By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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ROH and Action Wrestling “DEAN 2”
May 24, 2025, in Glendale, Arizona at WaterDance Plaza
Released May 27, 2025, via ROH YouTube
Ring of Honor was listed as a co-promoter of the event. This show was released Tuesday night for free on YouTube. It was held in a parking lot outside the Desert Diamond Arena and it’s a very attractive place to hold an outdoor show. It was daylight as the show began. They have guardrails set up, plus a stage and lighting, and perhaps 400 people are standing and watching the action. For an outdoor event, this is pretty top-notch production
1. Rhino vs. 1 Called Manders. To use a JR term, this should be a slobberknocker. They immediately traded forearm strikes, and they rolled to the ground and fought. Manders accidentally hit a forearm on the ring post at 1:30, and Rhino immediately suplexed him on the thin mat at ringside. Back in the ring, Manders hit some chops. Rhino hit a belly-to-belly suplex at 5:30. He set up for a Gore but Manders hit a kick to cut him off, then a clothesline for a nearfall. Rhino got up and hit the Gore for the pin. Fine for the time given.
Rhino defeated 1 Called Manders at 6:17.
2. “Los Desperados” Arez and Gringo Loco vs. “Coven of the Goat” Tank and Jaden Newman (w/Reverend). Tank and Newman compete often in Tennessee. Arez and Newman opened and traded reversals on the mat, and Arez hit some dropkicks. The massive Tank entered at 1:30, so Loco also tagged in. They took turns … dancing? Loco hit a handspring-back-elbow. Arez ran up Tank’s back at 3:30.
Newman hit a top-rope elbow drop on Loco, and CotG began working Loco over in their corner. Arez got a hot tag at 7:00 and hit a superkick on Tank. Loco hit a Falcon Arrow on Jaden. Tank hit some running elbows and running knees in the corners on both opponents. Arez hit a top-rope doublestomp to Jaden’s chest. He hit a pumphandle sit-out powerbomb for the pin. Good action. They all continued to fight after the bell.
Arez and Gringo Loc defeated Tank and Jaden Newman at 9:17.
3. Josh Woods (w/Tom Lawlor) vs. JD Drake (w/Anthony Henry). The commentators noted that Lawlor vs. Woods was the slated match, but Lawlor is “unable” to wrestle tonight. (Injured? I’m not sure what “unable” means here! He’s there!) The commentators noted that Henry just got cleared to return to the ring. So, we have two ROH regulars squaring off; I’m a big fan of all four here. Drake is looking more gray than the last time I saw him. Woods dragged him to the mat and worked over the left arm. The action went to the floor and they traded blows in front of the fans.
Drake tossed Woods against the ropes and hit a forearm strike at 3:00. (That’s one of his signature moves.) They got back into the ring, and JD snapped Josh’s throat across the bottom rope. Henry jumped on the apron and helped work over Woods’ neck. Drake hit a spinebuster for a nearfall. Josh hit some running knees and got a nearfall at 5:30. JD hit a rolling cannonball and he was fired up, but he missed a moonsault. Josh immediately hit a jumping knee and a twisting suplex in the corner for the pin. I liked that a lot.
Josh Woods defeated JD Drake at 6:48.
4. The Beast Mortos vs. Slim J. It’s nice to see that some guys left off the PPV are competing here. Mortos easily knocked him down. Slim J hit a head-scissors takedown. Mortos hit some kicks in the corner, then a powerslam for a nearfall at 2:30. (The sun was starting to set but they had some good lighting set up.) Mortos set up for a Gorilla Press, but Slim J escaped and applied a rear-naked choke. He rolled up Mortos and got a nearfall at 5:30.
Slim J hit an enzuigiri and a Sliced Bread for a nearfall. Mortos nailed his pop-up Samoan Drop for a nearfall at 7:00. Mortos nailed his double-knee-drop across Slim J’s chest, and he applied a Rings of Saturn double armbar, and Slim J immediately submitted. Good action; Slim J is simply ageless.
The Beast Mortos defeated Slim J at 8:28.
* In a backstage segment, Matt Mako said there are a lot of people are “writing checks” that they can’t cash. He said Lee Moriarty was signed away before they got a chance to lock up.
5. Lee Moriarty (w/Shawn Dean) vs. Matt Mako for the ROH Pure Title. Again, formerly known as Matt Makowski, he has fought some NXT talent on recent Bloodsport shows and he’s a very good mat grappler. They shook hands before the bell and we DO have the ROH Pure graphics on the screen (including the three bars for rope breaks). Matt immediately applied an armbar, and Lee used his first rope in the opening seconds! Mat again applied a cross-armbreaker, and Lee used his second rope break at 1:30. (The graphic was clearly included in post-production; the commentators weren’t sure how long this had gone. But we have it on the screen.)
Mako used his first rope break, and he rolled to the floor to regroup. In the ring. Lee snapped Matt’s arm over the top rope, then hit a springboard flying forearm for a nearfall. Matt used a second rope break at 3:30! Lee hit a series of open-hand palm strikes in the corner; the commentators noted how punches are banned in Pure Rules. Matt hit a spin kick to the chest. (Some added lights just came on and it suddenly is amazingly bright!) Lee applied a Border City Stretch, and Matt used his final rope break at 7:00.
Mako hit a second-rope superplex, then an inside powerbomb, and he went back to a cross-armbreaker! Lee used his final rope break at 9:00. Matt got a magistral cradle for a nearfall and he applied a rear-naked choke. Lee got a rollup for a nearfall and he went back to the Border City Stretch! It was in the center of the ring, but Matt was out of rope breaks anyway, so he tapped out. A really good match. We had handshakes both before and after the match.
Lee Moriarty defeated Matt Mako to retain the ROH Pure Title at 10:07.
6. Dr. Cerebro, Xelhua, Averno, Euforia, and Volador Jr. vs. Neon, Hologram, Virus, Valiente, and Blue Panther in an elimination match. I don’t know Xelhua; he wore a silver mask. Cerebro has a white mask on, as does Neon. Blue Panther opened against Xelhua. Dr. Cerebro entered at 1:30 and locked up with Virus, and Virus tied him in a Stretch Muffler. Valiente got in and hit a top-rope huracanrana. Neon entered at 6:00 and faced Volador Jr. Hologram then entered and faced Averno, who wore blue pants and a black top, and Hologram nailed a dive through the ropes, but then all the rudos stomped on Hologram!
Back in the ring, Xelhua hit a backbreaker over his knee on Virus for a nearfall at 8:30, then a Northern Lights Suplex for a believable nearfall. Virus tied up Xelhua on the mat, who tapped out at 9:12. Virus hit a powerslam on Dr. Cerebro, but he was pulled to the floor. Euforia powerbombed Virus and pinned him at 11:02, and it was four-on-four. Blue Panther hit a somersault flip off the apron to the floor, and two other technicos hit dives. In the ring, Valiente and Volador traded rollups. Volador hit a Lungblower for a pin on Valiente at 13:19.
The rudos beat up Hologram in the ring. Panther hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker over his knee on Volador Jr. Hologram and Neon hit crossbody blocks, but Hologram accidentally kicked Neon! Euforia hit a powerbomb for a believable nearfall on Hologram. Hologram hit a Frankensteiner on Euforia, and Neon hit a moonsault on Euforia, then Hologram hit a top-rope doublestomp to pin Euforia at 16:32. Dr. Cerebro and Blue Panther traded roll-ups, and Panther pinned him at 17:23.
Averno and Neon traded blows. Averno hit a second-rope Pedigree to pin Neon at 19:03. Blue Panther hit another somersault off the apron to the floor. Hologram dove through the ropes and barreled onto Volador Jr. In the ring, Blue Panther and Volador traded chops. The rudos hit a team superplex on Panther for a nearfall, but Hologram made the save. Hologram hit a flip dive to the floor as Blue Panther also hit a dive off the corner to the floor. Hologram hit an airplane spin-into-a-Blue Thunder Bomb to get one pin, while Blue Panther rolled up the other rudo, and they got stereo pins on Averno and Volador Jr. to be the survivors.
Neon, Hologram, Virus, Valiente, and Blue Panther defeated Dr. Cerebro, Xelhua, Averno, Euforia, and Volador Jr. at 23:58.
* Bryan Danielson’s music played! He came to the ring and put over Hologram and Blue Panther. Of course, he was greeted with a “holy shit!” chant. Both luchadors bowed to Danielson. Bryan talked about how much all these guys love professional wrestling. Danielson talked about Dean Rasmussen (who the show is named after!) and how much Dean also loved pro wrestling. “Independent wrestling is awesome!” Danielson said. He said he’s looking forward to the main event, as he’s never seen Mad Dog Connelly wrestle before. We saw a video segment with Connelly, who cut another Cactus Jack-style crazed promo.
7. Adam Priest vs. Mad Dog Connelly in a dog collar match. I just watched both of these guys wrestle days earlier (not against each other!) in North Carolina — it just shows the travel schedule of the top, in-demand wrestlers. They started to brawl. The dog collar wouldn’t stay on Priest’s neck; the ref had to put it on again twice. The bell finally rang at 1:06. Connelly wrapped some of the chain around his fist and punched Priest. They brawled to the floor and fought around ringside. Priest yanked on the chain and pulled Connelly face-first into the ring post at 4:00.
They got back into the ring and Adam was now in charge, hitting Connelly with the chain. He hit a piledriver for a nearfall. They crashed through the ropes to the floor at 6:30 While standing in the ring, Connelly put Priest over the ropes and pulled on the chain, choking Priest off the ground, and Priest submitted. Not terribly violent and the crowd liked what they saw here.
Mad Dog Connelly defeated Adam Priest in a dog collar match at 8:11.
Final Thoughts: What a fun show. I knew I’d like this based on the lineup, but I was blown away by how good this show “looked.” I expected this to be in a bland parking lot. However, this is an attractive shopping district outside the arena and made for a good aesthetically-pleasing show to watch, and the production was strong for an outdoor indy show. Moriarty-Mako earned best match, then Mortos-Slim J. I’ll narrowly go with the brawling main event, with the lucha 10-man taking honorable mention. The lucha match was fine but I wasn’t blown away by the athleticism, either. Hologram, as always, provided the highlights. If I had a criticism, it’s that we didn’t have a women’s match. Again, this show is available on YouTube and it’s well worth checking out.
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