ROH's Matt Taven Captures NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship

Ring of Honor Wrestling star Matt Taven of The Kingdom captured the National Wrestling Alliance World Historic Welterweight Championship in a Two-out-of-Three Falls Match against former champion Volador Jr. this past Friday night.

The following comes from ROHWrestling.com:

On Friday night, Matt Taven returned to Arena Mexico and challenged Volador Jr. for the NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship at CMLL’s weekly Friday night event, Super Viernes. Volador Jr., seen most recently by ROH fans at Manhattan Mayhem, is one of the most-accomplished Luchadors in the world, is the longest-reigning NWA World Welterweight Champion in history, holding the title for 1,337 days, or over three and a half years.

And on Friday night, that historic reign ended and Matt Taven emerged victorious!

In a championship bout contested under traditional two-out-of-three falls rules, Taven dropped the first fall to Volador before winning the second fall via his signature frog splash. Taven’s finishing move, The Climax, seemingly was not the right move to put away Volador, as a previous attempt did not lead to a pinfall. 

But Taven, one of the most cerebral competitors in ROH, had Volador’s Volador Spiral, a top rope hurricanrana driver, scouted and blocked it, sending Volador down on to the ropes, legs split. With nowhere for Volador to go and Taven sensing opportunity, Taven hit the Climax once more and won the championship, ending Volador’s record-breaking title reign. Prior to the match, Volador Jr. said he was willing to accept the results of the match however it unfolded but floated the idea that the two should battle in a hair vs. hair match if the title match did not settle the score!

Taven was flanked by Sam Adonis and the relationship between the two, at this time, is unclear. Previously, Taven has been seen in CMLL with CMLL World Heavyweight Champion Marco Corleone. With things reaching a boiling point in ROH and ROH Enforcer Bully Ray banning The Kingdom from Supercard of Honor, could Taven be looking to bolster the ranks of the Kingdom on an international scale? Only time will tell and only Matt Taven truly knows!