Ring Of Honor – April 23, 2026: Sync Up
Ring Of Honor
Date: April 23, 2026
Location: WJCT Studios, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman
Last week was a big one as we actually had some qualifying matches for Supercard Of Honor. The show is in less than a month and I’m wondering what we’re going to get on the way there. Multiple title matches are already set and that’s a bit out of the ordinary for this place. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Opening sequence.
Brandon Cutler/Angelica Risk/Terry Kid vs. Premiere Athletes
Denali and Risk start things off, with only about a foot of size difference. Risk gets pulled down with ease and forearmed in the corner, followed by the knees to the ribs. It’s quickly off to Cutler to strike away on Daivari, including a springboard crossbody. The men fight out to the floor, leaving Denali to chokeslam Risk for the pin at 2:35. Of all of the Athletes’ six person tags that I’ve seen, this was the most recent.
Mark Davis vs. Beef
Beef grabs a headlock to start and knocks Davis out to the floor with a running shoulder. Davis fires off the chops and knocks Beef off the apron, where he sits on Beef’s chest for a unique crash. Back in and Davis chops away some more but Beef scores with a dropkick. Beef strikes away, only to charge into a German suplex.
The big clothesline puts Davis down again but he catches Beef on top with a superplex. The running forearm connects in the corner for two but Beef reverses the piledriver attempt into a rollup for two of his own. Davis chops him down but still can’t hit the piledriver, allowing Beef to hit a belly to back suplex. The Swan Dive misses though and Davis hits a big clothesline for the pin at 7:22.
Rating: C+. So to recap: last night on Dynamite, Davis beat Will Ospreay, the resident AEW superhero, but here he went move for move with freaking BEEF and couldn’t even hit his finisher. Now in theory, since this show is taped in advance and this match advances nothing for either of them, one might think it could have been cut or aired at another time, but nah. Instead it NEEDED to air here because no one pays attention to this show so doing something dumb is fine.
We look at Johnny TV losing his hair in CMLL about two months ago. He’s appeared without his hair in ROH since then so….why are we seeing this?
MxM TV vs. Main Man Oro/Keagan Garland/Angel Fashion
Garland is the son of Scotty 2 Hotty. Fashion and TV start things off with the latter knocking Fashion into the corner to hammer away. Oro comes in to kick Mansoor in the head and Garland comes in to run the ropes. A Hart Attack (leg lariat version) puts Garland down, with Mansoor yelling that he just beat up Scotty’s son. An Alabama slam lets the villains pose but Fashion and Oro break it up.
Garland pounds on Madden in the corner but Madden walks out to hit a powerbomb/double chokeslam at the other two (ok that was nice). TV hits a suicide dive onto all of them but Garland ducks the Flying Chuck. The Worm almost connects but Madden cuts it off at the last second. The Glossy Centerfold finishes Garland at 3:58.
Rating: C. I was worried this was going to go even longer but this was more “hey Scotty 2 Hotty’s son is wrestling”, which was a nice little bonus. You can definitely see the resemblance and while it’s too early to tell how it’s going to go, it’s nice to see Garland getting a shot. Other than that, MxM TV is exactly what they have always been.
We look back at Lee Moriarty beating Marshall Von Erich to retain the Pure Wrestling Title last week.
Caprice Coleman sits down with Moriarty and asks him about being all honorable and then part of Shane Taylor Promotions. Moriarty says he’s the best Pure Wrestler in the world and it’s him being himself. He and Shane Taylor won’t always get along but they work well together. Moriarty is also apparently a talented painter and says it’s similar to being an artist in the ring.
On one hand, I definitely do appreciate these interviews as ANYTHING giving these people some more personality is a good idea, but my goodness maybe build up some people to take the title from him? Or just drop the title altogether because it stopped feeling important years ago?
Diamante vs. Rachael Ellering
Pure Rules. They fight over wrist continue to start and the threat of a Fujiwara armbar sends Ellering straight to the rope. An ankle lock sends Ellering to the ropes again so Diamante starts working on the leg (why Ellering being in the corner doesn’t count as a rope break isn’t clear). Another ankle lock means Ellering is out of rope breaks but she comes back with a big clothesline. Diamante is right back with a top rope double stomp to the back, setting up another ankle lock to make Ellering tap at 5:34.
Rating: C-. Yeah wow that was thrilling. Someone burned off their rope breaks and then gave up. This felt like someone playing No Mercy and wanting to get through Championship Mode while using the same hold to get a submission. That might make for a logical path and match under these rules, but dang it doesn’t make for much in the way of excitement.
Frat House vs. Colons/Spanish Announce Project
Orlando backs Garrison into the corner and it’s off to Eddie for a quick dropkick. It’s off to Karter, who gets hit with a slingshot crossbody into a backbreaker. Angelico comes in to hiptoss Serpentico onto Karter but he knocks Serpentico into the corner to take over. Garrison grabs a suplex DDT on Serpentico but misses a top rope backsplash (making him lose his hat).
Serpentico Dudley Dogs Vance and Angelico comes back in to clean house. Everything breaks down and Garrison’s torture rack powerbomb gets two. Coleman says that he’s finishes a lot of people with that move. I’d love for Coleman to name say….three. Angelico and Serpentico get stereo holds on Jameson and Vance for the double tap at 7:25.
Rating: C+. This was a very Ring Of Honor match, as it featured people who pretty much don’t work on any other shows in any meaningful ways and wrestled the same match they have almost every time they’re on this show. None of these wrestlers have moved up or down the card in months and that is likely going to be there case for the next several months. The match was perfectly acceptable wrestling but it changes nothing. The problem with Ring Of Honor is that a lot of their shows are comprised of that exact same kind of match. It can get exhausting in a hurry and that is definitely happening here.
Billie Starkz vs. Hyan
They fight over a test of strength to start and Starkz bites her hand to escape. Starkz misses a charge though and gets knocked to the floor, where she sends Hyan crashing into the barricade. Back in and Starkz strikes away in the corner, though Hyan does manage a sunset flip for two.
A belly to back suplex gets two more and Hyan takes her up top for a superplex, followed by a falcon arrow for the same. They go to a pinfall reversal sequence for two each until Starkz Alabama Slams her into the corner. The Swanton only gives Starkz two as she pulls Hyan up. Instead it’s the pancake to finish Hyan at 9:15.
Rating: B-. Hyan has come a long way since her debut around here and it’s nice to see someone developed like that. At the same time, it was nice to see Starkz get a win, even if she is still only so much of a star. Granted a lot of that is due to having Athena dominate the division for such a long time and making everyone else look secondary.
Survival Of The Fittest rundown.
Swirl vs. Adam Priest/Tommy Billington
Tornado Tag and at least this has been a feud for a good while now. It’s a brawl to start fast with Johnson getting slammed on the floor and Christian, still in his robe, getting beaten up inside. The Swirl fights back by sending Priest into the steps, allowing Christian to hit a Blockbuster off the steps.
Back in and Billington gets double teamed, including in the Tree Of Woe. Priest is knocked to the floor again and Billington gets beaten down in the corner again. A chair is brought in and a running shot to the head knocks Billington silly for two. Billington fights back though and manages to load Johnson up in a Tombstone, with Priest coming off the top to spike him down (with a sick sound) for two.
Christian’s handspring kick to the face hits Johnson for two and Priest drops Johnson with a DDT. They go to the corner for a Tower Of Doom with a super Spanish Fly off the top for an even bigger crash. The Swirl wins a chop off but Priest clotheslines both of them down. The top rope elbow only hits chair though and the top rope double stomp/Death Valley Driver combination finishes Priest (Johnson gets the pin of course) at 12:03.
Rating: B. This was by far the best match on the show and it felt like it was the culmination of a big feud. It also boosts up the Swirl as a team, which is a good idea. Of course it isn’t as good of an idea as having Christian wrestling some singles matches (he hasn’t had one since December) to build him up for his World Title match in less than a month or talking about it or something. But insert complaints about Ring Of Honor being a disaster here.
Overall Rating: C+. While it’s hardly a big surprise, it’s becoming more and more obvious that this stuff is thrown together with the important matches being added later. That’s fine enough, but it also feels like the regular matches are made without any connection to the bigger matches. It makes these shows very frustrating as the wrestling is fine, but it feels completely disconnected from what is being talked about and promoted. In other words, PUT SOME EFFORT INTO THIS THING ALREADY!
Results
Premiere Athlete b. Brandon Cutler/Angelica Risk/Terry Kid – Chokeslam to Risk
Mark Davis b. Beef – Clothesline
MxM TV b. Main Man Oro/Keagan Garland/Angel Fashion – Glossy Centerfold to Garland
Diamante b. Rachael Ellering – Ankle lock
Colons/Spanish Announce Project b. Frat House – Double submission
Billie Starkz b. Hyan – Pancake
Swirl b. Tommy Billington/Adam Priest – Top rope double stomp/Death Valley Driver to Priest
Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:
Recent Comments