Eck’s Files: Survival Of The Fittest Winner Challenges RUSH At Best In The World; Huge Triple Threat Tag Match On Week By Week; Alex Gracia Gets Second Chance

Eck’s Files: Survival Of The Fittest Winner Challenges RUSH At Best In The World; Huge Triple Threat Tag Match On Week By Week; Alex Gracia Gets Second Chance

June 26, 2021

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By Kevin Eck

The winner of the Survival of the Fittest six-way elimination final will face two-time ROH World Champion RUSH for the title in the main event at the Best in the World pay-per-view on July 11 in Baltimore.

The competitors in the SOTF final, which airs on this weekend’s episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling, are Bandido, Demonic Flamita, Chris Dickinson, Eli Isom, Brian Johnson and Rhett Titus.

Of those six, Titus is the only one who has wrestled for the ROH World Championship. He lost to then-champion Kevin Steen in 2012.

RUSH, whose current reign began in February 2020, is coming off a successful title defense against Jay Lethal at 19th Anniversary this past March.

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A huge triple threat tag team match has been signed for the next episode of ROH Week By Week, which premieres this Tuesday at 1 p.m. Eastern on YouTube. The participants are Violence Unlimited’s Dickinson and Homicide, The Soldiers of Savagery (Moses and Kaun), and PCO and Danhausen,

This match undoubtedly has major implications for the tag team rankings. SOS is currently ranked No. 3, and Dickinson and Homicide are No. 5. This is the debut for the truly odd couple of PCO and Danhausen.

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After Alex Gracia lost a hard-fought match to Willow on Women’s Division Wednesday three weeks ago, Gracia made an appeal to ROH Board of Directors member Maria Kanellis-Bennett on Twitter for another opportunity to earn a ticket to gold for the ROH Women’s World Title Tournament this summer.

Kanellis-Bennett heard Gracia — and Gracia’s fans, the Pink Dreamers — and granted her request. Kanellis-Bennett gave Gracia the good news while both were appearing at a signing event in New York City.

 

Gracia will face Gia Scott on the upcoming Women’s Division Wednesday, which premieres at 7 p.m. Eastern on YouTube.

Scott presents a tough challenge and she’s every bit as hungry to earn a ticket to gold as Gracia. Referring to herself as “The Greatest Damn Woman,” Scott has stood out at the ROH Dojo and Future of Honor shows.

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Even though Allie Recks lost twice on this week’s Women’s Division Wednesday, I was impressed by her in-ring ability and thought she showed a lot of heart.

Recks came within an eyelash of defeating seven-time former world champion Angelina Love. She showed her naivete, however, by asking Love for another chance to prove herself.

Love was all too happy to give Recks another shot — but not against her. Instead, Max The Impaler came out to face Reks.

Max made quick work of Recks, who clearly was at less than 100 percent after wrestling Love.

It was mean of Love to do that to Recks, although I’m not quite sure how Love knew Recks would be asking for another match and thus had Max and Amy Rose ready to pounce. Must be that women’s intuition thing.

 

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Fred Yehi was my guest on the latest episode of the ROHStrong Podcast, which drops this Monday on ROHWrestling.com and most podcast platforms.

“The Savageweight” talked about his upcoming Pure Title Match against champion Jonathan Gresham and their history together; the benefits of being a free agent; the story behind  his persona; the importance of black ownership in pro wrestling; working for NJPW Strong, and much more.

The Yehi-Gresham match takes place on Ring of Honor Wrestling the weekend of July 3. Also on that episode is the Fight on the Farm between Jay and Mark Briscoe, so you’ll likely see a technical wrestling classic and a wild brawl for the ages all on the same show.

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Speaking of the Pure Title, after Mike Bennett won a Pure Gauntlet in a YouTube exclusive match, he made it clear to Gresham, who was sitting in on commentary, that he was coming for his championship.

Gresham was dismissive of Bennett, but perhaps he was just posturing. After watching Bennett defeat Joe Keys, World Famous CB and PJ Black in succession, I think Gresham would be making a big mistake if he’s truly underestimating Bennett’s skills as a pure wrestler.

Before Gresham can think about Bennett, however, he has to get past Yehi, and that’s no easy task.

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In addition to the SOTF final, this weekend’s episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling features a match between Matt Taven and Righteous member Dutch, who is making his ROH in-ring debut.

Recently resurfaced Righteous leader Vincent had an ominous message for Taven ahead of the bout.

“I’m gonna leave you in the hands of a death-walking terror, man,” Vincent said. “Dutch is  a man who even put me through pain. But pain’s not a bad thing; it’s a good thing. It teaches you things.”

 

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It’s great to see referee Beckie Phillips back in ROH. She’s one of the best referees on the independent circuit and the first female referee in ROH history.

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Don’t forget to check out “A Dose of Colemanism” by Caprice Coleman every Thursday and “The Other Side” by Kellyanne every other Wednesday on ROHWrestling.com.

Coleman inspires and motivates with his anecdotes, while Kellyanne delivers unique and compelling takes on life in the strange world of pro wrestling.

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Until next time, keep safe and stay #ROHStrong!

Kevin Eck is a veteran pro wrestling journalist who has worked for The Baltimore Sun, WWE and WCW before joining ROHWrestling.com. Eck’s Files appears every Friday.

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Be sure to visit Ring of Honor for more news and updates

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