Ring of Honor Death Before Dishonor 2026: Championship matches headline Philadelphia event

Ring of Honor is bringing Death Before Dishonor to Philadelphia on Friday night, and the 2300 Arena—the legendary home of Extreme Championship Wrestling—will host what amounts to a coronation night for the promotion's most important belts. Nine championship matches are stacked onto the card, each one carrying the weight of months of buildup and the kind of stakes that draw wrestling fans who understand that these nights matter.

The event opens with a Zero Hour pre-show match: Mina Shirakawa and Queen Aminata, riding a five-match winning streak as a tag team since Supercard of Honor earlier in the year, will face the newly formed pairing of Vita Van and Vertvixen. It's the kind of opener designed to set a tone—momentum versus ambition.

Then comes the first title bout. Red Velvet will defend the ROH Women's Television Championship in a fatal four-way match against Skye Blue, Marina Shafir, and Zayda Steel. Velvet has held the belt for 259 days in her second reign, making her the only wrestler to capture this title twice. But in a match where the champion doesn't need to be pinned to lose her crown, all three challengers smell blood. The prediction here is that Steel breaks through.

The men's tag team championship match brings together four teams in what will be a showcase of high-flying wrestling. Místico and Máscara Dorada, the current champions fighting as El Sky Team, will defend against The Kingdom's Matthew Taven and Michael Bennett, La Facción Ingobernable's Sammy Guevara and The Beast Mortos, and Top Flight's Dante Martin and Darius Martin. Any one of these teams could walk out with gold, but the prediction is that the champions hold on.

Lio Rush's character transformation over recent months has been one of wrestling's more compelling arcs, and it's landed him the ROH Television Championship. Now he faces Action Andretti in a Fight Without Honor match—a stipulation that erases the usual rules and lets these two former friends settle something deeper. Rush has been on a roll, but Andretti knows him better than anyone. The prediction favors Rush's retention, though the match itself feels like it could go either way.

Deonna Purrazzo has been sidelined by injury, but she's held onto the ROH Pure Women's Championship since its creation in 2025, making her the first and only champion in that division's history. Her challenger is Steph De Lander, the same wrestler who injured her during a June taping. The rematch will be contested under Pure Rules—three rope breaks per wrestler, no closed-fist punches allowed, outside interference means immediate firing, and judges decide if time expires. Purrazzo is expected to retain.

Lee Moriarty has been on a dominant run with the ROH Pure Championship, holding it for over 755 days and elevating his standing as one of the roster's best. He was originally scheduled to face Nigel McGuinness, but McGuinness withdrew due to injury. Katsuyori Shibata, who defeated Wheeler Yuta on Thursday to earn his shot, now gets his chance at Moriarty's belt. The prediction is that Moriarty's reign continues.

Athena, who calls herself the "Forever Champ," will defend the ROH Women's World Championship against Hazuki, the Spark Joshi world champion from Stardom. Athena's reign has been dominant across both ROH and AEW programming, but Hazuki brings the pedigree of having competed against AEW's best. The prediction is that Athena's dominance persists.

The main event pits Bandido against Nick Wayne for the ROH World Championship. Bandido has elevated the prestige of the belt by defending it across multiple promotions and taking on grueling matches. Wayne, however, represents something different—youth, ambition, and the kind of hunger that can upset even the most accomplished champions. Wayne has declared that Ring of Honor needs him, and the prediction here is that Friday night in Philadelphia is when he proves it, winning the ROH World Championship in an upset that could reshape the promotion's future.