ROH Death Before Dishonor 2023: Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage and recap of ROH Death Before Dishonor 2023.

This year's show underwent several changes in the weeks leading up to the event, so the card looks much different than it was supposed to. However, that doesn't mean it won't be a great show.

Here is the full lineup for Friday's pay-per-view:

• Claudio Castagnoli vs. Pac (ROH World Championship)
• Athena vs. Willow Nightingale (ROH Women's World Championship)
• Lucha Bros vs. Aussie Open vs. The Kingdom vs. Best Friends (ROH Tag Team Championships)
• Katsuyori Shibata vs. Daniel Garcia (ROH Pure Championship)
• Samoa Joe vs. Dalton Castle (ROH TV Championship)
• Mogul Embassy vs. Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi and Leon Ruffin (ROH Six-Man Championships)
• The Dark Order vs. The Righteous 
• Komander vs. Gravity
• The Workhorsemen vs. Darius Martin and Action Andretti
• Josh Woods vs. Tracy Williams
• AR Fox vs. Shane Taylor
• Trish Adora vs. Leyla Hirsch

Let's take a look at what happened during Friday's show.

The first match on the Zero Hour saw Woods take on "Hot Sauce" Williams. Woods had the rest of the Varsity Athletes in his corner while Williams showed up solo. This was a Pure Rules match, so both men had to be more creative with their offense.

After a fun technical bout that made both men look good, Woods picked up the win by submission.

Winner: Josh Woods

Grade: B

The second pre-show match featured Anthony Henry and JD Drake taking on Martin and Andretti. The Workhorsemen took advantage of the situation and attacked Andretti and Martin right away, but a miscommunication allowed the high flyers to turn the tables.

All four men worked their butts off to put on a match of which they can be proud.

Winners: Action Andretti and Darius Martin

Grade: B+

After recently returning on ROH TV, Hirsch made her first PPV appearance for ROH when she took on Adora, who was accompanied by Shawn Dean and Charlie Bravo for her entrance.

This was a battle between two women who pride themselves on their athleticism. Hirsch took a couple of shortcuts and was able to secure the win with an armbar.

Winner: Leyla Hirsch

Grade: B

Fox vs. Taylor was the final bout on the pre-show. This was a huge clash of styles with Taylor being a big man who favors power moves and Fox being a high-flyer and technician.

The match followed the usual pattern for a combo like this. Taylor used his size to dominate most of the time while Fox would make comebacks and use his aerial ability to take him down. This match was highly competitive and allowed both men to shine.

Fox showed some impressive strength getting Taylor onto his shoulders for a rolling clam before he hit a 450 from the top rope for the pin.

Winner: AR Fox

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

• The way Woods brought Williams down into a double wristlock submission was brilliant. 
• Henry and Anthony have some nice double-team moves. Henry is especially creative in the ring. 
• Andretti was showing out in the tag match. Lifting up Drake on his shoulders was an impressive display of power. 
• Adora's kneeling German suplex was a cool spot. 
• Fox's springboard 450 to the floor was a thing of beauty. 

The two luchadors shook hands to show each other respect and observe the Code of Honor before locking up for the first match on the main show.

From the moment they made contact, this was a high-energy encounter. Both men were trying their best to outdo each other with the most unique offense to pop the crowd.

When you have a match like this with two guys who are doing tons of complicated sequences and risky moves, you expect to see a hiccup here and there. Even though this match was not perfect, it was impressive how precise they were with the majority of their offense.

In a somewhat surprising result, Gravity scored the win after taking advantage of a mistake by Komander. Go out of your way to watch this one. It was a ton of fun.

Winner: Gravity

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Gravity's mask is unique. It really sets him apart from the other luchadors in AEW and ROH. 
• Trying to recap every cool spot in this match would be impossible. Just go watch this one. It's about as close to recapturing the magic of the WCW cruiserweight division as it gets. 
• Alex Abrahantes wasn't as animated at ringside as he usually is, which was a good thing. He didn't distract from the action in the ring at all. 
• Gravity using one arm to lift Komander for a powerbomb was impressive. 

The first title bout of the night saw Samoa Joe defend the ROH Television Championship against Castle. The Peacock won an eliminator tournament to earn this shot, but originally, the plan was for Mark Briscoe to fight Joe before he was moved to the world title match and then suffered and injury that took him out of the show completely.

Both men spent a long time taunting each other and playing mind games before they engaged in combat.

Once they started working, the match became about Joe controlling the pace while Castle did his best to avoid his attacks.

This was more about telling a story than stealing the show. They knew they weren't going to outwork some of the other bouts on the card, so they tried to do something different. The action was still good, but the facial expressions and the moments between moves were how they told their tale.

Joe made Stokely Hathaway kick The Boys from ringside so they couldn't help Castle anymore, and that allowed him to lock in the Coquina Clutch for the win.

Winner: Samoa Joe

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Hathaway joined the commentary team for this match. He was not amused by Castle's antics. 
• You can always tell when Joe is having fun in a match because he smiles a lot more, which makes him even more intimidating somehow. 
• Hathaway always knows the assignment. He can make the smallest thing the funniest part of any segment he's in. 

This Four Corners Survival Match for the ROH tag titles featured Rey Fenix and Penta El Zero Miedo defending the belts against Chuck Taylor, Trent Beretta, Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher.

Any match with this many people involved can be chaotic, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. Keeping track of who the legal men are can be a struggle, especially when you have sequences with all eight competitors.

This match was a little easier than some similar matches from recent memory, but it still had some awkward moments when it looked like people were just waiting for the next spot.

Even with those complaints, this was still a fun showcase of four talented tag teams. It really felt like The Kingdom was front and center in a lot of the action, which is deserved after they have been the most active tag team in the company in recent months.

It was genuinely hard to tell which team was going to win, which always makes any match more enjoyable. When the smoke cleared, Aussie Open emerged as the new ROH tag champs after pinning Trent.

Winners: Aussie Open

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

• It's great that the announcers talked about the legacy of Jay Briscoe and his impact on the tag team scene in ROH and other promotions. 
• Penta's white gear was awesome. 
• Taven is so great at making you dislike him. Some guys just have a face you want to punch and Taven is smart to take advantage of that and use it to get heat. 
• Fletcher and Fenix had a great exchange of forearm strikes. 
• It took a little too long to set up the superplex spot, so it looked like everyone was just waiting for it to happen. 

The ROH six-man tag titles were on the line when Brian Cage, Toa Liona and Bishop Kaun took on Taguchi, Wato and Ruffin.

While it was nice to see the six-man belts on the show, ROH has no division to speak of, so the trio they faced never felt like they had a chance.

The challengers had a major speed advantage over the three powerhouses, so they were able to use that to their advantage for short bursts of offense.

While this was a perfectly serviceable match with some fun spots, it felt like filler. There was no story behind it and it never felt as if the titles would possibly change hands.

The Mogul Embassy got the win after all three men propelled Ruffin into the air and let him land with a thud.

Winners: Mogul Embassy

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Taguchi made the mistake of trying to compare physiques with The Machine, which only served to make Cage laugh. 
• Ruffin and Kaun accidentally collided at ringside when Ruffin was supposed to avoid him. It looked like Kaun might have hurt his nose from the impact. 
• We are supposed to suspend our disbelief in pro wrestling, but it's hard to believe Ruffin could take down Kaun with a DDT the way he did. Kaun is just too big and Ruffin did not have the leverage to make up the difference. 

The Pure Championship was on the line in the second Pure Rules match of the night. Shibata put the title on the line against a former champion himself, Garcia.

Garcia was forced to use one of his three rope breaks early when Shibata got him locked in a Figure Four. He regrouped and suckered Shibata out of the ring so he could throw him into the barricade.

They worked a methodical pace throughout the match. Most of what we saw was ground offense, but they mixed in some strikes and quicker sequences to spice things up here and there.

Garcia did an excellent job looking like a man who was dying to be respected but didn't want to earn it the right way. Eventually, Shibata grew tired of his antics and started beating him down in the corner.

The way they told a story of a young man trying to best a veteran performer was simple and effective. The crowd showed its appreciation with "This is awesome" chants as they neared the 12-minute mark.

Shibata was able to retain the title by pinning Garcia following a brutal kick. He extended his hand to Garcia after the match, but Red Death flipped him the bird. Shibata grabbed his finger and made him shake his hand to end the segment.

Winner: Katsuyori Shibata

Grade: A-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Garcia's growth as an entertainer has been so impressive. He came into AEW a couple of years ago as a pure technician and now he is legitimately one of the funniest people in the company. 
• Shibata is so good at making it look like he doesn't hold back with his kicks. 
• The way Shibata sold for Garcia was perfect. He never over or undersold anything. 
• Garcia dancing in Shibata's face until he sat down was hilarious. 

Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds and John Silver were looking to get a little retribution against their former teammate, Stu Grayson, and his new compatriates, Dutch and Vincent.

This was a Fight Without Honor, which means the match had virtually no rules. Uno and Grayson stared each other down as everyone else started brawling. After they were alone in the ring, they began throwing hands.

Since everyone sort of paired up and fought in different areas, it was hard to keep track of what everyone was doing at any given time.

It took almost no time for them to bring weapons into the equation. Uno even ended up with his mask torn up and a huge gash on his head at one point. Once they brought a pile of Lego into the ring, Uno ended up being powerbombed into them and a pile of thumbtacks at the same time twice.

They fought in the ring, at ringside and on the stage. Everyone was bleeding by the end. They were never going to match the brutality of the Blood and Guts bout from Dynamite, but they came closer than expected.

The Dark Order was able to secure the victory by taking out Grayson with a triple-team move onto the tacks and Lego. This was nuts in the best way.

Winners: The Dark Order

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• The announcer made sure to announce Grayson separately from Dutch and Vincent, but Grayson's gear made it look like he was officially in The Righteous now. 
• Uno and Grayson went through a table that seemed to magically appear out of nowhere at ringside. 
• It's kind of funny to think about one of these guys taking the time to wrap a 2x4 in barbed wire and paint it black in their free time. 
• The slam Silver took onto the thumbtacks looked brutal. 
• This match featured the second "We want fire" chant of the week. 

The first of the two main event matches saw two men who were partners on Wednesday night go to war. Castagnoli put the ROH world title on the line against Pac, which came about after Pac left the Blackpool Combat Club high and dry during Blood and Guts.

The champ nailed the challenger with an uppercut right away to get an early advantage. He hit a huge popup uppercut a moment later for the first near-fall of the match.

The first several minutes were all about Castagnoli inflicting punishment on the man who wronged his team.

After throwing Pac out of the ring and through a table, Castagnoli hit a huge elbow drop for a near-fall. The longer this match went, the more aggressive both men became.

There was no babyface in this match but it didn't matter to the crowd. The Swiss Superman and The Man Gravity Forgot put on a fantastic match worthy of the world title.

Pac countered the Ricola Bomb twice before Wheeler Yuta provided the distraction Castagnoli needed to hit it on the third attempt for the win.

The Lucha Bros came down to reunite Death Triangle and attack Yuta and Castagnoli. Best Friends and Orange Cassidy joined the fight for some reason and ended up being the last men standing.

Winner: Claudio Castagnoli

Grade: A

Notable Moments and Observations

• It's wild that Castagnoli and Pac did Blood and Guts on Wednesday and were in good enough shape to have this bout two days later. 
• It cannot be understated how impressive it is for someone to catch another grown man in the middle of a moonsault and make it look easy. 
• Gravity was shown watching the match from backstage, so it looks like he remembers Pac after all. 
• The table bump Pac took was nasty. Castagnoli just threw him out of the ring and through the table. It was wild. 

The main event and final match of the night was for the women's world title. Athena put her coveted belt on the line against a woman who has had a great 2023, Willow.

Even though both women were showing a lot of aggression right away, they kept things relatively clean. They were locking up, going for takedowns and trying to counter each other. It took a minute or two before they started throwing punches.

The crowd was heavily in favor of Willow, which was expected, so The Fallen Goddess was really playing up her heel side.

This match was physical and pushed both women to their limit. They wanted to make sure everyone knew why they were in the main event and they accomplished that goal.

Athena hit Obliteration in the corner and then powered Willow up for an impressive powerbomb, but she still couldn't get the pin. Chants of "Fight Forever" broke out as they kept kicking out of each other's biggest moves.

After a long struggle, the ref eventually called for the bell when it was clear Willow had passed out in a crossface. The champion stood tall with her title as the crowd booed.

Winner: Athena

Grade: A+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Athena's entrance attire with the huge wings was great. 
• When it comes to facial expressions and displaying emotion during a match, few are as good as Athena. You always know exactly what her character is thinking and how she feels. 
• Athena throws great strikes. She follows through instead of pulling her punches, but she does it in a safe way that protects her opponents. 
• Willow's swinging reverse neckbreaker was awesome. 

Ring of Honor has been hit or miss over the past couple of months with its weekly shows, but it knocked this PPV out of the park.

The night started off with four entertaining matches on the Zero Hour pre-show to get the crowd hyped up, and then the show somehow managed to get better and better as it went along.

Several storylines were addressed in satisfying ways, but the real reason to watch this event was for the in-ring action. We saw some outstanding matches on Friday, especially when it came to the co-main events.

Athena and Castagnoli retained their respective world titles in the two best bouts of the night, but the tag title win from Aussie Open was also a big highlight.

If you didn't watch it live, this is definitely a show worth taking the time to check out.

Grade: A