By Sam Robinson, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@altaine)
Ring of Honor on HonorClub (Episode 115)
Taped in May 3, 2025 in May 3, 2025, in Atlantic City, New Jersey at Boardwalk Hall and May 7, 2025 in Detroit Michigan at Masonic Temple Theatre
Streamed May 9, 2025, on HonorClub
Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman were on commentary, and Bobby Cruise was the ring announcer…
*Unless otherwise noted, all matches started and ended with the Code of Honor handshake…
The show started with a rundown of the matches. There are Proving Ground matches and a women’s Pure Rules match on deck…
1. Jay Lethal vs. Atlantis Jr. The announcers were talking about this match being the “main event” during Lethal’s entrance, so the match order for this episode must have been flipped around a bit. Atlantis stuffed a shoulder block early, but Lethal hit an arm drag. Atlantis returned the favor with a wrist lock takeover that sent Lethal to the outside, and Atlantis followed him out with a dive. Lethal held Atlantis back from the ring and then hit a running dive of his own. Atlantis avoided a second dive and hit a dive of his own.
Back in the ring, Atlantis got a one count. Atlantis hit a spinebuster and a seated dropkick for a two count. Lethal hit his arm drag, dropkick combo. Lethal hit a back suplex and called for the Macho Man elbow drop. Lethal went up top, but Atlantis rolled to the other side and Lethal followed. Atlantis rolled again and then caught Lethal with an enzuigiri. The men fought on top until Atlantis hit a superplex that got zero pop from the bored crowd. The men hit double clotheslines, but Lethal was able to hit Lethal Combination.
Lethal tried a Figure Four but got rolled up for a two count. Lethal hit a dragon screw and locked in the figure four. Atlantis struggled and fought to the ropes and got the rope break. Lethal kicked the leg out from under Atlantis a few times. Lethal called for Lethal Injection, but Atlantis caught him with a German suplex. Atlantis went up to the top, but Lethal got to his feet and hit him with a cutter and tried Lethal Injection again, but got a drop kick in the face. Atlantis hit a clothesline that turned Lethal inside out. Atlantis went to the top and hit a frog splash for the pinfall.
Atlantis Jr. defeated Jay Lethal by pinfall.
After the match, Atlantis helped Lethal to his feet and asked for the Code of Honor, which Lethal accepted…
Robinson’s Ruminations: The entire conceit of the Code of Honor really makes babyface vs babyface matches like this easier to stomach. Two men going out to compete to see who’s better. This match had the unfortunate luck of being in front of a bored crowd. They didn’t pop for hardly anything and just kind of watched the match happen. That said, it was a good TV match down the stretch and held my interest.
2. Leila Grey vs. Marina Shafir. The announcers said during the entrances that there are only five entrants in the Pure Rules tournament so far, even though this is the first match. Wow. There was no Code of Honor handshake, the ref didn’t even try, and just rang the bell. Shafir hit a waist lock slam but Grey hit a wrist lock takeover and then a jumping arm drag. Shafir hit a knee to the face and a kick to the chest. Shafir choked Grey with her foot in the corner and then hit a back suplex.
Shafir kicked the legs out of Grey and then hit a big running boot in the corner and stacked Grey up and got a one-count nearfall. Shafir hit a judo throw and got a series of two-count covers and ended up in a mount. Shafir hit a rolling heel hook. Shafir grabbed a half nelson with her foot and grabbed a half crab too, but Grey used some knee strikes to get out. Shafir put Grey back down with a kick to the chest. Grey hit a running knee lift and threw some forearms and chops, but Shafir just kept walking towards her. Grey hit a suplex and a rolling neckbreaker. Grey hit a shotgun dropkick, but Shafir just fired up and hit a big boot. Shafir hit a short body slam and locked in Mother’s Milk for the tap out.
Marina Shafir defeated Leila Grey by submission.
Robinson’s Ruminations: Grey got way more offense than I would have given her in this match, but it was good offense and made her look good in defeat.
A recap aired of the Frat House vs. SAP match from last week and the Bandido save after the match…
3. “SAP” Angelico and Serpentico vs. Blake Christian and Lee Johnson. The crowd was even darker; viewers could hardly see the front three rows. Christian kicked away the Code of Honor to some decent boos. Angelico and Christian started off with some arm work until Angelico hit an arm drag. Christian avoided a leg sweep and strutted, and Angelico got up and did his dance. Angelico hit some big punches that put Christian on his butt. Serpentico tagged in and hit the double stomp to the arm. SAP hit some arm drags, and Serpentico hit a standing splash for a two count. Serpentico hit some running uppercuts in the corner and stomped Christian down.
Christian hit a facebuster and strutted, but got hit with a chop and some punches. Johnson got the blind tag, and Christian speared Angelico off the apron. Johnson choked Serpentico in the ropes. Johnson and Christian hit some very well-timed running strikes on Serpentico in the corner. Serpentico fought out of the heel corner with his corner head scissors and a big headbutt. Angelico hit clotheslines and his leaping clothesline. Angelico hit a series of kicks and a knee lift to the face. Angelico hit his rewind kick and a back suplex. Angelico rolled Johnson up in a cradle for a two count.
Angelico hit a Flatliner, and Serpentico hit a Swanton for a broken up nearfall. Christian and Serpentico exchanged punches until Serpentico hit a big backhand. We got a mini breakdown where everyone hit big kicks. Christian hit Angelico with a rolling full nelson slam. Christian tried a springboard splash but Serpentico got the knees up. Serpnetico hit a monkey flip on Christian. Johnson missed a corner splash, and Serpentico tried a monkey flip, but Christian hit him with a super destroyer. Johnson put Serpentico down with an ushigoroshi for the pinfall.
Lee Johnson and Blake Christian defeated “SAP” Angelico and Serpentico by pinfall.
Robinson’s Ruminations: A fun formula tag match. The formula is fine and makes for a good match, but man, is it getting stale for me. The super destroyer at the end of the match looked pretty rough, so I hope Serpentico is all good.
An ad narrated by Taz aired about AEW coming to the 2300 Arena for a residency this summer…
4. Ashley Vox vs. Deonna Purrazzo in a Pure Rules match. The announcers told us this is not a tournament match as they explained the rules. The women traded some arm work until Purrazzo hit a fireman’s carry and tried a cross arm breaker, but Vox stacked her up for a one count. The women exchanged headlock takeovers until Purrazzo slid into an arm hold that Vox had to use a rope break to escape.
Vox rolled through a tilt-a-whirl attempt and came up with a fishhook. Purrazzo pulled it out quickly, but Vox hit a slingshot flatliner for a two count. Vox grabbed an arm and chin hold, but Purrazzo stood up quickly and hit a backbreaker. Purrazzo hit a Russian leg sweep and locked in a hammerlock half crab, but Vox grabbed the ropes and got the rope break.
Purrazzo tied up Vox in the ropes, and the ref pulled Purrazzo off without using a rope break for Vox. Purrazzo hit a pair of baseball slide dropkicks. Vox fought back with some punches and fired up with the crowd. Back in the ring, Vox tried a spear through the ropes but got caught and hit with a rope hung DDT for a two count. Vox hit a big headbutt, and the women exchanged big strikes until Purrazzo hit a big clothesline for a two count nearfall. Purrazzo hit a powerbomb and rolled into a Fujiwara armbar. Purrazzo transitioned into Venus Di Milo, and Vox “tapped out”…
Deonna Purrazzo defeated Ashley Vox by submission in a Pure Rules match.
Robinson’s Ruminations: A decent pure rules match. But again, the dead crowd made it hard to get into the matches. Vox fires up well but it was the AEW special where you knew exactly who was going to win when the entrances happened.
Backstage, Queen Aminata said the Pure Rules tournament is a big opportunity, and she won’t let it go to waste. She said hard workers get ahead, and she believes in herself. Aminanta said to Deeb that “The student is now the master”…
Robinson’s Ruminations: I still hate Aminata saying she’s now the master even though she hasn’t won a damn thing yet.
A recap aired on the ROH Women’s TV Championship match from last week…
5. ROH Women’s TV Champion Red Velvet vs. Laynie Luck in a Proving Ground match. No televised entrance for Luck. Velvet stomped on the foot during a lockup, but Luck used her power to lock in a headlock. Luck hit a shoulder block and a big suplex and kipped up to a huge reaction from a lit up crowd. Velvet tried a wheelbarrow, but Luck blocked it with a flatliner. Luck tried a baseball slide, but Velvet blocked it with the apron, chopped her, and used her as a stepping stool to get back in the ring. Back in the ring, Velvet hit some mounted punches and choked Luck with her foot as she argued with the ref. Velvet hit meteora in the ropes.
Velvet hit some punches to the gut in the corner. Velvet stomped Luck down and then choked with her foot again and smiled into the camera. Velvet ran into a big elbow, and Luck hit a running clothesline. Velvet tried a crossbody but got caught, Luck hit a DVD for a two count. Luck tried to go to the top, but Velvet pulled her down and hit Stir It Up for a two count. Luck hit an uppercut and tried a bodyslam, but Velvet flipped through and hit her version of Natural Selection for the pinfall.
ROH Women’s TV Champion Red Velvet defeated Laynie Luck by pinfall in a Proving Ground match.
Robinson’s Ruminations: Luck must have been a hometown girl, because the crowd was hot for everything she did. I like Luck. Her size and power were refreshing in a division full of smaller women. Velvet continues her reign and her heel run, but she certainly feels like she’s in a big holding pattern at the moment.
Backstage, Nick Wayne said he’s the youngest wrestler to enter the Best of the Super Juniors tournament. He said he’s got some great matchups coming up, and also a bunch of guys he can beat. “To be one of the best, you enter the tournament; to be THE best, you win the whole thing.”
Robinson’s Ruminations: Really good promo from Wayne here. The content was good, the execution though was a little dry and felt like he might have been reading a prompter.
6. Satnam Singh vs. Lord Crewe. No televised entrance for Crewe. Singh took off his shirt to show a Pistons jersey to the delight of the NJ crowd. Crewe tried a back suplex that just didn’t work. Crewe tired a shoulder block but got put down hard. Singh threw Crewe with a hip toss. Singh hit a “SHH” chop that sounded like a damn firecracker. He did it again to the delight of the crowd. Fans chanted, “One more time,” and it happened. Crewe got tossed across the ring with a pair of Biel tosses. Singh locked in a trapezius nerve hold, and Crewe fought out with punches. Crewe hit a shoulder block that made Singh take a step backwards. “One more time”, but Crewe just punched Singh in the face. Singh ran Crewe over with a shoulder block. Crewe got a knee up on a charge, but got caught when he tried a crossbody. Singh hit a chokeslam for the pinfall.
Satnam Singh defeated Lord Crewe by pinfall.
Robinson’s Ruminations: The crowd loved this squash match, which I guess is nice to see.
7. ROH Champion Bandido vs. Gringo Loco in a Proving Ground match. Loco worked the crowd into a dueling chant as Bandido took off all his entrance gear. Bandido hit a back handspring as Loco watched and avoided. Loco shook his hips at Bandido, and then Bandido did the same to the delight of the ladies in the crowd. Loco caught Bandido on a dive attempt but then got caught with a flying head-scissors off the ring steps. Bandido stood on the apron as the crowd went nuts for him. Back in the ring, Bandido got a two count. Bandido tried a stalling suplex but couldn’t get Loco up. Bandido tried a springboard crossbody but got hit with a dropkick, and Loco got a two count. Loco went up top and hit a split-legged moonsault for a two count.
Loco hit a chop to the chest, but Bandido fought back and tried a springboard move, and Loco caught him and hit a powerbomb for a two count. Loco tried to go around the world, but Bandido countered with a DDT. Bandido went up top and hit a frog splash for a two count. Loco got tripped into the ropes but hit a superkick to stop the 21 Plex. Loco pulled Bandido to the top, and they fought a bit, until both were standing on top, and Loco hit an Olympic Slam from the top for a two count. Loco went up top, but Bandido followed and fought with him and hit a frankensteiner from the top. Bandido hit a shining wizard for the three count.
ROH Champion Bandido defeated Gringo Loco by pinfall in a Proving Ground match.
Robinson’s Ruminations: Right at the end of this match, we were informed that this show was being simulcast on YouTube. While that’s a nice thing to do, why not welcome those YouTube viewers to the show right at the top? Did this have something to do with the match order being switched around a bit? Probably.
The match was a good big spot lucha match. Loco working at a slower pace to try and beat the time limit was an interesting twist from him, because he’s usually so high offense. All in all, this was a nice showcase for Bandido as a dominant champion. My weekly ROH on HonorClub audio reviews are available exclusively for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons).
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