Ring of Honor Review - October 17, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Spanish Announce Project def. Ren Jones and Derek Dillinger

I can't think of a hotter way to start a show than with a Spanish Announce Project match. That was sarcastic, if it wasn't already obvious. They're a fine team, but they'll always be enhancement talent, so I don't understand the point of feeding them wins over local athletes if they're not going to win matches that matter. Stuff like this feels like a waste of time and an excuse to get them on the show. If nothing else, the crowd was into this.

Yuka Sakazaki def. Viva Van

Sakazaki recently returned to AEW TV, unsuccessfully challenging Mariah May for the AEW Women's World Championship on the Grand Slam edition of Dynamite. She's a skilled competitor and usually gets a pretty good reaction any time she shows up, so she's a nice fit for Ring of Honor. Aside from Van's top rope botch early on, this was solid stuff.

Nick Wayne def. Brian Cook

Wayne is a regular on AEW TV as part of The Patriarchy, but it's smart to have him work matches on ROH TV and rack up some wins. I know he's scored victories on Rampage (and maybe on Collision), but additional experience doesn't hurt. Joining The Patriarchy has helped him tremendously. Cook scored some offense, but otherwise, this was a basic bout with a predictable outcome.

MxM Collection def. Midnight Heat

MxM Collection just lost to The Acclaimed on the WrestleDream Zero Hour pre-show, so this allowed them to bounce back (though I assume it was taped beforehand). Unfortunately, Rico was not with them (and no, I was not expecting him to be). If the bald dude from Midnight Heat looked familiar, it's because he played "Ricky" recently on WWE SmackDown. You know, that dude that almost teamed with Kevin Owens? At any rate, this was a standard showcase for MxM Collection.

AR Fox def. Jack Cartwheel

Shockingly, this wasn't the all-out spot-fest I expected from these two, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. They took their time and still had a fun outing. Cartwheel never ceases to get the crowd into his matches and Fox is obviously great. Time will tell if this win for Fox will actually amount to anything, but I'm guessing that it won't. He'd be a welcome addition to the ROH World Television Championship picture.

Atlantis Jr. def. Jon Cruz

Perhaps I was wrong about this show being taped before WrestleDream considering Atlantis Jr. didn't have the ROH World Television Championship with him here (he lost it to Brian Cage on the Zero Hour pre-show). I thought he'd disappear back to CMLL, but I appreciate that he's sticking around because he should want a rematch for the title. This was a straightforward squash for Atlantis to give him a rebound victory.

Komander def. Willie Mack in an ROH World Television Championship No. 1 Contender's Match

It's rare that we get number one contender's matches on ROH TV, so this was a treat. Granted, Komander is being set up to lose to Cage in his first defense as ROH World Television Champion (what did he do exactly to earn his shot, by the way?), but at least we know it'll be a quality contest. It wasn't announced when that will take place. This was a well-worked match. 

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

I'm all for meaningful main events on ROH TV, but the booking here was completely stupid. Frost just returned a few weeks ago, so why not build toward this instead of throwing it out there as a random Proving Ground match that Frost wasn't going to win because Abadon is clearly challenging Athena next? There was nothing wrong with the match, but the crowd being dead was a bummer. It was unfortunately unremarkable.

Overall Show

This week's throwback match was the Ladder War main event at Final Battle 2018 between The Young Bucks, SCU and The Briscoes for the ROH World Tag Team Championship. I was actually in attendance for that but chose not to rewatch it here because I prefer shorter shows. This episode was slightly better than what we normally get from ROH TV and the last two matches having some stakes made it more bearable.

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