Ring of Honor Review - June 15, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

ROH World Television Champion Samoa Joe def. Matt Sydal

Sydal issued the challenge to Joe and Joe accepted. Yes, it's just that easy to get a title shot nowadays, especially when everyone in every company is holding open challenges. In all seriousness, this was a fun opener. Both of these guys can always be counted on for a quality contest and this was just that. I liked their dynamic and enjoyed it for what it was, even with the outcome never being in doubt. I'm looking forward to seeing Joe back on AEW TV this Saturday on the premiere of Collision.

Nick Comoroto def. Deimos

This marked Deimos' debut in Ring of Honor. I thought based on how competitive this was that he might win, but Comoroto ended up cheating to pick up the victory instead. In that case, I have no idea why Comoroto had such a tough time putting him away unless he'll be brought back. This was a fine hoss fight, but it didn't help that we know nothing about Deimos and Comoroto's new gimmick sucks.

Iron Savages def. "Hot Sauce" Tracy Williams and Rhett Titus

Williams and Titus was a nice step up in competition for Iron Savages, who have largely been beating jobbers throughout their runs in AEW and ROH. Williams and Titus are super skilled to boot and sold well for Iron Savages' offense. Their mouthpiece hasn't done them any favors so far, but at least they're winning consistently. Character development should be next for them so fans have a reason to care.

Diamante def. Teal Piper

This was perfect timing because Piper just appeared on an episode of WWE's Most Wanted Treasures, where she showed off some of her father Roddy Piper's old memorabilia. Interestingly, Piper has competed for AEW twice: once on an episode of Dark earlier this year and in the first-ever women's Casino Battle Royale back at All Out 2019. She was impressive here and wouldn't mind seeing her utilized again. Diamante's winning ways continue.

Tony Nese def. Serpentico

What was this Dark crap? Between the pre-match promo from The Varsity Athletes and the match itself, this wasted way too much time. I assume the idea is that Nese is in the midst of a singles push, but he's been so beaten down in AEW and even in ROH that it's impossible to take him seriously at this point. A win over Serpentico of all people isn't enough to change my mind. This was adequate for what it was. On the bright side, Luther wasn't at ringside.

Stu Grayson and The Righteous def. Dalton Castle and The Boys

If we're headed toward a rematch between The Dark Order and the trio of Grayson and The Righteous, then it makes sense to give Grayson and The Righteous more wins in six-man tag team action until then. I appreciate that Grayson has gotten some mic time in backstage interviews, but why he joined The Righteous still isn't completely clear. I would've bought him blaming his AEW departure on Dark Order, but he came back to the company alongside Dark Order before ditching them. This was decent and at least Castle and The Boys have some credibility as former ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions.

ROH Women's World Champion Athena def. Trish Adora in an ROH Women's World Championship Proving Ground Match

Athena cosplaying as Kiera Hogan backstage (which was funny) and Hogan attacking her would have been enough to build toward their Chicago Street Fight title rematch next week, but this obviously existed so they could do the post-match angle with Athena putting Hogan through a table. As I've said before, Athena's television matches tend to blend together at this point (unless the championship is on the line), but I appreciated that Adora was made to look credible in defeat and they had a good match.

Mark Briscoe def. Anthony Henry

Briscoe's busy with Jeff Jarrett's crew at the moment in AEW and that might be why we haven't seen him involved in anything of note lately. He's teased going back after the ROH World Television Championship, but there hasn't been any follow-up. At least he's racking up wins in the meantime and having well-wrestled matches like this one. They made the most of the time they had.

Daniel Garcia def. The DKC in a Pure Rules Match

This took place in front of a full crowd (a.k.a. not at Universal Studios), so it must have been taped before a recent AEW event. AEW got lucky that BJ Whitmer wasn't one of the judges on the stage considering he was fired earlier this week after getting arrested for domestic violence charges. DKC is apparently one of Katsuyori Shibata's "young boy" and Garcia wants a shot at the ROH Pure Championship, so that's why this match happened. It was pretty boring, even for a Pure Rules match.

Skye Blue def. Viva Van

It's cool that Blue has become a regular on AEW TV this year as part of the Outcasts storyline and she's coming off a better-than-expected bout with Toni Storm for the AEW Women's World Championship on Wednesday's Dynamite, but I don't know she's wasting time in ROH at this point. She's clearly above being on the brand now that she's already unsuccessfully challenged Athena. This was passable albeit pointless.

ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Mogul Embassy (Brian Cage and The Gates of Agony) def. AR Fox, Darius Martin and Action Andretti

They were announced as The Embassy, but wouldn't they technically be The Mogul Embassy because of their new partnership with Swerve Strickland? That's what I'm going with. They're coming off a loss on Wednesday's Dynamite, so this got them back on track (even though this taped before that). It was an entertaining sprint and easily the best bout on the show. This was Fox's third loss in a six-man tag team title match this year if we're counting AEW, so it might be time for him to do his own thing for a while.

Overall Show

ROH TV would be a much stronger show if it was one hour as opposed to two. There's just too much filler. This wasn't a poor episode, but I couldn't help but think that it would've been better with less matches. I liked the opening and closing matches, but there wasn't a whole lot else worth seeking out. Meanwhile, Tony Khan is an awful on-screen authority and I'm not sure why he thought putting himself on the show was a smart idea.

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