On the week of December 11, 2016, Ring of Honor TV devoted an entire episode of their weekly programming block to the Women of Honor division.
Deonna Purazzo vs. Candice LeRae
Great to see Deonna in her natural element here instead of being a jobber to Asuka on NXT, losing in seconds. A strong back and forth bout between these two women. Gotta admit that Candice fits better here than being tossed around on the indies like a ragdoll by grown ass men.
I was surprised that they let LeRae do Joey Ryan's "Ball-Plex" on Deonna. Even commentary was surprised as they didn't want to refer to it by name.
My only suggestion here would be to ask the girls to slow it down a bit (especially towards the end) and allow the crowd to digest everything going on for their execution don't look rushed or sloppy. That Fujiwara Armbar from Deonna that she used for the win could give Becky Lynch's Disarm Her/Dishonor a run for her money though. Who knows, we could see Deonna WWE bound sooner more than later if those rumors for a women's tournament in the same vein of the CWC and the UK tournaments in 2017.
Veda Scott & Kennedy Brink def. Sumie Sakai & Faye Jackson (w/ Solo Darling)
Faye has enough rearview back there in her truck that would make Naomi jealous. I'm still shocked that Sumie Sakai is still wrestling after all of these years. I remember seeing her on the first few SHIMMER volumes back in the early 2000s. Sadly, this might be the last WOH event we see Veda Scott on after she asked for her release from the company over the past week, so that means this match was taped a quite a while back as Veda Scott hasn't been featured on ROH programming for a few months now. At least Faye has a MUCH more flattering outfit for her figure than Nia Jax. WWE, please take notes.
Overall, there wasn't much to write home about here. Pretty much your average run-of-the-mill women's wrestling match that you could find in any promotion nowadays. This felt more like an exhibition for showing off the many different personalities in this division than anything else. Sakai was the acting veteran here to lead these girls throughout this match, but there were still a ton of sloppy spots and botches in this match, especially to say that this match lasted FAR longer than I would have liked it to.
Mandy Leon def. Jessicka Havok
For the WWE fans who read this blog, Mandy Leon is the person who NXT's Aliyah tries to steal her mannerisms from. Havok looks like she put on more weight since her brief TNA run a while back. If this division is being built off Mandy being the underdog as she's growing in skill and gaining experience then it's working for the most part with these roadblocks constantly thrown her way. As much as I do like her character, I'm more sold on Taeler Hendrix or Kelly Klein being the first champion whenever ROH gets off their asses and give these girls something to fight for. Much like everything else on this show to this point, you can add another "meh" average finish to this match as Mandy score the win after Deonna Purazzo distracted Havok long enough to roll her up.
Both girls got chokeslams for their just desserts and sold the shit out of 'em too. Havok could definitely help this division out as their resident powerhouse/monster if she decides to stick around full-time.
I honestly felt bad that the ROH crowd didn't react to next to nothing here in this match as it's such an oddity to see the women featured in ROH outside of eye candy.
Main Event: Kellly Klein def. ODB
This was definitely the best match on this entire show as ROH saved the best for last. Kelly Klein is undefeated and unstoppable since arriving in ROH. I'm guessing that they are giving her a Ronda Rousey gimmick (something that it looks like NXT is going to do with Daria) as she runs through every competitor that ROH throws at her from around the world. What's even more awesome is that ODB made a rare ROH appearance on this episode, despite her semi-retirement from pro wrestling to work as a bartender.
FYI ODB also appears on Impact Wrestling's Total Non-stop Deletion special as well, facing against Sienna, aka Allisyn Kay.
Bonus: No Disqualification Match - Taeler Hendrix def. Mandy Leon
This match wasn't on the WOH special at all, but was a YouTube exclusive match shared on WOH Wednesday as part of Ring of Honor's channel. I honestly don't know why they didn't air this match on this episode as it was pretty damn good. They probably would have to chop it into pieces in the editing room for it would fit well within that hour of weekly ROH programming but if they are going forward with Mandy and Taeler being their leading ladies in this division going forward for 2017, I suggest featuring them more like this. It's a damn shame that this feud isn't getting TV time at all. I understand that ROH only has a hour to work with per week, but it wouldn't kill them to give the women more time of day. Taeler and Mandy busted their asses in this match and they should be applauded for their efforts here to elevate the division.
It's strange to me that they don't give them more time as those vignettes on their channel leading up to this match (Hail Hendrix Parts 1-4) were freakin' awesome. It wouldn't kill them to focus on more rising stars and scale back on showcasing the stars from New Japan a bit. WWE (along with TNA slightly...) have hit ROH hard in terms of taking their bigger stars and it's time to reset the wheel a bit as I seriously doubt that WWE is going to stop raiding names from ROH in 2017, especially when they have more WWE Network content to crank out. That's why Sinclair Network(s) need to invest more into this company and give wrestlers a reason to stay instead of taking a higher paycheck but less airtime (in most cases) and a shot at their dignity.
Closing Thoughts
Ring of Honor has to give the Women of Honor more television time instead of segregating them to their YouTube Channel or showing them off on these TV specials once every six months. It wouldn't hurt to give them at least 1-2 matches on their many, many iPPVs or even their TV tapings every few weeks. It's hard to make people outside of the devoted few like myself care about this division after only seeing them perform once in a blue moon. They have to be given room to develop their characters and get more comfortable performing on TV. That's why I can't be too critical of their in-ring performances quite yet. The WOH doesn't have full-time veteran leadership to guide them in the right direction and I hope that changes in 2017.
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