Katsuyori Shibata's Next ROH Pure Title Defense Announced For Next Week

Katsuyori Shibata's next Ring of Honor Pure Title defense has been confirmed for next week's episode of "ROH on HonorClub." The New Japan Pro-Wrestling star will be facing ROH and AEW star Josh Woods.

During this past Thursday's episode, Josh Woods defeated Eli Isom in a Pure Rules match. Shibata was on hand as one of the three judges for the match. After the match, Mark Sterling issued the challenge for a title match on Woods' behalf, and Shibata came into the ring and raised the title. Over the last couple of weeks, Woods has been winning Pure Rules matches, including one against ROH veteran Tracy Williams.

It's interesting to note that Woods is a former ROH Pure Champion. He held the title for 201 days, winning it from Jonathan Gresham at the Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view in September 2021 and losing it to Wheeler Yuta at Supercard of Honor in April 2022.

Shibata has been the champion since March's Supercard of Honor pay-per-view when he defeated Yuta for the title. Since then, he's defended the title against Christopher Daniels, Lee Moritaity, and Alex Coughlin. Most recently, he successfully defended it against AEW star Daniel Garcia at last Friday's ROH Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view.

Also, during the July 27 episode of "ROH on HonorClub," the ROH World TV Championship Eliminator Tournament began with four first-round matches. Shane Taylor defeated Serpentico. Gravity got a win over Anthony Henry. Tony Nese beat Cheeseburger. And Christopher Daniels got past J.D. Drake.

Also on Thursday's episode, ROH Women's World Champion Athena defeated Christina Marie in a Proving Ground Match, while The Mogul Embassy (Bishop Kaun, Brian Cage, and Toa Liona) retained the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Titles against the Iron Savages (Boulder and Bronson) and Jacked Jameson.