Ring of Honor kicked off 2020 with their first Honor Club-exclusive broadcast, ROH Saturday Night at Center Stage, live from Atlanta, Georgia. Featured on the card were three title matches and one title change. Dragon Lee successfully defended his World Television Championship against Andrew Everett and PCO retained his ROH World Championship in a DQ finish against RUSH. The title change came in the form of the ROH World Six-Man Championship. After being held for a record 301 days by Villain Enterprises, ROH’s dastardly faction dropped the titles to one of the company’s newest groups, the trio of Bandido, Flamita and Rey Horus.
Perhaps one of the most dominant factions Ring of Honor has seen since iterations of Bullet Club, Villain Enterprises made a splash when they debuted with the company on December 16, 2018. Exactly three months later, the trio, which is led by Marty Scrull and features PCO and Brody King (and later, the addition of Flip Gordon), had gold around their waists in the form of the six-man championship. The ninth-ever champs, Villain Enterprises successfully defended the belts seven times over their 301-day reign, including against former holders, the Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia and TK O’Ryan), Lifeblood (Mark Haskins and Tracy Williams) and PJ Black, the Briscoes and Dragon Lee, and three separate team iterations featuring Jeff Cobb. Up until the live event special on Saturday, Scrull, King and PCO had been the only three members of the faction to defend the belts. At ROH Saturday Night, with PCO defending his world title, VE’s newest member, the Mercenary, Flip Gordon, made his first defense with the belts under the Freebird Rule.
And NEW ROH World Six Man Tag Team Champions @flamita_dtu @rey_horus @bandidowrestler pic.twitter.com/4713JHum4G
— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) January 12, 2020
Unfortunately for Gordon and the rest of Villain Enterprises, that debut didn’t go as planned. It was a fantastic match with the crowd hot for Bandido, Flamita and Horus throughout. The action was packed and the contest was evenly matched with no shortage of high-intensity spots done by all six men. The finish came down to Bandido and Scrull, the latter of whom ate the pin on a surprise roll-up, something that could likely suggest a singles match for the two down the line. As Bandido’s trio celebrated, as per Lucha tradition, fans threw money in the ring noting their appreciation of the match and the new champions.
The longest-tenured ROH wrestler of the three, the 24-year-old Bandido debuted with the company in 2019 where he was quickly elevated as a big star. Currently holding five titles (four outside of the company), Bandido’s high-flying acumen has made him one of the top luchadors in the world. This win does, however, mark the first championship for Bandido in Ring of Honor, it coming shortly after the announcement that the luchador had signed a new deal with the company. His other current titles include the PWG World Championship and The Crash Heavyweight Championship. He is a former PROGRESS and DDT champ as well.
https://twitter.com/ringofhonor/status/1216374693994860557
Also newly signed by ROH, the 25-year-old Flamita first debuted with the company in October 2019. Another well-known high-flier and longtime tag team partner of Bandido, Flamita has been tangled up with Villain Enterprises almost since he arrived on the Ring of Honor scene. This marks his first title with the company as well. He is a former champion in Dragon Gate, The Crash and PROGRESS as well.
The third member of the trio and newest ROH wrestler is the 35-year-old Rey Horus. Horus, perhaps better known as Lucha Underground‘s El Dragon Azteca, debuted in Ring of Honor on the Final Battle Fallout show in mid-December in a losing effort to Gordon. A highly regarded luchador who was trained by the legendary Rey Misterio Sr., Horus’ first ROH win just so happened to be for a title, as he helped Bandido and Flamita to six-man gold. As is the case for his teammates, this is Horus’ first title with the company. He is also a former two-time champion in LU and a three-time champion in the Crash.
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. You can catch ROH Replays as well as exclusive events such as ROH Saturday Night at HonorClub.
