ROH World Television Champion Samoa Joe was set to have time off before ROH Death Before Dishonor, but plans changed.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select reports that the card initially called for rematches from ROH Supercard of Honor 2023. Samoa Joe was set to face Mark Briscoe. As for the ROH World Championship, Eddie Kingston was supposed to take on Claudio Castagnoli. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer initially reported the Kingston match.
Per Sapp, Joe had been planning to take some time off from AEW ROH, and he wasn’t initially scheduled for the show. However, the week before the pay-per-view, AEW received word that Joe would be available for the show and the immediate future. The change was linked to the strikes in Hollywood.
The report notes that Joe was set to miss a substantial amount of time to promote his role on the Twisted Metal series. But due to the strikes, these appearances have been nixed, so Joe is now available. As a result, the plans for the show were changed accordingly.
Details On Initial Plans For ROH Death Before Dishonor, Card Changed For Samoa Joe
According to Sapp, before Joe’s availability changed, ROH was planning on “moving without Joe”. Shane Taylor was set to face Dalton Castle at the show. But when Joe became available, ROH moved the finals of the top contender tournament. In doing so, ROH ensured that Joe would have a match at the pay-per-view.
As for Eddie Kingston, he was allowed to compete in the NJPW G1 Climax 33 tournament. As a result, ROH pivoted to Mark Briscoe as Castagnoli’s challenger. When Briscoe went down with a knee injury, ROH made plans to have PAC face Castagnoli weeks ago.
In an interview with WrestleZone, Samoa Joe commented on potentially facing Shane Taylor or Dalton Castle. Check out his comments here.
