)

Butcher and Blade Promo

Butcher says that they have been going after money, but now they are looking for gold. Blade follows by saying that they are going to be the most dominant tag team in ROH and they will win the big four-way tag match later on in the night.

Rachael Ellering vs Taya Valkyrie

Kanellis along with Hersch came out for this match to cheer on Ellering, as Johnny came out with Valkyrie. This match got a lot of time and was a great back-and-forth between two veterans in the wrestling business. Valkyrie got the win as Kanellis and Hersch looked on in disgust.

Winner Taya Valkyrie

Ethan Page Promo

Page says that he did not expect to get as beaten down as he did in his match with Omega but he tried his best. He says that if it was not for Tony Nese he would have had ROH gold to share with his daughter. He says he can not focus on the loss and the unfortunate defeat in his home country to Omega. He has to focus on Nese and make him say I Quit tomorrow. The only reason he lost to Omega was because of three seconds, where tomorrow all he has to do is make Nese say I Quit and he will not be the one to utter the words I Quit. Nese storms into the locker room to confront Page and the two shout at each other that one of them will say the words I Quit, it is just a matter of who.

Griff Garrison and Cole Karter vs Bobby Sharp and Saun Moore

Moore and Sharp looked good and got more offense than I would have thought. Garrison and Karter look to have finally got on the same page as they got the win in this one. Looks like Garrison is finally trusting Karter.

Winners: Cole Karter and Griff Garrison

The Workhorsemen Promo:

They say that since they are on a roll as of late they are going to continue to do what they have been doing and win this match. They say failure is not an option and they are going to show why they are the best team in ROH.

Shane Taylor vs Channing Decker:

This was a quick one, Taylor dominated the whole time and got the win. At least Taylor adhered to the Code of Honor after the match.

Winner: Shane Taylor

The Righteous (Vincent and Dutch) vs Australian Take Over (Kaz Jordan and Julian Ward):

The Righteous also heavily dominated this match. They have been on a roll in the second half of this year. I hope Tony Khan has big plans for them in 2024.

Winners The Righteous (Vincent and Dutch)

The Infantry Promo:

The Infantry says that the tag team division has been fishy. Between new teams showing up out of nowhere, old teams coming back to ROH, and tag teams not being here at all. The one constant thing is that the Infantry is here to stay. They also congratulate Lexy Nair on graduating from MIT as she salutes them and Bravo yells at her not to do that.

Brian Cage vs Gravity

This was a great contrast in style. Gravity tries to make the match at a faster pace to his advantage while Cage’s strength always gets the better of Gravity. Cage has one of the largest winning streaks on the male side and he was not stopping here. Cage made Gravity tap out in the middle of the ring and then celebrated his win with Prince Nana.

Winner: Brian Cage

Rachael Ellering Promo

Hersch said that even though she had a tough loss Ellering did great. Kanellis praises Hersch while also saying Ellering lost to a local talent. Hersch says that Ellering will win her next match as she walks away with Kanellis. Maybe Hersch and Ellering can get along?

The WorkHorsemen (JD Drake and Anthony Henry) vs The Outrunners (Truth Magnum and Turbo Floyd) vs Butcher and Blade vs The Infantry (Carlie Bravo and Shawn Dean)

This match was fun and a great showing for all four teams in ROH. If only there were tag team titles for these teams to fight over. Butcher and Blade are able to keep their winning streak alive as they look to hopefully get a shot at the ROH Tag Team Titles.

Winners: Butcher and The Blade

ROH Women’s Championship Proving Grounds Match: Athena vs Roxanne

Meaning that this was going to be a quick match, this should not have been the main event. I would have rather seen the tag title match the main event. Athena knocked out Roxanne in less than 30 seconds and she got the win. After the match, Starkz attacked Athena and took the fight to the champion. Starkz smashed Athena’s face into a pile of steel chairs which led to Athena breaking her nose as Starkz held the title high and proud.

Winner: “And Still” Athena

Overall: 

What disappointed me most about this episode was how many squash matches were on the episode. I understand building the bigger stars to look strong looking into the show, but this was not the way to do it. The main event was 30 seconds, which was disappointing, to say the least. Hopefully, tomorrow’s show makes up for it.

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