Last night in Philadelphia, Takeshi Morishima defeated Homicide by pinfall to become the new Ring of Honor World Champion. Morishima is one of the top stars of Japan's Dragon Gate promotion, which has a working agreement with ROH.

During the match, Morishima hit Homicide with two T-Bone suplexes, but Homicide kicked out. Morishima hit a lariat, then finished Homicide off with the suplex for the victory. A very pro-Homicide crowd was stunned at the finish. Homicide was visibly crying, losing the belt he worked four years to win. [Thanks to
"ROHphilly" for the live details!]

This was only Morishima's second match in Ring of Honor and Homicide's second title defense. Many believed Homicide would be a transitional champion but for them to have taken the title off him so soon is surprising. Ironically, Homicide lost his title before the release of the "Final Battle 2006" DVD, the event where he won the belt.

Ring of Honor will be touring Japan in early 2007 and you can be sure that having Morishima as their champion will help those shows be successful.

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