Ring of Honor Review - July 27, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Josh Woods def. Eli Isom in a Pure Rules Match

I was wondering why Woods had a Pure Rules match on last week's episode, but then it made sense when he had another one on the Death Before Dishonor Zero Hour pre-show. Katsuyori Shitbata was ringside for this, and post-match, Shibata accepted Woods' challenge for an ROH Pure Championship match next week. I was surprised by how long this was because Isom hasn't been positioned as anyone important in the new Ring of Honor, but it was a well-worked match, nonetheless.

Trish Adora def. Vita VonStarr

VonStarr didn't get an entrance and was treated like your average local athlete, but she was a part of The Righteous' act in the old ROH and apparently hasn't been re-signed to join them. As for Adora, I'm all for her getting back on track following her loss to Leyla Hirsch at Death Before Dishonor. VonStarr scored some offense than I thought she would, but it was still a straightforward win for Adora as it should have been.,

ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions Mogul Embassy (Brian Cage and The Gates of Agony) def. Jacked Jameson and Iron Savages 

I'd say that this was the first actual trio to challenge Mogul Embassy in several months, but have Jameson and Iron Savages actually teamed up on TV before? Jameson's been in the corner of Iron Savages for a while now, but I can't recall him wrestling. It would've helped if ROH bothered to build to this a bit or advertise it in advance. Instead, it was thrown out there randomly and thus no one had a reason to care, despite it being a pretty good hoss fight.

"Legit" Leyla Hirsch def. B3CCA

B3CCA has been a regular over in MLW as of late and is being built up with a few wins. Before MLW, though, she was your average enhancement talent on AEW's Dark shows and she resumed that role here. This was all about giving Hirsch another dominant win and I'm not complaining. Having her continuing to build momentum is key, though I don't expect her to challenge for the ROH Women's World Championship as long as Athena holds it.

The Renegades def. Tiara James and JC

I don't believe we've seen The Renegades in at least a month or so. I didn't notice their absence until they reappeared here and they remain a work in progress. That's why these matches are useful: to give them the reps and experience they need to get better. Personally, I'm not a fan, but Tony Khan clearly is based on how often they've been featured over the last year. This was a match that existed and nothing more.

ROH Women's World Champion Athena def. Christina Marie in an ROH Women's World Championship Proving Ground Match

I'm still shocked Athena beat Willow Nightingale to retain her title at Death Before Dishonor. Athena has obviously been outstanding as a heel champion, but who's left to face her at this point? Unless Nightingale gets a third shot or someone from the outside is brought in, no one on the current roster seems to make sense. This was more of the same from Athena, which is why I wanted her to drop the title. She needs something new as these squashes are all exactly the same and got old a while ago.

The Kingdom def. Rhett Titus and "Hot Sauce" Tracy Williams

Khan needs to figure out what he's using with Titus. I mention him specifically because he was used as a security guard backstage on AEW Collision last week like he was an unknown jabroni. Granted, he's no "star," but he's better than that. Williams is also appearing in MLW at the moment as well and I'm glad he's making the rounds. This was a hell of a hard-hitting affair with The Kingdom picking up a nice win.

Christopher Daniels def. JD Drake in an ROH World Television Championship Eliminator Tournament Quarterfinal Match

For those keeping track at home, a tournament to determine a number one contender to the ROH World Television Championship just wrapped up on the show a week ago. A week later, we're already getting another one serving the same purpose. Khan's obsession with Battle Royals and tournaments has gone too far. With all of that said, this was a quality contest, but there was no uncertainty surrounding the outcome.

Big Bill and Lee Moriarty def. Gabriel Hodder and Adrien Soriano

What the hell is going on with Bill? He'll team with Moriarty some weeks, wrestle on his own other weeks, and now he's also formed an alliance with Brian Cage after they worked well together in the Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament. Aren't they teaming on Friday's Rampage in that tag team Battle Royale? Bill should be doing singles stuff, but if he's going to be teaming with anyone, I like the pairing with Cage more. They dominated their opponents here, but it doesn't mean anything if it amounts to nothing.

Tony Nese def. Cheeseburger in an ROH World Television Championship Eliminator Tournament Quarterfinal Match

I didn't think this would be as competitive as it was given Cheeseburger hasn't won a single match in the new ROH. He's a fan favorite and all, but he probably shouldn't have been in this tournament because of that. Him against Nese was the definition of a Dark match, but it was fine for what it was. A bracket for this latest tourney was never shown (unless I missed it), but I assume Nese will face Daniels in the next round.

Gravity def. Anthony Henry in an ROH World Television Championship Eliminator Tournament Quarterfinal Match

Considering Gravity is coming off a win over Komander at Death Before Dishonor and just went toe-to-toe with Pac on Dynamite, he was not losing here. Henry is talented, but similar to his partner JD Drake, he has yet to win anything of note on his own in ROH. He always has impressive performances and this was no exception. It was a well-wrestled match with some fun aerial offense. Gravity vs. Samoa Joe for the TV title would be interesting.

Shane Taylor def. Serpentico in an ROH World Television Championship Eliminator Tournament Quarterfinal Match

Cheeseburger being in the tourney was one thing because of his history in ROH, but Serpentico getting a spot is laughable. Spanish Announce Project are abysmal and Serpentico also does nothing but lose. What's worse is that this wasn't booked as a quick squash for Taylor. It went longer than it needed to, but at least Taylor went over decisively. Taylor lost the last number one contender's tournament, but looking at who else advanced, he should definitely win this one.

Dalton Castle and The Boys def. The Trustbusters (Jeeves Kay, Slim J and Sonny Kiss)

I had to double check that this was actually the main event. Silly me for thinking The Trustbusters were a thing of the past (especially with Ari Daivari having officially ditched them for The Varsity Athletes), but evidently not. They're the ultimate jobber faction and should be nowhere near the main event on any show. The best thing I can say about this is that it was kept relatively short and sweet. I figured Castle would continuing chasing the TV title after Joe cheated to beat him at Death Before Dishonor, but he wasn't even included in the new number one contender's tournament. How strange.

Overall Show

ROH TV was doing so well in recent weeks of ending around the 90-minute mark or less, but the show was back to being around two hours this week. It wasn't justified, either, because you could have scrapped several of the squashes and stretched the completely-unnecessary tournament over two weeks. There was some solid wrestling sprinkled throughout the two hours, but this was largely a filler episode and more of the same from the dull ROH TV product. ROH once again delivers an excellent pay-per-view event and fails to follow up accordingly.

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