There’s no denying that ROH has hosted some epic moments in 2023. The fabled promotion put on exciting in-ring action during the year. It also gained acclaim for some of its storylines.
The promotion also brought in a couple of new names to add to its roster. Former WWE Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey sent the social media into a frenzy with her ROH debut.
Let’s take a look at the five best ROH moments of 2023:
New Women’s TV Title
Prior to Tony Khan’s announcement, ROH only had one title for women wrestlers. The Ring of Honor Women’s World Championship had been the sole representative of the women’s division before the advent of the TV title.
At the December 16 Ring of Honor taping, Tony Khan unveiled the TV title for the promotion’s women’s division. The inaugural Women’s Television Champion will be crowned in a tournament. Fans can check out additional details here.
Billie Starkz attacks Athena
The Minions storyline was arguably the most consistent (and entertaining) storyline from Ring of Honor in 2023. The storyline saw current ROH Women’s World Champion Athena emotionally and physically manipulate championship hopeful Billie Starkz and Lexy Nair.
After Athena declared Lexy the valedictorian despite Billie having an eight-match winning streak, the upstart finally snapped and attacked her ruthless mentor. Both women would clash at Final Battle for the title, with Athena emerging as the winner.
Ronda Rousey debuts in ROH
Ronda Rousey’s WWE career came to an abrupt end at SummerSlam 2023. The Baddest Woman on the Planet lost in under eight minutes to Shayna Baszler. Ronda confirmed her departure from the company by appearing at an indie promotion.
She delivered another shocker by making her Ring of Honor debut at a December taping. The former multi-time champion joined real-life best friend Marina Shafir to take on Athena and Billie Starkz.
Eddie Kingston wins ROH World Title
Eddie Kingston spent several months unsuccessfully chasing after the Ring of Honor World Championship. The Mad King won the NJPW Strong Title en-route to meeting Claudio Castagnoli for ROH’s top title.
Both men put on a highly physical match-up at Dynamite’s Grand Slam special. Kingston survived Castagnoli’s superhuman strength and offense to become a double champion that night.
Mark Briscoe announces Reach for the Sky Ladder Match
Mark Briscoe made his AEW debut shortly after Jay Briscoe’s tragic death. The tag team specialist honored his late brother with an emotionally charged match against Jay Lethal. Mark also announced his decision to step away from tag team wrestling.
In doing so, the record-time ROH World Tag Team Champion announced a Reach for the Sky ladder match to crown the new tag team champions. The match took place at Supercard of Honor and saw the crowning of Lucha Brothers as the new ROH World Tag Team Champions.
