Ring of Honor Review - January 2, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

ROH Women's World Television Champion Red Velvet def. Hanako

Velvet is already infinitely better as a heel following her turn at Final Battle. I'm honestly shocked she didn't turn sooner. Her in-ring work isn't always the smoothest, but her heel mannerisms might be enough to make up for it. From what I understand, Hanako is a star on the rise in Stardom. I didn't expect her to take the title here, but I thought she had a solid showing. Velvet told Leyla Hirsch later on that she'll give her another opportunity at the title on her time.

Action Andretti and Lio Rush def. The Rottweilers

I like how Rocky Romero and Homicide reunited as The Rottweilers on last week's show with a win over QT Marshall and Aron Solo so they could put over Andretti and Rush this week. The timing works out well since Andretti and Rush are challenging Private Party for the AEW World Tag Team Championship on Saturday's Collision, this gave them an additional momentum boost before then. This was a nice match while it lasted.

Harley Cameron def. Ashley Vox

I'm familiar with Vox from the time she spent in the NWA and MLW, so she's always reliable in the enhancement role. As for Cameron, she continues to make strides in the ring. I find her character work more annoying than I do entertaining, but I suppose that's the point since she's a heel. She's definitely improving, so there's that. If you want to establish credibility for Cameron, then this should have been shorter and more one-sided in Cameron's favor.

Shane Taylor Promotions (ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty and Shane Taylor) def. The Dark Order (Evil Uno and Alex Reynolds) and Iron Savages (Boulder and Bronson) in a Three-Way Tag Team Match

As I've said countless times over the last year, the multi-team tag matches are completely pointless if there's nothing on the line. ROH TV has been more storyline-driven as of late and I appreciate that, but why not make the tag team division more of a priority by establishing that all of these teams are gunning for the tag titles instead of fighting in random matchups? This was perfectly fine and at least the right team won.

ROH World Television Champion Komander vs. QT Marshall in an ROH World Television Championship Proving Ground Match Ended in a Time-Limit Draw

It's very rare these Proving Ground matches result in the challenger getting a title shot, so Marshall being able to last the 10 minutes and earn himself a future opportunity at the TV title was a pleasant surprise because I didn't see it coming. Marshall has been playing his role really well since returning to the ring at Full Gear and this was no exception. This was a fun main event between these two and I look forward to the eventual rematch with the gold up for grabs.

Overall Show

This edition of ROH TV was around 90 minutes long, but it was really around an hour if you take out the full-length replay of Athena vs. Willow Nightingale from Death Before Dishonor 2023. It was one of the stronger shows in recent memory. The follow-up to Final Battle has been solid and we've been treated to some quality action in the last two weeks. Granted, there's been zero update on the ROH World Championship scene, but at least this episode was mostly a breeze to sit through with only five matches (not counting the replay).

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