Ring of Honor Review - October 3, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Von Erichs and AEW World Tag Team Champion Dustin Rhodes def. Mark Sterling and Premier Athletes (Tony Nese and Ariya Daivari) in an ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship Proving Ground Match

Maybe I missed it, but was Josh Woods not available? Sterling wrestling in comedy matches is one thing, but this was supposed to be a serious match. Needless to say, there was zero chance of his team winning with him involved. Premier Athletes are overexposed as it is, but putting Sterling in the ring makes them even less bearable. The match was perfectly fine for what it was.

Nyla Rose def. Katie Arquette

I've been digging Rose as a babyface this year as she's proven to be a natural in the role and it's been a refreshing change of pace compared to what she was doing previously, but my biggest issue with her remains her booking. Even in Ring of Honor, I have no idea what you do with her. She already failed to dethrone Athena for the ROH Women's World Championship, so she feels directionless and this squash win did nothing to convince me something more important is on the horizon for her.

Anthony Henry and BEEF def. Anthony Catena and Wes Barkley

Henry continues to show disdain toward BEEF in backstage segments, yet he teams with him, anyway. As I've said before, I applaud the effort to do something with Henry in JD Drake's absence and ROH TV needs more consistent stories, but this isn't one that I'm invested in, personally. It's undercard fodder at best, and although this match was passable, Henry and BEEF racking up wins doesn't make them feel like a threat in the slightest.

The Outrunners def. The Infantry

This was an interesting matchup because both teams are babyface, but The Outrunners have gotten over as of late and thus they were the biggest fan favorites here. It was a nice match and a good credibility-boosting victory for The Outrunners. The Infantry showing some dissension afterward might indicate a possible heel turn, so time will tell. Why not capitalize on The Outrunners' newfound popularity and put the ROH World Tag team Championship on them? It's not like Rhodes and Sammy Guevara are doing much with those belts at the moment.

ROH World Champion Mark Brisoce def. Matt Taven

Briscoe barely appears on ROH TV as it is, so I don't want to complain too much that we got him on this show, but it would've helped for this to actually be built and hyped in advance, especially with Taven being a credible challenger as a former ROH World Champion himself. Despite that, they had an enjoyable main event. I wouldn't look too much into Taven and Mike Bennett celebrating with Briscoe post-match, just because they've always been close and I don't think it means they're turning face necessarily.

Overall Show

Don't let the longer runtime fool you. Although the episode is around an hour and 20 minutes, roughly 30 minutes of that were taken up by the replay of Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi from 19 years ago this week with updated commentary from Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman. That's cool and all, but it felt unnecessarily tacked on because ROH TV doesn't do that sort of thing often. Just put that on the ROH YouTube channel. The rest of this show was standard stuff from the brand in that none of it was worth seeking out, though I liked the main event for what it was and the ROH World Championship being on the line was somewhat notable.

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