The first television episode of the new era of Ring of Honor is just around the corner. ROH was officially acquired by Tony Khan in 2022 and ran several pay-per-view events in 2022. With television coming soon, let’s take a look at the current ROH Champions.
ROH Champions: Who are They?
ROH World Six-Man Champions: The Embassy
Brian Cage and the Gates of Agony are the latest iteration of The Embassy. Prince Nana relaunched the stable at Death Before Dishonor in 2022 but the original stable goes back deep in ROH history. Prince Nana has always been at the head of the stable and many notable wrestlers including; Donovan Dijak, Alex Shelley, John Walters, Mia Yim, Jimmy Rave, and Claudio Castagnoli, have been part of The Embassy through the years.
This current iteration went on to defeat Dalton Castle and The Boys at Final Battle to win the titles. All three men bring size and strength to the table but are also extremely agile. Brian Cage in particular is deceptively agile for someone of his size. The trio has yet to defend the titles yet but that is sure to change very soon with television starting up. The next few ROH episodes will very likely set up an opponent for them at Supercard of Honor in March of this year.
Potential challengers – Dalton Castle and The Boys, Jericho Appreciation Society
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes
When it comes to the tag team division in ROH, there is no tag team like the Briscoes. The duo appeared at the first-ever ROH event, which saw Jay Briscoe wrestle The Amazing Red. Mark Briscoe was too young to compete at the event and instead accompanied Jay to the ring. The brothers won the ROH Tag Titles 13 times and have held them for over 1,400 days. Both are records that are miles above the next closest in both categories. The brothers are synonymous with ROH and are members of the ROH Hall of Fame.
Unfourtanently Jay Briscoe was killed in a car accident in January of 2022. His legacy lives on through his brother Mark who continues to compete in both ROH and AEW. Mark Briscoe still holds the ROH Tag Titles and personally, I would love to see the current titles retired as a tribute to Jay and a new belt released. The Briscoe Brothers will always be synonymous with ROH and the ROH tag team titles. No announcement has been made regarding the future of the ROH Tag Titles but the division does have a few teams in the division that could be the next champions.
Potential challengers – Gates of Agony, Jericho Appreciation Society, Blackpool Combat Club The Boys
ROH World TV Champion: Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe has a long history with Ring of Honor. Joe became ROH World Champion roughly a year into his run with the company. He entered classic feuds with CM Punk and worked with Kenta Kobashi in multiple matches. All of these received acclaim from fans and critics alike. Joe was also a key part of the ROH vs. CZW invasion angle.
Joe left ROH in 2008 but returned in 2015 for a short run before leaving for WWE. He unsuccessfully challenged Jay Briscoe for the ROH World Championship at Supercard of Honor in one of the few matches he had in ROH in 2015.
His return to ROH came at Supercard of Honor in 2022 where he appeared following the main event. It was announced that he had signed with AEW and defeated Minoru Suzuki for the ROH Television Championship on Dynamite on April 13th. He has held the title since then.
Potential challengers – Mark Briscoe, Eddie Kingston, AR Fox, Blake Christian
ROH Pure Champion: Wheeler Yuta
The Blackpool Combat Club member is the current ROH Pure Title holder. Although short, he did have a run in ROH prior to the purchase of the promotion by Tony Khan. He competed in the Pure Championship tournament but was defeated by eventual tournament winner Jonathan Gresham.
At the first ROH event under the control of Khan, Supercard of Honor XV, Yuta defeated Josh Woods to win the Pure Title. From there he entered a rivalry with Daniel Garcia that centered around the title. Yuta successfully defended the title at Death Before Dishonor against Garcia. He lost in a rematch to Garcia on the September 7th edition of AEW Dynamite as part of the BCC versus Jericho Appreciation Society feud.
Yuta regained the Pure Championship at Final Battle and now carries the belt into the new era of Ring of Honor.
Potentiel challengers – Daniel Garcia, Claudio Castagnoli
ROH Women’s World Champion: Athena
Athena was previously part of Ring of Honor from 2013-2015 as part of Team RnB with ACH. She departed ROH in 2015 to join the WWE as part of the NXT roster.
Athena’s return to in Ring of Honor largely came through her time in AEW. Athena began to show a darker and more aggressive side to her personality later in 2021. She began to attack opponents much more aggressively and started to attack opponents after matches had already concluded.
Athena’s path to the title came after attacking referee Aubrey Edwards following a match against Madison Rayne. Then ROH Women’s Champion Mercedes Martinez ran to the ring to make the save. This set up a match between the two at Final Battle in which Athena won the title.
Athena will carry the Women’s Division into the next era for the promotion.
Potential challengers – Willow Nightingale, Skye Blue, Trish Adora, Miranda Alize
ROH World Champion: Claudio Castagnoli
Claudio Castagnoli had a long tenure with Ring of Honor that goes back long before Tony Khan purchased ROH. He first joined the promotion in 2005 and feuded with Nigel McGuiness. He was part of the ROH roster when his former promotion CZW began an invasion of ROH in 2006. He was part of the Kings of Wrestling tag team alongside Chris Hero. The duo is former two-time ROH World Tag Team Champions.
Claudio had opportunities at the ROH World Title prior to his departure for WWE but never captured the title. This all changed in 2022.
Claudio made his AEW debut at the NJPW crossover event Forbidden Door in June of 2022. He returned to Ring of Honor in July of 2022 at Death Before Dishonor where he defeated Jonathan Gresham for the ROH World Title. He held the title until AEW Grand Slam where he dropped it to Chris Jericho.
Claudio got his chance to win the title back at Final Battle with the stakes being high. If he did not win the match he would have been forced to join the Jericho Appreciation Society. Claudio won the match, winning the title for the second time.
Potential challengers – Samoa Joe, Mark Briscoe
ROH Champions: In Conclusion
As the brand relaunches the above champions will anchor the respective divisions. Although the official ROH roster is still being built, these champions will have no shortage of competition as time goes on.
Header photo credit – ROH. For all things ROH check out HonorClub and their YouTube channel. Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.
