Ring of Honor Review - December 5, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Katsuyori Shibata def. Alex Reynolds

Shibata is racking up wins for the sake of racking up wins at this point. He hasn't done anything notable in AEW for a few months now, so it looks like he's been relegated to Ring of Honor again until he settles into his next storyline. It's weird that we heard from Reynolds following his loss here but not from Shibata following his win (I know they do that stupid gimmick where he uses a translator to cut promos, but still). This was a well-worked match that didn't seem to serve a purpose.

BEEF and JD Drake def. Waves & Curls

The story now is that BEEF and Drake are getting along better than BEEF did with Anthony Henry, which is why they're winning matches and not teasing much tension. I couldn't care less about them regardless, but I guess it's something for them to do until Henry returns to action. I appreciated that Waves & Curls got in as much offense as they did before eating defeat. The fact they haven't been signed by a major promotion yet is an absolute crime.

Trish Adora def. Rachael Ellering

Ellering is a good wrestler, but her happy-go-lucky attitude has always annoyed me. Nothing ever seems to bother her character, and as a result, she's not interesting whatsoever. Adora is equally skilled and more interesting, though it's strange that she's continuing to act like a babyface despite recently joining Shane Taylor Promotions with The Infantry. This was a nice match while it lasted.

Matt Cardona Challenged ROH World Champion "The Learning Tree" Chris Jericho at Final Battle on TV Time with Chris Jericho

I never thought I'd see the day that Jericho actually appeared on an episode of ROH TV in person. Props to him for that (though it should've happened a while ago). You'd think this would've aired on Rampage or Collision to get more eyes on it, but it was spoiled online anyway since this was taped on Wednesday night. This was kept short and sweet and set up Cardona as Jericho's challenger for Final Battle. That match happening in the Hammerstein Ballroom of all places is going to be bizarre.

The Gates of Agony def. Griff Garrison and Preston Vance

Garrison went from teaming with Brian Pillman Jr. (now known as WWE NXT's Lexis King) to Cole Karter to now Vance. The Varsity Blonds had potential, but not the other two tandems. Vance is better than this, but I'm convinced Tony Khan won't ever give him a sustained singles push. This was fine for what it was and it gave Gates of Agony a decisive victory. I would've preferred more of a straightforward squash for them.

Billie Starkz def. Lady Frost

This whole thing was weird. Both of these of women are obviously talented, but for whatever reason, they were not on the same page here whatsoever. This was actually pretty bad and there was a point right before the finish where they were both laying on the mat and the crowd (or what was left of it, anyway) was making zero noise. Yikes. The finish felt abrupt, too. Maybe they ended it early because of a potential injury?

Top Flight and Action Andretti def. Shane Taylor Promotions (The Infantry and Shane Taylor)

It would've been logical for an opportunity at the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship at Final Battle to be on the line here, but that would've meant an ROH TV main event having stakes and we can't have that, now can we? I kid, I kid. ROH has done a better job of that lately, but this was not one of those instances. On the bright side, this was a quality contest. I know Top Flight and Andretti have to win once in a while, but it shouldn't have come at the expense of Shane Taylor Promotions, who were just starting to build momentum.

Overall Show

If you take out the latest throwback match (which was from Final Battle 2008 this week), this edition of ROH TV was just over an hour I believe. That's exactly what it should be, especially if Tony Khan hopes to get the brand a television deal at some point. Jericho's appearance alone made this an eventful episode, no matter what you think of him facing Cardona at Final Battle. This was an easy thumbs-up show by ROH TV standards, but they really need to announce the rest of the card for the upcoming pay-per-view.

SEE MORE: ROH Reviews