Shortly after Maria Kanellis was released by WWE during the pandemic, Maria decided that she wanted to go back to her old stomping grounds and rebuild the ring of honor women’s division.
It was announced that Maria would be member of the board of directors for ROH and that she wanted to put attention on the Womens title and also build up some real, three dimensional storylines for the women.
With building up the division and introducing new talent to the ROH fans, there needed to be a tournament to crown a champ.
During the weeks of qualifying matches, Maria would end the women’s division Wednesday show by giving out golden tickets to invite hand picked talent to enter the 2021 summer tournament. Yeah, it had Willy Wonka written all over it. Which I loved! Anywho, this tournament would determine who would become the new ROH women’s champion.
The ROH women’s championship has existed since 2013 and fantastic wrestlers like Kelly Klein and Susie Sakai have held the title.
But there hasn’t been this many eyes on their women’s division unto now.
So, what I want to do ahead of this weekend’s Death before Dishonor PPV, where Miranda Alize and Rok- C will face off to determine who will be crowned the ROH women’s champion, is discuss the best matches of the tournament in my opinion.
Rok-C vs Sumie Sakai
This was a match helped start off the tournament and proved to viewers that Rok-C shouldn't be seen as an underdog. She is a very young contender at 19, though she has been training since the age of 13. Of course most people went into the match probably determining that Sumie would take the win. This does make sense. I mean, Sumie is a legend. She has experience wrestling all over the world and has even held the ROH women’s title. However, Ron-C stayed cool as a cucumber and came into this match humble, yet confident. That mature resolve worked out in her favor.
Holidead vs Max the Impaler
Holidead and Max the Impaler came into the match as two monster villains ready to take each other down. Think King Kong vs Godzilla or a Freddy vs Jason rematch. Holidead is seeking validation in being this talented as a performer and not receiving the recognition that many of her peers have. She has been overlooked and I think that that has added to her brutal offense in the ring. She even uses the famous Rodney Dangerfield slogan “I gets no respect” in her prematch promo. Max the Impaler simply loves to hurt. I don’ t even think that winning the tournament matters to her. Holidead came into the match very confident. The bell was rung and both women were standing toe to toe with wild eyes and destruction in their hearts. Max the Impaler came in with some vicious blows and hard bumps. Holidead kept getting up and even pulled off some amazing moves that shocked probably even Max. This was a five star match that in my opinion, and showcased the powerhouses in the future Women of Honor roster.
Miranda Alize vs Nicole Savoy
Miranda came into the match knowing that she got into the mind of Nicole Savoy. She used their friendship to undermine Nicole’s drive to really fight for this title. In Nicole’s prematch promo, you could see defeat already in Nicole’s eyes. Once they got into the ring, Miranda soaked up and took full advantage of her hold that she had on Nicole and instantly turned into a heel. I truly hope that this can turn into a feud and a full on storyline can come from this.
Nicole Savoy vs Mazzerati
Mazzerati came into the tournament feeling very confident in her ability. She felt that the title was hers for the taking. Nicole despised Mazzerati’s arrogance, but knew that she had to concentrate on having a strong offense to win the match. Nicole broke out some spectacular holds and Mazzerati was showing that she wasn’t intimidated. Even being creative and sufficient in breaking out of them and delivering hard strikes. Nicole payed tribute to Sara Del Rey by doing the Royal butterfly finisher. As a big fan of Sara Del Rey, I really loved seeing that wink from Nicole to Sara’s deep impact on ROH’s in the early years.
Willow Nightingale vs Allysin Kay
Willow was a fan favorite and certainly someone that everyone thought would go far in the tournament. However, no one in their right minds would take Allysin Kay lightly . She is called AK for a reason. Willow came with the fire. Throwing out hard fist, moonsaults and power lifts. Both women have such a strong arsenal that it was hard to pick a winner.
Rok-C vs Quinn McKay
Rok-C became a strong contender in people’s eyes after her victory against Sumie Sakai. Quinn is known as one of the voices of ROH started to become an impressive wrestler right before our very eyes in this tournament. Rok-C was definitely proud of Quinn McKay’s success, but she still treated McKay like she was competition. Despite Rok-C’s sweet and humble personality, their is a fighter in her, that refuses to lose.
Trish Adora vs Allysin Kay
This match really started to drive the point home,
that we were in the semi finals of this tournament. It was so hard to feel excited about either women winning, because of how much both women brought to the table. You could feel the seriousness and the magnitude of what this match meant to both women. We also had a battle of the Lariats in this match. I was pins and needles to see which women would be able to pull off their lariat and take the next step into the tournament. I would love to see these women compete again.
Miranda Alize vs Trish Adora
Miranda at this point has really been leaning towards having a heel like mentality and even has her performance in the ring reflect that. Miranda tries not give Trish any breaks and wants to wear her out with repeated assaults. You can sense the desperation on Trish’s end to make it to the top of the mountain and win this tournament. She can almost taste the victory. So with every shoulder up that Miranda gives when Adora pins her, is a crushing reality that maybe Alize will come out of this match as the winner.