Ring of Honor Review - May 16, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

ROH World Television Champion Kyle Fletcher def. Mentallo in an ROH World Television Championship Proving Ground Match

Fletcher loses pretty much every match he's had on AEW TV as of late, so why should I take him seriously in Ring of Honor? I said when he won the Television title that he'd be a perfect fit for it, but he really hasn't done much with it, so I hope he gets dethroned soon. Mentallo scored more offense than he probably should have considering he's not on the roster, but it was a nice sprint while it lasted.

Jay Lethal and Satnam Singh def. The Dark Order (John Silver and Evil Uno)

Lethal and Singh showing up on ROH TV was so random. It reminded me that Lethal's crew has been off AEW TV for months. That's not necessarily a bad thing because the stable sucks, but it also means his tension with Jeff Jarrett went nowhere. What a waste. This gave them a straightforward win, but it felt like something you'd see on Dark because I don't see this amounting to anything in ROH.

Anna Jay def. Tara Zep

Jay continues to win meaningless matches on ROH TV while losing when it actually matters on AEW TV. This was a simple squash with Jay winning decisively. If she's going to remain a regular in ROH, she may as well challenge for a championship at some point. I'd be down for her going after Billie Starkz' ROH Women's World Television Championship, but I feel like I've said that about a few different people as of late.

Skye Blue def. Rachael Ellering

Wasn't this the match where that drunk fan was yelling inappropriate stuff when it was taped last week? I wasn't paying attention to the crowd, but I remember Ellering commenting on it online. At any rate, it was a well-worked match. Blue has largely been doing her thing in AEW since turning heel and hasn't been around ROH at all, so this felt pointless. Whatever happened to Ellering's angle with Leyla Hirsch? Is their partnership already over?

Action Andretti and Darius Martin def. Jon Cruz and Levi Knight

Please don't tell me Dante Martin isn't injured again. The fact he wasn't in Andretti and Martin's corner here had me worried. Nonetheless, this served as a showcase for the babyfaces. This should've been shorter than it was, but the outcome was what it needed to be. You'd think Top Flight and Andretti would want to rekindle the rivalry with The Undisputed Kingdom now that they're ROH World Tag Team Champions, but apparently they don't care about becoming champions.

ROH World Tag Team Champions The Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett) def. Jason Geiger and London Lightning in an ROH World Tag Team Championship Proving Ground Match

It's crazy how cold of an act Undisputed Kingdom are at this point. Taven, Bennett and Roderick Strong are all champions, but none of their titles mean anything, so how can anyone care? They beat Geiger and Lightning with ease as you'd expect them to, so there was nothing remotely interesting about this. If they aren't going to have feuds as champions, there's no reason for them to be champions at all.

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

Nicole is obviously Nicole Matthews, a standout in women's wrestling on the independent scene for the last number of years. I have no idea why she was referred to as just Nicole in the graphic, though. Due to her extensive experience, I didn't have an issue with this being more competitive than most of Athena's squashes. It was an enjoyable, well wrestled main event. I'm glad they kicked off Athena's next feud by having Queen Aminata attack her afterward.

Overall Show

One thing that ROH TV has had going for it in the last month or so is that the shows have been significantly shorter than they were previously. Keeping it around one hour is much more tolerable, but that doesn't automatically make these shows good. ROH TV is Dark 2.0 with the constant squashes that you'll forget about the following day. There are some stories, but they're far and few between. The pay-per-views consistently deliver, but the weekly show is a chore to tune into.

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