ROH: The road to Death Before Dishonor has begun

We're just weeks away from ROH's second pay-per-view of the year, Death Before Dishonor. After weeks of mostly aimless episodes of Honor Club, the bookers are pretending to care again. In the months since Supercard of Honor, the episodes didn't have any direction. When champions did appear, it was to compete in Proving Ground matches. There were typically two Proving Ground matches per show. There has been a lack of storylines.

Wheeler Yuta was out for four months due to a concussion. Luckily, he was able to return and appears to be healthy. Upon his return, he was on AEW programming. He finally returned to Honor Club on Episode 71 (June 20). It was his first match on ROH programming since Final Battle in December 2023. He defended the title twice on AEW programming before being sidelined.

In his return match on Honor Club, he didn't defend it. He had an incredible match against Lee Moriarty in a Proving Ground match. This guarantees Moriarty a future title shot, most likely at Death Before Dishonor.

The most consistent champion competing on Honor Club has been Kyle Fletcher. He had a mixture of Proving Ground matches and title defenses for the Television title. Fletcher splits his time between AEW and ROH. While in AEW, he developed a feud with ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe.

Briscoe hadn't defended his title on Honor Club since winning it in April (he did have a Proving Ground match the week after winning). He finally found his way back on Episode 70 (June 20) to put his title on the line against Fletcher. Fletcher did not put his title up.

Earlier in the day, I asked Tony Khan about the decision to have this match on Honor Club instead of waiting a month for Death Before Dishonor. He replied that fans who watch Honor Club deserve good matches and also mentioned the busy schedules of the champions.

Eight days later, Fletcher traveled to Arena Mexico to compete at CMLL Super Viernes. He put his title on the line against Atlantis, Jr. In a stunning upset, Atlantis, Jr. beat Fletcher to become the Television Champion. He made his ROH debut in Episode 72 when he defended his new title against Serpentico.

One of the biggest storylines coming out of Supercard of Honor was the feud involving ATHENA and Billie Starkz against Queen Aminata and Red Velvet. That story was moved to the backburner even before the ROH World Champion was injured at a taping in a Proving Ground match against Viva Van.

Starkz has had five Proving Ground matches since her excellent match against Queen Aminata to become Women's Television Champion. She has yet to defend her title. Last week, it was announced that she will face Red Velvet. Velvet made it to the semifinals of the tournament to crown the inaugural TV champion.

Since ATHENA's injury, it was unclear what the extent was. She was off TV for several weeks. When she did return, she was wearing a boot. The #ForeverChampion initially claimed she would be out for three months. On Episode 69, Velvet and Aminata attacked ATHENA. The following week, the champion claimed that she would now be out 8-12 months.

The Board of Directors wasn't buying it and announced that ATHENA would be defending her title against Aminata at the pay-per-view. On Episode 72, she was caught on camera backstage putting weight on her foot and not using crutches. Once she realized the camera was there, she crumbled to the ground in pain.

On this week's episode, a video aired to announce a Number One contenders match for Briscoe's World Championship. Roderick Strong will take on Dalton Castle and the winner gets the title shot. One would think this match would happen on Honor Club. It will actually take place this Saturday on AEW Collision.

As you can probably tell, the storylines involving the champions especially have been discombobulated. While the story previously involved both women's champions, it was put on the back burner and only began moving to the forefront within the last three weeks. There's no effort with the World title scene. There's slightly more with the Unified Trios Titles currently held by the Bang Bang Gang.

We're closing in on Death Before Dishonor and need three more title matches to be announced. While the matches themselves will likely be great, the ongoing issue of ROH being an afterthought takes away from the event. Even with new champions, the cycle will likely continue with numerous Proving Ground matches, champions not around at all, and a lack of storylines. Something (several somethings) needs to change. It's not fair to the talent or the fans who tune in every week.