7 Ups & 2 Downs From ROH Death Before Dishonor 2022
2. Opening With The Big One
Meanwhile, the ROH World Title showdown opened the main card.
OK, few could've predicted that this would happen, and it was honestly kinda cool. Sure, some traditionalists will sigh a heavy sigh and remark that the World Championship should always go on last, but...what a striking way to kick off the actual pay-per-view this was.
Khan turned typical PPV formatting on its head and added a little bit of unpredictability to the ROH product with one masterstroke of his pen. On commentary, Riccaboni explained that Jonathan Gresham vs. Claudio Castagnoli was opening Death Before Dishonor because of a backstage coin toss earlier in the day.
Fair enough - it was nice to have that context.
Fans didn't think Claudio's music would hit first after the hype-filled 'we're live now' intro. The Swiss star's entrance electrified people and helped make ROH's comeback supercard feel like it was going to be newsworthy straight away.