Ring of Honor Review - September 5, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

AR Fox and The Kingdom def. The Frat House (Cole Karter, Griff Garrison and Preston Vance)

I don't see Fox and The Kingdom sticking together as a trio (though Shane Taylor Promotions could use some competition for their newly-won ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship), but for one week, they were fun together. Frat House does absolutely nothing for me as a group, but to the credit of everyone involved, this was an enjoyable opener.

Premier Athletes (Ariya Daivari and Tony Nese) def. Spanish Announce Project

Mark Sterling teased a "contingency plan" at the end of Thursday's ROH TV when he revealed he had gotten injured. It turned out to be Stori Denali, some super tall woman who helped Premier Athletes secure the victory here. They virtually never win, so I like this addition. The match itself was whatever, but I'm glad Spanish Announce Project faced an actual team for a change and not local losers.

Deonna Purrazzo def. Rachael Ellering in a Pure Rules Match

At first, I thought this was a match in the ROH Women's Pure Championship Tournament, but then I realized that Ellering isn't even in the bracket, which is strange. Rather, this was simply a warm-up for Purrazzo, who has been out of action for what feels like forever. There was nothing out of the ordinary about this, but it accomplished what it needed to in giving Purrazzo a necessary win.

Trish Adora def. Ashley Vox in a Pure Rules Match

Purrazzo returned at Death Before Dishonor confronting Adora, so Adora returned the favor by crossing paths with Purrazzo while making her entrance for this match. They'll face off in the first round of the aforementioned tourney. This was even less notable than Purrazzo vs. Ellering because Vox had zero chance of winning, but much like that matchup, it accomplished what it needed to. Adora winning the title would be cool with the rest of Shane Taylor Promotions holding gold, but I'm not expecting it.

Johnny TV def. Alex Zayne

Johnny and MxM Collection are really pushing their new spray, so it was logical that Johnny used it to beat Zayne here. I'm not sure what the endgame is supposed to be, but if it keeps them busy, then sure, I guess. Other than that, it was a good match. Zayne is extremely talented but doesn't get a chance to do much in Ring of Honor (or any of the bigger promotions, for that matter) beyond stuff like this.

The Beast Mortos def. Jordan Oliver

If Oliver keeps wrestling regularly and doesn't win anything, it's going to be difficult to take him seriously if they ever intend to do something meaningful with him. This was similar to his other outings in that he scored some offense and looked impressive at points before eating defeat. In short, it was an extended squash for Mortos, who went over in decisive fashion.

The Don Callis Family (Hechicero and Lance Archer) def. LSG and BEEF

I believe this marked the first time Hechicero and Archer have teamed up for a two-on-two tag match and I liked the chemistry they have. Archer and Brian Cage were working really well together before Cage got hurt earlier this year. This was a simple squash for Hechicero and Archer and I honestly wouldn't mind them entering the tag team ranks now that Hechicero has unsuccessfully challenged for the ROH World Championship.

Josh Woods def. Matt Mako in a Pure Rules Match

The commentators made mention of Mako wrestling for ROH in 2021, which I have no recollection of whatsoever. As for Woods, it's been a while since I last remember seeing him on either ROH TV or even AEW TV. He was a member of Premier Athletes at one point, but I'm not sure if that's still the case. This was a well-worked match and I imagine the idea is to build Woods toward a shot at the ROH Pure Championship.

Hologram def. Aaron Solo

Hologram debuted in AEW over a year at this point and has done nothing but win, yet he hasn't contended for a championship in either AEW or ROH. Make it make sense. ​It looks like his next storyline will be with whoever "dark" Hologram ends up being, but that doesn't overly interesting to me. As for this match, there was nothing technically wrong with it, but Hologram should've beaten Solo significantly quicker.

ROH World Champion Bandido def. Lee Johnson in an ROH World Championship Proving Ground Match

I would love to know what the grand idea is with Johnson and Blake Christian. They went from doing nothing as a team, to then saying they want the ROH World Tag Team Championship, to then winning a few matches, to then being inserted into the ROH World Championship picture out of nowhere. They're clearly building to Bandido vs. Christian based on what happened afterward, and even with Christian being undefeated on his own this year in ROH, it still feels random. Bandido vs. Johnson was a nice little sprint otherwise.

Overall Show

Unlike Thursday's episode, which was a complete waste of time, all of these matches were filmed at the 2300 Arena. By ROH TV standards, it was a much stronger show on the whole, though I could have done without it being almost an hour and 45 minutes. It looks like Christian is next for Bandido and that's fine, but the lack of follow-up with Sammy Guevara and Rush (arguably the biggest storyline development at Death Before Dishonor) was questionable. This edition of ROH TV had a better energy to it than most.

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