Ring of Honor: Women of Honor Special (December 11, 2016) -- Results & Afterthoughts

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.

Ring of Honor Wrestling Presents Best in the World (June 24, 2016) -- Results and Afterthoughts

Best in the World '16 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Ring of Honor. It took place in Cabarrus Arena in Concord, North Carolina on June 24, 2016. It was the seventh annual ROH Best in the World event.

Kyle O'Reilly def. Kamaitachi via submission

Solid opener to this event with Kamaitachi targeting O'Reilly's legs throughout the match. Kamaitachi is pretty fucking nuts from what I have seen in this match. There was no way in hell I would've done that Diving Senton spot and hit almost absolutely nothing as a result as O'Reilly clearly wasn't ready to catch him. I loved the exchange that led into a series of reversals that allowed O'Reilly to apply a modified version of his submission finisher to pick up the win.

After Kamaitachi spat in his hand to the Code of Honor in the post-match, I would like to assume that there's going to be a rematch... and that's not a bad thing at all. I just hope that O'Reilly would secure a spot higher up on these ROH cards instead of bouncing around between pointless fodder bouts and occasionally finding himself in the title picture. He's one hell of a talent and should be higher up on the card.

ACH def. "The Last Real Man" Silas Young via Midnight Star (450 Splash)

I loved the psychology in this match. Silas Young is a very underrated heel. At every opportunity he cut ACH off just as he was getting fired up to prevent ACH from using his high flying spots to the dismay of the crowd. When ACH finally got a big high flying spot off it was definitely worth the wait. I was about to get irked about Young doing a high flying spot when he's the heel but it worked out favorably because ACH cut him off instead as how the babyface should in those situations. Very well done there, ROH. Gotta appreciate the small things they do to upload the logic in professional wrestling.

Mark Briscoe def. "Mr. ROH" Roderick Strong

This match was all about Mark trying to gain Strong's respect. Going back and forth from move to move and hold for hold, this was an exciting match to from bell to bell. Sucks to see that this is Strong's last ROH match, but Strong definitely ended on a "strong" note - no pun intended. #ThankYouRoderickStrong

The Bullet Club (Adam Cole & The Young Bucks) def. Moose & War Machine w/ Matt Taven on commentary

Taven on commentary was going out of his way to verbally bury Adam Cole. That was a little odd to say they were buddies back in the Kingdom when Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis were still in ROH. I could watch War Machine lay waste to guys and toss them around like rag dolls all day. With Moose added into the mix, they had a lot of crazy spots on hand - if it wasn't enough with the Young Bucks involved - with the Bullet Club getting tossed around like ragdolls. Somehow they pulled out the win, but I have to say that now that the buzz has worn off with Adam Cole as part of the Bullet Club that it's sad to see that he's diluted his wrestling style to work with the Bullet Club. He's really selling himself short being a part of a faction/stable when he's at his best as a singles star. You'd think he would have learned that from his run in the Kingdom.

ROH Tag Team Championship Match - The Addiction (c) def. Motor City Machine Guns

As much as I love these two tag teams, I can't help but notice that this match looked VERY rehearsed. You could blindfold all four men here and they could perform this match in their sleep. The finish was rather odd but it sets up another feud and a rematch, so I can't complain too much.

Fight Without Honor - BJ Whitmer def. Steve Corino

Kevin FUCKING Sullivan... Holy shit that was awesome to see the oriignal
Architect and Taskmaster in a wrestling ring again.

Personally, I felt that the Steve Corino/BJ Whitmer feud has gone on FAR too long for my taste and I was ready for this to be over. There was a point where this got a little too gruesome for my taste - mainly because I was eating dinner at the time of this match. The second that Sullivan showed up I fucking marked out for three reasons: 1) I instantly knew what he was referring to on the MSL & Sullivan Show podcast I listen to weekly on MLW Radio 2) Recently, I became a fan of his work while revisiting 1997 WCW on the WWE Network during his noteworthy feud along with the late Chris Benoit and Woman (Nancy Benoit) vs. Jacqueline and himself. 3) This moment was reminiscent of his old satanic gimmick and I'm dying to see where they go with this. Sullivan has a great mind for this business still and he has a lot of knowledge that he could pass onto the aspiring ROH stars.

ROH Television Championship Match - Bobby Fish (c) def. Dalton Castle w/ The Boys to retain

The second I saw Dalton Castle's entrance gear I immediately pictured Captain Yesterday from Futurama. Solid match but I was little bummed that Castle didn't pick up the win. ROH is sitting on a breakout star in the flamboyant Castle and this should have been the perfect platform to bank on that popularity. I'm guessing that they are going to book a rematch down road, but I don't see how they are going to correct this missed opportunity. 

ANX now known as The Cabinet

What in the blue hell was this shit? They could've given this time to the main event or the undercard instead of wasting this on a PPV. Definitely the worst thing on the show without a shadow of a doubt. I guess Caprice Coleman really doesn't know where or what he's doing with his ROH career.

Seriously, ROH, if you want to do something like this again, save it for the TV tapings later that weekend. Give this time to something more productive to show your company in a better light. Hell, give the Women of Honor a spot on the next PPV card for crying out loud. I'm dying to see the ladies get a regular spot on ROH programming than just mere eye candy. I know it had to be killing Mandy Leon to sit at ringside ALL night and just watch all of this action instead of being a part of it. 

One Year in the Making: The Rematch -- ROH World Championship Match - Jay Lethal (c) w/ Taeler Hendrix def. Jay Briscoe to retain 

OH MY GOD... This fucking match... I was on the edge of my seat from bell to bell. Tons of close calls and near-falls, but Lethal ultimately came out on top as the winner, continuing the single best title reign in recent memory in modern day professional wrestling. Yes, better than CM Punk's reign - suck on that WWE marks. If you ask me, the ROH World title is the most prestigious in wrestling today just from how legitimate the competition for the title is built up as a threat and how credible the title's holders have been. Only the Best in the World - pun intended there for once... - have managed to win this title and it speaks volumes in the wrestling world that it's one of the last few titles that's taken seriously at this level in a mainstream environment.

Stellar performances by both men, but the biggest takeaway from this match for me and for mainstream professional wrestling in general is the fact that ROH has proven with this year long plus title reign with Jay Lethal that you can push black/African-American wrestlers as legitimate competitors without making them into dancing goofs, walking stereotypes, or comedic entertainment. I applaud Ring of Honor, as well as Impact Wrestling, for proving this point over the last few years. WWE could definitely take note, especially with their dated mindset for booking and handling minorities (i.e. non-Caucasian/white gimmicks).