Ring of Honor Review - December 21, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Von Erichs def. The Workhorsemen

What a past week for The Von Erichs. They appeared in a backstage segment last week on Dynamite and wrestled on Rampage, the Final Battle Zero Hour pre-show and now ROH TV. Plus (and most importantly), their movie The Iron Claw is out in theaters tomorrow (I plan on seeing it shortly after Christmas), so this was perfect timing. This was a fun opener that the Texas crowd was into and Kevin Von Erich being in his sons' corner was a nice touch. As I said a few times last week, Tony Khan signing The Von Erichs feels like a no-brainer.

ROH Women's World Champion Athena def. Maya World in an ROH Women's World Championship Proving Ground Match

Yes, Athena retaining her title against Billie Starkz at Final Battle was super shocking, but almost as shocking was Starkz back to being buddy-buddy with Athena. I feel like we're at the first chapter of the story again. Maybe they're building to Starkz eventually dethroning Athena, but Starkz already turned on Athena, so I don't understand the purpose in waiting. World scored more offense than I thought she would, but the outcome was obviously never in question.

Tony Khan Announced an ROH Women's World Television Championship

​This was wisely kept short and sweet and Khan even brought the belt out with him. There weren't any rumors of Ring of Honor adding another women's title, so this was a pleasant surprise. I constantly complain about AEW and Ring of Honor having too many championships, but ROH's women's division has been the best part of the product this year, so I'm actually not against this at all. It's much better than women's tag team titles in my opinion.

Dante Martin def. Lee Johnson

This marked Martin's first singles match on ROH TV since returning from injury. The crowd was happy to see him and having him face off with Johnson made for an enjoyable outing. They had a good match and Martin hasn't missed a step. He's an amazing athlete, but the key with him will be staying healthy. That's what has hindered his momentum more than anything in the last two years.

ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Gates of Agony def. Blake Christian and Willie Mack

With the introduction of the ROH Women's World Television Championship, Khan should take this opportunity to get rid of the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship, which is completely pointless. Gates of Agony belong in the main tag title mix at the moment, so this was a step in the right direction. This was a pretty dominant squash for them and the babyfaces sold well for their offense.

The Righteous and Lance Archer def. Iron Savages (Jacked Jameson, Boulder and Bronson)

Do my eyes deceive me? Are Archer and The Righteous still aligned? They teamed up once or twice on AEW TV before never teaming again (until now, anyway). I love the idea of the trio, but I don't love the idea of them being brought together every few weeks only for Khan to do nothing meaningful with them. This gave them a necessary win and the match itself was decent, but the question is if they'll continue teaming going forward.

Taya Valkyrie def. Vertvixen

I assume Valkyrie is entering the "rebuilding" phase in ROH after losing every match that mattered on AEW TV. She's a welcome addition to ROH's women's division, especially with a new secondary title being introduced for them. This could have benefited from being slightly shorter (why give so much offense to a random jobber?), but she won decisively as she should have. I appreciate that she has her husband Johnny TV in her corner now.

Rachael Ellering def. Charlette Renegade

This was slightly more competitive than Valkyrie vs. Vertvixen but equally as interesting, which is to say it wasn't very interesting at all. I just don't find Ellering (who is skilled in the ring) to be a very compelling character and The Renegades are only average despite improving. This was passable but seemed to only exist to set up the predictable tag team match with her and Leyla Hirsch vs. The Renegades.

Action Andretti and Darius Martin def. The Outrunners and The Infantry in a Three-Way Match

It was made official this week that Andretti and Top Flight will challenge The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn for the AEW World Trios Championship on Saturday's Collision. They may as well have been in a trios match on this show to get them ready for that upcoming opportunity, but at least they kept their momentum going with a win here. It was no different than any other multi-team match we've gotten on this show in recent months, but they made the most of the time they had.

Dalton Castle, The Boys and Gravity def. Griff Garrison, Cole Karter and Spanish Announce Table

Even with Maria Kanellis-Bennett in their corner, Karter and Garrison are dead in the water as a team so far. They've lost a majority of their matches and come off as incredibly generic. Thus, it was hardly surprising that Garrison ate the loss for his team here. I don't know why this match needed to happen if Castle is currently feuding with Johnny TV, but at least it was nicely paced and allowed Castle to bounce back from his loss at Final Battle.

AAA World Cruiserweight Champion Komander and AAA Mega Champion El Hijo del Vikingo def. Gringo Loco and Jack Cartwheel

Cartwheel had a hell of a showing against Bryan Keith on the Final Battle Zero Hour pre-show, so based on who else was involved, you knew this would be a wild ride. It was a total spot-fest and an entertaining one at that. It accomplished absolutely nothing (much like mosh ROH TV main events we've gotten this year), but the crowd was into the action and Vikingo and Komander continue to work well as partners.

Overall Show

Final Battle was a terrific pay-per-view last Friday night. It was way better than it had any right to be considering how cold the product has been in 2023. That said, ROH TV remains a chore to sit through. This was an upgrade over other episodes we've gotten as of late thanks to some above-average matches, but it would have benefited from a shorter runtime and a clearer direction of where things are headed. As things stand, nothing's all that different now compared to before Final Battle.

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