By Sam Robinson, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@altaine)
Ring of Honor Special Episode
Portions taped in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at 2300 Arena
Streamed September 5, 2025, on the ROH YouTube Page
Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman were on commentary, and Bobby Cruise and Justin Roberts were the ring announcers…
*Unless otherwise noted, all matches started and ended with the Code of Honor handshake…
The show opened with a recap of Death Before Dishonor (the same video package as from the HonorClub show a day earlier)…
The ROH opening video aired. It was just like the Honorclub opening, and included a couple of video clips from the previous night’s HonorClub show…
1. “Frat House” Griff Garrison, Cole Karter, and Preston Vance (w/Jacked Jameson, pledges) vs. AR Fox and “The Kingdom” Matt Taven and Mike Bennett. Down the stretch, Taven hit a step up enzuigiri on Vance and tagged Fox. Fox hit a springboard swan dive onto Garrison and Karter who were standing. Fox hit his skin the cat dropkick, into a cutter on Carter. Karter got put on the apron, and Fox hit his flip-over double stomp and then dove onto Vance. Garrison blasted Fox with a big right hand. Back in the ring, Fox hit Garrison with a sidewinder suplex and tagged Bennett. Vance hit a discus lariat on Bennett for a broken-up nearfall. Garrison got dumped to the apron but fell onto Jameson, which looked legit. Karter went up top and missed a 450 splash on Bennett. The Kingdom hit Rockstar Supernova, and then Fox hit a 450 splash on Karter for the pinfall.
AR Fox, Matt Taven, and Mike Bennett defeated “Frat House” Griff Garrison, Cole Karter, and Preston Vance by pinfall.
Robinson’s Ruminations: A fun trios match. Fox and Kingdom worked well together.
In the parking lot, Shane Taylor, Carlie Bravo, Shawn Dean, and Trish Adora were popping bottles and celebrating. Bravo said they earned the belts and were never going to lose them. Taylor said he wasn’t happy because he expected to win and to get the reaction they did in Philly. Taylor said Shane Taylor Promotions started the new era of ROH…
Robinson’s Ruminations: Great promo.
“Smart” Mark Sterling and the Premier Athletes came down the ramp. Sterling wore a sling and complained about being hurt by Tomohiro Ishii and Hologram, which aired last night, even though Sterling talked about it like it was history. Sterling said the assaults end tonight because he has a contingency plan. “Athletes Suck”…
2. “Premier Athletes” Ariya Daivari and Tony Nese (w/Mark Sterling) vs. “SAP” Serpentico and Angelico. As the men locked up, there was an announcement for Final Battle in December. Later, Angelico hit his kick and knee combo. Angelico hit his rewind kick for a two count. Angelico hit a jumping flatliner, and Serpentico came off the top with a swanton for a broken up nearfall. Nese hit Angelico with a spinning heel kick. Serpentico hit a superkick on Nese and his corner head scissors. Serpentico hit Daivari with an ugly Sliced Bread for a two count. Serpentico went up top, and Sterling got on the apron, so Serpentico hopped down. A huge lady slid into the ring and choke slammed Serpentico, and Daivari covered him for the three count.
“Premier Athletes” Ariya Daivari and Tony Nese defeated “SAP” Serpentico and Angelico by pinfall.
After the match, Sterling introduced the woman as his contingency plan, and they all raised their hands and left…
Robinson’s Ruminations: This was the stock and formula SAP match with a cheat to win finish from the Athletes. The new girl looks young and huge. The announcers said she was likely 6’3″. She’s going to make Nese look tiny.
A recap aired of Queen Aminiata moving to the semifinals of the women’s Pure Title tournament, which was followed by a face-off with Deonna Purrazzo…
3. Rachel Ellering vs. Deonna Purrazzo in a Pure Rules match. Purrazzo performed a Russian Leg Sweep and locked in a Fujiwara arm bar, but Ellering got to the ropes and used her second rope break. Ellering worked on the arm with kicks and elbows. Ellering fought back with forearms and shoulder blocks in the corner. Ellering hit a gut-wrenching suplex and a twisting uppercut. Ellering hit MD Collapse for the two count. Purrazzo missed a pump kick, and Ellering tried an O’Connor Roll, but Purrazzo held on and used her first rope break. Purrazzo turned right around into the Bosswoman slam for a two count. Ellering got a rollup for a two count, but Purrazzo locked in Venus De Milo for the tap out…
Deonna Purrazzo defeated Rachel Ellering by submission in a Pure Rules match.
After the match, Trish Adora made her entrance with Lee Moriarty for her match.
Robinson’s Ruminations: I’m always sad to see Ellering take showcase match losses. I’ve always felt she has more to offer.
4. Trish Adora vs. Ashely Vox in a Pure Rules match. Trish was pushed into the ropes. Vox kept on her. This caused Trish to use her first rope break. Trish threw Vox to the mat and did a Sacrifice-like arm pull. Trish picked up Vox, who grabbed at the ropes, and she used her first break and Trish kicked the outstretched arm. Trish missed a corner splash attempt and ate a dropkick from Vox, which got Vox a two count. Vox was locked in a crossface chicken wing variant, but Trish picked her up in a backpack and hit a stunner. Trish then did the splits on top of Vox while holding her arms. Trish locked in a double hammerlock and sat on the head of Vox and got the tap out.
Trish Adora defeated Ashley Vox by submission in a Pure Rules match.
After the match, Trish picked Vox up and hit her with a shoulder block…
Robinson’s Ruminations: It was nice to see Trish get a win before presumably losing to Purrazzo, which they’ve already heavily foreshadowed.
Backstage after Death Before Dishonor, “MxMTV” Johnny TV, Mason Madden, and Mansoor talked about their perfume “Seed” and how they edged… I mean Coped everyone. Mansoor said whoever they face will be getting more than fists to the face, they’ll be getting “Seed”…
5. Alex Zayne vs. Johnny TV (w/Mason Madden, Mansoor, Taya Valkyrie). Madden put “Seed” on a pedestal before the match. Mansoor kissed the bottle before the match started. TV poked the eye of Zayne as the bell rang. Later, TV sunk in a chinlock, but Zayne powered out only to eat a disaster kick. TV and Taya made out on the apron. Zayne slapped TV, and then hit a discus lariat. Zayne hit a leaping hangover kick. Zayne hit a running Frankensteiner and then hit a big slam move, but MxM pulled TV from the ring during the cover. Zayne hit a Cinnamon Twist splash on MxM, but then TV blasted him with a superkick. Back in the ring, Zayne hit the Taco Driver. As Zayne was covering TV, Taya got on the apron and Mansoor sprayed “Seed” in the eyes of Zayne. TV then covered Zayne for the pinfall as the announcers coughed…
Johnny TV defeated Alex Zayne by pinfall.
Robinson’s Ruminations: Man, you knew what the finish was going to be. It was so heavily foreshadowed, only the blind couldn’t see it.
Outside in the parking lot, Lexi Nair asked Mark Sterling who the big woman was. Sterling introduced her as Story Denali. Denali hovered over Nair as Sterling said, “Absolutely”…
6. Jordan Oliver vs. The Beast Mortos. No Code of Honor handshake, as it was waved off by Mortos. Down the stretch, Oliver hit a springboard head scissors and then blocked a leap frog with a back elbow for a two count. Oliver ran into a boot in the corner, but caught it and hit a shoulder breaker on it. Oliver hit a dragon screw out of the corner and then a bridging German suplex for a two count. Oliver got blasted with a headbutt and then the pop-up Samoan drop for a two count. Oliver blocked Morto’s big driver finisher and hit another dropkick to the knee. Oliver fired up and hit a rewind cutter in the corner. Oliver then got caught with a fireman’s carry backbreaker. Mortos hit his flipping driver finisher for the pinfall.
The Beast Mortos defeated Jordan Oliver by pinfall.
Robinson’s Ruminations: Mortos is so good, and needs more than squashing promising upcoming stars down here on ROH. Oliver is good, but he definitely needs to work on his character.
Backstage, “The Outrunners” Truth Magnum and Turbo Floyd said people shouldn’t be counting them out. Turbo said they always get back up and never kick people when they’re down.
7. LSG and Beef vs. Lance Archer and Hechicero. Archer put Beef in the ropes like a toddler and clubbed him with forearms and then pulled him down like a Russian leg sweep. Beef cartwheeled out of the way and hit a dropkick and then some jabs, but Archer hit him with a crossbody. Hechicero came in and ate some jabs from Beef, but then hit some shots to the kidney and tried a weird-looking slam that Beef slid out of. LSG came in and hit some punches before Hechicero caught the leapfrog attempt and tripped him. Hechicero hit some punches in the corner before LSG did some fancy avoidance and hit an atomic drop. LSG missed a splash, and Hechicero hit a high knee and a flapjack for a broken up nearfall. Archer chokeslamed Beef high up in the air. Hechicero and Archer hit a rocking horse DDT move, and then Hechicero hit LSG with a powerbomb for the pinfall.
Hechicero and Archer defeated Beef and LSG by pinfall.
Robinson’s Ruminations: Quick harmless squash.
A video package aired on Athena’s 1,000-day reign as ROH Women’s Champion…
An Athena from 2022 was shown. She said she was looking to find herself again. There were clips of her biggest wins, the whole MIT angle, and her first match with Billie Starkz. There were more clips of her big PPV matches, the spinner belt celebration, and the second match with Billie. There were also clips from the Athena World Tour and a couple of her matches on Dynamite for the Owen Cup, plus her All In match with Toni Storm, and her match with Mina Shirakawa at Death Before Dishonor…
Robinson’s Ruminations: I’m really sad that this is all they had for Athena on this special. Why do a special on Athena’s 1,000th day if you’re not going to make a bigger deal out of it and really do something special?
8. Matt Mako vs. Josh Woods in a Pure Rules match. Woods rolled through and locked in an inverted cloverleaf that Mako had to roll to the ropes for and use his first rope break. Woods hit four headlock takeovers and kept having to kip out of the head grapevine. Mako got annoyed and threw a closed fist punch and got called out for it. Mako kicked the arm of Woods and hit a knee drop on it. Mako hit a vertical suplex and locked in a crossarm breaker, but Woods got the arm again. Woods rolled through and hit some stump pullers and locked in an ankle lock. Mako tried for the ropes, but Woods picked him up and threw him with a German suplex with a leg trap. Woods threw some knees to the gut, but Mako hit some kicks to the arm and then a German suplex of his own. Mako hit a kick to the head for a two count. Mako missed a spin kick in the corner, and Woods hit a fireman’s carry knee lift (GTS?) for a two count. The men exchanged punches and forearms in the middle until they both threw pump kicks to the face for the double down. After some reversals, Woods hit the Anarchist’s suplex into the corner for the pinfall.
Josh Woods defeated Matt Mako by pinfall in a Pure Rules match.
Robinson’s Ruminations: A good hard hard-hitting match that actually got the crowd into it down the stretch. But they only got the golf clap from the crowd after it was over.
9. Aaron Solo vs. Hologram. Solo hit a spin kick right out of the Code of Honor. Later, Solo tried to rip at Hologram’s mask. This fired up Hologram, who avoided being sent into the turnbuckle on the apron. Hologram hit an outside-in double stomp and a huge swan dive onto Solo on the outside. “Hologram,” chanted the crowd. Back in the ring, Hologram hit a hammerlock facebuster for a two count. Solo hit a half nelson flip slam for a two count. The men traded kicks that kept escalating until the double down. Solo went up top and flipped off the crowd. He went off the top and got blasted with a knee from Hologram, who hit the airplane bomb for the pinfall.
Hologram defeated Aaron Solo by pinfall.
Robinson’s Ruminations: Nice showcase match. Solo really doesn’t need to get that much offense, but he’s a very solid hand in the ring. Plus, Philly hates him.
There was a rundown of matches for Saturday’s Collision. Thursday’s ROH is being preempted by Action Dean 3!…
10. ROH World Champion Bandido vs. Lee Johnson (w/ Blake Christian) in a Proving Ground Match. The crowd chanted for the champ as Johnson kicked Bandido in the gut instead of adhering to the Code of Honor. Later, Bandido got a boot up on a corner charge and then hit a twisting crossbody off the top rope. He followed up with a big boot for a two count. Bandido fired up the crowd and went for X-Knee, but Johnson blocked it. Both men threw clotheslines at each other, and Johnson went down. Bandido put Johnson on the ropes for his finisher, but Christian held the hands of Johnson before the ref kicked him away. Johnson rolled through and was able to hit a brainbuster for a two count. Johnson went up top and jumped off with nothing. Johnson hit a superkick, but Bandido fired back with a pop-up cutter. Bandido hit X-Knee for the pinfall.
ROH World Champion Bandido defeated Lee Johnson by pinfall in a Proving Ground match.
After the match, Blake Christian hit the celebrating Bandido with Lethal Injection. Christian held up the title belt as the show closed.
Robinson’s Ruminations: A nice showing from Johnson. Man, I really hate Bandido’s signature moves. They look so contrived. I’m optimistic regarding how good a Blake Christian and Bandido match can be. My ROH audio reviews are available weekly for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons).
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