Ring of Honor Review - June 1, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Kingdom def. The Infantry

The Kingdom are in rebound mode following their loss to Darius Martin and Action Andretti in Fight Without Honor a few weeks ago. The Infantry have been nothing more than an enhancement team so far in Ring of Honor, but I do think they can be more than that eventually based on what I've seen from them. Even though it didn't last long, this was an enjoyable opener with an obvious outcome.

Skye Blue def. Trish Adora

Now having unsuccessfully challenged for the ROH Women's World Championship, Blue is back to racking up wins that will amount to nothing. Don't get me wrong, I like Blue, but what does she really have to strive for at this point? And what sort of character development has she had? I appreciate the reps she's getting on ROH TV, but she might benefit from not wrestling every single week. I would've actually preferred to see Adora win here.

The Righteous and Stu Grayson def. The Dark Order (Evil Uno, John Silver and Alex Reynolds)

I'm still wondering if there was a segment I missed where Grayson agreed to team with The Righteous and give them a chance. Is he with Dark Order or not? I understand the story they're trying to tell with these guys, but personally, I'm not invested. This was a well-worked match and the heels winning keeps this thing alive, but more mic time would be appreciated to add context to all of this to explain why any of it is happening.

Diamante def. Promise Braxton

As I've mentioned before, I'm skeptical about this latest push for Diamante because AEW has done nothing with her for so long. The ROH women's division is a good spot for her, but I don't at all view her as a threat to the ROH Women's World Championship and I'm not sure a few wins over unsigned talent is going to do much to change that. This worked a simple showcase for her, but what incentive do viewers have to care about her at this point?

ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion Brian Cage def. Willie Mack

I'm convinced Cage and Mack are incapable of having a bad match together. They've had at least two matches in AEW already and this was as entertaining as their other encounters. The crowd was certainly into it. Cage now appears regularly in AEW, so it made more sense for him to win, but it'd be nice for Mack to get some direction (whether it be on his own or in a tag team with Ninja Mack) and win more consistently.

NJPW World Television Champion Zack Sabre Jr. def. Rocky Romero

I thought Romero's recent win streak was leading to him challenging Katsuyori Shibata for the ROH Pure Championship, but him getting a shot at the NJPW World Television Championship was the next best thing. This was the very well-wrestled match you'd expect from these two with plenty of submissions and technical wrestling. Hopefully we still get Sabre vs. Samoa Joe at some point and there will be a payoff to that tease from a few weeks ago.

Action Andretti and Darius Martin def. The Workhorsemen

The chemistry Andretti and Martin have as partners grows each time they team up. Them facing The Lucha Brothers for the ROH World Tag Team Championship eventually could be a blast. The Workhorsemen never win against opponents who matter, so although the outcome was never in doubt, this was a nice sprint while it lasted. Dante Martin may not be back for a while, but I can get used to Darius and Andretti as a duo in the meantime.

Kip Sabian, The Butcher and The Blade def. Shogun, Bryce Saturn and Jakob Austin Young

Sabian, Butcher and Blade solely exist as a trio to put over others. They aren't bad together necessarily, but it's almost impossible to take them seriously. Even if they manage to rack up a few wins, I simply don't see them as a threat to the AEW World Trios Championship or even the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship. That said, this was exactly what it needed to be in that it was kept short and sweet with the heels dominating their opponents.

AAA Mega Champion El Hijo del Vikingo, Komander and Bandido def. Jack Cartwheel and Spanish Announce Project (Angelico and Serpentico)

What a random match. I thought it was designed to hype the AAA Mega Championship three-way match coming up on Rampage, but then I realized that Dralistico will be in there with Vikingo and Komander, not Bandido. Bandido has formed alliances with Best Friends, Lucha Brothers and now these two, so he's all over the place. This was one big spot-fest and nothing more. It was fun, but I don't know what purpose this was supposed to serve.

ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata def. Alex Coughlin in a Pure Rules Match

Coughlin is someone those who follow New Japan Pro-Wrestling will be familiar with. I barely keep tabs on the product, but I do recognize the name and I imagine most people who watch ROH TV know who he is. Shibata wrestles a certain style that plays well into the pure rules, even if doesn't make for the most exciting matches. This was solid stuff, but some will enjoy it more than others depending on your taste.

ROH Women's World Champion Athena def. Kiera Hogan

This was one of the best matches I've seen Hogan have so far in either AEW or ROH. Granted, she hasn't had the chance to have too many competitive matches in either promotion, but she made the most of this opportunity and Athena brings the best out of all of her opponents. What's interesting is that Athena clearly cheated to retain and then they brawled afterward, so perhaps this feud isn't over yet.

Overall Show

This was a much, much better edition of ROH TV than last week and arguably one of the strongest episodes since the show relaunched three months ago. I still would rather see ROH TV be one hour instead of two, but hey, it's much more tolerable than three. The best part of this episode was that it didn't mostly consist of squashes like in weeks past and that there were matches that actually stood out. ROH TV needs to follow this formula more often.

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