Ring of Honor Review - January 9, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Trish Adora def. Harley Cameron

I thought the the timing of this match made sense with Cameron facing AEW Women's World Champion Mariah May in a non-title match on Saturday's Collision, but that was when I thought Cameron would win here. I like Adora and she's someone I want to see rack up more wins, but this was the wrong outcome. At the very least, it should've been saved for next week so Cameron didn't look weak going into Collision. This was a decent match.

Blake Christian def. Serpentico

Final Battle was when Christian started embracing his heel persona in Ring of Honor and he's been exceling in that role since then. Although he's never done much for me personally, Serpentico is one of the more well-liked guys on the ROH roster, so he was a logical opponent for Christian here. I don't think the match needed to last as long as it did, but Christian's heel mannerisms were the highlight.

Boulder def. Griff Garrison

This was the definition of total throwaway. That isn't to say there was technically anything wrong with it, but I have no idea why it existed since Boulder is primarily a tag team guy in Iron Savages and they're not a team to be taken seriously. As for Garrison, I still laugh looking back at how Cope thought he was giving Garrison "the rub" when they faced each other AEW TNT Championship open challenge last year. It may have been brief, but this was a waste of time.

Billie Starkz def. Brittany Jade

I'm disappointed every time I see Starkz as it reminds me that she failed to win the ROH Women's World Championship from Athena yet again at Final Battle. I'm sure she'll be the one to ultimately dethrone Athena, but they're taking too long to get there and we're reached a point where I just don't care. This was a solid showcase for Starkz but nothing more.

Queen Aminata def. Rachael Ellering

Remember that stretch of a few weeks late last year where Aminata was featured regularly on AEW TV against the likes of Kamille, Mercedes Mone and Jamie Hayter? Yeah, she hasn't wrestled on Dynamite or Collision since November. That sort of inconsistency is AEW's biggest issue. Nonetheless, this was a nice win for her in what was a well-worked match with Ellering.

MxM Collection def. The Dawsons

Unrelated to this match but MxM Collection had a very entertaining interview with Chris Jericho on Wednesday's Talk Is Jericho that I recommend checking out. That was more interesting than this, which was a fairly standard squash for MxM Collection. I remember The Dawsons from their run in the NWA years ago, so they're reliable in the enhancement role.

ROH Women's World Television Champion Red Velvet def. Jazmyne Hao in an ROH Women's World Television Championship Proving Ground Match

Velvet is clearly headed for a rematch with Leyla Hirsch based on their interaction a week or two ago, so expect Velvet to continue her winning ways until then. There was zero chance Hao would beat or outlast her here, so there was no uncertainty surrounding the outcome, but the match was fine for what it was (except for that punch Velvet won with, it didn't look like it connected at all).

Shane Taylor Promotions (ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty and Shane Taylor) def. The Gates of Agony

I'm a fan of Shane Taylor Promotions, but I'm confused as to whether Moriarty is supposed to be a tag team guy or a singles star defending his ROH Pure Championship. He and Taylor have quality chemistry as partners, but I'd prefer to see Taylor built up on his own or be put with The Infantry in the ROH Six-Man World Tag Team Championship mix (where the hell are The Von Erichs, by the way?). This was a good match and I assume Shane Taylor Promotions cheating to win further establishes Gates of Agony as babyfaces.

The Rock 'N' Roll Express Attacked ROH World Champion "The Learning Tree" Chris Jericho and Bryan Keith

It was painfully obvious that this was solely meant to get Jericho on the show in some capacity so he could appear in front of the live crowd, but hey, it's better than the ROH World Champion not appearing on the program at all. The angle Rock 'N' Roll Express were involved in with The Death Riders on last Saturday's Collision was lame, so I was happy they got this moment where they fended off Jericho and Keith. It was simple stuff and perfectly harmless.

Overall Show

Even at just under an hour and a half (take out the full-match replay and it's even shorter), this edition of ROH TV felt like a chore to sit through. Most of the matches were meaningless and there were less storyline-significant backstage segments than there have been in recent weeks. Shane Taylor Promotions vs. Gates of Agony was the only match to somewhat stand out and even that was a fairly average outing compared to previous ROH TV main events.

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