Ring of Honor Review - January 4, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Griff Garrison def. Serpentico

You couldn't pay me to care about a feud pitting Garrison and Cole Karter against Spanish Announce Table. That is the definition of Dark filler. Who is the crowd supposed to cheer for? Garrison is a competent competitor, but his recent alliance with Karter and Maria Kanellis-Bennett has done him no favors and beating Serpentico will not change that. This was fine but forgettable.

Lance Archer def. JP Harlow

I've pretty much given up on the idea of AEW ever doing anything of note with Archer, so relegating him to Ring of Honor is a logical move. Granted, I don't see him doing much more than squashing people, but hey, it's better than him not being used at all. This your typical Archer enhancement match and it was kept short and sweet. He got to wrestle in his native Texas, so there was that.

Dalton Castle def. "Pretty" Peter Avalon

Bless Castle for being so committed to his current character and acting depressed that he ate a sandwich while walking to the ring. Needless to say, he's a recurring highlight on ROH TV, even when he has a match as inconsequential as this one. There was nothing out of the ordinary about it, but Castle is consistently a treat and thus I didn't mind. Hopefully this character arc for him is headed somewhere and he isn't just directionless.

Queen Aminata def. Maya World

It would have been more helpful for this to air prior to her loss to Mariah May on Wednesday's Dynamite, but it wouldn't have made much of a difference since hardly anyone watches ROH TV, anyway. At least this served as a rebound win for her and it was cool to see her spotlighted. She's yet another nice addition to ROH's women's division assuming she's here to stay. Perhaps she'll be involved in the chase to crown an inaugural ROH Women's World Television Champion?

​Shane Taylor Promotions def. The Boys and The Infantry in a Three-Way Tag Team Match

​Shane Taylor and Lee Moriarty are officially going by Shane Taylor Promotions, so I'll be referring to them as such going forward. They're already one of ROH's top teams, but with The Undisputed Kingdom being the new ROH World Tag Team Champions, they probably won't be getting a shot at the titles anytime soon. This was a quality contest, but ROH has done the multi-team matches to death over the past few months.

Red Velvet def. Alex Gracia

Velvet completely disappeared from AEW TV despite only returning two months ago, so ROH might be the best place for her at this point. That's in addition to the fact that she isn't all that great, so being in ROH can give her the reps she needs (that she'd otherwise be getting on Dark if it was still a thing). This was perfectly passable and got Velvet off to a solid start in ROH, but we'll see if she can build real momentum.

Mercedes Martinez and Diamante def. Rachael Ellering and "Legit" Leyla Hirsch

Martinez and Diamante lost a Street Fight to Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale on Collision just a few weeks ago, so I'm glad they didn't lose this match, too. Ellering and Hirsch are only just starting to find their footing as partners, so it made more sense for them to fall short here so they can eventually avenge the loss. It was a well-worked matchup, which should come as no surprise given the level of talent of all involved.

ROH World Television Champion Kyle Fletcher def. Willie Mack

Fletcher captured the title at Final Battle less than a month ago, so I doubt anyone viewed Mack as a legitimate threat to him here. However, the crowd rallied behind Mack and he had the usual good showing in what was an enjoyable outing. I honestly fear for Mark Davis once he's cleared to compete because Fletcher has really taken off as a singles star and is above the tag team division at this point.

AAA World Cruiserweight Champion Komander, AAA Mega Champion El Hijo del Vikingo and Lee Johnson def. Gringo Loco and The Workhorsemen

It was ridiculous for this to headline over the ROH World Television Championship match, which was way more important. This was every spot-fest we've ever gotten from Vikingo and Komander on ROH TV, and while the crowd was into the action, I'm tired of watching meaningless main events on this show. This was fun for what it was, but ultimately, it accomplished nothing. Johnson filling in for Penta El Zero Miedo was a random choice.

Overall Show

Props to Caprice Coleman for doing commentary the whole time with almost no voice. They clearly taped this back-to-back with last week's edition due to there being no Collision last Saturday, so I can only imagine how exhausted the crowd was by the end (or at least those that decided to stay). The best thing I can say about this episode was that it was around 90 minutes long. They're introducing some newer faces (a.k.a. underutilized talent from AEW) and the action was acceptable, but they need to get something going with ROH World Champion/AEW Continental Crown Champion Eddie Kingston as well as the other champs on the brand.

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