 Zero Hour: The Premiere Athletes (Tony Nese, Josh Woods and Ari Daivari) def. Adam Priest, Tony Deppen and Rhett TitusI'm honestly shocked Premiere Athletes are still a thing, as it's been many months since we last saw them together. They do nothing for me, personally, and I can't take them seriously as a threat even in Ring of Honor. That said, this was designed to establish them as a dominant force, though it wasn't exactly successful considering it took them much longer than it should have to put away three enhancement guys. Zero Hour: The Beast Mortos def. Blake ChristianI was wondering who the hell Mortos was until I realized it was Black Taurus with a new name. Neither of these guys appear frequently on ROH TV for this match to matter, but hey, it was a hell of a sprint and both guys shined. I've always been a fan of (the now-former) Taurus' work, so I'd love to see him stick around as I don't think I've seen him in TNA much since Crazzy Steve betrayed him. Zero Hour: Cole Karter and Griff Garrison def. Spanish Announce ProjectI truly couldn't care less about either of these teams, but to their credit, they've had a feud going for the past few months and it was logical to blow it off on pay-per-view. Granted, the heels cheated to win, so perhaps there's more to come from them. Ugh. This was better than expected with all four guys putting forth a commendable effort. Karter and Garrison have a higher ceiling than Spanish Announce Project, so it was the right result. Zero Hour: Mariah May def. Momo KohgoKohgo is a Stardom talent and May obviously came from Stardom, so this was a match that made sense. It also gave May a rebound win after suffering her first singles loss since signing with AEW on Wednesday's Dynamite. They had a quality contest with both women showing what they can do. It remains to be seen if this was a one-off for May or if she'll be making more appearances in ROH going forward. ROH World Television Champion Kyle Fletcher def. Lee JohnsonThis has to be the best match Johnson has ever had in AEW/ROH, right? I can't think of what else it would possibly be. This was an absolute blast. I didn't think Johnson would take the title, but they delivered some suspenseful nearfalls down the stretch and had the crowd with them every step of the way. Fletcher has proven to be a special talent and I'm glad Johnson was able to gain something from this as well, even in defeat. Mei Seira and Empress Nexus Venus def. Tam Nakano and Queen's QuestEmpress Nexus Venus consisted of Maika and Mina Shirakawa, while Queen's Quest consisted of Saya Kamitani and AZM. This was a showcase for the Stardom competitors and it was given enough time to where everyone had a chance to shine. I can't say any one particular person stood out because of how fast-paced this was, but I will say I'm looking forward to seeing more of the Stardom roster in ROH. ROH World Tag Team Champions The Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett) def. The InfantryThe Proving Ground match The Infantry had with Undisputed Kingdom on Thursday's episode of ROH TV went to a time-limit draw, so that was how The Infantry earned this opportunity. They've been on a hell of a roll recently and had another standout performance here in what was a very enjoyable affair. Wardlow getting involved to aid his Undisputed Kingdom stablemates to victory was a cool surprise. Billie Starkz def. Queen Aminata in the Finals of the ROH Women's World Television Championship Tournament to Become the Inaugural ROH Women's World Television ChampionStarkz failed to dethrone Athena as ROH Women's World Championship at Final Battle back in December, so she pretty much had to win here. Aminata has really impressed me and I hope she gets a run with the title eventually, but this was Starkz' time. They were having a good match up until that insanely stupid finish where Starkz feigned having a neck injury for a few minutes before stealing the win. I'm sure others will disagree as I know she's a heel, but I thought that was distasteful and unnecessary. ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions Bullet Club Gold (Jay White and The Gunns) def. Alex Zayne, Lance Archer and Minoru SuzukiThis was an "open contract" from Bullet Club Gold. Archer and Zayne have history as partners from New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and Suzuki was just meant to be a crowd-pleaser. From a storyline standpoint, I don't know why Archer wouldn't team with The Righteous instead, but this was more of a babyface trio opposite the heel champions. The crowd was into the match as a result and it was solid. In fact, this was better than anything we've gotten from Bullet Club Gold and The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn as of late. Dalton Castle def. Johnny TV in a Fight Without HonorI've had a lot of praise for the program between Castle and Johnny TV since it started as it's been one of the few recurring highlights on ROH TV this year. Unfortunately, The Boys (who the entire storyline centered around) were released earlier in the week, so makeshift Boys were used in this place and ruined this match. There were other aspects of this that I liked, but some of the spots were embarrassingly bad. And no, Paul Walter Hauser getting involved was not enough to make up for that inexcusable nonsense. ROH Women's World Champion Athena def. Hikaru ShidaShida's been around in AEW for so long that it's easy to forget just how damn great she is. She and Athena had wonderful chemistry and produced an awesome match. They may have taken it a tad far with some of the nearfalls, but all in all, they killed it. I don't know if Shida will remain a regular in ROH going forward, but she was the perfect opponent for Athena on this show. Who's left for Athena to defend against at this point? Mark Briscoe def. NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston to Win the ROH World Championship (NJPW Strong Openweight Championship Was Not Defended)It was mentioned many times that Jay Briscoe won his first ROH World Champion on this exact day 11 years ago, so between that and Tony Khan dishing out the big bucks for "Gimmie Back My Bullets" by Lynyrd Skynyrd for Mark's entrance music, you had to know he was winning. However, the predictability didn't take away from my enjoyment of this whatsoever. The emotion was excellent and their similar styles meshed really well. It was a beautiful scene with Briscoe celebrating with his family and everyone else afterward. Overall ShowI've made it clear in my weekly reviews of ROH TV that the product is ice cold at the moment, yet when it comes to the quarterly pay-per-views, they consistently knock it out of the park. It was a long night, but they packed in plenty of above-average action and newsworthy moments with two title changes. Only the Fight Without Honor was disappointing as everything else was entertaining, making for an easy thumbs-up event.
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