Ring of Honor Review - September 4, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

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

I thought Dayami may have been a CMLL wrestler and that the match might be given more time as a result, but after looking it up, I don't believe she's on CMLL's roster, so it makes sense that this was a total squash. Keeping it short and sweet was the way to go. Athena beat Mina Shirakawa at Death Before Dishonor to retain the ROH Women's World Championship and, obviously, there was zero indication here of what's next for her.

Lee Johnson and Blake Christian def. Thomas Heim and Joe Alonzo

I have no idea who Heim is, but I'm familiar with Alonzo from the time he spent in the NWA. He left last year and has been popping up in various promotions since then, including some bigger ones as an enhancement talent. However, this was all about giving Johnson and Christian another win in their quest to challenge ROH World Tag Team Championship and there was no need for this to last longer than it did.

Wheeler Yuta def. John Silver

This was the only actual match we got on the show that wasn't a squash and it was random seeing as how The Death Riders and The Dark Order have had nothing to do with each other since last fall. The other members of both groups getting involved toward the end was more notable than the match itself, but this was still fine for what it was. I just can't bring myself to care about either guy at the moment.

Lance Archer def. Adam King and Marcus King in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match

Archer wrestled Mark Briscoe in an impromptu match on Wednesday's Dynamite and, shockingly, lost (I say/write that sarcastically). If these wins on ROH TV are supposed to make him look like more of a threat, they're not working. It was once a treat to watch him destroy dudes, but it's so tired at this point. The best thing I can say about this is that it was brief.

Spanish Announce Project def. Philly Collins and Marino Tenaglia

Collins and Tenaglia are two enhancement athletes, so it was ridiculous for Spanish Announce Project to have trouble putting them away. It's not like it was 10 minutes long, but it definitely would've benefited from being shorter. Now that Sammy Guevara and Rush are the ROH World Tag Team Champions as heels, I can see Spanish Announce Project getting a one-off opportunity at the titles eventually, hopefully on ROH TV and not pay-per-view.

AEW World Trios Champion Katsuyori Shibata def. Jordan Oliver

Oliver was in action on the Supercard of Honor Zero Hour pre-show where he had an impressive outing against Jay Lethal. The fact he got a televised entrance here is an encouraging sign that he'll be making more appearances going forward. He also scored some offense, so it wasn't completely one-sided. Rather, it was a nice little sprint with Shibata scoring the decisive victory.

The Conglomeration (Hologram and IWGP Strong Openweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii) def. Premier Athletes (Ariya Daivari and Tony Nese)

This was a rematch from Supercard of Honor. There was no reason for it to happen the first time and there was no reason for them to go at it again. That isn't to say there was anything wrong with either encounter, but with the outcome being predictable both times, it certainly wasn't main event material. The action was average at best. I don't know if Mark Sterling is legitimately out injured as he claimed in the backstage segment afterward, but I suppose we'll soon see.

Overall Show

What a waste of a show. The matches were filmed in at least two different arenas because they were basically leftovers from previous tapings and all of them will be forgotten about by tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, it's been announced there will be another edition of ROH TV tomorrow night and based on what's been confirmed for the card, it will be much more significant than this one was. This episode wasn't offensively bad, but it also isn't worth checking out, either.

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