Also just want to call out I'm linking PPV/Weekly Specials in the roster posts on the opening page of the thread. For example, you'll see hyperlinks under the PPV schedule for Fyter Fest in the AEW post now. Figured it's helpful if anybody, including myself, needs to go searching for a particular big show. Anyway, here's my first ROH show ever, much like previous were my first AEW shows ever. Milestones all over the place.



Only two weeks away from CMLL vs. AEW/ROH in Mexico City, the returning, all conquering ROH Womens Champion Athena went from having no challengers, to two women very interested in her gold. In the opening contest of the night, the team pitting CMLL’s Persephone and AEW mainstay, Thunder Rosa defeated Athena’s student of sorts in Billie Starkz and Leila Grey. Rosa managed to finish off Grey with the Tijuana Bomb.

Despite being scheduled to make her return a little later on in the night, Athena stormed down to the ring. The furious champion got into the ring and went ballistic at Rosa and Persephone for beating her protégé in Starkz. Rosa didn’t back down though and her eyes drifted towards the title sitting across Athena’s shoulder. Eventually cooler heads prevail, and this one ended with a heated stare down between Athena and the two victors.

That wasn’t the last we would hear from the ROH Womens Champion on this particular night though. In her scheduled return slot, the main event of course, Athena handily defeated Lady Frost after nailing the Despicable Knee. Not finished their, Athena would get a microphone and run down Billie Starkz for making her look bad in her defeat earlier in the night. As Starkz looked downtrodden from the abuse, surprisingly, her opponents from earlier in the night, Persephone and Thunder Rosa interrupted.

Rosa wasted no time getting in Athena’s face, daring the champion to bully her instead. The two fiery women went nose to nose and Athena said she was sick of her, and she couldn’t wait to defend her title at CMLL vs. AEW/ROH… against Persephone!!! It looked as if Athena was talking to Rosa, but she swerved everybody and wants to face Persephone instead. The CMLL wrestler was obviously all for it, whilst Rosa was conflicted. She looked torn between being happy for her friend, but disappointed at having her own thirst for gold go unquenched because the champion is potentially avoiding her.

…

Athena wasn’t the only person in a mood after a loss, as former ROH Television Champion Nick Wayne was still disgusted with Christian Cage. Being ‘The Patriarch’, Christian, in an urge to prove Wayne to be great, opted for him to defend the ROH TV Title at Fyter Fest last night, despite a recent gruelling New Japan schedule recently. Having lost the title, Wayne aggressively told Christian off for costing him the TV Title. Christian tried to be diplomatic about it, but Wayne would barely let him get a word in. Sensing some trouble in paradise, Kip Sabian and Mother Wayne attempted to intervene to keep the piece. Instead of a handshake or a hug to put these issues behind them, Wayne stormed off, announcing he needs to go work on getting his title back and he’ll do that alone.

On the topic of the ROH TV Title, the NEW champion ‘Shotty’ Lee Johnson was interviewed in the back, and of course Blake Christian was with him. Lee was surprisingly humble, as he talked about the origins of ROH, fighting for honour and being the best champion he could be. With a parting shot at the former champion Nick Wayne, Johnson stated all his goals and ambition start with Johnson actually showing up to ROH each week and being prominent on the show.

His prominence started off well as Lee Johnson defeated Aaron Solo at around the five minute mark. Solo was valiant in defeat, but Johnson finished him off rather comfortable with the One Shot. Interestingly enough, after the match, as Johnson celebrated, Blake Christian joined him in the ring, holding onto the ROH TV Title for a few moments longer than necessary, before handing it over to the rightful champion…

…

The quartet known as the Don Callis Family were in action as Hecichero, Josh Alexander, Kyle Fletcher and Konosuke Takeshita destroy four unnamed Luchadores. The match is over in two minutes when Takeshita takes mercy and pins one of them after landing the Power Drive Knee!

That wasn’t the end of the night for all the members of the Don Callis Family though. Later on in the night, the ROH World Champion Bandido had the opportunity to cut a promo. He talked about how much he loves being the World Champion, and much like Lee Johnson, he wanted to ensure the champions are active. Whilst he wasn’t able to compete tonight, Bandido confirmed that he would defend his title against Mascara Dorada at CMLL vs. AEW/ROH.

Just as it seemed like the segment was ready to wrap up, Bandido was approached by Don Callis himself, and the man who pinned Bandido last night, Josh Alexander. Alexander and Callis continued with their recent interest in the ROH Title, with Callis mocking Bandido and his crocodile tears for not competing tonight. According to the smooth talking Callis, Bandido is not an honourable, fighting champion. He picks and chooses when to fight, and he’s damn sure picking his opponent, and avoiding a fight with Alexander with the title on the line.

Bandido vehemently denied the accusation, before Callis and Alexander leave. As they were on their way out, Callis flippantly told Bandido “rest your neck for that title defence next week. It must be saw from all that ducking”. Underneath his mask, Bandido was trembling with rage, furious at having his character questioned…

…

Outside of an eight man tag team match which has no true impact on ROH’s tag division, it was an uneventful night for the division. That is, outside of one small thing. Tired of just getting by on their looks, even if they are “really really RIDICOLOUSLY good looking”, MxM Collection let it be known that they want to be taken seriously as in ring competitors. The best way to do that is for them to do something they haven’t done, before, they WILL capture the ROH Tag Team Titles in the future…

…

Finally, the show came to conclusion in a strangely eventful, unique, non ROH way of doing things. A vignette aired of a bunch of people staggering around a dessert, almost in a trance. In the middle of the sea of people, a spaceship lands, yes a spaceship folks, and as the ramp descend from the spaceship, Dalton Castle steps out, accompanied by The Boys. With a peacock feather in his hand, Castle tells the boys that it’s good to be back, and along with that future tag team partner they discussed, it’s time to break some hearts.

The final Impact before Against All Odds, and the final Impact at the Brampton taping, had yet another demonstrated of the unhinged nature of Mustafa Ali. Ali’s demeanour and character has changed dramatically since coming out on the losing side of a feud with Mike Santana, and that continued here. The show opened with Indi Hartwell defeating Tasha Steelz. Despite interference from The Great Hands, Indi regained control and hit the Impatient for the win.

Post her celebration, Indi exited the ring and things from here became chilling. As The Great Hands assisted Steelz to her feet, Ali started to dress all of his posse down. He mouthed insult after insult to all of them, but then really zeroed in on Steelz. Tasha looked distraught with the loss and just listened as Ali continued. Her lack of reaction set him off though, and Ali grabbed Steelz by the hair!!! He asked if she was listening, and when she answered affirmatively, he asked if she was sure, he even sadistically twisted her hair, causing her to drop to her knees.

The Great Hands were lost, unsure what to do, but definitely hesitant to stand up to their boss. Thankfully there was one man who was not afraid to stand up to Ali, and that was Sami Callihan. Sami ran down and slid into the ring, only for the psychotic Ali to immediately leave the ring. The Great Hands attempted to fight Sami, but he managed to clear them from the ring relatively comfortably. Whilst standing guard in the ring, Callihan allowed Steelz to get up and leave, causing confusion across the face of Steelz.

Furious with the outcome tonight, later on in the show, Mustafa Ali was in the locker room yet again telling off Tasha Steelz and The Great Hands. Luckily for Steelz, this time he wasn’t physical, but he was certainly displeased. As he continued to read them the riot act on how unimpressive they are, the lecture gets interrupted by Sami Callihan barging into the locker room. Ali immediately shields himself behind the same people he was just calling “worthless”, but Sami just smirks. Sami mentioned he wasn’t there to fight right now, but he was there to call Ali a bully. And one thing Callihan hates more than anything is a bully, especially a male bullying a female. Sami revealed that he had just spoken to Santino Marella, and Sami would get the opportunity to show Ali what he does to bullies when they meet at Against All Odds!!!

…

Another match was confirmed for Against All Odds during this show, and it was for the TNA International Championship. During last week’s episode of impact, Steph De Lander announced that Mance Warner was hungry for gold and wanted the International Title. Only one week off a success defence of the strap against Matt Cardona, the TNA International Champion Steve Maclin was interviewed by Gia Miller. Maclin was proud of his defence last week and claimed that challengers can keep stepping up and he’ll keep knocking them down. He was distracted with Cardona last week, but he heard that Warner wanted a shot, and Maclin doesn’t want to waste time. Maclin announced that he will defend the TNA International Championship against Mance Warner at Against All Odds…

…

Speaking of title defences and implications, there was an actual title match on this show also. After being pinned by Eric Young at Under Siege, the TNA X Division Champion Moose agreed to defend against Young during last week’s show. Initially The Northern Armory and The System were at ringside with their respective partners, but there was carnage at ringside, and the referee ejected everybody. Once it was a one on one match, Young used all his veteran instinct and wile, but it wasn’t enough, as he fell victim to the same Spear that has taken out countless victims. Moose successfully defended the TNA X Division Championship against Eric Young…

The heated title match was the end of the night for Young, but it was not for Moose and The System. This week’s main event saw Frankie Kazarian go one on one with Leon Slater. Whilst Jeff Hardy is still unable to visit Canada, Matt Hardy ensured he had Slater’s back by being at ringside. It didn’t take long for Kazarian to stack the odds in his own favour, as he had The System with him. No actual violence broke out but there were constant spitfires between Matt and The System, one of them leading to Kazarian’s downfall. Kaz was simply distracted by the argument on the outside, allowing Slater to get a Roll Up out of nowhere to win the show’s main event. Leon Slater defeated Frankie Kazarian…

…

In somewhat of a surprise, a determined Dani Luna received some brief promo time in the back for this show. Luna talked about how disappointed she was that Spitfire was no more, but she thinks the end of every chapter opens new doors. “Spitfire is done… BUT I’M NOT”!!! Luna is ready to step outside of the tag team division and to make her name in the Knockouts singles division. She’s ready to put in the work and she finished off by vowing that one day she will be the TNA Knockouts Champion…

Regarding the TNA Knockouts Championship itself, there was no major events this week. With the title match already being official for Against All Odds, we simply saw vignettes from both champion and challenger during the show. The challenger, Lei Ying Lee was on first, showcasing her Mixed Martial Arts ability in highlights, before talking about how she has the passion and discipline required to be champion. According to her, that is why the champion sought out this match, because she realises it’s the biggest challenge on the roster.

Later on in the night, the second vignette played for this match, this time featuring the TNA Knockouts Champion Masha Slamovich. The vignette demonstrated highlights of Masha simply dominating opponents, grinding them down on the canvas, and brutally woman handling them. Masha referred to wanting to defend against Lee because Lee reminded her of herself. They are both warriors. The only difference according to the champion is that only one warrior can be standing tall at Against All Odds, and it is going to be her.

…

A somewhat downtrodden Joe Hendry made his way to the ring in the middle of the night. His mood was off, and it was clear for all to see, as he didn’t even complete his epic turn during his entrance. It’s a disappointed and more serious Hendry than usual, as he took the time to apologise for the fans. He said that they believed in him but all he did was let them down. “I let down TNA, I let down all of you fans, and now, because of me and me only, the TNA World Championship is held by an outsider”. The thought of Trick Williams as champion clearly depressed Hendry, but then he turned a corner, and talked about what’s next. The former TNA Champion revealed that his daddy always taught him to fight through setbacks and that’s exactly what Hendry is going to do. He tells everybody to mark his words, he created the problem by losing the TNA Title to Trick, but he will also solve the problem when he gets his rematch.

At the mention of the word rematch, a furious Mike Santana interrupted and made his way to the ring. The tension between the two was thick, with Hendry almost having a knowing look. He knows he accidentally cost Santana the TNA Title two nights ago on NXT. As the two biggest stars in TNA come face to face for the first time, the excitement amongst the fans is prominent for all to see. When Santana finally spoke, he talked about being in disbelief. He was in disbelief because he doesn’t understand how Hendry can be talking about his rematch and being the next to face Trick Williams. “Intentional or not, YOU are the reason why I’m not the TNA Champion right now. If you think I’m just gonna’ let that slide and ride off into the sunset, you’ve got another thing comin’”.

Hendry was sympathetic with Santana, putting his hands up, almost admitting fault. Hendry apologized for accidentally costing Santana the title, it wasn’t his intention, he was actually trying to help. He admits maybe it wasn’t his place, but he was trying to do the right thing. “I’ve admitted to my mistake, and I’ve said I’m sorry. But if you think that part of serving my penance is going to be dropping my rematch to let you challenge Trick again… Well, then YOU’VE got another thing coming”.

The banter went back and forth, both men’s anger and hostility towards each other fuelled by their hunger to be champion. Things continued to escalate, and it looked like things might become physical between the two men wanting to carry the flag for TNA, when they were interrupted by First Class. Full of arrogance as ever, AJ Francis and KC Navarro threw plenty of insults at Hendry and Santana, firstly about their wrestling ability and their losses, but also about them two killing the show by bickering like a married couple.

Once First Class are down running their mouths, and believe me, that took a while, Hendry and Santan were fuming. No longer focusing on each other, both Hendry and Santana sent fiery threats to First Class. The dastardly duo feigned fear until they were interrupted by the Director Of Authority, Santino Marella. Marella wanted to be quick because he’s got his own business to deal with tonight, but he wants these four to resolve their issues. Therefore, we will see First Class vs. Joe Hendry and Mike Santana at Against All Odds.

First class seemed genuinely unhappy about the announcement, but Marella paid them no attention, immediately heading back through the curtain. Interestingly enough, Hendry and Santana were both none to pleased with the announcement either…

…

Later on in the night, we did get an appearance from the TNA Champion Trick Williams, however much to the disdain of the fans, it was via satellite for the second week in a row. Up on the big screen, Trick talked about TrickNA, and how he doesn’t have to even be in that second rate town to run the show. The champion continued to gloat until he chuckled at Joe Hendry and Mike Santana arguing over him earlier. He thought it was funny because he had beaten both of them, and if he needed to, he’d do it again. Just like how he planned to beat Elijah at Against All Odds.

Suddenly, a strumming of a guitar interrupted the scene, and to huge cheers, Elijah made his presence felt. Trick is annoyed, watching on from the screen, but what’s interesting is that Elijah foregoes his usual concert, instead choosing to place his guitar on the entrance ramp. In an aggressive tone, Elijah talked about how he has sat back tonight and listened to himself being disrespected over and over again.

Trick sitting there and talking about Hendry and Santana, only mentioning Elijah as an afterthought is a huge slap in the face to him. At the same time, his friend Hendry and Santana coming to the ring and arguing in the public about who would face Trick next was blatant disrespect. They were acting as if Trick beating him was a sure thing, and that was more disrespect.

Trick attempted to interrupt, stating “They actin’ like that because that’s the way it is”, but Elijah vehemently disagreed. Tonight he hasn’t graced the fans with a concert and a song, because this title opportunity at Against All Odds is too important to joke around with. Elijah is ready to prove the naysayers wrong. He’s ready to be the flagbearer for TNA. “Mark my words, at Against All Odds, just like I have tonight, Trick, I will show you a side of me that nobody has ever seen before. It’s not going to be good for you, I WILL beat you, and then that TNA Championship around your waist will walk the same way that I do”.

The champion shook his head, disagreeing with the challenger’s words, and the only left to do, is to see who is correct after Against All Odds...

…

There was more women’s action on this show as the war between Rosemary AND Xia Brookside continued. Rosemary for months now has been on a mission to bring out the darkness in Brookside, and whilst glimpses were shown at Under Siege, Rosemary wasn’t finished. Her next plan to bring out a new side of Xia, Monsters Ball. The two had approx. fourteen minutes here in what was clearly match of the night. They both tore each other apart in a hotly contested Hardcore battle. In the end, Brookside showed her willingness to get down and dirty yet again, nailing a Brooksie Bomb onto a stack of chairs to get the win. Xia Brookside defeated Rosemary in a Monsters Ball match.

After the match, an exhausted Brookside celebrated before exiting the ring. As she was heading up the ramp, she stopped to take a finally look at Rosemary. Despite being in agony and lying amongst broken chairs, Rosemary was smiling as she yelled to Brookside repeatedly, “FEEL THE DARKNESS IN YOUR SOUL… FEEL THE DARKNESS IN YOUR SOUL”! It was an eerie message from the scary Rosemary, as Brookside, a little taken aback, simply turned away and continued through the curtain…

…

In other news, before their tag team title opportunity at Against All Odds, Gia Miller was able to catch up with The Rascalz. Both men, Trey Miguel and Zachary Wentz admitted that they were excited for Against All Odds as it had been to far to long since they had held tag team gold. According to The Rascalz, that will all change tomorrow night, because after all that they have been through, they are better than they’ve ever been. Mock applause interrupted the interview as the TNA Tag Team Champions The Nemeths enter, with both Nic Nemeth and Ryan Nemeth pretending to be wiping away tears. Nic told them that their inspirational speech was exactly that, just an inspirational speech, but it meant nothing. The Nemeth’s don’t do speeches, they do actions, and there’s no way they are losing the tag titles tomorrow night.

Ryan chimed in, basically just parroting his brother in an unintentional comical fashion. Once he’s done, The Rascalz shake their heads and tell them they’ll have plenty of real tears to wipe away when they no longer hold the tag titles. The four men then stare each other down, with Gia Miller looking both cute and uncomfortable…

…

Finally, in an office in the back, without any of their respective backups, Robert Stone and Santino Marella had a face to face sit down. They discussed their match at Against All Odds at length, with the stipulation of Santino’s Director Of Authority position being on the line as a huge point of discussion. Stone talked about how Santino is a broken down old man, and he is in his physical prime. Stone will beat Marella and TNA will fall under Sheriff Stone’s jurisdiction. Marella begged to differ, he said he would win for his family, and for TNA, with Marella keeping his dialogue short and sweet. By skipping any comedy tonight, Marella puts over just how important this match is for the future of TNA…

Since Against All Odds and SD happen on the same day, I have decided to keep the TNA momentum going and work on Against All Odds. After Against All Odds, we’ll get a WWE run with SD, Worlds Collide and MITB being the next shows to work on.