Ring of Honor TV live results: Women’s TV title tournament begins

  • Jeff Moss

Ring of Honor presents its weekly show on HonorClub tonight. 

Four first-round matches in the tournament to crown an inaugural ROH Women’s TV Champion are scheduled to air. The show will also feature Kenny King’s return to the promotion for the first time since 2021. He’ll wrestle Dalton Castle in singles competition. 

Castle’s rivalry with Johnny TV will also continue tonight. TV is set to reveal the stipulations for a future match between the two. 

Bryan Keith, The Infantry, Lance Archer, The Righteous, and The Outrunners are all scheduled for the show as well. 

Ring of Honor TV announced lineup for February 15, 2024:

  • ROH Women’s World TV Title Tournament First Round: Leyla Hirsch vs. Rachael Ellering
  • ROH Women’s World TV Title Tournament First Round: J-Rod vs. Queen Aminata
  • ROH Women’s World TV Title Tournament First Round: Diamante vs. Kiera Hogan
  • ROH Women’s World TV Title Tournament First Round: Mercedes Martinez vs. Trish Adora
  • Kenny King vs. Dalton Castle
  • The Outrunners (Turbo Floyd & Truth Magnum) vs. Lights Camera Faction (Ice Williams & Action Braxton)
  • The Infantry (Shawn Dean & Carlie Bravo) vs. Midnight Heat (Ricky Gibson & Eddie Pearl)
  • Bryan Keith vs. Slice Boogie
  • Lance Archer & The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch) vs. TBA
  • Johnny TV to give stipulations for future Dalton Castle match

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The opening package ran down the card for the evening. A couple of returns, but the main focus of this week’s show was the ROH Women’s World TV Title Tournament which kicked things off.

ROH Women’s TV Title Tournament First Round: Queen Aminata defeated J-Rod to advance

The contestants were pretty evenly matched in stature, so a lockup and trading of chops went in circles. Aminata got the first near fall, but things remained fairly even with the two women trading moves with equal offense until J-Rod went for a quick pin off of a suplex. She then tried to do push-ups on Aminata to get the pin. This was pretty insulting to Aminata, and she retaliated with some quick strikes.

The slow-moving match began to gain steam at the halfway point, the crowd rallying behind Aminata. A few quick exchanges of momentum and Aminata connected with a headbutt and got the pin to advance in the tournament.

-Later, Queen Aminata was approached backstage and congratulated on her win. She cut a promo reminding people she did not move all the way across the world to be just “average.” She is here representing the whole continent of Africa, and she’s going to be number one.

The Infantry (Shawn Dean & Carlie Bravo) defeated Midnight Heat (Ricky Gibson & Eddie Pearl)

No entrance for the Midnight Heat and the match started with Pearl facing off against Dean. The crowd seemed a lot quieter than usual as the Midnight Heat walked through a double team on Bravo. A backbreaker off the top rope on Bravo woke them up though and the match began to find its footing. Throw in a couple of near falls by each team and some urgency started rearing it’s head.

Bravo sent Gibson to the outside and got a hot tag on Dean. He put both men down and hit a leaping elbow on Gibson for a two-count. The Infantry with a couple double teams of their own, cut off the Midnight Heat from each other, giving Dean and Bravo the opening to hit Boot Camp to get the win. The crowd stayed quiet though, not a lot of excitement in this one.

ROH Women’s TV Title Tournament First Round: Leyla Hirsch defeated Rachael Ellering to advance

This match between these two friends and partners was one that people were waiting for, so the crowd was a lot more lively. Ellering and Hirsch showed a lot of respect for each other, but it was also clear that their friendship was going to be a factor as each woman was obviously well prepared for the other.

This was a much more technical match as Ellering traded on her size, and Hirsch, her mat wrestling skills. The emotion of the match was bubbling below the surface with Hirsch locking in a sleeper. After some hard strikes the “truce” between the two seemed to have been set aside and some fast strikes and rope work gave neither woman the edge, but perked up the crowd.

After trading elbows, Hirsch went to lock in a submission move on Ellering’s arm, but she screamed in pain and waived her off. The Ref got involved, and the ringside doctor popped Ellering’s apparently dislocated elbow into place.

Ellering protected the injured elbow through the rest of the match, and Hirsch got a near fall after a splash from the top rope. Ellering continued to power through the match in spite of her elbow. Ellering tried to get Hirsch to “finish it” but tricked Hirsch as she got close into a two count. Hirsch got mad at that and worked over Ellering until getting the 1-2-3 to advance. Hugs all around after the match.

-Later, a dejected Rachel Ellering cut a promo back stage about how disappointing her loss was. Hirsch arrived and apologized for injuring her elbow and ellering forgave her. The two friends said they were proud of each other and have each other’s backs through this tournament.

– Back in the show, we headed backstage and Nyla Rose started a promo but was sneak-attacked by Athena in payback for Rose jumping her last week. Despite being hit by a table, Rose lifted Athena up by the next before throwing the broken table at her.

– Later, a recovering Athena cut a promo about how Nyla Rose has been knocking her on her ass and she’s tired of it. She’s fed up with all of this, it’s her show and her title, and she’s not going to back down. Athena then challenged Rose to a tables match for the ROH Women’s Championship next week.

– After the Main Event, Nyla Rose appeared on screen and gleefully accepted the challenge.

The Outrunners (Turbo Floyd & Truth Magnum) defeated Lights Camera Faction (Ice Williams & Action Braxton)

The Outrunners started the match by giving a Code of Honor to… themselves. The two throwback wrestlers were well received by the crowd. Williams and Floyd began the match, but the ref was soon distracted, allowing Magnum to jump in for some illegal shots. The Outrunners flexed their way through the match, in complete control.

Williams got in a few shots, but Floyd grabbed his foot outside the ring, leading to Magnum throwing him down in a slam. The Outrunners continued their 80’s heel shenanigans until eventually hitting Boot Camp (The Infantry’s finisher) for some reason. This was a fun take on classic 80’s wrestling.

– Back stage Lexi Nair interviewed the aforementioned Infantry. Moriarty arrived and let them in on the fact the Outrunners stole their finisher. The Infantry tracked them down and The Outrunners claimed they had been doing that move “since the Sportatorium!” The Infantry warned them not to use it and stormed off.

Bryan Keith defeated Slice Boogie

Keith’s gunslinger outfit made an impression as he intimidated Boogie off the top. This was Boogie’s first ROH match since 2019, and he and Keith were pretty evenly matched. The fans were clearly behind Kieth, but Boogie kept pace with him until a headbutt dazed him in the corner. Keith hit an Around-The-World cutter and got a quick victory.

ROH Women’s TV Title Tournament First Round: Mercedes Martinez defeated Trish Adora to advance

The third Women’s World TV Title Tournament match started off much like the previous two; slowly. Martinez showed off her mean streak both in strikes and facial expressions. Adora remained unimpressed. Adora showed a bit more finesse than her opponent leading to the first pinning attempt.

The match began to heat up as both women traded stiff shots back and forth. Adora was sent through the ropes and Martinez found her aggression on the outside, tossing her into the ring apron. Martinez threw Adora back in the ring, and knocked her around with hard strikes into a chinlock.

Adora fought back as the match resumed its slower pace. Martinez went for some German suplexes, but Adora was able to keep her to just two and get away to a corner. Adora landed a Thez press to take control of the match until her back gave out trying to execute a carry. Martinez was able to put Adora into a crab submission hold until she tapped out.

Lance Archer & The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch) defeated Jon Cruz, JC Valentine & James Blackheart

Dutch started things off but tagged in Archer quickly to take on Blackheart. Archer and The Righteous controlled every aspect of this match. Their hard-hitting style got the crowd’s attention, but at no point were they ever in danger.

The single ray of light was Cruz, who managed to get some momentum against Vincent. However, Dutch tagged in and slammed that momentum to a halt. Archer and The Righteous hit their finishers in succession for the win and that was about it.

Dalton Castle w/The Boys defeated Kenny King

Castle was dejected as he walked to the ring with The Boys, still bummed that he didn’t get to smash Johnny TV’s face last week.

King tried to take advantage of the low mood off the top, but Castle decided to take his woes out on him with a side headlock. King moved fast, trying to use his speed to get one up on Castle, but Castle rolled out of the ring to compose himself.

Castle tried to shake off the blues by getting the crowd going. King paintbrush him and Castle’s frustration began to show. He walked to the top of the ramp and tried to catch King off guard by speeding back to the ring, but King hit him with an outside dive for his trouble.

Back in the ring, Castle got angrier and angrier as the two traded blows. Castle caught King in a Bangarang and was able to get the pin, but it did nothing to improve his mood.

-After the match Castle grabbed a mic and explained that he was exhausted and couldnt sleep knowing that Johnny TV’s face was out there needing smashing. He called out TV and lo and behold, he came out!

TV reminded us all that Castle was not TV ready, and all he did was wander around and eat cheese. Valkyrie took the mic and revealed the stipulation for the upcoming TV vs Castle clash: They want… The Boys? Yes, if TV wins, he gets The Boys. Castle was shocked (and so were The Boys) as they left ringside.

ROH Women’s TV Title Tournament First Round: Diamante defeated Kiera Hogan to advance

The main event of the night was the fourth first-round match in the ROH Women’s World TV Title Tournament.

Diamante assured Hogan that this was going to hurt her more than it would hurt Diamante. They quickly locked up and Diamante put Hogan in the corner for a shoulder to the midsection. Hoga fought back with some fast kicks, and this match quickly set itself apart from the Tournament matches of the show, both in speed and intensity.

A back elbow from Hogan stunned Diamante and Hogan hit her with a dropkick from the second rope. Hogan hit a side slam keeping the momentum in her favor. Diamante fought back though and caught Hogan in a swinging neck breaker to advance. It was a very intense match, easily the best of the night, but was strangely short, leaving the crowd a little surprised and disappointed.

Next Week:

  • ROH Women’s Champion Athena defends against Nyla Rose in a tables match