Ring of Honor Review - August 7, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

ROH World Champion Bandido def. Gringo Loco in an ROH World Championship Proving Ground Match

Loco has been wrestling on ROH TV significantly more lately, but the guy can never win when it matters most. Therefore, there was zero chance of him winning or outlasting Bandido here, but they had a quality contest in the time they were allotted. I assume Hechicero is still getting the next shot at the ROH World Championship at Death Before Dishonor, but there's been little progression on that front in recent weeks.

Satnam Singh and Jay Lethal def. GPA and Hunter Holdcraft

Singh and Lethal team up so infrequently these days that I always forget they're still a thing. Singh is still limited, so that's why he normally either teams with Lethal or has squash matches on his own. There was no need for this to be much more than what it was with Singh and Lethal winning relatively quickly and decisively, but it's worth noting they're both babyfaces now (unless that's been the case for a while and I just don't remember).

ROH Women's World Champion Athena and Billie Starkz def. Laynie Luck and Missa Kate

Now that Athena is involved in the AEW Women's World Championship picture and will challenge Toni Storm for the title at Forbidden Door, what's the point of her continuing to appear on ROH TV in the meantime? Sure, she's still the ROH Women's World Champion (for some reason), but it's not like there's anything left for her to do on ROH TV. At least this was short and sweet.

Volador Jr., Magnus and Rugido def. The Dark Order (Evil Uno, John Silver and Alex Reynolds)

The CMLL guys are far more interesting to watch these days than Dark Order, so I had no issue with them being showcased and booked to beat Dark Order. From an in-ring standpoint, this was a totally serviceable match. I don't think it was designed to accomplish anything, but they filled the time well. The fact Dark Order are still around all these years later is astounding to me.

Mistico and Mascara Dorada def. Lee Johnson and Blake Christian

In a backstage promo earlier in the episode, Johnson and Christian finally expressed their desire to challenge for the ROH World Tag Team Championship. It's about time because they've both been directionless for some time. However, their pursuit for the tag titles isn't exactly off to a strong start having lost here. Dorada and Mistico are bigger stars, but it was an odd call for them to be the ones who faced Johnson and Christian here. Otherwise, this was a well-wrestled main event and the best thing on the show.

Overall Show

I appreciate the five-match format for the show as it tends to breeze by with ease, but I can't help but question what purpose ROH TV serves these days when little is done to build toward the pay-per-views. Most of the cards are confirmed at the last minute anyway, so why bother with these episodes when a majority of them are inconsequential? The wrestling was once again solid this week, but nothing of note happened, which is par for the course for ROH TV.

SEE MORE: ROH Reviews