ROH Death Before Dishonor Review - August 29, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Zero Hour: Jay Lethal def. Jordan Oliver

If it wasn't already apparent, Lethal is officially the gatekeeper of Ring of Honor. I can understand why that'd be his role at this point, but he can also still go and I'd prefer to see him doing something more meaningful. Nonetheless, they had a nice match and I thought Oliver was impressive. I've enjoyed his work in MLW and on the northeast independent scene, so I'd like to see him get more opportunities in Ring of Honor in the future.

Zero Hour: MxM Collection def. The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds and John Silver) and The Frat House (Cole Carter and Griff Garrison) in a Three-Way Tag Team Match

Yes, ROH has a handful of teams in its tag division, but a majority of them aren't all that interesting. Look no further than this match. It was decent, but Dark Order overstayed their welcome years ago, Carter and Garrison are as generic as they come, and MxM Collection (albeit talented) are a comedy duo. Does this mean MxM Collection will eventually be in the running for a shot at the ROH World Tag Team Championship? Why should I care?

Zero Hour: Billie Starkz def. Ashley Vox in a Pure Rules Match

At long last, a bracket to determine the inaugural ROH Women's Pure Champion has been revealed. This wasn't a tournament match, but Starkz will be taking part in it, so this was supposed to serve as a showcase for her, hence the Pure Rules stipulation. I'd say this accomplished what it needed to, but I don't think it should've taken as long as it did for Starkz to beat her (though I like Vox).

Zero Hour: Dralistico def. Angelico, Adam Priest and AR Fox in a $50,000 Four-Way Match

The "Tony Khan special" in 2025 can mean only one of two things: An "All-Star" tag team match or a match with money on the line. Neither hold any value because he's done way too many of them in recent months. This was no exception, but from an in-ring standpoint, this was perfectly passable. Fox is the biggest name of the four, so I was surprised to see Dralistico win instead of him.

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

This match was just an excuse to get Hologram and Ishii on the card. It could've easily happened on ROH TV or even on Collision and had no storyline reason to happen on this show. It was a well-worked opener but ultimately nothing memorable, especially since the outcome was so obvious. I still have no idea why Hologram isn't contending for championships given his undefeated streak.

Shane Taylor Promotions (The Infantry and Shane Taylor) def. The Sons of Texas (ROH World Tag Team Champion Sammy Guevara and The Von Erichs) to Win the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship

Granted, Shane Taylor Promotions did nothing to deserve a title shot and have largely been utilized as stepping stones over the last year, but I'll take them as champions over Sons of Texas, who have barely defended the belts since winning them (long before Dustin Rhodes got injured, by the way). This was a well-paced, solid six-man tag team match. Guevara getting pinned told the story that he'd be at a disadvantage going into his ROH World Tag Team Championship defense later in the show.

Queen Aminata def. Taya Valkyrie in an ROH Women's Pure Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match

For what it's worth, most of the women competing in this ROH Women's Pure Championship Tournament would work just as well in the ROH Women's World Television Championship picture, if that belt was ever actually defended. In other words, I maintain that this title is unnecessary, but the matches should be good at least. It was a quality contest for the time allotted and it was cool to see Deonna Purrazzo resurface afterward.

Blake Christian and Lee Johnson def. The Kingdom

It's been so long since I last saw The Kingdom that I was started to think they went the way of The Righteous and were gone from the company, but evidently not. If Christian and Johnson are gunning after the ROH World Tag Team Championship, it makes sense for them to beat a team that has held the titles numerous times before. This was a fairly average outing, and like most matches in the undercard, could've happened on ROH TV, but I'm glad The Kingdom are back.

ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty def. Xelhua

The grand setup for this match for Xelhua outlasting Moriarty in a Proving Ground match on ROH TV a few weeks ago. If that sounds familiar, it's because Moriarty's last ROH Pure Championship defense on pay-per-view had the exact same setup. Ugh. They really played up the technical stuff during the match, so if they're going to keep the Pure Rules (for the men and now the women, too), this was a perfect example of how the matches can be different from everything else ROH is doing. I assumed this would be boring coming into it, but they exceeded my expectations.

QT Marshall def. Paul Walter Hauser in a Fight Without Honor

Well, you certainly can't say Hauser doesn't love pro wrestling. I haven't been a fan of most of his MLW matches, but I appreciate his passion for the business and willingness to take a beating. This was total plunder, but the crowd ate it up. Hey, they were in the ECW Arena after all, so I'm not shocked. Post-match, Hauser earned the respect of Marshall as well as the audience. Oh, and Hook also made a quick cameo during the brawl to thwart Aaron Solo's interference.

Sammy Guevara and Rush def. The Outrunners to Win the Vacant ROH World Tag Team Champions

The commentators laid it on so thick that they thought Guevara would team with one of The Von Erichs that you had to know it wouldn't be either of them. Rush was a random choice of a partner for Guevara because he has a faction of his own, but on the bright side, Guevara is a heel again, as he should be. The match itself was fine, but this was all about cementing Guevara's heel turn and putting as much heat on him as possible.

ROH World Champion and AEW World Tag Team Champion Bandido def. Hechicero

Bandido becoming one-half of the AEW World Tag Team Champions with Brody King at Forbidden Door last weekend made this match more unpredictable, and honestly, I would've preferred to see him drop the ROH World Championship so he focus on teaming with King. Nonetheless, this was another excellent defense from Bandido that received a ton of time, though it never dragged. Hechicero had a fantastic performance as well and put up quite the fight before eating defeat.

ROH Women's World Champion Athena def. Interim ROH Women's World Television Champion Mina Shirakawa (Interim ROH Women's World Television Championship Was Not Defended)

Due to being hurt since Athena legitimately broke her hand at All In (or at least I think it was legitimate), Shirakawa hasn't defended her Interim ROH Women's World Television Championship even once, begging the question of why they bothered to crown an interim champ to begin with while Red Velvet is sidelined. Athena retaining was never in doubt to me, so while I'm happy the women were spotlighted in the main event, I wish Bandido vs. Hechicero would've gone on last instead. Athena is indeed going to reign as champ forever at this rate. This was a great match as well that ended the night on a high note.

Overall Show

I didn't catch the pay-per-view live, but those who did experienced an issue with streaming it on HonorClub, so Tony Khan just put the whole thing up for free on YouTube and refunded HonorClub subscribers a month's worth of their subscription. Classy move. This was your usual ROH event where the nonexistent build hardly mattered and the wrestling delivered. The four-hour runtime was excessive, but the top two matches were above-average and the rest of the card was serviceable.

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