Ring of Honor Review - January 8, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Ace Austin def. Aaron Solo

Austin challenged Ricochet for the AEW National Championship about a month ago, but he really hasn't done anything of note since then. Instead, he's been relegated to Ring of Honor. That's fine for now, but he shouldn't be exclusive to ROH permanently as he's better than that. It also didn't make sense that it took him as long as it did to put Solo away of all people. This was a decent match, but I question the booking.

CRU (Lio Riush and Action Andretti) def. Will Allday and Jay Alexander

I've been questioning the whereabouts of CRU in recent reviews with Rush competing on his own, so I was glad to see him back with Andretti here. They were regulars on AEW TV (specifically Collision) at one point, but I'd like to see them go after the ROH World Tag Team Championship eventually. This was a simple showcase to get them back on track and also establish that Lacy Lane is their newest member.

The Infantry (Trish Adora and ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty) def. SkyFlight (Zayda Steel and Darius Martin)

In a video that aired before the bout, Christopher Daniels announced Leila Grey was hurt and that Steel (who actually lost to Grey not too long ago) would be her replacement in SkyFlight. With SkyFlight being a babyface faction, she feels like an odd fit for the group since she's a natural heel, but at least it gives her something to do for now. This was a well-worked mixed tag team match, but I personally wouldn't have had Adora pin Steel.

Diamante and Billie Starkz def. Reiza Clarke and Shay Karmichael

Diamante and Starkz are fresh off a win over Deonna Purrazzo and the now-retired Madison Rayne, so I get wanting to give them another momentum-building win here. The question is where these wins are leading. I'd be all for them setting their sights on the AEW Women's World Tag Team Championship, if only for a one-off on Dynamite or Collision. This was a standard squash and Diamante picking up the pinfall victory for her team was refreshing.

Premier Athletes (Tony Nese, Ariya Daivari and Stori Denali) def. Demo Diamond, Delynn Cavens and Rachael Ellering

Premier Athletes continue to be spotlighted in enhancement matches where they make short work of their unknown opponents (okay, so Ellering isn't unknown, but she's pretty much a jobber on this show). This was no different than any other match they've had as of late, except Nese scored the win for his team this time instead of Denali. Premier Athletes are already back to being boring, so this did nothing for me.

Dalton Castle and The Outrunners def. The Frat House (Cole Karter, Griff Garrison and Preston Vance)

Frat House lose most of their matches (unless they're facing local athletes), whereas Castle and The Outrunners win most of their matches. That was essentially the story of this match, which otherwise did not have one. Both trios consist of goofballs, so this is what you'd expect it to be. I can't recall if Castle and The Outrunners have vied for the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship yet, but if not, why not?

The Von Erichs def. MxM Collection

The Von Erichs haven't been on ROH TV all that consistently since losing the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship months ago, and since they wrapped up their rivalry with La Faccion Ingobernable soon after, there's no point in them chasing the ROH World Tag Team Championship, either. In other words, they're directionless at the moment, but this was passable and gave them a win over a contracted team.

ROH World Tag Team Champion Sammy Guevara def. Kiran Grey

Grey looked like he'd be someone notable based on his appearance alone, so I was curious to see what he could do. It wasn't totally one-sided, but Guevara won in what turned out to be a nothing match in under three minutes, so Grey was an afterthought. Okay, then. I'm assuming this only existed so Guevara could bounce back after losing to Bandido on Dynamite, even though this was taped before that.

The Swirl def. "Dynamite Kid" Tommy Billington and Adam Priest

Billington and Priest used to be aligned with Jay Lethal, so now that Lethal is a heel and aligned with The Swirl, this was a logical match to do. I guess Bandido was too busy to show up here, but him focusing on challenging for the AEW World Championship on next week's Dynamite, I can't say I blame him. This was a solid main event to put more heat on the heels.

Overall Show

I'm sorry but nine matches for ROH TV is too many. It's an improvement over the marathon shows we were getting a while back, but most of these matches blend together because they're meaningless and accomplish very little. The story surrounding the ROH World Championship is something, but nothing else about this episode was remotely interesting. It was the definition of a show that happened.

SEE MORE: ROH Reviews