ROH TV (Episode 125) Review – 07.17.25

Welcome back to Ring of Honor TV, exclusively on Honor Club at WatchROH.com. Last week on Episode 124, Atlantis and Atlantis Jr. defeated Spanish Announce Project, Aaron Solo did the job to a guy already in the ring, Dark Order defeated a couple of pledges in lieu of a wasted Frat House, Deonna Purrazzo tapped out Rachel Ellering in a Pure Rules Match, and the Sons of Texas defeated the Premier Athletes and Grizzled Young Veterans in Quartet Action. SUPERCARD OF HONOR was last Friday, featuring an outstanding ROH Championship Match between Bandido and Konosuke Takeshita. Lee Moriarty (Pure), Nick Wayne (TV), and Dustin and Sammy (Tag) retained their titles, and Mina Shirakawa won the Interim ROH Women’s World TV Championship… but is now out with a broken hand, so we’re going to need an Interim Interim ROH Women’s World TV Champion.

Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman are calling all the action, unless otherwise noted.

Atlantis Jr. vs. Lee Johnson (w/ Blake Christian):
Hopefully Caprice Coleman won’t go on extended rants where he accidentally confuses Johnson for Lee Moriarty. Atlantis Jr has quickly become one of my favorite regulars on ROH, but last week’s tag team match didn’t satisfy me to the levels I was expecting. Riccaboni calls them “perennial TV Title contenders” which feels like a back-handed compliment to me.

Code of honor slightly adhered to. Lockup into a go-behind from Big Shotty. They go back-and-forth until Atlantis Jr. interrupts a corner leap, follows with a spinning head-scissors that sends Lee to the floor, and completes the sequence with a tope suicida. Back inside, Atlantis with a step-up enzuigiri. Things get complicated in the ropes, and a distraction allows Blake Christian to sneak in and snap Atlantis off the middle rope. Snap mare and sliding forearm from Johnson for a two-count. Atlantis works the body to escape a chin-lock and rocks Lee with a jumping knee strike. Christian hops on the apron and eats a Super-Kick, but the distraction allows Johnson to roll-up Atlantis for a near-fall. Atlantis ducks under a clothesline and hits a snap powerslam, followed by a floating dropkick for two. Johnson avoids the Frog Splash. Spicolli Driver and standing moonsault gets another two-count. We get a series of flip-a-dip counters and kicks until Atlantis hits a Super Mexican Destroyer and finishes with the Frog Splash at 6:35. I don’t know how much Lee Johnson offers in 2025 that we haven’t seen in the last 5 years (and don’t say keep his wife happy). This was fine, but unremarkable.

Lee Moriarty puts over Blue Panther for his legendary status, and says that proves he’s the best pure rules fighter in the world, and he’s proud to remind us that he’s the longest-reigning Pure Champion. He’s not complacent about this and wants to become the face of the brand. I mean, yeah, Blue Panther is a legend, but he’s also in his 60’s… but Moriarty is a heel, so I’ll allow this ego-boosting.

Recap of the 4-Way for the Interim ROH Women’s TV Championship from Supercard of Honor, won by Mina Shirakawa… who injured her hand at All In, so Caprice Coleman wishes a speedy recovery to BOTH the Women’s TV AND Interim TV Champions.

Diamante vs. Maya World:
… OH COME ON, that’s like throwing a meatball at the Big Dumper and expecting him not to take a swing! If you read that name out loud and you have a thought that’s something other than “Huh?”, then you’re getting PTSD flashbacks of Jeff Jarrett’s TNA theme music and imaging all those broken guitars that never drew a dime (which they didn’t, because guitars don’t have hands or fingers to properly hold a drawing utensil). We’re told that World was trained by Athena. Code of honor adhered to, with Diamante holding on and using that to start laying it in on MAYA WORLD. International and Diamante with a head-scissors. She unloads on MAYA WORLD in the corner with mounted rights and rakes the eyes across the top rope. MAYA WORLD fights out of the corner, but Diamante quickly cuts her off. We get an unusually long set-up for an Irish whip, Diamante peppers her with kicks, and the Code Red finishes at 1:55. Total nothing-burger of a match. I don’t see anything that suggests Diamante should go over ANYONE at this point, five years into her on-and-off relationship with AEW.

We get to watch the ad for MxM Collection’s “Seed” commercial. It’s Vince Russo’s favorite fragrance, bro.

Cameras caught up with the ROH Women’s/Forever Champion Athena following her victory in the Women’s Casino Gauntlet. She promises to become the AEW Women’s World Champion and growls. That was the entire promo.

Recap of Dustin Rhodes’ journey over the years, fighting for the TNT Championship, including unsuccessful runs at accomplishing glory with losses to Lance Archer in the Tournament to crown the inaugural Champion, Mr. Brodie Lee, Sammy Guevara, and Christian Cage. The boyhood dream came true at All In, which is a perfect example of making the most out of an unfortunate situation. We follow with a promo from Dustin, who is still in shock that he accomplished what he did, and talks about the lessons his father taught him to keep stepping.

Michael Oku (w/ Amira) vs. Jay Lethal:
Both men are coming off losses at Supercard of Honor, with Oku falling to Hechicero on the main show, while Lethal was put down by Vanilla Baby on the Zero Hour pre-show. With that on the table, logic says that Oku is more valuable in defeat, while Lethal is a veteran on the way down.

Code of honor adhered to. Oku with the early flashes of offense, knocking Lethal into the ropes with a shoulder block and sweeping the legs into a pinning combination. Lethal with a switch and quick attempt for the Figure-Four, but Oku counters. We shake hands again, and this time Lethal holds on, offering up a shot. They rock each other with forearms until Oku takes a little extra. They go through a series of counters until Lethal hits a snap suplex. Oku blocks the Lethal Injection and takes Lethal down with a flying head-scissors. Oku tries using the Figure-Four, unsuccessfully, and it’s Lethal who ends up getting the hold applied. Oku immediately rolls into the ropes and out of the ring, sending both men crashing to the ground. Oku sends Lethal over the top rope with a clothesline and dumps him back to the outside to counter a heat-seeking piledriver. Oku busts out a springboard dropkick and follows with a Fosbury flop. Back inside, Lethal avoids a corner dropkick and makes the slow climb to the top rope. Oku counters the Macho Man Elbow, but Lethal’s Special is still flashing. Cutter, Cutter, Lethal Injection, and Lethal is victorious at 6:48. Post-match, code of honor adhered to AGAIN. Pretty good match for TV, though it seems like Oku is the guy you want to make look good, unless this leads to a series of matches where Oku beats the veteran decisively.

The Frat House are standing by and upset, blaming the referee for their loss at Supercard of Honor’s Zero Hour. Vance says that if the Dark Order want more, the Frat House will be ready, and warn that the Dark Order can leave the punk kid at home. Cole Karter says they need to drink, which transitions to them drinking at an empty Applebee’s and playing flip cup with the production crew.

Recap of Bandido vs. Konosuke Takeshita from Supercard of Honor. I don’t know if it’s the greatest match for the ROH Title, but it was probably the best match from AEW/ROH over the weekend and is well-worth checking out.

Angelico (w/ Serpentico) vs. Hechicero (w/ Rocky Romero):
Hechicero is not only coming off a victory at Supercard of Honor, but last night on AEW Dynamite, scored the fall for his team over ROH World Champion Bandido, the new sworn enemy of the Don Callis Family. Angelico is fine for a prelim good-time geek match, but I’m expecting this to be a little more one-sided in favor of the guy in position to challenge for the brand’s top Championship. Angelico sports a 6-5 singles record in ROH. I’m going to make a bold prediction and say that evens out at .500 in about 8-minutes.

Hechicero rejects the Code of Honor. WHAT A HEEL! Hechicero controls the early stages, getting Angelico in compromised positions and sending him into the ropes. Angelico tries to get something going, trapping the wrist with his feet, but Hechicero escapes and locks in a modified Figure-Four, once again sending Angelico for the ropes. We get our favorite spot of leg sweeps into covers that are strictly for show, and both men hit their taunt as we return to a neutral position. Interesting spot as Hechicero hits a clothesline and the momentum takes him over the ropes to the apron, holding onto the neck. Romero and Serpentico get a little too close to the action as Hechicero treats Angelico like a geek (and rightfully so. You shouldn’t give too much to a scrub as you’re set to challenge for the top title in ROH). Angelico counters a diving whatever from the top rope and unloads with a flurry of strikes. Whip is reversed, Angelico pops Hechicero with a kick and hooks a magistral cradle for two. Jumping flat-liner gets two. Romero hops on the apron for a distraction, and it immediately pays off as Hechicero clips the knee and plants Angelico with a basement DDT. Running knee in the corner and Hechicero finishes with a spinning hammer-lock into a back breaker at 6:49. Post-match, the beating continues until Hologram makes the save (were you expecting morale to improve?). Fine showcase for Hechicero, but hardly “main event” of TV quality, being a mostly one-sided affair.

Final Thoughts: OK, I’m starting to see the problem with ROH and why nobody watches it. There’s been good weeks, but this highlighted a major concern, and that is carrying extra bodies for years that offer little (if any) upside and are in the same holding pattern as the left-overs geeks (Diamante and Lee Johnson, in this week’s examples). There’s a solid match between Jay Lethal and Michael Oku, and other matches are perfectly fine for what they are, but the roster needs a deep cleaning (but that will never happen). In conclusion, check out Bandido vs. Takeshita.