Ring of Honor Review - March 7, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Red Velvet def. "Legit" Leyla Hirsch in an ROH Women's World Television Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match

I remain unenthused by a majority of Velvet's matches, but she had the right opponent here in Hirsch to carry her to a competent contest. They were given an ample amount of time (which makes sense for a quarterfinal tournament match) and they produced a well-wrestled affair. I fully expected Hirsch to advance, so Velvet winning was surprising considering I don't expect her to ultimately win the title (whereas Hirsch would've had a better shot).

Abadon def. Judie Azul

Abadon and Mercedes Martinez will face off in the quarterfinals of the ROH Women's World Television Championship Tournament, and both were in the building because Martinez came out toward the end, so why not do the match here? Was it really necessary for Abadon to have a random enhancement match instead? At least this was over in under two minutes, so it didn't overstay its welcome.

Lee Johnson def. Jon Cruz

Johnson has been having nothing but squash matches lately and winning every time. I appreciate that he's being built up, even if it's just to unsuccessfully challenge for the ROH World Television Championship at some point. The reigning champ Kyle Fletcher returned to action on Wednesday's Dynamite, so it could happen soon. Cruz scored more offense than I thought he would, but this was a decisive win for Johnson otherwise.

Nyla Rose def. Airica Demia

This marked Rose's first match since failing to beat Athena in that two-out-of-three Tables match, and it appears the feud is finished because there's been no indication it's continuing and we didn't hear from Rose on this show. As such, she'll go back to beating local athletes, it seems. This was your standard squash match, but with the ROH Women's World Television Championship Tournament already underway, I'm not sure what Rose does now other than this sort of stuff.

The Infantry def. Gringo Loco & Jack Cartwheel, Spanish Announce Project, and The Workhorsemen in a Four-Corner Survival Tag Team Match

Spanish Announce Project confronted Maria Kanellis-Bennett backstage earlier in the episode about wanting a rematch with Cole Karter and Griff Garrison, but Maria told them they weren't there and they'd have to wrestle another team (or teams in this case) instead. What we ended up with was yet another Four-Corner Survival tag team match. It was no different than any other one we've gotten in the last several months. It was well worked, but there was nothing remotely special about it, especially with nothing at stake. I'm doubtful this win will elevate The Infantry in any way.

Overall Show

No, you're not imagining things: We actually had an edition of ROH TV last under an hour. Huzzah! I'm well aware that was likely only the case for this week with Collision (where ROH TV is usually taped) being pre-taped again, so I won't get used to it, but I'll take a shorter show when we can get it. This was largely a throwaway episode outside of the one tournament match, but it was more bearable because there was less meaningless matches than usual.

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