ROH TV (Episode 129) Review – 08.14.25

Welcome back to Ring of Honor TV, exclusively on Honor Club at WatchROH.com. Last week on Episode 128, Bandido defeated Gringo Loco in a Proving Ground Match, Mistico and Mascara Dorada defeated Vanilla Baby and Big Shotty, Athena and Billie Saintz beat a couple of enhancement talents, Volador Jr and his goons defeated The Dark Order (BOO!), and Jay Lethal and Satnam Singh squashed a couple of goobers. So far, we know one match taking place on August 29th for Death Before Dishonor, Bandido defending the ROH Championship against Hechicero. Will we find out the rest of the card?

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

Angelico, Serpentico, Alex Zayne, and AR Fox vs. Volador Jr, Difunto, The Beast Mortos, and Hechicero (w/ Lance Archer):
I don’t know if I would put this in the opening slot, but it’s ROH TV, there’s like 6 people watching, so it’s not worth getting too worked up about. Time for some speed-run comments! Let’s see… Hechicero is challenging for the ROH Championship, so his team is clearly going to be victorious, Beast Mortos may or may not be getting preferential treatment based on his personal relationship, Volador Jr looks unhappy to be here, I don’t know if I’ve seen Difunto before, Angelico is cool, Serpentico is alright, I don’t have much to say about Zayne, and AR Fox seems to be stuck in purgatory.

Angelico and Hechicero start with your standard chain wrestling sequence leading into the leg sweep and cover attempts. With that stalemate, they each hit the taunt button and tag out to AR Fox and Difunto, who Coleman suggests is a member of the Von Erich family because he wrestles barefoot. Difunto with arm drags and a unique elbow drop for two. Fox cuts him off with a spinning suplex, and now it’s Zayne and Mortos getting their work in, with Zayne getting the better of Mortos for the duration of their time in the ring. Uh-oh, here comes Volador Jr to not give a f*ck. Yay. Serpentico gets in a few arm drags and a magistral cradle for two. Archer trips him up from the floor, and it’s time for my least favorite part of any tag with Volador: All the heels just stand around in the ring and lazily work over each babyface. Difunto is doing his best to top Komander for working a bunch of spots that involve walking the ropes. Fox plays the hero, taking on all four men by himself and hitting cutters on Difunto and Mortos. Hechicero takes a pair of swanton bombs for a two-count. Heck breaks loose on the floor, with Archer freely getting involved. Hechicero pops Zayne with a knee to the face, hits a flapjack and rolls him around in a trap, keeping him down for three at 9:19. Post-match, the beatdown is on until Bandido leads Brody King, Hologram and Ishii to clear the ring. For the love of God, can we stop booking Volador Jr? Nothing to see here, just basic exchanges, a heat segment, and AR Fox being the only guy on his team to get much shine.

Mark Sterling and the Premier Athletes are standing by to promote a CMLL tag team match. Sterling wants them to cut the promo in Spanish, but Daivari cuts to the chase and promises to kick butt. Sterling reminds us that they are undefeated in Lucha Rules. I guess they haven’t lost any matches where Sterling can find a loophole to have it removed from the record.

Willie Mack vs. Gringo Loco:
I don’t think we need Gringo Loco working ROH TV EVERY WEEK. This could Main Event any Armory in Maryland and New Jersey and I’m sure those 40 people (which is still way more than the number of people who pay attention to this show) would be happy to see them. Wow, they brought in someone with a worse physique than Loco, but Mack at least has the decency to show off his body. Loco reminds me of an Amazing Red, if he grew 3 inches, turned white, and got fat. CODE OF HONOR ADHERED TO. Lockup and Loco works on the arm. Mack teases grabbing Loco somewhere South of the Border, getting him to release the hold. Why the hell are these dumpy ass motherf*ckers running the ropes so much? Am I supposed to be wowed by guys going 1 mph? We spam the taunt buttons again. Mack sends Loco to the outside with a hurricanrana, then teases a dive before settling on some more taunting. Loco takes advantage of Mack bringing the fight to the floor and hits a turnbuckle moonsault. Back inside, Mack avoids a moonsault and bulldozes Loco with a shoulder block. Loco cuts off Mack climbing the ropes and hits a Spanish Fly for two. Mack surprises Loco with a boot to the midsection and a Stunner. He follows with a shining wizard and finishes with the frog splash at 6:58. I liked when it was Mack trucking Loco, and some of what they executed was impressive in a bubble, but as a storytelling device, it was moves for the sake of moves, and most of it done in slow-motion.

Lance Archer vs. Ren Jones:
I could probably copy and paste a match from 2020 and no one would be any the wiser… other than the fact I wasn’t recapping Lance Archer matches in 2020, so clearly I’m ripping off someone else. Archer is beating on his opponent during the introductions and throws him into the barricade. Jones avoids a right hand and lands a clean strike, but Archer no-sells and unloads with chops. The match finally starts officially with Archer hitting Jones with a series of elbows in the corner. Blackout finishes at 0:43. You know, instead of copy and paste chicanery, I could have typed up an educated guess on what to expect and moved on to the next segment.

We hype up some AEW content, like Hechicero, Lee Moriarty, Nigel McGuinness and Daniel Garcia fighting for a shot at Zack Sabre Jr at Forbidden Door, then recap the ongoing rivalry between Athena and Toni Storm.

We recap Mina Shirakawa winning the Interim Women’s TV Championship at Supercard of Honor. She had her hand broken at All In, with Athena getting the credit, so Mina promises to return the favor by breaking her heart at Death Before Dishonor…. What about the Interim TV Title?

Leila Grey (w/ Christopher Daniels) vs. Taya Valkyrie (w/ Johnny TV & MxM Collection):
Taya is carried to the ring by her entourage. Remember when she declared for the Women’s Pure Championship Tournament like 3-months ago? No? Well, she did. Her and like 5 other names. Grey is escorted out by not only Daniels, but Top Flight and Scorpio Sky, and I have no idea what happened… is that some Collision exclusive story that I missed?

VERY insincere code of honor from Taya. She avoids a lockup and plays to the crowd, and Leila is having none of that. She unloads on Taya with rights and comes off the ropes with a sunset flip for two. Slow-motion hurricanrana into a cover for two. Grey continues putting the pressure on Taya, hitting a step-up enzuigiri in the corner and a sliding clothesline. Johnny TV trips up Grey, allowing Taya to recover and take her head off with a clothesline. OH MY GOD, RICCABONI MENTIONED THE TOURNAMENT. “Coming Soon.” Just like Emmalina. Taya dumps Leila out and has a make-out session with her man. Back inside, Grey fights out of a wrist-lock and goes straight into the comeback. Grey ducks under a clothesline and both ladies grab the hair for a double-down. They slug it out and Grey catches Taya with a cutter for a near-fall. Daniels is doing a fine job at ringside as a coach/cheerleader. Leila is distracted by Johnny TV, but that also distracts Taya because they’re so in love. Daniels sweeps Johnny off the apron for a distraction within a distraction. Leila hits a second cutter and Taya taps to the Dragon sleeper at 5:28. Hey, I didn’t hate this. Outside of that slow-motion hurricanrana, they stuck to what they could do comfortably, kept it short, and I appreciate some schtick.

Willie Mack is happy with his victory and hungry for some gold, specifically the TV Championship. Nick Wayne enters the picture accompanied by Kip Sabian and Mother Wayne insulted by Mack’s desire to challenge for his Championship.

Tomohiro Ishii vs. “Main Man” Oro:
Oro is making his ROH Debut and gets an entrance, but unfortunately, this is ROH and in ROH, Ishii is unbeatable (compared to AEW, where he can’t buy a singles win to save his life). Ishii is the reigning NJPW Strong Openweight Champion, but this is Non-Title. No code of honor, unfortunately. Lockup into the ropes, Oro ducks a chop and throws his own with zero effect. Ishii stands strong on a shoulder block and sends Oro to the canvas. Oro surprises Ishii with a step-up enzuigiri, but a springboard is countered with a forearm. Oro shows some fancy footwork to keep Ishii out of rhythm. NOW Ishii is selling the strikes. Oro with a snap mare and a kick to the back. Ishii survives more strikes and a uranage and unloads with, you guessed it, more chops. Whip to the corner and Ishii pops out with a lariat. Oro with a knee to counter the brain buster, followed by a springboard moonsault and snap dragon suplex for two. Strike exchange goes Ishii’s way, but he’s too slow following up. Oro hangs him up across the top rope and springboards with a thrust kick. Ishii counters a hammer-lock with a short clothesline and finishes with the brain buster at 4:38. I’ve never got Ishii, at least not based on his AEW work, but Oro was doing some nice things out there, using his speed and athleticism to counter Ishii’s striking and power-based offense.

Tomorrow, a Special Edition of ROH on YouTube! The Premier Athletes take on Neon and Mascara Dorada, and Nick Wayne defends the ROH TV Championship against Willie Mack!

Proving Ground Match: Lee Moriarty (Pure Champion) vs. Xelhua:
Just in case there’s any confusion, this is a PURE RULES MATCH with the 10-minute “Proving Ground” time limit stipulation. In case we’re all new to how this works, you are allowed three rope breaks in a Pure Rules match, and once they are exhausted, going to the ropes means nothing. Also, you are issued a warning for a closed fist, and a second results in Disqualification and possible suspension.

Code of Honor ADHERED TO. Lockup and they jockey for control, each targeting an arm. Moriarty transitions to an abdominal stretch, but Xelhua escapes and ties up the arms. He sweeps the legs and hits a standing frog splash. Moriarty with a fake-out into an ankle pick and knee bar. Xelhua fights to his feet, taking Moriarty over with a monkey-flip. Moriarty bridges out and traps Xelhua in a combo body-scissors and Kimura, sending him to the ropes for his first break. Xelhua turns Moriarty into a pretzel, sending him to the ropes now. Moriarty hangs the arm across the top rope and a springboard forearm connects for a two-count. Another submission trap and Xelhua to the ropes for the second break. Xelhua fires off a pair of arm drags and a tilt-o-whirl back breaker for a near-fall. We keep playing human twister and Moriarty spends another rope break. Moriarty with a face-buster into the Border City Stretch, but Xelhua counters with a cradle for two. Moriarty escapes a hanging ankle lock and rolls Xelhua up for two. They do the boo/yay spot and the crowd isn’t into it until Moriarty starts playing it up, firing the crowd up to react accordingly. They run through a series of counters with Moriarty getting a school boy for two. Xelhua escapes Border City Stretch a second time and locks him up as the time limit expires, securing a future title shot. Post-match, CODE OF HONOR ADHERED TO, but with a little aggression from Moriarty. I think they got a little too cute trying to find new and “creative” holds that took too long to put together, which really exposed this was going the distance.

Final Thoughts: Wow, an hour-long episode? Tony Khan better get his act together and start trimming this stuff back to 45-minutes. Did we need to see the same Lance Archer squash we’ve seen 79 times in the last 5 years? I was disappointed by the opening 8-Man Tag (Volador Jr needs to stay the f*ck away from ROH TV) and am over seeing Gringo Loco every week, but I liked the women’s match, Oro looked impressive in defeat, and some of what Moriarty and Xelhua pulled off was solid work, it just needed more time to breath.