ROH TV recap & reactions (June 15, 2023): Athena and Kiera Hogan get violent, two title fights, more!

Athena and Kiera Hogan are taking their feud to the streets of Chicago, figuratively speaking. Ring of Honor announced a Chicago street fight for the ROH Women’s World Championship.

Let’s catch up on ROH TV to see how that match was made.

Week sixteen in the ROH TV revival (June 15, 2023) featured Kiera Hogan bringing violence to Athena, Samoa Joe defending the ROH World Television Championship, the Embassy defending the ROH World Six-Man Championship, and more.

Dasha Gonzalez was expecting to interview Hogan when Athena weaseled in wearing a blue wig to mock Hogan’s twerking. Kiera blindsided Athena in an attack.

Athena was in action later in the show for a Proving Ground match against Trish Adora. If Adora could beat the champ or survive to a ten-minute draw, then she would earn a title shot. Adora worked the arm early. Athena answered by targeting the knee. Athena pushed a button with her trash-talk, and Adora fired up to rally with suplexes and slams. Athena popped a kick to stun Adora, then the champ took flight for the O-Face stunner to win.

After the match, Athena blasted a cheap shot to continue her assault. Hogan ran in with a trashcan lid to serve violence. The two tussled a bit, then Hogan laid out Athena. As the Hottest Flame set up a table in the corner, the Fallen Goddess charged for a spear through the wood. Both women were down in pain as officials separated them.

The ROH board of directors brainstormed, and Stokely Hathaway presented the idea for a Chicago street fight. Tony Khan signed off on the stipulation, and that match will air on the June 22 episode of ROH TV (week 17).

ROH TV quick results:

Matt Sydal planned to take things into his own hands by challenging Samoa Joe for the ROH TV title. He is not intimidated or afraid. Joe responded that he will teach Sydal a lesson when ambition outweighs common sense.

ROH World Television Championship: Samoa Joe retained against Matt Sydal. The challenger used speedy offense for the early advantage, then the champion powered through with strikes. Sydal scored another rally to hit a meteora. Joe kicked out on the cover. Sydal climbed the corner for a second meteora, and that’s when Joe seized his moment. Joe rose quickly off the mat to hit the ropes and knock Sydal off-balance. Joe picked up his opponent for a musclebuster to win.

Nick Comoroto defeated Deimos. Hoss fight. Deimos had momentum down the stretch until Comoroto pulled his throat into the ropes. The lollipop king slammed Deimos on the mat and put his feet on the ropes for illegal leverage to secure the winning pin.

Iron Savages defeated Tracy Williams & Rhett Titus. This was a clash of styles in power versus technical skill. Power won out. The Savages crushed the former ROH tag champs in the end when Bronson hit a piledriver to Titus landing on top of Williams. The butt drop piledriver combo drove all that weight onto Williams. The Iron Savages finished with the electric chair splash.

Diamante defeated Teal Piper. Roddy Piper’s daughter made her ROH debut. Piper hit a side slam and went for a sleeper to finish. Diamante escaped before the submission could be locked in. Diamante stepped up her game to finish with a choke.

Tony Nese addressed the crowd. He wanted to open up and be honest. Nese didn’t know why he never earned their respect, but he finally figured it out. It is because Nese is not relatable to these fat pieces of trash. Since he’ll never be a fatty, he decided to help the crowd turn into athletes with a group training session. Ari Daivari demonstrated the stretches and exercises until Serpentico interrupted as Nese’s opponent for the next match.

Tony Nese defeated Serpentico. The masked man gave Nese a fight, but the chiseled master of fitness prevailed with a running knee in the corner.

Miranda Alize defeated Notorious Mimi. Alize was a buzzsaw, but she got too cocky. Mimi took advantage to go on a streak of offense. Alize struck back with a cutter and the Drive-By running knee to win.

The Righteous & Stu Grayson defeated Dalton Castle & The Boys. Stu and his pals wanted to send a violent message to the Dark Order. Castle almost foiled those plans running wild on a hot tag, but Dutch blocked a suicide dive and rammed the peacock into the steel steps. The winners hit a triple pendulum slam to pin the Boy.

The Dark Order was not impressed. Stu may view the Righteous as his new family, but will they bleed for him? We’ll find out soon.

Mark Briscoe defeated Anthony Henry. The Workhorsemen were angry about FTR butting in their business, so they aimed to make Briscoe atone for FTR’s sins. Henry picked Briscoe apart with submissions. Briscoe reached the ropes twice during the contest to escape prickly situations. Red neck kung fu was the equalizer for Briscoe to finish with the Jay Driller.

Daniel Garcia defeated The DKC in Pure rules. Garcia wanted to send a message to Pure champion Katsuyori Shibata by beating one of his students. Garcia cinched in an STF submission, and DKC used his first rope-break to escape. Garcia used a rope-break to save himself from a crucifix neck crank. Garcia came back for the Walls of Jericho in the center of the ring. Garcia tried to transition to a different hold, but DKC scooped a roll-up. Kick out by Garcia, then he locked in to a Lion Tamer. Garcia sat deep to crank back. That pain forced DKC to tap out. Garcia sat in the ring cross-legged to mock Shibata.

Skye Blue defeated Viva Van. Van had some tricks to take Blue to deep waters, but Blue handled business in the end to win via Sky Fall.

ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship: The Embassy retained against AR Fox, Darius Martin, & Action Andretti. The champs were bored of weak competition, but the challengers were no pushovers. The Embassy mauled their opponents in the first half, then a hot tag to Fox ignited a high-flying spark. They almost came close to winning the belts when Andretti hit a standing Spanish Fly on the floor to Bishop Kaun, Fox landed a 450 splash in the ring onto Kaun, then Andretti followed for a springboard 450 splash to cover Kaun, but Brian Cage rushed in to break the pin. The match broke down into moves all around. Cage smoked Andretti on a Gory special flatliner for victory.

The cream of the crop watchlist for this episode includes the Embassy versus Andretti, Martin, & Fox, Briscoe versus Henry, and Garcia versus The DKC. Those matches had the peak action in my book. Also put on eye on the brawl between Hogan and Athena as well as Nese’s mockery of the crowd.

The rising standout was the Iron Savages. I don’t agree with former ROH tag champs Titus & Williams being jobbed out so much in the Tony Khan era, but at least they still have enough value on their names for this to be an impressive win by the Savages. AEW lacks powerhouse duos in the tag team division, so the Iron Savages may be able to fill that void to move up the ladder. They are still a work in progress, but this was a solid test to pass with the step up in competition.

Share your thoughts on the latest ROH TV episode. Who were the standout performers?