Ring of Honor Review - October 19, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Angelico def. Gravity

Angelico got in Eddie Kingston's face last week following Kingston's successful ROH World Championship defense against Serpentico and won his first singles match in forever on that same show, so it's no surprise that he'd win here as he gets closer to challenging Kingston for the title. Gravity's been around in ROH for a bit now, so beating him had some value. They had a nice opener, but Angelico will need some mic time eventually to discuss his upcoming opportunity.

Capt. Shawn Dean def. "Pretty" Peter Avalon

Was there an Infantry vs. Wingmen match or promo that I missed that set this up? That's assuming The Wingmen are even a thing because it's been many months since I've seen them together on any show (not that I'm complaining). That said, Dean's a good worker and this gave him a chance to showcase his skills. This felt like a match you'd see on Dark with how competitive it was, but at least it wasn't poorly wrestled.

Mercedes Martinez def. Marti Belle

Between WWE's Mae Young Classic, TNA and the NWA, Belle has been around for a while, but I've never really been impressed with her work on her own. I enjoyed her team with Allysin Kay (who has popped up on ROH TV recently including later on in this episode), but her singles stuff isn't great. That said, this was a competent contest, though it's hard to have a bad match with someone as seasoned as Martinez. Martinez being built back up with wins certainly is encouraging.

"All Ego" Ethan Page def. Tony Nese

This stemmed from Page being offered a spot in Nese's group last week. He's doing well in the babyface role and I appreciate he's been given him as much mic time as he has to explain the turn. They had a well-worked affair, but I wasn't a fan of the outcome. I know they want to make this more of an actual feud by giving Nese the upper hand over Page, but Nese has lost so many matches that it's impossible to take him seriously. Page continuing his winning ways would have been more ideal.

Billie Starkz def. Diamante

I liked the story that Athena helped inspire Diamante's heel turn and Diamante used that knowledge against Athena's new pupil here. Starkz vs. Athena for the ROH Women's World Championship is obviously the endgame, so giving Starkz a string of victories in the meantime makes sense. This was a quality contest and Starkz again won in underdog fashion. 

Josh Woods def. Pat Buck in a Pure Rules Match

Man, they're really taking their time with Woods' road to another shot at the ROH Pure Championship. Buck is a somewhat notable name I suppose and this was fine for what it was, but I simply do not see him as a threat to the ROH Pure Championship. Being paired with Mark Sterling has done him no favors, either. We're seeing the same thing with Woods week after week and no real development.

Griff Garrison and Cole Karter def. Ren Jones and Myron Reed

Garrison and Karter joining forces with Maria Kannellis-Bennett feels like a desperate attempt to give them something to do because so far they lack chemistry as partners, at least in my opinion. I don't see them standing out in an already stacked tag team division, and as excellent of a manager as Maria can be, pairing her off with these two is rather random. This was okay, but I'd rather see Reed (a former MLW World Middleweight Champion) get some shine.

Kiera Hogan def. Allysin Kay

This was a match that would have benefited from having a setup of some kind. With Hogan not being involved in anything of note at the moment, why did this exist other than to give Hogan a momentum-boosting win? Even if that was the intent, a backstage promo for Hogan (who rarely gets mic time) would've established that. This was a quality contest while it lasted, but it didn't seem to serve a purpose.

The Righteous def. K.M. and Rodrageous Rod Lee

K.M. has been spotted as an extra on AEW TV recently because he's signed with the company in a backstage role. Fun fact: He actually played Allysin Kay's cousin if I'm not mistaken when she was still Sienna in IMPACT years ago. We didn't get a chance to see him do anything here, though, as The Righteous won almost immediately as they should have. They hadn't been seen since losing to MJF in that two-on-one Handicap match, so this helped them get back on track.

Lady Frost def. Zoey Lynn

As I've said before, Frost is a welcome addition to Ring of Honor's women's division, but what I haven't been a fan of so far during her run is how inconsistently her wins have been. It'd be one thing if she went undefeated or announced her intentions to go after the ROH Women's World Championship, but I can't recall a single promo she's cut on the show. This was a simple squash for her, but similar to Kay vs. Hogan, I'm curious what it's leading to, if anything.

AAA World Tag Team Champion Komander def. Metalik

ROH TV has had chaotic lucha libre wrestling in spades since the relaunch and this was quite the example of that. It was all action and they had a really fun match that the crowd was into. Komander is coming off a solid showing against Kingston for the ROH World Championship, so he was the logical choice to go over. I'd like to see him win more matches that matter instead of solely being a stepping stone for the bigger names.

The Gates of Agony def. The Workhorsemen and Darius Martin & Action Andretti in a Three-Way Tag Team Match

These multi-team matches would be much more meaningful if the ROH World Tag Team Champions actually showed up on ROH TV. I know that Adam Cole's injured right now and MJF is obviously too big of a star for ROH TV, but that's exactly why they shouldn't be holding those belts at this point because it's hurting the division. These teams essentially have nothing to fight for until they drop them. This was a solid sprint from everyone involved, but it had no stakes and therefore didn't accomplish anything.

Overall Show

Finally, an edition of ROH TV closer to 90 minutes than two hours. That didn't make the show significantly stronger, but it was decent on the whole. The biggest issue is that most of the active champions aren't, well, active, rendering ROH TV irrelevant as a result. Final Battle was officially announced this week for mid-December, but it's difficult to muster up the excitement when these shows feel like filler most weeks. Some of the storyline development is well done and the wrestling is serviceable, but ROH TV is largely an afterthought for now.

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