The NWA Women’s Tag Team Champions are stepping through the “forbidden door” for a title defense in ROH.
NWA Women’s Tag Team Champions The Hex (Allysin Kay & Marti Belle) will defend their titles against ROH’s The Allure (Angelina Love & Mandy Leon) on next week’s episode of ROH Women’s Division Wednesday. The show premieres on ROH’s YouTube channel at 7 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesdays.
Kay & Belle cut a promo calling The Allure bullies and announcing that ROH’s Maria Kanellis-Bennett and the NWA’s Mickie James had agreed to a title match between the two teams.
Kanellis-Bennett tweeted about the match: “Mickie James and I had a very nice chat about this match after The Allure tried to interfere in Chelsea Green’s match against Ashley Vox 2 weeks ago. When I said at the PPV there is no door, I meant it!! The NWA Tag Titles will be on the line next week!! @nwa @MickieJames”
James wrote: “Haha!!! Yas Baebee!!! #HEXmarksthespot I know my girls @Sienna & @MartiBelle are gonna do us so proud! @nwa After all…. that’s what the #NWAWomensTagChamps do!”
Kay & Belle won the newly reintroduced NWA Women’s Tag Team titles at this August’s Empower pay-per-view, defeating Red Velvet & KiLynn King in the finals of a one-night tournament.
Kay and Belle were both entrants in ROH’s Women’s World Championship tournament this year. Kay made it to the quarterfinals before losing to Trish Adora, while Belle lost to Adora in the first round. The tournament was won by Rok-C.
Women’s World Championship tournament action came to Women’s Division Wednesday as Allysin Kay defeated Willow in a fantastic first-round bout.
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The show opened with a message from former Impact Wrestling president Dixie Carter. Carter said one of the greatest things about her time in pro wrestling was the time she spent with the women who wrestled for Impact. Carter said nothing made her prouder than seeing women shine in the main event, carry their own pay-per-view, and be the highest rated segment on television.
Carter said women’s wrestling has never been better or stronger. She congratulated the women in the ROH Women’s World Championship tournament and wished them luck.
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A couple of interviews hosted by Alyssa Marino and LuFisto also aired before the scheduled match between Allysin Kay and Willow. Maria Kanellis-Bennett joined them for the interviews.
Chelsea Green was up first. Green expressed great appreciation for the love that the Ring of Honor locker room has shown her. Green also talked about how she’s able to express herself again and become the “10/10” Chelsea that she knew she could be.
Alex Gracia joined the call shortly after. Gracia spent a few minutes reflecting on her recent loss to Miranda Alize.
Nicole Savoy was the final woman to join the interview. Savoy told a story about her first time in ROH and wrestling LuFisto. Savoy was asked about her upcoming opponent in the tournament Miranda Alize, to which she revealed the two were roommates in Japan.
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ROH Women’s World Championship tournament first-round match: Allysin Kay defeated Willow (11:30)
Chelsea Green joined the commentary team for this match.
Kay started off the bout by showing some great feats of mat wrestling, but Willow countered with some great feats of strength and agility. Willow hit a few big moves, including a phenomenal pump kick. But Kay took back the advantage when Willow couldn’t capitalize on her moves.
Kay got more maniacal and vicious as the match went on, working at a very slow pace. After Kay had full control for a few minutes, she began taunting Willow, which didn’t work out for Kay. Willow eventually heard enough of Kay’s trash talk and registered a forearm to Kay’s neck area. Willow had a good run of offense before it turned into a brutal striking exchange between the two women.
Willow has some really good strikes in her back pocket, as does Kay. Willow capitalized on the split second of time she had by hitting a top rope dropkick on Kay for a close two count.
Willow let her confidence get to her head when she attempted a moonsault, which resulted in Kay rolling out of harm’s way at the last second. Kay followed it up with her signature discus lariat, but Willow rolled out of the ring before Kay could pin her. Back in the ring, Kay countered Willow and locked in a Kimura/Koji Clutch combination. It made Willow tap out instantly.
Two more Tickets to Gold were given out, but one recipient couldn’t accept due to injury. A great tag team bout also took place on the show.
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Lenny Leonard announced that two Tickets to Gold would be given out tonight. He also announced that Maria Kanellis-Bennett and himself would be revealing the Women’s World Championship tournament bracket this Sunday at ROH’s Best in the World pay-per-view.
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Ticket to Gold: Sumie Sakai
Kanellis-Bennett praised Sakai’s work and tenure in ROH, and said they couldn’t host a tournament without her. Sakai was the first-ever Women of Honor World Champion and expressed that she’s looking forward to becoming champion again.
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Allie Recks & Gia Scott defeated Sumie Sakai & Willow (9:30)
Willow and Recks started the bout. Recks couldn’t match Willow’s strength, so Scott tagged herself in. After a few exchanges of strikes and counters, Sakai came in. Sakai sent Scott into the corner and Scott seemed to have a knee injury. When the referee blocked Sakai’s view, Scott popped up and nailed her with a kick.
Scott slapped Recks on the shoulder and demanded she enter the match, which she did reluctantly. Recks and Sakai had a nice little exchange and Recks was able to show off some of her offensive repertoire.
Recks and Scott eventually both got in the ring and tried to double team Sakai, but she was able to make a tag to Willow. Willow came in and bulldozed Recks, then followed it up by planting Scott with a spinebuster. Willow had the momentum until Scott dropped her with a powerbomb that would have secured the win if Sakai didn’t break up the pin.
The final seconds of the match saw Scott plant a kick on Willow’s jaw while the referee was distracted. Recks followed up with a spear for the win.
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Ticket to Gold: Allie Recks
Kanellis-Bennett applauded Recks for the heart she’s shown in her Women’s Division Wednesday matches. Kanellis-Bennett offered a Ticket to Gold to Recks, but Recks revealed that she injured her knee in her match with Max The Impaler a few weeks ago. Recks respectfully declined due to the injury, but Kanellis-Bennett assured her that there will be future opportunities.
Lenny Leonard revealed after the call that two more Tickets to Gold will be awarded on Thursday night via ROH’s social media platforms.
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Final Thoughts —
Very unfortunate news for Allie Recks. I was looking forward to seeing her in the tournament. Sumie Sakai was an expected entrant from the very beginning. I just hope ROH lets a fresh face win the belt.
I enjoyed the tag match thoroughly, although I didn’t like Willow taking the pin. She’s a wonderful wrestler and was the star of this match.
Two women were awarded with a Ticket to Gold, while Rok-C and Laynie Luck continued their respective rises in the wrestling world.
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Lenny Leonard checked in and announced that Maria Kanellis-Bennett would be giving out not one, but two Tickets to Gold on this episode. Leonard also revealed that tonight’s featured match would see Rok-C pitted against Laynie Luck.
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Ticket to Gold: Mandy Leon
Kanellis-Bennett said it was important to include all different types of women in the ROH Women’s World Championship tournament, and she then introduced Mandy Leon. Leon was snarky and claimed that she already knew she was going to be in the tournament.
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Rok-C defeated Laynie Luck (9:46)
The first portion of this match saw Rok-C show off a more aggressive side, while also displaying a showboat attitude as well. Every time Luck would do a dance move, Rok-C mounted a little more frustration.
Luck eventually realized it was go time and flipped her switch, delivering some stiff slams. It’s important to note that commentary played up the fact that Rok-C could be the youngest Women’s Champion in ROH history — potentially could be foreshadowing.
Luck has really educated feet and throws a great dropkick. She also throws a superb knee strike.
Rok-C eventually shifted to another gear after hitting a great top rope Thesz press. She followed that up with a few stiff strikes before hitting an outstanding Code Red for the win.
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Ticket to Gold: Nicole Savoy
Kanellis-Bennett returned and called Nicole Savoy. Bennett revealed that fans on ROH’s The Experience Facebook page overwhelmingly voted to see Savoy in the tournament. Savoy was grateful for the opportunity and discussed her previous experience in ROH.
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Final Thoughts —
Rok-C is really, really good. She’s been the standout of the newly introduced women and it seems as if ROH is high on her as well. I hope she goes far in the tournament — if she doesn’t win the whole thing.
No discredit to Laynie Luck though, she’s really impressive as well.
The tournament did need recognizable faces, and Mandy Leon is just that. I don’t want Leon or Angelina Love to win the tournament, but they were needed to draw eyes to the tournament.
I’m a big fan of Nicole Savoy’s work. She rightfully deserved a spot in the tournament as well.
Three upcoming competitors in the ROH Women’s World Championship tournament got a chance to shine in a tag team bout, while another Ticket to Gold was given to another deserving wrestler.
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Miranda Alize & Sumie Sakai defeated Trish Adora & Mazzerati
Sakai and Adora started off this tag bout. Sakai tried a test of strength, but Adora had about a foot in height on her. Sakai stomped on Adora’s foot and both women tagged out.
Mazzerati and Alize came in. Alize did a few arm drags and followed with a great headscissors/pinning combination, but it wasn’t enough to put away Mazzerati. Alize and Sakai did a couple of good double-team maneuvers. They have pretty good chemistry despite never teaming together.
Mazzerati was able to get some offense in after Sakai missed a top rope crossbody, eventually leading to a tag out to a fresh Adora. Adora hit a great standing suplex and followed it up with the Cattle Mutilation submission. You almost never see those anymore, and Adora was really good on the bridge.
Adora hit a German suplex, but Sakai kipped up immediately and retaliated with the same move. Both women were down with their partners reaching for tags. The hot tags were made, and Alize came in and sent both Adora and Mazzerati to the corner. She then hit a nasty running dropkick on both women.
The pace picked up in a big way at this point, with competitors flying all over the place. Sakai hit another German suplex and Alize flew over her head to attempt a stack-up pin. Mazzerati tried to pin Alize after a DDT a few moments later, but Sakai hit a rolling neckbreaker on Mazzerati to break it up.
In the final moments of the match, Alize and Mazzerati were trading moves on the inside of the ring while Adora and Sakai were fighting on the outside. Alize was eventually able to cinch in her Miranda Rights crossface submission, to which Mazzerati submitted to.
After the match, Max The Impaler jumped all four women from behind. Max then attacked the timekeeper and hit The Impaler on her.
Amy Rose came out after and clapped her way down to the ring. She invited Max to go with her backstage.
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Ticket to Gold: Vita VonStarr
Vita VonStarr and Bateman approached Maria Kanellis-Bennett backstage. Bateman vouched for VonStarr to get an opportunity in the ROH Women’s World Championship tournament, since Kanellis-Bennett is all about giving opportunities.
Kanellis-Bennett hesitated for a moment but then agreed to Bateman’s proposal. Kanellis-Bennett had one stipulation though: if VonStarr interferes in any men’s matches before the tournament, she loses her spot. Kanellis-Bennett said she only wanted to give opportunities to women who are focused on being in the women’s division.
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Final Thoughts —
As we inch closer to the Women’s World Championship tournament, Women’s Division Wednesday provided another great match. The two standouts to me were Alize and Mazzerati, although all of the women involved did really well.
I don’t really think I’m a fan of the Amy Rose/Max The Impaler partnership. I’ll save judgement, but that’s just my first feeling. Rose has never come off to me as a good manager, and Max isn’t the type of competitor to need a manager. Let their brutality and dominance do the talking for them.
Vita VonStarr is just another fantastic choice for the tournament. Her match with Sumie Sakai on Women’s Division Wednesday last month was really good, and I’m glad to see her getting an opportunity.
Two new competitors were introduced to ROH fans — and they did not disappoint. Also, another Ticket to Gold was given out.
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Willow defeated Alex Gracia (8:45)
A quick background on both of these competitors: Alex Gracia has been nearly everywhere in the business. She’s wrestled for AEW, NWA, ROW, CMLL, Shine, Stardom, Evolve, Shimmer, and Rise. Willow Nightingale has also been around the block. She’s wrestled for AEW, GCW, Beyond, Shimmer, WoW, and Rise.
When the bell rang, Willow had Gracia on the mat pretty fast in a headlock. Gracia fought out of it and the two exchanged a series of arm drags back and forth. Willow had a great series of offensive attacks before hitting a beautiful suplex.
Willow kept on with constant offense, eventually locking in a unique standing Figure Four and then also applying a Camel Clutch. Gracia was able to escape and attempted to find her footing in the contest.
While Willow was setting up for something big in the corner, Gracia was able to sneak in and hit a great looking lungblower, followed by a running knee in the corner. Gracia was only able to muster a two count out of her series of momentum.
Gracia had sent Willow reeling to the outside after the pinfall attempt, which allowed her to hit a great springboard crossbody to Willow on the outside. Gracia had all the momentum at this point and rolled Willow back in the ring.
Gracia went to the top rope and hit a cannonball onto Willow. Gracia then tried a springboard maneuver, but she was caught in mid-air by Willow. Willow body slammed Gracia and tried to put her away, but she kicked out at two.
In the final sequence of the match, Willow tried to hit a moonsault but nobody was home. The two women then had a standoff that involved trading forearms, which resulted in Willow being able to hit her Dangerous Babe gutwrench powerbomb for the win. What a phenomenal match.
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Ticket to Gold: Willow
Brian Zane was joined backstage by Willow after the match. Zane congratulated Willow on her win and asked if she thought her performance earned her a Ticket to Gold.
Willow said she thought she did great and hoped it was enough to earn a Ticket to Gold. Maria Kanellis-Bennett surprised Willow and praised her performance in the match. Kanellis-Bennett officially gave Willow a Ticket to Gold then and there, officially putting her in this summer’s ROH Women’s Championship Tournament.
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Final Thoughts —
I’m still in awe over that match. It was the best women’s match we’ve seen from ROH since the women’s division returned, bar none. Willow and Gracia are very good performers and their styles meshed together perfectly. Willow especially stood out to me — she had a lot of power and grit behind all of her moves.
While Willow got a Ticket to Gold, I would say Gracia deserves one as well. She showed out in the match, has done great work on AEW Dark, and has a good fanbase behind her on the internet.
Vita VonStarr wrestled her first match in ROH, losing to veteran Sumie Sakai. Maria Kanellis-Bennett also revealed her first Ticket to Gold recipient, granting them a spot in ROH’s Women’s World Championship tournament.
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Sumie Sakai defeated Vita VonStarr (8:35)
As referee Joe Mandak was patting Sakai down, VonStarr rushed her in the corner. Sakai recovered and began working on the arm of VonStarr. Sakai had an armbar applied when VonStarr bit her leg, breaking the submission. This didn’t seem to bother Sakai that much, despite her bleeding.
VonStarr applied a vise stretch that kept Sakai grounded for a good bit. Whenever Sakai made her way out of the hold, VonStarr bit her in the head. VonStarr connected with a beautiful Northern Lights suplex.
Sakai got hot at this point in the match, hitting a few takedowns and following with a great swinging neckbreaker. Sakai then went to the second rope and blasted VonStarr with a shotgun dropkick. Sakai returned to the top rope but couldn’t hold her balance and slipped. I don’t know why that wasn’t edited out.
Sakai played it off like nothing happened and nailed VonStarr with a cradle brainbuster, but it only warranted a two count. Sakai tried to keep her offense going, but VonStarr cinched in a Muta Lock instead. The hold was broken by referee Joe Mandak after VonStarr turned it into a choke.
In the final moments of the match, VonStarr was laying in some great punches on the ground. VonStarr lifted up Sakai for a powerbomb, but Sakai fell down and turned it into a cradle pin, scoring the three count and the win.
After the match, VonStarr put Sakai in a octopus stretch between the ropes until VonStarr’s stablemates Bateman and Dutch came down to the ring to summon her back.
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Ticket to Gold reveal
ROH announced last week that In order to be granted entry into the Women’s Championship tournament, you must receive a golden ticket from Board of Directors member Maria Kanellis-Bennett.
Kanellis-Bennett got straight to the point and said she was downright impressed with Rok-C’s performance last week. She offered a spot in the tournament to Rok-C who obviously accepted.
Kanellis-Bennett discussed the 19-year-old Rok-C’s career with her. Rok-C has been training since she was 13, including being trained by Booker T and Daga.
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Final Thoughts —
Another good installment of WDW in the books for ROH. I’ve never seen Vita VonStarr wrestle before, and I was quite impressed. She’s pretty good. I’ve never been the biggest fan of Sumie Sakai, but I respect her work and what she’s done for the business too.
Rok-C getting the golden ticket was 100 percent the correct move. Sometimes ROH let’s good talent slip through their hands, and I hope they sign Rok-C quickly before she gets more traction.
Every Wednesday on ROH’s YouTube channel is Women’s Division Wednesday — designed to showcase the division with past stars, veterans and current stars leading up to the big ROH Women’s Championship Tournament this summer. The series kicked off this past week with four debuts in a tag team match.
Laynie Luck & Hyan vs. Rok-C & Max The Impaler ended in a time limit draw (15:00)
Luck made a name for herself in Texas promotions like VIP Wrestling and Metroplex Wrestling. She also currently wrestles for Booker T’s Reality Of Wrestling.
Hyan, currently the Heart of Shimmer Champion also made a name for herself in Texas-based promotions, including Reality Of Wrestling. She’s also wrestled for RISE and has been an extra on WWE Raw before.
The 19-year-old Rok-C is another Texas-born and based female wrestler. She’s a former Diamonds Champion for Reality Of Wrestling and has wrestled for Game Changer Wrestling as well.
Max The Impaler has wrestled for RISE, Shimmer, IWA and House Of Hardcore. She’s also done some dark match work for Impact Wrestling.
Rok-C and Luck started with a tie up. Luck tried to keep her grounded, but Rok-C regained her vertical base and applied a Muta hammerlock. Luck escaped and tried to show off with a few dances, but Rok-C clocked her and sent her back to the mat. Luck got serious at this point and hit a great armdrag that sent Rok-C to her corner, allowing Max to tag in.
Max sent Luck to the mat with one shove, causing Hyan to tag herself in. Hyan reversed a chokeslam attempt and laid in some great knees to the face.
Rok-C tagged herself back in and dove off the second rope onto Hyan with a great meteora. Rok-C applied a full nelson and Max tagged herself back in. Max attempted to squash Hyan in the corner, but she ducked and dove to tag in Luck. Luck was demolished immediately by Max.
Max tagged in Rok-C, but then picked her up and used her as a weapon, smacking both Luck and Hyan. Max tagged herself back in, but Luck came in with a flurry of offense, bringing Max to her knees. Luck tagged in Hyan and they tried to double team her, but Max suplexed both of them.
The bell rang and Bobby Cruise announced a time limit draw as everyone looked genuinely confused.
Final Thoughts:
I’m really glad ROH has brought back the women’s division and it seems like it’s going be really good by the talent they showcased in the first edition of Women’s Division Wednesday.
All four of these women got to show out, but the one who stood out the most was Rok-C. She’s really good at such a young age and I hope ROH both signs her and puts her in the championship tournament. Hyan and Luck had some great moments too, but it’s pretty clear that Max The Impaler is the one that ROH likes a lot. She got the most offense in the match by far.
A non-finish was not the right choice here, though. There have been four non-finishes to matches in roughly three weeks of ROH TV which is a terrible direction to be heading in. I understand not letting talent lose, but there should have been a definitive winner in the first women’s match back.
Ring of Honor’s women’s division is making its return this month.
ROH has announced that Women’s Division Wednesday will kick off on YouTube on Wednesday, April 28. There will be a new women’s match airing on ROH’s YouTube channel every Wednesday at 7 p.m. Eastern time.
The women’s matches will feature newcomers and ROH veterans.
At ROH’s 19th Anniversary pay-per-view last month, it was announced that a tournament to crown an ROH Women’s World Champion will begin this summer. The tournament was originally supposed to take place in 2020, but that didn’t happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“No participants for the championship tournament have been announced, so all of the competitors in Women’s Division Wednesday matches will be out to prove that they deserve to be part of the field,” ROH wrote.
The ROH Women’s World title is a new championship that’s being introduced. It’s replacing the Women of Honor World Championship. Kelly Klein had been Women of Honor Champion prior to her and ROH parting ways in 2019.
