Who won the ROH World Tag Team Championships on Episode 173?

Mistico and Mascara Dorada, collectively known as El Sky Team, won the Ring of Honor World Tag Team Championships on Episode 173 of the show. The duo captured the titles by defeating the tag team of Sammy Guevara and The Beast Mortos in a chaotic matchup.

Where did the ROH Tag Team Championship match take place?

The Ring of Honor World Tag Team Championship match did not take place in a standard Ring of Honor ring or during the promotion's TV tapings in Jacksonville. Instead, the title change occurred during a card in Mexico City and was later broadcast for streaming subscribers.

When did Mistico and Mascara Dorada win the ROH tag titles?

Mistico and Mascara Dorada won the Ring of Honor World Tag Team Championships on June 26. The match itself took place in Mexico City and was later broadcast for HonorClub subscribers on the holiday Friday episode, which had been moved from its usual Thursday slot.

Who did Sammy Guevara team with to defend the ROH tag titles?

Sammy Guevara teamed up with the terrifying luchador Beast Mortos to defend the Ring of Honor World Tag Team Championships. The author criticized this pairing as a random combination that made little sense, describing Mortos as a heavy powerhouse who moves like a cruiserweight.

Who did Hook defeat on Ring of Honor Episode 173?

Hook defeated Nick Comoroto on the holiday Friday episode of Ring of Honor. The author of the article criticized the booking of the match, noting that Comoroto is a physically impressive wrestler who was used solely to lose to a smaller opponent.

Tony Khan is letting CMLL hijack the Ring of Honor tag titles

Tony Khan's Mexican Vacation and the Missing Tag Belts

Pull up a barstool, crack open a cold domestic light beer, and let’s talk about Ring of Honor. Or, as I like to call it, Tony Khan's expensive private toy box that he keeps in the basement to show off to his internet buddies. If you actually shell out ten bucks a month for HonorClub, first of all, seek professional help, and second of all, you got treated to a holiday weekend surprise on Friday night. Because of the holiday, the show shifted from Thursday to Friday, and Tony decided to celebrate by giving away the ROH World Tag Team Championships to a team that doesn't even work for the company.

Let's break down the madness of Episode 173. Mistico and Mascara Dorada—collectively known as 'El Sky Team' to anyone who tracks CMLL’s Arena Mexico cards—are now your ROH Tag Team Champions. They won the belts by beating Sammy Guevara and The Beast Mortos.

But here is the kicker: the match didn't happen in an ROH ring, and it wasn't even taped at their TV tapings in Jacksonville. Mistico and Mascara Dorada took the belts in Mexico City on June 26.

Think about that for a second. You are paying for a streaming service to watch ROH, and the biggest title change of the summer is a tape-traded match from another country. As reported in PWInsider notes, the match card shifted to a holiday Friday slot.

Sammy Guevara and Beast Mortos are a random pairing that makes less sense than pineapple on pizza. Mortos is a terrifying luchador who moves like a cruiserweight but has the build of a brick outhouse. Sammy is, well, Sammy, a guy who tries so hard to be cool that it makes your teeth hurt.

Watching them try to defend titles they had no business holding in the first place was a chore. The match itself was a chaotic mess of high-flying spots and zero psychology. Mistico is still doing his vintage top-rope maneuvers, but at this stage of his career, he moves like a guy who forgot where he parked his SUV.

The finish was a complete cluster, with Mascara Dorada hitting a high-flying move that barely connected, followed by a pinfall that felt like the referee was trying to catch a flight. It is the classic Tony Khan booking problem: booking for the spreadsheet, not the fans in the arena.

The Rest of the HonorClub Wasteland

Let's look at the rest of the show. We had Hook squaring off against Nick Comoroto. Comoroto is a guy who looks like a million bucks but gets booked like a fifty-cent coupon. He exists solely to get thrown around by guys half his size.

Hook got the win, obviously, because heaven forbid we do anything interesting with the kid besides having him beat up local talent on a show that only three hundred people are watching. Comoroto gets to go back to being the biggest guy in the locker room who never wins a match.

Then we had Maya World and Hyan taking on Trish Adora and Robyn Renegade. This was the first time Adora and Renegade ever teamed up in ROH. Naturally, because this is the land of misfit toys, the newly formed team lost.

Maya World and Hyan took the victory after a match that had more missed spots than a Dalmatian. Hyan is a decent worker, but Maya World is still incredibly green, and putting them over a team that actually has some potential is baffling.

The rest of the card was a parade of matches that felt like they were generated by a random name generator. Beef teamed up with the Premier Athletes—Ariya Daivari and Tony Nese—to defeat the trio of Aaron Dallas, Keagan Garland, and LJ Cleary.

Tony Nese remains the most boring man in professional wrestling, a guy whose gimmick is having abdominal muscles and absolutely nothing else. Action Andretti beat Alex Reynolds in a match that went three minutes too long. Anthony Ogogo defeated Kiran Grey, and Zayda Steel beat Cassie Lee.

Let's not forget the random archival footage thrown in to pad the runtime. ROH released a YouTube video featuring the best of the old HDNet shows, which is basically Tony Khan saying, please remember when this promotion actually mattered.

They also uploaded a match between Queen Aminata and HANAKO from Global Wars Cincinnati. It is a solid match, but it just highlights how much better the product used to be before it became a developmental brand for AEW's undercard.

Mad Max, Memphis, and the Mask of Humongous

Now, let's step away from the current corporate bloat and talk about some real history. Kjell Nilsson, the Swedish actor and weightlifter who played the iconic, hockey-mask-wearing Lord Humungus in the 1981 masterpiece 'The Road Warrior', passed away on July 2, 2026. The Swedish strongman was 76 years old and had been battling kidney disease.

The news broke via a PWInsider report detailing his passing and the history of his character. Wrestling promoters in the eighties saw that giant, terrifying masked mutant and immediately did what they do best: they stole it.

The character became Lord Humongous in the wrestling world. The original guy under the mask was Mike Stark in Memphis Wrestling, managed by the legendary Jimmy Hart as a Jerry Lawler foe.

Stark set the template for the giant, silent monster that would dominate the territories. Over the years, the mask was passed around to several wrestlers.

Mike Stark in Memphis Wrestling
Sid Vicious in Continental Wrestling
Jeff Van Camp in the territories

But the most famous version of the character belonged to Sid Vicious. Early in his career, Sid put on the hockey mask for Continental Wrestling and became a massive star. Sid was so intense, so physically imposing, that the Lord Humongous character actually felt like a threat to society.

Jeff Van Camp also took a turn under the mask, along with several other journeymen who kept the gimmick alive on the indy circuit for decades. Let's also remember that the movie is the direct reason we got the Road Warriors tag team, Hawk and Animal. Nilsson's look changed the visual history of tag team wrestling forever.

Quick Hits and Indy Drama

Let's move on to the news and notes that show how crazy this business is. First, we have to send our thoughts to Bob Evans. Known as Brutal Bob to ROH fans, he underwent a medical procedure to fix an irregular heartbeat.

Bob is a class act who has trained half the guys you see on TV, and we wish him a speedy recovery. The guy has a heart of gold, even if it is currently ticking out of rhythm.

Meanwhile, Sukeban got a massive write-up in the New York Times on July 1. If you haven't heard of Sukeban, it is a Japanese women's promotion that is less about wrestling and more about high-fashion art. The costumes are designed by Olympia Le-Tan, and the whole thing looks like a runway show that broke out into a fight.

It is a wild concept, but let's be honest: it is catering to a particular crowd of hipsters who think wrestling is a performance art project. It's cool, but will it draw a gate in Chicago on a Saturday night? Probably not.

Over in Detroit, former NHL enforcer Darren McCarty is launching Grind Time Wrestling. McCarty won four Stanley Cups with the Red Wings, but he has always had a wrestling itch. He spoke to the local FOX affiliate about the academy, and you have to respect the hustle.

The guy was a menace on the ice, so having him train the next generation of Detroit brawlers makes perfect sense. Let's just hope he teaches them how to take a bump and not just how to throw a jersey over someone's head and feed them uppers.

Finally, James Ellsworth is booked for the Memphis Wrestling TV tapings on July 12. Yes, the man with no chin is still grinding. You have to hand it to Ellsworth; the guy took a ten-minute run in WWE and has stretched it into a decade-long career.

He is the ultimate cockroach of professional wrestling—you cannot kill his career, no matter how hard you try. James Ellsworth is slated for the July 12 tapings.