Ring Of Honor – April 30, 2026: Now With Curves

Ring Of Honor
Date: April 30, 2026
Location: WJCT Studios, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

We’re coming up on Supercard Of Honor and the top of the card has mostly come together. That isn’t something that happens very often with big time Ring Of Honor events but they’re pulling it off this time. Unfortunately there is only so much of a connection between what we see here and what is being promoted for the show. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Konosuke Takeshita vs. Matt Menard

Well that’s a surprise. They take turns backing each other up against the ropes until Takeshita takes him down. A slam sends Takeshita outside, which feels like something of an overreaction. Back in and Takeshita knocks him into the corner for the knees to the head in the corner. Takeshita grabs the chinlock but Menard fights up and sends him into the corner for the right hands. The exchange of forearms goes to Takeshita and he hits a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. The running knee finishes for Takeshita at 6:43.

Rating: C. There wasn’t much to be seen here as there was only going to be so much you could get out of Takeshita vs. Menard. I’m not entirely sure why Takeshita was here and especially with no promotion, but it’s nice to have a surprise every so often. If nothing else it was nice to have a relatively quick match, as Menard losing pretty fast is a good thing.

Shane Taylor vs. Mance Warner

Dang they’re throwing some curves into this one and somehow Warner has never wrestled in Ring Of Honor. They forearm it out with Warner firing off some overhand chops to send him outside. That means a running poke to the eye but Taylor rams him back first into the post. Taylor’s running legdrop connects on the apron and puts Warner in a chair for a running elbow.

Back in and a big clothesline drops Warner again, followed by a release Rock Bottom. The big splash gives Taylor two but the middle rope version misses. Warner fires off some clotheslines and hits a belly to back suplex before going to grab the chair. Said chair is used for a running tornado DDT but Taylor’s knee to the face gets two more. The Marcus Garvey Driver finishes Warner at 8:07.

Rating: C+. This was a hard hitting fight and I get why you would have Taylor win, though if Warner is available, he’s worth having around. I could go with seeing him around to do some insane talking as he would certainly add some spice to the show. Of course that’s assuming this isn’t a one off appearance, though that would be a bit of a surprise.

The Premiere Athletes warn everyone against laying a hand on Mark Sterling.

Stori Denali vs. Jacey Love

Mark Sterling is here too and threatens anyone who even looks at him the wrong way. Denali shoves her into the corner and Love’s dropkicks to the leg don’t do much good. The tornado DDT is blocked and a chokeslam finishes for Denali at 2:27.

Alan Angels vs. Lio Rush

Just in case you thought you might not have to watch Rush be WEIRD for a week. Angels snaps off a running hurricanrana to start so Rush does his bug eyed crawling. They run the ropes until Rush takes him down for a spinning kick to the head. Rush goes outside and screams at a chop, only for Angels to stomp on his back on the way back inside. A bridging northern lights suplex gives Angels two so Rush starts moving faster and catches Angels on top.

Angels bites the ear but gets caught with the springboard Stunner for two. A powerbomb out of the corner plants Rush again and Angels’ spinning kick to the head gets two more. They go to a pinfall reversal sequence for a bunch of one counts each until Angels rolls some half and half suplexes. The top rope splash gives Angels two so they head to the apron, where Rush hits another Stunner. Rush does his weird (because he’s WEIRD) running around the ring into a suicide dive, followed by a toss Blue Thunder Bomb to finish Angels at 9:33.

Rating: B-. Yeah……this Rush thing is not for me at all. He wrestles pretty much the same match but now he does the big eyes and weird hopping stuff as well. I’d be fine with Rush being around in another form, say as himself rather than with Action Andretti in a low level tag team, but this isn’t working for me.

We look at Diamante mocking Deonna Purrazzo last week.

Deonna Purrazzo vs. Remi Reade

Non-title Pure Rules match. Purrazzo easily escapes a headscissors to start and mocks Reade a bit before grabbing a backslide for one. Reade slips away from her and gets in the same mock, with Purrazzo approving. Back up and Purrazzo backs her into the ropes, which counts as the first break. The threat of the Fujiwara armbar sends Reade over to the ropes (not a break) so Purrazzo goes with a powerbomb. Now the Fujiwara armbar makes Reade tap at 3:07.

Rating: C. This was hardly going to be some big, amazing match and that’s what we wound up getting. Purrazzo wrestled her down and won with a mixture of stuff, which is a good way to go for her. Purrazzo’s big match is in two weeks, even though there is little reason to believe that her title is in danger.

Top Flight vs. Soleil/Gringo Loco

Loco kicks at Darius to start but can’t get very far with a headscissors on the mat. Soleil comes in and picks up the pace (which was already up in the first place) and gets sent into the wrong corner. That doesn’t last long as Soleil hits a dive to the floor to take Darius out again. Some running kicks to the head get two on Soleil and Loco’s spinning split legged moonsault gets two.

Darius fights up and hands it off to Dante, who has to fight both of them off. A twisting Meteora puts Dante down and it’s Loco dropping a Swanton for two. Everything breaks down and Darius is back in for a German suplex. The double underhook DDT finishes Loco at 6:55.

Rating: B-. Well it was fast paced and energetic, with some good spots and absolutely no reason to believe that either of the teams are going to be doing anything important anytime soon. That’s the case with a lot of people around here and unfortunately it’s where Top Flight is as well. It would be nice to believe that there is a reason to believe otherwise but years of that not happening would suggest otherwise.

IInspiration vs. B3cca/Madison Maxx

Lee grabs a headlock on Maxx to start and the IInspiration clear the ring without much trouble. That means the double pose is on, followed by the double choking in the corner. B3cca comes in and gets beaten up as well, setting up stereo Pedigrees. The Idolizer finishes B3cca at 3:41.

Rating: C. I’m not sure what the IInspiration are supposed to do around here but they need some wins to boost them back up. Granted there is only so much value in having them win a match like this one, but it’s better than nothing. There are only so many women’s teams around in the first place so going with one of the few established ones makes sense.

We get a sitdown interview between Caprice Coleman and….Ian Riccaboni. Actually Riccaboni brings in Red Velvet, which would be a better interview, though Coleman looks nervous because he wasn’t ready for this. And I guess this is going to be on social media later. Ok then.

Viva Van vs. Sara Leon

Van rolls around with a wristlock to start and they go up to a standoff. Leon backs up a bit so Van rolls forward into a pose, leaving Leon to roll her up for two. A hurricanrana out of the corner drops Van, who is right back with a Brock Lock of all things. Leon has to escape a surfboard and gets two, only to get caught in a cross arm electric chair suplex to give Van the pin at 4:28.

Rating: C+. Van hasn’t done much around here but it’s nice to see her get a chance to actually win for a change. If nothing else, you need to have her win on occasion or beating her over and over only means so much. I’ve seen good things from Van elsewhere so maybe this is the start of something for her around here as well.

Paid In Full vs. Nick Halen/Vin Parker

Halen actually gives Keith a running STO for two to start but Keith rakes the eyes. Bill comes in for a running splash in the corner and the spinning Boss Man Slam plants Parker. The big boot finishes Halen at 2:21.

We look at Christian XO’s debut.

Christian XO vs. Frankie B.

The rather tall XO mocks Frankie with an offer of a test of strength and then knocks her down with ease. A Stratusphere has Frankie in trouble but she escapes a fireman’s carry. That just earns Frankie an ax kick (which looked more like a Fameasser) for the pin at 2:19.

TMDK vs. Don Callis Family

It’s RPG Vice and Mark Davis for the Family. Tito and Romero start things off but it’s quickly off to Beretta, who is powered into the corner. Everything breaks down and Davis knees Haste in the face. Haste is sent into the corner and stomped down but he fights up on Romero. The tag brings in Nicholls to clean house until everyone is knocked down for a big breather.

Tito and Davis come back in to slug it out and knock each other down again. They slug it out from their knees and then feet, with Tito hitting a brainbuster for two. A double spinebuster/powerbomb combination gets the same, with Romero and Beretta making the save. Back up and Davis runs Tito over for two before pulling Haste out of the corner for the piledriver. Strong Zero sends Nicholls outside but Tito is back up…and gets lariated for two. Another piledriver finishes Tito at 11:12.

Rating: B-. Another entertaining match with the Family getting to beat TMDK again. If nothing else, it’s nice to see Davis getting to hit that piledriver, which is becoming one of the more devastating moves in AEW/ROH. I’m not sure why we’re seeing so much from RPG Vice as of late, though if they’re signed they might as well be used in some way.

Overall Rating: C+. The pay per view is in about two weeks and one of the four matches announced got any real advancement this week (and that’s a stretch as Purrazzo winning a match isn’t much of an advancement). The rest of the show was just a bunch of stuff like you would see on any other show. I’m sure there will be a bunch of stuff added to Supercard Of Honor at the last minute and some of them will get on the show as a result, but this stuff doesn’t really make me care about most of these people. In other words, it’s Ring Of Honor at its most typical.

Results
Konosuke Takeshita b. Matt Menard – Running knee
Shane Taylor b. Mance Warner – Marcus Garvey Driver
Stori Denali b. Jacey Love – Chokeslam
Lio Rush b. Alan Angels – Toss Blue Thunder Bomb
Deonna Purrazzo b. Remi Reade – Fujiwara armbar
Top Flight b. Gringo Loco/Soleil – Double underhook DDT to Loco
IInspiration b. B3cca/Madison Maxx – Idolizer to B3cca
Viva Van b. Sara Leon – Crossarm electric chair suplex
Paid In Full b. Nick Halen/Vin Parker – Big boot to Halen
Christian XO b. Frankie B. – Ax kick
Don Callis Family b. TMDK – Piledriver to Tito

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Ring Of Honor – April 17, 2026: Pick Your Reason

Ring Of Honor
Date: April 17, 2026
Location: WJCT Studios, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

We’re on a Friday this time as Collision was in the usual Ring Of Honor spot. In this case that probably doesn’t mean much, though Supercard Of Honor is in about a month and it’s time to start getting some matches together. That would be nice to see, though this place hardly works on a traditional schedule. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening video looks at the Women’s Survival Of The Fittest at Supercard Of Honor, with qualifying matches tonight. Well at least that’s something.

Opening sequence.

Survival Of The Fittest Qualifying Match: Lacey Lane vs. Billie Starkz

Athena is here with Starkz. An early armdrag sends Starkz outside, with Lane superkicking her from the apron and hitting a crossbody. On the way back in, Starkz plants her on the apron though and they head back inside with Starkz looking cocky. Some hair mares have Lane down but it’s way too early for the Swanton.

Lane rolls away and hits a basement superkick for two but Starkz has a knee injury. A fake injury that is but an injury nonetheless. Starkz slams her into a Swanton for two, with Lane reversing into a rollup for two of her own. A suplex gives Lane two and a neckbreaker connects for the same. Another exchange of rollups gets some near falls until Starks knees her in the chest and grabs a pancake for the pin at 7:27.

Rating: C+. I still don’t get the appeal behind Starkz but it makes sense to have her in the match. At the same time, it’s rather annoying because Lane was looking rather awesome in this one. She has a certain confidence to her style and it works well when she’s in the ring. It would be nice if they could both go, or if Starkz could be a bit more interesting.

Survival Of The Fittest Qualifying Match: Yuka Sakazaki vs. Viva Van

Van grabs a headlock to start and easily wins a battle of the shoulders. Sakazaki avoids a charge to send her outside though and hits the dive to take over. Back in and Van gets painful with a dragon screw legwhip before working on the knee. One heck of a Boston crab sends Sakazaki over to the ropes but she’s able to kick Van down. A basement clothesline drops Van again but she’s right back with a spinning kick. Van’s flipping kick to the head gets two so Sakazaki nails her with a discus forearm. The spinning slam and Magical Girl Splash finish Van at 7:10.

Rating: C. Well at least her knee healed up so fast. This was one of those matches with zero drama about who was going to win so Van working on the knee was a nice enough story. At the same time, it really doesn’t matter if Sakazaki shrugs it off and does her big moves to win in the end anyway.

We look back at Ace Austin pinning Carly Bravo last week in an eight man tag. Naturally, this leads to the following.

Pure Rules Title: Marshall Von Erich vs. Lee Moriarty

Von Erich is challenging in his first singles match in ROH and commentary makes it clear that the eight man tag set this up. I’m sure there’s a logic in there somewhere but please don’t explain it to me as I don’t want my mind working that way. Moriarty grabs a hammerlock to start and Von Erich uses his first rope break less than fifty seconds in. Back up and Von Erich hits a dropkick to try the Claw, causing Moriarty to use his first break

Moriarty works on the arm and even bends the fingers to try and take the Claw away. Von Erich burns another rope break and hits a running corner clothesline to take over for a change. There’s a cannonball for two but Moriarty Saito suplexes him for the same. The Border City Stretch goes on and there’s Von Erich’s last rope break. The Claw goes on but Moriarty pulls him into the ropes and grabs a triangle choke to retain at 6:51.

Rating: C+. Well that was quite the side trip. Von Erich, who isn’t a singles wrestler and is barely a tag wrestler, lost his title shot which was set up when his partner pinned someone other than the champion. This is an example of something that was thrown out there in an attempt to give the match a story and it didn’t work because it made no sense. This stuff really shouldn’t be that hard and yet…well you make sense of it.

Josh Woods is bored with the lack of competition so it’s an open challenge for a Pure Rules match as he tries to get to the Pure Rules Title. So, to recap, Woods wins a streak of Pure Rules matches but can’t get another title shot while Von Erich….you know what, never mind. It’s so dumb at this point I’m not even going to waste my time.

Survival Of The Fittest Qualifying Match: Hyan vs. Trish Adora

Christian XO is here with Adora. They fight over a lockup to start with Adora backing her into the corner. Hyan gets in a dropkick so Adora rolls outside, where Hyan scores with a dive. Back in and Hyan goes up top, only to get knocked down. XO gets in a cheap shot and Adora cranks on the arms (while sitting between them) back inside.

The weird kneeling stretch has Hyan in more trouble and her chops are cut off with a crank of the arm. Hyan gets up for a pump kick and a belly to back suplex for two. A spear drops Adora for two more but an Unprettier is blocked. Adora’s bridging German suplex (with that weird knee bend) sets up the Lariat Tubman to finish Hyan at 7:28.

Rating: C+. It was nice to have a match which could have gone either way, as Adora is someone who could knock anyone out but Hyan has been near the title for a little while now. I could go for some more of Hyan getting a chance, while Adora making the match is fine enough. Another perfectly fine match, though at least it had some drama about the result.

Survival Of The Fittest Qualifying Match: Isla Dawn vs. Persephone

Persephone’s CMLL Women’s Title isn’t on the line. They fight over a lockup to start with neither getting very far so they break it off. Persephone snaps off a running headscissors but Dawn is back with a running shoulder for a knockdown. Dawn hits a Backstabber and starts in on the leg in the corner, followed by a Saito suplex.

The chinlock goes on but Persephone fights up, only to get blasted with a clothesline. Persephone fights out of a cobra clutch, followed by a fall away slam to put Dawn down for a change. A middle rope moonsault misses though and Dawn gets something close to a dragon sleeper. Persephone manages to spin around and get on top for the pin at 8:16.

Rating: B-. This was a better match with Dawn mostly escaping with the win, which made for a good result. Persephone is on fire at the moment and it wouldn’t shock me to see her win the title at Supercard Of Honor. As a result, she wasn’t about to lose here but at least she had to work hard to get there.

Nick Wayne, Mother Wayne and Kip Sabian (who still has a job) sat down with Caprice Coleman to talk about Nick going to compete in the Best Of The Super Juniors. He was gone for eight months, came back for like six weeks, and is leaving for a Japanese tournament??? Good grief. Well, granted it’s not like the title is going to be missed anyway.

TV Title: Evil Uno vs. Nick Wayne

Uno is getting this title shot due to his success in Mystery Wrestling, Maple Leaf Wrestling and Ring Of Honor. Dang it. Hang on. Uno’s record in:

Mystery Wrestling – 2-6 (with his one singles win coming in 2019)
Maple Leaf Pro – 3-1 (his one singles win was in October)
Ring Of Honor (this year) – 0-5 (all in tag matches, with his last singles win coming in 2014)

Three promotions, one with a winning record and most of that was in tag matches. But sure, let’s do this. Uno backs him into the corner to start and Wayne hides in the ropes for a bit. Wayne grabs a headlock and snapmares him down but Uno sends him outside for a hug from Mother. Uno runs him over and they go back inside for some corner clotheslines. Wayne goes back to the arm and hits it with a top rope double stomp.

Some less than respectful slaps to the head wake Uno up a bit but Wayne is right back on the arm. A jumping neckbreaker gets Uno out of trouble and he DDTs Wayne for two. The piledriver gets two but Wayne is right back with a standing Sliced Bread for the same. Wayne’s Kimura sends Uno over to the rope and it’s a Last Shot to rock Wayne for a change. Back up and Wayne kicks him in the head for the pin to retain at 10:13.

Rating: B-. They had a better match than I was expecting as Wayne is starting to look more polished in the ring. That’s a good sign for his future, as he could be a bigger deal in the future. At the same time, I have completely given up trying to figure out how title matches work around here and apparently the promotion has too. Apparently I now need to follow two other promotions (minimum) to get why matches are taking place here, though it doesn’t seem like ROH has any idea how math works anyway.

Post match Wayne says it’s his world and you’re just living in it. AR Fox comes out and has a staredown with Wayne. Now that at least makes a bit of sense.

AR Fox vs. Daisuke Sasaki

Sasaki shoulders him down to start and tries an early crossface, with Fox slipping out. Fox kicks him to the apron for the running flipping stomp but Sasaki twists the leg around in the corner. More leg cranking sets up a kneebar and Fox makes it over to the rope. Back up and Fox rolls over for a suplex and they’re both down for a bit. Fox elbows and kicks away, setting up the basement cutter.

A rolling cutter gives Fox two but a 450 misses. Sasaki is back on the leg and DDT has Fox in more trouble. The crossface almost makes Fox tap, with his foot having to reach the rope. Sasaki goes for the arm again but gets pulled into a cutter to send him outside. Fox hits a big dive and hangs him in the corner for a slingshot Canadian Destroyer and the pin at 9:37.

Rating: B. The more I see from Fox, the more I appreciate how unique he really is. He’s able to make things look different than anyone else and while he is a good example of a moves guy, he’s able to do it so smoothly that it’s fun to watch. Let him into the TV Title picture or just have him beat Wayne for the title already.

Nigel McGuinness will face Josh Woods at Supercard Of Honor. Is it just me or are the same three or four people fighting for the title for years?

Supercard Of Honor rundown, with Bandido vs. Blake Christian for the World Title FINALLY being set.

Christian says it should have always been his title shot. Well yeah.

Aaron Solo/QT Marshall/Nick Comoroto vs. Lethal Twist

The Twist jumps them to start fast with Lethal being left alone against Comoroto. That earns Lethal a quick gorilla press as Lethal is in early trouble. Solo comes in to chop away at Lethal but gets knocked into the corner for some stomping. It’s off to Johnson to kick at Solo before Lethal is back in to work on the leg.

Johnson’s stalling suplex gets two but Solo manages to crotch Lethal and Johnson on the top rope. Christian can’t cut off the tag and it’s Marshall coming in to fight back. Everything breaks down and Solo gets dropkicked in the Tree Of Woe. Comoroto gets struck down and it’s the double stomp/Death Valley Driver combination to finish him off at 8:52.

Rating: C+. Maybe it’s the old school fan in me but maybe the it would make more sense to have the #1 contender for the World Title in a singles match rather than yet another six man tag against low level competition. I don’t know, like, building him up for the title match? Maybe? Just a thought of course.

We look at Maya World almost beating Athena for the Women’s Title three weeks ago.

Survival Of The Fittest Qualifying Match: Maya World vs. Robyn Renegade

World works on a headlock to start and they trade wristlocks for an early standoff. Renegade knocks her down but misses a pump kick in the corner, allowing World to snap off an anklescissors. A snap suplex gives World two but Renegade superkicks her off the ropes and out to the floor.

Back in and a dropkick gives Renegade two but World blocks a kick and gives her a German suplex. World’s dropkick gets two, only for Renegade to stomp her onto the apron. The twisting suplex gives Renegade two and she goes up, where a slip causes her to miss a moonsault. World’s Shining Wizard is enough for the pin at 8:54.

Rating: B-. There wasn’t exactly much drama to this one as World has been around the title picture for awhile now and Renegade…well she hasn’t. That being said, it felt like Renegade was giving it all she had here and they wound up having a nice back and forth match. World is getting better every week, though it isn’t going to matter if she doesn’t win something eventually.

Zayda Steel vs. Athena

Non-title Proving Ground match. Steel’s headlock takeover is countered into a headscissors so Athena grabs a headlock of her own. That actually sends Steel over to the rope, followed by a running headscissors. A fireman’s carry doesn’t work for Athena as Steel armdrags her down but gets sent outside. Athena nails a dive and it’s time to start slowing things down a bit. A dropkick cuts Steel off again and Athena drives some knees into the back.

The standing crossface has Steel in more trouble but she elbows her way out of the corner. There’s a neckbreaker to drop Athena and Steel rolls a kick into the head for two more. Athena pops back up with a superkick into a tiger suplex but the O Face is broken up. A tornado DDT gives Steel two but another attempt is countered into a kind of Boss Man Slam. The reverse Koji Clutch makes Steel tap at 9:34.

Rating: B-. Well thank goodness they tacked this on because Steel hadn’t lost a match in long enough. She’s the latest in the “well yeah she’s losing a lot but she’s losing to big names so it’s ok”, which has worked….maybe a few times? Anyway, this was another hard fought match with Athena getting close to being in trouble but Steel doesn’t win big matches so it wasn’t going to happen.

Overall Rating: C+. While I liked that this show had a theme with the qualifying matches, it’s a glaring example of how little sense this whole place makes. Continuing with the theme of earning title shots, you had people either trying to get title shots or earning title shots on this show. This week saw:

• Marshall Von Erich gets a shot because his partner pinned someone who wasn’t the champion
• Evil Uno gets a shot because of his success in other promotions
• Five women get a shot because they won qualifying matches
• Josh Woods trying to get a title shot because the matches he’s won don’t count
• Blake Christian gets a shot because he should have had a one on one title shot even though he hasn’t won a singles match since December

This is what I’m talking about when I say it’s like they make things up as they go around here. The rules change depending on whomever is going after a title because it’s like no one remembers anything that happened more than five minutes ago. I get that Ring Of Honor isn’t a promotion or anything close to one, but I should be able to figure out what is going on and how it makes sense in the span of a two hour (because THIS SHOW needs to be that long) broadcast.

Results
Billie Starkz b. Lacey Lance – Pancake
Yuka Sakazaki b. Viva Van – Magical Girl Splash
Lee Moriarty b. Marshall Von Erich – Triangle choke
Trish Adora b. Hyan – Lariat Tubman
Persephone b. Isla Dawn – Rollup
Nick Wayne b. Evil Uno – Kick to the head
AR Fox b. Daisuke Sasaki – Slingshot Canadian Destroyer
Lethal Twist b. QT Marshall/Aaron Solo/Nick Comoroto – Death Valley Driver/top rope double stomp combination to Comoroto
Maya World b. Robyn Renegade – Shining Wizard
Athena b. Zayda Steel – Reverse Koji Clutch

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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