Ring of Honor
Date: January 2, 2019
Host: Ian Riccaboni
Now this one could be interesting and the focus is going to be on the Women of Honor. Why is that interesting you may ask? Well for once we might actually get to know what is supposed to be interesting about some of them. There are several women in the division, but I’m still not sure what is supposed to make a lot of them stand out. Hopefully we can find some of that out here. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
We open with a quick video looking at the division as a whole, plus some of the bigger names over the year.
From Honor Reigns Supreme in Philadelphia.
Tenille Dashwood/Mandy Leon vs. Kelly Klein/Stacy Shadows
This is Dashwood’s in-ring debut and Shadows appeared a few times on TV over the year. Shadows and Leon start things off with Mandy hitting some pretty weak chops to the much bigger Stacy. That just earns her a forearm to the face and it’s off to Dashwood in a hurry. Tenille gets her to miss a charge over the ropes and fires off some kicks, followed by a Stunner to send her throat first into the middle ropes.
Dashwood charges into a boot to the face though and Kelly comes in for a cravate with knees to the face. The headscissors into the Russian legsweep gets Dashwood out of trouble and we take a break. Back with Kelly sending Leon into the corner and kneeing her in the face again. Stacy comes in for more of the same and throws Mandy down by the hair as the boring match continues.
Mandy does the big dive towards the corner but can’t quite get there until a DDT gets her out of trouble. The diving tag brings Dashwood in to clean house, including a shotgun dropkick to send her into the corner. The Taste of Tenille connects and the reverse layout DDT plants Stacy again. Mandy dives on Kelly and the yet to be named Spotlight Kick finishes Stacy at 9:00.
Result: Tenille Dashwood/Mandy Leon b. Stacy Shadows/Kelly Klein – Spotlight Kick to Shadows (9:00)
We see the end of Sumie Sakai vs. Kelly Klein for the first Women of Honor Title with Klein kicking out of Sakai’s regular finisher and then getting pinned with a regular DDT. The big celebration is included.
From May 30.
Women’s Title: Sumie Sakai vs. Jenny Rose
Sakai is defending. Sumie takes her into the corner for some fast stomping and Rose is sent outside as we take another early break. Back with Sakai getting two off a missile dropkick but walking into a side slam for the same. The swinging fisher woman’s suplex gives Sakai two more, only to have Rose spear her through the ropes for a big crash. Back in and a fisherwoman’s suplex drops Sakai for another near fall so Rose snaps off a German suplex. Sakai pops up so Rose spears her down, only to get caught with Smashmouth to retain Sakai’s title at 7:17.
Result: Sumie Sakai b. Jenny Rose – Smashmouth (7:17)
From Honor United in the UK on May 27.
Women’s Title: Sumie Sakai vs. Chardonnay
Sumie is defending and shrugs off a cheap shot attempt. That means some stomping in the corner before Chardonnay gets tied in the ring skirt for a quick spanking. Back in and Chardonnay hammers her down before sending it right back to the floor. That means a baseball slide to send Sakai into the barricade but Sumie is right back with chops to the neck. A crossbody off the barricade misses though and Sumie crashes hard.
Chardonnay gets two off a chop and the Boston crab goes on. Sumie grabs the rope and we take a break. Back without much having changed as Chardonnay chokes in the corner and yells at the crowd. Sumie fights back with a running knee and Smashmouth gets two with almost no reaction on the kickout.
A bridging German suplex is good for two more on Chardonnay, who comes back with a spinebuster for the same. Chardonnay’s signature butterfly suplex gets two more but the Tower of London is broken up. Sumie misses her moonsault and gets caught with a running knee to the face for two more. Another butterfly suplex is countered into Smashmouth for the pin to retain at 10:46.
Result: Sumie Sakai b. Chardonnay – Smashmouth (10:46)
From Best In The World.
Sumie Sakai/Jenny Rose/Mayu Iwatani/Tenille Dashwood vs. Hazuki/Kelly Klein/Hana Kimura/Kagetsu
Kagetsu is the Stardom Champion and we get a staredown over the titles. Sakai wants to start for the team and gets kicked in the face by Kugetsu. Kimura comes in and wants Dashwood, meaning the brawl is on. Before that has a chance to go anywhere, it’s Klein coming in to throw Jenny around. Of course the fourth pairing comes in with Iwatani Sling Blading Hazuki.
The villains come in and triple team Sakai with three boots on her face at once, allowing Kimura to hold up the Oedo Tai (stable) sign. Sakai DDTs Klein and the hot tag brings in Dashwood to clean house, including a double Taste of Tenille in the corner. A high crossbody gets two on Dashwood and Sakai comes back in with a missile dropkick. Everything breaks down again and Sakai gets a guillotine choke on Kimura. That’s muscled into a delayed suplex for two on Sakai but Kagetsu hits Kimura with the sign by mistake. Sumie dives onto a pile and hits a dragon suplex for the pin on Kimura at 10:27.
Result: Sumie Sakai/Jenny Rose/Tenille Dashwood/Mayu Iwatani b. Hazuki/Kelly Klein/Hana Kimura/Kugetsu – Dragon suplex to Kimura (10:27)
Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28 wrestling books. His latest book is the the Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews.
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