Homicide was undefeated in ROH throughout June and July, and on August 16, 2003, at "Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies" he defeated Corino in a rematch of their February encounter. After twenty minutes of fighting which saw both men bleeding and carrying injuries, Homicide trapped Corino in a modified STF, prompting Corino's corner man, Guillotine LaGrande, to throw in the towel, awarding the match to Homicide. In the course of the match, Corino suffered a legitimate ruptured eardrum, and permanently lost most of the hearing in his left ear following a stiff slap to the side of the head from Homicide. Following high-profile victories over Samoa Joe and B.J. Whitmer, Homicide faced Corino for a third time on November 29, 2003, at "War of the Wire" in a barbed wire match. This time Julius Smokes threw in the towel for Homicide after Corino throttled him with a length of barbed wire. Corino offered Homicide a handshake after the match, indicating that he finally respected Homicide, but Homicide refused to shake his hand.