Ring of Honor Review - April 9, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

RPG Vice def. TMDK (Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste)

It seems like TMDK are here to stay in Ring of Honor's tag team division and, as I've said before, they're a welcome addition. Granted, it's not an encouraging sign that they lost to RPG Vice who are routinely positioned as enhancement talent on AEW TV, but I thought they had a good match. What's wild is that we get so many meaningless tag team matches on this show that rarely have anything to do with the ROH World Tag Team Championship.

Lio Rush def. Nathan Cruz

I still don't understand what the hell this new character for Rush is supposed to be, and unless I'm mistaken, it was never explained, either. Not even with a vignette. It's not my thing, personally, but if Rush is going to start winning matches, it can't be too terrible for his career. Rush showed off his character some more before picking up the victory, so this was exactly what it needed to be.

Josh Woods def. "Daddy Magic" Matt Menard in a Pure Rules Match

Menard is entertaining as a pre-show panelist, but there's not a ton of value there with him as a wrestler at this point unless he's teaming with Angelo Parker. He doesn't compete all that often and that's probably for the best. It was also for the best to keep this on the shorter side. As for Woods, I like the dude, but these Pure Rules wins for him mean nothing if he's not going to eventually regain the ROH Pure Championship.

Komander def. Soliel

For those unaware, Soliel is Sidney Akeem (the former Scrypts/Reggie from WWE) under a mask. I don't know that the mask was necessary, but I guess it's worth a shot since he wrestles a very high-flying style, anyway. Maybe it'll help him as it ended up helping A-Kid/Axiom in NXT. These two worked well together as you'd expect and had an enjoyable outing.

Bang Bang Gang (Ace Austin and Juice Robinson) and The Von Erichs def. Shane Taylor Promotions (ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Infantry and Shane Taylor and ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty)

Plenty of time was devoted to this match, and it's one of those things where unless it amounts to something, it just felt like a waste of time. There was nothing wrong with the action, but what's the endgame? Bang Bang Gang getting a shot at the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship would be something, but only two members of the group were a part of this bout. It couldn't be more obvious that all of these guys are simply spinning their wheels.

AR Fox def. Action Andretti

Andretti and Rush had a good thing going as CRU, at least in my opinion, so it's a shame Andretti is on his own again because I don't ever see him being utilized as anything other than a stepping stone on this show. I didn't have an issue with this being more competitive than I originally assumed it would be, but it definitely didn't need to be so damn long when the outcome was never in doubt.

The IInspiration def. Frankie B and Viva Van

Honestly, I forgot The IInspiration were under AEW contract. They debuted in a dark segment at Grand Slam: Australia in February, got squashed by The Brawling Birds in their Dynamite debut soon after and disappeared until now. The fact they're already pulling ROH duty is a concerning sign for their future. This was a standard showcase for them and they even got some mic time afterward, but it was difficult to care.

The Rascalz (Zachary Wentz and Dezmond Xavier) def. The Workhorsemen

Similar to The IInspiration, The Rascalz also signed earlier this year and quickly wound up on ROH TV, but I'm not as worried about them since they're also on Dynamite and especially Collision fairly frequently. At any rate, this was a fun sprint. If The Rascalz aren't going to be involved in the AEW World Tag Team Championship picture again anytime soon, why not put the ROH World Tag Team Championship on them? It's not like La Faccion Ingobernable are doing a damn thing with those belts.

ROH World Television Champion Nick Wayne def. Alex Reynolds in an ROH World Television Championship Proving Ground Match

It's strange that both Wayne and Christian Cage have returned (albeit on different shows) and haven't rekindled their rivalry simply so they could properly finish it, but it's been so long that I can't imagine it matters that much anymore. This was serviceable, as was Wayne's post-match promo. He isn't interesting to me whatsoever as he comes across as generic, but there's no denying he's skilled in the ring.

Ortiz and Eddie Kingston def. Alec Price and Jordan Oliver

Kingston and Ortiz are an excellent team, even if I maintain that Kingston shouldn't be banished to ROH. Meanwhile, Price and Oliver can clearly go, but the booking is their problem. They need to start winning if they're ever going to be taken seriously. Despite that, this was an entertaining match. It was really well paced and arguably the best thing on the show, so it was wise to save it for the main event spot.

Overall Show

This edition of ROH TV was over two hours long. Two hours! That's unbelievable. I'm not sure who asked for that, but needless to say, the excessive length of the episode didn't make it better. There were too many matches, most of which lasted longer than they should have, and it was a dead atmosphere inside that building they've been filming in for the last few months. Supercard of Honor is coming up in about a month, but I have no idea what that card will consist of based on what we saw here.

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