Ring of Honor Review - February 20, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Wheeler Yuta def. Fuego Del Sol

This marked Yuta's first Ring of Honor match since last summer, which was before the Death Riders storyline started. I'm not sure why he's back on ROH TV other than to give the show some star power, but I use the words "star power" very loosely. Fuego always excels in the enhancement role, so I thought he was the perfect person for Yuta to destroy here. Other than the aforementioned reason, I don't know why this had to exist.

Abadon def. Rachael Ellering

We got another return on this show as Abadon hasn't been around since November. Perhaps she was hurt (again), but I'm willing to bet there just weren't any plans for her. Truthfully, what more can you do with such a limited character? I guess she can eventually challenge for the ROH Women's World Television Championship, but that isn't something that interests me in the slightest. This was perfectly fine for what it was. Ellering can't seem to escape being an enhancement talent.

The Outrunners, Top Flight and ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Von Erichs def. Premier Athletes (Mark Sterling, Tony Nese and Ariya Daivari) and The Frat House (Preston Vance, Griff Garrison, Cole Karter and Jacked Jameson)

For starters, this new Frat House stable is absolute garbage.​ It's painfully apparent that those four guys were put together because they have zero direction. Yes, you can argue that every company can benefit from having undercard factions, but ROH and AEW have way too many of them. Nonetheless, this was a nice match and I was happy to see The Von Erichs backs following a lengthy absence.

Billie Starkz def. Hyan

To say this story with Starkz and Athena is moving in slow motion would be generous. It really should have culminated at Final Battle 2023, but worst case scenario, I would've been fine with it ending at Final Battle 2024. Instead, Athena beat Starkz clean both times and I'm struggling to care at this point. The tension being teased means nothing when we've already seen it so many times before. This was an extended showcase for Starkz, but she should've beaten Hyan quicker than she did.

ROH World Television Champion Komander def. Lee Johnson

Johnson earned this opportunity by outlasting Komander in a Proving Ground match three weeks ago. Personally, I would've slotted this as the main event over what we got since it had stakes, but oh well. This was better than their original encounter and the action was enjoyable. It helped that it felt like Komander had the odds stacked against him with EJ Nduka at ringside, so Komander retaining wasn't so predictable.

The Gates of Agony def. Warren J and Zack Zilla

Did Gates of Agony ever finish their feud with LeeJ? I honestly don't remember. I do remember that they turned babyface around Final Battle and it looks like they're sticking to that role. At any rate, this was exactly what it needed to be in that it was total destruction for Gates of Agony and it didn't overstay its welcome. How soon until we can get them in the mix ROH World Tag Team Championship?

Hechicero, Soberano Jr. and Barbaro Cavenario def. Fuego, Dark Panther and ROH World Tag Team Champion Sammy Guevara

I'm familiar with most of these guys from the matches they've had in MLW recently and some of them have appeared on AEW TV as well (I'm talking about everyone except for Guevara, obviously). It was smart to include Guevara being he's established with the AEW audience, but the crowd was still fairly quiet for a majority of the match. Guevara did what he could to get them to react and they thankfully picked up the pace down the stretch. This was a well-wrestled main event that gave the CMLL guys some exposure. I liked how MxM Collection costing Guevara the win furthered that feud.

Overall Show

The seven-match cards are much more bearable than what we were getting previously on ROH TV, especially when time isn't wasted on old match replays. Granted, I still wouldn't say the show is worth seeking out, but at least they're doing a more effective job of filling the time. All in all, this was a solid episode with a few returns, a title match and a little CMLL flavor in the main event.

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