Ring Of Honor – September 25, 2025: This Stupid Tournament
Ring Of Honor
Date: September 25, 2025
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman
We’re a few months away from Final Battle but before we start the build towards the biggest show of the year, we actually have a title match with some build this week. The Tag Team Titles are on the line, as Sammy Guevara and Rush are going to be defending against the Von Erichs. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Opening sequence.
We run down the card.
At All Out, Bandido and Brody King talked about how much they’re willing to do to defend their titles. Their AEW titles.
Bandido vs. Dralistico
Non-title Proving Ground match, meaning if Dralistico (with Rush) wins or lasts the ten minute time limit, he gets a future title shot. Dralistico flips him off to start and bails out to the floor, with Bandido following but getting sent into the barricade. Back in and a superkick cuts Bandido down again and Dralistico hammers away in the corner. Bandido slugs back and snaps off a running hurricanrana, followed by the gorilla press for two. Rush trips Bandido and gets tossed as a result. Well that was done quickly. Rushed even. Bandido grabs a rollup for two, followed by the X Knee for the pin at 5:20.
Rating: C+. They got in a decent amount of stuff in their limited time, but there is only so much that can be done with this kind of a match. Bandido is turning into a pretty big star in AEW as well as ROH and it’s nice to see him treated as something important on both shows. It makes this feel a bit more important, and it worked fine enough here.
Post match a masked man runs in to jump Bandido and it’s…Blake Christian, who is joined by Lee Johnson to beat him down. Hologram, with the returning Kommander, run in for the save.
Premiere Athletes vs. JD Ink/El Magnifico/Rebecca Scott
Nese wrestles Ink down to start and grabs a headlock. A legsweep and legdrop have Ink in more trouble but he flips out of a belly to back suplex. Magnifico comes in and is quickly clotheslines into the corner by Daivari. It’s off to the rather tall Denali so Scott jumps on her back for a choke. Denali kicks her down and hits a spinning kick in the corner. A chokeslam finishes Scott at 3:38.
Rating: C. This was about Denali getting to clean house and that worked well enough. The key thing here was to have Denali get in there, do her dominant stuff and then leave without being exposed. That’s exactly what they did so they couldn’t have done it much better. It’s the first interesting thing that has happened with the Athletes in probably years, likely because it has nothing to do with the two of them.
The Blue Meanie joins the Frat House by doing various frat style things. Sweet goodness can we get away from ECW country already? And the Frat House for that matter?
Viva Van vs. Deonna Purrazzo
Pure Rules, but still not a tournament match because we need to keep waiting. They go technical to start as the fans seem split. Purrazzo goes for the Fujiwara armbar and Van goes to the ropes for her first break. Back up and a rolling kick to the head lets Van take over but Purrazzo drops her in the corner with ease. Purrazzo snaps the arm and a cross armbreaker makes Van burn off her second break. A spinning backfist takes Purrazzo down but she hits Van in the face. The short cradle piledriver gives Purrazzo the pin at 3:49.
Rating: C. It’s another match that means pretty much nothing when it comes to the tournament and could have been under regular rules with no change. Once again, they felt like they are trying to put together a division after establishing a tournament and title. You know, assuming we ever actually have a champion crowned.
We look at Mina Shirakawa winning the Interim Women’s TV Title about four and a half months ago. It’s time for her first title defense.
Interim Women’s TV Title: Mina Shirakawa vs. Lacey Lane
Lane, better known as Kayden Carter in WWE, is challenging in her ROH debut (just go with it). Lane actually takes her down to start and does a bit of dancing. That’s reversed into a double leg stomp, with Shirakawa dancing as well. Back up and a kick to the head gives Lane two but Shirakawa fires off even more kicks to take over. A Russian legsweep sets up the Figure Four on Lane, who makes the rope.
Lane pops back up with more dancing into a springboard spinning legdrop. The Glamorous Driver is broken up and Lane hits a hammerlock Downward Spiral for two. Lane goes up top but gets dragon screw legwhipped back down. A top rope Sling Blade gives Shirakawa two so she strikes Lane down again. The Figure Four makes Lane give up at 6:33.
Rating: B-. Nice match as tends to be the case with Shirakawa, with Lane more than holding up her side. At the same time, there is pretty much zero reason for this title to exist. Red Velvet hasn’t defended the title since May 1 and this was the first defense of the Interim Title two and a half months into the reign. There’s another title on the way (eventually) so why does this thing need to be around?
Tag Team Titles: Rush/Sammy Guevara vs. Von Erichs
The Von Erichs are challenging and get jumped to start the brawl fast. They get inside with the Von Erichs getting splashed in the corner but Marshall manages a suplex on Guevara. Ross comes in for a Falcon Arrow but a Rush distraction lets Guevara dropkicks him out of the air.
Rush’s cocky kick connects in the corner but he misses a charge in the corner. Marshall comes in to clean house, including on the cowboy hat wearing Guevara. The Claw has Rush in trouble and the belly to back suplex gives Marshall two as Guevara makes the save. That means the Bull’s Horns can hit Marshall and Guevara’s Swanton connects to retain at 8:30.
Rating: C+. Thank goodness. The Von Erichs have become some of the weakest parts of the AEW/ROH roster, with that promo they gave a few weeks ago making them feel so pathetic. Guevara and Rush aren’t much of a tag team but they’re miles better than the Von Erichs, who have been around for years and barely improved in the slightest.
Deonna Purrazzo is proud of her win but Shane Taylor Promotions offer a distraction. Cue Trish Adora to jump her from behind. Adora promises to win the Pure Rules Title.
Women’s Pure Rules Title Tournament First Round: Olympia vs. Billie Starkz
They go with the grappling to start and fight over wrist control. That’s broken up and Olympia kicks her in the leg and goes with the top wristlock on the mat. Olympia rolls her around but Starkz grabs the rope, which counts as a break. She has to go to the ropes again to escape some forearms on the mat before things reset a bit.
Starkz knocks her to the floor but misses a dive, allowing Olympia to hit a springboard. Starkz’s leglock sends Olympia to the ropes for a break and then outside, meaning Starkz can hit a suicide dive. Olympia’s leg is wrapped around the post and Starkz cranks away back inside. A snapmare out of the corner gets two but Olympia reverses a suplex into a small package for the same.
Olympia sends her into the corner for a handstand Bronco Buster and another near fall. That works so well that she puts Starkz against the ropes for a skin the cat Bronco Buster (that looked great). Olympia ties up the legs for a standing leglock so Starkz hits her in the face for the official warning. Starkz hits a Last Shot for two and a crucifix gives her the pin at 10:46.
Rating: C+. Gah I’m not surprised by the result, but I’m not exactly thrilled. Olympia was a lot more impressive than Starkz, but Starkz is the star so she needs to advance. At the same time, this tournament was announced about five and a half months ago and we’ve had two matches. Yeah there were injury issues, but either drop the whole thing or just find some different people. It’s not that hard, but somehow we’re probably going until Final Battle in December to get the first champion. Because of course.
Overall Rating: C. This Pure Rules stuff is so uninteresting and could not feel much less important. Rather than just getting to the point with the title tournament, we have to have what are basically preview matches for the people involved. It’s stretching the whole thing out even longer and my goodness just get on with the stupid tournament already. Other than that, the Von Erichs getting beaten up is nice to see, but that’s only so helpful. Another frustrating show, as Ring Of Honor continues to feel like the least important show around.
Results
Bandido b. Dralistico – X Knee
Premiere Athletes b. JD Ink/El Magnifico/Rebecca Scott – Chokeslam to Scott
Deonna Purrazzo b. Viva Van – Short cradle piledriver
Mina Shirakawa b. Lacey Lane – Figure Four
Rush/Sammy Guevara b. Von Erichs – Swanton to Marshall
Billie Starkz b. Olympia – Crucifix
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