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Zero Hour
ROH Television Championship
Brian Cage versus Atlantis Jr. (c)
The amount of Ring of Honor branded matches on this show is pretty interesting, from the ROH World Championship to this ROH Television Championship match.
Atlantis Jr. defeated Kyle Fletcher for the ROH Television Championship at CMLL Super Viernes in Mexico City on June 28, 2024, and has since defended the championship three times. One of those defences was at Death Before Dishonor 2024 back in July in a Survival of the Fittest 2024 Final Six Way Elimination Match.
Also in that match was Brian Cage, who beat Lee Johnson and Johnny TV before losing to Atlantis Jr. in the end. Cage is no stranger to ROH, as he is a two time ROH World Six Man Tag Team Champion with Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona.
Atlantis Jr. is essentially the link between CMLL and AEW in their partnership, no different to when Eddie Kingston held the New Japan Strong Openweight Championship or Jon Moxley held the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. Most of his time is spent in CMLL but he has made appearances in ROH as Television Champion.
One second, should ROH even have a Television Championship? I get it’s a carry over from the Sinclair Broadcasting days but I really don’t know why they have it called the TV Title. If and when ROH gets their own broadcast deal, either with TruTV or Max or heck maybe Tubi (fingers crossed), that’s what the name of the belt should be. TruTV Championship. Max Championship. Tubi Championship. Much better. Oh yeah they also have a Women’s Television Championship. Sigh.
Atlantis Jr. hasn’t been on the show since August when his team lost a trios match to Cage of Agony, but Brian Cage hasn’t been sitting around and waiting. After losing at Death Before Dishonor 2024, Cage has defeated Rocky Romero, Deonn Rusman, and Alec Price in singles competition. The Alec Price win was especially impressive and I’d suggest people look out for it. Keep an eye out on Alec Price as well.
As you can see, there really isn’t much to say about this match? It’s kind of a mishmash of styles, but so was Fletcher versus Atlantis Jr. and that still worked well in CMLL. It’s good for Atlantis Jr. to get on Zero Hour and it’s great to see Brian Cage on this stage again because Cage always excels in the opportunities he gets.
Honestly? If this match doesn’t work out for him? Cage should be a little more ambitious and go right after Mark Briscoe. I would love to see Brian Cage as the ROH World Champion. He’s spent most of his time in the Six Man Tag division but I think Cage on top of ROH would feel right.
Hopefully this match gives me some Lucha Underground vibes. What can I say? I’m always loyal to my Lucha Underground alumni like Brian Cage. Atlantis Jr. was a little too young for that (also Lucha Underground was mostly AAA talent and not CMLL) but I’m sure he would have fit right in.
