Ring of Honor Review - June 19, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor and ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty) def. Sal Mistretta and Anthony Gangone

This match was so short that it's almost not even worth commenting on, but that's exactly how it should have been. I despise the squash matches in AEW and Ring of Honor that last longer than they need to, so I appreciate it when they're kept brief. On a side note, when I looked up the match to see when it was taped, I discovered this was from early May. It seems like Tony Khan is just airing random matches at this point to fill out an episode.

Deonna Purrazzo def. Marti Belle in a Pure Rules Match

I understand Purrazzo excels under Pure Rules, but if this ROH Women's Pure Championship Tournament isn't imminent despite being announced months ago, then there really isn't a purpose to these matches being contested under Pure Rules. Plus, the Pure Rules matches tend to be more boring, though it didn't make much of a difference here since this would've been a straightforward squash for Purrazzo, regardless. My only takeaway is that Purrazzo deserves better.

Lance Archer def. Aaron Solo

Archer has been getting some more exposure on AEW TV lately as a member of The Don Callis Family, so that's been nice to see, but I still have no expectation he'll ever be pushed at a meaningful level again. Thus, a win like this won't ever amount to anything, but it was thankfully on the shorter side like the previous two matches on this show. Solo can take a beating well, I'll say that much.

Miyu Yamashita def. Brooke Havok

I remember when Havok wrestled one of her very first matches on an episode of Dark years ago against Britt Baker. She's clearly improved quite a bit since then and has developed an identity that resonates with fans. That said, this was all about Yamashita, so other than a quick flurry of offense, Havok didn't have much of a chance to shine here. Yamashita is excellent from what I've seen of her work, but I'm not sure if she's here to stay in ROH or if this was just a one-off.

Top Flight and The Kingdom def. The Infantry and Grizzled Young Veterans

This essentially served as a showcase of ROH's tag team division. They do have some talented teams, but the ROH World Tag Team Championship is rarely defended, so it's almost impossible to care about any of these tandems at the moment if they can't chase the titles. On the bright side, this was an entertaining eight-man tag team affair and easily the best thing on the entire show.

Overall Show

This was actually a step backward from some of the recent editions of ROH TV that felt more eventful in terms of actual developments. Of the five matches, only one was competitive. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to complain about episodes under 40 minutes long, but it does beg the question of why ROH even exists these days, especially with Supercard of Honor coming up in three weeks and zero matches (to my knowledge) having been announced.

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