Hall’s ROH Global Wars 2025 Review

ROH Global Wars 2025
Date: February 17, 2025
Location: Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, Australia
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

Since AEW is in Australia, Ring Of Honor has to dust off one of its traditions. In this case, we have a bunch of Ring Of Honor stars against wrestlers from Australia, plus one or two other things to fill in the time on this special. It would be nice if we have a big Ring Of Honor-only show coming up but that seems to be too much to ask. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at the card, which does make the show feel more important than usual.

Learning Tree vs. Bandido/Los Outrunners

Jericho waves at Bandido to start rather than shake his hand and we get the opening bell. Then Jericho flips him off and it’s off to Keith, which has Bandido rather pleased. They run the ropes and Bandido knocks him into the corner before Jericho comes back in. Jericho takes him down but Bandido switches places and steps on his back for some annoyance.

El Turbo comes in, loses his mask, and then puts it back on to take over on Jericho. A double Japanese armdrag puts Jericho down and it’s off to Bill, who gets quite the positive reaction. It’s back to El Turbo, who goes Old School and walks around all four ropes, as Bill is powerless to do anything about this whatsoever. After taking about a minute plus, El Turbo armdrags him down but Keith offers a distraction, allowing Bill to get in a big boot. The neck crank doesn’t work long on El Turbo and he avoids the Lionsault.

The falling tag brings in Bandido to clean house, including tossing Jericho at Keith. El Turbo kind of slams Bill and a Mega Powers Elbow hits him as well. Jericho pulls Bandido into the Walls but Jericho slips out, leaving Keith to hit a splash on Bandido. Jericho tries a belt shot but gets caught by Los Outrunners, meaning it’s the 21 Plex to give Bandido the pin at 14:11.

Rating: B-. What matters the most here is that they did something that actually mattered. This should set Bandido up for a title shot in the near future, though I’m not sure if I can imagine that being the big title change. If nothing else, it’s nice to see Jericho in action on the show as it’s more than a lot of recent World Champions have been able to say. Nice opener, with Los Outrunners being a funny gag.

Post match the beatdown is on but Powerhouse Hobbs makes the save. Big Bill walks away from the fight.

Athena is ready to beat up Alex Windsor.

Pure Rules Title: Lee Moriarty vs. Robbie Eagles

Moriarty is defending. They fight over wrist control to start and Moriarty has to use his first rope break less than a minute in. Back up and Moriarty backs the referee into the ropes so he can throw a fist. Eagles comes up with a right hand but gets caught for the official warning. Some posing takes up too much time though, allowing Moriarty to snap the arm over the top. Moriarty grabs a Border City Stretch, sending Eagles over to his first rope break.

They fight over a double-arm crank until Eagles has to use his second break. Eagles pulls him into a leglock and the second rope break is burned as well, leaving them with one each. Back up and Eagles knees him into the corner for the running Meteora but Sliced Bread is blocked. Another Border City Stretch makes Eagles use his third rope break but he’s up with a springboard missile dropkick to the leg.

Another leglock makes Moriarty use his last rope break but he’s right back with the Fang. They trade kicks to the head until Eagles knees him down, setting up a 450 onto the leg. Eagles goes for another leglock but Moriarty rolls him up and grabs the ropes for the pin at 10:28.

Rating: B-. The action was impressive but it’s the same stuff you see every time in these title matches. The rope breaks deal gets annoying fast because it’s just about burning them off until they can do the finish. It’s fine for a rare one-off thing, but there is still no reason for this to be a regular title.

Mark Davis vs. Tommy Knight

Davis kicks at the rather large Knight to start and hits a few chops, setting up a double stomp for two. Knight is up with some chops but gets sent into the corner without much effort. The chinlock goes on but Knight is back up with a big boot. Davis’ forearm is cut off by a forearm and Knight hits a Death Valley Driver for one. A pendulum piledriver gives Davis the pin at 5:22.

Rating: C+. It was more of a hoss fight and Knight can move well despite being a rather big guy. It’s weird seeing Davis getting such a positive reaction as he’s normally a heel stateside, but this isn’t something that is going to be taking place most of the time. Just a quick match here, but Knight did well enough in his chance on the bigger stage.

Alex Windsor is ready to face a bigger star than Athena.

Tag Team Titles: Sons Of Texas vs. MxM Collection

The Sons are defending but the Collection has stolen Sammy Guevara’s title. Rhodes and Mansoor start things off with Mansoor sending him into the corner for some early posing. An armdrag drops Mansoor, who wants a nip-up challenge. Rhodes wants Guevara to do it for him but it’s back to Rhodes, who goes to the mat but is ready when Mansoor tries an elbow.

Guevara comes back in and snaps off the nip up before Madden comes in. The Collection teases a dive but stop to pose instead, only for Rhodes to do the same. Guevara hits his own flip dive, setting up a Shining Wizard from Rhodes. Madden comes in off a blind tag and hits a running boot to the face before dropping an elbow to the back. Some hips to the head set up Mansoor’s missed elbow drop but he’s smart enough to knock Guevara off the apron.

The running Blockbuster gives Mansoor a breather but he misses a splash, allowing the tag off to Guevara. Everything breaks down and Mansoor counters the GTH. The Centerfold is broken up though and Rhodes hits Shattered Dreams on Mansoor. GTH hits Madden and the Final Reckoning into a Swanton finishes Mansoor at 12:53.

Rating: C+. It’s nice to have even something of a story over the titles so this could have been a lot worse. The Collection are at least a team who can give the champions a run for their money, but it is seeming like we are really going to see the champs hold the titles until All In: Texas because we need a nine or so month to set up a likely pre-show match. Not bad here, though the Sons are still such a weird team for a long-term title reign.

Post-match, Madden steals the title again because this story isn’t over.

Women’s Title: Athena vs. Alex Windsor

Athena is defending and bails to the floor early on. Back in and Windsor takes her down, setting up an early basement dropkick. Athena sends her outside though and a baseball slide takes her out. Back in and the neck crank goes on for a bit before Athena hammers away. Windsor fights up and grabs a neckbreaker out of the corner for two.

A Blue Thunder Bomb gets two more and Windsor grabs a Sharpshooter. Back up and they strike it out until Athena hits a superkick and a spinning facebuster. The running right hand gets two and Athena is stunned. Windsor headbutts her way out of trouble, setting up something like a swinging fisherman’s superplex for two. Athena dropkicks her into the corner though and hits the O Face to retain at 11:49.

Rating: B-. Windsor felt like a polished star out there and someone who gave Athena a good match. Athena has become one of the bigger stars in the history of Ring Of Honor and certainly an established champion. I’m not sure who is going to take the title from her, but I would hope that it’s not Billie Starkz after everything we’ve seen so far. For now though, good match and it felt like a big enough showdown.

Post match Athena has a staredown with Momo Watanabe.

Results
Bandido/Los Outrunners b. Learning Tree – 21 Plex to Jericho
Lee Moriarty b. Robbie Eagles – Rollup while holding the rope
Mark Davis b. Tommy Knight – Pendulum piledriver
Sons Of Texas b. MxM Collection – Swanton to Mansoor
Athena b. Alex Windsor – O Face

 

 

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7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

For a random special, I’ve seen far worse. They had a bunch of title matches and the World Champion in the opener. This felt a lot more important than a regular show, which is part of the problem with most of Ring Of Honor: it rarely feels like they’re building to something, so when you get something nicer like this, it stands out that much more. It was a good show, but it doesn’t exactly make me think that Ring Of Honor has turned a corner.