Ring of Honor Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and ROH Highlights from May 4
Welcome to Bleacher Report's coverage and recap of Ring of Honor Wrestling on May 4.
This week's show continued the trend of having at least one champion defending their title, but this time we got two.
Claudio Castagnoli defended the ROH world title against New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Robbie Eagles, and Samoa Joe put the ROH TV title on the line against Christopher Daniels.
We also saw Athena hold another proving ground match against Angelica Risk in her continuing quest to find real competition.
Let's take a look at what went down on this week's ROH TV.
Lee Moriarty vs. Rocky Romero
1 of 10
The first match of the night saw Rocky Romero battle Lee Moriarty in a pure rules match. Right after the bell, Romero made Moriarty use one of his rope breaks to get an early advantage.
A lot of pure rules matches are mat-based, but Moriarty and Romero incorporated some high-risk moves into their offense to make this a bit more exciting.
Moriarty used his second rope break to reverse a hold but disagreed that it should have counted as a break just because he touched the ropes.
Taigastyle kept trying to bend the rules whenever he could, and he even ended up tricking Romero into using his one legal punch by having Big Bill interfere. Romero made him use his final rope break with a vicious armbar, so he went into the final stretch with the upper hand.
This was a fantastic display of wrestling ability from both men. We saw plenty of technical grappling and a few high-flying maneuvers mixed in for good measure. They even had a nice exchange of open-hand strikes before the finish.
When it was all said and done, Romero scored the win with the same armbar he tried twice before.
Winner: Rocky Romero
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Romero should keep the eye patch on when he wrestles if he can see fine with it. It gives him a unique look.
- Romero's snapmare might be one of the best executions of that simple move we have seen in years.
- Big Bill is not nearly as good of a dancer as Moriarty.
- Romero's tornado DDT is a thing of beauty.
Athena vs. Angelica Risk
2 of 10
Angelica Risk got a big opportunity this week when she faced Athena in an ROH women's title proving ground match.
While Risk may have come into this match with plenty of energy, she quickly found herself being brutalized by the champ.
This wasn't a long or particularly competitive match. It may not have been totally one-sided, but it was pretty close. Athena got the win with a crossface submission and then scared the referee out of the ring.
If you are going to have a champion facing unknown talents, this is the way to do it. When there is a title shot on the line for the challenger, it makes it feel like they actually have something to fight for even if we all know they will lose.
Winner: Athena
Grade: C
Notable Moments and Observations
- If ROH has music it can use, there is no reason why anybody should have a jobber entrance on a pre-taped show that only airs on the internet without commercials.
- Athena's kick to the face looked nasty.
Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels
3 of 10
The first-ever Grand Slam champion in ROH had a chance to reclaim gold this week when Christopher Daniels got a shot at the TV title. Unfortunately for him, Samoa Joe was the defending champion.
The Fallen Angle did his best to go right at the champion, but after shrugging off some early offense, Joe leveled him with a shoulder tackle out of nowhere and then beat him into the mat.
This match was a series of comeback moments. Joe would dominate the action for a minute or two, and then Daniels would regroup and hit a few moves before Joe regained control.
Honestly, that is how all of Joe's matches should be because so few people can believably put up a fight against him.
Joe won with a Muscle Buster to retain his title. This match wasn't very long, but what we did get was good. With five more minutes, this could have been great.
Winner: Samoa Joe
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- Watching somebody try to run into Samoa Joe like they are hitting a brick wall will always be entertaining.
- When Joe had to sell, he did a great job. His facial expressions are always great.
- The belly-to-belly suplex Joe hit looked picture-perfect.
Claudio Castagnoli vs. Robbie Eagles
4 of 10
The ROH title was on the line this week when Eagles made a trip to Ring of Honor to take on the reigning champion, Castagnoli.
Eagles showed a lot of fight early in the match, especially when he started unleashing some strikes, but all he ended up doing was angering The Swiss Superman.
Castagnoli hit several big uppercuts before he threw Eagles across the ring with a belly-to-belly suplex.
The challenger was able to get in a lot of offense, making this the most competitive match of the night up to this point by a wide margin. They put on a great show for the fans who stuck around after the AEW taping.
After Eagles failed to win with several pinning combinations, Castagnoli pinned him with a great straitjacket powerbomb.
Winner: Claudio Castagnoli
Grade: A-
Notable Moments and Observations
- Castagnoli is one of the few guys who can get away with having royalty-free music because it fits him so well.
- It's always weird when the world title isn't in the main event.
- ROH is smart to turn down the lights in the crowd when it tapes alongside AEW. A lot of fans leave before the ROH show goes on, unfortunately.
- The way Eagles countered the Swing and applied a submission was a great bit of wrestling.
10-man Tag Team Match
5 of 10
The Kingdom teamed up with The Varsity Athletes this week for a 10-man tag team match against Stu Grayson, Darius Martin, Action Andretti and Best Friends.
This is the largest match ROH has had since it returned to weekly TV in terms of the number of competitors in the ring, and that doesn't even take into account how many people were at ringside.
Matt Taven and Andretti got things going. Taven won the first exchange, but Andretti made the first tag. This quickly led to all 10 men getting into the ring for a brawl.
This match was hard to follow at times when it came to who was legal on either side, but all of the action was fun, so it's hard to complain. Whenever you put that many people in one match, it's bound to be a bit of a mess in places.
As Grayson and Andretti prepared to win, The Righteous came out to distract them. That didn't stop the babyfaces from winning, though.
Winners: Best Friends, Andretti, Grayson and Martin
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Evil Uno, John Silver, Alex Reynolds, Maria Kanellis and Mark Sterling were all crowded around the ring.
- Either Taven has tons of those white gloves or he has some secret to get them so clean when he washes them because they are as white as they can possibly be every single time.
- The big brawl didn't seem to come at a time that made sense. It felt like everyone just randomly decided to start fighting instead of something being a catalyst for it.
Rich Adonis vs. Preston Vance
6 of 10
Preston Vance represented LFI this week when he took on Rich Adonis. As soon as the bell rang, Perro Peligroso was all over his opponent.
The former 10 of The Dark Order easily dominated his much smaller opponent by employing one of Rush's strategies of running him into every barricade he could find.
Adonis used his speed and agility to hit a few moves, but one slingshot German suplex from Vance put him down. The no-longer-masked man scored an easy win with a discus lariat.
This was another short, mostly one-sided bout, which is something we are seeing a bit too frequently whenever ROH tapes alongside AEW.
Winner: Preston Vance
Grade: C-
Notable Moments and Observations
- The announcers having no idea what "Perro Peligroso" means in English was kind of funny.
- Vance's slingshot German suplex looked great. He dropped Adonis perfectly on his shoulders.
Skye Blue vs. Robyn Renegade
7 of 10
Shortly after laying down a challenge for Athena's ROH Women's World Championship, Skye Blue stepped into the ring to face Robyn Renegade.
Charlette was not by her sister's side this time, but that didn't stop Renegade from taking control during the early moments of the match.
Most of this week's matches saw the eventual winner control most of the action, so it was nice to see a bout where it was a bit more evenly split.
Renegade looked good, but Blue scored the win in a short but solid encounter.
Winner: Skye Blue
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
- It's so funny how the announcers keep pointing out that Robyn and Charlette are not twins as if we can't see that with our own eyes. They look similar, but they do not look exactly the same.
- Sticking your fingers in somebody else's mouth to apply a submission movie is kind of gross. Let's hope Robyn washes her hands for Skye's sake.
Brian Cage vs. Brock Anderson
8 of 10
Brian Cage and the debuting Brock Anderson did battle in this week's eighth match. They shook hands and started with a basic lockup.
Cage did his usual thing where he tries to use his size and power to dominate his opponent, but Anderson is not a small guy. He was able to get in more offense than expected against a guy who has been bulldozing people lately.
However, Cage still ended up scoring a quick win to keep his streak alive.
Winner: Brian Cage
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Cage is one of the six-man champions. Can we please see him in some six-man matches? Toa Liona and Kaun are around, so there's no reason why he should be having so many singles bouts.
- Brock's DDT is almost as good as Arn's. With some more work, he can probably do it even better.
- Do you think Brock was jealous that his dad accompanied Wardlow to the ring and not him?
Steph De Lander vs. Willow Nightingale
9 of 10
The second-to-last match of the night featured Steph De Lander making her ROH debut against one of the company's hottest stars, Willow Nightingale.
Steph hit a punch right away, but she immediately shied away when Willow cocked her fist back to hit one of her own.
Since this was De Lander's debut, it would have been nice if they had been given a little more time. Willow won with a spinebuster, as expected.
Winner: Willow Nightingale
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
- It looks like Willow lost her footing a little when she tried to hit a step-up kick.
- De Lander is so deceptively strong. You don't realize how built she is until she stands next to someone like Willow.
Angelico vs. Komander
10 of 10
Angelico started off the main event against Komander by shaking his hand before immediately twisting him into a submission.
Both of these men are quick, agile and technically sound, so it won't surprise anybody to find out they put on the Match of the Night. To some people, this might even end up being the best of the week.
Angelico has always been an underrated talent in AEW, so it's nice to see him being treated like a real threat in ROH.
Komander won with an incredible shooting star press. This match wasn't super long, but they packed so much into it. If you only watch one bout from this week's show, make it this one. Angelico looked like he was going to be a good sport when Komander offered his hand, but Serpentico attacked him from behind.
Orange Cassidy and Bandido came out to make the save and send Spanish Announce Project running for the hills.
Winner: Komander
Grade: A-
Notable Moments and Observations
- Being able to jump right up to the top rope and then spin twice on your way down to hit an arm drag is a superhuman level of agility.
- Much like Taven's gloves, it has to be hard for Komander to keep his gear looking that white.
- Walking across the top rope to hit a shooting star press is another example of why Komander may have the X-gene.
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