ROH TV Episode 119 – June 5th, 2025

ROH TV Episode 119 – June 5th, 2025

Welcome back to Ring of Honor TV, exclusively on Honor Club at WatchROH.com. Last week on Episode 118, Hologram and Rhino defeated The Frat House’s Griff Garrison and Cole Karter, La Catalina pinned Trish Adora, Satnam Singh and Lance Archer squashed a couple of geeks in individual squash matches, and we padded the show with matches from the Action Dean tribute show taped on May 24th, including Lee Moriarty successfully defending the ROH Pure Championship and a Torneo Cibernetico that saw Hologram and Blue Panther as the last two men standing for their team. We’ve got the Women’s Pure Rules Championship Tournament to look forward to… eventually…

Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman are calling the action, unless otherwise noted… unless it’s pulled from another show where the play-by-play team is never identified. I don’t mind doing my research, but I have my lazy limitations. If you’re expecting star ratings, don’t bother checking. We’re running the thumbs up/down/in the middle system for matches on ROH TV. If I think a match is really good and worth checking out, that’s 2 thumbs. Amused gets a thumbs up. Indifference is in the middle. Dislike is a thumbs down, and an awful match is 2 thumbs down.

Thunder Rosa & Persephone vs. Leila Grey & Dulce Tormenta:
….Wait, Thunder Rosa is banished to ROH?! No wonder she’s pitching a hair-vs-hair match with Britt Baker despite Britt being erased from existence in 2025. Call it a long shot, but I’m guessing Persephone and Dulce Tormenta are part of the CMLL talent that is occasionally brought to TV tapings. As someone who only recently jumped back into ROH, I remember Leila Grey for her short time as part of Jade Cargill’s baddies. Rosa is extra happy to slap hands and interact with the front row fans.

Persephone and Grey start, code of honor adhered today. Persephone cuts off the international with a spine-buster and unloads with some ground ‘n’ pound. Thunder Rosa comes in with a splash that only gets a one-count. Sloppy roll-over cradle and Oklahoma roll from Rosa. Grey with a series of pinning combinations of her own. She puts the boots to Rosa and puts her down with a basement dropkick for a two-count. Dulce Tormenta in and is immediately caught with a drop toe hold, followed by being sandwiched with a pair of dropkicks. More pinning combinations, including a Scorpion stack from Persephone. Shotgun dropkick sends Tormenta into the corner. Persephone misses a moonsault (I don’t know if that was the intended result or if she was meant to hit the knees) and goes stumbling out of the ring where Leila Grey gladly meets her with a little extracurricular work. Grey with a jumping knee strike, into a dragon sleeper, but Rosa saves. Persephone wipes out Grey with a spear, setting up the hot tag to Thunder Rosa. She runs wild on Tormenta with dropkicks and a double stomp. Cobra Clutch applied, and Dulce Tormenta taps immediately at 6:39. Post-match, everyone is a good sport about things. How sweet. A little rough around the edges, with a bit of sloppy execution on some of the roll-ups and pin attempts, but they were having a solid match, so an easy thumbs up.

Earlier Today… The Frat House are drinking from their cups, talking about drinking all the alcohol they had in the house. They call over Ian Riccaboni with an unflattering, juvenile nickname. They have a problem with Ian calling them sophomoric and UGLY. Ian wants to know what’s next. Preston Vance says they can go back to beating up the Dark Order, who are almost as big of losers as Riccaboni. “Win or lose, we BOOOOOOO*deep breath*OOOZE!” Well, that was obnoxious. I guess that’s the point.

I’ll give Jameson credit… he’s trying to be so unlikeable and not a cool heel. We have two new pledges tonight that are ready for initiation, but SWERVE, Jameson chokes one of them out with the banner and Vance grabs the other from behind with a choke… and this is the match?! OK…

The Frat House (w/ Jacked Jameson & Preston Vance) vs. Dale Springs & Braxton Hunter:
Garrison pulls Springs off the canvas to give him an insincere handshake, then lays him out with a short-clothesline. Coleman makes “Hole in One” Darsow jokes because Springs is dressed like a golfer. Garrison meets a boot in the corner and the golfer unloads with right hands. Garrison blocks a tag attempt and takes Springs’ head off with a big boot. “Garrison took back control like he’s the Repo Man.” DELICIOUS. Karter and Garrison double-team on Springs while Jameson talks trash from ringside. Springs escapes a suplex and tags in Hunter, who rips off his pledge shirt and kicks it to show he’s a babyface… and just like that, Karter cuts him off with a dropkick. A discus forearm takes out Springs and Garrison boots Hunter off the shoulders of Karter to wrap this up at 2:55. This wasn’t much to speak of, but I did appreciate Caprice Coleman making several Barry Darsow references. Thumbs Up by the slimmest of margins.

Thunder Rosa and Persephone are backstage to brag about their victory earlier in the show. Persephone says she needs help in CMLL and Rosa accepts the offer. FRIENDSHIP UNLOCKED.

Wheeler Yuta vs. Aaron Solo:
AARON SOLO IS STILL AROUND and gets NO POP. How is this guy still on payroll five years later?! Honestly, I’d be OK with Marina Shafir squashing solo, choking him out with Mother’s Milk, and sending him to the Phantom Zone (the one that is worse than being sent to the ROH purgatory). Riccaboni notes that Yuta is the ONLY 3-time Pure Champion in ROH History. Neither man was interested in shaking hands. They jockey for control until Yuta pops Solo with a forearm. Solo fires off a series of forearms of his own and goes for the arm, but Yuta gets to the ropes. Yuta busts out the greco-roman bite and takes Solo over with a snap suplex. He hot dogs for a bit before dropping an elbow from the second rope for a two-count. Yuta switches to the legs, tying up the legs and bridging with a modified Indian Death Lock. Solo is too much a geek to hang on this long and it’s only been 3-minutes! Solo with the comeback, giving Yuta a receipt for the biting earlier. Yuta avoids a flying nothing but is nailed with a corkscrew roundhouse kick. The impact sends Yuta out of the ring, but he springs back in and hits a release German suplex. Solo avoids a follow-up in the corner and hits an exploder. Yuta pulls referee Bryce Remsburg in front of a potential attack, rakes the eyes, and finishes Solo with the busaiku knee at 5:33. This match didn’t do much for me. Maybe it’s knowing how much of a geek Solo is, or that it’s big moves for the sake of big moves. Did Wheeler Yuta really need to use the referee as a distraction to beat the modern era Terry Gibbs? Thumbs Down.

AEW invades the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia!

Hype package for Bandido, the reigning ROH World Champion. How is it that this is my third week covering ROH and this is the first time the WORLD CHAMPION is being mentioned?! Bandido is “The Most Wanted”. We transitioned to a pre-tape from MxM, Johnny TV and Taya Valkyrie. Bandido will meet Mansoor NEXT WEEK in a Proving Ground Match. They hype Mansoor up for his legendary status and loving making in Arena Mexico. He asks Taya to translate for him, including “donde esta la biblioteca?” Taya finishes the promo for him, promising that Mansoor will bring the World Title to MxM TV. Well, I got a chuckle out of that, but I don’t know if I give Mansoor much hope in beating Bandido.

Proving Ground Match:
Athena vs. Rachel Armstrong:
Armstrong has 10-minutes to either defeat or take Athena to a draw to earn a title match. Athena has reigned as ROH Women’s Champion since the beginning of time… or December 2022. Whichever suits your comedy needs. I don’t recall ever seeing Armstrong in action before, so we’ll see if I’m going to look forward to any future appearances from her. Caprice lets us know Armstrong is known as Miss 450.

Code of honor adhered to and Athena smashes Armstrong across the face with a forearm. OK, so maybe not. Armstrong gets tossed across the ring and Athena unloads with more forearms. Armstrong creates separation, annoying Athena more than anything. Armstrong with a wheelbarrow arm drag, followed by a Super-Kick and short DDT. Athena powders before Rachel can come off the top rope, then counters a tope, throwing Armstrong into the barricade. Athena doesn’t seem to be sweating Armstrong as she casually throws her back in the ring. Armstrong throws a couple of strikes, but they have little effect. Athena gets a little too cocky and gets spiked with a Frankensteiner for a near-fall! Athena ducks a clothesline and turns Armstrong inside-out with a back suplex. Athena climbs the ropes with Armstrong across her shoulders. Armstrong fights free, knocking Athena in position for a 450. Athena rolls away from contact and finishes with the straight-jacket powerbomb at 4:58. Thunder Rosa saves from a post-match attack and eye-balls the championship belt that Athena left behind. INTERESTING… I liked that Athena gave Armstrong a hope spot here and there, but didn’t give her too much, either, and hey, Thunder Rosa vs Athena could be a fine little program over the Championship. Thumbs Up.

We get some ridiculous vignette from the middle of the desert when a spaceship lands. What is this, some Skinemax quality production from the early 2000’s?! Four masked beefcakes are in awe when DALTON CASTLE makes his presence known. YES! That’s how you end the show on a high note! 5 million thumbs up!

Final Thoughts: Another short episode of ROH, clocking in at 40-minutes. The women delivered my two favorite matches, though neither is what I would consider matches worth seeking out for anything other than curious looks at talent you might not be familiar with. I’m glad to see we’re setting the table for what could be Athena’s next title defense, and Thunder Rosa has the crowd support and credentials to be a legitimate contender to take the belt off her. The Frat House continues getting plenty of exposure and it’s a mixed bag. I like the approach of not being cool heels to cheer, but Jacked Jameson is borderline “turn the show off” levels of obnoxious. Also, WOOO DALTON CASTLE IS COMING BACK.