Ring of Honor Review - March 21, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Billie Starkz def. Mercedes Martinez in an ROH Women's World Television Championship Tournament Semifinal Match

Starkz advancing to the final was obvious from the start, but I have no issue with her having a competitive contest with the experienced Martinez in the semifinals. They worked nicely together and delivered an enjoyable opener. Despite Diamante attempting to interfere (as she did in Martinez's quarterfinal match with Abadon), Starkz managed to overcome the odds and pull out the victory.

Queen Aminata def. Red Velvet in an ROH Women's World Television Championship Tournament Semifinal Match

This was definitely one of the best bouts I've seen Velvet have to date, so props to her for her performance. Meanwhile, I continue to be really impressed by Aminata in the ring and from what I've heard from her in promos and interviews. I'm glad she's getting a chance to shine in Ring of Honor and I'd love to see her take the title. This was really good stuff and now we know it'll be Aminata against Starkz to crown the inaugural ROH Women's World Television Champion at Supercard of Honor.

Lee Johnson def. London Lightning

Poor Johnson. He's been racking up some wins lately and gradually building momentum, yet this crowd was way more into Lightning than they were Johnson. The local athletes are usually from the area and will get some crowd support, but Johnson getting booed despite being a babyface was a bit embarrassing. The match was fine for what it was and it looks like he's getting closer to contending for a championship.

Hikaru Shida def. Rachel Ellering

Ellering wasn't the best opponent for Shida here because she's also a babyface, but otherwise, this successfully served as a showcase for Shida ahead of her Supercard of Honor match for the ROH Women's World Championship against Athena, who was standing ringside. Shida's new look is badass and I have no doubt she and Athena are going to have killer chemistry together.

Matt Sydal def. TJ Crawford

What a random match. Sydal has been a regular in ROH since the relaunch of ROH TV last year, but we don't see him have many singles matches. He's usually teaming with Christopher Daniels, so this came out of nowhere unless the idea is to build up for a shot at one of the titles. This was kept short and sweet. It was cool to see Crawford, who has been wrestling for MLW as of late, make an appearance.

Mina Shirakawa def. Anna Jay

I have zero familiarity with Shirakawa, but from what I understand, she's a notable name over in Stardom, so AEW's working relationship with Stardom is officially underway it seems. There was a significant number of fans in attendance knew who she was based on the reaction she got (and I tell you that firsthand because I attended this taping before Big Business in Boston). This wasn't the smoothest encounter, mostly because of Jay, but Shirakawa was definitely impressive.

Overall Show

We also heard from Eddie Kingston in a pre-taped promo following his loss of the AEW Continental Championship to Kazuchika Okada on Wednesday's Dynamite. The AEW Continental Crown Championship wasn't on the line (there's a difference), so Kingston is still ROH World Champion. He's barely appeared on ROH TV in recent appearances, but I'm looking forward to him defending against Mark Briscoe at Supercard of Honor, nonetheless. As for this edition of ROH TV, it was around an hour long and that alone earns it a thumbs-up in my book. The three women's matches were all meaningful and well wrestled, making this an enjoyable episode on the whole.

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