Ring of Honor Review - March 9, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

ROH World Television Champion Samoa Joe def. Tony Deppen

Interestingly, Joe was still AEW TNT Champion when this taped two weeks ago, so the production team did a commendable job of editing that out entirely. You probably won't even know he had the belt with him unless you paid close attention. Anyway, this was a fun opener. Deppen hasn't done enough in AEW/Ring of Honor recently to convince people he was a threat here, but I thought he had a good showing in defeat. Mark Briscoe emerged as Joe's next challenger afterward and I really hope that's saved for Supercard of Honor because Briscoe should be the one to dethrone Joe as champ.

Dalton Castle and The Boys def. Marcus Kross, Cody Chhun and Guillermo Rosas

Castle mentioned in a backstage promo beforehand that he and The Boys want back the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship they lost to The Embassy at Final Battle. Well, Brian Cage's contract is coming up soon and The Embassy have barely done anything since becoming champions, so I think it's safe Castle and The Boys are getting those belts back at Supercard of Honor. This was an extended showcase for Castle and The Boys to get them closer to a title shot.

La Faccion Ingobernable (Rush and Dralistico) def. Spanish Announce Project (Angelico and Serpentico)

Angelico is a fine fit for ROH, but hard pass on Serpentico and Luther coming with him. Spanish Announce Project have been established as enhancement talent in AEW, so there's no reason to care about them in ROH, either (not to mention that Luther is unbearable). This really should have been a straightforward squash with Rush and Dralistico winning quickly and decisively, especially coming off their bizarre/botched loss back at Final Battle.

Trish Adora def. Billie Starkz

Starks has been making the rounds lately between AEW, MLW and now ROH. I know she's still in school (she's legitimately 18-years-old), but she'd be a great get for any of those promotions once she's ready to sign. As for Adora, she was picking up steam before ROH closed its doors in 2021, so I'm glad she's picking up where she left off. The crowd was quiet, but they both shined and put forth a strong effort. Both of them would benefit from a video package and more mic time.

The Trustbusters (Ari Daivari and Slim J) def. Jake Crist and Man Scout

A Trustbusters squash is exactly what I didn't want to see from the new ROH. Save that shit for Dark, please. Man Scout's appearance was the sole saving grace of this match as I've loved his work on the northeast independent scene for well over a decade. He's a stupid act, yes, but it's a guilty pleasure of mine. Meanwhile, it's shocking far Crist has fallen these past few years. He was riding high as Impact X-Division Champion four years ago and has done nothing of note since leaving the promotion. This was a pretty boring bout, though it didn't last long, thankfully. Metalik and Blake Christian went after Trustbusters afterward, so expect to see that tag team match soon.

ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta def. Timothy Thatcher in a Pure Rules Match

Seeing Thatcher wrestle for the ROH Pure Championship was surreal. I mean, it makes so much sense, but I never thought it'd actually ever happen due to Thatcher being in WWE and then Japan. This was as well-wrestled as you'd expect from these two, though you may not have liked it as much if you don't dig the technical style. Post-match, Clark Connors to challenge Yuta to a title match next week. He received practically no reaction, but for those unaware, he was a part of that four-way to crown the inaugural AEW All-Atlantic Champion back at Forbidden Door and primarily competes on NJPW Strong.

Aussie Open def. "Hot Sauce" Tracy Williams and Rhett Titus

Williams and Titus not only have history as members of The Foundation but are also former ROH World Tag Team Champions together. They're a quality addition to ROH's tag team ranks along with Aussie Open, assuming they stick around (and they absolutely should). This was a blast and I would've been content with either team going over. The crowd died down in the middle but came alive for that hot closing stretch.

Eddie Kingston def. Ben Dejo

Kingston squashed Dejo in under a minute as he should have. The focus was more on his post-match promo where he called out Claudio Castagnoli, who said that the ROH World Championship will never be won by a man without honor. Kingston pursued him backstage and that was it. It was short and sweet and what it needed to be in order to continue building toward their ROH World Championship match at Supercard of Honor.

ROH Women's World Champion Athena def. Willow Nightingale

Exactly as I knew they would, Athena and Nightingale had a hell of a match and I'm happy it got the main event treatment. I don't know if Athena's reign was in jeopardy of ending on only the second episode of the new ROH TV (which is why I wanted this to be saved for Supercard of Honor), but I can't complain about what we got here. Nightingale gained a ton from this performance and Athena continues to excel in her current role. Athena and Yuka Sakazaki never did end up having their match that was teased, so maybe that'll be the Supercard of Honor match. Hopefully Nightingale can work her way back toward title contention eventually and be the one to dethrone Athena down the road.

Overall Show

The energy from the re-debut of ROH TV last week carried over into this week's episode. I've been liking the layout of the shows with a heavy emphasis on the in-ring action and then some promos sprinkled in throughout. ROH didn't feature many in-ring promos and I'm glad they're keeping that going. More video packages would be appreciated, though. My only gripe with this episode was that it was almost two hours long. I understand the premiere being that long, but does it really need to be two hours every week? Do they want to justify the ten-dollar price tag that way? Otherwise, this was entertaining.

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