Ring of Honor Review - December 28, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Nyla Rose def. Alejandra Lion

This was the latest Nyla Rose squash and it was along the same lines as the other ones as it should have been. It feels like she's starting from scratch in terms of working her way through the ranks and eventually earning herself an opportunity at the ROH Women's World Championship. There's practically nothing left for her to do in AEW, so it's nice she has a place to go in Ring of Honor where she won't be completely wasted.

Zak Knight def. "Pretty" Peter Avalon

As the commentators made mention of, Knight is the brother of Saraya. Anyone who watched Fighting with My Family (where he was obviously portrayed by someone else) would remember him from that. I don't think I've seen his work before and I thought he was damn impressive. I'm actually surprised it took this long for him to get a tryout considering Saraya's been with AEW for over a year now. Avalon sold well for his offense and they had a nice little match. I'm just not sure what kind of personality and how much charisma he has, though. That remains to be seen.

"The Bounty Hunther" Bryan Keith and The Von Erichs def. Iron Savages (Boulder, Bronson and Jacked Jameson)

Iron Savages have go-away heat with me at this point because of how ridiculously dumb their gimmick is (and perhaps that's the point because they're heels). It's a shame because Boulder and Bronson are talented, but this shtick of theirs sucks. On the bright side, Keith and The Von Erichs were showcased and I like them as a trio. They have that Texas vibe to them, so we'll see if this sticks. More of them in general certainly isn't a bad thing.

Taya Valkyrie and The Renegades def. Lady Frost, Trish Adora and Kiera Hogan

Valkyrie could be a frontrunner to become the inaugural ROH Women's World Television Champion now that she's in ROH, but Frost, Adora and Hogan all have a decent chance as well. I'm not sure what the reason for this match was other than to get everyone involved on the show, but it was well wrestled while it lasted. I'm glad ROH is growing its women's division as they feel like more of a focal point on this show than in AEW.

Tony Nese def. Joey Hyder

Now that Nese's feud with Ethan Page is finished, he can finally move on, though I have no idea what he'd be moving on to. As I've said several times in the past, he's a skilled wrestler, but as a character, he bores me to tears (no, the pairing with Mark Sterling doesn't help) and therefore his matches do nothing for me, either. This was a fine squash for him, but I have no desire to see him remain a regular on ROH TV. There's no reason for him to be on every episode the way he has been.

Billie Starkz def. Vertvixen

Starkz continues to be buddy-buddy with Athena and Lexi Nair despite turning on them prior to Final Battle. Perhaps this is building to her winning the ROH Women's World Television Championship and eventually having a champion vs. champion clash with Athena, but that's too complicated. She should have won at Final Battle, plain and simple. This was a quick rebound win for her that thankfully didn't overstay its welcome.

"All Ego" Ethan Page def. Johnny TV

If QTV is officially dead, why is the former John Morrison still going by Johnny TV? Hopefully that changes soon. Page just beat Nese in a pretty grueling "I Quit" match at Final Battle and needed to continue his winning ways, so him beating Johnny was the right call. They had a quality main event and Dalton Castle distracting Johnny and costing him the win furthered that feud as well.

Overall Show

This was the best edition of ROH TV in a while for the sole reason that it was so short. More of this, please! In all seriousness, I assume this was on the shorter side because they probably taped two hours worth last week at Collision as there is no Collision this weekend due to Worlds End. This was an efficient episode and more along the lines of what they should be doing every week. I also really liked the video package where we heard from the women who will be competing in the upcoming ROH Women's World Television Championship Tournament.

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