Ring Of Honor – August 29, 2024: Six Of One, Half A Dozen Of Nothing

Ring Of Honor
Date: August 29, 2024
Location: Esports Stadium Arlington, Arlington, Texas
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

It’s going to be hard to surpass last week’s show, which featured the World Title on the line plus a good bit more. The show also featured quite a few extra matches, some of which had things extended for quite a while. There is a good chance that happens again this week but let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

We run down the card.

Athena vs. Aleah James

Non-title Proving Ground match, meaning if James wins or lasts the ten minute time limit, she gets a future title shot. Athena takes her down by the arm to start and then spins her way out of James’ wristlock. Back up and James grabs a monkey flip into a headscissors for two but Athena sends her arm into the apron. James manages a hurricanrana out of a pop up powerbomb attempt but Athena hits some running forearms in the corner. Three straight powerbombs into a Crossface finishes for Athena at 6:13.

Rating: C. Not much to this one, but that’s the point of these matches. If nothing else, it’s nice to see Athena not in the ring as often as it was starting lose some of the impact. She’s one of the biggest stars around here and having her wrestle every week wasn’t working so well. This was a quick way to get her back in the ring and it was entertaining enough while it lasted.

Post match the hold stays on but Abadon comes in to chase Athena off. The fans declare this spooky and Athena’s right hand just has Abadon chasing her around. Billie Starkz cuts Abadon off with a belt shot…but Athena thinks Lexi Nair did it instead.

We look at the 16 man tag from the All In Zero Hour show, which in no way shape or form should have been a dark match since the stadium was about half full.

Johnny TV vs. Sidney Akeem

TV has Taya Valkyrie with him and Akeem is better known as Reggie in WWE. TV takes him down by the arm to start but Akeem is back up to avoid a clothesline with a flip. With TV on the floor, Akeem hits a big dive, only to get dropped face first onto the apron. Taya gets in a quick chop of her own and TV grabs a chinlock back inside.

A spinning knee to the face into the Flying Chuck sets up a missed Starship Pain though as Akeem gets away just in time. Akeem strikes away and hits a top rope spinning elbow for two but Taya distracts the referee again. This time it’s enough for TV to get in a low blow, setting up Starship Pain for the pin at 5:37.

Rating: C+. I’m really not sure if this was enough to get Akeem more appearances, as he wasn’t exactly a big star in WWE and didn’t really do much to showcase himself here. The movement and flying are good enough, but how many people around here can do something similar? Not a bad match at all, but nothing I need to see again from either of them.

Lance Archer vs. Ozzy

Archer jumps him during the entrance as usual and is stunned that Ozzy dared try a kick in the corner. Archer hits some big chops and the Blackout finishes at 2:20.

Shane Taylor hypes up Lee Moriarty as the best technical wrestler in the world. Moriarty will give Angelico a Pure Rules Title shot tonight.

Rachael Ellering vs. Mina Shirakawa

Shirakawa grabs a headlock to start but gets sat on the middle rope for her efforts. A quick takedown lets Shirakawa dance a bit and then knock her down out of the corner. Ellering is back up with a heck of a clothesline and some chops in the corner get two. Shirakawa gets in a kick of her own for a breather, setting up a Russian legsweep. A fisherman’s suplex gives Ellering two but Shirakawa knees her out of the corner. The top rope splash (non-frog) gives Shirakawa two and she reverses the Boss Woman Slam into a cradle for the pin at 7:04.

Rating: B-. It’s nice to see Shirakawa actually get in the ring, even if she hasn’t been doing much of anything either around here or in AEW as of late. She’s an absolute ball of charisma and it is fun to see her doing her thing. Ellering continues to be a good hand in the ring, though I could go for seeing more from her.

Post match Taya Valkyrie runs in and jumps them both. Why Taya changed from earlier isn’t clear but I would assume a different taping.

Top Flight/Action Andretti vs. Ace Of Space Academy

Andretti takes LSG down to start and it’s quickly off to Darius for a splash. GKM comes in to kick Andretti in the head though and a cheap shot from the apron makes it even worse. Colton Charles hits a clothesline for two but Andretti kicks and rolls his way out of trouble. The hot tag brings in Dante to clean house as everything breaks down. GKM gets caught on his own and Dante’s jumping knees to the back finish him off at 4:39.

Rating: C. As usual, Top Flight and Andretti are fine on their own and still feel like they are doing absolutely nothing important. Top Flight could easily be in the Tag Team Title picture either around here or in AEW but instead they’re just thrown out there with little of importance to do. I still don’t get it and for some reason it never changes.

EJ Nduka vs. Demo Diamond

Diamond grabs a headlock to start but gets hit with something like a spear for his efforts. Nduka misses a charge into the corner but comes back with a huge spinebuster. The toss powerbomb finishes Diamond at 2:00.

Rachael Ellering says the loss was tough but Harley Cameron interrupts. She gives something of a weird pep talk and Ellering isn’t impressed.

Evil Uno vs. Jacoby Watts

Before the bell, Watts offers Uno and the Dark Order a spot on the team, but Uno is a one cult man. Uno chops away in the corner to start and they head outside where a running clothesline puts him down again. Hold on though as the seconds get into it at ringside, allowing Watts to hit a running clothesline. Uno shrugs that off and hits the piledriver for the pin at 2:40. Well that was nothing.

Josh Woods vs. Barrett Brown

Woods backs him up against the corner to start and drops him with a hard shot. A running knee sets up the tombstone wheelbarrow suplex to finish Brown at 1:42. Total squash.

Leila Grey vs. Promise Braxton

Grey fights out of an early headlock and snaps off some armdrags. Back up and Braxton’s chops don’t get her very far, as Grey grabs a headscissors. A Blockbuster gives Grey two and a full nelson slam plants Braxton again. The full nelson slam finishes for Grey at 2:44.

Blake Christian vs. Rosario Grillo

Christian dropkicks him in the corner to start and snaps the arm back. Grillo gets sent to the apron for a kick to the head, setting up a springboard 450 to give Christian the pin at 1:42.

Ariya Daivari vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Daivari chops away to start but gets taken own by a running shoulder. Ishii chops away in the corner and Daivari is already needing a breather on the floor. That means Ishii gets to fire off more chops, but one of them hits the post to give Daivari a breather. Back in and Daivari grabs a chinlock but Ishii chops his way to freedom, even if the bad hand is broken up. A suplex gives Ishii two and, after a failed Mark Sterling distraction, the basement lariat finishes Daivari at 6:45.

Rating: C+. Commentary hyped up an appearance by Ishii as a big deal. That’s all well and good, but he was literally just on Dynamite the night before this aired in a longer, more intense match against a more successful opponent. This wasn’t exactly part of a red hot feud and came from a marathon taping session, so why not space it out better? Seeing Ishii against Hangman Page on Dynamite was good. This was more “ok, I’ve seen this done better recently”. Why did that need to be on this show?

Pure Title: Angelico vs. Lee Moriarty

Angelico, with Serpentico, is challenging, while Shane Taylor is here with the champ. Moriarty grabs the arm to start but Angelico takes him down by the leg. The technical off continues to go to a stalemate so Moriarty rolls away and dances a bit. Angelico pulls him down into something like an STF, sending Moriarty to the ropes for his first break. Back up and Moriarty rolls him up for two, leaving Angelico surprised.

Angelico takes him down by the arm but misses some kicks, allowing Moriarty to grab the Border City Stretch. Another rope break gives us one used each, with Moriarty looking rather pleased. Angelico’s kneebar sends Moriarty over to the ropes for another break but Moriarty is right back with a crank on the arm. The rope breaks are pulled to even again for the save so Moriarty grabs a Kimura, meaning Angelico has to use his last break. Angelico grabs a kneebar so Moriarty uses his last rope break as well. Back up and Angelico’s rollup is reversed into one from Moriarty to retain at 12:18.

Rating: B-. The Pure Rules matches are starting to feel a lot more formula based, as it’s turning into either “this person doesn’t know what he’s doing and burns through rope breaks” or “they both use their breaks and then the match ends shortly after”. Technically they’re fine matches, but they feel like they’re VERY scripted out in advance and that takes away a lot of the enjoyment.

Respect is shown to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This was a very uninteresting show and the wrestling wasn’t exactly burning up the mat to make up the difference. Half of the matches were squashes and the rest was stuff that didn’t really change anything. It wasn’t quite as long, but it felt a lot less interesting because so little happened. It’s another nothing show which was only long because Tony Khan decided it needed to be, which is a big reason why this show feels like such a waste of time more often than not.

Results
Athena b. Aleah James – Crossface
Johnny TV b. Sidney Akeem – Starship Pain
Lance Archer b. Ozzy – Blackout
Mina Shirakawa b. Rachael Ellering – Cradle
Top Flight/Action Andretti b. Ace Of Space Academy – Jumping knees to GKM
EJ Nduka b. Demo Diamond – Toss powerbomb
Evil Uno b. Jacoby Watts – Piledriver
Josh Woods b. Barrett Brown – Tombstone wheelbarrow suplex
Leila Grey b. Promise Braxton – Full nelson slam
Blake Christian b. Rosario Grillo – Springboard 450
Tomohiro Ishii b. Ariya Daivari – Basement lariat
Lee Moriarty b. Angelico – Rollup

 

 

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