Ring of Honor TV live results: Deonna Purrazzo in action, Jay Lethal vs. Atlantis Jr.
With the upcoming inaugural Women’s Ring of Honor Pure Championship tournament, Pure rules will be showcased on this week’s special Friday edition of ROH TV on HonorClub and YouTube.
Tournament participant Deonna Purrazzo will be in action in a Pure rules bout against Ashley Vox while another tournament competitor — Leila Grey — will take on Marina Shafir of the Death Riders in a traditional rules match.
Former ROH Men’s TV Champion Atlantis Jr. will battle former ROH World Champion Jay Lethal.
Blake Christian & Lee Johnson will team up against the Spanish Announce Team’s Serpentico & Angelico.
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Its a special day for Ring of Honor, coming at you with Episode 115 of ROH on Honorclub! With a pair of Proving Ground matches, a Pure Rules bout and two ROH Legends going head to head, it promised to be very special indeed!
Atlantis Jr. defeated Jay Lethal
Even if you’re not aware of the lengthy ROH history that Atlantis and Lethal have built for themselves, who wouldn’t want to see this match? Atlantis was the ROH World Television champion up until a few weeks ago when he lost said ROH TV title on AEW TV. Lethal is a Grand Slam Champion in ROH, with World, Tag, Pure and TV title reigns under his belt. His lineage in ROH goes all the way back to 2002, so this is definitely home for Lethal.
Atlantis Jr is actually undefeated in singles bouts in ROH. Which makes total sense when you think about him winning and losing the ROH TV Title. A code of honor was shared between these two heavy hitters and the match was on.
Lethal seemed a bit back on his heels early on as Atlantis’ speed seemed to get the best of him. Lethal bailed to the outside and Atlantis followed with a suicide dive into the barricade. Atlantis seemed in complete control, moving slowly but steadily until Lethal reversed and armdrag into a hip-toss dropkick.
Lethal went up to the top rope for his big elbow drop, but Atlantis was wiggling around too much and he couldn’t find a good angle from three of the four turnbuckles. Atlantis climbed up and grabbed Lethal into a superplex, knocking Lethal silly.
Lethal fought back though and hooked Atlantis into a figure four leg lock. Atlantis managed to wiggle his way to the rope to break the hold. Lethal continued to work the knee though, delivering some stiff kicks to Atlantis before attempting a Lethal Injection. Atlantis caught him though and Lethal tried again, but Atlantis had it scouted and hit a powerslam.
Atlantis nailed a frog splash from the top rope and that was it. He got the pin 1-2-3.
Match Result: Atlantis Jr. defeated Jay Lethal
Marina Shafir defeated Leila Grey
Shafir has been running around with a little group you may have heard of called the Death Riders. I don’t know if that means I can still make “problem” jokes at her expense, but regardless she is a big problem for Grey. These women are set to participate in the ROH Women’s Pure Tournament when it starts up and would make a heck of a first round match. Just saying, booking people.
The bell rang and as with most Shafir matches, so she controlled the pace from the start. Grey was caught completely off guard by the no-nonsense Shafir style. Grey kept making mistakes by posing for the crowd, allowing Shafir to kick her to death.
Grey never really recovered, taking everything Shafir dished out, including kicks and judo throws. Shafir couldn’t get the three count though as Grey got the shoulder up at the last second every time. Shafir locked in a really crazy half-crab stretch, but left Grey’s leg unattended so she was able to wriggle out.
Grey tried to fight back, but Shafir no-sold every strike. Grey tried a rolling neckbreaker and shotgun dropkick, but Shafir didn’t even leave her feet. She slammed Grey to the mat and locked in the Mother’s Milk submission, causing Grey to tap out.
Match Result: Marina Shafir defeated Leila Grey
Blake Christian & Lee Johnson defeated Spanish Announce Project (Angelico & Serpentico)
I’m just going to come right out and say it: Blake Christian is a bad influence on that nice Lee Johnson. His mom should really talk to Christian’s mom about the path Christian is walking and the trouble he can get Johnson into! After losing via the dreaded numbers game to the Frat House last week, nice boys Angelico and Serpentico just wanted to have a nice, fun, laid back match, but with that dastardly Christian around, it was bound to get somewhat chippy.
Angelico and Christian kicked things off and Christian set the tone by kicking away the Code of Honor. From there it was an oddly slow exchange. Christian held Angelico in a wristlock for what seemed like 10 minutes (it wasn’t, but time has no meaning).
Angelico picked up the pace with some good old fashioned punches to the face, which brought Serpentico in to work a double team. Johnson caught a blind tag and took down Serpentico, giving Christian an opening to spear him on his way to the corner.
Even though it was their first time teaming together, Johnson and Christian worked really well together. They set each other up for moves as if they had done it a hundred times before. They then started messing with Serpentico’s mask, which made me think that Serpentico might want to get less cool masks because someone seems to always been trying to steal his.
Angelico tagged in and cleared house for his partner. Angelico’s lankiness has always been a strength and he was able to wind and dodge around Johnson, setting him up for a Snakebomb from the top rope from Serpentico.
Angelico got planted by Christian and tossed to the outside. Serpentico avenged him with a monkey flip. He tried it again on Johnson, but got caught in a super destroyer from the top rope. Johnson pinned Serpentico and that was that.
Match Result: Blake Christian & Lee Johnson defeated Spanish Announce Project (Angelico & Serpentico)
Pure Rules Match: Deonna Purrazzo defeated Ashley Vox
With the ROH Women’s Pure Championship Tournament about to kick off, Purazzo and Vox get a bit of a warm up and the audience got a bit of a reminder how Pure Rules matches work. In case you missed it, the match has a ten minute time limit and each competitor gets 3 rope breaks. Once those are exhausted, a person can be submitted or pinned even if they get to the ropes. Competitors also get one warning for a closed fist and a second instance is a DQ. This would actually be the first ever Women’s Pure Rules match, which is a nice bit of history.
The clock started ticking as the two women locked up. Purrazzo seemed to have the confidence as they traded wristlocks. Purrazzo dragged Vox to the ground and locked in a hold forcing Vox to use the rope at 1:36. Purrazzo strong armed her way out of a fishook hold next as Vox tried everything she could.
Purrazzo dropped the finesse at that point and clubbed Vox down to the mat. She tied up Vox with a hammer lock into a half-crab. vox used her second rope break at 3:25 to get out of it. Purrazzo followed that up with a single arm DDT.
A lariat got Purrazzo a two-count, and then she hit a powerbomb into a Venus De Milo hold. Vox was way to far away to use her final rope break and was forced to tap. Purrazzo becomes the first woman to win a Pure Rules match in ROH history.
Match Result: Deonna Purrazzo defeated Ashley Vox
-Backstage, Queen Aminata talked to the camera about how she has learned so much during her time in ROH. She assured us that she will out-work every other woman in the Pure Tournament. At this point they had talked a LOT about the Tournament but never really mentioned when it was due to start.
ROH Women’s World Television Title Proving Ground Match: Red Velvet [c] defeated Laynie Luck
Red Velvet has held the ROH Women’s TV Championship for 287 days as of this writing. In that time, she’s had some great matches but virtually no one has come close to taking the title from her. Luck is currently the Glory Pro Women’s World Crown Champion and has been for 194 days. Winning this Proving Ground match would give her a shot at being a double champion, which seems like a lot, but I’m told is really great for nicknames and stuff.
Velvet got the drop on Luck off the top with a tight headlock. Luck wormed out and responded with a shoulder tackle and gator roll suplex, which woke the crowd up. Luck blocked a casa dora from Velvet, who slid out of the ring to regroup. Luck tried a baseball slide, but got wrapped up in the ring apron, allowing Velvet to regain control.
Velvet then landed a meteora to the back of the head of Luck and used her boxing skills to pepper Luck with shots. The time was ticking away though and Velvet seemed to be unaware of it as she laid in a choke in the corner.
Luck battled back with a snap Spiccoli driver that looked absolutely devastating. It only got her a two count though. Velvet came back with a twisting neckbreaker and that was enough to put Luck away and give Velvet the win.
Match Result: Red Velvet [c] defeated Laynie Luck
Satnam Singh defeated Lord Crewe
In case you missed it, Satnam Singh is big. Like, really big. He stands at 7’2” and weighs over 300lbs. That gives him an ability to move that most men of his height don’t have. Crewe was last seen on ROH back in January when he was chewed up and spit out by The Beast Mortos. Crew is not a small man, but even at 6’3” he still gives up a foot of vertical to Singh. If these two don’t break the ring, it should be a fun match!
The two locked up and Singh honestly made Crewe look like a small child. He threw him into the corner like a ragdoll and chopped him so hard I think they heard it in Texas, where AEW is holding All In, in case you didn’t know or missed the 13 promos for it during this episode.
Singh then picked up Crewe by the beard and threw him across the ring. Crewe tried to fight back, coming in off the ropes to try and get the big man off his feet.
Spoiler: He didn’t.
Singh picked up Crewe and dropped him on his head before landing a 12-foot chokeslam to get the victory.
Match Result: Satnam Singh defeated Lord Crewe
ROH World Title Proving Ground Match: Bandido [c] defeated Gringo Loco
Bless Bandido and his actually defending the ROH World Championship on ROH TV. It’s a small thing, but it really makes the show more exciting when the champions are working the shows they are champions of. Loco is no slouch either. He’s currently the Warrior Wrestling Lucha Champion and the Demand Royal Canadian Tag Team Champion (with Arez as Los Desperados). So this should be a super fun lucha fest! (Also the name of my J-pop band).
The crowd was firmly behind the champion, chanting his name as he got his gear off and the match began. Loco was the bigger of the two, but he moved like a man half his size. The two dove and twisted with each other before pausing for a brief dance off. This was entertaining, but since there’s a 10-minute time limit on these Proving Ground matches, didn’t seem very prudent.
Bandido matched Loco’s strength with a huge hit on the outside and celebrated with the crowd, again wasting more and more time and giving Loco a bit of an advantage.
Back in the ring, Loco hit a dropkick and got a two count before heading to the top rope to hit a bouncing split legged splash on Bandido. From there, he chopped the champion to the mat again and again. Loco caught Bandido in midair and hit a powerbomb as the mid-point of the match passed by.
Bandido landed an around the world DDT and he jumped to the top rope for a picture perfect frog splash, but Loco kicked out at two. Bandido bounced off the ropes, but Loco turned him inside out with a superkick. Loco dragged Bandido to the top turnbuckle for what appeared to be an inverted Angle slam from the top rope, but again Bandido kicked out at two.
“This is awesome” chants began to rain down as Bandido joined Loco on the top turnbuckle again. Bandidio hit a super-rana on him followed by a shining wizard and that was it for Loco. Just under the time wire, Bandido got the win in an absolutely killer match.
Match Result: Bandido [c] defeated Gringo Loco