Ring of Honor Review - October 31, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

BEEF and JD Drake def. "Pretty" Peter Avalon and Preston Vance

I applaud the effort to tell a story with BEEF teaming with Anthony Henry and now Drake ahead of the inevitable Workhorsemen reunion, but as I've said several times in the last few months, I truly can't bring myself to care. BEEF is racking up wins, but it's obvious Drake and/or Henry will turn on BEEF before long, unless they form a trio and go after the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship. I didn't have an issue with this being competitive considering Vance was involved, but that begs the question of why Vance was involved to begin with. He's better than this undercard nonsense.

Johnny TV def. Deonn Rusman

Johnny was without Taya Valkyrie for some reason. He's had absolutely nothing going on since his feud with Dalton Castle earlier this year, so he's been busy with nothing but random squash matches. Then again, I don't think it's accurate to call this a "squash" since Rusman scored a ton of offense. Unless Rusman is signed to some sort of a deal with the company, I don't understand the need to make this a back-and-forth bout.

The Gates of Agony def. CSJ and Dave Dutra

Brian Cage is officially a member of The Don Callis Family, so there's been no word on what that means for Gates of Agony. To my knowledge, Don Callis hasn't recruited them, so they might be on their own again. Honestly, I'm all for Cage of Agony being no more since they've already won the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship and I doubt they'd ever win the AEW World Trios Championship. This way, Gates of Agony can set their sights on the ROH World Tag Team Championship. This was a standard showcase for them.

Reyna Isis def. Lady Frost

Isis just made her ROH TV last week with a win over Viva Van and continued to build momentum here by beating Frost. Hopefully she'll challenge for either the ROH Women's World Championship or the ROH Women's World Television Championship eventually to make these matches matter. Otherwise, this feels like an excuse to get a CMLL wrestler more exposure. The match was well worked while it lasted.

Matt Taven def. Aaron Solo in a Pure Rules Match

With Adam Cole returning as a babyface and the rest of The Undisputed Kingdom reuniting with him, that makes Taven a babyface now, too. He and Mike Bennett have done nothing but tag team stuff for the last four years, so it's refreshing to see Taven target a singles title for a change (and not just for a one-off). This victory gets him closer to contending for the ROH Pure Championship. The match itself was serviceable, but Taven should've beaten Solo with ease.

The Righteous def. Jay Marston and Salomon Tupu

The Righteous have won their last several matches on ROH TV, but they aren't featured enough for their winning streak to be noticeable. Thus, I appreciate that it was established that they're gunning for the ROH World Tag Team Championship. Dustin Rhodes and Sammy Guevara made that clear during their two backstage promos on this show. This was a straightforward squash for The Righteous and I liked that Rhodes and Guevara made the save during The Righteous' post-match attack.

Tomohiro Ishii def. Josh Woods

Ishii returned on last week's Dynamite, coming out after Chris Jericho won the ROH World Championship. It was logical because Jericho's crew took out Ishii at the end of the summer, but I have zero interest in seeing that match again (in fact, they already fought for the ROH title two years ago). Worse yet, Ishii had to struggle to defeat to beat Woods here when he really should have beaten him much quicker. In other words, this didn't accomplish anything.

Top Flight and Action Andretti def. Jah-C, Trip Jordy and Dante Leon

I'm shocked that Top Flight and Andretti have yet to get a proper run with the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship. They're on the show far more than Rhodes and The Von Erichs, so I'd like to see them take the titles soon and attempt to elevate the division (if the division has to be a thing). This was basically every match they've ever had, so there was nothing out of the ordinary about it.

Billie Starkz def. Blair Onyx

Starkz has yet to turn on Athena (again), but it's clearly coming, probably in time for Final Battle next then (where Starkz will finally dethrone her as ROH Women's World Champion). In the meantime, it makes sense to give Starkz a string of wins, but she should also embracing the audience so her imminent babyface turn doesn't seem so abrupt. This was over within a matter of minutes as it should have been.

The Infantry def. Spanish Announce Project

A video packaged from earlier in the day aired beforehand showing The Infantry accepting Shane Taylor's offer to join Shane Taylor Promotions. That came out of nowhere, but I'm actually in favor of the move. They're a quality tandem and this could give them something more significant to do. This was a fine match and beating a fan favorite duo such as Spanish Announce Project allowed them to cement their heel turn.

Dimante def. Aminata Belmont

Right before the bout, there was a replay of Diamante's ROH Women's World Television Championship match with Red Velvet ending in a non-finish a few weeks ago, which I completely forgot about. I imagine there will be a rematch at some point, so it's smart to keep Diamante strong in the meantime. That was achieved here with Diamante beating Belmont in short order.

The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds, John Silver and Evil Uno) def. Iron Savages (Boulder, Bronson and Jacked Jameson)

I could've sworn we've seen this match at least one other time recently because I remember saying that these were two of my least favorite acts in all of Ring of Honor. Maybe it was a two-on-two tag team match, whereas this was a six-man tag. Either way, this was total throwaway. Dark Order continue to feud with Jon Moxley's faction but lack credibility. Yes, they won here, but they don't feel like any more of a threat than they did previously. Also, less of Iron Savages, please.

Komander def. Ariya Daivari

Komander failed to win the ROH World Television Championship in the main event of last week's ROH TV, so this was designed to be a rebound win for him. However, much like most of the other matches on this show, it took him a lot longer than it should have to put Daivari, a glorified enhancement talent, away. The best thing about this was Komander running on the ropes before jumping to the outside right before the finish. The crowd loved that.

ROH Women's World Champion Athena def. Abadon in a Halloween Ring of Horror Match

It's cool that this was saved for the Halloween episode. They've been feuding for a while now, it didn't feel like Abadon got a championship opportunity just because of the holiday (which is the case almost every single year). They were chained together at the wrist, so it was basically a Strap match. It wasn't always pretty, but they had a solid brawl and Abadon gave Athena quite the fight before falling short.

Overall Show

THREE HOURS?! Good grief. I'd joke about this being the doing of new ROH World Champion Chris Jericho, but his sole appearance on this episode was a brief backstage promo. That's it. They also threw in a throwback match between Jay Lethal and Curry Man, which wasn't necessary on a show so lengthy. I imagine most people can find better ways to spend three hours on Halloween night than by watching this worthless show.

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