ROH/CMLL Global Wars Review – 06.26.25

Welcome back to Ring of Honor TV, exclusively on Honor Club at WatchROH.com. Last week on Episode 121, Top Flight and The Kingdom defeated The Grizzled Young Vets and The Infantry in 8-Man Tag Team Action, Lance Archer squashed Aaron Solo, Miyu Yamashita defeated Brooke Havok, Deonna Purrazzo defeated Marti Belle in a Pure Rules Match that featured zero infractions or rope breaks, and Shane Taylor and Lee Moriarty squashed a couple of geeks. We’re just under three weeks away from Supercard of Honor and we STILL don’t have any concrete idea of what the card will look like.

Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman are calling the action, unless otherwise noted. We’re taped from Arena Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico for this special edition of ROH TV.

Thunder Rosa & Persephone vs. Athena & Red Velvet:
Athena is the reigning Forever Women’s Champion and Red Velvet is the reigning Women’s TV Champion. Several weeks back on ROH TV, there was a brief altercation between Thunder Rosa and Athena, so it feels like we’re going to get a finish here that gives us a reason for them to have a match at Supercard of Honor.

Athena pops Rosa across the chin with a forearm as she basks in chants from the crowd. Thunder Rosa fights out of the corner to escape a 2-on-1 and has Red Velvet on skates. Rosa uses the ropes to leverage Velvet over with an arm drag and sends her into the turnbuckle. Persephone in with a decent pop as they hit a combo basement dropkick, sending Red Velvet for cover. Athena back in and a test of strength quickly turns into an exchange of pinning combinations. Persephone catches Athena in a springboard off the ropes but can’t capitalize. They go through a series of counters, with Persephone trapped on the wrong side of town. Athena punishes Persephone with knees to the face and Velvet with a choke across the rope.

Red Velvet hits some ridiculous looking jumping kick to the back of the head that doesn’t look anywhere close to as good as you’d want to imagine. Persephone wipes out Velvet with a clothesline and Thunder Rosa with the hot tag. She runs wild with a series of clotheslines and a running basement dropkick. Northern Lights Suplex on Athena but Velvet saves. Combo lung-blower and missile dropkick and another save from Red Velvet. Persephone gets dumped and it’s 2-on-1 on Thunder Rosa. Velvet is missing everything she tries and it’s not even “oh, well, it’s pro wrestling, we can cover for it” bad. It’s just bad. Persephone comes back to life, dumping Velvet with a fallaway slam. Everyone gets their sh*t in sequence until Velvet misses a corkscrew kick and Thunder Rosa pins her with an Oklahoma Roll at 7:15. I liked most of this, except for when Red Velvet was on offense. Maybe it was excitement for the show, but she was all over the place and most of it looked terrible. **½

Proving Ground Match
Nick Wayne (TV Champion) vs. Titan:
Titan (the reigning CMLL World Welterweight Champion) either needs to pin Nick Wayne or go the 10-minute limit to earn a future title opportunity. I’m disappointed we aren’t blessed with an appearance from Mother Wayne, but I’ll try and cope. Wayne kicks away the handshake offer, just in case we needed to be reminded he’s an arrogant little sh*t. Lockup into the corner and Wayne with a little bit of hotdogging as we’re reminded of Atlantis Jr winning the TV Title in Arena Mexico. Titan with some showboating of his own, followed by a spinning head-scissors. Wayne quickly recovers, cutting Titan off and knocking him off the top rope. Titan gets sent to the barricade as Wayne continues to spam the taunt button.

Back inside, Wayne goes for the mask, unsuccessfully. Wayne with a jumping forearm and snap leg-drop for a two-count. Titan cuts off a charge into the corner and unloads with chops and kicks. He hits a springboard body press and dropkick, sending Wayne out of the ring. Titan sends Wayne back in and connects with a springboard splash for a near-fall. Wayne blocks a piledriver and bounces off the ropes with a cutter for a near-fall of his own. They trade strikes as we are starting to run out of time. Wayne with a super-kick and standing acid drop, but Titan pops right up and nails Wayne with a Pele kick. Wayne rolls away from danger, but he has other problems with the time limit. Titan meets the knees on a second splash attempt. Wayne’s slam attempt countered with a small package for two. Titan with a Tornado DDT and the Muta Lock is about to be applied, but the time expires at 10:00. Titan doesn’t win, but he still earns a title shot. This was fine, more about setting up a future match down the road, but they still snuck in some of those spots I hate, like the “you hit me, I hit you” strike exchange. **

Hype package for ROH World Champion Bandido. 2 weeks ago, Lee Johnson and Blake Christian set up Bandido for a post-match assault, but were run off by Mascara Dorada.

ROH World Championship Match:
Bandido (c) vs. Mascara Dorada:
We’re not wasting any time with getting from match to match on tonight’s episode. Wow, look at those distracting ring canvas decals. THE SANCTITY OF THE RING! Sorry, I mostly retired that joke, but I couldn’t help myself. Code of honor adhered to. Lockup to the ropes and Dorada with a clean break. Bandido misses a strike and is caught on the chin with a knee. Dorada flashes his speed and Bandido is selling the back. Lots of Flip-a-Dip stuff from Dorado that’s all sizzle and no steak. He blocks an X-Knee and 21 plex, and we’re back to a natural stance. Dorada doesn’t waste time bringing the fight back to his speed but is dumped over the top rope. Bandido teases a dive but Dorada is already on his feet and cuts him off with a springboard missile dropkick. Bandido is sent to the floor and Dorada follows with corkscrew plancha.

Back inside, Dorada stuns Bandido with a spin kick and comes off the top with a 450 splash for a near-fall. Bandido catches Dorada coming off the ropes with a pop-up cutter, sends him to the floor, and hits a no-hands plancha. Bandido muscles Dorada up from the apron and takes him down with a delayed super-plex for a near-fall. Dorada and Bandido follow each other from corner-to-corner and trading bombs. Dorada slides out of the ring to break the sequence but Bandido with no hesitation, diving over the corner post to hit him on the floor. Back inside and Bandido with a frog splash for two. The 21-plex is blocked again and Dorada spikes Bandido with a shoulder-stand hurricanrana for two. They trade strikes, knocking each other to one knee but no one having their spirit broken. They take the fight to the apron and a double pump kick sends both men crashing to the floor.

They break the count and quickly take the fight to the ramp. Dorada climbs the stairs and jumps off the screen with a flying body press. Another scramble to the ring and Dorada sends Bandido over the ropes with a hip toss. Dorada sprints the length of the ramp and clears the top rope with a splash for a near-fall. Bandido rolls through a sunset flip and traps the arms for a standing pin, but Dorada manages to bridge off the canvas, surviving headbutts to the chest. Bandido blocks a sunset flip counter and hits a modified Dead Eye for a two-count. Another battle in the corner, this time going in Dorada’s favor. Shoulder-Stand Super-Rana and Shooting Star Press for two! Bandido catches Dorada off the ropes with an X-Knee and 21 Plex, but he kicks out at two! Bandido jumps into a pair of boots. Dorada is too slow climbing the ropes, allowing the cut-off. Bandido with the moonsault slam. 21 Plex and this time it’s enough for three at 19:10. The selling was spotty at times, but I think that comes with the territory. They really put it all out there with Dorada showing off ridiculous athleticism throughout the match. I wish we didn’t waste the “boo/yay strike exchange” spot on such a nothing match RIGHT BEFORE THIS, but that’s a modern wrestling problem, and if a match deserved to use a form of that sequence, it was this one. ****

Rocky Romero is standing by on behalf of the Callis Family to issue a challenge to Bandido on behalf of Konosuke Takeshita for the ROH World Championship at Supercard of Honor.

Leila Gray hypes up Top Flight for their match with The Infantry next week, with the winners getting crowned the #1 Contenders, with the winners facing the Sons of Texas at Supercard of Honor.

Non-Title Match:
Lee Moriarty (Pure Champion) (w/ Shane Taylor Promotions) vs. Blue Panther:
Riccaboni and Coleman sell this as a battle of respect from different generations (Blue Panther is at least 30 years Moriarty’s senior, probably more). Lockup and after a bit of a struggle, Panther grabs a side headlock. They fight for control, trading wrist-locks and arm bars. We transition to full nelsons and Moriarty grabbing an abdominal stretch. He starts showing off his obvious speed advantage, takes Blue Panther over with a monkey-flip, and showboats. Moriarty controls, shrugging off Panther and stomping him down in the corner. Panther with a pair of clotheslines, but the offensive outburst is short-lived as Moriarty sends him to the floor and hits a low tope suicida, sending Panther crashing into the barricade.

Panther keeps putting up a fight, but it seems like the tank is almost empty. Moriarty cuts him off as he climbs the ropes and brings him down with a super-plex for a near-fall. Border City Stretch applied, and Panther fights with everything he’s got left to make it to the ropes, forcing a break. Moriarty with more strikes but Panther survives and blasts him with a lariat for a two-count. Whip to the ropes, Panther hangs back, knocks Moriarty off the apron with a clothesline and dives from the ramp to the floor with a cross body press! Back inside, Panther gets sent to the corner but immediately pops off the second turnbuckle with another body press. He sends Moriarty to the canvas and the Fujiwara arm bar has Moriarty tapping at 11:20. Post-match, The Infantry and Shane Taylor with the attack until Bryan Danielson’s music plays and he sends Hologram, Mascara Dorada and El Hijo de Blue Panther to the ring for the save, with Danielson hitting Taylor with a Busaiku Knee to cap it off. That was a fun match, with Panther able to keep up, though I don’t know if Irish whip spots are something a man of his age and speed should be doing. This, of course, sets up a rematch for Supercard of Honor for the Pure Championship. ***

Final Thoughts: Not too much to complain about here, with solid matches across the board, including an outstanding match for the ROH World Championship. My usual complaints are minor, like overusing certain spots or sequences, but I try not to be the old man shouting at the clouds too much. I think the women’s tag could have used a little more time, but other than that, you’re probably not getting much better for an episode of ROH, special circumstances or not. We’re also getting a card together for Supercard of Honor, so we know the show isn’t getting canceled! YAY!