ROH TV (Episode 130) Review – 08.21.25

Welcome back to Ring of Honor TV, exclusively on Honor Club at WatchROH.com. Last week, not only were we treated to our regularly scheduled episode of ROH (Episode 129, for those keeping track), but a YouTube Special Edition dropped Friday Night and made me question my purpose in life. If you want to know what happened on either show, you’ll be the first person to ever click the links to the old recaps, and I thank you.

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

CMLL World Trios Championship Match:
El Sky Team (c) (w/ Alex Abrahantes) vs. Los Depredadores:
You know, ROH has their own Trios Championship, how about doing something with them? El Sky Team está compuesto de Místico, Mascara Dorada, y Neón, mientras Los Depredadores consisten de Volador Jr, Magnus, y Rugido. Sorry, my autocorrect was recommending Spanish language when I was typing up the Depredadores, so I figured to play along with it for listing the Champions as well. TK keeps trying with Mistico’s music and IT’S NOT GONNA HAPPEN. Bring the show back to Arena Mexico and we’ll talk.

All hands kicked away by the challengers. NO CODE OF HONOR TO BE FOUND AROUND HERE. Neon and Rugito start for their teams, trading snap arm drags and both men going up for a dropkick. Dorada and Magnus have the next exchange, with Dorada sending Magnus to the floor following a spinning head-scissors. Mistico pops Volador Jr with a handspring elbow and springboard body press. Volador powders and Mistico is picked off by Rugudio and Magnus. Neon and Dorada are taken out, which brings my favorite spot: Volador Jr getting to stand around in the ring for as long as he feels like! Mistico gets dumped, bringing in Dorada, who is also victimized by a ridiculous 3-on-1 attack that the referee does nothing to keep under control. Mistico and Neon help clear the ring and the Champions sync up (mostly) with dives to the floor.

We get things back in control, with Magnus wiping out Mistico and laying in a flurry of strikes. Whip to the ropes, Mistico ducks under a clothesline and pops Magnus with a Super-Kick. Dorada with an assisted spinning head-scissors, then Rugido with an unintended assist for an encore. Neon gets to run wild before getting laid out from behind with a forearm from Magnus. SUPER KICK PARTY. Magnus with a pop-up cutter on Neon to be the last man standing. Mistico with the cut off on the top rope, hitting Magnus with the C-4. Volador with a Mexican Destroyer to Mistico to trigger the “EVERYONE GET THEIR SH*T IN” sequence. Sky Team with a double rowboat trap as Mistico hits a hurricanrana cradle for a near-fall. Volador is the victim of some double team shenanigans. Dorada hits him with a Shooting Star Press and Mistico taps Magnus with La Mistica at 10:04. Well, this was a lot of moving parts, and thankfully they didn’t go too long with the rudos dicking around for 3-on-1 spots for too long (as I’ve accepted is what I’m going to get whenever Volador Jr is advertised). I’d call this a fun “party” match, something that isn’t telling much of a story, but everyone is (mostly) hitting everything well and constantly keeping the action flowing, and those types of matches are the ultimate “mileage may vary.”

Beef vs. Blake Christian (w/ Lee Johnson):
These two were on opposing teams last week on the YouTube Special Edition of ROH, so we’re running it back with the stand-out members of those teams. Beef has an Honor Club record of 5-4. ARE YOU SERIOUS?

No Code of Honor. I know, I’m surprised too. There’s a decent amount of Beef lovers in attendance. Beef stands his ground on a pair of shoulder block attempts. Christian hits the canvas and pops back up with an enzuigiri. Johnson gets some free shots from ringside while Vanilla Baby draws away the attention of the referee. We get a close-up of Christian’s ice-cream designed shoes. He tries a rope-walk spot but his arrogance betrays him, opening the door for a Beef hope spot. The run is short-lived, as Christian cuts him off in the corner with more fancy footwork. Riccaboni noting Christian slowing down how he works to control his breathing is some fine work. Beef avoids a springboard whatever and surprises everyone by throwing a dropkick. Big Shotty with a distraction, allowing Christian to wipe Beef off the apron and hit him on the floor with a twisting tope suicida. Back inside, 450 double stomp and Vanilla Choke Zero finishes at 5:11. Just an extended squash for Vanilla Baby, who did a little too much “licking the ice cream cone” taunting for my taste. Post-match, Beef gets a second helping of assault, including the double stomp/Spicolli Driver combo.

Recap of the QT Marshall and Paul Walker Hauser confrontation from last week. BREAKING NEWS: Marshall and Hauser will meet at Death Before Dishonor in a “Fight Without Honor”!

Music Video of The Outrunners. Sorry, the joke expired months ago.

AR Fox vs. The Beast Mortos (w/ Rush & Dralistico):
I keep forgetting that Rush and Dralistico are still around. Fox feels like a guy who deserves a better push, but is just happy to be getting regular work, I suppose. Speaking of getting plenty of work, Mortos is all over TV in the last few months.

Mortos wants nothing to do with the Code of Honor. Dralistico attempts to distract Fox, but it doesn’t pay off. Mortos is dumped to the floor and Fox wipes him out with a tope con hilo. They fight for control on the apron, with Mortos getting the edge by dumping Fox with a fireman’s carry slam. Back inside, Mortos presses Fox into the air for a crash landing and follows up with a spinning heel kick. Mortos unloads on Fox with combinations and hits a snap powerslam for two. Fox avoids more ring apron assault and spikes Mortos with a rope-assisted DDT. Fox flips over the ropes with a double stomp and follows Mortos to the floor by flipping off the post with a moonsault! Back inside, Fox with a Swanton Bomb for two. Mortos fights his way off the shoulders of Fox and hits a pop-up Samoan drop for two. Fox cuts Mortos off as he climbs the ropes and hits a Death Valley Driver. Dralistico with ANOTHER distraction, allowing Mortos to dump Fox on his head with the Destination Hellhole for three at 5:36. Post-match, Rush and Friends whip and choke Fox out. I’m sure this leads to a match at Death Before Dishonor… Zero-Hour. Fun little match that I would like to see get a little bit more time so things can be allowed to breathe.

Sammy Guevara & Marshall and Ross Von Erich vs. Adam Priest & The Workhorsemen:
Wow, we must be taped from Texas or Texas adjacent, because that seems like the only time we get the Von Erich boys on any of these shows. JD Drake grabs the microphone and offers the Von Erichs to forfeit, but they have a partner to fill the spot left vacant by the injured Dustin Rhodes. I guess I should have left their partner as a question mark, since I gave it away before typing up the pre-match stuff.

Sammy and Henry shake hands and Henry immediately pulls him in with a side headlock. They do a bit of running the ropes, with Sammy standing tall following a dropkick. Marshall in, planting Priest with a slam for a one-count. Henry cheapshots Ross from the apron, but he manages to fight out of the 3-on-1. Time for Plan B; TAKE OUT MARSHALL AND SAMMY. Ross finally ends up in trouble, taking residency in the corner of the Priest-Workmen Coalition. Ross makes his own comeback and gets his sh*t in rather than attempt tagging in Sammy. Crowd is f*cking DEAD. Sammy with the lukewarm tag, hitting JD and Henry with a flying body press. Asai Moonsault on JD and a springboard cutter to Priest for a near-fall. Henry lights Sammy up with a series of kicks, JD hits a shining wizard, and Priest comes off the top with a splash for two. The action spills to the raised platform, where Sammy hits a double cutter to the Horseworkers. Marshall runs wild on Priest as the crowd continues to play dead. Priest is dropped with a sloppy “claw-slam” and the claw puts him down for three at 7:24. Rough match, because they were trying (and as usual, the Von Erich’s looking awkward/sloppy as hell), but the crowd couldn’t give a sh*t about any of it.

Trish Adora (w/ The Infantry) vs. Janai Kai:
I’m sure AEW has more than Trish Adora to showcase on ROH, right? Where’s Serena Deeb? Deonna Purrazzo? Isn’t Yuka Sakazaki still under contract? Adora and Kai adhere to the CODE OF HONOR. They jockey for control, trading headlocks and shoulder blocks. Kai with a flurry of leg strikes, and each slap takes me more and more out of the sequence. Adora avoids a corner attack and starts working the leg. She transitions to a surfboard while doing the splits across the back and shoulder of Kai. That’s always a great looking spot. Adora tries going for the leg at the same time, but that’s a little too ambitious. Kai threatens a comeback, complete with the world’s sloppiest sling-blade. Adora comes right back with an awkwardly executed back breaker. We get some stutter-step over-complicated bullsh*t, Adora dumps Kai with a snap German suplex, and the lariat finishes at 4:32. And I thought the Von Erich brothers were sloppy and all over the place… the last minute-90 seconds was not great looking execution, and we’ll leave it at that.

Sammy Guevara and the Von Erich Brotherhood are backstage, talking about Death Before Dishonor. To make a long story short, Ross and Marshall want Sammy to fill in for Dustin’s spot on the team. DO IT FOR DUSTIN. KEEP STEPPIN, DADDY!

We get a goofy vignette of Bandido at the Silver Dollar Saloon, being confronted by Hechicero. Is this supposed to make me want to watch Death Before Dishonor? Well, I do, but not because of this vignette. You know what he needs? Alex Abrahantes as his hype man. (NOTE: I watched the second half of the show before the first half, so I had no idea Aberhantes was still around AND was representing El Sky Team in the opener!)

Jay Lethal vs. Hechicero (w/ Don Callis):
Final match of the night, and we continue to heat up Hechicero by putting him over a bunch of geeks and has-beens. Lethal is rocking some obvious Macho Man inspired gear for this one. Don Callis comes out with Hechicero and gives a SUPER OBNOXIOUS introduction that might make people turn the show off.

Lethal offers the hand but Hechicero isn’t interested in the Code of Honor. Lockup and they trade wrist-locks, resulting in a stalemate. Hechicero with a cheap shot, but Lethal quickly turns things around, sending Hechicero to the floor. Back inside, Hechicero picks the ankle in the middle of a leapfrog and unloads with right hands. Lethal creates separation and surprises Hechicero with a series of pinning combinations, but nothing that can put the alchemist away. Hechicero regains control and Callis gets in some shots, but referee Aubrey Edwards catches him in the act and an ejection is issued, with Callis tripping over himself. That’s the most I’ve seen Callis sell for someone in years! Lethal circles Hechicero with left jabs, bounces off the ropes with a forearm and hits a snap suplex. The Macho Elbow is well-scouted, as is the counter, as Lethal attempts the Figure-Four, but Hechicero counters THAT with a small package for two. Lethal Combination for two. Hechicero counters the Lethal Injection and stretches Lethal into a f*cking pretzel to get the submission at 6:31. They really packed a lot into 6+ minutes. Lethal being a gatekeeper babyface is a good spot for him on the show, and Hechicero always brings the entertainment.

Final Thoughts: More hits than misses this week. I liked what I got from Lethal/Hechicero, AR Fox/Mortos, and the CMLL Trios, and I didn’t have too much of a problem with Vanilla Baby’s showcase against Beef. The Trios with the Sons of Texas was a heatless nothing burger and the lone Women’s match unfortunately suffered from “the wheels falling off” syndrome, but at least it was kept short and it wasn’t all bad. Death Before Dishonor is next week and so far we have four confirmed matches; Bandido vs. Hechicero, Athena vs. Mina Shirakawa, Lee Moriarty vs. Xelhua, and QT Marshall vs. Paul Walker Hauser. Will we get 8 matches on the main card and an additional 4 matches for Zero-Hour? FIND OUT NEXT WEEK.